pastor of Nuremburg.

He was obliged to conceal this mar

riage, as his royal master still held to the doctrine of the celibacy of the clergy; and at one time he was compelled to. send his wife and children back to Germany.

In the year 1537, a few days after the birth of her son, Prince Edward, the queen, Jane Seymour, died. The king now made proposals of marriage to various foreign princesses. One of these, the Duchess of Milan, is said to have replied to the addresses of the royal Blue-Beard, that "if she had two heads, one would have been at the service of his majesty of England." His minister, Cromwell, Earl of Essex, being a promoter of the cause of the Reformation, was anxious to have Henry marry a Protestant princess of Germany. He procured a likeness of Anne, Duchess of Cleves, painted by Hans Holbein, a very celebrated Dutch painter, and presented it to the king. Henry was much pleased with the picture, and consented to the marriage; but when he saw the original, he was so much displeased, that he did not rest until he had procured a divorce. Anne of Cleves, who seems to have been a good and prudent woman, was no doubt glad to resign her queenship without the loss of her head. Cromwell, the unfortunate adviser of this match, perished on the scaffold, having been tried on a charge of treason and heresy.

1539.

1540.

Henry VIII. now married Katherine Howard, a grand-niece of the victor of Flodden Field. This marriage proved an unhappy one. In less than two years the queen was tried on charges similar to those brought against Anna Boleyn. She was condemned to die, and meekly suffered the sentence.

Ever since the battle of Flodden Field, there had been no real peace between England and Scotland. In the year 1541, Henry, fearing that his nephew, James V., was making foreign alliances which would strengthen him against England, proposed an interview at York. The English king went at the time appointed, but James, being detained by his courtiers, was not there. This insult so irritated Henry, that he forth

with declared war against Scotland. In 1542, the battle of Solway Moss was fought, in which the Scots were severely defeated, and their king died of a broken heart a few days after. About a week previous to his death occurred the birth of his daughter,-the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots. Henry VIII. proposed peace to the Scots, on condition that this infant princess should be betrothed to his son, the young Edward. This union would have brought peace to the two countries by uniting them under one rule. Henry, however, showed so evidently that during the minority of the princess he meant to hold the power in his own hands, that the Scots were averse to the treaty, and the war still went on.

Henry's sixth and last wife was Lady Katherine Parr, the widow of Lord Latimer. She was an English woman and a Protestant, and to the three children of Henry-Mary, Elizabeth, and Edward-she proved a good and judicious mother. This queen narrowly escaped being arrested on charge of heresy. Having read some of the books of the reformers, which were prohibited, she one evening disputed with the king on a point of religious belief. Henry, greatly exasperated, gave the order for her arrest, but she, seeing her danger, expressed to him, the next evening, her sense of the blessing she possessed in having so learned a prince for her husband and instructor. "Not so," said the king, "I know you, Kate, you are become a doctor;" whereupon she replied that he had mistaken her motive in arguing with him—it was merely to amuse him, and induce him to forget his bodily sufferings. "Ah! is it so, sweetheart! then we are friends again!" replied Henry; and when the chancellor came to arrest the queen, he was driven from the presence with abusive epithets.

In 1544, Henry engaged in a war against France. He conducted his troops in person, and laid siege to the town of Boulogne. Immense sums were lavished in this brief and mismanaged war. In less than two years, Henry was obliged to make peace, and agree to the surrender of Boulogne, on

the payment of certain sums of money promised by the French king.

1541.

Henry's hatred against every scion of the house of Plantagenet was implacable. In the early part of his reign he had put to death Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, a descendant of Edward III. Later, the Countess of Salisbury, a daughter of the Duke of Clarence, and niece of Edward IV., had fallen a sacrifice to his cruel jealousy. Accused of corresponding with her son, a Romish cardinal, she was thrown into prison at the age of seventy, and afterwards beheaded. She was imprisoned during the reign of Queen Katherine Howard, and one of the few traces which remain of the character of that unfortunate lady, is an order which she gave for furred mantles and warm clothing for this aged countess, the last of the Plantagenets, who lay, during the winter's cold, a prisoner in the dungeons of the Tower. The closing year of Henry's reign was marked by the attainder of the noble family of the Howards, in the persons of the Duke of Norfolk and his brave and accomplished son the Earl of Surrey.

1546.

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, was accused of treason, for having borne the arms of Edward the Confessor quartered on his shield with his own. On this frivolous charge he was condemned to the block. A few days after the execution of the lamented Surrey, the order went forth from the king for that of his aged father, the Duke of Norfolk, but ere

1547. the morning of the day of the execution came,

Henry VIII. had gone to his account. He died the 28th January, 1547.

QUESTIONS.On whom was the great seal bestowed after it was taken from Wolsey?-Describe the home attractions which Sir Thomas More was loth to relinquish -What can you say of his character as chancellor ?-What conduct of the king did Sir Thomas More oppose?-What course did he therefore adopt?-Whom did the king marry in 1532?—What became of the divorced queen?

When and by what act was the power of the Pope in England overthrown? What was now required of English subjects?-Who

refused this?-Describe the treatment of Sir Thomas More in consequence of this refusal.-What impression was made throughout Europe by this treatment?-Relate the emotion of the king upon this occasion.-Describe the downfall of Anna Boleyn.

What important step towards the Reformation was accomplished by Henry?-Describe Henry's inconsistent conduct with regard to religion. What good purposes had the religious houses served ?— What was Henry's treatment of these institutions ?-Describe Cranmer's labors in the cause of the Reformation.-What events occurred in the royal household in 1537?—Who was Henry VIII.'s fifth wife? -Relate the brief history of this marriage.

Give some account of the relations between England and Scotland at this time.-Mention the results of the battle of Solway Moss.On what terms did Henry offer peace to Scotland?-What disposition on the part of Henry prevented the Scots accepting the treaty?-Whom did Henry marry for his sixth and last wife?— What danger did she narrowly escape?-Relate the circumstance.In what war did Henry engage towards the close of his reign?When was peace made?—Mention the several victims of Henry's jealousy and their fate.—What family fell under the king's displeasure during the later years of his reign?-What charge was brought against the Earl of Surrey?-What was his sentence?

CHAPTER XXXIII.

EDWARD VI.

THE PROTECTOR-INTRIGUES-REFORMATION-SOMERSET'S DOWNFALLNORTHUMBERLAND'S SCHEMES.

1547.

It was not alone the tyranny of Henry VIII. which had led to the downfall of the Howards. The Seymours, who had risen into importance after their sister's marriage with the king, were jealous of this ancient and noble house. The Howards were Roman Catholics, the Seymours favored the Reformation. The latter feared lest their influence with the young prince, their nephew, should be overrulod, and their measures thwarted, when he became

king, by the Duke of Norfolk and Earl Surrey. They, therefore, had inflamed the mind of King Henry against them. But we shall see that "in the net which they spread for others, their own feet were taken."

Prince Edward being only ten years old at the time of his father's death, a council of regency was appointed. At its first meeting, Seymour, Earl of Hertford, was created Duke of Somerset, made Protector of the kingdom, and immediately took the management of the realm into his own hands.

One of the dying injunctions of Henry VIII. to the council was, that they should endeavor, by all means, to bring about a marriage between Edward VI. and the young queen of Scots. This Somerset tried to effect; but a large party in Scotland, headed by the Roman Catholic Earl of Arran, and the queen mother, Mary of Guise, violently opposed the union. The Duke of Somerset marched a large army into Scotland, hoping to compel the opposing party, who were aided by the king of France, to compliance. He gained a decided victory near Edinburgh, but, influenced by personal interests, returned to England without following up his advantages. Several years later, the Scots, who declared " they liked not the manner of the English wooing," sent their young queen to France, where she became the wife of Francis [, afterwards king of that country.

Thomas Seymour, who had been created lord high admiral, was an ambitious man, and soon became jealous of the power and honors which his brother, the Protector, had obtained. He took advantage of Somerset's absence in Scotland to supplant his influence with the young king. This Seymour could the more readily accomplish, having married Katherine Parr, the widow of the late monarch. After the death of this lady, Seymour was suspected of aspiring to the hand of the Princess Elizabeth. This led to an open quarrel between the two brothers. The admiral was arrested, tried on a charge of high treason, and beheaded.

The Reformation of the church of England was fairly established during this reign, by the united efforts of the