left upon the court and the kingdom. Among other
things, the cause of public morals demanded, he said, that an example
should be made of Jane Shore, who had been the associate and partner
of the king in his immoralities.

Jane Shore, it will be recollected, was the wife of a rich citizen of
London, whom Edward had enticed away from her husband and brought to
court. She was naturally a very amiable and kind-hearted woman, and
all accounts concur in saying that she exercised the power that she
acquired over the mind of the king in a very humane and praiseworthy
manner. She was always ready to interpose, when the king contemplated
any act of harshness or severity, to avert his anger and save his
intended victim, and, in general, she did a great deal to soften the
brutality of his character, and to protect the innocent and helpless
from the wrongs which he would otherwise have often done them. These
amiable and gentle traits of character do not, indeed, atone at all
for the grievous sin which she committed in abandoning her husband and
living voluntarily with the king, but they did much toward modifying
the feeling of scorn and contempt with which she would have otherwise
been regarded by the people of England.

Richard caused Jane to be arrested and sent to prison. He also seized
all her plate and jewels, and confiscated them. She had a very rich
and valuable collection of these things.[O] Richard then caused an
ecclesiastical court to be organized, and sent her before it to be
tried. The court, undoubtedly in accordance with instructions that
Richard himself gave them, sentenced her, by way of penance for her
sins, to walk in midday through the streets of London, from one end of
the city to the other, almost entirely undressed. The intention of
this severe exposure was to designate her to those who should assemble
to witness the punishment as a wanton, and thus to put her to shame,
and draw upon her the scorn and derision of the populace. They found
some old and obsolete law which authorized such a punishment. The
sentence was carried into effect on a Sunday. The unhappy criminal was
conducted through the principal streets of the city, wearing a
night-dress, and carrying a lighted taper in her hand, between rows of
spectators that assembled by thousands along the way to witness the
scene. But, instead of being disposed to receive her with taunts and
reproaches, the populace were moved to compassion by her saddened look