198 Constitutional History. [chap.
jealous exclusion : she mistrusted the duke of York, and probably
with good cause : she knew the soundness of his pedigree, and
looked on him from the first as a competitor for the crown of
Her strong her husband and son. She was drawn to the Beauforts and to
partisanship, c1 n, ,η . _ .... . ,. .
buftolk by the knowledge that their interests were entirely one
with the interests of the dynasty. She supported them against
all attacks, and when they perished continued the policy which
they had shared. The weight of their unpopularity devolved
on her, and she was unpopular enough already. Still she might
have held out, especially if she had known how to use the
Her foreign pliancy and simplicity of her husband. But when the nation
connexion. . .
began to believe that she was in league with the national
enemies ; when she began to wage a civil war, pitting the north
against the south, and it was believed that her northern army
was induced to follow her by the hope of being allowed to
plunder the rich southern farms and cities ; when she stirred
up, or was believed to have stirred up, the Irish against the
duke of York, the French against Calais, and the Scots against
the peace of England, she lost all the ground that was left her.
The days were long past when the English barons could call in
French or Scottish aid against a tyrant ; no king of England
had yet made his throne strong by foreign help. It was fatal
Calumnies here. Men began to believe that she was an adulteress or her
about her. .
son a changeling. Her whole strength lay henceforth in the
armed forces she was able to bring into the field, and a defeat
Ffiiiofthe in battle was fatal and final. Warwick saw his advantage,
house of φ ... σ
Lancaster, prepared his forces, grasped success at the critical moment, and
triumphed in the field over a foe whose whole strength was in
the field. Thus the house of Lancaster fell without any formal
condemnation, without any constitutional impeachment. Henry
had not ruled ill, but had gradually failed to rule at all. His
foreign policy was not in itself unwise, but was unpopular and
unfortunate. His incapacity and the failure of the men whom
he trusted, opened the way for York and the Nevilles : and the
weaker went to the wall. National exhaustion and weariness
completed what royal exhaustion and weakness had begun.
Spirit and ability supplanted simple incapacity ; the greater
XVIII.]
Position of Pdward IV.
199
force overcame the smaller, national apathy co-operated with
national disgust ; and the decision which the- fortune of war
had adjudged, the national conscience, judgment and reason
accepted. The present decision of the struggle neither depended
on constitutional principles nor was ascertained by constitutional
means. In the general survey of history, Ihe justification of
the change is to be found in this—that England, as at the
Norman Conquest, needed a strong government, and sought
one in the house of York; .but the deep ιeasons, which in the
economy of the world justify results, do not justify the sins of
the actors or prove the guilt of the sufferers.
Edward IV came to the throne with great personal advan- Position of
ι∙ι-∣ι Edward IV
faces. He was young and handsome : he had shown créât at the be-
fe *7 o ginning of
military skill, and won a great victory ; he brought the pros- his ɪeigɪɪ.
pect of peace ; he had no foreign connexions ; he was closely
related to the most powerful of the old houses of England. In
many points his personal position was like that of Henry IV at
the beginning of his reign ; but he was younger, less embarrassed
by previous obligations, more buoyant and hopeful. His character
developes its real nature as his reign goes on, and it is seen
how personal fitness adapted him to be the exponent of despotic
theory. Whilst he was learning and practising the lessons
which Richard II might have taught him, but which kings
learn only too well without accredited instructors, the OtherEdwardof
Edward, an exile and wanderer in France or in Scotland, was the pɪɪpiɪ of
learning from Sir John Fortescue the principles of constitutional
government, by which the house of Lancaster rose ; on which
they always believed themselves to act, and in spite of which
they fell. But Edward IV was too young, and his advisers too
wary, to violate more than was absolutely necessary the forms
of the constitution ; so long as they were supreme they could
use it for their own ends ; they were popular, the commons Popularity
would need no pressure : they were powerful, their rivals dared of E<brard
not lift their heads in parliament. Warwick could manage °f γ°lt
the lords, Bourchier the clergy. One parliament, prepared to
take strong measures, could make the new king safe, and they