into the real state of affairs. He was now fifteen years old; he was to come of age at sixteen, and it was hoped that when he could take the Edward's reins into his own hands an immense improvement would Character. be made. Already he had done something to cut down the expenses of the royal household, and had formed a scheme for gradually paying off his debts. Unluckily, in the spring of 1552, Edward began to show unmistakable signs of failing health. As early as the night ride to Windsor in 1551, he had been troubled with a cough which he seemed unable to shake off, and he now grew rapidly worse. His condition filled Northumberland with alarm; according to Henry VIII.'s will, made with the full sanction of parliament, he was to be succeeded by the Princess Mary-and the duke could have no doubt that in that event his own ruin was certain. He therefore devised Northumberland's Plot. an ingenious plan to set aside the succession. After Mary and Elizabeth the crown was to go to the duchess of Suffolk, and then to her daughters Jane and Katharine Grey. Northumberland, therefore, arranged a marriage between Lady Jane and his son Lord Guildford Dudley, and between Katharine Grey and Lord Herbert, the eldest son of his friend the earl of Pembroke. Edward throughout his life had shown himself an ardent Protestant, and the celebrated John Knox and Grindal, afterwards the Puritan archbishop of Canterbury, were among his chaplains. On this Northumberland worked, and persuaded him that, in the interests of Protestantism, Mary must be set aside, nominally on the plea of her illegitimate birth. The same rule applied to Elizabeth. He then induced Edward, without parliamentary authority, to make an illegal will, bequeathing the crown to Lady Jane and her heirs, afterwards to her sister, and then to the heirs of Margaret, daughter of Margaret Tudor, who had married the earl of Lennox. The judges plainly pointed out to Edward the illegality of what he was doing, but the boy persisted, and the will was accepted under compulsion by most of the leading men. After this Edward rapidly grew worse, and on July 6, 1553 he died in his sixteenth year. The Accession-The Spanish Match-Gradual Repeal of the Ecclesiastical Legislation passed since 1529-Persecution of the Protestants-War with France and Loss of Calais-Unpopularity of the Government. Mary eludes berland. NORTHUMBERLAND had made every preparation to keep Edward's death concealed until Mary had been arrested, but a friend conveyed instant intelligence of it to Hunsdon in Hertfordshire where she was residing. Edward died between eight and nine o'clock on July 7, and before the next morning Mary was on her way to Kenninghall in Norfolk, a castle belonging to the Howards. Norfolk himself, the head of the family, was in the Tower, but the others were keenly in her favour; and Norfolk was a good place, either for a long resistance or for flight to the continent in case it became necessary. Everywhere on her road Mary declared herself queen, and called upon all loyal Englishmen to come to her assistance. Meanwhile, Lord Robert Dudley, afterwards the famous earl of Leicester, had been despatched by his father to Hunsdon to arrest her. He found the bird flown, and it then appeared what a fatal mistake Northumberland had made in not effecting Mary's arrest sooner. Concealment being no longer possible, Northumberland gathered the council, announced Edward's death, and made preparations for the accession of Lady Jane. On the 9th she was accepted as Lady Jane queen by the lords of his party, and on the 10th took up proclaimed. her residence in the Tower. The same day she was formally proclaimed Hopelessness of Jane's cause. in the city. The people listened respectfully, but made no demonstration in her favour; and one lad, Gilbert Potter, boldly exclaimed, ‘the Lady Mary has the better title!' Jane herself, who from the accounts retained of her and from her own letters, must have been of a most beautiful character, combining sincere piety with a learning and wisdom far beyond her years, took little pleasure in her new dignity, but showed Northumberland that she was likely to be no puppet in his hands by declining to have her husband Lord Guildford Dudley crowned with her. 'That,' she said, 'could not be done without an act of parliament.' From the country the most serious reports were hourly reaching Northumberland; his sons, Lord Warwick and Lord Robert, had caught up Mary's escort, but their own followers had refused to fight. Noblemen and gentlemen were flocking into Norfolk from all sides, and the earl of Derby was said to have raised 20,000 Cheshire men to fight for the rightful queen. The fact was, that, as the case presented itself to all but a small clique, Mary's claim was unanswerable. She was the rightful heir, according to a will made by the authority of an act of parliament, and never set aside. Nothing was known of her character but good; she had won respect by the determined stand she had made on behalf of her own religion, and pity by the long course of ill usage to which she had been subjected. Her accession might be expected to restore the good times of Henry VIII., and to produce such a religious settlement, based upon his policy of separation from Rome but adherence to Catholic doctrine, as the majority of Englishmen undoubtedly desired. Jane's success, on the other hand, meant the continuance in power of Northumberland and his creatures, who were identified in the popular mind with all the mistakes and corruption of the last reign. In these circumstances, therefore, Jane had no chance. Collapse of Northumberland's plans. To defeat the forces who were gathering round Mary and to seize her person was Northumberland's one chance, and he therefore hired troops by lavish promises of pay, and set out for Norfolk; while the fleet was sent round to Yarmouth. But the ranks of Northumberland's army had been deliberately filled by the servants and dependents of his bitterest enemies, who were prepared to turn upon him at the first favourable moment, while, immediately on their arrival at Yarmouth, the sailors declared for Queen Mary. No sooner had Northumberland left London than the lords of his own party headed by Lord Pembroke, the father-in-law of Katharine Grey, declared for Mary, and the news reached Northumberland when a few miles beyond Cambridge. Seeing that the game was up, he retraced his steps, and on July 20 himself proclaimed Mary at Cambridge. Next day he was arrested by Mary's orders, and with his son the earl of Warwick, and a few others, sent to the Tower. On the 3rd August Mary entered London, riding side by side with the Princess Elizabeth, and her first act was to release from the Tower Norfolk, Gardiner, and Edward Courtenay, son of the marquis of Exeter, who had been executed in 1539. Northumberland could expect no mercy. He was executed at once, and did infinite harm to the cause of the Reformation by a declaration that his Protestantism had been all along a sham. Trial of Lady Jane Grey and Lord Guildford Dudley were also sent Lady Jane. the Tower, and in November were tried and convicted of treason, but Mary had no intention at this date of putting their sentences into execution. At her accession Mary was thirty-six years of age, with a face which, though stern, was not without beauty when animated; and from her picture she must have been extremely like her great-grandmother Margaret Beaufort, from whom perhaps she inherited the strength of her religious convictions. Now that people could show their minds freely, it was clear that Mary's accession was cordially ac- Mary's cepted by all but a small group of reformers, but her very position. success was in itself a danger. The English people had accepted Mary as offering the best chance of securing a certain kind of government, rather than from any real knowledge of her character, of which they knew only the best side. She would certainly endanger her popularity either by a foreign marriage, or by any attempt to bring back the country into communion with Rome. Unluckily for her, these were precisely the points on which her mind was already made up; and when she thought any course to be dictated by the interests of religion she had no hesitation in carrying it through, irrespective of policy. The ablest adviser in her council was Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, Wolsey's old pupil, who became lord chancellor. He was thoroughly English in his sympathies, and, though he wished Stephen to go back to the religious policy of Henry VIII., had no Gardiner. desire to re-establish the authority of the pope. Instead, however, of listening to his advice, Mary put herself completely in the hands of Renard, the imperial ambassador, whose one wish was to Renard. promote the interests of his master. She also opened a secret negotiation with the pope and with her enthusiastic cousin, Cardinal Pole, who was appointed papal legate, and who wished to come to England at once. Neither Renard, Pole, nor Mary really understood the English people, and consequently from the very first Mary's popularity began to diminish. The The first question raised was that of the queen's marriage. Gardiner, and practically the whole English nation, wished that she should marry Edward Courtenay, who had been created earl of Devon, and Marriage who was the last representative of the Yorkist line; and an Question. alliance with him would therefore have strengthened the dynasty, while it would have produced no complication with foreign powers. Mary, on the other hand, had made up her mind to marry Philip, the eldest son of the emperor, and received every encouragement from Renard. He also did all in his power to set her against her sister Elizabeth, and to incite her to the execution of Lady Jane Grey and her husband. Mary herself was quite infatuated upon the subject, and imagined herself deeply enamoured of Philip, whom she had never seen. Nothing could exceed the unpopularity of the match in England. The only thing to be said in its favour was that as the Queen of Scots was married to the Dauphin, England ought to strengthen herself by a connection with Spain; but this seemed nothing compared to the danger of becoming a mere dependency of the Spanish monarchy, like Naples or the Netherlands, which most Englishmen fully expected. However, the Protestants and the Catholics could not agree to make common cause against it, and the result was that Mary carried the consent of the council by surprise. Nevertheless in drawing up the marriage articles, Charles v. was careful to allow fully for English susceptibilities. He re The served to Mary the sole administration of English affairs and of English revenues, and as Spain would go to Don Carlos, Philip's child by his first wife, he promised Burgundy and the Low Countries to the children of the English marriage. The council also stipulated that no foreigner should have any command in the army or the fleet, and that England should not be involved, directly or indirectly, in the war between France and the empire. The arrangements were concluded before the close of the year, and it was intended that the marriage should take place before Lent 1554, when an outburst of insurrection in England caused it to be postponed. The leaders of the insurrection were the duke of Suffolk, Courtenay, Sir Thomas Wyatt, Sir Peter Carew, and other persons who had been Wyatt's friends of the duke of Northumberland. Nominally their Rebellion. insurrection was directed against the Spanish marriage; but had they succeeded, Mary would in all probability have been dethroned and Elizabeth set in her place. The insurrection proved a failure. Courtenay was questioned before the council and confined; Carew was arrested in Devonshire; and Suffolk found that his connection with Northumberland prevented the midland counties from rising in his favour. Sir |