sooner entered upon office, than he tried to make arrangements with the Scots, for the ultimate fulfilment of this design. It was favoured by many of their nobles; but the Regent, the Earl of Arran, opposed it. Angry at being thus thwarted in the very outset of his career, Somerset invaded Scotland with a large force, and defeated Arran at the battle of Pinkie, (in MidLothian); whereupon the Scots-remarking that they 1547 'disliked not the match, but that they hated the mode of wooing-at once affianced their infant queen to the dauphin of France, and conveyed her to that country.

During Somerset's absence in Scotland,

EDWARD VI.

his brother Lord Seymour, who had married Catherine Parr, the late king's widow, formed a plot against him; and was no sooner executed for it than several of the nobles, headed by the earl of Warwick, entered into a fresh plot. Somerset fled with the king to Windsor Castle, and called upon all loyal subjects to aid him; but the council sided with Warwick, who took possession of the Tower, and arrested Somerset on the vague charge of having assumed kingly authority. After suffering imprisonment for some time, Somerset was freed on payment of a heavy fine, sat again at the council, and was even friendly with Warwick, who had become duke of Northumberland. The duke, however, afterwards charged him with felony, and he was executed. Northumberland-who was a man of great ambition, and now held the chief power in the state --caused his own son to marry lady Jane Grey, the king's cousin ; and then persuaded Edward to appoint that lady as his heir to the crown.

The suppression of the monasteries in the last reign, without any provision having been made for their inmates, now caused many thousands of sick, aged, and poor persons, to wander about the country begging food and shelter, The share of plunder also, which had fallen to some of the nobles, caused such a spirit of avarice among them, that they began to enclose commons throughout the country, which led to serious riots. Exeter was attacked by 10,000 rebels. Lord Russell dispersed them; but executed the leaders and caused the vicar of St. Thomas' in that city, who had encouraged them, to be hanged on the top of his church-tower, dressed in his holy vestments, with his beads dangling at his girdle. A rich tanner of Wymondham (in Norfolk), named Ket, headed a rebellion in that district; and administered law under a tree,

which he was pleased to call the "oak of reformation." Nine of the leaders were hanged on this tree and he himself at the castle of Norwich.

In this reign the Church of England, under the guidance of Archbishop Cranmer, assumed the form which it has since retained.

Edward VI., died of pulmonary disease at the age of 16,

after a reign of nearly 7 years, and was buried at West- 1553

minster.

MARY I.

1553 to 1558.

A GENTLEMAN AND LADY IN THE DRESS OF QUEEN MARY'S REIGN.

Lady Jane Grey was now proclaimed queen. She was young and beautiful, gentle and good; and fonder of study and retirement, than of power and pageantry. But her nominal reign lasted only a fortnight; for Mary, the proper heir to the crown, soon found means to assert her title, and was readily ac- 1553 knowledged by the whole nation. Northumberland, who

had caused lady Jane to be proclaimed, was tried for treason and executed.

Mary, the first queen-regnant of England, was Henry VIII.'s eldest daughter. She was a staunch Roman Catholic; and on account of the cruel persecutions which the reformers at this time endured, her name has come down to us as "Bloody Mary." The foolish system of persecuting people for their religious opinions, began in England, as already mentioned, in the time of Henry IV.; and had continued to be practised, as occasion offered, ever since. In Henry VIII.'s reign it was freely exercised towards all who dared to differ from himself; and for many reigns after this, we find it the common weapon of the dominant party in the church--whether Roman, Anglican, or Presbyterian. In Mary's brief reign, the number of its victims was greater than before or since; chiefly because the number of those who happened to differ from her was also greater. If there is any other reason, it is to be found in the character of those who held the chief power in the church; especially the bishop of London, Bonner, who has been described as being of so execrable a disposition, that had there been no such thing as persecution in this reign, he must have sought other means of gratifying his cruelty. Personally, Mary was by no means lacking in good qualities. She was virtuous, and kind to the poor; and on one occasion, when a plan was suggested to her by which she might become independent of parliament, she indignantly cast the letter in the fire. A foul blot however, must ever remain attached to her name; for had she been amiable, as she was evidently sincere, her great power would have stayed the fierceness of these barbarities.

Soon after Mary's accession, she resolved on a marriage with Philip of Spain. But lest England might by this means come at length to belong to Spain, several of the nobles determined to oppose the union, and the feeling of the whole nation was against it. Sir Thomas Wyatt raised a large force, and marched against London, but was overcome at Temple Bar. Amongst those who took part in this rising, was the father of Lady 1554 Jane Grey; and for this reason, both she and all her relatives were executed. The queen herself addressed the excited citizens at Guildhall. "On my word as a queen," said she, "I promise you that if this marriage doth not seem to the parliament to be for the singular benefit of the whole realm, I will abstain from it." Philip and Mary were married accordingly: but he left the country a year after, tired of his wife, who was much older than himself, and angry because the parliament refused to make him King of England.

The Pope now sent a legate to England, to try to bring back the kingdom to his control. Cardinal Pole, a grandson of that

his see.

duke of Clarence who is said to have been drowned in wine, was the person appointed for this purpose. But he was far too gentle, and amiable a man for those times, and his general plans were overruled by Bonner, and by Gardiner, the bishop of Winchester, a prelate who had been sent to the Tower in the last reign for opposing the Reformation, but whom Mary had again restored to The Cardinal confined his measures chiefly to parliament, whom he persuaded to acknowledge the Pope again. Gardiner commenced investigations for heresy, but at length left this work almost entirely in the hands of Bonner, whose taste it just suited. Then began that series of persecutions, which have rendered the mention of this reign odious. Besides 1555 those who suffered by fine, imprisonment, and exile, 288 persons were burnt to death; among whom were five prelates, namely, Cranmer, (archbishop of Canterbury), Ridley, 1556 (bishop of London), Latimer, (bishop of Worcester), Hoop

er, (bishop of Gloucester,) and Farrar, (bishop of St. Davids.) Cranmer at first recanted his faith, and then bitterly repented having done so. When they were putting fire to the stake, he thrust into it the hand by which he had signed the recantation; and holding it there till it became a cinder, he cried aloud-"This hand hath offended!" Latimer was a plain, blunt, honest man. When they were tying him to the stake, he turned round to Ridley, and said "Be of good cheer, Master Ridley, and play the man ; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as shall never be put out." Cardinal Pole succeeded Cranmer as archbishop of Canterbury, and the whole Church of England, once more became unwillingly subject to the pope.

An account given about this time of the Duke of Northumberland's house, affords an insight into some of the customs of the period. Though glass was introduced in Henry VI.'s time, it was only now beginning to be used, and was still dearer than silver. While silver cups therefore, gave way to drinking-glasses among the rich, the poor continued to use their wooden beakers. Looking-glasses were not yet used in houses, but worn by ladies in their girdles and they also wore a petticoat called a farthingale, introduced in this reign from Spain. When the duke removed from his castle at Alnwick (in Northumberland), to his house in London, he caused all the glass windows to be taken out of their frames; and either brought them away with him, or had them packed up till he came back again. The whole furniture of his state apartment, consisted of a few rough benches and a long table; and he had no carpets, and only nine table-cloths-one of which was for the use of his servants. So limited were the luxu

:

"*

as

ries even of noblemen at this time, that each had but one set of such mean furniture, for both his town and country house. It was removed from the one to the other by a guard of retainers. Those forming the rear, were called the "black guard;" because they carried the saucepans, and other utensils of the kitchen, and were of the lowest rank. It was in this way that the term blackguard came at length to signify-a low, mean fellow. The dress of gentlemen at this time was very like that still worn by the boys of Christ's Hospital in London, or by the "Beef-eaters," they are called. The poorer class wore leathern doublets and even ploughmen carried a sword and buckler, or a bow and quiver : which, when at work, they left in a corner of the field. The people in general were merry and frolicsome, drunken, gluttonous, ill-mannered, and riotous. Cruelty seems to have been a special feature of the age, entering into its very sports; among which bull-baiting, bear-baiting, and the whipping of blinded bears, were special favourites. Children too, were treated with great severity at school, where the "law of love" was then unknown; and even by their own parents, in whose presence they never dared to sit down, much less to speak except when spoken to. Girls, if very tired, might go to the further end of the room and kneel.

In 1557, Philip of Spain, anxious to secure the help of the English in a war against France, visited Mary his wife; but left again in a few days, and she never saw him after. His visit would most probably have been unsuccessful, but for a trifling incident which occurred at this time. The castle of Scarborougli (in Yorkshire), was suddenly attacked by a small body of men, headed by a person who claimed to be descended from the dukes of Buckingham. It was said that the French king had urged him to this revolt, and England accordingly joined with Spain in a war against France. Siege was laid to St. Quentin ; and a large force coming to its relief, led to a famous battle there, in which many of the French nobles were slain. But the 1557 English were made to pay dearly for this victory. Hardly had the next new year dawned, when Calais-the key of France,' a town which had belonged to the English ever since the time of Edward III., (more than two centuries), and the walls of which were now in a decayed state, was most unexpectedly 1558 attacked and lost in eight days.

So keenly did Mary, whose health had for some time been failing, feel this loss, that she said they would find the word Calais

* A corruption of "buffetiers" from the French "buffet" a sideboard: because those formerly so called waited at table.