Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-09-18
BOswoRTH FIELD.


1ue rtfS oS UNWore tsts-StsteFt nHe W.
masss Blenaed-A Memorial sessessed.
London Times, August 2sth.l
Saturday was the four-handredth
snnivsrary Of the battle OF Bosworth
Field. The occasion seems to an arch
geological correspondent Of ours cppor-
tune for the indication Of the site by an
appropriate monument. Mr.. Burgess
appeals. apparently to the public At
large, for the erection Of . fitting me-
mortal on the spot connected with King
Richards death.struggle. More ten
satiyely hc hints at the claim
Of 4 church overlooking the bat
tIe-feld 10 be saved from the
Consequences Of five centuries Of decay
in honor Of the change Of dynas.ies and
the lapse Of time. Bosworth was
famous fgbt and the scenes deserve
not 10 be forgotten. In various ways
the original landmarks have been OBJ
liberated. The more reason is there for
redressing the injurious dealings Of
canal, railroad, and highway engineers
with the tactical features OF the COM
bat, by putting on ocular record testi-
mopy to its historical significance. But
: national concurrence in the commemora-
ton should hardly have been necessary.
The duty Of preserving from oblivion
the typographical characteristics OF an
event like the battle of Bosworth be-
longs primarily to the locality in which
il occurred. II is like the tomb Of an
old-world worthy in q country church
yard. Leicestershire is more interest
ing than it would otherwise be for the
ownership Of Bosworth Field. The
county might pay for = possession on
which it prides itself by reminding
strangers oftbc deliverance accomplished
on Leicestershire soil. England is shy
tothrust i,selfin as ifLeicestershire were
not competent and willing to act as
guardian Of its own local associations.
A Leicestershire squire whose estates
adjoin the battlefield would. our cor
respondent informed us on Saturday.
have undertaken the pious task had he |
lived. Death, which carried him pre-
msturely of. did not steal away his |
property. His heirs and other neigh
bors could equally well do the work.
II Stoke Golding church need repairs
or restoration. there ought to be enough
patriotism and jealousy Of external in
reference in the district to effect that
local object also.
Sites Of occurrences like the battle of
Bosworth are naturally more important
10 the localities in which they happened
than to the rest Of the kingdom. The
neighborhood is the proper custodian Of
site, and it is for it to show its sense
of the dignity of the trust. To exert
moral pressure on the nation to build a
monument in historical scene is gene
rally TO drive it TO perpetrate an act
Of hypocrisy. EDglishmen are not,
Ike Prussians, in position to
feel that, except for the career or
action they are being called on to grace
with statue or inscription, their ma
tional existence might have been abol-
ished or radically altered. Historical
events for this country belong very much
more to the past than to the present.
National development availed itself Of
hem; it did not depend upon them.
In their absence it would have pro-
,eeded towards the same goal, though I
perhaps more slowly and less smooth
y. Il
Englishmen cannot with any sense Of
eracity enshrine memory in marble
n bronze. and render it homage as to
IN influence without which they would
lot be what they are. Yet if any spe-
'ial points in English history can estab-
ish right to be regarded as hinges
lpon which the national fortunes have b
urned, Bosworth Field may certainly n
ank among them. Should the resources d
" zeal of Leicestershire be inadequate b
o the rescue Of the spot from the rust c
# rural forgetfulness. there are many |
worse ways in which public generosity I
night be employed than in supple {
nentiDg fund for the purpose. The n
'attle of Bcsworth was more than a I
necessary vindication of the cause of ma /
ional decency and right, though I'M +
it was that. His subjects G
believed Richard to be the murderer OF 7
lis nephews, one of them his King. He
lid not deny that he had violated his |
'liehted word, and usurped the inherit I
Ince committed by his brother to his I
ieeping.
National homer demanded that he I
should be punished and deprived Of the I
price Of his iniquity. Bosworth Field G
supplied the fitting vengeance with pic I
Iuresqueness Of details which fascinates 8
he imagination. Bosworth was more {
even than the final decision Of tremen- 8
lous conflict, though it was that. The |
tradition Of Lancastrian rule was too ,
leeply rooted in the popular heart to !
nave been crushed by the forces Of
lettering throne like Richards could
bring to bear upon it. Richard was
as sagacious probably as
Henry, and of less syaricious and sor-
did temper. The evil devices by which
he had mounted TO power crippled his
means for effacing discomfort. He
was compelled and must have gone
on being compelled to adopt policy Of
mixed cajolery and terrorism, which
could never have disarmed dynastic ri
valry. Bosworth, WHICH dethroned a
Yorkist prince, set his crown simulta-
neously on the legitimate heiress 81
York and the representative Of Lancas-
ter. 1t checked civil war at its source.
Hencciorward the reigning sovereign
had no competitors; they were only
There are no slight grounds
for assigning Bosworth Field An exalted
rank among English historical remi-
niscences. Were there no other reason,
its position on these accounts in the
list Of national epochs would justify
its plea to DO marked by some ar
chitcctural token as consecrated
historical ground. Beyond and above
them all it can challenge honorable
recognition as the watershed, at least
for England, between antiquity and
modern times. Different countries have
had different periods at which they
have emerged from the past into the
preSent For England fbs hattla of