O! Cromwell, Cromwell!

Had I but served my God with half the zeal

I served my king, he would not, in mine age,
Have left me naked to mine enemies!"

Our story now draws to a close, for the end of the last stage of all in the great man's life is reached. After Wolsey's affecting interview with Sir William Kingston, he was visited by a priest who performed the last ceremonies of the Roman Catholic church; and then, as the abbey clock struck eight, the cardinal died.

"His body," we are told, "was immediately laid in a coffin, dressed in pontifical robes, with mitre, crosses, ring, and pall, or archbishop's mantle, and lying there all day, open and bare-faced, was viewed by the Mayor of Leicester and the surrounding gentry, that there might be no suspicion as to the manner of his death. It was then carried into the Lady chapel of the convent, and watched all night, whilst the monks sung dirges and other devout orisons. At six in the morning mass was celebrated for his soul; and as they committed the body of the proud cardinal to its last abode, the words were chanted, 'Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.' No stone was erected to his memory, and the spot of his interment is unknown." Here ends the story, and the moral lessons to be derived from it are easy to be found. Some of these have been already pointed out in the course of the narrative; others have been contained in the very events of the story; and all that remains to be done is to impress upon the readers the serious consideration that even brilliant talents, great opportunities,

and widely-extended influence are but snares to their possessor, unless accompanied and sanctified by true. religion. That Thomas Wolsey possessed all these talents, together with his surprising energy, and perseverance, and tact, cannot be doubted. That he was destitute of real godliness while seeking his own glorification is equally evident. He lived for himself, and made the world his treasure and trust; and when these failed him and deceived him he had no other support; unless, indeed, in his last bitter experiences he was drawn to Him who says to all way-worn, deserted, and sorrowful sojourners on earth, "Come unto ME, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden; and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is and my burden is light."

easy,

In these several sketches of some different stages in the life of Thomas Wolsey, those acts of his political life which properly belong to the general history of the country, have necessarily been omitted. What a great enemy to Protestantism and the Reformation he was will be seen there; though, at the same time, he was ready to correct some of the grosser deformities or abuses of the Romish Church, of which, in England, he was the head. That many of his more secular acts as the prime minister of Henry the Eighth were beneficial to the country there can be no question; though even these were marred by his arrogance and covetousness. On the other hand, it seems almost like a just retribution for the unjust things to which he encouraged or prompted his master, that his loss of the king's

favour, and his ultimate ruin are to be traced to his disapproval of an act of gross injustice and wicked cruelty on which Henry the Eighth had set his mind.

These reflections may be closed appropriately with the following short paragraphs from one of the biographies, that by Lord Campbell, already referred to:

In judging of Wolsey we must remember his deep contrition for his backslidings, and the memorable lesson which he taught with his dying breath: that, to ensure true comfort and happiness, a man must addict himself to the service of God, instead of being misled by the lures of pleasure and ambition.

"The subsequent part of Henry's reign is the best panegyric on Wolsey; for, during twenty years, he had kept free from the stain of blood or violence, the sovereign who now, following the natural bent of his character, cut off the heads of his wives and his most virtuous ministers, and proved himself the most arbitrary tyrant that ever disgraced the throne of England."

A Queen who was not a Queen;

OR,

FOUR SCENES IN A SHORT LIFE.

CHAPTER I.

SCENE THE FIRST.

LADY JANE GREY.

(From an early portrait.)

N

"The White Rose

I of England" you

have read of a young man who very much wanted to be a king, but could not succeed in gratifying his desire. We have now to tell of a young lady who, against her wishes and judgment, was made queen, and, for a few days, was treated as a queen; also, how her short reign ended.

In an Old Manor House in Leicestershire, called Broadgate, in the year 1550, lived three sisters. They were young girls, for the oldest of them was but thirteen

years of age. Her name was the Lady Jane Grey; and it is of her that the present story has to tell.

This young lady had a very lovely countenance and better still, she was amiable in temper and admirable in conduct. There is reason to believe that at her early age she was actuated by true piety. And, indeed, it was well for Lady Jane Grey, as will presently be seen, that she did not put off the thoughts of religion till she had arrived at the mature age of

woman.

The owner of Broadgate Manor House, and the father of Lady Jane, was the Marquis of Dorset.1 There is not much to be said in his favour, nor in that of the Marchioness, his wife. They were selfish, ambitious, and proud; and they both of them thought a good deal of their relationship to Edward the Sixth, who was at that time King of England; the Marchioness being a niece of the late King Henry the Eighth, and, therefore, first cousin of the young King Edward. In the end this relationship was the cause of great trouble and sorrow to Lady Jane Grey; and hers is not a solitary instance in which grand relationship and connexions, of which some people are apt to boast, are the sources of much after-discomfort to the boasters. At all events, little people who have relations among those who are called great people, are not always the better for it.

It may perhaps be a matter of wonder how it was, if the young Lady Jane had such worldly parents, she was not, like them, worldly-minded also. To this it may be said, that we do not know what secret and

1 A descendant of the patron of Thomas Wolsey.