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 should propose for the hand of Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Henri II of France, the lady who ultimately married Philip II of Spain. In May 1551 the Marquis of Northampton went on a special embassy to Paris to invest the princess's father with the order of the Garter, and to determine settlements. The marriage was agreed to, but it was decided to deter its celebration till both parties had reached the age of twelve. In July a French ambassador, Maréchal de St. André, brought Edward the order of St. Michael, and Warwick procured a portrait of the princess, which he directed the king to display so as to arrest the ambassador's attention. The marriage could hardly have commended itself to Edward's religious prejudices, which grew stronger with his years. The question of permitting Princess Mary to celebrate mass had more than once been under the council's discussion, and permission had been refused. When she positively declined to adopt the new service-book in May 1551, the emperor instructed Sir Richard Morysin, the English ambassador at his court, to demand in his name complete religious liberty for the princess. Some of the councillors suggested that the wishes of the emperor should tie respected, but the king is stated to have resolutely opposed the grant of special privileges to his sister (cf. Harl. MS. 353, f. 130). Jane Dormer, duchess of Feria, asserts that Mary was left practically at liberty to do as she pleased, that she had much affection for her brother, and had hopes of converting him to her faith. Parsons repeated the story in his 'Three Conversions of England' (1604), pt. iv. p. 360. But there is no reason to doubt the king's resolution whenever Romish practices were in debate. The king with Cranmer has been charged with personal responsibility for the execution of [q. v.] the anabaptist, in May 1550; but although he just mentions her death in his diary, there is no reason to suppose that he was consulted in the matter.

On 16 Oct. 1551 Somerset was attacked anew. Warwick resolved to secure the reins of government, and as soon as he had been created Duke of Northumberland contrived to have Somerset sent to the Tower. Edward was an easy prey to the ambitious nobleman. He accepted all the false charges preferred against Somerset as true, related the proceedings against his uncle with great fulness in his diary, and after signing the warrant for his execution laconically noted that 'the Duke of Somerset had his head cut off on Tower Hill on 22 Jan. 1551-2.' The same heartlessness is evinced in the king's reference to the matter in his correspondence with Fitzpatrick.

Edward, whose health had hitherto been food, was constitutionally weak, and in April 1552 was attacked by both measles and smallpox. On 15 April the parliament, which had sat from the beginning of the reign, was dissolved, and the royal assent givenby commission to many bills. On 12 May Eaward was sufficiently recovered to ride in Greenwich Park with a party of archers. Soon afterwards Cheke, the king's tutor, fell ill, and Edward showed unusual concern. He attributed Cheke's recovery to his prayers. In the autumn William Thomas, clerk of the council, offered instruction in statecraft to the king, and submitted eighty-five political questions for his consideration. Edward agreed to receive from Thomas essays on stipulated subjects, and Thomas submitted to him papers on a proposal to reform the debased currency, on foreign alliances, and forms of government. Girolamo Cardano, the great Milanese physician, visited him in September or October, and wrote an interesting account of his interviews, in which he eulogised the young king's learning. He cast Edward's horoscope and foretold that he would reach middle age.

The empire and France were at war in the summer of 1552, and Edward watched the struggle with the utmost interest. The growth of his intelligence in political questions is well attested by Queen Mary of Guise, who asserted, after visiting him in 1551, that he was wiser than any other of the three kings whom she had met. The emperor applied for the fulfilment of Henry VIII's treaty of alliance, while the French king pointed out that he was allied with the protestant princes of Europe, and therefore deserved English aid. But Edward's advisers maintained a strict neutrality. On 19 June 1552 he signed letters of congratulations on recent success addressed to both combatants. In July, at the request of Northumberland, Edward urged a marriage between the duke's son, Guildford, and Lady Margaret Clifford, a kinswoman of the royal family. Edward's complete subjection to Northumberland caused much dissatisfaction outside the court. In August 1552 a woman, Elizabeth Huggons, was charged with libelling Northumberland for his treatment of Somerset, and with saying that 'the king showed himself an unnatural nephew, and withall she did wish that she had the jerking of him.' On 22 Aug. Edward made a progress to Christchurch, Hampshire, and wrote of it with satisfaction to his friend Fitzpatrick. Knox asserted that in the last sermon he preached before the court he was not sparing in his denunciations of Northumberland and Winchester, who wholly controlled the king's