dred and twenty followers, and his lovely wife, who would not forsake him.

2. After a few months he returned to England, and was joined by about three thousand men, with whom he laid siege to Exeter. A large body of the king's forces marched against him, and Warbeck, seeing that all resistance would be in vain, left his companions to take care of themselves as they could, and fled in the night to a sanctuary.

3. This was soon surrounded by the royal troops, and Henry would gladly have forced open the gates and seized his victim, but was persuaded to try to entice him out by the promise of sparing his life. Warbeck, on receiving this pledge, gave himself up, and was carried prisoner to the Tower.

4. He contrived to make his escape from this prison, but was soon taken and brought back. He was then exposed upon a scaffold, and compelled to read aloud a written paper, in which he confessed himself to be an impostor.

5. He afterwards found means to have some communication with his fellow-prisoner, the Earl of Warwick, and a plan was concerted between them for their escape; but this being discovered, they were both executed. Perkin Warbeck was hung at Tyburn, the place of execution for common malefactors, November 23d, 1499; whilst Warwick, from respect to his undoubted rank, was beheaded on Tower Hill.

PERKIN WARBECK ON THE SCAFFOLD.

6. It is interesting to read of the fate of Warbeck's young and beautiful wife. After her husband was carried to the Tower, Henry

CXX.-1. Whither did Warbeck go from Scotland? Who accompanied him? 2,2 4 5. Relate the rest of his story. What was the fate of Warbeck? 6, 7. What became of

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STORY OF THE ALDERMAN.

sent for her, and, hard as was his heart, he seems to have been tou ched by her youth, her beauty, and her grief; for she dearly loved Warbeck, and was a most dutiful and affectionate wife to him.

7. The king said some kind and soothing words to her, and presented her to the queen, with whom she remained as an attendant. She had an ample allowance made to her, and was much beloved at the court, where she was called "The White Rose of England.”

8. Henry, from this time till his death, was undisturbed by tumults at home or by wars abroad. He was chiefly employed in amassing wealth, which he did in every possible way. He made many arbitrary and vexatious laws, and obliged those who violated them in the slightest particular to pay heavy fines, or suffer imprisonment.

9. These rapacious schemes were carried on by the assistance of two lawyers, named Empson and Dudley, whom he employed to entrap the rich and unwary. He also had increased his wealth by means of taxes and benevolences.

10. A benevolence meant originally a voluntary contribution for the king's expenses, made amongst his immediate vassals. Edward IV. extended it to the whole kingdom, and, though the name implies its being a free gift, it became, in fact, a very arbitrary tax, for the king could quarter soldiers on those who refused to contribute, and could annoy them in many other ways, which caused the people to call these benevolences malevolences.

11. You will think this name not unmerited, when you read of what happened to an alderman of London in Henry VIII.'s time. The poor alderman, because he refused to contribute to a benevolence, was compelled to serve as a private soldier in the war then carrying on against Scotland.

12. The king sent a letter to the general of the army, commanding that the alderman should be lodged among the common soldiers, and be made to ride forth in all difficult and dangerous enterprises. His sufferings in this mode were not of very long continuance, for he was taken prisoner in the first engagement, and had to pay a much larger sum for his ransom than he had been required to contribute to the benevolence.

CHAPTER CXXI.

The Architecture of Henry VIII's time. Of his Voyages of Discovery. -Columbus and the Cabots.

1. By confiscations of the property of those concerned in the various conspiracies, by taxes, benevolences, and fines, Henry VII. ac

Warbeck's wife? 8. What is said of the rest of Henry's reign? 9. Who assisted the king in his schemes to obtain money? 10. What is said of benevolencos? 11, 12. Relate the story of the alderman.

CXXI.-1. What feeling was strong enough to overcome Henry's varice? How did

ARCHITECTURE OF HENRY VII.'S TIME. -1485-1509. 221

quired immense wealth, not only in money, but also in plate and jewels. He kept it, with the most anxious care, under his own lock and key, in secret apartments in the palace at Richmond.

2. There was one feeling which was strong enough to overcome his avarice; this was the ambition of having a splendid tomb. With this view, he commenced the building of what is now known as Henry VII.'s Chapel, at Westminster Abbey. The best architects of the age were called upon to furnish designs for this magnificent building, on which the king did not grudge to expend large sums of his hoarded wealth. It is still one of the most beautiful edifices in England.

3. There arose at this time a remarkable change in the style of architecture, through the introduction of what has been called the florid style, but which might with much propriety be styled the Tudor style, since it came in with Henry VII. and went out with his granddaughter Elizabeth, the last of the Tudors.

4. All the buildings of this kind are very beautiful, and are sufficiently distinguished from the Gothic piles of the Plantagenets, and massy buildings of the Anglo-Normans, by the flat arch, called Henry the Seventh's arch, and the profusion of ornament with which every part is loaded.

5. We have already stated that Henry gave great encouragement to commerce. By this means he had acquired in foreign countries the reputation of being the most sagacious, as well as the wealthiest, monarch of his time. When Columbus failed in his endeavors to

he gratify the feeling? 3, 4. What change took place in the style of architecture? 5, 6

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COLUMBUS AND THE CABOTS.-1496.

obtain assistance in Spain, in order to enable him to prosecute his voyage in search of land, which he felt convinced he should reach by sailing westward, he determined to apply to Henry.

6. Accordingly, he sent his brother Bartholomew to England for this purpose; but he unfortunately was taken by pirates on the way, and detained by them for four years. At last, in 1489, he made his escape and got to England, but in too destitute a condition to be able to present himself to the king.

7 His industry and activity of mind soon furnished him with a rescurce. He set himself to work to make maps and sea-charts, and finding a ready sale for them, he was able to purchase some decent clothes, with which to appear at court. Presenting one of his maps to the king, he requested an audience, which being granted, he explained to him all his brother's views and wishes.

8. Henry was so much struck with their feasibility, that he agreed to give Columbus the assistance he desired, and Bartholomew was sent to invite him to England. But before he arrived in Spain, Columbus had already sailed on his first voyage, under the patronage of Queen Isabella.

9. Henry did not abandon the idea of making discoveries; for, in 1496, after Columbus had returned to Europe, with the account of what he had seen, Henry fitted out a small fleet, and sent it on a voyage of discovery, under the command of John Cabot, a Venetian merchant.

10. Cabot sailed in a northwest direction, and the first land he saw was what we call Newfoundland, but which he called Prima Vista (first seen); he next saw the Island of St. John's, and sailed to the south as far as Virginia, and then returned to England, where the king received him with great honor.

11. Cabot was in fact the first discoverer of the continent of America; for Columbus, who certainly deserves all the honor of the discovery, since he pointed out the way to it, had not, at the time of Cabot's first voyage, seen any part of America, except some of the islands.

12. John Cabot had a son, named Sebastian, who was a greater navigator than his father. He accompanied him in his voyage tc America, and, in the reign of Henry VIII., was employed on many important occasions, and became highly celebrated in his vocation. His merit and knowledge procured him great consideration in England.

7, 8. Relate the particulars of Columbus' application to Henry. 9, 10. What is said of John Cabot? 11. What continent did he discover? Why is Columbus entitled to the most credit? 12. What is said of Sebastian Cabot?

1. IN 1500, the king's eldest daughter, Margaret, married James IV. of Scotland, and it was from this marriage that the Stuarts derived their title to the crown of England. In 1501, his eldest son, Arthur, married Catharine of Anjou, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, the King and Queen of Spain; but in the following spring the young prince died, and Henry, unwilling to lose the marriage portion of the Spanish princess, married her to his other son, Henry, a boy of eleven years.

2. A new means of increasing his wealth now offered itself to Henry; this was by marrying an heiress; for his wife, the Princess Elizabeth, was dead. The Queen of Naples was reputed to be immensely rich, and he accordingly made proposals to her. But before the final arrangements had been made, he ascertained that he had been deceived in regard to her wealth, and withdrew his offer. 3. A violent attack of the gout gave Henry warning that all his schemes of revenge, avarice, and ambition would soon be brought to a close. He now devoted the remnant of his life to preparations for the awful change he had to expect; but even his dying acts were tinctured by that calculating, money-loving spirit which had governed his life.

CXXII.-1. When and to whom was the king's eldest daughter married? What is said