in possession of London, on which she made an unsuccessful attempt; and Edward earl of Marche, eldest son of the late duke of York, having gained an advantage over the Lancastrians at Mortimer's Cross, near Hereford, advanced upon her from the other side, and was soon in a condition to give her battle with superior forces. She was sensible of her danger, in such a situation, and retreated with her army to the north; while Edward entered the capital amid the acclamations of the citizens, and immediately opened a new scene to his party.

This young prince, who was remarkable for the beauty of his person, for his bravery, his activity, his affability, and every popular quality, found himself so high in public favour, that he resolved no longer to confine himself within those narrow limits which had been found by experience so prejudicial to his father's cause. He determined to assume the name and dignity of king; to insist openly on his claim, and thenceforth to treat the opposite party as traitors and rebels to his lawful authority. But a national consent, or the appearance of it at least, seemed necessary to precede so bold a measure; and for this purpose, instead of convening a parliament, which might have been attended with dangerous consequences, the populace were assembled in St. John's Fields. An harangue was pronounced to this mixed multitude by Warwick, setting forth the title of Edward, and inveighing against the tyranny and usurpation of the house of Lancaster; after which the people were asked, whether they would have Henry or Edward for their king. They universally exclaimed, " Edward of York!" This popular election was ratified by an assembly of lords and bishops, and the new king was proclaimed under the title of Edward IVIO.

Young Edward, now in his twentieth year, was of a temper well fitted to make his way through such a scene of

10. Wethemstede. Hall. Stowe.

war,

war, havoc, and devastation, as was presented before him. He was not only bold, active, and enterprising, but his hardness of heart and severity of character rendered him impregnable to all those movements of compassion, which might relax his vigour in the prosecution of the most bloody designs upon his enemies. Hence the scaffold, as well as the field, during this reign, incessantly smoked with the noblest blood of England. The animosity between the two contending families was now become implacable; and the nation, divided in its affections, took different symbols of party. The adherents of the house of Lancaster chose, as their mark of distinction, the Red Rose; those of York assumed the White; and these civil wars were thus known over Europe by the name of the "Quarrel between the Two Roses."

Queen Margaret, as I have observed, had retired to the north. There great multitudes flocked to her standard: and she was able, in a few weeks, to assemble an army of sixty thousand men. The king and the earl of Warwick hastened with an army of forty thousand, to check her progress. The two armies met at Towton, and a fierce and bloody battle ensued. The bow, then commonly in use, was soon laid aside, and the sword decided the combat, which terminated in a total victory on the side of the Yorkists. Edward issued orders to give no quarter; and the routed army was pursued as far as Tadcaster, with great bloodshed and confusion. Above thirty-six thousand men are said to have fallen in the battle and pursuit. Henry and Margaret had remained at York during the action; but learning the defeat of their army, and being sensible that no place in England could now afford them a shelter, they fled with great precipitation into Scotland".

I must here say a few words of the state of that country. The Scots, notwithstanding the animosity between the two nations, had never made any vigorous attempts to take advantage either of the wars which England carried on with

11. Ibid.

France,

France, or of the civil commotions which arose from the competition for the crown. James I. who had been long a prisoner in England, and had received his education there, as I have had occasion to notice, avoided all hostilities with foreign nations. He was more laudibly employed in civilizing his subjects, and training them to the salutary restraints of law and justice. After the murder of this excellent prince, whose maxims and manners were too refined for the people whom he had to govern, the minority of his son and successor James II. and the distractions incident on it, prevented the Scots from molesting England. But when the quarrel between the rival houses of York and Lancaster was become incurable, unless by the total extinction of one of the parties, James II. who had now risen to man's estate, was tempted to make use of that opportunity, in hopes of recovering those places which the English had conquered from his ancestors. He invested the castle of Roxburgh, and had provided himself with some pieces of cannon in order to forward the seige: but one of them unhappily bursting, as he was firing it, put an end at once to his life and his undertaking. His son and successor James III. was yet a minor; and the disturbances common to minorities ensued in the government. The queen dowager, Anne of Guelders, aspired to the regency; the house of Douglas opposed her pretensions12: so that the queen of England, when she arrived in Scotland, found there a people little less divided by faction than those from whom she had fled.

The Scottish council, however, agreed to assist Margaret, on her offering to deliver up to them the important fortress of Berwick, and to contract her son in marriage with a sister of James their king. And Margaret with her northern auxiliaries, and some succours from France, ventured once more to take the field, and to make an inroad into England. But she was able to penetrate no

12. Hall. Cotton.

A. D. 1464.

farther

farther than Hexham. There she was attacked by lord Montacute, brother to the earl of Warwick, and warden of the Marches, who totally routed her motley army13. All who were spared in the field suffered on the scaffold.

The fate of the unfortunate royal family, after this overthrow, was equally singular and affecting. Margaret fled with her son into a forest, where she endeavoured to con ceal herself, but was beset during the darkness of the night by robbers, who despoiled her of her jewels, and treated her with the utmost indignity. She made her escape however, while they were quarrelling about the booty; and wandered some time with her son in the most unfrequented thickets, spent with hunger and fatigue, and ready to sink beneath the load of terror and affliction. In this wretched condition she was met by a robber with his sword naked in his hand; and seeing no means of escape, she suddenly embraced the bold resolution of trusting entirely to his faith and generosity. "Approach my friend!"-cried she, presenting to him the young prince!" to you I commit the safety of your king's "son." Struck with the singularity of the event, and charmed with the confidence reposed in him, the robber became her protector. By his favour she dwelt concealed in the forest, till she found an opportunity to make her escape into Flanders; whence she passed to her father in France, where she lived several years in privacy and retirement14. Henry was less fortunate in finding the means of escape. He lay concealed during twelve months in Lancashire; but was at last detected, delivered up to Edward, and thrown into the tower's.

A. D. 1465.

The youthful monarch, thus rid of all his enemies, resigned himself freely to those pleasures and amusements which his rank, his time of life, and his natural temper, no less turned for love than war, invited him to enjoy. The cruel and unrelenting Edward lived in the most familiar and

13. Ibid. 14. Monstrelet, tom. iii. 15. Hall. Hollingshed.

social manner with his subjects. He was the peculiar favourite of the young and gay of both sexes; and the beauty of his person, as well as the gallantry of his address, which even in the humblest condition, would have rendered him acceptable to the fair, facilitated all his applications for their favour. But it is difficult to confine the ruling passion within the bounds of prudence. The ardent temperament of Edward led him into a snare, which proved fatal to his repose, and to the stability of his throne.

This young king while in the height of dissipation, had resolved to marry, in order to secure his throne by issue, as well as by alliances: and he had cast his eyes on Bona of Savoy, sister to the queen of France. The negociation was committed to the earl of Warwick, who went over to Paris, where the princess then resided: his proposals were accepted, and the treaty was fully concluded. Nothing remained but the ratification of the terms agreed on, and the bringing of the princess over to England. Meanwhile the charms of lady Elizabeth Gray, one of the finest and most accomplished women of her time, had inflamed the amorous heart of Edward. Her husband, Sir John Gray of Groby, had been slain in the second battle of St. Alban's, fighting on the side of Lancaster, and his estate confiscated; and when the king came accidentally, after a hunting party, to the house of her father, Sir Richard Wideville, to whom she had retired, she threw herself at his feet, and entreated him to take pity on her impoverished and helpless children.

The sight of so much beauty in distress strongly affected the susceptible Edward. Love insensibly stole into his heart, under the disguise of compassion. He raised the fair supplicant from the ground with assurances of favour; and as his passion was increased by the winning conversation of Elizabeth, he soon found himself reduced to that posture and style of solicitation which had been so lately her's. But all his solicitations were in vain: she obstinately refused to gratify his passion; and the young and gallant monarch found for

once