in the act, should be adjudged a traitor.* It immediately CHAP. passed both Houses, and was a suitable conclusion to Lord XXXIV. Chancellor Audley's performances in the legislative line, as in one moment he made it high treason to deny that which the moment before it was high treason to assert, respecting the legitimacy of the King's children and their right to succeed to the crown, he himself having brought in the bill which bastardised Mary, and settled the Crown on Elizabeth, and the bill which bastardised Elizabeth as well as Mary, and made it treason to assert the legitimacy of either. Great Seal. On the 20th of March, the day when the session was Audley's closed †, Audley was on his death-bed, and the closing speech last illness. was made by the Duke of Norfolk, who referred to the Lord Chancellor's illness, and regretted the necessity imposed upon himself of dissolving the parliament in the King's name. Audley's disease gaining upon him, and the business of Resigns the Easter term in the Court of Chancery requiring despatch, on Monday the 21st of April, 1544, he (if we may believe all that is said in the entry in the Close Roll) spontaneously sent the Great Seal to the King by Sir Edward North and Sir Thomas Pope,- humbly praying that his Majesty would deign to accept the resignation of it, as, from bodily infirmity, he was no longer able to perform the duties of the office which, by his Majesty's bounty, he had so long held. His resignation was graciously accepted, but out of delicacy to him, and holding out a hope that he might recover and be reinstated in his office, the Great Seal was delivered to Sir THOMAS WRIOTHESLEY merely as Lord Keeper, and to be held by him as Lord Keeper only during the illness of Lord Chancellor Audley. ‡ * 35 Hen. 8. c. 1. 1 Parl. Hist. 559. Mem. qd vicisemo primo die Aprilis, &c. Thomas Audley Miles Dns Audley de Walden tunc Cancellarius Anglie infirmitate corporis debilitatus et considerans se ipm ex occone non valere excere et facre ea que ad officium suum tam in ministrando leges dei Dmni Regis justiceam qm in supervidendo pcessum per magnum sigillum deti Dni Regis sigillandum deum sigillum in manibus ipsius Thome, Dmni Cancellarii adtunc existens prfto Dno Regi per Edwardum North Militem et Thomam Pope Militem misit. Qui quidem Edwardus et Thomas Pope sigillum illud in quadam baga de albo corio inclusum et sigillo dei Dni Cancellarii munitum regie Majestati apud novum palacium suum Westm, in camera sua privata circa horam terciam post meridiem CHAP. XXXIV. His death. His career. His character. On the 30th of April following, Audley expired in the of his age. 56th year He is a singular instance of a statesman, in the reign of Henry VIII., remaining long in favour and in office, and dying a natural death. Reckoning from the time when he was made Speaker of the House of Commons, he had been employed by Henry constantly since the fall of Wolsey,under six Queens, — avoiding the peril of acknowledging the Pope on the one hand, or offending against the Six Articles on the other. He enjoyed great power, amassed immense wealth, was raised to the highest honours and dignities, and reaped what he considered a full recompence for his "infamy." Such a sordid slave does not deserve that we should say more of his vices or demerits. It has been observed, that the best apology for Wolsey was the contrast between the early and the latter part of Henry's reign; and Audley's severest condemnation must be a review of the crimes which, if he did not prompt, he abetted. He might have been reproached by his master, in the language of a former tyrannical sovereign of England, "Hadst thou but shook thy head, or made a pause, Or turn'd an eye of doubt upon my face, Deep shame had struck me dumb." But no eunuch in a seraglio was ever a more submissive tool of the caprice and vengeance of a passionate and remorseless master than was Lord Chancellor Audley. in presentia Thome Heneage, &c., presentarunt et obtulerunt humiliter suppliantes ex parte dei Thome Dni Cancellarii eandem regiam majestatem quatenus idem Dns Rex sigillum suum prdm recre et acceptare dignr Qui Dns Rex sigillum illud per manus ipsorum Edwardi et Thome Pope recepit et acceptavit et penes se retinuit usque in diem proxm. videlt, &c. Quo die circa horam terciam post meridiem prftus Dns Rex sigillum suum prdm apud palacium suum prdm in cama prta in presentia Antonii Denny, &c. Thome Wriothesley militi, Dno Wriothesley custodiendum et exercendum durante infirmitate dci Thome Dni Audley Dni Cancellarii comisit ipsumque Thomam Dn Wriothesley magni sigilli regii durante infirmitate dci Dni Cancellarii ibidem constituit et ordinavit cum auctoritate excendi et facdi omnia et singula que Dns Cancellarius Angle prtextu officii sui prdci facre et exre potuisset et valeret, &c. circumstantiality of the Close Roll historiographer of the Great Seal is very amusing, as he not only tells us the day, the hour, the house, the room in the house, and in whose presence the transfer was made, but the colour of the leathern bag in which the Great Seal was contained. The According to a desire expressed in his will, he was buried in a chapel he had erected at Saffron Walden, where a splendid monument was raised to him, with the following epitaph, which there is some reason to suppose that, in imitation of his immediate predecessor, he had himself composed: "The stroke of Death's inevitable dart, Hath now (alass !) of life bereft the hart Of Sir Thomas Audley, of the Garter knight, Late Chancellor of England under our Prince of might, And made him Lord Audley of this town." (Added by another hand): "Obeit ultimo Aprilis, A. Dom. 1544. Hen. 36. CHAP. XXXIV. His epitaph. scendants. He was highly connected by marriage, having for his wife His deElizabeth, daughter of Thomas Grey, Marquess of Dorset,and his daughter and heiress, after having been married to a younger son of Dudley Duke of Northumberland, becoming the second wife of Thomas Duke of Norfolk ;- their son being the ancestor of the Howards, Earls of Suffolk and Berkshire ;-"famous in his day," says Dugdale, "for building on the ruins of the abbey of Walden that stately fabric now known by the name of Audley End (in memory of this Lord Audley), not to be equalled, excepting Hampton Court, by any in this realm." † * Dugd. Bar. tit. "Audley." † Baronage, 383. Grandeur of the Law, 33. CHAPTER XXXV. LIFE OF LORD CHANCELLOR WRIOTHESLEY FROM HIS BIRTH TILL CHAP. THE new Chancellor displayed very different qualities from XXXV. his predecessor, being a man of principle; but he was, if possible, a worse minister; for, when invested with power, he proved narrow-minded, bigoted, and cruel. Fortunately, he was likewise rash and headstrong, so that his objects were generally defeated, and his political career was short. Character of new Chancellor. His descent. Renounces heraldry. the bar. Obtains Thomas Wriothesley was sprung from a family long distinguished in "Arms," for they were Heralds. John, his grandfather, was Garter King at Arms to Edward IV. Thomas, his uncle, filled the same office under Henry VII. William, his father, was Norroy King at Arms to that Sovereign. Thomas, the future Peer and Chancellor, early initiated in heraldic lore, was not contented with the prospect of wearing a tabard, making visitations, examining pedigrees, and marshalling processions. He therefore abjured the Heralds' College, Is called to took to the study of the common law, and was called to the bar. He was a diligent student, and made considerable proficiency in his legal studies, but he does not seem ever to have risen into much practice as an advocate; and he showed a preference of politics to law. In 1535, having recommended himself to Lord Chancellor Audley,-through his interest an office of considerable emolument was conferred upon him in the Court of Common Pleas. Three years after he was made Secretary of State, a post beginning to be important, but still very inferior to its present rank, as then the Lord Chancellor conducted foreign negotiations, and attended to the internal administration of the country. He was a warm adherent of the old faith, to which Henry himself was sincerely attached, office in Common Pleas. Made Secretary of State. CHAP. XXXV. except in as far as the "supremacy" was concerned; and with the Duke of Norfolk and Gardyner, he formed the party actually opposed to the Reformation, who procured the pass- Opposed to ing of "the Six Articles." Reformation. A. D. 1538. Ambas. to negotiate He was now in such high favour, that he was employed in the embassy sent by Henry during his widowhood, after the death of Jane Seymour, to negotiate a marriage for him with sado int Christiana, the Duchess Dowager of Milan, then in Flanders, the King's at the Viceregal Court. This negotiation failed, and so did marriage. another of the same kind, in which Wriothesley was engaged for an alliance with Mary of Guise, who preferred the youthful King of Scotland, James V., Henry's nephew. The negotiator, in consequence, was some time in disgrace: but luckily for him he had strenuously opposed a match with a German Princess, from the dread of the introduction of Lutheranism; and the sight of Anne of Cleves obtained for him warm thanks for the advice he had given. Cromwell as chief After the fall of Cromwell, Wriothesley might be con- Succeeds sidered prime minister; for Audley did not aspire higher than to remain in office to execute the measures of others. As minister. the chief in the King's confidence, he went abroad to negotiate in person the treaty with the Emperor Charles V., which, to his great delight, led to the restoration of the Princess Mary to her place in the line of the royal succession, and opened the prospect of the suppression of Lutheranism. The bounties of the Crown were now lavished upon him. On the death of Robert Earl of Sussex, he was made Chamberlain of the Exchequer, and Constable of Southampton and Porchester castles; the possessions of the dissolved abbey of Tichfield were granted to him, and he was raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Wriothesley of Tichfield, in the County of Hants. on the detection of the CathoCatherine lic Queen, The disgrace of Queen Catherine Howard had been a His dismay heavy affliction to him and to all true Roman Catholics, as she was an avowed protectress of the old faith; and very anxious to have seen another of the same ecclesiastical opinions succeed her as consort to the Sovereign, he from time to Howard; time recommended alliances with reigning houses in Europe who remained true to Rome. He was exceedingly surprised |