Henry was immediately saluted as King of England by his forces; and, without waiting for the ratification of his claim by Parliament, or any other recognised authority, assumed the title of Henry VII.; and, scorning to be less tyrannical or less wicked than his predecessor, commenced his reign by putting to death, without any trial, and in cold blood, two days after the battle, William Catesby, {171} and two gentlemen from the North, of the name of Brecher, who had been taken prisoners; and sentencing to imprisonment for life, in the Tower, an innocent and defenceless boy, Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick, whose only crime was his being the son of George Duke of Clarence, and the only surviving male of the royal house of Plantagenet, and whom Henry very wickedly at last put to death, in 1499. Henry also caused an act of attainder {172a} to be passed by Parliament, shortly after the battle, in which he had a great number of persons, who had been the subjects and adherents of Richard III., attainted, and declared guilty of high treason, and all their lands and possessions confiscated, on the alleged ground of their support of Richard against Henry, although Henry had never, previously to the battle of Bosworth, been recognised as King, nor had he even assumed the royal title or functions. It was, therefore, not only an iniquitous proceeding, but was an insult to the understandings of men, to treat any acts done by any persons in the service of the then reigning King, at the battle of Bosworth, as treasonable actions, committed against Henry. Those attainders and confiscations, affecting as they did the lives and property of many persons, whom Henry wished to destroy or crush, were acts of gross despotism and tyranny. {172b} Many years ago, I saw, in the collection of Colonel Stretton, of Lenton Priory, in Nottinghamshire, some spurs and bridle-bits, said to be relics of Bosworth Field; and Grose, in his _Military Antiquities_, gives an engraving of a helmet found there. {173} Many relics of the battle are described in Mr. Hutton’s work, which had been discovered there; besides which, human bones were found, about four years ago, in cutting a drain in a field, in front of the farm-house standing upon the slope of the hill, and called Amyon Hill Farm, mentioned before, belonging to Mr. Stuart, and occupied by Mr. Bradfield. The field where they were discovered, adjoins that in which King Richard’s Well is. Mr. John Rubley informed me, that, not many years ago, he found a sword-hilt, upon the field of battle, which was afterwards given to Mr. Stuart. There are also a few relics of the battle preserved in the Public Museum at Leicester.