his two brothers, both of whom were very bad men. In 1478 one of them (the Duke of Clarence) spoke saucily of the king, and Edward, who had never liked him, had him put to death.

There is a story that the duke was allowed to choose his own death, and that being fond of Malmsey wine, he asked to be drowned in a butt of it; but this seems hardly likely to be a true tale.

Edward seemed unable to forgive any one who had sided with poor foolish Henry VI., and tried to kill all the Lancastrian party. He succeeded in catching a great many of them, and then gave himself up to every kind of self-indulgence. He pretended to wish to make war with France; but it ended in his becoming like a saucy beggar, and asking for money to keep away, which the French king, from time to time, gave him. Next Edward set his heart upon a marriage between his eldest daughter and the eldest son of the King of France. But this marriage never came off, and it is said that the disappointment caused Edward's death, which took place in the year 1483.

In this reign printing was first introduced into England. Of course until this time there were very few books, for it took a long, long, time to write books by hand. Most books were copied by the monks or clergymen, and were written on parchment.

CHAPTER XVIII.

EDWARD V., 1483.

AND now comes the shortest reign in our history ;-the story of an uncrowned king. Little Edward V. might have had a long and happy reign, for the people were ready enough to make him their king. You remember, though, that Edward IV.'s two brothers were as wicked as himself. The Duke of Clarence, as you know, had been put to death; but Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was still alive, and he did not intend to let his little nephew be king. But he had not the courage to try to seize the throne by force. Oh, no! Richard, like most cruel people, was cowardly.

death of his father, came

When Edward V., on the to the throne, he was staying with his mother's brother, Lord Rivers, at Ludlow. Now Richard's first scheme was to meet the lad, who was on his way from his uncle's to be crowned in London. The young king had not many people with him, and so Richard easily overpowered them. Lord Rivers and three other gentlemen were sent to Pontefract, and there imprisoned, and all the rest of the king's followers were dismissed, and told they should be put to death if they ever came near the court. Poor little Edward was dreadfully frightened; but his uncle assured him that all he had done was from the best motives. But the poor queen, Edward's mother, who had always distrusted the Duke of Gloucester, was terrified when she heard what had happened,

and, taking her second son and her five little girls with her, took refuge at Westminster. The good Archbishop of York went there to see her, and tried to comfort her, but in vain.

Meanwhile Gloucester brought the king into London, with much show of respect, riding before him, and calling out to the people who had turned out to see the sight, "Behold your king!" Next Gloucester had several men put to death who he thought were likely to help the queen and her children, the good archbishop and her brother, Lord Rivers, among the rest. But all this time he pretended to be very loyal, and told the queen he should like her second son, the little Duke of York, to come and be with his brother, the king, in order that proper care might be taken of him. The poor queen never saw her sons again. One night, after they had gone to sleep, two men, hired by Richard, entered the room, and smothered the two children with pillows, burying them at the foot of the stairs. For years it was not known what had become of them. Richard got a good many soldiers together, and from terror the people agreed to his being crowned king, which he was in the year 1483.

CHAPTER XIX.

RICHARD III., 1483-1485.

Married Anne Neville.

Had one son, Richard, who died young.

ALL manner of tales are told about King Richard III.'s appearance. Some historians declare that he was crooked

and deformed. Others, again, say that he was rather handsome. But wicked people cannot be really good looking, for a bad temper and cruel disposition are sure to show in the face. Therefore, dear children, if you are fond of looking in the glass, I advise you not to choose for the purpose a time when you feel cross.

The first thing that Richard did after his coronation was to set out in great state to show himself, his wife, and his son, in different parts of England. At York he amused himself by being crowned over again. The next year his wife died, and some writers say that he poisoned her. Whether this is true or not, he certainly did not seem to care much about her death, although he had been very unhappy at that of his son, which took place a few months before.

As you know, Edward IV. had killed most of the Lancastrian party; but in Wales there still lived the young Earl of Richmond, Henry Tudor. Now Henry Tudor's mother was descended from Edward III., and his friends thought that it would be a good plan to strengthen his claim to the crown by marrying him to Elizabeth, the sister of the murdered Edward V. Richard kept spies all over the country to tell him if there were any danger likely to arise from Henry Tudor. But these spies were not as clever as might have been supposed, for while they thought Henry was in France, he was really in Wales, making friends with the people, and getting them to promise to help him against Richard. Afterwards he did go to France for a time; but in 1485, the storm which had been long gathering burst, and he landed with an army at Milford Haven in Wales.

It was a tiny little army, only three thousand men. Richard at first laughed at the idea of there being any danger to be feared. But Welshmen, in large numbers, kept their promise to Henry, and joined his troops. Richard's spies either told him nothing, or what was untrue, and at last he began to get alarmed. In desperation he collected what soldiers he could, and met Henry and his army at Bosworth, near Leicester. The night before the battle many of the king's soldiers deserted him, and joined Henry's side. Before retiring to rest, Richard went round his camp. Finding a sentinel asleep instead of watching, he stabbed him, saying, "He will sleep soundly enough now." But the king might have been thankful if his soldiers had done no worse than sleep. When the battle began, none of them cared to fight for him, and in the middle of the fight, Lord Stanley, one of his chief generals, suddenly turned round and attacked the men behindhim.

Richard saw that all was up, and screaming "Treason! treason!" rushed madly up to Henry Tudor, trying to kill him. Henry's servants gathered round their master to defend him, and attacked Richard, who at last fell, covered with wounds. He was slain near a brook which ran through the battle-field. The water was stained with blood, and for many long years afterwards the country people round refused to use it. Richard's body was thrown carelessly over a horse, and taken to Leicester to be buried.