KING HENRY VI.-PART III.

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FTER the battle of St. Albans, in which the Duke of York overcame the forces of King Henry the Sixth, the victorious duke pursued the king to London'; for, through his descent from the Duke of Clarence, third son of Edward the Third, he laid claim to the throne of England, and meant to follow up his victory by dethroning the Lancastrian king.

By some secret means, the duke and his fellow nobles, wearing in their hats the white rose of the house of York, gained an entrance to the Parliament House, which was prepared for the reception of the king and queen, who were about to assemble the parliament. There, surrounded by the leaders of his army, the duke was persuaded by the Earl of Warwick, a bold and sagacious warrior, to assume the throne in very deed; for he urged him to possess the regal chair of the king in the midst of the Parliament House and to hold it even against Henry himself.

This the duke did, and at the same moment a