Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 5.djvu/192

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172

REIGN OF EDWARD THE SIXTH.

[ch. 29.

he had eaten nothing; on the 14th he was thought at one time to be gone. The care of him was now exclusively committed to the nameless woman, who, when the physicians despaired, had professed a belief that she could effect a cure.^[1] But his disorder evidently grew worse, and assumed anomalous forms; it was said to be an affection of the lungs; but symptoms appeared which could have been occasioned by no disorder of the lungs. Eruptions came out over his skin; his hair fell off, and then his nails, and afterwards the joints of his toes and fingers;^[2] and rumour said that Northumberland, having made his arrangements, could not afford to wait, and was hastening the natural arrival of death with poison.^[3]

While these events were in progress, Mary, whom the Duke believed to be ignorant of all that had passed,

↑ Hayward's Life of Edward VI. Scheyfne.
↑ Scheyfne.
↑ The suspicion that Edward was poisoned was shared both by Catholic and Protestant. Machyn, a contemporary citizen of London, says that no one doubted it.—Diary, p. 35. Burcher, writing to Bullinger, says: 'That wretch, the Duke of Northumberland, has committed an enormous crime. Our excellent King was taken off by poison; his nails and hair fell off,' &c. Renard, on the 6th of August, informed Charles V. that, by Mary's order, Edward's body had been examined, and it was found 'que les artoix des piedz luy estoients tumbez et qu'il a esté empoissonné.'—Renard's Despatches: MS. Rolls House. The symptoms certainly, do not resemble those of any known disorder. On the other hand, when a life came to an end on which much depended, there was always a suspicion of poison; and although Northumberland was not a man to have hesitated, had the acceleration of the death been important to him he would have gained no advantage from it in the least commensurate with the crime. The probable truth was perhaps this: that the woman to whose exclusive care the King was culpably committed, administered mineral medicines in over-doses, and that Edward was in fact poisoned, though not by deliberate malice.

[1] Hayward's Life of Edward VI. Scheyfne.

[2] Scheyfne.

[3] The suspicion that Edward was poisoned was shared both by Catholic and Protestant. Machyn, a contemporary citizen of London, says that no one doubted it.—Diary, p. 35. Burcher, writing to Bullinger, says: 'That wretch, the Duke of Northumberland, has committed an enormous crime. Our excellent King was taken off by poison; his nails and hair fell off,' &c. Renard, on the 6th of August, informed Charles V. that, by Mary's order, Edward's body had been examined, and it was found 'que les artoix des piedz luy estoients tumbez et qu'il a esté empoissonné.'—Renard's Despatches: MS. Rolls House. The symptoms certainly, do not resemble those of any known disorder. On the other hand, when a life came to an end on which much depended, there was always a suspicion of poison; and although Northumberland was not a man to have hesitated, had the acceleration of the death been important to him he would have gained no advantage from it in the least commensurate with the crime. The probable truth was perhaps this: that the woman to whose exclusive care the King was culpably committed, administered mineral medicines in over-doses, and that Edward was in fact poisoned, though not by deliberate malice.

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