crown on the male line only, whereas he claimed through a female. The other two objections were thoroughly ridiculous; they referred to York not having borne his proper coat-of-arms, and to a declaration made by Henry IV., which everybody knew to be utterly false.* The duke's counsel had an easy task in replying to these objections. Nothing was of much weight except the oaths, and these the duke offered to refer to the consideration of the highest spiritual court. The lords were compelled to acknowledge that the hereditary law was wholly in favour of York. At the end of this curious inquiry, they suggested a compromise which York had the moderation to accept. Henry was to retain the crown during his life; but at his death it was to devolve to Richard, and to be vested in him and his heirs, to the exclusion of Prince Edward, the son of Margaret of Anjou.+

But there was a powerful party whose voices were not heard in these deliberations, and the energetic Margaret was at large exciting them to take up arms for her son. Soon the gentle hills of England glittered again with hostile lances, and hostile bands, collecting from all quarters, advanced to meet in two great armies, the one under the Duke of Somerset, the Earls of Northumberland and Devon, and the Lords Clifford, Dacres, and Nevil; the other under the Duke of York, the Earl of Salisbury, and other lords. They met, on the last day but one of the year, at Wakefield, in Yorkshire, where Richard, who was as quick in the field as he was slow and cautious in the council, imprudently gave battle with forces very inferior in number. The onslaught was terrific; the men on both sides fought with savage fury, for the people had entered into the delicate questions of right and legitimacy, and their passions were worked up to frenzy. For a time the Yorkists maintained the conflict with a good hope of victory, for they were in a better state of discipline than their adversaries; but a sudden charge in their rear, made by some troops of borderers who had been brought up by Queen Margaret, proved fatal to them. The duke himself was slain; and of five thousand men who had followed him to Wakefield, two thousand remained upon the field. The Earl of Salisbury was pursued and taken during the night: he was carried to Pontefract Castle, where he lost his head. York's second son, the Earl of Rutland, a beautiful boy only twelve or thirteen years old, was stopped at Wake field Bridge, as he was flying with a priest "called Sir Robert Aspall, who was chaplain and schoolmaster to the young earl." The poor boy fell on his knees to pray for mercy, but, as soon as he was known, Lord Clifford, whose father had been

Henry, it will be remembered, had claimed the crown as being "descended by right line of blood from the good lord King Henry III." (See Vol. i. p. 800.) He pretended that his ancestor, Edmund Earl of Lancaster, the great-grandfather of his mother the Duchess Blanche, was the elder brother of Edward I., but had been set aside in favour of Edward, in consequence of being deformed in body. This was simply a barefaced invention and untruth, in opposition to all evidence, and could not for a moment have deceived anybody. It seems to have been put forward merely as a decent superficial varLish, which might perhaps soften the irregular character of the

transaction to formal consciences.

Rot. Parl.-Whetham.-IIall

killed by the Yorkists at St. Alban's, plunged his dagger into his heart, vowing, by God's blood, that he would do the like to all of kin to York, and then the savage bade Aspall go on and tell his mother, the duchess, what had happened. England was nơ: yet accustomed to such deeds, and a cry of horror ran through the land. Margaret vented what spite she could upon the lifeless body of Duke Richard; by her orders his head was stuck over a gate of the city of York, and a paper crown was put upon it in cruel mockery. If he had had less mercy and moderation he might have worn the real crown long before, and have sent the husband and the son of Margaret to their graves. Nearly all the officers and persons of note died fighting at Wakefield, where no quarter was given; but a few knights and esquires who escaped from the field were taken and executed by order of the queen at Pontefract and other places. This vindictive woman was mad for blood, and her fury was but too well seconded by such of the Lancastrians as had lost friends and relations in the war. this deadly blood-supping was much joy and great rejoicing; but many laughed then that sore lamented after, as the queen herself and her son: and many were glad then of other men's deaths, not knowing that their own were near at hand, as the Lord Clifford and others."

"At

A.D. 1461.-Edward Earl of March, now Duke of York, was lying at Gloucester when he received news of the death of his father, brother, and friends he had raised a body of troops to reinforce the army in the north, but, being too late for that operation, he moved towards the south-east with the intention of throwing himself between the queen's army and the capital, within the walls of which was the main strength of his party. The fate of Duke Richard, which was proclaimed in manifestos, greatly irritated the vassals of the House of Mortimer, and thousands who had not moved before now left the Welsh marches and followed the standard of his son. Upon this he was encouraged to proceed directly towards the queen; but he found an enemy sooner than he expected, for a great force of Welsh and Irish had been detached under Jasper Earl of Pembroke, King Henry's half-brother, and a dreadful conflict took place on the 1st of February, at Mortimer's Cross, near Hereford. Edward gained a complete victory three thousand six hundred of his enemies were left on the field; Owen Tudor, the second husband of Catherine of France, was taken, and, with eight other Lancastrians of rank, was beheaded at Hereford a few days after, as a retaliation for the queen's executions at Wakefield, Pon tefract, and other parts in Yorkshire. Jasper, Owen Tudor's son, had the good fortune to escape out of the battle.

Before Edward could join him in the east, the Earl of Warwick was attacked and routed by the queen, who had followed the high northern road with good hopes of reaching London. At the

. Hall.

town of St. Alban's, which was held by the Yorkists, she experienced a severe check; but, turning that position, she fell upon the army of Warwick, which occupied the hills to the south-east of the town. The combat was prolonged over the undulating country that lies between St. Alban's and Barnet; and the last stand was made by the men of Kent upon Barnet Common. At night-fall, Warwick found himself beaten at all points; and so precipitate was his retreat that he left King Henry behind him at Barnet. The queen and her son found this helpless man in his tent, attended only by the Lord Montague, his chamberlain. In this running fight the Yorkists lost nearly two thousand men, and, on the following day, the Lord Bonvile and the brave Sir Thomas Kyriel, who had been made prisoners, were executed in retaliation for the beheading of Tudor and his companions at Hereford. In this manner every battle swelled the account of individual and party vengeance, until the whole war took the dark character of a personal feud. On the 17th of February King Henry was freed again from the hands of his enemies five days after, a proclamation was issued in his name, stating that he had consented to the late arrangement respecting the succession to the crown only through force and fear. Edward, "late Earl of March," was declared a traitor anew, and rewards were offered for his apprehension.

:

But Edward was now in a situation to proclaim traitors, and to put a price upon other men's heads himself. His victory at Mortimer's Cross, where more Lancastrians were slain than in any preceding battle, produced a great effect. As he marched eastward, every town and every village reinforced him, and when he joined the Earl of Warwick and collected that nobleman's scattered forces, he had an army more than equal to that of the queen. The favour of the Londoners, the cruelties of the queen, and the conduct of the undisciplined troops which she had brought from the north, made the balance incline wholly to the side of the Yorkists. It appears that Margaret and her party had no money, and that their troops subsisted by plunder. It was reported that the Borderers and the men of the north had expressly covenanted for the spoil of all things after they had once passed the river Trent, and their conduct seemed to verify this rumour. Wherever they stopped they laid the country bare, making free by the way with whatever they could carry off, and not making much difference between things sacred and things profane. After the battle, they not only plundered the town of St. Alban's, but also stripped the rich abbey. These doings got them an evil fame in all the south, where every man who had been quiet before began to arm for the protection of his property. According to one of our old historians, "the wealth of London looked pale, knowing itself in danger from the northern army, in which

The plunder of the abbey entirely changed the worthy abbot's polnis, and, from a zealous Lancastrian, Whethamstede became a Yorkist. VOL. II.

were Scots, Welsh, and Irish, as well as English." At the same time the Londoners were told that Margaret had threatened to wreak her vengeance upon them for the favour they had so constantly shown to her enemies. She sent from Barnet to the city, demanding supplies of provisions; and the mayor, not knowing as yet that Edward was at hand, loaded some carts with "lenten stuff" for the refreshing of her army; but the people would not suffer them to pass, and, after an affray, stopped them at Cripplegate. During this disturbance some four hundred horse, who had ridden from Barnet, plundered the northern suburbs of the city, and would have entered one of the gates had they not been stoutly met and repulsed by the common people. A day or two after, on the 25th of February, the united forces of Edward and Warwick appeared in view, and were received as friends and deliverers. The northern army was in full retreat from St. Alban's, and Edward, who was a stranger to the scruples and indecision of his more amiable father, was fully resolved to scize the throne at once. He rode through the city like a king and a conqueror: and he was carried forward to his object by a high stream of popularity and the enthusiastic feelings of the people, who could not sufficiently admire his youth, beauty, and spirit, or pity his family misfortunes. One of the chroniclers is at a loss for words to declare "how the Kentish men resorted,-how the people of Essex swarmed, and how all the counties near to London daily repaired to see, aid, and comfort this lusty prince and flower of chivalry, as he in whom the hope of their joy and the trust of their quietness then consisted."*

The Lord Falconberg got up a grand review of part of the army in St. John's Field; and a great number of the substantial citizens assembled with the multitude to witness this sight. Of a sudden, Falconberg and the Bishop of Exeter, one of Warwick's brothers, addressed the multitude thus assembled, touching the offences, crimes, and deceits of the late government,-the long-proved incapacity of Henry,-the usurpation and false title through which he had obtained the throne; and then the orators asked if they would have this Henry to reign over them any longer. The people, with one voice, cried "Nay, nay." Falconberg, or the bishop, then expounded the just title of Edward, formerly Earl of March, and drew a flattering, but not untrue, picture of his valour, activity, and abilities. Then they asked the people if they would serve, love, and obey Edward; and the people of course shouted "Yea, yea;" crying

King Edward! King Edward!" with much shouting and clapping of hands. But this scene in St. John's Field could scarcely be deemed, a sufficient election or recognition. On the following day, the 2nd of March, a great council, consisting of lords spiritual and temporal, deliberated and declared, without any reference to the authority of parliament, which never met till eight months

after, that Henry of Lancaster, by joining the queen's forces, had broken faith, and violated the award of the preceding year, and thereby forfeited. the crown to the heir of the late Duke of York, whose rights by birth had been proved and established. On the 4th of March, Edward rode royally to Westminster, followed by an immense procession. There he at once mounted the throne which his father had only touched with a faltering hand; and from that vantage ground he explained to a favourable audience the doctrine of hereditary

right, and the claims of his family. The people frequently interrupted him with their acclamations. He then proceeded to the abbey church, where he repeated the same discourse, and where he was again interrupted by shouts of "Long live King Edward!" On the same day he was proclaimed in the usual manner in different parts of the city.*

At the time he took these bold steps, Edward was not twenty one years old.

Whetham.-Cont. Croyl.-Stowe.-Hall.-Paston Letters.

A.D. 1461. Instead of staying in London to enjoy the pageant and festivity of a coronation, Edward was obliged to take the field instantly, and face the horrors of a war which became more and more merciless. The Lancastrians, after their retreat from St. Alban's, had gathered in greater force than ever behind the Trent and the Humber; and, by the middle of March, they took up ground in the neighbourhood of the city of York, being, horse and foot together, sixty thousand strong. Their chief commander was the Duke of Somerset, who acted in concert with Queen Margaret; for Henry still lay helpless at York, and the Prince Edward, Margaret's son, was only eight years old. Instead of awaiting their attack in the southern counties, the Yorkists determined to meet them on

their own ground in the north. This resolution was adopted by the advice of the Earl of Warwick, who set out at once with the van of the army. Edward closely followed him; and, partly through good will to him and his cause, and still more from an anxious wish to prevent a second visit from the northern army, the men of the south flocked to his advancing banner, and, by the time he reached Pontefract Castle, he was at the head of an army of forty-nine thousand men. England had never before witnessed such a campaign as this. There was no generalship displayed; the ordinary precautions and manoeuvres of war were despised, and Yorkists and Lancastrians moved on in furious masses, with no other plan than to meet and strike. They met in full force at Towton,

on the 28th of March, and began a general combat in the midst of a terrible snow-storm. They fought from nine o'clock in the morning till three in the afternoon, when the Lancastrians, who were more numerous than their adversaries, but not so well armed and equipped, were driven from the field, upon which they left twenty-eight thousand dead -a far greater number than had fallen in battle on the side of the English during the whole French war. Edward, who had none of the generous or merciful feelings of youth, had ordered that no quarter should be given. The Earl of Northumberland and six northern barons died fighting; the Earls of Devonshire and Wiltshire were taken prisoners, and beheaded as traitors. The Duke of Somerset, the commander-in-chief, escaped with the Duke of Exeter to York, whence they fled rapidly to the Scottish borders, carrying with them Queen Margaret, her son, and her husband. The previous battles of the Roses sink into insignificance when compared with this mighty slaughter the loss on both sides had hitherto usually ranged between the moderate numbers of three hundred and five or six thousand; but at Towton there perished, between Yorkists and Lancastrians, thirty-eight thousand men.* The effect of this deplorable sacrifice of human life was firmly to fix, for a time, the crown upon the head of a prince who soon proved that he was unworthy of it.

Edward entered York a very short time after the flight of Henry, and having decapitated some of his prisoners, and stuck their heads upon the walls, from which he took down the heads of his father and young brother, he continued his march as far north as Newcastle. The people submitted to the conqueror, whose hands were yet reeking with the blood shed at Towton; but the Scots, who had contracted a close alliance with Henry, were • Paston Letters.-Cont. Hist, Croyl.

disposed to give him farther trouble. But Edward, confident in his officers, and impatient for his coronation, soon left the army, and returned to London. On the 29th of June, he was crowned at Westminster, with the usual solemnities; and he then created his brother George, Duke of Clarence, and his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester. The Scots, who had been gratified by the gift of their old town of Berwick, laid siege to Carlisle, and assisted Margaret in making an incursion into the county of Durham: but both these operations were unsuccessful. Henry, who was carried about by the Lancastrians, had a narrow escape from being made prisoner near Durham; and the Scottish army before Carlisle was defeated with great loss by Lord Montague, one of Edward's commanders. By the time the new king assembled his first parliament, which was not till the 4th of November, all opposition had disappeared, and there was no armed force on foot in England, except such bands of his victorious army as he could afford to keep embodied. As the chiefs of the Lancastrian party were all proscribed, or about to be so, as some of the peers were absent, and others intimidated, and as the House of Commons and the city of London were declared and enthusiastic Yorkists, no opposition, no defence of the revolution which had placed the family of Lancaster on the throne, was to be apprehended. An act was passed to declare Edward's just title. No allusion was made to the mental derangement or incapacity of Henry, or to any of those demerits in the late government which might have justified this revolution. The position assumed was the high ground of legitimacy, which, however, would hardly have been thought of by the nation had it not been for the miserable weakness of the expelled sovereign. After stating Edward's right by descent, the act proceeded to declare the three kings of the Lan