iir. Mr. Belskavi on Dr. Leiand's Jlijlory of Ireland. [Nov. 1, 



was a youth under twenty years of age ; 

 and thoun^i it might be inferred, from the 

 mode of cxprelhon liere iifed, that he 

 had pre\ ioiilly tn this period fucceedod 

 to the Duke of Bedford in the regency 

 of France, that event did not hiippea 

 till the year 14S6, twelve years after this 

 cataib-ophr, fo fatal in its eonfcqiienccj 

 to the Lnghlli nation. For fo loni; a-, the 

 rights of primogeniture remained in the 

 houfc of March, there was little danger 

 of any ferious or clFcCtual attempt to en- 

 force thcni ; but when transferred to thft 

 potent and illuftrious lioufe of York, they 

 became truly formidable. 



The niillakes and confufion of writers 

 refpettintv the dirt'crent brandies of the 

 houfe of March, fo often mentiorvcd in 

 EncJilh h.illory, are very frequent and 

 perplexing. M. Hapin (vol. iv. p. 3;i2,) 

 ftilcs Sir .lohn Mortimer hrot/ier of ]\d- 

 mund J'.arl of March; and Mr. Tindal, 

 his tranlla.tor, endeavouring in a note to 

 fet hi.s author rigl-.t, and to trace the ge- 

 nealogy of this princely line, has hiinfelf 

 fallen into a yet more egregious error : 

 for he aflerts that " Edmund, fon of 

 Earl Roger, was fcnt into Ireland by 

 King tlenry IV., and kept pril'uncr in 

 the calHo -oV Trim, till he died childlefs 

 in the 3d Henry VI., A. D. U2A. But 

 this, as we have fcen,' is contrary to the 

 uholc tenor of hiftory. 



M. Rajiin (\ol. iv. p, 159), reprefents 

 Earl Edminul, at the icra of the acccllioii 

 of Ilcnry IV., as arrived at the years of 

 manhood and difcretion ; and fpeaksCp. 

 116), on the authority of Walfmgham, 

 of the confnenient of his children in 

 Windfor caltle. But Mr. Hume rightly 

 defcribcs him as a boy of ieven years of 

 age only ; and if any infants of the houfe 

 of March were really confined by that 

 monarch at Windfor, for any long orcon- 

 fideiable interval of time, they inufl iii 

 all probaljility have been Roger the 

 younger brother of Edmund, who died 

 early in life, and Anne his fifter, after- 

 wards married to the Earl of Cambridge, 

 beheaded i'l 1 H.5. 



The ))i r|U<>\jty arifing from the intri- 

 cacies of genealogy has been afiiftcd by 

 poets and critics, as. well as hiltorians. 

 In Sliakefpeur's drama of Henry IV., 

 firft ['art, he confounds Sir Edmund Mor- 

 timer, brother of Earl lloger, with the 

 infant Ednmnd Earl of March, fon of 

 that nobleman ; and makes Sir Edmund 

 the rightful heir of the crown. This may, 

 however, be d<'emcd perhaps an allow- 

 able poetical licence : but ttluxt can- bo 



iiuuis 



rvQY made to him, did rcfufe ; and Sir 

 John ?>Iortimer Isaving attempted to make 

 Ins efi ape from prifon, he was, toward 

 the end of the fnnnncr A. D. ll^l, con- 

 flemned, ar.d actually fulTcred the pt-^ 

 liulty of bib ircafon, the reality of which, 

 C'jnfidcring the jufticc and equitj' which 

 at this time pervaded the; government, 

 tliere can he no reafonable ground to 

 doubt. The Earl of iMarch himfelf, moil 

 imrort'.maicly both for the monarch and 

 t: e people, and to the regret of all, did 

 i!Ot long furvive : for, before the conclu- 

 fion of the fame .year, wliile engaged in 

 an expedition againll the infurgents of 

 Mcath and UKier, he died fuddenly at 

 Trim in the {l')vver of his age, having 

 lived little more than thirty-two years. 

 It is remarkable that Mr. Hum", intent 

 on his elegant and interefting narration 

 of the war in France, negligent of the 

 dome/lie affairs of England, and totally 

 forgetful of Ireland, makes no mention 

 whatever of the death of this prince, 

 though an event of national importance, 

 And productive of very fignal confc- 

 qucnccs. 



IV^ « By the fudden death of the Earl 

 of March," fays Dr. Leland (vol. ii. p. 

 SO). " tlie rights of his family devolved 

 on his brother Richar.i, a man poflcifcd 

 of all the qualities neceffary for fupport- 

 ingthem: valiant, prudent, and tempe- 

 rate ; determined, but not precipitate ; 

 with that jullice and benignity of dii'po- 

 lltion which conciliated the atlWlions of 

 his followers, and that patient perfever- 

 ance v»hich watched the incidents of 

 Ihite, and waited to employ his power 

 •when the favourable moment promifed 

 to crown him with fuccefs. On the death 

 of the illuftrious Duke of Bedfoid he had 

 been appointed regent of France, and 

 in this counfrj* for fomc years l*upporc( d 

 the declining interefts of England with 

 vigour and fuccefs." 



This pnrpgrap'h combines fomething of 

 nfiftake as to perfons, with f(;methiiig of 

 confufion as to dates. By Earl Edmund's 

 brother Richard, the hiliorian undoubt- 

 eJly means Richard Duke of York, not 

 brother, but nephew of the Earl of 

 Jlaicli, and fon of Anne, married to the 

 Eurl of Cambridge, beheaded for high- 

 treafon in the reign of Henry V. The 

 high charatlcr given of this prince by 

 Dr. Leland, thcu_h jierlicips a little over- 

 charged, may upon the whole be admit- 

 ted as jnft ; but it is nropt rly the cha- 

 rai!";er which he fuiifequently acquired. 

 ;,^t the deutli of the. Earl oi' March he 



