gentle heart, and so rouse a momentary glimpse of light and recollection into the darkened chambers of the brain. The scene which took place when the child was brought to Windsor for this purpose, is thus quaintly but touchingly related in a contemporary letter addressed to the duke of Norfolk by some person in the royal household, who was apparently an eyewitness of what he describes :

:

"At the prince's coming to Windsor, the duke of Buckingham took him in his arms and presented him to the king in goodly wise, beseeching the king to bliss it: and the king gave no manner answer. Natheless, the duke abode still with the prince in his arms by the king; and when he could no manner answer have, the queen came in and took the prince in her arms, and presented him in the like form that the duke had done, desiring that he should bliss it!' But all their labour was in vain, for they departed thence without any answer or countenance, saving that only once he looked on the prince, and cast down his een again, without any more.” "1

What a subject for an historical painting that scene so simply told, which, without describing, implies the various passions that agitated the presence-chamber, the hushed attention of peers, prelates, and councillors of state, when the royal wife and mother, she who was not only the partner of Henry's throne, but, till this fearful cloud came over his faculties, sole queen of Henry's heart,-essays her influence, and woos his blessing for the lovely boy she offers with impassioned tenderness to his paternal embrace; and after her importunity has succeeded in attracting a momentary attention to the infant in her arms, sees the unconscious eye of frenzy sullenly withdrawn. This frightful abstraction, this utter forgetfulness of the dearest objects of his affection, while it afforded the saddest and most conclusive proof of the hopeless character of the king's malady, was peculiarly distressing to the queen; for as holy Henry was invested by the more venerative portion of his subjects with the attributes of a saint and prophet, it was asserted that he had manifested, not merely reason in madness, but a miraculous power of discrimination by tacitly refusing to sanction the affiliation of the luckless babe.

The death of cardinal Kemp, who filled the important offices in church and state of archbishop of Canterbury and

1 MS. Letter of Intelligence, January 1454: edited by sir Fred. Madden.— Archeologia, vol. xxix. p. 305.

lord chancellor, and had assisted Margaret in the government, increased her troubles, and her claiming to appoint a successor being resisted by the duke of York's party, brought matters to a crisis. As a preparatory measure for depriving Margaret of the regency, the duke of York caused a motion to be carried in the house of lords for sending a deputation from their body to ascertain the real state of the king, by inquiring his pleasure touching the appointments left vacant by the death of the cardinal. The commissioners proceeded to Windsor. They were admitted into his chamber, and declared their errand; but the king made no reply, and appeared to have lost all consciousness of the things of this world. His reason must at that time have been under a total eclipse. On the 25th of March, 1454, the committee reported to the parlia ment, "that they had been to wait upon the king at Windsor, and after three interviews with him, and earnest solicitation, they could by no means obtain an answer, or token of answer, from him.""

When the situation of the king was made known to his peers of parliament, they, on the 27th of March, appointed the duke of York "protector and defender of the king during the king's pleasure, or until such time as Edward the prince should come to age of discretion."3 An intention was thus manifested of preserving the rights of the reigning family, by securing the reunion of this office for an infant not six months old. Patents, bearing the name of the king's letterspatent, were read in the parliament on the 3rd of April, granting to the infant prince the same allowance that was made for his royal father in the first year of his reign, with the yearly fee of two thousand marks only, besides allowances for learning to ride and other manly exercises, "provided the same grant be in no ways prejudicial to any grant made to Margaret queen of England." King Henry, though incapable at that time of business, is made, by similar instruments, to create his son Edward prince of Wales and earl of Chester. This was confirmed by the hands of all the lords, and by the 1 Parliamentary History. 2. 2 Parliamentary Rolls. Acts of the Privy Council 3 Parliamentary Hist. Rymer's Fœdera.

commons in parliament.' By the same authority queen Margaret received the grant of 1000l. per annum for life, out of the customs and subsidies on wools at the port of Southampton, besides sundry manors and hereditaments in the counties of Northampton, Southampton, and Oxfordshire, which were confirmed to her by this parliament. These concessions to the queen and her infant boy were probably granted, to induce her to acquiesce in the appointment of the duke of York to the office of protector. A medical commission of five physicians and surgeons was appointed by the duke of York and his council to attend on the person of the king, and to watch over his health.3

Margaret, meantime, engrossed between the first sweet cares of a mother, and the melancholy duty of watching over the fluctuations of her royal husband's afflicting malady," remained personally passive amidst these great political changes. Her party, however, were in a state of activity, and claimed for her no less rights than those usually allowed to the queen-consorts of France during the minority of an heir. Her demands are thus quaintly particularized in the sequel of the curious letter to the duke of Norfolk before quoted :

Rymer's Fœdera. The date of this commission is April 6th, and empowers those beloved masters, John Arundel, John Faceby, and William Hacliff, physi cians, and Robert Warreyn and William Marschall, surgeons, to administer to the king, at their discretion, electuaries, potions, and syrups, confections and laxative medicines, in any form that may be thought best: baths, fomentations, embrocations, unctions, plasters, shavings of the head, scarifications, and a variety of other inflictions in the way of medical treatment. John Faceby was the favourite physician, who had attended king Henry all his life. The king granted a pension of 1007. per annum to him at the time of his marriage with queen Margaret, as the reward of his faithful services. From the same authority we find the court. dress of the king's physician was a green cloth robe and miniver cap.

There is in the Patent rolls of this year an order under the privy seal, dated November 12, granting to a physician of the name of William Hately, in consideration of his faithful services to king Henry, and at the earnest desire of queen Margaret, an annuity for life. This physician's name is not included in the medical unta who had been appointed by the authority of the duke of York's council to attend on the sovereign, but was probably introduced by the anxious solicitude of t'e queen; and as Henry's convalescence took place about this time, we can have little doubt of his being indebted to the skill of William Hately for his cure.

"Item, the queen hath made a bill [list] of five articles, whereof the first is, that she desireth to have the whole rule of this land; the second, that she may make [or appoint] the chancellor, treasurer, the privy seal, and all other offices of this land, with sheriffs, and all that the king should make; the third, that she may give all the bishoprics of this land, and all other benefices belonging to the king's gift; the fourth is, that she may have sufficient livelihood assigned her fo the king, the prince, and herself; but as for the fifth article, I cannot yet know what it is."

Indeed, in the clauses laid in the queen's name before the privy council, she (in her ignorance of the English constitu tion) insisted on little less than absolute power as queenregent during the incapacity of her husband and the minority of her son. This requisition was rejected: soon after (and doubtless connected with this movement) the arrest of the duke of Somerset took place, by the order of the protector York, in the queen's presence-chamber. Margaret resented this insult greatly, but was unable to do any thing openly for the protection of her friends. York proceeded to depose Somerset from his office of captain of Calais, and by letterspatent issued in the king's name, bestowed it on himself.

Henry VI. began to amend in November: by the ensuing Christmas he was so much recovered, that on St. John's-day he sent his almoner to Canterbury with his offering, and his secretary to make his oblation at the shrine of St. Edward. From the testimony of a contemporary witness, who describes the state of the king at this period, Henry appears to have been like a person just awakened from a long dream, when reason and convalescence returned. It was then that the infant heir of England, whom his entirely beloved consort queen Margaret had borne to him during the dark season of his mental malady, was presented to him,-a goodly boy of fifteen months old, whose cherub lips had, perhaps, been taught to lisp the paternal name. The particulars of Henry's long-delayed recognition of his infant son are thus quaintly related in one of the Paston letters, and form a pleasing sequel to the account of his gloomy silence when the precious stranger was introduced to his notice a year before :3—“ On Monday at noon the queen came to him, and brought my Edited by sir F. Madden, in vol. xxix., p. 305, of the Archæologia. 3 Ibid. p. 230.

2 Paston Letters, vol. i., p. 80.

lord prince with her; and then he asked, 'What the prince's name was?' and the queen told him, 'Edward;' and then he held up his hands, and thanked God thercof. And he said he never knew him till that time, nor wist what was said to him, nor wist where he had been whilst he had been sick, till now; and he asked who were the godfathers? and the queen told him, and he was well apaid, [content]. And she told him the cardinal was dead,' and he said he never knew of it till this time; then he said, 'One of the wisest lords in this land was dead.' And my lord of Winchester [bishop] and my lord of St. John of Jerusalem were with him the morrow after Twelfth-day, and he did speak to them as well as ever he did; and when they came out they wept for joy. And he saith he is in charity with all the world, and so he would all the lords were. And now he saith matins of Our Lady, and evensong, and heareth his mass devoutly."

Margaret took prompt measures for Henry's restoration to the sovereign authority, by causing him to be conveyed, though still very weak, to the house of lords, where he dissolved the parliament, and the duke of Somerset was immediately released and reinstated in his former post. The triumph of the queen and her party was short-lived. The duke of York retired to the marches of Wales, raised an army, by the assistance of his powerful friends and kinsmen, Salisbury and Warwick, and marched towards London, with the intention of surprising the king there. All the troops that could be mustered by the exertions of the queen and Somerset scarcely amounted to two thousand men." On the 21st of May the royal army were stationed at Watford, and the next day the king took up his head-quarters at St. Alban's. The yal standard was erected in St. Peter's-street. The duke of York and his men were encamped at Heyfield.

King Henry was not deficient in personal courage, bit his holy nature revolted from being the cause of bloodshed, and he sent a message to the duke of York to ask "wherefore he came in hostile array against him?" York replied that "He would not lay down his arms, unless the duke of Somerset Parliamentary History. 3 Guthrie.

1 Cardinal Kemp