son was King Henry VIII., and _he_ had three
children. His third child was King Edward VI., who was now about to die.
The other two were the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth, who would
naturally be considered the next heirs after Edward; and besides, King
Henry had left a will, as has been already explained, confirming their
rights to the succession. This will he had made near the time of his
death; but it will be recollected that, during his life-time, both the
marriages from which these princesses had sprung had been formally
annulled. His marriage with Catharine of Aragon had been annulled on one
plea, and that of Anne Boleyn on another. Both these decrees of
annulment had afterward been revoked, and the right of the princesses to
succeed had been restored, or attempted to be restored, by the will.
Still, it admitted of a question, after all, whether Mary and Elizabeth
were to be considered as the children of true and lawful wives or not.

If they were not, then Lady Jane Grey was the next heir, for she was
placed next to the princesses by King Henry the Eighth's will. This
will, for some reason or other, set aside a the descendants of
Margaret, who went to Scotland as the wife of James IV. of that country.
What right the king had thus to disinherit the children of his sister
Margaret was a great question. Among her descendants was Mary Queen of
Scots, as will be seen by the table, and she was, at this time, the
representative of that branch of the family. The friends of Mary Queen
of Scots claimed that she was the lawful heir to the English throne
after Edward. They maintained that the marriage of Catharine, the
Princess Mary's mother, and also that of Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth's
mother, had both been annulled, and that the will could not restore
them. They maintained, also, that the will was equally powerless in
setting aside the claims of Margaret, her grandmother. Mary Queen of
Scots, though silent now, advanced her claim subsequently, and made
Elizabeth a great deal of trouble.

Then there was, besides these, a third party, who maintained that King
Henry the Eighth's will was not effectual in legalizing again the
annulled marriages, but that it was sufficient to set aside the claims
of Margaret. Of course, with them, Lady Jane Grey, who, as will be seen
by the table, was the representative of the _second_ sister of Henry
VIII., was the only heir. The Earl of Northumberland embraced this view.
His motive was to raise