in his speech to the parliament, urged that justice, with due execution of the laws, was the great support of kingdoms, which without it were but dens of robbers. This is true: still law is a dangerous weapon, and too often misused.

The earl of Suffolk, nephew of Edward IV., fell under suspicion of plotting against the king; he escaped to the continent, but was secured in 1506; the archduke of Austria, who had been driven into Weymouth by a storm, when on a voyage to Spain with his wife, the queen of Castile, being detained till Suffolk had been induced to come over. The earl was then imprisoned, Henry undertaking to bear all the dishonour of the transaction. Tyrrel, the murderer of Edward v., being implicated in this plot, was executed.

The archduke was also obliged to consent to a marriage between the king and the duchess of Savoy, his sister, who had a large dowry. Philip proceeded to Spain, where he was acknowledged king of Castile, but died in a few months, when Henry gave up his claim upon the duchess of Savoy, and sought the widowed queen. This plan could not be carried into effect, as her reason gave way under her loss.

In 1505, Henry thought of marrying the dowager queen of Naples, but finding she had no jointure, he relinquished his intention. Gold ever was his idol. He continued his accumulations, even after he had stored in his coffers 1,800,0007. sterling, equal in value to about 25,000,000l. at the present day. Some portion of these treasures he increased by lending on usurious terms; but occasionally he made loans for commercial purposes, free of any charge of interest, knowing that in the end his resources would be benefited thereby.

Henry's health gave way; at fifty-two he was sinking into the grave. Then he thought to purchase heaven with part of his ill-gotten wealth. He caused all debtors imprisoned in London for small amounts to be set at liberty. In 1502, he founded a noble addition

to Westminster Abbey. The part of the structure known as Henry the Seventh's chapel forms the most beautiful portion of that venerable pile. It was not completed till about twelve years afterwards, and at an expense of about fourteen thousand pounds. He largely contributed to other ecclesiastical edifices. A gilt silver box was also to be presented to every church in England which did not already possess a repository for the host, or consecrated wafer. He ordered his son to make restitution of the sums his hateful ministers had unjustly extorted, and declared that if his life were prolonged he would be a changed man; but his chief reliance was placed on the penances enjoined by the church of Rome. After twenty-seven hours of fierce agony, during which he called upon the Saviour for deliverance, he expired on April 21, 1509. Henry VII. had pierced himself through with many sorrows, in common with all who make undue haste to be rich. His call for deliverance reminds of the words of Scripture: "When your fear cometh as desolation, and destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices," Prov. i. 27-31. Still we should be thankful that we are not required to pronounce judgment upon the final state of any fellow mortal, though the awful declarations of the Divine word against the ungodly and covetous must not be trifled with.

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The reign of Henry VII. was useful to England. He succeeded in staying the rage of civil discord, and breaking down the power of the nobles, or rather he prevented it from regaining its former extent, after the civil wars. He chose his chief ministers from the ecclesiastics, but was not disposed to admit the continuance of the unbridled licentiousness of the clergy.

He also found many of them disaffected to his government: it is remarked, that each of the three leading plots against him was promoted, if not formed by a priest. He, therefore, set forth severe declarations against the luxurious and vicious lives of the clergy, strenuously contending against their being independent of the civil power. Still they secured themselves from suffering death for any offence, even for murder. Another proceeding, the diminution of the idle retainers of the nobles, induced many persons to turn their hands to the pursuits of industry, while it left the nobility money to spare for the encouragement of manufactures. Thereby much was done to lessen the paramount power of the nobility, while the commons rose in proportion. Henry saw the necessity of freeing the royal power from the domination of the nobles and ecclesiastics, and of resting it on the interests of the community at large. To effect this, he endeavoured to maintain peace, being well aware how much the interests of a nation are promoted by freedom from warfare. Fines and exactions also were means which he used to depress the power of the nobles.

Henry encouraged commerce, though the laws enacted, through the mistaken policy of the age, often encumbered the efforts they were designed to promote. He agreed with the brother of Columbus, the discoverer of America, to furnish the requisite means for his voyage of discovery to the west; but the detention of Bartholomew by pirates delayed his return from England, till Christopher had made those final arrangements with the king of Spain, which gave Spain the empire of the west. After this, Henry sent out John Cabot, and his sons Sebastian and Sancho, with letters patent, "to sail to all parts of the world, under his flag, with five ships, to discover new countries, and to take possession of them as his governors and deputies, paying him one-fifth of the profits; and to import their merchandize free from all custom duties." They

discovered Newfoundland, and the main coast of North America. We may rejoice that England did not incur the guilt that brought reproach on Spain for her acts in her western empire, which have proved a bitter curse upon that kingdom. Far better were the commercial advantages which eventually accrued to England from the discoveries of Cabot.

""Tis thus the band of commerce was designed
To associate all the branches of mankind;
And if a boundless plenty be the robe,
Trade is the golden girdle of the globe.

Wise to promote whatever end he means,
God opens fruitful nature's various scenes;

Each climate needs what other climes produce,
And offers something to the general use.
No land but listens to the common call,
And in return receives supply from all."

Henry obtained a bull from the pope, authorizing the reformation of the monasteries. In 1490, Morton put this into effect with regard to the abbey of St. Alban's the result of the inquiry proved that the abbot, and many of his monks, were guilty of the vilest profligacies. Even murders were frequently committed by the ecclesiastics. The depraved state of the clergy appeared also from the monitions issued by the archbishop Morton, who rebuked the clergy for spending their time in alehouses, laying aside the dress of their order, and wearing swords and daggers, which they were at all times ready to use. Yet the king gave countenance to persecutions for religion, and thus brought himself into the same condemnation as his predecessors. His devotion to the church of Rome was manifest, though he was not ignorant of its errors. He complied with the religious fashions of that day, and in several years, about Lent, paid for ten thousand masses to be performed for his benefit. This engraving from an ancient drawing, represents the king giving a book to John Islip, the abbot of Westminster, specifying the number of masses and services to be said for the departed souls of the king's father, wife, and