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 ELIZABETH WOODVILLE, QUEEN OF EDWARD THE FOURTH. Elizabeth Woodville — whose rise from the poor and desti- tute widow of John Grey, son of Lord Ferrers of Groby, to the throne of England, excited no small degree of astonish- ment, and some displeasure, not only in the nation at large, but in certain high quarters — was born in the year 143 1, at Grafton Castle. It seemed as if love had resolved to do more than strike a balance in. the fortunes of the family by thus elevating Eliza- beth as many degrees above the station that Fate seemed to have assigned her, as he had caused her mother to descend below the high estate which her birth and her first marriage gave to her. A princess of the house of Luxumburgh, this lady became the wife of the Duke of Bedford ; and some time after his death, captivated the attractions of Richard Woodville, a squire of Henry the Fifth, and considered the handsomest man in England, she married him privately-, and was for some years his wife before the secret transpired. Not- withstanding this mesalliance, and her indifferent circur stances,* the Duchess of Bedford could not but maintain a certain influence in the kingdom, of which, on the deaths of the queens Katherine and Joanna, she became, for some period, the first lady. Through this influence, and the assistance of Cardinal Beaufort, her husband was raised to the rank of baro: and afterwards Earl of Rivers. As soon as Elizabeth, her eldest daughter, became of an age to fill such an appointment, she was named maid of honor to Margaret of Anjou, with whom her mother was in great favor. Here she made a conquest of the heart of Sir Hugh Johns, a brave but fortuneless adherent of Richard, Duke covery of her second marriage, her dower was forfeited, but on her petitioning parliament, subsequently restored. 209
 * Which were, at one time, particularly distressed ; as, on the dis-