A.D. 1546-1547. DEATH AND CHARACTER OF THE KING. 291 be sent for; but before the prelate arrived he was speechless, though he still seemed to retain his senses. Cranmer desired him to give some sign of his dying in the faith of Christ: he squeezed the prelate's hand, and immediately expired, after a reign of 37 years and 9 months, and in the 56th year of his age. In January, 1544, the king had caused the Parliament to pass a law declaring the Prince of Wales, or any of his male issue, first and immediate heirs of the crown, and restoring the two princesses, Mary and Elizabeth, to their right of succession; and he left a will confirming this destination. The act of Parliament had made no arrangement in case of the failure of issue by Henry's children; but the king, by his will, provided that the next heirs to the crown were the descendants of his sister Mary, the late Duchess of Suffolk, passing over entirely the Scottish line. . It is difficult to give a just summary of this prince's qualities: he was so different from himself in different parts of his reign, that, as is well remarked by Lord Herbert, his history is his best character and description. He possessed great vigor of mind, which qualified him for exercising dominion over men; courage, intrepidity, vigilance, inflexibility; and, though these qualities lay not always under the guidance of a regular and solid judgment, they were accompanied with good parts and an extensive capacity; and every one dreaded a contest with a man who was known never to yield or to forgive, and who, in every controversy, was determined either to ruin himself or his antagonist. A catalogue of his vices would comprehend many of the worst qualities incident to human nature: violence, cruelty, profusion, rapacity, injustice, obstinacy, arrogance, bigotry, presumption, caprice; but neither was he subject to all these vices in the most extreme degree, nor was he at intervals altogether destitute of virtue: he was sincere, open, gallant, liberal, and capable at least of a temporary friendship and attachment. It may seem a little extraordinary that, notwithstanding his cruelty, his extortion, his violence, his arbitrary administration, this prince not only acquired the regard of his subjects, but never was the object of their hatred; he seems even, in some degree, to have possessed to the last their love and affection. His exterior qualities were advantageous, and fit to captivate the multitude, while his magnificence and personal bravery rendered him illustrious in vulgar eyes. Henry, as he possessed himself some talent for letters, was an encourager of them in others. He founded Trinity College in Cambridge, and gave it ample endowments. Wolsey founded Christ Church in Oxford, and intended to call it Cardinal College; but upon his fall, which happened before he had entirely finished his scheme, the king seized all the revenues, which, how ever, he afterward restored, and only changed the name of the college. The cardinal founded in Oxford the first chair for teaching Greek. The countenance given to letters by this king and his ministers contributed to render learning fashionable in England. Erasmus speaks with great satisfaction of the general regard paid by the nobility and gentry to men of knowledge. A.D. CHRONOLOGY OF REMARKABLE EVENTS. 1513. Battle of Flodden Field. 1515. Wolsey cardinal and chancellor. 1529. Trial of Henry's suit for a divorce 1530. Death of Cardinal Wolsey. 1534. The papal power abrogated in England. hilling of Edward VI. Obv.: EDWARD. VI. D. G. AGL. FRA. Z. HIB. REX. Eust to right. Rev. TIMOR DOMINI FONS VITE [sic] M: D. XLIX. Arms of England. In field & CHAPTER XVI. EDWARD VI. A.D. 1547-1553. § 1. State of the Regency. Hertford Protector. § 2. Reformation established. Gardiner's Opposition. § 3. War with Scotland. Battle of Pinkie. § 4. Proceedings in Parliament. Progress of the Reformation. Affairs of Scotland. § 5. Cabals of Lord Seymour. His Execution. § 6. Ecclesiastical Affairs. Protestant Persecutions. Joan Bocher. § 7. Discontents of the People. Insurrections in Devonshire and Norfolk. War with Scotland and France. § 8. Factions in the Council. Somerset resigns the Protectorship. § 9. Peace with France and Scotland. Ecclesiastical Affairs. § 10. Ambition of Northumberland. Trial and Execution of Somerset. § 11. Northumberland changes the Succession. Death of the King. § 1. THE late king had fixed the majority of the prince at the completion of his 18th year; and as Edward was then only in his 10th year, he appointed 16 executors, to whom, during the minority, he intrusted the government of the king and kingdom. Among them were Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Wriothesley, chancellor, and the Earl of Hertford, chamberlain. With these executors, to whom was intrusted the whole regal authority, were appointed 12 counselors, who possessed no immediate power, and could only assist with their advice when any affair was laid before them. But the first act of the executors and counselors was to depart from the destination of the late king by appointing a Protector. The choice fell of course on the Earl of Hertford, who, as he was the king's maternal uncle, was strongly interested in his safety; and, possessing no claims to inherit the crown, could never have any separate interest which might lead him to endanger Edward's person or his authority. All those who were possessed of any office resigned their former commissions, and accepted new ones in the name of the young king. The bishops themselves were constrained to make a like submission. Care was taken to insert in their new commissions that they held their offices during pleasure; and it is there expressly affirmed that all manner of authority and jurisdiction, as well ecclesiastical as civil, is originally derived from the crown. The late king had intended, before his death, to make a new creation of nobility, in order to supply the place of those peerages which had fallen by former attainders or the failure of issue; and accordingly, among other promotions, Hertford was now created Duke of Somerset, marshal, and lord treasurer; and Wriothesley Earl of Southampton. The latter was the head of the Catholic party, and had always been opposed to Somerset. One of the first acts of the Protector was to procure the removal of Southampton, on the ground that he had, on his own private authority, put the great seal in commission; a fine was also imposed upon him, and he was confined to his own house during pleasure. Somerset was not content with this advantage. On pretense that the vote of the executors, choosing him Protector, was not a sufficient foundation for his authority, he procured a patent from the young king, by which he entirely overturned the will of Henry VIII., named himself Protector with full regal power, and appointed a council consisting of all the former counselors, and all the executors except Southampton. He reserved a power of naming any other counselors at pleasure, and he was bound to consult with such only as he thought proper. This was a plain usurpation, which it is impossible by any arguments to justify; but no objections were made to his power and title. § 2. The Protector had long been regarded as a secret partisan of the Reformers; and being now freed from restraint, he scrupled not to discover his intention of correcting all abuses in the ancient religion, and of adopting still more of the Protestant innovations. He took care that all persons intrusted with the king's education should be attached to the same principles. After Southampton's fall few members of the council seemed to retain any attachment to the Romish communion, and most of the counselors appeared even sanguine in forwarding the progress of the Reformation. The riches which most of them had acquired from the spoils of the clergy induced them to widen the breach between England and Rome; and by establishing a contrariety of speculative tenets, as well as of discipline and worship, to render a coalition with the mother church altogether impracticable. The Protector, in his schemes for advancing the Reformation, had always recourse to the counsels of Cranmer, who, being a man of moderation and prudence, was averse to all violent changes, and determined to bring over the people, by insensible innovations, to that system of doctrine and discipline which he deemed the most pure and perfect. A.D. 1547. WAR WITH SCOTLAND. 295 The Protector, having suspended, during the interval, the jurisdiction of the bishops, appointed a general visitation to be made in all the dioceses of England. The visitors consisted of a mixture of clergy and laity, and had six circuits assigned them. The chief purport of their instructions was, besides correcting immoralities and irregularities in the clergy, to abolish the ancient superstitions, and to bring the discipline and worship somewhat nearer the practice of the Reformed churches. In order to check the abuse of preaching, orders were given to the clergy, and especially to the monks, to restrain the topics of their sermons: twelve homilies were published, which they were enjoined to read to the people; and all of them were prohibited, without express permission, from preaching any where but in their parish churches. The person who opposed, with greatest authority, any farther advances toward reformation, was Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, who, though he had not obtained a place in the Council of Regency on account of late disgusts which he had given to Henry, was entitled, by his age, experience, and capacity, to the highest trust and confidence of his party. But this opposition drew on him the indignation of the council, and he was sent to the Fleet, where he was used with some severity. § 3. The Protector of England, as soon as the state was brought to some composure, made preparations for war with Scotland; and he was determined to execute, if possible, that project, of uniting the two kingdoms by marriage, on which the late king had been so intent, and which he had recommended with his dying breath to his executors. The Reformation had now made considerable progress in Scotland. Cardinal Beaton had been assassinated (May 28, 1546) in revenge for the burning of Wishart, a zealous Protestant preacher; and Henry had promised to take the perpetrators under his protection. Somerset levied an army of 18,000 men, and equipped a fleet of 60 sail, with which he invaded Scotland. A well-contested battle was fought at Pinkie, near Musselburgh (Sept. 10, 1547), in which the Scots were defeated with immense slaughter. Had Somerset prosecuted his advantages, he might have imposed what terms he pleased on the Scottish nation; but he was impatient to return to England, where he heard that some counselors, and even his own brother, Lord Seymour, the admiral, were carrying on cabals against his authority. Shortly after his return the infant queen of Scotland was sent to France and betrothed to the dauphin. § 4. The Protector deserves great praise on account of the laws passed this session, by which the rigor of former statutes was much mitigated, and some security given to the freedom of the Constitution. All laws were repealed which extended the crime of trea |