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diff --git a/25275-h/25275-h.htm b/25275-h/25275-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ec8da89 --- /dev/null +++ b/25275-h/25275-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7872 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html lang="en"> + +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg e-Book of Margaret of Anjou; Author: Jacob Abbott.</title> + + +<style type="text/css"> +<!-- + +body {font-size: 1em; text-align: justify; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 5%;} + +h1 {font-size: 130%; text-align: center; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} +h2 {font-size: 120%; text-align: center; margin-top: 4em; margin-bottom: 2em;} +h3 {font-size: 120%; text-align: center; margin-top: 4em;} + +a:focus, a:active {outline:#ffee66 solid 2px; background-color:#ffee66;} +a:focus img, a:active img {outline: #ffee66 solid 2px; } + +ul.roman {list-style-type: upper-roman; font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 95%;} +ul.none {list-style-type: none; font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 95%;} +li {line-height: 1.5em;} + +hr {width: 20%; text-align: center;} +p {text-indent: 1em;} + +table {border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: fixed; width: 100%; + margin-top: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em;} + +span.sidenote {font-size: 75%; font-style: italic; + margin-left: -10%; width: 10%; + clear: left; float: left; + text-indent: 0em; text-align: left; + padding: 0.5em 1.5em 0.5em 0.2em;} + +.pagenum {visibility: hidden; + position: absolute; right:0; text-align: right; + font-size: 10px; + font-weight: normal; font-variant: normal; + font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; + color: #C0C0C0; background-color: inherit;} + +.quote {margin-left: 5%; font-size: 95%; margin-top: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em;} +.chapter {text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2em; font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 105%;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 95%;} +.italic {font-style: italic;} +.small {font-size: 70%;} +.smaller {font-size: smaller;} +.font105 {font-size: 105%;} + +.p4 {margin-top: 4em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +.center {text-align: center;} +.ralign {position: absolute; right: 5%; top: auto;} +.noindent {text-indent: 0em;} +.figcenter p {text-indent: 0em;} +.left40 {margin-left: 40%;} + +.tn {margin-left: 10%; width: 80%; text-indent: 0em; font-size: 85%;} + +.figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center; margin-top: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em;} + +.bdr-right {border-right: 1px solid gray;} +.bdr-top {border-top: 1px solid gray;} + +--> +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Margaret of Anjou, by Jacob Abbott + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Margaret of Anjou + Makers of History + +Author: Jacob Abbott + +Release Date: May 1, 2008 [EBook #25275] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARGARET OF ANJOU *** + + + + +Produced by D. Alexander, Christine P. Travers and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<p class="tn">Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected, +all other inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling has been +maintained.</p> + +<p class="p4 center font105 noindent">Makers of History</p> + +<h1>Margaret of Anjou</h1> + +<p class="p4 center noindent">BY</p> + +<h2>JACOB ABBOTT</h2> + +<p class="p4 center noindent">WITH ENGRAVINGS</p> + +<a id="img000" name="img000"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img000.jpg" width="100" height="122" alt="Editor's arm." title=""> +</div> + +<p class="p4 center smaller noindent">NEW YORK AND LONDON<br> + HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS<br> + 1902</p> + +<p class="p4 center smaller noindent">Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight +hundred and sixty-one, by</p> + +<p class="center smaller noindent">HARPER & BROTHERS,</p> + +<p class="center smaller noindent">In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District +of New York.</p> + +<a id="img001" name="img001"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img001.jpg" width="600" height="345" alt="" title=""> +<p>The Bridal Procession.</p> +</div> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a id="page011" name="page011"></a>(p. 011)</span> PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>The story of Margaret of Anjou forms a part of the history of England, +for the lady, though of Continental origin, was the queen of one of +the English kings, and England was the scene of her most remarkable +adventures and exploits. She lived in very stormy times, and led a +very stormy life; and her history, besides the interest which it +excites from the extraordinary personal and political vicissitudes +which it records, is also useful in throwing a great deal of light +upon the ideas of right and wrong, and of good and evil, and upon the +manners and customs, both of peace and war, which prevailed in England +during the age of chivalry.</p> + +<a id="toc" name="toc"></a> +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a id="page012" name="page012"></a>(p. 012)</span> CONTENTS.</h2> + +<ul class="none"> +<li>CHAPTER <span class="ralign">PAGE</span></li> +</ul> + +<ul class="roman"> +<li>THE HOUSES OF YORK AND LANCASTER +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page015" title="Link to page 15">15</a></span></li> + +<li>MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE TIME +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page030" title="Link to page 30">30</a></span></li> + +<li>KING HENRY VI +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page046" title="Link to page 46">46</a></span></li> + +<li>MARGARET'S FATHER AND MOTHER +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page059" title="Link to page 59">59</a></span></li> + +<li>ROYAL COURTSHIP +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page075" title="Link to page 75">75</a></span></li> + +<li>THE WEDDING +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page093" title="Link to page 93">93</a></span></li> + +<li>RECEPTION IN ENGLAND +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page115" title="Link to page 115">115</a></span></li> + +<li>THE STORY OF LADY NEVILLE +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page125" title="Link to page 125">125</a></span></li> + +<li>PLOTTINGS +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page143" title="Link to page 143">143</a></span></li> + +<li>THE FALL OF GLOUCESTER +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page157" title="Link to page 157">157</a></span></li> + +<li>THE FALL OF SUFFOLK +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page171" title="Link to page 171">171</a></span></li> + +<li>BIRTH OF A PRINCE +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page188" title="Link to page 188">188</a></span></li> + +<li>ILLNESS OF THE KING +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page199" title="Link to page 199">199</a></span></li> + +<li>ANXIETY AND TROUBLE +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page207" title="Link to page 207">207</a></span></li> + +<li>MARGARET A FUGITIVE +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page222" title="Link to page 222">222</a></span></li> + +<li>MARGARET TRIUMPHANT +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page231" title="Link to page 231">231</a></span></li> + +<li>MARGARET AN EXILE +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page237" title="Link to page 237">237</a></span></li> + +<li>A ROYAL COUSIN +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page244" title="Link to page 244">244</a></span></li> + +<li>RETURN TO ENGLAND +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page254" title="Link to page 254">254</a></span></li> + +<li>YEARS OF EXILE +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page269" title="Link to page 269">269</a></span></li> + +<li>THE RECONCILIATION WITH WARWICK +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page278" title="Link to page 278">278</a></span></li> + +<li>BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page285" title="Link to page 285">285</a></span></li> + +<li>CHILDLESS, AND A WIDOW +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page292" title="Link to page 292">292</a></span></li> + +<li>CONCLUSION +<span class="ralign"><a href="#page306" title="Link to page 306">306</a></span></li> +</ul> + +<h2><span class="pagenum"><a id="page013" name="page013"></a>(p. 013)</span> ENGRAVINGS.</h2> + +<ul class="none"> +<li> <span class="ralign">PAGE</span></li> + +<li>THE BRIDAL PROCESSION +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img001" title="Link to Illustration"><span class="italic">Frontispiece.</span></a></span></li> + +<li>GENERAL MAP +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img002" title="Link to Illustration">14</a></span></li> + +<li>SELECTING THE ROSES +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img003" title="Link to Illustration">22</a></span></li> + +<li>ORDEAL COMBAT +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img004" title="Link to Illustration">35</a></span></li> + +<li>HENRY VI. IN HIS YOUTH +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img005" title="Link to Illustration">54</a></span></li> + +<li>THE PENANCE +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img006" title="Link to Illustration">56</a></span></li> + +<li>DISTRESS OF MARGARET'S MOTHER +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img007" title="Link to Illustration">65</a></span></li> + +<li>SUFFOLK PRESENTING MARGARET TO THE KING +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img008" title="Link to Illustration">107</a></span></li> + +<li>ANCIENT PORTRAIT OF QUEEN MARGARET +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img009" title="Link to Illustration">117</a></span></li> + +<li>FEMALE COSTUME IN THE TIME OF HENRY VI +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img010" title="Link to Illustration">138</a></span></li> + +<li>THE CHARGES AGAINST GLOUCESTER +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img011" title="Link to Illustration">160</a></span></li> + +<li>ROUEN +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img012" title="Link to Illustration">176</a></span></li> + +<li>VIEW OF BORDEAUX +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img013" title="Link to Illustration">180</a></span></li> + +<li>THE TEMPLE GARDEN +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img014" title="Link to Illustration">192</a></span></li> + +<li>THE LITTLE PRINCE AND HIS SWANS +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img015" title="Link to Illustration">220</a></span></li> + +<li>MURDER OF RICHARD'S CHILD +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img016" title="Link to Illustration">235</a></span></li> + +<li>LOUIS XI., MARGARET'S COUSIN +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img017" title="Link to Illustration">251</a></span></li> + +<li>MAP OF THE BORDER +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img018" title="Link to Illustration">255</a></span></li> + +<li>MARGARET AT THE CAVE +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img019" title="Link to Illustration">263</a></span></li> + +<li>DEATH OF WARWICK +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img020" title="Link to Illustration">289</a></span></li> + +<li>TEWKESBURY +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img021" title="Link to Illustration">297</a></span></li> + +<li>THE MURDER OF PRINCE HENRY +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img022" title="Link to Illustration">302</a></span></li> + +<li>VIEW OF CHERTSEY +<span class="ralign"><a href="#img023" title="Link to Illustration">308</a></span></li> +</ul> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page014" name="page014"></a>(p. 014)</span> + +<a id="img002" name="img002"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img002.jpg" width="600" height="1047" alt="" title=""> +<p>Map, Illustrating the History of Margaret of Anjou.</p> +</div> + +<h1><span class="pagenum"><a id="page015" name="page015"></a>(p. 015)</span> MARGARET OF ANJOU.</h1> + +<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">The Houses of York and Lancaster.</p> + + +<span class="sidenote">A real heroine.</span> + +<p>Margaret of Anjou was a heroine; not a heroine of romance and fiction, +but of stern and terrible reality. Her life was a series of military +exploits, attended with dangers, privations, sufferings, and wonderful +vicissitudes of fortune, scarcely to be paralleled in the whole +history of mankind.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Two great quarrels.</span> + +<p>She was born and lived in a period during which there prevailed in the +western part of Europe two great and dreadful quarrels, which lasted +for more than a hundred years, and which kept France and England, and +all the countries contiguous to them, in a state of continual +commotion during all that time.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Contest between the houses of York and Lancaster.</span> + +<p>The first of these quarrels grew out of a dispute which arose among +the various branches of the royal family of England in respect to the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page016" name="page016"></a>(p. 016)</span> succession to the crown. The two principal branches of the +family were the descendants respectively of the Dukes of York and +Lancaster, and the wars which they waged against each other are called +in history the wars of the houses of York and Lancaster. These wars +continued for several successive generations, and Margaret of Anjou +was the queen of one of the most prominent representatives of the +Lancaster line. Thus she became most intimately involved in the +quarrel.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Wars in France.</span> + +<p>The second great contention which prevailed during this period +consisted of the wars waged between France and England for the +possession of the territory which now forms the northern portion of +France. A large portion of that territory, during the reigns that +immediately preceded the time of Margaret of Anjou, had belonged to +England. But the kings of France were continually attempting to regain +possession of it—the English, of course, all the time making +desperate resistance. Thus, for a hundred years, including the time +while Margaret lived, England was involved in a double set of +wars—the one internal, being waged by one branch of the royal family +against the other for the possession of the throne, and the other +external, being waged against France and other <span class="pagenum"><a id="page017" name="page017"></a>(p. 017)</span> Continental +powers for the possession of the towns and castles, and the country +dependent upon them, which lay along the southern shore of the English +Channel.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Origin of Difficulty.</span> + +<p>In order that the story of Margaret of Anjou may be properly +understood, it will be necessary first to give some explanations in +respect to the nature of these two quarrels, and to the progress which +had been made in them up to the time when Margaret came upon the +stage. We shall begin with the internal or civil wars which were waged +between the families of York and Lancaster. Some account of the origin +and nature of this difficulty is given in our history of Richard III., +but it is necessary to allude to it again here, and to state some +additional particulars in respect to it, on account of the very +important part which Margaret of Anjou performed in the quarrel.</p> + +<p>The difficulty originated among the children and descendants of King +Edward III. He reigned in the early part of the fourteenth century. He +occupied the throne a long time, and his reign was considered very +prosperous and glorious. The prosperity and glory of it consisted, in +a great measure, in the success of the wars which he waged in France, +and in the towns, and castles, and districts of country <span class="pagenum"><a id="page018" name="page018"></a>(p. 018)</span> +which he conquered there, and annexed to the English domain.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The sons of Edward III.</span> + +<p>In these wars old King Edward was assisted very much by the princes +his sons, who were very warlike young men, and who were engaged from +time to time in many victorious campaigns on the Continent. They began +this career when they were very young, and they continued it through +all the years of their manhood and middle life, for their father lived +to an advanced age.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The Black Prince.</span> + +<p>The most remarkable of these warlike princes were Edward and John. +Edward was the oldest son, and John the third in order of age of those +who arrived at maturity. The name of the second was Lionel. Edward, +the oldest son, was of course the Prince of Wales; but, to distinguish +him from other Princes of Wales that preceded and followed him, he is +known commonly in history by the name of the Black Prince. He received +this name originally on account of something about his armor which was +black, and which marked his appearance among the other knights on the +field of battle.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Richard II.</span> + +<p>The Black Prince did not live to succeed his father and inherit the +throne, for he lost his health in his campaigns on the Continent, and +came home to England, and died a few years <span class="pagenum"><a id="page019" name="page019"></a>(p. 019)</span> before his father +died. His son, whose name was Richard, was his heir, and when at +length old King Edward died, this young Richard succeeded to the +crown, under the title of King Richard II. In the history of Richard +II., in this series, a full account of the life of his father, the +Black Prince, is given, and of the various remarkable adventures that +he met with in his Continental campaigns.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">John of Gaunt.</span> + +<p>Prince John, the third of the sons of old King Edward, is commonly +known in history as John of Gaunt. This word Gaunt was the nearest +approach that the English people could make in those days to the +pronunciation of the word Ghent, the name of the town where John was +born. For King Edward, in the early part of his life, was accustomed +to take all his family with him in his Continental campaigns, and so +his several children were born in different places, one in one city +and another in another, and many of them received names from the +places where they happened to be born.</p> + +<a id="img003" name="img003"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img003.jpg" width="400" height="587" alt="" title=""> +<p>Selecting the Roses.</p> +</div> + +<p>On the following page we have a genealogical table of the family of +Edward III. At the head of it we have the names of Edward III. and +Philippa his wife. In a line below are the names of those four of his +sons whose descendants figure in English history. It was <span class="pagenum"><a id="page023" name="page023"></a>(p. 023)</span> +among the descendants of these sons that the celebrated wars between +the houses of York and Lancaster, called the wars of the roses, arose.</p> + +<p class="center">Genealogical Table of the Family of Edward III., Showing the +Connection of the Houses of York and Lancaster.</p> + +<p class="center">Genealogical table of the descendants of Edward III.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" summary="Genealogical table of the descendants of Edward III."> +<colgroup> + <col width="13%"> + <col width="12%"> + <col width="13%"> + <col width="12%"> + <col width="13%"> + <col width="12%"> + <col width="4%"> + <col width="4%"> + <col width="4%"> + <col width="4%"> + <col width="4%"> + <col width="4%"> +</colgroup> + +<tr> +<td colspan="12" class="center">EDWARD III.==Philippa.</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="4" class="bdr-right"> </td> +<td colspan="8"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="bdr-right"> </td> +<td colspan="2" class="bdr-right bdr-top"> </td> +<td colspan="2" class="bdr-right bdr-top"> </td> +<td colspan="4" class="bdr-right bdr-top"> </td> +<td colspan="3"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2" class="center"><span class="smcap">Edward</span> (The Black Prince).</td> +<td colspan="2" class="center"><span class="smcap">Lionel</span> (Duke of Clarence).</td> +<td colspan="2" class="center"><span class="smcap">John</span> (of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster).</td> +<td colspan="6" class="center"><span class="smcap">Edmund</span> (Duke of York).</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="bdr-right"> </td> +<td colspan="2" class="bdr-right"> </td> +<td colspan="2" class="bdr-right"> </td> +<td colspan="4" class="bdr-right"> </td> +<td colspan="3"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2" class="center"><span class="smcap">Richard II</span>.</td> +<td colspan="2" class="center"><span class="smcap">Philippa</span>==Edward Mortimer.</td> +<td colspan="2" class="center"><span class="smcap">Henry IV</span>.</td> +<td colspan="6" class="center"><span class="smcap">Richard</span>==Anne. (<span class="italic">See second Column.</span>)</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="3" class="bdr-right"> </td> +<td colspan="2" class="bdr-right"> </td> +<td colspan="4" class="bdr-right"> </td> +<td colspan="3"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"> </td> +<td colspan="2" class="center"><span class="smcap">Roger Mortimer</span> (Earl of Marche).</td> +<td colspan="2" class="center"><span class="smcap">Henry V</span>.</td> +<td colspan="3" class="bdr-right"> </td> +<td colspan="3"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="3" class="bdr-right"> </td> +<td colspan="2" class="bdr-right"> </td> +<td colspan="4" class="bdr-right"> </td> +<td colspan="3"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"> </td> +<td colspan="2" class="center"><span class="smcap">Anne</span>==Richard of York. (<span class="italic">See fourth column.</span>)</td> +<td colspan="2" class="center"><span class="smcap">Henry VI</span>.</td> +<td colspan="6" class="center"><span class="smcap">Richard Plantagenet</span> (Duke of York).</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="5" class="bdr-right"> </td> +<td colspan="4" class="bdr-right"> </td> +<td colspan="3"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="4"> </td> +<td colspan="2" class="center"><span class="smcap">Edward</span> (Prince of Wales).</td> +<td class="bdr-right"> </td> +<td colspan="2" class="bdr-top bdr-right"> </td> +<td colspan="2" class="bdr-top bdr-right"> </td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="6"> </td> +<td colspan="2" class="center"><span class="smcap">Edward IV</span>. </td> +<td colspan="2" class="center"><span class="smcap">George</span> (Duke of Clarence).</td> +<td colspan="2" class="center"><span class="smcap">Richard III</span>.</td> +<td> </td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p>The character == denotes marriage; the short perpendicular line | a +descent. There were many other children and descendants in the +different branches of the family besides those whose names are +inserted in the table. The table includes only those essential to an +understanding of the history.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The roses.</span> + +<p>These wars were called the wars of the roses from the circumstance +that the white and the red rose happened in some way to be chosen as +the badges of the two parties—the white rose being that of the house +of York, and the red that of the house of Lancaster.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The four brothers.</span> + +<p>The reader will observe that the dukes of Lancaster and York are the +third and fourth of the brothers enumerated in the table, whereas it +might have been supposed that any contest which should have arisen in +respect to the crown would have taken place between families of the +first and second. But the first and second sons and their descendants +were soon set aside, as it were, from the competition, in the +following manner.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Ambition of Richard's uncles.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Richard's character.</span> + +<p>The line of the first brother soon became extinct. Edward himself, the +Prince of Wales, died during his father's lifetime, leaving his son +Richard as his heir. Then, when the old king died, Richard succeeded +him. As he was the oldest living son of the oldest son, his claim +could not be disputed, and so his uncles acquiesced in it. They wished +very much, it <span class="pagenum"><a id="page024" name="page024"></a>(p. 024)</span> is true, to govern the realm, but they +contented themselves with ruling in Richard's name until he became of +age, and then Richard took the government into his own hands. The +country was tolerably well satisfied under his dominion for some +years, but at length Richard became dissipated and vicious, and he +domineered over the people of England in so haughty a manner, and +oppressed them so severely by the taxes and other exactions which he +laid upon them, that a very general discontent prevailed at last +against him and against his government. This discontent would have +given either of his uncles a great advantage in any design which they +might have formed to take away the crown from him. As it was, it +greatly increased their power and influence in the land, and +diminished, in a corresponding degree, that of the king. The uncles +appear to have been contented with this share of power and influence, +which seemed naturally to fall into their hands, and did not attempt +any open rebellion.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">His cousin Henry.</span> + +<p>Richard had a cousin, however, a young man of just about his own age, +who was driven at last, by a peculiar train of circumstances, to rise +against him. This cousin was the son of his uncle John. His name was +Henry Bolingbroke. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page025" name="page025"></a>(p. 025)</span> He appears in the genealogical table as +Henry IV., that having been his title subsequently as King of England.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Quarrel between Henry and Norfolk.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The trial.</span> + +<p>This cousin Henry became involved in a quarrel with a certain nobleman +named Norfolk. Indeed, the nobles of those days were continually +getting engaged in feuds and quarrels, which they fought out with the +greatest recklessness, sometimes by regular battles between armies of +retainers, and sometimes by single combat, in which the parties to the +dispute were supposed to appeal to Almighty God, who they believed, or +professed to believe, would give the victory to the just side in the +quarrel. These single combats were arranged with great ceremony and +parade, and were performed in a very public and solemn manner; being, +in fact, a recognized and established part of the system of public law +as administered in those days. In the next chapter, when speaking more +particularly of the manners and customs of the times, I shall give an +account in full of one of these duels. I have only to say here that +Richard, on hearing of the quarrel between his cousin Henry and +Norfolk, decreed that they should settle it by single combat, and +preparations were accordingly made for the trial, and the parties +appeared, armed and equipped <span class="pagenum"><a id="page026" name="page026"></a>(p. 026)</span> for the fight, in the presence +of an immense concourse of people assembled to witness the spectacle. +The king himself was to preside on the occasion.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Henry is sent into banishment.</span> + +<p>But just before the signal was to be given for the combat to begin, +the king interrupted the proceedings, and declared that he would +decide the question himself. He pronounced both the combatants guilty, +and issued a decree of banishment against both. Henry submitted, and +both prepared to leave the country. These transactions, of course, +attracted great attention throughout England, and they operated to +bring Henry forward in a very conspicuous manner before the people of +the realm. He was in the direct line of succession to the crown, and +he was, moreover, a prince of great wealth, and of immense personal +influence, and so, just in proportion as Richard himself was disliked, +Henry would naturally become an object of popular sympathy and regard. +When he set out on his journey toward the southern coast, in order to +leave the country in pursuance of his sentence, the people flocked +along the waysides, and assembled in the towns where he passed, as if +he were a conqueror returning from his victories instead of a +condemned criminal going into banishment.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">1400.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">His estates confiscated.</span> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page027" name="page027"></a>(p. 027)</span> Soon after this, the Duke of Lancaster, Henry's father, died, +and then Richard, instead of allowing his cousin to succeed to the +immense estates which his father left, confiscated all the property, +under the pretext that Henry had forfeited it, and so converted it to +his own use. This last outrage aroused Henry to such a pitch of +indignation that he resolved to invade England, depose Richard, and +claim the crown for himself.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">A revolution.</span> + +<p>This plan was carried into effect. Henry raised an armament, crossed +the Channel, and landed in England. The people took sides. A great +majority sided with Henry. A full account of this insurrection and +invasion is given in our history of Richard II. All that it is +necessary to say here is that the revolution was effected. Richard was +deposed, and Henry obtained possession of the kingdom. It was thus +that the house of Lancaster first became established on the throne.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The elder branches of the family.</span> + +<p>But you will very naturally wonder where the representatives of the +second brother in Edward the Third's family were all this time, and +why, when Richard was deposed, who was the son of the first brother, +they did not appear, and advance their claims in competition with +Henry. The reason was because there was no <span class="pagenum"><a id="page028" name="page028"></a>(p. 028)</span> male heir of that +branch living in that line. You will see by referring again to the +table that the only child of Lionel, the second brother, was Philippa, +a girl. She had a son, it is true, Roger Mortimer, as appears by the +table; but he was yet very young, and could do nothing to assert the +claims of his line. Besides, Henry pretended that, together with his +claims to the throne through his father, he had others more ancient +and better founded still through his mother, who, as he attempted to +prove, was descended from an English king who reigned <span class="italic">before Edward +III</span>. The people of England, as they wished to have Henry for king, +were very easily satisfied with his arguments, and so it was settled +that he should reign. The line of this second brother, however, did +not give up their claims, but reserved them, intending to rise and +assert them on the very first favorable opportunity.</p> + +<p>Henry reigned about thirteen years, and then was succeeded by his son, +Henry V., as appears by the table. There was no attempt to disturb the +Lancastrian line in their possession of the throne during these two +reigns. The attention, both of the kings and of the people, during all +this period, was almost wholly engrossed in the wars which they were +waging <span class="pagenum"><a id="page029" name="page029"></a>(p. 029)</span> in France. These wars were very successful. The +English conquered province after province and castle after castle, +until at length almost the whole country was brought under their sway.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">1422.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Birth and accession of Henry VI.</span> + +<p>This state of things continued until the death of Henry V., which took +place in 1422. He left for his heir a little son, named also Henry, +then only about nine months old. This infant was at once invested with +the royal authority as King of England and France, under the title of +Henry VI., as seen by the table. It was this Henry who, when he +arrived at maturity, became the husband of Margaret of Anjou, the +subject of this volume. It was during his reign, too, that the first +effective attempt was made to dispute the right of the house of +Lancaster to the throne, and it was in the terrible contests which +this attempt brought on that Margaret displayed the extraordinary +military heroism for which she became so renowned. I shall relate the +early history of this king, and explain the nature of the combination +which was formed during his reign against the Lancastrian line, in a +subsequent chapter, after first giving a brief account of such of the +manners and customs of those times as are necessary to a proper +understanding of the story.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page030" name="page030"></a>(p. 030)</span> CHAPTER II.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">Manners and Customs of The Time.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The nobles.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Their mode of life.</span> + +<p>In the days when Margaret of Anjou lived, the kings, princes, nobles, +and knights who flourished in the realms of England and France, though +they were, relatively to the mass of the people, far more wealthy, +proud, and powerful than their successors are at the present day, +still lived in many respects in a very rude and barbarous manner. They +enjoyed very few of the benefits and privileges which all classes +enjoy in the age in which we live. They had very few books, and very +little advantage of instruction to enable them to read those that they +had. There were no good roads by which they could travel comfortably +from place to place, and no wheeled carriages. They lived in castles, +very strongly built indeed, and very grand and picturesque sometimes +in external appearance, but very illy furnished and comfortless +within. The artisans were skillful in fabricating splendid caparisons +for the horses, and costly suits of glittering armor for the men, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page031" name="page031"></a>(p. 031)</span> and the architects could construct grand cathedrals, and +ornament them with sculptures and columns which are the wonder of the +present age. But in respect to all the ordinary means and appliances +of daily life, even the most wealthy and powerful nobles lived in a +very barbarous way.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Retainers of the nobles.</span> + +<p>The mass of the common people were held in a state of abject +submission to the will of the chieftains, very much in the condition +of slaves, being compelled to toil in the cultivation of their +masters' lands, or to go out as soldiers to fight in their quarrels, +without receiving any compensation. The great ambition of every noble +and knight was to have as many of these retainers as possible under +his command. The only limit to the number which each chieftain could +assemble was his power of feeding them. For in those days men could be +more easily found to fight than to engage in any other employment, and +there were great numbers always ready to follow any commander who was +able to maintain them.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Their courts.</span> + +<p>Each great noble lived in state in his castle, like a prince or a +petty king. Those of the highest class had their privy councilors, +treasurers, marshals, constables, stewards, secretaries, heralds, +pursuivants, pages, guards, trumpeters—in <span class="pagenum"><a id="page032" name="page032"></a>(p. 032)</span> short, all the +various officers that were to be found in the court of the sovereign. +To these were added whole bands of minstrels, mimics, jugglers, +tumblers, rope-dancers, and buffoons. Besides these, there was always +attached to each great castle a large company of priests and monks, +who performed divine service according to the usages of those times, +in a gorgeously-decorated chapel built for this purpose within the +castle walls.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Great power of the nobles.</span> + +<p>Thus the whole country was divided, as it were, into a vast number of +separate jurisdictions, each with an earl, or a baron, or a duke at +the head of it, who ruled with an almost absolute sway in every thing +that related to the internal management of his province, while, +however, he recognized a certain general dominion over all on the part +of the king. Such being the state of the case, it is not surprising +that the nobles were often powerful enough, as will appear in the +course of this narrative, to band together and set up and put down +kings at their pleasure.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The Earl of Warwick.</span> + +<p>Perhaps the most powerful of all the great nobles who flourished +during the time of Margaret of Anjou was the Earl of Warwick. So great +was his influence in deciding between the rival claims of different +pretenders to the crown, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page033" name="page033"></a>(p. 033)</span> that he is known in history by the +title of the <span class="italic">King-maker</span>. His wealth was so enormous that it was said +that the body of retainers that he maintained amounted sometimes in +number to thirty thousand men.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Amusements of the nobility.</span> + +<p>The employments, and even the amusements of these great barons and +nobles, were all military. They looked down with great disdain upon +all the useful pursuits of art and industry, regarding them as only +fit occupations for serfs and slaves. Their business was going to war, +either independently against each other, or, under the command of the +king, against some common enemy. When they were not engaged in any of +these wars they amused themselves and the people of their courts with +tournaments, and mock combats and encounters of all kinds, which they +arranged in open grounds contiguous to their castles with great pomp +and parade.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Courts of justice.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Quarrels among the nobles.</span> + +<p>It could not be expected that such powerful and warlike chieftains as +these could be kept much under the control of law by the ordinary +machinery of courts of justice. There were, of course, laws and courts +of justice in those days, but they were administered chiefly upon the +common people, for the repression of common crimes. The nobles, in +their quarrels and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page034" name="page034"></a>(p. 034)</span> contentions with each other, were +accustomed to settle the questions that arose in other ways. Sometimes +they did this by marshaling their troops and fighting each other in +regular campaigns, during which they laid siege to castles, and +ravaged villages and fields, as in times of public war. Sometimes, +when the power of the king was sufficient to prevent such outbreaks as +these, the parties to the quarrel were summoned to settle the dispute +by single combat in the presence of the king and his court, as well as +of a vast multitude of assembled spectators. These single combats were +the origin of the modern custom of dueling.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Dueling.</span> + +<p>At the present day, the settlement of disputes by a private combat +between the parties to it is made a crime by the laws of the land. It +is justly considered a barbarous and senseless practice. The man who +provokes another to a duel and then kills him in the fight, instead of +acquiring any glory by the deed, has to bear, for the rest of his +life, both in his own conscience and in the opinion of mankind, the +mark and stain of murder. And when, in defiance of law, and of the +opinions and wishes of all good men, any two disputants who have +become involved in a quarrel are rendered so desperate by their angry +passions as to desire <span class="pagenum"><a id="page035" name="page035"></a>(p. 035)</span> to satisfy them by this mode, they are +obliged to resort to all sorts of manœuvres and stratagems to +conceal the crime which they are about to commit, and to avoid the +interference of their friends or of the officers of the law.</p> + +<a id="img004" name="img004"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img004.jpg" width="500" height="439" alt="" title=""> +<p>Ordeal Combat.</p> +</div> + +<span class="sidenote">The ancient trial by combat.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Old representation of it.</span> + +<p>In the days, however, of the semi-savage knights and barons who +flourished so luxuriantly in the times of which we are writing, the +settlement of a dispute by single combat between the two parties to it +was an openly recognized and perfectly legitimate mode of arbitration, +and the trial of the question was conducted with forms and ceremonies +even more <span class="pagenum"><a id="page036" name="page036"></a>(p. 036)</span> strict and more solemn than those which governed +the proceedings in regular courts of justice.</p> + +<p>The engraving on the preceding page is a sort of rude emblematic +representation of such a trial, copied from a drawing in an ancient +manuscript. We see the combatants in the foreground, with the judges +and spectators behind.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Henry Bolingbroke.</span> + +<p>It was to a public and solemn combat of this kind that Richard the +Second summoned his cousin Henry Bolingbroke, and his enemy, as +related in the last chapter. In that instance the combat was not +fought, the king having taken the case into his own hands, and +condemned both the parties before the contest was begun. But in +multitudes of other cases the trial was carried through to its +consummation in the death of one party, and the triumph and acquittal +of the other.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Arrangements made.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Guards.</span> + +<p>Very many detailed and full accounts of these combats have come down +to us in the writings of the ancient chroniclers. I will here give a +description of one of them, as an example of this mode of trial, which +was fought in the public square in front of King Richard the Second's +palace, the king himself, all the principal nobles of the court, and a +great crowd of other persons being provided with seats around the area +as <span class="pagenum"><a id="page037" name="page037"></a>(p. 037)</span> spectators of the fight. The nobles and knights were all +dressed in complete armor; and heralds, and squires, and guards were +stationed in great numbers to regulate the proceedings. It was on a +bright morning in June when the combat was fought, and the whole +aspect of the scene was that of a grand and joyful spectacle on a gala +day.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Great concourse of people.</span> + +<p>It was estimated that more people from the surrounding country came to +London on the occasion of this duel than at the time of the coronation +of the king. It took place about three years after the coronation.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The parties.</span> + +<p>The parties to the combat were John Anneslie, a knight, and Thomas +Katrington, a squire. Anneslie, the knight, was the complainant and +the challenger. Katrington, the squire, was the defendant. The +circumstances of the case were as follows.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Nature of the quarrel.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Castle lost.</span> + +<p>Katrington, the squire, was governor of a castle in Normandy. The +castle belonged to a certain English knight who afterward died, and +his estate descended to Anneslie, the complainant in this quarrel. If +the squire had successfully defended the castle from the French who +attacked it, then it would have descended with the other property to +Anneslie. But he did not. When the French came and laid siege to +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page038" name="page038"></a>(p. 038)</span> the castle, Katrington surrendered it, and so it was lost. +He maintained that he had not a sufficient force to defend it, and +that he had no alternative but to surrender. Anneslie, on the other +hand, alleged that he might have defended it, and that he would have +done so if he had been faithful to his trust; but that he had been +<span class="italic">bribed</span> by the French to give it up. This Katrington denied; so +Anneslie, who was very angry at the loss of the castle, challenged him +to single combat to try the question.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Reason for this mode of trial.</span> + +<p>It is plain that this was a very absurd way of attempting to ascertain +whether Katrington had or had not been bribed; but, as the affair had +occurred some years before, and in another country, and as, moreover, +the giving and receiving of bribes are facts always very difficult to +be proved by ordinary evidence, it was decided by the government of +the king that this was a proper case for the trial by combat, and both +parties were ordered to prepare for the fight. The day, too, was +fixed, and the place—the public square opposite the king's +palace—was appointed. As the time drew nigh, the whole country for +many miles around was excited to the highest pitch of interest and +expectation.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The company assemble.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The combatants appear.</span> + +<p>At the place where the combat was to be <span class="pagenum"><a id="page039" name="page039"></a>(p. 039)</span> fought a large space +was railed in by a very substantial barricade. The barricade was made +very strong, so as to resist the utmost possible pressure of the +crowd. Elevated seats, commanding a full view of the lists, as the +area railed in was called, were erected for the use of the king and +the nobles of the court, and all other necessary preparations were +made. When the hour arrived on the appointed day, the king and the +nobles came in great state and took their places. The whole square, +with the exception of the lists and proper avenues of approach, which +were kept open by the men-at-arms, had long since been filled with an +immense crowd of people from the surrounding country. At length, after +a brief period of expectation, the challenger, Anneslie, was seen +coming along one of the approaches, mounted on a horse splendidly +caparisoned, and attended by several knights and squires, his friends, +all completely armed.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The horse excluded.</span> + +<p>He stopped when he reached the railing and dismounted from his horse. +It was against the laws of the combat for either party to enter the +lists mounted. If a horse went within the inclosure he was forfeited +by that act to a certain public officer called the high constable of +England, who was responsible for the regularity and order of the +proceedings.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page040" name="page040"></a>(p. 040)</span> Anneslie, having thus dismounted from his horse with the +assistance of his attendants, walked into the lists all armed and +equipped for the fight. His squires attended him. He walked there to +and fro a few minutes, and then a herald, blowing a trumpet, summoned +the accused to appear.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Summons to the accused.</span> + +<p>"Thomas Katrington! Thomas Katrington!" he cried out in a loud voice, +"come and appear, to save the action for which Sir John Anneslie, +knight, hath publicly and by writing appealed thee!"</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Appearance of Katrington.</span> + +<p>Three times the herald proclaimed this summons. At the third time +Katrington appeared.</p> + +<p>He came, as Anneslie had come, mounted upon a war-horse splendidly +caparisoned, and with his arms embroidered on the trappings. He was +attended by his friends, the representatives of the seconds of the +modern duel. The two stopped at the entrance of the lists, and +dismounting, passed into the lists on foot. Every body being now +intent on the combatants, the horse for the moment was let go, and, +being eager to follow his master, he ran up and down along the +railing, reaching his head and neck over as far as he could, and +trying to get over. At length he was taken and led away; but the lord +high constable said at once that <span class="pagenum"><a id="page041" name="page041"></a>(p. 041)</span> he should claim him for +having entered the lists.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Horse's head forfeited.</span> + +<p>"At least," said he, "I shall claim his head and neck, and as much of +him as was over the railing."</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The pleadings.</span> + +<p>The combatants now stood confronting each other within the lists. A +written document was produced, which had been prepared, as was said, +by consent of both parties, containing a statement of the charge made +against Katrington, namely, that of treason, in having betrayed to the +enemy for money a castle intrusted to his charge, and his reply. The +herald read this document with a loud voice, in order that all the +assembly, or as many as possible, might hear it. As soon as it was +read, Katrington began to take exceptions to some passages in it. The +Duke of Lancaster, who seemed to preside on the occasion, put an end +to his criticisms at once, saying that he had already agreed to the +paper, and that now, if he made any difficulty about it, and refused +to fight, he should be adjudged guilty of the treason, and should at +once be led out to execution.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Katrington is ready.</span> + +<p>Katrington then said that he was ready to fight his antagonist, not +only on the points raised in the document which had been read, but on +any and all other points whatever that <span class="pagenum"><a id="page042" name="page042"></a>(p. 042)</span> might be laid to his +charge. He had entire confidence, he said, that the justice of his +cause would secure him the victory.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Singular oath administered.</span> + +<p>The next proceeding in this strange ceremony was singular enough. It +was the solemn administering of an oath to each of the combatants, by +which oath they severally swore that the cause in which they were to +fight was true, and that they did not deal in any witchcraft or magic +art, by which they expected to gain the victory over their adversary; +and also, that they had not about their persons any herb or stone, or +charm of any kind, by which they hoped to obtain any advantage.</p> + +<p>After this oath had been administered, time was allowed for the +combatants to say their prayers. This ceremony they performed +apparently in a very devout manner, and then the battle began.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The battle.</span> + +<p>The combatants fought first with spears, then with swords, and +finally, coming to very close quarters, with daggers. Anneslie seemed +to gain the advantage. He succeeded in disarming Katrington of one +after another of his weapons, and finally threw him down. When +Katrington was down, Anneslie attempted to throw himself upon him, in +order to crush him with the weight of his heavy iron armor. But +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page043" name="page043"></a>(p. 043)</span> he was exhausted by the heat and by the exertion which he +had made, and the perspiration running down from his forehead under +his helmet blinded his eyes, so that he could not see exactly where +Katrington was, and, instead of falling upon him, he came down upon +the ground at a little distance away. Katrington then contrived to +make his way to Anneslie and to get upon him, thus pressing him down +to the ground with his weight. The combatants lay thus a few minutes +locked together on the ground, and struggling with each other as well +as their heavy and cumbrous armor would permit, Katrington being all +the time uppermost, when the king at length gave orders that the +contest should cease and that the men should be separated.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The proceedings arrested by the king.</span> + +<p>In obedience to these orders, some men came to rescue Anneslie by +taking Katrington off from him. But Anneslie begged them not to +interfere. And when the men had taken Katrington off, he urged them to +place him back upon him again as he was before, for he said he himself +was not hurt at all, and he had no doubt that he should gain the +victory if they would leave him alone. The men, however, having the +king's order for what they were doing, paid no heed to Anneslie's +requests, but proceeded to lead Katrington away.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Katrington's condition.</span> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page044" name="page044"></a>(p. 044)</span> They found that he was so weak and exhausted that he could +not stand. They led him to a chair, and then, taking off his helmet, +they tried to revive him by bathing his face and giving him some wine.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Anneslie's request to the king.</span> + +<p>In the mean time, Anneslie, finding that Katrington was taken away, +allowed himself to be lifted up. When set upon his feet, he walked +along toward the part of the inclosure which was near the king's seat, +and begged the king to allow the combat to proceed. He said he was +sure that he should obtain the victory if they would but permit him to +continue the combat to the end. Finally the king and nobles gave their +consent, and ordered that Anneslie should be placed upon the ground +again, and Katrington upon him, in the same position, as nearly as +possible, as before.</p> + +<p>But on going again to Katrington with a view of executing this decree, +they found that he was in such a condition as to preclude the +possibility of it. He had fainted and fallen down out of his chair in +a deadly swoon. He seemed not to be wounded, but to be utterly +exhausted by the heat, the weight of his armor, and the extreme +violence of the exertion which he had made. His friends raised him up +again, and proceeded to unbuckle and take <span class="pagenum"><a id="page045" name="page045"></a>(p. 045)</span> off his armor. +Relieved from this burden, he began to come to himself. He opened his +eyes and looked around, staring with a wild, bewildered, and ghastly +look, which moved the pity of all the beholders, that is, of all but +Anneslie. He, on leaving the king, came to where poor Katrington was +sitting, and, full of rage and hate, began to taunt and revile him, +calling him traitor, and false, perjured villain, and daring him to +come out again into the area and finish the fight.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Anneslie's rage.</span> + +<p>To this Katrington made no answer, but stared wildly about with a +crazed look, as if he did not know where he was or what they were +doing to him.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The termination of the trial.</span> + +<p>So the farther prosecution of the combat was relinquished. Anneslie +was declared the victor, and poor Katrington was deemed to be proved, +by his defeat, guilty of the treason which had been charged against +him. He was borne away by his friends, and put into his bed. He +continued delirious all that night, and the next morning at nine +o'clock he died.</p> + +<hr> + +<p>Thus was this combat fought, as the ancient historian says, to the +great rejoicing of the common people and the discouragement of +traitors!<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page046" name="page046"></a>(p. 046)</span> CHAPTER III.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">King Henry VI.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">King Henry's accession.</span> + +<p>King Henry the Sixth, who subsequently became the husband of Margaret +of Anjou, was only about nine months old, as has already been said, +when he succeeded to the throne by the death of his father. He was +proclaimed by the heralds to the sound of trumpets and drums, in all +parts of London, while he was yet an infant in his nurse's arms.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">His uncles.</span> + +<p>Of course the question was now who should have the rule in England +while Henry remained a child. And this question chiefly affected the +little king's uncles, of whom there were three—all rude, turbulent, +and powerful nobles, such as were briefly described in the last +chapter. Each of them had a powerful band of retainers and partisans +attached to his service, and the whole kingdom dreaded greatly the +quarrels which every one knew were now likely to break out.</p> + +<p>The oldest of these uncles was Thomas. He was Duke of Exeter.</p> + +<p>The second was John. He was Duke of Bedford.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page047" name="page047"></a>(p. 047)</span> The third was Humphrey. He was Duke of Gloucester. Thomas and +Humphrey seem to have been in England at the time of their brother the +old king's death. John, or Bedford, as he was commonly called, was in +France, where he had been pursuing a very renowned and successful +career, in extending and maintaining the English conquests in that +country.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Division of power.</span> + +<p>The leading nobles and officers of the government were assembled in +council soon after the old king's death, and in order to prevent the +breaking out of the quarrels which were otherwise to have been +anticipated between these uncles, they determined to divide the power +as nearly as possible in an equal manner among them. So they appointed +Thomas, the Duke of Exeter, who seems to have been less ambitious and +warlike in his character than the rest, to the charge and custody of +the young king's person. Humphrey, the Duke of Gloucester, was made +Protector of England, and John, the Duke of Bedford, the Regent of +France. Thus they were all seemingly satisfied.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Quarrels.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Beaufort and Gloucester.</span> + +<p>But the peace which resulted from this arrangement did not continue +very long. Pretty soon a certain Henry Beaufort, a bishop, was +appointed to be associated with Henry's uncle <span class="pagenum"><a id="page048" name="page048"></a>(p. 048)</span> Thomas in the +personal charge of the king. This Henry Beaufort was Henry's +great-uncle, being one of the sons of John of Gaunt. He was a younger +son of his father, and so was brought up to the Church, and had been +appointed Bishop of Winchester, and afterward made a cardinal. Thus he +occupied a very exalted position, and possessed a degree of wealth, +and power, and general consequence little inferior to those of the +grandest nobles in the land. He was a man, too, of great capacity, +very skillful in manœuvring and intriguing, and he immediately +began to form ambitious schemes for himself which he designed to carry +into effect through the power which the custody of the young king gave +him. He was, of course, very jealous of the influence and power of the +Duke of Gloucester, and the Duke of Gloucester became very jealous of +him. It was not long before occasions arose which brought the two men, +and their bands of followers, into direct and open collision.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Progress of the quarrel.</span> + +<p>I can not here go into a full account of the particulars of the +quarrel. One of the first difficulties was about the Tower of London, +which Beaufort had under his command, and where there was a prisoner +whom Gloucester wished to set at liberty. Then there was a great riot +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page049" name="page049"></a>(p. 049)</span> and disturbance on London Bridge, which threw the whole city +of London into a state of alarm. Beaufort alleged that Gloucester had +formed a plan to seize the person of the king and take him away from +Beaufort's custody; and that he had designs, moreover, on Beaufort's +life. To defend himself, and to prevent Gloucester from coming to the +palace where he was residing, he seized and fortified the passages +leading to the bridge. He built barricades, and took down the chains +of the portcullis, and assembled a large armed force to guard the +point. The people of London were in great alarm. They set watches day +and night to protect their property from the anticipated violence of +the soldiers and partisans of the combatants, and thus all was +commotion and fear. Of course there were no courts of justice powerful +enough to control such a contest as this, and finally the people sent +off a delegation to the Duke of Bedford in France, imploring him to +come to England immediately and see if he could not settle the +quarrel.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Bedford summoned home from France.</span> + +<p>The Duke of Bedford came. A Parliament was convened, and the questions +at issue between the two great disputants were brought to a solemn +trial. The Duke of Gloucester made out a series of heavy charges +against the cardinal, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page050" name="page050"></a>(p. 050)</span> and the cardinal made a formal reply +which contained not only his defense, but also counter charges against +the duke. These papers were drawn up with great technicality and +ceremony by the lawyers employed on each side to manage the case, and +were submitted to the Duke of Bedford and to the Parliament. A series +of debates ensued, in which the friends of the two parties +respectively brought criminations and recriminations against each +other without end. The result was, as is usual in such cases, that +both sides appeared to have been to blame, and in order to settle the +dispute a sort of compromise was effected, with which both parties +professed to be satisfied, and a reconciliation, or what outwardly +appeared to be such, was made. A new division of powers and +prerogatives between Gloucester, as Protector of England, and +Beaufort, as custodian of the king, was arranged, and peace being thus +restored, Bedford went back again to France.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Death of Bedford.</span> + +<p>Things went on tolerably well after this for many years; that is, +there were no more open outbreaks, though the old jealousy and hatred +between Gloucester and the cardinal still continued. The influence of +the Duke of Bedford held both parties in check as long as the duke +lived. At length, however, when the young <span class="pagenum"><a id="page051" name="page051"></a>(p. 051)</span> king was about +fourteen years old, the Duke of Bedford died. He was in France at the +time of his death. He was buried with great pomp and ceremony in the +city of Rouen, which had been in some sense the head-quarters of his +dominion in that country, and a splendid monument was erected over his +tomb.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Anecdote.</span> + +<p>A curious anecdote is related of the King of France in relation to +this tomb. Some time after the tomb was built Rouen fell into the +hands of the French, and some persons proposed to break down the +monument which had been built in memory of their old enemy; but the +King of France would not listen to the proposal.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Generosity of the French king.</span> + +<p>"What honor shall it be to us," said he, "or to you, to break down the +monument, or to pull out of the ground the dead bones of him whom, in +his life, neither my father nor your progenitors, with all their +power, influence, and friends, were ever able to make flee one foot +backward, but who, by his strength, wit, and policy, kept them all at +bay. Wherefore I say, let God have his soul; and for his body, let it +rest in peace where they have laid it."</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Coronation of the young king in France.</span> + +<p>When King Henry was old enough to be crowned, in addition to the +English part of the ceremony, he went to France to receive the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page052" name="page052"></a>(p. 052)</span> crown of that country too. The ceremony, as is usual with +the French kings, was performed at the town of St. Denis, near Paris, +where is an ancient royal chapel, in which all the great religious +ceremonies connected with the French monarchy have been performed. A +very curious account is given by the ancient chroniclers of the +pageants and ceremonies which were enacted on this occasion. The king +proceeded into France and journeyed to St. Denis at the head of a +grand cavalcade of knights, nobles, and men-at-arms, amounting to many +thousand men, all of whom were adorned with dresses and trappings of +the most gorgeous description. At St. Denis the authorities came out +to meet the king, dressed in robes of vermilion, and bearing splendid +banners. The king was presented, as he passed through the gates, "with +three crimson hearts, in one of which were two doves; in another, +several small birds, which were let fly over his head; while the third +was filled with violets and flowers, which were thrown over the lords +that attended and followed him."</p> + +<p>At the same place, too, a company of the principal civic dignitaries +of the town appeared, bearing a gorgeous canopy of blue silk, adorned +and embroidered in the most beautiful manner <span class="pagenum"><a id="page053" name="page053"></a>(p. 053)</span> with royal +emblems. This canopy they held over the king as he advanced into the +town.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Curious pageants.</span> + +<p>At one place farther on, where there was a little bridge to be +crossed, there was a pageant of three savages fighting about a woman +in a mimic forest. The savages continued fighting until the king had +passed by. Next came a fountain flowing with wine, with mermaids +swimming about in it. The wine in this fountain was free to all who +chose to come and drink it.</p> + +<p>Then, farther still, the royal party came to a place where an +artificial forest had been made, by some means or other, in a large, +open square. There was a chase going on in this forest at the time +when the king went by. The chase consisted of a living stag hunted by +real dogs. The stag came and took refuge at the feet of the king's +horse, and his majesty saved the poor animal's life.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The coronation.</span> + +<p>Thus the king was conducted to his palace. Several days were spent in +preliminary pageants and ceremonies like the above, and then the +coronation took place in the church, the king and his party being +stationed on a large platform raised for the purpose in the most +conspicuous part of the edifice.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">1441.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The banquet.</span> + +<p>After the coronation there was a grand banquet, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page054" name="page054"></a>(p. 054)</span> at which the +king, with his lords and great officers of state, sat at a marble +table in a magnificent ancient hall. Henry Beaufort, the Bishop of +Winchester, was the principal personage in all these ceremonies next +to the king. Gloucester was very jealous of him, in respect to the +conspicuous part which he took in these proceedings.</p> + +<a id="img005" name="img005"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img005.jpg" width="400" height="456" alt="" title=""> +<p>Henry VI. in his Youth.</p> +</div> + +<p>Henry was quite young at the time of his coronations. He was a very +pretty boy, and his countenance wore a mild and gentle expression.</p> + +<a id="img006" name="img006"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img006.jpg" width="500" height="365" alt="" title=""> +<p>The Penance.</p> +</div> + +<span class="sidenote"><span class="pagenum"><a id="page057" name="page057"></a>(p. 057)</span> The old quarrel broke out again.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The duchess's penance.</span> + +<p>The quarrel between the Duke of Gloucester and the bishop was kept, in +some degree, subdued during this period, partly by the influence of +the Duke of Bedford while he lived, and partly by Gloucester's mind +being taken up to a considerable extent with other things, especially +with his campaigns in France; for he was engaged during the period of +the king's minority in many important military expeditions in that +country. At length, however, he came back to England, and there, when +the king was about twenty years of age, the quarrel between him and +the bishop's party broke out anew. The king himself was, however, now +old enough to take some part in such a difficulty, and so both sides +appealed to him. Gloucester made out a series of twenty-four articles +of complaint against the bishop. The bishop, on the other hand, +accused the duke of treason, and he specially charged that his wife +had attempted to destroy the life of the king by witchcraft. The +duchess was condemned on this charge, and it is said that, by way of +penance, she was sentenced to walk barefoot through the most public +street in London with a lighted taper in her hand. Some other persons, +who were accused of being accomplices in this crime, were put to +death.</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page058" name="page058"></a>(p. 058)</span> <span class="sidenote">Witchcraft.</span> + +<p>The witchcraft which it was said these persons practiced was that of +making a waxen image of the king, and then, after connecting it with +him in some mysterious and magical way by certain charms and +incantations, melting it away by degrees before a slow fire, by which +means the king himself, as was supposed, would be caused to pine and +wither away, and at last to die. It was universally believed in those +days that this could be done.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Position of the king.</span> + +<p>Of course, such proceedings as these only embittered the quarrel more +and more, and Gloucester became more resolute and determined than ever +in prosecuting his intrigues for depriving the bishop of influence, +and for getting the power into his own hands. The king, though he +favored the cardinal, was so quiet and gentle in his disposition, and +so little disposed to take an active part in such a quarrel, that the +bishop could not induce him to act as decidedly as he wished. So he +finally conceived the idea of finding some very intelligent and +capable princess as a wife for the king, hoping to increase the power +which he exercised in the realm through his influence over her.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Scheme formed by Beaufort.</span> + +<p>The lady that he selected for this purpose was Margaret of Anjou.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page059" name="page059"></a>(p. 059)</span> CHAPTER IV.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">Margaret's Father and Mother.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">1420.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Provinces of France.</span> + +<p>In former times, the territory which now constitutes France was +divided into a great number of separate provinces, each of which +formed almost a distinct state or kingdom. These several provinces +were the possessions of lords, dukes, and barons, who ruled over them, +respectively, like so many petty kings, with almost absolute sway, +though they all acknowledged a general allegiance to the kings of +France or of England. The more northern provinces pertained to +England. Those in the interior and southern portions of the country +were under the dominion of France.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Great families.</span> + +<p>The great families who held these provinces as their possessions ruled +over them in a very lordly manner. They regarded not only the +territory itself which they held, but the right to govern the +inhabitants of it as a species of property, which was subject, like +any other estate, to descend from parent to child by hereditary right, +to be conveyed to another owner by treaty or surrender, to be assigned +to a bride <span class="pagenum"><a id="page060" name="page060"></a>(p. 060)</span> as her marriage portion, or to be disposed of in +any other way that the lordly proprietors might prefer. These great +families took their names from the provinces over which they ruled.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Anjou.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">King René.</span> + +<p>One of these provinces was Anjou.<a id="footnotetag1" name="footnotetag1"></a><a href="#footnote1" title="Go to footnote 1"><span class="small">[1]</span></a> The father of Margaret, the +subject of this history, was a celebrated personage named Regnier or +René, commonly called King René. He was a younger son of the family +which reigned over Anjou. It is from this circumstance that our +heroine derives the name by which she is generally +designated—Margaret of Anjou. The reason why her father was called +<span class="italic">King</span> René will appear in the sequel.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Lorraine.</span> + +<p>Another of the provinces of France above referred to was Lorraine. +Lorraine was a large, and beautiful, and very valuable country, +situated toward the eastern part of France. Anjou was considerably to +the westward of it.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">1429.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Marriage of René to Isabella.</span> + +<p>The name of the Duke of Lorraine at this time was Charles. He had a +daughter named Isabella. She was the heiress to all her father's +possessions. She was a young lady of great beauty, of high spirit, of +a very accomplished education, according to the ideas of those times. +When René was about fourteen years old a match was arranged between +him and Isabella, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page061" name="page061"></a>(p. 061)</span> who was then only about ten. The marriage +was celebrated with great parade, and the youthful pair went to reside +at a palace called Pont à Mousson, in a grand castle which was given +to Isabella by her father as a bridal gift at the time of her +marriage. Here it was expected that they would live until the death of +her father, when they were to come into possession of the whole +province of Lorraine.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Birth of Margaret.</span> + +<p>In process of time, while living at this castle, René and Isabella had +several children. Margaret was the fifth. She was born in 1429. Her +birthday was March 23.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Theophanie.</span> + +<p>The little infant was put under the charge of a family nurse named +Theophanie. Theophanie was a long-tried and very faithful domestic. +She was successively the nurse to all of Isabella's children, and the +family became so much attached to her that when she died René caused a +beautiful monument to be raised to her memory. This monument contained +a sculptured image of Theophanie, with two of the children in her +arms.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">1431.</span> + +<p>Very soon after her birth Margaret was baptized with great pomp in the +Cathedral in the town of Toul. A large number of relatives of high +rank witnessed and took part in the ceremony.</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page062" name="page062"></a>(p. 062)</span> <span class="sidenote">Isabella's uncle Antoine.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Conflict for the possession of Lorraine.</span> + +<p>When at length Charles, Duke of Lorraine, Isabella's father, died, and +the province should have descended to Isabella and René, there +suddenly appeared another claimant, who thought, not that he had a +better right to the province than Isabella, but that he had more power +to seize and hold it than she, even with all the aid that her husband +René could afford her. This claimant was Isabella's uncle, the younger +brother of Duke Charles who had just died. His name was Antoine de +Vaudemonte, or, as it would be expressed in English, Anthony of +Vaudemont. This uncle, on the death of Isabella's father, determined +to seize the duchy for himself, instead of allowing it to descend to +Isabella, the proper heir, who, being but a woman, was looked upon +with very little respect. "Lorraine," he said, "was too noble and +valuable a fief to descend in the family on the spindle side."</p> + +<p>So he collected his adherents and retainers, organized an army, and +took the field. Isabella, on the other hand, did all in her power to +induce the people of the country to espouse her cause. René took the +command of the forces which were raised in her behalf, and went forth +to meet Antoine. Isabella herself, taking the children with her, went +to the city <span class="pagenum"><a id="page063" name="page063"></a>(p. 063)</span> of Nancy<a id="footnotetag2" name="footnotetag2"></a><a href="#footnote2" title="Go to footnote 2"><span class="small">[2]</span></a>—which was then, as now, the chief +city of Lorraine, and was consequently the safest place for +her—intending to await there the result of the conflict. Little +Margaret was at this time about two years old.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The battle.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">René wounded and made prisoner.</span> + +<p>The battle was fought at a place called Bulgneville, and the fortune +of war, as it would seem, turned in this case against the right, for +René's party were entirely defeated, and he himself was wounded and +taken prisoner. He fought like a lion, it is said, as long as he +remained unharmed; but at last he received a desperate wound on his +brow, and the blood from this wound ran down into his eyes and blinded +him, so that he could do no more; and he was immediately seized by the +men who had wounded him, and made prisoner. The person who thus +wounded and captured him was the squire of a certain knight who had +espoused the cause of Antoine, named the Count St. Pol.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Isabella's terror and distress.</span> + +<p>In the mean time Isabella had remained at Nancy with the children, in +a state of the utmost suspense and anxiety, awaiting the result +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page064" name="page064"></a>(p. 064)</span> of a conflict on which depended the fate of every thing that +was valuable and dear to her. At length, at the window of the tower +where she was watching, with little Margaret in her arms, for the +coming of a herald from her husband to announce his victory, her heart +sank within her to see, instead of a messenger of joy and triumph, a +broken crowd of fugitives, breathless and covered with dust and blood, +suddenly bursting into view, and showing too plainly by their aspect +of terror and distress that all was lost. Isabella was overwhelmed +with consternation at the sight. She clasped little Margaret closely +in her arms, exclaiming in tones of indescribable agony, "My husband +is killed! my husband is killed!"</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Heavy tidings.</span> + +<p>Her distress and anguish were somewhat calmed by the fugitives +assuring her, when they arrived, that her husband was safe, though he +had been wounded and taken prisoner.</p> + +<a id="img007" name="img007"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img007.jpg" width="500" height="297" alt="" title=""> +<p>Distress of Margaret's Mother.</p> +</div> + +<span class="sidenote">Sympathy for Isabella.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Isabella's interview with her uncle.</span> + +<p>There was a great deal of sympathy felt for Isabella in her distress +by all the people of Nancy. She was very young and very beautiful. Her +children, and especially Margaret, were very beautiful too, and this +greatly increased the compassion which the people were disposed to +feel for her. Isabella's mother was strongly inclined to make new +efforts to raise <span class="pagenum"><a id="page067" name="page067"></a>(p. 067)</span> an army, in order to meet and fight +Antoine again; but Isabella herself, who was now more concerned for +the safety of her husband than for the recovery of her dominions, was +disposed to pursue a conciliatory course. So she sent word to her +uncle that she wished to see him, and entreated him to grant her an +interview. Antoine acceded to her request, and at the interview +Isabella begged her uncle to make peace with her, and to give her back +her husband.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Negotiations for peace.</span> + +<p>Antoine said that it was out of his power to liberate René, for he had +delivered him to the custody of the Duke of Burgundy, who had been his +ally in the war, and the duke had conveyed him away to his castle at +Dijon, and shut him up there, and that now he would probably not be +willing to give him up without the payment of a ransom. He said, +however, that he was willing to make a truce with Isabella for six +months, to give time to see what arrangement could be made.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Hostages.</span> + +<p>This truce was agreed upon, and then, at length, after a long +negotiation, terms of peace were concluded. René was to pay a large +sum to the Duke of Burgundy for his ransom, and, in the mean time, +while he was procuring the money, he was to leave his two sons in the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page068" name="page068"></a>(p. 068)</span> duke's hands as hostages, to be held by the duke as +security. In respect to Lorraine, Antoine insisted, as another of the +conditions of peace, that Isabella's oldest daughter, Yolante, then +about nine years old, should be betrothed to his son Frederick, so as +to combine, in the next generation at least, the conflicting claims of +the two parties to the possession of the territory; and, in order to +secure the fulfillment of this condition, Yolante was to be delivered +immediately to the charge and custody of Antoine's wife, the mother of +her future husband. Thus all of Isabella's children were taken away +from her except Margaret. And even Margaret, though left for the +present with her mother, did not escape being involved in the +entanglements of the treaty. Antoine insisted that she, too, should be +betrothed to one of his partisans; and, as if to make the case as +painful and humiliating to René and Isabella as possible, the person +chosen to be her future husband was the very Count St. Pol whose +squire had cut down and captured René at the battle of Bulgneville.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Hard conditions of peace.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">René can not procure the money for his ransom.</span> + +<p>These conditions were very hard, but Isabella consented to them, as it +was only by so doing that any hope seemed to be opened before her of +obtaining the release of her husband. And <span class="pagenum"><a id="page069" name="page069"></a>(p. 069)</span> even this hope, in +the end, proved delusive. René found that, notwithstanding all his +efforts, he could not obtain the money which the duke required for his +ransom. Accordingly, in order to save his boys, whom he had delivered +to the duke as hostages, he was obliged to return to Dijon and +surrender himself again a prisoner. His parting with his wife and +children, before going a second time into a confinement to which they +could now see no end, was heartrending. Even little Margaret, who was +yet so very young, joined from sympathy in the general sorrow, and +wept bitterly when her father went away.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">His long confinement.</span> + +<p>The duke confined his captive in an upper room in a high tower of the +castle of Dijon, and kept him imprisoned there for several years. One +of the boys was kept with him, but the other was set at liberty. All +this time Margaret remained with her mother. She was a very beautiful +and a very intelligent child, and was a great favorite with all who +knew her. The interest which was awakened by her beauty and her other +personal attractions was greatly increased by the general sympathy +which was felt for the misfortunes of her father, and the loneliness +and distress of her mother.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">1436.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">His occupations and amusements in prison.</span> + +<p>In the mean time, René, shut up in the tower <span class="pagenum"><a id="page070" name="page070"></a>(p. 070)</span> at the castle +of Dijon, made himself as contented as he could, and employed his time +in various peaceful and ingenious occupations. Though he had fought +well in the battle with Antoine, he was, in fact, not at all of a +warlike disposition. He was very fond of music, and poetry, and +painting; and he occupied his leisure during his confinement in +executing beautiful miniatures and paintings upon glass, after the +manner of those times. Some of these paintings remained in the window +of a church in Dijon, where they were placed soon after René painted +them, for several hundred years.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Origin of René's royal title.</span> + +<p>It has already been stated that the name by which Margaret's father is +commonly designated is King René. The origin of this royal title is +now to be explained. He had an older brother, who became by +inheritance, with Joanna his wife, king and queen of the Two Sicilies, +that is, of the kingdom consisting of the island of Sicily and the +territory connected with Naples on the main land. The brother, at the +close of his life, designated René as his heir. This happened in the +year 1436, while René was still in captivity in the castle of Dijon. +He could, of course, do nothing himself to assert his claims to this +new inheritance, but Isabella immediately assumed the title of Queen +of the Two Sicilies <span class="pagenum"><a id="page071" name="page071"></a>(p. 071)</span> for herself, and began at once to make +preparation for proceeding to Italy and taking possession of the +kingdom.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Isabella and the children at Tarascon.</span> + +<p>While maturing her plans, she took up her residence for a time at the +chateau of Tarascon, on the banks of the Rhone, with the two children +who remained under her care, namely, her son Louis and Margaret. Her +other son was at Dijon with his father, and the other daughter, +Yolante, had been given up, as has already been said, to the custody +of the wife of Antoine, with a view of being married, as soon as she +was old enough, to Antoine's son.</p> + +<p>The children attracted great attention at Tarascon. Their mother +Isabella was by birth a lady of very high rank, her family being +intimately connected with the royal family of France. She was now, +too, by title at least, herself a queen. The children were very +intelligent and beautiful, and the misfortunes and cruel captivity of +their father and brother were known and talked of in all the country +around. So the peasants and their families crowded around the chateau +to see the children. They brought them wreaths of flowers and other +votive offerings. They sang songs to serenade them, and they built +bonfires around the walls of the chateau at night, to drive away the +infection <span class="pagenum"><a id="page072" name="page072"></a>(p. 072)</span> of the plague, which was then prevailing in some +parts of the country, and was exciting considerable alarm.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Witches and the plague.</span> + +<p>The people of the country believed that this plague was produced by +magic and witchcraft, and there were some poor old women, who came +with the other peasants to the walls of the chateau of Tarascon to see +the children, who were believed to be witches. Afterward the plague +broke out at Tarascon, and Margaret's mother was obliged to go away, +taking the children with her. The poor women were, however, seized and +burned at the stake, it being universally believed that it was they +who had caused the plague.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Isabella goes into Italy.</span> + +<p>Isabella's arrangements were now so far matured that she went at once +into Italy with the children, and took up her abode there in the town +of Capua. René still remained in captivity, but Isabella caused him to +be proclaimed King of the Two Sicilies with great pomp and parade. At +the time of this ceremony, the two children, Margaret and her brother, +were seated beside their mother in a grand state carriage, which was +lined with velvet and embroidered with gold, and in this way they were +conveyed through the streets of the city.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">René is at last set free.</span> + +<p>After a time René was liberated from his <span class="pagenum"><a id="page073" name="page073"></a>(p. 073)</span> confinement, and +restored to his family, but he did not long enjoy this apparent return +of prosperity. His claim to the kingdom of Naples was disputed, and, +after a conflict, he was expelled from the country. In the mean time, +the English had so far extended their conquests in France that both +his native province of Anjou, and his wife's inheritances in Lorraine, +had fallen into their hands, so that with all the aristocratic +distinction of their descent, and the grandeur of their royal titles, +the family were now, as it were, without house or home. They returned +to France, and Isabella, with the children, found refuge from time to +time with one and another of the great families to which she was +related, while René led a wandering life, being reduced often to a +state of great destitution.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">His temper and disposition.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">King René's fireside.</span> + +<p>He, however, bore his misfortunes with a very placid temper, and +amused himself, wherever he was, with music, poetry, and painting. He +was so cheerful and good-natured withal that he made himself a very +agreeable companion, and was generally welcome, as a visitor, wherever +he went. He retained the name of King René as long as he lived, though +he was a king without a kingdom. At one time he was reduced, it is +said, to such straits that to warm himself he used to walk to and fro +in the streets of Marseilles, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page074" name="page074"></a>(p. 074)</span> on the sunny side of the +buildings, which circumstance gave rise to a proverb long known and +often quoted in those parts, which designated the act of going out +into the sun to escape from the cold as warming one's self at King +René's fireside.</p> + +<p>Such was the family from which Margaret of Anjou sprang.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page075" name="page075"></a>(p. 075)</span> CHAPTER V.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">Royal Courtship.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">1444.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's talents and accomplishments.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Offers of marriage.</span> + +<p>When Margaret was not more than fourteen or fifteen years of age, she +began to be very celebrated for her beauty and accomplishments, and +for the charming vivacity of her conversation and her demeanor. She +resided with her mother in different families in Lorraine and in other +parts of France, and was sometimes at the court of the Queen of +France, who was her near relative. All who knew her were charmed with +her. She was considered equally remarkable for her talents and for her +beauty. The arrangement which had been made in her childhood for +marrying her to the Count of St. Pol was broken off, but several other +offers were made to her mother for her hand, though none of them was +accepted. Isabella was very proud of her daughter, and she cherished +very lofty aspirations in respect to her future destiny. She was +therefore not at all inclined to be in haste in respect to making +arrangements for her marriage.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">State of things in England.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Henry's character.</span> + +<p>In the mean time, the feud between the uncles <span class="pagenum"><a id="page076" name="page076"></a>(p. 076)</span> and relatives +of King Henry, in England, as related in a preceding chapter, had been +going on, and was now reaching a climax. The leaders of the two rival +parties were, as will be recollected, Henry Beaufort, Bishop of +Winchester, or Cardinal Beaufort, as he was more commonly called, who +had had the personal charge of the king during his minority, on one +side, and the Duke of Gloucester, Henry's uncle, who had been regent +of England during the same period, on the other. The king himself was +now about twenty-four years of age, and if he had been a man of vigor +and resolution, he might perhaps have controlled the angry disputants, +and by taking the government fully into his own hands, have forced +them to live together in peace under his paramount authority. But +Henry was a very timid and feeble-minded man. The turbulence and +impetuousness of his uncles and their partisans in their quarrel was +altogether too great for any control that he could hope to exercise +over them. Indeed, the great question with them was which should +contrive the means of exercising the greatest control over <span class="italic">him</span>.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Plans of the courtiers.</span> + +<p>In order to accomplish this end, both parties began very early to plan +and manœuvre with a view of choosing the king a wife. Whichever +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page077" name="page077"></a>(p. 077)</span> of the two great leaders should succeed in negotiating the +marriage of the king, they knew well would, by that very act, +establish his influence at court in the most absolute manner.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Princes and kings.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Their matrimonial plans.</span> + +<p>Princes and kings in those days, as, indeed, is the case to a +considerable extent now, had some peculiar difficulties to contend +with in making their matrimonial arrangements, so far at least as +concerned the indulgence of any personal preferences which they might +themselves entertain on the subject. Indeed, these arrangements were +generally made for them, while they were too young to have any voice +or to take any part in the question, and nothing was left for them but +to ratify and carry into effect, when they came to years of maturity, +what their parents, or grand councils of state, had determined for +them when they were children, or else to refuse to ratify and confirm +it at the cost of incurring a vast amount of difficulty and political +entanglement, and perhaps even open and formidable war.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Embarrassments.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Difficulty of leaving the country.</span> + +<p>And even in those cases where the prince or king arrived at an age to +judge for himself before any arrangements were made for him, which was +the fact in regard to Henry VI., he was still very much embarrassed +and circumscribed in his choice if he attempted to select a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page078" name="page078"></a>(p. 078)</span> +wife for himself. He could not visit foreign courts and see the +princesses there, so as to judge for himself who would best please +him; for in those days it was very unsafe for personages of any +considerable rank or position to visit foreign countries at all, +except at the head of an army, and in a military campaign. In the +case, too, of any actually reigning monarch, there was a special +difficulty in the way of his leaving his kingdom, on account of the +feuds and quarrels which always in such cases arose in making the +necessary arrangements for the government of the kingdom during his +absence.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Miniatures.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Situation of King Henry.</span> + +<p>For these and various other causes, a king or a prince desiring to +choose a wife was obliged to content himself with such information +relating to the several candidates as he could obtain from hearsay in +respect to their characters, and from miniatures and portraits in +respect to their personal attractions. This was especially the case +with King Henry VI. Each of the two great parties, that of Cardinal +Beaufort on one hand, and that of the Duke of Gloucester on the other, +were desirous of being the means of finding a bride for the king, and +both were eagerly looking in all directions, and plotting for the +accomplishment of this end, and any attempt of the king to leave the +kingdom for any <span class="pagenum"><a id="page079" name="page079"></a>(p. 079)</span> purpose whatever would undoubtedly have +brought these parties at once to open war.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Plan of the Duke of Gloucester.</span> + +<p>The Duke of Gloucester and those who acted with him fixed their eyes +upon three princesses of a certain great family, called the house of +Armagnac. Their plan was to open negotiations with this house, and to +obtain portraits of the three princesses, to be sent to England, in +order that Henry might take his choice of them. Commissioners were +appointed to manage the business. They were to open the negotiations +and obtain the portraits. The cardinal, of course, and his friends +were greatly interested in preventing the success of this plan, +though, of course, it was necessary for them to be discreet and +cautious in manifesting any open opposition to it in the then present +stage of the affair.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The three princesses of Armagnac.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Their portraits.</span> + +<p>The king was very particular in the instructions which he gave to the +commissioners in respect to the portraits, with a view of securing, if +possible, perfectly correct and fair representations of the originals. +He wished that the princesses should not be flattered at all by the +artist in his delineation of them, and that they should not be dressed +at their sittings in any unusually elegant manner. On the contrary, +they were to be painted "in their kirtles simple, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page080" name="page080"></a>(p. 080)</span> and their +visages like as ye see, and their stature, and their beauty, and the +color of their skin, and their countenances, just as they really are." +The artist was instructed, too, by the commissioners to be expeditious +in finishing the pictures and sending them to England, in order that +the king might see them as soon as possible, and make his choice +between the three young ladies whose "images" were to be thus laid +before him.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The plan fails.</span> + +<p>This plan for giving the king an opportunity to choose between the +three princesses of Armagnac, nicely arranged as it was in all its +details, failed of being carried successfully into effect; for the +father of these princesses, as it happened, was at this same time +engaged in some negotiations with the King of France in respect to the +marriage of his daughters, and he wished to keep the negotiations with +Henry in suspense until he had ascertained whether he could or could +not do better in that quarter. So he contrived means to interrupt and +retard the work of the artist, in order to delay for a time the +finishing of the pictures.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">In what way.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The cardinal's scheme.</span> + +<p>In the mean time, while the Duke of Gloucester and his party were thus +engaged in forwarding their scheme of inducing Henry to make choice of +one of these three princesses for <span class="pagenum"><a id="page081" name="page081"></a>(p. 081)</span> his wife, the cardinal +himself was not idle. He had heard of the beautiful and accomplished +Margaret of Anjou, and after full inquiry and reflection, he +determined in his own mind to make her his candidate for the honor of +being Queen of England. The manner in which he contrived to introduce +the subject first to the notice of the king was this.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Champchevrier.</span> + +<p>There was a certain man, named Champchevrier, who had been taken +prisoner in Anjou in the course of the wars between France and +England, and who was now held for ransom by the knight who had +captured him. He was not, however, kept in close confinement, but was +allowed to go at large in England on his parole—that is, on his word +of honor that he would not make his escape and go back to his native +land until his ransom was paid.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Champchevrier at court.</span> + +<p>Now this Champchevrier, though a prisoner, was a gentleman by birth +and education; and while he remained in England, held by his parole, +was admitted to the best society there, and he often appeared at +court, and frequently held converse with the king. In one of these +interviews he described, in very glowing terms, the beauty and +remarkable intelligence of Margaret of Anjou. It is supposed that he +was induced to this by Cardinal Beaufort, who knew <span class="pagenum"><a id="page082" name="page082"></a>(p. 082)</span> of his +acquaintance with Margaret, and who contrived the interviews between +Champchevrier and the king, in order to give the former an opportunity +to speak of the lady to his majesty incidentally, as it were, and in a +way not to excite the king's suspicions that the commendations of her +which he heard were prompted by any match-making schemes formed for +him by his courtiers.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">His conversations with the king.</span> + +<p>If this was the secret plan of the cardinal, it succeeded admirably +well. The king's curiosity was strongly awakened by the piquant +accounts that Champchevrier gave him of the brilliancy of young +Margaret's beauty, and of her charming vivacity and wit.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The king wishes for a picture.</span> + +<p>"I should like very much to see a picture of the young lady," said the +king.</p> + +<p>"I can easily obtain a picture of her for your majesty," replied +Champchevrier, "if your majesty will commission me to go to Lorraine +for the purpose."</p> + +<p>Champchevrier considered that a commission from the king to go to +Lorraine on business for his majesty would be a sufficient release for +him from the obligations of his parole.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Champchevrier's expedition.</span> + +<p>The king finally gave Champchevrier the required authority to leave +the kingdom. Champchevrier was not satisfied with a verbal permission +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page083" name="page083"></a>(p. 083)</span> merely, but required the king to give him a regular +safe-conduct, drawn up in due form, and signed by the king's name. +Having received this document, Champchevrier left London and set out +upon his journey, the nature and object of the expedition being of +course kept a profound secret.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The Earl of Suffolk.</span> + +<p>A certain nobleman, however, named the Earl of Suffolk, was admitted +to the confidence of the king in this affair, and was by him +associated with Champchevrier in the arrangements which were to be +made for carrying the plan into execution. It would seem that he +accompanied Champchevrier in his journey to Lorraine, where Margaret +was then residing with her mother, and there assisted him in making +arrangements for the painting of the picture. They employed one of the +first artists in France for this purpose. When the work was finished, +Champchevrier set out with it on his return to England.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Champchevrier in danger.</span> + +<p>In the mean time, the English knight whose prisoner Champchevrier was, +heard in some way that his captive had left England, and had returned +to France, and the intelligence made him exceedingly angry. He thought +that Champchevrier had broken his parole and had gone home without +paying his ransom. Such an <span class="pagenum"><a id="page084" name="page084"></a>(p. 084)</span> act as this was regarded as +extremely dishonorable in those days, and it was, moreover, not only +considered dishonorable in a prisoner himself to break his parole, but +also in any one else to aid or abet him in so doing, or to harbor or +protect him after his escape. The knight determined, therefore, that +he would at once communicate with the King of France on the subject, +explaining the circumstances, and asking him to rearrest the supposed +fugitive and send him back.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Gloucester writes to the King of France.</span> + +<p>So he went to the Duke of Gloucester, and, stating the case to him, +asked his grace to write to the King of France, informing him that +Champchevrier had escaped from his parole, and asking him not to give +him refuge, but to seize and send him back. Gloucester was very +willing to do this. It is probable that he knew that Champchevrier was +a friend of the cardinal's, or at least that he was attached to his +interests, and that it was altogether probable that his going into +France was connected with some plot or scheme by which the cardinal +and his party were to derive some advantage. So he wrote the letter, +and it was at once sent to the King of France. The King of France at +this time was Charles VII.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Champchevrier arrested.</span> + +<p>The king, on receiving the letter, gave orders <span class="pagenum"><a id="page085" name="page085"></a>(p. 085)</span> immediately +that Champchevrier should be arrested. By this time, however, the +painting was finished, and Champchevrier was on the way with it from +Lorraine toward England. He was intercepted on his journey, taken to +Vincennes, and there brought before King Charles, and called upon to +give an account of himself.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The whole story comes out.</span> + +<p>Of course he was now obliged to tell the whole story. He said that he +had not broken his parole at all, nor intended in any manner to +defraud his captor in England of the ransom money that was due to him, +but had come to France <span class="italic">by the orders of the King of England</span>. He +explained, too, what he had come for, and showed Charles the painting +which he was carrying back to the king. He also, in proof of the truth +of what he said, produced the safe-conduct which King Henry had given +him.</p> + +<p>King Charles laughed very heartily at hearing this explanation, and at +perceiving how neatly he had discovered the secret of King Henry's +love affairs. He was much pleased, too, with the idea of King Henry's +taking a fancy to a lady so nearly related to the royal family of +France. He thought that he might make the negotiation of such a +marriage the occasion for making peace with England on <span class="pagenum"><a id="page086" name="page086"></a>(p. 086)</span> +favorable terms. So he dismissed Champchevrier at once, and +recommended to him to proceed to England as soon as possible, and +there to do all in his power to induce King Henry to choose Margaret +for his queen.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Trouble in court.</span> + +<p>Champchevrier accordingly returned to England and reported the result +of his mission. The king was very much pleased with the painting, and +he immediately determined to send Champchevrier again to Lorraine on a +secret mission to Margaret's mother. He first, however, determined to +release Champchevrier entirely from his parole, and so he paid the +ransom himself for which he had been held. The Duke of Gloucester +watched all these proceedings with a very jealous eye. When he found +that Champchevrier, on his return to England, came at once to the +king's court, and that there he held frequent conferences, which were +full of mystery, with the king and with the cardinal, and when, +moreover, he learned that the king had paid the ransom money due to +the knight, and that Champchevrier was to be sent away again, he at +once suspected what was going on, and the whole court was soon in a +great ferment of excitement in respect to the proposed marriage of the +king to Margaret of Anjou.</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page087" name="page087"></a>(p. 087)</span> <span class="sidenote">Gloucester's opposition.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret gains the day.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Truce proposed.</span> + +<p>The Duke of Gloucester and his party were, of course, strongly opposed +to Margaret of Anjou; for they knew well that, as she had been brought +to the king's notice by the other party, her becoming Queen of England +would well-nigh destroy their hopes and expectations for all time to +come. The other party acted as decidedly and vigorously in favor of +the marriage. There followed a long contest, in which there was +plotting and counterplotting on one side and on the other, and +manœuvres without end. At last the friends of the beautiful little +Margaret carried the day; and in the year 1444 commissioners were +formally appointed by the governments of England and France to meet at +the city of Tours at a specified day, to negotiate a truce between the +two countries preparatory to a permanent peace, the basis and cement +of which was to be the marriage of King Henry with Margaret of Anjou. +The truce was made for two years, so as to allow full time to arrange +all the details both for a peace between the two countries, and also +in respect to the terms and conditions of the marriage.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Opposition in England.</span> + +<p>As soon as the news that this truce was made arrived in England, it +produced great excitement. The Duke of Gloucester and those who were, +with him, interested to prevent the accomplishment <span class="pagenum"><a id="page088" name="page088"></a>(p. 088)</span> of the +marriage, formed a powerful political party to oppose it. They did +not, however, openly object to the marriage itself, thinking that not +politic, but directed their hostility chiefly against the plan of +making peace with France just at the time, they said, when the glory +of the English arms and the progress of the English power in that +country were at their height. It was very discreditable to the +advisers of the king, they said, that they should counsel him to stop +short in the career of conquest which his armies were pursuing, and +thus sacrifice the grand advantages for the realm of England which +were just within reach.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Violent discussions.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Suffolk is alarmed.</span> + +<p>The discussions and dissensions which arose in the court and in +Parliament on this subject were very violent; but in the end Cardinal +Beaufort and his party were successful, and the king appointed the +Earl of Suffolk embassador extraordinary to the court of France to +negotiate the terms and conditions of the permanent peace which was to +be made between the two countries, and also of the marriage of the +king. At first Suffolk was very unwilling to undertake this embassy. +He feared that, in order to carry out the king's wishes, he should be +obliged to make such important concessions to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page089" name="page089"></a>(p. 089)</span> France that, +at some future time, when perhaps the party of the Duke of Gloucester +should come into power, he might be held responsible for the measure, +and be tried and condemned, perhaps, for high treason, in having been +the means of sacrificing the interests and honor of the kingdom by +advising and negotiating a dishonorable peace. These fears of his were +probably increased by the intensity of the excitement which he +perceived in the Gloucester party, and perhaps, also, by open threats +and demonstrations which they may have uttered for the express purpose +of intimidating him.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">His safe-conduct.</span> + +<p>At any rate, after receiving the appointment, his courage failed him, +and he begged the king to excuse him from performing so dangerous a +commission. The king was, however, very unwilling to do so. Finally, +it was agreed that the king should give the earl his written order, +executed in due and solemn form, and signed with the great seal, +commanding him, on the royal authority, to undertake the embassage. +Suffolk relied on this document as his means of defense from all legal +responsibility for his action in case his enemies should at any future +time have it in their power to bring him to trial for it.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Various difficulties and objections.</span> + +<p>In negotiating the peace, and in arranging <span class="pagenum"><a id="page090" name="page090"></a>(p. 090)</span> the terms and +conditions of the marriage, a great many difficulties were found to be +in the way, but they were all at last overcome. One of these +difficulties was made by King René, the father of Margaret. He +declared that he could not consent to give his daughter in marriage to +the King of England unless the king would first restore to him and to +his family the province of Anjou, which had been the possession of his +ancestors, but which King Henry's armies had overrun and conquered. +The Earl of Suffolk was very unwilling to cede back this territory, +for he knew very well that nothing would be so unpopular in England, +or so likely to increase the hostility of the English people to the +proposed marriage, and consequently to give new life and vigor to the +Gloucester party in their opposition to it, as the giving up again of +territory which the English troops had won by so many hard-fought +battles and the sacrifice of so many lives. But René was inflexible, +and Suffolk finally yielded, and so Anjou was restored to its former +possessors.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The king asks no dowry.</span> + +<p>Another objection which René made was that his fortune was not +sufficient to enable him to endow his daughter properly for so +splendid a marriage; not having the means, he said, of sending her in +a suitable manner into England.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page091" name="page091"></a>(p. 091)</span> But this the King of England said should make no difference. +All that he asked was the hand of the princess without any dowry. Her +personal charms and mental endowments were sufficient to outweigh all +the riches in the world; and if her royal father and mother would +grant her to King Henry as his bride, he would not ask to receive with +her "either penny or farthing."</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The king has a rival.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's wishes.</span> + +<p>King Henry was made all the more eager to close the negotiations for +the marriage as soon as possible, and to consent to almost any terms +which the King of France and René might exact, from the fact that +there was a young prince of the house of Burgundy—a very brave, +handsome, and accomplished man—who was also a suitor for Margaret's +hand, and was very devotedly attached to her. This young prince was in +France at this time, and ready, at any moment, to take advantage of +any difficulty which might arise in the negotiations with Henry to +press his claims, and, perhaps, to carry off the prize. Which of the +two candidates Margaret herself would have preferred there is no means +of knowing. She was yet only about fifteen years of age, and was +completely in the power and at the disposal of her father and mother. +And then the political and family interests <span class="pagenum"><a id="page092" name="page092"></a>(p. 092)</span> which were at +stake in the decision of the question were too vast to allow of the +personal preferences of the young girl herself being taken much into +the account.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The affair finally settled.</span> + +<p>At last every thing was arranged, and Suffolk returned to England, +bringing with him the treaty of peace and the contract of marriage, to +be ratified by the king's council and by Parliament. A new contest now +ensued between the Gloucester and Beaufort parties. The king, of +course, threw all his influence on the cardinal's side, and so the +treaty and the contract carried the day. Both were ratified. The Earl +of Suffolk, as a reward for his services, was made a marquis, and he +was appointed the king's proxy to proceed to France and espouse the +bride in the king's name, according to the usual custom in the case of +royal marriages.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page093" name="page093"></a>(p. 093)</span> CHAPTER VI.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">The Wedding.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Preparations for the wedding.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Excitement.</span> + +<p>Preparations were now immediately made for solemnizing the marriage +and bringing the young queen at once to England. The marriage ceremony +by which a foreign princess was united to a reigning prince, according +to the custom of those times, was twofold, or, rather, there were two +distinct ceremonies to be performed, in one of which the bride, at her +father's own court, was united to her future husband by proxy, and in +the second the nuptials were celebrated anew with her husband himself +in person, after her arrival in his kingdom. Suffolk, as was stated in +the last chapter, was appointed to act as the king's proxy in this +case, for the performance of the first of these ceremonies. He was to +proceed to France, espouse the bride in the king's name, and convey +her to England. Of course a universal excitement now spread itself +among all the nobility and among all the ladies of the court, which +was awakened by the interest which all took in the approaching +wedding, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page094" name="page094"></a>(p. 094)</span> and the desire they felt to accompany the +expedition.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Dresses.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Company.</span> + +<p>A great many of the lords and ladies began to make preparations to +join Lord and Lady Suffolk. Nothing was talked of but dresses, +equipments, presents, invitations, and every body was occupied in the +collecting and packing of stores and baggage for a long journey. At +length the appointed time arrived, and the expedition set out, and, +after a journey of many days, the several parties which composed it +arrived at Nancy, the capital city of Lorraine, where the ceremony was +to be performed.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">King and Queen of France.</span> + +<p>At about the same time, the King and Queen of France, accompanied by a +great concourse of nobles and gentlemen from the French court, who +were to honor the wedding with their presence, arrived. A great many +other knights and ladies, too, from the provinces and castles of the +surrounding country, were seen coming in gay and splendid cavalcades +to the town, when the appointed day drew nigh, eager to witness the +ceremony, and to join in the magnificent festivities which they well +knew would be arranged to commemorate and honor the occasion. In a +word, the whole town became one brilliant scene of gayety, life, and +excitement.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The marriage ceremony is performed.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The bride's household.</span> + +<p>The marriage ceremony was performed in <span class="pagenum"><a id="page095" name="page095"></a>(p. 095)</span> the church, with +great pomp and parade, and in the midst of a vast concourse of people, +composed of the highest nobility of Europe, both lords and ladies, and +all dressed in the most magnificent and distinguished costumes. No +spectacle could possibly be more splendid and gay. At the close of the +ceremony, the bride was placed solemnly in charge of Lady Suffolk, who +was to be responsible for her safety and welfare until she should +arrive in England, and there be delivered into the hands of her +husband. Lady Suffolk was a cousin of Cardinal Beaufort, and she +undoubtedly received this very exalted appointment through his favor. +The appointment brought with it a great deal of patronage and +influence, for a regular and extended household was now to be +organized for the service of the new queen, and of course, among all +the lords and ladies who had come from England, there was a very eager +competition to obtain places in it. There are enumerated among those +who were appointed to posts of service or honor in attendance on the +queen, under the Marchioness of Suffolk, five barons and baronesses, +seventeen knights, sixty-five squires, and no less than one hundred +and seventy-four valets, besides many other servitors, all under pay. +Then, in addition to these, so <span class="pagenum"><a id="page096" name="page096"></a>(p. 096)</span> great was the eagerness to +occupy some recognized station in the train of the bride, that great +numbers applied for appointments to nominal offices for which they +were to receive no pay.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The express.</span> + +<p>If René, Margaret's father, had been possessed of a fortune +corresponding to his rank, the expense of all these arrangements, at +least up to the time of the departure of the bridal party, would, have +been defrayed by him; but as it was, every thing was paid for by King +Henry, and the precise amount of every expenditure stands recorded in +certain old books of accounts which still remain among the ancient +English archives.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Tournament.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The victors in the games.</span> + +<p>The nuptials of the princess were celebrated by a tournament and other +accompanying festivities, which were continued for eight days. In +these tournaments a great many mock combats were fought, in which the +most exalted personages present on the occasion took conspicuous and +prominent parts. The King of France himself appeared in the lists, and +fought with René, the father of the bride. The king was beaten. It +would have been impolite for any one to have vanquished the father of +the bride at a tournament held in honor of the daughter's nuptials. +The Count St. Pol, too, who had formerly been betrothed to Margaret, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page097" name="page097"></a>(p. 097)</span> but had not been allowed to marry her, fought very +successfully, and won a valuable prize, which was conferred upon him +with great ceremony by the hands of the two most distinguished ladies +present, namely, the Queen of France and Isabella of Lorraine, the +bride's mother. Perhaps he too was politely allowed to win his victory +and his honorary prize, in consideration of his submitting so quietly +to the loss of the real prize which his great competitor, the King of +England, was so triumphantly bearing away from him.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Romantic incident.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Grand elopement.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The parents finally appeased.</span> + +<p>The celebrations of the eight days were interrupted and enlivened by +one remarkable incident, which for a time threatened to produce very +serious difficulty. It will be remembered that when the original +contract and treaty were made between René and the uncle of Isabella, +Antoine of Vaudemonte, at the time when peace was re-established +between them, after the battle in which René was taken prisoner, that +not only was it agreed that Margaret should be betrothed to the Count +St. Pol, but also that Yolante, Margaret's elder sister, was betrothed +to Antoine's son Ferry, as he was called.<a id="footnotetag3" name="footnotetag3"></a><a href="#footnote3" title="Go to footnote 3"><span class="small">[3]</span></a> Now Ferry seemed not +disposed to submit quietly, as St. Pol had done, to the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page098" name="page098"></a>(p. 098)</span> loss +of his bride, and as he had never thus far been able to induce René +and Isabella to fulfill their agreement by consenting to the +consummation of the marriage, he determined now to take the matter +into his own hands. So he formed the scheme of an elopement. His plan +was to take advantage of the excitement and confusion attendant on the +tournament for carrying off his bride. He organized a band of +adventurous young knights who were willing to aid him in his +enterprise, and, laying his plans secretly and carefully, he, assisted +by his comrades, seized the young lady and galloped away with her to a +place of safety, intending to keep her there in his own custody until +King René and her mother should consent to her immediate marriage. +King René, when he first heard of his daughter's abduction, was very +angry, and declared that he would never forgive either Ferry or +Yolante. But the King and Queen of France interceded for the lovers, +and René at last relented. Ferry and Yolante were married, and all +parties were made friends again, after which the celebrations and +festivities were renewed with greater spirit and ardor than before.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret takes leave of her friends.</span> + +<p>At length the time for the conclusion of the public rejoicings at +Nancy, and for the commencement <span class="pagenum"><a id="page099" name="page099"></a>(p. 099)</span> of Margaret's journey to +England, arrived. Thus far, though nominally under the care and +keeping of Lord and Lady Suffolk, Margaret had of course been really +most intimately associated with her own family and friends; but now +the time had come when she was to take a final leave of her father and +mother, and of all whom she had known and loved from infancy, and be +put really and fully into the trust and keeping of strangers, to be +taken by them to a distant and foreign land. The parting was very +painful. It seems that Margaret's beauty and the charming vivacity of +her manners had made her universally beloved, and the hearts not only +of her father and mother, but of the whole circle of those who had +known her, were filled with grief at the thought of parting with her +forever.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Setting out of the procession.</span> + +<p>The King and Queen of France, who seem to have loved their niece with +sincere affection, determined to accompany her for a short distance, +as she set out on her journey from Nancy. Of course, many of the +courtiers went too. These together with the great number of English +nobles and gentry that were attached to the service of the bride, made +so large a company, and the dresses, caparisons, and trappings which +were exhibited on the occasion <span class="pagenum"><a id="page100" name="page100"></a>(p. 100)</span> were so splendid and fine, +that the cavalcade, as it set out from the city of Nancy on the +morning when the journey was to commence, formed one of the gayest and +grandest bridal processions that the world has ever seen.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Parting with the King and Queen of France.</span> + +<p>After proceeding for five or six miles the procession came to a halt, +in order that the King and Queen of France might take their leave. The +parting filled the hearts of their majesties with grief. The king +clasped Margaret again and again in his arms when he bade her +farewell, and told her that in placing her, as he had done, upon one +of the greatest thrones in Europe, it seemed to him, after all, that +he had really done nothing for her, "for even such a throne is +scarcely worthy of you, my darling child," said he. In saying this his +eyes filled with tears. The queen was so overwhelmed with emotion that +she could not speak; but, kissing Margaret again and again amid her +sobbings and tears, she finally turned from her and was borne away.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's parents.</span> + +<p>Margaret's father and mother did not take their leave of her at this +place, but went on with her two days' journey, as far as to the town +of Bar le Duc, which was near the frontiers of Lorraine. Here they, +too, at last took their leave, though their hearts were so full, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page101" name="page101"></a>(p. 101)</span> when the moment of final parting came, that they could not +speak, but bade their child farewell with tears and caresses, +unaccompanied with any words whatever of farewell.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The bride's new friends.</span> + +<p>Still Margaret was not left entirely alone among strangers when her +father and mother left her. One of her brothers, and some other +friends, were to accompany her to England. She had, moreover, by this +time become well acquainted with the Marquis and Marchioness of +Suffolk, under whose charge and protection she was now traveling, and +she had become strongly attached to them. They were both considerably +advanced in life, and were grave and quiet in their demeanor, but they +were very kind and attentive to Margaret in every respect, and they +made every effort in their power to console the grief that she felt at +parting with her parents and friends, and leaving her native land, and +they endeavored in every way to make the journey as comfortable and as +agreeable as possible to her.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The vessel.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Causes of delay.</span> + +<p>During all this time a vessel, which had been dispatched from England +for the purpose, was waiting at a certain port on the northern coast +of France called Kiddelaws, ready to take the queen and her bridal +train across the Channel. The distance from Nancy to this port was +very <span class="pagenum"><a id="page102" name="page102"></a>(p. 102)</span> considerable, and the means and facilities for +traveling enjoyed in those days were so imperfect that a great deal of +time was necessarily employed on the journey. Besides this, a long +delay was occasioned by the want of funds. King Henry had himself +agreed to defray all the expenses of the marriage, and also of the +progress of the bridal party through France to England. These expenses +were necessarily great, and it happened at this time that the king was +in very straitened circumstances in respect to funds. He was greatly +embarrassed, too, in the efforts which he made to procure money, by +the difficulties which were thrown in his way by the party of the Duke +of Gloucester, who resisted by every means in their power all action +of Parliament tending to furnish the king's treasury with money, and +thus promote the final accomplishment of the marriage.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Henry's want of money.</span> + +<p>In consequence of all these difficulties and delays, it was nearly +three months from the time when the bridal ceremony was performed at +Nancy before Margaret was ready to embark for England in the vessel +that awaited her at Kiddelaws.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Expenses to be incurred in England.</span> + +<p>It was not merely for the expenses of the journey through France of +Margaret and her train that Henry had to provide. On her arrival +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page103" name="page103"></a>(p. 103)</span> in England there was to be a grand reception, which would +require many costly equipages, and the giving of many entertainments. +Then, moreover, the marriage ceremony was to be performed anew, and in +a far more pompous and imposing manner than before, and after the +marriage a coronation, with all the attendant festivities and +celebrations. All these things involved great expense, and Margaret +could not come into the kingdom until the preparations were made for +the whole. To such straits was the king reduced in his efforts to +raise the money which he deemed necessary for the proper reception of +his bride, that he was obliged to pledge a large portion of the crown +jewels, and also of the family plate and other personal property of +that kind. A considerable part of the property so pledged was never +redeemed.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Passage across the Channel.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Rough weather.</span> + +<p>At length, however, things were so far in readiness that orders +arrived for the sailing of the expedition. The party accordingly +embarked, and the vessel sailed. They crossed the Channel, and entered +Portsmouth harbor, and finally landed at the town of Porchester, which +is situated at the head of the harbor. The voyage was not very +agreeable. The vessel was small, and the Channel in this place is +wide, and Margaret was so sick during the passage, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page104" name="page104"></a>(p. 104)</span> and +became so entirely exhausted, that when the vessel reached the port +she could not stand, and Suffolk carried her to the shore in his arms.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's reception.</span> + +<p>The boisterous weather which had attended the party during their +voyage increased till it ended in a dreadful storm of thunder, +lightning, and rain, which burst over the town of Porchester just at +the time while the party were landing. The people, however, paid no +attention to the storm and rain, but flocked in crowds into the +streets where the bride was to pass, and strewed rushes along the way +to make a carpet for her. They also filled the air with joyful +acclamations as the procession passed along. In this way the royal +bride was conveyed through the town to a convent in the vicinity, +where she was to rest for the first night, and prepare for continuing +her journey to London.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Passage to Southampton.</span> + +<p>The next day, the weather having become settled and fair, it was +arranged that Margaret and her party should be conveyed from +Porchester to Southampton along the shore in barges. The water of this +passage is smooth, being sheltered every where by the land. The barges +first moved down Portsmouth harbor, then out into what is called the +Solent Sea, which is a narrow, sheltered, and beautiful sheet +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page105" name="page105"></a>(p. 105)</span> of water, lying between the Isle of Wight and the main land, +and thence, entering Southampton Water, they passed up, a distance of +eight or ten miles, to the town.<a id="footnotetag4" name="footnotetag4"></a><a href="#footnote4" title="Go to footnote 4"><span class="small">[4]</span></a></p> + +<span class="sidenote">The queen takes lodgings in a convent.</span> + +<p>On the arrival of the queen at Southampton, she was conveyed again to +a convent in the vicinity of the town, for this was before the days of +hotels. Here she was met by persons sent from the king to assist her +in respect to her farther preparations for appearing at his court. +Among other measures that were adopted, one was the sending a special +messenger to London to bring an English dressmaker to Southampton, in +order that suitable dresses might be prepared for the bride, to enable +her to appear properly in the presence of the English ladies at the +approaching ceremonies.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The king.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Lichfield Abbey.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret is seriously sick.</span> + +<p>In the mean time, King Henry, whom the rules of royal etiquette did +not allow to join the queen until the time should arrive for the +performance of the second part of the nuptial ceremony, came down from +London, and took up his abode at a place ten or twelve miles distant, +called Southwick, where he had a palace and a park. The nuptials were +to be celebrated at a certain abbey called Lichfield Abbey, which was +situated about midway between <span class="pagenum"><a id="page106" name="page106"></a>(p. 106)</span> Southampton, where the queen +was lodged, and Southwick, the place of waiting for the king. The king +had expected that every thing would be ready in a few days, but he was +destined to encounter a new delay. Margaret had scarcely arrived in +Southampton when she was attacked by an eruptive fever of some sort, +resembling small-pox, which threw all her friends into a state of +great alarm concerning her. The disease, however, proved less serious +than was at first apprehended, and after a week or two the danger +seemed to be over.</p> + +<p>During all the time while his bride was thus sick Henry remained in +great suspense and anxiety at Southwick, being forbidden, by the rigid +rules of royal etiquette, to see her.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Recovery.</span> + +<p>At length Margaret recovered, and the day was appointed for the final +celebration of the nuptials. When the time arrived, Margaret was +conveyed in great state, and at the head of a splendid cavalcade, to +the abbey, and there the marriage ceremony was again performed in the +presence of a great concourse of lords and ladies that had come from +London and Windsor, or from their various castles in the country +around, to be present on the occasion.</p> + +<a id="img008" name="img008"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img008.jpg" width="500" height="335" alt="" title=""> +<p>Suffolk Presenting Margaret to the King.</p> +</div> + +<span class="sidenote">1445.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The final ceremony.</span> + +<p>This final ceremony was performed in April, 1445. Of course, as +Margaret was born in <span class="pagenum"><a id="page109" name="page109"></a>(p. 109)</span> March, 1429, she was at this time +sixteen years and one month old.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Strange bridal present.</span> + +<p>Among other curious incidents which are recorded in connection with +this wedding, there is an account of Margaret's receiving, as a +present on the occasion—for a pet, as it were, just as at the present +day a young bride might receive a gift of a spaniel or a +canary-bird—a lion. It was very common in those times for the wealthy +nobles to keep such animals as these at their castles. They were +confined in dens constructed for them near the castle walls. The kings +of England, however, kept their lions, when they had any, in the Tower +of London, and the practice thus established of keeping wild beasts in +the Tower was continued down to a very late period; so that I remember +of often reading, when I was a boy, in English story-books, accounts +of children, when they went to London, being taken by their parents to +see the "lions in the Tower."</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The lion sent to the Tower.</span> + +<p>Margaret sent her lion to the Tower. In the book of expenses which was +kept for this famous bridal progress, there is an account of the sum +of money paid to two men for taking care of this lion, feeding him and +conveying him to London. The amount was £2 5<span class="italic">s.</span> 3<span class="italic">d.</span>, which is equal +to about ten or twelve dollars <span class="pagenum"><a id="page110" name="page110"></a>(p. 110)</span> of our money. This seems very +little for such a service, but it must be remembered that the value of +money was much greater in those times than it is now.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret continues her journey toward London.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Rejoicings.</span> + +<p>Immediately after the marriage ceremony was completed, the +preparations for the journey having been all made beforehand, the king +and queen set out together for London, and it soon began to appear +that this part of the journey was to be more splendid and gay than any +other. The people of the country, who had heard marvelous stories of +the youth and beauty and the early family misfortunes of the queen, +flocked in crowds along the roadsides to get a glimpse of her as she +passed, and to gaze on the grand train of knights and nobles that +accompanied her, and to admire the magnificence of the dresses and +decorations which were so profusely displayed. Every body came wearing +a daisy in his cap or in his buttonhole, for the daisy was the flower +which Margaret had chosen for her emblem. At every town through which +the bride passed she was met by immense crowds that thronged all the +accessible places, and filled the windows, and in some places covered +the roofs of the houses and the tops of the walls, and welcomed her +with the sound of trumpets, the waving of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page111" name="page111"></a>(p. 111)</span> banners, and with +prolonged shouts and acclamations.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The Duke of Gloucester.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">His plans.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">His invitation to the queen.</span> + +<p>In the mean time, the Duke of Gloucester, who, with his party, had +done every thing in his power to oppose the marriage, now, finding +that it was an accomplished fact, and that all farther opposition +would not only be useless, but would only tend to hasten and complete +his own utter downfall, concluded to change his course, and join +heartily himself in the general welcome which was given to the bride. +His plan was to persuade the queen that the opposition which he had +made to King Henry's measures was directed only against the peace +which had been made with France, and which he had opposed for +political considerations alone, but that, so far as the marriage with +Margaret was concerned, he approved it. So he prepared to outdo, if +possible, all the rest of the nobility in the magnificence of the +welcome which he was to give her on her arrival in London. He +possessed a palace at Greenwich, on the Thames, a short distance below +London, and he sent an invitation to Margaret to come there on the +last day of her journey, in order to rest and refresh herself a little +preparatory to the excitement and fatigue of entering London. Margaret +accepted this invitation, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page112" name="page112"></a>(p. 112)</span> and when the bridal procession +began to draw nigh, Gloucester came forth to meet her at the head of a +band of five hundred of his own retainers, all dressed in his uniform, +and wearing the badge of his personal service. This great parade was +intended partly to do honor to the bride, and partly to impress her +with a proper sense of his own rank and importance as one of the +nobles of England, and of the danger that she would incur in making +him her enemy.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Great preparations in London.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Curious exhibitions.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Justice and peace.</span> + +<p>Very splendid preparations were made in the city of London to do honor +to the royal bride in her passage through the city. It was the custom +in those times to exhibit in the streets, on great public days, +tableaux, and emblematic or dramatic representations of certain truths +or moral sentiments appropriate to the occasion, and sometimes of +passages of Scripture history. A great many of these exhibitions were +arranged by the citizens of London, to be seen by the bride and the +bridal procession as they passed through the streets. Some of these +were very quaint and queer, and would only be laughed at at the +present day. For instance, in one place was an arrangement of two +figures, one dressed to represent justice, and the other peace; and +these figures were <span class="pagenum"><a id="page113" name="page113"></a>(p. 113)</span> made movable and fitted with strings, so +that, at the proper moment, when the queen was passing, they could be +made to come together and apparently kiss each other. This was +intended as an expression of the text, justice and peace have kissed +each other, which was considered as an appropriate text to +characterize and commemorate the peace between England and France +which this marriage had sealed. In another place there was an +emblematical pageant representing peace and plenty. There were also, +at other places, representations of Noah's ark, of the parable of the +wise and foolish virgins, of the heavenly Jerusalem, and even one of +the general resurrection and judgment day.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The queen passes through London.</span> + +<p>On the morning of the day appointed for the queen's entry into London, +the pageants having all been prepared and set up in their places, a +grand procession of the mayor and aldermen, and other dignitaries, was +formed, and proceeded down the river toward Greenwich, in order to +meet the queen and escort her through the city. These civic officers +were all mounted on horseback, and dressed in their gay official +costumes. The chiefs were dressed in scarlet, and the body of their +followers, arranged in bands according to their respective trades, +wore blue <span class="pagenum"><a id="page114" name="page114"></a>(p. 114)</span> gowns, with embroidered sleeves and red hoods. In +this way the royal procession was escorted over London Bridge, and +through the principal streets of the city to Westminster, where the +bride was at length safely received in the palace of her husband.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The coronation.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The queen left to repose.</span> + +<p>This was on the 28th of May. Two days afterward Margaret was crowned +queen in Westminster with great parade and ceremony. The coronation +was followed by a grand tournament of three days' duration, +accompanied with banquets and other festivities usual on such +occasions, and then at length the bride had the satisfaction of +feeling that the long-protracted ceremony was over, and that she was +now to be left to repose.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page115" name="page115"></a>(p. 115)</span> CHAPTER VII.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">Reception in England.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Duke of Gloucester.</span> + +<p>Notwithstanding the grand reception which the Duke of Gloucester gave +to Margaret on her arrival in England, she knew very well that he had +always been opposed to her marriage, and had not failed to do all in +his power to prevent it. She accordingly considered him as her enemy; +and though she endeavored at first, at least, to treat him with +outward politeness, she felt a secret resentment against him in heart, +and would have been very glad to have joined his political enemies in +effecting his overthrow.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The cardinal.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's affection for Lord and Lady Suffolk.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Quarrel.</span> + +<p>Cardinal Beaufort and the Earl of Suffolk, as has already been said, +were Gloucester's rivals and enemies. The cardinal was a venerable +man, now quite advanced in years. He was, however, extremely +ambitious. He was immensely wealthy, and his wealth gave him great +influence. He had, moreover, been the guardian of the king during his +minority, and in that capacity had acquired a great influence over his +mind. The Earl of Suffolk, who, with <span class="pagenum"><a id="page116" name="page116"></a>(p. 116)</span> his lady, had been sent +to France to bring Margaret over, had inspired Margaret with a great +friendship for him. She felt a strong affection for him, and also for +Lady Suffolk, not only on account of their having acted so important a +part in promoting her marriage, but also on account of the very kind +and attentive manner in which they had treated her during the whole +period of her journey. Thus the cardinal and Suffolk, on the one hand, +had the advantage, in their quarrel with the Duke of Gloucester, of +great personal influence over the king and queen, while Gloucester +himself, on the other hand, enjoyed in some respects a still greater +advantage in his popularity with the mass of the people. Every body +perceived that the old quarrel between these great personages would +now, on the arrival of the queen in England, be prosecuted with more +violence than ever, and all the courtiers were anxious to find out +which was likely to be the victor, so that, at the end of the battle, +they might be found on the winning side.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret is left to herself.</span> + +<p>As soon as the coronation was over, the principal personages who had +been sent with Margaret by her father, for the purpose of accompanying +her on her journey, and seeing her properly and comfortably +established in her <span class="pagenum"><a id="page117" name="page117"></a>(p. 117)</span> new home, were dismissed and allowed to +set out on their return. They all received presents in money from King +Henry to reimburse them for the expenses of the journey which they had +made in bringing him his bride.</p> + +<a id="img009" name="img009"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img009.jpg" width="400" height="482" alt="" title=""> +<p>Ancient Portrait of Queen Margaret.</p> +</div> + +<span class="sidenote">Repair of the palaces.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The king's want of money.</span> + +<p>Margaret was thus left to herself in the new station and new sphere of +duty to which she <span class="pagenum"><a id="page118" name="page118"></a>(p. 118)</span> had been transferred. All the royal +palaces had been fitted up expressly for her reception. This was very +necessary in fact, for some years had elapsed since there had been a +queen in England, and all the royal residences had become very much +out of repair. Those were rude times, and even the palaces and castles +that were built for kings and queens were at best very comfortless +dwellings. But when, during a long minority, they were abandoned to +the rude tenants and rough usages to which at such times they were +sure to be devoted, they came, in the end, to be little better than so +many barracks for soldiery. It required a great deal of time, and no +little expense, to prepare the Tower and the palaces of Westminster +and Richmond for the reception of a young and beautiful queen, and of +the gay company of ladies that were to attend her. King Henry was so +destitute of money at this time that he found it extremely difficult +to provide the means of paying the workmen. There is still extant a +petition which the clerk of the works sent in to the king, praying him +to supply him with more money to pay the men, for the labor was so +poorly paid, and the wages were so much in arrears, that it was +extremely difficult for him to find men, he said, to go on with the +work.</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page119" name="page119"></a>(p. 119)</span> <span class="sidenote">The queen attaches herself to Cardinal Beaufort.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Jealousy of Gloucester.</span> + +<p>The palaces were, however, at last made ready before Margaret came. +There were apartments for her in the Tower, and there were also three +other palaces in and near London, in either of which she could reside +at her pleasure. Besides this, the cardinal, who, as has already been +remarked, was possessed of immense wealth, owned, among his other +establishments, a beautiful mansion at Waltham Forest, a few miles +north of London. The cardinal set apart a state chamber in this house +for the exclusive use of the queen when she came to visit him, and +caused it to be fitted up and furnished in a magnificent manner for +her. The drapery of the bed was of cloth of gold from Damascus, and +the other furniture and fittings were to correspond. The queen used +often to go and visit the cardinal at this country seat. She soon +became very fond of him, and willing to be guided by his counsel in +almost every thing that she did. Indeed, the ascendency which the +cardinal thus exercised over Margaret greatly increased his power over +the king. The affairs of the court and of the government were directed +almost wholly by his counsels. The Duke of Gloucester and the nobles +of his party became more and more indignant and angry at this state of +things. The realm of England, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page120" name="page120"></a>(p. 120)</span> they said, through the +weakness and imbecility of the king, had fallen into the hands of a +priest and of a woman—a French woman, too.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Great mistakes often made.</span> + +<p>But there was nothing that they could do. Margaret was so young and so +beautiful that every body was captivated with her person and behavior, +and whatever she did was thought to be right. Indeed, the general +course which she pursued on her first arrival in England <span class="italic">was</span> right +in an eminent degree. There have been many cases in which young +queens, in coming as Margaret did, away from their native land and +from all their early friends, to reign in a foreign court, have +brought with them from home personages of distinction to be their +favorites and friends in their new position. But when this is done, +jealousies and ill-will always sooner or later spring up between these +relatives and friends of the foreign bride and the old native advisers +of the king her husband. The result is, in the end, a king's party and +a queen's party at court, and perpetual quarrels and dissensions +ensue, in which at least the people of the country are sure to become +involved, from their natural jealousy of the foreign influence, as +they call it, introduced by the queen.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's friends and counselors.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Her good sense.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Example for all young brides.</span> + +<p>Queen Margaret had the good sense to avoid <span class="pagenum"><a id="page121" name="page121"></a>(p. 121)</span> this danger. All +the principal persons who came with her to England, for the purpose of +accompanying her on the journey, and of carrying back to her father +and friends in France authentic assurances of her having been +honorably received by her husband as his bride and queen, were +dismissed and sent home again immediately after the coronation, as we +have already seen. Margaret retained only certain domestic servants, +and perhaps some two or three private and personal friends. As for +counselors and advisers, she threw herself at once upon the ministers +and counselors of the king—the Cardinal Beaufort, who had been his +guardian from childhood, and the Earl of Suffolk, who was one of his +principal ministers, and had been sent by him, as his proxy and +representative, to negotiate the marriage and bring home the bride. +She made Lady Suffolk, too—the wife of the earl—her most intimate +female friend. She appointed her to the principal place of honor in +her household, and in other ways manifested great affection for her. +The good sense and discretion which she thus manifested—young as she +was, for she was not yet seventeen—in choosing for her confidential +friend a lady of the age and standing of Lady Suffolk, instead of +attempting to place in that position some foreign <span class="pagenum"><a id="page122" name="page122"></a>(p. 122)</span> belle of +her own years, whom she had brought with her for the purpose from her +native land, as many young brides in her situation would have done, +deserves much commendation. In a word, Margaret, in becoming a wife, +gave herself up entirely to her husband. She made his friends her +friends, and his interests her interests, and thus transferred +herself, wholly and without reserve, to her new position; an example +which all young ladies whose marriage brings them into entirely new +circumstances and relations would do well to follow. Nothing is more +dangerous than the attempt in such cases to bring from the old home +influences in any form to be introduced with a view of sharing the +control in the new.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Opinions in England.</span> + +<p>In consequence of the discreet course of conduct that Margaret thus +pursued, and of the effect produced on the court by her beauty, her +vivacity, and her many polite accomplishments, public opinion—that +is, the opinion of the outside world, who knew nothing of her secret +designs or of her real character—turned very soon after her arrival +in England entirely in her favor. As has already been said, the +general sentiment of the nobles and of the people was strongly against +the match when it was first proposed. They opposed it, not because +they <span class="pagenum"><a id="page123" name="page123"></a>(p. 123)</span> had any personal objection to Margaret herself, but +because, in order to prepare the way for it, it was necessary to make +peace with France, and in making peace, to grant certain concessions +which they thought would weaken the power of the English on the +Continent, and, at any rate, greatly interfere with the farther +extension of their power there. But when the people came to see and +know the queen, they all admired and loved her.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Henry's character.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's character.</span> + +<p>As for the king, he was perfectly enchanted with his bride. He was +himself, as has already been said, of a very sedate and quiet turn of +mind; amiable and gentle in disposition; devout, fond of retirement, +and interested only in such occupations and pleasures as are +consistent with a life of tranquillity and repose. Margaret was as +different as possible from all this. Her brilliant personal charms, +her wit, her spirit, her general intellectual superiority, the +extraordinary courage for which she afterward became so celebrated, +and which began to show itself even at this early period, all combined +to awaken in Henry's mind a profound admiration for his wife, and gave +her a great and rapidly-increasing ascendency over him.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Her popularity in England.</span> + +<p>The impression which Margaret made upon the people was equally +favorable. England, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page124" name="page124"></a>(p. 124)</span> they thought, had never seen a queen +more worthy of the throne than Margaret of Anjou. Some one said of her +that no woman equaled her in beauty, and few men surpassed her in +courage and energy. It seemed as if she had been born in order to +supply to her royal husband the qualities which he required in order +to become a great king.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page125" name="page125"></a>(p. 125)</span> CHAPTER VIII.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">The Story of Lady Neville.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Intrigues.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">A romantic story.</span> + +<p>In reading the history of the English monarchy in these early times, +you will often hear of the <span class="italic">court intrigues</span> which mingled with, and +sometimes greatly complicated, the movement of public affairs. +Margaret of Anjou found herself, on her arrival in England, involved +in many such intrigues. Indeed, she was admirably qualified, by her +sagacity and quickness of apprehension, and by the great ascendency +which these and other qualities which she possessed gave her over the +minds of all about her, to take a very active and successful part in +the management of manœuvrings of all sorts. The nature of these +court intrigues is very well illustrated by the narration which the +most celebrated of Margaret's biographers gives of one in which he +says that Margaret herself became involved while on her way from +France to England. The story seems much more like romance than like +reality. Indeed, it doubtless is a romance, but it nevertheless +illustrates well the manner in which the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page126" name="page126"></a>(p. 126)</span> private passions +and personal and family quarrels of the great became involved with, +and sometimes entirely controlled, the most important events in the +national history, and therefore it will not be amiss to relate it.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Lady Neville.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">First interview.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Dauphiness.</span> + +<p>The first connection which Queen Margaret, as we are henceforth to +call her, had with the affair of Lady Neville, took place at +Abbeville, a town in France not very far from Calais, when the queen +was advancing toward the sea-coast on her way to England. While she +was at Abbeville, there suddenly appeared a young and beautiful lady +who asked an audience of Margaret, announcing herself simply as one of +the ladies who had been attached to the service of the dauphiness, who +was the wife of the oldest son of the king,<a id="footnotetag5" name="footnotetag5"></a><a href="#footnote5" title="Go to footnote 5"><span class="small">[5]</span></a> and who had recently +died. She was admitted. She remained in private conversation with +Margaret two hours, and when this mysterious interview was concluded +she was introduced to the other ladies of Margaret's court as Miss +Sanders, an English lady who had been attached to the court of the +dauphiness, but who now, since the death of her <span class="pagenum"><a id="page127" name="page127"></a>(p. 127)</span> mistress, +wished to return to England in Margaret's train. Margaret informed the +other ladies that she had received her into her household, and gave +directions that she should be treated with the utmost consideration.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Curiosity of the ladies.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The stranger's reserve.</span> + +<p>The other ladies were very curious to solve the mystery of this case, +but they could not obtain any clew to it. The stranger was very +reserved, mingled very little with her new companions, and evinced a +constant desire to avoid observation. There was something, however, in +her beauty, and in the expression of deep and constant grief which her +countenance wore, which made her an object of great interest to all +the household of the queen, but they could not learn any particulars +of her history. The facts, however, were these.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Her story.</span> + +<p>Her real name was Anne Neville. She was the daughter of Richard +Neville, Earl of Salisbury, one of the leading and most +highly-connected noblemen in England. When she was about fifteen years +old she was married to a relative of the family. The marriage, +however, proved a very unhappy one. Her husband was very jealous of +her. From her subsequent conduct it would seem probable that he might +have had good reason to be so. At any rate, he was extremely jealous; +and as he was of a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page128" name="page128"></a>(p. 128)</span> harsh and cruel temper, he made his young +wife very miserable by the exactions and privations which he enforced +upon her, and by the violent invectives with which he continually +assailed her.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Her unhappy marriage.</span> + +<p>The incessant anxiety and suffering which these troubles occasioned +soon began to prey upon the lady's health, and, at length, her father, +observing that she was growing pale and thin, began to inquire into +the cause. He soon learned what a dreadful life his daughter was +leading. Like most of the other great nobles of those days, he was a +man of violent character, and he immediately determined on rescuing +his daughter from her husband's power, for he considered her husband +as the party chiefly, if not wholly, to blame.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Her marriage dissolved.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Pretext.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Her marriage annulled.</span> + +<p>He ascertained, or pretended to ascertain, that there had been some +informalities connected with the marriage. His daughter was distantly +related to her husband, and there were certain steps which it was +necessary to take in such cases to obtain a dispensation from the +Church, in order to render such marriage legal. These steps he now +alleged had not been properly taken, and he immediately instituted +proceedings to have the marriage annulled. Whether there was really +any sufficient <span class="pagenum"><a id="page129" name="page129"></a>(p. 129)</span> ground for such annulling, or whether he +obtained the decree through influences which his high position enabled +him to bring to bear upon the court, I do not know. He, however, +succeeded in his purpose. The marriage was annulled, and his daughter +returned home; and, in order to obliterate as far as possible all +traces of the unhappy union into which she had been drawn, she dropped +the name which she had received from her husband and resumed again her +own maiden name.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">She becomes free.</span> + +<p>She now began soon to appear at court, where she almost immediately +attracted great attention. On account of the peculiar circumstances in +which she was placed, she enjoyed all the privileges of a widow, +combined with the attractiveness and the charms of a lovely girl. +Almost every body was ready to fall in love with her.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Her admirers.</span> + +<p>Among her other admirers was the Duke of Somerset. He was a man of +high rank and of great accomplishments, but he was married, and he +could not, therefore, innocently make her the object of his love. He +was not, however, deterred by this consideration, and he soon +succeeded in making a strong impression upon Lady Neville's heart. +They soon contrived means of meeting each other in private, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page130" name="page130"></a>(p. 130)</span> +resorting to all sorts of manœuvres and inventions to aid them in +keeping their guilty attachment to each other from the knowledge of +those around them.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The Duke of Gloucester.</span> + +<p>In the mean while, the Duke of Gloucester himself, who was now, +however, considerably advanced in life, lost his wife, she dying about +this time, and he almost immediately conceived the idea of making Lady +Neville her successor. He thought it not proper to say any thing to +Lady Neville herself on this subject until some little time should +have elapsed, but he spoke to her father, the Earl of Salisbury, who +readily approved of the plan. Gloucester was at this time prime +minister of England, and the lady whom he should choose for his wife +would be elevated by her marriage to the highest pinnacle of grandeur. +Of course, the importance and influence of her father also, and of all +the members of her family, would be greatly increased by so splendid +an alliance.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Splendid prospect.</span> + +<p>So it was agreed that the match should be made, but the arrangement +was to be kept secret, not only from the public, but from the intended +bride herself, until a suitable time should have elapsed for the +widower to recover from the grief which the death of his former wife +was supposed to have occasioned him.</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page131" name="page131"></a>(p. 131)</span> <span class="sidenote">Gloucester's declaration.</span> + +<p>At length, when the proper time for mourning had expired, Gloucester +made his declaration of love. Lady Neville listened to it, thinking +all the time what Somerset would say when she came to communicate the +news to him. She did communicate it to him on the first opportunity.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Perplexity of Lady Neville.</span> + +<p>Great was the distress and the perplexity which the lovers felt while +consulting together and determining what was to be done in such an +emergency. They could not endure the thought of a separation. They +could not be married to each other, for Somerset was married already. +For Lady Neville to remain single all her life in order to be at +liberty to indulge a guilty passion was an idea not to be entertained. +They knew, too, that their present relations to each other could not +long be continued. A thousand circumstances might happen at any time +to interrupt or to terminate it, and it could not be long, in any +event, before it must come to an end. So it was agreed between them +that Lady Neville should accede to the great minister's proposal and +become his wife. In the mean time, until the period should arrive for +the consummation of the marriage, they were to renew and redouble +their intimacy with each other, taking, however, every possible +precaution <span class="pagenum"><a id="page132" name="page132"></a>(p. 132)</span> to conceal their movements from the eyes of +others.</p> + +<p>So the duke's offer was accepted, and it was soon made known to all +the court that Lady Neville was his affianced bride.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The duke becomes uneasy.</span> + +<p>Thus far Lady Neville had treated the duke with great reserve in her +accidental intercourse with him at the reunions of the court, but now, +since he was her accepted lover, he thought he might reasonably expect +a greater degree of cordiality in her demeanor toward him. But he +found no change. She continued as formal and reserved as ever. +Moreover, when he went to visit her, which he did sometimes several +times a day, she was very often not at home—much too often, he +thought. He went to the place where her domestics said she had gone in +such cases, but she was very seldom to be found. He soon came to the +conclusion that there was some strange mystery involved in the affair, +and he determined to adopt effectual measures for unraveling it.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">His spies.</span> + +<p>So he employed certain trusty persons who were in his service to watch +and see where Lady Neville went, and how she passed her time during +these unaccountable absences from home. For many days this watch was +continued, but no discoveries were made. The spies <span class="pagenum"><a id="page133" name="page133"></a>(p. 133)</span> reported +that they could not keep upon the lady's track. In spite of their best +exertions she would contrive to elude them, and for several hours +every day they lost sight of her altogether. They saw enough, however, +to satisfy them that there was something wrong going on. What it was, +however, they could not discover, so shrewd and complete were the +precautions which Somerset and Lady Neville had taken to prevent +detection.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Discoveries.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The duke's perplexity.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">His mode of reasoning.</span> + +<p>The Duke of Gloucester was for a time much perplexed to know what to +do, whether openly to quarrel with Lady Neville and refuse to +consummate the marriage, or to banish his suspicions and take her for +his wife. His love for her finally triumphed, and he resolved to +proceed with the marriage. He had no positive evidence against her, he +said to himself, and then, besides, even if there were some secret +attachment on her part, to account for these mysterious appearances, +she might, after all, when once married to him, make him a faithful +and affectionate wife. Some lingering remains of a former affection +must often necessarily dwell, he thought, in the heart of a bride, +even when truly and honestly giving herself to the one on whom her +choice is finally made. Especially is this true in cases where the +lady is young, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page134" name="page134"></a>(p. 134)</span> accomplished, and lovely, while her husband +can only offer wealth or high position instead of youth and personal +attractions as a means of winning her favor.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The decision.</span> + +<p>So it was decided that the marriage should take place, and the day for +the wedding was appointed.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Clandestine meeting of the lovers.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Village on the Thames.</span> + +<p>When the time for the wedding drew nigh, and the lovers found that the +period of their enjoyments was drawing to a close, they determined on +having a farewell interview with each other on the day before the +wedding, and in order to be safe from interruption, it was arranged +that they should spend the day together in a village on the banks of +the Thames, at some little distance from London.</p> + +<p>When the day came, Lady Neville left her home to repair to the place +of rendezvous. She was followed by Gloucester's spies. She was +received at the village by Somerset. Somerset was, however, so +disguised that the spies did not know and could not discover who he +was. They were satisfied, however, from his demeanor toward Lady +Neville, that he was her lover, and they at once reported the facts to +Gloucester in London.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Plans for her return.</span> + +<p>Gloucester was of course in a great rage. He swore terrible vengeance +against both Lady <span class="pagenum"><a id="page135" name="page135"></a>(p. 135)</span> Neville herself and her lover, whoever he +might be. He at once armed a troop of his followers and rode off at +the head of them, guided by one of the spies, to the village of +rendezvous. It was dark before he arrived there. Some peasants of whom +he made inquiry informed him that a lady answering to the description +which he gave them had gone on board the boat to return to London some +time before. Gloucester immediately turned, and made all haste back to +London again, in hopes to reach the landing before the boat should +arrive, with a full determination to kill both the lady herself and +her paramour the moment they should touch the shore.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Gloucester mistaken.</span> + +<p>He was mistaken, however, in supposing that the paramour, whoever he +might be, was with the lady. Somerset, in the excess of his +precaution, had returned to London by land, leaving Lady Neville to +return by herself in the boat with the other passengers; for the boat +was a sort of packet which plied regularly between the village and +London. He, however, had stationed trusty persons not far from the +landing in London, who were to receive Lady Neville on her arrival and +convey her home.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The boat arrives.</span> + +<p>Gloucester arrived at the landing before the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page136" name="page136"></a>(p. 136)</span> boat reached +the shore. It was, however, now so dark that he despaired of being +able to recognize the persons he was in pursuit of, especially under +the disguise which he did not doubt that they would wear. So, in the +recklessness of his rage, he resolved to kill every body in the boat, +and thus to make sure of his revenge.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Assault upon the boat.</span> + +<p>Accordingly, the moment that the boat touched the shore, he and his +followers rushed on board, and a dreadful scene of consternation and +terror ensued. Gloucester himself made his way directly toward the +figure of a lady, whose air, and manner, and style of dress indicated, +so far as he could discern them in the darkness, that she was probably +the object of his fury. He plunged his dagger into her breast. She, in +an agony of terror, leaped into the river. She was buoyed up by her +dress, and floated down the stream.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Boatmen murdered.</span> + +<p>In the mean time, the work of murder on board the boat went on. The +duke and his men continued stabbing and striking down all around them, +until the passengers and the boatmen were every one killed. The bodies +were then all thrown into the river, stones having been previously +tied to them to make them sink.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Cries.</span> + +<p>The people in the houses of the neighborhood, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page137" name="page137"></a>(p. 137)</span> on the banks +of the river, heard the cries, and raised their heads a moment from +their pillows, or paused as they were walking along the silent streets +to listen. But the cries were soon suppressed, for the massacre was +the work of a few moments only, and such sounds were far too common in +those days in the streets of London, and especially on the river, to +attract much regard.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The boat sunk.</span> + +<p>The boat was of course covered with blood. The duke ordered his men to +take it out into the middle of the river and sink it, that being the +easiest and the quickest way of covering up all traces and proofs of +the crime.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Gloucester.</span> + +<p>The writer who relates this story says that Gloucester's reason for +wishing to have his agency in this transaction concealed was not that +he feared any punishment, for the laws in those days were wholly +powerless to punish deeds of violence like this, committed by men of +Gloucester's rank and station. He only thought that if it were known +that he had murdered in this way so many innocent people, in order +merely to make sure of killing an object of his own private jealousy +and hate, it would injure his popularity!</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Escape of Lady Neville.</span> + +<p>In the mean time, Lady Neville, for it was really Lady Neville whom +Gloucester had stabbed, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page138" name="page138"></a>(p. 138)</span> and who had leaped into the river, +floated on down the stream, borne up by her dress, which was made, +according to the fashion of the times, in a manner to give it great +buoyancy in the water, by means of the hoops with which the sleeves of +the robe were distended, and also from the form of the head-dress, +which was very large and light, and well adapted to serve as a float +to keep the head from sinking.</p> + +<a id="img010" name="img010"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img010.jpg" width="500" height="445" alt="" title=""> +<p>Female Costume in the Time of Henry VI.</p> +</div> + +<span class="sidenote">Under the bridge.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Rescued.</span> + +<p>She floated on in this manner down the river until she had passed +London Bridge, being carried through by the current under one of +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page139" name="page139"></a>(p. 139)</span> the arches. On emerging from the bridge, she came to the +part of the river where the ships and other vessels bound down the +river were moored. It happened that among other vessels lying at +anchor in the stream was one bound to Normandy. The captain of this +vessel had been on shore, but he was now coming off in his boat to go +on board again. As the captain was looking out over the water by the +light of a lantern which he held in his hand, to discern the way to +his vessel, he saw something floating at a short distance from him +which resembled the dress of a woman. He urged the boat forward in +that direction. He succeeded, with great difficulty, after arriving at +the spot, in getting the now almost lifeless form of Lady Neville on +board his boat, and then rowed on as fast as possible to the vessel.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Received on board a vessel.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Her determination.</span> + +<p>Here every thing was done which the case required to restore the +drowning lady to life. She soon recovered her senses, and looked about +her wild with excitement and terror. She had the presence of mind, +however, not to say a word that could betray her secret, though her +dress, and her air and manner, convinced the captain that she was no +ordinary personage. The wound was examined and found not to be +serious. She had been protected by some <span class="pagenum"><a id="page140" name="page140"></a>(p. 140)</span> portions of her +dress which had turned the poniard aside. When she found that the +immediate danger had passed she became more composed, and began to +inquire in regard to the persons and scenes around her. When she found +that the vessel which had received her was bound to Normandy, she +determined to escape to that country; so she contrived means to induce +the captain to conceal her on board until the time should arrive for +setting sail, and then to take her with him down the river and across +the Channel.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">She is received by the dauphiness.</span> + +<p>On her arrival in France she repaired at once to the court of the +dauphiness, who, being an English princess, was predisposed to take +compassion upon her and to receive her kindly. She remained at this +court, as we have seen, under the assumed name of Miss Sanders, until +the death of the dauphiness. She was thus suddenly deprived of her +protector in France, but almost at the same time the marriage of +Margaret of Anjou seemed to open to her the means of returning to +England.</p> + +<p>So long as the Duke of Gloucester lived and retained his power, she +knew very well that she could not return in safety to the English +court; but she thought that Margaret's going to England would probably +be the precursor of Gloucester's downfall.</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page141" name="page141"></a>(p. 141)</span> <span class="sidenote">Political intrigues.</span> + +<p>"<span class="italic">She</span> must hate him," said she to herself, "almost as much as I do, +for he has opposed her marriage from the beginning, and has done all +in his power to prevent it. Margaret will never be satisfied until she +has deposed him from his power and put some friend of hers in his +place. I can help her in this work, if she will receive me under her +protection and allow me to accompany her to England."</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Lady Neville and Margaret.</span> + +<p>So she proceeded to Abbeville to intercept the queen on her way to the +coast, as we have already seen. At the long and secret interview which +she had with her there she related to Margaret the story of her +connection with Somerset and with Gloucester, and of her almost +miraculous escape from death at Gloucester's hands. She now wished for +revenge; and if Queen Margaret would receive her into her service and +take her to England, she would concert measures with Somerset, her +lover, which would greatly aid Margaret in the plans which she might +form for effecting the downfall of Gloucester.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Lady Neville returns.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Mystery.</span> + +<p>Margaret at once and very gladly acceded to this request, and took +Lady Neville with her to England. She treated her with great +consideration and honor; but still Lady Neville maintained a strict +reserve in all her intercourse <span class="pagenum"><a id="page142" name="page142"></a>(p. 142)</span> with the other ladies of the +court, and kept herself in great seclusion, especially after the +arrival of the bridal party in England. Her pretext for this was her +deep affliction at the loss of her friend and patroness the Dauphiness +of France. But the other ladies of the court were not wholly satisfied +with this explanation. They were fully convinced that there was more +in the case than met the view, especially when they found that on the +arrival of the party in England the stranger seemed to take special +pains to avoid meeting the Duke of Gloucester. They exerted all their +powers of watchfulness and scrutiny to unravel the mystery, but in +vain.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page143" name="page143"></a>(p. 143)</span> CHAPTER IX.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">Plottings.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Personal and political intrigues.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's beauty.</span> + +<p>It was in this way that public affairs were mingled and complicated +with private and personal intrigues in the English court at the time +of Margaret's arrival in the country. Margaret was of a character +which admirably fitted her to act her part well in the management of +such intrigues, and in playing off the passions of ambition, love, +resentment, envy, and hate, as manifested by those around +her—passions which always glow and rage with greater fury in a court +than in any other community—so as to accomplish her ends. She was +very young indeed, but she had arrived at a maturity, both mental and +personal, far beyond her years. Her countenance was beautiful, and her +air and manner possessed an inexpressible charm, but her mental powers +were of a very masculine character, and in the boldness of the plans +which she formed, and in the mingled shrewdness and energy with which +she went on to the execution of them, she evinced less the qualities +of a woman than of a man.</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page144" name="page144"></a>(p. 144)</span> <span class="sidenote">Lady Neville supposed to be dead.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Her father.</span> + +<p>It was supposed by all parties in England that Lady Neville was dead. +Of course the Duke of Gloucester had no idea that any one could have +escaped from the boat. He supposed that he had effected the complete +destruction of all on board of it. Somerset's men, who had been +stationed at some distance from the landing to receive Lady Neville +and convey her home, waited until long past the appointed hour, but no +one came. The inquiries which Somerset made secretly the next day +showed that the boat had sailed from the village, but no tidings of +her arrival in London could be obtained, and he supposed that she must +have been lost, with all on board, by some accident on the river. As +for the Earl of Salisbury, Lady Neville's father, Gloucester went to +him at once, and informed him what he had done. He had detected his +daughter, he said, in a guilty intrigue, which, if it had been made +public, would have brought not only herself, but all her family, to +shame. The earl, who was a man of great sternness and severity of +character, said that Gloucester had done perfectly right, and they +agreed together to keep the whole transaction secret from the world, +and to circulate a report that Lady Neville had died from some natural +cause.</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page145" name="page145"></a>(p. 145)</span> <span class="sidenote">Arrival in London.</span> + +<p>Such was the state of things when Margaret and Lady Neville arrived in +London. As soon as the queen became somewhat established in her new +home, she began to revolve in her mind the means of deposing +Gloucester. Her plan was first to endeavor to arouse her husband from +his lethargy, and to awaken in his mind something like a spirit of +independence and a feeling of ambition.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The queen and Henry.</span> + +<p>"You have in your hands," she used to say to him, "what may be easily +made the foundation of the noblest realm in Europe. Besides Great +Britain, you have the whole of Normandy, and other valuable +possessions in France, which together form a vast kingdom, in the +government of which you might acquire great glory, if you would take +the government of it into your own hands."</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's arguments.</span> + +<p>She went on to represent to him how unworthy it was of him to allow +all the power of such a realm to be wielded by his uncle, instead of +assuming the command at once himself, as every consideration of +prudence and policy urged him to do. A great many instances had +occurred in English history, she said, in which a favorite minister +had been allowed to hold power so long, and to strengthen himself in +the possession of it so completely, that he could not <span class="pagenum"><a id="page146" name="page146"></a>(p. 146)</span> be +divested of it, so that the king himself came at length to be held in +subjection by his own minister. The Duke of Gloucester was advancing +rapidly in the same course; and, unless the king aroused himself from +his inaction, and took the government into his own hands, he would +soon lose all power to do it, and would sink into a condition of +humiliating dependence upon one of his own subjects.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The example of ancestors.</span> + +<p>Then, again, she urged upon him at other times the example of his +father and grandfather, Henry IV. and Henry V., whose reigns, through +the personal energy and prowess which they had exhibited in +strengthening and extending their dominions, had given them a +world-wide renown. It would be extremely inglorious for the descendant +of such a line to spend his life in spiritless inactivity, and to +leave the affairs of his kingdom in the hands of a relative, who of +course could only be expected to exercise his powers for the purpose +of promoting his own interest and glory.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Anne.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">House of York.</span> + +<p>Moreover, she reminded him of a danger that he was in from the +representations of other branches of the royal line who still claimed +the throne, and might at any time, whenever an opportunity offered, be +expected to attempt to enforce their claims. As will be seen by the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page147" name="page147"></a>(p. 147)</span> genealogical table,<a id="footnotetag6" name="footnotetag6"></a><a href="#footnote6" title="Go to footnote 6"><span class="small">[6]</span></a> Lionel, the <span class="italic">second</span> son of Edward +III.—whose immediate descendants had been superseded by those of John +of Gaunt, the third son, on account of the fact that the only child of +Lionel was a daughter, and she had been unable to make good her +claims—had a great-granddaughter, named Anne, who married Richard, a +son of Edmund, the <span class="italic">fourth</span> of the sons of Edward III.<a id="footnotetag7" name="footnotetag7"></a><a href="#footnote7" title="Go to footnote 7"><span class="small">[7]</span></a> Richard +Plantagenet, who issued from this union, was, of course, the +descendant and heir of Lionel. He had also other claims to the throne, +and Margaret reminded her husband that there was danger at any time +that he might come forward and assert his claims.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The king not safe.</span> + +<p>Under these circumstances, it was evident, said she, that the king +could not consider his interests safe in the care of any person +whatsoever out of his own immediate family—that is, in any one's +hands but his own and those of his wife. A minister, however strong +his professions of fidelity and attachment might be, could not be +depended upon. If another dynasty offered him more advantageous terms, +there was not, and there could not be, any security <span class="pagenum"><a id="page148" name="page148"></a>(p. 148)</span> against +his changing sides; whereas a wife, whose interests were bound up +inseparably with those of her husband, might be relied upon with +absolute certainty to be faithful and true to her husband in every +conceivable emergency.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret makes some impression.</span> + +<p>These representations which Margaret made to her husband from time to +time, as she had opportunity, produced a very considerable impression +upon him. Still he seemed not to have resolution and energy enough to +act in accordance with them. He said that he did not see how he could +take away from his uncle a power which he had always exercised well +and faithfully. And then, besides, he himself had not the age and +experience necessary for the successful management of the affairs of +so mighty a kingdom. If he were to undertake the duties of government, +he was convinced that he should make mistakes, and so get into +difficulty.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Henry listens to her counsels.</span> + +<p>Margaret, however, clearly perceived that she was making progress in +producing an impression upon her husband's mind. To increase the +influence of her representations, she watched for occasions in which +Gloucester differed in opinion from the king, and failed to carry out +suggestions or recommendations which the king had made, relating +probably, in most cases, to appointments to office about the court. +Some <span class="pagenum"><a id="page149" name="page149"></a>(p. 149)</span> say she <span class="italic">created</span> these occasions by artfully inducing +her husband to make recommendations which she knew the duke would not +sanction. At all events, such cases occurred, and Margaret took +advantage of them to urge her views still more upon Henry's mind.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">1446.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Henry's timidity.</span> + +<p>"How humiliating," said she, "that a great monarch should be dependent +upon one of his subjects for permission to do this or that, when he +might have all his affairs under his own absolute control!"</p> + +<p>But Henry, in reply to this, said that it was not in human nature to +escape mistakes, and he thought he was very fortunate in having a +minister who, when he was in danger of making them, could interpose +and save him from the ill consequences which would otherwise result +from his errors.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret encourages him.</span> + +<p>To this Margaret rejoined that it was indeed true that human nature +was liable to err, but that it was very humiliating for a great and +powerful sovereign to have public attention called to his errors by +having them corrected in that manner by an inferior, and to be +restricted in the exercise of his powers by a tutor and a governor, in +order to keep him from doing wrong, as if he were a child not +competent to act for himself.</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page150" name="page150"></a>(p. 150)</span> <span class="sidenote">The world indulgent to the great.</span> + +<p>"Besides," she added, "if you would really take the charge of your +affairs into your own hands and act independently, what you call your +errors you may depend upon it the public would designate by a +different and a softer name. The world is always disposed to consider +what is done by a great and powerful monarch as of course right, and +even when it would seem to them wrong they believe that its having +that appearance is only because they are not in a position to form a +just judgment on the question, not being fully acquainted with the +facts, or not seeing all the bearings of them."</p> + +<p>She assured her husband, moreover, that if he would take the business +of the government into his own hands, he would be very successful in +his administration of public affairs, and would be well sustained by +all the people of the realm.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's secret designs.</span> + +<p>Besides thus operating upon the mind of the king, Margaret was +secretly employed all the time in ascertaining the views and feelings +of the principal nobles and other great personages of the realm, with +a view to learning who were disposed to feel hostile to the duke, and +to unite all such into an organized opposition to him. One of the +first persons to whom she <span class="pagenum"><a id="page151" name="page151"></a>(p. 151)</span> applied with this view was +Somerset, the former lover of Lady Neville.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Opposition to the Duke of Gloucester.</span> + +<p>She presumed, of course, that Somerset would be predisposed to a +feeling of hostility to the duke on account of the old rivalry which +had existed between them, and she now proposed to make use of Lady +Neville's return, and of her agency in restoring her to him, as a +means of inducing him to enter fully into her plans for overturning +his old rival's power. In order to retain the management of the affair +wholly in her own hands, she agreed with Lady Neville that Lady +Neville herself was not in any way to communicate with Somerset until +she, the queen, had first had an interview with him, and that he was +to learn the safety of Lady Neville only through her. Lady Neville +readily consented to this, believing that the queen could manage the +matter better than she herself could do it.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Somerset.</span> + +<p>It will be recollected that Somerset was married during the period of +his former acquaintance with Lady Neville, but his wife had died while +Lady Neville was in France, and he was now free; so that the plan +which the queen and Lady Neville now formed was to give him an +opportunity, if he still retained his love for her, to make her his +wife.</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page152" name="page152"></a>(p. 152)</span> <span class="sidenote">A secret interview planned.</span> + +<p>In the prosecution of her design, the queen made arrangements for a +secret interview with Somerset, and in the interview informed him that +Lady Neville was still alive and well; that she was, moreover, not far +away, and it was in the queen's power to restore her to him if he +desired again to see her, and that she would do so on certain +conditions.</p> + +<p>Somerset was overjoyed at hearing this news. At first he could not be +persuaded that it was true; and when assured positively that it was +so, and that the long-lost Lady Neville was alive and well, and in +England, he was in a fever of impatience to see her again. He would +agree to any conditions, he said, that the queen might name, as the +price of having her restored to him.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The three conditions.</span> + +<p>The queen said that the conditions were three.</p> + +<p>The first was that he was to see her but once, and that only for a few +minutes, in order that he might be convinced that she was really +alive, and then was to leave her and not to see her again until the +Duke of Gloucester had fallen from power.</p> + +<p>The second was that he should pretend to be not on good terms with the +queen herself, in order to avert suspicion in respect to some of +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page153" name="page153"></a>(p. 153)</span> her schemes until such time as she should be ready to +receive him again into favor.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Party against Gloucester.</span> + +<p>The third was that he should do all he could to increase and +strengthen the party against the duke, by turning as many as possible +of his friends, and those over whom he had any influence, against him, +and then finally, when the party should become sufficiently strong, to +prefer charges against him in Parliament, and bring him to trial.</p> + +<p>Somerset at once agreed to all these conditions, and the queen then +admitted him to an interview with Lady Neville.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The interview.</span> + +<p>He was overwhelmed with transports of love and joy at once more +beholding her and pressing her in his arms. The queen, who was +present, was very much interested in witnessing the proofs of the +ardor of the affection by which the lovers were still bound to each +other, but she soon interrupted their expressions and demonstrations +of delight by calling Somerset's attention to the steps which were +next to be taken to further their plans.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Lady Neville's father.</span> + +<p>"The first thing to be done," said she, "is for you to see the Earl of +Salisbury and ask the hand of his daughter, and at the same time +endeavor to induce him to join our party."</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The Earl of Salisbury.</span> + +<p>The Earl of Salisbury had a son, the brother, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page154" name="page154"></a>(p. 154)</span> of course, of +Lady Neville, whose title was the Earl of Warwick. He was the +celebrated king-maker, so called, referred to in a former chapter. He +received that title on account of the great influence which he +subsequently exercised in raising up and putting down one after +another of the two great dynasties. His power was at this time very +great, partly on account of his immense wealth, and partly on account +of his commanding personal character. Margaret was extremely desirous +of bringing him over to her side.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Progress of the intrigue.</span> + +<p>Somerset readily undertook the duty of communicating with the Earl of +Salisbury, with a view of informing him of his daughter's safety and +asking her hand, and at the same time of ascertaining what hope there +might be of drawing him into the combination which the queen was +forming against the Duke of Gloucester.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Revelations.</span> + +<p>Somerset accordingly sought an interview with Salisbury, and told him +that the report which had been circulated that his daughter was dead +was not true—that she was still alive—that, instead of having been +drowned in the Thames, as had been supposed, she had made her escape +to France, where she had since lived under the protection of the +dauphiness.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The case explained.</span> + +<p>He was, of course not willing to make known <span class="pagenum"><a id="page155" name="page155"></a>(p. 155)</span> the real +circumstances of the case in respect to the cause of her flight, and +so he represented to the earl that the reason why she left the country +was to escape the marriage with Gloucester, which would have been +extremely disagreeable to her. She had now, however, returned, and he +was commissioned by her to ask the earl's forgiveness for what had +passed, and his consent that he himself—that is, Somerset, who had +always been strongly attached to her, and who now, by the death of his +former wife, was free, should be united to her in marriage.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Somerset's proposal.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Cautious advances.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The earl's indignation.</span> + +<p>If Somerset had succeeded in this part of his mission, he was then +intending, when the old earl's love for his daughter should have been +reawakened in his bosom by the joyful news that she was alive, and by +the prospect of a brilliant marriage for her, to introduce the subject +of the Duke of Gloucester, and perhaps cautiously reveal to him the +true state of the case in respect to the murderous violence with which +the duke had assailed his daughter, and which was the true cause of +her flight. But the earl did not give him any opportunity to approach +the second part of his commission. After having heard the statement +which Somerset made to him in respect to his daughter, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page156" name="page156"></a>(p. 156)</span> he +broke out in a furious rage against her. He called her by the most +opprobrious names. He had full proof of her dishonor, and he would +have nothing more to do with her. He had disinherited her, and given +all her share of the family property to her brother; and the only +reason why he ever wished her to come into his sight again was that he +might with a surer blow inflict upon her the punishment which +Gloucester had designed for her.</p> + +<p>Somerset saw at once that the case was hopeless, and he withdrew.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The scheme fails.</span> + +<p>Thus the attempt to draw Salisbury into the conspiracy against the +duke seemed for the time to fail. But Margaret was not at all +discouraged. She pushed her manœuvres and intrigues in other +quarters with so much diligence and success that, in about two years +after her arrival in England, she found her party large enough and +strong enough for action.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page157" name="page157"></a>(p. 157)</span> CHAPTER X.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">The Fall of Gloucester.</p> + +At length the time arrived when Margaret considered her schemes ripe +for execution. + +<span class="sidenote">The king's cabinet.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Gloucester sent for.</span> + +<p>Accordingly, one day, while Henry and herself were together in the +king's cabinet engaged in transacting some public affairs, Margaret +made some excuse for sending for Gloucester, and while Gloucester was +in the cabinet, Somerset, according to a preconcerted arrangement, +presented himself at the door with an air of excitement and alarm, and +asked to be admitted. He wished to see the king on business of the +utmost urgency. He was allowed to come in. He had a paper in his hand, +and his countenance, as well as his air and manner, denoted great +apprehension and anxiety. As soon, however, as he saw the Duke of +Gloucester, he seemed surprised and embarrassed, and was about to +retire, saying he had supposed that the king and queen were alone.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Entrance of Somerset.</span> + +<p>But Margaret would not allow him to withdraw.</p> + +<p>"Stay," said she, "and let us know what the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page158" name="page158"></a>(p. 158)</span> business is that +seems so urgent. You can speak freely. There is no one here beside +ourselves except the minister of the king, and there is nothing to be +concealed from him."</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Somerset's charges.</span> + +<p>Somerset, on hearing these words, paused for a moment, looked at +Gloucester, seemed irresolute, and then, as if nerving himself to a +great effort, he advanced resolutely and presented the paper which he +had in his hands to the king, saying, at the same time, in a very +solemn manner, that it contained charges of the gravest character +against Gloucester; and he added that, on the whole, he was not sorry +that the accused person was present to know what was laid to his +charge, and to reply if he had any proper justification to offer.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret interposes.</span> + +<p>The duke seemed thunderstruck. The king, too, was extremely surprised, +and began to look greatly embarrassed. Margaret put an end to the +awkward suspense by taking the paper from the king's hand, and opening +it in order to read it.</p> + +<p>"Let us see," said she, "what these charges are."</p> + +<a id="img011" name="img011"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img011.jpg" width="500" height="291" alt="" title=""> +<p>The Charges against Gloucester.</p> +</div> + +<span class="sidenote">The charges read.</span> + +<p>So she opened the paper and began to read it. The charges were +numerous. The principal one related to some transactions in respect to +the English dominions on the Continent, in <span class="pagenum"><a id="page161" name="page161"></a>(p. 161)</span> which +Gloucester was accused of having sacrificed the rights and interests +of the crown in order to promote certain private ends of his own. +There were a great many other accusations, relating to alleged +usurpations of the prerogative of the king and high-handed violations +of the laws of the land. Among these last the murder of Lady Neville +was specified, and the deed was characterized in the severest terms as +a crime of the deepest dye, and one committed under circumstances of +great atrocity, although the author of the charges admitted that the +details of the affair were not fully known.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The duke declares his innocence.</span> + +<p>As Margaret read these accusations one after another, the duke +affirmed positively of each one that it was wholly unjust. He seemed +for a moment surprised and confused when the murder of Lady Neville +was laid to his charge, but he soon recovered himself, and declared +that he was innocent of this crime as well as of all the others. The +whole series of accusations was a tissue of base calumnies, he said, +from beginning to end.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's artful demeanor.</span> + +<p>Margaret read the paper through, pausing only from time to time to +hear what Gloucester had to say whenever he manifested a desire to +speak, but without making any observations of her own. She assumed, in +fact, the air and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page162" name="page162"></a>(p. 162)</span> manner of an unconcerned and indifferent +witness. After she had finished reading the paper she folded it up and +laid it aside, saying at the same time to the king that those were +very grave and weighty charges, and it would be very unjust to the +duke to receive them against his positive declarations of his +innocence, without the most clear and conclusive proof.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Proposes an investigation.</span> + +<p>"At the same time," she added, "they ought not to be lightly laid +aside without investigation. We can not suppose that the Duke of +Somerset can have made such charges without any evidence whatever to +sustain them."</p> + +<p>The Duke of Somerset said immediately that he was prepared with full +proof of all the charges, and he was ready to offer the evidence in +respect to any one or all of them whenever his majesty should require +it.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Selects a charge.</span> + +<p>Margaret then opened the paper, and, looking over the list of charges +again with a careless air, at last, as if accidentally, fixed upon the +one relating to the murder of Lady Neville.</p> + +<p>"What proofs have you in respect to this atrocious murder that you +have charged against the duke?"</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Gloucester is pleased.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The murder.</span> + +<p>Gloucester felt for the moment much relieved at finding that this was +the charge selected first for proof; for so effectual had been the +precautions <span class="pagenum"><a id="page163" name="page163"></a>(p. 163)</span> which he had taken to conceal his crime in this +case, that he was confident that, instead of any substantial evidence +against him, there could be, at worst, only vague grounds of +suspicion, and these he was confident he could easily show were +insufficient to establish so serious a charge.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Astonishment of the duke.</span> + +<p>Somerset asked permission to retire for a few moments. Very soon he +returned, bringing in with him Lady Neville herself. An actual +resurrection from the dead could not have astounded Gloucester more +than this apparition. He was overwhelmed with amazement and almost +with terror. Lady Neville advanced to the king, and, falling upon her +knees before him, she related the circumstances of the assault made by +Gloucester upon the boat in the Thames, of the cruel murder of the +passengers and boatmen, of the wound inflicted upon herself by the +dagger of the duke, and the almost miraculous manner in which she made +her escape.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">1447.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Parliament.</span> + +<p>The duke, overwhelmed by the emotions which such a scene might have +been expected to produce upon his mind, seemed to admit that what Lady +Neville said was true. At least he could not deny it, and his +confusion and distress amounted apparently to a virtual confession of +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page164" name="page164"></a>(p. 164)</span> guilt. Margaret, however, soon interrupted the proceedings +by saying to the king that the case was plainly too serious to be +disposed of in so private and informal a manner. It was for the +Parliament to consider it, she said, and decide what was to be done; +and measures ought at once to be taken for bringing it before them.</p> + +<p>So Gloucester and Somerset were both dismissed from the royal +presence, leaving the king in a state of great distress and +perplexity.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's ingenuity.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The king brought over.</span> + +<p>Such is the story of the private manœuvres resorted to by Margaret +with a view to destroying the hold which the Duke of Gloucester had +upon the mind of the king, preparatory to more widely-extended plans +for ruining him with the Parliament and the nation, which is told by +one of her most celebrated biographers. Whether there was or was not +any foundation for this particular story, there is no doubt but that +she exercised all her ingenuity and talent as a manœuvrer to +accomplish her object, and that she succeeded. The king was brought +over to her views, and so strong a party was formed against Gloucester +among the nobles and other influential personages in the land, that at +length, in 1447, a Parliament was summoned with a view of bringing the +affair to a crisis.<a id="footnotetag8" name="footnotetag8"></a><a href="#footnote8" title="Go to footnote 8"><span class="small">[8]</span></a></p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page165" name="page165"></a>(p. 165)</span> <span class="sidenote">Treason.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Romance often mingles in history.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">An explanation.</span> + +<p>Nothing, however, was said, in calling the Parliament, of the great +and exciting business which was to be brought before them. So great +was the power of such a man as Gloucester, that any open attempt to +arrest him would have been likely to have been met with armed +resistance, and might have led at once to civil war.</p> + +<p>One of the charges against him was that he was intriguing with the +Duke of York, the representative and heir of the two other branches of +old King Edward the Third's family, who has already been mentioned as +claiming the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page166" name="page166"></a>(p. 166)</span> throne. It was said that Gloucester was +secretly plotting with Richard, with a view of deposing Henry, and +raising Richard to the throne in his stead.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Question of succession.</span> + +<p>The question of the succession was really, at this time, in a very +curious state. The Duke of Gloucester himself was Henry's heir in case +he should die without children; for Gloucester was Henry's oldest +uncle, and, of course, in default of his descendants, the crown would +go back to him. This was one reason, perhaps, why he had opposed +Henry's marriage.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Position of the Duke of York.</span> + +<p>So long, therefore, as Henry remained unmarried, it was for +Gloucester's interest to maintain the rights of his branch of the +family—that is, the Lancaster line—against the claims of the house +of York. But in case Henry should have children, then he would be cut +off from the succession on the Lancaster side, and then it might be +for his interest to espouse the cause of the house of York, provided +he could make better terms in respect to his own position and the +rewards which he was to receive for his services on that side than on +the other.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Gloucester alarmed.</span> + +<p>Now Henry was married, and, moreover, it had long been evident to +Gloucester that his own influence was fast declining. The scene in the +king's cabinet, when Somerset brought those <span class="pagenum"><a id="page167" name="page167"></a>(p. 167)</span> charges against +him, must have greatly increased his fears in respect to the +continuance of his power under Henry's government. Still, if it was +true that he was contemplating making common cause with the Duke of +York, he had not yet so far matured his plans as to make any open +change in his course of conduct.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Calling of Parliament.</span> + +<p>Accordingly, when the plan of calling a Parliament was determined by +the king and Margaret, every effort was made to keep it a secret from +the public that the case of Gloucester was to be brought before it. It +was summoned on other pretexts. The place of meeting was not, as +usual, at London, for Gloucester was so great a favorite with the +people of London that it was thought that, if it were to be attempted +to arrest him there, he would certainly resist and attempt to raise an +insurrection.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Bury St. Edmund's.</span> + +<p>The Parliament was accordingly summoned to meet at Bury St. +Edmund's—a town situated about fifty or sixty miles to the northeast +of London, where there was a celebrated abbey.<a id="footnotetag9" name="footnotetag9"></a><a href="#footnote9" title="Go to footnote 9"><span class="small">[9]</span></a> The English +Parliament was in those days, as it is, in fact, in theory now, +nothing more nor less than a convocation of the leading personages of +the realm, called by the king, in order that they might give the +monarch their counsel <span class="pagenum"><a id="page168" name="page168"></a>(p. 168)</span> or aid in any emergency that might +arise, and he could call them to attend him at any place within the +kingdom that he chose to designate.</p> + +<p>While thus, by summoning Parliament to meet at Bury St. Edmund's, the +queen's party placed themselves beyond the reach of the friends and +adherents of Gloucester, who were very numerous in and around the +capital, they took care to have a strong force there on their own +side, ready to do whatever might be required of them.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The abbey.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The duke arrested.</span> + +<p>When the appointed day arrived the Parliament assembled. It met in the +abbey. The great dining-hall of the abbey, or the refectory, as it was +called, the room in which the monks were accustomed to take their +meals, was fitted up for their reception. On the first day some +ordinary business was transacted, and on the second, suddenly, and +without any previous warning, the duke was arrested by the public +officer, who was attended and aided in this service by a strong force, +and immediately taken away to the Tower.</p> + +<p>This event, of course, produced great excitement. The news of it +spread rapidly throughout the kingdom, and it awakened universal +astonishment and alarm.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Discontents of the people.</span> + +<p>It was expected that charges would be immediately <span class="pagenum"><a id="page169" name="page169"></a>(p. 169)</span> brought +against him, and that he would be at once arraigned for trial. But the +excitement which the affair had created was increased to a ten-fold +degree by the tidings which were circulated a few days afterward that +he was dead. The story was that he was found dead one morning in his +prison. People, however, were slow to believe this statement. They +thought that he had been poisoned, or put to death in some other +violent manner. The officers of the government declared that it was +not so; and, in order to convince the people that the duke had died a +natural death, they caused the body to be exposed to public view for +several days before they allowed it to be interred, in order that all +might see that it bore no marks of violence.</p> + +<p>The people were, however, not satisfied. They thought that there were +many ways by which death might be produced without leaving any outward +indications of violence upon the person. They persisted in believing +that their favorite had been murdered.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">1449.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Supposed mode of his death.</span> + +<p>One account which was given of the mode of death was that Somerset +went to visit him in his prison in the Tower, in order to see whether +he could not come to some terms with him but that Gloucester rejected +his advances <span class="pagenum"><a id="page170" name="page170"></a>(p. 170)</span> with so much pride and scorn that a furious +altercation arose, in the course of which Somerset, with the +assistance of men whom he had brought with him, strangled or +suffocated the unhappy prisoner on his couch, and then, after +arranging his limbs and closing his eyes, so as to give him the +appearance of being in a state of slumber, his murderers went away and +left him, to be found in that condition by the jailer when he should +come to bring him his food.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page171" name="page171"></a>(p. 171)</span> CHAPTER XI.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">The Fall of Suffolk.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Two years pass away.</span> + +<p>After the death of the Duke of Gloucester, Queen Margaret was plunged +in a perfect sea of plots, schemes, manœuvres, and machinations of +all sorts, which it would take a volume fully to unravel. This state +of things continued for two years, during which time she became more +and more involved in the difficulties and complications which +surrounded her, until at last she found herself in very serious +trouble. I can only here briefly allude to the more prominent sources +of her perplexity.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Suspicions of the people.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Their hearts alienated.</span> + +<p>In the first place, the people of England were very seriously +displeased at the treatment which Gloucester had received. They would +not believe that he died a natural death, and the impression gained +ground very generally that the queen was the cause of his being +murdered. They did not suppose that she literally ordered him to be +put to death, but that she gave hints or intimations, as royal +personages were accustomed to do in such cases in those days, on which +some zealous and unscrupulous follower <span class="pagenum"><a id="page172" name="page172"></a>(p. 172)</span> ventured to act, +certain of pleasing her. As Gloucester had been a general favorite +with the nation, these rumors and suspicions tended greatly to +alienate the hearts of the people from the queen. Many began to hate +her. They called her the French woman, and vented their ill-will in +obscure threats and mutterings.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Reverses in France.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Feeling in England.</span> + +<p>This feeling of hostility to the queen was increased by the very +unfortunate turn that things were taking in France about this time. +The provinces of Maine and Anjou lay directly to the south of +Normandy,<a id="footnotetag10" name="footnotetag10"></a><a href="#footnote10" title="Go to footnote 10"><span class="small">[10]</span></a> which last was the most valuable of the possessions +which the English crown held in France, and these two provinces had +been given up to the French at the time of Margaret's marriage. It was +only on condition that the English would give them up that Lord +Suffolk could induce Margaret's father to consent to the match. +Suffolk was extremely unwilling to surrender these provinces. He knew +that the English nobles and people would be very much dissatisfied as +soon as they learned that it was done, and he feared that he might at +some future day be called to account for having been concerned in the +transaction. But the king was so deeply in love with Margaret that he +insisted on Suffolk's <span class="pagenum"><a id="page173" name="page173"></a>(p. 173)</span> complying with the terms which were +exacted by her friends, and the provinces were ceded.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">York regent in France.</span> + +<p>The Duke of York was regent in France at that time, but Margaret felt +some uneasiness in respect to his position there. He was the +representative and heir of the rival line; and while it was for her +interest to give him prominence enough under Henry's government to +prevent his growing discontented and desperate, it was not good policy +to exalt him to too high a position. She was accordingly somewhat at a +loss to decide what to do.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Somerset.</span> + +<p>Soon after the death of Gloucester, Somerset, finding that he was an +object of suspicion, felt himself to be in danger, and he proposed to +Margaret that he should retire into Normandy for a time. Margaret +suggested that he should take the regency of Normandy in the Duke of +York's stead. To this he finally consented. The Duke of York was +recalled, and Somerset went to take command of Normandy in his stead.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Suffolk's intentions.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Exposed frontier.</span> + +<p>At the time that Suffolk negotiated the marriage contract between +Henry and Margaret, a truce had been made with the King of France, as +has already been stated. Suffolk intended and hoped to conclude a +permanent peace, but he could not succeed in accomplishing this. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page174" name="page174"></a>(p. 174)</span> The King of France, as soon as the marriage was fairly +carried into effect, seemed bent on renewing hostilities, and as he +had now the territories of Maine and Anjou in his possession, with all +the castles and fortresses which those provinces contained, he could +advance to the frontiers of Normandy on that side with great facility, +and organize expeditions for invading the country in the most +effective manner.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Pretext for war.</span> + +<p>He now only wanted a pretext, and a pretext in such cases is always +soon found. A certain company of soldiers, who had been dismissed from +some place in Maine in consequence of the cession of that province to +France, instead of going across the frontier into Normandy to join the +English forces there, as they ought to have done, went into Brittany, +another French province near, and there organized themselves into a +sort of band of robbers, and committed acts of plunder. The King of +France complained of this to Somerset, for this was after Somerset had +assumed the command as regent, or governor of Normandy. Somerset +admitted the facts, and proposed to pay damages. The king named a sum +so great that Somerset could not or would not pay it, and so war was +again declared.</p> + +<a id="img012" name="img012"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img012.jpg" width="500" height="336" alt="" title=""> +<p>Rouen.</p> +</div> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page177" name="page177"></a>(p. 177)</span> <span class="sidenote">Invasion of Normandy.</span> + +<p>In consequence of the advantages which the King of France enjoyed in +having possession of Maine, he could organize his invading army in a +very effective manner. He crossed the frontier in great force, and +after taking a number of towns and castles, and defeating the English +army in several battles, he at last drove Somerset into Rouen, the +capital of the province—a very ancient and remarkable town—and shut +him up there.</p> + +<p>After a short siege Rouen was compelled to capitulate, and, besides +giving up Rouen, Somerset was obliged to surrender several other +important castles and towns in order to obtain his own liberty.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Normandy lost.</span> + +<p>Things went on in this way during the year 1449, from bad to worse, +until finally the whole of Normandy was lost. The town of Cherbourg, +which has lately become so renowned on account of the immense naval +and military works which have been constructed there, was the last +retreat and refuge of the English, and even from this they were +finally expelled.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Rage of the English people.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The minister responsible.</span> + +<p>The people of England were in a great rage. The principal object of +their resentment was Lord Suffolk, who was now the first minister and +the acknowledged head of the government. During the progress of the +difficulties <span class="pagenum"><a id="page178" name="page178"></a>(p. 178)</span> with Gloucester, Margaret had kept him a great +deal in the background, in order that the public might not associate +him with those transactions, nor hold him in any way responsible for +them, though there was no doubt that he was the queen's confidential +friend and counselor through the whole. After the death of Gloucester +he had been gradually brought forward, and he had now, for some time, +been the acknowledged minister of the crown, and as such responsible, +according to the theory of the British Constitution and to the ideas +of Englishmen, for every thing that was done, and especially for every +thing like misfortune and disaster which occurred.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Suffolk in danger.</span> + +<p>There was, of course, a great outcry raised against Suffolk, and also, +more covertly, against the queen, who had brought Suffolk into power. +All the mischief originated, too, people said, in the luckless +marriage of Margaret to the king, and the cession of Maine and Anjou +to the French as the price of it. The French would never have been +able to have penetrated into Normandy had it not been for the +advantage they gained in the possession of those provinces on the +frontier.</p> + +<a id="img013" name="img013"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img013.jpg" width="500" height="373" alt="" title=""> +<p>View of Bordeaux.</p> +</div> + +<span class="sidenote">Guienne.</span> + +<p>There were still large possessions held by the English in the +southwestern part of France <span class="pagenum"><a id="page181" name="page181"></a>(p. 181)</span> on the Garonne. The capital of +this territory, which was the celebrated province of Guienne, was +Bordeaux,<a id="footnotetag11" name="footnotetag11"></a><a href="#footnote11" title="Go to footnote 11"><span class="small">[11]</span></a> a large and important city in those days as now. It +stands on the bank of the river where it begins to widen toward the +sea, and thus it was accessible to the English in their ships as well +as when coming with their armies by land. It was a place of great +strength as well as of commanding position, being provided with +castles and towers to defend it from the landward side, and thick +walls and powerful batteries along the margin of the water.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Bordeaux lost.</span> + +<p>Suffolk did all in his power to raise and send off re-enforcements to +the army in Guienne, but it was in vain. The English were driven out +of one town and castle after another, until, at last, Bordeaux itself +fell, and all was lost.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Excitement in England.</span> + +<p>The resentment and rage of the people of England now knew no bounds. +Suffolk was universally denounced as the author of all these dire +calamities. Lampoons and satires were written against him; he was +hooted sometimes by the populace of London when he appeared in the +streets, and every thing portended a gathering storm. At length, in +the fall of 1449, a Parliament was summoned. When it was convened, +Suffolk appeared in the House of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page182" name="page182"></a>(p. 182)</span> Lords as usual, and, rising +in his place, he called the attention of the peers to the angry and +vindictive denunciations which were daily heaped upon him by the +public, declaring that he was wholly ignorant of the crimes which were +laid to his charge, and challenging his enemies to bring forward any +proof to sustain their accusations.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Braving the storm.</span> + +<p>A spirit of bold defiance like this might have been successful in some +cases, perhaps, in driving back the tide of hostility and hate which +was rising so rapidly, but in this instance it seemed to have the +contrary effect. The enemies of Suffolk in the House of Commons took +up the challenge at once. They were strong enough to carry the house +with them. They passed an address to the peers, requesting them to +cause Suffolk to be arrested and imprisoned. They would, they said, +immediately bring forward the proofs of his guilt.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Accusations made.</span> + +<p>The Lords replied that they could not arrest and imprison one of their +number except upon specific charges made against him. Whereupon the +Commons very promptly prepared a list of charges and sent them to the +Lords. On this accusation the Lords ordered Suffolk to be arrested, +and he was sent to the Tower.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">An impeachment.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Suffolk in the Tower.</span> + +<p>During the two months that succeeded his <span class="pagenum"><a id="page183" name="page183"></a>(p. 183)</span> arrest his enemies +were busily engaged in preparing the bill of impeachment against him +in form, and collecting the evidence by which they were to sustain it, +while the queen was equally earnest and anxious in the work of +contriving means to save him. She visited him secretly, it is said, in +his prison, and conferred with him on the plan to be pursued. They +seem to have been both convinced that it was impossible for him to +remain in England and ride out the storm. The only course of safety +would be for him to leave the country for a while, provided the means +could be devised for getting him away. What the plan was which they +agreed upon for accomplishing this purpose will appear in the sequel.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">He is arraigned.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Suffolk's defense.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">He appeals to the king.</span> + +<p>At length, on the thirteenth of March, he was summoned before the +House of Lords, and the bill of impeachment was brought forward. There +were a great many charges, beginning with that of having wickedly and +with corrupt motives surrendered, and so lost forever to the crown, +the provinces of Maine and Anjou, and going on to numerous accusations +of malfeasance in office, of encroachments on the prerogatives of the +king, and of acts in which the interest and honor of the country had +been sacrificed to his own personal ambition or private <span class="pagenum"><a id="page184" name="page184"></a>(p. 184)</span> +ends. Suffolk defended himself in a general speech, without, however, +demanding, as he was entitled to do, a formal trial by his peers. +These proceedings occupied several days—as long as any lingering hope +remained in Suffolk's mind of his being able to stem the torrent. At +length, however, on the seventeenth of March, finding that the +pressure against him was continually increasing, and that there would +be no chance of an acquittal if he were to claim a trial, he appealed +to the king to decide his case, saying that, though he was entirely +innocent of the crimes charged against him, he would submit himself +entirely to his majesty's will.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Sentence of banishment.</span> + +<p>In response to this appeal, the king declared, through the proper +officer, in the House of Lords, that he would not decide upon the +question of the guilt or innocence of the accused, since he had not +demanded a trial, but he thought it best, under all the circumstances +of the case, that Suffolk should leave the country. He therefore +issued a decree of banishment against him for five years. He was +required to leave England before the first of May, and not to put his +foot upon any English soil until the five years were expired.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The people enraged.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">A riot.</span> + +<p>The Lords were much displeased at having <span class="pagenum"><a id="page185" name="page185"></a>(p. 185)</span> the affair thus +taken out of their hands. They made a formal protest against this +decision, but they could do nothing more. The people, too, were very +much enraged. They declared that Suffolk should never leave London +alive; and on the day when they expected that he was to be taken from +the Tower to be conveyed to France, a mob of two thousand men +collected in the streets, resolved to kill him.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Suffolk escapes by sea.</span> + +<p>But the queen devised means for enabling him to evade them. Some of +his servants and followers were seized, but he succeeded in making his +escape, and, after going to his castle in the country, and making some +hurried arrangements there, he went down to the sea-coast at Ipswich, +a town in the eastern part of the island, and there embarked for +France in a vessel which the queen had taken the precaution to have +ready there for him.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Suffolk made prisoner again.</span> + +<p>The vessel immediately sailed, steering to the southward, of course, +toward the Straits of Dover. As she was passing through the Straits, +between Dover and Calais, a man-of-war named the Nicholas of the +Tower, hove in sight, coming up to the vessel just as they were +sending a boat on shore at Calais to inquire whether Suffolk would be +allowed to land there. The boat was intercepted. At the same time, a +boat <span class="pagenum"><a id="page186" name="page186"></a>(p. 186)</span> from the man-of-war came on board the vessel, bringing +officers who were instructed to search her thoroughly. Of course, they +found Suffolk on board, and the officer, as soon as Suffolk was +discovered, informed him that he must go with him on board the +man-of-war.</p> + +<p>Suffolk had no alternative but to obey. The captain of the man-of-war +received him, as he stepped upon the deck, with the words, I am glad +to see you, traitor, or something to that effect. Such a salutation +must have plainly indicated to Suffolk what was before him. The +man-of-war moved toward the English shore, and began to make signals +to some parties on the land. She remained there for two days, +exchanging signals in this way from time to time, and apparently +awaiting orders.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">His execution in a boat.</span> + +<p>At length, on the third day, a boat came off from the shore, provided +with every thing that was necessary for the execution of a criminal. +There was a platform with a block upon it, an axe, or cleaver of some +sort, and an executioner. Suffolk was conveyed on board the boat, and +there, with very little ceremony, his head was laid upon the block, +and the executioner immediately commenced his task of severing it from +the body. But, either from the unsteadiness of the boat, or the +unsuitableness of the instrument, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page187" name="page187"></a>(p. 187)</span> or the clumsiness of the +operator, five several blows were required before the bloody deed was +done.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Disposal of the body.</span> + +<p>The boat immediately proceeded to the shore. The men on board threw +out the dissevered remains upon the beach, and then went away.</p> + +<p>Some friends of Suffolk, hearing what had been done, came down to the +beach, and, finding the separate portions of the body lying in the +sand where they had been thrown, placed them reverently together +again, and gave them honorable burial.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page188" name="page188"></a>(p. 188)</span> CHAPTER XII.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">Birth of a Prince.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">1453.</span> + +<p>After the death of Suffolk the queen was plunged into a sea of anxious +perplexities and troubles, which continued to disturb the kingdom and +to agitate her mind, until at length, in 1453, eight or nine years +after her marriage, she gave birth to a son. This event, strange as it +may seem, aggravated the difficulties of her situation in a ten-fold +degree.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret in great trouble.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The policy in respect to the Duke of York.</span> + +<p>The reason why the birth of her child increased her troubles was this. +It has already been said that the Duke of York claimed to be the +rightful sovereign of England on account of being descended from an +older branch of the royal family; but that, since Henry was +established upon the throne, he was inclined to make no attempt to +assert his claims so long as it was understood that he was to receive +the kingdom at Henry's death. In order to keep him contented in this +position, it had been Margaret's policy to treat him with great +consideration, and to bestow upon him high honors, but, at the same +time, to watch him very closely, and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page189" name="page189"></a>(p. 189)</span> to avoid conferring +upon him any such substantial power within the realm of England as +would enable him to attempt to seize the throne. She accordingly gave +him the regency of France, and afterward, when she recalled him from +that country in order to send Somerset there, she sent him to Ireland.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Somerset's return to England.</span> + +<p>After the death of Suffolk, Somerset came home from France. Indeed, he +was on his way home at the very time that Suffolk was killed, the +English possessions there having been almost entirely lost. As soon as +he returned, the queen received him into high favor at court, and soon +made him the chief minister of the crown. The people of the country +were displeased at this, and soon showed marks of great discontent. +They would very likely have risen in open rebellion had it not been +that Henry's health was so feeble, and the probability was so great +that he would die without issue—in which case the crown would devolve +peacefully to the Duke of York and his heirs.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The people willing to wait.</span> + +<p>"Let us wait," said they, "for a short time, and it will all come +right. It is better to bear the evils of this state of things a little +longer than to plunge the country into the horrors of civil war in +attempting to change the dynasty by force before Henry dies."</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page190" name="page190"></a>(p. 190)</span> <span class="sidenote">Two parties formed.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The nobles.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The two leaders.</span> + +<p>In the mean time, however, although this was so far the prevailing +public sentiment as to prevent an actual outbreak, it did not by any +means save the community from being unnecessarily agitated by +anxieties and fears lest an outbreak <span class="italic">should</span> take place, nor did it +prevent innumerable plots and conspiracies being formed tending to +produce one. The country was divided into two great parties—those +that favored the Duke of York and his dynasty, and those who adhered +to the house of Lancaster. The nobles took sides in the quarrel, some +openly and others in secret. As these nobles were continually moving +to and fro from one castle to another, or between the country and +London, at the head of armed bodies of men more or less formidable, no +one could tell what plans were being formed, or how soon an explosion +might occur. The Duke of York was, of course, the head and leader of +one side, and the Duke of Somerset, as the confidential counselor and +minister of Henry and the queen, was the most prominent on the other +side, and each of these great leaders regarded the other with feelings +of mortal enmity.</p> + +<a id="img014" name="img014"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img014.jpg" width="500" height="403" alt="" title=""> +<p>The Temple Garden.</p> +</div> + +<p>This state of things kept both the king and queen in continual +anxiety. The queen began to find that, by her manœuvrings and +management, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page193" name="page193"></a>(p. 193)</span> she had involved herself in difficulties that +were beyond her control, and the poor king was so harassed by his +troubles and perplexities that his health, and, at last, his mind, +began to suffer severely.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The Duke of York comes to England.</span> + +<p>At length the Duke of York, without permission from the government, +crossed the Channel from Ireland and landed in England. He soon +collected a large armed force, and began to move across the country +toward London. The government were much alarmed. He professed not to +have any hostile object in view, and declared that he still +acknowledged his allegiance to the Lancaster line; but there were no +means of being sure that this was not a mere pretext, and that he +might not, at any time, throw off his mask and rise in open rebellion.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The roses.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Origin of these symbols.</span> + +<p>It was about this time that the famous symbols of the red and the +white rose were chosen as the badges of the houses respectively of +York and Lancaster, as has already been mentioned. The story goes that +at a certain time, while several nobles and persons of the court were +walking in what is called the Temple Garden, a piece of open and +ornamental ground on the bank of the river in London, Somerset and +Warwick, who were on different sides in this quarrel, gathered, the +one a white, and the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page194" name="page194"></a>(p. 194)</span> other a red rose, and proposed to the +rest of the company to pluck roses too, each according to his own +feelings and opinions. From this beginning the two colors became the +permanent badge of the two lines, so much so that artificial roses of +red and white were manufactured in great numbers at last, to supply +the soldiers of the respective armies.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">An expedition.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Anxiety of the king.</span> + +<p>But to return to the Duke of York. When it was found that he was +advancing toward London, Somerset urged the king to put himself at the +head of a body of troops and go out to meet him, and call him to +account for his proceedings. The king did so, the queen accompanying +the expedition. She was very anxious, and felt much alarmed for the +safety of the king. After various marchings and manœuvrings, the +two armies came near each other in the county of Kent, to the +southeastward of London. King Henry, who was eminently a man of peace, +being possessed of no warlike qualities whatever, and being extremely +averse to the shedding of blood, instead of attacking the Duke of +York, sent a messenger to him to know what his intentions were in +coming into the country at the head of such a force, and what he +desired.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Professions.</span> + +<p>The duke replied that he had no designs <span class="pagenum"><a id="page195" name="page195"></a>(p. 195)</span> against the king, +but only against the traitor Somerset, and he said that if the king +would order Somerset to be arrested and brought to trial, he should be +satisfied, and would disband his forces.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">An appointment</span> + +<p>The king, on receiving this message, was much troubled and perplexed, +but at length he concluded, under the advice of some of his +counselors, to comply with this demand. He caused Somerset to be +arrested, and notified the Duke of York that he had done so. The Duke +of York then disbanded his army, or at least sent the troops away, and +made an appointment to come unattended and visit the king in his tent, +with a view to conferring with him on the terms and conditions of a +permanent reconciliation.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Somerset concealed.</span> + +<p>This interview resulted in a very extraordinary scene. It seems that +the queen had contrived the means of secretly releasing Somerset after +his arrest, and bringing him by stealth to the king's pavilion, and +concealing him there behind the arras at the time the Duke of York was +to be admitted, in order that he, Somerset, might be a witness of the +interview. While he was thus secreted, the Duke of York came in. He +commenced his conference with the king by repeating earnestly what he +said before, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page196" name="page196"></a>(p. 196)</span> namely, that he had not been actuated in what +he had done by any feeling of hostility against the king, but only +against Somerset. His sole object in taking up arms, he said, was that +that arch traitor might be brought to punishment.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Scene in the tent.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Fierce altercation.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The Duke of York imprisoned.</span> + +<p>On hearing these words, Somerset could contain himself no longer, but, +to the astonishment of the Duke of York and to the utter consternation +of the king, he rushed out from his hiding-place, and began to assail +the duke with the most violent reproaches, alleging that his +pretensions of friendship for Henry were false, and that the real +design of his movements was to usurp the throne. The duke retorted +with equally fierce denunciations and threats. During the continuance +of this altercation, the king remained stupefied and speechless, and +at length, when the duke retired, officers were ready at the door to +arrest him, having been stationed there by the queen.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Released.</span> + +<p>He was held a prisoner, however, but a short time, for his son, who +afterward became Edward IV., immediately commenced raising an army to +come and release him. It was considered, for other reasons, dangerous +to attempt to hold such a man in durance, since probably more than +half the kingdom were on his side. So <span class="pagenum"><a id="page197" name="page197"></a>(p. 197)</span> he was offered his +liberty on condition that he would take the new and solemn oath of +fealty to the king.</p> + +<p>This he consented to do, and the oath was taken with great ceremony in +St. Paul's Cathedral, and then he was dismissed. He went off to one of +his castles in the country, muttering deep and earnest threats of +vengeance.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Birth of the prince.</span> + +<p>It was about a year after this that Margaret's babe was born. It was a +son.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Question of the succession.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">New difficulties.</span> + +<p>Of course, the birth of this child immensely increased the +difficulties and dangers in which the kingdom was involved, for it +seemed to extinguish the hope that the quarrel would be settled by the +York family succeeding peaceably to the crown on the death of Henry. +Now, at length, there was an heir to the Lancastrian line. Of course +Margaret, and all those who were connected with the Lancastrian line, +either by blood or political partisanship, would resolve to support +the rights of this heir. On the other hand, it was not to be supposed +that the Duke of York would relinquish his claims, and he would no +longer have any inducement to postpone asserting them. Thus the birth +of the young prince was the occasion of plunging the country in new +and more feverish excitement than ever. Plots and counter-plots, +conspiracies and counter-conspiracies, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page198" name="page198"></a>(p. 198)</span> were the order of the +day. Every body was taking sides, or, at least, making arrangements +for taking sides, as soon as the outbreak should occur. And no one +knew how soon this would be.</p> + +<hr> + +<span class="sidenote">Prince of Wales.</span> + +<p>The child was born on a certain religious holiday called St. Edward's +day, and so they named him Edward. In a few months after his birth he +was made Prince of Wales, and it is by this title only that he is +known in history, for he never became king.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page199" name="page199"></a>(p. 199)</span> CHAPTER XII.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">Illness of the King.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Strange reverses.</span> + +<p>The circumstances of poor Margaret's case seem to have reversed all +ordinary conditions of domestic happiness. The birth of her son placed +her in a condition of extreme and terrible danger, while the immediate +bursting of the storm was averted, and the sufferings which she was in +the end called upon to endure in consequence of it were postponed for +a time by what would, in ordinary circumstances, be the worst possible +of calamities, the insanity of her husband. Happy as a queen, says the +proverb, but what a mockery of happiness is this, when the birth of a +child is a great domestic calamity, the evils of which were only in +part averted, or rather postponed, by an unexpected blessing in the +shape of the insanity of the husband and father.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The king's insanity.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">His condition concealed.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's policy.</span> + +<p>Henry's health had been gradually declining during many months before +the little Edward was born. The cares and anxieties of his situation, +which often became so extreme as to deprive him of all rest and sleep, +became, at <span class="pagenum"><a id="page200" name="page200"></a>(p. 200)</span> length, too heavy for him to bear, and his feeble +intellect, in the end, broke down under them entirely. The queen did +all in her power to conceal his condition from the people, and even +from the court. It was comparatively easy to do this, for the +derangement was not at all violent in its form. It was a sort of +lethargy, a total failure of the mental powers and almost of +consciousness—more like idiocy than mania. The queen removed him to +Windsor, and there kept him closely shut up, admitting that he was +sick, but concealing his true situation so far as was in her power, +and, in the mean time, carrying on the government in his name, with +the aid of Somerset and other great officers of state, whom she +admitted into her confidence. Parliament and the public were very +uneasy under this state of things. The Duke of York was laying his +plans, and every one was anxious to know what was coming. But Margaret +would allow nobody to enter the king's chamber, under any pretext +whatever, except those who were in her confidence, and entirely under +her orders.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Death of the archbishop.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">1454.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">A deputation.</span> + +<p>At length, about two months after Edward was born, the highest +dignitary of the Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury, died. This +event, according to the ancient usages of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page201" name="page201"></a>(p. 201)</span> realm, gave +the House of Lords the right to send a deputation to the king to +condole with him, and to ascertain his wishes in respect to the +measures to be adopted on the occasion.</p> + +<p>This committee accordingly proceeded to Windsor, and coming, as they +did, under the authority of ancient custom, which in England, in those +days, had even more than the force of law, they could not be refused +admission. They found the king lying helpless and unconscious, and +they could not obtain from him any answer to what they said to him, or +any sign that the slightest spark of intelligence remained in his +mind.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The duke's policy.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The duke made regent.</span> + +<p>The committee reported these facts to the House of Lords. Finding how +serious the king's illness was, the party of the Duke of York +concluded to wait a little longer. There was a great probability that +the king would soon die. The life, too, of the infant son was of +course very precarious. He might not survive the dangers of infancy, +and in that case the Duke of York would succeed to the throne at once +without any struggle. So a sort of compromise was effected. Parliament +appointed the Duke of York protector and defender of the king during +his illness, or until such time as Edward, the young prince, should +arrive <span class="pagenum"><a id="page202" name="page202"></a>(p. 202)</span> at the proper age for undertaking the government. It +was at this time that young Edward was made Prince of Wales. The +conferring of this title upon him was confirmed by both houses of +Parliament. They thus solemnly decreed that, though the Duke of York +was to exercise the government during the sickness of the king and the +minority of Edward, still the kingdom was to be reserved for Edward as +the rightful heir, and he was to be put into possession of the +sovereign power, either as regent in case his father should continue +to live until that time, or as king if, in the interim, he should die.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The duke's hopes.</span> + +<p>The Duke of York and his friends acceded to this arrangement, in hopes +that the prince never would arrive at years of discretion, but that, +before many years, and perhaps before many months, both father and son +would die. He thought it better, at any rate, to wait quietly for a +time, especially as, during the period of this waiting, he was put in +possession substantially of the supreme power.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret dissatisfied.</span> + +<p>Queen Margaret herself was extremely dissatisfied with the arrangement +by which the Duke of York was made regent, since it of course deprived +her of all her power. But she could do nothing to prevent it. Besides, +her <span class="pagenum"><a id="page203" name="page203"></a>(p. 203)</span> mind was so filled with the maternal feelings and +affections which her situation inspired and with the care of the +infant child, that she had for a time no heart for political +contention.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Her condition.</span> + +<p>Then, moreover, the Parliament, at the same time that they made the +Duke of York regent, and thus virtually deprived the queen of her +power, settled upon her an ample annuity, by means of which she would +be enabled to live, with her son, in a state becoming her rank and her +ambition. One motive, doubtless, which led them to do this was to +induce her to acquiesce in this change, and remain quiet in the +position in which they thus placed her.</p> + +<p>In addition to the liberal supplies which the Parliament granted to +the queen, they made ample provision for maintaining the dignity and +providing for the education of the young prince. Among other things, a +commission of five physicians was appointed to watch over his health.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">She concludes to submit.</span> + +<p>Margaret was the more easily persuaded to acquiesce in these +arrangements from believing, as she did, that the state of things to +which they gave rise would be of short duration. She fully believed +that her husband would recover, and then the regency of the Duke of +York would cease, and the king—that is, the king in <span class="pagenum"><a id="page204" name="page204"></a>(p. 204)</span> name, +but she herself in reality—would come into power again. So she +determined to bide her time.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The queen's establishment at Greenwich.</span> + +<p>She accordingly retired from London, and set up an establishment of +her own in her palace at Greenwich, where she held her court, and +lived in a style of grandeur and ceremony such as would have been +proper if she had been a reigning queen. Her old favorite, too, +Somerset, was at first one of the principal personages of her court; +but one of the first acts of the Duke of York's regency was to issue a +warrant of arrest against him. The officers, in executing this +warrant, seized him in the very presence-chamber of the queen. +Margaret was extremely incensed at this deed. She declared that it was +not only an act of political hostility, but an insult. She was, +however, entirely helpless. The Duke of York had the power now, and +she was compelled to submit.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Her care of Henry.</span> + +<p>But she was not required to remain long in this humiliating position. +She procured the best possible medical advice and attendance for her +husband, and devoted herself to him with the utmost assiduity, and, at +length, she had the satisfaction of seeing that he was beginning to +amend. The improvement commenced in November, about eight or ten +months after he first <span class="pagenum"><a id="page205" name="page205"></a>(p. 205)</span> fell into the state of +unconsciousness. When at length he came to himself, it seemed to him, +he said, as if he was awaking from a long dream.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Recovery.</span> + +<p>Margaret was overjoyed to see these signs of returning intelligence. +She longed for the time to come when she could show the king her boy. +He had thus far never seen the child.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The prince shown to him.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Marks of returning consciousness.</span> + +<p>We obtain a pretty clear idea of the state of imbecility or +unconsciousness in which he had been lying from the account of what he +did and said at the interview when the little prince was first brought +into his presence. It is as follows:</p> + +<div class="quote"> +<p>"On Monday, at noon, the queen came to him and brought my lord + prince with her, and then he asked 'what the prince's name was,' + and the queen told him 'Edward,' and then he held up his hands, + and thanked God thereof.</p> + +<p>"And he said he never knew him till that time, nor wist what was + said to him, nor wist where he had been, while he had been sick, + till now; and he asked who were the godfathers, and the queen + told him, and he was well content.</p> + +<p>"And she told him the cardinal was dead,<a id="footnotetag12" name="footnotetag12"></a><a href="#footnote12" title="Go to footnote 12"><span class="small">[12]</span></a> <span class="pagenum"><a id="page206" name="page206"></a>(p. 206)</span> and he + said he never knew of it till this time; then he said one of the + wisest lords in this land was dead.</p> + +<p>"And my Lord of Winchester and my Lord of St. John of Jerusalem + were with him the morrow after Twelfth day, and he did speak to + them as well as ever he did, and when they came out they wept for + joy. And he saith he is in charity with all the world, and so he + would all the lords were. And now he saith matins of our Lady and + even-song, and heareth his mass devoutly."</p> +</div> + +<span class="sidenote">The king reinstated.</span> + +<p>The very first moment that the king was able to bear it, Margaret +caused him to be conveyed into the House of Lords, there to resume the +exercise of his royal powers by taking his place upon the throne and +performing some act of sovereignty. The regency was, of course, now at +an end, and the Duke of York, leaving London, went off into the +country in high dudgeon.</p> + +<p>The queen, of course, now came into power again. The first thing that +she did was to release Somerset from his confinement, and reinstate +him as prime minister of the crown.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page207" name="page207"></a>(p. 207)</span> CHAPTER XIV.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">Anxiety and Trouble.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">A great deal of trouble.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Angry disputes.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Insubordination.</span> + +<p>For about six years after this time, that is, from the birth of Prince +Edward till he was six years old, and while Margaret was advancing +from her twenty-fourth to her thirtieth year, her life was one of +continual anxiety, contention, and alarm. The Duke of York and his +party made continual difficulty, and the quarrel between him, and the +Earl of Warwick, and the other nobles who espoused his cause, on one +side, and the queen, supported by the Duke of Somerset and other great +Lancastrian partisans on the other, kept the kingdom in a constant +ferment. Sometimes the force of the quarrel spent itself in intrigues, +manœuvres, and plottings, or in fierce and angry debates in +Parliament, or in bitter animosities and contentions in private and +social life. At other times it would break out into open war, and +again and again was Margaret compelled to leave her child in the hands +of nurses and guardians, while she went with her poor helpless husband +to follow the camp, in order to meet and overcome <span class="pagenum"><a id="page208" name="page208"></a>(p. 208)</span> the +military assemblages which the Duke of York was continually bringing +together at his castles in the country or in the open fields.</p> + +<p>The king's health during all this period was so frail, and his mind, +especially at certain times, was so feeble, that he was almost as +helpless as a child. There was an hereditary taint of insanity in the +family, which made his case still more discouraging.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Modes of amusing the king.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The singing boys.</span> + +<p>Queen Margaret took the greatest pains to amuse him, and to provide +employments for him that would occupy his thoughts in a gentle and +soothing manner. When traveling about the country, she employed +minstrels to sing and play to him; and, in order to have a constant +supply of these performers provided, and to have them well trained to +their art, she sent instructions to the sheriffs of the counties in +all parts of the kingdom, requiring them to seek for all the beautiful +boys that had good voices, and to have them instructed in the art of +music, so that they might be ready, when called upon, to perform +before the king. In the mean time they were to be paid good wages, and +to be considered already, while receiving their instruction, as acting +under the charge and in the service of the queen.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Pretended pilgrimages.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The king comforted.</span> + +<p>Margaret and the other friends of the king <span class="pagenum"><a id="page209" name="page209"></a>(p. 209)</span> used to contrive +various other ways of amusing and comforting his mind, some of which +were not very honest. One was, for example, to have different nobles +and gentlemen come to him and ask his permission that they should +leave the kingdom to go and make pilgrimages to various foreign +shrines, in order to fulfill vows and offer oblations and prayers for +the restoration of his majesty's health. The king was of a very devout +frame of mind, and his thoughts were accustomed to dwell a great deal +on religious subjects, and especially on the performance of the rites +and ceremonies customary in those days, and it seemed to comfort him +very much to imagine that his friends were going to make such long +pilgrimages to pray for him.</p> + +<p>So the nobles and other great personages would ask his consent that +they might go, and would take solemn leave of him as if they were +really going, and then would keep out of sight a little while, until +the poor patient had forgotten their request.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">One real pilgrimage.</span> + +<p>It is said, however, that one nobleman, the Duke of Norfolk, who was +so kind-hearted a man that he went by the name of the Good Duke, +actually made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem on this errand, and there +offered up prayers <span class="pagenum"><a id="page210" name="page210"></a>(p. 210)</span> and supplications at the famous chapel of +the Holy Sepulchre for the restoration of his sovereign's health.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The philosopher's stone.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Promised treasures.</span> + +<p>They used also to amuse and cheer the king's mind by telling him, from +time to time, that he was going to be supplied with inexhaustible +treasures of wealth by the discovery of the philosopher's stone. The +philosopher's stone was an imaginary substance which the alchemists of +those days were all the time attempting to discover, by means of which +lead and iron, and all other metals, could be turned to gold. There +were royal laboratories, and alchemists continually at work in them +making experiments, and the queen used to give the king wonderful +accounts of the progress which they were making, and tell him that the +discovery was nearly completed, and that very soon he would have in +his exchequer just as much money as his heart could desire. The poor +king fully believed all these stories, and was extremely pleased and +gratified to hear them.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Intervals of good health.</span> + +<p>There were times during this interval when the king was tolerably +well, his malady being somewhat periodical in its character. This was +the case particularly on one occasion, soon after his first recovery +from the state of total insensibility <span class="pagenum"><a id="page211" name="page211"></a>(p. 211)</span> which has been +referred to. The Duke of York, as has already been said, was put very +much out of humor by the king's recovery on this occasion, and by his +own consequent deposition from the office of regent, and still more so +when he found that the first act which the queen performed on her +recovery of power was to release his hated enemy, Somerset, from the +prison where he, the Duke of York, had confined him, and make him +prime minister again. He very soon determined that he would not submit +to this indignity. He assembled an army on the frontiers of Wales, +where some of his chief strong-holds were situated, and assumed an +attitude of hostility so defiant that the queen's government +determined to take the field to oppose him.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Restoration of Somerset.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Armies marshaled.</span> + +<p>So they raised an army, and the Duke of Somerset, with the queen, +taking the king with them, set out from London and marched toward the +northwest. They stopped first at the town of St. Alban's.<a id="footnotetag13" name="footnotetag13"></a><a href="#footnote13" title="Go to footnote 13"><span class="small">[13]</span></a> When +they were about to resume their march from St. Alban's, they saw that +the hills before them were covered with bands of armed men, the forces +of the Duke of York, which he was leading on toward the capital. +Somerset's forces immediately <span class="pagenum"><a id="page212" name="page212"></a>(p. 212)</span> returned to the town. +Margaret, who was for a time greatly distressed and perplexed to +decide between her duty toward her husband and toward her child, +finally concluded to retire to Greenwich with the little prince, and +await there the result of the battle, leaving the Duke of Somerset to +do the best he could with the king.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">St. Alban's.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The parley.</span> + +<p>Very soon a herald came from the Duke of York to the gates of St. +Alban's, and demanded a parley. He said that the duke had not taken +arms against the king, but only against Somerset. He professed great +loyalty and affection for Henry himself, and only wished to save him +from the dangerous counsels of a corrupt and traitorous minister, and +he said that if the king would deliver up Somerset to him, he would at +once disband his armies, and the difficulty would be all at an end.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Reply.</span> + +<p>The reply sent to this was that the king declared that he would lose +both his crown and his life before he would deliver up either the Duke +of Somerset or even the meanest soldier in his army to such a demand.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Attack on the town.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Terrible conflict.</span> + +<p>The Duke of York, on receiving this answer, immediately advanced to +attack the town. For some time Henry's men defended the walls and +gates successfully against him, but at length <span class="pagenum"><a id="page213" name="page213"></a>(p. 213)</span> the Earl of +Warwick, who was the Duke of York's principal confederate and +supporter in this movement, passed with a strong detachment by another +way round a hill, and through some gardens, and thence, by breaking +down the wall which stood between the garden and the town, he +succeeded in getting in. A terrible conflict then ensued in the +streets and narrow lanes of the city, and the attention of the +besieged being thus drawn off from the walls and the gates, the Duke +of York soon succeeded in forcing his way in too.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The king taken prisoner.</span> + +<p>King Henry's forces were soon routed with great slaughter. The Duke of +Somerset and several other prominent nobles were killed. The king +himself was wounded by an arrow, which struck him in the neck as he +was standing under his banner in the street with his officers around +him. When these his attendants saw that the battle was going against +him, they all forsook him and fled, leaving him by his banner alone. +He remained here quietly for some time, and then went into a shop near +by, where presently the Duke of York found him.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The duke's demeanor.</span> + +<p>As soon as the Duke came into the king's presence he kneeled before +him, thus acknowledging him as king, and said,</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page214" name="page214"></a>(p. 214)</span> "The traitor and public enemy against whom we took up arms is +dead, and now there will be no farther trouble."</p> + +<p>"Then," said the king, "for God's sake, go and stop the slaughter of +my subjects."</p> + +<span class="sidenote">1457.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The king conveyed to London.</span> + +<p>The duke immediately sent orders to stop the fighting, and, taking the +king by the hand, he led him to the Abbey of St. Alban's, a venerable +monastic edifice, greatly celebrated in the histories of these times, +and there caused him to be conveyed to his apartment. The next day he +took him to London. He rendered him all external tokens of homage and +obedience by the way, but still virtually the king was his prisoner.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's despair.</span> + +<p>Poor Queen Margaret was all this time at Greenwich, waiting in the +utmost suspense and anxiety to hear tidings of the battle. When, at +length, the news arrived that the battle had been lost, that the king +had been wounded, and was now virtually a prisoner in the hands of her +abhorred and hated enemy, she was thrown into a state of utter +despair, so much so that she remained for some hours in a sort of +stupor, as if all was now lost, and it was useless and hopeless to +continue the struggle any longer.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The king's wound.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The queen and the prince.</span> + +<p>She however, at length, revived, and began to consider again what was +to be done. The <span class="pagenum"><a id="page215" name="page215"></a>(p. 215)</span> prospect before her, however, seemed to grow +darker and darker. The fatigue and excitement which the king had +suffered, joined to the effects of his wound, which seemed not +disposed to heal, produced a relapse. The Duke of York appears to have +considered that the time had not yet come for him to attempt to assert +his claims to the throne. He contented himself with so exhibiting the +condition of the king to members of Parliament as to induce that body +to appoint him protector again. When he had thus regained possession +of power, he restored the king to the care of the queen, and sent her, +with him and the little prince, into the country.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Grand reconciliation.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">1458.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Mutual distrust.</span> + +<p>One of the most extraordinary circumstances which occurred in the +course of these anxious and troubled years was a famous reconciliation +which took place at one time between the parties to this great +quarrel. It was at a time when England was threatened with an invasion +from France. Queen Margaret proposed a grand meeting of all the lords +and nobles on both sides, to agree upon some terms of pacification by +which the intestine feud which divided and distracted the country +might be healed, and the way prepared for turning their united +strength against the foe. But it was a very dangerous thing to attempt +to bring these turbulent <span class="pagenum"><a id="page216" name="page216"></a>(p. 216)</span> leaders together. They had no +confidence in each other, and no one of them would be willing to come +to the congress without bringing with him a large armed force of +followers and retainers, to defend him in case of violence or +treachery. Finally, it was agreed to appoint the Lord-mayor of London +to keep the peace among the various parties, and, to enable him to do +this effectually, he was provided with a force of ten thousand men. +These men were volunteers raised from among the citizens of London.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Meeting of the nobles.</span> + +<p>When the time arrived for the meeting, the various leaders came in +toward London, each at the head of a body of retainers. One man came +with five hundred men, another with four hundred, and another with six +hundred, who were all dressed in uniform with scarlet coats. Another +nobleman, representing the great Percy family, came at the head of a +body of fifteen hundred men, all his own personal retainers, and every +one of them ready to fight any where and against any body, the moment +that their feudal lord should give the word.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Armed bands.</span> + +<p>These various chieftains, each at the head of his troops, came to +London at the appointed time, and established themselves at different +castles and strong-holds in and around the city, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page217" name="page217"></a>(p. 217)</span> like so +many independent sovereigns coming together to negotiate a treaty of +peace.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Disputes and debates.</span> + +<p>They spent two whole months in disputes and debates, in which the +fiercest invectives and the most angry criminations and recriminations +were uttered continually on both sides. At length, marvelous to +relate, they came to an agreement. All the points in dispute were +arranged, a treaty was signed, and a grand reconciliation—that is, a +pretended one—was the result.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The treaty.</span> + +<p>This meeting was convened about the middle of January, and on the +twenty-fourth of March the agreement was finally made and ratified, +and sealed, in a solemn manner, by the great seal. It contained a +great variety of agreements and specifications, which it is not +necessary to recapitulate here, but when all was concluded there was a +grand public ceremony in commemoration of the event.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Procession.</span> + +<p>At this celebration the king and queen, wearing their crowns and royal +robes, walked in solemn procession to St. Paul's Cathedral in the +city. They were followed by the leading peers and prelates walking two +and two; and, in order to exhibit to public view the most perfect +tokens and pledges of the fullness and sincerity of this grand +reconciliation, it was arranged that <span class="pagenum"><a id="page218" name="page218"></a>(p. 218)</span> those who had been most +bitterly hostile to each other in the late quarrels should be paired +together as they walked. Thus, immediately behind the king, who walked +alone, came the queen and the Duke of York walking together hand in +hand, as if they were on the most loving terms imaginable, and so with +the rest.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Mock reconciliation.</span> + +<p>The citizens of London, and vast crowds of other people who had come +in from the surrounding towns to witness the spectacle, joined in the +celebration by forming lines along the streets as the procession +passed by, and greeting the reconciled pairs with long and loud +acclamations; and when night came, they brightened up the whole city +with illuminations of their houses and bonfires in the streets.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Fighting again.</span> + +<p>In about a year after this the parties to this grand pacification were +fighting each other more fiercely and furiously than ever.</p> + +<a id="img015" name="img015"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img015.jpg" width="500" height="291" alt="" title=""> +<p>The Little Prince and his Swans.</p> +</div> + +<span class="sidenote">The prince's journey.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The little swans.</span> + +<p>At one time, when the little prince was about six years old, the queen +made a royal progress through certain counties in the interior of the +country, ostensibly to benefit the king's health by change of air, and +by the gentle exercise and agreeable recreation afforded by a journey, +but really, it is said, to interest the nobles and the people of the +region through which she passed in her cause, and especially in that +of the little <span class="pagenum"><a id="page221" name="page221"></a>(p. 221)</span> prince, whom she took on that occasion to +show to all the people on her route. She had adopted for him the +device of his renowned ancestor, Edward III., which was a <span class="italic">swan</span>; and +she had caused to be made for him a large number of small silver +swans, which he was to present to the nobles and gentlemen, and to all +who were admitted to a personal audience, in the towns through which +he passed. He was a bright and beautiful boy, and he gave these little +swans to the people who came around him with such a sweet and charming +grace, that all who saw him were inspired with feelings of the warmest +interest and affection for him.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">War breaks out again.</span> + +<p>Very soon after this time the war between the two great contending +parties broke out anew, and took such a course as very soon deprived +King Henry of his crown. The events which led to this result will be +related in the next chapter.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page222" name="page222"></a>(p. 222)</span> CHAPTER XV.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">Margaret a Fugitive.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">1459.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The battle of Blore Heath.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The queen's orders.</span> + +<p>In the summer of 1459, the year after the grand reconciliation took +place which is described in the last chapter, two vast armies, +belonging respectively to the two parties, which had been gradually +gathering for a long time, came up together at a place called Blore +Heath,<a id="footnotetag14" name="footnotetag14"></a><a href="#footnote14" title="Go to footnote 14"><span class="small">[14]</span></a> in Staffordshire, in the heart of England. A great battle +ensued. During the battle Henry lay dangerously ill in the town of +Coleshill, which was not far off. Margaret was at Maccleston, another +village very near the field of battle. From the tower of the church in +Maccleston she watched the progress of the fight. Salisbury was at the +head of the York party. Margaret's troops were commanded by Lord +Audley. When Audley took leave of her to go into battle, she sternly +ordered him to bring Salisbury to her, dead or alive.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Decorations.</span> + +<p>Audley had ten thousand men under his command. The soldiers were all +adorned with red rosettes, the symbol of the house of Lancaster. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page223" name="page223"></a>(p. 223)</span> The officers wore little silver swans upon their uniform, +such as Prince Edward had distributed.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Battle lost.</span> + +<p>The queen watched the progress of the battle with intense anxiety, and +soon, to her consternation and dismay, she saw that it was going +against her. She kept her eyes upon Audley's banner, and when, at +length, she saw it fall, she knew that all was lost. She hurried down +from the tower, and, with a few friends to accompany her, she fled for +her life to a strong-hold belonging to her friends that was not at a +great distance.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Feeble condition of the king.</span> + +<p>The king, too, had to be removed, in order to prevent his being taken +prisoner. He was, however, too feeble to know much or to think much of +what was going on. When they came to take him on his pallet to carry +him away, he looked up and asked, feebly, "who had got the day," but +beyond this he gave no indication of taking any interest in the +momentous events that were transpiring.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Spirit and temper of the queen.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">1460.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Success of her efforts.</span> + +<p>This defeat, instead of producing a discouraging and disheartening +effect upon Margaret's mind, only served to arouse her to new vigor +and determination. She had been somewhat timid and fearful in the +earlier part of her troubles, when she had only a husband to think +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page224" name="page224"></a>(p. 224)</span> of and to care for. But now she had a son; and the maternal +instinct seemed to operate in her case, as it has done in so many +others, to make her fearless, desperate, and, in the end, almost +ferocious, in protecting her offspring from harm, and in maintaining +his rights. She immediately engaged with the utmost zeal and ardor in +raising a new army. She did not trust the command of it to any +general, but directed all the operations of it herself. There is not +space to describe in detail the campaigns that ensued, but the result +was a complete victory. Her enemies were, in their turn, entirely +defeated, and the two great leaders, the Duke of York and the Earl of +Warwick, were actually driven out of the kingdom. The Duke of York +retreated to Ireland, and the Earl of Warwick went across the Straits +of Dover to Calais, which was still in English possession, and a great +naval and military station.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The Earl of Warwick.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">His successful advance.</span> + +<p>In a very short time after this, however, Warwick came back again with +a large armed force, which he had organized at Calais, and landed in +the southern part of England. He marched toward London, carrying all +before him. It was now his party's turn to be victorious; for by the +operation of that strange principle which seems to regulate the ups +and downs <span class="pagenum"><a id="page225" name="page225"></a>(p. 225)</span> of opposing political parties in all countries and +in all ages, victory alternates between them with almost the +regularity of a pendulum. The current of popular sentiment, which had +set so strongly in favor of the queen's cause only a short year +before, appeared to be now altogether in favor of her enemies. Every +body flocked to Warwick's standard as he marched northwardly from the +coast toward London, and at London the people opened the gates of the +city and received him and his troops as if they had been an army of +deliverers.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Northampton.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The king made captive.</span> + +<p>Warwick did not delay long in London. He marched to the north to meet +the queen's troops. Another great battle was fought at Northampton. +Margaret watched the progress of the fight from an eminence not far +distant. The day went against her. The result of the battle was that +the poor king was taken prisoner the second time and carried in +triumph to London.</p> + +<p>The captors, however, treated him with great consideration and +respect—not as their enemy and as their prisoner, but as their +sovereign, rescued by them from the hands of traitors and foes. The +time had not even yet come for the York party openly to avow their +purpose of deposing the king. So they conveyed him to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page226" name="page226"></a>(p. 226)</span> +London, and lodged him in the palace there, where he was surrounded +with all the emblems and marks of royalty, but was still, +nevertheless, closely confined.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Parliament summoned.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The king.</span> + +<p>The Duke of York then summoned a Parliament, acting in the king's +name, of course, that is, requiring the king to sign the writs and +other necessary documents. It was not until October that the +Parliament met. During the interval the king was lodged in a country +place not far from London, where every effort was made to enable him +to pass his time agreeably, by giving him an opportunity to hunt, and +to amuse and recreate himself with other out-door amusements. All the +while, however, a strict watch was kept over him to prevent the +possibility of his making his escape, or of the friends of the queen +coming secretly to take him away.</p> + +<p>As for the queen and the little prince, none knew what had become of +them.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The duke's pretensions.</span> + +<p>When Parliament met, a very extraordinary scene occurred in the House +of Lords, in which the Duke of York was the principal actor, and which +excited a great sensation. Up to this time he had put forward no +actual claim to the throne in behalf of his branch of the family, but +in all the hostilities in which he had been engaged against the king's +troops, his object had <span class="pagenum"><a id="page227" name="page227"></a>(p. 227)</span> been, as he had always said, not to +oppose the king, but only to save him, by separating him from the evil +influences which surrounded him. But he was now beginning to be +somewhat more bold.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The duke comes to Parliament.</span> + +<p>Accordingly, when Parliament met, he came into London at the head of a +body-guard of five hundred horsemen, and with the sword of state borne +before him, as if he were the greatest personage in the realm. He rode +directly to Westminster, and, halting his men with great parade before +the doors of the hall where the House of Lords was assembled, he went +in.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Scene in the House of Lords.</span> + +<p>He advanced directly through the hall to the raised dais at the end on +which the throne was placed. He ascended the steps, and walked to the +throne, the whole assembly looking on in solemn awe, to see what he +was going to do. Some expected that he was going to take his seat upon +the throne, and thus at once assume the position that he was the true +and rightful sovereign of England. He, however, did not do so. He +stood by the throne a few minutes, with his hand upon the crimson +cloth which covered it, as if hesitating whether to take his seat or +not, or perhaps waiting for some intimation from his partisans that he +was expected to do so. But for several minutes no one spoke <span class="pagenum"><a id="page228" name="page228"></a>(p. 228)</span> +a word. At length the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was in some +respects the most exalted personage in the House of Lords, asked him +if he would be pleased to go and visit the king, who was at that time +in an adjoining apartment. He replied in a haughty tone,</p> + +<p>"I know no one in this realm whose duty it is not rather to visit me +than to expect me to visit him."</p> + +<span class="sidenote">His haughty demeanor.</span> + +<p>He then turned and walked proudly out of the house.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Henry's reasoning.</span> + +<p>Although he thus refrained from actually seating himself upon the +throne, it was evident that the time was rapidly drawing near when he +would openly assert his claim to it, and some of the peers, thinking +perhaps that Henry could be induced peaceably to yield, consulted him +upon the subject, asking him which he thought had the best title to +the crown, himself or the Duke of York.</p> + +<p>To this question Henry replied,</p> + +<p>"My father was king; his father was king. I have myself worn the crown +for forty years, from my cradle. You have all sworn fealty to me as +your sovereign, and your fathers did the same to my father and to my +grandfather. How, then, can any one dispute my claim?"</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Contesting claims.</span> + +<p>What Henry said was true. The crown had <span class="pagenum"><a id="page229" name="page229"></a>(p. 229)</span> been in his branch +of the royal line for three generations, and for more than half a +century, during all which time the whole nation had acquiesced in +their rule. The claim of the Duke of York ran back to a period +anterior to all this, but he maintained that it was legitimate and +valid, notwithstanding.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Decision of the question.</span> + +<p>There followed a series of deliberations and negotiations, the result +of which was a decision on the part of Parliament that the Duke of +York and his successors were really entitled to the crown, but that, +by way of compromise, it was not to be in form transferred to them +until after the death of Henry. So long as he should continue to live, +he was to be nominally king, but the Duke of York was to govern as +regent, and, at Henry's death, the crown was to descend to him.</p> + +<p>The duke was satisfied with this arrangement, and the first thing to +be done, in order to secure its being well carried out, was to get the +little prince, as well as Henry, the king, into his possession; for he +well knew that, even if he were to dispose of the old king, and +establish himself in possession of the throne, he could have no peace +or quietness in the possession of it so long as the little prince, +with his mother, was at large.</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page230" name="page230"></a>(p. 230)</span> <span class="sidenote">The queen commanded to return.</span> + +<p>So he found means to induce the king to sign a mandate commanding the +queen to come to London and bring the prince with her. This mandate +she was required to obey immediately, under penalty, in case of +disobedience, of being held guilty of treason.</p> + +<p>Officers were immediately dispatched in all directions to search for +the queen, in order to serve this mandate upon her, but she was +nowhere to be found.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page231" name="page231"></a>(p. 231)</span> CHAPTER XVI.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">Margaret Triumphant.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Sudden reverses.</span> + +<p>There followed after this time a series of very rapid and sudden +reverses, by which first one party and then the other became +alternately the victors and the vanquished, through changes of fortune +of the most extraordinary character.</p> + +<p>At the end of the battle described in the last chapter, Margaret found +herself, with the little prince, a helpless fugitive. There were only +eight persons to accompany her in her flight, and so defenseless were +they, and such was the wild and lawless condition of the country, that +it was said her party was stopped while on their way to Wales, and the +queen was robbed of all her jewels and other valuables. Both she and +the prince would very probably, too, have been made prisoners and sent +to London, had it not been that, while the marauders were busy with +their plunder, she contrived to make her escape.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Retreat to Scotland.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The queen re-enters England.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Success.</span> + +<p>She remained a very short time in Wales, and then proceeded by sea to +Scotland, where her party, and she herself personally, had powerful +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page232" name="page232"></a>(p. 232)</span> friends. By the aid of these friends, and through the +influence of the indomitable spirit and resolution which she +displayed, she was soon supplied with a new force. At the head of this +force she crossed the frontier into England. The people seemed every +where to pity her misfortunes, and they were so struck with the energy +and courage she displayed in struggling against them, and in braving +the dreadful dangers which surrounded her in defense of the rights of +her husband and child, that they flocked to her standard from all +quarters, and thus in eight days from the time that the mandate was +issued from London commanding her to surrender herself a prisoner, she +appeared in the vicinity of the city of York, the largest and +strongest city in all the north of England, at the head of an +overwhelming force.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Movement of the duke.</span> + +<p>The Duke of York was astounded when this intelligence reached him in +London. There was not a moment to be lost. He immediately set out with +all the troops which he could command, and marched to the northward to +meet the queen. At the same time, he sent orders to the other leaders +of his party, in different parts of England, to move to the northward +as rapidly as possible, and join him there.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Battle of Wakefield.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Death of the Duke of York.</span> + +<p>The duke himself arrived first in the vicinity <span class="pagenum"><a id="page233" name="page233"></a>(p. 233)</span> of the +queen's army, but he thought he was not strong enough to attack her, +and he accordingly concluded to wait until his re-enforcements should +come up. The queen advanced with a much superior force to meet him. +The two armies came together near the town of Wakefield, and here, +after some delay, during which the queen continually challenged the +duke to come out from his walls and fortifications to meet her, and +defied and derided him with many taunts and reproaches, a great battle +was finally fought. Margaret's troops were victorious. Two thousand +out of five thousand of the duke's troops were left dead upon the +field, and the duke himself was slain!</p> + +<p>Margaret's heart was filled with the wildest exultation and joy when +she heard that her inveterate and hated foe at last was dead. She +could scarcely restrain her excitement. One of the nobles of her +party, Lord Clifford, whose father had been killed in a previous +battle under circumstances of great atrocity, cut off the duke's head +from his body, and carried it to Margaret on the end of a pike. She +was for a moment horror-stricken at the ghastly spectacle, and turned +her face away; but she finally ordered the head to be set up upon a +pole on the walls of York, in view of all beholders.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Murder of his son.</span> + +<p>A young son of the duke's, the Earl of Rutland, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page234" name="page234"></a>(p. 234)</span> who was then +about twelve years old, was also killed, or rather massacred, on the +field of battle, after the fight was over, as he was endeavoring to +make his escape, under the care of his tutor, to a castle near, where +he would have been safe. This was the castle of Sandal. It was a very +strong place, and was in the possession of the Duke of York's party. +The poor boy was cut down mercilessly by the same Lord Clifford who +has already been spoken of, notwithstanding all that his tutor could +do to save him.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's cruelties.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Her exultation.</span> + +<p>Other most atrocious murders were committed at the close of this +battle. The Earl of Salisbury was beheaded, and his head was set up +upon a pike on the walls of York, by the side of the duke's. Margaret +was almost beside herself at the results of this victory. Her armies +triumphant, the great leader of the party of her enemies, the man who +had been for years her dread and torment, slain, and all his chief +confederates either killed or taken prisoners, and nothing now +apparently in the way to prevent her marching in triumph to London, +liberating her husband from his thraldom, and taking complete and +undisputed possession of the supreme power, there seemed, so far as +the prospect now before her was concerned, to be nothing more to +desire.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<a id="img016" name="img016"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img016.jpg" width="500" height="391" alt="" title=""> +<p>Murder of Richard's Child.</p> +</div> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page237" name="page237"></a>(p. 237)</span> CHAPTER XVII.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">Margaret an Exile.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">A new reverse.</span> + +<p>Bright as were the hopes and prospects of Margaret after the battle of +Wakefield, a few short months were sufficient to involve her cause +again in the deepest darkness and gloom. The battle of Wakefield, and +the death of the Duke of York, took place near the last of December, +in 1460. In March, three months later, Margaret was an exile from +England, outlawed by the supreme power of the realm, and placed under +such a ban that it was forbidden to all the people of England to have +any communication with her.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Reaction.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Head of the Duke of York.</span> + +<p>This fatal result was brought about, in a great measure, by the +reaction in the minds of the people of the country, which resulted +from the shocking cruelties perpetrated by her and by her party after +the battle of Wakefield. The accounts of these transactions spread +through the kingdom, and awakened a universal feeling of disgust and +abhorrence. It was said that when Lord Clifford carried the head of +the Duke of York to Margaret on the point of a lance, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page238" name="page238"></a>(p. 238)</span> +followed by a crowd of other knights and nobles, he said to her,</p> + +<p>"Look, madam! The war is over! Here is the ransom for the king!"</p> + +<p>Then all the by-standers raised a shout of exultation, and began +pointing at the ghastly head, with mockings and derisive laughter. +They had put a paper crown upon the head, which they seemed to think +produced a comic effect. The queen, though at first she averted her +face, soon turned back again toward the horrid trophy, and laughed, +with the rest, at the ridiculous effect produced by the paper crown.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The country shocked.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's ferocity.</span> + +<p>The murder, too, of the innocent child, the duke's younger son, +produced a great and very powerful sensation throughout the land. The +queen, though she had not, perhaps, commanded this deed, still made +herself an accessory by commending it and exulting over it. The +ferocious hate with which she was animated against all the family of +her fallen foe was also shown by another circumstance, and that was, +that when she commanded the two heads, viz., that of the Duke of York +and that of the Earl of Salisbury, to be set upon the city walls, she +ordered that a space should be left between them for two other heads, +one of which was to be that of Edward, the oldest son of the Duke +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page239" name="page239"></a>(p. 239)</span> of York, who was still alive, not having been present at the +battle of Wakefield, and who, of course, now inherited the title and +the claims of his father.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The duke's heir.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Edward.</span> + +<p>This young Edward was at this time about nineteen years of age. His +title had been hitherto the Earl of March, and he would, of course, +now become the Duke of York, only he chose to assume that of King of +England. He was a young man of great energy of character, and he was +sustained, of course, by all his father's party, who now transferred +their allegiance to him. Indeed, their zeal in his service was +redoubled by the terrible resentment and the thirst for vengeance +which the cruelties of the queen awakened in their minds. Edward +immediately put himself in motion with all the troops that he could +command. He was in the western part of England at the time of his +father's death, and he immediately began to move toward the coast in +order to intercept Margaret on her march toward London.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Battle at St. Alban's.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Warwick defeated.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Henry abandoned.</span> + +<p>At the same time, the Earl of Warwick advanced from London itself to +the northward to meet the queen, taking with him the king, who had up +to this time remained in London. The armies of Warwick and of the +queen came into the vicinity of each other not far from St. Alban's, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page240" name="page240"></a>(p. 240)</span> before the young Duke of York came up, and a desperate +battle was fought. Warwick's army was composed chiefly of men hastily +got together in London, and they were no match for the experienced and +sturdy soldiers which Margaret had brought with her from the Scottish +frontier. They were entirely defeated. They fought all day, but at +night they dispersed in all directions, and in the hurry and confusion +of their flight they left the poor king behind them.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Is saved.</span> + +<p>During the battle Margaret did not know that her husband was on the +ground. But at night, as soon as Henry's keepers had abandoned him, a +faithful serving-man who remained with him ran into Margaret's camp, +and finding one of the nobles in command there, he informed him of the +situation of the king. The noble immediately informed the queen, and +she, overjoyed at the news, flew to the place where her husband lay, +and, on finding him, they embraced each other with the most passionate +tokens of affection and joy.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The abbey.</span> + +<p>Margaret brought the little prince to be presented to him, and then +they all together proceeded to the abbey at St. Alban's, where +apartments were provided for them. They first, however, went to the +church, in order to return <span class="pagenum"><a id="page241" name="page241"></a>(p. 241)</span> thanks publicly for the +deliverance of the king.</p> + +<p>They were received at the door of the church by the abbot and the +monks, who welcomed them with hymns of praise and thanksgiving as they +approached. After the ceremonies had been performed, they went to the +apartments in the abbey which had been provided for them, intending to +devote some days to quiet and repose.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Great excitement.</span> + +<p>In the mean time the excitement throughout the country continued and +increased. The queen perpetrated fresh cruelties, ordering the +execution of all the principal leaders from the other side that fell +into her hands. She alienated the minds of the people from her cause +by not restraining her troops from plundering; and, in order to obtain +money to defray the expenses of her army and to provide them with +food, she made requisitions upon the towns through which she passed, +and otherwise harassed the people of the country by fines and +confiscations.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The people alarmed.</span> + +<p>The people were at length so exasperated by these high-handed +proceedings, and by the furious and vindictive spirit which Margaret +manifested in all that she did, that the current turned altogether in +favor of the young Duke of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page242" name="page242"></a>(p. 242)</span> York. The scattered forces of his +party were reassembled. They began soon to assume so formidable an +appearance that Margaret found it would be best for her to retire +toward the north again. She of course took with her the king and the +Prince of Wales.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Advance of Edward.</span> + +<p>At the same time, Edward, the young Duke of York, advanced toward +London. The whole city was excited to the highest pitch of enthusiasm +at his approach. A large meeting of citizens declared that Henry +should reign no longer, but that they would have Edward for king.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">London.</span> + +<p>When Edward arrived in London he was received by the whole population +as their deliverer. A grand council of the nobles and prelates was +convened, and, after solemn deliberations, Henry was deposed and +Edward was declared king.</p> + +<p>Two days after this a great procession was formed, at the head of +which Edward rode royally to Westminster and took his seat upon the +throne.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Battle of Towton.</span> + +<p>Margaret made one more desperate effort to retrieve the fortunes of +her family by a battle fought at a place called Towton. This battle +was fought in a snow-storm. It was an awful day. Margaret's party were +entirely defeated, <span class="pagenum"><a id="page243" name="page243"></a>(p. 243)</span> and nearly thirty thousand of them were +left dead upon the field.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Flight of the queen.</span> + +<p>As soon as the result was known, Margaret, taking with her her husband +and child and a small retinue of attendants, fled to the northward. +She stopped a short time at the Castle of Alnwick,<a id="footnotetag15" name="footnotetag15"></a><a href="#footnote15" title="Go to footnote 15"><span class="small">[15]</span></a> a strong-hold +belonging to one of her friends; but, finding that the forces opposed +to her were gathering strength every day and advancing toward her, and +that the country generally was becoming more and more disposed to +yield allegiance to the new king, she concluded that it would not be +safe for her to remain in England any longer.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Alnwick.</span> + +<p>So, taking her husband and the little prince with her, and also a few +personal attendants, she left Alnwick, and crossed the frontier into +Scotland, a fugitive and an exile, and with no hope apparently of ever +being able to enter England again.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page244" name="page244"></a>(p. 244)</span> CHAPTER XVIII.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">A Royal Cousin.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">1461.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret in Scotland.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Her friends.</span> + +<p>As soon as Margaret escaped to Scotland, far from being disheartened +by her misfortunes, she began at once to concert measures for raising +a new army and going into England again, with a view of making one +more effort to recover her husband's throne. She knew, of course, that +there was a large body of nobles, and of the people of the country, +who were still faithful to her husband's cause, and who would be ready +to rally round his standard whenever and wherever it should appear. +All that she required was the nucleus of an army at the outset, and a +tolerably successful beginning in entering the country. There were +knights and nobles, and great numbers of men, every where ready to +join her as soon as she should appear, but they were nowhere strong +enough to commence a movement on their own responsibility.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The prince.</span> + +<p>One of the measures which she adopted for strengthening her interest +with the royal family of Scotland was to negotiate a marriage between +the young prince, who was now seven <span class="pagenum"><a id="page245" name="page245"></a>(p. 245)</span> years old, and a Scotch +princess. She succeeded in conditionally arranging this marriage, but +she found that she could not raise troops for a second invasion of +England.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Messengers sent to France.</span> + +<p>In the mean time, she had sent three noblemen as her messengers into +France, to see what could be done in that country. France was her +native land, and the king at that time, Charles VII., was her uncle. +She had strong reason to hope, therefore, that she might find aid and +sympathy there. Toward the close of the summer, however, she received +a letter from two of her messengers at Dieppe which was not at all +encouraging.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Their letter.</span> + +<p>The letter began by saying, on the part of the messengers, that they +had already written to Margaret three times before; once by the return +of the vessel, called the <span class="italic">Carvel</span>, in which they went to France, and +twice from Dieppe, where they then were, but all the letters were +substantially to communicate the same evil tidings, namely, that the +king, her uncle, was dead, and that her cousin had succeeded to the +throne, but that the new king seemed not at all disposed to regard her +cause favorably. His officers at Dieppe had caused all their papers to +be seized and taken to the king, and he had shut up one of their +number in the castle of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page246" name="page246"></a>(p. 246)</span> Arques, which is situated at a short +distance from Dieppe. He had been apparently prevented from +imprisoning the other two by their having been provided with a +safe-conduct, which protected them.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The messengers' advice to the queen.</span> + +<p>Furthermore, the writers of the letter bade the queen keep up good +courage, and advised her, for the present, to remain quietly where she +was. She must not, they said, venture herself, or the little prince, +upon the sea in an attempt to come to France, unless she found herself +exposed to great danger in remaining in Scotland. They wished her to +notify the king, too, who they supposed was at that time secreted in +Wales, for they had heard that the Earl of March—they would not call +him King of England, but still designated him by his old name—was +going into Wales with an army to look for him.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Their professions and promises.</span> + +<p>They said, in conclusion, that as soon as they were set at liberty +they should immediately come to the queen in Scotland. Nothing but +death would prevent their rejoining her, and they devoutly hoped and +believed that they should not be called to meet with death until they +could have the satisfaction of seeing her husband the king and herself +once more in peaceable possession of their realm.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page247" name="page247"></a>(p. 247)</span> But the reader may perhaps like to peruse the letter itself +in the words in which it was written. It is a very good specimen of +the form in which the English language was written in those days, +though it seems very quaint and old-fashioned now. It was as follows:</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The letter itself.</span> + +<div class="quote"> +<p>"<span class="smcap">Madam</span>,—Please your good God, we have, since our coming hither, + written to your highness thrice; once by the carvel in which we + came, the other two from Dieppe. But, madam, it was all one thing + in substance, putting you in knowledge of your uncle's death, + whom God assoil, and how we stood arrested, and do yet. But on + Tuesday next we shall up to the king, your cousin-german. His + commissaires, at the first of our tarrying, took all our letters + and writings, and bore them up to the king, leaving my Lord of + Somerset in keeping at the castle of Arques, and my fellow + Whyttingham and me (for we had safe-conduct) in the town of + Dieppe, where we are yet.</p> + +<p>"Madam, fear not, but be of good comfort, and beware ye venture + not your person, nor my lord the prince, by sea, till ye have + other word from us, unless your person can not be sure where ye + are, and extreme necessity drive ye thence.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page248" name="page248"></a>(p. 248)</span> "And, for God's sake, let the king's highness be advised + of the same; for, as we are informed, the Earl of March is into + Wales by land, and hath sent his navy thither by sea.</p> + +<p>"And, madam, think verily, as soon as we be delivered, we shall + come straight to you, unless death take us by the way, which we + trust he will not till we see the king and you peaceably again in + your realm; the which we beseech God soon to see, and to send you + that your highness desireth. Written at Dieppe the 30th day of + August, 1461.</p> + +<p>"Your true subjects and liegemen,<br> +<span class="left40">"<span class="smcap">Hungerford and Whyttingham</span>."</span></p> +</div> + +<span class="sidenote">Fidelity.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Suspense.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">King Louis XI.</span> + +<p>Margaret remained through the winter in Scotland, anxiously +endeavoring to devise means to rebuild her fallen fortunes. But all +was in vain; no light or hope appeared. At length, when the spring +opened, she determined to go herself to France and see the king her +cousin, in hopes that, by her presence at the court, and her personal +influence over the king, something might be done.</p> + +<p>The king her cousin had been her playmate in their childhood. He was +the son of Mary, her father René's sister. Mary and René had been very +strongly attached to each other, and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page249" name="page249"></a>(p. 249)</span> the children had been +brought up much together. Margaret now hoped that, on seeing her again +in her present forlorn and helpless condition, his former friendship +for her would revive, and that he would do something to aid her.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Want of funds.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Gratitude.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Voyage to France.</span> + +<p>She was, however, entirely destitute of money, and she would have +found it very difficult to contrive the means of getting to France, +had it not been for the kindness of a French merchant who resided in +Scotland, and whom she had known in former years in Nancy, in +Lorraine, where she had rendered him some service. The merchant had +since acquired a large fortune in commercial operations between +Scotland and Flanders which he conducted. In his prosperity he did not +forget the kindness he had received from the queen in former years, +and, now that she was in want and in distress, he came forward +promptly to relieve her. He furnished her with the funds necessary for +her voyage, and provided a vessel to convey her and her attendants to +the coast of France. She sailed from the port of Kirkcudbright, on the +western coast of Scotland, and so passed down through the Irish Sea +and St. George's Channel, thus avoiding altogether the Straits of +Dover, where she would have incurred <span class="pagenum"><a id="page250" name="page250"></a>(p. 250)</span> danger of being +intercepted by the English men-of-war.</p> + +<p>She took the young prince with her. The king it was thought best to +leave behind.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">1462.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Funds exhausted.</span> + +<p>So great were the number of persons dependent upon the queen, and so +urgent were their necessities, that all the funds which the French +merchant had furnished her were exhausted on her arrival in France. +She found, moreover, that the three friends, the noblemen whom she had +sent to France the summer before, and from whom she had received the +letter we have quoted, had left that country and gone to Scotland to +seek her. They had provided themselves with a vessel, in which they +intended to take the queen away from Scotland and convey her to some +place of safety, not knowing that she had herself embarked for France. +They must have passed the queen's vessel on the way, unless, indeed, +which is very probably the case, they went up the Channel and through +the Straits of Dover, thus taking an altogether different route from +that chosen by the queen.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Missed by her friends.</span> + +<p>When they reached Scotland they hovered on the coast a long time, +endeavoring to find an opportunity to communicate with her secretly; +but at length they learned that she was gone.</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page251" name="page251"></a>(p. 251)</span> <span class="sidenote">She goes to France.</span> + +<p>In the mean time, Margaret, having arrived in France, borrowed some +money of the Duke of Brittany, in whose dominions it would seem she +first landed. With this money Margaret supplied the most pressing +wants of her party, and also made arrangements for pursuing her +journey into the country, to the town in Normandy where her cousin the +king was then residing.</p> + +<a id="img017" name="img017"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img017.jpg" width="400" height="540" alt="" title=""> +<p>Louis XI., Margaret's Cousin.</p> +</div> + +<span class="sidenote">Louis XI.</span> + +<p>It is said that, on arriving at the court of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page252" name="page252"></a>(p. 252)</span> king and +obtaining admission to his majesty's presence, Margaret took the young +prince by the hand, and, throwing herself down at her cousin's feet, +she implored him, with many tears, to take pity upon her forlorn and +wretched condition, and that of her unhappy husband, and to aid her in +her efforts to recover his throne.</p> + +<p>But the king, with true royal heartlessness, was unmoved by her +distress, and manifested no disposition to espouse her cause.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Negotiations.</span> + +<p>Some negotiations, however, ensued, at the close of which the king +promised to loan her a sum of money—for a consideration. The +consideration was that she was to convey to him the port and town of +Calais, which was still held by the English, and was considered a very +important and very valuable possession, or else pay back double the +money which she borrowed.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Mortgage of Calais.</span> + +<p>Thus it was not an absolute sale of Calais, but only a mortgage of it, +which the queen executed. But, nevertheless, as soon as this +transaction was made known in England, it excited great indignation +throughout the country, and seriously injured the cause of the queen. +The people accused her of being ready to alienate the possessions of +the crown, possessions which it had cost so much both in blood and +treasure to procure.</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page253" name="page253"></a>(p. 253)</span> <span class="sidenote">Doubtful security.</span> + +<p>Of course, the security which the king obtained for his loan was of a +somewhat doubtful character, for Margaret's mortgage deed of Calais, +although she gave it in King Henry's name, and was careful to state in +it that she was expressly authorized by him to make it, was of no +force at all so long as Edward of York reigned in England, and was +acknowledged by the people as the rightful king. It was only in the +event of Margaret's succeeding in recovering the throne for her +husband that the mortgage could take effect. The deed which she +executed stipulated that, as soon as King Henry should be restored to +his kingdom, he would appoint one of two persons named, in whom the +King of France had confidence, as governor of the town, with authority +to deliver it up to the King of France in one year in case she did not +within that time pay back double the sum of money borrowed.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Conditions.</span> + +<p>He seemed to think that, considering the great risk he was taking, a +hundred per cent per annum was not an exorbitant usury.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page254" name="page254"></a>(p. 254)</span> CHAPTER XIX.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">Return To England.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret finds a friend.</span> + +<p>Margaret found one friend in France, who seems to have espoused her +cause from a sentiment of sincere and disinterested attachment to her. +This was a certain knight named Pierre de Brezé.<a id="footnotetag16" name="footnotetag16"></a><a href="#footnote16" title="Go to footnote 16"><span class="small">[16]</span></a> He was an officer +of high rank in the government of Normandy, and a man of very +considerable influence among the distinguished personages of those +times.</p> + +<a id="img018" name="img018"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img018.jpg" width="500" height="596" alt="" title=""> +<p>Map of the Scottish Border.</p> +</div> + +<span class="sidenote">Account of Brezé.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">He enters the queen's service.</span> + +<p>Margaret had known him intimately many years before. He was appointed +one of the commissioners on the French side to negotiate, with Suffolk +and the others, the terms of Margaret's marriage, and he had taken a +very prominent part in the tournaments and other celebrations which +took place in honor of the wedding before Margaret left her native +land. When he now saw the poor queen coming back to France an exile, +bereft of friends, of resources, and almost of hope, the interest +which he had felt for her in former years was revived. It is <span class="pagenum"><a id="page255" name="page255"></a>(p. 255)</span> +said that he fell in love with her. However this may be, it is certain +that Margaret's great beauty must have had a very important influence +in deepening the sentiment of compassion which the misfortunes of the +poor fugitive were so well calculated to inspire. At any rate, Brezé +entered at once into the queen's service <span class="pagenum"><a id="page256" name="page256"></a>(p. 256)</span> with great +enthusiasm. He brought with him a force of two thousand men. With this +army, and with the money which she had borrowed of King Louis, +Margaret resolved to make one more attempt to recover her husband's +kingdom.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's plans.</span> + +<p>At length, in the month of October, 1462, five months after she +arrived in France, she set sail with a small number of vessels, +containing the soldiers that Brezé had provided for her. Her plan was +to land in the north of England, for it was in that part of the +country that the friends of the Lancaster line were most numerous and +powerful.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">She goes to England.</span> + +<p>King Edward's government knew something of her plans, or, at least, +suspected them, and they stationed a fleet to watch for her and +intercept her. She, however, contrived to elude them, and reached the +shores of England in safety.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Hurried flight.</span> + +<p>The fleet approached the shore at Tynemouth, but the guns of the forts +were pointed against her, and she was forbidden to land. She, however, +succeeded, either at that place or at some other point along the +coast, in effecting a debarkation; but she was threatened so soon with +an attack by a large army which she heard was approaching, under the +command of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page257" name="page257"></a>(p. 257)</span> Earl of Warwick, that the French troops fled +precipitately to their ships, leaving Margaret, the prince, Brezé, and +a few others who remained faithful to her, on shore. Being thus +deserted, Margaret and her party were compelled to retreat too. They +embarked on board a fisherman's boat, which was the only means of +conveyance left to them, and in this manner made their way to Berwick, +which town was in the possession of her friends.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">A storm.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Ships wrecked.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Holy Island.</span> + +<p>They were long in reaching Berwick, being detained by a storm. The +storm, however, caused Margaret a much greater injury than mere +detention. The ships in which the French soldiers had fled were caught +by it off a range of rocky cliffs lying between Tynemouth and Berwick, +the most prominent of which is called Bamborough Head. The ships were +driven upon the rocks and rocky islands which lay along the shore, and +there broken to pieces by the sea which rolled in upon them from the +offing. All the stores, and provisions, and munitions of war which +Margaret had brought from France, and which constituted almost her +sole reliance for carrying on the war, were lost. Most of the men +saved themselves, and made their escape to an island that lay near, +called Holy Island. But here they were soon afterward <span class="pagenum"><a id="page258" name="page258"></a>(p. 258)</span> +attacked by a body of Yorkist troops and cut to pieces.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's escape.</span> + +<p>Margaret reached Berwick in her fishing-boat at last, bearing these +terrible tidings to her friends there. One would suppose that the last +hope of her being able to retrieve her fallen fortunes would now be +extinguished, and that she would sink down in utter and absolute +despair.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Her spirit revives.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Battle of Hexham.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The king's escape.</span> + +<p>But it was not in Margaret's nature to despair. The more heavily the +pressure of calamity and the hostility of her foes weighed upon her, +the more fierce and determined was the spirit of resistance which they +aroused in her bosom. In this instance, instead of yielding to +dejection and despondency, she began at once to take measures for +assembling a new force, and the ardor and energy which she displayed +inspired all around her with some portion of her confidence and zeal. +A new army was raised during the winter. Very early in the spring it +took the field, and a series of military operations followed, in which +towns and castles were taken and retaken, and skirmishes fought all +along the Scottish frontier. At length the contending forces were +concentrated near a place called Hexham, and a general battle ensued. +The queen's army was defeated. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page259" name="page259"></a>(p. 259)</span> The king, who was in the +battle, had a most narrow escape. He fled on horseback—for when he +was in good bodily health he was an excellent horseman—but he was so +hotly pursued that three of his body-guard were taken.</p> + +<p>It is mentioned that one of the men thus taken wore the king's cap of +state, which was embroidered with two crowns of gold, one representing +the kingdom of England and the other that of France, the title to +which country the English sovereigns still pretended to claim, in +virtue of their former extended possessions there, although pretty +much all except the town of Calais was now lost.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the pursuers of the king's party were deceived by this royal +cap, and took the wearer of it for the king. At any rate, the officer +wearing the cap was taken, and the king escaped.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The queen's danger.</span> + +<p>Immediately after the victory on the field at Hexham, a body of the +Yorkist troops broke into the camp where the queen was quartered, and +where, with the young prince, she was awaiting the result of the +battle. As soon as the queen found that the enemy were coming, she +seized the prince and ran off with him, in mortal terror, into a +neighboring wood. She <span class="pagenum"><a id="page260" name="page260"></a>(p. 260)</span> knew well that, if the child was +taken, he would certainly be killed. Indeed, such bloody work had been +made on both sides, with assassinations and executions during the year +prior to this time, that men's minds were in the highest state of +exasperation; and it is probable that both Margaret herself and the +child would have been butchered on the spot if they had remained in +the camp until the victorious troops entered it.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Narrow escape.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Her flight.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The robbers.</span> + +<p>As soon as Margaret gained the wood she turned off into the most +obscure and solitary paths that she could find, thinking of nothing +but to escape from her pursuers, who, she imagined in her fright, were +close behind. At length, after wandering about in this manner for some +time, she fell in with a company of men in the wood, who were either a +regular band of robbers, or were tempted to become robbers on that +occasion by the richness of the stranger's dress, and by the articles +of jewelry and other decorations which she wore; for, although +Margaret's means were extremely limited, she still maintained, in some +degree, the bearing and the appointments of a queen.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">An escape.</span> + +<p>The men at once stopped her, and began to plunder her and the prince +of every thing which they could take from them that appeared to be +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page261" name="page261"></a>(p. 261)</span> of value. As soon as they had possessed themselves of this +plunder they began to quarrel about it among themselves. Margaret +remained standing near, in great anxiety and distress, until +presently, watching her opportunity, she caught up the prince in her +arms and slipped away into the adjoining thickets.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Alone in the woods.</span> + +<p>She ran forward as fast as she could go until she supposed herself out +of the reach of pursuit from the robbers, and then looked for a place +in the densest part of the wood where she could hide, with the +intention of remaining there until night. Her plan was then to find +her way out of the wood, and so wander on until she should come to the +residence of some one of her friends, who she might hope would harbor +and conceal her.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Night.</span> + +<p>She accordingly continued in her hiding-place until evening came on, +and then, having recovered in some degree, by this interval of rest, +from the excitement, fatigue, and terror which she had endured, she +came out into a path again, leading little Edward by the hand. The +moon was shining, and this enabled her to see where to go.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">A stranger appears.</span> + +<p>After wandering on for some time, she was alarmed by the apparition of +a tall man, armed, who suddenly appeared in the pathway at a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page262" name="page262"></a>(p. 262)</span> +short distance before her. She had no doubt that this was another +robber. It was too late for her to attempt to fly from him. He was too +near to allow her any chance of escape. In this extremity, she +conceived the idea of throwing herself upon his generosity as her last +and only hope. So she advanced boldly toward him, leading the little +prince by the hand, and said to him, presenting the prince,</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's appeal to the stranger.</span> + +<p>"My friend, this is the son of your king! Save him!"</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The outlaw's cave.</span> + +<p>The man appeared astonished. In a moment he laid his sword down at +Margaret's feet in token of submission to her, and then immediately +offered to conduct her and the prince to a place of safety. He also +explained to her that he was one of her friends. He had been ruined by +the war, and driven from his home, and was now, like the queen +herself, a wanderer and a fugitive. He had taken possession of a cave +in the wood, and there he was now living with his wife as an outlaw. +He led Margaret and the prince to the cave, where they were received +by his wife, and entertained with such hospitalities as a home so +gloomy and comfortless could afford.</p> + +<a id="img019" name="img019"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img019.jpg" width="500" height="300" alt="" title=""> +<p>Margaret at the Cave.</p> +</div> + +<span class="sidenote">Appearance of the cave.</span> + +<p>Margaret remained an inmate of this cave for two days. The place is +known to this day <span class="pagenum"><a id="page265" name="page265"></a>(p. 265)</span> as Margaret's Cave. It stands in a very +secluded spot on the banks of a small stream. The ground around it is +now open, but in Margaret's time it was in the midst of the forest. +The entrance to the cave is very low. Within, it is high enough for a +man to stand upright. It is about thirty-four feet long, and half as +wide. There are some appearances of its having been once divided by a +wall into two separate apartments.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret concealed in it.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">A friend found.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's anger turned to grief.</span> + +<p>For two days Margaret remained in the cave, suffering, of course, the +extreme of suspense and anxiety all the time, being in great +solicitude to hear from her friends, the nobles and generals who had +been defeated with her in the battle. Her host made diligent though +secret inquiries, but could gain no tidings. At length, on the morning +of the third day, to Margaret's infinite relief and joy, he came in +bringing with him De Brezé himself, with his squire, whose name was +Barville, and an English gentleman who had escaped with De Brezé from +the battle, and had since been wandering about with him, looking every +where for the queen. Margaret was for the moment overjoyed to see +these friends again, but her exultation was soon succeeded by the +deepest grief at hearing the terrible accounts they gave of the death +of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page266" name="page266"></a>(p. 266)</span> her nearest friends, some of whom had been killed in the +battle, and others had been taken prisoners and cruelly executed +immediately afterward. Up to this time, through all the danger and +suffering which she had endured since the battle, she had been either +in a state of stupor, or else filled with resentment and rage against +her enemies, and she had not shed a tear; but now grief for the loss +of these dear and faithful friends seemed to take the place of all +other emotions, and she wept a long time as if her heart would break.</p> + +<p>Margaret learned, however, from her friends that the king had made his +escape, and was probably in a place of safety, and this gave her great +consolation. It was thought that the king had succeeded in making his +way to Scotland.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">They leave the cave.</span> + +<p>In the course of the day, one of the party who came with Brezé went +out into the neighboring villages to see if he could learn any new +tidings, and before long he returned bringing with him several nobles +of high rank and princes of the Lancastrian line. Margaret felt much +relieved to find her party so strengthened, and arrangements were soon +made by the whole party for Margaret to leave the cave with them, and +endeavor to reach the Scottish <span class="pagenum"><a id="page267" name="page267"></a>(p. 267)</span> frontier, which was not much +more, in a direct line, than thirty miles from where they were.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Generosity of the outlaw.</span> + +<p>Before they departed from the cave Margaret expressed her thanks very +earnestly to the outlaw and his wife for their kindness in receiving +her and the little prince into their cave, and in doing so much for +their comfort while there, although by so doing they not only +encroached very much upon their own slender means of support, but also +incurred a very serious risk in harboring such a fugitive. Having been +plundered of every thing by the robbers in the wood, she had nothing +but thanks to return to her kind protectors. The nobles who were now +with her offered the wife of the outlaw some money—for they had still +a small supply of money left—but she would not receive it. They would +require all they had, she said, for themselves, before they reached +Scotland.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The queen's gratitude.</span> + +<p>The queen was much moved by this generosity, and she said that of all +that she had lost there was nothing that she regretted so much as the +power of rewarding such goodness.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The journey.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The journey to Kirkcudbright.</span> + +<p>On leaving the wood at Hexham, the party, instead of proceeding north, +directly toward the frontier of Scotland, concluded to journey +westward to Carlisle, intending to take passage by <span class="pagenum"><a id="page268" name="page268"></a>(p. 268)</span> water +from that place through Solway to Kirkcudbright, the port from which +Margaret had sailed when she went to France.<a id="footnotetag17" name="footnotetag17"></a><a href="#footnote17" title="Go to footnote 17"><span class="small">[17]</span></a> They were obliged to +use a great many precautions in traversing the country to prevent +being discovered. The party consisted of Margaret and the young +prince, attended by Brezé and his squire, and also by the man of the +cave, who was acquainted with the country, and acted as guide. They +reached Carlisle in safety, and there embarked on board a vessel, +which took them down the Firth and landed them in Kirkcudbright.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Her anxiety.</span> + +<p>Though now out of England, Margaret did not feel much more at ease +than before, for during her absence in France a treaty had been made +between King Edward and the Scottish king which would prevent the +latter from openly harboring her in his dominions; so she was obliged +to keep closely concealed.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page269" name="page269"></a>(p. 269)</span> CHAPTER XX.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">Years of Exile.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">They are discovered.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">An abduction.</span> + +<p>Margaret had not been long in Kirkcudbright before she was +accidentally seen by a man who knew her. This man was an Englishman. +His name was Cork. He was of the Yorkist party. He said nothing when +he saw the queen, but he immediately formed the resolution to seize +her and all her party, and to convey them to England and give them up +to King Edward. He contrived some way to carry this plot into +execution. He seized de Brezé and his squire, and also the queen and +the prince, and carried them on board a boat in the night, having +first bound and gagged them, to disable them from making resistance or +uttering any cries. It seems that De Brezé was not with the queen when +he was taken, and as it was dark when they were put on board the boat, +and neither could speak, neither party knew that the others were there +until the morning, when they were far away from the shore, out in the +wide part of the Solway Bay.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">De Brezé's exploit.</span> + +<p>In the night, however, De Brezé, who was a <span class="pagenum"><a id="page270" name="page270"></a>(p. 270)</span> man of address +and of great personal strength, as well as of undaunted bravery, +contrived to get free from his bonds, and also to free his squire, +without letting the boatmen know what he had done. Then, in the +morning, watching for a good opportunity, they together rose upon the +boatmen, seized the oars, and, after a violent struggle, in which they +came very near upsetting the boat, they finally succeeded in killing +some of the men, and in throwing the others overboard. They +immediately liberated Margaret and the prince, and then attempted to +make for the shore.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Tossed about in Solway Firth.</span> + +<p>After having been tossed about for some time in the Gulf or Firth of +Solway, the boat was carried by the wind away up through the North +Channel more than sixty miles, and finally was thrown upon a sand-bank +near the coast of Cantyre, a famous promontory extending into the sea +in this part of Scotland. The boat struck at some distance from the +dry land, and the sea rolled in so heavily upon it that there was +danger of its being broken to pieces; so De Brezé took the queen upon +his shoulders, and, wading through the water, conveyed her to the +shore. Barville, the squire, carried the prince in the same way. And +so they were once more safe on land.</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page271" name="page271"></a>(p. 271)</span> <span class="sidenote">They land in Scotland.</span> + +<p>They found the coast wild and barren, and the country desolate; but +this was attended with one advantage at least, and that was that the +queen was in little danger of being recognized; for, as one of +Margaret's historians expresses it, the peasants were so ignorant that +they could not conceive of any one's being a queen unless she had a +crown upon her head and a sceptre in her hand.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Arrival at the hamlet.</span> + +<p>They all went up a little way into the country, and at length found a +small hamlet, where Margaret concluded to remain with the prince until +De Brezé could go to Edinburgh and learn what the condition of the +country was, and so enable her to consider what course to pursue.</p> + +<p>The report which De Brezé brought back on his return was very +discouraging. Margaret, however, on hearing it, determined to go to +Edinburgh herself, to see what she could do. She found, on her arrival +there, that the government were not willing to do any thing more for +her. They would furnish her with the means, they said, if she wished, +of going back to England in a quiet way, with a view of seeking refuge +among some of her friends there, but that was all that they could do.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret reaches Bamborough.</span> + +<p>So Margaret went back to England, and remained for some little time in +the great castle <span class="pagenum"><a id="page272" name="page272"></a>(p. 272)</span> of Bamborough, which was still in the hands +of her friends. She tried here to contrive some way of reassembling +her scattered adherents and making a new rally, but she found that +that object could not be accomplished. Thus all the resources which +could be furnished by France, Scotland, or England for her failing +cause seemed to be exhausted, and, after turning her eyes in every +direction for help, she concluded to cross the German Ocean into +Flanders, to see if she could find any sympathy or succor there.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">She sails for Flanders.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">A storm.</span> + +<p>Compared with the number of attendants that were with her in her +flight into Scotland, the retinue of friends and followers by which +she was accompanied in this retreat to the Continent was quite large, +though it is probable that most of this company went with her quite as +much on their own account as on the queen's. The whole party numbered +about two hundred. They embarked from Bamborough on board two ships, +but very soon after they had left the land a storm arose, and the two +ships were separated from each other, and for twelve hours the one +which Margaret and the prince had taken was in imminent danger of +being overwhelmed. The wind rose to a perfect hurricane, and no one +expected that they could possibly escape.</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page273" name="page273"></a>(p. 273)</span> <span class="sidenote">The Duke of Burgundy.</span> + +<p>At length, however, the gale subsided so as to allow the ship to make +a port; not the port of their destination, however, but one far to the +southward of it, in a territory belonging to Philip, Duke of Burgundy, +between whom and Margaret there had been, during all Margaret's life, +a hereditary and implacable enmity. Margaret was greatly alarmed at +finding herself thus at the mercy of a person whom she considered as +one of her deadliest foes.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Generosity of the duke.</span> + +<p>But, very much to her surprise, the duke, as soon as he heard of her +arrival in the country, took pity on her misfortunes, forgot all his +former enmity, and treated her in the most generous manner. He was not +at Lille, his capital, when she arrived, but he sent his son to +receive her, and to conduct her to the capital, with every possible +mark of respect. When she went on afterward to meet the duke, he sent +a guard of honor to escort her, and when she arrived at his court, +which was at that time at a place called St. Pol, he received her in a +very distinguished manner, and prepared great entertainments and +festivities to do her honor.</p> + +<p>He rendered her, also, still more substantial services than these, by +furnishing her with an ample supply of funds for all her immediate +wants. He gave to each of the ladies in her <span class="pagenum"><a id="page274" name="page274"></a>(p. 274)</span> train a hundred +crowns, to Brezé a thousand, and to Margaret herself an order on his +treasurer for ten thousand.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">René's gratitude.</span> + +<p>King René, Margaret's father, was very much touched with this +generosity and kindness on the part of his old family enemy. He +himself, at that time, was wholly destitute, and unable to do any +thing for his daughter's relief. He, however, wrote a letter of warm +thanks to Philip, in which he declared that he had not merited and did +not expect such kindness at his hands.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">A rare example.</span> + +<p>We have, in the conduct of the Duke of Burgundy on this occasion, one +single and solitary example, among all the Christian knights, and +nobles, and princes that figure in this long and melancholy story of +contention, cruelty, and crime, in which the Savior's rule, Forgive +your enemies, do good to them that hate you, was cordially obeyed; and +what happy fruits immediately resulted to all concerned! How much of +all the vast amount of bloodshed and suffering which prevailed during +these gloomy times would have been prevented, if those who professed +to be followers of Christ had been really what they pretended.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret goes to Lorraine.</span> + +<p>With the money which Margaret obtained from the Duke of Burgundy she +was enabled <span class="pagenum"><a id="page275" name="page275"></a>(p. 275)</span> to continue her journey in some tolerable degree +of comfort to the old home of her childhood in Lorraine. All that her +father could do for her was to furnish her a humble place of refuge in +a castle at Verdun, on the River Moselle, which flows through the +province. She went there, attended with a small number of followers, +and here she remained, in utter seclusion from the world, and almost +forgotten, for seven long years.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The prince.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Bad news from the king.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">His life spared.</span> + +<p>During all this time she enjoyed the comfort and satisfaction of +having her son, the prince, with her, and of watching his progress to +manhood under her own personal charge and that of one or two +accomplished men who still adhered to her, and who aided her in the +education of her boy. She was, however, hopelessly separated from her +husband. For a long time she did not know what had become of him. +During this time he was leading a very precarious and wandering life +in England, going from one hiding-place to another, wherever his +friends could most conveniently secrete him. At length, however, the +heavy tidings came to the queen, in her retreat at Verdun, that her +husband had been betrayed in one of his retreats, and had been seized +and carried to London as a prisoner in a very ignominious manner. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page276" name="page276"></a>(p. 276)</span> It was to have been expected that he would be immediately +put to death; but, as a matter of policy, the York party thought it +not best to proceed to that extremity, especially as all his kingly +right would have immediately descended to his son, in whose hands, +with such a mother to aid him, they would have become more formidable +than ever. Thus, on many accounts, it was better for his enemies to +allow the old king to live.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Cruelties.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Men tortured.</span> + +<p>But very special precautions were taken by King Edward's government to +prevent Margaret and the young prince from coming into England again. +A coast guard was set all along the shore, and every one in England +who was suspected of being in communication with the exiled queen was +watched and guarded in the closest manner possible. Some were tortured +and put to death in the attempt to force them to give up letters or +papers supposed to be in their possession. A certain wealthy merchant +of London was accused of treason, and very severely punished, simply +because he had been asked to loan money to Margaret, and, though he +refused to make the loan, did not inform the authorities of the +application which had been made to him.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Great fidelity.</span> + +<p>Among other examples of the shocking cruelty <span class="pagenum"><a id="page277" name="page277"></a>(p. 277)</span> of which those +in power were guilty, in their hatred of Margaret and her cause, it is +said that one man, who was found out, as they thought, in an attempt +to convey letters to and fro between Margaret and some of her friends +in England, was torn to pieces with red-hot pincers in a fruitless +attempt to make him confess who the persons were in England for whom +the letters were intended. But he bore the torture to the end, and +died without betraying the secret.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page278" name="page278"></a>(p. 278)</span> CHAPTER XXI.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">The Reconciliation with Warwick.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">1469.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Great news.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Revolt of Warwick.</span> + +<p>In the fall of 1469, Margaret's mind was aroused to new life and +excitement by news which came from England that great opposition had +gradually grown up in the realm against the government of Edward, that +many of his best friends had forsaken him, and that the friends and +partisans of the Lancaster line were increasing in strength and +courage to such a degree as to make it probable that the time was +drawing nigh when Henry might be restored to the throne. The most +important circumstance connected with the change which had taken place +was that the great Earl of Warwick, who had been the most efficient +and powerful supporter of the house of York, and the most determined +enemy of Margaret and Henry during the whole war, had now abandoned +Edward, and had come to France, and was ready to throw all the weight +of his power and influence on the other side.<a id="footnotetag18" name="footnotetag18"></a><a href="#footnote18" title="Go to footnote 18"><span class="small">[18]</span></a></p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page279" name="page279"></a>(p. 279)</span> <span class="sidenote">Excitement.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret sent for.</span> + +<p>Of course, these tidings produced a great excitement all over France. +King Louis XI. was specially interested in them, as they afforded a +hope that Margaret might regain her throne, and so be able to redeem +her mortgage, or else deliver up to him the security; so he called a +council at Tours to consider what was best to be done, and he sent for +Margaret at Verdun to come with the prince and attend it. He also sent +for René, her father, and other influential family friends. It is said +that when Margaret arrived and met her father, she was so much +agitated by the news, and by the hopes which it awakened in her bosom, +that, in embracing him, she burst into tears from the excess of her +excitement and joy.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Reconciliation with Warwick proposed.</span> + +<p>But she could not endure the idea of a reconciliation with Warwick. At +first she positively refused to see or to speak to him. When, however, +at length he arrived at Tours, the king introduced him into Margaret's +presence, but for a long time she refused to have any thing to do with +him.</p> + +<p>"She could never forgive him," she said. "He had been the chief author +of the downfall of her husband, and of all the sorrows and calamities +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page280" name="page280"></a>(p. 280)</span> which had since befallen her and her son.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's objections.</span> + +<p>"Besides," she said, "even if she were willing to forgive him for the +intolerable wrongs which he had inflicted upon her, it would be very +prejudicial to her husband's cause to enter into any agreement or +alliance with him whatever; for all her party and friends in England, +whom Warwick had done so much to injure, and who had so long looked +upon him as their worst and deadliest foe, would be wholly alienated +from her if they were to know that she had taken him into favor, and +thus she would lose much more than she would gain."</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Warwick's arguments.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">His promises.</span> + +<p>Warwick replied to this as well as he could, pleading the injuries +which he had himself received from the Lancaster party as an excuse +for his hostility against them. Then, moreover, he had been the means +of unsettling King Edward in his realm, and of preparing the way for +King Henry to return; and he promised that, if Margaret would receive +him into her service, he would thenceforth be true and faithful to her +as long as he lived, and be as much King Edward's foe as he had +hitherto been his friend. He appealed, moreover, to the King of France +to be his surety that he would faithfully perform these stipulations.</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page281" name="page281"></a>(p. 281)</span> <span class="sidenote">King Louis intercedes.</span> + +<p>The King of France said that he would be his surety, and he begged +that Margaret would pardon Warwick, and receive him into favor for +<span class="italic">his</span> sake, and for the great love that he, the king, bore to him. He +would do more for him, he added, than for any man living.</p> + +<p>Margaret at last allowed herself to be persuaded, and Warwick was +forgiven.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">A new proposal.</span> + +<p>There were several other great nobles, who had come over with Warwick, +that were received into Margaret's favor at the same time, and, when +the grand reconciliation was completely effected, the whole party set +out together to go down the Loire to Angers, where the Countess of +Warwick, the earl's wife, and his youngest daughter, Anne, were +awaiting them. The countess and Anne were presented to the queen, and +a short time afterward Louis ventured to propose a marriage between +Anne and Prince Edward.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's indignation.</span> + +<p>Margaret received this proposal with astonishment, and rejected it +with scorn. She said she could see neither honor nor profit in it, +either for herself or for her son. But at length, after a fortnight +had been spent in reasoning with her on the advantages of the +connection, and the aid which she would derive from such an alliance +with Warwick in endeavoring to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page282" name="page282"></a>(p. 282)</span> recover her husband's +kingdom, she finally yielded. She was influenced at last, in coming to +this decision, by the advice of her father, who counseled her to +consent to the match.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The match finally agreed upon.</span> + +<p>The parties united in a grand religious ceremony in the cathedral +church of Angers to seal and ratify the covenants and agreements by +which they were now to be bound.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The true cross.</span> + +<p>There was a fragment of the true cross, so supposed, among the relics +in the cathedral, and this was an object of such veneration that an +oath taken upon it was considered as imposing an obligation of the +highest sanctity. Each of the three great parties took an oath, in +turn, upon this holy emblem.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Oaths taken.</span> + +<p>First, the Earl of Warwick swore that he would, without change, always +hold to the party of King Henry, and serve him, the queen, and the +prince, as a true and faithful subject ought to serve his sovereign +lord.</p> + +<p>Next, the King of France swore that he would help and sustain, to the +utmost of his power, the Earl of Warwick in the quarrel of King Henry.</p> + +<p>And, finally, Queen Margaret swore to treat the earl as true and +faithful to King Henry and the prince, and "for his deeds past never +to make him any reproach."</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page283" name="page283"></a>(p. 283)</span> <span class="sidenote">1470.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The betrothal.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Conditions.</span> + +<p>It was furthermore agreed at this time that Anne, the Earl of +Warwick's daughter, who was betrothed to the prince, should be +delivered to Queen Margaret, and should remain under her charge until +the marriage should be consummated. But this was not to take place +until the Earl of Warwick had been into England and had recovered the +realm, or the greater portion of it at least, and restored it to King +Henry. Thus the consummation of the marriage was to depend upon +Warwick's success in restoring Henry his crown.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Ceremony.</span> + +<p>Still, a sort of marriage ceremony, or, more strictly, a ceremony of +betrothal, was celebrated at Angers between the prince and his +affianced bride a few days afterward, with great parade, and then +Warwick, leaving his countess and his daughter behind with Margaret, +set out for England with a troop of two thousand men which Louis had +furnished him.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret sets out for Paris.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Reception in Paris.</span> + +<p>After Warwick had gone, Margaret remained at Angers for some weeks, +and then set out for Paris, escorted by a guard of honor. Her party +arrived at the capital in November, and Margaret, by Louis's orders, +was received with all the ceremonies and marks of distinction due to a +queen. The streets through which she passed were hung with tapestry, +and ornamented <span class="pagenum"><a id="page284" name="page284"></a>(p. 284)</span> with flags and banners, and with every other +suitable decoration. The people came out in throngs to see the grand +procession pass; for, in addition to the guard of honor which had +conducted the party to the capital, all the great public functionaries +and high officials joined in the procession at the gates, and +accompanied it through the city, thus forming a grand and imposing +spectacle.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Good news received.</span> + +<p>Queen Margaret and her party were in this way conducted to the palace, +and lodged there in great splendor. Their hearts were gladdened, too, +on their arrival, by receiving the news that Warwick had landed in +England, and had been completely successful in his undertaking. King +Edward was deposed, and King Henry had been released from his +imprisonment in the Tower and placed upon the throne.</p> + +<p>Margaret, of course, at once determined that she would immediately +make preparations for returning to England.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page285" name="page285"></a>(p. 285)</span> CHAPTER XXII.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">Bitter Disappointment.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Preparations for going to England.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Harfleur.</span> + +<p>The preparations which were required for Margaret and her company to +return to England in suitable state seem to have consumed several +months; for, although it was as early as November that the great +entrance into Paris took place, and the news of Henry's restoration +was received, it was not until February that the royal party were +ready to embark. There were negotiations to be made, and men to be +enlisted, and ships to be procured, and funds to be provided, and +appointments to be decided upon, and dresses to be made, and a +thousand questions of precedence and etiquette to be considered and +arranged. At length, however, all was ready, and the whole company +proceeded together to the port which had been selected as the place of +embarkation. This port was Harfleur. Harfleur is situated on the coast +of Normandy, near the more modern port of Havre.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Wind contrary.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Supposed witchcraft.</span> + +<p>When the time arrived for sailing, the weather looked very +unfavorable; but Margaret, who <span class="pagenum"><a id="page286" name="page286"></a>(p. 286)</span> had become weary with the +delays by which her return had been so long postponed, and was very +impatient to arrive in her own dominions again, ordered the ships to +put to sea. Three times did they make the attempt, and three times +were the ships driven back into port again. Many of her friends were +greatly discouraged by these failures. Some said they thought that +this continued resistance of the elements to her plans ought to be +regarded as an indication of divine Providence that she was not to go +to England at present, and they begged her to defer the attempt. +Others thought that the contrary winds were raised by witches, and +they began to devise measures for finding out who the witches were.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Large company.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Army to be embarked.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's fears.</span> + +<p>Margaret paid no attention to either of these suggestions, but +persisted in her determination to sail the moment that the weather +should allow. This delay was a source of great inconvenience to her, +and it occasioned a good deal of expense; for, besides her own +personal officers and attendants, Margaret had collected quite a large +body of soldiers to cross the Channel with her, in order to re-enforce +the armies of Warwick and of Henry. This was quite necessary; for, +although Henry had been nominally restored to the throne, his enemies +were <span class="pagenum"><a id="page287" name="page287"></a>(p. 287)</span> yet in the field in considerable force, and Margaret +was very desirous of bringing with her the means of helping to put +them down. Indeed, she knew that the situation of her husband was +extremely precarious, and that the fortune of war might at any time +turn against him. And this consideration made her extremely impatient +at the delay occasioned by the weather at Harfleur. She did not know +but that the king might even then be engaged in close conflict with +his foes, and likely to be overwhelmed by them, and that her force, by +being so long delayed, would arrive too late to save him.</p> + +<p>Alas for poor Margaret! It was, indeed, exactly so.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Countess of Warwick.</span> + +<p>It was not until the 24th of March that it was possible to leave the +port; but then, although the weather was by no means settled, the +queen determined to wait no longer. The Countess of Warwick, who had +been left in France when the earl her husband went to England, sailed +from Harfleur at the same time with the queen, though in a different +vessel. Her daughter, however, the prince regent's bride elect, went +with the queen.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Arrival in England.</span> + +<p>The weather continued very boisterous after the fleet sailed, and as +the gales which blew so <span class="pagenum"><a id="page288" name="page288"></a>(p. 288)</span> heavily were from the north, the +ships could make very little progress. They were kept beating about in +the Channel, or lying at anchor waiting for a change of wind, for more +than a fortnight. During all this time Margaret was kept in a perfect +fever of impatience and anxiety.</p> + +<p>At length, about the 10th of April, they reached the land at Weymouth.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The landing.</span> + +<p>After the ships entered the port, the space of a day or two was +occupied in making preparations to land. Among these preparations was +included the work of arranging apartments at an abbey in the vicinity +of Weymouth to receive the queen and her attendants. In the mean time, +the landing of the troops was pushed forward as rapidly as possible.</p> + +<p>The ship in which the Countess of Warwick embarked had sailed in a +different direction from Margaret's fleet, and it was not known yet +what had become of her.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">News of a battle.</span> + +<p>When at last the preparations were completed, the queen and her party +went on shore and took up their abode in the abbey. Margaret's mind +was intensely occupied with the arrangements necessary for marshaling +her troops and getting them ready to march to the assistance of +Warwick, when, to her amazement and <span class="pagenum"><a id="page289" name="page289"></a>(p. 289)</span> consternation, she +received news, on the very next day after she took up her abode in the +abbey, that the party of King Edward had mustered in great force and +advanced toward London, and that a battle had been fought at a place +called Barnet, a few miles from London, in which Edward's party had +been completely victorious.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Warwick killed.</span> + +<p>The Earl of Warwick had been killed. King Henry her husband had been +taken prisoner, and their cause seemed to be wholly lost.</p> + +<a id="img020" name="img020"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img020.jpg" width="400" height="415" alt="" title=""> +<p>Death of Warwick.</p> +</div> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page290" name="page290"></a>(p. 290)</span> <span class="sidenote">1471.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Manner of Warwick's death.</span> + +<p>Warwick had gone into the battle on foot, in order the more +effectually to stimulate the emulation of his men, so that when, in +the end, his forces were defeated, and fled, he himself, being +encumbered by his armor, could not save himself, but was overtaken by +his remorseless enemies and slain.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's despair.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Imminent danger.</span> + +<p>The terrible agitation and anguish that this news excited in the mind +of the queen it would be impossible to describe. She fell at first +into a swoon, and when at length her senses returned, she was so +completely overwhelmed with disappointment, vexation, and rage, and +talked so wildly and incoherently, that her friends almost feared that +she would lose her reason. Her son, the young prince, who was now +nearly nineteen years of age, did all in his power to soothe and calm +her, and at length so far succeeded as to induce her to consider what +was to be done to secure her own and his safety. To remain where they +were was to expose themselves to be attacked at any time by a body of +Edward's victorious troops and conveyed prisoner to the Tower.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">She seeks security.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The Countess of Warwick.</span> + +<p>There was another abbey at not a great distance from where Margaret +now was, which was endowed with certain privileges as a sanctuary, +such that persons seeking refuge there <span class="pagenum"><a id="page291" name="page291"></a>(p. 291)</span> under certain +circumstances could not be taken away. The name of this retreat was +Beaulieu Abbey. Margaret immediately proceeded across the country to +this place, taking with her the prince and nearly all the others of +her party. Either on her arrival here, or on the way, she met the +Countess of Warwick, who, it will be recollected, had left Harfleur at +the same time that she did. The countess's ship had been driven +farther to the eastward, and she had finally landed at Portsmouth. +Here she too had learned the news of the battle of Barnet and of the +death of her husband, and, being completely overwhelmed with the +tidings, and also alarmed for her own safety, she had determined to +fly for refuge to Beaulieu Abbey too.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Great reverse of fortune.</span> + +<p>The two unhappy ladies, who had parted, three weeks before, on the +coast of France with such high and excellent expectations, now met, +both plunged in the deepest and most over whelming sorrow. Their hopes +were blasted, all their bright prospects were destroyed, and they +found themselves in the condition of helpless and wretched fugitives, +dependent upon a religious sanctuary for the hope of even saving their +lives.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page292" name="page292"></a>(p. 292)</span> CHAPTER XXIII.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">Childless, and a Widow.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret found by friends.</span> + +<p>Margaret did not trust entirely for her safety to the sacredness of +the sanctuary where she had sought refuge. She endeavored, by all the +means in her power, to keep the place of her retreat secret from all +but her chosen and most trustworthy friends. Very soon, however, she +was visited by some of these, especially by some young nobles, who +came to her exasperated, and all on fire with rage and resentment, on +account of the death of their friends and relatives, who had been +slain in the battle.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Her sad condition.</span> + +<p>They found Margaret, however, in a state of mind very different from +their own. She was beginning to be discouraged. The long-continued and +bitter experience of failure and disappointment, which had now, for so +many years, been her constant lot, seemed at last to have had power to +undermine and destroy even <span class="italic">her</span> resolution and energy. Her friends, +when they came to see her, found her plunged in a sort of stupor of +wretchedness and despair <span class="pagenum"><a id="page293" name="page293"></a>(p. 293)</span> from which they found it difficult +to rouse her.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Her friends encourage her.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Little success.</span> + +<p>And when, at length, they succeeded in so far awakening her from her +despondency as to induce her to take some interest in their +consultations, her only feeling for the time being seemed to be +anxiety for the safety of her son. She begged and implored them to +take some measures to protect <span class="italic">him</span>. They endeavored to convince her +that her situation was not so desperate as she imagined. They had +still a powerful force, they said, on their side. That force was now +rallying and reassembling, and, with her presence and that of the +young prince at their head-quarters, the numbers and enthusiasm of +their troops would be very rapidly increased, and there was great hope +that they might soon be able again to meet the enemy under more +favorable auspices than ever.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Her wishes.</span> + +<p>But the queen seemed very unwilling to accede to their views. It was +of no use, she said, to make any farther effort. They were not strong +enough to meet their enemies in battle, and nothing but fresh +disasters would result from making the attempt. There was nothing to +be done but for herself and the young prince, with as many others as +were disposed to share her fortunes, to return as soon as possible to +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page294" name="page294"></a>(p. 294)</span> France, and there to remain and wait for better times.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The young prince.</span> + +<p>But the young prince was not willing to adopt this plan. He was young, +and full of confidence and hope, and he joined the nobles in urging +his mother to consent to take the field. His influence prevailed; and +Margaret, though with great reluctance and many forebodings, finally +yielded.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">An army collected.</span> + +<p>So she left the sanctuary, and, with the prince, was escorted secretly +to the northward, in order to join the army there. The western +counties of England, those lying on the borders of Wales, had long +been very favorable to Henry's cause, and when the people learned that +the queen and the young prince were there, they came out in great +numbers, as the nobles had predicted, to join her standard. In a short +time a large army was ready to take the field.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">To Bath.</span> + +<p>Margaret was at this time at Bath. She soon heard that King Edward was +coming against her from London with a large army. Her own forces, she +thought, were not yet strong enough to meet him; so she formed the +plan of crossing the Severn into Wales, and waiting there until she +should have a larger force concentrated.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">To Bristol.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Endeavors to cross the river.</span> + +<p>Accordingly, from Bath she went down to <span class="pagenum"><a id="page295" name="page295"></a>(p. 295)</span> Bristol, which, as +will be seen from the map, is on the banks of the Severn, at a place +where the river is very wide. She could not cross here, the lowest +bridge on the river being at Gloucester, thirty or forty miles farther +up; so she moved up to Gloucester, intending to cross there. But she +found the bridge fortified, and in the possession of an officer under +the orders of the Duke of Gloucester, who was a partisan of King +Edward, and he refused to allow the queen to pass without an order +from his master.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Arrival of Edward.</span> + +<p>It seemed not expedient to attempt to force the bridge, and, +accordingly, Margaret and her party went on up the river in order to +find some other place to cross into Wales. She was very much excited +on this journey, and suffered great anxiety, for the army of King +Edward was advancing rapidly, and there was danger that she would be +intercepted and her retreat cut off; so she pressed forward with the +utmost diligence, and at length, after having marched thirty-seven +miles in one day with her troops, she arrived at Tewkesbury, a town +situated about midway between Gloucester and Worcester. When she +arrived there, she found that Edward had arrived already within a mile +of the place, at the head of a great army, and was ready for battle.</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page296" name="page296"></a>(p. 296)</span> <span class="sidenote">They make a stand.</span> + +<p>There was, however, now an opportunity for Margaret to cross the river +and retire for a time into Wales, and she was herself extremely +desirous of doing so, but the young nobles who were with her, and +especially the Duke of Somerset, a violent and hot-headed young man, +who acted as the leader of them, would not consent. He declared that +he would retreat no farther.</p> + +<p>"We will make a stand here," said he, "and take such fortune as God +may send us."</p> + +<p>So he pitched his camp in the park which lay upon the confines of the +town, and threw up intrenchments. Many of the other leaders were +strongly opposed to his plan of making a stand in this place, but +Somerset was the chief in command, and he would have his way.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Battle of Tewkesbury.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Preparations for the fight.</span> + +<p>He, however, showed no disposition to shelter himself personally from +any portion of the danger to which his friends and followers were to +be exposed. He took command of the advanced guard. The young prince, +supported by some other leaders of age and experience, was also to be +placed in a responsible and important position. When all was ready, +Margaret and the prince rode along the ranks, speaking words of +encouragement to the troops, and promising large rewards to them in +case they gained the victory.</p> + +<a id="img021" name="img021"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img021.jpg" width="500" height="377" alt="" title=""> +<p>Tewkesbury.</p> +</div> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page299" name="page299"></a>(p. 299)</span> <span class="sidenote">Margaret's maternal anxiety.</span> + +<p>Margaret's heart was full of anxiety and agitation as the hour for the +commencement of hostilities drew nigh. She had often before staked +very dear and highly-valued friends in the field of battle, but now, +for the first time, she was putting to hazard the life of her dearly +beloved and only son. It was very much against her will that she was +brought to incur this terrible danger. It was only the sternest +necessity that compelled her to do it.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">She witnesses the fight.</span> + +<p>When the battle began, Margaret withdrew to an elevation within the +park, from which she could witness the progress of the fight. For some +time her army remained on the defensive within their intrenchments, +but at length Somerset, becoming impatient and impetuous, determined +on making a sally and attacking the assailants in the open field.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Somerset.</span> + +<p>So, ordering the others to follow him, he issued forth from the lines. +Some obeyed him, and others did not. After a while he returned within +the lines again, apparently for the purpose of calling those who +remained there to account for not obeying him. He found Lord Wenlock, +one of the leaders, sitting upon his horse idle, as he said, in the +town. He immediately denounced him as a traitor, and, riding up to +him, cut him down with a blow from his battle-axe, which cleft his +skull.</p> + +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page300" name="page300"></a>(p. 300)</span> <span class="sidenote">Panic and flight.</span> + +<p>The men who were under Lord Wenlock's banner, seeing their leader thus +mercilessly slain, immediately began to fly. Their flight caused a +panic, which rapidly spread among all the other troops, and the whole +field was soon in utter confusion.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret's terror.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">She swoons.</span> + +<p>When Margaret saw this, and thought of the prince, exposed, as he was, +to the most imminent danger in the defeat, she became almost frantic +with excitement and terror. She insisted on rushing into the field to +find and save her son. Those around found it almost impossible to +restrain her. At length, in the struggle, her excitement and terror +entirely overpowered her. She swooned away, and her attendants then +bore her senseless to a carriage, and she was driven rapidly away out +through one of the park gates, and thence by a by-road to a religious +house near by, where it was thought she would be for the moment +secure.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Capture of the prince.</span> + +<p>The poor prince was taken prisoner. He was conveyed, after the battle, +to Edward's tent. The historians of the day relate the following story +of the sad termination of his career.</p> + +<a id="img022" name="img022"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img022.jpg" width="500" height="291" alt="" title=""> +<p>The Murder of Prince Henry.</p> +</div> + +<p>When Edward, accompanied by his officers and the nobles in attendance +upon him, covered with the blood and the dust of the conflict, and +fierce and exultant under the excitement <span class="pagenum"><a id="page303" name="page303"></a>(p. 303)</span> of slaughter and +victory, came into the tent, and saw the handsome young prince +standing there in the hands of his captors, he was at first struck +with the elegance of his appearance and his frank and manly bearing. +He, however, accosted him fiercely by demanding what brought him to +England. The prince replied fearlessly that he came to recover his +father's crown and his own inheritance. Upon this, Edward threw his +glove, a heavy iron gauntlet, in his face.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Death of the Prince of Wales.</span> + +<p>The men standing by took this as an indication of Edward's feelings +and wishes in respect to his prisoner, and they fell upon him at once +with their swords and murdered him upon the spot.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret receives the tidings.</span> + +<p>Margaret did not know what had become of her son until the following +day. By that time King Edward had discovered the place of her retreat, +and he sent a certain Sir William Stanley, who had always been one of +her most inveterate enemies, to take her prisoner and bring her to +him. It was this Stanley who, when he came, brought her the news of +her son's death. He communicated the news to her, it was said, in an +exultant manner, as if he was not only glad of the prince's death, but +as if he rejoiced in having the opportunity of witnessing the +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page304" name="page304"></a>(p. 304)</span> despair and grief with which the mother was overwhelmed in +hearing the tidings.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">She is borne to London.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Her condition on the journey.</span> + +<p>Stanley conveyed the queen to Coventry, where King Edward then was, +and placed her at his disposal. Edward was then going to London in a +sort of triumphant march in honor of his victory, and he ordered that +Stanley should take Margaret with him in his train. Anne of Warwick, +her son's young bride, was taken to London too, at the same time and +in the same way.</p> + +<p>During the whole of the journey Margaret was in a continued state of +the highest excitement, being almost wild with grief and rage. She +uttered continual maledictions against Edward for having murdered her +boy, and nothing could soothe or quiet her.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Her last hope.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Murder of the king.</span> + +<p>It might be supposed that there would have been one source of comfort +open to her during this dreadful journey in the thought that, in going +to the Tower, which was now undoubtedly to be her destination, she +should rejoin her husband, who had been for some time imprisoned +there. But the hope of being thus once more united to almost the last +object of affection that now remained to her upon earth, if Margaret +really cherished it, was doomed to a bitter disappointment. The death +of the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page305" name="page305"></a>(p. 305)</span> young prince made it now an object of great +importance to the reigning line that Henry himself should be put out +of the way, and, on the very night of Margaret's arrival at the Tower, +her husband was assassinated in the room which had so long been his +prison.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Terrible reverse of fortune.</span> + +<p>Thus all Queen Margaret's bright hopes of happiness were, in two short +months, completely and forever destroyed. At the close of the month of +March she was the proud and happy queen of a monarch ruling over one +of the most wealthy and powerful kingdoms on the globe, and the mother +of a prince who was endowed with every personal grace and noble +accomplishment, affianced to a high-born, beautiful, and immensely +wealthy bride, and just entering what promised to be a long and +glorious career. In May, just two months later, she was childless and +a widow. Both her husband and her son were lying in bloody graves, and +she herself, fallen from her throne, was shut up, a helpless captive, +in a gloomy dungeon, with no prospect of deliverance before her to the +end of her days. The annals even of royalty, filled as they are with +examples of overwhelming calamity, can perhaps furnish no other +instance of so total and terrible reverse of fortune as this.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + +<h3><span class="pagenum"><a id="page306" name="page306"></a>(p. 306)</span> CHAPTER XXIV.</h3> + +<p class="chapter">Conclusion.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The body of King Henry.</span> + +<p>On the day following the assassination of Henry, the body was taken +from the Tower and conveyed through the streets of London, with a +strong escort of armed men to guard it, to the Church of St. Paul's, +there to be publicly exhibited, as was customary on such occasions. +Such an exhibition was more necessary than usual in this case, as the +fact of Henry's death might, perhaps, have afterward been called in +question, and designing men might have continued to agitate the +country in his name, if there had not been the most positive proof +furnished to the public that he was no more.</p> + +<a id="img023" name="img023"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/img023.jpg" width="500" height="337" alt="" title=""> +<p>View of Chertsey.</p> +</div> + +<span class="sidenote">Borne away on the river to Chertsey.</span> + +<p>The body remained lying thus during the day. When night came, it was +taken away and carried down to Blackfriar's—a landing upon the river +nearly opposite Saint Paul's. Here there was a boat lying ready to +receive the hearse. It was lighted with torches, and the watermen were +at their oars. The hearse was put on board, and the body was thus +borne away, over the dark waters of the river, to the <span class="pagenum"><a id="page309" name="page309"></a>(p. 309)</span> +lonely village of Chertsey, where it had been decided that he should +be interred.</p> + +<hr> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret in confinement.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Wallingford.</span> + +<p>For some time after Henry's death Margaret was kept in close +confinement in the Tower. At length, finding that every thing was +quiet, and that the new government was becoming firmly established, +the rigor of the unhappy captive's imprisonment was relaxed. She was +removed first to Windsor, and afterward to Wallingford, a place in the +interior of the country, where she enjoyed a considerable degree of +personal freedom, though she was still very closely watched and +guarded.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">She is ransomed.</span> + +<p>At length, about four years afterward, her father, King René, +succeeded in obtaining her ransom for the sum of fifty thousand +crowns. René was not the possessor of so much money himself, but he +induced King Louis to pay it, on condition of his conveying to him his +family domain.</p> + +<p>The ransom was to be paid in five annual installments, but on the +payment of the first installment the queen was to be released and +allowed to return to her native land. It was stipulated, too, that, as +a condition of her release, she was formally and forever to renounce +all the rights of every kind within the realm of <span class="pagenum"><a id="page310" name="page310"></a>(p. 310)</span> England to +which she might have laid claim through her marriage with Henry. It +might have been supposed that they would have required her to sign +this renunciation before releasing her. But it was held by the law of +England, then as now, that a signature made under durance was invalid, +the signer not being free. So it was arranged that an English +commissioner was to accompany her across the Channel, and go with her +to Rouen, where he was to deliver her to the French embassadors, who, +in the name of Louis, were to be responsible for her signing the +document.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">1476.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">The commissioner.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret crosses the Channel.</span> + +<p>This plan was carried into effect. Margaret set out from the castle of +Wallingford under the care of a man on whom Edward's government could +rely for keeping a close watch over her, and taking care that she went +on quietly through England to the port of embarkation. This port was +Sandwich. Here she embarked on board a vessel, with a retinue of three +ladies and seven gentlemen, and bade a final farewell to the kingdom +which she had entered on her bridal tour with such high and exultant +expectations of grandeur and happiness.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">At Rouen.</span> + +<p>She arrived at Dieppe in the beginning of 1476, and proceeded +immediately to Rouen, where the commissioner, who came to attend +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page311" name="page311"></a>(p. 311)</span> her, delivered her to the French embassadors appointed to +receive her, and attend to the signing of the renunciation.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Her renunciation.</span> + +<p>The document was written in Latin, but the import of it was as +follows:</p> + +<p class="quote"> + I, Margaret, formerly in England married, renounce all that I + could pretend to in England, by the conditions of my marriage, + with all other things there, to Edward, now King of England.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Feelings with which she signed it.</span> + +<p>It cost Margaret no effort to sign this paper. With the death of her +husband and her son all hope had been extinguished in her bosom, and +life now possessed nothing that she desired. She signed this fatal +document, renouncing not only all claims to be henceforth considered a +queen, but all pretension that she had ever been one, with a passive +indifference and unconcern which showed that her spirit was broken, +and that the fires of pride and ambition which had burned so fiercely +in her breast were now, at last, extinguished forever.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Ungenerousness of Louis.</span> + +<p>When the paper was signed Margaret was dismissed and left at liberty +to go her own way to her native province of Anjou, where it was her +intention to spend the remainder of her <span class="pagenum"><a id="page312" name="page312"></a>(p. 312)</span> days. Her plan was +to pass by the way of Paris, in order to see once more her cousin, +King Louis, who had treated her with so much consideration and honor +when she was on her way to England with a fair prospect of finding her +husband upon the throne. But the case was different now, Louis +thought, and instead of receiving kindly her intimation that she was +intending to visit Paris on her way home, he sent her word that she +had better not come, and advised her instead to make the best of her +way to her father in Anjou.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">An escort offered.</span> + +<p>He, however, as if to soften this incivility, sent an escort to +accompany her in her journey home, but Margaret was so stung by her +cousin's heartless abandonment of her in her distress that she +resolved to accept no favor at his hands; so she refused the escort, +and set out with her few personal companions alone.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Danger.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">English people in Normandy.</span> + +<p>This little blazing up of the old flames of pride and resentment in +her heart came near, however, to costing Margaret her life, for she +had not gone far on her journey before an emergency occurred in which +an escort would have been of great service to her. It seems that when +the English were driven out of Normandy, many families and some whole +villages remained of people who were too poor to return. <span class="pagenum"><a id="page313" name="page313"></a>(p. 313)</span> +These people were now in a very low and miserable condition. They +mourned continually the hard necessity by which they had been left +without friends or protection in a foreign land; and they understood, +too, that the first beginning of the abandonment of their possessions +in France by the English was the cession of certain provinces by the +government of Henry VI. at the time of that monarch's marriage with +Margaret of Anjou, and that all the subsequent misfortunes of their +countrymen in France, by which, in the end, the whole country had been +lost, had their origin in these transactions.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret at the inn.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Riot at the inn.</span> + +<p>Now it happened that Margaret, on her journey from Rouen to Anjou, +stopped the first night at one of these villages. The people, seeing a +party of strangers come to town, gathered round the inn at night from +curiosity to learn who they might be. When they were informed that it +was Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England, who had been banished from +the kingdom, and was now returning home, they were excited to the +highest pitch of anger against her as the author of all their +sufferings. They made a rush into the house to seize her, and, if they +had been successful, they would doubtless have killed her upon the +spot. But some of the gentlemen who were in her party defended +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page314" name="page314"></a>(p. 314)</span> her sword in hand, and kept the mob at bay until she gained +her apartment. They guarded her there until they could send for the +authorities, who came and dispersed the mob. Margaret immediately +returned to Rouen, willing enough now to accept of an escort. A proper +guard was provided for her, and under the protection of it she set out +once more on her journey, and this time went on in safety.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Margaret arrives in Anjou.</span> + +<span class="sidenote">Her father.</span> + +<p>When Margaret at last reached her native country of Anjou, she was +received very kindly by her father, and went to live with him in a +castle called the castle of Reculée, situated about a league from +Angers, the capital of the province.</p> + +<p>Here she remained about four years. It was a very pleasant place. The +castle was situated upon the bank of a river, and yet in a commanding +situation, which afforded a pretty view of the town. There was a +beautiful garden attached to the castle, and a gallery of painting and +sculpture. Her father, King René, was a painter himself, and he amused +himself a great deal in painting pictures to add to his collection or +to give to his friends.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Dreadful depression of spirits.</span> + +<p>But Margaret could take no interest in any of these things. Her mind +was all the time filled with bitter recollections of the past, which, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page315" name="page315"></a>(p. 315)</span> even if she did not cling to and cherish them, she could not +dispel. She dwelt continually upon thoughts of her husband and her +child. She made ceaseless efforts to obtain possession of their +bodies, in order that she might have them transported to Anjou, and, +as she could not succeed in this, she paid annually a considerable sum +to secure the services of priests to say masses over their graves in +England, in order to secure the repose of their souls.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Its effects.</span> + +<p>Indeed, the anguish and agitation which continually reigned in her +heart preyed upon her like a worm in the centre of a flower. "Her +eyes, once so brilliant and expressive," says one of her historians, +"became hollow and dim, and permanently inflamed from continual +weeping." Indeed, the whole mass of her blood became corrupted, and a +fearful disease affected her once beautiful skin, making her an object +of commiseration to all who beheld her.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">Death of her father.</span> + +<p>She continued in this state until her father died. He, on his +death-bed, committed her to the care of an old and faithful friend, +who, after King René's decease, took her with him to his own castle of +Damprierre, which was situated about twenty-five miles farther up the +river.</p> + +<span class="sidenote">The closing scene.</span> + +<p>But, though Margaret was treated very kindly <span class="pagenum"><a id="page316" name="page316"></a>(p. 316)</span> by the friend +to whom her father thus consigned her, she did not long survive this +change. She died, and was buried in the cathedral at Angers, and for +centuries afterward the ecclesiastics of the chapter, once every year, +at the return of the proper anniversary, performed a solemn ceremony +over her grave by walking round it with a slow and measured step, +singing a hymn.<a href="#toc"><span class="small">[Back to Contents]</span></a></p> + + +<p class="center font105">The End.</p> + + +<p class="p4"><a id="footnote1" name="footnote1"></a> +<strong>Footnote 1:</strong> See <a href="#img002">map</a> at the commencement of the volume.<a href="#footnotetag1"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + +<p><a id="footnote2" name="footnote2"></a> +<strong>Footnote 2:</strong> The position of Nancy, as well as the situation of the +two provinces of Anjou and Lorraine, which are now departments of +France, may be seen by referring to any good map of that country, or +to that at the commencement of this volume.<a href="#footnotetag2"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + +<p><a id="footnote3" name="footnote3"></a> +<strong>Footnote 3:</strong> The name was a contraction of Frederick.<a href="#footnotetag3"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + +<p><a id="footnote4" name="footnote4"></a> +<strong>Footnote 4:</strong> See <a href="#img001">Frontispiece</a>.<a href="#footnotetag4"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + +<p><a id="footnote5" name="footnote5"></a> +<strong>Footnote 5:</strong> See <a href="#img002">map</a>. The oldest son of the King of France and the +heir to the crown is styled the Dauphin. His rank and position +corresponds with that of the Prince of Wales in England.<a href="#footnotetag5"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + +<p><a id="footnote6" name="footnote6"></a> +<strong>Footnote 6:</strong> On page <a href="#page023">20</a>.<a href="#footnotetag6"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + +<p><a id="footnote7" name="footnote7"></a> +<strong>Footnote 7:</strong> That is, the fourth of the table. There were other +children not mentioned here.<a href="#footnotetag7"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + +<p><a id="footnote8" name="footnote8"></a> +<strong>Footnote 8:</strong> The story of Lady Neville, and of her connection with the +great political transactions in which Margaret of Anjou was engaged at +this time, though it is in all probability to be considered as a +romance, is not an invention of the compiler of this narrative. It is +interwoven with the history of Margaret of Anjou precisely as it is +given here, by one of her most ancient and most oft-quoted +biographers. It is chiefly useful to modern readers as illustrating +the ideas and the manners of the times.</p> + +<p>We often, in this series, thus repeat narratives which have come down +from ancient times, and have thus become part and parcel of the +literature of the period, and, as such, ought to be made known to the +general reader, but which, at the present day, are not supposed to be +historically true. In such cases, however, we intend always to give +notice of the fact. In the absence of such notice, the reader may feel +sure that all the statements in these narratives, even to the minutest +details, are in strict accordance with the testimony of the best +authorities now extant.<a href="#footnotetag8"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + +<p><a id="footnote9" name="footnote9"></a> +<strong>Footnote 9:</strong> See <a href="#img002">map</a>.<a href="#footnotetag9"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + +<p><a id="footnote10" name="footnote10"></a> +<strong>Footnote 10:</strong> See <a href="#img002">map</a> at the commencement of the volume.<a href="#footnotetag10"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + +<p><a id="footnote11" name="footnote11"></a> +<strong>Footnote 11:</strong> See <a href="#img002">map</a>.<a href="#footnotetag11"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + +<p><a id="footnote12" name="footnote12"></a> +<strong>Footnote 12:</strong> The Archbishop of Canterbury, the circumstance of whose +death has already been referred to.<a href="#footnotetag12"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + +<p><a id="footnote13" name="footnote13"></a> +<strong>Footnote 13:</strong> See <a href="#img002">map</a>.<a href="#footnotetag13"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + +<p><a id="footnote14" name="footnote14"></a> +<strong>Footnote 14:</strong> For the situation of Blore Heath, see <a href="#img002">map</a>.<a href="#footnotetag14"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + +<p><a id="footnote15" name="footnote15"></a> +<strong>Footnote 15:</strong> See <a href="#img018">map</a> of the border at the commencement of chapter +xix.<a href="#footnotetag15"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + +<p><a id="footnote16" name="footnote16"></a> +<strong>Footnote 16:</strong> Pronounced Brezzay.<a href="#footnotetag16"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + +<p><a id="footnote17" name="footnote17"></a> +<strong>Footnote 17:</strong> See the <a href="#img018">map</a> at the commencement of this chapter.<a href="#footnotetag17"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + +<p><a id="footnote18" name="footnote18"></a> +<strong>Footnote 18:</strong> The nature of the difficulties which had taken place in +England, and the circumstances which led the Earl of Warwick to +abandon Edward's cause, are explained fully in the history of Richard +III.<a href="#footnotetag18"><span class="small">[Back to Main Text]</span></a></p> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Margaret of Anjou, by Jacob Abbott + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARGARET OF ANJOU *** + +***** This file should be named 25275-h.htm or 25275-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/2/7/25275/ + +Produced by D. 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