KING RICHARD III.

R

ICHARD, Duke of Gloster, was the third son to Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, who, having won King Henry the Sixth to make him his heir to the crown, was afterwards slain in battle by Lord Clifford. But upon the murder of King Henry the Sixth by this same Richard, Edward, his brother, ascended the throne in his father's stead.

There were between the Duke of Gloster and the crown some five different heirs, for this King Edward the Fourth had a son Edward, who was Prince of Wales; and the Duke of Clarence, the second son of the Duke of York and the king's brother, had a son and a daughter; but the dark and unscrupulous mind of Richard, who, malformed in shape and hideous in face, found little to delight him in the diversions of the court, determined him to become a villain; and to achieve his purpose of gaining the crown he deliberately laid plots to entangle his brothers in enmities, freely telling lies and consorting with fortunetellers, whom he employed to work upon the superstitious mind of the sick king, his brother.

The first victim which this wicked prince sacrificed to his ambition to be king was his loving brother the Duke of Clarence, for whom he professed the tenderest attachment, pretending to return his love with a twofold fervor. But while he was acting thus to Clarence, he was poisoning the mind of the king against him by the use of a device common to malicious men of those days, which was to make an enemy the victim of some old prophecy, such as, in this case, that the murderer of Edward's heirs should be "G.," as indeed he was, for Gloster did finally secure their death; but now this wicked duke made the king believe that the prophecy was pointed at George, Duke of Clarence, and the king, whose own evil deeds had made him suspicious of others, was ready to believe the tale, and, hence, he had his brother Clarence conveyed to the Tower, where he was slain by the king's secret commands. But it was Gloster who planned the murder and procured the ruffians who did the deed.

As Sir Robert Brakenbury, the lieutenant of the Tower, came into Clarence's room one morning, he found the poor duke looking alarmed and ill, and upon asking what was the cause, Clarence told him of a fearful dream he had had that same night. "Methought," said he, his eyes still wandering in affright, "that I had broken from the Tower and was embarked to cross to Burgundy, and in my company was my brother Gloster, who tempted me to walk from my cabin upon the

hatches. There we looked towards England, and recalled the heavy times that had befallen us during the wars of York and Lancaster. As we paced along upon the giddy footing methought Gloster stumbled, and, in falling, struck me, who meant to save him, overboard. Then I thought what

pain it was to drown, what dreadful noise of water was in my ears, and what sights of ugly death in my eyes. Methought I saw scattered in the bottom of the sea a thousand fearful wrecks, a thousand men gnawed upon by fishes, wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl, inestimable stones, and jewels beyond value. Some lay in dead men's skulls; and in those holes which eyes did once inhabit there were crept, as if in scorn of eyes, reflecting gems, that wooed the slimy bottom of the deep, and mocked the dead bones that lay scattered by."

The good lieutenant tried to compose the troubled mind of the duke, but the fearful dream had taken hold of his senses so deeply that he would not be comforted; and, in truth, there was good reason for his alarm, though he knew it not, for Richard had sent his murderers that very day to do their bloody work, and they were even then, as he spoke, entering the Tower.

When the duke at last retired to try and take some sleep, the two men presented themselves to Brakenbury and, showing him the king's warrant, demanded to be admitted to Clarence's chamber. As the lieutenant was powerless to oppose the royal

commission, he pointed out where the duke lay asleep, and gave the two men the keys, saying he would away to the king and signify that he had resigned his charge to them.

Thus admitted to Clarence's bedside, the murderers looked upon him sleeping, and one of them was for a moment seized with a fit of remorse, which the raillery and coaxing of the other soon overcame, and so they counselled how best to strike their victim. "Take him on the head with the hilt of your sword, and then throw him into the Malmsey-wine butt in the next room," said the boldest villain; but just as his accomplice was about to do this the duke awoke, saying, "Where art thou, keeper? give me a cup of wine." "You shall have wine enough, my lord, anon," was the grim reply; and Clarence, beginning to understand their meaning, cried, "In God's name, what art thou?" He saw the deadly eyes menace him, and the pale cheeks bending above him, and he asked why they had come; to which one replied in stammering words that they were come to murder him. Then Clarence put forth all the moving language and thoughts that come to a doomed man. He pleaded and argued with them for his life, until, had they been susceptible of pity, their hearts must have melted at his words. But hope of reward and dread of Richard's anger turned them into stone, and in order to end the scene, which was painful even to them, one of the murderers told the duke to look behind him, which when he did, the other