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the dissentions, and the ambition of the ministers who as- B O O K sumed the administration during his minority, was seized with a lingering distemper which threatened his life. The Emperor no sooner received an account of this, than his ambition, always attentive to seize every opportunity of acquiring an increase of power, or of territories, to his son, suggested the thought of adding England to his other kingdoms, by the marriage of Philip with the Princess Mary, the heir of Edward's crown. Being apprehensive, however, that his son, who was then in Spain, might decline a match with a Princess in her thirty-eighth year, and eleven years older than himself"; Charles determined, notwithstanding his own age and infirmities, to make offer of himself as a husband to his cousin.

BUT though Mary was so far advanced in years, and desti- To which tute of every charm either of person or manners that could Philip gives his win affection, or command esteem, Philip, without hesitation, consent. gave his consent to the match proposed by his father, and was willing, according to the usual maxim of Princes, to sacrifice his inclination to his ambition. In order to insure the success of his scheme, the Emperor, even before Edward's death, began to take such steps as might facilitate it. Upon Edward's demise, Mary mounted the throne of England; the pretensions of the lady Jane Gray proving as unfortunate as they were ill-founded *. Charles sent immediately a pompous embassy to London to congratulate Mary on her accession to the throne, and to propose the alliance with his son. The Queen, dazzled with the prospect of The sentimarrying the heir of the greatest Monarch in Europe; fond Mary and of uniting more closely with her mother's family, to which of the Engshe had been always warmly attached; and eager to secure regard to the powerful aid which she knew would be necessary towards it. carrying on her favourite scheme of re-establishing the Romish religion in England, listened in the most favourable manner to the proposal. Among her subjects, it met with a very different reception. Philip, it was well known, contended for all the tenets of the church of Rome with a san

u Palav. Hist. Council. Trid. v. ii. c. 13. p. 150.

x Carte's Hist. of England, iii. 287.

ments of

lish with

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BOOK guinary zeal which exceeded the measure even of Spanish bigotry this alarmed all the numerous partisans of the Reformation. The Castilian haughtiness and reserve were far from being acceptable to the English, who, having several times seen their throne occupied by persons who were born subjects, had become accustomed to an unceremonious and familiar intercourse with their sovereigns. They could not think, without the utmost uneasiness, of admitting a foreign Prince to that influence in their councils, which the husband of their Queen would naturally possess. They dreaded, both from Philip's over-bearing temper, and from the maxims of the Spanish monarchy which he had imbibed, that he would infuse ideas into the Queen's mind, dangerous to the liberties of the nation, and would introduce foreign troops and money into the kingdom, to assist her in any attempt against them.

The House of Com

mons re

FULL of these apprehensions, the House of Commons, though in that age extremely obsequious to the will of their monstrate Monarchs, presented a warm address against the Spanish against it. match; many pamphlets were published, representing the dangerous consequences of the alliance with Spain, and describing Philip's bigotry and arrogance in the most odious colours. But Mary, inflexible in all her resolutions, paid no regard to the remonstrances of her Commons, or to the sentiments of the people. The Emperor, having secured, by various arts, the ministers whom she trusted most, they approved warmly of the match, and large sums were remitted by him in order to gain the rest of the council. Cardinal Pole, whom the Pope, immediately upon Mary's accession, had dispatched as his legate into England, in order to reconcile his native country to the see of Rome, was detained by the Emperor's command at Dillinghen in Germany, lest by his presence he should thwart Philip's pretensions, and employ his interest in favour of his kinsman Courtnay Earl of Devonshire, whom the English ardently wished their sovereign to choose for a husband".

The mar

As the negociation did not admit of delay, it was carried ty conclud- forward with the greatest rapidity, the Emperor agreeing,

riage-trea

ed.

y Carte, iii. 288.

without hesitation, to every article in favour of England, B O O K which Mary's ministers either represented as necessary to XI. sooth the people and reconcile them to the match, or that 1554. was suggested by their own fears and jealousy of a foreign

master.

The chief articles were, that Philip, during his Jan. 12. marriage with the Queen, should bear the title of King of England, but the entire administration of affairs, as well as the sole disposal of all revenues, offices, and benefices, should remain with the Queen; that the heirs of the marriage should, together with the crown of England, inherit the dutchy of Burgundy and the Low-Countries; that if Prince Charles, Philip's only son by a former marriage, should die without issue, his children by the Queen, whether male or female, should succeed to the crown of Spain, and all the Emperor's hereditary dominions; that, before the consummation of the marriage, Philip should swear solemnly, that he would retain no domestic who was not a subject of the Queen, and would bring no foreigners into the kingdom that might give umbrage to the English; that he would make no alteration in the constitution or laws of England; that he would not carry the Queen, or any of the children born of this marriage, out of the kingdom; that if the Queen should die before him without issue, he would immediately leave the crown to the lawful heir, without claiming any right of administration whatever; that in consequence of this marriage, England should not be engaged in any war subsisting between France and Spain; and that the alliance between France and England should remain in full force *.

BUT this treaty, though both the Emperor and Mary's Discontent and appreministers employed their utmost address in framing it so as hensions of to please the English, was far from quieting their fears and the Engjealousies. They saw that words and promises were a feeble lish. security against the encroachments of an ambitious Prince, who, as soon as he got possession of the power and advantages which the Queen's husband must necessarily enjoy, could easily evade any of the articles which either limited his authority or obstructed his schemes. They were convinced

z Rymer's Fœd. vol. xv. 377. 393. Mem. de Ribier, ii. 498.

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surrection.

BOOK that the more favourable the conditions of the present treaty were to England, the more Philip would be tempted hereaf ter to violate them. They dreaded that England, like Naples, Milan, and the other countries annexed to Spain, would soon feel the dominion of that crown to be intolerably oppres sive, and be constrained, as they had been, to waste its wealth and vigour in wars wherein it had no interest, and from which it could derive no advantage. These sentiments prevailed so generally, that every part of the kingdom was filled with discontent at the match, and with indignation against Wyat's in the advisers of it. Sir Thomas Wyat, a gentleman of some note, and of good intentions towards the public, took advantage of this, and roused the inhabitants of Kent to arms, in order to save their country from a foreign yoke. Great numbers resorted in a short time to his standard; he marched to London with such rapidity, and the Queen was so utterly unprovided for defence, that the aspect of affairs was extremely threatening; and if any nobleman of distinction had joined the mal-contents, or had Wyat possessed talents equal, in any degree, to the boldness of his enterprise, the insurrection must have proved fatal to Mary's power. But all Wyat's measures were concerted with so little prudence, and executed with such irresolution, that many of his followers forsook him; the rest were dispersed by an handful of soldiers; and he himself was taken prisoner, without having made any effort worthy of the cause that he had undertaken, or suitable to the ardour with which he engaged in it. He suffered the punishment due to his rashness and rebellion. The Queen's authority was confirmed and increased by her success in defeating this inconsiderate attempt to abridge it. The lady Jane Gray, whose title the ambition of her relations had set up in opposition to that of the Queen, was, notwithstanding her youth and innocence, brought to the scaffold. The lady Elizabeth, the Queen's sister, was observed with the most jealous attention. The treaty of marriage was ratified by the parliament.

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The marriage celebrated.

PHILIP landed in England with a magnificent retinue, celebrated his nuptials with great solemnity; and though he could not lay aside his natural severity and pride, or assume

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gracious and popular manners, he endeavoured to conciliate B OOK the favour of the English nobility by his extraordinary liberality. Lest that should fail of acquiring him such influence in the government of the kingdom as he aimed at obtaining, the Emperor kept a body of twelve thousand men on the coast of Flanders, in readiness to embark for England, and to support his son in all his enterprises.

measures

testant re

EMBOLDENED by all these favourable circumstances, Mary Mary's pursued the scheme of extirpating the Protestant religion. to overturn out of her dominions, with the most precipitate zeal. The the Prolaws of Edward the sixth, in favour of the Reformation, ligion in were repealed; the Protestant clergy ejected; all the forms England. and rites of the Popish worship were re-established; the nation was solemnly absolved from the guilt which it had contracted during the period of its apostacy, and was publicly reconciled to the church of Rome by Cardinal Pole, who, immediately after the Queen's marriage, was permitted to continue his journey to England, and to exercise his le gatine functions with the most ample power. Not satisfied with having overturned the Protestant church, and re-establishing the ancient system on its ruins, Mary insisted that all her subjects should conform to the same mode of worship which she preferred; should profess their faith in the same creed which she had approved; and abjure every practice or opinion that was deemed repugnant to either of them. Powers altogether unknown in the English constitution were vested in certain persons appointed to take cognizance of heresy, and they proceeded to exercise them with more than inquisitorial severity. The prospect of danger, however, did not intimidate the principal teachers of the Protestant doctrines, who believed that they were contending for truths of the utmost consequence to the happiness of mankind. They boldly avowed their sentiments, and were condemned to that cruel death which the church of Rome reserves for its enemies. This shocking punishment was inflicted with that barbarity which the rancour of false zeal alone can inspire. The English, who are inferior in humanity to no people in Europe, and remarkable for the mildness of their public executions, beheld with astonishment and horror, persons

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