ENGLAND. 



655 



History. 



Dishonour- 

 able modes 

 of raising 

 money. 



Euleofrac- 



Tlie king 



invades 



France, 



Peace with 

 France and 

 Scotland, 



15-Ki. 



tant gentlemen, and a young lady of her own acquaint- 

 ance, who were all burned at Windsor a short time after 

 her marriage. Once indeed she attempted to argue with 

 the king on theological subjects, who complained of her 

 to Bishop Gardiner, and who was instigated, by the ad- 

 vice of that prelate, to proceed against her with the ut- 

 most rigour. Articles of impeachment were actually 

 drawn up for her trial, and the hour fixed for her commit- 

 ment to the Tower ; but having received timely intima- 

 tion of her approaching fate, she found means, by her 

 prudence and address, to pacify her husband, and disap- 

 point her enemies. 



The war with Scotland had led to a rupture with 

 France ; and in order to support the burdens of this dou- 

 ble contest, Henry, instead of demanding a subsidy from 

 his parliament, (which with all his authority he generally 

 found it difficult to controul in pecuniary grants,) had re- 

 course to many dishonourable methods of filling his trea- 

 sury. He required new loans from his subjects, though 

 he had recently enacted laws, which exempted him from 

 the payment of his old debts. He increased the nominal 

 yalue of gold and silver ; and even caused base money 

 to be coined, and to be made current by proclamation. 

 Resolving, in concert with the emperor Charles, to com- 

 mand his army, which was destined for the invasion of 

 France, he thought proper, before his departure, to fix 

 the rule of succession to the crown. By the act passed 

 for this purpose, it was settled, 1. On Edward Prince of 

 Wales, and his lawful issue; 2. On the king's issue by 

 bis present or any future queen ; 3. On the Princess Ma- 

 ry, and her lawful issue ; 4. On the Princess Elizabeth, 

 and her lawful issue ; and, failing all these, on such as 

 the king pleased to appoint by letters patent, or by his 

 last will. But, with his usual caprice, while he opened 

 the way to the throne to Mary and Elizabeth, he 

 would not allow those acts to be reversed which had de- 

 clared them illegitimate, and reserved the power of still 

 excluding them from the succession, if they refused to 

 submit to any conditions which he might be pleased to 

 impose. 



Henry having appointed the Queen to the office of 

 Regent during his absence, passed over to Calais with 

 an army of 30,000 men, accompanied by the principal 

 nobles and gentlemen of his kingdom. But, after taking 

 Boulogne, a misunderstanding arose between the allied 

 sovereigns ; and the king of England returned home, as 

 in all his military enterprizes, with an acquisition of little 

 importance, made at an immense expence. The war 

 with Scotland in the mean time was conducted feebly, 

 *nd with various success. The commons granted a sub- 

 sidy, to support the expence of these two wars ; but ap. 

 prthensive lest more demands should be made upon them, 

 they endeavoured to save themselves, by bestowing on 

 the king all the revenues of the universities, as well as >f 

 the free chapels and hospitals. Henry, however, though 

 pleased with a concession which increased his power, took 

 care to acquaint the universities, that he had no inten- 

 tion to deprive learning of its endowments ; and it is to 

 his generosity, not to any protection afforded by his 

 prostitute parliament, that these celebrated establish- 

 ments owe their existence. 



1 1 ing BOB uled a peace with France and Scotland, 



Henry turnci' !; ; s attention to domestic affairs, and par- 



iily to his favourite object of promoting religious 



uniformity. The hopes of the reformers, who had been 



rather discouraged by the severe law of the six articles, 



were revived considerably by some of his measures. He History, 

 permitted the litany to be celebrated in the vulgar tongue ; N "Y"""' 

 and added a prayer, to " save us from the tyranny of the 

 Bishop of Rome, and from all his detestable enormities." 

 He protected Cranmer in a very decided manner, from 

 the cabals of his enemies among the Popish party ; and 

 entirely withdrew his favour from Gardiner, on account 

 of his malignant attempts to accomplish the destruction 

 of the Queen. His tyrannical disposition, however, irri- 

 tated and soured by his declining state of health, impelled 

 him to punish, with fresh severities, all who presumed to 

 differ from himself, especially on the capital point of the 

 real presence. An ulcer broke out in his leg, which oc- 

 casioned him extreme pain, and which, in addition to his 

 monstrous corpulency, at once threatened his life, and 

 rendered him more than usually passionate and untrac- 

 table. He became more and more outrageous as his 

 end approached j and the cruelty of his temper seemed 

 to increase, in proportion as his power of exercising it 

 drew nearer to its termination. 



The last objects of Henry's cruelty and injustice, were The king's 

 the Duke of Norfolk, and his son the Earl of Surrey ; cruc ' "^ 

 the former the most faithful of the king's ministers, and ^o r JMi^ nst 

 the latter the most accomplished of the English nobility. an d Surrey, 

 Their greatness, and not their guilt, excited the workings 15*7. 

 of the tyrant's violent and jealous spirit. The great power 

 of Norfolk, his attachment to the ancient religion, and his 

 alliance to the throne, suggested to Henry's mind that, 

 during his son's minority, great danger might arise, both 

 to the public tranquillity, and to the new ecclesiastical 

 system, from the attempts of so potent a subject. These 

 suspicions were increased by some unguarded expressions 

 used by Surrey, when he was recalled from the govern- 

 ment of Boulogne, by his refusal of all matrimonial con- 

 nections that had been proposed to him, and by an ap- 

 prehension that he entertained the ambitious view of es- 

 pousing the Princess Mary, as a step to the crown. Dis- 

 gusted also with the whole family, on account of the con- 

 duct of Catherine Howard, he yielded the more readily 

 to his vindictive feelings, and, determined upon the ruin 

 of the two noblemen, he gave private orders to arrest 

 and commit them to the Tower on the same day. Surrey, 

 accused of entertaining Italian spies in his family, of 

 holding a secret correspondence with Cardinal Pole, and 

 of manifesting his aim at the crown, by having the arms 

 of Edward the Confessor on his scutcheon, was without 

 proofs, and in defiance of his able defence, condemned 

 and executed for high treason. No greater crime could 

 be discovered against Norfolk, than his once saying, that 

 the king could not hold out long, and that the kingdom 

 was likely to fall into disorders, through the diversity of 

 religious opinions ; but a bill of attainder nevertheless 

 was passed against him in the House of Peers, without 

 any species of trial ; and the king hastening it through 

 the House of Commons lest his victim should escape, is- 

 sued the death warrant with all possible expedition. But Death of 

 his own death on the evening preceding the day of exe- the king, 

 cution, procured a reprieve to the noble prisoner ; and it 15*T. 

 was not thought advisable to commence a new reign with 

 the sacrifice of the greatest subject in the kingdom. 

 Though the king's end had for several days been evi- 

 dently approaching, none of his attendants dared to in- 

 form him of his condition. But Sir Anthony Denny ha- 

 ving at length ventured to make the solemn intimation, 

 Henry expressed his resignation, and ordered Cranmer 

 to be brought to him. The king was speechless before 



