Page:Cassell's Illustrated History of England vol 2.djvu/358

344 of Suffolk; Sir John Skelton, and Sir John Tyrrel. These were all zealous Papists; and the people of Norfolk and Suffolk hurried to her standard, impelled by the memory of Northumberland's sanguinary extinction of Ket's rebellion, the horrors of which still kept alive a deep detestation of him in those counties. In a very short time she beheld herself surrounded by an army of 13,000 men, all serving without pay, but all confidently calculating on the certain recompense which, as queen, she would soon be able to award them.

In the lofty fortress of Framlingham, whence she could see over the woods the German Ocean, and near to the seaport of Aldborough, she remained, as is supposed, till the end of the month, but meantime her cause had grown rapidly and spread far and wide. On the 12th, only two days after her arrival there, she was proclaimed queen at Norwich. On the 15th, or thereabouts, a fleet was seen off the coast bearing for Yarmouth. It consisted of six ships of war, and was carrying artillery and ammunition for the siege of Framlingham Castle; and having effected that service, it was to cruise about to intercept her flight to the Continent. Sir Henry Jerningham put out from Yarmouth as these vessels drew near, to hail them. The sailors demanding what he wanted, he replied, "Your captains, who are rebels to their lawful Queen Mary." "If they are," said the men, "we will throw them into the sea, for we are her true subjects;" upon which the captains surrendered, and Sir Henry conveyed them into Yarmouth.

On the 16th, Mr. Smith, clerk of the Council at Framlingham, announced a despatch from Mr. Brande, stating that Sir Edward Hastings, on the 15th, at Drayton, the seat of Lord Paget, had mustered 10,000 of the militia of Oxford, Bucks, Berkshire, and Middlesex, with the intention of marching to seize the palace of Westminster for the queen. Before leaving Kenninghall, Mary had written to Sir Edward Hastings claiming his allegiance. Sir Edward was brother to the Earl of Huntingdon, who was closely allied by marriage with Northumberland, but he was at the same time great-nephew to Cardinal Pole, and otherwise connected with his family. Sir Edward had been commissioned to raise this force by Northumberland, and the news of his defection coming simultaneously with that of the defection of the fleet at Yarmouth, must have thunderstruck Northumberland. On the same day, the 16th, a placard was found affixed to the door of Queenhithe Church, asserting that Mary had been proclaimed queen in every town of England except London; and so rapidly was the spirit of adhesion to Mary spreading, that that very day the Earls of Sussex and Bath deserted the Council, and took their way to Framlingham, at the head of their armed vassals.

The same day all the vessels in the harbour of Harwich declared for Mary, dismissing Sir Richard Broke and other uncomplying officers from their commands; John Hughes, the Comptroller of the Customs at Yarmouth, went over, and John Grice, the captain of a ship of war. Mary ordered artillery and ammunition to be provided from Grice's ship and from Aldborough, to be forwarded for the defence of Framlingham; and on the 18th, seeing the zealous support which was every day manifesting itself, she issued a proclamation, offering £1,000 in land to any noble, £500 to any gentleman, and £100 to any yeoman, who should bring Northumberland prisoner to the queen. At the same time she maintained a guard of 500 men over her own person; and, no doubt, receiving information that the prisoners who crowded the gaols of Suffolk and Norfolk were chiefly those who had suffered for their opposition to the innovations of the reign of Edward, and especially under the more recent measure of Northumberland, she ordered them to be all set at liberty.

Meantime Northumberland, with all his planning, was but ill prepared for the execution of his design when the king's death took place. It was the part of a clever diplomatist to have in good time secured in his hands the two next heirs to the throne. This not being done, and other matters being equally unsettled, he kept the death of the king concealed for two days, during which time he was deep in consultation with the Council. An exception, however, was made in favour of the lord mayor and aldermen of London, who were invited to Greenwich, where the Council was sitting, the death of the king revealed to them, and the fact that by Edward's will the Lady Jane Grey was appointed his successor. They were bound under a severe penalty not to divulge these secrets till they should receive orders from the Council, but to be prepared to preserve order in the city. The officers of the guards and of the household, and twelve eminent citizens were at the same time admitted to the knowledge of the king's decease, and sworn to their allegiance.

Lady Jane Grey, the innocent object of these hazardous plans, had obtained a short leave of absence from Court, and was indulging her love of quiet and of books, when she was suddenly summoned by the Lady Sydney, the sister of her husband, to return to Sion House, and there to await the commands of the king, of whose death she was yet ignorant. On the morning of the 10th she was surprised by a deputation, consisting of the Duke of Northumberland, the Marquis of Northampton, and the Earls of Arundel, Huntingdon, and Pembroke. Soon after entered the Duchesses of Northumberland and Suffolk, and the Marchioness of Northampton. Her mother-in-law, the Duchess of Northumberland, had already dropped some mysterious hints of some wonderful fortune awaiting her, and now the serious aspect of her visitors filled her with alarm. The Duke of Northumberland then informed her that the king, her cousin, was dead; that he had felt great concern for the continuance of the Church in the form and spirit in which it now was; and that on this account, and also to preserve the kingdom from the disorders which the illegitimacy of his sisters might occasion, he had in his will passed them over, and bequeathed the Crown to her, as the true legitimate heir, and, moreover, holding the true faith.

He had, therefore, in the will, ordered the Council to proclaim her queen, and in default of her issue, her sisters Catherine and Mary. The attendant nobles on this fell on their knees, declared her their queen, and vowed to defend her right with their blood, if necessary. One of them, Arundel, as we have seen, was already in communication with Mary, and warned her of what was being done.

At this surprising revelation the Lady Jane swooned, and fell with a shriek on the floor. On recovering, she