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going too fast, and tried to retrace their steps, by what was termed 'calling down the money." But this was useless. The government could not remedy the artificial high price of home produce till they became honest. The excessive rise of prices, and the consequent sufferings of the people were attributed to inclosures, to the increase of pasture, to higher rents;-few saw the inevitable effects of the debasements of the coin. The complaint, so often repeated, that pasture was driving out tillage, does not seem to be sustained by the fact that the emperor Charles V., in August, 1542, writes to Henry VIII. to request that he would permit corn from England to be exported to Spain, where the crop had failed through the dryness of the season." * The produce generally, whether of corn or cattle, was, we may believe, in spite of many complaints, comparatively abundant. The word Dearth which we so often meet with, must be accepted in its sense of dearness, rather than of scarcity.

The religious teaching of the people was now in the hands of the secular clergy-bishops, vicars, and curates. The bishops had all outwardly conformed to the great change in the condition of the Church. The parsons, or holders of benefices, and their curates, were, in many respects, in a happier condition than before this change. One circumstance which more truly developed the most beautiful points in the character of the " poor parson," was that he became a husband and a father. But in the state of transition from the Latin mass-book to the English Common Prayer, there must necessarily have often been the most violent dissensions amongst the clergy and their congregations. In June, 1544, there was a king's letter to the archbishop of Canterbury, respecting the service used in "processions." This letter was accompanied by some prayers, which "may perhaps be regarded as the original of the Book of Common Prayer."+ The priests held their benefices under the ancient tenure of Frankalmoigne, or of Free Alms; by which they were bound to pray for the soul of their grantor. The clergy who went along with the principles of the Reformation would naturally hold such prayers contrary to their doctrines. After the Reformation was established, it was maintained that the tenure by which the parochial clergy and ecclesiastical foundations held in Frankalmoigne remained undisturbed.

The education of the young was the business of the Church under the ancient ecclesiastical system of England. Many grammar-schools were founded in the reign of Henry VIII. Pious men and women made bequests for the aid of schools and exhibitions. The foundation schools of Edward VI. were a small contribution to public uses out of a large spoil. But still, after the monastic institutions were broken up, the preacher evermore cried out, "Truly it is a pitiful thing to see schools so neglected, scholars not maintained. Schools are not maintained, scholars have not exhibition. " In the middle of the sixteenth century the art of Printing had given an impulse to all education. Oxford and Cambridge had made great advances in philological studies. The higher schools, and the universities, were mostly filled by the sons of yeomen

State Papers, vol. ix., p. 125.

"Ecclesiastical Documents," Camden Society, p. 91.

Latimer.

A.D. 1547.

GRADUAL AMELIORATION OF SOCIETY.

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and traders themselves very often of "gentle lineage." The means of most scholars were very scanty. Some did not scruple to solicit alms, after the fashion of the mendicant friars. In the statute for the advancement of true religion, we have a glimpse of what was the popular reading which the government tolerated. "Chronicles, Canterbury tales, Chaucer's books, Gower's books, and Stories of men's lives, shall not be comprehended in the prohibition of this Act." This statute recognises another, and perhaps the most important branch of popular intellectual amusement-songs, plays, and interludes. The "Coventry Mysteries," and the "Chester Plays," were lawful exhibitions. Before the suppression of the monasteries these miracle plays were performed in churches, and the priests were in many cases the performers. They were now represented upon moveable stages in inn-yards-upon the village-green, and in the city market-place. The secular drama was still in the weakest condition of its rickety infancy. Bear-baiting was the passion of the multitude of this period. The people clung inveterately to the old holidays, which was a serious grief to the earnest reformers, till they began to see the wisdom of not being severe upon the popular amusements, and ceased to associate them with the corruptions of the Romish Church.

During the reign of Henry VIII., the most beneficial application of Science to the welfare of man, the knowledge of Medicine and Surgery, made extraordinary advances. The College of Physicians was founded in 1518, and their corporation was confirmed by a statute of 1523. The Surgeons at this

time separated themselves from the Barber-Surgeons, who were a company incorporated by Edward IV. The Surgeons of London went on in their exclusively scientific pursuits without being incorporated. The BarberSurgeons shaved, and drew teeth, and bled, and attempted cures, under their corporate privileges. In 1540 the two bodies were united by statute, as the Company of Barbers and Surgeons. But their vocations were to be separate.

The tastes of the general population of England were not carried forward, as in Italy, by a familiarity with the highest works in sculpture and painting. Henry VIII. had his favourite painter in a foreigner of eminent merit, Holbein. But this master, in many essentials so admirable, produced few works which could have raised our national taste. There were skilled artificers in London and the principal towns. These were chiefly connected with the arts of building and of clothing. Elaborately carved fronts still attest the ingenuity of the joiner.

The Paving Acts for the metropolis in the time of Henry VIII. indicate something of the vigilant superintendence of the general government; but they also show the chief cause of local neglect. The lighting of London and its suburbs was indifferently provided for. The steeple of Bow Church, erected in 1512, had lanterns. The Mayor commanded, a century earlier, that lanterns and lights should be suspended in front of the houses on . winter evenings. The principle of equal assessment for public objects was not then understood. There was no system of co-operation. The first large attempt to organise labour for public improvements is to be found in the Statute of Sewers of 1427, under which commissioners were appointed, by whose authority all damages caused by breaches of the sea were

to be repaired, and collections made to uphold the sewers and causeways in marsh lands. Out of such collections labourers were to be employed upon competent wages. The first general Highway Act is that of 1555. Public Washing-grounds, on the banks of rivers, were established in every town ; where the linen cleansed in the stream, or in the buck, was spread upon the turf, or hung upon the hair-line. There was a daily boat to and from Gravesend, at two-pence each passenger, provided that there was a load of twenty-four persons; to Erith for a penny; to Greenwich and Woolwich for a farthing; to all places between Lambeth and St. Mary Overies, a farthing. But the watermen rebelled at these fares; and the Act says that assaults and frays daily ensued, and oftentimes manslaughter.

CHAPTER XVII.

EDWARD, the son of Henry VIII. by Jane Seymour, was a few months above nine years of age at the time of his father's death. On the 31st of January, the young prince was conducted to the Tower of London, and proclaimed king. Henry's will was dated the 30th of December; and under it sixteen executors were appointed, to exercise the powers of the crown during Edward's minority. To assist these executors in cases of doubt, a second council of twelve persons was also nominated. The very act of appointing executors was the assertion of the royal prerogative to deal with the kingdom as with a private estate. The executors of Henry VIII. raised the earl of Hertford to the office of Protector. Wriothesley opposed the nomination of any one of the council with an authority superior to the rest. The chancellor was over-ruled; and was soon after removed from office, having in his struggle for power committed a political offence. Hertford was created duke of Somerset ; and after Edward's coronation, which took place on the 28th of February, the Protector was not only confirmed in his authority by letters-patent under the great seal, but his powers were extended, and the functions of the executors were merged in those of a general council, who were bound to act by the advice and consent of the real head of the state.

It was a leading object of Henry's policy, which he held to in his dying hour, that the union of England and Scotland should be cemented by the marriage of his son with the child, Mary, the Scottish queen. The proposal of Somerset, that the former treaty for this marriage should be renewed and ratified, was coldly listened to. At this juncture an event occurred which materially affected the relations of England with France and Scotland. Francis I. died on the 31st of March, at Rambouillet. He had reigned thirty-two years. Twenty days before the death of Francis, a treaty had been concluded between France and England. This the new king of France, Henry II., refused to ratify. He preferred to cultivate an alliance with the Scots. The duke of Guise and the cardinal of Lorraine were the brothers of the queen dowager of Scotland, and they were amongst

A.D. 1547.

EDWARD VI.-SOMERSET PROTECTOR.

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the chief advisers of the French king. On the 2nd of September, the Protector crossed the border at Berwick with a powerful invading army. Somerset did not enter on the war with Scotland in the arrogant spirit with which Henry VIII. had conducted his negotiations and his assaults. The Protector addressed a remarkable letter "to the nobility and counsellors, gentlemen and commons, and all other the inhabitants of the realm of Scotland;" in which, with "greeting and peace," he sets forth the desire of England to establish the amity of the two countries by the union of the crowns. In this union of two kingdoms, England was ready "to take the indifferent old name of Britain again, because nothing should be left on our part to be offered. We seek not to take from you

your laws nor customs, but we seek to redress your oppressions, which of divers ye do sustain." But the words of peace were not hearkened to. The influence of France prevailed. The priests stirred up the Scottish people to resist the English heretics. Knox was a prisoner in France; and the friends of the Reformation were scattered and proscribed.

Somerset advanced from Berwick along the shore, whilst a fleet under Lord Clinton kept the sea within view of the coast. On the 8th, the English were encamped near Preston-Pans; and the fleet was at anchor near Musselburgh. The Scottish army was within a distance of little more than two miles; the ridge of Falside being between the two hosts. The Scots occupied a strong position, with the sea on their left flank, and a deep marsh on their right. The river Esk protected their front; and the bridge crossing the Esk was held and strongly defended. On the morning of the 10th, when the English army began to move, it was discovered that the Scots had abandoned their strong position, and had crossed the river. They had taken up an opinion that the English were about to retreat to their ships, and would escape unless attacked in their camp. This movement was fatal to them. Although they fought with the most determined valour, and successfully resisted a furious charge of the English cavalry; they ultimately fled before their slaughtering pursuers. Ten thousand Scots perished, and fifteen hundred were taken prisoners, without any serious loss on the part of the English. Leith was set on fire. Several castles were taken. But in three weeks after the battle of Pinkie, Somerset recrossed the Tweed; and entered London on the 8th of October, declining, however, any triumphant reception. The results of this great scattering of the Scottish power were not favourable to the English influence. The nobility of Scotland resolved to apply for assistance to France; and at the instigation of the queen-dowager, the young Queen Mary was offered in marriage to the dauphin of France. A parliament, or convention, that was hastily assembled, ratified the treaty for the marriage; and the childqueen was received at Dunbarton on board a French vessel which had entered the Clyde and then sailed to France. In August, 1548, Mary was solemnly contracted to the Dauphin. The war was continued with various success; but on the whole was unfavourable to the English.

The parliament met on the 4th of November, 1547. Cranmer and his coadjutors in the Church had been seeking to prepare a broad and solid foundation for their reforms, in the enlightenment of the people. Cranmer had selected the paraphrase of the New Testament, by Erasmus, as a fitting

book to be translated into English, and set up in churches. Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, attacked this translation with clever bitterness. In the same spirit he attacked the Book of Homilies, "appointed by the king's majesty to be declared, and read by all parsons, vicars, or curates, every Sunday in their churches, where they have cure." Gardiner was committed to the Fleet. During the Protector's absence in Scotland, an ecclesiastical visitation had taken place, to inquire as to the removal of images, when they were abused by pilgrimages and offerings; whether the Scriptures were read, and the Litany sung, in English; whether the clergy declared to their parishioners the articles for the abolition of superfluous holidays; whether they diligently taught their parishioners, and especially the youth, the Pater Noster, the articles of our faith, and the Ten Commandments, in English; whether the Bible, of the largest volume in English, was provided in some convenient place in the church. There was no open resistance to the proceedings of the Commissioners. The parliament sat only till the 24th of December; but in those fifty days it passed some measures of the highest importance. The "Act for the repeal of certain statutes concerning treasons, felonies, &c.," swept away the manifold treasons which had been created, by statute after statute, in the reign of Henry VIII. By this Act all "estatutes touching, mentioning, or in any wise concerning religion," were repealed and utterly annulled. All new felonies made by statute since the 1st of Henry VIII. were also repealed. The penalties for affirming that the king is not supreme head of the Church were, however, retained. . In this comprehensive statute, the despotic law of the preceding reign, that the Proclamations of the King in Council should be as valid as Acts of parliament, was, further, wholly re pealed.* In this short parliament, an Act was passed, regarding "the Sacrament of the Altar." It imposed the penalties of fine and imprisonment upon such as by preaching, reading, arguments, talks, rhymes, songs, or plays, "call it by such vile and unseemly words as Christian ears do abhor to hear rehearsed." But coupled with this enactment was a clause prescribing that the Sacrament should be administered in both kinds-the bread and the wine-thus providing that the cup should not be refused to the laity. The people, according to the usage of the primitive church, were to receive the sacrament with the priest. By another statute, bishops were to be elected by the king's letters patent, and process in the ecclesiastical courts was to be in the king's name. Another Act provided that all the revenues of chantries should be bestowed upon the crown, in order that they might be applied to purposes of education. Cranmer, who knew the avidity with which the rapacious courtiers seized upon the spoils of the Church, had the honesty to vote against this bill. The great Reformer was in a minority with Bonner, the most intolerant enemy of ecclesiastical change.

The Reformation kept on its steady course; offending the greater number of the people who clung to ancient habits, but gradually winning over the thoughtful and educated to an earnest reception of its principles. The first measure of the parliament which met in January, 1549, was

1 Edw. VI., c. 12.

An