/ 
 
 & y - 
 
 
ILADTT &A-5T2E B3RIEY. 
 
 
LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 AND 
 
 HER TIMES 
 
 -'<** .. 
 
 BY GEORGE HOWARD, ESQ. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR SHERWOOD, NEELY, AND JONES, 
 PATERNOSTER-ROW. 
 
 1822. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 In the present age of historical research, 
 and of recorded usurpation, no apology seems 
 necessary for bringing before the public the 
 various events connected with the brief but 
 eventful life and reign of an Innocent Usurper, 
 the victim of parental ambition, and a sacrifice 
 to filial obedience. 
 
 That period in the sixteenth century be- 
 tween the turbulent and tyrannic reign of the 
 last Henry, and the glorious though despotic 
 one of his daughter Elizabeth — a period of 
 only twelve years — has been but slightly no- 
 ticed by general historians, who have expa- 
 tiated upon little beyond the precocity of the 
 royal infant, Edward, and the gloomy yet 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 ferocious bigotry of his intolerant sister : the 
 unsettled state of one reign marked by the too 
 frequent political use of the fatal scaffold; 
 and the religious prejudices of the other too 
 strongly shown by the flames of the martyrs* 
 stake. 
 
 Yet that period, though short, is replete 
 with much of high interest to the antiquary, 
 to the philosopher, to the man of taste, and to 
 the Christian; for then was the infancy of 
 our arts, our knowledge, our manners, and 
 our reformed faith. 
 
 Impressed with this conviction, we have 
 endeavoured to draw from the dust of anti- 
 quity every important anecdote or illustration 
 referring to, or delineative of, that era ; but 
 more particularly as connected specifically 
 with the life of one whose short course has 
 hitherto been rather considered in a political 
 than in a biographical point of view. In do- 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 ing this, we have left no source of information 
 untouched : and have thus been enabled to 
 lay before our readers a series of facts, anec- 
 dotes, and documents, unknown, or, at least, 
 yet unnoticed ; most of which bear strongly 
 upon the history of our country, and many of 
 them tending to correct our opinions as to 
 the characters of men, and our knowledge of 
 manners of that day. 
 
 If strict fidelity and adherence to truth, 
 without party bias either historical or systema- 
 tic, may be a passport to approval, to that we 
 can fearlessly lay claim. How far true taste 
 has been consulted in the arrangement, or 
 true judgment in the selection, we must leave 
 for the public to appreciate. 
 
 London, 
 Dec. 1, 1821. 
 
LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 AND HER TIMES. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Preliminary Remarks — Characters of Lady Jane, by contempo- 
 rary Writers, &c. — Family of Grey — Family of Widvile— Of 
 Brandon, Duke of Suffolk — Genealogical and chivalrous Anec- 
 dotes — Rise and Anecdotes of the Reformation — First Print- 
 ing and Dissemination of the Bible — Cranmer's famous Letter 
 — Papal Incroachments — Anecdotes of Mary, Dowager of 
 France ; of Queen Katharine of Arragon ; of the Princess 
 Mary, afterwards Queen; of Henry VIII. &c. &c. 
 
 If from the study of History, general political know- 
 ledge is to be acquired, it is from Biography that we 
 are to learn the best practical lessons of domestic virtue. 
 The subject, however, selected for the following pages, 
 combines both these advantages ; taking up that most 
 important period in the history of our country — the 
 Reformation, in addition to the picture that it draws 
 of youthful excellence, humility, and piety, and that 
 too in the highest ranks of society — a picture which 
 
 B 
 
M LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 may operate both as an apology and example for those 
 in more splendid stations, — as a lesson of liberality, and 
 an excitement to emulation in the more humble and 
 retired walks of life. 
 
 The era also is fertile in opportunities of illustrating 
 the infancy of modern elegance — of sketching the last 
 shadows of departing feudal magnificence and manners 
 — of filling up the faint outline of recollected old En- 
 glish customs — and of comparing all these with " things 
 as they are." 
 
 But the most important point is to delineate the life 
 of one, so placed as to be the most conspicuous mark 
 for envy or prejudice, both political and religious; and 
 yet of one, of whom not even contemporary historians 
 have dared to speak ill, though to gratify a reigning rival. 
 Protestant writers have, indeed, in general, spoken so 
 highly of her, that some of the liberals of the present 
 day have hinted, that " perhaps*" she was rather glori- 
 fied as a political martyr, than correctly described as 
 an illustrious female. But it shall be our task to show, 
 from the most authentic, and some yet untouched 
 sources, that the most poetically animated descriptions 
 of Lady Jane Grey are completely borne out by facts, 
 on the concurrent testimony even of contending writers. 
 
 That her praises have been so energetically expressed, 
 as in some measure to justify doubt in this age of hi- 
 storical scepticism, cannot indeed be absolutely denied. 
 Different, however, was the opinion of no mean poet, 
 
AND ITER TIMES O 
 
 who, in a volunteer prologue to Howe's well known 
 tragedy on this interesting subject, observes, that 
 
 ' c Nobly to bear the changes of our state,, 
 To stand unmoved against the storms of fate 
 A brave contempt of life and grandeur lost, 
 Such glorious toils a female name can boast. 
 Our author draws not beauty's heavenly smile, 
 T' invite our wishes and our hearts beguile ; 
 No soft enchantments languish in her eye, 
 No blossoms fade nor sickening roses die ; 
 A nobler passion every breast must move 
 Than youthful raptures or the joys of love; 
 A mind unchanged, superior to a crown, 
 Bravely defies the angry tyrant's frown ; 
 The same if fortune sinks or mounts on high, 
 Or if the world's extended ruins lie ; 
 With generous scorn she lays the sceptre down ; 
 Great souls shine brightest by misfortunes shown : 
 With patient courage she sustains the blow, 
 And triumphs o'er variety of woe." 
 
 But, of the more ancient writers, we may notice that 
 Burton, speaking of her in his Additions to Leicester- 
 shire, calls her " that most noble and admired princess, 
 Jane Grey ; who being but young, at the age of seven- 
 teen years, as John Bale writeth, attained to such ex- 
 cellent learning, both in the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin 
 tongues, and also in the study of divinity, by the in- 
 struction of Mr. Aylmer, as appeareth by her many 
 writings, letters, &c. that, as Mr. Fox saith of her, had 
 her fortune been answerable to her bringing up, un- 
 doubtedly she might have been compared to the house 
 of Vespasians, Sempronians, and Cornelia, mother of 
 
 u2 
 
4" LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 the Gracchi in Rome ; and, in these days, the chiefest 
 men in the universities.'" 
 
 Fox, in his character of her in his Acts and Monu- 
 ments, also says that she had the innocency of child- 
 hood, the beauty of youth, the solidity of middle, the 
 gravity of old age, and all at eighteen ; the birth of a 
 princess, the learning of a clerk, the life of a saint, yet 
 the death of a malefactor for her parents'* offences. He 
 adds, " I confess I never read of any canonized saint 
 of her name; a thing whereof some papists are so 
 scrupulous, that they count it an unclean and unhal- 
 lowed thing to be of a name whereof never any saint 
 was — but let this worthy lady pass for a saint ; and let 
 all great ladies which bear her name imitate her virtues ; 
 to whom I wish her inward holiness, but far more out- 
 ward happiness."" 
 
 Another writer states her to have had a perfection, 
 noble, holy, and worthy all good men's imitation, with 
 a strength matchless and invincible, especially remark- 
 able in one of the softer sex. He calls her a Sheba 
 that had so oft heard the wisdom of Solomon, that ten 
 thousand of her contemporary Solomons might come 
 to be instructed by this Sheba. In short, a lady in all 
 goodness so perfect, that whosoever could gain but 
 some part of her shadow, might have enough in latter 
 days to boast, and rank themselves with the best that 
 are called virtuous. He adds, that she was brought 
 up in learning and religion with that prosperous and 
 
AND HER TIMES. 5 
 
 devout painfulness, that, as seed cast upon the best 
 and most fruitful ground, she brought forth her in- 
 crease in such abundance of infinites, that the least of 
 her excellencies were impossible to be circumscribed. 
 
 Old Fuller speaking of her, in his " Worthies of 
 England," quaintly observes, that no lady which led so 
 many pious, lived so few pleasant days; whose soul 
 was never out of the nonage of afflictions, till death 
 made her of full years to inherit happiness : so severe 
 was her education. He adds, that to her, whilst a 
 child, her father's house was a house of correction ; 
 nor did she write woman, sooner than she did subscribe 
 wife, and in obedience to her parents, was unfortunately 
 matched to the Lord Guilford Dudley; yet, says 
 Fuller, he was a goodly, and (for aught I find to the 
 contrary) a godly gentleman, whose worst fault was, 
 that he was son to an ambitious father. 
 
 In short we may exclaim, as in the established pro- 
 logue to Rowe's tragedy — 
 
 Oh ! could our author's pencil justly paint 
 Such as she was in life the beauteous saint, 
 Boldly your strict attention might we claim, 
 And bid you mark and copy out the dame. 
 No wandering glance one wanton thought confess'd, 
 No guilty wish inflamed her spotless breast ; 
 The only love that warm'd her blooming youth 
 Was husband, England, liberty, and truth : 
 For these she fell, while with too weak a hand 
 She strove to save a blind ungrateful land. 
 
 Her general story is too well known for us to fear 
 
6 LADY TANK (.KEY, 
 
 the charge of anticipation, in adding from the same 
 quaint writer, that she was proclaimed but never 
 crowned queen, living in the Tower, which place, 
 though it hath or had a double capacity of a palace 
 and a prison, yet appeared to her chiefly in the latter 
 relation : for she was longer a captive than a queen 
 therein, taking no contentment all the time, save what 
 she found in God, and a clear conscience. He closes 
 with the observation, that her family, by snatching at 
 a crown, which was not, lost a coronet which was their 
 own : let us add too, that this family had already ar- 
 rived at the highest rank and power which subjects 
 can or ought to possess, founded indeed on personal 
 merit as well as in antiquity of lineage. 
 
 Her family, of Grey, was originally of Norman ex- 
 traction : their coat of arms, Barry of six, argent and 
 azure; in chief three torteauxes, ermine: the motto, 
 A ma puissance. 
 
 Rollo, or Fulbert, was the first of the family on 
 record. He was chamberlain to Robert, Duke of 
 Normandy, and had from him, by gift, the castle and 
 lands of Croy in Picardy; from whence the surname 
 of the race became de Croy, or subsequently de Grey. 
 
 John Lord de Croy, only son of Rollo, married 
 Adela, daughter and coheir of William Fitz-Osbcrt, 
 by whom he had a son — 
 
 Sir Arnold de Grey, who at, or soon after the Nor- 
 man Conquest, became lord of Water Eaton, Stoke, 
 
AXJ) HER TIMES. 7 
 
 and Rotherficld. By his wife Joan, daughter and 
 heiress of the Baron of Ponte de F Arc-he, he had a 
 son — 
 
 Anchitel de Grey, who held various grants of land 
 in Oxfordshire. His wife is unknown ; and his only 
 son — 
 
 Richard de Grey, married Mabilia, also of a family 
 not upon record, by whom he left several sons, the 
 eldest of whom — 
 
 Anchitel de Grey, married Eva, daughter of Bald- 
 win de Redvers, Earl of Devon, and their eldest son — 
 
 John de Grey, marrying Hawise, of a family not 
 recorded, had several children, the third of whom — 
 
 Henry de Grey, had a grant from Richard I. of the 
 
 lands of Thurrock in Essex, with several other estates. 
 
 He married Isolda, co-heiress of the Lords Bardolph, 
 
 in 1300. Of this Henry de Grey the following notice 
 
 may be found in the ancient heraldic poem, called the 
 
 Siege of Karlaverok : 
 
 " Henry de Grai vi je la, 
 Ki bien et noblement ala 
 Ovec son bon Seigneur le Conte : 
 Banier avoit e pardroit conte 
 De vi pieces la vous mesur, 
 Barre de argent e de asur. 
 
 I saw there Henry de Grai, who made a noble appearance with 
 his good Lord, the Earl ; his banner, being rightly reckoned, 
 was barry of six pieces argent and azure." 
 
 John de Grey, second son of Henry, rose to various 
 
 high offices in the state, dying in 1266. He married 
 
8 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 Emma, daughter and heiress of Geoffry de Glanville; 
 and their son — 
 
 Reginald de Grey, first summoned to parliament as 
 Lord Grey de Ruthyn, married Maud, daughter and 
 heiress of Henry de Longchamp, Baron of Wilton ; 
 and their son — 
 
 John de Grey, by his second wife, Maud, daughter 
 of Ralph, Lord Basset of Drayton, left a son — 
 
 Roger de Grey, who inherited the title of Ruthyn, 
 that of Grey de Wilton going to the eldest son by the 
 first wife. This Roger married Elizabeth, daughter 
 of John, Lord Hastings of Bergavenny, and heir to 
 John, Earl of Pembroke ; and their second son — 
 
 Reginald de Grey, who was commander of all the 
 king's castles in Wales in the reign of Edward III. 
 succeeded to the title of Ruthyn, by the death of his 
 elder brother. He married Eleanor, daughter of Lord 
 Strange of Blackmere ; his only son and heir, by whom, 
 
 Reginald de Grey, after being long time a prisoner 
 to Owen Glendower, recovered in the court of chivalry, 
 against Sir Edward Hastings, the right to the name 
 and arms of Lord Hastings, in right of his grand- 
 mother. He married Joan, daughter and heir of 
 William, Lord Astley, for his second wife, and by her 
 had three sons ; the eldest of whom, 
 
 Sir Edward de Grey, marrying Elizabeth, sole 
 daughter and heiress of Henry, son and heir of Wil- 
 liam, Lord Ferrers of Groby, was summoned to par- 
 
AND HER TIMES. 9 
 
 liament, in virtue of that marriage, as Lord Ferrers, in 
 1446. Their son — 
 
 Sir John Grey, who succeeded as Lord Ferrers, and 
 was slain at the battle of St. Alban's, in 1460, married 
 Elizabeth, eldest daughter and co-heir of Richard 
 Widvile, Earl of Rivers ; she, after his death, marry- 
 ing King Edward IV. as represented by Shakspeare, 
 in his tragedy of Richard III. 
 
 The family of Widvile cannot be traced of higher 
 antiquity than the reign of Edward III. when Richard 
 de Widvile was sheriff of Northamptonshire. His son, 
 John de Widvile, held the same office as his father, 
 and several others, and had a son Richard, who, in 
 addition to his paternal offices, was constable of the 
 Tower of London, in the reign of Henry VI., and 
 distinguished himself in t^e wars in France. If not 
 of a very old family himself, he conferred a most an- 
 cient line of blood upon his descendants, by his mar- 
 riage with Jacqueline, Duchess Dowager of Bedford, 
 daughter of Peter de Luxemburg, Earl of St. Pol, 
 descended also from the family of Baux, Dukes of 
 Andree, and from Lusignan, King of Cyprus, during 
 the Crusades. 
 
 This Richard de Widvile was created Earl of 
 Rivers by Edward IV. his son-in-law ; a title which 
 descended to his son Anthony, whose fall, through 
 the political tyranny of Richard III., is immortalized 
 by Shakspeare, and thus announced to his royal sister : 
 
10 
 
 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 Arch. Here comes a messenger : 
 What news ? 
 
 Mess. Such news, my lord, 
 
 As grieves me to unfold. 
 
 Q. Eliz. How doth the prince ? 
 
 M ess. Well, madam, and in health. 
 
 Duch. What is thy news ? 
 
 Mess. Lord Rivers and Lord Grey are sent to Pomfret, 
 With them Sir Thomas Vaughan, prisoners. 
 
 Duch. Who hath committed them ? 
 
 Mess. The mighty dukes, 
 
 Gloster and Buckingham. 
 
 Q. Eliz. For what offence ? 
 
 Mess. The sum of all I can, I have disclosed ; 
 Why, or for what, the nobles were committed, 
 Is all unknown to me, my gracious lady. 
 
 Q. Eliz. Ah me, I see the ruin of my house ! 
 The tiger now hath seized the gentle hind ; 
 Insulting tyranny begins to jut 
 Upon the innocent and awless throne : 
 Welcome, destruction, blood, and massacre ! 
 I see, as in a map, the end of all. 
 
 By the same exquisite poet the fate of Rivers is 
 thus described : — 
 
 Rat. Come, bring forth the prisoners. 
 
 Riv. Sir Richard Ratcliff, let me tell thee this : 
 To-day shalt thou behold a subject die, 
 For truth, for duty, and for loyalty. 
 
 Grey. God keep the prince from all the pack of you ! 
 A knot you are of damned blood-suckers. 
 
 Faugh. You live, that shall cry woe for this hereafter. 
 
 Rat. Despatch : the limit of your lives is out. 
 
 Riv. O Pomfret, Pomfret! O thou bloody prison, 
 Fatal and ominous to noble peers ! 
 Within the guilty closure of thy walls. 
 
AKD heb times. 11 
 
 Richard tlic Second hero was hack'd to death : 
 And, for more slander to thy dismal seat, 
 We give thee up our guiltless blood to drink. 
 
 Grey. Now Margaret's curse is fallen upon our heads, 
 When she exclaim'd on Hastings, you, and I, 
 For standing by when Richard stabb'd her son. 
 
 Riv. Then cursed she Hastings, then cursed she Bucking- 
 ham: — 
 Then cursed she Richard. — O, remember, God, 
 To hear her prayers for them, as now for us ! 
 And for my sister, and her princely sons, — 
 Be satisfied, dear God, with our true bloods, 
 Which, as thou know'st, unjustly must be spilt ! 
 
 Rut. Make haste, the hour of death is expiate. 
 
 Riv. Come, Grey, — come, Vaughan, — let us here embrace : 
 Farewell, until we meet again in heaven. 
 
 Of this Anthony Widvile, " the gallant Earl of 
 Rivers," it may be interesting to record a sonnet writ- 
 ten by him during his cruel confinement in Pomfret 
 Castle, previous to this his unjust execution by the 
 tyrant Richard : 
 
 i( Sum what musyng, and more mornyng, 
 
 Tn remembring the unstydfastnes ; 
 
 This world being of such whilyng, 
 
 Me contrarieing, what may I gesse ? 
 
 I fere dowtles, remediles, 
 
 Is now to sese my woful chaunce, 
 
 So is this traunce now in substaunce, 
 
 * * * * Such is my dawnce. 
 
 Wyllyng to dye, me thynkys truly 
 
 Bowndyn am I, and that gretly, to be content : 
 
 Seyng playnly, that fortune doth wry, 
 
12 
 
 LADY JANE GREY. 
 
 All contrary from myn content. 
 My lyfF was lent me to an intent, 
 Hytt is ny spent. Welcome fortune ! 
 But I ne went thus to be shent, 
 But sho hit must, such is hur won." 
 
 During the latter part of Edward's reign, he had 
 mingled much in court politics, from whence arose the 
 quarrel with Hastings, which Shakspeare so pointedly 
 alludes to in King Edward's death scene; so as to 
 make it one of the most important features in the poli- 
 tics of his play, bringing round the dying monarch all 
 the characters connected with this part of our memoir : 
 
 K. Edu\ Why, so : — now have I done a good day's work ; 
 You peers, continue this united league : 
 I every day expect an embassage 
 From my Redeemer to redeem me hence ; 
 And more in peace my soul shall part to heaven, 
 Since I have made my friends at peace on earth. 
 Rivers, and Hastings, take each other's hand; 
 Dissemble not your hatred, swear your love. 
 
 Biv. By heaven, my soul is purged from grudging hate ; 
 And with my hand I seal my true heart's love. 
 
 Hasf. So thrive I, as I truly swear the like ! 
 
 K. Edu\ Take heed, you dally not before your king; 
 Lest he, that is the supreme King of kings, 
 Confound your hidden falsehood, and award 
 Either of you to be the other's end. 
 
 Hast. So prosper I, as I swear perfect love ! 
 
 Riv. And I, as I love Hastings with my heart ! 
 
 K. Ediv. Madam, yourself are not exempt in this, — 
 Nor your son Dorset, — Buckingham, nor you ; — 
 You have been factious one against the other. 
 Wife, love Lord Hastings, let him kiss your hand ; 
 And what you do, do it unfcignedly. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 13 
 
 Q. Eliz. There, Hastings; I will nevermore remember 
 Our former hatred, so thrive I, and mine ! 
 
 K. Edw. Dorset, embrace him ; — Hastings, love lord mar- 
 quis. 
 
 Dor. This interchange of love, I here protest, 
 Upon my part, shall be inviolable. 
 
 Hast. And so swear I. 
 
 K. Edw. Now, princely Buckingham, seal thou this league 
 With thy embracements to my wife's allies, 
 And make me happy in your unity. 
 
 Buck. Whenever Buckingham doth turn his hate 
 Upon your grace, [To the quecrC^ but with all duteous love 
 Doth cherish you and yours, God punish me 
 With hate in those where I expect most love ! 
 When I have most need to employ a friend, 
 And most assured that he is a friend, 
 Deep, hollow, treacherous, and full of guile, 
 Be he unto me ! this do I beg of heaven, 
 When I am cold in love to you or yours. 
 
 Sir Thomas Grey, eldest son of Sir John and Eli- 
 zabeth Widvile, succeeded as Lord Ferrers of Groby, 
 and held many high offices under Henry VII. by 
 whom he was created a Knight of the Garter, Earl of 
 Huntingdon, and Marquis of Dorset. He married, to 
 his second wife, Cicely, daughter and heir of William 
 Lord Bonvile and Harrington. His personal services 
 to his country led him to public honours as much as 
 his personal connexion with the crown — more, indeed ; 
 for during the wars of the Roses, the Grey family ad- 
 hered to the House of Lancaster, and had been parti- 
 cularly active in behalf of Henry VI. 
 
14 LADY J AXE GREY, 
 
 The royal marriage, however, naturally produced 
 a change in his politics ; and, on Edward's death, he 
 is thus described addressing his twice widowed mo- 
 ther, in concert with his uncle Anthony : — 
 
 Tk>r. Comfort, clear mother : God is much displeased 
 That you take with unthankfulness his doing ; 
 In common worldly things, 'tis call'd — ungrateful, 
 With dull unwillingness to repay a debt, 
 Which with a bounteous hand was kindly lent; 
 Much more to be thus opposite with heaven, 
 For it requires the royal debt it lent you. 
 
 Riv. Madam, bethink you, like a careful mother, 
 Of the young prince, your son : send straight for him. 
 Let him be crown'd ; in him your comfort lives : 
 Drown desperate sorrow in dead Edward's grave, 
 And plant your joys in living Edward's throne. 
 
 Under the tyrant Richard, however, his affinity to 
 the infant monarch was to him a source of the greatest 
 danger, for in the first year of that reign, so well 
 illustrated by the bard of the Avon, he was attainted ; 
 but, having taken sanctuary, he afterwards escaped 
 from his enemies, and fled into Brittany, to the aid 
 of Henry Earl of Richmond, who there had 5000 
 men ready for an attack upon the usurper. 
 
 It was in allusion to this that Shakespeare intro- 
 duces the following passage, in the admired scene 
 before the gates of the Tower, as Richard was march- 
 ing against Richmond, and in which the queen makes 
 the marked distinction between the issue of her two 
 
AND HER TIMES. 15 
 
 marriages: an historical correctness omitted in the 
 green-room copies of the play. 
 
 Q. Eli:. Though far more cause, yet much less spirit to 
 curse 
 Abides in me ; I say amen to her. 
 
 K. Rich. Stay, madam, I must speak a word with you. 
 
 Q. Eliz. I have no more sons of the royal blood, 
 For thee to murder : for my daughters, Richard, — 
 They shall be praying nuns, not weeping queens; 
 And therefore level not to hit their lives. 
 
 That Dorset's flight to Richmond was by his mother's 
 advice, seems to have been Shakspeare\s opinion; 
 perhaps founded upon the traditions of the time: 
 when Elizabeth hears of Richard's intended corona- 
 tion, she exclaims : — 
 
 Q. Eliz. Ah, cut my lace asunder ! 
 That my pent heart may have some scope to beat, 
 Or else I swoon with this dead-killing news. 
 
 Anne. Despiteful tidings ! O unpleasing news ! 
 
 Dor. Be of good cheer : — Mother, how fares your grace ? 
 
 Q. Eliz. O Dorset, speak not to me, get thee gone, 
 Death and destruction dog thee at the heels ; 
 Thy mother's name is ominous to children : 
 If thou wilt outstrip death, go cross the seas, 
 And live with Richmond, from the reach of hell. 
 Go, hie thee, hie thee, from this slaughter-house, 
 Lest thou increase the number of the dead ; 
 And make me die the thrall of Margaret's curse, 
 Nor mother, wife, nor England's counted queen. 
 
 Slan. Full of wise care is this your counsel, madam : 
 Take all the swift advantage of the hours ; 
 You shall have letters from me to my son 
 In your behalf, to meet you on the way : 
 Be not ta'en tardy by unwise delay. 
 
1() LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 The queen dowager, being flattered by the promises 
 of Richard, was induced to invite Dorset home again to 
 England ; and he, not being very sanguine as to Rich- 
 mond's chance of success, was persuaded, by her repre- 
 sentations, even to quit Paris on his journey home- 
 wards. 
 
 The whole of our bard's admired play is so illus- 
 trative upon the history of this period, that we cannot 
 omit the following passage in Richard's conference with 
 the queen, alluding particularly to this circumstance ; 
 when the tyrant says : — 
 
 Dorset, your son, that, with a fearful soul, 
 
 Leads discontented steps in foreign soil, 
 
 This fair alliance qfuickly shall call home 
 
 To high promotions' and great dignity : 
 
 The king, that calls your beauteous daughter — wife, 
 
 Familiarly shall call thy Dorset — brother; 
 
 Again shall you be mother to a king, 
 
 And all the ruins of distressful times 
 
 Repaired with double riches of content. 
 
 Meeting with some unexpected cause of detention 
 on his way, and falling in with an old friend, Hum- 
 phrey Cheney, Dorset was convinced, by that gentle- 
 man's information, of the danger attendant upon trusting 
 to the crafty tyrant ; so that he returned to Richmond, 
 accompanied him upon his expedition, and, on his 
 accession, was sworn in a privy counsellor. 
 
 Shakspeare again alludes to this in the same 
 play:— 
 
AND HER TIMES. 17 
 
 Start. Richmond is on the seas. 
 
 K. Rich. There let him sink, and be the seas on him ! 
 White-liver'd runagate ! what doth he there ? 
 
 Stan. I know not, mighty sovereign, but by guess. 
 
 K. Rich. Well, as you guess ? 
 
 Stan. Stirr'd up by Dorset, Buckingham, and Morton, 
 He makes for England, here to claim the crown. 
 
 K. Rich. Is the chair empty ? is the sword unsway'd ? 
 Is the king dead ? the empire unpossess'd ? 
 What heir of York is there alive, but we ? 
 And who is England's king, but great York's heir ? 
 Then, tell me, what makes he upon the seas ? 
 
 It appears, however, from the same authority, that 
 
 Dorset did not accompany, but preceded Henry, from 
 
 the following passage : — 
 
 4 Mess. Sir Thomas Lovell, and Lord Marquis Dorset, 
 'Tis said, my liege, in Yorkshire are in arms. 
 But this good comfort bring I to your highness, — 
 The Bretagne navy is dispersed by tempest : 
 Richmond, in Dorsetshire, sent out a boat 
 Unto the shore, to ask those on the banks, 
 If they were his assistants, yea, or no ? 
 Who answer'd him, they came from Buckingham 
 Upon his party : he, mistrusting them, 
 Hois'd sail, and made his course again for Bretagne. 
 
 Seven years afterwards, on account of some political 
 jealousy, he was committed a prisoner to the Tower, 
 but soon released; and, in 1491, he was entrusted with 
 a command in the army that went in aid of the Em- 
 peror Maximilian against the French. In 14Q5, lie was 
 again in military command in the troops which over- 
 came the rebel Lord Audlev and his forces on Blade- 
 heath. 
 
18 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 Notwithstanding these public services, he employed 
 much of his time in private life ; residing rather at his 
 mansions of Bradgate and Groby, in Leicestershire, 
 than in the vortex of politics at court. At Groby (as 
 we shall have occasion presently to notice) he made 
 many repairs and improvements ; and died in 1501, 
 during the reign of his royal patron, with whose blood 
 his own was shortly after to mix in genealogical de- 
 scent. That his moral were equal to his political 
 virtues, is generally acknowledged ; yet a passage in 
 his will, agreeable to the Catholic superstitions of those 
 days, strongly marks either the power of conscience, 
 or perhaps rather the mental and obituary influence of 
 the greedy priesthood of Rome ; for he not only left 
 money to pay for one hundred masses by the friars of 
 the four orders in London, but specifically directed 
 that it should be done " with as much haste as may be" 
 after his decease ! 
 
 Thomas Grey, son of the foregoing, was second 
 Marquis of Dorset, Knight of the Garter, and a great 
 favourite of Henry VIII. ; in the third year of whose 
 reign, 1511, he was general of the army sent into 
 Spain, with design, in conjunction with the Emperor 
 Ferdinand's forces, to have invaded Guienne. lUit 
 peace being restored, he, two years afterwards, with 
 four of his brothers, the Duke of Suffolk, and others, 
 went to Paris, and engaged in the tournaments at St. 
 Denis, where he acquired great renown. In 1520 lie 
 
AND H KU TIMES. 
 
 19 
 
 was present at the interview between Henry and the 
 French monarch, Francis, in Picardy, at the famous 
 Champ cVOr, or Field of Gold, so called from its mag- 
 nificence, where he carried the sword of state, the Duke 
 of Bourbon carrying that of France : and there too in 
 the tournament he was again victorious. The pomp 
 of this scene has been described by various historians. 
 Shakspeare makes the Duke of Norfolk thus speak of 
 it, in the first act of Henry VIII. 
 
 Nor. Men might say. 
 
 Till this time, pomp was single ; but now married 
 To one above itself. Each following day 
 Became the next day's master, till the last 
 Made former wonders its. To-day, the French, 
 All clinquant, all in gold, like heathen gods, 
 Shone down the English ; and, to-morrow, they 
 Made Britain, India : every man, that stood, 
 Show'd like a mine. Their dwarfish pages were 
 As cherubins, all gilt : the madams too, 
 Not used to toil, did almost sweat to bear 
 The pride upon them, that their very labour 
 Was to them as a painting: now this mask 
 Was cried incomparable ; and the ensuing night 
 Made it a fool, and beggar. The two kings, 
 Equal in lustre, were now best, now worst, 
 As presence did present them : him in eye, 
 Still him in praise : and being present both, 
 'Twas said, they saw but one ; and no discerner 
 Durst wag his tongue in censure. When these suns 
 (For so they phrase them), by their heralds challenged 
 The r.oble spirits to arms, they did perform 
 Beyond thought's compass ; that former fabulous story, 
 Being now seen possible enough, got credit, 
 That Bevis was believed. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 In 1522 he Mas chosen to go to Calais, to receive 
 and to escort the Emperor Charles V. into England ; 
 two years after which he was constituted chief justice 
 itinerant of all the king's forests. He married, to his 
 second wife, by whom he had Henry, the third mar- 
 quis, Margaret, daughter of Sir Robert Wotton of 
 Bocton in Kent, and widow of William Medley. 
 
 To enumerate all his military actions (but to some 
 of which we shall presently allude) would occupy too 
 much space, only observing, that, agreeable to the 
 custom of those times, he was both a military and 
 naval officer : we must not, however, pass over one 
 very important part which he took in the politics of 
 that day, being a witness in the cause of divorce be- 
 tween King Henry and Katharine of Arragon, though 
 he did not live to see that divorce completed. In that 
 same year, 1529, he also subscribed and presented to 
 the king the forty-four articles impeaching Cardinal 
 Wolsey ; and it is worthy of notice, that the 19th of 
 April in that very year was the date of the protest of 
 the German princes, against a decree of the diet in re- 
 gard to the reformed religion, from whence the term 
 " protestant " has been applied to that purified faith. 
 
 This is the more worthy of notice, because the re- 
 formed system of Christianity, before introduced into 
 England by Wickliffe, was now making great advances; 
 its support and maintenance, a tew years afterwards, 
 being one great and powerful cause of that proposed 
 
AND 1IF.I! TIMES. 
 
 21 
 
 change in the succession which called Lady Jane to the 
 crown, though it had not sufficient power to save her 
 from the scaffold. 
 
 As early almost as the commencement of Henry's 
 reign, Wolsey had shown his enmity to heretics. The 
 situation of the reformed, or Lollards, as they were 
 termed, was then very distressing. Fuller, in his 
 Church History, observes, that cruelty still continued 
 and increased on them even after abjuration, being 
 forced to wear the fashion of a faggot wrought in 
 thread, or painted on their left sleeves, all the days of 
 their lives ; it being death to put on their clothes with- 
 out that cognizance : and indeed, he adds, to poor 
 people it was true, " put it off, and be burned ; keep 
 it on, and be starved;" seeing none generally would 
 set them to work that carried that badge about them. 
 
 It was soon after that period that Henry VIII. 
 having published his work against Luther, supposed 
 by Fuller to have been principally collected by Gar- 
 diner, was honoured by the pope with the title of De- 
 fender of the Faith; with which his majesty was so 
 much elated, that his jester, or fool, Will Somers, 
 coming to the court, could not help observing it. 
 Honest Will boldly asked his patron the cause of his 
 exultation ; and when the king answered, that it arose 
 from the holy father having honoured him with a title 
 more eminent than any possessed by his ancestors, the 
 fool very wisely exclaimed — " Oh ! good Harry ; let 
 
»5S LADY JANE GllEV, 
 
 thou and I defend one another, and let the faith alone 
 to defend itself!" 
 
 Henry, however, did not take the fool's advice, for 
 Wolsey was then in high favour at court, as appears 
 from the following original epistle, now preserved in 
 the British Museum*: 
 
 " Myne owne good Cardnall, — I recomande me 
 unto you w l all my hart, and thanke you for the gratte 
 payne and labour that you doe dayly take in my by- 
 synes and maters. Desyryng you (that wen you have 
 well establyshyd them) to take sume pastyme and com- 
 fort, (to the intente you may the longer endure to 
 serve us,) for allways payne cannot be induryd. Surly 
 you have so substancyally orderyd oure maters, bothe 
 of thys syde the see and byonde, that in mye oppynyon 
 lityll or nothyng can be addyd. Never theles, accord- 
 yng to your desyre, I doe send you myne oppynyon 
 by thys beror, the refformacion wherof I do remyte to 
 you and the remnante off our trusty cosellers, whyche 
 I am sure wyll substantially loke on hyt. As touch- 
 yng the mater that Syr Wyllyam Say brought answer 
 off, I am well contentyd w l what order soever you do 
 loke in itt. The quene my wyff hathe desyryd me to 
 make her most harty recommendations to you as to 
 hym that she loveth very well, and bothe she and I 
 wolde knowe sougne when you wyll repavre to us. No 
 * Brit. Mus. Cott Veep. F.xiii. p. 71. 
 
AND HER TIMES. ~<5 
 
 more to you at thys tyme, but that with God's heipe, 
 I trust we shalle dysapoyute oure enemys off they re 
 intendyd ppose. Wryttyn with the hand of your Jov- 
 yng master Henry Rex. 
 
 " To my Lorde Cardinally" 
 
 These " harty recommendations " of the queen were 
 afterwards changed to different feelings when she dis- 
 covered that Wolsey was playing a false part towards 
 her. Shakspeare indeed represents her as an active 
 agent in his disgrace : 
 
 Q. Knlh. I am solicited, not by a few. 
 And those of true condition, that your subjects 
 Are in great grievance : there have been commissions 
 Sent down among them, which hath flaw'd the heart 
 Of all their loyalties : — wherein, although, 
 My good lord cardinal, they vent reproaches 
 Most bitterly on you, as putter-on 
 Of these exactions, yet the king our master 
 (Whose honour heaven shield from soil !) even he escapes not 
 Language unmannerly ; yta, such which breaks 
 The sides of loyalty, and almost appears 
 In loud rebellion. 
 
 Again she says : 
 
 Q Kath. No, my lord, 
 
 You know no more than others : but you frame 
 Things, that are known alike ; which are not wholesome 
 To those which would not know them, and yet must 
 Perforce be their acquaintance These exactions, 
 Whereof my sovereign would have note, they are 
 
2-i LA!)V JANE CK! 
 
 Most pestilent to the hearing ; and, to bear them, 
 The back is sacrifice to the load. They say, 
 They are devised by you ; or else you suffer 
 Too hard an exclamation. 
 
 K. Hen. Still exaction ! 
 
 The nature of it ? In what kind, let 's know, 
 Is this exaction ? 
 
 Q. Kath. I am much too venturous 
 
 In tempting of your patience ; but am bolden'd 
 Under your promised pardon. The subject's grief 
 Comes through commissions, which compel from each 
 The sixth part of his substance, to be levied 
 Without delay ; and the pretence for this 
 Is named, your wars in France : this makes bold mouths : 
 Tongues spit their duties out, and cold hearts freeze 
 Allegiance in them ; their curses now, 
 Live where their prayers did ; and it 's come to pass, 
 That tractable obedience is a slave 
 To each incensed will. I would, your highness 
 Would give it quick consideration, for 
 There is no primer business. 
 
 Notwithstanding this love and regard for the Car- 
 dinal, Henry, some years afterwards, thought proper to 
 take the fool's advice, urged by qualms of conscience, 
 real or pretended, by love for a young wife in expect- 
 ance, and perhaps by a secret longing after the coffers 
 of the clergy. This idea is fully confirmed by Shak- 
 speare in his Henry VIII. 
 
 Wul What should this mean ? 
 
 What sudden anger 's this ? how have I reap'd it ? 
 He parted frowning from me, as if ruin 
 Leap'd from his eyes : so looks the chafed lion 
 Upon the daring huntsman that has gall'd him ; 
 Then makes him nothing. I must read this paper ; 
 
A\:> HKK TIMES ( l~) 
 
 I fear, the story of his anger. — 'Tis so ; 
 
 This paper has undone me : — 'Tis the account 
 
 Of all that world of wealth I have drawn together 
 
 For mine own ends ; indeed, to gain the popedom, 
 
 And fee my friends in Rome. O negligence, 
 
 Fit for a fool to fall by ! What cross devil 
 
 Made me put this main secret in the packet, 
 
 I sent the king ? Is there no way to cure this ? 
 
 No new device to beat this from his brains ? 
 
 I know, 'twill stir him strongly : yet I know 
 
 A way, if it take right, in spite of fortune, 
 
 Will bring me off again. What's this — To Ike Pope f 
 
 The letter, as I live, with all the business 
 
 I writ to his holiness. Nay, then, farewell ! 
 
 1 have touch'd the highest point of all my greatness ; 
 
 And, from that full meridian of my glory, 
 
 I haste now to my setting : I shall fall 
 
 Like a bright exhalation in the evening, 
 
 And no man see me more. 
 
 The purport of this letter is explained by Brandon, 
 
 Duke of Suffolk : 
 
 Sujf\ The cardinal's letter to the pope miscarried, 
 And came to the eye o' the king ; wherein was read, 
 How that the cardinal did entreat his holiness 
 To stay the judgment o' the divorce : for if 
 It did take place, I do, quoth he, perceive 
 My king i> tangled in affection to 
 A creature of the queen's, Lady Ann Bullen. 
 
 To us, at the present day, however, it is not of ma- 
 terial consequence what were the motives that led that 
 tyrannical, yet often judicious monarch, to the mea- 
 sures which permitted the reformed principles to spread 
 over the land, to be at last consolidated by law, and 
 engrafted on the constitution: but it will not be the 
 
*0 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 less interesting to take a cursory view of the subject 
 here, for better understanding the very interesting 
 facts which we have selected, as illustrative of the pri- 
 vate history of the times, from original and unique 
 manuscripts in the British Museum, and other sources, 
 hitherto unpublished. 
 
 It is well observed by an accurate ecclesiastical hi- 
 storian*, that about the commencement of this century 
 the Roman pontiffs lived in the utmost tranquillity; 
 nor had they, as things appeared to be situated f, the 
 least reason to apprehend any opposition to their pre- 
 tensions, or rebellion against their authority ; since the 
 dreadful commotions excited in preceding ages had 
 yielded to the united powers of counsel and of the 
 sword. 
 
 It is not to be concluded, however, from this ap- 
 parent tranquillity and security of the pontiffs and 
 their adherents, that their measures were applauded, 
 or their chains worn without reluctance. This, as the 
 learned Mosheim observes, was far from being the 
 case. Not only private persons, but also the most 
 powerful princes and sovereign states, exclaimed loudly 
 against the despotic dominion of the popes ; the fraud, 
 violence, avarice, and injustice that prevailed in their 
 councils; the arrogance, tyranny, and extortion of their 
 legates; the unbridled licentiousness and enormous 
 crimes of the clergy and monks of all denominations ; 
 * Mosheim. t Ibid. iv. 7. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 27 
 
 the unrighteous severity and partiality of the Roman 
 laws. 
 
 If any thing seemed proper to destroy the gloomy 
 empire of superstition, it was the restoration of learn- 
 ing in Europe, and the number of men of genius that 
 arose, of a sudden, under the benign influence of that 
 sudden revolution. 
 
 The good resulting from this was manifold. Enfield, 
 in his Philosophy, speaking of the corruptions which 
 had crept into the church, observes, that after the 
 example of the apostles, their immediate followers, who 
 are distinguished by the name of apostolic men, were 
 more desirous to teach the divine doctrine which they 
 had received from Jesus Christ in simplicity and truth, 
 than to render themselves illustrious by any display of 
 human learning *. 
 
 They had no other design than to spread the know- 
 ledge of Christ and his Gospel in the world ; and they 
 executed this design with simplicity, fidelity, and mag- 
 nanimity, without the aid of rhetorical embellishment 
 or philosophical refinement. 
 
 The fathers of the Christian church soon departed 
 from the simplicity of the apostolic age, and corrupted 
 the purity of the Christian faith. This is chiefly to be 
 ascribed to two causes; first, the practice, which at 
 that time so generally prevailed, of clothing the doc- 
 trines of religion in an allegorical dress ; and, secondly, 
 * Enfield's Philosophy, ii. 271. 
 
^O LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 the habit of subtile speculation, which the more learned 
 converts from paganism brought with them from the 
 schools of philosophy. In all these corruptions the 
 English church had largely participated. The wealth 
 of this country was a powerful stimulus to the pope 
 and the Roman catholic clergy, to keep the people in 
 ignorance, and so to preserve due control over their 
 consciences and purses ; but the day of truth was now 
 beginning to dawn. 
 
 It is an important truth, that the English nation was 
 at this period not only forward to receive the truths of 
 the Reformation, but also to aid and assist most vitally 
 in its support on the Continent ; especially by the con- 
 nexion of many learned Englishmen with Melancthon *. 
 That great reformer, it is well known, made use of the 
 extensive influence which his high reputation, and the 
 favour of the reigning Elector of Saxony, gave him in 
 the German schools, in which he was considered as a 
 kind of common preceptor, to unite the study of philo- 
 sophy with that of classic literature ; in which he was 
 much assisted, (as he himself acknowledges in his " De- 
 clamations," and as confirmed by the learned Mayer) 
 by many learned protestants from Great Britain, who 
 were appointed public preceptors in Germany. 
 
 The principle on which Melancthon acted — a prin- 
 ciple also adopted by his English friends — was this: 
 " I would have no one,' 1 says he, " trifle in philoso- 
 * Vide Enfield, ii. U7. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 29 
 
 phizing, lest he should at length even lose sight of 
 common sense : rather let him be careful, both in the 
 study of physics and morals, to select the best things 
 from the best sources." 
 
 Perceiving that the human understanding was 
 clouded, and the freedom of inquiry restrained, by 
 the forms of the schools, and that nothing contributed 
 so much to perpetuate superstition and error in the 
 church as false philosophy — those great and able men, 
 the reformers, concluded that the disease admitted of 
 no palliative ; that in order to produce any great and 
 lasting effect, it was not sufficient barely to lop off the 
 heads of the tares which had sprung up in the church, 
 but that it was become necessary to tear them up by 
 the roots*. 
 
 They therefore, with a degree of magnanimity which 
 entitles them to immortal honour, made a bold and 
 open attack at once upon the corruptions of philosophy 
 and theology ; laying open the numerous evils which 
 the existing mode of philosophy had introduced into 
 religion ; showing by what puerile arts, and with how 
 much injury to truth, both natural and divine, it had 
 maintained its authority ; and exhorting young men to 
 leave such faithless guides, and give themselves up 
 wholly to the direction of reason and revelation. 
 
 Such were the principles which prompted numbers 
 in England to adopt the sentiments of WicklifFe, and 
 Enfield, ii. 417. 
 
30 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 to join the modem reforming church upon the Conti- 
 nent ; principles which made them readily fall in with 
 Henry's plans, though we fear, indeed, that he was 
 but little imbued with them : although most certainly, 
 when it was proposed to Henry VIII. by the confe- 
 derate princes of Germany, that he should " encourage, 
 promote, and maintain the true doctrine of Christ, as 
 it was contained in the Confession of Augsburg," he, 
 with a true spirit of liberal independence, answered, 
 that he certainly would maintain and promote the true 
 doctrine of Christ ; but, at the same time, as the true 
 ground of that doctrine lay only in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, he would not accept, at any one's hand, what 
 would be his faith, or that of his kingdom. He there- 
 fore refused to bind himself to their creed ; but at 
 the same time desired they would send over learned 
 men to confer with him, in order to promote religious 
 union between him and the confederates. He also 
 approved of the plan to form a free general council for 
 the purpose of defending the true doctrine; but he 
 maintained that the regulations of the ceremonial part 
 of religion, being a matter of indifference, ought to 
 be left to the choice of each sovereign for his own 
 dominions. 
 
 It is well observed by Mosheim, however, that the 
 downfall of papal authority in England was not, at 
 first, productive of much benefit, either to the friends 
 or to the cause of the Reformation. Henry himself 
 
AND HER TIMES. 31 
 
 had already grown cold in the cause of die German 
 confederates, when he perceived that they could no 
 longer be of service to him in supporting the question 
 as to his marriage ; so that his subsequent disavowal 
 of papal authority was rather an insulated case, than 
 in unison with the general body of reformers. 
 
 In fact, Henry, though resolutely withdrawing him- 
 self from the dominion of Rome, yet still preserved, 
 for some time at least, some of its errors, as well as 
 some of its persecuting spirit ; but the prudence, learn- 
 ing, and activity of Cranmer, counteracted, in many 
 instances, that vehemence, and also that inconstancy, 
 which might have been fatal to the good cause. 
 
 To enter, however, into all the causes which led to 
 the Reformation in England, would be beyond our 
 plan ; but we cannot pass over a very important letter 
 addressed by Henry VIII. to the Bishop of Bath, then 
 his ambassador at Rome ; which, though referring to 
 a special case, and that case occurring not in England, 
 but in that part of French Flanders then under the 
 British sway, yet contains in itself so many important 
 points and considerations, as to be particularly appli- 
 cable even to passing events. 
 
 The object of this letter is*, in the first place, to ex- 
 press the king's displeasure with the bishop for having 
 suffered a bull to be executed against him out of the 
 court of Rome in favour of the Archbishop of Tour- 
 * Brit. Mus. Ayscough's Cat. No. 3839, 2. 
 
32 l.ADV JANE GREY, 
 
 nay, which he most pointedly desires him to have 
 speedily revoked and annulled. It appears that the 
 pope had made the most exorbitant grants to the Arch- 
 bishop of Tournay, not only oppressive of the people, 
 but also infringing upon the royal revenue, " contrary 
 to all law and justice," and to the " derogation of our 
 right and prerogative royell,'" as the king expresses 
 himself. 
 
 His majesty then shows, that to suffer such inter- 
 ference of a foreign potentate or priest would be most 
 prejudicial to the realm for divers reasons : first, " be- 
 cause by the same the pope hath done, as much as in 
 him is, to cause our rebell and disobey sant subject to 
 be admitted to the archbishoprick of Turnay without 
 makynge of homage or fldelitie to us, contrary to jus- 
 tice ; by meanes whereof if hee should be suffered to 
 enter, and make his abode within our cittie in contempt 
 of us, hee might and would not onlie raise and stir up 
 seditions amongst our subjects, but alsoe the perdition 
 thereof, like as the president of Paris, his father, and 
 hee last summer enterprized to doe, which thereupon 
 was detected, and openly knowne for a truth soon after 
 the importation of the said bull." 
 
 The king complains, in the second place, that " our 
 subjects, spiritual! and temporal!, within our said cittie, 
 should be bounde by virtue of that bull, under the 
 terrible censures, to ayde and favur the said bishop; 
 s,)e b\ that meanes they should in manner be clis- 
 
AND HER TIMES. 
 
 33 
 
 charged of their oath of fidelitie to us made, and con- 
 sequentlie maintaine or rebell against us, to our dis- 
 honour and unsuretie." 
 
 He then goes on to say, that by a clause of " Invo- 
 cation " the pope had done all that he could to " raise 
 warres and hostilitie between us and such princes of 
 whom the said Invocation should be demanded, and 
 under colour thereof hath authorized them to gather an 
 army to bringe in the Bshp, to the danger of our said 
 cittie, and our expresse wronge." 
 
 The fourth royal objection is, that " by this strange 
 and inordinate bull, whereof the like was never seene, 
 he attempted to take from us the superioritie, royall 
 predominance, jurisdiction, and au thorite," &c. &c. 
 
 But the fifth objection is the most extraordinary, as 
 showing how far his holiness ventured to disoblige even 
 his best friends in England to serve his foreign allies ; 
 for the king further complains, that " hee hath revoked 
 the authoritie and administration of that see, by him 
 granted, at our instance, to the most reverend father 
 in God, the Cardinall Archbishop of Yorke" — Wol- 
 se y himself ! 
 
 In short, the pope and his conclave of cardinals seem 
 to have been blinded, by successful usurpation, to the 
 consequences which must naturally result from their 
 overbearing conduct ; a blindness particularly favour- 
 able to this happy country, by the establishment of 
 liberty, mental, religious, and political. To go at 
 
34 LADY J AXE GREY, 
 
 length into this subject is not part of our plan, but 
 perhaps the best view of the advantages of the Re- 
 formation may be found in the summing up of honest 
 Fuller, who, after observing that by the extinction of 
 papal power in England, the text was fulfilled of — 
 " Give unto God the things that are God^s ; and unto 
 Caesar the things that are Caesar r s ;" — adds, " Lastly, 
 every English layman was restored to his Christian 
 birthright, namely, to his judgment of practical dis- 
 cretion (in perusing the Scriptures in his own language) 
 formerly swallowed up in the ocean of the pope^s in- 
 fallibility. Thus on the depluming of the pope, every 
 bird had its own feather : in the partage whereof, what 
 he had gotten by sacriledge was restored to God ; what 
 by usurpation, was given back to the king, church, and 
 state ; what by oppression, was remitted to particular 
 Christians." 
 
 Of the extent of the papal influence, we may judge 
 by the recorded fact, that, at this very period, Sixtus 
 IV. had granted eleven thousand years of pardon to 
 any person who would say a certain prayer before 
 " Our Lady of Pity," at Sarum ; and three hundred 
 days of pardon to whoever would repeat " Ave Maty," 
 nine times consecutively ! 
 
 No wonder then that the church should thunder out 
 its anathemas against the revival of literature, and that 
 one of the loudest and ablest preachers should exclaim 
 from the pulpit, "A new language has been invented, 
 
AXD JIKIt TIMES. 35 
 
 which is called Greek ; guard carefully against it ; it 
 is the mother of every species of heresy. I observe in 
 the hands of a great many persons a book written in 
 this language, which they call the New Testament ; 
 it is a book full of thorns and serpents. With respect 
 to Hebrew, it is certain, my dear brethren, that all 
 who learn it are converted to Judaism." 
 
 Such was the state of politics and religion in Eng- 
 land at the death of Thomas Grey, second Marquess 
 of Dorset, whose character, as given by Lloyd, in his 
 State Worthies, contains the following compendious 
 passage : " Land service was his exercise, but the sea 
 his delight ; the compass his study, the stars his care, 
 trade his thoughts, our own and foreign havens his 
 discourse, a seaman his familiar, and their sea-fights 
 his triumph. His converse and speech was souldier- 
 like, plain, short, smart, and material *. There was a 
 time when he would say nothing, and a time when he 
 would say something ; but never a time when he would 
 say all. He was, in a word, a happy man, who, not- 
 withstanding that the times could not endure his virtues, 
 nor he their vices, died at once full of honour at court, 
 
 * Brit. Mus. Ayscough's Coll. No. 1523, contains some 
 " maxims and sayings of Thomas Grey, Marquesse of Dorsette. 
 — The greatest trust between man and man, is that of giving 
 counsell. — Never was y c man merry y t had more than one 
 woman in his bed, one frend in his bosomc, one faithe in his 
 heart." 
 
 i) 2 
 
36' LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 and applause in the country; with this monument from 
 the king — that lie was a honest man." 
 
 This Thomas, the second Marquess of Dorset, speci- 
 fied several articles in his will, which may serve to il- 
 lustrate the manners of that age : " I will that Robert 
 Brock, schoolmaster to my sonne Henry, have £20 
 yearly. I will that every of my sonnes, Thomas, Ed- 
 ward, and John, have yearly £ 1 toward their fynd- 
 yng untill they come to 15 years ; and after to have 
 c£20 yearly till they come to 2\. I will that each of 
 my daughters unmarried have yearly £ 20 till they be 
 married. I will that my daughter Mary have £ 1000 ; 
 and to each other of my daughters unmarried each 
 c£1000. I will that my wife have the rule and pro- 
 vyding of all my children." He adds : " I will to my 
 sister Ceciley Dudley, my mannor of Much Glen for 
 her lyfe ; and her mete and drinke for her man servant 
 and maide with my lady my wife, or els £20 yearly." 
 Amongst other legacies he left £20 to Anne Bolein ; 
 and to Henry VIII. one of his best geldings, with 
 c£l00 in sovcraignes to buy a saddle: also money for 
 three priests to sing and pray for his soul, for three 
 years after his death ; at the end of which period, 
 purgatory, in England, was certainly very near extin- 
 guished ! 
 
 Henry Grey, third Marquess of Dorset, succeeded to 
 that title in 1530; and we may briefly recapitulate. 
 
AND II Kit TIMES. 37 
 
 that he was constable of England in 1547; justice of 
 the king's forests in 1550 ; warden of the Marches in 
 1551 ; created Duke of Suffolk in 1551, also knight of 
 the Garter ; and in 1554 met with that unhappy fate, 
 which shall be hereafter recorded. 
 
 He married Frances, eldest daughter and co-heir of 
 Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk ; their only issue 
 being Jane, Katharine, and Mary — but the male line 
 of the family of Grey was continued by Henry's younger 
 brother John, ancestor of the present noble family of 
 Stamford and Warrington. 
 
 It was by this marriage that the claim to the crown 
 came into the Dorset family; yet the Brandons, pater- 
 nally, were not of ancient origin. The first on record 
 is Sir William Brandon, Knight, in the reign of Ed- 
 ward IV. who married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Ro- 
 bert Wingfield ; whose second son, Thomas, having 
 joined Henry VII. against Richard, was made one of 
 the squires of his body, receiving many other high 
 offices, besides the honour of knight of the Garter. 
 This Thomas married Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir 
 of Sir Henry Bruyn, and had an only son — 
 
 Charles, of whom Dugdale states, in his Baronage, 
 that being a person comely of stature, high of courage, 
 and conformity of disjfosition to Henry VIII., became 
 so acceptable to that monarch, that he was made one 
 of the esquires of his body, and chamberlain of the 
 principality of Wales. Having been in a sharp fight 
 
38 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 at sea with the French off' Brest, he, the next ensuing 
 year, upon the expedition to Terouenne and Tournay, 
 applied to Cardinal Wolsey, and obtained leave to at- 
 tend the king upon that notable adventure. Henry 
 bestowed upon him the command of the van-guard of 
 the army ; and, to fit him more particularly for that 
 high honour, created him Viscount Tlsle : and the very 
 next year presented him with a patent as Duke of 
 Suffolk. 
 
 Dugdale proceeds to state, that shortly after, 6th 
 Henry VIII., being at St. Denys in France, at the 
 coronation of the Lady Mary, sister to King Henry, 
 then married to Louis XII. he achieved much honour 
 by his prowess, manifested in a princely tournament, 
 where he overthrew the person with whom he tilted, 
 horse and arms ; and gained so much upon the affections 
 of that queen, as that, upon the death of Louis hap- 
 pening soon after, she engaged herself to marry him, 
 entreating Francis I., his successor, to mediate for that 
 purpose with her brother Henry for his approbation. 
 Leave for the marriage was soon obtained, and with her 
 Brandon received, as a portion, a grant of all the lands 
 which had belonged to De la Pole, the late Duke of 
 Suffolk. 
 
 This lady had been originally- designed for a Spanish 
 prince ; for there are letters extant of the king her 
 father* directed to the lord mayor and aldermen of 
 * Brit. Mus. Harl. Coll. No. '293, p, 93. 
 
AND IIEIl TIMES. Sfl 
 
 London, " to make bonfyres, and to she we other sygncs 
 of rejoysinge within the citty, for a conclysyon of a 
 marriage between the Prince of Casteel" and her. 
 
 It has been said that Brandon, on his first applica- 
 tion to the royal widow, was told by her, that if he did 
 not win her within a month, he should never win her 
 at all. In that achievement, however, he must have 
 met with little difficulty; as it is evident that she cer- 
 tainly had some reference to it in a letter to Cardinal 
 Wolsey, written in the first days of her widowhood ; 
 and the original of which is now extant in the British 
 Museum : 
 
 " My reverend good Lord, — I recommend me to 
 you, and thanke you for letters, and good lessones that 
 you hathe gyft'en to me. My lord, I pray you, as my 
 trust is yn you, to remember me to the kyng my bro- 
 ther, for souche causses and bessynes as I have for to 
 do : for as now I have no other to put my trust yn 
 but the kyng my brother and you. And as yt shall 
 pies the kyng my brother and hys counsell I wol be 
 horderd; and so I pray you, my lord, to shew hys 
 grace, sayng that the kyng my howsbandd ys departed 
 to God, of whose sole God pardon. And wheras you 
 advyse me that I shulde make no promis, my lorde, I 
 trust the kyng my brother and you wold not depend on 
 me solely, pleyz God. I trust I have so hordered my selfe 
 so sens that I came hethcr, that I truste yt hath ben to 
 
40 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 the honour of the kyng my brother and me sens I 
 came hether, and so I trust to continue. Yft* there be 
 any thynge that I may do for you, I wold be gladd 
 for to do yt yn thes partes, and shall be glad to do yt 
 for you. No more to you at thys tyme, but God pre- 
 serve you. Wrytten at Pares the x day of January, 
 1515, 
 
 By your louynge frend, 
 
 Mary, Queen of France." 
 
 Brandon's marriage with the French dowager was, 
 it must be acknowledged, represented by some to be 
 illegal ; his former wife, the Lady Margaret Mortimer, 
 not even repudiated as some assert, being still alive. 
 It must not be forgotten, however, that the point of 
 legality had been declared to be fully settled both by 
 the laws of the realm, and by the canon laws ; at least 
 so it was broadly asserted in parliament in the 13th 
 year of Elizabeth's reign in a debate on the succession *, 
 in reference to a charge of bastardy brought against 
 Lady Frances and Lady Eleanor Brandon, by their 
 illegitimate sister, Lady Powis. 
 
 Suffolk, after his marriage, seems to have become a 
 complete courtier ; friendly with Wolsey in his power, 
 yet, as Shakspeare describes him, secretly despising 
 that priestly upstart : 
 
 * Brit. Mus. Cott. Coll. Julius, V. (i. 
 
AND HEIl TIMES. 41 
 
 Stiff. ^VTiich of the peers 
 
 Have uncontemn'd gone by him, or at least 
 Strangely neglected ? when did he regard 
 The stamp of nobleness in any person, 
 Out of himself ? 
 
 He is also described as the agent of Henry's ingrati- 
 tude to him : 
 
 Suff. Lord Cardinal, the king's further pleasure is, 
 Because all those things, you have done of late 
 By your power legantine within this kingdom, 
 Fall into the compass of prcemunire, — 
 That therefore such a writ be sued against you ; 
 To forfeit all your goods, lands, tenements, 
 Chattels, and whatsoever, and to be 
 Out of the king's protection : — This is my charge. 
 
 Brandon is stated by the same dramatist to have 
 
 been favourable to the young queen, whom he thus 
 
 delineates : 
 
 Suff. There 's order given for her coronation : 
 Marry, this is yet but young, and may be left 
 To some ears unrecounted. — But, my lords, 
 She is a gallant creature, and complete 
 In mind and feature : I persuade me, from her 
 Will fall some blessing to this land, which shall 
 In it be memorized. 
 
 He officiated indeed as high steward at her corona- 
 tion, though in an earlier scene he jests with the royal 
 scruples, when a chamberlain announces them to him 
 and the Duke of Norfolk : 
 
 Cham. Good day to both your graces. 
 
 Suff. How is the king employ 'd ? 
 Cham. I left him private, 
 
 Full of sad thoughts and troubles. 
 
42 LADY JANE GltEY, 
 
 Nor. What's the cause ? 
 
 Cham. It seems, the marriage with his brother's wife 
 Has crept too near his conscience. 
 
 Sujf. No, his conscience 
 
 Has crept too near another lady. 
 
 Nor. Tis so ; 
 
 This is the cardinal's doing, the king-cardinal : 
 That blind priest, like the eldest son of fortune, 
 Turns what he list. The king will know him one day. 
 
 Suff. Pray God, he do ! he'll never know himself else. 
 
 Henry, the third Marquess of Dorset, and father of 
 our heroine, seems not to have been a very dutiful or 
 affectionate son to his widowed mother; for in the 
 British Museum * is a letter from that lady to a noble- 
 man, complaining heavily of her son's undutifulness in 
 withholding her property from her, contrary to her 
 husband's will. 
 
 In this address the good lady is very strenuous; 
 for she begins, " In the hous of our Lady's Passyon, 
 my lorde, I beseeche you to be my goode lorde, con- 
 syderyng me a poor wydo, so unkyndly and extreymly 
 escheated by my son.'" The remainder of this epistle 
 is scarcely legible ; but it is to be hoped that the 
 marquess, who was a most severe parent himself, exact- 
 ing the most slavish obedience and compliance from his 
 own children, did not continue to pursue that undutiful 
 conduct of which his sole remaining parent com- 
 plained. 
 
 The marquess, by his connexion with the royal family 
 * Cott. Coll. Vesp. F. xiii. 108. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 43 
 
 in consequence of his marriage, was now obliged to 
 mingle more in the religious politics of the court, than 
 his owh wishes would have led him to do ; for he is 
 described by all writers as being fond of a domestic 
 and a country life, and totally devoid of all ambition ; 
 nay, as some assert, even of personal courage. 
 
 In politics, however, he was obliged to take a part, 
 especially in the important occurrences of the year 
 1531, when the whole body of the Roman Catholic 
 clergy in England incurred a premunire, by their too 
 great attention to a promotion of the papal interests. 
 By this legal procedure all the estates of the church 
 became forfeited; but the king was then content to 
 accept large sums in lieu, the province of Canterbury 
 being taxed, or rather fined, to the amount of £1 00,000 ! 
 Shakspeare also makes him carry the sceptre at Anne 
 Boleyn's coronation. 
 
 Dorset was very active at this period too when 
 Henry first demanded to be acknowledged as supreme 
 head of the church : and in the ensuing year Cranmer 
 was recalled home from Germany, where he was suffer- 
 ing a species of banishment ; but a recall to which he 
 was at first unwilling to submit, postponing his return 
 as long as possible, in hopes of some other person 
 being appointed to the vacant archiepiscopal see of 
 Canterbury ; his objections, however, were unavailing. 
 The Reformation may now be considered as fairly 
 begun ; and of its commencement old Fuller quaintly 
 
44 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 observes, speaking of the marriage of Henry VIII. 
 with his brother's wife Katharine, that the marriage 
 itself was founded in covetous considerations, merely 
 to save money, that the kingdom might not be im- 
 poverished by restoring her dowry back again into 
 Spain, though hereupon a greater mass of coin was 
 transported out of the land, though not into Spain, 
 unto Italy: alluding to the bribes sent to Pope Julius II., 
 who, as he states, by the omnipotency of his dis- 
 pensation, removed all impediments and obstructions 
 against the laws of God or man hindering or opposing 
 the said marriage. He adds, that thus such who con- 
 sult with covetousness in matters of conscience, em- 
 bracing sinister courses to save charges, will find such 
 thrift expensive at the casting up of their audit ; how- 
 ever, divine Providence, overruling all actions to his 
 own glory, so ordered it, that the breaking of the pope's 
 power, with the vanishing of superstition out of Eng- 
 land, is at this day the only surviving issue of this 
 marriage. 
 
 It is also a very curious fact, as stated by the same 
 author, that Henry's subsequent idea of the divorce 
 was first excited by the Spanish ambassadors them- 
 selves; who, when Mary was first offered in mar- 
 riage to Philip, then Prince of Spain, seemed to make 
 some difficulty, actually expressing doubts as to her 
 legitimacy, in consequence of her mother's prior mar- 
 riage to Prince Arthur. Then again even Wolsev 
 
AND II KR TIMES. 45 
 
 himself aided in the events which led to the Reforma- 
 tion ; for it was he that first insinuated this scruple to 
 Longlands, Bishop of Lincoln, the king's confessor, 
 who made it a matter of conscience with the monarch, 
 advising him to separate himself from her majesty, as 
 a thing unlawful : even adding, that after divorce, 
 which the pope, in justice, could not deny, then the 
 king might dispose of his affections as he pleased. 
 Here indeed the two priests overshot their own mark ; 
 for they designed to replace Katharine by Margaret of 
 Alencon, sister to Francis the First of France, little 
 suspecting that Anne Boleyn had even then attracted 
 the royal notice. 
 
 Henry certainly had, anterior to this, been friendly to 
 a treaty with France ; in reference to which, but before 
 the meeting at Ardres, Shakspeare states the visit of 
 the Emperor Charles V. to this country to have taken 
 place, when he makes the Duke of Buckingham say, 
 
 Buck. Pray, give me favour, sir. This cunning cardinal 
 The articles o'the combination drew, 
 As himself pleased ; and they were ratified, 
 As he cried, Thus let be : to as much end, 
 As give a crutch to the dead: But our count-cardinal 
 Has done this, and 'tis well ; for worthy Wolsey, 
 Who cannot err, he did it. Now this follows 
 (Which, as I take it, is a kind of puppy 
 To the old dam, treason),— Charles the emperor, 
 Under pretence to see the queen his aunt 
 (For 'twas, indeed, his colour ; but he came 
 To whisper Wolsey), here makes visitation : 
 His fears were, that the interview, betwixt 
 
1 
 
 46 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 England and France, might, through their amity, 
 Breed him some prejudice ; for from this league 
 Peeped harms that menaced him : he privily 
 Deals with our cardinal ; and, as I trow, 
 Which I do well ; for, I am sure, the emperor 
 Paid ere he promised ; whereby his suit was granted, 
 Ere it was ask'd ; — but when the way was made, 
 And paved with gold, the emperor thus desired ; 
 That he would please to alter the king's course, 
 And break the foresaid peace. Let the king know 
 (As soon he shall by me), that thus the cardinal 
 Does buy and sell his honour as he pleases, 
 And for his own advantage. 
 
 It is a curious fact that when Henry sent Stephen 
 Gardyner and Edward Fox to Rome*, or rather to the 
 Pope, for at that period he resided at Orvieto, in order 
 to negotiate the affair of the divorce, that pontiff was 
 actually driven from Rome by the Spanish troops ; and 
 though they had retired so as not to prevent his return 
 to the capital, yet the people of Viterbo, having joined 
 with the Spaniards, did actually prevent it. So that 
 the pope, though personally at liberty, was yet forced to 
 reside in an old and ruinous city, suffering under 
 dearth and pestilent air, and in a ruinous palace, as 
 they described it ; the furniture of his bed-chamber, 
 bed and all, not being worth twenty nobles. 
 
 Henry about that period had written a book against 
 the legality of his own marriage, and which he had 
 dedicated to Cardinal Wolsey. The English bishops, 
 it appears, had read this work, but the pope was not 
 
 * Brit. Mus. Hurl. Coll. L H9. W, 
 
AND HEH TIMES. 47 
 
 so easily induced to undertake the task ; but finally 
 " he seemed resolved to read it over." 
 
 Fox soon after returned ; but there is a letter extant 
 from him to Gardyner, relating to his interview with 
 the king ; and it is not a little curious that this inter- 
 view was " in Mrs. Anne Boleyn's chamber ;" the letter 
 showing also, " how much he and she were rejoyced at 
 the good success"' 1 in procuring the commission and 
 dispensation from the pope. 
 
 The divorce accordingly took place in 1533, under 
 circumstances in which the marquess readily coincided ; 
 and his majesty became, as Fuller quaintly observes, 
 not a bachelor, because once married; not a married 
 man, because having no wife ; not a widower, because 
 his wife was not dead : in short, a kind of matrimonial 
 nondescript, from which state he emerged as speedily 
 as possible, by marrying Anne Boleyn ; for which he 
 was excommunicated by the pope, and the realm inter- 
 dicted. Henry, however, was proof against the thunder- 
 bolts of Rome, in which he was strongly supported by 
 the Marquess of Dorset and the Duke of Suffolk : the 
 monarch now re-assuming the ancient power of his 
 predecessors, the British kings who had reigned in- 
 dependent of tlie papal see. 
 
 This was, indeed, a severe stroke on the papal in- 
 terests, for the pope^s income from this country was 
 then immense, arising from the sale of consecrated 
 trinkets called " Agnus Dei, 1 ' of other trinkets, medals, 
 
48 LADY JANE GHEY 
 
 and beads ; and from the annates, or first-fruits of all 
 benefices for one year from each new incumbent. Then 
 there were sums arising from appeals; from Peter- 
 pence ; from dispensations ; from indulgences ; from 
 Legantine levies, which were ad libitum ; from pil- 
 grimages, perhaps twenty thousand repentant and 
 paying sinners going from England to Rome on each 
 jubilee, which happened once in twenty-five years ; 
 from tenths ; from legacies, &c. &c. The Peter-pence 
 alone, at " one penny for every chimney that smoked," 
 that is, more properly, where fires were kindled, then 
 amounted to c£7500 per annum. This sum was more 
 than doubled during its short revival in 1655 ; but it 
 would now form a much larger sum for papal cupidity. 
 Henry himself, however, now felt a taste for these ad- 
 vantages ; but his delicacy in robbing the church was 
 at first most remarkable, as one instance will suffice to 
 show. There is a letter extant * from Dr. John Smith, 
 canon residentiary of St. Paul's, addressed to Sir Ed- 
 ward Bayntun, vice-chamberlain to Queen Anne Bo- 
 leyn, as it would appear, in which that reverend gen- 
 tleman alludes to his majesty having desired to see a 
 very rich cross, kept amongst other jewels, in that 
 cathedral. The doctor then states that he had per- 
 suaded his brethren not only to show, but to make a 
 free offering of it to his majesty ; and concludes with a 
 specimen of his own talent at bribery, as he offers to 
 * Brit. Mus. Hail. Coll. I. '29:,. 62. 
 
AND HER TIMES 49 
 
 Baynton two years farm rent of his prebend of Al- 
 kaninge, provided the vice-chamberlain will procure 
 for him " the same authority as Dr. Sampson hath." 
 What that authority was, does not appear ; but two 
 years prebendal rent must have been worth something. 
 
 It is proper here to observe, that Mary, daughter of 
 Katharine of Arragon, the repudiated queen, was now 
 growing up to womanhood, rigid in her mother's re- 
 ligion, and jealous of her own claim to the royal suc- 
 cession ; so that although Lady Jane was not yet born, 
 we may notice a circumstance which naturally tended 
 to excite Mary's enmity to every person then, or after- 
 wards, connected with the reformed religion ; a circum- 
 stance which may have touched her womanly pride, 
 perhaps, as nearly as her conscience was affected by 
 religious coercion. The fact to which we allude is 
 exemplified by a letter from John Huse, in the British 
 Museum*; there called a " message to the lady for 
 the diminishing of her estate and dignity of a princess. ,, 
 It is to the following effect : 
 
 " Please it yur good lordeshipe to be advertised, 
 that, accordinge to the king's high comandement lately 
 shewed unto me by yur lordeshipe at Greenwich, 
 (upon Sonday last) I have signified unto the princesse 
 his most gracious pleas r concerninge the diminishinge 
 of her high estate of the name and dignitie of princesse 
 
 (wherein hir grace coulde not a little ) that I 
 
 * Harl. Coll. No. 416, p. 22. 
 
50 
 
 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 beinge alone, and not associate with s"m othre the 
 kings most honorable counsaill, ne yet sufficiently auc- 
 torized nether by comission, ne also any other writinge 
 from the kings highnes, wolde attempte to declare such 
 an high interprize and matur of no litle weight and 
 importance unto hir grace in depoyzing and dimissh- 
 ing her said astate and name, hir grace not doubtinge 
 but that she is the kings true and legitimate doughter 
 and heyr procreate in good and lawfully matrimony. 
 And further adding (said) that unlesse she were ad- 
 vertised from his highnes by his writing, that his grace 
 was so minded to diminisshe hir said astate, name, and 
 dignitie, which she trustethe his highnes will never do, 
 her grace will not believe it. And farther I have de- 
 clared yo r said comandement unto all the princesse 
 svints concernyng the premisses, who have made an 
 answere, that they in moost humble wyse shall always 
 obey the king's high comaundements in all things 
 whiche his highnes shall comaunde them to do, savyng 
 ther consience ; notwithstandinge they think that this 
 comaundement being so high and weighty, given only 
 be me, without writing from the kings highnes, or oth'r 
 his counsaill associate with me, is in ther judgemente 
 not suffyc'ent ; wherfore, my lorde, I writtc this mater 
 unto your lordeshipe to be ferderly weide as shall stande 
 witli yo r high and moost discrete wisdomis, which I 
 pray God may be to his high pleas r and to the honor 
 of the kings grace and the welth of his realme. And 
 
AND HEB TIMES. 51 
 
 thus the hooly goost have yo r good lordeshipe in his 
 moost uderfull tuition. At Beaulieu, this xx te daye 
 of September. By me the king's subject, 
 
 " John Husk." 
 
 To this is added a note — " This message, I suppose, 
 was sent soon after y e birth of the Lady Elizabeth, w eh 
 was Sept. 6, 1533, or when y e king, upon the sentense 
 of devorse, comanded y e Q. Katharine should be no 
 more called queen, but princess dowager, w ch was in 
 May, 1533. But by the date of this letter the former 
 is more probable." 
 
 In reference to this we may also add, that in May, 
 1533, the Duke of Suffolk, in concert with the Earl of 
 Sussex, Sir William Paulet and Mr. Richard Sampson, 
 was appointed to regulate the household of the re- 
 pudiated queen ; soon after which, these commissioners 
 made the following extraordinary report to his majesty: 
 
 " Pleasythe it yur highnes, upon Wensdaye laste 
 paste, after dynner, we, accordinge to youre comaunde- 
 ment, shewed and declared yur most gracious pleasure 
 to the princes dowager in hir great chambre, all man- 
 nere of servants of the house then their being to heare 
 what should be sayd ; wherunto the said princes 
 psystynge in hir great stomacke and obstynacye made 
 answer with an opene voyse, sayinge that she knewe hir- 
 
 e2 
 
52 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 selfe for yur queene and true wyfe, nevere carnallye 
 knowne by Prince Arthure ; and that she wold ever 
 stand null and prosecute in the courte of Rome, where 
 the mattere is dependynge, to be hewne in peeces, ut- 
 terly refusynge not only the name of princes dowagere, 
 and hir removynge to Somersham because of hir 
 healthe, but also refusynge utterlye to remove to any 
 other place by the name of princes dowager, and to 
 take the service of any psone sworne to serve hir as 
 princes dowagere, for all perswasyones that could be 
 made to hir by us, and after by the Lord Montjoye, 
 Mr. Dymoke, hir almond^and receaver, in hir chambere, 
 who used all meanes they could to pswade hir, upon 
 hir sendinge for them to speake with hir, that she 
 should content hir, to remove and to take your most 
 gracyouse order for her servants and household, to 
 howesoever she did ordere hirselfe in his cause: to 
 whom, for answere, she sayd, that she tooke this change 
 of hir name, and this oathe of hir servantes, to be to 
 the greate hurte of hir cause, and thearefore she would 
 not in anywise conforme hirselfe to that ordere, ne 
 otherwise obbaye them, but compelled. Wherupon 
 the servantes appointed by yur highnes to serve hir, 
 when they came befoare us to receave knoledge of your 
 most gratyous pleashure, and to that their newe oathe, 
 they said they were loathe to servo her, psystyngc in 
 the mynde she was off. Neverthelesse, to obaye v' 
 eomaundement, they wold serve hir, so they might not 
 
AN'l) HKK TIMES. 
 
 53 
 
 he swoarne ; for they sayd, considerynge theire fyrstc 
 oathe made to hir as queene, they mighte not take the 
 secunde oathe without piurye, and so they contynued 
 a tyme styfly in their oppynyones, unto the tyme we 
 had with muche diffycultye gotten off them that they 
 had that knoledge of Abell and Berker, hir chaplanes, 
 whome we callid and examyned, and founde them styflye 
 standinge in their consyence that shee was y r queene 
 and lawful wyfe, and that no man swoarne to serve her 
 as queene myghte change that oathe without piury, 
 and so they knowledged that they had shewed to as 
 many as asked there counsell, and what was their con- 
 syence ; and in that oppynyon they psithe stylle, say- 
 ing theyr learnynge so informethe ther consyense; 
 wherupon we have corny tted them to the porteres ward, 
 ther to remayne, not spekyng with [any other psone 
 then theyr keeper tyll yor gracis furthir pleasur bee 
 therin knowne. And after this was disclossed, upon 
 good exortacons, with some difficulty many of the 
 servants appoynted, uppon truste of y r most gratyous 
 favore, have receaved their romes and other accord- 
 ingly ; and so we truste, by Gods helpe, to procede to 
 the stablishment of the servants and order of the hous- 
 hold, albeit some psones named in y r graces book we 
 change uppon good consyderatyon ; and the bushope 
 of Langdaf, whom y r grace appoynted to departe, wee 
 suffer to tarrye tyll y r further pleasur be knowne, for 
 that she hathe no confessore left, yf he and Abe) I 
 
54 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 depte, that can speke Spanishe, in the wich speeche she 
 is know confessede, and cannot be in any othere as she 
 saythe ; and as we pceave by reporte the s'd bushoppe 
 is the man of moste simplissitie, and shal do leaste 
 harme to tarrye and be hir ghostly father. And for 
 asmuche as she wilfully and agaynste al humanetye 
 and reson contynuethe sty lie in this oppynyon, saying, 
 that althoughe yo r grace have appoynted hir to remove 
 to Somersham, she may ne will in any wise followe yo r 
 graces pleashur therin, unlesse wee shal bynd hir with 
 ropes, and violently inforce hir therunto, sayinge also 
 that she will not take the servise of thes mene sworne 
 to her as princes dowager, but as the servise of mene 
 that hathe the keepinge of her. And for asmuche as 
 she psystythe in this obstynasy, and so will contynue, 
 as wee shurly thinke, and for that also by hir wilful- 
 nesse she may also fayne hir self e syke and keepe her 
 bedde in helthe, and will not putte one hir clothes or 
 otherwise order hirself by some imagynacion that wee 
 nowe cannot calle to remembraunce, w'ch extremetyes 
 were not remembred at the makyne of our instructyones, 
 by reason wherof yo r pleashure is not sette foarthe, in 
 our s'd instructyones, what order shalbe takene with 
 hir beinge in any suche extremetyes, we moste humblye 
 beseeche yo r highnes, the premyssyes consydered, to 
 send unto us yo r expresse pleashure herin, and in what 
 maner ycT grace will have the same ordered and put 
 in executyon, and as \vc may reoeave the same yo r 
 
AND HER TIMES. 55 
 
 plcashur uppon sendynge nexte, because the feastc ap- 
 proachethe so faste. And this the holy trynety pre- 
 serve yo r grace. From Bugden, this frydaye, vi of the 
 clocke after noone, beinge the xix daye of this presente 
 monethe of December. And because we doubte the 
 bushoppe and the reste of hir chappel shall refuse to 
 make any othe, we have spared to speke with them 
 tylle yo r graces further pleashure be therein knowne 
 what order shalbe takene with them in case they shall 
 so doe. 
 
 Yo r moste humble subiectes and servants, 
 Charles Suffolk, William Paulet, 
 Robert Sussex, Richard Sampson. 
 
 " To the kyngs highnes.' 
 
 This conduct on the part of the divorced queen is 
 but little in consonance with that humility and submis- 
 sion which the bard of Avon thus exquisitely delineates 
 previous to the trial : 
 
 Q. Kath. Sir, I desire you, do me right and justice j 
 And to bestow your pity on me : for 
 I am a most poor woman, and a stranger, 
 Born out of your dominions ; having here 
 No judge indifferent, nor no more assurance 
 Of equal friendship and proceeding. Alas, sir, 
 In what have I offended you ? what cause 
 Hath my behaviour given to your displeasure, 
 That thus you should proceed to put me off, 
 And take your good grace from me ? Heaven witness, 
 I have been to you a true and humble wife, 
 At all times to your will conformable : 
 Ever in fear to kindle your dislike, 
 
56 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 Yea, subject to your countenance ; glad, or sorry, 
 
 As I saw it inclined. When was the hour, 
 
 I ever contradicted your desire, 
 
 Or made it not mine too ? Or which of your friends 
 
 Have I not strove to love, although I knew 
 
 He were mine enemy? what friend of mine, 
 
 That had to him derived your anger, did I 
 
 Continue in my liking ; nay, gave notice 
 
 He was from thence discharged ? Sir, call to mind 
 
 That I have been your wife, in this obedience, 
 
 Upward of twenty years, and have been bless'd 
 
 With many children by you : if, in the course 
 
 And process of this time, you can report 
 
 And prove it too, against mine honour aught, 
 
 My bond to wedlock, or my love and duty, 
 
 Against your sacred person, in God's name, 
 
 Turn me away; and let the foulest contempt 
 
 Shut door upon me, and so give me up 
 
 To the sharpest kind of justice. Please you, sir, 
 
 The king, your father, was reputed for 
 
 A prince most prudent, of an excellent 
 
 And unmatch'd wit and judgment : Ferdinand, 
 
 My father, king of Spain, was reckon'd one 
 
 The wisest prince, that there had reign'd by many 
 
 A year before : it is not to be question'd 
 
 That they had gather'd a wise council to them 
 
 Of every realm, that did debate this business, 
 
 Who deem'd our marriage lawful : wherefore 1 humbly 
 
 Beseech you, sir, to spare me, till I may 
 
 Be by my friends in Spain advised ; whose counsel 
 
 I will implore : if not, i' the name of God, 
 
 Your pleasure be fulfill'd ! 
 
 It is a fact, not generally understood, that Mary, at 
 an early period of her life, had a reformer for her pre- 
 ceptor *. This was Ludovicus Vives, a native of Va- 
 * Enfield, ii. 415. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 57 
 
 lentia in Spain ; who, though well trained in all the 
 subtleties of the scholastic philosophy at Paris, had the 
 good sense to discover its futility, and diligently ap- 
 plied himself to more useful studies. Erasmus, who 
 was his most intimate associate, says of him, in one of 
 his epistles # , that there was no part of philosophy in 
 which he did not excel ; and that he had made such 
 proficiency in learning, and in the arts of speaking and 
 writing, that he scarcely knew his equal. Amongst 
 other of his publications, was a very ingenious com- 
 mentary upon St. Augustine's treatise " De Civitate 
 Dei," or the City of God, which he dedicated to Henry 
 VIII., and with which that monarch was so well 
 pleased, from the extensive acquaintance with the an- 
 cient philosophy which it manifested, that he not only 
 invited the author to his court, but also appointed him 
 preceptor to his daughter, and then only child. In 
 this office Vives displayed great fidelity ; but being a 
 Spaniard, he naturally felt great interest for his coun- 
 trywoman, the queen, and lost the king's confidence 
 by his opposition to the divorce; on which he was 
 forced to flee to Bruges. 
 
 To appreciate more fully the subsequent conduct of 
 Mary, in reference to the unhappy fate of our heroine, 
 it is necessary to investigate her own early mortifica- 
 tions in regard to religion, rank, comfort, probable 
 marriage, and, in short, in regard to every thing which 
 * Er. Epist. xix. 101. 
 
58 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 can be dear to a woman, and to an affectionate daugh- 
 ter. A just estimate of all this may be drawn from a 
 very interesting correspondence, which we have copied 
 from the originals in the British Museum, and which 
 becomes a necessary illustration of future events. 
 
 Mary, it appears, had not only been unwilling to 
 acquiesce in her mother's disgrace, but to accept the 
 amended ritual of Henry, in which she was supported 
 by her priestly household, who, no doubt, were the ad- 
 visers of what is called her submission; but which, 
 we shall have future occasion to show, was founded on 
 rank duplicity and mental reservation ! 
 
 This submission is to the following purport : 
 
 " To the King's most gracious Highnes my 
 
 Father *. 
 
 " Most humbly prostrate before the feete of yur most 
 excellent majestie, yur most humble, faithfull, and 
 obedient subject, who hath soe extremely offended 
 yur most gracious highnes, that myne heavy and fear- 
 full heart dare not presume to call you father, ne yur 
 majestie have any cause by my desertes, saving the 
 benignitie of your blessed nature doth surmounte 
 all evils, offences, and trespasses, and is ever merciful 1 
 and ready to arrest the penitent calling for grace in 
 anic convenient time. Havyng receyved, this thurs- 
 * Brit. Mus. Cotton. Tit. c.vii. 176. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 59 
 
 day, at nyght, certayne letters from Mr. Secretarye, as 
 well advising me to make myne humble submission to 
 yourselfe, which, because I durst not, without your 
 gratious license, presume to doe before, I lately sent 
 unto him, as signifieing that yur most mercifull heart 
 and fatherly pittie had granted me yur blessing with 
 condition that I should persevere in that I had com- 
 menced and begun, and that I should not eftsones 
 offend yur majestie by the deny all or refusall of any 
 such articles or comandments as it may please yur 
 highnes to address unto mee for the perfit tryall of 
 my harte and inwarde affection. For the present de- 
 claration of the bottom of my harte and stomacke; 
 first, I knowledge myselfe to have most unkindly and 
 unnaturally offended yur most excellente highnes, in 
 that I have not submitted myselfe to yur most just 
 and vertuous laws. And for myne offences therein, 
 which I must confesse weare in me a thousand folde 
 more grievous than they could be in any other living 
 creature, I put my selfe wholly and entirely to your 
 gratious mercy e, at whose hand I cannot receive that 
 punishment for the same that I have deserved. Se- 
 condly, to open myne harte to yur grace in those things 
 which I have heretofore refused to condescend unto, 
 and have now written with myne owne hand, sending 
 the same to yur highnes herewith. I shall never 
 bescache yur grace to have pittie and compassion of 
 me yff ever you shall perceyue that I shall privilie or 
 
60 
 
 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 apertly vary or alter from one peece of that I have 
 written and subscribed, or refuse to confirm, ratyfie, or 
 declare the same where your majestie shall appoynte 
 me. Thirdly, as I have and shall, knowing yur 
 excellent learning, vertue, wisdome, and knowledge, 
 put my soule into your direction, and by the same 
 hath and wyll in all things from hensforth direct my 
 conscience, soe my bodie I doe wholly comitt to your 
 mercie and fatherly pittie, desiring not state, nor con- 
 dition, nor maner, degree of livinge, but such as your 
 grace shall apoynte unto me, knowledging and con- 
 fessing that my state cannot be soe vile as eyther the 
 extreamitie of justice would apoynte unto me, or as 
 myne offences have required and deserved. And what- 
 soever yur grace shall comand me to do touching 
 any of these poyntes, either for things passed, present, 
 or to come, I shall gladly doe the same as your majestie 
 can comande me. 
 
 " Most humbly therefore beseechyng your mercie, 
 most gratious sovereign lord and benigne father, to 
 have pittie and compassion of your miserable and sor- 
 rofull child, and with the aboundance of your in- 
 estimable goodness soe to overcome myne iniquitie 
 towards God, your grace, and yur wholle realme, as I 
 may feale some sensible token of reconsiliation, which, 
 God is my judge, I only desire without other respect. 
 To whom I shall dayly pray for the preservation of 
 yur highnes with the queue's grace, and that yt may 
 
AND HER TIMES. 61 
 
 please him to send you issue. From Hownsden this 
 Thursday at xj of the clocke at night. 
 
 Your graces most humble and obedient 
 
 daughter and handmayde, 
 Marye." 
 
 This penitent epistle was accompanied by " The 
 confession of me, the Lady Marye, made upon certayne 
 poyntes and articles underwritten, in the which as I 
 doe nowe plainely and with all myne harte confesse and 
 declare myne inward sentence, beliefe, and judgment, 
 with a due conform itie of obedience to the lawes of the 
 realme ; soe minding for ever to persist and continue 
 in this determination without change, alteration, or 
 varyance, I doe most humblie beseache the kinge's 
 highnes my father, whom I have obstinatly and in- 
 obediently offendid in the deniall of the same hereto- 
 fore, to forgive myne offences therein, and to take me 
 to his most gratious mercye. 
 
 " First, I confesse and knowledge the kinges ma- 
 jestie to be my soverayne lord and kinge in the im- 
 periall crowne of this realme of England ; and doe sub- 
 mitt myselfe to his highnes, and to all and singuler 
 lawes and statutes of this realm, as becometh a true 
 and faithfull subject to doe, which I shall allso obey, 
 keepe, observe, advance, and mayntayne, accordinge 
 to my bounden duety, with all the power, force, and 
 qualyties that God hath indued me during my lyfe. 
 
0«S LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 " Item, I do recognyse, accept, take, repute, and 
 knowledge the king's highnes to be supreme head in 
 earth, under Christ, of the church of England; and 
 doo utterly refuse the Bishop of Rome's pretended 
 authority, power, and jurisdiction, within this realme 
 heretofore usurped, according to the lawes and statutes 
 made in that behalf e, and of all the king's true subjects 
 humbly receyved, admitted, obeyed, kept, and ob- 
 served ; and alsoe doe utterly renounce and forsake 
 all maner of remedye, interest, and advantage which I 
 may by any means clayme by the Bishop of Rome's 
 lawes, processe, jurisdiction, or sentence, at this present 
 time, or in anywise hereafter, by anye maner, title, 
 colour, means, or care that is, shall, or can be devysed 
 for that purpose. 
 
 " Marye." 
 
 a Item, I doe freely, frankely, and for the discharge 
 of my dutie towards God, the king's highness, and his 
 lawes, without other respect, recognyse and knowledge 
 that the mariage heretofore had between his majestie 
 and my mother, the late princesse dowager, was by 
 God's lawes and man's law, incestuous and unlawful. 
 
 " Marye." 
 
 4 
 
 Henry seems to have been satisfied, for the present, 
 with this declaration ; for, indeed, lie was at this time 
 pretty deeply engaged in a new matrimonial arrange- 
 
AND HER TIMES. 
 
 63 
 
 mcnt — that of taking off his second wife's head # ! 
 What part the Marquess of Dorset took in this affair, 
 history does not inform us ; but it is well ascertained 
 that Brandon, then Duke of Suffolk, and grandfather 
 to Lady Jane, was active in the cause ; a circumstance 
 not likely to be forgotten by Elizabeth in after days, 
 then the infant daughter of the unhappy queen. In 
 fact the Duke of Suffolk was one of the privy council, 
 who attended with Audley, the lord chancellor, and 
 others, as Fuller relates in his Church History, at the 
 court held at Lambeth by Cranmer, when that pre- 
 late cited the king and queen, Anne Bolleyn, to appear 
 before him, as they did by their proxies. Anne, in- 
 deed, was then a prisoner in the Tower, this being on 
 the day previous to her execution ; and by this court 
 she was divorced, the marriage being declared " in- 
 valid, frustrate, and of none effect. 1 "' 
 
 In 1535 Queen Katharine died ■(• : but Mary seems 
 
 * Henry was also much occupied in the improvement of his 
 finances. In the Lansdown MSS. there is " A Devise how that 
 within the Realme of England there may be levied for the King, 
 our Sovereigne Lord, in two yeres, the somme of VIII C . M. lli. 
 (=5800,000) with grete ese to his subjectis." 
 
 t A good picture of the manners of the times may be found 
 in the will of Queen Katharine, as preserved in the British Mu- 
 seum *. 
 
 " In the name of the father, of the sonne, and of the holie 
 ghost, amen. I, Katharine, doe supplicate and desire Kinge 
 Henry y c VI IF' my good lord, that it please hym of his grace, 
 
 • Brit Hub. Cotton. Tit. c. vii. 44. 
 
64 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 not to have been less sturdy at times in opposition to 
 her father's mandates, or less hypocritical at others, 
 than during her lifetime. A specimen of the latter 
 
 and in aulmes, and for the service of God, to let mee have the 
 goodes which I doe hould, as well in gould and silver as other 
 things ; and also y e same that is due to mee in money for the 
 tyme passed. To the tent y l I may pay my debts and recom- 
 pense my servaunts for the good service they have done unto 
 mee ; and the same I desyre as affectously as I may for the ne- 
 cessity wherin I am redie to die, and to yeald my soule unto 
 God. 
 
 First, I supplycate that my bodie be buried in a convent of 
 observaunt freres. 
 
 Item, That for my soule may be said l c masses. 
 
 Item, That som p'sonage goe to our ladie of Walsingham in 
 pilgrimage, and in going by the way doale xx nobles. 
 
 Item, I appoint to Mistres Darell xx li. for her mariage. 
 
 Item, I ordayne that the collar of gould whych I broughte 
 out of Spayne, be to my doughter. 
 
 Item, I ordayne to Mistres Blanche x li. ster?. 
 
 Item, I ordayne to Mistris Margerie, and to Mistris , to 
 
 each of them x li. sterl. 
 
 Item, I ordayne to M rs Mary, my physitian's wife, and to 
 Mistris Isabell, doughter of Mistris Margerie, to each of them 
 xl pounds sterl. 
 
 Item, I ordayne to my physitian ye yeares commynge wages. 
 
 Item, I ordayne to Francisco Philippo all y* I owe unto him, 
 and besydes that xl pounds sterl. 
 
 Item, I ordayne to Mr. John, myne apothecary, his wages for 
 y e year commynge, and besydes y l all y l is due unto him. 
 
 Item, I ordayne that Mr. Whiller be payd of expencc about 
 y c makynge of my gowne, and besides y l xx liv. sterl. 
 
 Item, I geve to Phillipe, to Anthony, to Bastian, to evorye 
 of them xx liv. sterl. 
 
 Item, I ordayne to the little maydens x liv. to everie of them. 
 
 Item, I ordayne y l my gouldsmith be paid of his wages for 
 the year commynge, and besydes all that is due to him hitherto. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 155 
 
 occurs in 1536, in a letter now in the Museum, but 
 partly burnt, and almost illegible : 
 
 " In as humble and lowly maner as is possyble, I 
 beseche your moste gracyous hyghnes of you .... 
 
 Item, I ordayne that my launclerer be paid of y l is due unto 
 her, and besydes y l of her wages for y e year commynge. 
 
 Item, I ordayne to y e Sabell of Vergas xx liv. sterl. 
 
 Item, To my ghostly father his wages for the year commynge. 
 
 Item, It may please y e kinge my good lorde, that the house 
 ornaments for y e church to be made of my gowns which he 
 houldeth for to serve the convent there at y shall be buried. 
 
 And the furres of the same I geve for my doughter." 
 
 It is remarkable, that in this will the queen does not even re- 
 commend her daughter to the king ; perhaps, in regard to her, 
 she really acted as Shakspeare describes : 
 
 Cap. Noble lady, 
 
 First, mine own service to your grace ; the next, 
 The king's request that I would visit you ; 
 Who grieves much for your weakness, and by me 
 Sends you his princely commendations, 
 And heartily entreats you take good comfort. 
 
 Kath. O my good lord, that comfort comes too late ; 
 'Tis like a pardon after execution : 
 That gentle physic, given in time, had cured me ; 
 But now I am past all comforts here, but prayers. 
 How does his highness ? 
 
 Cap. Madam, in good health. 
 
 Kath. So may he ever do ! and ever flourish, 
 When I shall dwell with worms, and my poor name 
 Banish'd the kingdom ! — Patience, is that letter, 
 I caused you write, yet sent away ? 
 
 Pat. No, madam. 
 
 Kath. Sir, I most humbly pray you to deliver 
 This to my lord, the king. 
 
(>(> LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 blessyng. And albeit I have alredy as y truste .... 
 upon myn humble and harty servis and submys .... 
 quyryng mercy and forgy venes for myne offenc 
 maiestye obtayned the same wyth lycence tow.... 
 wherby I have also conceyved great hope and .... at 
 your grace of your inestymable goodnes .... rgyve 
 
 Cap. Most willing, madam. 
 
 Kath. In which I have commended to his goodness 
 The model of our chaste loves, his young daughter : — 
 The dews of heaven fall thick in blessings on her ! — 
 Beseeching him, to give her virtuous breeding ; 
 (She is young, and of a noble modest nature; 
 I hope, she will deserve well;) and a little 
 To love her for her mother's sake, that loved him, 
 Heaven knows how dearly. My next poor petition 
 Is, that his noble grace would have some pity 
 Upon my wretched women, that so long 
 Have follow'd both my fortunes faithfully : 
 Of which there is not one, I dare avow 
 (And now I should not he), but will deserve, 
 For virtue, and true beauty of the soul, 
 For honesty, and decent carriage, 
 A right good husband, let him be a noble ; 
 And, sure, those men are happy that shall have them. 
 The last is, for my men :— they are the poorest, 
 But poverty could never draw them from me ; — 
 That they may have their wages duly paid them, 
 And something over to remember me by ; 
 If heaven had pleased to have given me longer life, 
 And able means, we had not parted thus. 
 These are the whole contents : — And, good my lord, 
 By that you love the dearest in this world, 
 As you wish Christian peace to souls departed, 
 Stand these poor people's friend, and urge the king 
 To do me this last right. 
 
AND II KU Tl.MKs. 67 
 
 me my sayd offencys and wythdre .... leasur con- 
 ceyved upon the same, yet sh . . . . returne parfactly 
 to me, ne my hope .... the time as it may," &c. &c* 
 
 It is a very remarkable fact, however, and a proof 
 of the mental reservation with which Mary had been 
 led to act in these transactions, that this very letter 
 was accompanied by one to Secretary Cromwell, pray- 
 ing that she might not be compelled in her conscience. 
 That her conscience ought to have been left to perfect 
 freedom cannot for a moment be denied ; but then she 
 ought not to have made a submission so extremely 
 pointed as that already recorded. 
 
 This letter is preserved in the British Museum ; 
 and though half burnt, yet enough remains to illus- 
 trate what is here spoken of : 
 
 " Good Master Secretary, — I do thanke you much 
 all the greate payne and service that you have had, 
 for whyche I thynke myselfe veray muche bounde to 
 .... as I do parceyve by your letters that you .... 
 excepcyon in my letter to the kyng^s grace .... dyde 
 not mean as you do take it, for I . . . . the kyngs 
 goodnes wyll move me .... shulde offend God and 
 my conscyen .... dyde write that only by the re ... . 
 for I have always used both except God in all thyngs 
 .... exhorted me to write to ... . devyse what I 
 
 * Brit. Mus. Cotton. Otho. c. x. 261. 
 
 f2 
 
68 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 should wr . . . . wythout addyng or mynysh .... thys 
 berer my servant the .... is unsealyd because I can 
 .... copye for the payne in my .... me so sore theys 
 two or thre .... that I have very small rest .... 
 truste in your goodness that .... fynd suche meanes 
 by your M 
 
 In the same collection are several other letters of a 
 date nearly similar ; those to the king all submissive, 
 but those to Cromwell displaying a system of mental 
 reservation, as if her conscience forced her almost to 
 confess the chicanery she was then induced to practise 
 by the advice of her ghostly confessors. 
 
 All this, however, had its effect, and she seems now 
 to have been on better terms with her father than 
 usual ; but still the inward leaven would show itself. 
 
 It has been often said, and justly said, that the 
 greatest tyrants are the mildest on earth when not in 
 power. How far this was the case with Mary may be 
 illustrated by the following letter from her about this 
 period, but without address, preserved in the British 
 Museum*. 
 
 " My very good lorde, — Because my truste is your 
 
 goodnes wyll not be wery, thoughe I do dayly molesto 
 
 you wyth my contynuall sutes, I shall most hartyly 
 
 desyre the same to have in remembrance my no erneste 
 
 * Brit. Mus. Cotton. Vesp. F. xiii. 202, 203. 
 
AND UKK TIMES. W 
 
 sutc made unto you for mystres Coke, my mothers 
 olde servant touchyng the ferme of Rysbrydge be- 
 longyng to the Newe Colledge in Oxforde, the Warden 
 wherof hathe neyther used you nor me (as I thinke) 
 gently therin ; and therefore as my shote anker nexte 
 the kyng's majesty, I recofhende it holly unto you. 
 And even so beseche our lorde to sende you no worse 
 to fare then I wolde my selfe. At the courte, the 15 l 
 of Apryll. 
 
 Your lovyng assured frend during my lief, 
 
 Marye." 
 
 About this same period we find another letter from 
 the princess to Secretary Cromwell, not only illustrative 
 of her own manner, but of the manners of the times, 
 for it is an excuse to avoid the honours of knighthood, 
 in regard to one of her own household, that honour 
 appearing to be then absolutely enforced upon all of 
 a certain rank and fortune; evidently on account of 
 the fees, and of certain benevolences in peace and ser- 
 vices in war, which knights were obliged to fulfil. The 
 letter runs thus : 
 
 " Mary, Princesse. Maister Cromewell, — In my 
 hasty maner, I comende me to you, and whereas I am 
 advertised on the behalfe of my servant Richard Wil- 
 bram, this bearer, that all suche as maye dyspende 
 
70 
 
 LADY JANE GREY. 
 
 in landes fourty pounds by yere, have in comandment 
 to appere before my most drad lorde and father the 
 kyng, and to receyve of hys highnes the ordre of 
 knyghthoode, amongst whom my sayd servant's fa- 
 ther's oon, being, as I am informed, no we foure score 
 yeres of age, the contends of whose landes my said 
 servante, I doute not, will truly declare unto you ; 
 and forasmuch as I am advysed that all suche men 
 shall first resorte unto you to knowe the kyng my 
 fathers pleasyr further theryn, I therfor desyre and 
 hartely pray you in consideracon of the greate age of 
 my said servants father, and also the farre distance of 
 his dwellyng place, as in Cheshyre, to showe your lov- 
 yng favour unto hym, as well in excuse for his non 
 apparance as also yn all other causes concerning the 
 kyng my father's pleys r to hym for the same. And 
 y r thus doing at thys my desyre, in shewing your for- 
 warde favour and goodnes unto my servant's said father, 
 shall deserve my ryght harty thankes, whych shall not 
 be put in oblivion, but remembred herafter accordingly. 
 From Oxford, the xxviii daye of Maye." 
 
 We now come to a very important document in 
 regard to succeeding events ; it is called, — 
 
AND HKIt TIMES. 
 
 71 
 
 " The Examinacon of Sir Anthony Browne, 
 touching the La: Maries submission to 
 Kinge Henry the 8 th her father*, 18 th 
 June, 1536. 
 
 " Sir Anthony Browne, Knight, sworne and ex- 
 amined, saith, that he never knew ye Kinges highnes 
 and the dowger, for their matrimony was doubted, 
 thought ye same lawfull, forasmuch as shee was his 
 brother's wife before. 
 
 " Item, He saith that Mr. Carewe shewed him lately 
 that he had received a Ire from the La: Marie as he 
 supposed, and your deponent declared that Mr. Secre- 
 tary had written a letter unto her adviseing her to 
 submitte herselfe to the kinge ; and shewed him that 
 she would soe doe as he understood. Wherupon the 
 said Sir Anthony praied God to give her grace soe to 
 doe. Wherunto the said Mr. Carew said — Iff shee 
 doe not submitte herselfe shee is undone; for the 
 kinge is a mercifull prince and will have pittie of her, 
 if shee will now leave her obstinacie, and not cast her- 
 self away. 
 
 " Then he saith that Mr. Russel tould him that he 
 
 heard say, that in case she would followe the king's 
 
 pleasure shee should be heire apparante, at which 
 
 time being others present, whom he now remembereth 
 
 * Brit. Mus. Ayscough, 1786, 69. 
 
72 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 not, one of them said, what meane you by the heire appa- 
 rant? whereunto it was answeared that shee should be 
 reputed in such case to his highness unless his grace 
 should have issue by his queen that now is, sonne or 
 daughter. 
 
 " Item, He saith that when Mr. Crom 11 was last at 
 home, he went to Guildford to him; of whom the 
 said Mr. Carew asked what newes were at court? 
 whereunto he answered, that he knew no newes saving 
 only Mr. Russel tould him he heard say that La: 
 Marie should be made heire apparent to the king, if 
 she would submitt herselfe and follow his pleasure, 
 which the said Mr. Carewe praied to God shee might 
 doe. 
 
 " Item, He saith that Mr. Carew sent a lettre to the 
 Ladie Mary, which ltre hee shewed before to this de- 
 ponent and Mr. Crom 11 , the effect thereof was to ad- 
 vise and counsell her in any "wise to submitt herselfe to 
 the king, and to followe such counsel as by Mr. Secre- 
 tary^ ltres should be declared unto her touching the 
 same ; nevertheless, whether he sent this ltre forth or 
 noe, he knoweth not. 
 
 " Item, He saith that since Mr. Cromw IPs coming to 
 the court, he hath demanded of him whether the Ladie 
 Marie should be heire apparent or noe, to whom hee 
 hath answeared, that in case shee would submit her- 
 selfe, and bee obedient as slice ought to bee, hee 
 trusted shee would ; and iff shee will not bee obedient 
 
AND HER TIME*. 73 
 
 unto his grace, I would quoth hee that her head were 
 from her shoulders that I might tosse it here with my 
 foote, and soe putt his foote forward spurning the 
 rushes. 
 
 " Item, Examined why hee should have such af- 
 fection to the said Ladie Marie, saith that hee was 
 only moved thereunto for the love he beareth to the 
 king ; for hee never received letter, messege, token or 
 recommendement from her, nor hath sent her any. 
 
 " Item, Examined whether in case it had pleased 
 God to call the King to his mercie, which God defend, 
 leaving the Ladie Elizabeth in the degree of princesse, 
 hee would have adheared to her, or advaunced the 
 Ladie Marie? Hee saith that in such case he would 
 have died with the Ladie Elizabeth according to the 
 lawes of the land. 
 
 " Item, He saith, he thought the Ladie Mary to be 
 a fitt person to be an heire apparent, and to succeed in 
 case the King's highness should not chance to have 
 issue of his body by the Queene that now is, which 
 God send him shortly, for that ye said Ladie Mary 
 was borne in bona fide; which tearm of bona fide as hee 
 hath hearde often, as well before the making of this 
 lawe for the King's succession, as since, soe remem- 
 breth not presently of whom he hath hearde the same; 
 but will endeavour himselfe to remember where hee 
 hath heard it, and the same declare accordingly. 
 
 " Item, Examined whether he hath had any private 
 
74 
 
 LADY JANE GREY. 
 
 conference with any special men, or any other man or 
 woman not specified, touchinge the state of the said 
 Ladie Marie, he answeareth that he knew not, saying 
 to some that he marvayled the would aske him such 
 questions : but he saith that hee never had any private 
 conferences with any man touchinge specyell matter, 
 other than is expressed. 
 
 " Item, Hee being examined, whether hee hath at 
 any time heard y e name of bona fides parentum of Dr. 
 Wolman, Dr. Bell, or Dr. Knight, saith nay. 
 
 " Item, Being examined whether he knoweth of any 
 conventicle devised, or sitte forth by any pson or psons 
 for the advancement of the said Ladie Mary*; an- 
 swereth, none otherwise than is before declared.'' 1 
 
 * At this period, Mary was denied the title of Princess, by- 
 royal proclamation: and in the British Museum, Cott. Coll. 
 Otho, c. x. 254, there is a curious examination of Dame Anne 
 Huse, about her visiting the Lady Mary, and stiling her Prin- 
 cess, after the declaration of the monarch's pleasure. 
 
AND HEB TIMES. 75 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Succession to the Throne, how contemplated by Henry VIII. — 
 Royal Marriages negotiated — Sorrows of Princess Mary — 
 Birth of Lady Jane Grey — Progress of Reformation at the 
 Birth of Lady Jane — Cranmer's Letter respecting the English 
 Liturgy —Anecdotes of the English Bible — Family Anecdotes 
 of the Greys — Description of their Family Mansion at Brad- 
 gate — Feudal Manners, and Sketches of Society — Progress of 
 domestic Refinement — Birth of Edward VI. — Courtly and 
 chivalrous Anecdotes — Dudley Family — Infancy of our He- 
 roine — Early Promise — State of Literature, and of Female 
 Education — Anecdotes of Erasmus, &c. ; of Bishop Aylmer ; 
 of Ascham— Lady Jane educated in the reformed Religion, 
 &c— Queen Katherine Parr, &c. &c. 
 
 Notwithstanding the King's final regulation of the 
 descent of the crown to Mary, next after the demise of 
 Edward, it was certainly, at one period, in the 29th of 
 his reign, A. D. 1537, his intention to have arranged 
 matters otherwise, as appears from a letter written by 
 him to Sir Thomas Wiatt # , wherein he details an 
 offer, which the ambassadors of Charles V. had then 
 seemed to agree to, that she should be married to the 
 Prince of Portugal, Don Louis, with a fortune of 
 100,000 crowns ; but with a proviso, that she should 
 
 * Brit. Mus. Harl. Coll. No. 282, p. 1. 
 
76 LADY JANE GRE-1, 
 
 not succeed to the throne of England, except upon the 
 death of all the King's other issue, then born, or to be 
 born. To give her something of regal state, however, 
 the Duchy of Milan was, in that case, to have been 
 granted to Don Louis. 
 
 This plan did not succeed ; yet was afterwards re- 
 vived, when it was in agitation to unite the young Ed- 
 ward with one of Charles's daughters, whilst Elizabeth 
 was to have been married either to a son of the King 
 of the Romans, or to one of the Princes of Savoy. 
 
 Poor Mary, indeed, seems at this time to have been 
 sent a begging; for she was offered to the Duke of 
 Orleans, then to the Duke of Cleves and Juliers, then 
 to the Duke of Urbino, &c. 
 
 Such was the probable state of the future succession 
 to the crown of England at the period of our heroine's 
 birth, which took place at Bradgate, in Leicestershire, 
 as generally believed, in the year 1737, but the pre- 
 cise date is uncertain, the destruction of the mona- 
 steries and church registers having caused the loss of all 
 records of that nature. It was however a most important 
 period to the friends of rational religious liberty ; as 
 much had already been done on that subject, although 
 neither Henry's principles nor practice were of a nature 
 much connected with the purity of Christian faith. 
 
 Perhaps the exact progress and state of the re- 
 formation, at this precise period, will be best illustrated 
 
A XI) HER TIMES. 77 
 
 by the following letter from Cranmer to Secretary 
 Cromwell*: 
 
 " After most hartie comendacyons unto your lord- 
 ship, Theys shall be to sygnifie unto you that I with 
 other bushopps and lerned men here assembled by the 
 King's comandment, have almost made an end of our 
 determinacions ; for we have alredie subscribed unto 
 the declaracions of the Pater Noster and the Ave 
 Maria, the Crede, and the Ten Comandements ; and 
 there remayneth no more but certeyn notes of the 
 Crede, unto the whyche we be aggreed to subscribe 
 on Monday nexte ; Whyche all, when they shall be 
 subscribed, I pray you that I may know your mynde 
 and pleasure, whether I shal send them incontynentlye 
 unto you, or leaue them in my Lorde of Hereforde's 
 hands, to be delyvred by hym when he comyth nexte 
 unto the courte. Besechyng you, my Lorde, there- 
 fore to be the intercessour unto the King's highness for 
 us all, that we may haue hys gracious lycence to de- 
 pert for thys tyme untyl his grace's further pleasur be 
 known, for thay dye almost evry where in London, we 
 find ; and in Lambeth they dye at my gate, even at 
 the next house to me. I would fayne see the King's 
 highnes at my departing ; but I feare me that I shall 
 not, by cause that I shall run from this smoking ayre ; 
 
 * Brit. Mus. Cotton Cleop. E. v. 52. 
 
to LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 yet I would gladly knowe the King's pleasur herin, 
 less where you granted unto me leve to visit my 
 dioces this yere, I beseche you that I may haue your 
 leve to .... to put that in my comission. Whereon I 
 beseche your lordeshipp not to forget to be a sewtor 
 for me unto the Kyng's highnes concerning myn ex- 
 change, and specially for the remyssion of such debtes 
 as ar yet behinde unpaid which I owe unto his grace. 
 Thus, my lorde, right hastely fare you well. At 
 Lambeth this XXI. daye of Julye. 
 
 " On this I pray you shew unto me your advyse 
 howe I shall ordre in my said visitacions such psons as 
 have transgressyd the King's grace's intentions. 
 Y r euer and assured, 
 
 T. Cantuarius." 
 
 In addition to what is here stated by the archbishop, 
 we may subjoin, that although the Bible was now 
 printed in English, yet its sale seems not to have been 
 very rapid ; for in the same volume of MSS. is a letter 
 from Richard Grafton to Secretary Cromwell, praying 
 that all other persons shall be forbidden, for three 
 years, to print any other edition of it in the vulgar 
 tongue, and until that he shall have sold his edition of 
 1500 copies; or else that all curates and popish mo- 
 nasteries shall be forced to buy them*. 
 
 * The translation, by Wickliff, of the Bible was circulated 
 by written copies ; and the first English Bible, or rather the 
 
AND HER TIMES. 79 
 
 Along with this is also a licence from Francis I. of 
 France to Grafton, to print the English Bible at Paris. 
 It was, however, as appears from a letter of Cranmer's, 
 only on the 13th of August, 1537, that the royal 
 licence was obtained for the open sale of Bibles in 
 England. 
 
 Much opprobrium has been thrown upon the character 
 of Henry, father of Lady Jane, by various writers, but 
 there still seems much truth in what Brooke says, in 
 his Catalogue of Nobility, that, by his cotemporaries, 
 he was esteemed a man of great personal courage and 
 much generosity ; that he wanted not ambition, though 
 he was a reserved man ; loved to live in his own way, and 
 was rather desirous to keep up that magnificence, for 
 which our ancient nobility were so much distinguished, 
 in the place of his residence in the country, than to 
 involve himself in the intrigues of a court. 
 
 It was in consequence of this fondness for rural life, 
 
 New Testament only, ever printed, was in 1526. It was trans- 
 lated by Tindal, with some assistance, and was printed either at 
 Hamburgh or Antwerp. In 1530 Tindal revised his translation, 
 and a second edition was printed abroad, and sent over by stealth 
 into England ; almost the whole of the first impression having 
 been bought up by Tonstal, Bishop of London, and Sir Thomas 
 More, and burnt at Paul's Cross. 
 
 This second edition was proceeded against, and condemned 
 in the Star Chamber in 1531; but at the same time the King 
 ordered a new translation to be made, by the most learned of the 
 
80 
 
 ■ ADY JANE GREY, 
 
 that at her birth, he was resident at his seat of Brad- 
 gate, in Leicestershire, situate on the edge of Cham- 
 wood forest; about two miles from Groby Castle, 
 two from Mountsorrel, and four from Leicester, of 
 which, at the present day, there are some venerable 
 remains, that show it to have been a magnificent old 
 mansion. 
 
 two universities, " that the people might not be ignorant in the 
 law of God." 
 
 This order, however, was neglected by the bishops ; nay, the 
 new Bishop of London, Stokesly, bought up all Tindal's copies 
 that he could procure, with many other books, and burnt them 
 at St. Paul's. In 1537 Grafton and Whitchurch had their Bible 
 printed at Hamburgh ; when the King ordered, as Grafton had 
 petitioned, that it should be read by all curates, and set up in 
 all parish churches throughout the kingdom. 
 
 A second edition of this was printed at Paris, " there being 
 better paper and cheaper to be had in France, and more dexterous 
 workmen ;" but the inquisitor general there soon took the matter 
 
AND HER TIMES. Si 
 
 Of its state at that period, illustrative of the manners 
 of the time, we find a description in Leland, who 
 visited it in his perambulation through the kingdom, 
 by order of Henry VIII. He says, " From Leicester 
 to Brodegate, by grounde welle wooddid, 3 miles. At 
 Brodegate is a faire parke, and a lodge lately buildid 
 there by the lorde Thomas Gray, Marquise of Dorsete, 
 father to Henry, that is now marquise. There is a 
 fair and plentiful spring of water brought by master 
 Brok, as a man would juge, agayne the hille, thoroug 
 the lodge, and thereby it drivith a mylte." 
 
 The reason of the family residing at Bradgate, in 
 preference to Groby, is evident from what Leland says 
 of that ancient castle : " From Brodegate to Groby, 
 
 up as an affair of heresy, the printer was arrested, and the 
 Englishmen employed were forced to fly ; and the whole im- 
 pression of 2500 was seized, and all burnt, except a few which 
 were sold for waste paper. 
 
 Soon after the parties concerned went to Paris and got the 
 presses, matrices, and workmen, whom they brought over to 
 London, where, in 1540, the large Bible was printed. 
 
 Many translations have been made since ; but the one, in ge- 
 neral use in this country, is that translated by order of James I. 
 by fifty-four learned men, in three years, and first printed in 
 1611. When the translation was completed, six of the translators 
 were appointed to meet and revise the whole, which took them 
 nine months. — Their pay for this latter labour was only 30*-. a 
 week each, which was given them by the Stationers' Company: 
 what they received for the translation, we do not know. One 
 of these learned translators was Mr. Boyes, afterwards a prebend 
 of Ely. His capacity was such, that at five years of age he read 
 the Bible in Hebrew. 
 
82 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 a mile and a halfe much by wodden lande. There 
 remayne few tokens of the old castelle, more then that 
 yet is the hille that the kepe of the castelle stoode on 
 very notable ; but there is now no stone work upon it." 
 That this castle had been permitted to go to decay 
 may, perhaps, in a great measure, have been owing to 
 the change of manners, which had been rising towards 
 comfort, if not to elegance, from the period of tran- 
 quillity commencing with the union of the Houses of 
 York and Lancaster, on the marriage of Henry VII. 
 and Elizabeth; those gloomy edifices, raised with a 
 view principally to defence, being totally unfit for that 
 extension of domestic comfort now spreading through 
 the kingdom. That it was, however, so utterly ruinous 
 at that period, as Leland's description may be supposed 
 to designate, is not probable ; for fifty years afterwards, 
 in 1590, Wyrley, a writer of that day, expressly says, 
 that the existing ruins showed it to have been large 
 and stately ; and the park still remained. 
 
 Indeed, Leland only positively states the keep to 
 have been destroyed, but not the site deserted ; for 
 he adds, that " the late Lord Thomas Marquesh 
 filled up the ditch of it with earth, entending to make 
 an herbare there." He then goes on to state, that 
 " the ould parte of the worke that now is at Groby 
 was made by the Fen-ares." He even appears to say 
 that some additions to the castle generally had been 
 made very recently, although these buildings have 
 
AND HEB TIMES. 83 
 
 since been described as at Bradgate, for he adds, 
 " But newer workes and buildings there at Bradgate* 
 were erected by the Lorde Thomas, first Marquesh 
 of Dorset; among the which workes he began and 
 erected the fundation and waulles of a greate gate 
 house of brike, and a tour, but that was lefte halfe 
 on finishid of hym, and so it standith yet. This 
 Lord Thomas erected also and almost finishid ij 
 toures of brike in the fronte of the house, as re- 
 spondent on each side to the gate-house. There is 
 a faire large parke by the place, a vi miles in com- 
 pase. There is also a poore village (Newtown Lin- 
 pret) by the place, and a little broke (brook) by it. 
 And a quarter of a mile from the place in the botom 
 there is as faire and large a pole (pool) as lightely is in 
 
 * Mr. Nichols, in his History of Leicestershire, vol. iii. 
 p. 666, says, that the words " at Bradgate" are a variation 
 taken from Mr. Burton's transcript of Leland, given by Thomas 
 Allen, Esq. Lord of Finchley, to Dr. Stukely in 1758, and pur- 
 chased by Mr. Gough at the sale of the doctor's library, 1766 ; 
 and in another transcript, purchased by the same gentleman at 
 the sale of Mr. Thomas, the architect's library, in 1801. 
 
 On a close examination, however, of the description by 
 Leland, it does not appear as if that interpolation is judicious, 
 the facts there stated appearing rather to refer to Groby than to 
 Bradgate. 
 
 Yet it must not be denied that Mr. Nichols' opinion is in 
 opposition to this, as he expressly says — " The printed editions, 
 and Leland's own MS. have only the single word there, imply- 
 ing that the brick towers were at Groby ; and thus Sir William 
 Dugdale understood the passage. But from personal inspection 
 of the ruins at both places, I have little doubt but that the 
 reading here adopted is correct." 
 
 c; 2 
 
84 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 Leyrcestershire. There issuith a broket out of thys 
 lake, that after cummith by Groby, and there dryvith 
 a mylle, and after resortith to Sore river. ,, 
 
 That the family establishment of the marquess must 
 have been upon a grand scale at the period in ques- 
 tion, is evident from Leland's further statement. — 
 " From Brodegate to Lughborow about a v miles. 
 First, I cam oute of Bradgate Parke unto the forest of 
 Charley, commonly callid the wast. This forest is a 
 xx miles or more in cumpace, having plenty of woode ; 
 and the most parte of it at this time longgith to the 
 Marquise of Dorsete, the residew to the king, and 
 Erie of Huntingdune. In the forest is no good towne, 
 nor scant a village. 
 
 " Riding almost in the entering of this forest, I saw 
 2 or 3 quarres or hilles of slate stone, longging to the 
 Marquise of Dorsete. And riding a little farther, 
 I left the parke of Bewmanor, closid with a stone 
 walle, and a pratie logge yn it, longging alate to 
 Beaumont. 
 
 " This parke cam to the Marquise of Dorsete by 
 exchange of landes with the king. Thens a little 
 way of to Burley Parke, now longging also to the 
 Marquise of Dorsete. Thens scant a mile to Lough- 
 borow. The ruins of Whitewik CasteU long now by 
 permutation to the Marquise of Dorsete." 
 
 By this exchange of lands with the king, it is evi- 
 dent that the marquess had given up all idea even of 
 
AND I IKK TIMES. 
 
 85 
 
 temporary residence at the ancient family seat of the 
 Widvilles, at Grafton, in Northamptonshire, which his 
 father had inherited from Richard, the third Earl of 
 Rivers, with the single stipulation in his will that 
 there should be as much underwood sold out of the 
 woods at Grafton as would buy a bell, to be a tenor 
 to the bells of the parish church, for the remembrance 
 of the last of the blood. Indeed, it is probable that 
 Grafton was not a mansion of any great extent* ; at 
 least, the family establishment of this the last earl 
 must have been but small, for though he bequeathed 
 to the parish church all the cattle which he then had 
 at Grafton, to the intent that the priests there should 
 yearly keep an obit for his soul, consisting of a dirge 
 and masse of requiem, to be performed by the curate, 
 four priests, and four clerks, also an herse and four 
 tapers ; yet those cattle did not consist of more than 
 two oxen, five kine, and two bullocks ; a small stock 
 when compared with the style of housekeeping of the 
 feudal barons of that age. In addition to the cattle, 
 he gave five-pence wages to each priest, and three- 
 pence to each clerk. 
 
 By these exchanges the marquess seems to have been 
 sole possessor of the lands for miles around his man- 
 sion, with scarcely a neighbour, if any, qualified to 
 
 * Nichols, in his Leicestershire, observes, that a palace was 
 afterwards built by Henry VIII. at Grafton, but destroyed in 
 the civil wars. 
 
86 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 associate with his family on terms of intimacy. In- 
 deed, the only person with the rank of gentleman, no- 
 ticed by Leland, is thus introduced : — " From Brode- 
 gate to Bellegrave village a 4 miles by woddy and 
 pasture grounde. This village is about a mile lower 
 on Sore then Leircester is ; and I cam over a great 
 stone bridge or I enterid into it. There dewellith a 
 gentilmen by the name of Bellegrave, a men of a 50 
 li. of possessions by the yere. There is also a nother 
 mene gentilman of the Bellegraves yn Leircestershire. r> 
 The house of Bradgate, then standing at the birth 
 of Lady Jane, was built by her grandfather Thomas, 
 the second marquess, and is called by Burton, " a very 
 faire, large, and beautiful house," as then standing in 
 1608. 
 
 Should any of our fair readers wish to trace the 
 scenes of early life of our interesting heroine, we may 
 here notice, on the authority of the accurate and inde- 
 fatigable Mr. Nichols, that the old mansion house was 
 built principally of brick ; a square with four turrets 
 are at each corner. Enough of the walls still remain to 
 assist the fancy in tracing out the various apartments, 
 especially some vestiges of the kitchen ; and the vaults 
 or cellars are now overgrown with nettles and alder. 
 The garden walls are nearly entire, and the garden 
 terrace may still be seen. The author already 
 quoted describes a little stream as running by the side 
 of the garden, near which stand some beautiful old 
 
AND REB XIMSS. 87 
 
 chestnut trees, which, especially when in bloom, giye 
 the whole an air of grandeur. He adds, that the 
 pleasure grounds are easily distinguishable ; and though 
 they have now somewhat the appearance of a wilder- 
 ness, yet they strongly indicate that once, where the 
 nettle and the thistle now reign in peace, the rose and 
 the lily sprang luxuriantly. The park is still very 
 extensive, and walled round, and well stocked with 
 deer ; it is famous for very fine fern ; and the pro- 
 spects in it are unusually romantic, from the inter- 
 mixture of venerable trees and rugged rocks ; whilst 
 from a hill called Old John there is a most extensive 
 view over seven counties. It is not very many years 
 since it has thus become a complete ruin ; for, very 
 recently, an aged person remembered the principal 
 part of the house quite entire. He had been in all 
 the rooms, and noticed that there was a door out of 
 the dining room into the chapel. 
 
 The careful observer may yet discover some traces 
 of the tilt yard ; but the courts are now occupied by 
 rabbits, and shaded with chestnut trees and mulberries. 
 The lover of the picturesque will be particularly struck 
 with the approach from Thurcaston, especially at 
 the keeper's lodge, where the view is truly enchanting. 
 On the left appears a large grove of venerable trees ; 
 on the right are the ruins of the mansion, surmounted 
 by rugged rocks and aged oaks ; the forest hills, with 
 the tower on the hill called Old John, forming the 
 
88 LADY J AXE GBEY, 
 
 back ground of the prospect: whilst tne valley, 
 through which the trout stream runs, extends in front, 
 with clumps to shade the deer, and terminates in a 
 narrow winding glen, thickly clothed with an urn- 
 bragious shade*. 
 
 Such was the birthplace of our heroine ; but the 
 manners of that day also require some illustration. 
 
 There was then, as long before, great magnificence 
 exhibited by the higher orders of nobility; who, as 
 well expressed by a modern antiquary, seated in their 
 castles, lived in a state and splendour very much re- 
 sembling, and scarce inferior, to that of the royal court. 
 Their household was established upon the same plan — 
 their officers bore the same tides — and their warrants 
 ran in the same form and style. On this subject, the 
 same author adds, that the extreme minuteness of the 
 household arrangements of that day may excite sur- 
 prise, but may easily be explained upon historic prin- 
 ciples ; for as our nobility, in the more early times, 
 lived in their castles with a gross and barbarous mag- 
 nificence, surrounded with rude and warlike followers, 
 without control, and without system ; yet as they gra- 
 dually emerged from this barbarity, they found it 
 necessary to establish very minute domestic regula- 
 tions, in order to keep their turbulent followers in peace 
 and order. In fact, from living in a state of disorderly 
 grandeur, it is not surprising that they should run 
 * Vide Nichols' Leicestershire, vol. iii. p. 681. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 89 
 
 into the opposite extreme of reducing every thing, 
 even the most trifling disbursements, to stated formal 
 rules. 
 
 The state of society, in short, seems well pictured, 
 where it is observed that a noblemen, even up to the 
 dawn of learning which was now breaking out, when 
 retired to his mansion, had neither books, nor news- 
 papers, nor literary correspondence, nor visits, nor 
 cards, to fill up his leisure : his only amusements were 
 field sports ; and as these, however eagerly pursued, 
 could not fill up all his vacant hours, the government 
 of his household would therefore be likely enough to 
 engage his attention, if he happened to be a prudent 
 man; and thus, from a mere desire of employment, 
 he would be led to descend to the most studied minute- 
 ness in his regulations and establishments. 
 
 All this state, however, was sometimes laid aside ; 
 for it appears, by the Percy household book, from 
 which many of these notices have been elicited, that at 
 certain times of the year* the nobility retired from 
 their principal mansion to some little adjoining lodge, 
 where they lived private ; no longer kept open house, 
 but put their servants upon board wages, dismissed 
 part of them to go to their friends, and only retained 
 a few of the most necessary about their person. Yet 
 in this retirement the nominal state was kept up, at 
 
 * Antiq. Rep. vol. iv. p. 325. 
 
90 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 least in some of the great families; for it appears 
 that when Percy, the Earl of Northumberland, who 
 drew up the well known household book, had retired 
 to his privacy, or " secret, r> as called, he still possessed 
 his great officers, as represented by his younger sons 
 and the young gentlemen who were constantly resident 
 with him. 
 
 The interior arrangements of noble mansions were, 
 about this period, becoming more commodious. Hi- 
 therto, in the castles of the feudal barons, the apart- 
 ments had been merely of two kinds ; chambers prin- 
 cipally within the castle keep or donjon, or else in the 
 smaller towers ; and in small detached edifices within 
 the range of the outer walls : but these latter, owing to 
 the unskilful architecture of these simple times *, were 
 clustered together without any symmetry or beauty. 
 The diminution of feudal power, however, under 
 Henry VII. had led to the construction of more re- 
 gular habitations, though still preserving the fortified 
 character of the ancient castle. The nobles still ate 
 their meals in Gothic halls, either seated at the high 
 table ; or, on days not of very high state, at a table in 
 the oreille, or small apartment or recess at the upper 
 end, whilst the dependants took their stations at the 
 side tables. In fact, the arrangement was similar to 
 a dinner in the Temple Hall in term time : only with 
 this difference, that at. the baronial board the strictest 
 * Antiq. Rep. iv. 327. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 91 
 
 silence was preserved, except the issuing of the watch- 
 words by which the different courses were served up. 
 
 These halls were lofty; but, the windows being at a 
 high elevation, were in general obscurely lighted : be- 
 sides, being garnished with corslets, helmets, coats of 
 mail, shields, lances, pikes, maces, halberds, &c. they 
 looked more like the armoury in the Tower than 
 places of social mirth or jocund conviviality ; which, 
 however, they often were, at specific festivals, when 
 mumming, morris-dancing, and other rustic sports, 
 were patronised and applauded. The attendance on 
 the. superior nobility, in these halls, and of course at 
 Bradgate, was not only by menials, but also by gentle- 
 men, who did not disdain to accept of household offices, 
 and the sons of gentlemen, who were domesticated for 
 the purposes of education and formation of manners. 
 Of these gentlemen there were some appointed to wait 
 before noon, who afterwards had leave to go about their 
 own business ; when others came in attendance, to fill 
 up the various offices of gentlemen ushers, of carvers, 
 servers, cupbearers, gentlemen waiters, marshal, &c. 
 The hall and the chapel were the principal apartments 
 of castles; the others being too small for baronial 
 magnificence. 
 
 Whilst popery existed, the nobility displayed a great 
 regard to the grandeur of the choral service in their 
 chapels, vying with each other in the splendour, orna- 
 ments, and numbers, of their choirs, until even the 
 
V* LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 council of Trent found it necessary to interpose for 
 the restoration of the service to its primitive simplicity 
 and dignity ; an object more effectually gained by the 
 Reformation. 
 
 Tea and coffee being then unknown, their meals 
 were very different from ours. Breakfast consisted of 
 bread, beer, wine, salt fish, white herrings, sprats, ling, 
 turbot, or other fish, during Lent ; but at other sea- 
 sons there were added chines of beef, or of boiled mut- 
 ton, chickens, butter, buttered eggs, &c. These must 
 have been served up rather coarsely, for forks were not 
 then in use ; and therefore washing, both before and 
 after meals, became absolutely necessary. 
 
 But if their manners were not very refined at table, 
 yet they had most certainly the best of every thing ; as 
 appears from a curious document, a very few years 
 earlier in date, of the dinner parties in the time of 
 Henry VII.* " Their vitaill was not to be singlerly 
 nemid, for the moost dilecat deynties and curyous 
 mets that might be purveyed or goten within the hoole 
 realme of Englande, the which ev r therof hath op- 
 teyned the praise and comendacon emonge all other 
 cuntres or nacons in the world, blessed by th' auctor 
 Almighti God ; bothe flesshe, veneson wilde and tame, 
 fisshe, and the remennt of every maner of viand, wynnys 
 of all maner of kiend, spices, pleasurs, and subtiltes of 
 the cunyng appreparyng of the cooks." 
 * Antiq. Rep. ii. 291. 
 
AND HER TIMES. \)J 
 
 At the dinner hour the custom was, notwithstanding 
 their hospitality, to shut the great gates of the castle ; 
 the whole establishment sitting down, according to 
 gradation, in the hall: sometimes, however, a slight 
 alteration was made by laying two tables in the dining 
 room, at the first of which sat the lord and his family, 
 together with such titled nobles as were on a visit ; at 
 the second sat " knights and honourable gentlemen." 
 In such case the tables in the hall were generally three : 
 at the first sate the steward, comptroller, secretary, 
 master of the horse, master of the fish-ponds, the tutor, 
 if one in the family, together with such gentlemen as 
 came there under the degree of a knight ; at the second 
 table, the server, gentlemen waiters, and pages ; at the 
 third, the clerk of the kitchen, yeomen, officers of the 
 household, grooms of the chambers, &c. 
 
 It was customary, though perhaps in rather later 
 times, to have a table in the apartment of the gentle- 
 women of the lady's chamber, where also sat the chap- 
 lains ; and two in the housekeeper's room for the ladies' 
 women. 
 
 The lord's table was attended by the comptroller 
 and server, assisted by gentlemen's sons bred up in the 
 castle, together with the lord's gentlemen of the cham- 
 ber, and the lady's gentleman usher, &c. The second 
 table was attended by footmen. 
 
 More attention was paid at this period also to inter- 
 nal ornament. The ceilings were now superbly carved, 
 
94 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 and the sides of the rooms, except where tapestry was 
 used, ornamented with a great profusion of sculpture 
 in wood or stucco, exhibiting the armorial bearings of 
 the family, together with devices, badges, and various 
 family proverbs, set off with all the advantages of 
 painting, gilding, and imagery*. The staircases too 
 were now of more curious contrivance, with screens, 
 embattled at the top, or covered with bold sculpture : 
 and the principal apartments were now the gallery, the 
 chapel, the lord's chamber, the lady's closet, the gentle- 
 women's chamber, the drawing chamber, the great 
 chamber, the dining room, and nursery. 
 
 In fact, the lady had as much state in her own 
 apartments as in the general family establishment; 
 having not only gentlewomen of the chamber, but also 
 a groom of the lady's chamber, whose duty was some- 
 thing like that of a modern chambermaid — to keep it 
 in order. There were pages also ; but these were the 
 youngest of the gentlemen's sons, who, as they ad- 
 vanced in years, were presented to more manly, or 
 rather more masculine offices. 
 
 Some idea of the female domestic manners of the 
 time, as just approaching towards our modern luxury, 
 and also marking the state and grandeur of Lady Jane's 
 family, may be drawn from a letter, (preserved in the 
 British Museum f), written by Cecyl, wife of Thomas, 
 
 * Antiq. Hep. iv. 33(5. 
 
 f Brit. Mus. Cotton. Vesp. F. xiii. 91. 
 
AXD HER TIMES. 95 
 
 Marquess of Dorset, to one of her household, and 
 dated from Bedwell : 
 
 " Cromwell, — I woll that you send to me yn hast 
 the kusshyn beds of cloth of tyssew, and the fether 
 beds with the fustyoun, and a materas, longgyng to the 
 same, with the countpoynt. Also I woll that you de- 
 lyver all such tents, pavilyons, and halls, as you have 
 of myne, or to my sonne Edward, as you tender my 
 pleasure. And thys shall be yo r suffysyent warrat 
 and discharge att all tymes. Wrytyn at Bedwell thys 
 present thursdaye by foore our Lady Daye the assup- 
 cyon. 
 
 " Cecyl Dorset. 1 ' 
 
 We may add, that the tables of the great were now 
 pretty well supplied with fruit. The superior families 
 also set great value upon gardening; and they had 
 all manner of European fruits, herbs, and flowers: 
 and the gardens, though very formal in parterres and 
 terraces, were well kept and trimmed. 
 
 With their fruit they were not deficient in wines ; 
 those in use being " Gaskoine," sweet " Itaynish," 
 Rochell, &c. At the period of this history, however, 
 wine was not very common in general domestic use ; 
 but some years afterwards, in the Earl of Worcester's 
 establishment at Ragland Castle, it is stated to have 
 
96 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 been served up very plentifully, not only at the lord's 
 board, but even at the upper tables of the household. 
 
 In regard to some other points of illustration, we 
 may record, that the mode of travelling at this period 
 must have been very uncomfortable for families ; for it 
 was not until about forty years afterwards that coaches 
 were first brought into England by the Earl of Arun- 
 del. It is true, that the word cJmriot appears in the 
 first English translations of the Bible ; but it is evident, 
 from contemporary facts, that these chariots were merely 
 waggons drawn by six or more horses, for conveying 
 the household furniture from one mansion to another, 
 as the family changed its residence, for the due con- 
 sumption of the produce of the demesnes surrounding 
 each castle or mansion of the possessor; for at that 
 period a noble lord could not send the produce of his 
 meadows to the Haymarket, nor his gooseberries and 
 wall-fruit to Covent Garden. 
 
 It has been said, indeed, that the name of chariot 
 was given to a kind of litter *, borne up by an axle- 
 tree and two wheels ; used by citizens' wives who were 
 not able nor allowed to keep ordinary litters. These 
 litters were carried by horses, not drawn ; and ladies 
 either lay on them, or rode on palfreys with pillions or 
 side saddles. 
 
 We have now taken a general view of that state of 
 * Antiq. Rep. iv. 328. 
 
AND HER TIMES. V i 
 
 society and of manners in which our heroine was born to 
 mingle, and to ornament, had she escaped the dangers 
 of ambition : and have only further to notice some re- 
 marks of that intelligent and indefatigable antiquary, 
 Mr. Nichols ; who, describing Bradgate in his elaborate 
 work on Leicestershire, observes most justly, that it 
 is impossible to think on the sweet disposition and 
 wonderful accomplishments of Lady Jane, without 
 having the heart elated by the sublimest, as well as by 
 the tenderest feelings. He exclaims, how interested 
 must we feel about Bradgate when we recollect it was 
 not only the birthplace, but the scene of the happy 
 childhood, and the early studies of this incomparable 
 heroine. Yet perhaps the phrase " happy childhood" 
 is not most appropriately given to that period of her 
 life ; for Fuller states, that although she was bred by 
 her parents, according to her high birth, in religion and 
 in learning, yet they were no whit indulgent to her in 
 childhood, but extremely severe, more than needed to 
 so sweet a temper ; for, as he asks, what need of iron 
 instruments to bow wax ? But then he adds, that as 
 the sharpest winters, correcting the rankness of the 
 earth, cause the more healthful and fruitful summers ; 
 so the harshness of her breeding compacted her soul 
 to the greater patience and piety, whence she after- 
 wards proved the mirror of her age. 
 
 Of her very earliest years of infancy, we have not 
 been able, after the strictest research, to procure many 
 
98 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 particulars : except that her first appearance in public 
 was at the ceremony of baptism ; which must undoubt- 
 edly have taken place in the church at Bradgate ; such 
 being then the custom with highest in rank, the Princess 
 Elizabeth, as we find in Hall's Chronicle, being bap- 
 tized in the church, and not in a private chapel. It is 
 true, that private, nay, even lay baptism, was then 
 permitted, but only in cases of necessity ; for which 
 purpose females, (accoucheuses) were actually licensed 
 by the bishops to perform that sacred rite. That 
 ceremony, however, was Roman catholic ; and how far 
 the reformists then adhered to Romish rituals it is not 
 easy to ascertain. 
 
 In Henry the Eighth's Prayer-book, or " Prymer," 
 (which we have examined, and of which we believe 
 there is but one copy in the metropolis), there is not 
 any particular form laid down; nor, if there were, 
 could we positively state it to be that used at Lady 
 Jane's baptism ; for, between the printing of that 
 prayer-book and its publication in 1544, Henry's 
 mind seems to have undergone various changes in 
 regard both to religious forms and opinions. In 
 fact, many parts are crossed out with a pen, by au- 
 thority, leaving out whole prayers, whilst, in other 
 places, prayers printed for " our Lady" have that ad- 
 dress scratched out, and the supplication addressed, by 
 written interpolation in the margin, to our Lord and 
 Saviour ! We shrink from any thing like irreverent 
 
AND HER TIMES. 99 
 
 jest or light sarcasm upon a subject so awful ; but we 
 cannot state the case in more cautious language. It is, 
 however, too curious a fact, in regard to the progress 
 of the reformed religion, to pass unnoticed. 
 
 To judge of the probable mode of conducting the 
 ceremony in question, it is sufficient to state that the 
 whole of the family, with their guests, godfathers, and 
 godmothers, &c. formed a long procession from the 
 mansion to the parish church : sometimes indeed of 
 great length, for the number of sponsors, of both sexes, 
 was at this period unlimited. It is probable, that the 
 dowager marchioness was present at this ceremony, 
 for at that of Elizabeth, only a few years before, she 
 appeared as godmother ; her son the marquess, Lady 
 Jane's father, also attending in the procession, in which, 
 in his robes of estate, he bore the salt. 
 
 When the procession arrived at the church door, it 
 was met by the clergyman, and the child was there 
 named, after a short prayer. It is probable, on the 
 occasion in question, that the Rev. Mr. Harding, then 
 family chaplain at Bradgate, was either the officiating 
 or assisting priest; but on this precise point our re- 
 search has been unavailing. The name being given, 
 the infant was carried to the font, which then stood in 
 the middle of the church, and not in the baptistery, 
 with a canopy over it, upon occasions of great state, to 
 preserve the consecrated water from pollution. The 
 water was not, in general, consecrated upon each oc- 
 
 i< 2 
 
100 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 casion, but only once a month, during which time it 
 was allowed to remain in the font ; and this was the 
 case for some time after Lady Jane's baptism, as ap- 
 pears by the first liturgy of Edward VI. the forms in 
 which, we have reason to believe, were strictly in con- 
 sonance with the reformed ritual previously adopted, 
 but not confirmed by authority. From thence it ap- 
 pears, that the introductory prayer was, that Jesus 
 Christ, upon whom, when he was baptized, the Holy 
 Ghost came down in the form of a dove, would send 
 down the same Holy Spirit to sanctify the fountain of 
 baptism ; after which it was the custom to dip the 
 child in the water thrice : first on the right side ; then 
 on the left ; and finally with its face into the font ; a 
 trine immersion in honour of the holy Trinity. Sprink- 
 ling, as now, was not then practised ; nor, indeed, until 
 some time after in Elizabeth's reign, when the clergy, 
 exiled during Mary's tyranny, returned from Geneva, 
 and introduced that with other continental reformed 
 customs : it is necessary to add, however, that pouring 
 or sprinkling had been allowed in cases of danger to 
 the health of the infant. It certainly appears that the 
 dipping was both a sometimes dangerous and always 
 an indelicate custom; but there is reason to believe 
 that, at least in the case of adults, a robe fitted close to 
 the form was permitted. 
 
 After the child was baptized, the custom was for 
 the sponsors to impose their hands upon it; after 
 
AND HEB TIMES. 101 
 
 which the minister put on to the young christian a 
 white vestment, commonly called the chrysorne, or 
 chresom, saying, " Take this white vestment as a 
 token of the innocency which, by God's grace, in this 
 holy sacrament of baptism, is given unto thee : and 
 for a sign, whereby thou art admonished, so long as 
 thou livest, to give thyself to innocence of living, that 
 after this transitory life thou may est be partaker of the 
 life everlasting," — a form of adjuration most pointedly 
 applicable to the young christian in question, and of 
 which all our succeeding sheets will present an interest- 
 ing illustration. 
 
 After the anointing, or unction, which was still pre- 
 served from former rituals, the gifts of the sponsors 
 were offered ; consisting generally of articles rather of 
 ornament than use. At the baptism of Elizabeth, 
 already noticed, the gift of Lady Jane's grandmother 
 consisted of three gilt bowls with covers. This done, 
 then refreshments w r ere brought into the church, of 
 wafers, comfits, and hypocrass, a spiced wine; and 
 in such plenty, that all present might freely partake 
 and enjoy abundantly. Preparations were then made 
 for the returning procession ; in which the sponsorial 
 presents were borne before the infant : and the com- 
 pany were regaled at the mansion, agreeable to the 
 forms of feudal hospitality, with such additional amuse- 
 ments in the festive hall as were suited to the tastes and 
 capacities of the lowest retainers of the family, yet in 
 
102 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 which the nobility and gentry did not disdain to mix, 
 and thus mixing, highly to enjoy, laying aside their 
 state amidst the general jollity ! 
 
 As Henry's conduct to the Princess Mary, and his 
 cruelty towards Elizabeth's mother, had set them aside, 
 as it were, from the succession, people were now 
 looking towards the issue of his sisters to fill the 
 throne ; but the king was again married to Jane Sey- 
 mour, and now had hopes of male issue ; and Prince 
 Edward, afterwards Edward VI., was born, in 1538 : 
 the public notification of which appears to have been 
 made by the queen herself; the following document 
 being still extant in the British Museum. 
 
 " By the Queene, 
 
 " Ryght trustie and ryght wellbelovid we greete 
 
 you well ; and forasmuche as by the inestimable good- 
 
 nes and grace of Almyghtie God, we be delivered and 
 
 broughte in childbed of a prince, conceived in most 
 
 lawfull matrimony betweene my lorde the king's ma- 
 
 jestie and us, doubting not but that for the love and 
 
 affection wch ye beare unto us, and to the cofhon- 
 
 wealth of this realme, the knowledge thereof should be 
 
 joyous and glad tydinges unto you, wee have thought 
 
 good to certyfy you of the same, to the intente ye 
 
 mvght not onlie render unto God condigne thankes 
 
 and prayes for so great a benefyte, but also contynu- 
 
 allie prayc for the long continuance and prcscrvatyon 
 
AND HER TIMES. 103 
 
 of the same here in this lyfe to the honoure of God, 
 joye and pleasure of my lorde the kinge and us, and 
 the universalle weale, quiet, and tranquilitye of this 
 whole realme. Given under our signet at my lorded 
 manor of Hampton Courte, the xij . day of October. 11 
 
 From this birth both Henry and the nation had 
 great hopes, which were fully confirmed by the early 
 promise of the prince : so that the young Edward soon 
 became not only a subject of ^conversation at the fire- 
 sides of all ranks, but even a watch- word in the public 
 schools. In the British Museum* there is a MSS. 
 which professes to detail how " Mr. Heme, a school- 
 master, incited his unwilling scholars to apply them- 
 selves more diligently to their books, and to improve 
 in their learning, by their emulating the example of 
 their prince. 11 
 
 In short, the prince's fame began to spread over Eu- 
 rope : his father, however, seems not to have been so 
 much admired ; for in the Museum -j- there is a letter 
 from Thomas Parrie to Ralph Vane, one of Lord 
 Cromwell's gentlemen, written in 1539, telling him 
 how cruelly he had been used in the inquisition at 
 Seville, for saying that Henry VIII. was a good 
 christian; whereas the holy inquisitors said that he 
 was a heretic, and if they had him there, all the world 
 should not save him from burning ! 
 
 * Harl. Coll. 419. 38. t Hail. Coll. 295. 
 
104 LADY JaNE grey, 
 
 This was likely enough ; but Henry was better oc- 
 cupied at his own court, which was now held in great 
 state, both in town and at Hampton. Some of the 
 customs were curious. On New Year's Day, 1540, 
 the Marquess of Dorset presented to King Henry a 
 brace of greyhounds; to which the dowager mar- 
 chioness added a garter, the buckle and pendant of 
 which were of gold. The young marchioness presented 
 " a lynnen and two collors, the turrets gilte". A shirt of 
 cambric, wrought with silk, formed the offering of the 
 Marquess's brother, the Lord Richard; whilst Lord 
 Leonard sent an Irish ambling hobby; and their sister, 
 the Lady Margaret, presented twelve handkerchiefs 
 edged with gold. The monarch seems to have returned 
 presents of equal value : to the marquess a gilt glass 
 with a gold cover ; to the dowager a gilt cruise with a 
 cover; to the young marchioness a gold cup with a 
 cover ; and similar remembrances to the other branches 
 of the Dorsets. There were many others of the 
 same nature from various nobles, but we only record 
 those, as more particularly relative to Lady Jane's 
 family. 
 
 We may here add, that Sir John Dudley, after- 
 wards Duke of Northumberland, and father-in-law to 
 Lady Jane, was now rising into rank and opulence, as 
 well as into high favour both with king and people. He 
 had been long attendant both upon the court and 
 camp; but in this year, 1540, lie exhibited himself 
 
AND HIAl TIMES. 105 
 
 more pointedly as a candidate for splendid fame, ac- 
 cording to the chivalrous manners of that day. His re- 
 sidence, either now or very soon afterwards, appears to 
 have been fixed at Durham House, built in the Strand, 
 at a place formerly called Ivybridge, by Thomas de 
 Hatfield, then Bishop of Durham, in 1345, about the 
 26th of Henry VIII. However, it came to the crown 
 by an exchange with Bishop Tonstall, and was granted 
 by that monarch, in 1540, for some temporary re- 
 joicings and entertainments connected with what Stowe 
 calls " a great and triumphant justing," held on May- 
 day in the Tilt Yard at Westminster. This tournament 
 had been proclaimed in Flanders, Scotland, and in 
 Spain, for all comers who would undertake the English 
 challengers, six in number ; Sir John Dudley, after- 
 wards Northumberland, Sir Thomas Seymour, after- 
 wards Lord Sudley, Sir Thomas Poynings, Sir George 
 Carew, Kts., together with Anthony Kingston and 
 Richard Cromwell, Esquires. 
 
 On the appointed day, these gallant knights and 
 esquires rode into the tilt-yard richly apparelled in 
 brilliant armour, with all due heraldic insignia, and 
 their horses trapped in white velvet. To oppose their 
 prowess there were no less than forty-six respondents, 
 all of whom, however, were English, as far as their 
 names appear; the Earl of Surrey, Lord William 
 Howard, Lord Clinton, and Lord Cromwell, son to 
 
106 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 the Earl of Essex. After the justs were performed*, 
 the challengers rode to Durham House, where they 
 kept open household during the tournaments, and 
 feasted the king and queen, with her ladies, and all the 
 court. 
 
 On the second day, the king was so pleased with the 
 gallantry and chivalrous bearing of the two esquires 
 challenging, Kingston and Cromwell, that he bestowed 
 the honour of knighthood on them. Stowe tells us 
 that the 3d day of May, the said challengers did tour- 
 ney, on horseback with swoids, and against them came 
 forty-nine defendants ; Sir John Dudley and the Earl 
 of Surry running first, who at the first course lost 
 their gauntlets ; and that day Sir Richard Cromwell 
 overthrew master Palmer and his horse in the field, to 
 the great honour of the challengers. 
 
 The 5th of May the challengers fought on foot at 
 the barriers, and against them came fifty defendants, 
 who fought valiantly ; but Sir Richard Cromwell over- 
 threw, that day, at the barriers, master Culpepper in 
 the field. 
 
 On the 6th day the challengers broke up their 
 household; and Stowe goes on to inform us that 
 during this tournament, they had not only feasted 
 the king, queen, ladies, and all the court, as is before 
 showed, but also they cheered all the knights and bur- 
 * Stowe's Survey. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 107 
 
 gesses of the Commons House of Parliament, and en- 
 tertained the Mayor of London, with the aldermen and 
 their wives, at a dinner. 
 
 The king, as a special mark of favour and approba- 
 tion, gave to each of the challengers, and to their heirs 
 for ever, in reward of their valiant activity, one hun- 
 dred marks, and a house to dwell in, of yearly revenue 
 out of the lands pertaining to the hospital of St. John 
 of Jerusalem ; the gateway of which still remains, and 
 is known as St. John's Gate, near Smithfield. 
 
 When Edward came to the crown, he granted Dur- 
 ham House to his sister Elizabeth for life, or until she 
 were otherwise advanced ; and, as she did not take up 
 her residence in town, it was probably from her that it 
 may have been rented, or borrowed by Lady Jane's 
 father, or else by the Duke of Northumberland; at 
 least Lady Jane was certainly resident there some 
 time after her marriage, and at the period of her being 
 called to the throne. 
 
 In the old plan of London, this house appears to 
 have been a noble pile, agreeable to the architecture 
 of that day ; at least, in its front to the river : but 
 towards the close of the century it seems to have fallen 
 into decay, for Stowe says it was well known and ob- 
 served that the outward part belonging thereto, and 
 standing north from the houses, was but a low row of 
 stables, old, ruinous, ready to fall, and very unsightly 
 in so public a passage to the court and to Westminster. 
 
108 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 This was taken down, and various alterations ensued ; 
 but these are irrelevant to the present subject; it is 
 enough to add, that the house of the Society of Arts, 
 and part of the Adelphi, now stands upon the site of 
 the house and gardens, and that a small portion of the 
 original mansion may still be traced in the right hand 
 wall going down into Durham Yard from the Strand. 
 
 In all these court festivities the Marquess of Dorset's 
 family, when in town, bore a part ; but Lady Jane, 
 being still in her infancy, resided at Bradgate, where 
 she already was taught to attend close to her studies. 
 The Brandon family also, as relatives of the monarch, 
 were constant at court : but the Princess Mary, though 
 now in womanhood, was not permitted to appear ; be- 
 sides which she had other sources of vexation and dis- 
 appointment. 
 
 In fact, Mary's disappointments in regard to mar- 
 riage began whilst Lady Jane was yet an infant ; for 
 in 1541, a treaty of union between her and the Duke of 
 Orleans had been proposed by the French ambassador. 
 This was in part acceded to by the king, who directed 
 instructions to be sent to his ambassador at Paris for its 
 furtherance, and offering such dower as Mary, the 
 king's sister, had brought when she married King 
 Lewis. In these instructions*, indeed, it appears 
 that little dependence was placed on the offers made ; 
 they being considered as rather made in reference to 
 * Brit. Mus, Ayscough, No. 1149. 2. 
 
AND HEB TIMES. 
 
 109 
 
 the payment of arrearages on certain pensions, and as 
 more in show than in substance. On the part of the 
 English court, also, a portion was demanded for the 
 duke equivalent to that of the proposed bride. The 
 negotiation, however, from the first, appears not to 
 have had any probable chance of success, as they were 
 accompanied with a complaint " of great wronges done 
 to us at sea by the French" 
 
 But the king's opinion upon this subject was even 
 more strongly expressed in the following year, when 
 he declared that he considered the diplomatic demands 
 of portion with Mary, and of the arrearages of pensions 
 to be discharged, to be " grounded rather upon a de- 
 sire of gaine and lucre, than upon good amide." It 
 was further added in the instructions to Mr. Pagett, 
 our ambassador, that the " amitie should preced mar- 
 riage, which this demand held no conference with," and 
 therefore referred to one more reasonable. 
 
 The very early promise of genius and excellence in 
 Lady Jane induced her parents, especially as they 
 had no sons, to afford her every facility even of a 
 learned education Education was, as yet, indeed but 
 in its infancy Learning, in general, was little more 
 than downright pedantry ; whilst amongst the fashion- 
 able world, the conversation and habits of life were as 
 starched as their dresses. Both classes, gentry and 
 citizens, lived in great ignorance : they had little learn- 
 
110 LADY J AXE GREY, 
 
 ing themselves ; and few of them thought of improving 
 their children. Severity too was their most frequent 
 engine ; and, whether at home or at school, the youth 
 of both sexes were kept in order more by fear than 
 love. Daughters, in particular, even in womanhood, 
 are described as being obliged to stand at the cupboard 
 side during visits ;' except when permitted to have a 
 cushion to kneel on : and then also it was not unusual, 
 even before company, for ladies of the first rank to 
 correct their grown up daughters with the large fans 
 which it was the fashion to carry. 
 
 Even the amiable and ingenious Jane appears to 
 have been too much subjected to this treatment, yet 
 she improved daily, it may be said, in spite of it. 
 
 In an elegy, written after her death, by Sir Thomas 
 Chaloner, she is commended not only for her beauty, 
 but also for that which was a greater charm, her in- 
 telligent and interesting style of conversation. He 
 speaks too of her stupendous skill in languages, being 
 well versed in eight, consisting of the Latin, Greek, 
 Hebrew, Chaldaic, Arabic, French, and Italian, be- 
 sides that of her native land, in which she was well 
 grounded. He further observes, that she had a na- 
 tural wit, and that much improved by art and study. 
 She played well on instrumental music. She wrote an 
 excellent hand ; and she was as excellent at her needle. 
 
 Notwithstanding all these endowments, Chaloner af- 
 
AND HER TIMES. Ill 
 
 firms, that she was of a mild, humble, and modest 
 spirit, and never showed an elated mind until she ma- 
 nifested it at her death. 
 
 To boarding-school misses of the present day it 
 may seem strange, that young ladies in those times 
 should have troubled themselves with so many tongues, 
 but the fact is not the less certain ; as we are told by 
 Udal, in his dedication to Queen Katherine Parr, of 
 the translation of Erasmus's Paraphrase on the Four 
 Gospels, that a "greet number of noble women at that 
 time in England were given to the studie of human 
 sciences and of strange tongues." In short, he says, 
 that " it was a common thyng to see young virgins so 
 nouzled and trained in the study of letters, that thei 
 willyngly set all other vain pastymes at naught for learn- 
 ynge's sake. It was now no news at all to see queens and 
 ladies of most high estate and progenie, instede of courtly 
 daliaunce to embrace virtuous exercises, readyng and 
 writyng, and with moste earneste studie both erlye and 
 late, to apply themselves to the acquiryng of knowledge 
 as well as all other liberal arts and disciplines, as also 
 most specially of God and his most holy writ. And 
 in this behalf, lyke as to your highnesse, as well for 
 composyng and settyng forth many godly psalmes and 
 diverse other contemplative meditations, as also for 
 causyng these paraphrases to be translated into our 
 vulgare language, England can never be able to render 
 thanks sufficient." 
 
112 
 
 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 Not only did languages form a great part of female 
 education, but philosophy also ; such as it was at that 
 day, bursting from the trammels of the schools and of 
 catholic ignorance: for if, at this period, philosophy 
 was much indebted to the revival of letters, it was not 
 less benefited by the reformation of religion. 
 
 No sooner did the friends of truth and virtue apply 
 themselves to the correction of religious errors, and en- 
 deavour to free mankind from the yoke of ecclesiastical 
 domination, to which the whole western world had for 
 ages tamely submitted, than philosophy, which had 
 been loaded with the same chains with religion, began 
 to lift up her head and to breathe a freer air*. 
 
 Determined no longer to yield implicit obedience to 
 human authority, but to exercise their own under- 
 standings, and follow their own judgments, these bold 
 reformers prosecuted religious and philosophical in- 
 quiries with an independent spirit, which soon led them 
 to discover the futility and absurdity of the scholastic 
 method of philosophising; and enabled them, at the 
 same time, in a great measure, to correct the errors of 
 philosophy, and to reform the corruptions of religion -f\ 
 
 * Enfield's Philosophy, ii. 413. 
 
 t Great facilities were certainly given to classical learning 
 in England about this period, by means of Lily's Grammar. 
 Fuller, in his Church History, observes, that Lily was an ex- 
 cellent scholar, born at Odiam, in Hampshire, who went on a 
 pilgrimage to Jerusalem ; and on his return through Italy, there 
 applied himself to his studies, under John Sulpitius and Pom- 
 
AND HER TIMES. 
 
 113 
 
 How necessary all this was is evident, when we re- 
 collect that Greek literature had not begun to revive 
 
 ponius Sabinus. After some time, " returning home into his 
 native country well accomplished with Latin, Greek, and all arts 
 and sciences, he set forth a grammar, which still goes under his 
 name, and is universally taught all over England." The first 
 edition of this grammar was in 1513, about the time of the 
 foundation of St. Paul's school, of which Lily was appointed the 
 first master; respecting which Fuller says that formerly in 
 England there were almost as many grammars as schoolmasters, 
 children being confounded, not only with their variety; but, 
 sometimes, contrariety thereof, rules being true in the one which 
 were false in the other ; t( yea, which was the worst, a boy when 
 removed to a new school, lost all he had learned before." It 
 was in consequence of this, that Henry VIII. endeavoured to 
 produce an uniformity of grammar throughout the kingdom, so 
 that youths, though changing their masters, might still preserve 
 their learning : for which purpose Lily's Grammar was ordered 
 to be adopted. It was declared penal for schoolmasters publicly 
 to teach any other ; and the king's printer was allowed a stipend 
 of £4 per annum for printing it. 
 
 But it appears that the order for enforcing its general use 
 was not absolutely successful ; as there is an anecdote told of 
 Buckeridge, Bishop of Rochester, who, examining a free-school in 
 his diocese, and finding the scholars totally ignorant of Lily's 
 rules, exclaimed, " What! are there puritans also in grammar?" 
 
 Yet, though the study of classical languages was making 
 great progress, the English language itself was not so much at- 
 tended to ; for in the list of English school books, given by Dr. 
 Drake, as likely to have formed the early studies of Shakespeare, 
 we only find une published as early as 1537, the year of Lady 
 Jane's birth, and called " Certein briefe rules of the Regiment 
 or Construction of the Eight Partes of Speech in English and 
 Latin." 
 
 There was indeed some kind of grammatical institute then in 
 use, called the Grammar of Henry VIII., which afterwards, in 
 
114 
 
 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 even at Oxford, more than fifty years ; nay, it was still 
 opposed by a set of students who called themselves 
 Trojans, and represented it as a dangerous novelty. 
 
 It must, however, be allowed that literature had 
 been, even at this early date, patronized by some of the 
 nobility, as appears from an anecdote related by Eras- 
 mus, not many years before (1510), when, during his 
 residence in England, he published a translation of the 
 Hecuba of Euripides into Latin verse, to which having 
 added some poems of his own composition, he dedi- 
 cated the whole to Warham, then Archbishop of Can- 
 terbury. 
 
 Agreeably to etiquette, he waited on that prelate at 
 Lambeth, whither he went accompanied by his friend 
 Grocyn, of whom he had formerly said, in a letter to a 
 friend, " In Grocyn I admire an universal compass of 
 
 Elizabeth's time, was admitted into schools, to the exclusion of 
 all others. 
 
 There was another grammar printed in 1536, called the Rudi- 
 menta Grammatica ; but that was more for Latin and English ; 
 besides, it was written by Wolsey himself, expressly for the 
 school which he founded at his native town of Ipswich. There 
 was also a similar one by Dean Colet ; but that too was a sort 
 of exclusive publication ; being only intended for his own school 
 of St. Paul's. 
 
 It is a curious fact, that there was not a dictionary of the 
 English language during the life of Lady Jane ; there was one 
 indeed " by Syr Thomas Elliot, declaring Latin into English," 
 and it appears to have been held in some estimation : for a 
 second edition of it was published in 1552, greatly improved 
 and enriched by Thomas Cooper. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 115 
 
 learning;" yet Grocyn, it appears, was not admitted 
 with him into the presence of the archbishop, for he 
 asked him, on their return, what present he had re- 
 ceived ; Erasmus replied, laughing, " a very considera- 
 ble sum; 1 ' but the prelate's character, perhaps, not 
 standing very high for literary patronage, Grocyn 
 considered him as in jest. Erasmus then mentioned 
 the sum ; which drew from Grocyn the observation, 
 that Warham was rich and generous enough to have 
 made him a much handsomer present ; but he added, 
 that he certainly suspected that Erasmus had only pre- 
 sented him with a book already dedicated elsewhere. 
 This nettled the Dutchman, who inquired, " how such 
 a suspicion could enter his head?" " Because such 
 hungry scholars as you," replied his friend, " who stroll 
 about the world and dedicate books to noblemen, are 
 apt to be guilty of such tricks !" 
 
 Indeed Erasmus says, in a letter to Dean Colet, the 
 founder of St. Paul's school, that there was no country 
 which had furnished him with so many learned and 
 generous benefactors as even the single city of London. 
 It is also a curious fact, that Lady Jane's grand- 
 father, Thomas, second Marquess of Dorset, actually 
 bequeathed an annuity of £ 20 to his son's preceptor, 
 though he judged i?10 each yearly, "toward theyr 
 fyndynge," to three of his sons, to be quite sufficient 
 until they should arrive at the age of fifteen ; to be 
 
 i 2 
 
116 LADY J AWE GREY, 
 
 increased indeed to £ 20, from that period, during the 
 remainder of their minority. 
 
 It was a happy thing for our heroine, that circum- 
 stances had prepared for her a most able and worthy 
 preceptor, in the person of John Aylmer. 
 
 This eminent divine, afterwards Bishop of London, 
 had for his patrons, first, Henry Marquess of Dorset, 
 who sent him to school, maintained him at the uni- 
 versity, and made him tutor to his children ; secondly, 
 Francis, Earl of Huntingdon. His steadfastness to- 
 wards the protestant religion may be drawn from an 
 anecdote related by Thomas Becon, in a work called 
 the Jewel of Joy : that author being an old friend and 
 professor of the gospel, and fearing Henry VIII. re- 
 solved for his safety to conceal himself in Leicestershire, 
 where he was kindly received by Aylmer, to whom he 
 gives the character, " that he was excellently well 
 learned both in Latin and Greek ; that with him alone 
 in that county he had lived familiarly; there being 
 probably not one else that he dared to trust, lest he 
 might be betrayed by them." Becon adds, that Aylmer 
 was for some time the only preacher in Leicestershire ; 
 where he so effectually fixed the protestant religion 
 that neither force nor fraud could blot it out; the 
 gospel being there retained without contention, which 
 could be said then of but few other places. 
 
 How much Lady Jane improved from Aylmer's in- 
 
AND HEll TIMES. 
 
 117 
 
 structions, may be judged from what Strype says, in 
 his life of that pious and learned divine, affirming that 
 as she was a lady of excellent parts, so by his in- 
 struction she attained to a degree above her sex in the 
 knowledge of Latin and Greek ; so that she read, and 
 that with ease and delight, Plato and Demosthenes, 
 and wrote excellently well : and that he also bred her 
 up in piety as well as learning, being very devout to 
 God, and a serious embracer of evangelical doctrine 
 purged from the superstition of Rome. She also de- 
 rived great advantages from the well known Roger 
 Ascham, whose family seem to have resided in the 
 vicinity of Bradgate. He was for some years preceptor 
 to the Princess Elizabeth ; but, in Lady Jane's girlish 
 days, he was employed at Bradgate in teaching the chil- 
 dren to write, he being an exquisite penman himself; 
 which may account for the beautiful hand written by her. 
 Of Ascham, Dr. Johnson observes that his father 
 was house-steward in the family of Scroop ; and in that 
 age, when the different orders of men were at a greater 
 distance from each other, and the manners of gentle- 
 men were regularly formed by menial services in great 
 houses, he lived with a very conspicuous reputation. 
 We may observe, however, in regard to the manners 
 of those times, that the sons of gentlemen were not 
 engaged in the " menial 1 '' services of their lords, more, 
 perhaps not so much, as the sons of gentlemen in the 
 present day, when apprenticed to the mercantile, or 
 
118 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 any other genteel trade or profession : for the young 
 gentlemen of the noble establishments retired with the 
 nobles from their castles when they went to live " in 
 secret," as it was called, and only served in domestic 
 offices in conjunction with the younger sons of the 
 lord; whilst, at the baronial castle, their attendance 
 was more matter of state than of service, and so far on 
 a par with service at the court itself. 
 
 But the most remarkable fact stated by Johnson 
 about Ascham, is now particularly deserving of notice ; 
 for speaking of his study of Greek, he says, that 
 Ascham thought a language might be most easily 
 learnt by teaching it ; and when he had obtained some 
 proficiency in Greek, read lectures, while he was yet a 
 boy, to other boys, who were desirous of instruction. 
 
 It is evident that whatever refinement of manners 
 Lady Jane possessed must rather have been from the 
 ancient classics than from the then modern poets. 
 That Chaucer and Gower formed part of her library, 
 cannot indeed well be doubted, considering the paucity 
 of books at that period; Skelton, too, whose death 
 was so near to her birth that he may be called her co- 
 temporary, may also have been upon her table or shelf; 
 particularly as he held the office of laureate at the court 
 of Henry ; at least so Mr. Chalmers, in his biography of 
 that poet, considers probable, from the titles of some of 
 his productions. Yet his works were but little fitted, 
 generally speaking, for a female eye : his principal 
 
AND HER TIMES 119 
 
 object being to satirise the friars, Lily the grammarian, 
 and Cardinal Wolsey. Chalmers observes that his 
 style was rather coarse, perhaps illiberal ; but yet, as 
 he attacked the Romish superstitions, his poems were 
 likely to be popular in the reformed families. It may 
 be added, that some of his worst writings were not 
 published until after the death of Lady Jane. 
 
 If indeed we were to judge of the manners of the 
 court in that age by Skelton's poems, that court must 
 have been a very unfit place for such a virtuous and 
 youthful personage as Lady Jane, who, as we shall 
 see, long resided at it ; but let us judge liberally with 
 Mr. Chalmers, that if we knew more minutely of the 
 manners of our country in those remote periods, it 
 would probably be found that licentiousness had, upon 
 the whole, been more discouraged than patronized by 
 the public voice. It appears from Skel ton's poem, 
 The Crowne of Lawrell, that the Greek and Latin 
 poets were in some measure familiar in fashionable 
 education. He speaks of Theocritus, Lucan, Plautus, 
 &c. also of the Italian school of Boccacio, Dante, and 
 Poggio, ranking them with Gower and Chaucer. 
 But one short extract from that poem we shall in- 
 sert; as it not only shows how fit many parts of 
 his works were for female perusal, but also exhibits 
 a correct picture of female manners at the period in 
 question. 
 
120 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 Having encountered Occupation as personified in a 
 poetic ramble, he thus proceeds : 
 
 " Thus talking, we went forth, and at a postern gate, 
 Turning on the right hand, by a winding stayre, 
 She brought me to a goodly chambre of astate, 
 Whar the noble Countess of Surrey in a chaire, 
 Sate honorably, to whom dyd repayre 
 Of ladyes a bevy, with all dewe reverence, 
 Syt downe fayre ladyes, and do your diligence. 
 
 Come forth gentilwoman, I pray you, she said, 
 I have contry ved for you a goodly worke, 
 And who can work best nowe shall be assayed. 
 
 With that the tappettes and carpettes were layde, 
 
 Wheron these ladyes softely myght rest, 
 
 The sampler to sowe on, the laces to embroyde, 
 
 To weave in the stole some were full prest, 
 
 With slaies, with tavels, with hedelles wel drest, 
 
 The frame was brought forth, with his weaning pin ; 
 
 God give them good speed their work to begin. 
 
 Some to embroider, put them in prease, 
 
 Well gydyng their glotten to keep straight their silke ; 
 
 Some pyrlyng of golde, their worke to encrese, 
 
 With fingers small, and handes as white as mylke, 
 
 With reche me that skayne of tewly sylke, 
 
 And wynde me that botoume of such an he we, 
 
 Grene, red, tawney, whyte, purple, and blewe. 
 
 Of broken workes wroght many a goodly thing, 
 In castyng, in turnyng, in florishing of flowres, 
 With burres rowgh, and buttens surfFyllyng, 
 In nedell worke, raysyng byrdes in bowres, 
 With vertue enbased all tymes and howres." 
 
AND HER TIMES. 121 
 
 Skelton then offers his complimentary praises to se- 
 veral ladies, supposed to be of the party. In these he 
 enumerates all the virtues, both personal and mental, 
 which adorn our fair countrywomen at the present 
 day ; to whom we recommend the perusal of the 
 whole poem : merely making our extract from the ad- 
 dress to Lady Myrriall Howarde. 
 
 " Compare you, I may, to Cidippes the mayde, 
 That of Acontius, when she found the byll 
 In her bosome, lorde howe she was afrayde, 
 The ruddy shamefastnesse in her vysage fyll, 
 Which manor of abasshemente became her not yll, 
 Ryght so, madame, the roses redde of hewe, 
 With lillyes whyte your beautie doth renewe." 
 
 In this review of the poetry of that day, we must 
 not forget Howard, the gallant Earl of Surry, who 
 perished on the block in 1546, and whose poems may 
 probably have found their way into our heroine's 
 library : especially when we recollect the great inti- 
 macy that subsisted between the Norfolk and the Sey- 
 mour families, notwithstanding the political jealousy 
 between Howard and the Earl of Hertford, brother to 
 Sir Thomas Seymour, husband of the Queen dowager, 
 Katharine Parr, with whom Lady Jane was on terms 
 of the greatest friendship almost from her infancy ; and 
 that Surry was a friend to the reformation. We may 
 add also that the fair Geraldine of Surry's devotion was 
 daughter of the Lady Elizabeth Grey, daughter of 
 
122 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 Thomas Grey, Marquess of Dorset ; consequently she 
 was cousin-german to Lady Jane. 
 
 Upon the whole, Surry's poetry was more likely to 
 catch a youthful female fancy than any of the other 
 before mentioned poets, whether we consider it as 
 amatory or religious; on both of which subjects it 
 affords some fine specimens, deserving the perusal of 
 our fair readers. Yet we must not neglect to mention 
 Sir Thomas Wyat, the friend of Surry, and father of 
 that Sir Thomas who afterwards raised an insurrec- 
 tion in Kent in favour of Jane's claims, as generally 
 supposed, though Wyat himself assigned other rea- 
 sons. The elder Sir Thomas, indeed, was not on 
 good terms with Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, Lady 
 Jane's grandfather, whom he accused of having in- 
 jured him in the king's favour. 
 
 Nor was Lady Jane deficient of works written even 
 by her own ancestors, or rather relatives; for An- 
 thony Widville, Earl of Rivers, brother in law of 
 Edward IV., was as much distinguished for his lite- 
 rary talents as for his skill in politics and gallantry in 
 war. He translated " The Dictes and Sayinges of the 
 Philosophers,"" the " Moral Proverbs of Christian of 
 Pyse," several other things printed by Caxton, and 
 even composed a little elegy the night before his exe- 
 cution, already mentioned. 
 
 The books of Erasmus also, no doubt, formed part 
 of her library, as they were in vogue amongst the pro- 
 
AND HER TIMES. 123 
 
 tcstants, or reformists ; for which they were afterwards 
 declared heretical by Mary. 
 
 Music may yet be considered as in its infancy : me- 
 lodies were very uncouth and unmeaning; and har- 
 mony was more artificial than beautiful, with parts 
 multiplied from six to six and thirty. Indeed it was 
 then scarcely supposed that melody was fit for any 
 thing but psalmody; and though the chants of the 
 church were the foundation of all musical composition, 
 yet the ear was taught to be satisfied, provided the 
 general harmony was pleasing. 
 
 Burney observes, that in the Virginal books of that 
 period, we find no attempts at invention, in point of 
 air or melody; and he elsewhere states, that Sir 
 Thomas Wyat, cotemporary with Henry VIII., and 
 father of that Sir Thomas, whose rebellion hastened 
 the fate of our heroine, was the first who introduced 
 Italian numbers into English versification. Yet Lady 
 Jane is said to have been not only a fine singer, but 
 also to have been an expert musician. 
 
 In fact, it is positively stated, by cotemporary 
 writers, that she not only played admirably on various 
 musical instruments, but accompanied them with a 
 voice exquisitely sweet in itself, and assisted by all the 
 graces that art could then bestow. We have not been 
 able, however, to ascertain the name of her musical 
 instructor. 
 
 It does not appear that painting or drawing made 
 
124 
 
 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 any part of Lady Jane's studies, or of the ladies of 
 her time ; yet the reign of Henry may be considered 
 as the era of the establishment of the arts : and there 
 are still extant several curious paintings of that period, 
 when Holbein flourished; first induced too to visit 
 England under the patronage of the Earl of Surry, 
 besides being a favourite of the monarch. 
 
 She had enough, however, of occupation and amuse- 
 ment, in addition to her learned studies, in needle- 
 work, in which her execution was exquisite ; in con- 
 fectionary, then an important portion of ladylike 
 household duty; in the acquirement of some know- 
 ledge in physic and surgery; and perhaps in spin- 
 ning, which certainly was then taught in the nun- 
 neries. 
 
 Some young ladies then also amused themselves 
 with mewing sparrow hawks and merlins; but the 
 great and important employment, at stated times, was 
 in the charitable doles distributed by the Lady Boun- 
 tiful of each parish or manor, the poors'* rates being 
 then unknown. 
 
 Lady Jane's principles in regard to the reformed 
 religion are generally believed to have been acquired, 
 in some degree, from Harding, her father's chaplain ; 
 but we rather suppose that she was indebted for her 
 pure faith to Aylmer. Indeed a short review of 
 Harding's life will demonstrate that to him she could 
 owe but little. Harding was educated at Winchester, 
 
AXD HER TIMES. 125 
 
 and at New College, Oxford, of which he became a 
 fellow ; and was afterwards appointed, by Henry VIII. 
 Hebrew Professor of that university. His biographer 
 says, that, as his religion probably kept pace with the 
 king's, so being consequently half reformed at Henry's 
 death, no sooner did Edward ascend the throne, than 
 Harding became a very good protestant. It was after 
 this that he became finally settled as chaplain at Brad- 
 gate : but on the accession of Mary, he immediately 
 saw his error, and became a confirmed papist. 
 
 From her girlish days, Lady Jane was permitted, 
 by her fond, yet oversevere parents, to mix with a few 
 of the intimate friends of the family. Among these 
 was the Dowager Lady Latymer, better known as 
 Queen Katharine Parr. She was daughter of Sir 
 Thomas Parr, of Kendal, who it appears left to her 
 and her sister the sum of c£800 each for their fortunes: 
 but if their brother were to die, so as to make them 
 co-heiresses, then the o£1600 was to go to the Abbey 
 of Clairvaux, to purchase copes and vestments. 
 
 Katharine had a classical education, and was cele- 
 brated for learning and good sense. After the death 
 of her first husband, Lord Latymer, she appears to 
 have been about the court ; where, or else in her inter- 
 course with the Dorset and Dudley families, then very 
 intimate, she saw and loved, as we shall in a future 
 page have occasion to show, the Lord Seymour of 
 Sudley, lord high admiral of England, and brother of 
 
126 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 the Duke of Somerset. This attachment, however, 
 was set at nought, for Seymour was then married; 
 and she shortly afterwards gained the heart of Henry 
 VIII., being married to him about the 10th of July, 
 1543, and two days afterwards proclaimed queen, at 
 Hampton Court. 
 
 Strype, in his memorials, relates a curious anecdote 
 of this lady. He says that he met with a passage con- 
 cerning her, in the margin of Bale's Centuries, in the 
 possession of a friend, but written by an uncertain 
 hand, which showed the greatness of her mind, and 
 the quickness of her wit, whilst she was but a child. 
 The anecdote relates that some person, professing to 
 be skilled in astrology, cast her nativity, and told her 
 that she was born to sit in the highest seat of imperial 
 majesty, having all the stars and planets in her house; 
 which she took such notice of, that when her mother 
 used sometimes to call her to work, she would say, that 
 her hands were ordained to touch crowns and sceptres, 
 not needles and spindles. 
 
 Let not our fair readers suppose they can find in 
 this anecdote any support to the silly system of for- 
 tune-telling, or nativity casting, practised by the 
 roguish and the ignorant at the present day. Let 
 them recollect how many hundreds, nay, perhaps 
 thousands of females were born in England on the 
 same day, and with the same astrological aspects of the 
 stars; to every one of whom, of course, the same pre- 
 
AND HER TIMES. 
 
 127 
 
 diction might have been applied : yet to one only 
 could it possibly prove true. 
 
 Fuller, in his Church History, describes her as 
 " one of great piety, beauty, and discretion. 1 '' He 
 adds, that " next to the Bible, she studied the king's 
 disposition, observing him to her utmost: and need 
 she had of a nimble soul, to attend at all times on his 
 humour, whose fury had now got the addition of fro- 
 wardness thereunto. She was rather nurse than wife 
 unto him, who was more decayed by sickness and in- 
 temperance than old age."" 
 
128 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Parliamentary Settlement of the Succession — War with France 
 — Royal Campaign and Letters — Scottish Royal Family — 
 Further Royal Letters — Court Society— Death of Brandon, 
 Duke of Suffolk — Papal Intolerance — Dangers of Queen Ka- 
 therine Parr — Demise of Henry VIII. — His Will — Succession 
 to the Crown — Accession of Edward VI. and Letters from his 
 Sisters — Lady Jane visits the Queen Dowager — Courtship 
 and Marriage of the Lord High Admiral with the Queen— His 
 political Intrigues and Maxims — Plan to marry Lady Jane 
 to Edward — Undutiful Conduct of the Lady Mary — Political 
 Advancement of the Marquess of Dorset — Interesting In- 
 terview of Roger Ascham with the Lady Jane — Various 
 Letters — Lady Jane's epistolary Correspondence with the Re- 
 forming Divines — Dorset elevated to a Dukedom — Dudley 
 also — Lady Jane at Court — Transactions there — Courtly 
 Sketches — Political Disputes, and Fall of Somerset — Lady 
 Jane's Visit to Lady Mary — Religious Disputes — Northum- 
 berland's ambitious Views, &c. &c. 
 
 In January this year (1544) the king met his parlia- 
 ment, the very first act of which was concerning the 
 succession ; beginning with a recital of a former one on 
 the same subject, and now confirming it, and settling 
 the crown upon Mary, in case of the death of Edward, 
 and the king's demise during his journey to France, 
 but with limitations similar to those which appear in 
 his last will. 
 
 That this was all agreeable to his own express wish 
 
AND HER TIMES. 1£9 
 
 and desire, cannot be doubted ; indeed Lord Herbert 
 of Cherbury, after speaking of the king's favours 
 granted to Queen Katharine Parr and her relatives, 
 adds, " All which yet seemed nothing to him unless he 
 parted in good terms with his parliament : for he ac- 
 counted it his most loyal spouse; and not without reason, 
 since there was nothing I know desired by him, which 
 they performed not." 
 
 At this period Henry was at war with France ; and 
 the siege of Boulogne, then an important post, was an 
 object next to his heart. Sieges are carried on rather 
 more briskly in modern days, even when kings are not 
 present ; it may therefore be amusing if we insert a 
 fragment of an original letter from Henry, during these 
 operations, to his consort ; — 
 
 " * And not lyke to be recouert by the Frensh 
 
 or Spayne, as we trust not, with God's grace, but that 
 the castell and towne shall sortly folow the same trade 
 for as thys daye, whych is the xiij h daye of Septefrer, 
 we begyne thre bateryse and haue iij mynyns goyng 
 by syd won whych hath done hys execution in scalyng 
 and tezyng off won of theyre grettest bulwarkes. No 
 more to yow at thys tyme, swethart, both for lacke of 
 tyme and grett occupation of bysynes, savyng we pray 
 yow to gyff in our name our harte blessynge to all our 
 chyldren, and recomendacyons to our cousin Margett" 
 * Brit. Mus. Cotton. Coll. E. iv. 5$. 
 
 K 
 
130 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 (Lady Margaret Douglas, daughter of the Queen 
 Dowager of Scotland, by Archibald, Earl of Angus, 
 her second husband) " and the rest of the ladyes and 
 gentyllwomen, and to our counsell allso. Wrytten by 
 the hand of yur lovynge howsband. 
 
 " Henry Rex." 
 
 This Lady Margaret was, however, the king's niece, 
 and not his cousin as he familiarly calls her ; and re- 
 specting her we may here observe that an important 
 negotiation now took place, which in its probable con- 
 sequences, had it fully succeeded, might have had con- 
 siderable influence in regard to the subsequent claims 
 set up by the friends of Lady Jane to the English 
 succession, as it might have removed one antecedent 
 rival out of the line of prior succession ; yet it must be 
 acknowledged, that it would also have raised addi- 
 tional obstacles from the probable preference to be 
 given by Henry himself to the issue of his elder sister, 
 before that of his younger, Mary, from whom Lady 
 Jane derived her title or claim in blood. 
 
 The political fact to which we allude was an " In- 
 dentur of covenants*, 11 agreed upon between King 
 Henry VIII. and Matthew, Earl of Lenox, by which 
 not only were certain specified towns in Scotland to 
 have been delivered into the king's hands, but lie was 
 also to have got possession of the young Queen of 
 
 * Brit. Mus. Ayscough's Cat. No. 41 19. 1. 
 
AND 1IEU TIMES. 131 
 
 Scots, certainly the next in succession after his own 
 issue, she being his own grand-niece, as daughter of 
 James V., son of Henry's sister, Margaret, by James IV. 
 of Scotland ; another stipulation of this agreement was 
 in regard to an event which really did take place some 
 time afterwards, the marriage of his niece Margaret 
 Douglas (daughter of the Dowager Queen Margaret 
 by Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, whom she 
 married after the demise of her royal husband) to this 
 Earl of Lenox. 
 
 The Lady Margaret appears to have been a great fa- 
 vourite with Henry, whose court, under the auspices of 
 Queen Katharine Parr, was now becoming a more agree- 
 able residence for ladies than it had been. Katharine 
 was indeed a very amiable woman, and manifested both 
 her good sense and good disposition in the attention 
 which she bestowed upon her daughters-in-law, Mary 
 and Elizabeth, and her son-in-law, Edward. In fact, 
 it is evident, from various circumstances, that there 
 was much family intercourse at court, where the Mar- 
 quess and Marchioness of Dorset were frequent visitors, 
 bringing with them from Bradgate their youthful 
 and already accomplished daughter, Lady Jane, who, 
 though only seven years of age, was frequently set up 
 as a pattern for imitation, and for emulation, to the 
 infant heir apparent. 
 
 We have seen it stated, indeed, that they were 
 educated together; but that was only true in regard 
 
 k 2 
 
132 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 to those family visits, and not to the extent described 
 by Rowe in his tragedy, where, speaking of Edward's 
 subsequent death, we find the following passage : 
 
 Nor. All desolate and drown'd in flowing tears, 
 By Edward's bed the pious princess sits, 
 And ev'ry sigh is wing'd with pray'rs so potent 
 As strive with heav'n to save her dying lord. 
 
 Duch. From the first early days of infant life 
 A gentle band of friendship grew betwixt 'em, 
 And, while our royal uncle Henry reign'd, 
 As brother and as sister bred together, 
 Beneath one common parent's care they lived. 
 
 Mor. A wond'rous sympathy of soul conspired 
 To form the sacred union. 
 
 The Brandons, or Suffolk family also, of course, 
 formed part of this family circle. The duke indeed 
 seems to have now lived at court ; for in the Lansdown 
 MSS. we find a letter written by him, and dated from 
 the palace at Westminster, which was then, generally, 
 the royal residence, and the scene of royal domesticity. 
 In these social scenes the Princess Mary seldom mixed ; 
 but the young Elizabeth was a favourite visitor, and 
 her affection for her royal step-mother may be esti- 
 mated by the following epistle : 
 
 " Although your highnys letters be most joyfull to 
 me in absens, yet consyderynge what paine hit ys to 
 you to write, your grace beinge so greet with childe, 
 and so sikely, your comendacyon was ynough in my 
 lordes letter. I much re Joyce at your helthe with the 
 
AND HER TIMES. VB& 
 
 we) likinge of the country, with my humbel thankes 
 that your grace wisshed me with you til I ware wery 
 of that countrye .... highnys were like to be com- 
 bered if I shulde not depart tyl I were .... beinge 
 with you, although hit were in the worst soile in the 
 w . . . . your presence wolde make it pleasant. I can 
 not reprove my .... not doinge your comendacyons 
 in his letter for he did hit : a .... he had not, yet I 
 will not cocaine on him for that he shulte .... giue 
 me knolege frome time to time how his busy childe 
 d .... I were at his birth no doubt I wolde se him 
 beaten for the .... put you to Master Denny, and my 
 lady with him .... prayeth most intirely for your 
 grace prainge the Almyghty God to sen .... lucky 
 deliverance. And my mystres wisseth no ... . most 
 humbel thankes for her comendacyons .... 
 leysor this last day of July*." 
 
 The peculiar attention and duty shown by Elizabeth 
 to the queen, her mother-in-law, may also be drawn 
 from another epistle in Italian, written evidently from 
 St. James's, on the same day and month, but not in 
 the same year. 
 
 " L'inimica fortuna invidiosa d"ogni bene, et vo- 
 luitrice de cose humane privo per un anno intero della 
 Ilti ma presentia vostra, et non es . . . . anchora contenta 
 di questo, un altra volta me spoglio del mede .... bene : 
 
 * Brit. Mus. Cotton. Otho. C. x. 231. 
 
134 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 la qual cosa a me saria intollerabile, s'io non pensassi be 
 . . . . di goderla. Et in questo mio exilio certamente 
 conosto la cler .... sua altezza hauer hauuto cura et 
 sollicitudine della sanita mi ... . quanto fatto haurebbe 
 la maiesta del Re. Per la qual cosa n . . . . sono tenuta 
 de servirla ma etiando da figlial amore reuer .... inten- 
 dendo vostra Ilt ma altezza non me hauer domentice .... 
 Volta che alia maiesta del Re scritto : il che a me ape .... 
 quella prieghare. Pero insino a qua non hebbi ardire 
 d . . . per il che al presente nostra eccell raa altezza humil- 
 rhete . . . . gando sempre sua dolce benedittione, simil- 
 mete prieg . . . . il signore Iddio gli mandi successo bo- 
 niss mo acquist .... oui inimici, accioche piu piesto possia 
 uostra a . . . . ddio che conserui sua Illus ma altezza alia 
 cui gr . . . . basciendo le mani m° offero et raccom . . . 
 Jacoboalli31 di Julio*." 
 
 * In the Brit. Mus. Harl. Coll. No. 1419, is a MS. containing 
 inventories of the royal wardrobes of this period ; in which are 
 lists of the furniture and " stuff" supplied to the ladies Mary 
 and Elizabeth ; affording a most curious view of the domestic 
 management of those days. In the Lady Mary's list, are many 
 articles of tapestry, accurately measured and as accurately de- 
 scribed as to design and colours, with notices whether lined or 
 not, and whether new or old. Many of these designs are of a 
 strange nature; such as a king riding in a chariot in a blue 
 gown with stars ; a woman in a cloud with the world in her 
 hand; a woman hanging in a cloud in a yellow gown, be- 
 tween a fire and a city; one riding upon a white horse hanging 
 in a cloud of fire ; hawking and hunting, with naked boys at the 
 corners; a woman in childbed, with some children and divers 
 women in her chamber. Then come " Ilanginges of Ver- 
 domes ;" one piece " with a hole in it ;" one cloth of estate of 
 crimson cloth of gold ; another of rich cloth of gold tissue ; an 
 
AND HE It TIMES. 
 
 135 
 
 This family union was in some measure broken in 
 upon by the death of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suf- 
 folk, in 1545, which has been curiously remarked on 
 by Lloyd in his State Worthies, who previously says 
 of him, that having overcome a German braggodocio 
 at a tilting match at Paris, in his youth, " the lords 
 looked not on him with more envious than the ladies 
 with gracious eyes ; who darted more glances in love 
 than the others did spears in anger against him." In 
 short, he described him as " the compleat courtier in 
 
 old chair of iron, covered with crimson cloth of gold ; three 
 cushions of cloth of gold ; Turkey carpets, some of them very 
 small ; " six cubborde carpetts ;" " spar vers" of crimson da- 
 mask, lined with buckram (these seem to be bed-furniture) ; 
 three ' ' counterpoyntes" of crimson damask, fringed with white 
 fustian; some checked ditto; some lined with canvas, and 
 some quilted; eight pair of Holland sheets ; seven pillow beeres; 
 two beds of down, with fustian ticks ; eight feather beds, with 
 their bolsters of " old bryssell tykes ;" six pillows of down. All 
 these are accurately numbered and measured, down to altar- 
 froBts, cart canvas, cloth sacks, and box-lids, or cart covers, &c. 
 It is curious to remark that the Lady Mary was only allowed 
 one altar-front, embroidered with lilies and fringed with silk ; 
 whilst to the Lady Elizabeth were granted six altar-fronts of cloth 
 of gold, ornamented with raised crimson velvet, yellow satin, and 
 with the Trinity embroidered upon one ; the salutation of the 
 Virgin and two apostles upon another, garnished with pearls and 
 lined with silk ; another with the passion of Christ upon the 
 cross ; another with the assumption of our Lady, &c. ; together 
 with sundry vestments of cloth of gold, evidently intended for 
 chapel service. To Elizabeth also were allotted sundry pieces of 
 tapestry of "verdomes," with carpets of frame- work, also Turkey 
 carpets ; " sparvers" of cloth of gold and crimson velvet ; chairs 
 of cloth of gold ; numerous cushions of the same materials, &c. 
 
136 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 whom beauty and valour, Mars and Venus, are joyned 
 in one happy constitution, which awes and allures be- 
 holders.'" 
 
 Lloyd then describes him as being the " first that 
 durst fasten the royal standard in the sides of Bulleign ; 
 and the last that advanced the St. George in the mid- 
 dle of it, both taking and governing it. The greatest 
 thing that ever that age saw was, if we believe Sleidan, 
 the delivery of the keys of Bulleign by a French go- 
 vernor to the Duke of Suffolk's hand ; and the greatest 
 thing King Henry VIII. saw, he saith, was the deli- 
 very of those keys, by the duke, into his hand ; inso- 
 much that despairing of greater, the one died that 
 year, the other the next." 
 
 Another circumstance, unfriendly to family tran- 
 quillity, now took place, under the influence of popish 
 intolerance, through which Queen Katharine herself, 
 the friend of Jane, had very nearly been lost to her 
 young protegee ; for a very short time previous to her 
 royal husband's death, Bishop Gardener had got arti- 
 cles drawn up against her, and actually signed by the 
 king's own hand : nay, the orders were even prepared 
 to send her to the Tower, where, as Fuller observes, 
 " had she been sent, vestigia nulla rcstrorsum, without 
 doubt she had followed the way of his former wives 
 in that place." She escaped that danger, however, 
 by an extraordinary circumstance ; for the chancellor, 
 Wriothcsly, having got the paper, deposited it in his 
 
AXD HER TIMES. 
 
 137 
 
 bosom, from whence it fell, and was picked up by one 
 of the queen's servants, who gave it to his mistress. 
 
 Katharine being soon after dangerously ill, she 
 made her submission to the king, and obtained his 
 pardon; not, indeed, for any crimes she had been 
 guilty of, but, as Fuller says, " she would sometimes 
 presume to discourse with him about points of religion, 
 defending the protestant tenets by scripture and reason : 
 and sometimes would hold up the king very close hard 
 at it. This displeased him, who loved looseness and 
 liberty in his clothes, arguments, and actions; and 
 was quickly observed by Gardiner and others, who 
 were the queen's enemies ." 
 
 The reformed religion met with a shock this year, 
 1546, in the death of Luther ; but a more important 
 event to England was the death of Henry, in 1547, 
 and the succession of his infant son. To the politics 
 of that day, the appointment of the Duke of Somerset 
 to the protectorate, or regency, &c. ; we have no oc- 
 casion to make further allusion than to record that 
 the Marquess of Dorset and his family still attended 
 as court visitors, the marquess himself being one of the 
 court politicians, or partizans, of that period. Even 
 then he was so much in favour, not only with the young 
 monarch, but also with Somerset, the protector, that 
 he was appointed to serve the office of lord high con- 
 stable of England at the coronation ; an office which, 
 however, he only held during the space of three days. 
 
138 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 Some notice of Henry's testamentary disposition of 
 the crown becomes indeed matter of course, because 
 on it much of the succeeding events must hinge ; we 
 may observe, therefore, that the royal will was dated 
 on the 30th of December, 1546 ; but it is said by 
 Fuller to have been drawn up two years before 
 that, before he went to Boulogne, and then only 
 fairly written out, without any other alteration than 
 the expunging of Gardener's name from the list of 
 executors. 
 
 By this will, the limitation of descent failing Ed- 
 ward and his issue, or the king's own possible issue by 
 Queen Katharine Parr, or by any other wife whom he 
 might afterwards marry, was precisely appointed to 
 fall on Mary, but upon the express condition that he 
 should not marry " without the assent and consent of 
 the privy counsellors, and others appointed by us to 
 our deerest son Prince Edward aforesaid," &c. &c. 
 
 Failing Mary and her issue, the limitation was to 
 Elizabeth, under the same conditions in respect to 
 marriage ; and failing her, and her issue, then to the 
 Lady Frances, mother of Lady Jane ; and failing her 
 and her issue, then to the Lady Eleanor, a younger 
 sister of Lady Frances. 
 
 In these limitations, the claim of Margaret, Queen 
 Dowager of Scotland, and the eldest of Henry's sisters, 
 was completely set aside; but in some measure ac- 
 knowledged afterwards, when in default of these heirs 
 
AND HER TIMES. 139 
 
 in remainder, and their issue, it was directed that 
 u the said imperial crown, and other the premises, 
 shall wholly remain, and come to the next rightfull 
 heires :" a regulation which took place after the death 
 of Elizabeth, to the exclusion of the Brandon branch, 
 by the accession of James VI. of Scotland, and 1st of 
 England, and great grandson of Margaret : in fact, the 
 rightful heir in all respects of blood. 
 
 As the non-fulfilment of the king's regulations, in 
 regard to marriage, would have set Mary aside, the 
 remainder, in that case, was to go to Elizabeth, as if 
 Mary had been dead ; then Elizabeth failing in the 
 conditions, the remainder was to the Lady Frances, 
 as if Elizabeth were dead; with like remainder to 
 u the next rightful heirs." 
 
 That Margaret of Scotland and her issue should 
 have thus been previously set aside in the succession, 
 is attributed by Fuller, in his Church History, to its 
 probable cause : for he says, " Great indeed (when 
 this will was first made) was the antipathy, which for 
 the present possessed him against the Scotch, with 
 whom then he was in actual warre; though at other 
 times, when in good humour, very courteous to his 
 kindred of that extraction. For, most sure it is, that 
 when Margaret Douglas, his sister's daughter, was 
 married to Math., Earl of Lennox, he publickly pro- 
 fessed, that in case his own issue failed, he should be 
 
140 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 right glad if some of her body should succeed to the 
 crown, as it came to passe." 
 
 During the minority of Edward, the Lady Mary 
 interfered on several points of public business, to which 
 the lords of the council strongly objected: but she wrote 
 them back a remonstrance* in most spirited terms. 
 Her manner of address to the young monarch was, 
 however, of a more humble nature. 
 
 Lady Mary to King Edward VI. f 
 
 " My dewtye moste humbly remembred to your 
 majesty e, it may plese the same to be advertized that 
 I have ben often mynded to have wry ten to your 
 hyghnes before this tyme; which to doe, my olde 
 seased rewmatycke head wolde by no means suffer me, 
 nor presentlie scarse wylle ; the wante of whiche helthe, 
 as it hathe hithertoe made me not able to wryte unto 
 your majestie, so the occasion of my sayde sycknes 
 hathe and dothe, to my great gryef, cheflye stay me 
 waightyng upon your hyghnes, as bothe dewtye and 
 nature dothe constrayne and move me ; moste humblye 
 besechynge your majesty e not onlye to pardone me 
 
 * Brit. Mus. Lansd. Coll. No. 1236, 17, 28. 
 f Brit. Mus. Ayscough's Coll. No. 4160. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 
 
 141 
 
 for that I do not wayte upon the same at this present 
 accordynglye, but also to accepte thys myne unfayned 
 excuse. For God, I take to recorde ther can be no 
 greater comfort to mee in thys worlde then to see your 
 majesty e, whiche I wyll not fayle to do, God willing, 
 when I convenyentlye maye, accordynge to my bounden 
 dewtye. 
 
 " And sins I have also ben thus bolde to trouble 
 your majesty e with theyse rude lettres, I wolde (the 
 same beynge not offended) in most humbel wyse be- 
 seche you to geve me leve to be a sewtor unto your 
 hyghnes, for my poore serveunts, that it may stonde 
 with your pleashure at this my moste humble sewte to 
 graunt theym libertye to serve me as they have done. 
 Whiche I humbly crave even for my verie neces- 
 sytyes sake, feelyng suche wante of theyr service in 
 the matter of my poore howse, that the same hithertoe 
 clothe not a little troubel me. And althoughe I have 
 not before thys tyme (accordynge to my bounden 
 dewtye) wry ten unto your majesty e for the lybertye 
 of my sayde servauntes, I shall moste humblye be- 
 seche your hyghnes to impute the only cause and impe- 
 dymente therof to be the wante and lacke of helthe. 
 Your majestyes favour and goodnes shew'd to me in 
 this my humble sewte shall not only muche quiet me, 
 and discharge me of the care of howse matters, but 
 also enforce me, as one moste bounden, to praye for 
 
142 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 the prosperous preservation of your moste royall estate 
 long in virtue and honour to contynew. 
 
 From my pore howse of Honesdown, 
 iiii th of April! Your majesty es moste — 
 
 To the kynges most excellent 
 majesty e."" 
 
 Let us compare this with an original address from 
 the Princess Elizabeth, of the same date. 
 
 Lady Elizabeth to King Edward VI. 
 
 " Like as a shipman in stormy weather plukes 
 down the sailes, carry inge for better winde ; so did I, 
 most noble kinge, in my unfortunate chance a thurs- 
 day, plucke downe the hie sailes of my joy and com- 
 fort, and doe truste one daye, that as troblesome 
 waves have repulsed me backwarde, so a gentil winde 
 will bringe me forwarde to my haven. Two chiefe oc- 
 casyons moved me muche, and grived me gretly : the 
 one for that I douted your majesties helthe; the 
 other, because for al my longe carringe, I wente with- 
 out that I came for. Of the firste I am relcved in a 
 parte, bothe that I understonde of your helthe, and 
 also that yur majesties loginge is far from my lord 
 marqueses chamber. Of my other grief I am not 
 
AND HER TIMES. 143 
 
 cased; but the best is that whatsoever other folkes 
 wyll suspect, I intende not to feare your graces good 
 wy], wiche as I know that I never disarved to fainte, 
 so I truste wyl styl stike by me. For if your graces 
 advise, that I sholde retourne, (whos wyl is a comande- 
 ment) had not bine, I wolde not have made the halfe 
 of my waye the ende of my journey e. 
 
 " And this, as one' desyrous to hire of your ma- 
 jestyis helthe, thoghe unfortunate to se it, I shal 
 praye God for ever to preserve you. 
 " From Hatfielde this present Sunday, 
 
 Your majestyes humble sister to 
 commaundement, 
 
 Elizabeth. 
 " To the kinge's most excellent 
 majesty e." 
 
 In this letter there certainly is much of the formality 
 of that day ; but that Elizabeth could write well and 
 elegantly is proved by a well composed justification of 
 her conduct, respecting certain opinions of the council, 
 addressed to the protector ; and in which she alludes 
 to the necessity of a proclamation to restrain evil re- 
 ports of the king's sisters*. 
 
 Though female society was in some measure broke 
 up at court, except upon mere formal visits of cere- 
 mony, yet Lady Jane, in these her earliest years, was 
 * Lansdown MSS. 1236, 72. 
 
144 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 not debarred of fashionable intercourse, at times when 
 she could be permitted to relax her studies at Brad- 
 gate ; for we find her, even though so young, a visitor 
 with the widowed queen, with whom she always was a 
 favourite. In fact, these visits had most of the ad- 
 vantages of a residence in a palace, since Queen Katha- 
 rine, though now only queen dowager, seems to have 
 held an establishment almost equal to a royal court, as 
 far as respected her power and authority upon her 
 own lands: which we have reason to believe w T ere 
 similar to those in a grant made by King Henry 8, 
 under the great seal, dated the 15th of July, an° 32, 
 to Queen Katharine Howard, of diverse priviledges 
 and immunities to be enjoyed by her within the hun- 
 dreds and lands assigned for her jointure or dower. 
 These powers and grants were very extensive — to have 
 all goods and chattels forfeited — all fines and amercia- 
 ments for escapes, &c. — return of all writs and exe- 
 cutions thereof— no officer of the crown to enter her 
 fee — to have fines for trespasses, service, concordance, 
 &c. — year, day, and wast — all forfeitures for murders 
 — power to levy without estreat from exchequer — to 
 have warff and stray, deodands, &c. — to have view of 
 frankpledge, and sheriffs' torn — to have fines certain, 
 sheriffs' folke, &c. — no sheriff to meddle with sheriffs' 
 torn, &c. or to enter to execute any thing — to be ex- 
 empt from pourveyance — power to appoint a clerk of 
 market — to have free warren, and none to hunt under 
 
AND HER TIMES. 145 
 
 penalty of c£lO — power to appoint a justice in eyre — 
 to have all writs without line — no steward, marshal, or 
 coroner of the king's, to enter to exercise his office — 
 all her possessions to be exempt from all admiralty 
 jurisdiction — power to appoint coroners — power to ap- 
 point admirals (that is, not sea admirals, but admirals 
 of the coast, similar to the vice admiralty court in the 
 Commons) — and finally to enjoy all liberties that any 
 queen of England ever did use. 
 
 Queen Katharine at this time resided partly at 
 Chelsea, which was part of her jointure. She lived in 
 the then modern Manor House, which had been built 
 by her deceased lord and sovereign : it stood between 
 Winchester House and that well known, but more 
 modern place of entertainment, called Don Salteros ; 
 and was pulled down many years ago, when Cheyne 
 Walk was erected. 
 
 At this period of Katharine's residence at Chelsea, 
 she was upon terms of courtship with the Lord Thomas 
 Seymour, Lord Sudley, lord high admiral of England, 
 and brother of the Duke of Somerset ; during which 
 she wrote him an amatory epistle, still extant, record- 
 ing a private piece of history, that we recollect not to 
 have seen elsewhere noticed — for Katharine actually 
 was in love with Sudley during and before her mar- 
 riage with the deceased monarch. 
 
 In short, she states expressly that she loved him 
 during her widowhood, if not during even her first 
 
146 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 marriage with the Lord Latimer: a circumstance, 
 however, not to be positively, laid to her charge ; as, 
 being bred up in the north, in rural seclusion from the 
 court, she probably never saw Sudley until her mar- 
 riage with Latimer opened the way to court. We 
 shall also hope, virtuous and pious as she certainly was, 
 that it was not even until the days of first widowhood 
 that she had looked on Seymour with eyes of affection, 
 though she must often have seen him whilst in the 
 bonds of a first marriage. In the epistle she says: 
 
 " My Lord, 
 
 " I send you my moost humble and harty comend- 
 ations, beying desyrous to knowe how ye haue done 
 syns I saw you. I prey yow be not offended with me 
 in that I send soner to yow then I sayd I wold. For 
 my promys was but ones in a fourtened. Howbeyt 
 the tyme ys well abrevyated by what means I know 
 not, except the weakes be shorter at Chelsey than in 
 other places. My lord, your brother, hathe dyfferred 
 answer consernyng such requestes as I made to hym 
 tyll his comyng hether, wyche, he saythe, schal be im- 
 mediatly after the term. Thys ys not hys fvrst pro- 
 mys I have receyved of hys comyng, and yet unper- 
 fourmed. I thynke my ladye hathe tawght hym that 
 lesson; for yt ys hyr coustome to promys many 
 comynges to her frendcs, and to perfourme none. I 
 trust in greatter matters sche ys more cyrcomspect 
 
WD 11I.U TIMES. 147 
 
 And thus, my lord, I make my ende, byddynge you 
 mooste hartely farewell, wyschyng you the good I 
 wold myselfe. From Chelsey. 
 
 " I wold not haue yow to thynke that thys myne 
 onest good wyll towards yow to procede of any sodayne 
 motyon or passyon. For as truly as God ys God my 
 mynd was fully bent the other tyme I was at lybertye, 
 to marye yew before any man I knewe. Howbeyt 
 God withstode my wyll theryn moost vehemently for a 
 tyme, and through hys grace and goodnes made that 
 possible wyche semeth to me most impossible, that was 
 made me to renownce utterly myne owne wyll, and to 
 folow hys wyll most wyllyngly. Yt wer to long to 
 wryte all the process of thys matter. Yf I lyve, I 
 schal declare yt to yow myself. I can say nothyng 
 but as my Lady of SufFolke sayeth, God ys a mar- 
 velous man. 
 
 " By her that ys yowrs to serve and obey, 
 duryng her lvf, 
 Kateryn the Quene. K.- P." 
 
 Though Sudley courted and married Katharine, yet 
 it has been said that his first thoughts were of a more 
 ambitious kind than even an union with a royal dow- 
 ager : and that the Princess Elizabeth, and a chance of 
 a crown, were his most potent wishes. Elizabeth was, 
 however, still too young for marriage ; and some have 
 gone so far as to assert that the lord admiral married 
 
 l 2 
 
148 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 the dowager, merely to assist him in his plans for se- 
 curing a future union with that princess. 
 
 In his courtship with Katharine he certainly expe- 
 rienced no difficulties; yet he seems, perhaps before 
 this explicit declaration on her part, to have made 
 some solicitations for friendly assistance, to the Prin- 
 cess Mary ; for, in the Burleigh papers, in the Lans- 
 down collection, there is a letter from her to him, in 
 which she declines interference respecting his suit to 
 her mother in law. 
 
 The policy of the lord admiral was perhaps much 
 swayed by certain maxims, which (in No. 1523 of the 
 Ayscough Coll. in the B. M.) are stated to have been 
 the leading proverbs of the Seymours in the reign of 
 Edward VI. These are as follow : 
 
 " Affection shall leed me to court, but I'll take care 
 y l interest keeps me there. 
 
 " In the throng of courtiers, there are but three 
 steps to raise a man to observation: 1. some peculiar 
 sufficiency; 2. some particular exploit; 3. an espe- 
 ciall freind. 
 
 " Sufficiency and meritt are neglected thinges, when 
 not befrended. 
 
 " Princes are too reserved to be taken with y e very 
 first appearances of worth, unlesse recommended by 
 tried judgments : its fitt, as well as comon, y l y e have 
 their counsellors for psons as well as thinges, 
 
AND II Kit TIMES. 149 
 
 " The Earle of Surry and other nobility were im- 
 prisoned for eating flesh in Lent. 
 
 " A secreat and unobserved contempt of y e law, as 
 a close undermining of authoritie, wch must be either 
 its selfe in indulging nothing, or be nothing in allow- 
 ing all. 
 
 " Libertye knows no restrain te, no limitt, when 
 winked at. 
 
 •' In counsell is stabilitye: things will have their 
 first or second agitation: if v ey be not tossed about 
 upon the argument of counsell, y ey will be tossed upon 
 the waves of fortune. 
 
 " Aske an inferior man's advice in private, that he 
 may be free ; and a superior's in public, that he may 
 be respectfull. 
 
 " Being y e protectour, he seldom discovered his 
 own inclinations, least it byassed his counsell. 
 " Braue men never dye. 
 
 " Worth begetts in weake and base minds, envy ; 
 in the magnanimous, emulation; in posterity, re- 
 nowne. 
 
 " A good name is y e embalming of y e vertuous to 
 an eternity of love and gratitude among posterity. 1 " 
 
 To these we may add some further maxims attri- 
 buted to the Parrs. 
 
 " If you doe y e comon sort of people nineteen cour- 
 
150 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 tcsys together, yet you may lose their loue, if you goe 
 but over the style before them. 
 
 " The comon rule of favourites is, to bring in all 
 their relations about them, to adorne and supporte them : 
 but a wall y 1 hath a firme bottom needes no buttresse; 
 and y l weh wants it is often rather thrust down, than 
 uphelde by it. 
 
 " There is no such flatterer as a man's selfe ; and 
 there is no suche remedy ag 1 flattery of a mans selfe, as 
 the liberty of a freind : counsell is of two sorts ; y e one 
 concerning mailers, y e other concerninge businesse. 
 
 " A well managed boldnesse is the vertue of mo- 
 narchical! courts; and a discreet submission, y l of a 
 republican." 
 
 After the nuptials, the new married couple left 
 Chelsea to reside at Hanworth ; where our heroine 
 soon after joined them. 
 
 The visit of Lady Jane to the queen dowager was 
 not likely to interfere much with her learned studies, 
 as modern visits generally do ; for the queen was her- 
 self fond of literature : in fact, a royal blue stocking ; 
 for, as Walpole observes*, she was not only learned, 
 but a patroness of learning, interceding for, and saving 
 the university of Cambridge, when an act had passed 
 to throw all colleges into the king's disposal. She was 
 also an authoress, as Walpole records no less than six 
 • Koyal Authors. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 151 
 
 distinct treatises written by her, mostly prayers and 
 meditations on religious subjects, besides several in- 
 teresting epistolary specimens, which do her great cre- 
 dit. One of those letters indeed seems not to speak 
 very highly in favour of her judgment; for it contains 
 a request to the Lady Mary, entreating her to permit 
 the translation of Erasmus's Paraphrase on the New 
 Testament, elsewhere noticed, to be published in that 
 princess's name. 
 
 It appears strange that Katharine would have been 
 ignorant of that lady's dislike of every thing connected 
 with the Reformation ; but perhaps she believed Mary 
 to be sincere in the " submissions" which she had pre- 
 viously made to the will and creed of her father in reli- 
 gious affairs. Nay, she seems even to have gone a little 
 further with Mary on this subject, previously ; having 
 actually prevailed upon her to begin a translation of 
 Erasmus's Paraphrase herself, at least upon the Gospel 
 of St. John. But Strype says, that Mary being cast 
 into sickness, partly by over-much study in this work, 
 after she had made some progress therein, she left the 
 doing of the rest to Dr. Mallet, her chaplain: on 
 which Walpole observes, that she would not so easily 
 have been cast into sickness, had she been employed 
 on the legends of Saint Teresa, or Saint Katharine of 
 Sienna. 
 
 Hanworth, in Middlesex, where Lady Jane was now 
 a visitor, was a small royal seat, which Henry VIII. 
 
152 LADY JAKE GEEY, 
 
 took great delight in, and made the scene of his plea- 
 sures ; and towards the end of his reign he settled it 
 in dower upon Queen Katharine Parr : and the royal 
 party was soon increased by the Princess Elizabeth, 
 whose education was committed to her care. In this, 
 however, she could have had very little comfort, for 
 Seymour, as we have already observed, even before 
 his marriage with the queen dowager, is said to have 
 been anxious to marry Elizabeth : indeed, it was even 
 said, that Katharine's death was hastened for the same 
 purpose. 
 
 Yet it is a very extraordinary thing, if we are to 
 credit the evidence of Katharine Ashley and others, 
 on the lord admiral's impeachment, that the queen 
 was actually a principal party in the familiarities which 
 he was accused of having taken with that princess. 
 This woman asserted, that Seymour and the queen 
 came into the princess's bedchamber, on two different 
 mornings, " and then thei tytled my Lady Elizabeth 
 in the bed" — " another tyme at Han worth, in the 
 garden, he wrated with her, and cut her gown in an 
 hundred pieces, beyng black cloth ; and when she 
 came up, this examinate chid with her, and hir grace 
 answered she could not do withall, for the queen held 
 her while the lord admyrall cut it." In short, it seems 
 to have been a vulgar game of romps in the garden ; 
 for the princess was not then more than fourteen years 
 of age. 
 
AND HEB TIMES. 153 
 
 It is true, indeed, that Katharine was not happy 
 with this her third husband, who often treated her 
 a\ ith neglect, especially in regard to the celebration of 
 the offices of religion ; respecting which she was very 
 strict, having prayers every day, and sermons often in 
 her mansion : at all of which Sudley rudely refused to 
 attend. 
 
 If her marriage was not happy, neither was it of 
 long continuance; for she died early in September, 
 1548, during which period Lady Jane, then in her 
 eleventh year, was still a visitor. 
 
 Young as Lady Jane was at this period, yet her 
 hand was already sought after; in particular by the 
 Lord Protector, the Duke of Somerset, for his son, 
 Lord Hertford. This is evident from a declaration, 
 still extant, of the Marquess of Northampton in which 
 he expressly says, that the Lord Admiral told him in 
 his own gallery, in London, that there would be much 
 ado for my Lady Jane, the Lord Marquess of Dorset's 
 daughter ; and that the Lord Protector and the Duchess 
 of Somerset would do what they could to obtain her 
 for young Hertford, who, as it will appear, afterwards 
 married her younger sister. 
 
 Sudley said, however, that they should not prevail 
 therein ; for the marquess had given her up wholly to 
 him upon certain covenants that were between them. 
 Northampton then asked Sudley what he would do, 
 if the protector were to induce the marquess to come 
 
154 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 into his own views ; when the Lord Admiral answered 
 that he would never consent thereto. 
 
 To enter at large into all the motives of Sudley upon 
 this subject, and which eventually led him to assist in 
 the downfall and execution of his own brother, the 
 Lord Protector, would exceed both our plan and limits. 
 It is sufficient to observe that Sudley wished to rise 
 on his fall, as great jealousies and fears existed on both 
 sides. Somerset wished to marry the young monarch 
 to his own daughter ; and Sudley attempted to coun- 
 teract this by a deep laid plan for uniting him with the 
 Lady Jane, of whom he then publicly said, that young 
 as she was, " she was as handsome a lady as any in 
 England !" 
 
 Whether the Lord Admiral might not have changed 
 this project, or perhaps dropped it entirely on the 
 death of the queen dowager, in the hope of then be- 
 coming the husband of the young Elizabeth, does not 
 exactly appear ; but it is evident that, at first, he gave 
 up all thoughts of personal superintendence of her, 
 meaning also to break up his own household, which was 
 on a very extensive scale: for very soon after his 
 widowhood he became once more an obsequious attend- 
 ant at the court, and actually wrote to the Marquess 
 of Dorset to receive his daughter back ; yet his mind 
 seems spedily to have changed upon that point, and on 
 the 17th of September, lie sent him the following 
 epistle : — 
 
A XI) HER TIMES. 155 
 
 " After my most hartye commend unto your good 
 lordship, wherby my last lettres unto the same, wrytten 
 in a tyme when partelye with the quene's highness 
 deathe, I was so amased, that I had small regarde 
 eyther to my self, or my doings; and partelye then 
 thinking that my greete losse must presently haue con- 
 stray ned me to haue broken upp and dissolved my 
 hole house, I offred unto your lordeship to send my 
 Lady Jane unto you, whensoever you wolde sende for 
 her, as to him whome I thought wolde be most tendre 
 on hir. Forasmuch as sithens being bothe better ad- 
 vised of my self, and having more depelye disgested 
 wherunto my power wolde extend; I fynde indede 
 that with God's helpe, I shall right wel be liable to 
 contynewe my house together, without dyminishing 
 any greate parte thereof. And therrfore puttyng my 
 hole affyance and trust in God, haue begonne of newe 
 to establish my household, when shal remayne not 
 oonelye the gentlewomen of the quene's highnes privey 
 chamber, but allso the maids which wayted at larg, 
 and other women being about her grace in her lief 
 tyme, with a hundred and twenty gentlemen and yeo- 
 men, contynuallye abeyding in house together ; savyng 
 that now presentlye certaine of the mayds and gentle- 
 men haue desyred to have license for a moneth, or such 
 a thing, to see theyr freinds ; and then immedyately 
 rcturne hither againe. And therfore doubtyng least 
 your lordship Blight thynk any unkyndnes, that I sholde 
 
156 LADY JANE GKEY, 
 
 by my said lettres take occasion to rydd me of your 
 doughter so soone after the queried death ; for the prof 
 both of my hartye affection towards youe, and good 
 will towards her, I mynd now to keepe her, untill I 
 next speak with your lordshipp ; whiche should haue bin 
 within these thre or foure dayes, if it had not bin that 
 I must repayr unto the corte, aswel to helpe certaine 
 of the quene's poore servants, with soome of the things 
 now fallen by hir death, as allso for my owne affayrs ; 
 oneles I shal be advertysed from your lordship of your 
 expresse mynd to the contrarye. My ladye, my 
 mother, shall and wooll, I doubte not, be as deare 
 unto hir, as thoughe she weare hir owne doughter ; and 
 for my owne parte, I shall contynewe her haulf father 
 and more ; and all that are in my house shal be as 
 diligente about her, as your self would wyshe ac- 
 cordynglye." 
 
 To this pressing epistle, the marquess, two days 
 afterwards, answered as follows, from his mansion in 
 Leicestershire. 
 
 " My moste hartie comendations unto yur good 
 lordship not forgotten. When it hath plesed yow by 
 your most gentle lettres, to offre me thabode of my 
 doughter at your lordeshypes house, I do as wel ac- 
 knoledge your most frendly affection towards me and 
 hyr herin, as also rendre unto vow most deservid 
 
AND IIEU TIMES. 157 
 
 thanks for the same. Nevertheless consideryng the 
 state of my doughter and hyr tendre yeres, wherin she 
 shal hardlie rule hyrsylfe as yet without a guide, lest 
 she sholde, for laeke of a bridle tak to moche the heed, 
 and conceave such opynyon of hyrsylfe, that all such 
 good behauiour as she heretofore hath lerned, by 
 the quene's and your most holsom instructions, shuld 
 either altogether be quenched in hyr, or at the leste 
 moche diminished, I shall, in most hartie wise require 
 your lordeshippe, to commytt hyr to the governance 
 of hyr mother, by whom for the feare and duetie she 
 owithe hyr, she shall most easilye be rulid and framid 
 towards vertue, which I wyshe aboue all thynges to be 
 most plentifull in hyr ; and although your lordshypes 
 good mynd, concernyng hyr honest and godlie educa- 
 tion ys so greate, that myn can be no more ; yet waying 
 that yow be destitute of suche one as shulde correcte 
 hyr as a mystres, and monyshe hyr as a mother, I per- 
 swade my sylfe that yow wyl think the eye and over- 
 sight of my wyfe shalbe in thys respect most necessarie. 
 My meaning herin ys not to withdrawe anie parte of 
 my promise to yow for hyr bestowing; for I assure 
 your lordeshyp, I intend, God wyllyng, to use your 
 discrete advise and consente in that behalfe, and no 
 lesse then myn own: onlye I seeke in thes hyr yono-e 
 yeres, wherein she nowe standeth, either to make or 
 marre (as the common saing ys), thadressing of hyr 
 mynd to humilytye, sobrenes, and obedience. Wher~ 
 
158 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 fore lookyng upon that fatherlie affection which yow 
 beare hyr, my truste ys that your lordeshyp waying 
 the premises, wylle be content to charge hyr mother 
 with hyr, whose wakyng eye in respecting hyr de- 
 meenor, shalbe, I hope, no lesse than yow as a frend, 
 and I as a father wuld wyshe. And thus wyshing 
 your lordeshyp a perfight ryddaunce of all unquietness 
 and griefe of mynd, I leave anie further to trouble your 
 lordeshyp. From my house at Brodgate, the 19th of 
 September, 
 
 Your lordeshype's to the best of 
 my power, 
 
 Henry Dorsett. 
 " To my verie good Lorde 
 Admirall : give this." 
 
 It is evident from the whole tenor of this epistle, 
 that the marquess was anxious to get her back, but 
 without offending the Lord Admiral; not only from 
 general policy, but also from the close relationship by 
 marriage — a degree of affinity that is shown by this 
 correspondence to have been more strictly attended to 
 in those days than at present. 
 
 Henry VIII. was grand uncle to Lady Jane; of 
 course, Queen Katharine Parr was her grand aunt 
 by marriage. This accounts for Lady Jane having 
 been entrusted to her care ; for she was the queen's 
 visitor : yet it is curious to observe that the Lord Ad- 
 
AND HBB TIMES. 159 
 
 miral, merely from having married her grand aunt by 
 marriage, was actually considered by the Dorset family 
 as her uncle (grand uncle rather, if at all), and that he 
 was in that sense called " brother" by the marchioness ; 
 although, by this species of matrimonial affinity, he 
 was more properly lier uncle; being the husband of 
 her aunt by marriage. 
 
 That such, however, was the case is evident, from a 
 letter of the marchioness, which accompanied that of 
 her husband already inserted ; and to the following 
 purport : 
 
 " Although, good brother, I might be well encora- 
 gid to ministre such counsaile unto you as I haue in 
 store, for that yt heth plesed you, not onlye so to take 
 in worthe that I wrytt in my Ladie of Suffblke's lettre, 
 but also to require me to haue in rediness such good 
 advyses, as I shall thinke conveynyent against our 
 nexte metyng ; yet consyderynge howe unhable I am 
 to doe that herto belongithe, I had rather leaue withe 
 that praise I have gotten at your hand, then by sekyng 
 more, to lose that I haue alredie wune. And wheras 
 of a frindlye and brotherlie good wyll you wish to 
 haue Jane my doughter continuyng still in your house, 
 I giue yow most hertie thankes for your gentle offer, 
 trustyng, nevertheles, that, for the good opinion you 
 haue in your sister, you will be content to charge hir 
 with hir, who promyseth you, not onlye to be rcdyc at 
 
160 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 all tymes to accompt for the orderyng of your deere 
 neise, but also to use your counsaile and advise on the 
 bestowing of hir, whensower it shal happen. Wherfor, 
 my good brother, my request shalbe, that I may haue 
 the oversight of hir with your good wyll, and therby I 
 shal haue good occasion to thinke that you do trust me 
 in such wise, as is convenient that a sister to be trusted 
 of so loving a brother. And thus my most hertye 
 comendations not omytted, I wyshe the nolle delyverans 
 of your gryefe and contynuance of your lordshippes 
 helthe. From Broadgate, 19 th of this September. 
 Your lowyng sister and 
 assured frende 
 
 Fraxcys Dorsett. 
 " To the right Honorable and 
 
 my very goode Lorde, my 
 
 Lord Admirall." 
 
 In consequence of these representations, Lady Jane 
 was permitted by the Lord Admiral to return to Lei- 
 cestershire, under the care of Mr. Rowse, steward or 
 comptroller of Sudley^s courtly household ; yet she was 
 reluctantly parted with, and Mr. John Harrington, 
 who also accompanied her, declared that the maids re- 
 mained at Hanworth in expectation of her speedy re- 
 turn. Indeed, soon after Lady Jane left Hanworth, 
 Lord Sudley seems to have used the most strenuous 
 measures to get her back again. In a paper written 
 
AND HER TIMKS. 
 
 1G1 
 
 by the Marquess of Dorset, apparently in vindication 
 of himself after the trial of the Lord Admiral, he ex- 
 presses his firm determination not to have let her return ; 
 but Sudley himself went in person to Dorset-house, 
 in GreyVplace, near the Temple, " and was so earnest 
 with him in persuasion, that he colde not resist him. 
 Emongs the which persuasions, one was, that he wold 
 mary hir to the king's majestic" So earnest, indeed, 
 was Sudley to attain this object, that he employed a Sir 
 William Sherington to make interest with the mar- 
 chioness to the same effect; in which he also suc- 
 ceeded. 
 
 It is evident that, in consequence of this, Lady Jane 
 did return to Hanworth ; for the marquess states ex- 
 pressly, that on her return there, "as it wer for an 
 ernest peny of the favor that he wold shewe unto him," 
 Sudley sent to him ,£500, as part of ,£2000 which he 
 had promised to lend to the marquess, and for which 
 he refused any bond, saying that Lady Jane should be 
 the pledge ! 
 
 In another communication of the Marquess of Dor- 
 set, which appears to have been addressed to the Duke 
 of Somerset, we find the first mention of any project, 
 on his part, as to the intended marriage with the young 
 Earl of Hertford ; a match too which must have been 
 in serious contemplation before the fall of Sudley, not- 
 withstanding his royal projects. It is — " Item, for the 
 maryage of your graces sune to be had with my doghtcr 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 LADY JANE GREY 
 
 Jane, I thynk hy t not met to be wrytyn, but I shall at 
 all tymes avouche my sayng ." 
 
 This was certainly cautious on the part of Dorset ; 
 perhaps, indeed, he was playing a double part, or at 
 least endeavouring to steer a middle course in the tor- 
 tuous politics of that day ; for it is evident, from his 
 own letter, and that of his wife, that they were both 
 under promise to Sudley to a certain extent ; probably 
 both anxious to match their daughter with her royal 
 second cousin. Indeed it was said that this match 
 was thought a very possible event by many, and also 
 greatly desired by those who wished the prosperity and 
 establishment of the reformation, to which Lady Jane 
 was known to be already extremely devoted ; not only 
 from her course of education at home, but also the 
 conversation of the queen dowager, and the lessons of 
 Roger Ascham, then tutor to the Princess Elizabeth. 
 
 But this union would have met with many political 
 enemies about the court ; besides, a proposed marriage 
 of the youthful monarch, in 1549, was likely to have 
 raised another bar to the ambitious hopes of the friends 
 of Lady Jane : for though on the 10th of January in 
 that year, positive instructions were given to Lord 
 Russel, the Lord Privy Seal, to Lord Pagett of Beau- 
 desert, to Sir William Petre, Knt., Secretary of State, 
 and Sir John Mason, Knt., to reject the offer made of 
 the daughter of the King of France, yet the same com- 
 missioners were instructed, whilst treating for and con- 
 
AND HER TIMES. 163 
 
 eluding a peace, and contracting for the surrender of 
 Boulogne, to make a demand to have the youthful 
 Mary of Scotland delivered up to him for a wife. 
 
 Even in the reign of Edward VI. negotiations were 
 still going on to provide a husband for the Lady Mary ; 
 on, apparently, a new arrangement with the emperor, 
 in regard to the Prince of Portugal. This is manifest 
 from instructions, yet extant*, to Sir William Pagett, 
 then ambassador at Brussels. 
 
 Perhaps, indeed, as Mary was still troublesome in 
 her refusal to conform to the established religion, the 
 young monarch may have been anxious to get her out 
 of the kingdom. That he had many fruitless nego- 
 tiations with her is evident. 
 
 In Edward's own journal it is stated, that " the Lady 
 Mary, after long communication was content to come to 
 Lees 11 (in Essex), " to the Lord Chancellors, and then 
 to Hunsdon ; but she utterly denied to come to the 
 court, or Oking, at that time. 11 Fuller, in his Church 
 History, accounts for this on the principle, that " she 
 loved to deale with the king her brother eminus by 
 letters, but in no wise cominus by discourse. Besides, 
 she hated coming to the court, suspecting some harsh 
 usage to her person, and jealous of being put into 
 restraint. 11 
 
 We have already alluded to the charges brought 
 against the Lord Admiral, in regard to his " affecting 
 
 * Brit. Mus. Harl. Coll. No. 297, p. 63. 
 
 m 2 
 
164 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 the kingdom," as it was quaintly called; and it is 
 only further necessary here to state, that on the 14th 
 of March, 1549, he was executed for high treason*; 
 long previous to which Lady Jane had retired from 
 Hanworth to her paternal mansion. Hanworth then 
 changed its master, or reverted to the crown; and 
 Chelsea Manor was granted to the Earl of Warwick, 
 afterwards Duke of Northumberland, Lady Jane's 
 future father-in-law. 
 
 In the early part of 1550^ it appears that Mary, 
 notwithstanding the solemnity of her former promises 
 and submission to her father's will and opinions, had 
 
 * In the Brit. Mus. Harl. Coll. No. 249, there is an article 
 called, <c The Sayings of Thomas, Lord Seymour, of Sudeley, 
 in sundry his conferences and communications with me John 
 Fowler (together with an account of the money which the said 
 Lord Admirall sent in private, at different times to K. Edw. VI. 
 and how he disposed of it)." Some of the entries in this MS. 
 are curious. 
 
 " Item, my lord admirall gaue me, a litle before he married 
 the quene, a cap with agglette and a brouche." 
 
 " Item, to his ma tie to give to John Cupples at sundre tymes 
 when he tawght his grace to play on the vergynalls 1 li." 
 
 " Item, to garrat of the gard for a booke wch he gaue to the 
 kinge at St. James x li." 
 
 " Item, to my lord privie seale's trompet at Hamp. Court, 
 when his hygnes triomphed in the garden at iii sundry tymes 
 xli." 
 
 " Item, at Grenewiche to certeyn tumblers that played ; his 
 grace lokynge out to them x li." 
 
 " Item, to a trompet which somtyme was my Lord Bray's 
 servaunt; for playinge on the Thames agaynst Grenewiche 
 
 XX s." 
 
AND HER TIMEs. 
 
 165 
 
 been tampering with the emperor to procure his inter- 
 ference on those points with the king her brother ; for 
 the imperial ambassador, about this period, made a 
 formal proposal to the youthful monarch to grant her 
 a licence, or dispensation under the privy seal, " to 
 continue in that fashion of worshipe which she now 
 usithe*." This, however, was refused, and the am- 
 bassador was requested by the privy council to advise 
 her " for the future to hear mass only in her closet, 
 and not to keepe, as it were, an open churche for all the 
 servaunts and neighbours to resorte thither to masse, 
 and so to offend openly God, and the king's lawes, in- 
 curring therby great daunger, and inducing a maner of 
 seism e in this cofnon wealth." 
 
 The Marquess of Dorset being this year appointed 
 Justice Itinerant of all the king's forests, he was less 
 about the court, and his family more fixed at Bradgate, 
 where, in the month of August, all the family and 
 their friends were assembled ; and it was in that month 
 that Roger Ascham, being about to set out for Germany 
 attached to a diplomatic mission, went down to Lei- 
 cestershire to see his friends and patrons, particularly 
 the Lady Jane, to whom he states himself to have been 
 exceedingly much beholden. 
 
 On his arrival at Bradgate, he found that the Duke 
 and Duchess of Suffolk, with all the ladies and gentle- 
 men of the household, were hunting in the park ; but 
 * Brit. Mus. Harl. Coll. No. 523. 
 
166 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 understanding that his fair patroness was in her cham- 
 ber, he requested admission, and there he found her 
 reading the Phaedon of Plato in Greek, and with as 
 much delight as some gentlemen of that day would 
 have read a merry tale in Boccacio. Having paid his 
 respects, and made every respectful inquiry, according 
 to the custom of those times, he asked the youthful 
 student why she would lose such pastime, as was then 
 going on in the park ? She replied, with a smile, " I 
 wisse all their sport in the park is but a shadow to that 
 pleasure that I find in Plato. Alas ! good folk, they 
 never felt what true pleasure means. 1 ' Ascham then 
 asked, " And how came you, madam, to this deep 
 knowledge of pleasure ? and what did chiefly allure 
 you unto it, seeing not many women, but very few 
 men, have attained thereunto ?" 
 
 " I will tell you, 1 ' replied Lady Jane, " and tell 
 you a troth, which, perchance, you will marvel at. 
 One of the greatest benefits that ever God gave me is, 
 that he sent me so sharp and severe parents, and so 
 gentle a schoolmaster; for, when I am in presence 
 either of father or mother, whether I speak, keep 
 silence, sit, stand, or go, eat, drink, be merry, or sad, 
 be sewing, playing, dancing, or doing any thing else, 
 I must do it, as it were, in such weight, measure, and 
 number, even so perfectly as God made the world : or 
 else I am so sharply taunted, so cruelly threatened, 
 yea, presently sometimes with pinches, nips, and bobs, 
 
AND HER TIMES. 167 
 
 and other ways (which I will not name for the honour I 
 bear them) so without measure disordered, that I think 
 myself in hell till the time come that I must go to Mr. 
 Elmer, who teacheth me so gently, so pleasantly, with 
 such fair allurements to learning, that I think all the time 
 nothing whiles I am with him : and when I am called 
 from him, I fall on weeping ; because whatsoever I do 
 else but learning, is full of great trouble, fear, and 
 whole misliking unto me ; and thus my book hath been 
 so much my pleasure, and bringeth daily to me more 
 pleasure and more; that, in respect of it, all other 
 pleasures, in very deed, be but trifles and troubles 
 unto me. 11 
 
 Ascham, describing this scene, adds, that he re- 
 membered the conversation gladly, both because it was 
 so worthy of memory, and because it was the last talk 
 that ever he had with, and the last time that ever he 
 saw, that noble and worthy lady. 
 
 In such a school of parental severity, blessed with 
 pious sentiments, and cheered by the promises of light 
 and life in the Gospel, then newly re-opened to man- 
 kind, as well as by the precepts of philosophy, Lady 
 Jane could not fail to acquire both resignation and 
 fortitude. It is curious, however, to observe, that 
 although her parents treated her like a child, yet those 
 learned and pious divines, Ascham, Bullinger, Stur- 
 mius, and others, behaved towards her as towards a 
 woman of good sense and consummate learning. 
 
168 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 An interesting proof of this appears in a letter 
 written to her, in Latin, by Ascham, early in 1552, 
 whilst on his diplomatic tour. 
 
 " In this my long peregrination, most illustrious 
 lady, I have travelled far; have visited the greatest 
 cities ; and have made the most diligent observations 
 in my power upon the manners of nations, their insti- 
 tutions, laws, religion, and regulations; nevertheless, 
 in such variety, there is nothing that has raised in me 
 greater admiration than what I found in regard to 
 yourself during the last summer, to see one so young 
 and lovely, even in the absence of her learned pre- 
 ceptor, in the noble hall of her family, at the very 
 moment when all her friends and relatives were enjoy- 
 ing hunting and field sports : — to find, I repeat, oh, 
 all ye gods ! so divine a maid diligently perusing the 
 divine Phaedon of Plato ; in this more happy, it may 
 be believed, than in her noble and royal lineage. 
 
 " Go on thus, oh best adorned virgin, to the honour 
 of thy country, the delight of thy parents, thy own 
 glory, the praise of thy preceptor, the comfort of thy 
 relatives and acquaintances, and the admiration of 
 all. Oh, happy Elmer ! to have such a scholar, and 
 to be her preceptor. I congratulate both you who 
 teach, and she who learns. 
 
 " These are the words of John Sturmius to myself, 
 as my reward for teaching the most illustrious Lady 
 
 £ ■ 
 
AND HER TIMES. 1G9 
 
 Elizabeth ; but to you two I can repeat them with 
 even more truth ; to you two I concede this felicity, 
 even though I should have to lament want of success, 
 where I had expected to reap the sweetest fruits from 
 my labour. 
 
 " But let me restrain the sharpness of my grief, 
 which prudence makes it necessary I should conceal 
 even to myself. This much I may say, that I have 
 no fault to find with the Lady Elizabeth, whom I 
 have always found the best of ladies, nor indeed with 
 the Lady Mary ; but if ever I shall have the happi- 
 ness to meet my friend Elmer, then I shall repose in 
 his bosom my sorrows abundantly. 
 
 " Two things I repeat to thee, my good Elmer — 
 for I know that thou wilt see this letter — that by 
 your persuasion and entreaty the Lady Jane Grey, as 
 early as she can conveniently, may write to me in 
 Greek; which she has already promised to do. I 
 have even written lately to John Sturmius, mentioning 
 this promise. Pray let your letter and hers fly toge- 
 ther to us. The distance is great; but John Hales 
 will take care that it shall reach me. If she even were 
 to write to Sturmius himself in Greek ; neither you 
 nor she shall have cause to repent your labour. 
 
 " The other request is, my good Elmer, that you 
 would exert yourself so that we might conjointly pre- 
 serve this mode of life amongst us. How freely, how 
 sweetly, and philosophically then should we live ! 
 
170 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 Why should we, my good Elmer, less enjoy all these 
 good things, which Cicero, at the conclusion of his 
 third book, De Finibus, describes as the only rational 
 mode of life ? Nothing in any tongue, nothing in any 
 times, in human memory, either past or present, from 
 which something may not be drawn to sweeten life ! 
 
 " As to the news here, most illustrious lady, I know 
 not what to write. That which is written of stupid 
 things, must itself be stupid: and, as Cicero com- 
 plained of his own times, there is little to amuse, or 
 that can be embellished. Besides, at present, all places 
 and persons are occupied with rumours of wars and 
 commotions, which, for the most part, are either mere 
 fabrications, or founded upon no authority ; so that 
 any thing respecting continental politics would neither 
 be interesting nor useful to you. 
 
 " The general Council of Trent is to sit on the first 
 of May : Cardinal Pole, it is asserted, is to be the 
 president. Besides there are the tumults this year 
 in Africa ; their preparations for a war against the 
 Turks : and then the great expectations of the march 
 of the emperor into Hungary, of which, though no 
 soldier, I shall, God willing, be a companion. Why 
 need I write to you of the siege of Magdeburg, and 
 how the Duke of Mecklenburgh has been taken ; or 
 of that commotion which so universally, at this mo- 
 ment, afflicts the miserable Saxony ? To write of all 
 these things, I have neither leisure, nor would it be 
 
AND HER TIMES. 171 
 
 safe : but on my return, which I hope is not far di- 
 stant, it shall be my great happiness to relate all these 
 things to you in person. 
 
 " Thy kindness to me, oh most noble Jane Grey, 
 was always most grateful to me when present with 
 you ; but it is ten times more so during this long ab- 
 sence. To your noble parents, I wish length of hap- 
 piness ; to you, a daily victory in letters and in virtue ; 
 to thy sister Katharine, that she may resemble thee ; 
 and to Elmer, I wish every good that he may wish to 
 Ascham. 
 
 " Further, dearest lady, if I were not afraid to 
 load thee with the weight of my light salutations, I 
 would ask thee, in my name, to salute Elizabeth 
 Astley, who, as well as her brother John, I believe to 
 be of my best friends ; and whom I believe to be like 
 that brother in all integrity and sweetness of manners. 
 Salute, I pray thee, my cousin Mary Laten ; and my 
 wife Alice, of whom I think oftener than I can now 
 express. Salute also that worthy young man Garret, 
 and John Haddon. 
 
 " Farewell, most noble lady in Christ. 
 
 " Augusta?, R. A. 
 
 18th January, 1551." 
 
 Thus courted by the reformed teachers, it is not 
 unlikely that they considered her as a future sup- 
 porter of the true interests of Christianity, in the clia- 
 
172 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 racter of Queen of England, by marriage with the 
 young monarch. That such an idea had gone abroad, 
 cannot be doubted ; nor was it an improbable specu- 
 lation, when we reflect on the similarity of their ages 
 and dispositions, and their near relationship. The 
 politics of the court did not, it is true, turn upon this 
 point, but upon a matrimonial union of England and 
 Scotland. 
 
 It must be observed here, that the demand which 
 Edward had made to have the youthful Scottish 
 Mary delivered up to him for a wife had not yet been 
 successful ; but on the 20th of May, 1551, negotia- 
 tions to that effect were renewed ; not, however, it ap- 
 pears, with any great hope of success : for the Marquess 
 of Northampton, the Bishop of Ely, and the other 
 commissioners sent for that purpose to Paris, had di- 
 rections that, provided the French king would not de- 
 liver up his daughter in law, the young queen and dau- 
 phiness, then they should at once conclude a marriage 
 with Elizabeth, the French princess. 
 
 Though travelling was neither very much in fa- 
 shion, nor very convenient in England, yet Lady Jane 
 appears to have enjoyed some of its advantages in a 
 frequent change of residence ; in particular, though 
 we cannot trace for what purpose, her family seems 
 to have been living at Cambridge for some time during 
 this year. The fact is stated in a letter from Ascham 
 to Mr. Edward Raven; but at what season of the 
 
AND HER TIMES. 173 
 
 year it took place is uncertain. We can only per- 
 ceive that in June she was resident at Bradgate; 
 from whence is dated an epistle written to Bullinger at 
 Zurich, by Johannes ab Ulmeis*. 
 
 In the same month she also wrote her first epistle in 
 Latin to Henry Bullinger, one of the most eminent 
 of the reformed divines ; in which she mentions her 
 having begun the study of the Hebrew language. 
 This epistle manifests the utmost elegance of expres- 
 sion, and of turn of sentiment, astonishing, indeed, in 
 so young a person : her two succeeding epistles to the 
 same divine being also composed in a pure and un- 
 affected style, informing him that she was pursuing 
 her Hebraic studies in the manner which he had 
 pointed out to her. She addresses him as if he were 
 her preceptor, with wonderful respect and submission, 
 in a fine strain of modesty, and displaying a very sin- 
 gular zeal for the true religion. 
 
 Though Bullinger had never been in England, yet 
 he was evidently well known to her family; for we 
 find it stated in his biography by Simlerus, that in 
 the early part of Henry's reign, in fact the year im- 
 mediately after Lady Jane's birth, that amiable and 
 learned divine, at his residence at Zurich, had shown 
 great hospitality to many English nobles, clergy, and 
 gentry, who had been forced to leave their native 
 country for conscience sake ; amongst whom, in parti- 
 * Epistolse ab Eccl. Helvet. Reformatoribus, p. 291. 
 
174 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 cular, was John Hopper, afterwards Bishop of Glou- 
 cester, and finally a martyr in Mary's reign, who fled 
 to Switzerland, accompanied by his wife ; a species of 
 travelling baggage which the English clergy had then 
 just began to provide themselves with. 
 
 These reformed fugitives there consulted Bullinger 
 about the principal doctrines of Christianity, and the 
 proper rites and ceremonies for a Christian church. 
 They likewise urged him to write to Henry VIII. when 
 that monarch first threw off the papal authority; on 
 which occasion he addressed to the royal reformer his 
 two well known books on protestantism. Bullinger 
 also, in 1550, dedicated two decades of sermons to 
 Edward VI. and wrote many letters to the principal 
 nobility on religious subjects : so that Lady Jane, and 
 the reformers in general, considered him as a main 
 support and assistance to the good cause. 
 
 In all these affairs the Marquess of Dorset was an 
 active coadjutor ; but he was also obliged to mix in 
 the politics of the time, especially in the affairs of 
 Scotland, being appointed about this time warden of 
 the northern marches : in which, however, he was 
 soon after superseded by Dudley, Earl of Warwick ; 
 an event which does not appear to have produced any 
 coolness between these two courtiers, as they were 
 both soon afterwards elevated to dukedoms : Warwick 
 gaining the title of Northumberland, and Dorset that 
 of Suffolk, which was now extinct in the male line of 
 
AND HER TIMES. 175 
 
 the Brandon family, by the deaths of Henry and 
 Charles Brandon, Dukes of Suffolk, in June and July, 
 the title being thus revived, as it were, in their sister 
 Lady Frances, wife of Dorset, and mother of Lady 
 Jane. 
 
 It was on the 11th of October, 1551, that this rise 
 in the peerage took place, the young monarch then 
 residing at Hampton Court; from whence, early in 
 November, he removed to Westminster. 
 
 Lady Jane had now, for some time, been resident 
 in the metropolis, or in attendance at the court, at 
 Greenwich, and made her first appearance in public 
 on occasion of a visit from Mary of Lorraine, queen 
 dowager of Scotland. Her majesty had recently ar- 
 rived at Portsmouth from France, on her way to her 
 daughter's dominions, the unhappy Mary, and wrote 
 to the king for licence to pass through England ; on 
 which she received an invitation to the metropolis, that 
 was instantly accepted. 
 
 Conducted by a deputation from the court, and at- 
 tended with all royal honours, the Scottish queen ar- 
 rived at Hampton Court, where she made some stay ; 
 and on the 2d of November she proceeded by water 
 for London, landing at Paul's Wharf, whence she rode 
 on horseback in great state, accompanied by many of 
 the English nobility of both sexes, besides her own 
 Scottish train, to the palace of the Bishop of London ; 
 by whom not only was she entertained with all hos- 
 
176 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 pitality, but receiving also from the city of London, by 
 the hands of the chamberlain, a large supply of all 
 kinds of food, stated by Stowe, in his annals, to have 
 been " beefes, muttons, veales, swans, and other kind 
 of poultry meates, with bread, fuell, wine, beere, 
 waxe," &c. 
 
 The further proceedings, as detailed by Stowe, and 
 in which Lady Jane bore a part, will serve to illustrate 
 the courtly manners of the day. 
 
 The first interview of the Scottish dowager with the 
 youthful monarch was at Westminster, on the 4th of 
 November ; on which occasion she rode to Whitehall 
 in her chariot, accompanied by Lady Margaret Dou- 
 glass, cousin to the king, and Countess of Lennox, the 
 Duchess of Richmond, the Duchess of Suffolk, mo- 
 ther of Lady Jane, who attended in her train, the 
 Duchess of Northumberland, with many other ladies 
 of the first rank, both in England and Scotland, form- 
 ing a procession of great length and splendour. 
 
 On her arrival at Whitehall, a guard of honour 
 was drawn up on each side of the court ; and she was 
 received within the court gate by the Dukes of Suffolk 
 and Northumberland, and the Marquess of Winches- 
 ter, lord treasurer, who led her to the upper end of the 
 hall, where stood the king, before whom the Earl of 
 Warwick held the sword of state. 
 
 The dowager instantly knelt down; but Edward 
 raised and kissed her : then leading her by the hand, 
 
AND HEB TIMES. 177 
 
 lie introduced her to her own chamber of presence, 
 and next to another chamber of presence, called the 
 queen's, where he kissed all the Scottish ladies, and soon 
 after retired, until dinner-time, when " she dined on 
 the queene's side with the king, the king's service and 
 hers comming both together, the king's on the right 
 hand, the queene's on the left hand, shee sitting by 
 the king, apart by his cloth of estate." 
 
 None of the court dined with the royal pah' ; but 
 Lady Jane retired with her mother and all the other 
 ladies of both kingdoms, to the queen's great chamber, 
 where a sumptuous entertainment was provided for 
 them. 
 
 This august solemnity must have taken place at a 
 very early hour ; for after dinner the king showed to 
 his royal guest his galleries, gardens, &c. and yet it 
 was only four o'clock when he handed her into the 
 hall, where he again kissed her ; and she returned to 
 her apartments at the bishop's palace. 
 
 Further public honours were conferred upon her 
 two days afterwards, in which Lady Jane participated, 
 when she set off for Scotland, riding from St. Paul's 
 through Cheapside, &c. towards Bishopsgate, accom- 
 panied by a long train of nobility, who had assembled 
 for the purpose of escorting her as far as Shoreditch 
 church. The Duchess of Suffolk, as a near relation 
 of royalty, added much splendour to the pageant ; but 
 the principal part of the show was made by the Duke 
 
178 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 of Northumberland, who had a train of one hundred 
 horsemen drawn up in Cheapside, of whom forty were 
 gentlemen clad in black velvet, guarded with white, 
 with velvet hats, and white feathers, and chains of 
 gold about their necks. Next to these stood one hun- 
 dred and twenty of the suite of the Earl of Pembroke, 
 on horseback, with black javelins, hats, and feathers. 
 To these were added one hundred of the lord trea- 
 surer's gentlemen and yeomen. Besides which there 
 were three ranks of horsemen, forming a cortege, 
 from the cross in Cheapside to the end of Birchin 
 Lane. The whole of this procession accompanied the 
 queen to Shoreditch church, when they took leave, 
 and returned to their respective mansions ; the dow- 
 ager pursuing her route, preceded by harbingers, and 
 provided with all accommodation at the royal charges. 
 But the attendance of Lady Jane in the metropolis, 
 together with her family, must have been rather from 
 their connexion with the court, than from her father's 
 duties as a peer of parliament, or in compliance with 
 fashion ; for it seems that the temptations to the no- 
 bility and gentry at this period to make a long sojourn 
 in the metropolis could not have been very great. In 
 fact, in the year 1551, it was entered in the youthful 
 monarch's own hand- writing*, amongst " ceirtein 
 pointes of waighty matters to be immediately con- 
 cluded on by my counsell, 18 Januarie, lSSlV that 
 * Brit. Mus. Cottonian, V r csp. F. xiii. 171. 
 
AND II Kit TIMES. 179 
 
 there was necessity for " taking some order to the 
 Londoners, that they that come to our parliement may 
 not be holly discouragid, empovrished, or weried w l 
 their attendaunce, wch order can not be well taken (as 
 me thinketh) w t out punishing th 1 offendours." 
 
 The court attendants, however, must have been less 
 annoyed than the parliament by the existing metro- 
 politan incivility, the royal residence, being then so 
 seldom in town, if at all ; for the Tower was only 
 now considered as a royal residence, according to 
 court etiquette, for a few days after the monarch's 
 accession ; whilst St. James's, then recently made a 
 royal residence, was not in London, but in Westmin- 
 ster, a city which may then be said to have been out 
 of the metropolis. Indeed, we may suppose that the 
 court itself would have been treated with but little 
 more ceremony than the parliament, as it was not then 
 fenced in with such august distinctions from common 
 life as at present. 
 
 Henry VIII. was merely called " highness," and 
 those who spoke to, or of him, only used the term 
 " grace. 1 ' Even to Edward VI. the term " serene" 
 was applied, as appears from a highly complimental 
 letter, addressed to him in Latin*, by Henry Grey, 
 then Duke of Suffolk, and father to Lady Jane. It 
 is true, that in this epistle we find the word " ma- 
 jestas" several times applied; but it begins with " rex 
 * Brit. Mus. Cottonian, Vesp. F. xiii. 174. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 LADY JANE (;KEY, 
 
 benignissime ;" whilst the term " celsitudo," or high- 
 ness, is frequently introduced. It may also be re- 
 marked, that " grace" was not confined to royalty, as 
 there is now a letter in the British Museum, from 
 Thomas, Marquess of Dorset, Lady Jane's grand- 
 father, to Cardinal Wolsey, beginning, " Please it, 
 your grace," and indorsed, " To my Lord Legate's 
 good grace." 
 
 There could not, indeed, then have been any thing 
 very tempting in a court residence, except to the am- 
 bitious ; for Aubrey declares, that even until the reign 
 of James I. the court was ill-mannered, and the 
 courtiers unpolished ; nay, that even then, the queen 
 herself could scarcely escape insult in passing the king's 
 apartment. 
 
 Comfort or convenience of all kinds were as little at- 
 tended to as decency and decorum ; for at Henry the 
 Eighth's royal table, the " kinge's boarde" was literally 
 a board laid on tressels, with wooden forms set round. 
 Yet at the royal dinners great formality was observed 
 as to places ; though politeness had not hitherto pro- 
 ceeded so far as to place husbands below their wives, 
 unless " if they bee of the bloode rialle, the kinge may 
 comaunde them as yt plessithe hym." 
 
 At dinner also, no person was allowed to stand on 
 the " kyngge's carpette," which was not very large ; 
 the other part of the floor being strewed with rushes. 
 Whilst the duty of the pages was to dean windows, to 
 
AM) II EK TIMES. 181 
 
 light fires, and to see the walls swept before hangings 
 were put up. 
 
 As for the elegance of the repast, much cannot be 
 said ; for the cook's wages for dressing it, each day, as 
 appears from a MS. in the Lansdown collection, was 
 only two shillings and four-pence; a sum not very 
 munificent, even allowing for the deterioration of 
 money since that period. 
 
 In the evenings at court, the king then living, as it 
 were, in public, it was the custom to serve him with 
 spice and wine; spice plates being also brought for 
 the king's relations ; after which the cellarer attended 
 with the pots with wine. Then, after many peremo- 
 nies, the company were to retire ; " and after voides 
 done, the kinge to goe on to his with draught, and all 
 other estatys to goe unto y r own chambers, or wher y* 
 plessithe them.' 1 
 
 Supper was always over at eight o'clock ; " and an 
 esquire of the body to be redie in the kinge's chamber 
 to receive, and to make for all night the kinge's cup- 
 boorde. That done, the esquire and gentleman huissicr 
 to beare yt to the king's privy chamber, or wherever 
 else yt may be comaunded." 
 
 Of the delicacy of nocturnal repose and retirement, 
 an idea may be drawn from the observation of a writer 
 of that day, who speaks of it as a kind of wonder — 
 " Also and the kyngc and the qucne lie togedere, I 
 sawe never no person lie in the same chambrc, savynge 
 
182 LADY .7 AXE GREY, 
 
 in Kynge Henry dais, the Lord Say w th his chamber- 
 lyne ; but he was removid in a schort sessone of hys 
 logginge. Nowe of y e chambre I have some sessones 
 sene that at the dore w t out the kynge's side there have 
 layne squyers for the body; and in lykewise at the 
 dore, by the quene's side, gentlewomen." 
 
 The moral honesty of some about the court may be 
 estimated by an order of Henry VIII. — 
 
 " Item*, the king's pleasur and street commaunde- 
 ment is, that the gentlemen huishiers making lodging 
 from tyme to tyme within the king's courte, shall see 
 and note substantially, what leckes, keyes, and other 
 such implementes, as before mentioned, thei do finde 
 in the chambers where thei make lodginge, giving 
 charge unto such persons^ as thei do put and lodge in 
 the same, that every parcell therof be saufely left in 
 the chamber and redeliverid with the key of the 
 chamber, to the keepir of the house, or other per- 
 son deputed to receive the same at their departing, 
 without embestlyng, purloyning, or carying away any 
 part therof upon payne of imprisonement, and makjng 
 restitucion to the partie, or double the valew of the 
 thing so embeyselyd or purloyned." 
 
 If this paints their morals, let the following, from 
 the same source, delineate their economy : 
 * Ant. Rep. ii. L87. 
 
AM) II Ell TIMES. 183 
 
 " Item, the gentleman huishier ought to forbidde, 
 
 that no maner man do set any dishe upon the king's 
 bed, for feare of hurting the king's riche counterpoyntes 
 that lye therupon. And that the said huishier take 
 good heede, that no man wipe, or rubbe their handes 
 upon none arras of the king's, wherby thei may be 
 hurted, in the chamber wher the king is specially, and 
 in all other ^" 
 
 It is true, that with much of this ceremony and in- 
 decorum Lady Jane did not mix; for the Suffolk 
 family now lived, when attending on the court, at their 
 own mansion in Suffolk-place, only going to court oc- 
 casionally ; and it was from this place that the family 
 proceeded when, on New Year's-day, 1552, the Duchess 
 of Suffolk presented to King Edward in a purse of silver 
 and gold, knit, £4:0 in half-sovereigns, (left with the 
 king's majesty), and received in return three gilt bowls 
 with covers. 
 
 It was about this time that Lady Jane wrote her 
 second letter to Bullinger, who was then much be- 
 friended both by the Suffolk and Northumberland fami- 
 lies ; between whom a personal intimacy seems now to 
 have existed. These friendly attentions to that worthy 
 reformer were not confined to pecuniary favours, but 
 extended to the exercise of influence at home for his 
 friends, as appears from a letter in the Lansdown 
 MSS., from Johannes ab Ulmcis to the Duke of 
 
184 LADY JANE GKEY, 
 
 Northumberland, to obtain from his grace a scholar- 
 ship in King's College for a friend of Bullinger's. 
 
 Whilst speaking of this German correspondence, we 
 may notice also a curious letter of this date, in the 
 same collection, from Roger Ascham, at Spires, where 
 he was with the king's ambassadors, addressed to Mr. 
 Secretary Cecill, inquiring whether he might sometimes 
 talk with the Pope's Nuncio's men, without injuring 
 the cause of reformation by gossiping with the ser- 
 vants of the " Lady in scarlet ! " 
 
 Of the patriotic justice and regard for the constitu- 
 tion, which now filled the breast of the youthful mon- 
 arch, a very correct idea may be drawn from a paper 
 in his own hand- writing, headed, " Ceirtein pointes of 
 waighty matters to be immediatly concluded on by my 
 counsell. 18 Janueiri ? 1551*," now m tne British Mu- 
 seum, in which is the following entry, " The matter for 
 the Duke of Somerset and his confederates to be con- 
 sidered as aparteineth to our surety and quietness of 
 our realme, that by there punishement (and execution 
 according to the lawes) example may be shewed to 
 others." In this memorandum, in the original, the 
 words between brackets are an interlineation, evidently 
 written with a different pen, and marking after-thought 
 and consideration-)-. 
 
 * Brit. Mus. Cotton. Coll. Vesp. F. xiii. 171. 
 t The state of justice at this period in England may be drawn 
 from a very curious " Kalendar or note of all the prisoneres 
 
AND ITER TIMK.S. 185 
 
 In fact, it is extraordinary to observe with what 
 steadiness this royal youth pursued his course through 
 all the intricacies of court politics, intrigue, and the 
 prevalence of every bad passion. Somerset was his 
 own uncle ; yet such was his submission to law and 
 justice, or at least, to what appeared to him to be such, 
 that he suffered him to fall under the axe of the exe- 
 cutioner — a shorter way of getting rid of an obnoxious 
 political rival, by dividing his head from his body, 
 than the modern method of merely dividing against 
 him ! A minister may survive a minority, and more 
 firmly re-establish himself; but, according to the old 
 method, a monarch must have restored a discarded 
 
 names that be remayninge within the Towere at this presente, 
 being the 11 th daye of februaire, an R. Edw. VI. sexto." 
 
 From this it appears that the Duke of .Norfolk had been con- 
 fined ten years ; Edward Courtenay had been there twelve years ; 
 several clergymen had been there during some years. 
 
 Two persons, Denys Fludde and John Davy, are stated to 
 have been ft attainted for felonie, and had a bill signed for their 
 p~don, and steyde by the Lord Ryche, then Lorde Chanceler." 
 
 " Rycharde Tracy e, who hathe bene there ix monethes and 
 more, for wrytynge a letter to Mr. Kelwaye." 
 
 " William Phyllips, John Sawyer, who hathe bene xii 
 monethes and more, for suspicion of castinge of letters." 
 
 " Robert Allen, who hathe bene there xii monethes and more, 
 for matters of astronomie, and suspicion of calculation." 
 
 " Christopher Dunne, for suspicion of imbecillynge of certeyn 
 iewells and money of the Duches of Somersette." 
 
 " Myles Moore for writinge of a supplication to the kinges 
 hyghnes." 
 
186 
 
 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 favourite to life, before he could restore him to his 
 councils ! 
 
 Whether the modern mode is not an improvement, 
 in spite of the clamour against bribery and corruption, 
 and rotten boroughs, and back-stairs influence, we 
 leave it to our readers to judge. 
 
 But to return to Edward, it seems as if his principal 
 political difficulties arose from his own family ; for a 
 very short time before this, he had nearly been involved 
 in a war with the emperor, on account of his sister 
 Mary, and her determination to abide by the papal 
 forms of divine worship. 
 
 This affair of the mass was occasioned by informa- 
 tion of a plan, on the part of Charles V., to fit out 
 some ships at Antwerp, and to transport the Lady 
 Mary, either by violence or by stealth, out of England 
 to his own Flemish dominions. In concert with this 
 plan, several of her attendants had already gone over, 
 and it was expected that war would be waged against 
 England in her name ; and, as Haywood relates, upon 
 these dangers or fears, the Lord Chancellor and Secre- 
 tary Petre were sent to the Lady Mary, and they, after 
 some conference, brought her to the young king at West- 
 minster, she passing some time, on her way, at Lees 
 and Hunsdon. When arrived at court, the council 
 declared unto her how long the king had permitted 
 her the use of the mass ; and perceiving by her letters 
 
AX J) II Kit TIMES. 187 
 
 how immoveable she was, he was resolved no longer to 
 endure it, unless she would put him in hopes of some 
 conformity within a short time. To this she answered 
 that her soul was God's, and, touching her faith, as 
 she could not change, so she would not dissemble it. 
 Reply was made that the king intended not to constrain 
 her faith, but solely to restrain the outward profession 
 of it. 
 
 The king's health was so much shook by these con- 
 tests, that he was advised to make a progress through 
 part of the kingdom in order to divert his mind. Such 
 was the motive urged to persuade him to the tour; 
 but it is said that his ministers wished to try it as an 
 experiment to remove the discontents of the people, 
 and to influence the elections. 
 
 Whatever might have been the ostensible or real 
 
 motives of this journey, it certainly took place in the 
 
 course of the summer ; of which absence of the court 
 
 from town Lady Jane took advantage to pay a visit, 
 
 of ceremony at least, if not of affection, to her cousin 
 
 the Princess Mary, at her mansion of Newhall, in 
 
 Essex*. 
 
 * This place is so connected with persons conspicuous in En- 
 glish history, as to deserve some slight topographical notice. 
 Passing over its origin as part of the possessions of Waltham 
 Ah bey, until exchanged by the monks with Sir John de Shardi- 
 lowe, in the reign of Edward III., for other lands; it first ap- 
 pears as a royal property, appertaining to Margaret of Anjou, 
 from whom it fell to the crown during the civil contests of York 
 and Lancaster, and was granted by Henry VII. to Uotelcr, Earl 
 
188 LADY JANE GEE1', 
 
 During this visit an occurrence happened, which is 
 stated by Fox, in his Acts and Monuments, to have 
 had considerable influence upon her future fate. She 
 was asked by Lady Anne Wharton to take a ramble 
 one afternoon ; and their walk leading them past the 
 Lady Mary's popish chapel, Lady Anne made a low 
 curtesy to the host which was then lying on the altar. 
 The young protestant did not understand this species 
 of homage, and naturally asked if Lady Mary were in 
 the chapel ; to which Lady Anne answered, " No ; w 
 adding, that she had made her curtesy to him that made 
 us all ! " Why," replied the sprightly and intelligent 
 girl, " how can he be there that made us all, and the 
 baker made him ?" Fox adds, that " this hir answer 
 comming to the Lady Marie's eare, she did never love 
 hir after, as is credibly reported, but esteemid hir as 
 the rest of that christian profession." 
 
 This event certainly deserves notice, and shows that 
 Lady Jane would have received but little favour from 
 her royal cousin, in after times, even if she had not 
 been placed, by the ambition of her family, in the 
 
 of Ormond, who first fortified the manor house, and made con- 
 siderable additions to it. By marriage it came to Sir Thomas 
 Boleyn, who exchanged it with his son-in-law Henry VIII., that 
 monarch calling it Beaulieu, and often making it his residence. 
 He assigned it to Mary. Elizabeth afterwards gave it to Rat- 
 eliffe, Earl of Suffolk ; by whom it was sold to Villiers, Duke 
 of Buckingham. In 1651, Oliver Cromwell purchased it for 
 fire shillings! 
 
AND HER TIMES. 189 
 
 situation of an usurper ; an act, however, as yet per- 
 haps unthought of by the parties themselves. 
 
 The Duke of Northumberland's ambitious plans 
 seemed at this period to have been far from maturity, 
 yet it is a very curious fact, that they had found their 
 way into public report, perhaps by the duke's own 
 permission, in order to prepare the people for the pro- 
 posed change in the succession. Some interesting 
 anecdotes upon this subject are preserved in a MS. 
 in the British Museum *, where it appears that a gos- 
 siping story had been sent by Sir William Stafford, 
 from his seat at Rochford, in Essex, to the privy 
 council, detailing the rambling expressions of a Mrs. 
 Elizabeth Huggones, which he described as " unseemly 
 saiyenges, neither meet to be spoken, nor conseyled of 
 any hearer ." 
 
 This Mrs. Huggones, who had formerly been a ser- 
 vant to the Duchess Dowager of Somerset, seems to 
 have spoken out very openly respecting the Duke of 
 Somerset's death, as occasioned by the intrigues of the 
 Duke of Northumberland, whom she considered as 
 more worthy of the scaffold than her late master. Per- 
 haps the good lady's heart was a little warmed, as the 
 conversation is stated to have taken place at supper, 
 for she was also accused by Sir William of having said 
 that the young King Edward showed himself an un- 
 natural nephew, and then wished that she had the 
 * Had. Coll. No. 353. 
 
190 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 jerking of him. Her tongue once set agoing, the jolly 
 dame knew not where to stop, for she added, that Lord 
 Guildford Dudley was to marry the daughter of the 
 Earl of Cumberland (cousin to Lady Jane), and that 
 the match was planned by the king himself; and then 
 " with a stoute gesture," she cried, " Have at the crown 
 with your leave !" 
 
 This was about the latter end of August ; and so 
 important did the story appear to the privy council, 
 that the talkative dame actually underwent a formal 
 examination on the 8th of September, before Sir Robert 
 Bowes, Master of the Robes, and Sir Arthur Darcy, 
 Lieutenant of the Tower, when, however, she denied 
 great part of Stafford's story, declaring her great esteem 
 for the Duke of Northumberland. " And, moreover, 
 she being examyned of the laste article concernynge 
 the marry age of the Lord Guilford Dudley e with the 
 Erie of Cumberland's daughter, she deposeth that she 
 heard it spoken in London (but by whom she nowe 
 remembreth not), that the kinges ma tic . had made such 
 a marryage, and so she tould the firste nyghte that she 
 came to Rochford to supper, showinge herself to be 
 glad thereof, and so she thoughte that all the heareres 
 were also glad at that marryage." 
 
 If Edward really did propose such a marriage, for 
 it is not likely to have originated with Dudley himself, 
 it may be considered as adding to the probability of 
 J lis own attachment to Lady Jane, and perhaps his 
 
AND HER TIMES. 
 
 191 
 
 purpose of raising her thus to the throne. This is evi- 
 dent, inasmuch as the marriage of Lord Guildford with 
 Lady Janets cousin, the Earl of Cumberland's daugh- 
 ter, would have been four steps further off from any 
 chance of the succession, and would have rendered it 
 necessary for the ambitious duke not only to set aside 
 Mary and Elizabeth, but also the Duchess of Suffolk 
 and her three daughters. Such a measure would have 
 been by no means compatible with Northumberland's 
 policy; nor could any plausible excuse have been 
 found for it, unless he had extended the charge of 
 illegitimacy to them also on the Brandon, or on the 
 Dorset marriage. 
 
 But we are now approaching the most important 
 period of the life of Lady Jane, and shall therefore 
 conclude this section with the close of the year 1552 ; 
 at which period she was still under the tuition of the 
 pious Aylmer, improving daily in Christian simplicity 
 and virtue, as in beauty and accomplishments. 
 
192 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Edward's last Illness — Northumberland's Plans — Antiquarian 
 Anecdote of Bridewell — Family of Dudley, Duke of North- 
 umberland — Political Opinions and popular Feelings — Cor- 
 respondence with Cecil — Courtship of Lady Jane and Lord 
 Guildford — Marriage — Courtly Ceremonies and Rejoicings — 
 Family Consequences — Continental and Home Politics in 
 Regard to the Protestant Religion— Mary's Claims and Ex- 
 pectations — Courtly Politics and Will of Edward, confirming 
 the Succession upon Lady Jane — Claims of Margaret, Dowager 
 of Scotland— Death of Edward VI. 
 
 In the early part of the year 1553, the young and de- 
 licate Edward caught a violent cold, which grew rather 
 worse than better ; occasioned, as supposed, by inju- 
 dicious medical* treatment : so that in March, when 
 the new parliament met, they were obliged to go to 
 him at Whitehall, instead of his opening them per- 
 sonally at Westminster. They sat only a month, and 
 having finished a few important things that were 
 brought before them, were dissolved; leaving the 
 Dukes of Suffolk and Northumberland as great in 
 power as they could wish to be, with only one object 
 for their wishes — that of preserving the high authority 
 which they had gained*. 
 
 * It was during this last illness of the youthful monarch that 
 Bridewell was granted for the accommodation of the poor : as 
 
AXD ITER TIMES. if)) 
 
 In the midst of this prosperity the still rapid decline 
 of the king's health seemed, however, to threaten them 
 with some sudden reverse of fortune; for which the 
 penetration and sagacity of Northumberland suggested 
 the plan of altering the succession to the throne : but 
 
 appears from an original letter in the Lansdown Coll. Brit. Mus. 
 No. 3. 28. from the Bishop of London to Sir William Cecil, 
 which begins, " Good Mr. Cecil, I muste be suter unto you, in 
 our M r Christes cause, I beseche you be good unto him. The 
 matter is this, alas, he hathe byne twoo long abrode (as you do 
 knowe) wythout lodginge in the stretes of London, bothe hun- 
 grie, naked, and colde. Now, thankes be unto Allmighty God, 
 the citizens are wyllynge to refresh him, and to greete him bothe 
 meete, drinke, clothyng, and fyreinge, but alas, Syr, they lacke 
 lodging for him, for in some one howse I dare saye they are fainc 
 to lodge the families under one roof. Sir, there is a wide large 
 emptie howse of the kinge's majesties, called Bridewell, that 
 would wonderfullie well serve to lodge Christe in iff he myght 
 finde suche goode frendes in the courte to procure in his cause. 
 Surelie I have suche a good opinion in the kinges majestie that 
 yff Christe had suche faithfulle and trustic freindes that would 
 hartely speake for him, he should undoubtedlie succede at the 
 kinge's majestie's hands. Syr, I have promysed my brethren 
 the citizens in this matter to move you, because I doe take you 
 for one that feareth God, and woulde that Christe should lye 
 no more abrode in the stretes. Ther is a rumor that one goth 
 aboute to buy that howse of the kinge's majestic, in order to 
 pull it downe. Yff ther be any suche thinge, for God's sake 
 speake you in our master's name. I have wrytten unto Mr. 
 Gates more at large yn this matter. I join you with him and 
 all that love and looke for Christe's finall benediction at the 
 latter daie. Iff Mr. Cheake is almost recouvrid, God be blessed. 
 Were he amongst you, I would suerlie make him in this business 
 one of Christe's specyalle advocates, or rather one of his prin- 
 cipal] protectors, and suerlie I would not be sente away. And 
 thus I wishe you in Christe, and well to fare. From my howse 
 
 o 
 
194 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 this he did not think it prudent to bring forward be- 
 fore certain measures should be taken for effectually 
 securing the safety of his own family, by matching 
 into that to which he meant to transfer the crown. 
 Yet Northumberland had still a just foresight of the 
 great hazards to which they must be exposed by so 
 bold a measure; he, therefore, contrived to fortify 
 both houses still more, by other advantageous matches, 
 which, considering his then high and flourishing con- 
 dition, were easily brought about. 
 
 In consonance with this, his three eldest sons were 
 already married; so that his selection of a husband 
 therefore for Lady Jane, fell of course upon his fourth 
 son, the Lord Guildford Dudley, who is described by 
 Heylin, as having the least in him like to his father. 
 
 It must be allowed, that Rowe, in his tragedy of 
 Lady Jane, explains the conduct both of Northumber- 
 land and Suffolk, upon principles more honourable to 
 them than those of mere ambition, in the following 
 scene :— 
 
 Nor. 'Tis all in vain ; heav'n has required its pledge, 
 And he must die. 
 
 at Fulham, this presente Sondaie, beinge the xxix' day of May, 
 
 1553. 
 
 Y rs in Christ, 
 
 Ilic. London. 
 " I pray you suffer the bearer 
 
 herof to talk ii or iii words 
 
 with you in this cause." 
 
AND HER T] M 
 
 Suf. Is there an honest heart 
 That loves our England docs not mourn for Edward ? 
 The genius of our isle is shook with sorrow, 
 Religion melts in ev'ry holy eye. 
 
 Nor. Ay, there, my lord, you touch our heaviest loss ; 
 With him our holy faith is doom'd to suffer; 
 With him our church shall veil her sacred front, 
 Pride, ignorance, and rapine, shall return ; 
 Blind hloody zeal and cruel priestly pow'r 
 Shall scourge the land for ten dark ages more. 
 
 Sir J. Is there no help in all the healing art, 
 No potent juice or drug, to save a life 
 So precious, and prevent a nation's fate ? 
 
 Nor. What has been left untried that art could do ? 
 
 The world, however, not even excluding their own 
 partisans, did not implicitly believe the existence of 
 such generous motives ; much less could a liberal con- 
 ception of their views be expected from their opponents 
 and rivals. 
 
 In the rage of political enmity it was repeatedly as- 
 serted at that period that the Duke of Northumber- 
 land's grandfather had been a base born mechanic ; 
 but the fact is, that his family name was originally 
 Sutton, and his ancestors Barons of Dudley ; whence 
 his grandfather, Sir John Dudley, took his name, 
 being the second son of John, Lord Dudley, who was 
 honoured with the order of the garter, during the wars 
 of the Roses. 
 
 The eldest son of Sir John was the famous, by some 
 called the infamous, Edmund Dudley, whose name is 
 
 o 2 
 
J 
 
 19G LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 generally linked with that of Empson in English history, 
 during the reign of Henry VII. Edmund was born 
 in 1462; was a privy counsellor at twenty -three, and 
 throughout his life engaged in various offices about the 
 court and person of the king. 
 
 Lord Bacon speaks of him as a person in great 
 credit with his country, as well as in high favour with 
 his prince, whom he served in promoting the filling of 
 his coffers, under colour of the law, though with very 
 little respect to the principles of equity and justice. 
 Yet it is extraordinary that, notwithstanding the nu- 
 merous charges against him in history, it is scarcely 
 possible now to ascertain in what specific capacity he 
 was enabled to fleece the public as generally stated ; 
 for there is no proof of his having held the offices of 
 under-sheriff of London, of a puisne judge, or baron 
 of the Exchequer, or attorney or solicitor-general, all 
 of which have been supposed ; it is only certain that 
 he was one of the most distinguished lawyers of the 
 day — a serjeant at law, Speaker of the House of Com- 
 mons, and a privy counsellor. 
 
 He married Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Grey, 
 Viscount Lisle, sister and co-heiress of John, Viscount 
 Lisle ; by whom he had John, afterwards Duke of 
 Northumberland, and father-in-law of Lady Jane 
 Grey, born about 1502; seven years after which, 
 Edmund lost his head, for Henry VII. was scarcely 
 
AND HER TIMES. 197 
 
 dead, when he was sent to the Tower, the clamour of 
 the people being so great, that this step was thought 
 necessary to pacify them. On the 16th of July, 150D, 
 Edmund was arraigned and found guilty of treason 
 at Guildhall, before commissioners appointed for the 
 purpose, being afterwards attainted in parliament in 
 January, 1510 ; and on the 18th of August following, 
 he was beheaded, much against the wishes of the king. 
 But the whole of the attainder was afterwards reversed, 
 on the petition of Edward Guildford, Esq. guardian 
 of his orphan son, and the estates restored ; but they 
 were not very large, according to modern ideas, 
 amounting to no more than eight hundred pounds 
 per annum, and about £ 20,000 in money; and this is 
 but a small sum, even at that day, for a man accused 
 of having robbed both the king and the public, when 
 we recollect that he had inherited a great portion of it 
 from his mother, besides his own fair emoluments and 
 salaries in the exercise of his profession. 
 
 John, afterwards Duke of Northumberland, was 
 born, as we have stated, in 1502 ; and two other sons, 
 y Ambrose and Jerome, some years afterwards. He 
 distinguished himself in early life, attending Brandon, 
 Duke of Suffolk, to France, and attaching himself to 
 Cardinal Wolsey ; besides serving sheriff of Stafford- 
 shire, before his fixing at court, where he became 
 Master of the Horse to Anne of Cleves. His services, 
 both by land and sea, form part of the history of 
 
19«S LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 that reign. He married Jane Guildford, daughter and 
 heir of Sir Edward Guildford, Lord Warden of the 
 Cinque Ports, when he was scarcely of age. 
 
 Several parts of his character, as drawn by Lloyd 
 in his State Worthies, may serve to illustrate the events 
 of this period. That author says, that Dudley's " fa- 
 vour was first purchased by his father's blood, and im- 
 proved by his own cunning. King Henry sacrificed 
 Sir Edmund Dudley to allay the people's rage, and 
 raised his son to appease his ghost ;" adding the ob~ 
 servation, that, " he that disobligeth a multitude, must 
 fall himself; but he that in so doing serveth his king, 
 may advance his posterity ." It is clear, however, that 
 whatever the people's opinion of his father, in Dudley 
 himself they placed great confidence ; for Lloyd asserts, 
 that when he marched against the rebels in Devonshire, 
 and promised them mercy if they would submit, those 
 unhappy persons replied, that " they knew him so ho- 
 nourable, that if he came himself they would embrace 1 '' 
 the offer. 
 
 That he knew how to cajole the great, as well as lie 
 could gain popularity amongst the many, may be well 
 believed from the perusal of the following epistle, to 
 Mr. Secretary (Sir William) Cecil, written about the 
 7th of May, in this year, whilst he was maturing his 
 double plan, for a matrimonial union of the Greys and 
 Dudleys, and for the arrangement of a new line of suc- 
 cession*. 
 
 • Brit. Mus. Lansdown (oil No. 3 
 
a xi) hi:i: TIMES 199 
 
 " I hauc rcceyvcd such lcttres as came in y' packytt, 
 for the wch I hartelie thank y' wishynge, yt myght 
 haue byn so as yre helthe wolde haue pmyttcd you to 
 haue delivered theym yorselfe. Yt was styll sayd here 
 that you had but a of an ague, but now e 
 
 we here to the contrarye, and that you have byn .... 
 or some fytte grevousiy handelyd, for the wch I am 
 ryght sorye, trusting to God the worste ys past, wherof 
 I wolde be as gladde as any man, bothe for your owne 
 comforte and allso for the advancement of the kings 
 waightye affaires. Your companyon dothe beare out 
 the burdeyn with as moche payne as any man can do, 
 so moche ys his good wyll towardes the arms of his 
 master and his contrye, that of a great deale of payne 
 he makith little appearance. Others now haue whos 
 souls you are well acquaynted with all, that nether 
 erneste zeale or consyderacon of tyme can skarslye 
 awake them out of theyr wontyd dreemes, and smoothly 
 wynkithe all care from their hartte, howe urgente or 
 waightye soever our causses ar, wheh things I can so 
 yvill beere, as indede of lat, but for my dutyes to the 
 stat, my harte colde skarslye endure the maner of yt, 
 speciallye in this our most carefull dayes. Well, I do 
 herwith to moche trouble you, and recey vith no plesser 
 wth so often remembrynge theyr forgetfulness, or I 
 sholde saye the carelesnes of others. But now I will re- 
 compfort you with the joyfull compfort which our plies- 
 sicianc hathe thes too or thre mornyugs revyved my 
 
£00 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 spirite with, all which is that our sovraine lorde do the 
 beginne very joyfully to enryche and amende, they 
 haveing no doubte of the shorte recoverye of his high- 
 nes, the rather, he sais, his my tie ys fully bent to folio 
 theyr counsell and advys. And this w th my hartie 
 comendacons I wish your pfytt helthe, from Grene- 
 wych, this vh th of May, 1553. 
 
 Yr assured loving frend, 
 
 Northumberland." 
 
 Even if political objects had been out of the question, 
 the Duke of Suffolk could not have had any objections 
 to a son of Northumberland for his daughter ; for, in- 
 dependent of the gentility, or nobility of the Dudleys*, 
 as it was then termed, the words gentle and noble being 
 considered as nearly if not quite synonymous, the Lord 
 Guildford had an ancient genealogy to boast of by his 
 mothers side; as it appears on her monument in 
 More's chapel, in Chelsea church, that she quartered 
 Mortimer, West, Lord Lawar, Cantilupe, and Grelle. 
 It is evident, indeed, that Suffolk made no objections ; 
 and Rowe states the conference as follows : 
 
 Nor. Your grace's princely daughter, Lady Jane, 
 Is she yet come to court ? 
 
 Stif. Not yet arrived, 
 But with the soonest I expect her here : 
 I know her duty to the dying king, 
 
 * Dudley bore Ok, a lion rampant, double tailed, or queue 
 jburchc, Vert. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 201 
 
 Join'd with my strict commands to hasten hither, 
 Will bring her on the wing. 
 
 Nor. Beseech your grace 
 To speed another messenger to press her ; 
 For on her happy presence all our counsels 
 Depend and take their fate. 
 
 Suf. Upon the instant 
 Your grace shall be obey'd : I go to summon her. 
 
 Though this was certainly, on the part of friends 
 and relatives, a match of ambition ; yet, young as the 
 parties were, it may also have been a match of attach- 
 ment, for the families had for some years been in 
 habits of intimacy. The courtship, however, must 
 have been but short; there was no time for the 
 lover, according to the custom of those days, to ap- 
 proach his sovereign mistress with vows of love, but 
 still not until he softened her heart, and opened the 
 way for his personal addresses, by some sweet madrigal, 
 or romantic panegyric, extolling her beauty, graces, 
 and virtues, above all other women ! 
 
 Nor had the youthful Jane an opportunity of imi- 
 tating the fair damsels of her time ; the custom being, 
 as stated in the old chronicles, for enamoured " maydes 
 and gentilwomen," to give to their favourite swains, as 
 tokens of their love, little handkerchiefs about three or 
 four inches square, wrought round about, often in em- 
 broidery, with a button or tassel at each corner, and 
 a little one in the centre. The finest of these favours 
 were edged with narrow gold lace, or twist ; and then, 
 
202 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 being folded up in four cross folds, so as the middle 
 might be seen, they were worn by the accepted lovers 
 in their hats, or at the breast. 
 
 These favours became at last so much in vogue, that 
 they were sold ready made in the shops in Elizabeth's 
 time, from sixpence to sixteen-pence a piece. 
 
 Tokens were also given by the gentlemen, and ac- 
 cepted by their fair mistresses ; thus described in an 
 old comedy of the time* : 
 
 u Given earings we will wear 
 Bracelets of our lover's hair ; 
 Which they on our arms shall twist, 
 (With our names carved) on our wrists." 
 
 Rowe, in his tragedy, makes the courtship only pre- 
 cede the death of Edward; but there he departed 
 from historical truth for the sake, perhaps, of dra- 
 matic effect. He thus describes the first annunciation 
 of the projected union to Lady Jane, making North- 
 umberland say : 
 
 Meanwhile 1 beg your grace would straight inform 
 Your princely daughter of our resolution : 
 Our common int'rest in that happy tie 
 Demands our swiftest care to see it finish'd. 
 
 Duch. My lord, you have determined well. Lord Guil- 
 ford, 
 Be it your task to speak at large our purpose. 
 Daughter, receive this lord as one whom I, 
 Your father and his own, ordain your husband : 
 
 * Cupid's Revenge. Beau, and Fid. 
 
AND ITER TIMES. 203 
 
 What more concerns our will, and your obedience, 
 We leave you to receive from him at leisure. 
 
 The first interview, after formal introduction, he 
 thus delineates: 
 
 G nil. Hail, princely maid ! who with auspicious beauty 
 Cheer'st ev'ry drooping heart in this sad place, 
 Who like the silver regent of the night 
 Lift'st up thy sacred beams upon the land, 
 To bid the gloom look gay, dispel our horrors, 
 And make us less lament the setting sun. 
 
 Lady J. Yes, Guilford, well dost thou compare my pre- 
 sence 
 To the faint comfort of the waning moon ; 
 Like her cold orb a cheerless gleam I bring. 
 But say, how fares the king ? 
 
 Guil. He lives as yet. 
 But ev'ry moment cuts away a hope, 
 Adds to our fears, and gives the infant saint 
 Great prospect of his op'ning heav'n. 
 
 Lady J. Oh Guilford ! w T hat remains for wretched England 
 When he our guardian angel shall forsake us? 
 
 Guil. I own my heart bleeds inward at the thought, 
 And yet forgive me, thou my native country, 
 Thou land of liberty, thou nurse of heroes, 
 Forgive me, if, in spite of all thy dangers, 
 New springs of pleasure flow within my bosom, 
 When thus 'tis giv'n me to behold those eyes, 
 Thus gaze, and wonder. 
 
 Lady J. Oh, vain flattery ! 
 Lead me to pay my duty to the king, 
 To wet his pale cold hand with these last tears, 
 And share the blessings of his parting breath. 
 
 Guil. Were I like dying Edward, sure a touch 
 Of this dear hand would kindle life anew. 
 
s 
 
 204 LADY JANE GKEY, 
 
 But I obey, I dread that gath'ring frown ; 
 And oh ! whene'er my bosom swells with passion, 
 And my full heart is pain'd with ardent love, 
 T' allow me but to look on you and sigh, 
 Is all the humble joy that Guilford asks. 
 
 That Lord Guildford could not fail to gain the 
 heart of Lady Jane, even if no attachment had pre- 
 viously existed, we may readily believe ; for Grafton, 
 in his chronicle, calls him a very comely tall gentle- 
 man : and not being quite twenty years of age, he was 
 the more likely to interest a girl of sixteen, learned as 
 she was. 
 
 Every thing being settled between the parties, the 
 intended union was disclosed to the youthful monarch ; 
 who is said to have been highly pleased with it, and, 
 though naturally economical, to have been very boun- 
 tiful upon the occasion. 
 
 It is uncertain whether the wedding took place to- 
 wards the latter end of May, or beginning of June ; 
 but the former is generally the received date. Added 
 to which, Grafton, and several of the other early histo- 
 rians, say, that three marriages were celebrated on this 
 day ; the first that of Lady Jane, the second between 
 Lord Herbert, eldest son of the Earl of Pembroke, 
 and Lady Katharine, younger sister of the bride; 
 whilst the third was between Henry, Lord Hastings, 
 eldest son of the Earl of Huntingdon, and Lady 
 Katharine Dudley, the youngest sister of Lord Guild- 
 ford. 
 
AND HER TIMES. SiUO 
 
 The state ceremony with which this marriage was 
 celebrated is much spoken of by the historians of the 
 time : and Strype records, that for the solemnity and 
 splendour the master of the wardrobe had orders to 
 deliver out of the king's wardrobe much rich apparel 
 and jewels, to the Duchesses of Suffolk and Northum- 
 berland, to the Marchioness of Northampton, to Lady 
 Jane herself, and to Lord Guildford Dudley, for wed- 
 ding apparel. These articles, it is curious to observe, 
 were not new, but consisted of tissues, of cloth of gold 
 and silver, &c. the property of the late Duke and 
 Duchess of Somerset, which had been forfeited to the 
 king, on the attainder of that nobleman : a convincing 
 proof of the young king's economy, already alluded 
 to, as well as of his bounty *. 
 
 * It may be amusing, in this place, to ascertain what formed 
 an exact dress suit of a lady of rank in those times ; which ap- 
 pears to be recorded in the following inventory of articles con- 
 tained in " a cofer covered with grene vellet laied on with 
 passemyne lace of golde, and the yron thereof all gilte." — 
 " Item, one paire of sables double unlyned — Item, a corse of 
 white tapheta to put on the said sables — Item, a cappe case of 
 murrey vellet with a hatte of purple vellet embrodered with 
 damaske golde, and garnished w lh sondrie small diamontes, 
 rubies, and p'les — Item, two mufflers of purple vellet likewise 
 embrodered and garnished, one of them furred — Item, one sable 
 skynne with a hedde of golde, conteyninge in it a cloake with 
 a collar of golde enamelled blacke, set with foure diamontes and 
 iiii rubies, and with twoo p'les hanginge at the eares, and two 
 rubies in the eyes, the same skynne havinge also fete of golde, 
 the clawes thereof being saphires, two of them binge broken, and 
 with a diamounte upon the cloake— Item, one other like sable 
 
 ^ 
 
206 LADY JAXE GREY, 
 
 We have not been able to procure any further ac- 
 count of the proceedings on this interesting occasion ; 
 but the general custom was for the bride, attired in a 
 dress highly ornamented with gold and embroidery, 
 with her hair hanging down her back, curiously combed 
 and plaited, to be led to the church " between two 
 sweet boys, with bride laces, and rosemary tied about 
 their silken sleeves." Before the bride was carried a 
 fair bride cup, of silver gilt, " wherein was a goodly 
 branch of rosemary, gilded very fair, and hung about 
 with silken ribbands of all colours ; next there was 
 a noise of musicians, that played all the way before 
 her."" Then followed a train of virgins, some bearing 
 bride-cakes, and others garlands, ornamented with 
 gold ; " and the bride groom finely apparelled, with 
 the young men, followed close behind." 
 
 That such was the precise order of Lady Janets 
 wedding, we cannot vouch ; but such was the custom 
 of the time in proceeding to the altar : then there were 
 scarfs, and gloves, an epithalamium, masques some- 
 times, and all the company bedecked with the bride's 
 colours, in every form and fantasy. 
 
 When this wedding took place, the populace of the 
 metropolis, though very far from being pleased with 
 
 skynne, with a hedde of golde musled, garnished and set with 
 iiii emeralds, foure turquises, vi rubies, two diamountes, and v 
 p'les, with foure fite of golde cchc set with a turquise, the 
 tonge beinge a rubie." 
 
AND HER TIMES. 207 
 
 the exorbitant greatness of the Duke of Northumber- 
 land, yet could not help admiring that beauty and 
 innocence which appeared in Lord Guildford and his 
 lovely bride. At court, too, the rejoicings and general 
 approval were equally marked ; but, as it has been 
 observed, the pomp and splendour attending the cele- 
 bration of these nuptials formed the last gleam of joy 
 that shone in the palace of the youthful Edward, who 
 grew so weak in a few days after, that Northumber- 
 land thought it time to carry his great project into 
 execution ; without which, he saw clearly, that himself 
 and his friends could neither expect to continue long 
 in power, or even security. 
 
 As for the youthful bride herself, whatever her love 
 for her lord, and perhaps her secret satisfaction at 
 being relieved from parental severity, though not an 
 alien from their affections, she no doubt experienced 
 some little regret at the breaking up of her studies, 
 in consequence not only of her marriage, but also of 
 her removal from her family mansion to Durham 
 House, in town, and Sion House, in the country, the 
 residences of the Dudleys : and at the former of which 
 the marriage is stated to have been celebrated. In 
 short, as a contemporary writer observes, she had then 
 to bid adieu to the sweet delights of study, and the 
 improvement of her mind, for the less interesting ob- 
 jects of mere worldly ambition. 
 
 How far our young female readers will agree with 
 
208 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 this, we shall not pretend to say ; but Lady Jane, and 
 we hope they will, when so circumstanced, follow her 
 example, did not allow even marriage to put a stop to 
 her mental progress in improvement ; for it was at this 
 very period that she wrote her third admired letter to 
 Bullinger. She was forced, however, soon to adopt a 
 more active political life, though neither by her own 
 free consent, nor for her own happiness. 
 
 In the early part of June, and very soon after the 
 marriage, Edward's health began rapidly to decline ; 
 so that Northumberland was, in some measure, obliged 
 to hasten his plans, perhaps before they had arrived at 
 their proposed maturity. Indeed, his task was an 
 arduous one ; for he had not only to engage the dying 
 monarch's consent, but also the approbation of the 
 parliament and people. 
 
 With respect to the king, his principal apparent 
 motive was the danger to be feared for the protestant 
 religion, should the succession, as settled by Henry's 
 will, be allowed to take place, seating Mary on the 
 throne. This was attacking the royal youth on a 
 subject near to his heart; and, in fact, the setting 
 aside of Mary from the succession was now a point of 
 most important consideration to all those who wished 
 for freedom of conscience, and for the freedom of Eng- 
 land from all foreign interference : for it is expressly 
 stated, in a paper drawn up by Sir Richard Moryson*, 
 * Brit. Mtts. Harl. Coll. I. 353, 43. 
 
AM) IlEli TIMES. 209 
 
 that the Emperor of Germany had proceeded to very 
 extraordinary lengths, " to procure," as he said, 
 " libertie of conscience for the Lady Marie." 
 
 " The emperor findinge all his pceedings against 
 the Gearmanes much stained by thinges done in Eng- 
 lande, was for no other cause so loathe to fale out w th 
 the French kinge, as that he knew Englande shoulde 
 therby be at greateste reste, and haue a tyme to 
 setle thinges of religion so begune and allredie gone 
 forwarde, that he was in despaire to bringe them backe 
 againe ; yet that men may alwaies knowe, the divell to 
 keepe no hollydayes. ,, — he then proceeds to state how 
 the emperor ordered his " ambassador lidger in Eng- 
 lande to Kinge Edwarde, that the Lady Mary might 
 haue her conscience free, and thinke all lawes made 
 since her fatheres deathe as concernynge religion to 
 touch her no whyt at all." 
 
 This, however, the council chose to oppose; and the 
 youthful monarch, in supporting their determinations, 
 displayed a clearness of judgment, and a strength of 
 mind, honourable to himself, and patriotic towards his 
 country. In regard to this affair, a long memoir was 
 drawn up by Sir Richard Morrison, then ambassador' 
 at the imperial court, " shewing the godly and ver- 
 tuous resolution of Kinge Edwarde y e 6, upon y e em- 
 perour's demaund, to have y e Ladie Mary, y e kinge's 
 suster, to be allowed libertie of her conscience in Eng- 
 lande, Ano. 1553." 
 
 r 
 
210 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 On this occasion, both politics and religion were 
 called in, to persuade the youthful prince to swerve 
 from his resolves : but in vain. Even " two bishopes 
 were sent to pswade him ; they did alledge that there 
 were good kinges in the oulde testamente, that had 
 suffered hill alteres, and yet were praised for good 
 kinges. He aunswered them roundly, that as exam- 
 ples when they are good, and had Gode to allow 
 them, are lefte to us to followe them ; so are eivell exam- 
 ples set out to showe that they were men, and did faile 
 of that pfection which God requirethe in his, to teache 
 us not to be followers of them, but utterlye to warne 
 us in any wyse to shunne them." 
 
 But it was not sufficient for Northumberland's plans 
 that Mary should be set aside ; it was necessary that 
 Elizabeth's claims should also be annulled: and he 
 therefore urged, both to the king and in council, that 
 if Mary was illegitimate, so must Elizabeth be also ; 
 both marriages, of Katharine of Arragon, and Anne 
 Boleyn, having been dissolved. He therefore showed 
 to the king, who was at first unwilling to wrong his sister 
 Elizabeth, that either the will of Henry must be al- 
 lowed to stand good in all respects, thus settling the 
 succession on a Catholic, or else both princesses be set 
 aside ; since what applied to Mary applied equally to 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 With this reasoning the dying monarch was either 
 convinced or overpowered; and when lie observed 
 
AND IIEU TIMES. 211 
 
 that the Duchess of Suffolk would then be the next 
 heir, he was informed that Jady" had consented to de- 
 cline her own right in favour of her eldest daughter, 
 even though she herself was yet young enough to have 
 an increase of family, and might thus have male heirs 
 to claim the crown : which eventual claim, however, as 
 we shall presently see, was to be guarded against and 
 forbidden. 
 
 Now, under all circumstances, the only rational way 
 of guarding against such a claim, even had the people 
 of England consented to the change in the succession, 
 and to the setting aside of Henry's will, would cer- 
 tainly have been for the duchess herself to have filled 
 the throne : but this would have been to elevate Suf- 
 folk, without any immediate chance of supreme, yet 
 concealed, influence for Northumberland ; and accord- 
 ingly the flimsy system of pushing on his daughter-in- 
 law to the crown was adopted. It is strange that a 
 man of his political knowledge could have thus been 
 blinded, by ambition, to the fact that even those who 
 wished, for conscience sake, to set aside Mary, would 
 be unwilling to adopt a plan that might eventually 
 lead to civil wars by the birth of male claimants from 
 the duchess. Yet so it was; at least Northumber- 
 land, if he saw it, was determined to carry his point 
 in the first instance, either by cajolment or by force. 
 
 To state all the steps which he took for that pur- 
 pose is here unnecessary : it is sufficient to record that 
 
 r2 
 
212 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 on the 11th of June, Sir Edward Montague, chief 
 justice of the common pleas, and two of the judges, 
 with the attorney and solicitor-general, were sent for to 
 the council, and required to draw up an assignment of 
 the crown to Lady Jane. 
 
 These judges requested a little time to consider of 
 it ; and at last answered that they could not presume 
 to do any such thing without being guilty of high 
 treason: adding, that all the privy counsellors, who 
 might consent to such a measure, would inevitably 
 incur all the pains and penalties of the act of succes- 
 sion, already detailed in a former section. 
 
 At this plain answer, Northumberland flew into the 
 utmost rage, and exhibited the most uncontrollable 
 fury ; calling Montague a traitor, and threatening the 
 other judges so that, as they afterwards declared, they 
 thought he would have beaten them. They withstood 
 all this for the time, however; but being sent for 
 again on the 15th, they were so wrought upon by 
 Dudley's threats, backed by the promise of a pardon 
 under the great seal, that they consented to draw up 
 the proposed settlement, which was then signed by all 
 the rest of the judges, except Hales, who could not be 
 prevailed on to act contrary to the express statute. 
 
 The will, as it was said, was drawn up by Sir Ed- 
 ward Montague, then lord chief justice of the common 
 pleas, who afterwards endeavoured to justify himself 
 to Mary for so doing. In his defence he throws great 
 
-\\i) ii i: ii times. 218 
 
 blame on the Duke of Northumberland*, whom he 
 describes as using great threats in the council, when 
 some demur took place as to drawing up the new 
 articles of succession, which, it was contended, could 
 not set aside an express act of parliament : but to this 
 objection the young king himself answered, that it 
 was his intention shortly to call a parliament, who 
 should ratify that which he then wished to be done. 
 
 Montague adds, that he himself " was in as great 
 fear as ever he was in all his life before, seeing the king 
 so earnest and sharpe, and the said duke so angry the 
 day before, who ruled the whole councill as it pleased 
 him, and w r ere all afraid of him, (the more is the pitty) 
 so that such cowardnesse and feare was there never 
 seen amongst honourable men, as it hath appeared."" 
 
 The purport of the proposed settlement shall be 
 more fully explained when we come to the royal pro- 
 clamation published in Lady Jane's name : it is suf- 
 ficient here to observe, that in the British Museum -f* 
 there is " a true coppi of y e counterfet wille supposed 
 to be y e laste wille and testament of Kinge Edwarde 
 y c Sixt, forgede and publishede under y e great seale of 
 Englande, by the confederacie of y e Dukes of Suffolke 
 and Northumberlande, on y e behalfe of the Lady 
 Jane, eldest daughter to the said Duke of Suffolke, 
 and testifiede w th y e hands of 101 of y e cheife of the 
 
 * Vide Fuller's Church History, Book viii. 
 r Harl. Coll. No. $6, p. 364. 
 
&14 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 nobilliti, and princepall men of note of this kingdom ; 
 dated y e 21 day of June, an° 1553." 
 
 After the usual exordium, with professions of re- 
 gard for the commonweal, this instrument notices 
 the statute of Henry VIII. regulating the succession 
 to Mary and Elizabeth, in default of Edward and 
 his issue, subject to limitations by letters patent, or by 
 a will of that monarch (Henry) ; then broadly assert- 
 ing the illegitimacy of both these princesses, resting 
 upon the divorces of their respective mothers, it de- 
 clares both of them to be by parliament disabled. 
 It also makes the objection of these princesses 
 being but of the half blood to Edward, though it is 
 evident that their inheritance was from their father, 
 and not from him ; which is followed by another ob- 
 jection in the probability of their marrying with fo- 
 reign princes, " to the utter subversion of the common- 
 wealth.'" 
 
 After this follows a curious assertion, that the 
 daughters of the Duke of Suffolk, the descendants of 
 Mary, youngest sister to Henry VIII. are of the 
 whole blood to Edward by the father's side — an irre- 
 levant plea certainly after the objection to half blood 
 of the superseded princesses — also that they are " na- 
 turall borne here within the realm" — " very honor- 
 ably brought upe and exercised in good and godly 
 learninge, and other noble vertues, so as there is greate 
 truste and hope to be had in them that they be and 
 
AND HER TIMES. 
 
 215 
 
 shalbe very well inclined to the advancement and set- 
 tyng forthe of our comon weltli" — on which consi- 
 derations the will goes on to state, that the dying 
 monarch " doth therefore, upon good deliberation 
 and advise, herein had and taken, &c. &c. by these 
 presents declare, order, assigne, limett, and appoynte, 
 that yf it shall fortune us to decease, having no issue 
 of our body lawefully begotten, that then the said im- 
 periall crowne and realm, &c. &c. shall be unto the 
 eldest sonne of the bodye of the s 1 Lady Frauncis 
 (wife of the Duke of Suffolk and grand-daughter of 
 Henry VIII.), lawefully begotten, being borne into 
 the world in owr lyfe tyme, and to the heires males of 
 the bodye of the said eldest sonne, 11 and so from son 
 to son — in default of whom, then to " the Ladie Jane, 
 eldest daughter of the said Lady Frauncis, &c. &c." 
 then to the other sisters ; and, failing them and their 
 issue, then to the issue of the Lady Eleanore, sister of 
 Lady Frances, &c. with limitations of descent as to 
 priority of sons before daughters, grandsons before 
 grand-daughters, &c. in each line. 
 
 Beyond these, all the issue of the youngest sister of 
 Henry VIII. there were no remainders mentioned; 
 and the prior claim of Margaret, Henry's eldest sister, 
 then queen dowager of Scotland, and married to a 
 second husband, the Earl of Angus, by whom she 
 had the Lady Margaret Douglas, married to the Earl 
 of Lennox, and mother of Lord Darnley, was totally 
 
2)6 
 
 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 forgotten, thus leaving out Mary Queen of Scots, the 
 next claimant, her cousin and future husband, Henry 
 Lord Darnley, and his brothers and sisters. 
 
 The list of subscribing witnesses to this will is too 
 long to be inserted here ; but that the will, as here re- 
 corded, is a correct, though not a lawful one, is proved 
 by annexed certificate to it. 
 
 " This is a true coppie of Edward the Sixte his will 
 takene out of the originall under the great scale, w ch 
 Sir Robart Cottone delivered to the king's ma tie the 
 xij h of Appril, 1611, at Roystorne, to be canseled." 
 
 As to the claim of Margaret, Queen Dowager of 
 Scotland, Henry's eldest sister, being set aside, there 
 was one apparent justification in its having been already 
 negatived by Henry himself, by virtue of that act of 
 parliament which authorised him to regulate the suc- 
 cession by will ; but, as Walpole justly observes, that 
 negative not being founded on natural expedience, it 
 could be of no force, besides its being additionally in- 
 validated by his having, by the same authority, yet in 
 opposition to his own professed principle, settled the 
 crown preferably on his own daughters*. 
 
 Notwithstanding all these considerations, the lords of 
 
 * Such an arrangement, by setting aside Mary of Scotland, 
 would have excluded James I., and, consequently, the present 
 royal family from the throne. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 217 
 
 the council set their hands to the assignment in favour 
 of Lady Jane, with the exception of Cranmer, the pro- 
 testant Archbishop of Canterbury, who was perhaps 
 unwilling to bastardize Elizabeth. Indeed he staid 
 away from the council to avoid it; but the young 
 monarch importuned him so much that, at length, he 
 signed it also: yet his unwillingness in this respect 
 stood him in no stead with Mary afterwards; who, 
 doubtless, knew that it was not his love for her which 
 influenced him. 
 
 Of this affair Fuller gives the following brief sum- 
 mary: " King Edward, tender in years, and weak 
 with sickness, was so practised on by the importunity 
 of others, that, excluding his two sisters, he conveyed 
 the crown to the Ladie Jane, his kinswoman, by that 
 which we may well call the testament of King Edward, 
 and the will of the Duke of Northumberland. Thus, 
 through the pious intents of this prince, wishing well 
 to the reformation ; the religion of Queen Marie, ob- 
 noxious to exception; the ambition of Northumberland, 
 who would do what he listed ; the simplicity of Suf- 
 folk, who would be done with as the other pleased ; 
 the dutifulnesse of the Lady Jane, disposed by her 
 parents ; the fearfulnesse of the judges, not daring to 
 oppose ; and the flattery of the courtiers, most willing 
 to comply, matters were made as sure, as man's policy 
 can make that good which is bad in itself. But the 
 Commons of England, who for many years had conn'd 
 
218 LADY J AXE GREY, 
 
 loyalty by heart, out of the statute of succession, were 
 so perfect in their lesson, that they would not be put 
 out of it by this new started designe ; so that every one 
 proclaimed Mary next heir in their conscience. ,, 
 
 The death of Edward soon followed, not without 
 suspicion of foul play, taking place on the 6th of July, 
 1553 ; an event which is thus detailed by Rowe in his 
 ragedy : 
 
 Lady J. Wo't thou not break, my heart ! — 
 
 Suf. Alas ! what mean'st thou ? 
 
 Guil. Oh speak! 
 
 Duch. How fares the king ? 
 
 Nor. Say, is he dead ? 
 
 Lady J. The saints and angels have him. 
 
 Duch. When I left him 
 He seem'd a little cheer'd. 
 
 Lady J. As I approach'd to kneel and pay my duty, 
 He raised his feeble eyes, and faintly smiling, 
 Are you then come ? he cried ; I only lived 
 To bid farewell to thee, my gentle cousin. 
 With that he prest my hand, and oh ! — he said 
 When I am gone do thou be good to England, 
 Keep to that faith in which we both were bred, 
 And to the end be constant. More I would, 
 But cannot — There his falt'ring spirits fail'd, 
 Then sinking on his pillow, with a sigh 
 He breathed his innocent and faithful soul 
 Into his hands who gave it. 
 
 Nor. Our grief be on his grave. Our present duty 
 Enjoins to see his last commands obey'd. 
 I hold it fit his death be not made known 
 To any but our friends. To-morrow early 
 The council shall assemble at the Tower. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 
 
 219 
 
 The poet then introduces a scene between Lord 
 Guildford and the intended heiress : 
 
 Guil. Good angels minister their comforts to thee ! 
 And oh ! 
 
 I beg thee, I conjure thee, drive away 
 Those murd'rous thoughts of grief that kill thy quiet, 
 Restore thy gentle bosom's native peace, 
 Lift up the light of gladness in thy eyes, 
 And cheer my heaviness with one dear smile. 
 
 Lady J. Yes, Guildford, I will study to forget 
 All that the royal Edward has been to me, 
 My private loss no longer will I mourn, 
 But ev'ry tender thought to thee shall turn; 
 With patience I '11 submit to heav'n's decree, 
 And what I lost in Edward find in thee. 
 But oh ! when I revolve what ruins wait 
 Our sinking altars and the falling state, 
 New sorrow to my lab'ring breast succeeds, 
 And my whole heart for wretched England bleeds. 
 
 Guil. My heart sinks in me at her soft complaining, 
 And ev'ry moving accent that she breathes 
 Resolves my courage, slackens my tough nerves, 
 And melts me down to infancy and tears. 
 
 But the real historical events we must postpone to 
 the next section. 
 
220 
 
 LADY JANE GTiKV, 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 Domestic Arrangements after Nuptials— Sion House — Literary 
 Studies pursued— Events on Edward's Demise — Announce- 
 ment of Dudley's Plans — Lady Jane refuses, but finally ac- 
 cepts the Crown— Mary's Proceedings in Claim of the Suc- 
 cession — Despatches to Ambassadors at Foreign Courts — Lady 
 Jane takes up her Residence in the Tower — Royal Proclama- 
 tion — Observations on ditto — Popular Feelings — Further 
 Diplomacy — Remarkable Letter of Northumberland — Rising 
 in eastern Counties in favour of Mary — Northumberland 
 marches with Troops to oppose them —Anecdotes of Lady 
 Jane — Of the Crown Jewels, &c. — Further Proceedings of 
 her Nine Days' Reign— Duplicity of the Emperor Charles V. 
 — Duplicity of the Council in the Tower — Meeting of the 
 Disaffected at Baynard's Castle — Proclaiming of Mary — Lady 
 Jane deposed — Her Resignation and Fortitude — Declared 
 a State Prisoner — Separation from her Husband — Anecdotes, 
 &c. &c. 
 
 In the interval between the nuptials of Lady Jane 
 and the demise of Edward, the young bride had be- 
 come an inmate with the Dudley family ; a change of 
 domestic residence which, perhaps, took place imme- 
 diately after the ceremony, as that was certainly cele- 
 brated at Durham House, the town mansion of North- 
 umberland. Summer, however, was so far advanced, 
 that the country had superior charms to those of the 
 metropolis; and, accordingly, a few days afterwards, 
 
AND HER TIMES. 221 
 
 the youthful, almost infantine, eouple retired to Sion 
 House, which was then, as now, attached to the title 
 of Northumberland, having been granted to Dudley 
 by Edward VI. about two years previous. 
 
 In this seclusion it is evident that Lady Jane per- 
 mitted neither the cares nor the pleasures of matrimony 
 to put an end to her studies ; for it was from Sion House 
 that she wrote her third letter to Bullinger, preserved 
 in the library at Zurich, as a memorial honourable to 
 the early reformers. 
 
 Nor did she forget her duty or attention to her noble 
 parents, parts of one or two letters to them being still 
 extant, from which we present our readers with the 
 following autograph : 
 
 In that venerable edifice of Sion House, she re- 
 mained, we believe, until the death of Edward, on the 
 6th of July; for the sketch of events given by Rowe 
 in his tragedy, already quoted, does not appear to 
 be confirmed by the historical accounts of the young 
 monarch's last illness. We may, however, give Howe's 
 delineation of the first interview that took place be- 
 tween the fond pair, on Edward's will being an- 
 nounced at their mansion : 
 
222 LADY JANE GIIEV, 
 
 Guil. What shall I say to thee ! what pow'r divine 
 Will teach my tongue to tell thee what I feel,, 
 To pour the transports of my bosom forth, 
 And make thee partner of the joy dwells there ? 
 Oh my fair one ! 
 
 Thy Edward shines amongst the brightest stars, 
 And yet thy sorrows seek him in the grave. 
 
 Lady J. Alas, my dearest lord ! a thousand griefs 
 Beset my anxious heart ; and yet, as if 
 The burthen were too little, I have added 
 The weight of all thy cares, and, like the miser, 
 Increase of wealth has made me but more wretched. 
 I tremble, and my anxious heart is pain'd 
 Lest aught but good should happen to my Guildford. 
 
 Guil. Nothing but good can happen to thy Guildford 
 While thou art by his side, his better angel, 
 His blessing and his guard. 
 
 Lady J. Why came we hither ? 
 
 Guil. To thee, my princess, 
 Whose royal veins are rich in Henry's blood, 
 With one consent the noblest heads are bow'd ; 
 From thee they ask a sanction to their counsels, 
 And from thy healing hand expect a cure 
 For England's loss in Edward. 
 
 Lady J. How ! from me ! 
 Alas ! my lord — But sure thou mean'st to mock me ? 
 
 Guil. No, by the love my faithful heart is full of ! 
 But see, thy mother, gracious Suffolk, comes 
 To intercept my story : she shall tell thee, 
 For in her look I read the lab'ring thought, 
 What vast event thy fate is now disclosing. 
 
 The poet then describes the duchess as thus ad- 
 dressing her amiable daughter : 
 
 Duch. No more complain, indulge thy tears no more, 
 Thy pious grief has giv'n the grave its due ; 
 Make room to entertain the coming glory ! 
 
AND HER TIMES. 223 
 
 For majesty and purple greatness court thee, 
 Homage and low subjection wait : a crown, 
 A crown, my daughter, England's crown, attends 
 To bind thy brows with its imperial wreath. 
 
 Lady J. Amazement chills my veins ! What says my 
 mother ? 
 
 Duch. 'Tis heav'n's decree : for our expiring Edward, 
 When now just struggling to his native skies, 
 Ev'n on the verge of heav'n, in sight of angels 
 That hover'd round to waft him to the stars, 
 Ev'n then declared my Jane for his successor. 
 
 Lady J. Could Edward do this ? could the dying saint 
 Bequeath his crown to me ? Oh fatal bounty ! 
 To me ! but 'tis impossible ! 
 
 Duch. But see, thy father 
 Northumberland, with all the council, come 
 To pay their vow'd allegiance at thy feet, 
 To kneel and call thee queen. 
 
 Lady J. Support me, Guildford ; 
 Give me thy aid ; stay thou my fainting soul, 
 And help me to repress this growing danger. 
 
 But we have not any historical authority to assume 
 that the Duchess of Suffolk was the first to announce 
 the proposed change of fortune : nay, there is reason 
 to believe that even she was unacquainted with the 
 measures which had been carried in council. Besides 
 which it seems, as stated by Mr. Nichols, in his Lei- 
 cestershire, and indeed confirmed by concurrent testi- 
 mony, that Lady Jane was, to the moment of open 
 avowal, if not wholly, yet in a great measure, ignorant 
 of all the transactions which had prepared her way to 
 the throne : for it is recorded that it was with equal 
 grief and surprise she received intelligence of them. It 
 
224 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 is well and elegantly said, that her heart, full of passion 
 for literature and the elegant arts, and of tenderness 
 towards her husband, who was deserving of her affec- 
 tion, had never opened itself to the flattering allurements 
 of ambition ; and the information of her advancement 
 to the throne was by no means agreeable to her. 
 
 The real fact, indeed, seems to be, that on the death 
 of the king, the Duke of Northumberland went to 
 Sion House, accompanied by the Duke of Suffolk, the 
 Earl of Pembroke, and others of the nobility, and ap- 
 proached the Lady Jane with all the respect usually 
 paid to the sovereign. 
 
 At this first interview she even refused to accept of 
 the crown ; pleaded the preferable right of her cousins 
 Mary and Elizabeth, and expressed the strongest de- 
 sire to remain in that rank of society in which she was 
 born, rather than encounter the consequences attendant 
 on an enterprise so dangerous, and even criminal. But 
 she had been educated in strict obedience, so that the 
 entreaties of her father, added to those of Northumber- 
 land, were as commands : it is said, indeed, that these 
 entreaties had greater force with her than any reasons 
 that were offered ; nor would she perhaps have even 
 yielded to them, had the tempters not assailed her in 
 another way, gaining over to their cause the Lord 
 Guildford Dudley; who, dazzled by so brilliant a 
 destiny, was prevailed on to add the accents of love to 
 the wiles of ambition — beyond this, female fortitude 
 
AXD ITER TIMES 285 
 
 could not he expected to go, and she at length relin- 
 quished her own judgment, suhmitting to the will of 
 her relatives and friends. 
 
 We have also seen it more particularly stated, by 
 an author nearly cotemporary, that on this interesting 
 interview the Duke of Suffolk, with much solemnity, 
 explained to her the disposition which the deceased 
 monarch had made of the crown in her favour, the 
 clear sense which the privy council had of her right, 
 and the consent of the magistrates and citizens of Lon- 
 don. All this he enforced most strongly ; and it was 
 no sooner done than both he and Northumberland fell 
 upon their knees, and paid their duty to her as Queen 
 of England. The whole scene produced in Lady Jane 
 the greatest astonishment; she soon, however, reco- 
 vered her self-possession, and is said to have answered, 
 not only to the following tenor, but as nearly as possible 
 in the following words. She first declared, that " the 
 laws of the kingdom, and natural right, standing for 
 the king's sisters, she would beware of burthening her 
 weak conscience with a yoke which did belong to them ; 
 that she understood the infamy of those who had per- 
 mitted the violation of right to gain a sceptre; and 
 that it was to mock God and deride justice to scruple 
 at the stealing of a shilling, and not at the usurpation 
 of a crown. Besides, 11 she added, " I am not so young, 
 nor so little read in the guiles of fortune, to suffer my- 
 self to be taken by them. If she enrich any, it is but 
 
 Q 
 
226 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 to make them the subject of her spoil ; if she raise 
 others, it is but to pleasure herself with their ruins ; 
 what she adorned but yesterday, is to-day her pastime : 
 and if I now permit her to adorn and crown me, I 
 must to-morrow suffer her to crush and tear me to 
 pieces. Nay, with what crown does she present me ? 
 a crown which hath been violently and shamefully 
 wrested from Katharine of Arragon, made more un- 
 fortunate by the punishment of Anne Boleyn, and 
 others that wore it after her ; and why then would you 
 have me add my blood to theirs, and be the third vic- 
 tim from whom this fatal crown may be ravished, with 
 the head that wears it ? But even in case that it should 
 not prove fatal unto me, and that all its venom were 
 consumed, if fortune should give me warranties of her 
 constancy, should I be well advised to take upon me 
 these thorns, which would not fail to torment me, 
 though I were assured not to be strangled with it? 
 My liberty is better than the chain you offer me, with 
 what precious stones soever it be adorned, or of what 
 gold soever framed. I will not exchange my peace for 
 honourable and precious jealousies, for magnificent and 
 glorious fetters : and if you love me sincerely and in 
 good earnest, you will rather wish me a secure and 
 quiet fortune though mean, than an exalted condition 
 exposed to the wind, and followed by some dismal 
 feJL" 
 
 The whole of this scene, as painted by the poet, is 
 
AND HER TIMES. 227 
 
 so admirable, though not absolutely correct as matter 
 of history, that apology for its insertion must be totally 
 unnecessary. 
 
 Nor. Hail, sacred princess ! sprung from ancient kings, 
 Our England's dearest hope, undoubted offspring 
 Of York and Lancaster's united line, 
 Hail, royal Jane ! behold we bend our knees, 
 The pledge of homage and thy land's obedience ; 
 With humblest duty thus we kneel, and own thee 
 Our liege, our sov'reign lady, and our queen. 
 
 Lady J. Oh rise ! 
 My father, rise ! 
 And you my father too ! 
 Rise all, nor cover me with this confusion. 
 What means this mock, this masking show of greatness ? 
 Why do ye hang these pageant glories on me, 
 And dress me up in honours not my own ?. 
 
 Nor. The daughters of our late great master Henry 
 Stand both by law excluded from succession. 
 To make all firm, 
 
 And fix a power unquestion'd in your hand, 
 Edward by will bequeathed his crown to you, 
 And the concurring lords in council met 
 Have ratify 'd the gift. 
 
 Lady J. Are crowns and empire 
 Trifles of such light moment to be left 
 Like some rich toy, 
 
 The pledge of parting friends ? Can kings do thus, 
 And give away a people for a legacy ? 
 
 Nor. Forgive me, princely lady, if my wonder 
 Seizes each sense, each faculty of mind, 
 To see the utmost wish the great can form, 
 A crown, thus coldly met ; a crown which, slighted 
 And left in scorn by you, shall soon be sought, 
 And find a joyful wearer, one perhaps 
 Of blood unkindred to your royal house, 
 And fix its glories in another line. 
 
228 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 Lady J. Where art thou now, thou partner of my cares ? 
 
 Guil. See, by thy side thy faithful Guildford stands, 
 Prepared to keep distress and danger from thee, 
 To wear thy sacred cause upon his sword, 
 And war against the world in thy defence. 
 
 Nor. Oh! 
 Methinks I see you seated on the throne, 
 Assembled senates wait with awful dread 
 To firm your high commands and make 'em fate. 
 
 Lady J. You turn to view the painted side of royalty, 
 And cover all the cares that lurk beneath. 
 Is it to be a queen to sit aloft 
 In solemn dull uncomfortable state, 
 The flatter'd idol of a servile court ? 
 Is it to draw a pompous train along, 
 A pageant for the wond'ring crowd to gaze at ? 
 Alas, Northumberland ! — my father ! — is it not 
 To live a life of care, and when I die 
 Have more to answer for before my Judge 
 Than any of my subjects ? 
 
 Suf. Behold, we stand upon the brink of ruin, 
 And only thou canst save us. Persecution, 
 The fiend of Rome and hell, prepares her tortures ; 
 See where she comes in Mary's priestly train ! 
 Still wo't thou doubt, till thou behold her stalk 
 Red with the blood of martyrs, and wide wasting 
 O'er England's bosom ? 
 
 Guil. Amidst that ruin 
 Think thou behold'st thy Guildford's head laid low, 
 Bloody and pale 
 
 Lady J. Oh ! spare the dreadful image ! 
 
 Guil. Oh ! would the misery be bounded there, 
 My life were little ; but the rage of Rome 
 Demands whole hecatombs, a land of victims. 
 Mary shall by her kindred Spain be taught 
 To bend our necks beneath a brazen yoke, 
 And rule o'er wretches with an iron sceptre. 
 
 Lady J. Avert that judgment, heaven ! 
 
AND II KR TIMES. 22J 
 
 Whatc'er thy providence allots for me, 
 In mercy spare my country. 
 
 Qu.il. Oh, my queen ! 
 Does not thy great, thy generous heart relent 
 To think this land, for liberty so famed, 
 Shall have her towery front at once laid low, 
 And robb'd of all its glory ? 
 
 Lady J. Yes, my loved lord, my soul is moved like thine 
 At every danger which invades our England ; 
 My cold heart kindles at the great occasion, 
 And could be more than man in her defence : 
 But where is my commission to redress ? 
 Or whence my power to save? Can Edward's will, 
 Or twenty met in council, make a queen ? 
 Can you, my lords, give me the power to canvass 
 A doubtful title with king Henry's daughters ? 
 Where are the reverend sages of the law 
 To guide me with their wisdoms, and point out 
 The paths which right and justice bid me tread ? 
 
 Nor. The judges all attend, and will at leisure 
 Resolve you every scruple. 
 
 Lady J. They expound ; 
 But where are those, my lord, that make the law ? 
 Where are the ancient honours of the realm, 
 The nobles with the mitred fathers joined ? 
 The wealthy commons solemnly assembled ? 
 Where is that voice of a consenting people 
 To pledge the universal faith with mine, 
 And call me justly queen ? 
 
 Guil. Our foes, already 
 High in their hopes, devote us all to death : 
 Haste then and save us, while 'tis given to save 
 Your country, your religion. 
 
 Nor. Save your friends ! 
 
 Suf. Your father! 
 
 Duch. Mother! 
 
 Guil. Husband! 
 
 Lady J. Take me, crown mc, 
 
230 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 Invest me with this royal wretchedness; 
 Let me not know one happy minute more ; 
 Let all my sleepless nights be spent in care, 
 My days be vex'd with tumults and alarms ; 
 If only I can save you, if my fate 
 Has mark'd me out to be the public victim, 
 I take the lot with joy. Yes, I will die 
 For that eternal truth my faith is fix'd on, 
 And that dear native land which gave me birth. 
 
 Guil. Wake every tuneful instrument to tell it, 
 And let the trumpet's sprightly note proclaim 
 My Jane is England's queen ! 
 Thy name shall echo through the rescued isle, 
 And reach applauding heaven ! 
 
 Lady J. Oh Guildford ! what do we give up for glory ? 
 For glory ! that 's a toy I would not purchase, 
 An idle empty bubble : but for England ! 
 What must we lose for that ! Since then my fate 
 Has forced this hard exchange upon my will, 
 Let gracious heaven allow me one request : 
 For that blest peace in which I once did dwell, 
 All that I ask is, though my fortune frown, 
 And bury me beneath this fatal crown, 
 Let that one good be added to my doom, 
 To save this land from tyranny and Rome. 
 
 That Lady Jane was by no means ambitious of her 
 royal dignity is confirmed by Dr. Fuller, who says, 
 that when proclaimed Queen of England, she lifted not 
 up the least finger to put the diadem upon herself; 
 but was only contented to sit still, whilst others en- 
 deavoured to crown her; or rather, was so far from 
 biting at the bait of sovereignty, that unwillingly she 
 opened her mouth to receive it. Much too, it must 
 be supposed, was owing to the influence of her hus- 
 
AXI) HER TIMES. 231 
 
 band, yet a bridegroom, and the honeymoon scarcely 
 over; and it is a curious fact, corroborative of this, 
 that the young Lord Guildford, in right of his mar- 
 riage, actually assumed the title of " King." This 
 appears from a note * " that the king (Queen Jane's 
 husband) had written to the regent of the Lowe Coun- 
 tries, signifying to her Mr. Chamberlayne's revocation, 
 (i e. Sir Thomas Chamberlayne's) and desiring her, 
 in all his affayres, to give audience and full credit to 
 Sir Philip Hoby." 
 
 The friends of Mary, about the court, and even in 
 the confidence of Northumberland and Suffolk, did 
 not permit her to remain long ignorant of those pro- 
 ceedings. Mary herself, during part of Edward's 
 illness, was at Hunsdon in Hertfordshire ; but, having 
 got intelligence of the new arrangement of the succes- 
 sion, she paid no attention to the invitation which was 
 sent to her to come to court to see her expiring bro- 
 ther, being pretty well convinced that the invitation 
 was nothing more than a trick on the part of the con- 
 spirators to get possession of her person for state pur- 
 poses. Accordingly she set off, two days before the 
 royal demise, for Kenninghall in Norfolk ; from whence 
 she proceeded to Framlingham Castle, in the vicinity 
 of the coast, intending to escape by sea, if necessary : 
 and her extreme haste and anxiety may be judged 
 * Brit. Mus. Harl. Coll. No. 523, p. 13. 
 
~32 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 from the fact, that upon this flight, in one day, she rode 
 forty miles. 
 
 The intelligence of Edward's death did not reach 
 her until the 8th ; but it did not find her inclined to 
 idleness in the assertion of her rights ; for on that day, 
 as appears by an original letter* she wrote to Sir 
 George Somersall and others, announcing the import- 
 ant news, and commanding them to repair to her, as 
 their queen, at the manor of Kenninghall; whither she 
 meant to return from Framlingham, provided she 
 found the nobility, gentry, and the people at large, 
 willing to embrace her cause. 
 
 In the mean time Lady Jane's friends were not idle; 
 though it is evident, as several historians assert, that 
 they were so little prepared for the event, so very soon 
 after the king's consent to the new settlement, that 
 they wished to keep his death secret for some days : a 
 fact which completely does away any suspicion of foul 
 play, as has been more than once charged upon North- 
 umberland ; added to which, we may state, that it was 
 not until the 8th of July that Jane made any open 
 exercise of the regal power, which she then did by the 
 appointment of the Lord Clinton as constable of the 
 Tower. Nor was it until four days after the royal 
 demise, that the friends of the youthful queen ventured 
 to proclaim her; in the cabinet, however, they were 
 * Lansdown Coll. No. 1236, 19. 
 
AND 11 Ell TIMES. 233 
 
 busily occupied ; and as the hopes of Mary and of her 
 friends rested much upon the protection and even as- 
 sistance of the Emperor Charles V. it may be both im- 
 portant and interesting to record the proceedings of the 
 partizans of Lady Jane in that quarter, which we can 
 do by a copy of the first despatch to the English am- 
 bassadors at the imperial court, written on the 8th of 
 July *, to the following purport : 
 
 " After our verie hartye comendacones wee muste 
 neede be sorye to write that which comethe bothe from 
 us and soothe to you with such extreame sorowe as the 
 lyke never passid under thes our hands, but suche is 
 the almyghty will of God in all hys creatures, that his 
 order in tyme may not be by us resysted. In one 
 worde, wee muste telle you a great heape of infelycitye; 
 God hath called out of this world our sovereigne lorde 
 the 6 l of this month towards nyghte, whose manere of 
 deathe was suche towards God as assurethe us that his 
 soule is in place of eternall joye. The desease whearof 
 he dyed was off the putrefactyon of the lunges, beyng 
 utterly uncurable. Of this evill, for the importaunce 
 wee advertise you, knowing it to have moste comforte 
 to have byne therof ignorante. And the same yee may 
 take tyme to declare to the emperor as from us, which 
 knowing assuredly that his majesty will sorowe and 
 condole with us for the departure and loss of a prince 
 * Brit. Mus. Cotton. Galba. B. xii. 249. 
 
234 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 of that excellence, and so deare a brother and frende, 
 not doubtinge but his majestie will have in remem- 
 brance the auntiente amytie that hath byne alwayes 
 betwixte their auncestores, for consyderacyon whearof 
 yee shall assure him that ther shall not bee any thinge 
 lackinge on our pte, but alwayes redynes to observe 
 and maintayne the same. And so we wishe to us all 
 the comforte of Gods Spirite in all adversetyes. The 
 Counselle to Sir Phillipe Hobby ." 
 
 On the 9th of July, Mary wrote to the council, won- 
 dering that in so long a time after her brother's death, 
 no information had been sent to her, especially since 
 she was by all law and right to succeed him ; a mea- 
 sure of good policy, but of which, at present, no notice 
 was taken : the council, or at least Lady Jane's friends 
 in it, being busily engaged ; for it was not until the 9th 
 that all the superior officers of the guard, &c. then at 
 Greenwich, took the oaths of allegiance to the new 
 queen. On the same day Ridley, then Bishop of Lon- 
 don, preached a sermon at Paul's Cross, in which he 
 expatiated at considerable length on the danger which 
 would have resulted to the nation and to the protestant 
 religion, had Mary been allowed to succeed to the 
 throne. 
 
 Ridley was indeed active in the cause — more active 
 than Cranmer ; yet the latter was certainly a member 
 of Queen Jane's council, though he had opposed the 
 
AND HER TIMES. 335 
 
 new settlement — perhaps out of affection towards 
 Elizabeth, and regard for his own character and con- 
 sistence with respect to Katharine's divorce, and Eliza- 
 beth's legitimacy, now called in question. 
 
 On the 10th of July, in the morning, Mary's letters 
 came to the council, claiming the crown and their al- 
 legiance, a circumstance which seems to have hastened 
 the measures of Lady Jane's friends ; for it was not 
 until that day that she openly took upon herself the 
 royal state and government of the kingdom. 
 
 It was then usual for the kings of England, after 
 their accession, to pass the first days of their reign in 
 the Tower; and thither it was determined that the 
 new sovereign should proceed from Sion House, where 
 she still remained. On their way, however, the caval- 
 cade made some stay at Durham House, and from 
 thence departed for that fortress, not through the city, 
 but by water. Between four and five o'clock in the 
 afternoon of that day she made her entry into the 
 Tower, accompanied by a numerous cavalcade of the 
 nobility of both sexes. It has already been noticed as 
 an extraordinary fact, that her mother, the Duchess of 
 Suffolk, should have given up a prior claim to the 
 crown in favour of a daughter ; but it was now even 
 more remarkable that a woman of her pride, and a 
 mother of her severity, should actually have con- 
 descended, with the assistance of several other ladies 
 of high rank, to bear up that daughter's train. 
 
236 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 The salutes of ordnance from the Tower batteries, 
 on this occasion, are described as greater than ever 
 had been heard before. 
 
 Scarcely had the youthful queen assumed her state 
 in the Tower, when a proclamation was issued; and 
 by six o^clock two heralds, with a trumpet, announced 
 the same to the people, claiming their allegiance ; first 
 in Cheapside, and afterwards in Fleet-street. 
 
 This proclamation is highly curious*, whether as 
 referring to Lady Jane, or as matter of history, and 
 commenced with the following exordium, which fully 
 settles the dates of the foregoing events as related, 
 
 " Jane, by the grace of God, Queen of Englande, 
 Fraunce, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith and of the 
 Church of England, and also of Ireland, under Christ 
 on earth the supreme head. To all our loving, faith- 
 full, and obedients, and to every of them, greeting. 
 Wherefas] our most dear cousin Edward the Sixth, 
 late King of England, Fraunce, and Ireland, De- 
 fender of the Faith, and on earth the supreme head 
 under Christ of the Church of England and Ireland, 
 by his letters patents, signed with his own hand, and 
 sealed with his great seal of England, bearing date the 
 21st day of June, in the 7th year of his reigne, in the 
 presence of the most part of his nobles, his counsellors, 
 judges, and divers other grave and sage personages, 
 * Brit. Mus. Lansdown, 198. 
 
AND Hl'.U TIMES. 
 
 5237 
 
 for the profit and surity of the whole realmc thereto 
 assenting, and subscribing their names to the same, 
 hath by the same his letters patents resited that," &c. 
 
 This document then notices the various state reasons 
 for the maintenance of order, and goes on to announce, 
 that " * For as much as the imperiall crowne of this 
 realme, by an acte made in the xxxv yeare off the 
 reigne off the late kinge of worthy memory, Kinge 
 Henrye the VIII. our progenitor and great uncle, for 
 lacke off issue off his bodye lawfully begott, and for 
 lacke off issue off the bodye off our sayd late cosyn 
 Kinge Edwarde the VI. h by the same acte limited and 
 appoynted to remayne to the Lady Marye, by the 
 name of the Lady Marye, his eldest daughter, and to 
 the heires of her body lawfully begott, and for the de- 
 faulte of suche issue the remander therof to the Ladye 
 Elisabeth, by the name of the Ladye Elisabeth, his 
 second daughter, and to the heires of her body law- 
 fully begotten, with suche condicions as should be limited 
 and appointed by the sayd late kinge of worthy me- 
 mory, Kinge Henry the Eight, our progenitour and 
 great uncle, by his letters patents under the greate seale, 
 or by his last wille in writinge, signed with his hand. 
 And, forasmuch as the sayed limitacion of the imperiall 
 crowne of this realme, being limited as is aforesayed to 
 the sayed Lady Mary and Lady Elisabeth being ille- 
 * Brit. Mus. Cotton. Dul. F. vi. 194.. 
 
238 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 gitimate, and not lawfully begotten, for that the mar- 
 riage had betweene the sayd late kinge, Kinge Henry 
 the VIII., our progenitour and great uncle, and the 
 Lady Katherine, mother to the sayd Lady Mary ; and 
 also the marriage had betweene the sayd late kinge, 
 Kinge Henry VIII., our progenitour and great uncle, 
 and the Lady Anna, mother to the sayd Lady Elisa- 
 beth, were clearly and lawfully undone by sentences of 
 devorces, according to the word of God, and the eccle- 
 siastical lawes, and which sayd severall devorcements 
 haue been severally ratified and confirmed by authority 
 off parliament, and especially in the xxxiii yeare of 
 the reigne off Kinge Henry the VIII., our progenitour 
 and great uncle, remaininge in force, strength, and 
 effect, wherby as well the sayd Lady Mary, as also the 
 sayd Lady Elisabeth, to all intents and purposes, are, 
 and been thearby disabled to aske, claime, or chalenge 
 the said imperiall crowne, or any other off the honours, 
 castels, manoures, lordshipps, lands, tenements, or 
 other heridetaments, as heire or heires to our sayd late 
 cosin Kinge Edwarde the VI., or as heire or heires to 
 any other person or psons whosoever, as well for the 
 cause before rehearsed, as also for that the sayd 
 Lady Mary and Elisabeth were unto our sayd late 
 cosin but of the halfe bloud, and therfore by the aun- 
 cient lawes, statutes, and customes of this realmc be 
 not inheritable unto our sayd late cosin, although they 
 had been borne in lawefull matrimony, as indeede they 
 
AND HER TIMES. 239 
 
 were not, as by the sayd sentences of devorce, and the 
 sayd statute off the xxviii yeare off' the reigne off our 
 Kinge Henrie the VIII. our sayd progenitoure and 
 great uncle, plainly appereth ; and forasmuche also as 
 it is to be thought, or at the least muste be doubted 
 that iff the sayd Lady Mary or Lady Elisabeth 
 shoude herafter haue and injoye the sayd imperiall 
 crown of this realme, and shoulde happe to marry with 
 any strainger borne out off this realme, that the sayed 
 strainger havinge the government and the imperiall 
 crowne in his hands would adhere and practise, not 
 only to bringe this noble free realme into the tyrannic 
 and servitude of the Bishopp off Rome, but also to 
 haue the lawyes and customes of his or their owne 
 natiue countrye or countryes, to be practised and put 
 in use within this realme*, rather than the lawes, sta- 
 tutes, and customes here of long time used, wherupon 
 the title of inheritance of all and singular the subjects 
 of this realme do depend, to the peril of conscience, 
 and the utter subversion of the common weele of this 
 realme. Wherupon our said late dere cosin, weighing 
 and considering with himself what waies and meanes 
 were most convenient to be had for the stay of the said 
 succession in the said imperial crowne, if it should 
 please God to call our said late cosin out of this transi- 
 
 * The first of this proclamation is preserved as spelt in the 
 original; the remainder is copied from No. 198, of the Lans- 
 clown MSS. in the British Museum. 
 
£40 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 tory life, having no issue of his body, and calling to 
 his remembrance that we and the Lady Katherine and 
 the Lady Marie, our sisters, being the daughters of 
 the Lady Fraunces, our natural mother, and then and 
 yet wife to our natural and most loving father, Henrie 
 Duke of Suffolk, and the Lady Margaret, daughter of 
 the Lady Elienore then decsd. sister to the said Lady 
 Fraunces, and the late wife of our cosin Henrie, Erie 
 of Cumberland, were very nigh of his grace's bloud, 
 of the part of his father's side, our said progenitoure 
 and great uncle, and being naturallie born here within 
 the realme, and for the very good opinion our said late 
 cosin had of our, and our said sisters and cosin Mar- 
 garet's good education, did therfore upon good de- 
 liberation and advise hearein had and taken, by his 
 said letters patents declare, order, assign, limit, and 
 appoint, that if it should fortune himself, our said late 
 cosin King Edward the 6th to deceese, having no issue 
 of his body lawfullie bigotten, that then the said im- 
 periall crowne of England and Ireland, and the confines 
 of the same, and his title to the crowne of the realme 
 of Fraunce, and all and singular honours, castles, pre- 
 rogatives, priviledges, preleminaries, authorities, juris- 
 dictions, dominions, possessions, and hereditaments, to 
 our said late cosin, King Edward the 6th, or to the 
 said imperiall crowne belonging, or in any wise apper- 
 taining, should, for lack of such issue of his body re- 
 main, come and be unto the eldest sonne of the body of 
 
AND HEK TIMES. 
 
 .^41 
 
 the said Lady Fraimces lawfullie begotten, and so from 
 sonne to sonne, as he should be of auncientye in birth, 
 of the body of the said Lady Fraunces lawfully be- 
 gotten, being born into the world in our said late 
 cosin's lifetime, and to the heires males of the body of 
 every such sonne lawfullie begotten : and for default 
 of such sonne borne into the world in his lifetime, of 
 the body of the said Lady Fraunces, lawfullie be- 
 gotten, and for lack of heires males of every such sonne 
 lawfullie begotten, that then the said imperiall crowne, 
 and all and singular other the premisses should remain, 
 come, and be to us, by the name of the Lady Jane, 
 eldest daughter of the said Lady Fraunces, and to the 
 heires male of our body lawfully begotten, that then 
 the said imperial crowne, and all other the premisses, 
 should remaine, come, and be to the said Lady Ka- 
 therine, our said second sister, and to the heires males 
 of the body of the said Lady Katherine lawfully be- 
 gotten, with divers other remainders, as by the same 
 letters patents more plainly at large it may and doth 
 appear. Sithens the making of which letters patents, 
 that is to say, on Thursday, which was the sixt day of 
 this instant month of July, it hath pleased God to call 
 to his infinite mercy our said most dere and entirely 
 beloved cosin Edward the 6th, whose soul God pardon, 
 and forasmuch as he is now deceased, having no heires 
 of his body begotten, and that also there remaineth at 
 this present time no heires lawfully begotten of the 
 
242 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 body of our said progeiiitour and great uncle, King 
 Henrie theight, and forasmuch also as the said Lady 
 Fraunces, our said mother, had no issue male begotten 
 of her body, and born into the world in the lifetime 
 of our said cosin King Edward the Sixth, so as the said 
 imperiall crowne, and other the premisses to the same 
 belonging, or in anywise appertaining, now be, and 
 remaine to us in our actual and royal possession, by 
 auctority of the said letters patents : Wee do therefore, 
 by these presents, signify unto all our most loving, 
 faithfull, and obedient subjects, that like as we for our 
 part shall, by God's grace, shew ourselves a most 
 gracious and benigne soveraigne queene, and lady 
 to all our good subjects, in all their just and law- 
 full sutes and causes, and to the uttermost of our power 
 shall preserve and maintaine Goddes most holy word, 
 christian polity, and the good lawes, customs, and 
 Unties of these our realms and dominions ; so we mis- 
 trust not, but they and every of them, will again, for 
 their partes, at all times and in all cases, shew them- 
 selves unto us their natural liege queene and ladv, 
 most faithfull, loving, and obedient subjects, according 
 to their bounden duties and allegiaunces, whereby they 
 shall please God, and do the thing that shall tend to 
 their own preservations and sureties : willing and com- 
 manding all men of all estates, degrees, and conditions 
 to see our peace and accord kept, and to be obedient 
 to our lawes, as they tender our favour, and will an- 
 
AND HER TIMES. 
 
 243 
 
 swer for the contrary at their extreme perils. In wit- 
 ness wherof we have caused these our letters to be 
 made patents. Witness ourself at our Towre of Lon- 
 don, this tenth day of Julie, in the first yere of our 
 reign e. 
 
 " God saue the Queene." 
 
 If the objects of Jane^ friends had merely been the 
 support of the reformed religion, the probability of 
 success, as to setting Mary aside, would have been 
 much greater, if they had offered the crown to Eliza- 
 beth, than to their own nearer relative. 
 
 But if the Duchess of Suffolk had then borne a 
 son, it is also more than probable that Northumberland 
 would never have thought of aggrandizing that line, 
 except indeed that he could thus have matched a 
 daughter into the Grey family. At all events, it is 
 evident, that the charge of illegitimacy against Mary 
 and Elizabeth came with a very ill grace from the par- 
 tizans of the Lady Jane ; for, as Walpole fairly ob- 
 serves, Charles Brandon, father of the Duchess of Suf- 
 folk, had married one woman while contracted to an- 
 other, but was divorced to fulfil his promise ; and the 
 repudiated wife was living when he married Mary 
 Queen of France, by whom he had the Duchess. But 
 even if the first marriage of Brandon should be legally 
 deemed null, still no such plea could be made in fa- 
 vour of his daughter the Duchess Frances herself; for 
 
244 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 Henry, Duke of Suffolk, the father of Lady Jane, 
 was actually married to the sister of the Earl of Arun- 
 del, whom he divorced, without the least grounds, to 
 make room for his] marriage with the Lady Frances*. 
 But after all, as the civilians of that day did not im- 
 pugn the marriage, we must consider that the previous 
 divorce was consonant both to canon and to statute 
 law. 
 
 We find it recorded in Strype that there seemed no 
 opposition nor murmuring against this proclamation, 
 when thus made, except that a young man, a vintner's 
 apprentice, had the boldness to speak some few words 
 in favour of the Lady Mary's true right and title, for 
 which he was immediately taken up, and the next day, 
 at eight o'clock in the morning, set on the pillory, and 
 had both his ears cut off. During this punishment an 
 herald was present and a trumpet blowing ; and when 
 it was over, the offender was taken down, and recom- 
 mitted to the Compter prison. 
 
 Hollinshed, speaking of this event, thinks it not be- 
 neath the dignity of history to record that the culprit's 
 name was Gilbert Pot, drawer to Ninioil Sanders, 
 
 * We have already recorded that the legitimacy of Brandon's 
 marriage was substantiated in one of Elizabeth's parliaments ; 
 but the point as to Dorset has never been positively cleared up. 
 It is not now of any great consequence, as the heirs of Henry's 
 eldest sister Margaret are too numerous for any chance of his 
 sister Mary's heirs claiming the throne of England. Mary's claims 
 are now vested in the present Marchioness of Buckingham. 
 
AN J) UK ft TIMES. 245 
 
 vintner, dwelling at St. John's Head, within Ludgate. 
 He adds, that he was accused by his said master, and 
 then says, that about five o'clock of the same day, in 
 the afternoon, Ninion Sanders, and John Owen, a 
 gunner, coming from the Tower by water in a wherry, 
 and shooting London-bridge, towards the Blackfriars, 
 were drowned at St. Mary Locke, and the wherrymen 
 saved by their oars. 
 
 But we must not omit what is said by Bishop God- 
 win, who, in his history of this period, speaks with 
 great apparent candour, and seems worthy of credit. 
 He describes Lady Jane as about sixteen, not un- 
 handsome, learned beyond imagination, of a most acute 
 wit, and for prudence, even at that age, superior to her 
 sex ; extremely pious ; devoted to the reformed faith ; 
 and so far from aspiring to the honour conferred on 
 her, that she took the regalia with tears ; so that it 
 plainly appeared she was compelled to ascend the 
 throne by the importunities of her parents and friends, 
 directly contrary to her own inclinations. But, he adds, 
 that when she passed through the city to the Tower, 
 she was not saluted with any acclamations, though vast 
 crowds flocked about her, drawn rather, it seemed, to 
 gratify their curiosity than to express their joy; and 
 this, he says, was the first omen which encouraged 
 Mary's friends to the resolution of making some at- 
 tempt in her behalf, when a proper occasion should 
 offer. For, though they were awed from any imme- 
 
246 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 diate motion by the presence of the Duke of North- 
 umberland, whom he designates a man of the sharpest 
 discernment and deepest politics, yet they hoped, if 
 they could by any means hereafter get him to a di- 
 stance, they might then be able to effect something 
 favourable. 
 
 When Queen Jane arrived at the Tower, all the 
 lords of the council, and other state officers, were or- 
 dered to attend her in the fortress ; a measure of double 
 policy — not only showing to the people the assent of 
 the higher classes, but also securing the latter in some 
 measure as prisoners, leaving them no apparent alter- 
 native but to obey the will of Northumberland *. 
 
 On the following day, the 11th of July, the lords of 
 the council wrote to the commissioners, then in Flan- 
 ders negotiating the treaty of peace, a copy of which 
 despatch is in the British Museum, and is highly illus- 
 trative of the politics of this short and unhappy usurpa- 
 tion ; for such it certainly was, however possible that it 
 might have finally been sanctioned by the nation as to the 
 exclusion of Mary, in regard to the protestant religion. 
 
 * Though the new queen had, according to ancient custom, 
 and perhaps from present policy, taken up her abode in the 
 Tower ; yet she began, even now, to prepare for a change of re- 
 sidence, appointing Sir Ambrose Dudley, K. G., to be keeper of 
 her palace at Westminster ; to whom there is an order extant, 
 of this day's date, for twenty yards of velvet, twenty-five ells of 
 Holland cloth, and thirty and three-quarters ells of coarser cloth : 
 a degree of exactness which marks the simple, nay, penurious, 
 manners of the times. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 247 
 
 But it must not be forgotten, that Elizabeth was a 
 Protestant, though her heir apparent, Mary of Scot- 
 land, was a Catholic. But even in default of Mary of 
 Scotland, there was another and a prior claim to that 
 of Lady Jane, the claim of Margaret, Countess of 
 Lennox, daughter of Margaret, eldest sister of Henry 
 VIII., together with her issue. 
 
 Had not those prior and protestant claims existed, 
 the nation might have had more reason to regret the 
 fatal issue of the ambitious policy of Suffolk and 
 North umberland. 
 
 The despatch alluded to says, " After our harty 
 commendacions, ye shall learne by this bearere, Mr. 
 Shelley e, and by suche letters as ye shall receave from 
 the queenes highnes, our soveraigne ladye Queene 
 Janne, which coppy of suche letteres ar hir, ye ar 
 sendythe to the emperoure, what ys the cause of thys 
 message nowe sent to you, and what yt is that ys now 
 to be done by you theare ; first, the signify cacion of our 
 soverayne lord's death; next, the possession of the 
 queene's highnes in the crowne of thys realm ; thirdlie, 
 the placynge of you Sir Phillip Hobbye, knight, as 
 ambassadoure theare resident ; fourthlie and laste, the 
 offer for your remayning theare to proceed yn the 
 treatie of the peace, yff it shall soe lyke the emperoure. 
 Furthermore, ye shall understand that although the 
 Lady Marye hathe byne written unto from us to re- 
 mayne quiete, yet neverthelesse wee see hir not so 
 
248 LADY JAKE GREY, 
 
 waye the matter that yff she myghte she wuld di- 
 sturbe the state of this reelme, havinge thereunto as 
 yet no maner apparaunt of helpe or comforte but onlie 
 the connizaunce of a fewe lordes and base people : all 
 other the nobyllytye and gentylmen remaynynge in 
 theyr dutyes to our soveraigne ladye Queene Jane. 
 And yet, nevertheless, because the condyssiones of the 
 basser soarte of people is understood to be unruly yff 
 they be not governyd and kept in ordere, thearfore for 
 the meetyng with all events, the Duke of Northum- 
 berlande's grace, accompanyed with the Lorde Marquis 
 of Northampton, proceedeth with a convenient power 
 into the partyes of Norfolke, to keepe thos countryes 
 in stay and obedyence, and because the emperors am- 
 bassadores heare remaynynge shall on this mattere of 
 the pollecie not intermedle, as it is very lykly they will 
 and doe dyspose themselves, the Lord Cobham and 
 Sir John Masone repairethe to the same ambassadores, 
 to give them notice of the Ladye Maryes proceedynge 
 againste the state of this realme, and to put them in 
 remembrance of the nature of theyre office, which is 
 notte to medle in theis causes of pollecie, nether directly 
 nor indirectly, and soe to charge them to use themselves 
 as they give noe occasione of unkyndnes to be mynestred 
 unto them, whereass wee wold be moste sorrye for the 
 amitie, which one our parte, wee meane to conserve 
 and maintaine. And for that grace the ambassadores 
 her shall advertise thether what is said to them. Ye 
 
AND HER TIMES. 249 
 
 shal therefore declare to the Emperore bothe the cause 
 of this message to his ambassadores, and what the verie 
 message is, usynge it in suche soarte as thearby as the 
 amy tie may beste bee preserved. The xi th of July, 
 1553. The Counselle to the Comissioneres." 
 
 This official document was followed up, on the en- 
 suing day, by royal instructions to the commissioners, 
 as letters of credence, which also deserve notice here ; 
 and to which we prefix a fac-simile of her sign manual. 
 
 " Trusty and well beloved, — Wee greete you well. 
 It hath so pleased God of his providence, by the call- 
 inge of our most deare cossine, of famos memory > Kinge 
 Edward the VI th , out of this life, to our very natural 
 sorrowe, that we be bothe by our sM cossenes lawfull 
 determination in his lifetime, with the assente of the 
 nobillytye and state of thys our realme, and also as hys 
 lawfulle heir and successore in the whole blode royelle, 
 possessed of this our realme of England and Ireland. 
 Wherfore wee have presently sente to our goode bro- 
 there the emperore this present bearrer hearoff, our 
 trusty servant Mr. Richard Shelley, with lettres of 
 recommendation and credence from us, therby signify- 
 inge unto hym as well the sorowfulle dcathc of our sM 
 
250 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 cossene the king, as also our successyone in the crowne 
 of this realme, motioninge unto our good brother the 
 continuance in suche amitie and league as our s'd cos- 
 sene and predecessore had with him ; for which purpos 
 wee have furthermore signified by our sayd letteres, not 
 only our ordres that you, Sir Phillipe Hobby, shal 
 theare remayne and reste with our s'd good brother 
 the emperor, as oure ambassadore residente, prayynge 
 him to give you credite appertaynyne to suche an office, 
 but also that for the lyke zelle and desire wee have to 
 the wealle of Christendome, as our s^d cossene Kinge 
 Edward hadd, wherin we doe count to follow his steppes, 
 wee have given order that ye, the wholl number of our 
 ambassador es shal theare remayne to contynewe to dwell 
 in the former comyssyon which ye had from oure aun- 
 cestore the kinge, yff it shall pleyse our s'd good bro- 
 ther, the coppy of which our lettres wee send to you 
 hearwith, for your more ample understandynge of our 
 determinacion, which considered and pondered, wee 
 wolde yee made y e moste speedy coursse to our sM good 
 brother, and in order to execute the matteres contayned 
 in the sayd letteres of y re parte to be declared — firste, 
 the signifycacon of the deathe of our sayd auncestore 
 and cossene the kinge, whearofF as wee by nature 
 muste take greate griefFe, soe wee doubte not but our 
 sayd good brother will for frendshyppe and greate 
 amytie sorrowe and condole with us ; next, that you, 
 Sir Phillipe Hobby, have cxpresse ordere thear to re- 
 
AND HER TIMES. 251 
 
 side and attend uppon our good brother as our myne- 
 ster for the contynuance and the entertaynemente of 
 the intelygence and nrme amytie heretofore had and 
 concluded betwixte our sayd auncestore and cossene 
 the kinge and our sayd good brother, the maintenaunce 
 whearoff wee with the assente of our nobillitye and 
 counselle doe muche dessire, and for our pte will not 
 faile but confirme and maintaine the same. In thirde, 
 yee shall shewe to our sayd good brother, that as wee 
 doe by God's good providence succeede to our sayd 
 auncestore and cossene King Edwarde the VI th in this 
 our crowne and dominiones, so do wee also fynde in 
 our harte and mynde the very e dissente and inheritaunce 
 of his most Chrystyane devotyone and affectyon to 
 the comonwealle of Chrystendome, which movethe us, 
 with the advice of our nobyllitye and counselle, to offere 
 to our sayd good brothere the ministry and office of 
 you cur ambassadores, to remayne theare and pceed in 
 the former comyssyon for the consylyacon of some good 
 peace betwixte our s'd good brothere and the Frenche 
 king, wherin wee reffere our good purpos and meaninge 
 to the mynde and contentacon of our s'd good brothere. 
 This donne, whatsoever our good brother shall aun- 
 swere, ye maye thearunto replye as ye thynke expe- 
 diente, tendinge to the contynuance of our auncestores' 
 amytie, with an addition that yee forthwithe reporte 
 unto us. For the reste of the proceeding hearofT, ye 
 
252 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 shal understand by the bearer, to whom we wold ye 
 shold give credit. Given undere our signate, at our 
 Towere of London, xij th of July, 1553," 
 
 Such was the foreign state policy of the new reign ; 
 but the general tenor of the despatch manifests con- 
 siderable doubt as existing in Northumberland's mind 
 in regard to the emperor's future proceedings. At 
 home too he must have felt great doubt and mistrust ; 
 he was very active, however, not only in the council 
 but in the closet, and exerted himself to gain over the 
 distant nobility to his fair daughter's cause. A speci- 
 men of this may be found in the following copy of the 
 rough draft of an address, in his own hand-writing, 
 which we give, as nearly in a fac-simile manner as pos- 
 sible, with all its interlineations and erasures, marking 
 thereby more strongly the actual state of feeling in his 
 mind at the moment. The original itself, which is in 
 a state of excellent preservation, is a most interesting 
 document, carrying back the eye and mind, as it were 
 by enchantment, over so many centuries. 
 
 " Ryght trusty and ryght well beloved Counslrs, — 
 Wee grete you well, and desyr the same, that wheras 
 yt hathe pleased (Almighty" — interlined) " God to 
 call to his mercy out of this lyfe our dearest cousyn 
 the kyng yur late soveryn lorde. By reson wherof, 
 
AND HER TIMES. 253 
 
 and such ordynanceys as the sayd late kyngc dyde 
 establysh in hys lyfe tyme, for the securitie and wel- 
 fare of thys realme, we are enteryd into our ryghtful 
 possessyon of thys kingdome, as by the (last will of 
 our sayd derest cosin our late auncestor, and other" — 
 interlined) " severall instruments to that effect, signed 
 with his owne hande, and sealyd with the greate seale 
 of this realm (England" — obliterated) " in his owne 
 presence, and the nobles of this realm for the most pte, 
 and all our counsell and judges, with the .... and all 
 .... of the ryte of landes and suche other .... use- 
 ages of this our realm of England — have allso sub- 
 scrybed theyr names, as by the same will and testament 
 it may now evydently and doey the apere ; now ther- 
 fore do you understand that by the .... and suffer- 
 ance of the heavenly Lorde, and by the assent and 
 consent of the sayd nobles and counsellors, and others 
 before signifyed, wee do this day make our entry into 
 our Towere of London as ryghtfull quene of this 
 realm, and have accordingly sett forthe our proclama- 
 tion to all our loving subiects, givyng theym therby to 
 understand the same as theyr dutye of aledgaunce 
 which they now of ryght owe unto us, as most amply 
 shall be shewn herafter, nothing doubtinge, ryght 
 trusty and well beloved counslr, but that you wyll en- 
 deavour yrselfe in all things to the uttermost of your 
 power, not only to defend for our use, but allso assist 
 
254 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 us in our ryghtfull possessyon of this kingdome, and to 
 disturbe, repel, and resyste, die fayned and untrew 
 clay me of die Lady Mary, bastard daughter to our 
 grate uncle Henry the Eight, of famous memory. 
 Wherin as you shall, and that w 4 to your hous d truthe 
 and duty aptayneth, so shall we quitt and shew unto 
 you and yours accordingly, At our mansion of " 
 
 As no place of residence was here named, it is pro- 
 bable that a removal to Westminster was in contem- 
 plation, provided any general expression of the public 
 feeling should sanction it, and render the enforced de- 
 tention, for such it was, of the council in the Tower no 
 longer necessary. But no such feeling did manifest 
 itself; and as early as the 12th of July, perhaps the day 
 previous, as appears from the despatch to Sir P. Hoby 
 already given, news was brought that the counties of 
 Norfolk and Suffolk had declared in favour of Mary ; 
 when Northumberland and his friends determined upon 
 raising forces with all possible speed, that they might sur- 
 prise Mary, and bring her to town a prisoner. To ac- 
 complish this the Duke of Suffolk, it has been stated, was 
 to have taken the command ; but Bishop Godwin, who 
 certainly must have known the fact, asserts, that those 
 in the council, at the Tower, who privately favoured 
 Mary, influenced Lady Jane to keep her father near 
 her, and to send Northumberland on the expedition, 
 
AND HER TIMES. 255 
 
 urging to her that he, having so lately reduced the 
 Norfolk rebels, under Ket, would do more by the ter- 
 ror of his name, than the other could by his arms or 
 counsel, or any other way ; they also pointed out to 
 her, that her own father was the most proper guardian 
 for a daughter ; and as to any doubts of the city, they 
 added, that her council were at hand to govern it witli 
 their usual wisdom and fidelity. 
 
 Influenced by these reasons, Lady Jane, we are told, 
 pleaded the same to Northumberland; but she had 
 considerable difficulty to persuade him to the measure, 
 as he foresaw the probability that his presence must be 
 much more important'' in town than in the proposed 
 expedition. He was, however, finally persuaded ; and 
 on the 13th of July marched out of London with an 
 army of six thousand men, preparations having been 
 previously made to array the forces ; in furtherance of 
 which, on the night of the 12th three carts were sent 
 to the Tower, which were there laden with ordnance 
 of all kinds, consisting of great guns and small, bows, 
 bills, spears, morice pikes, arrows, gunpowder, victuals, 
 tents, gunstones, &c. — a species of military preparation, 
 but most certainly which, in quality and in extent, ap- 
 pears almost ludicrous at the present day. 
 
 As Northumberland was marching through the city, 
 he turned to the Lord Grey de Wilton, who was with 
 him, and desired him to observe the crowds that 
 pressed to see their march ; " Yet," said he, " in all 
 
%56 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 this multitude, my lord, you do not hear one wish us 
 prosperity.'" 
 
 Hollinshed, speaking of this transaction, says, that 
 Northumberland was persuaded to the measure " by 
 the speciall means of the Ladie Jane his daughter; 
 who, taking the matter heavilie, with weeping teares, 
 made request to the whole councell that hir father 
 might tarrie at home in hir companies He adds, that 
 after the council had urged various reasons to North- 
 umberland — " finallie, said they, this is the short and 
 the long, the quene will in no wise graunt that hir 
 father shall take it upon him" — " then went the coun- 
 cell in to the Ladie Jane, and told hir of their con- 
 clusion, who humbly thanked the duke for reserving 
 hir father at home ,, — a favour which he certainly 
 granted her in opposition to his better judgment. 
 
 Indeed Northumberland seems to have had great 
 suspicions of the fidelity of the Londoners from the 
 very first ; for no sooner had Lady Jane been pro- 
 claimed, as we have before noticed, than the lord ad- 
 miral, Lord Clinton, was made constable of the Tower, 
 who instantly mounted guns, all ready for service, 
 upon all the bastions and batteries. 
 
 Yet Jane herself so far got the better of her fears as 
 to exercise several of the personal rights belonging to 
 her assumed station; for it appears, that on the 12th 
 of July she received from the Marquess of Winchester, 
 then lord treasurer of the household, various of the 
 
AND HE II TIMES. ^ i 
 
 crown jewels, pieces of gold and silver, some cash, 
 Iwoks, and even some articles for her wardrobe *. 
 
 If a little personal vanity should have entered into 
 this arrangement, though it was certainly in opposition 
 to her previously declared feelings and opinions, some 
 excuse may liberally be made on the plea of extreme 
 youth: besides urging the possible influence of her 
 husband : for, as we shall presently see, Lord Guild- 
 ford also received various things from the lord treasurer. 
 
 * But, unwilling as Lady Jane was to usurp the crown, and 
 with the moderation and good sense which she possessed, it is 
 not probahle that the trappings of royalty had any particular 
 charms for her; though she was obliged to assume that state 
 which she coveted not, and to avail herself of the crown jewels 
 for that purpose. It may serve to mark the manners of those 
 times, if we here insert a list of the articles which were two days 
 afterwards delivered to her, as specified in the original order : — 
 " a fyshe of golde, being a toothe pyk ; a like pendent, having 
 one great perle, and iii litle perles at it : one dewbery of gold ; 
 a colet with v perles, and a counterfit stone : a newte of silver 
 white ; a tablet with a white saphire and a blewe, and ballesse 
 and a perle pendaunt ; a tablet of golde, hanged by a chaine, 
 with a Sainct Jones hcade, and viii flots perles ; a tablet of a 
 picture of our Ladieof Piti in a blew stone ; a paire of beads of 
 white purslayn, with viii gawdes of golde : viii gawdes of golde, 
 and a tassel of Venice golde ; beads of golde crymery worke ; 
 buttons of gold of crymery worke ; six pursses hangers of silver 
 and gilt ; v small agathes, with stars graven on them ; perles in 
 rondels of gold between pivots of perles, pipes of golde ; a paire 
 of brasselets of flagon, chayne with jacinths ; buttons of golde 
 crymery worke, in every button six perles ; xxx small turkesis 
 little worthe ; xiiii table diamaunts set in collets of golde : an 
 abillyament of goldismithes worke ; another abillyament, with 
 xii table diamaunts set in golde; xliii damaskin buttons; a 
 cloake of damasked worke, booke fashun." 
 
258 lady jaxe giey, 
 
 Great anxiety was now felt by Jane's council for the 
 success of their diplomatic application at the imperial 
 court, where, indeed, they had very little chance of 
 success, as appears from the double line of policy 
 which the emperor's ministers were evidently pursuing. 
 To illustrate this we shall introduce a letter, which, on 
 the 15th of July, the commissioners in Flanders wrote 
 to the privy council, to the following effect : 
 
 " Pleesythe it your good lorshippes. The xiiij h of 
 this presente, Don Diego found me Sir Phillipe Hobby 
 ^ and me Sir Richard Morysone, walkyne in our hostes 
 gardene, and at his first eomynge to us enterid into a 
 longe talke howe much he was bounde to owe his good 
 wille and service to Englande, and therfor he could 
 not but at one time both sorrowe with us for the losse 
 of our good old mastere, a prince of such vertuc and 
 towardnesse, and also rejoyse with us that cur master, 
 which is departed, did, ere he wente, provid us of a 
 kynge, in regard wee had so much cause to rejovsc 
 in ; he made his excuse that he had come to us the 
 daye before, layenge the staye therof in De Arras, for, 
 said he, when I told him I wolde come to you, and 
 shewe me a ptaker of both your sorrowes and gladnes, 
 with mynde to offer to the kinges majestic bv vou both 
 of as muche service as could lye in mee, and of as 
 muche as my frends and kynsmen were able to doe in 
 case De Arras did thinke suchc mv office would not 
 
AX1) HER TIMES. 259 
 
 offend the emperor my master ; De Arras advyse was 
 that I shold for a seeson differe my going unto you, 
 which as I did somwate againste my will, so I and 
 mine were very glad that so I dide, for he tellethe mce 
 no we I may come to you and sorrowe with you, and 
 rejoice with you, and make all the offeres that I canne 
 to the kyng^s majestie, for I shall not only not offend 
 him in so doinge, but I shall muche please his majestie 
 therwith. And therfor saithe hee do I and sorye that 
 you lose so good a kynge, so doe much I rejoyse that 
 ye haue so noble and so towarde a prince to succeede 
 him, and I promyse ye, by the worde of a gentleman, 
 I wolde at all tymes serve his highnesse my selfe^ and 
 as many as I shall be able to bringe with me, yff the 
 emperor did calle me to serve him. We sayd we had 
 hitherto reseaved the sorrowefulle newese, but the 
 glad tydyns wear not as yet come unto us by no let- 
 teres. Wee weare glad to heare this muche, and wishe 
 that we weare able to telle him all ho we thinges went 
 at home. Saythe hee, I cane telle you thus muche. 
 The kyng's majestie, for discharge of his consyence, 
 writ a good peece of his testamente with his ownc 
 hande, barrynge bothe his systeres of the crowne, and 
 leavynge it to the Lady Jane, neere to the French 
 Queene. Whether the two daughteres be bastarde or 
 noe, or whie it is done, wee that be straungeres haue 
 nothinge to doe with the mattere. You are bounde to 
 obaye and serve his majestic, and therefor it is rccsone 
 
260 LADY J AXE GREY, 
 
 we take him for your king, whom the consente of the 
 nobles of your countrie haue declared for your kinge 
 (and say th he), for my pte off all others am bounde to 
 be glade that his mjstie is sette in this offyce. I was 
 his godfather, and wold as willingly spend my blood in 
 his service as any subjecte that he hathe, as long as I 
 shall see the emperor, my master, so willing to embrace 
 mjties amy tie. Don Francisson de Este, general 1 of 
 all the footmen Itallyanes is gone to his charge in 
 mylland, who, at his departure, made the lyke offere, as 
 long as his mastere and owres shold be frendes, which he 
 trusted should be ever ; praynge us at our returne to 
 uttere it to the kinges majesty, and thus will humbly 
 take our leave of your honores. From the comis- 
 syoneres att Bruxelles, the xv h of July, 1553, to the 
 counsell." 
 
 This was followed up, two days afterwards, by a 
 similar despatch : 
 
 " Pleese it your lordshippes, the xvi th of this month, 
 wee declared to the emperor our hevie and sorrowful !c 
 newes, ettynge forthe, after that, your lordshippes 
 assurede good willes and redynes att all tvmes to ob- 
 serve and maintayne the amytyes which hathe beene 
 all wayes betwixte the realme of Englande and this 
 off Burgundy, and other the emperor's domvnvonos 
 accord ynge to your lordshippes pleasures, sygnifyed 
 
AND UEB TIMES. Q.61 
 
 unto us in yours of the 9" day of this present month, 
 for aunswere wheerunto the emperor sayd that he was 
 rvghte sorie, for his pte, of this hevie newes, whearby 
 he greved the losse of suche a brother and so goode a 
 frcnde, bothe to him and to his contryes, and con- 
 syderynge that he was of such a greete towardness, 
 and of such a hope to doe good, and bee a staye to 
 chrystendome, his losse was so muche the greatere; 
 and usid in this behalfe many good wordes to our late 
 soveraigne lordes commendacones and declaracons of 
 his grefe for his deathe, and touchinge (saythe he) the 
 amy tie whiche hathe byne betwixte me and my late 
 good brothre our country es and subjectes, as I haue 
 alwayes had good will to the observaunce off the same, 
 according to such treatyes as weere betwixte us, so 
 nowe understanding by you, my lordes off the coun- 
 sells good inclinacone and mynde to entertayne and 
 observe this amitye for corespondence of bothe, nowe 
 haue and shall haue lyke good wille to keepe and con- 
 tynue the same, and I thanke them for makynge mee 
 to understande theyr good wille hearin, with compli- 
 ment off many other good wordes to this purpose, so 
 that as farre as wee could perceave by his wordes, he 
 myndethe, assuredlye to keepe amytie with us ; yet to 
 disypher him better herin, it wear not amyse in our 
 oppvnyoncs, when as your lordshippes shall advertis 
 him, either with some newc league, or to tempte him 
 
£62 LADY JAKE GREY, 
 
 what he will saye to the olde, or by some other meanes 
 which your wisdomes can better devyse. From the 
 comyssyoners with the emperor, the IT' off July, 1553, 
 to the counsell." 
 
 Whilst this scene of diplomatic duplicity was acting 
 on the continent, the ruling party at home were using 
 all means in their power to work upon the populace ; 
 for which purpose, on the 16th of July, another ser- 
 mon was preached, at St. Paul's Cross, in favour of the 
 ^> new reign, by Mr. Rogers, the learned reader of tjiat 
 cathedral ; but he is stated to hare been more circum^ 
 spect in his observations respecting Mary, and her 
 alleged illegitimacy, than Bishop Ridley had been on 
 the preceding Sunday. This, however, availed him 
 but little afterwards ; for he was one of Mary's victims 
 at the stake, during her short but persecuting sway. 
 
 Considerable lukewarmness was also manifesting itself 
 among the council, and suspicion seems already to have 
 been at work ; as Hollinshed relates, that in the course 
 of the day, the Lord Treasurer having left the Tower 
 to go to his house in London, the gates of that fortress 
 were shut at seven o'clock in the evening, in a sudden 
 manner, and the keys carried to Lady Jane,' " which 
 was for feare of some packing in the Lord Treasurer ; 
 but hee was fetched again to the Tower, about tweluc 
 of the clocke in the night." That he was not a staunch 
 
 
AND HER TIMES. 263 
 
 friend to the cause was indeed surmised, and not un- 
 
 jusilv, as his subsequent conduct proved: but he was 
 not the only secret enemy of the youthful usurper ; for 
 the unhappy Jane began now to feel the sorrows of a 
 crown ; the spirit of discord already working powerfully 
 amongst her council, in consequence of reports made 
 by the Marquess of Winchester, the Lord Treasurer, 
 that the people in general were for Mary, that many of 
 the nobility, who were at liberty, had joined her, and 
 that the hopes of Northumberland's success were already 
 extremely doubtful. 
 
 Letters also arrived this day from Northumberland 
 himself, in which he complained that the council had 
 not sent the promised reinforcements; which had so 
 much discouraged his own troops, that they already 
 began to dwindle away very fast. 
 
 These letters w r ere likewise very pressing for further 
 succours, and consequently were at once laid before 
 ^he council ; but the members were busily engaged in 
 consulting their own safety, and in contriving how to 
 get out of the Tower, in which they were still, in some 
 measure, prisoners : and it was not in the eastern coun- 
 ties alone that Mary was acknowledged ; for in Buck- 
 inghamshire, numbers of the people were up in arms. 
 To quiet them, it was resolved by the council to send 
 troops under the Earls of Pembroke and Arundel; 
 but this seems to have been merely a stratagem to blind 
 Suffolk, whilst so many of Mary's friends were in his 
 
£64 LADY JANE CKEY, 
 
 power ; for both the.se earls were the warmest friends 
 of Mary, as they clearly manifested the very first mo- 
 ment at which they felt themselves at liberty to declare 
 their sentiments. 
 
 Under the impression of their friendship, however, 
 both Jane and her father were induced, on the 18th of 
 July, to send off the following despatch. 
 
 " To our trustie and well beloved Sir John Bridges 
 
 O 
 
 and Sir Nicholas Poyntz, Knyghts. 
 
 " Jane the Quene. 
 
 " Trusty and welbeloved wee grete you well, be- 
 cause we doubt not but this our most law r full possession 
 of the crowne w'-' the free eonsente of the nobilitie of 
 our realm, and other the states of the same as bothe 
 playnly knowne and accepted of you, as our most 
 loving subjects, therfore we do not reiterate the same, but 
 now most earnestly will and require^ and by authoritie 
 herof warraunt yo u to assemble, muster, and levie all 
 the powre that you can possible make, either of yo' 
 servants, tenants, officers, or freends, as wel horsmen 
 as footmen, reparing to o r right trusty and right wel- 
 beloved cousins, the Erls of Arundell and Pembroke*, 
 theyr tenants, servants, and officers, and with the same 
 to repayre with all possible speed towards Buckingham- 
 
 * In the margin is a note — " The- these earls at the time wca 
 plotting against her." 
 
AND HER TIMES. !i()o 
 
 shire, for the repression and subduing of certain tu- 
 mults and rebellions moved there against us and our 
 crowne by certain seditious men. For the repression 
 wherof we have given orders to divers others our good 
 subiects, and gentlemen of such degree as you are, to 
 repaire in like manner to the same parties. So as we 
 nothing doubt but upon the accesse of suche our loving 
 subiects as be appointed for that purpose to the place 
 wher this seditious people yet remayne, the same shall 
 either lake harte to abyde in their malitious purpose or 
 else receyve such punishment and execution as they 
 deserve, seking the destruction of their native countrie 
 and the subversion of all men in their degrees, by re- 
 bellion of the base multitude, whos rage being stirred, 
 as of late yeres hath byn seen, must nedes be the con- 
 fusion of thole comon weale. Wherfor o r spiall trust 
 is in yo r courage, wisedome, and fidelities in this mater, 
 to advaunce yo r selfs bothe w h poure and speed to this 
 enterprize, in such sorte as by y e nobilitie and counsaill 
 shalbe also prescribed unto you. And for the susten- 
 tation of yo r chardge in this behalf, o r said counsaill, 
 by our said comaundement, do further give order to 
 your satisfaction, as by their leres also shall appere 
 unto yo\ And beside that, we do assure you of our 
 speciall consideracyon of this yo r service to us and our 
 crown, as expresly to the pservacon of this our realmc 
 and commonwealth. Geven under our signet at the 
 
$66 LADY .TANK CiltEY, 
 
 Toure of London, the xviii th day of July, the first 
 yeare of our reign." 
 
 After Northumberland had set off to seize upon 
 Mary's person, an accident, as Godwin describes it, 
 took place, which proved of very great advantage to 
 the affairs of that princess. The friends of Lady 
 Jane, fearing Mary's escape by sea, had ordered six 
 men of war to cruise off the coast in the North sea to 
 intercept her, if necessary. By stress of weather these 
 ships were forced into Yarmouth roads, at the very 
 juncture whilst a levy was raising there in Mary's fa- 
 vour. The seamen and soldiers on board the squadron 
 were soon prevailed upon, partly by threats and partly 
 by promises, to mutiny, and to deliver up the ships to 
 Sir Henry Jerningham, one of Mary's officers, which 
 thus furnished her with men, ammunition, and a 
 train of artillery, and she resolved at once to march 
 against Northumberland's forces, which were speedily 
 forced to retreat. When the news came to town, it 
 excited great alarm in the minds of the council ; and 
 Mary's friends at court, being now grown bolder, began 
 to open their minds to each other : some of them, how- 
 ever, were suspected vby Suffolk and his confidential 
 friends; for Godwin says, that Mary's partisans de- 
 sired " nothing more than the liberty of going out of 
 the Tower, that they might confer more freely." 
 
AND IfKK TIMES. 52()T 
 
 In regard to this affair Bishop Godwin states, that 
 when Northumberland first retreated to Cambridge, he 
 plyed the council with continual and earnest applica- 
 tions for recruits ; great numbers of his men having 
 deserted at Bury, and he fearing that most of the re- 
 mainder would soon follow them. Mary's party in the 
 Tower, taking hold of this opportunity, came to a re- 
 solution that the necessary forces should be raised as 
 soon as possible ; but then, they said, that none but 
 themselves ought to be trusted with the command of 
 them ; and soon after, by Suffolk's leave, they got out 
 of the Tower, where they had been, in fact, prisoners, 
 and dispersed themselves over the city. 
 
 By the care and industry of the heads of these, all 
 of the council that could be found, and several others 
 of the nobility, who were known not to be ill affected 
 towards Mary, were assembled at Baynard's Castle, 
 then the residence of the Earl of Pembroke, under pre- 
 tence of treating upon general affairs, but in reality to 
 concert measures for the deposition of Lady Jane. 
 
 We are told by Strype, in his Life of Cranmer, 
 that Jane's party seemed resolute for her until the 
 19th of July; on which day the following persons 
 of quality were with her in the Tower, consulting of 
 affairs for her service; viz, Cranmer, archbishop of 
 Canterbury, the Bishop of Ely, then lord chancellor, 
 and the lord treasurer, the Marquess of Winchester ; 
 also the Duke of Suffolk ; the Earls of Bedford, Arun- 
 
268 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 del, Shrewsbury, and Pembroke; the Lords Darcy 
 and Paget; Sirs Thomas Cheiney, Richard Cotton, 
 William Petre, John Cheke, John Baker, and Robert 
 Bowes ; being all of her council. On this occasion 
 they received a letter from Lord Rich, lord lieutenant 
 of Essex, informing them that the Earl of Oxford was 
 fled to the Lady Mary : whereupon a letter was drawn 
 up by Sir John Cheke, in the absence of Cecyl, ad- 
 dressed to Lord Rich, exhorting him to stand true to 
 Queen Jane, as they, they said, would do : yet even 
 tiien some hesitation must have commenced amongst 
 them ; for Sir William Petre, who was secretary of 
 state, along with Cecyl, avoided writing the letter, 
 which was to the following effect : 
 
 " After our right hartie commendations to your 
 lp, although the matter conteined in your letters of 
 thearle of Oxford departing to the Lady Mari be 
 grevous unto us for divers respects, yet we must 
 neades giue your lp our hartie thanks for your redi 
 advertisement thereof. Requiring your lp neverthe- 
 less, like a nobleman, to remain in that promise and 
 steedfastness to our sovereign lady Queen Jane's ser- 
 vice, as ye shall find us redi and firm with all our 
 force to the same. Which neither with honor, nor 
 with saftie, nor yet with duty wee mai now forsake. 
 
 "From the Toure of London, the xix' 1 ' of Julie, 
 1553." 
 
AND HER TIMES. 2()9 
 
 Whilst part of the council were preparing this let- 
 ter in the Tower, transactions of a very different na- 
 ture were in course of action in the city : for at the 
 meeting at Castle Baynard, the Earl of Arundel 
 first moved allegiance to Mary, in which he was se- 
 conded by Pembroke ; who, clapping his hand upon 
 his sword, declared that he was ready to dispute the 
 matter at the hazard of his life with any one who 
 would dare to oppose it. In an instant, all were 
 unanimous: the lord mayor and aldermen were sent 
 for, and the whole assembly proceeded to Cheapside, 
 where they proclaimed Mary by sound of trumpet ; 
 and with such loud applause was it received, that, as 
 Godwin affirms, after the name of Mary, not a word 
 more could be heard for the general acclamations ; 
 and no sooner was this affair settled, than the Earl of 
 Arundel and Lord Paget set off on horseback to 
 Mary, to acquaint her with the intelligence; which 
 she received with the greatest transport. 
 
 In a letter written at this period, it is stated, that 
 " greate* was the triumph e hear at London: for my 
 tyme I never sawe the lyke and by the reporte of 
 otheres the lyke was never seene. The nomber of 
 cappes that weare throwne up at the pclamation wear 
 not to be tould. The Earle of Pembroke threwe 
 awaye his cape full of angeiles. I sawe myself money 
 
 * B. M. Harl. Coll. 358, U. Extracts of letters describing 
 the events of that time. 
 
270 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 was throwne out at windowes for joy. The bonefires 
 weare without nomber ; and what with showtynge and 
 criange off the people, and ringinge of belles, theare 
 could no one man heare almost what another sayd; 
 besides banketynge and skippinge the streete for joye. 
 There was present at the pclamation, the Earle of Pem- 
 broke, the Erie of Shrewesbury, the Earle of Arundelle, 
 my L d Warden, my Lord Mayor, Sir John Mason, 
 Sir John Cheeke, and divres others to the nomber of 
 x : and after the pclamation, made in Cheapsyde, they all 
 wente to Poules to even song. The Duke of Suffolk 
 beinge at the Towere, and as some saie did not knowe 
 of it ; but so soone as he herd of it, he came himselfe 
 out of the Towere, and comandyd his men to leave 
 ther wepones behinde them, sayinge that he himselfe 
 was but one man ; and himselfe pclaymed my Lady 
 Maryes grace Queene on the Towere Hille; and 
 so came into London levinge the leifftennant in the 
 Towere." 
 
 The letters then detail the proceedings in the coun- 
 try ; saying, " Great shew was in Northamptonshire 
 about pclayming of hir : yesterday e, at Northampton, 
 Sir Thomas Greshame pclaymed her, with the ayd and 
 helpe of the towne, being borne amongst them, whe- 
 ther he would or not. Sir Nicolas Thromiiorton beinge 
 presente, withstandinge him to his powerc, was dan- 
 yeas for saffetyc of his lyfe to take a howse, and so 
 beinge borne amongcste diveres gentlemen, escaped 
 
AXD TIER TIMES. 271 
 
 with much adoe; the inhabitants would have kilde 
 him veri fayne. 
 
 " Sir Robarte Girwill (Greville) mustered yestcr- 
 daye in Northamptonshire, to goo to my Lord of North- 
 umberland, as many men as he coulde gette. Sir 
 Thomas Greshame recevyng like lettres to mustere for 
 my Lord of Northumberlane, woulde not goe. Sir 
 John Williams hathe 6 or 7000 men thear, as Richard 
 Silliard saythe, and thear is with him Sir Edmunde 
 Pertham, the sherive of Oxfordshire, the sherive of 
 Northamptonshire, and diveres others. Sir John Gate 
 and my Lord Garret, (sic orig.) who went downc with 
 the garde to my Lady Mary, as is credibli reportid, 
 are bothe slayne, and the most pt off the garde gone 
 to my Lady Mary. 1 '* 
 
 Northumberland's conduct on this expedition is thus 
 briefly stated by Lloyd, yet with more minuteness than 
 in general history : 
 
 " The first night he came to Cambridge, all the 
 doctors supped with him : and Doctor Sandys is ap- 
 pointed to preach before him next day. The doctor 
 late at night betakes himself to his prayers and stud}-, 
 desiring God to direct him to a fit text for that time. 
 His Bible openeth at the first of Joshua, and (though 
 he heard no voice with St. Augustine, saying, Telle ct 
 lege — < take and read' — ) a strong fancy inclined him 
 to fix on the first w r ords he beheld, v. 16 : And they 
 answered Joshua, saying, All that thou commandest 
 
272 LADY JAXK GREY, 
 
 us we will do ; and whithersoever thou sendest we will 
 go : a text he so wisely and warily handled, that his 
 enemies got not so full advantage against him as they 
 expected. 
 
 " The next day the duke advanced to Bury, with 
 his army, whose feet marched forward,- whilst their 
 minds moved backward. Upon the news brought 
 him, he returned to Cambridge, with more sad thoughts 
 within him, than valiant souldiers about him. Then 
 went he with the mayor of the town, and proclaimed 
 the queen ; the beholders whereof more believing the 
 grief in his eyes, when they let down tears, than 
 the joy professed by his hands, when he threw up his 
 cap. Slegge, sergeant at arms, arrests him in King's 
 College ; and when the proclamation of pardon set him 
 at liberty, the Earl of Arundel re-arrests him, at whose 
 feet he craves mercy !" 
 
 The new council despatched letters to Northumber- 
 land to acquaint him with the news, calling upon him 
 to submit ; but he had previously been arrested, as al- 
 ready noticed : and we may sum up shortly, by stating, 
 that the army was then disbanded ; and the greatest 
 part of the nobility, in a body, offered their allegiance 
 to Mary. Those who had offended, obtained pardons 
 generally ; and the whole blame of the affair was 
 thrown upon the Duke of Northumberland. 
 
 The proclamation was no sooner made, than the 
 new council sent forthwith a force to seize upon the 
 
ANO HER TIKES. 
 
 Tower, and to call Suffolk before them ; alter which 
 they went to St. Paul's, and sung Te Deum. 
 
 Such indeed was the rapid change of policy, that 
 several even of those very counsellors who had but 
 the day before set their hands to resolutions to stand 
 by the Lady Jane, actually were amongst those who 
 proclaimed Queen Mary in the city of London ; and 
 immediately joined in despatching the Earl of Arun- 
 del and Lord Paget to her with a letter, written from 
 Baynard's Castle, whither they had removed from the 
 Tower ; in which letter " they beg her pardon, and to 
 remit ther former offences. ,, 
 
 There is no reason to believe that Lady Jane was 
 acquainted with any part of these events, before the in- 
 formation was brought by her father : but the tragic- 
 poet already quoted, by assuming the fact differently, 
 has produced a very interesting scene : 
 
 Guil. What read'st thou there, my queen ? 
 
 Lady J. Tis Plato's Phsedon ; 
 Where dying Socrates takes leave of life 
 With such an easy, careless, calm indifference, 
 As if the trifle were of no account, 
 Mean in itself, and only to be worn 
 In honour of the giver. 
 
 Guil, Shall thy soul 
 Still scorn the world, still fly the joys that court ? 
 Still shall she soar on contemplation's wing, 
 And mix with nothing meaner than the stars ? 
 
 Lady J. The faithless counsellors 
 Are fled from hence to join the princess Mary. 
 The servile herd of courtiers, who so late 
 
274 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 In low obedience bent the knee before me ; 
 They who with zealous tongues and hands uplifted 
 Besought me to defend their laws and faith, 
 Vent their lewd execrations on my name, 
 Proclaim me trait'ress now, and to the scaffold 
 Doom my devoted head. 
 
 Guil. The changeling villains ! 
 That pray for slavery, fight for their bonds, 
 And shun the blessing, liberty, like ruin. 
 But wherefore do I loiter tamely here ? 
 Give me my arms : I will preserve my country 
 Ev'n in her own despite. Some friends I have 
 Who will or die or conquer in thy cause, 
 Thine and religion's, thine and England's cause. 
 
 Lady J. Art thou not all my treasure, all my guard ? 
 And wo't thou take from me the only joy, 
 The last defence, is left me here below ? 
 Think not thy arm can stem the driving torrent, 
 Or save a people who, with blinded rage, 
 Urge their own fate, and strive to be undone. 
 Northumberland, thy father, is in arms ; 
 And if it be in valour to defend us, 
 His sword, that long has known the way to conquest, 
 Shall be our surest safety. 
 
 Godwin says, that when the Duke of Suffolk heard 
 of Mary being proclaimed in the city, as much de- 
 jected then, as he had before been exalted, he went 
 into his daughter's apartments, ordered all the cere- 
 monies of royalty to cease, and admonished her to bear, 
 with what patience she could, her return to a private 
 station. But her fortitude was greater than he had 
 imagined ; for she answered him, with a countenance 
 not at all discomposed, that this was a more welcome 
 summons to her than that which forced her against her 
 
AND HIlH times. 375 
 
 will to such an elevation. " In obedience to you, my 
 lard," said she, " and to my mother, I acted a vio- 
 lence on myself, and have been guilty of a grievous 
 offence; but the present is my own act, and I will- 
 ingly resign to correct another's fault, if so great a 
 fault can be corrected by my resignation and sincere 
 acknowledgment." 
 
 Godwin next asserts, that having said this, she re- 
 tired to her closet, more solicitous for her life, which 
 she knew to be in danger, than concerned for the loss 
 of her crown. 
 
 The whole scene is thus delineated by Rowe : 
 
 Suf. Oh, my children ! 
 
 Lady J. Alas ! what means my father? 
 
 Suf Oh, my son ! 
 Thy father, great Northumberland, on whom 
 Our dearest hopes were built 
 
 Guil. Ha! what of him? 
 
 Suf. Is lost, betray'd ! 
 His army, onward as he march'd, shrunk from him, 
 Moulder'd away, and melted by his side : 
 With some few followers he arrived at Cambridge, 
 But there ev'n they forsook him, and himself 
 Was forced, with heavy heart and wat'ry eye, 
 To cast his cap up with dissembled cheer, 
 And cry God save Queen Mary. But, alas ! 
 Little avail'd the semblance of that loyalty ; 
 For soon, thereafter, by the earl of Arundel 
 With treason he was charged, and there arrested, 
 And now he brings him pris'ner up to London. 
 
 Lady J. Then there's an end of greatness; the vain dream 
 Of empire and a crown that danced before mc, 
 Is vanish'd all at once— Why, fare it well ! 
 
 T U 
 
276 LADY JANE GllKV, 
 
 Gail And canst thou bear this sudden turn of fate 
 With such unshaken temper ? 
 
 Lady J. For myself, 
 If I could form a wish for Heaven to grant, 
 It should have been to rid me of this crown, 
 And thou, o'erruling, great, all-knowing Pow'r ! 
 Thou who discern'st our thoughts, who seest 'em rising 
 And forming in the soul, oh, judge me thou, 
 If e'er ambition's guilty fires have warm'd me, 
 If e'er my heart inclined to pride, to pow'r, 
 Or join'd in being a queen. I took the sceptre 
 To save this land, thy people, and thy altars : 
 And now behold I bend my grateful knee 
 In humble adoration of that mercy 
 Which quits me of the vast unequal task. 
 
 No sooner had the Duke of Suffolk thus, as it were, 
 deposed his daughter, than he went to the council, in 
 obedience to their summons, and subscribed further 
 instructions, to be sent to Northumberland, requiring 
 him to disband his forces, and submit to Queen Mary, 
 if he meant they should become humble suitors to 
 their sovereign for him and his, as well as for them- 
 selves. That he must have done this under great 
 alarm, is evident ; for even previous to his appearance 
 before the council, and indeed as soon as Mary was 
 proclaimed, an order had been sent by the council to 
 the Tower, to require him to deliver up that fortress, 
 and to acknowledge Queen Mary publicly. It was fur- 
 ther directed, that Lady Jane should lay down the title 
 of queen ; a measure already voluntarily adopted, and 
 with great propriety: for it appears that the indivi- 
 
A XI) HEB TIMES 3/ i 
 
 duals within the Tower were as friendly to the change 
 as those without; not through want of affection to- 
 wards the Lady Jane, but from dislike to Northum- 
 berland, and a natural loyalty to the direct line of 
 descent. It must be remembered, too, that the idea 
 of Mary being a Roman catholic was not likely to 
 weigh much with the great mass of the people in that 
 early stage of the reformation; for there can be no 
 doubt, that the Roman catholic ritual and ceremo- 
 nials were much more popular with the ignorant and 
 unenlightened body of the " commons," as they were 
 then specifically styled, than the simplicity of the re- 
 formed mode of worship. 
 
 The arrival of the official announcement of deposi- 
 tion is thus described by the poet so often alluded to, 
 whilst Lady Jane was kneeling : 
 
 Duch. Nay, keep that posture still, and let us join, 
 Fix all our knees by thine, lift up our hands, 
 And seek for help and pity from above, 
 For earth and faithless man will give us none. 
 
 Lady J. What is the worst our cruel fate ordains us ? 
 
 Duck. Cursed be my fatal counsels, cursed my tongue, 
 That pleaded for thy ruin, and persuaded 
 Thy guiltless feet to tread the paths of greatness ! 
 My child — I have undone thee ! 
 
 Lady J. Oh, my mother ! 
 Should I not bear a portion in your sorrows ? 
 
 Duch. Alas ! thou hast thy own, a double portion. 
 Mary is come, and the revolting Londoners, 
 Who beat the heav'ns with thy applauded name, 
 Now crowd to meet and hail her as their queen. 
 Sussex is enter'd here, commands the Tower, 
 
ST8 LADY JANE ftKET, 
 
 Has placed his guards around, and this sad place,. 
 
 So late thy palace, is become our prison. 
 
 I saw him bend his knee to cruel Gard'ner, 
 
 Who, freed from his confinement, ran to meet him, 
 
 Embraced and bless'd him with a hand of blood ; 
 
 Each hast'ning moment I expect 'em here 
 
 To seize and pass the doom of death upon us. 
 
 Guil. Ha ! seized ! shalt thou be seized, and shall I stand 
 And tamely see thee borne away to death ? 
 Then blasted be my coward name for ever. 
 No, I will set myself to guard this spot, 
 To which our narrow empire now is shrunk : 
 Here I will grow the bulwark of my queen, 
 Nor shall the hand of violence profane thee 
 Until my breast have borne a thousand wounds, 
 Till this torn mangled body sink at once 
 A heap of purple ruin at thy feet. 
 
 Lady J. And could thy rash distracted rage do thus ? 
 Draw thy vain sword against an armed multitude ? 
 Oh, call thy better nobler courage to thee, 
 And let us meet this adverse fate with patience ! 
 
 The rapidity of the change of circumstances may be 
 well illustrated by the following anecdote: — A Mr. 
 Edward Underhill, descended from a good family in 
 Warwickshire, who, for his services in the army, had 
 been admitted into the band of gentlemen pensioners, 
 in which he remained during the reign of Edward, 
 was now about the person of Queen Jane. In his 
 youth, he had been a man of pleasure ; but, being 
 converted to the reformed religion, became so sincere 
 and so zealous a protestant, that his comrades in the 
 band, who were less religious, gave him the nick-name 
 of the Hot Gospeller. He was, from these circum- 
 
AND HF.R TIMES. 279 
 
 stances, a favourite at the new court, and was actually 
 on duty at the Tower, when his wife was brought to 
 bed of a son. The baptism of the infant became a 
 matter of court favour, and was fixed for the 19th 
 of July, when the Duke of Suffolk, and the Earl of 
 Pembroke, were to be godfathers by proxy ; and the 
 Lady Jane herself not only signified her intention of 
 being godmother, but, as a still higher mark of favour, 
 desired that the child should be called Guildford, after 
 her beloved husband. The baptism, as appointed, 
 took place ; and Lady Throckmorton, wife to Sir 
 Nicholas, was deputed to stand the royal proxy. On 
 leaving the Tower that evening, Lady Throckmorton 
 received the royal commands from Lady Jane herself, 
 according to all due form and ceremony, and carried 
 them, as usual, to the merry meeting. 
 
 The ceremony over, she returned to the Tower; 
 but her amazement was excessive, on entering the 
 royal apartment, to find the canopy of state removed, 
 together with all other ensigns of royalty : she was 
 soon informed, however, by one of the new officers, 
 that times were changed since her departure in the 
 afternoon ; that her lady was a prisoner for high 
 treason, and that she must attend her, but under the 
 weight of a similar charge ! 
 
 The ruling party had indeed shown very little de- 
 licacy on the subject ; for scarcely had their order for 
 laying down the crown been received at the Tower, 
 
280 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 than it was followed by another, directing that Lady 
 Jane should be made a close prisoner, and that all 
 her attendants should proceed to their respective 
 homes. To this order she bowed with great resigna- 
 tion : but the parting with her loved husband (for 
 they were most cruelly separated) was almost too much 
 for her fortitude. 
 
 The execution of this most ungenerous task fell 
 upon Bishop Gardiner; but whose zeal for the 
 Roman catholic religion made the task a work of 
 pleasure. 
 
 Beyond this short record of the proceedings of that 
 day history affords us no detail. We may well indeed 
 imagine the heart-rending sorrows of the youthful 
 couple, thus separated in the very early days of nuptial 
 union, and fearing for each other's fate more than for 
 their own ; — but the best illustration will be found in 
 the scene, as delineated by the admirable poet so often 
 quoted : 
 
 Sus. Guards, execute your orders ; seize the traitors ; 
 Here my commission ends. To you, my lord, 
 So our great mistress, royal Mary, bids, 
 I leave the full disposal of these pris'ners : 
 To your wise care the pious queen commends 
 Her sacred self, her crown, and what's yet more, 
 The holy Roman church, for whose dear safety 
 She wills your utmost diligence be shown 
 To bring rebellion to the bar of justice. 
 Yet farther, to proclaim how much she trusts 
 In Winchester's deep thought and well tried faith, 
 The seal attends to grace those rev'iviul hands; 
 
AND HEIt TIMES. 281 
 
 And when I next salute you, I must call you 
 Chief minister and chancellor of England. 
 
 Gar. Unnumber'd blessings fall upon her head, 
 My ever gracious lady ! to remember 
 With such full bounty her old humble beadsman ! 
 For these her foes, leave me to deal with them. 
 
 Sus. The queen is on her entrance,, and expects me. 
 My lord, farewell. 
 
 Gar. Farewell, right noble Sussex ; 
 Commend me to the queen's grace ; say, her bidding 
 Shall be observed by her most lowly creature. 
 Lieutenant of the Tow'r, take hence your pris'ners : 
 Be it your care to see 'em kept apart, 
 That they may hold no commerce with each other. 
 
 Giiil. Wilt thou part us ? 
 
 Gar. I hold no speech with heretics and traitors. 
 . Lieutenant, see my orders are obey'd. 
 
 Guil. Inhuman, monstrous, unexampled cruelty ! 
 Oh tyrant ! but the task becomes thee well : 
 Thy savage temper joys to do death's office, 
 To tear the sacred bands of love asunder, 
 And part those hands which Heav'n itself hath join'd. 
 
 Duch. To let us waste the little rest of life 
 Together had been merciful. 
 
 Suf. Then it had not 
 Been done like Winchester. 
 
 Guil. Thou stand'st unmov'd ; 
 Calm temper sits upon thy beauteous brow ; 
 Thy eyes, that flow'd so fast for Edward's loss, 
 Gaze unconcern'd upon the ruin round thee, 
 As if thou hadst resolved to brave thy fate, 
 And triumph in the midst of desolation. 
 
 Lachj J. And dost thou think, my Guildford, I can see 
 My father, mother, and ev'n thee, my husband, 
 Torn from my side, without a pang of sorrow ? 
 How art thou thus unknowing in my heart ? 
 Words cannot tell thee what I feel : there is 
 An agonizing softness busy here 
 
282 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 That tugs the strings, that struggles to get loose, 
 And pour my soul in wailings out before thee. 
 
 Guil. Give way, and let the gushing torrent come ; 
 Behold the tears we bring to swell the deluge, 
 Till the flood rise upon the guilty world, 
 And make the ruin common. 
 
 Lady J. Guildford ! no ; 
 The time for tender thoughts and soft endearments 
 Is fled away and gone ; joy has forsaken us ; 
 Our hearts have now another part to play ; 
 They must be steel'd with some uncommon fortitude, 
 That fearless we may tread the paths of horror, 
 And, in despite of fortune and our foes, 
 Ev'n in the horn- of death be more than conquerors. 
 
 Guil. Oh teach me ! say, what energy divine 
 Inspires thy softer sex and tender years 
 With such unshaken courage ? 
 
 Lady J. Truth and innocence ; 
 A conscious knowledge rooted in my heart, 
 That to have saved my country was my duty. 
 Yes, England, yes, my country ! I would save thee ; 
 But Heav'n forbids, Heav'n disallows my weakness, 
 And to some dear selected hero's hand 
 Reserves the glory of thy great deliverance. 
 
 Lieut. My lords, my orders 
 
 Guil. See ! we must — must part ! 
 
 Lady J. Yet surely we shall meet again. 
 
 Guil. Fain would I cheer my heart with hopes like these, 
 But my sad thoughts turn ever to the grave, 
 To that last dwelling whither now we haste ; 
 Where the black shade shall interpose betwixt us, 
 And veil thee from these longing eyes for ever. 
 
 Lady J. 'Tis true, by those dark paths our journey leads, 
 And through the vale of death we pass to life : 
 But what is there in death to blast our hopes ? 
 Behold the universal works of nature, 
 Where life still springs from death. 
 Mark with what hopes upon the furrow'd plain 
 
AND HER TIMKS. 
 
 283 
 
 The careful ploughman casts the pregnant grain ; 
 
 There hid, as in a grave, awhile it lies, 
 
 Till the revolving season bids it rise, 
 
 Then large increase the buried treasures yield, 
 
 And with full harvest crown the plenteous field. 
 
LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 Heview of Lady Jane's Misfortunes — and of her Conduct under 
 them — Anecdotes of her Imprisonment — Committal of North- 
 umberland to the Tower — Submission of the Council — Fur- 
 ther Arrests — Arrival of the Princess Elizabeth— Release of 
 Suffolk — Diplomatic Occurrences, &c. — Mary enters the Me- 
 tropolis and Tower in Triumph — Joy of the Catholics — Public 
 Opposition to the Revival of Popery — Tame Submission of Ce- 
 cil, and others — Trial of the Duke of Northumberland and 
 various Friends — Anecdotes, &c. — Their Execution — Mary's 
 avaricious and ungenerous Conduct towards Lady Jane — 
 Seizure and Claims of Crown Jewels, &c. — Trial and Con- 
 demnation of Lady Jane and Lord Guildford Dudley, Cran- 
 mer, and others — Anecdotes, &c. &c. 
 
 We have already offered a suggestion, drawn from 
 the general view of the case, that if Elizabeth had been 
 called to the throne, in opposition to Mary, the success 
 of the attempt would have been more certain than with 
 regard to Lady Jane^ elevation to regal dignity ; in 
 consonance with which we may notice, that one reason 
 for the ill success of Lady Jane is stated by Lloyd to 
 have sprung from " a natural antipathy in Englishmen 
 against usurpation, and as great an inclination for the 
 succession. A point they had conned so well of late 
 
AND NEK TIMES. 285 
 
 out of the statute made for that purpose, that they 
 could not well be put out of it by this newe started 
 designed 
 
 Happy would it indeed have been for her, had her 
 relatives been influenced more by a love for the Re- 
 formation, and a desire for the welfare of the kingdom, 
 than by motives of personal ambition ; she would then 
 not only have been saved, at least, great part of her 
 own misfortunes, but would also have avoided seeing 
 them increased by the downfal of her family, by the 
 imprisonment of her own relatives, of her husband, his 
 father, nay, his whole family, and of many of the no- 
 bility and gentry, all made prisoners in her cause. To 
 all this, however, she rose superior ; not through want 
 of sensibility, but from the aid of true religion and 
 genuine piety. 
 
 Her conduct on this change of fortune is quaintly 
 but well described by Fuller, who says, that she made 
 misery itself amiable by her pious and patient be- 
 haviour ; adversity, her night clothes, bearing her, as 
 well as her day dressing, by reason of her pious dis- 
 position. 
 
 Burnet also, in his History of the Reformation, de- 
 scribing her conduct after this reverse of fortune, says, 
 that with all her advantages of birth and parts, yet 
 she was so humble, so gentle, and pious, that all people 
 both admired and loved her, and none more than the 
 youthful Edward. He adds, that she had a mind won- 
 
286 
 
 LADY JANE GKEY, 
 
 derfully raised above die world; and at the age wherein 
 others are but imbibing the notions of philosophy, she 
 had attained to the practice of the highest precepts of 
 it : for she was neither lifted up with the hope of a 
 crown, nor cast down when she saw her palace made 
 afterwards her prison ; but carried herself with an 
 equal temper of mind in those great inequalities of 
 fortune that so suddenly exalted and depressed her. 
 
 In fact, during her subsequent imprisonment, all 
 the regret she expressed was of the noblest kind, and 
 a mark of a most tender and generous nature ; being 
 more affected with the sufferings of her husband and 
 father than with her own. 
 
 She was now, to all intents, a state prisoner ; as were 
 also the Duke and Duchess of Suffolk, and her hus- 
 band, Lord Guildford : not, perhaps, in strict incar- 
 ceration, yet certainly in separate apartments. At that 
 period Beauchamp's tower was the general place of 
 confinement for cases of high treason : but Lady Jane 
 was lodged in one of the warders 1 houses — in " Maister 
 Partridge's," as stated in a curious old book quoted by 
 Mr. Nichols in his Leicestershire. There she was 
 permitted to retain two of her female attendants ; and 
 on the next day, the 20th of July, she was called upon 
 by the Marquess of Winchester, lord treasurer, to de- 
 liver up all the crown jewels, which she did accord- 
 ingly, or, at least, as many of them as were then in 
 her possession ; for we shall find presently that Mary 
 
AND HER TIMES, 287 
 
 brought charges for several not given up, but which 
 were probably lost, perhaps pilfered, in the confusion 
 of such a scene. 
 
 Within the walls of the Tower all was now silent and 
 solitary — without all was political intrigue and bustle. 
 
 The council next assembled at Westminster, from 
 whence they sent a herald with another letter to the 
 Duke of Northumberland, commanding and charging 
 him in the name of Queen Mary to disarm and to dis- 
 band his troops, forbidding him also to return to the 
 city of London until the queen's pleasure should be 
 known. Similar letters were sent to the Marquess of 
 Northampton, and to all other gentlemen that were with 
 him. The council even went so far as to direct the 
 herald to proclaim in all places, that if the Duke of 
 Northumberland did not submit to Queen Mary, he 
 should be taken as a traitor, and that he should be 
 proceeded against with the utmost rigour of prose- 
 cution. 
 
 Thus, adds Strype, " the duke saw it in vain to 
 oppose, and so submitted to this order : and the part 
 that his ambition had been framing so long, and with 
 so much art, fell on a sudden." 
 
 A letter, in the collection already quoted, and dated 
 the 22d of July, in reference to those passing occur- 
 rences, observes, that " the Duke of Northumberland 
 hathe proclaymed my Lady Marye's grace queene at 
 Cambridge ; and as the brute (report, bruit) goethe, 
 
288 LADY JANK GllEY, 
 
 my Lorde of Huntingdone and the Lorde Marques 
 of Northampton are gonne no man canne tell whether. 1 ' 
 All were indeed eager to make their peace with 
 Mary; some boasting of their unbroken loyalty, others 
 endeavouring to excuse the countenance which they 
 had given, by their presence in the Tower, whether 
 voluntary or not, to the short usurpation. Perhaps 
 the best picture of all this policy will be found in the 
 letter written to Mary by the lords of the council, on 
 the evening of her proclamation : 
 
 " Our bounden duties most humbly remembred to 
 yur most excellent majs tie , it may lyke the same to 
 understande, that wee yur most humble, faythfull, 
 and obedient subjects haveing all ways (God wee take 
 to wytnes) remaynd yur highnes true and humble 
 subjects in our harts, ever sythens the deathe of our 
 late souvraigne lorde and master, yur highnes brother, 
 whom God pardon; and seeing hitherto no possibil- 
 litie to utter our determination herin, without great t 
 destructions and bludeshedd, bothe of ourselves and 
 others till this tyme, have this day proclaymed in your 
 citey of London, your maj tie to bee our true naturall 
 souvraigne, liege ladie and queen, most humblic be- 
 seech yng your maj tlc to pdon and remytt our former 
 infirmites, and most graciouslie t ? accept our meanynge, 
 w ch haue byne ever to serve your highnes tiulie, and 
 yt shall remayne with all our powers and forces to the 
 
AND IIEH TIMES. - (< >i) 
 
 effusion of our bludde. Theis berars, our very good 
 lords the Erie of Arundell and L. Pagett, can and bee 
 redy now particularly to declare to whome, it may 
 please your excellent maj tie , to give firme credence; 
 and thus wee do and shall dayly pray to Allmighty 
 God for the preservation of your most royall pson long 
 to reigne .... from your maj ties citye of London this 
 .... day of Julie, the fyrst yere of your most pro- 
 sperous reigne." 
 
 There were still a few, however, who had either 
 sinned past all probable hope of pardon, or whose prin- 
 ciples would not permit them to change with the times ; 
 but even of these some few were allowed to go at 
 large, for as early as the 23d of July, it appears that 
 Mary and her partisans found it necessary to adopt a 
 semblance of mercy and moderation. It is stated in 
 an extract of another letter, that " the Lord Admirall, 
 and the Lords Greye, Garret, Wenman, and the Lord 
 Fitzwarren, Sir Henry Sydney, and Sir James Crosse, 
 with dieveres others, have alredy their pardon graunted 
 them. The Duke of Northumberland is in custodie of 
 the garde as a prisoner in Cambridge, and my ladie 
 hys wyfe, the Lord Guilford, and the Lady Jane, are 
 in the Towere as prisoneres ; my Lord Marques of 
 Northampton, the Earle of Huntingdune, Sir Henry 
 Gates, and diveres other cannot as yet gett their 
 pdones." 
 
290 LADY JANE (iREY, 
 
 Some of these, indeed, it was not intended to par- 
 don ; so that on the 25th, Northumberland and several 
 others, particularly his eldest son, the Earl of Warwick, 
 his younger sons, Lord Ambrose and Lord Henry, 
 Sir Andrew Dudley, his brother, the Earl of Hunt- 
 ingdon, Sir Thomas Palmer, Sir John Gates and his 
 brother Henry, and Doctor Edwin Sands, were all 
 committed prisoners to the Tower, along with their 
 unhappy friends. 
 
 Of these the Earl of Huntingdon was soon dis- 
 charged; the Earl of Warwick died in prison, but 
 Lord Ambrose was pardoned; Sir Andrew Dudley 
 was condemned to death, but pardoned ; and Sands, 
 being discharged, retired to Germany, from whence 
 he returned in happier times, and died Archbishop of 
 York. 
 
 On the 26th of July the Marquess of Northampton 
 was committed to the Tower ; was afterwards tried, 
 but received a royal pardon. With him were also 
 brought in the Bishop of London, Ridley, afterwards 
 liberated, but subsequently burned at Oxford for he- 
 resy ; and Robert Dudley, a younger son of Northum- 
 berland, soon after pardoned, and living to be created 
 Earl of Leicester by Queen Elizabeth, in which charac- 
 ter he has recently figured, though not much to his 
 advantage, in the novel of Kenil worth. 
 
 It is rather remarkable that Suffolk, if indeed the 
 fact really is so, should have been hitherto at large, at 
 
AND HER TIMES. 291 
 
 least not a close prisoner, until the 27th, for on that 
 day he is stated, by various authorities, to have been 
 first committed to the Tower. 
 
 If this is correct, his imprisonment may have been 
 now ordered, either by directions from Mary, or in ex- 
 pectation of her immediate arrival in the metropolis ; 
 in preparation for which the young Princess Elizabeth 
 came to town two days afterwards, as stated in some 
 letters already quoted. " The Lady Elizabeth's grace 
 come, the 29th of July, to Somerset-place, well accom- 
 panyed with gentlemen and otheres righte strongly, 
 and theare she restede a nighte, and the morowe en- 
 suinge she wente thoroghe Chepeside, to meet the 
 queene's grace, to London wardes, who is looked for 
 the 3 or 4 of Auguste." 
 
 Though the Duchess of Suffolk was made a prisoner 
 in the first instance, yet it is evident that she did not 
 long remain so, as it is expressly stated by various 
 authorities, that it was at her intercession Suffolk him- 
 self was liberated from all restraint as early as the 31st 
 of July ; but, though discharged from actual confine- 
 ment, he was still under engagements to return to pri- 
 son, whenever the queen should desire it. This inter- 
 cession of the duchess must have been with the queen 
 herself; for it is not likely that Suffolk would have 
 received such grace from the Earl of Arundel, then 
 constable of the Tower by Mary's appointment. In- 
 deed, it is well known that Arundel never forgave 
 
 d 2 
 
292 LADY J AXE GREY, 
 
 Suffolk for the slight put upon him by the repudiation 
 of his daughter to make way for his union with the 
 Lady Frances Brandon ; it is probable, therefore, that 
 Suffolk owed his liberation to the queen, but not so 
 much from affection towards him, as from the general 
 idea that seems to have been entertained of the weak- 
 ness of his mind, especially in regard to state affairs. 
 
 We have already shown the continental politics of 
 the usurping party; and, though the emperor's du- 
 plicity was no longer a matter of consequence, it may 
 still be interesting to observe how soon he began to 
 show his real intentions. We may therefore record, 
 that on the 20th of July the commissioners at Brussels 
 wrote in reply to the council *, that Charles V. was not 
 pleased that Edward had declared the Lady Mary to 
 be illegitimate, thus limiting the succession in opposi- 
 tion to his father's will. It appears that Charles was so 
 incensed at this, that the commissioners could not even 
 procure an audience ; and he even delayed or evaded 
 seeing Mr. Shelley, who had been sent over with an 
 express message from the young queen. The emperor 
 urged as a powerful objection to his acknowledgment 
 of the Lady Jane, independent of the claims of the 
 Lady Mary, that the young queen of Scotland, the 
 ill-fated Mary, was then married to the Dauphin of 
 France, which would naturally lead to claims on the 
 part of the French court, in consequence of her su- 
 * Brit. Mus. Harl. Coll. No. 523. 
 
AND REB TIMES. 293 
 
 perior claim, as descended from the eldest sister of 
 Henry, whilst the Lady Jane was only descended from 
 the youngest As to the claim of the Lady Mary, in 
 opposition to that of the Lady Jane, he certainly pro 
 fessed moderation : for he only asked that the point 
 should be settled by parliament, expressing a wish at 
 the same time that the Lady Mary should be married 
 to some English nobleman, " so that the realme should 
 remayne in governaunce of polecy and religion as it 
 now is." How far he was sincere in this, at least in 
 regard to religion, may well be doubted; but as to 
 policy, it certainly was his wish to keep up his En- 
 glish connexion ; indeed, he even manifested con- 
 siderable jealousy in consequence of a Mr. Dudley 
 having been sent on a diplomatic mission into France, 
 supposing him to have been Sir Andrew Dudley, and 
 " sent for some practise/ 1 
 
 But the whole farce of duplicity, both on the parts 
 of the emperor and the commissioners themselves, was 
 speedily put an end to, by advices received of the change 
 of politics in England ; so that on the 29th of July 
 those gentlemen wrote to Queen Mary's council * to 
 the following purport : 
 
 u Pleasethe it your good lordshippes, — Wheare the 
 Ladye Jane sent Mr. Shelley with letteres and credence 
 to the emperor's maje tie , wee no we returne them, not 
 * Brit. Mus. Harl. Coll. No. 523, 46. 
 
294 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 havynge delyvered the sayd letteres, ne opened the 
 same credence, for that it hath pleased God to call my 
 Ladye Marye hir grace to the state and possessyone of 
 the realme, according to the kynge's majestee her fa- 
 theres laste wille and the lawes of the realme, wee 
 beinge heare in greate discurrage for that wee cannot 
 knowe the certentye off thes so great and weightie mat- 
 teres but by the reporte of them heare. Moste humbly 
 beseechyng yur lordshippes that wee may not onely 
 be advertyzed of the same, but also that wee maye 
 knowe hir maj tzes pleesure what wee shuld doe, wher- 
 unto wee shall conforme ourselves most willingly ac- 
 
 cordynge to our most bounden dutye ; for newes, 
 
 the Bushoppe of Norwych, Sir Phillippe Hobby, and 
 Sir Richard Mason, to the Counsell the xxixth of 
 July, 1553." 
 
 We have already stated, that Lady Jane's father 
 received an order of release from imprisonment, but on 
 his own bail, on the 31st of July; and in a private 
 letter of that period, of the 2d of August, we find it 
 expressly stated — " On Monday last, the Duke of Suf- 
 folk was discharged out of the Tower ;" yet another 
 letter, dated the 11th of the same month, says, " The 
 Duke of Suffolk is (as his owne men report) in prison, 
 and at this present in suche case as no man judgeth 
 he can live.'" 
 
 To reconcile these apparent contradictions is not 
 
AND HER TIMES. 295 
 
 easy, unless we suppose that the duke's illness pre- 
 vented him, on receiving the order of release, from 
 leaving the Tower for his own residence : and, of 
 course, that his remaining in that fortress was con- 
 sidered as imprisonment by those who were not aware 
 of the queen's determination in his favour. 
 
 The day of Mary's arrival was now approaching, for 
 which every possible preparation was made both by 
 court and city. Grafton, in his Chronicle, describes 
 this event in very few words, merely saying, that " she 
 came to the citie, and so to the Tower, where the 
 Lady Jane of Suffolk, with her husband, the Lord 
 Guilforde, a little before her coming, were committed 
 to warde, and there remayned almost five monethes. r> 
 
 But her progress is more fully detailed in a letter 
 now in the British Museum, which speaks of her " be- 
 inge broughte in with hir nobles very honorably and 
 strongly : the number of velvet coats that did ride be- 
 fore hir, as well strangeres as otheres, was 740 ; and 
 the nomber of ladyes and gentlemen that followede was 
 180. The Earle of Arundell did ride nexte befoare 
 hir, bearinge the swoarde in his hand, and Sir An- 
 thony Browne did beare up his trayne. The Ladye 
 Elizabethe did followe hir nexte; and after hir the 
 Lord Marques of Exetere's wyfe. 
 
 " The gard followed the ladyes, and after them 
 Northampton and Oxfordshir men, and then Bucking- 
 hamshir men, and after them the lords servants ; the 
 
296 
 
 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 whole nomber of horsemen wear esteemed to be about 
 10,000." 
 
 It then goes on to state, that " the queene's grace 
 stayd in Allgate streete, befoare the stage wheare the 
 poore children stood, to hare an oration that one of 
 them made ; but she sayd nothinge to them. My Lord 
 Mayor and the aldermen brought her grace into the 
 citti; my Lord Mayor riding next to the Earle of 
 Arrundell with the mase in his hand." 
 
 To illustrate the manners of the times we may be 
 permitted further to insert the description given by 
 Stephen Perlin, a French ecclesiastic, and an eye wit- 
 ness; who, though extremely inaccurate in historical 
 information, as appears in another passage, may be 
 supposed correct as to dress and pageantry. He says, 
 that " in the mean time the queen made her public 
 entry into London in great state and magnificence, 
 the citizens'* children walking before her magnificently 
 dressed; afterwards followed gentlemen, habited in 
 velvets of all sorts, some black, others in white, yellow, 
 violet, and carnation ; others wore satins or taffety, 
 and some damasks of all colours, having plenty of gold 
 buttons ; afterwards followed the mayor of the city, 
 with several handsome companies, and the chiefs or 
 masters of the several trades ; after them the milors, 
 richly habited, and the most considerable knights; 
 next come the ladies, married and single, in the midst of 
 whom was madam Mary, Queen of England, mounted 
 
AND HER TIMES. 297 
 
 on a small white ambling nag, the housings of which 
 were fringed with gold thread ; about her were six lac- 
 queys, habited in vests of cloth of gold. The queen 
 herself was dressed in violet coloured velvet, and was 
 then about forty years of age, and rather fresh coloured. 
 Before her were six lords bareheaded, each carrying in 
 his hand a golden mace, and some others bearing the 
 arms and crown. Behind her followed the archers, as 
 well of the first as the second guard. 
 
 " Those of the first guard were clothed in scarlet, 
 bound with black velvet, and on their escutcheons they 
 had a golden rose, which is called in English Rose peni, 
 and under this rose was a golden crown, with high 
 leaves, in form of an imperial crown. The second 
 guard were clothed in scarlet, bound with black velvet, 
 and on their escutcheons was interwoven a true-lover's 
 knot, and an E in the middle, and on the other side an 
 R, done in order to make a distinction between the 
 two guards. She was followed by her sister, named 
 Madame Elizabeth, in truth, a beautiful princess, who 
 was also well accompanied by ladies, both married and 
 single. Then might you hear the firing of divers 
 pieces of artillery, bombards, and cannons, and many 
 rejoicings made in the city of London." 
 
 The unhappy Jane, in her lonely cell, was soon ap- 
 prized of the approach of her rival in regal state to- 
 wards the place of her confinement, so late her palace ; 
 
298 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 for the letter already alluded to says, " theare was a 
 greate peale of ordinance shotte off at the Towere ;" 
 and it goes on to state, " It is credibly reported that 
 the Duke of Norfolke, Courteney, the Bishope off 
 Winchestre, and my Lady Somerset mette the queenes 
 grace at the Towere gate, and theare they kneelynge 
 downe saluted her grace, and she came unto them, and 
 kissed them and sayd, theis are my prisoners ;" — this, 
 however, must have been in jest, for the same letter 
 immediately adds, " Courteney was made Marques of 
 Exetere the 4 of this presente ,, — which was only a day 
 after. Amongst these prisoners were Bishops Tunstal 
 and Gardiner, and others not so high in rank, whom 
 she liberated ; but with Lady Jane she held no com- 
 munication, 
 
 Mary's regal state in the Tower seems to have sat 
 but uneasy upon her; the same letter saying, " Hir 
 grace intendethe to remove unto Windsore one Tus- 
 daye nexte, as I heare saye." And the jealousy which 
 pervaded her mind may be drawn from the following 
 statement : 
 
 " The Earle of Pembroke was comaundid to wait 
 upon hir grace when she came to London, and to bringe 
 with him but x men ; and, as I heare saye, he broughte 
 xv, whearefoare he had a rebuke. Some saye he is fled, 
 but the truthe I know not. He hathe not byne scene 
 
AND HER TIMES. 299 
 
 since Thirsday nyghte, nether can his men tell wheare 
 hee is. My Lord Russell and my Lord Ferrares are 
 in the Sherife of London's custody.". 
 
 But though she still felt considerable doubts of sup- 
 port at home, expectations of foreign assistance were 
 more secure ; yet even there she speedily contemplated 
 some change, at least with regard to her diplomatic 
 residents, notwithstanding the readiness with which the 
 commissioners had turned round, on hearing of her 
 success, with respect to Lady Jane's fall from regal 
 power. 
 
 The despatch which announced this change of men 
 and measures is such a curious specimen of intrigue, 
 duplicity, and policy, depriving the commissioners of 
 their offices, yet apparently fearful of offending, or of 
 alarming them, that we shall give it entire, as the first 
 fruits of that double-faced system of mental reservation 
 so accordant with the spirit of the revived religious 
 politics of that day ; for in Mary's reign religion and 
 politics were never separated. 
 
 " Aftere our most hartye comandacones Albeit you 
 shall understand bothe by the queenes highnes in- 
 structions and otherwise by declaracon of this bearrer 
 Sir Thomas Cheyney, Knighte of the Order, Trea- 
 surere of his maj te household and warden of the fyve 
 portes, her graces pleasure touchynge the placing of 
 
300 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 you the Bushope of Norwiche to be hir highnes am- 
 bassadore resydente with the emperor, and also touch- 
 ynge the revocasyon of you, Mr. Hobby and Mr. 
 Morysone, yet hathe her highnes willed us also by thes 
 our letteres to sygnyfie unto you that consyderinge 
 the long aboade and the small freite that hathe hither 
 unto ensued of your traville, her highnes thinkethe 
 expedyente that you Mr. Hobby and Mr. Morysone 
 shold returne to her highnes presense, and att the 
 takynge off your leave, her highnes specyally requirethe 
 you to say that yff her highnes dide see or myghte 
 understande any lyklyhoode that your longer aboade 
 myghte bring forthe any fruit for that godly purpos 
 you weare sente for, shee wold be most glade not 
 onelye to haue you contynue but wold most redylye 
 send some other psonage joined with you for the treaty 
 and conductynge the same towards a good conclusyn ; 
 but consyderynge that hitherto it hathe not pleased 
 Almighty God to moue the harte of them to concorde, 
 she dothe therfore revoke you for this tyme remayn- 
 ynge, neverthelesse most redie to send either you or 
 some otheres for that purpos when shee may under- 
 stande the tyme to serve bettere for that purpos and 
 usynge suche good wordes as you may thinke better to 
 declare hir highnes most earneste desyre bothe to the 
 continuance off the amytie and pacifyinge off theis 
 warres. You Mr. Hobby and Mr. Morysone shall 
 with dilligence repair to hir highnes presense, and you 
 
AND HER TIMES. 301 
 
 the Bushoppe of Norwiche shall attend your charge 
 of hir graces ambassadore residente accordinge to hir 
 highnes instructyones and spessyall truste reposed in 
 you, advertysing hir maj te from tyme to tyme of suche 
 occurrants as may seeme worthie knowledge. And so 
 wee byd you most hartelye farewell. From the Tower 
 of London, the 5 h daye of August, 1553. Subscribed 
 
 by 
 
 Arundell. Steven Winton. 
 
 Jo. Wentworth. R. Riche. W. Paget." 
 
 Robt. Rochester. R. Southwell. 
 
 W. Peetor. 
 
 A few days afterwards a letter was also written by 
 the new queen's council, signed by Bedford and Shrews- 
 bury, to certain commissioners, to continue Dr. Wootton 
 as ambassador at the court of France. 
 
 The joy of the catholics on the accession of Mary 
 may be drawn from the observations of Stephen Perlin, 
 the French ecclesiastic already quoted, who says that 
 the queen " caused the images to be replaced, and 
 brought back the service to the Latin language, and 
 made several proclamations, edicts, and prohibitions 
 throughout all England, against eating of flesh on 
 Fridays and Saturdays, on pain of being hanged and 
 strangled. And then you might have seen those which 
 had been bishops, who had been displaced by the young 
 King Edward, and his late father Henry, coming in 
 
302 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 great joy and magnificence about the town, mounted on 
 mules and little pompous horses, dressed in great gowns 
 of black camlet, over which were beautiful surplices 5 
 their heads covered with satin hoods, like those worn 
 by the monks, being joyous on account of the queen's 
 victory. 1 ' 
 
 In these new arrangements the queen and her par- 
 tisans were rather too hasty ; for, notwithstanding that 
 the great body of the people were as yet far from 
 being well grounded in the reformed faith, and not- 
 withstanding all the joy expressed by the people in 
 favour of her accession, it is evident that the public 
 opinion was by no means in consonance with her re- 
 ligious sentiments. The same correspondence already 
 quoted states, that on the 11th of August " an ould 
 preeste sayd masse at St. Bartholmewes ; but after 
 that masse was done, the people wold have pulled 
 him in pieces ;" and, on the 13th, when Mary went 
 to St. Paul's to hear mass, and a sermon preached by 
 Bourne, a violent catholic, such was the public feel- 
 ing, or at least the sentiments of some, that a dagger 
 was thrown at the preacher with such force, though 
 uncertain direction, that it stuck fast in a side post of 
 the pulpit. 
 
 We shall describe the scene from Perlin, already 
 quoted, who, although a catholic, and, as his work 
 shows, strongly embued with prejudices against Eng- 
 land, yet seems to speak the truth in many points, as 
 
AND HER TIMES. 303 
 
 far as his own marked ignorance and conceit will per- 
 mit him. Of this first visit to St. Paul's he says, " the 
 queen, being in triumph and royal magnificence in 
 her palace and castle of Oycemestre, (Westminster) 
 took it into her head to go to hear mass at Paules, 
 that is to say, at the church of S 6 Paul, and she was 
 attended by six hundred guards, besides the Cere, 
 that is to say, the servants of both ' lors 1 and nobles. 
 In English, the word lors means lords. The milors 
 are princes of the council, and those nearly allied to 
 the crown ; these we in French barbarously call mi- 
 lours, but in English they are styled milors, as those 
 well know who have visited this country, and speak 
 good English. These servants carried halberts. It 
 happened that an Englishman, during mass, threw a 
 dagger at the priest, making a great tumult; mass 
 not having been celebrated in this country for six or 
 seven years. This man was immediately seized, in- 
 dicted, and tried, and on the spot instantly condemned 
 to death. There was also in my time another disturb- 
 ance in a little church in the borough of Southwark, 
 respecting a priest, who narrowly escaped being killed 
 whilst saying mass. The queen made use of such 
 horrible punishments, and by the effusion of blood so 
 established her authority, that every body was asto- 
 nished and terrified at remaining in the kingdom. 1 "' 
 But we anticipate ; let us therefore return to the 20th 
 of August, when Dr. Watson was appointed to preach 
 at St. Paul's, but afraid to ascend the pulpit without a 
 
LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 strong guard to keep off the audience, some of whom 
 he suspected, from Bourne's affair, might perhaps be- 
 come actors. 
 
 Of this we find the following curious relation in the 
 correspondence so often alluded to : " One Sundaye 
 last was a sermone at Pole's Crosse, made by one 
 Doctor Watsone. Theare was at this sermone the 
 Marques of Winchestre, the Earle of Bedforde, the 
 Earle of Pembroke, the Lord Wentworth, the Lord 
 Riche ; they did sitte wheare my lord mayor and the 
 aldermen wear wonte to sette : my lord maiere sittinge 
 uppermoste. Thear was also in the windowe over the 
 mayor the ould Bushoppe of London and diveres 
 otheres. Thear was 120 of the gard that stoode 
 round about the crosse, with their halberdes, to gard 
 the preachere, and to apprehende them that would 
 stirre. His sermone was no more eloquent than edi- 
 fieing ; I mene it was nether eloquent nor edifieinge in 
 my opinione, for he medled not withe the gospelle nor 
 epistle, nor noe parte of scripture. After he had red 
 his theame, he entred into a by mattere, and so spente 
 his tyme. 4 or 5 of the cheefe pointes of his sermone 
 that I cane remember I will as breefly as I can reporte 
 unto you, vilz. he requirede the people not to beleeve 
 the preacheres, but that ther faithe should be firme 
 and shure, because there is suche varieties amongeste 
 them ; and iff any man doubte of his faithe, let him 
 goe to the scriptures, and also to the olde interpret- 
 eres of the same, and interprit it not aftere their owne 
 
AND UK 11 TIMES. 305 
 
 brayne. He wished the people to have no newe 
 faithe, nor to bulde no newe temple, but to keepe the 
 olde faithe, and reedifye the old temple againe. He 
 blamed the people in a maner for that heartofoare they 
 would haue nothinge that was manes tradisshon, and 
 no we they can be contentyd to have manes tradisshon, 
 shewinge that in the firste yeare of the raigne of our 
 soveraigne lorde King Edward the 6, theare was a lawe 
 established, that in the sacrament thear was the bodie 
 and bloode of Christe, not really but spirituallie, and 
 the next yeare after they established another lawe, 
 that thear was the body of Christe nether spiritually 
 nor really. Thes 2 in themselves are contraryes, 
 thearfore they cannot be bothe trewe. He shewed 
 that we should ground our faithe uppon God's word, 
 which is scripture, and scripture is the byble, which 
 wee have' in Hebrue, Greeke, and Latinne, and nowe 
 translated into English ; but he doubtethe the trans- 
 latyon was not true. Also he sayd theare hathe byne 
 in his tyme that he hathe seen xx catechesemes, and 
 everi one varinge from other in some pointe, and well 
 he sayd they might be all false, but they could not be 
 true ; and thus psuadin the people that they had fol- 
 lowed menes tradisshones, and had gonne astraye; 
 wishin them to come home agayne and reedefy the 
 olde temple. Thus, with many other pswasiones, he 
 spente the tyme tyll xi of the clocke, and ended.*" 
 These persuasions, however, had little effect ; and 
 
30G LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 another mode was tried. — "Diveres marchantes to the 
 number of 14 or 15, were by the counsells comaunde 
 to come to the queenes chappell, and theare to tarrye 
 tyll masse was done." 
 
 Another letter, speaking of Watson's preaching, 
 says, " Upon Sundaye, the 20 off Auguste, theare 
 preached at Poules Crose one named Walles : and to 
 keepe and preserve him from the enemyes, theare 
 weare with their holbordes about 200 of the garde ; the 
 lyke was never seene ; and as for altres and masses, are 
 in buildinge faster than ever they weare put downe." 
 
 Another letter of the 1st of September says, that 
 " all the altres at Poules are up, and all the oulde 
 service sayd in Lattin; and almost throughout Lon- 
 don the same." Yet it was not without some struggle, 
 apparently, on the part of the protestant, or reformed 
 divines ; for the same letter adds, that " the Bushop 
 of Canterbury, Hooper, the Bushop of London, and 
 diverse other, are together in disputacyon dayly at 
 their owne houses ; but what is done amongeste them I 
 cannot learne." And, a day or two after, appears the 
 following passage : 
 
 " At London is kept diveres disputacyones in the 
 consistorye place in Poules, with the bushopes. Bu- 
 shop Cox must dispute on mondaye nexte in the same 
 place, upon diveres articles; but what they bee I 
 cannot yet learne. 
 
 " The masse is very riffe. 
 
AND HER TIMES. -307 
 
 " By turninge the bookes of the Guildhall, I have 
 founde theare was comaundmente gevene from the 
 mayere to the aldermene of every warde to call befoare 
 them the preeste of every parish churche within theare 
 wardes, and to geve them in comaundemente that they 
 should not preache nor reade any scripture or other 
 lectures, other than the devine service appoyntede, 
 tyll they heare furthere." 
 
 In the midst of these scenes of alarm to the friends 
 of the reformation, Queen Mary's friends prided them- 
 selves much upon their loyalty towards her ; and one 
 of them, by the name of Richard Trough ton, a Lin- 
 colnshire man, addressed a memoir to the privy coun- 
 cil; perhaps one of the most curious political docu- 
 ments in existence, and indeed a fair prototype of the 
 well known " P. P. clerk of the parish." It is in the 
 British Museum*, but much too long for insertion 
 here ; one short extract must therefore suffice. 
 
 " Hit may plese yo r honorable lordeshypis to be 
 advysed that upon wensday the xi th day of July, in 
 the firste yere of the moste gracious raign of the 
 quenes majestie, I Richard Troughton, of South 
 Walshen, in the countie of Lincoln, and John Dove, 
 constable of the same towne, the saide day and yere 
 standinge together at the comon watering place then 
 called hedgedyke, lately scoured for catall to drink att, 
 that I the said Troughton called on James Prate to 
 
 * Harl. Coll. No. 6222. 
 
 v o 
 
308 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 me, which Pratte was newe come whome, and asked 
 of hyme howe he liked the newe scowered wartering 
 place; and he answered well, and desyred God to 
 thank the doers therof for hit was the best dede, said 
 he, that he knewe done in that towne many yeres 
 before. And afterwards the same Prate alsked me 
 what newes I had harde of Kynge Edwarde ; and I 
 answered hym none at all ; and Prate said the kynge 
 was dede, and that I knewe well enough ; and I de- 
 ny ed hit, for I knew hit not at that tyme in dede. 
 Wherfor I demaunded of hyme howe hee dyd knowe 
 his graces to be departed? And he said it was to 
 trewe, for the queues hynes was flede into Northefolke, 
 and lay at Mr. Hurlstones house by the waye. Than 
 I said, O worthe Kynge William that ever he was 
 borne; speaking thes wordes by the late Duke of 
 Northumberland, who was causer of the quenes flying, 
 for his father was a treator, and he was a very wyllayn, 
 and his father wold have kylled the kyngs father, 
 Kynge Henry the Eighte, and the good kynge was 
 departed by lyke. That o worthe the same willayn 
 that ever he was borne, for I fred he wold go aboughte 
 to destroye the noble blode of Ingland, wherfor I 
 drewe out my dagger in the syghte of the said John 
 Dove and Jamys Prate, and wisshed hit at the wyl- 
 layns hart with my hande att hit, as harde as I culde 
 thruste psently face to face, and body to body, what 
 so ever be came of my body, and desyred Gods plage 
 
A XI) HER TIMES. 309 
 
 to lyghte upon hyme, and that he niyghte have a 
 shorte lyfe : and preyed God to saue the quene^s ma- 
 jestie, and to delyver hir grace from hym. Wherupon 
 the said Dove plucked me secretly by the coat, and s d 
 he wold speke with me; and so we went away from 
 Prate. And Dove advysed me to beware what I said 
 agaynste the duke, for I knewe that Prate was not my 
 frende, and that he wold make the woorst of hit. I 
 answered Dove, with my dagger drawn, agayne re- 
 hersyng the words above mencyoned. I have said hit, 
 and I wulle saye hit wylls I lyve. And further I 
 said, that Dove shulde see hyme sortely come to his 
 fatheres deth, for his father was behedded, and soe I 
 trusted he shulde be or his was longe to. And so 
 being a sorrowfull man for the troble, I departed, and 
 bade theym farewell at the time." 
 
 Mr. Trough Ion then proceeds " to tell his story thus" 
 through many pages, often repeating his oaths and 
 drawing his dagger in threats against Northumber- 
 land. 
 
 But it was not in the humble walks of life alone 
 that vanity and time-serving were conspicuous; for 
 many names, now illustrious, might be adduced as in- 
 stances of unmanly bending to the storm. 
 
 This double-minded, or rather cowardly part, 
 which some of the principal agents performed in this 
 affair, cannot perhaps be more fully illustrated than 
 in " a brefF note of my submission, and declaracion of 
 
310 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 my doings/' written by Sir W. Cecill, and preserved 
 in the Lansdown MSS. in the Brit. Mus. No. 104. 2. 
 
 " 1. First, my submission with all lowlynes that my 
 harte can conceive. 
 
 " 2. My misliking of the matter when I herd it 
 secretly ; wheruppon I made conveyance awaye of my 
 landes, pte of my goodes, my leases, and my raye- 
 ment. 
 
 " 3. I also determyned to suffer, for saving my con- 
 science, wherof the witnesses Sir Anthony Cooke, Ni- 
 cholas Bacon, Esq. Laurence Eresby of Louthe, eleven 
 of my sute, Roger Alford, and William Cayewood. 
 
 "4. Of my ppose to stand against the matter, be 
 also witnesses Mr. Petre and Mr. Cheke. 
 
 " 5. I did refuse to subscribe the booke, when none 
 of the counsell did refuse : in what perill I refer it to 
 be considered by the who know the duke. 
 
 " 6. I refused to make a proclamation : and turned 
 the labour to Mr. Throckmorton, whose conscience I 
 sawe was troobled therwith, misliking the matter. 
 
 " 7. I eschewed the wrytyng of the queene's highnes 
 bastard, and therefore the duke wrote the Ire himself, 
 wch was sett forth in the realme. 
 
 " 8. I eschewed to be at the drawing of the pro- 
 clamation for the publishing of the usurper's title, being 
 specially appoyted therto. 
 
 " 9. I avoyded the answer of the queene's highnes 
 Ire. 
 
AND HEK tlMEi. 311 
 
 " 10. I avoyded also the wry tinge of all the public 
 Ires to the realme. 
 
 " 11. I wrote no Ire to the L. Lawerr as I was 
 comaded. 
 
 " 12. I dissebled the taking of my horse, and the 
 rysinge of Lincolnshyre, and Northamptonshyre, and 
 avowed the pardonable lye where it was suspected to 
 my dang 1 . 
 
 " 13. I practised with the L. treasurer to wyn the L. 
 pve seale, that I myght by the L. RusseFs meanes 
 cause Wyndsore Castle to serve the quene ; and they 
 11 to levy the west ptes for thequenes service. I have 
 the L. treasorer's Ire to L. St. John, for to kepe me 
 saffe if I cold not prvaile in the enterprize of Wyndsore 
 Castle, and my name was fayned to be Hardinge. 
 
 "14. I did oppose my selfe to y e Erie of Arundell, 
 who I found therto disposed; and likewise I did the 
 like to the L.Darcy, who herd me with good cotentacio, 
 wherof I did imediately tell Mr. Petre, for both our 
 comforte. 
 
 "15. I did also determine to flee from them, if y e 
 consultation had not taken effect, as Mr. Petre can tell, 
 who meant the like. 
 
 "16. I pposed to have stollen downe to the quenes 
 highnes, as Mr. Goswold can tell, who offered to lede 
 me thither, as I knewe not the waye. 
 
 " 17. I had my horses redy at Lambeth for the 
 ppose. 
 
312 LADY JANE grey, 
 
 " 18. I procured a Ire from the lords that the 
 queries tenants of Wybledon should not goe with Sir 
 Thomas Caverden, and yet I never gaue one man 
 warning so much as to be in a redynes, and yet they 
 sent to me for the ppose, and I willed them to be 
 quiett. I might as shurely there make for the quenes 
 service an hundred men to serve. 
 
 "19. When I sent into Lincolnshyre for my horses, 
 I sent but for v horses and viii of my servants ; and 
 charged y l none of my tenats should be styrred. 
 
 •' 20. I caused my horses, being indede but xii, to 
 be taken upp in Northaptoshyre, and the next daye 
 following I cotermaded the agayne by my Ires, re- 
 mayning in the cotry, and notoriosly ther knowne. 
 
 " 21 . When this co spy racy w,as first oppened to me 
 I did fully set me to flee the realme, and was dissuaded 
 by Mr. Cheke, who willed me for my satisfaction to 
 rede a dialoge of Plato, where Socrates, being in 
 pson, was offred to escape and flee, and yet he wold 
 not. I redd the dialoge, whose reasons indede did 
 stay me. 
 
 " Fynally, I beseeche hir highnes that in hir grace 
 I maye fele some differece fro others that have more 
 playnely offended, and yet be partakers of hir highnes 
 boutiefulness and grace ; and if difference maye be made 
 I do differ fro them who I served ; and also fro them 
 that had libtye after there enforcement to depart, by 
 meanes whereof they did both like noble me and true 
 
AND HER TIMES. 313 
 
 subiects shew the dueties to their sovraign lady. The 
 like wherof was my devotion to have done, if I might 
 have had the like lifctye, as knoweth God, the sercher 
 of all harts, whose indignation I call upon me if it be 
 not true : 
 
 " Justus adiutorius meus Dfios <\ salvos facit rectos 
 cord : 
 
 " God saue the queene in all faelicite. 
 
 W. CECILL." 
 
 In perfect unison with this conduct on the part of 
 Cecill, is a fact trifling in itself, yet whimsical from its 
 connexion with these events. In the Lansdown Col- 
 lection, now in the British Museum, No. 1236, Ail. 
 15, is a letter from Lady Jane to the Marquess of 
 Northampton, announcing her entry into possession, &c. 
 and requiring his allegiance, and defence of her title 
 against what she calls " the fayned and untrewe clayme 
 of the Lady Marye, bastard daughter to our great 
 uncle Henry theight, of famous memory. 1 ' This letter 
 is dated from the Tower, on the 10th of July, and 
 appears to have come afterwards into the hands of 
 Cecill, who has indorsed it, " Jane, non Regum," and 
 carefully erased its superscription, but not in such a 
 manner as to prevent its being read. It is not our 
 wish, however, to be too severe upon that great states- 
 man. Life is sweet to all men, and when the exposure of 
 it to danger cannot be followed by any good results, al- 
 lowances must be made. Still we cannot help observing, 
 
314 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 that if Cecill was the friend of Mary, he ought in the 
 first instance to have braved the violence of North- 
 umberland, both for loyalty and conscience sake. If 
 he were not the friend of Mary, then he ought to have 
 acted with more courage in favour of the cause which 
 he had espoused, and thereby have saved himself, sup- 
 posing the others equally intrepid, from the necessity of 
 tergiversation and of denying his faith, whilst crouching 
 to a tyrant, and to a tyrannical priesthood. 
 
 But terror was the order of the day, and fear was its 
 concomitant ; for though Mary affected clemency to- 
 wards the great mass of her opponents, yet it was suf- 
 ficiently known that she intended to make a striking 
 example of some of the leaders. 
 
 In fact, such was the public opinion in regard to that 
 point, that we find a convincing proof of it in a letter of 
 the date of the 5th of August, which says, " I hard saye 
 this daye that the Duke of Northumberland, the Lord 
 Marques of Dorset, of Northampton, the Earle of Hunt- 
 ington, Sir John Gate, and Mr. Palmer, wear alredie 
 condemned to die." 
 
 This report was, indeed, rather premature ; but the 
 fate of Northumberland was, perhaps, even then de- 
 cided on, his trial and that of some others being ordered 
 for the eighteenth of August. The whole proceedings 
 are thus recorded in a book of the lords-stewards of 
 England, and of the trials before them*. 
 
 * Brit. Mus. Harl. Coll. No. 2194, p. 22. 
 
AND HElt TIMKS. 315 
 
 " Thomas, Duke of Norfolke, sitting as High- 
 Steward of Englande, on the eighteenth 
 day of August were brought before him, 
 John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, 
 William Parre, Marquesse of Northamp- 
 ton, and the Earle of Warwicke, sonne to 
 the Earle of Northumberland. 
 " The Duke of Northumberland, at his cominge to 
 the barre, used greate reverence towards the judges, 
 and protestinge his ffaith and obedience to the queene's 
 maty, whome he confessed greivously to have offended, 
 he said, That he meant not to speake any thinge in 
 defence of himselfe; but would first understand the 
 opinion of the courte on two points. 
 
 " First, whether a man dooinge an acte by the au- 
 thority of the prince and counselle, and by warrant of 
 the greate seale of England, and dooinge nothinge 
 without the same, may bee charged for treasone for 
 any thinge wch hee mighte doe by warrant thereof? 
 
 " Secondly, whether any such psons as were equally 
 culpable in that crime, and those by whose letres and 
 commandements he was directed in all his dooinges 
 might bee his judges, or passe upon his try all att his 
 death ? 
 
 " Whereunto was answered, that as concerninge the 
 firste, the greate seale, wch hee layd for his warrant, 
 was not the seale of the lawfull queene of the realme, 
 nor passed by authority ; but the seale of an usurper, 
 and therefore would bee noe warrant for him. 
 
316 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 " And to the second it was alleadged, that if any 
 were as deepely to bee touched as himselfe in that case ; 
 yet as longe as noe atteinder were of recorde against 
 them, they were neverthelesse psones able in the lawe, 
 to passe upon any try all, and not to be challenged 
 therefore but att the princes pleasure. 
 
 " After wch answere the duke usinge some wordes, 
 declared his earneste repentance in the case (for hee 
 saw that to stande upon utteringe any reasonable matter 
 could little pvaile), and moved the Duke of Norfolke 
 to bee a meanes unto the queene for mercy, and with- 
 out fur there answeare confessed the indictment, by 
 whose example alsoe the other prisoners arraigned wth 
 him did likewise confesse the indictment produced 
 against them, and therupon had judgement 
 
 " The judgement being prounced, hee craved favor 
 of such a death as was executed on noblemen, and not 
 the other : hee beseeching alsoe that a favourable re- 
 gard might bee had of his children in respect of theire 
 age, and that hee might bee pmitted to conferre with 
 some learned divine for the settlinge of his conscience ; 
 and, lastly, that her ma tie would bee pleased to send 
 unto him foure of her counsell for the discovery of some 
 things which might conserne the state. 
 
 " The Marquesse of Northampton pleaded to his in- 
 dictment, That after the beginnings of these tumults 
 he had forborne the execuson of any publique office, 
 and that all the while hee, intente to huntinge and 
 other sports, did not ptake in the conspiracy ; but it 
 
AND HER TIMES. 317 
 
 being manifest that hee was pty with the Duke of 
 Northumberland, sentence passed on him likewise. 
 
 " The Earle of Warwicke fyndinge that the judges 
 in soe greate a cause admitted noe excuse of age, wth 
 greate resolucon heard his condemnacon pronounsed 
 against him : cravinge only this favour, that whereas 
 the goods of those who are condemned for treason are 
 totally confiscated; yet her ma tie would bee pleased 
 that out of them his debts might be payd. After this 
 they were all returned to the Tower." 
 
 We may add, from another authority, that when 
 Dudley implored the mercy of the court, or rather of 
 the queen, towards his unhappy children, he had the 
 generosity and liberality to assure them that the Lady 
 Jane, so far from aspiring to the crown, was rather 
 " by enticement and force made to accept it !" 
 
 This is a testimony, and a most forcible one too, of 
 her good sense, which fully confirms what we have 
 already stated in a former section. 
 
 The public clamour and rejoicing upon North- 
 umberland's condemnation were considered by the 
 court party as an approval of their cause, when in 
 fact they were merely produced by the personal un- 
 popularity of the individual himself; for it must not 
 be forgotten, that when the Duke of Somerset perished 
 on the scaffold, in 1551, through the intrigues of 
 Northumberland, as commonly supposed, the people 
 
--- 
 
 
 :-- :■■-:. 
 
 J-' ^ 
 
 lean d 
 
 i r-:, :: 
 

 
 His name, in the spelling of the age. is under the de- 
 vice ; and below are four lines, e\identlv punning upon 
 his own misfortunes and bis brother Amhr 
 
 TOW THAT TH 3 5TSDO! BEHOLD 
 
 MAY DEME WITHE EAS I BE 
 
 WITHE BORDERS EKE WHBRIN 
 
 A BROTH B RS NA MES w 
 
320 
 
 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 This device and inscription appear not to have been 
 quite finished before he was led forth to execution; 
 but on different sides of the apartment the word 
 
 appears cut in the same manner. Mr. Brand very 
 justly supposes this to be intended for the royal title 
 of the amiable and unfortunate daughter-in-law of 
 Northumberland ; and he remarks, that she had, per- 
 haps, a latent meaning in this repetition of her signature 
 Jane, by which she at once styled herself a queen, and 
 intimated that not even the horrors of a prison could 
 force her to relinquish that title. But such a feeling is 
 not in consonance with facts which we have had occa- 
 sion to record of her ; besides it is known that she was 
 lodged in a different apartment, in the house of one 
 Partridge, as already noticed. 
 
 Indeed Mr. Brand remarks, that although it is stated 
 in the Anecdotes of Distinguished Persons, vol. iv. 
 p. 1 29, that on the wall of the room in which she was 
 
A XI) I IKK TIMES. 
 
 321 
 
 imprisoned in the Tower she wrote with a pin these 
 
 " Non aliena putes homini quod obtingere possunt : 
 Sors hodierna mihi eras erit ilia tibi." 
 
 " To mortals' common fate they must resign, 
 My lot to-day, to-morrow may be thine" 
 
 yet no vestiges of such inscription were discovered 
 in making the alterations in this apartment in Beau- 
 champ's Tower; a circumstance perfectly compatible 
 with her confinement in another place, and therefore 
 verifying Mr. NichoPs supposition, that the name was 
 thus written by Northumberland himself from ostenta- 
 tion, or perhaps a better feeling; as the letters re- 
 semble much those of his own autograph ; not only in 
 the specimen already given, but in another. — 
 
 Mary was determined to allow but little time to her 
 victims ; for on the nineteenth, or the day after, the 
 Duke of Northumberland received intelligence of his 
 intended execution, on which he instantly sent the fol- 
 lowing letter to the Earl of Arundel*: 
 
 " Honble Lord, and in this my distress my especiall 
 * Brit. Mus. Harl. Coll. No. 787, p. 01. 
 
322 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 refuge, most wofull was the newes I receyved this 
 evenynge by Mr. Lieutenant, that I must prepare my- 
 selfe ag st to morrowe to receyve my deadly stroke. 
 Alas, my good lord, is my cryme so heynous as noe 
 redempson but my blood can washe awaye the spottes 
 therof ? An old proverbe ther is, & y t most true, y t a 
 lyving dogge is better than a dead lyon. Oh ! that it 
 would please her good grace to give me life, yea the 
 life of a dogge, if I might but lyve and kiss her feet, 
 and spend both life and all in her honble services, as I 
 have the best part already under her worthie brother, 
 and most glorious father. Oh ! that her mercy were 
 such as she would consyder how little proffitt my dead 
 and dismemberd body can bringe her ; but how great 
 and glorious an honor it will be in all posterities when 
 the report shall be that soe gracious and mightie a 
 queene had graunted life to soe miserable and penitent 
 an object. Your honble usage and promise to me 
 since these my troubles have made me bold to chal- 
 lenge this kindnes at your handes. Pardon me if I 
 haue done amiss therin, and spare not, I pray, your 
 bended knees for me in this distresse. The God of 
 Heaven, it may be, will requite one day, on you or 
 yours. And if my life be lengthened by your mediacion, 
 and my good Lord Chancellor's (to whom I haue also 
 sent my blurred letters), I will ever owe it to be spent 
 at your honble feet. Oh ! good my lord, remember 
 how sweet life is, and how bitter the contrary. Spare 
 
AND HER TIMES, 323 
 
 not your speech and paines, for God, I hope, hath not 
 shutt out all hopes of comfort from me in that gracious, 
 princely, and womanlike hart : but that as the doleful 
 newes of death hath wounded to death both my soule 
 and bodye, soe the comfortable newes of life shall be as 
 a new resurrection to my wofull hart. But if no remedy 
 can be founde, eyther by imprisonment, confiscation, 
 banishment, and the like, I can saye noe more but 
 God graunt me patyence to endure, and a heart to for- 
 giue the whole world. 
 
 Once your fell owe and lovinge companion, 
 but now worthy of noe name but wretched- 
 nes and misery. 
 
 J. D." 
 
 This application was of no avail ; so that we have only 
 to record that the same Lord Steward's book, already 
 quoted, further states, that " On the two and twentieth 
 of the same moneth (Augt) the duke w th the rest, S r 
 Thomas Palmer and S r John Gates, haveing two dayes 
 before received the sacramente of the Lord's supper, 
 were delivered to the SherifFes of London by S r John 
 Gage, Lieutenaunte of the Tower; when the duke 
 and Sir John Gates mett, ' S r John,' said the duke, 
 ' God haue mercy on us, for this day shall end both 
 o r lives, and I pray you forgive mee whatsoever I 
 haue offended, and I forgiue you with all my hearte. 
 
 y 2 
 
S9A 
 
 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 Although you and yo r counsell was a greate occasion 
 therof.' ' Well, my lord,' quoth Sir John Gates, ' I 
 forgiue you all, as I would be forgiven, and yet you 
 and yo r authority was the originell cause of it alto- 
 gether, but the lord pdon you and I pray you forgiue 
 mee;' and soe either makinge obeysance to other 
 the duke proceeded. And when he came upon the 
 scaffold, puttinge of his gowne of swane coloured da- 
 mask, leaned upon the easte rayle makeing his owne 
 funerall oration to the people ; acknowledged himselfe 
 guilty, and craveinge pdon for his unseasonable bold- 
 nes and ambition, admonished the assembly that they 
 should embrace the religion of their forefathers, re- 
 jectinge that of latter date, wch had occasioned all the 
 miseries of the aforepast thirty years, and for pvention 
 of the future, if they desire to psent theire soules un- 
 spotted unto the Lord, and were truly affected to theire 
 countrey, they should expell those trumpets of sedition, 
 the preachers of the reformed religion. As for him- 
 selfe, whater hee might ptend, his conscience was 
 fraught with the religion of his fathers, and for testi- 
 mony herof he appealed to his greate freinde the Bishupp 
 of Winchester : but being blinded with ambition, was 
 contente to make wracke of his conscience, by tempo- 
 rizing, for which hee professed himselfe sincerely pe- 
 nitent, and acknowledged the desert of his death. 
 
 Having spoaken thus muche lice craved the 
 
AND HER TIMES, 
 
 325 
 
 charitable devotions of the assembly, and com- 
 mending his soule to God, prepared his body 
 for the stroke of the axe. 11 
 
 This testimony on the scaffold in favour of a return 
 to the Roman Catholic religion is most extraordinary ; 
 particularly when we add to it another fact, as positively 
 asserted, in that private correspondence which we have 
 had occasion so frequently to quote : 
 
 " On Monday laste the Duke of Northumberland, 
 the Marques of Northampton, Sir John Gates, and 
 otheres hard masse verie devoutlie in the Towere, and 
 theare receaved the sacrament even as they weare wonte 
 40 yeares ago. 11 
 
 This apparent compliance, however, with Mary's 
 arbitrary commands, had but little effect as to the fate 
 of these unhappy men ; for the same letter goes on to 
 state, " This presente daye the Duke of Northumber- 
 land, Sir John Gates, and Mr. Palmere came to execu- 
 tion, and suffered deathe. The duke's confessyon was 
 in effecte but lytle, as I hard saye ; hee confessyd him- 
 selfe worthye to dye, and that hee was a greate helper 
 in off this religion, which is false, whearefore God had 
 pnished us with the loss King H. 8. and also with the 
 loss of Kinge Ed. y e 6. ; then withe rebellyon, and 
 aftere withe the swetyngc sicknes, and yet we would 
 
3%6 LADY JaNE grey, 
 
 not turne ; requyringe them all that weare presente to 
 remember the ould learninge, thankynge God that he 
 would vutsafe to call him nowe to be a chrystyane, for 
 thes 16 yeares he had byn none." 
 
 This writer then says, " Thear weare a greate nom- 
 ber turned with his worde. He wished every man not 
 to be covetous, for that was a greate pte of his de- 
 struction. He was asked further, yff he had any thinge 
 more to saye ; and he sayd nothinge but that he was 
 worthie to die, and so was moare than he. But he cam 
 to dye and not to accuse any man ; and thus bouldly 
 he spak tylle he layd his head on the blocke. 
 
 " Litle moare in effecte was sayd by any of the reste, 
 saving Mr. Palmer sayd he had byne a vicious lyvere.'" 
 
 How far these confessions proceeded from fear of 
 torture is a fair matter of doubt, when we read the 
 next y following sentence, " The Duke of Norfolke 
 gaue the Duke of Northumberlande his judgmente ; 
 theare wente no quest n on him, for he confessed the in- 
 ditement." The word " questn" evidently alluding to 
 the rack *! 
 
 * A very curious and even amusing jumble of the transactions 
 at this period, has been given by that clever but conceited 
 Frenchman, Stephen Perlin, already quoted, which deserves 
 particular notice. It was first printed at Paris, in 1558: and 
 afterwards translated into English, an extract of which we sub- 
 join from the Antiq. Rep. iv. 501. 
 
 " Good God ! what a sedition was I witness to ! It happened 
 that King Edward was sick at the castle of Grenois (Green- 
 
AND UK 11 TIMES. 327 
 
 Hut a fuller account of this affair is given in another 
 letter, which states, that " The Duke of Northumber- 
 
 wich); his illness lasted three months, at the expiration of 
 which he died. Then might you every where behold the 
 people trembling, groaning, and beating their breasts; then 
 were all the milors much troubled, not knowing what steps to 
 take. Hereupon milor Notombellant called together all the 
 chief nobility, called lors, and set forth in several speeches that 
 Henry the Eighth, King of England, had several wives, of 
 which one was the mother of Madam Mary, who then pretended 
 to the crown, and who is at present queen, whose mother having 
 been found guilty of adultery, was condemned by the privy 
 council of England, and all her posterity bastardized, and de- 
 prived of all claims to royalty; and that thereupon the king 
 had, by his last will, directed that his young son should be 
 king, without having any regard to the Madam Marie and 
 Madam Elizabeth, his daughters, which will was signed by the 
 hand of the said Henry the Eighth, and approved and con- 
 firmed by an arret ; of which will the Duke of Notombellant 
 availed himself, and remonstrated to the council that his 
 daughter ought to be queen, and that she was, by her mother's 
 side, nearly allied to the crown ; for, different from all king- 
 doms, the females here succeed to the throne. Many milors 
 sided with him, and principally the duke of Suphor, the milor 
 Arondelle, and the milor Marquis ; and the said Notombellant 
 caused his daughter, named Madam Jane, to be proclaimed 
 queen of the country, who, as I have before said, was married 
 to milor Suphor. At her proclamation, the people neither made 
 any great feasts, nor expressed any great satisfaction, neither 
 was one bonefire made. The milor Notombellant set out to 
 apprehend Madam Mary, in order to bring her prisoner to the 
 castle of the Tower ; and took with him the Duke of Suphor, 
 the milor Arondelle, and the milor Marquis, accompanied with 
 fourteen or fifteen hundred horse. 
 
 " But here fortune proved adverse to him and his enterprize : 
 for being abandoned by his people, the poor prince, he and the 
 Duke of Suphor, and the milor Arondelle, were ignominiously 
 
328 »• LADY JANE GREV, 
 
 land, the Marques of Northampton, and the Earle of 
 Warwicke weare array nid, the 18 daye of August, the 
 
 and basely taken prisoners, without having struck one stroke, or 
 shewed themselves men of courage. This behaviour was un- 
 doubtedly very pusillanimous. They were conducted to the 
 castle of the Tower, under an escort of about eight hundred 
 men. The poor prince was ill advised; he ought, notwith- 
 standing any opposition that might have been made against him, 
 to have sent milor Arondelle to take possession of the castle of 
 d'Ovre (Dover), the good man Suphor to occupy the Tower, the 
 milor Marquis to the castle at Rie, and his son-in-law to some 
 other port, which he might have easily effected; for I am certain 
 that the whole kingdom trembled at his nod : and he, on the 
 other hand, ought to have given battle to the queen, and have 
 drawn to his party this seditious and noisy people, by the pro- 
 mises of money, which he might without difficulty have done, 
 for the deceased king left treasure in the Tower. But God, 
 who alone distributes victories, would not pennit it; and 
 cities are in vain guarded by great captains and armed men, if 
 God does not protect them ; wherefore in the government of a 
 kingdom, God ought to be implored on all occasions, he being 
 our most faithful guardian, which the royal prophet, David, has 
 well taught us. The afore-mentioned prisoners were taken to 
 the Tower. The mob called the milor Notumbellant vile 
 traitor, and he furiously eyed them with looks of resentment. 
 Two days afterwards he was taken by water in a little bark to 
 Ousemestre (Westminster), a royal palace, principally to indict 
 and try him ; his trial was not long, for it did not last more 
 than fifteen days at most; and he, the Duke of Suphor, and the 
 milor Arondelle were condemned by an arret of council to be be- 
 headed in an open place before the castle of the Tower ; and 
 they had all three the pain of seeing one under the hands of an 
 hangman, before whom a whole kingdom had trembled, which, 
 reader, was a lamentable spectacle. This hangman was lame 
 of a leg, for I was present at the execution, and he wore a white 
 apron like a butcher. This great lord made great lamentations 
 and complaints at his death, and said this prayer in English, 
 
AND HER TIMES. 329 
 
 Duke of Norfolke, for that tyme Lord Stewarde of 
 England. The duke confessed the indictments, and 
 was ajudged to be drawne, hanged, and his quarters 
 to be hanged about London ; so likewise was the Mar- 
 ques. The Earle of Warwicke, upon his indictment, 
 asked whether the acte of a kinge, confirmed by his 
 counselle, in suche a case may stande or noe ; which 
 beinge affirmed negatively, he then answered, Lord 
 have mercy uppon me ; and so condempned weare re- 
 turned to the Towere. 
 
 " On Satterdaye beinge the 19 h daye of Auguste, 
 was arraigned Sir Andrew Dudley, Sir John Gates, 
 Sir Henry Gates, and Sir Thomas Palmere, and weare 
 lykewise all condemned. 
 
 " Then one Thursday, the 22 d of August, the 
 Duke of Northumberland was behedded at the Towere 
 hill. The daye befoare he did heare masse in the 
 Towere very devoutly, which when he had done, he 
 stood up in the mideste of suche as weare theare and 
 sayd with a loud voyse, that for 16 yeares befoare that 
 tyme he thoughte he had not served God truly, and 
 
 throwing himself on his knees, looking up to Heaven, and ex- 
 claiming tenderly, Lorde God mifatre prie fort ous poore siners 
 nond vand in the hoore of our teatk: which is to say, in French, 
 " Lord God my father, pray for us men and poor sinners, and 
 principally in the hour of our death." After the execution you 
 might see little children gathering up the blood which had 
 fallen through the slits in the scaffold on which he had been 
 beheaded. In this country the head is put upon a pole, and all 
 their goods confiscated to the queen." 
 
330 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 that the puttinge downe of the masse was the greatest 
 thoughte that ever he tooke for any thinge ; and that 
 yff it had pleased God to haue graunted him lyfe, and 
 had remained in authority, he would have put it downe 
 himselfe ever one yeare had come to an ende; and 
 added, that for to winne the harte of the cittezenes of 
 London, because they loved newe thinges, he would 
 not befoare do it. And when he came to the scaffold, 
 aftere his protestacon, openly thear he willed all people 
 for to imbrace the most sacred and holy masse, whearin 
 (quoth he) is the true administration of the very true 
 bodie and blood aftere the consecration (this, quoth he, 
 is my faithe), and do pray you all to bear me witnes, 
 that is this true faithe, which is the faithe of our mo- 
 ther the holy church, comaunded by the mouthe of 
 our Lord God, unto whom I commit my sowle, and 
 willinge all the people once moare for to imbrace the 
 same, and so made himselfe redy to the deathe, 
 threatening the people of England with the affaires of 
 Geermanye which have byne since in greate murder 
 and slaughter, and kneelynge one his knees sayd a 
 prayer, and after that the Psallme De Profundis. 
 
 " Then cam Sir John Gates, who at his comyng up 
 prayed the people to praye for him, saying, that he had 
 offended, and thearfoare was come thyther to dye, and 
 so made and didd and prepared himselfe for the blocke. 
 
 " Then cam Sir Thomas Palmere, who, whenn hoc 
 was uppon the scaffold put off his cape to the auditory, 
 
AND HER TIMES. '3'3I 
 
 and sayd, God give you all good morrowe, and diveres 
 did byd him good morrowe againe : and he replyed and 
 sayd, I doe not doubte but that I have a good mor- 
 rowe, and shall have a better good even. Good friends 
 (quoth he) I am com hether to dye, for I have lyved 
 heare under a lawe and haue offended the same ; and 
 for my so doing the same lawe findeth me guilty, hathe 
 condemned me to ende heare my lyfe this daye, for 
 the which I geve God thankes, in that he hath shewed 
 me the thinges which I have seene, and which also I 
 knowe to be just and trewe, and that is this, I have 
 since my coming out of yonder place, (poynting to the 
 Towere) seene with myne eyes my Redeemere sittinge 
 at y e ryght hand of God the father, in glorie and ma- 
 jestie equally, whose powere is infinite, and in whom 
 whoso putteth his truste shall never be deceaved ; and 
 as he is almighty, so can he doe what he listeth, and 
 to whom he will, and when he will, and that none in 
 the heven above, nor in the earthe beneath, can or maye 
 let his determinate wille, by whom I lyve, by whom I 
 am, and in whom I truste to live eternally. 1 have, as 
 some of you doe knowe, good people, byne a man not 
 altogether noreshed in England, but some parte of my 
 brede I have eaten in other realmes ; but to say that 
 befoare nowe I did God aryght, the world aryghte, or 
 myself aryghte I did never. And nowe, what I have 
 sayd ye knowe. I saye, God is such a one, that with- 
 
332 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 out thowe wille sit downe and behould the heavenes 
 above the sonne, and mone, the starres above the 
 firmament, the course of the sonne, the moone, starres, 
 and clowdes, the earthe withe all that in them is, and 
 howe they be all preserved, thowe shake never knowe 
 God aryght. The world is alltogether vanity; for it 
 is nothinge but ambition, flattery, foolishe or vaine 
 glorie, prid, discorde, slander, bostinge, disdayne, ha- 
 tred and mallis ; all which thinges, the same God that 
 made the world, or, as ye saye, man, which heare I 
 compare to the world, dothe utterly deteste and ab- 
 horre, in the which offences I have lived so noseled, 
 that nowe havinge a just occasion to looke unto myne 
 owne selfe, I have seene nothing but a body voyd of 
 all goodness, filthie, and stinkynge of lazars worse than 
 dung of beastes, a very miserable creature, and yet the 
 very worke of the myghtie hand of God. But yet, not- 
 withstandinge, in nowe knowinge my Creator arighte, 
 I doe not thinke any time to be that I have not byne 
 plunged over into the middeste of it, for the wch 
 prayenge God nowe to pardon me, willinge you and 
 prayenge you to praye for me, and withe me, unto the 
 Lord my God, and your God, which God I faithfullie 
 believe is in heven, and at the laste daye shall with all 
 triumphe come agayne into this worlde, judgynge the 
 same by fyere ; and nowe I wille bide you all farwelle, 
 prayenge you all to forgeve me, and to saye, The 
 
AND HER TIMES. 333 
 
 Lord receave me to his mercy, when you shall see the 
 axe passe between my head and shoulderes: and so 
 did prepare him to the deathe." 
 
 It must be acknowledged, that this recantation of 
 these victims to ambition, if not so also to the protest- 
 ant faith — is a matter of great doubt and obscurity. 
 Much of this may, it is true, be explained by what is 
 asserted by Strype, in his life of Cranmer, that North- 
 umberland was visited in prison by Bishop Hethe, to 
 whom he pretended that he was reconverted to popery ; 
 to which, and most probably even to his dying declara- 
 tion, he was persuaded by a promise made to him, 
 that if he would recant and hear mass, he should have 
 his pardon, even though his head were upon the block. 
 Strype adds, that the Emperor Charles V. had also 
 been persuaded by the duke's enemies to insist upon 
 Mary's signing the warrant of execution, which she 
 was half inclined to remit — but he then remarks, " the 
 priests best know the intrigues of Mary's reign.'" 
 
 It must be recollected, however, that during all these 
 affairs, and even at the time of the execution, Mary 
 was still a resident in the Tower, which fortress she did 
 not quit for St. James's until the 12th of September ; 
 and then not before she had directed a, forced loan to 
 be made in the city of London, which was announced 
 on the first of that month : on which a punster might 
 observe, that she had thus made game of the worthy 
 citizens in return for their applause. This loan was 
 
LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 principally to defray the expenses of her coronation, 
 which she was determined to celebrate with all possible 
 pomp and magnificence. 
 
 After residing for about a fortnight at St. James's, 
 she returned to the Tower by water, on the 27th of 
 September, accompanied by her sister Elizabeth, on 
 whom she appears to have kept a very watchful eye. 
 On this occasion repeated salutes were fired, amounting, 
 for some time, to a continual cannonade, especially at 
 the Tower, each of whose u sakers and demi-culverins" 
 sounded as the knell of the unhappy youthful couple 
 then immured within its walls : and also of Cranmer 
 and Latimer, who had been sent to prison on the 15th 
 of the month. 
 
 Every thing being arranged for the coronation, 
 which was fixed for the 3d of October, Mary left the 
 Tower on the last day of September, and rode through 
 the city, with the most splendid pageantry, to West- 
 minster ; and still accompanied by Elizabeth, of whom 
 she had already begun to feel great jealousy. Nor 
 were her fears groundless; for, notwithstanding the 
 changeable sycophancy of her ministers and apparent 
 partisans, she could not forget that the only member 
 of the council who had refused to join in the measures 
 to bastardize her was Sir James Hales, or Halles, one 
 of the justices of the Common Pleas ; and he too was 
 a great favourer of the reformed religion. Yet this 
 refusal weighed not with the queen ; who visited him 
 
AND HER TIMES. D&5 
 
 with her severe anger, because, at a quarter session in 
 Kent, he gave charge upon the statutes of King Henry 
 VIII. and of Edward, in derogation of the primacy of 
 the church of Rome. For this, certainly a lawful act, he 
 was first committed to the King's Bench, then to the 
 compter, and finally to the Fleet prison, where his mind 
 became so unsettled, that he made an attempt upon his 
 own life with a penknife. On his recovery he was brought 
 before the queen, who, it is said, spoke kindly towards 
 him ; but this was of no avail, for shortly afterwards, 
 on his liberation, he drowned himself in a rivulet not 
 half a mile from his own house; and so determined 
 was he upon this melancholy proceeding, that, on ac- 
 count of the shallowness of the rivulet, he actually lay 
 groveling in it until he was suffocated. 
 
 The splendour which Mary determined to display 
 on her coronation led to a review^ of the royal ward- 
 robe : and she had been only a short time seated on 
 her throne, when she began to look about her for the 
 crown jewels, and such other valuables as she could 
 claim, appertaining to her predecessors. Such of these 
 as had been delivered to the Lady Jane, that unhappy 
 lady had already given up ; but Mary, evidently with 
 a very unjust suspicion, thought otherwise; and on 
 the 20th of September, issued the following unhand- 
 some order to the Marquess of Winchester, still lord 
 treasurer * : 
 
 * Brit. Mus. Harl. Coll. No. 611. 
 
336 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 " By the Quene. 
 
 " Marye the Quene. 
 
 " Trustie and welbeloved, wee grete you well. And 
 where upon delyverie of certen our jewelles and stuffe 
 to yor handes by the Lady Jane Gray, the xx of July 
 last, wch she before had receyved of you, the xii* of 
 the same moneth, it appeyreth that the pcelles herafter 
 mencioned were wantynge, and by occasion therof can- 
 not yet be found agayne : forasmuch as wee certeynlie 
 undrestonde that by your diligence all the rest that 
 she had was recovered, beinge at the same time in like 
 daungere, and upon trust wee have ye will not let to use 
 the lyke travayle to recover these pcelles also to our use 
 
 so sone as ye canne ; we are therfore pleased," Sec. 
 
 Here her very careful and liberal majesty gave to the 
 marquess an acquittance for himself and heirs. 
 
 To some readers it may be curious to enumerate 
 the articles whose loss is here complained of. 
 
 The first was a chain of twenty pieces of gold, ena- 
 melled black, with forty clusters of pearls set in gold, 
 with five pearls in every cluster. Next a chain of 
 forty-four pieces of gold, and in each of them two 
 small turquoises and twenty-four pearls. Also a col- 
 lette of gold and two pearls; parcel of twenty-four 
 broken collettes, containing thirty-six pearls. " Item, 
 two pearls, parcell of eighteen upon an upper ha- 
 billement." All these are stated to have been taken 
 
AX J) HKJl TIMES. 
 
 33" 
 
 out of a coffer on which was written " The Queries 
 Jewells:" but the list was much larger, out of a 
 " square cofer covered with fustian of Naples." The 
 first of these is, " Item, a litle piece of a broken ring 
 of gold — Item, a booke of prayeres, covered with 
 purple velvett, and garnished with gold — Item, a 
 purse of lether, with xviii peces of silver of sundrie 
 straunge coynes — Item, three frenche crownes, wherof 
 one broken — Item, a girdle of gold — Item, iiii old 
 half-pence of silver — Item, viii litle half-pence and far- 
 things of latten — Item, xvi d. two farthings, and two 
 half-pence — Item, a pair of twitchers of silver — Item, 
 a ringe of golde, with a deathe's head — Item, a prymer 
 in English — Item, a litle square boxe of gold and 
 silver, with a paire of sheares, and diverse shreddes of 
 satten in the same — Item, in a white paper, a litle pece 
 of damask gold — Item, a paire of knyves in a case 
 of black silk — Item, two bookes covered with lether." 
 — But perhaps the most curious of all is out of 
 " the cofer marked with the broad arrow :" " Item, 
 two shavinge clothes — Item, xiiii paire of gloves of 
 diverse sortes." 
 
 The careful Mary had also an inventory of her own 
 jewels taken ; many of the entries in which are scarcely 
 intelligible at the present day. " Item, a shippe gar- 
 nischede fullie with diamountes, lacking two — Item, 
 one H. and K. with one lardge emeralde, and one 
 lardge pece pendente — Item, a tablet, being a whistle 
 
LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 of gold, a woman the upper part, gold enameled white, 
 and the lower of mother of perle." Then there was a 
 tablet of gold, with the king's picture on one side 
 painted, on the other a rose of diamonds: also a 
 " tablet of gold, therein a clocke. ,, Next come " car- 
 ranettes"" of gold and diamonds — " laces for the necke, 
 of gold — habillementes of gold, perles, and stone — ger- 
 delles of gold — bracellettes of gold — beades — aglettes 
 — buttons — claspes — glasses — books — furres" — &c. &c. 
 
 In another part of this curious MS. is a further list 
 of " coyne receaved of the Lady Jane Gray," on the 
 25th of July. This list contains some " crownes 
 and half-crownes — old Edwardes — peces of golde — 
 double duckettes — peces of gold 1 ' (with the pictures 
 of Henry VIII. Edward VI. &c.) " one half anngel — 
 shillinges and half shillinges." — Even " base money ," 
 to the amount of four shillings and five-pence, is set 
 down — " Item, olde sterlinge money, with two placke 
 .... xxd. — Item, xiii brasse peces, not valued !" The 
 whole amounting to <£541 13,9. %d. ! " Receaved of 
 the Lord Guilforde Dudeley, in moneys of the base 
 standarde, xxxii li. viii s." 
 
 In short, it is evident that the unhappy pair were 
 stripped of every penny they possessed ; for it is im- 
 possible to believe that such sums, and such monies, 
 could have been part of the royal treasury. This ex- 
 treme harshness, however, seems to have been pretty 
 fair evidence of what Mary's intentions were towards 
 
VXD HER TIMES. 339 
 
 her prisoners, as soon as the bustle of her own corona- 
 tion should be over ; which took place in Westminster 
 Abbey, on the 1st, or, as some say, on the 5th of Oc- 
 tober, with unprecedented magnificence. 
 
 This ceremony w r as scarcely over, when measures 
 were put in train for the impeachment and trial of 
 Lady Jane, and her husband, Lord Guildford Dudley, 
 together with Lord Ambrose, and Sir Henry Dudley, 
 sons of the Duke of Northumberland; and likewise 
 Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, whose back- 
 wardness, in favour of the proposed succession setting 
 aside Mary, availed him nothing in the day of her 
 power, when she still remembered his conduct in re- 
 gard to her mother's divorce, in addition to his " he- 
 retical" opinions. 
 
 The trial, on an arraignment for high treason, took 
 place at Guildhall on the 13th of November ; on the 
 morning of which day Lady Jane and her husband 
 were led thither from the Tower, under a guard of 
 four hundred halberdiers. To the indictment they 
 all pleaded guilty ; fully aware that defence was in 
 vain. 
 
 It is stated, by an Italian author, (Florio) who ap- 
 pears to have had good opportunities of information, that 
 Lady Jane displayed the utmost coolness and presence 
 of mind upon this occasion. He says, that neither the 
 noise nor greatness of the crowd, nor the clash of arms, 
 nor even the solemn ceremonies observed in passing 
 
340 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 sentence, nay, nor the presence of her unjust judges, 
 seemed to alarm her, or to shake her constancy : her 
 cheeks were never robbed of their bloom ; nor did her 
 voice in the slightest degree falter or tremble. The 
 whole of this description has been well embodied by 
 Rowe in his tragedy, when he makes Bishop Gar- 
 diner, who was most active upon this occasion, thus 
 reply to Pembroke , s expostulations in favour of 
 mercy : 
 
 Gar. These are romantic, light, vain-glorious dreams. 
 Have you consider'd well upon the danger ? 
 How dear to the fond many, and how popular, 
 These are whom you would spare ? Have you forgot 
 When at the bar, before the seat of judgment, 
 This Lady Jane, this beauteous trait'ress, stood, 
 With what command she charm'd the whole assembly ? 
 With silent grief the mournful audience sat, 
 Fix'd on her face, and list'ning to her pleading : 
 Her very judges wrung their hands for pity; 
 Their old hearts melted in 'em as she spoke, 
 And tears ran down upon their silver beards. 
 Ev'n I myself was moved, and for a moment 
 Felt wrath suspended in my doubtful breast, 
 And question'd if the voice I heard was mortal. 
 But when her tale was done, what loud applause, 
 Like bursts of thunder, shook the spacious hall ! 
 At last, when sore constraint, th' unwilling lords 
 Pronounced the fatal sentence on her life ; 
 A peal of groans ran through the crowded court 
 As ev'ry heart was broken, and the doom, 
 Like that which waits the world, were universal. 
 
 The awful sentence passed, she was ordered back 
 to the Tower under the same escort, in company With 
 
AND II Kit TIMES. 
 
 341 
 
 the other victims : but the whole scene was so terrific, 
 that the persons who had been permitted to attend 
 upon her in her prison, for consolation and support, 
 were so impressed with its various horrors, as to be 
 indebted to her for that consolation which they could 
 not give *. 
 
 " Oh, faithful companions of my sorrows," said she, 
 " why do you thus afflict me with your plaints ? Are 
 
 * The royal apartments in the Tower, and the " Quenes 
 Garden/' as it was called, occupied the south eastern angle of 
 that fortress, close by Irongate. After Elizabeth's time they 
 went to decay, and the offices of the ordnance stand upon their 
 site. The only remaining vestige is what is now called Cold 
 Harbour ; supposed to be the entrance to that part of the palace 
 afterwards occupied by Elizabeth, whilst a state prisoner. 
 
 ^ 
 
342 
 
 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 we not born into life to suffer adversity, and even 
 disgrace, if it be necessary ? When has the time been 
 that the innocent were not exposed to violence and 
 oppression ?" 
 
 With respect to the public feeling, as manifested on 
 her way back to the Tower, it is stated expressly by 
 Speed, that great lamentations were made, during the 
 transit of all the prisoners, but especially for the good 
 Lady Jane ; whose state the queen herself so pitied, 
 that she ordered her to have the liberty of walking in 
 the queen's garden in the Tower, and on the hill also : 
 and he adds, that surely had not her father, after his 
 first offence, fallen into another, she had been, as was 
 thought, " pardoned of life.^ It has been supposed 
 that the youth and innocence of those two youthful 
 personages, neither of whom had reached their seven- 
 teenth year, pleaded sufficiently in their behalf, even 
 upon her bigoted and jealous mind. 
 
AND HKK TIMES. 
 
 34^5 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 Treatment of Lady Jane and Lord Guildford as Prisoners — In- 
 dulgences and Hopes of Pardon —Efforts for Conversion, on 
 the Part of Mary— Steadiness and Christian Fortitude of Lady 
 Jane — Letter to. Harding — Revival of Popery — Submission 
 of the Realm to the Pope— Public Opinions and Feelings — 
 Wyat's Rebellion — Proposed Marriage of Mary with Philip of 
 Spain — Anecdotes, &c. — Injudicious Participation of the Duke 
 of Suffolk in the Rebellion — His Arrest and Imprisonment 
 in the Tower — Fatal Consequences to Lady Jane— Confer- 
 ences with Catholic Priests— Order for Execution — Letter to 
 her Father, and other obituary Memorials— Preparations for 
 the fatal Hour — Prayer in Prison — Execution of Lord Guild- 
 ford Dudley; followed by that of Lady Jane ! — Affecting 
 Anecdotes of the unhappy Pair — Resignation and Christian 
 Fortitude of Lady Jane — Speech on the Scaffold — She 
 falls ! ! ! — Conclusion. 
 
 The day of their trial was the first on which those 
 illustrious victims to parental ambition had been per- 
 mitted to see each other since their first moment of 
 arrest ; and they were as sedulously separated on their 
 return to the Tower ; yet to Lord Guildford some little 
 indulgence was shown, for Stowe, in his Annals, says, 
 that he and Lord Ambrose " had the liberties of the 
 ports where they were lodged." But when, on the 
 
344 LADY JAXE GREY, 
 
 21st of December, the Marquess of Northampton and 
 Sir Henry Gates were pardoned and discharged, then 
 the confinement of both the Dudleys and of Lady 
 Jane was lessened in strictness, and, it is said, with 
 hopes of pardon. The two young lords were per- 
 mitted to walk on the leads of the Tower ; whilst to 
 Lady Jane was granted the favour of walking in the 
 queen's garden, together with several other little in- 
 dulgences ; which would, however, have only been so 
 many acts of cruelty, if further punishment had then 
 been intended. 
 
 It has been supposed, by some, that Mary, at this 
 moment, had no sanguinary purposes in view, but 
 merely hoped, that by terror of the scaffold, and in the 
 silence and seclusion of a prison, she might be able to 
 recal them from that " heretical" path for which she 
 had such an aversion ; and, in consonance with this, it 
 is stated by an anonymous writer *, that, during this 
 period of her imprisonment, Mary and her priestly 
 counsellors were very anxious to convert our amiable 
 heroine to popery, for which purpose several learned 
 divines of the Roman catholic persuasion were sent to 
 her, to dissuade her from that profession of the Gospel 
 which from her cradle she had ever held ; each striving 
 by art, by flattery, by threatenings, by promise of life, 
 " or what else might move most in the bosom of a weak 
 woman, who should become master of so great a prize ; 
 * Phoenix, vol. ii. p. 3(i. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 345 
 
 but all their labours were bootless, for she had art to 
 confound their art, wisdom to withstand their flatteries, 
 resolution above their menaces, and such a true know- 
 ledge of life, that Death was to her no other than a 
 most familiar acquaintance." 
 
 It has indeed been asserted by several, that she had 
 the most solemn promises of life and fortune, provided 
 she would recant : but all in vain ; and she therefore 
 began early to prepare herself for death, by a careful 
 study of the promises in the Gospel. 
 
 If the letter recorded in Fox's Acts and Monuments 
 as written by Lady Jane to Dr. Harding, who had 
 been her father's chaplain, on the subject of his re- 
 cantation from the reformed religion, be really from 
 her pen, it must have been composed about this period, 
 during her imprisonment ; for Harding did not recant 
 until after Mary's accession. Burnet observes of this 
 letter, that it is " full of life in the thought, and zeal 
 in the expression'" — but we cannot help approving of 
 the opinion of several judicious writers, that the violent 
 flaming zeal, with the coarse indelicate language of it, 
 cannot have been the genuine effusion of a mind so 
 gentle and amiable as that of our heroine. 
 
 The letter itself may be found in Fox's Acts and Mo- 
 numents*, and commences with a variety of phrases, ap- 
 plied to Harding as forsaking Christ, which surpass even 
 the Billingsgate of some modern sectaries. Then follow 
 * Vol. iii. p. 27. 
 
346 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 reproaches for apostasy, in a style such as few professed 
 termagants would venture to use in conversation, much 
 less set down in writing; whilst the attack upon the 
 Roman catholic church, though it manifests great ve- 
 hemence of faith and abhorrence, does not at all re- 
 semble either the piety or the Christian forbearance 
 for which Lady Jane was so remarkable. 
 
 Can it for a moment be supposed that such epithets 
 as '* deformed imp of the devil," — " stinking and filthy 
 kennel of Satan," — " unshamefast paramour of Anti- 
 christ," — " cowardly runaway," — " golden calf," — 
 « * * * of Babylon,"—" sink of sin,"—" child of per- 
 dition," — " white-livered milksop," with a long &c. can 
 have issued from the mind or pen of an amiable young 
 female ? We think not ; and therefore consider it un- 
 necessary to notice this epistle any further. 
 
 Mary's disposition to re-introduce popery soon mani- 
 fested itself ; at first, indeed, in small things, but not 
 the less likely to excite suspicion ; for, in a " List of 
 memorable Occurrences " on that subject, preserved in 
 the Museum *, we find it recorded, that " comandment 
 was gyven, that in all churches in London, the sepul- 
 ture should be had upp agayne, and that evry man 
 should beare palmes and goe to shrifte ;" and soon after, 
 on Ash- Wednesday, Dr. Weston sung mass at Charing 
 Cross " before the quene in harnesse under his vest- 
 ments ;" whilst the queen went in procession, " and 
 * Brit. Mus. Harl. Coll. I. 419, 43. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 347 
 
 Burne, Byshopp of Bath, dyd ther wer a myter and a 
 payre of slyppers off sylver and gilt," &c. &c. 
 
 But she was soon enabled to pursue her plans more 
 openly ; for as early as the beginning of December she 
 had gained over the parliament to her purposes, as 
 appears by 
 
 " The submission of the realme to the Pope, the last 
 day of November, 1554. — Translation*. 
 
 " To their Majesties the King and Queen. 
 
 " We, the lords spiritual and temporal, and com- 
 mons of the whole kingdom of England, singly and 
 universally, in our own and in their name, by this 
 supplication, directed to your majesties, most humbly 
 beg that the Right Reverend Father in God, Cardinal 
 Pole, being specially deputed to his Holiness Pope 
 Julius the Third, and to the Holy Apostolic Roman 
 See, this our supplication shall be transmitted by your 
 majesties, by which we declare ourselves to be deeply 
 penitent of the heresy and disobedience committed in 
 this realm against the said Apostolic See, not only in 
 passing, but in consenting to, and in acting on certain 
 laws, ordinances, and decrees, in opposition to the 
 primary authority of that see, and also in regard to 
 the impugning of that authority, either in word or 
 deed. 
 
 * Brit. Mus. Cotton. Tit. c. vii. 118. 
 
348 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 " Witnessing and promising by this our supplication 
 in testimony and declaration of this our repentance, 
 that we are and shall be prepared, on the authority of 
 our rulers, to do whatever we can that these laws, 
 decrees, and ordinances shall be rescinded and abro- 
 gated in this present parliament, as well in our own 
 name as in that of the whole body which we represent. 
 In which we humbly supplicate your majesties, that 
 every polluted spot thrown by this body upon that 
 holy see, to whom Divine Providence has subjected 
 us, being wiped out, your majesties will be pleased to 
 intercede for us that this our humble supplication shall 
 be received at the Apostolic See, through the aforesaid 
 Right Reverend Lord Legate, and that we, all and 
 every of us, shall obtain free pardon, absolution, and 
 liberation from all censures and sentences to which we 
 fall under the ecclesiastical laws ; and that as penitent 
 children we may be received into the bosom and unity 
 of the church of Christ ; that this noble realm, with 
 all its members, may be one in unity and in perfect 
 obedience to the Apostolic See, and the Roman Pontiffs, 
 to serve God and your majesties only, and for the 
 divine honour and glory ." 
 
 With such high political sanction to her views, 
 Mary could have little to fear from her youthful rivals 
 in poverty and imprisonment ; but whatever hopes 
 Lady Jane and her husband might have entertained, 
 whatever case they might then be permitted to enjoy. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 349 
 
 were quickly taken away by one unhappy event, 
 which it was impossible for them to foresee, and in 
 which it was not so much as pretended that they were 
 parties. Indeed this unfortunate circumstance arose, 
 apparently, from causes totally different. 
 
 It is stated by all historians that, whatever the 
 public feelings had been in regard to Mary's right to 
 the throne, yet there was now a great spirit raised in 
 the nation against her union with Philip of Spain ; and 
 upon this a general insurrection was concerted, which, 
 it is generally admitted, if it had been executed with 
 any degree of that prudence shown in the planning of 
 it, could scarcely have failed of success. Sir Thomas 
 Wyat, as we shall speak of further presently, was to 
 be the leader in Kent; whilst Sir Peter Carew, in 
 Cornwall, undertook to negociate with all those who 
 might prefer to see the Princess Elizabeth, a Pro- 
 testant, upon the throne, and married to Courtenay, 
 the young Earl of Devonshire. 
 
 The breaking out of this plan was probably hastened 
 by Mary's haste to be married; for as early as the 
 12th of January, 1554, she was deep in negociation ; 
 and very soon after Count Egmont arrived in London 
 to settle every thing for the marriage. 
 
 That Mary's alarm, in regard to the proceedings of 
 the people of London, was not ill founded, may be 
 readily allowed; and their disposition may be illus- 
 trated by the fact that shortly afterwards, on the ex- 
 
350 LADY JANE GKEY, 
 
 pected arrival of her husband Philip, she was obliged 
 to publish a proclamation, in which she said, that 
 having " concluded a marriage, to the honour of Al- 
 mighty God, and the weale and benefit of her graces 
 realmes and subjects, with the most high and mighty 
 Prince of Spain, hir highnes, considering the lightnes 
 and evill disposition of divers lowe and seditious per- 
 sons, who, seeking always novelties, and being seldom 
 contented with their present state, might, peradventure, 
 at this time, by their naughtie and disordered beha- 
 viour, attempt to stir discord, and give reason to breake 
 the order and frendly agreem* that ought to be nou- 
 rished and contynued between the subjects of this 
 realme and such as shall come in with the said noble 
 prince. ,, — Ordered that the most friendly conduct 
 should be shown unto these strangers, as they were 
 also to show in England; " with curtuosie, frendly 
 and gentle enterteignment, without ministring towards 
 them any manner, cause of strife, or contention, either 
 by outward dedes, taunting wordes, unseemly counte- 
 nance, or by any other waies or meanes whereby lack 
 of frendship or goodwill might be conceived. 1 "' — She 
 then notified to all the nobility and gentry that she 
 would hold them accountable for the conduct and be- 
 haviour of their servants and dependents, upon pain of 
 her high displeasure and indignation ; threatening them 
 also with committal to prison, " without bail or main- 
 prise, to abide there such further punishment, cither 
 
AND H£R T1MKS. 351 
 
 by fyne or otherwise, as shall be thought agreeable to 
 the quality of his or their offences, and may serve for 
 an example to other like disordrid persons *." 
 
 To make matters doubly sure, Mary also sent for 
 the lord-mayor and corporation to court, when she in- 
 formed them of the intended wedding, and desired 
 that they should behave themselves like good subjects, 
 with all humbleness and rejoicing ! 
 
 Of Wyatfs rebellion it is stated -f", that it was begun 
 by that knight sooner than at first intended, in conse- 
 quence of his alarm at hearing that one of his dearest 
 friends was committed to the Fleet prison. The cause 
 of committal was, indeed, distinct from the plot ; but 
 Sir Thomas felt alarmed, and broke out at once into 
 
 * Of the police of the city some idea may be formed from a 
 proclamation also issued at this period, by the mayor and court 
 of aldermen, in the queen's name, reciting that ( ' heretofore great 
 study and care hath bene taken for the cleene keeping of the 
 streets, lanes, and allies; therby to avoid sickness and infec- 
 tion ;" and ordering every person possessed of wells or pumps, 
 to cause ten bucketsfull, at least, of water to be thence drawn 
 every morning before six o'clock, and to be poured or cast into 
 the streets and kennels ; whilst the same should be swept every 
 morning before, and every evening after six. The scavengers 
 were then ordered to sweep and carry away the filth every 
 second day; whilst it was further directed, that no person 
 should permit their dogs to be in the street after ten at night, or 
 before four in the morning ; authorizing all dogs found within 
 those hours to be killed, without any redress to the owner for 
 the same. 
 
 t Vide Fuller's Church History. 
 
352 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 open hostility. Fuller relates that the queen, hearing 
 of the commotion, sent a herald to him with orders to 
 desist ; who, on his arrival at Sir Thomases house, found 
 it deeply moated round about, with the bridge drawn 
 up, but still that a place like a ford seemed to offer a 
 safe passage. " On the inside thereof walked the proper 
 case of a man well habited, and his face carrying no 
 despair of wisdome therein. The herauld asked him, 
 6 whether he might safely go over there ? ' To whom 
 the other slightly answered, ( yea, yea : ' but had not 
 the strength of his horse been more than ordinary, he 
 either had been drowned in the water, or buried in the 
 mudde." The herald, on his arrival at the house, 
 made loud complaints of the deceit practised upon 
 him ; when Sir Thomas summoned all his household 
 to answer the charge : " The herauld challengeth the 
 party at the first sight of him: < AlasseT said Sir 
 Thomas, 6 he is a meer naturell, as will appear if you 
 pleese to examine him.'' ' Why, sirrah,' said the he- 
 rauld, ' did you direct me to come over where it was 
 almost impossible to passe without drowning?'' To 
 whom the other answered, ' The duckes came over not 
 long before you, whose legs were shorter than your 
 horse's."' Hereat the herauld smiled out his anger, 
 adding withall, ' Sir Thomas, hereafter let your foole 
 wear the badge of his profession on him, that he may 
 deceive no more in this kinde.' " 
 
 It was not until the twentieth of January that the 
 
AND HER TIMES. 353 
 
 queen and her council pretended to consider the re- 
 bellion of Wyatt as connected with the Lady Jane ; 
 but on that day, in the address of Sir Robert South- 
 well, sheriff of Kent, to the people assembled at the 
 market of Town Mailing, it was expressly said, " Do 
 you not see and note, that as in the beginning of the 
 quenes most gracious reign, some of these sought to 
 deprive her grace of her princely estate and rightful 
 dignity, minding to advance therunto the Lady Jane, 
 daughter to the Duke of Suffolk?" — " So are they 
 and others newly confederated with the Duke," &c. 
 
 But it is a certain fact that Wyatt's rebellion, as 
 appears from his own proclamation, was to oppose the 
 queen's marrying with a foreigner; yet this availed 
 little to the unhappy victims now identified with that 
 rebellion; perhaps, too, not unfairly. At all events, 
 it was an unfortunate coincidence for the poor prisoner 
 that her father, the Duke of Suffolk, within a very few 
 months after the failure of his ambitious plans, un- 
 mindful of the clemency which he had so lately re- 
 ceived, and at the risk of his daughters safety, still in 
 the queen's power, should have been so infatuated as 
 to take part in this rebellion now set afloat by Sir 
 Thomas Wyatt, even though only on pretence of 
 danger apprehended from Mary's projected marriage 
 with Philip of Spain. 
 
 But so misguided was that unhappy man, that on 
 the twenty-fifth of January, accompanied by his two 
 
354 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 brothers, the Lords Thomas and Richard Grey, he 
 departed secretly one evening from his residence at 
 Sheen, near Richmond, and set off with all speed for 
 Leicestershire, making proclamation (both in Leicester 
 and in other places) of Wyatt's rise, but confining 
 himself to the subject of Mary's intended marriage. 
 His force amounted to about one hundred and forty 
 horsemen : but he found so little encouragement in 
 Leicestershire, even amongst his own tenants, that he 
 set off to try the next county, yet with similar ill suc- 
 cess; for the citizens of Coventry shut their gates 
 against him, in which they were directed by the Earl 
 of Huntingdon, who had been sent down by the queen 
 to oppose any probable disturbances in that quarter. 
 
 Foiled in his endeavours, he found it prudent to 
 retire to Astley, where he and one of his brothers 
 took refuge in some secret place in the park of that 
 mansion : but to little effect ; for he was shortly after- 
 wards betrayed to the Earl of Huntingdon, and con- 
 veyed to Coventry in the custody of Christopher War- 
 ner, an alderman of that city. 
 
 His other brother, the Lord Thomas, as Hollinshed 
 informs us, got away at that time, intending to have 
 fled into Wales, from whence he might have escaped 
 to the Continent; but on the borders of that princi- 
 pality he was also apprehended, " through his great 
 mishap, and follie of his man, who had forgot his 
 cap case with monie behind him in his chamber one 
 
AND HEB Tl.MKs. '355 
 
 morninge at his bine, and, coming for it againe, upon 
 examination what he should be, it was mistrusted that 
 his maister should be some such man as he was indeed, 
 and so was staied, taken, and brought up to London.'" 
 
 It may, perhaps, now be fairly said, as generally 
 believed by the writers of that time, that this rebellion 
 alone proved fatal to the Lady Jane, and Lord Guild- 
 ford ; for her father's treason was now imputed by the 
 queen and her friends to the unaspiring daughter, 
 although the fact certainly was, that the rebels and 
 malcontents seemed principally to rest their hopes upon 
 the Princess Elizabeth, and the Earl of Devonshire. 
 Indeed Bishop Burnet acknowledges, that even now 
 Mary was adverse to sanguinary measures : nay, when 
 all her priests and ministers urged that her safety could 
 only be provided for by fulfilling the sentences already 
 passed upon her unhappy prisoners, it was still with 
 considerable difficulty that she could be prevailed on 
 to sign the warrants for their execution ; a measure, 
 too, which she delayed unto the last moment. 
 
 But when it was understood that Wyat had ad- 
 vanced on the first of February to Greenwich, matters 
 began to take a very serious turn ; and when, on the 
 same day, though proclamation was made that the Duke 
 of Suffolk was taken prisoner, and his people scattered, 
 yet Wyat still pushed on for the metropolis, and on 
 the third was actually in South wark, Mary at once 
 decided on their fate, which, however, was necessarily 
 
 A A 2 
 
256 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 postponed during the assault on the metropolis by 
 Wyat's insurgents, on the 5th and 6th of February. 
 
 On the latter day, the insurgents being defeated, 
 and Wyat himself made a prisoner, tranquillity was in 
 some measure restored; and on the 7th the council 
 met to consult on the necessary steps, when, as Sir 
 Richard Baker observes, the first that was thought on 
 was the Lady Jane, in whom was verified, " the fathers 
 have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set 
 on edge; 1 '' for the innocent lady must suffer for her 
 father's fault, and now, as a rock of offence, she is the 
 first that must be removed. It appears from Baker's 
 statement, that Feckenham, then the queen's confessor, 
 afterwards abbot of Westminster, was sent on the 8th 
 to acquaint her that she must prepare herself to die 
 the very next day ; which message was so little un- 
 pleasing to her, that she seemed rather to rejoice at it, 
 as if thereby she were to be set at liberty. 
 
 Feckenham, during this interview, in which she at 
 once told him candidly that she had long expected the 
 fate thus announced, was very earnest, according to the 
 orders which he had received, both from the queen and 
 Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, in exhorting her to 
 change her religion ; when she, even thus taken without 
 preparation, answered him upon that subject with groat 
 calmness of mind and clearness of reason, not only 
 upon the subjects of faith and holiness, but also on the 
 sacraments, the scriptures, and the authority of the 
 
AND HER TIMES. 
 
 357 
 
 church. She concluded with saying, that she had now 
 no time to think of any thing, but of preparing herself 
 to God by prayer; when the abbot, construing this 
 observation to mean a request for some delay, applied 
 to the queen, who granted him three days longer for 
 the poor captive, to whom he instantly announced it 
 in her prison. 
 
 He entered her apartment with a smile in his coun- 
 tenance, whilst he informed her of the reprieve ; but 
 Lady Jane mildly answered him, " You are much de- 
 ceived if you think I have any desire of longer life ; 
 for I assure you, since the time you went from me, 
 my life hath been so tedious to me, that I long for 
 nothing so much as death ; and since it is the queen's 
 pleasure, I am most willing to undergo it;'" adding, 
 that far from desiring her death might be delayed, she 
 expected and wished for it, as the period of her miseries, 
 and her entrance into eternal happiness. 
 
 Indeed it is evident that to Lady Jane the bitterness 
 of death was now past, so long had she looked forward 
 to it, being thus prepared to meet her fate before it 
 was announced ; an expectation said to have been, in 
 some measure, turned into certainty some days previous, 
 by the enforcement of a stricter confinement, and the 
 abrogation of all former indulgences. 
 
 When Mary was informed of the preceding con- 
 versation, she became inflamed with the spirit of en- 
 
358 LADY JANE grey, 
 
 thusiastic persecution ; and, in the frenzy of bigoted 
 zeal, but under pretence of tender mercy to the soul of 
 her unhappy prisoner, again sent to her Feckenham, 
 her own confessor, and several other divines of the 
 Roman Catholic church, who disturbed her devotions, 
 and molested her with perpetual disputation; and 
 they even went so far as to offer her a further reprieve, 
 in hopes that she might be persuaded during that time 
 to pay, by what they called a timely conversion, some 
 regard to her eternal welfare ; for which purposes a 
 more formal conference was appointed by them, and so 
 far acquiesced in by the suffering martyr. 
 
 Feckenham went to this conference with great hope 
 and exultation. He thought he should now have found 
 her in great disorder, and confusion, and that it would 
 be no difficult matter to triumph over the feeble un- 
 derstanding of a dejected and heart-broken young fe- 
 male. He found it quite otherwise, however : yet Lady 
 Jane was still anxious to decline the proposed dispute ; 
 telling him that now she had no time to spare — that 
 controversy might be fit for the living, but not for the 
 dying — and that, therefore, the truest sign of his having 
 that compassion for her, of which he made such strong 
 professions, would be to leave her undisturbed in 
 making her peace with God. 
 
 With this humble request the confessor's presiunp- 
 luous hopes forbade compliance ; particularly as several 
 
AND HER TIMES. 
 
 359 
 
 individuals had been purposely admitted, besides the 
 accompanying clergy, before whom he was anxious to 
 display his powers. 
 
 The account of this conference, as given by an ano- 
 nymous writer of that day *, is, that Feckenham had 
 with her a long and tedious disputation ; but, like the 
 other priests, who had preceded him in this second 
 task of attempted conversion, found himself in all holy 
 gifts so short of her excellence, that even he acknow- 
 ledged himself fitter to be her disciple than her teacher; 
 and that he actually besought her to deliver to him 
 some brief account of her faith, which he might here- 
 after keep, and as a faithful witness publish to the 
 world. To this she is stated to have willingly con- 
 descended; bidding him boldly question her in what 
 points of religion soever it pleased him, and promising 
 that she would give her faithful and believing answer, 
 such as she would be ever ready to seal with her blood. 
 
 The same writer asserts, that this catechising argu- 
 ment, for such it was, took place in the Tower publicly 
 before an assemblage of the noble and learned ; during 
 which Lady Jane bore herself with such a modest hu- 
 mility, yet so honourably stout in all things, which 
 either concerned her God or her religion, that she ra- 
 vished and stole unto her all the hearts of her auditory, 
 while Feckenham lost much of that good opinion of his 
 
 * Phoenix, vol. ii. p. 36. 
 
360 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 learning, which for a long time he had enjoyed. On 
 this, we are told, that finding his own weakness, and 
 his disability to repel her truth with his scholastic fal- 
 lacies, he lost his temper, and dared to use towards 
 her " some immodest speeches, most unsuitable for his 
 gravity :" an insult, however, which she only answered 
 with smiles and patience. 
 
 The conference, of course, was now at an end ; but 
 though Feckenham went through the farce of paying 
 his parting respects towards Lady Jane, as the others 
 did, yet he could no control his spleen, saying to her, 
 " Madam ! I am sorry for you and your obstinacy ; 
 and now I am assured that you and I shall never meet 
 again !" 
 
 Even to this coarse witticism, Lady Jane merely 
 answered, " It is most true, sir ! we shall never meet 
 again, except God turn your heart; for I stand un- 
 doubtedly assured, that unless you repent and turn to 
 God, you are in a sad and desperate case ; and I pray 
 to God to send you his holy spirit, for he hath given 
 you his great gift of utterance, if it please him to open 
 the eyes of your heart to his truth." 
 
 Feckenham, more enraged at this, turned rudely 
 upon his heel, and left her without obeisance ; whilst 
 she, like a suffering saint, withdrew herself into her 
 bedchamber to meditation and prayer. 
 
 Part of this disputation, said to be drawn up by 
 
AND HER TIMES. 361 
 
 Lady Jane herself, is given by various authors*, and 
 its sum and substance we may thus briefly sketch-)-. 
 
 To Feckenham's question, as to the duties of a 
 christian, Lady Jane named a sincere belief in God, 
 as a trinity, a sincere love of God in heart, soul, and 
 mind, and the love of our fellow creatures as ourselves. 
 Faith and love towards God she described as inse- 
 parable ; whilst love to our fellow creatures, she ex- 
 plained, as combining all the bounties of active charity 
 with a liberal feeling, founded upon the golden christian 
 rule, of doing unto others as we wish them to do unto 
 us. Good works, however, she did not consider as the 
 price of salvation, but only as the necessary tests and 
 
 * Fox's Acts and Monuments, Phoenix, &c. 
 
 t In the British Museum, Harl. Coll. No. 425, p. 83, is a 
 copy, apparently verbatim, of this conference. We subjoin its 
 commencement, as a specimen of the manner in which it was 
 conducted. 
 
 " Fecknam. What thynge is requyryd in a crystyne ? 
 
 " Lady Jane. To believe in Godd the Father, in Godd the 
 Sonne, and in Godde the Holy Ghost ; iii p~sons in one Godd. 
 
 " F. Is there nothynge else requyryd in a crystyn man but to 
 believe in Godd ? 
 
 " L. J. Yes. We must believe in hym. We must love hym 
 with all our harte, with all our sowle, and all our mynde, and 
 our neighbor as our selfe. 
 
 " F. Why (S. Pawle saythe that yf I haue faythe) then 
 fay the only justifyeth not nor saveth not ? 
 
 ' ' L. J. Yes, surely ; as S l Pawle saieth, faythe only jus- 
 tifieth. 
 
 " F. Why, S l Pawle saithe that if I haue faithc and want 
 love it is nothynge ?" 
 
S() c 2 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 consequences of that faith which alone can save, through 
 the merits and mediation of our redeemer Jesus Christ. 
 
 When Feckenham asserted that there were seven 
 sacraments, Lady Jane answered by a short question ; 
 " By what scripture find you that ?" To which the 
 abbot could only reply, " Well ! we will talk of that 
 hereafter." In answer to his question, of what she 
 understood by the only two sacraments that she ac- 
 knowledged? Lady Jane stated, that baptism was 
 merely a token of being the child of God, and of rege- 
 neration ; whilst the Lord's supper was nothing more 
 than a sure seal and testimony of the blood of Christ 
 shed upon the cross, by which all true believers are 
 made partakers of Heaven. 
 
 Feckenham then touched her more closely upon the 
 doctrine of transubstantiation, asking her if she did 
 not actually receive the very body and blood of Christ 
 in the bread; for to this absurdity upon absurdity he 
 was brought, by the fact of the Roman Catholic clergy 
 denying the cup to the laity in the celebration of that 
 sacrament ; but Lady Jane at once denied her belief 
 of this, saying, that the broken bread reminded her of 
 Christ's body broken for her sins, and the wine recalled 
 to her the redeemer's blood shed upon the cross, of 
 which she would receive the benefits through a holy 
 partaking. 
 
 To this Feckenham instantly opposed what he con- 
 sidered an unanswerable argument ; asking her, did 
 
AND HER TIMES. Sfjtf 
 
 not Christ himself say, " Take, eat, this is my body." 
 But this she explained was only meant in a figurative 
 sense, just as he says in other places that he is a vine, 
 a door, &c. She further urged the impossibility of our 
 Saviour having any other than a typical meaning in 
 these words, by the fact that there could not be two 
 Christs ; one in Heaven, and the other to be eaten upon 
 earth ; that Christ himself was alive in the body when 
 he said so ; and that it was impossible the bread on the 
 table, which he broke and gave to his disciples, could 
 be the body of him who then distributed it ! 
 
 To this Feckenham merely answered that she founded 
 her faith upon authors who say and unsay in a breath, 
 and not upon the church, to which she ought to give 
 credit ; but she denied this, asserting that she grounded 
 her faith upon God's word, and not upon any. church ; 
 and that the opinions of a church were to be tried by 
 God's word, and not God's word by a church, which 
 in refusing the wine to partakers of a sacrament, with- 
 holds from them part of the type of their salvation. 
 She then showed clearly that St. Paul administered 
 the sacrament in both kinds to the Corinthians; to 
 which Feckenham replied, that the refusal of the cup 
 to the laity, by the Roman Catholic church, was to a 
 good intent, and to avoid a heresy; a reason which 
 Lady Jane at once set aside, by replying that the 
 church had no right to alter God's will and ordinances. 
 The paper, thus slightly sketched, now says: " To 
 
364 LADY JANE (iKEY, 
 
 this Mr. Feckenham gave me a long, tedious, yet elo- 
 quent reply, using many strong and logical persuasions 
 to compel me to have leaned to their church ; but my 
 faith hath armed my resolution to withstand any as- 
 sault that words could then use against me. Of many 
 other articles of religion we reasoned ; but those for- 
 merly rehears'd were the chiefest and most effectual. 
 
 Subscribed, 
 
 Jane Dudley. 1 ' 
 
 Though Friday the 9th of February was the day 
 first appointed for the awful ceremony of death, and 
 though Lady Jane had refused the offered respite, as 
 well as its terms and conditions, yet, for reasons which 
 do not appear, that respite was confirmed by the council ; 
 and by that delay, her father became, in some measure, 
 a witness of the ruin he had produced, he himself being 
 brought in a prisoner to the Tower, on the 10th of the 
 month. Lady Jane, there is every reason to believe, 
 was not, at the moment, acquainted with his previous 
 arrest, nor even with his being in arms, for it was on 
 the 9th, in the evening, that she wrote to him the me- 
 morable letter, mentioned by all historians of that day, 
 and undoubtedly genuine. It is also said, by those 
 who believe in the authenticity of her supposed letter 
 to Harding, already noticed, that it was between the 
 notice of her death and execution that she composed it ; 
 but this is only adding improbability to improbability. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 
 
 361 
 
 since a letter so unlike to her mild and meek, yet boldly 
 christian spirit, was still less likely to have been written 
 under her then circumstances. 
 
 In a book of the lord stewards of England *, the let- 
 ter to her father is noticed in the following manner : 
 
 " This duke's facility, too, by practises, had occa- 
 sioned the troubles w th w ch this realme had for some 
 yeares beene distractede, and his rash ingratitude (the 
 queene havenge once pardoned him beyond expecta- 
 tion) had diverted the current of the queenes cle- 
 mency towards his daughter the Lady Jane, whose 
 life (yt was generally conceived) shee would have par- 
 doned, but her father's miscouncelled rashnes hastened 
 her death. A little before w ch shee sent unto him this 
 letter followinge : 
 
 " Father, although it hath pleased God to hasten 
 my death by you, by whome my life should rather 
 have beene lengthened, yet I can soe patiently take it, 
 that I yeeld God more hearty thankes for shortning 
 my wofull dayes, than if all the world had been given 
 into my possessions, with life lengthened at my owne 
 will. And albeit I am very well assured of yo im- 
 patient dolours, redoubled many wayes, both in be- 
 wayling yo r owne woe, and especially, as I am in- 
 formed, my wofull estate : yet my deare father, if I 
 may, without offense, reioyce in my owne mishaps, 
 * Brit. Mus. ITarl. Coll; No. '21 9 1, p. 21. 
 
366 LADY JAXE GREY, 
 
 herein I may account myself blessed, that washinge 
 my hands with the innocence of my fact, my guiltless 
 bloud may cry before the Lord, mercie to the innocent. 
 And yet though I must needs acknowledge, that 
 beinge constrayned, and as you knowe well enough 
 contynually assayed ; yet in taking upon mee, I 
 seemed to consent, and therein grievously offended the 
 queene and her lawes, yet doe I assuredly trust that 
 this my offence towards God is soe muche the lesse, in 
 that being in so royall estate as I was, my enforced 
 hono neuer mingled w fll mine innocent heart. And 
 thus, good father, I have opened unto you the state 
 wherein I presently stand, my death at hand, al- 
 though to you perhaps it may seeme wofull, yet to mee 
 thear is nothing that can bee more welcome than from 
 this vale of misery to aspire to that heavenly throne 
 of all ioy and pleasure, w th Christ my Saviour: in 
 whose stedfast faith (if it may be lawfull for the 
 daughter soe to write to the father) the Lord that 
 hath hitherto strengthened you, soe continue to 
 keepe you, that att the last wee may meete in heaven 
 with the Father, Sonn, and Holy Ghost. 
 
 I am, 
 Your obedient Daughter till death, 
 
 Jane Dudley/ 1 
 
 At what time this letter reached her father is uncer- 
 tain ; but on the next day, as already mentioned, (the 
 10th of February) the Duke of Suffolk was brought 
 
A XI) HER TIMC9. ')()7 
 
 up prisoner to the Tower, together with the Lord 
 John, his brother, guarded by the Earl of Hunting- 
 don, a troop of gentlemen, and others, to the number 
 of three hundred horsemen ; and measures were in- 
 stantly taken for his trial. 
 
 Between the announcement of the fatal order for 
 execution and its fulfilment, the lieutenant of the 
 Tower, Sir John Gage, evidently impressed with love 
 and respect for the unhappy sufferers, was anxious to 
 procure some memorial of his illustrious prisoners; 
 and accordingly he presented to them a " vellum 
 book of a small but thickish size*, being the manuel of 
 devotions of some English protestant of quality, who 
 was cast into prison wrongfully, according to his own 
 opinion. It was illuminated by some foreigner, but 
 hath since been abused ; and is now imperfect in two 
 places." Such is the description of the book in the 
 Harleian Catalogue, to which is added a note : " I 
 will not affirm that this manuel was written by the di- 
 rection of Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and 
 Protector of England, upon his first commitment to 
 the Tower of London ; and that the last five prayers 
 were added after his second commitment, which ended 
 in his execution. But if this were so, 'tis easy to 
 apprehend how it might come into the hands of 
 that noble, but unfortunate lady, the Lady Jane Grey : 
 but that this book was in the Lady Jane's hands or 
 possession, and was also looked into by her husband, 
 * Brit. Mus. Harl. Coll. No. 8342. 
 
368 LADY JANE CREY, 
 
 appears by the three following notes written on the 
 lower margins." 
 
 The probability is, that the book had been borrowed 
 by the illustrious sufferers ; and, for want of permitted 
 materials, was made by them the means of commu- 
 nicating their last wishes and farewells to their friends. 
 The first note is evidently addressed by Lord Guild- 
 ford to his father in law : " Your loving and obedyent 
 son wischethe unto your grace, long lyfe in this world, 
 with as muche joy and comforte as ever I wyshte to 
 my selfe ; and in the world to come joy everlasting. 
 Your most humble son tel his dethe, G. Duddeley. ,, 
 
 A few pages further on is a note from Lady Jane, 
 addressed to the Duke of Suffolk : " The Lord com- 
 forte your grace, and that in his worde whearein alle 
 creatures onlye are to be comforted. And thoughe it 
 hath pleased God to take awaye 2 of your children, 
 yet thincke not, I most humblye beseche your grace, 
 that you have lost them; but truste that we, by 
 leafinge this mortall lyfe, haue wunne an immortel life. 
 And I, for my parte, as I haue honoured yur grace 
 in this life, wyll praye for you in another life. 
 
 
 The dying victim of ambition also addressed Sir 
 John Gage in the following words : " Forasmuche as 
 
AND HER TIMES. 
 
 369 
 
 you haue desired so simple a woman to wrighte in so 
 worthy a booke, gode mayster lieuftenante, therefore 
 I shall, as a friend, desyre you, and as a Christian re- 
 quire you, to call upyon God, to encline your harte to 
 his lawes, to quicken you in his waye, and not to take 
 the worde of trewethe utterlye oute of your mouthe. 
 Lyve styll to dye, that by deathe you may purchase 
 eternell life; and remembre howe the ende of Ma- 
 th usael, whoe as we reade in the scriptures, was the 
 longeste liver that was of a manne died at the laste. 
 For, as the precher sayethe, there is a tyme to be 
 borne and a tyme to die ; and the daye of deathe is 
 better than the daye of oure birthe. Youres as the 
 Lorde knowethe as a frende. 
 
 Jane Duddeley." 
 
 On the 11th of February she was, for the most part, 
 absorbed in religious exercises and meditation : but in 
 the course of this evening she took up a New Testament 
 in Greek, u in which, after she had read a while, and 
 closing the book, she found at the end of it some leaves 
 of clean paper unwritten; which," says the author 
 quoted, " as it were awakening and exciting her zeal to 
 some good and charitable office, she took pen and ink, 
 and on these waste leaves wrote a most learned and 
 godly exhortation ; which she had no sooner finished, 
 than she closed up the book, and delivered it to one of 
 her attendants, Mistress Tylney, or Mistress Ellen, dc-* 
 
 b n 
 
370 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 siring her to bear it to her sister Lady Herbert, as the 
 last token of her love and remembrance." 
 
 After finishing this exhortation to her sister, she was 
 not permitted to remain in peace ; but was again as- 
 sailed by two bishops and two learned doctors, who 
 held her in deep conference upwards of two hours, 
 striving with all their powers of eloquence and per- 
 suasion to induce her to recant, and die in the Roman 
 Catholic faith ; in this, however, they were, as before, 
 totally unsuccessful ; " for her faith being built upon 
 the rock of Christ, was by no worldly persuasion or 
 comfort to be either moved or shaken; so that after 
 the expense of time, and the loss of much speech, they 
 left her (as they said) a lost and forsaken member ; but 
 she, as before, prayed for them, and with a most cha- 
 ritable patience endured their worst censures. 1 ' 
 
 The Testament in which Lady Jane wrote this ex- 
 hortation to her sister is still in existence ; but we have 
 not seen it : we subjoin, however, a copy which we have 
 seen, on the blank pages of a MS. on vellum, containing 
 an Essay by Albertus Castellanus, or Albert Chatelain, 
 on the Art of Dieing " De arte Moriendi," and a chro- 
 nicle of English affairs from Adam to the year 1427*. 
 It is to the following effect : 
 
 * This MS. is in the British Museum, Harl. Coll. No. 2370. 
 The MS. itself tells us, that Adam was fifteen years old when 
 he had Cain, and his sister Calmana. 
 
AND ITER TIMES. f371 
 
 " This exhortacyon was writen by Lady Jane Dud- 
 ley to her sister Katherine y* night bifo she suffred : 
 
 u I haue sent yo good sust r K. a boke \vh although 
 it be not outwardly rimid with gold, yet inwardly it is 
 most worth then pcyous stones. It is the boke, dere 
 sist r , of the laws of the lord ; it is his testament and 
 last will, wch he bequeathed unto us wretches, wch 
 shall lead yo to the path of eternall joye, and yf yo 
 wth a good mide reade it, and wth an earnest dissyre 
 folow it, shall bring you to an imortall and ever lasting 
 lyfe. It wyll teach yo to lyve, and learne yo to dey : 
 it shall wyne yo more then yo sholde haue gayned by 
 the possessyon of yo r wofull fathres lands, for as if god 
 had pspered him, yo shold haue inherited his lands, so 
 if yo aply diligetly yo r boke, trying to directe yo r lyfe 
 aft r it ; yo shalbe an inheritor of such riches as nither 
 the covetous shall withdrawe from you, neyther the 
 thefe shall steale, neither yet y e mothe corrupte. Dis- 
 syre sist r to understand y e lawe of y e lord yo r god. 
 Ly\e styll to dey, y t yo bydeth may purches eternell 
 lyfe ; or after yo r deth enioye the lyfe purchesed yo w 
 by Christis death, and trust not y 1 y e tendernes of yo r 
 age shall lengthen yo r life : for assone, if god will, goith 
 y e young as the old ; and laboure alway to lerne to 
 dey. Deney y e world, difey y e devall, and dispyse y e 
 flesh. Delite yo r selfe onely in y e lord. Be penitent 
 for yo r syns, and yet despayre not. Be steady in faythe 
 
 BI) 2 
 
372 
 
 yet psume not, and desyre wth S. Pawle to be desolvid 
 and to be wth X 1 with whom even in death there is 
 lyfe. Be lyke the good servant, and even at midnight 
 be wakyng; least when death corny th and stealythe 
 upon yo lyke a thefe in y e night yo u be with the evel 
 servant found slepinge, and least for lacke of oyle ye 
 be founde lyk the first foulsh wence, and lyke him that 
 had not on the wedyng garment and the be cast out 
 from the marriage. Risyst in ye, as I trust ye do, 
 and seeing ye have y e name of a cristian, as neare as 
 ye can folowe the stepes of yo 1 master Chst, and take 
 up yo r crosse ; lay yo r syns on his backe, and always 
 embrace him ; and as towchynge my dethe reioyce as 
 I do, and adsist y l I shalbe delyvred of y s corruption 
 and put on incorruption, for I am assurcde y l I shall 
 for losyng of a mortall lyfe finde an imortall felisity. 
 Pray God graunt yo send yo of his grace to ly ve in his 
 feare, and to dey in y e love 
 
 of ioy to you when the shall arrive, neither 
 
 for loue of lyfe nor feares of deathe. For if ye deney 
 his truth to legthen yur life, God will deney yo and 
 shorten yo r dayes ; and if yd will cleaue to him, he will 
 plong yo r days to yo r cofort and his glory, to the wch 
 glory, God beinge minde and yo herafter, when it shall 
 please God to call yo. Farewell good syst r put yo r 
 onely trust in God, who oncly must uphold yo yo r 
 loving syst. 
 
 Jane Dudley." 
 
AND HER TIMES. 373 
 
 So collected was the unhappy girl, so composed in 
 all her faculties, that on this very evening she finished 
 and corrected a prayer*, which had long been her 
 
 * K O Lord, thou God and Father of my life, hear me, poor 
 and desolate woman, which flyeth unto thee only in all troubles 
 and miseries. Thou, O Lord, art the only defender and de- 
 liverer of those that put their trust in thee ; and, therefore, I, 
 being defiled with sin, encumbered with affliction, unquieted with 
 troubles, wrapped in cares, overwhelmed with miseries, vexed 
 with temptations, and grievously tormented with the long im- 
 prisonment of this vile mass of clay, my sinful body, do come 
 unto thee (O merciful Saviour), craving thy mercy and help, 
 without the which so little hope of deliverance is left, that I 
 may utterly despair of my liberty. Albeit, it is expedient, that 
 seeing our life standeth upon trying, we should be visited some 
 time with some adversity, whereby we might both be tried 
 whether we be of thy flock or no, and also know thee and our- 
 selves the better ; yet thou that saidst thou wouldst not suffer 
 us to be tempted above our power, be merciful unto me, now a 
 miserable wretch, I beseech thee ; which, with Solomon, do cry 
 unto thee, humbly desiring thee, that I may neither be too 
 much puffed up with prosperity, neither too much depressed 
 with adversity; lest I, being too full, should deny thee my God; 
 or being too low brought, should despair and blaspheme thee 
 my Lord and Saviour. O merciful God, consider my misery, 
 best known unto thee; and be thou now unto me a strong tower 
 of defence, I humbly require thee. Suffer me not to be tempted 
 above my power, but either be thou a deliverer unto me out of 
 this great misery, or else give me grace patiently to bear thy 
 heavy hand and sharp correction. It was thy right hand that de- 
 livered the people of Israel out of the hands of Pharaoh, which 
 for the space of four hundred years did oppress them, and keep 
 them in bondage. Let it therefore likewise seem good to thy 
 fatherly goodness, to deliver me, sorrowful wretch (for whom 
 thy son Christ shed his precious blood on the cross), out of this 
 miserable captivity and bondage, wherein I am now. How long 
 
374 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 solace in prison. We give it in a modern dress and 
 version ; but its authenticity is undoubted. 
 
 It had been the original intention of the queen that 
 the youthful couple should suffer together on Tower 
 Hill ; but the council, dreading the compassion of the 
 people for their youth, beauty, innocence as to them- 
 selves personally, and noble birth,, changed the orders 
 
 wilt thou be absent ? — for ever ? Oh, Lord ! hast thou forgotten 
 to be gracious, and hast thou shut up thy loving kindness in 
 displeasure ? Wilt thou be no more entreated ? Is thy mercy 
 clear gone for ever, and thy promise come utterly to an end for 
 evermore ? Why doest thou make so long tarrying ? Shall I 
 despair of thy mercy ? Oh God ! far be that from me ! I am 
 thy workmanship, created in Christ Jesus ; give me grace there- 
 fore to tarry thy leisure, and patiently to bear thy works, as- 
 suredly knowing, that as thou canst, so thou wilt deliver me, 
 when it shall please thee, nothing doubting or mistrusting thy 
 goodness towards me ; for thou knowest better what is good for 
 nie than I do ; therefore do with me in all things what thou 
 wilt, and plague me what way thou wilt. Only, in the mean 
 time, arm me, I beseech thee, with thy armour, that I may 
 stand fast, my loins being girded about with verity, having on 
 the breast-plate of righteousness, and shod with the shoes pre- 
 pared by the gospel of peace ; above all things, taking to me the 
 shield of faith, wherewith I may be able to quench all the fiery 
 darts of the wicked ; and taking the helmet of salvation and 
 the sword of thy spirit, which is thy most holy word ; praying 
 always, with all manner of prayer and supplication, that I may 
 refer myself wholly to thy will, abiding thy pleasure, and com- 
 forting myself in those troubles that it shall please thee to send 
 me ; seeing such troubles be profitable for me, and seeing I am 
 assuredly persuaded that it cannot but be well all thou doest. 
 Hear me, O merciful Father, for his sake, whom thou wouldest 
 should be a sacrifice for my sins ; to whom with thee and the 
 Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory. Amen !" 
 
AND HER TIMES. 375 
 
 originally issued, and gave directions that Lord Guild- 
 ford only should suffer on the Hill, but that Lady 
 Jane should be brought to the block within the walls 
 of the fortress*. 
 
 The Lord Guildford being informed of this, on the 
 morning of the fatal day, anxiously desired permission 
 to see the youthful partner of his joys and sorrows ; a 
 permission which Mary, from a refinement in cruelty, 
 was not disinclined to grant ; but Lady Jane herself 
 refused to admit of the proposed interview, with a 
 degree of prudent resignation which marked the heroic 
 
 * We have endeavoured to diversify the regularity of history 
 in several places, with extracts from a well known and much 
 admired dramatic sketch of these occurrences, even when these 
 extracts were not in strict accordance with the precise chain of 
 events : we have now to notice a previous dramatic effort, by 
 J. Banks, in 1693, called the " Innocent Usurper," in which 
 Mrs. Barry played Lady Jane, and Betterton represented Lord 
 Guildford Dudley. Such representation in flowing wigs, buck- 
 ram skirts, hoop petticoats, and laced lappets, must have been 
 ridiculous enough ; but not more so than the play itself, w r hich 
 Suffolk opens with the following bombast : 
 
 " Let the sun's fruitful rays abhor the isle, 
 And smile no more on this unfruitful land." 
 
 Further extract must be needless ; but we subjoin the con- 
 cluding lines, as from the lips of the youthful sufferer : 
 
 " Should all your tort'rous racks on me be tried, 
 Broil me on gridirons, turn the other side ; 
 To my vow'd faith I'll be for ever true, 
 In spite of all your Roman gods, and you !" 
 
376 
 
 LADY JANE GREY 
 
 feelings of her soul ; sending him word that the tender- 
 ness of their parting would overcome the fortitude of 
 both, and would too much unbend their minds from 
 that constancy which their approaching end required 
 of them. She added, that their separation would only 
 be for a moment ; and that they would soon rejoin each 
 other in a scene where their affections would be for 
 ever united, and where death, disappointment, and 
 misfortunes could no longer have access to them, or 
 disturb their eternal felicity. 
 
 Throughout the whole of these occurrences the dra- 
 matic poet, already quoted, makes Gardiner appear 
 more active than history shows him to have openly 
 been; giving to him, in fact, much of what should 
 have been allotted to Feckenham, whom he has omitted 
 entirely. The notice of the execution he thus describes, 
 in a scene between the bishop and the lieutenant of the 
 Tower : 
 
 Lieut. Good morning to your lordship : you rise early. 
 
 Gar. Nay, by the rood, there are too many sleepers ; 
 Some must stir early, or the state shall suffer. 
 Did you, as yesterday our mandate bade, 
 Inform your pris'ners, Lady Jane and Guildford, 
 They were to die this day? 
 
 Lieut. My lord, I did. 
 
 Gar. 'Tis well. But say how did your message like 'em ? 
 
 Lieut. My lord, they met the summons with a temper 
 That show'd a solemn serious sense of death, 
 Mix'd with a noble scorn of all its terrors : 
 
AND HER TIMES. 377 
 
 In short, they heard me with the self-same patience 
 With which they still have borne them in their prison. 
 In one request they both concurr'd; each begg'd 
 To die before the other. 
 
 Soon after the communication between the parting 
 lovers, on Monday the 12th of February, 1554, Lord 
 Guildford was led out of the Tower, and when he 
 came outside of the bulwark gate, was delivered into 
 the custody of one of the sheriffs of London, Thomas 
 Offleie. In his way to the gate, he passed directly 
 under the window of his unhappy bride, for such she 
 may still be considered, from whence she took one last 
 parting look in this world, giving him from the window 
 a signal or token of remembrance ; and when he was 
 no more to be seen, she sat down with apparent tran- 
 quillity, and with the most religious patience and re- 
 signation waited until her own appointed hour should 
 arrive. 
 
378 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 When the unhappy youth arrived at the gate, several 
 friends were there in waiting : and he took by the hand 
 Sir Anthony Browne, Mr. John Throckmorton, and 
 many other gentlemen ; bidding them adieu with great 
 fortitude, but requesting them to pray for him. 
 
 No sooner did he approach the scaffold than he 
 mounted it with dignity and resolution; and, after some 
 slight declaration, knelt down to prayer. In a few 
 minutes he paused, and cast his eyes and hands up to 
 Heaven; a tear, it was said, bedewed his eye for a 
 moment — it was but for a moment, when he spoke to 
 the assembled crowd ; but merely desired them to pray 
 for him, and then calmly laying his head upon the block, 
 he resigned himself to the executioner. 
 
 His head was then laid in a cloth, and, with his body 
 was deposited in a cart, in order to be carried back to 
 the Tower for interment. 
 
 It is said that Lady Jane was still sitting tranquilly in 
 her chamber. When she heard the rumbling of the cart, 
 she rose, but her attendants wished to prevent it. This 
 she resisted with calm dignity, walking steadily to the 
 window, under which it passed so as to be seen by her. 
 But she had already heard of his noble behaviour on the 
 scaffold, and had the fortitude to declare, that the con- 
 stancy of his end gave a confirmation to her mind fully 
 adequate to counterbalance the shock resulting from 
 so tender and melancholy a spectacle. We have seen 
 it recorded, that her words were, " Oh ! Guildford ! 
 Guildford ! the anterepast is not so bitter that you 
 
AND HER TIMES. 379 
 
 have tasted, and that I shall soon taste, as to make my 
 flesh tremble; but that is nothing compared to the 
 feast that you and I shall this day partake of in 
 Heaven !" 
 
 During these proceedings preparations were making 
 inside the fortress for a second tragedy, and a scaffold 
 was erected upon the green, opposite to the White 
 Tower. When it was ready, Sir John Gage, the 
 Lieutenant of the Tower, is said to have again desired 
 her to bestow on him some small present, which he 
 might keep as a perpetual memorial of her ; on which 
 she gave him her table book, where she had just wrote 
 three sentences, on seeing her husband's dead body ; one 
 of these was in Greek, one in Latin, and the third in 
 English ; and the purport of them that human justice 
 was against his body, but the divine mercy would be 
 favourable to his soul ; that if her own fault deserved 
 punishment, yet her youth, at least, and her imprudence, 
 were worthy of excuse, and that God and posterity, 
 she trusted, would show her favour*. 
 
 * In her chamber she also left a Latin sentence, written with 
 a pin,— 
 
 " Deo juvante, nil nocet malus; 
 
 Et non juvante, nil juvat labor gravis. 
 
 Post tenebris, spero lucem." 
 
 Which has been thus translated — 
 
 Whilst God assists us, Envy bites in vain ; 
 If God forsake us, fruitless all our pain. 
 
 1 hope for light after the darkness. 
 
380 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 The author, already quoted*, says, that when she 
 was called down to go to the scaffold, she had prepared 
 herself for it with more diligence than either the malice 
 of her adversaries could desire, or the vigilance of any 
 officer, for the discharge of his duty, could expect. 
 
 Being come down, and delivered into the hands of 
 the sheriffs, she exhibited a countenance so gravely 
 settled with all modest and comely resolution, that not 
 the slightest trace of fear or grief could be perceived, 
 either in her words or actions : " but like a divine body, 
 going to be united to her heart's best and longest be- 
 loved, so shewed she forth all the beams of a well 
 mix'd and well temper'd alacrity, rather instructing 
 patience how it should suffer, than being by patience 
 any way able to indure the travail of so grievous a 
 journey. 1 ' 
 
 When the lieutenant offered his hand to lead her 
 forth, she rose with the greatest calmness, without the 
 slightest change of countenance, and without even a 
 tear in her eye ; a degree of confidence which she pre- 
 served whilst walking to the scaffold, with a book in 
 her hand, by help of which she prayed most fervently, 
 
 It is also asserted, but we cannot vouch for the authority, that 
 she wrote four other lines in the same manner,-^ 
 
 " Whate'er by man, as mortal, is assign'd, 
 Should raise compassion, reader, in thy mind ! 
 Mourn others' woes, and to thy own resign ; 
 The fate which I have found, may soon be thine." 
 
 * Phoenix, vol. ii. p. 42. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 
 
 381 
 
 though often interrupted by Feckenham with more 
 zeal than delicacy. 
 
 Patient, and mild as a lamb, she mounted the scaf- 
 fold without hesitation, waiting quietly until silence 
 was procured, when she spoke as follows, clearly, 
 distinctly, and without the slightest tremor : — " Good 
 people, I come hither to die ; and by a law I am con- 
 demned to the same. My offence against the queen's 
 highness was only in consent to the device of others, 
 which is now deemed treason ; but it was never of my 
 seeking, but by counsel of those who should seem to 
 have further understanding of such things than I, who 
 knew little of the law, and much less of the titles to 
 the crown. The fact indeed was unlawful, and the 
 consenting thereunto by me, or in my half. I do wash 
 my hands thereof in innocence, before God and you, 
 good Christian people, this day." — It was observed, 
 that at these words she wrung her hands ; not, how- 
 ever, from agony, but rather, as it would seem, as an 
 action in literal consonance with her words. That it 
 really was so, may be drawn from her instantly pro- 
 ceeding, " I pray you all, good Christian people, to 
 bear me witness that I die a true Christian woman, 
 and that I look to be saved by none other mean but 
 only by the mercy of God, and the merits of the blood 
 of his only Son Jesus Christ ; and I confess, when I 
 did know the word of God, I neglected the same, and 
 loved myself and the world, and therefore this plague 
 
382 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 and punishment is happily and worthily happened unto 
 me for my sins ; and yet I thank God of his goodness, 
 that he hath thus given me a time and respite to repent. 
 And now, good people, while I am alive, I pray you 
 to assist me with your prayers." 
 
 In the whole of this speech, the youthful heroine 
 appears pointedly to have had reference not only to the 
 doctrinal differences between the Reformed and Roman 
 Catholic churches, but also to the disputations which 
 had previously taken place between her and the popish 
 divines who now surrounded her even in her last mo- 
 ments. She seems, indeed, to have been apprehensive 
 that they might belie her dying sentiments ; and diere- 
 fore she spoke both pointedly and decidedly as to the 
 intercession of saints, works of supererogation, and pur- 
 gatory, with prayers after death ; all of which points, 
 though not expressly mentioned in her speech, are yet 
 most clearly alluded to. 
 
 It appears, that no divine of the Reformed Church 
 was permitted to attend her ; for on the conclusion of 
 her speech, having knelt down to pray, she turned to 
 Feckenham, the queen's chaplain, saying, " Shall I say 
 this psalm ? " To this the proud and bigoted confessor 
 merely answered " Yea;" when the mild sufferer re- 
 peated the psalm of Miserere met Deus, in English, 
 and in the most devout manner ; adding, to Fecken- 
 ham, " God will abundantly requite you, good sir, for 
 your humanity to mc, though your discourses gave me 
 
AND HER TIMES. 383 
 
 more uneasiness than all the terrors of my approaching 
 death." Her devotions ended, she stood up, and began 
 to undress ; first pulling off her gloves and handker- 
 chief, which she delivered to Mrs. Tylney, her maid ; 
 handing also her book to the lieutenant's brother, Mr. 
 Thomas Brydges. 
 
 On proceeding to untie her gown, the executioner 
 stepped forward, and rudely attempted to assist her ; 
 but she mildly desired him to let her alone, and turned 
 towards her two gentlewomen, who helped her in taking 
 off the gown, and also her " froze paste and necker- 
 cher," giving to her at the same time a white handker- 
 chief to tie over her eyes. The executioner now knelt 
 down and asked her forgiveness, which she acceded to 
 him most sweetly and willingly ; when he desired her 
 to stand upon some straw, and in doing this she first 
 saw the fatal block. With that sight, however, she 
 seemed not dismayed ; but said to the executioner, " I 
 pray you despatch me quickly. 1 ' She then knelt down, 
 and said, " Will you take it off before I lay me down ?" 
 To which the executioner answered, " No, madam." 
 
 The unhappy but patient victim now bound the 
 handkerchief over her eyes ; and, feeling for the block, 
 said, " What shall I do ? Where is it ? " At this 
 question, one of the persons on the scaffold guided her 
 towards the block, on which she instantly laid her 
 head, and then, stretching forth her body, exclaimed, 
 
384 
 
 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 " Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit ! " A 
 pause of one moment ensued — the axe fell — and the 
 lovely and pious victim to ambition and bigotry re- 
 joined her husband in heaven ! 
 
 Fox, speaking of her conduct upon this awful occa- 
 sion, says, that she most patiently, christianly, and 
 constantly yielded to God her soul ; which, by a bad 
 way, went to the best end. He adds, that thus were 
 beheaded two innocents, in comparison of those who 
 sate upon them ; for they did but, through ignorance, 
 accept that which the others had willingly devised, and 
 by open proclamation consented to take from others 
 and give to them ; " and verelie, how unwilling she 
 was to take it upon her, there are yet living that can 
 testify.'" He then states, " Judge Morgan, now, that 
 gave the sentence against hir, shortlie after fell mad, 
 and in his raving cried continuallie to have the Ladie 
 Jane taken awaie from hym, and so ended his lyfe." 
 It is an interesting fact, hinted by Fuller, that it was 
 reported she was " as ladies wish to be who love their 
 lords," at the time of her suffering. " Cruelty," says 
 he, " to cut down the tree with blossoms on it ; and 
 that that which hath saved the lives of many women, 
 hastened her death: but God only knows the truth 
 thereof." 
 
 This day was long after called Black Monday, as 
 the first day of a week which Strype calls a bloody 
 
AND HEll TIMES. 385 
 
 week of executions ; for in the same, in order to strike 
 terror into the minds of the people, many new gallows 
 were set up in London. Of these, there was one at 
 every gate; and others in Cheapside, Fleet-street, 
 Charing-cross, Hyde-Park-Corner, &c. ; and on Wed- 
 nesday, the fourteenth, no less than forty-seven suf- 
 fered, of whom three were hanged in chains, and seven 
 quartered, and their bodies and heads set upon the 
 different gates of the city. 
 
 Three days afterwards, on the seventeenth of Fe- 
 bruary, the Duke of Suffolk was brought to trial, and 
 indicted for levying war against the queen, and ad- 
 hering to Sir Thomas Wyat, in order to depose the 
 queen, and set the crown on the head of his daughter. 
 To the indictment he answered, that it was not treason 
 in a peer of the realm, as he was, to raise his power 
 and make proclamation to avoid strangers out of the 
 land, alluding to the Spaniards. 
 
 It was replied, he had done more ; that he had op- 
 posed the queen's lieutenant the Earl of Huntingdon, 
 at the head of her majesty's forces, which was certainly 
 high treason. To that charge he answered, that he 
 did not know the Earl was her lieutenant ; that his 
 brother had advised him to go down into the country, 
 where he would be safe among his tenants ; but if he 
 staid in town, he would be committed to the Tower 
 
 The peers, as the record asserts, not satisfied with 
 
 c c 
 
386 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 this trifling defence, found the duke guilty, and sen- 
 tence was passed on him as a traitor *. 
 
 Little time was afforded to the unhappy and deso- 
 lated parent to reflect on the miseries produced by his 
 ambition ; for six days after the trial, and on the twenty- 
 third of February, he also was brought out to the place of 
 execution on Tower-hill ; where, it is said, he confessed 
 that he suffered justly for his disloyalty to the queen. 
 He also desired the people to take warning by his 
 misfortune, and behave themselves dutifully to the go- 
 vernment ; and he professed his belief of the Christian 
 religion, but without any distinction as to communions, 
 except in saying, that he rested his salvation upon no 
 other means than the mercy of God, through the suf- 
 ferings of our blessed Saviour ; thereby evidently de- 
 nying all belief in the intercession of saints — a point 
 
 * The fate of Suffolk is thus briefly related in the Lord- 
 Stewards' Book, in the British Museum (Harl. Coll. 2194-.), 
 already quoted : 
 
 "■ Henry Fitzallan, Lord Maltravers, and Lord-Steward of 
 her Majestie's Houshold, was Lord High Steward 
 of England att the arraignement of Henry Lord 
 Grey, Duke of Suftblke, father of the Lady Jane, 
 married to Guilford Dudley. 
 " This Henry Duke of Suffolke, beinge condemned by his 
 peeres for combyninge in rebellion w tb Wyat against the queene 
 and her proceedings w lh Spayne, had sentence of death pro- 
 nounced against him, w ch hee suffered the 23d of February, 
 upon the Tower-hill, when he most Xristanly made profession 
 of his faith w lh greate repentance of his fact." 
 
AND HER TIMES. 387 
 
 then of great difference between the Reformed and 
 Catholic churches. 
 
 The widowed duchess survived the duke and her 
 lovely daughter some years, not dying until 1563 ; 
 but Camden observes, that she forgot her greatness so 
 far as to accept for her husband Adrian Stokes, a 
 gentleman in low circumstances (one of her own do- 
 mestics), which, how much soever it might tend to her 
 discredit, yet seemed to answer the view with which it 
 was done, by contributing to her security. 
 
 Of Lady Jane's two sisters, it is sufficient to remark, 
 that Lady Katharine was repudiated, or, perhaps, her 
 betrothing only with Lord Herbert, son of the Earl of 
 Pembroke, set aside for political reasons, through the 
 cautious policy of the earl. This may be supposed a 
 most unhappy event for the fair Katharine, if Fuller, 
 in his Worthies of England, is correct, when he says, 
 " This Heraclita, or Lady of Lamentation, thus re- 
 pudiated, was seldome seen with dry eyes for some 
 years together, sighing out her sorrowful condition; 
 so that though the roses in her cheeks looked very 
 wan and pale, it was not for want of watering :" though 
 she recovered her grief, and was afterwards married to 
 Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, yet privately, and 
 without the license of Queen Elizabeth. But the preg- 
 nancy of Lady Hertford becoming known, the queen 
 fined the earl 15,000/. and committed him a prisoner to 
 the Tower, as was his lady also, and under strict orders 
 
388 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 of all intercourse being forbidden. Love, however, 
 found the way for their meeting privately, until the earl 
 was liberated ; and the lady died in 1567, after nine 
 years 1 imprisonment. 
 
 The younger sister, the Lady Mary, as Fuller ob- 
 serves, frighted with the infelicity of her two sisters, 
 forgot her honour to remember her safety, and married 
 one whom she could love, and none need fear, Martin 
 Keyes, of Kent, Esq. who was a judge at court (but 
 only of doubtfull caste of dice, being serjeant-porter), 
 and died without issue, in 1578. Perhaps we ought 
 also to add of her, on the authority of Baker, that she 
 was " somewhat deformed." 
 
 Little is now left, but to record the fate of the 
 Duchess Dowager of Northumberland, mother of Lord 
 Guildford Dudley. 
 
 It was well observed of her, that she was a singular 
 instance of the vicissitudes of fortune ; having been the 
 wife of one of the greatest men of the age ; living to 
 see her husband lose his head upon a scaffold ; to see 
 one son share his fathers fate ; another escape it only 
 by dying in prison ; and the rest of her children living 
 but by permission. Yet, amidst all this distress, which 
 was heightened by the confiscation of her property, she 
 displayed great firmness of mind, though left desti- 
 tute of fortune and of friends, until the queen was 
 persuaded to make her some restitution. A short pe- 
 riod before her death, which happened at the manor- 
 
AND HER TIMES. 389 
 
 house of Chelsea, she wrote her own will, the items 
 of which strongly mark the manners of the times. To 
 Sir Henry Sidney, her son-in-law (for she had five 
 daughters, in addition to eight sons), she left the green 
 and gold hangings of her gallery at Chelsea, embroi- 
 dered with the family arms; and to his lady, her 
 daughter Mary, she bequeathed her gown of black 
 barred velvet, furred with sables ; and a gown, with a 
 high back of fair wrought velvet. To her daughter 
 Katharine, the bequest was a gown of purple velvet, 
 a summer-gown, and a kirtle of new purple velvet to 
 it, and sleeves. To a daughter of Lord Cobham she 
 left a gown of black barred velvet, furred with lizards ; 
 and her green parrot was bequeathed to the Duchess 
 of Alva, having nothing else worthy of her. 
 
 One expression in this testamentary document de- 
 serves copying : " My will is, earnestly and effectually, 
 that little solempnitie be made for me, for I had ever 
 have a thousand foldes my debts to be paid, and the 
 poore to be given unto, than anye pompe to be shewed 
 upon my wretched carkes : therefore to the wormes will 
 I go, as I have afore wry tten, in all poyntes, as you wyll 
 answer yt afore God. And you breke any one jot of 
 yt, your wylls hereafter may chaunce to be as well 
 broken." 
 
 In fact she had previously, or " afore," as she ex- 
 presses it, given the most particular directions, not a 
 
390 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 little remarkable for the fastidious delicacy which they 
 display : " After I am departyd from this worlde, let 
 me be wonde up in a shete, and put in a cofFyn of 
 woode, and so layde in the grounde with such funerals 
 as parteyneth to the buriall of a corse. I will at my 
 yere's mynde have such devyne service as myne exe- 
 cutors shall thynke mete, with the whole arms of father 
 and mother upon the stone grevan ; nor in no wyse to 
 let me be opened after I am dead. I have not loved to 
 be very bold afore women, much more wolde I be lothe 
 to come into the hands of any lyving man, be he phy- 
 sician or surgeon." 
 
 It is somewhat remarkable that, in opposition to 
 these strict orders, she was interred on the 1st Feb. 
 1555, with great pomp and solemnity ; having also a 
 superb monument erected over her grave, in More's 
 Chapel, in Chelsea Church, still in existence. 
 
 To close this eventful record of past times, we shall 
 merely add, that the written memorials of 
 
 LADY JANE GREY, 
 
 are thus enumerated by Walpole, in his List of Noble 
 Authors : — Four Latin Epistles — three to Bullinger, 
 and one to her sister the Lady Katharine ; printed in 
 a book called " Epistolae ab Ecclesiae Helvetica? Re- 
 formatoribus, vel ad eos scriptae, &c. Tiguri, 1742. 
 
AND HER TIMES. 391 
 
 octavo. 1 '' The fourth was written the night before her 
 death, in a Greek Testament, in which she had been 
 reading, and which she sent to her sister. 
 
 Her Conference with Feckenham, Abbot of West- 
 minster, who was sent to convert her to Popery. 
 
 A Letter to Dr. Hardinge, her father's chaplain, 
 who had apostatized ; but the authenticity of which 
 we have already stated to be doubtful. 
 
 A Prayer for her own Use, during her Confinement. 
 
 Four Latin Verses, written in prison with a pin. 
 
 Her Speech on the Scaffold. 
 
 The Complaint of a Sinner. 
 
 The Duty of a Christian. 
 
 Walpole also mentions the Letters or Notes, written 
 in the Manual of Prayers, already recorded ; and she 
 is said, both by Hollinshed and Sir Richard Baker, to 
 have written some other things ; but these authors do 
 not specify them, nor say where they are to be found. 
 
 THE END. 
 
LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED BY THOMAS DAVISON, WH1TEFRIARS. 
 
 [943