warrants relating to these were not finished till the 26th of June, though he gave orders to make all the haste that was possible: and when he set his hand to them he blessed God for having prolonged his life till he had finished his designs concerning them. These houses have, by the good government and the great charities of the city of London, continued to be so useful, and grown to be so well endowed, that now they may be reckoned among the noblest in Europe.

The king bore his sickness with great submission to the will of God; and seemed concerned in nothing so much as the state that religion and the church would be in after his death. The duke of Northumberland, who was at the head of affairs, resolved to improve the fears the king was in concerning religion, to the advantage of lady Jane Grey, who was married to his son, lord Guilford Dudley. Edward was easily persuaded by him to order the judges to put some articles, which he had signed, for the succes sion of the crown, in the common form of law. They answered, that the succession being settled by act of parliament, could not be taken away, except by parliament : yet the king persisted in his orders.

The judges then declared before the council, that it had been made treason by an act passed in this reign, to change the succession; so that they could not meddle with it. Montague was chief justice, and spake in the name of the rest.

On this, Northumberland fell into a violent passion, calling him traitor, for refusing to obey the king's commands. But the judges were not moved by his threats; and they were again brought before the king, who sharply rebuked them for their delays. They replied that all they could do would be of no force without a parliament: yet they were required to perform it in the best manner they could.

At last Montague desired they might first have a pardon for what they were to do, which being granted, all the judges, except Cosnald and Hales, agreed to the patent, and delivered their opinions, that the lord chancellor might put the seal to the articles, drawn up by the king, and that then they would be good in law. Cosnald was at last prevailed on to join in the same opinion, so that Hales, who

was a zealous protestant, was the only man who stood out to the last.

The privy councillors were next required to sign the paper. Cecil, in a relation he wrote of this transaction, says, that "Hearing some of the judges declare so positively that it was against law, he refused to set his hand to it as a privy councillor, but signed it only as a witness to the king's subscription."

Cranmer came not to the council when it was passed there, and refused to consent to it, when he was pressed to it; saying, "He would never have a hand in disinheriting his late master's daughters." The dying king at last by his importunity prevailed with him to do it; upon which the great seal was put to the patents.

The king's distemper continued to increase, so that the physicians despaired of his recovery. A confident woman undertook his cure, and he was put into her hands, but she left him worse than she found him; and this heightened the jealousy against the duke of Northumberland, who had introduced her, and dismissed the physicians. At last, to crown his designs, he got the king to write to his sisters to come and divert him in his sickness: and the exclusion had been conducted so secretly, that they, apprehending no danger, began their journey.

On the 6th of July the king felt the approach of death, and prepared himself for it in a most devout manner. He was often heard offering up prayers and ejaculations to God: particularly, a few moments before he died, he prayed earnestly that the Lord would take him out of this wretched life, and committed his spirit to him; he interceded very fervently for his subjects, that God would preserve England from popery, and maintain his true religion among them. The last words he uttered were these, "I am faint; Lord have mercy upon me, and take my spirit." Soon after that he breathed out his innocent soul in sir Henry Sid ney's arms.

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PART VI.

Reign of Queen Mary, Subversion of the Protestant Religion, and awful Persecutions by the Papists

CHAPTER I.

Accession of Queen Mary to the Throne.

Dress of a Male Recanting Peni Dress of a Female Recanting Penitant.

tant.

WE now call the attention of the British protestants to a period of their church history that cannot fail to awaken in their hearts that love for their ancestors, which at present, we fear, lies dormant in too many. A long career of ease appears to have obliterated from their minds the troubles of their generous forefathers, who, for them, bled in every vein-for them, were consigned to the devouring flames in every part of their country; preparing and establishing for their descendants, by the sacrifice of themselves, political and religious liberty. And, while ve behold, with gratitude and admiration, the effects co their noble self-devotion, let us thence learn to appreciato those

blessings which, by the continued providence of God, we have so long enjoyed; and let us be confirmed more and more in our determination to resist every attempt, whether by open force or secret fraud, to deprive us and our descendants of the privileges so dearly purchased.

It has been asserted by the Roman catholics, "That all those who suffered death, during the reign of queen Mary, had been adjudged guilty of high treason, in consequence of their rising in defence of lady Jane Grey's title to the crown." To disprove this, however, is no difficult matter, since every one conversant in English history, must know that those who are found guilty of high treason are to be hanged and quartered. But how can even a papist affirm, that ever a man in England was burned for high treason? We admit, that some few suffered death in the ordinary way of process at common law, for their adherence to lady Jane; but none of those were burned. Why, if traitors, were they taken before bishops, who have no power to judge in criminal cases? Even allowing the bishops to have had power to judge, yet their own bloody statute did not empower them to execute. The proceedings against the martyrs are still extant, and they are carried on directly according to the forms prescribed by their own statute. Not one of those who were burned in England, was ever accused of high treason, much less were they tried at common law. And this should teach the reader to value a history of transactions in his own country, particularly as it relates to the sufferings of the blessed martyrs in defence of the religion he professes, in order that he may be able to remove the veil which falsehood has cast over the face of truth. Having said thus much, by way of introduction, we shall proceed with the Acts and Monuments of the British Martyrs.

By the death of king Edward, the crown devolved, according to law, on his eldest sister Mary, who was within a half a days journey to the court, when she had notice given her by the earl of Arundel, of her brother's death, and of the patent for lady Jane's succession. Upon this she retired to Framlingham, in Suffolk, to be near the sea, that she might escape to Flanders, in case of necessity. Before she arrived there, she wrote, on the 9th of July, to the council, telling them, that "She understood, that her

brother was dead, by which she succeeded to the crown. but wondered that she heard not from them; she well understood what consultations they had engaged in, but she would pardon all such as would return to their duty, and proclaim her title to the crown."

It was now found, that the king's death could be no longer kept a secret; accordingly some of the privy council went to lady Jane, and acknowledged her as their queen.* The news of the king's death afflicted her much, and her being raised to the throne, rather increased than lessened her trouble. She was a person of extraordinary abilities, acquirements, and virtues. She was mistress. both of the Greek and Latin tongues, and delighted much in study. As she was not tainted with the levities which usually accompany her age and station, so she seemed to have attained to the practice of the highest fortitude; for in those sudden turns of her condition, as she was not exalted with the prospect of a crown, so she was little 'cast down when her palace was made her prison. The only passion she showed, was that of the noblest kind, in

The lady Jane was daughter to the duke of Suffolk, and grand-daughter to Mary, sister to Henry VIII., who, on the death of her first husband, the king of France, married Charles Brandon, afterward created duke of Suffolk,