Page:Landholding in England.djvu/59

 The quarrel of the Roses was a faction fight—no political principle was involved, as was the case in the great Civil War. It is no doubt true that the country at large concerned itself with the quarrel as little as circumstances permitted. But the consequences were none the less deplorable. Besides all the evils of such a disturbance, so long continued, England was ruled for eighty-eight years by kings whose title was more or less openly challenged by a more or less rightful heir—or, worse, by an impostor. For fifty of these years the House of Lancaster maintained itself, in spite of conspiracies and insurrections. Then came sixteen years of civil war, with twelve pitched battles—battles in most of which only a few thousands of each side took part, but which were very fatal to the noble families who cast in their lot with the White or the Red Rose—and in that quarrel it was impossible for any great family to stand aloof. And whatever may be said of the little interest the country took in the business, it was profoundly impressed by the miseries it caused, for Henry VIII. could never have established the despotism he did, but for that dread of a disputed succession, to which he never appealed in vain.

Thus, the Wars of the Roses had destroyed the only class able to resist the pretensions of the Crown. Not until Edward IV. governed by fear were men put to death for words spoken, suggesting a doubt of the King's title, even though the Judges might give their opinion that there was no evidence of treasonable intent. Only the spectre of a renewed civil war could have made Englishmen submit to such a reign of terror. What battle had begun, attainder completed, and Richard III. carried on the work of destroying the men great enough to be formidable.

Then came Henry VII.—the most astute prince of the most astute royal house that ever sat on the throne of England. He was determined there should be no more "king-makers"—great barons who could march against him with 4000 armed retainers. A good many had been killed off in the Wars of the Roses, or had perished on the