angry with his brother, on account of an old quarrel, he was glad to do a spiteful action to his brother's friend; and he, accordingly, killed a white buck which belonged to this gentleman, and which was a great favourite. Upon this, Burdett flew into a passion, and said, he wished the horns of the deer were in the belly of the man who advised the king to this insult. For these words, Burdett was tried for his life, and hanged at Tyburn. A horrible piece of cruelty, the thoughts of which make us glad that we do not live in such days of tyranny and oppression. We may be sure that the duke of Clarence was grieved and angry at this savage act of revenge, as well as at the loss of his friend, and he spoke out his sentiments plainly, and said that the sentence was both unjust and cruel. For speaking these words, the king ordered the duke of Clarence himself to be put to death; and there is a strange story about the manner in which this sentence was executed. It is said, that the duke was allowed to choose what death he would die; and he chose to be drowned in a butt of Malmsey; a wine of which, it seems, he was very fond. Accordingly, a large cask of this wine was brought into the Tower, and into this the duke was thrown, with his head downwards, and thus was drowned. The king was preparing for a war against the French, when he was seized with an illness, of which he soon afterwards died, at the age of about forty-one. This was in the year 1483. It is impossible to read the history of ancient times, without shuddering at the horrible cruelties which were committed, and the tyrannical manner in which many of the kings of England, in former days, reigned over their people. And it seems that, in the days we are reading of, they were allowed to commit most dreadful acts of oppression, without any sort of check or control. How happy ought we to think ourselves, that we are secure, in these days, from such cruelties and oppressions! There are many people now who complain of the want of liberty, and talk a great deal against the king and the government, and seem full of anger and envy against every body who is richer and greater than themselves. I cannot help seeing that the greater part of these complaints are made without any reason at all. I am sure, if we would fairly consider these things, as we ought to do, that, instead of mur Did this lead to the wars of York and Lancaster? Who was king Henry's wife? How did this queen act? Were many battles fought between the York and Lancaster party? In what battle was the duke of York's army defeated and himself killed? In what battle did the duke's party recover itself? After this success of the York party, who was proclaimed king? In what year was this? What became of Henry the Sixth after Edward the Fourth was proclaimed king? Who was the duke of Gloucester, and what was his cha racter? Why were the war of York and Lancaster sometimes called the wars of the Roses? Which party wore a red rose, and which wore a white one? How many kings have we had of the house of Lancaster ? LETTER XV. MY DEAR BOY, As you seem desirous of attending to these short accounts which I send you of the reigns of the English kings, I am glad to write to you on this subject. If you remember well what I write, you will get a view of some of the principal parts of our history; and when you are old enough to study a larger History of England, you will, perhaps, be able to gain more advantage from it than if you had begun with a large one at first; and even now, by means of these short accounts, you will not be wholly ignorant of the history of your own country. In my last letter, I told you that Edward, the son of the duke of York, was proclaimed king, in the year 1461, by the title of Edward the Fourth. We are informed, that he was one of the finest and handsomest-looking men in the kingdom! But I have no respect for him on that account. I cannot read of any thing that was good in his conduct, but I read of a great deal that was very disgraceful and wicked. He was dreadfully cruel, and revengeful, and profligate. The following story will show you the cruelty of his disposition, and his revengeful spirit. It happened one day, that he was hunting in the park of a gentleman, named Thomas Burdett. Now this gentleman was a great friend of the duke of Clarence, the king's brother: and, as the king was muring and complaining, we should find a great deal indeed to be thankful for. Such cruelties, as we read of in history, could not be practised in our days. Our king and our nobles do not seem to have any wish to injure their inferiors; but, if they had such a wish, the laws would not allow them to do it; and we ought to consider it a great blessing that we live under such just and merciful laws. The poor, as well as the rich, are defended against any injury to their persons or their possessions; and we have all liberty to do every thing that is good and right for us to do. I never could make out what people meant by the cry of liberty, which we often hear so much of. I have lived to be an old man; and I never in all life-time found that there was any law to premy vent me from doing any thing that a Christian man ought to wish to do. As to my going and taking any other man's property, I am thankful that I never had wish for it :-if I had, the laws would have checked me, and very pro to say, any perly too;-but the same laws protect my property likewise. If a person is richer than I am, I have no liberty to go and take away his property from him; and this is very proper : |