New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-09-23
BOSWORTH FIELD.
SCENE OF TIE DEATH OF RICHARD III

LAST CHARGE THE KINGS WELL
OLD CHURCHES IN LEIcEsTERsuIRE.
FROM STAFF CORRESPONDENT OF TIE TRIBUNAL
| Warwick. August 90
1t has long been the conviction Of the presen,
| writer that the character Of Richard the Third
has probably been much distorted and mal;gned
| by the old historians from whose authority the
accepted view of it is derived. lie was. IL ia
certain, superb soldier wise statesman.
judicious legislator, natural ruler of men. and
most accomplished Prince in music and the fns
arts and in all the graces of social life Son.
| of the best laws that ever were enacted in Eno
land were enacted during his reign. Ills title 70
the throne of England was absolutely clear nc
| against the Earl of Richmond, and but for tho
treachery Of some among his followers, he would
| have prevailed in the contest upon Bosworth Fila
and would have vindicated and maintained tina,
title over all opposition. lie lost the battle and
| he was too great man to survive the ruin NJ
| his fortunes. lie threw away his life in the las,
mad charge upon Richmond that day. and whom
! once the grave had closed over him AMI bis
usurpng cousin had seized the English crown. IL
naturally must have become the easy as well "a
the polite business of history to blacken bis char.
actcr. England was never ruled by more severe
monarch than the austere. crafty avaricicus Henry
! the Seventh, and il is very certain that no word
in praise of his predecessor could have been pub
| licy said in England during Icnry's reign:
neither would it have been safe for anybody 70
speak for Richard and the House of York in the
| time of Henry WILL the cruel Mary or the Il.
lustrious Elizabeth. The drift, in fact, was all
the other way. The Life of Richard the Third by
Sir Thomas More is the foGnain-head of all the
other narratives Of his career, and there can be
no doubt that More, who as youth had lived at
Canterbury in the house of Archbishop Morton.
derived his views Of Richard from that prelate
Morton is fed TO Richmond lie was Bishop
of Ely when he deserted the King, and Henry
the Seventh rewarded him by making lin Arch
bishop of Canterbury No man of the time was
so little likely ms Morton to take an unprecedented
view of Richard the Third. 1t is the Morton view
that has become history. The world still looks at
Richard through the eyes of his victorious foe
Moreover, the Morton view has been stamped in.
delibly upon the ina glnation and the creduty Of
mankind by the Overwhelming and irresistible
genius of Shakespeare wrote Richard the
Third in the reign of the granddaughter of Henry
the Seventh and who, aside from the question Of
discretion saw, OF course dramatic possibilities
in the mass of dark passions and deeds that
he could not have seen in q more human and a
more vrtuous monarch. Goodness is generally
monotonous The low sun makes the COLOR
1t is not for a moment to be supposed that King
Richard was a model Of virtue; hut there may
he good reasons Tor thinking that he was not so
black as his enemies painted him; and, good or
bad he is one of the most fascinating personalities
that history and literature have made immortal.
1t was with no common emotion, therefore, that
| stood, yesterday, upon the summit of Amblen
Hill and looked downward over the plain where
Richard fought his last fight and went gloriously
to his de"th
The battle of Bosworth Field was fought on the
2ad Of August 1852 More than four hundred
years have passed since then; yet eX-
ccpt for the ncursions Of canal and
a railway the aspect of that plain is but
little changed from what it WHEN Richard
surveyed it on that gray and sombre morning
when he beheld the forces Of Richmond advancing
across the marsh and knew that the crisis of his
life had come The Earl was pressing forward
that day from Tamworth and Atherstone, which
are in the northern part Of Warwic<shire-the
latter being close upon the Leicestershire border.
His course little to the southeast and
King Richards forces, facing northwesterly
faced their enemies from the summit Of long
and gently sloping hill that extends for several
miles about east and west, from Market Bosworth,
on the right to the vicinity of Darlington, on the
left. The Kings position had been chosen with an
excellent Judgment that has more than once, IN
modern times, elected the admiration of accom-
plshed soldiers. His right wing, commanded by
Lord Stanley rested on Bosworth. His left was
protected by marsh impossible 10 the foe. LORD
William Stanley commanded the left and had his
headquarters in Wellington. Richard rode IN
the centre Far to the right he saw the clustered
homes and the graceful spire Of Bosworth, and far
TO the left his glance rested the little church
DoIo in Of m
was open field, and all across that field waved the
banners and sounded the trumpets of rebellion
and defiance 1t is easy to imagine the glowing
emotons-tle implacable resentment, the pas
sonate fury and the deadly purpose Of slaughter
and vengeance-with which the imperious ana
terrible monarch gazed on his approaching Toes
They show, in meadow little way over the
crest of the hill where it is marked and parity
covered now by a pyramdal structure OF grey
stones, suitably inscribed with few commemora-
tive lines in Latin, a spring of water at winch
Richard paused to quench his thirst Deiore n'
made that last desperate charge on Radmore nea'h,
WHEN at length he knew himself betrayed anu
abandoned and felt that his only nope lay III
killing the Earl of Richmond with his own hand'
The fgbt Mt Bosworth was not a long one. Both
the Stanleys deserted the Kings standard carry
in the day 1t was easy for them, posted as they
,yerp. 10 wheel their forces into the rear Of the
rebel army. at the right and the left Nothing
then remained for Richard but to rush down
upon the centre, where he saw the banners OF
at that moment by Sir John
Cheyney-and 10 crush the treason at its head'
1t must have been a charge of tremendous I'M
1t bore the fiery king a long way
forward on the level plain. lie struck DOW
Cheyney with his own hand. lie plainly saw 'n'
Earl Of Richmond and came almost near enousi
to encounter him, when score Of sworn,
were buried in his body, and haoe'
almost into pieces, he fell beneath heaps OF ue
slain The place of his death is now the Junction
Of three country roads, one leading NORTHWEST
nd