A.D. 1547.-Although King Henry, as has been stated, had breathed his last at an early hour on the morning of Friday, the 28th of January, it is remarkable that the parliament, which, as the law then stood, was dissolved by his death, met, pursuant to adjournment, on Saturday, the 29th, and proceeded to business as usual. In fact, the demise of the crown was kept concealed till Monday, the 31st, when it was announced to the two Houses, assembled together, by the Chancellor Wriothesley. The news, according to the entry in the Lords' Journals, was unspeakably sad and sorrowful to all the hearers, the chancellor himself being almost disabled by his tears from uttering the words." They soon, however, it is added, composed their lamentations and consoled their griefs" by calling to mind the promise of excellence already held out by the youthful successor to the throne. The same rapid transition "from grave to gay," the ordinary formality on such occasions, was observed in like manner at the first meeting of the privy council with the new king; the counsellors, as Burnet has expressed it, "so tempering their sorrow for the death of their late master with their joy for his son's happy succeeding him, that by an excess of joy they might not seem to have forgot the one so soon, nor to bode ill to the other by an extreme grief."

It is hard to believe that, either in high places or in low, any other feeling than a sense of relief and of freer breathing could have been produced by the dissolution of so terrible a tyranny as that of Henry VIII. had latterly become. It has been the fashion with our historians to hold forth this king, the storm of whose selfish passions fortunately chanced to throw down or to shake some old and strong abuses that might not otherwise have been so readily got rid of, as the object of the love and pride of his subjects, as well as of the respect of foreign nations, to the last. His position and the circumstances of the time must have always given him an importance abroad, and made his movements be watched with considerable anxiety, which would not be diminished by his extreme wilfulness, and the suddenness of those gusts of temper and inclination that chiefly determined his course, although the very same causes impaired his real power of being either serviceable or formidable to his neighbours. But, at home, no higher sentiment than one of self-interest can well be supposed to have attached anybody to so sanguinary and heartless a despot; and it is evident that an oppressive fear and bewilderment was the state into which his ferocious rule had thrown the generality of men in all classes. We see this alike in the prostrate servility of the parliament, and in the silent, despairing submission, after the failure of one or two convulsive local revolts, of the great body of the people. His son Edward, indeed, has set it down in his Journal,* that when "the

Printed by Burnet, in his History of the Reformation (Appendix of Records to vol. ii.), from the original, in the king's own hand, preserved in the British Museum, Cotton MS. Nero, C. 10.

death of his father was showed in London," the same day on which the announcement was made to parliament, there "was great lamentation and weeping;" and he had no doubt been informed that such was the case, or, possibly, with a simplicity natural to his age and station, he took it for granted that it could not have been otherwise. But it would have been interesting to be told by which of the two great parties that divided the population Henry was thus regretted, by the adherents of the Roman church, or by the friends of the new opinions. The former could hardly have remembered him with any feelings that would find their vent in tears; to the latter the accession of the new king was the dawning of a fresh day from which they had every thing to hope.

Edward, when the crown thus descended upon his head, had entered his tenth year, having been born, as above related, on the 12th of October, 1537. He had been "brought up," as he tells us himself, "till he came to six years old among the women." He was then placed under the tuition of Dr. Cox and Mr. Cheke, "two well-learned men, who sought to bring him up in learning of tongues, of the Scripture, of philosophy, and all liberal sciences." Burnet states that Cox was appointed "to be his preceptor for his manners, and the knowledge of philosophy and divinity; the other for the tongues and mathematics." Another of the persons entrusted with the direction of his education, according to Strype, was Sir Anthony Cook, famous for his five learned daughters." He had also masters for the French language and other accomplishments. In all these studies he had made an uncommon progress for his years, and had been distinguished for a docility and diligence that would have been remarkable even in one who was not a prince and the heir to a throne. "He was so forward in his learning," says Burnet, "that, before he was eight years old, he wrote Latin letters to his father, who was a prince of that stern severity that one can hardly think that those about his son durst cheat him by making letters for him."* All Prince Edward's tutors were favourers of the reformed opinions in religion, to which also his mother had been attached; and they had been perfectly successful in instilling their own views into the mind of their pupil, who, even in his early boyhood, was already a very zealous if not a learned theologian. The following picture of him is extracted by Strype from a work called 'The Pilgrim,' written by William Thomas, "one of the most learned men of these times, and afterwards one of the clerks of the council;" and although it was really drawn, not, as Strype states, "when he was scarce yet come to the crown," but after he had been at least

Some of the early Latin letters of Prince Edward to his father and others may be found in Strype's Ecclesiastical Memorials, ii. 12, 13 (edit. of 1816), and are reprinted in Sir Henry Ellis's Original Letters Illustrative of English History, first series, vol. ii. pp. 131, &c. Others are in Fox's Martyrology, and in Fuller's Church History.

a year king, it may very well come in here. It will perhaps be thought to shadow forth something of the character of the clerk of the council, actual or expectant, as well as of his royal master" If ye knew the towardness of that young prince, your hearts would melt to hear him named, and your stomach abhor the malice of them that would him ill; the beautifulest creature that liveth under the sun; the wittiest, the most amiable, and the gentlest thing of all the world. Such a spirit of capacity, learning the things taught him by his schoolmasters, that it is a wonder to hear say. And, finally, he hath such a grace of posture and gesture in gravity, when he comes into a presence, that it should seem he were already a father, and yet passeth he not the age of ten years. A thing, undoubtedly, much rather to be seen than believed."

Edward, when his father died, was residing at Hertford,* whither his uncle, the Earl of Hertford, and Sir Thomas Brown, Master of the Horse, immediately proceeded, and, having brought him to Enfield, there announced the event to him and his sister Elizabeth. This was on the next day, according to Hayward, who also informs us that, upon receiving the tidings, both the prince and princess "brake forth into such unforced and unfeigned passions, as it plainly appeared that goodnature did work in them beyond all other respects. Never was sorrow more sweetly set forth; their faces seeming rather to beautify their sorrow than their sorrow to cloud the beauty of their faces. Their young years, their excellent beauties, their lovely and lively interchange of complaints, in such sort graced their grief as the most iron eyes at that time present were drawn thereby into society of their tears."+

The grief of the new king, however, if we may rely upon a better authority, did not last long, any more than that of his subjects. He entered London on the afternoon of the same day (Monday, the 31st) on the morning of which the news of Henry's decease had been made public and his own accession proclaimed, and, amid a great concourse of the nobility and others, took his way straight to the Tower. "At his approaching near to the same," says Strype, was great shooting of ordnance in all parts thereabouts, as well from the Tower as from the ships; whereat the king took great pleasure. Being there arrived he was welcomed by the nobles, and conducted by them to his lodging within the Tower, being richly hung and garnished with rich cloth of arras, and cloth of estate, agreeable to such a royal guest. And so were all his nobles lodged and placed, some in the Tower, and some in the city. His council lodged for the most part about his highness, who every day kept the council-chamber for determination of main causes, as well about the interment of the

So he tells us himself, in his Journal. Holinshed, whom some late writers have followed, says he was at Hatfield. † Life and Reign of Edward VI. in Kennet, ii. 275.

king's father, as for the expedition of his own coronation."*

The next day after the king came to the Tower, being Tuesday the 1st of February, the greater part of the nobility, both spiritual and temporal, assembled, about three o'clock in the afternoon, in the Presence Chamber, where, after they had all knelt and kissed his majesty's hand, saying every one of them, "God save your grace!" the Lord Chancellor proceeded to declare the purport of the deceased king's last will and testament, which, however, had been in part, read to the parliament the day before. It appeared that Henry had nominated the following sixteen persons to be his executors, and to hold the office of governors of his son and of the kingdom till Edward should have completed his eighteenth year:-Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury; Thomas Wriothesley, Baron Wriothesley, the Lord Chancellor; William Paulet, Baron St. John, Master of the Household; John Russell, Baron Russell, Lord Privy Seal; Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, Lord Great Chamberlain; John Dudley, Viscount Lisle, Lord Admiral; Cuthbert Tunstall, Bishop of Durham; Sir Anthony Brown, Master of the Horse; Sir William Paget, Secretary of State; Sir Edward North, Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations; Sir Edward Montague, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas; Thomas Bromley, one of the Justices of the King's Bench; Sir Anthony Denny and Sir John Herbert, Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber; Sir Edward Wotton, Treasurer of Calais; and Dr. Nicolas Wotton, Dean of Canterbury. To these were added twelve others, under the name of a Privy Council: they were, Henry Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel; William Parr, Earl of Essex; Sir Thomas Cheyney, Treasurer of the Household; Sir John Gage, Comptroller; Sir Anthony Wingfield, Vice-Chamberlain; Sir William Petre, Secretary of State; Sir Richard Rich; Sir John Baker; Sir Ralph Sadler; Sir Thomas Seymour; Sir Richard Southwell; and Sir Edmund Peckham. These latter, however, were to have no real power or authority, their functions being limited to the simple right of giving their opinion or advice when it was asked for. After he had recited the names of the council of government, the chancellor made an announcement which was more important, and

Eccles. Mem. ii. 21. Strype quotes as his authority for these details an official record in the Heralds' College. Apparently, however, this careful writer must be in error when he says (p. 16) that the Earl of Hertford and Sir Anthony Brown were accompanied when they repaired to the prince by "a great number of noblemen, with knights pensioners, esquires, and gentlemen," who all "did ride in their best manner." This statement is surely inconsistent with the fact that no public notice was given of the king's death till the Monday. It is remarkable that Edward's letters-patent for his proclamation are dated on the 31st, "at Westminster," before he had yet arrived from Enfield. In his Journal, also, he states that he was informed of the death of his father at Enfield on the same day on which it was showed in London, and on which he was proclaimed there; and that he was brought to the Tower the next day. This account, though seemingly from the best authority, is inconsistent both with the statements of contemporary historians and with the evidence of official records. But the history of the first four days of this reigu still requires clearing up. The king's Journal, it may be remarked, does not appear to have the character of memoranda written at the time till we come to the entry dated the 24th of March, 1549. All that precedes this was probably set down from memory long after the events happened.

must have made a greater sensation among his hearers, than anything he had yet communicated. From the first prospect of the new reign the Earl of Hertford, the uncle of the young king that was to be, had begun to intrigue and lay his plans for securing to himself the chief place in the government. The following anecdote is related by Strype:"While King Henry lay on his deathbed in his palace at Westminster, Sir Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, and Sir William Paget, among others, were at court; and Paget, being Secretary of State, was much about his person, whom, being a man wise and learned, and well versed in the affairs of state, both by reason of his office and his several embassies abroad, the earl prudently made choice of for his inward friend and counsellor. By the king's desperate condition the earl, well perceiving the crown ready to fall upon Prince Edward's (his nephew's) head, before the breath was out of his body, took a walk with Paget in the gallery, where he held some serious conference with him concerning the government. And immediately after the king was departed, they met. again, the earl devising with him concerning the high place he was to hold, being the next of kin to the young king. Paget at both meetings freely and at large gave him his advice, for the safe managery of himself and of the mighty trust likely to be reposed in him; and the earl then promised him to follow his counsels in all his proceedings more than any other man's."* At the first meeting of the executors after the king's death Hertford had succeeded in achieving the object of his ambition. When it was proposed that, for the more convenient dispatch of business, one of their number should be appointed merely to be a sort of representative or mouth-piece of the whole, such an arrangement was objected to by the Chancellor Wriothesley, who contended that it would be a violation of the will, which made them all equal, but who at the same time probably hoped to be able, without any formal appointment, to get into his own hands the chief power in the government by means simply of the eminent office he filled. He was also well aware who the president would be if one should be elected, and that with such a choice the whole policy of the government would be turned against the interest to which he attached himself; for Wriothesley was now accounted the head of the Catholic party, as Hertford was the strength and hope of the Protestants. The chancellor, however, seems to have stood alone, or nearly alone, in his opposition; on seeing which he gave up the point, and consented to go along with his colleagues; and in the end, after short debate, the Earl of Hertford was unanimously nominated Protector of the Realm and Governor of the king's person, the paramount authority implied in, and necessarily conveyed by, these high titles being, however, vainly enough, attempted to be limited by the condition that he should not do any act without the advice and consent of the majority

Ec. Mem. ii. 16.

of the executors. The chancellor now announced to the nobility assembled around the king in the Presence Chamber that all the executors had agreed "that the Earl of Hertford should be governor of the young king during his nonage." Whereupon all the said lords made answer in one voice, that there was none so meet for the same in all the realm as he; and said also that they were well content withal. Then the earl gave them hearty thanks, and said he trusted in God so to use himself that it should be to their contentation, and required them in general to afford him their aid and help in the right of the realm; who made answer all in one voice, that they would be ready at all times, with all their might and power, both for the defence of the realm and of the king." The king then returned them thanks, from himself, by which he may be understood to have intimated his assent to what the executors had done.

Hertford and his associates, however, had a great deal more to do for themselves than they had yet accomplished. A strange clause appeared in Henry's will, requiring them to make good all that he had promised in any manner of way; and it was affirmed that he had reiterated this injunction verbally, with great earnestness, to those of them who were in attendance upon him while he lay on his death-bed. When the matter came to be inquired into, it was found that these unperformed engagements, or rather intentions (for in most cases they do not seem to have amounted to promises), of the deceased king, nearly all regarded certain additional honours and other good things which he meant to bestow upon the executors themselves. Such at least was the testimony of Paget, Denny, and Herbert, to whom alone it appeared that he had communicated the particulars. Burnet gives the following account:-" Paget declared that when the evidence appeared against the Duke of Norfolk and his son the Earl of Surrey, the king, who used to talk oft in private with him alone, told him that he intended to bestow their lands liberally; and since, by attainders and other ways, the nobility were much decayed, he intended to create some peers, and ordered him to write a book of such as he thought meetest." Paget then proposed that the Earl of Hertford should be made a duke, and named, besides, a number of other persons who should be ennobled or raised to a higher rank in the peerage. He "also proposed a distribution of the Duke of Norfolk's estate; but the king liked it not, and made Mr. Gates bring him the books of that estate, which being done, he ordered Paget 'to tot upon the Earl of Hertford' (these are the words of his deposition) 1000 marks; on the Lord Lisle, St. John, and Russell, 2007. a-year; to the Lord Wriothesley, 100.; and for Sir Thomas Seymour, 300l. a-year; but Paget said it was too little, and stood long arguing it with him. . . . . And he, putting the king in mind of Denny, who had been oft a suitor for him, but he had never yet

Strype, Ec. Mem. ii. 21.

....