Note 335 — BOOK THE THIRD.

King Henry VI., says Hume, “expired in the Tower a few days after the battle of Tewkesbury, but whether he died a natural or violent death is uncertain. It is pretended, and was generally believed, that the Duke of Gloucester killed him with his own hands; but the universal odium which that prince has incurred, inclined perhaps the nation to aggravate his crimes, without any sufficient authority. It is certain, however, that Henry’s death was sudden; and, though he laboured under an ill state of health, this circumstance, joined to the general manners of the age, gave a natural ground of suspicion, which was rather increased than diminished by the exposing of his body to public view.”