Henry, disappointed in his wishes to terminate the dis pute with France by negotiations, found himself under a necessity of adopting more active measures than he had intended ; and the distresses of the Bretons became so urgent, that at length, (after receiving possession of two sea port towns from his ally, as security for the pay ment of his charges,) lie sent 6000 men, for ten months, to resist the progress of the French power. These troops, under the command of Lord Willoughby of Broke, rendered the Bretons for some time masters of the field; but the French retiring into their garrisons, gave them no opportunity of striking any decisive blow; and when the time of their service had elapsed, they returned home, without having afforded any essential support. The King of England, artfully labouring to avoid the ex pences of war, and yet to thwart the designs of the French court, became the dupe of his own policy; and, by the marriage of the Duchess of Brittany to the King of France, the province was peaceably annexed to his dominions. The King of England, chagrined to sec his schemes defeated, and unwilling to lose his claims of re-imbursement from Brittany, abandoned at length his cautious policy, and resolved to adopt more vigorous measures, when no measures could be of any avail. Upon pretence of a French war, he levied a Benevolence upon his subjects, (a mode of taxation peculiarly odious, as it was made at the discretion of commissioners); and, hav ing summoned a parliament, vaunted, in a magnificent strain, of his determination to make a conquest of France. The English nobility, seized with military ardour, entered with full credulity into the boasting schemes of their sovereign. On the 6th of October 1492, Henry landed at Calais with a well army of 25.000 foot, and 1600 horse, and without a mo ment's delay laid siege to Boulogne. But with all this show of hostility, negotiations nod actually commenced before the army left England ; and, after artfully giving it the appearance of being desired by his nobles, and owing to the delay of his allies, he concluded a peace with France on the third day of November. The prin cipal article of the treaty, was the payment of nearly 745,000 crowns to Henry by the French government, partly as reimbursement of the sums which he had ad vanced to Brittany, and partly as arrears of the pension due to Edward IV.; besides the stipulation of 25,000 crowns, as an yearly pension to himself and his hells.
Before the conclusion of the war, a new pretender to the crown of England had begun to make his appearance. The old Duchess of Burgundy, not discouraged by the failure of Simnel's imposture, propagated a report that her nephew, Richard Plantagenet, Duke of Vol k, had escaped front the 'fewer when his brother was murder ed ; and procured a youth of proper parts to personate the prince. Perkin Osbec, or Warbeck, the son of a i Flemish Jew, after having been carefully instructed in the character which he was intended to assume, landed in Ireland about the commencement of hostilities with France, and under the name of Richard Plantagenet, collected a number of partizans in that country. But, being joined by few persons of rank, he accepted an in vitation from the King of France, where he was enter tained with all the honours due to his supposed quality, and where he succeeded in attaching a number of Eng lish gentlemen to his interest. Dismissed from Paris when peace was concluded with Henry, he proceeded to the court of the Duchess of Burgundy, who pretend ed for some time to treat him as an impostor, but at last avowed her full conviction of his being the son of her brother Edward, and the legitimate heir of the English crown. Perkin, by his prudent conversation and prince ly deportment, ably supported the fiction of his royal de scent ; and the English became daily more and more pre possessed in his favour. Many of the nobles, disgusted with Henry's government, which tended to weaken their influence, and some even of his former favourites, who had been most instrumental in raising him to the throne, moved by credulity or ambition, and probably conceiving that their services had not been sufficiently rewarded, meditated a revolt in favour of his enemy. A regular conspiracy was formed against his authority ; a corres pondence settled between the malcontents in England and the pretender's friends in Flanders ; and the whole nation, interested in the event, was held in a state of wonder and suspence as to the issue of the contest. Hen ry, well informed of all particulars, and conducting him self with his wonted caution and resolution, was active ly employed in counteracting the projects of the conspi rators. He first took measures to undeceive the peo ple, by ascertaining that the Duke of York was really dead, and by inflicting punishments on those who were convicted of having been his murderers. He next ex
erted all his talents of policy and penetration, to detect the proofs of Warbeck's imposture; and, by a skilful employment of spies and bribes, he succeeded in deve loping his whole history, designs, and adherents. He immediately published to the nation the pedigree and adventures of the pretended Duke of York; and when his projects were properly matured, proceeded to inflict punishment upon the principal conspirators. Several men of note were publicly executed, others detained in custody, many pardoned ; and, it has been remarked as a commendable feature of Henry's lenity and discrimi nation in prosecuting conspirators, that, if any one ap peared to have been actuated by conscientious adherence to principle, or by affection towards the house of York, he generally experienced the king's clemency ; but if he had indicated a restless love of change, or a turbulent opposition to the laws by which he was governed, he was then treated with greater severity.
Perkin, having made an unsuccessful attempt to land on the coast of Kent, proceeded to Ireland ; and being there also frustrated in his hopes of support, he bent his course to Scotland. To James IV. who then governed that kingdom, he had been previously recommended by the French monarch, who was dissatisfied with Henry on account of his having joined the confederacy against his attempts upon Italy. This recommendation procur ed him a favourable reception from the King of Scot land; and his own insinuating address so far imposed upon that youthful and unsuspecting prince, that, in the full belief of his royal birth, he gave him in marriage the daughter of the Earl of Huntley, who was nearly re lated to himself, and who was one of the most accom plished ladies of her time. He next entered England at the head of a powerful army in support of his preten sions to the throne, but his story had now become stale, even in the view of the populace ; and the presence of the Scots aroused the English rather to repel, than to join the invaders. A second inroad in his favour was at tended with no better success ; and, upon the conclusior. of a treaty of peace between the two nations, he was obliged to leave Scotland, and to seek a new protector. His interests in Flanders had been completely overthrown, and his access to that country in a great measure barred, by a treaty of commerce with England. Consulting with his followers, Herne, Skelton, and Astley, three bank rupt tradesmen, he determined, under the name of Ri chard IV. to try the affections of the inhabitants of Corn wall, who had recently risen against the levying of a tax, and whose mutinous disposition, notwithstanding the le nity of Henry, still subsisted in a degree which seemed to promise him a ready adherence. On his first ap pearance at Bodmin, he was joined by 3000 of the popu lace, and immediately laid siege to the city of Exeter. Henry, upon receiving information of his proceedings, prepared with alacrity to meet him in the field; and was seconded with the utmost unanimity by the principal no bility and gentry of the kingdom. Perkin, upon hearing of his approach, though his followers now amounted to 7000, lost all hopes of success, and secretly withdrew to the sanctuary at Beaulieu. His wife, Lady Catharine Gordon, falling into the hands of the conqueror, was treated with the greatest generosity, and placed, with a suitable pension, in a reputable station near the person of the queen. Perkin being persuaded, upon the pro mise of pardon, to surrender himself into the hands of the king, was conducted through the streets of London, and committed to custody in the Tower. Birt, impa tient of confinement, he soon made his escape, and, find ing it impracticable to leave the kingdom, fled to the monastery of Thyne. The prior gave him up to the king. after having again secured•his pardon, and he was himself prevailed upon to publish a confession of his im posture. Committed once more to the Tower, he soon renewed his attempts to regain his liberty, and contrived to engage in his plot the young Earl of Warwick, who was confined in the same prison. Their designs being detected, they were both condemned and put to death. The impostor had rendered himself unworthy of mercy; but the execution of the last male of the line of Planta genet, who had been a prisoner from his childhood, and who had merely attempted to escape from oppression, occasioned the greatest discontent among the people, and must be regarded as the darkest blemish in the reign of Henry.