ENGLAND. 



641 



History, 





War with 

 Trance. 



to the Twer ; but was ransomed for 50,000 crowns by 

 Louis XI. and died some years after in France, for- 

 gotten and neglected. 



The principal leaders of the Lancastrian party ha- 

 ving perished in the field or on the scaffold, Edward 

 continued to glut his vengeance, by the execution of 

 their meaner adherents ; and the gibbet soon finished 

 what the sword had begun. But this relentless mo- 

 narch, even while his hands were bathed in blood, was 

 immersed in voluptuous pleasures and amusements. 

 He was universally allowed to be the most beautiful 

 man of his time ; and his debaucheries, which were 

 open and numerous, were encouraged and imitated by 

 a profligate court. All ranks seemed willing to for- 

 get the dismal scenes that were past in the less danger- 

 ous exploits of gallantry and intrigue. Bnt the king 

 was roused from his inactivity, by the call of the Duke 

 of Burgundy to unite their arms against France. 



A French war was always a popular measure with 

 the English parliament ; and they readily granted him 

 a considerable supply, which he increased by levying 

 a benevolence. He then passed over to Calais with 

 1500 men at arms, and 15,000 archers, attended by his 

 principal nobility. But, instead of being joined by the 

 forces of Burgundy, as he had expected, the Duke was 

 spending his strength on the frontiers of Germany, and 

 A. D. 1175. against the Duke of Lorraine. This disappointment 

 led Edward to listen to the advances of the French mo- 

 narch, who, alarmed at the prospect of such a formida- 

 ble invasion, attempted to avert the danger by nego- 

 ciation, and to detach him from the alliance of Bur- 

 gundy. When the King of England dispatched a he- 

 rald to Louis, to claim the crown of France, and to 

 carry him a defiance in case of refusal, Louis, instead 

 of being irritated by the insult, replied with great mo- 

 deration, and even gave the herald a considerable pre- 

 sent. Louis had also requested the good offices of 

 Lords Stanley and Howard to second his desires for 

 peace ; and Edward was soon after brought to conclude 

 ;i truce, more to the advantage than the honour of 

 Louis. That monarch stipulated to pay 75,000 crowns, 

 upon condition of Edward's withdrawing his army 

 from France ; and 50,000 crowns a year during their 

 joint lives. It was also agreed, that the dauphin, when 

 tit' age, should marry Edward's eldest daughter. The 

 two monarchs had afterwards a private conference at 

 Pecquigni, near Amiens, where they interchanged mu- 

 tual civilities and confirmed their friendship. 



Edward returned to England, after this fruitless expe- 

 dition, only to disgust liis subjects by his profligacy 

 and cruelty. The Duke of Clarence, since his alliance 

 with the Earl of Warwick, notwithstanding his after 

 services, in assisting him to recover the crown, had 

 never been able to regain the confidence of his brother, 

 i Us open and hasty temper had also multiplied his ene- 

 mies, among whom were the queen and his brother the 

 Duke of Gloucester, who united in hastening his de- 

 struction. Irritated by the indifference with which he 

 was treated at court, he did not hesitate to express his 

 dissatisfaction, and sometimes indulged in ill-natured 

 invectives. His enemies took advantage of his resent- 

 ment ; and endeavoured to stimulate him to still farther 

 resistance, by the persecution of his friends. Thomas 

 ilurdet of Arrow, who happened to live in intimacy 

 with the duke, had a favourite buck killed by the king, 

 v.tiile hunting in the park of the owner; which so vex- 

 ed Burdet, that, in a hasty humour, he wished the 

 horns of the deer in the belly of the person who advi- 

 sed the king to do him such an injury. For this ex. 



VOL. VIII. PART II. 



Pea< of 



pression he wa tried for his life, condemned, and be- History. 

 headed at Tyburn. John Stacey, a clergyman, suffer- V ~""V " 

 ed also from his connection with Clarence. As he pos- 

 sessed more learning than was usual in that age, he 

 was considered by the vulgar as a necromancer ; and 

 his enemies laying hold of this imaginary crime, had 

 him put to the torture, and executed. Clarence could 

 not behold his friends falling around him, upon such 

 trivial pretences, without reflecting on his own danger ; 

 but instead of securing himself from the impending 

 storm, he seemed imprudently to court it, by loudly 

 and openly justifying the innocence of his friends, and 

 condemning the conduct of their accusers. This free- 

 dom was construed into disrespect to the king and to 

 the laws ; and under that pretence he was ordered to 

 the Tower. His trial was appointed before the House Trial and 

 of Peers, where the king appeared personally as his ac- execution ot 

 cuser. He was charged with arraigning public justice, ll j e Ou fc eo f 

 and inveighing against the conduct of the king. Upon 

 this charge he was condemned by his corrupt and sla- 

 vish judges ; and his brother, unmindful of the ties of 

 blood, or of gratitude for his past services, granted him 

 only the choice of his death. He was consequently A. D. 1478. 

 drowned in a but of malmsey wine. Clarence left two 

 children ; a son, the unfortunate Earl of Warwick ; and 

 a daughter, afterwards Countess of Salisbury. 



The remainder of Edward's reign is little else than a Amours of 

 continuation of his amours and debaucheries. Among * e '" n S- 

 his numerous mistresses, the most celebrated was Jane 

 Shore, the wife of a respectable citizen in London. 

 This lady, though seduced by the flatteries and promi- 

 ses of this gay monarch, possessed many amiable qua- 

 lities ; and the ascendant which she had obtained over 

 him, was exercised only in curbing the cruelty of his 

 disposition, and in the most disinterested acts of bene- 

 ficence and humanity. 



Edward was much engaged, about this time, in pro- 

 jecting splendid marriages for his five daughters, none 

 of -which, however, took place. The contract between 

 his eldest daughter Elizabeth and the dauphin, was bro- 

 ken off by Louis, who found it more to liis advantage to 

 engage his son to the daughter of Maximilian of Austria. 

 To revenge this indignity, Edward resolved upon war 

 with France ; but while he was preparing for this en- 

 terprize, he was seized with a distemper, which carried His dcath 

 him off in the 4'2d year ot liis age, and 23d of his reign. A. D. 1 18?. 

 " The character of this prince," says an elegant writer, 

 " is easily summed up : his good qualities were courage 

 and beauty ; his bad qualities every vice !" He left 

 two sons ; Edward, who succeeded him, then in his 

 13th year, and Richard, Duke of York, in his 9th. 



During Edward's last illness, he had endeavoured to , ... 

 e . . . ,-,,, 11- toward V . 



compose the intrigues which had agitated his court 



for some years before his death. These arose from 

 the perpetual jealousy which the ancient nobility en- 

 tertained of the sudden exaltation of the queen and her 

 relations. At the head of the former were the Duke 

 of Buckingham and Lord Hastings ; and the latter were 

 supported by the Earl of Rivers, the queen's brother, 

 and her son, the Marquis of Dorset. Edward had sum- 

 moned them into his presence ; and after declaring his 

 intention of entrusting the Duke of Gloucester with 

 the regency, who was then absent in the north, he re- 

 presented to them the calamities and dangers that must 

 attend a continuance of their contests ; and engaged 

 them to embrace each other with all the appearance of 

 the most cordial friendship. But this agreement lasted 

 only with the life of the king ; for no sooner had Ed- 

 ward expired, than their animosities were renewed, and 

 4 M 



