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1547.] speak; who had been empowered by the confidence of the country to order the succession, and to direct the form of the Government which was to rule the minority of the prince.

The will was produced. It was dated on the 30th of December, four weeks before, though there is reason to think it had been drawn in its leading features when the King crossed to Boulogne; and that only a few clauses were afterwards altered and certain names omitted. The formal bequests have long been satisfied or defeated. The wisdom or errors of the political provisions have been tried at the bar of time, and the verdict has been pronounced for centuries. But the last words of a remarkable man may still be studied as a reflex of his character and convictions, and as shedding some light upon a disposition which an altered age will never fully comprehend, but which is pregnant with indirect suggestions.

'In the name of God and of the Glorious and Blessed Virgin our Lady St Mary, and of all the Holy Company of heaven,—

'We, Henry, by the Grace of God King of England, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, and in earth immediately under God the Supreme Head of the Church of England and of Ireland, of that name the Eighth, calling to our remembrance the great gifts and