altar of the cathedral, solemnly abjured on oath all his pretensions to the throne. Clarence and the Archbishop of York soon afterwards deserted Warwick, and, disguise being no longer needful, the perjured Monarch assumed his own hadge, and tbe battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury again restored him to the throne. On the fifteenth of April Edward entered London in triumph, remanded the unfortunate Henry the Sixth to his prison in the Tower, and took Elizabeth, her children and her mother, out of sanctuary. Whilst Edward won the battle of Tewkc'sbury, the Tower, where Elizabeth and her children then abode, narrowly escaped being taken by storm by the Bastard of Falcon berg, who, with a handful of daring adventurers, made a hold ltut unsuccessful attempt to capture the Queen and liberate the imprisoned Monarch. The rebellion quelled, Edward rewarded Ins friends and followers for their valuable services ; and on the twentysixth of June his eldest son was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester, and seven days afterwards recognised in a great council as the heir-apparent. CHAPTER II. Elizabeth's second son betrothed—Suspicious death of Clarence—Jane S/wre—Edward the Fourth dies—Is succeeded by his son Edward the Fifth—Richard of Gloucester's duplicity—He seizes the young King—Elizabeth fies with her remaining childen to the sanctuary—Gloucester named Frotector—Elizabeth is persuaded to resign the King's brother to his keeping—He accuses Elizabeth of witchcraft- Beheads Hastings, VNN&ffilÊttff\ ^ iiftSllllr ffliff^bf/fl!3lr ' BVYIW tvB ? !Κ*··)) |gIJK' ; I %V ^wÉÊ^^Mi^ Ψ^^^^^^&^ν chapel, and shortly afterwards the no less sudden than singular death of the Duke of Clarence excited the suspicions of the nation. Circumstances, which it belongs to history to detail, led to another rupture between the King and Clarence. At length the latter, after quarrelling with the Duke of Gloucester respecting the partition of the deceased Warwick's possessions, and accusing the Queen of sorcery, was condemned as a traitor. But, as Edward disliked a public execution, he was confined in the Tower, where he died, or more probably was murdered, on the eighteenth of February. A report was circulated that he was accidentaUy drowned in a butt of malmsey wine ; and, as he had given way to habits of intemperance since the death of his wife, his assassins, perhaps, January, 1478, Elizabeth's second son, Richard, Duke York be °f» ™ thed to Anne Mowbray, heiress of tn e Duchy of Nor fo]]^ jn st. Stephen's to save the trouble of shedding his blood, placed the wine in his cell, when, unable to withstand the temptation, he fell a victim to his own frailty. The rest of Edward's life was spent in riot and debauch ery, which fatally undermined his health* He had long been notoriously unfaithful to the Queen, and now he completely deserted her for the bewitching charms of Jane Shore. This unhappy woman had been deluded from her husband, one Shore, a goldsmith, in Lombard Street, and continued with Edward, the most guiltless mistress in his luxurious and abandoned court : she was charitable, generous, ever interceded for the distressed, was ever applied to as a mediator for mercy, ana for wit, beauty, and pleasing conversational powers was unmatched. The Queen never manifested any jealousy of her husband's mistresses—an acquiescence which enabled her to maintain her influence over Edward to the last ; but which renders it doubtful if, as a wife, she really entertained any very great affection for him. Edward the Fourth died at Weslmin