It is most reasonable to regard the dress as copied from the costume
of the citizens of London of that period, when long blue coats were the
common habit of apprentices and serving-men, and yellow stockings
were generally worn; the coat fits closely to the body, but has loose
sleeves, and beneath is worn a sleeveless yellow under-coat; around the
waist is a red leathern girdle; a clerical band around the neck, and
a small flat black cap, about the size of a saucer, completes the
costume.--Timbs’ Curiosities of London.
NOTE 2, Chapter IV.
It appears that Christ’s Hospital was not originally founded as a
school; its object was to rescue children from the streets, to
shelter, feed, clothe them.--Timbs’ Curiosities of London.
NOTE 3, Chapter V. The Duke of Norfolk’s Condemnation commanded.
The King was now approaching fast towards his end; and fearing lest
Norfolk should escape him, he sent a message to the Commons, by which
he desired them to hasten the Bill, on pretence that Norfolk enjoyed the
dignity of Earl Marshal, and it was necessary to appoint another, who
might officiate at the ensuing ceremony of installing his son Prince of
Wales.--Hume’s History of England, vol. iii. p. 307.
NOTE 4, Chapter VII.
It was not till the end of this reign (Henry VIII.) that any salads,
carrots, turnips, or other edible roots were produced in England. The
little of these vegetables that was used was formerly imported from
Holland and Flanders. Queen Catherine, when she wanted a salad, was
obliged to despatch a messenger thither on purpose.--Hume’s History of
England, vol. iii. p. 314.
NOTE 5, Chapter VIII. Attainder of Norfolk.
The House of Peers, without examining the prisoner, without trial or
evidence, passed a Bill of Attainder against him and sent it down to the
Commons . . . The obsequious Commons obeyed his (the King’s)
directions; and the King, having affixed the Royal assent to the Bill by
commissioners, issued orders for the execution of Norfolk on the morning
of January 29 (the next day).--Hume’s History of England, vol iii. p
306.
NOTE 6, Chapter X. The Loving-cup.
The loving-cup, and the peculiar ceremonies observed in drinking from
it, are older than English history. It is thought that both are Danish
importations. As far back as knowledge goes, the loving-cup has always
been drunk at English banquets. Tradition explains the ceremonies in
this way. In the rude ancient times it was deemed a wise precaution
to have both hands of both drinkers employed, lest while the pledger
pledged his love and fidelity to the pledgee, the pledgee take that
opportunity to slip a dirk into him!
NOTE 7, Chapter XI. The Duke of Norfolk’s narrow Escape.
Had Henry VIII. survived a few hours longer, his order for the duke’s
execution would have been carried into effect. ‘But news being
carried to the Tower that the King himself had expired that night,
the lieutenant deferred obeying the warrant; and it was not thought
advisable by the Council to begin a new reign by the death of the
greatest nobleman in the kingdom, who had been condemned by a sentence
so unjust and tyrannical.’--Hume’s History of England, vol. iii, p. 307.
NOTE 8, Chapter XIV. The Whipping-boy.
James I. and Charles II. had whipping-boys, when they were little
fellows, to take their punishment for them when they fell short in their
lessons; so I have ventured to furnish my small prince with one, for my
own purposes.
NOTES to Chapter XV.
Character of Hertford.
The young King discovered an extreme attachment to his uncle, who
was, in the main, a man of moderation and probity.--Hume’s History of
England, vol. iii, p324.
But if he (the Protector) gave offence by assuming too much state, he
deserves great praise on account of the laws passed this session,
by which the rigour of former statutes was much mitigated, and some
security given to the freedom of the constitution. All laws were
repealed which extended the crime of treason beyond the statute of the
twenty-fifth of Edward III.; all laws enacted during the late reign
extending the crime of felony; all the former laws against Lollardy or
heresy, together with the statute of the Six Articles. None were to be
accused for words, but within a month after they were spoken. By
these repeals several of the most rigorous laws that ever had passed
in England were annulled; and some dawn, both of civil and religious
liberty, began to appear to the people. A repeal also passed of that
law, the destruction of all laws, by which the King’s proclamation was
made of equal force with a statute.--Ibid. vol. iii. p. 339.
Boiling to Death.
In the reign of Henry VIII. poisoners were, by Act of Parliament,
condemned to be boiled to death. This Act was repealed in the
following reign.
In Germany, even in the seventeenth century, this horrible punishment
was inflicted on coiners and counterfeiters. Taylor, the Water Poet,
describes an execution he witnessed in Hamburg in 1616. The judgment
pronounced against a coiner of false money was that he should ‘_be
boiled to death in oil_; not thrown into the vessel at once, but with
a pulley or rope to be hanged under the armpits, and then let down into
the oil by degrees; first the feet, and next the legs, and so to boil
his flesh from his bones alive.’--Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull’s Blue Laws,
True and False, p. 13.
The Famous Stocking Case.
A woman and her daughter, nine years old, were hanged in Huntingdon
for selling their souls to the devil, and raising a storm by pulling off
their stockings!--Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull’s Blue Laws, True and False,
p. 20.
NOTE 10, Chapter XVII. Enslaving.
So young a King and so ignorant a peasant were likely to make mistakes;
and this is an instance in point. This peasant was suffering from this
law by anticipation; the King was venting his indignation against a
law which was not yet in existence; for this hideous statute was to
have birth in this little King’s own reign. However, we know, from the
humanity of his character, that it could never have been suggested by
him.
NOTES to Chapter XXIII. Death for Trifling Larcenies.
When Connecticut and New Haven were framing their first codes, larceny
above the value of twelve pence was a capital crime in England--as it
had been since the time of Henry I.--Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull’s Blue
Laws, True and False, p. 17.
The curious old book called The English Rogue makes the limit thirteen
pence ha’penny: death being the portion of any who steal a thing ‘above
the value of thirteen pence ha’penny.’
NOTES to Chapter XXVII.
From many descriptions of larceny the law expressly took away the
benefit of clergy: to steal a horse, or a hawk, or woollen cloth from
the weaver, was a hanging matter. So it was to kill a deer from the
King’s forest, or to export sheep from the kingdom.--Dr. J. Hammond
Trumbull’s Blue Laws, True and False, p.13.
William Prynne, a learned barrister, was sentenced (long after Edward
VI.’s time) to lose both his ears in the pillory, to degradation from
the bar, a fine of 3,000 pounds, and imprisonment for life. Three years
afterwards he gave new offence to Laud by publishing a pamphlet against
the hierarchy. He was again prosecuted, and was sentenced to lose _what
remained of his ears, to pay a fine of 5,000 pounds, to be branded on
both his cheeks_ with the letters S. L. (for Seditious Libeller), and to
remain in prison for life. The severity of this sentence was equalled
by the savage rigour of its execution.--Ibid. p. 12.
NOTES to Chapter XXXIII.
Christ’s Hospital, or Bluecoat School, ’the noblest institution in the
world.’
The ground on which the Priory of the Grey Friars stood was conferred
by Henry VIII. on the Corporation of London (who caused the institution
there of a home for poor boys and girls). Subsequently, Edward VI.
caused the old Priory to be properly repaired, and founded within
it that noble establishment called the Bluecoat School, or Christ’s
Hospital, for the education and mai