

RICHARDSON. 



(lie inetro|H>lis hy himself and Buckingham. The 

 J-|MiM-d kins; ami his brother were nevermore heard 

 of. niul, according to general belief, they were 

 miioihrrrd in the Tower ot London, by order of their 

 uncle. >ee Edward / ".) The new reign commen- 

 i eil with rewards to those who had been instrumen- 

 tal to the change, and with endeavours to obtain 

 |t>l ularity. Richard, witli a splendid retinue, made 

 a progress through several provincial towns, and 

 was crowned a second time at York, on which oc- 

 j^ion he created his only son prince of Wales. But 

 naired and abhorrence of Richard soon became the 

 general sentiment of the nation, and all men's eyes 

 r- turned towards Henry, earl of Richmond, ma- 

 lernully descended from the Somerset branch of the 

 house of Lancaster. Buckingham, not thinking him- 

 self adequately rewarded, entered into a conspiracy 

 against him. with other malcontents in the south and 

 west of England, but was suddenly deserted by his fol- 

 lowers, betrayed into the hands of authority, and exe- 

 cuted without trial. About the same time, the earl 

 of Richmond, who had embarked with a fleet from 

 St Malo, encountered a violent storm, and was 

 obliged to return. The death of his son, the prince 

 of Wales, was a severe stroke to Richard ; and such 

 was the odium attached to his character, that the 

 death of his wife, which followed soon after, was, 

 without the least evidence, -attributed to poison. 

 He immediately determined to marry his niece 

 Elizabeth, the daughter of his brother Edward, and 

 legitimate heiress of the crown, in order to prevent 

 tier union with Richmond. In August, 1485, Rich- 

 mond landed with a small army at Milford haven. 

 Richard, not knowing in what quarter to expect 

 him, was thrown into much perplexity, which was 

 Hggravaled by his suspicion of the fidelity of his 

 nobles, and especially the Stanleys, the chief of 

 whom had become the second husband of Margaret, 

 the earl of Richmond's mother. When informed of 

 the advance of his rival, he, however, took the field 

 with great expedition, and met him with an army of 

 15,0(10 men at Bosworth, in Leicestershire. Rich- 

 mond had only 6000 men, but relied on the secret as- 

 surances of aid from Stanley, who commanded a 

 s | >arate force of 7000. The battle was fought on the 

 2.'id of August, 1485 ; and, in the midst of it, Stan- 

 ley, by falling on the flank of the royal army, se- 

 cured the victory to Richmond. (See Henry PH.) 

 Richard, finding his situation desperate, rushed 

 against his competitor, slew his standard- bearer, and 

 was on the point of encountering Richmond himself, 

 when he sunk under the number of his assailants. 

 The body of Richard was found in the field stripped 

 nnke,d, in which condition it was carried across a 

 horse to Leicester, and interred in the Greyfriars' 

 churchyard. Thus fell this odious prince, in his 

 thirty-fifth year, after possessing the crown, which 

 he had acquired by so many crimes, for two years 

 and two months. Richard possessed courage, capa- 

 city, eloquence, and most of the talents which 

 would have adorned a lawful throne. Many of his 

 bad qualities have probably been exaggerated, but 

 linden iable tacts prove his cruelty, dissimulation, 

 treachery, and relentless ambition. Gibbon has 

 answered the Historic Doubts of Walpole concern- 

 ing the reign and character of Richard. Richard 

 III. has been represented as of small stature, de- 

 formed, and of a forbidding aspect ; but there is 

 some testimony to prove that his personal, like his 

 mental, defects, have been magnified by the general 

 detestation of his character. 



RICHARDSON, SAMUEL, a distinguished Eng- 

 lish novelist, was born in 1689, in Derbyshire, and 

 received only a common school education. He 

 early discovered a talent for story-telling and letter- 



writing, and, at the age of thirteen, was the confi- 

 dant of three young women in their love secrets, 

 and employed by them in their amatory correspon- 

 dence. " One of the young women," he himself in- 

 forms us, "highly gratified with her lover's fervour 

 and vows of everlasting love, has said, when I have 

 asked her what to write ' I cannot, tell you what 

 to write, but (her heart on her lips) you cannot 

 write too kindly.' All her fear was only that she 

 should incur a slight for her kindness." At the 

 usual age, Richardson was bound apprentice to Mi- 

 John Wilde, a printer of Stationer's hall, London, 

 and, after the expiration of his apprenticeship, 

 passed five or six years as a foreman in a printing- 

 office, until at length he set up for himself. His 

 habits of diligence, accuracy, and honourable deal- 

 ing, acquired him an extensive business ; and, be- 

 ginning to thrive in the world, he married the 

 daughter of his former master. His Pamela, the 

 first work which gave him distinction as a writer, 

 was published in 1741. The first two volumes 

 were completed in two months ; and so great was 

 its popularity, that it ran through five editions in 

 one year, and was even recommended from the pul- 

 pit. The novelty of his plan, with many passages 

 of great beauty, and interesting traits of character, 

 may account for much of this reception ; but, even 

 at that time, critics existed who entertained those 

 opinions of its imperfections, and doubts of its salu- 

 tary tendency, which have since become almost 

 general. He was led, by a spurious continuation, 

 to add two volumes to his Pamela, which are in- 

 ferior to the former ; but, in 1748, the appearance 

 of the first two volumes of his Clarissa fully estab- 

 lished his literary reputation ; and its pathos, its 

 variety of character, and minute development of the 

 movements of the human heart, will cause it ever 

 to be regarded as a noble monument of its author's 

 genius. The History of Sir Charles Grandison ap- 

 peared in 1753. The interest taken in this work 

 was not equal to that produced by the former, al- 

 though perhaps exhibiting more compass and in- 

 vention ; but the character of the hero is in some 

 degree repulsive, and the prolixity of the author 

 began to engender satiety. The character of Cle- 

 mentina is a masterly example of delicate delinea- 

 tion. This work was, as well as the preceding, 

 translated into foreign languages, and received with 

 great applause. In all the productions of Richard- 

 son, the style is inelegant, gossipping and verbose, 

 and he seldom knows when to leave off. In 1754, 

 he rose to be master of the Stationers' company ; 

 and, in 1760> purchased a moiety of the patent of 

 law printer to the king. As he grew rich, he in- 

 dulged himself with a country residence at Parson's- 

 green, Middlesex, where he lived, surrounded with a 

 circle of affectionate admirers, particularly females, 

 to whom it was his delight to read his works in 

 the progress of composition. He died of an apo- 

 plexy, in 1761, at the age of seventy-two, and was 

 buried in the church of St Bride, in Fleet street. 

 His correspondence was published in 1804, in ti 

 vols., 8vo., with a life, by Mrs Barbauld. 



Richardson's manners were formal and retiring, 

 arising from a very debilitated state of the nerves 

 and a natural bashfulness, but he was in reality 

 most generous and open-hearted. He gave away a 

 great deal of money in charity ; and was so fond of 

 inviting friends to stay with him, that when they 

 were ill, he and his family must needs have them 

 to be nursed, and several actually died at his house, 

 as at an hospital for sick friends. In business, he 

 was regular and industrious. He used to give his 

 orders to his workmen in writing, a practice which 

 Sir John Hawkins attributes to stateliness and bud 



