286 HISTORY OF KING HENRY VII. 



from hence ; provisionally to be delivered, if they 

 found and were satisfied that there was truth in these 

 pretences. The person of Sir Robert Clifford, being 

 a gentleman of fame and family, was extremely wel 

 come to the Lady Margaret. Who after she had 

 conference with him, brought him to the sight of 

 Perkin, with whom he had often speech and dis 

 course. So that in the end, won either by the duchess 

 to affect, or by Perkin to believe, he wrote back into 

 England, that he knew the person of Richard, Duke 

 of York, as well as he knew his own, and that this 

 young man was undoubtedly he. By this means all 

 things grew prepared to revolt and sedition here, 

 and the conspiracy came to have a correspondence 

 between Flanders and England. 



The king on his part was not asleep ; but to arm 

 or levy forces yet, he thought would but shew fear, 

 and do this idol too much worship. Nevertheless 

 the ports he did shut up, or at least kept a watch on 

 them, that none should pass to or fro that was sus 

 pected : but for the rest, he chose to work by coun 

 termine. His purposes were two ; the one to lay 

 open the abuse, the other to break the knot of 

 the conspirators. To detect the abuse, there were 

 but two ways ; the first, to make it manifest to the 

 world that the Duke of York was indeed murdered ; 

 the other, to prove that were he dead or alive, 

 yet Perkin was a counterfeit. For the first, thus it 

 stood. There were but four persons that could 

 speak upon knowledge to the murder of the Duke of 

 York ; Sir James Tirrel, the employed man from 



