The victory of Agincourt was obtained by Henry V. or. St. Crifpin's day*, October 25, 1415. How long is that ago this prefent year 1810? Anf. 395 years.

No. 98, BATTLE OF TOWTON.-Towton, a place fituated S. E. of Tadcaster, in Yorkshire, is noted for an engagement between the deluded adherents of the houses of York and Lancafter. This famous battle is generally fuppofed to have been one of the moft fierce and bloody that ever happened in any domeftic war. Both armies confifted of 100,000 men; above 36,000, fome historians fay 40,000, of whom were made a prey for carrion kites and crows" in this fatal conflict, which terminated in a total victory on the fide of the Yorkifts. This event took place in 1461; how long is that ago this prefent year 1810 ? Anf. 349 years.

N. B. Perfons at this period took different fymbols. The partifans of the houfe of Lancaster chofe the red rofe as their mark of distinction; those of York were denominated from the white :

Then will I raise aloft the milk-white rofe,

With whofe fweet fmell the air fhall be perfum'd;
And in my fiandard bear the arms of York,

To grapple with the house of Lancaster.

SHAKSPEARE.

These inteftine wars were therefore known over Europe by the name of the quarrel between the roles. They ori ginated with the defcendants of Edward III. That monarch was fucceeded by his grandfon Richard II. who

The Great Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, who was killed at the battle of Lutzent, never engaged in any battle without first praying at the head of the troops he was about to lead towards the enemy, fometimes with and fometimes without book. The word given for the day on which the battle of Lutzen was fought, was God be with us." SEWARD's Anecdotes of Distinguished Perfons, vol. 1. p. 190.

* See Chron. and Biog. Exer. 4th edit.

+ See Nov. 6, 1632, and Aug. 4, 1804, Chron. and Biog. Exer. 4th edit. D 4 bein

being depofed, the duke of Lancaster was proclaimed king by the title of Henry IV. in prejudice to the duke of York, the right heir to the crown; he being defcended from Lionel, the second son of Edward III. whereas the duke of Lancafter was the fon of John of Gaunt, the third fon of King Edward. The acceffion of Henry to the throne occafioned feveral confpiracies, and the battle of SHREWSBURY, during his reign; and the animofities which fubfifted between his defcendants and thofe of the duke of York afterwards filled the kingdom with civil commotions, and deluged its plains with blood, particularly in the reigns of Henry VI. and Edward IV.

But little now avail'd

The ties of friendship: ev'ry man, as led
By inclination or vain hope, repair'd

To either camp, and breath'd immortal hate,
And dire revenge. Now horrid Slaughter reigns;

Sons against fathers tilt the fatal lance,

Careless of duty, and their native grounds
Diftain with kindred blood..

Here might you fee
Barons and peafants on th' embattled field
Slain, or half-dead, in one huge ghaftly heap
Promifcuonfly amafs'd. With difinal groans
And ejulation in the pangs of death

Some call for aid, neglected; fome o'erturn'd
In the fierce shock lie gasping and expire,
Trampled by fiery courfers. Horror thus
And wild uproar and defolation reign'd
Unrefpited.

PHILIPS.

No. 99. BATTLE OF BOSWORTH. Bofworth-Field, Leicefterfhire, is famous in our annals for the defeat and death of Richard III. in the year 1485; when his antagonist, Henry, earl of Richmond, was immediately proclaimed king by the style of Henry VII. Great crimes have been imputed to Richard, particularly the murder of Edward prince of Wales, fon of Henry VI. the murder. of Henry VI. the murder of his brother, George, duke of Clarence; the execution of Rivers, Gray, and Vaughan; the execution of Lord Haftings; the murder of Edward V. and his brother; and the murder of his

queen.

queen. Accordingly, hiftorians reprefent Richard as one of the most deteftable tyrants that ever difgraced the English: throne. His perfon is thus delineated by Shakspeare:

Deform'd, unfinish'd, fent before his time

Into this breathing world, fcarce half made up,
And that fo lamely and unfafhionable,

That dogs bark'd at him, as he halted by them.

Nor was his mind, as pourtrayed by the fame great poet; lefs deformed than his body:

Tetchy and wayward was his infancy;

His fchool-days, frightful, defperate, wild, and furious;.
His prime of manhood, daring, bold, and venturous;
His age confirm'd, proud, fubtle, fly, and bloody;
More mild, but yet more harmful, kind in hatred *.

The engagement in Bofworth-Field was the thirteenth and last battle between the houfes of York and Lancaster. In thefe fanguinary and unnatural contefts, which, as an eminent writer obferves, arose from the folly of an attachment to certain perfons and families as poffeffed of fome inherent right to kingly power, many of the most ancient families of the kingdom were entirely extinguished, and no less than 100,000 human beings loft their lives!!

"Men of one nature, of one substance bred,
"Who met in thefe inteftine fhocks

"And furious clofe of civil butcheries;

"Making war upon themfelves, blood against blood,
"Self against felf O most prepofterous

"And frantic outrage."

It is, however, proper to inform our young readers, that Horace Walpole, late earl of Orford, has, in a tract entitled "Hiftoric Doubts," examined the circumstances of each crime, and the evidence of each of the charges again? this monarch; and has endeavoured to prove, that fome of the unes imputed to him were contrary to his intereft, almost all inconfiftent with probability or with dates, and fome of them involved in material contradictions. It is certain, that the partizans of the houfe of Tudor took much pains to blacken Richard's memory; and hat fufficient evidence has not been produced of the crimes charged against him; nor does it appear, that his perfon was fo deformed as it has been reprefented.

How long has the battle of Bofworth preceded the year 1810 Anf. 325 years.

N. B. The interests of the houses of York and Lancafter were blended in the marriage of Henry VII, and the princess Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV.

Richmond Henry, by nuptial rites

Did close the gates of Janus*, and remove
Deftructive difcord. Now no more the drum
Provokes to arms, or trumpet's clangour fhrill
Affrights the wife's or chills the virgin's blood.

PHILIPS.

No. 100. PRINTING. The art of printing, at least in Europe, is a modern discovery; and who were the first inventors of European printing, in what city, and what year, it was at firft fet on foot, has been long difputed among the learned. In effect, as the Grecian cities contended for the birth of HOMER†, fo do the German cities for that of printing. MENTZ, HAERLEM, and STRASBURGH, are the warmest on this point of honour the firft has always had a majority of voices; but the question,

JANUS is faid to have been the most ancient king who reigned in Italy. After death he was ranked among the gods, and worshipped by the Romans, on account of the civilization which he introduced among the wild inhabitants of Italy. His temple, which was always open in times of war, was fhut only three times during above 700 years. One of thefe periods was in the time of Auguftus; in whose reign, as we have before obferved, Jefus Chrift was born.

+ "Sev'n mighty towns contend for HOMER dead,

"Through which the living HoMER begg'd his bread."

The feven illuftrious cities which difputed the right of having given birth to the greateft of poets, are the following:

Smyrna, Chios, Colophon, Salamis, Rhodes, Argos, and Athens.

The Chiots, fays Dr. Chandler, ftill pretend to shew the school of Homer and his dwelling-house, where he composed most of his unrivalled poems; the teftimonies of many ancient writers are alfo decidedly in favour of Homer's being a native of Chios: though fome affirm that Smyrna has a greater claim to this honour. See Troy, Index.

in reality, is not yet juftly decided*. MENTEL of Strafburgh, GUTTENBURG and FAUST of Mentz, and CosTEK of Haerlem, are the perfons to whom this honour is feverally afcribed by their respective countrymen; and they have all had their advocates among the learned. The introduction of this invaluable art into England is juftly afcribed to WILLIAM CAXTON, a merchant of London, who had acquired a knowledge of it in his travels abroad. The bare mention of printing fhould fill every modern with gratitude to Divine Providence for the communication of fo invaluable an art. For, if man's intellect be the faculty which bears the principal and most marked traits of the CREATOR'S image, how ineftimable every aid for facilitating the operations, and forwarding the perfection of that power! This affiftance the invention of printing has administered in a moft fignal manner, by diffufing among every clafs of men a degree of knowledge, which, previoufly to the difcovery in question, is known to have been confined to very few. Before the invention of printing it was hardly poffible, from the great expence of manufcripts, for the lower claffes to obtain even an imperfect knowledge of the facred writings.

This fingle confideration places the importance and benefits of printing in a very diftinguished point of view; and with a pre-eminence fo decifive, that it precludes the neceffity of dilating on the other advantages, however numerous and extenfive, which not only derive their origin from the fame fource, but are indebted to it for ftability and duration. In a word, the art of PRINTING confers immortality on heroes, patriots, legislators, and philofophers; on the beft, and greatest, and wifeft, of the human fpecies! For, as an elegant poet. remarks,

* The first book printed with moveable types was a copy of the Bible, which made its appearance between the years 1450 and 1452. This discovery is certainly to be attributed to the Germans, whether it confifted in printing with blocks of wood, or types moveable at pleafure. John Guttenburg, of Mentz, has the best claim to the honour of this invention. See Mr. Rofcoe's Life of Lorenzo de Medici, vol. i. p. 43. This elegant writer's opinion is recently confirmed by Santander, in his Dictionnaire Bibliographique.