The times., 1899-05-07
A TRAGIcAL STORY.
How the Death of Duke Humphrey
Was Comprised.
Rrom Notes and oucrieso

Qrom Notes and QucrieS)
The death OF Humphrey, Duke OF Glou-
| cester, has always remained a mystery to
historians. Humphreys was arraigned for
high treason before the Parliament held
at Bury st. Edmunds in February. 1447
but on the morning of the day appointed
for his trial he was found dead in his bed
Henry vi and his young Queen Margaret
attended the sitting, and upon the ar
nouncement of the death the Quees turn cd
deathly pale. No marks of violence or
traces of unnatural death were to be
found. but great suspicion of foul play
existed in the minds of ALL
In 1860 the dwelling known as the Abbey
Ruins at Bury st. Edmunds was under re-
pair. and one day, while the carpenter was
at dinner, one of the inmates discovered
enclosed in cavity in the wall of metal
box containing beautifully illuminated
Old manuscript. The writer stated that
he was very aged monk, who had sworn
not to reveal the secret of the murder In
his lifetime, but determined to write it
down for posterity. 1t appears that in the
middle OF the fifteenth century there ex-
isted ae Bury religious establishment for
women called the Priory. One of the nuns
was Maude Carew, who had retired for no
apparent reason from the world she loved
80 well. She had travelled with her IA
ther, and while at Provence (whither he
had gone to ask the hand of Margaret for
Henry had met Sir Roger Drury, an as
troioger and man of science who after
ward entered the monastery at Bury as
Father Bernard. pursuing his labois as an
aichemist. The Duke of Gloucester had
given orders that Father Bernard. being n
magician, should be burned at the stake.
Maude Carew secretly loved Father Bar-
nard. and, with view OF saving his life.
appealed to the Queen. Margaret hated
the duke for the power he held, and sug-
gested that Father Bernard's life could
only be saved by comprising the death OF
the duke who II acquitted (as he was
sure to bel on the morrow, would certainly
emphasize the fact by seeing to the early
fulifilment of this orders.
AT night, after a strong consultation
Maude. instructed by Cardinal Beaufort.
scattered few grains of a deadly poison
(which left no trace) upon the face Of the
duke while he slept, and was returning
from the scene of her crime by means of
the staircase when her light was myster-
iousiy extinguished and she was grasped
by the hand Of Father Bernard, who. TAX
Ing her into his cell. containing his phials.
beoks. charts, cruicibles, and furnace, ex
tracted from her confession of her guilt
and that her motive for the deed was 10
save his life. The cardinal had carefully
provided against treachery, knowing that
the> powerful drug that she held in her
hand would as certainly kill her as the
duke. although Its effect would be slower.
Father Bernard warned Maude that ages
OF penance and purgatory must atone for
her crime. around the scene of which her
spirit would restlessly wander. maybe for
centuries to come. Then, declaring that
she would helplessly witness the down.
fali or the splendid abbey and the CONVEX
sion OF its ruins into a dwelling house. he
led her back toward the chapel, and by the
time she reached the back of the altar she
succumbed to the effects OF the poison. He
placed her in front of the altar, where she.
was found later on by the nuns, who at
tributed her death to natural causes while
engaged in private devotion. Father Ber-
nard told the story to the aged monk, who
mentions that ever since that awful night
the sound OF heavy footsteps had been
heard by the monks one hour before mid
night:
"Retribution quickly followed the insti
gators as well as the perpetrator OF the
crime. Cardinal Beaufort died soon after
in great suffering. Queen Margaret was
unfortunate and miserable all the rest OF
her life; her husband was dethroned and
murdered. and she herself, fallen from her
royal station, spent dreary years as a pris-
oner in the Tower. and afterward as a de-
pendent on her fathers bounty"
me whole of the matter is graphically
described in an anonymous pamphlet from
which the above is taken), entitled, "The
Secret Disclosed" published at Bury. The
copy that / possess was given to me on
the spot in 1869 by the then occupier of
the Abbey ruins, Mrs. Greene.