Parliament had given Henry great power, and among other things allowed him to name in his will who should succeed him. He seemed to have repented of his unjust treatment of the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth, for while leaving the crown to his son Edward, he named Mary as Edward’s successor in case he died without heirs; while Elizabeth in turn was to follow Mary. In case all of Henry’s children died without heirs, then the descendants of Henry’s younger sister Mary were to succeed. Thus we see that the Scotch descendants of Margaret, the elder sister, were left out of the line of succession.
CHAPTER XIII.
RELIGIOUS STRUGGLES.
1. Edward VI.—Edward was a delicate boy of ten years of age when his father left him the crown. He was unusually bright and clever, and had been carefully educated. His mother and his mother’s family were Protestants, and Edward himself had been trained under Protestant tutors; so it is not surprising that he was a very strong believer in the Protestant religion. He is said to have been self-willed, like his father, although he seems to have been also very conscientious.
Henry had left a Council of Regency to assist Edward in governing, the chief members of which were the king’s uncle, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, and Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. Somerset soon persuaded Edward to make him Protector, and this gave him great power. Somerset was a well-meaning man, who pitied the sad condition of the people; but at the same time was too anxious to force the Protestant religion on the nation, and too much in haste to grow rich at the public expense.
Almost the first thing done in this reign was to make changes in the form of worship, and as far as possible in the belief of the people. Images were removed from the churches, mass was abolished, and the Church Service read in English, instead of in Latin. The fierce laws of Henry IV. and V. against the Lollards
