[10] _Journal des Etats-Généraux de France tenus en_ 1483-84 (Documents Inédits), quoted by Gairdner in his _Richard III._ p. 160. [11] He accepted a present of horses from Louis as a matter of courtesy. [12] Rymer's _Foedera_, xii. p. 234. [13] 'Nepotes clam ferro feriri jussit.'--André. [14] 'Ita quod ex post paucissimis notum fuit qua morte martirizati sunt.'--Rous. {246} CHAPTER V HENRY TUDOR IN THE DOCK Murder of the Princes in the Tower. Conviction. [Sidenote: Victims after Bosworth] Henry Tydder, _alias_ Tudor, must now take his place in the dock. Let us first see what manner of man this fortunate adventurer was. In 1485 he was twenty-eight years of age. He is described as a man of slender build, about five feet nine inches high, with a saturnine expression, grey restless eyes, yellow hair, and very little of it. Having passed his life as a fugitive and conspirator, cunning and dissimulation had become a second nature to him. The victory gained for him at Bosworth, by the foulest treachery, placed despotic power in his hands. His first acts were the illegal and unjust executions of William Catesby,[1] Chancellor of the Exchequer, of John Buck, the Comptroller of the late King's Household, of {247} William Bracher, Yeoman of the Crown, and of his son. These executions were in violation of all law. They were simply murders; for Henry Tudor himself had no legal status, and was in fact an attainted outlaw. Catesby was the faithful and loyal minister of a King who studied the welfare of his subjects, and was the Speaker of the best Parliament that had sat since the time of Edward I. He was an able and diligent public servant. This was his only crime. Nothing tangible has ever been alleged against him, except that he did his duty by reporting the meditated treason of Hastings. If the fables of Morton and his colleagues are accepted, the executions of Rivers, Grey and Vaughan were doubtful acts. But the executions of Catesby, Buck, and the Brachers were heinous crimes. Richard was the Chief of the State, though it may be held that his measures were unjust. Henry was an outlaw without legal authority of any kind, and his executions were ruthless murders. Thus did this adventurer wade through the blood of innocent men to his usurped throne.[2] His next proceeding was to {248} send Sir Robert Willoughby to Sheriff Hutton, to get possession of young Edward Earl of Warwick, the heir to the throne, and of the late King's niece Elizabeth.