Civilisation at the Cross Roads; Four Lectures Delivered Before Harvard University in the Year 1911 on the William Belden Noble Foundation

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1912 edition. Excerpt: ... appendix King Richard The Third And The Reverend James Thompson Some fifteen years ago Sir Clements Markham set himself to rehabilitate Richard Crookback. His effort was not the first, for Horace Walpole a century before had tried his hand at the same task. The work was done so skilfully that any member of the general public who had sufficient interest to read the articles would easily have succumbed to the advocate. Briefly, the case was as follows. The writers who have made history were all of them directly or indirectly subservient to Henry vii, who needed for his stability to inculcate detestation of the man whom he had supplanted. This bias animated historical writers consciously and popular opinion unconsciously. For reasons of this sort Fabyan is worthless. Polydore Vergil, historiographer to Henry vii, was an Italian and was not likely to tell any truth unpalatable to his master even if he had known. The life of Richard by Sir Thomas More has not really the weight of his character behind, but was written or inspired by Cardinal Morton, the engineer of the Tudor triumph, and implacably hostile to Richard. After thus clearing the ground by destroying the credit of the witnesses, the critic examined the individual crimes attributed to Richard. He laboured the inadequacy of the evidence for the Duke's share in the murder of the young Prince of Wales after Tewkesbury. For his supposed murder of King Henry vi in the Tower, the course advised by Mr. Weller was adopted and an alibi set up. The story of the killing of "false, fleeting, perjured Clarence" was dismissed as unworthy of credence. After this preliminary exculpation the accused is led into court with clean hands and there tried for his final and worst offences, the usurpation...