The Difference between an Absolute and a Limited Monarchy

met in November ; it settled the crown on Henly and hisson with remainder to Clarence', and reversed the Lancastrianattainders, thus enabling the Dukes of Somersetand Exeter, and the Earls of Pembroke and Richmond,Margaret to return to England early in 1471. Meanwhile Margaretdetainedin France. and her son, with Fortescue and others in their train,were still detained in France2. Mr. Kirk has suggestedthat the delay was due to Louis, who wished to give hisespecial ally Warwick time to establish himself firmlybefore allowing the genuine Lancastrians to depart3.If this was his object, his astuteness, not for the firstSchclneof time, over-reached itself. The delay was fatal. It mustreformhave been during this interval that Fortescue drew upby For- the state-paper now printed for the first time4, andtescne.entitled 'Articles sent from the Prince to the Earl ofWarwick his father-in-law.' That it is by Fortescuecannot be doubted by any one who compares it withthe present work, its precise relation to which will bediscussed later6. In it he advised hat all claims forreward and compensation should be reserved for theconsideration of the Council, and that the King shouldforbear for the first year to keep the usual royal household.The other points are all embodied in the present workand are discussed in the notes. Whether the paper hadany influence on Warwick's policy cannot be determined.Ianding of At length, on Easter-Day, April 14th, Margaret withMnrgaret. her son and FortescueG landed at Weymouth, only tolearn on the morrow that on the very day of their landingWarwick had been overthrown and slain by Edward atBarnet, and that Henry was once more a prisoner. To Fortescue,who had done so much to bring about the alliancel This can hardly have been,as Lord Clermont suggests (U. S.p. so), Fortescue's means forreconciling Edward IV to therevolution. To him the successionof Clarence would ha\e heen avery poor consolation.B In November-December I470they seem to have been withLouis at Ainboise; Waurin,iii.qx-6.Thence they went to Paris ; Coinmynes,U. S. ii. 88. In FebruaryHenry sent to fetch his wife andson, but in vain ; Rymer, xi. 693.Charles the Bold, ii. 85.' Below, Appendix B.' Below, pp. 89, 95.They were proclaimed traitorsApril 27th ; Rymer, xi. 709.with Warwick, the blow must have been particularly severe.Somerset however, and others who joined them at Cernet\bbas after their arrival, maintained that the removal ofWarwick was a source of strength rather than of wcaknessto their party'. It was resolved to persevere, and if theyhad been able to carry out their plan and gain the strongholdsof their party in the North, the issue might yet havebeen doubtful. But the rapidity of Edward's movements Rattle Tewkes- ofmade this impossible, and at Tewkesbury, on the 4th of bury.May, the Lancastrian cause was finally overthrown.Prince Edward, the hope of the house, was slain. Margaret,now childless and soon to be a widow, was reservedto grace the conqueror's triumph2. She remained aprisoner till 1475" when she was ransomed, and she diedin 1482, too soon to see the downfall of the houseagainst which she had striven so long. Within three Death orweeks of the battle of Tewkesbury perished Henry VI. Hen'yVr.His life was no longer valuable, and he died. His virtuesand his misfortunes had deeply touched the heartof England, and his death gave them the final consecration.Much as England had suffered undcr him, sheheld him guiltless4, and the voice of the people decreedto him a canonization more real than any which Popesor Churches have it in thcir power to bestow5. Fortescue Fate ofwas among the prisoners of ~elikesbur~, and his life was Fortescue.spared0. Now that his cause was expired and his master'For that los, theyr partye wasnevarthefebler,butrather strongar.'Arrival of Edward IV, p. 23.' Servata incolumis, ut anteRegem triumphantem curru vehereturLondonias ; quod et facturnest ;' Cont. Croyl. p. 555. OnDec. 16, 1470, she had also losther brother, John of Calabria.' The articles for her delivery,signed ' Loys,' are in MS. Cott.Vesp. F. iii, f. 30.'And alle bycause of his falslordes and nevere of hym ;' Warkworth,p. 12. 'The kyng knonethnot alle ;' Political Songs, ii. 230.It must be confessed however thatforeigners speak with much lessreserve of Henry's incapacity as aruler; cf. e. g. Chastellain andWaurin.3 Unde et agens tyranni, patiensqueglorios~ inartyris titulummereatur,' says the Yorkist CroylandContinuator, p. 566 ; cf. thehymn toHenry in Warkworth,p.xxi.G In Paston Letters, iii. g, Fortescue(under the name of 'LordFoskew ') is mentioned amongthose beheaded after Te\vkesbury,though a note is added to say thathe and SirWillialn Grymesby werest~ll alive. The latter was executed; Warkworth, p. 18. It