CHAP. V. to England.'

1467.

The Englishmen in a great furie answered: I perceive now their sayings to prove true, that told us you would deride us for making peace. Call you the money the king giveth us a pension? It is tribute; and by St. George you may babble so much that you may soon make us to return.' But I," continues the judicious minister, "brake off the talke, and turned it to a jest ; notwithstanding, the Englishman was discontented, and cast out a word thereof to the king, who was marvellously offended with the Lord of Narbonne for his speech."

Edward, secure upon his throne, disregarded the indications of popular feeling which reached his ears; not one of his nobles had possessed sufficient virtue to reject the tempting offers of Louis; nay, they were to a man retained in his pay, and the disaffected portion of the nation destitute of a leader to incite them to a more dangerous manifestation of their resentment, allowed their angry passions to evaporate in words. The king by a harsh yet well-timed severity punished the too licentious expressions of his subjects, visited with inflexible justice the outrages of his disbanded soldiery, and giving the sanction of his presence to the provincial circuits, enforced the most rigid decree of the law upon every convicted culprit, whatever might have been his station or his services. Terrified into submission by these vigorous measures, the nation became tranquil, and ceased to animadvert upon the proceedings of the government.

The Duke of Bretagne, overpowered by the weight of his obligations to Edward, nearly sacrificed to his

gratitude the exiles whom he had generously refused CHAP. V. to deliver up in his necessities. The King of England, tormented with a prophetic fear of danger to his house from young Richmond, persuaded his too credulous ally that he was actuated by the most friendly and honourable motives in his desire to obtain possession of the earl, being anxious to secure his affection and to attach him to his interests by giving him one of his daughters in marriage. The duke deceived by these assurances resigned his prisoners into the hands of the ambassadors appointed by Edward to receive them ;* but Cheulet, one of his council, suspecting the monarch's sincerity,t represented in strong and animated terms to this honourable prince the indelible stain which would darken his memory, if the nobles, to whom in their adversity he had granted shelter and protection, should by his connivance be involved in death and ruin; and touched by the generous eloquence of his faithful adviser, he dispatched Peter Landois, a favourite servant, to prevent their departure from his dominions. The delay of an hour would have changed the destinies of Henry Tudor, upon the point of embarking at St. Maloes to meet a doubtful fate; his voyage was arrested by the joyful interposition of the duke's faithful servant; a stratagem was necessary to recover him from the grasp of Edward: the embassadors were secure of their prize, and Landois engaged them in conversation whilst Pembroke and Richmond, apprised of the duke's change of measures, hastened into sanctuary, and remained protected by the inviolable privileges of

CHAP. V. their asylum until the return of Edward's messengers to England. Francis handsomely excused his noncompliance with the king's wishes, and assured him that he might banish all apprehension of injury from his prisoners, whom he would guard too effectually for the chance of their accomplishing the slightest evil against his crown and government; and Edward, either really innocent of those sanguinary intentions imputed to him, or fearful of betraying a criminal design upon these unhappy fugitives, abstained from any farther attempt to obtain the custody of their

persons.

The importance of the heir of the illegitimate house of Somerset, a young man scarcely possessing the shadow of a right to the English throne, destitute of family connections, all his relations, with the exception of his mother and his exiled uncle, having been swept away in the civil wars, an alien without property, patronage, or influence, affords a strong proof of the inveterate prejudices of the Lancastrians; and the determined yet apparently hopeless obstinacy with which they clung to the withering branches of the red rose; yet Edward with short-sighted policy listened to the unkind suggestions of the enemies of Clarence, and suffering his long slumbering anger to be rekindled, in pursuing the dictates of revenge, destroyed one of the bulwarks of his throne.

CHAPTER VI.

Struggles in the Cabinet-Edward's Indolence-Discontent of Clarence-he aspires to the Hand of the Princess of Burgundy-Disappointment of his Hopes-Enmity of the Queen-Impolicy of Clarence Misconstruction of Burdett's hasty Speech-Persecution of the Duke's Servants-Arrest of Clarence-his Trial before the Peers-The King's Speech in Parliament-Condemnation of Clarence-his friendless Situation-his mysterious Death-Edward's bitter Repentance-Misfortunes of the Heirs of Clarence-Grants to Lord Rivers-Edward devotes himself to Pleasure-he enriches himself by Trade-Base Conduct of the French King-Edward projects Alliances for his Children-Marriage of the Infant Duke of York with a Baby Wife-Stately Hunt at Waltham-Present to the Citizens' Wives-Treachery of Louis XI.-Lord Howard's Mission to Paris -Rupture with Scotland-Intemperate Language of Edward and James-Rebellious Spirit of the Scottish Nobles-Execution of the Earl of Mar-Albany's Visit at the English Court-his Proposals to Edward-Siege of Berwick-Destruction of the Favourites of James-Albany and Gloucester advance to Edinburgh-Reconciliation of Albany and his Brother-Edward's Discontent at the Expences of the War-Breach between France and England –Edward's Illness-his ineffectual Attempt to reconcile the Nobles—he repents of his Extortion-Death of the King-Edward's Disposition and Character-Reports in France respecting the Cause of his Death.

VI.

WHILST profound tranquillity reigned abroad, and CHAP. a deceitful calm lulled Edward into fatal security at home, the English council-chamber was filled with intrigue and cabal. A formidable party opposed

1476.

VI.

CHAP. themselves to the queen's relations; and though the struggles of the rival factions for power were no longer as heretofore backed by hosts of armed retainers, they entailed the same deadly consequences on the realm, sacrificed the life of Clarence, and paved the way to new scenes of blood and carnage. The brothers of Elizabeth Gray though amiable were ambitious; they saw themselves held in scorn by a haughty nobility, and they sought to gain supremacy over contemptuous, superiors in birth, by new acquisitions, which in increasing honours and riches already considered above their desert, added fresh incitements to the jealousy of their enemies.

The king plunged into a career of vicious extravagance, surrounded by courtezans, and studying only how to feed his intemperance by enriching the crown revenues without the risque of alienating his subjects' hearts by the imposition of heavy taxes, was too much engaged in these pleasures and cares to direct his attention to the most effectual means of counteracting the evils threatened by the dangerous strife of his nobles: and content with soothing them into temporary pacification, sought only to engage the rival parties in the gay revels of a profligate court. Smiles played upon the features of those who sate round the monarch's festal board, but envy, hatred, and jealousy rankled with festering anguish in their hearts.

Edward's schemes of finance had given umbrage to his brother, the acts passed by parliament for the resumption of royal grants, though frequent, had seldom been productive in consequence of the danger of depriving potent nobles of their wealth;