the taxes imposed by Henry VII. Many Cornishmen joined him and he marched to Taunton. But he was filled with terror when he saw the royal army coming against him. He made ready for battle, but in the night his heart failed him and he fled away, leaving his followers to face the King's wrath. The next morning, when the Cornishmen found that their leader was gone, they submitted without fighting. Some of the chief of them were hanged and the rest fined. Perkin's wife gave herself up as a prisoner and was taken before Henry VII When she came into his presence she blushed and burst into tears, but Henry spoke kindly to her and made her one of the Queen's ladies in waiting. Perkin Warbeck himself had fled to a sanctuary in Hampshire, and he gave himself up as a prisoner on promise of a pardon. He was taken to Exeter, where Henry VII. then was, but the King would not see him. From here he wrote to his mother in Flanders, who had heard nothing of her son for many years, telling her of his strange adventures, and begging her to send him a little money, so that by making them presents he might persuade his guards to be kind to him. Perkin was quite tired of the part he had played, and was willing to confess everything now in hopes that he might be allowed to go in peace. He was taken up to London and made to ride about the streets on horseback. We are told that the people flocked to see him, as if he were a monkey. Henry did not treat him severely, but let him stay about the court, only setting some keepers to watch him. After a while he wearied of being watched and made to stay about the palace, and one night he managed to escape. But he was soon caught again and brought back to London. He was then made to stand one whole day in the stocks at Westminster Hall, and another day in Cheapside. As he stood there he was obliged to read to the crowds who came to stare at him, a confession of what he had done and who he really was. In this way Henry VII. hoped to make it clear to every one's mind, that there was not a word of truth in the story that Perkin Warbeck was the Duke of York. After this punishment Warbeck was imprisoned in the Tower. There he found another young prisoner far more unfortunate than himself, for he was a true nobleman, imprisoned not on account of his pretended, but of his real rank. This was the Earl of Warwick, son of the Duke of Clarence, Edward IV.'s brother, who had been kept in prison ever since Henry VII. became king, lest he should be dangerous to him. Perkin and Warwick made friends in their captivity. Some think that Henry VII. wished them to do so, that he might gain a new reason for treating the unhappy Warwick with severity. The two prisoners made a plan to escape together, but were discovered and both condemned to death. No one was sorry for Perkin, who met the fate he deserved; but all England mourned for Warwick, who had spent his sad life within the walls of a prison, and now died only because he tried to escape. Henry VII. at last breathed freely. Not only was the pretender dead, but the last prince of the House of York who could have been set up against him had perished also. The last ten years of his reign he passed undisturbed by plots, and England had the peace and rest which she so much needed after the terrible wars of the Roses. K XXX. SIR THOMAS MORE. A.D. 1480-1535. WHEN, after the disgrace of Cardinal Wolsey, Henry VIII. had to choose a new Lord Chancellor, he gave this important place to Sir Thomas More, a man already famous not only in England but in all Europe for his learning and piety. Sir Thomas More's father had early seen that his son was a boy eager and able to learn. It was then the custom for great men to take boys into their houses to be educated there, and Thomas was sent by his father to Cardinal Morton, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to be brought up in his household. Morton, who was an excellent and learned man, saw with delight the bright face and diligent ways of his new pupil. He delighted to draw out his wit, and at Christmas time, when plays were performed for the amusement of the household, he would bid More go up on the stage and join the actors. Then, without even having studied the play before, More would invent a new part for himself, so witty and full of jests that he would draw more laughter than all the other players besides. Morton would often tell the nobles who dined with him that there was a boy there, waiting upon them, who would turn out a marvellous and rare man. Wishing to help More on in his studies, Morton sent him to Oxford. There his whole mind |