! \GLAX H. 



ich party endeavoured ID :.i- ;uire for t-t ll' tin t'.um;r 

 of tin- rrgeiit. 



Gl.Hicr-tir. who. by tin- most |)rnloiiiul ilissiinnlution. 

 hail l>cvn abl* to Conceal a heart deformed hy c\ ' r .v 

 " thing that was mean, cruel, or base. h.-ul hitlierto lived 



on good term* with lx>th factions-. Hut as his inordi- 

 nate aiiil)itiin led him now to look towards tin- crown, 

 he resolved to attach himself only to those, from whom 

 he might exj>ect least opposition to his views. At the 

 same time, however, he assiduously paid court to the 

 Queen, l>y professing the greatest zeal and attachment 

 to her fa'mily ; and' thus gained such credit with her. 

 *hat she for :i time trusted implicitly to the sincerity of 

 his friend-hip. 



Young Kdward had been committed to the care of 

 hU uncle, the Karl of Rivers, the most accomplished no- 

 Menian in England, and refilled in I.udlow castle, on 

 the Ivirdcrs of Wales. The Queen, desirous of n tam- 

 ing him in her ]X)\ver, wrote to her burlier to levy a 

 Ixxlv of triM)]>s, in order to escort the young king to 

 London, and to prevent him from falling into the hands 

 of their enemies. This measure gave great offence to 

 the opposite faction, who, apprehensive of l>cing redu- 

 -ed to subjection by their rivals, declared their resolu- 

 tion of resisting force by force. Tin; wily Gloucester 

 interposed his authority, and, under pretence of pacify- 

 ing the dispute, prevailed upon the Queen to bring up 

 no greater retinue than should be necessary to Mippirt 

 the state and dignity of the new sovereign. But he 

 himself set out from York, attended by a numerous 

 train of the northern gentry ; and at Northampton, was 

 joined by Buckingham with a splendid retinue. Here 

 they waited the approach of the king. Rivers, how- 

 ever, apprehensive that the place would be too small 

 for all their attendants, had sent his charge forward to 

 Stony-Stratford, and came in person to pay his respects 

 to the Regent. He was received with seeming cordi- 

 ality and friendship; and they all proceeded next day 

 Tlte F.ari of to join their sovereign. But when they were entering 

 Stony -Stratford, Rivers was arrested by order of the Re- 

 gent. and with Sir Richard Gray.oncof thcQuecn's sons. 

 and Sir Thomas Vaughan, an officer in the king's house- 

 hold, was sent a prisoner to Pomfret castle. Gl< 

 ter endeavoured to satisfy the young king with respect 

 to this violence against his relations, but Edward was 

 unable to dissemble his disap]>ointment and displc; MUV. 

 When the queen heard of the fate of her brother, she 

 foresaw that the ruin of herself and family was deter- 

 mined, and took sanctuary with her family in West- 

 minster Abbey. Gloucester now used all his arts to 

 get the Duke of York into his power; but his mother 

 resisted all his solicitations: the council, however, threat- 

 ened to employ force if she continued obstinate ; which 

 induced her to comply. When she took leave of her 

 son, she bathed him with her tears, and, as if struck 

 with a presage of his future fate, bade him an eternal 

 adieu. Gloucester then took his nephew in his anus, and, 

 clasping him with feigned affection, declared, that while 

 he lived, the boy should never want a parent. But the 

 hypocritical tyrant was all the while meditating tile 

 most bloody designs against the helpless innocent. 



Having thus got into his power the principal obsta- 

 cles to his ambition, Gloucester prepared for more 

 treacherous and bloody deeds. As he was the nearest 

 male of the royal line capable of exercising the govern- 

 ment, he was invested by the council with the office of 

 prelector, without waiting for the consent of parlia- 

 ment ""^ t ' )e '" rrt usc ' le mat ' e f his n 'K n dignity, 

 wa * to J^ t ' r the death of Rivers, and the other prison- 



iven ar- 

 il t,.l. 



Aixl to 

 * 



..FT. 



nan iiica-urv Buckingham and ! Listings ga\e tin ir ~^~~ 



nl ; and the prisoners wire beheaded without ar.v 



. ' 

 form of trial. He m \t sounded Buckingham res]>ect- t . IJBI1 . 



ing his usurpation of the CIO-.MI ; and prevailed upon 

 him, by liln-ral offers of private advantages, to support 

 him in ail his measures. The loyalty of Hastings, how- 

 ever, .was proof against cviry promise and pcrsua 

 and that nobleman determined to maintain unshaken 

 his allegiance and fidelity to the children of Edv 

 As the tyrant, therefore, dispaired of gaining him to 

 his interest, he resolved upon his death. With this de- 

 lie summoned a council in the Tower. The ) ro- 

 tei-tor appeared with a cheerful countenance, and, be- 

 fore they entered upon business, conversed w ith the 

 members with great affability and good humour. He 

 then letl the council, as if called away in haste ; and in 

 about an hour after returned, but w ith quite an altered 

 Umk ; his brows knit, and his countenance inflamed 

 with rage. Those who knew his savage nature beheld 

 him with horror, expecting -<imc dreadful catastrophe. 

 After a short silence, he asked them, what punishment 

 they deserved who had conspii. his life. Has- 



tings replied, that they deserved the punishment of trai- 

 tors. " See, then," cried the protector, baring his wither- 

 ed ami, ' what the sorceress, my queen-sister, and that 

 wretch. Shore's wife, have done by their incantation 

 and witchcrafts; their spells have reduced my arm to 

 this condition ; and had they not been timely ''elected 

 my whole body would have suffered the sail,:- calami- 

 ty !" The council gazed upon one another in much as- 

 tonishment, knowing that this infirmity had attended 

 him from his infancy ; and the silence was again broken 

 by Hastings, who said, " If they have been guilty of 

 these crimes, they merit the severest punishment." 

 " If!" cried Gloucester in a rage; " do you reply to 

 me with your i/s you are yourself a traitor, and tile 

 chief abettor of that witch Shore; and 1 swear 

 Paul, that 1 will not dine before your head be brought 

 me." He then struck the table with his hand, and 

 the room was instantly filled with armed men. The 

 council room was now filled with tumult, and 01 

 the guards aimed a blow with his battle axe at Lord 

 Stanley's head, which the fellow, in all likelihood, had 

 IXTII instructed to do ; but that nobleman escaped by 

 shrinking under the table. Hastings was M-i/.ed 

 immediately beheaded on a log of wood which happen- murdtrcd. 

 ed. to lie in the court of the Tower. Lord Stanley, the 

 Archbishop of York, the Bishop of Ely, and some other 

 counsellors, were afterwards committed prisoners to 

 the Tower ; and a proclamation was read to the citi- 

 /ens of London, among whom Hastings was very po- 

 pular, enumerating his offences, and apologising for his 

 sudden execution, by the suddenness of the discovery. 

 In order to carry on the farce, he ordered Jane Shore 

 to be tried for witchcraft ; but as no evidence w as pro- 

 duced against her, she was accused of adultery before 

 the spiritual court, and condemned to walk barefoot 

 through the city, and to do penance in St Paul's church 

 in a white sheet, before all the people. This unhappy 

 woman languished out her life in solitude and indi- 

 gence, neglected and unpitied by those who had for- 

 merly been protected by her credit, and had lived upon 

 her bounty. 



After the murder of Hastings, Gloucester proceeded Art of L 

 openly in his ambitious designs. He endeavoured, by protector! 

 means of Buckingham, to instil into the minds of the "buin i' 

 people an opinion of the illegitimacy of the late king CTgwn - 

 and his cluklrcn. I Ic thus had the impiety to char;: 



