therefore, had nothing to fear from their resentment, states, that immediately on his arrest, the Duke was attacked with an illness, of which he died. Worcester, another contemporary, confirms this statement; and Hardyng, who finished his Chronicle in 146Ô, in speaking of Gloucester, says: " Without faile. When in a parlesy (apoplexy) he died ία. continent For hevynesse and loss of regiment, And ofte before be was in that sykeness, In pointe of dethe." f ._Jj£x,.weeks after the death of Gloucester, Cardinal Beaufort, then eighty ears, of age, breathed his lastj not, Dwever, as depicted by the poetic imagination of Shakspeare, in the agonies of despair, but whilst calmly offering up prayers for himself and his country. The bulk of his property he left to charities. To Margaret he bequeathed the bed and the rich arras hangings of the Queen's chamber in his mansion at Waltham. His executor proffered the King a present of two thousand pounds, which Henry refused, saying, "He was always a good uncle to me whilst he lived. God reward him ! Fulfil his intentions. I will not take the money." It was bestowed on tho two colleges lately founded by the King at Eton and in Cambridge. The death of the Cardinal deprived Margaret of her firmest support. The King shrunk from the cares of government, devoted his attention to religion and philosophy, and left the management of all important state matters in her hands; and she being young, inexperienced, a«d almost a stranger to the customs and prejudices of the English, added to her unpopularity, by continuing her confidence to the Beaufort Cabinet, with Suffolk at its head. But although she naturally entertained a strong friendship for her first English friend, Suffolk, she was not, as Shakspeare would have us believe, his prisoner before her marriage, nor his paramour afterwards. In 1448, Margaret founded and endowed Queen's CoUege, Cambridge, which she dedicated to St. Margaret and St. Bernard. It was at this period that the Queen, to allay the miseries of the nation, to stifle the voice of sedition, and to calm the rude blood-thirsty spirit awakened in the people by the long-continued wars with France, directed the energies of tbo towns to woollen, silk, and other manufactures, and of the country to farming and gardening; but the arts of peace had been so long neglected, that no one could brook the monotony of regular labour; and nothing hut the excitement of battle and plunder could satisfy the combative spirit of tho ago. CHAPTER II. Duke of York aspires to the throne—He is removed from the regency of France—• Which is conferred on Somerset—The loss of France attributed to Margaret— Suffolk impeached—Banished and murdered—Jack Cade insurrection—Return of Somerset increases the Queen's unpopularity—York appeals to arms—Henry prevents a battle by granting his demands—His apprehension—Release—Futileefforts to reconquer Guienne—Death of Talbot. BOUT this time the Duke" of ι ork"oêgàn ^TìaM^^isZe^es towards the throne. This ambitious noble was descended by his mother's side from Lionel, one of the sons of Edward the Third. The reigning King sprung from John of Gaunt, a son of the same Edward, but younger than Lionel; thus the Duke of York's claim by primogenitureship was prior to that of Henry. But the powerful Duke did not immediately disclose his designs. His friends, however,