A TOPOGRAPHICAL 



the other Lords of the Privy Council, that nothing was done with- 

 out his advice and concurrence. The Duke of Somerset, who in 

 those times of precarious power had been committed to the Tower 

 on some unfounded charges, was released hy the influence of the 

 Earl of Warwick, and restored to a share of power. The King 

 was pleased with this instance of magnanimity in the Earl towards 

 his former rival, and in order to establish a lasting friendship be- 

 tween these two great men, lie proposed the marriage of the Earl 

 of Warwick's eldest son with the Duke of Somerset's daughter, 

 which was solemnized on the 3d of June 1550, in his Majesty's 

 presence. In April 1551, the Earl of Warwick was nominated 

 Earl Marshal of England, and in October in the same year he was 

 advanced to the dignity of Duke of Northumberland. These 

 honours, however, were not unattended with danger ; a conspiracy 

 to assassinate him was said to have been concerted between the 

 Duke and Duchess of Somerset, and they were committed to the 

 Tower. The King being persuaded of the criminality of the Duke 

 of Somerset, he was tried by his peers, condemned, and beheaded 

 on the 22d of February, 1552. 



The Earl of Warwick, as Regent, had obtained a complete 

 ascendancy over the mind of the young King, and with much dex- 

 terity and address brought most of the nobility over to his inte- 

 rests, and humbled and depressed his enemies. On the decline of 

 the King's health, the Earl directed his principal attention to the ag- 

 grandizement of his own family, and for that purpose the marriage 

 of Lady Jane Grey and his fourth son Lord Guilford Dudley, was 

 solemnized in May 1552, about two months before the death of 

 the King. By this matrimonial connection, Lord Guilford Dudley 

 had a distant claim to the Crown of England, for Lady Jane Grey's 

 mother, the Duchess of Suffolk, was sister to Henry VIII. 



In order to facilitate his ambitious project, the Duke of North- 

 umberland persuaded King Edward to set aside his sister Mary 

 from the succession, in consequence of her attachment to Popery ; 

 and so great was the ascendancy of the wily Regent, that he even 

 prevailed on the young Sovereign to pass by his sister Elizabeth, 

 though a Protestant, and to nominate his cousin Lady Jane Grey 

 as his successor. Edward the Sixth died on the 6th of July 1553, 

 in the 16th year of his age, and seventh of his reign, and the Duke 

 of Northumberland having conveyed his daughter-in-law from Dur- 

 ham-house to the Tower for greater security, he on the lOlli of the 

 same month proclaimed her Queen of England. But though Lady 



