He was hanged amid great applause at Tyburn,
and the Earl of Warwick, with whom he had planned to escape, was
beheaded at Tower Hill. Thus, in 1499, perished the last of the
Plantagenets of the male kind.
Henry hated war, not because of its cruelty and horrors, but because it
was expensive. He was one of the most parsimonious of kings, and often
averted war in order to prevent the wear and tear on the cannon. He
managed to acquire two million pounds sterling from the reluctant
tax-payer, yet no monarch ever received such a universal consent when he
desired to pass away. If any regret was felt anywhere, it was so deftly
concealed that his death, to all appearance, gave general and complete
satisfaction.
[Illustration: A RELUCTANT TAX-PAYER.]
After a reign of twenty-four years he was succeeded by his second son,
Henry, in 1509, the elder son, Arthur, having died previously.
It was during the reign of Henry VII. that John and Sebastian Cabot were
fitted out and discovered North America in 1497, which paved the way
for the subsequent depopulation of Africa, Italy, and Ireland. South
America had been discovered the year before by Columbus.
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