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 WILLIAM, LORD BURGHLEY 27

Convocation, referred them absolutely to Cecil and Cheke, " the two great patrons of the Reformation at Court." l

He must have been admitted into the intimate confidence of the young King, as is shown by the story that the Princess Mary, on receipt of a letter from her brother enjoining her conformity, remarked " Ah ! good Master Cecil took much pains here."

On April I2th, 1553, he was appointed Chan- cellor of the Order of the Garter, and notes in his Diary, " Paid the embroiderers for xxxvj schut- chyns for my servants' coats at ij s. each, iii 1. xii s," 2 an entry which shows us that already he kept a large establishment.

In the spring of this year the state of the King's health hastened on Northumberland's mad plan for securing the succession to his own family. On May 2ist he married his son, Lord Guilford Dudley, to the Lady Jane Grey, daughter of the Duke of Suffolk and grand-daughter of Henry VIII.'s youngest sister Mary, Queen-Dowager of France. He then persuaded the King to set aside his father's will, under which the succession was to descend to Mary and Elizabeth, and to draw up a new deed of settlement, devising the Crown to Lady Jane Grey. These manoeuvres placed Cecil in a difficult and dangerous position and he did all he could to avoid personal responsibility in the matter.

1 Strype.

2 Burghley invariably used Roman numerals for his accounts and reckonings.

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