King Richard the Third was up betimes in the morning, and went toWestminster Hall. In the Hall was a marble seat, upon which he sathimself down between two great noblemen, and told the people thathe began the new reign in that place, because the first duty of asovereign was to administer the laws equally to all, and tomaintain justice. He then mounted his horse and rode back to theCity, where he was received by the clergy and the crowd as if hereally had a right to the throne, and really were a just man. Theclergy and the crowd must have been rather ashamed of themselves insecret, I think, for being such poor-spirited knaves.
The new King and his Queen were soon crowned with a great deal ofshow and noise, which the people liked very much; and then the Kingset forth on a royal progress through his dominions. He wascrowned a second time at York, in order that the people might haveshow and noise enough; and wherever he went was received withshouts of rejoicing - from a good many people of strong lungs, whowere paid to strain their throats in crying, 'God save KingRichard!' The plan was so successful that I am told it has beenimitated since, by other usurpers, in other progresses throughother dominions.
While he was on this journey, King Richard stayed a week atWarwick. And from Warwick he sent instructions home for one of thewickedest murders that ever was done - the murder of the two youngprinces, his nephews, who were shut up in the Tower of London.
Sir Robert Brackenbury was at that time Governor of the Tower. Tohim, by the hands of a messenger named John Green, did King Richardsend a letter, ordering him by some means to put the two youngprinces to death. But Sir Robert - I hope because he had childrenof his own, and loved them - sent John Green back again, riding andspurring along the dusty roads, with the answer that he could notdo so horrible a piece of work. The King, having frowninglyconsidered a little, called to him Sir James Tyrrel, his master ofthe horse, and to him gave authority to take command of the Tower,whenever he would, for twenty-four hours, and to keep all the keysof the Tower during that space of time. Tyrrel, well knowing whatwas wanted, looked about him for two hardened ruffians, and choseJohn Dighton, one of his own grooms, and Miles Forest, who was amurderer by trade. Having secured these two assistants, he went,upon a day in August, to the Tower, showed his authority from theKing, took the command for four-and-twenty hours, and obtainedpossession of the keys. And when the black night came he wentcreeping, creeping, like a guilty villain as he was, up the dark,stone winding stairs, and along the dark stone passages, until hecame to the door of the room where the two young princes, havingsaid their prayers, lay fast asleep, clasped in each other's arms.And while he watched and listened at the door, he sent in thoseevil demons, John Dighton and Miles Forest, who smothered the twoprinces with the bed and pillows, and carried their bodies down thestairs, and buried them under a great heap of stones at thestaircase foot. And when the day came, he gave up the command ofthe Tower, and restored the keys, and hurried away without oncelooking behind him; and Sir Robert Brackenbury went with fear andsadness to the princes' room, and found the princes gone for ever.
You know, through all this history, how true it is that traitorsare never true, and you will not be surprised to learn that theDuke of Buckingham soon turned against King Richard, and joined agreat conspiracy that was formed to dethrone him, and to place thecrown upon its rightful owner's head. Richard had meant to keepthe murder secret; but when he heard through his spies that thisconspiracy existed, and that many lords and gentlemen drank insecret to the healths of the two young princes in the Tower, hemade it known that they were dead. The conspirators, thoughthwarted for a moment, soon resolved to set up for the crownagainst the murderous Richard, Henry Earl of Richmond, grandson ofCatherine: that widow of Henry the Fifth who married Owen Tudor.And as Henry was of the house of Lancaster, they proposed that heshould marry the Princess Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of thelate King, now the heiress of the house of York, and thus byuniting the rival families put an end to the fatal wars of the Redand White Roses. All being settled, a time was appointed for Henryto come over from Brittany, and for a great rising against Richardto take place in several parts of England at the same hour. On acertain day, therefore, in October, the revolt took place; butunsuccessfully. Richard was prepared, Henry was driven back at seaby a storm, his followers in England were dispersed, and the Dukeof Buckingham was taken, and at once beheaded in the market-placeat Salisbury.
The time of his success was a good time, Richard thought, forsummoning a Parliament and getting some money. So, a Parliamentwas called, and it flattered and fawned upon him as much as hecould possibly desire, and declared him to be the rightful King ofEngland, and his only son Edward, then eleven years of age, thenext heir to the throne.
Richard knew full well that, let the Parliament say what it would,the Princess Elizabeth was remembered by people as the heiress ofthe house of York; and having accurate information besides, of itsbeing designed by the conspirators to marry her to Henry ofRichmond, he felt that it would much strengthen him and weakenthem, to be beforehand with them, and marry her to his son. Withthis view he went to the Sanctuary at Westminster, where the lateKing's widow and her daughter still were, and besought them to cometo Court: where (he swore by anything and everything) they shouldbe safely and honourably entertained. They came, accordingly, buthad scarcely been at Court a month when his son died suddenly - orwas poisoned - and his plan was crushed to pieces.
In this extremity, King Richard, always active, thought, 'I mustmake another plan.' And he made the plan of marrying the PrincessElizabeth himself, although she was his niece. There was onedifficulty in the way: his wife, the Queen Anne, was alive. But,he knew (remembering his nephews) how to remove that obstacle, andhe made love to the Princess Elizabeth, telling her he feltperfectly confident that the Queen would die in February. ThePrincess was not a very scrupulous young lady, for, instead ofrejecting the murderer of her brothers with scorn and hatred, sheopenly declared she loved him dearly; and, when February came andthe Queen did not die, she expressed her impatient opinion that shewas too long about it. However, King Richard was not so far out inhis prediction, but, that she died in March - he took good care ofthat - and then this precious pair hoped to be married. But theywere disappointed, for the idea of such a marriage was so unpopularin the country, that the King's chief counsellors, Ratcliffe andCatesby, would by no means undertake to propose it, and the Kingwas even obliged to declare in public that he had never thought ofsuch a thing.
He was, by this time, dreaded and hated by all classes of hissubjects. His nobles deserted every day to Henry's side; he darednot call another Parliament, lest his crimes should be denouncedthere; and for want of money, he was obliged to get Benevolencesfrom the citizens, which exasperated them all against him. It wassaid too, that, being stricken by his conscience, he dreamedfrightful dreams, and started up in the night-time, wild withterror and remorse. Active to the last, through all this, heissued vigorous proclamations against Henry of Richmond and all hisfollowers, when he heard that they were coming against him with aFleet from France; and took the field as fierce and savage as awild boar - the animal represented on his shield.
Henry of Richmond landed with six thousand men at Milford Haven,and came on against King Richard, then encamped at Leicester withan army twice as great, through North Wales. On Bosworth Field thetwo armies met; and Richard, looking along Henry's ranks, andseeing them crowded with the English nobles who had abandoned him,turned pale when he beheld the powerful Lord Stanley and his son(whom he had tried hard to retain) among them. But, he was asbrave as he was wicked, and plunged into the thickest of the fight.He was riding hither and thither, laying about him in alldirections, when he observed the Earl of Northumberland - one ofhis few great allies - to stand inactive, and the main body of histroops to hesitate. At the same moment, his desperate glancecaught Henry of Richmond among a little group of his knights.Riding hard at him, and crying 'Treason!' he killed his standard-bearer, fiercely unhorsed another gentleman, and aimed a powerfulstroke at Henry himself, to cut him down. But, Sir William Stanleyparried it as it fell, and before Richard could raise his armagain, he was borne down in a press of numbers, unhorsed, andkilled. Lord Stanley picked up the crown, all bruised andtrampled, and stained with blood, and put it upon Richmond's head,amid loud and rejoicing cries of 'Long live King Henry!'
That night, a horse was led up to the church of the Grey Friars atLeicester; across whose back was tied, like some worthless sack, anaked body brought there for burial. It was the body of the lastof the Plantagenet line, King Richard the Third, usurper andmurderer, slain at the battle of Bosworth Field in the thirty-second year of his age, after a reign of two years.