entered London in triumph. Jane was sent to the Tower as a prisoner, and Northumberland had his head cut off as a traitor.

LADY JANE GREY

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6. The first Years of Queen Mary.-Mary at once put an end to the use of the new English Prayer Book. Many more people in England disliked it than liked it, and the old service which had been used when the English Church obeyed the pope was brought back again. But there were many people in England who were glad to see the old service, who did not wish to submit to the pope. Some of these liked Englishmen to settle their own affairs without having to give way to any one who, like the pope, was not

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an Englishman, and did not live in England. Others, who had got fields and houses which had once belonged to the monasteries, were afraid lest if they submitted to the pope he would make them give up what they had taken. Mary, however, was determined that the Church of England should again be

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QUEEN MARY.

put under the pope, though she knew that she would have to wait some time before she could persuade parliament to allow it. She made up her mind to marry her cousin Philip, who not long afterwards became king of Spain, and was the son of the emperor Charles V. The marriage was very unpopular. There was a rebellion, and though it was

put down, the queen was so afraid of another that she had the head of poor innocent Lady Jane Grey cut off, and sent her own sister Elizabeth a prisoner to the Tower. Soon after her marriage, the queen persuaded the parliament once more to acknowledge the pope's authority over the Church, and to make a law by which heretics who refused to accept his belief were to be burnt alive. The members of parliament, however, insisted that the lands which had been taken from the Church should remain the property of those who had possession of them. They were more careful about their own possessions than about the lives of their fellow-subjects.

7. The Protestant Martyrs.-Whilst lords and gentlemen were thinking more of money and land than of religion, there were Protestant martyrs who died as bravely for their faith as Sir Thomas More had died for his. Rowland Taylor, for instance, a Suffolk clergyman, was condemned in London to be burnt, and was sent down to his own county to die. As he left his prison, in the dark early morning, he found his wife and his children waiting for him in the streets. One of his daughters cried out, ‘0, my dear father! Mother, mother! here is my father led away!' There were no gas-lamps burning in the streets in those days, and his wife could not see him. Rowland, Rowland!' she called out. 'where art thou?' 'Dear wife,' he answered, '1 am here.' He was allowed to stop for a moment, and he knelt down with his family on the stones to say the Lord's Prayer. Farewell, my dear wife,' he said, as soon as he had risen from his knees; be

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of good comfort, for I am quiet in my conscience God shall stir up a father for my children.' He was led away to the village in Suffolk where his voice had once been heard in the pulpit. Thanked be God,' he said, when he reached the place where the stake rose amidst the faggots which were to burn him, 'I am even at home.' After he was tied to the stake, a wretch threw a faggot at his face. 'O, friend,' he said gently, 'I have harm enough, what needed that?' Light was set to the wood, the flames blazed up around the suffering body, and Rowland Taylor entered into his rest. Many another, as brave and as trustful, shared his fate. Amongst them two bishops, the meek Ridley, and Latimer, the bold preacher of righteousness, were burnt at Oxford. 'Be of good comfort, Master Ridley,' cried Latimer from amidst the flames. Play the man; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out."

8. The last Days of Mary.-Latimer spoke truly. Cranmer followed him to the stake at Oxford. The best and firmest of the Protestants were marked out for death. It availed nothing. Men turned against a religion which was protected by such means. Mary's government was as weak as it was harsh. To please her husband, Philip, she joined him in a war with France, and the French suddenly attacked Calais. She had left the place without proper means of defence, and the fortress which had been held by England since the days of Edward III. was lost for ever. Not long afterwards Mary died, worn out and dispirited. She knew that her sister

Elizabeth would succeed her, and that her sister would not burn Protestants. Mary's reign was the last in which the authority of the pope over the English Church was acknowledged by an English parliament.

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1. Elizabeth and the Nation.-When Elizabeth heard of her sister's death she was sitting under a tree in Hatfield Park. It is the Lord's doing,' she said: it is marvellous in our eyes.' She was to be Queen of England now, instead of being liable to be sent as a prisoner to the Tower, and perhaps to have her head cut off at last. Almost all Englishmen felt as if they too had been let out of prison. There were to be no more men and women burnt alive, nor were Englishmen to be sent abroad to fight for the King of Spain any longer. Elizabeth was determined that in her time foreigners should not meddle with the government of England. The King of