n the crimson
cloth which covered it, as if hesitating whether to take his seat or
not, or perhaps waiting for some intimation from his partisans that he
was expected to do so. But for several minutes no one spoke a word.
At length the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was in some respects the
most exalted personage in the House of Lords, asked him if he would be
pleased to go and visit the king, who was at that time in an adjoining
apartment. He replied in a haughty tone,

"I know no one in this realm whose duty it is not rather to visit me
than to expect me to visit him."

[Sidenote: His haughty demeanor.]

He then turned and walked proudly out of the house.

[Sidenote: Henry's reasoning.]

Although he thus refrained from actually seating himself upon the
throne, it was evident that the time was rapidly drawing near when he
would openly assert his claim to it, and some of the peers, thinking
perhaps that Henry could be induced peaceably to yield, consulted him
upon the subject, asking him which he thought had the best title to
the crown, himself or the Duke of York.

To this question Henry replied,

"My father was king; his father was king. I have myself worn the crown
for forty years, from my cradle. You have all sworn fealty to me as
your sovereign, and your fathers did the same to my father and to my
grandfather. How, then, can any one dispute my claim?"

[Sidenote: Contesting claims.]

What Henry said was true. The crown had been in his branch of the
royal line for three generations, and for more than half a century,
during all which time the whole nation had acquiesced in their rule.
The claim of the Duke of York ran back to a period anterior to all
this, but he maintained that it was legitimate and valid,
notwithstanding.

[Sidenote: Decision of the question.]

There followed a series of deliberations and negotiations, the result
of which was a decision on the part of Parliament that the Duke of
York and his successors were really entitled to the crown, but that,
by way of compromise, it was not to be in form transferred to them
until after the death of Henry. So long as he should continue to live,
he was to be nominally king, but the Duke of York was to govern as
regent, and, at Henry's death, the crown was to descend to him.

The duke was satisfied with this arrangement, and the first thing to
be done, in order to secure its being well carried out, was to get the
little prince, as well as Henry, th