“This is strong language, my lord,” cried Lord Russell.
“My language is not a jot too strong,” rejoined the admiral. “I will maintain what I have advanced. My affection to my royal nephew, my duty to my sovereign, demand that I should speak out. The king, who, as you are well aware, has a wisdom far beyond his years, is treated like a mere child—a puppet. He is denied all liberty of action, shut up with his tutors, and debarred from the society of those nearest to him in kin, and dearest in his regards. He is powerless, as you know, in the council, and since the lord protector hath provided himself with a stamp, even the royal signature is ordinarily dispensed with. But this is not all. His majesty’s privy purse is so scantily and inadequately supplied, that he hath not wherewithal to reward his servants. Is this to be endured? Is the son and successor of the great Henry VIII. to be thus scandalously treated?”
“I say no,” replied the Marquis of Dorset. “The lord protector carries matters with far too high a hand. We have a king, though he be a minor. I can confirm what the lord admiral has just stated as to the needless restriction placed upon the king’s society. He is not allowed to choose his own companions, and even my own daughter is among the interdicted.”
“I have remonstrated with my brother the lord protector,” continued the lord admiral, “but my remonstrances have proved ineffectual. He will listen to nothing I have to say. But, by Heaven! he shall hear me. I will find a way to move him.”
“What does your lordship propose to do?” demanded Lord Russell.
“In a word, I mean to free my royal nephew from his present unworthy thraldom,” rejoined the admiral. “The lord protector must no longer be governor of his person. He has proved himself unfit for the office.”
“Whom would you substitute, my lord—yourself?” demanded Sir John Gage, gruffly.
“Ay, marry—none were so fit,” cried the Marquis of Dorset. “The lord admiral is his majesty’s favorite uncle, and is in all respects better suited to be governor of his person than the stern and moody lord protector.”
“I have searched old chronicles for precedents,” pursued the admiral, “and I find that heretofore the offices of lord protector and governor of the king’s person never have been united; neither can they rightly be combined. Thus, at one time, there was a protector of England and a regent of France, while the Duke of Exeter and the Bishop of Winchester were made governors of the king, incontestably proving that the offices ought not to be conjoined.”
“Do not forget, my lord, that you voted for your brother’s appointment to both offices,” observed the constable.
“Right sorry am I that I did so,” rejoined the admiral. “‘Twas a most ill-judged act. But because I have done wrong, there is no reason why the error should not be repaired. I have shown you that the Duke of Somerset ought no longer to hold the office. You may choose a better governor for his majesty than myself, but you can choose no one who loves him better, or will more studiously consult his welfare.”
“That we nothing doubt,” remarked Sir John Gage. “But you may rely upon it, your brother will never surrender the post, save on compulsion—and to your lordship last of all.”
“The lord protector’s unfounded and unbrotherly jealousy must not be allowed to operate to his majesty’s disadvantage,” cried Dorset. “No one is so well qualified for the post as the lord admiral.”
“Have I your support, then, my lords and gentlemen?” said Seymour.
“You have mine, most heartily,” cried Dorset.
“And mine!—And mine,” cried several other voices.
“If the change could be accomplished quietly, I should not object to it,” observed Sir John Gage; “but I fear the attempt will disturb the government.”
“Is it the king’s desire that the change should be made?” inquired Lord Russell.
“His earnest desire,” replied the admiral. “It is his majesty’s design to address a letter to the Houses of Parliament on the subject.
“Indeed!” exclaimed Lord Russell.
“Ay, indeed!” echoed the admiral. “And if you will all stand by me, we shall be too strong for any opposition. I have plenty of other supporters in both Houses to make a bruit about the matter.”