CHAP. June 8. Negocia tion with HISTORY OF ENGLAND. to the suggestions of his favourite: an armistice between the two nations prepared the way for more frequent intercourse: the king raised a body of a thousand archers for the service of his new friend; and a dark plot was framed for the apprehension of Henry and of his principal adherents.20 They would have been caught in the toils of their wily adversary, had they not been warned of their danger by Morton, and found a new and safer asylum in the dominions of Charles VIII. king of France, where they employed more than a year in making new preparations for their intended expedition. During the interval Richard put an end to the Scotland. tedious and destructive hostilities between the Scots and his subjects. The duke of Albany and the earl Douglas had received from him the same protection, which on a former occasion they had received from his brother: but he was too much occupied with his own concerns to lend them effectual aid; and their efforts were confined to occasional inroads by land, and piratical depredations by sea. During this summer they had attempted to surprise the merchants at the fair of Lochmaben: but were repulsed with considerable loss, and the capture of Douglas and several of his English associates. This disgrace, however, was more than compensated by the success of the English cruisers 2o Rym. xii. 226. 229. Argentré, xiii. 26. : V. against the commerce of Scotland: and at the solicitation of James an armistice for three years, and an alliance by marriage between the Sept. 21. royal families of the two kingdoms, was concluded at Nottingham. Richard, indeed, after the death of his son, was without legitimate children but he had declared John earl of Lincoln, and son of his sister the dutchess of Suffolk, heir apparent to the crown; and he now affianced the sister of that young prince, Anne de la Pole, to the eldest son of the king of Scotland. It was mutually stipulated, that the marriage should take place as soon as the parties had arrived at the age of puberty. At Christmas the king kept his court in the The king palace of Westminster. Whether it were from policy or inclination, he affected extraordinary Elizabeth. magnificence: the holidays were a constant repetition of feasting, balls, and amusements; and it was remarked with surprise that in every company his niece Elizabeth appeared in robes exactly similar to those worn by the queen consort. Before men could discover the cause of this unusual arrangement, the latter suddenly fell sick; and Richard in expectation of her death, offered his hand to his niece. Her mother 21 21 "1 Rym. xii, 235–246. Rouse informs us that the young earl of Warwick, the son of the late duke of Clarence, was treated at first as heir apparent: but that after some time he was removed, put in close custody, and the young earl of Lincoln substituted for him, p. 218. wishes to marry the princess V. 1485. Feb. CHAP. is said not to have disapproved of the unnatural union, but to have written to her son the marquess of Dorset at Paris, and to have ordered him to retire from the councils of Henry. The princess herself in a letter which she wrote to the duke of Norfolk, shewed how much she was dazzled with the splendours of royalty. She solicited the good offices of that nobleman in her favour, protested that the king was "her joy "and maker in this world, and that she was his "in heart and thought," and hinted her surprise at the duration of the queen's illness, and her apprehensions "that she would never die." These March. apprehensions, however, were soon quieted: in less than a month the queen expired; and Elizabeth was flattered with the idea of mounting the throne, Richard with the prospect of disconcerting by this marriage the machinations of his rival. But when the king communicated the plan to Ratcliffe and Catesby, confidants by whose advice he was generally ruled, he experienced an unexpected and most obstinate But is dis opposition. Their objection perhaps arose, as the historian surmises, from a well-grounded apprehension, that if Elizabeth should become queen, she would revenge on them the murder of her uncle and brother at Pontefract: but their arguments, whatever were their secret motives, deserved the most serious attention of their suaded. 22 See Buck, p. 568. V. master. They represented to him that this in- CHAP, cestuous marriage would be an object of horror to the people, and would be condemned by the clergy: that suspicions were already entertained of his having removed the queen by poison to make room for the niece: that to marry her in the present circumstances would convert such suspicions into a certainty, and would in consequence deprive him of his staunchest adherents, the men of the northern counties, for whose 'support he had been hitherto indebted to the respect, which they bore to his late consort, as daughter of the great earl of Warwick. The king, though with considerable reluctance, yielded to their remonstrances. In the great hall of the Temple he assured the mayor, aldermen, and commoners, that no such marriage had ever been contemplated; and by a letter to the citizens of April 11. York, required them to refuse credit to the slanderous tales which had been circulated, and to apprehend and bring before the council all persons known to advance or propagate reports to his prejudice.24 23 From the expressions in Elizabeth's letter mentioned before, there is reason to fear that this suspicion was too true. It is evident Richard had not only promised to marry her, but had told her that the queen would die in February. Hence she observes that the better part of February is past, and the queen still alive. Buck, p. 568. 24 See the whole account in the Croyland Historian, 572, The letter to the citizens of York is in Drake's Eboracum, p. 119. That writer supposes it to have been written in 1484. But as it alludes CHAP. V. His difficulties and preparations. As the time approached, in which the contest for the crown was to be decided, the mind of Richard became the prey of doubts and apprehensions. It may be that the disturbed rest, the imaginary spectres, and the sudden terrors described by sir Thomas More, were the fictions of his enemies:25 but, unfurnished as he was with money, and suspicious of his adherents, he could not look forward to a contest, in which his crown and life were at stake, without feeling considerable alarm. The treasures left by his brother, the monies arising from the late forfeitures, and three tenths obtained from the clergy, had all been expended. He dared not summon a parliament for the purpose of demanding a subsidy and to solicit a benevolence he had already pronounced illegal and unconstitutional. Yet his necessities compelled him to adopt the thing, while he refused it the name: to the reports about the marriage, and observes that the king had already explained matters to the citizens of London, which the Croyland Historian says he did some time before Easter, I have no difficulty in fixing it to the present year. 25❝I have heard by credible report of such as were secret with his "chamberers, that he never had quiet in his mind, never thought him"self sure. When he went abroad, his eyes whirled about, his "body privily fenced, his hand ever on his dagger, his countenance " and manner like one always ready to strike again. He took ill rest “at nights, lay long waking and musing, sore wearied with care and "watch, rather slumbered than slept, troubled with fearful dreams, "suddenly sometimes started up, leapt out of bed, and run about "the chamber, so was his restless heart continually tossed and tum"bled with the tedious impression and stormy remembrance of his "abominable deed." More, 69. |