which the Picture we have here given of him, and his undaunted
Behaviour in marrying one Woman while he was engaged to another,
are sufficient proofs. His Wife was Elizabeth Woodville, a Widow
who, poor Woman! was afterwards confined in a Convent by that
Monster of Iniquity and Avarice Henry the 7th. One of Edward’s
Mistresses was Jane Shore, who has had a play written about her,
but it is a tragedy and therefore not worth reading. Having
performed all these noble actions, his Majesty died, and was
succeeded by his son.
EDWARD the 5th
This unfortunate Prince lived so little a while that nobody had
him to draw his picture. He was murdered by his Uncle’s
Contrivance, whose name was Richard the 3rd.
RICHARD the 3rd
The Character of this Prince has been in general very severely
treated by Historians, but as he was a YORK, I am rather inclined
to suppose him a very respectable Man. It has indeed been
confidently asserted that he killed his two Nephews and his Wife,
but it has also been declared that he did not kill his two
Nephews, which I am inclined to beleive true; and if this is the
case, it may also be affirmed that he did not kill his Wife, for
if Perkin Warbeck was really the Duke of York, why might not
Lambert Simnel be the Widow of Richard. Whether innocent or
guilty, he did not reign long in peace, for Henry Tudor E. of
Richmond as great a villain as ever lived, made a great fuss
about getting the Crown and having killed the King at the battle
of Bosworth, he succeeded to it.
HENRY the 7th
This Monarch soon after his accession married the Princess
Elizabeth of York, by which alliance he plainly proved that he
thought his own right inferior to hers, tho’ he pretended to the
contrary. By this Marriage he had two sons and two daughters,
the elder of which Daughters was married to the King of Scotland
and had the happiness of being grandmother to one of the first
Characters in the World. But of HER, I shall have occasion to
speak more at large in future. The youngest, Mary, married first
the King of France and secondly the D. of Suffolk, by whom she
had one daughter, afterwards the Mother of Lady Jane Grey, who
tho’ inferior to her lovely Cousin the Queen of Scots, was yet an
amiable young woman and famous for reading Greek while other
people were hunting. It was in the reign of Henry the 7th that
Perkin Warbeck and Lambert Simnel before mentioned made their
appearance, the former of whom was set in the stocks, took
shelter in Beaulieu Abbey, and was beheaded with the Earl of
Warwick, and the latter was taken into the Kings kitchen. His
Majesty died and was succeeded by his son Henry whose only merit
was his not being quite so bad as his daughter Elizabeth.
HENRY the 8th
It would be an affront to my Readers were I to suppose that they
were not as well acquainted with the particulars of this King’s
reign as I am myself. It will therefore be saving THEM the task
of reading again what they have read before, and MYSELF the
trouble of writing what I do not perfectly recollect, by giving
only a slight sketch of the principal Events which marked his
reign. Among these may be ranked Cardinal Wolsey’s telling the
father Abbott of Leicester Abbey that “he was come to lay his
bones among them,” the reformation in Religion and the King’s
riding through the streets of London with Anna Bullen. It is
however but Justice, and my Duty to declare that this amiable
Woman was entirely innocent of the Crimes with which she was
accused, and of which her Beauty, her Elegance, and her
Sprightliness were sufficient proofs, not to mention her solemn
Protestations of Innocence, the weakness of the Charges against
her, and the King’s Character; all of which add some
confirmation, tho’ perhaps but slight ones when in comparison
with those before alledged in her favour. Tho’ I do not profess
giving many dates, yet as I think it proper to give some and