the one royal family had suffered from
the other were now past all forgiveness, and no imaginary union of
interests could ever suffice to obliterate them; that, even if the
leaders were willing to forget past offences, the animosity of their
adherents would prevent a sincere coalition of parties, and would, in
spite of all temporary and verbal agreements, preserve an eternal
opposition of measures between them; and that a prince who deserted his
own kindred, and joined the murderers of his father, left himself
single, without friends, without protection, and would not, when
misfortunes inevitably fell upon him, be so much as entitled to any pity
or regard from the rest of mankind. Clarence was only one-and-twenty
years of age, and seems to have possessed but a slender capacity; yet
could he easily see the force of these reasons; and, upon the promise
of forgiveness from his brother, he secretly engaged, on a favorable
opportunity, to desert the Earl of Warwick and abandon the Lancastrian
party.

During this negotiation Warwick was secretly carrying on a correspondence
of the same nature with his brother, the Marquis of Montagu, who was,
entirely trusted by Edward; and like motives produced a like resolution
in that nobleman. The Marquis, also, that he might render the projected
blow the more deadly and incurable, resolved on his side to watch a
favorable opportunity for committing his perfidy, and still to maintain
the appearance of being a zealous adherent to the house of York.

After these mutual snares were thus carefully laid, the decision of the
quarrel advanced apace. Louis prepared a fleet to escort the Earl of
Warwick, and granted him a supply of men and money. The Duke of Burgundy,
on the other hand, anxious to support the reigning family in England,
fitted out a larger fleet, with which he guarded the Channel. Edward was
not sensible of his danger; he made no suitable preparations against
the Earl of Warwick; he even said that the Duke might spare himself the
trouble of guarding the seas, and that he wished for nothing more than to
see Warwick set foot on English ground.

The event soon happened of which Edward seemed so desirous. A storm
dispersed the Duke of Burgundy's navy, and left the sea open to Warwick.
That nobleman seized the opportunity, and, setting sail, quickly landed
at Dartmouth with the Duke of Clarence, the earls of Oxford and Pembroke,
and a small body of troops, while the King was in the N