Page images
PDF
EPUB

be limited and appointed by the late King, of worthy memory, King Henry the Eighth, our progenitor and great uncle, by his letters patents, under his great seal, or by his last will in writing, signed with his hand. And forasmuch as the said limitation of the imperial crown of this realm being limited (as is aforesaid) to the Lady Mary and Lady Elizabeth, being illegitimate, and not lawfully begotten, for that the marriage had between the said late King, King Henry the Eighth, our progenitor and great uncle, and the Lady Catharine, mother to the said Lady Mary, and also the marriage had between the said late King, King Henry the Eighth, our progenitor and great uncle, and the Lady Anne, mother to the said Lady Elizabeth, were clearly and lawfully undone, by sentences of divorces, according to the word of God, and the ecclesiastical laws; and which said several divorcements have been severally ratified and confirmed by authority of parliament, and especially in the twentyeighth year of the reign of King Henry the Eighth, our said progenitor and great uncle, remaining in force, strength, and effect, whereby as well the said Lady Mary, as also the said Lady Elizabeth, to all intents and purposes are, and have been, clearly disabled, to ask, claim, or challenge the said imperial crown, or any other of the honours, castles, manors, lordships, lands, tenements, or other hereditaments, as heir or heirs to our said late cousin, King Edward the Sixth, or as heir or heirs to any other person or persons whatsoever, as well for the cause before rehearsed, as also for that the said Lady Mary and Lady Elizabeth were unto our said late cousin but of the half-blood; and therefore, by the ancient laws, statutes, and customs of this realm, be not inheritable unto our said late cousin, although they had been born in lawful matrimony, as indeed they were not, as by the said sentences of divorce, and the said statute of the twenty-eighth year of the reign of King Henry the Eighth, our said progenitor and great uncle, plainly appeareth.

50 And forasmuch also as it is to be thought, or at the

7

least much to be doubted, that the said Lady Mary or Lady Elizabeth should hereafter have and enjoy the said imperial crown of this realm, and should then happen to marry a stranger, born out of this realm, that then the same stranger, having the government and the imperial crown in his hands, would adhere and practise, not only to bring this noble free realm: into the tyranny and servitude of the Bishop of Rome, but also to have the laws and customs of his or their own native country or countries to be practised, and2 put in use within this realm, rather than the laws, statutes, and customs, here of long time used; whereupon the title of inheritance of all and singular the subjects of this realm do depend, to the peril of conscience, and the utter subversion of the commonweal of this realm. Whereupon our said late dear cousin weighing and considering with himself, what ways and means were most convenient to be had for the stay of the said succession in the said imperial crown, if it should please God to call our said late cousin out of this transitory life, having no issue of his body, and calling to his remembrance that we, and the Lady Catharine, and the Lady Mary, our sisters, being the daughters of the Lady Frances, our natural mother, and then and yet wife to our natural and most loving father, Henry Duke of Suffolk, and the Lady Mar garet, daughter of the Lady Eleanor, then deceased sister to the said Lady Frances, and the late wife of our cousin, Henry Earl of Cumberland, were very nigh of his grace's blood, of the part of his father's side, our said progenitor and great uncle; and being naturally born here within the realm, and for the very good opinion our said late cousin had of our and our said sister's and cousin Margaret's good education, did therefore, upon good deliberation and advice herein had and taken, by his said letters patents declare, order, assign, limit, and appoint, that if it should for tune himself our said late cousin, King Edward the Sixth, to decease, having no issue of his body lawfully begotten, that then the said imperial crown of England and Ireland, and the confines of the same,

[ocr errors]

and his title to the crown of the realm of France, a and all and singular honours, castles, prerogatives, privi leges, pre-eminencies, authorities, jurisdictions, dominions, possessions, and hereditaments, to our said late cousin, King Edward the Sixth, or to the said imperial crown belonging, or in anywise appertaining. should, for lack of such issue of his body, remain, come, and be unto the eldest son of the body of the said Lady Frances, lawfully begotten, being born into the world in his lifetime, and to the heirs male of the body of the same eldest son, lawfully begotten, and so from son to son, as he should be of certainty in birth of the body of the said Lady Frances, lawfully begotten, being born into the world in our said late cousin's lifetime, and to the heirs male of the body of every such son, lawfully begotten; and for default of such son born into the world, in his lifetime, of the body of the said Lady Frances, lawfully begotten, and, for lack of heirs male of the body of every such son, lawfully begotten; and, for default of such son born into the world, in his lifetime, of the body of the said Lady Frances lawfully begotten, and for lack of heirs male of every such son lawfully begotten, that then the said imperial crown, and all and singular. other the premises, should remain, come, and be to us, by the name of the Lady Jane, eldest daughter of the said Lady Frances, and to the heirs male of our body, lawfully begotten, and for lack of such heir male of our body, lawfully begotten, that then the said imperial crown, and all other the premises, should remain, come, and be, to the said Lady Catharine, our said second sister, and to the heirs male of the body of the said Lady Catharine, lawfully begotten,, with divers other remainders, as by the same letters, patents more plainly and at large it may and doth appear. Sithens, the making of which letters patents, that is to say, on Thursday, which was the sixth day of this instant month of July, it hath pleased God to call to his infinite mercy our said most dear and intirely beloved cousin, Edward the Sixth, whose soul, God pardon, and forasmuch as he is now deceased, having

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

2

no heirs of his body begotten, and that also there remain, at this present time, no heirs lawfully be gotten of the body of our said progenitor and great uncle, King Henry the Eighth; and forasmuch also as the said Lady Frances, our said mother, had no issue male begotten of her body, and born into the world in the lifetime of our said cousin, King Edward the Sixth, so as the said imperial crown, and other the premises to the same belonging, or in anywise apper taining, now be, and remain to us in our actual and royal possession, by authority of the said letters patent: We do therefore, by these presents, signify unto all our most loving, faithful, and obedient subjects, that like as we, for our part, shall, by God's grace, show ourselves a most gracious and benign Sovereign, Queen, and Lady, to all our good subjects in all their just and lawful suits and causes, and to the uttermost of our power shall preserve and maintain God's most holy word, christian policy, and the good laws, customs, and liberties of these our realms and dominions; so we mistrust not but they, and every of them, will again, for their parts, at all times and in all cases, show themselves unto us, their natural liege Queen and Lady, most faithful, loving, and obedient subjects, according to their bounden duties and allegiance, whereby they shall please God, and do the thing that shall tend to their own preservations and sureties; willing and commanding all men of all estates, degrees, and conditions, to see our peace and accord kept, and to be obedient to our laws, as they tender our favour, and will answer for the contrary, at their extreme perils. In witness whereof, we have caused these our letters to be made patents. Witness ourself at the Tower of London, the tenth day of July, in the first year of our reign.

Anno Domini 1. M.D.LIII.

God save the Queen.

Londini in ædibus Richardi Graftoni Regina a typographia excusum. Cum privilegio ad imprimendum solum.

GE

108

[ocr errors]

Grafton, the printer of this proclamation, though he had only discharged the duty of his office as royal printer, on the accession of Queen Mary to the crown lost a debt of 300l. owing him from the crown at the time of King Edward's death, and was immediately deprived of his place and patent, and John Cawood put in his place. The printing of this instrument, it seems, was considered as little less than high treason in those days. Besides the loss of his debt and patent, he was prosecuted, and imprisoned six weeks in the Fleet Prison.

Nash's (T.) Collections for the History of Worcester, 2 vols. folio.-Lond. 1781.

To this work, in 1799, was added a supplement, printed for White, of Fleet Street, price 11. Is. large paper. Copies of Nash's book are now worth from 10 to 12 guineas.

Doctor Barton being in company with Nash soon after the publication of his two heavy folios, the warden humorously observed to the doctor, that his publication was deficient in several respects. Dr. Nash, as was but natural, endeavoured to defend his volumes in the best manner he was able. "Pray, doctor, are you not a justice of the peace?"-"I am,' replied the doctor. Then says Barton, "I advise you to send your work to the house of correction.”

[ocr errors]

Gems in the Collection of the Duke of Devonshire, engraved by Gosmond, on 99 plates, 4to.

THE engraver, a Frenchman, never completed the collection. After cheating his noble patron, who had adtvanced him large sums of money, he absconded with the copper-plates, and was never afterwards heard of: it is supposed that he was lost on his passage to the Continent. The plates were done by order of William Duke of Devonshire.

A copy, mostly proofs, sold at Leigh and Sotheby's auction room, in 1804, to the Duke of Devonshire, for 421.*

« PreviousContinue »