In illustration of Civil History, the information afforded in original Letters during the Reigns of EDWARD THE SIXTH and QUEEN MARY is comparatively scanty. All men seem to have been occupied with Ecclesiastical Affairs.

Strype and one or two other writers have made so rich a harvest of the Letters which illustrate the struggle of the two Religions in these reigns, that it has been thought best, with the exception of a single Letter from the Princess Mary to her brother, on the subject of the Mass, to avoid the notice of them altogether.

The Editor was anxious, indeed, to have enriched his volumes with copies of three Latin Letters of the Lady Jane Gray to Henry Bullinger, one of the Swiss reformers, which are preserved in the public Library of the town of Zurich. They are upon religious topics, and are stated by tradition to have been written during her Imprisonment; but that is scarcely probable, for she then signed her name JANE DUDDELEY: whereas these are signed JOANNA GRAIA. One ends, "Tibi ad omnia pietatis officia paratissima, JOANNA GRAIA." In the same Volume which contains these letters, are German translations of them in Bullinger's hand-writing.

Having been unsuccessful in the application to obtain transcripts of these, they are mentioned here in the hope that some other person who may take the pains to enquire after them at Zurich, may be more successful.

Such of the Lady Jane Gray's Latin Letters as are extant in England, are usually signed JANA GRAIA.

LETTER CLVI.

King Edward the Sixth to Queen Catherine Parr.

[MS. HARL. 5087. art. 34.]

Three Letters of condolence in Latin, from King Edward the Sixth to his step-mother and sisters, upon the death of Henry the Eighth, are now presented to the Reader. They are his earliest Letters as King. It must be owned indeed, that they savour more of the tutor's hand than of King Edward's; and that they have somewhat of coldness, if not of common-place in their expression. Cox, the Latin tutor of King Edward, it should seem, could not assume for his pupil that expression of natural grief which he did not personally feel himself.

Our Historians are probably mistaken, who suppose that Henry had the love and affection of his subjects to the last. From the privy counsellor, to the monk whom the Reformation had turned adrift upon the world, all was fear. So sudden and so overwhelming, in the latter part of life, were the transports of Henry's fury. By thousands of his subjects, his death must have been considered as a merciful release for themselves. We cannot but contrast this with the universal and unfeigned satisfaction which marked his coming to the throne. William Montjoy, at that time, writing from the Court at Greenwich to Erasmus, thus expressed himself, "Nihil vereor, mi Erasme, quin ubi primum audisti Principem nostrum, HENRICUM OCTAVUM, seu potius Octavium, defuncto patri in regnum successisse, omnis tibi ex animo ægritudo repente abierit."mi Erasme, si videas, ut mortales omnes hic lætitia gestiant, ut de tanto Principe sibi gaudeant, ut nihil magis exoptent quam ejus vitam, lachrymas præ gaudio continere non posses. Ridet æther, exultat terra, omnia lactis, omnia mellis, omnia nectaris sunt plena. Exulat longe gentium AVARITIA, larga manu spargit opes liberalitas. NOSTER REX non aurum, non gemmas, non metalla, sed VIRTUTEM, sed GLORIAM, sed ÆTERNITATEM concupiscit." a

PLURIMAS tibi gratias ago ob epistolam quam ad me postremam misisti, clarissima mater; quæ sane est signum insignis tui, ac quotidiani amoris in me. Porro cum visum sit Deo optimo maximo ut meus pater et

Desid. Erasmi Epist. ut supr. tom. i. p. 7.

tuus conjunx, Rex illustrissimus, hanc vitam finiret, nobis ambobus communis est dolor. Hoc vero nobis consolationem affert, quod jam sit in cœlo, atque quod ex hac vita misera profectus sit in fælicem atque æternam beatitudinem. Quisquis enim hic felicem agit vitam, atque rempublicam recte gubernat, sicut nobilissimus meus pater fecit, qui promovit omnem pietatem atque expulit omnem ignorantiam, habet certissimum iter in cœlum. Quamvis vero natura jubet dolere ac lachrymas effundere ob discessum ejus absentis, tamen scriptura ac prudentia jubet moderari affectus istos ne videamur nullam omnino spem habere resurrectionis mortuorum et vitæ defunctorum. Præterea cum tua celsitudo in me tot beneficia contulit, ego debeo quicquid commodi possem tibi afferre præstare. Opto tuæ celsitudini plurimam salutem. Regina veneranda. E Turri septimo Februarii anno 1546a.

Vale

E. REX.

LETTER CLVII.

King Edward the Sixth to his sister the Princess Mary.· [MS. HARL. 5087. art. 35.]

NATURA non sapientia nobis classicum canit ad lamentandum patris nostri charissimi mortem. Natura

A. D. 1546-7.

enim putat se illum amisisse mortuum, at sapientia credit quod is qui vivit cum Deo est in æterna felicitate. Quare cum Deus miserit nobis talem sapientiam non debemus mortem illius lugere, cum ejus voluntas sit, qui omnia in bonum operatur. Quod ad me autem pertinet, ero tibi charissimus frater et omni benevolentia exuberans. Deus optimus maximus te imbuat suis donis. Vale. E Turri Londoniense, octavo Februarii anno 1546a.

E. REX.

LETTER CLVIII.

King Edward the Sixth, to the Princess Elizabeth. [MS. HARL. 5087. art. 36.]

MINIME opus est mihi te consolari charissima Soror, quod eruditione tua cognoscis quid sit faciendum, prudentia vero et pietate tua, quod eruditio docuit te cognoscere facto præstas. Non enim lugendus est pater noster, quamvis nobis charissimus fuerit, quod jam sit in cœlo, nec mors ejus deploranda quæ est via ex hac vita misera ad longe feliciorem. Quare quisque debet adniti pro viribus ut Sapientia vincat naturam, et fortitudo moderetur affectus, et consilium gubernet judicium populi. Quisquis enim hoc facit, is vere Chris

A. D. 1546-7.

tianus appellatur, at si quis dicat qui huic contrarium facit Christianum eum certe falso atque illi indigno nomine nuncupat. Præterea literæ tuæ mihi admodum arridebant, tum quod in illis elegantes sententiæ continentur, tum quod ex illis sentio te æquo consuluisse animo mortem patris nostri. Porro si ullo modo possum tibi commodare libenter præstabo. Optime vale. E Turri, octavo Februarii anno 1546a.

E. REX.

LETTER CLIX.

King Edward VIth to his Uncle the Earl of Hertford. [MS LANSD. 1236. fol. 14. Orig.]

EDOUARDUS REX.

LITERE tuæ, Cognate suavissime, mihi longe gratissimæ fuerunt multis de causis. Primum quia cum eas bene perpendo, sentio in te maximam gratitudinem, et animi humanitatem, deinde video te literis imbutum esse, postremo vero animadverto tuam insignem diligentiam. Perge igitur in preclaro tuo incœpto, sisque erga omnes gratus et humanus, nec amorem tuum subtrahas erga literas et preclaram philosophiam, denique adhibe diligentiam in omnibus tuis conatibus. Si etenim humanitate precellueris, omnes naturæ

A. D. 1546-7.