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EDWARD I-EDWARD III.

of a new confederacy. Highly indignant at this determined spirit of resistance, Edward vowed revenge against the whole Scottish nation, and, assembling another army, was on the point of passing the border, when he was arrested by sickness, and died at Burgh-upon-Sands, near Carlisle, July 7, 1307, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, and thirty-ninth of his reign. Few princes have exhibited more vigor in action, or policy in council, than Edward I. His enterprises were directed to permanent advantages, rather than to mere personal ambition and temporary splendor. Nor was he less intent upon the internal improvement of his kingdom than its external importance. The laws of the realm obtained so much additional order and precision during his reign, that he has been called the English Justinian. He passed an act of mortmain, protected and encouraged commerce; and in his reign first originated the society of merchant adventurers. The manners of this able sovereign were courteous, and his person majestic, although the disproportionate length of his legs gave him the popular surname of Longshanks. He left a son and three daughters by his first wife, Eleanor, who died in 1290, and two sons by his second wife, Margaret of France.

EDWARD II, king of England, born at Caernarvon castle in 1284, and the first English prince of Wales, succeeded his father, Edward I, in 1307. He was of an agreeable figure and mild disposition, but indolent and fond of pleasure. After marching a little way into Scotland, with the army collected by his father, he returned, dismissed his troops, and abandoned himself entirely to amusement. His first step was to recall Piers Gaveston, a young Gascon, whom his father had banished, and whom he created earl of Cornwall, and married to his niece. He then went over to France to espouse the princess Isabella, to whom he had been contracted by his father. Soon after his return, the barons associated against the favorite, Gaveston, whom they more than once obliged the king to send away. He was, however, as constantly recalled when the immediate danger was over, until an open rebellion took place; and, the person of Gaveston being captured, he was executed as a public enemy. In 1314, Edward assembled an immense army, to check the progress of Robert Bruce, but was completely defeated at Bannockburn. After the death of Gaveston, he selected a similar minion in the person of Hugh Spenser, a young nobleman whose father

was living, upon whom he lavished favors of every kind, until the barons again rebelled, and, the parliament dooming the Spensers to exile, the king was obliged to confirm the sentence. Edward, however, on this occasion, in concert with the Spensers, contrived to raise troops and attack the barons, at the head of whom was his cousin, the earl of Lancaster, who, being taken prisoner, was executed at Pomfret. Several others also suffered, and the Spensers were enriched with the spoils. Edward subsequently made another fruitless attempt against Scotland, which ended in the conclusion of a truce of thirteen years. In 1324, queen Isabella went to France to settle some disputes in relation to Guienne, and, while there, entered into a correspondence with several English fugitives, in whose hatred to the Spensers she participated. Among these was Roger Mortimer, a young baron of the Welsh marches, between whom and Isabella a criminal intercourse succeeded, in consequence of which the queen was still more determined upon the ruin of her weak and unhappy husband. Having formed an association with all the English malcontents, and being aided with a force by the count of Hainault, she embarked for England in September, 1326, and landed in Suffolk. Her forces seized the Tower of London and other fortresses, captured and executed both the Spensers without trial, and at length took the king prisoner, who had concealed himself in Wales, with a view of escaping to Ireland. The unfortunate Edward was confined in Kenilworth castle, and in January, 1327, his deposition was unanimously voted in parliament, on the ground of incapacity and misgovernment. A resignation of the crown was soon after extorted from him, and he was transferred to Berkeley castle, where Mortimer despatched two ruffians, who, it is said, murdered him, by thrusting a red-hot iron into his bowels, that no external marks of violence might remain, 21st of Sept., 1327, in the twentieth year of his reign and forty-third of his age.

EDWARD III, Son of Edward II, by Isabella of France, was born in 1313. On his father's deposition in 1327, he was proclaimed king, under a council of regency, while his mother's paramour, Mortimer, really possessed the principal power in the state. The pride and oppression of Mortimer now became so intolerable, that a general confederacy was formed against him, at the head of which was the young king himself, who, now in his eighteenth year, could ill brook the ascendency of

EDWARD III.

his mother's minion. The result was the seizure of Mortimer, in the castle of Nottingham, where he lodged with the queen, and his immediate execution upon a gibbet. The queen was also confined to her house, with a reduced allowance, and, although treated with outward respect, never again recovered any degree of authority. Edward now turned his attention to Scotland. Assisted by some principal English nobles, who enjoyed estates in that country, which were withheld from them contrary to the terms of the late treaty, Edward Baliol, son of the John Baliol to whom the crown had been awarded by Edward I, raised a force, and, defeating the Scots in a great battle, set aside David Bruce, then a minor, and was crowned at Scone, in 1332. Baliol, being driven away on the departure of his English auxiliaries, applied to Edward, who levied a well-appointed army, with which he defeated the regent, Douglas, at the famous battle of Halidown-hill, in July, 1333. This victory produced the restoration of Baliol, who was, however, again expelled, and again restored, until the ambition of Edward was called off by a still more splendid object. The crown of France, by the Salique law, having devolved to Philip de Valois, cousin-german to the deceased king, Charles the Fair, Edward was induced to claim it in right of his mother, that monarch's sister. There existed other claims that were superior; but these considerations weighed very little with a young, ambitious monarch, eager for conquest and glory. The first hostilities produced nothing of much moment. Edward, in order to obtain fresh supplies, made concessions to parliament which he never intended to keep; and, finding his territory of Guienne threatened, he sent over a force for its defence, and quickly followed himself, accompanied by his son Edward, the famous black prince, all his chief nobility, and 30,000 men. The memorable battle of Crecy followed, Aug. 25, 1346, which was succeeded by the siege of Calais. In the mean time, David Bruce, having recovered the throne of Scotland, made an incursion, at the head of a large army, into England; but, being met at Durham by a much inferior force, raised by queen Philippa, and headed by lord Percy, he was totally defeated and taken prisoner, with many of his principal nobles. Philippa went over to her husband at Calais, and, by her interference, prevented the barbarous execution of Eustache de St. Pierre and five other citizens, whom Edward, on the capitulation of the

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place, had determined to execute, in re venge for his long detention in the siege. In 1348, a truce was concluded with France. The year 1349 was distinguished by the institution of the order of the garter; which, owing to the fame and chivalrous character of Edward and his eldest son, soon became one of the most illustrious orders of knighthood in Europe. Philip, king of France, dying in 1350, was succeeded by his son John, the commencement of whose reign abounded with intestine commotion, and, in 1355, Edward again invaded France on the side of Calais, while the black prince, at the same time, led a large army from Gascony. Both these expeditions were attended with much plunder and devastation; and Edward, being recalled home by a Scottish inroad, soon repelled it, and retaliated by carrying fire and sword from Berwick to Edinburgh. During this time, the prince of Wales had penetrated from Guienne to the heart of France, where he was opposed by king John, at the head of an ariny nearly five times more numerous. The famous battle of Poictiers ensued, in which the French monarch being taken prisoner, Edward held at the same time in captivity the kings of France and Scotland, the most dangerous of his enemies. John was taken to England, and treated with the greatest respect; and David was soon after liberated upon ransom. A truce had been made with France after the battle of Poictiers, at the expiration of which, in 1359, Edward once more passed over to Calais with a large army, and desolated the provinces of Picardy and Champagne, but at length consented to a peace, which was concluded in May, 1360. Besides the stipulation of a large ransom for king John, several provinces and districts in the southwest of France and neighborhood of Calais were yielded to Edward, who, in his turn resigned his title to the crown of France and duchy of Normandy. The successor of John, Charles V, invaded the provinces intrusted to prince Edward, then in the last stage of declining health, and Edward had the mortification of witnessing the gradual loss of all his French possessions, except Bordeaux and Bayonne, and of all his conquests except Calais. In the decline of life, he was in other respects unfortunate: becoming a widower, he fell into a species of dotage; and an artful mistress, named Alice Piers, so abused her influence, that, on a parliamentary remonstrance, he found it necessary to dismiss her. His administration also became un

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popular; and he had the affliction of witnessing his heroic son, Edward, sink a victim to a lingering illness; which calamity he survived about a year, dying June 21, 1377, in the sixty-fifth year of his age, and fifty-first of his reign.

EDWARD, prince of Wales, surnamed the Black Prince; one of the most chivalric and heroic characters of history, the eldest son of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault. He was born in 1330, and at the age of fifteen accompanied his father in his invasion of France, and received from him the honor of knighthood. The victory of Crecy, which king Edward left principally to the exertions of the force under his son's command, to use that warlike king's language, “showed that he merited his spurs." It was on this occasion that he assumed the motto of Ich dien (I serve), used by all succeeding princes of Wales, and derived, it is said, from the crest of the king of Bohemia, slain in that battle, which tradition, however, later antiquaries seem disposed to discredit. In 1355, he commanded the army which invaded France from Gascony, and the next year fought the great battle of Poictiers (see Edward III), and distinguished himself by the courtesy with which he treated his prisoner, king John. By the peace of Bretagne, his father had obtained the provinces of Poictou, Saintonge, Perigeux, Limousin, &c., which he annexed to Guienne, and formed into a sovereignty for his son, under the title of the principality of Aquitain. There the prince took up his residence; and at his court Pedro the Cruel sought refuge, when driven from his throne by his natural brother, Henry of Trastamare. Edward undertook the reestablishment of this tyrant, which he accomplished, but lost his health in the enterprise. Disappointed, by the perfidy of Pedro, of the stipulated reimbursements, the taxes he was obliged to levy on his new subjects rendered his government unpopular; and an appeal was made to the king of France, as his liege lord, who summoned him as his vassal to appear at Paris. "I will come," replied the angry prince, "but it shall be at the head of 60,000 men." His health, however, was too far declined to enable him to take the field, when the king of France invaded his dominions; and, having suffered the mortification of seeing his generals defeated, he withdrew into England, and after lingering some time, died, June 8, 1376, in his forty-sixth year, leaving an only son, afterwards Richard II.

EDWARD IV, king of England, was born

in 1441. His father, Richard, duke of York, was grandson of Edward, earl of Cambridge and duke of York, fourth son of Edward III, while the Lancaster branch descended from John of Gaunt, the third son. The York line had intermarried with the female descendants of Lionel, the second son, which gave it the preferable right to the crown. Edward, on the defeat and death of his father at the battle of Wakefield, assumed his title, and, having entered London, was declared king by acclamation in 1461. Soon after his accession, he had to fight for his crown against an army of 60,000 Lancastrians assembled in Yorkshire; and the field of Towton confirmed his title by a decisive victory. Although the high-spirited Margaret was enabled, by the aid of Louis XI of France, again to take the field, the result of the battle of Hexham, in May, 1464, obliged her to return to Flanders, and leave her husband, the imbecile Henry, a prisoner in the hands of his enemies, who immured him in the Tower of London. Freed from warlike cares, Edward indulged himself in the gallantries too common to his age and station, and, by a marriage of passion with Elizabeth Woodville, widow of sir John Grey of Groby, a Lancastrian, betrayed himself into very serious difficulties, since, at the same time, he had despatched the earl of Warwick to negotiate a marriage for him with Bona of Savoy, sister to the queen of France; so that he at once offended two royal houses, and his powerful friend, Warwick. Aided by France, Warwick, who had contracted his daughter to the Lancastrian prince Edward, landed with Clarence and some other lords at Dartmouth; and such was his popularity, that he quickly saw himself at the head of 60,000 men, with whom he marched to encounter Edward. ter Edward. They approached each other near Nottingham, where the king, by the treachery of the marquis of Montague, in whom he placed great confidence, had nearly been betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He had just time to mount on horseback, and with a few attendants proceed to Lynn,where he instantly embarked, and reached a port in Holland, leaving Warwick in full possession of his kingdom, eleven days after he had set his foot in it. Henry's title was again recognised by parliament, and Warwick and Clarence were declared regents of the kingdom. Edward, who at first had been received rather coldly by his brother-in-law, the duke of Burgundy, was at length secretly assisted by him with a small squadron of

EDWARD IV-CHARLES EDWARD.

ships, and a force of about 2000 men, with which he safely reached Ravenspur, in Yorkshire. Here his forces quickly increased by partisans from all quarters, and he was soon enabled to march to London, where, through the influence of many rich merchants who had advanced him money, he obtained entrance as king, and the unfortunate Henry again became prisoner. Warwick advanced against him as far as Barnet, where, on the 14th of April, 1471, another great battle was fought, which ended in the death of Warwick, and a decisive victory on the part of Edward. On the same day, queen Margaret and her son Edward landed at Weymouth, and marched into Gloucestershire, where she was met by the victorious Edward, who totally defeated her at Tewkesbury. The queen and her son Edward, being taken prisoners, and brought into the presence of the victor, Edward asked the latter how he dared to invade his dominions. On receiving a spirited answer, he basely struck the captive prince on the face with his gauntlet-the signal for immediate massacre by the king's brothers and other nobles attendant. Margaret was thrown into the Tower, where Henry VI soon after died, but whether by violence or by disease is uncertain. Edward now once more resigned himself to pleasure and gayety, until seized with a desire to make French conquests. Baffled by the arts, intrigues and money of Louis XI (which he condescended to accept), these attempts ended in nothing of importance. The latter part of his reign was disturbed by his jealousy of his brother Clarence. The consequence of this ill-will was the attainder of Clarence, who was indulged in his desire of meeting his death by immersion in a butt of Malmsey wine. Edward was preparing for another expedition against France, when he was taken off by sickness, in April, 1483, in the forty-second year of his age, and twenty-third of his reign. He left two sons and five daughters. Edward IV possessed some ability and activity, but was, however, more showy than solid. His valor was stained by cruelty, and he was less fitted to prevent evils, than, by his courage and enterprise, to remedy them.

EDWARD V, king of England, the eldest son of Edward IV, was in his thirteenth year when he succeeded his father, in 1483. His uncle, the duke of Gloucester, the regent, caused the young king and his brother, who were lodged in the Tower, to be smothered by ruffians. Two bodies, answering their description, being found buried at the foot of the stairs of their 35

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apartment, in the reign of Charles II, were taken up by that king's order, and deposited in Westminster abbey.

EDWARD VI, king of England, son of Henry VIII, by Jane Seymour, was born in 1538. At his father's death, he was only nine years of age, and, as he did not live to attain majority, the public acts of his reign are to be deemed those of his counsellors. His education was intrusted to men of the first character for learning, among whom were sir Anthony Cooke and sir John Cheke. The progress of the young king, whose disposition was very docile and amiable, was great, especially in classical acquirements, and a rooted zeal for the doctrines of the reformation. His reign was, on the whole, tumultuous and unsettled. After his father's death, his maternal uncle, Seymour, duke of Somerset, became protector; but his administration raised up such powerful enemies, that he was brought to the scaffold. Edward was much afflicted at the necessity of consenting to his execution, and with equal reluctance consented to the death of a fanatical female, named Joan Bocher, who was sentenced to the flames for heresy. When Cranmer urged Edward to sign the warrant for her execution, he long resisted, and at length, overcome by his importunities, told him, that if it was wrong, the guilt lay with him. After the death of Somerset, Dudley, duke of Northumberland, became all powerful, and through his influence, Edward, in a declining state of health, was induced to set aside the succession of both his sisters, and to settle the crown upon the lady Jane Grey, claiming through his father's younger sister, the duchess of Suffolk. His deccasc, from a pulmonary complaint, soon after followed, July 6, 1553, in the sixteenth year of his age, and seventh of his reign.

EDWARD, CHARLES, called the Pretender, grandson of James II, king of England, son of James Edward and Clementine, daughter of prince Sobiesky, was born in 1720, at Rome, where his father enjoyed the friendship of the popes Clement XI and Innocent XIII. The last scion of the royal house of Stuart, from the very cradle he was inspired with an impulse, that induced him, at the early age of 22, to attempt the recovery of the throne of his ancestors. Supported by the court of Rome, he went to Paris in 1742, disguised as a Spanish courier, and succeeded in gaining over to his views Louis XV. 15,000 men were on the point of sailing from Dunkirk for England, when the

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CHARLES EDWARD-EDWARDS.

English admiral Norris dispersed the
whole French fleet, before it had gained
the open sea. This prevented the French
court from undertaking a second expedi-
tion; all the requests of Edward were in
vain, and he now resolved to trust to his
own exertions. With borrowed money,
and seven trusty officers, he landed like a
knight-errant, June 27, 1745, on the north-
western coast of Scotland, from a ship of
18 guns, which contained arms for 1500
men. The attempt succeeded, and he
found so many adherents among the dis-
contented Scotch nobles, who went over
to his party, together with the Highland-
ers under them, that he was soon at the
head of a little army. With this he
marched forward, conquered the English
troops, which advanced to meet him from
Edinburgh, captured Perth, and caused
himself to be proclaimed regent of Eng-
land, Scotland and Ireland. He also took
Edinburgh, September 19, 1745, where he
was once more proclaimed regent, and
surrounded with his ministers and gene-
rals. France sent him support. Septem-
ber 21, 1745, he defeated at Preston Pans
an army of 4000 English. He set the
prisoners at liberty. His force was now
7000 strong. With this he advanced, and
laid siege to Carlisle, November 26, which,
after three days, surrendered, and suppli-
ed him with a great number of arms. He
now caused his father to be proclaimed
king, and himself regent of England, re-
moved his head-quarters to Manchester,
and soon found himself within 100 miles
of London, where many of his friends
awaited his arrival. The rapid successes
of the adventurer made the English gov-
ernment tremble; and a part of the English
forces in Germany was recalled. Want
of support, disunion and jealousy among
the adherents of the house of Stuart, some
errors, and the superior force opposed to
him, compelled prince Edward to retire
in the beginning of 1746. The victory at
Falkirk (January 23, 1746) was his last.
As a final attempt, he risked the battle of
Culloden, against the duke of Cumber-
land, April 27, 1746, in which his army
was defeated, and entirely dispersed. The
prince now wandered about for a long
time through the wilds of Scotland, often
without food, and the price of £30,000
sterling was set upon his head. He was
at last discovered by his most faithful
friend O'Neil, a Scottish nobleman: they
escaped detection by sailing, in a misera-
ble skiff, from island to island, and wan-
dering from valley to valley, pursued by
a thousand dangers; for constant search

was made for Charles in every direction. At Lochnanach, he was fortunate enough to meet one of the French frigates, which had been sent for his rescue. September 29, 1746, five months after the defeat of Culloden, he sailed from Scotland, and arrived in France, destitute of every thing. By the interest of madame de Pompadour, prince Edward now received an annual pension of 200,000 livres for life; he had also 12,000 doubloons yearly from Spain. The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) deprived him of all prospect of recovering the throne of England; and when he heard that his own removal from France was stipulated in the articles of peace, his anger knew no bounds. It became necessary to carry him, under a guard, to the frontiers of Italy. He went to Rome, the residence of his father, James III; but his relations to the Roman court were changed after his father's death, January 1, 1766. His often ridiculous requests in regard to the etiquette to be observed towards him, which he made under the name of count of Albany, rendered his presence troublesome. He went to Florence, till Pius VI recalled him to Rome, by withdrawing his pension. That his family might not become extinct, he married, in the 52d year of his age, April 17, 1772, a princess of Stolberg-Gedern. But his violence led to a separation, in 1780. (See Albany.) Edward now became addicted to intoxication. He died January 31, 1788, in the 68th year of his life. Three years before, he sent for his natural daughter from France, legitimated her, and declared her, on his royal authority, his lawful heiress, under the title of countess of Albany. His body was carried to Frascati, and entombed in a style worthy of a king. A sceptre, crown, sword, and the escutcheons of England and Scotland, adorned his coffin, and his only brother then living, the cardinal of York, performed the funeral service for “dead king Charles." The cardinal of York received from England an annual pension of £4000 sterling, from the year 1799, and died at Frascati, July 13, 1807. The Stuarts ruled in Scotland 400 years, and in England 85 years.

EDWARDS, Bryan, historian of the West Indics, was born at Westbury, in Wiltshire, in 1743. On the death of his father, in adverse circumstances, he acquired the protection of his maternal uncle, a person possessed of great property in the island of Jamaica. He inherited not only the large fortune of his uncle, but of a Mr. Hume, of Jamaica, and, becoming an eminent merchant, returned to England, and,

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