uncle, nor the next of kin, who by all reason would have most natural care for the bringing up of the infant and minor, but the lord of whom he holdeth his land in the knight's service, be it the king or queen, duke, marquess, or any other, hath the government of his body and marriage, or else who that bought him at the first, second or third hand. The prince as having so many must needs give or sell his wards away to other, and so he doth. Other do but seek which way they may make most advantage of him, as of an ox or other beast. These all, say they, have no natural care of the infant but of their own gain; and especially, the buyer will not suffer his ward to take any great pains either in study or any other hardness, lest he should be sick and die before he hath married his daughter, sister, or cousin, for whose sake he bought him, and then all his money which he paid for him should be lost. So he who had a father which kept a good house, and had all things in good order to maintain it, shall come to his own after he is out of wardship, woods decayed, houses fallen down, stock wasted and gone, lands lent forth and ploughed to the barren, and, to make amends, shall pay yet one year's rent for relief, and sue ouster le main, beside other charges; so that not of many years, and peradventure never, he shall be able to recover and come to the estate where his father left it."

The situation of the younger children of the nobility and gentry at this period, it may be here observed, was often lamentable, as there were not then the colonies, large land- and sea-forces, numerous public offices, etc. which now diminish to the aristocracy the evils of excess of population. Younger sons sometimes sought to push their fortune at court, or they went into the military service of foreign states, or engaged in naval enterprises. They not unfrequently became gamblers, sharpers, and even highway robbers. They were usually left dependent on their elder brother, or had a small annuity bequeathed them, which he was to pay; and if through vice or folly he ran through his

property, his brothers and sisters became his fellow-sufferers. The misery which younger brothers endured is thus without exaggeration portrayed by an eminent dramatic poet of those days. "May be," says a younger to an elder brother,

"May be you look'd I should petition to you

As you went to your horse, flatter your servants
To play the brokers for my furtherance,
Sooth your worst humours, act the parasite

On all occasions, write my name with theirs
That are but one degree removed from slaves,

Be drunk when you would have me, then wench with you,

Or play the pander, enter into quarrels,

Although unjustly grounded, and defend them

Because they were yours. These are the tyrannies
Most younger brothers groan beneath, yet bear them

From the insulting heir, selling their freedom

At a less rate than what the state allows

The salary of base and common strumpets

Glorious, therefore, as were the days of Elizabeth, we can look back on them without regret; and though, as happiness is seated in the mind, and comforts which are unknown are not missed, we cannot strike a just balance between our own condition and that of our forefathers, still the probability is that there is less of positive pain and evil endured at the present day than during the reign of Elizabeth.

In the time of the Tudors, on account of the more extended relations among the different European states, it became the custom to have resident ambassadors, or Leigers, as they were named, at the different courts, in order to obtain correct information of the state of affairs in them. These leigers usually took an active part in the domestic affairs of the country in which they were resident, even fomenting

*Fletcher's Queen of Corinth,' act i. scene 2. See also Shakspere's 'As you like it,' and the old play called The Miseries of enforced Marriage,' which likewise displays the evils of wardship in strong colours. It is probably the courtezans at the temple of Venus in Corinth that are alluded to in the last line of the passage in the text.

at times rebellions and conspiracies and encouraging opposition to the court. Much valuable information respecting the history of England under the Tudors and Stuarts has been derived from the despatches of the French and other residents at the court of London. At the same time we must not, as is too often done, give implicit credit to all their statements. They generally laboured under the disadvantage of being ignorant of the English language, and their means of acquiring information were therefore limited. They had also like other men their passions and prejudices, they caught eagerly at what favoured their own views, and often transmitted to their courts mere gossip and rumour.

** In concluding the history of the house of Tudor, we feel it incumbent on us to offer some remarks on the manner in which it has been treated by our Romish historian; for the many merits of his work are not to be denied, and from the very great efforts which are made to get it into circulation, it may succeed in infusing erroneous notions into the minds of a large class of readers.

We think, then, that we may venture to pronounce with confidence, that in this portion of his history, Dr. Lingard is to be regarded as an advocate rather than as an historian. The guiding principle of the latter is to conceal no truth, to utter no falsehood; that of the former, to hide everything that makes against his client or for the opposite party, or to soften and extenuate in the former case, to detract from and enfeeble in the latter. This is precisely the mode in which Dr. Lingard proceeds; every document, for example, injurious to the fame of Mary queen of Scots or favourable to Elizabeth is passed over in silence, while everything that can be made to appear to exalt the former or degrade the latter is blazoned forth with the utmost skill and solicitude. Hence in the pages of this writer the two queens Mary, Philip of Spain, Gardiner, Bonner, and all the leading catholics appear almost faultless, while Eli

zabeth and her great ministers Burleigh and Walsingham, and all the more illustrious protestant statesmen and prelates are presented under the darkest colours. In a historic point of view (to mention no other) this conduct of Dr. Lingard is to be regretted; for from the means which he possesses of obtaining extracts from the manuscripts in the archives at Simancas in Spain, and from the various original papers which have been placed in his hands by members of his communion, he might have made larger additions to the stock of history than he appears to have done. We speak thus, because, from the manner in which he has acted in the case of printed documents, we may be very certain that if his peculiar stores contain anything adverse to his clients or advantageous to their opponents, so far as depends on him it will remain concealed from the world.

HOUSE OF STUART.-PART I.

CHAPTER I.

JAMES I.*

1603-1613.

Accession of James.-Bye- and Surprise-plots.-Hampton-court Conference. -Gunpowder-plot.—Death of Salisbury;—of prince Henry.-Arabella

Stuart.

On the death of queen Elizabeth, the right to the crown of England lay between the descendants of Margaret and Mary, daughters of Henry VII., married to the king of Scotland, and to Brandon duke of Suffolk. By the last will of Henry VIII., sanctioned by an act of the legislature, the crown was settled on the latter in case of the failure of his own issue. The legal right, therefore, of the house of Suffolk was beyond dispute. But, on the other hand, the general feeling in favour of primogeniture and hereditary right was too strong to be thus overcome; and the advantages to be derived from the accession of the king of Scotland were so great, that the nation readily acquiesced in the last disposition of the late queen, and James was proclaimed with as little opposition as if he had been an heirapparent.

During the latter years of queen Elizabeth, the jesuited portion of the catholics† had been in secret correspondence

* Authorities: Wilson, Weldon, and the papers in Winwood and other collections, &c.

The English catholics were divided into two parties; the jesuited, as they were named, that is, the adherents of the jesuits, and the followers of the secular clergy.