The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1913-05-06
A King
Murderer
The Story of the Two Tn.
fortunate Princes
By MARGARET BARR


The romance-tragedy of English his
tory is the career of the Duke of Glou-
cester, afterward King Richard Ill.
Within it are many stories, and Rich
ard is both the hero and the villain
Of every one of them.
When King Edward ", Richards
brother, died, Edwards Oldest son, who
became king, was little boy. Rich
ard, whose courage was eQualed only
by his ambition and who possibly at
the time designed to make himself
king, at once dashed at the head of a
troop of his adherents to where Young
Edward was and captured him.
The next important scene in the trag-
edy is the little king riding on horse
back from the city Of London to West
minister abbey his Uncle Richard rid
ing beside him, regarding his nephew
sovereign with every pretense of rev.
erence and affection. 1t is probable
that Richard was even then plotting to
supplant the child; that this apparent
devotion was to win the confidence Of
the people with view to furthering
his opportunity, but whether the arch
fiend then contemplated numbering his
brothers son has not been proved.
The little kings mother as soon az
she saw reason to fear her brother-in-
law took refuge with her other chill
dren in the sanctuary of Westminster,
for in those days no person, king or
cOmmoner, might drag one from the
sanctuary without mourning the anath-
emas of the church. But the boy re-
manned with his uncle, who also Sc
cured possession Of his younger broth
er, the Duke Of Clarence.
The Tower Of London, which for
more than two centuries has been only
a fortress and is now mostly an OBJ
ject of curiosity for tourists, was then
also palace and a prison. Richard
fixed the residence of his nephews
there, assuming to reign in the minor
kings name. England at the time
needed a strong governing hand. Rich
ard succeeded in convincing certain
persons of influence that he had better
be king. Others he threatened; others
he put out of his way by beheading
them. Many of the commoners were
with him.
When all was ripe he seized the scep-
ter. From the first the little princes
were virtually prisoners in the Tower,
though they were treated with all the
reverence due king and prince of
the blood But they never came out
from the gloomy walls The people
never saw them Young as they were,
they were old enough to realize that
they were in the hands of one in whose
way they stood and their lives were
In danger.
Richard had son Of his own whom
he idolized and whom he desired
should succeed him on the throne of
England. Probably this feature Of the
case turned his mind to the murder Of
the two princes, his nephews, for so
long as they lived their title to the
crown would stand before that Of Rich
ards son. At any rate, there came a
time when Richard determined to muir
der his nephews and looked about for
some one to do the deed
He sent an order to the lieutenant Of
the Tower to have the princes put to
death. The officer refused to obey it.
In this he braved the king, then an all
powerful sovereign, but to force man
to commit the murder would have at
once made the murder known, and this
did not suit Richards purpose. When
he received word that the lieutenant
would not do his bidding he lamented
aloud that he had no one on whom he
could rely in his extremity A page
overheard what he said and, knowing
his meaning, told him that he knew a
man who would serve him as he wish
ed to be served. The man was called,
accepted the commission and left for
the Tower.
For four centuries a plying world
has been wondering as to the death
scene of the poor little king and his
brother. All that is known is that to
keep their cries from being heard they
were smothered in their bedclothes.
When all was over their bodies were
taken down to the foot of the stairs
below the room in which the deed
was done and there buried. Later,
when the murder became known, it
was given out that they had been bur
led in Westminster abbey But this
story was disprOyed many years later,
In the reign of Charles H., when on
making changes in the Tower the skele-
for nff xr1o obi ut 4ho
foot Of the staircase, as recorded by
one of the murderers at the time of the
murder.
The taking of Of the princes, being
known only to few, was kept for
long while But there were whisper
ings, and in time it became known to
the queen mother and her daughters
that their dear ones had been murder
ed by their uncle. In addition to their
horror at the crime and their bereave-
ment, they dreaded lest the king muir
derer, defying the sacredness of their
refuge. would drag them from the
sanctuary and kill them also. AS time
passed and nothing was heard by the
people Of the princes, who were sup
posed to be living in the royal apart
ments Of the Tower they began to won
der Then the dreadful news spread
from mouth to mouth. and great hor-
ror fell upon all England.
At last the murderer received his first
punishment. His beloved son. for whom
he had committed the crime. sickened