Page:The Queens of England.djvu/268

228 THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND. During her stay at Middleham the birth of her son in 1474 had, however, opened a new source of interest in the breast of this lady, who bestowed upon her boy all that love and ten- ' derness which had before been confined to her own heart. Yet she was not long permitted this solace to her grief. While still living at Middleham Castle, in 1476, she lost her sister, the Duchess of Clarence ; soon after which, as Duchess of Glouces- ter, she was called upon to take a part in public acts, which were far from being either justifiable or excusable; but we have reason to believe, from the few notices that have come down to us, that the actions, no less than the person of the infamous Richard, were her supreme abhorrence. King Edward was no more, and his immediate successor to the throne was only a child. Richard had resolved to place upon his own brow the regal diadem, and the remonstrances of Anne, had she even dared to utter them, would have been in vain, if not dangerous to herself. Richard was, as a friend, not easily led by any one, and still less likely to be turned from his guilty career by the tears and entreaties of a woman. By a series of crimes, of which history has preserved the record and which have made Richard the Third a by-word of reproach in the mouth of posterity, he at length mounted his blood-stained throne, and required his queen to share with him his usurped and guilty honors. We have no reason for suppos- ing that any of the crimes of her husband ever had the sanc- tion or approbation of Anne, and contemporary historians have declared that she did not participate in the plunder of those who dared to oppose the treacherous designs of the ty- rant. Yet when we consider the character of Richard, it will be evident that any wish expressed by him would be received as a command by the meek and powerless Anne. In obedience to the orders of the tyrant Richard, Anne pro- ceeded to London preparatory to her coronation. On the 4th of July, 1483, Richard, who had already been proclaimed king, conducted his wife and her little son Edward with regal mag- nificence from Westminster to the Tower, and their child was on the same day created Prince of Wales. On the morrow the king and queen and the infant prince went in procession through the city, attended by the four thousand partisans of Richard, whom he had brought from the northern counties to overawe the citizens. On the 5th of July the coronation of Richard and his queen took place. It was attended with more than the customary splendor and pageantry, for indeed some