ly excluded.[*] In all settlements of the crown
made during the reigns of the Lancastrian princes, the line of Somerset
had been entirely overlooked; and it was not till the failure of the
legitimate branch, that men had paid any attention to their claim. And
to add to the general dissatisfaction against Henry's title, his mother,
from whom he derived all his right was still alive; and evidently
preceded him in the order of succession.

* Rymer, tom. vii. p. 849. Coke's Inst. iv. Inst. part i. p.
37.

His title of the house of York, both from the plain reason of the case,
and from the late popular government of Edward IV., had universally
obtained the preference in the sentiments of the people; and Henry might
ingraft his claim on the rights of that family, by his intended marriage
with the princess Elizabeth, the heir of it; a marriage which he had
solemnly promised to celebrate, and to the expectation of which he had
chiefly owed all his past successes. But many reasons dissuaded Henry
from adopting this expedient. Were he to receive the crown only in right
of his consort, his power, he knew, would be very limited; and he must
expect rather to enjoy the bare title of king by a sort of courtesy,
than possess the real authority which belongs to it. Should the princess
die before him without issue, he must descend from the throne, and give
place to the next in succession; and even if his bed should be blest
with offspring, it seemed dangerous to expect that filial piety in his
children would prevail over the ambition of obtaining present possession
of regal power. An act of parliament, indeed, might easily be procured
to settle the crown on him during life; but Henry knew how much superior
the claim of succession by blood was to the authority of an assembly,[*]
which had always been overborne by violence in the shock of contending
titles, and which had ever been more governed by the conjunctures of the
times, than by any consideration derived from reason or public interest.

There was yet a third foundation on which Henry might rest his claim,
the right of conquest, by his victory over Richard, the present
possessor of the crown. But besides that Richard himself was deemed
no better than a usurper, the army which fought against him consisted
chiefly of Englishmen; and a right of conquest over England could
never be established by such a victory. Nothing also would give greater
umbrage to the nation than a cla