where he was received with all the marks of respect due to the duke of York. The whole kingdom was full of the accomplishments, as well as the singular adventures and misfortunes of the young Plantagenet. From France, the tide of admiration and credulity diffused itself into England; and sir George Nevil, sir John Taylor, and above a hundred gentlemen more, went over to Paris, in order to offer their services to the supposed duke of York, and to share his for tunes. Perkin however was dismissed France, in consequence of the peace of Estaples. He now retired to the duchess of Burgundy, craving her protection, and offering to exhibit before her all the proofs of that birth to which he laid claim. Margaret affected ignorance of his pretensions; she even put on the appearance of distrust, and desired to be instructed before all the world, in his reasons for assuming A. D. 1493. the name which he bore. She put many particular questions to him, seemed astonished at his answers, and at last burst into joy and admiration of his wonderful deliverance, embracing him as her nephew; the true image of Edward, the sole heir of the Plantagenets, and the legitimate successor to the English throne. She assigned him an equi page suitable to his pretended birth, appointed him a guard, engaged every one to pay court to him, and on all occasions honoured him with the appellation of The White Rose of Eng land. The Flemings, swayed by Margaret's authority, readily adopted the fiction of Perkins's royal descent; and as no surmise of his real birth had yet been given, the English from their frequent communication with the Low Countries, were every day more and more prepossessed in favour of the impostor. Not only the populace, ever fond of novelty and desirous of change, but men of the highest birth and quality, disgusted at the severity of Henry's government, began to turn their eyes towards this new claimant. Their passions and prejudices inclined them to give credit to Perkin's pre tensions; tensions; and as little opposition had been made to the prevailing opinion, a regular conspiracy was formed against the king's authority, and a correspondence settled between the malecontents in Flanders and those in England". Henry was informed of all these particulars, and proceeded resolutely, though deliberately, in counter-working the designs of his enemies. His first object was, to ascertain the death of the real duke of York, which he was able to do with a tolerable degree of certainty, two of the persons concerned in the murder being yet alive, and agreeing in the same story. But he found more difficulty, though in the end he was no less successful, in discovering who the extraordinary person was, that so boldly advanced pretensions to his crown. For this purpose he dispersed his spies over all Flanders and England: he engaged many to pretend that they had embraced Perkin's party; he bribed the young man's servants, his confidants, and even his confessor. By these means, he was at last made acquainted with the whole plan of the conspiracy, and with the pedigree, adventures, life, and conversation of the pretended duke of York. The impostor's story was immediately published for the satisfaction of the nation; and as soon as Henry's A. D. 1494. projects were matured, he made the conspirators feel the weight of his resentment. Almost in the same instant he arrested lord Fitzwalter, sir Simon Mountfort, and sir Thomas Thwaites, who were convicted of high treason for promising to aid Perkin, and presently executed. William Stanley, the lord high chamberlain, was also arrested: but greater and more solemn preparations were thought necessary for the trial of a man, whose authority in the nation, and whose domestic intimacy with the king, as well as his former services, seemed to secure him against any accusation or punishment. Henry however was determined to take vengeance on all his enemies. He therefore won over 6. Polyd. Virg. Bacon, Hist. Hen. VII. Sir sir Robert Clifford, Perkin's particular confidant, who, returning to England, on a promise of pardon, accused Stanley as his chief abettor; and after six weeks delay, A. D. 1495. which was interposed in order to shew the king's lenity and coolness, the chamberlain was brought to his trial, condemned, and beheaded". The fate of Stanley made great impression on the minds of the people, and struck Perkin's adherents with the deepest dismay; as they found from Clifford's desertion, that all their secrets were betrayed. The jealous and severe temper of the king kept men in awe, and quelled not only the movements of sedition, but the very murmurs of faction. A general distrust took place: all mutual confidence was destroyed, even among particular friends. Henry, in the mean time, elated with success, and little anxious of dispelling those terrors, or of gaining the affections of the nation, gave every day more and more rein to his rapacious temper, and employed the arts of perverted law and justice, in order to extort fines and compositions from his subjects. His government was in itself highly oppressive: but it was so much the less burdensome, as he took care, like Lewis XI. to restrain the tyranny of the nobles, and permitted nobody to be guilty of injustice or oppression but himself. Perkin now finding his correspondence with the nobility cut off by Henry's vigilance and severity, and the king's authority daily gaining ground among the people, resolved to attempt something which might revive the drooping hopes of his party. With this view he gathered together a band of outlaws, pirates, robbers, and necessitous persons of all nations, with whom he put to sea, and appeared off the coast of Kent; but finding the inhabitants determined to oppose him, he returned to Flanders, and afterward made a descent upon Ireland. The affairs of Ireland, however, were now in so good a posture, that he there met with little success; 7. Ibid. and and being tired of the savage life he was obliged to lead, while skulking among the wild natives, he bent his course towards Scotland, and presented himself to James IV. who then reigned in that kingdom. Perkin had been previously recommended to this prince by the king of France; and the insinuating address and plausible behaviour of the youth himself, seem further to have gained him credit with James, whom years had not yet taught distrust or caution, and who carried his confidence so far, as to give him in marriage the lady Catharine Gordon, daughter of the earl of Huntley, a young lady eminent both for beauty and virtue. A. D. 1436. The jealousy which then subsisted between the courts of England and Scotland was a new recommendation to Perkin; so that James, who had resolved to make an inroad into England, attended by some of his borderers, carried the impostor along with him, in hopes that the appearance of the pretended prince might raise an insurrection in the northern counties. But in this expectation he found himself deceived. Perkin's pretensions were now become stale even in the eyes of the populace: no Englishman of any condition joined him. James, after repeated incursions, attended with various success, therefore, found it necessary to conclude a truce with Henry, Perkin being privately ordered to depart the kingdom. A. D. 1497. Ireland once more afforded a retreat to the impostor. There he hid himself for some time in the wilds and fastnesses: but impatient of a condition, which was both disagreeable and dangerous, he held a consultation with his followers, Horne, Skelton, and Astley, three broken tradesmen, and by their advice resolved to try the affections of the Cornish malecontents, who had lately risen in rebellion on account of an oppressive tax, and whose mutinous disposition still subsisted, notwithstanding the lenity that had been shewn them. No sooner therefore did the pretended prince 8. Bacon. Hist. Hen. VII. Polyd. Virg. appear so common, as not only to interrupt commerce, but in a great measure to suspend all intercourse between one place and another. These evils the joint sovereigns suppressed by their wise policy, at the same time that they extended the royal prerogatives. About the middle of the thirteenth century the cities in the kingdom of Arragon, and after their example those in Castile, had formed themselves into an association, distinguished by the name of the Holy Brotherhood. They exacted a certain contribution from each of the associated towns; they levied a considerable body of troops, in order to protect travellers, and pursue criminals; and they appointed judges who opened courts in various parts of the kingdom. Whoever was guilty of murder, robbery, or any act that violated the public peace, and was seized by the troops of the brotherhood, was carried before their judges; who, without paying any regard to the exclusive jurisdiction which the lord of the place might claim, who was generally the author or abettor of the injustice, tried and condemned the criminals. The nobles often murmured against this salutary institution; they complained of it as an encroachment on one of their most valuable privileges, and endeavoured to get it abolished. But Ferdinand and Isabella, sensible of the beneficial effects of the brotherhood, not only in regard to the police of their kingdoms, but in its tendency to abridge, and by degrees to annihilate, the territorial jurisdiction of the nobility, countenanced the institution upon every occasion, and supported it with the whole force of royal authority. By these means the prompt and impartial administration of justice was restored, and with it tranquility and order returned'. But at the same time their Catholic Majesties (for such was > the title they now bore, conferred on them by the pope) were giving vigour to civil government, and securing their subjects VOL. II. 5. Zurita. Mariana. Zuniga. T 6. Ibid. from |