for power between the monarch and the haughty prelate were at its height, attempts were made to subdue King Henry, through the influence of his aged mother, by disquieting her conscience with threats of eternal as well as temporal danger to herself and her son. But the spirit of her ancestors yet animated Matilda. She desired to hear the censured laws read, the emissaries of Beckett, after various excuses, were compelled to produce them, and the undaunted princess, after attentively listening to their recital, not only warmly defended her son, but dismissed his opponents with unqualified approbation of many of the disputed laws, and admiration of the firmness evinced by the king in requiring the royal dignities to be preserved. - Sharon Turner, vol. i. pp. 204-224.

NOTE Q.

QUEEN MARGARET, CONSORT OF HENRY VI.

(See p. 54.)

"Such was that still more celebrated Margaret of Anjou,-active and intrepid, general and soldier, whose genius supported a long time a feeble husband; which taught him to conquer; which replaced him

upon the throne; which twice relieved him from prison; and oppressed by fortune and by rebels, which did not bend till after she had decided in person twelve battles."-Russell on Women, vol. i. p. 129.

NOTE R.

LEARNING AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF KING EDWARD

THE SIXTH.

(See p. 57.)

"He had acquired," says the celebrated physician, Jerome Cardan, "many languages when he was but a child he was perfect in English, his native tongue, and in Latin and French; and I have been informed that he was acquainted with the Greek, Spanish, Italian, and other languages. He spake Latin as well as I did; nor was he ignorant of logic, of the principles of natural philosophy, and of music." Before he was eight years old he wrote Latin letters to his father. He succeeded to the throne in the tenth year of his age, and he expired at Greenwich before he was sixteen.

The abilities and accomplishments of Edward's mind were indeed wonderful; but his virtues and his true piety were yet more extraordinary. From early

childhood, he showed great love and respect for religion, and every thing relating to it; and long after his death grave men, both in their letters and their printed books, commonly called him "our Josiah," or "King Edward the Saint."-Fuller's Worthies.

NOTE S.

FOUNDATION OF CHRIST'S HOSPITAL.

(See p. 58.)

"A sermon on charity, preached before King Edward, in the sixth year of his reign, by that venerable martyr, Bishop Ridley, was the instrument under God, in bringing about the foundation of Christ's Hospital; which, based upon the principles of the Reformation, will be a lasting monument of the blessed effects of the Protestant religion, in the establishment of which its royal founder had taken so conspicuous a part. Arrangements having been fully completed within six months for the reception of 340 children, the young king in the year following, June 1553, received the civic authorities at the palace, and presented them with the

Charter, the children being present at the ceremony.1 Edward the Sixth lived about a month after signing the incorporation of the Royal Hospitals.

He died of consumption, in the arms of Sir Henry Sidney, 6th July, 1553, in the 16th year of his age, and the 7th of his reign, praying God to receive his spirit, and to defend the realm from papistry. In the foundation of Christ's Hospital, he had provided the surest means under Providence for the success of his prayer, and his life was spared just long enough to greet him with the promise of that harvest which this seminary of sound learning and true religion was destined to yield."Rev. W. Trollope's Hist. of Christ's Hospital, p. 34 -42.

NOTE T.

LADY BACON, THE PRECEPTRESS OF HER SON.

(See p. 58.)

"It was to the great abilities and tender care of so accomplished a parent that her two sons owed the early part of their education; and without

1 There is a fine picture, by Holbein, in the Hall of Christ's Hospital, descriptive of the scene.

doing any injustice to the genius of either of these great men, we may safely affirm that they were not a little indebted for the reputation they acquired to the pains taken with them by this excellent woman in their tender years, when the mind is most susceptible of learning, and thereby rendered more capable of retaining the principles of science than when they are instilled in an age farther advanced."-Biographia Britannica, vol. i. p. 412.

NOTE U.

EXTRACT FROM LORD BURLEIGH'S LETTER TO

HIS SON.

(See p. 61.)

This fact is rendered apparent by a letter of advice from Lord Burleigh to his son, after his mother's decease, which is yet extant. It commences with these striking words : "Son, Robert — The virtuous inclinations of thy matchless mother, by whose tender and godly care thy infancy was governed, together with thy education under so zealous and excellent a tutor, puts me in rather assurance than hope that thou art not igno