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THE
WARS OF THE ROSES;
OR,
Stories of the Struggle of York andLancaster.
By J. G. EDGAR,
AUTHOR OF "HISTORY FOR BOYS," "THE BOYHOOD OF GREAT MEN,""THE FOOTPRINTS OF FAMOUS MEN," ETC.
With Illustrations.
NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
FRANKLIN SQUARE.
[Pg v]TO
MASTER DAVID M'DOWALL HANNAY,
This Book for Boys
IS, WITH EARNEST PRAYERS FOR HIS WELFARE, INSCRIBED
BY HIS GODFATHER,
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
My object in writing this book for boys is tofurnish them with a narrative of the strugglebetween York and Lancaster—a struggle whichextended over thirty years, deluged Englandwith blood, cost a hundred thousand lives,emasculated the old nobility, and utterly destroyedthe house of Plantagenet.
It is generally admitted that no period inEngland's history is richer in romantic incidentthan the three decades occupied by the Warsof the Roses; but the contest is frequently describedas having been without interest in a politicalpoint of view. This idea seems erroneous.That struggle of thirty years was no merestrife of chiefs, ambitious of supremacy and unscrupulousas to means. Indeed, the circumstancesof the country were such that no handwould have be