oward the young Earl of Richmond as the only person who could free
the nation from the tyranny of the present usurper.

Henry, Earl of Richmond, was at this time detained in a kind of honorable
custody by the Duke of Brittany, and his descent, which seemed to give
him some pretensions to the crown, had been a great object of jealousy
both in the late and in the present reign. Symptoms of continued jealousy
in the reigning family of England seemed to give some authority to
Henry's pretensions, and made him the object of general favor and
compassion, on account of dangers and persecutions to which he was
exposed. The universal detestation of Richard's conduct turned still more
the attention of the nation toward Henry; and as all the descendants of
the house of York were either women or minors, he seemed to be the only
person from whom the nation could expect the expulsion of the odious and
bloody tyrant. But notwithstanding these circumstances, which were so
favorable to him, Buckingham and the Bishop of Ely well knew that there
would still lie many obstacles in his way to the throne. It was therefore
suggested by Morton, and readily assented to by the Duke, that the only
means of overturning the present usurpation was to unite the opposite
factions by contracting a marriage between the Earl of Richmond and the
princess Elizabeth, eldest daughter of King Edward, and thereby blending
together the opposite pretensions of their families.

The plan being laid upon the solid foundations of good sense and sound
policy, it was secretly communicated to the principal persons of both
parties in all the counties of England, and a wonderful alacrity appeared
in every order of men to forward its success and completion. But it was
impossible that so extensive a conspiracy could be conducted in so secret
a manner as entirely to escape the jealous and vigilant eye of Richard;
and he soon received intelligence that his enemies, headed by the Duke
of Buckingham, were forming some design against his authority. He
immediately put himself in a posture of defence by levying troops in the
North; and he summoned the Duke to appear at court, in such terms as
seemed to promise him a renewal of their former amity. But that nobleman,
well acquainted with the barbarity and treachery of Richard, replied only
by taking arms in Wales, and giving the signal to his accomplices for a
general insurrection in all parts of England.

But at that very time the