ed his master ; when he was brought to the king at Shrewsbury, and instantly executed. The other conspi rators, who had risen in different parts of the kingdom, as soon as they heard of his fate, immediately dispersed. The Marquis of Dorset and the Bishop of Ely lied be yond seas ; some of their friends fell into the hands of Richard and were executed, and others contrived to con ceal themselves from his vengeance. The Earl of Rich mond, in the mean time, had arrived off the coast of England with 5000 troops; but hearing of the dispersion of his friends, he returned to Brittany.
Richard, emboldened by his success, now ventured for the first time to call a parliament, which acquiesced in whatever he chose to propose. They approved all his proceedings; confirmed the illegitimacy of Edward's children; attainted the Earl of Richmond and all his ad herents ; and granted the king the duties of tonnage and poundage for life. He next entered into a negotiation with the Duke of Brittany for delivering up his rival, and had nearly succeeded, through the treachery of Pe ter Landais, a corrupt minister of that court, when Rich mond, having got timely notice, fled into France. Ri chard, however, still continued to employ every mean that might give security to his throne ; and sensible that his rival was only formidable from his projected mar riage with the Princess Elizabeth, the true heir to the crown, he formed the design of espousing that princess himself. He had married Anne, the second daughter of the Earl of Warwick, and the widow of Edward, Prince of Wales, whom he himself had murdered. But, con sidering her as an invincible obstacle to his designs, he is believed to have carried her off by poison. He then made application to his neice, and paid court to the queen-dowager with such art and address, that that prin cess, eager to recover her lost authority, did not scruple to give her consent to this incestuous alliance, and to marry her daughter to the murderer of her three sons and her brother : She even so far joined her interests with those of the usurper, as to desire her son, the Mar quis of Dorset, and all her partizans, to withdraw from the Earl of Richmond. But the young princess dis dained to listen to his vile passion, and treated his ad dresses with contempt and detestation. While Richard was thrown into perplexity by her unexpected refusal, and before he had time to renew his suite, the Earl of Richmond landed at Milford-haven with a small army of 2000 men. As he advanced, his friends flocked to his standard; but his army, with all his reinforcements, amounted only to 6000 combatants. Richard met him at Bosworth, near Leicester, with a force double the number. This superiority of numbers, however, was Tendered of little advantage, by the dissensions which prevailed among them. Lord Stanley had been suspect ed by Richard of favouring the cause of Henry ; and when he empowered him to levy troops, detained his eldest son Lord Strange as a pledge for his fidelity. That nobleman was thus prevented from openly declar ing himself, though he had sent secret assurances to Henry of his friendly intentions, and, at the head of 7000 men, posted himself on the flank of the two hos tile armies, ready to join either party as occasion should offer Richard, apprehensive of his design, sent him orders to join him, which Stanley refused; upon which the tyrant was about to take revenge upon his son, but he was persuaded to postpone the execution till after the fight, when, being certain of a victory, he would take ample vengeance Upon all his enemies, both open and concealed. The trumpets were then ordered to sound
to battle, which began by a flight of arrows; but the ranks soon began to close, when Stanley advanced, and joined the army of Richmond. This circumstance turn ed the fortune of the day. It inspired Henry's soldiers with unusual courage, while it spread dismay at n d con fusion among Richard's. Richard, enraged to madness by the treachery of Stanley, and sensible of his despe rate situation, resolved to finish the battle, either by Hen ry's death or his own. Ile rushed into the thickest of the fight, and flew from rank to rank in search of his rival. Richmond himself did not t celine the combat; but when they were just within reach of each other, thtly were separated by the crowd. Richard, perceiving his men every where yielding and flying, and giving up all for lost, spurred his horse into the midst of the enemy, and fell covered with slain. His body was found in the field of battle, in the midst of dead enemies, and disfi gured with wounds. It was thrown across a horse, and carried to Leicester, where it was interred in the Gray Friars Church. Thus perished Richard III. who waded to the throne through the blood of his nearest relations; who considered no enormity too great, and no action too mean, provided it led him to the object of his ambition. He enjoyed his exaltation little more than two years ; and perished by a fate too mild and honourable for his mul tiplied and detestable crimes. He was of a small sta ture, hump-backed, with a harsh disagreeable counte nance, so that his body and ,his mind were equally de formed. (p) The decisive victory gained at Bosworth, was follow ed by the most important consequences. An ornamen tal crown, which Richard had worn in batttle, having been found among the spoils, was placed upon the had of Richmond; and the whole army, as by one instanta neous movement, shouted aloud, " Long live Henry VII." His title, indeed, to the crown, was in many respects de fective. The hereditary right resided in the house of York, of which there were several princes then alive. His own descent from the house of Lancaster proceeded from an illegitimate branch, and though an act of legiti mation had been passed in the reign of Richard II. yet the very patent which conferred the privilege, excluded the posterity of that line from the crown. But the Lan castrian party had resolved to adopt him as their head; and his solemn engagement to marry the Princess Eli zabeth, the representative of the house of York, attach ed the adherents of that family to his cause. To the expectation of this union he owed much of his past suc cess, and it was hailed by all considerate men as the pro bable termination of those civil wars, which had raged for thirty years with such destructive violence. He did not, however, deem it expedient to engraft his title up on that of the rival house, but being in possession of the power, he advanced his claim as the heir of Lancas ter, while he resolved to prevent the discussion of its va lidity.