EDWARD VI.

AT his coronation, when the three swords, for the three kingdoms, were brought to be carried before him, he observed, that there was one yet wanting, and called for the bible: That,' said he, 'is the sword of the Spirit, and ought in all right to govern us, who use these for the people's safety, by God's appointment. Without that sword we are nothing; we can do nothing. From that we are what we are this day; we receive whatsoever it is that we at this present do assume. Under that we ought to live, to fight, to govern the people, and to perform all our affairs. From that alone we obtain all power, virtue, grace, salvation, and whatsoever we have of divine strength.' Child as he was, so well had he been trained, and so excellent was his moral and intellectual nature, that he was capable of thus thinking, and thus expressing himself. One, who was about his person, says of him, 'If ye knew the towardness of that young prince, your hearts would melt to hear him named: the beautifullest creature that liveth under the sun; the wittiest, the most amiable, and the gentlest thing of all the world.' 'No pen,' says Fuller, passeth by him without praising him, though none praising him to his full deserts.'

There is a beautiful anecdote of this excellent prince, who, of all men that history has recorded,

seems, in moral feeling, to have advanced the far thest beyond his age. Ridley had preached before him, and with that faithfulness which his preachers were encouraged to use, dwelt upon the pitiable condition of the poor, and the duty of those who were in authority to provide effectual means for their relief. As soon as the service was over, the king sent him a message, desiring him not to depart till be had spoken with him; and calling for him into a gallery, where no other person was present, made him there sit down, and be covered, and gave him hearty thanks for his sermon and his exhortation concerning the poor. 6 'My Lord,' said he, 'ye willed such as are in authority to be careful thereof, and to devise some good order for their relief; wherein I think you mean me, for I am in highest place, and therefore am the first that must make answer unto God for my negligence, if I should not be careful therein.' Declaring then that he was, before all things, most willing to travail that way, he asked Ridley to direct him as to what measures might best be taken. Ridley, though well acquainted with the king's virtuous disposition, was nevertheless surprised, as well as affected, by the earnestness and sincere desire of doing his duty, which he now expressed. He advised him to direct letters to the lord mayor, requiring him, with such assistants as he should think meet, to consult on the matter. Edward would not let him depart till the letter was written, and then charged him to deliver it himself, and signify his special request and express commandment, that no time might be lost in proposing what was convenient, and apprizing him of their proceedings. The work was zealously undertaken, Ridley himself engaging in it;

and the result was, that, by their advice, he founded Christ's Hospital, for the education of poor children; St. Thomas' and St. Bartholomew's, for the relief of the sick, and Bridewell, for the correction and amendment of the vagabond and lewd; provision also being made, that the decayed housekeeper should receive weekly parochial relief. The king endowed these hospitals, and, moreover, granted a licence, that they might take in mortmain lands, to the yearly value of four thousand marks, fixing that sum himself, and inserting it with his own hand when he signed the patent, at a time when he had scarcely strength to guide the pen. 'Lord God,' said he, 'I yield thee most hearty thanks, that thou hast given me life thus long, to finish this work to the glory of thy name!' That innocent and most exemplary life was drawing rapidly to its close, and in a few days he rendered up his spirit to his Creator, praying God to defend the realm from Papistry.

The foregoing is extracted from Southey's 'Book of the Church,' where ample justice is done to the exquisite moral beauty of young Edward's character, who, at the time of his coronation, was not ten years old, nor at his death sixteen. But the deep root of these fair outward blossoms was fixed beyond the sight of mortal man. Edward was spiritually-minded in a high degree: his Protestantism was drawn from the bible, which he loved; nourished by a life of faith and prayer; and continually stretching forth to overshadow the kingdom committed to his youthful charge.

We have before us, at this moment, a fine original likeness of Edward, for which he sat to Holbein, and never did canvas more eloquently pourtray the lineaments of a countenance speakingly corroborative of

what history has recorded of an individual. At once noble and delicate, thoughtful and earnest, gentle and decided, it bears an impression of character so touchingly fine, that even without a suspicion of its representing a person of known celebrity, no observant eye can be hastily withdrawn from contemplating it. The small velvet cap, with its diamond loop, and short curled ostrich plume, placed negligently on one side of the head increase, the evident resemblance of his father; while the softened beauty of every feature disclaims participation in the ruder traits of Henry's vicious character. There is a placid majesty in the finely arched brow, and a contemplative meaning in the full, dark blue eye, scarcely bearing the stamp of that which "is of the earth, earthy" and, indeed, allowing for the action of nearly three hundred years upon the tints, there is a palpable fading away, a decaying of the outward man, that tells of a near approach to things unseen, and eternal. This picture yields as full a testimony as portraiture can give to the fond description of his attached attendant, 'The beautifullest, the wittiest, the most amiable, and the gentlest thing of all the world.'

But Edward possessed no small portion of that determination which, apart from fierce and selfish qualities, would have formed a fine point in his father's character. Of this he gave abundant proof, particularly in his firm, though gentle and brotherly, resistance of his sister Mary's incessant attempts to force upon the king and council the toleration of her mass-worship. In opposing this concession, Edward stood perfectly alone, until he had so wrought on the consciences of his chief counsellors as to ob

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tain their concurrence in his godly scruples. Nor was he less decided in maintaining the privileges of the church that he so dearly loved. A memorable instance is recorded, when his uncle, the lord high admiral, wishing to get possession of ecclesiastical property, suggested to Edward that bishops ought not to be troubled with temporal concerns; and that it would be right to make them surrender all their royalties and temporalities to his majesty, and receive an honest pension of money yearly allowed to them, for hospitality. The youthful monarch saw the drift of this advice, and gave him a noble rebuke, telling him he knew his purpose: 'You have had among you,' said he, the commodities of the Abbeys, which you have consumed, some with superfluous apparel, some at dice and cards, and other ungracious rule. And now you would have the bishops' lands and revenues to abuse likewise! Set your hearts at rest: there shall no such alteration be made while I live!'