Celebrated Claimants from Perkin Warbeck to Arthur Orton | Page 5

English gentlemen who entertained
no love for the king, repaired to the French capital to satisfy themselves
as to the pretensions of this young man; and so well had Warbeck's
lesson been acquired, that he succeeded in convincing them of his
identity, and in inducing them to pledge themselves to aid him in his
attempt to recover his inheritance.

About this time, however, the breach between France and England was
lessened, and when friendly relations were restored, Henry applied to
have the impostor put into his hands. Charles, refusing to break faith
with a youth who had come to Paris by his own solicitation, refused to
give him up, and contented himself with ordering him to quit the
kingdom. Warbeck thereupon in all haste repaired to the court of
Margaret of Burgundy; but she at first astutely pretended ignorance of
his person and ridiculed his claims, saying that she had been deceived
by Simnel, and was resolved never again to be cajoled by another
impostor. Perkin, who admitted that she had reason to be suspicious,
nevertheless persisted that he was her nephew, the Duke of York. The
duchess, feigning a desire to convict him of imposture before the whole
of her attendants, put several questions to him which she knew he could
readily answer, affected astonishment at his replies, and, at last, no
longer able to control her feelings, "threw herself on his neck, and
embraced him as her nephew, the true image of Edward, the sole heir of
the Plantagenets, and the legitimate successor to the English throne."
She immediately assigned to him an equipage suited to his supposed
rank, appointed a guard of thirty halberdiers to wait upon him, and gave
him the title of "The White Rose of England"--the symbol of the House
of York.
When the news reached England, in the beginning of 1493, that the
Duke of York was alive in Flanders, and had been acknowledged by the
Duchess of Burgundy, many people credited the story; and men of the
highest rank began to turn their eyes towards the new claimant. Lord
Fitzwater, Sir Simon Mountfort, and Sir Thomas Thwaites, made little
secret of their inclination towards him; Sir William Stanley, King
Henry's chamberlain, who had been active in raising the usurper to the
throne, was ready to adopt his cause whenever he set foot on English
soil, and Sir Robert Clifford and William Barley openly gave their
adhesion to the pretender, and went over to Flanders to concert
measures with the duchess and the sham duke. After his arrival,
Clifford wrote to his friends in England, that knowing the person of
Richard, duke of York, perfectly well, he had no doubt that this young
man was the prince himself, and that his story was compatible with the
truth. Such positive intelligence from a person of Clifford's rank greatly

strengthened the popular belief, and the whole English nation was
seriously discomposed and gravely disaffected towards the king.
When Henry was informed of this new plot, he set himself cautiously
but steadily and resolutely to foil it. His first object was to ascertain the
reality of the death of the young prince, and to confirm the opinion
which had always prevailed with regard to that event. Richard had
engaged five persons to murder his nephews--viz., Sir James Tirrel,
whom he made custodian of the Tower while his nefarious scheme was
in course of execution, and who had seen the bodies of the princes after
their assassination; Forrest, Dighton, and Slater, who perpetrated the
crime; and the priest who buried the bodies. Tirrel and Dighton were
still alive; but although their stories agreed, as the priest was dead, and
as the bodies were supposed to have been removed by Richard's orders,
and could not be found, it was impossible to prove conclusively that the
young princes really had been put to death.
By means of his spies, Henry, after a time, succeeded in tracing the true
pedigree of Warbeck, and immediately published it for the satisfaction
of the nation. At the same time he remonstrated with the Archduke
Philip on account of the protection which was afforded to the impostor,
and demanded that "the theatrical king formed by the Duchess of
Burgundy" should be given up to him. The ambassadors were received
with all outward respect, but their request was refused, and they were
sent home with the answer, that "the Duchess of Burgundy being
absolute sovereign in the lands of her dowry, the archduke could not
meddle with her affairs, or hinder her from doing what she thought fit."
Henry in resentment cut off all intercourse with the Low Countries,
banished the Flemings, and recalled his own subjects from these
provinces. At the same time, Sir Robert Clifford having proved
traitorous to Warbeck's cause, and having revealed the