e reason this gin was left, it is said, was that he was suddenly
called away from the throne and never lived to get back. No monarch
should ever leave his throne in too much of a hurry.

Richard made himself very unpopular in 1485 by his forced loans, as they
were called: a system of assessing a man after dark with a self-cocking
writ and what was known as the headache-stick, a small weapon which was
worn up the sleeve during the day, and which was worn behind the ear by
the loyal subject after nightfall. It was a common sight, so says the
historian, to hear the nightfall and the headache-stick fall at the same
time.

[Illustration: THEY SAT ON THE THRONE FOR SOME TIME.]

The queen died in 1485, and Richard thought some of marrying again; but
it got into the newspapers because he thought of it while a
correspondent was going by, who heard it and telegraphed his paper who
the lady was and all about it. This scared Richard out, and he changed
his mind about marrying, concluding, as a mild substitute, to go into
battle at Bosworth and get killed all at once. He did so on the 22d of
August.

[Illustration: A MILD SUBSTITUTE FOR SECOND MARRIAGE.]

After his death it was found that he had rolled up his pantaloons above
his knees, so that he would not get gore on them. This custom was
afterwards generally adopted in England.

He was buried by the nuns of Leicester in their chapel, Richmond then
succeeding him as king. He was buried in the usual manner, and a large
amount of obloquy heaped on him.

That is one advantage of being great. After one's grave is filled up,
one can have a large three-cornered chunk of obloquy put on the top of
it to mark the spot and keep medical students away of nights.

Greatness certainly has its drawbacks, as the Duchess of Bloomer once
said to the author, after she had been sitting on a dry-goods box with a
nail in it, and had, therefore, called forth adverse criticism. An
unknown man might have sat on that same dry-goods box and hung on the
same nail till he was black in the face without causing remarks, but
with the Duchess of Bloomer it was different,--oh, so different!

[Illustration: TOMB OF RICHARD III.]

CHAPTER XVIII.

DISORDER STILL THE POPULAR FAD: GENERAL ADMIXTURE OF PRETENDERS,
RELIGION, POLITICS, AND DISGRUNTLED MONARCHS.

As a result of the Bosworth victory, Henry Tudor obtained the use of the
throne from 1485 to 1509. He saw at once by means of an eagle eye t