History of England from the fall of Wolsey to the death of Elizabeth Volume III Part 17

At this conjuncture the abbey lands were a fortunate resource. They were disposed of rapidly--of course on easy terms to the purchasers. The insurrection as we saw had taught the necessity of filling the place of the monks with resident owners, who would maintain hospitality liberally, and on a scale to contrast favourably with the careless waste of their predecessors. Obligations to this effect were made a condition of the sales, and lowered naturally the market value of the properties.

Considerable sums, however, were realized, adequate for immediate objects, though falling short of the ultimate cost of the defences of the country. At the same time the government works found labour for the able-bodied beggars, those st.u.r.dy vagrants whose living had been gathered hitherto at the doors of the religious houses, varied only with intervals of the stocks and the cart's-tail.

Thus the spoils of the Church furnished the arms by which the Pope and the Pope's friends could be held at bay; and by degrees in the healthier portion of the nation an English enthusiasm took the place of a superst.i.tious panic. Loyalty towards England went along with the Reformation, when the Reformation was menaced by foreign enemies; and the wide disaffection which in 1536 had threatened a revolution, became concentrated in a vindictive minority, to whom the Papacy was dearer than their country, and whose persevering conspiracies taught England at no distant time to acquiesce with its whole heart in the wisdom which chained them down by penal laws as traitors and enemies to the commonwealth.[311]

[Sidenote: Increasing ill-health of the king.]

[Sidenote: September. Approach of the queen's confinement.]

[Sidenote: October 12. Edward Prince of Wales is born.]

[Sidenote: General expressions of delight.]

[Sidenote: Latimer's letter to Cromwell.]

Meanwhile, the event to which the king, the whole of England and the Continent, friends and enemies, were looking so anxiously, was approaching near. The king's health was growing visibly weaker; his corpulency was increasing, through disease and weakness of system; an inveterate ulcer had settled in his leg; and the chances of his death in consequence of it were already calculated.[312] The whole fortune of the future seemed to depend on the issue of the queen's pregnancy. Yet, notwithstanding his infirmities, Henry was in high spirits. At the end of the summer he was with a hunting party at Guildford, and was described as being especially affable and good-humoured.[313] In September he was at Hampton Court, where the confinement was expected at the close of the month, or at the beginning of October. Strange inquiries had been made by Pole, or by Pole's secretary,[314] on the probable s.e.x of the child. On the 12th of October the question was decided by the birth of a prince, so long and pa.s.sionately hoped for.

Only a most minute intimacy with the condition of the country can make intelligible the feelings with which the news was received. The crown had an undoubted heir. The succession was sure. The king, who was supposed to be under a curse which refused him male posterity, was relieved from the bane. Providence had borne witness for him, and had rewarded his policy. No revolution need be looked for on his death. The Catholics could not hope for their "jolly stirring." The anti-Papal leaders need not dread the stake for their wages. The insurrection was crushed. A prince was born. England was saved. These were the terms which many a heart repeated to itself. The Marchioness of Dorset wrote to Henry that she had received the most joyful news that came to England these many years; for the which she and all his Grace's subjects gave thanks to Almighty G.o.d, for that He had remembered his Grace and all his subjects with a prince, to the comfort, universal weal, and quietness of the realm.[315] Latimer, in a letter to Cromwell, was still more emphatic. "There is no less rejoicing," he said, "for the birth of our prince, whom we hungered for so long, than there was, I trow, _inter vicinos_, at the birth of John the Baptist. G.o.d give us grace to yield due thanks to our Lord G.o.d, the G.o.d of England. For verily He hath shewed Himself the G.o.d of England; or rather an English G.o.d, if we will consider and ponder his proceedings with us. He hath overcome our illness with his exceeding goodness, so that we are now more compelled to serve Him and promote his Word, if the Devil of all devils be not in us. We have now the stop of various trusts and the stay of vain expectations. Let us all pray for his preservation."[316]

In Latimer's words, the joy and the especial causes of it are alike transparent; but a disaster followed so closely as to show that the mysterious fatality which pursued the king in his domestic relations had not ceased to overshadow him, and to furnish food for fresh superst.i.tion and fresh intrigue. The birth took place on the 12th of October. The queen continued to do well up to the 22d or 23d,[317] when it seems that, through the carelessness of her attendants, she was allowed to indulge in some improper food, for which she had expressed a wish. She caught a cold at the same time;[318] and although on the evening of the 23d she appeared still so well that the king intended to leave Hampton Court on the following day, she became in the night alarmingly worse, and was in evident danger. In the morning the symptoms had somewhat improved, and there were hopes that the attack would pa.s.s off; but the unfortunate appearances soon returned; in a few more hours she was dead.[319]

[Sidenote: The queen dies on the 24th of October.]

A worse calamity could scarcely have befallen the king (unless the loss of the child had been added to that of the mother) than the death of Jane Seymour. Although she makes no figure in history, though she took no part in state questions, and we know little either of her sympathies or opinions, her name is mentioned by both Protestant and Catholic with unreserved respect. She married the king under circ.u.mstances peculiarly agitating, without preparation, without attachment, either on her part or on his, but under the pressure of a sudden and tragical necessity.

Her uprightness of character and sweetness of disposition had earned her husband's esteem, and with his esteem an affection deeper than he had perhaps antic.i.p.ated. At her side, at his own death, he desired that his body might be laid.

[Sidenote: The king shuts himself up in the palace at Westminster.]

When he knew that she was gone, he held a single interview with the council, and then retired to the palace at Westminster, where "he mourned and kept himself close a great while."[320]

[Sidenote: Wild rumours afloat of the causes of the death.]

In the country the rejoicings were turned to sorrow.[321] Owing to the preternatural excitement of the public imagination, groundless rumours instantly gained currency. It was said that, when the queen was in labour, a lady had told the king that either the child must die or the mother; that the king had answered, Save the child, and therefore "the child was cut out of his mother's womb."[322] Catherine's male children had all died in infancy. This child, it was soon believed, was dead also. Some said that the child, some that the king, some that both were dead. The Caesarian birth pa.s.sed for an established fact; while a prophecy was discovered, which said that "He should be killed that never was born, and nature's hand or man's had brought it to pa.s.s, or soon would bring it to pa.s.s."[323]

[Sidenote: November. Anxiety felt for the child's life.]

[Sidenote: Regulations of the royal nursery.]

These were the mere bubbles of credulity, blown by the general wind; but the interests which now depended upon the infant prince's life caused to grave persons grave anxiety. He was but one--a single life,--between the king's death and chaos, and the king was again a widower. The greater the importance of the child's preservation to one party, the greater the temptation to the other to destroy it; and the precautions with which the royal nursery was surrounded, betray most real alarm that an attempt might be ventured to make away with him.

Instructions to the grand chamberlain were drawn, by some one in high authority, with more than the solemnity of an act of parliament.

[Sidenote: Inasmuch as all good things have their opposing evil,]

[Sidenote: The Prince it is likely lacks not adversaries.]

"Like as there is nothing in this world so n.o.ble, just, and perfect, but that there is something contrary, that evermore envieth it, and procureth the destruction of the same, insomuch as G.o.d Himself hath the Devil repugnant to Him, Christ hath his Antichrist and persecutor, and from the highest to the lowest after such proportion, so the Prince's Grace, for all his n.o.bility and innocency (albeit he never offended any one), yet by all likelihood he lacketh not envy nor adversaries against his Grace, who, either for ambition of their own promotion, or otherwise to fulfil their malicious perverse mind, would, perchance, if they saw opportunity, which G.o.d forbid, procure to his Grace displeasure. And although his Majesty doubteth not, but like as G.o.d for the comfort of this whole realm hath given the said prince, so of his providence He will preserve and defend him; yet, nevertheless, heed and caution ought to be taken, to avoid the evil enterprises which might be devised against his Grace, or danger of his person."

[Sidenote: No person therefore to approach the cradle except the regular attendants. All food to be a.s.sayed.]

[Sidenote: All clothes to be perfumed.]

[Sidenote: No member of the household to approach London during the unhealthy season.]

In pursuance of such caution, it was commanded that no person, of what rank soever, except the regular attendants in the nursery, should approach the cradle, without an order under the king's hand. The food supplied for the child's use was to be largely "a.s.sayed." His clothes were to be washed by his own servants, and no other hand might touch them. The material was to be submitted to all tests of poison. The chamberlain or vice-chamberlain must be present morning and evening, when the prince was washed and dressed; and nothing, of any kind, bought for the use of the nursery, might be introduced till it had been aired and perfumed. No person--not even the domestics of the palace--might have access to the prince's rooms, except those who were specially appointed to them; nor might any member of the household approach London during the unhealthy season, for fear of their catching and conveying infection. Finally, during the infancy, the officers in the establishment were obliged to dispense with the attendance of pages or boys of any kind, for fear of inconvenience from their thoughtlessness.[324]

Regulations so suspicious and minute, betray more than the exaggeration of ordinary anxiety. Fears were evidently entertained of something worse than natural infection; and we can hope only, for the credit of the Catholics, who expected to profit by the prince's death, that they were clear of the intentions which were certainly attributed to them.

[Sidenote: Sir Edward Seymour, Sir William Fitzwilliam, Sir John Russell, and Sir William Paulet are raised to the peerage.]

Other steps were also taken, in which precaution was mixed with compliment. Should the king die within a few years, the natural protectors of the prince in his minority would be his mother's family.

Sir Edward Seymour, her brother, was now created Earl of Hertford, to give him the necessary rank; and for additional security, peerages were bestowed upon three others of the council whose loyalty could be depended upon. Sir William Fitzwilliam, now lord high admiral, was created Earl of Southampton; Sir William Paulet became Lord St. John; and Sir John Russell as Lord Russell, commenced a line of n.o.bles whose services to England wind like a silver cord through later history.

[Sidenote: The Privy Council requests the King to undertake a fourth marriage]

But inasmuch as, if the danger to the prince was real, the chief cause of it lay in his being an only child, as the temptation to a crime would cease when, by other sons or daughters, of unquestioned legitimacy, the success of the attempt would produce no change, and as all other interests depending now on a single life would be additionally secured, so on the very day of the queen's death, as on the day which followed it, the Privy Council represented to the king the necessity of his undertaking a fresh marriage while the state of his health left a hope that he might be again a father. Henry, suffering deeply from his loss, desired at first to evade a duty in which he had little interest at any time, and which his present sorrow rendered merely distressing. He had consented, under an absolute necessity, on the discovery of the complicated treasons of Anne. The obligation was now less considerable, and he hoped to be spared.

[Sidenote: The king reluctantly consents.]

The council, however, continued to urge what his own judgment united to recommend. He saw that it must be so; and he resigned himself. "Although his Highness is not disposed to marry again," wrote Cromwell, in the despatch which communicated to the amba.s.sador in France the death of Queen Jane, "yet his tender zeal to his subjects hath already overcome his Grace's said disposition, and framed his mind both to be indifferent to the thing, and to the election of any person, from any part, that with deliberation shall be thought meet for him."[325]

Persons who are acquainted with the true history of Henry's later marriages, while not surprised at their unfortunate consequences, yet smile at the interpretation which popular tradition has a.s.signed to his conduct. Popular tradition is a less safe guide through difficult pa.s.sages in history than the word of statesmen who were actors upon the stage, and were concerned personally in the conduct of the events which they describe.

CHAPTER XV.

THE EXETER CONSPIRACY.

Those who believe that human actions obey the laws of natural causation, might find their philosophy confirmed by the conduct of the great powers of Europe during the early years of the Reformation. With a regularity uniform as that on which we calculate in the application of mechanical forces, the same combinations were attended with identical effects; and given the relations between France and Spain, between Spain and Germany, between England and either of the three, the political situation of all Western Christendom could be estimated with as much certainty as the figure and dimensions of a triangle from the length of one of its sides and the inclinations of two of its angles. When England was making advances towards the Lutherans, we are sure that France and Spain were in conjunction under the Papacy, and were menacing the Reformation. When such advances had been pushed forward into prominence, and there was a likelihood of a Protestant league, the Emperor was compelled to neutralize the danger by concessions to the German Diet, or by an affectation of a desire for a reconciliation with Henry, to which Henry was always ready to listen. Then Henry would look coldly on the Protestants, and the Protestants on him. Then Charles could afford again to lay the curb on Francis. Then Francis would again storm and threaten, till pa.s.sion broke into war. War brought its usual consequences of mutual injury, disaster, and exhaustion; and then the Pope would interfere, and peace would follow, and the same round would repeat itself. Statesmen and kings made, as they imagined, their fine strokes of policy. A wisdom other than theirs condemned them to tread again and again the same ineffectual circle.

But while fact and necessity were thus inexorable, imagination remained uncontrolled; and efforts were made of all kinds, and on all sides, to find openings of escape. The Emperor had boasted, in 1528, that he would rid himself of the English difficulty by a revolution which should dethrone Henry. The experiment had been tried with no success. .h.i.therto, and with indifferent prospects for the future. Revolution failing, he believed that he might reconvert England to the Papacy; while both Henry and the Germans on their side had not ceased to hope that they might convert the Emperor to the Reformation. The perspective of Europe varied with the point of view of the various parties. The picture was arranged by prejudice, and coloured by inclination.

[Sidenote: The Spanish amba.s.sador compromised in the insurrection is withdrawn. June.]

The overtures to England which Charles had commenced on the death of Catherine, had been checked by Henry's haughty answer; and Charles had replied by an indirect countenance, through his amba.s.sador, to Pole,[326] and to Lord Darcy. But the motives which had led to these overtures remained to invite their renewal; the insurrection was for the present prostrate, and the emperor therefore withdrew his first step, and disowned his compromised minister in London. In June, 1537, Diego de Mendoza arrived at the English court, with a commission to express in more emphatic terms the earnest wish of the court of Spain for the renewal of the old alliance.

[Sidenote: Sir Thomas Wyatt goes on a extraordinary mission into Spain.]

[Sidenote: Henry desires to forget the past and renew his friends.h.i.+p with the Emperor;]

[Sidenote: Subject to certain conditions.]

The king had done enough for the protection of his dignity; prudence now recommended him to believe in Charles's sincerity. A solid understanding with Flanders was the best pa.s.sport to the hearts of large portions of his subjects, whose interests were connected with the wool trade: he was himself ardently anxious to resume his place in the fraternity of European sovereigns. Mendoza was graciously received. Sir Thomas Wyatt was despatched into Spain with a corresponding mission; and Wyatt's instructions were couched in language which showed that, although the English government were under no delusion as to Charles's late proceedings, they were ready to close their eyes to objects which they did not wish to see. The proposals for a reconciliation which had been made by the late amba.s.sadors had appeared so feeble, Wyatt was to say, as to seem rather a device of policy to prevent the King of England from allying himself with France, than as intended in sincerity; M. de Mendoza, however, had removed all such unpleasant impressions; and although, if the Emperor would consider the past differences between the two courts impartially, he must feel that the fault rested with himself, yet the English government, on their side, were ready to set aside all painful recollections.[327] There were persons, indeed, who affirmed that the Emperor was still trifling, that Mendoza was playing a game, and that, in "heart, deed, and words," the Spanish court were "doing all they could to his Majesty's dishonour."[328] Nay, even individuals could be found who boasted themselves to have refused some honest offers because they were "knit with vile and filthy conditions towards his Majesty."[329] The king, however, set aside these rumours, as either without foundation, or as belonging to the past rather than the present.

He required only, as a condition or renewed friends.h.i.+p, that if the Pope found the means of attacking England, Charles should bind himself to be no party to such an enterprise, but should oppose it "to the uttermost of his power."[330] In return, the Emperor might perhaps require that the Lady Mary should "be restored to her rank as princess." Some difficulty no doubt continued, and must continue, on this point. But it was a difficulty rather in form than in substance. The king desired that his daughter might be trusted to his honour: she might expect much from his generosity, if he was not pressed to definite promises. Meanwhile, she herself had submitted without reserve; she had entreated pardon for her past disobedience, and accepted her position as illegitimate.[331]

It was likely that she would retain her place in the line of succession.

Should the king die without legitimate children, she would, in all probability, be his heir.

In confirmation of this language, Mary added a letter to the commission, in which, with her own hand, she a.s.sured the Emperor that she was satisfied, entreating him to "repent," as she had herself repented; and "to take of her the tenour."[332]