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on his knees, in a passion of grief besought the blessing of his condemned father.

Edward the Sixth was crowned in Westminster Abbey, on the 20th of February, 1547, and after the ceremony partook of his coronation feast in the old Hall. The young King himself tells us in his journal, that on his entering the Hall "it was asked the people whether they would have him to be their King, and they answered, Yea, yea.'" At the conclusion of the banquet we find him dubbing thirty-five "Knights of the Carpet."

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On the 1st of December, 1552, the great Protector, Duke of Somerset, uncle to the King, was brought from the Tower to Westminster Hall, to undergo his memorable trial on charges of treason and felony. "The Lord Treasurer, the Marquis of Winchester," says Hayward, "sat as High Steward, under a cloth of state, on a bench mounted three degrees; the peers, to the number of twenty-seven, sitting on a bench one step lower." He was acquitted of the charge of treason, but being found guilty of the felony, the object of his enemies was fully answered, and he was condemned to death. On the 22nd of the following month, the Duke was led forth to Tower Hill, where he submitted himself to the stroke of the executioner with a dignified fortitude and resignation.

The next trial of any importance which we find taking place in Westminster Hall, was that of Charles, seventh Baron Stourton, who was arraigned here, on the 26th of February, 1557, for the foul

murder of two gentlemen, William and John Hartgill, father and son, who were his neighbours in Somersetshire. Having been found guilty, and sentenced to be hanged, he was placed on a horse's back, with his arms pinioned behind him and his legs tied under the horse's belly, and thus conveyed by slow stages to Salisbury, in the marketplace of which town the sentence was carried into effect. The only distinction made between him and an ordinary malefactor was his being hanged with a silken halter.

Queen Mary was crowned in Westminster Abbey, and in all probability kept her coronation feast in Westminster Hall, as did also her sister and successor, Queen Elizabeth, on the 15th of January, 1559. "She dined," says Holinshed, "in Westminster Hall which was richly hung, and everything ordered in such royal manner as to such a regal and most solemn feast appertained."

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, more than one state trial of deep interest took place in Westminster Hall. That of Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk, who died for his romantic attachment to Mary Queen of Scots, presented an imposing and magnificent scene. The trial took place on the 16th of January 1572, George Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury presiding as Lord High Steward of England. "A scaffold," says Camden, who was present at the trial, "was erected in the midst of the Hall, reaching from the gate to the upper end; where there was a tribunal built, with seats

on both sides; such a sight as had not been seen full eighteen years."

Being called upon to answer the charges, the Duke strenuously entreated to be allowed the aid of counsel. Being answered by the Lord Chief Justice, that counsel was never allowed to criminals charged with high treason, "Then," said the Duke, "to-day I must plead for my life, my estate, my children, and, which is above all, my honour. If I die innocent, God will be sure to avenge my cause." The Clerk of the Crown then asked him,

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"Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, art thou guilty of the crimes with which thou art charged, or no?" The Duke answering, "Not Guilty;" then, said the Clerk, "how wilt thou be tried?" to which the Duke replied, "To God and to these Peers I commend my cause."

The Duke having been found guilty, the Lord Steward asked him if he had anything to object why sentence should not be passed upon him, to which he replied,-" God's will be done: He will judge between me and my false accusers." Silence being again proclaimed, and the edge of the axe having been turned towards the Duke, Barham, the Queen's Serjeant-at-Law, rose from his seat, and called upon the High Steward in the Queen's name to pass sentence. With tears in his eyes, the Lord Steward then proceeded to pronounce the dreadful sentence of the law. "Forasmuch," he said, " as thou, Thomas Duke of Norfolk, hath been charged with high treason, hath

pleaded not guilty, and hath submitted thyself to the judgment of thy peers; this court adjudgeth thee to be carried back from hence to the Tower; then to be laid upon an hurdle, and drawn through the city to the gallows, there to be hanged; and being half dead, to be cut down, thy bowels taken out, and after thy head is cut off, to be quartered; thy head and body to be disposed of according to the Queen's pleasure; and God have mercy upon thy soul." The Duke listened to these frightful details without any visible emotion. "Sentence is passed upon me," he said, "as upon a traitor: I have none to trust but God and the Queen. I am excluded from your society, but hope shortly to enjoy the heavenly. I will fit myself to die. Only one thing I crave; that the Queen would be kind to my poor children and servants, and take care that my debts be paid." The Duke was beheaded on Tower Hill, on the 2nd of June, 1572. He died pious and undaunted, on the same spot where his father, the accomplished Earl of Surrey, had been decapitated twenty-six years before.

A more interesting person even than the Duke of Norfolk, was Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, the ill-fated favourite of Queen Elizabeth, who was tried in Westminster Hall, with his friend, Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, on the 19th of February, 1601. Camden was also present on this occasion, and has left us an interesting account of the proceedings. The Peers having unanimously pronounced a verdict of guilty, the Clerk of the Crown

inquired of the prisoners, as usual, if they had anything to offer why judgment should not be passed upon them? Southampton addressed them in a modest, pathetic, and effective appeal, while Essex contented himself with generously pleading the cause of his friend. As for his own life, he said, he valued it not; his only desire was to lay down his life with the sincere conscience of a good Christian, and a loyal subject; and though he was unwilling that he should be represented to the Queen as a person who despised her clemency, yet he trusted he should make no cringing submissions for his life. And you, my Lords," he concluded, though you have condemned me in this tribunal, yet I most heartily entreat you, that you will acquit me in your opinion of having entertained any ill intentions against my Prince."

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The edge of the axe being now turned towards the prisoners, the High Steward passed on them the dreadful sentence of the law. At its conclusion Essex exclaimed, "If her Majesty had pleased, this body of mine might have done her better service: however, I shall be glad if it may prove serviceable to her in any way." He then requested that a clergyman whom he named, Mr. Ashton, should be allowed to administer the Holy Sacrament to him, and attend him in his last moments; and, lastly, he begged pardon of the Earl of Worcester and the Lord Chief Justice, for having detained them prisoners in Drury House; and especially of the Lords Morley and Delawarr for having brought

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