Page:Archaeologia Volume 13.djvu/28

8 remove to king Henry VI.; this was of no avail when she married the representative of the second son of King Edward III. whose just rights had been usurped by king Henry IV. son of the duke of Lancaster, the third son of that monarch. Yet there appeared but little probability of her husband's ever obtaining the crown, because it had been possessed by the reigning branch of Lancaster by three sovereigns; and the father of Richard her husband had been attainted and executed for treason.

Notwithstanding these discouraging circumstances, she saw her lord, by the assistance of her family interest, raised to the important post of governor of the kingdom, and declared heir apparent of the crown; the parliament acknowlededacknowledged [sic] his claim to be founded in justice, but permitted king Henry VI, the possessor, to enjoy the regal honours for his life, and, cutting off his son Edward, prince of Wales, and all others claiming from the unfortunate monarch, settled the succession in the Yorkists.

The ministers of king Henry VI. having given the duke of York her husband the government of France and Normandy, taught him how to command, not to obey; this was tempting him beyond the power of forbearance, his just rights aiding his ambition: nothing but success, or destruction, could be expected; his rashness only prevented the former, and though he fell, his acknowledged claim naturally vested in his son, who established it upon the ruin of the reigning branch of the Plantagenets.

It may be fairly asked, was it a fortunate or an unhappy event, that the Yorkists prevailed, even to themselves, and their friends, as it laid the foundation of so many misfortunes, and of such atrocious murders amongst them, as never, I think, have been paralleled in the Christian world? Very many of these Cecily lived to be a witness of, and after her death this cruel shedding of blood continued to rage with equal violence until the younger branches became remote, whilst the eldest one was more established. Rh