204

EDWARD THE FOURTH.

ANY attempt to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion respecting the real conduct and character of Edward the Fourth, is attended with the difficulty to which I have already alluded in speaking of the Princes of the House of Lancaster, and in a still higher degree. Not only are the contemporary accounts few and meagre in the extreme, as well as the materials from other sources; but these contemporary chroniclers, with one solitary exception, are either strong Lancastrians, or did not compose their histories until after the battle of Bosworth and the overthrow of the House of York, when it had become the fashion and their interest to exalt the Lancastrian interest at the expense of the memory of its rival. One circumstance, however, has, to some degree, operated in favour of Edward's personal fame, his being the father of Henry the Seventh's wife and Henry the Eighth's mother. Influenced, no doubt, by this consideration, the writers of the Tudor period, while they studiously decry the Yorkist as opposed to the Lancastrian cause, have been

induced to soften their censure of the first sovereign of the former family, and indulge in some panegyric, while not concealing the salient faults of his character. Thus, in a personal point of view, we have, perhaps (between these conflicting influences), in their delineations, as far as they go, a greater approximation to impartiality and the actual truth than is often met with in contemporary writings.

The difficulty in arriving at an estimate of Edward does not in fact lie so much in our imperfect knowledge of the facts of his life and conduct, as in the task of deducing from these anything like an intelligible and consistent character. Never have the intellectual and sensuous, the masculine and the voluptuous qualities been presented in any King in greater intensity and in more strikingly antagonistic contrast. The King and the Man seem both alike to resolve themselves into several independent and thoroughly dissimilar persons, each of whom has his history and each of whom has left behind a strong impression on his times; and so distinct appears to be the action of each that we are inclined to ask, not only Which is the real Edward? but Had the real Edward any paramount and governing characteristic at all? And yet all these distinct phases of character seem to be established on satisfactory evidence, and the problem appears to have puzzled and misled contemporaries as much as it does ourselves, and to have baffled to some extent even the crafty insight

of Louis the Eleventh of France. The present portrait, therefore, must be presented with considerable diffidence and a certain amount of reserve.

The antagonism begins in Edward's physical constitution and personal appearance. King Edward,' writes in the early Tudor period Polydore Vergil (who had excellent means of information, and considerable discrimination in availing himself of them), 'was very tall of personage, exceeding the stature almost of all others, of comely visage, pleasant look, broad-breasted, the residue even to his feet proportionably correspondent.' Sir Thomas More describes him similarly as a goodly personage, and very princely to behold; of visage lovely, of body mighty, strong and clean made.' That he was handsome to an uncommon degree all writers concur in stating. De Comines, who knew him, twice mentions that he was the most beautiful prince he had ever seen, or of his time; and De Comines, as a counsellor of the Duke of Burgundy and Louis the Eleventh, had ample opportunities of making such a comparison. A story is told, though we do not possess it on contemporary authority, which is not in itself improbable, and at any rate illustrates the popular tradition of this personal beauty and attractiveness. He asked an old lady what she would give him towards the war, and she replied, 'For thy lovely face thou shalt have twenty pounds!' which was twice as much as the King expected, who thanked and kissed her.

This personal beauty was, no doubt, the source of what we may call the effeminate side of Edward's character. It made him a magnificent fop, and with the natural temperament of which it was the index, made him also an epicurean of the first water in every part of his ordinary life, an unrestrained glutton, an indolent and self-indulgent voluptuary, and a reckless and unscrupulous seducer. De Comines says he indulged himself in a larger share of ease and pleasure than any prince in his time. To the same writer it appeared that his thoughts were wholly employed upon the ladies, on hunting, and on dressing. In his summer's hunting, his custom was to have tents set up for the ladies, where he treated them often in a splendid and magnificent manner.' He did not confine his entertainments to the upper classes; indeed, it became more and more his custom, as his life advanced, to mix familiarly with all classes. The London citizen Fabyan, writing at the beginning of the Tudor period, tells us that 'in July, 1481, the King invited the Mayor and part of the Corporation to a hunt in Waltham Forest, and feasted them with a rich dinner and wine in a bower of green boughs, and gave them plenty of venison at parting. The next month he sent two harts and six bucks to the wives of the Mayor and Aldermen with a tun of wine to drink with them.' His Court was a model of stately magnificence. He was very fond of music, and very liberal in his allow

ance to his minstrels. He took great pleasure in setting off his fine person to the best advantage, and in introducing new fashions in dress. His tailor, Guillemi Pault, had an allowance of a shilling a day, and five pounds a year from his purse. The new fashion that he chose for his last State dresses was to have very full hanging sleeves, like a monk's, lined with the most sumptuous furs, and so rolled over his shoulders as to give his tall person an air of peculiar grandeur. A Sumptuary Act gave him an opportunity of fixing the distinctive marks according to dress of every grade of society, from the cloth of gold of the Royal Family, down to the cloth of two shillings a yard and under of the labourer, servant, or artificer. For Edward, with all his familiarity among various classes, was a great stickler for distinctions of rank. Women's Rights, however, were recognised by a proviso that the Act should not. extend to the wives of any but the two-shillings-ayard class. Unless he is belied, he was as curious in his amatory as in his sumptuous tastes. He used to say, we are told, that he had three mistresses who excelled in three distinct properties. One was the wittiest, another the williest, the third the holiest harlot in his kingdom.

His great self-indulgence brought on during the last part of his life a corpulence which injured his personal appearance, and which also contributed, no doubt, in a great measure to his premature death