After the death of James V. of Scotland, Henry pro jected the scheme of uniting that kingdom to his own do minions, by marrying his son Edward to the heiress of the Scottish crown ; and a treaty to that effect was actually concluded, by which it was agreed, that the Princess Mary should remain in Scotland till she should be ten years of age ; that she should then be sent to England to be educated ; and that the kingdom, notwithstanding its union with England, should retain its own laws and pri vileges. But all these prospects of perpetual amity be tween the two nations were destroyed by the intrigues or Cardinal Beaton, and the weakness of the Regent James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, and the violent temper of Henry himself, who, upon the first appearance of opposition to his views, precipitated a new war against the Scots. His fleet landed ten thousand men at Leith, who took and pillaged the city of Edinburgh, while another army laid waste the whole country between Berwick and Hackling ton. By this violent incursion, he only inflamed the pas sions of the Scots without subduing their spirit ; and, as was commonly observed, did too much if he wished to solicit an alliance, but too little if he intended to make a conquest.
In the mean time, while thus ardently bent upon pro viding a match for his son, he formed another matrimo nial connection for himself; and took as his sixth wife Catherine Parr, widow of Nevil Lord Latimer, a lady who secretly favoured the sentiments of the reformers, but who was obliged to conduct herself with so great cau tion, that she Burst not even intercede l'or three Protes tant gentlemen, and a young lady of her own acquaint ance, who were all burned at Windsor a short time after her marriage. Once indeed she attempted to argue with the king on theological subjects, who complained of her to Bishop Gardiner, and who was instigated, by the ad vice of that prelate, to proceed against her with the ut most rigour. Articles of impeachment were actually drawn up for her trial, and the hour fixed for her com mitment to the 'Power; but having received timely inti mation of her approaching fate, she found means, by her prudence and address, to pacify her husband, and disap point her enemies.
The war with Scotland had led to a rupture with France ; and in order to support the burdens of this dou ble contest, henry, instead of demanding a subsidy from his parliament, (which with all his authority he generally found it difficult to controul in pecuniary grants,) had re course to many dishonourable methods of filling his trea sur•. Ile required new loans from his subjects, though Ise had recently enacted laws, which exempted him Isom payment of his old debts. lie increased the nominal value of gold and silver ; and even caused base money to be coined, and to be made current by proclamation. Resolving, in concert with the emperor Charles, tocom 'nand his army, which was destined for the invasion of France, he thought proper, before his departure, to fix the rule of succession to the crown. By the act passed for this purpose, it was settled, 1. On Edward Prince of Wales, and his lawful issue ; 2. On the king's issue by
his present or any future queen; 3. On the Princess Ma ry, and her lawful issue ; 4. On the Princess Elizabeth, and her lawful issue ; and, failing all these, on such as the king pleased to appoint by letters patent, or by his last will. But, with his usual caprice, while he opened the way to the throne to Mary and Elizabeth, he would not allow those acts to be reversed which had declared them illegitimate, and reserved the power of still exclu ding them from the succession, if they refused to submit to any conditions which he might be pleased to impose.
Henry having appointed the Queen to the office of Regent dining his absence, passed over to Calais with an army of 30,000 men, accompanied by the principal nobles and gentlemen of his kingdom. But, after taking Boulogne, a misunderstanding arose between the allied sovereigns ; and the king of England returned borne, as in all his military enterprizes, with an acquisition of little importance, made at an immense expence. The war with Scotland in the mean time was conducted feebly, and with various success. The commons granted a sub sidy, to support the expence of these two wars ; but ap prehensive lest more demands should be made upon them, they endeavoured to save themselves, by bestowing on the king all the revenues of the universities, as well as of the free chapels and hospitals. Henry, however, though pleased with a concession which increased his power, took care to acquaint the universities, that he had no intention to deprive learning of its endowments; and it is to his generosity, not to any protection afforded by his prostitute parliament, that these celebrated esta blishments owe their existence.
Having concluded a peace with France and Scotland, Henry turned his attention to domestic affairs, and par ticularly to his favourite object of promoting religious uniformity. The hopes of the reformers, who had been rather discouraged by the severe law of the six articles, were revived considerably by some of his measures. He permitted the litany to he celebrated in the vulgar tongue; and added a prayer, to " save us from the tyranny of the Bishop of Rome, and from all his detestable enormities." Ile protected Cramer in a very decided manner, from the cabals of his enemies among the Popish party ; and entirely wandrew his favour from Gardiner, on account of his malignant attempts to accomplish the destruction of the Queen. His tyrannical disposition, however, irri tated and soured by his declining state of health, impel led him to punish, with fresh severities, all who pre sumed to differ from himself, especially on the capital point of the real presence. An ulcer broke out in his leg, which occasioned him extreme pain, and which, in adedt:oa to his monstrous corpulency, at once threat ened his life, and rendered him more than usually pas sionate and untractable. He became more and more outrageous as his end approached; aml the cruelty of his temper seemed to increase, in proportion as his power of exercising it drew near to its termination.