marriage of her father and mother, which she declared was " by God's law and man's law incestuous and un- lawful." (See the " Confession of me, the Ladj- Marj-," as printed by Burnet [//w/. Ref.^ from the original, '• all written ^vith her own hand.") This very year, how- ever, shortly after the marriage of Jane Seymour, a new act of succession was passed, by which she was again, as well as her sister Elizabeth, declared illegitimate, and forever excluded from claiming the inheritance of the crown as the king's lawful heir by lineal descent. But as, by the powers reserved to Henry VHI of nominating his own successor after failure of the issue of queen Jane, or of any other queen whom he might afterwards mar- ry, a possible chance was left to Mary, she continued to yield an outward conformity to aU her father's capri- cious movements, even in the matter of religion, and she so far succeeded in regaining his favor that in the new act of succession, passed in 1544, the inheritance to the crown was expressly secured to her next after her brother Edward and his heirs, and any issue the king might have by his then wife Catharme Parr. Upon the death of Henry VHI and the accession of Edward to the throne of England (1544), Mary's hopes of reigning one day over England were darkened by the persistent efforts of her half-brother to establish the religion of the Reformers. Mary's compliance with the innovations in religion in her father's time, as we have noted above, had been dictated merely by fear or self-interest; no longer restrained, she mataifested her fidelity to and af- fection for the court of Rome when, after Edward's ac- cession, his ministers proceeded to place the whole doc- trine, as AveU as discipline, of the national Church upon a new foundation. She openlj' refused to go along with them, nor could all their persuasions and threats, aided by those of her brother himself, move her from her ground. (Full details of the various attempts that were made to prevail upon her may be found in Burnet's History, p. 417-420, and in king Edward's Journal. Mention is made in the latter, under date of April, 1549, of a demand for the hand of the lady Jlary by the duke of Brunswick, who -was informed by the council that " there was talk for her marriage with the infant of Portugal, which being determined, he should have an- swer." About the same time it is noted that '■ whereas the emperor's ambassador desired leave, by letters pat- ent, that my lady ;\Iary miglit have mass, it M'as denied him." On the 18th of March of the following year the king writes : " The lady ]Mar}', my sister, came to me. at Westminster, where, after salutations, she was called, with my council, into a chamber; where was declared how long I had suffered her mass, in hope of her recon- ciliation, and how now being no hope, which I perceived by her letters, except I saw some short amendment, I could not bear it. She answered that her soul was (iod's, and her faith she would not change, nor dissemble her opinion with contrary doings. It was said, I constrain- ed not her faith, but wished her not as a king to rule, but as a subject to obey ; and that her example might breed too much inconvenience.") Had it not been for the interference of Charles V, no doubt IMary would have suffered severe punishment for her persistenc}' in remain- ing faithfid to the pope. The emperor, who had once even asked her liand, aiid only withdrew his recpiest when Catharine was divorced, made it " the condition of his friendly relations to the English government that Mary be left in the free enjoyment of her religious faith, and the king of England, rather than he subject to war, yield- ed— but with tears" (Lingard, Hist, of Engl, vii, G6 sq.). Yet if ISIary secured liberty of conscience, she secured it • at the risk of a crown, for Jlary's firm adherence to the Roman faith finally induced Edward, under the inter- ested advice of his minister Northumberland, to attempt at the close of his life to exclude her from the succes- sion, and to make over the crown by will to lady Jane Grey, an act which was certainly without any shadow of legal force, and failed to be of any effect. Although lady Jane was actually proclaimed queen upon the death
MARY
847
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of Edward, Mary herself claimed the crown, and with scarcely any resistance secured the throne.
INIary's reign opens a new and bloody chapter in the history of England — a period in the ecclesiastical annals when the tlame of Komanism, which had been slowly dying, was fanned into new life, and, glaring up wild- h', spent its full furj^, and quickly died, never to burn anew. Slary, as we have seen, was ever a faithful ad- herent to the cause of Rome ; she had quietly submit- ted to the innovations under Henry VIII to secure her father's favors, but as she grew older she grew more decided. Indeed, her own legitimacy to the throne was involved in her acknowledgment of the pope. One of the pontiffs had confirmed her mother's marriage, and another had refused to annul it. Impressed by this truth, she had clung closely to the Church of her in- fancy, even when she seemed in danger of losing the privilege of succession, and she faltered not when lady Jane tJrey became the avowed heir of her half-broth- er. (Juite in contrast with this bearing is her conduct after the decease of Edward. Satisfied that the way to the throne could be opened only by Protestant aid, she hesitated not to pledge to the men of Suffolk, whose help she invoked, " that she would be content with her own private exercise of religion, and that she would not force that of others" (Butler, ii, 437 ; Neale, i, 58). She even repeated a like declaration to the council, and renewed it as late as a month after her accession to the throne. Yet all this time she was preparing the waj' for a speedy return of England's clergy to the Church of Rome. Even before she had made these promises she had already sent a message to the Pope announcing her accession, and giving in her allegiance to him as a duti- ful daughter of the Church (Butler, ii, 437).