Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-02-26

u
cept the m0dicuin OF historical fact
4 gained therefrOm) would cease also.
II Is the purpose of the speaker to Civ
you the benefit Of one among the man.
/ lessons which may be derived from tn
I book under consideration, to make
I general application of II 20 the humal
race IN every age and then, by a natura
process Of reasoning, TO make simila
application 30 the profession OF TN
teacher.
There are, among the many characters
which move upon the stage OF this book
but three which deserve notice except az
historical individuals. We might wei
pause to contemplate the glorious beauty
OF Elizabeth OF York, the graceful witch
cry of her sister Anne, the ambitious
schemes OF the misshapen Richard, the
careless grace of the merry George, the
genius of the handsome and brilliant
Hastings but our attention must be riy'
cted upon the great central trinity, whose
Office IL was, In the writer's opinion, moi
only to perform a part In that, but IN
every succeeding age. The characters to
which would direct your attention are
Edward Of York, king oil England; War
wick, the king maker, and Adam Warner,
the philosopher. History supplied the
novelist with his first two and his own
genius gave the third as real an existence
as that enjoyed by them. Let me briefly
recall 10 your minds the condition OF af-
fairs in England ut that period In order
that the lesson drawn by me from the con-
iuncture of these three characters may
become more easily apparent.
Henry vi. of Lancaster, after the tri-
umph OF his house, had been placed upon
the throne through the instrumentality
of Warwick, nicknamed the 'king-
maker" who was, at that time, the
recognized head of the barons of En-
gland After brief enjoyment OF
the honors of kingship, Henry
was deposed by the same pow
er, and Edward w. of York
assembled the throne, which the former
exchanged for cell in .he Tower. The
power and influence of the barons had
been established upon firm foundation
since that momentous day when their
forefathers wrested Magma Charta from
the cowardly usurper, John, at Runny-
medc. That power was now at its zenith
and that influence, as indicated by the
sobrlquet of Warwick, was now para
mount, even to the will of the king. The
feudal system seemed to be fastened as a
permanent institution upon the common.
wealth, while the common people were
slaves in all except the name. There had
arisen, however, in the course of time,
and principally in the commercial cities
of the kingdom, large and influential
class, who, by shrewdness and tact in
the management Of money, had already
acquired large pecuuiary resources and
as consequence, were becoming FESTIVE
under the restraint of feudal despotism
and were longing eagerly for an oppor
tunity to free themselves from its yoke
How that opportunity came, | shall pres
entity relate. But now for brief outline
Of the three characters which the writer
holds to be types not only of Individual.
but OF classes in every age. Warwick
came of proud aud naughty race--a race
which dates It's noble lineage from tn,
time OF the conquest and whose couran,
had left its impress upon the history o
the kingdom. He was the leading
spirit of an order which held Tho
feudal seryitude of the lower classe.
as cardinal doctrine. In common will
his order, he considered every attempt o.
these classes to elevate themselves in sta.
tion or influence as an attack upon tn,
privileges of Il diYinely established insti
tuition, every struggle on their part fol
the accumulation of wealth and power OF
the Increase of rank, as an assault upon
the very foundation principle of the En-
glish government. To his mind the feuda
establishment was the perfection OF so
cial and political institutions and tn,
slightest encroachment upon it wa.
viewed as Il crime against the nobility, ot
which he was at once the greatest eNpou
ent and the most able leader. Magn;
Charta had indeed secured the Englisl
| people from the unreasonable eXaction,
OF kingly power, but its result was to de
| liver up TO many masters those who had
| been the slaves of one Warwick was. il
| that age and time, the foremost represent
! alive of race who built solely upon The
| traditions OF the past. To him and to his
| order the mighty present had no signin,
canoe, save as 1t served To strengthen the
/ chains or preserve the traditions of thai
past. Surrounded by prlncely pomp anC
| grandeur, guarded by his sixty Thousand
vassals, shut off from the world by hi!
lofty castle walls, Warwick trod its hall,
in all the security OF unquestioned DOW
er. Warwick represented in that az,
the genius OF Il narrow conservatism
/ the genius of political despotism-th,
! genius of illiberallty--the genius of al
! that is opposed not only to the recogni
ton of human rights, but to every chang
or reformation In the state OF mankind
Let us now turn to survey the charac
| ter OF Edward. Elevated to the thron
! by the aid of the "Great Earl" it was bu
natural that he should first seek a firm
alliance with so powerful friend. In thi
he succeeded, aud all went well until tn
eXactions of Warwick became unbearnble
and IL seemed apparent that, If he de
! pended solely on the assistance of tn
| "king-maker," his term was likely [,
prove as feeble as that of his predecessor
| Henry. Then IL was that the true char
acter OF great man and great king be
came manifest; then, for the first time
did Edward exhibit those great qualities
which have made the name of the "Mer
chant King" one of the most rcmarka
BILE in English history, Once release,
from the shackles of prejudice, he exhib
tied character which, in its every Gle
ment, was at war with that of Warwick
lie left him to the traditions and supeI
stiuons of the past, while he, himself
grapplcd with the great questions OF tn
present A brief investigation showe
him that the middle classes OF Englan
needed but small encouragement to as
sumo, by their wealth aud numbers,
paramount influence in the affairs of tn
kingdom, and that they needed but Al
able and trusted leader to overthrow
ieudalism and establish themselves as
factor in the government in which here
tofore they had exercised no control
Acting upon this conviction, we behol
! him encouraging the middle classes bv n