Protestantism in England From the Times of Henry VIII - James Aitken Wylie

character. Herself a lady of eminent virtue and
great intelligence, she was at pains to instill into his
mind those principles which should make his life
pure, his reign prosperous, and his subjects happy.
Nor would the watchful eye of Cranmer be
unobservant of the heir to the crown, nor would his
timely cooperation and wise counsel be wanting in
the work of fitting him for swaying the scepter of
England at one of its greatest crises. The
archbishop is said to have wept for joy when he
marked the rapid and graceful intellectual
development, and deep piety, of the young prince.
The king's maternal uncle, Edward Seymour,
Earl of Hertford, afterwards Duke of Somerset, was
made head of the council of regency, under the title
of Protector of the Realm. He was an able
statesman, and a friend of the Reformed opinions.
(Cranmer, in virtue of his primacy, as well as by
appointment of the late king, was a member of the
Council. Wriothesly, the chancellor, a man versed
in intrigue, and so bigoted an adherent of the old
faith that, as we have seen, he sometimes tortured
with his own hands those under examination before
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