hat he should get both children into his own
power.

"I must," said he to himself, therefore, "I must, in some way or
other, and at all hazards, get possession of little Richard."

It is always the policy of usurpers, and of all ambitious and aspiring
men who wish to seize and hold power which does not properly belong to
them, to carry the various measures necessary to the attainment of
their ends, especially those likely to be unpopular, not by their own
personal action, but by the agency of others, whom they put forward to
act for them. Richard proceeded in this way in the present instance.
He called a grand council of the peers of the realm and great officers
of state, and caused the question to be brought up there of removing
the young Duke of York from the custody of his mother to that of the
Protector, in order that he might be with his brother. The peers who
were in Richard's interest advocated this plan; but all the bishops
and archbishops, who, of course, as ecclesiastics, had very high ideas
of the sacredness and inviolability of a sanctuary, opposed the plan
of taking the duke away except by the consent of his mother.

The other side argued in reply to them that a sanctuary was a place
where persons could seek refuge to escape punishment in case of crime,
and that where no crime could have been committed, and no charges of
crime were made, the principle did not apply. In other words, that the
sanctuary was for men and women who had been guilty, or were supposed
to have been guilty, of violations of law; but as children could
commit no crime for which an asylum was necessary, the privileges of
sanctuary did not extend to them.

This view of the subject prevailed. The bishops and archbishops were
outvoted, and an order in council was passed authorizing the Lord
Protector to possess himself of his nephew, the Duke of York, and for
this purpose to take him, if necessary, out of sanctuary by force.

Still, the bishops and archbishops were very unwilling that force
should be used, if it could possibly be avoided; and finally the
Archbishop of Canterbury, who was the highest prelate in the realm,
proposed that a deputation from the council should be sent to the
Abbey, and that he should go with them, in order to see the queen, and
make the attempt to persuade her to give up her son of her own accord.

After giving notice to the abbot of their intended visit, and making
an arrangement with him and with the quee