sey. But he failed to reach the active
agents; and although the English people were satisfied that the Earl
of Warwick was still a prisoner, the Irish persisted in their revolt,
and declared that the person who had been shown to the public at St.
Paul's was a counterfeit. By the orders of the Government a strict
watch was kept at the English ports, that fugitives, malcontents, or
suspected persons might not pass over into Ireland or Flanders; and a
thousand pounds reward was offered to any one who would present the
State with the body of the sham Plantagenet.

Meanwhile John, earl of Lincoln, whom Richard had declared heir to the
throne, and whom Henry had treated with favour, took the side of the
pretender, and having established a correspondence with Sir Thomas
Broughton of Lancashire, proceeded to the court of Margaret,
dowager-duchess of Burgundy--a woman described by Lord Bacon as
"possessing the spirit of a man and the malice of a woman," and whose
great aim it was to see the sovereignty of England once more held by
the house of which she was a member. She readily consented to abet the
sham Earl of Warwick, and furnished Lincoln and Lord Lovel with a body
of 2000 German veterans, commanded by an able officer named Martin
Schwartz. The countenance given to the movement by persons of such
high rank, and the accession of this military force, greatly raised
the courage of Simnel's Irish adherents, and led them to conceive the
project of invading England, where they believed the spirit of
disaffection to be as general as it was in their own island.

The news of the intended invasion came early to the ears of King
Henry, who promptly prepared to resist it. Having always felt or
affected great devotion, after mustering his army, he made a
pilgrimage to the shrine of our Lady of Walsingham, famous for
miracles, and there offered up prayers for success and for the
overthrow of his enemies. Being informed that Simnel and his gathering
had landed at Foudrey, in Lancashire, the king advanced to Coventry to
meet them. The rebels had anticipated that the disaffected provinces
of the north would rise and join them, but in this they were
disappointed; for the cautious northerners were not only convinced of
Simnel's imposture, but were afraid of the king's strength, and were
averse to league themselves with a horde of Irishmen and Germans. The
Earl of Lincoln, therefore, who commanded the invading force, finding
no hopes but in