[321] Edward VI., son of Henry VIII. and Jane Seymour, King of
England, born in 1537, died, in his sixteenth year, the 8th of
July 1553. Gifted with a precocious strength of reason, and a
lively sensibility, instructed in the ancient languages and
foreign literature, this young prince did not live long enough to
realize the hopes to which his accession to the throne had given
birth. "His virtues," says the historian Hume, "had made him an
object of tender affection to the public. He possessed mildness of
disposition, application to study and business, a capacity to learn
and judge, and an attachment to equity and justice." Devotional
reading had a particular attraction for this prince, who was
heartily devoted to the cause of the Reformation. Calvin dedicated
two of his commentaries to him: "_Joannis Calvini Commentarii
in Iesaiam Prophetam, Eduardo VI., Angliæ Regi, 8 Cal. Januarii
1551_." "_Joannis Calvini Commentarii in Epistolas Canonicas._" The
dedication of the first of these commentaries (25th December 1550)
furnishes us the date of the letter of Calvin, written in the month
of January 1551, and brought to the King by the minister, Nicolas
des Gallars.
He exhorts him to persevere in the work of the Reformation in
his kingdom--enumeration of abuses--ceremonies--ecclesiastical
elections--universities.