the
Lady Mary had been disobedient to her father; she had been again
disobedient to her brother; she was a capital and principal enemy of
God's word; and both she and her sister were bastards born; King Henry
did not intend that the crown should be worn by either of them; King
Edward, therefore, had, before his death, bequeathed {p.006} it to
his cousin the Lady Jane; and, should the Lady Jane die without
children, to her younger sister; and he had entreated the council, for
their honours' sake and for the sake of the realm, to see that his
will was observed."

[Footnote 10: La detta maesta haveva ben
considerato un atto di Parliamento nel quale fu gia
deliberato che qualunque volesse riconoscere Maria
overo Elizabetha sorelle per heredi della corona
fusse tenuto traditore.--Baoardo.]

Northumberland, as he concluded, dropped on his knees; the four lords
knelt with him, and, doing homage to the Lady Jane as queen, they
swore that they would keep their faith or lose their lives in her
defence.

Lady Jane shook, covered her face with her hands, and fell fainting to
the ground. Her first simple grief was for Edward's death; she felt it
as the loss of a dearly loved brother. The weight of her own fortune
was still more agitating; when she came to herself, she cried that it
could not be; the crown was not for her, she could not bear it--she
was not fit for it. Then, knowing nothing of the falsehoods which
Northumberland had told her, she clasped her hands, and, in a
revulsion of feeling, she prayed God that if the great place to which
she was called was indeed justly hers, He would give her grace to
govern for his service and for the welfare of his people.[11]

[Footnote 11: Mr. John Gough Nichols, the
accomplished editor of so many of the best
publications of the Camden Society, throws a doubt
on the authenticity of this scene, being unable to
find contemporary authority for it. It comes to us,
through Baoardo, from Lady Jane herself.]

So passed Sunday, the 9th of July, at Sion House. In London, the hope
of first securing Mary being disappointed, the king's death had been
publicly acknowledged; circulars were sent out to the sheriffs,
mayors, and magistrates in the usual style, announcing the accession
of Quee