THE

National School Magazine.

NO. 37.]

OCTOBER 15th, 1825.

[VOL. III

SHORT HISTORY OF ENGLAND. (No. XIX. Continued from p. 83.).

WHEN Edward the Fourth died in the year 1483, his son Edward the Fifth

became king. He was then only a boy of about thirteen years of age; and, on account of his youth, his uncle Richard, the duke of Gloucester, was appointed protector. This duke of Gloucester was the same wicked man who was afterwards Richard the Third, and he was so savage a monster that, instead of taking care of the young king, he caused him and his little brother, the duke of York, to be murdered in the tower, that he himself might be made king when they were both out of the way. This wicked duke had sent these little princes to the tower of London, pretending that he did this for the sake of guarding them the better from their enemies, but his real intention was to keep them in his power, that he might put them to death. When they were in the tower, the duke spoke to Brackenbury the governor, and asked him to kill these princes; but Backenbury refused to be guilty of such a dreadful crime. He was therefore removed from his office, and Sir James Tyrrel was appointed governor the tower in his stead. This Tyrrel ed some savage ruffians, who were

hard-hearted enough to undertake the bloody task of murdering these dear children in their sleep. They accordingly came into the chamber where the princes were sleeping, and, in the most savage manner, put them to death by smothering them with their pillows. They took the dead bodies, and buried them at the foot of the stairs, and covered up the place again with the pavement, so that nobody knew where the bodies were, till many years afterwards, when they were found by some workmen.

This was not the only bloody deed that this tyrant committed. He seized Lord Hastings, because he was friendly to the young princes; and he said he would not dine till he had seen his head taken of; aud accordingly that nobleman had his head struck off on a piece of wood that happened to be near. He also behaved in a most cruel manner to Jane Shore (whom we spoke of in the last chapter). In former times it was customary for persons who had been guilty of great crimes to do penance, as it was called. This punishment obliged them to walk barefoo

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into the church, in a white sheet, carrying a candle, and publicly confessing their crimes. And Richard had. made this poor creature's punishment so severe, that nobody was allowed to shew any act of charity to her, Thus she wandered about London, barefoot, and without food to support her, till at length she died in the greatest poverty and distress. Jane Shore had been guilty of a great crime; but the real reason of Richard's anger was, that she had been kind to the young princes whom Richard murdered.

Richard now became king, all along pretending that he did not wish for this honour, but that the citizens forced it upon him; and, during his short reign, he committed so many acts of cruelty, that every body was set against him; and this encouraged the duke of Richmond to raise an army, and to try to drive Richard from the throne, Richmond was of the Lancaster family (the red rose party); he had indeed no right to the throne, but he soon gained friends and followers on account of the hatred in which Richard was held.

chard was a bold man, and he soon

went with his army to meet Richmond, and they met in Bosworth field, in Leicestershire, where they fought a dreadful battle, in which the bloody Richard was killed, and Richmond was then proclaimed king under the title of Henry the Seventh. This was in the year 1485. (To be continued.)

QUESTIONS IN ARITHMETIC. Most of our young readers are well skilled in arithmetic; as the National School system answers particularly well for teaching this branch of education. The following questions then will be despised by some of the senior scholars; they may however afford a little practice to the younger ones. We shall give the answers in our next number, for the benefit of those who may not be sure whether they are right, and have not friends at hand to tell them.

1. The world was created 4004 years before the birth of our Saviour; how old is it now, in the year 1825?

2. How long is it since the deluge in