to speak of the obligation that lay upon men of high condition to be eminent in works of benevolence. This so touched his royal auditor that after the service he sent for the bishop, bade him sit down and be covered in his pres ence, and then telling him that he took the sermon to himself, desired him to point out the best way in which he could obey his exhortation. Ridley, overcome by the humility and kind disposition of the prince, requested leave to consult with others before he answered his question. This was granted; and applications were made to the magistrates of the city for their advice. They replied that the poor might be divided into three classes, those who were so by reason of natural infirmity, such as idiots and madmen, - the sick and maimed, and those who were too indolent and dissolute to work. When this statement was reported to the king, he ordered Gray-friars' church to be turned into an asylum. for orphans, St. Bartholomew's into a hospital, and gave his own house of Bridewell as a place of correction for the wilfully idle. This order was not fully executed until the following June; and when Edward had signed the papers necessary to finish its benevolent design, he thanked God for prolonging his life till he had completed this work.

On the sixth of July the king found himself to be dying, and gave his last moments to devotion, praying most earnestly for his people, that they might be blessed and saved from the errors of popery. Having ended this supplication, he said to one who was holding him in his arms, "I am faint. Lord have mercy on me, and receive my spirit;" and "so he breathed out his innocent soul."

Historians dwell with delight upon the character of young Edward, who, although he was but sixteen years of age when he died, had given the promise of being one of the wisest and best of monarchs. His natural talents were of a high order, and his diligence in the pursuit of all knowledge that might be useful to him as a sovereign indefatigable. He kept a journal of his life; and likewise a book, wherein he recorded the characters of the chief men in the kingdom, that he might be able to select the most worthy for his counsellors. To his fine mental endowments was added an affectionate and merciful disposition; and, indeed, his whole character deserves all the eulogy it has received, as well as the study and imitation of every youth who aspires to that true greatness, which comes from the union of a cultivated mind with a sanctified heart.

CHAPTER XIX.

USURPATION OF THE LADY JANE GREY-ACCESSION OF MARY-EXECUTION OF THE LADY JANE-RESTORATION OF POPERY -PERSECUTION-JOHN ROGERS LAWRENCE SAUNDERS- -LATIMER-CRANMER - DEATH OF MARY-ACCESSION OF ELIZABETHREFORMATION ESTABLISHED. 1552-1559.

NORTHUMBERLAND, whose ambition was not satisfied with the power he had already enjoyed, formed a plan by which he hoped to maintain his authority yet longer. Having married his fourth son, Lord Guilford Dudley, to the Lady Jane Grey, daughter of the younger sister of Henry VIII. he prevailed upon Edward, who dreaded the effects of his sister Mary's hatred of the Reformers, to make a will and appoint the Lady Jane his successor. Accordingly, after the decease of the king, Jane, then only sixteen years of age, and contrary to her own wish, was proclaimed queen.

The lovely usurper, whose reluctance to ascend the throne had been overcome chiefly by the earnest entreaties of her father, the Duke of Suffolk, maintained her dangerous elevation only nine days. Northumberland was almost universally detested; the right of Mary to the crown was undisputed, and the rapacity of the pre

tended friends of the Reformation, during the last reign, had rendered the people quite indifferent in regard to religious affairs. With these circumstances operating in her favor, Mary found it easy to defeat her enemies and recover her rightful authority. She entered London supported by the whole nation, and was acknowledged by all as the lawful sovereign of the realm.

To enlist the Reformers on her side, Mary had promised not to alter the religion as established by her brother. This promise was soon broken. The Queen, whose disposition inclined her to cruelty, was bigoted in her attachment to popery, and violent in her hatred of the new opinions; and indeed the injustice she had received at the hands of the Protestants would have excited the indignation of a far more merciful temper than she possessed. To them she attributed the dishonor of her mother, the danger to which she herself had been exposed during the reign of her father, and the vexations she had endured from her brother's anxiety to change her faith.

Hardly, therefore, had the queen mounted the throne, before she showed it to be her determination to restore the Catholic religion. She granted a pardon to those prelates who had been confined or removed from office, on account of

their opposition to the Reformation. The cruel Gardiner and the infamous Bonner were ad. mitted to seats in the council. All ministers were forbidden to preach, except such as received the royal permission, which was carefully confined to popish priests. The foreign Protestants, many of whom had settled in England in the time of Edward, were expelled from the kingdom. The marriages of the clergy were declared illegal. A Latin mass was performed at the opening of Parliament. And to crown the work, the Pope was secretly informed of the queen's earnest desire to be reconciled to the Roman see.

These changes gave great offence to a large portion of the people; and when in addition to them it was known that the queen intended to marry Philip, the eldest son of Charles V., a step which threatened to bring England under the control of that monarch, the general discontent broke out in open rebellion. The insurrection was soon put down; but Mary made use of it as an excuse for the destruction of all whom she feared as rivals or dreaded for their virtues.

The most eminent among the victims were the Duke of Suffolk, who had been weak enough to lend some countenance to the rebels, Lord Dudley, and his wife the Lady Jane Grey. The account of the execution of these nobles belongs