Cornell University Library BR375 .C65 1886 History of the Protestant reformation In olin 3 1924 029 245 524 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029245524 A HISTO"RY Protestant Reforaation ENGLAND AND IRELAND- Shewing how thai Event has Imfoverished the Main Body of the People in those Countries. WILLIAM COBBET': NEW YORK : D, & J. SADLIER & CO., 31 BARCLAY ST. Montreal : 275 Notre Dame St. A aiSTORY or TEB PROTESTANT " RP^FORlMATlOlSr. " LITTBR I. INTRODUCTION. Kemington, 29lh Nov. 18S^i. Mt Friends, 1. We have recently seen a rescript from the Kin^ to the Bishops, the object of which was to cause them to call upon their Clergy, tr cause collections of money to be made in the leveral parishes kinroughout England, for tlie purpose of pro- moting what is called the " religious education" of the people. The Bishops, in >;onveying their instructions on this subject, to their Clergy, direct them to send the money thus collected to a Mr. .Joshua Watson, in London, who, it seems, is the Treasurei of this religious education concern, and who is, or lately was, a wine and spirit dealer, in Mincing-lane, Fench-church-street.— This same Mr. Watson is also the head man of a society called ihe " Society for promoting Christian knowledge." The pre jent Bishop of Winchester, in his first charge to the Clergy of his djocese, says, that this socr^jy is the " correct expounder of evangelical truth, and firm swgpSi,i,j,' »/ the established dturch ; and he accordingly sti^ngly recommends, that the publications put forth by this soqieiy be put*hito the hands of the scholars of those schools, to~ promote which, the above-mentioned col- lections were made by "foyal authority. ^ 2. We shall, further on, have an opportunity of asking whet iort of a Clergy this must be, who, while they swallow, in Eng^ land and Ireland, about eight millions a year, call upon their Ef.rishioners for money to be sent tb a wine and spirit merchan* -Tit he may cause the children of the country to have a " ref gious education." But, not to stop, at present, for this purpoSB.. pray observe, my friends, that this society for "promoting Christian knowledge," is continually putting forth publications the object of which is to make the people of England believe, that the Catholic religion is " idolatrous and damnable ;" and that, of course, the one-third part of the whole of our fellow 4 INTRODUtriOR ivibjecU are idolalert, and are destined to eternal perdilian, and that tliey, of course, ought not to enjoy llic same rights tlmt we Protestants enjoy. These caluranialors know well, that this aauic Catholic religion was, for nine hundred years, the only- Christian religion known to 01 r forefathers. This is a fact which Ihey cannot disg;uisc from intelligent persons ; and, therefore, they, like the Protestant Clergy, are constantly applauding Ilic Cliatige which, took place about two hundred years ago, and which change goes by the name of the REFORMATION. 3. Before we proceed further, let us clearly understand t!ie meaning of these words : Catholic, Protestant, and Refok- matiOlV. Catholic means universal, and the religion, wliich takes this epithet, was called universal, because all Christian people of every nation acknowledge it to be the only true reli- gion, and because they all acknowledge one and the same head of the church, and this was the Pope, who, though he generally resided at Rome, was the head of the church in England, in France, in Spain, and, in short, in every part of the world where the Christian religion was professed. But there came a time, when some nations, , or, rather, parts of some nations, cast off the authority of the Pope, and, of course, no longer ac- knowledged him as the head of the Christian Church. These nations, or parts of nations, declared, or protested, agamst the authority of their former head, and also against the doctrine? of that church, which, until now, had been the only Christian Church. They, therefore, called themselves Protestors, or Pro- testants; and this is now the appellation given to all who are not Catholics. As to the word Reformation, it means an altera- tion for the belter ; and it would have been hard indeed if the makers of this great alteration could not have contrived to give it a good name. 4. Now, ray friends, a fair and honest inquiry will teach us, that this was an alteration greatly for the worse ; that the Re- formation, as it is called, was engendered in beastly lust, brought forth in hypocrisy and perfidy, and clierished and fed by plun- der, devastation, and by rivers of innocent English and Irish blood ; and that, as to its more remote consequences, they are, tome of them, now before us, in that misery, that beggary, that naKeuness, that hunger, that everlasting wrangling and spite, which now stare us in the face and stun our ears at eveiy turu, and which the " Reformation" has given us in exchange for the ease and happiness and harmony and Christian charity, enjoy- ed so abundantly, and for so many ages by our Catholic fore- fathers. 6. Were there, for Aie entering on this inquiry, no raotiv* ether than that of a bare love of justice, that motive alun^ vould. I hope, be suSicient with the far greater part of Engliotr inTBODUCTION. g luen. But, besides tlvis abstract motive, there is another of great and pressing practical inportance. A full third part of our fel row-subjects arc still Catholics ; and when we consider that the principles of the " Reformation" are put forward as the ground for excluding them from their civil rights, and also as the g'ound for treating them in a manner the most scornful, de> spiteiiil, and cruel ; when we o:>nsider, that it is not in human nature hr men to endure such treatment, without wishing for, and without seeking opportunities for taking vengeance ; when we consider the present formidable attitude of foreign nations, naturally our foes, and how necessary it is that we should all b* cordiedly united, in order to preserve the mdependence of our country ; when we consider that such union is utterly impossi- ble as long as one-third part of the people are treated as out- casts, because, and only because, they have, in spite of two hundred years of persecutions unparalleled, adhered to the re- ligion of their and of our fathers : when we consider these things, ^ that fair and honest inquiry, on which a bare love of jiistice might well induce us to enter, presses itself upon us as a duty which we owe to ourselves, our children, and our country. 6. If you will follow me in this inquiry, I will first show you how this thing called the Reformaiion began ; what it arose out of; and then i will show you its progress, how it marched on, plundering, devastating, inflicting torments on the people, anc' shedding their innocent blood. I will trace it downward through all its stages, until I show you its natural result in the schemes of Parson Malthus, in the Oundle-plan of Lord John Russell's • ecommending, in the present misery indescribable of the la- bouring classes in England and Ireland, and in that odious and detestable system, which has made Jews and paper-money ma- kers the real owners of a large part of the estates in this kingdom 7. But, before I enter on this series of deeds and of conse quenceS; it is necessary to offer you some observations of a more general nature, and calculated to make us doubi, at least, of the truth of what we have heard against the Catholic religion. Our min> God;" these "words of eternal life ;" this book that pointt out to us the means, and the ouly means of salvation : wliat a sliock- ing fact, that we should have received tliis book from tliat Pope and thai Catholic church, to malie us believe that the first o« whom is the wkore of Babylon, and that the worship o'. the 'ast is idolatrous, and her doctrines damnable, you, Joshua, and your society for " promoting Christian knowledge," are now, at this very moment, publishing and pushing into circulation no legs than seve7iteen di^ercnt books and tracts ! 18. After the death of Christ, there was a long space of time beforr the gospel was put into any thing like its present shape. It was preaclied in several countries, and churches were estab- lished in those countries, long before the written gospel was known much of, or, at least, long before it was ma.de use of as a guide to the Christian churches. At the end of about four hundred years, the written gospels were laid before a council ot the Catliolic clmrch, of which the Pope was tlie head. But, there were several gospels besides those of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John ! Several other of the apostles, or early disci- ples, had written gospels. All these, long after the death of the authors, were, as 1 have just said, laid before a council of the Catholic church ; and that council determined which of the gos- pels were genuine and which not. It retained the four gospels of Maitliew, Mark, Luke, and John; it determined that these foii.r should be received and believed in, and that all the reel bIk idd be rejected. 19. So that here Josluia Watson's society is without any other gospel ; without any other word of God ; without any guide to eternal life: without any other than that which that society as well as all the rest of us have received from a church, which that lociety calls " idolatrous," and the head of which it calls "the beast, the man of sin, the scarlet whore, and Antichrist!" To K pretty state, then, do we reduce ourselves by giving in to this feul-mouthed calumny against the Catholic cliurcli : to a pretty ■tate do we reduce ourselves by our tame and stupid listening to those who calumniate the Catholic churcli, because they lire on the spoils of it. To a pretty state do we come, when we if we still listen to these calumniators, proclaim to the woild, thai our only hope of salvation rests on promises contained in a book, which we have received from the scarlet whore, and of the authenticity of which we have no vouclicr other tlian that ■cariet whore and that church, vhose worship is *' idolatrous," ■nd whose doctrines are " damnable." i!0. This is pretty complete; but still ths, wliich applies to r^f Prclestanls, is not enough of inconsisten ,y to satisfy the lau ehurch of England. That churc)] has a Liturgy in great part nlTRODDCYIOR. n mad« up of the Catholic service ; but, there are the two creedt, tlie Nicent and Alhanasian. The first was eampostd and pro mulgated by a Council of the Cath«l>c church, and the Pope ; oud, the second was adopted, and ordered to be used, by ano' tber council of that church, with the Pope at its head. Miul not a Parson of this /aw-church be pretty impudent, then, i» call tlie Pope " Antichrist," and to call the Catholic church " idolatrous." Pretty impudent indeed ; but we do not, erea vet, see the grossest inconsistency of all. 21. To our /oto-church Prayer-Book there is a calendar pre« fixed, and in this calendar there are, under diderent days o( the year, certain names of holy men and wommi- Tlieir namei are put here in order that their anniversaries may be attended to, and religiously attended to, by the people. Now, who are those holy persons ? Some Protestant Saints, to be sure. Not one; What, not saint Luther, nor saint Croiimer, nor said Edward the Sixth, nor the " VIRGIN" saint Elizabeth ? Not a soul of them ; but a whole list of Popes, Catholic Bishops, and Catholic holy persons, female as well as male. Several virgins ; but not the " VIRGIN Queen ;" nor any one of the Pro- testant race. At first sight this seems odd ; for this calendar was made by Act of Parliament. ,But, the truth is, it was ne- cessary to preserve some of the names, so long revered by the people, in order to keep them in better humour, and lo lead them by degrees into the new religion. At any rate, here is the Prayer-BooK, holding up for our respect and reverence a whole list of Popes and of other persons belonging to the Ca- tholic cliurcli, while those who teach us lo read and to repeat the contents of this same Prayer-Book, are incessantly dinning in our ears, that the Popes have all been " Antichrists," a;id thi^t their church was, and Is, idolatrous in its worship, and damnable in its doctrines ' •22. Judge Bayley (one of the present twelve Ji.-, that, " Throaghout Europe, Protestants rank higher in the icale oj intellect than Catholics, and that Catholics in the neighbour' hood of ProteftanU are more intellectual than those at a distance from them." This is a fine specimen of upstart Protestant im- pudence. The above scale is, however, a complete answer to It. Allow one-third more to the French on account of their su- perior populousness, and then there will remain to them 481 to our 132 ! So that they had, man for man, three and a ha(f^iinu as much intellect as we, though they are buried, all the while, in '• monkish ignorance and superstion," and though they had no Protestant neighbours to catch the intellect from ! Even the Ita- lians surpass us in this rivalship for intellect ; for their popula- tion is not equal to that of which we boast, and their number of men of mind considerably exceeds that of ours ! — but do I not, all this while, misunderstand the matter ? And, by intellect, does not the Scotchman mean the capacity to make, uot book] and pictures, but checks, bills, bonds, exchequer-bills, \nimitable notes, and the like ? Does he not mean loan-jobbing ^^d stock- jobbing, insurance-broking, annuities at ten per cenl , and all the intellectual proceedings of 'Change Alley ; — not, by any means, forgetting works like those of Aslett and Fauntleroy ! Ah ! in that case I confess that he is right. On this icale Pro- testants do rank high indeed! And I should thiiik it next to Im- possible for a Catholic to live in their neighbourhood without being much '* more intellectual ;" that is to say, mach more o/ ii Jewish knave, than if he lived at a distance from them. 36. Here, tlien, my friends, sensible and just Fhiglisiiraen, I close this Introductory Letter. I have shown you how grossly we have been deceived, even from our very infancy. I have shown you, not only the injustice, but the absurdity of the abuse heaped by our interested deluders on the religion of their and BUT fathers. I have shown you enough to convince you that there was no obviously just cause for an alteration in the reli- gion of our country. 1 have, I dare say, awakened in your minds a strong desire to know how it came to pass, then, that thij alteration was made ; and, in the following Letters, it shall he my anxious endeavour fully to gratify this desire : but, ob» neive, ray chief object is to show that this alteration made the main body of the people poor and miserable, compared with irhat they were before ; that it impoverished and degraded them ; ihat it banishetl at once that " Old English Hospitality," ol which we have since known nothing but the name ; and that, In lien of that hospitality, it gave us pauperism, a thing' tha Wiy > ame of which was never before known in England LETTER n. Obigin ar thk Catholic Chorch. History of the CatRcz IK EwaiAND, DOWN TO THE TIME OF THE " ReFORMATIOH.' Beqin.nihg or the " Reformation" by Kino Hesry V III, Kr Friends, Kensington, SOtk Dec. 182-1. 37. It was not a reformation, but a devastation of Englaiil, which was. at the time when this event tooli place, the happiest country, perhaps, that the world had ever seen; and it is my chief business to show, that this devastation impoverished and degraded the main body of the people: but, in order that you may see this devastation in its true light, and that you may feel a just portion of indignation against the devastators, and against their eulogists of the present day, it is necessary, first, that you take a correct view of the things on which their devastating powers were exercised. 38. The far greater part of those books which are called " Histories of England," are little better than romances. They treat of battles, negociations, intrigues of courts, amours pi bings, queens, and nobles : they contain the gossip and scandal of former times, and very little else. There are Histories o( England, like that of Dr. Goldsmith, for the use of young per- ions; but, no young person who has read them through, knows any more, of any possible use, than he or she knew before. — The great use of history is, to teach us how laws, usages, am* institutions arose, what werethrir effects on the people, how they promoted public happiness, or otherwise ; and these things are precisely what the greater part of historians, as they call them- selves, seem to thiuk of no c.,nsequence. 39 We never understand tho nature and constituent parts of B thing so well as when we ourselves have made the thing : nest to making it is the seeing of it made ; but, if we have neither ©f these advantages, we ongiit, .' t least, if possible, to get at a true description of the origin 'it the thing, and of the manner in which it was put together. J have to speak to you of the C»thoMc church generally ; then of the Cliurch in England, nnder which head 1 shall have to spccik of thi parish-churchea. She monasteries, the tithes, and other revenues of the church It is, therefore, necessary tliat I explain to you how thp Catho- He church aiose; and how churches, monasteries, tithes, and PROTESTANT REFORMATION. It other church revenues came to be in England. When j m hare Ihis information, you will well understand what it was which was devastated by Henry VJIl. and the " reformation" people. And, I am satisfied, that, when you have read this one Number of my little work, you will know more about your country than jrou have learned, or evci will learn, from the reading of hun- dreds of those bulky volumes called " Histories of Englan<," 40.' The Catholic church originated with Jesus Christ himself. He selected Peter to be head of his church. This apostle's nams was SHnon, but his Master called him Peter, which means a ilone c ■ rock ; and he said, " on this rock will I build my church. ' Look at the Gospel of Saint Matthew, xvi. 18, 15, and at that of Saint tohn, xxi. 15, and onward ; and you will see that we must deny the truth of the Scriptures, or acknowledge, that here was a head of the Church promised for all generations. 41. Saint Peter died a martyr at Rome, in about sixty years «fter the oirth of Christ Sut another supplied his place i and there is the most satisfactory evidence^ that the chain of suc- cession has remained unbroken from that day to this. When I said in paragraph 10, that it might be said, that there was no Pope seated at Rome for the first three hundred years, I by no means meant to admit the fact; but to get rid of a pretence, which, at any rate, could not apply to England, which was con- verted to Christianity by missionaries sent bj/ a Pope, the suc- cessor of other Popes, who had been seated at Rome for hun- dreds of years. The truth is, that, from the persecutions which, for the first three hundred years, the church underwent, the Chief Bishops, successors of Saint Peter, had not always the means of openly maintaining their supremacy ; but they always existed ; there was always a Chief Bishop, and his supremacy was always acknowledged by the church ; that is to say, by all the Christians then in the world. 42. Of later date the Chief Bishop has been- called, in our language, the Pope, and in tlie French, Pape. In the Latin he is called Papa, which is an union and abbreviation of the Latin words Pater Pulrum, which mean Father of Fathers. Hence eomes the appellation of Papa, which children of all ChHsliap nations give to their fathers ; an appellation of the highest res- {MCt and most ardent and sincere affection. Thus then, the'Pope, each as he succeeded to his office, became the Chief or Head oif She Church ; and his supremt power and authority were ac- knowledged, as 1 have observed in paragraph 3, by all the bi- shops, and all the teachers of Christianity, in all the nations where that religion existed. The Pope was, and is, assisted by ■ body of persons called Cardinals, or Great Couhcillors ; and at various and numerous times. Councils of the church hav« been held, in order to discuss and settle matters of deep inler- 00 PROTESTANT REFORMA TIOJI est t^ the unity and well-being of the church. These coundb have been held in all the countries of Christendom. Meny were held in England. T!ie Popes themselves have been taken pro- miicuoaily from men of all the Christian nations. Pope Adrian IV. was an Englishman, the son of a very poor labouring man; but having become a servant in a monastei-y, he was there taught, and became nimself a monk. In time he grew famous for his learning, his talents and piety, and at last became (he Head of the Church. 43. The Popedom, or office of Pope, continued in cxistenot through all the great and repeated revolutions of kingdoias and empires. The Roman Empire, which was at the height of iU glory at the beginning of the Christian era, and which extend, ed indeed nearly over the whole of Europe, and part of Africa and Asia, crumbled all to pieces ; yet tlie Popedom remained ; and at the time when the devastation, commonly called the Re- formation of England began, there had been, during the fifteen hundred years, about two hundred and sixty Popes, following each other in due and unbroken succession. 44. The History of the Church in England, down to the time of the Reformation, is a matter of deep interest to us. A mere look at it, a bare sketch of the principal facts, will show how false, how unjust, how ungrateful those have been who have vi- lified the Catholic church, its Popes, its Monks, and its Priests. It is supposed, by some, and, indeed, with good authorities on their side, that the Christian religion was partially introduced into England so early as- the second century after Christ. But we know for a certainty, tliat it was introduced effectually in the year 596; that is to say, 923 years before Henry VIII. be- gan to destroy it. 45. England, at the time when this religion was introduced, was governed by seven kings, and that state was called the Heptarchy. The people of the whole country were PAGANS. Fes, my friends, our ancestors were PAGANS : they worship, pod gods made with hands ; and they sacrificed children on the altars of their idols. In this state England was when the Pope of that day Gregory I., sent forty monks, with a monk of the name of Austin (or Augustin) at their head, to preach the gos- pel to the English. Look into the Calendar of our Common Prayer-Book, and you will find the name of Gregory the Great under the 12th of March, and that of Augustin under the 26th of May. It is probable that the Pope gave his order to Austin on the foRmer day, and that Austin landed in Kent on the lat- ter; or, perhaps, thete may be the days of the year on whicn Uie»e great benefactors of England were born. 46. Now please to bear in mind, that this great event took place in the year 596. The Protestant writ ers have been strage- »J«J.iil,3TANT REFORMATION. 91 ij •'A'jhaT ftftjfl irth"!' endeavours to make it o.it, that up to (All ,\nt,t.i ihereaboHva, the Catholic church was pure, and troi> Jn li-i iteps of tht. A\ ostles ; but that, after ikia lime, that chu. rh le;ame corrupt. ITiey applaud the character and act! of Pope Gregory ; they :l.i the same with regard to Austin ; ihsiTie would not suffer thevi to leave their names out of the calendar ; but, still, they wan to make it out, that there was no purt mas, rites, ceremonies and observances, just as they all continud to exist at the tim» of the " Reformation," and a.s they coi I'tiue to exist in that church even unto this day. Whence it clvarly follows, that, if the Catholic church were corrupt at the ti r.e of (he " Reforma- tion," or be corrupt now, be radically bad ii w, it was so in 596 ; and then comes the impious and horrid infen nee, mentioned in paragraph 12, that " All our fathers who fir ;i built our church- es, and whose bones and flesh form the e.w ll« for many feet deep in all the church-yards, are now howliny ' i the regions of the damned !" 47. " The tree is known by its fruit." Beat n mind that it was the Catholic faith as now held, that wa! introduced into England by Pope Gregory the Great ; and beari 1 1; this in mind, let us see what were the effects of that introdui i i on ; let us see how that faith worked its way, in spite of wars, "-nvasions, ty rannies, and political revolutions. 48. Saint Austin, upon his arrival, applied to tl' : Saxon king, within whose dominions the county of Kent lay. He obtained leave to preach to the people, and his success was great aud immediate. He converted the king himself, whc was very gin cious to him and his brethren ; and who pro' ided dwelling* and other necessaries for (hem at Canterbury Saint Austin and his brethren being monks, lived together i.i common, ami from this common home went forth over the country, preaeli ing he gospel. As their community was dimijisiied by dealh new members were ordained to keep up the jupply ; and, be Bid 03 this, the number was in time greatly aug.ncuted. A clnirch was built at Canterbury, Saint Austin was, oi' course, the Bishop t r Head Priest. He was succeeded by other bishops. As Chris- tianity spread over the island, other communities, like (hat at Canterbury, were founded in other cities ; as at I. »ndon, Win n PROTESTANT REFORMATION fliester, Exeter, Worcester, Norwich, YosK, and so of all the other places, where there are now Catiiedrals, or Bi.shops' fhurches. Hence, in process of time, aro^e those majestic and fcnerahle edifices, of the possession of wliich we Ijoast as the work of our forefathers, while we have the folly and nijustice snd inconsistency, to brand the memory of those very forefa- thers with the charge of grovelling ignorance, superstition and Idolatry ; and while we show our own meanness of mind in div figurin^ and dishonouring those noble buildings by plastering ihcm about witli our childish and gingerbread " monumenitf line times out of ten, the offspring of vanity or corruption. 49. As to the mode of supporting the clergy in those times, H was by oblations or free gifts, and sometimes by tithes, which laud-owners paid themselves, or ordered their tenants to puy, though there was no general obligation to yield tithes for many years after the arrival of Saint Austin. In this collective, or collegiate state, the clergy remained (or many years. But in* time, as the land-owners became converted to Christianity, they wc.re desirous of having priests settled near to them, and always upon the spot, ready to perform the offices of religion : — the land was then owned by comparatively few persons. The rest of the people were vassals or tenants of the land-owners. The land-owners, therefore, built churches on their estates, and ge- nerally near their own liouses, for the benefit of themselvesi their vassals, and tenants. And to this day we see, in numer- ous instances, the country cliurch close by the gentleman's house. When they built the churches, they also built a house for the priest, which we now call the parsonage-house ; and, in most cases, they attached some plough-land, or meadow-land, or both, to the priest's house, for his use; and this was called his glebe ; which word, literally taken, means the top earth, which is turned over by tiie plough. Besides these, the land- owners, in conformity with the custom then prevalent in othei Christian countries, endowed the churches with the tithe of the produce of their estates. , 50. Hence panVjes arose. Parish means a prieA^5/up, as the land on which a town stands is a townshiji So that the great man's estate now became a parish. He retained the right of appointing the priest, whenever a vacancy happened; but, he could not displace a priest, when once appointed ; and the whole oi' the endowment became the property of ths church, ind& pendent of his controul. " It was a long v. hde, even two ceniu ries, or more, before this became the settled law of the nhole kingdom ; but, at last, it did become such But, to this posses- sion of so much property by the church, certain important corir ditiotsa were attached ; and to these conditions it behoves us, of the present day, to pay particular attentian ; 'or we are, at tiAi PROTESTANT REFORMATION. S Sime, more than ever,*feeling the want of the performnnci rf these conditions. 51. There never can have existed a state of society; that is t4 say, a otate of things in which preprietorskip in land was acknow« iedged, and in which it was maintained by law ; there never can have existed such a state, wiihout an obligation on the land-owneri to take care of the necessitous, and to prevent them from perishing for want. The land-oyvners in England took care of their vassah ' uij dependents ; but, when Christianity, the very basis o^ which «s charitxj, became established, the taking care of the necessi :oas wati deposited in the hands of the clergy. Upon the verj face of it, it appears monstrous, that a house, a small farm, and the tenth part of the produce of a large estate should have been given to a priest, who could have no wije, and, of course, no family. But, the fact is, that the grants were for other purposes as well as for the support of the priests. The produce of liie bene- fice was to be employed thus : " Let the pries's receive the tithes of li'ie people, and keep a written account of all that have gaid' them; and divide them, in the presence of such as fear God, ac- cording to canonical authority. Let them set apart the first sliare for the repairs und ornaments of the church ; let them distributs the second to the pom' and the stranger with their own hands, in mercy and humility; and reserve the third part for them- selves." These were the orders contained in a canon, issued by a Bishop of York. At different times, and under different Bishops, regulations somewhat different were adopted ; but there were always two fourths, at the l^ast, of the annual produce of the benefice to be given to the necessitous, and to be employed in the repairing, or in the ornamenting of the churc'' ^1 Thns, the providing for the poor, became one of the great duties and uses of the church. This duty rested befoi-e, on the la'd-owners. It must have rested on them; for, as Blackstone ol.senes, a right in the indigent " to demand a supply sufficient to all the necessities of life from the more opulent part of the community, is dictated by the p-inciples of society," This duty could be lodged in no liarids so fitly, as in those o( the clergy; for thus, the work of charity, the feeding of the hungry, tjia clothing of the nalced, the administering to the sick, tlie com-' forting of the widow; the fostering of the fatherless, came always Bi company with the performance of services to God. For the uncertain disposition of the rich, for their occasional and some- times capricious charity, was substituted the certain, the ateaxly (he impartial hand of a constantly resident and unmarried admi* rilstrator of bodily, as well as of spiritual comfort to the poor, tJU unfortunate and the stranger. We «liaU see, by-snd-bye the condition that the poor wb 84 PKOlKSTArtT REFORMATION. placed in, wc shall see how all the labouring classes were impo rerished and degraded, the moiuent the tithes aiid other reve- nues of the church were transferred to a protestatit and marrie«t clergy ; and we shall have to take a full view of the imparal^ leled liarbarity with which the Irish ^/eople were treated at thski time ; but I have not yet noticed another great branch, or contti 2uf nt part of the Catholic church ; namely, the Monasteruss, arhicli form a subject full of interest and wprthy of our best attea^ iion. The choicest and most highly impoisoned shafts in the qui «« oi the malice of Protestant writers, seem always to be select' Sd wfajn they have to rail against Monks, Friahs, and Ndns. We have seen Blackstone talking about " monkish ignorance and twperstiiion ;" and we hear, every day, Protestant bishops and parsons railing against what they call " monkery," talking of the * drams" in monasteries, and, indeed, abusing the whole of those undent institutions, as something degrading to human nature, 111 wliich work of abuse they are most heartily joined by the thir- ty or forty mongrel sects, whose bawling-tubs are erected in eve- ry corner of the comtry, 54. When I come to speak of the measures by which trie mo- nasteries were robbed, devastated, and destroyed, in England and Ireland, 1 shall show how unjust, base, and ungrateful, this tailing against them is ; and how foolish it is besides. 1 shall show the various ways in which they were greatly useful to the coinmimity ; and I shall especially show how they operated in behalf of the labouring and poorer classes of the peoplt. But, in this place, I shall merely describe, in the shortest manner pos- sible, the origin and nature of those institutions, and the extent to which they existed in England. 55. Monastery means a place of residence for monks, and the word monk comes from a Greek word, which nseans a lonely per- son, or a person in solilude. There were monks, friars, and nuns. Che viorA friar comes from the French word/rere, which, in English, is brother ; and the word nun comes from the French word nonnt, which means a sisttr in religion, a virgin separated from the world. The persons, whether male or female, compoa> ii'.g one of these religious communities, were called a conrf.v.i, and that name was sometimes also given to the buildings and enclosures in which the community lived. The place where sonks lived was called a monastery ; that there were friars live! a friary ; and that where nuns lived, a nunnery. As, however KB are not, in this case, inquiring into the differences in the rulei, urde.s, end habits of the persons belonging to these irstitutiooe, 5 shall speak of them all as monasteries. 66. Then, again, some of these were abbeys, and some prto rits; uf the diiference between which it will lie sufficient to say iiiiit tJie former were of a rank fiiperior to {lie latter, and had vt PROTESTANT REFORMATION. 8{ hous privileges of a higher value. An abbey had an abbot or an nbbesa ; a priory, a prior, or a pHoress. Then tliere were differ ent orders of nwnks, friars, and nuns ; and these orders had dif- ferent rulea for their government and mode of life, and were dig. tinguished by different dresses. With these distinctions, we have hore, however, little to do ; for we shall, by-and-bye, see them all isvolved in one common devastation. 57. The persons belonging to a monastery, lived in common, they lived in one and the same building ; they could possess no pr^ ferty individxmlly ; when they entered the walls of tlie monastery Uiey left the world wholly behind them ; they made a solemn vow of celibacy; they could devise nothing by will; each had a life-dtr- terest, but nothing more, in the revenues belonging to the commu nity ; some of the monies and friars were also priests, but this was not always the case ; and the busiriess of the whole was,- to say masses and prayers, and to dj> deeds of hospitalily and clutrity. 38. This mode of life began by single persons separating themselves from the world, and living in complete solitude, pas* sing all their days in prayer, and dedicating themselves wholln to tlie serving of God. These were called hermits, and theii conduct drew towards them great respect. In time, such men. or men having a similar propensity; formed themselves into so- tieties, and agreed to live together in one house, and to possesi tilings in common. Women did the same. And hence camt lliose places called mmiasteries. The piety, the austerities, and particularly, the works of kindness and of charity performed bj- those persons, made them objects of great veneration ; and the rich made them, in time, the channels of then- benevolence to the poor. Kings, queens, princes, princesses, nobles, and gentlemen, founded monasteries ; that is to say, erected the buildings, anr* endowed them with estates for their maintenance. Others, some in the way of atonement for their sins, and some from a pious disposition, gave, while alive, or bequeathed at their death, lands, houses, or money, to monasteries already erected. So that, ir time, the monasteries became the owners of great landed estates , Ihey had the lordship over innumerable manors, and had a to nantry of prodigious extent, especially in England, where tne monastic orders were always held in great esteem, in consequence of Christianity having been introduced into the kingdom by a com- munity of monks. 59. To give you as clear a notion as I can of what a monastr ry rras, I will describe to you with as much exactness as my me- mory irill enable me, a monastery which I saw in France, iri 1792, just after the monks had been turned out of it, and when it was about to je'put up for sale ' The wliole of the space en- closed "as about eight English acres, which was fenced in by < u % PROTESTANT REFORMATION. wall about twenty feet high. It was an oblong square, and at on« end of one of the sides was a gate-way, with gates as high as the wall, and with a little door in one of the great gates for the ingress and egress of fool-passengers. This gate opened into a spacioiu court -yard, very nicely paved. On one side, anc dt one end of this jard, were the kitchen, lodging-rooms for servants, a dining or eat aig pkcc for them and for strangers and po'jr people ; stables, coach^ houses, and other out-buildings. On the other side of tlie courtp fa-d, ivc entered in at a dour-way to the place of residence of tht sacniis. Here -.vas about half an aure of ground of a square form, for a burying ground. On the four sides of this square there was a clotsleVj or piaz/.a, the roof of which was, on the side of the bury- ing ground, supported by pillars, and at the hack, supported by a low building, which went round the four sides. This building con- tained the several donnitoi'ies, or sleeping rooms of the monks, each of whom had two little rooms, one for his bed, and one for hia books and to sit in. Ou^ of the hinder room, a door opened into a iittlc garden about thirty feet wide, and forty long. On one side of the cloister there was a door opened into their dining-room, in one corner of which, there was a pulpit for the monk who read while tile rest were eating in silence, which was according to the rules of the Cartuusians, to which order these monks belonged. On t'ne other side of the c oister, o. door opened into the kitchen gar- den,- which was laid O'lt ni the nicest manner, and was well stock* fed with fruit trees of ill sorts. On another side of the cloister, a door opened and li d to the church, whicli, though not large, was oric of the most beautiful tliat I had ever seen. I Irelieve thai these monks were, lyy their rules, confined within their walls. The country peopk spoke of them with great reverence, and most .' rievously deplored tlie loss of them. They had large estates, were easy landlords, and they wholly provided for all the indigent within miles of tlieir monastery. 60. England, more, perhaps, than any other country in Eu- rope, abounded in such institutions, and these more richly en- dowed than any where else. In England there was, on an ave- I age, more Vs^sa. twenty (we shall see the exact number by-and- bye) of those establishments to a county ! Here was a prize tot an unjust and crue! tyrant to lay his lawless hands upon, and fw " rtjonrwtion" gentry to share amongst them ! Here was enough indeed, to make robbers on a grand seale cry out against " xaasit ish ignorance and superstition .'" No wonder that the bowels of Ckasmer, Knox, and all their mongrel litter, yearned so piteous- ly as they did, when they cast their pious eyes or all the farmt and iwmars, and .'n all the silver and gold ornaments belonging to these communi*ks I We shall see by-and-bye, with what ala- iritj they ouste ing any such " reforms" as he might think useful in the Church of England ! I once knew a corrupt Cornish knave, who having •worn to a direct falsehood, (and that he, in private, aeknowltdg' ed to be such,) before an Election Committee of the House of Commons, being asked how he could possibly give such evidence,. Mtually declared, in so many words " that he had, before he left " his lodging in the morning, taken an oath, that he would swear falsely that day." He perhaps, imbibed his principles from this Tery Archbishop, who occupies the highest place in lying Fox's lying book of Protestant IVIartyrs. 66. Having provided himself with so famous a, judge in ecclesi- estical matters, the King lost, of course, no time in biinging liis hard case before him, and demanduig jwsficc at his hands ! Hard case, indeed ; to be compelled to live with a wife of forty-three, when he could have, for next to notliing, and only for asking a young one of eighteen or twenty ! A really hard case ; and he sought relief, now that he had got such an upright and impartial judge, with all imaginable despatch. What I am now going to relate of the conduct of this Archbishop and of the otlier partirs concerned in the transaction 'is calculated 'to make us shudder wi'h horror, to make our very bowels heave with loathing, to make iS turn our eyes from the paper and resolve to read no fiirther B' t, we must not give way to these feelings if we have a mind lo know the true history of the Protestant " Reformation.'' 'P^e must keep ourselves cool ; we must reason ourselves out of our ordinary impulses ; we must beseech nature to be quiet ivihin us for a while ; for from first to last, we have to contera lata nothing that is not of a kind to iill us with horror and dis- gust. 67. It was now four or five years since the king and C ian- MER had begun to hatch the project of the divorce; bi t, in the meanwhile, the king had kept Anne Botlen, or, in more modern phrase, she had been " under his protection," (or a- bout three years. And, here, let me state, that, in Dr Bailey' life of Bishop Fishek, it is positively asserted, that Anne Boylem was tlie king's daughter, and that Lady Botlen, h«r mother said ta he king, when he was about to marry Akne, " Sir, for the reveN ' eiice of God, take heed what J M do in marryingmy daughter, for, ' if J oil record your oirn conscience well, slie is your oivn daughr " ter^s well as mine." To which the king replied, " '(Vhose daugh- " lei soever she is, she shall be my ivife." Now, though I hdievt Shis fact, I do not give it as a thing the truth of which in 'nde- ajable. I find it in the writings of a man, who was the e aiV^iat, and justly,) of the excellent Bishop Fisher, who suffen -• clsat!! I ecanse he stood firmly or the side of Queen Catherinit i b* 3* »0 PROTESTANT REFORMATION- Re» 3 it; but I do not give it, as I do tlie otlier facts that I state, ai what is undeniably true. God knows, it is unnecessary to malte the parties blacker than they are made by tlie Protestani histo'ians themselves, in even a favourable record of theii hor rid deeds. 68. The King had had Anne about three years " under hi« protection," when she became, for the first time, tcilh child. Ticre was now, therefore, no time to be lost in order to " mnkt an honest woman of her." A private marriage took place in.Ian- oary, 1533. As Anne's pregnancy could not be long disguised, h became necessary to avow lier marriage; and, therefore, it was also necessary to press onward the trial for the divorce ; for, it might have seemed rather aukteard, even amongst " reforma- tion" people, for the king to have two wives at a time ! Now, then, the famous ecclesiastical judge, Cranmer, had to play his part; and, if his hypocrisy did not make the devil blush, he could have no bhisliing faculties in him. Craumkr, in April, 1533, wrote a letter to the King, begging him, for the good of the nation, and for the safety of liis own soul, to grant his permission to try the question of the divorce, and beseeching him no longer to live in the peril attending an " incestuous intercourse !" Matchless, as- tonishing hypocrite I iie knew, and the khig knew that he knew, and he knew that tlie king knew that lie knew it, that the king ha!l been actually married to Anne, three months before, slie be- ing with child at the time that he married her ! 69. Tile King graciously condescended to listen to this ghost- ly advice of his pious primate, who was so anxious about t)ie safety of his royal soul ; and without delay, he, as Heaitof tht Church, granted tlie gh.ostly father, Cranmer, wlio, in violation of his own clerical vows, had, in private, a woman of his own ; to this ghostly father, the King granted a licence to hold a spi ritual court for the trial of the divorce. Queen Catherine, wiio had been ordered to retire from tlie court, reside spiritual supremacy; if they appointed Bishons ona Ministers a PKOTESTANT llEFOKMA flON. though the; have no benefices to give, and would have no teotha and first fruits to receive, their government would he a tyrann; in a very short time. Montesquieu obsei-ves, that the people of Spain and Portugal would have been absolute slaves, without tiie power of the Church, which is, in such a case, " the only th&sk to arbitrary sway." Yet, how long have we had " papal usurpation and tyranny" dinned in our ears ! This charge gainst (lie Pope surpasscth all understanding. How was the f ope to be an usurper, or tyrant, in England ? He had ho fleet, ou army, no judge, no sherifif, no justice of the peace, not even a single constable or beadle at his command. We have been told of " the thunders of the Vatican" till we have almost believ- ed, Uiat the Pope's residence was in the skies ; and, if we had be- lieved it quite, the belief would not have surpassed in folly our belief in numerous other stories, hatched by the gentry of the 'Reformation." The truth is, tliat the Pope had no power hut that which he derivei from the free vjUl of the people. The peo- ple were frequently on his side, in his contests with kings ; and, by this means, they, in numerous instances, preserved their rights against the attempts of tyrants. If the Pope had had no power, there must have sprung up an Oligarchy, or a something else, to check the power of the King ; of, everf King might have been a Nero, if he would. We shall soon see a worse than Nero in Hen- ry VIII. ; we shall soon see him laying all law prostrate at his feetj ind plundering his people, down even to the patrimony of the poor. But, reason says that it must be so; and, though this spiritual power be now nominally lodged in the hands of the King ; to how many tricks and contrivances have we resorted, and some of 'hem most disgraceful and fatal ones, in order to prevent him from possessing the reality of this power! We are obliged to effect by influence and by faction ; that is to say, by means in- direct, disguised, and frequently flagitiously immoral, not to say almost seditious into the bargain, that which was effected by means direct, avowed, frank, honest, and loyal. It is curious enough, that wliile all Protestant ministers are everlastingly talkmg about " papal usurpation and tyrimny," all of them, ex cept those who profit from the establishment, talk not less ince» nntly about what they haie no scruple to call, "that two-head- tu monster' Church and State," What a monster would it have been then, if the Catholics had submitted to the " Veto ;" tint e to say, to give the King a rejecting voice in the appointmenf it Catholic Bishops ; and thus to make him, who is already "ti;e Defender of the Faith," against which he protests, an associate will) the Sovereign Ponti^ in carrying on the affairs of that ihoi-ch, to which Sie law strictly forbids him to belong ! 95 Thus, then this so much abused papal supremacy was BMBt salutary thing it was thf; only check, then existing on des PROTESTANT REFORMATION 43 polie power, besides it being absolutely necessary to tliat uiufj )f faith, without which there could be nothing worthy of the aame of a Catholic church. To abjure tkis mpremacy was an ict of apostacy, and also an act of base aba;ndcuin>ent of the rights of the people. To require it of any man was to violate Magsa Charta, and all the laws of the land ; and to put men to JeatU for refusing to comply with the request, was to commit mt- tualified murder. Yet, without such murder, without sliedding unocent blood, it was impossible to effect the object. Blooa mast flow. Amongst the victims to this act of outrageous ty. vmny, was Sir Thomas More, and Bisuop Fisher. The for- mer had been the Lord High Chancellor for many years. The character given of him by his contemporaries, and by eve- ry one to the present day, is that of as great perfection for learn- ing, integrity, and piety, as it is passible for a human being to possess. He was tiie greatest laivyer of his age, a long tried, and most faithful servant of the king and his father, and was, ocstdes, so highly distinguished beyond men in general, for his ii;cntleness aud humility of manners, as well as for his talents and abilities, that his murder gav^ a shock to all Europe. Fished ivas equally eminent in point of learning, piety, and integrity, He was the only surviving privy councillor of the late King, ivliose mother (tiie grandmother of Henry VIII ) having outliv- ed her son and daughter, besought, with her dying breath, the young King, to listen pai'ticularly to the advice of tliis learned pious, and venerable prelate ; and, until that advice thwarted hii brutal passions, he was in tlie habit of saying, tliat no othei prince could boast of a subject to be compared with Fisher. He used, at the council-board, to take him by the hand, and caV him his father ; marks of favour and afiection which tlie bisho). repaid by zeal and devotion which knew no bounds other than those prescribed by his duty to God, his King, and his country. But, that sacred duty bade him object to the divorce, and to thr king's supremacy; and ttien, the tyrant, forgetting at once, aV his services, all his devotion, all liis unparalleled attachment, tent him to the block, after fifteen months' Imprisonment, dur- ing which, he lay, worse than a common felon, buried in filth, and almost destitute of food ; sent him, who had been his boast and whom he hah called his father, to perish under the axe ; lagged him forth, with limbs tottering under him. Ids vene- xble face and hoary lucks begrimed, and his nakedness scarce- y covered with the rags left on his body ; dragged him thus forth to the sitaffold, and, even when the life was gone, left him to lie on that scaffold like a dead dog! Savage monster! Rage ■terns the torrent of our tears; hurries us back to the horrid sceae, and bids us look about us for a dagger to plunge into tif iieart of the tvraat. t4 PROTESTANT REFOKMATION. 96. And yet, the calculating, cold-blooded and brazen Boh KGT has the audacity to say, that " such a man as Heury VIIL was necessary to bring about the Reformation!" Hemeajia, of course, that such measures as those of Henry were oeceuaiji and, i they were necessary, what must be the nature and t^ lency of that " Reformation !" 97. The work of blood was now begun, and it proceeded will steady pace. All who refused to take the oath of supremacy; that is to say, all wiiO refused to become apostates, were consis dered, and treated as traitors, and made to sulTer death accon>» panied irith every possible cruelty and indignity. As a speci- men of the works of Burnet's necessary reformer, and to spare the reader repetition on the subject, let us take.the treatment of John Houghton, Prior of the Charter-house in London, which was then a convent of Carthusian monks. This prior, for having refused to take the oath, which, observe, he could not lake, with- out committing pequry, was dragged to Tyburn. He was scarce- ly suspended, when the rope was cut, and he fell alive on the ground. His clothes were then stripped off; his bowels were ripped up ; his heart and entrails were torn from his body, and lung into a fire j his head was cut from his body ; the body was divided into four quarters and par-boiled ; the quarters were then subdivided and hung up in different parts of the city ; and one arm was nailed to the wall, over llie entrance into tlie monas- tery ! 98. Such were the means, which Burnet says were necessary to introdtice the Protestant religion into England ! How differ- ent, alas ! from the means by which the CcUhdic religion had been introduced by Pope Gregory, and Saint Austin ! These horrid butcheries were perpetrated, mind, under the primacy of Fox's great martyr, Cranmer, and with the active agency of another great ruffian, named Thomas Cromwell, wliom we shall soon see, sharing with Cranmer, the work of plunde-, and finally shaiing, too, in his disgarceful end. 99. Before we enter on the grand subject of plunder, which was the mainspring of the " Reformation,*' we must follow the King and his primate through their murders of Protestants as well as Catholics. But first, we must see how the Protestant re- Sgion arose, and how it stood at this juncture. Whence the tens Protestimt came, we have seen in paragraph 3. It was a nam given to those who declared, or protested against the Catholic or universal church. Tiiis work of protesting was begun in Ger many, in tlie year 1517,, by a friar, whose name was Martin Lu. THER, and whi belonged to a convent of Augustin friars in the electorate of Saxony. At this time, tiie Pope had authorized the preaching of certain hidulgences, and this business having been entrusted to the order of Dominicans, and not to the orde; PROTESTANT REFORMATION. o 10 which LuTUER belonged, and to which it had been usual U) :;oinmit such trust, here was one of the motives from which Lu- viier's opposition to the Pope proceeded. He found a protec- tor in his sorereigii, the Elector of Saxony, who appears to have had as stronsr a relish for plunder as that with which our English tyrant and his courtiers and Parliament were seized a few years afterwards. 100. All accounts agree that Lutheh iras a most profligate nan. To change his religion he might have thought himself •ailed by his conscience ; Gut conscience could not call upon him to be guilty of all the abominable deeds of which he stands con- victed, oven by his own confessions, of which I shall speak mora fully, when I come to the proper place for giving an account of the numerous sects into which the Protestants were soon divided, and of the fatal change which was, by this innovation in religion produced, even according to the declaration of the Protestant leaders themselves, in the morals of the people, and the state of society But, just observing, that the Protestant sects had, at the time we are speaking of, spread themselves over a part of Germany, and got into Switzerland, and some other states of the continent, we must now before we state more particulars relating to Luther and the sects that he gave rise to, see hovv the King of England dealt with those of his subjects who had adopted the heresy. 101. Tlie Protestants immediately began to disagree amongst themselves ; but they all maintained that faith alone was suffici- ent to secure salvation ; while the Catholics maintained, that good works were also necessary. The most profligate of men the most brutal and bloody of tyrants, may be a staunch believer : for the devils themseves believe : and therefore, we naturally at first thought, thhik it strange, that Henry VIII. did not in stantly become a zealous Protestant ; did not become one of the most devoted disciples of Luther. He would, certainly ; but Luther began his " Reformation" a few years too soon for the king. In 1517, when Luther began his works, the king had been married to his first wife, only eight years ; and he had not then conceived any project of divorce. If Luther had begun twelve years later, the king would have been a Protestant at »nce, especially after seeing, that this new religion allowed Lu- raKR and*Eeven others of his brother leaders in the " Reforma- tion" to grant under their hands, a licence to the Lanorave or Hes3e to have TWO WIVES at one and the same time ! So eomplaismt a religion would have been, and doubtless was, at the time of the divorce, precisely to the king's taste ; but, as I have hiat observed, it came twelve years too soon for him ; for not on- ly had he not adopted this religion, but had opposed it as a so- vereign ; and, which was a still more serious affair, hid opposed 16 PRO'lSSTANTiREFORMATION. It as an AUTHOR ! He had, m 1521, written a BOOK againrt it. His vanity, his pride, were engaged in the contest ; to which may be added, that Luther, in answering his book, had called him " a pig, an ass, a dunghill, the spawn ot an adder, a basi lisk, a lymg buiFoon dressed in a king's robes, a mad fool with a frothy mouth and a whorish face ;" and had afterwards said tc him, "you fe, you stupid ai»d sacrilegious king." 102. Therefore, though the tyrant was bent on destroying tho Catholic church, he was not less bent on the extirpation of the followers of Luther and his tribe of new sects. Always under the influence of some selfish and base motive or other, he was with regard to the Protestants, set to work by revenge, as in tiie ease of the Catholics he had been set to work by lust, if not by lust, to be gratified by incest. To follow him step by step, and in minute deiail through all his butcheries and all his burnings would be to familiarize one's mind to a human slaughter-house, and a cookery of canibals. I shall, therefore, confine myself to a general view of his works in this way. 103. His book against Luther had acquired him the title of ■' Defender of the Faith" of which we shall see more by-and-by . He could not, therefore, without recantation, be a Protestant and, indeed, his pride would not sufier liira to become the prose- lyte of a man who had, in print too proclaimed him to be a pig, an ass, a fool and a liar. Yet he could not pretend to be a Ca- Iholic. He was, therefore, compelled to make a religion of his own. Tliis was doing nothing, unless he enforced its adoption by what he called Imo. Laws were made by him and by his eemle and plundering parliament, making it heresy in, and don- demning to the flames, all who did not expressly conform, by acts, as well as by declarations, to the faith and worship, which, as head of the church, he invented and ordained. Amongst his tenets, there were such, as neither Catholics, nor Protestants could, consistently with their creeds adopt. He, therefore, sent both to the stake, and sometimes, in order to add mental pangs lo those of the body, he dragged them to the fire on the same hurdle, tied together in pairs, back to back, each pair contain- ing a Catholic and a Protestant. Was this the way that Saint Austin and Saint Patrick propagated their religion? Vet, »uch is tlie malignity of Burnet, and of many, many others called Protestant " divines,'" that they apologize for, if they do not absolutely applaud this execrable tyrant, at the very mo- ment that they are compelled to confess that he soaked the earth with Protestant blood, and filled the air witli the fumes of theii toasting flesh. 104. Throughout the whole of this bloody work, Ckammer, nrhp was the primate of the King's religion, was consenting to ttnctioning, and aidinir and abetting in, the murdering of Pro' PKOTESTANT liEFORMATtON- 47 «BtanU! a.' fell as of Catholics ; though, and I pi ay y< u to marl; :t woli. HdiiE, TiLi.oTSON, BuBNET, and all hie long list of eulo- gists, say, and make it matter of merit in him, that all this whiles fie was himself, a sincere Protestant in his heart 1 And, indeed we shall by-and-by, see him operdi/ avowing those very tenet* for tlie holding of wliich he had been instrumental in sending, without regard to age or sex, others to perish in the flames The progress of this man m the paths of infamy, needed incontestib'.t aroof to reconcile the human mind to a belief in it. Before h« pecame a priest, he had married : after he became a priest, and had taken the oath of celibaa/, he, being then in Germany, and having become a Protestant, married arwthcr m/e, while the firsi was still alive. Being the primate of Henry's church, which still forbade the clerfy to have wives, and which held them to tlieii oath of celibacy, svi had his wife brought to England, in a chest. with holes bored in it to give her air ! As the cargo was destin- ed for Canterbury, it was landed at Gravesend, where the sai- lors, not apprised of the contents.of the chest set it up on one end, and tha wrong end downwards, and had nearly broken the neck of the poor freio .' Here was a pretty scene ! A German frow,yvith a litterof half German, half English young ones, kept ill huggar-muggar on that spot wliich had been the cradle of En- ghsh Christianity ; that spot where St. ArsTiNhad inhabited, and iirhere Thomas A. Becket had sealed with his blood, his opposi- tion to a tyrant, who aimed at the destruction of the church, and at the pillage of the people ! Here is quite enough to fill us with disgust ; but, when we reflect, that this same primate, while lie had nnder his roof his frow and her litter, was engaged in as- sisting to send Protestants to the flames, because they dissented from a system that forbade the clergy to have wives, we swell with indignation, not against CRANMEa, for, though there are so many of his attrocions deeds yet to come, he has exhausted our store ; not against Hvhe, for he professed no regard for any re ligion at all, ; but against those who are called " divines, and vrfio are the eulogists of Ckanmer ; agains Burnet, who says, that Cranmer " did all with a good conscience ;" and against Dr. Sthrges, or rather the Dean and Chapter of Winchester, who clubbed their " talents'''' in getting up the " Reflections on Pope- ry," who talk of the " respectable Cbanmer," and who liave the audacity to put him, in point of integrity, upon a level with Sir Thouas More ! As Dr. Milker, in his answer to Sturges, ob- serves, they resembled each other in tliat the name of both was Thomas ; but, in all other tilings, 1;ho dissimilarity was as gr»dl as that which the most vivid imagination can ascribe tc the dis- (imilarity between hell and heaven. 105. The infamy of Cranmer in assisting in sending people t« the flames for ertertaining opinions, which he afterwards con #! PROTESTANT REFORMATION fessed tliat he himself entertained at Ihe time that he was m lending them, can be surpassed by nothing of which human de pravity is capable ; and it caii be equalled by nothing but tlial of the king, who, while he was, as he hoped and thought, laying the axe to the root of the Catholic faith, still stiled himself its de- fender ! He was not, let it be borne in mind, defender of what he rn^ht as others have, since his day, and in his day, called the Chnslicm, faith. He received the title from the Pope, as q "award for his written defence of the Cathouc faith against Ltt- ■her. The Pope conferred on him this title which was to de- tcend to his posterity. The title was given by Pope Leo X. in a bull, or edict, beginning with these words : " Leo, servant of the servants of the Lorj consistent : he seem' fd never to have any compassion for the f-uffering of any human ieiag ; and this is a characteristic which VVhitaeek gives to hii ^lighter Elizabeth. 113. Having a son for a successor, he, with his Farliameat, panted, in 1537, that Mart and Eli-zabeth, his two daughterii Here bastards, and that, in case of a want of lawful issue, tha King should be etabled by letters patent, or by his last will, to fwe WARD THE Third, for the security of the people against unfound~ ed charges of high treason, was wholly set aside. Numeroiia >.hings were made high treason, which were never before thought criminal at all. The trials were for a long while a mere mock- ery ; and, at last they were altogether, in many cases laid aside, and the accused were condemned to death, not only without be- flig arraigned and heard in their defence ; but m numerous cases without being apprized of the crimes, or pretended crimes, for which they were executed. We have read of Doys of Algiers, and of Beys of Tunis; butnever have heard of them, even in themos\ exaggerated accounts, deeds to be, in point of injustice and cru- elty, compared with those of this man, whom Burnet calls " the first-bom son of the English ' Refromation.' " The objects of his bloody cruelty generally were, as they naturally would be, chos- en from amongst the most virtuous of his subjects ; because from them, such a man had the most to dread. Of these, bis axe hewed down whole families and circles of friends. He spared neithei sex nor age, if the parties possessed, or were suspected of pos' ecssing that integrity which made them disapprove of his deeds. To look awry excited his suspicion, and his suspicion was death. England, before his bloody reign, so happy, so free, knowing so little of crime as to present to the judges of assize, scarcely throe criminals in a-county in a year, now saw upwards of si4!:ty thou- sand persons shut up in her jails at one and ihe same time. The purheus of the court of this " first born son of the Reformation" were a great human slaughter-house, his people, deserted by their natural leaders who had been bribed by .plunder, or the hope of plunder, were the terrified and trcmblmg flock, wliile he tile master-butcher, fat and jocose, sat in his palace issuing or- ders for the slaughter, while his High Priest, Cranmer, stood raody to sanction and to sanctify all his deeds. lis. A detail of these butcheries could only disgust and weary the reader. One instance, however, must not be omitted ; name- ly, the slaughtering of the relations, and particularly the motliei of Cardinal Pole. The Cardinal, who had, when very young tnd before the King's first divorne had hem affitatad h«>en > PROTESTANT RKFORMATION. 53 ?reat favourite with the King, and had pursued his studies and [.ravels on the Continent at the King's expense, disapproved of the divorce, and of all the acts that followed it ; and, though c»l. led home by the King, he refused to obey. He was a man ci' great learning, talent, and virtue^, and his opinions had groa weigiit ui England. His mother, the Countess of Salisburv wcs descended from the Plantagenets, and was the last living descendant of that long race of English Kings. So that the Car- dinal, who had been by the Pope raised to that dignity, on ao eount of his great learning and eminent virtues, was thus, a re- lation of the King, as his mother was of course, and she was, too, Jhe nearest of all his relations. But, the Cardinal was opposed to the Kinjj's proceedings ; and that was enough to excite and put in motion, the deadly vengeance of the latter. Many were the arts that he made use of, and great in amount was the trea sure of his people that he expended, in order to bring the Cardi. nal's person within his grasp ; and these having failed, he resolv ed to wreak his ruthless vengeance on his kindred and his ageo , mother, "he was charged by the base Thohas Cromwell, (of whom Wi, shall soon see enough) with having persuaded hei tenants not to read the neto Irantlaiions of the Bible, and aisc ■ with having received bulls from Rome, which, the accuser sai'l, werefoimd at Cohkdray House, her seat in Sussex, Cromweh also showed a banner, which had, he said, been used by certain rebels in the North, and which lie said he found in her house. All this was, however, so very barefaced, that it was impossible to think of a trial. The judges were then asked, whether the TarUanient could not attaint her ; that is to saj' condemn her, without giving her a hearing ? The judges said that it was a dangerous matter ; that they could not, in their courts, act in ■Jiis manner, and that they thought the Parliament never would But, being, asked, whether, if the Parhament were to do it, it would remain good in law, they answered in the affirmative That was enough. A hill was brought in, and thus was the Coun ■iess, together with the Marchioness of Exeter and two gentln men, relations of the Cardmal, condemned to death. The twi latter were executed, the Marchioness was pardoned, and the Countess shut up in prison as a sort of hostage for the conduci of her son. In a few months, however, an insurrection having broken out on account of his tyrannical acts, the king chose tt suspect, that the rebels had been instigated by Cardinal Pole and forth he dragged his mother to the scaffold. She, who waj upwards of seventy years of age, though worn down in body bj her imprisomnent, maintained to the last, a true sense of ha • i;haracter and noble descent. When bidden to lay her head upon the block : " No," answered she, " my head shall never bow to tyranny : it never committed treason ; and, if you will have It M PROTESTANT REFORMATION. yo\i. AtUBt set it as you can. The executioner struck at hw nock trith his axe, and, as she ran about the scaffold with hei ^rey iocks hanging down her shoulders and breast, he pursued, firing her repeated chops, till at last he brought her down ! 116. Is it a. scene in Turkey or in Tripoli that we are contem plating ? No ; but in England, where Magna Charta had been bloody hicli would have roused even a Turkish populace to resistance. i»!-ald be perpetrated without the smallest danger to the perpe- tiator. KcME,, in his remarks upon tlie state of the people in ti:is reign, pretends, that the people never hated the King, and " that he seems, even, in some degree, to nave possessed to the last, their love and affection." He adds, that it may be said with truth, that the " English, in that nge, were so thorougttJy subdu- ed, that, like eastern slaves, they were inclined to admire even those acts of violence and tyranny, which were exerdsed ovet themselves, and at their own expense." This lying historian every where endeavours to gloss over the deeds of those who lestroyed the Catholic Church, both in England and Scotland, foo cunning, however, to applaud the bloody Henry himself ie would have us believe that after all, there was something ami- ible in him, and this belief he would liave us found on the fact jfhis having been to the last, seemingly beloved by his people. 117. Nothing can be more false than this assertion, if repeat- id insurrections against him accompanied with the most bitter complaints and reproaches, be not to be taken as marks of po- pular affection. And, as to the remark, that the English, "in that age were so thoroughly subdued," while it seems to refute Iho assertion as to their affection for the tyrant, it is a slander, which the envious Scotch writers all delight to put forth and re- peat. One object always uppermost with H^be, is to malign the Catholic religion ; it, therefore, did not occur to him, thai this sanguinary tyrant was not effectually resisted, as King John »nd other bad Kings had been, because this tyrant had the means nf bribing the natural leaders of the people to take part agamst tliem ; or, at the least, to neutralize those leaders. It did not oc eur to him to tell us, that Henry VIII. found the English as gal- knt and just a people as his ancestors had found them ; but that, saying divided them, having, by holding out to the great, an •normous mass of plunder as a reward for abandoning the rights of the people, the people became, as every people without lead- ers must become, a mere flock, or herd, to be dealt with at ploa- sure. The malignity and envy of this Scotchman blinded him to this view of the matter, and mduoed him to ascribe to thepeo- aio's adniralion of tyranny- that submission, which, after m PROTESTANT REFORMATION. St pealed alnig^les, they yielded, mt .ely from the want of thoM leadeTs, of whom they were now, for the first time, wholly de- prived. What I nave we ever known any country, consisting of Kveral millions of people, oppressed and insulted, even for ages, by a mere haiiuful of men ? And are we to conclude, that such & country submits, from admiration of the tyranny under which they groan ? Did the English submit to Cromwell from ad- miration ; and, was it from admiralvon that tlie French submit- ted to RoBESPiEKE f The latter was punished, but Crohweli, was not : he, like Henry, died in his bed ; but, to what mind, except to that of the most malignant and perverse, would it OC' cur, that Cromwell's impunity arose from the willing submis- sion, and the admiration of the people ? 118. Of the means by which the natural leaders of the people were seduced from them ; of the kind and the amount of the prise of plunder, we are now going to take a view. In para- graph 4, 1 have said that the " Reformation" was cherished and Fed by plunder and devastatiott. In paragraph 37, I have said, that it was not a Reformation, but a Devastation of England ; and that this devastation impoverished and degraded the main body i)f the people. These statements I am now about to prove to be frue. 119. In paragraphs from 55 to 60 inclusive, we have seen how tionasteries arose,.and what sort of Institutions tliey were. There were, in England, at the time we are spea.king of, 645 of these Institutions, besides 90 colleges, 110 Hospitals, and 2374 Chan- teries and Free Chapels. The whole wore seized on, first and last, tak^n into tlie hands of the King, and by him granted In Ihnse who aided and abetted him in the work of plunder. 120. I pray, you, my friends, sensible ana just Englishmen, o observe here, that this was a great mass of landed property ; Jiat this property was not by any means used for the sole bene- fit of monks, friars, and nuns ; that, for tiie far greater part, its rents flowed immediately back amongst the people at large; and that, if it had never been an object of plunder, England never Tvould, and never could have heard the hideous sound of tjia words pauper and poor rale. You have seen, in paragraph 52, ai what manner the tithes arose, and how they were disposed of; ini you are by-and-by, to see how the rents of the moneisteriet 9vero distributed. 121: You have, witliout doubt, fresh in your recollection, ali iie censures, sarcasms, and ridicule, which we have, from oui rery infancy, heard against the monastic life. What dirnies thfi monks, and friars, and nuns were : how uselessly they lived ; how much they consumed to no good purpose whatever ; and partiou- liirly how ridiculous, and even how wicked it was to compel mei imI women to Ui:e unmarried, to lead a life of celibacy, aatf J6 PROTESTANT REFORMATION. thus, either to deprive them of a g;reat natural pleasure, or to expose them to the double sin of breach of chastity, and breach of path. 122. Now, this is a very important matter. It is a great »u>- rat question ; and therefore, we ought to endeavour to settle thii question ; to make up our minds completely upon it, before we proceed any further. The monastic state necessarily was ac- companied with vows of celibacy ; and therefore, it is, befoJ"e we ^ive an account of the putting* down of these institutions in En- gland, necessary to speak of the tendency, and, indeed, of the natural and inevitable consequences of those vows. 123. It has been represented as " unnatural" to compel men and women to live in the unmarried state, and as tending to pro- duce ^openfitiM, to which it is hardly proper, even to allude. Now, in the first place, have we heard of late days, of any pro- pensities of this sort ? Have they made their odious appearance amongst clergymen and bishops ? And, if they have, have those clergymen and bishops been Catholics, or have they been Pro- testants? The answer, which every one now living in England and Ireland, can instantly give to these questions, disposes of this objection to vows of celibacy. In the next place, the Ca- tholic church compels nobody to make such vow. It only says, that it will admit no one to Ije a. priest, monk, friar, or nun, who rejects such vow. Saint Paul strongly recommends to all chris- tian teachers, an unmarried life. The chuifih has founded a rule on this recommendation ; and that too, for the same reason that the recommendation was given; namely, that those who have Hocks t\. watch over, or, in the language of our own Protestant L-hurch, who have tke. care of souls, should liave as few as possi- ble o{ other cares, and should, by all means, be free from those incessant, and sometimes racking cares, which are inseparable from a wife and family. What priest, who has a wife and fami- ly, will not think more about them than about his flock? Will he, when any part of that family is. in distress, from illness, oi other cause, be wholly devoted, b 5dy and mind, to his flock ? Will he be as ready to give alms, or aid of any sort, to the poor, as he would be, if he had no family to provide for ? Will he ne- ver be tempted to swerve from his Quty, in order to provide pa- tronage for sons, and for the husbands of daughters ? Will he always as boldly stand up and reprove the Lord or the 'Squire for their oppressions and vices, as he would do if he had no sob foi whom to get a benefice, a commission, or a sinecure ? Will fcri wife never have her partialities, hv,i tattlings, her bickerings, amongst his flock, and never, on any account induce him to act towards any part of that flock, cor.trary to the strict dictates o( hi^ sacred duty ' And to omit hundreds, yes, hundreds of rea- Kins that might, ill addition, be suggested, will the married priest PROIESTANT RKKOKMATION S/ be KS ivady as the unmarried one to appear at the beo-tide of nekncis and contagion f Here it is, that the calls on him are most imperative, and here it is W. Itttant Bishop, and in a book written expressly to give " an ae eovnt of all the abbies, priories, and friariet, formerly exislingi* England and Wales t bearinjinmind, as we sfo along, thatHoMB has, in his History of England, referred to this very work up wards of two hundred limes, taking care, however, not to refei to a word of it relating to the important question now before us 132. Bishop Tanner, before entering on his laborious accouni of the several monastic institutions, gives us, in pages 19, 20 and 21 of his preface, the following general description of the cha- racter and pursuits of the monasteries, and of the effects of thei i establishments. I beg you, ray friends, to keep, as you read Bishop Tamnek's description ^the description of Hume constant- ly in your minds. Remember, and look now-ai^-tlien, back a( his charges of " supine idleness," " profound ignormice," want of all " emulation and all manly and elegant knowledge;" and, Above all things remember liis charge of selfishness, his charge ol '"frauds" to get money /rom the people. The bishop speaks thus, upon the subject. 133. " in every great abbey, there was a large room called ihe Scriptorium, where several writers made it their whole busi ness to transcribe books for the use of the library. They some times, indeed, wrote tiie leiger books of the house, and the mis sals, and other books used in divine service, but they were gene rally upon other works, viz. the Fathers. Classics, Histories, £ic Sic. .loHV Whetkamsted, abbot of St. Alban's, caused abovt eighty books to be thus transcribed (there was then no printing] during his abbacy. Fifty-eight were transcribed by the care oj^ one abbot at Glastonbury ; and so zealous were the monks in ge- neral for the work, that they often got lands given, and churches appropriated for the carrying of it on. (n all the greater abbies, there were also persons appointed to take notice of the principal occurrences of the kingdom, and at the end of every year, to di- gest tliem into annals. In these records they particularly pre- served the memoirs of their founders and benefactors, theyears and days of their births and deaths, their marriages, children *nd successors ; so that recourse was sometimes had to them for proving persons' ages, and genealogies ; though it is to be fear- ed that some of those pedigrees were drawn up from tradition only ; and tliat in most of their accounts they were favourable fci their friends, and severe upon their enemies. The constitutions af the clergy in their national and provincial synods, and (after the conquest) even Acts of Parliament were sent to the abbies to be recorded ; which leads me to mention the use and advantagei af these religious houses. For, FIRST, the choicest records and treasures in the kingdom were preserved in them. An exempli' fication of the charter of liberties granted by King Henry I (MtovA Chirta) was sent to some abbey in every county to be PROTESTANT REFORMATION. K /rrs;i!VoJ. Charters and inquisitions relating to the county of Cornwall were deposited in the Priory of Bodmin; a great tnan; foUs were lodged in the Abbey of Leicester and Priory of Kenil- worth, till taken from thence by King Henry III. King EdwariS I. >enl to the religious htmses to search for his title to the Kingdom $f Scotland., in their leigers and chronicles, as the most authen- tic records for proof of his right to that crown. V/hen his so- irereignty was acknowledged in Scotland, ho sent letters to ham it inserted in the chronicles of the Mbey of Winchomb, and tb* Priory of JVorwich, and probable of many other such like pt&CMk And when lie decided the controversy relating lo the crown ol Scotland, between Robert Bruce and John Baliol, he wrote to the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, Londmi, requirinsr them to en- ter into their chronicles the exemplification thercvcith sent ol that decision. The learned Mr. Sei.den hath his greatest evi- dences for the domiiiion of the narrow leas belonging to the King of Great Britain, from Monastic records. The evidences and mo- ney of private families were oftentimes sent to these houses to be preserved. The seals of Noblemen were deposited thei-e upon their deaths. And even the King's money was sometimes lodged in them. — SECONDLY, they were schools of learning and edu- cation ; for every convent had one person or more appointed for .this purpose ; and all the neighboiirs that desired it, viight hone their children taught grammar and church music without any ex- pense to them. In the Nunneries, also, young women were taught lo. work and to read English, and sometimes Latin also. So tha! not only the lower rank of people who could not pay for theii learning, but most of the noblemen's and gentlemen's daughters were educated in those places. — THIRDLY, edl the Monasteriei were, in effect, great hospitals. And were most of them obliged to relieve many poor people every day. There were, likewise. houses of entertainment/sr almost all travellers. Even the no- bility and gentry, when they were upon the road, lodged atone religious house, and dined at another, and seldom or never went to inns. In short, their hospitality was such, that in the Priory of Norwich, 07ie tlwusandjive hundred quarters of malt, and above light hundred quarters of wheat, and all other things in propor- tion, were generally spent every year. — FOURTHLY, the nobili- ty and gentry provided not only for their old servants in these houses by corrodies, but for thtir youn%er children and Mnpoecr- ished friends, by making them first monks and nuns, and in time oiiors and prioresses, abbots and abbesses. — FIFTHLY, they (irrre of considerab'e advantage l%the Crown; 1. By the profit! received from the death of one Abbot or Prior, to the election or rather confirmation of another. 2. By great fines paid for the confirmation of their liberties. 3. By many corrodies grant- ed ti old servants of the crown, and pensions to the King's elerki 6* Ml PROTESTANT REFORMATION. *nd chaplains, till they get preferment. — S IXHLY, they wen likewise of considerable advantage to the places where they had their sites and estates : 1 . By causing great lesort to them, and getting grants affairs and markets foe Ihem. 2. By freting Ihem from thcforest laws. 3. By letting their lands at easy rates. — LASTLY, they weregreaf urnamenis to the country; many o( Ihem were really noble buildings : and though not actually so grand and neat, yet perhaps, as much admired in their times, a« Chelsea end Greenwich hospitals are now. Many of the abbey- churches were cjual, if not superior to our present Cathedrals; and tliey must have been as much an^ornament to the country and employed as many workmen in building and keeping them in repair, as noblemen's and gentlemen's seats now do " 134. Now then, malignant Hume, come up, and face this Pro- testant bishop, whose work you have quoted more than tico hun- - dred times, and who here gives the lie direct to all, and to every part of your description, fiistead of your " s«p»ne idleness" wc have industry the most patient and persevering ; instead of yoiai "profound ignorance," we have, in every convent, a school for teaching, gra/is, all useful sciences ; instead of your want of all " manly aj>d elegant knowledge," we bave the study, the teach- ing, the transcribing rti^c persevering of the classics; instead oi your "selfishness" and your " pious yrai/rf«" to get money from the people, we have hospitals for the sick, doctors and nurses to attend them, and the most disinterested, the most kind, the most noble hospitality ; instead of that " slattry," which, in fifty parts of your history, you assert to have been taught by the'monks, we have the/rcijing of the people from, the forest laws, and the vreservation of the great charter of English Rberly, and you.know as well as I, that when this charter was renewed by King John, the renewal was, in fact, the work of Archbishop Lanctok, who roused the barons to demand it, he having, as Tanner observes, found the charter deposited in an abbey ! Back, then ; dona then, malignant liar, and tell the devil that the Protestant Bishop Tannkr has sent thee ! 135. Want of room compels me to stop ; but here, in this one authority, we have ten thousand times more than enough to an- swer the malignant liar Hume, and all the revilers of the monas- tic life, which lies and revilings it was necessary to silence be- fore proceeding, as I shall in the next letter, to describe the base the cruel, the bloody means by which these inttitutiona were d» Taitated and iestroved PROTESTANT RE FORMATION. LEfTER V AVfRORITIES RELATING TO THE EFFECT OF THE MtHAa'TIB I» niTUTioNs. — Their great utility, and the political t»» DOM IN WHICH THEY WERE FOUNDED. — ThE ArPOINTMESfT 01 THE RUFFIAN, ThOHAS CrOMWELL. HlS PROCEEDINGS IN THl WORK OF Plunder and Devastation. — The first act of Parliament authorising the Plunder. Kensington, Slsl March, 1826. My Friends, 136. When at the close of the foregoing Letter, I appeared to content myself with the authority of the Protestant Bishop TaS' ner, as a defender of monastic institutions against the attackl, the malignant lies of Hume, 1 had in reserve other authorities in abundance, some of which, I should tlien have cited, if I had had room Bishop Tanner goe«, indeed, quite home to every point; but, the matter is of such great importance, when we are about to view the destruction of these institutions, that, out of fifty au- thorities that I might refer to, I will select four or five. I will take one foreign, and four English ; and, observe, they are all Protta'ant authorities. 137. Mallet, ilislo^y of the Swiss, Vol. l,f. 105. " The monks softened by their instructions, the ferocious manners ol the people, and opposed their credit to the tyranny of the nobility, who knew no other occupation than war, and grievously oppres Bed their neighbours. On th is account, the government of monks was preferred to theirs. The people sought them for Judges. It was an usual saying, that it was belter to be governed by the Bishop's crosier, than the Monarch's sceptre." 138. Drake. Literary Hours, Vol. II. p. 435. " The monxs of Cassins, observes Wharton, were distinguished not only for (heii knowledge of sciences, but their attention to polite learning and an acquaintance with the classics. Their learned Abbot, De- cide rius, collected the best Greeek and Roman authors. The fra- ternity not only composed learned treatises on Music, Logic, As- trtnomy, and the Vitruvian Architecture, but likewise employ • ti a portion of their time in transcribing Tacitus, &c. This lau- lable exairple was, in the 11th and 12th ccnfjriea, followed with great spirit and emulation, by many Englisn monasteries." 139. Turner. History of England, Vol. II. p. 332 and 361. '' No tyranny was ever established that was more unequivocally the creature o{ popular will, nor longer -naintained by popolA« « proj-estam reformation. iupport ; in no one point did perianal interest and public yieljitn more cordially unite tlian in tlie encouragement of Monasteries." 140. Bates Rural Pktlosophy,jp. 322. " It is to be jimeniei that wliile the papists are industriously planting Nunneries and other societies in this kingdom, some good Protestants are not •o far excited to imitate their example, as to form estatlisli- ments for the education and protection of young women of seri. oi's disposition, or who are otherwise unprovided, where tlie_> might enjoy at least, a temporary refuge, be instructed in tlie principles of religion, and in all such useful and domestic arts, as might qualify them, who were inclined to return into the world, for a pious and laudable discharge of the duties of com- mon life. Thus might the comfort and welfare of many indi- viduals be promoted to th6 great benefit of society at large, and the interests of Popery, by improving on its own principles, be considerably counteracted." 141. QuARTEKLY Review. December, 1811. "The world has never been so indebted to any other body qfmen as to the illustrious order of Benedictine monks ; but historians, in relating the evil pf which they were the occasion, too frequently forget the grood which they produced. Even the commonest readers are ac- quainted with the arch miracle-monger, St. Dunstan, whilst the most learned of our countrymen scarcely remember the names of those admirable men, who went forth from England, and be- came the Apostles of the North. Tinian and Juan Fernandez are not more beautiful spots on the ocean, tlian Malmesbury, Lindisfarne, and Jarrow were in the ages of our heptarchy. A community of pious men devoted to literature and to the useful arts as well as to religion, seems, in those days, like a green Oasis amid the desert. Like stars on a moonless night, they shine upon us with a tranquil ray. If ever there was a man, wlie. could truly be called venerable, it was he, to whom the appella- tion is constantly fixed, Bede, whose life was passed in instruct- ing his own generation, and preparing records for posterity. In those days, the Church offered the only assylums from the evils to which every country was exposed — amidst continual wars, the Church enjoyed peace — it was regarded as a sacred realic by men, who though thej hated one another, believed and fear. cd the same God. Abused as it was by the worldly-minded and ambitious, and disgraced by the artifices of the designing, and the follies of the fanatic, it afforded a shelter to those who were better than the worfd in their youth, or weary of it in their age. The wise, as well as the timid and gentle, fled to this Goshen oj God, which enjoyed its own U^ht and calm, amidst darkness and Btorms." 1 42. This is a very elegant passage ; but as Tokner's PrO' testantism impels him to apply the term "fyronny" to that which lionest feeling bids Irim say wjis the ' creature of the populm PROTES.ANr REFORMATION. m will," and was produced and upheld by " a cordial union of per. nnal interest and public welfare," so the Protestantism ofthe KEViEWERs leads them to talk about " eviV occasioned by an Order to whom " the world is more indebted than to any other body of men; and it also leads them to repeat the hacknied chargs against St. DuNf tan, forgetting, I dare say, that be is one ofthe Sam/sin our Protestant Church Calendar! Howeve- hcre is more than enough to serve as an answer to the whole Iierd of writers, who have put forth their venom against the Mo- . uastic Orders. 143. Can we refer to these authorities ; can we see all the in- dubitable proofs of the real christian charity and benevolence, which were essentially connected with the religion of our fore^ fathers, without feeling indignation against those, who, from our infancy to our manhood, have been labouring to persuade ns, ihat the Catholic church produced selfishness, hardness of heart, greediness in the clergy, and particularly a want of feeling for the poor? Undeniable as is the fact, that the " Reformation" robbed the poor of their patrimony ; clear as we shall, by-and- by. see tlie proofs of its power in creating paupers, and in tak- ing from the higher all compassion for the lower classes, how in- cessant have been the eflbrts, how crafty the schemes, to make ns believe precisely the contrary ! If the salvation of their own souls had been the objects they had in view, the deceivers could not have laboured with more pains and anxiety. They have particularly bent their attention to the implanting of their false- hoods in the minds of children. The press has teemed, for two v'.enturies and more, with cheap books having this object princi- psilly in view. Of one instance of this sort, I cannot refrain from making particular mention ; namely, a Fabi-e in a Spelling- Book, by one Fenning, which has been in use in England, for aiorr than half a century. The fable is called : " The Priest and the Jester." A man, as the fable says, went to a " Romish Priest," and asked charity of him. He began by asking for a S^inea, but lowered the sum til! it came to a farthing, and still the priest refused. Then the beggar asked for " o bletsing," ivUch the priest readily consented to give him ; " No," said the fioggar; " if it were worth but one single farthing, you wouldnol fire it me." How indefatigable must have been these deceivers, when they could resort to means like these ! What multitudes of children ! how many millions of people have, by this boak alone, had falsehood the most base and wicked engraven upon their minds ! 144 To proceed now with our inquiry relative to the efliscli »f the Monastic Institutions, we may observe, that authorities, h tiiis case, seemed necessary. The Ijes were of long-standing ; "iTPOcritical selfishne.ss. backed hy every species of violence, ij W PROTESTANT REFORMATION nuiny and cruelty, had been at work for ages to delijle the pe» pie of England. Those who had fattened upon the spoils o{ the church and the poor, and who wished still to enjoy the fat- ness in quiet, naturally laboured to persuade the people, that those who had been despoiled, were unworthy people ; that the institutions which gave them so much property, were, ai least, uselest ; that the possessors were lazy, ignorant, and base crea tures, spreading (/orinen over the country instead of light; de- vouring that which ought to have sustained worthy persons. When the whole press and all the pulpiU o{ a country are leagued for such a purpose, and supported in that purpose by the state ; and when the reviled party is, by terrors hardly to be described, reduced to silence : in such a case, the assailants must prevail ; the mass of the people must believe what they say. Reason, in such a state of things, is out of the question. But truth is im- mortal ; and, though she may be silenced for a while, there al. ways, at Kst, comes something to cause her to claim her due and to triumph over falsehood. 145. There is now come that which is calculated to give our reasoning faculties fair play. We see the land covered, at last, cvith pauperism, fanaticism and crime. We hear an increase oj thepeople talked of as a calamity; we hear of Scotch "feeloso- fers" prowling about the country, reading lectures to the manu- facturers and artizaus to instruct them in the science of prevent- i7ig their wives from beiiig mothers; and, in one instance, this has been pushed so far as to describe, in print, the mechanical pro- cess for effecting this object ! In short, we are now arrived at a point which compels us to inquire into the caiue of this mons- trous state of things. The immediate cause we find to be the poverty and degradation of the main body of the people ; and these, through many stages, we trace back to the " Reforma- tico," one of the effects of which, was to destroy those Monastic li stitutions, which, as we shall now sec, retained the produce Oi labour in the proper places, and distributed it in a way natu- raily tending to make the lives of the people easy and happy, 146. The authorities that 1 have cited ought to be of grea' weight in the question ; but, supposing there to be no authorities on the side of these institutions, of what more do they stand iu Deed, than the unfettered exercise of our reason ? Reason, in inich a case, is still better than authorities ; but who is to resist both ? Let us ask, then, whether reason do not reject with dis- dain the slander that has been heaped on the monastic institu lions. They flourished in England for nine hundred years ; they were beloved by the people ; they were destroyed by violence, by the plunderer's grasp, and the murderer's knife. Was there ever »ny thing vicious in itself, or evil in its effects, held in ve- neration by a whole people for so long a time 1 Even in oni PROTESTANT REFORMATION. Tl own lime, we see tbe.as, to prevent that state of things which sees but two classes of people in a community, maitera and slaves, a very few enjoy- lag the extreme of luxury, and millions doomed to the extreme jf misery 150. From the land all the good things come. Somebody must own the land. Those who own it must have the diftributiov if its revenues. It these revenues be chiefly distributed amongst ihe people, from whose labour they arise, and in such away ai ".o afford to them a ffood maintenance on easy terras, the com- PROTESTANT REFORMATION 78 ■mnity must be happy. If the revenues be alienated in very ^eat part ; if they be carried away to a great distance, and ex- pended amongst those, from whose labour no part of them arise the main body of the community must be miserable ; poor-houut jiiila, and barracks must arise. Now one of the greatest advac- tages attending the monasteries, was, that they, of necessity , caused the revenues of a large part of the lands of the countrji !o be spent on the spot whence those revenues arose. The hot- f itals and all the other establishments of the kind had the same tendency. There were, of the whole, great and small, not less an au average, than fifty in tach county; so that the revenues of the land diffused themselves, in great part, immediately amongst the people at large. VVe all well know how the state of a parish becomes instantly changed for the worse, when a noble, or other great land-ov?ner quits his mansion in it, and leaves that mansion shut up. Every one knows the effect which such a shutting up has upon the poor-rates of a parish. It is no- torious, that the non-residence of the clergy and of the noble- men and gentlemen is universally complained of, as a source of evil to the country. One of the arguments, and a great one il is, in favour of severe game laws, is, that the game causes noble- men and gentlemen to reside. What, then, must have been th« effect of twenty rich monasteries in every county, expending con- stantly- a large part of their incomes on t^espot? The great cause' of the miseries of Ireland at this moment, is " absentee- thip;'' that is to say, the absence of the land-owners, who draw away the revenues of the country, and expend them in other countries. If Ireland had still her seven or eight hundred Mo- nastic Institutions, great and small, she would be, as she former ly was, prosperous and happy. There would be no periodical famines, and typhus fevers ; no need oi sun-set, and sun-rise laws; no Captain Rocks, no projects for preventing the people fromin- veasing ; no schemes for getting rid of a " surplus population;'' none of that poverty, and degradation that threaten to make a desert of the country, or to make it the means of destroying the greatness of England herself. 151. Somebody must own the lands ; and the question is, whc ilier it be best for them to be owned by those who constantly live, md constantly must live, in the country and in the midst of their {States ; or, by those who always may, and who frequently wilj « nd do, live at a great distance from their lands, and draw away ihs revenues of them to be spent elsewhere. The monastics are, by many, called drones. Bfshop Tannir has shown us, that this charge is very false. But, if it were true, is not a drone in a cowl as good as a drone in a hat and top-boots ! By drones, are meant those who do not wot i : and do land-owners usually work ? riie lay lar«d-owner and his family spend moreof their revenues 7 M PROTESTANT REFORMATION. is « wa; not userul to the people, than the monastict poitibl; evuij. Biit, besides this, besides the hospitality and charitjr o( Ihe momisiics, and besides, moreover, the lien, and legal lien, irhicti iiiu main body of tlie people liad, in many cases, to a share, directly, or indirectly, in the revenues of the monasteries, we »re to look at the monks and nuns in the very important capa tity 01 tandiords a.ud landladies. All historians, tcwever Pro. lestani or malignant, agree, that they were " easy landlords;" Uiattney let their lands at low rents, and on leases of long' teini •f years; so that, says even Huml, ' the/armerj regarded them- lelves as a species of proprietors, always taking care to renew their leases before they cspired." And was there no goed in s class of landlords of this sort ? Did not they naturally, and ne- cessarily create, by slow degrees, men of property 1 Did thej not thus cause a class of yeomen to exist, real yeomen, indepeO' dent of thfii aristocracy ? And was not this class destroyed by the " Reformation," which made the farmers rack-renltrs and absolute dependents, as we see them to this day 7 And, was this change favourable then, to political liberty t Monastics could possess no private property, they could save no money, they could bequeath nothing. They had a life interest in their es- tate, and no more. Tliey lived, and received, and expended in common. Historians need not have told us, that they were " easg landlords." They m;ust have been such, unless numan nature nad taken a retrogade march expressly for their accommoda. tion. And, was it not happy for the nation, ttiat there was such a class of landlords ? What a jump for joy would the farmers ol England now give, if such a class were to return to-morrow, to get tliem out of the hands of the squandering, and needy lord, and his grinding land-valuer ! 152. Then, look at the monastics as causing, in some of the moat importaut of human affairs, that_^ea'7ies> which is so mucli the friend of rectitude in morals, and which so powerfully con- duces to prosperity, private and public. The monastery was a proprietor thatncver died : its tcnartry had to do with a dealh- (css landlord; its lands and houses never changed owners; its tenants -were liable to none of many of the uncertainties that «ther temints were ; its oaks had never to tremble at the axe of the squandering heir; its manors had not to dread a change of rioi'ds ; its villagers had all been born and bred up under its eye uid care ; (heir character was, of necessity a thing of great va- lue, and as such, would naturally be an object of great attention. A monastery was the centre of a circle in the country, naturat Ijr drawing to it, all that were in want of relief, advice, and pro- tection, and containing a body of men, or of women, having no cares of their own, and having wisdom to guide the inexpericnc ed and ivcalth to relieve the distressed. And was it a^no(///i'tn^ PROTESTANT REKORMATIOK. 7» thea,.to plwidtf and dftipstate these establishments,: wb« it a re foTtaatiqu to squander estates, thus employed, upon lay persons, who would not, who could not, and did not, do any part or par tide of those benev.oleait acts, and acts of public utility, which naturally arose out. oif the monastic institutions ? 153. ^Lastly, Jet us, (opk at the monasteries as a resource foi the younger ions and eUiu^hters of the Arislocracy, and as the means of protecting tlie government against the injurious effects of their clamorous wants. There cannot exist an .^risfecracj/, or body o{ Nobility, without the means, in the hands of the go- T.ernment,.of preieming that body from falling into that con- tempt, which is, and always must be, inseparable from Noble- poveriy. " Well," some will say, " why need there be any such body ?_" That is quite another question ; for we have it, and ha>i) had.it, for more than a thousand years ; except during a very short mierval, at the end of which, our ancestors eagerly took it back again. I must too. though it really has nothing to do with the question before us, repeat my opinion, many times ex- presiied, that we should Ipsemore than we should gain by getting rid of our Aristocracy. The basest and most corrupt govern- ment that I ever kqew any thing, or heard any thing of, is the republican government of PEiSNSVLVANiA, and, withal, the most truly tyrannical : base and corrupt from bottom to top ; from the root to the topmost twig : from the trunk to the extreme point of every branch. And if any Pennsylvanias, who has a name, and who will put it to ^.challenge to me to prove my words, I will before the face of all Europe, prove them in the most complete and ample manner. I am not, therefore, for republican govern- mtnt ; and then, it follows, that I am for an aristocracy ; for, without it, there can be no limit to a kingly government 154. However, this has nothing at all to do with the present question : we have the aristocracy, and we must, by a public pro- vision of some sort, for the younger branches of it, prevent it from falling into the degradation inseparable from poverty. This provision was, in the times of which we are speaking, made by the monasteries, which received a great number of its monlu and nuns from the families of the nobles. This rendered tliose odious and burdensome things, pensions and sinecures, unneces- sary ]t, of course, spared the taxes. It was a provision thai was not degrading to the receivers ; and it ceated no grudging and discontent amongst, the people, from whom the receivers look nothing. Another great advantage arising from this mode of providing for the younger branches of the nobility, was, thai it secured the government against the temptation to give offices, and to lodge power in unfit hands. Look at our pension and sin- ecure list; look at the list of those who have commands, and wh< fill other offices of emolument ; and you will, at once see the great 76 PROTESTANT REFORMATION. benefit wliich must have been derived from institutions, whjck eft tlie government quite free to choose comuianders, ambassa dors, governors, and other persons to exercise power, and to be intrusted in tlie carrying on of the public affairs. These insti- tutions tended too, to check the increase of the race of nobles ; t«i prevent the persons connected with that order from being- inul tiplied to the extent to which they naturally would, othej-wiae, bt multiplied. They tended also to make the nobles not so depend- tnt on the crown, a provision being made for their poor rel*' tions without the crown's assistance ; at the same time, they tended to make the people less dependent on the nobles tlian they otherwise would have been. The monasteries set the ex- ample, as masters and landlords ; an example that otliers were, in a «;reat degree, compelled to follow. And thus, ail ranks and degree^ were benefitted by these institutions, which, with malig- nant historians, have been a subject of endless abuse, and the destruction of which they have recorded with so mucli delight> as being one of the brightest features in the " Reformation .'" 155. Nor must we, by any means, overlook the effects of these institutions on the mere face of tlie country. That soul must be low and mean indeed, which is insensible to all feeling of pride in the noble edifices of its country. Loveof country, that variety of feelings which, altogether constitute v.hat we proper- ly call patriotism, consist, in part of the admiration of, and ve- neration for, ancient and magnificent proofs of skill and of opu- lence. The monastics built as well as wrote for posterity* The never-dying nature ol their institutions set aside, in all their un- dertakings, every calculation as to time and age. Whether they built or planted, they set the generous example of providing for the pleasure, the honour, the wealth, and greatness of genera- tions upon generations yet unborn. They executed ery thing in the very best manner: their gardens, fish-ponds, Tarms; in all, in the whole of their economy, they set an example tending to make the country beautiful, to liiake it an object of pride with the people, and to make the nation truly and permanently great. Go into any county, and survey, even at this day, the ruins of Its, perhaps, twenty Abbeys and Priories ; and, then, ask your> self, " what have we in exchange for these ?" — Go to the site of ■ome once-opulent convent. Look at the cloister, now become, in the hands of a rack-renter, the receptacle for dung, fodder and faggot-wood: see the hall, where, for ages, the widow, the orphan, the aged, and tlie stranger found a table ready spread ; ■ee a bit of its walls now helping to make a cattlfe-shed, the rest having been haul ^d away to build a workhouse : recognize, in the side of a ba>n.. a part of the once-'ma^nificent chapel: and, if chained to the spot by your melancholy musings, you be ad- taionished of the approacli of nighi by thf voice of the screech- PROTESTANT REFORMATION. T» »wl, issuing from those arches, w'lich once, at the same ho^r, resounded with the vespers of the monk, and which have, for seven hundred years, been assailed by storms and tempests in vain-: if thus admonished of the necessity of seeking food, shel- ter, and a bed, lift your eyes and look at the white-washed, and dry-rotten shell on the hill, called the " gentleman's bouse ;,' and, apprized of the " board-wages" and the spring-guns, suddenly turn your head; jog away from the scene of devastation ; with " old English hospitality" in your mind, reach the nearest inn uid there, in a room half-warmed, and half-lighted, and with i reception precisely proportioned to the presumed length of your purse, sit down and listen to an account of the hypocritical pre tences, the base motives, the tyrannical and bloody means un- der which, from which, and by which, that devastation was ef- fected, and that hospitality banished for ever from the land. 156. We have already seen something of these pretences, mo tives, and acts of tyranny and barbarity ; we have seen that the beastly lust of the chief tyrant was the ground-work of what ii" cailled the " Reformation ;" we have seen that he could not have proceeded in his course without the concurrence of the parlia ment ; we have seen, that to obtain that concurrence, he held out to those who composed it, a participation in the spoils of the mo- nasteries; and, when we look at the magnitude of their posses- sions, when we consider the beauty and fertility of the spots on which they, in general, were situated, when we think of the en- vy which the love borne them by the people must have excited in the hearts of a great many of the noblemen and gentlemen ; when we thus reflect, we are not surprised, that these were ea- ger for a " Reformation" that promised to transfer the envieil possessions to them. 157. When men have power to commit, and are resolved to commit, acts of injustice, they are never at a loss for pretences. We shall presently see what were tlie pretences under which this devastation of England was begun ; but to do the work, there required a morhnan, as, to slaughter an ox, there requires a autcher. To turn the possessors of so large a part of the es- tates out of those estates to destroy establishments veneratrti by the people from their childhood, to set all law, divine as we!! a* human, at defiance, to violate every principle on which pro- ' perty rested, to rob the poor and helpless of the means of sus«<» nance, to deface the beauty of the country, and make it literal- ly a heap of ruins , (o do these tl ings, there required a suitable agent ; and that agent the tyrant found in Thomas Cromwell, whose name, along with that of Cranmer, ought "to stand for aye, accursed in the calendar." This Cromwell was the son o< » blacksmith of Putney in Surrey. He had been an underling nf some sort in the family of Cardinal Woi.sky, and had lecom 7* T9 PROTESTANT REFORMATION. mended himself to the king by nis sycophancy to him, and hu treachery to his old master. The king now became hecut ofthi thurth, and having the supreir acy to exercise, had very judici- ously provided himself with Cranmer as a primate ; and to mate): him, he provided himself with Cromwell who was equal U Cranmer in impiousness and baseness, rather surpassed him in dastardliness, and exceeded him decidedW in quality of ruffian. All nature could not, perhaps, have ailovded another man so fit lo be the "Royal Vicegerent and Vicar-Genera*,"'- of the new head of the English church. 158. Accordingly, with (his character, the brutal blacksmith was invested. He was to exercise " all the spiritual authority belonging to the king, for the due administration ofjusticein all cases touching the ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and the godly re- formation and redress of errors, heresies, and abuses in the said church." We shall vei_» soi>i. see proofs enough of the base- ness ot this man, for whom ruffian is too gentle a term. What chance, then, did the monasteries stand in his hands ? He was created a peer. He sat before the primate in Parliament ; he sat above all the bishops in assemblies of the clergy/ he took precedence of all the nobles, whether in office, or out of ofiice, and, as in character, so in place, he was second only to the chie/ tyrant himself. . . - , 159. In order to begin the "gorfii^ reformation ;" that is to say, the work of plunder, the " Vicegerent" blacksmith set on foot a visUatio7i of the monasteries ! Dreadful visitation I He, active as he was in wickedness, could not do all tlie work him- self. He therefore appointed deputies to assist in making this visitation. The kingdom was divided into districts for this pur- pose, and two deputies were appointed to visit each district. The object w as to obtain grounds of accusation against the monks and nuns. W nen we consider what the object was, and what was the charaWer of the man, to whom the work was committed, » e may easily imagine what sort of men these deputies were. Thay were, in fact, fit to be the subalterns of such a chief. Some of the v.^ry worst men in all England ; ^en of notoriously in- famoas characters ; men who had b^en convicted of 'heinoui crimes; soma who had actually been branded; and, probably, not one ma« who had not repeatedly deserved thet halter. Think of a re.ipectable, peaceful, harmless, and pious fami- ly, broken iv. iijon, all of a sudden, by a brace of burglars, with murder wTitie.i on their scowling brows, demanding an in- stant production ij their title-deeds, money; and jewels; imagine such a scene as tl ic, and you have then someidea of the visi lation: of these mo.ii-tsrs, who cikme with the threat of the ty- rant on their lips, «l o ,ne( acod Ou- victims with charges ol iif;h treason, who w, tt.' i? tl e/r r'j.Oi'ts, not what was. bni whal tlif-ir inerrilpss i-m*^ ^ ' i- ". i.'ei tkem lo write PROTESTANT REFORMATIO!*. » 100. The monks and nuns who had never drnanied of the pos- sibility of such proceedings, who had ne^er had an idim thai Magna Ciiarta, and all the hiws of the land could be set aside in a moment, and whose recluse and peaceful lives rendered them wholly unfit to coi)e with at once, crafty and desperate villainy, fell before these ruffians, as chickens fall before the liite. The ra- ports made by these villains, met with no contradictioa ; the ae- ciised parties had no means of making a defencf. ; there was no court for them to appear in; they dared not, even if they had had the means, to offer a defence, or make a complaint; for they had leen the horrible consequences, the burnings, the rippings up, of aW. those of their brethren who had ventured to whisper their dissent from any dogma or decree of the tyrant. The project was to despoil people of their properti/ ; and yet the parties, from " whom the property was to be taken, vi'ere to have no court, in ivhich ta plead their cause, no means of obtaining a hearing, could make even no compiainl but at tht peril of their lives. — They, and those who depended on thena were to be, at once, strip- ped of this great mass of property, without any other ground than that of reports made by men sent, as the malignant Hume himself confesses, for tlie express purpose oi finding a pretence for the dissolution of the monasteries, and for the King's tailing to himself property that had never belonged "to hjm or his pre decessors. 161. HwE dares not, in the face of such a multitude of facta that are upon record to the contrary, pretend that these reportt were true ; but he does his best to put a gloss upon them, as we have seen in paragraph 129. He says, in order to effect by in- sinuation, that vrhich he does not venture to assert, that " it ia indeed, probable, that the blind submission of the people, during those ages, rendered the friars and nuns more unguarded, and more dissolute than they are in any Roman Catholic country at present." Oh ! say you so ? And why more blind than now .' i t is just the same religion, there are the same rules ; the peopls if blind tlien, are blind now : and it would be singolai' indeed, that when dissoluteness is become more common in the worldj Ihe "friars and nuns," should have become more guarded 1 How. ever, we have here his acquittal of the monasteries of the pr*» ent day ; and that is no small matter. It will be difficult, I be> lieve ,to make i', a.D^ear ^'■probable" that they were more uik. j^uarded, or more dissolute in the 16th ce:itury ; unlesa wo be- Beve that the profound piety (which Hume calls superstition) at '.he people was not partalcen of by the inhabitants of convents. Before we can listen to his insinuations in favour of these reports) w« must believe that the persons belonging to the religious com' aiunities were a body of cunning creatures, believing in no pari jf that religion which they professed, and we must e.\tei3iNG THIS. — The sackisg and eefaciho of the coo»- IRT. — Breaking up the tome of Alfred. — More wives di- TORCED A.SD killed. — DEATH OF THE MISCREANT CrOMWELL ■—Death OF the tvrant himself. Kensington, 30/* April, 1825. Mj Friends, 85. At the close of the foregoing Letter, we saw the begin- ning only of the devastation of England. In the present Letter we shall sec its horrible progress, as far as there was time for that progress, during the reign of the remorseless tyrant Henry Vm. We have seen in what manner weis obtained the first act for the suppression of monasteries ; that is to say, in reality, for robbing the proprietors of estates, and also the poor and the stranger. But, I must give a more full and particular account of the Act of Parliament itself, before I proceed to the deeds committed in consequence of it. 166. The Act was passed in the year 1536, and in the 27th year of the King's reign. The preamble of the Act contains the reasons for its enactment ; and, as this act really began the ruin and degradation of the main body of the people of England and Ireland ; as it was the first step taken, in legal form, for robbing the people under pretence of reforming their religion ; as it was the precedent on ivhicli the future plunderers proceeded, until they had completely impoverished the country j as it was ths first of that series of deeds of rapine by which this formerly well- fed, and well clothed people have, in the end been reduced to rags, and to a woise than jail allowance of food, I will insert its .ying and villainous preamble at full length. Englishmen in ge- neral, suppos« that there were always poor-laws and paupers m England. They ought to remember that for nine hundrec can under the Catholic religion there were neither. They cugbt, when they hear the fat parson cry " no popery, to answer him by the cry of " no pauperism." They ought above all things to en. deavour to ascertain how it came to pass, that this land of roast beef was changed, allofa sudden, into a land of liryArearf, or of natmeal porridge. Let them attend, then, to the base and hy- pocritical pretences that they will find in the following preambU to this attrocious act of pillage 9e plunder, had given not only Ui» lands and houses to the tyrant, or, rather, had taken them to themselves ; but had disposed, in the same short way, of all tjie moveable goods, stock on farms, crops, and, which was of raojre consequence, of theg-oW, direr, undjtweh. Let the reader judge of the ransackiugs that now took place The poorest of the con- vents had some images, vases, and other things of gold or silver. Many of them possessed a great deal in this way. The altard of their churches were generally enriched with the precious me- tals, if not with costly jewels ; and, which is not to be overlook- ed, the people in those days, were honest enough to suffer all these things to remain in their places, without a itandiiig army, and without police officers 175. Never, in all probability, since tne world began, was there so rich a harvest of plunder. The rufSans of Cuomwem. entered the convents ; they tore down the altars to get away the gold and silver ; ransacked the chests and drawers of the monks and nuns; tore off the tovers of books that were ornamented with the precious metals. These books were all in manuscript. Single books had taken, in many cases, half a long life-time to compose and to copy out fair. Whole libraries, the gelting of which together, had taken ages upon ages, and had cost im- mense sums of money, were scattered abroad by these hellish ruffians, when they had robbed the covers of the rich ornaments. The ready money, in the convents, down to the last shilling, was seized. In short, the most rapacious and unfeeling soldiery iiever, in towns delivered up to be sacked, proceeded with gree- -liness, shamelcssness and brutality to be at all compared with those of these heroes of the Protestant Reformation ; and this, utiserve, towards persons, women as well as men, who had com- mitted no crime known to the laws, who had had no crime regu- lariy laid to their charge, who had had no hearingjn their defence a large part of whom had, within a year, been declared, by this came parliament, to lead most godly and useful lives, the whole o\ whose possessions were guaranteed to them by the Great Char- ter, as much as the King's crown was to him, and whose estates were enjoyed for the benefit of the poor, as well as for that ol these plundered possessors themselves. 8 16 PROTKSTANT KEFORMATIOM. 176. The tyrant was of course, the great pocltetter oi thii ipecies of plunder. Ckomw£Ll carried or sent it to him in ))ar- ceU, twenty ounces of gold- at one time, fifty ounces at another now a parcel of precious stones of one sort, then a parcel of ano- ther. HuMJi:, whose main object is to blacken the Catholic re- ligion, takes every possible occasion for saying something or other in praise of its destroyers. He cou'.d not, he was too cun- ning to ascribe justice or humanity to a monster, whose very name signifies injustice and cruelty. He tliereforc, speaks oJ his high tpiril, his magnificence and generosity. It was a high^ ipiriiid and magnificent king to be sure, who sat in his palace, in London, to receive with his own hands, the gold, silver, jewels, and pieces of money, of which his unofiendiiig subjects had been robbed by ruffians sent by himself to commit the robbery. One of the items runs in these words: — "Item, delivered unto the King's royal Majesty, the same day, of the same stuffe, foure chalices ofgolde, with foure patient of golde to the same ; and a moon of gold, weighing, altogether, one hundred and six ounces. ftecei»erf; HENRY, REX." 177. There arc high spirit, magnificence, and generosity .' — Amongst the stock of this "generous prince's" pawnbroker's shop; or rather, his store-house of stolen goods, were images ol all sorts, candlesticks, sockets, cruets, cups, pixes, goblets, ba- sins, spoons, diamonds, sapphires, pearls, finger-rings, eaf -rings, pieces of money of all values, even down to shillings, bits of gold and silver torn from the covers of books, or cut and beaten out of the altars. In cases where the wood work, either of altars, crosses, or images, was inlaid with precious metal, the wood was frequently burnt to get at the metal. Even the Jew thieves ol the present day, are not more expert at their li ade, than the mj'rmidons of Cromwell were. And, with these facts before us; these facts undenied and undeniable; with these facts before us, must we not be the most profound hypocrites that the world ever saw ; must we not be the precise contrary of that \\ hich Englishmen have always been thoiight to be, if we still affect to believe, that the destruction of the shrines of our forefathers, arose from motives of conscience ? , 178. The parcel of plunder mentioned in the last paragraph but one, brought into this royal Peacudm, was equal in value to ■boat eight thousand pounds of money of the present day; and that parcel was, perhaps, not a hundredth part of what he re* eeived in this way. Then who is to suppose that the plunderert did not keep a large share to themselves ? Did suballern plun- derers ever give in just accounts ? It is manifest, that, from thit specimen, the whole amount of the goods of wliicli the coiivenis ^'ere plundered, must have been enormous. The Reformiuff g;;ii Irv ransacked the Cathedral churches as well as the convents Protest a.ni reb'ormation 87 Iheir churches. Whatever pili contained the greatest quantitj af the " same siuffe," seemed to be the object cf their most keen rapacity. Therefore, it is by no means surprising", that they di reeled, at a very early stage of their pious and honest progress, their hasty steps towards Canterbury, which, above all bthei places, had been dipped in the '' manifeste synnt" of possessing rich altars, tombs, gold and silver images, together with 'ma- nifestly synneful'* diamonds and other precious stones. The whole of this city, famed as the cradle of English Christianity, 9/as prise; and the "Reformation" people hastened to it with that alacrity, and that noise of anticipated enjoyment, which we observe in the crows and magpies, when flying to the spot where a horse or an ox has accidentally met with its death. 179. But there were, at Canterbury, two objects by which the " Keformation" birds of prey were particularly attracted ; namely, the monastery of Saint Aostin, and the tomb of Tho- mas A Beck£t. The former of these renowned men, to whose preaching, and whose Long life of incessant and most disinter- ested labour, England owed the establishment of Christianity in the land, had, for eight or nine centuries, been regarded as the Apostle of England. His shrine was in the monastery de- dicated to him, and as it was, in all respects, a work of great magnificence, it ofiered a plenteous booty to the plunderers, who, if they could have got at tjie tomb of Jesus Christ himself, and had found it equally rich, would, beyond all question, have torn it to pieces. But, rich as this prize was, there was a greater in the shrine of Thomas a Becket, in the Cathedral church. Buck- et, who was Archbishop of Canterbury, in the reign of Henry II., who resisted that king, when the latter was manifestly pre paring to rob the church, and to enslave and pillage the people, had been held in the highest veneration all over Christendom for more than three hundred years, when the Reformation plun derers assailed his tomb ; but especially was his name venerai ed in England, where the people looked upon him as a martyi to their liberties as well as their religion, he having been barbar- ously murdered by rufBans sent from the king, and for no other cause than that he persevered in resisting an attempt to violate the Great Charter. Pilgrimages were continually made to his tomb ; offerings incessantly poured into it ; churches and hospi- tals and other establishments ofpie'yand charity were dedicat- *ed to him, as, for instance, the church of St. Thomas in the city of London, the Monastery of Sende, in Surrey, the Hospital oj St. Thomas, in the borough of Southwark, and things of this sort, in great numbers, all ov?r the country. The oiferings at his shrine had made it exceedingly rich and magnificent. A king of France had given to it a diamond, supposed to be the mos( raluable then in Europe. HiiiiiE, never losing sight of the doublf B8 PROTESTANT REFORMATIOM. aLject or maligning^ the Catliolic religion and degrading the En glish nation, ascribes this sort of half-adoration of Bkcket to the crajl of the priests and to the folly and superstition of the people. He is vexed to death to have to relate, that more than o hundred thousand pilgrims to Becket's shrine have been as trmbled at oneiime in Canterbury. Indeed! why, then, ther«i must have been some people living in England, even in those old kiines ; and those people must have had some wealth too ; though, dccording to the whole tenor of the lying book which the Scotch call our history, this was, at the time I am now speaking of, n poor, beggarly, scarcely inhabited country. The city of Canter- bury does not now contain men, women, and children, all counted and well purJed out, more than twelve thousand seven hundred and twenty souls ! Poor souls ! How could they And lodging and en- tertainment for a hundred thousand grown persons ! And this, loo, observe, at'one corner of the Island. None but persons oi «ome substance could have performed such a journey. Here is a fact that Just slips out side-way which is of itself much more tlian enough to make us reflect a d inquire before we swallow what the Scotch philosophers are now presenting to us on the subjects of national wealth and population. And, then, as to the craft and supentition which Hume says produced this con course of pilgrims. Just as if either were necessary to produce unbounded veneration for the name of a man, of whom it was undeniably true, that he h«d sacrificed his life, and that, too, ill the most signal manner, for the rights and liberties and reli gion of his country. Was it "folly anil superstition," or was it wisdom and gratitude and real piety to show, by overt acts, ve- neration for such a man? The- bloody tyrant who had s6nt Moore and Fisher to the block, and who, of course, hated the name of Becket, caused his ashes to be dug up and scattered in the air, a.\iA forbade the future insertion of his name in the Calen OAR. We do not, therefore, find it in the Calendar in the Com- mon Prayer Book ; but, and it is a most curious fact, we find it in Moohk's Almanack ; in that Almanack it is for this year 1825 ; and thus, in spite of the ruthless tyrant, and in spite of all the liars of the " Reformation," the English nation has always con- tinued to be just and grateful to the memory of this celebra ted .■nan. 180. But to return to the " Reformation'' robbers ; here wai la prize! This tomb of BECKSxwas of wood, most exquisitely <»TOught, ilaid abundantly with the precious metals, and thick. ly set wu . precious stones of all sorts. Here was an object for " Reformation" piety to fix its godly eyes upon ! Were such a "hrine to be found in one of our churches now, howtheswadlers would cry out for another " Reformation '" The gold, silver nad jewels filled two chests, each of whicl required six or eight FROTESTAiM RKFORMATION. 87 men of that day (when the labourers used to have plenty vfmeat] to move them to the door of the Cathedral ' How the eyes o\ Hume's "high-minded, tnagnijiceni , and gmeroua prince" must have glistenet when the cdests were opened! They vied, I dare say, with the diamonds themselves. No robbers of whiih we have ever had an account, equalled these robbers in rapaci< ty, in,profligacy, and in insolence. But, where is the wonder The tyrant's proclamations had now the force of laws i he ha4 bribed the people's natural leaders to his side ; his will was aw and that will constantly sought plunder and blood. 181. The monasteries were now plundered, sacked, gutted ibr this last is the proper word whereby to describe the deed. As some comfort, and to encourage us to endure the horrid re- lation, we may here bear in mind, that we shall, by and by, see the base ruffian, Cromwell, after being the chief instrument in the plonder, laying his miscreant head on the block ; but to seize the estates, and to pillage the churches and apartments of tlie monasteries was not all. The noble buildings, raised with tlie view of lasting for countless ages ; the beautiful gardens ; rhese ornaments of the country must not be suffered to stand, for they continually reminded the people of the rapacity and cru- elty of their tyrant and his fellow-plunderers and partakers in the plunder. How the property in the estates was disposed of, we shall see further on ; but the buildings must comedown. To go to work in the usual way would have been a labour without end; so that, in most instances, GUNPOWDER was resorted to ; -^and thus, in a few hours, the most magnificent structures, vrhich it had required ages upon ages to bring to perfection, were made heaps of-ruins, pretty much such as many of them remain even unto this day. In many cases, tliose who got the estates were bound to destroy the buildings, or to knock them partly down, so that the people should, at once, be deprived o. all hope of seeing a revival of what they had lost, and in ordei to give them encouragement to take leases under the new owners. 182. The whole country was thus disfigured i it liad the ap pearance of a land recently invaded by the most brutal barba- rians ;-and this appearance, if we look well into it, it has, even .o this day. Nothing has ever yet come to supply the place ol what was then destroyed. This is the view for us to take of th« matter. It is not a mere matter ofretiglon; but a matter of rigbi<^ liberties, real wealth, happiness, and national greatness. If all Ihese have been strengthened, or augmented by the " Refoima. sion," even then we must not approve of the horrible means ; but if they have all been weakened, or lessened, by that " Reforma- tion," what an outrageous abuse of words is it to call the eveni by that name ! And, if I do not prove that this latter has been th» case; if I do not prove, clear as the day-light, that, bcfom 8* W PROTESTANT REFORMATION. the " Reformation," England was greater, more weaMhy, mm moral, and more happy, than she has ever been since ; if I Jo not dake this appear as clearly as any fact ever was made to ap- pear, I will be content to pass, for the rest of my life, foi b vtin pretender. 183. If I look at the county of Surrey, in which I myself wa« bom, and behold the devastation of that county, I am filled witb mdignatjon against the ruffian devast.i.tors. Surrey has yeiy fittle of .natural wealth in it. A very considerable part of it is ■Here heath-land. Its present comparative opulence is a crea- ture of the fictitious system of funding. Yet this county was, from one end of it to the other, ornarnenied and benefited by the establishments which grew out of the Catholic church . At Behmondsey there was an Abbey; at St. Mary Ovehy there was a Priory, and this convent founded that very St. ThomoB't Hospital which now exists in SoUthwark. This hospital also was seized by the ruffians, but the building was afterv.'ards given to the city of London. At Newington there was an hospital, am after its revenues were seized, the master obtained a license tc beg! At Merton there was a Priory. Then going across to the Sussex side, there was another Priory at Reigate. Coming again near the Thames, and more to the west, there was a Prio- ry at Skene. Still more to the west, there was an abbey at Chebtsey. At Tandridge there was a Priory. Near Guil- ford, at Sende, there was a Priory. And, at the lower end ol the county, at Waverley, in the parish of Farnham, was an Abbey. To these belonged cells and chapels at a distancefrom the convents tliemselvcs : so that it would have been a work o£ some difficulty for a man so to place himself, even in this poor, heathy couaty, at .six miles distance from a place where the door of hospitality was always open to the poor, to the aged, the or- phan, the widow, and the stranger. Can any man now place himself, in that whole county, within any number of miles, of any such door 1 No : nor in any other county. All is wholly changed, and all is changed for the worse. There is now no hospitality in England. Words have changed their meaning. We now give entertainment to those who entertain us in jetum. We entertain people because we like the^n personally ; and very seldom because they stand in need of entertainment. Au hoapv- taf in those days, meant a place of free entertainment : and not a place merely for the lame, the sick, and the blind ; and the ve- gy sound of the words " Old English Hospitality," ought to raise ». blush on every Protestant cheek. But, tesides this lio-spitality, exercised invariably in the monasteries, the weight of their ex- ample was great with all the opnlent classes of the community; and thus, to be gene ous and kind, was the character of the na- tion at large; a niggardly, a base, a money-loving disposition PROTESTANT RKF0RlVlAT10,>. S} tcxill not be in fasliion, when those histitutions to which all men looked with reverence, set an example which condemned such a diapusition. 184. And, if I am uslied why the thirteen monks of Waver- LEY, for instance, should have had 1961 13s. 1 Irf. ayear to spend making abDiit/our thousand "pounds a year of the money of the S resent day, I may answer by asliing, why they shi.uld not have adit? And, I may go on, and ask, why anybody should have «ny property at all .' Aye, but they never worked ; they di^ Bothmg to increase the nation's store f Let us see how this is. 'Etiey possessed the lands of VVaverley, a few hundred acres o< very poor land with a mill, and perhaps about twenty acres ol very indilterent meadow-land, on one part of which, sheltered by asemicircle of sand-hills, their Abbey stood, the river JVey (about twenty feet wide) ruiming close by the outer wall of the con- vent. Besides this, they possessed the impropriated tithes of the parish of Fariiham, and a pond or two on the commons adjoin- ing. This estate in land, belongs to a Mr. Thompson, who lives on the spot, and tiie estate in tithes, to a Mr. Halsev, who lives at a distance from the parish. Now, without any dis^paragemeut to these gentlemen, did not the monks work as much as they do ? Did not their revenue go to augment the nation's store as much as the rents of Mr. Thompson, or tlie tithes of Mr. H.iLSEr? — Aye, and which is of the most importance, the poor of the parish of Farnham, having this monastery to apply to, and having for their neighbour, a Bishop of Winchester, who did not sell small beer out ofhispalace ; stood in no need of poor-rales, and had ne- ver heard the horrid word pauper pronounced. Come, my towns men of Farnham, you, who, as well as 1, have, wlien we- were boys, climbed the ivy-covered ruins of this venerable Abbey (the first of its order in England ;) you, who, as well as I have, when looking at tliose walls, which have outlived the memory of the devastators, but not the malice of those who still taste the sweets of the devastation ; you, who, as well as I, have many times won- dered what an Abbey was, and how, and why this one came to be detastated j you shall be judge in this matter. You know what poor-rates are, and you know what church-rates are. Very well -then, there were no poor-rates, and no church-rates as long mt Waverley Abbey existed, and as long as Bishops had no wires This is a fact wholly undeniable. There was no need of either The church shared its property with the poor and the strangci and left the people at arge to possess their own earnings. And as (o matters of faith and worship, look at that immense heap ol aarth round the church, wliere your parents, and my ) arents, and where our progenitors, for twelve hundred years, lie auried j ihen, bear in mind, that, for nine hundred years out of the twelve, thev wave all of the faith and «ors!iip of the monks of Waver 52 PROTLSTAMT REFORMAflON W'y ; aiiJ, willi that thought in your mhul, And if you can, the- lieatt Ij say, tliat the monks of VVaveiiey, by whose hotpitaiity your fathers, an! could not do inwithont openly bpconing Protestant, whirh iOO PK0TE3TANT ..E. FORMATION. ("or the reasoiis stated in paragfrap.i 101, he would not di . Bui Hertkoru, and his fifteen brother worthies, had in their way no such obstacle as the ruffian King had had. The church-altarh, 'he chantries, and the guilds contained something valuable ; and they longed to be at it. The power of the Pojje was got en rid of; the country had been sacked; the poor had been despoiled ; but, still there were some pickings \e{t. The jiiety of ages haj made every church, iiowever small, contain some gold and sil- ver appertaining to the aliar. The altars, in the jiarish-churcliei »Bd, generally, in the Cathedrals, had been left, as yet, untouch' ed ; for, though the wife-Uiller had abjured the Pope, whose pow er he had taken to himself, he still professed to be of the Catho- lic faifh, and he maintained the mass and the sacraments and creeds with fire and faggot. Therefore he had left the church- altars unplundered. Butj they contained gold, silver, and other valuables, and the worthies saw these with longing eyes and itch- ing fingers. 197. To seize them, however, there required u pre/ex/ ; and what pretext could there be short of declaring, at once, that the Catliolic religion was false and wicked, and, of course, that there oughi to be no altars, and of course, no gold and silver things ap pertaining to them ! The sixteen worthies, with Hertford at their head, and with Cranmeu amongst them, had had the king crowned as a Catholic ; he, as well as they, had taken the oaths as Catholics ; they had sworn to uphold that religion ; they had lajid was over-run by these foreign traders in religion ; and this nation, so jealous of foreign influence, was now compelled to faettd its haughty neck, not only to foreigners, but to foreigners of the must base and infamous character and description. Cr an- MER could not find Englishraer sufficiently supple to be his tools in executing the work that he had in hand. The Protector Hertford, wiiora Me must now call Simerset, (the child-idng naving made him Duke of Somkrset,) was the greatest of al' lOa FROTESTANl REFOhMAl lOK " re/omieM ' tliat had yet appeared in the world, and, tts «e sh!v3 soon see, the greatest, and most auda.cicius of ml the plup Jerers that this famous reformation had produced, save ana -x rrpt Old Harry hi nudf. The total abolition of the Catholic woi ship was necessary to his projects of plunder; ami, tlrerefore, he was a fyreal encourager of these greedy and villainous for- (igncrs. Perhaps the world has never, in any age, seen a negS of f,uch attrocioHS miscreants as Luther, ZuIngi.ius, Calvw iJEZA, and the rest of the distinguished rcforn ..rs of the Catho lie religion. Every one of them was notorious for the most scan dalous vices, even according to the full confession of his owis followers. They agreed in nothing but in the doctrine, tha( good works were useless ; and their lives proved the sincerity %i their teaching ; for, there was not a man of them whose acts did lint merit a halter. 201. The consequences to the morals of the people were sucn as were naturally to be expected. All historians agree, that vice of all sorts, and crimes of every kind were never so great and so numerous before. This was confessed by the teachers themselves — and yet the Protestants have extolled this reign as the reign oC conscience and religion ! It was so manifest fiiat tJie change was a bad one, that men could not have proceeded in it from er- ror. Its mischiefs were all manifest before the death of the old tyrant: that death afforded an opportunity for returning into the right path ; but there was plunder remaining, and the plun- derers went on. The " reformation" was not the work of vir- tue, of fanaticism, of error, of ambitioii *, butof ff love of plunder. This was its great animating principle: in this if began, and in Ws it proceeded till there was nothing left for it to work on, 202. The old tyrant had, in certain cases, enabled his minionj .0 rob the biskopricks ; but now, there was a grand sweep at them. The Protector took the lead, and his example was followed by others. They took so much from one, so much from ano- ther, and some they wholly suppressed, as that o{ Westminster, and took their estates to themselves. There were many chau' iries (private property to all intents and purposes ;) free chapeli, also private property, alms-houses, hospitals, guilds, or frater> nities, the property of which was as much private property aa the funds of any Friendly Society now are. All these besame ioKful plunder. And yet there are men who pretend that what u now possessed by the Established Church is of so sacred ana- lure as not to be touched by Act of Parliament ! This was the reign in which this, our present Established Church was founded , Sir though the fabric was overset by JVIahy, it was raised agaia — y Elizabeth. Now it was, that it was made. It was made, 11 ' the new worship along with it, by Acts of I arliament, aiul ■ow seems to be high lime, that, by similar Ac Is, it should b/ PROTKSTANT REFORMATION. anmade Jt had its very birth in division, disunion, di:iCord ; ano its life has been wortliy of its birth. The property it possessei was taken, nominally, from the Catholic Church; but in reality, from thatchurcli, ajid also from the widow, the orphan, the in digent and tlie stranger. 'Die pretext for making it was, that it would cause an union of sentiment amongst the people : that it would compose all dissetisions. The truth, tlie obvious truth, that there could be but ont true religion was acknowledged anr. io;idly proclaimed j and, it was not to be denied tliat there wore already twenty, tlie teachers of every one of which declared, that all the others were /ote; and, of course, that they were, at the very least, no better tlian no religion at all. Indeed, this is the language of common sense ; though it is now so fashionable to disclaim the doctrine of exclusive salvation. I ask the VmT\- rtiA.N parson, os prater, for instance, why he takes upon him that office ; why he does not go and follow some trade, or why he does not work in the fields. His answer is, that he is rac^e usefully employed in teaching. If I ask, of what use his teach ing is, he tells me, he must tell me, that his teaching is necessarfi to thesalvation of souls. Well, say I, but why not leave that bu- siness to the Established Church, to which the people all pay tithes ! Oh no ! says he, I cannot do that, because the church doesliot teacli the true religion. Well, says I, but true or false, if it serve for salvation, what signifies it? Here I have him per. ned up in a corner. He is compelled to confess, that he is a fellow wanting to lead an easy life by pandering to the passion* or whims of conceited persons ; or to insist, that his sort of belifl and teaching, are absolutely necessary to salvation; as he wii, not confess the former, he is obliged to insist on the latter; and liere, after all his railing against the intolerance of the Catho- lics, he maintains the doctrine of exclusive salvation. 203. Two true religions, two true creeds, difiering from each other, contradicting each other, present us with an impossiblli ty : what then, are we to think of twenty or forty creeds, tack differing from all the rest f If deism, or atheism bs something not only wicked in itself, but so mischievous in its effects as to call, in case of the public profession of it,. for imprisonment fot jrears and years ; if this be tlie case, what are we to think oflaws. the same laws, too, which inflict that cruel punishment, tofeiac nting and encouraging a multiplicity of creeds, all but one o which must be false 1 A code of laws, acknowledging and toler ating but one religion, is consistent in punishing the deist and the atheist ; but if it acknowledge or tolerate more than one, it acknowledges or tolerates one false one ; and let divines say. whether a false religion is not as bad as deism or atheism ? Be- sides, is it just to punish the deist or the atheist for not believing •a the christian religion at a when he sees the law tolerate .lo ■ iM I'ROlESXAiMi KJlFORMAXIOW iiiauy religions, all but one of which must be false/ What !■ I he natural eflecl of men seeing constantly before their eyes, il score or two ofilifi'ereiit sects, all calling themselves christiaai, all tolerated by the law, and each openly declaring that all thl reti are. false 1 The natural, the necessary effect is, that many men will believe that none of tlum have truth on-their side ; and, o< course, that the thing is false altogether, and invented solely for the benefit of those who teach it, and who dispute about it. 204. The law should acknowledge and tolerate but one reli jion ; or it should know nothing at all about the matter, Tim Catholic code was consistent. It said, that there was but one true religion ; and it punished, as offenders, those who dared, openly to profess any opinion contrary to that religion. Whether thai were the true religion or not, we have not now to inquire^ but, while its long continuance, and in so many nations too, was a strong presumptive proof of its good moral effects upon the peo- [)le, the disagreement amongst the Protestants was, and is, a presumptive proof, not less strong, of its truth, ff, as I observ- ed upon a former occasion, there be forty persons, who, and whose fathers, for countless generations, have, up to this day tntertaiued a certain belief; and, if thirty^nine of these say, at last, that this belief is erroneous, we may naturally enough sup- Dose, or, at least, we may think it possibly, that the truth, so long hidden, is, though late, come to light. But, if the thirty-nine i>egin, aye, and instantly begin, to entertain, instead of the one old belief, thirty-nine new beliefs, each differing from all the other tliirly-eiglit, must we not, in common justice, decide, tha^. the old belief must have been the true one? What; shall we hear these thirty-nine protestors against the ancient faith, each protesting against all the other thirty-eight, and still believe thai 'Jieir joint protest was just! Thirty-eight of them must now be )i error : this must be : and are we still to believe in the cor- .ectness of their former decision, and that, too, relating to the same identical matter? If, in a trial, relating to the dimensions of a piece uf land, which had been proved to have always been, lime without mind, taken for twenty acres, there was one survey- or to swear that it contained twenty acres, and each of thirty- nine other surveyors to swear to each of the other number oi acres, between o»e aail forty, what Judge and jury would heai- Sate a moment in creditmg him who swore to the twenty, and is irh(Aly rejecting the testimony of all the rest? 206, Thus the argument would stand, on the supposition that thirty-nine parts out of forty of a^ll Christendom had protested ; but there were not, and there are not, even unto this day, two (•arts out of fifty. So that here we have thirty-nine persons breaking off from about two thousand, protesting against the faith tt hirh the vk'hole, and their fathers have held ; we have eact I'HOTKST-VINT REiORMATlUN lo^ sf these t irty-uinc iiistat;tly protesting that all tlu oiher thirty eight have protested apon false grounds ; and yet we are to bC' lieve, that their joint protest against the faith of the two thou- sand, who arc backed by all antiquity, was wise an'^just! Ii this, the way in which we decide in other cases? i)iu honest men, and men not blinded by passion, or by some base motive, ever decide thus before ? Besides, if the Catholic faith were so false as it is, by some, pretented to be, how comes it not to .mve been extirpated before now? When indeed, the Pope had very great power; when even kings were compelled to bend to him. It might be said, and pretty fairly said, that no one dared use the weapons of reason against the Catholic faith. But, we have seen the Pope a prisoner in a foreign land; we have seen him without scarcely food and rajment ; and we have seen the press of more than half the world at liberty to treat him and his faith as it pleased to treat them. But, have we not seen the Protestant sects at work for three hundred years to destroy the Catholic faith ? Do we not see, at the end of those three hundred years, that that faith is still the reigning faith of Christendom ? Nay, do we not see that it is gaining ground at this very moment even m this kingdom itself, where a Protestant Hierarchy receives eight millions sterling a year, and where Catholics are still rigid iy excluded from aU honour and power, and, in some cases, from all political and civil rights, under a constitution founded by their Catholic ancestors ? Can it be, then, that this faith is false ? Can it be that this worship is idolatrous ? Can it be that it was necessary to abolish them in England, as far as law could do it ? Can it be that it was for our good, our honour, to sacls our country, to violate all the rights of property, to deluge the country with blood, in order to change our religion ? 206. But, in returning, now to the works of the plunderers, we ought to remark, that in discussions of this sort, it is a com- mon, but a very great error, to keep our eyes so exclusively fix. ed on mere matters of religion. The Catholic church included in it a great deal more than the business of teaching religion and of practising worship and administering sacraments. It had a great deal to do with the temporal concerns of the people. It provided, and amply provided for all the wants of the poor and (be distressed. It received back, in many instances, what the miser and extortioner had taken unfairly, and applied it to works of beneficence. It contained a great body of land proprietors, whose revenues were distributed in various ways amongst Iha people at large, upon terms always singularly advantageous tn the latter. It was a great and powerful estate, independent both of the aristocracy and the crown, and naturally siding with tht people. But, above all things, it was a proT ider for the poor V»\ a keeper of hospitality. By its charitv and bv its bencv« Kit) FROTESlAiNJ KEKOKMATIOS. loiici' tiiwarils its tenanls iii-.d de|iciidai)ts, ii iniligaled the rigoaf ol'ijioprietorsliip, ami held society togetlier by llie ties of reU- gion rather than bj the trammels and terrors of the law. Il was the great cause of that description of tenants called life- holders, who formed a most important link in the chain of so ciety, coming after the proprietors in fee, and before tlie tenant ti will, participating, in some degree, of the proprietorship oi the estate, and yet, not wholly withoiit dependence on the pr*. prietor. This race of persons formerly so numerous in England, has by degrees, become almost wholly extinct, their place har in|* been supplied by a comparatively few rack-renters, and by swarms of miserable paupers. The Catholic church lield lli«! lending of money for interest, or gahi, to be directly in the face of the gospel. It considered all such gain as usurious, mul o( vonrse, criminal. It taught the making of loans without inte- regi; and thus it prevented the greedy -minded from amassing . wealth in that way in which wealth is most easily amassed. Usu- •■y amongst chrislians was wholly unknown, until (he wife-killing tyrant had laid his hands on the property of the churbh and tlie poor. The principles of the Catholic church all partook of ge- nerosity ; it was their great characteristic, as selfishness is the characteristic of that cluirch which was established in its stead. 207. The plunder which remained after the seizure of the nic»- nasterie.5 was comparatively small; but, still, the very leavings of the old tyranny, the mere gleanings of the harvest of plund'^i were soinething : and these were not suffered to remain. Th** plunder of Ihe churches, parochial as well as collegiate, was pr^^ ceded by all sorts of antics played in those churches. Calvin. had got an influence opposed to that of Cran.mer ; so that Inert was almost open war amongst these protestants, which party should have the teaching of the people. After due preparatio'i m this way, the robbery was set about in due form. Every church-altar had, as I have before observed, more or less of gold and silver .4 part consisted of images, a part of censers, can- dlesticks, and other things used in the celebration of the mens The mass was, therefore, abolished, and there was no longei to be an nUar but a table in its stead. The fanatical part of tlx< reformers amnsed themselves with quarrelling about the part oi 4he church where the table was to stand; about the shape of it, aiid whether the head of it was to he, placed to the North, th» €ast, the West, or the South; and whether the people were i» Hand kneel, or iit at it ! The plunderers, however, thought • bout other things ; they thought about the value of the images, ejnsei's, and the like 208. To reconcile thepeople to these innovations, the plunder- IT'S had a Bible contrived for the purpose, which Bible wasapiss* reriinv nf the orisinat text. wheri>" or it was found to be neresia ty. Of all the acts of this iiypgeriljcii ami pliiiideiing ifign, this was, perhaps, the Ijasesl. In it we see the true chiuactei »f the heroes of the "Protestant Rei'orniation ;" and t!ie poor and miserable labourers of England, v/ho now live upon pota- toes and water, feel tlie consequences of the deeds of tlie iiifa mous tiinei of which i am speaking. Every preparation being «adc, the robbery began, and a general plunder c,f chui'-hes x)ok place by royal and Parliamentary authority . Tiie loL' jcrs took away every thing valuable, even down to the vtsimenli Dfthe priests. Such mean rapacity never was heard of before, and, fur the honour of human nature, let us hope that it will oB' ver be heard of again, it seems that Englard was really be come a den of thieves, and of thieves, toa, of the lowest, and most despicable character. 20y. The Protector, Somekskt, did not forget himself, llav ing plundered four or five of tiie bishopricUs, he needed Ajjulact in London Kor the purpose of building this palace, which was erected in the Strand, London, and which was called " Su.iier set-House," as the place is called to this day, he took from three bishops their town-houses ; he pulled these down, together with a parish chi'rch, in order to get a suitable spot for the erection. The materials of these demolished buildings being insufiicient for his purpose, he pulled down a part of the buddings apper- taining to the then Cathedral of Saint Paul; the church of Saint John near Smithfield ; Barking chapel near the Tower ; the col- lege church of St. Martin-lc-Grand ; St. Ewen's church, New- gate ; and the parish church of Saint Nicholas. He, besides these, ordered the pulling down of the parish church of Saint Margaret, Westminster ; but, says Dr, Hevi-evn, " the workmen had no sooner advanced their scaffolds, when the parishioners gathered together in great multitudes, with bows and arrows and staves and clubs; which so terrified the workmen that they ran away in^great amazement, and never could be brought again upon that employment." Thus arose Somerset House, tlic present g rand seat of the power of fiscal grasping, it » as first erected literally with the ruins of churches, and it now serves, under its old name, as the place from which issue the mandates to us to give up the fruit of our earnings, to pay the interest ■)( a Debt, which is one of the evident and great consequences o! he " Protestant Reformation," without which that Debt neve! could have existed. 210. I am, i.n the last Number, to give an account of the im pover/shment and degradation that these and former Protestar> proceedings produced amongst the people at large; but 1 mull here notice, that the people heartily detested these Protestaiit ty- rants and their acts. General discontent prevailed, and this, iw M>iB« cases, broke out into oicn insurrection. It is curioja iOK PROTESTANT REFORMATIOH ?noagh to observe the excuses that HuM£, in gi-ring an act-oan of these times, attempts to make for the plunderers and theL * reformation." It was his constant aim to blacken the Catho lie institutions, and particularly the character and conduct o the Catholic clergy. Yet he could not pass over fiiese discoii tents and risings of the people ; and, as there must have been » cause for these, he is under the necessity of ascribing them to thci badness of the change, or to find out some other cause. He, there- Sure, goes to work in a very elaborate manner to make his rea- ders believe, that the people were in error as to the tendency of the change. He says, that " scarce any institution can be ima^ gined less favourable in the main, to the interes*" if mankind,' than that of the Catholic ; yet, says he, " as it was followed bj many goad effects, which had ceased with the suppression of the monasteries, that suppression was very much regretted by the people." He then proceeds to describe the many benefits ol the monastic institutions ; says that the monks always residing on their estates caused a diffusion of good constantly aroun i them ; that, " not having equal motives to avarice teilh other men they were the best and most indulgent lanaiords ;" that, wliei. the church lands became private property, the rents were rais- ed, the money spent at a distance from the estates, and the ten ants exposed to the rapacity of stewards ; that wliole estates were laid waste ; that the tenants were expelled ; and that even the cottagers were deprived of the commons on which they foi'- merly fed their cattle; that a great decay of lite people, as well as a diminution of former plenty was remarked in the kingdom that at the same time, the coin had been debased by Henry, and was now further debased ; that the good cohi was hoarded d exported; that the common people were thus robbed of part Oi their wages ; that " complaints were heard in every pa^l oflh* kingdom." 211. Well ; was not this change a 6arf 07ie. then?' And what ire the excuses-which are offered for it by this calumniator o) the Catholic institutions 1 Why , he says that " their hospitati ty and charily gave encouragement to idleness, and prevented the increase of public wealth;" and that "as it was by an addi lion alone, of toil, that the people were able to live, this increase of industry was, at last, the effect of the PRESENT SITUA- TrON, an effect very beneficial to society." What does he meat by "the present situation?" The situation of the countrj-, I auppose, at the time when he arote ; and, though the " reforma- tion" had not then produced pauperism and misery and Debt and taxes equal to the present, it was on the way to do it. But, what does he mean by "public riches?" The Catholic institu- tions " provided against the pressure of want amongst the people ; " but. prevented the increase of "public riches .'" What, again [ PROTKSTANT REFORMATION IM uk, is the meaning- of the woiiis, r publicriches T" What it, »r ought to be the end of all goveintnent and of every inatitu- tion f Why, the happiness oflht people. But this man seemi. like Adah Smith, and, indeed, like almost every Scotch writer, fo ha>e a notion, that there may be great public good, though producing individual misery. They seem always to regard the i)eopIe as so many cattle, working for an indescribable some- thing that they call " the public." The question with them, ii, not whether the people, for whose good all government is insli tuied, be well off, or wretched ; but, whether, the " public" gain, ur lose, money, or money's worth. I am able to show, and I shall show, that £ngland was agieater country before the " re- formation" than since; that it was greater positively, and rela- tively ; that its real wealth was greater. But, what we have, at- present, to observe, is that thus far, at any rate, the reformation had produced general misery amongst the common people ; und that, accordingly, complaints were heard from one end of rhe kingdom to the other, 212. The Book of Common Prayer was to put an end to all dissensions; but, its promulgation, and the consequent robbery of the churches were followed by open insurrection, in many of the counties, by battles and executions by martial law. The whole kingdom was in commotion ; but, particularly, to the great honour of those counties, in Devonshire and Norfolk, In ll;e former county the it.surgents were supeiior in force to the hired Iroops, and had besieged Exeter. LORD Russell was sent against them, and, at last, reinforced by GERMAN TROOPS, lie defeated them, executed many by martial law, and most gal- lantly hanged a priest on the top of a tower of his church ! This, I suppose, Mr. Brougham reckons amongst those services of the family 'jf Russell, which he tells us, England can never repay ! In Norfolk, the insurrection was still more formidable; but was finally suppressed by the aid of FOREIGN TROOPS, and was also followed by the most barbarous executions. The people of Devonshire complained of the alterations in religion ; that, a? Or. Heylevn (a Protestant divine) expresses it, " that the/ree- torn commonalty was oppressed by a small number of gentry, who glutted themselves with pleasures, while the poor commons, wasted by daily labour, like pack horses, live in extreme slave. ty ; and that holy rites, established by their fathers, were abo- lished, and & new form of religion obtruded;" and they demand ed, that the mass and a part of the monasteries should be restor ed, and that prices should not be allowed to marry. Similar were the complaints and the demands every where else. But, Cr.4s. meh'5 Prayer Book, and the Church " by law established," back td hy foreign bayonets, finally triumphed, at least for the prMent no PROTESTANT RKKORMATrON. and durhisj the remainder of this hypocrital, base, coirtpt u S tyrannical reign. 313. Thus arose the Protestant church, as ity law established Here we see its origin. Thus it was that it commeDced its ca reer. How different, alas ! from the commencement of that church of England which arose under Saint Austin at Canter ')ury, which had been cherished so carefully by Alfred the Great, and under the wings of which, the people of England had, for nine hundred years, seen their country the greatest in the world, and had themselves lived in ease and plenty, and real fieedom, superior to those of all other nations ! 214. Somerset, who had brought his own brother to the block >ii 1549, chiefly because he had opposed himself to his usurpa- ( ions (though both were plunderers,) was, not long after the com- mission of those cruelties, on the people, destined to come to thai block himself. Dudley, Earl of Warwick, who was his rival in baseness and injustice, and his superior in talent, had put-in- irigued him in the council; and, at last, he brought him to thai end which he so well merited. On what grounds this was done, is wholly uninteresting. It was a set of most wicked men, cir- cumventing, and if necessary, destroying each other; but it is worthy of remark, that amongst the crime? alleged against this great culprit, was, his having brought_/brftg« troops into the kingdom t This was, to be sure, rather ungrateful in the pious reformers ; for, it was those troops that established for them their new religion. But, it was good to see them putting theii leader to death, actually cutting off his head, for having caused their projects to succeed. It was, in plain worrts, a dispute about ike plunder. Somerset had got more than his brother-plunder- ers deemed bis share. He was building a pafac; for himself; and ■ f each plunderer could have had a palace, it would have beeii neace amongst them; but, .as this could not be, the rest called him a " traitor," and, as the king, the Protestant St. Edward, had signed the death-warrant of one uncle at the instigation oi another uncle ; he now signed the death-warrant of that other, fhe " Saint" himself, being, even now, only fifteen years of age ' 215. Warwick, who was now become Protector, was mad* Dike of Northumberland, and got granted to him, the immense jc.ates of that ancient house, which had fallen inlo the hands oi the crown. This was, if possible, a more zealous Protestant than the last Protector ; that is to say, still more profligate, ra- pacious, and cruel. The work of plundering the church went on, until there remained scarcely any thing of the name of cler- gy. Many parishes were, in all parts of the kingdom, united in one, and having but one priest amongst them. But, indeed, there were hardly any persons left, Tvorthy of the name of clsr PROTESTANT REFORMATION 11) tj At the good and all the learned had either been killed, starved to death, banished, or had gone out of the country ; and those who remained were, during this reign of mean plunder, so stripped of their incomes, so pared down, that the parnchial clergy worked as carpenters, smiths, masons, and were not un- frequently, menial servants in gentlemen's houses. So that thii Church of England, " as by law (and German troops) establish- }d," became the scorn, not only of the people of England, bat af all the nations of Europe. 216. The king, who was a poor sickly lad, seems to have had no distinctive characteristic, except that of hatred to the Catho- lics and their religion, in which hatred, Cranmer and others had brought him up. His life was not likely to be long, and Northumberland, who was now his keeper, conceived tire pro ject otgetimg the crown into his own f amity, a project quite wor tliy of a hero of the "Reformation." In order to carry this project into effect, he married one of his sons, Lord Guilford OoDLEY, to Lady Jane Gray, who, next after Mary and Eliza- beth, and Mary Queen of Scotland, was heiress to the throne. Having done this, he got Edward to make a will, settling the crown on this Lady Jane, to the exclusion of his two sisters. The advocates of the " Reformation," who, of course, praise this boy- king, in whose reign the new church was invented, tell us long stories about the way in which Northumberland persuaded " Saint Edward" to do this act of injustice, but, in all probabi- lity, there is not a word of truth in the story. However, what they say, is this : that Lady Jane was a sincere Protestant ; that the young king knew this ; and that his anxiety for the security of the Protestant religion mdnced him to consent to North tm- bkrland's proposition. 317. The settlement met with great difficulty when it came to be laid before the lawyers, who, some how or other, always con trived to keep their heads out of the halter. Even old Harry'i juiiges used, when hard pressed, to refer him to the Parliament for the committing of violations ofKiv. The Judges, the Lord Chanpellor, the Secretaries of S(« the Privy Council ; all were , afraid to put their nambs to this .» .msfer of the crown. The thing was, however, at last accomplished, and with the signature o( Cbanmer to it, though he, as one of the late king's executor? and the first upon tliat list, had sworn in the most solemn manntr. Jo maintain h4s mil, according to which will, the two sisters, id esse of no issue by the brother, were to succeed that brother oa the throne. Thus, in addition to his fourth act of notorious peiv jury, this maker of the Book of Common Prayer, became clearly guilty of high treason. He now, at last, in spite of all his craft, had woven his own halter, and that, too, beyond all doubt, foi lh« pwrpnse of preserving his bishonrio. The Princess 1VIjf» 112 PROTESTAftl REFORMATIOJI. was next heir to the throne. He had divorced her mothei , he baC been the principal agent in that unjust and most wiclied transac- tion i and, hesides, he know that Mary was immoveably a Ca- tholic, and that, of course, her accession must be the death of liig iffice and his church. Therefore, he now committed the great- «s'. crime known to the laws, and that, too, from the basest of motives. 218. The king having made this settlement, and being kcp! wholly in the hands of Northumberland, who had placed hi; creatures about him, would naturally, as was said at the time not lire long ! In short he died oii the 6th of July, 1553, in the sixteenth year of his age, and the seventh of his reign, expiring )u the same day of the year that his savage father had brought Sir Thomas More to the block. These were seven of the most miserable and most inglorious years that England had ever known. Fanaticism and roguery, hypocrisy and plunder, divid- ed tile country between them. The people were wretched be- yond all description ; from the plenty of Catholic times, they had been reduced to general beggary j and, then, in order to repress this beggary, laws the most ferocious were passed to prevent even starving creatures from asking alms. Abroad as well as at home, the nation sunk in the eyes of the world. The town of Boui.oGN£ in France, which had been won by Catholic Eng- lishmen, the base Protestant rulers now, from sheer cowardice, surrendered ; and from one end of Europe to the other, were heard jeering and scoffing at-this formerly great and lofty na- tion. Hh.me, who finds goodness in every one who was hostile to tile Catholic institutions, says, " jill English historians dwel" with pleasure on the excellencies of this young king, vShom tiie flattering promises of hope, joined to many real virlves, liad made an object of the most tender affections of the public. He possessed 'mildness of disposition ; a capacity to learn and to iudge, and attachment to equity and justice." Of his mildness, \^e have, 1 suppose, a proof in his assenting to the burnmg oi seveial Protestants, who did not protest in his way ; in his sign- ing of the death warrants of his two uncles ; and in his wish lu bring his sister Mary to trial for not conforming to what she deemed blasphemy, and from doing which, he was deterred on. iy by the menaces of the Emferok, her cousin. So much for hit mildness. As for lais justice, who can doubt of that, who thinki of Ins will to disinherit his two sisters, even after the judges had unanimously declared to him, that it was contrary to law ? Tli« " tender ejection" that the people had for him, was, doubtless, tvinced by their rising ii insurrection against his ordinances, from one end of the kingdom to the other, and by their demand* ing the restoration of that religion, which all his acts tended •vhoily to extirpate. But, besides these internal proofs of th« PKOTESTANT KEFOR!\.ATIO'fi 'H raUehood of Home's description, Dr. Heylvn, who is, a( least one of " all the English historians," and one, too, whom Hchb himself, refers to no less than Iwcniy-fow times in the part ofhii history relating to this very reign, does not " dwell with pita- sure on the excellences of this young prince," of whom he, in the 4th paragraph of his preface, speaks thus : " King Edward whose death 1 cannot reckon for an infelicity to the church ol England ; for, being ill-principled iw himself, and easily in lin- ed to embrace such counsels as were offered aim, it is not to he thought hut tliat the rest of the bishopricks (before siiHicieut'- ly impoverisheu) would have followed that of Durham, and the poor church be left as destitute as when she came into the world in her natural nakedness." Aye, but this was his great merit in the eyes of Hume. He should have saia so then, and should have left his good character of tyrant hi the egg, to rest on his oion opinion ; and not have said, that " all English histo- rians dwelt with />/earf(rc on his txcellencies.^^ , 219. The settlement of the crown had been kept a secret from the people, and so was the death of the king for ;/irce who^e days. In the meanwhile Northumberlaiid, seeing the death of the young " Saint" approaching, had, in corjunction, observe, with Cranmek and tiie rest of his council, ordered the twoprincesses 10 come near to London, under pretence that they might be at i.iiul (11 tomfoTl their brother ; but with tlie real design of put- ting them into prison the moment the breath should be out of hii body Traitors, foul conspirators, villains of all descriptions, h:ivc this in common, that they", when necessary to their own in- terest, are always ready to betray each other. Thus it happen- 'jil here; for the Earl of Arundel, wlio was one of the council, and who went with Dudley and others, on the tenth of July, to Icneel before Lady Jane, as Queen, had in the night of the«i^f/i, ii'nt a secret messenger to Mary, who was no farther offthan Hoddesden, informing her of the death of her brother, and .of tlie whole of iheplot against her Thus warned, she set off on horseback, accompanied only by a few servants, to Kinninghall in Noriblli., whence slie proceeded to Framlingham, in Suffolk, and thence issued her commands to the council to proclaim hei as their sovereign, hnitlng at but not posit'vely accusing there with, tlicir treasonable designs. They had, on the day before, proclaimed Lady Jane to be ^ueen .' They had taken all sorts of precautions to ensure their success : army, fleet, treasure, all the powers of government were in their hands. They, therefore, returned her a most insolent answer, and commanded her to sub. mit, as a dutiful subject, to the lawful queen, at the bottom o( which command, Cranmkr's name stood first. 220. Honesty and sincerity exult to contemplate the misgiv tugs, which, in a few hours afterwards, seized this band of al 10* 114 PROTKSTANT REFORMATION most unpaialleleil villains. 'Die nobility and grentry had I* stantly flocked to the standard of Mary ; and the people, evw In London, who were most infected with the pestiferous jirinci' pies of the foreign miscreants that had been brought from the continent to teach them the new religion, had native honeity enough left to make them disapprove of this last and most dar- ing of robberies. RiDL£Y, the ProtKStant Bishop of London, preached at Saint Pauls to the Lord Mayor, and a numerous a» iemblagc, for the purpose of persuading them to take part against Mary ; but it was seen that he preaclieil in vain. IVortnumber- land himself, marched from L^ondon on the 13th of July, to at tack the Queen. But, in a few days, she was surrounded by twenty or thirty thousand men, all volunteers in her cause, and refusing paij. Before Northumberland reached Bury St. Ed- munds, he began to despair; he inarched to Cambridge, and ■vrote to his brother coBspiratois fir reinforcements. Amongst these, dismay first, and then perfidy began to appear. In a few d-ays, these men who had been so audacious, and who had sworn solemnly to uphold the cause of Queen Jane, sent Northnmber land an order to disband his army, while they themselves, prO' claimed Queen Mary, amidst the unbounded applause of the peo- ple, 221. The master-plotter had disbanded his army, or, rather, it had deserted him before the order of the council reached him. This was the age of "reformation" and of baseness. Seeing tiinself abandoned, be, by the advice of Dr. Sands, the Vice Chancellor of the University, Who, only four days before, had yrecclied against Mary, went to the market-place of Cambridge, snd proclaimed her Q,ueen, tossing, says Stowe, " his cap into the air, in token of biajoy and satisfaction." In a few hours af terwards, he wai arrested. by the Queen's order, and that, too by his brother conspirator, the Ear) of Aruhiiei., who ha.! been ■me of the very first to kneel before Lady Jane ' No reign, no age, no country, ever witnessed rapacity, hyppcri.sy, meanness, baseness, perfidy, such as England witnessed in those who were the destroy r.rs of the Catholic, and the founders of the Protes- tant, churth. This Dudley, who had for years been a plunder er of the church ; who had been a promoter of every rufiian-likc measure against those who adhered to the religion of his fathers who had caused a transfer of the crown, because, as he alleged the accession of Mary would endanger the Protestant religion bhis very man, when he came to receive justice on the block, ron feated. his belief in the Catholic faith ; and, which is more, ex horted the nation to return to it. He, according to Dr. Hevltn, (a Protestant, mind) exhorted them " To stand to the religioii of their ancestors, rejecting that of later date, which had occa- tinned all the miserv ofJie foregoing thirty years ; and that, i' PROTESTANT REFORMATION. lit they desired to present their souls unspotted before God, and tcere truly affected lo Iheir country, tliey should Hxpelthe preachen if the reformed religion. For himself, (he said) being blinded by ambition, he had made a rack of his conscience by temporiz- ing, and so acltnowledged the justice of his sentence." Fox, au- thor of the lying " Book of Martyrs," of whose lies we shall see more by-and-bye, asserts that Dddlet made this confession ii consequence of a promise of pardon. But, when he came on the icaffold, he knew that he was not to be pardoned : and besides he himself expressly declared the contrary at his execution ; and told the people that he had not been moved by any one ti> make it, and had not done it from any hope of saving his life How- ever, we have yet to see Craitmer himself recant, and to see the whole band of Protestant plunderers on their kr.ees before thi Pope's legate, confessing their sins of heresy and sacrilege, ami receiving absolution for their offences ! 222. Thus ended this reign of" reformation," plunder, wretch- edness and disgrace. Three times the form of the new worship was changed, and yet those who adhered to the old worship, or who went beyond the new worship, were punished with the ut- most severity. The nation became every day more and morp despised abroad, and more and more distracted and miserable at home. The church, " as by law established," arose and was enforced under two protectors, or chief ministers, both of whoD deservedly suffered death as traitors. Its principal author was a man who had sent both Protestants and Catholics to the stake who had burnt people for adhering to the Pope, others for no! believing in transubstantiation, others for believing in it, an< who now burnt others for disbelieving in it for reasons differen from his own; a man, who now openly professed to disbelieve ii that, for not believing in which, he had burnt many of his fellow creatures, and who, after this, most solemnly declared, that hi ,wn belief was that of these very persons ! As this church " bj law established," advanced, all the remains of christian charit} vanished before it. The indigent, whom the Catholic churcli had so tenderly gathered under her wings, were now, merely for asking alms, branded with red-hot irons and made slaves, Jhough no provision was made to prevent them from perishing from hunger and cold ; and England, solong famed as the land of hospitality, generosity, ease, plenty, and security to person and property, became, under a Protestant church, a scene o( repulsive selfishness, of pack-horse toil, of pinching want, and of rapacity and plunder and tyranny that made the very namei »f law and justice a mockery. U8 FROiKSIA.NT RKFOKMAllOfS LETTER VIH Mart's ACCESSION 1 D the Throne. — Hf:R hild and b£niv» LENT Ltws. — The nation recosciled to the Chcbch.— The Queen's great generosity and piety. — Her marriaos WITH Philip. — Fox's " Martyrs' • Kensinglon, 30lli June, 1826. My Friends 223. We are now entering upon that reign, the punishments inflicted during which, have furnished such a handle to the ca lumniators of the Catholic church, who have left no art untried to exaggerate those punishments in the first place, and in the lecond place, to ascribe them to the Catholic Religion, keeping out of sight, all the while, the thousand times greater mass o( cruelty occasioned by Protestants in this kingdom. Of all cru- eltiet I disapprove. I disapprove, also, of all corporal and pe- cuniary punishmenls, on the score of religion. Far be it from me, therefore, to defend all the punisliments inflicted, on this score, in the reign of Queen Mart; but, it will be my duty to »how,Jirst, that the mass of punishment then inflicted, on this ac- count, has been monstrously exaggerated ; second, that the cir- cumstances under which they were inflicted found more apolo- gy for the severity, than the circumstances under which the Pro- testant punishments were inflicted ; thirdly, that they were in amount, as a single grain of wheat is to a whole bushel, compar- ed with the mass of punishments under the Protestant church, " as by law established ;" lastly, that, be they what they might, it is a base perversion of reason to ascribe them to the principles of the Catholic religion; and that, as to the Queen herself, she was one of the most virtuous of human beings, and was render, sd miserable, not by her own disposition or misdeeds, but by llie misfortune and misery entailed on her by her two immediate predecessors, who had uprooted the institutions of the country, who had plunged the kingdom into confusion, and who had >fl no choice but that of making severe examples, or, of being an encourager of and a participator in, heresy, plunder, and sa crilege. Her reign, our deceivers have taught ns to call th« PROTESTANT REFOKM ATIOM . Ill reisnof'BLOODy QUEEN MARY j" while they have taugh! us to call that of her sister, the " GOLDEN DAYS OF GOOP QUEEN BESS." They have taken good care never to toll us, that, for everydrop of blood that Mary shed, Elizabeth shed ■ pint ; that the former gave up every fragment of the plunder ol wliich the deeds of her predecessors had put in her possession, and that the latter resumed this plunder again, and took from he poor, every pittance which had, by oversight, been left them —that the former never changed er religion, and that the lat ter changed from Catholic to Protestant, then to Catholic again, and then back again to Protestant, that the former punished peo- ple for departing from that religion in which she and they and their fathers had been born, and to wliich she had always adher- ed ; and that the latter punished people for not departing from the religion of her and their fathers, and which religion, too, she herself professed, and openly lived in, even at the time of her coronation. Yet we have been taught to call the former " bloody" and the latter "gooi/."' How have we been deceived ! And is it not time, then, that this deception, so injurious to our Catlio- hc fellow-subjects, and so debasing to ourselves, should cease ? It is, perhaps, too much to hope, that I shall be able to make il cease ; but, towards accomplishing this great and most desirable object, I shall do something, at any rate, by a plain and true account of the principal transactions of the reign of Mary. 324. The Queen, who as we have seen in paragraph 219, was at Framlingham, in Sulfolk, immediately set off for London, where, having been greeted on the road with the strongest de- monstrations of joy at her accession, she arrived on the 31st of Tuly, 1553. As she approached London, the throngs thicken- ed ; Elizabeth, who had kept cautiously silent while the issue was uncertain, went out to meet her, and the two sisters, riding on horseback, entered the city, the houses being decorated, th( streets strewed with flowers, and the people dressed in their gay est clothes. She was crowned soon atlerwards, in the mos' splendid manner, and, after the Catholic ritual, by Gardiner who had, as we have seen, opposed Cranher's new church, anti whom she found a prisoner in the Tower, he having been de- prived of his Bishopric of Winchester ; but, whom w_e are to see one of the great actors in restoring the Catholic religion.— Ibe joy of the people vas boundless. It was a coronation o1 greater splendour, and more universal joy than ever had befcrf; been witnessed. This is agreed on all hands. And this fact gives the lie to Hume, who would have us believe that the peopU did not like the Queen's principles. This fact has reanon on iti lide as well as historical authority ; for, was it not natural thai the people, who, only three years before, had actually risen ia insurrection In all parts of the kingdom agninsi '''p """"-liiircfc 118 PROTESTANT REFORMATION. audits authors, should be half mad with joy at the accession ol a Queen, who, they were sure would put down that church, and put down those who had quelled them by the aid of Germait lroop$ 1 226. Mary began her reign by acts the most just and benefi. cent. Generously disregarding herself, her ease, and her meani i>r splendour, she abolished the debased currency which her fa tker had introduced, and her brother had made still baser ; she paid the debts due by the crown ; and she largely remitted taxet It the same time. But that which she had most at heart, was the restoration of that religion, under the influence of which, the kingdom had been so happy and so great for so many ages, and since the abolition of which, it had known nothing but discord,, disgrace, and misery. There were in her way great obstacles ! for though the pernicious principles of the German, and Dutch, and Swiss reformers had not, even yet, made much progresi amongst the people, except in London, which was the grand scene of the operations of those hungry and fanatical adventur ers, there were the plunderers to deal with ; and these plundei ers had power. It is easy to imagine which, indeed, was the un doubted fact, that the i'.nglM people, who had risen in insurrec- tion, in all parts of the kingdom, against Cranmer's new church who had demanded the restoration of the mass and of part at least, of the monasteries, and who had been silenced only by German bayonets, and halters and gibbets, following martial Inw ; it is easy to imagine, that this same people would, in only three years afterwards, hail, with joy indescribable, the pros- pect of seeing the new church put down, and the ancient one restored ; and that too, under a Queen, on whose constancy and piety and integrity they could so firmly rely. Bu!, the plunder had been so immense, the plunderers were so numerous, they were so powerful, and there were so few men of family of any account, who had not participated, in one way or another, in deeds hostile to the Catholic church, that the enterprise of the Queen was full of difficulty. As to Cranmer's church " by law established," that was easily disposed of. The gold and silver and cups and candlesticks, and other things, of which the altar robbers of young " Saint Edward's" reign had despoiled the churches, could not, indeed, be restored; but, the altars them telvet could, and speedily were, and the tables which had been put in their stead, and the married priests along with them, wen loon seen no longer to offend the eyes of the people. It is curi- ous to observe, how tender-hearted Home is upon this subject. He says, " Could a,iy notion of taw, justice, or reason, be attend- ed to, where superstition predominates, the priests would nevei have been expelled for their past marriages, which, at that time. *ere permitleJ by the 'aws of the kingdom." I wonder why tl PROrKSTAiNT REFORMATlOiN IIS otter occui'red to liim to observe, that monks and nutu ougin not, then, to have been expelled ! Were not their institution! " permitted by the laws of the kingdom" 7 Aye, and had been permitted by those laws for nine hundred years, and guaranteed Ion by Magna Charla. He applauds the expelling of litem ; bul this "new thing," though only of three years and a half stand- ing-, and though " established" under a boy-king, who was undei WD protectors, each of whom was justly beheaded for hightrea- i"i, and undcracounci who were all conspirators against thf iiivful sovereign; these married priests, the most of whom had, like Luther, Cranmer, Knox, Hooper, and other great "Re> I'ormers," broken their vows of celibacy, and were, of course, perjurers ; no law was to be repealed, however contrary to pub- lic good such law might be, if the repeal injured Ihe interest of such men as these ! The Queen had, however, too much justice to think thus, and these apostates were expelled, to the great joy of the people, many of whom had been sabred by German (loops, because they demanded, amongst other things, Ihal priests might nol be permitted to marry. The Catholic bishopf, .wno iiad been turned out by Cranmer, were restored, and his :;cw bishops were, of course, turned out. Cranmer himseji was, in a short time, deprived of his ill-gotten See, and was in [irison, and most justly, as a traitor. The mass was, in all parts i>f the country, once more celebrated, the people were no longer burnt with red-hot irons andmade slaves merely for asking alms, and they began to hope, that England would be England again and that hospitality and charity would return. 226. But, there were the plunderers to deal with And, now. we are about to witness a scene, which, were not its existence so well attested, must pass for Ihe wildest of romance. What 3 That parliament, who had declared Cranmer's divorce ol Catherine to be lawful, and who had enacted that Mary was a bastard, acknowledged that same Mary to be the lawful heir to the thi'one! That Parliament which had abolished the Catholic wors-hip and created the Protestant worship, on the ground that Ihe former was idolatrous and damnable, and the latter agree able to the will of God, abolish the latter and restore the for- mer! What? Dc these things ? And that, too, without an r 'brce ■ without being compelled to do them t No : not esacllv 9o : for it had the people to fear, a vast majority of whom went :ordially with the Queen as far as related to these matters, rt* pec'jng which it is surprising what dispatch was made. The lata King died only in July, and, before the end of the 7iext November. all the work of Cranmer, as to the divorce as well as to the toor- Mp, was completely overset, and that, too, by Acts of the very Parliament who had confirmed the one and " established the "rther The fir^t of these acts declaimed- tUa:, Henry and Catbe MO i'rotesTanx reform atiois. riiie had been lawfully married, und it laid all the blame upoa CiusMER by name! The second Act called the Protestant Church, " as by law established," a " new thing imuj^ined by o few singular opinions," though the parliament, when it estab liiihed it, asserted it to have come from " the Holy Ghost." Wlia' was now said of it was true enough ; but it might have lt)een ad ded, established by German bayonets. The great inventor, Cranmkr, who was, at last, in a fairway of receiving the just reward of his numerous misdeeds, could only hear of the over throw of his worlij for, having, though clearly as guilty of high treason as Dudley himself, been, as yet, .only confined to his palace at Lambeth, and hearing thut mass had been celebrated in his Cathedral church of Canterbury, he put forth a most in> Aammatory and abusive declaration (which, mind, he afterwards recanted,) for which declaration, as well as for his treason, he was committed to the Tower, where he lay at the time whec these Acts were passed. But, the new Church required no taw to abolish it. It was, in fact, abolished by the general feeling ofthe nation; and, as wc shall see in the next Number, it ic- i{iiired rivers of blood to re-establish it in the reign of Elizabeth, Hume following Fox, tlie " Martyr"-man, complains bitterly o.' the "court" for its '* contempt ofihelaws, in celebrating, before " the two Houses, at the opening of the Parliament, a mass of La' 'tin, with all the ancient rites and ceremonies, though abotishei ' by Act of Parliament.'' Abolished! Why, so had Cromwell ind his canting crew abolished the kingly government by Act :>f Parliament, a?i^ 6y //le 6a3/one/; and yet this did not induce Charles to wait for a repeal before he called himself king. Kor did thcfiringeri-oBerof the"deliverer," William, wait for an Acl jf Parliament to authorize them to introduce the said *' delivcr- ;r." The " new thing" fell of itself. It had been forced upon the people, and they hated it. 227. But, when the question came, whether the Parliament should restore the Papal Supremacy, the plunder was at slake; for, to take the Church property was sacrilege, and, if the Pope regained his power in the kingdom, he might insist on restitu tion. The greater part of this property had been seized on tighteen years before. In many cases it had been divided and ■ubdivided ; in many, the original grantees were dead. The common people, too, had, in many cases, become dependent* OB ^e new proprietors ; and, besides, they could not so easily trace the connexion between their faith and that supremacy, ai they could between their faith and the mass and the sacraments. The Queen, therefore, though she most anxiously wished to tvoid giving, in any way whatever, her sanction to the plunder was reduced to the necessity of risking a civil war for the Popev supremacy ; to leave her kingdom unreconciled to the Church PROTIiSTANl REl'OaMATIOiV. IS] tlaa to keep lo heisplC tUe title of Head of the Church, to her so haleful i or to make a compromise viilh the plunderers. She was induced to prefer llie latter; though it is by no means certain that civil war would not have been better for the coini- try, even if it had ended in the triumph of the plunderers, whicii. in all human probability, it would not. But, observe in how rbrlorn a state, as to this question, she was placed. There wa scarcely a nobleman, or gentleman of any note, in her king* dom, who had not, in one way or another, soiled his hands witk the plunder. The Catholic bishops, all but Fishek, had as scnted to the abolition of the Pope's supremacy. Bishop Gah DINER, who was now her High Chahcellor, was one of these though he had been deprived of his bishoprick, and imprisoned in (he Tower, because he opposed Cranmer's further projects. These Catholic Bishops, and Gardiner especially, must natu rally wish to get over this matter as quietly as possible ;~ for, how was he to advise the Queen to risk a civil war for the resto- ration of that, the abolition of which he had so fully assented to, and so strenuously supported? And how was she to do any thing without councillors of some sort ] 228. Nevertheless the Queen, whose zeal was equal to her .sincerity was bent on the restoration ; and, therefore, a com- promise with the plunderers was adopted- Now, then, it was (ally proved to all the world, and now this plundered nation, who had been reduced to the gre'atest misery by what had been impudently called the " Reformation," saw as clearly as they saw the light of day, that all those who had abetted the " Re- formation ;" that all the railings against the Pope ; that all the accusations against the monks and nuns ; that all the pretences of abuses in the Catholic Church ; that nil the confiscations sackings, and bloodshed ; that all these, from fi-st to last, had proceeded from the love of plunder; for, now, the two Houses of Parliament, who had, only about three or four years before^ established Cranmer's Church, and declared it to be " the work of the Holy Ghost;" now these pious ** Reformation" men, liaviiig_/iri( made a firm bargain lo keep the plunder, con- fessed (to us? the words of HuMe) " that they had been guilt; " of a most horrible defection from the true Church , professeo " their sincere repentance for ilteir past transgressions ; and de. '■ clared their resolution to repeal M Isiitrs enacted in prejuditt ' of the Pove's authority r" Are the people of England aware ol i.his '? No* not one man out of fifty thousand. These, let it bfi remembered, were the men who made the Protestant religion in England ! 229. But this is a matter of too .much importance to be dis- missed without the mention of some particulars The Queen ^ad not al«ut her one single man of any eminence, who haa n IM PfiO'i-ESTANT KEKOKMATION. lot, in some degree, departed froix the straight path, during Tiie or the other, or botli, of the two last rcigiis. But there wai CiiKDiNAL Por.E, of whom, and of the butchery of whose aged ELiul brave mother, we have seen-an account in paragraph 115. lie still remained on the continent; but now he could with safety return to his native country, on which the fame of his talents and virtues reflected so much honour. The Cardinal was appointed by the Pope to be his Legale, or n/resenlative in England. The Queen iiad been married on the 25th of July, 1654, to Philip, Prince of Spain, son and heir of the Emperoi Chahles v., of wliich marriage i shall speak more fully by- and-by. 230. In November, the same year, a Parliament was called, and was opened with a most splendid procession of the two houses, closed by the King and Queen, the first on horseback, the last in a litter, dressed in robes of purple. Their first ac was a repeal of the attainder of Pole, passed in the reign of tlu cruel Henry Vlil. While this was going on, many noblemen and gentlemen had gone to Brussels, to conduct Pole to Eng- land ; and it- is worth observing, that amongst these was that Sir William Cecil who was afterwards so bitter and cruel an enemy of tiie Catholics and their religion, in the reign of Eliza- beth. Pole was received at Dover with every demonstration of public Joy and exultation ; and, before he reached Gravesend, where he took water for Westminster, the gentlemen of the country had flocked to his train, to the number of nearly two thousand.liorsemen. Here is a fact, wliich, amongst thousands of others, sliows what the populousness and opulence of England (hen were. 231. On the 29Hi of November the two houses petilioned tin: King and Queen. In this petition they express^'d their deep re- gret at having been guilty of defection from the Church ; and prayed their Majesties, who had not participated in the sin, to intercede with the Holy Father, the Pope, for their forgiveness, and for their re-admissloii into the fold of Christ. The next day, the Queen being seated on the throne, having the King on her left, and Pole, the Pope's legate, on her right, the Lord High Cliancellor, Bishop Gardiner, read the petition ; the King and Queen then spoke to Pole, and he, at the close of a lonj speech, gave, in the name of the Pope, to the two Houses and to the whole nation, absolution in the jiniue tSfthe Father, Son and Holi/ Ghost, at which words the members of the two Houses, being on their knees, made the hall resound with AMEN ! 232 Thus was England once more a Catholic country. She was redored to the "fold of Christ"; but the fold had been p'lindered of its hospitality and charity ; and the plunderert, hrfore they pronounced the " itmen," had taken cart, that the Oown and its officers, ambassa JIM PROTESTANT REFOKMATIOR. dors, judgas, pensioners, and all emi)loy<"d by it, were eupporled jui ofllu lauded estate of the Crown itself, tlie remains of which estate we now see in the pitiful rest of "Crown-lands." Taxes wcrt never, in those days, called for, but for wars, and other really national purposes ; and Mary was Queen two years and a half, before she imposed upon her people a single farthing of tax in any shape whatever! So that this act of surrendering the tenths and first fruits was the effect of her generosity and piety ; and others alone too ; for if was done against the remonstrances of her council, and it was not without great opposition that the hill matsed in parliament, where it was naturally feared that this |ust act of the Queen would awaken the people's hatred of the plunderer's. But the Queen persevered, saying, that she wouU be " Defender of the Faith" in reality, and not merely in name This was the woman, whom we have been taught to call " thf Bloody Queen Mary" ! 235. The Queen did not stop here, but proceeded to restore all the Church and Abbey lands, w])ich were in her possession, being, whatever might be tlie consequence to her, firmly re- solved not to be a possessor of the pkmder. Having called some members of her council together, she declared her resolu- tion to them, and bade them piepaie an account of those lands and possessions, that she might know what measures to adopt for the putting of her intention in execution. Her intention wa» to apply the revenues, as nearly as possible, to their anciehi purposes. She began with Westminster Abbey, which had, in the year 610, been the site of a clmrch immediately after the introduction of Christianity by St. Aostin, which church had been destroyed by the Danes, and, in 958, restored by King Edgar and St, Dunslan, who placed twelve Benedictine monks ill it ; and which became, under Edward the Confessor, in 1049, a noble and richly'endowed abbey, which, when plundered iind suppressed by Henry, had revenues to the amount of 3,977/. a year otgood old rent, in money of that day, and, therefore, equal to ubout eighty thousand pounds a year of' money of this day Little of this, however, remained, in all probability, to thf Queen, the estates having, in great part, been parcelled aut amongst the plunderers of the two last reigns. But, whatevei there remained to her she restored ; and Westminster Abbey once more saw a convent of Benedictine monks within its walls. She next restored the Friary at Greenwich, to which had belonged friars Petto and Elstow, whom we have seen. In paragraph! 61 and 82, so nobly pleading, before the tyrant's face, the cause of her injured mother, for which they had felt the fury of thai ferocious tyrant. She re-established the Black Friars in Lon- lion. She restored the Nunnery at Sion near Brentford, on th« fpol ulinre Sion-House i.ow stands. At Sheen she restored th» PROTESTANT REFORMATION. )» Priorjr. She restored and liberally endowed the Hospital ol St. John, Smilhfield. She re-established the Hospital iu the Sptvoy, for the benefit of the poor, and allotted to it a suitable yearly revenue out of her own purse ; and, as her example ivould naturally have great effect, it is, as Dr. Heylyn (a Protes- liinl, and a great enemy of her memory) observes, " hard to say " bow far the nobility and gentry might have done the like if ' tlie Queen had lived some few years longer." 23t> These acts were so laudable, so unequivocally good, so clearly the effect of justice, generosity and charity, in the Queen, that, coming before us, as they do, in company with great seal for the Catholic religion, we are naturally curious to heaV what remarks they bring from the unfeeling and malignant Hume Of her own free will, and even against the wish of very power lul men, she gave up, in this way, a yearly revenue of probably not less than a million and a half of pounds of our present mo- ney. Axid for w/ial ? Because she held it unjustly ; because ii svas plunder ; because it had been taken to the crown in viola- tion of Magna Charta and all the laws and usagesof the realm; l)ecause she hoped to be able to make a beginning in the restor- ing of that hospitality and charity which her predecessors had banished from the land; and because her conscience, as she herself declared, forbade her to retain these ill-gotten posses- sions, valuing, as she did (she told her council), " her conscience more than ten kingdoms." Was there ever a more praise-wor thy act 1 And were there ever motives more excellent ? Yet Hume, who exults in the act which the plunderers insisted on, to secure their plunder, calls this noble act of the Queen an " im- pudenl" One, and ascribes it solely to the influence of the new Pope, who, he tells us, told her ambassadors, that the English would never have the doors of Paradise opened to them, unles.^ the whole of the Church property was restored. How false this is, in spite of Hume's authorities, is clear from this undeniable fact; namely, that she gav : the Tenths and First Fruits to the Bishops and Priests of the Church in England, and not to the Pope, to whom they were formerly paid. This, therefore, is a niailrfnant misrepresentation. Then again, he says, that the Pope's remonstrances on this score, had " little influence with 'he nation." With the plunde; ers, he means ; for, he has been ibliged to confess, that, in all parts of tho country, the people, in Edward's reign, demanded a restoration of a part of Ike nonas teries; and, is it not clear, then, that they must have greatly re joiced to see their sovereign make a beginnrag m that restora- tion ? But, it was his business to lessen, as much as possible, the merit of these generous and pious acts of this basely calumny ated Queen. 337. Events soon proved to this just tmH "ood, but singular 11* »«« PROTESTANT REFORMATION. !y unfortunate Queen, that she would have done better to risk a civil war against the plunderers than assent to the Act of Par liament by which was secured to them the quiet possessiofi ot their plunder. Her generous example had no effect upon tliem l>ut, on the contrarv, made them dislike her, because it expos- ed them to odium, presenting a contrast with their own conduct, so much to their disadvantage. From this cause, more than Vom any other, arose those troubles which harassed her during he remainder of her short reign. 238. She had not b^en many months on the throne before a rebellion was raised against her, instigated by the " Reforma- tion" preachers, who had bawled in favour of Lady Jane Grey, but who now f England than every part of this transaction ; yet, did it form t'le pretences of the traitors of that day, who, for the obvious reasons mentioned in the last paragraph, were constantly en couragcd and abetted by France, and as constantly urged on by the disciples of Cranmkr and his crew of German and Dutch teachers. When the rebels had, at one time, previous to Mary's marriage, advanced even to London, she went to the Guildhall, where she told the citizens, that, if she thought the marriage Wire injurious to her people, or to the honour of the stale, she would not assent to it; and that, if it should not appear to the Parli.iment to be for the benefit of the whole kingdom, she would never marry at all. " V/herefore," said she, " stand fast against these rebels, your enemies and mine ; fear them not ; for I assure ye, that I fear them nothing at all." Thus she left them, leav- ing the hall resounding with their acclamations. 342. When the marf iage arti'-les appeared, it was shown, that, on this occasion, as on all others, the Queen had kept her word most religiously : for even Hi'vie is obliged to confess, that thest irticles were " as favourable nt jmssilile for the interest and seni 128 PROTESTANT REFORMATION. rity and even the grandeur of England." What more wai want- ed, then? And if, as Hume says was the case, " these articles gave no salts/action to the nation," all thatnc can say is, that the nation was very unreasonable and ungrateful. This is, how- ever, a great falsehood ; for, what Hume here ascribes to tlie whole nation, he ought to have confined to the plunderers and the fanatics, whom, throughout his romance of this reign, he al- ways calls tite nation. The articles quoted from Rymer by Huhz himself, were that, though Philip should have the title of king, the administration should be wholly in the Queen ; that no fo- reigner should hold any office in the kingdom ; that no change should be made in the English laws, customs, an.d privileges ; that sixty thousand pounds a year (a million of our present money) should be settled on the Queen as her jointure to be paid by Spain if she outlived him; that the uiale issue of this marriage should inherit, together with England, both Burgun- dy and the Low Countries ; and that, if Don Carlos, Philip's son by his former marriage, shduld die, leaving no issue, the Queen's issue, whether male or female, should inherit Spain. Sicily, Mi- lan, and all the other dominions of Philip. Just before the mar- riage cremony was performed, an envoy from the Emperor, Philip'? father, delivered to the English Chancellor, a deed re signing to his son the kingdom of Maples and the Duchy of Mi- lan, the Emperor thinking it beneath the dignity of the Queen of England to marry one that was not a king. 243. What transaction was ever more honourable to a nation than this transaction was to England ? What Queen, what so- vereign, ever took more care of the glory of a people ? Yet the fact appears to be, that there was some jealousy in the nation at large, as to this /oreign connexion ; and, I am not one of those who are disposed to censure this jealousy. But, can ] have the conscience to commend, or, even to abstain from censuring, this jealousy in our Catholic forefathers, without feeling as a Protes- tant, my cheeks burn with shame at what has taken place in Pro- testant times, and even in my own time! When another Mnry, 1 Protestant Mary, was brought to the throne, did the Parlia- ment take care to keep tlie administration wholly in her, and to give her husband the mere title of king ? Did they take care then that no foreigners should hold offices in England 7 Oh, 10 1 That fo-eign, that Dutch husband, had the adminrstratiois 'ested in him ; and he brought ever whole crowds of foreigners, put them iuto the highest offices, gave them the highest litleg, ind heaned upon them .arge parcels of what was left of the Crown estate, descending to that crown, in part, at least, from th(^days of Alfred himself! And this transaction is called " glorioia"; and that, too, by the very men, who talk of the " in ^••Kjuj" reign of IMa«« ' What, then, are sense and truth a» PROTESTANT REFORMATION. 19i rer to ruign in England ' Ar« ve to be duped unto all genera lions ! 244 And, if we come down to our own dear Protestant dajTi, do we find the Prince of Saxe Coeourg tl>e heir to mighty do- minions 1 Did he bring into the country, as Philip did, twenty- nine chests of bullion, loading to the Tower, 22 carts and 99 aack-horses f Do we find him settling on liis wife's issue great elates and kingdoms? Do we find his father malting him a king, on the eve of the marriage, because a person of lower title would be beneath a (lueen of England 1 Do we find him giving his bride, eis a bridal present, jewels to the amount of hilf a million of OUT money ? Do we find him settling on the Princess Char- lotte a jointure of a million sterling a year, if she should outlive him ? No ; but (and come and boast of it, you shameless revU- ers of this Catholic queen!) we find our Protestant Parliament settling ON HIM fifty thousand pounds a year to come out of taxes raised on us, if he should outlive her ; which sum we now duly and truly pay in full tale, and shall possibly have to pay it for forty years yet to come ! How we feel ourselves shrink, when we thus compare our conduct with that of our Catholic fathers I 245. In my relation, I have not adhered to the exact chrono- logical order, which would have too much broken my matter iiito detached parcels; but, I should here observe, that the mar- riage was previous to the recouciliation with the Pope, and also previous to the Queen's generous restoration of the property, which she held, of the Church and the poor. It was also previ- )us to those dreadful punishments which she inflicted upon here- tics, of which punishments I am now about to speak, and which, though monstrously exaggerated by the lying Fox and others, I hough a mere nothing compared with those inflicted afterwards on Catholics by Elizabeth, and though hardly to be called cruel, when set in comparison with the rivers of Catholic blood that liave flowed in Ireland, were, nevertheless, such as to be deeply deplored by every one, and by nobody more than the Catholics, whose religion, though these punishments were by no meant caused by its principles, has been reproached as the cause, and the sole cause of the whole of them. 246. We have seen, in paragraphs 200 and 201, what a Babel x" 3pinions and of religions had been introduced by Crankib and his crew ; and we have also seen, that immorality, that vic« sf ail sorts, tliat enmity and strife incessant, had been the con- sequence. Besides this, it was so natural that the Queen should desire to put down all these sects, and that she should be so anxi- ous on the subject, that we are not at all surprised that, if she law 8tl other means ineffectual for the purpose, she should re- ■art' to Beans of the ntmr«t severity that the laws af th* IkmI (80 PR0TK3TANT REFORMATION. »Ilowed of, (br the accomplishmenl of lliat purpose. The trai lors and (he leading rebels of hfir rcipi were all, or affected to be, of t!ie new sects. Though small in number, (hey made nf for that disadvantage by Iheir indefatigable malignity ; by Ihi-i"' incessant efforts to trouble the state, and, indeed, to destroy ilu Queen herself. But, 1 am for rejecting all apologies for ii«i founded on provocations given to her; and also for rejecting al apologies founded on the disposilion and injlucnce of her coun eillors; for, \( site had been opposed to the burning of heretic! that burning would, certainly, never have taken place. Tha' burning is fairly to be ascribed to her ; but, as even the malig- nant Hume gives her credit for sniceriVi/, is it not just to conclude, that her motive was to put an end to the propagation, amongs' her people, ofer^oi'S which slie deemed destructive of their souls, and the permission of the propagation of which, she deeemed destructive of her own I And, there is tiiis much to be said in defence of her motive, at any rate, that these new lights, intti however many sects they might be divided, all agreed in teach- ing the abominable doctrine of salvation by faith alone, without •cgard to works. 247. As a preliminary to the punishment of heretics, there was an Act of Parliament passed in December, 1554 (a year and a half after the Queen came to the throne) to restore the ancient statutes relative to heresy. These statutes were fiist passed against the Lollards, in the feigns of Richard II. and Henry IV. And they provided, that heretics, who were obsti- nate, should be burnt. These statutes were altered in the reign of Henry VIII, in order that he might get the property oi' heretics ; and, in that of Edward, they were repealed. Not out of mercy, however; but, because heresy was, according to tliose statutes, to promulgate opinions contrary to the Catholic Faith ; and thij did, of course, not suit the state of things under the new church, " as by law established." Therefore, it was then held, that he rnsy was punishable by common law, end, that, in case of obsti- nacy, heretics might be burnt; and, accordingly, many were punished, and some burnt, in that reign, by process at common Bw; and these were, too, Protestants dissenting from Cranmer'j Church, who himself condemned them to the flames. Now, how- ever, the Catholic religion being again the religion of the coun- try, it was thonght'necessiry to return to ancient statutes ; which accordingly , were re-enacted. That which had been the law during seven reigns, comprising nearly two centuries, and som< of whioh reigns had been amongst the most glorious and most happy that England had ever known, one of the Kings having won the title of King of France, and another of them having ac tually been crowned at Paris; that which had been the law foi so long a period was now the law again: to that here was ve PROTESTAWT REt ORMATION. 131 Ihing new, at any rate. And, observe, though these atatutc. were again repealed, when Khzabeth's policy induced her tf be a Protestant, she enacted others to supply their place, and that both she and her successor James I. burnt heretics t though they had as we shall see, a much more expeditious and less noiif, way of putting out of the world those who still had the constaii cy to adhere to the religion of their fathers. 248 The laws, being passed, were not likely to remain a dead letter. They were put ir execution chiefly in consequence o( con.lemnations in the spiritual court, by Bonner, Bishop of LoD don. The punishment was inflicted in the usual manner; drag- ging to the place of execution, and then burning to death, the sufferer being tied to a stake, in the midst of a pile of faggots, which, when set on fire, consumed him. Bishop Gardiner, tha Chancellor, has been, by Protestant writers, charged with being the adviser of this measure. I can find no ground for this charge, while all agree, that Pole, who was now become Archbishop of Canterbury, in the place of Cranmer, disapproved of it. It is also undeniable, that a Spanish friar, the Confessor of Philip, preaching before the Queen, expressed his disapprobation of it Now, as tlie Queen was much more likely to be influenced, if at all, by Pole, and especially by Philip, than by Gardiner, the fair presumption is, that it was her own measure. And as to Bon- ner, on whom so much blame has been thrown on this account, he had, indeed, been most cruelly used by Craniher and his Protestants ; but, there was the Council continually accusing all iie Bishops (and he more tlian any of the rest) of being too slow in the performance of this part of their duty. Indeed, it is ma nifbst, that, in this respect, the Council spoke the almost then universal sentiment ; for, though the French ceased not to hatch rebellions against the Queen, none of the grounds of the rebels e rer were, that she punished heretics. Their complaints related almost solely to the connexion with Spain ; and never to the "flames of Smithfield," though we of latter times have been made to believe, that nothing else was thought of; but, the act is, the persons put to death were chiefly of very infamous cha- racter, many of them foreigners, almost the wliole of them re- siding in London, and called, in derision by the people at large, the " London Gospellers." Dpubfless, out of two hundred and leveniy-seven persons (the number stated by Hums on authori- ty of Fox) who were thus punished, some may have been real . martyrs to their opinions, and have been sincere and virtuous persons ; but, in tliis number of 277, many were convicted felons, •ome clearly traitors, as Ridley and Cranmer. These mxisl be taken from the number; and, we may, ««jrely, take such as were alive when Fox first published his boi. ^nd who expreu- ly beggpd to dr'-liiip Ihr ho;imir of heins p....illed among*" "«ia .32 F'ROrr.Si ANT RKFORMATlOiN ' Martyrs." As a prmir of Tux's lotal disreg-ard of truth, there ftas, in the licxt reign, a l*rotcstant parson, as Anthony PP'ood ^a Protestant) te'.ls us, who, m a sermoji, related, on aiilhoritv 3f Fox, that a Catiiolic :i( the name of Ghimwoou Ijad been, as fcx said, a great enemy of Ihe Gospellers, iiad been " punished by O-judgintnt of God, and lliat his " bowels fell out of lib body.' GtaMWOOD was not only alive at llie lime when tlie sermon was preached, but happened to be present in ihe church to hear it, and he brought an action of defamation against Ihe preacher Another instance of Fox's falseness relates to tlie death of Bi «hop Gardi.ver. Fox and Bdrnet, and other vile calumnia tors of the acts and actors in Queen Mary's reign, say that GaR' uiwER on the day of the execution of Latimer and Ridley, kept dinner waiting till the news of their suffering should arrive, and that the Duke of Norfolk, who was to dine with him expressed o;reat chagrin at the delay ; that, when the news came, " trans ported with joy," they sat down to table, where Gardinkr was. suddenly seized with tfie disury, and died, in horrible torments, .n a fortnight afterward! Now, Latimek and Ridley were put (0 death on the 16th of October; and Collier, in his Jicclesias- tical History, p. 386, states, that Gardiner opened the Parlia- ment on the 21st of October; that he attended in Parliameul twice afterwards ; that he died on the 12th of November of the gout, and not" of disury ; and that, as to the Duke of Norfolk, h« had been dead a year, when this event took place i What a hypocrite then, must that man be, who pretends to believe in this Fox ! Yet, this infamous book has, by the arts of the plunder- ers and their descendants, been circulated to a boundless extent amongst the people of England, who have been taught to look ipon all the thieves, felons, and traitors, whom Fox calls " Jlfar tyrs," as sufferers resembling St. Stephen, St, Peter, and St Paul! 249. The real truth about these " Martyrs," is, that they were, generallyasetofmostwickedwretches, who soughtto destroy the Queen and her government, and, under the pretence o{ conscienct and superior piety, to obtain the means of again preying upon the people. No mild means could reclaim them : those meant i'.ad been tried: tlie Queen had to employ vigorous means, or .• to sufier her people to continue to be torn by the religious W- tions, created, not by her, but by her two immediate predeces- HOTS, who had been aided and abetted by many of those whe now were punished, and who were worthy often thousand deatli< each, if ten thousand deaths could have been endured. They vcic, without a single exception, apostates, perjurers, or plun- ' derers ; and, the greater part of them had also been guilty of flagrant high treason against Mary herself, who had spared thcii lives ; but whose lenity they had requited by every effort within PROTESTANT REFORMATIO^. 131 li«i t power 4o overset her authority and her §^overnment. To ibake particular mention of all the ruffians that perished upor this occasion, would be a task as irksome as it would be useless but, there were amongst them, three of Crahmer's Bishops and himstlf. For now, JKStice, at last, overtook this most mischic- fous of all villains, who had justly to go to the same stake that he had unjusily caused so many others to be tied to ; the three others were Hoofer, Latimer, and Ridley, each of whom, was in- deed, inferior in villainy to Cranmer, but to few other men thaii have ever existed. 250. Hoofer was a Monk; he broke his vow of celibacy and married a Flandrican ; hC; bemg the ready tool of the Protector, Somerset, whom he great y aided in his plunder of the churches, got two Bislwpricks, though he himself had written against pUu- ralities ; he was a co-operator in all the monstrous cruelties in- flicted on the people during the reign of Edward, and was par- ticularly' active in recommending the use of German troops to bend the necks of the English to the Protestant yoke. Lati- HER began his career, not only as a Catholicpriest, but as amcsl furious assailant of the Reformation religion. By this he obtain- ed from Henry VIII. the Bishoprick of Worcester. He next shanged his opinions ; but, he did not give up his Catholic Bi ihoprick ! Being suspected, he made abjuration of Protestan fism; he thus kept his bishoprick for twenty years, while he in wardly reprobated the: principles of the Church, and which bi- shoprick he held in virtue of an oath to oppose, to the utmost o< his power, all dissenters from the Catholic Church : in the reigns of Henry and Edward, he sent to the stake. Catholics and Pro- testants for holding opinions, which he himself had before held openly, or that he held secretly at the time of his so sending them. Lastly, he weis a chief tool in the hands of the tyrannical Protec- tor Somerset, in that black and unnatural act of bringing his bro- ther. Lord Thomas Somerset, to the block Ridley had been a Catholic Bishop in the reign of Henry VIII., when he sent to the stake. Catholic's who denied the king's supremacy, and Pro- testants who denied transubs"tantiation. In Edward's reign he was a Protestant Bishop, and denied transubstantiation himself; ;uid tlien he sent to the stake Protestants who differed from th« creed of Cranmer. He, in Edward's reign got the bishopries of London by a most roguish agreement to transfer the greater part ofitspos3ession\ to the rapacious ministers and courtiers o^ that day. Lastly, he was guilty ofhigh treason against the Queen, in openly, (as we have seen in paragraph 220), and from the pulpit, exhorting the people to stand by the usurper. Lady Jane ; and thus endeavouring to produce civil war and the death of hii sovereign in order that he might, by treason, be enabled tc 12 m PROTESTANT REFORMATION. keep that bishoprick which he had obtained by Simony, includ ing ptrjury. 251. A pretty trio of Protestant " Saints," quite worthy, how- ever, of Saint" Martin Lothee, who says, in his own works, that it was by the arguments of the Devil (who, he says, fre quently ate, drank, and slept with him) that he was induced lo turn Protestant: three worthy followers of that Lcther, who is, by his disciple Melanothok, called " a brutal man, void of yiety and humanity one more a Jew than a Christian :" thres ■bllowers altogether worthy of this great founder of that Protes- antism, which has split the world into contending sects; but, alack as these are, they bleach the moment Cranmlr appears ya his true colours. But, alas ! where is the pen, or tongue, to give us those colours ! Of the 65 years that he lived and of the 35 years of his manhood, 29 years were spent in the commission at a scries of acts, which for widtedness in their nature and for . mischief in their consequences, are absolutely without any thing approaching to a parallel in the annals of human infamy. Be- ing a. fellow of a college at Cambridge, and having, of course, made an engagement (as the fellows do to this day), not to mar- ry while he was a fellow, he married secretly, and still enjoyed his fellowship, VVIiile a married man, he became a priest, and took the oath of celibacy ; and, going to Germany, he married another wife, the daughter of a Protestant " saint ;" so that he had now two wives at one time, though h'ls^oath bound him to h,ive no wife at all. . He, as Archbishop, enforced the law of celiba- cy, while he himself secretly kept his German /rou) in the palace at Canterbury, having, as we have seen in paragr:iph 104, im- ported her in a chest. He, as ecclesiastical judge, divorced Henry VIII . from three wives, the grounds of his decision in two of the cases being directly the contrary of those wliich he him self had laid down when he declared the marriages to be valid; and, in the case of Ahne Boleyn, he, as ecclesiastical judge, (ironounced, that Anne had never been the king's wife ; while, as a member of tlie House of Peers, he voted for her death, ashav- mg been an adultress, and, thereby," guilty of treason to her hiis- band. As Archbishop under Henry (which office he entered upon with a premeditated false oath on his lips) he sent mec and women to tlie stake because they were not Catholics, and he sent Catholics to the stake because they would not acknowledge the King's supremacy, and thereby perjure themselves as be had •• i)lien done. Become openly a Protestant, in Edward's reign, and openly professing those very principles, for the professing of which he had burnt others, he now burnt his fellow-Protes- tants, because their grounds for protesting were different from Ms. As executor of the will of his old master, Heorv, wbict rROTESTANT REFORMATION. t» gave the crown (after Edward) to his daughters, Mary and Eii zabeth, he conspired with others to rob those two daughters oj tlieir right and to give the crown to Lady Jane, that Queen oi nine days, whom he, with others, ordered to be proclaimed. Confined, notwithstanding his many monstrous crimes, merely to the palace at Lambeth, he, in requital of the Queen's lenity plotted with traitors in the pay of France to overset her govern ment. Brought, at last, to trial and to condemnation as a here- lie, he professed himself ready to recant. He was respited for «ix weeks, during which time, he signed six different forms of re- eanlation, each more ample than the former. He declared that the Protestant religion v/as false ; that the Catholic religion wag the only true one ; that he now believed in all the doctrines ol he Catholic cliurch ; that he liad been a liorrid blasphemer against the sacrament ; that lie was unworthy of forgiveness ; that he prayed the people, the Queen, and the Pope, to have pity on, and to pray fur his wretched soul; and that he had made and signed this declaration without fear, and without hope oi favour, and for the discharge of his conscience, and as a warn- ing to others. It was a question in the Queen's council, whether he should be pardoned, as other recanters had been; but it was resolved, that his crimes were so enormous that it woald be un- just to let liim escape ; to which might have been added, that it could have done the Catholic Church no honour to see recon- ciled to it a wretch covered with robberies, perjuries, treasons, and bloodshed. Brought, therefore, to the public reading of his recantation, on his way to the stake j seeing the pile ready ; now finding thai he must die, and carrying in his breast all his ma- lignity undiminished, he recanted his recantation, thrust into Me /ire Ihe hand thai had signed it, and thus expired, protesting against that very religion in which, only nine hours before, he had called God to witness that he firmly believed ! 252. And Mary .s to be called " the Bloody", because she put to death monsters of iniquity like this ! It is, surely, time to da ustice to the memory of this calumniated queen ; and not to do by halves, I must, contrary to my intention, emnloy part ■( U9 next Number in giving the remainder of her bit-^rv t»6 PROTESTANT REFC RMATIOK LETTER IX. Mart at War witb France. — The Captdre or Calab ■: THE FiiENCH.— The death of Queen Mart.— Accession o» Queen Elizabeth. — Hek cruel anu bloody laws relative TO Religion. — Her perfidy with regard to France.— The disgrace she brought upon her government and thx CODHTRY BY THI« PERFIDY. — HeR BASE AND PERPETUAL SCS- rxhder of Calais. Kenstngion, Slsl July, 1826. My Friends, 253. I now, before I proceed to the " Reformation" works in the reign of Elizabeth, must conclude the reign of Mary. " Few and full of -sorrow" were the days of her power. She had innumerable difficulties to struggle with, a most inveterate and wicked faction continually plotting against her, and the state of her health, owing partly to her weak frame, and partly to the an- xieties of her whole life, rendered her life so uncertain, that the unprincipled plunderers, though they had again become Catho- lics, were continually casting an eye towards her successor, who, though she wag now a Catholic, was pretty sure to become Pro- testant whenever she came to the throne, because it was impos- sible that the Pope should ever acknowledge her legitimacy. 254. In the year 1557, the Queen was at war with France, on account of the endeavours of that Court to excite rebellion against her in England. Her husband, Philip, whose father, the Emperor, had now retired to a convent, leaving his son to (upply his place, and possess all his dominions, was also at war tfith France, the scene of which war was tbe Netherlands anil tie North of France. An English army had joined Philip, who penetrated into France, and gained a great and important vie lory over the French. But a French army, under the Duke o! Guise, look advantage of the naked state of Calais to possen itself of that important town, which had been in possession ui ihe English for more than two hundred years. " It was not Calais alone that England held ; but the whole country round for many Tillies, incliidinjr Guisnesse, Fanim, Artlres, and otlio places, fo I'ROIKSIANT REFORM AT10^ 18! gcther wUh t)ie whole territory, called Ihe county :>f Oye. Ely WARD III. had taken Calais after a siege of nearly a year. It had always been regarded as very valuable for the purposes o? trade; it was deemed a great monument of glory to England, ■nd it was a thorn continually rankling in the side of France Dr. Hevlyn tells us, that Monsieur de Cordbs, a nobleman wli« ived in the reign of Louis XI., used to say, " that he would b( content to lie seven years in hell, upon condition that this toirn. vere regained from the English." 255. The Queen felt this blow most severely. It hastened that death whicli overtook her a few montlis afterwards ; and, when her end approached, she told her attendants, that, " ii Ihey opened her body, they would find Calais at the bottom of ner heart." This great misfortune was owing to the neglect, ii not perfidy, of her councillors, joined to the dread of Philip to tee Calais and its dependencies in the hands of Mary's succes- sor. Doctor Heylyn (a Protestant, mind) tells us, that Philip, " seeing that danger might arise to Calais, advised the Queen of it, and freely offered his assistance for the defence of it; but, that the English Council, over-wisely Jealous of Ph'iWp, neglected both his advice and proffer." They left the place with on\y Jive hundred men in it ; and that they did this intentionally it is hard ly possible to doubt. Still, however, if the Queen had lived bm a little longer, Calais would have been restored. The war was not yet over. In 1558, Philip and the King of France began negotiations for peace ; and one of the conditions of Philip (whn was the most powerful, and who had beaten the French) was, that Calais should be restored to England ; and this condition would unquestionably have been adhered to by Philip ; but in the midst of these negotiations, Mary Med ! 256, Thus, then, it is to the " Reformation," which had caus- ed the loss of BoDLOGNE, in the plundering and cowardly reien of Edward VI., that we, even to this day, owe, that we have to lament, the loss of Calais, which was, at last irretrievably lost by the selfishness and perfidy of Elizabeth. While all historians agree, that the loss of Calais preyed most severely upon the t^ueen, and hastened her death i -while they all do this great ho- nour to her memory, none of them attempt to say, that the lost of BoDLOGNE had even the smallest eflect on the spirits of her "Reformation" brother! He was too busy in pulling dowa »ltar3 and in confiscating the property of Guilds and Fratcrni ties to think much about national honour; or, perhaps, though tie, while he was pulling down altars, still called himself " De- fender of the Faith," he might think, that territory and glory, won by Catholics, ought not to be retained by Protestants. B« ihis as it may, we have seen a loss to England much greater than •hat of Calais ; we have seen the half of a continent cut off from 12* 138 PROTESTANT REtORMATiO^. the crown of England, and seen it become a most formidabl* rival on the seas ; and we have never heard, that it preyed much upon the spirits of the sovereign, In whose reign the loss took place. • 257. With the loss of Calais at the bottom of her heart, and with a well-grounded fear, that her successor would undo, as to religion, all that she had done, the unfortunate Mary expired on the 17th of November, 1558, in the forty-second year of her age, and in the sixth year of her reign, leaving to her sister and fuccessor, tlie example of fidelity, sincerity, patience, resigna- tion, generosity, gratitude, and purity in thought, word, and deed ; an example, however, which, in every particular, that sister and successor took special care not to follow. As to those punislimaits, which have served as the ground for all the abuse lieaped on the memory of this Queen, what were they other than punishments inflicted on offenders against the religion of the country 7 The "■fires of Smithfield" have a horrid sound; but, to say nothing aiiout fhe burnings of Edward VI., Elizabeth, and James I., is it more pleasant to have one's bowels ripped out, while the body is alive (as was Elizabeth's favourite way), tuan to be burnt ? Protestants have even exceeded Catholics in the work of punishing offenders of this sort. And, they have punished, too, with less reason on their side. The Catholics have one faith; the Protestants hay e fifty faiths ; and yet, each sect, whenever it gets uppermost, punishes, in some way or other, the rest as offenders. Even at this very time, there are, accor- ding to a return recently laid before the House of Comnwns, no less thAn fifly-seven persons, wlio have, within a few years, saf fered imprisonment and other punishments added to it, as offen- ders against religion ; and this, too, at a time, when men are per- mitted openly to denr the divinity of Christ, and others openly to preach in their synagogues, thai there never was any Chris! at all. A man sees the laws tolerate twenty sorts of Christiam (as they all call themselves), each condemning all the rest to eternal flames; and if, in consequence of this, he be led to e\- press his belief, that they are all wrong, and that the thing they are disputing about is altogether something unreal, he may b« punished with six years (or his whole life) of imprisonment int loathsome gaol I Let us think of these things, when we are talk ing of the " bloody Queen IMary." The punishments now-a-dayt proceed from the maxim that " Christianity is part and parcel of the law of the land." When did it ':egin 1 Before, or since, the " Reformation" ? And, who, amongst all tliose sects, which, It would seem, this law tolerates ; which of them is to tell us . from which of them are we to learn what Cliristianity is? 258. As to the mass of suffering, supposing the whole of iht 2T7 perscus who suffered in the reign of .Ma: v, tu have suffere( PROTESTANT KEKORMATION. 139 solely for tl.e sake of religion, instead of having been, lik« Cranmer and Ridley, traitors and felons as well as offenders on the score of religion ; let us suppose the whole 277 to have suffer- ed for offences against religion, did the mass of mffering surjiasj the mass of suffering, on this same account, during the reign o the late King 1 And, unless SmtiA^e/d and iuniijig have an> peculiar agony, any thing li'Oj-M than death, to impart, did Smitii field ever witness so great a mass of suffering as the' Old Bailey las witnessed, on account of offences against that purely Pro iestant invention, bank notes 1 Perhaps this invention, exprets .y intended to keep out Popery, has -cost ten times, if not ten times ten times, the blood that was shed in the reign of her, whom we itill have the injustice, or the folly, to call the " bloody Queen Mary," all whose excellent qualities, all whose exalted virtues, " jiU her piety, charity, generosity, sacred adherence to her faith »nd her word, all her gratitude, and even those feelings of anxi- ety for the greatness and honour of England, which feelings hastened her to the grave : all these, in which she was never equalled hy any sovereign that sat on tlie English throne, Al- fred alone excepted, whose religion she sought to re-establish for ever : all these are to pass for nothing, and we are to call her the " bloody Mary," because it suits the views of those who fat- leii on the spoils of that church which never suffered Englishmen to bear the odious and debasing name of pauper, ELIZABETH. 25i>. To the pauper and rvppmgup reigii we now come. Thij IS the reign of "gooJ Queen Bess." We shall, in a short time, see how good she was. The Act of Parliament, which is still in force, relative to the poor and poor-rates, was passed in the 43d year of this reign; but, that was not the only act of the kind ; there were eleven acts passed before that, in consequence of the poverty and misery, into which the " Reformation" had plung- ed the people. However, it is the last Number of my work, which is to c>>ntain the history of the rise and progress of English pau- perism, from the beginning of the " Reformation" down to the present, lime. At present, I have to "elate what took place with regard to the affairs of religion. 260. Elizabeth, during the reign of her brother, had been • froieslant, and, during the reign of her sister, a Calkolic. At tbe time of her sister's death, she not only went to mass publio- y, but s le liad a Catholic chapel in her house, and also a con fessor. These appearances, had not, liowever, deceived her slit- ter, who, to the very last, doubted her sincerity. On her deatfa bid, honest a;i;l sincere Miiry required from her a frank avow- nl of her opinions us to religion. Elizabeth, in answer, prayed till J that the eix i/i might open and swaUoiv her, if slit were not « • ■^O PROTKSTANT REFORMATION. true Romati Catholic She made the same declaration to th( Duke of Feria^ the Spanish envoy, whom she so completely de- ceived, that he wrote to Philip, that the accession of Elizabeti, mould make no alteration m matters of religion in England, la spite of all this, it was not long before she began ripping up the bowels of her unhappy subjects, because they were Roman Ca (holies, • 261 She was a bastard by law. The marriage of her mothei iiad been, by law, which yet remained unrepealed, declared ts be null and void from the beginning. Her accession having been, in the usual way, notified to foreign powers, that is, thai " slie had succeeded to the throne by hereditary right and tho consent of the nation," the Pope answered, that he did not un derstand the hereditary right of a person not born in lawful wed lock. So that he, of course, could not acknowledge her heredi- tary right. This was, of itself, a pretty strong iiuiiicement ^cji a lady of so flexible a conscience as she had, to resolve to be a Protestant. But, there was another and even a stronger motive. Mary, Queen of Scotland, who had married the Dauphin of .France, claimed the crown of England, as the nearest legitimate descendant of Henry VH. ; so that ElizabetJi ran a manifest risk ■ of losing the crown, unless sfie became a Protestant, and cram- med Crammer's creed down the throats of her people. If she leraained a Catholic, she must ^ieW submission to the decreet from Rome ; the Pope could have made it a duty with her peo- ple, to abandon her ; or, at the very least, he could have great- ly embarrassed her, [n short, she saw clearly, that, if her peo pie remained Catholics, she could never reign in perfect safety She knew, that she had no hereditary right; she knew that the law ascribed her birth to adultery. She never could think ol reigning quietly over a people, the head of whose Church re- fused to acknowledge her right to the crown. And, resolving to wear that crown, she resolved, cost what ruin or blood it might, to compel her people to abandon that very religion, t ei belief in which she had, a few months before, declared, by pray- ing to " God that the earth might open and swallow her alive, if she were not a true Roman Catholic." 262. The Pope's answer was honest ; but it was impolitic, and nost unfortunate it was for the English and Irish people, vrhe !iad now to prepure for sufferings such as they had never knowD iefire The situation of things was extremely favourable te the PiDtestants. Mary, the Queen of Scots, the real lawful heir to ti.e throne, was, as we have seen, married to theVauphin oj France. If Elizabeth were set aside, or, if she died without is- sue before Mary, England must become an appendage o- France. The loss of Calais and of Boulogne had mortified tlie nation enough ; but, for England hcrsi If to be transferred H PROTESrANT R£l OIIMATJON. 141 France, was what no Englishman could think of with patirnrft So that she became strong from the dread that (he people had of the consequences of her being put down. It was the betroth ing of Mary, Queen of Scots, to the Daujjhin, wliich induceif Mary, Queen of England, to marry Philip, and thereby to se- cure an ally for England in case of Scotland becoming a depen (ience of France. How much more pressing was the dangei now, when the Queen of Scots was actually married to the Dau- phin (the heir apparent to the French throne), and when, if she were permitted to possess the crown of England, England, in case of her having a son, must become a province of France ! . 263. This state of things was, therefore, most unfortunate for the Catholics. It made many, very many of themselves cooi in opposition to the change which the new Queen soon showed her determination to effect ; for, however faithful as to their religion, they were Englishmen, and abhorred the thought of being the underlings of Frenchmen. They might hate the Queen for her apostacv and tyranny ; but still they could not but desire thai England should remain an independent state ; and to keep her such, the upholding of Elizabeth seemed absolutely necessary. Those who eulogize Henry IV. of France, who became a C?.- tholic expressly and avowedly for the purpose of possessing and keeping the throne of that country, cannot, very consistently blame Elizabeth for becoming a Protestant for an exactly simi- lar reason. I do not attempt to justify either of them; but 1 must confess, that if any thing would have induced me to up hold Elizabeth, it would have been, that she, as far as human foresight could go, was an instrument necessary to preserve England from subjection to France ; and, beyond all doubt, thir was the main reason for which, at the outset, at least, she was upheld by many of the eminent and powerful men of that day 264. But, if we admit that she was justified in thus consulting her preservation as a Queen, and the nation's independence, at Che expense of religions considerations ; if we admit that she had a right to give a preference to Protestants, and to use all gentle means for the totally changing of the religion of her peo- ;ile ; if we admit this, and that is admitting a great deal more than justice demands of us, who can refrain from being filled »Hh horror at the barbarity which she so unsparingly exercise© /br the accomplishment of her purpose ? 265. The intention to change the religion of the country be- came, in a short time, so manifest, that all the Bishops but one refused to crown her. She, at last, found one to do it ; but even he would not consent to do the thing without her conformity to the Catholic ritual. Very soon, however, a series of acts were passed, which, by degrees, put down the Catholic worship, and re-introduced the P'-otestant ; and she found the pi mderers ami 142 PROTESTANT REFORMATION. possessors of pliiiidcr just as readj to conform to herecclesiat tical sway, as ihey hiid been to receive absolution from Carcfina- Pole, ill I he last reigfn. Ckanmer's Book of Common Prayer, which had been ascribed by the Parliament to the sug-gestiuni of the " Holy Ohosl," had been altered and antended even in Edward's reign. It was now revived, and kltered and amtiidee again ; and still it was ascribed to the " - ligni, and the money had come from honest and sincere "good Queen Bess," whom we shall hereafter find plainly accused b, Whitaker (a clergyman of the Church of England) of plotting the assassination of her own cousin, and finding no man in hei kingdom base enough to perform" the deed. 279. This foul deed seems to have made Condc ashamed ol nis infamous associate and followers. Ambition had made him a rebel ; but he had sense of honour enough left to make him shudder at the thought of being the leader of assassins ; and he, with one drop of true blood in him, could not think without hor- ror of such a man as the Duke of Guise, who had rendered sucli inestimable services to France, being swept from existence by so base a miscreant as that whom his late colleague had hind and paid for that purpose. If the son of the Duke ofGuise could have destroyed Coligni and his whole crew, he would have beer justified in so doing. And yet, the world has been stunned with the Protestant cries of horror at the death of this same Coligni and a small part of his followers : 280. Conde now sought to get rid of his miscreant associote» !>/ proposing, in Fe.bruary 1563, a pacification, and tendering nis submission to his sovereign on condition of an act of oblivion. Coligni was included in^the amnesty. Tt e king granted to the Huguenots permission to practice their worship in one town in tvery bailiwick ; and thus were all matters settled between th« king and his rebellious subjects. Sad tidings for "good Queen Bess," who, as Whitaker well observes, continually sought hef lafety in the divisions and misery of others. Conde, in his trea Jy with her, had stipulated not 'to conclude any peace withoxn xer consent; tmt, 1 ad she a right to complaip of a »an< offfuod I'O' PRC^IESTANI UKFORMATIOW. fmtk f She, who had broken lier treaty and her oath wh Charles IX., and who, in defiance of both, had entered into t treaty wrth rebels, m open arms agahist their king ? 281. 'ihf Frencii king, wisliing to get her troops quietly out of Havre de Grace, and finding that she now pretended to hold it as a pledge fisr the surrender of Calais, at the end of the eight years, ofiered to renew the treaty of Chateau Cambrensis, bj which Calais was to be restored to England in 1567. But, she re ectcd this fair and reasonable proposal. She had got Havre; iv uatter how; and she said, that " a bird in hand was worth («( »n the bush," snapping her fingers at the same time, and, as was the common practice with her upon such occasions, confirming her resolution with a thundering oath, so liccoming in a I'^ir gin Queen." Finding, however, that all parties in Franct wen now united for the expulsion of the English, she reluctantly gave way. She authorised her ambassadors to present a new pro ject of treaty ; but, by this time, the French army, under Mont morency, Conde, "good Bess's late friend and ally being serv Uig in the army, was on 'its way to regain Havre by force of arms, the king of France being well convinced, that treaties nitn "good Betsy" were thing? perfectly vain. 2S2. Still, it was not a triling thing to take Havre out of the hands of the English. A great deal of taxes had been imposed upon this nation, (to say nothing of the "prayers"), in order In ensure the possession of this place. The Earl of Warwick, in ■ stead of sending troops to assist Bnss's allies, had kept his armv at Havre ; had, with six thousand lioldiers and seven hundred pioneers, rendered the place " impregnable;" had, as soon as he heard that the rebellion was at an end, expelled all the French people from Havre, to their utter ruin, and in direct breach of Bess's treaty with Conde and Coligni. But, in spite of all this Montmorency was, at the end of a short time, ready to enter the place by assault, having made his breaches in preparation. The Queen-mother and the King were present in the camp, where they had the indescribable pleasure to see " Ofood Queen Bess's" General humbly propose to surrender the place to its rightful so vereign, without any mention of Calais and it> territory, and or no condition whatever, but that of being permitted to return to England with the miserable remnant of his army ; and England, •fter all the treasure and blood, expended to gratify the malig aiU' of "good Bess," and after all the just imputations of perfi iy that she had brought upon it, had to receive that remnant that ratification of disgrace, greater than it had to support froa Ibe day when glorious Alfred finally expelled the Danes. And, yet, this woman is called, or has been called, "good Queen Beis," and her perfidious and biitchering reign •>" bcfn callef faith, we have, as yet, seen the full measure of neither the 01 c nor the other. For, "glorious nod good Bess" had now to sue for peace, and with that King, with whose rebel subjects she had so recently co-operated. Her ambassadors, going with due passports, were ariested and imprisoned. She stamped and ■wore, but she swaltiwvd the alTront, and took the re;guiar stept to cause them to be received at the French court, who, on their part, treated her pressing applications with a contemptuous sneer, and suffered many months to pass away, before they would listen to any terms of peace. Smith was one of her en voys, and the other was that tame Throckmokton, who had been her ambassador at Paris, aiid who had been her agent in stirring up Conde and Coligni to their, rebellion. The former was imprisoned at Mblun, and the latter at Saint Germain's. Smith was released upon her application ; but Throckmorton was detained, and was made use of for the following curious, and, to "good Bess," most humiliating pu^-pose. The treaty o( Chateau Cambrensis, which sti])ulated fortlis restoration of Ca- lais in eight years, or the forfeiture of 500,000 crowns by the French, contained a stipulation, that four Fiench noblemen should be held by "good Bess," as hostages for th>s fulfilment ol the treaty on the part of France. "' Sood Bess," by her aiding of the French rebels, had brolien this treaty, had lost all Jusi claim to Calais, and ought to have released the hostages; but, as "good Bess" very seldom did what she oug^ltto; as nhe might, almost every day of her mischievous life, have, with per feet truth, repeated that part of the Prayer-Bonk "amended," which says, " we have done: those things which we ought not ;o doi and have left undone those things which we ought to do j' 10, this "good" woman had kept the hostages, though she had for. I'eited all just claim to that for the fulfilment of which they had seen put into her hands. Ni,iv, however, the French had got a ' bird in hand" too. They had got Throckmorton, their old ene- ny, and he had got a large quantity of " g'oorf Bess's" /torrJ6/e «e- rei: locked up inhis breast ! So that, after long discussions, dur- ng which Throckmorton gave very significant signs of his de- termination not to en^. lis days in prison without taking revenge af some sort, on his merciless employer, the "good" womni'. agreed to exchange the four French noblemen for him ; and. us a quarter of a loaf was better than no bread, to take l2!5,006 jrowns/or the relinquishment of Calais to France inperpetuity! 284. Thus, then, it was ";good Queen Bess," after all, glorious and Protestant Bess, that plucked this jewel from the Englisi irown' Nor was 'his tl p onlv signal consequence of her nn- is* 180 PKOTESTANT REFORM ATIOH, hallowed and unprincipled treaty and intrigues with the French rebels. '£he plague which had got into the garrison of Havre de Grace, and which had left Warwick with only about two thousand out of his seven thousand men ; this dreadful disease vets brought, by that miserable remnant of infected beings, !i England, where Home himself allows, that it "swept off great multitude!, especially in London, where above twenty tkousinir, fersons died of it in one year" ! Thus was the nation hea\iJ taxed, a£aicted with war, atHicted with pestilence ; thus wer- thousands upon thousands of English people destroyed or ruin ed, or rendered miserable, merely to gratify this proud and ma- lignant woman, who thought that she could never be safe until all the world Joined in her flagrant apostacy. Thus, and mere- ly for this same reason, was Calais surrendered for ever; Ca- lais, the proudest possession of England ; Calais, one of the two keys to the Northern Seas ; Calais that had been won by our Catholic forefathers two hundred years before ; Calais, which they would have no more thought of yielding to France, than they would have thought of yielding Dover; Calais, the bare idea of a possibility of losing which had broken the heart of the honest, the virtuous, the patriotic, and most calumniated Mary ' 285. ft is surprising what baseness Humk discovers in trcai- ingof the whole of this important series of transactions ; ho\i he glosses over all the breaches of faith and of oath, on the pai*i of liie "good Bess"; liow he lels pass, without censure, the fl» grant and malignant treason of the rebels ; and even how he in sinuates apologies for them ; how he skips by the rare fidelity ol Philip to his engagements ; how he praises the black-hearted Coligni, while he almost censures Conde for seeking peace after the assassination of the Duke of Guise; how he wholly suppres- ses the deep humiliations of England in the case of Smith atiil Throckmorton; how he makes the last bill of sale 200,000, in- stead o{ the fourth pari of 500,000; how he passes over the loss of Calais /or ener, as nothing in " goorf Bess," though he hnd made the temporary loss of it every thing in Mary ; but, above all the rest, how he constantly aims his malignity at that skilful brave, faithful, and patriotic nobleman, the Duke of Guise, wiiilc he extols Conde as long as he was a rebel and a traitor, engaged tn selling his country ; and how he lauds the inveterate and trra jherous Coligni to the last hour of that traitor's life. 286. Is there any man who does not see the vast importance •f Calais and its territory ? Is there any man who does not set how desirable it would be to us to have it now ? Is there an Eng. tiihman who does not lament the loss of it 1 And ig it not cleat u the sun at noonday, that it wa» lost for ever by "good Bess's' perfidy in joining the rebels of France 7 If, when those rebeli were formidable to their soveieig"n she had piessed him to re PROTESTANT REFORMAl ON. t« ■tore Calais at once, and to take an equivalent for sucli anli'ci pated restoration, is it not obvious, that lie would have consent eil, rather than risk her displeasure at such a moment T And, what is the apology, that Huhe makes for her conduct in join- ing the rebels 1 " Elizabeth, besides the general and essential interest of supporting the Protestants, and opposing the rapid ;irogress of her enemy, the Duke of Guise" (how was he her enemy?) " had other motives which engaged her to accept thit proposal. When she concl.-ded the peace at Chateau Cambieis •is, she had good reason to toreose, that France would never rt luntarily fulfil the article with regard to the restitution of Ca- lais; and many subsequent incidents tended to confirm this sus- picion. Considerable sums of money liad been laid out on the tortifications ; long leases had been granted of the lands ; and many inhabitants had been encouraged to build and settle there, by assurances that Calais would never be restored to the English, The Queen, therefore, very wisely concluded, that, could she get possession of Havre, a place which commanded the mouth o< the Seine, and was of much greater importance than Calais, slse should easily constrain the French to execute the treaty, and should liave the glory of restoring to the crown that ancient pos- session, whicli was so much the favourite of the nation." 287. Away, then, goes, at once, all her professions of desire :o defend the " cause of the Gospel :" she is a hypocrite the most profound at once : she breaks faith witli the king of France, and with the rebels too. But, if she really /oresato that the French would not voluntarily fulfil the treaty ent national abjectness and infamy should have been suifere to remain in black and white to this day. However, a.tforly-nin " good Betsy" resolved to lead a married hfe ; and, as her sa- vage father, whom she so much resembled, always looked out for a young wife, so " good vergin Betsy " looked out for a young husband ; and, in order to convince the world of the since- rity of her horror at the massacre of St. Bartholomew, wht) should she fix on as a companion for life, who should shb want to take to her arms, but the Duke of anjou, brother of Charles IX., and one of the perpetrators of those bloody deeds, on account of vrfiich she and court ladies, all of her own stamp. iiad gone into mourning ! The Duke was not handsome ; but, he had, what the French call la beauty du diahle : he was young : only 28 yeais of age ; and her old paramour, LEicEsrtfii. was now Jifly ! Retsy, though well stricken in years herself haii still a " colt's tooth." Her ministers and the nation, who saw all the dangers of such a match to the independence of their country, protested against it most vehemently, and finally de- terred her from it ; but, a gentleman of Lincoln's Inn, who had written and published a pamphlet against the marriage, was prosecuted, and had his right hand chopped off for this public- sprited effort in assisting to save England from the ruin about to be brought upon it for the mere gratification of the appetiU; of a gross libidinous, nasty, shameless old woman. It was said of her monster of a father, who began the "Reformation," that " he spared no man in his anger, and no woman in his lust" .• the Very same, in substance, with a Uttle change of tlie terms, might be said of this his monster of a daughter, who completed. thai " Reformation" ; and something approaching to the same degree of wickedness might be justly ascribed to alomst evf.'y one, who acted a conspicuous part m bringing about that Is England, impoverishing and degrading event. S&a. Before we come to the three other great transactions of the long reign of tliis wicked woman, her/out murder of MARt JTUiiRT, Queen of Scotland ; her war with Spain ; and her scourg- mg of Ireland which unhappy country still bears the marks x PROTESTANl REFORMATIO^. IJ^ »er scorpioD lash; before we come to these, it will be i-ecessar? (o make ourselres acquainted with the names and character? ol lome of her principal advisers and co-operators j because, unlesj /re do this, we shall hardly be able to compreliend many things, which we ough|, nevertheless, to carry along clearly in aur 'oinds. 296. Leicester was her favourite, both in council and in t.;e Seld. Doctor Heylis (History of the Reformation, ElizabLti; p. 168) describes him in these words: " Sir Robeut Duni ev the second son of the Duke of Northumberland" (the odiotis traitor executed in the last reign), " she mad?, soon after she fame to the throne. Lord Denbeigh and Earl of Leicester, liav- ing before made liim her Master of Horse, Chancellor of the University of Oxford, and a Knight of tlie Garter; and she now gave him the fair manor of Denbeigh, with more gentlemen ow- ing suit and service to it than any other in England in the hands of a subject, adding even to this the goodly castle and manor of K enilworth. Advanced to this height, he engrossed unto himself the disposing of alloffices in court and state, and of all prefer- ments in the church, proving, in fine, so unappeasable in his ma- lice, and so insatiable in his lusts, so sacrilegious in his rapines, so false in promises, and so treacherous in point of trust, and finall;^ so destructive of the lives and properties of particular persons, that his little finger lay far heavier on the English subjects, than the loins of all the favourites of the two last Kings." And, mind, those "two Kings" were the plundering and confiscating Hen- ry VIII. and Edward VI. ! " And, that his monstrous vices might either be connived at, or not complained of, he cloake thein with a seeming zeal for true religion, and made himsell the hesd of the Puritan faction, who spai^ed no pains in setting form ais praises ; nor was he wanting to caress them after such manner as he found most agreeable to these holy hypocrites using no other language in his speech and letters than the Scrip- (wt phrase, in which he was as dexterous as if he had received the same inspirations as the sacred penmen," We must bear in mind, that this character is drawn by a Doctor of the Church of England (Betsy's own Church), in a work dedicated by per- mission to King Charles II. She, beyond all doubt, meaned to marry Leicester, who had, as all the world believed, murdered kit own wife to make way for the match. She was prevented frora marrying him by the reports from her ambassadors of wl ai irai said about this odious proceeding in foreign courts, and al ao by the remonstrances of her other ministers. HiGoo.f s, an historian of distinguished talent and veracity, states, distinctly. that Leicester murdered his first wife for the purpose of marry- ing the Queen. He afterwards married, secretly, a second wife, and when she, upon his wanting to marry a *hird, refused tf b« 14 i98 PRO TEST ANT REFORMATIOW iivorced, he poisoned her ; at least, so said a publicatioa jali^J Leicester's Republic, put forth in 1568. Yet, after all these Jhine-j (his man, or rather this monster continued to possess all fiii power, and his emoluments, and all his favour with the ' virgin Queen, to the laM da^ ofTiis life, which ended in 1588, after 3C years of plundering and oppressing the people ofEngland. Thii wfis a " reformer" of religion, truly worthy of being enrollfil with Henry Vlll., Cranmer, Thomas Cromwell, and ' goei Queen Bess." 297. Sir Wilham Cecil was her next man. He was hei Secretary of State ; but she afterwards made him a lorJ, under the title of Burleigh, and also made him Lord Treasurer. He had been a Protestant in tlie reign of Edward (he Sixth, when he was Secretary, first under the Protector Somerset, who, when Dudley overpowered him, was abandoned by Cecil, who took to the latter, and was tlic very man that drew up the treason- able instrument, by which, Edward, on his death-bed, disinhe- rited his sisters Mary and Elizabeth. Pard.oned for his treason by Marv, he became a most zealous Catholic, and was, amongsi others, a volunteer to go ovei to Brussels, to conduct Cardinal Pole to England. But, the wind having changed, he became Protestant again, and Secretary of Stale to "good Betsy," who never cared any thing: about the character or principles of those she employed, so that they did but answer her selfish ends. This Cecil, who was a man of extraordinary abilities, and of still greater prudence and- cunning, was the chief prop of her throne for nearly /oriy of lhe/orti/-(Arce years of her reign He died in 1598, in the 77th year of his age; and i( success in unprinri pled artifice; if fertility in cunning devices; if the obtaining i,f one's ends without any regard to the means ; if, in this pursint. sincerity be to be set at nought, and truth, law, justice, and mer- cy, be to be trampled under foot; if, so that you succeed in 3'0\:r end, apostacy, forgery, perjury, and the shedding of innoceiil blood be to be thought nothing of, this Cecil was certainly the t^eatest statesman that ever lived. Above all others he was con- fided in by the Queen, who, when he grew old, and feeble in hir limbs, used to make him sit in her presence, saying, in her accus- tomed masculine and emphatical style : '* I have you, not for your weali legs, but for your strong head," 29S. Francis Walsinghabi became Secretary of State aftei Cecil ; but, he had been employed by tbe Queen almost from tht beginning of her reign. He had been her ambassador at se\e ml courts, had negotiated many treaties, was an exceedingU prudent and cunning man. and wholly destitute of all care aboui means, s that he carried his end. He was said to have ^ty- three ap ts and eighteen real spies in foreign courts. He was ! most bi r and inflexible persecutor of the Catholics: but, I' PROrESTANT REFORMATION. 1S« tore his death, which tools place o90, he had to feel hlmstlf. a little of that tyranny and ingratitude, and that want of mer cy, of which he had so long mainly assisted to make so many in accent persons feel.* 299, Padlet St. John, Marquis of Winchester. Tliij was not a statesman. He, like many more, was a backcr-oii. He presided at trials ; and did other such-like work. Tliese are un- worthy of particular notice here, and Paulet is named merely «s a specimen of the characier and conduct of the makers arx supporters of the famous "reformation." This Paolet (the first noble of the family) was, at his out-set Steward to the Bi ihop of Winchester, in the time of Bishop Fox, in the reign o) Henry VII. He was, by old brutal Harry VIII , made Treasu- rer of the king's household, and, zealously entering into all the views of that famous " Defender of the Faith," he was made Lord St. John. He was one of those famous executors, who wei c to carry into effect the will of Henry VIII. Though Harry had enjoined on these men to maintain his sort of half Catholic re- ligion, Paulet now, in the reign of Edward, became a zealous Protestant, and continued to epjoy all his offices and emoluments, besides getting some new grants from the further spoils of t lie church and poor. Seeing that Dudley was about to supphmi Somerset, which he finally did, Paulet joined Dudley, andactii ally presided at the trial and passed sentence of death on So merset, " whose very name," says Dr. Milner, " had, a little more than two years before, caused him to tremble." Dudley made him, first Earl of Willshire, and then Marquis of Winches- ter, and gave him tiie palacw of the Bishop of Winchester at Bi- shop's Waltham, together with other spoils of that Bishopric. When Marv came, which was almost directly afterwards, he became once more, o Catholic, and continued to hold and en- joy all his offices and emoluments. Not only a Catholic, but a mostfarious Catholic, and the most active and vigorous of all the persecutors of those very Protestants, with whom lie had marie H his boast to joininconrimuniononlyabouttwoyearsbefoie.' Wc have heard a great deal about the cruelties of the " bloodi/ Fi i •HOP Bonner" ; but, nobody ever tells us, that this Mnrquis oi Winchester, as President of the Council, repeatedly rrprimand- ld Bonner, in very severe terms,_for want of zeal and diligence n sending Protestants to the stake ! Fox says, that, "of the Conn ?il, the most active in these prosecutions was the Marquis of Win '■Jiester" But, now, Mary being dead, and Elizabctli being re jolved to extirpate the Catholics, Paolet instantly became a Protestant again, a most cruel persecu/of of the Catholics Pre sident on several commissions ibr condemning them to death, and he was in such high favour with " good Besf ," that she s».''*, •ere he not so very old. as he was. she would f 'efer him, as » iOO PROTESTANT REFORMATION. hltsband, to any man in her dominions. He died in he 13tk cear of her reign, at the age of 97, having kept in place during !he reigns of five sovereigns, and having made four changes in 'his religion to correspond with the changerfmade by four out oi the five. A French historian says, that Paulet being asked iiow, he had been able to get through so many storms, not onlj unhurt but rising all the while, answered, " En etant jin taule, «t non pas un chene :^' "by being a willow, and not an oak.'' Our present prime minister, who, in 1822, while coLcctions wer^ making for the starving Irish, ascribed the distresses of the coun Iry to a. surplus of food, seems also to be of this willow kind-, for, with the exception of about fifteen months, he lias been in place ever since he was a man. He was under Pitt the first time : Pitt went out, but he stuck in with Addington ; Addington went out, but he stuck in again with Pitt second time : he was pushed quite out by the " IPhigs",- but in he came again with the Duke of Portland; he stuctln with Percival; and, at last, he got to th? to)), where he will remain for his natural life, unless the pa- per-money storm should tear even "willows" up by the roots. What this Bible-Saint would have done, if tiiere had been a cliange of religion at every change of ministry, I shall not pre- tend to say. 300. Such were the tools with which "good Bess" had to work , and we have now to see in what manner tliey all worked with regard to Mary Stdaet, tne celebrated and unfortunate queen of the Scotch. Without going into her history, it is im- possible to make it clearly appear how Betsy was u.J'.e to establish the Protestant religion in England in spite of the people of Eng- land; for it was, in fact, in spite of a/mosiiAewAo/epf the people of all ranks and degrees. She actually butchered, that is to saj, nppeduplhebellies, of some hundreds ofthem; sheput many and' many hundreds ofthem to the rack; she killed in various ways many thousands ; and she reduced to absolute beggary as many as made the population of one of the smaller coimties of Eng- land ; to say nothing, at present, of that great slaughter-house, Ireland. It is impossible for us to see how she came to be able to do this ; how she came to be able to get the Parliament to dc the many monstrous things that they did ; how they, withc»it guy force, indeed, came to do such barefaced things, as to pro- vide that any bastard that she might have should inherit the Sirone, and to make it high treason to deny that such bastard was right'ul heir to the throne. It is impossible to account for her being able to exist in England after that act of indelible in- famy, the murder of Mary Stuart. It is hnpossible for us to sea these things in their causes, unless we make ourselves acquaint ed with the history of Mary, and thereby show how the English were inSiienced at this most interesting period, the transaction! PROTESTANT REFORMATION. * t«, >f which were so decisive as to the fate of the Catholic religioa in England. 301. Mary Stuart, born in 1542 (nine years after the birth of Elizabeth), was daughter of .lamt s V. King of Scotland, and of Mary of Lorraine, sister of that brave and patriotic nobleman, ihn Duhe i f Guise, who, as we have seen, was so basely murder* ed by the \ile traitor, Coligni. Mary Stuart's fathep died when she was only eight days old ; so that she became the reigninc queen of Scotland, while in the cradle. Her father (.Tames V.) was the s^.n of James IV. and Margaret the eldest sister ofiht lid savage Henry VIII. This " Defender of the Faith'' wished Mary Stuart to be betrothed to his son Edward, and by that means to add Scotland to the dominions of England. The fa mily of Guise were too deep for the old " Defender.'' Mary Stuart (a Regency having been settled in Scotland) was taken to France, where she had her education, and where her heart seem- ed to remain all her life. The French, in order to secure Scot- land to themselves, as a constant ally against England, got Ma- ry to be betrothed to Francis, Dauphin of France, son and suc- cessor of Henry ]]., king of France, She, at the ago of 17 years, was married to him, who was two years younger than herself, in 1558, the very year that Elizabeth mounted the throne o( England. 303. That very thing now took place w hich old Harry had been so much afraid of, and which, indeed, had been the dread of his councillors and his people. Edward was dead. Queen .Mary was dead, and, as Elizabeth was a bastard, both in law and in fact, Mary Stuart was the heiress to the throne of Eng- land, and and she was now the wije of the immediate heir to the King of France, Nothing could be so fortunate for Elizabeth. The nation had no choice but one : to take her and uphold her; or, to become a great province of France. If Elizabeth had died at this lime, or had died before her sister Mary, England must have become degraded thus ; or, it must have created a new dynasty, or become a republic. Therefore, it was, that all men, whether Catholics or Protestants, were for the piecing and sup- porting of Elisabeth on the throne ; and for setting aside Mary Stuart, though unquestionably she was the lawful heiress to th« yown of England. 303. As if purposely to add to the weight of this motive, of it- iielf weighty enough, Henry il., King of F'rance, died in eight Stsonihs a.fter Elizabeth's accession; so that Mary Stuart waf aow, 1559, Queen consort of France, Queen of Scotland, and cal- led herself (tucen of England ; she and her husband b/^re th« mrnu of England a'ong with those of France and Scotland; and the Pope had -'.fused to acinowUftge the right itf JClisnlteth to the EflEl><>h tl vie. 'Ihu*, asold Harry had foroaecn, nhcu ht «a ■ PROTESTANT REFORMATION. made bis will setting aside the Scotch branch of his family, wu England actually transferred to tlie dominion of france, unlesi the nation set at nought the decision of the Pope, and support- ed Elizabeth. 304. This was the real cause of Elizabeth's success in hef work of extirpating the Catholic religion. According to the de- cision of the head of the Catholic church, Elizabeth was aa usurper ; if slie were an usurper, she ought to be set aside ; if she were set aside, Mary Stuart and the King of France became ^ueen and King of England ; if they became Queen and King of England, England became a mere province, ruled by Scotch- men and frenchmen, the bare idea of which was quite sufficient to put every drop of English blood in motion. All men, there- fore, of all r.inks in iile, wheth-ir Protestants or Catholics, were for Elizabeth. To preserve her life became an object dear to all her people; and, though her cruelties did, in one or two in- stauceg, arm Catholics against her life, as a body tliey were as as loyal to her as her Protestant subjects ; and, even when her knife was approaching their bowels, they, without a single re- ception, declared her to be their lawful Queen. Therefore, though the decision of the Pope was perfectly honest and just in itself, that decision was, in its obvious and inevitale consequences, rendered, by a cembination of circumstances, so hostile to the greatness, the laws, the liberties, and the laudable pride of Eng lishmen, that they were reduced to the absolute necessity of set- ting his decision at nought, or, of surrenderin^their very name as a nation. But, observe, by-lhe-bye, this dilemma and all the dangers and sufferings that it produced, „,dse entirely out of the '• Reformation," Had the savage old Harry listened to Sir Tho- mas iVlore and Bishop Fisher, there would have bee:, no obstacle to the marrying of his son with Mary Stuart; and, besides, he -would have had no children, whose legitimacy could have been disputed, and, in all human probability, several children to be, in lawful succession, heirs to the throne of England. 30.5. Here we have the great, and, indeed, the only cause, ol Elizabeth's success in rooting out the Catholic religion. He» people wete, ninety -nine hundredths of them, Catholics. They had shown this clearly at the accession of her sister Mary. Eli labelh was as great a tyrant as ever lived; she was the most cruel of women ; her disgusting amours were notorious ; yet she was the most popular sovereign that had ever reigned since the days of Alfred ; and we have thousands of proofs, that her people, of ail ranks and degrees, felt a most anxious interest in every thing affecting her life or her health. Effects like this do not come from ordinary causes. Her treatment of great masses of her people, her a'moat unparalleled cruelties, her flagrant tklsehoods, her haugi^tiness. her insolence and her lewd life PROTESTANT REFORMATION. 163 were naturally calculated to make her detested, »nd to maliC ber people pray for any thing that might rid them of her. But, they saw nothing but her between them and subjection ta foreigners, a thing which they had always most laudably held LD the greatest aonorrecce. Hence it was, that the Parlia ment, when they could itot prevail upon her to marry, passed an Act to make any bastard (" natural issue") of hers, lawful h.-.ir to the throne. Whitaker (a clergyman of the Church of England) calls this a most infamous net. It was, in itselC ftn infamous act; but, that abjectness in the nation, which h now, at first sight, appears to denote, disappears, when we consider well what I have stated above. To be preserved from Mary Stuart, from the mastership of the Scotch and the French, was, at that time, the great object of anxiety with the Englisli nation. Huas, whose head always runs upon something hos- tile to the Catholic religion, ascribes Elizabeth's popularity to (he dislike that her people had to what he calls the " Romish su- perstition." Whitakek ascribes the extirpation of the Catho- lic religion to the choice of her people, and not to her. The Ca- tholic writers ascribe it to her cruellies; and they are right so far; but, they do not, as I have endeavoured to do, show how it came to pass, that those numerous and unparalleled cruelties came to be perpetrated with impunity to her and her ministers. The question with the nation was, in short, the Protestant reli gion, Elizabeth, and independence : or, the Catholic religion Mary Stuart, and subjection to foreigners. They decided fo' the former, and hence all the calamities, and the final tragical end of the latter lady, 306, Mary Stuart was, in the year 1559, as we have seen in paragraph 303, on the highest pinnacle of earthly glory, Queen Consort of France, Queen Regnant of Scotland, Queen, in lawful right, of England, and was, besides, deemed one of the most beautiful women in the whole world. Never was fall like , hat of this Queen. Her husband, Francis II., died seventeen months after his accession, and was succeeded by Charles IX., then not more than three years old. Her husband's mother, Catherine DE Medici, soon convinced her, that to be any thing, she must return to Scotland. To Scotland she returned with a heavy heart, anticipating very little quiet in a country, which was plunged in al .he horrors of the " reformation" even more deeply than England had been. Her long minority, together with her absence from her dominions, had given rise to contend- ing factions of nobles, who alternately triumphed over each other, and who kept the country in a state of almost incessant civil war, accompanied with deeds of perfidy and ferocity, oi which there is scarcely any parEdle* lo be found in history, an^ cient or modern. Added to this wa.« iie work of the new Seintt 164 PROTKS'l AM REFORMATIOi> whii had cairiej llic woili of " reformation" mucli furtliev tliWi in ti gland. Tlie famous .(niiN Knox, an apostate monk, wlion) Dr. Joimson calls the " Ruffian of tlie Reformation," was leader •f the " holy hypocrites" (as Dr. Heylin calls them) in t. cotland. Mnry . who had been bred a Catholic, and who had almt it been deified in the court of France, was not likely to lead a hafpy jife amongst people like tliese, 307. All tills, however. Elizabeth and her ministers, and (for let us have no disguise) the English people, saw with great aii^ ungenerous satisfaction. There was, for the present, at least, eu> end to the danger from the union of Scotland with France. But, Mary Stuart might marry again. There were the powerful fa mily of Gnise, her near relations ; and she was still a formidable person, especially to Elizabeth. If Mary -had been a man, Bet- sy would certainly have married her; but here was a difficulty too great oven for Cecil to overcome. The English queen soon began to stir up factions and rebellions against her cousin ; and, indeed, by her intrigues with the religious factions and with the aspiring nobles, became, in a short time, with the aid of her mo- ney (a drug of infallible effect with the Scotch reformers), more the real ruler of Scotland than poor Mary was. She had, for he greater part of her whole reign, always a band of one fac tion or the other at, or about, her court. Her object was to keep Mary from possessing any real power, and to destroy her, If, by any means short of detectable murder, she could effect that pur- pose. 308. In 1555, about three years after the return of Mary to Scotland, she was married to Henrv Stuart, F.arl of Dirnley, her cout'in, in which she over-reached the Queen of England, who, fearing that a visible heir to her own throne (as it actually happened) might come from this marriage, took desperate mea. sures to prevent it ; but those measures came too late. Darnley , though young and handsome, proved to be a very foolish and disagreeable husband, and he was a Protestant into the bargain. She soon treated him with great contempt, suffered him to have no real authority, and, in fact, as good as banished him from her court and c'lisowr^ed him. Darnley sought revenge. He ascrib- ed his iH-^eatraent to Mary's being under the advice and con- Jroiil of )!eT Catholic favourites, and particularly to the advice cf Rizzis', £ fareigner, her private secretary. Several mal- ecntent " reformed" noble^joined with Darnley in agreeing to assist him in the assassinaling of Rizzio, taking a bond from him to protect them against evil consequences. Mary was sitting at supper with some ladies of her court, Rizzio and other servantu being in waiting, when the conspirators rushed in. Darnley went to the back of the Qui'en's chair ; Rizzio, seeing "heir ob kc-t. ran to the Queen for p "otection ; she, who was in the six •■ I'ROTESIANT KEFORMAilOiN. let month of her pregnancy, endeavoured by entreaties and screams, to save his hfe. The ruffians stabbed him at her feet, and then drstgged him out and covered his body with wounds. 309._ This black and bloody transaction, for which not one of \,he assistants of Darnley was ever punished, was, in all probability She cause, the chief cause, of the just, though illegal killing (jf DoA-rdey himself. The next year after the murder of Rizzio 1567, Mary having, in the mean while, brought forth a son (after- wards our James 1. of half Pope and half Puritannical memory), Darnley was taken ill at Glasgow, The Queen went to visit him, treated him with great kindness, and, when he became better in health, brought him back to Edinburgh ; but, for the salce of better air, lodged him in a house, at some distance from other houses, out of the town, where she visited him daily, and where, in a room immediately under his, she slept every night. But, on the^night of the 10th of February (15(57), she having notified it to him, slept at her palace, having promised to be present at the marriage of two of the attendants of her court, which marriage took place, and at which she was present : on this very night, the king's lodging house was blown up hy pow dtTf and his dead body cast into an adjoining piece of ground ! If the powder had given this base and bloody man time foi thought, he would, perhaps, have reflected on the stabs he iiad given Rizzio in spite of the screams of a swooning and preg- Dant wife. 310. Now it was that the great and life-long calamities of this unfortunate Queen began. She had been repeatedly insulted and even imprisoned by the different factions, who, aided and abetted by the English Queen, alternately oppressed both her and her people ; but, she was now to lead the life and die the death of a malefactor. It has been proved beyond all doubt, that the Earl of Bothwel, with other associates, bound in a " bloody bond," murdered Darnley. This was openly alleged, and, in placards about the streets, it was averred that Mary was in the plot. No positive /(roo/ has ever been produced to make good this charge ; but. the subsequent conduct of the Queen was of a nature very suspicious. I shall simplv state such facts as are admitted on all hands ; namely, that Bothwel had, before the murder, been in great favour with tlie Queen, and possessed power that his talents and character did not en- title him to ; that, atler the murder, he was acquitted of it by a mock trial, which she might have prevented ; that, on the 24lii of April (53 days after the murder) she was, on her return from B visit to her infant son, seized by Bothwel at the head of 3,000 horsemen, and carried to his castle of Dunbar; that, before she left the castle, on the 3d of May, she agreed to marry him ; thai ke had a wife tho» alive; that a divorce, both Proteatant ana 188 PROTESTANT REFORMATION Catholic, in one court for adultery and in ttie other for coniim guinily, took place between Bothwel and his (fife, in the spac« of six days : that, on the 12th of May, Bothwel led the Queen to the Sessions House, where, in the presence of the judges, she pardoned him for the violence committed on her person i thai, on the 15th of May, she openly married him ; that the French Ambassador refused to afipearal the ceremony; and that Mary refused, in this case, to listen to the entreaties of the family ct Guise. 311. Scores of volumes have been written, some in support of the assertion, that Mary was consenting to the murder of her husband ; and others in support of the negative of that propo- sition. Her enemies brought forward Utters and sonnets, which they alleged to have been written by Mary to Bothwel, previous 10 her husband''s murder. Her friends deny the authenticity of these ; and, I think they make their denial good. Wbitakjie, in Englishman, a Rector in the Church of England, mind ; a man, too. who has written much against the Catholic religion, defends Mary against the charge of having consented, or having known of the intention, to murder her husband. But, nobody can deny the above-slated facts: nobody can deny, that she was carried off by Bothwel ; tliat she, being at perfect liberty, ;,-)ardoned him for'that ; and that she immediately married him, though it excited horror in the family of Guise, whom she liao always theretofore listened to with the docility of a dutiful daughter. * 312. This gross conduct, almost equal, in power of exciting odium, to the murder of s'uch a wretch as Darnley, was speedi- ly followed by tremendous punishment. A part of her subjects armed against her, defeated Bothwel, who was compelled to flee the country, and who, in a few years afterwards, died in prison in Denmark. She herself became a prisoner in tlie hands of her own subjects ; and she escaped from their prison walls only to come and end her life within those of Elizabeth, her wily and deadly enemy. 313. The rebels were headed by the Earl of Mdrrat, a na tural son of Mary's father, and to her a most unnatural and cruel brother. He had imprisoned and deposed the Queen, had had her son crowned at thirteen months old, and had had him self elected Regent of the Kingdom. Murray had begun hij life of manhood, not onlv as a Catholic, but as an ecelfsiastii. He was prior of St. Andrews ; but, finding that he could g.iiin by «postacy, he, like Knox, apostatized, and, of course, broke hit. oath ; and Witaker says of him, that though " he was guiltj of the most monstrous crimes, yet he was denominated a gooi man by tlie reformers of those days." His great object was to BStirpate the Catholic religion, as the best means of retaining PROTESTANT REFORMATtON. 161 kH power; and, being also a " bold liar" and a man lliat shick at no forgery, no perjury, no bloody deed, that answered liif purpose, he was a man after " good Queen Bess's" own iieart. 314. Slie, however, at first, aflccted lo disapprove of liis con duct^ threatened to niarcli an army to compel hiin to restore th» Queen, gave the Queen positive assurances of her support, and invited her to take, in case of nce'l, ilieller, and receive prt ttction, in England. Jn evil hour, Mary, confiding in thesft promises and invitations, took, contrary to the prayers of heff faithful friends, on their knees, the fatal resolution to throw lier-^ self into the jaws of her who had so long thirsted for her blood. At the end of three days she found that %he had escaped to M prison. Her prison was, indeed, clianged two or three times ; but a prisoner she remained for nineteen long years ; and was, at last, most savagely murdered for an imputed crime, which ihe neither did nor could commit. 315. Durir.g these nineteen years, Elizabeth was intriguing with Mary's rebellious subjects, tearing Scotland to pieces by means of her corruption spread amongst the ilifferent bands of traitors, and infiicting on a ]>eopIe, who liad never ofiended h^r, every species of evil that a nation can possibly endure. 316. To enumerate, barely to enumei'atc, all, or one half, ot the acts of hypocrisy, perfidy, meanness, and barbarity that "good Bess" practised against this unfortunate Queen, who was little more than twenty-five years of age when she was i» reiglcd within the reach of her harpy claws; barely to enume- rate these would require a space exceeding that of this whole Number. While she affected to disapprove of Murray, she in- stigated him to accuse his Queen and sister ; while she pre- tended (0 assert the inviolability of sovereigns, she appointed a commission to try Mary for her conduct in Scotland : while she was vowing vengeance against the Scotch traitors for their re- bellious acts against her cousin, she received, as presents from them, a large part of the jewels which Mary had received from her first husband, the King of France ; and when, at last, she was tompelled to declare Mary innocent of having comenled la the murder, she not only refused to restore her agreeably to her lolemn promise repeatedly made, but refused also to give her her liberty, and, moreover, made her imprisonment more (Jose, rigorous and painful than ever. Murray, her associate in per- Sdy, was killed in 1570 by a man whose estate he had unjustly confiscated ; but, traitor after traitor succeeded him, every trait jr in her pay, and Scotland bleeding all the while at every pore, because her cruel policy taught her that it was necessary to her own security. Whitaker produces a crowd of autharii IMI to prove, that she endeavoured to get Mary's infant son inte 169 PROTESTANT REFORMATION. |jr httndt, and that, having failed in that, she endeavoured U cause Him to be taken off by poison ! 317. At last, in 1587, the tygress brought her loi g-sufTerini; rictirn to the block ! Those means of dividing and destroying, which she had, all her life long, been employing against others, began now to be employed against herself, and she saw her life 'ill constant danger. She thought, and, perhaps, rightly, that these machinations against her arose from a desire in the Ca- tholics (and a very natural desire it was) to rid the world of her and her horrid barbarities, and to make way for her Catho- Jic, lawful successor, Mary ; so that, now, nothing short of the death of this Queen sJem^d to her a competent guarantee foi her own life. In order to open (he way for the foul deed that had been resolved on, an act of parliament was passed, making it death for any one who was wilkin the realm to conspire with others for the purpose of invading it, or, for the purpose of pro- curing the death of the Queen. A seizure was made of iMary'i papers. What was wanting in reality was, as Whitakeb has proved, supplied by forgery, " a crime," says he, " which, with shame to us it must be confessed, belonged peculiarly to the Protestants. But, what right had Bess to complain of any hos- tile intention on the part of Mary 1 She was a Queen as well af herself. She was held in prison by force; not having been made prisoner In war; but having been perfidiously entrapped and forcibly detained. Every thing had been done against her short of spilling her blood ; and, had she not a clear ana indis putable right, to make war upon, and to destroy, her remorse less enemy, by all the moans within her power ? And, as to a trial, where was the law, or usage, that authorized one Qneen to invite another into her dominions, then imprison her, and th;!B bring her to trial for alleged offences against her ? 318. When the mode of getting rid of Mary vas debated in "good Bess's"-council, Leicester was for poison; others were for hardening her imprisonment, and killing her in that way; but Walsingham was for death by means of a trial, a legal proceeding being the only one that would silence the tongues o( the world. A commission was accordingly appointed, and Mary was tried and condemned ; and that, too, on the evidence of papers, a part, at least, of which, were barefaced forgeries, all of which were copies, and the originals of none of which were attempted to be produced ! The sentence of death was pronounced in October. For four months the savage " good Queen Bess" was employed in devising plans for causing het victim to be assassinated, in order to avoid the odium of being herself the murderer ! This is proved by Witaker beyond all IKMtibility of doubt ; but, though she had entrusted the keeping PKOTEoTANT REFORMATION. lfl9 it Mary to two men, mortal enemies of the Catholics, tt ey, (huugh repeatedly applied to for the purpose, persoveringly re- vised. Having ordered her Secretary Davisoii, to write t« them on the subject. Sir Amias PAULET.one of the keepers, e- turned for answer, that he " was grieved at the motion madt o him, that lie offered his life and his property to the disposal ui her Majesty ; but absolutely refused to be concerneil in thi assassination of Mary." The other Iteeper, Sir Droe Drob?, did the same. Wlien she read this answer, she broke out in re- preaches against thepi, complained of the " duinliness of tlieii consciences," talked scornfully of" the iiiceness of such precise fellows," and swore that she would " have it done without theit assistance." At the end, however, of four months of unavailing eiToris to find men base and bloody enough to do tlie deed, she resorted to her last shift, the legal murder, wiiicli was committed ou her hapless victim on the 8th of February, 1587, a day oi everlasting infamy to the memory of the English Queen, *' who," says VVhitaker, *' had no seasibilities of tenderness, and no seix tiraents of generosity ; who looked not forward to the awful verdict of Wistory, and who shuddered not at the infinitely more awful doom of God. 1 blush, as- an Englishman, to think thai this was done by an English Queen, and one whose name, / ivas taught to lisp in my infanoy, as the honour of her sex, and thf glory of our Isle." 319. Ah ! and thus was I taught ; and thus have we all beer, taught. It is surely then our duty to teach our children to know the truth. Talk of " onsieer*" to me, indeed ' Let them rfenj if they can, that this she " Head of the Church," this maker oj ' S, was a murderer, and vished to be au assctssin, in coid blood. 15 170 PROXESTAiST REFORMATIOM LETTER XI. 8e9s> bv?ockisy as to thi. death of Mart Stuart. — SpAKitk Ariuadi.. — Poor-Laws. — Barbarous TREATMENT OF Ikei AND. —Bess's Inquisition. — Horrid persechtion of the Catbo- lies. — The racks and tortures she emfloied. — Hes DEATH. KtKsinglon, 30//i Sept 182S My Friends, ^ , 320. Detestably base as was the conduct of "good Queen Bess" in the act of murdering her unfortunate cousin, her sub- sequent hypocrisy was still more detestable. She affected the deepest sorrow for the act that had been committed, pretended that it had been done against her wish, and had the superlative injustice and baseness to imprison her Secretary, DArisoN, fur having dispatched the warrant for the execution, though she, observe, bad signed that warrant, and though, as Whitabek has fully proved, she had reviled Davison for not having dis- patched it, after she had, in vain, used all the means in her power to induce him to employ assassins to do the deed. She had by a series of perfidies and crueiiies, wholly without a parallel, brought her hapless victim to the block, in that very country t" which she had invited lier to seek safety ; she had, in the last sad and awful moments of that victim, had the barbarity to refuse her the consolations of a divine of her own communion ; she had pursued her with hatred and malice that remained unglutted sven when she saw her prostrate under the common hangmaii and when she saw the blood gushing from her severed neck; i.n. sated with the destruction of her body, she, Satan-like, hac sought the everlasting destruction of her soul : and yet, the deed being done, she had the more than Satan-like hypocrisy to affect to we&p for the untimely end of her '' dear consiW^ ; and, which was still more diabolical, to make use of her despotic power to crush her humane secretary, under pretence that he had been the cause of the sad catastrophe I All «xprcssions of detestatiou PROTESTANT REFORMATIO!?. 171 ud horror fall sliort of our feelings, and our only consolalloD lit that we are to see her own end ten thousand times more to be dreaded tlian that of her victim. 321. Yet, such were the peculiar circumstances of the times, that this wicked woman escaped, not only for the present, bu( throughout her long reign, that general hatred from her sub- «ects, which her character and deeds so well merited; naj,it pferversely happened, that, immediately after this foul deed, there took place an event, which rallied all her people round ^er, and made her life, more than ever, an object of their soli- titude. 322. Philip II., King of Spain, who was also sovereign of the Low Countries, resolved on an invasion of England, with a Bed from Spain and with an army from Flanders. She had given him quite provocation enough ; she had fomented rebellions against liim, as she long had in France against the king of that country. Philip was the most powerful monarch in Europe ; ue had fleets and armies vastly superior to hers j tlie danger to England was really great; but, though these dangers had bt'en brought upon it solely by her malignity, bad faith, and )ierfidy, Eugland was still England to her people, and they unnnimuusly rallied'roiuid her. On this occasion, and, indeed, on all others, where love of counlri/ was brought to the test, the Catholics proved, tharno degree of oppression could make fhem forget their duty as citizens, or as subjects. Even from Hu.>ie it is extorted, that the Catholic gentlemen, though her laws excluded them from all trust and authorityj ** entered as volunteers in iicr fleet or army. Some equipped ships at their own charge, and gave the commund of them to Protestants : others were active in animating their tenants and vassals and neighbours, to the defence of their country : and, every rank of men, burying, for the present, all party distinctions, seemed to prepare themselves with order as well as vigour, to resist these invaders." Charicj [., .lames II., George 1.,. and George II,, and even George HI., All saw t!ie time, when the}' might have lamented the want ai timilar loyalty in Protestants. The first lost his head ; the iecond his throne ; the third and fourth were expolcd to great danger of a similar loss ; and the fifth lost America ; and all by the doings of Protestants. 323. The intended invasion was prevented by a tremendous ttorm, which scattered and half destroyed the Spanish fleat, sailed the Armada, and, in all human probability, the invaders would not have succeeded, even if no storm had arisen. But, at any rate, there was grea( danger; no one could be certain o( the result; the Catholics, had they listened to their just resent- ment, might have greatly added to the danger; and, therefore, their generous conduct merited some rela.iiation of the cruel {« PROTESTANT REFORM ATrOJJ treatment, which they had hitherto endured under her iror sceptre. No such relaxation, however, took place : they were still treated with every species of barbarous crut.ty . subjected to an inguisilion infinitely more severe than that of Spain evi had or ever has been; and, even on the bare suspicion of disa'- fection, imprisoned, racked, and not unfrequently put to dealt 324. As to Ireland, where the estates of the consents, an where the church property had been confiscated in the sam way as in England, and where the greater distance of the pei jile from the focus of power and apostacy and fanaticism, h.t rendered it more difficult to eflect their " conversion" at thi point of the bayonet, or by the halter or the rack ; as to thii portion of her dominions, her reign was almost one unbrcker series of robberies and butcheries. One greedy and merciles? minion after another were sent to goad that devoted people into acts of desperation; and that, too, not only for the obvious pur- pose, but for the avowed purpose, of obtaining a pretence for new confiscations. The ** Reformation" had, from its verj' ou^ set, had^/w7i^ifir written on its front ; but, as to Ireland, it was all plunder from the crown of Us head to the sola of its foot. I'his horrible lynx-like she-tyrant could not watch each move- ment of the Catholics there, as sbe did in England ; she cotild not so harass them in detail ; she could find there no means o/ executing her dreadful police ; and therefore she murdered them in masses. She sent over those parsons whose successors are there to the present day- The ever blood-stained sword ■ secured them the titkes and the chnrch-laviis ' but even tiiat blood-stained sivord could not then, and never did, though at one time wielded by the unsparing and double-clistilled Protes- tant, CRoaiwEtL, obtain them congregations. However, she planted, she watered with riveis of blood, and her long reign saw lake fast root in the land, that tree, the fruit of which the unfortunate Irish taste to this hour; and which will, unless pre- vented by more wise and more just measures than appear to have been yet suggested, finally prove the overthrow of England herself. 325. I am to speak, further on, of the monstrous tmmojaii- iies produced in England by the *' Reformation," and also o( the poverty and misery that it produced ; and then I shall have to trace (through Arts of Parliament) this poverty and miserj ■p in the " Reformation ;" yes, for therein we shall see, clearly as we see the rivulel bubbling out of the bed of the sjiring, the bread and tcater of England and the potatoes of Ireland ; but. even in this place, it is necessary to state the cause of the greafer poverty and degradation of the Irish people. Forages, that ill-treated people have, in point of clothing and food, bnned a contrast with ilie English Dr. Franklih, in speaking PROTESTANT REFORMATION 173 »f irclaril, says, that " one would think that the cast-off clolhta of the working-people of England were sent over to be worn by the working-people here." 326. Whence comes it that this contrast has so long existed ? The soil and the climate of Irelandareas good as those ol England. Tile islands are but a few miles asunder. Both are surrounded by the same sea. The people of the former are as able and as willing to labour as those of the latter; and of this they have given proof in all parts of the world, to which they have mi- grated, not to carry packs to cheat fools out of their money, not to carry the lash to make others work, but to share tliemselves, and cheerfully to share, in the hardest labours of those amongst whom they have sought shelter from the rod of unrelenting op- l>rcssion. Whence comes it, then, that this contrast, so unfa- vourable to Ireland, has so long existed! The anmoerto this interesting question we shall find by attending to the different measures, dealt out to the two people, during the long and cruel reign of which we are now speaking; and we, at the same time trace all the miseries of Ireland back, at once, to that " Re- formation," tlie blessings of which have, with such persevering falsehood and hypocrisy, been dinned in our ears for ages. 327. We have seen, in Letter III. of this little work, para graphs 50, 51, and 52, that the Catholic Church was not, and is not, an aSair of mere abstract faith ; that it was not so very tpiritual a concern as to scorn all cares relative to the bodies of the people ; that one part, and that a capital part, of its business was, to cause works of charity to be performed ; that this cha- rity was not of so very spiritual a nature as not to be at all tangible, or obvious to the vulgar sense ; that it showed itself in g^oorf works done to the needy and suifering ; that the tithes and offerings axiA income from real property, of the Catholic Church, went, in great part, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to lodge and feed the stranger, to sustain the widow and the or- phan, and to heal the wounded and the sick ; that, in short, a great part, and indeed one of the chief parts, of the business ol this Church was, to take care, that no person, hov^ever low in li.'e, should suffer from want either of sustenance o-. care ; and (hit the priests of this Church should have as few selfish cares as possible te withdraw them from this important part of fheii duty, they were forbidden to marry. Thus, as long as this Church was the national Church, there were hospitality and harity in the land, and the horrid word " pauper" had nevei been so much as thought of. 328. But, when the Protestant religion came, and along witt It a married priesthood, the poorer classes were plundered o iheh birth-right, and thrown out to »rowl about for what the; a>uld beg or steal. Luthkr and his followers wholly rejectee 174 PROTESTANT REFORMATION Ihe doctrine, that good works were netcessary to solTatiori, "^hey held, that failfi, and failh alone, was necessary. They expunged from their Bible tbe Epistle of Saint James, because it recommends, and insists on the necessity of, good workts which Epistle Luther called, " lin Epistle o( siravi " The " Reformers" differed from each other, as widely as the colouri of the rainbow, in most other things ; but they all agreed in this, that, good works were unnecessary to salvation, and that the " saints," as they had the modesty to call themselves, conld not forfeit their right to heaven by any sins, however numerous and enormous. By those, amongst whom plunder,, sacrilege, adultery, polygamy, incest, perjury, and murder were almost as habitual as sleeping and waking; by those, who taught that the way to everlasting bliss could not be obstructed by any o^ these, nor by all of them put together ; by such persons, charity. besides that it was a so well-known Catholic commodity, wouk be, as a matter of course, set wholly at nought. 329, Accordingly we see that it is necessarily excluded by the very nature of all Protestant establishments ; that is to say, in reality ; for, the name of charity is retained by some of these es- tablishments ; but, the substance no where exists. The Catho- lic establishment interweaves deeds of constant and substantial charity with the faith itself. It makes the two inseparable. The DouAY Catechism, which the Protestant psirsojis so much abuse says, that " the first fruit of the Holy Ghost is charity." And, then, it tells us what charity is ; namely, " to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to clothe the naked, to visit and ran- som captives, to liarbour the harbourless to visit the sick, to bury the dead." Can you guess my friends, why fat Protestant parsons rail so loudly against this " wicked Douay Catechism'' ? It is in the nature of man to love all thi This is what "the gates of hell will never prevail against.'' This is what our fa- thers believed, and what they acted upon ; and this it was that produced in them that benevolent disposition which, thank God. has not yet been wholly extirpated from tMe breasts of their de- scendants. 330. Returning now, to paragraphs 50, 11, and 52, just men- ifoned ; it is there seen, that the Catholi( Church rendered all municipal laws about the poor, whoUj' unnecessary ; but, when fhat Church had been plundered and f^jestroyed ; when the (rreedy leading "Reformers" had sacked the convents and the fhurches; when those great estates, whi^h of right belonged to the poorer classes, had been taken from them ; when the par Bonages had been first well pillaged, and the remnant of their re Teoues given to married men ; then the poor (for poortbere will and must be in every community) were left destitute of them^ans ef oxistence, other than the fruits of begf-oii tiiefl. an. 175 Accordingly when "good Queen Bess' had put the finishing hand to the plundering of the Chuich and poor, once-iiappy and free and hospitable England became a den of famishing robbers and slaves. Strype, a Protestant, and an authority to whom Huui appeals and refers many hundreds of times, tells 18 of a letter from a Justice of the Peace in Somersetshire, to the Lord Chief Justice, saying ; " I may justly say, that the able nen that are abroad, seeking the spoil and confusion of the land, *rc able, if they were reduced to good subjection, to give thf freatest enemy her majesty hath, a strong battle, and, as they are now, are so mucli strength to the enemy. Besides, the ge Deration that daily springeth from them, is likely to be most 'sicked. These spare neither rich nor poor; but, whether it he great gain or small, all Is fish that cometh to net with them ; and yet I say, both they and tlic rest are trussed up a-pace." Tlie same Justice says: " In default of justice, many wicked thieves JScape. For most commonly the moai simple countrymen and women, looking no farther than to the loss of their own goods, ire of opinion that they would not procure any man's death, for «11 the goods in the world." And while the " good Bess" com- plained bitterly of the non-execution of her laws, the same Pro- testant historian tells us, that "she executed more than jive hun- dred criminals in a year, and was so little satisfied with that num- ber, that she threatened to send private persons to see her penal laws executed 'for profit and gain's sake.' It appears that she did not threaten in vain ; for soon after this, a complaint was made in Parliament, that the stipendiary magistrate of that dav was ' a kind of living creature, who, for half a dozen of chickens would dispense with a dozen of penal statutes.'" She did not, however, stop, with ihts" liberal" use of the gallows. Such was the degree of beggary, of vagabondage anif of thievisliness and robbery, that she resorted, particularly In London and Its neigh- bourhood, to martial law. This fact Is so complete a proof of the horrible effects of the " Reformation" upon the moral state of the people, and it is so fully characteristic of the government, which the people of England had, in consequence of that Refor- mation, become so debased as to submit to, that I must take t!ie itatement as it stands in Hume, who gives the very words of " good and glorious Bess's" commission to lier head murderer spon this occasion. "The streets of London were very much hifested with idle vagabonds and riotous persons: the Loid Mayor had endeavoured to repress this disorder ; the Star- chamher had exerted its authority, and inflicted punishment ' the police-ofBces in London (a sphere to which his talents are exceedingly well adapted), took occasion, sought occasion, went out of his way to find occasion, to " ihanle-God" that we, on //lis ■idc of -St. George's channel, l^new nothing of tiiose outrages, which, when t ley were mentioned to the Irish, they ascribed to the misriile of ages. Now, it might be a little too much to ex- pect an answer of any sort from a lawyer so dignifieil as this police pleader; but, let me ask any English gentleman, or, ai.f Englishman of any rank, except Mr. Adolp&os, what he thiols would be the consequences here, if tiie poor-laws were abolisted ' to-morrow? Mr. Adolphos can hardly help knowing, that par- son Mai THUS and his tribe have been preaching up tiie wisdom of such fkbolition; he may remember, too (for tlie example wjis terrific), that Mr. Scarlett was "twisted down" in conse- quence of his having had the folly to mould this proposition of Mnlthus into the form of a Bill; but, Mr. Adolphus may not l«now, that petitions were preparing against that Bill, and that, .no, from the payers of the poor-rates, stating, that, if sucli Bill vere pas.ied, there woi'/.d be no safety for their property or theii 'ivcs. Let us, then, have a little justice, at any rate ; and, above all things, let us not, adding blasphemy to ignorance, insolence, and low, mob-courting sycophancy, " titank God" for the ab. spnce of outrages amongst us, as the wolf, in the fable, "thank- ed God" that he was not ferocious. 336. Why, there have been "ages of misrule" in Ireland many, many ages too ; or the landholders of England have, (luring those ages, been most unjustly assessed. But, they ate sensible, or, at least, the far greater part of them, that a proi-i- sion for the indigent, a settled, certain, legal provision, coming out of tne land, is a right which the indigent possess, to use the words of Blackstone, "in the very nature of civil society.'* Every man of i eflection must know, that the labours, which the affairs of society absolutely demand, could never be performed but by persons who work for their bread; he must see, thai a very large part of these persons will do no more work than is necessary to enable them to supply their immediate wants ; and therefore, he must see, that there always roust be, in every cum munity, a great number of persons, who, from sickness, old age from being orphans, widows, insane, and from other caust s will need relief from some source or other. This is the lot o) civil society, exist wherever and however it may, and it wil re. quire a solider.head than that which is on the shoalders of Mr Scarlett, to show, that this need of relief, to which al! are la We, is not a necessary ingredient in the cement of civil society The United Slates of America is a very happy country. Th« weT]d has never yet seen a people better off. But, though th« PKOXESTANT REF0RMA'£10W. 171 Americans cast off their allegiance to our king; though the; abolished the monarchical rights ; though they cast off the aris- tocracy of England; though they cast off the Church of Eng- land ; they did not cast of the English poor-laws ; and this very act of turbulent Bess, extorted from her by their English forefathers/ is, at this moment, as completely in force in New York as it is in Uld York, in New London as in Old London, in New Hampshira as in Old Hampshire, and in that whole country, from one end to the other, as if is in Old England herself. 337. Has it not, then, been a " misrule of ages" in Ireland ! Have not that people been most barbarously treated by Eng land 1 An Irishman who has a thousand times been Teady to expire from starvation in his native land, who has been driven to steal sea weed to save hiriiself from death, goes to America, feels hunger without having the means of relieving it ; sind there, in that/oreig'n land, he finds, at once, be he where he may, an overseer of the poo'r, ready to give him relief! And is such mon- strous, such crying injustice as this still to be allowed to exist ? The folly here surpasses, if possible, the injustice and the cru- elty. The English landholders make the laws : we all know that. They subject, justly subject, their own estates to assessments for the relief of the poor in England ; and, while they do this, tbey exonerate the estates of the Irish landholders from a like assess- ment, and choose rather to tax themselves and to tax us, and 'to tax the Irisn besides, for the purpose of paying an army to keep that starving people from obtaining relief by force ! Lord Livjsr. POOL/ when the Scotch r -jrds and others applied to him, in 1819, for a grant out of the taxes, to relieve the starving manufactur ers in Scotland, very wisely and justly said, " No : have poor- laws, such as ours, and then your poor will be sure of relief." Why not say the same thing to the Irish landholders t Why not compel them to give to the people that which is their due ? Why is Ireland to be the only civilized country upon the face of the earth, where no sort of settled, legal provision is made for the indigent, and where the Pastors are, at the same time, total strangers to the flocks, except in the season of shearing? Let ns, at least, as fong as this state of things shall be suffered to exist, have the deceiicv not to cry out quite so loudly against She " outrages of the Irish." 338. I must now return from this digression (into which lh« mention of "good Bess's" barbarous treatment of Ireland hai Jed me), in order to proceed with my account of her "reform ing" projects. Betsy was a great Docfor o/ Dmniiy. She wai extremely jealous of her prerogatives and, powers, but particu- larly in what regarded her headship of the Church. She would make all her subjects be of her religipn, though she had solemnly ■-•vorn at her coronation , that she was a Catholic, and though, in kuruing Protestant, she had made a change in Cranmer's Prrj «<• 180 PKOTF.L-TAN'r KF.rORMATlON. Book and in his arlicles offuilli. In order to bend theiieople'f consciences to lier tyrannical will, which was the more unjust, be- cause she herself had changed her religion, and had even chang- ed the Protestant articles, she established an inquisiiion the most horrible that ever was heard of in the world. She gave what she called a Commission to certain Bishops and others, whose power extended over the whole kingdom, and over all ranks and degrees of the people. They were empowered to have an absolute coil' trol over the opinions of all men, and to punish all men accor- ding to their discretion, short of death. They might proceed le gaily, if they chose, in the obtaining of evidence against parties; but, if they chose, they were to employ imprisonment, the rack, or torture of any sort, fnr this purpose. If their suspicions alight- ed upon any man, no matter respecting what, and they had no evidence, nor any even hearsay, against him, they might admi- nister an oath, called ex-offieio, to him, by which he was bound, if called upon, to reveal his thoughts, and to accuse himself, his friend, his brother, or hio father, upon pain of death. These subaltern monsters inflictrd vihaX fines they pleased; they im- prisoned men for any length of time that they pleased. They put forth whatever new articles of faith they pleased ; and, in short, this was a Commission exercising, in the name, and for the pur- poses oC'good Queen Bess," an absolute control over the bodies and the minds of that people, whom the base and hypocritical and plundering " reformers" pretended to have delivered from a "tlavish subjection to the Pope," but whom they had, without any pretending, actually delivered from freedom, charity, and hospitality 339. When one looks at the deeds of this foul tyrant, when one sees what abject slavery she had reduced the nation to, and especially when one views this Commission, it is impossible for OS not to reflect with shame on what we have so long been say ing against the Spanish Inquisition, which, from its first estab- lishment to the present hour, has not committed so much cruelty as this ferocious Protestant apostate committed in any one single year of the forty -three years of her reign. And, observe ag^in, and never forget, that Catholics, where they inflicted punish- ments, inflicted them on the ground, that the offenders had de- parted from the faith in which they had been bred, and which they had professed ; whereas the Protestant punishments have been inflicted on men because they refused to depart from the faith in which they had been bred, and which they had profespsed all their lives. And, in the particular case of this brutal hypo- crite, they were punished, and that, too, in the most barbaroui manner, for adhering to that very religion which she had open- ly professed for many years of l.er life, and to which she, evcK lit her coronation, had sworn that she belonged ! 3W. It is hardly necessary to attempt to describe the sulfer PROTESTANT REFORMATION. >81 tags that the Catholics had to endure during this murderoua reign. No tongue, no pen is adequate to the tasls. To heai mass, to harbour a priest, to admit the supremacy of the Pope, to deny this horrid virago's spiritual supremacy, and many other things, which an honourable Catholic could scarcely avoid, consigned him to the scaffold and to the bowel-ripping knife. But, the most cruel of her acts, even more cruel than her butcheries, because of far more extensive effect, and tar more productive of suffering in the end, were the penal laws Inflicting jjraes for recuscancy, that is to say, for not going to her new-fangled Protestant church. And, was there ever tyranny equal to this ? Not only were men to be punished for not con- fessing that the new religion was the true one : not only for continuing to practise the religion in which they and their fathers and children had been born and bred ; out also punished for noi actually going to the new assemblages, and tnere performin,; what they must, if tliey were sincere, necessarily deem an act of open apostacy and blasphemy ' Never, in the whole' wnr iil. was there heard of before tyranny equal to this. 341. The fines were so heavy, and were exacted with s;ioM unrelenting rigour, and, for the"offence of recusancy alone (hu sums were so enormous, that the whole of the conscientious Cii- tholics were menaced with utter ruin. '1 he priests who had nci or been out of England, and who were priests before the reign u( this horrible woman, were, by the 20th year of her reign /ew ia number, for the laws forbade the making of any new ones on pum of death, and, indeed, none could be made in England, where there was no clerical authority to ordain them, the surviving Ca- tholic bishops being forbidden to do it on pain oldeatli. Then she harassed the remainder of theold priests in such a way, that they were, by the 20th year of her reign, nearly exterminated ; and, as it v/as death for a priest to come from abroad, dealh, to harbour him, deatk for him to perform his functions in England, death to confess to him, there appeared to be an impossibilty oi preventing her from extirp"Hng, totally extirpating from the (and, that religion", under which England" had been so great and )o happy for ages; that religion of charity and hospitality; i:hat religion which made the name of p="les, their sufferings and their prayers. Alas ! they appealed lo her to whom truth anrl justice and mercy were all alike wholly unknown. The petition being prepared, all trembled at the thought of the danger of present- ing it to her. At last, Richard Shelley, of JMichael Grove, Sussex, assumed the perilous charge. She had the (as it would have been in any other human being) incomparable baseness to refer him, for an answer, to the gloomy echoes of a pestife- rous prison, where he expired, a victim to his own virtue and to her implacable cruelty. 346. Talk of Catholic tyrants ! Talk of the Catholics having propagated their faith by acts of force and cruelty ! 1 wonder, that an English Protestant, even one whose very bread comes from the spoliation of the Catholics, can be found with so little ibame as to talk thus. Our lying Protestant historians tell us, that the ships of the Spanish Armada were " loaded with RACKS," to be used upon the bodies of the English, who were preserved from these by the wisdom and valour ot " good and glorious Queen Bess." In the first place, it was the storm, and not "glorious Bess," that prevented an invasion of the coun- Irv ; and, in the next place, the Spaniards might have saved themselves the trouble of importing RACKS, seeing that gentle Betsv had always plenty of them, whic - she kept in excellent order, and in almost daily use. It is to inflict most painful fee!" ings on Protestants, to he sure; but, justice demands, that I de- icribe one or two of her instruments of torture ; because in them tn see some of the most powerful ofthose means which she mad« Bscof for ESTABLISHING HERPROTESTANT CHURCH; and here I thank Dr. Lingakd for having, in note U of volume v. of his history, enabled me to give this description. One kiHd if torture, which was called, " the Scavenger's Daughter, was a broad hoop of iron, consisting of two parts, fasiened by a hinae. The prisoner was made to kneel on the pavement and lo contract himself into as small a compass as he could. Tben ih» executioner, kneeling on his shoulders, and having intrtf PROJESTAM RKfORMATlOiV. Ifla Hu'ed the hoop mnior liis leg-s. coiiijiressod the victim dose lo- gether, till ho wiis ahlu In fasten tlief&el and kamU tugrlficr uter the small of the back. The tinif ahitted t<> iliis Uiiirl uf tor tuie w.is an hour ami a hitlf, iliuiu'r wlncii time the blood gushed (Vom the iiosliils, aiirt. somctimos, fniiii tlie hands and feci." There were sevenil iillicr kiinU "f iii'jjnniems ii( conrrr- l!OH tlial gentle Betsy made tisc of to crmlii.Mie the '• daninahle errors"' of Poperv ; 'hut. her greiU argumrnt »a<. the RACK. " This was a lar^e ()pcn frame of oaU, raided throe fiict from the ground. The prisoner was laid under it, mi his back, on tlie fioor. His wri.sts and ancles were attached hy cinds lo two loj- lers at the ends of the frame: these were moved liv levci > in op- posite directions till the body rose to a level wi'ih liie frame. Quesliims were then put ; and, if llie an. made uxe of hy those who inlroiluced and eslahiished the Catholic Chnich ! 348. The other deeds and events of the reign of this fi'ri>cionj woman are now of little interest, and, indeed, do not lielnng lo my siihjeet; but, seeing that the ]innsioned iHiit. .Iam.mv ■J'ho.iii' SUN, in thai sickly sluS'of hl.s, which no man of sense ever can endure after he gets to the age of iweuiy , has told u< about " the glories of the maiden reign," il may not ho amiss, before I take my leave of this"goo(/"cieatiire, lo observe, ihat her " gloriiis'' consisted in having broken innunii-rable solemn tri;atii;s anil compacts; in having been continually. bribing rebel subjects to annoy their sovereigns ; in having had a navy of fi eebootms ; in having had an army of plunderers; in hdv"ing bartorrd, for a little money, the important town of Calais ; and in never having added even one single leaf of laurel lo that aui]ile branch uhiih had, for ages, been seated on the brows of Knglaud : and dial, ms lo her maiden virtues, Whitakeh (a Protestant clergyman, mind) says, that " her life was stained with "gross Ucenlioiisness, ■Hd she had many gallants, while she called herself a maiden queen." Her life, as he truly says, was a life of" mischief ani nfmiseri/''; and, in her death (whicli took place in the year 1603, the 70lh year of her age, and the 4.5th of her reign) she did all the mischief that it remained in her power to do, by sulkily re- fusing to name her successor, and thus leaving to a people, whom ihe had been pillaging and scourging for forty-five years, a pro- bable civil war, a? " a legacy of mischief a.(ter her death." His- toriani> '' ave been divide ^ in opinion, as to which was the uora 16* iSr. PROTKSTANT REFORMATION. mati tliat England ever pvoiluct'd, her fatliei-, or Cranmer; but, all nituikinil must agree, liiat this was the uorsi woman that evel existed til England, or in the whole world, Jszabel herself not LETTER XII. Accession ok James I. — Horrid persecution of the Catho- lics.- Gunpowder Plot. — Chari.es I. qualified fob the RANK OfMaUTVR. "REFORMATION" THE SECOND, OR "THO- ROUGH GoDi.Y Reformation." — Charles 1L; the plots amt INGRATITUDE OF HIS REIGN. JaMES II.; HIS ENUE.VVOURS TO ' INTlIODUtE GENERAL TOLERATION — DaWN OF " GLORIOUS" Revolution. Kenmiglou, 3Ut Oct. 1825. My Friends, 349. In the foregohigNumbers, it has been proved, bey ona all contradiction, that the " Reformation," as it is called, "was en- gendered in hpiistly lust, brought forth in hypocrisy and perfidy, and cherished and feil by rivers of innocent English and Irish blood." There are persons, who publish what they call an- Dsers to mo ; but, these answers (which 1 sliall notice agaiii be- fore I have done) all blink the main subject: they dwell upoB what their authors asserl to be errors in the Catholic religion; this they do, indeed, without attempting to .show, how that Pro. testant Religion, which has about forty difierent sects, each at •pen war with all the rest, can be free front error; but, do they deny, tiiat this new religion began in beaslly lusl, hypacrisy and perfijf! ; and do they deny, that it was established by ■plunder, bj Iffrmiiiy, by axes, by gallowses, by gibbets and by racks t Do they fece, with a direct negative, either of these'important proposi- tions ? No : there are the facts before ihem ; there is the history; and (which they cannot face with a negative) there are the Acts oj Pftrtiament, written in letters of blood, and some of these' re iiiuining in force, totrouble and torment the people and to n' ilanger the State, even to the present day. What do th('s< )s PROTESTANT REFORMATION. tBI iweiertdo, then? Do they bo dly assert, that beastly hsI, hy pocrisy, perfidy, that tlie practice of plunder, that the use o( :\xcs, gallowses, gibbets, and racks, are good things, and out- Hard.sign3 of inward erangelical purity and grace? No: ihey give no answer at all upon theie matters ; but rail against the personal character of priests and cardinals and popes, and against rites and ceremonies and articles of faith and rules; oj discipline, matters with which [ have never meddled, and which have very little to do with my subject; my object, as the title oi my work expresses, being to " show, that the ' Reformation' ha] impoverished and degraded the main body of the people of Eng- land and [reland." I have shown that this change of religion was brought about by some of the worst, if not the very worst, feople that ever breathed ; I have shown that the means were such as human nature revolts at : so far I can receive no answer from men not prepared to deny the authenticity of the statute- book: it now remains for me to show, from the same sources, the impoverishing and degrading consequences of this change of religion, and that too, with regard to the nation as a whole, as well as with regard to the main body of the pe6ple. 350. But, though we have now seen the Protestant religion , tstabtished, completely established by the gibbets, tlie racks, and the rippiug-knivcs, I must, before I come to the impoverishing and degrading consequences, of which I have just spoken, and of which I shall produce the most incontestible proofs ; [ must give an account of the proceedings of the Reformation-people after they had established their system. The present Number will show us tlis Reformation producing a second, and that, too, (as every generation is wiser than the preceding) with vast im- frovemenls; the first being only " a godly Reformation," while the second we shall find to be " a thorough godly" one. The aext (or thirteenth) Number will introduce to us a third Refor- mation, commonly called the "glorious" Reformation, or, revo- lution. The 14th Number will give us an account of evoits still greater; namely, the .i4?neriM)( Reformation, or revolution, and that of the French. All these we shall trace back to the first Re* formation as clearly as any man can trace the branches of a tree back to its root. And, then we shall, in the remaining Number, or Numbers, see the fruit in the immorality, crimes, poverty ■od degradation of the main body of the people. It will be cu- tvms to behold the American and Trench Reformations, or re- volutions, plavmg back the principle:! of the English Reformai lion-people upon themselves; and, which is not less furious, and much more interesting, to see them force the Reformation-people tegin to cease to torment the Catholics, whom they had been tor- menting, without mercy for more than two hundred years. 351. It-.i " good a.nd lorioat aad maiden" and rackinj^ sn^ I«8 PROTESTANT REFORMATION. ripping-up Betsy, who, amongst her other "gorf/y" deeds, gnuD cd So her minions, to whom there wns no longer church.plunds. to give, monojiolits of almost all the necessaries of life, so tha< lall, for instance, which used to be about 2d. a bushel, was rais- ed to to 15s,, ^r about seven jif^unds of our present money ; the ■ maitlen" Betsy, wlio had, a„ Whitarer says, expired in si'lky ■ilcnce as to her successor, and had thus left a probablr civil war as a legacy of mischief, was, however, peaceably succeeded by James I., that very child of whom poor Mary Stuart wa» pregnant, when his father, Henry Stuart, Earl of Darnley, and Bssociates, murdered Rizziu in her presence, as we have seen in paragraph 308, and which child, when he came to man's eg- late, was a Presbyterian, was g-^uerally a pensioner of Bess, abandoned his mother to Bess's wrath, and, amongst his first acts in England, took by the hand, confided in and promoted, that Cecil, who was tlie son of the Old Cecil, who did, indeed^ inherit the great talents of his father, but who had also been, a> all the world knew, thp deadly enemy of this new king's unfor- tunate mother. 352. James, like all the Stuarts, except the last, was at once prodigal and mean, conceited and foolish, tyrannical and weak ; but the starhig feature of his character was innncerily. It would be useless to dwell in the detail on the measures of this contemp- tible reign, the prodigalities and debaucheries and silliness of which, dl;l, however, prepare the way for that rebellion and that revolullou, which took place in the next, when the double- distilled " Rpfflrmers" did, at last, provide a " martyr" for the hitherto naked pages of the Protestant Calendar. Indeed, thii reign would, as far as my purposes extend, be a complete blank, were it not for tliat " gunpowder plot," which alone has caused this Stuart to be remembtred, and of which, seeing that it hai been, and is yet, made a source of great and general delusion, I shall take much more notice than it would otherwise be entitled to. 353. That there was a plot m the year 1605 (the second year «fter James came to the throne), the object of which was to blow up he king and both houses of Parliament, on the first day of the session ; that Catholics, and none but Catholics, were parties to this plot; that the conspirators were ready to execute the deed ; and that they all avowed this to the last ; are facts whicb BO man has ever attempted to deny, any more than any man has attempted to deny that the parties to the Cato-streit plot din really intend to cutoff the heads of Sidmouth and Castle- reagh, which intention was openly avowed by these parties from first to last, to the ofHcers who took them, to the judge who con- demned them, and to the pr.upte who saw their heads severed from their bodies PROTESTANT REFORMATI0^ I8f J57. But, as the Parliamtntari/ Keformers in °eiieral wei-e Biist fi-lsely and basely accused of instigating to llie commissioii i>l' the last-mentioned intended act, so were the Catholics iu ■ general, and so are they to this day, not less falsely and less basely accused of instigating to the intended act of ItiOS. B'lt, as to the conspirators themselves; as to the extent of iheir :rime, are we wholly to leave out of our consideration the provocation they had received 1 To strike a man is an assault ; to kill ,a man is miirder; but are striking and killing always assault and murder? Oh, no; forwemay justifiably assault and kill a rob- ber or a Wouse-breaker The Protestant writers have asserted two things ; first, that the Catholics in general instigated to, oi itpproved of, the gunpowder plot; and, second, that this is a proof of the sanguinary principles of their religion. As to tha first, the contrary was fully and judicially proved to be the fact: and, as to the second, supposing the conspirators to have had 110 provocation, those of Cato-street were not Catholics at any rate, nor were those Catholics who qualified Charles I. for a post in tiie Calendar, and that, too observe, after he had acknow- lodged his errors, and had made compensation to the utmost oi hJs power. 355. Howevex, these conspirators AfflrfproBOcaKon; and now let us see what tnat provocation was. The king, before he came to the throne, had pi-omised to mitigate the penal laws, which as we have seen, made their lives a burden. Instead of this, those laws were rendered even more severe than they had been in the former reign. Every species of insult as welk as injury which the Catholics had had to endure under the persecutions , Df the established church was now heightened by that leaven oi Presbyterian malig.iity and ferocity, which England had now imported from the North, which had then poured forth upon this devoted country endless hordes of the most greedy and ra- pacious and insolent wretches that God liad ever permitted to infest and scourge the earth. We have seen, in paragraphs 310, 341, 342, 343, how the houses of conscientious Catholic gentlemen were rifled, how they \vere rummaged, in what con- stant dread these unhappy men lived, how they were robbed o/ their estates as a punishment for recusancy and other things called crimes; we have seen, that, by the fines, imposed on these accounts, the ancient gentry of England, whose familiel had, forages, inhabited the same mansions and had been venu rated and beloved for ^heir hospitality and charity ; we havt ieen how all these were gradually sinking into absolute beggary in consequence of these exorbitant extortions: but what was their lot now ! The fines, as had been the practice, had dees luffered to fall in arrear, in order to make the fined party mor< tompletely at the mercy of the crown ; and .Iames, whose prod* no PROTESTANT REFORMATIOM. fslity left him not the means of gratifying the grecdinees 01 his Scotch minions out of his own exchequer, delivered ovei Ihe English Catholic gentry to these rapacious j^inidns, who, thus clad with royal authority, fell, with all their well-known liardness of heart,-iipon the devoted victims, as the kite falli upon the defenceless dove. They entered their mansions, ran- sacked their closets, drawers and beds, seized their rent-rolls, in numerous instances drove their wives and children from Iheir doors, and, with all their native apstart insolence, made a mockery of the ruin and misery of the unoffending persons svhoni they had despoiled. 356. Human nature gave the lie to all preachings of longer passive obedience, and, at last, one of these oppressed and in- suited English gentlemen, Robert C^tesby, of Northam)>ton< shire, resolved on making an attempt to deliver himself and his suffering brethren from this almost infernal scourge. But, how was he to obtain the means ? From abroad, such was the state of things, no aid could possibly be hoped for. Internal insur- rection was, as long as the makers and executors of the barba- rous laws remained, equally hopeless. Hence he came to the conclusion, that to destroy the whole of them afforded the only hope of deliverance ; and to effect this there appeared to him no other-way than that of blowing up the parliament house when, on the first day of the session, all should be assembled together. He soon obtained associates ; but, in the whole, they amounted to only about thirteen; and, all except three or four, in rather obscure situations in life, amongst whom was Gtv Favvkes, a Yorkshireman, who had served as an officer in Ihe Flemish wars. He it was, who undertook to set fire to tlie magazine, consisting odwo hogsheads and. thirty-two barrels oj pmpowder; he it was, who, if not otherwise to be accomplishei!, had resolved to blow himself up along with the peisccutors ol his brethren; he it was, who, on the 5th of November, 1605, a few hours only before the Parliament was to meet, was seized in the vault, with two matches in his pocket and a dark lantern by his side, ready to effect his tremendous purpose ; he it was, who, when brought before the King and Council, replied to all their questions with defiance ; he it was, who, when ashed by a S:otch lord of the Council, why he had collected so many bar- rels of gunpowder, answered, "to blow you Scotch beggars back to your native mountains," and, in this answer, proclaimed lo the worldthe true immediate cause of thjs memorable conspiracy; an answer, which, in common justice, ought to be put into the mouth of those effigies of him, which crafty knaves induce fooUsb boys still to burn on the 5th of November. James (whose silly conceit made him an author) was just, in one respect, at aiij (ste In his worles, he calls Fawkes, " the English Soaioi.*"' PROTESTANT REFORMATIOW 101 and hiitory tells us that tliat famous Roman, having missed Wj mark in eudeavouring to kill a tyrant, who had doomed hn country to slavery, thrust his oJ'enrfing-/ia7irf into a hot fire, and let it burn, while he loolced defiance at the tyrant. 357. Catesby and the other conspirators were pursued ; h« and three of iiis associates died with arms in their hands fighting against their pursuers. The rest of them (except Thrtshatitf who was poisoned in prison) were executed, and also the famous Jesuit, Garnet, who was wholly innocent of any crime con- Qscted with the conspiracy, and who, baring come to a know- ledge of it, through the channel of confession, had, on the con- trary, done every thing in his power to prevent the perpetrating of its object. lie was sacrificed to that <.nrelenting fanaticism, which encouraged by this and other similar successes, at last, as we are soon to see, cut off the head of the son and successor of this very King. The Kiug and Parliament escaped from feelings of humanity in the conspirators. Amongst the disa- bilities imposed on the Catholics, they had not yet, and were not until the reign of Charles II., shut out ofParliameiU. So that, if the House were blown up, Catholics, Peers and Mem- bers, would have shared the fate of the Protestants. Th* con- spirators could not give warning to the Catholics without cx' citing suspicions. They did give such warning where they could ; and this led to the timely detection ; otherwise the whole of the two Houses, and the King aloiig with them, would have been blown to atoms ; for, though Cecil evidently knew of the plot long before the t?me of intended execution ; though he took care to nurse it till the moment of advantageous discovery a '• rived ; though he was, in all probability, the author of a warning letter, which, being sent anonymously to a Catholic nobleman, and communicated by him to the Government, became the ostensible cause of the timely discovery ; notwithstanding these well-attested facts, it by no means appears, that the plot ori- ginated with him, or, ind<'ed, with any body but Catesby, ol whose conduct men will judge iifierently according to the dif- ference in their notions about passive obedience and non-resist- ance. 358, This 'vould be enough of the famous gunpowder plot ; bat, since it has been ascribed to bloody-mindcdness, as the caiural fruit of the Catholic religion ; since, in our COMMON PRAYER BOOK, we are taught, in addressing God, to call all Catholics indiscriminately, " our cruel and Mlood-lhirsty ene- mies," let us see a little what Protestants have attempted, anil Jone, in this blowing-up way. This King James, as he himscll averred, was nearly being assasinated by his Scotch Proteslmtl nibjects. Earl Gowry and his associotes ; and, after that, (lar- rowlj escape.'? being blown up, with all his attendants, by tlif 192 PROTESTANT REFORMATION. furiiHis Protestant burghers of Perth. See Collier's Churth History, Vol. II. p. 663 and 664. Then again, the Protttlantt in the Netherlands, formed a plot to hlow up their governor, the Prince of Parma, with all the nobility and magistrates »f those countries, when assembled in the city of Antwerp. But the Protestants did not always fail in their plots, nor weie those who engaged in them obsJcure individuals. For, as ne have •ceir. in paragraph 309, this very King Jamej's father, the King »f Scotland, was, in 1567, hloivn up by gunpowder and Iherebg Ulled. This was doing the thing effectually. Here was oa warning given to any body ; and ail the attendants end ser- vants, of whatever religion and of both sexes, except such ai escaped by mere accident, were remorselessly murdered along with their master. And who was this done by ? By blood- thirsty Catholics" ? No : but by the lovers of the " Avangel," as the wretches called themselves ; the followers of that Knox, to whom a monument has just been erected, or is note erecting at Glasgovy. The conspirators, on this occasion, were not thirteen obscure men, and those, too, who had recL'ived provo- cation enough to make men mad ; but a body of noblemen and gentlemen, who really had received no provocation at all from Mart Stuart, to deiitroy whom was more the object than it was to destroy her husband. Let us take the account of these conspirators in the words of Whitaker; and, let the reader recollect, that Whitaker, who published his book in 1790, was a parson of the Church of England, Rector of Ruhan-Lany ■ home in Cornwall, and that he was, amongst those clergymen who was most strenuously opposed to the rites and ceremonies and (ene(jof the Catholic Church: but he was a truly honest man, a most zealous lover of truth and haler of injustice Hear this staunch Church-Parson, then, upon the subject of this Protes- tant Gunpowder-Plot, concerning which he had made the fullest inquiry and collected together the clearpst evidence. He f Vin- dication of Mary, Queen of Scots, vov. iii. p. 235,) says, in speaking of the Plot, " The guilt of this wretched wcman, iii.i- Iabeth, and the guilt of that wretched man, Cecil, appear too evident, at last, upon the face of the whole. Indeed, as lar as we cai. judge of the ma'.ter, the whole disposition of the mur- derous drama was this. The whole was originally plaiinea auii ■Jevised betwixt Elisabeth, Ceeil, Morton, and Murray; and the execution committed to Lethington, Bothwell, and Balfonr; and Elizabeth, we may be certain, was to defend the original and more iniquitous part of the conspirators, Morton and Mur- ray, in charging their own murder upon the mnocent Mary." Did hell itself, did the devil, who was, as Luther himself says, •a long the lompanior and so often the bed-fellow of this firsJ " Reformer," ever devise wickedness equal to this ProtestaiA "KOTR'^rA^JT Rfcu'ORMATION ,93 ylot 7 Let IIS hear nc "norc, then, about the blood-lhirsthiess o( the Catholic religion ; and, it' we must still have our 5;A of No- vember, let the -" moral" disciples of Knox, the inhabitants of " Modern Alliens," have their 10/A of February. Let them, too, (for it was I'rulestanls tliat did the deed) have their 30lhoj January, the anniversary of the killing of the son of this same king James. Nobody Unew better than James himse f the hi»- tory of his father's and his mother's end. He knew that they bad both been murdered by Prolestantt, and that, too, with cir camstances of atrocity quite unequalled in the annals of humay infamy ; and therefore he himself was not for vigorous ineasurei against the Catholics in general, on account of the plot; but love of plunder in his minions prevailed over him ; and now began to blaze, with fresh fury, that Protestant reformation spirit, which, at last, gave him a murdered son and successor, as it had already given him a murdered fafher and motlier 359. Charles 1., who came to the throne on the death ufhis father, in 1625, with no more sense and with a stronger tincture of haughtiness and tyranny than )iis father, seemed to wish to go back, in church matters, towards the Catholic rites and ceremonies, while his parliaments and people were every da/ becoming more and more puritanical. Divers were the groundi of quarrel between them, but the great ground was that of reli- gion. The Catliolics were suffering all the while, and especially ihose in Ireland, who were plundered and murdered by whole districts, and especially under Wentworjh, who committed more injustice than ever had before been committed even ip ihat unhappy country. But all this was not enough to satisfy the puritans ; and Laud, the Primate of the Established Church naving done a great many things to exalt that church in point o* power and dignity, the purer Protestants called for " anothei Reformation," and what they called " a thorough godly Be formation." 360. Now, then, this Protestant church and Protestamt king had to learn that " Reformations," like comets, have tails There was no longer the iron police of Old Bess, to watch and to crush all gainsayers. The puritans artfully connected politi- cal grievances, which were real and numerous, with religioui principles and ceremonies ; and, having the main body of the people with them as to the former, while. these were, in conse- quence of the endless change of creeds, become indiffereMt ai to the latter, they soon became, under the name of " The Par- liament," the sole rulers of the country ; they abolished the Church and the House of Lords, and, finally brought, in 1649, durini; the progress of their " thorough godly reformation," the nnfortunate king; jmself to trial and to the block ! 361. All very ad to be sure; but all very natural Meinf 194 PROTESTANT REFORMATION ivliat had gone before. If "some such man as Henry VIII." were, as Burnet says he was, necessary to beg;in a " Refor mation," why not " some such man" as Cromwell to complete it{ If it were right to put to death. More, Fisher, and thou- lands of others, not forg:etting tlie grandmother of Charles oo a charge of treason, why was Charles's head to be so very sa cred ? If it were right to confiscjite the estates of the monasl»- ries, and to turn adrift, or put to death, th: abbots, priors, monks b'iars, and nuns, after having plundered the latter of even the ■ar-rings and silver thimbles, could it be so very wrong to take away merely the titles of those who possessed the plundered pro perty J And, as to the Protestant Church, if it were right to es- tablish it on the ruins of the ancient Church, by German bayo- nets, by fines, gallowses and racks, could it be so very wrong to establish another newer one on its ruins by means a great deal milder? If, at the time we are now speaking of, one of "good Bess's" parsons, w)io had ousted a priest of Queen iMary, had been alive, and had been made to fly out of his parsonage-house, not with one of Bess's bayonets at his back, but on the easy toe of one of Cromwell's godly, bible-reading soldiers, could that parson have reasonably complained 1 363. Cromwell, (whose reign we may consider as having lasted from 1649 to 1659) therefore, though he soon made the Parliament a mere instrument in his bands ; though he was ty- rannical and bloody : though he ruled with a rod of iron ; though ae was a real tyrant, was nothing more than the " natural issue," M " maiden" Betsy would have called him, of the " body" of Ac " Reformation." He was cruel towards the Irisli ; he killed thus without mercy ; but, except in the act of selling 20,000 o/ Oitm to the fPest Imlies as slctves, in what did he treat them worse •Jian Charles, to whom, and to whose descendants they w*r< /oyal from first to last? And, certainly, even that sale did n«' equal. In point of atrociousness, many of the acts committt< against them during the three last Protestant reigns; and, in point of odiousness and hatefulness, it fell far short of the ingra tude of the Established Church in the reign of Charles II. 363. But, common justice forbids us to dismiss the Cromwel iian reign in this summary way ; for, we are now to behold " Re. formation" the second, which its authors and executors called " a iAoronifA god/y Reformation" ; insisting that "Reformation" the first was but a half-finished affair, and that the " Church of England as by law established" was only a daughter of m " Olu Whore of Babylon." This " Reformation" proceeded ^jst lik-j the former; its main object was plunder. The remainmgpro perty of the Church was now, as far as time and other circnm- itances would allow, confiscated and shared out amongst the ■' Refof nram," wh«> if th«y bad had time would have resumed PROTESTANT REFORMAl ON. IM »n the former plunder (as they did part of it) and have ihared il out again ! It was really good to see these "godly" person* ousting from the abbey-lands the descendants of those who had got them in " Reformation" the first ; and, it was particularly good to hear tJie Church-bishops and parsons crying " tacrilege," when turned out of their palaces and parsonage-houses ; aye, they, who and whose Protestant predecessors had, all their lives long, been justifying the ousting of the Catholic bishops and priests, who held them by prescription, and espressly by Mag na Charta. 364. As if to make " Reformation" the second as much s* possible like " Reformation" the first, there was now a chang* of religion made by laymen only; the Church clergy were ca- lumniated just as the Catholic clergy had been ; the bishops were •hut out of. Parliament as the abbots and Catholic bishops had been ; the cathedrals and churches were again ransacked ; Cran* mer's lablta (put in place of the altars) were now knocked to pieces; there was a general crusade against crosses, portraits o) Christ, religious pictures, paintings on church windows, images on the outsides of cathedrals, tombs m these and the churches . As the mass-books had been destroyed in " Reformation" the first, the church-books were destroyed in "Reformation" the second, and a now book, called the " Directory," ordered to be used in its place, a step which was no more than an imitation of Henry VUIth's " Christian Man" and Cranmer's " Prayer Book." And, why not this " Directory" 7 If the mass-booli of nine hundred years' standing, and approved of by all tlie people, could be destroyed, surely, the Prayer-Book, of only one hundred years' standing, and never approved of by one half ol the people, might also be destroyed. If it were quite right to put the Ibrraer down, and that, too, as we have seen in paragraph 212, with the aid of the sword, wielded by German troops, it might naturally enough be thought, that it could not be very wrong to put the latter down with the aid of the sword, wielded by English troops, unless, indeed, there were, which we have not been told, something peculiarly agreeable to Englishmen in ihe cut of German steel. 365. It was a pair of " Reformation!," as much alike as any mother and daughter ever were. The mother had a Cromweh (see paragraph 157) as one of the chief agents in her work, and the daughter had a Cromwell, the only ditference in the tws being, that one was a Thomas and the othar an Oliver ; the for naer Cromwell was commissioned to make " a gorfty reformation of errors, heresies and abuses in the church," and the latter ""at commissioned to make " a thoroughly godly reformation in the church ;" the former Cromwell confiscated, pillaged and sacked the church, and just the same did th» latter Cromwell, except /9a PROTESTANT REFORMATIO;'! li.at the latter did not, at the same time, rob the poor, as the ftw iiier liad done ; and, wliich seems a just distinction, the lattei dieil in his bed, and the former, when the t3frant wanted his ser- vices no longer, died on a scaifold. 366. The lieroes of " Reformation" tlie second were great Biblt- readers, and almost every man became, at times, a preacher 'J he soldiers were uncommonly gifted in this way, and thej claimed a right to preach as one of the conditions upon which they bore arms against the king. Every one interpreted 4he Bible in his own way : they were all for the Bible withoul Qote or comment. Roger I'Iorth (a Protestant) in his " Ex- iuen" gives an account of all sorts of blasphemies and of horrors committed by these- people, who had poisoned the minds of nearly the whole of the community. Hence all sorts of monstrous crimes. At Dover, a woman cut off Hit head of her child, alleging that, like Abraham, she had had a particu- lar command from God. A woman was executed at York, for crucifying her mother. She had, at the same time, sacrificed a cnlf and cock. These are only amongst the horrors of that " tliorough godly Reformation" ; only a specimen. And why rot these horrors ? We read of killings in the Bible; and, il every man be to be his own interpreter of that book, who is to s.iy that he acts contrary to his own interpretation? Why not all these new and monstrous sects 1 If there could be one new re- ligion, one new creed made, why not a thousand ? What right had Luther to make a new religion, and then Calvin another new one, and Cranmer one differing from both these, and then " good Bess" to make an improvement upon Cranmer's ? Were ail these to make new religions, and were the enlightened sol- diers of Cromwell's army to be deprived of thfe right ? The former all alleged, as their authority, the "inspiration of the Holy Ghost." What, then, were Cromwell and his soldiers to be deprived of the benefit of this allegation ? Poor " godly" fellows, why were they to be the only people in the world not qualified for choosing a religion for themselves and for those whom they had at the point of their bayonets? One of Crom- well's "godly" soldiers went, as North relates, into the church rfWalton-upon-Thames, with a lantern and five candles, telling the people that he had a message to them from God, and that they would be damned if they did not listen to him. He putoiil one light as a mark of the abolition of the sabbath ; the second, as amarkof the abolition of all tithes and church dues; the third as a mark of the abolition of all ministers and magistrates; and then the fifth light he applied to setting fire to a Bible, declar- ing that that also was abolished ! These were pretty pranks t« play ; but, they were the natural, the inevitable, consequenc* oi • Reformation" the first. PROTESTANT REFORMATION. 1« S67 In one respect, however, these new reformers differed ficim the old ones. They did, indeed, make a new religion, and command people to follow it ; and they inflicted punishments on the refractory ; but those punishments were beds of down compared with oak-pl jks, when viewed by the side of those inflicted by "good Bess" and her Church. They forbade th« ase of the Common-Prayer-Book in all churches and also ia private families ; but, they punished the disobedle.it with a pe- nalty or Jive pounds for the first oflence, ten pounds for the lecond, and with three years' impruonmeni for the third ; and did not hang them and rip out their bowels, as the Church of England sovereigns ^ad done by those who said or heard mass. Bad as these fanatics were, wicked and outrageous as were their deeds, they never persecuted, nor attempted to persecute, with a hundredth part of the cruelty that the Church of England had done; aye, and that it did again, the moment it regained its power after the restoration of Charles [I., when it became more cruel to the Catholics even than it had been in the reign of " good Queen Bess" ; and that, too, notwithstanding that the Catholics, of all ranks and degrees, had signalized themselves, during the civil war, in every way in which it was possible for them to aid the royal cause. 368. This, at first sight, seems out of nature; but, if we con- sider, that this Church of England felt conscious, that its posses- sions did once belong to the Catholics, that the Cathedrals and Churches and the Colleges, were all the work of Catholic piety, learning and disinterestedness ; when we consider this, can we be surprised that these new possessors, who had got possession by JucA means, too, as we have seen in the course of this work ; when we consider this, are we to be surprised, that they should do every thing in their power to prevf i.t the people from seeing, hearing, and contracting a respect for those whom these mvr possessors had ousted ? Here we have the true cause of all the hostility of the Church of England Clergy towards the Catho- lics. Take away the possessions, and the hostility would cease to-morrow ; though there is, besides that, a wide, and, on their •ide, a very disadvantageous difference, between a married , clergy, and one not married. The former will nevei have an influence with the people, any thing like approaching that of the latter. There is, too, the well-known superiority of learning on the side of the Catholic clergy ; to which may be added the notorious fact, that, in fair controversy, the Catholics have always triumphed. Hence the deep-rooted, the inflexible, the persevering and absolutely implacable hostility c f this Estab. lished Church to the Catholics; not as me-n, but as Calhotics. To what else are we to ascribe, that, to this day, the Catholio are forbidden to have sieeples or bells to their chapels ? They, 17* 198 PROTESTANT REFORMATION. whose religion g-ave us our steeples and our bells ! To what else are we to ascribe, that their priests are, even now, forbiddeu to appear in the streets, or in private houses, in their cUrical habiliments, and even when to perform their functions at fune- rals 1 Why all this anxious pains to keep the Catholic religioo out of sight? Men may pretend what they will, bnt these paina argue any thing but consciousness of being rightf on the part o (hoso who take those pains. Why, wben the English nuiu came over to England, during the French Revolution, and set Hed at Winchester, get a bill brought into Parliament (as th« Church clergy did) to prevent them from taking ProtestatU tchulars, and give up the bill only upon a promise that they would not take such scholars ? Did this argue a conviction in the minds of the Winchester Parsons, that Bishop North's waj the true religion, and that William of Wickham's was the/a2sg one? The Church parsons are tolerant enough towards secti of all descriptions : quite love the Quaker, who rejects baptism and the sacrament ; shake hands with the Unitarian, and allow him openly to impugn that, which they tell us in the Prayer Book, a man cannot be saved if he do not firmly believe in : suf- fer these, aye, and even JEWS, to present to church-livings, and refuse that right to Catholics, from whose religion all the church- \ivings caine !" 369. Who, then, can doubt of the motive of this implacable hostility, this everlasting watchfulness, this rancorous jealousy that never sleeps? The common enemy being put down by the restoration of Charles, the Church fell upon the Catholics with more fury than ever. This king, who came out of exile to mount the throne in 1660, with still more prodigality than either his father or grandfather, had a great deal more sense than both put together, and, in spite of all his well-known profli- -gacy, he was, on account of his popular manners, a favourite with his people ; but, he was strongly suspected to be a Catho- lic in his heart, and his more honest brother, Jasies, his pre- sumptive heir, was an openly declared Catholic. Hence (he reign of Charles II was ohe continued series of plots, sham of 'real; and one unbroken scene of acts of injustice, fraud, and false-swearing. These were plots ascribed to the Catholics; but really plots against them. Even the great fire in London, which (cok place during this reign, was ascribed to them, and there is the charge, to this day, going round the base of " the Momt- ment," which Pope justly compares to a big, lying bully, " Where London's column, pointing to the skies, Like a tall buily, lifts its head, and lies." Tiifi words are these; ** This monument is erected in memory of .he hurning of this Protestant city, by IhePopish faction, in Sept A. D 1666, for the destruction of the Protestant religion and oi PROTESTANT REFORMATIOil. 1M f)td English liberty, and for the introduction of Popery and ilavery But the fury of the Papists is not yet satisfied." It is curious enough, that tliis inscription ^vas made by order of Sir PiriKNcE Ward, who, as Echard shows, was aftcr^A-ards con- victed oj perjury. Burnet (whom we shall find in full (ide by- and-by) says, that one Hubert, a French Fapist, ** confessed that he began the fire;" but Higgons (a Protestant, mind,) proves that Hubert was a Protestant, and Rapis agrees wiilj Higgons ! Nobody knew better than the King the nronstrous DGss of this lie; but Charles II. was a lazy, luxurious de bauchee. Such men have always been unfeeling and ungrate- ful; and this King, who had twice owed his life to .Catholic priests, and who had, m fifty-two instances, held his life at the mercy of Catholics (some of them very poor) while he was a wandering fugitive, with immense rewards held out for taking him, and dreadful punishments for concealing him ; this profli- gate king, whose ingratitude to his faithful Irish subjects is without a parallel in the annals of that black sin, had the mean- ness and injustice to sufier this lying inscription to stand: It was elTaced by his brother and successor; but, when the Dutch- man and the '* glorious revolution" came, it was restored ; and there it now stands, all the world, except the mere mob, know- it to contain a most malignant lie. 370. By conduct like this, by thus encouraging the fanatical nart of his subjects in their wicked designs, Charles II. pre- pared the way for those events, bv which his family were ex- cluded from the throne for ever. To set asidi his brother, who was an avowed Catholic, was their great object. This was, indeed, a monstrous attempt ; but, legally considered, "hat was it more than to prefer the Illegitimate Elizabeth to the legi- timate Mary Stuart ? What was it more, than to enact, that any " natural muc" of the former should be heir to the throne T And, how could the Protestant Church complain of it, when iti great maker, Cranmer, had done his best to set aside both the daughters of Henry Vlfl., and to put Lady Jane Grey on tho throne? In short, there was no precedent for annulling the rights of inheritance, for setting aside prescription, for disre- garding the safety of property and of person, for violating the ^ndamental laws of the kingdom, that the records of the ' Ke- f>,rmalion" did not ^mply furnish: and this daring attempt to set aside James on account of his religion, might be truly said as it was said, to be a Protestant principle ; and it was. too, a principle most decidedly acted upon in a (ew years afterwards. 371. James U. was sober, frugal in his expenses, ecuuouiicaJ as to public matters, sparing of the people's puises, pious, ana sincere; but weak and obstinate, and he was n Catltolic, and his piety and sincerity' made him not a match for his artful, nu 200 PROTESTANT REFORMATrON. meroiis and deeply- interested foes. If the existence ol a ft i* missiunai y priests in the country, though hidden bcliind waid- scots, hiid called forth thousands of pursuivants, in order to protect the Protestant Cliurch ; if to hear mass in a private house had been regarded as incompatible with the safety of that Churcli ; what was to be the fate of that Church, if a Catholit king continued to sit on the thronet It was easy to see that the ministry, the army, the navy, and all the offices under the go- vernment, would soon contain few besides Catholics ; and it was also easy to see that, by degrees. Catholics would be in the parsonages and in tiie episcopal palaces, especially as the king was as isealous as he was sincere. The " Reformation" had made consciences to be of so pliant a nature, m^n had changed, under it, backward and forward so many times, that this last (the 611ing of the Church with Catholic priests and bishops,) would, perhaps, amongst the people in general, and particularly amongst the higher classes, have produced but little alarm. But, not so with the clergy Inemselves, who soon saw tlieir dan- ger, and who, " passive" as they were, lost no time in preparing to avert it. 372. James acted, as far as the law would let him, and as far «>s prerogative would enable him to go beyond the law, on prin- ciples of general toleration. By this he obtained the support of the sectaries. But the Church had got the good things, and it resolved, if possible, to keep- them. Besides this, though the abbey lands and the rest of the real property of the Church and the poor, had been a long tchile in the peaceable possession ol the then owners and their predecessors, the time was not so very distant but that able lawyers, having their opinions backed by a well-organized army, might strll find a flaw in, here and there, a grant of Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Old Betsy. Be their thoughts what they might, certain it is, that the most zealous and most conspicuous and most efficient of the leaders of the " Glo- rious Revolution" which took place soon afterwards, and which drove James from the throne, together with his heirs and his house, were amongst those whose ancestors had nut been out of '.he way at the time when sharing of the abbey lands took place. 373." With motives so powerful against him, the kLig ought to have been uncommonly prudent and wary. He was just the contrary. He was severe towards all who opposed his views, .vowever powerful they might be. Some bishops who presented a very insolent, but artful, petition to him, he sent to the Tower, had them prosecuted for a libel, and had the mortification to see them acquitted. As to the behaviour of the Catholics; prudence and moderation was not to be expected from them. Look at liie fines, the burning irons, the racks, the gibbets, and the rip- ping-knives of the late reigns, and say if it were not both natural PHOTESTANT REFORMATIOn. 9G1 uid just, .'hai. their joy and exultation should now be without Qounds. Tliese were, alas ! of short duration, for a plan (we must not call it a plot) having been formed for compelling the king to give up his tolerating projects, and " to aeltte the king- dom," as it was called, the planners, without any act of par- liament, and without consulting the people in any way what ever, invited William, the Prince of Orange, who was the Stadtholder of the Dutcli, to come over wiilh a Dutch army to assist them in " stilling" the kingdom. All things having been luly prepared, the Dutch guards (who had been suffered to get firom Torbay to London by perfidy in the English army) Aaving tomt to the king's palace and ihrusted out the English guards, the king, having seen one " sellling" ofa sovereign, in the reign of his father, and, apparently, having no relish for another set- tling of the same sort, fled from his palace and his kingdom, and took shelter in France, instead of fleeing to some distant English city and there rallying his people round him,^which, if he bad done, the event would, as the subsequent conduct of the people proved, have been very different from what it was. 374. Now came, then,, the " glorious Revolution," or Re- formation the third ; and, when we have taken a view of its progress and completion, we shall see how it, in its natural consequences, extorted, fur the long-oppressed Catholirs, that relief, which, by appeals to the justice and liumanity of theii persecutors, they lisd sought it Tain for owre thiin two hundrsd BOS PROTESTANT REFORMATION LETTER XIH. " Glorious" Retolotion, or Reformation thi tbird.— Thi Dutch King and his delivering arhy. — Tax " Crimes" of j4»fes 11., with elucidations. — parliamentary purity.— The Protestant Bishop Jocelyn. — Sydney, and others OK THE Protestant patriots. — Habeas Corpus Act.— Settlement of American colonies. Kensington, SOlh Nov 1826. My Friends, 375. At the close of the last Number, we saw a Dutchman in vited over with an army to "settle" the kingdom ; we saw the Dutch guards come to Loudon and thrust out the English guard«j ive saw the King of England flee for his life, and talie refuge in France, after his own army had been seduced to abandon liim The stage being now clear for the actors in this affair, we have now to see how they went to work, the manner of which we shall find as summary and as unceremonious as heart, however Pro- testant, could have possibly wished. 376. The King being gone, the Lord Hayor and Aldermen ol London, with a parcel of Common Councitmen, and such Lordi and members of the late King Charles's Parliaments as chose to joiu them, went, in February 1688, witliout any authority from King, Parliament or people, and forming themselves into " a Convention," at Westminster, gave the crown to William (who was a Dutchman) and his wife (who was a daughter of James, but who had a iro/Aer alive), and their posterity FOR EVER; made new oaths of allegiance "or the people to lake ; enabled the new King to imprison, at pleasure, all whom he might shs pect ; banished, to ten miles from London, all Papists, or rcfiul ill Papists, and disarmed them al! over the kingdom ; gave the advowsons of Papists to the Universities; granted to thtir new majesties excise duties, land-taxes and poll-taxes lor the " ne tessary defence of the realm " declared themselves to bo thr PROTESTANT REFORMATION. 'jfM " Two Houses of Parliament aa legally ai if they had been sttin moTied according to the usual form :" and this they called a " gli,. rious Revolution," as we Protestants call it to this present d.iv. After " Reformation" the second, aiid upon the restoration oi Charles, the palaces and livings and other indestructible iilun- der, was restored to those from whom the "thorough godly" had taken it, except, however, to the Catholic Irish who ad fought for this King's .ather, w|io had suffered most cruelli .t>! this King himself, and who were left still to be plundered bj the 'thorough godly," which is an instance of ingratitude sucli as, bi no other case, has- been witnessed in die world. However, ihere were, after the restoration, men enough to contend, tliat Jie episcopal palaces and other property, confiscated and grant, ed away by the " thorough godly," ought not to be touched , for that, if those grants were resumed, why not resume those oj Henry VIII. f Aye, why not indeed ! Here was a question to put to the Church Clergy, and to the Abbey-Landowners! Ii _ nine hundred years of quiet possession, and Magna Charta at the back of it; if it were right to set these at nought for the sake of making only " a godly Reformation," why should not one hun dred years of unquiet possession be set at naught for the sake of making "a thorough godly Reformaticn" 7 How did tlio Church clergy answer this question? Whj Dr. Hejli.v, wlm was Rector of Alresford in Hampshire, and at'terwards Dean o! Westminster, who was a great enemy of the " thorough godly,' though not much less an enemy of the Catholics, meets the qrles- tlon in this way, in the Address, at the head of his Histurv o( Reformation the first, where he says, " that there certainly iiiust needs be a vast disproportion between suvh contracts, as were founded upon Acts of Parliament, legally passed by the king's authority, with the consent and approbation of the three estates and those which have no other ground but the bare voles and or- ders, of both Houses only. By the same logic it might be con- tended, that the two Houses alone have authority to depose a Hng." 377. This Churcn-Doctor died a little loo so07i ; or, he would nave seen, not two Houses of Parliament, but a Lord Mayor ol London, a parcel of Common Councilmen, and such other per- sons as chose to join them, actually setting aside one king and putting another upon thethrone, and without any authority froai King, Pari lament,- or people ; he would have heard this called " a glorious" thing; and, if he had lived to our day, he would have seen other equally "glorious" things grow directly out of it ,• and, that notwithstrfndiug Bi^ackstone had told the Americans, that a "glorious" revolution was a thing never to be repeated, Doctor Heylin would have heard them repeating, as applied to Geotge III., almost word^for word, the charges which the ' gla 204 PROTESTANT REFORMATION. rt'ous" people preferred against James 11., though they, naught) V'aiiUces, knew perfectly well, that, after the " glorious" aSair, 3. King of £nglaud (being a Protestant) could " do no wrong" ! The Doctor's book, written to justify the " Reformation^' did, as PiiiKtc Oblkans tells us, convert James 11. and his first wife to the Catlwlic religion ; but his preface, above quoted, did not succeed so well with Protestants. 373. We shall, in due time, see something of the COST of this ' glorious" revolution to the people ; but, first, seeing that Ihif revolution and the exclusion acts which followed it wert founded upon the principle, that the Catlwlic religion was in- compatible with public freedom and justice, let us see what thing! this Catholic King had really done, and in what degree they were worse than things that bad been and that have been done mider Protestant sovereigns. As William and his Dutch array have been called our deliverers, let us see what it really was, at fer all, that they delivered the people from ; and here, liappily, we have the Slatute-book to refer to, in which there still standi the List of Charges, drawn up against this Catholic King. How- ever, before we examine these charges, we ought, in common justice, to notice certain things that James did 7inl do. He did not, as Photestant Edward VI, had done, bring German troops into the country to enforce a change of religion ; nor did he, like that youug Saint, burn his starving subjects with a hoi iron on the breast or on the forehead and make them wear chains as slaves, as a punishment for endeavouring to relieve their hunger by begging. He did not, as Protestant Betset had done, make use of whips, borins: irons, racks, gibbets, and ripping-knives to coTtvert people to his faith ; uor did he impose even any ^7ies for this purpose ; but on the contrary, put, as fai as he was able, an end to all persecution on account of religion : oh ! but I am forgetting, for this we shall find amongst his Car xholic crimes : yes, amongst the proofs of his being a determined and intolerant Popish tyrant ! He did not, as Protestant BEr- SEY had done, give monopolies' to his court minions, so as to make salt, for instance, which, in his day, was about /ourpejicis a t>ushel,/ot(r/een pounrfj a bushel, and thus go on, till, at last, we Parliament feared, as they did in the time o(" good Bess," that there would be a monopoly even of bread. These wert amongst the things, which, being pifl-ely of Protestant birth, James, no doubt from " Catholic bigotry," did not do And, now, let us come to the things which he really did, or, at least, which he was charged with having done. 379. Indictments do not generally come after judgment and execution; but, for some cause or other the charges against James were postponed until the next year, when the crown had freen actually given to the Dutchman and his wiii;. No matter.' IROTESTANl REFORMATION 200 »hej- cane out at last; and there ther stand, 12 in number, ia Act 2, Sess. Win. and M. chap. 2. We will take them one by •Jue, bearing in mind, that they contained all that could pven be said against this Popish King. CHARGE I. " That he assumed and exercised a power of dispensing willt and suspending laws, and the txecuUon of laws, without-consent of Parliament." — That is to say, he did not en- force those cruel laws against conscientious Catholics, which kad been enacted in former reigns. Bat, did not Betsey and hei successor James I. dispense with, or suspend, laws, when thej took a composition from recusants ? Again, have we ourselvej never seen any suspension of, or dispensing with laws without consent of Parliament ? Was there, and ia there, no dispensing with the law, in employing /oreign officers in the English army, and in granting pensions from the crown to foreigners ? And, was there no suspension of the law, when the Bank stopped pay- ment in 1797? And, did the Parliament give its assent to the causing of that stoppage? And, has it ever given its assent to the putting of foreigners in offices of trust, civil or military, or to the granting of* pensions from the crown to foreigners ? But, &\A James ever suspend the Habeas Corpus Act ? Did his Se- cretaries of State ever imprison whom they pleased, in any gaol or dungeon that they pleased i let the captives out when they pleased 1 Ah ! but what he and his Ministers did in this way (if they did any thing) was all done "without consent of Parlia- ment ;" and who is so destitute of discrimination as not to per- ceive the astonishing difference between a dungeon xeith con- sent of Parliament and a. dungeon without consent of Parlisi- mcnt CHARGE 11. " That he committed and prosecuted divers worthy prelates, for humbly petitioning to be excused from con- curring to the said assumed powers." He prosecuted them as libellers, and they were acquitted. But he committed 'hem be- fore trial and conviction; and, why ? because they refused togivt bail. And they contended that it was tyranny in lum to de-' mand such bail! Oh, heavens ! How many scores of persons have been imprisoned for a similar refusal, or for want of ability to give bail on a charge of libel, during the last eight years ! Would not Mr. Clemeht have been imprisoned the other day only, if he had refused to give bail, not on a charge o( libel on a king upon his throne, but on a Protestant profes- sor of humanity? And, do not SIX ACTS, passed by a Parliament, from which tyrannical Catholics are so effectually excluded, declare to us free Protestants, that this has alwayi been the law of the land ! And, is that all ? Oh, no ! For we may now be banished for life, not only for libelling a king on hii 18 206 PROTESTANT REFORMATION throne, but for uttering any thing that has a TENDENCY to bring either House of Parliament into contempt ! CHARGE 111. " That he issued a commission for erecting a Court, called the Court of Commissioners for Eccleaiastical Causes." Bless us! What! was this worse than "goorf Betsey's'' real iiiquiailion, under the same name 1 And good God ! have we no court of this sort now 7 And was net (no longer than about nine months ago) Sarah Wallis (a labourer's wife o( Hargrave, in Norfolk), for having " brnwlcd" in the church-yard, Mntenced by this Court to pay 24i. Os. Sd. costs; and was she not sent to gaol for non-payment; and must she not have rotted in gaol, having not a shilling in the world, if humane persons had not stepped forward to enable her to get out by the Insol- vent Act t And, cannot this Court, now, agreeably to those ot young Protestant Saint Edward's Acts, in virtue of which the above sentence was passed, condemn any one who attempts to fight in a church-yard, to have one ear cut off, and, if the olTen- der " have 7iu ears" (which speaUs volumes as to the state of the people under Protestant Edward), then to be burnt with a hot iron in the cheek, and to be excommunicated' besides 1 And, did not the revolution Protestants, who drew up the charges against James, leave this law in firll force for our beuefit? CHARGE IV. "That he levied money for and to the use of the crown, by pretence of prerogative, for other time, and in D(/itr manner, than was granted by Parliament." It is not pre- tended that he levied more money than was granted ; but he was not exact as to the (ime and manner. Did the Parliament grant Betsey the right to raise money by the sale of monopolies, by compositions with offenders, and by various other of her means ? But did we not lately hear of the hop duty payment being shifted from one year to another! Doubtless, with wisdom and mercy; but I very much doubt of James's ever having, in this respect, deviated from strictlaw to agreater amount, seeing that his whole revenue did not exceed (taking the difference in the value of money into account) much above sixteen times the amount of a good year's hop duty, CHARGE V, "That he kept a j/ondjng army tnh'me ef peace, without consent of Parliament." Ah', without consent of Par liamenl, indeed I That was very wicked. There were only se- ven or eight thousand men, to be sure, and such a thing as a tarrock had never been heard of. But, without consent oj Par- liament ! Think of the vast difference between the prick of a bayonet coming without consent of Parliament, and that of one coming with such consent ! This king's father had been de- throned and his head had been cut off by an army kept up with vmsent of Parliament, mind that, however. Whether there were. PrOTESTANT REFORMATION, 301 '■ the time of James, any such affairs as that at Manchester, oa Lhe memorable 13th of August, 1819, history is quite silent; not are we told, whether any of James's priests enjoyed militar* half-pay; nor are we informed, whether he gave half pay, or took it away, at his pleasure, and without any " consent of Par- liament" : su that, as to these matters, we have no meass oi making a comparison. We are in the same situation with re- gard to foreign armies; for we do not find any account what ever of James's having bought any into England, and especi ally of his having caused foreign Generals to command even th 'Gnglish troops, militia and all, in whole districts of England. CHARGE V!. " That he caused several good subjects, ho'inft Protestants, to be disarmed, at the same time that Papists wer, both armed and employed, contrary to law." SIX ACTS dr. armed enough of the king's subjects; aye, but, then, these weia not "good'' ones; they wanted a reform of the House of Com- mons. And besides, there was " /flte" for this. And, if people will not see what a surprising difference there is between being disarmed by law and disarmed by proclamation, it really is use- less to spend valuable Protestant breath upon fhem. CHARGE VII. " That he violated the freedom of election of Members to serve in Parliament." Oh, monstrous ! Aye, and " notorious as the sun at noon-day" ' Come up, shades of Per- ceval and Castlereagh ; come voters of Sarum and Gatton : as- semble, ye sons of purity of election, living and dead, and con- demn this wicked king for having " violated the freedom of elections" ! But, come, we must not suffer this matter to pass off in the way of joke. Protestant reader, do you think, that this ■'violating of the freedom of elections for Members to serve in Parliament " was a crime in King James ? He is not accused of having done all these things with his own tongue, pen, or hands ; but with having done them with the aid of "divers wicked minis- ters and councillors. Well; but do you, my Protestant readers, think that this violation of the freedom of elections was a bad thing, and a proof of the wicked principles of Poperyt [f you do, take the following facts, which ought to have a place in a work like this, which truth and honour and justice demand to be recorded, and which I state as briefly as I possibly can. Know, then, and be il for ever remembered. That Catholics have been excluded from the throne for more than a hundred years: That they have been excluded from the English Parliament erer since the reign of Charles II,, and from the Irish Parlia- ment ever since the 22d year of George III. : That, therefore, the throne and the Parliament were filled exclusively with Protestants in the year 1809: That, in 1779, long and long utter Catholics had been shut out of^ the English Parliament, (be House of Commons resolved, " That it is HIGHLY CRl 208 PROTESTANT RL-OEMATICiN. MIiNAl. for any Minister or Minister^ or any other serrant M the crown in Cfreat Britain, directly or indirectly, to make nse of the power of liis oflBce, in order to influence the election of Members of Parliament, and that an attempt to exercise tha influence is an attack upon tiic dignity, the honour, and the inde pendence of Parliament, an infringement of the rights and the libirlies of the people, and an'attempt to sap the basis ofaarfrf ind happy constitution." — That, in 1809, Lord Castlereagh, Minister and a Privy Councillor having been charged before ,he House with having had something to do about bartering a leat in the House, the House on the 25th of April of that year resolved, " That whili! it was the bounden duty of that House li maintain at all iimes a jealous guard upon its purity, and not tt suffer any attempt upon its privileges to pass unnoticed, the at- tempt, in the present instance (that of Lord Castlereagh and Mr „^eimg)' not hariing been carried into effect, that House did not think it then necessary to proceed to any criminating reso- lutions respecting the same." — That on the 1 1th of iMay, 1809, {on\y sixteen days after this last resolution was passed) William Mabocks, member for Boston, made a charge in the followine n ords, to wit : " 1 aflSrm, then, that Mr. Dies purchased a seat ill, the House of Commons, for the Borough of Cashel, tnrough llie agency of the Honourable Henry Wellesley, who acted for, and on behalf of the Treasury ; that, upon a recent question ot the last importance, when Mr. Dick had determined to vote ac cording to his conscience, the noble Lord Castlereagh, did inti- mate to that gentleman the necessity of either kis voting with the government, or resigning his teat in that House ; and thai Mr. Dice, sooner than vote against his princifiles, did make choice of the latter alternative, and vacate-his seat accordingly , and that to this transaction, I charge the right honourable gen- tleman, Mr. Fercevae,, as being privy, and having connived at it. This I engage to prove bywiinessessatyour bar, if the House will give me leave to call them." That, having made his charge Mr. Madocks made a motion for INQUIRY into the matter:— That, after a debate, the question was put to the vote : — Thai here were three hundred and ninety-five members in the house, ill Protestants, mird : — That (come up and hear it you accusers of James and the Catholic religion !) there were EIGHTV-FiVE fcr an inquiry, and THREE HUNDRED AND TEN against it THAT, this same PROTESTANT Parliament, did, in 1819, o the MOTION OF THAT VERY SAME LORD CASTLE- REAGH, pass a law by which any of us may now be BANISHED FOR LIFE for publishing any thing having a TENDENCY to bring THAT VERY HOUSE into CONTEMPT! THAT this Lord Castleps^gh was Secretary of State for fcreign affaira THAT he continued to be the eading Minister in the House o PROTESTANT REFORMATION. SOt Commons (exclusively Protestant) until the close of the session of 1822, which toolt place on the 6th of August of that year. THAT, on the 12th of the same month of Aug^ust, he cut his own throat, and killed himself at North Cray, in Kent; that a coro- ner's jury declared him to have been insane, and that the evi- dence showed, that he had been insane for several weeks, though he had been the leader of the House up to the 6th of Au^st, and thoug-h lie was, at the moment when he killed himself, Se cretary of State for foreign affairs, and also temporary Secre tary for the Home Department and that of the colonies! THAT his body was buried in Westminster Abbey-church, mournerf over by his colleagues, and that, as it wax taken oiit of the hearse, a great assemblage of the people gave loud and long-continu PROTESTANT REFORMATION Sia Igpnominious death, this Sidney deserved his. He did not deny, he couid not deny, that the conspiracy had existed, and that he was one of its chiefs. He had no complaint but one, and thai related to the evidence against him. There was only one parole witness to his acts, and, in cases of high treason, the law of En^?- laad required two. And, here it was that a blush might (if 'it were possible) have been raised upon the cheeks of these re- vilers o{ Popery; for, this very law, this law, which has saved the lives of so many innocent persons ; this law which ought to engrave gratitude to its author on the heart of everj English- man; this law came from that very Popish Qdeen Masy, whom artful knaves have taught generations of thoughtless people to call " the bloody," while, too, she was the wife of, and had for coadjutor, that Philip J I. whom to hold up as a sanguinary Popish tyrant has been a great object with all our base deluders. 384. Seeing, however, that Sidney had such a strong attach- ment to this Popish law, and that there really was but one wit- ness against hira ; seeing that he could not bear the thought of dying without two witnesses against him, the crown-lawyers (ail Protestants, mind, who had abjured the " damnable errors of Po- pery") contrived to accommodate him with a couple, by search- ing. his drawers and making up a second witness out of his own papers ! it was in vain that he rested upon this flaw in (he pro- ceedings i all men knew that hundreds of Catholics had suffered ileath upon evidence slight indeed, compared with that against him : men were not to be amused with this miserable special plea ; and all men of sense and justice concurred in the opinion, tliat he received substantial justice, and no more. 3SS. So much for the "good old cause, for which Hampden died in the field, and Sidney on the scaffold." What credulous creatures we hav6 been, and who more so than myself! Aye, but these Protestant patriots only contemplated insurrection and the introduction of Foreign armies. And with what more was 0'QDIGi.y charged, only about twenty-seven years ago 7 With what more were the SheareiSs and Lord Edward Fitzgera:.b and Watt and Downib and Despard, and scores of others charged ? And were Thistlewood, Ings, Brunt and Tidb charge Iher-in-law to the conspirators, in order to betray them, and bring them to justice. Well, but have we not had our Ca» rtESES, our Oi.ivkrs and our Epwaiuises, and' bus not Mr »i4 PROTESTANT RI FORMATIOP B'ltouGHAM said, in the House of Commons, that "wliilf ttittt are such men as Ings in tht world, there must be such men as Edwards 7" However, no historian, Protestant as he va&y iiave been, enemy as he may have been of Charles's and James's me- mory, ever had the impudence to impute to either of them tiie having employed people to instigate others to commit acts oi high treason, and then bringing these others to the blocli, while ihey rewarded the instigators. 386. it is said, and I think truly, that Cliarles II. was, at one time, in pecuniary treaty witK the King of France, for the pur- pose of re-establishing the Catholic Church in England. Well, had not he as much right to do this, as Edward VI, had to bring over German troops to root out that ancient Church which had been established for 900 years, and which was guaranteed to the people by Magna Charta? And, if doing this by means o/ French troops were intended by Charles, can that be complained of by those, who approve of the bringing in of Dutch troops to " 5C///c" the kingdom ? After all, however, if it were such a deadly sin for a Popishly advised King of England to be in a pecuniary treaty with the King of France, which treaty neithei King nor Catholics ever acted upon, what was it in the Protes- tant and Catholic-hating Sidney, and the Younger Hampden and Armstrong and others to be real and bbiia-Jlde and money- touching pensioners of that same King of France, which fact has become unquestionable from Dalrymple's Memoirs, page 316 of Appendix 7 387. But, now, if James be to be loaded with all those which have been called the bad deeds of his brother's reign, we cannot with common justice, refuse him the merit of the good deeds or that reign. This reign gave us, then, the Act of Habeas Corpvs, which Blackstone calls " the second Great Charter of English Liberty." There are many other acts of this reign, tending to secure the liberties and all the rights of the people ; but, if there had been only this one Act, ought not it alone to have satisfied the people, that they had nothing to apprehend from a Popishly inclined king on the throne 7 Here these " Popish tyrants," Charles and James, gave up, at one stroke of the pen, at a sin gle writing of Charles's name, all prerogatives enabling them, as their predecessors had been enabled, to put people into pr> •on, and to keep them there in virtue of a mere warrant, or or- der from a Minister. And, was this a proof of that arbitrary disposition, of which we hear them incessantly accused 7 We are always boasting about this famous Act of Habeas Corpus, but, never have we the gratitude to observe that it came from those against whom Russell and Sidney conspired, and the last ol whom wag finally driven from his palace by the Dutch guard) h 1(186. PROTESIaNT REFCRMAllON. 2ia 388. Tnen, again, was this act ever suspended durnsg ilie reigns of these Popish Icings 1 Never ; not even for a single day. But, the moment the " glorious revolution." or Reformation the third came, the Dutcii " deliverer" was, by the Protestant ' Convention," whose grand business it was to get rid of " ar- bitrary power" ; the moment that this " glorious" affair had ta- ken place, that moment was the Dutch " deliverer" authorized to put in prison, and to keep there, any Englishman that he oi his Ministers might suspect ! But, why talk of this? We our- selves have seen this " second Great Charter of English liber ty" suspended for seven years at a time ; and, besides this, we have seen the King and his Ministers authorized to imprisoc any one whom they chose to imprison, in any gaol that they chose, in any dungeon that they chose ; to keep the imprisoned person from all cgmmunicatioa with friends, wives, husbands, fathers, mothers and children ; to prevent them from tlie use of pen, ink, paper and books; to deny them the rigl^t of being confronted with their accusers; to refuse them a specification of their offence and the names of their accusers ; to put them out of prison (if alive) when they pleased, without any trial •, and, at last to hold them to bail for good behaviour, and that, too, mind, still without stating to them tlie names of the wit- nesses against them, or even the nature of their offence ! All this wc have seen done in our own dear Protestant times, while our parliament house and our pulpits ring witlr praises of the " glorious revolution" that " delivered us from Popery and sla- very " 389. There was another great thing, too, done in the reigns 3f these Popish kings; namely, the settling of the 'Provinces (now States) of America. Virginia had been attempted to be settIedunder"g'oorf Bess," by that unprincipled Minion, Sir Wal- ter Raleigh, who, in the next reign, lost, on the scaffolil, that fife; which he ought to have lost thirty years before ; but the attempt wholly failed. A little, and very little, was done, in the two succeeding reigns. It was not until that of Charles II. that charters and, patents were granted, that property became real, and that consequent papulation and prosperity came. This was a great event: grefit in itself, and greater in its consequences, some of which consequences we have already felt, others we are now feeling, but others, and by far of greater moment, we have yet to feel. 390. All these fine colonies were made by this popishly in. clinea King, and by his really Popish brother. T vo of thein, the Carolinas, take their name from the King himself; another, and now the greatest of all, New-York, from the King's brother, who was Duke of the city of that name in Old England. These were the men who planted these the Snestand happiest coloniei Slfi raOTESTANT REFORMATION that lh> sun ever lighted and waimed. They were pliinted bj these Popish people ; from them from their " mere motion, ai the law calls it, came those charters and patents, without which those countries might, to this hour, have been little better than a wilderness. From these Popish kings the colonies came. By whom were they lost ! Not by abused and calumniated Papists, at any rate. Our Popish ancestors had, at different times, made England mistress of different parts of France. Protestant Edward, VI. lost Boulogne, and Protestant Betsey bartered away Calais and the county of Oye for 100,000 erowns, and thus put her Protestant seal to England's everlast- ing expulsion from the continent of Europe, After one more Protestant reign, inglorious beyond all example, came these two Popish kings, who planted countries which were more than a compensation for the European loss. Then came that " glori- ous" affair, and it furnished all those pnnciptet, by which, at the end of only about seventy years, this compensation was wrested from us ; and not only this, but by which was created a power, a great maritime power, at the very name of which, affect what they may. Englishmen, once so high and daring, now grow pale. 391. We shall, before the close of the next number, and after we have taken a view of the torments inflicted on the Catholici (Irish and English) in the reigns of William, Anne, and the Georges, trace this " Reformation" the fourth, directly back to " Reformation" the third ; we shall show, that, in spite of the fine reasoning of Blackstone, the deeds of the " Convention" were things to be imitated ; we shall find that the List of Char- ges against James, drawn up by the " Lord Mayor of London, Aldermen, Common Councilmen, and others," was as handy in 1776 as it had been in 1688; we shall find this Reformation the tliird producing, in its progress, that monster in legislation, that new and heretofore UMheard-of species of tyranny, called Bills of Pains and Penalties, which are of pure Protestant origin ■, and we shall finally see, that this famous and '" glorious" affair, all Proltslant as it was, did, at last, bring, though it crossed the At. iantic to fetch it, that davm oj iiberty, which the Cathol-ics be> fan to behold at the end of a night of cruel slavery, which had tasted for more than two hundred years. But, 1 must not even Ipere, lest it should not occur to my mind again, omit to notice, and to request the reader to notice, that, of the above mentioned colonies, the only ones that wholly abstained from religious per- , »ecution the only ones that, from the first settling, proclaimed cvmfilete rf.ligious liberty, were those granted by patent to the I>(;k£ of York (afterwards the Catholic James 11.) to Lord BiLTiMOEE, a Catholic nobleman, and to William Penh, who ■utfcred long imprisonment for his adiirreuce to this Popish PROTESTANl Ktl ORVATIOU 217 kin^. Wc shall, by-and-by, find all the colonies cordially united In declaring' the character of a Prolestant king to be " marked by every act that may define a tyrant;'" but, this much we know, at any rate, that the colonies granted to and settled by Catholics and by Penn, an adherent of James, were the only ones that had, from first to last, proclaimed and strictly ad> bered to complete freedom as to matters of religion ; and that, too, after the Protestants, at home, had, for mure than a hun- dred years, been most cruelly and unremittingly persecuting; the Catholics. LETTER XIV William's triumphoyek James and the Catholics.— A "No. Popery" wab requires money to carry it on. — Burnbt'* SCHEME OF BORROWING AND FUNDING — OrIGIN OF BaNKS AND Bank notes. — Heavy taxes, excise, septennial bill.— Attempt to tax the Americans. — Americans revolt ur the face OF THE DOCTRINES OF BlACKSTONE. — ThEIR CHAB- OES AGAINST GeORGE III. Kensington, 31st Dec. 1826, My Friends, 392. We have seen, in the foregoing Letter, that Reforma- tion THE Third, commonly called the " Glorious Revolution," grew directly out of Reformation the Second ; and wc are now to see Reformation the Fourth, commonly called " the Ame- rican Revolution," grovir directly out of Reformation tbe Third ; and we are, before we get to the end of this present Let (er, to see how severely the English people have been scourged, Biid hoiv much more severely they ate likely still to lie scourged in consequence of these several " Reformations," which have all pioceeded from Reformation the First, as naturally as the Stem and the branches of the tree proceed from the root. 393 We have seen, tliat King James and his family were set hSiUle,J)ecause they were Catholics; nnd we are to bear that in tnind, not forgetting, at the same time, that Alfred the Great was a Catholic, and that thoie kings of England, who reelly tl8 PROTESTAJNT REFORMATIOIS conquered France, and won that title o'" King of France, wbMk George Ul. gave up, were also Catholics. But wc are now par ticularly to bear in mind, that James, an Enc^hshman, was tet aside, that William, a Dutchman, was niiiile king in his stead, and that James's heirs were set aside too, because he anc' they were Catholics. Bearing these things constantly in niind ve slial' now see what took place, and how the " PitoTE3TANT Reform-. iio\" worked, till it produced the Debt, the Bank! he Stock-Jobbkrs, and the American Revolution. 394. James found faithful adherents in his Irish subjects, wi»j feught and bled in his cause with all that bravery and disregard oflife of which so many Iri dimen have given proof. But, with the aid of Dutch and German armies, paid by England, the '' Deli verer" finally triumphed oyer James and the Irish, and the whole kingdmn submitted to the sway of the former. It is hardly neces- sary to say, that the Catholics were now doomed to suffer punish- ments heretofore unknown ; and ihat, if their faith still existed in the kingdom, it could scarcely be owing to any thing short of the imme- diate superinterdance of Providence. The opprsssions which they had had to endure under former sovereigns were terrible enough ; but nolo began a series of acts against them, siich as tlie world neyer heard of before. I shall, further on, have to give a sketch, at least, of these acts, which we shall find going on increasing in number and in severity, and, at least, presenting a mass of punishment which, but to think of, makes one's blood run cold, when, all of a sudden, in the 18th year of George 111., came the ./Imencan Revolution, which grew out of the English Revolution , and (mark the justice of God ! ) wiiieh proditced the first relaxation in this most dreadfully penal code. 395. But HOW did the American Revolution grow out of tlif Dutch Deliverer's, or " Glorious" Revolution ? A very pertinent and important question, my friends, and one that it is ray duty to an- swer in the fullest and most satisfactory manner ; for this points to Uie very heart of my subject. AVe shall, by-and-by, see the Ame- rican Revolution producing wonderful events ; and therefore w<( must, with the greatest possible care, trace it to its true source ; es- peciftlly as, in all human probability, this nation has yet to receivi from that quarter blows far heavier than it has ever yet had to sus- tain. 3m6 Ths " Protestant Deliverer" had, in the first place, broug W over 1 Dutch Army for the Engli^ nation to support. Next, there wer« the expenses and bloodshed of a dvil war to endure {oc th« sake jf the "deliverance from popery." But these, though they produced suffering enough, were a mere nothing compared to wlurf wa; to follow ; for this was destined to scourge the nation fbr agci and eiges yet to come, and to produce, in the end, effects tli»t Um itiman mind can hardly contemplate With steadiness. Protestant kisfokmation. ais 397 King James had, as we have seen, been received in France. Lotris XIV. treated liim as King of England, Scotland and Ireland. William hated Louis for this ; and England had to pay to- that hat- red. All those who had assisted, in a conspicuous manner, to bring in the " Deliverer," were now embarked in the same boat with him. They were compelled to humour and to yield to him. They, lusto. rians say, wished to give the crown solely to his wife, 'iecause, she being James's daughter, there would have been less o( revolulionia this tiian in giving the crown to ah utter alien. But he flatly toM Ihem, that he " would not hold his power by the apron strings'' tnd, the dispute having continued for some time, he cut the mattei ■hort with them by declaring, that if they did not give him the crown he would go back to Holland, and leave them to their old sovei-ei^i ! This was enough : they gave him the crown without more hesita- tion ; and they found, that they had got not only a " Deliverer, ■* but a master at the same time. 398. The same reasons that induced a submission to this con- duct in the " deliverer," induced the same parties to go cordially ■long with him in his war against France. There was James in France ; a great part of his people were still for him ; if France were at peace with England, the communication could not be cut off. Therefore, war with France was absolutely necessary to the maintenance of William on the throne ; and, if lie were driven from ' die throne, what was to become of those who had obtained /roni At'm, as the price of their services in bringing liim in, immense grants of Crown Lands and various other enormous emolujueiits, none of which they could expect to retain for a day, if Jiunes were restored ? Besides this, there was the danger, and very great dan- ger too, to their own estates and their lives : for, though that which they did was, and is, called a "glorious revolution,"' it would, if James had been restored, have been called by a dot; different name , and that name would not nave been an empty sound ; it would have been applied to very practical purposes ; and, the chances are, that very few of the principal actors would have wlioUy escaped. And there were, moreover, the possessors of the immense property of the Church, founded and endowed by our fathers. The coiifisca/' tion of this was not yet of so ancient a date as to have been /org:o(. ten. Tradition is very long-lived. Many, and many, then alive, knew all the story well. They had heard their grandfathers say, that the Catholic Church kept all tliepoor, that, the people were then better off; and, they felt, the whole of the people /eit, that England had lost by the change. Therefore, in case of the resto ration of James, the possessors of Church property, whether thej were lay or clericf.\ might reasonably have their fears. 399. Thus, all these deeply interested parties, who were also tha most pmeafUl parties in the kingdom, were for a war with Prance, wliicl: ther rightly regarded as absolutely necessary to the keeping no PROTESTANT REFORM A flON. of William on the tlirone, and to the quiet enjoymer. ofihai groal possessions, if not actually to the safety of their lives. This war ought, therefore, to have been called, " a war to preserve Church property, Crown-lands, and other great emoluments, to their pre- sent possessors." But, those who make wars, like those who make confiscations of property belonging to the church and poor, gene- rally know how to give them & good name ; and, accordingly, this was called, and proclaimed, aa a war, " to preserve the PfOUstiait Religion, and to keep out-Popery and slavery." It was a real "n«» 'fiopery" war, and, though attended with the most dreadful conse> quences to the nation, it answered all the purposes of its inventors. The history of this war, as an affair at fighting, is of little conse- qucnce to us. It was, indeed, attended, in this respect, with dis- grace enough ; but, it answered the great object of its inventors. It did not hurt France ; it did not gft rid of James and his son ; but, it made the English people IDENTIFY their old King and his son -wiih the FOREIGN ENEMIES of England ! That was what the inventors of the war wanted ; mi that they completely got. II was in vain that King James proteBted, that he meant no hm-m to Eng' land; it was in vain that be resiinded the people, that he had been compelled to flee to France ; in vain his declarations, that the French only wanted to assist in restoring him to his rights. They saw him ut France; they saw the Frcpch fighting /or him and agoinsi Eng- land: that was quite sufficieit Men do not reason in such a case; ■nd this the inventors of this war knew very well. 400. But, though pas^io i muddles the head, though even honest Seeling may silence the vpisoning faculties, the PUKSE is seldom to be quieted so easily • and, this war, though for " the preserva- tion of the Protestant r'liligion and for keeping out Popery and sla- very," soon began to ^ake some most dreadful tugs at this most sensitive part of firse accoutrements that almost make part emd parcel of the human frame. The expenses of this famous " no-po- pery" war Good God ! wliat lias this kingdom not juffered for '.h'.t 'jorrid and hypocritical cry ! The expen- ses of this fi'/nous " no-popery" war were enormous. The taxa were, of course, in proportion to those expenses ; and the people, who al/e'.dy paid more thanfow times as much as they had paid is the tiros of James, began, not only to mmimer, but to give no very insignificant signs of sorrow for having been " delivered !" Franea was powerful } the French King liberal and zealous ; and the state Bf tilings was ticklish. Force, as far as law, and tlie suspension »j lew, could go, was pretty fairly put in motion ; but a sc'^me was St last, hit upon, to gei Ihe mon ey, and yet not to lug so very hard st that tender part, the purse. 401. An Act of Parliament was passed, in the year 1694, being the 5th yes.- of William and Mary, chap. 20, the title of which Act is isi tlie following words : words that everv man should bear Id PROTESTANT REFORMAT10>. aS! mind ; words fatal to the peace and the happiness of England words which were the precursor of a scourge greater tnan evei before afflicted any part of God's creation. — " An Act for grant- ing to their Majesties several rates and duties upon Tonnage o( sliips and vessels, and upon Bfier, Ale, andother Liguors, for se- eming certain RECOMPENCES and ADVANTAGES in the said Att mentioned, to such persons as shall VOLUNTARILY ADVANCE the sum of fifteen hundred thousand pounds towardi tarrying on the war against France." This Act lays certain du- ties, sufficient to pay the interest of this sum of 1,500,0002. Tlien It points out the manner of subscribing ; the mode of paying the interest, or annuities; and then it provides, that, if so much of the whole sum be subscribed by such a time, the subscribers shall have a charter, under the title of "THE GOVERNOR AND COMPANY OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND"! 402. Thus arose loans, funds, banks, bankers, bank-notes, and a NATIONAL DEBT; things that England had never heard, or dreamed of, before this war for " preserving the Protestant re- ligion as by law established;" things without which she had had 11 long and glorious career of many centuries, and had been the greatest and happiest country in the world ; things which she never would, and never could, have heard of, had it not been for what is tudaciously called the " RErORHiTioi)," seeing that to lend money ci interest ; that is to say, for gain; that ig to say, to receive maneg for the use of money ; seeing that to do this was contrary, and still is contrary to the principles of the Catholic Church i and, amongst Christians, or professors of Christianity, mch alhing was never heard of V<€fc're that which is impudently called the " The Reformation." The Rev. Mr. O'Callaghan, in his excellent little work, which I had the honour to republish last winter, and which ought to be read by every man and especially every young man, in the kingdom, has shown that the ancient philosophers, the Fathers of the Church, both Testaments, the Canons of the Church, the deci- sions of Pope and Councils, all agree, all declare, that to take money for theuse of money is sinful. Indeed no such thing was ever attempted to b; justified, until the Savage Henry VIM had cast off the supremacy of the Pope. Jews did it ; but, then Tews had no civil rights. They existed only by mere suffer- ance. They could be shut up, or banished, or even sold, at the iiing's pleasure. They were regarded as a sort of monsters, ivho professed to be the lineal descendants and to hold the opinions of those who had murdered the Sun of God and Sa- vionn er mew. They were not permitted to practice their blas- phemies openly If thej' Irad synagogues, they were unseen liy the people. The horrid w.etches themselves were compelli.'d, lo keep out of public mew on Simdaj/s, and on Saints' dayi - 19* taa PROTESTANT REFORMATIOS. Ihej were not allowed to pollute with their presence the streeSi or the roads of a Christian country, on days set apart for pab> lie devotion. In degraded wretches like these usury, that if, rectiving money for the use of money, was tolerated, jusl for the same cause that incest is tolerated amongst dogs. 403. How far the base spirit of usury nSay now have crept in iven amongst Catholics themselves I know not,^ noi is it of im- portance as to the matter immediately before me. It is certain, khat, before the " Reformation'' there was no such thing known amongst Christians as reciving money, or profit in any shape, merely for the use of money. It would be easy to show, that mischiefs enormo is are inseparable from such a practice ; but we shall see enough of those mischiefs in the end. Suffice it, for the present, that this national usury, which was now invent- ed for the first time, arose out of the " Relbrmation." 404. This monstrous thing, the usury, or funding system, wai not only a Protestant invention ; not only arose out of the " Reformation ;" not only was established for the express pur- pose of carrying on a war for the prestrvation of this Church of England against the efforts of Popery ; but, the inventor, BUR- NET, was the most indefatigable advocate for the " Reforma- tion' that had ever existed. So that the thing was not only in- vented by Protestants to do injury to Catholics ; it was not only intended by them for this purpose ; it was not only destined, by the wisdom and justice of God to be a scourge, to be the most terrible of all scourges, to the Protestants themselves ; it was not only destined to make, at last, the " Church by law es- tablished" look at the usurers with no very quiet feelings: the thing was not only tlms done and thus destined to operate ; but, the instrument was the fittest the very fittest, that could have been found in the whole world. 405. Burnet, whose first name, as the Scotch call it, was (jiLBERT, was, in the first p.ace, a Political Church Parsow ; next, he a was mosstrously lying niiioRiAN; next, he was a Scotchman ; and, lastly, he received the thanks of Parliament for his " History of the Reformation;" that ia to say, a mass of the most base falsehoods, and misrepre- (entations that ever were put upon paper. So that, the tns/ni- ment was the very fittest that could have been found on earth. This man had, at the accession of James II., gone to Holland, where he became a Secretary to William (afterwards the ' De- Kverer ;") and where he corresponded with, and aided tht " Glorious Revolutionizers" in England ; and, in 1689, ^ha year after the " deliverance," the " deliverer" made him BI- SHOP OF SALISBURY, as a reward for his "glorious revo- Jutjon" services ! . PROTESTANT REFORMAT'.OIV. £23 406. This was the fittest man in the world to invent that which ■\'as destined to be a scourge to England. Thoug'i become a Bishop, he was still a most active politician ; and, when the diffl culty of carrying on the " no-popery" war arose, and when those fears, mentioned in paragraph 400, began to be powerful, thii Bishop of the " too-established Church" it was, who invented, who advised, and who, backed by the " Deliverer," caused to be adopted the scheme of bormving, of morlgngmg the taxes, and of paunuKg the properly and labour of future generations. Pretty "deliverance"! Besides spiring the purses of the people, and. quieting their discontents on account of taxes, this scheme had a further and still more important object in view; namely, tp make all those who had money to lend wish to see the new king- and new dynasty, and all the grants and emoluments of the "gin rioits revolution" folks upheld! That was the permanent objeo of this " no-popery" project. 407. The case was this, and we ought clearly to understanc it,, seeing that here is the true origin of all our present alarms, dangers and miseries. .Barnes II. and his son had been set aside, because they were Catholics: a." glorious revolution" had been made; the great makers of it had immense posseseior.B, which had been public or church possessions. If James were restored, all these would be taken from them, together with all the titles of nobility, all the bishoprics, and in short, every thing granted ■fly the "deliverer." And as the '' deliverer" was liable to die, '•t was necessary to these great possessors and " glorious" ac- tors to take care, if possible, that .Tames, or his son, should not be the successors of the deliverer Acts sf Parliament were pas- sed to provide against this danger: but still, experience had shown that Acts of Parliament H>ere, in some qases, of but little avail, when the great body of the people, feeling acutely, were opposed to them. Therefore, something was wanted to bind great numbers of the people fast to the new dynasty. The cry of " no-popery" had some power ; but it had not power sufiiciet to weigh down that which, in later times, Castlereagh had the msoiencB fi :all, the " ignorant impatience of taxation;" andAr >» iiich impOiience the English were, in former times, always re- markable. 408. The "deliverer," and all those who had brought him in, cgether with all those who had been fattened or elevated by aim, were, as t said before, embarked in the same boat ; but the great body of the people were not yet thus embarked. Indeed, vsry few of them, comparatively, were thus embarked. But, \l all, or, a great part, of those who had money to lend, could, by the temptation of great gain, be induced to lend their money on interest to the Government ; if they could be induced to do this, t was easy to see that all this description of person^ would lAea 224 PROTESTANT REFORMATION. • be embarked in the same boat too ; and that they, who must ne cessarily be a class having great ivfiuence in the community wduld be amongst the most zealous supporters of the " delive rer," and the " glorious" aiders; abettors, and makers of the " re Tolution" which had just taken place. 409. For these purposes, this funding-system was invented. It had the twofold object, of raising money to carry on the " no- popery" war; and, of binding to the "No-popery" Government all those persons who wished to lend money at high interest; and these were, as is always the case, the most greedy, most selfish, least public-spirited, and most base and slavish and unjust pari of the people. The scheme, which was quite worthy of the mind of the Protestant Bishop Burnet, answered its purposes: it en- abled the "denveifer" to carry on the "no-popery" war : it bound fast to the " deliverer" and his bringers-in all the base and sel- fish and greedy and unfeeling part of those who had' money. The scheme succeeded in effecting its immediate objects : but, good God ; what a scourge did it provide for future generations .' What troubles, what shocks, what sufferings it had in store for a people, whose rulers, in an evil hour, resorted to such means "or the purpose of causing to be trampled under foot tliose whose fnly crime was that of adhering to the faith of their fathers! 410. The sum at^rjtiorroioed was a mere trifle. It deceived by its seeming insignificance. But, it was very far from being intended to stop with that trifle. The inventors knew well wliat Ihey were about. Their design was to mortgage, by degrees, the whole of the country, all the lands, all the houses, and all other property, and even all labour, to those who would lend their money to the State. The thing soon began to sujell at a great rate ; and before the end of the " glorious" no-popery war. the fM/ere.!/ alone of the DEBT, the annua} interest, amounleil to l,-310,942i. a-year, which, observe, was a greater sum than the whole of the taxes had yearly amounted to in the reign of the Catholic James II. ! So that here were taxes laid on for ever, mind that : here were, on account of this grand nopopery affair ; merely on account of this "glorious revolution." which was ex- pressly made for the purpose of getting rid ofu Catholic King ; here were additional taxes, laid on for ever, to a greater amouix than the whole of the taxes raised \y that t'atholicKing! Thus does the justice of God work ! The treatment of th« Catholics, at this time, was truly horrible : the main body of the English people either approved of this treatment, or winked at it: thia dcbt-SDneme was invented by a Protestant Bishop for the purpose of utterly extirpating the Catholic religion : and, t'lat religion ■till lives in the kingdom ; nay, there are in the kingdom a great- er number of Catholics than there are persons of any one other religion ; while the scheme, the crafty, the cunning, the deep PROTESTANT REFORMATION. SM M'iieme, has, from its ominous birth, been breeding swarmi ef Jvvr&j Qiialvers, Usurers of every description, feeding and fatten ing on the vitals of tlie country ; till, at last, it has Kroduced what the world never saw before ; starvrilion in Ike miiisl of abundance ' Ves, verily ; this is the picture we now exhibit to the world: the f.awChurch parsons putting up, in all the churches, llianksgiv^ ing for a plenteous liarvesl ; and, the main mass of the labour ing people fed and clad worse than the felons in the gaols ! 411. However, we must not anticipate. We shall, further on, lec something of the probable ultimate effects of this dreadful ichenie. At present, we have to see how it, together with the " glorious revolution," out of which it arose, led to and produced the AtiERicnN Revolution ; or, " Reformation" the fourth, by which two things were accomplished ; riRST, the lopping off of a large and valuable p^'"'. of the dominions of England ; second, the creating of a new meru?j3tile and naval power, capable ofdispuU ing with her that dotninwu "if the sea, which has, for so many ages, been her chief gle-ry, and without possessing which, she inusl become a second-rate power in Europe, These were the thing! which were accomplished by the American Revolution; and, therefore, let us now see what it was that produced that rcvolu- tion ; or, rather, let us see how it grew directly out of the " gl»- rious revolution," ana >t"i " no-popery" wars and debts. 412. Burnet's contri.'ance did very well for present use: it made the nation deaf t<»*\:e voice of all those who foreboded mii- chief from it:' it made aU \wOse who were interested in thefundt advocates for taxation : tlK deep scheme set the rich to live upon the poor, and made the fov mer have no feeling for those who bore the burden of the taxes : in short, it ul.ir'ed the nation into two classes, the tax-payers, a-id the tax-eaters, and these latter had the government at their hacU. The great protection of tho people of £nola"._l always had been, that they could not be taxei without their cnvn con.:''.!. This was always, in Catholic times i'he great principle of the tinglish government; and, it is express ly and most explicitly asserted in Magna Charta, which wai the work of a CalhoUc Archinm'rj, ,,,' "'•nterbury more than o. any body else. But, how was it to be expected, that this grand principle would be maintained, when a large part of the rich people themselves lived upon the taxes? When a man's next loor neighbour received the taxes paid by that man 7 When, b> short, the community was completely divided, one part havin)^ a powerful interest in upholding that which was oppressive and' ruinous to the other part 7 413. Taxes, of course, went on increasing, and the debt went on in the same way. The Protestant interest demanded more wars, and broxight on a couple of civil wan. Taxation marched an with dreadful strides. The people did not like it. Aiihe ''gh- gas PROTESIA.VT REFORMATION. rtous revolution'' i( had been settled and enacted, that thtrt should be a new Pailiiiment called every THREE YEARS al least; and this bad been held forth as one pf the great gnim si the ** glorious revolution." Another " great gaiiV^ was, that no pensioner and noplaceman were to sit in the House of Commons. Tiiesc things were enacted; they were laws of the land; they were held forth to the people as great things, gained by '"Glori BUS." This last act was soon repealed ; and placem-jn and pen sioners have sitten in the House of Commons ever since! Bui Ihe other act, the act securing the people a fresh choice cvr-ry three years, at least ; that was a vital law. That law was. in the n^w state of things, a state of (oa;es and debts; a state of things which demanded new taxes almo'st every year: in such a state of things, frequent and new) parli.iments, new choosings at short intervals, were absolutely necessary to give the people a chance, even so much as a chance, of avoiding oppressive taxation, and oppiession{ indeed, of every sort. It was, in short, the only means of protection that was left to the people. 414. Yet, to uptiohl the new system, it was necessary to de- molislir even this barrier of liberty and property ; and in the yeai 1715, being the first year of the reign of George 1., chap, xxxviii. this law, this vital law, this solemn compact between tlie Protes- tant dynasty and the people, was repeated and for ever abolished and the THREE YEARS were changed for SEVEN ; and that, too, observe, by the very men whom the people had chosen to sit only for THREE YEARS I Yes, men chosen by the people to sit for three years enacted that they would sit for SEVBIN ; that they themselves would sit for seven ; and that those who had chosen them, together with their descendants /or erer, should have no choice at all, unless they v ited for men who might, at the King's nleasure, sit for sevenyeart ' 415. It is useless for us ..o feel indignation and rage. They can do us no good. We shall do well to keep .ourselves cool But, we ought to bear in mind, that this thing, which has scourg f d us so famously, was not done by Catholics; that they had no hand in-it ; nay, that it was not only done under the new Protes- tant dynast}' ; but that this thing also ; this thing, the like of i\'hich the wor\d never had and never has heard of, that this thing also was done from hostility to the religion of ow fathers ! Good God! What has this nation not suffered, and what has it ■ot yet to s-ufier, for this hostility ! There is hardly one great calamity, or disgrace, that has befallen England during the last three hundred years which we do not clearly trace to this fatal source. 416. But this SEPTENNIAL BILL; this measure, which ii perfectly matchless in its nature, and which has led to such dreadful effects ; this is a thins which we must have in its origi PKOTESTANT REFORMATION. lal black and while ; and we must have every word o( it loo ; foi here we liave a complete " no-popery" law ; and of this law we are tasting the effects to the present hour, and we shall taste them fur a long while yet to come. The following are the words, au the words, of this memorahle Act. 417. " Whereas in and by an Act of Parliament made in the sixth year of the reign of their late Majesties King William and Queen Mary (of ever blessed memory) intitulated, An Act foi the frequent meeting and calling of Parliaments : It was among other things enacted, that from thenceforth, no Parliaroent wiiat- soever, that should at any time then after be called, assembled or held, should have any continuance longer than for three years only at the farthest, to be accounted from the day on which by the writ of summons the said Parliament should be appointed to meet: And whereas it has been found by experience, that the said clause hath proved very grievous and burtliensome, by oc. casioning much greater and more continued expenses in ordei to elections of members to serve in Parliament, and more vio- lent and lasting heats and animosities among the subjects of this realm than were ever known before the said clause was enact- ed ; and the said provision, if it should continue, may probably at this juncture, WHEN A RESTLESS AND POPISH FAC TION ARE DESIGNING and endeavouring to renew the rebel- lion within this kingdom, and an invasion from abroad be des- tructive to the peace and security of the government." "Be il enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same. That this present Parliament, and all Parliaments that shall at any time hereafter be called, assembled or held, shall and may respectively have continuance for seven years, and no longer, to be accounted from the day on which by the writ ot summons this present Parliament hath been, or any future Par liament shall be appointed to meet, unless this present or any such Parliament hereafter to be summoned, shall be sooner dis- solved by his Majesty, his heirs, or successors." 418. So, here it is again ! The " restless Popish faction" was at work .' So that the rights, the most precious rights of the tfhole of the people, were to be taken away merely on account of the designs and wishes of a "Popish faction"! What harm «»H d a mere " faction" do at an election ? The truth is, thest preteiir.es were false ; the people, the great body of the people, smarting under the lash of enormous taxation, became disaffect- ed towards the new order of things ; they were strongly dis-pos- ed to revert to their former state ; it was suspected, and, indeed, pretty well known, that they would, at the next election, liav» chosiin, almost every where, members having the samt- sent* IS3 PH0TE3TANT REFORMATION. ineiils ; and, tberefore, it was resolveil, fli.it they should not h&rf , the power of doinsf it. Ho^vever, the deed was done; we haT« felt the effects of it from that day to tiiis; and we have now to rtoembcr, that even this terrible curtailment of English libeitvwe owe to the hostility to the religion of our fathers ; that religion, dur ing thedominanceof which, there was always a new House of Coin' mons every time the Parliament was as'semhled; that religion, along with which were bound up the people's civil and political rights ; Jia'. religion, the followers of which, while it was predominant, ne- :et heard of Parliaments for seven years or for three years or ever. Tur one year; but who, as often as they saw a Parliament called. saiv a Commons' House chosen for lllat one session, and for no more. 419. After the passing of the Septennial Act, the people would of course, lose nearly all the control that they had ever had with regard to the laying of taxes and to the expending of the publie money. Accordingly taxes went on increasing prodigiously. The EXCISE-SYSTEM, which had had a little beginning in former Protestant reigns, and the very name of which had never been heard of in Catholic times, now assumed somewhat its present form f and the "castles" of Englishmen became thenceforth things to be visits ed by excisemen. Things went on in tJiis way, until the reign of George III., when, by the means of " no-popery" wars, and other measures for "preserving the Protestant Religion as bytaw estab- lished," the debt from 1,500,000J. had swelled up to 146,682,844i. The yearly interest of it had swelled up to 4,840,8212., which was ahout/oin' times as much as the wlwle annual amount of the taxes in the reign of the Popish James II, ! And the whole of the yearly taxes had swelled up to 8,744,6822. That is to say, about eight limes as much as James had raised yearly on this same " no-popei-y''' \)eople ! 420. Now, though men will do much in the way of talk against " Popery,'' or against many other things ; they are less zealous and active, when it comes to money. The nation most sensibly felt the weight of these burdens ; and the burdens received no alleviation from tlie circumstance of their being most righteously merited. The people looked back with aching hearts to former happy days , and the nobility and gentry began to perceive, with shame and fear, ihal, already, their estates were beginning to pass quietly from them (as Swift had told them they would) into tije hands of the Jews, Quakers, and other money-changers, created by the " no-popery" » ar, and by the scheme of the Scotchman, Buknet. But, it was now too late to look back: and yet, to look forward to this certain, ind not very slow ruin, was dreadful, and especially to men of an ■ client fam'lT and by no means destitute of pride. Fain would they even at that time, have applied a sponge to the score brought against Ihcm by BtiRNET's tribes. But this desire was effectually coun PROTESTANT REFOKMATJON aS» ieracted by the same motive which led to tlie creation of the debt j the necessity of embarking, and of keeping embarked, great masse* of the money-owners in the same boat with the Government, 421. In this dilemma, namely, the danger of touching the into, rest of the debt, and the danger of continuing to pay that interest, a new scheme was resorted to, which, it was hoped, would obTiate both these dangers. It was, to tax the ,3merican colmiiea, and to throw a part, first, and perhaps, the whole, in the end, of the no- jiopery" debt, upon ttieir shoulders ! Now, tiien, came ' Reforma- tion' the fourth, having for cause, the measures necessary to effect the ' glorious revolution,' taking the principles and the numner of that revolution as its example in these "^ respects, beginning with a " CONVENTION," assembled without authority of king, parlia- ment, or people ; proceeding with CHARGES against the king, with making it HIGH TREASON TO ADHERE TO HIM ; and ending with setting aside liis authority, and extinguishing his rights and those of his family FOR EVER ! Aye, but besides all this, bringing the first dawn of relief to the long-suffering Catholics of England, Scotland, and Ireland ! What it was that these, our coun- trymen, had to suffer for the crime of adhering to the religion of their and our father^ I shall leave all that remains is, to follow h t.\oag tKc r-jh it French Revolution, and unto the present day. "^bU <« what I propose to do in the present Number. In the next Number 1 shall br-- loder one view my proofs of this proposition ; namely, tnar, oefore the event called the " Refor- mation," Kngland was more powerful and more wealth]/, and that the people were mart free, more moral, better fed and better clad, than at any time since that event. And, when 1 have done that, I shall, in the concluding Number, give a List of all ab- bies, priories, and other parcels of property, which, according to Magna Charta, belonged to the. Church xnd the poor, and which were seized on by the Reformation-people. I shall range these under the heads of Counties, and shall give the names of he parties, to whom they were granted by the confiscators. 429. The American Revolution, which, as we have seen, grew ireclly out of those measures which had been adopted in Eng- land to crush the Catholics and to extinguish their religion foi ever, did, at its very outset, produce good (o those same Catholia, by inducing the English government to soften, for the sake oi its own safety, that PENAL CODE, by which they had so long been scourged. But, now, before we speak of the immediate cause, and of the manner and degree of this softening, we musi have a sketch of this HORRIBLE CODE; this monster in le. gislvtion, surpassing, in violation of the dictates of humanitj PKOTESTAMT HEFOKMATION. 233 and justice, any thing else that the world has ever seen existing - under the name of law, 430. We have seen how cruelly the l^atholics were treated nader " goo i Queen Bess" and James I. ; we have seen how they were fineu, mulcted, robbed, pillaged, and punished in body ; but, though the penal code against them was then such as to make every just man shudder with horror, we think it then, gca lleness, when we look at its subsequent ferocily. Via have seen, how Catholics were fined, harrassed, hunted, n)bbed, pillaged, ic the reign of" good Bess." We have seen the same in the reigB uf her immediate successor, with this addition, that Englishmen were then handed over to be pillaged by Scotchmen. We have seen, that Charles 1., for whom they afterwards fought against Cromwell, treated them as cruelly as the two former We have seen Charles II. most ungratefully abandon them to the perse- cutions of the church by taio established ; and, during this reign we have seen that the Protestants had the baseness, and the king , the meanness, to suffer the lying ivscription to be put on the mo* JTUMENT on Fish-street Hill, in the city of London, though Lord Clarendon (whose name the law-church holds in so much ho- nour), in that work which the University of Oxford publishes at the " Clarendofi Press," expressly says (p. 348, continuation) that a Committee of the House of Commons, " who were very diligent and solicileus to make, the discovery, never were able to iVnd any probable evidence, that there was any other cause of that woful fire than the displeasure of Almighty God." What infamy, then, to charge the Catholics with it; what an infamy to put the lying inscription on the pillar; what an act of justice, in James II., to efface it ; what a shame to William to suffer it to bi' restored ; and what is it to us, then, who now suffer it to remain, vithout petitioning for its erasure ! 431. But, it was after James II. was set aside that the PE- NAL CODE grew really horrible. And here it is of the great- est consequence to the cause of truth, that we trace this code to its real authors; namely, the Clergy of the Established Church. This is evident enough throughout the whole of this Church's history but, until the reign of James II., the sovereign wasoj the Church religion ; so that the persecutions appeared to come from him, or her. But now, when the King was for softening file penal code; tchenthe King was for toleration; now the world iaw who were the real persecutors ; and this is a matter to be ful- ly explained and understood, before we come to a more mii^uts account of the code, and to the causes which finally led toiti in great part, abolition. 432. James II. wished to put an end to the penal code; ht wished (or general toleratioT}; he issued a proclamation, suspend ing all penal laws relating to religion, and ORANl'lMG A GE 20* 234 PROTESTANT REFORMATION. ■ NERAL LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE TO ALL HIS SUB. JECTS. This was his OFFENCE. For this, he and his faini- jy were SET ASIDE FOR EVER! No man can deny this. The clergy of the Church set themselves against him. Six of the bishops [ireseiited to him an insolent petition against the exeiciss of this his prerogative^ enjoyed arid exercised by all his jiredecea- tors. They led the vvay in that opposition which procluced the "glorious revolution," and they were the most active and the nioel bitter of ail the foes of that unfortu;iate king, whose only TCaZ ot (fence was his wisiiing to give liberty of conscience to all his subjects^ and, by showing respect to whose mortal reinains (displaced by th« French revolutionists) our piesent Kuig has done himself very great honour. 433. Now, we are going to see a sketch of this terrible code It must be a mere sketch ; two hundred Numbers like this would not contain the uhole of it. It went on increasing in bulk .and ill cruelty, from liie coronation of Elizabeth, till nearly twenty years after- tliat o(" George ill., till events came, as we shall see, and broke il up. It consisted, at last, of more llinn a hundred Acts of rarlianienl, all made for the express purpose of punish ivg men, because, and only because, they continued faithfully to adhere to the religion, in which our, as well as their fathers had fived and died, during a period of nine hundred years! 'I'he code differed, in some respects; in its application with regard to England and 1 1 eland respectively. 434. IN ENGLAND this code,!., stripped the peers of thdr hereditary right to sit in Parliament; II , It stripped gentlemen of their right to be chosen Members of the Commons' liouic ; HI., It took from all, the right to vote at elections, and, thougli Magna Charta says, that no man shall be taxed without his own consent, it double-taxed every man who refused to abjure his re- \ig'-n, and th.us become an apostate : IV., It shut them out from all offices of power and trust, even the most insignificant; V., Il if ik from tliem the right of presenting to livings in the Church, tiiough that right was given to Quakers and Jews: V(. It fined them at the rate of 20/. a month for keeping away from thai Church, to go to which they deemed apostacy ; VII., It disabled them from U^eeping arms In their houses for their defence, from maintaining suits at law, from being guardians or executors, frori practisJHg in law or physic, from travelling five miles from Iheii houses, and all these under heavy penalties in case of dis- obedience : VIII., If a married woman kept away from Church, Blie forfeited two-thirds of herdov.'cr, she could not be executrix u> her husband, and might, during her husband's life-time, be imprisoned, unless ransomed by him at 10/. a mjnth;' IX., 1 enabled any jour justices of the peace, in case a man had been convicted ol not going to church, to call him before them, t< PROTESTANT hEFORMATlON. 839 compel him to abjure hit religion, or, if lie refused, (o sentence him lo banishment for h/e(withoi)t judge or jury )> and, if he re- lumed, hp was lo suffer death ; X., It enabled njiy two justices ol the peace to call before them, without anv ii.foraiaiion, any man that they chose, above sixteen years of age, and if such man re fused to abjure the Catholic religion, and continued in his refu sal for six months, he was rendered incapable of possessing land, and any land, the possession of which might belong to him, came nto the possession of the next Protestant heir, who was not bliged to account for any profits ; XI., It made such man inca- pable of purchasing lands, and all contracts made by him, or for him, were null and void; XII., It imposed a fine of 102. a month for employing a Catholic schoolmaster in a private fa- mily, and 21. a day on the S'?hoolmaster so employed; XIII., It Imposed 100/. fine for sending a child to a Catholic foreign school, and the child so sent was disabled from ever inheriting, purchasing, or enjoying lands, or profits, goods, debts, legacies, or sums of money ; XIV., It punished the saying of mass by a fine of 120/., and the hearing of mass with a fine of 60/ ; XV., Any Catholic priest, who returned from, beyond the seas, and wh» did not abjure his religion in three days afterwards, and also any person who returned to the Catholic faith, or procured ano- ther lo return to it, this merciless, this sanguinary code, punish fd witli hanging, ripping out of bowels, and quarterhig! 435. In IRELAND the code was still more ferocious, more hideously bloody ; for, in the first place, all the cruelties of the lilnglish code had, as the work of a few hours, a few strokes oi the pen, in one sinsfle act, been iufiicted on unhappy Ireland; and, then, IN ADDITION, the Irish code contained, amongst many other violations of all thekiws of justice and humanity, the following twenty most savas^e punishments. — 1. A Catholic schoolmaster, private or public, or even usher to a Protes- tant, was punished with imprisonment, banishment, and final- ly as a felon. — II. The Catholic clergy were not allowed to be in the country, without being registered, and kept as a sort cf prisoners a< large, and rewards were given (out of the reve- nue raised in part on the Catholics) for discovering them, 50/. for an archbishop, or bishop, 20/. for a priest, and 10/. for a schoolmaster or usher. — 111. Any two justices oH\ie peace niighl call before them any Catholic, order him to declare, en oath where and when he heard mass, who were present, and the name and residence of any priest or schoolmaster that he might know of; and, if he refused to obey this inhuman inquisition, they had power to condemn liim (without judge or jury) to a yearns im- orisnnment in a felon's gaol, or to pay 20/, — IV. No Catholit could purchase any manors, nor even hold under a lease foi .•n"re than thirlv-one years — V. Any Piotestant, if he suspect 883 PROlEfi.ANT REFORMATION. ed any one of holding property in trust for a Catholic, or ol be in^ corw;erned in any salfi, lease, mortgage, or other contraci, for a Catholic ; any Protestant, thus suspecting, niight^^/e a biU against the suspected trustee, and take the estate, or property, from him. — VI, Any Protestant, seeing a Catliolic tenant of a -farm, the produce of which farm exceeded tiie amount of the rent by more than one-third, mtgiit dispossess the Catholic, and tnteron Ike lease.in hisslead. — Vll. Any Protestant seeing a Ca- tliolic with a horse worth more than Jive pounds, miglit take the horse away from him vfon tendering him Jive pounds.-r-V\l\. In order to prevent the smallest chance of justice in these and si- milar cases, none but Icnown Protestants were to be jurymen in the trial of any such cases. — IX. Hor»es of Catholics might be Ecized for the use of the militia ; and, besides this, Catholics were compelled to pay double towards the militia. — X. Merchants, wiiosc ships and goods might be taken uy privateers, during a war with a Catholic Prince, were to be compensated for their losses by a levy on the goods and lands of Catliohcs only, though', mnul. Catholics were, at tlie same time, impressed, and compel- led to shed their blood in the war against that Sc:nie Catholic Prince. — XI. Property of a Protestant, whose heirs at law were Catholics, was to go to the nearest Protestant relation, just the same as if the Catholic heirs had been dead, though the proper- ty might be entailed on them, — XII. If there were no Protestant heir; then, in order to breali up all Catholic families, the entail and all Ijeirsliip were set aside, and the property was divided, share and share alike, amongst all the Catholic lieirs. — Xlll. H a, Protestant had an estate in Ireland, he was forbidden to mar- ry a Catholic, in, or out, of Ireland. ^XIV. All marriages be- twren Protestants and Catholics were annulled though many children might have proceeded from them. — XV. Every priest, ■.v'ho celebrated a marriage between a Catholic and a Protestant, or between two Protestants, was condemned to be handed. — XVI, A Catholic father could not be guardian to, or have the custody of, his own child, if the child, however young, pretended to be a Protestant ; but the child was taken from its own father and put into the custody of a Protestant relation. — XVII. If any child of a Catholic became a Protestant, the parent was to be instantly summoned, and to be made to def lare, upon oath, the full value J ' his or her property of all sorts, arid then the Chancery was to jt.Bke such distribution of the prop'rly as it thought Jit. — XVIII. " Wives be obedient unto your own husbands," gays the great Apostle. "Wives be disobedient to them," said this horrid code; for, if the wife of a Catholic chose to turn Protestant, it set aside the will of the husband, and made her a participator in all his poi- fieisious, in spite of him, however immoral, however bad a wifCj »r bad a mother she migijt have been. — XIX. ' Honour thy fa PROTESTANT REFORMATION. 337 MUr and thy mother, that lliy days may be long in ihe land which like Lord, thy God, giveth thee." " Dislionuur them," said thii (rong in argument, would sh' have found it necessary to offer, in di- rect and barefaced wo'ds, a. specific sum of money to any one who would join her ; an i that too, when the pensioned convert must, as she well Urirw, xrcak his tolemn row, in order to be en 238 PROTESTANT REFORUATION. tilled to the pay ' And as to intcrmarriaget, why not roffes Ihero, why punish tlieiii ^u severely, whj Kiiiiul tlieiii if the Law- Chdrch were sure that the arguments in her favour were the most iogent and convincing ? Who has so much power over tlie mind of woman as her husband ? Who over man, as his *lfe? Would jne persuiide the other to o change of religion 7 Very likely. One would convert the other in nineteen cases ou of twenty. That passion which had subdued rdigious prejudices, would, in «lmost every case, make both the parties of the same religion. But, what had the Law-Church to object to this, if she were sure thai hers was the truefailh; if she were rare that the argument fur her were tnore cltar than those for her opponent ; if she were tare that every one who really loved another, who was beloved by that other, and who belonged to her communion, would easily nersuade that other to join in that communion? What, in short, had she. ifquile sure of all this, to fear from intermarriages? And, if NOT QUITE SURE of all this, what, 1 ask you, sensible and just Englishmen, what had she to plead in justification of the inhuman penal code? 4S8. Tn\k ottbe "Jires in SmithfiM"! Fires,iiideed which had no justification, and which all Catholics severely condemn but what, good God ! was the death of about two hundred and seventv-seven persons, however cru'il and unmerited that death, to the torments above described, Inflicted, for more than two hundred years, on millions upon millions of people, to say no- thin"- about the thousands upon thousands of Catholics, who were, during that period, racked to death, killed in prison, hang, cd, bowelled, and quartered ! Besides, let it never be forgotten, that the punishments in Smithfield were for the purpose of re- claiming; for the purpose of making examples of a few, who let at nought the religion of their fathers, and that in which they themselves had been born. And, if these punishments wore un. just and ccuel, as all men agree that they were, what shall we sav of, how shall we express sufficient abhorrence of, the above penal code, which was for the punishment, not of a few, but of millions of people; or tiie punishment, not of tliose who had apostatised from the religiou of their fathers, but of those who, to their utter worldly ruin, adhered to that religion 1 If we find no justification, and none, we all say there was, for the punish men's of Mary's reign, inflicted, as all men know they were, on very few persons, and those person* not only apostates from th« faitl. of tieir fathers, tut also, for the most part, cither notori ou5 traitors, or felons, and, at the very least, conspirators against' or most audacious insullers of, tlie royal auth'orky and the per- son of the Queen ; if we find no justification, and we all agree thai there was none, for iJiese punishments, inflicted, as all men know Ihcy were, during a few months of Oirioiis and unreflecting zcai, PROTESTANT REFORMATION 28S jiMt after the quelling of a dangerous rebellion, which had clearly proved that apostate and conspirator were one and the game, and had led to the hasty conclusion, that the apostacy must be extirpated, or that it would destroy the throne, if we find, even under such circumstfinces, no justification for these punish- ments, wh?re are we to look for, not a justification, but for a ffround of qualification of our abhorrence of the above-mention cd barbarities of more Ikan two hundred years, indicted on mil linns upon millions of people ; barbarities premeditated in th« absence of all provocation ; contrived and adopted In all the cnlmness of legislative deliberation ; executed in cold blood, and persevered in for ages in defiance of the admonitions of con science; barbarities inflicted, not on apostates, but on those who refused to apostatize; not on felons, conspirators, and rebels, but on innocent persons, on those who had, under all &nd every circumstance, even while feeling the cruel lash of persecution, been as faithful to their king as to their God ; and, as if we were never to come to the end of the atrocity, all tfiis done, too, with regard to Ireland, in flagrant breach of a solemn treaty uiith the English king ! . 439. And, is this the "tolerant, the mil^ the meek Church at by law established" ? Have we here the proofs of Protestan faith and good works ? Was it thus that St. Austin and St. Pa- trick introduced, and that St. Swithin and Alfred and Willintn of Wickham, Inculcated, the religion of Christ ? Was it out o works like tliese, that the cathedrals and the palaces and the universities, and the laws and the courts of justice arose ? What i punish men lor retaining the faith of their fathers; inflict all sorts of insults and cruelties on them for not having become apostates ; put them, because they were Catholics, out of the pro- ■eclion of all the laws that their and our Catholic ancestors had framed for the security of their children; call their religion " idolatrous and damnable," treat them as obstinate idolaters, while yo ir Church-Calendar contains none but saints of that ve ry religion; boast of your venerable institutions, all of Catholic origin, while you insult, pillage, scourge, hunt from the face of the earth, the true and faithful adherents to the faith of the au- ihors of those institutions? "Aye," the perse/^utors seem to !ii!ve answered, " ami hunt them tee will." But why, then, if religion be your motive; if yourbarbaritiesarise from a desire to 'ontert men from error, why be so lenient to Quakers and Jeips ; ■shy not only not punish, but sufler them even to appoint parseni to yow^ churchfts ? Ah ! my friends, the LfflttJ-Church had taken no tithes and lands, and others had taken no abbies and the like, from Quakers anJ Jews ! Here was the real foundation of the whole of that insati.-ible rancour, which went on from 1558 to 1778, producing, to millions of innocent people, torment tidiieJ MO PROTESTANT REFORMATION. to torment, and which, at the end of that long period, aeemed to have resolved to be satisfied with nothing short of the total extermination of its victims. 440. But, now, all of a sudden, in 1778, Ike face ofthingi be- gan to change ; the Church, as by law established, was, all al once, thought capa'ble of existing in salety, with a great relaxa- tion of the penal code ! And, without even asking it, the Catho- ics found the code suddenly softened, by divers Acts of Parlia- ment, in both countries, and especially in Ireland! Thh humor nity and generosity will surprise us ; we shall wonder whence it came ; we shall be ready to believe the Souls of the parties to have been softened by a sort of miracle, until we look back to paragraphs 424 and 425. There we see the real cause of this sur- prising humanity and generosity ; there we see the American! unfurling the standard of independence, and, having been backed by France, pushing on towards success, and, thereby, setting on txamplc to every oppressed people, in every part of the world, nnhappy, trodden down Ireland, not excepted ! There was, too, before the end of the war, dariger of invasion on the part of France, who was soon joined in the war by Spain and Holland ; so that, before the cloA of the contest, the Catholics had obtain ed leave to breathe the air of their native country in safety ; and, though, as an Englishman, I deeply lament, that this cost Eng- land her right arm, I most cordially rejoice in- contemplating the event. Thus was fear gratified^ in a moment, at the very first demand, with a surrender of that, which had, for age>, been refused to the incessant pleadings of justice and humanity ( and thus tlie Ainerican revolution, which, as we have seen, grew immediately out of the " no-popery" or " glorious," revolution in England, which latter was, as we have clearly seen, made for the express purpose of extinguishing the Catholic religion for ever: thus was this very event the cause of the beginning of a cessation of the horrible persecutions of those who had, with fide- li!y wholly without a parallel, adhered to that religion ! 441. This great event was soon followed by another sHWgreo/- ?r : namely, the French Revolution, or "Reformation" the F'lTii. Humiliation greater than (he English government had to endure, in the above event, it is difficult to conceive ; but the French Revolution taught the world what " Heformations*^ can do, when puslied to their full and natural extent. In England the ' Reformation" contented itself with plundering the con- rents and the poor of their all, and the secular clergy in part. But, in France, they took the whole : though we ought to marjt well this difference : that, in France, they applied this whole (• the rtse of the public : a bad use, perhaps ; but, to public use they applied the whole of the plunder; while, in England, the pluiv der was scrambled for, and remained divided amongst indivi iuala' PROTKSTANT hliFORMATION. M 442. Well ; but, here was a gicat triumph for the clergy of tha "church as by law established"? They, above all men. must have hailed with delight the deeds of the French " Reformation" I No; but, on the contrary, were amongst the foremost in callinjj for tt'or to put down that •' Reformation" ! What ! Not like thij "Reformation"! Why, here were convents broken ip, and monks and nuns dispersed ; here were abbey-lands confiscated ; here was the Catholic religion aboli-shcd; here were Catholi; priests hunted about and put to death m almost as savage a man ner as those of England had been; here were laws, seeniinglj translated from our own co'le, against saying or hearing mass and against priests returnipg into the kingdom ; here wa? a com • ,;lete annihilation (as far as legislative provisions conW gQ) oi that which our church clergy called "idolatrous and damnit- ble"; here was a new religion " established by law"; and, lliat no feature might be defective in the likeness, here was a royal family set aside by law for ever, by what they called a " glori- ous revolution"; and there would have been an abdicating king, but he was, by mere accident, stopped in his flight, brought back, and put to death, not, however, without an example ti plead in the deeds cf tiie English double-distilled Frotestanl "Reformation" people. 443. What ! Can it be true that our church-clergy did not likt this French " Reformalion"? And that they urged on wai against the men, who had sacked convents, killed priests, and abolished that which was " idolatrous and damnabW'f 'Can i< be true, that they who rose against King James because he wan eo to gice Callwlics liberty of conscience ; that they who upheU the horrid penal tode, in order to put down the Catholic religiot in England and Ireland ; can it be true, that they wanted war to put down Uie men, who had put down that religion in Francel Aye, aye' But these men had put down all TITHES too! Aye and all bishoprics, and deaneries, and prebendaiies and all /m benefices and pluralities'. A-'d, if they were permitted to do this with impunity, OTHERS might be tempted to do the sanw; ' Well, but, gentlemen of the tewchurch, though ihey were wick ed fellows for doing this, still this was better than to suffer to re main that which you always told us was " idolatrous and dam nabte." "Yes, yes; but, then, these men established, by lane ATHEISM, and not Church-of-England Christianity." tioyt in the first place, they saw about forty sorts of Protestant reli f ion ; they knew that thirty-nine of them must be false : thej. nad seen our rulers rnake a church by law, just such an one at they pleased; they had seen them alter it by law i and, ifthcr* were no standard of faith : no generally acknowledged authority : if English law-makers were to change the sort- of religion at then tasure ; why, pray, were not French law-makers to do th4 S4I PROTESTANT REFORM ATIOIN fame'/ If English law-inakers could [zkeiUe spirilual iuprema r,y from the successor of Saint Peler, ami give it to Ht.vnY THi WIFE-KILI.EK, why might not the'French give theirs to Lepeao ( Besides, as to the sort of religion, though Athcisjm is bad enough, could it be WORSE than what j'ou tell us is '' idotnlro'us and damnable"? It might cause people to be damned ; but could i( cause them to be more Hum damned? Alas, there remains only the abolition of the TITHES and of the FAT CLERICAL POSTS a! a valid objection, on your fart, aga'nst " Reforma- tion' the FIFTH ; and, I beg the nation to remember, that Ihl trar agaiml it has left us to pay, /or ever, the inierest of a debt, created by that war, of seven hundred millions of pounds sterling u ^ar which we never should have seen, if we ha-d never seei' that which is called a *' Reformation." 444. The p'rench Revolution, though it caused numerous hor rid deeds to be committed, produced, in its progress, and in \{a end, a great triumph for the Catholics. It put the fidelity of the Catholic priests and the Protestant pastors to the lesl ; and, while not one of the former was ever seen to save his life by giving up his faith, all the latter did it without hesitation. Itsliowed, at last, the people of a great kingdom returning to the Catholic worship by choice; when they might have been, atid may now be, Protestants, without the loss of any one rl^ht, immunity; o advantage, civil or military. But the greatest good that it produced fell to the lot of ill-treated Ireland. The revolutionists were powerful, they were daring, they, in 17&.3, cast their eyes en Ireland; and now, for the second time, a. softening oflhepe- nalcnde took place, making a change which no man living ever expecteff to see ! Those who had been contidered as almost be- neath dogs, were now made capable of being MAGISTRATES; aifTi now, amongst many other acts of generosity, we saw estab- lished, at the public expense, a COLLEGE/or the education 0/ Catholics exclusively, thus doing, ly law, that which the law- givers had before made HIGH TREASONJ Ah! but, there were the French with ar army of fonr hundred tho'sand men; and there were the Irish people, who must have becii something more, or less, than men, if their breasts did not boil with resent inent. Alas ! that it should be said of England, that the Irisk have E5Ter appealed with success but to her fears! . 445, And, shall this always be said? Shall it ever be said again? Shall we not now, by sweeping away for ever every vestige of this once horrible and still oppressive code, reconcile ourselves to our long ill-treated brethren and to our own con- sciences 1 The code is still a penal code": it is still a just ground of complaint: it has still disqualifications that are greatly inju- rious, and distinctions that are odious and insulting. I It still iht tg Catholic peers out of tb-isp seats, in the Ho ise o' Lords. PROTESTANT REFORMATION. 841 •rr.H.h are th jir hereditary right, and Catholic gentlemen out ol the House of Commons. 11. Then, as if caprice were resolved not to be behind hand with injustice, this code, which allows Ca- holic freeholders, in Ireland, to vote at electiom, for members of the parliament of the now "united kingdom," refnses that rig^ht to all Catholics in England . Ill, It excludes Catholics from all coporations. IV. It excludes them from all office! under Iht government, in England, but admits them to inferior offices in Ireland. V. It takes from them the right of presenting to any ecclesiastical benefice, though Quakers and Jews are allowed to enjoy that right! VI. It prevents them from endowing any school, or college, for educating children in the Catholic reli- gion; and this, too, while there is now, bg law established, a col- lege, for this very purpose, supported out of the taxes ! Here ii consistency, and here is, above all things, sincerity ! _What, maintain, out of the taxes, a college to teacn exclusively, that re- ligion, which you call " idolatrous and damnabW! VII. This code still forbids Catholic priests to appear in their canonical habiliments, except in'their chapels or in private houses; and it forbids the Catholic rites to be performed in any building which has a steeple or bells ! What '. forbid the use of steeples and belli to that religion which created all the steeples and all the bells ; that Built and endowed all the churches, all the magnificent ca- thedrals, and both the universities ! And why this insulting, this galling prohibition ? Why so sedulous to keep the symbols of this worship out of the sight of the people 1 Why, gentle law- church, if your features be so lovely as you say they are, and i( those of your rival present, as you say they do, a mass of disgust- wg deformity ; why, if this be the case, are you, who are the most (,c^tle, amiable, and beantifu'l church that law ever created; why, I say, are you so anxious to keep your rival out of sight t Nay, and out of hearing loo! What ! gentle and all-persuasive and only true iaw-church, whose parsons and bishops are such able preachers, and mostly married men into the bargain, what are you afraid of from the steeples and bells if used by Catholics ? One would think, that the more people went to witness the " ido- latrous" exhibitions, the better you would like it. Alas ! gentle and lovely faw-church, there are not now in the kingdom, many Beu, so brutishly ignorant as not to see the real motives for thia uncommonly decent prohibition. VIII. It forbids a Catholic priest in Ireland to be guardian to any child. IX. It forbids Ca- tholic laymen in Ireland, to act in the capacity of guardian tz the childi'en or child of any Protestant. X. It forbids every Ofc- '\olic in Ireland to have arms in his house, unless he have a freehold of ten pounds a year, or 300/. in personal p -operty, \l. It disables Irish Catholics from voting at vestries r i que^ lioni relating to the repair of the church, thoa^li they a ' com iU PROTESTANT REFORM VTION. pelled to pay for those repairs. XII. Lastly, in Ireland, this cod* itill inflicts death, or at least, a 5002. penally, on the Catholic priest, vvlio celebrates a marriage between two Protestants, or between a Protestant and a Catholic. Some ef the judges have decided, that It IS death; others, that it is the pecuniary penalty. Death, oi money, hoivever, the public papers have recently announced to lis, that such a marriage has now been openly celebrated in Dullin, between the present Lord Lieutcmakt of Ireland (who must Be a Protestant) and a Catholic Lady of the late lebeihoua American States! So tliat, all put together, Dublin exhibits at this moment, a tolerably curious scene : a College established by law for the teaching of that religion, which our Church regards as " idolatrous and damnable," and to be guilty of teaching whichvi^s, only a few years ago, high treason ! A Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who niHst belong to our Church, and who must have taken an oath protesting against the Catholic supremacy, taking to his arms a Ca< tholic wife, who must adliere to that supremacy ! Then comes a Catholic priest, marrying this pair, in the face of two unrepealed laws, one of which condemns him to death for the act, and the other of which condemns him to pay a fitie of five hutidred pounds ! And, lastly, comes, as the public prints tells us, a complimentary letter, on the occasion, to the bridegroom, on the part, and in the hand- Writing, of the King! 446, Well, then, is this code, is any fragment of it, longer to continue .' Is it to continue now, when all idea of convention (• Protestantism is avowedly abandoned, and when it is notorious that the Catholic faith has, in spite of ages of persecution, done more than maintain its ground ? Are peers still to be cut off froi^ their iiereditary rights and honours ; are gentlemen to be s'-.rf out of the Commons' House ; are lawyers to be stopped in their way to the bench: are freeholders and free-men to be deprived of their fran- chises ; are the whole to lie under a stigma, which it is rot in human nature should fail to fill them with resentment ; and all this, because they adhere to the religion of their and our fathers, and a religion, too, to educate youth in which, exclusively, there is now a college supported out of the taxes ? Is all this great body of men, forming one- third part of the whole of the people of this kingdom, containing men of all ranks, from the peer to the labourer, to continue to be tlius insulted, thus injured, tlius constantly irritated, constantly impelled to wish for distress, danger, defeat, and disgrace to their native country, as affording the only chance of their obtaining jus. jce ? And are we, merely to gratify the Laic-Church, by uphold- mg her predominance, still to support, in peace, a numerous and most expensive army ; still to be exposed, in war, to the danger ol seeing concession come too late, and to all those consequences, ths ■•ture and extent of which it makes one shudder to think of ? 447. Here, then, we lie, at the end of three hundred year PROTESTANT REKORMATIOJN. 946 Drom the day when Henry VIII. began the work of " ItcCorma* tion" : here we are, after passing through scenes of plunder and of blood, such as the world never beheld before : here we are, with these awful questions still before us ; and here we are, too, wiUi forii/ sorts of Protestant religion, instead of the one /oU, in which our foreOithers lived for nine hundred years ; here we are, divided and split up into sects, each condemning all the rest to eterna. flames ; here we are, a motley herd of Church people, Methodists, Calvanists, Quakers, and Jews, chopping and changing with every irind ; while the faith of St. Austin and St. Patrick still remains what it was when it inspired the heart and sanctified the throne of Alfred. 448. Such, as far as religion is concerned, have been the effects of what is called the " Reformation" ; what its effects have been in other respects ; how it has enfeebled and impoverished the na- tion ; how it has corrupted and debased the people ; and how it has brought barracks, taxing-houses, poor-houses, mad-houses, (od jails, to supply the place of convents, hospitals, guilds, and alms-houses, we shall see in the next number ; and tlien we shall have before us the whole of the consequences of this great, memo- nble, and fatal event LETTER XVI. rOKMER POPUlATIOl' OP ENGLANE AND IRELAND. FORUER WEALTH. — FORMEil POWER. — FORMER FREEDOM. — FORMEB PLENTY, EASE, AND HAPPINESS. JKentington, SUl March, 1626 Mr Ft iends, 443. This Letter is to conclude my task, which task was to Biake good this assertion, that the event called the " Reformation" had impaeerished and degraded the main body of the people ol England and Ireland. In paragraph 4, I-toldyou, that.a fair an* honest inquiry would teach us, that the word " Reformation" had, ^ 21* M« PROTESTANf REFORM AfiOS. ill this case been misapplied ; that there was a change, but a cbaiift greatly /or (Ae worae; that the thing, called the Reformation, wai engendered in beastly lust, brought forth in hypocrisy and perfidy, and cherished and fed by plunder, devastation, and by rivers ol innocent English and Irish blood ; and that, as to its more remote consequences, they are, some of them, now before us, in that mi- scry, that beggary, that nalcedness, that hunger, tliat everlasting wrangling and spite, which now stare us in the face and stun our ears at every turn, and which the " Reformation" has given us in exchange for the ease and happiness and harmony and Christian tharity, enjoyed so abundantly, and for so many ages, by our Ca- tholic forefathers." 450. All this has been amply proved in the fifteen foregoing Letters, except that l' have not yet shown, in detail, how our Catholic forefathers lived, what sort and what quantity otfood and raiment they had, compared with those which we have. This I am now about to do. I have made good my charge of beastly lust, hypo- crisy, perfidy, plunder, devastation and bloodshed ; the charge ol misery, of beggary, of nakedness and of hunger, remains to be ful- ly established. 451. But, I choose to be better rather than worse than my word ; 1 did not pledge myself to prove any thing as to the papula- lirni, wetdth, pnwe~, andfreedom of the nation ; but I will now shoK not only that the people were better off, but better fed and cla^ before the " Reformation'' than they ever have been since ; bu^ that the nation was more populous, wealthy, powerful and Jree be- fore, than it ever has been since that event. R«ad modern romao. cers, called historians, every one of whom has written for place or pension ; read the statements about the superiority of the present over former times ; about our prodigious increase in population, wealth, power, and, above all thmgs, our superior freedom ; read the monstrous lies of Home, who, (vol. 5, p. 502,) unblushingly asserts " that one good county of England is now capable of making a greater effort than thewMe kingdomv/ns in the reign of Henry V, when to maintain the garrison of the small town of Calais required more than a third of the ordinm'y revenues" ; this is the way in which (very Scotchman reasons. He always estimates the wealth of a nation by the money the government squeezes out of it. He for- gets that ' a poor government -nakes a rich people.'' According to this ciiterion of Hume, America must now be a wretchedly poor scontry This same Henry V. could conquer, really conquer, France, and that too, without beggaring England by hiring a mil- lion of Prussians, Austrians, Cossacks, and all sorts of hirelings. But w: Hers have, for ages, been so dependant on the government uid the aristocracy, and the people have read and believed so tawi »f what they have said, and especially in praise of the " Reforms mation," and its effects, that it is no wonder that they shouM PROTESTANT REF OKMATIOJJ. 241 !h!nk, that, ir. Catliolic times, England tvas a r )oi', beggurly spot, baying a vorj; few people o-n it ; and tliit tlie " Uefurmu ijn," and the House of Brunswiclc and the Whigs, have given ns al! we nas- tc^j of wealth, of power, of freedom, and have almost created us, or, at least, if not actually begotten ds, caused iiine-tentlis of us to be born. These are all laonstrous lies : hut they have succccdeJ for ag'js. Few men diu'ed to attempt to refute them ; and, if any one made the attempt, he obtained few hearers, and ruin, in soma iliape or other, ivas pretty sure to be the roiiard of his viituouj efTortf. NOVV, however, when we are smarting under the lasu cH etJamity ; NOW, when every one says, that no state of things evei was so bad as this ; NOW men may listen to the truth, and, therfr- fore, i will lay it before them. 452. PopULOusNESs is a thing not to be proved by positive facta, tecause there are no records of Uie numbers of the people in for- mer times ; and because those which we have in our own day are jotorlously false ; if they be not, the English nation has added a Mrd to its population during the last tioenty yean, i In short, om' JBodern records 1 have, over and over again, jh ived to be false, oarticularly in my Register, No. 2, of Volume 4' . That England was more populous in Catholic times than it is >iow we must be- lieve, wlien we know, that in the three first 1 1 otestant "-eigns, tiiousands of parish churches were pulled down, that parishes were umiei/, in more than two thousand instances, and when we know ffom^he returns now before Parliament, that, out of i 1,761 parisli- ea, in England and Wales, there are upwards of a thouyand, whichdo not contain a hundred pemons each, men, women, md children. Then again, the size of the churches. They were manifestly built, in general, to hold three, four, five, or ten times tlie number of their present parishioners, including all the sectarians.' What sliould men have built such large churches for? We are told of their "piety and seal;" yes, but there n)u"t nave been men to raise the. buildings. The Lord might favour the work; but there must have been Aanrfs as well as prayers. And, what motive could there have been for piitting together such largs quantities of stone and mortar, and to make walls four fuel thick, and towers and steeple, if tlvere had not been people to. fill the. buildings ? And how could the labour have been performed ?— There must have been men to perform the labour ; and, can any ane believe, that this labour would have been performed, if there liad not been a necessity for it ? We now see large and most zostly ancient churches, and these in great numbers too, with only a few mud-huts to hold the thirty or a hundred of parishioners. Our ftrefathors built /or ever, little thinking of the devastation that «« were to behold! Next come the lands, which they cultnaicd. lad which we do not, amounting to millions of aaes. This anj KG may verify, who will go into Sussex Hampshire, Dorsetshire MS PUOTESTANT REFORMATIiN Dei uiishire imd Cornwall. They grew corn on the sides of hilte. ivhicli ni! now never attempt to stir. They made the hill into the form of steps of a stairs, in order to plough and sow the flat ■parts. These flats, or steps, still remain, and are, in some cases, still cul* tivated ; but, in nine cases out often, they are not. Why should tlicy have performed this prodigious labour, if they had not had muiii hs to eat the corn ? And how could they have performed such labour without numerous hands 7 On the high lands of Hamp" iSiire an 1 Dorsetsliire, there are spots of a thousand acres together which still bear the uneifaceable marks of the plough, and which now never feel that implement. The modern writings on the sub" ject of ancient population are mere romances ; or they have been put forth with a view of paying court to the government of the day. George Chalmers, a placeman, a pensioner, and a Scotchman, has teen one of the most conspicuous ii. this species of deception. He, in what he calls an " EsTiMATE,"^states the population o( England and" Wales, in 1377, at 2,092,978. The half of these were, of course, females. The males then, were 1,046,486. The children, the aged, the infirm, the sick, made a half of these ; so that there were 523,343 left of able bodied men in this whole king- dom I Now, the cliurcfacs, and the religious houses amounted, at 'Kit time, to upwards of 16,000 in number. There was one Priest to every church, and these Priests, together with the Monks and Friars, must have amounted to about 40,000 able men, leaving 483,243 able men. So that, as there were more than 14,00(^pa- rish churches, there were not quite twelve Me bodied men to each! Home says. Vol. III. p. 9, that Wat Tyler had, in 1381, (four years after Cha^iraers's date,) " a hundred thousandvien assem- bled on BLACKHKATH ;" so that, to say nothing of thenu- inerous bodies of insurgents, assembled, at the same time, " m Hertford, Essex, Suffoll" . Norfolk, and Lincoln ;" to sajr nothing of the King's army of 40,000," (Hume, Vol. III. p.S;) and, to srty nothing of all the nobility, gentry, and nob people, hero Wat Tvlek had got together, on Blackheath, MORF THAN ONE-FIFTH of all the able bodied men in England and Wales! And, he had, too, collected them together in the space of about six days . Do we want, ca7i we want, any thing more thar this, in answer, in refutation of .these writers on the ancient po- pulation of the country ? Let it be observed, that, in these days iliere were, as Home himself relates, and his authorities relate jiao, frequently 100,000 pilgrims at a time assembled at Can lerbury, to do penance, or make offerings, at the shrine o Thomas a Becx^t. There must, then, have been 60,000 mea here at stuce ; so that, if we were to believe this pensioned Scotch writer, we must believe, that more than A TENTH ofalltheable iodied meu of England and Wales were freouently assembled, Bt one and the same time, in one city, in a yenii* rorner (V PROTKSJtANT RElfORMATlON 240 the island, to kneel at the tomb of one single saint.' Monstroui lie! And, yet it lias been sucked down by " enlightened Pio .teslants," as if it had been a part of the Gospel, But, if Can terbiii'y could give entertainment to 100,000 strangers at a time, what must Canterbury i• country, and as to the number of parishes and religious house:*, it is too well known to admit of dispute, being recorded in books without number. Well, then, if the/afAer o/{ief himsell were to come, and endeavour to persuade us, that England was Tiot more populous before the " Reformation" than it is now, he must fail with all but downright ideots. The same may be said with regard to Ireland, where there were, according to Arch- OALL, 742 religious houses in the reign of Henry VIII. ; and, of course; one of these to every piece of land six miles each way; and where there was a parish church to every piece of land a little more than two miles and a half each way. Why these churches ? What were they built for ! By whom were they built? And how were all these religious houses maintained ( Alas ! Ireland was, in those days, a fiie, a populous, and a rich country. Her people were npt ther half naked and half starved. There were, then, no projects for relieving tlie Irish "(y sending them out of their native land ! 453. THE WEALTH of the country is a question easily de- e'ded. In the reign of Henry Vllt., just before the " Reforma- tion," the whole of the lands in England and Wales, had, ac- cording to Hume, been rated, and the annual rental was found to be three millions; and, as to this, Hume, (Vol. 4. p. 197.) quotes undoubted authorities Now, in order to know what these three millions were worth m our money, we must look at Uie A ct of Parliament, a4th year of Henrv VIII., Chap. 3, whici* »aO PuOTESTANT REFORMATION. says, that '■ in person shall take' for beef or pork above a heif- penny, and for mullun or veal above lliree J'arlhings a pound, avoirdupoiso we'glit, anil less in those places nherc Ihty be'noit sold/or Ussy 'i'l.v- is by retail, mind, k is sale in tlie bnlchers' shops. So that, in order to compare the thtn witli llie present amount of the rental of the country, we must firi.t see what the aiiuuai rental of Eng and and Wales now is, and then we must .ioe what Itie price of meat now is. I wis): to speak here of iiO' tiling tliat [ have not unquestionable authority for, and 1 have no inch authority with regard to the amount of the rental as it is just at this moment; but, 1 have that authority for what the rental was in tiieyear 18(>4. A return, printed by order of the House of Cotnmons, and dated lUth July, 1804, slates that " the returns to the Tax-office [property tax,] prove the cacirental of England and Wales to he ihirtyeight millions a year," Here, then, we have the rental to a eertainiy; for what was there thai could escape the all-searching, taxing eye of Pitt and his under- strappojs? Old Harry's inexperience must have made Mm a poor hanJ, compared with Pitt, at finding out wliat people got for their land. Pitt's return included the rent of mines, canals, and of every species of real property ; and the lental, the rack' rental, of the whole amounted to Ihirly-eiglit millions. This, observe, was in time of Bank-restrictions; in time of k^h prices; in time of mostrously high, rents : in time of high price of meat ; that very year I gave 18j. a score for fat hogs, taking head, feet, and all together; and, for many years, before and after, and including 1804, beef, pork, mutton and veal were, taken on the average, more than lenpence a pound by retail.— Now, as Old Harry's Act orders tlie meat to be sold, in some places, for less than the halfpenny and the three fai tilings, w* may, 1 think, fairly presume, that the general price was- a half- penny. So that a halfpenny of Old Harry's money was equal in value to tenpence of Pitt's money ' and, therefore, the three millions of -rental in the time of Harry, ought to have become $ixty millions in 1804 ; and it was, as we have seen, only thirty eight millions- In 1822, Mr. Cijrwkn said, the rental had fal- len to twenty millions. But, then meat had also fallen in price, {t is s\Jer to take 1804, where w-e have undoubted auth:>ritv ta goon. Thi& proof is of a nature to bid defiance to cavil. Nt man csn dispute any of the facts, and they are conclusive as tu the point, that the nation was more wealthy before the ** ll'-.for- mation"' than it is now. But, there are two other Acts of Par- liament, to wliich I will refer, as corroborating, in a v"iy striiiing manner, this fact of the superior general opulence cf (Catholic times. The Act, 18th year of Henry VI., Chap. XI., after set ting forth the cause for the enactment, provides, tliat no man shall, under a heavv penalty, act as b. justice of the ritace who PUOTE&IANl UEl'ORiMATlO.V 301 nan not ianils an.i tcncmenis of the olear yearly value of twt.nly pounds. This was iu 1439, about d hundred years before the alive-mentioned Act, about meat, of Henry Vlll. The money w. of still higher value iu the reign of Henry VI. However taling it as before, at Iwenly times the value of our money, the juiitire of the peace must then have htid four hundred pounds a year of our money; and we ail know, that we have justices of the peace of one hundred a year. Tliis Act of Henry VI. shows, t*^at the country abounded in gentlemen of good estate ; and, inded, the Act itself says,, that the people are not content ed with having " men of small behaviour set over them." A thousand fellows, culling themselves historians, would never overset such a proof of the superior general opulence and ease and happiness of the country. Tlie other of the Acts, to which J have alluded, is 1st year of Richard III. Chap. 4., which fixe* tlie qualification of ajur'jr at twenty shillings a year i\\ freehold, or twtnty-six and eight pence copyhold, clear of all charges That is to say, a clear yearly income from real property of, at least, twenty pounds a year of our money! And yet the Scotch Historians would make us believe, that our ancestors were a set of beggars ! These things prove beyond all dispute, that Eng- land was, in Catholic times, a real wealthy country ; that wealth was generally diffused; that every part .of the country abound ed in men of solid property ; and that, of course, there were al> ways s-reat resources at hand in cases of emergency. If we were noio to take it into our heads to dislike to have men of " small dehaviour set over usj" if we were to take a fancy to justices of the peace of four hundred a year ; and jurirs of twenty pounds a year ; if we were, as in the days of good king Hen- ry, to say, that we "would not be governed or ruled" by men n{ " small behaviour," how quickly we should see Botany Bay ! When Cakdin'al Pole landed at Dover, in the reign of fejueen Mary, he was met and Escorted on his way by two thousand gent'lerten of the country on horseback. What ! 2000 coun- try gentlemen, in so beggarly a country as Chalmers describes it ! A> e, and they must have been found in Kent and Surrey too. Can we find such a troop of country gentlemen there now ? In short, every thing shows, that England was then a countrv abounding i-n men of real wealth and that it so bounded precisely because the king's revenue was smali t yen his is cited by Hume, and the rest of the Scotch historians as a proof of the naiion's poverty! Their notion is, that a people are worth what the government can wring out of them, and not a farthing more. And this is the doctrine which has been acted upon ever since the " Reformation,"' and which has, at last, brought us into our present wretched condition. 454. As to the POWER of the ciuntry, compared with what Is now what do ne want mo'* ."huu the facti that, ft*- maoj 863 rROrESTANT REFORMATION centuries, before the " Reformation," England held possesaios of a considerable part of France ; that tlie ** Reformation" took, MA we have seen, the two towns of Boulogne and Calais from tier, leaving lier nothing but tliose little species in the sea, Jei- ley und Guernsey ? What do we want more than this? France was never a country that had any pretensions to cope with Eng- land until the " Reformation" began. Since ttie " Rcforaiation" t'le has not only had such pretensions, but she has shown to aG Ine world that the pretensions are well founded. She, even ai Cais moment, holds Spain in despite of us, while, in its course, (!«e " Reformation" has wrested from us a large portion of our rlominions, and has erected them into a state more formidable ihan any we have ever before beheld. We have, indeed, great itanding armies, arsenals and barracks, of which our Catholic lorefathers had none; but they were always ready for war never- theless They had the resources in the hour of necessity. They «ad arms,and men ; and those men knew what they were to fight fur before they took up arms. It is impossible to look back, to tee the respect in which England was held for so many, many ages ; to see the deference with which she was treated by all na- tions, without blushing at the thought of our present state. None but the greatest potentates presumed to think of marriage alliance with England. Her Kings and Queens had Kings and princes in their train. Nothing petty e\ev thought of approach- ing her. She was held in sucli high honour, her power was so universally acknowledged, that she had seldom occasion to as- sert it by war. And what has she been for the last hundred aud fifty years? Above half the time at war ; and with a debt never the submission instantly produced by their threats, without sigh' Uig, alas '. those days arc never to return ! 456. And, as to the FREEDOM of the nation, where 's the man vbo can tell me of any one single advantage that the ' Reforma PROTKSTANT REFORMATION Sd8 lion'* hag brought, except H be freedom to have forty Feligioui creeds instead of one ? F'rkedom is not an empty sound ; it is not an abstract idea; it is not a thing that nobody can feel. It means, and it means nothing else, the full and quiet enjoyment of your own property. If you have not this ; if this be not weli secured to you, you may call yourselfwhatyou will, but you are a slave Now, our Catholic forefathers tooli special care upon this cardinal point. They suffered neither kings nor parliamenis Ut touch their property without cause clearly shown. They did not read newspapers, they did not talk about dthales, they had no taste for " mental enjoyment;" but they thought hunger and thirst great evils, and they never suffered any body to put them to board on cold potatoes and water, They looked upon bare bones and rags as indubitable marks of slavery, ana they never failed to resist any attempt to affix these marks upo.i them. You may twist the word freedom as long as you please ; but, at last. It comes to quiet enjoyment of your property, or it comes to no- thing. Why do men want any of those things that are called political rights and privileges? Why do they, for instance, want to vote al elections for members of Parliament 1 Oh ! becauss they shall then have an iufiuenee over the conduct of those mem- bers. And of what use is that? Oh ' then they will prevent the members from doing wrong. What wrong 1 Why, impoting taxes, that ought not to be paid. That is all ; that is the use, and the only use, of any right or privilege that men in general can have. Now how stand we, in this respect, compared with our Catholic ancestors 1 They did not, perhaps, all vote at elections. But do we ? Do tlie fiftieth part of us ? And have the main body of us any, even the smallest, influence in the making of laws and in the imposing of taxes 7 But the main body of the people had the Church to protect them in Catholic times. The Church had great power; it was naturally the guardian of the common people ; neither kings nor Parliaments could set its power at defiance ; the whole of our history shows, tnat the Church was invariably on the side of the people, and that, in all the much and justly boasted of triumphs, which our forefathers .obtained over their kings and nobles, the Church took the lead It did this because it was dependent on neither kings nor nobles * because, and only because, it acknowledged another head; but we have lost the protection of the Church, and have got nothing to supply its place; or rather, whatever there is of its power let has joined, or has been engrossed by, the other branches ofth^ State, leaving the main body of the people to the mercy of those other branches. " The libertits of Fngland" is a phrase in every mouth ; but what are those liberties ? The laws which regulate the descent and possession of property ; the safety from arrest. onless bf Jue and settled process : Ihc absence of all punishment; 32 (M PROTESTANT REFORMATION. without trinl before duly authorised and well known judgeiasL* magistrates ; tlie frial by jury ; the precautions taken by the di- vers writs and summonses ; the open trial ; the impartiality ill the proceedings. These Sire the " liberties of Eitglan i." And, had our Catholic forefather.s Itss of these than we ha\e'^ Do we not owe them all to them ? Have we one single law, that gives se- curity to property or to life, which we do not inherit fiom Inem 7 The treadmill, the law to shut men up in their houses from sun- set to sunrise, the law to banish us for life if we utter any thing having a tendency to bring our " representatives" into contempt- tliese, indeed, we do not inherit, but may boast of them, and u/ many others of much about the same character, as being, un- questionably, ot' pure Protestant ori;^'in. 456. POVERTY, however, is, -ifter all, the great badge, the never-failing badge of slavery. 'Sare bones and rags are the true marks of the real slave. \Vh' t is the object of government? To cause men to Vive. happily. ''•■ hey cannot be happy without a sufficiency o( food at\d of rairr tnt. Good government means a state of things in which the ir »in body are well fed and well clothed. It is the chief busine; j of a government to take care, that one part of the people do not cause the other part to lead miserable lives. There can be no morality, no virtue, no since- rity, no honesty, amongst a pi ople continually suffering from want ; and, it is cruel, in the It-st degree, to punish such people for almost any sort of crime, which, is, in fact, not crime of the heart, not crime of the perpetrator, but the crime of his all-con- trolling necessities, 457. To what degree the main body of the people in England, are now poor and miserable ; how deplorably wrefched they now ane ; this we know but too well ; and now, we will see what was their state before this vaunted " Reformation." I shall be very particular to cite my aulhorities here. I will ?M/lsr nothing; I will give no " estimalt ;" but, refer to authorities, such as no man can call in question, sufch as no man can deny to be proofs more complete than if founded on oaths of credible witnesses, taken before a judge and jury. I shall begin with the account which FoKTESQUE gives of the state and manner of living ol tin English, in the reign of Henry VI., that is, in the 15th eestury, when the Catholic Church was in the height of its rlory. Fortesque was Lord Chief Justice of England Tor nearly twenty years; he was appointed Lord Higli Chancel, lor by Henry VI. Being in exile, in Fiance, in consequence of the wars between the Houses of York and Lancaster, and the King's son. Prince Edward, being also in exile with him, the Chant. ellor wrote a series of Letters, addressed to i4ie Prince, to explain to him the nature and effects of the Laws ot England, and to induce him to study them and uphold there PROTESTANl HtFORMATIOM. 2M This work, which was written in Latin, is called De La-udibut Legnm Anglia ; or Praise of the Laws of England. This book was, many years ago, translated into English, and it is a book of Law Authority, quoted frequently in our courts at this day. No man can rioubt the truth of 'fads, related in such b work. It was a work written by a famous lawyer for a Prince It was intended to be read by other cotemporary lawyers, and also by all lawyers in future. The passage that I am about to quote, relating to the state of the English, was purely inciden- tal; it was not intended to answer any temporary purpose. It ttust have been a true account, 458. The Chancellor, after speaking geiieially of the nature of the laws of England, and of the difference between them and the laws of Franco, proceeds to show the difference in their ef- fects, by a description of the state of the French people, and then by a description of the state of the English. His words, words that, as I transcribe them, make my cheeks burn with ihame, are as follows : " Besides all this, the inhabitants o( France give every year to their King the/oKr presently assessed to the king's tax, proportionably more than hw poorer neighbours, whereby he is soon reduced to a level with Iht rest.'' Then comes his description of the English, atthatsamt time; thos"! "priest-ridden" English, whom Chalmers and Hume, and the rest of that tribe, would fain have us believe, were a mere band of wretched beggars. — " The King of Eng land cannot alter the laws, or make new ones, without the ex press consent of the whole kingdom in Parliament assembled Every' inhabitant is at his liberty fully to use and enjoy whatever his farm produceth, the fruits of the earth, the increase of his flock, and the like ; all the improvements he makes, whether by his own proper industry, or of those he retains in his service, are his own, to use and to enjoy, without the let, interruption or de- uial of any. If he be in any wise injured, or oppressed, he shall have his amends and satisfactions against the party offending. Hence it is, that the inhabitants are rich in gold, silver, and in al! the necessaries and conveniences of life. TAey drink no wa- ter, unless at certain times, upon a religious score, and by way of doing penance. They are fed in great abundance, with all sorts of fiesh and Jish, of which they have plenty every where ; they are clothed throughout in good woolleiis ; their bedding and other furniture in their houses are of wool, and that in great store. Thej' are aloo v/ell provided with all other sorts of house- hold goods and necessary implements for husbandry. Every one, according to his rank, hath all things which conduce to makt life easy and happy." 459. Go, and read this to the poor souls, who are now eating lea-weed in Ireland ; who are detected in robbing the pig-troughs in Yorkshire; who are eating horse- Aesh and grains, (draff,) in Ijancashire and Cheshire; who are harnessed like horses, and draw ng gravel in Hampshire and Sussex; who have 3d. a day aliened them by the Magistrates in Norfolk; who are, all ovei Eng'and, worse fed than the felons in the gaols. Go, and tel! them, when they raise their hands from the pig-trough, or fionc the grains-tub, and, with their dirty tongues, cry " No-Popery," po, read to the degraded and deluded wretches, this account of the state of their Catholic forefathers, who lived under.what is impudently called "popish superstition and tyranny," and in those times which we have the audacity to call " the dark agtt." 460. Look at the (Aen picture of the French; and, Protestant Englishmen, if you have the capacity of blushing left, blush ai ^ROTESTaNT reformation. 36% the tuuugnt of how precisely that picture fits the English tiesa • Look at all the parte of the picture ; the food, the raiment, th*. game ! (Jood God ! If any one had told the old Chancellor, that the day would c'bme, when this picture, and even a picture more degrading to human nature, would lit his own iioarted country, what would he have said ? What would he have said if he had been told that the time was to come, when the foldier, in England, would have more than twice, nay more than thrice, the sum allowed to the day-labouring man ; when potatoes n ould be carried to the field as the only food of the ploughman ; win r. soup-shops would be opened to feed the Enclish ; and when Use judges, sitting on that very Bench on which he himself had sit- ten for twenty years, would, (as in the case last year of the com plaint against IVIa^istrates at Northallerton,) declare that BREAD AND WATER Were the general food of working peopl? in England? What would he have said? Why if he had been told, that there was to be a " Reformation," accompanied by « total devastation of Church and Poor property, upheld by wars, creating an enormous debt and enormous taxes, and re- quiring a constantly standing army ; if he had been told this, he would have foreseen our present state, and would have wept for bia country ; but, if he had, in addition, been told, that, even in the midst of all this sulTering, we should still have the ingratitude »nd the baseness to cry " No-Popery," and the injustice and the cruelty to persecute those. Englishmen and Irishmen, who ad- lered to the faith of their pious, moral, brave, free and happy fathers, he would have said, " God's will be done: let them suf fcr." 461. But, it may be said, that it was not, then, the Cathohe Church, but the Laws that made the English so happy ; for the French had that Church as well as the English, Aye ! but in England, the Church was the very basis of the laws. The very first clause of Magna Charta provided lor the stability of its property and rights. A provision for the indigent, an effectual provision was made by the laws that related to the Church and its property ; and this was not the case in France ; and never wtks the case in any country but this? so that the English people lost more by a " Reformation" than any other people could have lost. 462. Fortcsque's authority would, of itself, be enough ; but 1 wn not to stop with it. White, the late Rector of Selbocrss In Hampshire, gives, in his history of that once famous village, an extract from a record, stating, tliat, for disorderly conduct, men were punished by being " compelled to fast a fortnight on bread and beer!" This was about the year 1380, in the reign of Richard U. Oh ! miserable "rfarft ojn^es.'" This fact murf t( 'f^e. White had no purpose to ans«er His inendon ol e&8 PROTESIaNI RKl'OKMATION. the fact, or, rather, his transcript from the record, is purely «n ddental ; and trifling as the fact is, it is conclusive as to the ge> neral mode of living in those happy days. Go, tell the harnessed gravel-drawers, in Hampshire, to cry " No-Papery !" for that, 'U the Pope be not put down, he may, in time, compel them io fa tt 9n bread and beer, instead of suffering them to continue to regale themselves on nice potatoes and pure water. 463. But, let us come to Acts of Parliament, and, first, to the Act above quoted, in 453, which see. That Act fixes the prict af meal. Alter naming the four sorts of meat, beef, pork, mut- ton and tial, the preamble has these words ; " These being the FOOD OF THE POORER SORT." This is conclusive. It is aaincidental mention of a fact. ItisinanAct of Parliament It must have been true : and, it is a fact that we know well, tha the judges have declared from the bench, that ireaiio/one is nou the food oflhepoorer sort. What do we want more than this to convince us that the main body of the people have been impo- verished by the "Reformation?" 464. But, I will prove, by other Acts of Parliament, this Art ol Parliament to have spoken truth. These Acts declare what the wages of workmen shall be. There are several such Act* but one or two may suffice. The Act of 23d of Edward III. fizei the wages without food as follows. There are many other things mentioned, but the following will be enough for our purpose. i.d. A woman hay-making, or weeding ctrn for the day, 1 A man filling dung-cart, . , . . 3^ A reaper .... .... 4 Mowing an acre of grass, . . , , . .06 Thrashing a quarter of wheat, 4 Tlie price of shj>es, cloth, and of privisions, throughout iLf time that this law continued in force was as follows : ;. s. d. A pair of shoes . . . .004 Kusset broad-cloath, the yard, . . . .011 A stall-fed ox . . ..140 A grass-fed ox , . . 16 A fat sheep unshorn , . .016 A fat sheep shorn 12 A fat hog two years old , . . .034 A fat goose 2^ Ale, the gallon, by Proclamation . . ,001 Wheat, the quarter ... ..03* White wine, the gallon . . .006 Red wine ... .... 4 riiese prices are taken from the Preciosum of BisH^ p Fleet «rooi>, who took them from the accounts kept by thp burscrs ol PROTESTANT REFORM AT^O^. £00 lAiarenti, All Ihe world knows that Fleetwood's book is of ■ndoubted authority. 465. We may, then easily believe, that " beef, pork , mutton, and veal," were " the food of the poorer sorl,' when a dung-carl filter had more than the price of a fat goose, and a half for a day's work, and when a woman was allowed, for a day's weeding, he price of a quart of red wine ! Two yards of the cloth made a (cat for the shepherd; and ae it costs 2s. 2d. the reaper would earn it in 6^ days; and, the dung-cart man would earn ver;^ nearly a pair of shoes every day! This dung-carl filler would earn a fat shorn sheep in four days ; he would earn a fat hog, two years old, in twelve days ; he would earn a grassfcd ox in twen- ty days i so that we may easily believe, that " beef, pork, and mutton" were " the food of the poorer sort." And mind, this was " a priest-ridden people;" a people "buried in Popish »«■ perslition !" In our days of " Protestant light" and of " mental enjoyment," the "poorer sort are allowed by the Magistrates o{ Norfolk, Sd. a day for a single man able to work. That is to Hty, a halfpenny less than the Catholic dung-cart man had ; and that 3d. wiH get the " No-popery" gentlemen about six ounces ol old ewe-mutton, while the Popish dung-cart man got, for his day, rather more than the quarter of a f At sheep. 466. But, the Popish people might work harder than " en- lighlened Protestants." They might do more work in a day. This is contrary to all the assertions of the feelosophers ; for they insist that the Catholic religion made people idle. But, to set this matter at rest, let us look at the price of the job-labour ; at the mowing by the acre, and at the thrashing of wheat by the quar- ter : and let us see how these wages arenow, compared with the price Df food I have no parliamentary authority since the year 1821, whert a report was printed by order of the House of Com- mons, containing the evidence of Mr. Ellman, of Sussex, as to wages, and of Mr. George, of Norfolk, as to price of wheat. The report was dated 18th June, 1821. The accounts are for 20 years, on an average, from 1800 inclusive. We will now pro- eeed t.^ see how the " popish, priest-ridden" Englishman .-tacdi W comparison with the " No-popery" Englishman. Popish man No-popery man. t. d. s. d. MoTving an acre of grass .06 S 7| Thrashing a quarter of wheat .04 4 H«re are "waust improvements, Mau'm!" But now let us look at the relative price, of the wheat, which the labourer had to pur- chase with his wages. We have seen that the " popish supersti- tion slave" had to give fixepence a bushel for his wheat and the «60 PROTESTANI REFOKMATIO* «Tidence of Mr. George states, that the "enlightened Piot«» tant" had to give 10 shillings a bushel for his wheat; that if 24 limes as much as the " popish fool" who sufiTered himself to b« "priest-ridden." So that the " enHghle7ied" man, in order to make him as well off as the "dark ages" man was, ought to re» ceire twelve shillings instead of 3s. 7^rf. for mowing an acre of l^ass; and he, in like manner, ought to receive, for thrashing a i|liarter of wiieat, eight shitlings, instead of the four shillings, frhich he does receive. If we had the records, we should, douot* le^s, find, that Ireland was in the same state. 467. There! That settles the matter; and, if the Bible- Society, and the " Education" and the " Christian-knowledge" gentry would, as they might, cause this little book to be put into the hands of all their millions of pupils, it would, as far as relates to this kingdom, settle the question of religion for ever and ever ' I have now proved, that Fortesqde's description of the happy life of our Catholic ancestors was correct. There wanted no proof; but I have given it. I could refer to divers other acts of Parliament, passed during several centuries, all confirming the truth of Fortesque's account And there are, in Bishop Fleet- wood's book, many things that prove that the labouring peopls were most kindly treated by their superiors, and particularly by the clergy ; for instance, he has an item in the expenditure of a convent, "30 pair of autumnal gloves for the servants." This was sad " superstition.'' In our " enlightened" and Bible- reading age, who thinks of gloves for ploughmen 7 We have priests as well as the " dark ages" people had ; ours ride as well as theirs ; but theirs fed at the same time; both mount, but theirs seem to have used the rein more, and spur less. It is curious to observe, that the pay of persons in high situations was, as com- pared with that of the present day, very low, wheii compared with the pay of the working classes. If you calculate the year's pay of the dung-cart man, you will find it, if multiplied by 20, (which brings it to our money,) to amount to 91 pounds a year ; while the average pay of the Judges did not exceed 601. a year f the then money, and, of course, did not exceed l,200i. a year of our money. So that a Judge had not so much pay as fourteen dung-cart fillers. To be sure. Judges had, in those " dark ages," vhen Littleton and Fortesqde lived and wrote, pretty easy Sves; forFoRTEs^HE says, that they led lives of great "leisure knd contemplation," and that they never sat in court but ihret hours in a day, from 8 to 1 1 ! Alas ! if they had lived in this " en- lightened age," they would have found little time lor their " con- templation !" they would have found plenty of work ; they would have found, that theirs was no sinecure, at any rate, and that ten times their pay was not adequate to their enormous labour. Hero is another indubitable proof of the great and ganeral hap FROTESTANl REFORMAJION 201 pineas and harmony and honesty and innocence that reigneJ in the lountry. The Judges lad lives of leisure! In liiat one fact, inci- dentally stated by a man, who had been twenty years Chief Justice of the King's Bench, we have the true character of the so long ca- umniated religion of our fathers. 468. As to the bare fact, this most interesting fact, that tlie main body of the people have been impoverished and degraded since the time of the Catholic sway ; as to this fact there can be no doubt in the mind of any man who has, thus far, read this litUe work. Neither can there, I think, exist in the mind of such a man any doubt, that this impoverishment and this degradation have been caused by the event cM'ed the " Reformation," seeing that I have, in former Numbers, and especially in Number XIV., clearly 'raced the debt and the enormous taxes to that event. But I can- not bring myself to conclude, without tracing the impoverishment m its horrible progress. The well-known fact, that no compulsory collections for the poor; that the disgraceful name of pauper ; thai these were never heard of in England, in Catholic times ; and that tliey were heard of the moment the "Reformation" had begun ; this single fact might be enough, and it is enough ; but, we will see the progress of this Protestant impoverishment. 469. The Act, 27 Henry VIII. chap. 25, began tiiepoorlaws. The monasteries were not actually seized on till the next year; but the fabric of the Catholic Church was, in fact, tumbling down; and, instantly, the country swarmed with necessitous people, and open begging, which the Government of Englaad liad always held in great horror, began to disgrace this so late- ly happy land. To put a stop to this, the above Act authorized sheriffs, magistrates and churchwardens to cause voluntary alms to he collected ; and, at the same time, it punished the per severing beggar, by slicing off part of his ears, and, for a second offence, put him to death as a felon ! This was the dawn of that " Reformation," which we are still called upon to admire and So praise ! 470. The " pioug young Saint Edward," as Fox, the Mar tyr-man, most impiously calls him, began his Protestant reign ist year Edward VI., chap. 3, by an Act, punishing beggars Sy burning with a red-hot iron, and by making them slaves fos two years, with pover in their masters to make them wear an -ran collar, ami to feed them upon bread and water and refute meal ! For even in this case, still there was meat for those who had to labour; tlie days of cold potatoes and ofbread and wa ter alone were yet to come: they were reserved for -our *' en lightened" and Bible-reading days : our days of " mental en- joyment." And, as to horse-flesh and draff, (grains,) they ap- pear never to have been thought of. If the slave ran away, or were disobedient, he was, by this Protestant Act, to be a shivr tea PKOTESTAM RLFORMATION. for Itfe. This Act came forth as i sort of precursor of the Act* to establish the Church of England ! Horrid tyranuv The people had been plundered of the reiource, which Magna ('har> ta, which justice, which reason, which the law of nature, gavr them. No other resource had been p) iv'ited ; and, they were made actual slaves, branded and chaini d, be-fause they sought by their prayers to allay the cravings of hunger ! 471, Next came " good Queen Be?s," who, after tryiujf her hand eight times, without success, to caus>i the poor to be re lieved by alms, passed that compulsory Act which is in fnicc to the present day. All manner of shifts had been resorted to, in order to avoid this provision for the poor. During this and the two former reigns, LICENSES TO BEG had been grai.trd.— But, at last, the compulsory assessment came, that true mark. that indelible mark, of the Protestant Church, as by law esta blished. This assessment was put off to the last possiMc mo- ment, and it was never relished by those who had got the spoili of the Church and the poor. But, it was a measure of absolute necessity. All tlie racks, all the law-marliat, of this cruel leign could not have kept down the people without this Act, fhr au- thors of which seem to have been ashamed to state the ground* of it; for, it has no preamble whatever. The pepple, so hippy in former times ; the people, described by FoRTESdUE, were nonr be- come a nation of ragged wretches. Defoe, in one of hii- tjacta, says that "good Bess," in her progress through the kingdoiu, upon seeing the miserable looks of the crowds tliat came to see her, fre- quently exclaimed, "pauper ubique jacel;" ttiat is, the pour iOvei the land. And this was that same country in which Fob rE tvii left a race of people, "having all, things which conduce to laaks life easy and happy !'' 472, T.hings did not mend much during the reigns of the Stu- arts, except in as far as the poor law had efiect. This renderei unnecessary the barbarities that had been exercised before the passing of it ; an:), as long as taxation was light, the paupers ivere comparatively little numerous. But, when the taxes began to grow heavy, the projectrrs were soon at work to find out the means oi putting down pauperism. Amongst these was one Child, 'k mer- chant and banker, whose name was Josiah, and who had lieeg made a knight or baronet, for he is called Sir Josiah. His pro Ject, which was quite worthy of his calling, contained a provision, ir. his proposed Act, to appoint men, to be called " Fathei s of tin Poor;" and, one of the provisions relating to these "Fathers" was to be,- " that they may have power to send such poor, as lluy may think Jit, into any of his Majesty's planlaliana ."' That is to ■ay, to transport and make slaves of them ! And, gracious God ! this was in Fortesqhe's country. This was in the country of Afogna Charta ! And tnis monster dared to publish this project' PI\OTESTANT REFORMATION. Mi And we cannot learn that any man had ior want oj employment far the poor ; since the goodness of God has blessed tiicse times with plenty no less than the fbrmer ; and a long peace, during three reigns, gave us as plentiful a trade as ever. The growth of the poor must therefore have some other cause ; and if can be nothing else but the relaxation of discipline and corruption , virtue and industry being as constant companions on the one side, as vice and idleness are on the other." 474. So, the fttidt was in the poor themselves ! It does not seen: to have occurred to Mr. Locke tbat there must have been a cimse far this cause. He knew very well, that there was a time, when there were no paupers at all in England ; but, being a fat place mail under the "deliverer," he could .hardly think of alluding to that interesting fact. " Relaxation of discipline !" Wliat discip- line ? What did he mean by discipline ? The taking away" of the Church and Poor's property, the imposing of heavy taxes, the giv- ing of low wages compared with the price of food and raiment, the drawing aivay of the earnings of the poor to be given to paper-bar- pies and other tax-eaters ; these were the causes of the hideous and disgraceful evil ; this he knew very well, and therefore it is no irunder, thar bis report contained no remedy. 475. After LocKE, came, in the reign of Queen Anne, Defoe who seems to have been tlie father of the present race of projector^ MiLTHUs and La WTER Scarlett being merely his humble fo] loivers. He was tor giving no nwre relief to the poor; he imputed tlieir poverty to their crinus, apd not their crimes to tneir poverty , and their crimes he imputed to "their luxury, pride and sloth." — lie said the English labouring people ate and draakthree times at much as any foreigners ! How difierent were the notions of thii insolent French Protestant from those of the Chancellor Fortes- li^-«, who looked upon the good living of the people as tlie bos' 264 PROTESTANT REFOiIMaTIQJN possible proof of good laws, and seems to have delighted in rela- ting, that the English were " fed, in greai aiundance, with all sorU 9/ flesh and fish !" 476. If Defoe had lived to our " enlightened age," he would, at any rate, have seen no "luxury" amongst the poor, unless he would have grudged them horse-flesh, draif, (grains,) sea-weed, or the contents of the pig-trough. From his day to the present, there have been a hundred projects; and more than fifty laws, to regulate the affairs of the poor. But still the pmiperism remains for the Catholic Church to l.o.d up in the face of the Church of England. " Here," the former may say to the latter, "here, look at this: here is the result of your efforts to extinguish me ; here in this one evil, in this never-ceasing, this degrading curse, I am move than avenged, if vengeance I were allowed to enjoy : urge en the delu- ded potatoe-crammed creatures to cry ' M Popery' still, and, when Ihey retire to their straw, take care not to remind them of the cmiat of their poverty and degradation." 477. Hume, in speaking of the sufferings of the people, in the first Protestant reign, says, that, at last, those sufiferings "produced g7od," for that they " led to our present situalMM." What, then, lie deemed our present situation a better one than that of the days ol FoRTESftUE ! To be sure, Hume wrote 50 years ago ; but he wrote long afier Child, Locke, and Defoe. Surely enough the " Reformation" has led to " our then present and our now present situation." It has, " at last," produced the bitter fruit, of which we are now tasting. Evidence, given by a Clergyman too, and pub- lished by the House of Commons, in 1824, states the labouring people of Suffolk to be a nest of robbers, too deeply corrupted evei to be reclaimed ; endence^of a Sheriff of Wiltshire, (in 1821,) states the common food of the labourers, in the field, to be cold potatoes ; a scale, published by the magistrates of Norfolk, iii 1825, allows 3rf. a day to a single labouring man ; the Judges ol the Court of King's Bench, (1835,) have declared the general food of the labouring people to be bread and water ; intelligence from tie northern counties, (1826,) published upon the spot, informs us, liat great numbers of people are nearly starving, and that some ire eating horse-flesh and grains, while it is well known that the country abounds in food, and while the Clergy have recently put up, ftom the pulpit, the i-ubrical thanksgiving for times of plenty ; a law recently passed, making it felony to take an apple from a tree, tells the world that our characters and lives are thought no- tliing worth, or that this nation, once the greatest and most mora! in the world, is now a nation of incorrigible thieves ; and, in either case, the most impoverished, the most fallen, the most degraded that ever saw the light of the sun. 478. I have now performed my task. I have made good the po- sitions with which 1 began. Born and bied a rrotestant of the PKOlESTASl REFORM A now. 2«t ShOKh of England, having a wife and numerous family profcsaieg tiie same faitli, haring the remains of most dearly beloved parents lying in a Protestant church-yard, and trusting to cotyugal or filial piety to place mine by their side, I have, in this undertaking, had no motive, I can have had no motive, but a sincere and dismteres'> ed love of truth and justice. It is not for the rich and the power- ful of my countryinen that I have spoken ; but for the poor, the ^rsecuted, the proscribed. I have not been unmindful of the un popularity and the prejudice that would attend the enterprise j but ivhen I considered the long, long tiiumph of calumny over the re ligion of those, to whom we owe all that we possess that is great and renowned ; when I iviis convinced that I could do much towards the counteracting of Uiat calumny ; when duty so sacred bade me speak, it would have been baseness to hold my tongue, and baseness superlative would it have been, if, having the will aa well as the power, I had been restrained by fear of the shafts oi falsehood and of folly. To lie clear of self-reproach is amongst tka greatest of human coiisolatiiins; and now, amidst all the dreadful perils, with which tlw event thai I have treated of has, at last, sur- rounded ray country, ( can, while I pray God to save herfroip stiH further devastation lUid misery, safely say, that, neither espr f«^ »■» tuitly, un I (uil'.y of any part of the cause of her not. A HISTORY Protestant Reformation ENGLAND AND IRELAND Shewing how that Event has Impoverished the Main Body of ttte People in those Countries, WILLIAM COBBET: NEW YORK : D & J, SADLIER & CO., 31 BARCLAY ST. Montreal: 275 Notre Dame St. LVTROIMICTiON. 1. The foregoing rolume of this Wcik contains tht History of the Protestant "Reformation," 'he objerl ef which was to show, and, I trust, it has sbcwn mosi clearly, that that event " has impoverished anrt degra- ded the main body of the people." In speakinj" of tlie motives to the producing of the event, I said, that a fair and honest inquiry would teacK iis, that the ch.' far as my mate dais would enable me. 1. a description of the nature of the foundation ; 2. tne name of the founder ; 3. the date of the foundation ; 4. the estimated yearly Talu« at the time of the confiscation by Henry VIII. ; 5. the present yearly value, according to the change in the value of money ; 6. by what king, or queen, the pibperty was granted away ; 7. to whom it was granted. I will here give a specimen in the article just mentioned. " At W OBUBN. A Cistercian Abbey, founded near this place, in the year 1145, by Hugh de Bolebec. Valued at £430 13s. ll^-d., now worth £8,613 19s. 2d Granted, I Edward VI., to John Lord Russell." 5. Alas ! when the Russells were hunting the poor Catholics about, in the reign of Charles II., I wonder whether they ever thought of pious and generous Hugh de Bolebec ! Bishop Tanner tells us, that this grant was made to Russell in the first year of Edward VI. ; Doctor Heylin tells us that the people of Devonshire rose, in the second year of Edward VI., and, amongst other things, demanded that some of the monasteries should be re-established ; and Home tells us^ that they were, at last, quelled, and punished by martial law, by LoRn Russell, aided by German troops ! Alas ! and poor Hugh de Bolebec never thought of all the while, I would almost be sworn ! 6. The whole of the articles are not so perfect in their information as is the one above cited. In some the name of the grantee has not been to be come at ; in others the valuation is not recorded ; in others the name of the founder is wanting; and, with regard to Ireland, the information is still more scanty, and that, too, in every respect, and in a very great degree. Ne- vertheless, the List, taken altogether, is, I trust it will be thought, a very interesting historical and statistical document, and will be found very commodious as a work of reference ; for, if you see, or hear of, any an- cient foundation, m any pa't of the kingdom, and wish to know what it was, and when it arose, how it was put down, and who got it ; knowing in what county it ts. or finding this out by the Index at the end of th« PROTESTANT REFORMATION. J Volume, you turn to the county, -which you will find in the order of the alphabet. Then, knowing in oi oear what city, town, or village it is, you turn, accord- ing to the alphabet, to the city, town, or village ; or, to the usual name of the Abbey^ Priory, or other founda- tion. Thus you, with as little inconvenience as possible. get at the best information that I have been able to give 7. But, it is in the mass, it is as the ground of a gene- ral conclusion, that the contents of this volume are of he greatest importance. Here are abdtt three hundred pa- ges of close print filled with a bare list of pieces of once public property, now worth from one hundred pounds to upwards of fifty thousand pounds a year each ! Some few of the things in the List, as in the cases of several of the Colleges, Chapters, Hospitals, and other founda- tions, still continue to be public property ; but, these form but a comparatively small part of the general mass ; and there is, after all, wholly left out of the List, "the numerous private estates, seized on and graatea away by the "Reformation" sovereigns, in virtue ri acts of attainder and other means, grounded on Ihe ad- nerence of the owners to the religion of their fathers. As, for instance, estates like that of which Cowvry- HonsE, in Sussex, was the chief seat, and which was seized on by Henry VIII., in virtue of the attainder of the Countess of Salisbury and her heirs, and granted by him to his physician, Sir Anthony Brown, who obtained from that execrable tyrant, manors eind estates running over a considerable part of the ncrlh-west oi Sussex and of the south-west of Surrey. 8. Besides the public property described in this List, there were the tithes, which were thus seized on and granted away to lay persons by the Protestant " Re- formation" sovereigns. Until that event took place, no man had an idea, that it could be possible for tithes to be claimed by any but those who administered religion. But, it was soon found, that a large part of those tit/ies, the sole objects of which were the promotion of ti ving, in many cases, thousands of pounds a year to » layman, who never sees the parish, and a few poundi i year to a clergyman who does whatever clerical duty is done in that same parish. The whole affair was a real taking away from the middle and lower class, and It giving to the nobles and the rich. Yet there are men so blind, or so perverse, as to think, or to pretend to think, that the thing, called the " Ileformation," ought to be looked upon as " a blessing !" 9. The whole of the rents of the estates of the Church, including those tithes which were confiscated ind transferred to lay-parsons, amounted to, perhaps, a third part of the whole rental of the kingdom. There are no means of knowing what the amount really was; for the valuation was, in fact, no valuation at all. It was all plundering with one hand and squandering with the other, as may well be imaginedj when the historians tell us, that Old Harry (the name which the Snglish gave to the Devil for many years after Old Harry's death, and the name which the Americans give to the Devil to this day ;) w^hen historians tell us .'hat Old Harry gave a church-estate to a woman, who had made a pudding to please him, and that Sir Miles PARTEmGE won a ring of church bells .of him at dice ! It is impossible to come at any thing like an exact ac- count of the worth of the possessions of the Catholic Church. Protestant writers- have endeavoured to make the Churches' rental as great as possible, in order to exhibit the clergy as monstrous devourers of the na- tional income. According to the recorded valuations, the rental did not amount to more than a tenth part oi the rental of thj kingdom. But, then, these valuations were founded^ apparently, solely upon the reserved rents, leaving out fines, renewals, heriots, deodands and various other sources of income ; and, therefore, I agree with those historians, who think that the Church in- come, including the impropriated tithes, amounted to a full third part of the income of all the laudownerf (clergy included) in He whole nation. PRC TESTANT REFORMATION. 1 10. Well, ihen, the good and thoughtless Protestant, who has been, as 1 was, duped from infancy to man- hood ; well, then, such good Protestant will ask : " Was not this a great deal too much to be devoured by a par- cel of lazy monks and priests and nuns, who did no work of any kind, who lived but to eat and drink and sleep, and who kept the people in ignorance T' Now, my good brother Protestant, be you who you may, you cannot be more zealous or more loud upon ihis score than I was, for many years of my life; until I, at last, examined for myself, not the pages of lying, hired, place- hunting, pension-hunting, beneSce-seeking, or roman- cing historians; but the pages of the statute-book and of the books of the ancient laws of my country. This being the case, you are entitled to a patient hearing and a kind answer irom me. to this, your very natural ques- tion ; a question such as I should^ about ten years ago, . have been very likely to put myself. 11. Now, then if the monks and priests and nuns were such lazy people ; if they worked neither by hand nor head ; if they did nothing but eat, drink and sleep ; if this were their real character, and this the habit of their lives, how can you possibly believe, that they had any influence at all over the mmds of the people 1 And, unless they had very great influence over theii minds, how can.you possibly believe, that they kept the people in ignorance ? What, my friend ! Were the people susceptible of knowledge ? Had they (just as we have) nature's works and laws to enlighten them ? Had they a desire to become skilful and learned < And were they kept in a state of ignorance, were theit capacities benumbed and their propensities thus com- pletely thwarted by lazy creatures who lived only tc eat, drink and sleep 1 12. By this time, yoa, I am sure, begin to be ashamed of these assertions ; and, the furtner I go, the more fully will you be convinced, that you have been and. are, as 1 formerly was, the dupe of those, who now live' upon the spoils of the Church of our fathers. Now, then, is it a fact, is it true, that the Catholic clergy kept, or endeavoured c keep, the people in laKORANtF I « INTRODUCTION. This is a charge that fat and luxurious fellows oi th« ■present day are incessantly preferring against them , but, is it not a false charge? That it is a false charge you will find proved in the mosv satisfactory manner^ in llie first Volume of this work, in paragraphs from 28 to 36, and in paragraphs from 129 to 134. But, my friend, look into the present volume. Turn over, zea- lous hater of "monkish ignorance;" turn over to the county of Oxford ; then go on to Oxford city. Aye ! there it is, in that " learned University," the colleges^ of which are all filled with rosy-gilled andniost doctor- like Protestants, and »he walls of which colleges in- cessantly ring with abuse poured forth on the Catholic religion, and especially on the clergy of that Church, wlio are here, above all the places in the world, accused of keeping the people in ignorance ; there it is, surely, that you will, my good Protestant friend, find some- thing in the way of 'proof to make good this accusa- tion ! Turn over the leaves, then, and come to the word " Oxford." 13. What ! Aye, do ! Rub your eyes bright, and then look again. What ! nothing at all ! Oh ! everlasting shame on the name of Protestant ! Not one single col- lege, hall, or school, founded by Protestants, nor since the day that the word Protestant was pronounced in England ! About twenty colleges in all, and all found- ed and endowed by Catholics ; and, as if to put the ca- lumniators of the Catholic clergy to shame eternal, as if to make them undergo a sort of hell in. this world, out of the twenty, eleven were founded by Catholic BisHors; two by Monks; onebyNuNs; &Dd Jive by Catholic kings, nobles, gentlemen and ladies. Aye^ and here is the record, that the University itself was founded by Alfred, whose father took him to Rome, where he was anointed by the Pope himself! Nay, as if all this were not enough, here is the record, that the teaching at this University was begun by a monk, who tame to England for the express purpose, and in grati- tude for the services of whom Alfred founded and en- dowed a monastery for him at Winchester. 14. Thus, then, my good and true Prrtestant friend PKOTESTANT REFORMATION. t we have, I think, settled the question aLout keeping e religion were found to be bad, the property, the lands, the trees and the buildings, had committed no oflence. Nevertheless, the property was all seized on by tlit; King and Parliament. The Parliament gave it all u: the King; and the King, and his successors, gave tiji.- greater part of it, in return, amongst the members cl the two houses of Parliamentj-or their relations ! Now, if the King and Parliament hada right to deal tluis with property, the heirs of the founders of which were .eady to claim it, surely no one can deny, that the pre- sent King and Parliament have a right to apply to j)ublic purposes that part of thisgreat mass of property, which, as stated above, continues to be the property of the pub- lic. There is, I venture to assert, no man that will deny this, and especially no man, who possesses, by deseeui or otherwise, any part of the Catholic Chur:h esia".es; PROTESTAJNT REFORMATION 17 for, what title has such man to his estate"? What plea has he against an ejectment 1 He has no title, he has no answer, except those which are furnished by those Acts of Parliament of Henry VIII., which seized, and panted to the King, the estates of the Church. This sauce for the goose, so delicious as it long has been acknowledged to be, must, when the time for anothei repast shall arrive, be allowed to be sauce for the gan- der ; and, of this sauce, Norfolk Petition would, if acted upon, give the nation a taste. 26. Plunkett, who has now been made a lord, and about whom the bleaters in Ireland are, just now, ma- king such a fuss, asserted, in the debate on Mr. Hume's motion for applying part of the clerical incomes in Ire- land to other public purposes ; this Plunkett asserted in the most unqualified terms, that all tithes, glebes and all sorts of property, called Church property, were as sacred from the touch of the Parliament, that the Parliament had not more right to sell them, or to apply them in any way, than it had to sell, or otherwise dis- pose of, any parcel of any man's private property ! In- deed, Plunkett ! What, then, are amy of those titles good for, by which men now hold the immense masses of property described in this volume 1 If this King and Parliament have no right to touch that which be- longs to the nation, could Harry VIII. and his Parlia- ment have a right to seize and to alienate all these masses of property, great part of which were really private property, and had claimants, legal claimants, to demand them? If this King and Parliament have no right to take public jproperty, and to apply it to pub- lic purposes, can those titles be worth one single straw, which rest on Acts of Parliament, which Acts seized on private property and applied it to private purposes 1 I might, by comparing the tenure of what the Churck {)arsons hold with the tenure of private property, sho-w the gross absurdity of the ^octrine of this Plunkett, who, I recoUectj was anxious to check the circulation af small pamphlets, because the mass of the people were now become so much more enlightened than for- nerly I might, by the comparison just nieuttoned. a* 18 INTRODUCT ON. show the m.nstrous absurdity of the doctrine of thii Plunkeit : but, I say, No : I iay, Let his doctrine stasid, if the parsons like ; and, then, all the tithes of all the holders of Abbey-lands, aye, and of the greater part i.4 the Cathedral and College-lands, are not ■wortn one single pinch even of Scotch snun. 27. However, as there certainly is not a man in the kingdom (except some parson, perhaps,) besides Pldn- KETT, to hold a doctrine like this, we will leave Plcn- KETT to have his hearing faculties tickled by the bleaters of Ireland, and will now go on to see a little how, if applied to this mass of "public property, commonly called Church property," Norfolk Petition would work. 28. The property which remains to the nation is, I. Tub Parochial Tithes and Glebes. It. The Bishop- ric REVENUES. III. The Dean and Chapter Revenues, IV. The College revenues. Here is still an immense mas.«! of property, and all of it, or nearly all of it, di- verted from the uses to which it was formerly applied, and to which it was intended that it should always be applied. But, the questions for us here are, whether it be now well applied ; and whether it could not be much better applied than it now is. As to the real amount of it, that will never be got at by the public, as long as it shall remain in the hands in which it now is. No man has ever been able to get an account laid before Parliament, of the amount of this property ! Ac- counts of every "thing else can be got; but, of this no account can ever be come at. Some years ago, a return was made to Parliament, stating the name of each li- ving, the population of the parish, the size of the church, the state of the parsonage-house, and the annual worth of the liviiig, if under one hundred and pifty pounds ! Here was a crafty trick ! Why not state the annual worth if above one hundred and fifty pounds ! Why tliis close disguise if above that mark? Is not the an- swer ready ? To have stated the annual worth of the whole of the livings would have shown to this beg- gared people what an immense sum is swallowed an- nually by these comparatively few men and their fami- lies, whose Catholic predecessors kept all the poof, and PROTESTANT REFORMATION. IJ *lso kept tlie churches in repair out of these same tithea. The tithes of England, Wales and Ireland have bee» estimated, by several writers, at eight millions a-year The parsons affect to say that this is an over statement But, when any public functionary hear? his gains ovei stated, and knows that he is thereby placed before the public in a disadvantageous light, what is his temedy 1 Why, to publish an exact account of what he reaily does receive. Aye, and this is what the parsons would do, to be sure, if they had it in their power to prove that their gains had been over-rated. For my part, 1 ^m convinced, that, if we include the rent o' the par- sonage-liouses and glebes, the compulsory offi imgf and fees., and all the estates of the Bishops, Cha) lers, Col- leges and other foundations, which, though nwt legally nor necessarily, engrossed by the Church-parsons, are so in fact ; if we include the whole, I am convinced, that this Church-Establishment costs this " enlighten- ed Protestant nation," more than twelve millions of POUNDS STERLING A YEAR ; and thls, too, ohserve, without including further millions that are required to maintain the PoLicE-Establishment and the Troops, which the public papers so frequently exhibit to us as employed iu collecting, or in aiding and defending those who are em- ployed in the collecting of tithes ! This " Church pro- perty," as It is called, must, like the Debt, not be esti- mated by the bare amount of itself, but, there must be added to this amount, the cost of the army, which is required on account of it. If we leave this out of our estimate, we shall be as far short of the true mark, as we should be if we were to leave out of the estimate of the custom and excise taxes the amount of the sala ries of the custom-house and excise ofiScers ; or as il we were, in our account of the cost of post-chaise hire_ to leave out the amount of the sums paid to the post-boy and the ostler. The cost, then, of this establishmeni IS perfectly enonnous : and, what is the establishment worth to the nation ? Is the " service" rendered by this body of persons, called the clergy, worth twelve or fit teen laillions a year? Is it worth one million? Is i( worth one pound ? Is not the nanie of " service" wroii^it 20 INTRODUCTION. ly applied in this case? Has not this establishment nov been proved, by ample experience, to be injurious, ra ther than beneficial, to the country? Ought the incomei to be applied to other public purposes? The stating, and shortly remarking on, a few well-known facts, re- lating to each of the above four classes of "spiritual persons," taking the classes in the order in which they there stand, will enable us to answer these questif^nsj ■nd, if we find the last of these questions to be an- swered in the affirmative ; that is to say, if we find, that these several parcels of public property ought to be applied to other public purposes, there will remain foi us to determine only on the manner and degree, in which it is our duty to petition the King and Parliament to cause the taking away, or alienation, to be made. 29. To begin with the first class, the Tithes and Glebes, or property now possessed by the common par- sons, or parish clergy, it must always he borne in mind, that this property was only so much put into the hands of the priest for the purposes of relieving their indigent parishioners, of showing hospitality to the stranger, of keeping the church m repair and keeping up its orna- ments, and of furnishing a decent maintenance for the parish priests themselves. This was not. only the in- 'ention of the founders and endowers of parish-livings ; but, it was the law of the land as well as the law of the church. In the first volume, paragraph 51, I have shown by a reference to the canon-law, that the poor were to have relief out of the tithes. And, to prove be- vond all doubt, that this was the practice as well as the law, I need only mention an Act of the 15th year of Richard II., which provides that, if the living of the parish be in the hands of any convent, the. convent shall always leave in the hands of their vicar, a part of the income sufficient for the relief of the poor. Another Act, enforcing this Act, was passed in the 4th year of Henry IV. So that it is quite clear, that the tithes, glebe, and all the income of every church living, were to be employed, as far as necessary, in relieving and in otherwise doing good to the poor and the si anger. 30. It is not necessary to sav that the income arisini PROTESTANT REFORMATION. 8) from this class of public property has been wholly di- verted from tiie purposes to which it was, at fiist, dc*. tiued, and to which it was, until the " Reformation," as we Protestants call that sad event, fairly applied. Why, therefore, should these parcels of property re- main any longerj at any rate, in the hands of the pre- sent possessors ? If they would, even now, do as the Catholic priests did ; if they would maintain the poor of their parishes, and would entertain and help all stran- gers in distress ; if they would repair the churches, keep up the ornaments (there are none left, by the by ;) if, m short, they would put an end to poor-rales and church- rates, and keep the poor and repair the church, they might still keep the tithes and the glebes and jiar- Bonage-houses and gardens. But, if they will do nei- ther of these, what reason is there for their having the property ? " They have law for it." Oh, aye ! And the Catholic clergy, and more especially the monks and nuns, had " law for i:" too, and law a little older, at any rate, than the law t.hat our parsons have for it. They have law for it till anoJher law come to take this their law away ; and what reason is there, I again ask, for leaving the property in their possession ? What REASON is there that another law should not come to take this their law away ! 31. Most monstrously have they always been afraid of questions like this. Most anxious have they always been to keep out of sight the origin of the poor-rates. A Hampshire farmer, who had read the " Protestant REroBMATioN," told me a few weeks ago, that, at a meeting, relative to the poor, lately held at the poor- house, in his parish, and at which meeting the parson presided, there was a great deal said about the fright- ful increase of, and great hardship inflicted by, the poor- rates, of which the parson complained more vehemently than any body else. He (the farmer) took this occa- sion to ask, in ail simplicity, of his Reverence, " How tnere came to be such a thing as poor-rates in Eng-- land, and who it was that used to maintain the poor in old times'?" " Well," raid I, "and what did hi jav to you in answer ?" " Zay," replied he, " ha a INTRODUCTION did n't zay much ; but ha screwed down 's irowg, and, looking as black as the very devil ; ha zed, tha< tw'oud be a good deal better if every man wou'd mind 's woan business." This was a pincher indeed ! Our parsons know all about the Catholic cla ms to tithes ; they know all about the collection of tithes ; itll about moduses and endowments and the like ; they have at their Anger's ends all the history of the " su- perstitions and idolatries" of the Catliolic Church ; but Ignorant as horses they appear with regard to the way in w^hich the poor were kept in Catholic times ; and, I can tell you another thing ; namely, that whoever dares to make any thing public on that subject, is, if they can reach him, sure to feel, in some vi'ay or other, the ef- fects of their implacable vengeance ; of the truth of which we have the most complete proof in the curious affair of Mr. Ruggles, to the circumstances of which I have once before merely alluded, but which, in jus- lice to myself as well as my subject, and, which is of Btill more importance, in justice to the middle and working classes of my countrymen, I must here fully relate. 32. In the year 1793, Deighton, bookseller, Holborn. published a book in two vols, octavo, with the follow- ing title : " The History of the Poor : the rights, duties, and the laws respecting them : in a Series of Letters By Thomas Roggles, F. A. S. One of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the Counties of Essex and Suffolk." In this work, Mr. Ruggles explained the foundation of the right of the poor to a maintenance from tlie land ; he explained the principle on which the Catholic Church took charge of the poor ; he traced the Church-estates, including tithes, glebes, personal tithes and all, back to one and the same source ; namely, charity; he insisted, that gifts, out of which the Church-property arose, were gifts not to bishops and priests, or to any religious order, for their own use, but that they were gifts in trust to them for certain purposes, one of which purposes was, the iivaintenance of the poor; and this his doctrine he founded and up- ield on the canons of the Church, on the writings id PROTESTANT REFORMATION. 8i the falhers, on the common-law of England, and on th» stauue-law of Englana. 33. Having established his doctrine of gifts in trus^ he proceeded to inquire, whether this doctrine ought not now to be acted upon ; and, he came to the conclu- efon, that it ought to be acted upon; that, not only the holders of what is still called Church-properly, but the holders of abbey-lands also, ought, even now, to be made to pay annually, towards the maintenance of the poor, a full fourth, at least, of the net yearly profits ot such property, and this, observe, over and above the proportion that might be called for from those who held no such property ! For, he contended, and, indeed, he proved, that the grants of the Parliament to Henry VIII. did not set aside, nor at all enfeeble, the claim of the poor to their share of the benejt of the gifts in tnist ; and thai, though the claim had lain dormant for a long while, it was by no means become extinct. ■In short, he proposed to revive the claim, to act upon It, and to call upon all the holders of Church-property, whether coming from the Catholic seculars or regu lars, whether now held by clerical or lay persons, to give up, if it should be wanted by the poor, a fourth part of the net profits of their estates, be they of what nature they might, for, or towards, the maintenance of the poor, and this, too, over and above the rates paid by other people. He proposed, in short, that the poor should be maintained out of the Church-p'roperty, if a fourth of its income would do it, and, if it would not, he proposed first to take that fourth, and then to raise in the present manner, and by general assessment, whatever might be wanted further. 34. Observe, now, that it was no jacobin, no radical, no republican, who proposed this ; but, in the first place, a land-owner ; in the next place,' a Justice of the Peace in two counties ; in the next place, a most loyal gen- tleman ; in the next place, one of the adorers of the. " Heaven-born' Pitt ; and, lastly, a most zealous Pro. testant, asserting that the Catholic Church had " rested' »n fear and superstition," and that the " Reformation," ipnnging up at the " ma°;ic touch of Henry VIII ,* 84 INTRODUCTION. gave rise to a system " more consonant to the pnnciplei of sober piety and good sense !" A sort of " piety" and " good sense" that had, it seems, Mr. Ruggles, little to do with charity, or with an honest execution of " trusts !" However, such was the author of this book ; such was the maintainer of these doctrines. " And," the reader will exclaim, " why were the doc- trines not acted upon 1" Aye ! that is ihe pith of the Btory : that is the very thing we are going to see. " See !" the reader will exclaim ; " hut, what answer was given to Mr. Ruggles 7" Alas ! reader, no answer was given to poor Mr. Ruggles ; but he soon found himself under the necessity of answering himself. In short HE PUBLISHED A SECOND EDITION OP HIS BOOK, LEFT OUT ALL HIS ABOVE-MENTIONED DOCTRINES AND PROPOSALS, AND ALMOST BEGGED PARDON FOR HAVING PUT FORTH THOSE DOCTRINES AND PROPOSALS ! 35. " What '." exclaims the honest reader, " an En- glishman do this ! an English Gentleman do such a thing as this !" O, yes ! And your " Gentlemen oi England," as that former demagogue and now creeji- ing courtier. Sir Francis Burdett, calls them, have proved to the world, by a long series of acts, that they are, generally speaking, ■ the meanest and most cow- ardly of all mankind. But, what was it, then, thai this poor Thomas Ruggles, Esq., this unfortunate Jus- tice of the Peace for the counties of Essex and Suflblk ; what was it that the poor man left out of his second edition ? We will now see what it was that he left out, what words he ate, in order to appease '.ae wiath of the parsons ; for he expressly says, in the preface to his second edition, that " his principles as a friend ro Tas HlEliARCHY, HAD BEEN SOMEWHAT CALLED IN aOjSSTICN," in Consequence of liis attempt " to revive the claim" of the poor on the revenues of the clergy. I'oor fellow 1 That was enough for him ! He was marked out foi Tengeance : he evidently saw it ; and published hii " second edition" in order to save himself, if possible And, now let us see what it was that the poor, tei nfied " Esquiro" left out. ?5. Tb the Pre'ace t^ his &r%i edition, he is gp«skkif PROTESTANT REFORMATION. Ss9 nf the monstrous burdens on the land, especially of the poor rales ; and, here he says, that, in his book, he hai made an inquiry into the matter. " More especially," says he j and then he. goes on in the following words j andj^mind, these words that I am now going to copy here, are left oOt in the second edition. The pool " 'Squire" re-publishes, in the second edition, the Pre- face to the first edition j and, at the end of the thirteenth paragraph of that pref&ce he leaves out, he sinks, he eats the words, and every word, of the following pas- sage : " More especially as to that part of the case, which relates to the productiveness and application, of those estates which were originally given to the clergy, in trust for eleemosynary purposes ; but if the laity were to claim from the legislature that equity which the Court of Chancery would decree on a bill filed in common cases, on complaint of a cestui que trust ; that the trustees shou]d fOlfil those trusts, for the purposes for which the estate was granted ; a cry of, ' The church is in danger,' much more serious and distress- ing would arise throughout the land, than any attempts of lh« secretaries have occasioned. This also requires the attention of the Minister ; but the pen of no indi- vidual can ever be expected to rouse him to action on this point ; nothing but the public vpice is equal to that effect ; such an equitable decree of the legislature, clashing with the interests of so reverend a portion of our fellow subjects." Poor 'Squire ! He was com- pelled to eat these words even in his Preface ! Bui we are now to see what a dreadful meal, or, rather counter-vomit, he had to undergo, in the work itself. 37. In his 27lh Letter, first edition, after describing the origin ol" tithes, he speaks of the practice as to the distribution of them. The following are his words, which words he leaves out in the second edition.— " That such was their origin, is not only the true the- ory ; but, that, in former days, the practice flowed in conformity with the principle, has been already proved in the instancre o.' an application from St. Augustine to Pope Gregory, with respect to the distribution oi tithes ; from ancient canons of the church, and from 86 INTRODUCTION. other instances, wnerc .he three-fold or four-lold din sion of the tithes was directed, as the sees of the Bi- shop were, or were not, endowed. The writings of the fathers also corroborate the proof of this theory, as well as of the practice ; and the evidence of those wlio firsv held these fiduciary estates for the benefit of the fmoi and the church, is evidence of the highest autiiuriiy. and establishes the most convincing proof. The sia tute law also proceeded on this idea ; or else the lefjis- lature looked on the possessions of the ecclesiastics as the properly of the kingdom, in the reigns of Richard U. and Henry IV." — Yes ! the parsons of Essex and SuflTolk did not like to hear of any "divisions of the tithes, or any distribution of them." They did not like to hear of "fiduciary estates;" that is to say, trust-held estates. And so the poor 'Squire found that his safest way was to swallow all this down again. 38. The next is a still bigger mass for poor 'Squire Ruggles to get back down his throat. He has been, in the sentences immediately preceding what I am now about to quote, speaking of the turbulent times (from Henry V. to Henry VIII., and the still more turbulent in and after this last reign) which caused the above- mentioned claim of the poor to lie dormant. Then he goes on in the words which I am just about to quote, and which words the poor 'Squire has wholly sunt in his second edition : — " No wonder, that" [during the turbulent times, and after the Reformation,] " these claims should have remained dormant, but it by no means follows, as a consequence, that because such rights of charity as these, owing to the rough and un- settled circumstances of the times, were dormant, they should BECOME EXTINCT, especially when so large a por- tion of the revenue still remained to the Church ; the possessors of which, however charitable in their doc- trines, by degrees withorew the rightpdl and ac- customed PROPORTION PF their ESTATES FROM THE RE- PAIR OF CHIIRCHE3 AND THE MAINTENANCE OF THE POOH j and although they still presided in our high courts of conscience, and tnrough the ensuing century gave m thancellors, were, notwiihstandiiig. veiy careful how PROTESTANT REFORMATION. r they purmitted such a claim to be established over the estates of the dissolved monasteries : knowing that their own possessions were neld by the same tenure, given, at first, for the same purposes, and liable to si- milar trusts." — No wonder that the 'Squire's "princi- ples" as a friend to the hierarchy, were somewhat "called in question." No wonder that he was com- pelled to swallow these words. 39. Having told us, that the claims, though they had been dormant, were not extinguished, he proceeded to prove, that the right still existed in 1793, as good as it was, as complete as it was, in the 12th or 14th century, never having been weakened by any positive law. The following is the passage ; most excellent it is ; and it is unnecessary for me to add, that it was left out of the second edition. — " We all know, that a claim to the third or fourth part of the ecclesiastical revenue for the benefit of the poor, is nearly vanished in the oblivion of past times ; but a right may remain, although the nse of it has been long neglected. A maxim of law prevails in ecclesiastical rights, nullum tempus occurrit ecclesia ; the poor are a part of the Church ; the pos- sessions of the Church are the possessions of the poor the revenues have been so styled by the fathers of the Church ; they were obtained in the name of the poor, for the love of God : are not the poor, therefore, per- mitted to claim the benefit of the same maxim ? Is not that the law of the part, which is the law of the whole ? At least there is as much justice in the maxim for the one, as for the other ; therefore, nullum tempus occur- rit pauperibus.. If positive ordinances of the state have not destroyed this right, no length of time should be allowed to weaken it. Let those who doubt the truth of these assertions, find, if they can, aa affirmative in- iTinction, that the Church should hold its revenues free and clear of those trusts, for the benefit of the poor, wnich wer« created by the donors, when they gave their lands and tithes for eleemosynary purposes ; no tucii discharge is to be seen in the Acts of Parliament in the 27 and 31 Henry VIIL, which empowered tin crown til al eiiaip the possessions of the monasteries. «8 INTRODUCTION. those, therefore, who are possessed of estates, whlcK were formerly monastic, held them auoD hoc, subject to the same equitable claim." — Alas ! for poor Jus- tice Ruggles ! No wonder, good Gtod ! tliat his " prin- ciples, as a friend to the hierarchy, were somewha'* ciilled in question." However, here we have law, not only equity, but law also, for going with a demand, if we chose it, on the holders of Abbey-lands for a part, at least, of their revenues ! 40. One more extract shall finish ; and a pretty com plete finish it is : for, it contains nothing short of a pro- position, to take away from all holders of what is, or what ever was, ecclesiastical property, a full fourth part of the net annual profits of such property ! Not a word, not a breath of this, in the 'Squire's second edition ! " Mum !" says the 'Squire ; but I have found out the first edition ; and in that the 'Squire shall now be heard. — " In any future revisal of the laws, respecting the poor, their maintenance, employment, and relief, it may be worth the attention of the legislature to call to mind for what purposes the ecclesiastical revenues of the kingdom were originally granted, to inquire whether Ihey are employed in those purposes ; to investigate the fact, on what trusts and on account of what duties, the clergy originally received the clerical estates ; and to ask whether those duties and those trusts are now fulfilled ? and when they are convinced of the purposes for which those estates were originally granted, and can find no positive law to abrogate those purposes, and perceive that the poor stand as much in need of the performance of those duties, as they did when the estates were first granted to the Church ; the principle on which the legislature should proceed is manifest. 1 am aware of the nature of such investigations, and fully sensible that no man can expect, in those whose per- forniances of the duties, for which they have received iheir estates, is challenged and brought to the test, a favourable audience, nor expect from tnem a candid interpretation of the motives which instigate to the in' luiry ; but be that as it may ; the present situation ol the poor; their wretclied state; their increasing misery PROTESTANT KEFOUMATION. 'ii ihe increasing burthen upon the people for their i.aain- lenance; these warrant the inquiry, the inquiry brings Kj light t.ie evidence; the deductions are the conse- quence of a free and candid use of the reasoning facul- ties ; if any error lie either in fact or argument, candour requires an explanation from those who conceive that there is the least intention in the writer to mislead the judgment of the public ; which explanation will be thankfully received ; as it will, nevertheless, tend to establish one great object of this investigation, that is truth. Assuming, therefore, the foregoing state of the matter as fact, would it be a hard compromise with the possessors of ecclesiastical estates, that those in the possession of lay patrons, on whom no parochial duly IS incumbent, should, after a medium of the poor rates has be?a taken throughout the kingdoni for the last three years, bear the increased expense of llie mainte- nance of the poor alone, until the rate upon their eccle- siastical estates amount to one fourth of the net annual receipt of their profits, before the lay estates be further encumbered; and that the clergy should be rated in the same proportion?" — Not one word of all this in the se- cond edition! 41. These opinions, doctrines, and especially, this last PROPOSITION, to take away a fourth part of the revenues even of the lay impropriators and from the abbey-land holders, as well as from fhe parsons and bishops, must have obtained for, and secured to, poor 'Squire Ruggles a comfortable time of it ! This book came out jusi before high Anti-Jacobin times, when it was pretty nearly as much as a man's life was worth to express a doubt of the excellence of the Church establishment. The Ciurch property and all private estates in general had bean confiscaled, or nearly so, together, in France ; plunder, guillotining, burning of nobles' houses, putting royal persons in prison, and, finally, to death : all these had, in France, come along with, in company with, a taking away of tithes. " Look you there !" said our parsons ; " see the dreadful consequences of touching tithes ! If you touch tithes, you see, plunder, murder; house-burning and king-killing, and atheism must fol 80 INTRODUOTION. low [ They must all follow, if you touch tithee.'' Th.s was the cry ol iht parsons, throughout the whoU of this then deluded country. Every one was called an enemy of God as well as of the King, if he but hinted a doubt of the wisdom of suffering this Church clergy to swallow up so many millions a year. In this state of things, the arrogance of the parsons was beyond de- scription. They were as active as they were arrogant. Anii, at a time when a man dared hardly speak his mind in private conversation, if his sentiments were at all hostile to thfi parsons, judge, reader, of the life thai poor Justice Ruggles must have led, until he publicly, in a second edition, published his recantation, and in the face of the nation, did as good as do penance for his sins against Tom Cranmer's and Old Betsey's Church "asiy law established." Judge of the life that he must have led, at a time, when not to bow to the earth before a Church parson, was to run a risk ot being deemed an atheist and a jacobin, and when such deeming had its practical effects always at hand, ready for the victim. As to tradesmen and farmers, they dared not open their mouths to speak of a parson in any terras but those of positive praise. It was during this "reign of terror," real reign of terror, much more real than it ever was in France, that poor 'Squire Rug- gles recanted ! It is very curious to observe the effect of the reign of terror in this case. The 'Squire wrote llie matter of his book in 1792, and published it in a periodical work, called the " Annals of Agriculture." He piLoIished the first edition, in the book-shape, very early in 1793. Now, observe, the war against France was n3t begun when this edition must have been in the press. So that the reign of terror had not com- menced, and could i:ot have been anticipated, when this f rst edition, with all tae above-quoted passages in it, went to the press from the hands of Mr. Ruggles. But when the second edition went to the press, the reign of terror was iii full swing ; the Act of Habeas Corpus was sus])ended ; and there was an Act to em- power the Ministers to impria.n, just where and when they pleased, any bodv C'Squires not excepted) thay PROTESTANT RKFORMATION. 31 THEY MIGHT suspKCT of treasonable practices ! No wuuder, therefore, that Mr. Ruggles changed his tone, recanted, and expunged the passages which were of- fensive to the parsons, who now saw plenty of barracks and German troops in the country, and who, to use iheir own pliraseology, made the " enemies of social order and our holy religion" shake in their shoes. 42. Without stopping here to congratulate my readers (which, had I room, I would, ,in the strongest and fullest terras that our language admits of) on the change which thirty years of war and borrowing money have produced relative to the jiarsons ; without stopping ic congratulate my readers on the amazing change in the minds of the people, relative to these same Church par- sons, I now proceed again to ask, \'hat reason is there that this great mass of property, now used solely by the clergy, should not be applied to some other public pur- pose ; and, again I come (after my long but most useful digress on relating to Mr. Ruggles ;) again I come, to that class of property,, which is in the hands of the common parsons, or parish clergy. This class of pro- perty consists of several sorts, tithes, great and small, land, glebes, tithes in money, parsonage- houses and gardens, compulsory offerings, compulsory fees. These, like all other religious property, whether secular or re- gular, were made, granted, or established, in trust. The objects, that they were intended to effect, were, to make a sure provision for the poor, to build, repair, and ornamcit churches, to keep hospitality for the stranger,, an ■ •« support unmarried priests, to be the prrsonal fn. ud;;, comforters, advisers, admonishers ol all their paii^ioners ; and, particularly, to teach all the ciiiLDHEN of the parish their moral and religious duties ; and that, too, not by merely the reading of prayers to them and the reading of what are called sermons to them from the desk, or pulpit ; but by personal, indi vidua! teaching, the church being, at certain appointed tiaies of ver/ irequent occurrence, a real religious and moral school. Are these objects now effected by the means of these several sorts of parish-church property 1 Will any man say, that any one of these objects is no^T 12 INTRODUCTION. jffeeted by che parish clergy ? Wilt any man say, tlial any one of these objects is now effected, oi attempted 10 be effected, by means for instance, of the 2s. 9<2. in the pound, which the citizens of London pay, for tithe, on the rack-rent of their houses 1 When that tithe was settled, there were no more poor-rates, no church " rates ; and the poor and church were, of course, to be maintained out of this 2s. 9d. in the pound ; and. as Mr. Ruggles most justly observes, there never has been any law passed to release the city-clergy of this claim on the tithes. 43. Besides, as to the public utility of the thing, it IS perfectly notorious, that there are now about forty different religions, all professing to be founded on the Bible ; it is equally notorious, that a very small propor- tion of the people, even in England and Wales, go to the Established Church, and that in Ireland, there is not above one person out of seven that goes to thai Church. In the Hampshire list of persons taking ou( game certificates for 1825, there was one parson out o* every thirteen persons ; so that, if this were the cast generally, a thirteenth part of all the sportsmen in England consisted of parsons alone. It is notorious, that there is a very large part of the parishes, even in the finest counties m England, in which the parsonage- houses have been suffered to fall down and totally dis- appear ; and it is equally notorious, that, in more than one half of the parishes, there are no houses that the parsons deem fit for them to live in, while, at the very same time, large, even enormous, sums of money have been voted out of the taxes for the " relief of the poor clergy of the Church of England;" It is notorious, that in numerous parishes, the churches have been suf- fered to tumble down, and to leave scarcely a trace be- hind, while the tithes do, nevertheless, continue to be siost rigidly exacted by the parsons. It is notorious that many of the parsons have several livings ; and ^at many receive the tithes for years together, without ever setting their eyes on the parish. It is notorious, that a considerable part of the parish-parsons are, at the. •ame time, colonels, captains, or subakerns, la th« PROTESTANT REFORMATION. 33 army, or navy, and that they continue to receive na.f pay as such officers, though the half-pay is held, by the Government, to be a retaining fee for future service, and though the law forbids these men ever to be mili- tary or naval ofhcers again. Lastly, (for the enumera- tion would never end,) it is notorious that a large pari of tiiese parsons are Justices of the Peace, and are, at the same time, rectors or vicars of several parishet each. 44. It beiug manifest, then, thai the revenues re- ceived by these persons are no applied as they for- merly were, and that they are not applied to any bene- ficial public purpose, we must determine that they ought to be otherwise applied ; that they ought to I'e applied to some really useful public purpose. To what pubL'C purposfc I will speak of by and by, and also of the manner and degree of the alienation, or subtraction. 45. Next come the enormous Revenues of the Bishops, several of whom have died, of late years, each leaving personal property to an amount exceeding two nundred thousand pounds, after having lived in the style of princes. Will any man say, that this ought to be, iind that, at the same time that these men's gains and accumulations are thus going on, the people at large ought to see one million six hundred thousand pounds of the moiiey raised on them, taken from them, in taxes, or out pf public Joans, voted away for the '' relief of the poor clergy of this same church ?" Will any man say , that this ought to be 1 Will any man say it, let him be who or what he may ? 46. As to the Deans and Chapters, of what use are they to the nation ? As far as I have ever heard, it is not even pretended that thpy perform any duty, any ser vices at all to the public, to either king or people : and, besides, the persons who receive the revenues of the Cathedral churches, have generally, if not always, a parish-living besides, at many miles' distance, and, sometimes, two or three such livings '. Yet, as this Second Volume of my work will show, the Chapter! have immense estates. And is there a man on eartJi, except he be one who gains by the thing, who will say M INTRODUCTION Ihat the nati'ori's estates ought thus tc be used ? WU eveii Sir James Graliam say, that the fundholder, wh« has lent his money to those, who, in fact, enjoy the greater part of these' and all such like estates ; will even Sir James Graham say, that a farthing of interest ought to be deducted from the fundholder, while there is any part of this public property unapplied to the liquidation of the debt due to him ! 47. The Colleges present us with another immense mass of public property, from which the parsons and the aristocracy alone derive, or can, under the present regulations, derive any possible advantage. The es- tates of these Colleges' are very great in worth, and, ol course, in yearly amount. This amount is divided amongst parsons, who are the schoolmasters to the aris- tocracy ! As to the nation at large, it can have no share in the benefit produced by these estates, seeing, that the scholars are admitted only on such terms as must effectually shut out all the middle and working elasses. And, are we, then, going to back the men who would strip our neighbours, the fundholders, while these estates remain to be used for the exclusive bene- fit of the aristocracy and their schoolmasters ? These estates, like all those which are held by the rest of the clergy, are public property ; as such they may be dealt with by the King and Parliament. It would be hypo- crisy, calling for the punishment of the cat o'nine tails, to pretend that this great mass of public property, or, hat the whole of the Church Establishment, all taken together, is of any use to the public, as It Is now em- ployed. It Is a large part of the property of the whole country, divided amongst, and enjoyed exclusively by, the aristocracy. That is the real fact. The Bishop , ricks, the Parish-livings, the Deanshlps, the Stalls, the Fellowships, are, in fact, all In their gift. The pro- perty is, in short, the public's in right and in name, »nd the aristocracy's in possession and enjoyment. And, as to its being necessary for the religious instruc- tion of the people, that is the very thing that I have showed to be false, in the vei/ first Paragraph of the first volume of this work to which I beg the readei PROTESTANT REFORMATION. 35 w turn, if he have it not in his recollection. In short, tliis is a great and enormous mass of public propeily now enjoyed "ay the few ; and the time is apparently not far distant, when all men Avill be convinced of the necessity of applying it to purposes of a really public nature, or, in one word, to the liquidation of part of the Debt. 48, With regard to the manner of withdrawmg thu public property from the control that it is at present under, the means would be an Act of Parliament, and proviiled the provisions of the Act were effectual, thf manner might be as mild as the parsons themselves could have demanded, even in " Anti-Jacobin" times, when the workings of our avenging friend, the Debt wjpa not perceived. The degree would be a raattei x ^Jfe difficulty ; or, I should say, it would require a ..ile more thought. There are two opinions Avith .^■jact to new regulations ; the one is, that there ought to remain no Church-establishment at all, bul that each sect, or sort, ought to be left to provide for its own religious instructers. The other is, that there ought to be an establishment upon an almost apostoli- cal allowance. I am for the former ; because, as long as there is an establishment, making a part of the state, there must always be a contest going on amongst the divers sects for a preference of some kind or other. Before, however^ we can say, what the degree of aliena- 'ion or subtraction ought to be, we must know which of these two changes would be adopted. But, one thing I am fixed on, and that is, that I, for my own part, would never join in any petition to king or parlia- ment, for any new modelling or any alienation, or sub- traction, of these public revenues, if such petition stopped short of taking, and applying to public purposes, nine-tenths of these revenues, taken as a whole. 49. If any one should be disposed to characterize such a deduction as harsih, I here, before-hand, beg leave to observe to him, that I have no desire to see any deduction at ail, if the nation can continue to pay the interest of the Debt in full and in gold of standard weight and fineness. I look upon this immense masx S*i INTRODUCTTO'W d( public property as enjoyed almost exclusively ay the aristocracy and its immediate dependants, i do not like this ; but, for me, let it still be thus, if the fund- holders can continue to be paid as I have just stated. But, is there a man in the -world, who will not say, that erery shilling's worth of public property ought to be applied to the payment of the Debt, before a thought be entertained of taking from those who have lent their money, any portion of their right to a demand of pay- ment ? We have seen, that Mr. Ruggles insists on the right, the legal right, of the nation, to demand, that the Abbey lands, that is, that all property seiz^'d and granted a-nay by the "Reformation" sovereigns and Parliaments, ..whether it consist of lay impropria- tions. Abbey-lands, or what not, though now in the hands of lay persons, and deemed private property ; we have seen, that he, who was a landowner, a Justice, and, I believe, a lawyer, insists, that a part of even this property could be legally, and might be justly, applied to the public purpose of relieving the poor. Now, as for me, I never wish to see proposed any measure that shall touch this description of property, which may now fairly be called-private property. But, is. not amt". stock-certificate 5 is not that private property alsi. Has he not, to a certainty, given his money for it Therefore, though God forbid the necessity should arise, I have no hesitation in saying, that I would rather eee even the lay -impropriations and the aK j)y-lands re- sumed by Act of Parliament, than see an Act of Par- liament making a great deduction from the property of the fundholder ; and most assuredly, I would much rather see a resumption of grants by the Crown of the lands and houses and mines and other property, which the Crown has granted away since the reign of Henry VIII., out of the ancient crown estate ; and, as we al- ways ought to bear in mind, which granting away has been the cause of that continual and copious drain, the Civil List. But of all the horrible things in this world, would not the most horrible be, to borrow £1,600,000 to make a present of to the parsons of the Church ; and, '0 reduce the interest of the Debt ; that is to say, to taks PROTESTANT REFORMATION. 37 »vvay a part of the property of the fundholder, who lent the money thus made a present of; to take, I say, part of his property away while the clergy were suf- fered to keep the £1,600,000 ! Observe, that, during the years, durmg all the years, that the Parliament was making tlie Church clergy a present of £. 100,000 a year, the making of loans was going on ■ so that, this £1 00,000 a year, came out of the loans ; it was borrowed money ; the lender is to be paid his interest : and, will any man say, that it is not most horrible to think ot deducting from this interest ; to think ~)i doing this on account of the poverty of the state, while the state suffers the clergy to keep this money ? 50. The thing called Queen Anne's Bounty, is an annual sum, taken from the people, to be given to the Church parsons, in addition to all their monstrous re- venues. What pretty names they give to these things ! The Crown had, for part of its income, the tenths and first fruits of the clergy. Q,ueen Anne was the sove- reign when this branch of income was granted away from the Crown, in order to augment the value of small livings ; but, one good turn deserves another ; such " generosity" in the Q.ueen merited a return ; but, alas ! the people had to make the return; and, accordingly, they have had to pay more to the Civil List ever since, on accoiint of this " Bounty" than the " Bounty" itself amounts to. However, here is another great annual sum (in addition to the tithes and all the other things thai we have before seen) going from the pockets of the people into tliose of the clergy. 51. Here, again, we 'lave another effect of the Pro- testant " Reformation." Before that event there was no Civil List. Poor-rates, Civil List, Q.ueen Anne's Bounty, Septennial Bill, National Debt ; all, yea ail, are the fruit of the event called, "the Reformation;" and, though the rest might, or may be overcome, the Debt cannot, without making a change in that Pro- testant Church, to establish which on the ruins of the Catholic Church, the debt was made ! All history tkough full of instance'? of retribution, does not, I ve- " 'i1t believe, throughout its thousands of volumes, fur i8 INTRODUCTION. nish us with one so complete, so striking, and reading to mankind so tremendous a lesson as this. Here, at this moment, is England, famed, during fifty ages, foi her liberties and her laws ; but, still more famed for the happiness of her people, and the plenty in whiib~ they lived: here she is, and here she has been for years, avowedly in deep distress, engaged in contri- vances for getting rid of her people, who are petitiou- ing to be transported from their native land, in the hope of mending their miserable lot ! Here she is, co- vered with the disgrace of ten times the gaol-room that was formerly necessary, and with that of a regulation, which allots to the convicted felon in her gaols more and better food and raiment than to the honest labour- ing man in her woods and fields ! And, what is the cause of this? The Dedt is the sole cause; for that 'enders monstrous taxes necessary ; they render a great standing army necessary ; so that it is the Debt, and hat alone, which has made England the most degraded and miserable of countries, Ireland always excepted. And what caused the Debt? An Act of Parliament for the making of loans and paper-money. And for what were loans and paper-money made? Why, the very act itself declares, that they were made for the purposes of waging a war, in order " to keep out Popery, and to preserve the Protestant Church as by law established ;" 60 that the Debt is an invention and institution as purely Protestant as half-pay parsons are, or as is the tread- mill itself. And, at last, that Debt, that Protestant Debt, which was created for the declared, nay, the boasted, purpose of preserving this Church, now threat- ens this very Church with deatruetion ; now fixes its ey-es on the property of that Church as the first thing to fly to in case of necessity ; and that such necessity will and must arise, and is even now at harrd, where is the man of sense who does not believe ? And, where is the just man who will liot say, that those who have lent their money for the waging of wars to " keep out Popery," ought not to be bilked of one farthing of theit demand, while there is left to the Protestant clergy a single ear of wheat, or a single blade of s^rass ? PROTESTANT REFORMATION. m 12. Here I conclude. I have (in the first Volume) g. (en a history of the manner in which Church pro- perty had been dealt witli lieretofore. In the second Volume I give an account of the property, show the worth of it, and who has it. In this Intkoduction, I have endeavoured to show, that it is just and reason- able, that the immense mass which still continues to be public property, ought to be dealt with again, and legally applied to purposes really public ; and, as a re- ward for all the labour I have bestowed, I am quilo sa- tisfied with the firm belief, that the day is not far olf. when the knowledge that I have communicated, and when the principles that I have taught, relative to this great subject, will be adopted by persons in authority, and acted upon to thefr full extent Here I had signed my name and was about to put the date. It was on its way from my mind to my hand, when I stopped my hand all at once and exclaimed ; " Good God ! the ninth of July ! the anniversary of my sentence of two years' imprisonment in a felon's gaol, with a fine of a thousand pounds to the Kin^, and, ai the end of the two years, with seven years' bail, mysel! in three thousand pounds and two sureties in a thou- sand pounds each; and all this monstrous punishment for having expressed my indignation at Englishmen having been flogged, in the heart of England, under a guard of German troops ! Good God !" exclaimed 1 again ; " What ! am I, on the anniversary of that day, which called forth the exultation of the Hampshire parsons, who (though I had never committed any of- fence, in private life, against any one of them) crowed out aloud in the fulness of their joy, ' Ha! he's gone fot ever ! He will never trouble us any more !' and wlva., in a spirit truly characteristic of their corps, actually nad, as a standing toast, ' Disgrace to the Memory ot Cobbett.' — What!" exclaimed I again, "and am 1, on the anniversary of that very day, putting the finisiiing hand ; yea, sending from under my fingers to the press, the last, the very last v/ords, the completing words, the closing point, of a worV. which does the Job for them and for all their tribe , of the former part of which to INTRODUCTION. work, I, myself, have sold forty thousand copies, con- lainin? six hundred and forty thousand Numbers ; and which work is now sold in English, in three Stereo- typed Editions in the United States of America ; which work has been published at Madrid and at New York in Spanish, at Paris, Geneva and Alost in French, at Cologne in German, and at Rome in Italian j and all this took place just about sixteen years after these Hampshire parsons had taken for a standing toast : ' Disgrace to the Memory of Cobbett !' " And, then, feeling health and vigour in every vein and in every nerve; seeing Ijmg before me, manuscript (equal to twenty pages of print) written by me this very day; knowmg the effects, which, in the end, that manuscript must have on these paisons, and the great good that it must do to the nation , reflecting, feeling, seeing, know- ing, thus it is, that i, in justice to our pious, sincere, DravBj and wise forefathers, and in compassion to m^ suffering countrymen, and to the children of us al' »end this little volume forth to the world. Wm. cobbett Kennngton, 9th July, 1S37. LIST OF ABBEYS, PRIORIES, &c. BEDFORD (CouMTY.) At Bedford. An Hospital of St. Leonard's Hospi' talers, founded in the reign of Edward IV., by a towns- man, the yearly revenue of which was £16 6s. 8d. w 86 Henry VIII. ; now worth £326 13s. 4d. A Franciscan Friary, founded by Mabilea de Plateshull, in the reign Edward II , valued yearly at £5, now worth £100;* granted, 31 Hen. VIII., to John Gostwyke. At Biggleswade; A Chantry; revenue £7, now worth £140. At BissEMEDE. A Priory of Augustine Canons, found' ed by Hugh Beauchamp, in the reign of Henry II. ; annual revenue, £81 13s. 5+d., now worth £1,623 9s. 2d. ; granted, 29 Hen. VIII., to Sir William Gascoigne. At Caldwell. An Augustine Priory, founded in the reign of John, by Robert of Houghton. Revenue £148 15s. lOd., now worth £2,975 16s. SfZ. ; granted, 5 Eli- zabeth, to Thomas Leigh. At Chicksand. a Priory of Nuns of St. Gilbert, founded, in the year 1150, by Pain de Beauchamp ana his wife. Yearly value, £230 3s. 4J-d., now worth £4,603 7s. 6d Granted, 31 Hen. VIII., to R. Snow, , * All the calcu-itions in this work are in English money, but may be converted into United States' money by reckoning 4s. 6d. to the dollar, and adding eight percent thereto, which is tha usual rate of exchange. This makes the pound sterling about $4.80. Thus as one pound sterling is $4 80: 1002. isMSO— Am. Ed. IS EiNaLAND. At Dunstable. A Priorjr of Aigustine Canoqs, founded by Henry I. Yearly value £402 14». 7^d- Qow worth £6,054 12s. 6f/. Granted to Sir Leonara Chamberlayne. At Eaton. A College, or Guild. Yearly value £7 16*. now worth £156. At Elstow. An Abbey of Benedictine Nuns, four.d- ed by Judith, niece to the Conqueror, and wife to Wal- theof. Earl of Huntington. Yearly value £325 2s. Ij-d, now worth £6,502 2s. 6rf. Granted, 7 Edward Vl,', tc Sir Humphrey Radcliff. At Fakle. An Hospital, founded by Hen. II. Grant- ed, 26 Hen. VIII., to the Provost and Fellows of Cam- bridge College. At Grovesbury. Priory of Aliens, whose posses- sions still remain. Revenue uncertain. At Harwood. a Priorv of Augustine Nuns, founded, in the reign of Stephen, by Sampson Le Forte. Yearly value £47 3s. 2d., now worth £943 3s. Ad. Granted to William Lord Parr, 35 Henry VIII. > At Melchbdrn, or Mechelbubn. A Preceptory of Knights Hospitalers, with a Manor and a Church, set- tled by Lady Alice, or Adelize, de Claremonte, Countess of Pembroke, in the reign of Henry I. The Lands be- longing to this Preceptory were valued at £241 9s. lOd., now worth £4,829 16s., 8d. ; granted, 3 Edward VI., to John Earl of Bedford.' At Mergate, or Market-street. A Nunnery ol Benedictine Nuns, founded in a wood, near this place, in the parish of Caddington, by Ralph, the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, London, in the year 1145. Va- lued, 26 Henry VIII,, at £143 18s. 3d; now worth £2,878 5s. Granted, 2 Edward VI., to George Fer- rers. At Newenham, near Bedford. A Monastery of Au gustine Canons, founded in the reign ( f Henry II., by Simon Beauchamp. Yearly revenue £343 15« 6J. COUNTY OF BERKS. 43 uiW worth i.D,875 8s. 4d.; granted, 32 Henry VIIL, Irt Urian Brereton. At North WELL, Northill, or Norrb^l. A Collegian Church, founded, 6 Heniy IV., by Sir Gerard Bra/- brook, Knt., Thos. Pevre, John Harvey, John Ward, Edin. Hampden, and John Hertshorne, for the souls of Sir John Traylly and son. Yearly value at the disso- lution, £61 5s. 5d., now worth £1,225 8s. id.; grantad, 2 Edward VI., to William Fitzwilliam. At Warden. An Abbey of Cistercian Monks, found- ed, in the year 1135, by Walter Espec. Yearly value £442 lis. lid, now worth £8,851 18s. 4d.; surren- dered, by the Abbot and fourteen Monks, December 4, 1538. At WoBURN. A Cistercian Abbey, founded near thu place, in the year 1 145, by Hugh de Bolebec. Valuei at £430 13s. 11^., now worth £8,613 198. 2d. ; grant' ed, 1 Edward VI., to John Lord Russell. BERKS (County.) At Abingdon. Here was an Abbey of Benedictm ■ the Bishop and his officers. An Augustine Monastery, founded, as some writers say, in the year 6C0, by Merwald, Viceroy of West Mercia ; or, as others, with more appear- ance of certainty, say, by Ethelred, Earl of Mer- cia, in the year 909"; income £90 10s. 2^d. yearly, now worth £1,810 4.b'. 2d. ; granted, 31 Henry VIII., to John Jennings. A Friary, not far from the south gate, founded, before the year 1268, by Lord Berkley ; granted, 35 Henry VIII., to John Jennings. A Monastery of Dominicans, founded, near the Castleyard, by Henry III., in the year 1239; grant- ed, 31 Henry VIII., to Thomas Bell, who made it a drapering house. A Carmelite Friary, founded in the suburbs without the north gate, by Queen Elenor, Sir Tho mas Giflbrd and Sir Thomas Berkley, in the time of Henry III.; granted, 35 Henry VIII., to Richard Andrews and Nicholas Temple. At MiNcnra Hampton. An Alien Priory, accordmg 10 some authors, was founded here very early, but others i!iy, tiiat this idea took rise from the fact that the manor »ras given to the Nuns or Minchinsof the Holy Trinity, in Normandy, by William the Conqueror; revenues Tilued at £117 16s. lid., now worth £2,356 18.s. 4d.,- granted, 34 Henry VIIL, to Andrews Lord Windsor. At Hayles, 01 Tray. A Cistercian Monastery. COUNTY OF GLOUCESTER. 7J founded, in the year 1251, by Richard Earl of Cornwall afterwards King of the Romans and Emperor of Ger- many ; valuation £357 7s. 8^rf., now worth £7,147 14«. 2d. ; granted, 1 Edward VI., to Sir Thomas Seymour, and after his attainder, to William Marquis of North' arapton, 4 Edward VI. At HoRKSLGGH, Or HoHSLEY. An Alien Priory, en- dowed, in the time of William the Conqueror, by Uogei Earl of Shrewsbury; granted, 7 Edward VI., to Sir Walter Dennys. At L ANTONY, near Gloucester. An Augustine Mo- nastery, foundedj in the year 1136, by Milo Earl of Hereford, on the south side of the city ; income £748 I9». llJ-fl!., now worth £14,979 19s. 2d. j granted, 33 Henry VIII., to Sir Arthur Porter. At Leohelade. An Hospital, founded, 30 Henry III.j by Lady Isabel Ferrers; granted, 14 Elizabeth, to Denis Tappes. At NoENT, or Newenton. An Alien Priory, founded^ on the manor given by William the Conqueror to the Convent ,of Corraeili in Normandy ; granted, 1 Edward VI., to Sir Richard Lee. At duEiNiNGTON. A Preceptory of Knights Hospi talers, fouiKl*'* through the bounty of Agnes de Lacy and her daughic. before the reign of John; valued at £137 7s. lid. yearly, now worth £2,747 2s. 6d ; grant- ed, 37 Henry VIII., to Sir Richard Morisine and to Sir Anthony Kingston. At Stanley. A Benedictine Cell, founded, in the year 1136, by Roger Berkley; yearly income £126 0«. 8d., now worth £2,520 13s. id. ; granted to Sir An- thony Kingston. At Stow-on-the-Wold. An Hospital, founded, obout the year 1010, sy Ailmar, Earl of Cornwall and Devonshire , \ ilued at £25 4». id. yearly, now worth £504 6». 8d. t4 ENGLAND. At TdEOKESBURY, Of Tewkesbury.. A BciieJictine Monastery, built and endowed by two brothers, Oddo and Qoddo, in the year 715, but enlarged in the yeai 1102, by Robert Fitz H?.inion,a noble Norman ; valued at £l,59S Is. 3d. yearly, now worth £31,961 5s.; grant- ed, 36 Henry VIII., to Thomas Strowde, Walter Erie, and James Paget. Ai WEgTBUBY ON Thin, or Trymme. a Benedictme Gfll and College, founded, in the year 824, and en- dowed with several lands by Ethelric, son of-Ethel- nhund. Having suffered by wars and other convulsions, It was rebuilt, in the year 1288, by Godfrey Giffard, Bisnop of Worcester ; valued at £232 14s. O^d. yearly, now worth £4,654 Os. lOd. ; granted^ 35 Henry VIII., .0 Sir Ralph Sadler. At WiNCHELCOMBE. A Benedictine Monastery, or Nunnery, founded, 787, by King OfTa ; and in 798, King Ranulph laid there the foundation of a stately Monas- tery i valued at £759 1 Is. 9d. yearly, now worth £15,191 J5s. ; granted, 1 Edward VI., tc Sir Thomas Seymour. HANTS (County.) At South Badeisley. A Preceptory of Knights Templars; valued at £118 16s. 7d. yearly, now worth £2,376 lis. Sd.; granted, 31 Henry VIIL, to Sir Nico- las Throckmorton.' At De Bello Loco Regis, or Beaulieo, in the New Forest. A Cistercian Abbey, founded, by King John, in the year 1204, for thirty monks ; income £428 I6s. 8i-d. yearly, now worth £8,576 4s. 2d. ; granted, 30 Henry VIIL, to Thomas Wriothesley, Esq. At Bromere. An Augustine Monastery, found-ea, by Baldwin de Redveriis, and his uncle, Hugh, in the reign of Henry I.; valued at £200 5s. l^d. yearly, now worth £4,005 2s. 6d.; granted, 28 Hen-y VIIL, tii Henry, Marquis of Exeter. COUNTY OF HANTS. 75 At Burton, i:i the Isle of Wight. A College, found- id, 1282, bjr Jchn de Insula, rector of Shalfleet, and Thomas de Winton, rector of Godshill ; granted, 18 Henry VIII., to Winchester College. Ai Hailing. An Alien Priory, founded, by King William, and afterwards by King Henry I, ; granted. 33 Henry VIII., to the College of Arundel. At Mehewelle. An Augustine Priory, founded, in the reign of John, by Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winches- ter ; granted, 5 Edward VI., to Sir Henry Seymour. At MoTispoNT. An Augustine Priory, founded, by William Brimere, in the reign of John ; valued at £167 155. 8^(Z. yearly, now worth £3,355 14s. 2d. ; granted, 28 Henry VIII., to William, Lord Sandys. At Nettely, near Southampton. A Cistercian Ab- Dey, founded, 1239, by King Henry III.; valued at £160 2s. .9^d. yearly, now worth £3,202 15s, |f • granted, 28 Henry VIII., to Sir William Paulet. At Porchester. An Augustine Monastery, founded, 1133, by King Henry I.; valued at £314 17s. lO^d. yearly, now worth £6,297 17s. 6d. j granted, 30 Henry VIII., to John White. At PoRTESMOUTH. An Hospital, founded, in the time of John, by Peter de Rupibus, Bishop of Winchester ; valued at £33 19s. S^d. yearly, now worth £679 9s. 2d. At duARRER, in the Isle of Wight. A Cistercian Monastery, founded, 1132, by* Baldwin de Redveriis, afterwards EJarl of Devonshire ; valued at £184 Is, lOd yearly, now worth £3,681 ISs. Id.; granted, 36 Henry VIII., to John and George Mills. At RuMESEY. A Benedictine Nunnery, founded, 967. by' Edward, or Ethelwold, a Saxon nobleman ; valuta at £528 8s. lO^rf-yearly, now worth £10,568 19s. 2d. ;. granted, 33 Henry VIII., to John Bellew and R. Pigot At Southampton. An Augustine Priory, built, by Henry I., upon the rive-, two miles above the town re ENGLAND. valued at £91 9«. yearly, now worth £ ,829 ; granted 30 Henry VIII., to Francis Dawtrey. An Hospital, called God's House, founded, ii the time of Henry III., by two brothers Gervaw and Protase, of Hampton, for the poor. St. Mary Magdelan Hospital, founded, 1178, for lepers. A Franciscan Friary, founded, 1240, near tha wall, in the south part of the town ; granted, 36 Henry "VIII., to John Pollard, and, 5 Edward VI., to Arthur Darcy. At TwiNHAM. An Augustine Priory, founded, in the time of Edward the Confessor ; valued at £541 16s. yearly, now worth £10,896 ; granted, 37 Henry VIII., to Joseph Kirton. At Tyohfield. a Premonstratensian Abbey, found- ed, in the time of Henry III., by Peter de Rupibus, Bishop of Winchester; valued at £280 19s. lO^d. yearly, now worth £5,619 19s. 2d.; granted, 29 Henry VIII., to Sir Thomas Wriotheslev, who built a stately house here. At Wherwell. a BenedictiniB Nunnery, founded, by Elfrida, Q,ueen Dowager of King Edgar, in the year 986, to expiate the crime of her being concerned . m the murders both of her first husband, Ethelwolf, that she might be queen, and of her son-in-law, King Edward, that her own son might be king ; here she spent the latter part of her life in doing penance, like David, for her sins, and for regaining, like the prodigal child, the good graces of her heavenly Father ; valued at £403 12s. lOd. yearly, now worth £8,072 18s. 4d. ■ granted, 31 Henry VIII., to Sir Thomas West, lord de la Ware. At Winchester. A Benedictine Priory, founded, M they say, by King Lucius, but destroyed in Diocle- tian's persecution, in the year 266 ; rebuilt, by Deoda:' tttB, the Abbijt, in the year 300 ; the monks were ma» COUNTY OF HANTS. T> laoted, and the house perverted into a temple for ihi idolatrous worship of Dagon, by Cerdic, King of (he West Saxons, but finally restored by the Saxon Chis tian Kings; value, at the suppression, £.1,507 17«. 'ai. yearly, now worth £30,157 3s. 4d. A Nunnery, founded, in the east part of the city by King Alfred ; here St. Kdburg was Abbess ; valued at £179 7s. 2d. yearly, now worth £3,587 3s. id.; granted, 38 Henry VIII., to John Bel- iew and John Broxholme. A Monastery, founded, by King Alfred, for the learned Monk Grimbald, whom he had brought from Flanders. It was removed, 1110, to Hyde, without the city ; valued at £865 Is. &d. yearly, now worth £17,301 Os. lOd.; granted, 37 Henry VIII., to Richard Bethel. St. Elizabeth College, founded, by John de Pon toys. Bishop of Winchester, 1300 ; valued at £1 12 17s. id. yearly, how worth £2,257 6s. 8rf. ;granted, 35 Henry VIII., to Thomas, Lord Wriothesley. Wvkeham College, founded, by the munificent prelate, William of Wykeham, Bishop of Win- chester, 1387, outside the city to the southward ; valued at £639 8s. 7d. yearly, noAv worth £12,788. St. Cross Hospital, founded, south-west of tae town, by Henry le Blois, Bishop of Winchester, in the year 1132, for the whole maintenance of 13 poor brethren in lodging, clothing, and diet, and for dining 100 poor persons every day. In the year 1185, Richard, Bishop of Winchester, made provisioil for dining another 100 poor persons every day ; and, in the time of Henry VI., Cardinal Beaufort made additional provisions for a rector, two chaplains, 35 poor men, and three poor women; value, at the dissolution, £184 4s. 2d. yearly, now worth £3,684 3s. 4d. An Hospital for the poor follr. stood outside th« f8 E.\CfLAiVU. King's Gale, maintained by the Monbs of £ Swithin, uow suppressed. An Augustine Ft'mry, stood a little without tl' south gate, on the way to Hampton ; the site o this as well as of three other Friaries, granted. Grey Friary, founded, by King Henry III., rlcsfl by the east gate, on the inside ; granted, 35 Henr\ VIII. At WiNTENEY. A Cistercian Nunnery, founded, va the time of William the Conqueror, by the son of Pe- ter Jeffrey ; valued at £59 la yearly, now worth £1,181; granted, 30 Henry VIII., to Richard Hill, Esq., Serjeant of the King's Cellar. HEREFORD (ConNXT.) At AcLEY. An Alien Priory, founded, in the year il60, by the ancestors of RoBert Chandos; granted, 33 Henry VIII., to Sir Philip Hobby. At AcoRNEURY. An Augustine Nunnery, founded, by Margery, wife of Walter de Lacy, three miles south of Hereford, in the reign of King John ; valued at £75 7s. 5Jrf. yearly, now worth £1,507 9s. 2d. ; granted, 33 Henry VIII., to Hugh de Harry. At Bromyard. A College, founded, prior to the reign of Henry III. ; granted, 14 Elizabeth, to one Henry James. At Clifford. A Cluniac Priory, founded, in the time of Henry I., by'Simon Fitz Richard; valued at £65 lis. lid. yearly, now worth £1,311 18s. id.-, |ranted, 7 Edward VI., to William Herbert, Earl ol Pembroke. At DoBE. A Cistercian Abbey, founded, in the tuna of King Stephen, by Robert Ewyas; valued at £11S COUNTY OF HEREFORD. /9 8». yearly, now worth £a,362 ; granted, 31 Henry VIII., to jotiu Scudamore. At DvNMORB. An Hospital of Knights Hospitalers, founded, by Sir Thomas , a brother of the onler in the time of Henry II. ; granted, 2 Edward VI., to Sir Thomas Palmer. At Flanesford. An Augustine Monastery, founded 1347, by Richard, Lord Talbot ; valued at £15 8s. 9(i yearly, now worth £303 15s. ; granted, 30 Henry VIII., to George, Earl of Shrewsbury. At Hereford. A Cathedral, founded here, in the year 680 ; again destroyed by the wars, and rebuilt by William the Conqueror ; valued, at the general sup- pression, £S31 4s. Id. yearly, now worth £16,624 Is. 8d, A Benedictine Cell, founded here very early, but enlarged in after times by several benefactors ; valued at £121 3s. 3^rf, yearly, now worth £2,423 5s. Wd. ; granted, 34 Henry VIII., to John ap Rice. St. John's Hospital of Templars, stooa in the suburbs, without the north gate ; granted, 6 Eliza- beth, to Robert Freke and John Walker. A Friary, founded, in the time of Edward III., m the north suburbs, by Sir John Daniel ; granted, 5 Elizabeth, to Elizabeth Wynne. A Friary, founded, without the Freregate, by Sir William Pembrugge, in the tmie of Edward I. ; granted, 36 Henry VIII., to James Boyl«. At KiLPECKE. A Benedictine Ceil, founded, about 1134, by Hugh, the son of William the Norman , panted, 13 Henry VIII., to the Bishop of Gloucester. At Leominster. A Benedictine Cell, founded, about 660, by Merwald, King of West Mereia, bu destroyed and rebuilt in after times ; valued at £660 16s.'Sd. yearly, now worth £13,216 13s. ■\d.; grautei 'o the Bailiffs and Burgesses of the town. ISO EI\GI;;ut the year 1155, by William de Wideville; rents £305 8s. 5id., now worth £6,108 3*. 2d., granted, 10 Elizabeth, to Sir Christopher Hatton. At TowcESTER. A College, founded, in the time ol Henry VI., by William Sponne, D. D., pastor of the town ; rents £19 6s. 8d., now worth £386 13s. 4d. ; granted, 4 Edward VI., to Richard Heyboum and Wil- liam Dalby. At Wyrthohp. a Benedictine Nunnery, founded in the time of Henry I, ; granted, 32 Henry VIII., to Richard Cecil. NORTHUMBERLAND (County.) At Alnwick. A Premonstratensian Abbey, founded, m the year 1147, by Eustace Fitz\ John ; value £194 7s. yearly, now worth £388 7s. ; granted, 4 Edward VI., to Ralph Sadler and Laurence Winnington. At Blanca Landa. A Premonstratensian Abbey, founded, in the year 1165, by Walter de Bolebec ; yearly value £44 9s. l^d., now worth £889 2s. 6d. ; granted, 37 Henry VIII., to John Bellew and John Bro:^olm. At Bhekenburne. An Augustine Priory, founded in the reign of Henry I., by Osbertus Colutarius ; yearly value £77, now worth £1,540 ; granted, 4 Edward VI., to John, Earl of Warwick. At HAMBnRGh. An Augustine Cell, fonnded by Henry I. ; yearly value £124 15s. 7d., now worth £2,496 lit. 8(2. ; granted, 3T Henry VIII., to John Fostei. 122 ENGLAND. At Hexham. a Cathedral Church Abbey, and Au- 5U9tiue Priory. St. Wilfrid and St. Etheldreda the dueen of Egfrid, King of Northumberland, founded, in the year 674, a Church and Monastery of the finest architecture ever seen in these parts of Europe. The Priory was founded in the reign of William the Con- queror, by Archbishop Thomas; revenues at the disso- lution, £138 Is. 9d., now worth £2,761 15s. ; granted, 3C' Henry VIIL, to Sir Reginald Carnaby. An Hospital, founded, in the time of John, it is thought, by the Archbishop of York ; granted, 3C Henry VIIL, to Sir Reginald Carnaby. At Holm. A Carrnelite Friary, founded, in the year 1240, by John Lord Vesci ; granted, 6 Elizabeth, to Thomas Reve, and William Ryvet. At LiNDisrAHNE. A Cathedral Church and Benedict- me Cell. King Oswald gave this Island, in the yeai 635, to St. Aidan, who came froni Scotland to plant Christianity in Northumbria, and there fixed his see. The Cell was founded, in the year 1082 ; yearly value £60 5s., now worth £1,205 ; granted, 33 Henry VIIL, to the Dean and Chapter of Durham. At Lambley upon the Tyne. A Benedictine Nun- nery, founded, by King John, in honour to St. Patrick ; yearly revenue £5 15s. 8d., now worth £115 13s. id. ; granted, 7 Edward VI., to John, Duke of Northumber- land. At Nesseham. a Benedictine Nunnery, founded, it IS thought, by Lord Dacres ; yearly value £26 9s. 9d., now worth £529 15s. ; granted, 32 Henry VIIL, to James Lawson. At Newcastle. A Benedictine Nunnery, built in Jhe reign of William the Conqueror ; yearly value £37 is. 2d., now worth £744 3s. id. ; granted, 36' Henry VIII., to William Barentine and others. St. Catherine's Hcspital, built in the reign o{ COUNTY OF NORTHUMBERLAND. 123 Henry IV., by. Roger Thornton; yearly income £8 0«. Id., now worth £160 Is. Sd. St. Mary the Virgin's Hospital, built in the reign of Henry III.; yearly value £26 13s. 4<2., now worth £533 6s. Bd. ■ St. Mary the Virgin's Hospital, the second ol that name, founded, in the reign of Henry I. St. Mary Magdalen Hospital, founded, by Henry I. ; yearly value £9 lis. 4d., now worth £191 6s. 8a, An Augustine Friary, founded by Lord Ross ; granted, 5 Edward VI., to John, Duke of Northum- berland. A Black Friary, founded, in the year 1260, Dy Sir Peter and Sir Nicholas Scot ; granted, 35 Henry VIII., to the Mayor and Burgesses of the town. A Carmelite Friary, founded, by Richard I. ; granted 37 Henry VIII., to Richard Qresham and Richard Billingford. A Trinitarian Friary for.the redemption of Cap- tives, founded by William Wakefield, the master ; granted, 37 Henry VIII., to Richard Gresham and Richard Billingford. At Novum MoNASTERinM, near Morpeth. A Cister- sian abbey, founded; by Ranulph de Merlay, in the year U3S; yearly value £140 10s. id., now worth £2,'81C 6s. 8d. ; granted 7 James I., to Robert Brandling. At OviNGHAM. An Augustine Cell, founded, by Mr. Ufranville ; rents £13 4s. 8d., now worth £268 13s. id. At TiNMouTH. A Benedi:tine Cell, founded, by Su Oswald, the first Christian King of Northumberland. St. Herebald was Abbot here in the begiiming of the eighth century. Yearly value £511 is. ld.,'now worth £10,224 Is. 8d. ; granted, 5 Edw.ard VI., to John, Du> of Norlhumberland, 134 ENGLAND. NOTTINGHAM (ConMTT.) At Beadvalb. a Canhusian Prioiy, founded, 11 Edward III., by Nicholas de Caatilupo ; valued at £227 8«. yearly, now worth £4,548; granted 4 Edward VI., tc Richard Morison. At Blyth. a Benedictine Priory, founded, m the year 1088, by Roger de Builly; rents £126 8s. 2id. yearly, now worth £2,528 4«. 2d. ; granted, 35 Henry VIIL, to Richard Andrews and William Ramesden. An Hospital, founded, for the sick, by William de Cressy, Lord of Hodesac ; yearly value £S 14s., now worth £174. At Brodholm. a Premonstratensian Nunnery, found- ed in the reign of Stephen, by Agnes de Camvile ; yearly revenue £16 5». 2d., now worth £325 3s. 4d. ; granted, 6 Elizabeth, to John Caniers and William Haber. At Clifton. A College, founded, in the year 1156, Dy Ralph Brito ; rents £61 4s. 8d., now worth £1,224 iSs. 4d. ; granted to Attthony Strelly. At FiSKABTON. An Augustine Cell, founded, by Ralpii de Ayncourt ; granted to Edward Fynes, Lord Clinton, and Thomas Morison. At Lenton. A Cluniac Priory, founded, by William Peverellj in the reign of Henry I.^ rents £417 19s. 3d., now worth £8,359 5s. ; granted, 5 Elizabeth, to John Harrington. At Marshb. a Benedictine Cell ; valvied yearly at £63 6s. 8d., now worth £1,266 13s. 4d. At Mattbrsey. a Gilbertine Priory, founded, in tae year 1192, by Robert de Maresey ; granted, 31 Henry VlH., to Anthony Neville, Esq. At Newark. An Hospltalj founded, by Alexandei Bishop of Lincoln, in the reign of Henry I. ; yearlj revenue £17 Is. 9j-d., now worth £341 15«. lOd. COUNTY OF NOTTINCiHAM. 12J An Augustine Friary; granted, 35 Heiiiy VI 11^ John Andrews. Ai Newstead. An Augustine Priory, built by Henry II. in the year 1170 j yearly revenue £219 ISs.- 8h-d^ now worth £4,398 14s. 2d; granted, 32 Henry Vfll., to Sir John Byron. At Nottingham. St. Jones' Hospital, for the sick poor, founded before the time of John ; rents £4 13«. id., now worth £93 6s. Sd. Plumtree's Hospital, founded, 16 Richard II., by John Plumtree, for poor old widows ; rents £1 1 Is., now worth £221. A House of Grey Friars, founded, Henry III., in the year 1250; granted, 2 Edward VI., to Tho- mas Heneage. A Carmelite Friary, founded about the year 1276,' by Lord Grey, of Wilton, and Sir John Shirley , granted, 33 Henry VIII., to James Hurley. At RoDiNGTON., A College, founded, by William Babington, Esq., in the time of Henry VI., rents £30, now worth £600 At RuTFORD. A Cistercian Abbey, founded, in the year 1148, by Gilbert, Earl of Lincoln ; value £254 6s. Sd., yearly, now worth £5,086 13s., 4rf. ; granted to George, Earl of Shrewsbury. At Shelford. An Augustine Priory, founded in ihe time of Henry II., by Ralph Hanselyn ; rents £151 14s. Id., now worth £3,034 Is. 8d. ; granted, 31 Henry VIII., to Michael Stanhope. At SiBTHOHP. A College, founded, in the tmie oi Edward II.", by Geffrey le Scrop ; rents £25 18s. 8rf., now worth £518 13s. id. ; granted, 37 Henry VIIL, to Richard Whalley and Thomas Magiius. At Southwell. A College, founded, in the year S30, by Paulinus Archbishop of York; woith, a' the 11* .36 ENGLAND. f atuation of 26 Henry VIII., £516 U. &id., now worti £10,321 10«, lO'i. Ai Stoke, by Newark. An Hospital for sick per- i:ns, fouailed, very early ; valued at £9 yearly, noT» worth £IS0 ; granted, 18 Elizabeth, to John Mersh and Francis Greneham. At TfUJRGARTON. An Augustine Priory, founded, in the year 1130, by Ralph de Ayncourt; yearly value £359. 15s. lOd., now worth.X7,195 16s. 8d.; granted, 30 Henry VIII., to William Cooper. At Walmngwells. a Benedictine Nunnery, found- ed, in tlie reign of Stephen, by Ralph de Cheurolcourt j yearly income £87 lis. 6di, now worth £1,751 IDs. j granted, 6 Elizabeth, to Richard Pype and Francis Boyer. , At Welbeck. a Premonstratensian Abbey, founded^ in the year 1153, by Thomas Joeei ; yearly income £293 4s. 8il, now worth £5,964 13s. 4d. ; granted, 3C Henry V-III., to Richard Whalley. At WinKESOP, or Radpcrd. An Augustine Priory, founded, 3 Henry 1., by William de Luvetol ; yearly value £302 6s. lOd., now worth £6,046 16s. 8d.} granted, 33 Henry VIIl., to Francis, Earl of Shrewi bury. OXFORD (County.) At Banbury. A College j yearly income £48 6«, sow worth £966. An Hospital for several sick persons, founded, in the reign of John ; yearly value £15 Is, lOd., now worth £301 6s. 8d. At Bboeria, or Brpbkne. A Cistercian Abbey, founded, in the yea/ 1147, by Nicholas Basse*; yearly COUNTY OF OXFORD. 187 raliie S. 124 10s. lOt/., now wortli £2,490 16*. 8d, , f^ranied, S James I., to Sir Anthony Coke. At BcHOESTER. An Augustine Priory, founded, ia the year 1182, by Gilbert Basset, Baron of Hedington; yearly value. £167 2«. lOrf., now worth £3,342 16^. Bd. ; granted, 30 Henry VIII., to Charles, Duke oj Suffolk. At BuRKORB. An Hospital; valued at £13 83. 6«f., now wonli £206 10s. ; granted, 35 Henry VIII., to Ed-, ward Herrhan. At Caversham. An Augustine Cell, founded in the year 1162. At Charleton. An Alien Priory, founded, in the year lOSl, by Hugh Grentemoisnil ; granted to Sir Thomas White and others. At Clattercote. a Gilbertine Priory, founded in the lime of King John; yearly value £34 19s. lid., now worth £699 18s. id. ; granted, 2 Elizabeth to Thomas Lee. At Crowmersh. An Hospital, built before the year 1248 ; granted to Thomas Gratewick and Anselm Lamb. At Dorchester. An Augustine Priory, founded, m the year 1140, bv Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln; yearly value £219 12s. OiJc/., now worth £4,392 Os. lOd. ; granted, 30 Henry VIII., to Edrrund Ashfield. At Egnesham. A Benedictine Abbey, founded, in (he year 1005, by Ailmer, Earl of Cornwall ; yearly value £441 16s \d., now worth £8,836 Is. 8cZ. ; grant- ed, 35 Henry Vlll., to Sir Edward North and William Darcy. At Ewelme. An Hospital for the Poor, founded, m the year 1437, by William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk . yearly value £20. now worth £400. At GoDESTON. A Benedictine Nunnery, founded, bv Editha, a religious ■voman. in the reign of Henry I. 138 ENGLAND. fearly value £319 18«. 8d., now worth £6,398 13*. 4t/. granted, by Henry VIII., to his Physician, Docto' George Owen. At Goring. An Augustine Nunnery, founded ir in the time of Henry II. ; yearly value £60 5s. &d. now worth £1,205 10s. ; granted, 30 Henry VIII., to Charles, Duke of Suffolk, and afterwards to Sir Tho- mas Pope. At GosFORD. A House of Hospitalers, founded, iv the year 1180, by Robert D'Oily, granted, 34 Henry VIII., to Anthony Stringer and John Willianis. At LiTTLEMORE. A Benedictine Nunnery, founded m the reign of Henry II. ; yearly value £33 6s. 8d., now worth X666 13s. id. ; granted, 38 Henry VIII., to VVilliam Owen wid John Bridges. At Norton. An Augustine Priory, founded, in th« reign of Henry II., by William Fitz Alan; yearly value £50, now worth £1000 ; granted to tht Brazen Nose College Oxford. At AsENEY. An Augustine Priory, built, in thr year 1129, by Robert D'Oily, on an island in the river near the Castle of Oxford ; yearly value £755 18s. Q^d. now worth £15,118 10s. Wd. At Oxford. St. Frideswide's, now Christ Church King Didanus bulk this as a Nunnery, in the yeai 730; his own daughter Frideswide, who was after- wards canonized, had presided there. It became, i^ the course of time, a Priory, which was suppressed by ' virtue of a Bull from Pope Clement VII., dated April b. 1525 ; and the site and lands granted to Cardinal Wolsey, who founded there a noble College for -d Dean, Sub-dean, one hundred Canons, thirteen Chap lains, professors of the Canon and Civil Law, Physic, . and of all the Arts and Sciences, and other persons, te ' the number of 186 in the whole. The revenues were valued at £224 4s. 8d., now worth £4,484 13s. id. Il supports now a Dean, eight Canons, one hundred ani? COUNTY OF OXFORD. 129 (ue Students, eight Chaplains, eight Clerks, eight Cho- risteis, twenty -four Almsmen, &c. St. George's CoUegej founded, in the year 1149, on the ruins of an ancient Monastery, which wag built by Robert D'Oily and Roger Tueri All Soul's College, foundedj in the year 1438, by Henry Chicheley, Archbishop of Canterbury, for a Warden and' forty Fellows, with Chaplains, Clerks, and Choristers ; yearly value £39S "is. 3d., now worth £7,842 5s. Baliol College, built by the widow of Sir John Baliol, in the year 1284, for poor Scholars ; year- ly value £74 3s. Ad., now worth £l,4Sa 6s. %d.\ it now consists of a Master, 12 Fellowa, and 14 Scholars. St. Bernard's College, founded, in the year 1436, by Henry Chicheley, Archbishop of Canterbury, for monastic Students ; the revenues and buildings were converted in the year 1555, to support what is called St. John the Baptist. Brazen Nose College, built by William Smith, \ Bishop of Lincoln, and Sir Richard Sutton, in the year 1511, for a Master and several Students Canterbury College, founded, in the year 1349, by the most Reverend Simon de Islip, Archbishop of Canterbury, to repair tlie chasm which was made in the Clergy by the pestilence ; he purcha- sed some lands and built on it this, under the name of Canterbury Hall, for Students in the Canon and Civil Laws. It was made, 38 Henry VIII., a part of Christ Church College. Corpus Christi College, built in the year 1513, by Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester, and Hugh Oldham, Bishop of Exeter, for Augustine Stu- dents ; yearly value £382 8a. 9d., now worth £7,648 15s.; supports at present a Superior, twen- ISO ENGLAND. ty FeLlows, twenty Scholars, two Cbaplaius, a»ficholas Temple. A House of Grey Friars, founded, in the reign of Henry III., by Ilawise, Countess of Powis; granted, 35 Henry VIIL, to Richard Andrews mi Nicholas Temple. 136 ENGLAND. At ToNGE. A College, founded, m the year lil<\ by Isabel, widow of Sir Fulk Pembroke and the Reve- rend William Swan, and the Reverend William Mosse; valued yearly at £22 8s. Id., now worth £448 Is. 8d. I granted, 1 Edward VI., to Sir Richard Man- ners, At Wenlock. A Cluniac Piiory, founded, 14 Wil nam the Conqueror, by Roger of Montgomery, Earl of Arundel and Chichester, on the ruins of a Nunnery, founded, in the year 680, by St. Milburga, daughter of King Merwald ; yearly value £434 Is. 2^d., now worth £8,681 4s. 2d. ; granted, 36 Henry VIII., to Augustino de Augustinis. At WoMBRiDE. An Augustine Priory, founded, in the reign of Henry I., by William Fitz Alan ; revenues at tlie dissolution, £72 15s. 8d., now worth £1,455 13s. id. ; granted, 31 Henry VIII., to James Leveson. At WooDHOusE. An Augustine Monastery, given to that order by the Tuberville family, in the year ' 1250 ; granted to Thomas Reeves and George Cotton. SOMERSET (CoDNTY.J At Athelney. a Benedictine Abbey, founded, in tne year 888, by King Alfred ; yearly value £209 Os. 3rf., now worth £4,180 SsT; granted, 36 Henry VIII., 10 John Clayton. At Barlinch. An Augustine Priory, built in the re-.g!? of Henry II., by William Say ; yearly value £98 l4s. Sd., now worth £1,974 13s.^4rf.; granted, 30 Heniy VIII., to Sir John Wallop. At Bath. A Cathedral, founded, in the reign of Henry I., by John Bishop of Wells, on the ruins of a Benedictine Abbey, which was originally built, 676, by King Osric, but destroyed and rebuilt several times COUNTY OF SOMERSET. 1S7 afterwards ^ yearly value £695 6s. 1-J^d., no worth £13,806 2s. Qd. ; granted, 34 Henry VIIL, to Humphry Colles. St. John's Hospital, near the Cross and Hot Baths, founded, in the year 1180, by Reginald Bishop of Bath, for poor strangers j yearly value £22 16s. 9d., now worth £456 15«. ; granted, by Elizabeth, to the Mayor and Corporation. At Bearwe, or Borrow Gurney. A Benedictine Nunnery, founded, in the year 1200, by Gurney, Lord of Stoke Hamden ; yearly value • £29 6s. 8o., now worth £586 13s. id. ; granted, 36 Henry VIII., to William Gierke. At Bridge Water. St. John's Hospital, founded, before 15 John, by William Bruer, for Secular Clergy, under condition of keeping hospitality for the poor natives, and for strange pilgrims; yearly value £120 19s. IJ-d., now worth £2,419 2s. 6d.; granted, 34 Henry VIII., to Humphry Colles. At Bruton. An Augustine Priory, founded, in the year 1005, by Algar, Earl of Cornwall ; yearly value £480 17s. 2d., now worth £9,617 3s. id. ; granted, 37 Henry VIIL, to Maurice Berkely. At MiNCHiN Bdokland. A Nunnery and Hospital of Hospitalers, founded, about the year 1180, by Henry II. ; yearly value £223 7s. Ad., now worth £4,467 6s. 8d. ; granted, 36 Henry VIIL, to Alexander Popham and William Halley. At Berkfly. An Augustine Priory, built in the year 1199, by William of Edingdon ; yearly value £6 5a. ttj^d., now worth £125 4s. 2d. ; granted, 7 Edward VI^ to John and James Bisse. At Canyngton. a Benedictine Nunnery, founded, la the reign of King Stephen, by Robert de Courcey j f early value £39 15s. 8a., now worth £795 13* id, . granted, 30 Henry VIIL, to Edward Roiiers. 12* 138 ENGLAND. At Clyve, or Cliff. A Cistercian Abbey, founded, m the year 1188, by William de Romare, Earl of Lin- coln ; yearly value £155 9s. 5d., now worth £3,109 Ss. id. ; granted, 33 Henry VIII., to Thomas, Earl ol At Temple Comb. A House of Hospitalers, founded in the year 1185, by Serlo Odo ; yearly value £128 7s. 6d., now worth £2,567 10s. ; granted, .S4 Henry VIII,, to Richard Andrews and Leonard Chamberlayne. At DutiSTEB. A Be^ledictin^ Cell, founded, m the time of WilUstm the Conqueror, by Sir William de JVIahun ; yearly value £37 4s. 8d, now worth £744 13s. 4d. ; granted, 34 Henry VIII., to Humphry CoUes At Glastonbdry. a Benedictine Monastery, found- ed, as historians say, by Joseph pf Arimathea. The first congregation of Mon^ks, they say, were brought together by a disciple of St. Patrick, in the year 435. Yearly value £3,508 13s. 4irf., now worth £70,173 7s. 6d. ; granted, 1 Edward VI., to Edward, Duke pf Son^erseit, and 1 Elizabeth, to ^ir Peter Carew. At Keynsham. An Augustine Priory, founded, in the year 1170, by William, Earl of Gloucester; yearly value £450 3s. 6d., now worth £9,003 10s., granted, 6 Edward VI., to Thomas Bridges, Esq. At Michelney. a Benedictine Monastery, fcunde^, m the year 939, by King Athelstan ; yearly value £49,£i 16s. 3^d., now worth £9,976 5s. lOd. ; granted, 29 Henry VHI., to Edward, Earl of Hertford. At Martock. a Priory, granted, 34 Henry VIII., to Humphry CoUes. At Charterhouse dn Men dip. A Cell, granted, 30 Henry VIII., to Robert May. At MpNTEOcTE, oLiM MoNs AcuTDs. A Cluuiac Pri- ury, founde4, by William the Cpnquerpr ; yearly vahw £524 lis. 8d.^ now worth £10,491 13s, 4d. ; granted, 16 Elizabeth, to Robert, Earl of Leicester. COUNTY OF SOMERSET. 139 At Slaverdale. An Augustine Priory, built by Sit Williaid Zouch; gtahted, 36 Henry V III., to John.. Earl of Oxford. At STOKE CuRCY. An Alien Priory, founded, in the reign of Henry II. ; valued at the dissolutiot at £58, now worth £1,160. At Stoke. A College, foundedj in the year 1804. by Sir John de Bello Campo ; granted, 2 Elizabath, to Cuthbert Vaughan. At Taunton. An Augustine Priory, built in the reign of Henry I., by William GifTard, Bishop of Win- chester ; yearly value £438 9s. 10c/., now worth £8,769 16». 8d. ; granted, 36 Henry VIII., to Mathew Cole- hUtst. . At Wells. A Cathedral Church, built in the year 704, by King Ina ; enlarged afterwards by different Bi- ihops ; revenues of the Bishop were valued at £1,843 19*. id., and of the Canons £897 Ss. lid., both sums now worth £54,825 58. Mauntery College, built in the year 1401, by Ralph Erghum, Bishop of Bath and Wells, for the Clergy of the Cathedral; yearly vatlufe £11 18«. 8d., now worth £238 13.s. id. ; granted, 2 Edward VI., to John Aylwoith and John Lacy. Vicar's College, began by Walter de Hull, Ca- non ; enlarged, in the year 1847; by Rad. de Sa- lopia. Bishop of Wells : yearly value £72 10s. 9J-d., now worth £1,450 15s. lOd. Brigstreet Hospital, founded, for twenty-four poor persons, by Nicholas Buthwitfa, Bishop of Bath, about the year 1424, but maintains now, they say, only twenty. St. John's Hospital, foutided, ir the reign of King John, by Hugh of Wellsj afterwar-ls Bishop of Lincoln ; yearly value £41 3s. 64 d., now worth £823 10s. Wd. ; granted, 13 Elizabeth, to Christo pher Kattob. m ENGLAND. At WiTHAM. A Carthusian Prior/, built and en- dowed by King Henry II.; yearly value £227 1». 8d., now worth £4,541 13s. 4d. ; granted, 36 Henry VIII., tc Ralph Hopton. At WoRSPRiNG. A Regular Priory, founded, in the fear 1210, by William de Courtney ; yearly value £110 188. 4^d., now worth £2,218 7s. M. ; granted, 2 Eliza- Dflth, to William and John Lacy. At Bristol. A Benedictine Priory, built by Robert, wn of Henry I., in the north east of the city ; granted, 35 Henry VIII., to Henry Brayne. Great St. Augustine's, now Holy Trinity and Cathedral, founded, in the ye IH; bt Richard Peche, Bishop of Country and Lie iteld' lU ENGLAND ralue £]98 Os. aj-d. yearly, now worth £3,9ftC 15.1. lOrf. ; granted, 31 Henry VIII., to Doetoi .Rowland Lee, Bisnop of Coventry and Lichfiel I. St. John's Hospital, for poor brethren. St. Leonard's Spy tell, or Free Chapel-; value £4 12s. 4d. yearly, now worth £92 6s. 8d. A Franciscan Friary, founded 10 Edward I. j valued at £35 13s. lOd, now worth £713 16s. 8rf. , granted, 31 Henry VIII., to James Leveson. An Augustine Monastery, founded, in the year 1344, by Ralph, Lord Stafford; granted to Tho- mas Neve and Giles Isam. At Stone. An Augustine Priory, built originally cy Wolphere, King of Mercia, for the salvation of hi? two sons Wolfadus and Rufinus, whom he murdered before his conversion to Christianity, in the year 670. Rents £119 14s. 11, H-, now worth £2,394 19s. 2rf.; granted, 30 Henry VIIL, to George Harper. At Tamwqrth. a College ; St. Kditha, daughter o< Edgar, founded here a Convent, which became a Co! lege afterwards, and valued at £42 2s. 4d, now worth £842 6s. 8d. ; granted, 23 Elizabeth, to Edward Down- ing and Peter Ashton. An Hospital, founded, 15 Edward 1., by Philip Marroion, for the Premonstratensian Friars; anS ne gave them in Ashfield pasture for four oxen and two Lo/ses, under condition of praying for his soul; yearly value £3 6s. 8d., now worth £66 13s. id. At Tet^nhall. a College, founded, in King Ed- gar's reign; value £21 6s. 8(i. yearly, now worth £426 I3». id. ; granted, 3 Edward VI., to Walter Wrottesley At Triceingham. An Augustine Priory, founded, in the time of Henry I., on the ruins of a convent. founded, in the year 680, by King Ethelred, for hii daughter, St. Werburgh, who died.thare an Abbess COUNTY OF StFFOLK. 145 ralue £ 06 3s. lOd. yearly, now worth £2,123 16«. 8c/. ; granted, 30 Henry VIII., to Charles, Duke of Suffolk. At TuTBURY. A Benedictine Priory, founded, in the year 1080, by Henry de Ferrers ; rents £244 16». 8d., now worth £4,896 13s. id. ; granted, 6 Edward VI., to Sir William Cavendish. At Wolverhampton. A College, or Monastery, built in the year 996, and amply endowed by a pious widow, Wulfruna; underwent many alterations in af- ter times, and finally became one of the King's Free Chapels ; the Deanery valued, 26 Henry VIIL, at £38 yearly ; and five Prebends £28 ; both sums would make now £1,320; granted, 7 Edward VI., to John, Duke of Northumberland. SUFFOLK (County.; At Albnsbornb. An Augustine Pnory, founded, before the year 1446 ; granted, 33 Henry VIII., to Sir John Wingfield. An Hospital of Templars, founded, in the time of Henry II. ; rents £53 10s., now worth £1,070 ; granted, 35 Henry VIIL. to Sir Richard Gresham At Bliburoh. An Augustine Priory, settled, by Henry I. ; rents £48 8s. lOd., how worth £968 16s. 8d. j granted, 30 Henry VIIL, to Sir Arthur Hopton. At Brusyard. a Nunnery of Minoresses, founded, at Ash, by Maud, Countess of Ulster, in the year 1354 j yearly value £56 2s. Id., now worth £1,122 1«. 8d, granted, 30 Henry VIIL, to Nicholas Hare. At Bukgay. A Benedictine Nunnery, founded, ii the time of Henry II., by Roger de Glanville ; valu« £62 2s. lid. yearl-y, now worth £1,242 2s. 6d. , granted 29 Henry VIIL, to Thomas, Duke of Norfolk. 146 ENGLAND. At BcRY St. Edmond. A Benedutine Abbey, founded, in the year 633, by Segebert, King of tli« East Angles, who, quitting his crown, became a reli- gious there. The place took its name iroitl the body of St. Edracad, King, that was translated thither, in the ear 903, valued, at the dissolution, at £8,336 16« y^d., now worth £46,736 Os. lOd. ; granted, 2 Eliza- beth, to John Eyer. A College, fdunded in the time of Edward IV. , granted, 2 Edward VI., to Richard Corbet. St. Nicholas Hospital, founded by an Abbot oi the town ; valued at £& ISs. lid., now worth £139 18s. 4d. St. Peter's Hospital, founded, in the time oi Henry I., by Abbot Anselm, for the maintenance of aged and sick priests ; value £10 18s. lO^-d. yearly, now worth £218 17s. Qd. St. Saviour's Hospital, founded, m the year 1184, by Abbot Samson and his Convent, for the support of a warden, twielve chaplains, six clerks, twelve poor gentlemen, and twelve poor women ; granted, 34 Henry VIIL^ to Antony Stringer and John Williams. A Grey Friary, founded about the year 1266 ; granted, 33 Henry VIII., to Antony Harvey. At BuTLEY. An Augustine Priory, founded, in the /•ear 1171, by Ranulph de Glaniville, the famous law- yer ; income X318 17s. 2id., now worth £6,377 4s. 2d. ; granted, 36 Henry VIIL, to William Forth. At Campess. An Augustme Nunnery, founded, 6 Richard I., by Jane and Agnes, daughters of Theobald de Valoins, on a piece of ground which he gave them for that purpose; income £182 9s. bd., now worth £3,649 8.5. -UL : granted, 35 Henry VIIL, to Sir Wil- '.iaia Wiljoughby. At Ci.AfiE, An Augustine Monastery, built in the COUNTY OF SUFFCLK. l« /■eui 1248, by Richard de Clare, Earl of Gloucester granted, 31 Henry VIII., to Richard Friend. At Dddnash. An Augustine Priory, founded, in the Sme of Edward I., by the ancestors ot the noble family of Norfolk ; yearly value £42 18s. S-^-d., now worth £858 14s. 2d.; granted, by Henry VIIL, to Thorna* Alyerde, At DuNwioH. A House of Knights Templari; flrranted, 4 Elizabeth, to Thomas Andrews. St. James's Hospital, founded in the time of Richard I.; revenues £26, now worth £520. A Black Friary, granted, 36 Henrv VIIL, to John Eyre. A Grey Friary, founded, in the time of Henry III., by Robert Fitz John, grfwted to John Eyre. At Eye. A Benedictine Priory, founded, in the time ol William the Conqueror, by Robert Malet ; yearly value £184 9s. 7^d., now worth £3,689 12s. 6rf. ; grant ed, 28 Henry VIIL, to Charles, Duke of Suffolk. At Flixton. An Augustine Priory, built in the year 1858. by Margery Harnes, widow of Bartholomew de Clerk ; value £23 4s. Id. yearly, now worth £468 Is. 8(/. ; grapted, 26 Henry VIIL, to John Tasbui^h. • At GiSELiNGHAM. A Precoptpry of Templars, found ed, before the time of Richard I., by Sir Robert de ' Burgate ; granted, 7 Edward VI., to John Grene and Robert Hall. At GoELESTON. An Augustme Priory, built in the time of Edward I., by William Woderove ; granted, d6 Henry VIIL, to John Eyre. At HERmoPLEET. An Augustine Priory, founded, m the time of Henry III., by Roger Fitz Osbert; rents JE49 lis. 7d, now worth £991 lis. 8d.; granted, 33 Henry VIIL, to Henry Jerningham. At HoxoN. A Benedictine Cell, founded, about th« 4S ENGLAND. year 950, by Theodred, Bishop of London ; and rithly endowed with lands, in the ) ear 1130, by Maurice ol Windsor, and Egidia his wife, for supporting there Monks, in order f- pray for the soul of Ralph Dapifer rents £18 Is., now worth £351 ; grantecl 38 Henry VIII., to Richard Greeham. At Ipswich. ' An Augustine Priory, built before the year 1 177, by Norman Eadnothi ; rents £88 6s. Qd^ now worth £1,766 15s. ;- granted, 36 Henry VIII., to Sir Thomas Pope. St. Peter and Paul, another Priory of Augustine Canons, founded, in the time of Henry II., by Thomas Lacy ; granted, 9 James I., to Richard Pereival and Edmund Duffield. St. Mary Magdalen and St. James' Hospital, founded in the time of King John. Dandy's Almshouse, founded, in the year 1515, by Edmund Dandy, for the poor; granted by Ed- ward VI. An Augustine Friary, founded, in the time ot Henry III., by Henry de Manesby and others ; granted, 33 Henry VIIL, to William Sabyne. A Carmelite Friary, built about the year 1279, bf Sir Thornas de Loudham; granted, 36 Henry VIII., to John Eyre. An Augustine Priory, built in the time of William the Conqueror, by Gilbert Blund ; rents £280 9s. orf,, now worth £5,609 8s. 4d. ; granted, 30 Henry VIIL, to Richard Codington. At Kersey. An Austin Priory, founded before 3 Henry III.; granted, 25 Henry VIIL, to the King's College in Cambridge. At Lethemngton. An Austin Cell ; yearly value £26 18s. 5d., now worth £538 8s. id. ; granted, 7 Ed' ward VI., to Elizabeth Naunton, daughter of Sir Ab thony Naunlon of Wmgfield, COUNTY OF SUFFOLK. 146 At Leyestone. a Premonstratensian Abbe^ found cil, in the year 1182, by Ralph tie Glanville ; yearly »aiue £181 176-. lid., now worth £3,637 2s. 6d. ; grant- ed, 28 Henry VUI., to Charles, Duke of Suffolk. At Mbtingham. a College, built 6 Richard II.; yearly value £202 7s. 5^d., now worth £4,047 9*. 2d ; granted, 33 Henry VIIL, to Thomas Denny. At MiNHHAM. A Cluniae Priory, founded, in the lime of Stephen, on the island of Hurst, in this parish, by William of Huntingfield; granted to Richard Fieston. At Redlingfield. A Benedictine Nunnery, founded, m the year 1120, by Manasses, Earl of Ghisnes ; yearly value £81 2s. 5id., now worth £1,622 9s. 2d. ; granted, 28 Henry VIII., to Edmund Bedingfield. At Ru.iiBURG!!. A Benedictine Cell, built about the time of the Conquest. At SisTON. A Cistercian Abbey, founded, in the year 1149, by William de Cheney; yearly value £250 I5s. 7itZ., now worth £5,015 12s. 6rf. ; granted, 1 Ed- ward VI., to Sir Antony Denny. At Snape. A Benedictine Prioiy, built in the year ■1155, by William Martel ; yearly value £99 Is. ll^d., now worth £1,981 19s. 2d.; granted, 34 Henry VIII.,- •o Thomas, Duke of Norfolk. At Stoke. A College, founded, in the year 1124, by Richard de Clare, Earl of Hertford ; yearly value £324 4s. l^d., now worth £6,484 2s. 6d. ; granted, 2 Edward VL, to Sir John Cheke and Michael Mildmay. At SuDEHRY. A College, founded, m the year 1374, by Simon, Bishop of London, on the ruins of a very an ■ cient church ; yearly value £122 ISs. 3d., now worth £2,458 5s. ; granted, 36 Henry VIII., to Sir Thomas Paston. A Benedictine Cell, founded, in the ieifi;n ol 13* ^ ENGLAND. Henry II., by Wilfric ; granted, 34 Henry VIIl^ to the Dean and Chapter of Westminster. An Hospital, founded, in the time of John, bj Amicia, Coun'ess of Clare ; granted, 5 Edward VL, to John Cheke, Esq. A Dominican Friary, founded, in the reign of Edward 1., by Baldwin de Shipling; granted, 3] Henry VIII., to Thomas Eden, Esq, At Wangpobd. a Oluniac Cell, founded, before the rear 1160, by Doudo Asini ; yearly value £30 9s. 5rf,, now worth £609 8s. 4d. ; granted, 32 Henry VIII., Ic Thomas, Duke pf Norfolk. At Wilton St. Felix. A Benedictine Cell, found- ed, in the reign of William Rufus, by Roger Bigod ; granted, 19 Elizabeth, to Thomas Sexford. At Great Weltham. A House of Crossed Friars, «unded, 2 Edward I. ; granted, 31 Henry VIIL, to Antony Rouse. At WicKHAM. A Monastery, built in the reign of King Stephen, by Robert de Salco Villa, Knight. At Wingfield. a College, built m the year 1362, By ILiady Alianor, relict of Sir John Wingfield ; yearly /alue £69 14s. 5d, now worth £1,394 8?. 4d. ; granted by Edward VI., to the Bishop of Norwich. At WooDBRiDGE. An Austin Priory, founded, before the time of Edward II., by Ernaldus Rufllis ; yearly ralue £50 3s. 5^d., now worth £1,003 9s. 2d. ; granted, '9 Elizabeth, to Thomas Sexford, Master of Requests. SURREY (CoDNTY.) At Aldbtot An Austin Priorr. bvjilt 'n th,» r«jgn af Richard I., by Rual de Calva; yearlv viilue £SW COUNTY OF SURREY. 15] j8*. 4^d., now worth £5,898 7s, Qd. ; granted, 36 Henry Vlll., to Sir Antony Brown. At Bbrmondsey. a Cluniac Abbey, built about the year 1089, by Aylwln Child, citizen of London ; yearly Jicome £548 2s. 5id., now worth £10,962 9s. 2d. ; granted, 33 Henry VIII., to Sir Richard Southwell. At Chertsey. a Benedictine Abbey, built in the year 666, by Erkenwald, Bishop of London ; destroyed, with the Abbot and ninety Monks killed, in the Danish wars; rebuilt by King Edgar; income £744 13s. G^d. yearly, now worth £14,893 IDs. lOrf. ; granted, 7 Ed- ward VI., to Sir W^illiam Fitz Williams. At LiNGFiELD. A College, built in the time of Hen- ry VI., by Reginald Cobham ; income £79 15s. lO^^d. yearly, now worth £1,595 17s. 6d. ; granted, 38 Henry VIII., to Thomas Cawarden. At Merton. An Austin Priory, founded; in the year A17, by Gilbert Norman, Sheriff of Surrey ; yearly value £1,039 5s. 3d., now worth £20,785 5s. At Newington. An Hospital, continued here until the year 1551, when their proctor, William Cleybroke, had a protection or license to beg. At Reigate. An Austin Priory or Hospital, founded, by William de Warren, Earl of Surrey ; income £78 16s. lOd., now worth £1,576 16s. 8c/. ; granted, 33 Henry VIII., to William, Lord Howard. At Shene. a Carthusian Priory, founded, in the year 1414, by Henry V., income £962 Us. 6d., now worth £19,251 lOs. ; granted, IQ Henry VIII., to Ed ward, Earl of Hertford. At SotiTHWAHK. St. Mary^ Overy, Austin Priory, built on the ruins of an ancient Nunnery, that was '•lunded, by Mary, and endowed with the profits of a lerry on the Thames ; value £656 10s. o|d. yearly now worth £13,130 Os. lOd.; granted, 36 Henry VIII to Sir Antony Brown. 152 F.A'GLAND Overy Hospital, or St. Thomas's, founded, about the year 1228, by the Bishop of Winchester, Peter de Rupibus ; value £309 Is. llrf., yearly, now worth £6,1S1 ISs. id. ; contained, 30 Henry VIII., beds, food, and firing, for forty poor and sick per- sons, when it was given up. At Tandmccz, or Tanregge. An Austin Priory, founded, in the time of Richard I., and much contri- Duted to by Odo de Dammartin ; rents £86 7s. 6d., now worth £1,727 10s. ; granted, 29 Henry VIIL, to John Rede. At Waverley. A Cistercian Abbey, founded, in the year 1128, by William Giffard, Bishop of Winches- ter ; value £169 13. lid., yearly, now worth £3,933 ISs. id. ; granted, 28 Henry VIIL, to Sir William Fit? Williams. SUSSEX (County.) At Arundel. An Alien Priory, founded, m the time of William the Conqueror, by Roger of Montgomery ; became afterwards a College, and valued at £263 14s. 3d., yearly, now worth £5,274 15s. ; granted, 36 Henrv VI 11., to Henry, Earl of Arundel. An Hospital, built 18 Edward II., by Richard, Earl of Arundel ; rents £89 5s. 2^d., now worth £1,785 4s. 2c/.; granted to Sir Richard Lee. At Battel. A Benedictine Abbey, founded, by William [he Conqueror, on the spot where a decisive battle was fought, October 14, 1066, between King Harold and William, Duke of Normandy ; value £987 Os. 10|fZ. yea.uf; anv worth £19,740 17s. 6d. ; granted, iO Henry VIII ', to Sir Antony Brown. At Beigham. a Premonstratensian Abbey, founded, m the year 1200, by Robert de Turreham ; vajue £153 9s. i^d. yeaAy, now worth £3,049 7s. 6rf. COUNTY OF SUSSEX. IS At BosANHAM. A College, tnginally founded, id toe year 681, by St. Wilfrid ; granted, 6 Elizabeth, to the Dean and Chapter of Chichester. At BoxGRAVE. A Benedictine Priory, founded^ in the time of Henry I., by Robert de Haya ; income £145 10s. 2id., now worth £2,910 4s. 2d. ; granted, 3 Eliasa- Deth, to Henry, Earl of Arundel. At Bramber. An Hospital, valued, 26 Henry VIII , at 20s. yearly. At Chichester. A Cathedral, foundedj in the yeai 1075, by Bishop Stigand; valued at the dissolution at £677 Is. 3d. yearly ; the Chapter's revenues made £601 7s. lOd.; both together would make now £25,589 Is.Sd. A College of Vicars, had revenues £31 12s. 6d. now worth £632 lOs. St. James's Hospital, founded, in the reign of King John ; rents £4 3s. 9d., now worth £83 15«. St. Mary's Hospital, founded for the poor ; value £11 lis. Hd. yearly, now worth £231 10s. lOd. Ad Augustine Friary, founded, in the time oi Edward I., by Q,ueen Alianor ; granted, 32 Henry VIII., to Edward Millet. A Dominican Friary, built in the reign of Henry III. ; granted, 32 Henry VIII., to the Mayor and Citizens. At DuREPORD. A Premonstratensian Abbey, founded, in the year 1169, by Robert Hoese; value £108 13s 9d. yearly, now worth £2,1.73 15s.; granted, 29 Henry VIII., to Sir William Fitz Williams. At Easeborne. a Benedictine Nunnery, founded, m the time of Henry III., by Sir John Bohun ; yearly value £47 3s., now worth £943 ; granted 28 Henry VIII., to Sir William Fitz Williams. At Hastings. A College, bull in the time of Henry I. br Hugh de AufO; viriue £41 13«. 5d. yearly, not) 154 ENGLAND. wrorth £833 8s. 4d.; granted, 38 Henry VIII., to Si? Antony Brown. An Austin Priory, founded, m the time of Rich- ard I., by Sir Walter Bricet ; value £57 Is. 9d yearly, now worth £1,159; granted, 29 Henrj VllL, to John Baker. At Lewes. A Cluniac Priory, founded, in the year 1078, by Earl William de Warrenna ; income £1,091 9s. 6^ d, now worth £21,829 10s. lOd.; granted, 2 Elizabeth, to Richard Baker and Richard Sackville. At South Mallyng. A College, founded, in the year 688, by Ceadwalla, King of the West Saxons ; yearly value £45 12s. bid., now worth £912 9s. 2d. At MicHELHAM. Austin Canons, established in the time of Henry III., by Gilbert de Aquila ; yearly in- come £191 19s. 3d., now worth £3,839 5s. ; granted, 33 Henry VIIL, to William, Earl of Arundel. At Pleydone. An Hospital, granted, 34 Henry VIII., to Andrew, Lord Windsor. At Pynham. An Austin Priory, built in the time of Henry I., by his Q.ueen Adeliza ; income £43 Os. lOd., now worth £860 16s. 8fZ. ; granted, 5 James I., to An tony. Lord Montage. At Roeeht's Brjdqe. A Cistercian Abbey, built in the year 1176, by Alfred de St. Martino ; yearly income £272 9s. 8d., now worth £5,449 13s. 4d. ; granted, 33 Henry VIII., to Sir William"' Sidney. At RnsPDR. A Benedictine Nunnery, founded before the time of Richard I. ; income £39 13s. 7d., now worth £793 lis. 8d.; granted, 29 Hfnry VIIL, to Sir Robert South w^.- At Sble. An Austin Priory, built in the year 1075, by William de Braiosa ; valued at £26 9s. 9d. yearly, now worth £529 15s. ; granted to the College of Oxford, At SiioREHAM. St. James's Hospital; ralued at £1 COUiNTY OF WARWICK. 153 t*. 8d., aow worth £26 13«. id. ; granted, 16 Elizabeth, to John Mersh. At ToRTiNaTON. An Austin Priory, fouadea, in the lime of Jphn, by Lady Hadwisa Corbet; value £101 is. Id. yearly, now worth £2,024 Is. 8d. ; granted, 42 Elizabeth, to Sir John Spencer. At Wilmington. An Alien Priory, built in the reigti of William Rufus, by Robert, Earl of Morteton ; grant ed, 7 Elizabeth, to Sir Richard Sackville. At WiNCHELSEY. A Dominican Friary, granted 36 Henry VIII., to William Clifford, and Michael Wild bore. At WoLiNCHMERE. An Austin Priory, founded by Ralph de Ardern; income £79 15s. 6rf., now wortli £1,595 10s. ; granted, 36 Henry VIII., to Antony Brown. WARWICK (County.) At Alencesteb. a Benedictine Abbey, founded, in the year 1140, by Ralph Pincerna; yearly value £101 14s., now worth £2,024; granted, 36 Henry VIII., to William and John Sewester. At AsTLEY. A College, founded, 17 Edward III., by Sir Thomas de Astley; rents £39 10s. 6<2., now worth £790 10s. ; granted, 33 Henry VIII., »o Henry, Marquis of Dorset. At Atherston. An Austin Friary, built 49 Edward IH., by Ralph, Lord Basset; valued at £1 10s. 2d. yearly, now worth £30 3s. 4d.} granted, 35 Heflry VIII., to Henry Cartwright. At Avecote. a Benedictine Cell, built in the yew 1159, by William Burdett; rents £28 6s. 2d., now 150 ENGLAND. nrorth £566 3«. id. ; granted, 34 Henry VIII., to Tho- mas, Lord Audley, and Sir Thomas Pope. _At Balshall. a House of Templars, built in the reign of Stephen, by Roger de Moubray; granted, 8 Elizabeth, to Sir Robert Dudley. At Birmingham. An Hospital, founded before tb« time of Edward I. ; yearly value £8 5s. 3d., now worth £165 5s. At Combe. A Cistercian Abbey, built m the yeai 1150, by Richard de Camvilla; rents £343 Os. 5d., now worth £6,860 8s. id. ; granted, 1 Edward VI., to John, Earl of Warwick. At Coventry. A Cathedral, created out of a Mo- nastery that was built in the year 1043, by Leofric, the good Earl of Mercia, on the ruins of a Nunnery buill by the Saxons, before the year 1016 ; rents £499 7s. id., now worth £9,987 6s. 8d. ; granted, 37 Henry VIIL, to John Combes and Richard Stansfiel. A Charter-House, founded, in the year 1381, by William, Lord Zouch ; rents £251 5.1. 9d., now worth £5,035 15s.; granted, 34 Henry VIIL, to Richard Andrews, and Leonard Chamberlayne. Bablake College, founded, before the year 1350, by the Burgesses ; yearly value £111 13s. 8d., now worth £2,233 13s. id. Bablake Hospital, founded, in the year 1506, by Thomas Bond, draper: rents £49 lis. 7d., now worth £991 lis. 8d. Grey Friars' Hospital, built in the year 1529, by William Ford, for five poor men and one po« woman. St. John's Hospital, built in the reign of Henry II., by Edmund, Archdeacon of Coventry ; yeariy value £83 3s. 3d., now worth £l,*63 5s.; granted to John Hales. Esq. COUNTY OF WARWICK. 157 Grey Friary, founded, iu the year 1234, by Ralph, Earl of Chester; granted, 34 Henry Vlll., tu the Mayor and Bailiffs of the town. Carmelite Friary, erected in the year 1342, by Sir John Poultney; yearly income £7 13s. Sd., uow worth £153 13s. 4d. ; granted, 36 Henry VIU.^ to Ralph Sadler. At NcN Eaton. A Nunnery, founded, in the reign of Henry XL, by Robert Bossu, Earl of Leicester ; in- come £290 5s. O^d., now worth £5,805 Os. lOd. ; grant- ed, 32 Henry VIII., to Sir Marmaduke Constable. At Erdbury; An Augustine Priory, built in the reign of Henry III., by Ralph de Sudley ; rents £122 8s. Od., now worth £2,448 IDs.; granted, 30 Henry VIII., to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. At Heanwood. A Benedictine Nunnery, built in the reign of Henry II., by Katelbern de Langdon ; income £21 2s. Oid, now worth £422 Os. lOrf.; granted, 31 Henry VIII., to John Higford. At KeniCworth. An Augustine Priory, built in the year 1122, by Jeffery de Clintons, Chamberlain to Henry I.; income £538 19s., now worth £10,779; granted, by Henry VIII., to Sir Andrew Flamock. At Monk's Kihby. An Alien Priory, founded, in the year 1077, by Gosfred de Wircha ; income £220 3,9. id., now worth £4,403 6s. 8d. ; granted; 37 Henry VIII., to Trinity College, Cambridge. At Knoll. A College, built 4 Henry V;, by Ladv Elizabeth Clinton; income £13 5s. 6d., now worth £365 10s. At Ma»3toke. An Augustine Priory, built in the jrear 1336, by Sir William de Clinton, Earl of Hunt- ingdon ; income £129 Us S^d, now worth £2,591 4s. 8rf, ; granted 30 Henry Vlll., to Charles, Duke of Suffolk At Mereval. A Cistercian Abbey, buih in the yeai I5S ENGLAND. 1148, by Robert, Ear] of Ferrers; income £303 10*, now worth £6,070; granted, 32 Henry VIII., to Wal- ler, Lord Ferrers. At Oldbury. a Benedictine Nunnery, built in the reign of William the Conqueror, by Walter de Hast- ings ; income £6 Os. lOd., now wortk £120 16s. 8(/. ; granted, 33 Henry VIII., to Charles, Duke of Suffclk. At PiNLEY. A Cisterqian Nunnery, built in the reign of Henry I., by Robert de Pilardinton; yearly valuf £27 14«. 7d., now worth £554 lis. 8d.; granted, 36 Henry VIII., to William Wigston, Esq. At PoLLEswcRTH. A Benedictine Nunnery, built by King Egbert for Modwenna, a holy woman lately come from Ireland ; here his own daughter, St. Editlia, pre- sided ; income £87 16s. 3d., now worth £1,736 Ss. ; granted, 36 Henry VIII., to Francis Goodyere, Estj At Stonely. a Cistercian Abbey, built by Kmg Henry II., in the year 1154; income £178 2s. 5^c/'., now worth £3,562 9s. 2d; granted, 30 Henry VIll.. to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suflblk. At Stratporo. a College, founded, about the yea; 703; income ,£123 12s. 9d., now worth £2,472 15s.. granted, 4 Edward VI., to John, Earl of Warwick. Hospital, built in the reign of Henry II. At Studi^ey. An Augustine Priory, built in the reign of Henry IL; rents £181 3s. 6d., now worth £3,623; granted, 30 Henry VIIL, to S=j Edmund Knightly, At TnELESFORD. A Maturine Friary, founded, in the reign of John, by William de Cherlecote ; income ,j:23 lOs. ; now worth £470; granted, 35 Henry VIIL, to William Whorwood, Esq., and William Walter. At Warminqton. An Alien Priory, founded, in the reign of Henry I., by Paul de Prattelles; granted, 35 Henry VIIL, to William and Fiancis Seldon, Esqrs. At Warw[ck. An Augustine Priory, built in th» COUNTY OF "WARWICK. ^©9 eiiii of Henry I., by Henry of Newburgh; income E49 13s. 6d., now worth £993 10s. ; granted, 38 Henry ^111., to Thomas Hawkins. Hospital of Templars, built in the reign of Hen- ry I., by Roger, Earl of Warwick ; income £14 6». Sd., now worth £286 13s. Ad. St. James's College, built in the reign of Rich- ard II. St. Mary's College, built before the time of Wil- liam the Conqueror; income £247 13s. O^d, now worth £4,953 Os. \0d.; granted, 37 Henry VIII., to the Burgesses of Warwick. St. John's Hospital, built in the reign of Henry . II., by William, Earl of Warwick, for the enter- tainment of travellers and strangers; income, £19 3s. 7d., now worth £383 lis. 8d. ; granted, 27 Henry VIII., to Anthony Staughton. St. Michael's Hospital,, founded, in the reign of Henry 1., by Roger, Earl of Warwick, for the sick; income £10 19s. lOd., now worth £219 16s. 8d. Black Friary, built in the reign of Henry 'II., by the Botelers, Lords of Sudley ; income £4 lbs. 6d., now worth £98 10s. ; granted, 5 Edward VI., to John, Duke of Northumberland. Carmelite Friary, built 13 Edward III., by John Peyto, jun. ; granted, 4 Ed .vard VI., to John, Earl of Warwick. At WoLFRicHESTON. An Alien Prioryj built soon nuer the conquest, by Roger de Montgomery ; granted, S Ed ■vard VI., to Richard Fielde and Richard Wood-- ward . At Wroxhall. A Benedictine Nunnery, built in -Ae i«ign of Henry I., by Hugh de H."tton;- yearly 160 ENGLAND. value £78 10*. IJrf., now worth £1,570 Us. Gii.; grant' ed, 30 Henry VIII., to Robert Burgoin and John Smu amore. WESTMORELAND (County.) At Brocgh. An Hospital, founded, in the 16th cen tury, by John Brunskill, with a chapel, and beds fc: travellers and other poor persons ; yearly income £"> 4s. id., now worth £144 6s. 8d. At Hepp. a Premonstratensian Abbey, built in the leign ol Henry II., by Thomas Fitz Gospatrick: yeariv value £166 lO's. 6rf., now worth £3,330 10s. ; granted. 36 Henry VIII., to Thomas, Lord Wharton. At KiBKLEY. An Hospital for lepers, built before the time of Henry II. ; yearly income £6 4s. 5d., now worth £124 8s. id.; granted, 38 Henry VIII., to Alan Bellingham, and Alan Wilson. WILTS (County.) At Amesbury. a i\unnery_ built by Alfrida tlucen of Edgar; mcome £558 10s. 2a., now worth £11,17'..' 3s. id.; granted, 32 Henry VIII., to Edward, Earl r.t Heitford. At Ansty. An Hospital of Hospitalers, built 13 John, by Walter de Turbelville ; yearly income_ £S1 8s. 5d., now worth £1,628 8s. id.; granted, 38 Henrf V III., t6 John Zouoh. At AvEBOBY. An Alien Priory, built in the reign of Henry I., by William de Tancervilla ; granted, 2 E^ ward VI., to Sir William Sharington. COUNTY OP WILTS. 161 At Bhadbnstokb. An Augustine Priory, founded, in tlie year 1142, by Walter de Evreux ; yearly value £270 10s. 8d., now worth £5,410 13«. id. ; granted, 38 Henry VIII., to Richard Pexall, At Mayuen Bradeley. An Augustine Priory, found- ed, in the reign of Stephen, by Manassas Biset ; yearly value £197 ISs. 8d., now worth £3,958 13s. idr, grant- ed, 24 Henry VIII., to Sir Edward Seymore. At Caln. An Hospital, built in the reign of Henry III. ; income £2 2s. 8d., now worth £42 13s. 4rf. At Charleton. An Alien Priory, built in the year 1187, by Reginald de Pavely ; yearly income £22, now worth £440; granted, 2 Edward VI., to Sir William Sharington. At OosHAM. An Alien Priory, built in the reign of William the Conqueror ; yearly income £22 13s. 4d, now worth £453 6s. 8d. ; granted, 6 James I., to Philip Moore 'At Cricklade. An Hospital, built in the reign ol Henry III. ; yearly income £4 7s. W^d., now wort^ £87 17s. 6d. At Edindon. Bonhommes, built about the year 1347 ; rents £521 12s. bid., now worth £10,432 9s. 2d. ; grant- ed, 33 Henry VIH., to William Pawletj'Lord St. John. At EsTON. A Trinitarian Friary, founded, for tlte re- demption of captives, in the reign of Henry III., by Stephen, Archdeacon of Salisbury ; yearly income £53 I4s. id., now worth £1,114 6s. 8d. ; granted, 6 James I., to Edward, Earl of Hertford. At Fauleigh. A Cluniae Priory, built in the year 1125, by Humphrey de Bohun ; yearly income £152 3s. Id., now worth £3,043 lis. 8d.; granted, 28 Henry VIII., to Sir Edward Seymore. At Heytesbury. ^ A College, built in the year 1 300 • Tcarly income £28 12s, 6d., now worth £572 10«, 14* fl2 ENGLAND. Hospital, fbunded, about the year 1470, by Lady Margaret Huugerford, for twelve poor men and one poor woman ; yearly income £38 4«. 7d., now worth £764 lis. 8d. ; it stands to this day. At Tov Chl'rch. Ah Augustine Priory, built in th« reign of Henry IL ; yearly income £133 Os. 7^., now worth £2,660 12s. 6rf.; granted, 30 Henry VIIL, to John Barwick. • At Keinton. a Benedictine Nunnery, founded 2 Henry II. ; yearly income £38 3s. lO^rf., now worth £763 17s. 6d ; granted, 30 Henry VIIL, to Sir John Long. At KiNGswooD. A Cistercian Abbey, built in the year 1139, by William de Berkly; yearly income £254 'lis. 3d, now worth £5,091 3s. 4c2.; granted, 2 Eliza- beth, to Sir John Thynne. At Lacock. An Augustine Priory, built in the yeai 1232, by Ela, Countess of Salisbury; yearly income £203 _12s. 3d., now worth ^^4,072 5s. ; granted, 32 Henry VIIL, to Sir William Sharlngton. At LoNGLEAT. An Augustine Priory ; granted, 32 Henry VIIL, to Sir John Thynne. At MALMESBnRY. A Benedictine Abbey, built in the year 675, in the place of an ancient nunnery ; yearly income £803 17s. ^d., now worth £16,077 lis. Sd.; granted, 36 Henry VIIL, to William Stump. At Marlebobouch. A Gilbertine Abbey, founded, in the reign of John ; yearly income £38 19s. 2d., now worth £779 3s. 4d. ; granted to Anthony Stringer. Hospital, St. John's, built 16 John, by Mr. Leve- noth ; yearly inqome £6 18s. 4d., now worth £138 6«. 8d. Carmelite Friary, built in the year 1316, by Jotia t3odwin and William Ramesbesch ; granted, 34 Henry VIII., to John Pye and Robert Brown. COUNTY OF WILTS. 169 At PuLTO-y. A Gilbertine Priory, built, 21 Edward [II., by Sir Thomas Seymore ; yearly value £20 3s. 2d, now worth £403 3s. 4rf. ; granted, 36 Henry VIII., to Sir Thomas Stroude, Walter Erie, and John Paget At Temple Rockley. An Hospital of Tempkrs, built 2 Henry II., by John Mareschall ; granted, 32 Henry VIII., to Sir Edward Bainton. At Salisbury. A Cathedral Church, the building o) which took forty years ; was finished in the year 1258 ,• the revenues of the Bishop made £1,367 lis. 6d., uf the Chapter £601 12s.; both would now make £39,333 10s. St. Edmond's College, founded, by Walter de la Wyle, Bishop of Salisbury, in the year 1270 ; revenues £94 5s., now worth £1,885 ; granted, 38 Henry Vjll., to William St. Barbe. College de Vaux, and possessions ; granted, 3ft Henry VIII., to Sir Michael Lister. Vicar's College, mcorporated 11 Henry IV.; revenues £47 18s. O^cZ., now worth £958 Os. lOd. Harnham College, founded, in the year 1220, by Bishop Poore ; rents £25 2s. 2d., now worth £502 3a. 4d. ; it was for the poor, and still continues. Trinity College, founded for the sick, 17 Richard II., by John Chandeler. Dominican Friary, founded, by King Edward I. ; granted, 36 Henry VIII., to John Pollard, and William Byrte. Franciscan Friary, built by a bishop of the town ; granted, 36 Henry VIII., to John Wroth. At Stanlegh. a Cistercian Abbey, buiit in the year 1 154, by King Henry II., and his mother Maud; rents £222 19s. 4d., now worth £4,459 6s. 8d. ; granted, 28 Henry VIII., to Sir Edward Bainton. At Uphaven. An Alien Priorj', built in the reiga o 04 ENGLAND. Henry I. ; granted, 4 James I., to Francis and A. An> (lerson. At Wilton. A Benedictine Nunnery, built by King Edgar, in tlie year 871, on the ruins of an Abbey built 773, and destroyed by the Danes ; yearly revenues £652 lis. 5.]rf., now worth £13,051 9«. 2d-; granted, 35 Henry VIIL, to Sir William Herbert. St. Giles' Hospital, built by Q,ueen Adelicia, wife of Henry I. ; yearly value £o 13s. 4d., new worth £113 6s. 8d. St. John's Hospital, built in the year 1217, for a Prior and poor brethren ; rents £14 13s. lO^d., now worth £393 17s. 6d WORCESTER (County.) At AsTLEY. An Alien Priory, built in the reign ot William the Conqueror, by Ralph de Todenei ; granted, 3y King Henry VIIL, to Sir Ralph Sadler. At BoRDESLEY. A Cisterciau Abbey, built in the vear 1138, by the Empress Maud ; rents £392 8s. 6d., how worth £7,848 10s.; granted, 34 Henry VIIL, to Andi-ew, Lord Windsor. < At CoKEHiLL. A White Nunnery, built in the reign of Richard I., by Gervase of Canterbury ; rents £34 15s. llrf., now worth £695 18s. 4 M, 32 Hoary VIII., to Thomas Culpeper. If-S ENGLAND. At Bolton. An Augustine Priory, founded, in the year 1 120, by William Meschines ; yearly value £212 3s. 4d., now worth £4,243 6s. 8d. ; granted, 33 Henry VIII., to Henry, Earl of Cumberland. At Monk Bretton. A Cluniac Priory, founded, in the reign of Henry XL, by Adam Fitz Swain; rents £323 8s. 2d., now worth £6,468 3s. 4rf. ; granted, 32 Henry VIII., to William Blithman. At Bbdnnum. a Benedictine Nunnery, founded, in the reign of Henry III., by Roger de Merely, Lord Morpeth; rents £10 3s. 3d., now worth £203 5s.; granted, 33 Henrj' VIII., to Robert Tirwhit. At Burlington. An Augustine Priory, built in the reign of Henry I., by Walter de Gant ; rents £682 13s. nrf., now worth £13-,653 15s. At Byland. a Cistercian Abbey, built in the year 1H3, by Roger de Mowbray; rents £295 5s. id., now ^yorth £5,905 6s. 8d. ; granted, 32 Henry VIII., to Wil- liam Pykering. At CoRHAM. A Premonstratensian Abbey, built m the reign of Henry II., by Ralph Fitz Robert, Lord of Middlehatn ; rents £207 14s. 8d., now worth £4,151 13«. 4d. Al DoNCASTER. A Franciscan Friary, erected before the year 1315 ; granted, 36 Henry VIII., to William Gifford and Michael Welbore. At Drax. An Augustine Priory^ built before the reign of Henry I., by William Paynel ; rents £181 18s. 3^d., now wo'rth £3,638 5s. lOd., granted, 30 Henry VIII., to Sir Marmaduke Constable. At Eglestone. a Premonstratensian Abbey, found- e-i, in the reiffn of Henry II.; by Ralph de Multon ; rents £36 8s. 3d., now worth £728 5s. ; granted, 2 Ed- ward VI., to Robert Shelley. At Elreton. a Cistercian Nunnery, built in the Mign of Henry II., by Warnerius Dapifer, Earl oi ;^OUNTY OF YORK. 168 Richmond ; rents £15 10s. 6d., now worth £310 10». ; granted, 33 Henry VIII., to John Aske. At Elrgtom on the Debwent. A Gilbertine Priory, iiuilt in the year 1212, by William Fitz Peter, under condition that they would maintain thirteen poor per- sons ; rents £78 Os. lOrf., now worth £1,560 16s. 8d. ; granted, 33 Henry VIII., to John Aske. At EssEHOLT. A Cistercian Nunnery, founded m the year 1172; rents £19, now worth £3S0; granted, 1 Edward VI., to Henry Thompson. At North Ferry. An Augustine Priory, valued yearly £95 lis. 7id., now worth £1,911 12*. 6^ ; granted, 32 Henry VIII., to Thomas Culpeper. At Fountains, in the Deanery of West Riding. A Cistercian Abbey, built in the year 1132; rents £1,173 Os. 7id., now worth £23,560 12s. 6tZ. ; granted, 32 Henry VIII., to Sir Richard Gresham. At GisEBDRNE. An Augustine Priory, founded, in the year 1129, by Robert de Bras ; rents £712 6s. 6d., now worth £14,246 10s. ; granted, 4 Elizabeth, to Sir Thomas Chaloner. At Grosmont. An Alien Priory, built in the reign of John, by Joanna, daughter of William Fossard ; rents £14 2s. 8d., now worth £282 13s. id. ; granted, 35 Henry VIII., to Edward Wright. At Haltempricb. An Augustine Priory, founded, 15 Edward II by Thomas, Lord Wake of Lyddel ; yearly value £178 Os. lO^a., now worth £3,560 17s. 6 A ; grant- ed, 32 Henry VIII., to Thomas Culpeper. At Handale. a Benedictine Nunnery, founded, in he year 1133, )y William- Percy ; rents iE29 7s. 8d., qow worth £407 13s. 4d. ; granted, 35 Hienry VIII., to Ambrose Beckwith. At Hanehope. a Cistercian Nunnery, founded, ia he year 1170, by Willhm de Clarefai ; rents £85 6& no ENGLAND. lid, now worth £1,706 1S«. 4d ; granted, 6 Kdnui VI., to Francis Aislaby. At Hedon. An Hospital, founded, in the time o* King John, by Alan Ouberni ; rents £11 18s. id., now wonh £238 6s. 8rf ; granted, 7 Edward VI.. to Robert Constable. At Helagh Park. An Augustine Priory, founded, in the year 1218, by Berthram Haget ; rents £86 5s. 9d., now worth £1,725 I5s. ; granted, 31 Henry VIII., to James Gtage. * At Hemingburgh. a College, founded in the yeai 142G ; rents £36 Is., now worth £721. At HowDEN. A College, founded, in the year 1266, by Robert, Bishop of Durham; rents £13 6s., now worth £266. At Temple Hubste. An Hospital of Templars, founded, in the year 1152, by Ralph de Hostings; granted to Lord Darcy. At JoREVAL. A Cistercian Abbey, founded, about the year 1156, by Conan, Duke of Richmond ; yearly va- lue £455 10s. 5d., now worth £9,110 Ss. id. ; granted, 36 Henry VIII., to Matthew, Earl of Lenox. At KELnoN. A Cistercian Nunnery, founded, in the reign of Henry I., by Robert Stuteville ; rents £29 6s. Id., now worth £586 Is. 8d. ; granted, 30 Henry VIII., JO Ralph, Earl of Westmoreland. At Nun Kelynge. A Benedictine Nunnery, built in .he reign of King Stephen, by Agnes de Arcnis ; rents £50 17s. 2d., now worth £1,017 3s. id. ; granted, 32 Henry VIII., to Richard Gresham. At KiLLiNGwoLnGROVE. An Hospital, founded foi women before the year 1169 ; rents £12 3s. id., now worth X243 6s. 8d. At Kingston. A Cistercian Priory, built about th« rime of Richard III., by Michael de la Pole, Earl oi COUNTY OF YORK. 171 Suffolk; rents £231 17s. 3rf., now worth £4,637 5s. granted, 6 Edward VI., to Edward, Lord Clinton. Grigge's and Mariners' Hospitals ; one for Priesta and the other for Sailors : founded, by John Grigge valued, 86 Henry VIIL, at £10, now worth £400 yearly. They are in being to this day. Pole's Hospital, founded in the year 1384, by Michael de la Pole, for thirteen poor men and so many poor women ; rents £10, now worth £200 ; still in being. A Carmelite Friary, founded by King Edward I., or by some others ; granted, 32 Henry VIIL, to John Henneage. A Dominican Friary, granted, 36 Henry VIIL, to John Broxholm. At KiRKHAM. An Augustine Priory, founded, in the year 1121, by Walter Espeo ; rents £300 15s. 6a., now worth £2j015 IDs. ; granted, 32 Henry VIIL, to Henrj Knyvet. At KiEKLEGHES. A Cisstercian Nunnery, founded, in the i-eign of Henry II., by Reynerus Flandersis ; rents £20 7s. 8d, now worth £407 13s. 4d. ; granted, 36 Henry VIIL. to John Tasburg and Nicholas Saville. At KiRKSTALL. A Cistercian Abbey, built in the year 1147, by Henry de Lacy ; rents £512 13«. 4d., now worth £10,253 6s. 8d. At Knaresburgh. A Trinitarian Friary, built in the reign of Henry III., by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, and King of the Romans ; rents £35 10s. lid., now wortii £710 IBs. id. ; granted, 7 Edward VI., to Francis ot Shiewsbury. At Laysingby. a College, founded, 18 Edward L, hy John de Lythegraynes ; rents £9 6s. 8d., now worth £185 13s. id. At Old Malton. A Gilbertine- Priory, founded, '» 172 ENGLAND, the year 1150, by Eustace Fitz John; rents £257 7*., now worth £5,147; granted, 32 Henry VIII., to Ro- bert Holegate, Bishop of Landaff. At Little Marois. A Benedictine Nunnery, built in the year 1163, by Roger de Clere ; rents £26 6«. 8d., now worth £526 13.s. 43. ; granted, 35 Henry VIII., to Robert Holgate, Bishop of Landan ; after him to the Bishop of York. At Marton. An Ajigustine Priory, founded, in the reign of Henry II., by Bertram d4 Bulmer ; rents £l8n 12s. id., now worth £3,672 6s. 8d. ; granted, 34 Henrj VIII., to the Archbishop of York. At Maryke. a Benedictine Nunnery, founded, in the reign of Henry II., by Roger de Asac ; rents £64 16s. 9d., now worth £1,296 15s. ; granted, 37 Henry VIII , to John Uvedale. At Melsa. a Cistercian Abbey, founded, m the vear 1150, by William le Gross, Earl of Albemarle ; rents £445 10s. 5d., now worth £8,910 8s. id. ; grant- ed, 3 Edward VL, to John, Earl of Warwick. At MiDDLEHAM. A College, founded, in the year 1476, by Richard, Duke of Gloucester, afterwards King Richard III., rents £16 9s. id., now worth £329 3s. id. At MiDDLESBUHGH. A Benedictine Cell, founded, in the reign of Henry I., by Robert de Bruce; rents £21 13s. 8d., now worth £433 13s. id. ; granted, 6 Eliza- beth, to Thomas Reve. At MoLESLEY. A Benedictine Nunnery, founded by Henry II., in the year 1167; rents £33 6s, 2d., aow worth £646 3s. id. ; granted to the Archbishop ol York. At Nun Monketoic. A Benedictine Nunnery, built in the reign of Stephen, by William de Arches ; rent* £85 14s. 8d., noW worth £1,714 13s, id. ; granted, 29 Henry VIII., to John, Lord Latimer COUNTY OF YORK. 173 At MouNTGHAOB. A Carthusian Priory, founded ir vhe yar 1396, by Thomas de Holland, Bute of Sur- rey ; rents £323 2s. lOid., now worth £6,462 17s. 6d. . granted, 32 Henry VIII., to Robert Strangeways. At Mount St. John. A House of Hospitalers, found- ed in the reign of Henry I., by William Percy ; rents £102 13s. lOd, now worth £2,053 16s. 8d.; granted 34 Henry VIII., to the Archbishop of York. At Newburoh. An Augustine Priory, built in the year 1145, by Roger de Mowbray ; rents £457 13s. 4d!., now worth £9,153 8s. 5rf.; granted^ 38 Henry VIII., to Margaret Simson and Anthony Bellasis. At Newland. A House of Hospitalers, founded by King John ; rents £202 3s. 8d., now worth £4,043 13s. id. ; granted, 36 Henry VIII., to Francis Jobson and Andrew Dudley At Newton. An Hospital, built in the year 1179, by William Gross, Earl of Albemarle ; rents £21 Os. 2d.. now worth £420 3s. 4d. ; granted, 16 Elizabeth, tc John Stanhope. At Nostell. An Augustine Priory, built in th« reign of Henry II. ; by Robert de Lacy ; rents £60( 9s. 3d., now worth £12,129 5s.; granted, 31 Henry VIII., to Thomas Leith. At Oteton. A Gilbertine Priory, founded, 5 John by Alan de Wilton; rents £11 2s. 8d., now worth £222 13s. id. At Pontbfract. a Cluniac Priory, built in the tirai of William Rufus, by Robert de Lacy; rents. £472 16«. Ud., now worth £9,456 2s. 6d. ; granted, 7 Ed- rsrd VI., to William, Lord Talbot. St. Clement's College, founded, in the reign oi William Rufus, by Ilbert de Lacy. Knolles' College, and Almshouse. Sir Robert Knolles founded, in the year 1385, a College for a Master and six Fellows ; and adjoining it an Alni^ 15* m ENGLANb house for a Master,- two Chaplains, and 13 pool men and women ; revenues £200 5s. lO^d., now worth £4,005 Os; lOd. St. Nicholas's Hospital; founded, in the leign ol Henry I., by Robert de Lacy ; rents £97 13s. id., now worth £1,953 6s. 8d. ; it maintained until the dissolution one Chaplain and 13 poor persons. Dominican Friary, built before the year 126(j, by Simon Pyper ; granted, 36 Henry VIII., to William Clifford, and Michael Wildbore. Franciscan Friary. At Rerecross Hospital. An Hospital, built in the Tear 1171j by Ralph de Multon; granted, 7 Edward V I., to William Bucton, and Roger Marshall. At RiBSTANE. An Hospital of Templars, founded in the reign of Richard I., by Robert, Lord Ross ; rents £265 9s. 6id., now worth £5,359 10s. lOd. ; granted, 33 Henry VIIL, to Charles, Duke of Suffolk. At Richmond. A Benedictine Cell, founded, m the year 1100, by Wymar, Steward to the Earl of Rich- mond ; rents £43 16s. 8d., now worth £876 I3s. 4d. ; granted, 4 Edward VI., to Edward, Lord Clinton. A Premonstratensian Abbey, founded, in the year 1151, by Roald, the Constable of Richmond ; rents £188 16s. 2d. j now worth £3,776 3s. id.; granted, 14 Elizabeth, to John Stanhope. St. Nicholas's Hospital, founded by King Henry II, ; rents £10 yearly, now worth £200. A Franciscan Friary, founded, in the year 1258, by Ralph Fitz Randal, Earl of Middleham ; grant- ed, 36 Henry VIII., to John Banaster, and William Metcalf. At RiPPON. A College, built and endowed in th« Feign of William the Conqueror, by Archbishop Alfrec^ im the rains of a Monastery that had been founded be COUNTY OF YORK. 175 fore the year 661 by Alchfrid, king of Northumbers but afterwards burnt down in the civil wars; seven Prebends made here at the dissolution £361 19«. 6d, lix Vicars Choral £36, other revenues £47 16*. 3d. total £445 15s. 2d. ; now worth £8,915 5s. St. John's Hospital, founded, before 4 John, by the Archbishops of York ; rents £12 Oa. 4d., now worth £240 6s. 8d. Magdalen Hospital, founded, by the Archbishops of York for lepers ; rents £24 Os. 7d., now worth £480 lis. 8cZ. At River. A Cistercian Abbey, founded, in the /ear 1131, by Walter Espec ; rents £351 14s. 6d., now worth £7,134 10s.; granted, 30 Henry VIIL, to Tho- mas, Earl of Rutland, in exchange for other lands. At RocH. A Cistercian Abbey, built in the year 1147, by Richard Fitz Turgis ; rents £271 19s. id., now worth £5,439 6s. 8d. ; granted, 38 Henry VIIL, to William Ramesden, and Thomas Vavasor. At RosEDALE. A Benedictine Nunnery, founded, in the reign of Richard I., by Robert de Stuteville ; rents £41 13s. 8d., now wortli £333 13s. 4d.; granted, 30 Henry VIIL, to Ralph, Earl of Westmoreland. At Sallay. a Cistercian Abbey, founded, in the ear 1146, by William de F - - - now worth £4,435 13s. 4d. Tear 1146, by William de Percy; rents £221 15«. 8d., th £4,' ■ At Selby. a Benedictine Abbey, founded, in tne year 1069, by William the Conqueror ; rents £819 2». 6d., now wortli £16,382 10s.; granted, 32 Henry VIIL, to Sir Ralph Sadler. At SiNNiNGTHWAiTE. A Cisterciau Nunnery, found- ed, in the year lltO, by Bertram Haget ; rents £62 6»., now worth £1,246 ; granted, 30 Henry VIIL, to Robert Tempest. At Sn^rrB. A Beoedictine Cell, founded m tL« i76 ENGLAND. fear 1106, by <}irard, Archbishop of York; granted, 4 Edward VI., to John, Earl of Warwick. At Spobtburgh. An Hospital, founded, in the yeai 1363, by Mr. Fitz Williams ; rents £9 13s. lid., now worth £193 16». 8d. At Sutton. A College; valued at £13 18s. 8d 'early, now worth £278 13s. 4ci. An Hospital ; valued at £7 18s. id., now worth £158 6s. 8d. At SwiNHEY. A Cistercian Nunnery, founded, in the reign of Stephen, by Roberd de Verli; rents £134 6s. 9d., now worth £2,686 15s.; granted, 32 Henry VIII., to Sir Richard Gresham. At Thickhed. a Benedictine Nunnery, founded, in the reign of Richard I., by Roger Fitz Roger; rents £23 12s. 2d., now worth £472 3s. id.; granted, 33 Henry VIII., to John Aske. At TicKHiLL. a College founded, by Eleanor, Q,ueen ol Henry 11.; granted, 4 Edward VI., to Francis. Earl of Shrewsbury. At TocKWiTH. An Augustine Cell, founded, in the year 1114, by Jeffrey Fitz Pain; rents £8, now worth £160, granted, 31 Henry VIII., to Thomas Leigh. At Warter. An Austin Priory, built in the year 1132, bv Jeffrey Fitz Pain; rents £221 3s. lOd, now worth £4,423 16s. 'id. ; granted, 32 Henry VIII., to Thomas, Earl of Rutland. At Watton. a Gilbertine Priory, succeeded in the year 1150 a Nunnery that was built 686; income £453 7s. 8d., now worth £9,067 13s. 4d.; granted, 3 Edward VI., to John, Earl of Warwick. At Welle. An Hospital, founded, in the year 1342, by Sir Ralph de Neville; income £65 5s. Id., now 'rorth £1,305 lis. 8d. At Whitbet. A Benedictine Abbey grsw- up in COUNTY OF YORK. ir the lime of Henry I., instead of an ancient one buil( Dy St. Hilda in tlie year 657 ; income £505 9s. Id., now worth £10,109 Is. 8d. ; granted, 4 Edward VI., to Jolin Earl of Warwick. At WiDKiRK. An Augustine Cell, builf in the reign of Henry I., by William, Earl of Warren and others; income £47 Os. id., now worth £940 6s. 8d. ; granted, 7 Edward VI., to George Talbot and Robert Saville. At WiLBURFOSSB. A Benedictine Nunnery, founded, ii4 the year 1153, by Alan de Cotton, income £28 8s. Sd.; now worth £568 13s, id. ; granted, 7 Edward VI., to George Gale. At Wykham. a Cistercian Nunnery, founded, in the year 1153, by Pain Fitz Osbert de Wykham; rents £25 17s. 6d., now worth £517 10s. ; granted, 32 Henry _ VIII., to Francis Poole. At Yarum. An Hospital, founded, before the year 1 185, by the Brus family ; income £5, now worth £100. Dominican Friary, founded, in the year 1271, by Peter de Brus ; surrendered by Miles Wilcock, Prior, five Friars and Novices, 1539. At YohK. A Cathedral, built in the year 1137, by the care of Archbishops Roger, Romane, Milton, and Thoresbyj in the place of a church originally founded, 627, by King Edwin, on his conversion to Christianity, but was burnt down in 741 ; yearly revenues of the Archbishop £2,035 3». 7d., Canons £439 2s. 6d., Dean £308 10s. 7d. ; total £2,772 16s. Sd. ; now worth £55,456 13s. id. St. Mary's, a Benedictine Abbey, founded and endowed by William Rufus, in the vear 1088 ; in- come £2,085 Is. 5^d., now worth £41,7C1 9s. 2d. St. Clement's, a Benedictine Convent, or Nun- nery, founded in the year 1130, westward of the town, by Archbishop Thurston ; revenues £55 lis. lid., now worth £1,111 18s. id.; granted, 33 Henry VIII., to Edward Shipwith. \re EJN GLAND. iSi. Andrew's, a Gilbertine Priory, founded, la 'he year 1200, by Hugh Murduc ; income £57 5» 9(1., aow worth £1,145 15s.; granted, 37 Henry VIII., to John Bellew and John Broxholm. Trinity, or Christ Church. An Alien Priory founded, in the year 10S9, by Ralph Painell yearly income £196 17s. 2d., now worth £3,937 13«. 4d. ; granted, 34 Henry VIII., to Leonard Beckwith. All Saints, a Benedictine Cell, built by the bounty of William Rufus ; completely demolished at the Reformation, so that it could not be ascer- tained where it stood. Beddern, or Vicar's College, founded, in the year 1252, by Walter Gray, Archbishop, for the Choristers and other officers of the Cathedral ; re-« venues £255 7s. 8d., now worth £5,107 13s. St. Sepulchre's College, founded, in the year 1161, by Roger, Archbishop of York ; income £138 19s. 2^d., now worth £2,779 4s. 2d. St. William's College, founded, in the year 1460, by Richard Neville, Earl of Northumber- land, and his brother George Neville, Bishop of Exeter; yearly income £22 12s. 8d., now worth £452 13s. 4d. ; granted, 4 Edward VI., to Michael Stanhope and John Bellew. Boutham Hospital, founded, in the year 1314, by Robert Pykering. Dean of York; income £11 6s. Sd., now worth £226, 13s. 4d. Boutham Hospital, Minor, built in the year 1481 by John Gyseburgh ; rents £9 6s. 8d., now worth £186 13s. 4d. Fossgate Hospital founded, 45 Edward III., by John de Ruclifl", for the poor; income £6 13», id., now worth £133 6s. 8d. ; still in being. Si. Nicholas' Hospital, said to have been found COUNTY OF YORK. 17S ed, by the Kmpresi Maud, for leprous persons income £29 Is. 4d., now wortli £581 6s. 8d. St. Peter's or Leonard's Hospital, founded, by King Stephen, for a Master; 13 Brethren, foui secular Priests, eight Sisters, 30 Choristers, two Schoolmasters, 206 Beadmen, and six Servitors : with revenues of £362 lis. l-J-d., now worth £7,251 8s. 6rf. ; granted, 6 Elizabeth, to Robert, Lord Dudley ; it is now called the Mint Yard. St. Thomas's Hospital, founded, before the year 1391, yet stands. An Augustine Friary, founded, in the year 1278, by Lord Scroop; granted, to Thomas Rawson. A Franciscan Friarv, founded, by King Henry IL, and the city of York; granted, 34 Henry VIII., to Leonard Beckwith. A Carmelite Friary, founded, in the j ear 1255. by Lord Vesey and Lord Percy ; granted, 35 Henry VIII., to Ambrose Beckwith. WALES. ANGLESEY (Cocnty.) At Glannaoh. a Benedictme Priory, founded m an island in the east part of Anglesey in the year 1221, by [jleweline. Prince of North Wales ; income £40 17$. 9^d., now worth £817 15«. lOd; granted, 6 Elizabeth, 10 John Moore. At Holy Head. A College rose mstead of a Mo- nastery built in the year 380, by St. Kebius ; income £24, now worth £480; granted, 7 James I., to Francij Morrice and Francis Filips. 180 WALEB. BRECKNOCK (County.) At Brecknock. A Benedictine Priory, built in th« reign of Henry I., by Bernard de Newmarch ; yearly meoBie £13'1 lis. id., now worth £2,691 t.s. 8rf. • granted, by Henry VIII., to Jolin ap Rice. A College, made of a Dominican Friary, ii standing to this day. CAERMARTHEN (County.) At Abep.gwilly. a College, founded, in the year 1287, by Thomas Beck, Bishop of St. David's ; rents £42, now worth £840. At Abelanda. a Cistercian Abbey, founded, in the year 1 143, by Bernard, Bishop of St. David's ; yearly value £153 17s. 2d., now worth £3,077 3s. 4d. ; granted, 36 Henry VIII., to Henry Audley and John Cordel. At Cadwell. a Benedictine Priory, founded, in the year 1130, by Roger, Bishop of Salisbury; rent.s £29 10s., now worth £590. At Caermarthen. An Austin Priory, founded be- fore the year 1148; rents £164 Os. 4a., now worth £3,280 6s. ScZ. ; granted, 35 Henry VIII., to Richard Andrews and Nicholas Temple. A Franciscan Friary ; granted, 5 Edward VL, to Sir Thomas Gresham. At Tallage. A Premonstratensian Abbey, founded, ja the year 1197, by Rhese Griffith Price, of Souti WfJes ; income £153 Is. id., now worth £3,1)61 6s. Rd COUNTY OF CARDIGAN. 181 CAERNARVON (Codnty.) At Bangoii. a Cathedral Church, founded at some early time ; the revenues of the Bishoprick were valued at £131 16s. 4d , now worth £2,636 6s. 8d. A Dominican Friary, founded in the year 1276, and granted, 7 Edward VI., to Thomas Brown, and converted into a Free School, 1557. At Babdsley, Isle of Birds. An Abbey, founded, be- fore the year 516; it produced great numbers of holy men; yearly income £56 6s. 2d., now worth £1,12(1 3s. id. ; granted, 3 Edward VI., to John, Earl of War- wick. At Bethkelert. An Augustine Priory, founded rery anciently ; yearly value £69 3?. 8d., now worth £l,'3S3 13s. id.; granted, by Henry VIII., to 1 ot\ Radnor. CARDIGAN (County) At CARniGAN. A Benedictme Cell, with rever'\es of £13 4s. 9fZ., now worth £264 15».; granted, 31 Henry VIII., to William Cavendish. At Llandewi-brevi. A College, fouTic'cd, in tK* ■ feAx 1137, by Thomas Beck, Bishop of St. Dayid's, in hiinour of St. David, who preached at a Council hel4_ in 519, and thereby extinguished the Pelagian heresy | 'ents £38 lis., now worth £771. At Llanleih. a Cistercian Nunnery, of yearly in- come £57 5s. 4d.i now worth £1,145 6s. 8rf. ; granted, 7 Edward VI., to William Sackville and John Dudley At Strata Florida., . A Cistercian Abbey, found^^d, iu the year 1164, by Rhesus, son of Griffith of Souib Wales ; income £ 122 6s. Sd., now worth £2,446 1 3s. id 182 WALES, DENBIGH (CocNiY.) At Mavnan. a Cistercian Abbey, .funded in ih« Tear 12S3, by King Richard I.; revenues £162 15»., now worth £3,255 ; granted, 5 Elizabeth, to Elezcus Wynne, in whose family it continues still. At Rdthin. A College, founded, in the year J31C, by John de Grey, Lord of Dyffryn, Cly wd ; granted, 4 Edward VL, to William Winlove and John Stevens. At Db Valle Ckucis Llanegwast. A Cistercian Abbey, founded, in the year 1200, by Madoc ap Grif- fith May lor, Prince of Powis; income £213 5s. 5d.. now worth £4,283 8s. id. ; granted, 9 James, to Ed ward Wotton. FLINT (CorNTY.) At St. Asaph. A Bishoprick, founded, in the sixth century, by a holy and good man, St. Asaph, or Aas- saph. This See, and a Monastery that had been also there, were frequently destroyed and rebuilt during the wars between the English and Welsh ; revenues £187 lis. 6d., now worth £3,751 10s. At Basingwerk. a Cistercian Abbey, founded, in the year 1131, by Ranulph, Earl of Chester; rent* £157 15s. 2d., now wotth £3,155 3s. id.; granted, 32 Henry VIII., to Henry ap Harry. At Rhudlanh. a Dominican Friary founded, ui the year 1268; granted, 32 Henry VIII., to Heniy af Hsrrf COUNTY 3B MONTGOMEIIY. i83 GLAMORGAN (ConnTY.) At Llandaffg. a Bishoprick, founded^ about tn« y«ar 522, by St. Dubritius ; suffered much in the wars , wvenues £242 7s. Id., now worth £4,847 Is. 8d. At Morgan. A Cistercian Abbey ; founded, in the ysar 1147, by Robert, Earl of Gloucester; rents £188 1 is.f now worth £3,774 ; granted, 32 Henry VIIL, tu Sir Richard Moxell, and is now the property of Tho- mas, Lord Marsel. At Neth. a Cistercian Abbey, founded, in the reign of Henry L, by Richard de Grainville ; rents £150 4s. 9d., now worth £3,004 15s. ; granted, 33 Henry VIIL, to Sir Richard Williams, alias Cromwell. At SwANSEY. An Hospital, founded, in the year 1332, by Henry, Bishop of St. David's ; rents £20, now worth £400. At Wewny. a Benedictine Cell, founded, in the year 1141, by Maurice, of London ; rents £59 4»„ now worth £1,184; granted, 37 Henry VIIL, to Edward Cam. MERIONETH (ConNTY.) At KiNNER. A Cistercian Abbey, founded, m the year 1200, by Lleweline, the son of Gervase ; rents £58 15». icL, now worth £1,175 6*. 8d. MONTGOMERY (CouKTY.i At Llanluqan. a Cistercian Nunnery, founded m the year 1239 ; rents £22 13». 8d., now worth £453 13«. id. ; granted, 37 Henry VIIL, to Sir Artnnr Darey )84 WALES. At YsTRAT Marchel, Or Paol. a Cistercian ACDejr, founded, in the year 117CL by Owen Keveliog; rents £73 7s. 3d., now worth £1,467 5s. ; granted, 8 Eliza beth, to Rowland Howard and Thomas Dixton PEMBROKE (CopNTY.) At Caldey. a Tyrone Cell, thegift of Robert Fit? Martin's mother ; rents £5, now worth £100. At St. David's. A Bishoprick, founded bv St. Pa- trick about 470; underwent several convulsions after- wards ; revenues at the dissolution j£193 14s. lOd., now worth £3,874 16s. 8d. A College, founded, in the year 1365, by John, Duke of Lancaster; revenues £106 3s. 6fl!., now worth £2,123 10s.; dissolved by Edward VL At St. Dogjiael. A Tyrone Abbey, founded, in ihe reign of Henry L, by Robert Pitz Martin; rents^ £87 8s. 6d., now worth £1,748 10s. ; granted, 35 Hen ry VIII., to John Bradshaw. At Haverford. An Austin Priory, founded, in the year 1200, by Robert of Haverford, Lord of the place : rents £135 6s. Id., how worth £2,706 Is. 8d. ; granted, 38 Henry VIII., to Roger and Thomas Barlow. At Pembroke. A Benedictine Cell, founded, m the year 1098, by the Earl of Pembroke ; yearly value £113 2s. M., now worth £2,262 10s.; granted, 37 Henry VIII., to John Vaughan. At PiLLA, or PiLLE. A Benedictine Priory, founded, in the yeat 1200, by Adam de Rupe ; yearly income £52 2s. 5d„ now worth £1,042 8s. id.; granted, 38 Henry VIII., to Roger and Thomas Barlow. At Sl^bagh. a .House of Hospitalers, founded, m he year 1301, by Wizo and Walter his son ; rentji THE ISLE OF MAN. 185 £184 10«. Hid., now worth £3,690 19s. 2d.; granted, together with several things in these parts, to Rogei and Thomas Barlow. RADNOR (CouMTT.) At CuMHiRB. A Cistercian Abbey, founded, in the year 1143, bv Cadwathelan, though it seems that the fabric was finished ; the revenues, at the dissolution, made £24 19s. 4d., yearly, now worth £499 6s. 8d. ; granted, 37 Henry VIII., to Walter Henley and Join Williams. THE ISLE OF MAN Ddffglass. Near this place was a Nunnery, which 18 now a dwelling house. At RnssiN. A Cistercian Abbey, founded, in the year 1098, by Mac Manis, Governor of the island. This foundation continued for some time after the general suppression of such houses in England. The Isle of Man was converted to Christianity by St. Pa- trick, about t^e year 447 16* IRELAND ANTRIM (County.) • At Ballycastle. An Abbey, when founded, is not mown, but u seems, from an inscription on a chapel that had been built in the year 1612, by Randal Mac Donnell, Karl of Antrimj that the Abbey stood until the Reformation, At BonaMargy. a M'onasteiy, founded, during the fifteenth century by Mac Donnell, granted to his Apos- tate descendants. At CARRicKFERons. A Fraiiciscan Abbey, founded; in the year 1232, by Hugh Lacy, Earl of Ulster ; grant- ed to Sir Arthur Chichester; is now the Mansion of the Earls of Donegal. Cldaiw. An Abbey built in the early ages by St. Olcar ; now the Protestant place of worBnipi At Glenarm. a Franciscan Abbey, built in the year 146^ by Robert Bisset, a Scotchman ; granted, to Alexander Mac Donnell, ancestor to the Earl of An- trim. At GoOiiB'OKN. A Premonstraten-sian Priory, founded, about the year 1242 ; surrendered in the yeaf 1542 to the Commissioners of Henry VIII. At Kells, or DiSERT. A Priory, founded, in the fear 1200 ; surrendered, in the year 1542 to the Com- nmsioners of- Henry VIII. At KiLiTRAGH. A Church built by St. Patrick ; now the Protestant place of wors'iip. At Lambeq. A Franciscan Monastery, funded b) Mac Donnell about the year 1500. COUNTY OF ARMAGH. lf« At LnArtNAVACH. The Church of the Dwarf, founded fcy St. Patrick ; no.v the Protestant place of worship. At Ma?saueenb. a Franciscan Abbey, founded »bout the year 11500, by O'Neil ; granted, in the year 1621, to Sir Arthur Chichester, Baron of Belfast. At MucKAMORE. A Monastery, fgunded, in tjip year 550, by St. Cojman ; surrendered, ^ft^r EStVing been for many ages the light of th? world, the nursery ot saints and of learning, to Henry VIII. ; granted, in the year 1639, to the Longford family. At Racijwn Island. A Church, founded, in the year 546, by St. Columba. This house, celebrated for learning and sanctity, stood in the year 1558, when the Karl of Essex, Lord Deputy, gained possession of the island. At Rathmoane. a Church, founded, by St. Patriek, for his disciple St. Ereclasius ; now the Prot^^iant place of worship. Ratbmuighe (on the sea-shore, eight miles from Dunliffsia, or Dunluce.) A Monastery, founded by St. Patrick. At; TtJLACH. A Church built by St. Patrick, for St. Nehemias, in the diocese of Connor j now the Protept- int place of worship. [Besides these, there are upwards of thirty reli- gious houses on record, which were principally founded by St. Patrick in this county, but they are omitted because there is no proof that they subsist- ed until the Reformation.J ARMAGH ( :;ouHrr.) At Armagh. An Augustine AbbeVi built in the ie«i 157, by St. Patrick. W IRELAND A Pnory of the Culdei, or Choristeis oi tho Cathedral, had for revenues seven ballyboes, oi town-lands, worth £46, now worth £920. Sit Toby Caulfield, Lord Charlemount, received, in the year 1620, the rents for Henry VIIL Temple Fortagh, founded by St. Patrick for St Lupita, his eldest sister, who was buried here £;ranted, in the year 1618, by King James, to Fran cis Aunesley, Esq. A Franciscan Friary, founded, m the year 1261; oy Archbishop Scanlon. Solomon M'Conny waa superior, in 1583, when the Reformation was com pleted. CIlonfeakle, that is, the Church of the Tooth, so Darned from a tooth of St. Patrick, which was pre- •o-ved here ; is now the Protestant place of worship ; live mUes from Armagh. At KiLMQRE. A Church, founded, by St. Mochtee ; now the Protestant place of worship ; three miles from Armagh. At KiLSLERE. A Franciscan Monastery. Thomas Ornay was superior in the year 1457. At KiLLBvy, A Nunnery, built about the year 517, by St. Donerca, otherwise called Monena, sister to St. Patrick, at the foot of Sliev GuUen ; now a Protestant place of worship. . At Stradhailloyse. A Franciscan Monastery, fcimded, in the year 1282. [There are five religious foundations of St. Pa- trick and his disciples omitted in this county as in the preceding.] CARLOW (County.) At Athadot. An Augustine Nunnery, founded, ix the year 1151, by Dermot, son of Murcbard, King o LeintteF COUNTY OF CAVAN. IM At Bally M' William-Rob, neax Clonegall. A Pre- tepvtry of Templars, founded about the year 1300. At Killargg. a Preceptory of Templars, (which was afterwards granted to the Knights of St. John ol Jerusalem,) founded ■ in the reign of King John, by Gilbert de Borard ; granted, 1590, by Queen Elizajbeth, to the wife of Gerard Aylmer. At Leighlin, a town formerly of considerable note. The great Abbey, founded, by St. Gobban, celebrated for the Synod held there in the year 630, regarding the celebration of Easter.- St. Laserian, Abbot in 632, had at one time 1500 Monks under him ; he was consecra- ted Bishop, by Pope Honorius, and was Legate from the Holy See. Leighlin Bridge. A Carmelite Monastery, found ed, in the reign of Henry TIL, by one of the Carew family; had many endowments and privileges from Kings Henry III., Richard II., and Henry IV. ; was .finally converted, at the suppression, into a fort. At St. Mni.Liu's. An Abbey of Augustines, founded, in tlie year 632, by St. Moling; plundered and burnt before the year 1138. At Tdllagh. An Augustine Abbey, built in the reign of Edward II., on a grant of land made by Simon Lumbard and Hugh Tallon ; granted, 1557, by Queen Elizabeth, to Thomas, Earl of Ormond. CAVAN (County.) At Ballylinch. An Hospital, when founde(S, by whom and with what endowments, is unknown ; grant- ed by King James, 1605, to Sir Edward Moore, ances- tor t: the Earl of Drogheda, for three pence yearly Mat. ©0 IRELAND. At Cav>.n. a Dominican Monastery, founded, m he year 1300, by GioUa O'Reilly^ of the 'dynasty ol Breinny ; stood until the general dissolution, but there (S not now the least remains of it. At Dromlomman. An Hospital^ leased by King Jsmes to Sir Edward Moore, for 2s. 6rf. yearly rent. At Dhumlanb or Drumlahan. A Monastery, found- ed, before the year 550, as some suppose, by St. Mai- doc, because he was born in that year; granted, 13 Elizabeth, to Hugh O'Reilly, head of the Brenie sept, for the terra of' 21 years, at the rent of £8 lis, Bd., now worth £174 13s id. At KiLLACHAD. An Abbey, founded, before the year 800, by St. Tigernach, who was buried there in the year 805, plundered by the English in the reign of Henry II At KiLMORE. An Abbey, founded, in the sixth cen- tury, by St. Columb ; now the Protestant Bishop's See. At Lough Oughter. An Abbey, founded, in the year 1237, by Clarus M. Moylin, Archdeacon of El- phin; granted, 1570, by Q,ueen Elizabeth, to Hugh O'Reilly of the Brenie, head of his sept, for 21 years, at the rent of £2 15s. Sd., now worth £55 13s. id. Perhaps he was ejected for non-payment of rent; for, by an inquisition taken 27 Elizabeth, he was found in arrears for 11^ years rent, for this and the Monastery of Drumlan, above said. At MliUNTERcoNAGHT. An Endowed Hospital, granted by King James to Sir Edward Moore, at la, 3fi{. yearly rent, now worth £1 5s. See Ballylinch. CLARE (CouKTT.) At Clark. An Augustine A'jbey, founded, m tbt year 1195, by Donald O'Brien. King of Limerick granted 1661, to Henry, Earl of Thomond. COU-NTi" OF CLARE. 161 At CoHCTOiROE. A Cistercian Abbey, founded, in the year 119i, andlaTgely endowed by Donald O'Bvieu, King of Limerick; granted to Richard Harding. At Ennis. a Monastery of Franciscans, built in the year 1240, by Donagh Carbrac O'Brien ; it is the place ot' interment p{ the family of the O'Briens j granted, 1621, to William DongE^n, Esq. ; is now the Protestant place of worship. At Glan Ciioi.uimohii.le. An Abbey, founded by St. Columb ; is now a Protestant place of worship in the diocese of Kilfenora. At Inchvcronane, an Island on the river Shannon A Monastery, founded in the year 1190, by Donald O'Brien, King of Limerick j granted, 1661, to Henry, Earl of Thomond. At Inchmore, an Island ni the Shannon. An Abbey, founded by St. Senan, who placed over it his disciple, St. Liberius. At Inisanlaoi. a magnificent Abbey, built in the year 1305, by Turlogh, King of Thomond, where he is buried. At In[Skeltair, an Island in Loughderg. An Abbey, founded, in the year 653, by St. Camin, who is interred there. This Island is one of the stations for pilgrim- age in the Loughderg. At Inisnegananagh, orthe Island nf Canons, m the Shannon. A priory of Augustine,', o^iuded, in the 12th century, by Donald O'Brien, King of Limerick; grant- ed, 1661, to Henry, Earl of Thomond. At Inisscatthhy. A rich and beautiful Island in the mouth of the Shannon. An Abbey, founded by St. Senan, or, as some suppose, by St. Patrick himself, irho appointed over it St. Senan ; he had eleven ekurches for Friars, and allowed no women to come into the Island. Granted, 20 Elizabeth, to the Mayor •nd Corporation of Limerick, at £3 12a. Sd. rent, iiovi- l-oa IRELAND. votlh £73 13s. id. Tais Island is a great resort ot pilgrims, on certain festirals. At KiLCARRAGH. A Monastery, gic.nted to John King. At KiLLOEN, in the Barony of Islands. A Nunnery, built in the year 1190, by Donald O'Brifcii, of Lime- rick. Slaney, daughter of Donogh, King of Tho- niund, was Abbess, and died in 1260. She excelled all the women then in Munster for piety, alms-de'?ds and hospitality At KiLSHANNY, in the Barony of Corcumroe. A Monastery, granted to Robert Hickman. At Q.UIN, or doiNCHY, five miles east of Enn's. A Franciscan Monastery, built in the year 1402, by M'Namara ; the building is entirely of black marble ; granted, 1583, to Sir Tirlagh O'Brien, of Irishdyman. The Roman Catholics repaired this Monastery in 1604. At Shraduffb, an Abbey, granted, in 1611, to Sir Edward Fisher, together with its site and posses- sions. At ToMGRANY, four miles east of Loughderg. An Abbey. St. Manchin, Abbot, died in the year 735 It is now the church. Fifteen religious foundations of ih" early ages in this county are omitted. CORK (County.) At Abbey Mahon, near Timoleague, by Count M'Sherry-bay. A Cistercian Monastery, built by the Friars, and endowed by Lord Barry with eighteen plowlands, that is, the whole parish of Abbey Mahon, which were seized by the crown (OLNTY" OF CORK. 19.* At Ballybeq, near Buttavant. An Augustme' Prio- ry, fouudtd, in the year 1229, by Philip de Barry; the steeple, the arcade over the dome, remaining yet, to- gether with the traces of many external buildings, show that it had been a magnificent structure ; yearly falue £260, now worth £5,200 ; granted, 16 Elizabeth, for 21 years, to George Boucher, Esq., who forfeited it for non-payment of rent ; then granted to the wife of Sir Thomas Norris, Governor of Munster. At Ballvmacadane, four miles south of Cork, on the Baudon Road. An Augustine Nunnery, founded, in the year 1450, by Cormac M'Carlhy. At Ballvourney, or the town of the Beloved. An Abbey or Nunnery, built in the year 650, by St. Abban, for St. Gobnata, descendant of O'Connor the Great, Monarch of Ireland ; her festival is on the 14th Febru ary. At Bantry, a pretty Town on the Bay of that name. A Franciscan Monastery, built in the year 1466, by Dennot O' Sullivan Beare; is now demolished. At Bridge Town, on the Black Water, above Fer- moy.. A Priory, pleasantly situated in a deep valley at the confluence of the rivers Aubeg and Black Water. At Brigowne, near Michelstown. A Church, found- ed by St. Finchu. At BoTTBVANT, formerly a corpcwate town, governed by a Mayor and Aldermen. A Franciscan Monastery founded in the year 12907 by David Oge Barry, Lord Buttevant; the walls of the choir and nave are yet entire; the steeple, a high square tower, standing on a fine gothic arch, fell in 1S22. There is a beautiful wdndow in the east end. At Cape Clear. An island on the south-west coast of Ireland, containing 12 plowlands, 300 houses, and about 1200 inhabitants. /94 IRELAND. At Carigiliky, in the parish of Myros, West Car- oerry. A Monastery, built in the year 1172, by Dermot M'darthy, King of Desmond ; granted, witn all the possessions, 30 Elizabeth, to Nicholas Walshe for ever, at the yearly rent £28 6s. 6d., now worth £566 10a. At Castle Lyons. A Dominican Monastery, found- ed in the year 1307, by John de Barry. The Earl ol Cork obtained the possessions and bestowed them on the Countess of Barrymore, his daughter. A Carmelite Abbey, founded in the Barry family. At Clonmene, in Duhallow. An Augustine Monas- tery ; founded, by Mr. O'Callagan. At Cloyne, a town near Youghal. A Cathedral Monastery, and Nunnery destroyed ; the revenues pre- served for parsons. At Cork. A Monastery founded, m the year 600, by St. Finbar ; it is recorded, that in the eighth centu- ry 700 Monks and 17 Bishops were living there a contemplative life; the possessions were granted, 33 Elizabeth, to Cormac M'Carthy and to Sir Richard Grenville ; a Protestant place of worship was erected on the site. A Franciscan Friary, founded, in the year 1214, by Dermot M'Carthy Reagh ; granted, 8 Elizabeth, to Andrew Skydyj at ^2 18s. Bd., now worth £58 13s. 4d. This building stood on the north side ot the city. A Dominican Friary, founded, in the year 1229, by Philip de Barry ; it stood on an island in the south of the city; granted, 35 Henry VIII., to William Boureman, for 9s. 6d, yearly rent, how worth £9 10s. An Augustine Monastery, founded, in the reiga of Henry IV., by Lord Kinsale ; granted, 19 Eliza- beth, to Cormac M'Carthy, at £13 16s. Sd. yearly rent, now worth £276 13s. 4d. ; it is converted into a Bugar-house now called the red Abbey. COUNTY OF CORK. 195 A Nunnery, founded, by William de Barry, •bout the year 1327 ; it is thought it stood whert the market-house now is. A Preceptory of Templars; built m the yeai 1292. Priory of St. Stephen, founded, for lepers,- be- fore the year 1295 ; converted into the Blue-coaJ Hospital in 1674. At DoNAGHMORE, eight miles north-west of Corfe A. Monastery, founded, by St. Fingene, disciple of Si, Finbar ; it is now the Church. At Fehmoy, a large town. A Cistercian Abbey, tc which Maurice Fleming was a benefactor; granted, Si- Elizabeth, to Sir Richard Gfenville, at £15 18s. id yearly rent, now worth £318 6s. 8d. At Glanworth. a Dominiean Monastery founded In the 1227, by the Roche's family. At Iniscar>, on the river Lee, five miles above Cork. An Abbey, built by St. Senan of Iniscattery; dis- solved. At Inishiroan, near Cape Clear. A Franciscan Monastery, founded, in the year 1460, by Florence Moar O'Driseoll; the walls and steeple are still in good order. At KiLBEAOAN, in Muscryciure. A large Monastery, founded, in the year 650, by St. Abban; St. Beacoii presided there. At KiLCBSA. A Nunnery, where St, Chera war 4bbess. •A Franciscan Monastery, founded, in the yeai 1465, by Commc M'Carthy Moor, King of Des- mond; great part of the building still remains graatei, by Oliver CromTrell 1641, to Lord Brog- At KtNSALE. A Priory of regular Canons ded eated 10 St. Gobban. t96 IRELAND. A Carmekte Friary j when founoeo, l§ »o< known, it flourished in 1350. Al Legan. a Monastery, stood in the year 1301 tt the suppression of religious houses, the Prior of St John in VValerford was seized of this house. At LuEiM, near the city of Cork. A Monastery, oi which David de Cogan was patron in the year 1318. At MiDDLETON. An Abbey, founded, in the year H80, by the Fitzgeralds, or. as some think, by the Barrys ; Gerald, Bishop of Cloyne, endowed it with several vicarages in 1476. At MoNANiMV, on the Black Water, three miles below Mallow. A Commandery, for the support of which the parishes of Clenor, Carrigdownen, Carig, and Tem- plebodane, werecharged in the King's books with £3 10s. crown rent, now worth £70. -At MouRNE, or Ballvnamona, three miles south ol Mallow, on the Cork road. A Preceptory, first ol Templars, and afterwards of Hospitalers, founded, in the reign of John, by Alexander de Sancta Helena. At Ross Carbehrv. An Abbey, founded in the year 590 by St. Fachnan Mougah, or the hairy, because he was covered with hair at his birth ; he was Abbot oi Molona, in the county of Waterford also ; a city with a large seminary grown up here. tt was also an Episcopal See. This diocese is now joined to the diocese of Cloyne. At TiMOLEAGUEj in the Barony of Barryroe, eight miles west of Kinsale. An Abbey of Franciscans, founde"d at Cregan, and translated hither in the yeai 1279, by William Barry, Lord of Ibaun. At the sup- pression, the possessions fell to Lord Inchiquin. The v/alls, arcades, and tower are still in good order. At Tracton, two miles south of Carigline. A Cis- tercian Abbey, built in the year 1221, by M'Carthy, great .numbers of pilgrims resorted hi her on Holy COUNTY OP rERRY. 197 Thursday to venerate the Holy Cross; granted, by Q,ue3n Elizabeth, 1568, to Sir James Craig and Henry Gulliord ; the former assigned it to the Earl of Cork. At Weeme, near Cork. An Augustine Priory, stood at the fourteenth century, and, without doubt, until the general dissolution. At YoDGHAL, a large s^a port town. A Franciscan Monastery, built in the year 1824, by Maurice Fita- gerald. Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, who died and was buried in 1257, after having spent maixy years, here under the habit of a Monk. This house stood to ne South of the town ; there are no traces of it now. A Dominican Friary, built to the north, in the year 1268, by Maurice, descendant of Lord OiTaly granted, 23 Elizabeth, to William Walsh, at Is ^M. yearly rent, now worth £1 16s. 8d. DERRY (CoDNTY.) At Arragell, in the Barony ot Coleraine. A Mo- nastery, founded, by St. Columb, to which the Protes- tant place of worship has succeeded. At Badoney, in Glaun Aide, two miles from Deny. A Church, founded, by St. Patrick. At Coleraine. A Priory of regular Canons, found- ed, it is thought, by St. Carbreus, a disciple of St. Finian of Clonard. A Dominican Friary, founded, in the year 1244, by the O'Cahanes ; Shane O'Boyle, the last prior, surrendered it to ftie King's Commissioners, 1 Jan 1542. At Deery. An Augustine Abbey, founded, abouf die year 521, by St Columb. 17* 'JS8 IRELAND. A Nunnery, founded, in ihe year 121S, by Tui logh O'Neil, of Strabane. A Dominican Friary, built in the year 1274, b) O'Doanel, Prince of Tyrconnell ; the house sup- ported generally 150 Monks. At Dezertoghill. An Abbey, built by St. Colomb H now converted into a Protestant place of worship. At DoNAGHMORE. A Clmrch, built in the time oi St. Patrick, is now converted into the Protestant place of worship. » At DuNGivEN. An Augustine Priory, founded, in the year 1100, by Prince O'Cahane ; it stood to the fourteenth, and, without doubt, to the sixteenth, cen- tury. At Maoillagan, near Loughfoyle. 'A Monastery, founded, by St. Columb. At MoYoosaDiN, near Coleraine. An Abbey, found- ed, in the year 1172. It Btood until the fifteenth cen- niry. DONEQALL (Countt.) At AsTRATH, on the river Erne, near Ballyshannon. A. Cistercian Abbey, built in the year 1178, by Rode- ,-ick O'Cananan, Prince of Tyrconnell ; by a valuation at Clueen Elizabeth, the revenues made £19 11«. 8d. yearly, now worth £39 13s. id. At BoTHCRONAis, in Inis-eoguin. A Monastery, in which St. CoemgaU was Abbot in the eighth, and St. Maelisa (whose writings are still extant) in the ele- venth century. At Clonleioh, on the liver Foyle. A Church, tnilt by St. Columb, where his disciple, St. Lugad, i« hoBoured; St. Carnech was Abbot and Bishop ifxt COUNTY OP DONEaAL.L. IM tbout the year 530. It is now the Protestant place oi worship in the diocese of Deiry. At Clonmanv, near tbe sea. A Monastery, built bj St. Columb; now the Cnurch. At CoNWALL, near the river Sevilly. An Abbey, founded about the year 587 ; now a Church of worship, m the diocese of Raphoe. At Cnodain, on the river Erne. A Monastery, in which St. Conan was Abbot.. At DoMNAcnoLiNNE TocHciR, in Inisoen. A Church, founded, by St. Patrick, in which he appointed Mac- carthen, brother to the Saint of Clogher, Bishop ; there «re still preserved the Saint's penitential bed, and other sacred relics ; a great resort of pilgrims on St, Patrick's day, 17th March. At DoNEGALL. A Franciscan Monastery, founded, in the year 1474, by Odo Roe O'Donnell, Prince of Tyrconnell. The place of interment of great men and scholars. At Dhomhome, on the Bay of Donegall. A Monas- tery, m which St. Ernan lived in the year 640 ; con- tinued to the general dissolution ; now the Protestant place of worship. At Pahan, six miles north-west of Derry, on Lough swilly. A noble Monastery, founded by St. Columb. This grand Edifice was held in the greatest veneration, from the reverence paid to the patron saint, from the many monuments of antiquity preserved there, and from its being the mterment of many illustrious saints and great men. The only relics still remaining are some fragments of the acts of St. Columb, written in Irish verse by St. Muran, a large chronicle, and the crosier of St. Muran, richly ornamented with jewelsj. which is preserved by the O'Neils. At Fanegahaqh. a Franciscan Fiiary, built br M'Rulni Hlaivds the louffh continues still to b» the reso' o* great numbers of pilgrims At MoviLL on Loughfoyle. A Monaster, founded by St. Patrick; now the Protestant place of worship. At Raphoe. a Monastery, founded by 8t ^* tumb. At Rathmcllin on Loughswrily. A Carmeli» Friary, founded by M'Sweeny Fannagh. The reve- nues valued, 43 Elizabeth, at 6s. 3d., aow worth £6 VJs. id. At Seinqlean, m the diocese of Raphoe. A Monas- tery, founded by St. Columb. At TAnoHBOYNB. A Monastery, founded by St. Baithen, disciple and kinsman of St. Columb, m the year 584. At Torre Island. A Monastery, founded befor« the year 650, in which St. Ernan was Abbot. At TuLLY, near Loughswilly. An Abbey, foande,nded, in the year 1411, by Thomas Chelene j it became the dwelling of Charles Ecklin, Esq. At Glangraqh, Vale of Charity. An Abbey, founded in the year 1200. ♦ Gray Abbey, on the Lough of Stranford, founded, in the year 1192, by Africa, daughter of Godfrey, King of Man, and wife of Sir John de Courcey ; by an inqui- sition held in the first year of James I., the revenues made £2, now worth £40; granted to Gerald, Earl of Kildare ; now the Protestant place of wordiip. At Hollywood, on the Bay of Carrickfergus. A Monastery of Franciscans ; rents valued, in 5 James I., £1 3s. 4d., now worth £23 6s. 8d. At Iniscoorcey, in the Lough of Strangford. A Cistercian Abbey, built by Sir John de Courcey, m the year 1180; granted to Gerald, Earl of Kildare. At KiLCLipp, on the Lough of Strangford. An Abbey, in which St. Eugene and St. Niell were Abbots ; now the Protestant place of worship. An Hospital for Lepers, under the patronage c4 St. Peter. At KiLMBiAN. An Abbey, built by St. Fergus, Bi- shop of Down, about the year 583. St. Neman lived here too. At Magherblin, on the river Lagan, near Dromore. A Monastery, built by St. Colman, who died in the fear 699 ; now a Protestant place of worship. Al MoviLLE. An Abbey of Augustines, flourish d WJ* IRELAND from tht feai 359 until 1542, when it had been sup- pcessed aiter aaving produced many illustr.ous samti and great literary characters. At Newbey. a Cistercian Abbey) built by Maurice M'Lochlain, Monarch of all Ireland; made into a Protestant place of worship in 1543. College also de- stroyed. At Newtown. A Monastery, founded, in the year 1244, by Walter de Burgo, Earl of Ulster ; surrendered 32 Henry VIII. ; revenues worth £13 3s., now worth £263. At Saul, in the Barony of Lecale. An Abbey founded, by St. Patrick, where he died, March 17, 493, and in the 120th year of his age, and was buried with great solemnity at Downpatnck; granted to Gerald, Earl of Kilda.e. At Slieve Donard, a high mountain. A Mo nastery, founded, by St. Domangart, a disciple of St Patrick. At ToBERGLORY, 3. Well near Downpatnck. An Abbey, founded, by Sir John de Courcey, and tichly endowed. DUBLIN (ConsTY.) At Baldongan, m the Barony of Balruddery. A Ca»- de of Templars, that was converted into a Friary and Nunnery alternately. At Ballymaoun, in the same Barony. A Cell and a Church ; on the ruins of which Robert Preston, Esq. bad his seat in the year 1542. At Castle Kncc;k. An Augustine Abbey founded W Richard Tirrel , now the Protestant place of wor ihip. COUNTY OF DUBLIN. ao5 At CuoNDALKiN. Aq Abbey, in which St. Cronan Mochua was the first Abbot before the year 776 ; after baving produced many Sains, it is made the Proteat- aut place of worship. At Clontahp. a Monastery, built in the year 550; MW a Protestant place of worship. Ck)mmandery of Templars, founded in the reign of King John. At Dublin. Abbey of the Virgin Mary, founded, if is supposed, by the Danes after their conversion to ehristiauity, about the year 948. It was at first a Benedictine monastery, but it was granted to the Cis tercians in the year 1139. The house was considera- bly enriched by the bounty of Bishops, Abbots, and Princes, and always held in the greatest veneration lor the numerous saints and learned men Jl produced, as well as for the sacred relics which it contained. 1b the year 1180, Fitz Andelm, and Miles Cogane, and Fitz Stephen, brought from Armagh, and bestowed upon this church a stone altar, and the most holy staff of Jesus, which St. Patrick used to carry in his hand ; this staff was covered with gold and overlaid with pearls, being held so sacred that the possessor of it, if a Bishop, was always deemed the canonical owner of the See of Armagh. The history of the staff is thus given by Joceline : " St. Patrick, moved either by divine instinct or angelical revelation, on his lour in the south of Europe, visited one Justus, an ascetic in the island of the Tuscan Sea, who was spending a solitary life of the most edifying sanctity. After mutual salutations and discourse on heavenly matters, he presented the Irish Apostle with a staff, which he averred he had re- ceived from the hands of Jesus Christ himself. In this island there were some men in the bloom of youth, and others who appeared aged and decrepid. St! Patrick, upon conversing with them, found that those persons seemingly old were sons of those who appear- ed young. He was astonished at this miraculous ap- pearance, un'il he was told that from their infancy thev 206 IRELAND. had served God ; tliat they were constantly emplt/yed in works of charity, and their doors ever open to the Iraveller and the distressed ; and that one night a Btranger, with a staff in his hand, came to them whom they accommodated to the best of their power; and tliat in the morning he blessed them, and said, I am Jesus Christ whom you have always faithfully served, but last night you received me in my proper person. He then gave this staff to their spiritual father, with directions to deliver it to a stranger named Patrick, who would shortly visit them. On saying this he ascended into heaven, and left us in that state of juve nillty in which you behold us, and our sons, then young, are the old decrepid persons you now see." Joceline goes on then to relate that with this staff our Apostle collected every venemous serpent and snake in the island of Erin to the top of the mountain oi Crough Phadruig, or Patrick's Hill, in the county of Mayo, and from thence precipitated them into the ocean. This story was handed down by general tra- dition in that country since the earliest ages, being related by many authors who ilourished prior to the days of Joceline, in the year 1185. This house and possessions were granted 31 Elizabeth, to Edmund Fitz Alexander; rent £4 17s. 8d., now worth £97 ;3*. id. Nunnery of St. Mary de Hogges ; founded, in the year 1146, by Dermot, son of the King ol Leinster; granted, 6 Edward VI., to James Sed- grave; rent lis. 8d., now worth £11 I3s. 8d. Nunnery of Si. Mary les Dames ; without the gate. Abbey of St. Olave. Priory of All Saints, in Hoggin Green, now called College Green, was founded, about the yeai 1166, by Dermot, son of Muchard, King of Lein- ster; granted, 30 Henry VIII., to the Mayor, Ac of the city of Dublin, for the yearly rent of £4 3» OJuse was smith to St. Patrick, and made the famous relic called Finnfaidheach. Now the Protestant place of worship. At KiLMACDUACH. An Abbey, founded in the year 620, by St. Colman, son of Duack ; it became an Au- gustine Monastery in 1383 ; here are many venerable and noble ruins that bespeak the former greatness and piety of the Irish. The round tower projects seventeen feet from its perpendicular line. The celebrated lean- ing tower of Pisa in Italy projects only thirteen feet, granted to the Earl of Clamicarde. At KiLEicKiLL. A Nunnery, built by St. Patrick for his sister St. Richella ; now a Protestant place of wor- ship, in the diocese of Clonfert. At KiLTULLAGH. A Franciscan Cell, built piior to the year (141. At KiNALEKiN. A Commandery of Hospitalers founded, about the year 1250, by O'Flaherty. A Franciscan Friary, founded before the year 1325. At LonGHHBAGH. A Carmelite Friary, founded, in the year 13 lO, by Richard de Burgo, Earl of Ulster; granted to Richard, Earl of Clanricarde. A Leper Hospital was there too. At Maghce, Maghele, or Maghellb. Three Mo- nasteries, founded by St. Alban, who died in the yeat 650. At MiLicK, on the Shannon. A Franciscan Friary founded by O'Madden, Dynast of that country. Grant' td to the Earl of Clanricarde. COUNTY OF GALWAY. 215 At McciNis. An Abbey, wherein Regulus was Abbo> in the time of St. Columb ; this place is in Loughdearg in the county Galway. At Pallice. a Carmelite Friary, built in the four- teenth century, by Bertningham, Baron of Athenry; granted, 31 Elizabeth, to John Rawson, at the yearly rent of £8 12s. Id. Irish, now worth £172 lis. 8d. At PoRTUMNA. A Cistercian Abbey, which became in the course of time a Dominican Friary; the still ex- isting walls show that it had been a noble structure. The ancient choir is now the Protestant place of wor- ship. At Ratiimath, on Lough-Corrib. An Abbey, built by St. Fursey, son of Fintan, of the royal race ot South Munster, who died about the year 653, being called now Kilfursa ; it is the Protestant place of wor- ship. At Ross^ in the diocese of Tuam. A Franciscan Fri- ary, built m the year 1431. At RossERELLY. A Franciscan Monastery, founded, in the year 1498, by Lord Gannard ; granted to the Earj of Clanricarde. At Slecshancogh. A Franciscan Friary ; granted to Sir Francis Sammes. At Templegaile, or Teagh Sassan. A Franciscan Friary, founded in the reign of Henry VII., by the Burgo family ; granted to the Burgesses and Common- alty of Athenry. Another Franciscan Friary wag granteJ here to Edmond Barret. At ToMBEOLA, at the head of Ronndstowne Bay. A Dominican Friary, founded, in the year 1427, bj O'Flaherty, Dynast of that country ; demolished in the reign of Elizabeth, and the stones carried away to build a castle in the neighbourhood. At Tdam. An Abbey, built in the year 48"', wm 216 IRELAND. converted in the sixth century into a Cathedral Dy the good St. Jarlath. A Priory of St. John the Baptist, built in the year 1 140, by Tirdelvac O'Connor, King of Ire- land ; granted to Richard, Eavl of Clanriearde. A Premonstratensian Abbey, founded, in the reign of King John, by the Burgh family ; grant- ed, 20 Elizabeth, to the Burgesses and Common alty of Athenry. KERRY (CouN-ry.) \t Aghadoe. An Abbey, where Aodh, grandson of AuiffMor. O'Donoghue, king of Aoganacht Locha- leih, was buried in the year 1231. At Aghamore. An Abbey, founded, in the seventh century, by the Friars of St. Finbar, of Cork; it is situated on a small island near the mouth of the Ken- mare river. At Ardfert. a sumptuous Monastery, built in the sixth century, by St. Brendan; destroyed repeatedly bv fire and wars. Thomas, Lord of Kerry, built, in the year 1253, a Monastery there, which became the burial ground of several illustrious families ; this house was high in estimation for the numerouf miracles MTTOught there. The ruins of this noble edifice stand a little east of the town ; the walls of the steeple, choir, cloisters, dormitory, and chapel for morning are entire. In the church is a figure of St. Brendan in relievo ; the round tower, the finest in Ireland, 120 feet high, aiifoTtunately fell in the year 1771. At BAi.LyNASKELiGS, or St. Michael's Mocst, in Toragha. An Augustine Abbey, removed thither from the Island of Great Skelig ; the ruins on the sea shore,. that is continually wearing it away, represent the an- COUNTY OF KERRY. 217 cient Abbey as a noble edifice. There is a holy well consecrated to St. Michael, which is annually visited on the 29th of September ; granted, 28th Elizabeth, to John Blake ; rent £6 13«. id., yearly, now worth £133 6s. 8d. At Croebheagh. An Abbey, founded, by St. Patrick, for his disciple, St. Daluan ; St. Trian was Abbot and Bishop here about the year 450. At DmcLE. A Monastery, which was a cell to the Abbey of Killagh, Castlemain. At Innispallen, an island on the Lake of Killamey. An Abbey, founded by St. Finian Lobhar, or the Leper, disciple of St. Brendan, and son of the King of Mun- ster, in the sixth century. In 1180, this house was held cred as paradise, and the clergy were deemed so holy and trustworthy, that the treasures and valuable effects of the whole country were deposited in their hands, notwithstanding the Abbey was, in this year, destroyed by Maolduim, son of Daniel O'Donaghoe, and many of the clergy were slain, even in their cells, by the M'Carthy's. Granted, 37th Elizabeth, to Robert Col- Ian ; rent £72 3s., now worth £1443. At Irelagh, near Loughlean. A Franciscan Friary, founded in the year 1440, by Thady M'Cartliy. Grant- ed to Robert Collan, at 168. yearly rent, now worth £16. At KiLtACHAD-CoNCHEAn. A NuDuery, founded, in the sixth century, by St. Abban, for St. Conchenna. At Killagh. A Priory of Regular Canons, founded, in the reign of John, by Geoffry de Mariscis ; granted to Thomas Clinton ; rent £17 yearly, now worth £240. At LiSLAGHTiN. A Franciscan Monastery, founded in the year 1464, by O'Conner, Prince of Kerry ; gi anted to Sir Edward Denny, rent £3 He. lid., now worth £71 2s. 6d. Monaster ni Oriel, in the Barony of Glanerought At Odorney. a Cistercian Abb«y, fbnndel b Sh 19 tl8 IRELAND. year 1154, was demolished 39 Elizabeth, and the po»- sessions granted to the Provost and Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin. It is now a shapeless ruin. At Rattoo, or Rathoy, in the Barony of Clanmau- rice. A Monastery of Regular Canons, founded, in the 13th century, in the place of a Commandery of Hospi talers ; granted, 23 Elizabeth, to John Zouche, at the rent of 6s. 7d., now worth £6 lis. 8d. At Skelig, an Island on the Coast of Ireragha. An Abbey, founded, by St. Finian, in the year 812. The Danes plundered and destroyed the Abbey, and kept the Monks in close confinement until, through hunger, they perished. At Tralee. a Dominican Friar)', founded, in the year 1213, by Lord John Fitz Thomas. The general burial place of the Earls of Desmond. Commandery of the Knights of St. John. KILDARE (County.) At Athy. a Monastery of Crossed Friars, founded, m the reign of King John, by Richard de St. Michael ; granted, 17 Charles II., to Dame Mary Meredith. A Dominican Friary, founded, in the year 1253, by the families of Boiseles and Hogans ; granted, with all its possessions, 35 Henry VIII., to Martin Pelles : rent 2s. 8d. Irish, now worth £2 13s. 4d. At Castle Dermot. A Priory of Regular Canons, foiinded in the year 500, by St. Dermot, whose festival (klls on 21st June. A Friary of Crouched or Crossed Friars, found- ed in the reign of King John, by Walter de Rid- dlesford ; grar ted, 23 Elizabeth, to Henry Har- rington. COUNTY OF KILDARE. 819 A Franciscan Friary, ftiJindeJ in the year 1302 by Thomas, Lord Ofialey. At Clane. a Priory, founded abt at tlje year 548, bv St. Ailbe. A Franciscan Friary, founded about the year 1266, by Gerard Fitz Maurice, Lord Offaley, as people suppose ; granted, 24 Henry VIIL, to Ro- bert Eustace, John Trevor, and others, in capite, at the yearly rent of 2s. id. Irish, now worth £2. 6s. 8d. At Clonagh. a Chapel, dp'licatcd to St. Fynan, demolished by John Ijye, of Rathbridge, according tc an inquisition that was held 6 James I. At Cloncdrry. a Carmelite Friary, built in the year 1347, by John Roche ; granted, 35 Henry VIIL, to William Dickson, at 8d. yearly rent; granted, 8 Eli- zabeth, to Richard Slayne, for 21 years; rent 16«., now worth £16. At Grany, near Castle Dermot. A Nunnery built in the year 1200, by Walter de Riddlesford richly endowed by the benefactions of several ladies and noblemen ; granted, 34 Henry VIIL, to Sir Antho- ny St. Leger. At Great Conall. A Priory, founded, in the year 1202, by Mayler Fitz Henry, grandson of Henry I. It became the cradle and tomb of great and learned men. Granted, 3 Elizabeth, for sixty-one years, to Sir Nicholas White ; rent £26 19*. 5d., now worth £539 Hg. id. ■ At KiLBEGS. A Commandery of Hospitalers. At KiLcocK. A Monastery, ledics ted to the Virgin ■3t. Cocho. At KiLCUiXEN. A Monastery, founded by St. Pa- 820 IRELAND. trick, who appointed St. Isernin superior. He was sue ceeded by St. Mact alius, who died of the plague in the year 548. At KiLDAiiE. A Nunnery and Monastery, founded in the year 453, by St. Brigid, the first Nun in Ireland. The houses and revenues granted by Elizabeth to An- hony Deeringe ; rent £3 10s. 8d. ■ Irish, now worth £70 13s. 4d. A Franciscan Abbey, built in the year 1260, by Lord William de Vesey ; granted, 34'Henry VIII. to Daniel Sutton ; rent 2s. Zd. Irish, now worth £2 5s. A Carmelite Friary, built in the year 1290, by William de Vesey. At KiLHiLL. A Commandery of Hospitalers, built in the 13th' century, by Maurice Fitzgerald; granted to John Allen. At KiLLOssEY, near Kildare. An Abbey, founded by St. Patrick, for his nephew, St. Auxil, who died 27th August, 454 ; hence the place was called Kil-usaille, and afterwards Kill-ussi. It is now tlie Protestant place of worship. At KiLRusHE. An Augustine Abbev, founded, in the 13th century, by William Mareschaf, Earl of Pem- broke ; granted to the Earl of Ormond. At Leixlip. A Monastery stood in the year 1463, near this village. At Maynooth. a College, founded about the year 1518, by Gerald, Earl of Kildare, for a Provost, Vice Provost, five Priests, two Clerks, and three boys, to pray for his own soul, and for the soul of his wife. At MoNASTEREVAN. A sumptuous Abbey, built by St. Alban, in the 7th century. St. Emin, or Evin, of the Eogonacht's family in South Munster, brought a number of Monks from thence to this house ; his festi »al is held on 22d December. At the suppression U COUNTY OF KILDARB. 221 fell into the hands of the Earl of Drogheda, and is now the mansion of that family, under the name oi Moore Abhey. At MooNE. A-large old Church, of which the cross, and several Irish inscriptions, still remain. At Naas. An Augustine Priory, founded, m the year 1200, by the Baron of the town ; granted, 1553, to Richard Mannering, at the rent of £35 18s. 2d., now worth £718 3s. id. A Dominican Friary, founded about the yeai - 1355, by the Eustace family ; granted, 34 Henry VIIL, to Sir Thomas Luttrell, at 9«. 4d rent, now worth £9 6s. 8d. An Augustine Friary, founded in the year 1484. The possessions were valued, in the leign ol Elizabeth, at £6 12s. 8d., now worth £132 13s. 4d. ; granted to Nicholas Aylmer. At New Abbey. A Franciscan Monastery, founded, m the year 1460, by Sir Rowland Eustace, Lord Treasu- rer of Ireland; granted, 1582, to Edmond Spenser; yearly rent £3 Irish, now worth £60. At St. Wolstan's. A Priory, built in the year 1202, by Adam de Hereford, in honour of St. Wolstan, Bishop of Worcester, lately canonized ; granted, 28 Henry VIIL, to Allen of Norfolk, at the rent of two knight's fees. At TiMOLiN. A Priory of Regular Canons, founded here very early ; stood in the year 927, and, of course, eoQ inued until the general suppression. A Nunnery, founded, in the reign of John, by Robert, son of Lord Noragh, in which his grand- daughter Lecelina was Nun. This house wan richly endowed by the bounty of several Catholic Bishops. Granted, 23 Elizabethrto Henry Har- rington and his neirs, at the yearly rent of £3? 19«. Irish money, now worth £139. 19* 122 IRELAND. At TbtLY, near Kiiilare. A Commandery of Hosph talers, fojnded before the year 1308. This Commande- rv, with all its posressions, were granted to Sir Henry iiarrington, at the rent of £21 6s. 8d., now worth £426 13a. Ad. It is now held in commendam with the ProtesUiut See of Kildare. KILKKNNY (Codntt.) At Callan. An Augustine Friary, founded, as some persons say, by Hugh de Mapilton, Bishop of Ossory, in the year 1251; or, as others think, by the Ormondsj granted, together with the Abbey of Athassel, to Tho- mas, Earl of Ormond, in the year 1557. Chantry, of which the nave and aisles are still m good preservation ; the choir being the Protest- ant place of worship. At Fertagh. A Priory, dedicated to St. Kieran, by the Blanchfield family,- in the thirteenth century, granted, 9 Elizabeth, to James Butler, jun. ; rent £12 13s. 3d., now worth £253 5s. At FiDDowN. An Abbey, by St. Maidoc, in the year 590. Now a Protestant parochial place of worship. At Freshford. An Abbey, founded by St. Lactan, Bishop and Abbot ; he died in the year 622. There is a celebrgtted fountain near Cashell dedicated to him. This is now a Protestant place of worship, and called a Prebend of Aghour. At Graignemanagii. A Monastery, founded, in the year 1212, by William Mareschal, Earl of Pembroke; this was enriched by the bounty of several Bishops »nd Nobles. The house, with all its possessions, were granted, 8 Eli2abeth, to the Butlers. At Jebpoint, near Thomabtown. A Cistercian Ab« COUNTY OF KILKENNY, 823 b'»y, foanded, by Donogh O'Donoghoe, (in the vtai 11 60, ) King of Ossory ; and richly endowed by him. The house witli all the possessions were granted to James Earl of Onnond, at the annual rent of £49 3s. 9(i», now worth £983 15s. At Inistioge on the Noire. An Augustine Priory built in the year 1210, by Thomas Seneschal, of Lein- ster ; granted, with all the possessions, to James Butlei and liis heirs at the rent of £28 12s., now worth £572 A rectory granted in Whitchurch to the Earl of Or mond, 31 Elizabeth. At Kei.ls. An Augustine Priory, founded, m tJie year 1193, by Jeffrey, for the salvation of Earl Richard, Cfovernor of the country. Granted, by Henry VIII., to James, Earl of Onnond. At KiLLAGHY.. An Abbey, in which St. Sinchell was Abbot, and died of the plague, 26th of March 548, in the 130th year of his age; he was interred in thu place. At KiLLAMAnv, five miles south of Callan. St. Gob- ban presided here over a thousand monks ; the place ii now a Protestant place of worship. At KiLci.EEHEE.N, Opposite the City of "Waterford. A Nunnery, built in the j'ear 2151, by Dermtfl. son Oi Murchad, King of Leinster. It was sump'uouslv en dewed by himself and other Noblemen. Catheruc. Motyng, the last Abbess, surrendered the Abbey, ^d April, 31 Henry Vlll. ; granted, 26 Elizabet.»i, to the Mayor, Sheriffs, and Corporation of Waterford , rent, rearly, £59 Is. 8d.; now worth £1181 13s. id. At KiLFANE. An Ahoey, erected by St. Phian, it it now a Protestant place of worship, seven miles from Kilkenny. At Kilkenny, a large har\dsome town on the rivei Noire, and capital uf the County ; it can justly boast of three singular properties— fire without smoke, w&tei without mud. and streets paved with marble. 824 IRELAND. The Cathsdral of St. Kenny, though long 8ine« made the Protestant place of worship, still remainj the ancient Catholic Cross, and many statues o! Saints and Catholic Bishops, with several other reliques of Catholicity. St. John's Abbey, founded, in the year 1211, for the relief of the indigent poor, by William Mares- chal. Earl of Pembroke; and richly endowed by him with seveial lands. Richard Cantwell, the last Prior, surrendered this house with all the pos- sessions, 31 Henry VIII.; granted to the mayor and citizens of Kilkenny, with 100 acres of land, 40 gardens, a water-mill in Magdalen-street, a wood called Chanons-grove in the liberties of the town, with 200 acres of land adjoining, ten mes- suages and 200 acres in Drakeland, in the county, and another messuage in the town. The Black Abbey, m the Irishtown. A Domi- niciaa Priory, founded, in the year 1225, by Wil liam Mareschal, jun.. Earl of Pembroke ; he was interred in the choir in the year 1231. The house was endowed by King Henry VI., and the Bishops of Ossory. Peter Cantwell, -the last Prior, surren- dered it ; and, 35 Henry VIII., it was granted to Walter Archer, the sovereign, and to the burgesses of Kilkenny for ever, at the yearly rent of 12s. 4d. Irish money ; now worth £12 6s. 8d. A Franciscan Friary, founded, on the bank of the Noire, by Richard Mareschal, Earl of Pem- broke, 15th October, 1244. King Henry III. granted £20 to be paid annually for buying tunicks for the Franciscans of Kilkenny, Dublin, Cork, Wa- terford, and Athlone. 17th Nov., 1338, a great dood destroyed all the bridges, mills, and build- ings in and about Kilkenny, but did not approach the great altar of this Monastery. The noble and renerable ruins of this edifice stand yet, reaching from the ci».v wall to 'lie river. Yearly value M THE KING'S COUNTY. 225 the possessions was then £9 7s. Id. ; or in money (Jf the present day, £187 Is. 8d, At KiLMAMAGH. An Aboey, founded, in the yeai B63, by St. Natalis. At Knocktopheh. a Carmelite Friary, founded, in the year 1356, by James, the second Earl of Orraond ; granted, with all the appurtenances, to Patrick Barn- wall, 34 Henry VIII., for ever, at the yearly rent oi 4s. Irish ; now worth £4. At RossiEEKCAN. A Monastery, founded, 1267, by the Walsh family ; granted, 31 Henry VIII., to tuke Blake, of New Ross, County Wexford. At Thomastown. a Dominican Friary. At TiBKACH, on the Suir below Carrick. An Abbey, where St. Dominie lived in the sixth century ; now a Protestant place of worship. THE KING'S (County.) At Birr, now PARsoNSTOTfrN, a beautiful town, fifty- seven miles west of Dublin. An Abbey, founded by St. Brendan, son of Neim. At Clonemgre. An Abbey, founded, by St. Pul cnerius. At CLONEFERTMnLLOE. Au Abbey, founded, m the suth century, by St. Molua, or St. Luan, the son of Carthar, of Munste'r. Clonefertmulloe is now a Pro- testant place of worship; [Clone, with which these names are compounded, is an Irish word and signifies enclosure ; and ferta, another Irish word, signifying miracles, so that this name signifies the miracle-retreat of St. Mullou 1 Z26 IRELAND. At Clonmai'noisb, on the Shanrion, in the Barony of Garycastle. St. Kieian having received this* place, and the Island of Saints, together with one hundred Churches in Meath, from Dermid, son of Cervail, monarch of Ireland, and having bestowed the church of Clonard upon his master, St. Finian, and the island upon St. Domnan, he founded, in the year 548, an Abbey for himself at Clonmacnoise, which became a celebrated Monastery. Besides a Cathedral Church, there were ten small churches built by different pro- vincial Kings, and a Nunnery with a Church, which was accidentally burnt in 1180, and rebuilt by the Queen of Meath., At Ddhrow. a Monastery of Augustine Canons, founded in the sixth century, which flourished in learning and sanctity for many ages, until it was granted, 4 Elizabeth, to Nicholas Herbert, Esq., for the term of twenty-one years, at £10 yearly rent; now worth £200. At Frankford, formerly called KiLCORMncK, on the Shannon. A Monastery of Carmelites, founded by Odo O'MJolly, a chief of that country. In the year 1479, died Charles O'Molly, a brave and holy man. This house with all the possessions were granted to Robert Leicester. At Gallen. a Monastery, founded, m the year 492, by St. Canoe ; granted, with all the possessions, 4th June, 1612, to Sir George Moore, at the yearly rent of £15 7s. llrf., now worth £307 18s. id. At Gleane, or Gun, on the river Brusna, near Fir- bance. A Monastery founded by St. Dermid, whose feast is held on the 8th of July ; it stood till the eleventh century, and, of course, until the general dissolution. At KiLCOLGAN. An Abbey, founded, in the ycai 180, by St. Colgan, in the Barony of Garycastle. At Kiicoi.MAN. An Abbey, fciunded, in the yea THE KING'S COUNTY. 22? 570, near the parish of Birr, by St. Colgan, son oi Aengus, King of Munster ; now a Protestant j lace oi worship. At KiLCOMiN. near Roscrea, An Abbey, founded, ci governed by St. Cumene, surnamed the White, who was educated in the Abbey of Hy. At KiLLEGALLY. An Abbey, in which St. Trena wag Abbot in the sixth century ; now a Protestant place of worship in the Barony of Garycastle. At KiLLEiGH. A Priory of regular Canons, in which the Abbot St. Sincheal died of the plague in the year 550. This house, 18 Elizabeth, witli three mes- suages, 124 acres of arable land, 24 of pasture, 3 of •neadow, and 4 of wood, and three messuages, six cottages, 24 acres of arable land, and 7 of pasture, in the town of Donfeigh in this county, with the tithes, &c., were granted to Gerald, Earl of Kildare, and his heirs, at the yearly rent of £1 13s. id., now worth £33 6s. 8d., with the condition that he maintain be- sides one able horseman. A Nunnery, founded by the Warren family soon after the arrival of the English. A Domin- can Friary, built in the reign of Edward I., by O'Connor ; granted to John Allee. At KiLLiADUiN. A Nunnery, founded, in the 5th century, by St. Keran, for his mother Liadana. • At KiNNiTTY, near Birr. An Abbey, founded in the year 557, where St. Finian was Abbot that year. In the year 871, died Abbot Colga M'Conagan, who was esteemed the best and most polished poet of those days in the kingdom, and the principal historian. At Lemanaqhan. a Monastery, in whic'i St. Mau- ehan died of the plague in the year 6flj became afterwards a Protestant place of worship. At Leithmohe. a Monastery, founded, in the year $56, by St. Pulchanus, in the Irish language Mochoe- 828 IRELAND. moc. Many Saints and holy Abbots flourished hers until the dissclution. At Lynnally. a Monastery, founded 516, by St. Colman. At MoNisTERORAs. A Ffanciscan Friary, built 1325, by Sir John of Bermmgham, Earl of Louth; granted ic Nicholas Herbert. At MuGNA. An Abbey, founded by St. Finian, ol Clonard. on a piece of land which was given him by the King of Leinster, Carbreus. At Rathbeq. An Abbey, founded, south of Birr by St. Abban, who died in the year 650 At Rathlibthen, in the Barony of FercaL-. An Abbey, founded by St. Illand about 540 ; his statue is still to be seen in the church, with his mitre and cro- sier in his hand. At Reynach. a Nunnery, founded by St. Regnacia, sister to St. Finian, who died in the year 563; his mother, Tolacia, was Aboess here; now »i Protestant place of worship. At Seirkeran, four miles east of Birr. A Monaste- ry, founded 402, by St. Kieran, native of Cape Clear, m the county of Cork. It was consigned, with all the possessions, in the year 1568, to Sir William Taafe, who assigned it to James, Earl of Roscommon. At TciLEiM. A Monastery, in which Abbot Carnech died in the year 556. LEITRIM (County.) At Anaghduffe, near Loughbofiin. An Abbey founded in the year 766 ; now a Protestant p. ace ol worship in the diocese of Ardag'h. COUNTY OF LEITRIM. 88£ At Ballegtiarcy. A beautiful Monastery, founded, m the year 1£18 by Coraelius O'Brien ; some writers attach this place to the county of Longford. At Clone. An Abbey, formerly of. great repute, founded, about the year 570, by St. Fraech ; now a Protestant place of worship in the diocese o/ Ardagh. At Creevlea, on the river Boonid. A Franciscan Friary, founded, in the year 1508, by Margaret, daugh- ter of Lord O'Brien, and wife of Lord O'Roirk ; she died in 1512, and was interred here ; dissolved in the reign of James L * At DoiREMELLE, in Lower BreflSny. A Nunnery, founded by St. Tigenach for his mother, St. Mella, who died before the year 787. At Dhomleas, on Loughgille. A Monastery, built fay St. Patrick for St. Benignus; now a Protestant place of worship. At Dromahaibe. See Creevlea. At Fesadgh, in the Barony of Leitrim. A Monas tery, in which St. Callin was Abbot in the time of St. Columb. This place was formerly celebrated for the School of Divmity, and was the general resort of stu- dents from all parts of Europe; half a mile from thfc_ edifice is a well, dedicated to St. Callin; now a Pro-' testant place of worship in the diocese of Ardagh. At Jamestown. A Franciscan Friary. At KiLDAREis, or Cell of the Two Palms of the Hands ; called also Carcuirshineill, or the Reclusory of St. Sinell, is situated in Lough Melvin. St. Sinell, who was bell-founder to St. Patrick, died in the year 548. At KiLNAiLE. St. Natalis, or Naal, was Abbot of the Abbey here, and died in the year 563 ; the Festival is on the 27th of January. At LErrRLM, on the Shannon. An Abbey, in which St. M'Leigus was Abbot. 20 830 IRELAND. At MoHiLL. An Abbey, founded, in the year 608, oy St. Manchan, who was the patron of seven churches Many glebes, fees, lands, and tithesj were given to thii house ; they were valued at the dissolution at £2 6s. 8d,; now worth £46 13s. Ad. At Thacineling, a house for Grey Friars, founded in 1414 by William O'Reily. LIMERICK (County.) • At Abbington. a Monastery, founded for the Cis- tercian Monks, in the year 1205, by Theobald Fitzwal- ter. Lord of Carrick, who richly endowed it, and was interred here in the year 1206. December 6, 5 Eliza- beth, this Monastery was granted, with its appurte- nances in the counties of Limerick, Kerry, and Carlow, to Peter Walshe, at the yearly rent of £57 2s. 3d. Irish money, now worth £1,142 5s. ; he was to main- tain one horseman on the premises besides. At Abbeyfeal. a Cistercian Abbey, built in the year 1188. At Adaire, formerly a respectable place, though now but a miserable village. A Friary of the order of the Holy Trinity, founded in the reign of Edward I., by- John, Earl of Kildare ; granted, 37 Elizabeth, with all the possessions, together with ^the_ possessions of tlie Grey Friars, Preaching Friars, and Augustinian Friars, the Abbey of Monasternenagh, and the Nunnery of St. Katherine, to Sir Henry Wallop, at the rent of £26 17s. Sd., now worth £537 13s. id., he being bound to maintain two horsemen on the premises. Augustine Friary, founded, about 1315, by John, Earl of Kildare ; granted to Sir Thomas Wallop, together with the possessions. Of this friary remain, still in good preservation, the steeple which is supported on an arch, the choir, nave COUNTY OF LIMERICK. 83 and aisle ; there are some beautiful cloisters with Gothic windows, the sides of which are ornament- ed with escutcheons and saltire crosses alternately ; the workmanship is both simple and elegant. Grey Friary, founded in the east part of th» town, m the year 1465, by Thomas, Earl of Kil- dare, and Joan his wife, daughter to the Earl of Desmond ; they presented unto the house two sil- ver chalices, and a bell that cost £10, now worth i^OO. The Countess was interred in the choir in the year 1486. The Friary, with its possessions, sixteen acres of land, a church, three parks, a water-mill and water-course, with a fishing wier on the river Mage, was granted, 37 Elizabeth, to Sir Henry Wallop, Knt. At Any, in the Barony of Small County. Augus- tme Friary, built in the reign of Henry II., by sundry persons ; granted, 31 Elizabeth, to Edward, John, and Mary Absley, at the yearly rent of £47 7s. 6f rf., now worth £947 10s. lOd. At AsKEATON, on the riirer Deel. There was a Cas- tle here in the sixteenth century which belonged to the Earls of Desmond, one of whom founded a Manas' tery adjoining the Castle for Franciscans. At Ballynebbaheh, barony of Small County. A Friary of Conventual Franciscans, founded, 18th cen- tury, by the Clangibbon family Granted, by Henry VIII., to Robert Browne. At Ballynegall, a Monastery for Dominican Friars, founded, by the family of Roche, in the 14th century ; granted, by Q,ueen Elizabeth, to the University ol Dublin. At Ballyniwillin, a house for Dominican Friars. Granted, by Henry VIII., to Robert Browne. At Castle-Town Macnairt. A lai;e Monastery it mini. 232 IRELAND. At CwmcAGn, near Rathkeale. A Convent, boilt by St. Maidoc, of Ferns, who died in the year- 624 ; now a Protestant place of worship. At Croagh, near Rathkeale, formerly a large town. There is a large church, which was anciently collegiate. At Galbally, in the Barony of Cashlea. A large Monastery, founded by the O'Briens ; the ruins thereof, which are yet visible, together with the ruins of several other religious foundations, clearly evince the ancient magnificence of this town. This Monastery, with three gardens, six messuages, and six acres of arable land, were granted, 35 Henry VIII., to John Desmond for ever, at the yearly rent of 4d. Irish, now worth 6s. 8d. At Greany, formerly a town of Corporation m the Barony of Coanagh. A- Collegiate Church, destroyed when the town fell into insignificance and obscurity. Hospital. This town took- its name from a cele- brated Hospital of Hospitalers, which was founded in the reign of King John, by Jeffrey de Mariscis, chief Governor of Ireland in the year 1215. Q,ueen Eliza- beth granted this hospital and all the possessions to Sir Valentine Brown, ancestor of the noble family ol "Kenmare in Ki Harney ; he built a magnificent castle on *>-° '^pnerable ruins. At KiLDtMJiA, near Adaire. A Monastery, built by Dimraa, a Priest, who was the preceptor of St. Declan. See KiLMAMHAMBEG, page 85, hujus. At KiLJiALLOCK, formerly a respectable walled town, out now a miserable Priory of regular Canons, founded by St. Mochealtog, who died about 639 ; now the Pro- testant place of worship. Dominican Friary, founded, in the year 1291, by Gilbert, son of Lord Otfalley ; granted, 36 Eliza- betl> with the ppssessions, to Nicholas Maigh, so- vereign, and the Corporation, for ever, at the yearly rent of £2 13s. 8d., now worth £53 13s. M. COUNTY OF LIMERICK, 833 At KiLSHANE, or KiLSHONNA, near the county of Coi-k. A Franciscan Monastery, founded by Fitzgerald, Lord of Clenlis. A Cistercian Abbey, founded m the year 1 198. At KiLTEEL. An Hospitaler's Commandery, founn ed in the Barony of Xl^ounagh. At KiLTEiDHiLL, in the Territory of Ara. An Abbey which was the place of interment of the Saints Mumis and Lomchuo, disciples of St. Patrick, and of seven other holy Bishops. Kynnethin. An Abbey stood there in the year 1300, and we may presume that it stood until the general de- vastation. At Limerick, as celebrated for its brave defence against King William in the year 1691, as for the in- famous treachery on his part in violating the articles of eapitulation. A Nunnery, founded, in the year 1374, ly Donald O'Brien, King of Limerick. A Priory of Regular Canons, founded, by Simon Minor, before the year 1319; granted, at the sup- pression, to Bdmond Sexton. A Dominican Friary, founded, in the year 1250, by Donogh C. O'Brien, King of Thomond. In the year 1462 died James, son of the Earl of Des- mond ; the ancient records of this house represent them bound to celebrate annual masses for the soul of this nobleman, and for the souls of his parents and successors, with their wives. Henry, the last Prior, was found at the suppres- sion to be seized of the site, church, steeple, dor- mitory, three chambers, a cemetery, and sjindry closes, containing one and a half acre, within the precincts ; a garden of four acres without the walls of the monastery, and thirty acres of land, called Cortbrecke, in the liberties ; salmon yreir, St. Tho- mas's Island, and land near Parteen, called Mona 20* 234 IRELAND. brahir. This house, with all the possessit ns, were granted, 35 Henry VIIT., to James, Earl of Des- mond, in capite, at the yearly rent of 5s. 2d., now worth £5 3s. 4d. A part of the Friary is convert- ed into a tan-yard, and a large barrack is built on the other part. A Grey Friary, founded, in the time of Henry HI., by O'Brien, of the royal houses of Limerick and Thomond, outside the walls of the city, on the spot where a court-house was built, which is since converted into an hospital; granted to Ed- mond Sextan, by King Henry VIII., at the yearly rent of 2s. 2d., now worth £2 3s. id. ; though by a valuation then made, it was worth a great deal more. An Augustine Friary, founded, in the 13th cen- tury, by O'Brien, of the kingly race of Limerick and Thomond, near Q,uay-lane, but not a trace of It is to be seen now. The possessions of this house ■n lands and houses, through town and country, were valued at £8 6s. Id., now worth £166 Is. 8d. An Hospital of Templars stood near the above louse, but not a vestige of this either is to be seen. A . MiLTOWN, or Ballywclmn. a Carmelites' Friary, foutJed, by Nellan O'Mulloy. At MoNASTERNENAGH, in thi Barouy of Poble O'Brien. A Cistercian Abbey, founded, by O'Brien, in the yeai 1151. This house, with all the possessions, consisting of five plough lands, and many other revenues and privileges, were granted to Sir Henry Wallop. At MoNASTERNACALLiAGH, near Lough-Grirr. An Au- gustine Nunnery, to which belonged the rectories oi Drishane, Cullon, Nohavel, Kilmeen. and Dromtari^ is the county of Cork ; granted to Sir Honry Wallop. At MuNGHET, three miles south of Limerick. A Mo nastery, built prior to the coming of St. Patrick to Mun- Bter; ho placed St. Nessan over it, who died in th» COUNTY OF LONGFORD. 238 fear 551. The Psalter of Cashel relates thtt there were, within the walls of this Abbey, six churches, that contained 1500 religious; 500 of whom were learn- ed preachers, 500 psalmists, and the remaining 509 engaged in spiritual exercises. The ruins are stili visible. At Newcastle, Hospital of Templars founded here, and then a walled town, which, since the destruction of this hospital or castle fell into its present insignifi- cance. At Rathkeale. a Priory of Augustinians, built by a Mr. Harrey. LONGFORD (Cohnty.) Abbey Shbule, near the river Inny, founded by O'Farrell, for Cistercian Monks; granted, 11 Eliza- beth, to Robert Dillon, with the appurtenances, twen- ty-four cottages, in the town of Vore ; one hundred and eighty acres of land near it ; £ighty acres of pasture and underwood, near said town also ; one messuage, four cottages in Cranaghe ; sixty acres near said town; two messuages and four cottages in Ballynamanoghe ; sixty-four acres near the same, for the yearly rent of £10 14s. Ad., now worth £214 6s. 8d. ■ At Ardagh, near Longford. A Monastery, founded by St. Patrick. At Ballynasagoard. A Franciscan Friaiy, built by the O'Farrells. At Clonebronb, near Granard. - A Nunnery, found- ed by St. Patrick, for the two Emerias of St. Guasact: Abbot of licrha. This great asylun. of virgins stoeo Dntil the year 1107, and, of course, until the general i'ssolution of Abbeys. At Deirg, or Abbey Deibo. A Priory, founded ia 836 IRELAND. the time of Jtan, by Gormjgali 0'Q,um; value at the suppression £2 yearly, now worth £40; granted to Nicholas Aylmer. At Inohymory, or Great Island. A Monasterv, founded, by St. Columbj about the year 450, where St. Boadon, of Inismore, died, -on the 14th January. In the year 1414 died Edward M'Finbair, Prior. At Inisboffin, an Island in Lough Rie. An Abbey founded by St. Risch, son of St. Dorerca, sister of St. Patrick. At Inisolothrann, an Island in the same Lough. An Abbey, founded, in the year 540, by St. Dhearmuid Naoimb or St. Jerome the Just, and brother to Felix, Bishop of Kilmore, who wrote a learned and pious work, in the nature of a Psalter. On the 17th Decem- ber, 1160, died Gilla, or Nehemias O'Dunin, professor and celebrated scholar, poet and historian. At Island, or All Saints, in Lough Rie. A noble Monastery, built in the year 544, by St. Kieran. In four years afterwards he procured a very large endow- ment for the support of its poor ; and having appoint- ed St. Domnan his successor, he quitted this Island, and buUt the Abbey of Clonmacnoise. At Kilglass. a Nunnery, where St. Echea, sister of Mell, was Abbess At KiLiNMOHE. An Abbey, founded by St. Palla- dius, who lived in the year 450; now the Protectant place of worship. At Lerha, near Granard. A Monastery, founded by St. Patrick, for St. Guasacht, the son of his old mas ter ; another Monastery, founded in the year 1205, by Lord Richard Tuit, who was killed in Athlone, in thi year 1211, by the falling of a tower, and was buried aere. The possessions, at the surrender, valtied ai £8 13s. 4d. yearly, now worth £173 6s. 8d. At Longford. An Abbey, founded by St. Idas, i kjOVNTY of LOUTH. 231 disciple of St. Patrick, whose feast falls on the 14lh July. In 1400 a fine Monastery was founded by O'Farrell, for the Dominicans ; granted, together with possessions, in the year 1615, by King James I., to Francis, Viscount Valentia. The church of this Prio- ry is now the Protestant place of worship in the parish. At MoYDOE, three miles from Ardagh. St. Modan, whose feast falls on the 12lh February, was Abbot, in 591. At St. John's-town. There was a Grey Friary near this town, which had, of course, been ingulfed ip the general vortex of the Reformation. LOUTH (County.) At Ardee. a Crouched Friary,- founded by Roger. Lord Ardee, for the salvation of his own soul, and the souls of his wife, Alicia, his "father, William, his mo- ther, Joan, his brethren, Gilbert and Peter, in the year 1207, for the Augustinians. The founder,' for tlie bet- ter support of this house, and to enable the Friars to exercise, more liberally, their works of mercy and cha- rity, granted them the carucate of land which Osmond Doubleday held ; also, full liberty to bring water for the use of the house, and a sufficient cari-way.^ This house was considerably endowed, by grants and dona- tions, from several other pious Catholics. In the year 1612, James I. granted the house and possessions to Sir Garret More, at the yearly rent of £115 >5s. 8d., now worth £2,30o 13s. id. A Carmelite Friary, founded in the time of Ri- chard I. In the year 31 Henry VIII., Patrick, the last Prior, surrendered this house and all the po? sessions, valued yearly at £1 7s. 2d, now worth £27 3». id. Ahdpatrick. Church founded by St. Patrick, laS IRELAND. At CARi.iNGi'nnD. A Dominican Friary, founded, ia llie year 1305, by Riciiard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster: granted, 34 Henry VIII., to Nicholas Bognell, at the yearly rent of £4 6s. Sd., now worth £86 13s. id. At Droghbda. a Priory of regular Canons, cele- brated for the- Synod held there by Cardinal Papiro, in ths year 1152. St. Mary's Hospital, founded by Ursis de Swe- mele, Avho, by the consent of his wife, Christiana, bestowed on this house all his lands and rents in Ireland. The house was seized, 31 Henry VIIL, of 60 acres of land in Glaspistell, rent 13s. 4d. ; 30 acres in Carlingford, rent 13s. 4d. ; two mes- suages in Dundalk, rent 6s. ; two acres in Sta- banane, rent 2s. ; besides some other rectories, lands, &c. Granted to the Mayor of Drogheda ; rent £l 14s. 4d, now worth £34 13s. 4d. St. Laurence's Priory ; granted to the Mayor ol Drogheda. A Dominician Priory, founded in the year 1224, by Lucas, Archbishop of Armagh. Granted, 35 Henry VIIL, with all the possessions, to Walter Dowdel and Edward Becke, at the rent of 2s. 2d., now worth £2 3s. 4d. A Franciscan Friary, in which some murderers took shelter, and abjured the land, in the year 1300 ; granted, 34 Henry VIIL, to Gerald Aylmer • rent 3s. 6d., now worth £3 10s. An A,ugustine Friary, founded in the time of Richard I. ; granted to the Mayor, &c., of the town. A House of St. Bennet ; the parliament held at Drogheda, in the year 1467, under John, Earl of Worcester, the Lord Deputy, it was decreed that several lands and rents would be granted to thi« house. At Dbomcab. An Abiey, in which Ceallagh, Ab- COUNTY OF LOUTH. 236 Dot died in the year 811; now a Protestant place o* worship, in the diocese of Armagh. At Druimfioinn. An Abbey, whete St. Fiaian waj Abbot and Bishop, in the time of St. Columb. At Drumshallon. A noble Monastery, founded by St. Patrick. In 969, the Danes plundered and possess- ed this house ; it reformed in 1247. At Ddndalk. An hospital, founded for the sick and the aged of both sexes ; founded, in the time of Henry II., by Berthram de Verdon, lord of the town ; granted, with all the possessions, in town and country, 1 Eliza- beth, to Henry Draycot, at the yearly rent of j£ll, now worth £22'0. A Grey Friary, built in the time of Hen. III., by Lord John de Verdon ; granted, 35 Henry VIII., to James Brandon, at the fine of £9 10s., and rent 6d., now worth £190 10s. At Faugher, the native place of St. Brigid. A Nunnery, founded by St. Monenna, in the year 838 where she presided over 150 virgins, but resigned it to Orbilla, or Sirvila, and built another Nunnery for her- self at Kilsleive, in the county of Armdgh. A Priory of Canons, built in the early ages, and now become the Protestant place of worship. At Iniskin. a Monastery, built by St. Dugeus, smith to St. Kieron ; is how protestantized. At KiLCLOGHEH, ou the Boyne. A Monastery, found- ed by St. Nectan, nephew to St. Patrick; now protest anized, also. At Kii-SARAM. A commandery of Templars, found- ed in the twelfth century, by Maud de Lacie ; it was siren to the hospitalers, in the reign of Edward 11. This house was rich in lands. At Knock, near Louth. An Augustine Priory, found- ed in the year 1148, by Uonchad Hua Kervail, princ* 340 IRELAND. of that country, and Eadan, Bishop tf Ciogher. This house and all the possessions were granted, 31 Henry VIII., to Sir John King, at the yearly rent of £16 5s, id.y now worth £325 6s. 8d. At Louth. A noble Monastery and School, found- ed by St. Patrick, for St. Mocteus or Mochtalugh, a Briton, who died 19th August 534, at the age of three hundred years. The house and immense possessions were granted to Sir Oliver Plunket. At Mellifont, five miles from Drogheda. A Cisttr- cian Abbey, built by Donogh M'Carrol, Prince of Uriel, to which St. Bernard sent the Monks from the Monas- tery of Clair vaux in France, in the year 1142. A great Synod was held there in the year 1157, at which assist ed the Archbishop of Armagh, the then Pope's legate, together with many Bishops and Princes ; on this occasion many rich presents were made to the Abbey, particularly by Murchertach O'Loughlainn, King of Ireland; he gave 140 oxen, 60 ounces of gold, and a town-land near Drogheda, called Finnabhuir Naning- hean ; O'Carrol, Prince to Uriel, gave 60 ounces of gold ; Dervorgilla, wife of O'Rourke, Prince of Breflfiny, gave 60 ounces of gold, a gold chalice for the high altar, and vestments for nine other altars in the samt house. This house, and its extensive possessions, were granted, in the year 1641, to Sir Gerald Moore. At MoNASTERBOicE. A Religious house, founded by St. Bute, who died 7th December, 521. We find thai it continued a celebrated school of religion, and both profane and sacred literature, until the twelfth century, ind doubtless until the fifteenth. At Terfeckak. A Monastery, founded, in the year 665. A Nunnery, foundel in the year 1195, by M'Ma- hon. By an inquisition taken, 33 Henry VIII , the last Abbess, Margaret Hobbert, was found to be seized of one hall, two houses in a ruinous state,, a haggard, park wood, three gardens within the precincts of the Convent, valued, besides reprises, 3s. 4d. ; 'wo uiessua- COUNTY OF MAYO. £4] ges, two gardens, three parks, and five acres of land in Termonfeghan, value, besides reprises, 17s. id. ; eight messuages, three parks, six acres, and three stangs oi laud, and one of meadow in Killiligger, value £1 ; thir- teen messuages, four parks, one hundred acres of arable land and four of meadow, a-nd twenty of pasture, in Killaghton, annual value, besides reprises, £4 8s., and the church or rectory of Killaghton, value 50s. ; making together £8 18s. 8d., now worth £178 13s. id. j granted, 20 April, 1578, to Catharine Bruton. MAYO (County.) At Aghagoweb,' five miles from BalHntobber. A Monastery, built by St. Patrick, for St. Senach; now a Protestant place of worship. At Aghamore. a Monastery, built by St. Patrick, for his disciple St. Loam ; now a Protestant place oi' worship. At Annagh. a Franciscan Friary ; worth 13s. id., now worth £13 6». 8d. ; it stood to the year 1440, when Walter, Lord M'William Oughter died there. At Ballagh, in the Barony of Clonmorris. An Abbey, built by St. Mochuo, who was the first Abbot of it, and died m the year 637, whose feast falls on the 1st January. At Ballentullv. a Monastery, worth at the sup- pression, eight quarters of land, valued each 13s. id., now £13 6s. 8d. each, or £106 13s. id. At BALLYHAtNEs. An Augustine Friary, wlncn was founded by the Nangle family, and which, according to an inquisition held, 12 May, 1608, possessed twelva acres of land. At Ballina, on the nver Moy. An Abbey ; sup pressed. 842 IRELAND. At Ballvnasmall. a Carmelite Friary, founded, in the 13th century, by the Prendergasts ; Donogbuy O'Gonnealy was the last Prior, and possessed, at the Euppression, lands worth yearly 13s. 4d., now worth £13 6s. 8d. ; granted to Sir John King. At Ballinrobe. An Augustine Friary ; by an inqui' sUion held 27 Elizabeth, the possessions were wortL 14s. lOd., now worth £14 16s. 8d. At Baluntobber, or Town of Well. An Augustine Abbey, founded, in the year 1216, by Cathol O'Cono- gher, King of Connaught. Inquisition, held 36 Eli- zabeth, found this house possessed of many lands; granted, in the year 1605, to Sir John King. "At BoGHMOVEN. A Franciscan Friary, dissolved. At BoPHiN Island, in the Ocean, twelve miles from the Barony of Morisk. An Abbey, founded, in the year 667, by St. Colman ; in the year 916 died Abbot Fearadagh. At BoRRiscARRA. A Carmelites' Friary, which Pope John XXIII. gave, in the year 1412, to the Augus- tine Friars ; at the general suppression it possessed one quarter of land, then valued at 13». 4a., now £13 6s. 8d. At BowFiNAN. A Franciscan Friary, possessed at the suppression in the year 1608, four quarters of land and their appurtenances. At BuRisHOOL. A Dominican Friary, built, as appears from the bull of Pope Innocent Till., dated 9th February, 1486, by Richard de Burke, Lord M'William Oughter, and the head of the Turlogh family ; con- signed to Theobald Vincent Castillogalen. At Clara, an Island near the Town of Morisk. A Carmelite Friary, founded, in the year 1224. At Cong, formerly the royal residence of the Kings oi Connaught, now but a miserable village, a magnificent Munaslc-ry, tuih by St. Fechan, who died in 664 COUINTY OF MAYO. 243 £neas M'Donnell, the last Abbot, surrendered it at he general suppression ; granted, 10 December, 1605, to Sir John King, ancester to the Earl of Iviugstone, county of Cork. The ruins of several churches are seen there. At Cross. A Monastery belonging to the Abbey oi Ballintober. By an inquisition, held 27 Elizabeth, it possessed lands then valued at 13s. id., now £13 6s. 8fl!. At Crossmalynb. An Abbey. In 1306, thiee men were indicted for assaulting and imprisoning the Abbot, and for taking away his goods and chattels, to the amount of ten marcs. By an inquisition of 27 Eliza- beth, this house possessed four quarters of land, each valuing 13s. 4d., now worth £13 6s. 8d. each, or £5' 2s. 8d. the four. At DoMNACMOR. An Abbey, founded, by St. Patrick, for St. Muckna. At Ebew. a Friary, erected at the extreme end ol Erew, which is a peninsula, stretching out in the barony of Tirawley, in which St. Leogar Was Abbot ; his feast is held on the 30th September. By an in- quisition of 27th Elizabeth, it possessed one quarter of land, then worth 13s, 4d., now £"13 6s. 8d. At Inchmean, an Island, where there was an Abbey, ia which Maoliosa, son of Thurlogh O'Connor, was Abbot, in the year 1223. At Inistormor. An Augustine Friary, built by Eu- gene O'Gorman and Thady M'Firbiss, on a spot of ground which was granted them, in the year 1454, by Thady O'Doud, which grant was confirmed by a bull of Pope Nicholas V. At Killecraw. a Religious House was seized at the inquisition of 30 Elizabeth, of some lands worth Ss. yearly, now worth £6. At KiLLEUAN. A Franqiscan Friary, possessed al the inquisition nf 1608, several lands and tenements. Hi IRELAND. At Kii.LETRTNODE, Or the Abbey of the Trinity, en- dowed with a quarter of land. At Kii.piNiAN. An Abbey, founded by St. Finian. At KiLMOHMOYLE, in the Barony of Tirawley. A Monastery, founded by St. Olcan, disciple of St Pat- rick, now a Protestant place of worship in the diocese of Killala. At KiLNEGARVAN. A Church, founded by St. Fe- chan, who died in the year 664. At KiLVENY. A Franciscan Friary, which, accord- ing to an inquisition of 27 Elizabeth, was worth, in lands and tenements, 13s. 4d. yearly, now worth £13 6s. 8d. At Kyllyn. An Abbey was founded, and endow- ed, at the same time, of some lands and tithes. At Mayo, A Priory of Regular Canons, founded, m the year 670, by St. Colman, who came over from Landisfarne, Northumberland. He was followed hither by St. Gerald and his three brothers, with three thou- sand disciples from England. Many illustrious saints and great men lived and died here; granted, 20 Eliza- beth, to the Burgesses and Corporation of Galway; rent £26 12st now worth £532. A Nunnery, in which St. Segretia, the Abbess (sister to St. Gerald,) and one hundred virgin Nuns died of the plague in the year 664. At MoRisK, a town on the Bay of- Newport. An Augustine Friary, founded by the O'Maillies, Lords of the country ; at the suppression it possessed . andt valued at 13s. 4d now worth £13 6s. Bd. At MoYNB. A Franciscan Friary, founded in the year 1460, by William O'Rourke ; granted, 37 Eliza- beth, to Edmund Barrett, with all the possessions, a, 5s. rent, now worth £5. Al Ratijbran. a Dominican Friary, founded by COUNTY OP MEATH. 243 the Dexter fam'ly ; granted, in the year 1577, lo Tho- mas Dexter ; tne venerable ruins of the sa-cred edifice stand tliere amidst a few wretched cabins. At RossEHicK. A Franciscan Friary, built by a Mr. Joice ; granted to James Garvey. There is here, and also in Moyne, a confessional of hewn stone for two confessors to sit in, and a hole in each side for the peni- tenis to speak through. At Strade, on the Moy, near Athlethan. A Fitn- ciscan Friary, built by the sept of M'Jordan, but it was given to the Dominicans in the year 1252, by Jordan, of Exeter, Lord of Athlethan, at the request of Basilia his wife, daughter of Lord Meiler, of Birmingham ; on the 18th of March, 1434, Pope Eugene IV. granted several indulgences to this house ; granted, 30 Eliza- beth, to Patrioii Barnwell. At-TARMANCARRA. A Nunncry stood in the penin- sula of Mullet. At Urlare, in the Barony of Costello. A Domini- can Friary, founded by the Wangle family, who after- wards took the name of Costello, and became liOrds oi the Barony. The Dominicans settled there in the year 1430. The house underwent two inquisitions, , one on the 12th ,of May, 1608, the other 24th of May, ' 1610; granted to Lord Dillon, MEATH (County.) At Ardbraccan, a village in the Barony of Navan, «n Abbey. At Ahdcath, a village near Duleck. A church oi perpetual chantry, a priest was stationed, with the ob- ligation of celebrating mass ; the chantry was a body corporate. The inquisition held 14 James found it n possession of some lands against the statute. 84G IRELAND. At Arbmclchan, near Pains-town. Theie was a parish church ; a perpetual chantry of one priest ; but the inquisition of 10th James found it in possession of lands against the statute, which of course was suffi cient cause for suppressing it; value 17». annually, now £]''. A* Abdsallagh, a village on the Boyne. A Monas- tery, foun-led by St. Finian, who died 12th December, 563. At Athboy. a Carmelite Pnary, founded on a site which was given by William, of London, in the year 1517. This Friary, with eleven messuages, three cel- lars, one orchard, and six gardens ,in Athboy, with four acres of meadow, called the Friar's meadow in Ad- venston, were granted, 34 Henry VIIL, to Thomas Ca- sey for ever, at the yearly rent of 2s., now worth £2. At Ballybogan, or Priory De Laubb Dei. An Au- gustine Friary, founded, in the 12th century, by Jor- dan Comin. This house was granted, 34 Henry VIII., to Lord Carbray, at the yearly rent of £4 3s. id., now worth £83 6s. 8d. ; some of the possessions were grant- ed, 4 Elizabeth, to Edward Fitzgerald. At Beaubeo. a Church of St. Mary and St. Lau- rence, endowed in the reign of King John, by Walter de Lacie, stood, until the 14th century, and, without doubt, *intil the general dissolution. At Bectipp, near Trim. A Cistercian Monastery, founded, in the year 1146, by Murchard O'Melaghlin, King of Meath; surrendered, 34 Henry VIIL, with all the possessions. At Clonahd. An Abbey of Canons, founded by St. Finian. This Abbey, with all the possessions, were granted, 6 Edward VI., to Thomas Cusacke, at the yearly rent of £8, now worth £160 ; some of the pos- sessions were granted, 8 Rlizabeth, to Richard Hayne j rent £3 8s. 6d., now worth £68 IDs. : another parcel of the possessions was granted, 36 Elizabeth, to Wil' 'iam Browne. COUNTY OF MEATH, 24'' At CoLPE, a village on the Boyne. An Abbey ol regular Canons, founded, in the year 1182, by Hugh de Lacie. "At the suppression of Monasteries, the Prior was seized of the following tithes in Meath. Colpe, eight couple of corn; Newtown, one and half; St. James, one ; Pylleston, one ; Ballangstoue, four and half; Paynstone, two and half." -At DiSEBTTOLA. An Abbey, founded by St. Tola, who was made Bishop of Clonard, and died in the year 733. This house stood until the 12th century. At DoNNYGARNEY. A Nuuncry, granted to Miss Draycot, who married a Mr. Talbot. At DoNOGH Patrick, an Abbey, founded by Conol O'Neil. At Droohgda. a Priory of Hospitalers, founded, m the time of Joan, or principally endowed by Walter de Lacie. It possessed immense revenues, though they were granted, 6 Edward VI., to James Sedgrave, for 10». lOd. yearly rent, now worth £210. A Carmelite Friary, built by the inhabitants of Drogheda. There were two grants made, one by the Corporation, in the time of Edward II., of eighty yirgates of land, and another by William Messager, of Drogheda, in the time of Edward III., in the year 1346, of four acres of land to the Friars for the purpose of maintaining lights before tht image of the Blessed Virgin in this church. At DuLEEK, an Abbey, the extensive possessions o* which were granted, 10 James I., to Sir Gerald Moor A Priory of the Virgin Mary. Several inquisi- tions were held on this house ; all the possessions were granted to Sir Gerald Moor; rent £9 11* Id., now worth £191 lis. 8d. An Hospital, founded before 'he year 1403. At DuNSBAQULi.^. A Church, founded by Ri Beacnlan. 248 IRELAND. At Indeken, near Slane, an Abeey At Kklls, a celebrated Monastery, founded about th« yea.1 550. Henry VIII. granted it, in the 34th year ol his reign to Gerald Fleming and to Sir Gerald Plunket. A Priory or Hospital, founded in this town, in the time ot Richard I., by Walter de Lacie, Lord of Meath. This house was surrendered by the last Prior, with the several possessions, 31 Henry VIII., and granted, 8 Elizabeth, to Richard Slayne, at the yearly rent of £14 10s., now worth £290. A Chantry for three priests. At KiLBEBRY, near Navan. A Chantry of two priests or chaplains. At KiLLEEN, a Priory of Canons, founded by St Eudeus, in the year 540. A Nunnery, built by St. Eudeus previous to the year 580. At KiLMAiNHAMBEG, twelve miles north of Navan A Commandery of Templars, founded, in the time oi Richard I., by Walter de Lacie, Lord of Meath. This Commandery was granted, 33 Elizabeth, to Sir Patrick Barnwall, at the yearly rent of £63 12s. 2^d., now worth £1,272 4s. 2d. ; now the Church. At KiLMAiiS'HAM Wood. A Commandery of Hospi- talers, built in the 13th century, by the Prestons. Granted, 23 Sept., 1387, to Henry Duke, at the yearly rent of £4 10s., now worth £90. At KiLsniBE. An Abbey, founded in the year 580. At LI3MULLEN, near Tarah. A Nunnery, founded m the year 1240. This house, with its valuable pos- sessions, were granted, 33 Henry VIII., to Gerald, Earl of Kildare, and to Mabell his wife, and to Robert Harrison. At LocGH Shtllen, near Cavan A Friary, built oi COUNTY OF MEATH. 2ij fa ifefand in this lake, which is still a remarkable bury mg place. At Natan. a Monastery, built or rebuilt in the 12th century, by Joceline de Angulo or Nangle; it Btood with a great deal of celebrity until 31 Henry VIII. ; it was granted, with all the possessions ; the hcHTse-barrack is now erected on the site of it. At Newtowm. a Priory of Canons^ founded, in the year 1206, by Simon de Rochfort; it flourished for many centuries, and possessed many valuable lands and tenements ; granted by the Parliament, in the year 1536, to King Henry VIII.; he granted, in 1550, a par- cel of them to Henry Draycot, at £4 yearly rent, now worth £80. A Priory or Hospital of Cross-bearers, or Crouched-friars, founded by the Bishop of Meath, in the 13th century ; granted to Robert Dillon. At Odder. A Nunnery, founded by the Barnwall family, before the year 1195. This house, and all the possessions, were granted, 15th Elizabeth, to Richard Power. At PiERSTOWN. An Abbey, founded in the early At Rathossain. a Monastery, founded by St. Os- sian, who died 17th February, 686. At Ratoath, thirteen miles north of Dublin ; an Ab- bey, that possessed, in the reign of Henry III., forty acres of land, value 6s. 8d., now worth £6 13s. id. A Chantry for three priests ; by the inquisition of Henry VIII., they were found to possess some lands contrary to statute, and were suppressed. At RossE, near Tarah. An Abbey, founded by St Coeman Breae, who died 14th Sept, 614. At Skrinb, an Abbey of Regular Canons ; granted, 34 Henry VIII., to Thomas Cusack, at the rent of 5d, riow worth 8», id. »50 IRELAND. A Chantry. At Slane, an Abbey of regular Canons ; this houses with all the possessions, were granted, 32 Heniy VIII, to James Fleming, Knt. ; rent Id. yearly, now worth 1«. 8d. At Teltown, or Kiltalton. A Church, founded ; y St. Abbon ; now a Protestant place of worship. At Thevet, a large Monastery. At Trim, a magnificent Monastery, founded by St. Patrick. This house was granted, 34 Henry VIII. with all the lands, &c. to Anthony St. Leger, Knt. A Gray Friary, founded, by King John, but granted, with all the appurtenances, 34 Henry VIII, to Lodwicke O'Tudor, parson of Roslaye, John Moyre, parson of Walterston, and John Wake- ly; rent £2 10*., now worth £50 10«. Od. A Dominican Friary, founded, in the year 1263, by Jeffrey de Genville, lord of Meath ; there was a great Synod held in this church, in the year 1291. A Priory of Cross-bearers, a magnificent build- ing ; the Parliament, in the years, 1484, 1487, and 1491, was held in the spacious hall of it ; granted, with all the possessions, to Sir Thomas Cnsack, 27 Henry VIII., at the rent of 8s. 5d. yearly, now worth £8 8s. 4d. A Nunnery, founded by some person unknown. A Church of Grecians, founded very anciently. A Chantry for three priests. MONAGHAN (Codnty.) At Clones, a small town. A Priorr of regular Ca< Bona, Elizabeth granted the house and possessioni, in ike 19th of her reign, to Sir Henry Duke. COUNTY OF QUEEN'S. 851 At MoNAGHANj a Monastery, built by St. Moeldoius, before the Sth century; granted to Edward Withe* Lord Blancy has erected a castle on the site. A Teballan, in the barony of Monaghan. A reli- gious bouse, in which St. Killian- was Abbot. QUEEN'S (County.) Abbey LeiX, founded, in the year 1183, by CorchU' eer O'Moore, for Cistercian Monks. There were two inquisitions held on this house, one 5 Edward VI., and the other 5 Elizabeth, when the lands were estimated at 820 acres, and were let to the Earl of Ormond for £10 5s. yearly rent, now worth £205. At Aghaboe, four miles from Montrath, a magnifi' cent Monastery, founded, by St. Canice. The Monas- tery, with its appurtenances, were granted, 43 Eli- zabeth, to Florence Fitzpatriek ; rent £5 18s., now worth £118. At Aghmacart, tour miles west of Durrow, Upper Ossory, an Abbey, built about the year 550 ; also a Priory, granted, 43 Elizabeth, together with several other Monasteries, and parcels of their possessions, to Florence Fitzpatriek, at the rent of £36 8s. 2d., now worth £728 3s. 4d. At Annatrim, in Upper Ossory. An Abbey, found- ed about the year 550; now a Protestant place of worship. At Clonenagh, a village in the barony of Marybo- rough. A magnificent Monastery, founded by St. Fin- tan, It is now a Protestant place of worship in the diocese of Leighlin. At Cluain Chaoin an ancient Monasteiy. A' Desert Enos, two miles south east of Murybo- 2&a IRELAND. 'ough. This is now called Desert, and is a Proteitaskt place of worship, in the ditocese of Leighlin. At Dbsert Odbain, in the territory of Hyfalgia. At KiLLEDBLio, in Upper Ossory, a Monastery, now a Church. At KiLLEBANE, four miles south west of Athy. A iumptuous Ahbey, built by St. Abban, about the yeai S50 ; now a Church. At KiLLEBMOGH, in Upper Ossory. An Abbey, built by St. Columb, about the year 558 ; now a place of wor- ship. At LEAMCHHtiiL. An Abbey, built by St. Finton- chorach, in the sixth century. At MuNDBEHkD, in Upper Ossory. A Monastery, built by St. Lasren, in the year 600. At RosfJTUiBC. An Abbey near the mountain of Slieva Bloomj governed by St. Brendan. At Slstty, near Carlow. An Abbey, by St. Ficah At Stradbaliy. a Franciscan Friary, fuunded, in thb twelfth century, by Lord O'Mora ; gran'^ed, with all the possessions, in the year 1592, to Francis Cosbey, by Knight's service, or the twentieth part of a Knight's fee, and at the annual rent of £17 6s. 3d., now worth £346 5s. At TiMOHOE. A Monastery, built by St. Mochoe, who died in the year 497 ; there is a round tower, with Bome ruins of the ancient building to be seen yet. ROSCOMMON (CouMxr.) At Abdcarka, in the Barony of Boyle. An Abbey »f Regular Canone ; granted, 39 Elizabeth, to the COUNTY OF ROSCOMMON. 253 Provost and Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin, vvitL eighty acres of land in Cloacalliagh; six acres uf land in Kilgefin. A Nunnery of Benedictines, which was " Cell to the Abbey of Kilcreunata, in the coun.y cf Gai- way. At Athdalaragh. An Abbey of Canons, whtre Conigallan was Bishop in the time of St. Patrick. Thij Abbey existed in the year 1201. At Athlond, a Cistercian Abbey. It was enriched by grants from King John and King Edward I. Grant- ed, with the possessions, 20 Elizabeth, to Edraond O'Fallon of Athlone. At Baslick, three miles south of Castlereagh, an Abbey ; now a Protestant place of worship. At Bbalaneny. a Franciscan Friary ; granted, to- gether with the possessions, to Edmond O'Fallon oi Athlone, at the yearly rent of £2 4s. 7d. now worth £44 lis. 8d. At Boy LB. A celebrated Cistercian Abbey, granted with all the property, in the year 1003, to Sir John King. At Caldrywolagh, in the Barony of Boyle. A Fran- ciscan Friary ; granted, 24 Aug., 1582, to Bryan M'Der- . lot, at the yearly rent of 9s. id., now worth £94. At Clonrahan. a Franciscan Monastery, built by O Conor Roe, in the reign of Henry VIII. At Clonshanvill. An Abbey, built by St. Patrick; granted to Lord Dillon. A*. Clounthuskert, seven miles north east of Ros- common. A Priory, founded, in the early ages, by St. Faithlec ; granted, 33 Elizabeth, tc Fryal O'Farrell, for 21 years, at the rent of £11 9s. 8d., now worth £229 13s. id. At CiooxcB/Fr. A Monastery, founded by St. Pat- Sb4 IRELAND, rick ; it exi»ted in tne 12th century 5 now n Ptotestin place of worship. At Cluaikemcin. An Abbey existed in the 11th century. At EnARDRiUM. ^».. xiuL^j, luuDded by St. Dirad us. brother to St. Canoe, who flourished in the year 492 now a Protestant place of worship. At Elphin. A Church, founded by St. Patrick, for St. Assicus. The house and possessions were granted to Terence O'Birne. At FiDHARD, in South Connaught. An Abbey, built by St. Patrick, for St. Justus ; now a Protestant place of worship. At Inchmacnerin, an Island in Loughree. A Monas- tery ; granted, witli the extensive possessions in lands and tithes, 28 Elizabeth, to William Taaflfe, who as- signed them to Thomas Spring. At Inchmohe, an Island in Loughkee. A Priory of Canons, built, as people think, by St. Liberius, whose memory is held in much honour on the island even to this day ; granted, 9 .Elizabeth, to Lord Delvin, for 21 years, at £6 14s. 8d. rent, now worth £134 13s. id. At KiLcooLEV. An Abbey, built by St. Olcan; now a Protestant place of worship. . At KiLLARAGHT. A Nunnery, built by St. Patrick, for St. Athracta. The Inquisition held, 10 August, 33 Elizabeth, the Abbess of this Ihouse was seized of three cari.":ates of land near the water of Lorgbella; two to the north of the waters, and on the west; the whole valued at 5s. besides reprises. Granted to Terenc* O'Birne, who assigned it to the Earl of Clanrickard. At KiLLUCKiN, four miles north of Elphin. A Nun- nery, where St. Lunechaixia is honoured; she was born before the year 637 ; now a Protestant place of worship. COUNTY OF ROSCOMMON. 256 Ai iCiLMOHE. An Abbey, buili by St. Patrick ; now Protestantized. A Priory, built by Con. O'Flanagan, and conso- craied by Doaogh O'Conor, Bishop of Elphin, is the year 1232, granted in the year 1580, for 21 years, to Tyren O'Farrel; rent £3 10s., now worth £70; granted afterwards to Sir Patrick Barnwall. At Kii.LOMY. A Monastery, founded before the year 760. At KiLTDLLAGH. A Franciscan Friary, founded about the year 1441. At Knockvicar. A Monastery of Dominicans, founded four miles east of the town ; granted, 26 Eli- zabeth, together with the Abbey of Tocmonia, Clone- meaghan, and Court, in the county of Sligo, to Ilichard Kendlemarch At LouGHKEE, in this Lake, is Trinity Island, where stood a Monastery dedicated to, the Holy Trinity, in the year 700; rebuilt in 1815,*by Clarus M'Moylon, Archdeacon of Elphin ; granted, 10 August, 36 Eliza- beth, with all the possessions, to Robert Harrison, for ever, in free soccage, at £26 13s. 8d., now worth £533 13s. 4rf. At Lysdltpe. a Priory in O'Conor's Couatry , granted to the Provost and Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin. At MoNASiRBVAN, a Monastery. At Gran, fire miles west of Roscommon. A Mo- nastery built by St. Patrick ; continues a remarkable place for pilgrimage ; now the Protestant place of wor- ship. At Randown, seven miles north of Athlonc. A Pri- ory of Hospitalers or Crossbearers, built in the reign of King John. Phil Nangle was a great benefactor n g68 IRELAND. the reign of Henry III. This town died away, as well c« the castle. A Priory, founded by Clarus Archdeacon oi Elphin. Roscommon, a town tliat has acquired much' re»pee- taoility from its monastic edifices. An Abbey of Regular Canons, founded by St. Coemon, disciple of St. Finian. This house wa» granted, 20 Elizabeth, with the appurtenances, to Sir Nicholas Malleye ; rent £30 5s. lOd., now worth £605 18«. M. A Dominican Friary, founded m the year 1253; granted, with all the possessions, 29 Jan., 1615, to Francis Viscount Vafentia. At Teaghnaninghean. A religious house in Con- naught, where the seven daughters of Fergus are honoured. At TiBOHiN. A Church, and formerly a great School, but now a Protestant place of worship. At ToBERELLY, in the plain of Roscommon. A Fran- ciscan Cell ; it possessed some lands of the value of 13s. id., now worth £13 6s. 8d. At ToEMONiA. A Franciscan Monastery, founded by O'Connor; granted witli all the lands, 30 Eliza- beth, for twenty-one years, to Richard Kyndelinshe, It the yearly rent of £2 17s. 2id., now worth £57 4s. 2d. At TcLSK, a Dominican Monasteiy, built in the M>ih century, by M'Duill. It fell under the inquisition ffhich was held 33 Elizabeth. SLIGO (County.) At AcHONRT, a smill Village and Epucopal Se« ka Abbey. COUNTY Oi SLIGO. 2i.T At Akeras, or Kilmatin. A Priory, founded, m ihe rear 1280, by the O'Donalds. By the inquisition, this kouse was found to possess lauds to the value of £16 8«. 4d., now worth £308 6a. 8d. At Ardnahy. a Monastery for Eremites, following the rule of Augustine, built in the year 1427. At Athmoy. a Premonstratensian Monastery, founded, by Clarus M'Maylin, Archdeacon of fllphin, in the year 1251 ; possessions were granted to Robert Harrison, who assigned them to William Crofton. At Ballingdown, in the barony of Tirerril. Th« family of M'Donogh founded a Monastery in 1427, for the Nuns of the order of St. Dominick. Elizabeth's inquisition valued the possessions at 6s. 8d. per annum, English money; now worth annually £6 13s. id., granted to Francis Crofton. At BallinleYj in the barony of Tyreragh, are the ruins of an Abbey of which nothing is known. At Ballymote, in the barony of Coran. A Monas- tery founded by one of the M'Donogh's for Franciscan Friars. Granted to Sir Hemry Broncard, who assigned It to Sir William Taafe, Knt. At Ballysadare, in the Barony of Tirerril, a Monas- tery, founded by St. Fechin, and richly endowed Elizabeth's inquisition found it possessed of lands, tenements, and tithes, to the annual value then of £3 yearly, value at this day £20. At Bennada, a Barony of Leyney, a Friary of Cre- nites, founded, in 1423, through the industry of a brother of the order, called Charles. No value stated. At Bile. An Abbey founded by St. Fechin, atd now " the parish church. At CLoNYMEAGHAN. A Monastery, founded 1483, for Dominican Friars. Valued at 13s. id., worth no-?i £13 6«. 8d. yearlv, granted to Richard Kyndelinshe. »58 IRELAND. At Court, barony of Leyney, a small Monastery built ty O'Hara, for Franciscan Friars. Valued at £i 6«. 8d. annual ; worth now £26 13s. id. a year, granted 10 Richard Kyndelinshe. At Dbumclipfe, a celebrated Monastery, founded Dy Saint Columba, in 590. Parish Church built on part of its foundation. At Drdmcollumb, a church of St. Columb and St, Finbar ; now the parish church. At Dhumratt. 'An Abbey, founded by Saint Fe- chin ; now the parish church. At EoBENACH, a church built by St. Mareus ; now the parish church. At KiixARAGHT, a Nunnery, built by St. Patrick ; now the parish church. At KiLNEMAUAGH, an Abbey founded by St. Fechin, Granted to Richard, Earl of Clanrickard; now the Darish church. At Knockmore, a Friary, erected, m the 14th centu- -y, by O'Gara. , Ac Sligo, a Monastery, founded 1252, for Dominican Friars, by Maurice Fitzgerald, granted to Sir William Taafe. This place is described as having been very gpaciou.' and beautiful. TIPPERARY (CouNTT.) At Ardiennan, on the river Suire, m the barony ot Offa and Iffa, an Abbey and Friary, in ruins ; buili, 1184, ty John, Earl of Morton. An Abbey op regular Canons, founded by Bt Finian, in 903. A Friary for Conventional Franciscans. COUNTY OF TIPPERARY. 356 At AthasselLj m the barony of Clanwilliam, Wil- tiam de Burgo founded a priory for the regular Canons of the order ot St. Augustine. With its lands and tithes, valued in the reign of Edward VI. at £141 14s. 2d., or, of present money, £2,S34 3s. 4d. annually. It was reduced very much ; and, in the reign of Philip and Mary, let to the Earl of Ormond. Elizabeth srauted it in fee to the same Nobleman. One of the largest and richest Abbeys in the kingdom. At Cahir, in the barony of Offa and Iffa, GeofTry o! Camvill, founded a priory for Augustine Canons. Leased by Q,ueen Elizabeth to Peter Sherlock, for £34 lis. 6d. per annum. At Carrick, William de Cantell, and Dionisia, hia wife, founded a Priory for the Canons of St. Augus- tine. Granted to the Earl of Ormond. At Cashel, an Hospital for the poor, with fourteen beds and chaplains, was founded by Sir David le Lati- mer. It was endowed by two succeeding Bishops. A Dominican Friary, founded in the year 1243, by David M'Kelly, Archbishop of Cashel ; granted, 35 Henry VIII., with the appurtenances, to Walter Fleming, at the yearly rent of 2s. 6d., now worth £2 10s. Hore Abbey, or St. Mary's Abbey, of the rock of Cashel, founded by the Benedictines, but given, in the course of time, to the Cistercian Monks. This really splendid edifice was richly endowed ; granted to Thomas Sinclair, 42 Elizabeth, at the yearly rent of 2s., now worth £2. Racket's Abbey, belonging to the Franciscans. The house, and its possessions were valued, when surrendered by the last Prior, at £3 10s. 2d.; granted, 30 Henry VIII., for ever, to Edmund Butler, Archbishop of Cashel, at the yearly rent 91 28. lOd., now worth £2 16s. 8d. «60 IRELAND. At Clonaul. An Hospital of Hospitalers, founded before the thirteenth century. At Clonmell. a Dominican Friary, founded in the year 1269. A Franciscan Friary, built in the year 1269, by Otho de Grandison. There was a miraculous image of St. Francis. This splendid house, and all its extensive possessions, were granted, 34 Henry VIII., to James, Earl of Ormond, and t9 the Commonalty of Clonmell. At DoNAGHMORE, in the barony of Offa and Ifla There was an Abbey by St. Farannan ; now a Protps tant place of worship. At Emly, an ancient and celebrated Archiepiscopa. city, in the county of Tipperary. A Monastery, founded by St. Ailbe, who was styled a second St. Patrick ; he died in the year 527, and was interred here. At Fetberd. An Augustine Monastery. By an ih- quisition of 31 Henry VIII., this house had possessions to the amount of £7 13s. 4d., now worth £153 6s. 8d. Granted to Sir Edmund Butler, at the yearly rent of 5s. 4(^., now worth £5 6s. 8d. At Holy Cross. A Cistercian Monastery, built by Donogh O'Brien, King of Limerick. This was a sumptuous house, and was very richly endowed in iaiids and other tenements. Granted, 5 Elizabeth, with all the appurtenances, to Gerald, Earl of Ormond, at the yearly rent of £15 10s. 4d., now worth £310 6». 8d. At Inislo0Nagh, m the barony of Offa and Ifia, on the Suir. An Abbey, founded by St. Mochoemse, who died on the 13th March, 655 ; he was succeeded by Congan, about the year 1153, who supplied St Bernard with materials for writing the Life of St. Ma- lachy. Dbnald O'Brien, King of Limerick, rebuilt this Monastery in 1187, and endowed it, with the as- COUNTY OF TIPPERARY. 2€ iistance of Malachy O'Foelan, Prince of the Decies granted, 33 Elizabeth, to Edward Geogh; rert £24 iiow worth £480. There is " holy well, which s fre- quented by people from al. quarters. At KiLCOMiN. A Benedictine Priory, founded bj Philip, of Worcester, chief governor of Ireland, in ths year 1184. He supplied it wiih friars from the Albe» of Glastonbury. At KiLcooLY. A Cistercian Abbey, built by Do- nogh Carbragh O'Brien, iii the year 1200 ; it had ex tensive possessions ; granted, 31 Henry VIII., to Tho- mas, Earl of Ormond. At KiLMORB, in Upper Ormond. An Abbey, found ed m the year 540 ; now a Protestant place of worship. At KiLLiNENALLAGH. A Frauclscan Friary, built in the time of Henry VI ; granted, 35 Henry VIIL, with the possessions, to Dermot Ryan ; rent 4d. Irish, now worth 6s. 8d. At LoRRAH, a small village in Lower Ormond, neai the Shannon. An Abbey, founded by St. Ruadan, who presided over 150 monks, and died in the year 584. Turgesius, and his Norwegians, burnt and destroyed this town, with all the religious houses, in the year 845. This is now a Protestant place of worship. A Dominican Friary, founded, in the year 1269, by Walter de Burgo, King of Ulster. At MoNAiNCHA, situated almost in the centre of the great bog of Monela, three miles southeast uf Roscrea, a Monastery of Culdean Monks. The house and revenues were granted, 28 Elizabeth, to Sir Lucas Dillon. A t MoYLAGH, two miles west of Carrick. A Nun- nery, under the invocation of St. Brigid; granted to Sir Henry RadcliiT. At Nenagii. a Hospital for Augustines, who wers to attend constantly the sick and iifirm ; it was endow- 262 IRELAND. ed by Theobald Walter. Though the possessions oi this house were immense, they were granted, together with th( house itself, 5 Elizabeth, to Oliver Grace, foi the rem of £39 Os. ltd., now worth £780 16s. 8d. A Franciscan Friary, built in the »eign of Hen- ry III., by the Butler family ; granted, 30 Eliza- beth, to Robert Collum, at the yearly rent of £22 17s. 8d., now worth £457 13s. id. At RosoREA. A magnificent Monastery, built by Saint Cronan. A Franciscan Friary, founded, in the year 1490 by Mulruany na Feasoige O'CarroU, or by his wife Bibiana. An inquisition was held 27 Dec, 1568 ; this house and the possessions were grant- ed to the Earl of Ormond, who assigned the same to William Crow. Thdrles. a Carmelite Monastery, founded, in the year 1300, by the family of Butler ; granted, together with the possessions, to the Earl of Ormond. TippEHAHY. A Monastery of Augustine Eremites, founded in the reign of Henry III. ; granted, with the possessions, 34 Henry VIII., to Dermot Ryan; rent Sd. Irish, now worth 13s. 4d. TiRDAGLASs, On the bank of Lough Derg. A Mo- nastery, founded by St. Columba, a disciple of St. Finian ; he died of the plague in the year 552. His feast falls on 13 Dec, and the feast of St. Aidbeua falls on 24 May. Many illustrious saints and scholars flourished in this house until the twelfth century. TooME, six miles south of Tipperary. A Priory ot Canons. St. Donan was honoured here, and it is sup- posed that he was the founder. Q,ueen Elizabeth granted this for twenty -one years tc Miler Migragh, Archbishop of Cwhril. COUNTY OF TYRONE. 865 TYRONE (CocNTY.) Ardboe, a noble and celebrated Monaater^f, bbilt by St. Colman. Ballinesaqart, in the Barony of Dungannon. A Franciscan Friary, built by Con. O'Neil, in the ysw 1489. Clogheh. An Episcopal See and Borough, thre* miles and a half south west of Lurgan. A Priory o^ regular Canons, presided over by St. Patrick, who resigned it to St. Kertern, who founded the celebrat'id abbey here. King James granted this abbey and refe nues to George Montgomery, Bishop of Clogher. Cldainddbhain, near Clogher. A large Nunnery founded by St. Patrick. ConocK. A Franciscan Monastery, built in the Sf- ■ tenth century; granted to Sir Henry Piers. DoNNAGHMOHE, three miles west of Dungannon. Aa Abbey, built by St. Patrick, in which St. Columb W8« honoured ; it stood until the thirteenth century, and o. course until the general dissolution. Dungannon, a borough town. A Franciscan Friary biilt by Con. O'Neil, in the reign of Henry VII.; granted to Richard, Earl of Westmeath, who assigned U to Sir Arthur Chichester. Gervaghkerin. a Franciscan Friary, built in the fifteenth century ; granted to Sir Henry Piers, with the friary of Corock. Omagh. An Abbey, founded, in the early ages, and m the fifteenth century a Franciscan Friary ; granted with the friary of Corock. Phble. a Franciscan Friary, founded, in the fif teenth century ; granted to Sir Henry Piers. IRELAND. VVATERFORD (Couniy.) Ajhaddaqain. An Abbey, by St. Dogaia, who wa« I strenuous suppoi ;er of the ancient mode of celebratma; Easter. Ardmore, a village four miles east of Youghal. An Abbey, founded by St. Declan, whose feast falls on 24 July. St. Ultan, his successor, was living after the yeat 550. The splended round tower, and stately ruins ol several churches; the Adam and Eve, with the tree and serpent; the judgment of Solomon, all in alto re- lievo, strike the traveller's mind with awe, as well as with regret for its fallen degraded state from its an- cient wealth and piety. Ballyvony, six miles north-east of Dungarvan. A large building in ruins, 150 feet by 90, which is sup- posed to be a Commandery of Hospitalers. Bewley, two miles south of Lismord. An Hospital of Hospitalers, in ruins. Cappaga, three miles and a half west of Dangorvan, The ruins of a Commandery of Hospitalers. Carrickbeg, near Carrick-on-Suir. A Franciscan Friary, built in the year 1336, by the Earl of Ormondj granted, 31 Henry VIII., to Thomas, Earl of Ormond. The steeple still remams, a very curious building, about sixty feet high, rising like a pyramid, which .point begins several feet from the ground ir the mid- dle of the church. ClashmohEj three miles and a half north of YougjaL An Abbey, founded, by Cuanceor, accordmg to the orders of Mochoemoc, who had raised Cuanchear from the dead ; that saint died 13th March, 655. Granted .to Sir Walter Raleigh. ■Chooke, on the bay, four miles from Waterford. A f>5mmandery, founded, in the thirteenth century, fol COUNTY OF WATERFORD. 26i (he Hospitalers, by the Baron of Curra^hmore ; grant- ed, 27 Elizabeth, to Antony Power, for sixty years ; rents £12 lis. lOd., now worth £251 Ififf 8d. Ddnq ARYAN. There was a Priory of Canons, found- ed, in ,he 7th century, by St. Garbhan, a disciple oi St'. Fiibar. An Augustine Friary, founded by Thomas, Lord Offaley ; the O'Briens were benefactors ; granted, with sundry lands, 37 Elizabeth, for twenty-one years, to Roger Dalton ; rent £40 10s., now worth £810. There was an hospital also under tha in- vocation of St. Brigid. KiLBARRY, one mile and a half from Waterford. Aa Hospital of Hospitalers. KiLLUNKART, near Dungarran. A Commandeiy ol Hospitalers. KiLLURE, two miles east of Waterford. A Coai mandery of Hospitalers ; granted, together with reve- nues, 25 Elizabeth, to Nicholas Aylmer, for fifty years, «t the yearly rent of £13 6s. 8a., now worth £263 164. 8d. ' Kilmboynan Abbey had a house in Waterford, called the Old Court, which could not escape the all-seeing inquisition of Elizabeth. LisMORB. An Abbey of regular Canons, founded, by St. Mocheda, in the year 630, together with a cele- brated school i though St. Senan, 'St. Lugad, St. Ne- man, and St. Madoc, seem to have been there bishops before him. Corcran Cieirach, anachorite of all Ireland, died at Lismore, in the year 1140. He was a celebra- ted divine ; and so greatly excelled all the western Europe in religion and learning, that every contest throughout the kingdom was referred to him. In 1127 Cormac M'Carthy King of Munster^ being dethroned, he was compelled to go on a piigrimage to Lismore. •There he erected twc churches. In 1133 Daniel BC6 IRELAND. O'Brien, King of Dublin, resigned his erown, «nd di«ft n professed nionlc in tliis house. An Hospital for Lepers, founded, under the 'r vocation of St. Brigid. A Cell of Anchorites, appertaining to the churf v of Lismore. MoLANA, an island in the Black Water, two mi't.i and a half above Waterford. There was 'an Abbe- , founded, in the sixth centurj' by St. Molanfide. Q,uk-( d Elizabeth granted this house and possessions to £a Walter Raleigh, who assigned them to the EaA d Cork. MoTHEL, two miles south of Carrick. An Aug 'is- tine Monastery, built by St. Brogan, and was succeed ed by St. Coan in the sixth century ; granted, 33 Hen- ry V III., with all the possessions, to Butler ant: Power; rent £6 4s., now worth £128. Rhincrbw, two miles west of Youghal. An Hos' pilal of Hospitalers ; granted to Sir Walter Raleigh, who assigned it to the Earl of Cork. Waterford, a large commercial sea-port. An Au- gustine Priory, founded by the Oslmen ; it was richly endowed by tlifferent persons in the course of time ; granted, with several other possessions, 31 Elizabeth, to Elizabeth Butler, alias Sherlock, for twenty-onp yesirs ; rent £47 5s. 8d., now worth £2,345 13s. 4tZ, The Hospital of St. Stephen, founded for Lepers, by the Power family. The Priory of St. John the Evangelist, founded, in the year 1185, by John, Earl of Morton, for the Benedictines. This house received several grants of lands and tenements. Granted to William Wyse, Esq., at the annual rent of a knight's fee. The Monastery of our Saviour, built by tha Dominicans, in the reign of Henry III., granted, 34 Henry VIIL, to James White ; rent 4« , now COUNTY OF WESTMEATH. 367 worth £4. The County Court House is called Black Friars. A Franciscan Friary founded in the year 1240 by Lord Hugh Purcell, who was interred here th« same year, by the side of the high altar ; granted, 33 Henry VIII., to Patrick Walsh and scholars, at the yearly rent of 8s., now worth £8 ; and a fine of £151 13s. 4rf., now worth £3,033 6s. 8d. The Holy Ghost Hosp-tal has been erected on a par« "*■ the niins of this Priory. WESTMEATH (County.) />BDCHARN. An Abbey by St. Beoaid, who died the B-. 1 March, 523. Athlone. This town is built on the river Shannon, partly in the county of Roscommon and partly in the county of Westmealh. A Monastery was built on this side for Franciscans, by Charles, or Cathal Croibh Dearg O'Connor, Prince of Connaught; and by Sir Henry Dillon, who was interred here. Athnecarne. a Dominican Fnary, built m the fourteenth century, by Robert Dillon, of Drurarany granted, with all its possessioiis in this county, 37 Henry VIII., to Robert Dillon, at the fine of £13 13s id., now worth £273 6s. 8d. ; and a rent of 6d., now worth 10s. Ballimore, on Lough-SeuJy, ten miles west irt MuUingw. A Monastery, founded before the year 700, A J Abbey, built in the year 1218, by the family of Lacie, for Nuns and Friars : they lived under the same roof, but in difterent apartments. This house had extensive possessions, and undeiwenl several inquisitions in the reigns of Henry Ylll. «ad Elizabeth 868 IRELAND. Clonfad, five miles and a hal: east of Muljingut. A Church, founded by St. Ethch an, who died in the fear 577. Clonfad is now a Chaj el. Clonhane, seven miles south of Mullingar. An Ab- oey, inhabited by several Saints from the sixth to the tenth century ; suppressed. CoMRAiRE, near the hill of Usmeach. An Abbey in which St. Colman was honoured ; he died in the year 652. Drumrany, or Drumrath, six miles north-east of Athlone. An Abbey built in the year 588. In the year 946 this house with 150 persons m it_ was burnt to the ground by the Ostmen. At Dysart, four miles ssuth of Mullingar. An Ab bey, built by St. Colman ; it became a Fraaciscan Fri- ary before the year 1331. At Parrenemanaghe. The inquisition of James, m the third year of his reign, finds this Abbey in rums, though possessed of a cartron of land, tithes, and othei tenements, value 12d., now worth £1. Farren-Mac-Heigkesb. The inquisition of James ni. finds the ruins of a Nunnery that was possessed o) some lands. There was an Abbey here ; and it is recorded tnat in the year 665, St. Finchin governed three thousand Monks in it. Fore, once a celebrated town, now an obscure village. This Abbey and rossessions made, according to the in- quisition held, 3 Henry VIII., £161 12s., now worth £3,232 yearly ; granted in the year 1588, for thirty -one Vears, to Christopher Baron of Delvin. At Cloncall, bordering on Kilkenny West. A Monastery, built in the year 486. by St. Munis; no'.v a caapeL At Hare Island, in Loughree. A Monastery, by uie family of Dillon. COUNTY OF WESTMEATH. 20H A.t Kenabd, ne.ir the county of Longford, north ol Inny. A Nunnery built early. At KiLLAHE, in the barony of Raconrath. Three churches, one dedicated to St. Aid, another called Tern pie Brigid, and the third the court of St. Brigid ; there were three holy wells. St. Cuman was Abbot here. At KiLBEGGAN, 3 borough town. A Monastery, built y St. Becan. Another Monastery, founded on the ame, rebuilt in the year 1200, by the family of Dalton. Ttis Abbey, and all its extensive possessions, were granted, after having undergone several inquisitions in the reign of Henry V III. and his son Edward VI.j to oe oeld of the Kuig and of the castle ot Dublin, in free and common soccage. At KiLBixY, an ancient town adorned with a castle Belonging to the Lacie family ; and a Monastery or an Hospital for the lepers, under the invocation of St. Bri- gid J it stood until the fifteenth century. KiLcoNiREGH and CoNRy were chapels in the barony of Moycashell ; St. Fearfio, son of a smith, was Abbol in the year 758. At Kilkenny West. A Friary, built by Thomas, a priest and Friar, the grandson of^ Sir Thomas Dillon, who came into Ireland, in the year 11S5 ; granted, with the possessions, 11 Elizabeth, to Robert Dillon;" rent £22 10s., now worth £450 : there was also a holy well here. At KiLLUKEN, five miles east of MuUingar. An Ab- bey, built by St. Lucian, whose feast falls on 27th July; now a Protestant place of worship. At KiLMACAHiLL, or KiLMiCHABL. A Franciscan Fria • ry, built by the family of Petyt; granted to Rojer Nangle.* At KiLTOMA, or KiLTOAMEN. An Abbey, built by St Nenmd ot Ninn, whose feast falls on 13th November At Lecrin, in tl i Barony of Corkerry. An Abbey, i70 IREL&ND. Built by St. Crumin, who died in the year 664 ; now i pa.ish church. At Lynn, m the Baron/ of Delvin. An Abbey. founded in the early ages ; now a Protestant place oi worship. At MuLLiNGAn, an ancient town. A Priory, called he House of God. of Mullingar ; founded for Canon* m the year 1227, by Ralph Petyt, Bishop of Meath, who died ia the year 1229 ; this house, with all the possessions, were granted, 34 Elizabeth, to Richart. Tuyte ; rent £16 5s. lOd, now worth £325 16s. 8d. A Dominican Friary, founded by the family o'. Nugent, in the year 1237 ; granted, 8 Elizabeth, 10 "VValtei Hope; rent £lO,now worth £200. A Franciscan Friary, built in the year 1622, by ihe Friars ; like the lambs building amongst the wolves. At MuLTiFERNAM. A Monastery, built in the year 235; by William Delamar, for the Franciscans ; grant- ed, with the possessions, 8 Henry VIII., to Edmond Field, Patrick Clynch, and Phil. Petency, for a fine of £S0. worth now £1,600, together with the rent of 4s., that IS £4 of the present money. It appears that the E'riars possessed themselves again of this house unlil the year 1641. At Rathugh. a Monastery by Si. Aid ; now a chapel. At RrATHYNE, six miles east of Mullingar. A Mona« tery built by St. Carthag or Mochuda, -where he pre- sided for forty years, over eight hundred and sixty- seven Monks, who supported themselves and the neigh- bouring poor by labour. At Teaghbaoithen. A Monastery, built by St Baithen; stood until the 13th century. . At Teaghtelle. Monastery, built by St. Cera, oi Muskerry, but beinjr recommended by St. Munnu l» COUMY OF WEXFORD. 271 resign the house to St. Tellius, she did, and then la- turned home to her native country, in the year 576. At TippERT. A Monaste^, built by St. Fechin, ol Fore ; now a chapel. At ToBEB. Pope Innocent VIII. granted license to Edmond de Lantu Laici to build a Monastery here foi Dominicans; granted, 31 Elizabeth, to Henry Mat- thews. ' At Tristernagh, on the banks of Lough Iron. A Priory, founded, by Geof&y de Constantine, an Eng- lish emigrant, about the year 1200 ; granted, for twen ty-one years, to Qaptain William Piers, 31 Henry VIII., at the yearly rent of £60, now worth £120 WEXFORD (CoDNTV.> At AcHADHABULA. A Monastery, founded by St. Finian, of Clonard. At AiRDNE CoE.MHAiN. A Monastery, by St. Coe- man, brother of St. Dagan, who died in the year 639, Abbot here. At Ballyhack. A Commandery, subordinate to hat of Kilcoghan. At Begery or Little Island, an Island north of Wexford harbour. A celebrated Monastery, and a School, founded, by St. Ibor or Ivor, who died in the year 500. At Camrqs. An Abbey, built by St. Abban, who die J in the year 640 ; and the Abbot St. Mosacre died in the year 650. At Garnsore. a Monastery, built by St. Domaii- gcit, of Ossory, at the foot of a high hill that overhangs die Irish rihannel ; now a Protestant place of worship 872 IRELAND. At Clonmines. An Augustine Monattery, founded^ by the family of Cavanagh, before the year 1385; granted, with the possessions, 35 Henry VIIL, to John Parker ; rent 2s. 6d., now worth £2 10s. At Darinis, an island near the town of Wexford. A Monastery, built by St. Nemhan, whose feast falls on 8th March; St. Gobban and St. Caimau were ab- bots here before the year 540. At Down, six miles from Inniscorthy. A Monaste- ry, built before the arrival of the English, and cou- tmued until i^ was granted, in 1637, to the Lord Balti- more. At Druim Chaoin. An Abbey, founded by St. Ab- ban, who died in the year 650. At DuNBRODDY, four miles south of Ross. An Ab- bey, founded, through the bounty of Harvey de Monte Maurisco, Seneschal to the Earl of Pembroke." The Earl himself and his son Walter were benefactors ; by an inquisition held 37 Henry VIIL, the possessions were valued at £25 4s. 8d., now worth £504 3s. Ad. ; granted to Osborne Itchingham ; rent £3 10s. 6d., now worth £70 10s. At Inniscorthy, a borough town. A Cell to the. Ab- bey of St. Thomas, in Dublin; founded, and richly en- dowed for the salvation of his own and the souls of his wife, father and mother, by Gerald de Prendergast «bout the year 1225 ; granted in the year 1581, to Ed- vard Spenser ; rent £13 5s., now worth £265. A Franciscan Friary, founded, in the year 1460, by Donald Cavanagh ; granted, 37 Elizabeth, to Sir Henry Wallop, for a Knight's service, and rent £10 16s. id., now worth £216 6s. 8d. Ferns. Abbey founded, on land given by Brandub, King of Leinster, to St. Moadhog, called also Aidan ; it continued a celebrated house until the general suppres Bion. In 1166, Dennot M'Meerchad, King of Leinster, COUNTY OF WEXFORD. a7J burned the town, and in atonement to God for this gin, he founded an Augustine Abbey here, and richly endowed the same .: granted, with all the possessions, S6 Elizabeth, fcr 60 years, to Thomas Masternson ; rem £16 4rf., now worth £320 1». 6d. Glasscarig. On the sea, six miles north of GSorey, Griilin Cordon, Cieilia Barry, his wife, and Robonc Burhe. her father, and three other persons, granted all their lands in Cousinquilos, &c., for building here a Benedictine Priory. Two different inquisitions, one 35 Henry VIII., and the other, 5 Edward VI., found this house in possession of many lands, and other tene- ments. HoARTOwN. Carmelite Priory, built m the 14th century by a Mr. Furlong ; granted to Sir John Davis and Francis Talbot. Inbherdaoilb. Monastery, built by Sir Dagain, brother to St. - Coemgene, who was also Bishop of Achad Dagain in Leinster, and died 639. KiLCLEGHAN. Near the mouth of the Suir. Com- mandery built by O'Moore, for the Templars, but on the suppression of this Order, it was given to the Hos- pitalers ; underwent an inquisition 32 Henry VIII. j granted, 30 Elizabeth, to Sir Henry Harrington, for the fourth part of a knight's fee, and rent £35 16«. 8d., ; now worth £716 13s. 4d. , Maghere NuiDHE. A noble Monastery, founded by Bt Abban, who died in the year 650. Cross Friary, for the redemption of captives, was buUt on a rising ground. Monastery of St. Saviour, erected for the Fran- ciscans, by Sir John Devereux before the year 1300 ; granted, 30 Elizabeth, to the Earl of Ormond. The east end of the house is now a Protestant place of worship. Augustine Friary, luilt in the reign of Edward III. ; this house a&d some /aluible posaessiou* 874 IRELAND. though granted, 35 Henry VIII., to Richard But ler, at the yearly rent ot ]7d. Irish; now wortk £1 8s. id. TiNTEEN. On the Banowbay, three miles north east of Duncannon Fort. William, Earl of Pembroke, having been in great danger, on sea, made a vow to build an Abbey on the first spot where he should land in safety ; he put into this bay, and religiously re- deemed his vow, by erecting a Cistercian Abbey for Monks, whom he brought from Tintern Abbey, Mon- mouthshire ; he endowed it with many valuable lands j he died in 1219, and King John confirmed his will. Though this house and possessions amounted, according to the inquisition held 31 Henry VIII., to £75 Is. 8d., now worth £1517 13s. 4rf,, they were granted to An- thony Colclough, at £26 4s. yearly rent ; now worth £524. Wexford. A sea-port town, and a borough. Priory of regular Canons. It was richly endowed by several noblemen. There was an inquisition held on it, 31 Hen- ry VIII., another 1 Edward VI., when it was granted for ever to John Parker, for the annual rent of 15s. Jd. ; now worth £15 10s. ; but a third inquisition was held, 26 Elizabeth, when the house and possessions were found in the hands of Philip Devereux of Wexford. This Church still remains with a large tower in the middle. Priory of Hospitalers,, founded by William Mareschal, Earl of Pembroke. Grey Friary, or Franciscan, founded in the reign of Henry III., granted, 35 Henry VIII., to Paul Turner and James Devereux ; rent lOd, Irish ; now worth 16s. Sd. Hospital of Lepers, to which Henry IV., m the year 1408, made a grant of land*. COUNTY or WICKLOW. 878 WICKLOW (COBNTY.) Arkiow, Fonnerly the residence of the Kings ol Dublin J a town then of great note, and adorned with a monasteiy which Theobald Fitz Walter founded for the Dominicans; granted, 35 Henry VIII., to John Travers, rent 2s. 2d. ; now worth £2 3«. 4d. Ballykine. ■ Six miles and a half west of Arkiow Abbey, founded by St. Keivin. On the site of which a Mr. Whaley built a house, called the Whaley Abbey. Baltinglass. a borough town, on the rirer Slainey. Cistercian Abbey, built in the year 1148, by Dermot M'Murchad O'Cavanagh, King of Leinster ; granted, 30 Elizabeth, to Sir Henry Harrington,, at £11 \Qa. yearly rent, now worth £239 j though it was worta double that sum. DoNABD. A church, built by St. Silvester, who came to Ireland with St. Palladius about the year 430 j now a Protestant place of worship. Glendalogh. Twenty-two miles fyom Dublin, anu eleven north-west of Wicklow, formerly an Episcopal See, and a well inhabited city full of religious edifices. An Abbey founded, and presided over for many years, by St. Keivin, who died 3d June, 618, at the age of 120 years. On the 3d June, immense multitudes of pil- grims visit the seven churches of Glendalogh, to vene- rate St. Keivin, and his sister, St. Molibba. The seven churches are, the Cathedral Church, St. Kelvin's Kitchen, Our Lady's Church, Priory of St. Saviour, the Ivy Church, Teampul na Skellig, the Rhepart, Inisboyne. Four miles east of Wicklow, An Ab b«y by St. Baitheu. KiLGORMAN. An Abbey, by St. Gorman, nephew t« 6t. Patrick ; no\f a Protestant p.ace of worship. 276 IRELAND. KtLLAiRD. A Nunnery, built in the year 588 by Bt Tamthinna. SnnTHAiH. An Abbey built by St. Mogcn-oc, bfothei to St. Canoe ; it stood to the 14tn century. WicKLOw. Capital of the county, and a borough A Franciscan Friary, founded . in the reign of Henrj III., by theO'Byrnesand theO'Tooles; granted, 7 El» zabeth, to Henry Harrington for 21 years ; rent £3 ISe 9d., now vrorth £73 15«, ¥0 fHE CLERQT CHURCH OF ENGLAND. Kensington, 15th April, 1824. Parsons, YoD have, m all sorts of ways, been at me for i great many years ; and the time appears now to be ar- rived for me to bestow a little time upon you. You shall not catch me at what you call " blasphemy." It is your temporalities that I mean to confine myself to chiefly, to the cor'n and to the wool and the lambs: lambs, I mean, such as we eat : and I shall take care to leave other lambs, that you sometimes talk of, to be talked of by Father in God Jocelyn, his soldier, Mo velly, and their like. You have had your full swing at me quite long enough. I shall now attend a little to you. I remember your Address to the King, in 1812, urging him to push on the war. I remember your ex- altation when the French people were said, and were thought, to be conquered, and to have had tithes im- posed on them again ; I remember you at Winchester, mst as the Power-of-Imprisonment Bill was parsing. Parsons, I remember you : I know you well : you have oeen at me personally for years. Before two years be at an end, you shall find, Parsons, that I arr neither 'orgetful nor ungrateful. At present I have to do -with some of your money collections for what you call the National Schools . and I shall begin by inserting, first, the King's Circulat 278 TO THE CLERGY OF THB Letter. It is curious enougii that we know little of you except in connexion with money. You always approach us, accompanied with some money demand. I remember somebody telling me that the late Duke of Portland said, that tithes were absolutely necessary to make the clergy known to the people. I do nut know that his Grace, in his wisdom, took the trouble to show, that it was at all necessary tha; there should be any such men known to the people ; that it was at all necessary that we should pay any body to teach us re- ligion, seeing that we had the Word of God itself in our houses. However, more of this by-and-by. The King's letter, which I am about to insert, is called, '^King's Lett.er to the Archbishop of Canterbury." There was one also to the Archbishop of York, of the same tenor and date. "Geohoe R. " Most Reverend Father in God, our right trusty and right entirely beloved Councillor, we greet you well : Whereas the Incorporated National Society, for pro- moting the education of the poor in the principles of the established Church throughout England and Wales, have by their petition humbly represented unto us, that the President and Governors of the said So- ciety have pursued with their Best endeavours the de- sign adopted for extending more eflectually the benefit of religious education to the growing population of our realm : that they are duly sensible that in no case can the great end of public happiness be so essen- tially promoted as by cultivating the principles of reli- gious faith and moral duty : that the means for ac- complishing their purpose have been supplied already to a considerable extent by the National Society, in the grants for erecting schools upon the model of the Central School ; the charge of building rooms of suita- ble dimensions forming the chief burden of expense in these provisions : that the Return? of the last year hav« presented the welcome spectacle of the hear ana dis- tant operation of this comprehensive scheme of educa- tion exhibited in 1817, United Schools affording reli' gious culture with every beneficial influence on the CHDHCH OF KNQLAND. 379 Einds and manners, the habits and appearance, of more than three hundred and Jifty thousand children : that the sums contributed by royal munificence and individual bounty in former benefactions, have been thus expended, whilst a bare sufficiency remains in annual subscriptions for the maintenance of the Central School, from which so much benefit is derived to all parts of the country : that the call to be excited under favour of our mandate, for which the Society make their humble suit, will be wholly applied, should the pi^yer of their Address be crownei with a successful issue, to the furtherance of the same object in all parts of our realm, by multiplying schools, and by lending aids for procuring sites and for building public seminaries: and so much of good having already been accomplished, the said Society, in order to enable the labourers in this prolific field to persevere with increasing vigour, have, therefore, most humbly implored us that collections may be made in the Churches and Chapels, throughout England and Wales, in furtherance of this important object: we, taking the premises into our royal consideration, and being always ready to give the best encouragement and countenance to undertakings which tend so much to the promotion of true piety and of our holy religion, are graciously pleased to condescend to their request; and do hereby direct you that these our Letters be communicated to the several suffragan bishops within your province, ex- pressly requiring you and them to take care that pub- lication be made hereof on such Sunday and in such places, within your and their respective dioceses, as you and the said bishops shall appoint ; and that upon tins occasion the Ministers in each parish do effectually excite their parishioners to a liberal contribution, whose benevolence towards carrying on the said cha- ritable work shall be collected the week following at their respective dwellings by the Churchwardens oi Overseers of the poor in each parish ; and the Minis- ters of the several parishes are to cause the sums so collected to be paid immediately to the treasurer for the time being of the said Society, to be accounted foi t>y him to the said Society, and applied to the furthep 480 TO THE OLERGV OF THE auce of the abore-mentioned good designs : — and go w« 9id you very beartilj' farewell. " Given at our Court at Carlton House, the seconti day of July, 1823, in the fourth year of our reign. '•■ By his Majesty's Command. " (Countersigned) R. Peel." " Buckden Palace, 21st July, 1823. ' Reverend Sir, " Inclosed I transmit to you a copy of the King's Letter. — Not doubting your readiness to comply with any command from His Majesty, I feel it almost unne- cessary to add my earnest wish that you should use your best endeavours to promote His Majesty's bene- volent and pious object. — It is required that publication of the Letter be made in your Church or Chapel on Sunday the Seventeenth Day of August next, and that the officiating Ministers in each Parish do effectually excite their Parishioners to a liberal contribution to the Charity recommended, by such means as are suggested in the King's Letter, and by all others which they may possess. "I am, Rev. Sir, " Your faithful Servant, " G. Lincoln. "JV. B. — You are directea, as soon as may be aftei the Collection, to remit the amount by a safe convey ance to Joshua Watson, Esqdire, Treasurer of the Na- tional Society, Bartlett's Buildings, London ; and you are furtlier requested to return by Post the inclosed Form of Account, properly filled up, which is addressed to Mr. Freeling." I am now to take it for granted, that the readers of •his will have read' the two letters with attention, and will have particularly noted the words which I have caused to be putm italic characters. Let us, then, look Et the whole of this thing. I will engage that such a ■thing never was heard of before in any country in die CHURCH OP ENGLAND. 28; HTorld. Here is the King of a great kingdom calling upon his bishops to call upon the clergy, to call upon his people in his name, by his mandate, to excite the caid people to a liberal contribution. The clergy are to excite them effectually. And the instrument, by which they are called upon to do this, is called a " Eoyrl Mandate." Now, Parsons, this is not absolute force : it is not commanding the people to surrender some of their money, and to refuse at their peril. It is not absolute force, such as the tax-gatherer employs ; but can any one say that it is .voluntary 1 Can any one say that the far greater part of the people will not look upon it as resisting the King's command if they do not give 1 But, the plain truth is this : when the churchwardens and other officers go round to the people, and the people know, that they are not compelled by law to give them any thing ; still they give them out of fear ; for these churchwardens, overseers, andother officers, are also tax- gatherers ; and where is the man who is not always in debt for ta.ves 7 So that it is very voluntary work ! The Parson either goes round himself, or he lets it be well known that he wishes people to subscribe. In- deed, he preaches in favour of subscribing. He has power to raise his tithes, or to take them in kind. — The Landlord, the Squire, the Dead-weight Admiral, or General, or Colonel, or Captain, (all monstrously pious creatures,) deal with tradesmen that are called upon to subscribe for pious purposes. Here are pretty effectual excitements to charity ! In short, impudent, indeed, must be the hypocrite who does not acknow- ledge, that, upon these occasions, much more is given out of fear than out of love. I was pressed once to sub- scribe for the relief of the " German sufferers." The (ubsciiption collector was also the collector of our as- sessed taxes. " Not a farthing," said I : " I wish the French had stripped the slaves of their very skins." Slap went his hand into his pocket, and out he pulled, read) prepared, a Bill for the assessed taxes that t fiwed ! " / thought ns much," said I ; " but thank God ' TO THE CLEHGY OV THE here's youi money that 1 must pay ; and, thank G am m a state to dare to refuse to give my mone; the rascally Germans, who have been doing all they have been able to do to make me as perfei slave as themselves. Here ! take your tax money, carry your subscription book and present it to the de at any rate,,take it out of my house, and yourself al with it, and that, too, in very quick time." Bui, though I dared refuse, many of my neighbo and a very great majority of them, too, dared not tc fuse. They gave money to the " Suffering Germa when they, themselves, wanted money to buy a j of meat. Yet, there was no letter from the King u that occasion ; no royal mandate ; no order from King effectually to excite to liberal contribution, the present case, the thing is very nearly a tax. wants but very little of a tax. The means made of amount so nearly to compulsion, that it is an al of words ; and it is, in fact, a falsehood to call it a luntary contribution. What, then, is all this for ? Strange thing, to hold a King calling upon his bishops, and the bisl upon their clergy, to call upon the people at larg subscribe sums of money, to be sent up to Londo one Joshua Watson, in order that Joshua may ewj it in extending religious education to the peo^ Good God ! the King, that is to say, the royal anc ered head of the church, and all his bishops, and all clergy, issuing mandates ; putting forth pastoral lett preaching sermons, sufficient almost to lull the raj sea to repose ; and the churchwardens and overs going round from door to door, praying and beseecl His Majesty's loyal and pious people to aid in the ( ritdble work. And all for what 1 To get a parci money together to be sent to Joshua Watson, Esqi Spirit and Wine Merchant, of Mincing-lane, or of Mincing-lane, which runs down out of Fenchu street towards Billingsgate, in the city of London ; this in order that the said Esquire and Wine and S Merchant may lay out the said money in causing t CHUBCEl OF ENGLAND. 28S iultivaitd the principles of religious faith 1 Match that, f you can, Roman Catholics, or any body else. Match mat, or " hide your diminished heads." Mind you Parsons, it is not figuratively that I am talking here, I mean to say, that this Joshua Watson is, or was some time ago, a wine and spirit merchant, ih Mincing-lane, aforesaid, and living in that lane with.hia family For se,veral years, since you began upon me, and espe- cially since Sidmouth began in 1817, I have formed a ■" resolution, that nothing shall be done under my roof in Ihe way of drink ; or, at least, in the wine and spirit way. Judge Jeffries said, and with reason, that he was afraid of none but sober men. It is lang, there- fore, since I had any communion with wine and spirit sellers ; but, at the time when I was fool enough to suffer people to drink wine and spirits undfti my roof, ( bought wine and spirits of this very Joshoa Watson '. Aye, this very Joshua Watson, to get money to be sent to whom, all the by-law established pulpits in the kingdom are put in a state of requisition ! What a strange concern is this ! The extending of religious faith is to, be left to Joshua WatsoNj wine and spirit merchant, of Mincing-lane. The King d,oes not, in- deed, name Joshua ; but he says, the Treasurer of the Society for the time being ; and the Bishops say that that Treasurer is Joshua. The Ministers might as well have gone a little farther, and advised the King to name Joseioa at once ; for, much lower than the tenor of this paper it-was next lo impossible to go. When Mr. Peel's hand was in, he might as well have gone the full length ; but, indeed, the production is, as it now stands, a pretty good specimen of what we have to ex- pect from that illustrious family, which the Spinning- Jenny Sire had, (as we are told in his pedigree in the Baronetage.) " a presentiment that he should be the founder of." But, Parsons, let me come a little closer to you What is Iha subscription for 7 For what is this rnoniy collected and sent to Joshua Watson ? It is, iha Joshua may lay it out. And what is Joshua to lay i out upon ? Why, ii is to be laid out in something iS4 TO THE CLERUY OF THE about schools : about buildings, wherein to tea eh people. And what aie the people to be taught, Parsons'? 1 ask, >r would ask, if I could get at him, the Right Trusty and Right entirely Beloved Archbishop. I would say I greet you well ; and pray tell me now what is JosHOi Watson to cause to be taught with this money 1 But. Parsons, let me stop here a bit: it is the growing po- pulation of our realm that is to be taught. Now, pray tell me, Parsons, what this word growing means. A most elegant paper this is. It has no full point till il gets to the end. However, what does it mean by groin- ing population ? Does it mean that the people thai are to be taught must be fine growing girls and boys ; and that no notice is to be taken of those that are set oi stunted ; or, would it insinuate that the number of the people in this country is increasing ; and thus hint at an apology for resorting to these extraordinary means. It the former be meant, it will only call forth a laugh ; and if the latter, I have something to say to that by- and-by, when, probably, we shall see that this word growing was not stuffed in without a motive. To return now to the ground that I quitted but a minute agO; I would say to the Archbishop, I greet you well, and pray tell me what Joshua. Watson is tc cause to be taught to the " growing population" of our realm ? Is it S'lioemaking or tailoring ? No. Is it law- yering or doctoring ? No. Is it discounting or stock- Tobbingl No. Is it the Chinese or the French lan- guage 1 No. Is it military tactics, or the slang of the blue and buff? No. Well, then, is it writing a fan hand ; is it one or all the branches of mathematics 7 No : it is none of all these. Pray, then, most Reverend Father in God, what is t that Joshua is to have taught by the means of all this money ? The most Reverend Father in God would, perhaps, ansv/er : Why, you graceless dog, what do you think it is that he is to teach but the things mentioned in His Majesty's Letter ? Well, then, this is religion — JosHDA Watson is to lay out the money in extending religious education. In cultivating the />nncipZe« o, eligious faith, in affording religious culture. Wha\ CHDRCH OF ENGLAND. Len, ye Reverend Sirs, is it the Mahommeilan, or tat Shinese, or tlie Olalieitaa ; or what religion is it that Joshua is to have taught ? "No," I think 1 hear the fire-siiovels exclaim with thundering voice, " Nt you seditious dog, you accursed wretch, you terrible Jaco- binical villain, it is the Christian religion, to be sure." Beg your pardons, Reverend Sirs : beseech your for- giveness, spiritual persons ; but it must then be, to be sure, the Roman Catholic religion, or the Anabaptist religion, or the Presbyterian, or the Methodist, or the Q,uaker, or the Jumper, or the Shaker religion ? " No, you rebellious dog ; it is the religion of this kingdom, as by Law established." Graceless wretch that I am, I now see my mistake ; for His Majesty in his letter says, that the money is to be sent to the Treasurer , that is to say, to Joshua Watson, Esquire, Wine and Spirit Merchant, to be by him laid out in promoting education, in the principles of the established church. Good Lord ! did one ever hear of the like of this be- fore ■? Here the business is to teach religion ; to bring children up in a religious manner ; to cultivate religious faith ; to give religious culture to the minds of child- ren, to promote true piety ; and to promote, also, our holy religion. And who is to do all this but Joshua Watso.v, the Wine and Spirit Merchant ! We have a King at the head of this holy religion. How much His Majesty receives a year, as Head of the Church, I do not pretend to say. We have forty-four Bishops be- longing to this Church, who receive amongst them very little sbort of half a million a year. We have a Clergy that receive about seven millions and a half a YEAR, exclusive of a vast deal of property. Here is a pretty sum of money to be given to support a Church establishment. Here is more money given to this Church, which does not boast ol four millions cf per- sons that belong to it and frequent it : here is more raoney given to the Ministers of this Church, than ia given to all the rest of the teachers of religion in the Christian world. And, notwithstanding all this; not- withstanding all the boasting of the learning and piety of the clerg^y of th.s Church; notwilhs'anding thes* 2S6 TO THE JLEllGY OF THE things, the King himself aow tells us that it is n&ce» &ary to go round with a begging-box, to raise money by subscription, to be sent to a Wine and Spirit Merchant in Mincing-lane, in order that he may lay ihe money out in cultivating the principles of " religious faith," and ia the promotion of true piety and our holy reli- gion Such a thi ig baffles all description. No talent caa place it in so strong a light as it is placed by a simple statement of the facts. This rich, this Church over- gorged with riches ; this Church which is everlastingly bragging of the learning and piety of its clergy ; this Church going begging about for money, in order to send it to a Wine and Spirit Merchant in London, in order that he may lay it out in " promoting our holy religion," is such a thing as we may boldly say the world never heard of before, and never will hear ol again. What are all these parsons for ? Why have we Deacons, Priests, Prebendaries, Curates, Vicars, Rectors, Canons, Deans, Archdeacons, Bishops, and Archbishops ? Why have we twenty thousand of these men and their families to keep without work? Go and get up upon a hill ; see how thickly the spires arise around you in all directions. What are all these men and all these buildings for, if the King must send round a begging box, in order to get money to be sent up to Joshua Watson, that he may lay it out in " cultivating _ tlie principles of religious faith, and in the promotion of true piety, and our holy religion 1" Ah ! Parsons ! in this transaction we have a tacit confession that those who have contended that this enormously expensive establishment is worse than use- less, and ought to be unestablished by law j here we have a tacit confession, that such persons have reason ' k'arly on their side. For what are the churches, it Joshua V\''atson is to be applied to to cultivate the principles of religious faith, and to promote true piety and our holy religion? If it be necessary, I say, to raise money to send to Joshua Watson for these pur- poses, I want to know what the churches are for. Come, no v: unlock for once: speak out plainly ; ou to the tithes, unless you resided amongst the people who paid them? .In short, you were paid to leach the people, to give them religious instruction, to cultivate II their minds the principles of religious faith ; and to do all those things, which Joshua Watson, the Wine and Spirit Merchant of Mincing-lane, is ap- pointed to do. If you had all obeyed the law, could 39a TO THE CLERGY OF THE Joshua Watson and his tract-men have been wanted t Wliat need, for instance, had the Rev. Thomas Jephsom to make part of & London Society for promoting Christ- ian Knowledge, if he and aL the rest of you had resid- ed constantly in your parishes, and had" taken care ol your flocks? What do you call them J?ocA:s for; afld why do you call yourselves Pastors, unless you reside with and take care of them 1 Nevertheless, so notorious is your absence from your ■' flocks ;" to such an extent have you disobeyed the law of your establishment and incurred its penalties, that, act after act were passed, from 1799 to 1803, to SCKEEN Yon from the just vengeance of the outraged law. New indulgences were granted you in 1803. But, you disobeyed even the new and indulgent law. And, again in 18T4, act after act were again passed to SCREEN YOU AGAIN ! Does the parliament act thus by any other part of the people ? If this be to be the case, what law is there to make you do your duty 1 It is my intention to write, in a week or two, an essay to show the evils of the Reformation ; to show how » has injured England ; how it has taken away its free dom and its happiness, and how.it has, at last, led to that decline of power and character, which is now ac tually taking place. I shall then have to speak more fully of these acts to screen yod. But, I cannot, even now, refrain from mentioning (for, perhaps, the thou sandth time) the sums that you have, of late years, re- ceived out of the taxes, over and above the amount oi all the tithes, aW the manors, all the lands, and allthf hotives, which constitute what vulgarly is called " church property ;" but which is pubtic property, thf use of which is given to you in consideration of your teaching those very things which Joshua Watson is now delegated to teach. The sums, I say, that you nave had o^tt of the tax^, over and above the " church property," amounting, as we have before seen, to eight millions of pounds a year. These sums were, £100.000 a year, granted by the people at Westminster,* an^ • The parliament sits in WeBtmmster.— Eo. CHURCH OF L»eLA.ND. 293 laised in taxes upon the people. Sums granted for the ' relief of the poor Clergy of the Church of England !" Rood God I Two Bishops have lately died, leaving nearly three hundred thousand pounds each ! And yet, this wretched, this starving people, is called upon, a,ni compelled, to give money to the "poor Clei-gy'" oi this church ! This was carried on by the people at Westminster for about sixteen years : and was drop- ped only the year before last. Perceval began it , and accordingly they of you who belonged to the Dio- cess of Salisbury did, in 1812, in an address to the Prince Regent, " condole" with his Royal Highness on what they call the "assassination of that upright Mi- nister, and one of the brightest examples of public and private virtue." They well knew that this same Perceval had been accused of seat-selling ; they knew that Mr. Maddocks offered to produce proof of this at the bar of the House of Commons; they knew that Perceval dared not deny the fact, and that he besought the House not to hear the evidence ; they knew that the House did not hear it ; and yet, the Bishop, Dean, and Chapter and Clergy of the Diocess of Salisbury, had the front to declare this very man to be " one oj the brightest examples of public virtue .'" But, though he ,Ai been charged with selling a seat, ne had proposed and carried on these grants of m,oney to the Clergy. And, now, Parsons, do you think that this money is not to be repaid ? You can find time to be Justices of the Peace, while you call on us to send money to the Wine and Brandy Merchant, that he may teach us religion. You seem to study the law ; and, do you think that this affair, that this long reckoning, will be settled without your being called upon to repay the sixteen hundred thousand pounds, .aken out of the taxes, to be given to you? There ,was a law for it. Oh, yes ! And so there was for the works of Empson and Dudley. Law for it ! Aye, and .nere is lavf for banishing men, and for shutting men up in their houses from sunset to sunrise. TjUW ! to be sure) and there is law to " indemnify" alt the stern- palh peo;»le of 1S17. Law Rnough ; but do you iiDOgiav ^94 TO TIU CLERGY OF THE • thai we shall ever consent to the reducing of the inte rest of the Debt in the amount of one single penny, without first making you ^.ay back these sixteen hun- dred thousand powids ? Total ruin, however, falls on the aristocracy, on those who exulted at the laws to screen you and to ^ive you our money ; total ruin falls on them, unless the interest of the Debt be greatly re- duced. And this reduction cannot, will not, shall not, take place, without vour refunding the sixteen hun- dred thousand pounds. Only mind what a wicked, what an odious, what a detestable act it would be, to take away part of the debt, until you were made to refund. Where did the sixteen hundred thousand pounds come from? We say, out of the taxes, because it was public money. But, the Government was borrowing money and con- tracting debt every year, during the period that these sixteen hundred thousand pounds were given to you. If there had been none of the public money given to you, there would not, of course, needed so much to be borrowed. Consequently, the money was borrowed tn be given to you. These sixteen hundred tliousaiul pounds make part of the debt. And, shall those who lent the money that was given to you, now have their interest taken away from them, while you keep the principal? Oh, no ! my good fire-shovel hat gentle- men. We will show yoU how we can play at this game. In short, is there any one in human form, beast enough to suppose that you are to be suffered to keep all, while every other description of persons is to be compelled, and must be compelled, to make sacrifices. You are the great promoters of the vjar and the bor- rowing. When the rest of the nation, when even the borough-mongers seemed to wish for peace, you were for war. And, can it ever be proposed to reduce the interest of the Debt, without calling upon you to re- fund ? To refund what waS give7i to you, at any rate. Aye ; and tnat is not all. You will have to refund what you received in the way of gift; and you will, moreover, have to pay off a pari of that great Debt that was contracted on your account. It is notorious ORL'RCU OF ENQLAN9. 295 ihat the war was to i>ut down French principles. An J what were French jrriiiciples ? Why, that titles oj nobility and tithes ouglit to be put an end to; and that all that mass of property, called "church property," was national, or public property, and ought to be sold for the defence of the Kingdom and for the paying off its debts. Now, we went to war, and obstinately perse- vered in war, and renewed the war, and so went on, till the war had cost (besides the taxes raised and ex- pended) nine hundred millions sterling, in fund-holdei debt, dead-weight debt, and pauper debt. This cannot now be paid without transferring the estates away from the present possessors. We must lop a part off, then. Aye ; but not while you, for whom half the ex- pense, half the debt, was contracted ; not till you have given up what you have, if your all be necessary. This is what poses, perplexes, embarrasses, torments you! You are become bitter beyond expression to- wards me, who remind the people of these things, and who say positively, that the interest of the Debt shall not be reduced, until you refund the sixteen hundred thousand pounds that the people at Westminster gave to you out of the public money. What ! get this sum of money as a gift, besides all the tithes and other things ; and come to us after all this for money to send to the Mincing-lane Wine and Spirit Merchant, that he may lay it out in teaching the children their reli- gious duty 1 Faith ! this thing stops : this thing goes no further at this rate. Mr. Home says, that he does not thin'K, that you (in England) have too much. Mr. Hdme will not do, then. Mr. Hume will go on one side, like an old garment. Ten thousand times would I rather see the Jews m Dossession of the whole of the estates, than see a reduc- tion of (he Jew interest without your being first com- pelled to refund. If there be no reduction, never can the country again face a fat in arms, though that foe came up the Tharries and attack the Tower. And, " so help me Giod," as Mr. Canning said, 1 would rather see the Tower attacked ; aye, and fall too ; and see the loiintry actually conquered, than the " w.id iw and 296 TO THB CLERGY OF TBE orphan" loso part of iheir interest, until you had re- funded the sixteen hundred thousand potmds. Oh, no 1 my brave fire-shovel hats : never can such a thin" De done. I shall not see the Tovsrer attacked : 1 shall see the inieiest reduced : and I shall see you refund previous tc such reduction. These, Parsons, are the sayings that you hate me for. At Exeter, about six months back, (18th Sept.) there was a Pitt-Club Dinner. We shall find some- thing in the report (from the Chronicle of the 24th Sept.) applicable to the subject before us. I will insert it first, and then remark upon a passage or two in it. " Devon Pitt-Club. — The members of this Club held iheir meeting at the Hotel on Thursday (the 18th inst.) at which Sii- Trayton Drake presided, with the gallant Sir George Collier as Vice President. About fifty sat down to a most excellent dinner. On the cloth being removed, the President proposed the health of ' The King,' which was drunk with four times four, and v/as succeeded by ' God save the King,' verse and chorus. ,The following toasts were given in succes- sion, with the usual cheering and appropriate glees: — " ' The Duke of York and the Army,' ' Duke of Clarence and the Navy,' ' The rest of the Royal Family.' " The Phesident said he had next to propose a toast intimately connected with the object of their Meeting, and which, he was persuaded, would be received by deep feelings of respect. The Minister whose birth they were met to com.memorate, and whose name should inspire gratitude in every Englishman's breast, had studied his country's good as his only object ; and to his system, vfrhich had been followed by succeeding Administrations, was owing the glorious attitude of England among the nations of the world, which she had maintained amidst the concussion of empires, and still preserved. History could not record a brighter example of statesman-like integrity than that illus- trious individual had furnished ; and he knew that every heart present would respond in unison with his, in pay- ing a silent but sincere tribute of respect, ' To the im Bio-tal memory of the Right Hon. William Pitt.' " CHURCH OF ENGLANU 297 " The Rtv. William Radford, Rector of Lapfotd, said, he should do injustice to his feelings if he were to remain silent on the mention of that great States- man, whose transcendent abilities and political integ- rity had, next to Divine Providence, secured the inde- pendence of these kingdoms, and restored liberty to Europe. In the times of domestic disturbance, his principles operated towards the promotion of loyal tnd proper feelings, and ultimately restored harmony. But, though great danger had been -quelled, an evil spirit was still lurking about, endeavouring to accrmplish by artifice what force could not effect. The. jarring principles of designing men had been made subs'^.rvient to individual interests. He (Mr. Radford) wfi'; aware that party spirit would carry men even bejond the bounds of common courtesy ; but he never cc-'i'd have supposed that individuals of rank would have counte- nanced such scoundrels as Carlile, Hone, and Cobhett — wretches who' had nothing to lose, but every thing to gain, and who would willingly play a desperate game to obtain their object. That gentlemen of exalt- ed station in society should aid such adventUTcrs, was downright suicide of character ; and they would do well to recollect, that the same principles, called into ac- ion, which brought the unfortunate Louis to the scaf- fold, would ultimately draw the life-blood of s\ Russell [hear, hear !] They were not now met undc any spe- cious pretence, but to indulge in those feelings of grate- ful remembrance which were due to a man who equ?.l- ly respected the altar, the throne, and the pwple. Re trusted they would all imitate his worth — his talents they could not hope to attain^but in de/eftce of the'r country, their King, and their God, he v/as sure they would follow his example to the latest period of their lives — [cheering."} Well done. Parson Radford ! You are a fair speci- men ; a sample ; a thing for us to judge by. Now you know very well, that I dissent openly from the notions, about religion, of Mr. Caelilb. Vou do no* know any thing at ail of my publications ; or, you kiiow, that 1 hare, in print, express«d, in a Letter to Mr. Cahlilg, 398 TO THE CLERGY OF TH« my dissent from his opinions, not only as to religion but also as to republican government. Y u know thi* very well. You know also, that I have written TTiir- tecn Sermons, more of which, perliapb, have been sold than of all the seniions that the Church Parsons, evei published since the " Reformation." You know, that these sermons are all founded on passages in thfe Bible. Tliis you know ; and what (if the above report be true) — what a liar, what a malignant wretch, what a scoundrel you must be. Parson Radford ! To be sure, I as well as Mr. Cahlile, laid on upon the Right Re- verend Father in God, Percy Jocelyn, Doctor of Di- vinity, and his Soldier. But, it is not less true, that Mr. Cahlile and 1 do not agree as to matters of reli- gion and as to forms of government. I do not person- ally know him ; but I have always heard, that he is a very honest and sober and industrious and virtuous man ; and I know well, that he and his family and ser- vants have been most cruelly treated, ^nd that I most cordially detest his and their persecutors of every de- scription. And I further declare, that, if I ever have the power, I will do my best towards obtaining for him and his family and servants ample justice. But still there is no apology for you. Parson Radford. You k uew that you were inculcating a lie ; that you were sending a lie about the world. You, without any pro- vocation, called me wretch and scoundrel. I will pu- nish you for it, Pajson, in the only way in which I, at present, can get at you. And you were one of those, were you, Parson Rad- ford, who called upon the people to give money to be sent up to the Wine and Brandy Merchant, for nim to ay out in teaching us the principles of the established church. Faith ! this was unnecessary. Parson. We know tne principles pretty well. You and Parson Morritt* let us see what they are. Joshua may hold his peace. What do you mean. Parson, by " defend- . ing God 1" The God that men in gene' al worship is • Parson Morritt is a Church of England priest at Skibbereen in Ireland, who had a regular battle for Tithes, in which thi miutary were employed, and the people vere fired upon. RBCRCH OP ENOLANO. 290 40t supposed to want defenders. The Goi that you talk of must be a poor thing ; he never can be the Almighty. The ail-powerful can stand in need of djd defenders, and especially such poor muckworms as are seen at Pitt-Clubs. You are guilty of base blasphemy Parson. Yours is real blasphemy ; and the writing o Mr. Carlile is not. So that you are (if the repoit a your speech be true) a base, blaspheming blackguard. You are a degree worse than Smythies, the butcher's son. " An evil spirit lurking about : designing men.''' Poor fool ! How comes there to be such a spirit af «r all your " teachings," all your " victories," and all jrour " glories 7" Poor sot ! a " spirit lurking about" mdeed ! This is like your kidney : at once malignant and nonsensical. ' And, then, there was the wise Pre- sident, and the " gallant" Vice-President. They know, I dare say, what they toast and bawl for. But only think of their bragging of the " glorious attitude" which the country " still preserves." This is pretty well, at a moment when the country is really prostrate at the feet of France. Singular enough, too, that the " GALLANT Vice-President" should have already figured as a cut-throat! There was, I think, quite proof enough of this fellow's being insane, when he was seen, at this Club, a cat's-paw to Parson Radford. However, you are tackled, Parson. The debt is your tackier. This debt is with us ; and you go the way of all flesh. Something about reducing the inte- rest of the debt ; or about altering the value of money ; something about one or the other must take place. I do not care which ; and I am in no hurry about either, r am quite ready for either, when it comes, but I dj not think, that it would be an advantage to us to hai^e it too soon. I think it would be best, that all the old, stupid, stinking Joi/rBRHEADs, should be ousted by the Jr.^is, first ; and that the Radicals should then come and deal with Mosey ! Squeeze him like a sponge ■nd settle matters according to "principles of justice. The little Jolterheads and fire-pans, who have, for yjari ind years, been place hunting for their sons and iro' 300 TO THE CLERGY OP THE thers and other relations, are now sadly put to it. Thej see the spring cut off. There is nothing to give away The THING begins to be so tame, and so barehoned- that its former adorers view it with affright. 1 should like to know, whether Joshua, our great teacher, have any snug corner in the concerns of the thing. So much zeal and piety must merit some reward. His BROTHER, indeed, has three or four livings in that Church, the true principles of which Joshda is to teach us. This brother has the livings of Digswell, Hack- ney, and HoMBRTON, and he is Archdeacon of St. Albans. Well said, brother J. James Watson ! Joshua must be wanted to help co teach some, at any rate, of J. James's people ; but, if J. James had but one living, and there were three other parsons for the others, Joshua's services would not be necessary. Aye, but then, brother J. Jambs, the " Venerable J. James, Doc- tor of Divinity," would not get the tithes and so forth of the four benefices ! — Poh ! It is nonsense. Parsons, to say any more about it. You know how it is, and we know how it is. Parson Mokritt has given us the true practical illustration of the thing ; his tithes be- come " due," as it is called, and he, wilhout any dis- guise,' sends armed men to the spot to enforce the col- lecting of the money. The people resist; the armed men shoot ; some are 'killed and some wounded on both sides ; the battle is bloody ; but, at last, the par- son gets his tithes ; and " the Church, as by law estab- lished," triumphs ! In conclusion. Parsons, I have tv^o things to men- tion : First, that I should like to be informed, whether Joshua have any of the public money himself, aud whether he have any sons, or any other relations, be- sides his brother, the venerable J. James, whose zeal has led them to serve their country. I wish for inform- ation on this, subject. Perhaps some correspondent ean give it me. I also wish to know, whether oui teacher, Joshua, still sells wine and spirits, and whe- ther this traffic, if carried on at all, be still carried on in Mincing-lane. Second, I have to mention, that I shall, about December next, send Joshua, in Mamd- CHUKCH OF ENGLA.^n. 301 •CRiPT, a r.eligiouis trad, written by me, f<-r the use ol the National Schools, and that, if our teacher, Joshua, da not cause it to be published, I will. And, it is, fur- ther, my intention to supply Joshua with one a month-, during the next winter and spring. In every case, H Joshua do not publish, / will. And, then, we shall see, what Joshua is made of; and, jf he refuse to publish, we shall see, tt>Ao will distribute the greatest number of tracts, Joshua or I. I must defer, till another opportunity, my remarks on the Burial Bill, and on the grant for the building of new Chui;ph of England Churches : and, Parsons, " so," as the King says, "J bid you very heartily farewell," for the present, with a promise to return to you with all coaveoient speed. WILLIAM COBBETT. TO THE EARL OF RODEN, ON Hia BAPrY OONVEHSION THROUGH THE MEANS OF THE BIBLE SOCIETY ' So he was exceedingly sorrowful ; but it pleased God in that society to inform his mind with the right principles. He re- tired to his closet^ poured forth his wishes to the God ofmcrci. and it pleased tliat God to listen to his prayers, and to leaa him into the way of truth and life." — The Earl of Roden's Speech at a Meeting of the Bible Society.— May, 1824. Bagshot, June 10, 1824. My Lord — The Public have read with great interest tne account of your Lordship's conversion. This con- Tcrsion it is that has induced me to make some remark* on .his Bible Society and its proceedings, and 1 address myself to you for reasons that will be obvious enough before I have done. The ineeting, at which this speech of yours was made, wa< only one of many, held about Ihe same time, in the pious Wen.* There were man; * The writer calls London, on account of its enormoua tat unnatural increase of lute years, The Wen. — Eb. SOS ^.ETTEB TO THB Others, some oi w/hich, if I have room, I shalJ notice ir the course of tn■) he is permitted now to declare the obligations which lie owes to an Anniversary Meet- ing of your Society. The Noble Lord, in concluding, expressed his gratitude to the Society for their eflforts in Ireland, and gave to the resolution his most cordial support." ' The Bishop of Litchfield and Coventry moved the aest Tesolutiott, ' T!iatthe thanks oi the Meeting should ISAHL 01 ROOEN. 30$ oe given to Lord Teignmouth, President oi' the Society, for his unceasing attention to the interests of the insti- tution.' Tlie Noble and Rev. Prelate, in adverting to Colombia, stated, that, in consequence of the progress pf -the Sooiety in that quarter of the globe, that despot- ism, civil and religious, had covered that land, and im- paired her moral energies — had made it the seat of su- perstition — the very fastness of papal power. (Cheers.) But the storm had at length subsided, and -they vsrere now permitted, under the guidance of Him, ' who guid- ed the whirlwind and directed the storm,' to spread through that country the glorious tidings of ' peace on earth, and good will toward men.'" (Cheers.) " A French Peer, whose name we could not ascer- tain, was here introduced to the meeting. He stated that the Bible Society in Paris, felt most grateful to the British and Foreign Society for their beneficent assistance. He assured the Society that the Protestants of France were attached to the cause of Evangelical Religion. — (Applause.") Before I proceed to comment upon this curious mat- ter, I shall make a few general observations with re- spect to the utility of this Society and its exertions ; for though it seems to be taken for granted, that these, exertions must do some good, I question the fact, and I not only douht the good of the acts themselves, but I also question the goodness of the motives. One thing is, I think, very clear; namely, the Par- sons, Bishops, and all the rest of that tribe, whethet they belong to the Church, the Methodists, the Presby- terians, the Baptists, the Seceders, the Independents, the Separatists, the Lutherans, the Calvinists, the So- cinians, the Universalists, the Unitarians, the Muggle- tonians, or the New Sect, which some people call the Humbugonians ; whatever sect, swarm, or nest, people may belong to, it must he contemptibly i^diculous to pay preachers, if the professed objects of this Society be not a wretched humbug. We are told by this Society, that the Bible is every thing ; that they have got several new versions of it; iiat they have converted alreacy by it a large part ol ;t06 LETTER TO THE the South Americans ; that the BIjle is hatd at wort converting the Irish; that, in short, here is a book through which God himself speaks to erery one ; and that you, the worthies of this Bible Society, are going on spreading about this book, and that you will perse- vere in your exertions, " until the whole earth be filled with the Gospel of God." This is either true or it is a humbugging lie ; if the latter, there may still be occasion for giving money to parsons and the like ; but if it be true, itmust be a sort of blasphemy to suffer a parson to talk to you about re- ligion ; for, what is this short of saying to God—" We have your own word here before us ; but that is nor enough for us ; we must have a parson to save us from hell ; we have a greater opinion of the parson's word than we have of yours." Talk of blasphemjr, indeed. Where will you find blasphemy equal to this? Mr. Joseph Gurney, the sleek Secretary of the Norfolk and Norwich Bible Association, who is, I suppose, a sort ot Hickory Quaker, observed, that the ■Scriptures, given as they were by iaspiration, might be read by them- selves, without note or comment. Ah ! sleek Joseph I You were for getting rid of the interpreters. I join you, sleek Joseph, with all my heart ; and if I come to a (Jetermination, which I must, that this is God's own word — I also come to a determination that this ought to be put into the hands of every man, how can I be beast enough to perceive that no parson can be necessary ? Lord Harrowby (for all now join in the great work) seemed to be highly delighted with the success, as he called it, of the Society. His Lordship has a brother, who is a Bishop, with a pretty fat income, and Ishould be glad to hear from that Bishop if every man ought to liave the Bible put into his hands. It is beastly to put it into his hands if you are not well assured that he can anderstand it. It is perfectly beastly to put it into his hanils, unless you are persuaded he can understand it. If he cannot read it and comprehend it, and if he be not convinced of this, what a shocking piece of sham to put the book into his hands ; and if you tie convinced »! tiiis, you are convinced that he has God fc: hi» EARL OF RODEN. Sjl va-her, what Djed has he of a Bishop, thcugh thai Bishop's name may be Rider 1 There was, it seems, a Bishop present and speechifying at this meeting. He is called the Bishop of Litchfield and Coventry, what his name is I do not know; but if I had been present, I would have asked him what w<.« the use of his office, if this Bible Society was working for good. The business of the priest is to teach the people re ligion ; to teach the children especially ; to hold, in fact, a religious school ; to tell the flock what is the will of God ; to keep Gtod's word in their possession, and fo be the interpreters of him to the people. There is common sense in this. There is consistency in it. — Here no one pretends that the people themselves can understand the word of God ; and, therefore, that word is not put into their hand.s. It is perfectly monstrous to say to a inan, take that book, it contains the words of eternal life, they are words which God himself ad- dresses to you, for the purpose of saving your soul ; but mark me, you must give one tenth of all your corn, and milk, a'nd sheep, and pigs, and cows, to a parson, in order that he may teach you religion. — To talk thus to a man, argues insanity, or hypocrisy incomprehensible. I am of opinion that the printing and publishing of the Bible has done a great deal of mischief in the world. No matter how good the contents of the book may be, no matter how true the history of it, no matter how ex- cellent its precepts and examples. — Like most other good things, it is possible for it to be so applied as to produce mischievous effects. And what was the first effect of this printing and publishing? The splitting up of the people, who had before been all of one faith, into numerous sects, each having a faith different from all the rest. However, this really seems to be, by some persons, regarded as a happy circumstance. This patch and piebald work in religion is spoken of by some as affording to the Almighty the pleasing spectacle ol great variety ! But come, let us try this a little. What ! a variety of religious creeds pleasing to God ! Will any one openly hold that God delights in lies 1 Yet he xaasi SOS LBTTER TO THB delight in lies, if he delights in a variety of beliefs. There can be but one true belief, all the rest must be false. Every deviation from the truth is a lie. Each must believe that all the other sects are on the high road to perdition. To think in any other way about the matter, is to consider all faith and all religion as a mere farce. And yet there are men to pretend that a variety of faith is pleasing to the God of truth. There can be but one true religion. All the rest must be false. It is dismal enough, then, to know that there are forty of them, or thereabouts. The printing and publishing of the Bible may possiblv have estab- lished the one true religion ; but, at any ate, it must have created thirty-eight false religions. There can be but one true one, mind. I beg you may not forged that ; so that, this printing and publishing have caused thirty-eight false religions to rise up, at any rate. Whether it caused the one true one to rise up is more than 1 shall attempt to determine. But we may make this observation, that, if the Catholic religion was not the true religion, it seems strange, that it should have existed all over Europe for so many centuries ; it seems strange, too. that those who protest against that reli- gion, should, at the end of more than two centuries of preaching and printing and publishing about it; anc^ after having caused Europe to be deluged in blood ; i is strange, I say, that these Protestants should still I found in so contemptible a minority. Insist, my Lord Roden, that the Bible-Spreading re ligion is the true one ; and then ask yourself how i. happens, that in your own country, where the property of the ancient church has been taken and given to its subverters by law, those subverters split into forty dif- ferent sects, form, at the end of two hundred years, only a seventh part of the nation. What says the word of God, which you are so industrious m circulating 1 " One faith, one church." And again, " I will build my ahurch upon^ rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Look at your own country then, my Lord, and say whether this pron>i.« has not then bien fulfilled. EARL OF RODtiK. SOS The influence of this Society of yours appears to be lunilar in its operation and effects. Its benevolence and its success have reached China. Its translation o^' the scriptures have gone forth to enlighten and convert the natives of Asia. — ^^Lord Harrowby tells us, in the exultation of his piety, to look at the works of the So« ciety in the Pacific Ocean ; to look at the licentiois in- habitants of the islands in that Ocean ; inhabitant: whom the Society have made anxious to receive and profit by the scriptures " of the living and true God, , and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent." — The pious President of the Council, after having again bade you look to your work in the vast empire of China, con- cluded with observing, that the success " was the Lord's doing, and marvellous nde,ed, was that success in his eyes. — The Report of the Society told you, thai" *he Report from South America was peculiarly glratify- Bg, that her fields were already white for the harvest." Now, my Lord, is it not something strange ? You will please to understand me, my Lord ; — I by no means say that these reports and statements are impudent lies. But, with the greatest deference and respect, my Ijord, I ask' you, who are an Irishman, and who ought .0 understand a pretty deal about that country, seeing ■ hat you receive (as your noble father before you) what I call a thundering sum of money every year out of the taxes, the effects of which upon poor Ireland are pretty notorious, I ask you, my Lord, whether it be not some- thing strange that this converting Society of yours j that this Society, which, as the wonderful President of the Council observes, has been so successful in thi Pacific Ocean j in the vast empire of China, that has made the fields of South America already white for tlie harvest; is it not somewhat strange, I say, my Lord, that this Society, when it comes to talk about freland, has no more to say, than that Ireland has not been neglected, and that " Ireland will, one day, or another, (at least Lord Harrowby says so,) not be in- sensible to such exertions." — One day or other ! Not insensible ! What tne devil, then, while you have been makin;? such -conversions in the vast empire ol SIO LKTTBR TO THE China, and among tlie frolicksonie damsels in the Islandi of the Pacific ; while you have made the fields of Sou'h America already white for the harvest, though, as even ihe Bisliop of Litchfield and Coventry says, those fields were "the very fastness of Popery :" again, my Lord, let me ask you, is it not strange that while this Society has been converting half the world, it has not as yet; it may, as Lord Harrowrby says, " one day or other/' not be " insensible to the Society's exertions ;" 1ml what I have to sdy, my Lord, is this ; is it not strange indeed, that this Sdciety, which has been converting sv large a portion of mankind, should never as yet have been able to convert one single irishman ? " You lie, you villain, scoundrel ; jacobin radical rascal !" I think I hear some enraged Orangeman ex- claim, and then ask me, with lips drawn up, head push- ed forward, teeth looking like those of a dog that is just going to bite you, " has not the Society converted my Lord Roden "?" " Aye, you teef, and in Dublin too 1" Gently, good Orangeman, I beg his Lordship's par don.— -I had forgotten the conversion of his Lordship, allow, (because I cannot dispute the word of the noble peer,) whose word of honour, you know, is fully equal, (and upon my soul I sincerely believe it,) to the oath of a taoasand common Orangemen,) the Noble Lord has said it ; and therefore I believe that he was con- verted by the Society. But pray, observe, good Orange- man, (and do not, my friend, foam and grind your teeth at such a rate ;) pray, I say, observe, good Orangeman, that it was not a Jew, a Mahometan, or a Pagan convert- ed to Christianity ; nor was it a Catholic, converted tc » Protestant ; but a sinner, a mere sinner, converted to a saint ! This is a very different thing from the other sorts oi conversion. Observe too, that this most blessed effect was produced by talking to the Noble Lord, and not by ais reading ; for the noble person himself says, that he cared not for heavenly things, " till he heard opinions delivered which penetrated his soul ; that made him perceive that his eternal misery was well nigh accom- plished." The noble person expressly says " that the •EAHL (IF RODEN. 311 good man spoke ot Ihe power of God and of salval on." It is strange that the noble person should never nave eated about heavenly things before, seeing that he had an unCxB who was a Right Reverend Father in God, and who was first Bishop of Ferns, and afterwards Bishop of Clogher. -This, however, aside for the pre- sent ; it was, as I said before, the changing of an Irish sinner into a saint, and not the changing of an Iri^a Roman Catholic into a Protestant. It is of this latter sort of conversion, that Ireland, my Lord Roden, stands so much in needj in order to give ner a chance of tranquillity. How is it then, my Lord, .hat this Society, which, by means of its comparatively puny subscriptions ; that this Society, which has made the fields white for the harvest amongst the Catholics of South America, where, as this Bishop of Litchfield and Coventry tells us, Popery had its fastnesses ; how 13 it, my Lord, that this Society alone, can thus carry on the conversion of the Catholics of South America, and cannot, even with the aid of all the Irish Bishops and Parsons, convert one single Irish Catholic 1 nay, now is it, my Lord, that this same Society, aided by 1 11 those Bishops and Parsons, cannot prevent the pen- iiless popish Priests from ■converting the Protestants to be Catholics ; and that, too, to such an extent as to hreaten to leave eighteen Bishops, and above two housand Parsons, without any congregation at all ? Again, I say, that I mean not to assert, that the above nserted report and speeches contain a parce. of most abominable lies. I do not pretend to assert that, my Lord ; but, I most flatly assert, that if the statement in the above report be true, the non-conversion of the Irish is the most surprising thing that ever was heard of m the world. Another observation I have to make, is, that the cii- sulation of Bibles, like every other measure, ought to Be judged of by its effects. If the effects be good, the measure may be called good; if bad, the measure ought to be called bad. — As to the effects of the measure amongst the Chinese, or amongst the gay lasses ot Otaheite, no argument can be buHt on that, beeiius« il2 LETTER TO THB we iiave no evidence, except that whicl we denre from your missionaries, a sort of evidence only admissible in a court of cant, and to which, therefore, I take leave to object. We must confine ourselves to evidence to be collected in this Itingdom. And what evidence is this 10 be ? The opinion of this man or that man is worth nothing. The observation, or pretended observation, of individuals, is likewise worth nothing, in such a case ; men, however upright they may be, geneially think that ihey see their own opinions verified. Even m resorting for evidence ♦" the state of society, we must take care that our inb^nces be not partial. But let us try your Bible work by experience, and let that experience be proved to us by general and striking facts which nobody can deny. Twenty years, then, is, vou tell us, the age of your society. You tell us thai your measures must produce great and general effect. What, then, has been the effect 1 We have no posi- uve proof that it has produced any effect at all. We cannot produce any proof of its bad effects; but we have proof enough that it has produced tio good effects, leeing that we may date from Pitt's birth a vast in- crease of misery, wickedness, and degradation ; an snormous increase of pauperism and of crimes ; a doub- ling of the size of gaols ; more than a doubling of the persons transported ; and more than a doubling of the persons hanged. Five times the number of persons sent to gaol, and three times the number of persons convicted of crimes ; a fourfold increase of misery in England; and tenfold increase of misery in Ireland. You will say that the circulating ol Bibles is charge- able with none of these ; and this may be so ; but il this circulation of Bibles bo contemporary with this constant increase of evil, it remains for you to show that tlic circulation of Bibles has produced no part of that increase ; while we, on our part, have a right to presume in favour of the aflirmative of the proposition, if the measure had been one of great and extensive utility, its benefits must have been felt in a greater oi less degree. The state of tie people would ha* e bees tetter for it ; but that state has, upon an average o< EA.IL OP RODEM. 8.1S ' fears, been getting worse and worse, till at last one third of thern are allowed to be half naked and hall Marved, while the greater part of the rest'are in a state but very little better. The Bibles had, perhaps, nothing to do with the ijiatter ; but at any rate, men were never shut up in their houses from sunset to sunrise, and never transported without trial by jury, until the birth of this society ; so that if it has not been the cause of, it has come in company with, the greatest calamities and oppressions that the country ever knew. The Bishop of Litchfield and Coventry seemed to have a peculiar delight in the conversions that the So ciety has made, or pretends to have made in Spanish America. He said that he congratulated the Meeting on the prospects now opening to their view in Columbia The Bishop did not tell us precisely what these pros pects were ; but he .said that we were now permitted to " spread through that country the glorious tidings of peace on earth, and good will to men." Peace, sayest thou, Right Rev. Father in God ? Peace ! — Why \vhat hopes have we of selling our cottons, and our guns, pistols, and swords ; what hopes have we ol doing this, except through the means of a bloody civil war ? It is not peace, Mr. Bishop, but really and lite- rally a " sword" that we are sending to the people. Are you for this revolution, are you. Bishop 1 Why were you not for the revolution in France? You rail against the Popish power in South America ; but were you not one of those who applauded the war, waged for the purpose of restoring the House of Bourbon and the Pope, and, of necessity, the Catholic Religion 1 The Bishop talks a good deal about South America having been the seat of superstition ; and yet the Bishop heard you patiently enough give an account of your miracu- lous conversion. But the Bishop talked also of the " despotism, civil and religious," in South America. I do not know who this Bishop is, hut if I cannot get at him to asji him, somebody else may. The Bishop talks of despotism, civil and religious ; he says that we are going to spread through the country the glorious tiding! of deliveran:e. 314 LETTER TO THE Bishop i turn this way a bit, Bishop, and hear a. little of what I ha,ve got to say about this same desrotism before you made the assertion relative lo the despotism, 'vil and religious, of South America, you must, doubt- less, have read something about it. You must have read •oraething about it in some book, and you know, to Le gure, wliere to find that book. Let me ask you, then, wei* the people of South America compelled to pay tithe* to a sect which had been fastened on tJiem by anotne; and more powerful country ? were they compelled to live under the dommation of a priesthood, who had taken their own churches and church endowments from them, and whose religion they abhorred? Were the people of South America shut up in their houses from' sunset to sunrise 1 Was any army kept at their own expense to assist in collecting taxes from them 7 Come, come. Right Reverend Father in God, you talk of the Popish despotism in South America, give us one single instance, if you can, of South America having witness- ed a battle like that of Skibbereen ! Show us, if you 3an, a book in which it is recorded that the South Americans were half naked, and that whole parishes of them received the extreme unction preparatory to ap- . proaching death from starvation ; and that, too, at a time when the public authorities were declaring thai the food was too abundant. It may be observed, that our Protestant Clergymen always keep the worst word that they have to bestow, £0 bestow upon Popery, They mortally hate the Ca- tholic "Priests, men who have no wives, and wh» hoard up no fortunes ; men who never wear buckskin breeches and go a fox-hunting ; men who never sally out at the head of a squadron to collect tithes ; men who do not go rambling all the world over, but who live with their fiocks ; men who do not pocket millions in the amoun «f tithes, and hand the religious education of the people ove: to Joshua Watson, wine and spirit merchant, Mincing-lane, Fenchurch-street, Lsndon ; men who have no cant,' no evangelical t wattle, no sighing, no •obbing, and the devil knows what. Our Parsons knoT« Tery well why they dislike the Catholic Priests. Thei EARL OF PODEN. 315 livow, in short, that, if these Priests had fair play they would carry on conversion indeed. Our Par- ions are cunning enough ; but it does not requir* much cunning to perceive how soon 'hey would be ousted, if the Catholic Priests had but a fair chance against them. Besides this, our parsons remember how their prede- cessors first got possession pf the good things of the Church. They remember old Hal and all his tricks and all his wives. They remember his subornings, menacings, bribings, cuttings, maimings, hangings, and burnings. They remember his sequestrations, and con- fiscations. They cannot but look back to him as the fountain of their possessions and their power. They, therefore, acting upon the Spanish proverb, hate the Catholics for this reason as well as the reason before mentioned, Methodist, Q,uaker, Jumper, Unitarian, Jew, Turk, Deist, or Atheist ; any thing they like better than a Catholic; and Joshua Watson's Society for "pro- moting Christian knowledge," publishes ten tracts igainst the Catholics where they publish one against he Deists and Atheists. Thus, though nobody else at the meeting said any thing about any particular sect, the Father in God could not hold his tongue upon the subject. He must let his ill will peep out, even upon an occasion like this, when there was such a boasting of universal benevolence and philanthropy. But was the Bishop aware that he was giving his sanction to rebellion in South America ? Is he aware of the doctrine whjch he cnoks up for a country nearer home ? He is not aware of this, perhaps ; but to a cer- tainty that doctrine will be cooked up. South America beingat a great distance does not excite so much alarm. To seize upon Church property there, and to apply it to public purposes, appear to pur old Pittites to be righl enough. It is very strange, that they should seem tc have entirely forgotten all their outcry against the Re- publjoans of France for what they call their sacrilege, If it were sacrilege to seize upon Church property in France, why is it not sacrilege to do the like in Souti Anierica? S16 LETTEII TO THE And now let me address myself once more to th< Bishop. Between the years ninety-three and ninety- five, wonderful were the praises which our charcn oe- stowed on the French church, and especiallv the priests; but that which appeared the most wonderful was theJi praising the Pope and the Catholic religion. The Bishop of Rochester, in a charge to his clergy, bade them look upon the French Catholic priests as theli brethren. This was wonderful to me, who had always been told, that the Pope was the beast with seven heads and ten horns : that he was the man of sin ; and that he was the whore of Babylon. I never had troubled my head much about the matter, and I comprehended nothing of this abusive application. But, I gathered from it, that the popish clergy were a set of very wick- ed devils, whom it was clearly my duty to hate, with- out any further inquiry. I was, therefore, not a little surprised when I saw the French Catholic priests re- ceived as brothers by our parsons. Since that, my sur- prise has entirely ceased ; for I have found, that the parties were not brothers in Christ, but brothers in tithes. If the French people confiscated tithes, the English people might do the same. They will do it, ndeed ; but that is not the question at present : if the French people confiscated Church property, it was evi- dent that sort of property here would be brought into imminent danger. Therefore our pulpits rang with re- vilings against the French people ; and, in fact, for what? For having put down those who were under him, whom our parsons called the 'beast, the man ol sm, and the scarlet whore of Babylon, with robes steep- ed in the blood of saints. It was an affair of tithe alto- gether : the French people had put down tithes, but it would not do to cry out against them for that ; there- fore they were represented as sacrilegious wretches, blasphemers, enemies of God, when all the while they were only enemies of tithes. This was the foundation of the friendship of our par- sons for the French Catholic priests. They have no such feelings for the priests in South America ; though the religion of thew priests is iust the same as the reii EARL OF RODEN. 317 pon of the priests of France was. Our parsuus ilo not imagine that we shall talie any example from tJie South American people in pmtiiig down of priests. Our jxir- sons know that that country is far off, and our news- papers, by keoping up a constant lying backward and forward, will alvvays prevent us from knowing what is actually going on. Therefore, they have no feeling in common with those priests. Then the black-coated honies of ours, who always smell danger further than any body else, legin to perceive that the House of Bourbon is growing strong. They know very well that that strength is gieatly favourable to the Irish Ca- tholics. Yes, though yod may think that I am smelling for them, my Lord, they do smell this for themselves. They know that British weakness, relative or positive, is strength to the Irish Catholics, whom they fear more than at any former time. Oar parsons, for those rea- sons, do not like to see an increase of the strength of the House of Bourbon ; and they know well how powerful that House would become, if Spanish Ame- rica were completely tranquillized. Hence, my Lord, the Bishop's joy at " the prospbct now opening in Co- lumbia ;" hence his anxious wishes for the success of the insurgents ; hence his praise of the insurgent go- vernment ! As to the fact, I should not wonder on hear- ing that the government was completely overturned ; but that is no matter. We have got at a solution of this mysterious language of the Bishop, and now we v/ill, for a little, at any rate, take our leave of the Fa- ther in God, who, perhaps, will not be so forward ano- ther time in making speeches against Popery, at the Freemasons' Tavern. It is a pity that the reporter was not able to give us the name of the French Peer who is said to have been present, -and who assured the Society, that the Pro- testants of France were attached to the cause of evan- gelical religion. As you dealt in anecdote, my Lord, I will do the same. After one of the political brawls a; Paris, one of tnose little revolutions of parties that took place, there was a French physician who saved himself ly getting o9' to America in a Philadelphia .ET'i'ER TO THE ship. Upon his arrival, he found that tne Q,uakera were the richest pari of the community, he put on t butlonless coat, and a hat with a brim eight inche* broad, he was not only a " Friend," but a friend occa- sionally moved by the spirit ; and a French lady and I (she pestering him all the while, and I laughinj!;) ac- tually heard him preach in the great meeting-house in Pliiladelphia. He could not speak English ; but had au interpreter ! yes, the spirit had an interpreter ! — Pray, my Lord Roden, was the spirit that you talked about, a spirit of this sort? — But, to make short of my story, John Marselack became the Q,uaker physician. He got a good deal of money, nobody was heard of among the Friends but John Marselack. It was such a triumpJi ! to make a convert of a celebrated French Physician. It was in a small way like your grea^ So- ciety making a field in South America -wliite for the ' harvest ! In about two years, however, John Marse- lack's party having got uppermost again in France, and John having got some pretty good sacks of dollars, ana being heartily tired of the restraint and mummery in which he was compelled to live, prepared to return to France. " Friends" were in despair ; there was such a whining and such a sigliing ! At last the day came, and with a thousand silent squeezes by the hand, and with sweetmeats enough to serve twenty families for a year, off he came in a fine merchant ship, but not with- out six elders to accompany Friend John down to the mouth of the river Delaware. There they took leave of their brother broadbrim. — They went back in the pilot-boat ; and John, before they were half a mile from the ship, went down into the cabin, stripped off his Q,uaker garb, and put on a suit of uniform of the na- tional garb of France, came upon the deck, with a fiddU in his hand, playing the tune of pa ira. Now, my Lord, far be it from me to suppose, that a French Peer would play you a naughty trick like this out to believe that there is such a thing as a French Methodist in the world, I must see him with my ow« eyes, hear him with my own ears, touch him with my own hands, and ha-'e a certificate of his birth, parent EARL OF RODEN. 319 tge, and education. A sister society of yours, tlie " Continental Society," as it calls itself, lament most If elingly, that they can do nothing with the French ■ Frenchmen, I respect you fo-- it. Keep tyranny out ol your country, if you can ; but, with still more care, keep from you all-degrading cant. In conclusion, (and the time for concluding is come,) let me ask Lord Harrow- by, who tells us that the spread of the Bible is the Lord's work, whether the readers of the Bible in China and elsewhere, have ever heard of what passed in the House of Commons in the year 1789 ; whether care has been taken to inform them of what boroughs mean ; whether, in short, the history of the country from which these Bibles go, is made known to those who are told that the book contains the means of their salvation. As to yourself, my Lord, (for I must pass over the Watson, the .Rose, and the Gambler, which I find at the foot of the report ;) as to yourself, my Lord, I had said enough, I thought, already, but happened to see towards the close of your speech, that God had given you your share, my memory sent me back to the Sine-, cure List, where 1 found you to be Auditor-General ol something in Ireland, with the sum of three thousand five hundred and sixty-eight pounds (^about $17,126] a-year ; and I found that you had enjoyed this with your father from the year eighteen hundred. I found also that your father was searcher of the port of Gal- way, with a receipt of six hundred and five pounds a-year. What you have had besides, I am sure I can- not say ; but supposing you to have had only the one office,- you and your father have received from that office alone, eighty-five thousand six hundred and thir- ty-two pounds ; and you yourself now receive, at least, and may receive for forty or fifty years longer (if the present system continue) three thousand five hundred and sixty-eight pound's a-year. What your relations have received and still receive, I have not, at present, the means of pointing out; but, my Lord, you tell us yourself that you once lived in the pursuit of nothing but pleasure. " Whether God have yet given yo« vojr sfiare of griefs," I know not ; but, I know well i20 LETTBlt TO THE EARL OF RODEN. .iiat tnis fliiserable' nation has been compelled to give fou your full share of money. I do know a man, my Lord, who has had much more than his due share oi griefs. . An innocent man, half flayed alive by the scourges of merciless Orangemen: and can I hear you with every luxury upon earth at your command, sup- plied too, by the sweat of the people ; can I hear you complain of griefs, and not think of the sufferings oj tke Wf-muidered Byrne ! I am, my Lord, VoOT laott obedient and most humble servant, WILLIAM GOBBET'S' A LETTER HOLINESS, POPE PIUS VIII (X THE CHARACTER, THE OO^DUCT, AND THE VIEWS, Ot THE CATHOLIC ARISTOCRACY AND LAWYERS OF ENGLA.'XB AND IRELAND. Barn-Elm Farm, IQth Nov. 1828. May IT Please yodr Holiness, 1. I, who am the author of the " History of the Protestant Reformation," having been informed by a Catholic gentleman, of undoubted veracity, that, at an interview, some -time ago, with your Holiness, at the Vatican, you, after some praises bestowed on my work, expressed to him your wonder how it was that the Ca- tholics of this Kingdom did not cause me to be a Member of the Parliament ; and that you hoped, that a conside'-ible part of the rent, collected from the Ca- tholics ii. jeland went, at any rate, to be the reward of my unparalleled services to the Catholics in every part of the world. This information has induced me to make a statement of the true reasons for that which excited the wonder of Yodr Holiness ; and, in order to do this satisfactorily, it will be necessary for me to describe the character, conduct, and views of the Ca- tholic Aristocracy and Lawyers of England and Ire> land ; after which description Your Holiness will cease to wonder upon the subject of the seat in Parliament^ •nd also on the subject of the Catholic Rent.. 8. If your Holiness wondered why the opulent G» 322 LETTER TO 1 UE POPE. tholics did not put me into the Parliament, what wll De your wonder, when you shall hear the following (acts ; namely, that there is held in London an annual (or more frequent) meeting of the noblemen, gentle- men, and other opulent Catholics in general, who call themselves the English Catholic Association : that this Association well knew, for they constantly had them under their eye, my often-repeated and strenuous exertions to cause all my (.Catholic countrymen to be cleared from the obloquy that rested upon them ; that they had, in 1824, witness .-0 these exertions of mine during several years ; tha., iw the last-mentioned year, at one of their meetings held in London, one of the Members of the Association made a motion, or propo- sition, that the Association should tender to me, in token of its gratitude, a copy of the History of England, written by the Rev. Dr. Lingard, a Catholic Priest ; that, upon this proposition being made, one Charles Butler, an English Lawyer, besought the proposer to withdraw the proposition, and added, that he would go upon his knees, if nothing else would induce him to suffer the proposition to be withdrawn ; that, the rea- son assigned by this Lawyer was, that Mr. Cobbett was known to be hostile to, and to be disliked by, many of those Members of the Parliament, who were friendly to what he called the " Catholic cause ;" that the Association did, at last, set aside the proposition : that this transaction, this mark of deep ingratitude, took place before any part of the History of the Protest- ant Reform,ation was written ; that, since that work was written and published, this Association has voted its thanks to numerous persons, upon different occa- sions, and to some persons for books written in defence of the adherents to the ancient faith, but that it never has shown towards me the slightest mark of approba- tion ; and that, as to putting me into Parliament, though several individuals amongst them have the absolute lower of doing it as completely as your Holiness has il;e power of consecrating a Bishop, or ordaining a Priest, ejen in your own Stales, so far from having a disposition to do 'hi» not one single Catholic Nobis- LETTER TO THE POPE. 323 man subscribed a single farthing towards putting me into Parliament, in 1826, when I offered myself for that purpose, with the exception of the Earl of Shhews- BUHY, who, having an income of about fifty thousand pounds sterling a-year, found, in the generosity of liis pious, zealous, and grateful soul, to subscribe the very munificent sum of Jive 'pounds, "while there was one protestant Nobleman Jo subscribe fifty pounds. 3. Lest the Catholics of other countries should sup pose, and lest the Catholics of my own country in par- ticular, should entertain the supposition, that I wrote the History of the Protestant Reformation with a view of obtaining reiDard, of any sort, from the Catholics, i) is necessary that I should state to your Holmess, oi rather, that I should repeat, that this proof of the mon- strous ingratitude of these noble and opulent Catholics, was given me before I put pen to paper in the writing of that now-celebrated book. Not only had I this proot of the ingratitude of this description of persons, but I noticed it in print at the very time that I notified my intention of writing the book. On the 22d October, 1824, the transaction took place as above mentioned, at the Catholic Association : on the 30th of that same month I published some remarks on the proceeding, and concluded those remarks in the following words ad- dressed to this Association. Having in the former part of the article declared my intention of writing a His- tory of the Protestant Reformation, I concluded it thus " I do assure you. Gentlemen, that I have no objection to your, or any body else, presenting a copy of my His- tory to Dr. Lingabd, whose'laborious work will never, until the last page shall have been destroyed by the hand of time, produce a thousandth part of the effect that mine iviU produce in the space of three years." The work has nolbeen published complete, more than thirty-one months; it was sixteen months coming forth, in monthly numbers ; it was conclude 1 on the 31st March, 1826 ; and it has, literally, gone ,.ver the whole world. 4. I beg your Holiness to bear in mind, that I was, therefore, fully apprised of the ingratitude of this bodv ii o) «e la 1° G, 3 3 Eh •ffl= 'o3„ -■g a >;- B d ti rt TDTlJ »-. Lh »-. V< kl o o o o o I aB ° 3 •is o m •3M i !6 LETTER TO THE POPE. 335 10. Tnis county of Dorset is a maritime county, and sne of the finest and most fertile in England, abound- ing m food of all sorts, in flocks and herds innumerable and in sheep which yield lambs the finest in the world, but which are all drawn away to feed those who live - upon the taxes. I beseech Your Holiness to look a this scale for feeding the labourers' of England ; and this scale, you will be pleased to observe, is much about the same, or rather better, than the scale of other counties. The mauj the liard labouring man, he who toils from raorn to night, is, according to this scale, to receive thirty ounces of bread in a day; an. English ounce being the same as a French ounce in weight. The man may have the thirty ounces in money if he choose; but the best way of stating his case, is, tc state the amount of victuals in the first place. Next, he is to have volhing for fuel, for clothing, for mend- ing his-clothes or for washing his clothes, except he deduct it from the thirty ounces of bread, out of which he is to deduf \, too, the expense of drink, or he is to drink water ; and this, too. Your Holiness will be pleased to observe, not in a climate like that of Italy 5 but in ti climate where the rain falls on an average, more or less every day, during one half of the days of the year ; where the labourer has to walk and to work in the wet ; and where there are three months of severe weather, and three months more of weather, such as require fuel in use evety day, and where the people must be nearly perished, if left destitute of fuel. The weight of the standard quartern loaf, is sixty-nine Eng- lish ounces. In this table " d" signifies pence, and "s" shillings, and there are twelve-pence in a shilling. Furnished with these facts, foreigners, of whatever country, riay judge of the state of degradation and misery, into which the people of England are fallen. 17. The next fact, or rather two facts, I draw from a report that was laid before the House of Commons, m the year 1821, and ordered to be printed by that house. This report came from a committee of that house itself, and had subjoined to it, the evidence 01 certain gentlemen and farmers who had been called 336 LETTER ro THE POPE. Before the committee. One of the farmerSj who etata .'lom the county of Sussux, said, that, " forty years agw, every labouring man in the parish wliere he lived, brewed his own beer at his own liouse ; and liiat now, not a single labourer of the parish did the same thing." The cause of this is, that the tax upon the malt and the hops has been more than doubled, and that poverty has deprived the labourers of their utensils for brew- ing; and YoDR Holiness should be informed, that beel is the general drink in England, and if the labourer cannot get that, he has nothin'j else except virater. Be- fore the same committee appeared a gentleman from Somersetshire, whose evidence stated, that the labourers in that rich and fine county, which .produces fat oxen m such numbers, lived almost exclusively upon pota- toes ; and, having been asked, what they carried out mto the fields to eat during the day, he answered, ihat they took cold potatoes, and eat them in the field. 18. I have mentioned in the History of the Protest- ant Reformation, several instances of the misery of the people, and I could now produce many of actual death by starvation ; many others of such degradation, as it is impossible to describe in a manner to. do iustice to the horrid subject, but, I shall content myself at present, as far as relates to the misery of the people, with men- tioning a fact that must carry conviction to the mind of every foreigner. The Parliament has haret the Bible, rendered in the vulgar tongue, ac- cording to his own way of thinking. 29. This man, too, is not only a member of the Cs- iolic Association in London, but is one of " the Com- miltee" of that Association ; one of i s organs in those oegotiations with Your Holiness, which, it is said, are, at this time, on foot, and which are intended to ervd in that sort of compi unise, which would, in fact, WrrER TO THB POPE. 345 be it sacrifice of the unity and purity of the Catholic Church in England, Scotland, and Ireland, for the pur- pose of opening the way for these men to obtain powei and profit. Doctor Doyle, who appears to be the pre- late of the project, has promulgated a scheme for UNI TING the two Churches of England and of Rome .' L »he Doctor had proposed to unite darkness with light, the proposition would have been just as reasonable. He meant, doubtless, to divide the tithes and other re- venues of the Chuich, betweein the clergy of this united body ; but we, both Protestants and Catholics, regard such union, as the English farmer would regard an union between the rats and the cats, shut up together in his pantry, or his lofts of cheese; or, as the Italian farmer would regard an union between the wolves and the sheep-dogs, from which he would certainly antici- pate additional worrying, and slaughter committed upon his flock. This same Doctor has contended, that the tithes and other revenues, now enjoyed by the Protest- ant Church, are enjoyed by it, not only in fact and by law, but by divine right ; and that it is sinful in Ca- tholics to endeavour to relieve themselves from the burthen. And, to crown the whole, he has recently contended, that Yodb Holiness his no right to inter- fere in the appointment of Catholic Bishops, in any part of this kingdom ; he has complained that the exercise of this right is still claimed b;f the Holy See : and has distinctly proposed that a law should hi passed to abrogate this right. 30. These are the schemes that are said to be at pre- sent in agitation ; and, though the Protaitants care little about them, they are subjects of great and just alarm with all the true Catholic*, who, to a man, most fer- vently pray, that no change whatever may take place with regard to their religion. If any such change were 10 take place, the Catholic religion would be extirpated