8 



ENGLAND. (CIVIL HISTORY.) 



their services; while Henry justly dreaded that 

 power, which, as it first raised aim, could again, at 

 pleasure, depress him. Such, however, was the 

 vigour of his administration, and the promptitude of 

 his measures, that every insurrection was quelled, 

 and those who endeavoured to deprive him of power, 

 disappointed. The most formidable rebellion which 

 was raised during his reign, was conducted by the 

 earl of Northumberland. The earl, having made a 

 treaty with the Scots and Welch, raised a considera- 

 ble body of forces. Being detained by sickness, 

 from marching at their head, he gave the command 

 of them to his son, Percy, generally known by the 

 name of Hotspur. The impetuosity of the young 

 general prompted him to engage the king's forces, 

 which had marched to oppose him, before he was 

 joined by his , Welch allies. Percy was slain ; his 

 troops were routed ; and the rebels were compelled 

 to yield to the king's mercy. During the reign of 

 Henry IV. the clergy of England first endeavoured 

 to confirm their power by burning such as differed 

 from them in religious tenets. The doctrines of 

 Wickliffe, almost the same with those afterwards 

 embraced by the reformers, had made considerable 

 progress in the island ; and the clergy, by their 

 burning of heretics, rendered the progress of the 

 heretical opinions more rapid. In 1413, Henry left 

 his crown to his son, Henry V. 



The earlier years of the prince, who now ascended 

 the throne, had been distinguished chiefly by riot and 

 dissipation ; but he no sooner saw the sceptre in his 

 power, then he transferred his activity to pursuits 

 more honourable to himself, and more useful to his 

 people. The companions of his former disorders 

 were banished from his presence. The laws were 

 severely executed, and greater regularity introduced 

 into every department of government. To such as 

 transgressed the laws of the kingdom Henry was 

 severe, in other respects his administration was mild. 

 Those who had taken arms against his father were 

 pardoned; merit was rewarded in every party; and 

 Henry acquired the good will of almost every indi- 

 vidual. What endeared this monarch to his people 

 more than those parts of his character which have 

 just been mentioned, was his warlike temper; a 

 quality more splendid in vulgar estimation, but much 

 less advantageous to his people, than the more modest 

 virtues of justice and moderation. Taking advantage 

 of the disorder in which the French nation was in- 

 volved, and prompted by the enmity which had long 

 subsisted between the kingdoms, Henry, in 1415, 

 invaded France, at the head of 30,000 men. The dis- 

 jointed councils of the French, rendered their country 

 an easy prey ; and the celebrated victory at Agin- 

 court dissipated the small portion of courage and 

 unanimity which had formerly prevailed. A peace 

 was concluded, on terms which rendered the English 

 king no less powerful in France than in his native 

 dominions. He was married to Katherine, the nominal 

 French king's daughter, and his son, by her, was 

 declared the heir of both kingdoms. Henry died in 

 1 422, after a reign of only ten years. His life and 

 his reign were short, but his character remained 

 unsullied ; and the memory of few monarchs has 

 descended to posterity with more unqualified admira- 

 tion. 



England, during the reign of Henry VI. was sub- 

 jected, in the first place, to all the confusion incident 

 to a long minority, and afterwards to all the misery 

 of a civil war. Of a weakly body, and possessed of 

 & mind still more weakly, he allowed himself to be 

 managed by any one who had the courage to assume 

 the conduct of his affairs. Margaret of Anjou, to 

 whom he was married, was a woman of uncommon 

 capacity ; but she was by no means scrupulous of 



the means by which her designs were to be accom- 

 plished. Even her intentions were not always inno- 

 cent ; and she more frequently involved the kingdom 

 in confusion, than used her influence for quelling such 

 disturbances as were unavoidable. During this 

 reign, in its turn disgraced by weakness of adminis- 

 tration, and the violent perversion of justice, the 

 French began gradually to recover from that degrad- 

 ed state into which they had fallen during the reign 

 of Henry V. The English forces were weakly sup- 

 ported ; and the celebrated Maid of Orleans, by a 

 happy imposture, inspired her countrymen with new 

 energies, and chased the terrified English from the 

 French territories. The loss of France was not, 

 perhaps, so great a misfortune as was, at that time, 

 imagined ; the civil commotions which immediately 

 followed, were much more destructive of national 

 prosperity. Richard, duke of York, in 1450, began 

 to advance his pretensions to the throne, which had 

 been so long usurped by the house of Lancaster. 

 The nation was immediately divided into two parties. 

 Several battles were fought The king's imbecility 

 would not have been capable of much resistance, but 

 the activity of his queen frequently recalled his 

 affairs from a situation seemingly desperate. The 

 king was made prisoner ; and the duke of York, for 

 sometime, without the appellation of sovereign, con- 

 ducted the government. By the exertions of the 

 queen, the duke was compelled to save himself by 

 flight, and the king regained his liberty. Warwick, 

 who had joined the York party, defeated the royal 

 forces ; the king was once more a prisoner, and the 

 title of the duke of York to the crown, was openly 

 asserted. Matters were, at length, compromised by 

 a treaty, by which it was agreed, that Henry should 

 reign during his life, and that he should be succeeded 

 by the duke of York, to the exclusion of the prince 

 of Wales. The queen once more nearly retrieved 

 the royal cause. She prevailed on the northern 

 barons to join her with their troops. She encoun- 

 tered the adherents of York ; defeated their army, 

 and put to death the duke. Edward, however, the 

 duke of York's son, put himself at the head of the 

 remains of his father's army, and encountered the 

 royal army under the command of the earl of Pem- 

 broke. He obtained a complete victory, and ad- 

 vancing rapidly to London, was, in 1461, proclaimed 

 king. 



Edward IV. had now obtained the crown, but his 

 possession of it was far from being secure. The 

 queen had still an army of 60,000 men, and she 

 rapidly advanced to disturb his possession of the 

 throne. Edward met her with an army amounting 

 to 40,000. The adherents of the house of York 

 gained a complete victory. Henry and his queen 

 were obliged to consult their immediate safety, by 

 wandering about the country. The former was, in a 

 short time, discovered, and once more secured in the 

 tower, his accustomed prison ; and the latter was 

 compelled to fly to Flanders. Edward now imagined 

 that he was secured in the possession of a throne, 

 and by degrees, became less obsequious to those 

 noblemen to whom principally he owed his elevation. 

 The nobles were offended, and Edward soon learned 

 that the same power which raised him to a throne 

 could tear him from it. Warwick, whom Edward 

 had disgusted by espousing Elizabeth Woodville, 

 while the earl was successfully employed in negotiat- 

 ing a marriage with the princess of Savoy, determined 

 to depose the monarch whom he had been so anxious 

 to elevate. Disappointed, however, in his first 

 attempts at insurrection, Wanvick and his associates 

 left the kingdom. He became reconciled to Mar- 

 garet of Anjou, returned to England, and a few 

 days after he landed saw himself at the head of 



