Enemies, who were deprived of any Hopes of Affif tance from France.

Having carried this Point, he again thought of his Friends, by fhewing farther Marks of Royal Favour to the Earl of Derby, and Sir William Stanley, his Brother; the Earl he made High Conftable, and Sir William his Lord Chamberlain. Thefe, of all the great Men in the Kingdom, were the two Perfons the King was most indebted to; fince, as all agree, they enabled him to obtain the Victory at Bofworth, which procured him the Crown.

Though the King had happily attained his Ends, with refpect to the Act of Settlement and Succeffion, he knew what the Parliament had done was not agreeable to the People in general, which made him ftill uneafy: He alfo well knew, that the Houfe of York had moft Adherents in the Northern Counties, which put him upon going into the North, in Hopes that his Prefence, with fome Acts of Grace and Favour, might produce a good Effect. With that View he departed from London about two Months after his Marriage, and kept his Eafter at Lincoln; and was there informed, that the Lord Lovell, and others of the late Tyrant Richard's Party were in Arms in the North: However, he continued his Journey to York, where he raised fome Forces, purpofing to go in Perfon against the Rebels. In the mean Time the Duke of Bedford, with the Troops under his Command, came up with them; and the firft Thing he did was to proclaim a Pardon to all thofe that inftantly laid down their Arms, which had the defired Effect, feveral of them fubmitting; (the Lord Lovell, for fear of being delivered up by his Forces, withdrew from them, and retired into Flanders ;) and the Remainder, finding themfelves without a Leader, alfo fubmitted to the King's Mercy. Two Gentlemen, named Stafford, were then befieging Worcester, but, hearing what had paffed in the North,

at

at once abandoned both the Siege and their Troops, which occafioned their Men to difperfe; and they both took Sanctuary in a little Church, which the Court of King's Bench adjudged had no Privilege to protect Traytors; therefore they were taken from thence by Force, the eldeft was executed at Tyburn, and the youngest pardoned. In a Word, this Rebellion was put an End to with only the Life of one Perfon.

September the 20th the Queen was delivered of a Prince, having gone but eight Months with Child, whom the King ordered to be named Arthur, in Memory of the famous Arthur, King of the antient Britons; for Henry, being of the Welch, or British Race, was fond of having it known, that he was a Defcendant from them.

A few Days after the Queen's Delivery the Archbishop of Canterbury died, and was there buried; on which the King immediately conferred this great Dignity in the Church on John Morton, Bishop of Ely; A Man (fays Stow) of excellent Wit, Virtue, and Learning: But his Majefty did not ftop there, for he not only made him Lord High Chancellor, and Prime Minister, but also procured him a Cardinal's Cap.

During these Tranfactions the People fhewed great Uneafinefs at the Confinement of the Earl of Warwick, who had been guilty of no Crime, and looked on it as very great Injustice, a Report being raised, that the King had a-mind to make away with this Prince, who was an Eye-fore to him; by which it plainly appeared, that, though the King had lately put an End to one Rebellion, they were ripe for another; and that his Enemies thought it their best Way to improve it. For that Purpose they caufed it to be fpread abroad, that one of Edward the IVth's Sons was ftill alive; the Design of this Report was, no doubt, to compare Henry with Richard, and thereby make the People D 4

believe,

believe, that, in changing Kings, they had only received one Ufurper for another. The People eafity fwallowed thefe falfe Reports, which was a clear Evidence, how ready they would be, if a favourable Opportunity offered, to lift against the King.

Thefe Murmurs of the People were the Forerunners of new Troubles; for the Sword of Civil Diffention, which had fo many Years been drawn betwixt the two Houfes of York and Lancaster, had not been long fheathed on the Death of Richard, and putting an End to the Rebellion we have been speaking of, before the Enemies, to Henry and England's Quiet, raised up Impoftors and Counterfeits, to interrupt the Peace, Joy, and Tranquillity, which this Nation might reasonably have expected from the Acceffion of Henry the VIIth to the Throne, and his marrying with the Heirefs of the Houfe of York.

The starting up of the firft Pretender to Henry's Throne was by the Means of one Richard Simon, an Oxford Priest, who, perceiving that the People were overjoyed at what had been blazed abroad, as to one of Edward the IVth's Sons being alive, took it in his Head to impofe upon the World a young Man, one Lambert Simnell, a Baker's Son, who fhould perfonate the Duke of York. He had the Education of this Boy, who was then about that Duke's Age, of good natural Parts, and in all his Behaviour had fomething grand, and above his Birth. Scarce had he begun to inftruct his Pupil in the Part he was to act, but another Report was fpread, that the Earl of Warwick had escaped out of the Tower; and this, like the first, though falfe, caufed among the People fo great Joy, that Simon thought fit to alter his Project, and make Simnell pafs for the Earl of Warwick; but, judging it not proper to prefent him first in England, Simnell, by the Direction of his Tutor, made the best of his way into Flanders to Margaret of Burgundy, who re

ceived him with all Favour, and publickly declared for

him.

The Earl of Lincoln was then at her Court; who was Son of John de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk, and Elizabeth, Sifter to Edward the IVth, and Richard the IIId. As foon as the Earl heard that the Dutchefs had efpoufed Simnell's Caufe, he alfo declared for him.

Margaret was Sifter to the Earl's Mother, and Widow of Charles, furnamed the Hardy, Duke of Burgundy, by whom she had no Children. Still fhe ardently defired to fee her Family replaced on the Throne of England; and Hiftorians tell us, fhe hated Henry the VIIth, and that he had the Spirit of a Man, and the Malice of a Woman. In truth, fhe fo effectually aided Simnell, that he paffed into Ireland, where the Earl of Kildare, who was then Deputy, received him like a Prince; and the Populace attended him with great Solemnity to the Castle of Dublin. The Youth became it well, and did nothing that in the leaft betrayed the Baseness of his Birth; and foon after he was proclaimed in Dublin, by the Name of Edward the VIth.

No fooner had the People of Ireland proclaimed Simnell King, but the Dutchefs of Burgundy fent them a Reinforcement of 2000 Germans, commanded by Colonel Martin Swart, who was accompanied thither by the Earl of Lincoln, the Lord Lovell, and the rest of the English Rebels in her Court. All this while there was not one Sword drawn to defend King Henry's Title.

Thefe Proceedings in Ireland greatly alarmed the King, who thereon called a Council, which was held with great Secrecy. It was faid, the Queen Dowager was accused of being one of the principal Encouragers of this Rebellion; but whether that Charge was true, or not, does not fully appear, tho' certain it is, that, foon after the holding of this Council, the following Orders were published.

First,

< First, That the Queen Dowager should be fhut up in the Nunnery of Bermondsey, in Southwark, (fome Walls of which remain to this Day) and forfeit all her Lands and Goods.

• Second, That the true Earl of Warwick should be publickly fhewn, to convince the People that the Perfon in Ireland, who had affumed his Title, was an Impoftor.

Third, That a general Pardon should be pro⚫ claimed to all fuch as fubmitted themselves by a • certain Day.'

Thefe Refolutions of the King and Council were in time put in Execution; the Pardon was proclaimed, the Queen Dowager was fhut up in the Nunnery, and all her Eftate feized, though fhe was Mother to the Queen.

This Lady was one Example of great Variety of Fortune; fhe was the Daughter of the Dutchess of Bedford, and was first married to Sir Thomas Grey, who had one Son by her, named Thomas; the Knight was killed at the Battle of St. Alban's, fighting on the Behalf of Henry the VIth; his Widow and Son retired to her Mother, the Dutchefs of Bedford, with whom they refided for fome Time. Upon Edward the IVth's fucceeding to the Crown, he feized the Family Eftate; but an Accident foon after fell out, that proved very advantageous to the young Widow.

Edward, being a hunting near the Dutchess's Seat, made her a Vifit, where he found the young Widow and her Son, which Opportunity fhe took to follicit his Majefty to restore to her the Family Estate. The King, being charmed with her Beauty, readily complied with her Request: And, in his Turn, became a Suitor to the Lady, for a Favour of another kind; but in this Edward met with a Repulfe, the Lady fignifying, that she thought herself unworthy to be bis Wife, and too good to be his Miftrefs. The