ELEANOR OF CASTILE.

IN the year 1290, Eleanor of Castile, who was married to the Prince of Wales, afterwards Edward I. accompanied her husband in the crusades, when he received a wound which was supposed to have been made by a poisoned arrow. Eleanor immediately sucked the wound, that by drawing away the poison from him to herself, she might preserve his life, which was dearer to her than her own. Eleanor did not meet that death which she expected, but her name is transmitted to posterity, as having felt the strongest of conjugal attachinent. Thompson has this beautiful incident in his tragedy of Edward and Eleonora.

MARGARET OF ANJOU,

CONSORT OF HENRY VI.

MARGARET of Anjou, was, most probably, the cause of raising the dreadful contest between the houses of York and Lancaster. If she had not made Henry's reign obnoxious, he would perhaps, unmolested, have transmitted the crown to his posterity. But there is almost in every person something to praise, as well as something to blame; therefore a sketch of the various events of the life of Margaret is given, not doubting that the bad part of her character will be condemned as it deserves, and the worthy part applauded and admired.

On the death of Henry V. in 1422, his only son Henry VI. an infant, inherited England and the

greater part of France. During his minority the great virtues and talents of his uncles, the dukes of Bedford and Gloucester, maintained him on the throne; when he came of age he was too weak in his intellects to bear the weight of government, and the duke of Gloucester, who had been appointed regent during the king's minority continued to guide the realm. A party, in opposition to the duke of Gloucester, concluded a treaty of marriage between Henry and Margaret of Anjou. She was daughter of Rene, titular king of Naples, Sicily and Jerusalem, and duke of Anjou, who with all these pompous titles, was the poorest prince in Europe; and though she brought no accession of fortune or territory, yet Henry was induced to purchase the marriage by the cession of Maine and Anjou to France.

Margaret was the most accomplished princess of the age, and seemed to possess those talents which would equally qualify her to govern, and supply all the weaknesses and defects of her husband. Of a masculine and enterprising temper, endowed with solidity as well as vivacity of understanding, she had displayed the power of her mind, even in the privacy of her father's family; and it was reasonable to expect, that when she should ascend the throne, her talents would break out with still superior lustre.

On her arrival in England, in 1448, she endeavoured to acquire an entire ascendency in all political affairs. Grateful to the party which had raised her to the throne, she joined the cabal of the cardinal of Winchester, the dukes of Somerset and Suffolk, against the duke of Gloucester. He was a great and generous character, as unsuspicious of plots and conspiracies, as he was incapable of forming them against others; and there

fore easily became the dupe of the artifices of his rivals for power; he was accused, arrested, confined, and as it was supposed, privately put to death in prison. How far Margaret was involved in this dreadful transaction, does not appear from history; but it is reasonable to suppose, that a princess who had not reached the twentieth year of her age, could not be accessary to the murder of her husband's uncle; and it is probable that he fell a victim to the revenge and perfidy of his brother, the cardinal of Winchester, the most unprincipled character of that barbarous age. The duke of Suffolk, Margaret's peculiar favourite, succeeded the duke of Gloucester as a prime minister, and became so extremely obnoxious, that an insurrection took place. To appease the people, Suffolk was arraigned, and condemned to banishment; and in his attempt to retire into France, was seized and beheaded, by persons unknown. Somerset succeeded him, as well in the ministry and favour of the queen as in the hatred of the nation.

The administration of Margaret became so un• popular, that Richard, duke of York, lineally descended from Edward III. was induced to advance his right to the throne in preference to the house of Lancaster, and to come forward as the great leader of opposition to the councils of Margaret; and as the reigning king, always unfit to conduct the helm of government, was at this time seized with a mental derangement, which increased his natural imbecility, and rendered him incapable of maintaining even the appearance of royalty, the party of the white rose prevailed over the red rose; Margaret yielded to the torrent, and Richard was appointed protector during pleasure. His moderation, however, in being

content with the protectorate, and not seizing the crown when it was within his grasp, raised the hopes of the Lancastrians. The king recovered in a certain degree from his indisposition: Margaret, eager to regain her former influence, made him resume the reins of government, released Somerset from the tower, and dissolved the administration of the duke of York. This bold measure gave birth to instant hostilities, and the memorable field of St. Alban's, in which the Lancastrian party lost the day, was stained with the first blood in that fatal quarrel between the rival houses of York and Lancaster; a quarrel which continued during thirty-six years, was signalized by twelve pitched battles, opened a scene of extraordinary fierceness and cruelty, is computed to have cost the lives of eighty princes of the blood, and almost annihilated the ancient nobility of England.

In 1460, after a variety of successes and defeats on both sides, the competitor of Henry was slain, and Margaret stained her memory by gazing with delight on his head, which was fixed on a pole over the gates of York. His son who pos sessed more spirit and less scruples than his father, repaired to London. Assisted by the earl of Warwick, he was proclaimed king, under the name of Edward the fourth; and after two decided victories, at Towton and Hexham, appeared firmly established on the throne.

The fate of the unfortunate royal family after these defeats was truly singular. Margaret flying with her son, who was only in the ninth year of his age, into a forest, was beset during the darkness of the night by robbers, who despoiled her of her rings and jewels, and treated her with the utmost indignity. While the robbers were

disputing on the division of the spoil, she escaped with her son into the thickest part of the forest and wandered for some time, leading the prince by the hand, till exhausted with hunger and fatigue, they sunk upon the ground. In this dreadful situation she observed a robber approaching with his naked sword: finding all escape impossible, she advanced towards him, and presenting the young prince, exclaimed, "Behold, my friend, the son of your king, I commit him to your prótection." The man, whose humane and generous spirit had been obscured, but not entirely extinguished by his vicious course of life, vowed to devote himself to their security, concealed them in the forest, and finally conducted them to the seacoast, from whence they made their escape into Flanders. She repaired to her father's court and passed several years in privacy and retirement, brooding over the fate of her deposed husband, who was confined in the tower.

In this disastrous state of affairs, Margaret was surprised by the presence of the earl of Warwick, who had hitherto been the devoted partizan of the house of York, and the inveterate enemy of the Lancastrian party. This great but turbulent nobleman, from his exorbitant influence called the king maker, had taken umbrage at Edward the fourth, and offered his services to reinstate Henry the sixth. Margaret accepted his offer with joy and gratitude: by her influence a fleet and army was procured in France; Warwick landed at Dartmouth, drove Edward from England, released Henry from the tower, into which place he had been the chief cause of throwing him, and proclaimed him king with great solemnity.