Edw. VI.

BY indentures of the ft and 2d of Edward VI, a pound weight of gold, of twenty carats fine and four carats allay, was coined into thirty pounds by tale, out of which the king had a great profit; and a pound of filver of four ounces fine and eight ounces allay, was coined into forty eight fillings after which rate, every pound of fine filver made in current money feven pounds four fhillings; and the king's profit on every pourd weight was four pounds four fhillings.In the 3d year of this king, a pound weight of gold, of twenty-two carats fine and two carats allay, was to be coined into thirty-four pounds by tale, into fovereigns at 20 s. a-piece, half fovereigns at 10s. apiece, crowns at 5 s. and half-crowns at 2s. 6d. a-piece: and a pound weight of filver, of fix ounces fine and fix ounces allay, was to be coined into feventy-two fhillings, which were to go for 12 d. a-piece by tale; of which the merchant, for every pound weight of fine filver, received three pounds four fhillings, and the king above four pounds gain.In the 4th year of this reign, a pound weight of gold of the old ftandard, of twentythree carats, and three grains and a half fine, was coined into twenty-eight pounds fixteen fhillings by tale; namely, into fovereigns at 24 s. a-piece, half-fovereigns at 12 s. angels at 8 s. and half-angels at 4 s. a-piece. In the 5th of this reign, a pound weight of filver, of three ounces fine and nine ounces allay, was coined into feventy-two fhillings at 12d. a-piece; and the merchant received for every ounce of fine filver, which he should bring to the mint, ten fhillings of fuch money; by which means twelve ounces of fine filver was exorbitantly raised to fourteen pounds eighteen fhillings.In the 6th of this reign, a pound weight of gold, of the old ftandard aforefaid, was coined into thirty-fix pounds by tale; namely, twenty-four fovereigns at 30 s. a-piece, feventy-two angels at 10s. a. piece, or one hundred and forty-four half angels: and a pound weight of crown gold, of twenty-two carats fine and two carats allay, was coined into thirty-three pounds by tale; namely, thirty-three fovereigns at 20 s. a-piece, or fixty-fix half-fovereigns at 10 s. a piece, or one hundred and thirty-two crowns, or two hundred and fixty four half-crowns: and a pound weight of filver, confifting of eleven ounces one penny-weight fine, and nineteen penny-weight allay, was coined into three pounds by tale; namely, twelve crowns, or twenty four half-crowns, or fixty fhillings, or one hundred and twenty fix-pences, or two hundred and forty threepences, or feven hundred and twenty pence, or one thousand four hundred and forty half-pence, or two thoufand eight hundred and eighty farthings.

The gold coins of this king are fovereigns, half-fovereigns, angels, half-angels, crowns, half-crowns. The fovereign has on one fide the king's buft crowned; reverfe, SCV гVм. FIDEI. PROTEGIT. EVM. the arms in a fhield crowned, between

E.

E. R. Another has the king's titles on the arms fide; on the reverfe, the king with a youthful countenance, bare-headed, the motto as in the laft. The other fort has the king's figure in armour crowned, holding a naked fword in his right hand, and ball in his left. EDWARD VI. D. G. AGL. FRANCI Z. HIB. REX. Reverfe, the arms crowned between E. R. IHS. AVTEM. TRANSIÆ. PER MEDI. ILLO. IBAT. (Fig. 2.) The crown and half-crown have the fame impreffion as the former fovereign. The filver monies of this prince, who was the firft of that name that added the number to it, are contrary to thofe of his father; the fine money of Henry VIII, having the half face, and his bad the full; whereas king Edward's bad has the half, and his good the full. Of the bafe there are two forts of teftoons, which give him half-faced; the one having this legend, TIMOR DOMINI FONS VITE. M.D.XLIX. (Fig. 1) and the other, INIMICOS EIVS INDVAM CONFVSIONE. It was on the former of these that bishop Latimer remarked,

Edw. VI.

Edw. VI, remarked, it was fuch a pretty little fhilling, that he had like to have put it away for an old groat. The crown, half crown, fhilling, and fix-pence, have all of them the king's titles thus, EDWARD. VI. D. G. AGL. FRA. Z. HIBER. REX. Reverfe, the king's arms with POSVI, &c. only the crown and half crown give him on horfeback, and underneath the horse 1551; another has the feathers on the horfe's head (Fig. 3.) whereas the fhilling and fix-pence give him full faced; of which there are of two different mints: of York with the letter Y; and Throgmorton's mint in the Tower, an O or un. (See Fig. 4.) Both thefe, as well as the fix-pence, have a rofe on one fide the king's head, and XII. or VI. on the other. The three-pence with the rofe and III. has the fame infcription as the fhilling.

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1553

ENRY the Eighth's divorces from Catherine of Arragon and Ann Bullen: the acts of parliament con- MARY. firming thefe divorces: other fubfequent acts which feemed to repeal what the firft had ordained: the power given to the king to appoint his fucceffors, and to place them in what order he pleased in a word, that prince's laft will itfelf, had fo imbroiled the affair of the fucceffion, that it appeared full of contradiction and obfcurity. It would not have been poffible to decide by the antient laws and cuftoms of the realm, the queries arifing from fo many inconfiftent acts, because the makers of these new laws had not in view juftice and equity, but only the gratifying of a prince to whom it was dangerous to refufe any thing. Henry VIII. had foreseen the difficulties and perplexities his two divorces might one day-occafion, and even feemed defirous to prevent them. But he only increased them by the new ftatutes he obtained of the parliament, wherein his aim was not so much to procure the welfare of the kingdom, as to follow his humour, and cause his will to be a law. To fet this matter in a clear light, it will be proper to infert here a brief recapitulation of that monarch's proceedings with refpect to the fucceffion.

It has been seen in the hiftory of his reign, that after living eighteen years with Catherine of Arragon his first wife, and having by her feveral children, of whom there was but one daughter alive, he had a mind to put her away. He pretended, his marriage was void, and becaufe the court of Rome for reasons of ftate would not condefcend to annul it, he caused a sentence of divorce to be pronounced by the archbishop of Canterbury, before he had abolished the papal authority in his kingdom. He thereby afforded a very fpecious pretence to queftion the prelate's authority by whom the fentence was pronounced. What is more, he took a fecond wife, before he was legally divorced from the firft, and by this precipitation, gave a fresh occafion to difpute the validity of his fecond marriage. Here are already two contraditions in these his two firft fteps. He applied to the pope, as to his judge, and before he had folemnly renounced his authority, contemns it, and in fpite of the pope, whofe jurifdiction was fill acknowledged in England, is divorced from queen Catherine.

Mary. therine. On the other hand, he owns there was need of a 1553. legal fentence to juftify his divorce, and yet he prevents the sentence by running into a fecond marriage, before it was pronounced.

In the next place, he beheaded his fecond wife for adultery, and yet, before the execution, pretended she could not be his wife, and was divorced from her on a frivolous pretence. These two divorces were confirmed by an act of parliament paffed in 1536, wherein was alfo a manifeft contradiction. The act declared Mary and Elizabeth, born of the two first marriages, illegitimate and incapable of fucceeding to the crown, and yet it gave the king power to place them on the throne, fince, without any limitation, it invefted him with all the authority neceffary to fettle the fucceffion as he pleased.

There was likewife another contradiction in a statute of the year 1540, wherein it was declared, that a marriage after confummation fhould not be annulled by reafon of a precontract. Nevertheless Henry's divorce from Ann Bullen had no other motive. Thereby, the king and parliament owned they had injured Elizabeth in declaring her illegitimate. It will be faid perhaps, this act was not to regard what was paffed. But it is certain, it was made only with defign to favour Elizabeth. Notwithstanding, fhe was not reftored by this act, but it still lay in the king's breaft to give her a place in, or exclude her from, the fucceffion.

In another act made in 1544, there was a no lefs manifest contradiction. By this act, both houfes themselves put in the line of the fucceffion Mary and Elizabeth after their bro ther Edward. Did not this feem to be making them an authentick reparation, and owning them for legitimate? And indeed, hitherto no bastards had ever been on the throne of England. Nay, it might be queftioned, whether it was in the parliament's power to place them there. At least there would have been need of a very exprefs and authentick law for that purpose. Nevertheless by a particular claufe of this act, the king was allowed the liberty to impofe conditions on these two princeflès, without which they could have no right to fucceed; a thing the parliament would not, nay could not, have done, if they had been owned for legitimate. It was not therefore on account of their natural right, but by mere favour, that they were enabled to fucceed to the crown.

Henry followed the fame plan in his laft will. He put Mary and Elizabeth in the line of the fucceffion after their brother Edward, but in fuch a manner that he let them fee,