trust; but the conduct of the king shows how little he was deserving of their loyalty. The Percies, however, continued to support the royal cause, notwithstanding the odium attached to it, and the disregard shown for their claims. In the months of May and June 1403, there are two letters from Hotspur's father, containing pressing demands for payment of the money due to himself and his son, more especially as they were about to incur great labour and expense in the wars. In the latter month, the Earl of Northumberland says that his honour, as well as the state of the kingdom, were in question touching the payment of the debts due to him from the crown; and that the day on which the king wished him to be at Ormeston Castle was so near, that if payment was not soon ordered, it was very probable that the fair renown of the chivalry of the realm would not be maintained at that place, to the utter dishonour and grief of him and his son, who were the king's loyal subjects, which they believed could not be his wish, nor had they deserved it. "If," said the earl, "we had both been paid the sixty thousand pounds since your coronation, as I hear you were informed by those who do not wish to tell you the truth, then we could better support such a charge; but, to this day, there is clearly owing to us, as can be fully proved, twenty thousand pounds and more." The earl concluded by entreating the king to order his council and treasurer to pay him and his son a large sum, conformably to the grant made in the last parliament, so that no injury might arise to the realm by repudiating what was due to them.

It is clear that these just demands of the Percies received no consideration; and it is not to be wondered at that, thus slighted, defrauded of their due, harassed by debts incurred for the king, and with their honour engaged for their fulfilment, goaded by injuries, deceived, and perhaps already sharing in the universal odium that was felt for Henry's vicious government, they resolved no longer to pay allegiance to a ruler who had in this, as in so many other instances, forfeited the obedience of his subjects. It is not surprising that the Percies should have thus been driven to take the desperate resolution, within four short weeks afterwards, of endeavouring to arouse the faithless monarch to a sense of his moral obligations. And where their personal honour was at stake, they would no longer have been worthy of the

untarnished name of Percy had they paused in the course they were bound to adopt.

Writers on the transactions of this particular period, from not having had the opportunity of consulting these remarkable letters of Hotspur and his father, have spoken of the collision that ensued as entirely originating in a spirit of disaffection and rebellion. But it is sufficient justification of the cherished loyalty of the Percies to refer to the humble tone of their petitions,-petitions so often repeated, and couched in such respectful language, as scarcely to amount

to a remonstrance.

Nor, taking a calm and constitutional view of the subjects then agitating men's minds, must it be forgotten that if patriotism be any thing more definite than a name, and national honour in reality a principle worth maintaining, the representatives of England's noblest house were bound to vindicate these virtues. Like the barons at Runnymede, they had a sacred mission to fulfil for their country's good; and they fought at Hateley Field and Towton, not for personal aggrandisement or political power, but in defence of their inalienable rights, the freedom of an overtaxed people, and for the legitimacy of the throne.

Four centuries and a half have passed over since these barbarous deeds were perpetrated, and posterity, removed from the causes of political excitement, are able to review the conduct of the leading actors in this tragic drama with calmness and equity. And posterity, with unbiased judgment, has assigned to Hotspur the brightest cross of the order of valour and patriotism, and written the name of Henry IV. in the page of history as a murderer and

usurper.

The Earl of Northumberland survived his son four years, and perished with equal bravery in the battle of Towton. Henry IV. offered his remains the last indignity he could inflict, and forfeited his extensive possessions. It was some years before the grandson was reinstated in his titles and inheritance; but, in 1414, Henry V. restored him to the family honours. The actions of his life must be passed over, as the period has arrived for terminating the present history. He entered his career after a long minority, and immediately repaired the decay into which Alnwick and Warkworth Castles had fallen. He built the keep at the latter

place, and obtained a license for fortifying the town. But ere long troubles ensued, and he added another to the list of those heroic noblemen who died in battle. He was slain at St. Albans in 1454, making the third Percy in direct descent who lost his life on the field.