IN 1546 it must have been evident to most observers that the life of the man who had for thirty-five years been England's ruler and tyrant- of whom Raleigh affirmed that if all the patterns of a merciless Prince had been lost in the world they might have been found in this one King-was not likely to be prolonged ; and though it had been made penal to foretell the death of the sovereign, men must have been secretly Jooking on to the future with anxious eyes.Of all the descendants of Henry VIIJ only one was male, the little Prince Edward, and in case of his death the succession would lie between his two sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, branded by successive Acts of Parliament with illegitimacy, the infantTable of Contents PAGE; The condition of Europe and England-Retrospect-Religious Affairs-A Teign of terror-Cranmer in danger- Katherine Howard i; CHAPTER II i54