ce. The member came and kneeled before him. "Ho,
man!" said the king, "and will they not suffer my bill to pass?" He then
came up and put his hand upon the kneeling legislator's head, and added,
"Get my bill passed to-morrow, or else by to-morrow this head of yours
shall be off." The next day the bill was passed accordingly.

King Henry, before he died, arranged the order of succession to the
throne as follows: Edward was to succeed him; but, as he was a minor,
being then only nine years of age, a great council of state, consisting
of sixteen persons of the highest rank, was appointed to govern the
kingdom in his name until he should be _eighteen_ years of age, when he
was to become king in reality as well as in name. In case he should die
without heirs, then Mary, his oldest sister, was to succeed him; and if
she died without heirs, then Elizabeth was to succeed her. This
arrangement went into full effect. The council governed the kingdom in
Edward's name until he was sixteen years of age, when he died. Then
Mary followed, and reigned as queen five years longer, and died without
children, and during all this time Elizabeth held the rank of a
princess, exposed to a thousand difficulties and dangers from the plots,
intrigues and conspiracies of those about her, in which, on account of
her peculiar position and prospects, she was necessarily involved.

One of the worst of these cases occurred soon after her father's death.
There were two brothers of Jane Seymour, who were high in King Henry's
favor at the time of his decease. The oldest is known in history by his
title of the Earl of Hertford at first, and afterward by that of Duke of
Somerset. The youngest was called Sir Thomas Seymour. They were both
made members of the government which was to administer the affairs of
state during young Edward's minority. They were not, however, satisfied
with any moderate degree of power. Being brothers of Jane Seymour, who
was Edward's mother, they were his uncles, of course, and the oldest one
soon succeeded in causing himself to be appointed protector. By this
office he was, in fact, king, all except in name.

The younger brother, who was an agreeable and accomplished man, paid his
addresses to the queen dowager, that is, to the widow whom King Henry
left, for the last of his wives was living at the time of his death. She
consented to marry him, and the marriage took place almost immediately
after the king's death--so soon in fact