age still more certain and undisputed. The Duke
himself was killed in the action; and as his body was found among the
slain, the head was cut off by Margaret's orders and fixed on the gates
of York, with a paper crown upon it, in derision of his pretended title.

The Queen, after this important victory, divided her army. She sent the
smaller division, under Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, half brother to
the King, against Edward the new Duke of York. She herself marched with
the larger division toward London, where the Earl of Warwick had been
left with the command of the Yorkists. Pembroke was defeated by Edward
at Mortimer's Cross, in Herefordshire, his army was dispersed, and he
himself escaped by flight.

Margaret compensated this defeat by a victory which she obtained over the
Earl of Warwick. That nobleman, on the approach of the Lancastrians, led
out his army, reenforced by a strong body of the Londoners, who were
affectionate to his cause; and he gave battle to the Queen at St.
Albans. While the armies were warmly engaged, Lovelace, who commanded a
considerable body of the Yorkists, withdrew from the combat; and this
treacherous conduct decided the victory in favor of the Queen. The person
of the King fell again into the hands of his own party. Lord Bonville, to
whose care he had been intrusted by the Yorkists, remained with him after
the defeat, on assurances of pardon given him by Henry; but Margaret,
regardless of her husband's promise, immediately ordered the head of that
nobleman to be struck off by the executioner. Sir Thomas Kiriel, a brave
warrior, who had signalized himself in the French wars, was treated in
the same manner.

The Queen made no great advantage of this victory. Young Edward advanced
upon her from the other side, and, collecting the remains of Warwick's
army, was soon in a condition of giving her battle with superior forces.
She found it necessary to retreat to the north. Edward entered the
capital amid the acclamations of the citizens, and immediately opened a
new scene to his party. This Prince, in the bloom of youth, remarkable
for the beauty of his person, for his bravery, his activity, his
affability, and every popular quality, found himself so much possessed of
public favor that, elated with the spirit natural to his age, he resolved
no longer to confine himself within those narrow limits which his father
had prescribed to himself, and which had been found by experience so
prejudic