enry had determined that, had he a son by Anne Boleyn, the child
should be named Henry after himself, or Edward after his grandfather,
Edward IV. Queen Jane's son was born on the eve of the feast of St.
Edward, and that fact decided the choice of his name. Twelve days
later the mother, who had never been crowned, passed away.[1010] She,
alone of Henry's wives, was buried with royal pomp in St. George's
Chapel at Windsor; and to her alone the King paid the compliment (p. 361)
of mourning. His grief was sincere, and for the unusual space of more
than two years he remained without a wife. But Queen Jane's death was
not to be compared in importance with the birth of Edward VI. The
legitimate male heir, the object of so many desires and the cause of
so many tragedies, had come at last to fill to the brim the cup of
Henry's triumph. The greatest storm and stress of his reign was
passed. There were crises to come, which might have been deemed
serious in a less troubled reign, and they still needed all Henry's
wary cunning to meet; Francis and Charles were even now preparing to
end a struggle from which only Henry drew profit; and Paul was hoping
to join them in war upon England. Yet Henry had weathered the worst of
the gale, and he now felt free to devote his energies to the extension
abroad of the authority which he had established so firmly at home.

[Footnote 1010: The fable that the Caesarean
operation was performed on her, invented or
propagated by Nicholas Sanders, rests upon the
further error repeated by most historians that
Queen Jane died on the 14th of October, instead of
the 24th (see Nichols, _Literary Remains of Edward
VI._, pp. xxiv., xxv.).]

CHAPTER XIV. (p. 362)

REX ET IMPERATOR.

Notwithstanding the absence of "Empire" and "Emperor" from the various
titles which Henry VIII. possessed or assumed, he has more than one
claim to be reputed the father of modern imperialism. It is not till a
year after his death that we have any documentary evidence of an
intention on the part of the English Government to unite England and
Scotland into one Empire, and to proclaim their sovereign the Emperor
of Great Britain.[1011] But a marriage between Edward VI. and Mary,
Queen of Scots, by which it was sought to effect that union,