Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 2.djvu/18

4 of Oxford for the sun of Edward, fell upon Oxford's followers, supposing them to be Yorkists, and put them to flight. Oxford fled with 800 of his soldiers, supposing himself the object of some fatal treachery, while on the other hand, Warwick, weakened by the apparent defection of Oxford, and his troops thrown into confusion, rushed desperately into the thickest of the enemy, trusting thus to revive the courage of his troops, and was thus slain, fighting.

No sooner was the body of Warwick, stripped of its armour and covered with wounds, discovered on the field, than his forces gave way, and fled amain. Thus fell the great king-maker, who so long had kept alive the spirit of contention, placing the crown first on one head and then on another. With him perished the power of his faction and the prosperity of his family. On the field with him lay all the great lords who fought on his side, except the Earl of Oxford and the Duke of Somerset, who escaped into Wales, and joined Jasper Tudor, the Earl of Pembroke, who was in arms for Henry. The Duke of Exeter was taken up for dead, but being found to be alive, he was conveyed by his servants secretly to the sanctuary at Westminster; but the holiness of the sanctuary does not appear to have proved any defence against the lawless vengeance of Edward, for, some months after, his dead body was found floating in the sea near Dover. On the side of Edward fell the Lords Say and Cromwell, Sir John Lisle, the son of Lord Berners, and many other squires and gentlemen. The soldiers who fell on both sides have been variously stated at from 1,000 to 10,000; the number more commonly credited is about 1,500. The dead were buried on the field, and a chapel erected near the spot for the repose of their souls. The spot is supposed to be at the present time actually marked by a stone column. The bodies of Warwick and Montacute were exposed for three days, naked, on the floor of St. Paul's Church, as a striking warning against subjects interfering with kings and crowns. They were then conveyed to the burial-place of their family in the abbey of Bilsam, in Berkshire.

In the fall of Warwick Edward might justly suppose that he saw the only real obstacle to the permanency of his own power; but Margaret was still alive. She was no longer, however, the elastic and indomitable Margaret who had led her forces up to the battles of St. Alban's, Northampton, Wakefield, Towton, and Hexham. Her astonishing exertions, her severe hardships, and awful reverses had told on her spirit and constitution. Years of reflection in the midst of obscurity and poverty had led her to perceive more clearly the formidable difficulties in the way to a peaceable possession of the throne—the mental condition of her husband, the youth of her son, the power of Warwick—formerly her great enemy, and now her doubtful friend, for he had secured his hold on the throne by the marriage of two of his daughters. There was the ominous clause in the treaty with her and France, that if the issue of her son failed, the throne went to Clarence, the brother of Edward. Heaven and the elements, ever since this unnatural contract, had appeared to oppose her. As "the stars in their courses fought against Sisera," they appeared now to fight against her. All the winter she had been struggling to cross the Channel with her son and her followers, and tempest after tempest had driven her back. Could she have been present with the Lancastrian armies, with the Prince of Wales, thousands would have flocked to the Lancastrian standard who were doubtful of the loyalty of Warwick. But the day that she landed at Weymouth, imagining that she had now nothing to do but to march in triumph to London, and resume with her husband their vacant throne, was the very day of the fatal battle of Barnet. The first news she received was of the total overthrow of her party and the death of Warwick. The life of the great king-maker might have created her future troubles; his fall was her total ruin. Confounded by the tidings, her once lofty spirit abandoned her; she sank on the ground in a death-like swoon.

On recovering her consciousness, Margaret bitterly bewailed her fortunes. She cursed the miserable times in which she lived, and declared that she had rather die than live in so much and so perpetual trouble. She was then in the abbey of Cerne, and with her were her son, now about eighteen years of age; his new bride, the daughter of Warwick; Sir John Fortescue, who had adhered to her through all her exile; Sir Henry Rous, and some others. With these and the rest of her followers she fled to the famous sanctuary of Beaulieu, in the New Forest, where she registered herself and all her attendants as privileged persons. Probably the presence of the Countess of Warwick might make her resort to Beaulieu. The now widowed countess embarked at Harfleur at the same time with the queen, had landed at Portsmouth, and proceeded to Southampton. Here she was met by the news of her husband's death at Barnet, and she fled instantly to Beaulieu.

The moment it was known that Margaret and the prince were at Beaulieu, the Duke of Somerset, the Earls of Devonshire and Oxford, the Lords Wenlock and Beaufort, with many knights and gentlemen, flocked thither, and bade her not despair, for that the Earl of Pembroke was at the head of a strong force in Wales, and her followers were still of good heart. Margaret replied that, for herself, she would remain and do everything possible to turn the tide of victory; but she begged that her son might be allowed to return to France and there await the issue in safety. To this the prince refused to listen, and was unanimously supported in that resolution by the leaders. The forebodings of Margaret were borne down by his zealous opposition, and she said, "Well, be it so."

It was the plan of her generals to hasten to Pembroke; and, having effected a junction with him, to proceed to Cheshire, to render the army effective by a good body of archers. But Edward, always rapid in his movements, allowed them no time for so formidable a combination. He left London on the 19th of April, and reached Tewkesbury on the 3rd of May. Margaret and her company set out from Bath, and prepared to cross the Severn at Gloucester, to join Pembroke and Jasper Tudor. But the people of Gloucester had fortified the bridge, and neither threats nor bribes could induce them to let her pass. She then marched on to Tewkesbury, near which they found Edward already awaiting them.

The troops being worn down by the fatigue of a long and fearful march, Margaret was in the utmost anxiety to avoid an engagement, and to press on to their friends in Wales. But Somerset represented that such a thing was