ect to the result was the
widowed Queen Elizabeth, the mother of the two princes. She was very
much alarmed. The boys themselves were not old enough to realize very
fully the danger that they were in, or to render their mother much aid
in her attempts to save them. The person on whom she chiefly relied
was her brother, the Earl of Rivers. Edward, her oldest son, was under
this uncle Rivers's care. The uncle and the nephew were residing
together at this time at the castle of Ludlow.[J] Queen Elizabeth was
in London with her second son.

[Footnote J: For a view of this castle, see page 26.]

Immediately on the death of the king, a council was called to
deliberate upon the measures proper to be taken. The council decreed
that the Prince of Wales should be proclaimed king, and they fixed
upon the 4th of May for the day of his coronation. They also made
arrangements for sending orders to the Earl of Rivers to come at once
with the young king to London, in order that the coronation might take
place.

Queen Elizabeth was present at this council, and she desired that her
brother might be ordered to come attended by as large an armed force
as he could raise, for the protection of the prince on the way.

Now it happened that there were great dissensions among the officers
and nobles of the court at this time. The queen, with the relatives
and connections of her family, formed one party, and the other nobles
and peers of England another party, and great was the animosity and
hatred that prevailed. The English nobles had never been satisfied
with Edward's marriage, and they were very jealous of the influence of
the queen's family and relations. This feud had been kept down in some
degree while Edward lived, and Edward had made a great final effort to
heal it entirely in his last sickness. He called together the leading
nobles on each side, that had taken part in this quarrel, and then, by
great exertion, went in among them, and urged them to forget their
dissensions and become reconciled to each other. The effort for the
time seemed to be successful, and both parties agreed to a compromise
of the quarrel, and took a solemn oath that they would thenceforth
live together in peace. But now, on the death of the king, the
dissension broke out afresh. The other nobles were very jealous and
suspicious of every measure which Elizabeth proposed, especially if
it tended to continue the possession of power and influence in the
hands of h