blood to the King, they would not be his heirs;[1] and, further, they might compromise the country by undesirable marriages. The succession was therefore disposed in the altered order which Edward had prescribed; and the document being prepared, it remained only that Northumberland should compel every one whose rank or influence made him formidable, to commit himself to the substitution by his signature.
June 21.On the 21st of June he collected at Greenwich the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, twenty- two peers, eight eldest sons of peers, ministers, secretaries of State, judges, officers of the household. Of all whose support would be useful, of all whose opposition had to be dreaded, Lord William Howard and Lord Derby alone were absent, and Lord Derby was represented by his son. The rest came together at the Duke's bidding, and, willingly or unwillingly, gave their names to his design.[2]
- ↑ 'As also for that the said Lady Mary and Lady Elizabeth be unto us but of the half-blood, and, therefore, by the antient laws, statutes, and customs of this realm, be not inheritable unto us, although they vvere legitimate, as they be not indeed.'—Letters Patent for the Limitation of the Crown: Queen Jane and Queen Mary, p. 93.
- ↑ I transcribe Mr Nichols's excellent analysis of the signatures;—Great officers of State and Peers:The Archbishop of Canterbury; Goodrich, Bishop of Ely, Lord Chancellor; Marquis of Winchester, Lord Treasurer; Duke of Northumberland, Grand Master of the Household; Earl of Bedford, Lord Privy Seal; Duke of Suffolk; Marquis of Northampton; Earls of Arundel, Oxford, Westmoreland, Shrewsbury, Worcester, Huntingdon, and Pembroke; Lord Clinton, Lord Darcy; the Bishop of London; Lords Abergavenny, Cobham, Grey de Wilton, Windsor, Bray, Wentworth, Rich, Willoughby, and Paget.Eldest Sons of Peers:Lords, Warwick, son of the Duke
