experience; and, perhaps, we may search the pages of history, in fruitless endeavours to discover an instance of any nobleman, who experienced such abrupt and extraordinary vicissitudes, and such sudden and astonishing transitions, on several occasions, from power and wealth to exile and poverty, and from the miseries of a poor outlaw and fugitive to rank, possessions, and honours, as fell to the lot of Jasper, Earl of Pembroke.

It matters now little to us, whether, in the wars of York and Lan caster, and the violence and exasperation of the contending factions, the one party or the other was in the right, but under every possible circumstance, whether the cause which he espoused was successful or unfortunate, he uniformly supported the Lancastrian interest; and when we consider how many personages of high rank fought, during those lamentable conflicts, sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other, and joined the winning party as seemed best to suit their own interests, we must at least give him credit for consistency, and perhaps for sincerity. One reason of some moment may however be found for his strenuous and consistent support of the Lancastrian party. He was half-brother of King Henry VI., being the son of Sir Owen Tudor,* who was descended from persons of the first consideration, and of a family of great antiquity in Wales, by his wife, Queen Katherine, daughter of Charles VI. King of France, and widow of Henry V. King of England, and he had by Queen Katherine two sons, the oldest of whom was Edmund, Earl of Richmond, usually denominated Edmund of Hadham, who married Margaret, daughter of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, the son of John, Earl of Somerset, a son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, fourth son of Edward III., by whom he had a son, Henry, Earl of Richmond, who was afterwards King Henry VII.; and the second son of Sir Owen Tudor was Jasper Tudor, who was, in consequence of his father's marriage with Queen Katherine, uncle of King Henry VII. He was also, through his mother, immediately descended from the kings of France, she being the daughter of King Charles VI. [See Pedigree.]

King Henry VI. created Jasper, Earl of Pembroke, and, in consequence of his recovering the Castle of Denbigh and other strongholds in Wales out of the hands of the adversaries of Henry, he obtained a grant of 1000 marks, payable out of the lordships of Denbigh and Radnor.

The Earl of Pembroke appeared in 1460-1 in arms, with James

He is called Sir Owen Tudor by Hall, Holinshed, Speed, Grafton, and Sandford, (and the latter does not always call him so); but only Owen Tudor by Baker, and by Leland in his Collectanea and Itinerary.

Butler, Earl of Wiltshire, and a considerable army, as supporters of Henry VI., and on the 2nd February in that year, fought at the battle of Mortimer's Cross, against the Yorkists, under the command of Edward, Earl of March, afterwards King Edward IV.; but the Lancastrian army was completely defeated, and the two earls were compelled to escape by flight. It may be fairly presumed that he was not present at the battle of Towton, in 1461, as he was not included in the list of those persons who were attainted by the act of parliament of 1st Edward IV., 1461, (Rot. Parl., vol. 5, page 477), for taking a part in that battle; yet he seems, nevertheless, to have been exerting himself in arms for Henry VI. about that time, because in a subsequent part of the same act of parliament, he was attainted for having, with others, as alleged, at different times since the fourth of March, in that year, incited the enemies of King Edward IV. to enter the realm and to commence hostilities against him; and also for having made war against the king "at a place called Tutehill, besid' the towne of Carnarvan, in Wales, on Friday next after the Fest of Translacion of Seint Edward last past, rered werre ayenst the same our soverayne lord, purposying then and there to have proceeded to his destruction of fals and cruell violence ayenst their feith and liegeaunce." From that passage it can scarcely be doubted that an engagement between some forces of the hostile factions took place near Carnarvon, in 1461, but I am not aware that any historian has handed down to us any account of it, or even noticed it, an additional proof, if any were wanting, that much more bloodshed and misery were experienced in this country during the wars of the Roses than our old annalists and chroniclers have recorded. The Earl of Pembroke lost his rank, his possessions, in a word, his all, by the attainder, for all that he had was confiscated. His earldom was conferred upon William Herbert, of Ragland, and Jasper Tudor became an outlaw and a fugitive; and, as is very forcibly expressed by Baker, in his Chronicles, "The Earl of Pembroke went from country to country, little better than a vagabond." Again the scene suddenly changed. In 1470, William Herbert, the rival Earl of Pembroke, was captured by the Lancastrians, at the battle of Edgecott, in Northamptonshire, (usually called the battle of Banbury, from its contiguity to that town), and was beheaded. Jasper Tudor, who still claimed the title of Earl of Pembroke, landed in the west with George, Duke of Clarence, (who then sided with the Earl of Warwick, in the Lancastrian interest), and King Edward was driven from his throne and kingdom by the Earl of Warwick. Jasper Tudor was shortly afterwards restored to his rank and title, and a second time became Earl of Pembroke, resumed his possessions in Wales, and

finding his nephew, Henry, Earl of Richmond, then scarcely ten years of age, in the care of the widow of his deceased rival, William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, he removed him from her superintendence, took him and presented him to Henry VI., who, on seeing him, is said (with what truth may well be doubted) to have made a speech almost prophetic of Richmond's future fortunes.

Another sudden and startling change occurred in this strange and wonderful drama. Edward IV. returned to England in 1471, obtained a decisive victory over the Earl of Warwick, at Barnet. Queen Margaret landed at Weymouth, the Lancastrians once more took up arms, and Pembroke proceeded to raise forces in Pembrokeshire, with the intention of succouring her. The disastrous battle of Tewkesbury, and the consequent utter ruin of the Lancastrian party, compelled him to retire to Chepstow, and to disband his forces. He then had a very narrow escape with his life. Edward IV. sent Roger Vaughan, a valiant person, to surprise Pembroke there; but he captured Vaughan, beheaded him, and proceeded from thence to the town of Pembroke. Still he was in imminent danger; Morgan-ap-Thomas pursued him, and commenced the seige of that town, but David-ap-Thomas, the brother of Morgan-ap-Thomas, although of the party inclined to assist Jasper, came to his assistance, and succeeded in raising the seige, and Pembroke got from thence in eight days, and sailed with his nephew, the young Earl of Richmond, from Tenby, intending to proceed to France. His ill fortune still prevailed; the winds drove them upon the coast of Brittany; they were forced to put into a port of that country, and could not well be excused from paying their respects to the Duke of Brittany, but when they would have taken their departure, they were given to understand that they were not at liberty to proceed. The Duke of Brittany, considering that these two noblemen might be of some advantage to him, assigned to them the town of Vannes for their residence. They were outwardly treated with all respect due to their birth and rank, but were narrowly watched. Pembroke's exile was a protracted one, and he remained abroad, an outlaw, a fugitive, and in poverty during several years, most of which he passed in Brittany, but a short time was spent in France, just before his return to England as aftermentioned. His earldom was conferred by King Edward IV. upon his son, Prince Edward, and was afterwards held by King Richard III. At length, in consequence of the death of Edward, the odium and unpopularity in which Richard was held by many, and the English nation being at last weary of civil war, violence, and bloodshed, the prospect was open of his return to England, and of the accession to the throne of his nephew, Henry, Earl of Richmond.

In October, 1483, a scheme was set on foot to effect a hostile landing in England by the Earl of Richmond with some forces, which were intended to have been supported by Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, and others. That expedition was an utter and disastrous failure; Richmond's fleet was dispersed by a storm, and, although the ship in which he sailed appeared off Poole, in Dorsetshire, he found it dangerous as well as useless to attempt to land, and was compelled to return to Brittany. The insurrection was suppressed, the duke was executed, and Jasper Tudor, with the bitterness of disappointed hopes, was again doomed for some time longer to remain in banishment. The old historians do not expressly mention his having been with Richmond in that expedition, but it seems quite impossible to doubt the fact of his having accompanied him.

Once more the scene changed in this most strange and eventful drama. In 1485 the Earl of Richmond and Jasper Tudor, with some few troops from France, landed at Milford, in South Wales, and having been joined by their friends and supporters, the battle of Bosworth (at which the latter had a principal command) placed Richmond on the throne of England, by the title of Henry VII.

By that event Jasper Tudor found himself, for the third time, Earl of Pembroke. He was restored to his honours and possessions, created Duke of Bedford, made one of the privy council, and one of the commissioners for executing the office of High Steward of England, on the occasion of the ceremony of the coronation of Henry; also Justice of South Wales, and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; and had besides considerable and valuable possessions, lands, and offices conferred upon him.

In 1487 he was joint General with John De Vere, Earl of Oxford, at the battle of Stoke, when the Earl of Lincoln was defeated. He was afterwards again appointed joint General, with the Earl of Oxford, of the army sent into Flanders, in aid of the Emperor Maximilian, against the French. He married Katherine, sixth daughter of Richard Widevile or Wodevile, Earl of Rivers, sister of Elizabeth, Queen of Edward IV., and widow of Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, who was executed as before mentioned in 1483. He continued to enjoy his titles, rank, and great possessions until his death, which took place on the 21st of December, 1493. He did not leave any issue, and was interred in the abbey of Keynsham.

Is it possible to find in the whole history of the English peerage a nobleman who had experienced more strange and astonishing vicissitudes of fortune? Well may it be said that truth is stranger than fiction.