XXXV. CHAP. up by another, and being hindered by sickness from coming to give his royal assent to it in person, he had directed a commission to pass the Great Seal, authorising him and other Peers to give the royal assent to it in the King's name. The commission being read, the Lord Chancellor commanded the clerk of parliament to pronounce the words, Soit fait come il est désiré; and so it being passed into a law, a warrant was issued for the execution of Norfolk on the 29th of January.* But early in the morning of that day news was brought to the Tower that Henry had expired in the night, and the lieutenant gladly suspended the execution of a sentence so unjust and tyrannical. Death of Henry Tears of the Chan cellor. In the reign of Mary the attainder was reversed, on the ground that the offence of which he was accused was not treason, and that Henry had not signed the commission, in virtue of which his pretended assent had been given to the act of parliament. On the 31st of January the Lord Chancellor formally announced the King's death to both Houses; and, says the Journal, "the mournful news was so affecting to the Chancellor and all present that they could not refrain from tears !"† It is impossible that there should not have been a general joy at the deliverance of the country from the rule of such a heartless tyrant.‡ A few sentences will be sufficient to notice the state of the 1 St. Tr. 457. 1 Parl. Hist. 561. Several of the successors of St. Swithin have been given to crying, and we shall hereafter see one of them weeping so as to recall the iron tears which rolled down the cheeks of Pluto. I must express my astonishment and regret to find the character and conduct of Henry defended by such an able writer and excellent man as Mr. Sharon Turner, who thus apologises for his worst acts: -"None of these severities were inflicted without the due legal authority. The verdict of juries, the solemn judgment of the Peers, or attainders by both Houses of parliament on offences proved to its satisfaction, pronounced all the convictions, and produced the fatal sentence. Every one was approved and sanctioned by the cabinet council of the government. The King is responsible only for adopting the harsh system, for not interposing his prerogative of mercy, and for signing the death warrants which ordered the legal sentences to be put in force. He punished no one tyrannically without trial or legal condemnation."— Turner's Hist. Engl., vol. x. p. 532. What difference is there between procuring a house of parliament or a jury to convict an innocent man of a capital charge, and hiring an assassin to take away his life? The most dangerous species of murder is that which is committed under the forms of law. CHAP, XXXV. reign of equitable jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery, and the changes in the law during this reign. By the Statute of Uses, 27 H. 8. c. 10., it was proposed to confine all contro- Juridical versies respecting land to the Courts of common law, by review of preventing a severance between the legal and beneficial Henry estate; but the conveyancers and the Judges repealed the VIII. act of parliament by the addition of three words to a deed; and uses being revived under the name of trusts, the juris- Statutes, diction of the Court of Chancery over land was confirmed and extended. The Statute of Wills, 32 H. 8. c. 1., for the first time gave a general power of devising real property; and the Statute of Limitations, 32 H. 8. c. 2., conferred an indefeasible right to it after an adverse possession of sixty years. sion to hear causes. The first Special Commission for hearing causes in Chan- Commis, cery was granted in this reign, while Cardinal Wolsey was sitting on the trial of Catherine's divorce. It was directed to the Master of the Rolls, four Judges, six Masters, and ten others, and authorised them, or any four of them, two being the Master of the Rolls, Judges, or Masters, to hear, examine, and finally determine all causes in Chancery committed to them by the Chancellor, and to order execution thereon.* Although there are some valuable reports of common-law Reports, cases in this reign, there is no trace of any of the decisions of Chancellors Warham, Wolsey, More, Audley, or Wriothesley; and the rules by which they guided their discretion still remained vague or unknown. In this reign there were several instances of the Court of Chancery pronouncing decrees for divorces; and there seemed a probability that it would assume a jurisdiction to decree the specific performance of a contract to marry, and a restitution of conjugal rights; but it was afterwards held, that the Ecclesiastical Court alone has cognisance of marriage and divorce.† Rym. xiv. 299. This commission has since been followed as a precedent for delegations of the judicial authority of the Chancellor. † See Tothill, 124. De Manniville v. De Manniville, 10 Ves. 60. In America the Court of Chancery still decides in matrimonial suits. CHAPTER XXXVI. CHAP. XXXVI. Jan. 28. 1547. Edward VI. proclaimed. Wriothesley expects to retain the chief power CONCLUSION OF THE LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOR WRIOTHESLEY. ON the same day that Henry died the young King was proclaimed; and the sixteen Executors assembled in the Tower to commence their government in his name. Wriothesley thought he had so arranged matters that the chief power would be in his own hands. Archbishop Cranmer was the first on the list; but he was not expected to mix much with secular affairs. Next came the Chancellor, who would naturally be looked up to as the real head, and would Great Seal, be enabled to guide the deliberations of the body. He thereand to have fore was most anxious that the King's will should be strictly observed; and as soon as they had taken their places at the board, and the will had been read, he moved "that it be resolved not only to stand to and maintain the testament of their master the late King, and every part and article of the same to the uttermost of their power, wits, and cunning, but also that every one of them present should take a corporal oath for the more assured and effectual accomplishment of the same." This resolution could not be decently objected to; the oath was taken, and the Chancellor thought himself during King's minority. Somerset secure. But the ceremony of swearing had hardly been concluded, when the Earl of Hertford, the King's uncle, who, as Lord Chamberlain, was only fourth in precedence in the Council, but who was determined to get all power into his own hands, suggested that for the despatch of business, for the facility of communicating with foreign ambassadors, and for the purpose of representing on other occasions the person of the young Sovereign, it would be necessary to elect one of the Council to preside, with such title as might be agreed upon; and that he himself would willingly submit to any one whom a majority might prefer. Thereupon, according to a concerted plan, a creature of Hertford's moved that he, as nearest in blood to the King, and not in the line of succession to the throne, and eminent for his abilities and virtues, should be appointed governor of the King's person, and Protector of the realm. Wriothesley rose, and with fury opposed a measure which he saw would reduce himself to insignificance. He insisted that it would be a direct infringement of the late King's will, which, being made under a statute, had all the force of an act of the legislature, and could not be altered but by the same authority which had established it. By the words and the spirit of the instrument under which they were there assembled, all the executors were equal, and were intended to remain so during the King's minority; and it would be monstrous to place one of them over the rest as Protector, an undefined and ill-omened title, which the chronicles showed was always the forerunner of broils and civil war. To his astonishment and consternation, however, he found that he made no impression upon his audience, and that a majority had been secured by his rival, who had been lavish in his promises in case he should be elected. Wriothesley was likewise personally unpopular, and his adherence to the old religion was strongly against him, the current now running very strong in favour of the Reformation. Seeing that opposition would be vain, he abstained from calling for a division; and he pretended to be contented with an assurance, which he knew would prove fallacious, that the new officer should in no case act without the assent of a majority of the Council. CHAP. XXXVI. King's first appearance in public. All the Lords, spiritual and temporal, were now assembled Young in the Chamber of Presence, into which the Executors conducted the young Edward. Each in succession having kissed his hand kneeling, and uttered the words "God save your Grace!" the Chancellor explained to the assembly the dispositions in the will of their late Sovereign, and the resolution of the executors to put the Earl of Hertford at their head, without hinting at his own disapproval of this step. All present unanimously signified their assent; the new Pro XXXVI. CHAP. tector expressed his gratitude for "the honour which had been so unexpectedly conferred upon him;" and Edward, pulling off his cap, said, "We heartily thank you, my Lords all; and hereafter, in all that ye shall have to do with us for any suit or causes, ye shall be heartily welcome." Honours conferred by the Executors on themselves. Wriothes dey made Earl of Southamp ,ton. Intrigues in the Council. In the next measure of the new government, there was the greatest respect professed for the late King, and it had the unanimous support of all the executors. There was a clause in Henry's will, requiring them "to see that all the promises he had made in his lifetime should be fulfilled after his death," -without any statement in writing what those promises were. According to the precedent of Anthony, acting as executor under the will of Cæsar, they asserted that what was convenient to themselves had been promised by the testator. Three gentlemen of his privy chamber, with whom he had been most familiar, and who knew that their assertion would not be questioned, being called before the Board of Regency, declared they had heard Henry say, shortly before his death, that he intended to make Hertford Duke of Somerset, Wriothesley Earl of Southampton,—and so to confer on all of them the titles in the peerage which they coveted down to Sir Richard Rich, who was to be made Baron Rich; --with suitable grants to all of them to support their new dignities. It should be recorded, to the honour of two of the council, St. Leger and Danby, that they declined the proposed elevation; but all the rest accepted it, and our Chancellor became the Earl of Southampton.* Though he gained his title, he speedily lost his office. Notwithstanding a seeming reconciliation, as often as he and the Protector met in council, it was evident that there was a bitter enmity between them. Wriothesley, under pretence that nothing was to be done by the Protector without the authority of a majority of the executors, tried to form a party against him, and thwarted him in all his measures. Somerset, feeling that he then had a decided majority in the council, but doubtful how long with such intrigues it might last, was *However, he is not known in history by this title, and I shall continue to call him by his family name. |