ield. At Evesham, a Fitz-Henry had
fought beside Prince Edward's bridle-rein, against the great De
Montfort, and his confederate barons; and afterward through all the
long and cruel wars of the Roses, on every field a Fitz-Henry had won
honor or lost blood, upholding the claims of the true sovereign
house--the house of York--until at fatal Bosworth the house itself
went down, and dragged down with it the fortunes of its bold
supporters.

Thereafter, during the reign of the Tudors, the name of Fitz-Henry was
heard rarely in the court, or on the field; impoverished in fortune by
fines and sequestrations, suspected of disloyalty to the now sovereign
house, the heads of the family had wisely held themselves aloof from
intrigue and conspiracy, and dwelt among their yeomen, who had in old
times been their fathers' vassals, stanch lovers of field-sports, true
English country gentlemen, seeking the favor and fearing the ill-will
of no man--no, not of England's king.

Attached to the old religion, though neither bigots nor zealots, they
had escaped the violence of bluff Harry, when he turned Protestant for
Bullen's eyes; and had, though something to leeward of her favor, as
lukewarm Romanists and no lovers of the Spaniard, passed safely
through the ordeal of Mary's cruel reign.

But with the accession of the man-minded Elizabeth, the fortunes of
the house revived for a while. It was the policy of that great and
gracious queen to gather around her all that were brave, honest, and
manly in her realm, without regard to family creeds, or family
traditions. Claiming descent as much from one as from the other of the
rival houses of Lancaster and York, loyalty to the one was no more
offence to her clear eyes than good faith to the other. While loyalty
to what he honestly believed to be the true sovereign house, was the
strongest recommendation to her favor in each and every subject.

The Fitz-Henry, therefore, of her day, a young and gallant soldier,
who visited the shores of the New World with Cavendish and Raleigh,
fought for his native land, although a Catholic, against the terrible
armada of the Most Catholic King, with Drake, and Frobisher and
Howard, waged war in the Low Countries, and narrowly missed death at
Tutphen by Philip Sidney's side, stood as high in the favor of his
queen as in the estimation of all good and honorable men. It is true,
when the base and odious James succeeded to the throne of the
lion-queen, and sub