legislative body.

The Duke, apprehending his chief danger to arise from Queen Margaret,
sought a pretence for banishing her the kingdom; he sent her in the
King's name a summons to come immediately to London, intending, in case
of her disobedience, to proceed to extremities against her. But the Queen
needed not this menace to excite her activity in defending the rights of
her family. After the defeat of Northampton she had fled with her infant
son to Durham, thence to Scotland; but soon returning she applied to the
northern barons, and employed every motive to procure their assistance.
Her affability, insinuation, and address--qualities in which she
excelled--her caresses, her promises, wrought a powerful effect on
everyone who approached her; the admiration of her great qualities was
succeeded by compassion toward her helpless condition; the nobility of
that quarter, who regarded themselves as the most warlike in the kingdom,
were moved by indignation to find the southern barons pretend to dispose
of the crown and settle the government. And, that they might allure
the people to their standard, they promised them the spoils of all the
provinces on the other side of the Trent. By these means the Queen had
collected an army twenty thousand strong, with a celerity which was
neither expected by her friends nor apprehended by her enemies.

The Duke of York, informed of her appearance in the north, hastened
thither with a body of five thousand men, to suppress, as he imagined,
the beginnings of an insurrection; when, on his arrival at Wakefield, he
found himself so much outnumbered by the enemy. He threw himself into
Sandal castle, which was situated in the neighborhood; and he was advised
by the Earl of Salisbury and other prudent counsellors to remain in that
fortress till his son, the Earl of March, who was levying forces in the
borders of Wales, could advance to his assistance. But the Duke, though
deficient in political courage, possessed personal bravery in an eminent
degree; and notwithstanding his wisdom and experience, he thought that he
should be forever disgraced if, by taking shelter behind walls, he should
for a moment resign the victory to a woman. He descended into the plain
and offered battle to the enemy, which was instantly accepted. The great
inequality of numbers was sufficient alone to decide the victory; but the
Queen, by sending a detachment, who fell on the back of the Duke's army,
rendered her advant