GREY, Lady Jane, a scion of the blood-royal of England, remarkable for her many virtues and accomplishments no less than her misfortunes, was born in 1537, at Broadgate, in Leicestershire. She was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII. of England. Mary, second daughter of that king, after being left a widow by Louis XII. of France, married Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, by whom she had a daughter, who ultimately married Henry Grey, Marquis of Dorset. The offspring of this union was three daughters, the eldest of whom was Lady Jane Grey. From an early period she was distinguished for her talents; it is known for certain that while still very young she had thoroughly mastered Latin, Greek, French, and Italian, and was conversant with at least three of the Oriental tongues, Hebrew, Chaldee, and Arabic. In Ascham's Schoolmaster is given a touching account of the difficulties and hardships under which she pursued her studies, and the causelessly cruel treatment she experienced from her parents. In 1553, her father and the Duke of Northum-
Greyhound berland, having risen to power after the downfall of Somerset, resolved to transfer into their own families the right of succession to the throne. A marriage was accordingly brought about between Lady Jane Grey and Lord Guilford Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland's fourth son; and the weakly Edward VI., when he found his end approaching, was easily persuaded to pass over his own sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, and nominate Lady Jane Grey and her husband as his successors to the English throne. Some days elapsed after the king's death before Lady Jane was told that she was queen of England; and when she came to know the fact, she could only with the greatest difficulty be persuaded to avail herself of it. After a reign of ten days, she quietly resigned the throne in favour of Mary. Her husband and she were thrown into the Tower; and though it was not originally intended to put them to death, yet, in consequence of Wyatt's insurrection, they were executed together, Feb. 12, 1554. Lady Jane displayed on the scaffold the same pious resignation and calm self-possession that had distinguished her throughout life. (Ascham's Schoolmaster; Biog. Brit.; Burnet's Hist. Ref.)