in token of reconciliation, marching together, arm in arm, as friends and brothers.

It soon appeared, however, that this was but a vain spectacle. In the following year, we find the Yorkists again in arms, headed by the Earl of Salisbury, who gained a victory over a division of the king's troops at Bloreheath, after which he joined the Duke of York at Ludlow. The king, however, marching with a large army upon their combined forces, the insurgents were dispersed and their leaders compelled to flee. York escaped to Ireland, where he possessed great influence ; and the Earl of Warwick to Calais, of which he was then governor.

Returning in the subsequent year, Warwick soon appeared with a large army and obtained possession of London. He then marched northwards, and, in July 1460, overthrew the royalists at Northampton, taking the king prisoner, whom he conducted to London. York here rejoined his successful ally, and, at a Parliament which had been summoned after the victory, he publicly asserted, for the first time, his claim to the crown. After some discussion, it was agreed that Henry should retain the royal authority during his life; but that, on his death, it should descend to York or his heirs. By this arrangement, Edward, Prince of Wales, son of Henry and Margaret, was excluded from the succession.

But, in the meantime, the indomitable Margaret, with those nobles who had always adhered to the fortunes of Lancaster, was preparing for a new struggle; and, by the month of December, she had assembled a large army in the north. York and Salisbury hastening to meet her, the contending parties came to action near Wakefield, where the Yorkists were defeated, the Duke slain, and the Earl of Salisbury executed. Margaret, giving full scope to the fury of her resentment, caused the Duke of York's head to be encircled with a crown of paper and nailed in derision to the gates of the town of York His son, the Earl of

Rutland, a boy twelve years - Wa Lord Clifford, in revenge c 2 we who had been slain at St Albans

these extinguished e

devery ingering seLIIDER: " in the breasts of the adversaries; alte We? Was forth carried on in a stern of rulliess exieriilaa... Edward, Earl of Mares, eldest set alt retere tive of the Duke of York, was at Gunesien received information of his father's deat. Fr thereupon to London, he was lowed by a lo body of Welsh and Irish, that bog opt LP THES seriously molested his march. Facing rout Igaged with them at Mortimer's Cross Te and, having obtained the victory, the not other leaders that fell into his hands were. 11 a, ance with that spirit of retaliation that Lac DOW L an invariable characteristic of this bloody teva exernext day at Hereford. Being joined by the Ear wick, who had in the meantime been deleateLT garet at St Albans, Edward entered the cap disregarding the arrangement by which Henry conceded the crown for life, he caused himself to be proclaimed king, under the title of Edward the Four Margaret, accompanied by Henry, who ad imez released from his enemies by the victory at Ala withdrew to the north, which had awETE ME 2 much the stronghold of the Lancastrians 25 100 20 the south had now become that of the

With an army

of 60,000 men, she award at the 20

of York the approach of Edward, was 0vancing with a somewhat inferior force; a 29th of March 1461, the hostile faci E engaged in deadly conflict. The dire em memorable for the obstinate ferocity of the sonigans and for the dreadful slaughter that ensued. 10 near Towton, a village in Yorkshire. The bate col menced at nine in the morning, and continue with merciless fury till three in the anera that time the Lancastrians begar

retreat was cut off by a river; and, as quarter had been forbidden on both sides, the fugitives were slaughtered without pity. The loss of the vanquished is said to have amounted to 28,000 men.

This victory fixed the crown on the head of Edward; and the cause of the Red Rose now seemed desperate. Margaret, who bore these reverses with her usual fortitude, made various unsuccessful efforts to retrieve the fortunes of her family; but, after the battles of Hedgeley Moor and Hexham, in 1464, which resulted in the defeat of her partizans, and the execution, as usual, of the leaders, the Lancastrians abandoned the contest.

The

At

After the lapse of several years, a misunderstanding arose between Edward and the Earl of Warwick. king having in 1464 married Lady Elizabeth Grey, that nobleman and his family began soon after to find themselves supplanted in the king's favour by the numerous relations of the queen. Quarrels and reconciliations took place on various occasions between Edward and his powerful subject; but their mutual suspicion and animosity continued to increase. length, after several insurrections in which Warwick was implicated had broken out, he threw off the mask, and in 1470 openly took up arms against his sovereign. Being compelled to flee, however, he arrived in France, where, at the court of Louis XI., he met his ancient enemy, Queen Margaret. The injuries inflicted by these two individuals upon each other had been of the most deadly description. Warwick had been the evil genius of the house of Lancaster; and Margaret had put to death his father, besides many others of his dearest friends. Edward, however, was now the object of their common hatred; old animosities were forgotten; and a reconciliation took place, on the footing that Warwick was to assist in dethroning Edward and restoring Henry. This agreement was ratified by the marriage of Edward, son of Margaret, to Anne, youngest daughter of Warwick.

That nobleman accordingly returned to England

about five months after his flight, and conducted his measures so successfully, that Edward, taken by surprise, was glad, in his turn, to make his escape to the Continent. The unfortunate Henry, who had been for years confined a prisoner to the tower of London, was now produced and once more proclaimed king.

Edward took refuge at the court of the Duke of Burgundy, his brother-in-law; and, having been assisted by that nobleman with men and money, he returned to England after the absence of a few months. Landing in Yorkshire, his followers increased so rapidly, that in a few weeks he saw himself at the head of 60,000 men. On the 14th of April 1471, an engagement between him and Warwick took place at Barnet, which resulted in the death of that nobleman and his brother Montague, with the defeat of the Lancastrians. Margaret, with Prince Edward, arrived from France on the very day of the battle; and the defeat of her forces at Tewkesbury a week afterwards, with the murder of her son in the tent of King Edward, completed the misfortunes of that heroic princess, who died several years afterwards an exile in France. Her unhappy husband was put to death in the Tower on the day that Edward's victorious army entered London in triumph.

Edward enjoyed undisturbed possession of the crown until his death; and the union of the two houses by the marriage of Elizabeth, his daughter, to Henry, Earl of Richmond, in 1485, put a period to these sanguinary and calamitous wars. During their continuance, no fewer than eighty princes of the bloodroyal of England perished on the field or on the scaffold; and many of the nobility who had escaped a violent death, ended their lives in beggary abroad. The sufferings of the common people may be inferred from the slaughter that took place in the various battles, and from the devastation that almost invariably marked the track of the rival armies. It is asserted that sixty villages were destroyed within twelve miles of Warwick.

SKELETONS.

I.-The Norman Conquest.

Death of Edward the Confessor-Harold's call to the throne-His descent-Connection with Edward— His character-Claim of William of Normandy to the English Crown-His character-His preparations for the invasion of England-His landing-State of Harold's kingdom-Invasion by Tostig-His defeat-Harold's march against William-Position of the two armies— The battle-Death of Harold-Fall of the Saxon and establishment of the Norman dynasty-Effects of the Norman Conquest.

II.-Summary of the Reign of Edward III.

Deposition of Edward II.-Accession of Edward III. -War with Scotland-Battle of Halidon Hill-Origin of the English claim to the crown of France-Battle of Cressy-Edward the Black Prince-Siege of Calais -Battle of Poitiers-Two royal captives in England— Treaty of Bretigny-Accession of Charles V.-Renewal of the war-Reverses of Edward-Death of the Black Prince-Death of Edward-England during his reign -His career and character.

III.-The Spanish Armada.

Philip II. of Spain-His preparations for the invasion of England-The Armada-Measures of ElizabethEnglish Navy and Commanders-Misfortunes and delay of the Spanish expedition-Appearance of the Armada in the English Channel-Tactics of the English-The engagements-The storms-Result of the expedition,

EXERCISES.

1. The Landing of Cæsar in Britain. 2. Some Account of the Saxons to the end of the Heptarchy. 3. History of the Civil Wars in the reign of Charles I. 4. Rebellion of 1745. 5. Historical Account of Magna Charta. 6. The Gunpowder Plot.