se that the end of this story would have put the Irish
people on their guard; but they were quite ready to receive a second
impostor, as they had received the first, and that same troublesome
Duchess of Burgundy soon gave them the opportunity. All of a sudden
there appeared at Cork, in a vessel arriving from Portugal, a young man
of excellent abilities, of very handsome appearance and most winning
manners, who declared himself to be Richard, Duke of York, the second son
of King Edward the Fourth. 'O,' said some, even of those ready Irish
believers, 'but surely that young Prince was murdered by his uncle in the
Tower!'--'It _is_ supposed so,' said the engaging young man; 'and my
brother _was_ killed in that gloomy prison; but I escaped--it don't
matter how, at present--and have been wandering about the world for seven
long years.' This explanation being quite satisfactory to numbers of the
Irish people, they began again to shout and to hurrah, and to drink his
health, and to make the noisy and thirsty demonstrations all over again.
And the big chieftain in Dublin began to look out for another coronation,
and another young King to be carried home on his back.

Now, King Henry being then on bad terms with France, the French King,
Charles the Eighth, saw that, by pretending to believe in the handsome
young man, he could trouble his enemy sorely. So, he invited him over to
the French Court, and appointed him a body-guard, and treated him in all
respects as if he really were the Duke of York. Peace, however, being
soon concluded between the two Kings, the pretended Duke was turned
adrift, and wandered for protection to the Duchess of Burgundy. She,
after feigning to inquire into the reality of his claims, declared him to
be the very picture of her dear departed brother; gave him a body-guard
at her Court, of thirty halberdiers; and called him by the sounding name
of the White Rose of England.

The leading members of the White Rose party in England sent over an
agent, named Sir Robert Clifford, to ascertain whether the White Rose's
claims were good: the King also sent over his agents to inquire into the
Rose's history. The White Roses declared the young man to be really the
Duke of York; the King declared him to be PERKIN WARBECK, the son of a
merchant of the city of Tournay, who had acquired his knowledge of
England, its language and manners, from the English merchants who traded
in Flanders; it was also stated by the