Northumberland, and two others of the Council, great was the sorrow for him. 3. The Duke of Northumberland.-The Duke of Northumberland, who took the management of affairs after Somerset's fall, was the son of that Dudley who had been the evil agent of Henry VII. He had shown a vigour in putting down the Norfolk rebellion, which, in the eyes of all who feared a general peasant insurrection, contrasted favourably with the wavering policy of Somerset. As for religion, he appears in reality to have had none, but it suited him to set up for a thorough-going Protestant, and he was in consequence the idol of some of the more eager members of that party, although his government was tyrannical, and the people detested him. In 1553 the young King, who took much interest in public affairs, and whose coming of age was looked forward to with great hopes, fell dangerously ill. Northumberland foresaw that if Katharine of Aragon's daughter, the Lady Mary, who altogether disapproved of the doings of her brother's ministers in religious matters, came to the throne, his power would be at an end. He therefore persuaded the dying boy to alter the successiona thing which the King had no right to do without authority from Parliament-by shutting out his sisters, and settling the crown on his cousin Lady Jane Grey, daughter of Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, and granddaughter of Charles Brandon and Mary, daughter of Henry VII. Edward was led to this by the fear that the Reformed faith would suffer if his sister Mary reigned; Northumberland's motive was the hope of setting on the throne his fourth son, Lord Guilford Dudley, whom he had just married to Lady Jane. With all his father's wilfulness, the youthful King overbore the legal objections of the judges; and by his entreaties he won the consent of Archbishop Cranmer. Shortly after, Edward died at Greenwich, July 6, his last prayer being that England might be defended from "papistry." The common belief was that Northumberland had hastened his end by poison, but of this there is no sufficient proof. 4. The Reformation.-The Protestant Reformation made rapid progress in London and in the towns, especially in those on the sea-coast; but the country districts were slower in accepting it, and the government pushed it on both further and faster than suited the mass of the nation. Somerset early issued injunctions to put away the pictures and images in the churches; and the overthrow of crucifixes, the whitewashing of walls once adorned with paintings, and the destruction of stained glass, brought the change before the eyes of the simplest and most ignorant. Gardiner, who gave offence by opposing Somerset's religious measures, Edmund Bonner, Bishop of London, and other bishops who would not go all lengths with the party in power, were sent to prison; and Northumberland filled their sees with Protestants, Nicholas Ridley, one of the ablest of the Reforming clergy, succeeding Bonner in London. Out of the college and chantry property King Edward endowed grammarschools at Shrewsbury, Birmingham, Macclesfield, and other places; but great part of the wealth gained by stripping the churches of their plate, and suppressing and diminishing the possessions of bishoprics, went into the hands of the men in power and their friends, to whom the Reformation was dear chiefly for the sake of the plunder. Bishop Ridley, preaching before Edward at Whitehall, took occasion to speak of the distressed condition of the London poor; upon which the young King, sending for the Bishop, asked his advice as to what should be done. Ridley suggested consulting the corporation of the City, whose conduct in founding hos itals and schools already formed an honourable cont st to that of the government. The result was that the old house of the Grey Friars was chartered by the King as Christ's Hospital (commonly called the Bluecoat School); the Hospitals of St. Bartholomew and St. Thomas were re-founded and re-endowed; and the King made over the royal house of Bridewell for a workhouse. The Prayer-book of the Church of England was compiled in this reign by Archbishop Cranmer, who took the old Latin services for his groundwork. The first complete Prayer-book was set forth in 1549, but many changes were made in 1552 under the influence of the foreign Reformers; and Acts for the "Uniformity of Service" forbade the use of any other religious rites. Cranmer also put forth forty-two Articles of Religion, which at a later time were cut down to thirtynine, and underwent some other changes. The Lady Mary firmly refused to have the new service used in her house, although, after the fall of Somerset, attempts were made to constrain her to conform. "Rather than she will agree to use any other service than was used at the death of the late King her father," was the report brought back by those who were sent to overcome her opposition, "she would lay her head on a block and suffer death." Ridley tried his powers of argument in vain -"I cannot tell what you call God's word," said Mary. "That is not God's word now which was God's word in my father's time." Tolerance was not in those days looked upon as a virtue, even by Reformers. A friend of Anne Ascue, Joan Bocher by name, who held opinions condemned by both of the two great religious parties, was in 1550 burned at the stake. CHAPTER XXX. MARY. Mary; Lady Jane Grey (1)—the Spanish marriage; Wyatt's insurrection; beheading of Lady Jane; reconciliation with Rome (2) persecution of the Protestants (3)—loss of Calais; death of Mary (4). proclaimed; but The nation was rightful heir, and No voice was raised 1. Mary, 1553-1558. Lady Jane Grey.-It had been intended to keep Edward's death a secret until the Ladies Mary and Elizabeth had been secured; but Mary had friends who gave her warning, and she at once, made her escape into Norfolk. Her innocent rival, Jane Grey, was but sixteen, beautiful, accomplished, learned, and firm in the Reformed faith. Jane had known nothing of her father-in-law's ambitious schemes, and when he and four other lords came to her at Sion House, and knelt before her as their Queen, she received their information with amazement and dismay. On the 10th July she was her reign only lasted nine days. unanimous in regarding Mary as the thousands gathered round her. to cheer the Duke as he rode out of the city at the head of his troops to advance against Mary's forces. "The people press to see us," he gloomily observed, "but not one sayeth God speed us." Mary was proclaimed in London amid general rejoicing on the 19th July, after which, Northumberland, losing heart on finding his men fall away, himself proclaimed her in Cambridge, throwing his cap into the air as a signal for applause, while tears of mortification were seen running down his cheeks. Not a blow being struck for Jane, Mary entered London in triumph at the head of her friends. Her first act was to set free the Duke of Norfolk, Bishop Gardiner, and other state prisoners. The Duke of Northumberland, whose ambition had thus been baffled, was tried and beheaded, and, to the dismay of the Reformers, died declaring that he had returned to the ancient faith. Simon Renard, the ambassador of Charles V., whom Mary chiefly consulted, urged that Jane and her husband should also die, but the Queen as yet was pitiful, and they were only kept prisoners in the Tower. 2. The Spanish Marriage.-Unfortunately for her popularity, Mary was sincerely devoted to the Church of Rome. The nation indeed, disgusted with the Reforming statesmen of the last reign, was by no means Protestant at heart, except in London and the large towns. The deprived bishops were restored, Gardiner was made Chancellor, the foreign preachers were ordered out of the country, Cranmer and Latimer were sent to the Tower, and the mass was said as of old. When Parliament met, all laws concerning religion passed in the last reign were repealed, and it was enacted that divine service was to be performed as in the last year of Henry VIII. But Mary wanted more than this; and whereas her people wished her to marry some English nobleman, Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon, a great-grandson of Edward IV., being especially thought of, she had made up her mind to take the Emperor's son, Philip of Spain, for her husband. Every one agreed in disapproving of her choice. The heir of a foreign kingdom would have other interests than those of England to look to; and men feared lest the country should become a province of Spain. "The Spaniards," murmured the people, "were coming into the realm with harness and hand-guns. This realm should be brought to bondage by them as it was never afore." To hinder the marriage, Sir Thomas Wyatt raised a formidable insurrection among the Kentishmen, who marched upon |