ichard's accession to the
throne.

Still, although outwardly every thing looked fair, Richard's mind was
not yet by any means at ease. From the very day of his accession, he
knew well that, so long as the children of his brother Edward remained
alive at the Tower, his seat on the throne could not be secure. There
must necessarily be, he was well aware, a large party in the kingdom
who were secretly in favor of Edward, and he knew that they would very
soon begin to come to an understanding with each other, and to form
plans for effecting a counter-revolution. The most certain means of
preventing the formation of these plots, or of defeating them, if
formed, would be to remove the children out of the way. He accordingly
determined in his heart, before he left London, that this should be
done.[Q]

[Footnote Q: I say he determined; for, although some of Richard's
defenders have denied that he was guilty of the crime which the almost
unanimous voice of history charges upon him, the evidence leaves very
little room to doubt that the dreadful tale is in all essential
particulars entirely true.]

He resolved to put them to death. The deed was to be performed during
the course of his royal progress to the north, while the minds of the
people of England were engrossed with the splendor of the pageantry
with which his progress was accompanied. He intended, moreover, that
the murder should be effected in a very secret manner, and that the
death of the boys should be closely concealed until a time and
occasion should arrive rendering it necessary that it should be made
public.

Accordingly, soon after he left London, he sent back a confidential
agent, named Green, to Sir Robert Brakenbury, the governor of the
Tower, with a letter, in which Sir Robert was commanded to put the
boys to death.

Green immediately repaired to London to execute the commission.
Richard proceeded on his journey. When he arrived at Warwick, Green
returned and joined him there, bringing back the report that Sir
Robert refused to obey the order.

Richard was very angry when Green delivered this message. He turned to
a page who was in waiting upon him in his chamber, and said, in a
rage,

"Even these men that I have brought up and made, refuse to obey my
commands."

The page replied,

"Please your majesty, there is a man here in the ante-chamber, that I
know, who will obey your majesty's commands, whatever they may be."

Richard asked the page wh