were warm adherents of the Duke of Gloucester, immediately ordered all the forces they could muster to meet at Pontefract on the 18th, where the Earl of Northumberland awaited to conduct them to London; and, on the 19th, a proclamation from Richard arrived in York, commanding all manner of men in their best defensible array to repair to him. After the bloody tragedy in the Tower-the history whereof Shakspere has rendered so familiar to us -Richard was crowned king, with the title of Richard III., at Westminster. Immediately afterwards he proceeded with his queen to York* where the citizens received him with the pomp and triumph that he loved; and plays and pageants were for several days exhibited in this city. The streets through which he passed were hung with cloths of arms and tapestry, and all was rejoicing and festivity. From Nottingham, the king's secretary had written a letter to York, urging "the gude masters, the mair, recorder and aldermen, and sheriffs," to make splendid preparations for their majesties reception, assuring them of the singular love and zeal which Richard bore to the city of York" afore all other;" and telling them, for the purpose of exciting emulation, "for there be comen many southern lords and men of worship which will mark greatly your resayving thar graces." That Richard was most anxious to appear in an imposing manner before his northern subjects and to win their regard, is thus evident; a fact which the letter,-preserved in the Harleian MSS.-written by himself, from York to Piers Courties, the keeper of his wardrobe, ordering him to send hither an immense, and almost incredible, supply of gorgeous state apparel confirms; which letter also affords a strong presumption in favour of the statement made by Ghent, Drake, Lyttleton, Lingard, and Sharon Turner, that Richard, the better to secure his usurped kingdom, was crowned a second time at York. Drake assures us,

Sharon Turner's History of England.

that the coronation took place in the Chapter House, on the 8th September, 1483, and that the crown was placed on the king's head by Archbishop Rotheram.* On the appointed day, the clergy led the state procession in copes richly vested; and at the most impressive part of the moving pomp, the king appeared with his crown and sceptre, in the fullest majesty which royal apparel could impart. A numerous train of nobility followed, preceding the queen, bearing also her diadem; and leading in her hand her little son, ten years old, with golden rod and demy crown. The effect was as great as the kingly contriver had anticipated or could desire. The flattered and delighted populace of the rude north, which had never witnessed such a spectacle since the days of the Saxon octarchy, shouted their tumultuous rapture, and extolled him to the skies.† Upon this occasion, Richard made good his promise to the citizens, and relieved York for ever of rent paid to the crown of £23 9s. 2d., a vast sum, when the difference in the value of money is estimated and the fact considered, that in those days a quarter of wheat might be purchased for two shillings!

After the battle of Bosworth field, where Richard fell, Richmond ascended the throne as Henry VII., which king, by his marriage with Elizabeth of York, united the houses of York and Lancaster; thus happily putting an end to the fatal feud of the white and red roses. In immitation of his predecessor, Henry made a tour, after his coronation at London, to the north. The new king approaching York was received three miles from the gates by the corporation and citizens on horseback; near the walls by processions of friars, and within the city by vast multitudes. The cry of "the mervellous great nomber of men, women and children on foote," says Hearne, "was King Henry!

* There is a chair in York Minster, which tradition has for ages declared to have been used at the coronation of this king, in the Cathedral.

+ Sharon Turner's History of England.

King Henry! Our Lord preserve that sweet and well favoured face." The people were rejoiced at the prospect of quiet times, and a peaceable succession.

"England had long been mad, and scarred herself;

The brother blindly shed the brothers' blood;
The father rashly slaughter'd his own son,

The son compell'd, been butcher to the sire:
All this divided York and Lancaster,
Divided in their dire division."

Nineteen years afterwards, Henry's daughter, the princess Margaret, a lovely girl, in her eighteenth year, was received in York with much state in her journey to Scotland, to join herself in marriage to James IV., that gay gallant that afterwards fell

On Flodden's fatal field,

Where shivered was fair Scotland's spear,
And broken was her shield.

The princess-afterwards the mother of Mary, queen of Scots-accompanied by five hundred lords and ladies was met at Tadcaster bridge by the sheriffs, and was received at Micklegate Bar by the Lord Mayor, clothed in crimson satin, with his gold chain, and mounted on a horse, with crimson velvet trappings; and the recorder, aldermen, &c., in their state robes. Margaret remained some days in this city. She was presented with a silver cup, gilt with gold; and appeared so well pleased with the citizens that she made a courteous speech to the corporation when she reached Clifton on her journey northward, in which she declared, "My love to you and the city shall continue in my heart as long as life itself." The marriage was not a happy one: James was unfaithful to his queen :

And yet the sooth to tell,

Nor England's fair, nor France's queen,

Were worth one pearl drop, bright and sheen,

From Margaret's eye that fell,

His own Queen Margaret, who in Lithgow's bower,

All lonely sat, and wept the weary hour.*

With a view to the promotion of trade, Henry VII. established ten staple towns in England, with peculiar

Scott's Marmion.

commercial privileges, as marts, where foreigners might find the commodities of the country in abundance; and of these towns York was the second. In the following reign the celebrated Wolsey was created archbishop of this province; being at the same time cardinal, legate of the Pope, Lord Chancellor of England, prime minister of state, Bishop of Durham and Winchester; and with those offices holding the abbeys of St. Albans and Lincoln, divers priories and other great benefices in commendam; also the bishoprics of Bath, Worcester, and Hereford, in farm. It was aptly enough written

Begot by butchers, but by bishops bred,

How high his honour holds his haughty head!*

Cardinal Wolsey, however, never entered his Cathedral at York; although he once reached Cawood, about ten miles distant, from whence he was abruptly summoned by the king; and never was installed.

The reign of Henry VIII. was memorable for the important ecclesiastical changes which was effected in all parts of the kingdom. The suppression of the abbeys and monasteries-in its immediate effects-operated injuriously upon York; for the city contained a large number of wealthy and powerful communities that were thereby dislodged and dispersed.

Indeed the suppression of the monasteries turned so many adrift on the world, that an insurrection broke out in Yorkshire, and both York and Hull were captured by the rebels; which insurrection, however, was speedily put down by the Duke of Norfolk. The effect of these changes will best be estimated, by enumerating the abbeys, hospitals, and chapels, which existed in York before the reformation:

ABBEYS, PRIORIES, MONASTERIES, AND OTHER RELIGIOUS HOUSES.

1. The Abbey of St. Mary; Black Friars, or Benedictines. 2. The Abbey of St. Augustine.

This is one of the most perfect specimens of alliteration to be met with.

3. The Monastery of Franciscans; Grey Friars.

4. The Priory of the Holy Trinity; Benedictines.
5. The Monastery of the Carmelites; White Friars.
6. The College of St. William.

7. The Priory of St. Andrew; Gilbertines.

8. Convent of Nuns, at Clementhorpe; Benedictines. 9. The Monastery of Friars' Preachers; Dominicans.

HOSPITALS, &c.

1. Hospital of our Lady; Horse-fair.

2. Hospital of St. John and our Lady; Fossgate. 3. Hospital of St. Leonard's; Mint Yard.

4. Hospital of St. Anthony; Peaseholm.

5. Hospital of St. Nicholas; without Walmgate Bar. 6. Hospital of St. Thomas; without Micklegate Bar.

7. Hospital belonging to the Merchants' Hall.

8. Hospital of St. Cuthbert; beside St. Nicholas Church. 9. Maison Dieu of the shoemakers: Walmgate.

10. Maison Dieu; Ouse Bridge.

11. Maison Dieu; Tailors' Hall.

12. The Spital of St. Loy; Monk Bridge.

13. The Spital of St. Catharine; without Micklegate Bar. 14. The Spital; Fishergate, beside St. Helens.

15. The House of St. Anthony; Peaseholm-green.

16. The House of St. Anthony; Gillygate.

CHAPELS IN THE CITY AND SUBURBS, BEFORE THE
DISSOLUTION BY HENRY VIII.

1. St. Ann's; Foss-bridge.

2. St. Ann's; Horse-fair.

3. Holy Trinity; Beddern.

4. St. Christopher's.

5. St. Christopher's; Guild Hall.

6. St. Catherine's; Haver-lane.

7. Bishop's Chapel; fields near Clementhorpe. 8. St. George's Chapel; between Foss and Ouse. 9. St. James's; without Micklegate Bar. 10. St. Mary's Chapel; St. Mary's Abbey.