CHA P.late reign, the title was at prefent extinct, and the estate XXXV. was vefted in the crown. Warwic now procured to him felf a grant of thofe ample poffeffions, which lay chiefly 155 in the North, the moftwarlike part of the kingdom; and he was dignified with the title of duke of Northumberland. His friend, Paulet, lord St. John, the treasurer, was created, firft, earl of Wiltshire, then marquis of Winchefter: Sir William Herbert obtained the title of earl of Pembroke. His ambition. 16th Oa. BUT the ambition of Northumberland made him regard all increase of poffeffions and titles, either to himself or partizans, as fteps only to further acquifitions. Finding that Somerfet, though degraded from his high dignity, and even leffened in the public opinion by his fpiritlets conduct, ftill enjoyed a confiderable share of popularity, he determined to ruin a man, whom he regarded as the chief obftacle to his hopes. The alliance, which had been formed between the families, had produced no cordial union, and only enabled Northumberland to compafs with more certainty the deftruction of his rival. He fecretly gained many of the friends and fervants of that unhappy nobleman: He fometimes terrified him by the appearance of danger: Sometimes provoked him by ill ufage. The unguarded Somerset often broke out into menacing expreffions against NorthumberJand: At other times, he formed rath projects, which he immediately abandoned: His treacherous confidents carried to his enemy every paffionate word, which dropped from him: They revealed the schemes, which they themfelves had firft fuggefted: And Northumberland thinking that the proper feafon was now come, began to ac in an open manner against him. IN one night, the duke of Somerfet, the lord Grey, David and John Seymour, Hammond and Neudigate, two of the duke's fervants, Sir Ralph Vane and Sir Thomas Palmer were arrested and commited to custody. Next day, the dutchefs of Somerset, with her favourites, Crane and his wife, Sir Miles Partridge, Sir Michael Stanhope, Bannister, and others, were thrown into prison. Sir Thomas Palmer, who had all along a&ted the part of a spy upon Somerfet, accufed him of having formed a defign to raise an infurrection in the north, to attack the 1551. gens d'armes on a muster-day, to secure the tower, and CHA P. to excite a rebellion in London: But what was the only XXXV. probable accufation, he afferted, that Somerfet had once laid a project for murdering Northumberland, Northampton, and Pembroke at a banquet, which was to be given them by lord Paget. Crane and his wife confirmed Palmer's testimony with regard to this laft defign; and it appears that some rash scheme of that nature had really been mentioned; though no regular confpiracy had been. formed, nor means prepared for its execution. Hammond confeffed, that the duke had armed men to guard him one night in his houfe at Greenwich. SOMERSET was brought to his trial before the marquis Trial of of Winchester, who was created high fteward. Twenty- Somerfet. feven peers compofed the jury, among whom were Northumberland, Pembroke, and Northampton, whom decency fhould have hindered from acting as judges in the trial of a man, that appeared to be their capital enemy. Semeriet was accufed of high treafon on account of the projected infurrections, and of felony in forming a defign to murder privy-counsellors. WE have a very imperfe& account of all the state trials during that age, which is a fenfible defect in our history: But it appears, that fome more regularity was obferved in the management of this profecution than had been usually employed in like cafes. The witneffes were at least examined by the privy council; and though they were neither produced in court nor confronted with the prisoner (circumstances required by the strict principles of equity) their depofitions were given in to the jury. The proof seems to have been very lame with regard to the treasonable part of the charge; and Somerfet's defence was fo, fatisfactory, that the peers gave verdict in his favour: The intention alone of affaulting the privy counsellors was fupported by tolerable evidence; and the jury brought him in guilty of felony. The prifoner himself confeffed, that he had mentioned the defign of murdering Northumberland and the other lords; but had not formed any refolution on that head: And when he received fentence, he asked pardon of thofe peers for the defigns, which he had hearkened to against them. The people, by whom Somerfet was beloved, hearing the firft part of his fentence, by which he was abfolved from treafon, expreffed their joy by loud acclamations: But their fatisfaction was fuddenly ift Dec. CHA P. fuddenly damped, on finding that he was condemned to XXXV. death for felony F. 1552. CARE had been taken by Northumberland's emiffaries, to prepoffefs the young king against his uncle; and left he fhould relent, no accefs was given to any of Somerset's friends, and the prince was kept from reflection by a conHis execu- tinued feries of occupations and amusements. At last the tion 22d. prifoner was brought to the scaffold on Tower-hill, amidst Jan. great crouds of fpectators, who bore him fuch kindness, that they entertained, to the laft moment, the fond hopes of his pardon. Many of them rufhed in to dip their handkerchiefs in his blood, which they long preferved as a precious relique; and fome of them foon after, when Northumberland met with a like doom, upbraided him with this cruelty, and difplayed to him thefe fymbols of his crime. Somerfet indeed, though many actions of his life were very exceptionable, feems, in general, to have merited a better fate; and the faults which he committed, were owing to weakness, not to any bad intentions. His virtues were better calculated for private than for public life, and by his want of penetration and firmness, he was ill-fitted to extricate himself from those cabals and violences, to which that age was fo much addicted. Sir Thomas Arundel, Sir Michael Stanhope, Sir Miles Partridge, and Sir Ralph Vane, all of them Somerset's friends, were brought to their trial, condemned and executed: Great injustice seems to have been used in their profecution. Lord Paget, chancellor of the dutchy, was, on fome pretence, tried in the Star-chamber, and condemned in a fine of 6000 pounds, with the lofs of his office. To mortify him the more, he was degraded from the order of the garter; as unworthy, on account of his mean birth, to share that honour H. Lord Rich, chancellor, was alfo compelled to refign his office, on the difcovery of fome friendship, which he had fhewn to So merset. 22d Jan. THE day after the execution of Somerfet, a feffion of A parlia- parliament was held, where farther advances were made towards the establishment of the reformation. ment. The new F Hayward, p. shed, p. 1067. 320, 321, 322. Stowe, p. 606. HolingA Stowe, 1552 new liturgy was authorised; and penalties were enacted C H A P. against all fuch as abfented themselves from public wor- XXXV. hip H. To ufe the mafs had already been prohibited under very fevere penalties; fo that the reformers, it appears, whatever scope they had given to their own private judgment, in difputing the tenets of the antient religion, were refolved not to allow the same privilege to others; and the practice, nay the very doctrine of toleration, was, at that time, equally unknown to all fects and parties. To diffent from the religion of the magiftrate was univerfally conceived to be as criminal as to question his title, or rebel against his authority. A LAW was enacted against usury; that is, against taking any interest for money. This act was the effect of antient fuperftitions; but being found extremely iniquitous in itself, as well as prejudicial to commerce, it was afterwards repealed in the twelfth of Elizabeth. The common rate of intereft, notwithstanding the law, was. at that time 14 per cent *. A BILL was introduced by the miniftry into the house of lords, renewing thofe rigorous ftatutes of treason, which had been abrogated in the beginning of this reign; and though the peers, by their high ftation, stood most exposed to these tempefts of state, yet had they fo little regard to public fecurity, or even to their own true interefts, that they paffed the bill with only one diffenting voice. But the commons rejected it, and prepared a new bill, that paffed into a law, by which it was enacted, that whoever fhould call the king or any of his heirs, named in the statute of the 35th of the laft reign, heretic, fchifmatic, tyrant, infidel, or ufurper of the crown, should forfeit, for the first offence, their goods and chattles, and be imprisoned during pleasure; for the second, fhould incur a præmunire; for the third, fhould be attainted of treafon. Bur if any should unadvisedly advance fuch a flander in writing, printing, painting, carving or graving, he was, for the firft offence, to be held a traitor M. It may be worthy of notice, that the king and his next heir, the lady Mary, were profeffedly of different religions; and religions, which threw on each other K Hayward, M 5 & 6 Edw. VI. c. 1. CHAP other the imputation of herefy, fchifm, idolatry, pres. XXXV. phanenefs, blafphemy, wickednefs, and all the opprobri ous epithets, that religious zeal has invented. It was al1552. moft impoflible, therefore, for the people, if they spoke at all on thefe fubjects, not to fall into the crime, fo feverely punished by this ftatute; and the jealousy of the commons for liberty, tho' it led them to diffent from the lords, appears not to have been very active, vigilant, or clear-fighted. THE Commons annexed to this bill a clause which was of much more importance than the bill itself, that no one should be convicted of any kind of treason, unless the crime was proved by the oaths of two witneffes, who were confronted with the prifoner. The lords fcrupled to pass this claufe, though required by the most obvious principles of equity. But the members of that house trufted for protection to their prefent perfonal intereft and power, and neglected the nobleft and moft permanent fecurity, that of laws. A BILL was introduced into the house of peers for making a provision for the poor; but the commons not chufing that a money-bill fhould begin in the upperhoufe, framed a new bill to the fame purpose. By this bill, the church wardens were empowered to collect charitable contributions for the poor; and if any refused to give, or diffuaded others from that charity, the bifhop of the diocese was impowered to proceed against them. Such large difcretionary powers, entrusted to the prelates, feemt as proper an object of jealousy as the authority affumed by the peers N. THERE was another occafion in which the parliament repofed an unusual confidence in the bishops. They impowered them,to proceed against fuch as neglected the fundays and holidays. But these were unguarded conceflions granted to the church: The general humour of the age rather led men to bereave the ecclefiaftics of all power, and even to pillage them of their property: many clergymen, about this time, were obliged for a fubfiftence to turn carpenters or taylors, and fome kept ale-houses P. The bishops themfelves were generally reduced to poverty, AN vol. ii. 5 & 6 Edw. VI. cap. 2. p. 202. Ibid. cap. 3. and • Burnet, |