her breast and she died. And an English soldier who was looking on said, "We are undone; we have burned a saint."

28. THE WARS OF THE ROSES (1455-1485).

1. King Henry VI. had nothing to do with the cruel death of Joan. He was but a lad of ten then, and his uncles governed for him. But they wrangled with each other, and with the great nobles of the realm; for as the king was young and sickly, each wanted to rule the kingdom, and perhaps to be king when Henry was dead.

2. Henry VI. led a miserable life amongst them all; for as he grew up, it appeared that he was not right in his mind, and at times he was quite mad. He was not fit to be a king; for in those days a king needed to be very strong and vigorous to enforce the laws and keep peace and order; and so his reign was full of wars and bloodshed. Henry himself was often kept as a captive by powerful nobles, and at last he was murdered.

3. In time the king's uncles died, and Richard, Duke of York, who was the king's cousin, became the most powerful prince in the kingdom, and determined to succeed to the throne on the death of Henry. But when Henry was about thirty years old a son was born to him. Then the Duke of York resolved to seize the crown at once.

4. He had friends among the most powerful noblemen in the country, who believed that if he were king he would govern England as they thought best, and put an end to the misfortunes of the country at home and in France. The Duke of York's nephew, the great Earl of Warwick, took part with him, and they raised an army together and declared war against the king.

5. Then began the Wars of the Roses. The badge of the king's party was a red rose, and the badge of the Duke of York's party was a white rose; and they fought till most of the nobles who had begun the war were slain or dead. The Duke of York was slain in battle, and Warwick also; and King Henry and his son were put to death, with many others. At last Edward, the son of the Duke of York, became king. He was a descendant of Edward III., and many people thought that he had a better right to the kingdom than Henry VI.

29. RICHARD III. (R. 1483-1485).

1. The victory of Edward IV. did not bring back peace for long. The friends of the Red Rose fled away from England, but they soon began to gather strength again. They made friends with all who were discontented with the government, and got ready to invade England and begin the war again. Besides, Edward's two brothers were each ambitious to be king instead of Edward's son. They were called George,

G

Duke of Clarence, and Richard, Duke of Gloucester. They were both wicked young men, violent and false and cruel. George was the elder, but Richard was the cleverer; and from the time that Warwick died, he became the most powerful man in England. All through his brother's reign he worked hard to make friends for himself, and to win the trust of the people.

2. Richard cared little what evil deeds he did, provided he got what he wanted. He had already helped to kill the son of King Henry, and many people believed that he had murdered King Henry as well. Then Richard made Edward believe that the Duke of Clarence was plotting against him, and Edward shut up his brother in the Tower; very soon he too was killed, and again people suspected that it was Richard who had slain him.

3. But Richard was so crafty that, in spite of all his crimes, he managed to persuade a great many people that he was a good man. He could put on the most winning manners, and talk very pleasantly. And though he was deformed, so that people called him "Crook-back Richard," he had a princely look about him his face was handsome, and people liked him till they knew him well.

4. At length Edward the Fourth died. His two sons were quite little boys. So the Duke of Gloucester got himself appointed to rule for them, and the title of Protector was given to him.

5. The two little boys were not fond of their uncle Richard. They had other uncles, brothers of their mother, whom they loved better. So Richard cast the

other uncles into prison, and some of them he even put to death. Then, as he seemed to be the only man able to rule the land strongly, and to keep down civil war, the Londoners declared that Richard was to take the

crown,

6. At first Richard cunningly declared that he did not wish to be king; but at last he pretended to be persuaded, and became king. Then, after a few months, the two little princes died suddenly in the Tower, and a horrible story was told all over the country that Richard had sent some brutal ruffians to murder them as they lay asleep in their bed. The murderers were so filled with pity when they saw the little boys sleeping, each with his arm round the neck of the other, that they could not bring themselves to cut their throats. But they dared not spare them altogether, for fear of the anger of the king; so they took the pillows of their bed and smothered them.

7. Richard had many enemies, who stirred up the people of England to resolve that he should no longer be their king; so the friends of the Red Rose marched to battle against Richard, under Henry, Earl of Richmond, a prince of the House of Lancaster.

8. The night before the battle, it is said that Richard was full of fear and remorse, and that his sleep was disturbed by awful dreams. All the crimes he had committed came back upon his mind, and he thought he saw the forms of the many princes he had murdered crowding round his bed. Next morning the battle of Bosworth began. Richard rushed over the field to find the Earl of Richmond and fight