battle, at Horn, five or six miles from Stamford, but in Rutlandshire, and near the borders of Lincolnshire. The battle is called by several names, as the battle of Stamford, Hornfield, and Losecoat Field. Warwick and Clarence had assembled forces, and appear to have intended to have joined the insurgents, but their too hasty proceedings prevented the design of the former, Warwick and Clarence then proceeded into Lancashire, in hopes of being joined by Thomas, Lord Stanley, who had married Warwick's sister, but were disappointed by Stanley's refusal; and not being able to effect anything against Edward, as they had hoped, in Yorkshire, they found it requisite to provide for themselves in all haste, proceeded to Devonshire, obtained ships, and embarked at Dartmouth. They sailed towards Calais, of which town Warwick was Captain; but Vauclerc, a Gascon gentleman, whom he had constituted his Lieutenant there, opposed his entrance, and the cannon of Calais fired upon him, although he privately gave reasons to Warwick, to excuse his conduct.

The Duchess of Clarence was delivered of a son, afterwards the unfortunate Edward, Earl of Warwick, and it was with difficulty that they got permission for the infant to be christened at the church in the town, and obtained two flaggons of wine for the refreshment of the ladies, who were sick on board. Warwick then landed in Normandy, and receiving much countenance from the French King, applied himself to Queen Margaret (wife of King Henry VI.), who had fled thither for safety; and Warwick, the better to unite his and the Lancastrian interest together, matched his daughter Anne to Edward, Prince of Wales, son of Henry VI. and of Queen Margaret, taking a solemn oath to restore King Henry; by which course he obtained no small assistance from the Queen's friends.

There were many reasons for surmising that a league so formed, between Margaret, Warwick, and Clarence,

contained too many manifest elements of discord to last long. Clarence, by supporting Margaret, and taking measures for the restoration of Henry, and the ultimate succession to the crown of the Prince of Wales, was uniting himself to the greatest enemies of his family, was acting contrary to his own interests, and was virtually excluding himself and his children from the chance of succeeding to the throne. King Edward was too sagacious not to try to open the door to a reconciliation with Clarence; and as negotiating by means of a female, could be effected with less suspicion, than would have been excited if a man had been sent over to Clarence, a trustworthy and talented lady was sent to France, ostensibly to the Duchess of Clarence, but with secret instructions to induce Clarence to desert the party of Warwick, and to rejoin that of Edward; and she so cleverly executed the commission, that notwithstanding Clarence was the son-in-law of Warwick, in consequence of having married Isabel his daughter, Clarence promised that at a convenient opportunity he would desert Warwick and join Edward. Warwick was completely ignorant of what was arranged, and fully relied upon the co-operation of Clarence.

Warwick and Clarence landed shortly afterwards in the West of England, and proclaimed King Henry. Warwick's power and popularity were so great, and such numbers. came in to him, that he had soon a large army under his command; and King Edward was forced to fly and go abroad, and try and obtain some aid from Charles, Duke of Burgundy, who had married his sister. Warwick entered London in October, 1470, delivered King Henry out of the tower, and set him again upon the throne.

After Henry's restoration, Warwick virtually ruled the kingdom in Henry's name, and was made Lord High Admiral of England.

Phillippe de Commines having been sent to Calais, by the Duke of Burgundy, to treat with Vauclerc, reports that Warwick was so popular, that every one wore his badge, no man esteeming himself in the fashion who was not adorned with the ragged staff; nor was any door frequented that had not his cross painted upon it; and that Vauclerc himself wore in his hat a jewel, upon which was a ragged staff, embroidered with gold.

The Earl of Warwick's power, although then great, was exceedingly transient; for in a very few months another revolution occurred, as sudden as the last. Edward returned, with some few forces and friends, from the Continent, landed at Ravenspur, in Yorkshire, and entered the city of York. He proceeded southward from thence, his army greatly increasing on the way, and presented himself before Coventry, where Warwick was strongly posted with his forces, awaiting the expected arrival and junction of the troops under his brother, the Marquis of Montague, and his son-in-law, the Duke of Clarence. Warwick, under those circumstances, did not then choose to engage in battle, and Edward marched on towards London, which Warwick expected would hold out until he could arrive to its relief; and he accordingly commenced his march in that direction. Disastrous tidings, however, soon reached him. He soon received the intelligence that Edward had been joyfully received into London; that Clarence had deserted the Lancastrian party, and had gone over, with all his army, and joined Edward near the town of Warwick; and that Henry, instead of being a King, was a prisoner.

Warwick was now in a situation of great danger; he was too far advanced to retreat, with much chance of success; was a considerable distance from any place of safety; and was in the face of a superior army; and although Clarence offered his mediation between Edward

and Warwick, the latter was too proud and spirited to accept his intervention, but indignantly rejected it, and prepared for battle. Warwick's army was encamped at a place then called Gladmore Heath, now enclosed, on the north-westward side of Barnet, from which it is distant about a mile, and just beyond the small village of Hadley, in the county of Middlesex, but very near the borders of Hertfordshire. Edward had advanced with his army from London to Barnet, and passing through it, encamped and passed the night prior to the battle in the open field, near the forces of Warwick.

On Easter Sunday, the 14th of April, 1471, the battle of Barnet was fought between the rival armies, and terminated in a complete victory obtained by the Yorkists over the Lancastrians; in which the Earl of Warwick the Marquis of Montague, many knights and gentlemen, and a great number of common soldiers, were slain. Phillippe de Commines informs us that Warwick never used to fight on foot; but his practice was, when he had led his men to the charge, then to take horse, and if victory fell on his side, to fight amongst his soldiers, otherwise to depart in time; but that at this battle, he was induced by his brother, the Marquis of Montague, to alight on foot, and send away his horse.

The bodies of Warwick and the Marquis of Montague were conveyed in a cart to London, and exposed to view in St. Paul's Cathedral Church for three days, in order that no doubt might exist as to their deaths; they were then buried in Bisham Abbey, in Berkshire, which had been founded or endowed by an ancestor, one of the Montagues: the Abbey was destroyed at the dissolution of Monasteries; their tombs were broken, and all knowledge of the exact spots where their mortal remains were interred, is now utterly forgotten.

So terminated the career of the great Earl of Warwick,

one of the most valiant and powerful noblemen that England has ever produced, and one who has been correctly described as the "the proud setter up and puller down of Kings;"" the correctness of which observation is evinced, by his having been mainly instrumental in dethroning Henry VI., and making Edward IV. a King; and again in dethroning Edward and restoring Henry.

Warwick (wounded).-For who liv'd King, but I could dig his grave?

And who durst smile when Warwick bent his brow?

Lo, now my glory smear'd in dust and blood!
My parks, my walks, my manors that I had,

Even now forsake me; and of all my lands,

Is nothing left me but my body's length."

Shakespeare's Henry VI., Part 3, Act 5, Scene 2 (A Field of Battle near Barnet.)

The following paper was then read:

ON SOME OF THE MINOR NATURAL HISTORY EXCURSIONS MADE DURING THE

LAST MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. BY T. C. ARCHER, Esq., V.P.,

PROFESSOR OF BOTANY, QUEEN'S COLLEGE.

EVERY naturalist is aware of the value of actual work in the field, but it is not always easy to convince the fireside student that more may frequently be gained in a few walks with accomplished masters of natural history, than can be acquired by years of study assisted by books alone. Indeed it is almost impossible to over-estimate the value of "field days" to the really ardent naturalist, especially when these pleasant and healthful studies are shared by agreeable companions.

(1) Shakespeare's Henry VI., Part 3, Act 3, Scene 3. It is remarkable, that in the same Tragedy, in Act 2, Scene 3, Shakespeare conveys the same sentiment, but in different words-" Thou setter up and plucker down of Kings."