/ ( 7 ( /. / V - t \ ■ I ■ '. ■ ! x Columbia SlniDers^ftp inttjcCitpofHrmgork THE LIBRARIES In memory of George W.Dow Presented by the family ''sS^^' Mm '^; ,)«"'* ■'m '^■y r v.- '•m. :*-'-V^. r' m Kr?- ' b ■^ 3,yC,i<^ U ^JJI /?-t . Z) THE PURITANS AND QUEEN ELIZABETH, THE PURITANS: THE CHURCH, COURT, AND PARLIAMENT OF ENGLAND, DUUING THE REIGNS OK EDAVARD VI. AND QUEEN ELIZAI3ETH. S A 3^1 U E L HOPKINS - The Liberties of our House it behooveth us to leave- to our Posterities iu the same freedom we have received them." Commillee of tlie Puritan Cuininoiis to the Lords, 1575-6. IN THEEE VOLUMES. VOL. I. BOSTON: GOULD AND LINCOLN, 59 WASHINGTON STREET. NEAV YOKK: SHELDON AND COMPANY. CINCINNATI : GEORGE S. BLANCHARD. 18 5 9. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by SAMUEL HOPKINS, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. IN McMORY OF PRESENTED BV University Press, Cambridge : Klectrotyped and Printed by Welch, Bigelow, and Company. PREFATORY NOTE. To facilitate inquiries which may he raised respecting any statements in the following volumes, I specify the par- ticular editions of the most important works to which I have referred as my authorities. The few who have ventured upon this wilderness of docu- ments will appreciate the difficulties of my task, and will make due allowance for incidental errors into which I may have fallen. S. H. NoRTHAJiPTOx (]\Iass.), 1859. Blackstone's Commentaries. Wendell's edition. New York, 1854. Birch, Memoirs of the Reign of Elizabeth. 2 vols. 4to. London, 1754. Brook, Lives of the Puritans. 3 vols. 8vo. London, 1813. Butler, Memoirs of English Catholics. 4 vols. 8vo. London, 1822. Camden, " Keign of Elizabeth." Folio. London, 1675. Cabala, The. Folio. London, 1G91. Carte, History of England. 4 vols. Folio. London, 1747, 1750, 1752, 1755. Challoner, Memoirs of ISIissionary Priests. 8vo. j\Linchester (Eng.), 1803. VI PREFATORY NOTE. Coke, Sir Edward. Reports. Savoy edition, I'.'JS. Collier, Church History. 9 vols. 8vo. London, 1840. Coverdale, Memorials of. Bagster's edition. London, 1838. D'Aubigne, History of the Reformation. 5 vols. 12mo. New York, 1853. D'Ewcs, Journals of Parliament. Folio. London, 1682. Digges, Complete Ambassador. Folio. London, 1655. D'Israeli, Curiosities of Literature. Philadelphia, 1838. Echard, History of England. Folio. London, 1707. Ellis, Collection of Letters. London, 1824 - 1827. Forbes, State Papers. London, 1740. Fox, Acts and Monuments. 3 vols. Folio. London, 1641. Fragmenta Regalia. By Sir Robert Naunton, in the " PhcEnix." Fuller, Worthies. 3 vols. 8vo. London, 1840. " Church History. Folio. London, 1655. " Abel Redivivus. London, 1652. " Holy State. Folio. Cambridge (Eng.), 1642. Hallam, Constitutional History of England. New York, 1851. Hanbury, Memorials. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1839. Hardwicke, State Papers. 3 vols. 4to. London, 1778. Hargrave, State Trials. 9 vols. Folio. London, 1776-1778. Harleian IVIiscellanies. 9 vols. 4to. London, 1774. Harrington, Nugoe Antiquse. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1804. Hatton, Sir Christopher, Life and Times of By Sir Harris Nicholas. 8vo. London, 1847. Haynes, State Papers. Folio. London. 1740. Hay ward, Sir John, Annals of Elizabeth. Camden Society's edition. London, 1840. Heyhn, History of the Reformation. Folio. " History of the Presbyterians. Folio. London, 1672. Holingshed, Chronicles. 4 vols. 4to. London, 1808. Howell, State Trials. 21 vols. 8vo. London, 1816. PEEFATORY NOTE. vii Hume, History ofEngland. 4 vols. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1821. Lingard, History of England. 13 vols. 12mo. Boston, 1855. Lloyd, State Worthies. 12mo. London, 1670. Lodge, Illustrations of British History. 3 vols. 4to. London, 1791. Mackay Charles, " Memoirs of Popular Delusions." London, 1852. McCrie, Life of Knox. Philadelphia, edition of the Presbyterian Board of Publication. No date. Melvill, Sir James, Memoirs. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1735. Mosheim, Ecclesiastical History. 6 vols. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1798. Murdin, State Papers. Folio. London, 1759. Neal, History of the Puritans. 2 vols. 8vo. New York, 1844. Osborne, Traditional Memorials of the Reigns of Elizabeth and James. Edinburgh, 1811. Paule, Sir George, Life of Whitgift. 4to. London, 1613. Peck, Desiderata Curiosa. London, 1732. Persons, The Jesuit's Memorial. Edited by Edward Gee. Pierce, Vindication. 12mo. London, 1718. Rapin, History ofEngland. Sidney, State Papers. (CoUins's Collection.) Folio. London, 1746. Sparrow's Collections. London, 1684. Statutes of the Realm. Tomlin's edition. London, 1819. Stow, Annals. Howe's Continuation. Folio. London, 1631. " Survey of London. 4to. 1618. Strype, Annals. 7 vols. 8vo. Oxford, 1824. " Memorials. 6 vols. 8vo. Oxford, 1822. '* Life of Craumer. Folio. London, 1695. " Life of Parker. Folio. London, 1 740. " Life ofGrindal. Folio. London, 1710. " Life of Aylmer. 12mo. London, 1701. " Life of Whitgift. Folio. London, 1718. " Life of Sir Thomas Smith. 12mo. London, 1698. VOL. I. 6 VIU PKEFATORY NOTE. yj Taylor, William Cook, " Romantic Biography of the Age of Elizabeth." Philadelphia, 1842. The PhoenLx. 2 vols. 12mo. London, 1707, 1708. The Troubles at Frankfort. 8vo. London, 1846. Warner, Ecclesiastical History. 2 vols. Folio. London, 1759. Wotton's KeliquisB. London, 1685. Wood, Athenaj Oxoniensis. 4 vols. 4to. London, 1815. Wright, Queen Elizabeth and her Times. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1838. Zurich Letters. By the Parker Society. Second Edition, in distinction from Second Series. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. EDWAED THE SIXTH. (A. D. 1549.) The Young King. — The Loud Pkotector. — The Insurkections. — The New Pkeaciiek 1 CHAPTER II. THE REFORMATION. (A. D. 1350-1550.) Its Origin. — The Statute of Praemunire. — The Separation of the English Church. — The Supremacy. — " The Six Articles." — The Accession of Edward VI. — Church Reform. — Innovation disliked. 14 CHAPTER III. THE FIRST PURITAN. (A. D. 1550, 1551.) Hooper appointed Bishop. — Objects to the Mode of Consecration. — Summoned before the Council. — Objects to the Oath of Suprem- acy. — His Objection allowed. — Objects to the Episcopal Gar- ments. — Archbishop Cranmee. — The Question of the Garments discussed. — Hooper's Objection disallowed by- the Bishops. — The Controversy is extended. — Hooper restrained from Preaching. — Is confined to his House. — Is committed to Cranmer's Custody. — Is sent to Prison. — Plots against his Life. — The Difference com- promised. — Hooper consecrated. — Hooper in his Bishopric, and IN HIS Family 28 CHAPTER IV. THE MARIAN EXILES. (A. D. 1554.) The Hanse Towns. — Exiles arrive at Frankfort. — Their kind Re- ception. — Character and Death of Edward VT. — Further Reform X CONTENTS. DURING HIS Reign. — Valeran Polan and Whittingham. — Escape of THE Party from England. — Valeran offers his Services. — A Place of Worship secured to the Strangers. — The Lutherans ab- hor the English. — Calvinists welcome them. — Contributions for THE Exiles. — They write to their Fellow-Exiles. — John Knox. — Lowering Clouds. — Deputation from Strasburg. — Grindal and Knox discuss King Edward's Book. 56 CHAPTER V. THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. (A. D. 1554, 1555.) Calvin on the English Book. — Advises mutual Yielding. — Strifes. — Agreement. — Dr. Cox arrives. — Disturbs the Worship. — The Pulpit usurped, and the Congregation taunted. — Knox rebukes THE Proceeding, and justifies himself. — Cox and his Party ad- mitted TO A'OTE. — They adopt the English Book. — The Magis- trates enforce the French Order. — Knox charged "with Treason. — He is advised to leave. — His Departure. — The English Lit- urgy BROUGHT IN BY ARTIFICE. — TllE ORIGINAL CONGREGATION DIS- PERSE TO OTHER Cities. CHAPTER VI. THE ACCESSION, AND FIRST PARLIAMENT, OF ELIZABETH. (A.D. 1558, 1559.) The Death of Mary. — Elizabeth proclaimed. — Her Address to the Council. — Her first Cabinet. — Her Person. — Her public Courte- sies. — The Funeral Sermon. — Indications of a Change of Relig- ion. — Parliament assemble. — The Lord Keeper's Speech. — Speak- er OF THE Commons elected; "disabled"; "allowed." — Position of THE Crown. — The Commons petition the Queen to jiarry. — Her Answer. — The Act of Supremacy. — The Act of Uniformity. . 110 CHAPTER VII. THE REFORMATION RESTORED. (A.D. 1559. The Supremacy. — Protestant Worship revived. — Commissioners em- I'owERED. — Bishops deposed. — Old Theatricals. — Bartholomew's Fair. — The Purging of the Churches. — The Night Festival. — The Courtier in his Chamber 148 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER VIII. THE ESTABLISHMENT. (A. D. 1559.) Paul's Cross. — Father Coverdale. — David Whitehead. — Sunday Traffic. — The Changes in the Liturgy. — Sir Francis Knollys. — Robert, Lord Dudley. — The Queen's Tenderness for Papacy. — Her Reasons for it. — Her Dislike of the Frankfort Exiles, how excited. — " Semper Eadem." — The Dislike of the Vestments, and of the Supremacy. — The Position of Knollys and Dudley. — The New Hierarchy. — The " Old Priests." — Scarcity of Clergy. . . 168 CHAPTER IX. THE KNOUT. (A. D. 1563-1566.) The Ornaments of Religion disliked. — The Plague in London. — Grindal, Bishop of London, offers a Bishopric to Coverdale. Pro- cures FOR him the Living of St. ILvgnus. — Non-conformity. — The Queen orders it to be corrected. — The Book of Advertisements. — Dissenters called Puritans. — The Book of Advertisements con- firmed. — Uniformity pressed. — John Fox. — Clergy suspended. . 205 CHAPTER X. THE EARL OF LEICESTER. (A. D. 1566.) Leicester's Position at Court. — His Wife murdered. — His " Relig- ious Style or Phrase" shown in his Interview with Dr. Chader- ton. — Whitehead ant) the Bishop of Durham intercede with him FOR Toleration, and against Compulsion. — Separate Worship in Prospect. — Leicester and Lady Sheffield 242 CHAPTER XI. THE PARLL^MENT OF 1566. The Queen at GREEN^\^CH. — Birth of James of Scotland. — How re- garded in England. — The Settlement of the Succession proposed BY the House of Commons in 1562-3. — The Lords of Council now URGE IT UPON THE QuEEN. — HeR AnSWER. — TlIE SuBJECT AGITATED IN the House of Commons, who resolve to press it upon the Queen. — Her Indignation. — A Cojimittee of the House of Lords address her. — She angrily resents their Interference. — The Lord Keep- er addresses her in Behalf of both Houses. — She sends Answer Xii CONTENTS. to the commoxs, that the time wili, not suffer to treat of the Succession. — The Commons resume the Subject. — The Queen for- bids THE Discussion. — The Commons resent the Inhibition, and "twit the Authority of the Queen." — A Second Inhibition. — The Commons persist. — The Queen retracts. — At the Close of the Parli.vjient, she rebukes and threatens. — Parliament dissolved. 274 CHAPTER XII. THE FIRST SEPARATION. (A. D. 1566, 1567.) The Question of Separate Worship opened. — Restr^vint upon the Press. — Separation discussed. — Resolved upon. — Conventicles. — The Queen incensed. — The Congregation in the ILvll of the Plumbers arrested. — The Examination. — Religious Liberty cLAiJiED. — Prisoners sent to Bridewell. — The Church Estab- LISHaiENT shaped TO WIN THE CATHOLICS. — OBJECTIONS TO SUCH A Pl.\tform. — Expulsion of Non-conformists from the Offices of THE Church justiflusle — eccleslvstic^vlly. — Punishment for Preaching justifiable — legally. — Folly of Eccleslvstical Pre- cisLVNisji and Compulsion. — The Right to jiake Laws involves the Eight to punish. — The Dogma of " Church and State." . . . 302 CHAPTER XIII. THE PAPALINS. (A. D. 1560-1570.) The Pope grants Dispensations to preach Heresy. — Papist Priests TURN Puritan Preachers. — The Papal Council advise the Assign- ment OF the English Crown, a Premium for the Assassination of Elizabeth, and a more extensive License for Hypocrisy and Per- jury. — Bull AGAINST Heretics generally. — A new Irruption of disguised Priests. — One of them executed. — The Catholics begin to secede. — The Holy League for the Extermination of Protes- tants. — Seminaries for Missionary Priests. — A Domiciliary Visit to John Stow, the Annalist. — Funeral of Coverd^vle. — Funer.\l OF Bonner. — Mary, Queen of Scots, imprisoned in England. — The Northern Insurrection. — The Papal Bull of Excommunication against Eliz^vbeth 335 CHAPTER XIV. THE PARLLA.MENT OF 1571. Religious Affairs. — Her Majesty's Progress to the Parllvment- HousE. — Parliament opened. — The Commons forbidden to origi- nate Matters op State. — Strickland introduces a Bill for CONTENTS. Xiii Eeformation in the CnuKCH. — Debate upon it. — Eesolve to peti- tion Her Majesty for Leave to proceed therein. — Strickland detained from the house. — his detention resented by the com- MONS AS A Breach of Privilege. — Spirited Debate. — The Eights OF THE Crown questioned. — Debate suspended. — Strickland re- appears. — A Protest against Monopolies. — The Protester and the Commons scared. — They recover from their Fright. — Pe- ter Wentworth — FOR the Dignity of the House an-d Liberty of Speech. — Bill to require Protestant Communion. — Debated. — Retrospective Law. — Wentworth's Protest against Pope-Bishops. — Bills for IJeformation lost. — An Act for the Safety of the Queen's Majesty. — An Act against Papal Bulls and other Super- stitious Things from Eome. — An Act to reform Disorders touch- ing Ministers. — The Commons petition for Eedress of Abuses in THE Church. — The Commons rebuked, and the Pabllvment dis- solved 367 CHAPTER XV. THE PRESBYTERIANS AND THE PARLIAilENT OF 1572. A Puritan Petition to the Convocation of 1571 rejected. — New Canons for enforcing Uniforsiity. — The Statute 13 Eliz. Cap. XH. strained to enforce Subscription. — Order from the Queen to en- force exact Uniformity. — Ejected JIinisters preach. — Thomas Cartwbight oppugns the Constitution of the Anglican Church. — Driven from Cambridge. — Field and Wilcox resolve to petition Parliament. — Parliament assemble, May 8th. — Foreign Plot for Invasion and Revolution. — Alarm of the Nation. — "The Great Cause" op the Queen of Scots. — Elizabeth objects to Proceed- ings against her in the Degree of Treason. — Both Houses dissent FROM THE Queen. — The Eeasons for the Proceedings of Parlia- ment against Mary. — Elizabeth desires another Bill. — The Par- liament suddenly adjourned by the Queen. — Bills in the Commons "for Rites and Ceremonies." — The Queen demands them. — Her Majesty herself the Defender of the Faith 404 CHAPTER XVI. THE ADMONITION TO PARLIAMENT. (A. D. 1572.) The First Presbytery. — A Puritan Reply to a Bishop's Defence of the Church. — Field and Wilcox imprisoned. — Their Conference with the Archbishop's Chaplain. — Whitgift's Answer to the Ad- monition. — Cartwright publishes a Second Admonition, and a Reply TO Whitgift's Answer. — Their Controa'ersy. — The Queen's Proclamation against the Admonition, and Cartwright's Reply. — The Alarm of the Precislvn Prelates. — Subscription enforced XIV CONTENTS. THROUGHOUT THE KINGDOM. — ThE MASSACEE ON St. BARTHOLOMEW'S Day in Paris. — Rejoicings at Rome. — Effect of the Massacre in England. — The Condition of Religion 437 CHAPTER XVII. "PRETTY BRISK." — ARCHBISHOP PARKEB. (A. D. 1573.) Reasons foe disciplining Puritans, and Reasonings against them. — The Archbishop's Perplexities. — Persecution foe Opinions opened. — The new " Fantasies " speead. — Peoclamation foe enforcing the Act of Uniformity. — New Ecclesiastical Commission. — The Council rebuke the Bishops for Slackness. — Charge to the Com- missioners. — Lord Burleigh's Position. — Tests imposed by the Commissioners. — Ministers silenced and imprisoned. — " The Phy- SICLVNS themselves SICK." 467 CHAPTEE XVIII. THINiaNG. (A. D. 1573, 1574.) Edward Deeeing, a Conforming Pueitan, punished for his Opinions. — Bishop Sandy's intercedes for his Restoration. — He is restored, AND again silenced. — He IS PUT UNDER INQUISITION FOR WOEDS AND Thoughts. — His Letter to Burleigh against the Lordship of Bish- ops. — Differences between Bishops of the Primitive Church and those of the Anglican. — Mr. Deering's Answer to Charges for Words spoken. — His Reply to Intereogatoeies frobi the Bishops ; AND to Twenty Articles propounded by the Lords. — Their Anti- despotic Opinions, the true Offence of the Puritans. . . . 500 CHAPTER XIX. THE CLOSE OF THE FIRST PRIMACY. (A.D. 1574,1575.) A Sick Prisoner. — His Crimes against Precisianism. — His Examina- tion. — A Nice Point canvassed. — Railing vs. Scripture. — The Sick j\LVN REMANDED TO PeISON. — DiES, FROM WaNT AND CONFINEMENT. — The Primate's Severities excite Disgust. — His Vindication of him- self. — His Death. 526 THE PURITANS. CHAPTEE I. EDWAED THE SIXTH. The Young King. — The Lord Protector. — The Insurrections. — The New Preacher. 1549. Upon the manor of Hampton Court, about fifteen miles from London, the Lord Cardinal Wolsey, when in his prime of pride and power, erected a mag- nificent palace, designing it for his retreat from the cares of state. But in 1526, to .forestall de- traction and disarm envy, he presented it to his royal master, Henry VIII.^ Beyond the artistic grounds which immediately surrounded the man- sion lay an extensive park, pleasantly diversified with hill and valley, glade and forest, and reveal- ing, at many points, the bright surface of the Thames, which just there makes a large and grace- ful curve southward. On one of the last days of August, 1549, while yet the fog lay upon the river below, and the turf was brilliant with dew, a party of mounted gentlemen issued from the wood upon a rising ground which commanded some of the best points ^ Stew's Annals, 525. vol.. I. 1 2 EDWARD THE SIXTH. [Ch. I. of this rural landscape. They were evidently of knightly rank, for there were golden sj)urs there; while embroidered housings, rich mantles, and ghtter- ing jewels bespoke them of the royal household. The most conspicuous were two persons in whose rear the others rode, as if in respectful attendance, and with whose conversation we introduce our narrative. The one was a man in middle life, muscular, erect, and well-proportioned ; his complexion bronzed by exposure ; his features somewhat stern in repose, but lively and pleasing when roused by conver- sation ; whose whole port, as well as the ease with which he controlled his steed, would have led even a careless observer to suppose him not only a gal- lant courtier, but a war-worn soldier. The other was a youth of less than twelve years ; his body and limbs, though slender, remarkable for their symmetry, and indicating agility rather than strength; his countenance beaming with intelli- gence ; his eyes lustrous, lively, and commanding, though not imperious in their expression ; and his whole face denoting a spirit too ardent, too aspir- ing, too full of restless loving-kindness for the body in which it dwelt.^ Upon his spirited jennet — a creature of the Andalusian breed — his person was displayed to great advantage ; and the morning air and brisk exercise had given a glow to his usually pallid cheek, which perfected his youthful beauty. Pointing, as they emerged from the cover of the wood, to the noble palace but a short distance below, he uttered an exclamation of gladness, and » Rapin, II. 26, noto. Carte, III. 279, 280. Cii. I.] EDWARD THE SIXTH. 3 added : " Marry ! my lord Duke, this hath been a dashing ride, and hath whetted our appetite to a marvel. An we find not stout trencher-fare await- ing us, we'll e'en remember it agamst you when we quit our leading-strings." " Prithee, my gracious liege ! " rephed the other, raising his plumed cap, "hold me not answerable for trencher-furnishings." " For everythuig within our realms ; from a bish- op's mitre to the peeHng of an onion." " I cry you mercy ! " exclaimed the cavalier ; " your Hisrhness would not have me a scuUion ! " "So much for being Lord Protector," gayly re- sjDonded the youth. "The burden with the honor, micle mine. An you rouse our stomach in such a fashion of a morning, why not answer for our feed- ing ? In some places our private journal shall read, 'My Lord Somerset hath credit for such a thing'; that will be when he behaveth well. And anon, perchance, 'My Lord Somerset my debtor for such a thing ' ; that will be when he doth not something he ought, or doth something naughty. Then," — and with a look half serious, half boyish, he pointed his gloved finger at the Duke, — "when we can count eighteen years of life, we shall know how weigheth my lord in the balance. The Lord Pro- tector should take heed to his ways." Playfully as this was spoken, the fresh color ex- cited by the morning's ride faded upon Somerset's cheek, and his eye for an instant fell; a change which the young King Edward noticed, but instantly forgot, imtil not many weeks afterwards it recurred to his mind and was understood. 4 EDWARD THE SIXTH. [Cii. I. The Laboring classes in the kingdom had lately been driven to great straits by the selfish measures of the nobleS;, and had risen in arms demanding redress; in some sections instigated, and inflamed to the greatest insolence, by the arts of their Komish priests. The insurrections had been suppressed at the cost of considerable blood. The sympathies of the Duke had been with the people, — not for their mistaken fanaticism, but for their sufferings, — al- though, as in duty bound, he had sent forces against them. He had just granted, on his sole authority, a pardon to all concerned in the commotions, exceptr ing only a few of their leaders. This grace, and his disposition to redress the popular grievances, had inflamed the nobles against him; and he well knew that they would shrink from no hbels to effect his ruin.-^ It was the knowledge of this which, to his ear, rendered the light and guileless words of his un- suspecting sovereign oracular of evil, and produced the emotion so visible upon his countenance. But, disdaining all allusion to charges yet unspoken, and recovering himself by a strong effort, he said calmly, " Your Majesty's journal ! I did not know — " " Tush, uncle ! We make no doubt that your love will compel us to make fair entries." Somerset acknowledged his royal nephew's com- j^liment, and replied heartily, " By my troth ! an deeds can keep pace with devotion, and a subject overdo loyalty, I shall be largely credited, I ween, when your Majesty cometh to your majority. " 2 ^ Fox, II. 665. Stow, 59G, 597. ^ Edward VI., by direction of his Strype's Cranmer, 185. Lodge, I. tutor, Mr. John Cheeke, afterwards 131. Ilapiu, II. 15, 16. knighted, kept a private journal — Cii. I.] EDWAKD THE SIXTH. 5 " God help us in that day ! " exclaimed the young Idng with great solemnity. "How we lack wisdom to rule so great a people! to settle all these affairs about'' religion, too ! and to do it well ! How can we get it in six short years? God help us! God help us!" and he pressed his hand to his brow as if pained wdth thought. "Tliis rehgion/' he resumed after a moment's pause, "the speaking of it re- mindeth us of your chaplain, Doctor Hooper,^ preaching now in London. You did say yester- eve, that he is a hater of Popery and of the Six Articles, and zealous for the reforming of religion. We marvel that such an one should travail for Christ m our own realm and be unknown to us. Tell us of him, good my lord Duke." " In troth, your Majesty,^ he be but a new man in England, albeit he be English born and English bred. He was an Oxford scholar when the statute of the Six Articles was passed, ten years sithence ; a zealous man and a bold for a reformation in the Church; and — so it is bruited — did use strong speech agamst the Articles. Whether he did or no, he still extant — of all matters of in- ^ Burnet, II. 245. Parker Soci- terest to himself; but particularly ety's Biog. Notice of Hooper, p. x. of the doings and debates of the Neal, I. 52, note. Council, the despatch of ambassa- " " Henry VHI. says Houssaie, dors, honors conferred, &c. Biog. was the first who assumed the ti- Brit., n. 1311, and note D. Bur- tie of 'Highness'; and at length net (Vol. n. p. 251) says that this 'Majesty.'" — D'Israeli's Curiosities journal was commenced in 1550 ; of of Literature, p. 48. " The title of course not in existence at the time ' INIajesty ' is given to Henry II. in stated in the text. But Strj-pe two passages of ' The Black Book (Life of Cranmer, 298) says, "writ Exchequer'; the most ancient in- all with his own hand, from the be- stances I have met with." — Lin- ginning of his reign, 1547, until 28 gard, VI. 371, note. Nov. 1552." See also Fox, H. G53. 6 EDWARD THE SIXTH. [Cii. I. did fall eftsoons into displeasure and hatred of cer- tain Rabbins there, and most of Doctor Smith, professor'ljf divinity; who, by and by, began to stir coals against him, whereby he was compelled to void the University.-' Shall I tell all his adven- tures, my liege?" "Ay, all, all. You know we take note of every magistrate and gentleman who beareth office or authority in our realm, even to their names, conver- sation, and housekeeping, to the intent we may know their worthiness or unworthiness.^ How much more doth it behoove us to take note, and to know well, of our clergy. Tell all, my lord." "Master Hooper fled to the house of Sir Thomas Arundel, who gave him protection and made him an officer of his household. But discovering his relig- ion, he was displeased thereat, and sent him to my lord of Winchester to be converted backwards. The Bishop found the pupil somewhat hard at conver- sion, and sent him again to Sir Thomas, right well commending his learning and wit, but withal bearing in his breast a grudging stomach against him. Anon, the Master Hooper was told privily that danger was working against him. Whereat he took ffight to Paris. In a short time he returned, and was re- tained of one Master Lentlow till the time he was again molested and laid for; whereby he was again compelled to take the seas in disguise ; and so escaped he through France to the higher parts of Germany." ^ 1 Fox, ni. 145. P. S. Memoii', ^ Fox, IE. 145. P. S. Memoir, viii. viii. - Fox, II. G52. Cii. I.] EDWARD THE SIXTH. 7 "By my troth!" exclaimed the young king, "an persecution betoken goodness, Master Hooper hath brave commendation!" " Hated at home," continued Somerset, " but be- friended abroad. Bulhnger was his singular friend ; and he is much beloved by Martin Bucer, Peter Martyr, and John a Lasco, whom his Grace of Can- terbury hath invited hither." ^ "Another mark of goodness, an a man may be N- known by his friends. Proceed, my lord." " But Master Hooper was not content with scholar friendships, and took to his heart a fair and godly damsel who lived not far from Antwerp." "Married, ha!" " Nay, my liege. I did but say he took her to his heart. He was too poor to marry. So he came to England about three years agone, to get moneys from his father. But the Six Article men e'en again ^ made England too hot for him, whence he barely escaped mth his life. Albeit, he came safe again to Antwerp, and in the latter part of that year, 1546, he was married in Switzerland, at Basle or at Zurich, — my memory serveth not which, — to Mistress Anne de Tserchlas, a woman of good blood and high worth." ^ " So ho ! married at last ! Ma foi ! a sincere Prot- estant, then, and a bold. Prithee, my lord Duke, is he learned ? " "Well skilled, your Majesty, in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. At Zurich he gave himself very studiously ^ Holingshed, IV. 742, 743. Hey- "- Fox, III. 145. P. S. Memoir, lin's Ref. 79. Strype's Cranmer, ix. 195, 196. Strype's Whitgift, 389. 8 EDWARD THE SIXTH. [Cii. I. to the original tongues of the Scriptures, especially to the Hebrew." ^ " It now mindeth us/' said the king, " that we did hear his name when you and our good Archbishop did moot the sending for Master Myles Coverdale? But troth, we mislike it. Why have we not known his return ere this present ? " "Good, my liege lord, he did arrive in London only on the very last of May. When he heard of your Majesty coming to the crown, and of the good progress of religion under your Majesty's favor, he was fain to come at once to offer his service. But a wife and infant daughter did hinder awhile. Soon after their arrival I did take him into my service to be my chaplain.^ To try his doctrine and his parts before commending him to your Highness, I have permitted him to preach in London. He hath proved himself — " " Hold, my lord Duke ! yonder is one we would talk with about this man. Follow, my lord ! " So saying, the young king, an expert and fear- less rider, put spurs to his horse, and was closely followed by the Duke and his attendants. Edward VI., young as he was, had given indica- tions of character and capacity which had excited the highest hope and enthusiasm of his subjects, and the admiration of foreis-n residents at his court. When six years of age, in the summer of 1544, he had been committed to the care of Master John Cheeke, then Greek lecturer at the University of 1 Fox, in. 145. Fuller, Bk. VH. - Fox, n. 654. Collier, V. 188. p. 402. Burnet, HI. 299. Carte, Heyl. Ref., 34. P. S. Memoii', 52G. m. 253. Heyl. Ref., 90. » p g Memoir, ix., x. Cii. I.] EDWARD THE SIXTH. 9 Cambridge, and of Doctor Richard Cox; the former to instruct him in Greek and Latin, and the latter in Christian doctrine, in philosophy, and in the de- portment becoming a j)rmce. In modern languages, he had other instructors. In a short time he could converse perfectly in French, and had a good com- mand of Italian, Greek, Latin, and Spanish; so that he received and answered, in his o^vn person, the ambassadors of foreign courts when presented at his own. He was amiable, tractable, eager and quick to learn, and spared no labor to qualify himself for his station. His judgment was precocious ; he gave himself to affairs of state with intense interest and becoming gravity, requiring of his Council a reason for every matter which should pass their judgments. From early childhood, he had manifested both rev- erence and love for religion ; and at his accession to the throne, in 1547, had unmediately favored a reformation in the Church, and urged the better religious instruction of his people. Somerset, there- fore, in speaking of a new and worthy preacher, had at once excited the interest of his royal ward. The Duke, now Lord Protector of the king's realm and person, was a friend to the Reformation ; as were the two preceptors who have been named, and who had instructed their pupil, with great care, in the Protes- tant faith, and in his duties as a Christian and a king. For Doctor Cox he had profound respect and love, had made him Privy Councillor and King's Almoner, and paid particular deference to his opinion in matters of religion. It was at sight of him that he had suspend- ed his conversation with the Duke of Somerset.^ ' Fox, IT. 053. Holingshed, IV. 741. Rapin, II. 1, and note ; and VOL. I. 2 « 10 EDWARD THE SIXTH. [Cii. I. A brisk gallop soon brought them to the Doctor, who was abroad to enjoy the mornmg. As soon as they had committed their horses to their attendants and exchanged the usual salutations, the king said, "My dear tutor, my lord Duke hath refreshed our remembrance of Dr. Hooper, whilom an exile on ac- count of his rehgion. Know you him, good sir ? " " I did, my liege, in your royal father's day." "Now, my lord Duke," said Edward, turning to the Protector, "you have the ear of one of whom we always take advisement touching the affairs of Holy Church, and to whom we give respect, as you well know, in things spiritual more than is meet we should do to our courtiers, or even to our honored Protector. You give your knightly gage that Master Hooper hateth Popery and the Six Articles ? " " Boldly I do, may it please your Grace." " Let us hear aught else of him. You did give cause, yester-eve, to suppose that somewhat pertain- eth to him of rare worth and worship. Let us walk while we talk ; for, you know, we would break our fast anon." " I have shown your Highness that he is a good man. I may affirm, too, that he is a wondrous preacher." " So are others, my lord," replied the king, in a tone expressive of dissatisfaction. " Methought you did intend that he hath some singular excellence of parts." " His eloquence exceedeth to a marvel ; and he is zealous for a pure worship and for a pure life." 25, note. Ileyl. Ref., 12-33 ;)ns- 304. Hallam, 58. Biog. Brit., Ar- sim. Burnet, II. 1, 2, 39 ; III. 298, tides CTieeke, Cox. Cii. I.] EDWARD THE SIXTH. 11 " On mine honor ! " replied the king, musing, " that he a rare office now-a-days, — preaching up a pure life ; fit preaching, too, and worthy of praise. Is it not, good sir ? " addressing Doctor Cox. " In sooth it be," repUed the preceptor. " To ex- hort men to behave better out of church, as well as to worship better in it, is both commendable and timely ; for the wickedness that prevaileth among all classes is but softly and seldom rebuked. An Doctor Hooper playeth the soldier against the vices of the world and the corruptions of the Church, as I am told he doth, may the good Lord prosper him." " Amen ! " replied Edward. Then, turning to the Duke, " We listen, my lord." " Doctor Hooper is diligent. He practiseth with the sword seven days in the week." " What, my lord ! a priest a sword-player ? " " Of a verity he is so, my liege ; and none in your Majesty's dominions surpasseth him in skill. The bruit of it draweth thousands around him. Howbeit, he wieldeth only the sword of the Spirit." " So ho ! He preacheth seven days in the week ? " " Every day, my liege. He hath a body strong ; health sound ; wit pregnant ; patience invincible. In his doctrine, earnest ; in tongue, eloquent ; in the Scriptures, perfect ; in pains, indefatigable, for he not only preacheth every day, but most time twice every day. In his sermons, he sharply inveigheth against the people's iniquities. He explameth the Scriptures freely ; and maketh them scales in which, before their eyes, his hearers' righteousness doth v kick the beam, and their vices weigh like mill- w stones. They do not go from his preaching feel- >/^ ing — nicely." 12 EDWAED THE SIXTH. [Cii. I. " So, SO ; softly, uncle mine. You spoil your preacher! Wlio goeth to church to be rated? and . ^ preaching to bare walls is bootless." " Troth, my gracious liege, walls are not souls. Howbeit, as I did say, there be souls enow where he preacheth. The people in great flocks and com- panies daily come to hear his voice, like it were the most melodious sound of Orpheus's harp ; insomuch that oftthnes they be in crowds about the church for lack of room within. Even his old persecutor, Doctor Smith, confesseth his wondrous power, saying that ' the people do hold him for a prophet from God; nay, even more than a prophet.' They flock to hear him, your Grace, Iccaiise he upbraideth them." " Because ! and fourteen times a week ! Bravo ! a master indeed, an he draw such crowds, and so often, to see their own naughtiness." " Of a truth, my liege lord, it proveth his master- ship," said Somerset. " What be the secret of all this ? " asked the king, turning to his tutor. " Methinks," answered Doctor Cox, " it lieth partly in his honesty and earnestness; but chiefly in that the people preach what he preacheth." "The people!" " Even so, my gracious prince. He declareth, and they say, *^Amen.' He expoundeth the truth, and men's consciences echo it. When that be so, it matters little what truth be spoken, — men will go to hear it.''^ The young king was deeply interested in this report of Doctor Hooper's extraordinary powers and 1 Fox, m. 146. Heyl. Ref., 94. Burnet, IH. 302. P. S. Memoii-, x. Cii. I.] EDWARD THE SIXTH. 13 piety; and, as they were entering the gates of the palace, he said to Somerset, "It is our will that your chaplain remain in London and continue his preaching. Bid him abide our further pleasure. God be thanked for a messenger fit to rouse our poor subjects to a knowledge of the truth. Is he a courtly man, my lord Duke ? " "They who do not know him well, call him not so, my liege. They liken him to Switzerland in harsh, rough unpleasantness. They think him grave into rigor, and severe into surliness. Yet is this all owing to their little acquaintance with him. They who visit him but once condemn him of over- austerity; they who repair to him twice, only sus- pect him of the same ; while they who converse with him constantly, as I have done, not only acquit him of all morosity, but commend him for sweetness of manners."^ " Find him out. Doctor Cox ; find him out. Give him a few good homilies on courtesy. You will find a text, you know, in one of Saint Peter's letters. An you succeed, we will order him to preach at our Court, mayhap." Thus, by his Majesty's express command, Hooper continued his daily labors in London until, on the 5th of February, 1550, he received orders from the King and Council to preach before the Court once a week during Lent. He was also sent by the kmg to preach in the counties of Kent and Essex, to reconcile the people to the Reformation.^ ' Fox, III. 146. Fuller, Bk. VII. " Fox, III. 146. Burnet, HI. 302. p- 402. Neal, I. 52. P. S. Memoir, xi., xii. CHAPTER II. THE KEFORMATION. Its Origin. — The Statute of Praemunire. — The Separation of the English CnuRCii. — The Supremacy. — "The Six Articles." — The Ac- cession OF Edward VI. — Church Reforji. — Innovation disliked. 1350-1550. The evangelical Reformation of England originat- ed from within herself So did her ecclesiastical. Bradwardine and Wickliffe preceded Luther and Melancthon, Edward III. preceded Leo X. — a hundred and fifty years. Tyndal and Bilney and Coverdale, although contemj^orary with Luther and Zwingle, wrought independently of them ; and when the monk of Wittemberg was nailing his Theses to the door of the church, the true Reformation in England was already vitalized and in progress.^ In 1350 Edward III., influenced doubtless by his pious chaplain Bradwardine, who exalted the Scrip- tures and aliased traditions, wishing to secure the religious liberties of England against the encroach- ments of the Pontiff of Rome, passed " the Statute of Provisors," so called; by which imprisonment or banishment for life was decreed for all who should procure, or frovide^ any presentations to benefices in the English Church from the Court of Rome. ' D'Aubigne, V. 80-83, 149-159. ch. n.] THE REFORMATION. 15 B}^ another statute, every person was outlawed who should carry thither any cause by appeal. In 1393, under Kichard II., the Act of Pro visors was renewed; and it was also enacted, that who- soever should bring into England, receive, publish, or execute there, any papal bull, excommunication, or other like document, should be out of the king's protection, — by some understood to mean that his life was at the mercy of any man, — and forfeit goods, chattels, and liberty. This was called "Tlie Statute of Praemunire."^ By these statutes, the independent supremacy » Fox, I. 548. Burnet, I. 175- 177. Neal, I. 1. Hume, I. GIO, 11. 3(3. D'Aublgne, V., 81, 82. " The most natural meaning of the Avord prcemunire (given more particularly to the Act of 1393) seems to be, to fence and fortify the regal power from foreign as- sault." D'Aubigne, V. 82, note. " Touching praemunire, it is prop- erly a Writ, or process of summons, awarded against such as brought in Bulls, or Citations, from the Court of Home, to obtain Ecclesiastical Benefices, by way of provision, be- fore they fell void ; for of old time, divers acts of Parliament were made, viz. in the tunes of Iving Edward m., Iving Richard II., and King Henry IV., against the Pope's ex- ercise of jurisdiction within this nation ; and against those subjects that did appeal, from courts of justice here, to the Court of Home; and who obtained Provisions there, to have Priories, Abbeys, or Benefices with Cure, here ; which proceedings tended (say those Statutes) to the destruction of the Realm, and of Religion. Therefore, these being held to be great offences, and so tending to the disherison of rights belonging to the Crown and the people of England, and to the de- struction of the Common Law, are made to be grievously punishable, viz. To be imprisoned during life, To forfeit lands and goods, and to be put out of the protection of the law." — Charge of Serjeant Thorjie, Judge of Assize for the North Cir- cuit, to the Grand Jury at York Assizes, 20 March, 1648. (Harleian Mscellany, H. 7.) Serjeant Thorpe also embraces under the same term statutes enacted in the reign of Elizabeth against other, but anal- ogous offences, to which the same penalties were attached. I think it will appear in the course of the following pages that by " a praemu- nire" was sometimes meant only the penalttj affi.xed to the original statute of that name, even wlien incurred by some ecclesiastical iireg- ulai'ity, or offence, entirely different from those described in that statute itself. 16 THE REFORMATION. [Ch. II. of the Pope had been technically walled out of England. Not so, however, in fact. Papal intrigue and diplomacy had put them to sleep; and the old encroachments and usurpations had crept in again. But Henry VIII. aroused them, and wielded them so stoutly and adroitly, as to transfer to him- self and his successors that supremacy over the English Church which the Popes had so long arro- gated and held. It happened thus. Henry and Pope Clement had been negotiating a long time about the divorce of Queen Catharine, — a matter upon which the kino- had set his heart. The Pope had scruples about it, — scruples of policy they were, though he talked only about conscience. He had put the matter off, and put it off, until the king began to think himself trifled with; and it was plain that he would be incensed should Clement refuse the divorce. On the other hand, should he decree it, it was certain that Charles V., Emperor of Germany and nephew of Queen Catharine, would be incensed. For a good while, his Holiness had weighed the .two monarchs in his fisherman's scales; which it had become pretty certain would turn in favor of the Emperor. Henry was out of patience. At this juncture, a word fitly spoken by a bold and clear- headed counsellor^ roused him to a sense of his kingly degradation as a suitor to Rome, and he determined to shake off his ghostly allegiance ; that henceforth he himself would be head of the Church in England ; that he would entail the dignity upon his heirs; and so English princes no more be serfs 'Lingard, VI. 177. D'Aubigne, V. 491, 492. Cii. II.] THE REFORMATION. 17 of a foreign lord. But how could he bring the clergy to cast off their old allegiance, and to .own spiritual fealty to a temporal prince? Parliament had not met for seven years. During all this time the Pope had given law to Englishmen, and judged them in his courts; his interests had been sustained by oppressions upon all classes and in all branches of business, until lords and commons cringed under the smart of their wrongs. Wolsey, a prince of the Roman Church, had been judge paramount. All judicial transactions had passed in his name and under his seal, as the Pope's lieutenant.^ The king had permitted this, to be sure ; but that did not alter the legal fact. He therefore ordered the Cardinal to be arrested and tried for treason; and he was pronounced guilty under the Statute of Praemunire.^ The poor man immediately took to his bed; and in a few days died, with the sad words upon his lips : " Had I been as careful to serve the God of heaven, as I have to comply to the will of my earthly king, God would not have left me in muie old age, as the other hath done."^ But if Wolsey was guilty under those old laws of Provisors and Praemunire, so were all the clergy ; for all had sought his court and admitted its decisions. It was well. The whip 'suited the king's purpose. He had found it; he held it; and he would not lay it down except the culprits ecclesias- tic would come to terms. So they were judged to 1 D'Aubigne, V. 493, 494. ^ Fuller's Holy State, 253. Hume, " Neal, I. 32. D'Aubigne, V. 11. 346. 487-489. vol,. I. 3 18 THE KEFORMATION. [Cii. II. be in praemunire, for maintaining the illegal power and .acts of the Cardinal. They were at the king's mercy. They offered to buy off the prcemiinirc, to which the king consented on condition that they would also recognize his ecclesiastical supremacy, not otherwise.^ They yielded, and sued for pardon ; ac^reeing to pay one hundred and eighteen thousand eight hundred and forty pounds ; and " acknowledg- ing his Majesty to be a singular protector, the only and supreme lord, and, as far as was allowed by the Gospel, Supreme Head likewise of the Church and clergy of England." The royal wrath was appeased, and pardon granted. This was in January and March, 1531. On the third day of November, 1534, the Parliament, having meanwhile invested him mth all the real powers of the ecclesiastical supremacy, conferred on the king the title; ordaining that he "should be taken, accepted, and reputed the only Supreme Head in earth of the Church of England, and should have full power to reform and correct all manner of spiritual authority and juris- diction " ; the words, " as far as was allowed by the Gospel," being purposely omitted in the act. Thus was the ecclesiastical supremacy of the Pope abolished in England, and that of the crown substituted.^ Within his o^vn realm, Henry was now every whit a pope ; not in ecclesiastical authority only, but in doctrine, superstition, bigotry, despotism, and cruelty. Installed at the Vatican, instead of 1 Lingard, VI. 178. Burnet, I. 183. LIngard, VI. 228. ^ Stow's Annals, 659. Heylin's Neal, I. 32. Hume, 11. 347, 35G. Ref. 19. Carte, III. 108, 109, 128. Ilallam, 48. Cu. II.] THE REFORMATION. 19 Hampton Court or Whitehall, he would have l)een — without change in his opinions or measures — as true, as orthodox, and as consistent a head of the Koman Church Catholic, as was Clement himself. True, he broke up the monasteries, and turned the monks adrift ; but he had need of their worldly substance. He demolished the shrines of pretended saints; but he needed their hoards of jewels and gold. He burned images which he proscribed as abused to superstition; but he spared others. He allowed the Bible to be translated, printed, and read by all; but afterwards repented and forbade its use. He disapproved giving godly honor to images ; but said it was well enough to kneel and to burn incense before them; and it was a very good thing, he proclaimed, to pray to saints in heaven, and to pray for dead men's souls.^ He issued a bull, too, which the Roman Pojdc would have approved. In it he told his subjects, — 1. That if any one denied that the bread and the wine of the sacramental su^Dper were the real body and blood of Christ, he should be burned alive, without the privilege of abjuring. 2. That the bread is both the body and the blood, and that the wine is both the body and the blood of Christ, — so that partaking of either is sufficient.^ ^ Stow, 553, 554, 575. Heylin's mode in wliicli Christ is present at Ref., 9-11, 20, 48. Holingshed, the ordinance commemorative of IV. 732. Carte, III. 128, 129, 151. his death were vague and various, Burnet, I., 11. passim. Neal, I. though all were agreed that he was jKissim. Hallam, 5 7, and note. so — in some sense. ^ At the beginning of the ninth In the year 831, a monk named century, the opinions respecting the Pascasius broached the following 20 THE llEFORMATION. [Ch. II. 3. That priests ought not to marry. 4. That vows of chastity are perpetually binding. 5. That jorivate masses ought to be continued.^ 6. That confession to a priest is necessary to for- giveness. dogma, namely, that, after the con- secration of the bread and -wine, nothing remains of them but the outivardform ; under which the very body of Christ which was born of Mary, had suifered on the cross, and risen from the grave, is locally and really present. (Mosheim, II. 331, Cent. IX. Part H. Ch. IE.) In 1215, Pope Innocent HI., by an arbitrary edict — i. e. without obtaining the opinion of the Church Catholic by Council or otherwise — ordained the doctrine of Pascasius to be a doctrine of the Church, and gave it the name of Transubstan- tiation. (Fox, II. 459. Mosheim, m. 236, Cent. XTQ. Part H. Ch. m.) As a result of this decree, the bread particularly — being the only element then given to the laity — became an object of relig- ious worship, as being the very person of God ; and about the year 1222, Pope Honorius HI. ordained the elevation of the sacrament, and that the people should kneel and worship it. (Fox, 11. 460 ; m. 9.) Luther held to what he called Con-substantiation ; namely, that, after consecration, the true body and blood of Christ are in, with, and under the elements. In other words, that the bread and the wine, the body and the blood, are all there. Martin Bucer, Calvin, and Bishop Ridley held to a real presence of Christ's body and blood, but ex- cluded the idea of the corporal reception of the same by the com- municant. Zwingle regarded the elements only as signs or figures of Christ's body and blood ; and the jiartaking thereof only as a spiritual commun- ion with our Saviour, — a simple memorial of his death. (Heylin's Ref, 53. Burnet, 11. 166, 167. Milman's Gibbon, IV. 35, N. York edit. 1847. Hallam, 63.) ^ The Popish IMass includes not only the consecrating services by which transubstantiation is supposed to be effected, but the oifering, as an expiatory sacrifice, of that which is supposed, by the consecration, to have become Christ, — an offering made either for the living or for the dead. High Mass is that in which the service of the consecration is pub- licly performed by a choir; after which the sacrament is elevated, and all the peoj^le render wor- ship. Low Mass is that in which the service is recited only, without singing. " Private Masses were those that were celebrated by the priest alone in behalf of souls detained in pm-- gatory, as well as upon some other particular occasions." — Mosheim, II. 261, note. "The private Mass suffereth the priest alone to eat and drink up all, and when he hath done, to bless the people with the Cii. II.] THE REFORMATION. 21 He added, that whoever should deny any of these last live points should forfeit — even if he should recant — all his goods and chattels, and be im- prisoned as long as the king pleased; and if he continued obstinate, or, after recanting his disbelief, relapsed, he should be put to death.^ All this was made a law by Parliament in June, 1538. It was called "The Statute of the Six Articles," of which mention has been made above ; sometimes, "The Bloody Statute"; and sometimes, "The "Whip with Six Strings." But besides this, if any one neglected to confess to the priest, or to receive the sacrament at the stated times, he should be fined and imprisoned during the king's pleasure ; and if he continued to do so after being found guilty, he should be put to death.^ The superior clergy had acknowledged a new master, and Parliament had legalized their act. But nearly all the inferior clergy, and some of the bishops and nobles, were opposed to the change,^ and the grosser doctrines and the external forms of Romanism were still enforced. We see here no Reformation. The monarch had only riven his Pa- pal bands. With the greater part of his subjects, he still clave to his old religion, and upheld it to his dying day.* Whatever had been done towards a reformation in empty cup In the private the dead, rehearsed for thirty suc- Mass, the sacrament is received in cessive days. (Burnet, II. 101.) behoof not only of him that exe- ^ Hume, II. 403, compared witli cuteth, but of them also that stand Heylin's Kef, 10, with Burnet, I. looking on, and of them also which 416, and Neal, I. 39. be afar off or in purgatory." — Fox, " Burnet, I. 417. Hume, II. 403. n. 462. 3 j^ej^i^ j_ 34^ o5_ Trental Masses arc masses for * Introduction to Heylin's Ilcf. 22 THE REFORMATION. [Cn. II. religion, had been done by simpler means than royal edicts and civil statutes. It had been done in secret places and in silence. The Reformer, — God; the means, — his Providence and his AYord. His Word, — for that only was waking men to the grand and commanding Conviction, that he who worships God must worship him in spirit and in truth ; a conviction which was entermg alike the palace of the prelate and the cot of the peasant. This was the true, the fundamental, the invisible Eeformation. While Henry lived, he repressed it. But when Death broke his despotism, it found its true position and became — still resting upon that Word which had given it being — the living foundation upon which was builded the ecclesiastical fabric of the visible Ref- ormation. Edward VI., the son of Henry by Jane Seymour, came to the throne on the 28th of January, 1547 ; a mere child, aged nine years and three months.^ By Henry's will, the government devolved upon sixteen executors, " whom," it says, " Ave ordain and constitute our Privy Council tvith our said son." He also named twelve others upon whom the Council might " call " for " aid and assistance." The legal minority of the young king was limited by the same instrument to the termination of his eighteenth year. Sir Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford and eldest brother of Queen Jane, had been made Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector of the realm, immediately upon Edward's accession. Next after the coronation, the Council had entered officially upon the work of 1 Heylin's Ref., 30. Cn. II.] THE REFORMATION. 23 reforming the Church. Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and some other bishops, promoted the work from a sincere desire for a purer doctrine and worship ; but it is doubtless true that a greed of . wealth influenced the secular nobility of the Court, who coveted and soon obtained the treasures of those shrines, and those Chantry lands which had not yet been appropriated by the crown.^ The first step had been to send out Commissioners under the king, as Supreme Head of the Church, to inquire into ecclesiastical affairs, and to enjoin cer- tain prescribed duties. They had been attended by suitable preachers, who were directed to instruct the people in the principles of religion, and to dissuade them from praying to saints or for the dead, from adoring images, from masses, and other superstitious rites of the Romish Church.^ The Statute of the Six Articles had been repealed. A new liturgy, or Book of Common Prayer, and religious ceremonies, had been drawn up by a com- mittee under order of Council, and passed as a law on the 17th of January, 1549, by the Parliament which had convened in the previous November.^ In ' Burnet, II. 30. Heylin's Ref., the founders, and such others as 33, and Introduc. " Chantries were they appointed." — Rapin, II. 10, salaries allowed to one or more note. See also Lodge, I. 123, note, priests, to say daily mass for the A large account of Chantries is in souls of their deceased founders Fuller, Bk. VI. pp. 351 -354. and their friends." — Heylin's Ref, - Fox, II. 655. Strype's Cran- 51. " A chantry was a little church, mer, 146-148. Heylin's Eef, 34. or chapel, or a particular altar in Heylin's Presb., 204. Carte, IH. some cathedral church, en- 211,212. Burnet, H. 41 -44. Neal, dowed with lands or other revenues I. 44. Hume, H. 464. for the maintenance of one or more ^ Fox, II. 654, 660. Collier, V. priests daily to sing mass and per- 224, 306. Strj-pe's Cranmer, 157. form divine service for the souls of Stow, 595. Carte, TIT. 224 - 227. 24 THE REFORMATION. [Cii. II. this liturgy, the practices of adoring the wood of the cross and the host or sacramental bread, all masses, all prayers to saints, all blessing of manimate things, as bells, candles, fire, water, salt, &c., were left out ; ^ the Mass was changed into the Communion; and both the bread and the wine were directed to be given to the people, who were still taught, however, that in each element they received the very body of Christ;^ confession to the priest was left to every man's discretion; and the sign of the cross in bap- tism, in confirmation, and in anointing the sick, was retained. This liturgy was in a great measure a translation of the Romish Manual.^ The English Bible and Erasmus's paraphrase of the Gospels had been placed in every church, "in some most convenient and open place, that the people might read the same as they listed"; mar- riage had been permitted to the clergy ; the re- moval of all images and pictures from the churches had been ordered; and the ceremonies of bearing palms on Palm-Sunday, candles on Candlemas-day, Rapin, 11. 9, 13. Burnet, 11. G3, miglit keep off devils, and impart 98. Holingshed, IV. 741. Heyl. to the people the virtue of tlie Holy Ref., 48. Ghost ; — upon ashes, that those cov- ^ To comply with the heathenish ered with them might deserve re- superstition of the people, it had mission of sins. The people thought been customary for the priest to that, ivithout true holiness, they pronounce a blessing upon water might be sure of heaven by such and salt, that so they might be superstitious observances. (Burnet, made eificacious to the health of 11. 117.) both body and soul, and serve, « pg^, H. 658, G60. Collier, V. wherever sprinkled, as a charm 227. Strype's Cranmer, 159, 193. against devils ; — upon the holy Burnet, 11. 102, 103, 127, 247. bread, that it might keep off dis- ^ Stow, 595, 596. Rapin, II. 10, eases and the snares of the Devil;— 11, 13. Carte, HI. 219, 221, 226. upon holy incense, that the smoke Neal, I. 47. Cii. II.l THE KEFORMATION. 25 ashes on Asli-Wednesday, and some of the rites used on Good-Friday and Easter-day, had been for- bidden.^ A book of HomiUes, or short discourses, had also been pubhshed, to be read by the clergy in public service. The purj)ort of these was, — that remis- sion of sins, and salvation, are to be obtained only because of the death of Christ, and by those only "who trust in him alone and adopt his precepts as their rule of life ; ^ in other words, that justification before God is not to be obtained by sacraments, masses, absolutions, and ceremonials, but only by trust in Christ and amendment of life. It is a significant fact, that one great, if not the chief, reason for the construction of these Hom- ilies/ and of the Forms of Prayer, was that the common clergy, for lack of education, if not of religion, were utterly incapable of preaching and of j)r^ying in public. To supply this woful lack, the liturgy was framed. We have said, that it was in a great measure a translation of the Romish Manual. The Common Prayer, in particular, was taken out of the Popish Mass-book ; another signifi- cant fact, for it was intentional on the part of the Reformers, lest, by too sudden and absolute an aban- donment of ancient forms, they should so shock the prejudices of the people as to fail of establishing the more Scriptural worship at which they aimed. It was their policy, "% little and little to wean the ^ Fox, n. 656, 658, 661. Stow, Carte, HI. 220, 227. Burnet, IT. 595. Collier, V. 241, 304. Ea- 94,96,141. Cardwell, I. 4 - C5. pin, n. 11. Ileylin's Ref., 35, 42. - Burnet, II. 42, 43. Neal, I. 45. Strype's Cranmer, 148, 156, 159. ^ Strype's Memorials, HI. 591. VOL. I. 4 26 THE REFORMATION. [Ch. II. people from their superstitions."^ Hence it was, thatj although many Popish superstitions were omit- ted in the new liturgy, many also were retained. Still better things were intended than were ever carried into effect. This policy of a gradual advance will be brought to view hereafter.^ Such were the main features of the ecclesiastical reformation, at the date of Hooper's introduction to the royal Court. An important though partial advance had been made toward purity of doctrine and worship. A great innovation had been effected upon the paganism of the Romish Church. It is not surprising, that at this time many of the common people — superstitiously attached as they were to the old religion and its forms — should be disturbed by the novelties just introduced. The Romish priests, taking advantage of the pop- ular prejudices and of the oppressions of the lords, had represented the secular grievances of the labor- ing classes as occasioned by their religious, and had thus instigated and propelled the insurrections men- tioned, in the progress of which the restoration of the old religion had been demanded. Though the disturbers of the realm had been subdued, the fever of their fanaticism still burned. To allay it as far as possible, the Court constituted the six royal chaplains missionaries itinerant, to preach in rotation through all the shires ; four of them to be thus engaged, while the other two should be about the Court.^ 1 McCrie's Knox, 40!). 273. Strype's Grindal, 7. Strype's - Pierce's Vindication, p. 10. Memorials, III. 521. ^ Heylin's Ref., 05. Burnet, II. Cii. II.] THE REFORMATION. 27 It was iinder this arrangement, apparently, that Doctor Hooper was sent to exert his powerful elo- quence "in reconciling the people to the Reforma- tion." It was his aim to effect this by removing their deplorable ignorance of the Gospel ; by show- ing the worthlessness of Popish mummeries ; by disclosing the great doctrine of atonement, not by acts of merit or of penance, but by the sacrifice made by Christ of himself " once for all." In this way he labored several months, with untiring dili- gence and apostolic fervor. Soon after, an event occurred, insignificant in itself, but memorable as the germ of opinions which have shaken England to its centre, and shajDcd the destinies of this Western World. CHAPTER III. THE FIRST PURITAN. hoopek appointed bishop. — objects to the mode of consecration. — Summoned before the Council. — Objects to the Oath of Suprem- acy. — His Objection allowed. — Objects to the Episcopal Garments. — Archbishop Cranmer. — The Question of the Garments discussed. — Hooper's Objections disallowed by the Bishops. — The Controversy is extended. — hooper restrained from preaching. — is confined to HIS House. — Is committed to Cranmer's Custody. — Is sent to PitisoN. — Plots against his Life. — The Difference compromised. — Hooper consecrated. — Hooper in his Bishopric, and in his Family. 1550, 1551. Hampton Court, after it became a demesne of the crown, had always been free of access to the people w^henever occupied by the voyal family. The gates stood open during the day ; and, when the season and the sunshine were inviting, there were often a great many there, — from the courtier in his gay apparel, to the unpretending peasant in his holiday dress, — watching to see their princes. Such con- tinued to be the custom until Queen Mary, in 1554, immediately upon her marriage with Philip of Spain, shut her gates upon her plebeian subjects, requiring of all such applicants for admission a satisfactory account of their errands. About the middle of June, 1550,^ there was an ^ Owinji; to the apparent varia- omission of minute dates, it is difR- tions of diifcrent writers, and their cult to be assured of the precise Cu. III.J THE iTKST PURITAN. 29 unusual concourse of different classes of the com- monalty about the palace of Hampton Court, whith- er the king had lately returned from Windsor.^ It was about an hour past noon, and an hour and a half smce everybody had dined, — unless, perchance, the grandees Avithin the j)alace might have lingered awhile over their muscadel, sack, and malmsey. Be that as it may, no one in sight had a hungry look ; yet all had a grave one, as though they shared in the cares of the state. Instead of strolling about, or lounging at their ease, they were gathered in little knots here and there ; the women makino* a great show in three-cornered Minivor caps, with high peaks of dazzling whiteness, or of various-colored vel- vets; Avhile the men, in knit caps, silk "thrombd" hats, or Spanish felts, had a less stately appearance.^ Servitors of the royal household, with their laced doublets, tight breeches, and slashed sleeves, stood at different entrances of the palace. At a little order of events in this affair of dined the office ; and that he had Hooper. Burnet (II. 242) says then stated his reasons to the king ; that his commission was issued in which, according to Burnet (III. July. Yet (in III. 303) he gives 305), he did in presence of the the date of the appointment in Privy Council. I do not find the June, and proves it. Neal also precise time of his appearance be- (I. 52) says July. Both say that fore the king and Council given Hooper did not yield until the fol- by any of the many authorities lowing March, " the matter being which I have consulted. With in suspense nine whole months"; some hesitation I have assigned it, which also fixes the beginning of in the text, to " about the mid- the controversy In June. Strypo, die of June " ; which perhaps is a more consistent, says that Hooper slight anachronism. It is of little " was nominated in July, but was importance, however, while the facts not consecrated till eiglii months themselves are so clearly and uni- after." A letter of Hooper, dated formly attested. June 29th, (see Burnet, HI. 303,) ^ Burnet, H. 220. says that he had then been named ^ Stow, 870, 1039. to be bishop ; that he had then de- 30 THE FIRST PURITAN. [Ch. UI. distance without, stood a party whose persons and costumes may serve as specimens of the motley concourse. One wore a doublet of buff and crimson tissue, puckered and distended around the body, — a contrivance of the day by which lean folks aped corpulence, which then stood in lieu of consequence and dignity. Tliis under-garment was surmounted by a claret-colored mantle of tufted taffety, with sleeves artistically swollen to keep the doublet in countenance.^ Another was covered with a coarse but clean frock or tunic of woollen, shaped lil^e a shirt, gathered at the middle, and secured about the waist by a leathern girdle. From this girdle were suspended, on one side, a short dagger, and on the other a large pouch, which served the stout yeo- man instead of pockets. A third — a youth — wore the plain sad-colored gown and the cap of a scholar. Such were~ThF"drfferent classes of persons visible outside the palace. They were gathered here and there in groups, as acquaintanceship or chance had drawn them together. All were engaged in earnest conversation. Some were expressing their wonder that good Master Hooper should refuse to be a bishop. Some were venturing wise conjectures, in an oracular way, for the satisfaction of their hearers, to account for so strange a fact. Of their discourses, relating as they did to an affair of the Church, it is sufficient to say that they consisted, in large part, of confused, and even ludicrous, citations of the pre- cepts and facts of Holy Writ. These were sufficient, however, to show two particulars about the common ^ Simjile taffety was made of hose. Tufted taffety was a pccu- ivool, and sei'ved Henry VHI. for liar fabric of silk. (Stow, 8G7.) ^/' Cn. III.] THE rmsT puritan. 31 people, — their comparative ignorance of the Bible/ and their great reverence for it as the standard of appeal. This out-of-door gossip indicated, more truly than is usual in such cases, the subject then before the Privy Council within the palace. Hooper, by his fervent preaching and great learning, had won the esteem and public patronage of the Earl of War- wick, whose chaplain he had become,^ and whose star political was now in the ascendant. At his recommendation, the king had issued letters ap- pointing Hooper — " without any seeking of his own" — to the bishopric of Gloucester, which was then vacant.^ But Hooper — having serious objec- tions to being consecrated in the garments required ^ The following anecdote, wlietlier regarded as a literal fact or merely as a story befitting the times, illus- trates the crude and confused knowl- edge of many of the people respect- ing the Scriptures ; especially if we consider the proverb, " Like priest, lilce people." It was given by Ajd- mer, afterwards Bishop of London, in liis " Harbor for Faithful Sub- jects," published at Strasburgh, dur- ing Queen Mary's reign, in answer to Knox's " Fu'st Blast of the Trum- pet." " In answer to Knox's argu- ment from Isaiah's words, ' I will give you boys and women to reign over you,' Aylmer said, ' it was not meant of boys in age, but in man- ners ; or of women in sex, but in feebleness of spu-it.' And he added, ' This argument ariseth from wrong understanding. As the Vicar of Trumpington understood Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani, when he read the Passion upon Pahn-Sunday. Com- ing to which place he stopped, and calling the church-wardens, said, ' Neighbors, this gear must be amended. Here is Eli twice in this book. I assure you if my lord of Ely come this way and see it, he will have the book (since his name is in it). Therefore by mine advice we shall scrapie it out, and put in our own town's name, viz. Trumpington, Trumpington, lama sabacthani.' They consented, and he did so, because he understood no better.'" — Strype's Aylmer, 28D. - Fuller, Bk. VII p. 404. ' Bish'ops were made, or appoint- ed, by the king's letters patent only ; upon which they were to be conse- crated, although it was even held / v^ 32 THE FIRST PURITAN. [Cii. III. by the rules of the Church/ and also to the oath to be taken upon his mcluction to office — requested the Archbishoj) to consecrate him without the epis- copal habits, and was refused.^ The Council, anx- ious for harmony between men so prominent in that consecration was superfluous after the creative act of the crown. (Macaulay, I. 52, N. York 8vo edit. 1849.) Upon the abolition of the Papal power, the show of an election by the deans and chapters was con- tinued by a law of 25 Henry VIII. ; but they had been obliged under the severest penalties to choose whom the king named. But by 1 Edward VI. cap. 2 (1547), the election of bishops was transferred wholly from the deans and chap- ters to the crown. (Collier, V. 227, 228. Eapin, 11. 10. Carte, III. 215. Burnet, 11. 8, G8, 70. Lingard, VII. 23.) The act sets forth that all authority of jurisdic- tion, spiritual and temporal, is de- rived from the king's majesty as supreme head of these churches. (Collier, V. 231.) The king's pa- tents ran at first: "To A. B. during his natural life." But in 1552, they were changed thus : " To A. B. so long as he shall behave himself well." Burnet has reversed this change (U. 8). Tlius the bishops were chosen by the king, and consecrated at his command. They ruled the churches, conferred orders, and administered the sacraments, as his ministers ; acted only as his ecclesiastical sher- iffs ; and might be deprived of their sees by a bare act of his will. (Heylin's Ref., 51. Rapin, 11. 10, 24. Burnet, I. 429. Pierce, 8.) Each bishop, at his induction to office, was required to take the oath of supremacy, acknowledg- ing the sovereign as head of the Church. ^ " Pie refused to wear such robes at his consecration as by the rules of the Church were required of him. And by the rules of the Churc^h it was required, that for his ordinary habit he should wear the rochet and chimere, with a square cap upon his head ; and not officiate at the altar without his cope, or per- form any ordination without his crosier. Encouraged by his refusal, many of the inferior clergy take the like exceptions against caps and siu'plices, as also against gowns and tippets, the distinct habits of their order." — Heylin's Presb., Bk. I. Sec. 20; Bk. VI. Sec. 7. " Although the question raised concerned only the single matter of the episcopal robes, yet the party, at the hgad of which were John Rogers, Lecturer in St. Paul's, and John Hooper, renounced all ceremonies practised by tlie Papists, conceiving that such ought not only to be dipt with the shears, but to be shaved with a razor ; yea, all the stumps thereof to be pluckt out." — Fuller, Bk. VH. p. 402. " Heylin's Ref, 90. Fuller, Bk. VII. p.'402. Burnet, H. 242, 243 ; HI. 303. Cii. III.] THE FIRST PURITAN. 33 the Church, had summoned Hooper before them, hoping to obviate his scruples.^ The Comicil-chamber was hung around with tap- estry of Arras, whose inwoven figures, set m gor- geous colors, formed a striking contrast to all else in the apartment, save the personal apparel of the company and the decorations of the royal seat. The floor, indeed, had its rare luxury of carpet ; but there were only rude oaken chairs, and a long, massive oaken table for the accommodation of the lords, at one end of which sat King Edward beneath the canopy of state. His chair was covered with crim- son damask, and richly ornamented ; and before him, upon the table, lay a cushion of crimson velvet, bound with edging of gold. He wore a velvet cap, plumed and jewelled, and a gold chain about his neck. His gown, of scarlet striped with gold, de- scended to his knees, and was confined about the waist by a white-satin sash. The sleeve, with a golden clasp at the wrist, was open to the shoulder, exposing an under-sleeve of rich white satin. His hose and shoes were of scarlet satin.^ On his right hand sat Lord St. John, the President of the Coun- cil, the most distinguished of whom were Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Tonstal, the Bishop of Duresme (or Durham), the Earl of Southampton, the Marquis of Northampton, and the Earl of War- wick, afterwards created Duke of Northumberland, and noted as father-in-law of the unfortunate Lady Jane Grey. Against the Duke of Somerset, the cabals of his associates had been so far successful, * Burnet, III. 304. - Strickland's Queens of Eng., V. 41, 42. VOL. I. 5 34 THE FIKST PURITAN. [Ch. III. that he had been deprived of the Protectorship and committed to the Tower, though recently hb- erated and now of the Privy Council.^ The young king's face, usually mild and winning, was slightly ruffled and flushed. " It hath pleased us," said he, addressing himself with some spirit to Doctor Hooper, "to issue letters under our royal seal appointing you to our bishopric of Gloucester. We have not proffered you this sacred dignity for your own sake, but for Christ's ; for the sake of the Church which is his body; that the gifts of God that are in you may have larger range. And now you demur! We are told that you do scruple the oath and the vestments of a bishop. We do take it grievously, reverend father." " My gracious liege," replied Hooper, " I honor and love my king -, I would hve and die for the Church. I humbly crave — hath your Grace's Highness con- sidered the bishop's oath of supremacy ? " " Marry ! no ; save that it doth avouch the king to be head of the English Church; and that, we trow. Doctor Hooper will not gainsay. Prithee! reverend father, what be the matter with the oath ? and what be the matter with the vestments ? You mislike both, yet you be no Papist. Tell us, in plain English, your mislikings." ^ " I thank God," said Hooper, looking upward, and in a tone of impressive solemnity, "that I answer to a prince whose understanding is above his years, and who respecteth the honest misgivings of the weakest Christian. Imprimis, I demur to the oath ^ Burnet, 11. 215 - 226. Hume, ^ Burnet, III. 303. rr. 492-494. Cii. III. I THE FIRST PURITAN. 35 of supremacy. I cannot take it with a good con- science." The king, the prelates, the secular nobles — all started at this announcement, and looked at Doctor Hooper and at one another as if doubtmg their own ears ; for although it was known that he took exceptions to the oath, no one was prepared for his refusal of it. After a brief silence, the king, glancing around the circle, said half jocosely, " My Lords, our elect bishop is in some rare humor to day. We might dream him playful were not the occasion so grave. We wait till he unriddle his words." " Nay, nay, your Majesty," rejoined Hooper eager- ly, " I be open and serious as befitteth the occasion. It be not for lack of loyalty, or for cavil at the king's supremacy, that I do scruple the oath; but for store of conscience. I do of a truth mislike that by the oath one sweareth to conform to what he knoweth not of; to whatever the king's highness may perchance alter in religion, — wliich to my seeming maketh so much of his certain rightness as belongeth only to God. Howbeit, for my so great trust m your Majesty's known and sure rev- ence for God's Word, and for that the oath bindeth only to your Majesty's life — which God preserve ! — and not to another's, this I yield. Nevertheless, there remaineth that in the substance and fomi of the oath which toucheth not your Majesty's godly honesty, and of which I confess a very reverent jealousy. Doth it not savor of dishonor to God? Doth not the appeal of it put his creatures as his peers? Its words be, ^So help me God, and all 36 THE FIKST PURITAN. [Ch. III. his angels and saints.'^ A Papist will appeal to angels and saints to witness his sincerity, and grant him help. But to me it seemeth impious." "Is that so?" said Edward gravely, and half doubtingly. At the same time he signalled to the Archbishop for a book which lay before him. There was not a whisper or a movement around the Coun- cil-board while the king, opening the leaves, looked at the oath, pressed his hand upon his brow as was his wont when burdened with matters of moment, and was absorbed in silent thought. At last, taking a pen, he deliberately drew it across the objectionable words,^ and exclaimed, '^ 3Ia foil shall we harbor Romish blasphemy, my Lords? No creature is to be ajDpealed to in an oath!" Then, passing the book : " There ! Doctor Hooper cannot object now. We commend your scruples, and are beholden for the opening of our eyes." "I was right," replied Hooper in a tone of glad- ness, "in trusting to your Majesty's discernment. I object not to the oath, so changed." " Non) you will be a bishop ! " and the young king's ingenuous face sparkled. But the next in- stant, catching the expression of Hooper's eye, his countenance fell. "Hold! we bethmk you spake of the sacred vestments," "Please your Majesty, the laws of the Church require a bishop to be consecrated, and to officiate in garments which, I ween, become not an office so holy." \ I rely on Fuller's citation of Burnet, III. 305, Carte, HI. 253, this oath (Worthies, III. 92, 93), as and Neal, I. 52, it is very odd. the only one which I find having - Burnet, HI. 305. Brook, I. 7, 8. evidence of sense. As stated in Carte, IQ. 253. P. S. Memoir, xii. Cn. III.] THE FIRST PURITAN. 37 "Mis-be-come — the office !" exclaimed the kmg, m deUberate amazement. " Mis-be-come — the office ! Heaven forefend!" "To my thinkmg, gracious Idng, their fashion mal-suiteth the ministers of Christ." " Odds my life, sir ! art nice on the cut of a surplice, a chimere, a rochet?" '' God forbid ! " rej)lied Hooper devoutly ; " but it seemeth to me that our array should be suiting the simplicity of the Gospel." '• Good father, it hath always been in use." " By your Highness's favor, not so. These vest- ments are the inventions of men, introduced into the Church in its corruptest ages. The bishops' wearing of these white rochets began first of Sisi- mius, a heretic bishop of the Novatians ; and these other have the like foundation. They have no countenance, methinks, in the New Testament, or in the usage of the primitive Christians. But they have been so long continued, and pleased Popery, which is beggarly patched up of all sorts of ceremo- nies, that they could never be rooted out smce, even from many professors of the truth." " Heigh-ho ! My lord of Canterbury, is that so ? " Cranmer was a princely Christian -, his errors, like chance rents in a royal robe ; his rare and sterling virtues, lU^e a diadem on a royal brow. His body perished at the stake. So, perhaps, perish some of his deeds ^ when tried as by fire ; but his good- ^ In penning these words, I had sign a warrant for the burning of reference to the charge against Joan Boucher, otherwise called Joan Cranmer, of vehemently urging, and of Kent. I have since met with a prevailing with, the young king to paragraph in the Parker Society's 18 THE FIRST PURITAN. [Ch. III. ness — lil^e his heart, unscathed and entire in his ashes ^ — survives the test. In the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, he shone as a hght m the world. Surrounded by men of the Biograpliical Notice of Roger Hutch- inson (pp. iv., v.), to wliicli I refer with jileasnre as removing this stig- ma from the name of Cranmer. It would seem from the very records of Council, that King Edward had nothing whatever to do with signing the death-warrant ; but the Council only. Hallam, in referring to this paragraph in the Memoir of Hutch- inson, says, " Perhaps it is better that the whole anecdote should vanish from history " ; yet he retains it in his own text. "A warrant, dated April 27th, was issued by order of Council to the Lord Chancellor, to make out a writ to the Sheriff of London for her execution. These are the words of the Council Book. The Arch- bishop of Canterbury was not then present at the Council Board." — Strype's Memorials, HI. 335. See also IV. 183, 184. Lingard (\TI. 74, note) replies to Strype thus : " But that he " (Cranmer) " was present, and ac- tually pronounced the judgment, appears from his own Register, folio 74, 5." This counter statement is, at first view, perplexing. But a satisfactory answer has been politely furnished to me by Professor C. C. Jewett, of the Boston City Library, in the words following : — " I have examined the note of Lingard (VII. 74), to which you have called my attention. It seems to me plain that he confounds the proceedings of two entirely distinct tribunals respecting Joan of Kent ; namely, those of the Commissioners appointed ' ad inquirendum super hseretica pravitate,' and those of the Privy Council. " The Conmiissioners sentenced Joan to excommunication, and de- livered her over to the secular arm, on the 15th of April, 1549. The Council, a year afterwards, 27th April, 1550, signed the warrant for her execution. " Cranmer was a member of both bodies. He was present witlt the Commissioners, and signed their sen- tence against Joan. This appears by his Register, folio 74, 5. He was not present with the Council when the warrant was issued for her execution. This appears by the entry in the Council Book, which is quoted in the Biographical Notice of Roger Hutchinson, jirefixed to his Works, published by the Parker So- ciety, p. v., note. "Strype asserted that Cranmer 'was not present at her condem- nation, as appears by the Council Book,' that is, at her condemna- tion to death by the Council. To this Lingard replies, ' that he was present, and actually pronounced the judgment, appears from his own Register, folio 74, 5.' But Cran- mer's Register contains, in the pas- sage referred to, the proceedings ^ Fox, H. 99. Fuller's Worthies, H. 570. Cii. III.] THE FIRST PURITAN. 39 fiercest passions, he had ever been mild and gentle ; often disarming, by a look or a word, the jealousy and wrath of a most despotic prince. Among men whose greatest aim and daily craft was dissimulation, he was ingenuous and guileless as a child. He never cloaked an opinion, disowned a friend, or denied forgiveness of a wrong. "The way to get his favor was — to do him an injury." It had passed into a common proverb, "Do unto my lord of Canterbury displeasure, or a shrewd turn, and then you may be sure to have him your friend while he liveth." He had stood godfather to him who was now his liege in church and state,^ and had cherished for him alike the love of a father and the reverence of a subject. The youthful monarch's words, " My lord of Canterbury, is it so ? " were, therefore, hke an appeal to an oracle. He was now sixty years of age ; his figure erect, venerable, apostolic ; his head, bald ; his beard, — for no razor had come upon it since Henry's death, — of the finest texture, white and long. Wlien such an one spake in the Council of the nation, he was a bold man who could speak against him.^ of the Commissioners, and not those by Lingard is copied in full in of the Council. It gives nothing Wilkins's Concilia, IV. 42, 43." of the proceedings of the Council, The inquisitive reader will be which ' appear by the Council repaid by comparing this opinion of Book,' and are alluded to by Strype. Professor Jewett with the Biograph- "It may be proper to add, that ical sketch of Roger Hutcliinson, the Registers of the Archbishops of referred to above, and written by Canterbury from A.D. 1278 to 1747 John Bruce, Esquire, arc in manuscript, and are preserved ^ Strype's Cranmer, 142. Col- in the Lambeth Library, in 68 vols, lier, V. 177. The continuations are in the Vicar- ^ Fox, HI. 637, 671. Strype's General's Office in Doctors' Com- Cranmer, 429. Burnet, I. 403, 528 ; mons. But the passage referred to 11.521-523. 40 THE FIRST rURITAN. [Ch. III. To the king's question he honestly repHed : " My gracious Hege, I cannot gainsay it. Yet, methinks, the vestments so long sanctioned by the Church, and still enjoined by her laws, should be respected and retained by her clergy. They have descended to us through many generations." " Our venerable Primate answereth truly," replied Hooper. " Yet the usage of generations is not suf- ficient warrant in religious matters." " r faith ! this be an odd question and a new," said Edward. "We marvel at it. Talk it out; talk it out, reverend sirs. We would understand it." " I do humbly conceive, an it please your Majesty," said the ArchbishojD, " that in matters of faith, tradi- tion is not authority. But touching rites and cere- monies, long usage seemeth a good argument for their continuing." " Such a rule reacheth too far for our use," replied Hooper. "It bringeth his Grace under doom; it bringeth your Majesty under doom; it bringeth us all under doom; — for we have abolished offering incense to images and praying to saints, which are Popish rites as old as Popish garments. An the garments ought to be retained because they are old, why not incense to images, and prayers to saints ? " " They be idolatrous and sinful," rejoined Cranmer. "So, I aver, are sacrificial robes on our clergy," retorted the bishop elect ; " for they utter a lie and suppose an idol. I beseech your Majesty to consider this," he continued with earnestness. "These gar- ments of the clergy be the scarlet woman's livery. Avaunt with her badges!" Cii. Ill] THE FIRST PURITAN. 41 "The cope, the surplice, the cap, the tippet, are enjoined by the rules of the Church," said Cranmer, " and therefore ought to be used ; for in themselves they are neither good nor bad. Even if not exactly befitting, they be at least lawful, and required by our laws; therefore they ought not to be refused. That they have been used, or even abused, by the Romish Church, toucheth not the question. We use them in a holy service. We use them for God's honor, and in God's temple. ' The temj)le sanctifieth the gold; the altar, the gift,' said Christ. So our holy service sanctifieth the garments." " Certes ! doth not his Grace speak discreetly ? " said Edward, turning to Hooper. "Surely, your Majesty would not have me beg clothes from the Devil's vestry to serve God in ! " " By our halidom, man ! thou 'rt mad sure ! " exclaimed the kins; in amazement. " An it j)lease your Majesty, I '11 e'en sa}^, like Paul, I am not mad, most noble sovereign, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. His Grace of Canterbury saitli that the garments of the clergy be neither good nor bad. In good sooth, he be right. But, an I dispense the sacraments of Christ in a Moslem turban, and wearing on my clerk's robe the Moslem crescent, would not your Majesty then think me mad ? Would not you judge me to be profaning the service of Christ? "Would not the people tear me in pieces? Might I say. The turban and the crescent are neither good nor bad? Might I say. The temple sanctifieth the turban, — the altar, the crescent? Might I say. The crescent is as good as the cross? God forbid! 42 THE FIRST PURITAN. [Ch. IU. But why not ? Because the turban and the crescent are badges and symbols of an accursed reHgion, and they \vill remain so, though the Church do make a thousand laws contrarient.-^ Yet in itself, the turban is nothing; in itself, the crescent is nothing. If, then, I minister in a Eomish scarf and a Romish cope, what do I better? They too are badges and symbols of a false religion." King Edward passed his hand slowly across his brow, and said, with a sigh, " On my life ! what shall a youth do when the doctors differ? God help us ! " "Amen ! " responded Hooper. " My gracious liege, it is fit, I ween, that the ministers of the cross be so clad as to designate their ofhce. I would that they should be. But I would have them clad as becometh the Gospel, not m the imiform of the Pope ; as becometh the doctrine of the Gospel, not the doc- trine of devils." "Prithee, good doctor, what next?" asked the king, nervously. " The doctrine of devils in a bish- op's robes ! Your meaning, reverend sir ? " "With all humility and honesty, my liege. The garments required by the rules of the Church are more than the symbols of a false faith. They are badges of a priesthood. Aaron was a priest, offer- ing the sacrifice of atonement foreshadowing that of Christ. His robes were part of the ceremony of sacrifice ; peculiar to his priestly office ; and proper, because aj^pointed by God himself But the priesthood of Aaron is done away by Christ's sacrifice of himself once for all. The like Ijadsres, ^i=>^"y Compare Strype's Annals, Vol. TV. Appendix, Bk. I. No. XII. Cu. III.J THE FIRST PURITAN. 43 adopted by the Church of Rome, have impHed a Hke sacrificing act by those who have worn them. They have impKed a sacrificial atonement in the Lord's Supper; which is a He and a blasphemy. They have implied that the elements of the Supper were very God, and to be adored as God ; which is abominable idolatry and a doctrine of devils. Thus the garments helong, not to the pure worship of God, but to idol-worship. They are a part of it." " Wliich argueth too much," interposed Cranmer ; "for a former abuse of these vestments is no better reason for taking away their use, than it is to throw down churches, or take away bells, because they >^ have been used for the idolatries and false doctrines of ^Rome. Would Doctor Hooper deal with these two, as he proposeth to deal with the episcopal gar- ments? Why not?" "As fast as either one of you taketh his stand like a man, the other trippeth him up," exclaimed the young monarch. "How now, good Doctor Hooper?" "An it please your Majesty," replied Hooper, " the whole truth is not yet told. I have said, that the vestments be symbols of Antichrist. I have said, that they have been abused to idolatry. I now say, that they JDe yet abused to idolatry, and will continue to be ; which is not true of churches or bells. They who be not yet weaned from the idol doctrine of transubstantiation, be sustained therein by the use of garments which do denote a priesthood and a sacrifice. Albeit they be only dumb rags, they be written all over, ' Mass ! Mass ! ' More- over, the people do still think them to have a 44 THE FIRST PURITAN. [Cu. III. magical effect upon the iDread and the wine of the /* Supper, as transforming the elements into Christ, to be worshipped and sacrificed afresh as their pro- pitiation. In using the garments, we do therefore cherish their superstition and invite their idolatry. Besides, they fancy that there resideth in this Aaronical gear a sanctifying property which giveth efficacy to the prayers, so that prayers or any other divine service would be vain without them. In fine, your Highness, they regard them with religious awe and reverence, as if even the garments themselves did partake of divine holiness, — just as they have regarded images, and such like, which, for that very reason, your Majesty hath removed from the churches.^ In your royal father's day, there Avere certain pretended relics, — quantities of the Virgin Mary's milk, shrined in no less than eight different places ; the coals which roasted Saint Lawrence ; a bottle of the darkness of Egypt; the spear — half a score of them, I trow — that pierced our Saviour. Then there was the Jlood of Boxley, commonly called the Rood of Grace, an old rotten stock wherein a man should stand enclosed, with an hundred wires within the Rood to make the image goggle with the eyes, to nod with the head, to hang the lip, to move and shake his jaws, according as the value was of the gift offered to it. If it were a small piece of silver, he would hang a frowning Up and pout ; if it were a piece of gold, then would his jaws go merrily.^ There was also the Rood ^ Stow, 595. Heylin's Kef., 42. one Nicholas Patridge. Tlie image - " The Rood of Boxley, a fraud was exhibited with its wheel-work of machinery detected, in 1538, by at Maidstone and London, to the Cii. III.] THE FIRST PURITAN. 45 of Bermondsey Abbey in Southwark, which did i^ behave after the same marvellous flishion. To all these things the people did render reUgious homage, and therefore they were destroyed; the Koods, in JxT the very year of your Majesty's birth, — fit omen, God grant! of yom' Majesty's reign.-^ IftheidoHzmg of fantastical relics and impostures in King Henry's day, and the idolizing of images in your Majesty's day, — all which things were in themselves neither good nor bad, — be counted good reason for their destruction, may I not in good faith scruple to wear, in Christ's name, a garment which also is idolized? ''' But the laws of the Church require the rochet, the chimere, and the crosier, and God's Word doth not forbid them. Be it so. Nor doth God's Word require them ; and it be my most solemn conviction, that in religion the Church hath no right to require, nor we a right to adopt, any custom which hath religious significance or effect, and which hath not the very warrant and sanction of the Scripture. Master Calvin's rule be a godly one and discreet, — that in carrying on the work of a reformation, there is not anything to be exacted which is not warranted and required by the Word of God ; that in such cases there be no rule left for worldly wisdom, but all things are to be ordered only as infinite amusement of all classes, tonistment, seized the people, and It liad been famous for ages aU mortification at having been cheated, over England ; and people came A great outcry was raised ; the idol y from the most distant parts of the was pulled about, broken in pieces, country to gaze at it. By order and burnt." — Knight's London, I. of Council, it was brought to Paul's 47, 48, Lond. edit. 1851. Cross and elevated to public view. ^ Fox, 11. 512. Heylin's Eef., 9, (Stow, 575.) Admiration, rage, as- 10. Neal, I. 35. Hume, 11. 393. 46 THE FIRST PURITAN. [Ch. III. directed by God's will revealed.-^ Moreover, there be that of richness and pomp in the episcopal rai- ment which dazzleth the eyes of the j^eople, and breaketh their devoutness; which would not be, were the habit plain and in Gospel simphcity. Albeit my conscience be weak, I pray your Majesty to favor it. Spare me, gracious prince, from doing in God's name what I think doth cherish idolatry in others. God grant you to see this as I see it; for upon whatever your Majesty ordaineth, being supreme head on earth of the English Church, de- pendeth the soul-weal of your subjects. And thus I lay my prayer at your Majesty's feet."^ Thus did Hooper plead against those relics of Popery which the Reforming Church of England had retained. Nor was his pleading without effect ; the King and Council, not excepting the Archbishop, felt the force of his reasoning, and were disposed to yield. But others, particularly Ridley, Bishop of London, and Goodrick, Bishop of Ely, insisted that God regardeth not the outward appearance ; that the fashion of a garment is a matter of utter indif- ference as a question of right or wrong ; and that, therefore, the laws concerning the vestments ought to be insisted upon. Under these embarrasments, Hooper obtained, and presented with his own hands to Cranmer, a letter from the Earl of Warwick, dated July 23d, interceding that the rules of the Church might be 1 Heylin's Presb., Bk. \^. Sec. 3. Worthies, IH. 93. ColUer, V. 388- ^ For the several points made 390. Pierce, 44. Burnet, 11. 243. between Cranmer and Hooper, see Neal, I. 47, 51, 52. Parker Society's Strype's Cranmer, 213. Fuller's Biog. Sketch of Hooper, xii. Ch. III.] THE FIRST PURITAN. 47 waived ; to which the Archbishop objected in reply, that he could not disj^ense with the rules without being in danger of the penalty of a p^wmmiire. Hooper then petitioned the Idng that he might be excused from the ceremonial orders, or be discharged of his bishopric. The first, Edward immediately granted ; at the same time writing to Cranmer, August 5tli, warranting him as follows : " From consecrating of whom, we understand you do stay, because he would have you omit certain Rites and Ceremonies offensive to his conscience, whereby ye thinkej you should fall in Prasmunire of Laws : We have thought good by advice of Our Councel aforesaid, to dispense, and discharge you of all manner of dangers, penalties, and forfeitures you should run into, and be in any manner of way, by omitting any of the same. And these Our Letters shall be your sufficient warrant, and discharge there- fore. Given under Our Siarnet, at our Castle of ^ Windsor, the fourth year of Our Reign." But here was no command to j^i'oceed in the premises; and the bishops still held their position. They objected, that Hooper was unreasonably scru- pulous about trifles ; that " the fault was in the abuse of the things, and not in the things themselves " ; that dispensing with the required apparel would reflect odium upon the Church which required it ; that a law should not be lightly suspended to hu- mor an individual; that, although they themselves wished the pomp of the episcopal habits were done aAvay, yet dispensing with an existing law would be a bad precedent and have bad consequences ; but especially, that the king's private will, although 48 THE FIRST PURITAN. [Ch. III. sanctioned by advice of Council and by the royal seal, conld not free them from the obligations and penalties of his public will, as expressed in the laws.^ Ridley held warm and repeated discussions with Hooper upon the question at issue. The controversy became an exciting one. Foreigners were enlisted in it ; — Peter Martyr, of the University of Oxford ; Martin Bucer, of Cambridge; Bullinger and Gual- ter, in Switzerland ; John Alasco and Micronius, in London.^ The two latter encouraged Hooper in ^ Fox, ni. 146, 147. Strype's Cranmer, 211. Fuller, Bk. VII. p. 403. Heylin's Ref., 90, 91 ; Presb., Bk. VI. Sec. 7. Camden's Elizab., 309. Collier, V. 387. Burnet, 11. 245, 24G; in. 304-306. Carte, III. 253. Neal, I. 52. Parker Society's Mem. of Hooper, xii., xiii. ^ These foreigners residing in England merit more tlian tlie pass- ing notice in the text. Soon after the accession of Edward, Martin Bucer, Peter Martyr, and others, had been invited by Cranmer to take refuge in England from the religious jiersecution to which they were exposed in Germany. Bucer and Martyr were appointed teach- ers of evangelical doctrines in the Universities ; the former, at Cam- bridge; the latter, at Oxford. (Fox, n. 654. Ilolingshed, IV. 742, 743. Heylin's Presb., Bk. VI. Sec. 2. Strype's Cranmer, 196-198. Strj-pe's Whitglft, 389. N. Eng. Hist, and Gen. Register, V. 150.) Tliere were many other Protes- tant refugees in England, from France and Germany. Among them, Valeran Polan, who had fled from Strasburg, "a man of great worth and integrity " ; and John Alas- co (or a Lasco), uncle to the king of y^ Poland. (Fox, in. 40.) For a full account of these men and their position in England, see Strype's Cranmer, Bk. II. Chapters XXH., XXni. ; Heylin's Kef, 89 ; and Hey- lin's Presb., Bk. VI. Sec. 4. In 1550, through the influence of Cecil, Cheeke, and Cranmer, these strangers were allowed to form distinct religious congregar- tions. "John Alasco stipulated for a secure retreat and competent pro- vision for himself and flock ; assuring the Duke of Somerset that it would introduce new trade and gainful yL manufacture. He desired that they might be incorporated by the king's letters patent, with certain privi- leges; and obtained a pension of one hundred pounds a year, with a patent of naturalization for him- self, his wife, and children. A charter was passed, July 24th, con- stituting the German refugees a body corporate, under the direction of Alasco their superintendent" (bishop) " and four other ministers, with power to increase their num- bers and choose theii- successors, if Ch. III.] THE FIRST PURITAN. 49 hip refusal. The others, unwillmg that a preacher of so much worth should be silenced, and that scandal of quarrel should pertam to the cause of the Reformation, advised him to suffer the ecclesias- tical vestments while required by law, although they also regarded them as unchristian inventions. Hooper, however, continued of the same mind ; while the bislioi:)S would neither consent to release him from offi.ce, nor to consecrate him w ithou t the by him or his deputies, of the Lord's prayer, the articles of their faith, and the ten commandments,) then he himself sat down to dinner, and not before."^ Such was the pioneer of the English Puritans. ^ Fox, ni. 148. CHAPTER IV. THE MARIAN EXILES. The Hanse Towns. — Exiles arrive at Frankfort. — Their kind Recep- tion. — Character and Death of Edward VI. — Further Reform dur- ing HIS Reign. — Valeran Polan and Whittingham. — Escape of the Party from England. — Valeran offers his Services. — A Place of Worship secured to the Strangers. — The Lutherans abhor the English. — Calvinists welcome them. — Contributions for the Exiles. — They write to their Fellow-Exiles. — John Knox. — Lowering Clouds. — Deputation from Strasburg. — Gbindal and Knox discuss King Edward's Book. 1554. The celebrated Hanseatic League originated with Liibec and Hamburg, about the close of the twelfth century. It soon embraced many other cities in Europe, all situated upon navigable waters, and comj)rised in the general name of " The Hanse Towns," or " Easterlings." They were associated, under laws enacted by themselves in general rep-, resentative assemblies, for commercial purposes and for mutual defence against the pirates who then infested the Northern seas. They secured for them- selves many valuable privileges in different coun- tries; contended vigorously for the liberties and rights essential to jDrosperous commerce ; sustained successful wars against several monarchs, or formed alliances with them; and became the most pow- erful confederacy of the kind known in history. This League, which was not dissolved until 1G30, Ch. IV.] THE MARIAN EXILES. 57 was at about the height of its greatness at the time of which we write.^ Frankfort on the Maine was then one of the Hanse Towns, a busy mart, and its river a thoroughfare. On the 27th of June, 1554,^ from one of the merchant-craft which had just arrived at Frankfort, there came on shore a company whose personal appearance marked them as foreigners and wander- ers. They looked at the various objects around tlicm with that diffident interest peculiar to persons in a strange country, and had the look of mild dejection which belongs to the homeless but unre- pining. They soon found their way, with their scanty effects, to a neighboring hostelry. The court- yard and public room were filled with men, mules, merchandise, and wassail; but the strangers were welcomed with true German hospitality to retired and comfortable apartments. " Poor or not poor," said the host to one of them by whom he was engaged in private conversation, — " poor or not poor, I will have my pay to the last mite, sir. But I will get it from the Master, sir. It will be enough if he say unto me in that day, '■ Fritz ! when you did it unto the least of my brethren, you did it unto me.' Do 3^ou think I will risk his saying, ' I was hungry, and you gave me no meat ; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink ; I was a stranger, and you took me not in ' ? Besides, sir, have not the English given shelter and food and raiment to the ^ Hume, II. 500 ; HI. Appendix Note 30, p. 55G. Gazetteer, word ni. Bobertson's Charles V. (New Hanse. York edit. 1829), Sec. I. p. 41, and ^ " Discours," p. 5. VOL. I. 8 58 THE MARIAN EXILES. [Ch. IV. poor German Protestants whom the Emperor forced to flee ? and shall we Germans take money from the English for the same ? -^ God forbid ! Not a stiver, sir; not a stiver. Ye are all welcome to what ye can find nnder Fritz Hansen's roof, until ye can find one more to your mind." "But, mine host," replied the stranger, "we are not destitute. I only spake of our poverty, that you might understand — " " Not one word about it," interrupted the German ; " not one w^ord. Thank God ! ye are not yet des- titute. But if ye had all India in your purses, sir, it were all the same to Fritz Hansen. Are ye not sheep fleeing from the wolf? They are all wolves that be- long to Eome, sir. Tliey come by it naturally, too ; for the man that begun Rome was suclded by a wolf" The stranger had the appearance of a gentleman, and a man of letters, and was the more interesting to his new acquaintance for the manliness and good heart with which he carried himself under circumstances so depressing. He smiled at Fritz's philosophy about the Pajoal appetite for blood ; which emboldened the garriflous old man to say, " As I do not often find one of your countrymen who speaks our tongue, pray tell me, sir, about aflairs in England. You sjDcak German very well." " I learned it four years ago, when I travelled in France and Germany. I returned home only about a year since, just before King Edward's death." ^ " He was a hearty Protestant, sir." " Indeed he was ; a youth of so godly a disposition ^ McCrie, 98. Historical and Genealogical Reg- - Neal, I. 14'). New England ister, V. 1.50. Ch. IV.] THE MARIAN EXILES. 59 toward virtue and the truth of God, that none passed him, and none of his years did ever match him." 1 " Ay, ay, sir ; for it was a fresh young heart, and no one had bruised it. Bat me thinks the fame of his genius must have been hke a rolhng ball of snow. Pray, sir, dost know the truth?" " Rmnor could hardly lie about him, mine host. Nature gave him a large brain, and he did not use it daintily. He did love play as well as any youth, before the -cares of the kingdom fell upon him ; but he did love study as well. For knowledge of tongues, he did seem rather born than brought up. He was skilled, too, in music, and in philosophy, and in affairs of state. He could tell all the havens, not only in his own realm, but in Scotland, and like- wise in France, and knew the channels and sound- ings of each one, and how served the tide and the wind for entrance. He could talk understandingly about the coining of money, about exchange, and commerce, and fortifications, and foreign affairs, with any of his chiefest men, or with the ambassadors at his Court. He always took notes of the doings of his Council, and of the sermons of his j)reachers. Withal, he had so great a respect for justice, and especially for poor men's suits, that he would have fixed times and order with Doctor Cox, his Master of Eequests, that they might be sped in their causes ; and he took great pains himself that the}^ might be judged with equity."^ ^ McCric, 79, note. Burnet, III. 298. Strype's ]\Iemo- ^ Fox, U. 652-654. Rapin, II. rials. III. 426, 523, lY. 4 9, 126. 25, note. Carte, III. 279, 280. 60 THE MARIAN EXILES. [Ch. IV. " Some such things," said Fritz, " I have heard, but doubted. Truly, sir, he was a wondrous youth. Most, that he did care for the poor, which few princes do. In that, of a surety, he did lay up treasure in heaven ; for the Book saith, ' Blessed is he that considereth the poor.' " '^^ He considered them to his dying day. He set on foot several foundations to relieve those of London ; and when he subscribed his private gift of four thousand marks a year for one of them, he dropped his pen, lifted his pale face toward heaven, and said, in the f)resence of his Council, ^ Lord ! I give thee thanks that thou hast given me life thus long to finish this work to the glory of thy name ! ' Two days afterwards, he went to heaven.-^ In truth he was a miracle of a youth for capacity, for good- ness, for beauty of person, for sweetness of disposi- tion, and for lustre of aspect."^ " So young, and so eager to do good, — was he not loth to die, sir?" " Nay, my friend. A right heart always has its own way; for it wraps uj) all its child-wishes, as Christ did his, with ' Thj will be done.' The day on which our good jirince died, he whispered words which showed that he was not loth." " What words, good sir ? " " As nearly as I can remember what was told me, they were these : ' Lord God ! deliver me out of this miserable and wretched life, and take me among ^ Stow's Survey of London, 592- contemptuously, as "a ■weak-minded 597. Burnet, II. 352. boy." The same writer calls Queen * Once only, among all the vol- Elizabeth " an old flirt." (Taylor, times which I have examined, I I. 48, 94.) have found Edward VI. spoken of Cu. IV] THE MARIAN EXILES. 61 thy chosen. Howbeit, not my will, but thy will, be done. Lord ! I commit my spirit to thee ! Lord ! thou knowest how happy it were for me to be with thee ; yet for thy chosen sake send me life and health, that I may truly serve thee. my Lord God ! bless thy people and save thine inherit- ance. Lord ! save thy chosen people of England. my Lord God ! defend this realm from Papistry, and maintain thy true religion, that I and my people may praise thy holy name, for thy Son Je- sus Christ's sake.' Three hours after, he exclaimed, ^ I am faint ! Lord ! have mercy upon me, and take my spirit ! ' And thus he yielded up the ghost, leav- ing a woful kingdom to his sister."^ " Yes, sir, a kingdom full of woe, with such a sister. But it was a happy death. Pray, sir, had he swept your Church clean of Popery ? " "No. But he did all that he could, though not all that he intended. He meant to have had religion in England like the religion of the French or the Swiss Protestants, had his life been spared." ^ " And now all that he did is undone ! " exclauned the joublican. " Instead of a good young king, you have a bloody-minded Papist queen ! " "It is too true," replied the Englishman, mourn- fully. " All Protestants are fortunate who can es- cape from her. My company and myself have come to save our lives, and to worship God in peace. We hope to earn our living, and to have j^ermission to worship in Frankfort." "Just thirty years ago, Frankfort embraced the Reformed rehgion," replied Fritz ; " and by authority ' Fox, II. 787. Burnet, IT. 356. ■ See note, ante, p. 49. 62 THE MARIAN EXILES. [Ch. IV. of her magistrates abolished the Mass and other sii- j)erstitions of Popery ; ^ and never yet has she refused home and kindness to persecuted Protestants." " Ha ! " exclaimed the other, musing ; "just thirty years ! Frankfort was born into the Keformation in the very year that I was born into the world.^ I will claim refuge of her, then, as my twin in some sort. Are there any English Protestants here now ? " "I think not, sir. There are French Protestants, and they have a church." " And ministers ? " " Three or four, sir ; and one of them is an Eng- lishman. No, — I mistake. He has lived in England, but he is a Fleming born." " Thank God ! " exclaimed the other ; " surely he Avill befriend us ! His name, good Fritz ? " " Befriend ye ! Why, sir, the man knows what it is to be an exile ; and as for brotherly kindness, sir, he hath been to two of the best schools to learn it, — the school of Christ and the school of England ; and he knows all about it, sir. Yaleran Polan - — that is his name, sir — learned his lessons well." After a little silence and a little murmuring to himself in English, the stranger said : " I certainly have heard the name in England, but further my memory faileth me. Just as I was leaving for my travels, four years ago, there were foreign Protestants there petitioning the king for privileges of domicile, religion, and handicraft, which he granted. As soon as Queen Mary was acknowledged, they were all ordered to leave the kingdom.^ I think he must 1 Eobertson's Charles V., 183. ^ Fox, III. 40. Strype's Cran- ' Neal, I. 145. mer. Neal. Cii. IV.] THE MARIAN EXILES. 63 have been one of their ministers. I must see this Master Valeran, mine host. But the day waneth, and. we are all weary. So I will rest the night; and in the morning, wilt help me find him ? " . " With all my heart ; with all my heart. And now go to your friends and be happy. I must jjut the women to work and the turnspit, — the lazy loons ! We must all eat, sir ; and in this country, it is very needful." The warm-hearted old man bustled away, to make preparations for the refreshment of his guests; and the stranger went to cheer his companions with his good tidings. While yet the controversy with Hooper was in progress, the Privy Council, true to the gradually progressive policy^ of the king and Cranmer, had made one imjDortant change. The dogma of a fresh proj)itiatory sacrifice of the real body and blood of Christ in each solemnization of the Lord's Supper was implied and sustained by the presence of altars, from which the sacrament was served; for the reception and completion of a sacrifice is the dis- tinctive purpose of an altar. This the English Re- formers had perceived; and therefore, to wean the people from the notion of the corporal presence, and to turn them to the right use of the ordinance, it had been ordered that the altars in the churches should be removed, and that tables should be used in their stead. Other innovations had followed. The Liturgy had been again revised, and so improved as to disavow the bodily presence in the sacrament, ^ Burnet, II. 97. 64 THE MARIAN EXILES. [Ch. IV. and also any adoration of it in the act of kneeling when it was administered. It also omitted the doc- trine of Purgatory, which in the first Liturgy had been implied by prayers for departed souls; and it forbade the use of all copes and massing-vestments by the clergy. In the first and last of these changes the influence of Hooper's reasonings is apparent. Sundry other rites and ceremonies had been dropped ; and a Confession of Faith, in forty-two articles, — since reduced to thirty-nine, — had been framed, and had received the royal sanction. The bishoprics, too, had been generally filled with those friendly to the Reformation.^ To these innovations a great part of the nobility,^ and many of the chief gentry in the House of Com- mons, were opposed, being Eomanists in heart. The ordinary clergy generally, and some of the bishops, were averse to most of them. But a regard to their private estates — which would have been confiscated by opposition — prevailed with the disaffected no- bility and gentry ; and the jDi^mishment of Gardiner, the BishojD of Winchester, induced the clergy to compliance.^ The Reformers, to use their own words, "had gone as far as they could in reforming the Church, considering the times they lived in." Both Cran- mer and the king wished, and intended, a further reformation, — a still nearer approach to apostolical 1 Fox, II. G99, 700. Stow, 604, Burnet, II. 121, 252, 253, 2G4, 271. 608. Heylin's Ref., 95, 107, 108, Neal, I. 54. Hallam, 59 -62. 121. Heylin's Presb.,Bk. VI. Sec. 5. ^ Strype's Memorials, IV. 69. Collier, V. 420. Strype's Cranmer, ^ Heylin's Eef., 48. Rapin, H. 272;Memorials, IV. 21,24. Rapin, 11,21. Burnet, II. 112. Hallam, II. 21. Carte, III. 255, 268, 269. 62. Ch. IV.] THE MARIAN EXILES. 65 simplicity in worship, — should circumstances pemiit. They did not live to perfect their plan ; but had, to the last, avoided all abrupt and unnecessary violence to old prejudices, still seekmg " to prepare the people by little and little, that they might with more ease and less opposition admit the total alteration in the face of the Church which was intended."^ Edward had deceased at Greenwich on the Gth of July, 1553;^ and Queen Mary had no sooner made her triumphal entrance to the Tower of Lon- don, in August, than she gave signs of severity towards those of the Eeformed religion. In a few weeks, she had ordered the prompt departure of all foreign Protestants, and had given such other in- dications of her bloody pohcy, that hundreds of English — clergymen, noblemen, tradesmen, and common people — hastened to escape for their lives. The exiles had taken refuge in Strasburg, Zurich, Embden, and other places where the Reformed rehgion was established; but the comjjany whom we have introduced were the first English-born who had taken shelter in Frankfort.^ ^ Heylin'sRef., 34, 57. Carte, HI. but fall back entirely upon the 221. Burnet, 11. 97. Neal, I. 55, same original authority, — the only 56. Hume, 11. 463. one which is full and reliable, mi- ^ Cecil's Journal ; Murdin, 745. nute, documentary, and dispassion- ^ The sketches of the disturban- ate. From it I derive all the par- ces at Frankfort, which are given ticulars of those " Troubles," which by Strype, Collier, Pierce, and I have given in these two chapters ; others, are all derived from a book making references only to points commonly referred to under the not readily discoverable in the title of " The Troubles at Frank- " Discours " itself. Its true title is fort." Therefore, in my own ac- " A Brieff Discours off the troubles count, in this chapter and the next, begonne at Franckford in Germany I make no citations of the writers Anno Domini 1554. Abowte the mentioned, except in a few cases ; Booke off common prayer and Cere- VOL. I. 9 66 THE MARIAN EXILES. [Cii. IV. Fritz Hansen was evidently trying hard, not only to minister to the necessities of his guests, but to make them feel that they had found a home. He and his good wife made as much commotion in kitchen and lodging-rooms, were as loud and impor- tant towards their servants, as though they had been entertaining the family and retinue of a prince. It was not enough that the strangers were pressed with a bountiful meal ; Fritz insisted that they should join his family circle ; and leaving them there to while away the twilight of a mild summer evening by telling about their country, and enjoying the sympathy and wonder of their hostess and her gossips, he went away, he said, to the duties of his calling. But the evenmg had not far advanced^ when he broke m upon their quiet talk with a companion who wore a plain, scholar-like habit ; and turning his bright face to the guest with whom he had before conversed, and rubbing his hands with an air of intense glee, he said abruptly, " My good sir, I have found you Master Valeran Polan ; and, Master Valeran, this is — is — this is Master — " " Wliittingham," said the Englishman, extending his hand eagerly to the clergyman. monies," &c., &c. It was first England Historical and Genealogi- printed in 1575; reprinted in 1642; cal Register, V. 314, it is positiveli/ again, in the Phoenix, in 1707-8; ascribed to him, but without rea- and yet again, and from the origi- sons given. McCrie's reasoning is nal black-letter edition of 1575, by plausible; perhaps satisfactory. John Petheram, London, 1846, a As a part of Puritan history, copy of which edition is before me. the " Discours " is of great value ; In the Introduction to it is quoted but its value would be essentially an argument by Professor McCrie increased by exegetical and histor- of Edinburgh, to show that the writ- ical notes by some competent and er of the " Discours " was pi'obably painstaking editor. Whittingham himself In the New ' Discours, p. 5. Cu. IV.J THE MARIAN EXILES. 67 " This is very, veiy kind/' continued Wliittingham. " Master A^aleran, I thank you ; we all thank you." "Master Wliittingham is Avelcome, — welcome, — welcome," said the minister in English, and with a hearty grasp of the hand and a face beaming with benevolence. " The good Lord hath been kind in sending you to my friend Fritz." Master Valeran Polan looked inquiringly at the new faces before him, which Master Wilham Whitting- ham interpreting, he introduced him to his friends, — Master Edmond Sutton, Master William Williams, Master Thomas Wood, and " their companies," as the chronicler phrases it.^ Although personally un- kno^\^i to them, his name, as a worthy pastor of one of the refugee churches, was familiar to all but Wliittingham, whose travels 'had almost exactly coincided with A^aleran's residence in England. To avoid persecution under Charles V. in Strasburg, he had taken refuge in Glastenbury, in Somerset- shire, in 1550;^ and to avoid the like under Mary, he had taken second refuge in Frankfort, in the autumn of 1553. In each instance, like a good shepherd, he had taken his flock with him.^ Great was the joy of the new-comers to meet, in a strange city, one who spake their own language, and whom they could trust for counsel and friendly service. After congratulating them with true heartiness upon their safe arrival. Master Valeran inquired, " How did you get from England ? You could not come by passport of French people or of German people under color of being their servants ; for the ^ Discours, p. 5. * McCiie, 98, note. - Ante, pp. 48, 49, note. 68 THE MAEIAN EXILES. [Ch. IV. French and the Germans did all come last year. Why do you laugh?" he added, seemg smiles and significant looks around the circle. "Do I speak had English?" "No, no, good sir," answered Master Sutton. "We were laughing at Master Whittingham. He got us out of England. We were tliinking how he did it." "Did he do it laughably?" "It was in this way," answered Master Sutton. "While we were stoj)ping at Dover, our host would fain have us before the Mayor, to say who we were, and why we would cross the sea. This put us in great trouble, for doubtless it would have ended m our going to prison. Therefore we tried much to be rid of it. Whereupon the man insisted, and became angered. Master Whittingham, being will- ing to talli about anything else, pointeth him to a noble dog which lay there, and saith, ^Mine host, you have here a very fair greyhound.' 'Ay, ay,' saith he, 'a very fair greyhound indeed. He be of the queen's kind.' Whereat Master Whittingham did look very stern and fierce, and saith, ' Go to, sirrah ! Do you dare to speak foul words of her Majesty ! ' At which our host, much amazed, said he had spoken no foul words. ' Marry ! but you did,' saith our friend, ' and you shall answer for it. At a pretty pass be things in Dover, an a paltry inn-keeper may speak treason against our gracious queen and go unwhipt!' Wliereat he, becoming exceeding pale, exclaimeth, '• Treason ! God knoweth I speak no treason ! ' ^ Nay, but you did ; and my friends here be witnesses. In good sooth, my con- Cii. IV.] THE MARIAN EXILES. 69 science bicldeth me to your Mayor to report your speech. I Avarrant me he will sift your traitor heart. My company shall keep you while I do mine errand.' Upon which words the jDOor craven trembleth much, and saith very humbly, ^ Good sir, pray tell — ' ^ Nay, nay,' saith Master Whittingham, choking off his words, ^ peace with your traitor iongue ! ' ' But good sir, kind sir, dear sir,' saith the other, for he was growing very worshipful, ^ tell me, I pray, what treason ? ' ^ What treason ! what treason ! Enow to hang you, — to say that our sacred queen be of the dog kind ! No good subject will hear such words and hold his peace.' Whereat our poor host was in terrible fright; and Master Whittingham did scare him much more withal, until he was fain to spare us the Mayor, an we would spare him. And so we settled our quar- rel. That is the way, good sir, lue got out of Eng- land." 1 Master Valeran now laughed too ; and then spake of annoyances which he and his church had en- countered U]Don leaving England, and also of their good home in Frankfort. "My good friends," he then said, " I have told you of myself and of my people. Tell now, what Yaleran Polan can do for you." "We have little with us," said Master Whitting- ham. "We could not bring our fortunes." He himself, to preserve his religion and conscience, had left behind an estate of eleven hundred j^ounds sterling a year 5 a great estate in those times.^ " We ^ N. Eng. Hist, and Gen. Register, ^ Tjid. ; and 1 IMass. Hist. Soci- V. 150. ety's Collections, V. 206. 70 THE MAKIAN EXILES. [Ch. IV. must earn our daily bread and worship God. An you can help us to these, you will do us great favor." "With my biggest heart I shall try. What can be done first for the daily bread? I see Master Whittingham is one scholar. Tlie printers of Frank- fort will be glad to give work to you of reading their Latin and their Greek. Then you can say the French tongue and the German tongue, which will be great help. The Lord will provide for Master Whittingham; that is plain. And Master Williams and Master Sutton and Master Wood, and all, can find something to do in the like business, or some other ; for sure all the good j^eople of Frankfort will be proud to help the English people of the Lord. Shall they not do kindness to them as much as the good people do in Strasburg and other towns? If the Lord please, they shall do more. Do not trouble about the daily bread." "We are quite as anxious," said Master Whitting- ham, "to secure the privilege of Christian wor- ship." " Sure ! sure ! " responded Master Valeran. " I have large thought for the worship. Now you see, my friend, this Franldbrt is a free city. The magis- trates make what laws and do what things they please ; only they must not offend the Emperor. So I did go to Master John Glawberge, — he is one of the chief senators, — and I ask him to let such of my j^eople as come with me out of England for the Gospel have a place to worship God. Then he did move the magistrates, and they did give me a little church ; and many who did come from Glas- Cir. IV.] THE ]\LVIIIAN EXILES. 71 tenbury do worship there.^ So you see, you have place and permit ready for you, for the preachmg and the praying and the sacraments." "But your congregation are not Enghsh," said Master Sutton. " There be no Enghsh here but you. They be all Frenchmen "who did live in Glastenbur}^, — my people." "Then your worship is in the French tongue," said Master Sutton, despondingly. "God be praised," added Master Wood, "that he hath moved the hearts of the magistrates to show the French such favor. But only few of us under- stand the language ; and there will be many more comino; here anon from Eno;land who also do not o o understand it." " It is bad ! " said Master Valeran, sadly ; " it is very bad. Why did I not think of that ? " This led to a conversation upon the question whether a like privilege might be obtained for the English, — a question much embarrassed by the well- known political and religious jealousies of the Em- peror.^ Master Valeran looked very grave, and shook his head doubtingly. In this perplexity, the com- pany parted with their kind friend, who bade them good night, saying, "Why art thou cast down, my soul ? and why art thou disquiet in me ? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him. He is the health of my countenance and m?/ God." The next day, — having taken leave of their gen- erous host and hostess, for quiet quarters in the house of " one Adrian, a citizen there," — they were * Discours, 5. "■ McCrie, 98. 72 THE MARIAN EXILES. [Ch. IV. visited again by Valeran Polan, accompanied by Mas- ter Morellio and Master Castallio ; the first a minister, and the last an elder, in the French church, "both of them godly and learned men." Upon consultation with these, it was determined in the first place to petition the magistrates that an unmolested residence in Frankfort might be assured for the English just arrived, and for all others of their countrymen who miffht come thither for the same cause. To this request, a favorable answer was returned on the third day after it was presented ; which encouraged the exiles next to seek the great object of their wishes. This they did forthwith; and through the aid of Castallio and Morellio, — "who during their lives showed themselves fothers to all Englishmen," — and of Master John Glawberge, before mentioned, the Senate were pleased, on the 14:th of July, to grant them the use, but at difierent hours, of the same building granted to the French; with liberty there to preach and administer the sacraments, and to conduct the other ordinary religious exercises in their own language. The only condition of this grant was, that the English should not differ from the French in doctrine or ceremonies, and should first subscribe the same confession of faith ; or, at least, should not differ in either respect any further than should, by the others, be freely allowed and agreed upon. This condition was "a prudent pre- caution dictated by the political circumstances of the city," ^ and was thankfully complied with hy the petitioners, and by others who had arrived, in the mean time, direct from England. The whole body 1 McCrie, 98. Cii. IV.] THE MARIAN EXILES. 73 then agreed upon an order of religions services, in which they were to follow chiefly the second service- book of King Edward; omitting, however, the use of the surplice, the general supplication or litany, all responses after the minister, and " sundry things touching the ministration of the sacraments " ; all which were "by common consent omitted as super- stitious and superfluous," and because they " would seem more than strange in those reformed churches" with whom their lot was cast. "It was further agreed upon, that the minister, in place of the Eng- lish confession, should use another, both of more effect, and also framed according to the state and time." These changes from the English forms were made with perfect harmony; a brief form of dis- cij)line was drawn up, a subscription to which was required of all as a condition of church-membership ; a minister and deacons were elected to serve the congregation for the present; and, on the 29th of the month, they entered their church, and to their great joy commenced public worship, having two sermons on that da}^ The desire of Edward VI,, of Cranmer, and of Kidley, to attain to simpler and yet simjaler forms of worship and disciphne ^ was the desire of many others ; and had been cherished to the time of the king's death by those who were now refugees at Frankfort.^ This was doubtless one reason for the religious changes there made. But another, and the chief one, was imperative. The conditions unposed by the magistrates were reasonable, and left the ^ Pierce, 44. Neal, I. 55, 5G. - Heylln's Kef., 92; Presb., Bk. 'Vl. Sec. 5. VOL. I. 10 74 THE MARIAN EXILES. [Ch. IV. strangers no alternative, unless they should seek another home, — a fact not to be overlooked for a moment hi examining the " Troubles at Frankfort." The exiles had some peculiar reasons for rejoicing and thanksgiving which deserve our notice. First, that even in a Protestant country they had found a place of refuge. " The enmity, at that day, between Calvinists and Lutherans, was as fierce as that be- -^ y^ tween Reformers and Catholics."-^ The Lutheran '^ churches held in abhorrence all who denied the *v yL dogma of " the corporal presence " ; and even avowed, I that, rather than tolerate such heretics, they would turn back again to the Church of Rome.^ So far did they carry their hate, as to deny the common charities of humanity to those who held, on this point, with Zwingle and Calvin, Peter Martyr and the Reformers of England. When, therefore, Rogers and Cranmer, Ridley and others, had suffered for Christ at the stake, they were but "the Devil's yV martyrs " in the Lutheran vocabulary ; ^ and when others fled for life to the Continent, they were driven like dogs, with abuse and insult, from every port and town and hearthstone where the disciples of Luther prevailed. Thus it was a matter of pecu- liar rejoicing that they fomid any j)laces of refuge ; that the disciples of Zwingle and Calvin — as at Strasburg, Frankfort, Embden, Basil, Doesburge, Zurich, Arrow, and Geneva — received them with more than kindness, and granted them liberty of ^ Motley's Dutch Republic, II. 69. cos esse martyres diaboli." Mclanc- ^ Heyl. Presb., Bk. I. Sec. 1. tlion apud Heylin, 250; Lingard, ^ " Vociferantem martyres Angli- VII. 206, note. Cu. IV.] THE MARIAN EXILES. 70 religious worship. Geneva even allowed them to yc "adopt the form of worship which pleased them best." 1 Again, the exiles were many; and many were poor. It was kind to receive them in their distress and poverty ; but it was generous, noble, — that more considerate and delicate kindness of gi'V'ing them o2)23ortunities to minister, at least in part, to their own wants by their own labors. While some devoted themselves to study, others made their time available by teaching schools, by writing books, by overseeing and correcting the press.^ Nor were they forgotten by men of heart and substance at home. Money was liberally contributed and sent to them y: from London and other to^vns in England ; until Gardiner, Bishop of Wmchester, who had his spie s yc ate very, man's elbow , discovered it, and " swore so to stop their supplies, that for very hunger they should eat their own nails, and then feed on their fingers' ^ ends."^ He could cut off supplies from England; but not the flowing of other foimtains. Where the banished sojourned, God had people ; and God's j)eople there had gold, and gave it. Princes, and others of wealth and estate, sent benevolences to these needy ones; and the senators of Zurich, in ^-. particular, opened their treasury for them.* ^ Stiype's Cranmer, 353, 354. - Strype's Craniner, 354. Ful- Collier, VI. 645, note ; from which ler, Bk. VIII. p. 36. it appears, to his immortal honor, ^ Strj^e's Memorials, V. 403. that the gentle Melancthon warmly * Strj'pe's Cranmer, 360 ; Grin- condemned this uncharitable treat- dal, 89 ; Annals, HE. 349. Fuller ment and these indecent reproaches. Bk. YIII. pp. 35, 36. Grindal to See also Mosheim, IV. 376, note. Cecil, Jan. 1563-4, in Wright's Neal, I. 66. Hallam, 105. McCrie, Elizabeth, I. 163. 98, note. Hist, and Gen. Ileg.,V. 31 1. 76 THE MARIAN EXILES. [Cn. IV. For their religious immunities, the EngHsh refu- gees at Frankfort were distinguished; for "the hke benefit could nowhere else as yet be obtained." Moreover, they were of one mind; their commodi- ties of living w^ere more, and their charges less, than they had found elsewhere ; and not a man of the magistrates or common people of the city but met them daily with kind faces, kind hearts, and kind deeds. Thus situated, they took thought for their breth- ren m Strasburg, Zurich, and other places, and wrote to them on the 2d of August, stating these particu- lars of their condition, and inviting them with great earnestness and affection to come and dwell with them. They urged with emphasis, and as their chief persuasive, that " no greater treasure or sweeter comfort could be desired by a Christian man, than to have a church wherein he may serve God in purity of faith and integrity of life ; which, where we would " — in England — " we could not there obtain it"; and reminding them "that, before, we have reasoned together in hope to obtam a church free from all dregs of superstitious cere- monies." They also wrote, on the 24th of September, to Master John Knox at Geneva, to Master James Haddon at Strasburg, and to Master Thomas Lever at Zurich, whom they had elected for their ministers ; the burden of the letters being, "We do desire you and also require ^ you in the name of God not to deny us nor to refuse these our requests to preach unto us the most lively Word of God." * Beseech. Cii. IV.] THE MAllIAN EXILES. 77 John Knox was now in the ripeness of his clays, being forty-eight years of age. He had been one of the six chaplains in ordinary to King Edward, i^ and, Uke Hooper, had been charged Avith the duty y of itinerant preachjng.^ Of course, he had enjoyed y the personal favor of the young sovereign. It was through his influence that, in the second correction of the Book of Common Prayer, the notion of " the corporal presence " had been com pletely excl uded. V- y: >( He had been offered a benefice in London,^ and also a bishopric.^ The former he declined, "not will- ing to be bound," by taking upon him a fixed charge, " to use King Edward's Book entire " ; and p^^ the latter, "as having something in it in common with Antichrist." For several years he had held, and openly avowed, that no mortal man could be head of the Church ; that there were no true bishops but such as themselves preached the Gospel; that the clergy ought not to hold civil places, titles, and K dignities; that in religion, especially in the acts of worship, men are not at liberty to adopt their own inventions, but are bound to regulate themselves by the Scriptures; and that the sacraments ought to be administered exactly according to the institu- tion and example of Christ. Of course, he objected to many of the ceremonies of the Church of Eng- land ; to the " theatrical dress, the mimical gestures, and the vain repetitions'^' of her religious service. When asked "before the Privy Council, " if kneeling at the Lord's table were not indifferent?" he replied: " Christ's action was most perfect, and in it no such 1 McCrie, 66. a Fuller's Abel Eedlvlvus, 320. - Strype's Memorials, IV. 72. Strype's Tarker, 366. 78 THE MARIAN EXILES. [Ch. IV. posture was used. It is most safe to follow his example. Kneeling is an addition and invention of mien."^ After long reasoning with him respecting the jDoints on which he dissented from the established order of the Church, he was told, " that he was not called before the Council that they might involve him in any trouble, though they were sorry that he should not agree with the common order." To which he replied, " that he was sorry that the common order should be contrary to Christ's institution." Where- upon " with some gentle speeches," he was dis- missed.^ Yet, notwithstanding his objections to the cere- monies of the English Church, he could conscien- tiously officiate therein, for he never submitted to the unlimited use of the liturgy, an absolute con- formity to it not heing then jprcssed upon ministers. V With these sentiments, he had left England soon after King Edward's death, and arrived in Switzer- land about the end of March, 1554. He was reluc- tant to leave Geneva ; but, being persuaded by Calvin, he consented, and came to Frankfort on the 16th of November, in obedience to the call of the English refugees.^ " Why are ye sae sad ? " he asked, as he observed with surjDrise the troubled countenances of Sutton, Whittingham, and others who came to welcome him on his arrival. ' Knox's rule, rigidly followed, turo the first supper was adminis- would have compelled him to have tered and received. j^ insisted ujDon a reclining posture for - Strype's Memorials, IV. 73. communicants; because in that pos- ^ Pierce, 3G. McCrie, 66-76,94,99. Cii. IV.] THE MARIAN EXILES. 79 " The Lord litatli seen fit to try our faith sorely," answered Master Whittinii-ham. " The sun hath shone brightly upon us, and just as we begin to sing, ^ The lines are fallen to us in pleasant places,' He X covereth our sky with clouds." "'His strength is in the clouds,' ye o' little faith ! " answered Master Knox, with energy. " They are his messengers o' gude ; and whin they ha' un- burdened thimsels, the air is purged, the earth is refreshed, the leaf and the flower laugh i' the sunlight, the birds sing, and the heart o' man is made glad. Dinna ye ken that it is his strength whilk is in the clouds ? Natheless, the puir fleeced sheep canna hand frae tremblin' whin the rain pelt- eth, the mair an it be cauld. But tell me, my fleeced anes, what he the clouds ? " "Dissensions," answered Master Whittingham. " Dis-sen-sions ! " exclaimed Master Knox sharply. "About our order of worship." " I was advised that ye were o' ane mind touching the order o' worship." " We were," replied Master Whittingham, " and with one mind and heart we have invited our brethren hither. About ten days agone cometh Master Eichard Chambers from Zurich with letters from the brethren there, in which they say — as they did also in a letter received before — that they will join us here an we stand pledged ujDon our consciences to use the same order of service con- cerning religion which was in England last set forth by King Edward ; and that they are fully determined to admit and use no other." "Alack!" exclaimed Master Knox, "a sair, sair >^ 80 THE MARIAN EXILES. [Ch. IV. thing to invent ceremonies to adorn God's worship withal, and then impose their minding.^ Na gude can come o' it a'. It can ainly mak the godly differ. Are these differences wi' the brethren o' Zurich the clouds o' whilk ye spak ? " " It were sad enough/' replied Whittingham, " an there were no others. The dissensions are among ourselves, Master Knox ; and have been sown by these letters from Zurich.^ Before they came, we were of one mind, and happy. Now, some are for our present order; some, for the order of King Edward's Book." "Ha' ye heard frae Strasburg?" " Once ; and a very strange letter, for it did not in any point answer ours. It only signified that they had undertaken to appoint a superintendent^ for us, of which we wrote nothing.* We had fully determined to have our church served by two or three proper mmisters of our own choosing, and of equal authority. We do not wish a chief superin- tendent; and should we, he would be elected by ourselves." ^ McCrie, 53. number whom they might choose, ^ McCrio, 99, 100. to take the oversight of them." * The title of " Bishop " was very But the " general letter," as given 7 generally disused in common speech in the " Discours," contains no sem- during the reign of Edward VI., blance of such a request. On the and that of " Superintendent " sub- contrary, it was afterward a matter stituted in Its place. Strype's Me- of complaint, that the Strasburg morials, IV. 141, 142. McCrie, 408. brethren had attempted such a * Neal has made a mistake on thing. Compare " Discours," pp. this point. His words are : " ITie 13, 14. The error of Neal is im- congregation at Frankfort sent let- portant only as it hides the fac t that y ters to these places on the 2d of the Frankfort Church were acting August, 1554, beseeching the Eng- upon anti-prelatic, and even con- lish divines to send some of their gregational, principles. Cii. IV.] THE MARIAN EXILES. 81 " An ye tak not to having lords ower God's heri- tage, and them nane o' the kirk's election, ye do weel. Hath Master Chambers gane?" "Yesterday; and with our answer." "And what ha' ye writ?" " That we desire to follow King Edward's Book as far as God's Word will allow; but as for the cere- monies, they are not to be used, because some of them can in no wise be tolerated by our consciences, because all are unprofitable, and because, being in a strange commonwealth, we cannot be suffered to put them in use ; and better it were they should never be practised, than the subversion of our church should be hazarded by using them." "Weel, weel, brethren," said Master Knox, when the conversation had been protracted, and he had heard all their griefs thoughtfully, "let us wait on the Lord sae mickle as concerneth happenings ; but we munna put aff duties whilk be j)lain and o' the day, ane o' whilk is — peace. I canna bide conten- tion amang brethren. It be a sair evil, and munna be permitted. I will wark amang ye in the name [/ o' the Lord in the whilk ye ha' sent for me, and my first prayer maun be that ye be o' ane mind. I say nae mair noo about the folk o' Zurich ; but will tak tent o' their ej)istle in secret. An ye hae anither word frae Strasburg, mayhap light wiU shine where it be unco dark noo." '' ^ So they broke up their council, and Master Knox betook himself with all the ardor of his soul to preaching the AYord and reuniting his flock. On the 29th of November "oure little congrega- tion " — which, however, had been increased by new- VOL. I. 11 82 THE MARIAN EXILES. [Ch. IV. comers from England — were assembled to consider a letter from their brethren at Strasburg, instigated by those at Zurich.^ Its bearers, who had arrived the day before, were Master Chambers and Master Edmund Grindal ; the latter now thirty-five years of age. He had been educated at Cambridge ; was a preacher of great repute in the days of King Edward ; had been one of his chaplains ; ^ and two years before — young as he then was — had been offered a bishopric, but had been prevented from entering upon it by the king's ilhiess and death. He had now begun to dislil^e the garments enjoined upon the clergy by the Church, and also many of her ceremonies.^ After the blessing of the Divine Spirit had been invoked, the letter from Strasburg was read; the chief point of which was, that the last service-book of King Edward should be adopted at Frankfort, as far as might be done. It urged, that " any deviation from that Book would seem to condemn its authors, ^ then suffering and in peril of life for it in England ; that such deviation would also give occasion to the Papists to accuse their doctrine of imperfection, and them of fickleness; and that it would cause the godly to doubt the truth, whereof before they were persuaded." " Brethren ! " said Master Grindal, when the read- ing of the letter was concluded, " Master Chambers and myself have come, in the spirit of Christian fellowship, to pray the magistrates to grant the English a separate house of worship ; but chiefly, ^ McCrie, 100. 3 ]s^eal, I. 155. - Strype's Grindal, 7. Cii. IV.] THE MAEIAN EXILES. 83 to pray them and you that the full order of religious service may be practised here as set forth hy our late sovereign lord_tlieJdng." ^ ^ "AVad ye ha' us tak the hail Bulvc?" inquired Master Knox, "wi' the ceremonies it commandeth, while the gude folk o' Frankfort amang wlia' we dwell canna brook them?" " No, Master Knox," replied Grindal, " we do not wish to insist upon such ceremonies and thmgs as the country cannot bear. We will be content that such be omitted, provided only that we may use the Book in its substance and effect." " "What do you mean, Master Grindal, by the sub- stance of the Book?" asked Master Whittingham. "Ay," said Master Knox, "what do ye mean preceesly? Master AVhittingham putteth the hail matter in a hazle-shell." Master Grindal, after consulting a moment with Master Chambers, replied: "We appear, brethren, as spokesmen for others. We are not commissioned to enter upon a discussion to which an answer to the question would lead. Tliere are three questions which we would have the congregation answer, an it jDleaseth them : first, what parts of the Book will ye admit? second, can you procure a place of wor- ship for the English by themselves ? and third, can we be assured of a quiet residence if we come hither ?"i After some little deliberation, it was replied, that so much of the Book would be admitted as they could prove to stand with God's Word, and as the magistrates would permit; that as for a separate ^ Strype's Grindal, 10. 84 THE MAEIAN EXILES. [Ch. IV. place of worsliijD, there were political reasons why the magistrates could not move in the matter at present ; and that assurance had from the first been given of the freedom of the city to all EngHshmen who might desire it. After some further colloquy, the j^eople separated to give time for the drafting of an answer to the letter from Strasburg. " I confess," said Grindal to Knox when they were alone, " that I have scruples about some j^arts of the Book of Prayer, about some of the ceremonies, and about the vestments of the clergy. Yet their re- -^ jection seemeth to touch the honor of those who estabhshed them." " Dinna ye ken," replied Master Knox, " that our gracious sovereign hissel did allow his clergy to step X'yV aside frae the letter o' the Buke when their con- sciences could na agree wi' it ? Dinna ye ken, that I mysel gat na rebuke frae his Majesty, wha ken'd weel that I did na and wad na use many jDarts o' it? Certes, his Highness did na think that I dis- respekit him!" " It is true," said Grindal, thoughtfully. " An he did na think that I disrespekit him in sae doing then, why should ither folk think I disrespect him in sae doing now.^ Na, na. Master Grindal, ye knaw weel that he did na his sel' think the Buke perfect, and sae the Buke itsel confesseth.^ He did mak changes i' his lifetime. He wad hae made mair, an the gude God had sparit his life.^ And ithers wha were zealous for the reformation, and did mend 1 Neal, I.. 56, and note. " McCrie, 410. Cn. IV.] THE MARIAN EXILES. 85 the Buke as it now standeth, were o' the same mind and the same purpose wi' his Majesty.-^ The Arch- bishop his sel' did gang sae far i' the matter, that he drawit up wi' his ain hand a Buke o' Prayer whilk be reportit an hinidred times mair perfect than this whilk we now ha', but whilk he could na mak to be used, he being matched wi' ither clergy sae corrupt wi' Popish notions, and having ither enemies besides? Cramner and Ridley baitli did intend to get ane act o' Parliament to blaw awa the Popish garments frae the clergy. Were they now in our case, amang those wha tak offence at the garments and cere- monies, I mak nae doubt they wad e'en do the like whilk we ha' done."^ " But consider, Master Knox," said Grindal, " what effect our departure from the order of King Ed- ward's Book will have upon those who are now undergoing persecution in England." "We differ naething frae them i' doctrine; and verily nane o' those godly folk will stand to the ^ Discours, p. 34, last paragraph such by the discontented at Frank- of letter to Calvin. fort ; whereas it was really the re- ^ The following passage occurs port of one of Cox's side, and he in Pierce's "Vindication," p. 13: reported it upon his own knowl- " I see no reason to question the edge." This is important, although truth of what is related in the his- no authority is given for the cou- tory of the Troubles at Frankfort, eluding statement. I think it can- that Cranmer, Bisliop of Canter- not rest upon anything in the bury, had drawn up a Book of Discours; for, if I have read cor- Prayer a hundred times more per- rectly its somewhat blind language feet than this we now have ; that on page 50, the writer traces it no the same could not take place for further than to BuUinger. Did that he was matched with such a he receive it from "one of Cox's wicked clergy and convocation, side " ? Which passage Strj-pe speaks of, ^ Discours, 21. McCrie, 78, 79, as pretended to be the words of 408, 410. Pierce, 44. BuUinger, and handed about as 86 THE MARIAN EXILES. [Cii. IV. death in defence o' ceremonies which, as the Biike specifieth, upon just cause may be altered. An they demur to come hither where they may ha' sae great privilege, — an they demur, I say, ainly because o' the braking o' a ceremony, they maun be slenderly taught what be the first principles o' the Gospel o' Clir^ist."^ ''1 repeat it. Master Knox, that I have doubts about some things enjoined by the Book. Yet I am accustomed to respect it, and cannot easily turn aside from it." " I ken weel that you desire to do the will o' your Master wha is in heaven; and doubt not he will mak you to understand his will in gude time. I wad na ha' you do that aboot whilk you doubt. You maun follow your conscience while it saith, ' Stick to the Buke.' The ceremonies, and laughable fooleries, and comical dresses,^ winna hurt your ain sel', — I say naething o' some weak brother being led into sin by them, — but John Knox canna use them, wi' /lis conscience, an he would; and would na, for their silliness, an he could." "What you have now said will be the substance of your answer to our letter, I suppose." "Na, na; I be na prelate to lord it ower God's heritage. But it will be the answer, an what I ha' said ao-reeth wi' the minds o' the conorreo-ation. And ane thing mair will be the answer, — that an the brethren o' Strasburg tak a joiuney hither for to estabhsh the ceremonies, it will be mair to their ain charges than to any general gude ; for we will practise the Buke ainly sae far as God's AYord doth 1 Discours, 25. - McCrie, 409. Cii. IV.] THE MARIAN EXILES. 87 assure it, and the state of the country doth per- mit." 1 What Knox had said to Grindal did agree with the minds of the congregation ; and was the sub- stance of the answer which they sent to Strasburg four days afterwards. Such too, for the most part, had been their letter of the 1st of November to those at Zurich. ^ DIscours, 25, 26. CHAPTEE V. THE TROUBLES AT FRANIvFOUT. Calvin on the English Book. — Advises mutual Yielding. — Strifes. — Agreement. — Dr. Cox arrives. — Disturbs the Worship. — The Pulpit USURPED, AND THE CONGREGATION TAUNTED. — KnOX REBUKES THE PRO- CEEDING, AND JUSTIFIES HIMSELF. — CoX AND HIS PaRTY ADMITTED TO VOTE. — They adopt the English Book. — The Magistrates enforce THE French Order. — Knox charged with Treason. — He is advised to leave. — His Departure. — The English Liturgy brought in by Artifice. — The original Congregation disperse to other Cities. 1554, 1555. The unhappy differences in the congregation, oc- casioned by the letters from Zurich, were increased by the mission from Strasburg. About the 20th of December, hopeless of union with the brethren of those cities, and anxious for harmony, the congrega- tion sought " to conclude upon some certain order by common consent," and without delay ; their pre- vious order, it would seem, having been only ]3ro- visional. At length it was agreed that the order of worship used by the church of Geneva, of which John Calvin was minister, should take place, " as an order most godly and fartherest off from supersti- tion." They therefore requested Master Knox to put it into practice, and to administer the sacrament according to it. Although he approved of it, yet, because he would do nothing which might tend to widen and continue a discreditable variance with their other brethren, he would not consent to use Cii. v.] THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. 89 it until they had been consulted.^ Nor would he administer the sacrament according to the Book of England, because, he said, " there were things in that communion service having no warrant in the Bible, and which had also long been superstitiously and wickedly abused in the Mass of the Komish Church." He therefore requested, if he might not be permitted to officiate according to his own conscience, that some other one might do it, and he would only preach; but that, if neither might be granted, he might be released from his charge. To the latter, however, the congregation would by no means con- sent. In the mean time, the number of English refugees had increased; some of whom took no small pains to undo the existing order of things, and to bring in place the full use of the English service. In this state of affairs Knox and Whittingham requested Calvin's opinion of the English Book, at the same time sending him a large " description " of it ; for it was hoped that the counsel of one in so high repute, as a learned, discreet, and godly man, and "whose advice had been gratefully received and acknowl- edged by Cranmer"^ and his associates, might con- duce to unanimity. In his reply, dated January 20th, 1554-5, Calvm said that he saw in the English Liturgy "many tolerable foolishnesses," — " things unapt, but suffer- able," would be a more generous translation of " tolerabiles ineptias," ^ — a phrase at which English writers have taken great offence. But he added : " By these words I mean, that there is not that purity ^ McCrle, 100, and note. ^ Pierce, 26. VOL. I. 12 90 THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. [Cii. T. or perfection 'U'liioli was to be desired ; which iniper- fectious, though they could not at first be remedied, were to be borne with for a time in regard that no manifest impiety was contained in them. It was therefore so far lawful to begin with such beggarly rudiments, that the learned, grave, and godly muiis- ters of Christ might be thereby encouraged for pro- ceedino; fmther m settino- out somewhat which niio-ht prove more pure and perfect," — the very j^ohcy of v Craimier and his co-workers. '■' If true rehgion had flourished till this time m England, it had been ne- cessary that many things in that Book shoidd have been omitted, and others altered to the better. But now that all such principles are out of force, and that you were to constitute a church in another place, and that you were at liberty to compose such a form of worship which might be useful to the Church, and more conducive to edification than the other did, I know not what to think of those who are so much dehghted in the dregs of Popery A new model is much difterent from an alteration," — or, as in the translation in '• the Discours," - This new order" (which you propose) '-far differeth from a change." The substance of his advice was : '' As I woidd not have you too stiff and peremptory, if the infirmity of some men suffer them not to come up imto your own desires ; so I must needs admonish others, not to be too much pleased with their wants and ignorances." In other words, he disliked the Litm'gy, but would advise each party to yield soiiie- thmg of theu' preferences. This letter we quote somewhat largely, that it may here appear how far removed Calvin was, in this Cii. v.] THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. 91 instance at least, from austere bigotry and intol- erance.^ At first, this letter so far quieted the congregation,^ that another modification of their order of worship was canvassed. But while it was liked by many, it was stoutly resisted by others. Disagreement grew to contention ; contention, to crimination. " New- fangledness " ; " singularity " ; " stirrers of contention and unquietness," — were freely charged upon those who sought for greater simplicity in their ritual. The aspect of affairs became alarming. At this crisis, Master Gilby, startled by such un- christlike wranglings, threw himself upon his knees before them, and besought them with " godly grief" and with tears to reform their judgments ; to protest solemnly that, in this matter, they would not seek the gratification of their own preferences, but God's glory only. " Such," said he, " I am verily persuaded that we, who are so sore charged, are ready to do. In God's holy name, hear me, brethren. Peace, peace, brethren, cost what it may!" Then, stretching his arm upward, as if appealing to Heaven, he added, with the impressive energy of sincerity: " Gladly would I have this right hand stricken off, could the sacrifice bring us to a godly unity ! " The appeal was felt. The wrangling was hushed. The spirit of strife took flight. The Spirit of God prevailed. Shame crept from one to another; and then, grief; and then, penitence. Their hearts ^ I liave adopted the translation tliink easier to bo understood than of this letter as given in Heylin's that in the Discours. History of the Presbyterians, Bk. I. - McCrie, 101. See. 17. It is bad English, but I 92 THE TEOUBLES AT FRANKFOKT. [Ch. V. warmed, melted, blended. They heard the voice of the Master. The opmions of parties were not changed, — the moment had nothing to do with opinions, — but their tempers were ; and they were in the right state to receive opinions. Knox, Lever, Parry, and Whitting- ham were directed " to devise some order, if it might be, to end all strife and contention." As soon as this committee met for conference. Master Knox said, with true Christian magnanimity : '' I perceive that no end o' contention is to be hoped for unless there be some relenting. For the sake o' quiet, I will e'en do my jDart. I will gie my 023inion wi' a' honesty o' heart ; how i' my ain judgment may be maist for the edification o' this puir flock. An ye Hke it not, I will cease, and commit the hail matter to be ordered by ye as ye will answer to Christ Jesus at the last day." After sufficient conference, an order was agreed upon. The party who wished for a more simple form suffered the others to select from King Edward's Book those things for which they were most urgent, as of chief importance ; and to these some other things were added which the position of that particular church seemed to require. This was done upon the ^condition — to which the congregation agreed — that the order of service thus arranged should continue, without alteration, at least until the last day of April following, when, if any new matter of difference should have arisen, it should be referred to Calvin, Musculus, Martyr, Bullinger, and Viret, and by them be determined. The compact was then j)ut in writ- ing. "Moreover, thanks were given to God with Cii. V.J THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. 93 great joy, and common prayers were made, for that men thought that day to be the end of discord." The Lord's Supper, which had been neglected three months, was administered as a seal of their agree- ment; m which good Master Valeran participated with great joy. This important adjustment was made on the 6th of February, 1554-5. On the 12 th of March, a company of stranger Englishmen arrived at the inn of Fritz Hansen. When they had refreshed themselves at his generous board, one of them asked him, somewhat queridously, whether he had or had not sent for Master Whitting- liani and Master Knox. Being answered in the affirmative, the querist turned to one of his com- panions, saying in English, "You can manage this German language better than I, Doctor Horn. Will you please catechize the man?" Upon which, Doctor Horn, addressing Fritz, asked, " Youk know our countrymen in Frankfort ? " "Yes, sir; and proud to say it." " No doubt, no doubt. Englishmen are an honor to any city. But we are told that our countrymen here have not been peaceable among themselves in religious matters." " 0, sir ! that 's all over now. It was only for a little while. To-morrow — let me see ! This is the twelfth day of March. Yes — to-morrow will be five weeks since they came to a happy agreement." "Humph! An agreement to be half one thing and half another ; half English and half Genevan, — was it not?" 94 THE TROUBLES AT FRANIvFORT. [Cii. V. FritZ;, wondering not a little at such a way of speaking about Christian harmony, replied, "They have a Liturgy, good sir." "But not Hke the English." "I am told that some of it is like the English, and some of it not." "So we have heard. But have they continued this new way up to this time ? " " Yes, sir ; and under the new way, they live very quietly and happily." " Enough ; if our countrymen for whom we have sent ever come, show them in." It was as Fritz had said. The five weeks since the 6th of February had passed peacefully and hap- pily with the English church, under the modified Liturgy agreed upon. The good people of Frank- fort, seeing them once more walking in love and worshipping in unity, had alm.ost forgotten the by- gone strifes; while the exiles themselves had fol- lowed their secular pursuits without distraction, and their worship without bitterness. They had indeed to regret that all their fellow-exiles should not be united in one home and one church ; and especially, that any should stand aloof merely through a rigid reverence for forms, whose civil and ecclesiastical authority had come to an end, whose stability and perfection even their authors had never jDretended, and which were disj)leasing to the Eeformed churches among whom the exiles had taken refuge. This re- gret, however, had not intermeddled with their joy. The company who had just taken possession of Fritz Hansen's hostel were Doctor Eichard Cox, Tutor, Almoner, and Privy Councillor of the late Cii. v.] THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. 95 King Edward/ Doctor Robert Horn, lately resid- ing at Zurich, and "others of great note and qual- ity."^ Cox was one of several whom they of Strasbiirg had officiously proposed to take over- sight and charge of the church at Frankfort; and Horn had signed the letter of the 13th of October from Zurich, avowing a " full determination to admit and use no other order than the last taken in the Church of England." They were soon greeted by the principal members of the Enghsh church, and welcomed with honest cordiality. When Doctor Cox announced that he and his com^^anions had come to abide there. Master Wliittingham replied with sincerity : "We thank God! Would that all our countrymen who are beyond the paw of the tigress and the spite of the Lutheran were one family, in one tabernacle, and at one altar!" "We do our part, you see, to forward your prayer," replied Doctor Horn. "And now, good sir, we would fain find better commodity of lodging than this hostel, an we may. An your better ac- quaintance with Frankfort may serve us in this, we shall be beholden for your kindness." " We do remember our own needs when we came hither," replied Master Whittingham ; " and how the kind words and good offices of Master Valeran and Master Morellio were like cold water to our fainting spirits. God forbid that we fail in the like to you. An there be Christian hearts in Frankfort, ye shall have entertainment and every brotherly service, anon." ' Fox, n. 653. Blog. Britan. ^ Heyl. Presb., Bk. VT. Sec. 6. 96 THE TROUBLES AT FRANIvEORT. [Cn. V. The offer was as gladly accepted as it was heart- ily made ; and all hospitality and kindness were im- mediately extended to the new-comers.^ When the order of rehgious service was spoken of, and their hopes expressed that some further return to that of King Edward's Book might be attained, they were told unequivocally that the present order could not he changed until the last of April, without breach of a promise which had been established by invoca- tion of God's name ; that the holy sacrament had been received as the sure token or seal of the present agreement; and that therefore it would be a sort of sacrilege to change. It was, moreover, frankly stated, that any further adoption of the English Book would be offensive to the honest consciences of the church, and would hazard the good-will of the citizens and the favor of the magistrates.^ " So, we find all things just as we expected. Doc- tor Cox," said Doctor Horn, so soon as they were by themselves again. "What with their conscience, as they call it, their seal of agreement, and the magistrates, we are like to have enow to look after ^/ in putting down this upstart new-fangledness." " Mark me ! " replied Doctor Cox, with vehemence, "we have come for the verij ])urpo8e of putting it down;^ and it shall be done. I put not mjj hand ^ Pierce, 36. Biog. Britan., Article Cox. I can- ^ There is no record tliat these not help it, that Heylin contradicts statements were formally made to his statement (Bk. I. Sec. 18), that Dr. Cox and liis party ; but, under Cox was " brought thither by the the circumstances of the church, it noise of so great a schism," by say- cannot for a moment be supposed, ing (Bk. VI. Sec. 6) that Cox that he was not knowing of them and Horn " found all things contrary before the doings of the next day. to their expectations." What had ^ Heyl. Presb., Bk. I. Sec. 18. been done at Frankfort had not Cn. v.] THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. 97 to the plough and look back. I have come to repair this broken wall ; and, if need be, will copy Nehe- miah, with his trowel in one hand and his sword in the other. To the wind with agreements and pledges and consciences, an they go in anything to deface the worthy ordinances and laws of our sovereign lord. King Edward, of most famous mem- ory. An I fail in one way, I will invoke another." "But they are so confiding and brotherly," ob- jected Doctor Horn, " it will seem like treachery to do violence to their arrangmg." " Say rather, their c^cranging. An Master Knox's conscience turn holy things upside down, and my conscience bid me put them to rights again, pray who should yield? Must I stay reformation, for- sooth, because another maketh naughty pledge in God's name and on the sacrament ? Must I be squeamish on the score of common courtesy and common hospitality ? We will try whether will prevail with Englishmen, — the Primer of a vulgar Scot, or the Liturgy of a king ; so mean a fellow as John Knox,^ or the friend and Councillor of Edward the Sixth. We will try it — an the heavens fall. Doctor Horn — at to-morrow morning's prayers." They did try it ; and the first " response " in prayer from their lips — like a discord in soothing music — been done In a corner. Every quieting the church." Of course movement there was well known he meant to do it as he did. by all the exiles elsewhere, and had (Strype's Memorials, V. 410.) In produced no small excitement. Be- this supposititious dialogue, I have sides, we have a letter from Grindal simply aimed to exhibit the object to Ridley, dated May, 1555, in and spirit of Dr. Cox and his asso- which he says expressly, that " Mas- ciates, so deplorably demonstrated ter Cox and others met there " — at in every step of their proceedings. Frankfort — ^^ for the purpose of -weU- ^ Heyl. Presb., Bk. I. Sec. 18. VOL. I. 13 98 THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. [Ch. V. wrought consternation and grief. The spirit of de- votion fell, like a clipped bird. The form of prayer proceeded; but, to the last "Amen," not a prayer had gone up to God, — nothing but amazement, a sense of wrong, and exultation for a successful plot. Of course there were complaint and commotion. The elders rebuked their guests for so rude a violation of order in a brotherhood by whom they had just been welcomed, and in unsuspecting faith. It was of no avail. The others only retorted, that the dishonor of their country's ritual merited dishonor ; that they zvoitld do as they had done in England; that they tvould have the face of an English church. This was on the loth of the month, — Tuesday or Wednesday. It does not appear that the precis- ians attempted any other outrage during the week; but by some crafty measures, not on record, the pidpit on Sunday forenoon was occupied — abrupt- ly, and without the previous consent of the congre- gation proper — by a preacher of Cox's party, who read the Litany of King Edward's Book, to which Doctor Cox and his friends gave the responses. Not content with this, the minister in his sermon uttered many taunting and bitter speeches against the past doings and present order of the congregation. Wounded and excited by so barefaced an assault, several of the church urged Master Knox, whose turn it was to preach in the afternoon, to clear them of the defamation.^ This he did; protesting in a spirited manner against the impiety and indecency of renewing differences which had just been recon- ^ For these several particulars, compare pp. 39 and 48 of the Dis- Cii. v.] THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. 99 ciled ; " which thing," he said, " became not the proudest of them to have attempted." He added, " that nothing could be righteously imposed upon a Christian congregation, but what had warrant from the Word of God ; that in the English Book were many things superstitious and impure, which he would not consent should be adopted there ; that if any men would go about to burden that free con- gregation with them, he would not fail upon proper occasion to withstand him." Doctor Cox — thinking it proper that a church should be publicly whipped by their guests, and improper that the church should protest — sharply assailed their minister so soon as he had left the pulpit ; particularly for impugning King Edward's Book. " I canna be fashed wi' vain disputings," said the shrewd Scot. "It were muckle pains for meagre gains. Naithless, I wad propound some sma' matter to be reflected aboot. King Edward o' blessed mem- ory did set forth tim Bukes ; ane o' whilk was ]3ut thegither under Doctor Cox's counselling and advice.^ But it provit sae lame and unperfect, that his Majesty was malcontent, and wad hae a better. Sae also was Doctor Cox his sel' ; wha writ to Master Bullinger when Master Hooper was in trouble about the vest- ments, that it had need o' unco tinkering, ' for that a' things i' the church ought to be pure and simple, far removit frae the pomps and elements o' the warld,' ^ — an opinion mair true than whilk the Doctor never spakit. Weel ; anent the auld Buke — whilk ^ Noal, I. 46. Pierce, 36. 2 Strype'sParker, 99. Pierce, 39. McCrie, 409. 100 THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. [Cii. V. were not abune twa or three years in gettin' decrepit — anent the auld Buke the gude king's craftsmen, ane o' wham was the same learned Doctor/ did frame a new ane. This new ane ha' met wi' a warse mishap than the ither, whilk cam to a natural death, and whilk the Parliament puttit i' the grave wi' a show o' res|)ect ; for by special act it ha' been con- demned wi' shame to no funeral, like ane untimely birth. Twa Bukes — twa Parliaments — twa deaths. Now, wi' what face Doctor Cox can order me to the use o' a Buke whilk the present law o' his ain country hae branded and forbid to be used, I canna comprehend. Nay, mair; I marvel to hear orders how to jDray frae him wha hath t^vice failed to make a Buke o' Prayers that wad live. We hae a Buke here, Doctor, whilk he alive; while your ain, i' the y eye o' the English law, be dead. Now John Knox, being ane simple man o' his sel', and misdoubting your authority, submitteth his ain puir judgment to the better judgment o' King Solomon, wha writ that a living dog be better than a dead lion." ' / But playful irony availed no more with Doctor Cox, than grave rebuke from the pulpit. He had flmig a firebrand upon combustibles, and he would fan it. Many words passed to and fro, but with no other result than to fix upon Tuesday to canvass this new-blown variance. But on Tuesday, the purpose to insure respect for the violated order of worship was forestalled. Upon the very threshold of their deliberations, it was moved to admit Doctor Cox and his party to vote upon all questions. "Are they not Christians?" it 1 Strype's Memorials, IV. 20. Cii. v.] THE TROUBLES AT FRANIOFORT. 101 was urged. " Are they not of the same country ? Are they not in the same exile ? of the same nation- al communion ? of the same doctrine ? Why bar them from the full privileges of Christ's Enghsh family in Frankfort ? " " Suppose all these things true," it was rej)lied, "they hold another mind on the question before us. First settle the question; then, the admission. Again, they should first comply with the condition, to which we have all submitted, to subscribe our discipline. And yet again, we doubt that they are of the same doctrine, and do suspect some of them, at least, of Popery ; of having been at Mass at home ; ay, of having their names now subscribed to wicked and blasphemous articles, not sparing this well-grounded suspicion of the very minister who brake our order on Sunday and chastised us in his sermon." -^ '' For these considerations and such like," says the chronicle, " the congregation withstood the admission of Doctor Cox and his company." At last Master Knox gave his voice. '• Thraw open the door ; thraw open the door ! An there be Papist hypocrite amang them, the sin be on his ain head. We hae gied them the honest shake o' the hand, the kiss o' charity, the gude faith o' brethren. We hae brakkit wi' them our crust, and shared wi' them our cup, our hames, our chambers, and our sanctuary. Let us gie them «' ! Let them ne'er gang awa saying, ' We came i' the name o' Christ, i' the name o' Mither Church, i' the name o' England, and when we knockit at the wicket o' the ]3rivy congre- gation, they bad us beg aiie ! ' I ken weel their ^ Compare pp. 39, 48 of tlie Discours. 102 THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. [Cii. Y. hankerings. They ken weel our mislikmgs. An we gie them a' we hae to gie, — an we gie them the anely thing we hae not gied, — they canna look us i' the face, and hft up the heel anent the simple way whilk we hae elected to worship God, — the way to whilk we hae tied the strings o' our hearts . They canna be sae cruel to brak doon our Bethel and mak it a Baca. The street-stanes o' Frankfort wad cry out!" Master Knox's " intretie " and influence prevailed with so many as, joined to the proposers of the measure, made a majority. The new company were admitted ; and were enough, with those of the original congregation who favored the Liturgy, to control the whole. The axe was then struck at the root of the tree. Doctor Cox forthwith procured a vote which "forbade Knox to meddle anye more in that congregation. Thus was he put-owt by those which he brought in." " What now ! at odds again ! " said Master John Glawberge, the next day, when Master Whittingham broke these doings to him, — " at odds again ! " " Good sir ! we are a chaos, at best. My heart misgiveth me that we are worse. There be ill spirit on both parts. Wherefore I fear lest mayhap, when another is set up to preach this day in Master Knox's stead, — Avhich they intend to do, — it be so ill taken that we come to shameful disturbance. Therefore, lest there should be happening of such, I have thought good to make you j^rivy to our state." " Eight, Master Whittingham ! A pious hell would be a bad example to the people of Frankfort ; who Cii. v.] THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. 103 have been bred to the notion — poor sunple souls ! — that a church should be something like heaven. Go your way, Master Whittingham ! You shall have no sermon at all, this day. I shall give such commandment, and shall take other measures to end your wranglings." The good Senator did his best. He immediately ordered a conference of the two parties by a com- mittee of each; Cox and Lever for the one side, Whittingham and Knox for the other, with Master Yaleran — at whose house they met — for their mod- erator and scribe ; the magistrate conjuring them to devise some good order upon which they could agree, and commanding them to report the same to him. But "You shaU" and "You sha' n't," "I will" and "I won't," from Doctor Cox, broke up the confer- ence.^ The aggrieved party then sent a memorial to the Senate, complaining of the violation of their cove- nant and liberty; urging, with prophetic accuracy, that, if this was connived at or suffered by the mag- \^^ istrates, the controversy would be j)erpetuated in England ; and petitioning that they would decree an arbitration of the whole matter by the referees named in the agreement of the 6th of February. This brought Master Glawberge before the con- gregation on the next day, — the 22d. " Adopt the doctrine and ceremonies of the French church," said he, " or quit the city. Consult together ; take your choice ; and give me your answer before you dis- perse." Driven to this extremity, Doctor Cox announced ^ Page 40 of the Discours, and page 11 of the Introduction. 104 THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. [Cii. V. to the congregation that he had discovered a Liturgy besides the Enghsh one Avhich was orthodox and sufferable ! " I have read the French order," said he, " and consider it good and godly in all points. I move its adoption." Whereupon the whole congregation gave consent ; Avhich was immediately reported, by a committee, to Master Glawberge, who was in waiting. Cox, one of the committee, was all smiles, deference, and repent- ance. ^' We confess. Master Glawberge," said he, " that our behavior hath been ill. We pray for- giveness ; and that you continue to show us your accustomed favor and goodness." This the magistrate gently and lovingly promised ; fancying, good man, — for Doctor Cox had thrown dust in his eyes, — that the troublesome disturbance ^ was over. Not so. The Coxian party were as resolute to establish the English Liturgy as before. Their bland assent to the French order was a feint to cover their purpose ; ^ the greatest obstacle to which was — the reputation and influence of Master John Knox. In those days, kings and queens were very sen- sitive ; very jealous of their authority, — so jealous as to fancy a spectre on every bush, — or treason in a lyC thousand cases where was no treason at all. A word, a look, a bit of mystery, would excite suspicion. To be su^gected was to be a traitor ; and then x hanging or behbading came with little ado, — per- V chance with none. Of course, a death-warrant trod close on the heels of a plausible accusation. The two ^ Discours, p. 49. Compare McCrie, 104. Cn. v.] TIIE TROUBLES AT FRANIiEORT. 105 might almost be said to enter a man's door together ; ^ ^ and to walk out with him to the scaffold in a twink- ling. We may imagine, therefore, the fright of Master Whittingham before the magistrates, on the morning after Master Glawberge's visit at the Eng- lish chapel. "Master John Knox is a minister in your con- gregation : what manner of man is he ? " "In troth, a learned, Avise, grave, godly, sirs." " Ay ! say you so ? " " Verily, your worships ; and of my knowledge." " So say not some of your countrymen. You speak upon knowledge?" " The knowledge of years." "Well, well. Master Whittingham, we have held the like mind ourselves. Nevertheless, we may not shut our ears to contrary complaints. Here is a book, sir," — passing it into his hands. " It hath been brought to us by certain of your countrymen. You see it is in the Eno;lish tono-ue. Translate to us the title-page ; — we see Master Knox's name there." "^An Admonition of Christians concerning the Present Troubles of England.' It is, sirs, a sermon preached by Master Knox in Buckinghamshire, a county of England, in the beginning of Queen Mary's reign." " In Eno-land ! How came it here ? " o " It seemeth they who produced it to your wor- ships should best know." " It is a novel thing for magistrates in Germany \__y to sit in judgment on a discourse spoken in England. Howbeit, here it is ; and we cannot dismiss it. Your countrymen of whom we just spake have accused 14 106 THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. [Ch. V. Master Knox before us, and in nine separate arti- >-., cles, of high treason against the Emperor. A serious charge, worthy sir, which by our allegiance and our office we are bound to examine. They say this book doth contain proofs of it, in certain places which X' they have marked. "We do not understand the English tongue enough to judge with certainty whether those passages are proofs or not. We com- mand you, therefore, to take the book to your house, and to bring to us, at one of the clock this afternoon, a translation of them in Latin. And we also charge you, on your peril, that you do therein convey the true and perfect sense of the English words. We repeat it, sir: fail not, at your peril, to give the true and perfect sense." Poor Whittingham! The book weighed in his hand like a millstone ; for he perceived at a glance that there was treason enough in it, according to the construction of imperial courts. Wliat with his sense of Knox's jeopardy, and his horror at so atrocious a conspiracy " to despatch liim out of the way," because the complainants "were offended at his sermon," -^ and " for no other end than that they might with more ease attain the thing which they so greedily sought, — the use of the English Book," ^ / — he went his way in great distress. Besides, there was his own dilemma, — either to become himself in the eye of the law, an accomphce in treason if he refused his task, or, if he comphed, to become a / party in the bloody plot against a guiltless brother. "What shall I do?" he asked in great conflict of mind ; " what shall I do, Master Knox ? " ^ Introduction to Discours, p. 11. * Discours, p. 44. Cu. v.] THE TROUBLES AT FRANItFORT. 107 "Your duty; i' fair, clerkly letters and honest Latin, at one o' the clock preceesly. Dinna greet like a wee bairn, or an auld wife ! Tak to the s/^ writing, man ! " " But they are terrible words ; these most of all," — and he read : " ' England, England, if thou wilt obstmately return into Egypt, that is, if thou contract marriage, confederacy, or league with such princes as do maintain and advance idolatry, such as the Emperor, (who is no less enemy to Christ than was Nero,) if for the pleasure and friendship (I say) of such princes thou return to thine old abominations before used under Papistry : then as- suredly (0 England) thou shalt be plagued and brought to desolation by the means of those whose favor thou seekest, and by whom thou art procured to fall from Christ and serve Antichrist.' An these words come to judgment. Master Knox, your life be not worth a straw." " Sae do I count it, i' the wark o' Him wha gied his life for John Knox and a' the household o' faith ; and sae I tauld Master Isaack o' Kent threatening this same thing." " Master Isaack ! and threatened this ! When ? ■VVliere ? " " Nay, not tlik thing preceesly. But I ken, now, he meant it. It was when you and I, and Doctor Cox, and Master Lever, did confer at Master Valeran's house at command o' Master Glawberge. Master Isaack cometh to my house, and moveth me privily -v/ to cool my earnestness anent the English Buke. To the whilk I did mak answer, that my mishking wad na cool nor keep silence. Anon, he did assay to 108 THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. [Ch. Y. wheedle wi' fair speech, promising favor a nd profit Y^ an I wad relent. After whilk, seeing he could na bribe, he did fa' to muckle threatening. Thereupon I niakkit answer, that I wad wish my name to perish, an by that means God's Buke and God's glory might anely be seekit and prevail. Whereat he did gang awa i' muckle wrath j whilk was na tlie _ hail mat- "1 ter." "Make a clean breast, Master Knox, of this y. strange affair, I beseech you," said Whittingham in amazement. "I would fain know the whole." " By counsel o' certain priests, some plot was put thegither to cast me into prison ; and, understanding it, he did declare that he ken'd weel I could na escaj^e it. This maun be the plot ; and he is mine accuser, — he and Master Parry." "What priests?" " Doctor Cox, — not able to endure a baffle fra' sae mean a fellow as myseV — Doctor Bale, Master Tur- ner, and Master Jewell.^ They did bethink themsels, I ween, o' the cry o' the auld Pharisees, — ^This man be not Caesar's friend'; and sae they accuse me o' treason J albeit they love the Emperor na mair than the auld double-faced Jews loved Ccesar."^ " Horrible ! " exclaimed Master Whittino-ham. "But why have you not made this known?" "You are the first to tell me they ha' done it. x^ I ken'd anely a plot o' some kind, and wha were the advisers, and wha wad do the wark. I did na think they wad ha heart to do sic things ; sae I held my peace." ^ Heyl. Presb., Bk. I. Sec. 18. ^ Introduction to Discours, pp. - Strype's Memorials, V. 406. 11, 12. Cii. v.] THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. 109 " You did wrong. You ought to take care for your safety." "I dinna ken; I dinna ken. While I was na sure what thing they wad do, nor sure they wad do anytliing, I wad na expose their wicked schem- ings. It wad ha' been a needless reproach to the name o' Christ.^ Now, man, put John Knox's words to Latin. Write and gang awa'." i^ "You had better go away yourself," exclaimed i^ Whittingham, catching suddenly at Knox's words. "Nay, John Knox will na rin frae barkin' dogs, v^ The interpretation thereof wad be, ^ Cowardly and guilty ' ; baith o' whilk be false." "Will you walk into the Hon's den?" "I am i' the hand o' the Lord. Let Him do wi' me as he please." When Whittingham presented his translation,^ the magistrates directed that Knox should desist from preaching, until their further pleasure ; in which he quietly acquiesced. He attended worship, however, the next day. But no sooner did his accusers see him there, than they left the congregation, declaring V vehemently that they would not stay where he^ was.^ When the services were concluded, Whittingham and Williams were summoned before the magistrates, and informed that the enemies of Master Knox had just shown such impatience for his swift prosecution, that there was reason to fear they would transfer ^Introduction to Discours, pp. ^ McCrie, 105, note, cites Calder- 11,12. wood MS., 1. 255. " Discours, 44. 110 THE TEOUBLES AT FRANKFORT. [Ch. V. the complaint to the Emperor's Council, then at y Augsburg ; that, should such a step be taken, Mas- ter Knox must be dehvered up either to the Coun- cil or to Queen Mary,^ with small chance of Hfe ; / V^ and that the magistrates revolted at being concerned in a 2^roceeding so "bloody, cruel, and outrageous." Tliey therefore privily requested WilKams and Whit- tingham to urge Master Knox's voluntary and quiet ^ >C < departure from their jurisdiction. This, although privately and kindly done, was equivalent to an order which ought to be obeyed ; and to an honor- able discharge, by which he was willing to profit. On the evening of the 25th, about fifty of his devoted friends gathered at his house, when he comforted them by preaching of the future bless- ings secured for his people by the death and resur- rection of their Lord. The next day he took his departure for Geneva, accompanied a few miles hy some of his friends, who there took leave of him, " committing him to the Lorde with great heavinesse >/. off harte and plentie off teares." ^ " My good brother ! '^ said Master Yaleran at part- ing, "put in your heart one mite of charity for ^-^ Doctor Cox. It will work hke as the woman's little leaven in her mess of meal. You know he did love ^ King Edward much, for he did teach him when a little boy-prince. What wonder if he say in his much fond love, 'My dear king, when he bid good by for heaven, did not need the Book for praying there, so he did leave it for a memory of himself So Doctor Cox love it much for King Edward's sake. ^McCrle, 106. ' Discoui'S, 45. McCrie,121,125. " Ibid. X Ch. v.] the troubles at erajstkfort. Ill " But that is not all. Tliiiili of the owl to whom y. the eagle did promise iio t to eat her children. She '^ did tell him that he would know them to be of her by their pretty faces and sweet voices. Well, one day he did find them. They did look so ugly and screech so, that he did say, ^ Sure these are not her children,' and ate them all up. It was a mistake y^ of the mother ; and she did mistake hecause she tuas the mother. Just so men fathers and men mothers do mistake of thcw children. Now that which makes us think too much of the child of the body, makes us think too much of the child of the brain. What is it ? It is one law of Nature, — to the owl, to the woman, to the man, to you, to the Doctor. Now the Book is in some sort a child of his brain, for he did help make it. What wonder, then, if he make so big mistake, poor father man, as the mother owl did make ? Wliat wonder if he blame the hon- est Scot eagle ? Good by ! God be with you ! " ^ Thus, although neither his imprisonment nor his blood was on their hands, the partisans of the Eug- ^ I have here brought to view, in them ! I know there be white which I ought to do, what I con- teeth in the blackest Black-moor ; ccivc to have been a secret spring and a black bill in the whitest Swan, of the wrong conduct of a good Worst men have something to be man; and the only apology of which commended; best men, something his case admits. in them to be condemned. Only to There is a choice aphorism of Ful- insist on men's faults, to render ler's, pregnant with instruction and them odious, is no ingenious " — sic beautiful in spirit, which I cannot — " employment. God, we know, help transcribing here, because it is so useth his fan, that he keepeth in point : " What a monster might the corn, but driveth away the chaff, be made out of the best beauties in But who is he that winnoweth so as the world, if a limner should leave to throw away the good grain, and what is lovely, and only collect into retain the chaff only ? " — Eccles. one picture what he findeth amiss History, Bk. X. pp. 27, 28. 112 THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. [Ch. V. lish Liturgy were rid of Master Knox. They had the field clear for intrigue, and plied certain secret practices with so much art as to entangle Master Glawberge himself in their toils. Much to his astonishment, he found himself committed — by the pledges of a kinsman who acted as his proxy, and "whom. Doctor Cox and the rest had won unto them" — to "unsay" his order for the French ser- vice, and to permit them the use of the English Book. They who were aggrieved by these j)roceed- ings assayed "to join themselves to some other church " ; to jwevent which. Doctor Cox obtained the interference of the civil authority. They remained, however, for a while, and expostulated with the others. But findmg it in vain, and that, by means of " scoffs and taunts," their condition was becoming intolerable, they took their departure; some for Basil and some for Geneva. David Whitehead was then chosen j)astor of the church remaining ; ^ who soon fell into long and sad dissensions, which resulted in another rupture.^ 1 Fuller, Bk. VIII. p. 31. Crie, 104, refers to Calderwood ^ " Upon his return to Geneva, MS., I. 254. Knox committed to writing a narra- What a strange representation of tive of the causes of his retiring this affair is that given by Burnet from Frankfort. This he intended (11. 528) ! "Dr. Cox, being to publish in his own defence ; but, a man of great reputation, procm-ed on matm-e deliberation, resolved to an order from the Senate that the suppress it, and to leave his own English forms should only be used character to suffer, rather than ex- in their church Knox, be- pose his brethren and the common ing a man of hot temper, engaged cause. His narrative was pre- in this matter very warmly; and served by Calderwood. It contains got his friend Calvin to write some- the names of the persons who ac- what sharply of some things in the cused him to the Senate of Frank- English service. This made Knox fort, and of their advisers." — Mc- and his party leave Frankfort and y Cii. v.] THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. 113 We have thus passed in review the opening acts of a long; and eventful drama, — the first conten- > tion, and the first breach, in the Enghsh Reformed Church ; arivinor to our recitation the more minute- ness, because each incident and change of scene sheds its o^vn separate hght upon the aims and principles of the actors. In some strong points, the affair with Hooper and that at Frankfort were alike. Hooper objected to a robe ; Knox, to a book. The scaffold was planned for Hooper; and the scaffold for Knox. Hooper was forbidden to serve God without a l^ishopric ; Knox and his friends, to worship God without a liturgy. But here the parallel ends. Cranmer pleaded the law of the realm; Cox had no law to plead. Cranmer was inclined to yield ; Cox scorned concession. Cranmer was entangled in a broil ; Cox took a journey to make one. Cranmer and his bish- ops contended in oj)en field ; Cox and his clique were go to Geneva. Knox had also edit., 242) : " Knox held and pub- written indecently of the Emperor, lished some dangerous principles which obliged the Senate of Frank- about government, which were so fort to require liim to be gone out dislilced by the chief of the English of their bounds." One does not divines there, as Cox, Bale, Turner like to trust himself in making com- of Windsor, Jewell, and others, that ment on such a statement. I am they thought it fit, and that for incUned to think, however, that ilieir own security, to disown liim Burnet may have been innocent of publicly, not only by discharging intentional misrepresentation ; for him from the ministry, but also by his works show that he was not a making open complaint against him man remarkal)ly profound or clear- to the magistrates. And so Mr. headed ; whereas the " Discours " Isaack and Parry brought in writ- is, perhaps, of all narrative composi- ing several passages," &c. And tions in the Enghsh language, the this Strype writes after referring \/ most difficult to be understood. to the book entitled " The Trou- Let us also hear " honest Master bles at Frankfort," and in the face Strype " (]\Icmorials, V. 40G, folio of it ! VOL. I. 15 t 114 THE TROUBLES AT FRANICFORT. [Cn. V. sly and j)erfidioiis. Hooper was assailed where he owed allegiance ; Knox and his church, where they owed none. In the former case, there was harshness to an individual ; in the latter, wrong to a peaceful and thriving community. The former was but one among thousands, — natural, under the mixed au- thority of Church and State ; the latter, a grievous fact, without authority, perhaps without precedent. Thus rapidly and ominously did the genius of civil ecclesiasticism unfold itself during the little span of time from the death of Edward to the a martyrdom of Cranmer. We say, "ominously"; for at that time it might have been fairly asked. If men in exile, in poverty, under God's rod of discipline, would do unbidden and ruthless battle for a ritual abrogated while yet in the greenness of its youth, what might they not do, should that ritual regain the sanction of law, and grow to a muscular manhood? If, under such cir- cumstances of depression, they could make onslaught upon brethren, and drive them from their refuge, their livelihood, and their altar, what might not they and their disciples do, at home, in fulness of •> bread, in towers of strength, on the wave of pros- perity, backed by law, and stimulated by monarchs who would not brook dissent? There is a graver, harder question. What, hesides the union of Church and State, has driven dissen- tients in the Church of Enorland to the wall ? The plea in Hooper's case was, that the ritual was law. ^ The plea after the Church's restoration was, that Py^ Nj the ritual was law. But at Frankfort where it was not law, at Frankfort when it was nowhere law, Cu. v.] THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. 115 the pretext did not exist. There has been, there- fore, some moving spring against dissentients back of law, and for which it has served as a screen. V^ What was it? But to retm^n. Both the controversies which we V^ have narrated were about ceremonials. Both were about canons which assume the Testament of Christ to be as httle, as symbohc, as precise, as rigid in its requisitions, as the Leviticus of Moses ; whose en- forcement, based on sad ignorance of human nature, and committed to despotic hands, has wrought more convulsions and eliminated more pohtical truths V-^ than any other one measure of secular despotism. "We shall see somethmg of this as we trace the operation of the English Liturgy when reinstated as law ; but only something, for we propose to follow y it no further than concerns the Anglo-Saxon settle- v ments of the New "World. CHAPTEK VI. ACCESSION, AND FIRST PAELIAMENT, OF ELIZABETH. The Death of Maey. — Elizabeth proclaimed. — Her Address to the Council. — Her first Cabinet. — Her Person. — Her public Courtesies. — The Funeral Sermon. — Indications of a Change of Eeligion. — Parliament assemble. — The Lord Keeper's Speech. — Speaker of the Commons elected ; "disabled"; "allowed." — Position of the Crown. — The Commons petition the Queen to marry. — Her Answer. — The Act of Supremacy. — The Act of Uniformity. 1558-9. Mary had worn the crown of England five years and five months.^ In that brief time, she had dis- graced her government by losing the key to France, which had hung at the royal girdle more than two hundred years ; she had exliausted her treasury and extorted enormous loans from her subjects ; she had doated on her husband, and been stung in her soul by his coldness; she had made herself ridiculous by public thanks to God for a visionary heir; had been lampooned for her credulity ; had smik under disappointment, j)6evishness, marital neglect, and disease; and now lay moaning upon her bed with " Calais in her heart," ^ knowing that her husband ^ Cecil, in Murdin, 747. said) that she tooke some thought " Just before her death, " hii' for the king's majestic hir husband, councell seeing hir sighing, and de- which was gone from hir. In deed sirous to know the cause, to the end (said she) that maie be one cause, they might minister the more readie but that is not the greatest wound consolation vnto hir, feared (as they that pearseth mine oppressed mind : Cii. VI.] THE ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH. 117 had no intent to return, that she was hated, of her subjects, that she was about to die.^ Nor was this all of melancholy which had marked her reign. Nearly three hundred Protestants, fifty- five of whom were of her own sex, had been burned alive for their religion j and about a hmidred more had been put to death, on the same account, by im- prisonment, torture, and starvation.^ In view of her a23proaching decease, Mary sent the followmg message, by two of her Council, to her sister Elizabeth : " My sickness lieth sore ujion me, and hath brought me to the gates of death. It is my intent to bequeath to you my crown. In con- sideration of so great a favor, pledge me that you will make no change in the Privy Council, and none in religion, and that you will honoral^ly cancel my debts." " Tell the queen," replied Elizabeth, " that I am very sorry to hear of her Highness's malady; but that there is no reason why I should thank her for her intention to give me the crown of this kingdom. She hath neither the power of bestowing it upon me, nor can I lawfully be deprived of it, since it is my peculiar and hereditary right. With respect to but what tliat was, she would not (said she) but when I am dead and expresse to them. Albeit afterward opened, you shall find Calls lie- she opened the matter more plain- ing in my hart." — Holingshed, IV. lie to mistrcsse Rise and mistresse 137. Clarentius (if it be true that they ^ Hume, IT. 534, 546, 560. told me, which heard it of mistresse " Fox, m. 760. Cecil's Journal; Kisc hirselfe), who then being most Murdin, 746, 747. Burleigh's " Ex- familiar with hir, and most bold ecution of Justice," in Ilarleian about hir, told hir that they feared Mscellany, 11. 131. Harl. Misc., I. she tooke thought for king Philips 209. D'Ewes, 1. Rapin, II. 48, departing from hir. Not that onelie note. 118 THE ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH. [Ch. VI. the Council, I think myself as much at liberty to choose my counsellors as was she to choose her own. As to religion, I promise thus much, that I will not change it, provided only it can be proved by the Word of God, which shall be the only foundation and rule of my religion. And when, lastly, she requireth the payment of her debts, she seemeth to me to require nothmg more than what is just ; and I will take care that they shall be paid, as far as may lie in my power." ^ Mary's last Parliament assembled on the 5th of November, 1558.^ About nine o'clock in the fore- noon of the ITth,^ the Lords received information that the queen had died at an early hour of the morning.* They immediately sent a message to the Commons requiring their immediate attendance in the Upper House, to receive a communication of great importance.^ Upon their appearance, the Lord Chancellor Heath — who was also Archbishop of York — announced to them the death of the queen. " But God of his mercy," said he, " hath preserved to us the Lady Elizabeth, whose title to the crown none can, none ought to doubt. Inasmuch, therefore, as you, knights, citizens, and burgesses of the House of Commons, have been elected to represent the com- mon people of the realm, you can in no wise better discharge your trust, than by joining the prelates and peers here assembled in publishing the next successor to the crown. And inasmuch as the Lords * Zuricli Letters, No. HI. p. 4 ; * " 3 or 4 o'clock," Holingshed, Sandys to Bullinger, Dec. 20, 1558. IV. 137. " Between 5 and 6 o'clock," 2 Ecliard, 768. Holingslied, IV. 121, 759. ^ Ibid., 787. 5 Hayward, 3. Camden, 11. Cn. VI.] THE ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH. 119 spiritual and temporal have with one mind and voice so deterimned, we have desired your presence, that with joint consent the Lady Elizabeth may by us be forthwith proclaimed Queen." Instantly upon these words, it " was cried and re-cried from all sides," " God save the Queen Elizabeth ! God save the Queen! Long may she reign, — happily and long ! " 1 As the death of a sovereign dissolved a Parlia- ment,^ — and this continued to be the case until 1696, — the Lords and Commons immediately dis- persed, and before noon ^ proclaimed Elizabeth, from the palace at Westminster and afterwards from the Cross in Cheapside, " Queen of England, France, and Ireland, and Defendrix of the Faith." The people shouted as had the ParUament, but with a heartier joy ; for the prelates, the nobility, and most of the Commons were only loyal CathoKcs, while the people were mostly Protestants, terror-stricken by the late atrocities, and hoping for common humanity under a princess reputed to be of their own religion. None but the priests mourned.^ A deputation of the Council was immediately sent to Hatfield, where the princess EUzabeth — long under restraint and espionage — had quietly apphed herself to reading and study .^ " My lords," said she, after listening to their congratulatory address, "the law of nature moveth me to sorrow for my sister. The burden that is fallen upon me maketh me amazed ^' ; ^ HoHngshed, IV. 155. Echard, Camden, 12. Stow's Preface. AVar- 787. ner, II. 405. Burnet, II. 578. Lin- - IlolJngshed, ib. Echard, 78G. gard, VII. 250. ^ Holingshed, ib. ^ Echard, 785, 788. * Echard, 787. Hayward, 3. " Perplexed. 120 THE ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH. [Ch. VI. and yet, considering I am God's creature, ordained to obey liis appointment, I will thereto yield, re- quiring from the bottom of my heart that I may have assistance of his grace to be the minister of his heavenly "will in this office now committed to me. And, as I am but one body, naturally considered, — though by his permission a body pol- itic to govern, — so I shall require you all, my lords, — chiefly you of the nobility, every one in his degree and power, — to be assistant to me ; that I with my ruling, and you with your service, may make a good account to Almighty God, and leave some comfort to our posterity in earth. I mean to direct all mine actions by good advice and counsel ; and therefore, at this present, considering that divers of you be of the ancient nobility, having your be- ginning and estates of my progenitors, kings of this realm, and thereby ought in honor to have the more natural care for the maintaining of my estate and this commonwealth," — and that " some others have been of long experience in governance, and enabled, by my father of noble memory, my brother, and my late sister, to bear office," — and that "the rest of you being upon special trust for your service considered and rewarded, — my meaning is to require of you all, nothing more but faithful hearts in such service as from tune to time shall be in your powers towards the preservation of me and this common- wealth. And for counsel and advice, I shall accept you of my nobility, and such other of you the rest, as in consultation I shall think meet, and shortly appoint ; to the which, also, with their advice, I will join to their aid, and for the ease of their burden. Cii. VI.l THE ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH. 121 others meet for my service. And they which I shall not appoint, let them not think the same for any disability in them, but for that I consider a multitude doth make rather disorder and confusion than good counsel ; and of my good will you shall not doubt, using yourselves as ajipertaineth to good and loving subjects." ^ EHzabeth had already received an advisory note from Sir William Cecil, who had been her brother Edward's Secretary of State, in which he had proposed that prudential policy in the selection of her Council which is intmiated in the above address, an'd which she immediately adopted.^ Her sister's Council were nominally Catholics ; a very few of them, really so ; the rest had veered in their religion as the wind from the Court had set.^ Elizabeth retained them all for a while,^ though she soon reduced their number to eleven,^ adding eight who were known Protestants. One of these was Cecil, " an exceed- ing wise man, and as good as many,"^ whom she also made immediately "* her Secretary of State ; another. Sir Nicholas Bacon, whom she created Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, under which title he had ^ Nuga3 Antiqufc, I. 67. have been spoken to the Lords in It is intimated, in Harrington's general at the Charter House, where Nugae AntiqusB, that this address she stayed " many dayes," says was delivered in the House of Stow. Lords after the assembling of Par- " Lloyd, 473. Burnet, H. 277. liament in January. But there is Lingard, VH. 251. evidence in the address itself that ^ Burnet, II. 581. Hallam, 72. it was uttered by the queen before * Hay ward, 11, 12. Naunton, the appointment of her Privy Conn- 189. Echard, 789. cil, which was very soon after her ac- ^ Zurich Letters, p. 5, note. cession. I may be in error in stating " Camden, 13. Warner, H. 406. that it was uttered to the deputation '' Naunton, 195. Strype's Annals, of Queen Mary's Council. It may I. 8. VOL. I. 16 122 THE ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH. [Ch. VI. also the honor and authority of Chancellor of Eng- land.i Elizabeth was now in the first blush of woman- hood, — just entered upon her twenty-sixth yeai^ Her complexion and hair were light ; her forehead large and fair; her eyes lively and of a pleasing expression, though short-sighted ; her nose, some- what aqiuHne ; her face, wanting in the regularities of complete beauty, yet oval and perfectly fair, and her countenance so bright as covered smaller de- fects ; her stature, tall ; her figure, slender, erect, and symmetrical. To these favors, nature — or rather her own prmcely spirit — had superadded the crown- mg chann of a serene, majestic grace m all her movements. In everythmg she said or did, this majestic au' inspu'ed awe rather than love ; yet she could assume a fascinating manner which few could resist; and her greatness and sweetness were so blended, that all admired her.^ ^ Camden, 235. Echard, 790. my private "will, you mil give me D'Ewes, 70 his. that counsel that you think best : Cecil was sworn of the Privy and if you shall know anj-thing to Council on the 20th. (Str_\-pe's An- be declared to me of secrecy, you nals, I., Inti-od. p. 8.) The queen's shall show it to myself only, and charge to him upon that occasion — assure yoiu^self I will not fail to keep probably the form of injunction to taciturnity therein. And therefore each Councillor as he took his oath herewith I charge you." — Xugte — was in these words : — Antique, I. 68. " I give you this charge, that you Whatever other counsellors may shall be of my Priv^i- Council, and have done, most scrupiUously and content yoiu'self to take pains for literally did Cecil observe this charge, me and my realm. This judgment - Ha^'ward, 7, who says, " of stat- I have of you, that you wiU not be ure mean"; i. e. of medium stature, corrupted with any manner of gift, Naunton, 183. Fuller's Holy State, and that you will be faithful to the 318. Echard, 788. state, and that, without respect of Cii. Vl] THE ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH. 123 With such personal attractions, and with the ad- vantage of a Protestant reputation, notwithstanding her profession of Romanism during the tyranny of her sister, it is no wonder that she was hailed with enthusiasm by a people but yesterday trembling and in sackcloth under a rei<»:n of terror. Nor was this all. While royal in all her port, she was affable ; while stately, she could stoop ; while moving in queenly pomp, she could smile ; while heralded by trumpets and thronged by a gorgeous nobility, she could hear a poor man's prayer, cherish his modest gift, return his greeting, and thank him for his loyalty and love. Of her power thus to win the hearts of the populace, she gave ample proof in her progress from Hatfield to the Charter House on the 23d of the month, the sixth day after her sis- ter's decease ; ^ and again, from the Charter House to the Tower ; and afterwards, from the Tower to West- minster. By her eyes, by her courtesies, by her smiles, by her speech, by her benedictions, by her condescending kindnesses, she proclaimed to the understanding of the meanest of the thousands who shouted acclamation, that she was not so much their queen as their protectress, that they were not so much her subjects as her people, her charge, her family. And as she gave demonstration upon dem- onstration of this, "thereupon the people again ^ Lodge, L 301, Letter of the field; stating it to have been the Lords of the Council. Historical 19th, instead of the 23d. Strype, in ■writers do not agree about the dates his Annals, has it right ; and gives of the queen's movements previous also the letter referred to in the to her coronation. Burnet, Echard, text ; a paper of paramount au- Speed, Rapin, are all wrong about thority. the time of her departure from Hat- 124 THE ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH. [Ch. VI. redoubled the testimonies of their joys." ^ To the man who had been her jailer, and who had been so not without harshness, she now gave but a pleasant jest. She received with courtesy the bishops under whose administration she had suffered, and who had counselled against her life. Through these succes- sive progresses, she frowned but once. It was upon Bonner, the Bishop of London, who had sent so many Protestants to the stake, and had gloated over their torments. His associates, she permitted to kiss her hand; but she turned in horror from him, as from one who was stained with innocent blood.^ As she entered the Tower, on the 28tli of Novem- ber,^ she paused ; and turning to her attendants, said impressively : " Some have fallen from being princes of this land, to be prisoners in this place ; I am raised from being prisoner in this place, to be prince of this land. That dejection was a work of God's jus- tice ; this advancement is a work of his mercy. As they were to yield patience for the one, so I must bear myself towards God thankful, and toward men merciful and beneficial, for the other." ^ On the thirteenth day of December,^ Elizabeth attended the funeral service of her sister in Westmin- ster Abbey; where " u, black sermon" was preached by White, Bishop of Winchester. It was the eulogy of a Catholic queen by a Catholic priest ambitious of martyrdom. After lauding her high parentage, her bountiful disposition, her great gravity, her rare ^ Hajrward, 6, 7, lG-18. Ho- 2Cecil,inMurdm,747. Speed,857. lingshed, IV. 150, 175. Ecliard, *Hay\vard, 11. 791. niolingslied, IV. 158. Hayward, 2 Echard, 788. Burnet, II. 579. 12. Cecil, in Murdin, 747. Cii. VI.] THE ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH. 125 devotion, — for she kneeled so much in prayer, he said, that her knees were calloused, — her justice, her clemency,, her grievous but patient death, he was overcome by weeping. At length he recovered, saying : " Queen Mary liath left a sister to succeed her, also a lady of great worth, whom Ave are now bound to obey, for a living dog is better than a dead Hon; and I hope she shall reign well and prosperously over us. But still I must say, with my text, ' I praised the dead more than the living ' ; for certain it is that Mary chose the better part." At the close of the services, the queen, justly irritated by his public insolence — although, happily, his sennon was in Latin — ordered his arrest, and confined him to his house a month, which was to the assembling of Parliament;^ but, true to her present policy of lenity, she punished the currish prelate only by depriving him, in a few months, of his office, and disappointing him of the crown of martyrdom.^ The first decided indication of the queen's pur- poses regarding religion was given on Christmas day. Every preparation had been made for observ- ing the festival according to the usages of the Romish Church. At the time of the morning ser- vice she repaired to her great closet, — adjoining her chapel, — with her nobles and ladies, as was cus- tomary at such high feasts, where she perceived a bishop preparing himself to say Mass after the old form. She remained until the Gospel was done, and when all looked for her to have offered accord- ^ Burnet, IT. 586. Church, in Nugte AntiqiuT, II. 84. ^ Harrington's Brief View of the Zurich Letters, p. 16, and note 2. 126 THE ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH. [Cu. VI. ing to the old fashion, she suddenly rose ; and, taking her nobles with her, returned from the closet and the Mass to her privy chamber; a significant act, " which was strange unto divers." ^ The Protestants, j)resuming upon her intentions, began, first in private houses and then in churches, to preach the doctrines of the Reformation, and to use the service-book of King Edward. The Romish priests retorted with sharpness. Thus many wran- gling discourses began to be put forth from the pul- pits, before large and excited audiences. To prevent these contentions, the queen, by proclamation on the 27th of December,^ forbade all preaching, and all other religious service except the Romish, until a Form of Religion should be determined by Parlia- ment ; for " earnest as she was in the cause of true religion, and desirous as she was of a thorough change as early as possible, she could not be induced to effect such change without the sanction of law ; lest the matter should seem to have been accom- plished, not so much by the judgment of discreet men, as in compliance with the impulse of a furious X multitude."^ The only Romish rite which she inhibited was the elevation of the host, or sacra- mental bread ; at the same time ordering that the Gospels, the Epistles, the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed, and the Ten Commandments should be recited in the Enghsh, instead of the Latin language.* ' Fitzwilllam to More, Dec. 26th, ^ Zurich Letters, No. XIII. ; 1558 ; in Ellis, 2d Series, Vol. II. ji. Jewel to P. Martyr. 262. * Echard, 790. Camden, 16, 17. ' Cecil, in Murdin, 747. Hay- Ilayward, 13. Collier, VI. 200. ward, 5. Camden, 16, 31. Speed, Burnet, 11. 585. Strype's An- 857. Strj-pe's Annals, I. 59. nals, I. 59, 60, 77, Hume, H. 566, Cii. VI.] THE ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH. 127 The day on which this jDroclamation was made, Thomas Parrys was committed to ward for permit- ting a reUgious assembly in Worcester House, which was in his charge.^ Yet, in " open private houses," Protestant worship, with j^i^eaching the Gospel and ministering of the Lord's Supper, was maintained, by connivance of the magistrates and even of the queen herself.^ During the reign of Queen Mary, a single Protestant congregation had secretly sus- tained the preaching and ordinances of the Gospel, choosing their ministers and deacons 5 though often dispersed by their persecutors, and many of them burned at the stake.^ Immediately upon Elizabeth's accession, this congregation a^Dpeared openly, but in ^private houses, — as just stated, — and were unmo- lested. " Numbers flocked to them " ; and they whom the terrors of ^persecution had caused to con- form to Popery, returned to the flock whence they had strayed, confessing and asking forgiveness. "Nothing could be more delightful," wrote an eye- witness, "than the mutual tears of all parties; on the one side, lamenting their sins ; and on the other, congratulating them on their reconciliation and renewed communion in Christ Jesus." Not only were these assembhes thus maintained in the houses of London citizens contrary to the statutes in force, and while " Masses were being cel- ebrated with the whole authority of law and of proclamation," but even in some churches — prob- 567. Neal, I. 71, and note. Lin- ^ Zurich Letters, No. XXIX. ; gard, 255, 256, note. also No. CXXX.; George Withers ^ Strype's Annals, I. 59. to Frederick III., Elector Pala- " Zurich Letters, No. XXIX. ; tine. Lever to BuUinger. 128 THE FIRST PARLIAMENT OF ELIZABETH. [Cn. VI. ably rural parishes — the Gospel was preached to large and eager assemblies, whose " many tears bore witness that the preaching of the Gospel is more effectual to true repentance than anything that the whole world can either imagine or approve." This preaching was furnished at the request of the people, and mostly, if not entirely, by the exiles who had returned from Germany. These men "considered that the silence imposed" — by the queen's procla- mation — "for a long and uncertain period, was not agreeable to the command of Paul to preach the word of God in season and out of season." -^ On the 15tli of January, 1558-9,^ the queen was crowned; and on the 25th, her first Parliament assembled,^ having been prorogued from the 23d. In the House of Lords her Majesty, clad in her imperial robes, took her seat in the chair of state ; and the bishops and temporal lords took their re- spective places, arrayed in their Parliamentary robes, — mantles, hoods, and surcoats of crimson or scarlet velvet, and furred with me^i^r. The knights, citi- v zens, and burgesses of the House of Commons, hav- ing been notified that the queen and her lords were in readiness to receive them, forthwith made their appearance without the bar at the lower end of the house. The Lord Keeper, Sir Nicholas Bacon, im- mediately left his position a little behind the cloth of state, — his proper seat, wliich was front of the throne, he never occupied when her Majesty was present, — and conferred privately with the queen 1 Zurich Letters, No. Vm., Jewel ^ Cecil, in Murdin, 747. Hay- to P. Martyr; No. XXIX., Lever ward, 18. to BuUinger. ' D'Ewes, 3, 9. Cu. VI.J THE FIRST PARLIAMENT OF ELIZABETH. 129 for a few moments. He then resumed his position, and there opened the ParUament by declaring, in her Majesty's name and behalf, ^r reasons for sum- \^ moning their attendance. They were called, he said, to make proper laws for a uniform Order of Eeligion; to reform evils in the civil order of the realm ; and to devise remedies for losses and decays which had happened of late to the imperial crown. He exhorted them, in pursuing the first business, "to fly from all manner of contentions, reasonings, and disputations, and from all sophistical, captious, and frivolous arguments and quiddities, meeter for ostentation of wit than consultation of weighty matters, comelier for scholars than counsellors, more beseeming for schools than for parliament-houses; that no opprobrious words — as schismatic, heretic, Papist, and such like names — be used ; that they should avoid anything which might breed idolatry or superstition on the one hand, or irreligion on the other " ; that in pursuing the second business, " they should consider whether any laws should be repealed, and whether any were too severe or too sharp, or too soft and too gentle." Then, while thanking God for a princess " that is not, nor ever meaneth to be, so wedded to her own will, that, for satisfaction thereof, she would give just occasion to her people of any inward grudge, — a princess to whom no worldly thing under the sun is so dear as the hearty love and good-will of her nobles and subjects,"^ he deplored "the l oss of Ca lais, of the ->/ crown revenues, of munition and artillery, the in- credible sum of moneys owing by the state, and the biting interest of the debt " ; he spake of the VOL. I. 17 130 THE FIKST PARLIAMENT OF ELIZABETH. [Cii. VI. " new increased charge for the continual maintenance of the navy, the strongest wall of defence that can be against the enemies of the island" ; from all which he argued the necessity of a subsidy. "Yet," he added, " her Majesty's will and pleasure is, that nothing shall be demanded or required of her loving subjects, but that which they, of their own free wills and liberalities, be well contented, readily and gladly, frankly and freely to offer." He concluded his address by directing the members of the Com- mons to repair to their House, there " to select one both grave and discreet, who, after being by them presented to her Highness, and that presentation by her admitted, should then occupy the office and room of their common mouth and speaker " between her Majesty and themselves.^ The Commons then retired to their own chamber, where they remained for some time in silence, or conversing one with another in undertones, as if in doubt what manner of proceeding to adopt. In truth, they were only waiting for a nomination of Speaker from some one intrusted Avith the queen's mind ; ^ and Mr. Treasurer of the queen's household, John Mason, was only waiting for a sufficient apol- ogy, by the length of the silence, to save appear- ances. At length he rose in his place uncovered, saying, that " the queen's command for the election of a Speaker claimed their immediate attention ; that, finding others silent, he thought it his duty to expedite business by venturing upon a nomina- tion ; that he would therefore commend to their choice Sir Thomas Gargrave, Knight, one of the 1 D'Ewes, 10-14. « Hallam, 150, note. Cii. VI.] THE FIRST PARLIAMENT OF ELIZABETH. 131 Honorable Council in the north parts, a worthy mem- ber of the House, and learned in the laws of the realm ; that he did not mtend by this commendation to debar others from uttering their free opinions, and nommating any other one whom they might think better qualified; that he would therefore desire them to make known their opinions." Where- upon, "vvith one consent and voice, the House did allow and approve of Mr. Treasurer's nomination, and elected the said Sir Thomas Gargrave to be their Prolocutor, or Speaker. Sir Thomas, like others in similar situations, was modest; and although, doubtless, he had had suffi- cient warning, he was much confused by the pro- poundmg of so great an honor and so unexpected. At length he stood up u.ncovered, and, in all humility, "disabled himself," as was the phrase of the day. In other words, he declared " that he was unfurnished with that experience and those other qualities which were requisite for the undertaking and undergoing of so great a charge ; that therefore he felt con- strained humbly to request the House to proceed to the election of some other more able and worthy member." But the House persisting, and calling upon him to take his place, and he being so overcome with a sense of his unworthiness that he had no heart to do so, Mr. Treasm^er and Mr. Comptroller of her Majes- ty's household did kindly go to his aid ; and, taking him each by an arm, led him to the chair, where having sat awhile covered, he rallied, rose, uncov- ered, returned thanks, and promised to do his best.^ > D'Ewes, 40. 132 THE FIRST PARLIAMENT OF ELIZABETH. [Cn. VI. On Saturday, the 28th, her* Majesty and her Lords bemg present in the Upper House and arrayed in their several Parliamentary robes,^ the Commons, having been notified thereof, repaired thither about one o'clock in the afternoon, their Speaker elect being led up to the rail or bar at the lower end of the House by two of the most honorable personages of the Commons. After making three reverences to her Majesty, he again "disabled himself," alleging that "there were many of the Lower House more worthy the honor and more sufficient for the charge ; and humbly advising her Majesty to discharge him and to order a new election." But Sir Nicholas Bacon, by her Majesty's commandment, returned answer, " that the discernment of his ability or dis- ability pertained not to him, but to her j that in the very speech by which he had disabled himself, he had jDroved his abili ty ; that therefore she would z^^- by no means excuse him, but did hereby raiify and confirm his election." Whereupon Sir Thomas did humbly submit to undergo the charge and service thus imposed ujDon him, and then preferred to her Majesty four petitions: — "First, desiring liberty of access for the House of Commons to her Majesty's presence upon all necessary and urgent occasions. Second, that if he should miwillingly miscarry in the discharge of his office, he might be pardoned. Third, that the House might have liberty and free- dom of speech. Fourth, that they and their attend- ants might be exempted from all manner of arrests and suits during the continuance of the Parliament." To these petitions the Lord Keeper replied : " Her ^ D'Ewes, 41. Cji. VI.] THE FIRST PARLIAMENT OF ELIZABETH. 133 Highness is right well contented to grant them unto x you. Marry, with these conditions and cautions : — v^ First, tnat your access be void of inij)ortunity and for matters needful and in time convenient. For the second, that your diligence and carefulness, Mr. Speaker, be such that the defaults in that part be as rare as may be ; whereof her Majesty doubteth little. For the third, her Highness is right well contented; but so as they be neither unmindful or uncareful of their duties, reverence, and obedience to theu" sovereign. For the last, that none seek the j)rivilege for the only defrauding of creditors, or for the maintenance of injuries and wrongs." The Speaker, being thus allowed, returned with the Com- mons to their chamber, with the Sergeant of the House bearing the mace before him; whereupon her Majesty and the Lords also rose and departed.^ Such, in all jDarticulars, was the routine of forms by which every new Parliament was organized ; and they are here noted, not only because they have some intrinsic historical interest, but also, and chiefly, for the better understanding of some things to be hereafter stated. Before introducing an important petition which the House of Commons presented to the queen, another matter claims attention ; both as explanatory of the petition itself, and as the only key to some of the most important events of this reign, — to the behavior of queen, Lords, and Commons, Churchmen, Puritans, and Papists. "We refer to the succession ^ D'Ewes, 15-17. 134 THE FIEST PARLIAMENT OF ELIZABETH. [Cii. VL of the crown. Elizabeth's right — which for various poHtic reasons was admitted by this Parhament with- out discussion or demurrer^ — was based upon the will of her father, Henry VIII., and the virtue of his connection with her mother, Anne Boleyn ; both of which had been technically legalized by the eccle- siastical and civil authorities of the realm. The verity of marriage in this case, and, of course, the legality of the will so far as Elizabeth's succession was concerned, both hinged upon the legitimacy or illegitimacy of Henry's previous connection with Catharine of Aragon, his brother Arthur's widow; she being yet living when Henry took Anne as liis wife. For the marriage with a brother's widow — counted incestuous — the Pope's special dispensation had been obtained soon after Henry, at the age of seventeen years, came to the throne. Elizabeth and her Parliament held, that Catha- rine, being the widow of Arthur, could not become Henry's lawful wife, — the dispensation of the Pope to the contrary notwithstanding; that, consequent- ly, Henry's marriage with Anne was true and law- ful, her daughter Elizabeth incorrupt, and the will of Henry touching Elizabeth's succession valid. The Catholics held, that Catharine was Henry's lawful wife, although his brother's widow ; that she was such hj virtue of the Pope's dispensation; that, the Pope having never annulled this marriage, that of Anne Avas untrue, and its fruit illegitimate and incapable of inheriting the crown.^ Besides all this. Queen Mary's Parliament had 1 1 Eliz., Cap. III. D'Ewes, 19, - Rapiii, 11. 50. 47 Vis, 49. Cii. VI.] THE FIRST PARLIAMENT OF ELIZABETH. 135 declared the marriage with Catharine to have been lawful, and never to have been dissolved but by death ; and this by a law yet unrepealed.^ If the reasoning of Elizabeth and her Parliament was sound, she was the lawful joossessor of the throne. If that of the Catholics Avas right, the throne should have been filled by Mary Queen of Scots, in virtue of her descent from Henry VII. and his daughter Margaret, the wife of James IV. of Scotland, This Catholic view of the case must be kept in mind, as the ground of many acts of Parlia- ment in future years, and as the occasion of many plots against Elizabeth, both at home and abroad. Indeed, at this very time " the king of France did labor tooth and nail at Kome, that Mary Queen of Scots might be pronounced lawful Queen of Eng- land." ^ This queen, now married to the heir-apparent to the throne of France, although, at the command of her husband and his father, she quartered the arms of England with the arms of Scotland upon her household equipage, and in pubhc instruments used the style of " Queen of Scotland, England, and Ireland," ^ did not herself urge that Elizabeth was a usurper. But she did justly claim — nor was her claim controverted — that she was next heir to the English throne, should Elizabeth, without heir of her body, decease. Mary of Scotland was a thorough CathoHc ; and nothing was a matter of so much apprehension to the present Parliament as the possibility that another ' Rapin, IT. 50. Hume, II. 519. ^ Camden, 33. - Camden, 15, 33. 136 THE FIRST PARLIAMENT OF ELIZABETH. [Cii. VI. devotee of Eome should succeed to the Enghsh throne. To provide against this possibihty, they were anxious for their queen's marriage, that, by becoming a mother, she might cut off Mary's claim for ever. Commoners and statesmen alike exclaimed bitterly: "This delay of ripe time for marriage doth imperil the loss of the realm; for without posterity of her Highness, ivliat hope is left unto us ? " ^ The Commons had hardly composed themselves to business, when, on the 4th of February, many arguments were urged by different members, that the Queen's Majesty should be petitioned, and in form, to dispose herself to marriage.^ The subject was again before them on the 6th, when a commit- tee, consisting of the Speaker, all the Privy Council, and thirty other members of the House, were ap- pointed " to petition her Majesty touching her mar- riage." ^ The temporal Lords did not join with them ; not because they did not accord with them, but lest any one of them should seem to be moved therein by a hope of his own elevation as consort- royal.* The queen, having been first requested^ "that they might have access to her presence to move a matter unto her which they esteemed of great importance for the general state of all the realm," granted their request ; and a time was set for audience.*^ This set day does not appear upon rec- ord ; but it must have been before the 10th of the month, for on that day the committee rej)orted to the House her Majesty's answer.^ ^ Haynes, 212; Chaloner to Cecil. ^ Ibid. - D'Ewes, 44. Speed, 858. « Hayward, 30. ^ D'Ewes, 45. ' D'Ewes, 46. Hayward says : * Camden, 25. " The Commons were brought be- Cii. VI.] THE FIRST TARLIAMENT OF ELIZAEETII. 137 Upon tlie day appointed, her Majesty took her seat in royal state in the great gallery of her palace of Whitehall;^ when the Speaker of the House, having " some few selected men " — the rest of the Committee — "with him,"^ addressed her, in sub- stance as follows. He said, that " it was the single, the only, the all-comprehending prayer of all Eng- lishmen, that the happiness received by her gracious government might be perpetuated to the nation unto all eternity; that this could not be, — her Majesty being mortal, — except, by marriage, she should bring forth children, heirs of their mother's virtues and empire " ; ^ " that thus only could the dangers be prevented which would ensue to the state upon her death, and those also which in the mean time did threaten herself; and that, thereby, as well the fears of her faithful subjects and friends, as the ambitious hopes of her enemies, should clean be cut off."* "After a sweet graced silence, with a princely countenance and voice, and with a gesture somewhat quick, but not violent,"^ the queen returned the folio win o; characteristic answer. "In a matter most unpleasing, most pleasing to fore her," when the petition was petition. It is impossible to recon- preferred; D'Ewes, that on tbe 10th cile the two. Camden is explicit, " the Speaker declared the Queen's saying, " the Speaker, with some Majesty's answer to the message, few selected men," appeared before which was read to the House by the queen. Mr. Mason," the treasurer of the ^ Hay ward, 31. Holingshed, IV. queen's household, — a report not 178. consistent with the presence of the - Camden, 25. whole House when the answer was ^ Ibid., 26. pronounced, which Hay ward says ^ Hay ward, 31. was done in immediate reply to the '' Ibid. VOL. I. 18 138 THE FIRST PARLIAMENT OF ELIZABETH. [Cn. VI. me are the good zeal and loving care yon seem to have as well towards me as to the Commonwealth ; for which, as I have good cause, so do I give you all my hearty thanks. " Concerning marriage, which ye so earnestly move me to, I have been long since persuaded that I was sent into the world by God to think and do those things chiefly which may tend to his glory; and sith I first had this consideration, I happily chose this kind of life in which I yet live. From which if either offered marriages of most potent princes, or the danger of death intended against me, would have removed me, I had long agone enjoyed the honor of a husband. These things have I thought upon when I was a private person. But now that the public care of governing the kingdom is laid upon me, to draw upon me also the cares of mar- riage, may seem a point of inconsiderate folly. "Yea, to satisfy you, I have already joined my- self in marriage to a husband, namely, the king- dom of England. And behold — which I marvel ye have forgotten — the pledge of this my wed- lock," — drawing from her finger her coronation ring. " And do not," she added, after a pause, — " do not upbraid me with miserable lack of children ; for every one of you, and as many as are Enghshmen, are children and kinsmen to me, of whom if God deprive me not, — which may he forefend ! — I can- not, without injury, be counted barren. " For the manner of your petition, I like it well, and take it in good part ; because it is simj)le, and containeth no limitation of place or person. If it had been otherwise ; if you had taken upon you to Cii. VI.] THE FIKST PAKLIAMENT OF ELIZABETH. 139 confine, or rather to bind, my choice, to draw my love to your Hking, to frame my affection according to your fantasies, — I must have mishked it very much, and thought it in you a very great presump- tion, — for a guerdon constrained, and a gift freely given, can never agree together. " Nevertheless, if any of you be in suspect that, if it please God to incline my heart to another kind of life, I shall determine anything which may be prejudicial to the Commonwealth by choosing a husband that will not have as great care of the same as myself, — put that jealousy clean out of your heads; for upon whomsoever my choice shall fall, my will and best endeavor shall not fail that he shall be as careful for you as myself, who will never spare to spend my Hfe as a loving mother for the preservation and prosperity of the realm. " And " — she added, in words so beautifully child- like towards God, and so prophetically descriptive of the xdtimate issues, as to claim our special remem- brance — " and albeit it shall please God that I still persevere in a virgin's state, yet you must not fear but he will so work in my heart and in your wisdom, that provision shall be made, in fitting time, whereby the realm shall not remain destitute of an heir who may be a fit governor, and, peradventure, more ben- eficial than such offspring as might come of me, considering that the issue of the best princes many times groweth out of kind and becometh ungracious. The dangers which you fear are neither so certain nor of such a nature, but you may repose yourselves upon the providence of God and the good provisions of the state. Wits curious in casting things to come 140 THE FIRST PARLIAMENT OF ELIZABETH. [Cii. VI. are often hurtful ; for that the affairs of this world are subject to so many accidents, that seldom doth that hapiDcn which the wisdom of men doth seem to foresee. " As for me, it shall be sufficient that, when I let my last breath, a marble stone shall declare that a queen, having lived and reigned so many years, died a virgin.-^ "And here I end, and take your coming in very good 23art, and again give hearty thanks to you all ; yet more for your zeal and good meanmg than for the matter of your suit." ^ It is difficult to understand how this answer, which was a denial of the petitioners, or which at best only admitted the remote possibiUty of compliance, could have given satisfaction; unless it were merely for the condescending grace and womanly tenderness with which it was interspersed. Nevertheless, when reported by the committee on the 10th of February, it seems to have been " to the contentation of the House." 3 This really serious matter being thus disposed of for the present, we find the Parliament engrossed with the momentous and delicate business of settlmg the religion of the state. Their doings it is necessary to state with some minuteness ; for constant refer- ' Echard, 792. preserved by one annalist, but omit- " The version of the queen's an- ted by the others, and to avoid swer given . in the text, I have that obscurity and invohition which framed by a careful collation of are particularly perplexing in Graf- those given by Hayward, Camden, ton's memoriter report as given by and D'Ewes, which essentially agree. D'Ewes and Holingshed. My object has been to retain some ^ D'Ewes, 46. sentences and phrases Avhich are Cii. VI.] THE FIRST PARLIAJIENT OF ELIZABETH. 141 ence must be had to them in describing the reasons, the nature, and the progress of the rehgious strifes and oppressions which ensued. An act was passed, entitled '• An Act restoring to the Crown the ancient Jurisdiction over the State ecclesiastical and spiritual, and abolishing all foreign Power rej^ugnant to the same." -^ It is commonly called "The Act of Supremacy." In this act, the sovereign was not styled Supreme Head of the Church, but Supreme Governor.^ Elizabeth conseni> ed to the latter title, but objected to the former;^ alleging that it "imported too great a power, and came too near that authority which Christ only had over the Church." * This was a religious reason. There was also, doubtless, an unpubHshed political reason, — the same which prevailed for certain "alter- ations and additions " to the Reformed Liturgy, — that the title of Supreme Head would have been peculiarly offensive to her Catholic subjects.^ " So whilst their ears were favored in her waiving the word, their souls were deceived with the same sense under another expression." *" By this act — besides what is clearly set forth in the title — the queen was empowered to nominate all bishops in the old way of concjt cVelire, as by act of Parliament 25 Henry VIII. ;^ to control the ecclesi- astical state and persons by juridical visitation ; to reform, order, and correct aU manner of heresies, 1 1 Eliz. Cap. I. 5 CoUier, VI. 22G. Burnet, H. ■ vSec. IX. 51)7. ' Zui-ich Letters, No. XVIH. ; ^ FuUer, Bk. IX. p. 53. Parkliurst to Bullinger. ^ See ante, p. 31, note 3. iVlso * Burnet, U. 583. Zurich Let- Fuller, Bk. IX. p. 53. Carte, III. ters, No. XX. ; Jewel to Bullinger. 215. Burnet, 11. 596. / 142 THE FIRST PARLIAMENT OF ELIZABETH. [Ch. VL schisms, offences, contempts, and enormities in the Church.-^ To effect this, she was further authorized to dele- gate these powers of visitation and correction, by her letters patent, to such commissioners as she might select, whenever, and for so long a time, as she might please;^ the same powers which Henry VIII. had intrusted to a single delegate, or vicegerent.^ All persons holding benefice or office under the crown — whether lay or ecclesiastic — were required to take an oath, called the Oath of Supremacy,^ avow- ing "the queen to be the only supreme governor within the realm, as well in all spiritual or ecclesias- tical causes and things as temporal " ; and renouncing all like jurisdiction of any foreign prince or prelate ; ^ and for such persons to refuse the oath was to for- feit promotion, benefice, or office.® The same oath was also to be required in future, as a condition of receiving any benefice, ministry, or ^ 1 Eliz. Cap. I . Sec. YlLl. realm ; and therefore I do utterly ^ Ibid. renounce and forsake all foreign ' Stow, 636. Rapin, 11. 54. jurisdictions, powers, superiorities, * The entire oath was in form as and authorities, and do promise, follows : — that from henceforth I shall bear " I, A. B., do utterly testify and faith and true allegiance to the declare in my conscience. That Queen's Highness, her heirs and the Queen's Highness is the only lawful successors, and to my power supreme governor of this realm, shall assist and defend all jurisdic- and of all other her Highness' do- tions, preheminences, privileges, and minions and countries, as well in all authorities granted or belonging to spiritual or ecclesiastical things or the Queen's Highness, her heirs and causes, as temporal; and that no successors, or united and annexed foreign prince, person, prelate, state, to the imperial crown of this realm. or potentate hath or ought to have So help me God, and the contents any jurisdiction, power, superiority, of this book." or preheminence, or authority ec- ^ 1 Eliz. Cap. I. Sec. IX. clesiastical or spiritual within this " Ibid. Sec. X. Cii. VI.] THE FIRST PARLIAMENT OF ELIZABETH. 143 other office, lay or ecclesiastical ; ^ and as a condition of taking orders, and of being promoted to any degree of learning.^ Any one affirming the authority within the realm of any foreign power, spiritual or ecclesiastical, and any abettor of him so affirming, for the first offence was to forfeit all goods and chattels real and per- sonal ; but, if not worth £ 20, to forfeit what he was worth, and to be imprisoned a year ; for the second offence, to incur the penalties of a praemunire ; for the third, to incur the fearful penalties of high treason.^ Another act was entitled, "An Act for the Uni- formity of Common Prayer and Divine Service in the Church, and the Administration of the Sacra- ments." ^ By this act, the Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments set forth 5 and 6 Edward VI. was revived, with some " alterations and additions " ; ^ and any parson, vicar, or minister, who should refuse to use it, or who should in any rehgious service — others being present — use any other than the rites and forms therein set down, or who should preach, declare, or speak anything in derogation of the Book, or of any part thereof, should, for the first offence, forfeit the ^profit of all his spiritual benefices or promotions for a year, and be imprisoned six months without bail or main- prise ; ^ for the second offence, he should be impris- » 1 Eliz. Cap. I. Sec. X. * 1 Eliz. Cap. U. = Ibid. Sec. Xn. ^ Ibid. Sec. I. ^ Ibid. Sec. XIV. ^ Hallam is far from stating this 144 THE FIRST PAELIAMENT OF ELIZABETH. [Cn. VI. oned a year, and be deprived of all his spiritual promotions ; for the third offence, he should he deprived and imprisoned during life.^ Ministers so offending, but not beneficed, were to be imprisoned a year for the first offence ; and for life, for the second offence.^ Should any person whatsoever — meaning persons not in orders — defame the Book of Common Prayer, or procure any minister to minister any sacrament, or to say any " open prayer," — defined by the stat- ute to be " prayer for others to come unto, or hear," — in any other than the prescribed form, for the first offence he should forfeit a hundred marks ; for the second, four hundred marks ; for the third, all goods and chattels, and be imprisoned for life.^ Persons neglecting, without lawful or reasonable excuse, to come to their parish churches on Sundays and other days ordained to be kept as holy days, were to forfeit, for each offence, twelve pence.* The ornaments of the Church, and of the ministers thereof, were to be as by authority of Parliament in the second year of Edward VI.^ The queen was empowered, with the advice of her commissioners, or of her metrojDolitan, — that is, without any further concurrence of the Parliament, or even of the Convocation of the Clergy, — to penalty correctly. He says that it beneficed and for those not bene- was " forfeiting goods and chattels," fieed. HaUam, p. 74. — nothing else. The penalty for ^ 1 Eliz. Cap. 11. Sec. 11. the second offence, he states to be " Ibid. Sec. 11. only imprisonment for a year ; ^ Ibid. Sec. III. ■whereas " deprivation " is added in * Ibid. Sec III. the statute. Nor does he notice the '•' Ibid. See. XIQ, difference of penalty for ministers Cn. VI.] THE FIKST PAKLIAMENT OF ELIZABETH. 145 ordain further ceremonies or rites indcfinitcljj} Upon this provision she peremptorily insisted ; and, with- out it, Avould not have passed the act.^ Such was the Supremacy. Such was Uniformity. Such were the pains and penalties by which their claims were to be enforced. Such were the terrors under which every man was commanded to worship God, irrespective of his conscience, irrespective of the Bible, irrespective of his understanding of the Bible. It will be our task, so far as may be, to trace the operation and fruits of these laws and their penalties through the sixteenth century at least. A righteous judgment of those who thus converted things trivial into things momentous, who, of men's inventions, instituted so grievous a bondage, and enacted penalties so tremendous, cannot be formed unless we estimate — which we cannot fully do — the emasculating influence of old traditions even upon the strongest minds. Nor, indeed, unless we can estimate the complicated and critical relations of the crown of England to other crowns, to a religion writhing under a fresh and deadly wound, and to the religion which itself had chosen as its tower of defence. While we scan the rigid and exacting policy of Elizabeth and her truly sagacious ministers, we cannot help comparing it, in our secret thoughts, with the ripe freedom of our own age and country, and, perhaps, wondering at the Protestant despotism of the past. It may be well to wonder. It may be well to deplore. But, if we are inclining further, it 1 Ibid. Sec. Xm. 2 Heylin's Ref., 316. Warner, H. 417. VOL. I. 19 146 THE FIRST PARLIAMENT OF ELIZABETH. [Ch. VT. may be still better to weigh the words of the Gen- tiles' Apostle : " Wlio maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive ? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" "Where is boasting, then? It is excluded." The acts did not pass without great opposition.^ In the Upper House, the nine spiritual lords who were present — five were absent — dissented from the bill for the Supremacy ; as also did the Abbot of Westminster. It was opposed by only one of the temj)oral lords,^ Anthony Bro^vn, the Viscount Mon- tague, who " sharply urged that it was a dishonor to England so soon to revolt from the Apostolic See ; adding, that for his part, by authority of the estate of England, he had tendered obedience to the Bishop of Rome, and the same he could not but perfonn." In conclusion, he earnestly exhorted and besought the peers to remain steadfast in their spiritual alle- giance.^ The bill for Uniformity met with greater opposi- tion ; the nine j)relates and also nine temporal peers dissenting. The latter were the Marquess of Win- chester, the Earl of Shrewsbury, the Viscount Mon- tague, the Lords Morley, Stafford, Dudley, Wharton, Rich, and North.* ^ Echard, 793. Hayward, 26. was carried by a majority of three." ^ Camden and Burnet say, /zi-o, — (Lingard, VU. 261.) Stow says in Montague and the Earl of Shrews- his preface, very vaguely, " In this bury. The bill for the Supremacy Parliament the major part ex- was carried in the House of Lords ceeded the minor but in six voices." by three voices only, says Butler, ^ D'Ewes, 28. Camden, 19. But- I. 283. " The bill in favor of the ler, II. 11. new book of common prayer .... * D'Ewes, 28. Cu. VI.J THE FIRST PARLIAMENT OF ELIZABETH. 147 In the House of Commons, the first bill introduced for annexing the Supremacy to the Crown, was long disputed and argued, and finally " dashed " ; after which a new one was framed and passed, — " the far major part with joint mind giving their voices and assent." ^ The bill for Uniformity passed with equal strength, and, apparently, without special opposition ; ^ except from Doctor John Story, " a civilian of some note, who had been Professor of Civil Law in Oxford under Henry VHI., and the chief instrument of Bonner's butcheries under Queen Mary." ^ To one or both of these bills he made a bold and insolent opposition ; boasting, as was " more meet to speak with the voice of a beast than of a man," of his own particular barbarities to Queen Mary's victims even when chained to the stake ; lamenting only that he had done no more ; and declaring that, had his counsels been followed, instead of lopping off the little twigs of heresy in the last reign. The Root would have been plucked up.* Soon after, he fled to Antwerji, and there served the infamous Duke of Alva as a spy. ^ D'P^wes, 47, 49, 55. Camden, " Mackintosh, 369. 19. * Hayward, 25. Holingshed, IV. " D'Ewes, 54. 177. CHAPTEE VII. THE EEFOEMATION RESTORED. The Supremacy. — Protestant Worship revived. — Commissioners em- powered. — Bishops deposed. — Old Theatricals. — Bartholomew's Fair. — The Purging of the Churches. — The Night Festival. — The Courtier in his Chamber. 1559. Henry VIII. disclaimed all right " of administer- ing the sacraments and the like spirituals." ^ When first assuming the Supremacy, he made show of only the right of nominating bishops. His nomination, however, was imperative, and, in its effects, as if final ; because the deans and chapters were exj)Osed to the severest penalties if they did not elect the nominee.^ Afterwards, the election of bishops was withdrawn from the deans and chapters, as being a useless and unmeaning form.^ By the Act 1 Ed- ward VI. Chaj). II., it was enacted that for the future no conge d''elire should be granted, nor any election made by dean and chapter; but that the archbish- opric or the bishopric should be conferred by the king's nomination in his letters patent* " He might appoint divines of various ranks to preach the Gos- pel and to administer the sacraments. It was un- necessary that there should be any imposition of 1 Carte, III. 108, 109. ^ Collier, V. 227. - Ibid., 215. * Ibid., 228. Cu. VII.j THE REFORMATION RESTORED. 149 hands. The kmg — such was the opmion of Cran- mer, given in j^lain words — might, in virtue of authority from God, make a priest; and the priest so made needed no ordination whatever." ^ In 1552, a bishop's patent ran, "so long as he shall behave himself well " ; which meant, so long as the sover- eign might think well of his behaving. Tlius, the bishop might be deposed, as well as created, by a mere act of the king's will.^ Soon after her Parliament was dissolved, on the 8th of May, 1559, Queen Elizabeth became aware of a popular rumor, that, by the Act of Supremacy, she had power to administer divine service in the church. To correct an idea so unseemly to her sex, so preju- dicial to her popularity, and which might impede the taking of the Oath of Supremacy, she inserted in her pubhc injunctions to her commissioners a chapter entitled "An Admonition to Simple Men deceived by Malicious." In this she said that " she claimed no other authority than had been claimed and used by King Henry VIII. and King Edward VI.; which is, and was of ancient time, due to the impe- rial crown of the realm ; that is, under God, to have the sovereignty and rule over all manner of persons born within these her realms, of what estate, either ecclesiastical or temporal, soever they be, so as no other foreign power shall or ought to have any superiority over them. And if any person that hath conceived any other sense of the forai of the Oath of Supremacy should accept the same with this interpretation, her Majesty would accept such as her good and obedient subjects."^ ^ Macaulay, I. 52. ■ Rapin, 11. 24. ^ gpaiTow, 83. 150 THE RErORMATION RESTORED. [Ch. VII. There was ambiguity — probably designed — in substituting the word "persons" in this declaration for the words " causes and things " in the Oath ; for while the new word seemed, in its appHcation to the Church, to designate simply its functionaries, it truly embraced all ecclesiastical " causes and things " to them appertaining, and which could have no existence "without iwrsons. The greater included the less. As the statute had limited her power in the election of bishoj^s to that of nominating m the old way of conge d'elire, Elizabeth, by this proclamation, really disclaimed nothing but the right to exercise the spiritual functions of an ecclesiastic. It still remained, that not an office could be filled in the Church but by her authority and consent ; that by her will and word alone she could depose from any sj)iritual office ; that no Convocation of the Clergy could assemble but by her order, continue beyond her pleasure, or make canons without her assent;^ that the ornaments of the Church, the apparel of the clergy, and the ceremonies of worship — with the slightest possible check — were under her con- trol ; that not a doctrine might be taught which she disapproved; that throughout the kingdom not a sermon might be preached when she should forbid.^ The ecclesiastical supremacy of Elizabeth was ^ monopoly of ecclesiastical authority, paj)istical, ul- tra-apostolical,^ despotic. Witness her own words: " The full power, authority, jurisdiction, and suprem- acy m Church causes, which heretofore the Popes 1 Neal, I. 74. Macaulay, I. 54. ^ CoUier, VH. 41. ■ Neal, I. 73. Cii. VII.] THE KEFORMATION RESTORED. 151 usurped and took to themselves, is united and annexed to the imperial crown of this reahn." ^ This was but a branch of her royal prerogative ; and this prerogative she always regarded as "the chiefest flower in her garden, and the princij^al and head pearl in her crown and diadem."^ It will appear as we proceed, how she uniformly resented the least deviation from the laws of worship, whether prescribed by Parliament or by her own injunctions ; how she met as a personal outrage the least ap^Droach to intermeddling with rehgious matters, when not initiated and authorized by herself^ By her con- struction, every ecclesiastic and every la3Tnan m the Church owed to her orders the same unquestioning, unhesitating, and exact obedience which, in the army, every officer and every private owed to the orders of his general.^ In the thirty-fifth year of her reign, Morrice, an Attorney of the Duchy of Lan- caster, presented a bill in the House of Commons for retrenching the ecclesiastical courts. It was the touch of a profane hand upon the ark of the Lord. A dungeon till he died was the penalty of his sin.^ " One matter toucheth me so near that I may not overskip," said she in her speech, when closing the Parliament in March, 1584-5. "God hath made me the Overlooker of the Church. If any schisms or errors heretical are suffered therein, which you my lords of the clergy do not amend, I mind to depose you. Look you, therefore, well to your charges." ^ "■ Strype's Whitgift, 260. * Collier, VI. 584, note. " D'Ewes, 547. Sjieecli to Par- ^ Ileylin's Ref., Introduct. Col- Hament in 1597. Her, VII. 163, who omits, however, ^ Ileylin's Presb., Bk. VII. Sec. Morrice's tragical end. 37. Hallam, 77, 10.5. " Stow, 702. Strype's Whitgift, 207. 152 THE REFORMATION RESTORED. [Ch. VII. " Proud prelate ! " she wrote to Doctor Cox, who demurred at an encroachment upon his land which she had seen fit to allow, — " Proud prelate ! You know what you were before I made you what you are. If you do not immediately comply with my request, by God ! I will unfrock you. Ehzabeth." ^ On the 24th of June ^ the Act of Uniformity took _4 effect. Mass was abohshed, and the English liturgy established. About the same time, her Majesty appointed her commissioners, as by statute provided, to regulate ecclesiastical affairs throughout the king- dom ; to purge the churches from the insignia of Popery ; to inquire uito the vices of the people ; to note and correct the doctrines, the apparel, and the ^ behavior of the clergy, particularly in the tap-room and at gambling-tables ; to discharge any who were imprisoned on account of their rehgion ; to restore to their benefices such as had been unlawfully ejected from them in the late reign, and to enforce certain injunctions ^ which she published touching religious matters. Any two of the commissioners were em- powered to punish dehnquents by ecclesiastical " and such other correction as " to them " shall be seen convenient " j ^ to deprive unworthy ministers ; and ^ " Tliere are so many versions ^ Strype's Annals, I. 200. Cam- of this pithy letter that its authen- den, 31. 1 Eliz. Cap. IT. Sec. IT., ticity becomes doubtful. No bet- "from and after the feast of the ter authority has been found than nativity of St. John Baptist." IIol- ' Tlie Gentleman's INIagazine,' Vol. ingshed, by mistake, says 14th of LXXIX. Pt. I. p. 136, where it is May (IV. 184). printed from the ' Registry of Ely.' " ^ Sparrow, 67-82. —Life of Hatton, p. 36, note. The * Ibid., 86. version in the text is as in Hallam, 134, note. Cii. VII.J THE REFORMATION RESTORED. 153 to restore to their benefices such as had been rnilaw- fiilly deprived in the late reign.^ In the beginning of July, they commenced their duties ^ by tendering the Oath of Supremacy to the clergy. Tlie year before, a malignant epidemic had ^ swept the kingdom of nearly half the bishops and a great number of the parochial clergy.^ Only fif- teen bishops remained ; all of whom, except Doctor Kitchin, the Bishop of LandafF, refused the oath, v were consequently deprived of their bishoprics, and three of them — obnoxious for their cruelty during Mary's reign — were committed to close prison.* Clerkenwell Green was a famous place for merry doings. That old church and those old elms had witnessed rare and roistering pastimes years and years before Queen Elizabeth was born, or bluff Harry, her sire. Many a gallant and many a merry maid, now churchyard dust, had exchanged looks, and whispers, and true-love tokens, at the fairs of Clerkenwell; and so had lords and ladies, princes and princesses, — dust now, as well as humbler lovers. Many a parish clerk of London in bygone years had piously turned stage-player there once a twelve- month ; playing whole histories out of the Bible, with divers artistic emendations and the Devil for merry-andrew ; revivifying Samson and Delilah, Da- vmaiid Goliah, Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. ^ HoUngshcd, IV. 18.5. Carte, ' Heyl. Ref., 286 ; Presb., Bk. VI. m. 373. Warner, n. 421. Heyl. Sec. 14. Burnet, 11. 612. Strj-pe's Ref., 188 - 306 passim. Burnet, 11. Memorials, VI. 156, 1.57. 619. Neal, I. 81. * Holingshed, IV. 184. Heyl. ^ Strj-pe's Annals, I. 105, 202. Eef., 286. Stow, 639, 6 70, Strj'pe's Grindal, 24. vor,. T. 20 154 THE KEFORMATION RESTORED. [Ch. VII. Compared with the actors of the nineteenth centu- ry, they of the fourteenth were Anakim. At their entertainments, the reign of a single king was but a tit-bit; and the playing of a single day, but a whetter of the appetite. They used to play out 7-y generations after generations for a play of two or three days long ; and with kings and queens to hear them, too, and to hear them through. Witness the record of their doings in July, 1390. That was a small play, though ; for nineteen years after, at -f V Skinner's Well, hard by, they played a play eight days long, to rapt hearers, noble and ignoble, in which they dramatized the whole history of the X V world from the creation to the year of grace 1409.^ Players li^erc players in those days. Many a Popish priest, too, — until forbidden by royal proclama- \^ tion in 1549, — had turned player, to caricature the Reformation and bring it into contempt with the people.^ Clerkenwell Green was still the place of places for shows and fun, for love-making and money-mak- ing, in Queen Elizabeth's day. No one could re- member when Bartholomew's fair did not begm there on St. Bartholomew's day; and no one could remember when the doings on the fair's first day — archery, vaulting, wresthng, morris-dancing, and bear-baiting — were not witnessed by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London, by lords and by ladies, and by the ambassadors from foreign courts. It was, therefore, but a matter of course, that these dignitaries were there when the fair opened ^ Stow's Survey of London, 18, 144. - Fuller, Bk. TS.. p. 390. Cii. VII.] THE REFORMATION RESTORED. 155 on the 24th of August, 1559.^ Handsome galleries, whence they could have full view of all that passed, and which were hung wdth wreaths and festoons of flowers mingled with evergreens, had been erected for them against the church wall; while the respectable commoners were jDrovided with rude forms conveniently arranged just beneath the gal- leries. Merry-andrews and mercers, jugglers, Jews, | and jockeys, lackeys, light-o'-hearts, and leal lovers, bull-dogs, bears, and brawny yeomen, had been busy ' as bees three hours or more, when, just as a maimed WTCstler was borne bleeding from the ground, trade and merriment were arrested by the long blast of a bugle, and all eyes turned toward the centre of the green. One man stood there alone, plainly dressed in smock and hose, a dagger in his girdle, a sprig of holly in his cap, a burning torch m his hand, and a pile of billets and furze fagots by his side. As the bugler wound his last note, the great door of the church, before wdiich had just gathered a party of horsemen, was thrown ojDen, and gave passage to some forty or fifty well-dressed burghers, each laden with the spoils of Popery stripped from the church and from neighboring chapels, shrines, and convents. As they made their appearance and moved under escort of the cavaliers, — all wearing badges of livmg green, — the whole multitude gave > a pealing ^HioTrf^ welcome. The torch-bearer lighted the pile ; and while the queen's commis- sioners and they who bore the trophies were pass- ing the short intervenmg space, it had come to 1 Camden, 21. Holingslied, IV. 185. Strype's Grindal, Bk. I. cL. 3. 156 THE KEFORMATION RESTORED. [Ch. VII. blaze and crackle merrily. As each burgher reached the fire, he cast his burden beside it, "the people looking on with great wonder" and glee. The executioner, if we may so call him, during this performance went through a variety of pantomime, expressive of disgust, horror, contempt, and hate, for the objects thrown at his feet. It was a mot- ley pile, and, for a burnt-offering, a strange one ; — tables, shrine-coverings, trindals, rolls of wax, saints big and Httle, fragments of altars, Popish books, sur- j)lices, and copes, banners, altar-cloths, rood-cloths, and crucifixes. The solitary official now commenced his task, taking the several objects from the pile and throwing them one by one upon the flames, with the same variety of grimaces and contortions with which he had received them. At each immolation the people shouted ; but they seemed to have a special \ antipathy to the Roods, — images of Christ on the cross with Mary and John standing by, — for when- ever one of these was thrown upon the fire, their shouts were redoubled and prolonged. Such was the first burning of Popish relics by the queen's commissioners, in obedience to the twenty-third article of her injunctions ; " making atonement, as it were, for the many holy men and holy women that were not long before roasted to death there." During the whole, "such were the shoutings and ajDplause of the vulgar sort, as if it had been the sacking of some hostile city." ^ During the hour of this bloodless revenge upon a priesthood so lately officiating at human sacri- fices, — this revenge so keenly relished by an out- ^ Hayward, 28. Strype's Grindal, 25 ; Annals, I. 260. Cii. VII.] THE EEFORMATION llESTORED. 157 raged 23eople, — let us turn our attention to the Ijrilliant assemblage in the galleries. Among them was one remarkable for his handsome person, his majestic mien, and his graceful manners.^ He seemed to be about twenty-five years of age. He was looking at the burning with a listless air, strik- ingly in contrast wdth that of his companions. A massive 2^hime bent from his cap of embroidered velvet, to which it was buttoned by a smgle mag- nificent diamond. Upon his shoulders, and also fastened by a brilliant, hung loosely a riding-cloak of silk tissue, — evidently more for ornament than use, and by no means concealing the rich dress becoming a courtier. He wore at his side a light sword and a diminutive dagger. During the whole morning he had been overwhelmed with attentions by those around him. The ladies w^ere rivals for his notice; and not one of them had addressed him without the reward of a smile so expressive, and Avords so delicately flattering, as to raise com- motion at her heart. But now, as if wearied with gallantry, he had risen from his seat, and was lean- ing carelessly against the rear of the gallery, or, more strictly speaking, the wall of the church. Sud- denly his eye turned from that which was engross- ing all others ; and after looking briefly but intently at some object which had attracted his attention, he glided a step or two toward the open window which served as a door to the gallery, where stood a man evidently of the gentry, though in unpre- tending attire. Tlie latter instantly, and somewhat obseciuiously advanced. ^ Hume, III. 13. Xt z vv 158 THE REFORMATION RESTORED. [Cii. VII. " Varney ! " whispered, the courtier, " my heart yearneth toward one here." Master Varney bowed, and turned a vivid look of inquiry toward the coterie of ladies. " Nay, nay, my brave goshawk ! " said the other, "the quarry is not there. Turn thine eye out of door, man. Dost see yon booth with the tapster's X/ lure swinging over it, — a pine bush?" "Yes, my lord." " It were fit, I ween, that some devout man, Hke Richard Varney, Gentleman, did stand in the way over against it, to warn the simple and unwary to -Ti/ beware butt and pottle-pot"; — and he looked with a mock gravity at his esquire. "Alack, alack, my lord! Bashfulness, — bashful- ness! It be my foot's fetter, my hand's gyve, my tongue's palsy, my fortune's bane, my ambition's nightmare, — saving only in your lordship's service, wherein, methinks, I be nor cripple nor laggard." " Now out upon thee, for one of nature's contradic- tions ! a mute babbler ! a bashful braggart ! Thou wouldst be a godsend to a showman at a groat a sight. But lo ! nor thine eloquence nor mine is needful yonder. For this present, Varney, we be forestalled. The two in gown and cap in the yew's ^ /|> shade are more valiant exhorters than w^e, an I be not at fault. To my thinking, they must have the odor of sanctity, for they wear the true aspect of Gospellers.^ Now, Sir Diffidence, thou canst surely ^ " These men " — Zwinglians or pellers, for making their new doc- Calvinists — " are called in Bishop trine such a necessary part of our Hoopei-'s Preface to the Ten Com- Saviour's Gospel, as if men could mandments by the name of Gos- not possibly be saved without it. Cii. VII] THE REFORMATION RESTORED. 159 devise some cunnino; shift to find them out ; who. 'y Avhence, — and so forth. I tell thee my heart yearn- eth towards them; most towards the ancient one, in whose face methinks I see something not imfamil- iar. An he he a Gospeller, it concerneth me to know it, for he hath no less the look of a man of stamp and mould, than of years and godliness. Mark his form, — wan and slender, albeit straight as a wood- man's shaft ! And what a brow ! Threescore years and ten there ; but there be manhood yet. By my halidom! I would salute such an one in nomine Domini ! Hasten, good Varney ! " The esquire performed his errand Avith alacrity; but, for modesty's sake, by proxy. His report, how- ever, was cut short almost at the first word, for the gallant lord was appealed to at the instant in a hot dispute between a court beau and a court belle, whether the crossing of two lines on the palm of her beautiful hand did betoken her of the Romish re- ligion or no. Before this grave question could be settled, the biu-ning upon the green was over; the people were resuming their pastimes; and the com- pany in the galleries were in all the bustle of departure. Their cavalcade, brilliant with beauty and rich array, was soon in motion, and took leave — the ladies mounted upon side-saddles — amid the huzzas of the rustic multitude.-^ But rank must pay its Tliese doctrines tliey began to prop- Hist, of the Presbyterians, Bk. VI. agate in the reign of King Edward ; Sec. 9. but never were so busy at it as ^ There is a paragraph in Hume when they lived at Geneva, or which may properly be noticed in came newly thence." — Heylin's this connection. He says : " About 160 THE REFORMATION RESTORED. [Cii. VII. \ penalties ; and they were constrained, as they came home through Cheapside, to afford their presence at two other " great fires in the street," — one against Ironmonger Lane, and the other against Mercer's 1580, tlie use of coaches was intro- duced by the Earl of Arundel. Before that time, the queen, on public occasions, rode behind her chamberlain." (Vol. III. 265, Ap- pendbc III.) This in its connection seems to ignore the use of side- saddles. Stow teUs us that riding upon side-saddles was introduced by Kichard II. upon occasion of his mai-riage in 1382. (Survey of Lon- don, 132.) D'Ewes says (p. 69) that the queen went to the Parlia- ment-House in 15G2-3, "on horse- back, a Hide behind the Lord Cham- berlain " ; an expression without the ambiguity of that of Hume. Nine years before 1580, the queen rode to Parliament in her coach. (D'Ewes, 13C.) I have another object in here citing Hume. That "the use of coaches was introduced by the Earl of Arundel about 1580," is not only an error, but I think it appears how Anderson, singularly enough, feU into it. (Hume refers to Anderson for his authority ; and Anderson indeed says so.) The Earl of Arun- del died in 1580, at the advanced age of sixty-nine years. Camden records his death, under that date, in his text, on page 256 ; where, in the manjin, are the words, " The death of the Earl of Arundel, who first brought the use of coaches into England." Anderson has prob- ably mistaken a marginal note which points backward as stating a fact of 1580 ; and Hume has followed him too trustfully. Lingard misreads Camden's note in the same strange way ; and, what is more singular, recognizes it as a note (Vol. YJI. 305, note). Stow, who lived in Elizabeth's day, and to whom Hume often refers, says: "In the year 1564, Guilliam Boonen, a Dutchman, be- came the queen's coachman, and was the first that brought the use of coaches into England." (Annals, 867, 868.) Probably Arundel in- troduced both the Dutchman and the coach. The chariot, or whirlicote, was a different vehicle ; used both by Elizabeth (Strype's Annals, I. 408, 409, folio edit. 273) and by her sister Mary (Strype's INIemorials, V. 498, 508, folio edit. 304). It was an ancient carriage. (Stow's Survey, 131, 132.) Elizabeth probably went to her first Parliament in her barge, though I find no record of it ; to the second, in 1562-3, on horseback, as above stated. The Parliament of 1566 was the same as that of 156 2-3. Of course, it resumed busi- ness without the attendance of the queen in person. The first time, therefore, that she opened a Parlia- ment after 1564, she went to the House " in the ancient accustomed and most honorable passage," and in her coach. (D'Ewes, 136.) It is singular that Hume should have Cii. VII.l THE REFORMATION RESTORED. 161 Chapel, — " wherein were thrown a great number of roods with the images of John and Mary, and the resemblances of divers other saints." -^ But St. Bartholomew's festival did not end with the day. Nor did the light ; for no sooner had the sun gone down, than the city was bright with a thousand fires. Lighted at irregular intervals along the streets, throwing a flickering glare here, casting deep shadows there, shooting up wavy pillars of smoke, Avhich slowly rose, expanded, and commingled till they became a canopy, they created an exciting picture of wild and animated contrasts. Yet the chief interest* of the scene was beneath; in the vast- ness, the sitrging, the perpetual voice, of that stream of human life which eddied along the streets. I am not sure that there was not something there which the Eye to whom darkness and light are both alike smiled upon and blessed. There was good cheer there, of meats and drinks, upon the scores of tables which encircled every fire ; but I do not mean that. There was cordial greeting there between neighbor and neighbor at ordinary times next-door strangers ; but I do not mean that. There was large-hearted generosity there, which met every passer-by, known or miknown, gentle or simple, in gay clothing or in rags, full or famishing, and led him with heart and overlooked, or rather by implication fog or mist of tobacco." (Knight's contradicted, a fact which D'Ewes London, I. 25.) In IGOl, Nov. 7, has conspicuously noticed. a bill was brought into the House Some time after the coach came of Lords to restrain the excessive v* into use, for some reason there arose use of coaches ; was read the second a prejudice against it ; and the time, and rejected. (D'Ewes, 602.) question was raised, " whether the ^ Ilolingshed, IV. 185. Strype's Devil brought tobacco into England Annals, I. 254. Strj-pe's Grindal, in a coach, or brought a coach in a 25. VOL. I. 21 162 THE REFOKMATION RESTORED. [Cn. VII. courtesy to fellowship at its own board of repast, tell- ing him to sit there and be merry, to eat there and praise God ; but I do not mean that. There was a larger, nobler mission going on ; for here and there you might have seen two men at bitter feud sought out and brought together by mediators, who in- quired and reasoned and exj)lained and pleaded, and would not cease importunity, or restrain tears, until the two had embraced, sat do^vn to eat and drink together, exchanged forgiveness, and parted cove- nant friends, — redeemed from a bitter curse. It was this 7nission of reconciliation — a mission carried on that night through the length and breadth of the city, a mission in the Hkeness and spirit of that which made angels sing at Bethlehem — which I think God did smile upon there, and after reward in heaven. Such were the customs long, long ago in good Old England, on the close of festival days.^ The night was far spent. The people had dis- persed. The poor had gone to bed not hungry ; and men who had woke at strife were sleeping at peace. But Lord Robert Dudley — in his princely chamber with its tapestry of Flanders, its Moorish carpet of arabesque designs, its blaze of light, and its delicate jDcrfume of burning oil — kept vigil. He was the young son of the Duke of Northumberland (first the Earl of Warwick) beheaded for his attempt to place ^ The street fire was the central ing, the scholars of the day coined point ofthe<700fZ will, Jene-volence, — the word &o/i-fire ; or, as they wrote of which at-one-ment was the chief it, io-ne-fire, — from the French ton, form, — which characterized these or the Latin bonus. See Stow's festivals. To express fully its mean- Survey, 159. Cii. VII.] THE REFORMATION RESTORED. 163 Lady Jane Grey upon the throne. Dudley, attainted for his compHeity in the same treason, had been restored to rank and fortune by Mary in 1557.^ v^ Upon presenting himself at the Court of Elizabeth, he had been received with marked favor, and with such unmistakable indications of admiration as to excite in him the most aspiring and mtoxicating ambition.^ The virgin monarch seemed as though she would have welcomed him to the nuptial vow if she could. But there was a wife, — young, lovely, trusting, — his only seeming barrier to the proudest station iii the realm. We will not say that at this time the damning purpose of her murder was ^ formed ; but it was forming, for the thought of her as the obstacle, and yet the innocent and loving obstacle, to his ambition, was sometimes maddening. When alone, as now, he would walk to and fro, and think, and think, — thoughts lashing passions to a tempest, and passion bestirring thought, — until the conflict became fearful suffering. The scorpion can sting itself — to death. At one moment, Amy would be imaged in his mind's eye, with her pure love, her sweet smile, her childhke trust, her artless beauty, her transparent heart ; and then, the magnificent daugh- ter of Henry, luring him to her side, her station, and her power. He was a caged eagle, eying his mate on the wing aloft, clutching and biting his chain, chafing against his bars, and cursing the memory of his folly and the hour of his captivity. With neither God nor man for a confidant; with neither God nor man nor principle for counsellor; nay, with God and humanity and honor and conscience ' Burnet, II. 562. "- Lingard, VII. 305. 164 THE EEFOEMATION RESTOEED. [Cii. VU. doing battle with him, — it was terrible to be alone and think. But he would. He had been so now, for hours; for hours he had thought; for hours he had breasted this strife. He could no longer bear it. Snatching from his toilet a small silver bell, he rang it nervously, wiped the perspiration from his brow, and resumed his walk. " Zounds ! the knave sleepeth ! " he exclauned after a few moments. Then, striding to the door and opening it, " Ho there, Varney ! " " Pardon, my lord ! " stammered the confused chamberlain as he entered with a low reverence. " Overmuch wine, hey ? " " Upon my word, nay, my lord. But Nature will have her dues." " I would rest," said Dudley, tartly ; and, throwing himself upon a chair of crimson velvet, without fur- ther word he submitted himself to the offices of the gentleman-dependent who had followed his fortunes for years. But hardly had his hose been loosened when he said, " Hold, Varney ; a cup of Theologi- cum.^ An thou hast some gentle drug to provoke ■^ sleep, add it to the draught. Court cares gender thoughts; and thoughts, wakefulness." The gentleman of the chamber was in the act of closing the heavy curtains of the bed, when his lord, ^ " The stronger tlie wine is, the drinke nor be serued of the worst, more it is desired, by means whereof or such as was anie waies mingled ^ in old time the best was called or brued by the vintner : naie, the Theologicum, bicause it was had merchant would have thought that from the cleargie and religious men, his soule should have gone straight- vnto whose houses manie of the waie to the diuell if he should have laitie would often send for bottels serued them with other than the filled with the same, being sure that best." — Harrison, 281, 282, in Vol. they" — the clergy — "would neither I. of Plolingshed. t Cii. VII.] THE REFORMATION RESTORED. 1G5 rising from the pillow, exclaimed, " Varncy ! me- tliinks I gave shrewd guess at Clerkenwell to-day! One of the most noted, godly, long-headed of the whole college of clergy ! A bishop to boot, — or hath been, which is all the same. I marvel that I remembered not one I saw often in my noble father's day. But I have a purpose for which I would know him now. I would win his ear, and withal his good faith, an I may. Bestir thy wits for our acquaint- ^ anceship, for he cometh not to the court, and I would our meeting should seem a happenmg ; a thing by cha — frovidence ; that is the Genevan v/^ phrase. What think you?" " An you ask mine honest thought, my lord, it seemeth a matter Avhich needeth not the bestirring of any one's wits. Smnmon hun; he cometh. Go to him; he appeareth." " Nay ; an I seem to seek him, he may suspect a purpose, and be chary of his thoughts. I would probe the man. An he seem one of fit stuff, I may use him, — make him an ally offensive and defensive. Hey, Yarney ? " " Probe him, my lord ! you had best, lest you run your barge upon the rocks. Probe him! you may do it with the nine hundred and ninety-nine thou- sandth of the least of all things. There be nothing in him to probe." " Now fie upon thee for a simpleton, Varney ! an thou be not talking in riddles. Beshrew thee, man, what meanest thou?" '• My lord, I mean that he is as open-hearted and guileless as a child, and therefore unsuspicious. The best coin with him is straightforwardness. As for X 1G6 THE REFORMATION RESTORED. [Cii. VIL the other matter, offensive he will not be, defensive he cannot be." " He is a knowing old man, you told me so your- self; and since I find who he is, I know well what he is." " He is all you say, my lord. Besides, he hath lived under no less than five sovereigns of England, counting our gracious Mistress Elizabeth, whom Heaven long preserve and bless ! " '' Amen ! " "He is skilled in the sacred tongues; hath trans- lated the whole Bible ; hath been a bishop ; hath been in prison ; hath been in exile ; hath been in many kingdoms ; hath been in royal courts. Were I the Lord Robert Dudley, the admiration of all this should allow me no rest until I did stand on his threshold and crave the honor — and the favor — and so forth." " Wliich for one of my station to do, would be translated, ^He hath some end of policy to com- pass ' ; the very verity which I would he should not read." " Nay, nay, my lord ; but natural it would seem, and commendable. Age expecteth deference from youth, and hath a right to it from the greatest, maugre whatever pertaineth to it of humbleness or poverty. Besides, courtesy from the Lord Dudley would not seem strange to him. He hath received it often enough, I trow, from lords and dukes and kings and queens. " Varney ! I know thee for a shrewd fellow ; and so will weigh thy counsel. But now I would fain sleep. Another draught will soothe me like a lul- laby." Cii. Vll-l THE REFORMATION RESTORED. 1G7 He quafFed the wine, and dropped upon the pillow. The curtains were closed, and Varney was retiring, when Dudley called, " Heigh-ho ! " «My lord?" " My Lord North hath converted me." ^ The gentleman bowed from habit, though screened ^ by the curtains of the bed. ~ " Dost not comprehend, sirrah ? " " Marry ! it exceedeth mine understanding how the Lord Robert Dudley could need conversion." " Dolt ! Be not Papistry heresy ? Hath not the new Church lands and revenues more than is meet? The Lord Dudley, thy master, is a Gospeller ! " " May the Gospel sink mto my lord's heart ! " said the chamberlain with a shrug. " Ladies of the court will be saved from sighing, and husbands from ^ wearing; horns." " Hist, fellow ! I tell thee I bo a Gospeller, now ; 'and thou must help me to act my calHng. Find out ^ what it is these Genevans would make a stir about, v Something about the Book, I know ; something about ^ phylacteries, I trow." "Yes, my lord." " Hold ! you must glean for me a pretty list of — of Gospel words — and — and — things." His voice ^ fell to a murmur \ and sleej) came to still his inward strife. ^ Lloyd, 520. '\y CHAPTER VIII. THE ESTABLISHMENT. Pattt/s Cross. — Father Coterd ale.— David ■Whitehead.— Suxday Traffic. — The Changes in the Liturgy. — Sir Fr.vncis Kxollys. — Egbert, Loud Dudley. — The Queen's Tenderness for Papacy'. — Her Reasons for it. — Her Dislike OF the Fr,\nkfort Exiles, how excited. — "Sejiper Ea- DEM." — The Dislike of the Vestments, and of the Supremacy. — The Position of Kkollys ant) Dudley'. — The New Hierarchy'. — The "Old Priests." — Scarcity of Clergy. 1559. Nearly iii the centre of St. Paul's churchyard stood a unique structure, long used as the nucleus of pubHc assembhes, — a stone platform of moderate dimensions, elevated sufficiently for the purposes of harangue, and innocent of all adornment. It was accessible by stone steps, and surmounted by a pul- pit of timber in the form of a cross and covered with lead. Around this venerable structure many a crowd had been gathered, from time unmemorial ; now inflamed by words of sedition, and again by appeals to loyalty; now listening to a panegyric, and again to a philippic; now, to the publishing of a law, and again to the administering of an oath ; now, to a wheedhng demagogue, and now to the voice of prayer. If a frolicsome girl had scared people, by pre- tending to have Satan in her, and by acting as if she had, and was detected, they made her stand here on a Sunday before the preacher, and own that Ch. viti.] the establishment. 1G9 she did it for fun, and say that she was sorry, and >^ wanted to be forgiven and to be prayed for. In Protestant times, if a Romish priest, to escape pun- ishment, would abjure his heresy, they made him do it here, after having stood before the preacher all >^ the sermon-time with a fagot on his back. Such were some of the uses of Paul's Cross, — so called. But it had ever been chiefly appropriated by the clergy. It had stood there at least three hundred years, - — " the most noted and solemn place in the nation for the gravest divines and the greatest scholars to preach at." WicklifF had preached from it ; and so had his persecutors. So had Brad- wardine and Tyndal ; the bloody Bonner, and his yoke-fellow Gardiner ; and Rogers, and Hooper, and Cranmer, — aU of whom Bonner and Gardiner had \/ burned at the stake. It was at last completely destroyed in 1643, by order of Parliament. As soon as the Protestant religion was restored by Queen Elizabeth, the most eminent Protestant divines were appointed to occupy this pulpit on Sundays, where they preached to immense assem- blies, including the dignitaries of Church and city, / the queen and her nobles.^ The usual services had just been concluded there on the 12th of November, 1559. The preacher,^ a venerable man of seventy-two years, was well known, not only for his piety and learning, but for his in- tegrity and fortitude during a long life of vicissitude, ^ Stow's Annals, 678. Stow's Sur- Neal, I. 455. Leigli's View of Lon- vey, 123, 124, note, Thorn's Lon- don. don edit. 1842. Strype's Grindal, - Stiype's Grindal, 27. Strypc's 26, 27. Strype's Annals, I. 300. Annals, I. 200. VOL. I. 22 ^ 170 THE ESTABLISHREENT. [Ch. Vm. peril, and hardship. Many high in office and rank had therefore gathered to hear him. As soon as he had uttered the last words of the service, the whole congregation joined in a song of praise to God. Six thousand voices, "of old and young, of both sexes," swelhng in harmony and fervent in their praise, — how grand the chorus ! " It sadly amioyed / the Mass-priests and — the De^il."^ When the peo- ple had mostly dispersed, the venerable preacher descended from the pulpit. He wore no surplice; only a long black gown over a plain black suit. His face was by no means classic ; rather rough than otherwise, as if by long and harsh exposure ; and his iron-gray hair lay in scant and wiry tufts. But there was such a hglit of peacefulness and benevolence about his lips, beamuig in his clear blue eye, and softening every homel}^ featm^e, that one could not help bemg drawn toward him, lo'sdngly and trustfully. Yet with all his look of mildness, he had that also of decision, firmness, and courage, which repelled all idea of his bems; moved to anvthins: which mio-ht conflict either with his reason or his conscience. Though he had not the strong, confident movement of vigorous life, yet he descended with a step betray- ing no infirmity. He was met on the ground by a man somewhat past the prime of life, wearing the square cap and the gown of the clergy, who said, saluting him with marked deference, '' May God long spare thee, good father, to preach the words of truth and soberness." The old man returned his salutation with a bright smile, which faded, however, into a look of placid ^ Zurich Letters, Ko. XLV. ; Jewel to P. MartjT. Ch. vui.] the establishment. 171 gravity as he heard the words. He did not at once reply ; and when he did, he said quietly, " As the Lord willeth. It is not for Myles Coverdale to eschew or to covet a greater length of days. Wliile I live, an the Lord please, I would preach his Word. Albeit I misdoubt, Master Whitehead, lest my mouth be closed before my days." As he spake the last words, he looked at his com- panion keenly. They were just without the four chains which compassed the churchyard ; ^ and here their routes diverged. But Master Whitehead, read- ing the meaning of Father Coverdale's look, checked his step as he was about to turn, saying, " Would I might have thine ear, good father, touching the matters thy words point at ! Prithee ! let me to thine house." "With all my heart; albeit the place be not tempting." "It is only Father Coverdale I want." "Come then." But instead of proceeding, the venerable man, at that moment having turned his eye toward the churchyard, stood still, and exclaimed in tones of indignation and grief: " Mammon ! Mammon ! thou hast ever shown a spite to poor old Myles, and hast grudged him thy meanest dole. But now thou hast come to grudging him his trade, — persuad- ing men ! and dost beat him at it too ! See, Master Whitehead ! The Devil travelleth in the preacher's wake, scattering tares where I did just cast God's seed ! A lawyer ; notaries, I trow, — the knaves with inldiorn and tablets ; a Jew ; and there come scores * Strype's Grindal, 57. \^ 172 THE ESTABLISHMENT. ' [Ch. VUI. of simpletons, with purses and dags in girdle, to buy and to sell, to gain and to lose, to chea^ and be cheated. Now they will walk and talk and courtesy and smile ; anon, hear and tell news ; then to business and payment of moneys, and sealing of bonds, and such like; and, last, to quarrelling and fighting, and mayhap to rioting and letting blood! All on ground consecrated to God's wor- ship) and the resurection ! ^ Master Whitehead ! an you have influence with her Majesty, as men say, beseech her stop this profanation, — it is all abroad in the Idngdom. She doth straitly reform religion ; prick her to reforming vice. Come," hastily leaning uj^on Whitehead's arm, " let us away." So saying, he turned towards his temporary home. As their discourse concerned only the churchyard scene, we leave them to their walli ; merely observ- ing, that mercantile gatherings after the Sunday service, and often attended by "divers outrageous 7^ and unseemly behaviors, as well within and near the cathedral church of St. Paul as in divers other churches in the realm,^ were not uncommon, even to the use of deadly weajDons ; nor did the majesty X of the crown interfere for their suppression until two years afterwards. Myles Coverdale — from respect to his age and character commonly called Father Coverdale — had translated the whole Bible in the reign of Henry VIII., and had been a cherished intimate of Thomas -a Cromwell, the king's vicar-general ; but about 1540 he had been obHged to seek safety in exile. He had ^ Strype's Grindal, 56, 209. - Queen's Proclamation, Oct. 30, Strype's Annals, I. 390. 1561. Cii. VIII.] THE ESTABLISHMENT. I/O been one of the chaplains of Edward VI.; and Bishop of Exeter, from 1551 to 1553, when he was deposed and imprisoned by Mary, who with difficulty was persuaded by the king of Denmark to deny him the honors of the stake, which she commuted for banishment. Of course he had remained in exile until Ehzabeth came to the throne, at which time he was at Geneva. The news of that event brought him sj)eedily to England.-"^ v/ ^ In lu3 youth Myles Coverdale entered the monastery of the Au- gustines at Cambridge. In 1514, at the age of twenty-six years, he ■was admitted to orders. He Tvas one of the many young men of the University who flocked around Doc- tor Robert Barnes, the prior of the convent, and hailed him as "the restorer of letters" when, as a mere scholar, he lectured upon Terence and Cicero, or poured forth his classic eloquence over the letters of Saint Paul. With still gi'eater eagerness did the young monk drink in the words of the same elegant and ardent master, when afterwards, with new vision and new eloquence, he opened the spiritual treasures of the Gospel. Bilney and Latimer and Stafford also had a share in the training of his mind and the moulding of his heart, when the several Colleges of the University were in a fer- ^ ment over the Greek Testament ' of Erasmus, an^timid students held " gospel-meetings " by stealth > at the sign of the "White Horse. (Strj-pe's Parker, 6.) And after- wards, in 1526, when manor-house and convent-cell, shop and cottage, were thronged with persons study- v v^ ing Tyndal's English Testament, wondering at its clearness, its eth- ics, and its glad tidings, — when the Universities began to be counted pest-houses of heresy because they ^ too harbored Tyndal's book, — Cov- erdale shared in the general en- thusiasm, and sat with new-born gladness at the feet of his prior. And when, soon after, Barnes was swooped up by the minions of Wol- sey, and heard fi-om the lips of the despotic Cardinal, " You must be burned," Coverdale was one of three disciples who followed him on his mournful journey, and stayed him in his days of trial. After this, he abandoned his convent, and went about as a missionaiy, preaching an evangelical reformation. We have no trace of him from 1528 to 1535, except that during the greater part of the year 1529 he was assisting Tyndal at Hamburg in translating a part of the Old Testament. (Bagster's Memorials of Coverdale, 23.) As he published his own translation of the entire Bible in October, 1535, — the first edition of the whole Bible in Eng- lish ever printed, — he was doubtless engrossed during the interval, and in seclusion, by this task. Where X 174 THE ESTABLISHMENT. [Ch. vm. David Whitehead, a distinguished scholar and divine, was also an exile during Mary's reign, and resided at Frankfort. He has already been inciden- tally mentioned, as ministering to the English church in that city, before the arrival of Knox. He appears to have been afterwards its pastor. It is probable that his acquaintance with Coverdale had commenced / this Bible was printed is uncertain. In 1537, two other editions of it were published by James Nycolson, a bookseller in Southwark. In the same year appeared the Bible which bears the name of Thomas Matthewe, but which was really edited by John Rogers. Of this, all to the end of the Chron- icles, the book of Jonah, and the New Testament, were Tyndal's ; the rest, Coverdale's. (Compare Hal- lam, 67, and note.) This edition was a private speculation of Graf- ton, who printed it; and was "set forth with the king's most gracious license." (Compare Heyl. Ref, 9, 20, Carte, III. 128, 129. Holing- shed, IV. 732. Stow, 553, 554, 575. Rapin, I. 483, 804 - 832, passhn.) In 1538, Coverdale was in Paris with Grafton, and under the direc- tion of Cromwell, Lord of the Privy Seal and Henry's vicegerent, edit- ing another edition of the Bible; but the Inquisition scenting the work, he was obliged to flee. He managed, however, to save his t}^es and most of the edition, which was completed and published the next year in Loudon. It seems to have been what is called Cranmer's Bi- ble. (Compare IlaUam, 57, note.) About 1540 he went to Germany, where he struggled eight years against poverty. During this exile he married Elizabeth Macheson, a woman of Scotch descent. When Edward came to the throne, he was invited — by Cran- mer, doubtless — to return; which he did early in 1549, for a letter of his to Calvin, dated March, 1548, — i. e. 1548-9, — says, "On my re- turn to England, having been in- vited thither after an exile of eight years." In 1550 he brought out a new edition of his Bible at Zurich, wluch was reissued in London in 1553, and again in 1562 (Strype's Parker, 207), and yet again in 15G6. (Ibid., 240, misuumbered 232.) He was appointed one of the king's chaplains, and almoner to the dowager Queen Catharine ; and on the 30th of August, 1551, was consecrated Bishop of Exeter, be- ing " habited in surplice and cope." (Strype's Cranmer, 271. ) Queen Mary deposed and im- prisoned him in 1553, and would have sent him to the stake but for McBee, who had married a sister of Coverdale's wife. This man, chap- lain to liing Frederick of Denmai-k, procured his Majesty's intercession by letter in Coverdale's behalf. This being unsuccessful, his Majesty Cii. VIII.] THE ESTABLISHMENT. 175 at the court of Henry VIII., while Whitehead was officiating as chaplain to Queen Anne Boleyn; and that it had been renewed at Frankfort or Geneva. Since his return, he had so won the esteem of Elizabeth, as a zealous and able champion of the Refonned religion, that she had offered him the Archbishopric of Canterbury; which, however, from conscientious scruples, he had declined.^ f ~yL wrote a second time ; upon wliicli Mary reluctantly liberated her pris- oner, on condition, however, that he should abjure the realm. He was thereupon sent to Denmark. (Fox, III. 182, 183. Fuller's Worthies, III. 411, 412. Brook, I. 125.) He was afterwards in Geneva, engaged with Goodman, Knox, Gibbs, Sampson, Cole, Oxon, and Whittingham in translating and publisliing the Bible. This edition Avas not completed until 1560, when it was published at Geneva, and dedicated to Queen Elizabeth. It is the version known as " the Geneva Bible " ; sometimes wag- gishly called " the Breeches Bible," because of its rendering of Gen. 7. It was the first English edition in which the chapters were d ivided iiito verses. Its marginal notes were thought to reflect upon the queen's supremacy; and there- fore it was denied a publication in England. The author ofthe"Dis- cours" — published, it will be re- membered, in 1575 — says, "Men male maruelle that suche a worke (beinge so profitable) shulde finde so small fauor as not to be printed againc." But the next year it zvas printed in England ; and again, in 157!); and in 1616 had passed thi'ough about thirty editions ; most- ly by the queen's and the king's printers. Other editions were issued at Geneva, Etlinburgh, and Amsterdam. (Neal, I. 83. Home's Introduction, H. 244. Strj-pc's Parker, 207.) When EUzabeth came to the throne, Coverdale was stiU at Ge- neva, and the news of that event brought him unmediately to Eng- land, where he preached on differ- ent occasions at Paul's Cross. (Strype's Annals, I. 300, 407.) Further particulars about him wiU be found hereafter in the text. The chief materials of this note, where reference is not made to other authorities, I gather from the Bio- graphia Britannica ; " The Remains of Coverdale," published by the Parker Society; and D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation, Vol. V. Hallam (57, note) says that the accounts of the early editions of the English Bible, as given by Burnet, Collier, Strype, and others, are erroneous or defective; and that the most complete enumeration is in Cotton's list of editions, 1821. ^ Fuller's Worthies, H. 19. In- troduction to the Discours, p. vii. Strype's Parker, 35. Pierce, 46. Neal, I. 119. 176 TIIE ESTABLISHMENT. [Cii. VIII. He was pained at the indications of poverty which he saw in the aj)artment of his venerable friend. The furniture was of oak wrought in the simplest manner, and barely sufficed the purposes of neces- sity ; and upon nothing there could the visitor look with satisfaction, but a few choice books bestowed upon the shelves of a rude oaken press. Suppress- ing his emotions at what he saw, he immediately opened the purpose of his visit. "As touching that you said, good father, of the closing of your lips, it is burdenous to my soul. "We did think it blithe sunshiny weather which God had sent us in the sweet looks of our sovereign mistress, and lo ! our sky is already overcast. I take it grievously." "In good sooth, so do I. We have reason. Pa- y pistry by itself be better than mingle-mangle, — Papistry naked, than Papistry cloaked. To my eye, there be strange contradiction in things present. Her Majesty's Council half Popish, half Protestant; the Book of Common Prayer reformed Pope-wise, yet her Majesty Head of the Church ; Master White- head himself helping to mar the Liturgy, yet hating the marring; Master Whitehead to her Majesty's seeming Papistical enough to be her metropolitan, yet so much of a Gospeller as to refuse ! All this bewildereth simple Myles Coverdale." There was a tinge of bitterness in these words, which grieved Master Whitehead; but he mildly replied, " I cannot be sponsor for her Majesty, good father. But concerning myself there is no reason for bewilderment. In sooth I was of those who were ordered to the reviewing of King Edward's Ch. VIII.] THE ESTABLISHMENT. 177 Liturgy. By her Majesty's commands, our doings were in private and at the lodgings of Sir Thomas Smith, joined with us for his knowledge of civil law.^ We were not lier Majesty's advisers ; but under her strait behest, which was, to purge the Liturgy of all which might give scandal or offence to the Papists.^ \/ Certes ! what were we to do but obey ? In the king's litany stood the prayer to be delivered from the tyranny and detestable enormities of the Bishop of Kome. The Papists would never gulp that ; so it must be stricken out.^ Then there was the commun- ion service ; in the first Liturgy of the king, ' the l)ody of our Lord Jesus Christ,' — Hhe Uood of our Lord Jesus Christ,' — which agreeth with the doc- trine of the corporal presence; in the second Lit- urgy, 'Take, eat this in rememhrance^ &c., which ex- v^ ^^ cludeth the doctrine. We were constrained by com- mandment to join the two as it now readeth, lest, under color of rejecting the carnal, it should seem to deny the real presence. So that now it readeth as to give not matter of scandal to Papists.* For the ^ same reason, nolens volens, we must strike out the rubric which declared kneeling at the sacrament no y' adoring of the bread and wine.^ All this, sorely to my grief Prithee ! good father, what can the chisel ^ Strype's Grindal, 23. Strype's and Pilkington, — exiles, and newly Life of Smith, 226. Neal, I. 76. come home." — Strype's Annals, I. " The men named for drawing 75. up a platform of religion were Bill, ^ Warner, U. 416. Neal, I. 76. Parker, May, — all under King Ed- * Warner, II. 417. Ileylin's ward heads of the University of Ref , 283. Cambridge, but deprived under * Echard, 789. Queen INIary, and remaining ob- ^ Ileylin's Ref., 283. Warner, scurely in England dming her 11. 416. Burnet, II. 606, 607. reign; Cox, Whitehead, GrindaJ, VOL. I. 23 178 THE ESTABLISHMENT. [Ch. VIH. do, save to cut as the hand and mallet do guide it?" "Didst protest? Didst show thy mind and con- science ? Didst plead ? " " Ay ; protested on my conscience. For pleading there was no jAnceJ' " God be thanked, brother ! that thou art scatheless of blame. Yet why should her Majesty seek to make thee her Primate of Canterbury ? " "I did mthstand the Popish bishops mth some show of skill, which did suit her humor. Howbeit, she wisteth not, mayhap, of my contrariness to these changes, and that I did refuse on the score of con- science ; for I did excuse myself by saying only, that I coidd live plentifully on the Gospel without any preferment ; and so, by God's grace, I will do. " ^ "Alack! alack! that her Majesty undoeth the work of our good young king ! It be a sad thing to order us back to copes and such like things from ^ Neal, I. 75, 119. Brook, I. 173. had so great an esteem for liim, that This archbishopric was also offered she offered him the archbishopric to Doctor Nicholas Wotton, -who of Canterbury, but he refused ; as refused it. (Hohngshed, IV. 760. also the mastership of the Savoy Lodge, I. 337, note. Walton's Hospital, — affirming that he could Lives of Wotton, etc., p. 104.) live plentifully on the preachmg of "In the time of Henry VHI., the Gospel without either. It is Whitehead was chaplain to Anne doubtful, therefore, whether he had Boleyn. He was one of four who any spirituahties of note conferred were nominated to the king by upon him, he being much delighted Cranmer to be a bishop in Ireland, in travelling to and fro to preach He had a hand in the third the Word of God in those places edition of the English Liturgy, in where he thought it was wanting. 1559. He was one of the dispu- He lived single, and was therefore tants in that year against the Eo- better esteemed by the queen. He man Cathohc bishops. So that in died in 1571." — Wood's Athenae, I. his discourses, showing himself a 396. deep divine, the queen thereupon Cii. VIII.] THE ESTABLISHMENT. 179 which he delivered us ; ^ knowing, as she doth, that our best clergy — Jewel, Grindal, and others, even Horn and Cox ^ — count them relics of the Amorites. It be a sad thing to order the sacramental bread round like a wafer ; and the Lord's table against the wall likean altar ; and obeisance at the name of Jesus ; ^ and the observance of the old festivals with their eves.* My heart greatly misgiveth me, lest these be only the first steps backward to the embrace of the Romish harlot." Thus did these good men deplore the changes ui religion, so different from those they had hoped for when it was announced to them beyond the seas, "that the Lorde began to shewe mercy vnto Eng- lande in remouinge Queene Mary be deathe." ^ They K" ^ Strj-pe's Annals, I. 122. - Ilallam says (p. 107) tliat all the most eminent Churchmen were in favor of leaving off the surplice and what are called the Popish ceremonies, except Parker and Cox. Strj^e says (Annals, I. 2G4) that '■'■Cox with others labored all that he could, upon his first re- turn, against receiving into the Church the Papistical habits, and tliat all the ceremonies should be clean laid aside." Even Parker professed " that he was not over- fond of cap and surplice, wafer -^ bread and such like." (Strype's Parker, 227, and Appendix, p. 185.) By turning to pp. 33, 67, 69, 208, 243, and 275 of the Zurich Letters, the reader will find the strongest evidence of the aversion of Queen Elizabeth's bishops to " the scenic }^ apparatus of divine worship," " the fooleries," " the ceremonies and maskings," "the theatrical habits," "the relics of the Amorites," — these are bishop Jewel's words, — which pertained to the established P' service ; and of the earnest man- ner in which they strove " with the queen and Parliament" to have them removed. ^ " The Puritans maintained that \/- all the names of God and Christ were to be held in equal reverence ; and therefore it was beside all rea- son to bow the knee, or uncover the head, only at the name of Jesus." They objected to the Church festi- vals or holy days, and particularly to those appointed in commemora- \/ tlon of saints, because they had no foundation in Scripture or in the usages of the primitive Church. (Neal, I. 106, 107.) * Heylin's Ptef , 188, 283. ^ Discours, 186. 180 THE ESTABLISHMENT. [Ch. VIH. were one in their griefs and anxieties, and one in the purpose to make no ajoproaches, in the exercise of « their sacred functions, to the superstitions of Rome ; and particularly never to adopt "the relics of the Amorites." While in the full fervor of such dis- course, to the astonishment of both. Sir Francis Knollys was ushered into their presence, in company with the Lord Robert Dudley. Sir Francis Knollys was descended from a younger sister of Queen Anne Boleyn; and, of course, was near of kin to Queen Elizabeth,-^ who had installed him as one of her Privy Council. He had been one of the exiles at Frankfort during the troubles there ; and, sympathizing with Whittinglmm and Knox, had been driven thence to Geneva by the intrigues of Cox and his partisans. At Geneva he had been intimate with Calvin, Beza, and their disciples, and had returned to England "a professed Genevian."^ Consequently, he was far from being a stranger either to Whitehead or Coverdale ; who, well know- ing his religious sympatliies, gave him a cordial welcome. ^ Camden (p. 88), Puller (in liis Francis himself puts this relation- Worthies, III. 16), Birch (I. 8), ship by blood beyond doubt. In a and Lodge (I. 311), speak of Knol- letter to ^Vhitgift, he speaks of him- lys's alliance to the queen as being self as " bound to be careful of her only through his wife, Catharine Majesty's safety by the Cary, the queen's cousin-german and strong bands of Nature." (Strype's daughter to Lord Cary of Hunsdon. Whitgift, Appendix, Bk. III. No. Heylin also (Presb., Bk. VI. Sec. 19) VHI.) Strj'pe says, " cousin to the states this connection. But there queen." (Ibid., p. 156.) See also was also a nearer one — of blood. Wright, I. 272, note. (Heylin's Presb., Bk. I. Sec. 19.) - Lodge, L 311. Heylin's Presb., Lloyd says, " The Knollyses were of Bk. I. Sec. 19; Bk. VI. Sec. 19; the same Uood with her Ma.iesty." Bk. VIII. Sec. 21. (State Worthies, 618.) But Sir Cu. VIII.J THE ESTABLISHMENT. 181 That the attention of the people might not be attracted, the visitors had come without that retinue which custom aj)pended to their out-of-door move- ments ; and for the same reason, their apparel was shorn of its ordinary splendor. Still, with only the apj)ointments of unpretending cavaliers, — gay colors, rich fabrics, jilumes, and weapons, — they figured strangely in that rude apartment, with its scant and homely furnishings, and beside men in the humblest sad-apparel of the Church. Dudley was j^rofuse in his expressions of respect; yet with such delicacy of port and phrase as precluded offence, and with such honesty, for the moment, as barred suspicion. Face to face with hoary age and artless piety, the elegant and godless courtier yielded to their influ- ence, and dwindled in his own esteem to a dwarf; his courtesies were measured by the sacred rank of those before him ; his lips refused hypocrisy ; and he w^as constrained to an openness of discourse of which he had believed himself incapable. Add to this be- littmg deportment, his noble mien and jDrincely features, and we cannot wonder that he won at least the momentary confidence of his new acquaintance. We pass over the courtesies of introduction, and the discourse, interesting to each alike, respecting the days of Warwick, Cranmer, and Hooper. This naturally and easily led to the theme by which Coverdale and Whitehead had been engrossed, and upon which it was the errand of both KnoUys and Dudley to engage ; a theme, however, whose intro- duction would not have seemed forced in any circle, being the great topic of the day with all ranks and all parties. 182 THE ESTABLISHMENT. [Cn. VIH. " My lord/' said Coverdale, " the plan of reform in King Edward's day was step by step; lest sud- den and violent revolution in the Church should stir up rebellion in the State. Thus, the first Lit- urgy only abated someivhat the Popish mummeries. ^ When it had been tried awhile, it was brought under review and altered to a farther distance than it had before from the rituals of Rome. But though it had much less of Rome than before it had,^ it was the intent of us who were then bishops to purge it yet more, so soon as the people could bear it." "So I have been told." "The next step would have been to procure an act of Parliament for abolishmg the habits; and this both Cranmer and Ridley did fully intend,^ and the long himself was about to do it when he died.^ And you know/' turning to Sir Francis, " that when it was told in Switzerland that God had pulled down Mary that did persecute, they who had before dis- ^ agreed touching the ritual did by letters agree to drop contention, to join hands and hearts together at home against superfluous ceremonials in religion.* We came home, and lo ! ^ instead of the further reform which King Edward's bishops did frame, and y for which we did hope, we are told to go back to ' the king's first Book, and put on cope and tippet, y chimere and what not.^ All these doings tend to Rome, whether her Majesty wotteth of it or no. God grant she have no intent thereto ! " 1 Heyl. Presb., Bk. I. Sec. 16. * DIscours, 186-191. McCrIe,152. 2 Pierce, 44. McCrie, 408. ^ Heyl. Presb., Bk. VI. Sec. 12. ' Zurich Letters, No. CXXX. ; Ileyl. Ptef., 304. Withers to the Elector Palatine. •> 1 Eliz. Cap. II. Sec. XIII. Cn. VIII.] THE ESTABLISHMENT. 183 "Her Majesty will never pay Peters-pence/' ex- claimed Dudley. " She hath the spirit of her Yoyal father, and will never part with her supremacy." " Yet did her royal sire cleave to the superstitions and idolatries of Rome; and to her heresies, too. Her Majesty and Parliament are moving over the steps of Edward and Cranmer — backward. Will they stop ere they get where Henry and Cromwell were? Hey, my lord?" " I do greatly mislike this undoing of reform, and therefore did give my voice against the bill for Uni- fonnity," ^ returned Dudley. " But touching the danger of her Majesty's relapse to Popish idolatries, Y consider, good father, she hath ordered all the gear of idolatry and superstition to be destroyed, — the images of saints, altars, crucifixes, and such like, — which hath already been done. That smacketh not of idolatry, I trow." "Marry! and retaineth the like vain quiddities and dumb idols for her priyate^uses ! Prithee ! what ^ meaneth the Popish rood in her chapel? What Vv meaneth it there, when her singing children clap on the surplice, and her priest, the cope ? What meaneth the altar there, garnished with rich vessels of silver, and huge crucifix of silver, and burning candles ? ^ What smack these things of, my lord ? They do grieve and alarm the most loyal of her Majesty's subjects." " We mislike it also, reverend sir. Yet methinks her purpose tendeth no further than will suffice to ' D'Ewcs, 28. XXXIX., Sampson to T. IMurtjT, * Zurich Letters, No. XXXIV., Jan., 1559-GO. Burnet, III. 439. Jewel to r. MartjT, Nov., 1559 ; No. Ncal, I. 81, 82. 184 THE ESTABLISIBIENT. [Ch. Vm. gratify in lier own jDrivacy that wliicli -we all know she hath mherited from her royal father, — a fond- ness for state and magnificence, in her devotions as well as in her court." ^ "Nay, nay," rephed Coverdale, gravely. "Thou dost thy devoir stoutly, my lord, like a doughty knight and loyal. For thy right cliivalrous heart, I do commend thee. Albeit mine own he old, and worn, and weary, m true and right reverent devo- tion to our gracious mistress it doth not lag a whit behind fresh youth and princely blood ; nevertheless, while I find Babylonish garments enjoined even upon her clergy who detest them, I do gravely ques- tion if her use of Popish gear be only for her own private pleasing." " Me thinks, reverend sir," interposed KnoUys, " her Majesty hath proceeded in this wise as far as she will." " Mayhap," replied Coverdale, dryly. " Be it so ; be it so, — which God grant ! " said Master Whitehead. " Yet, Sir Francis, we do harbor misgivings. While Popish superstitions have the broad seal, and wliile Popish ]3omp doth allure and awe the peoj^le, wherewithal shall they be restrained from backsliding to Eome ? Know you not that the learnedest among the Papists load that the face of the nation hath already been set thither; and, withal, by authority?" "By my troth, nay. AYho boasteth thus?" " No less a man than that arch-idolater, that prime minister of fire and fagot." « Bonner ? " " Bonner." ^ EcHard, 780. Warner, IT. 407, 408. Cu. VIII.] THE ESTABLISHMENT. 185 "Wheat saith he?" '• lie heiirctli how our Parliament hath thought fit to continue some of the Popish superstitions, — 'An they sup of our broth, they will soon eat of our ]jeef,' ^ he roundly exclaimeth, and in huge glee." "J/?« foi! I do honestly commend hun, being myself of the mind that so it would be an the people were left to the natural course of things." "Say ?/ou so, too, my lord!" exclaimed Master Coverdale. • " In all sincerity, reverend sir," replied Dudley. " Howbeit, the people will not be left to the natural course of things. People and Parliament have a mistress ; and my thinking agreeth with that of Sir Francis, that she will not let them have the meat ; having gone as far backward as she will." "Your reason, my lord," said Whitehead. "Ay, my lord, — your reason," echoed Coverdale. "A sound opinion hath good cause." " Reverend masters ! let men gossip as they may, and let you honest Genevans quake never so much, about these few Popish rags, — at which I marvel not, you not seeing the reasons therefor, mayhap, — yet, maugre all, her Majesty is as true a Protestant this day — howbeit not of the same mould — as my Lord Bishop here, who hath ventured even life for the faith." " Nay, lord me no lord ! " protested Coverdale. "My bishopric is over. God grant you be right. Thou givest fair reason for thine opinion. Canst give as good reason for thy reason?" "I will try. Ponder, I pray you, the straitened ^ Pierce, 50. VOL. I. 24 186 THE ESTABLISHMENT. [Cii. VIH. estate of our gracious lady upon her coming to the throne. The Pope had declared her illegitimate^ — which meaneth usurper with more than half the world. Thereupon the Queen of Scots putteth in her claim to the crown. France on the south, Scot- land on the north, at war with her Majesty; — all the Catholic powers her open enemies, save only the arrant bigot and graceless mar-faith of Spain, and he secretly so ; ^ for Throkmorton hath writ her Majesty, 'The king of Spain is but a hollow friend unto you, and so may he do you more harm than an ojDen enemy ' ; ^ — all our bishops and a great part of our commoners religiously unloyal, — the flutter of a rag, a puff of air, might have woke them to rebellion;^ — what was she to do? Marry! to make peace abroad, — the seeming of which she hath now happily attained ; * next, to get the good-will of her subjects. But the nation was wonderfully divided in opinions; as well in matters of ecclesiastical government, as in divers points of religion.^ The greatest part of her subjects, Protestants; never- theless a great part. Catholics,® — of course counting her a heretic, a bastard, a usurper. By education and by policy, she was constrained to establish the Protestant religion. But it much behooved her safety to throw a cake to Cerberus, — to pacify and make easy the Papists. For this reason she hath refused the title Head of the Church, and taken only that of Supreme Governess. For this ^ Wright, I. 6. * Strype's Annals, I. 30, 37, - Forbes, I. 182; Throkmorton 283. to the Queen, July 27, 1559. ^ Stow, 635. * Rapin, II. 57-59. Warner, II. » Rapin, II. 52, 59 Us. 407. Neal, I. 71. Cii. VIII.J THE ESTABLISIBIENT. 187 reason, she hath moulded the Liturgy somewhat to the complexion of the Papistical humor, and hath come a step or two closer to the Romish cere- monials. For this reason, she retaineth her sister's councillors ; and, in her own chapel, certain symbols of Romish worshijD ; and hath ordered copes and other garments for the clergy, — wliich opportunely falleth m with her love of display. In fine, she hath discreetly sought to shape the worship of the Church — while putting her ban upon idolatry — more pass- ably with the Romanists, and so to keep them in our communion.^ The wisdom of all which doth appear ; inasmuch that they be quiet, exciting no sedition, and do generally repah' to the churches without doubt or scruple.^ Thus, most worshipful sirs, I conceive that her Majesty's comportment be not from any leaning to superstition and idolatry; is to be scored only to her state-discretion; and maketli naught to the prejudice of her hearty Prot- estancy. Which I humbly lay down for your fair . considering." "Bravo, my lord!" exclaimed Father Coverdale. " A most puissant advocate ! An our maiden queen had not presently given thee guerdon of the Garter, thou wouldst now have earned it. My lord, I will not gainsay thy conclusion. Nevertheless, doth not. your lordship somewhat overshoot ? An these com- phances be lime-twigs to catch Papists, then they be downright Popish. Myles Coverdale will none of them. I mind me none the less, that they who sup the broth will hanker for ih.Q beef" V" ^ Echard, 789, 793. Warner, H. = Heyl. Ref., 283. Heyl. Trcsb., 419. ColUer, VI. 264, 480. Bur- Bk. VI. Sec. 12. net, II. 582, 583, 606. 188 THE ESTABLISHMENT. [Cn. VIII. " On that score, be at rest, good father. She who alloweth them is a Protestant, with a woman's will, with queenly power, and will heed the spiritual weal of her realm. Be mindful also that she hath advisers whom ye may trust, who respect your scruples, and will befriend your party, — Sir WiUiam Cecil, than whom none hath more her Majesty's ear and confidence ; Sir Francis Knollys, here, who hath been school-fellow with Master Coverdale and Mas- ter Whitehead under Master Calvin, and wdiom the queen favoreth to a marvel, he being a worthy kins- man of her Highness ; besides that graceless gallant, Eobert Dudley." "An the Lord Eobert Dudley and his compeers plead as well with her Majesty for us poor Genevans, as with us for her Majesty, the Lord of lords bless him ! " said Coverdale, with patriarchal solemnity. The courtier, half unconsciously, responded, " Amen ! " " But odds my life ! " resumed the former, after a slight pause, " how cometh it to pass, that, with all this tenderness for Papists, not one poor crumb of royal favor hath fallen to us Protestants who sue for a purer worship?"^ " r faith, sir, I know not. But Master Knox hath writ somewhat to Master Secretary Cecil, to whom I did hear her Highness swearing roundly and over- loud, one day, about the insolent Scot's letter, and his Blast ^ and new-fangleness. I did not understand ^ Collier, YI. 278. Stiypc's Aii- Blast of the Trumpet against the nals, I. 192, 194. Monstrous Kegiment of Women," — - Near the close of Queen Mary's i. e. the unnatural government of reign, Knox published " The First women ; a pamphlet provoked by Cii. VIII.] THE ESTABLISHMENT. 189 the discourse ; but surmise that the Scotsman hatli told tales. How now, Sir Francis ! Mayhaj) you have advisement touching that we speak of." " Certes, I have ! Her Majesty hath been plied with tales. Howbeit, not by Master Knox, but by his old adversary. No sooner doth Doctor Cox hear of Queen Mary's death, than he cometh home boot and spur. Before any of us in Switzerland could arrive, he gaineth the queen's presence and bloweth in her ear, with Da Capo to boot, the whole Blast of Master Knox's Trumpet; whereat her Majesty did fume right lion-like, finding woman's regiment tilted at in open lists as a thing contrary to God and nature. Now Doctor Cox, seeing her Majesty in fit humor, doth rehearse after his own fashion our troubles at Frankfort ; and, with others, did persuade her Majesty's barbarities. Its doc- Cecil.) It was at the hazard of im- trinc was, "that the rule of a prisonment, that any one should woman is repugnant to Nature, a even convey a letter from Knox contumely to God, a tiling most to the Court of Elizabeth. (Mc- contrarious to his revealed will and Crie, 153, 157. Strype's Annals, I. approved ordinance, and, finally, 178. Forbes's State Papers, I. 90.) the subversion of all equity and Knox threatened two other blasts, justice." but they were never blown ; partly For this, and for his hostility to because the first gave offence to the English Liturgy, the queen had many of his brethren, partly be- such a hatred of him, that the very cause of Marj's death, and partly mention of his name was odious because he was desirous to strength- to her ear. In March, 1559, her en the authority of Elizabeth. (Mc- governmcnt refused to let Knox Crie, 143. Lingard, VII., Note H.) pass through England on his way The letter to Cecil alluded to in to Scotland. (McCrie, 153.) Yet tbe text was dated April 24th, 1559. Throkmorton wrote from Paris, " Li In this, without receding from the my opinion, it is greatly necessary, ground he had taken, Knox ac- notwithstanding any difficulty there- knowledged that Elizabeth was a in heretofore made, that Knox have miracle of an exception to the gen- liberty to repair into England, how- eral rule, — a special production of ever short his abode be there." Divine Providence, — expressly ele- (Forbes, I. 1G7; Thi-okmorton to vated to the "-overnment for the 190 THE ESTABLISHMENT. [Cn. Tin. her Majesty that the sort of men who sided with Knox there, and who were with him at Geneva, did hold his doctrine of the monstrous goyemnient of women, and were therefore her disloyal subjects.-^ ' These be the sort,' said they, ^ who made such stir in King Edward's day about the episcopal robes, at which time they did outrage all decency and comely order in the Church; and, after, did practise such like books as this to subvert Queen Mary withal; and were wont openly to pray God either to turn her heart or take her life. And,' they added, ^the same sort who behaved thus imder King Edward and Queen Mary, will so behave under yoiu' Majesty, an thou cross thek fantasies, right or wrong.' It was bruited, withal, that they who had affected unmeet alterations of the Litm'gy were for having manifestation of God's glory, &c. Aecortling to Heylin, (Presb., Bk. YI. See. 13.) he had the ill grace to prescribe to her a '' confession," that, "by God's mercy, that Tras lawful in her which was contrary to God and to nature in all other women " ; on condition of which con- fession Knox would acknowledge her authority, but threatening her with God's punishment otherwise ! This representation has the bilious tang which so pervades Heylin's writings as to repel the confidence of his readers. " Knox wrote to Cecil requesting permission to visit England, and en- closed a letter to Queen Elizabeth, in which he attempted to apologize for his rude attack upon female gov- ernment. There was nothing at which he was more awkward than apologies, condescensions, and civil- ities ; and on the present occasion he was placed in a very embarrass- ing predicament, as his judgment would not permit him to retract the sentiment which had given offence to the English queen. In his letter to her, he expresses deep distress at having incurred her displeasure, and warm attachment to her gov- ernment ; but the grounds on which he ad^•ises her to found her title to the crown, and indeed the whole strain in which the letter is writ- ten, are such as must have aggra- vated, instead of extenuating, his offence in the opinion of that high- minded princess It does not appear that Elizabeth ever saw Knox's letter ; and I have little doubt that it was suppressed by Cecil." — McCrie, ISO, 181. 1 Collier, Yl. 277, 278. McCrie, 153. Cii. VIII.] THE ESTABLISHMENT. 191 a, now fasliion of Church poHty.^ Whereupon her Mjijesty, when first deUberatmg of the iiltcrhig of rehgion, did resolve upon Sir Thomas Smith's coun- sel;^ which was to have an eye upon these hot Gos- pellers, and not to heed their whimseys, but rather to give them "an early check," ^ lest, being humored once, they should bawl, like spoiled children, to v^ be humored twice, and so without end."^ Thus, to Doctor Cox's grudge and intrigues, reverend sirs, we may set it down that nothing hath been done to favor your wishes, and that you and others have been treated with harshness and disdain." ^ We may imagine, perhaps, although we cannot describe, the grief and indignation with which this revelation was heard by men than whom none more loyal and upright were to be found in the kingdom. With that honesty which belongs to self-respect, integrity, and a high sense of honor, the two clergy- men spake freely their resentment of the wrong done to themselves and their brethren, and their detestation of the clandestine and insidious means by which it had been wrought, — expressions, how- ever, so tempered with meekness as to excite the admiration of their guests ; and the more, because of tlie nature of the provocation. "Of a verity," said Master Whitehead, "Doctor Cox hath gained his points, — odium for those who did withstand him at Frankfort, and royal favor for himself Nevertheless, he is more to be pitied than we." ' Collier, VI. 199. * Heyl. Presb., Bk. VI. Sec. 11. ^ Lloyd, 5C2. McCrie, 153. ' Camden, IG. ^ gtrype's Annals, I. 178, 181. 192 THE ESTABLISHMENT. [Ch. YUl. « To be pitied ! and he bishop elect ! " exclaimed Dudley. " Nay, my lord ; not for being bishop elect, but for being traducer, for being bishop at the price. To he wronged, is not wrong. To wrong, is to be wronged, — self-wronged and pitiably. He standeth on his bishopric ; I, on mine integrity and manhood. A man whole — and who is he but a whole Chris- tian ? — holdeth higher rank than a mitred man marred, my lord." " Most truly and nobly said, reverend sir," returned Dudley with an expressive courtesy, and with an inward twinge. " Would I were often thy jjupil ! " " "We will bear om- wrong," said Father Coverdale, " as quietly as we may ; but we must be righted with her Majesty." "It will be difiicult," repHed KnoUys. '-'Her Ma- jesty is very jealous of whatsoever seemeth to touch her queenly authority, and holdeth fast her dislikes. It will be hard to convince her that the friends of Knox are the friends of her crown. Every one who hath the smell of Geneva is hateful to her; because there the Scot published his Blast, and there too Goodman a like book on the rights of the Magistrate." ^ " Impossible ! " added Dudley. " And as impossible to change her plan of the ritual. She will not a step back from the pattern she hath scored out. While the changes m Church order were under dehberation, she did indeed suffer herself to be persuaded m some things against her bent.^ But, the order once fixed, 1 Zurich Letters, Ko. CXII. ; = Burnet, II. 614-616. Neal, I. Beza to Bullinger. 87. Hume, 11. 572. Cii. VIII.) THE ESTABLISHMENT. 193 she will suffer persuasion no more. She hath adopted for her motto, " Semper Eadem ! " and she will cleave to it.^ She knoweth right well, that the greatest part of the most eminent clergy are mislik- ing of Popish superstitions, — bowing at the name of Jesus, the sign of the cross in baptism,^ the old vest- ments of the clergy, and such like ; yet she will not yield.^ Here is Jewel, bishop elect of Sarum, and Grindal, bishop elect of London; and Sandys, and Horn, and Parkhurst; — her Majesty kijoweth well their aversion to the apparel, and to some things else that be enjoined. But she regardeth not their wishes, although they have had no dealings with Knox. She hath even rejected, in these matters, the advice and remonstrances of her Council.* She is of another mind ; and will retain things as she hath ordained them. Divines of other countries have prayed her to allow some indulgence respecting rites and cere- monies ; but she answereth, that it doth not consist with her interest or honor.^ In fine, ' Semper Eadem ' she hath written ; and what she hath writ- ten, she hath written." ^ Camdeu, 32. Fuller, Bk. IX. tism was imperfect ; and it had been p. 174. Echard, 797. Heyl. Presb., unduly reverenced, as a part of the Bk. VII. Sec. 38. rite, even by some Protestants. - Making the sign of the cross, For these reasons, the Puritans although practised by the earlier religiously, and like sensible philos- Chiistians upon some occasions, is ophers too, objected to the sin-n in not mentioned as appended to bap- this ordinance. (Burnet, II. 127. tism till about the fifth centurj'. Neal, I. 107.) By the Romanists, it had been ^ Pierce, 4G. Ilallam, 108. ^ supposed to be efficacious to drive * Zurich Letters, No. CXVIH. ; away evil spirits, and to preserve Gualter to Beza. one against dangers. Tliey also ^ Collier, VI. 300. Strype's An- regardcd it as imparting a sacra- nals, I. 127, 128. Strype's Grindal, mental virtue, without which bap- 33. VOL. r. 25 194 THE ESTABLISHMENT. [Cn. VIII. " Different from the maxim in good King Edward's day," exclaimed Coverdale. " Her Majesty assumeth, for sooth, that in Church matters perfection hath been found, — a sort of infalHbihty, I trow." " Nay, good father ; she pretendeth not to being infalhble." "Very hke it." " Reverend sirs," said Knollys, " his lordship de- scribeth truly her Majesty's humor. Touching the dress of the clergy, and the order of public worship, she will not change. I pray you, therefore, advise us whether your consciences Avill allow you to con- form to her ordainings, or no." " Doth not the act requiring uniformity of worship empower her to ordain such further ceremonies or changes in religion as she may see fit ; and without concurrence of the Parliament, or of the Convoca- tion of the Clergy ? " " Troth, sir ; and a point on which her Majesty was resolute, for unless the act had so provided, she would not have passed it.^ Howbeit the act bindeth her to the advice of her commissioners or of her archbishop." " Marry ! we all know what that meaneth. Advice be a supple courtier, and hath a marvellous aptness for bowing at a queen's beck. In the fifty-second of her injunctions, she hath seen fit to order that we do all courtesy and uncover at the name of Jesus ; ^ of which I read nothing in the act of Parliament. Prithee ! what nex t ? An you. Sir Francis — or your lordship — will tell us, for surety, what orders are to come, we will consult our Great Oracle and tell ' Strype's Parker, 300. Warner, IT. 417. Cu. VIIL] THE ESTABLISHMENT. 195 you about conscience and conformity. Eftsoons, U- mayliap, we shall be required to make use of other Papistical additions to the ordinances of Christ, — shaven crowns, oil, spittle, cream, salt, and the [ lilie."! "Yet you know, good father, what she hath de- creed." " To the tithe of a hair." " Canst conform to such ? It is for your sakes, I ask." "To the garments, to some parts of the ritual, never," said both Coverdale and Whitehead de- cidedly. " How of the queen's supremacy ? Can you take the oath?" " In its letter, no," repUed Coverdale. " It declar- eth her Majesty to be the only supreme governor of this realm, as well in all sj)iritual and ecclesiastical things or causes as temporal. In aU civil affairs she is supreme governor, of right; but I stoutly maintain that the government of the Church — its doctrine, its discipline, its way of worship — properly belongeth, not to any one person civil or ecclesiasti- cal, but to the spiritual ofdcers of the Church in convention assembled ; and they, to decree and im- pose nothing other than is expressed in or derived from the Holy Scriptures.^ Therefore, I cannot take the oath in the meaning of its letter. Nevertheless, with her Majesty's explication, whereby in plain words she challengeth only the sovereignty and rule, under God, of all manner of persons, — not, as in the * Neal, I. 97, note. son to Peter MartjT. Neal, I. 78, * Zurich Letters, No. 11. ; Samp- 79. 196 THE ESTABLISHMENT. [Ch. VIII. oatli, ' ecclesiastical things or causes/ — so that no foreign power hath any rule over them, and cleclareth herself well jDleased to accept of it if taken in that sense, — in that sense, when there be occasion, I can take it." " So say you. Master Whitehead ? " "With all my heart." " By your favor, my masters, one question more. How far, thmk you, do those of your brethren of the clergy who wish a further reform in religion agree with you touching the oath ? " "All of them, and entirely, I doubt not," rephed Coverdale, promptly. " Which neither do I doubt," added Whitehead.^ "You see, my lord," said KnoUys, "that our reverend fathers — hot Gospellers, as the j)hrase goeth, though they be — bear true allegiance to her Highness, — they and their brethren. They demur not to the oath. It is e'en as I told 3^ou, my lord." "Eeverend sirs," said Dudley, with a grain of formality in his manner, " I have sought this our conference in part for the resolving of any doubts which perchance might oppress you touching her Majesty's policy and leanings in religion; and partly, that I might best know the true loyalty of men so eminent among those of our Church who are called Genevans. I now declare — and Sir Francis Knollys with me — that we shall strive to favor your cause at court. We cannot hope to gain from her Majesty y such laws as you Avish, nor even to abate her dislike of your peculiar brotherhood, whom Doctor Cox and 1 Neal, I. 78. Lingard, VII., Note E. ]" Cii. VIIL] THE ESTABLISHMENT. 11)7 others have so deeply infamed ; but we may secure sufferance, connivance, freedom from annoyance, for T^ you, where betimes conscience may slack your con- \r . formity. We have some small influence at court, and shall use it — let but the Genevan clergy remain peaceable — for their favoring. Peradventure we may befriend them to some good purpose. Sir Fran- cis Knollys is true Genevan; a zealous opposer of n^ bishops '^ bound to you, therefore in honor and conscience. Of mine own conscience, I make little vaunt ; and none at all of sanctity, devoutness, and thmgs of that sort, in which, however, I pray God I may not lack. My service will be rendered for two reasons; — first, yourselves ; second, myself; — which, being interpreted, meaneth, — first, respect to your persons and good-will to your principles ; and second, a purpose of mine own thrift in name and estate. The greatest good in me is my bond to you; the v greatest blemish, friendship for myself My greatest honor will be the furtherance of your interests ; my v/ greatest folly, angling for mine own. I pray you, let the demerit of selfishness be outweighed by the merit of honesty; that so you spurn not mine en- deavors, and blush not for my friendship. So fare ye well."^ Thus, giving opportunity only for the usual cour- tesies of parting, the lord and the knight abruptly, but cordially, took their leave. ^ Fuller, Bk. IX. p. 152. Strype's bishopries and securing to himself Parker, 394. a portion of the spoils ; a design " Southey has well expressed Dud- which he could hope to accomplish ley's position in relation to ecclesias- by no other means than by the tical parties. " That unprincipled triumph of this levelling faction." — minion favored the Puritans because Book of the Church, II. 290. he was desirous of stripping the V^ / 108 THE ESTABLISHMENT. [Cii. VIII. Whatever purpose some of the exiles may have had, at their return, of introducing the Genevan plan of Church government/ it was now evidently hope- less. The forms of worship, the Supremacy, the Prelacy, had been estabhshed by law of Parhament ; the old bishops, upon refusing the Oath of Suj)rem- acy, had been deprived of office in July; new bish- 023S had been elected to supply the vacant sees, and were awaiting the ceremony of consecration. On the 17th of December, before the fi rst tint of y morning had appeared, the chapel of the archiejoiscopal manor at Lambeth, brilhant with lights, was occupied by a dignified assembly, who were awaiting in silence the solemn inauguration of Queen Elizabeth's first Primate. The floor was covered with red cloth, and ■^ the eastern wall was hung with tapestry. A little in advance of this wall stood a table, also covered with tapestry, and prepared for the service of the holy communion. On the south side from the table were four chairs ; in front of which were footstools of tap- estry, on which lay four cushions of crimson velvet. Opposite to these, and on the other side of the table, was a solitary chair, with its footstool and a single cushion. On the 8th of June, the queen had nominated Doctor Matthew Parker to the see of Canterbury, who had been chaj^lain to her mother, to her father, and to her brother, and had remamed secreted in the kingdom during her sister's reign. He had been elected accordingly on the first day of August ; but certain hindrances, growing out of the recent change of rehgion, had prevented further progress in the 1 Heylin's Ref., 304, 305. Ileylin's Presb., Bk. VI. Sec. 11, 17. Cii. VIII.] THE ESTABLISHMENT. 199 matter until the 6th of December, when a royal command was issued for his consecration.^ After the assembly in the chapel had been for some time in patient expectation, the western door was thrown open, through which entered four persons, each bearing a lighted taper; then, the Archbishop elect, — now in his fifty-sixth year, — clad in scarlet robes, and wearing his hood. He was attended by Barlow, late Bishop of Bath, now Bishop elect of Chichester; Scory, late Bishop of Chichester, now Bishop elect of Hereford ; Coverdale, late Bishop of Exeter ; and Hodgskins, suffragan Bishop of Bedford.^ Doctor Parker took the chair on the north side of the chancel, and the four upon the opposite side were occupied by the four bishops. After the read- ing of the morning prayers by Master Andrew Pier- son, Doctor Parker's chaplain, a sermon was preached by Doctor Scory. The Archbishop elect and the four bishops then retired to the vestry, whence they soon returned; Parker, Scory, and Hodgskins wearing linen surplices ; Barlow, a silk cope ; while Coverdale wore a plain black gown, reaching down to his feet. ^ Camden, 29. Holingslied, IV. pleasure of the bishop in whose 761. Echard, 790. Strype's An- diocese he served. (Fuller, Bk. nals, I. 231. Strype's Parker, 1, IX. p. 61. Burnet, I. 257. Mack- 11, 52. NugsB Antiqua?, II. 16. intosh, I. 313, note.) Yet the term Burnet, 11. G22. Lingard, VII. seems to have been used in different 262, and Note G. senses. Under date of 1562, the * A Suffragan Bishop was one who Lord Bishops in the province of had been consecrated to perform Canterbury are styled the Suffra- the spiritual functions of the office gans of Archbishop Parker (Strype's within the see of a Lord Bishop, Parker, 121); and it is stated, un- but having himself no title to a seat der date of 1569, that ^^ hitherto in Parliament. His episcopal ju- Archbishop Parker had decUned to risdiction was limited, and his au- hare anij suffi-agans." (Ibid., p. 240, thority might be terminated at the misnumbered p. 232.) 200 THE ESTABLISHMENT. [Ch. VHI. These all kneeled upon their cushions before the table while the Gospel was read by Barlow, who administered the Sacrament. Scory, Coverdale, and Hodgskins then conducted Doctor Parker to Barlow, now seated in a chair by the table, saying to him : " Most reverend father in God, we present unto you this godly and learned man to be ordained and con- secrated an Archbishop." The queen's mandate for the consecration was then read ; the Oath of Suprem- acy was administered upon the Evangelists; the Litany was sung ; and then the solemn act of conse- cration, by the simple form of the laying on of hands s( with prayer, was performed by the four bishops. Suitable Scriptural exhortations were addressed to the Archbishop, and the communion was adminis- tered. The Archbishop and bishops again retired. Returning soon after, he appeared in his episcopal habit, with rochet and other robes, and with a tip- V' pet of fine sable furs about his neck. Barlow and Scory were also clothed in their episcopal habits ; but Coverdale and Hodgskins wore only their usual ^ ^ gowns. The Archbishop then confirmed in their offices certain officers of his household, by the dehv- n(; ery of a white staff to each ; when he retired by the west door, accomj^anied by his family, his relatives, and the whole assembly, of whom were Grindal, Bishop elect of London, Cox, Bishop elect of Ely, Sandys, Bishop elect of Worcester, the Register of the Province of Canterbury, the Register of the Prerogative Court, and two jDublic notaries. The proceedings of the occasion were then duly recorded in the Registry of Canterbury.-^ ^ Camden, 30. Kennett, II. 659, 660. Holingshed, IV. 762. Fuller, Ch. VIII.] THE ESTABLISHMENT. 201 Such was the ceremony, and such were the officials, at the consecration of the first Archbishop of the >/■ newly restored religion ; a consecration the validity of which was denied, and the facts of which were be- lied by the Romanists in after years, much and long, to the annoyance of the Anglican Church. It was performed by proper functionaries, according to episcopal usage, and according to the Ordinal of King Edward, But there was no delivery of gloves k or sandals, ring or slippers, mitre, pall, or crosier; and the Primate used afterwards to say, with self- gratulation, that the solemnity was without spot or stain of Popish superstitions or vain ceremonies.^ On the 20tli of the month, the Archbishop con- firmed Barlow and Scory, and on the 21st conse- crated Grmdal, Cox, Meric, and Sandys as bishops of the sees to which they had been respectively elected.^ Other bishoprics — in all sixteen — were filled by the next midsummer.^ The new bishops soon tendered the Oath of Su- premacy to the clergy in their dioceses; only one hundred and seventy-seven of whom refused it, y although there were in the kingdom nine thousand and four hundred ecclesiastical persons settled in their several promotions.* Thus most of the inferior Bk. IX. p. 61. Hcyl. Ref., 292- give 189 as the number of those 295. Echard, 794. Strype's Par- -who refused the oath; Hume, 182; ker, 54, 57, 58. Burnet, II. G23. Neal, 244 ; Warner says " not above ^ Strype's Parker, 61. two hundred." Lingard is silent on - Strype's Parker, 65. Strype's the point. Grindal, 33. Anthony Ivitchin, alias Dunstan, ^ Holingshed,IV. 7G3. Heyl.Ref., Bishop of Landaff in Wales, was 295. the only one of Queen Mary's y^ * D'Ewes, 23. Strype's Annals, bishops who took the oath and I. 106. Camden and Echard each thus retained his see. VOL. I. 26 202 THE ESTABLISHMENT. [Cn. VIII. clergy kept their places, as they had done through aU the changes of the last three reigns.-^ The Rom- ish priests satisfied their consciences by reasoning that it were better policy for themselves and for their religion — and therefore but a pious fraud — to hold their places at the price of perjury, than to yield them to be occupied by heretics; and that in this they would be justified by the Roman Pon- tiff.^ In this, some of them, if not all, were influ- enced also by their faith in certain "fond and fan- tastical prophecies." These were secretly circulated by astrologers of their own communion, who " prac- tised with the Devil by Conjurations, Charms, Cast- ing of Figures, and other diabolical arts " j and were to the effect, that the queen would shortly die, and their own religion be re-established by the coming of the Queen of Scots to the throne.^ Notwithstanding the small proportion who were ejected from their cures for refusing the oath, there was a great scarcity of clergy. The Protestant min- isters, owing in part to the butcheries under Queen Mary, were far fewer than the vacancies.^ In the next summer the Archbishop " found many churches in his own diocese shut; and in those which were open, not a sermon was to be heard within the compass of twenty miles.^ To supply the vacant churches, even in part, " the bishops were forced " to admit to holy orders tradesmen, mechanics, and others ^ Neal, I. 82. 9-11, 88, 441, 465. Carte, III. 2 Camden, 30,31. Lingard, VII. 410. Ileyl. Eef., 28G, 287, 314, 2G4. 329. ^ 5 Eliz. Cap. XIV. Camden, " Ileyl. Presb., Bk. VI. Sec. 14. 58, 152. Collier, VI. 36G. Fuller, Strype's Annals, I. 26G. Bk. IX. p. 96. Strype's Annals, I. * Neal, I. 85. Cii. VIII.] THE ESTAELISIIMENT. 203 whose chief quahfications were knowledge of the Scriptures, sobriety, good rehgion, and skill in read- ing. A few of these " were preferred to ecclesiastical dignities, prebends, and rich benefices," ^ having been trained in their youth at schools to a tolerable knowledge of Latin, but driven to trades or hus- bandry "by the discouragements of the times." ^ But most of them were ordained as readers or dea- cons to small cures, " instead," — says our annalist, with some bitterness, — " instead of Popish Sir Johns Lack-latin, learning, and all honesty ; instead of Doc- tor Dicer, Bachelor Bench-whistler, and Master Card- player, the usual sciences of the Popish priests more meet to be tinkers, cobblers, cowherds, yea, bear- wards and swineherds, than ministers in Christ's Church." 3 Thus was the Establishment of the English Church reconstructed, with stony rigidity and mathematical preciseness ; her worship fixed to a genuflexion, and her livery to a shoe-latchet ; her inquisitors commis- sioned and abroad ; her hierarchy anointed and equijoped ; her mistress, mistress of Parliament, Con- vocation, and Star-Chamber/ of dungeon, gibbet, and ^ Camden, 30. of contracts in olden times there " Strype's Annals, I. 267. enrolled. (Stow's Survey, 175 and => Strype's Grindal, 40. Hcyl. note, Lond. 8vo edit. 1842.) Tliis lief., 287. Strype's Annals, I. 266, court consisted of the Archbishop, III. 287, 429. and other bishops, the Lord Chancel- * The Star-Chamber Court was lor or Keeper, the Privy Council, and held in Westminster Hall, in a the Judges, — all of whom were ap- chamber " the roof thereof decked pointed to their offices by the cpeen, with the likeness of stars gilt " ; and held them during her pleasm'e. whence its name, — or perhaps from The whole number was " twenty or the word slarra or siarrs, the name more." Her Majesty, when she 204 THE ESTABLISHMENT. [Ch. vni. rack ; ^ and her Bible under the crown. The ma- chinery was complete, and was now to be put in motion. chose to be present, was sole judge. The others could only advise. In her absence, the determination was by a majority, the Lord Chancellor, or Keeper, having a casting vote. It took cognizance of aU sorts of offences, contempts, and disorders, not within the reach of the common law ; nor did it govern itself by any statute law, but fined, imprisoned, banished, or inflicted corporal pun- ishment, according to the will of the queen, without limitation. Its de- terminations were as binding upon the subject as an act of Parliament. (Strype's ^Vliitgift, 222. Warner, n. 463. Hume, III. 245, Appen- dix m.) 1 Lingard, YIH., Note E. Ilal- lam, 1)3. CHAPTER IX. THE KNOUT, The Ornaments op Religion disliked. — The Plague in London. — Grin- DAL, Bishop of London, offers a Bishopric to Coverdale. — Procures for him the Living of St. Magnus. — Non-conformity. — The Queen ORDERS it to BE CORRECTED. — ThE BoOK OF ADVERTISEMENTS. — DlSSENT- ERS CALLED PURITANS. — ThE BoOK OF ADVERTISEMENTS CONFIRMED. — Uniformity pressed. — John Fox. — Clergy suspended. 1563-1566. The wheels of the Estabhshment moved heavily. The Protestant clergy — particularly the most emi- nent for piety and learning/ and including every bishop — disapproved of the ecclesiastical garments, and of those ceremonies which were considered Popish.^ They agreed in their articles of faith, and refused not the Oath of Supremacy with the queen's explication. But they were of the opinion of Cal- vin, that in matters of religion nothing should be exacted which is not required by the Word of God ; ^ and were earnest that their worship should be divested of all the usages peculiar to Rome.* ^ Neal, I. 88, note. Pierce, 44, 46. Church, as such, had had no share - Zurich Letters, pp. 243, 275, in establishing the Book of Com- 276, 308. Strype's Parker, 61, 227; mon Prayer. It had been made Annals, I. 264. See ante^ p. 179, authoritative by Parliament alone, note 2. ■without the advice or concurrence ^ Heylin's Prcsb., Bk. VI. Sec. 3. of the Convocation of the Clergy. Ncal, I. 79. Elizabeth's bishops were not then * Strype's Grindal, 28. in office. It should be remembered that the In the Convocation of the Clergy 206 THE KNOUT. [Ch. IX. The nobility were divided on these matters. Yet, even at Court, there was a strong party secretly against the episcopal garments.^ Among the common people, the aversion to the ceremonies and habits was even greater than that of any of the clergy.^ The shrieks of Mary's vic- tims rung yet so terribly in their memories, that Bonner was kept in prison to protect him from the kindred of those whom he had burned.^ The episco- pal garments were indelibly associated in their minds with the Church which he had served, and shared their hatred of its atrocities.* Nothing but their fear of the queen kept them from tumult. The plague was in London. It had come over with the queen's soldiers from France, and then had broken out in their tents and barracks in Kent. which met in January, 1562-3, the forty-two Articles of Edward VI. were revised, reduced as they now stand to thirty-nine, and adopted without dissension. But they were not sanctioned by Parliament until nine years after. (Eehard, 801. Ful- ler, Bk. IX. p. 72. Strype's Parker, 122. 13 Eliz. Cap. XII. Sec. 1.) But a proposition to dispense with episcopal vestments, the sign of the cross in baptism, kneeling at the communion, and other Popish rites, was lost by a single vote, — 58 to 59. (Strype's Annals, I. 502 - 505. Bur- net, in. 455. Warner, H. 430. Neal, I. 88, 89. Ilallam, 108.) This seems like almost a balance of sen- timent in regard to these matters. Yet — although some of the Convo- cation doubtless favored Popery — there would have been a majority in the affirmative, had not the true sentiments and wishes of the mem- bers been suppressed. This was partly through dread of & prcemunire, (Neal, I. 89,) for the queen was keenly jealous of her prerogative, and would brook no meddUng with established law ; and partly in hope of quietly effecting a change through the more natural channel of the Parliament. (Neal, I. 92 lis.) Large numbers of the clergy, not members of the Convocation, were equally desirous of amending the rites of the Church. (Ibid., 89.) ^ Strype's Annals, n. 129. Neal, I. 91, 95. Heylin, Presb., Bk. YI. Sec. 29. 2 Strype's Parker, 108. ^ Zurich Letters, No. LI. ; Jewel to P. Martyr. Strj-pe's Grindal, 102. * Strype's Annals, II. 126. Neal, L95. s^ Ch. ix] the knout. 207 It had made its first appearance in the city on the 2d of August; and by the 20th of the month, a thousand were dying weekly. And although by the 27th of November the deaths had been reduced to three hundred a week, it was yet, in the latter part of December, doing its swift work where and on whom it listed.^ It wrought most along lanes and adowm alleys, where Vice kennelled in foul air and rotting filth ; or in the tap-room, where roister- ing youth and blear-eyed old men herded and sang songs. It was terrible — that cry of the stricken when he detected the fatal sign upon his person ; terrible — when his frighted fellows fled and left him there, to die ; terrible — when the invisible angel, with people hale and strong, trod softly to a scenic show, and suddenly set his seal there upon this one and that, just as the profane jest of the player and the shout of applause were going up before God together.^ Yet the pestilence smote also the gleeful child in the lap -of wealth, the man of high blood and courtly pride, the good man and humble. Among the thousands, rich and poor, gay and thoughtful, good and bad, who yet lingered in the city, was one, good, thoughtful, poor, aged. Like his Master, he had no home; but laid his head wherever it chanced, — sometimes in London, sometimes in its suburbs. Four years before — it was now the year 1563 — he had placed consecrating hands on the head of the queen's first Archbishop. He had been ^ Zurich Letters, p. 188. Ho- the year, 20,136 died in London lingshed, IV. 223, 224. Strype's and the out-parishes. Grindal, 70 ; Annals, 11. 88. Wright, * Strype's Grindal, 82. Wright, L 138 and note, and 152. During 1. 167 ; Grindal to Cecil. 208 THE IvNOUT. [Ch. IX. offered liis old bishopric of Exeter, but had refused it because of the habits and ceremonies retained in the Church, and which he considered Popish.^ Grin- dal, the Bishop of London, had offered hun certain " Uvings," but he had thought it not meet to accept of any one. Probably they were benefices which he could not serve in his simple Gospel way, with- out attracting attention and annoyance. Thus he had lived without a " living " ; contented in his lowly poverty, and preaching here and there in churches as he had opportunity. The plague — it had sent a few to heaven — had set an eye on him, thinking him ripe. But he was not quite. He needed a little more of his Father's discipline, — a very little. He had bent, like a bulrush, under the breath of the destroyer ; but he had risen up again, and now, on the twentieth day of December, was sitting pale and wan, the guest of a worthy burgher who had wel- comed him for Christ's sake. The Bishop of London sat with him, for he had heard of his sickness, and had come to congratulate him upon his recovery. Grindal was now in the prime and vigor of his life, forty-four years of age ; a kind-hearted man, of a genial spirit, seeking with a single eye the ascen- dency of the Gospel over the hearts and lives of the peojole. To-morrow's sun would close the fourth year of his prelacy ; in which time he had well tested its burdens. Occasionally a peculiar indenta- tion just above the right eyebrow would betray secret perplexity and care ; otherwise, his counte- nance was open and sunny ; for he had not felt the > Fuller, Bk. IX. p. 61. . Burnet, II. 611. Holingshed, IV. 423, 424. Cii. IX.] THE KNOUT. 209 biting lash of the queen's Supremacy — yet. His eye, without being brilliant and piercing, indicated a clear and active mind. His mouth — rather narrow, the lines of his lips deeply cut, waving, and expressive of quiet good-nature — gave him a pleasant look, even when that one brow was knotted. The beard was so trained as neither to cover the profile of the lip, nor the lively angle of the mouth ; upon the chin, it was but a short and narrow tuft ; from the cheeks, it was shaven so as to show only upon the line of the jaw downwards where it met beneath the chin, falling thence several inches, and forked artistically at its extremity. This added to the seeming narrowness and length of the entire face; and this face, sur- mounted by a forehead of unusual breadth, with the backward head still more expansive, rendered ''' the reverend father in God " a most noticeable person in any assembly. When he had expressed his gratitude that Father Coverdale was yet spared to the Church, and that the pestilence was now abating, the Bishop turned the conversation to religious affairs; and the spot came upon his brow. " Good father," said he, " this lack of laborers in the Lord's harvest, it is burdenous to my soul. At the beorinnino* we were fain to turn our hands to sundry artificers, and even to some of baser occupa- tions, men not brought up to learning, and did admit them to the ministry, looking only that they were fair readers and of good conversation. This his Grace of Canterbury did mislike, and sendeth ad- vertisement to forbear ordaining such.^ But marry ! ^ Strype's Parker, 90. Strype's Grindal, 40. VOL. I. 27 210 THE KNOUT. [Cu. IX. what could we do? In many town and village churches, not a morsel of preachmg or a homily for months together ; mothers weeping over unbap- X tized children^ and widows over unburied husbands ! X 'Fore God, we could not consent to heathendom ! We must ordain those who offered, how meanly so- ever qualified; and we did.^ All this you remem- ber." " In troth I do, my lord ; and sadly." "But such men are no preachers. They can serve only for ministering sacraments and reading homihes. Prithee, good flxther, what were homilies made for, in good King Edward's day ? " " For the like straits as ours, my lord. Had there been men enough who could preach, there would have been never a homily devised."^ " Troth. Dost bethink thee how they were rated in his statute ? " "As not to be preferred, but to give place to sermons whensoever they might be had."^ " Which accordeth with my mind and yours, good father. Now we can make a homily-reader of a Pasquin or a Crispin, but never a preacher. But preaching is the ordinary and ordained means for the reconciling of men to God, and of subjects to their prince ; for obedience proceedeth from con- science ; conscience is grounded upon the Word of God ; and the effect of the Word is wrought by preaching.* I pray thee, good sir, see an thou canst draw logical conclusion from these my premises." 1 Neal, I. 86. « Strype's Grindal, 223. 2 Strype's Grindal, 222 ; Memo- * Ibid., 222. rials, m. 591. Cii. IX.] THE KNOUT. 211 " Mcarry ! my lord, I will try. Obedience to God and the queen dependeth upon conscience ; the movement of conscience, upon knowledge of the "Word ; knowledge of the Word is conveyed by preaching ; o-f/o, to make men peaceable toward God and the queen, it behooveth to have plenteous preaching." " A good logician, reverend father ! But, as St. Paul saith, how shall they hear without a preacher ? In any one thing, nothing is more plain in the Scriptures, than that the Gospel of Christ should be plentifully preached, — jD^-^^^^icly, continually.^ An thou hadst drawm out thy conclusion a little further, thou hadst spared me the doing it." "Prithee, my lord, whither?" " Until it had reached the conscience of one Myles Coverdale, whilom Bishop of Exeter, who in this time of the Church her straitness cometh not up to the help." "What meanethyour lordship? When hath Myles Coverdale failed aught to preach the Word ? " "Nay, nay; not failed to preach it, but to take preferment where his preaching might more avail, and more help, perchance, to train others to preach- ing. Herein, methinks, he hath not used his ten talents aright. Moreover, thou wert in Christ before any of us bishops, and it is not weU that now in thine old age — and the less well, sitli God hath raised thee as it were from the dead — thou be without stay of living.^ I have therefore come again, and with a plea in each hand, — the necessity of preaching, and the dearth of preaching, to say ' Strype's Grindal, 222. " Ibid., 91. > 212 THE lO^OUT. [Ch. IX. naught of how thy livmg privately may be laid to the neglect of us bishops, — I have come, I say, to crave thine acceptance of preferment. The Welsh bishopric of Landaff is now void. It hath, in troth, suffered much from spoliations under Kitchin, who has died of late ;^ but if any competence of living can be made of it, I would it were thine.^ In good sooth, I have written this very day^ to Master Secretary Cecil, that he would further your preferment to it." In a pleasant but decided tone, Coverdale replied, "My lord, I give thee hearty thanks for thy good intent and sweet Idndness. But thou knowest how my conscience is set against even the gear which the Church ordereth for her inferior clergy. How much more, against what she prescribeth for a bishop ! It cannot be, my lord ; it cannot be." " Methinks thy mislikings of the priestly garments cannot overtop mine own. Canst not temper the harmlessness of the dove with the wisdom of the serpent? Prithee, good father, what would have become of the Church, if all the Reformers had re- fused her of&ces because of inconveniences and offences therein? The Reformation woidd have come to a stand ; nay. Papists would have stood in our places, to the subversion of all true religion.^ ^ Strype's Parker, 148. was said, ' A bad Kitchin did for \^ ^ " Kitchin, alias Dunstan, made ever spoU the good meat of the bish- a grievous waste and spoil of a very ops of LandafF.' " — Wood's Athe- wealthy bishopric." (Strj^e's Me- nae, 11. 559 and note, and 796. morials, IV. 1 74. Fuller's Worthies, ^ " Coverdale's Eemains," by the n. 435, 506 ; Church Hist., Bk. IX. Parker Society, p. 531. p. 59.) "Anthony Kitchin, alias * Zurich Letters, pp. 243, 275; Dunstan, died Oct. 31,1563. The Grindal to Bullinger and to Gualter. bishopric of Landaff" was much im- Strype's Grindal, 30. poverished by him. Whereupon it Cu. IX.J THE ItNOUT. 218 Thou knowest I had great misgivings about accept- ing my bishopric/ wherein I am required to use garments and ceremonies which be contrarious to the simphcity of the Gospel. But the laws of the Church were made without me. I could not change them. The only question was, while the purity of the Gospel remaineth to us safe and free, would I bear these things, not in themselves wicked, or give way to wolves and Antichrist, Lutherans and semi- Papists?^ Conscience, looking at the peace and safety of religion, bade me sacrifice my wish to the law, and wait for fit opportunity to reverse it. I did so. I ought to have done so. I repent not of it.^ The question is the same to-day for you, as then for me. Look you to it, good father, lest in shunning an evil, you let slip or damage a good." " My lord, Peter Martyr did advise to do nothing against thy conscience.^ Sound, wholesome counsel, my lord. Thou didst follow it; and didst well. I follow it too ; albeit there lieth this difference, that my conscience saith it be not right to wear habits that have been consecrated to idolatrous uses, and are the very marks and badges of that refigion to which I was a bond-slave in my youtli.*^ But I pray your lordship, tell me, didst strive earnestly agamst this idolatrous gear?" " Verily, those of us bishops who were exiles, when we returned did strive all tve could with the queen and Parliament against receiving the Papistical habits into the Church, and that all the ceremonies should ^ Strype's Grindal, 28. ^ Strypc's Grindal, 28-31, 205. ^ Strypc's Parker, 154; Grindal, * ttid., 30. 106. s Neal, I. 93. 214 THE IvNOUT. [Ch. IX. be clean laid aside. When we could not obtain it, Cox, Horn, Sandys, Jewel, Parkhurst, Benthani, and myself consulted what to do, being in doubt whether we would enter upon our functions. Upon confer- ence, we did conclude, with one undivided mmd, not to desert our ministry ; and this we did for the reasons I have just now rehearsed.^ I call God to witness, that it lieth not at our door that these things are not quite taken away."^ " Dost look for opportunity to change the law, my lord?" " Honestly, no. Her Majesty is inflexible. Nay, — I grieve to say it, — she hath given signs of hanker- ing for more Popish fooleries. Howbeit, his Grace of Canterbury, thank God ! hath stayed her purpose." ^ " My lord, my heart is sore troubled for our gra- cious queen. The Lord Eobert Dudley did urge to ^ me, that these remainders of Popery are kept by her Highness only to prevent quarrel for diversity of rehgion. It may be so. Albeit, I might ask, what concord hath Christ with Belial? Moreover, another thing oppresseth me. In the second year of her Highness, your lordship did procure search for certain mischievous Anabaptists who had their secret conventicles here. WhereujDon her Highness issueth proclamation against them ; in the which she also chargeth and commandeth, that no minister or otJier jperson make any conventicles or secret assem- bhng to use any manner of divine service, — save only ^ Strype's Grindal, 106 ; Parker, and Grindal to BuUingcr and Gual- 154 ; Annals, I. 175, 264, 11. 140. ter. " Zuricli Letters, No. CXI., Grin- ^ Strype's Parker, 109. Neal, I. dal to Bullinger ; No. CXXL, Horn 87. Cii. IX.] THE ItNOUT. 215 in chambers of sickness or noblemen's oratories, — on pain to be imprisoned without bail or mainprise nntil the clay of jail-delivery, and then to be punished at the will of the justice. Dost remember, my lord ? " ^ "I remember well. It was to prevent all pesti- lence of heresy." " So be it. But mark you, my lord, it striketh at any manner of religious worship in private houses. There seemeth to me a purpose of her Highness to suppress all worship of God in families, whether by no Book or by Book ; Avliich is a way to make house- holds godless." "I do not believe that were her Majesty's intent," answered Grindal, who was yet startled and troubled by Coverdale's juxtaposition of things. " Nevertheless, according to the letter of the proc- lamation, I may be dragged to prison without bail or mainprise, an I call together the family of mine host this night to worship God, — as I certainly shall do." "I think thee safe, reverend father," replied the Bishop, mth a smile, " seeing thou art no Anabaptist. But time urgeth me away, good father. How about Landaff ? Have I thy final answer ? " " In sooth, yes, my lord. I will none of the Popish badges. I trow your lordship would not be over- much pleased to see Myles Coverdale in a trice whip- ped out of a bishopric for non-conformity. Sorry satisfaction to you, and no stay of Hving to me. Nay, nay, my lord; I have but few days left, and would preach my Master's Gospel in peace. I can find peace only in obscurity." ' Strypo's Grindal, 123. 216 THE I^OUT. [Cn. IX. " And in penury ? " " Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled — " " Tush ! It is unmeet ; it is unmeet. Peradven- ture there be found some stay of Hving in ohsciiritf/, where some chance omissions might not work to thine annoyance, — something, mayhap, under the wing of thine own friend and son in God, Edmund Grindal. Wouldst take it ? " " In thine own diocese ? Good, my lord, yes ; mth all my heart. I like not being mendicant friar. It would give me an humble independence ; which, with serving Christ, is all I can ask." "I thank thee, good father. I shall sleep better to-nio:ht ; and better still when thou art collated to some benefice suiting thy two wishes." ^^ Do me another favor, my lord." "Say it." " Thou hast access to her Majesty, and her esteem. Thou hast a heart as bold towards the lofty as it is gracious to the lowly. Thou canst not persuade her Highness to lay down her Supremacy. She would sooner pluck out her right eye. But thou mayest, perchance, on fitting opportunity, reason with her to moderate it. It were for the better thrift of the Church, and the greater honoring of Christ." " I have purpose of that very thing, should there be meet occasion. Thy words quicken it, reverend sir. To my humble thinking, she doth overstretch her prerogative. I hold it not meet, that in ecclesi- astical matters which touch religion, or the doctrme and discipline of the Church, she referreth them not unto the bishops and divines of her realm, according Oil. IX.] THE KNOUT. 217 to the example of godly Christian emperors and princes in all ages. They are, in sooth, things -to be judged in the Church or Synod, not in the palace, i When her Majesty hath questions of the laws of the realm, she sendeth them to her civil judges to be determined. And in case of Church doctrine or discipline, it is in like manner becoming to refer them to the ecclesiastical judges. Whereby she would procure to herself much quietness of mind, better j)lease God, avoid contentions, and be sure to govern the Church in peace.^ A storm, I fear me, is gathering in that cloud of the Supremacy, albeit now it be no bigger than a woman's hand. Thus, good father, I judge touching her Majesty's Suprem- acy. And, if God give me grace and opportunity, I shall tell her so. Farewell." The Bishop's earnestness for Coverdale's behoof soon appeared ; for in this month or the next he committed to the venerable man the church and parish of St. Magnus, at the corner of Fish Street,^ near the bridge foot in London ; the living of which amounted to about sixty pounds a year. But " the destruction of the j)oor is his poverty." Coverdale was utterly unable to pay the first-fruits,^ and it was a maxim with the queen, from which she rarely v departed, to remit no claims of her treasury.* Thus ^ Strype's Grindal, 303. enter upon a living and neglect to ^ Strype's Annals, I. 254. " compound " within a time appoint- ^ The " first-fruits " was the first ed for the payment of his dues, year's income of a benefice, due to or who should fail to pay them. the crown whenever the minister (Harrison in Holingshed, Vol. I. p. should take possession. It was pay- 230.) able in two years. A heavy penal- * Camden, 420. Fuller's Wor- ty attached to any one who should thies, II. 508. VOL. I. 28 218 THE KNOUT. [Ch. IX. there was small prospect of his being able to enter upon* the benefice. But he wrote to Archbishop Parker on the 29th of January, 15G3-4, pleading that he had been violently ejected from his bishopric in the last reign, that he had received no benefit from it since, that he was now penniless, and not like to live a year, and asking his Grace to join the Bishop of London in moving the queen to remit his first-fruits. In the same letter, he pledged himself, by God's help, to be both faithful and quiet in his vocation. To Secretary Cecil, who had always stood him in good stead in former straits, he also wrote, on the 6th of February : " If — that poor old Myles may be now provided for — it pleaseth thee to obtain this for me, this enough shall be as good as a feast." The result of these applications was a message, about the middle of March, from the Lord Robert Dudley, that the queen had granted his suit ; until which, it is to be presumed, he did not enter upon his cure.^ The Act of Uniformity had proved a failure. X,)(. Many Popish priests, upon taking the Oath of Su- premacy and subscribing to the Book of Common Prayer, the queen's injunctions, and the doctrines of the Reformed religion, were permitted to retain their cures and livings, although "they did no part of ■y, X duty towards their miserable flocks,"^ and as much as they dared propagated their own faith among * Strype's Parker, 148, 149 ; Grin- - Whittingham to Leicester, in dal, 91. Strype's Parker, Appendix, p. 47. Cu. IX.] THE KNOUT. 219 their parishioners.^ These, and some others, held that rehgious worship was profaned, and rehgious instruction powerless, without the priestly aj^jparel. By all such, of course, it was scrupulously worn. But others of the clergy as scrupulously refused >cx it;^ some, without censurmg those who complied; others, abhorring the garments as polluting to the ministry, considering them fitter badges of pub- lic penance than of God's service. Indeed, some preached against them boldly; denouncmg them as " conjuring garments of Popery," " sibbe to the sarke of Hercules that made him tear his own y y bowels asunder." ^ This feeling, and this disregard of law, were joar- ticularly prevalent in London ; and extended, not to the clerical garments alone, but to rehgious cere- monies.* Some exercised their ministry in one way, some in another; every deviator, according to his own like or dislike. Indeed, some who loore the clerical garments disliked them, — as Pilkington, ^ Stiype's Annals, I. 2G4 ; Parker, ther. In one case, with the wafer; v^ 77, 91. in another, with common bread. • ^ Collier, VI. 394. Carte, III. 420. Communicants received in differ- ^ Strype's Parker, 151, 156; ent postures, kneeling, standing, sit- | t^ Grindal, 107; Annals, I. 520. Ful- ting. ler, Bk. IX. p. 76. Wright, I. 169, Some baptized with surplice and Bishop Berkeley to Cecil. the sign of the cross ; some, without V * Strype's Parker, 151 ; Grindal, either; some, in a square cap; some, \/ 96, 97; Annals, n. 129. in a round cap; some, in a button \^ Some read the service in the pulpit, cap ; some, in a hat. some in the church ; some with the There were also other deviations surplice, some without. Some kept from the prescribed forms. See the to the order of the Book ; some report of " disorders," as found deviated at pleasure. among Cecil's MSS., dated Feb. At the communion, some admin- 24, 1564-5, in Strype's Life of istered with surplice and cap ; some, Parker, 152. with surplice only ; some, with nei- 220 THE KNOUT. [Ch. IX. Bishop of Durham/ and Grindal, Bishop of London, who avowed, even to men standing before him on arraignment in his own Court of Commission, that "he would rather minister without cope and surplice, but for order sake and obedience to the queen." In short, there was no uniformity.^ However the presence of the plague may have interfered with the correction of these diversities,^ there were other and more essential impediments. The bishops themselves were in the way. They had pledged themselves not to press their clergy in these things ; but rather, to seek their removal, in wdiicli they had failed ; and although in their Convocation of 15G2-3 they had passed canons to correct non- conformity, most of them still connived at it, as far as they could with safety.* Even the queen's com- missioners had a great aversion to such habits and ceremonies as were considered Popish.^ The Puritan clergy were willing to be distin- ' Strype's Parker, 155. ciiliar " notes," or insignia, of an ^ Strype's Grindal, 118. Heylin's idolatrous, Antichristian religion. Presb., Bk. VI. Sec. 1 7. And so they were. * Strype's Grindal, 96. The reasons in support of these * Strype's Parker, 154, 155, 156 ; objections have been shown in our Appendix, XXIV., Queen's Letter, recitation of Hooper's jilea before * Strype's Parker, 99. the king and Council. The objections urged by Hooper Whittingham, in his letter to Lei- against the p?'eta/ \(^\^ and that, knowing no other way to shelter herself from his murder- ous devices, she was constrained to marry Sir Edward Stafford. (Biog. Brit., Note E.) " After the production of all this evidence, the heirs of Leicester ex- erted aU their influence to stop pro- ceedings, and Sir Robert Dudley died without being able to bring the matter to a legal decision. In the next reign," — Charles I., — " the evidence formerly given was re- viewed, and the title of Duchess," — Countess ? — " Dudley conferred on the widow of Sir Robert, the patent setting forth that the mar- riage of the Earl of Leicester with Lady Sheffield had been satisfactorily proved." — Aikin's Court of Queen Elizabeth, 269 (Philad. edit. 1823). Almost all the reliable testimony concerning this case seems to be derived from Dugdale's Baronage, ^"^ a work not to be found, I believe, in this country. CHAPTER XI. THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566. The Queen at Greexwich. — Birth of James of Scotlkttd. — How re- garded IK England. — The Settlement of the Succession proposed bt THE House of Commons in 1562-3. — The Lords of Council now urge IT UPON the Queen. — Her Answer. — The Subject agitated in the House of Commons, who resolve to press it upon the Queen. — BfeR Indignation. — A Committee of the House of Lords address her. — She angrily resents their Interference. — The Lord-Keeper address- es HER IN Behalf of both Houses. — She sends Answer to the Com- mons, THAT THE TiME WILL NOT SUFFER TO TREAT OF THE SUCCESSION. — The Commons resume the Subject. — The Queen forbids "the Discus- sion. — The Commons resent the Inhibition, and "twit the Author- ity OF THE Queen." — A Second Inhibition. — The Commons persist. — The Queen retracts. — At the Close of the Parliament, she rebukes and threatens. — Parllament dissolved. A FEW days after the occurrences mentioned in the last chapter, her Majesty gave a splendid enter- tainment at court. It was on the 23d of the month. In the evening, she herself engaged with even un- usual zest in the amusements of the occasion ; and all the gentlemen and ladies around her, takmg their cue from the royal humor, were abandoning them- selves to gallantry and courtly merry-making. The queen, "in great mirth," was giving vent to her spirits in a vigorous dance, — an accomplishment in which she prided herself, — when she perceived Sir William Cecil standing apart and looking intently towards her. She was surprised, for she knew that business of state required his j)resence, for that day, in London. Her pleasure was checked, for she Ch. XI.] THE TARLIAMENT OF 1566. 275 perceived by his attitude and countenance, that he was not then gazing with admiration, but under the burden of some special errand. Lnmediately quit- ting her favorite pastime, she advanced to meet him, with that stately carriage for which she was peerless even in her moments of towering passion. A look only, from Cecil, declared to her eye, that his busi- ness was private. A slight gesture on her part, and her train of attendants receded a little way from her person, leaving the queen and the secretary by them- selves. Cecil, however, would not trust his voice in the neighborhood of itching ears ; but addressed her Majesty in a whisper. Her countenance fell, and she stood for a moment like a statue ; and then retired with her secretary to a recess, where they were con- cealed from curious eyes. The merriment of the brilliant assembly was dashed ; whisperings and anx- ious surmisings took place of laughter and song. When Cecil, after a little time, had taken his leave, and some of her ladies had found her still sitting there, with her head drooped upon her arm, she " burst out to them," with mournful vehemence, "The Queen of Scots is the mother of a fair son, while I — I — am but a barren sto£k ! " She then retired gloomily to her privy chamber, and the gay- eties of the night were ended. Instantly upon the birth of Mary's son, four days before,^ Sir James Melvil had taken horse and ridden post to London with the news. Contrary to his request, Cecil had chosen himself to communicate the intelligence to his sovereign, before Melvil could have access to her Court. The next morning. Sir ' Cecil's Journal ; Murdin, 761. 276 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566. [Ch. XL James proceeded to Greenwich to execute his mis- sion, where her Majesty welcomed him in her best apparel, radiant with smiles, and profuse in her con- gratulations. She declared to him that she had lain fifteen days under a heavy sickness; but that the joyful news of her cousin's delivery of a fair son had wrought upon her like a charm, and effected her complete recovery. This was needless lying cer- tainly; and to Sir James Melvil it must have been ridiculous; for, on his way to Greenwich, he had been told of her Majesty's health, hilarity, and dis- composure the evening before.^ Mary's maternity produced a great sensation in England. The Papists were full of joy, for the pros- pect of a Catholic succession to the English throne was now increased by another life. The Protestants, on the other hand, seeing Elizabeth still "without all likelihood of marriage," were now the more in- clined to overlook the obvious title of the Queen of Scots as next heir to the throne, and were proposing to themselves, some one, and some another succes- sor, from more remote branches of the royal family ; dreading the accession of another Catholic, even more than the contingencies and horrors of a civil war.^ Under these circumstances, " men of the most opposite parties began to cry aloud for some settle- ment of the succession." ^ Nor was this all. Besides the political conspiracies abroad, — which will be noticed in another chapter, — other matters, doubtless unknown to the j)eople at large, stimulated the queen's confidential ministers ' Melvil, 138. » Hume, HI. 24. " Camden, 8,3. D'Ewcs, 104, 1.30. Cii. XI.J THE TARLIAMENT OF 15G6. 277 to join heartily with the popular voice. These mat- ters were probably communicated, in some measure at least, to other most prominent peers of the realm. A foreign Popish plot against the queen's life had for more than two years been knoAvn to some of the Privy Council.^ Indeed, to go farther back, just after the Viscount Montague — a true loyalist and a man of honor — had set himself, with the vigor and courage of an honest Catholic, against the queen's ecclesi- astical supremacy, by his speech in the House of Lords,^ and while yet the breath of his words had hardly cooled, he had communicated to her, in a private letter, his knowledge of a like design for her assassination.^ ^ See infra^ Chap. XIII. * See ante, Chap. VI. * The Viscount Montague to the queen, concerning a conversation be- tween Gaspar Pregnor, the Emper- or's ambassador, and himself. No date. Marginal date in Ilaynes, 1559. " ' And therefore,' quoth he [Gaspar], 'I will impart unto you that wliich, before God ! I know to be true The queen and all England is in no small peril, yea, the very person of the queen ; and this I do say to you as knowing it, and would say more if I might, which by I may not.' 'At least I require of you,' said I, 'for the love and care which you show to bear to the queen and realm, to signify which way this peril doth grow to her Majesty's realm, and chiefly her person.' He said he would. ' And for the first time there hath,' quoth he, 'been talks and devices in no small places, for the dividing of Scotland and England; and this,' quoth he, 'ia assuredly true. For the person of the Queen's Majesty, I know it hath been offered, and is, that she shall be slain ; which ofler of both, how they have been taken, I know not, but sure I am they have been made. These words,' quoth he, 'spoken but only (God I take to record) knowing the same and wishing well to the realm.' He refused to tell which way the enemy Cometh ; saying only, ' The queen will easily judge, by this much, of the rest ; but because you ask me, this much I say of myself, — it be- hooveth the queen in any wise to please this king of Spain, and lose him by no means ; then to be tem- perate in those matters which may offend this king of Spain and oth- er ; lastly, to have Jidele saieUUiuni for the guard of your person.' " — Haynes, 324. vv/ 278 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566. [Ca. XL Historians too often view these murderous plots through the refracting medium of reHgious partiaU- ties ; but whether they were verities or baseless rumors, affects not the point before us. By Eliza- beth and her ministers, who had better means of judging than we, they were taken for realities. Of this we have sufficient evidence in a paper drawn by Cecil, — apparently official, and in the year 1560, — containing minute precautionary measures to be adopted by her Majesty to guard her person from poison ; showing clearly his own fears, and those of the Privy Council, of foul designs against her life.^ These plots, so far at least as they were known and believed, of course intensified the anxiety that ^ Cautions for the queen's apparel and diet : — "We think it very convenient that your Majesty's apparel, and specially aU manner of things that shall touch any part of your Majes- ty's body bare, be circumspectly looked unto ; and that no person be permitted to come near it, but such as have the trust and charge thereof. " Item. That no manner of per- fume, either in apparel or sleeves, gloves, or such like, or otherwise, that shall be appointed for your Majesty's savor, be presented by any stranger, or other persons, but that the same be corrected by some other fume. " Item. That no foreign meat or dishes, being dressed out of your Majesty's Court, be brought to your food, without assured knowledge from whom the same cometh; and that no use be had hereof '■'■Item. That it may please your Majesty to take the advice of your physician for the receiving weekly twice, some preservative contra pes- tem et venena, as there be many good things and salutaria. " Item. It may please your Majes- ty to give order who shall take the charge of the back doors to your chamberer's chambers, where laun- dresses, tailors, wardrobers, and such, used to come ; and that the same doors may be duly attended upon, as becometh, and not to stand open but upon necessity. " Item. That the privy chamber may be better ordered with an at- tendance of an usher and the gen- tlemen and grooms." From a minute of Cecil, A. D. 1560. (Haynes, 368.) This paper may have been suggested by the let- ter quoted in the preceding note ; and probably was, if that letter was dated between January and March 25, 1559-60, as it may have been. Ch. XL] THE PARLIAMENT OF \rm. 279 the succession of the crowii should be solemnly settled by her Majesty; for, while undetermined, every hazard of her life mcreased the danger of civil convulsions. But before narrating the memorable proceedings of the next Parliament, it is necessary to look backward for a moment. The Commons having faithfully and respectfully prompted the queen, in 1559, upon the subject of marriage, had taken the same step, during the session of 1562-3, in regard to the succession. A little while before, the queen had been perilously sick,^ which had alarmed the people, and moved the Commons to their proceeding. She had received them in a body ; and with fair courtesy had replied to the address of their Speaker, Williams, that " the matter was so grave, as needed great and grave advice, for which she must now defer her answer to further time ; ^ but so great was her own concern in this matter, that when of late death had possessed every joint of her, she had desired hfe for the realm's sake only, not for her own, — knowing that, had she then ceased to reign at Whitehall, she should have reigned in a better place." ^ After having waited a fortnight, some of the Commons, growing impatient, had prevailed for a message of reminder to be sent to her Majesty in the name of the House.* Four days afterwards, she had sent her " further answer " to this effect : " That she doubted not but the grave heads of the House did right well consider that she forgot not their suit for the succession, nor could for- get it, the matter being so weighty; but that she ^ D'Ewes, 81. Nugae Antiquje, 1. 8L « Nugae Antique, I. 80 - 83. '^ D'Ewes, 81. * D'Ewes, 84. 280 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566. [Ch. XI. willed the young heads to take example of the an- cients." ^ This cool — if not contemptuous — evasion of a matter so momentous, was not now forgotten ; and served, no doubt, to fan the popular excitement. Such were the circumstances which pressed upon the minds of the Commons and of the Lords respect- ing the determination of the succession, when the Parliament were again assembled, on the thirtieth day of September. How much of the Puritan element there was in the Commons House of 1566 it is impossible to determine. But that there was considerable appears y^ from the fact, that no less than " six bills touching reformation of matters of religion and Church gov- ernment" were introduced, though cut off from final proceeding by the dissolution of Parliament.^ y- The word Liberty, however, had already been spo- ken, and in its true and noble import. Timorously, feebly, and only religiously, it is true ; yet the idea had vibrated in the mind of the Christian man, and made him point the finger doubtingly at the prerog- ative of the prince. In this sense, it had first been spoken by the Puritans, — not from beneath the ^ D'Ewes, 85. himself? — under the doings of Par- With some misgivings, I have liament in 1562-3. Besides, the omitted to notice in the text the queen's answer, recorded under date queen's final postponement of this of April 10th, 1563, (D'Ewes, 75,) subject, by her address through the is nothing but a meagre abstract of Lord Keeper at the close of the that given to the Lords in 1566. So Parliament of 1562-3. I have done far as it goes, even the words are so, relying upon the statement of almost identical. Hume did not D'Ewes, (p. 107,) which I confess I read D'Ewes, on this point, with do not confidently understand. He sufficient carefulness. See also Hal- seems to say that the queen's answer lam, 148, note, to the Lords on this subject in 1566 ^ D'Ewes, 185. has been erroneously placed — by Ch. XI.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566. 281 humble sicle-gown and cornered cap only, but from beneath the cope and the mitre.^ But the question which the curate — dreaming little of its greatness — had started in his vestry concerning the rights of the Christian, we now hear in Parliament apphed to the . rights of the citizen ; naturally enough too, for rehg- ^ - ious and'political affairs had been intertwined for so many generations, religious desjootism had so long , been identified with political, that it was impossible to touch the one without mooting the other. Thus "^ it was but a step from the right of choosing a gar- ment in the Church, to that of choosing a theme in ^ Parhament. Whether, then, the Puritan element was more, or whether it was less, in this House of Commons of 1566, and although in the great movement there all parties shared ahke, the spirit which sustained debate, and the principles by which it was defended, betray the genius, if not the dominant influence, of the Puritan. He was there. After the meeting of the Parliament, the first action concerning the great topic of public interest was by the Duke of Norfolk. There being no prin- ces of the blood, and iio other of his title, he was both a peerless Peer, and next in rank to the queen. His character and influence corresponded with his position; and he possessed the good graces of his sovereign.^ With these advantages, he was the most proper person to move her in a matter to which she had showed a strong repugnance ; but the re-opening ^ Ante,^^. 179, note 2. Strype's « Hume, III. 50. Parker, Append. XXV. VOL. I. 36 282 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566. [Ch. XI. of which was made imperative by the condition of the state and the fever of the pubHc mind. Accord- ingly, he was deputed by the nobility to do so, and in their name. On the 12th of October, therefore, at a meeting of the Lords of the Council in the queen's palace of Whitehall, he addressed himself to her Majesty with the plainness becoming a case so seri- ous, softened by the courtly urbanity for which he was distinguished. Briefly noticing the dangers of a disputed succession, and the reasonable wishes of her people, he urged her, by the love she bore them, to keep them no longer in suspense either in regard to her marriage or the succession. Hitherto — thanks to the deference which her sex commanded — she had been able to waive themes so disagreeable ; to parry remonstrances and exhorta- tions without exciting murmurings. But Norfolk's suit was for io-day ; and not for fair words and cheer- ing hopes, but for the performance of those which she had given. The matter was before her, — face to face. She met it. " Do you complain of me ! You have no occasion. You have had none. I have well governed in peace. A late but trifling war may have been an occasion of murmuring among my subjects. But the war hath not originated in me ; in you, I verily believe, it hath. Lay your hands on your hearts and blame v yourselves. The succession ! Not one of ye shall have the choice of it. I reserve it to myself alone. My sister was buried while alive. I. will not be. I know well how every one hastened to me while she was still living. Why? Because — I was the suc- cessor. I am not inclined, just now, to see such Cn. XI.J THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566. 283 travellers. In this matter I desire none of your advice in any way. " Touching my marriage, you may see well enough that I am not distant from it, or from what respects the welfare of the kingdom. Go each of you, and do your o\\ti duty." ^ Thus unproraisingly did the controversy open. Yet Norfolk had succeeded where others had failed. He had extorted a direct answer. On the 2d of October, Mr. Onslow, the Speaker elect of the Commons, had been presented to the queen ; had " disabled " himself; and " his election had been allowed." But, in making the customary peti- tions,^ he had omitted those for liberty of speech and ^ ^ for freedom from arrests ; ^ " contrary," says D'Ewes, " to all fonner and latter precedents." ^ This fact is noticeable. Wliether the first was omitted for a pur- pose, and the latter, that so the whole might the X. more plausibly be charged to forgetfulness ; or wheth- er both omissions were merely accidental, — is worth keeping in mind as we pass over the doings of a House in which " so great liberty of sjDeech by divers > >;, was never used in any Parliament or session of Par- Hament before or since," ^ to the time — about 1625^ — when the compiler of the Journals wrote. On the 17th of October, in the House of Commons, the queen's Privy Councillors, enlarging upon her Majesty's extraordinary expenses in the late war, which had exhausted her treasury, moved to propor- tion out some supply to meet the necessities of the > D'Israeli, 169. * Ibid., 121. ; ^ See above, Chap. VI. ^ Ibid., 122. » D'Ewes, 98. « Ibid., 527. 284 THE PARLIAMENT OF ir)66. [Ch. XL state.^ A member of the House immediately replied, " That he saw no occasion for this. The war which had drained the treasury was the queen's war ; nei- ther undertaken for defence of her kingdom, or advantage of her subjects. The House would be better employed in inquiring lioiv the money had heen / expended, than in devising for more money to be spent. They who had had the handling of it should be made to produce their accounts, to show whether it had been used well or ill." ^ Mr. Basclie, a purveyor of the marine, having next iterated the statements of the Privy Councillors with some emphasis, — " Troth ! " exclaimed a member, " Mr. Basche hath large reasons for what he saith. They be of like bigness as certain large moneys he hath had the fingering of, for the provisioning of ships. Marry ! the more he consumeth, the more be his profits. To my thinking, there be too many purveyors in the realm already, whose noses are grown so long that they stretch from London to the West. Let us know what they do with their levies." ^ Nothing more was debated or done that day, but to appoint a committee to consider the matter first proposed.* The next day, another member concluded some remarks upon the proposed subsidy by saying that it was of far more importance that the House con- sider of a successor to the crown and of the queen's marriage.^ Whereupon Mr. Molineux moved to re- vive the suit — which had been first moved by the 1 D'Ewes, 124. D'Isracli, 170. '^ D'Ewes, 124. « D'Israeli, 170. * D'Israeli, 170. " Ibid. C.I. XI.l THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566. 285 House in the fifth year of the queen — touching the declaration of a successor, in case the queen should die without issue of her own body; and to have the business of the succession proceed joinily ivitli that of a subsidy} Ilis motion included no men- tion of the queen's marriage.^ But Sir Ralj^h Sad- ler, one of the Privy Council, succeeded in staying the House from further proceedings at that time, by afhrming that he had heard her Majesty say, in presence of divers of the nobility, that, for the good of the realm, she was minded to marry; and he added, that it were therefore seemly that the House should wait awhile for the result of this her Majesty's declaration, instead of intermeddling with the matter of succession.^ The next day — Saturday the 19th — Sir William Cecil and Sir Francis Knollys declared to the House, that, hy the special Providence of God, the queen was moved to marriage, and, for the good of her subjects, to prosecute it. Others of the Privy Council said the same ; and urged the House, as Sir Ralph Sadler had done, to suspend futrher suit touching the suc- cession, in consideration of her Majesty's purpose. What these councillors said was doubtless by her Majesty's special direction;* for the queen allowed her ministers to pledge her royal word to the Com- mons for her intention to marry, as often as they found it necessary.^ But the House were in no humor for such advice. Several lawyers — the chief of whom were Mounson, Bell, and Kingsmill — " ar- * D'Ewes, 124. * Ibid., 124. « Ibid., 130. " D'Igraeli, 1G9. ' Ibid., 124,130. 286 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566. [Ch. XL gued very boldly and judiciously" for Molineux's motion ; ^ and the whole House, with the exception of a single voice, began to clamor for the succession? Hoping to divert their bent, or at least to secure precedence for the supply, Cecil prayed them to have a little patience, and in time they should be satisfied; but that at this moment other matters pressed, — it was necessary to satisfy the queen about a subsidy.^ Therefore, as one of the commit- tee appointed for the purpose on the 17th, he made a declaration of the rates of one subsidy.^ Upon this the House became excited, shouting, "No! no ! no ! " And, as a reason for this detenninedness, it was added : " We are expressly charged by our constituents, to grant no moneys imtil the queen answers, resolvedly, what we now ask. Our towns and counties are resolute on this subject. If we obey not their injunctions, our hands will answer for iv: 5 The ministers were baffled. The House resolved to renew the suit for the declaration of a successor, and to get the queen's answer. A committee was also appointed, to devise concerted action with the lords of the Uj)per House.^ Here the matter ended for the day in the Commons, but not in the palace. These proceedings were forthwith reported to the queen, by some of "the principal lords." She re- ceived the report with the ire of a Tudor. "The Commons are rebellious ! " she exclaimed. " In the life of my father, they had not dared such thhigs. 1 D'Ewes, 124. * D'Ewes, 125. - D'Israeli, 170. « D'Israeli, 170. = Ibid. « D'Ewes, 124. Cii. XI.] THE TARLIAMENT OF 1566. 287 It is not for them to impede my affairs by parley- ing about a subsidy. Are they my subjects, or are they not ? If they are, it doth marvellously misbe- come them to tell me what I shall do about a suc- cessor. Know they what they are about ? What they ask is Avishing me to dig my grave before I am dead ! " ^ On Tuesday, the 22d, the Lords sent to the Com- mons, requesting that the committee appointed on the 19th, to confer with them upon the succession, Avould postpone conference until Wednesday.^ The reason of this, though not stated in the Journals, we have from a contemporary source. Four of the Lords Spiritual, and sixteen of the Lords Temporal, were pre-engaged to repair to her Majesty's presence on the same day.^ Accordingly they went to her from the Parliament-House after dinner, and met her in her private apartment. Neither Norfolk, Leicester, ^ D'Israell, 170. the last clause of her censure gives The entire burden upon the minds no clew to the reason of her aversion of the Commons and of their con- to marriage. It could not have had stituents was The Succession ; and reference to anj-thing but what was — so far as appears from the Jour- agitated in the Commons, — the suc- nals — this was the only theme of cession ; and is to be understood In their debates until the 22d (com- the same sense as her words to the pare D'Ewes, 125 with 130, also Lords of the Council on the 12th: Hume, m. 21, 25), when the busi- " I will not be buried while I am ness of the queen's marriage (through living, as my sister teas." the influence of her ministers there. The reader will find the reason by herself instructed to that effect — for this note on p. 169 of DTsraeli, Hallam, 148) was " colorably add- where he says : " Urging her to ed, that the motion touching sue- marriage, she said, was asking noth- cession might be less distasteful to Ing less than wishing her to dig her her Majesty." On the 10th, when own grave," &c. That she uttered she censured their doings as iu the these words on Saturday the 19th text, the Commons were not debat- appears from p. 1 70 of DTsraeli. ing at all the subject of hermarn'af/e; ^ D'Ewes, 125. nor had they done so. Therefore ' Ibid., 101, 125. 288 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566. [Cii. XL nor Pembroke was of this deputation ; ^ for they had offended her Majesty by advising that Parha- ment, without her concurrence, should designate her successor ; and had therefore been forbidden her presence? As soon as her attendants had re- tired, the venerable Lord Treasurer, the Marquess of Winchester, now ninety-two years of age,^ announced the errand of the Lords. "The Commons," he said, "had required them to imite in soliciting her Majesty to appoint a successor; the necessity of contingent dangers to the kingdom compelled the Lords to urge the point j her royal predecessors had been accustomed to make such provision long beforehand ; the Commons were so resolved to settle this matter before subsidy or any- thing else, that the time of the Parliament was frittered away in trivial discussions ; and, in the name of all he suj)plicated her Majesty to declare her will on this jDoint, or at once to end the Parliament." " My lords," said she, " do what you will. As for myself, I shall do nothing but according to my pleasure. All the resolutions which you may make can have no force without my consent and authority. Besides, what you desire is an affair of much too great importance to be declared to a knot of hare- brains. I will take counsel with men who under- stand justice and the laws, as I am deliberating to do. I will choose half a dozen of the most able I ^ D'Ewes, 101. list in D'Ewes. Cecil, in his Jour- * Cecil's Journal, under date of nal, does not mention Norfolk — only Oct. 27, in Murdin, 762. Camden, 83. Pembroke and Leicester — as being The account ^\ven in D'Israeli excluded from the queen's presence- states that Norfolk was present and chamber, spoke. But his name is not on the ' Holingshed, IV. 317. Cii. XL] THE PARLIAMENT OF L'>66. 289 can find in my kingdom for consultation ; and, after having heard their advice, I will then discover to 3^ou my will." On this she dismissed them in great anger.^ Without entering upon the details of transactions between the Lords and the Commons, it is necessary only to state, that neither House desisted from its purpose ; and that a joint committee was appointed to urge the queen both to marriage and the appoint- ment of a successor. It was agreed that this should be done chiefly in the name of the Lords, inasmuch as the Commons had done the same by themselves in the fifth year of the queen.^ - The sentiments of the two Houses were accord- ingly laid before her Majesty — at what precise time is uncertain — by the Lord Keeper Bacon. Her answer was given to a sj^ecial deputation of thirty of the Lords and thirty of the Conmions, se- lected at her command. They waited upon her in the afternoon of the 5th of November,^ at her palace of Whitehall. Among this deputation, we find the names of Norfolk, Leicester, and Pembroke.* The next day, her answer was reported to the Commons by Sir Edward Rogers and Sir William Cecil, to this effect : " That the Queen's Majesty's Highness, by God's grace, would marry, and would have it there- fore believed ; and touching limitation for succession, the perils were so great to her person, some of which she had felt in her sister's time, that time will ' D'lsraeli, 170. * D'Ewes, 103, 104 bis, and 127. " D'Ewes, 104, 127. Camden, 85. ^ Cecil's Journal (Murdin, 762) says the 14th of November. VOL. I. 37 290 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566. [Ch. XI. not yet suflfer to treat of it." The journalist adds, significantly, " Wliereiipon, all the House was sileixtr Two days afterwards, however, — that is, on the 8th of November, — the subject was again opened by a motion from Mr. Lambert, which he supported by " a learned oration," that the House " do press fur- ther their former suit touching the declaration of a successor." Her Majesty, hearing of this, and fear- ing a fresh agitation of this subject, sent her com- mands the next day to the House, by Sir Francis Knollys, "that they should no further proceed in their suit, but satisfy themselves with her jDromise of marriage ; and that she did expressly inhibit the fur- ther discussion of this business." This was on Sat- urday.^ So arbitrary a command woke resistance ; and on Monday, the 11th, at nine o'clock in the morning, as soon as the Clerk had opened the House by reading A prayer, Mr. Paiil_Wentworth sprung a question, new ■ - on the floor of that House, — " whether the queen's command and inhibition, that they should no longer dispute the matter of succession, were not against the -sL liberties and privileges of the House ? " The idea was caught up, — the Puritan idea, which every late transaction in the ParliamentrHouse and in the Palace had tended to elicit, — and the indigna- tion of the deputies broke forth. The imperiousness of the queen was equalled by the resentment of her Commons. How far the particular point of Went- worth's great question was discussed is unknown; but a more liberal illustration of Parliamentary liberty and privilege was never given; never was » D'Ewes, 128. Ch. XI.j THE PARLIAMENT OF 156G. 291 the prerogative of the citizen more tenaciously seized upon, or more roundly asserted. The mem- bers began " tumultuously to twit the authority of the queen " ; and declarations the most starthng, and hitherto on that floor unjiaralleled both for boldness and for doctrine, were given forth by different voices for live successive hours.^ The substance, only, of these declarations is left on record, and was as fol- lows : — " The impregnable fort of princes, their only proj) and pillar, is — the love of their subjects. To secure this love, they must provide for the well-being of their realms ; not for the term of their own lives ^-^ only, but for time after their death. This provis- ion cannot be made unless a successor be certainly known. The queen is hound to designate her suc- cessor. By not domg so, she doth provoke God's wrath, and alienate her people. If she regard God's and her people's favor, let her do her duty, else she shall no more be reckoned a nurse, a mother, but a «.**• step-mother ; nay, a parricide of the country w^hich ^, God hath given her to foster. It shall be reckoned ^ to her infamy, that she would rather that England, x which now" breatheth with her breath, should die when she dies than survive her. " No princes have ever stood in fear of their suc- cessors, but such as have been hated of their people, y and cowards, and timorous women. The prince who is intrenched in the people's heart, never need fear a successor."^ Out of doors, moreover, the Commons deflimed Cecil with scandalous slanders, as a corrupt counsel- > D'Ewes, 128. ^ Camden, 83. Echard, 807. \ 292 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566. [Ch. XI. lor in this matter; and cursed Huick, the queen's physician, as a dissuader of her Majesty from mar- riage.^ The debates were terminated only by the lateness of the hour. The next morning, when the Commons assembled, at their usual hour of nine, they had no Speaker. The queen had him at Whitehall. She kept liim"*^ there until after ten o'clock, showing him what a royal woman's wrath was when roused from its lair by houndings like those of yesterday. At length he appeared in his place, whence he announced, that " it was her Highness' special command to the House, — y/ although she had sent the like before, — that there should be no further talk there touching the declara- tion of a successor; and that, if any one was not satisfied, but had further reasons, he should come before the Privy Council and show them." ^ But the House, with unprecedented daring and firmness, set the royal command at defiance ; for — although nothing further of their debates appears upon record — they " did, notwithstanding these several inhibitions and restrictions, further prosecute the same matter, plainly and singly, until the 25th of the month." ^ ^ Cecil, in Murdin, 762. Cam- for an assertion of so much impor- den, 83. tance. The second is, if the Com- - D'Ewes, 128. mons did not continue to agitate ^ rijid., 130. the subject of the succession, if they I have two reasons for the asser- obeyed the queen's order by silence tion that the Commons were not thereupon during fourteen succes- silenced by the royal command sive days, from the 1 2th to the 24th through Mr. Speaker Onslow. The inclusive, there seems to have been first is, the explicit assertion of no occasion for the very remarkable D'Ewes which is quoted in the text; proceeding of the queen in revok- v although, it must be confessed, it is ing her prohibition on the 25th. very singular that he gives no data I find that Mr. Ilallam (p. 148) Cii. XL] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566. 293 This position of affairs was serious. The spirit, even the passions, of the Commons were roused ; the dignity, the authority of the crown, were in danger of being compromised. At this point, had the latter ventured upon another provocation, or had not soothed the manhood which it had stung, it is impossible to say what would have ensued. But Elizabeth wisely receded. On Monday, the 25th, she sent again for Onslow. He returned from White- hall to the Parliament-House with a message from her Majesty, that she did take back her two former \ Y- prohibitions against freedom of speech; "a revoca- tion which was taken of all most joyfully, with hearty thanks for the same." They talked no more of the succession. From the moment they had been told to hush, where they felt they had a right to talk, they had been talking that they might preserve ^ their right, — talking because they were forbidden. X The withdrawal of the commandment, was the with- drawal of the cause. This gone, they ceased of course ; and the contest was over. They were the sons of men.^ Elizabeth had been convinced, and probably by ministers who understood human nature better than she did, — and here Cecil's sagacity is indicated, — that the contest was hazardous ; and that her own yielding, while yet it could be as an act of grace, would both save the dignity of the crown and end the quarrel. It did ; and that one of her temper and her notions of the royal prerogative should have seems to have considered tlie de- It, he says, " more, probably, hav- bates continued until the queen's ing passed than we know at present." revocation, when, in accounting for ^ D'Ewes, 130. sy 294 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566. [Ch. XI. done so, is sufficient evidence that the crisis was im- perative. The progress of the subsidy grant is not traceable in the Journal ; but it appears that a third payment — a greater than was usual — had been offered by the Estates on condition that her Majesty would designate a successor ; ^ or rather, to induce her to do so ; ^ and that in consideration that the expecta- tion was not met,^ she remitted the extraordinary pajnnent, saying, with happy courtesy, that " money in her subjects' coffers was as good as in her own." * At the close of the Parliament, — January 2d, 1566-7, — after the customary address to the throne by the Speaker of the Commons, and the Lord Keeper's reply in her name, — in which he censured them for proceedings against good laws and for ques- tioning her Majesty's prerogative,^ the queen, inno- vating upon the usual course, spake herself as fol- lows : — " My Lords, and others the Commons of this as- sembly, I have a few words further to speak to you, although I have not been used, nor love, to do it in such open assembhes. But whereas princes' words do enter more deeply into men's ears and minds, take these things from our mouth. I, that am a lover of simple truth, have ever thought you likewise to be ingenuous lovers of the same. But I have been deceived ; for in this Parliament Dissimulation hath walked up and down, masked under Liberty and Suc- cession. Some of you have thought that liberty to 1 Camden, 85, 86. ^ D'Ewes, 131. Hallam, 81, note, 149. "' Cecil, in Murdin, 762. D'Ewes, * D'Ewes, 115. Camden, 86. 131. « D'Ewes, 115. Ch. XI.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566. 295 dispute of the succession, and of the establishment of the same, is alDsohitely to be granted or denied. Had we granted it, these men had had their desire, and had triumphed over us. Had we denied it, they thought to have moved what foreign enemy never could, — the hatred of my Commons. But they began to pierce the vessel before the wine was fined ; their wisdom was unseasonable, and their counsels over-hasty ; nor did they foresee the event, which is, that we have easily perceived who inchne towards us and who are adverse to us. Your whole House may be divided into four sorts ; — plotters ; actors, \^ persuading by smooth words ; consenters, seduced by those smooth words ; and the mutes, astonished at such audacity, who are the most excusable. " But do ye think that we neglect your security as to the succession ? or that we have a will to infringe your liberty ? No. It was never my meaning ; but to stay you before j^ou fell into the ditch. Every- thing hath his fit season. Ye may, peradventure, have after us a wiser prince; but a more loving, never. " For our part, whether we may see such a Par- liament again, we know not; but for you, beware lest ye provoke your prince's patience, as ye have now done mine. Nevertheless, — not to make a Lent of Christmas, — the most part may assure yourselves that ye depart in your prince's grace." ^ The Lord Keeper then dissolved the Parliament. Elizabeth unquestionably considered the right of succession to be in Mary of Scotland. To her, while » D'Ewes, 116, and Camden, 89, collated. 296 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566. [Ch. XI. a widow, she had already signified that her marriage with some approved English nobleman might open a way for a declaration in her favor ; that " such a declaration would be hasted forward according to Mary's good behavior, and applying herself to follow Elizabeth's pleasure and advice in her marriage " ! ^ It had also " been secretly thought of in the English cabinet, that Mary should surrender unto Elizabeth and to heirs of her body all manner of claim; in consideration of which, the Scottish queen's mterest should be acknowledged in default of heu-s of the body of Queen Elizabeth." ^ In May, 1564, John Hales had been committed to prison for writing a U- book against the Queen of Scots' title to the crown ^ ; and now, immediately after the dissolution of Parlia- ment, upon Mary's complaint that a lawyer in Lin- ^ coin's Inn had questioned her right, Ehzabeth, to appease the public mind by an intimation of her own opinion, imprisoned hun in the Tower.* The reasons for her unwilUngness to declare her succes- sor she had signified in part to the Lords of Council as stated above. But as her declaration, if made, would doubtless have been in Mary's favor, she also had fears — of a politico-religious kind — that a con- firmation of her title now would facilitate, if not v/ suggest, some attempt to j)lace the Catholic princess in possession.^ This gives a clew to the meaning of several obscure exjoressions in her address to the Parhament. We are bound to suppose that her fears 1 Melvil, 82, 95. Echard, 805. * Cecil, in LInrdin, 7G2. Cam- - Hardwicke Papers, I. 174; Ce- den, 89. cil to Tlirockmorton, in 1561. ^ Melvil, 94; Elizabeth to Mel- ^ Strype's Annals, II. 117, 121. vil. Hallam, 81. Cii. XL] THE PAKLIAMENT OF 1566- 297 were not groundless ; and, if so, she is to be jus- tified for her inflexible refusal to avow her suc- cessor.^ The Commons, however, were not fired by her refusal so much as by her imperious orders against the right of debate ; and it is this fact only which invests their JDchavior with interest to the student of Puritan history, — the initiating upon that floor the same questions, "What are the rights of the prince?" "What are the rights of the subject?" which had been originated in a humbler sphere ; the same questions, — only with a broader, a political application ; the same leaven in another measure of meal. There will be occasion to observe its working here- after. It may be as appropriate in this connection as elsewhere to dwell a moment upon Queen Elizabeth's persistence in a life of cehbacy. Perhaps the desirableness of her marriage, as the means of providing an undisputed and acceptalDle heir to her throne, cannot be more succinctly brought to view than by the following scrap of a dialogue between the Queen Dowager of France and Sir Thomas Smith, as reported by himself " ^ Jesu ! ' saitli she, ' and doth not your mistress see that she shall be always in danger until she marry? That once done, and in some good house, ^ The embarrassments attending the Queen of Scots, are set forth the declaration of Elizabeth's sue- at large, and with admirable clear- cessor, whether she and her Parlia- ness by Hume. (III. 7, 8. Chap, ment should decide for or against XXXIX.) See also Hallam, 81. VOL. I. 38 V^ 298 TIIE PARLIAMENT OF 1566. [Cii. XI. who shall dare attempt anything against her?' ^ Madam,' quoth I, ' I thmk if she were once mar- ried, all in England that had any traitorous hearts would be discouraged : for one tree alone may soon he cut down, but when there be two or three together, it is longer a-doing, and one shall watch for the other ; but if she had a child, then all these bold and troublesome titles of the Scotch queen, or other that make such gaping for her death, will be clean choked up.' " -^ The danger of the queen's life, and the danger to her kingdom should her hfe fail by assassination or otherwise, are both indicated here ; and on these grounds her people and her ministers were intensely anxious for her marriage. Nor is it to be supposed that Elizabeth herself did not both understand and appreciate these reasons ; and although she seems to have been apathetic, to a degree which distressed and almost irritated her Council, in reference to plots against her life, yet she was by no means indifferent to the good of her people. In woman, the craving for something to love is peculiarly an instinct, — a special j)rovision for those relations of life which are designed peculiarly for herself Where, by any chance, these relations do not spring up, the instinct cannot be so easily sup- pressed, or so easily appeased by substitutes, as the meaner one in men. It is ever feeling after some- thing human on which to repose, and for something human to cherish. It was, therefore, with a signifi- cance which none but a true woman can comprehend, that Elizabeth called England her husband, and Eng- 1 Digges, 167; Smith to Burleiffh, 1571-2. Cii. XL] THE PARLIAMENT OF 15G6. 299 lislimen her children. Much as she courted the people, this language was not the mere rhetoric of a court, or the clap-trap of a demagogue. With her, it was truth. It expressed, as no other language could have done, the nature of those sentiments which, as a woman-prince and unwived, she cherished towards her realm and her j^eople. Here were en- twined those womanly affections whose appropriate objects she lacked. In the following charge to her Council and Judges, "as one reporteth who saith he heard it with his own ears," the woman spake as truly as the queen. "Have a care over my people. You have my place. Do you that which I ought to do. They are my people. Every man oppresseth them, and spoileth them without mercy. They cannot revenge their quarrel, nor help themselves. See unto them; see unto them, for they are my charge. I charge you, even as God hath charged me. I care not for myself; my life is not dear to me ; my care is for my jDCople. I pray God, whosoever succeed me be as careful as I am. They which might know what cares I bear would not thmk I took any great joy in wearing the crown." " Could a mother," adds the chronicler, " speak more tenderly for her infant, than this good queen speaketh for her people ? " -^ In 1581, Sir Edward Stafford was sent envoy to ^ France, chiefly to observe the behavior of the French towards the Low Countries, of which the sovereignty had just been offered to the Duke of Anjou, for i^ whose marriage with Elizabeth a nesrotiation was ' Ilolingshed, IV. 253. 300 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566. [Ch. XI. then in process. AVho but a true woman could have written thus ? " Stafford ! I think not myself well used, and so tell Monsieur, that I am made a stranger to my- self, which he must be if this matter take place. In my name show him how impertinent it is for this season, to bring to the ears of our people so ungrate- ful news. God forbid that the banes ^ of our nuptial feast should be savored with the sauce of our sub- jects' wealth ! 0, what may they think of me, that for any glory of my own would procure the ruin of my land ! Hitherto they have thought me no fool : let me not live the longer the worse My mortal foe can noways wish me a greater loss than England's hate ; neither should death be less welcome unto me than such mishap betide me. You see how nearly this matter wringeth me, use it accordingly. Rather will I never meddle with marriage, than have such a bad covenant added to my part. Shall it ever be found true, that Queen Elizabeth hath solemnized the jDcrpetual harm of England under the glorious title of marriage with Francis, heir of France ? No, no ; it shall never be I hope I shall not live to that hour In haste, your sovereign, Elizabeth." ^ The simple solemnity of her charge and the ner- vous pathos of her letter betoken sincerity. Such is not the style of the cabinet, but of nature, of heart, of self-sacrificing affection. But when this charge was uttered and this letter penned, no one thing was so ominous of "the perpetual harm of England" as her lack of an heir of her body. Yet she rejected ' The lanns. ■ Wright, 11. 151. ? Cii. XI.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1566. 301 suitor after suitor, and went through the term of her virility, " a barren stock." Such conduct, in such a sovereign, under such circumstances, can be ac- counted for only upon the supposition of some in- surmountable impediment to marriage, some organic defect which assured her loss of life in giving life, — of such a nature that she could not disclose it to her ministers, — and which, had it been known, would have demonstrated the very ahsurdity of calumnies which we shall notice hereafter. This conclusion is confirmed by the probability that Huick was " a dis- suader of her marriage " ; and affectingly so, by that bitter wail of hers when reporting to her ladies that Mary was a mother.^ ^ Bayle, in Lis Notes L and T, only good sense to be extorted from nnder the article " Elizabeth," can- his quotation from the Abbot Siri is, vasses this matter a la Franfais ; that the Abbot was simply silly, and with which I will not offend my sillily simple, readers. One word of it only. The CHAPTER XII. THE FIRST SEPARATION. The Question of Separate Wokship opened. — Restraint upon the Press. — Separation discussed. — Resolved upon.— Conventicles. — The Queen incensed. — The Congregation in the Hall of the Plumbers ar- rested. — The Examination. — Religious Liberty claimed. — Prisoners SENT to Bridewell. — The Church Establishment shaped to win the Catholics. — Objections to such a Platform. — Expulsion of Non- conformists FROM the Offices of the Church justifiable — eccle- siastically. — Punishment for preaching justifiable — legally. — FoLLY' OF Ecclesiastical Precisianism and Compulsion. — The Right to make Laws involves the Right to punish. — The Dogma of " Church AND State." 1566-1567. The Puritans had sought for toleration. They had phed all their influence, and set in motion all their friends at Court/ that the letter of the law's penalty might not be urged upon them, — that they might not be compelled to use vestments and cere- monies which they regarded as symbols and abet- tors of a false religion. They had failed. The queen had roused her primate to enforce uniformity; the primate, in his turn, had called upon the queen for help; the Ecclesiastical Commissioners had been at work ; and the non-conforming clergy, by scores, had been forbidden to preach, and ejected from their livings. For " seven or eight weeks " after the last citation 1 Strype's Parker, 229. Ch. XII.] TIIE FIRST SEPARATION. 303 and discipline of ministers, in March, 15G5-G/ they and their people had contented themselves with going hither and yon to hear such preachers as Coverdale, Sampson, and Lever. But when this re- source failed them, or became precarious, — as men- tioned at the close of our ninth chapter, — they had begun, as Pilkington stated to Leicester, to talk about worshipping by themselves, and in a manner consonant with their own ideas of Gospel simplicity. This term of " seven or eight weeks " shows that this device must have been propounded about the 10th of May. They had also had recourse to the j)ress ; and set yi. ^ forth books in justification of their opinions and be- havior.^ These books " were written with so much confidence and sharpness, that the Archbishop and the state thoucrht fit to have them considered and an- swered." ^ But the Commissioners were not content with rejomders from the press. They " thought it not convenient, by any means, that the queen's in- junctions and other laws and ordinances, made for the regular and uniform worship of God, should be thus openly impugned." They had therefore moved the Council for a decree from the Star-Chamber, pro- hibiting such publications ; and accordingly, on the 29th of June, such a decree had been published, and with the signatures of some whose policy, if not sympathy, was averse to such measures.* It forbade, under very severe penalties, the publishing, the sale, and every part of the manufacturing, of any book 1 Strype's Parker, 241, 242 ; Grin- ^ Strype's Parker, 220. dal, 116. * Ibid., 221, 222. - Strj-pe's Parker, 220, 221 ; An- nals, n. 162-169. 304 THE FIRST SEPARATION. [Ch. XII. against the force and meaning of any orders set forth, or to be set forth, touching rehgious worship ; and authorized search for any such books in all sus- pected places. It also required bonds of every book- seller, printer, and binder to heed the prohibitions or to meet the forfeitures. It does not appear at what precise time it was definitely resolved to establish separate religious assembhes, but it must have been before the month of August ; ^ and it was probably soon after, and has- tened by, this decree. A letter of Bullinger, about the lawfulness of wearing the habits, which Grindal had published in Latin and in English, had had great influence. Some of the clergy, who had resolved to leave the ministry rather than to comply in this thing, were induced by the reasonings of the Helve- tian doctor to change their minds ; and many of the common people to abandon all thoughts of separa- tion.^ But there were others who could not consent to use or to countenance the Popish ceremonies of the Church, and especially the habits, which, being con- stantly before the eyes of the people, were the most harmful in their influence. These men, having been baffled in their devices to hear Coverdale and other " ministers who would not obey their suspensions," had held solemn consultations about " the lawfulness and necessity of separating from the Established Church " ; and had at last deliberately resolved to do so. They had hesitated awhile whether to use ^ Strype's Grindal, 105. linger and Gualter, Feb., 156C-7. ^ Zurich Letters, No. CXI., Grin- Strype's Parker, 229; Grindal, 105, dal to Bullinger, Aug., 15G6 ; No. 106. CXXL, Grindal and Horn to Bui- ch. xu.] the first sepaeation. 305 in their worship "as much of the Common Prayer and service of the Church as was not offensive " ; or, mstead thereof, " the book framed at Geneva for the congregation of the Enghsh exiles there, wliich was mostly taken out of the Genevan form." After free debate, the latter had been chosen as most consonant to the Holy Scriptures. From this time they had continued to worship by themselves ; meeting in private houses, barns, and sometimes in the woods, or other secluded spots in the neighboring country, where they had prayers, sermons, and the ministra- tion of the sacraments.^ But these jDroceedings could not long remain concealed. The bishops heard of them, and were startled. To reach the yet unknown offenders, an earnest remonstrance and exhortation, supposed to have been written by Cox or Jewel, was issued anon- ymously from the press.^ Tlie queen, highly in- censed by so bold a departure from the order of her Church, and so flagrant a slight upon her suprem- acy and laws, immediately issued letters to her Eccle- siastical Commissioners, and to the Bishop of Lon- don in particular, commanding them to discover the offenders and to reclaim them to their parish church- es, by gentle means if possible ; and if these failed, to assure them, that they should be deprived of the freedom of the city for their first punishment, and for the next, abide other penalties.^ This order of the queen, being designed and used only for the Commissioners, was not known to those ^ Strype's Parker, 241 ; Grindal, - Strype's Parker, 220. 114. Camden, 192. Collier, VI. ' Ibid., 242; Grindal, 115. 443. Carte, III. 495. Neal I. 104. VOL. I. 39 306 THE FIRST SEPAEATION. [Ch. XII. whom it threatened; and, had it been, would not, probably, have turned them from a course so de- liberately and seriously adopted. They continued their assembhes with as much caution and secrecy as possible. In the mean time, the bills introduced to Parliament, " touching reformation of matters of re- ligion and church government," had failed.^ For nearly a year, these sej)aratists ap^Dcar to have met only in the suburbs of London. But at length, growing more bold, they ventured to do so within the city itself^; and on the 19th of June, 1567, occupied the hall in Anchor Lane ^ belonging to the ComjDany of the Plmnbers. It had been hired by them for the day, of the woman who had it in charge, under ]3retence of a wedding. About a hundred were assembled. The clergjnnen present were Christopher Coleman, John Benson, Thomas Rowland, and Eobert Hawkins, all of whom " liad heen beneficed " within the diocese of London, but were now deprived.* The sudden appearance of sheriffs at their door arrested their worship, and threw them into consternation. Thirty-one of them — twenty-four men and seven women ^ — were seized and hurried to the Compter prison. The next day, two of the ministers, Rowland and ^ D'Ewes, 185. Strype's Parker, 242), says, " fourteen or fifteen were 220. sent to prison " ; yet in his Life of ^ Brook, I. 29. Grindal (p. 136), apparently refer- ^ Stow's Survey, 442. ring to the same company, he gives * Fuller, Bk. IX. p. 81; who adds the number discharged as twenty- to these, as a clergyman, the name four men and seven women. Neal of WiUiam Wliite. But he was a says, "??zos/ of them,"i. e. ofthehun- layman. Neal, I. 104, 109, note, dred, " were committed to custody." Brook, I. 145, note L, 147. So says Brook. Yet both give the ^ Strj-pe, in his Life of Parker (p. number discharged only thirty-one. Cu. XII.] THE FIRST SEPARATION. 307 Hawkins, and four of the laymen, Smith, Nixson, White, and Ireland, were brought before Grindal, Bishop of London, Goodman, Dean of Westminster ; Dr. Archdeacon Watts, Sir Roger Martin, Lord Mayor of London, and their associates, — all the queen's Commissioners. They were immediately put upon examination, on the charge of meeting for prayer, preaching, and the sacraments, contrary to the act of Parhament, and of withdrawing from tlieir parish churches. At the opening of their examina- tion, the Bishop showed them the queen's letter,^ and reproved them for the deceit they had practised to get possession of the Hall. To this it was replied, that they did so to save the woman harmless who let it to them. Grindal told them j^lainly, that, what- ever their object, it was lying; and that they had hereby put the woman to great blame, and exposed her to the loss of her office, which was against the rule of charity.^ " Have you not the Gospel truly preached in the Church established by law ? " he continued. " Have we not the sacraments duly administered, and good order preserved ? albeit, in ceremonies that be indif- ferent, which the prince hath a right to order, we fol- low not some other of the Reformed churches. What say you, Smith? you seem to be the ancientest." V "My lord, we thank God for the Reformation. What we desire is only, that all may be according to the Word of God.^ As long as we could have ^ It is from this fact only that I * Strype's Parker, 242 ; Grindal, have inferred, as stated above, that 115. the queen's letter was unknown to ^ Strype's Grindal, 115. them, and had not been made public. 308 THE FIRST SEPARATION. [Ch. XII. the Word preached freely, and the sacrament admin- istered without the preferring of idolatrous gear about it, we never assembled in private houses. But when it came to this point, that all our preachers were displaced by your law that would not subscribe to the aj)parel and law, so that we could hear none of them in any church by the space of seven or eight weeks, excej)t Father Coverdale,^ who at length durst not make known unto us where he preached, and when we were troubled in your courts from day to day for not coming to our parish churches,^ we resolved to meet privately together.^ " This is no answer," replied the Bishop. " This is no sufficient reason for not going to church, as ye are required to do." " Would your Lordship have us go backward in religion ? Yet I had as lief go to Mass, as to some churches; ay, my lord, as Hef to Mass as to my own parish church, for the minister be a very Papist." * " And I," said Nixson, " know one that joersecuted God's samts in Queen Mary's time, and brought them before Bonner ; and yet now he is a minister s/ )* allowed of in the Church, though he hath never made recantation." ^ Others of the prisoners said the same of other ;?C)C ministers. Indeed it was but too true, that the bishops, or rather the law, by which the bishops were guided, while ejecting Protestant preachers, allowed Popish priests in the ministry, on the single '^\ * Strype's Grindal, 116. * Brook, I. 135. - Brook, I. 135. ^ Strype's Annals, I. 264. ^ Strype's Grindal, 116. Ch. Xn.| THE FIRST SEPARATION. 309 condition of conformity and subscribing to the doc- trine of the EstabHshed Church. It was notorious, also, that " these perjured hypocrites, bearing two faces under one hood," encouraged their parishioners, as much as they durst, to favor Popery.^ "Troth!" exclaimed the Dean of Westminster, "they account the service and reformation in the days of good King Edward, of blessed memory, no better than the Mass ! " " Or else," said the Bishop, '' they judge all minis- ters Popish because they find here and there one so. But," turning to the prisoners, " ye may go to other jDlaces, where they minister wdio will give you none offence." " Do but make inquisition, my lord," replied AYliite, a sturdy citizen of London and a man of fortune,^ " and you shall find a great company of Papists in this very city whom you hold in the ministry, while you thrust out others who are both godly and learned." " Canst accuse any such of false doctrine ? " "Ay, that can I," replied Nixson; "and he one now present in this Court. Let him come forth, an he be not ashamed, and answer to his preaching rank Papistry from the tenth chapter of John's Gospel. There he standeth, my lord," pointing out the man among the by-standers. " Master Bedell is the man. He is one of your Poj^ish ones, my lord." Bedell hung his head at the accusation ; but an- swered not a word. The Bishop and the other Com- missioners looked upon one another as if perplexed ; ' Strj-pe's Annals, I. 2G4, 265. " Brook, I. 145, note. 310 THE FIRST SEPARATION. [Cu, XII. but they took no further notice of the charge.^ The Dean of Westminster diverted attention from a matter so embarrassing. " You seem," said he, " to question both the author- ity of the prince in appointing, and the Hberty of a Christian man in using, such things in divine wor- ship as are indifferent." " Of a truth ye do," added the Bishop ; " and for so doing ye suffer justly." " Not so, my lord," replied Hawkins. " We would not minish aught either of princely authority or of Christian liberty. Howbeit, it doth in no luise helong to princely authority to command, nor to Chris- tian liberty to use, nor to either to defend, that which pertaineth to Papistry and idolatry." " Do you ever hear us maintain such things ? " challenored the Dean. " We allow we do not hear you. Nevertheless, by your doings and by your laws, ye do it. You preach Christ to be a prophet and a priest, but not to be a king. Ye allow not that he reigneth in his Church alone, by the sceptre of his Word ; for, by your rule, the Pope's canon law^ and the will of the j)rince must be preferred before — that is to say, TaMBi govern — the preaching of the Word and the ministering of ordinances." " Prithee, what is so preferred ? " asked the Bishop. ^ Grindal's Remains (Parker canonist about this time " — 1562 — Soc), 204. Brook, I. 136, note. " wi-ote a tract for the regulation of * " The canon law seemed yet to the canonists and of the said canon be in some force, whicli contained law for the cjueen and this many things in it directly favoring Parliament to take into considera- the Bishop of Rome and his super- tion." — Strype's Annals, I. 632. stitions; and thei-efore a learned Ch. XII.] THE FIRST SEPARATION. 311 " Your laws, your copes, your surplices," answered Nixson ; " for ye suffer none to preach or to adminis- ter, except they w^ear these things, and subscribe a promise to wear them." " Not so ! " exclaimed the Bishop ; " not so ! What say you of Sampson and Lever, — of Fox, and Hum- phrey, and Coverdale ? They neither wear the hab- its, nor subscribe. Yet do they not preach ? " " Of a truth, they preach, and they preach the truth, my lord," interposed White. "Yet some of them you have deprived ; and your law standeth in force against them all. You suffer tlicm ; but others, though sound in doctrine, you do not suffer. For what cause ye do make tliis difference, it passeth me to know." " Sampson, Fox, and others, will not preach among such as you, who sejDarate from the Church," retorted the Bishop. "My lord, your doings are the cause why they will not." " Neither will they join with youl' added Hawkins. " One of them told me, that he would rather be torn into an hundred pieces than communicate with you after your forms.^ We neither hold to, nor allow, anything not contained in God's Word. This is the marrow of our offence. This is the point whence you and we part. If you think that we hold not to that which is true and right, show it to us, and we will renounce it." "You are not obedient to the authority of the prince," said the Dean. " Indeed we are," replied White ; " for we resist ^ Strype's Parker, 243. 312 THE FIRST SEPARATION. [Ch. XII. not, but suffer what the authority seeth fit to lay on us." " So do thieves," rejoined the Bishop. " What a comparison, my lord ! They, for evil- doing ; we, for serving God according to his Word ! " " Both j)rince and people," said Nixson, " ought to obey the Word of God." " True," replied the Bishop ; " but obedience con- sisteth of three points. First, that which God com- mandeth may not be left undone. Second, that which God forbiddeth may not be done. Third, that which God hath neither commanded nor forbidden, — indifferent things, — princes have authority to ap- point and command." "Let that be proved to us, my lord, if it can." " My lord, where find you that doctrine ? " exclaimed the prisoners. " Of a truth ! " exclaimed the Bishop in amaze- ment, "1 have talked with many persons touching this matter, yet I never saw any behave themselves so irreverently before magistrates." And he would not debate the point.^ "Pray, my lord," said Smith, "how can those things be indifferent that be ahominahle ?'' " You mean our caps and tippets, which you say came from Rome ? " " Troth, my lord," responded Ireland. " They be- long to the Papists ; to the Papists throw them." " You would have us use nothing which the Papists have used ? Then, forsooth, we must needs use no churches, seeing the Papists used them," said Dr. Watts. > Neal, I. 109. Cii. XII.] THE FIRST SEPARATION. 313 " Christ did cast the buyers and sellers, and their wares, out of the temple," rejoined White ; " yet Avas not the temple overthro^vn, for all that." " Moreover," added Hawkins, " churches are neces- sary to keep our bodies from the rain ; but copes and surplices are superstitious and idolatrous." The Bishop insisted that " things not forbidden of God might be used for the sake of order and obedi- ence." To which Hawkins replied, "But not the cere- monies of Antichrist, my lord ; to which you have brought the Gospel and its ordinances into bondage, thereby defending idolatry and Papistry." After some desultory conversation about the opin- ions and usages of the Church of Geneva, Hawkins remarked, " By your severities, you drive us into a separation against our tvillsr "My lord," said Nixson, "let us answer to your first question, — whether the Gospel be not truly preached in the Church established." "Say on, Nixson." " We do not refuse your communion and worship, on pretence that you preach not the Word of God ; but because you have tied the ceremonies of Anti- christ to your ministry, and set them hefore it, so that no man may preach or administer the sacraments witlmiit them. It is the compelling these things hj law that hath made us separate.^ Before you compelled the ceremonies, all was quiet." At last Sir Kichard Martin said, apparently wearied with this rambling conversation : " Well, good people, I wish you would wisely consider these things, and ^ Strype's Parker, 241. VOL. I. 40 314 THE FIRST SEPARATION. [Ch. XU. be obedient to the queen's good laws, that so you may live quietly and have liberty. I am sorry that you are troubled ; but I am an officer under my jDrince, therefore blame not me. The queen hath not established these garments and other things, for the sake of any holiness in them; only for civil order and comeliness, and because she would have minis- ters known from other men, as aldermen are known by their tippets, judges by their red gowns, and noblemen's servants by their liveries. Therefore ye will do well to take heed and obey." " Philip Melancthon hath well said," replied Haw- kins, " that when the opinion of holiness, or of merit, or of necessiti/, is put to things in themselves indiffer- ent, they ought always to be taken away." " But," said the Bishop, " these things are not com- manded as necessary in the Church." " Say you so, my lord ? So be it. But the com- mandment maketJi them necessary, as many a poor man doth feel." " As you say, my lord," said Nixson, resuming his dialogue with the Lord Mayor, — "as you say that the alderman is known by his tippet, even so have Mass- priests been known from other men by this very apparel which you command. Thus you would com- pel us to wear that which meaneth ' Mass-priest.' " " What a great matter you make of it ! " said the Dean of Westminster. "There be good men and good martyrs that did wear these things in King Edward's day," said the Bishop. " Do you condemn them, Nixson ? " " We condemn them not. However, we would go on to a more perfect way. Nevertheless, the best of Ch. XII.] THE FIRST SEPARATION. 315 them who maintained the habits did recant for it at their death ; as Ridley, Bishop of London, and Dr. Taylor. Ridley did acknowledge his fault in this thing to Dr. Hooper; and when the Papists would have put the apparel upon him in order to strip it off, — being the ceremony of deposing him, — he said the dress was ahommabUr " Many," interposed Hawkins, " were burned in the time of Mary, for standing against Popery as we do now." '' I myself have said Mass," observed the Bishop. "I am sorry for it." "Nevertheless," said Ireland, "your lordship still goeth dressed hke one of the mass-priests." " You see me wear cope and surpHce in St. Paul's. I would rather minister tvithoiit them, only for the sake of order, and obedience to my prince." After other conversation had followed, the Dean of Westminster said, " Do we hold heresy ? Do we deny any article of faith ? Do we maintain purga- tory, or j^ilgrimage ? No. We hold the reformation that was in King Edward's days." " You build much of King Edward's time," replied White. " Yet, though it was the best time of refor- mation in the realm, all was confined to one prescript order of service, patched together out of the Popish matins, even-song, and mass-book." " And they of that time never made a law such as now is, that none should preach or minister ivithoiit the garments," added Nixson.^ ^ " This godly king," Edward VI., he had before left, excepting the " set forth a new form of surplice and kneeling at the Lord's prayers, removed and prohibited all Supper, baptizing by women and the monuments of superstition which demanding of infants a profes. Strj-pe's Parker, 229, 243 ; Grin- ^ Fuller, Bk. IX. p. 81. dal, 105. Heyl. Presb., Bk. VI. « Strype's Grindal, 295, 302. Sec. 29, 37. ^ Zurich Letters, pp. 262, 264. ^ Strype's Parker, 243 ; Grindal, Strype's Parker, 219. Neal, I. 100. 114. » Strype's Annals, III. 509, 510. » Strype's Parker, 243. Collier, » Ibid., and Append., Bk. I. No. VI. 443-445. See above, p. 311. XII. Grindal to "White, and Hawkins ^^ Strj-pe's Whitgift, 416 ; Ayl- to Grindal. mer, 112. Hanbury, I. 34, 49- * Strj'pe's Grindal, 97, 105. 61. 334 THE FIRST SEPARATION. [Ch. XIL But while we should well weigh the restraining and depressing influences of old traditions and hoary usages, that we may do justice aUke to those Puritans who halted short of non-conformity, and to those who would neither conform nor cross the threshold of separation, we must keep the same influences in view in order to appreciate the larger conceptions, stronger convictions, steadier principle, and greater daring, by dint of which alone the separating Puri- tans — struggling with their aflection for their mother Church, and with loyalty untainted — could break from so potent a thraldom, to exalt the supremacy of the Bible above the supremacy of the prince. Here, too, — in the figment of ecclesiastical unity, and in the blending of Church and State, — is to be found the only apology for the queen's severity towards non-conforming Protestants; for non-con- formity had the legal complexion of disloyalty, and separation that of schism and revolt. And yet the apology is merely technical, because the Statute of Uniformity was but a transcript of her will; and with her sufferance, in her very metrojDolis, there were separate communions of Protestants who held no manner of conformity to the Liturgy established by law.^ ^ Frencli, Dutch, and Italian very discipline and worship which Protestant refugees were consti- the Puritans desired. In the next tuted into distinct ecclesiastical es- year they numbered no less than tablishments, by permission of the five thousand in London and its government, under the Genevan dis- suburbs. (Heylin's Presb., Bk. VI. cipline and forms of worship, — the Sec. 19. Strype's Annals, II. 2G9.) CHAPTER XIII. THE PAPALDsS. The Pope grants Dispensations to preach Heresy. — Papist Priests turn Puritan Preachers. — The Papal Council advise the Assignment of the English Crown, a Premium for the Assassination of Elizabeth, AND A more extensive LICENSE FOR HYPOCRISY AND PeRJURY. — BuLL against Heretics generally. — A new Irruption of Disguised Priests. — One of them executed. — The Catholics begin to secede. — The Holy League for the Extermination of Protestants. — Seminaries FOR Missionary Priests. — A Domiciliary Visit to John Stow, the An- nalist. — Funeral OF Coverdale. — Funeral of Bonner. — Mary, Queen of Scots, IMPRISONED in England. — The Northern Insurrection. — The Papal Bull of Excommunication against Elizabeth. 1560-1570. The Church of England had become fixed. After shding back a grade or two whence Edward had advanced her, she had assumed completeness and abjured progression. Not so the Puritans. Doubting that they had " already attained, either were already perfect/' they were yet struggHng against the meshes of superstition and tradition, and pressing towards the Hberty wherewith Christ maketh free. But, as the sword which was drawn against Non- conformity was two-handed and two-edged, smiting on the right hand and on the left, — in this direction the Puritan, in that the Papist, — it will hardly be possible to trace the farther advance of Protestant Dissenters without noting the parallel experience of the Papal. We therefore enter somewhat freely 336 THE PAPALINS. [Ch. XIII. iijDon the contemporary history of the Enghsh Ro- manists ; and shall sometimes pause over a writhing Cathohc by the wayside, partly that our account of the Puritans may be the more lucid, and j^artly that we may more truly gage the havoc which per- tains by natural consequence to the union of Church and State. The project of Calvin for bringing all Protestant Churches under a common form of worship and government, which he had j^rojDounded to the Eng- lish cabinet in 1560,^ had pestered the Roman Pon- tiff. The bruit of it had soon reached the wakeful ears of Pius IV., — just then seated in the Papal chair, — who instantly devised a scheme to balk the purpose of his Genevan adversary. This scheme was a wise one ; to sow dissension among the several Protestant communions, thus to confound their coun- sels and forestall their concert.^ For this purpose dispensations were granted to certain Franciscans, Dominicans, and Jesuits, to put on the mask of her- esy, and go forth among the heretics. It was their special errand, to preach any doctrines contrary to those of the See of St. Peter, and alike contrary to those prevailing where they might chance to be. If among Lutherans, they were to preach the doc- trines of Calvin; if among Calvinists, the doctrines of Luther ; if in England, the doctrines of the Ana- baptists, of Huss, of Luther, of Calvin, — in short, any Protestant doctrines, however wild, which would distract the minds of the people, and seduce them from the established communion. The better to disguise themselves, and the better to avert suspicion ^ See anle^ p. 331, note. ^ Strype's Parker, 70. Ch. xiil] the papalins. 337 in this latter field, they were also allowed to take the oaths required by law, and to take wives ; it being shrewdly argued, that, its English form being heret- ical, the marriage was no marriage, but, being in- tended for the good of the Church, a venial concu- binage only, and no violation of the priestly vow of celibacy.-^ This plan of operations was approved by the Coun- cil of Trent, who immediately sent out corresponding directions, particularly to the Jesuits m Paris? Upon the granting of these dispensations, several priests, some of them foreigners, and some of them English refugees, entered upon the mission, came to England, and went about m Puritan guise, to excite odium a2:ainst the Established Church.^ In 1563, it had been recommended by the Pope's counsellors, m case Elizabeth should not accede to terms of compromise with the Papal See,* that her realm should be offered by his Holiness to any crowned head who would undertake its conquest; that a pardon should be granted to any cook, brewer, vintner, physician, grocer, chirurgeon, or any other, who would make way with the queen of England, together with an absolute remission of sins, a perpetr ual annuity, and a seat in the Privy Council of her successor, to the heirs of the assassin; that priests of any Romish orders should be licensed to take such oaths as might be required of them in England, they ^ Strype's Annals, I. 341. * Strype's Annals, I. 342; Par- " The Council of Trent was tlie ker, 244. Collier, VI. 463. Carte, twentieth and last General Council III. 495. of the Church. It was convened * See Chap. XII. p. 321, and by Paul m. in 1545, and continued, note 5. by twenty-five sessions, till 1563. VOL. I. 43 338 THE PAPALmS. [Ch. xm. making a mental reservation to serve the Church of Rome whenever opportunity should occur ; and that all parties of the Romish faith should be dispensed with to swear to all heresies in England or elsewhere, — such oaths being taken with intent to advance the Mother Church. Other particulars of minor impor- tance were comprised in the advice of the Papal Council; all of which had been reported to Sir William Cecil in Aj)ril, 1564, by Dennum, one of his spies in Italy .-^ On the 10th of May, 15G6, the new Pope, Pius Y., issued a bull of anathema against heretics generally, and directed his ecclesiastics everywhere to contrive all manner of devices to confound them. This bull was intended, and understood, to be only a public confirmation of the measures which had been previ- ously initiated by Pius IV. and the Council of Trent. Upon its pubhcation, fresh volunteer priests were enrolled, and licensed, under its authority, to pursue such secular callings in England as each might fancy for a screen to his ecclesiastical character and min- istrations.^ As the result of the several measures above re- cited, priests were skulking in disguise through every ^ Strype's Annals, 11. 54-57. pauses over it will recognize a neg- Lingard (VH. 318, note) says: atlve admission of tlie fact. With " This was sent from Venice by one such a besom, how clean of atrocity Dennum, who had gone to Italy as a could the annals of human nature spy, and pretended that he had pro- be made to seem ! cured the information by bribery. Hallam (p. 75, note) says that The absurdity of the tale can be the adoption of such resolutions equalled only by the credulity of against Elizabeth in a consistory those who believe it." A facile and held by Pius IV. " is unlikely, and summary way of disposing of an little in that Pope's character." unpleasant record, and unworthy of But ' a Pope 's a Pope for a' that.' a grave historian. The reader who °- Strype's Annals, 11. 218-220. Ca. XIII.] THE PAPiVLINS. 339 county in England ; sometimes officiating at Mass by niglit in private houses, and sometimes playing the part of Protestant preachers in public.^ Auxiliary hereto, English Catholics abroad published various books against the queen and her government, which they sent over for dispersion by their agents at home.^ Tlie Queen's Council were neither ignorant of these matters, nor asleep. A royal proclamation ordered the dispersers of these " dangerous books " to be sought out and punished ; and many priests and lay Papists had been detected at secret Mass and committed to prison.^ One of the priests who had been moved by the late bull to come into England was William Blagrave, who operated in York, in the character of a Puritan preacher.* Some slip of the tono-ue, or some awkwardness in his heretical voca- tion, exciting suspicion that he was other than he professed, he was apprehended; and divers papers called " treasonable " being found in his possession, he was condemned to die by the hangman on the 10th of May, 1566. When ascending the ladder, he paused, and said to the Archbishop of York with a sneer : " By the rood, my lord ! the bands of your apostate Church be no more potent than a tow- thread, an a tongue so unapt as mine doth suffice for their breaking ! I have drawn away your silly sheep to herd with the basest sort ; and they whom I have converted into Puritans will hate your Liturgy as much as you hate Rome." ^ Hallam, 78. 66. Strj-pe's Annals, I. 295, 545, - Strype's Annals, 11. 192, 530. 546. * Haynes, 395. Strype's Grindal, ■* Strype's Parker, 70. 340 THE P^SJ^ALINS. [Ch. XIII. " Prithee ! " returned his Grace, " who be these silly sheep?" "Nay, nay; find you them, my lord, an yon be able. I be no betrayer of my penitents. Albeit, they will yet return to the bosom of Holy Church." Then, making the sign of the cross and turning his eyes to heaven, he was swung off. Thus died the Pope's protomartyr under the reign of Elizabeth.^ Hitherto, the English Catholics had prudently avoided giving offence. Whenever they had held divine worship after their own forms, they had done so with due precaution of secrecy. Most of them, considering that " there was nothing in the service of the English Church which was repugnant to that of Eome," ^ and that " the Common Prayer contained no positive heterodoxy," ^ had attended, with decent regularity at least, upon the prayers, sermons, and sacraments at their parish churches.* But now, in the years 1567 and 15G8, they began to show symp- toms of disaffection. In Lancashire, they j)roceeded to open contempt of the religious order enjoined, utterly laying aside the Book of Common Prayer, and the established service, and freely celebrating Mass. So extensive was this defection, that the chuKches were deserted and shut up ; ^ and emis- saries of the Pope, whom he had specially licensed to exercise episcopal jurisdiction in England,^ were absolving lapsed penitents, and "reconciling them from obedience to the queen." ^ There were also ^ Strype's Annals, I. 342, 343. ^ Strype's Annals, 11. 253. Collier,'vi. 463. Carte, HI. 495. « Fuller, Bk. IX. p. 81. Heyl. 2 Digges, 113. Presb., Bk. VI. Sec. 31. ^ Butler, I. 310. ' Burleigh to Faunt ; Birch, II. 94. * Heyl. Presb., Bk. VI. Sec. 30, " A man was said to be recond/efl', 31. Fuller, Bk. IX. p. 97. who, after he had gone to the new Ch. XIII. 1 THE PAPALINS. 341 secret and mysterious gatherings of the Cathohcs, which boded disturbance, if not rebellion. So alarm- ing were these symptoms, that, in some parts of his diocese, the Bishop of Chester dared not show his person. Tlie Court were disturbed, and sent down a commission to examine and purge the country. Yet, notwithstanding all these acts, so flagrant in the eyes of the queen, and so defiant of her authority, the commissioners were so lenient that the Catho- lics escaped by simply acknowledging their offences against the Act of Uniformity, and promising to obey the laws,^ — a lenity in strong contrast to the pun- ishment for the same transgression meted by royal order to the Protestant offenders of the Hall of the Plumbers. The latter were few and weak and friend- less, — severity might crush them at once. The Cath- olics were many, and had j)owerful foreign friends on the move already against the Church and the Crown of England; friends whom lenity might soothe and keep at bay, whom harshness might provoke and stir to action. Puritan principles " tended to a popularity." ^ Despotism was the very core of the Catholic faith. Thus, state policy dictated this different treatment, — a policy and a difference distinctly traceable throu";hout Elizabeth's reig-n. We say that the English Catholics had foreign friends astir against the Church and Crown of Eng- land. These had already put on the harness, and were ready at any fit moment to throw down the gaunt- service, returned to the Catholic to the queen, they never gave abso- worship and received absolution." — lution." Lingard, VIII. 77, note. ^ Strype's Annals, II. 253, 260. Burleigh's words were, " without ^ Strype's Parkei', [447] false reconciling them from obedience page. 342 THE PAPALINS. [Ch. xni. let. The principal Catholic princes — the Pope (Pius v.), the Emperor, the king of Spain, and some smaller princes — had secretly bomid themselves in league, by solemn oath,^ to extirpate the Protestant relio'ion throu2,-hout the world. This leaarue, which had its origin m the Council of Trent,^ and was devised by the Cardmal of Lorraine,^ seems to have been consummated about the year 1564.* Its prin- cipal articles of agreement, which were quickly re- ported at AVhitehall by English spies, were, that all Lutheran, Calvinist, and Huguenot prmces should be " rooted out," and their crowns given to those whom ^ Harleian I\IisceUany, I. 1(30. ^ Life of Hatton, ioT. 5 Melvil, 126. * Strype says, (Annals, IT. 243.) that in 1567 "the chiefest Popish potentates entered into a secret com- bination to destroy the reformed religion utterly." But, from what he says on the next page about the French king, he seems to mean, that in 1567 the league had its comple- ment of parties filled ; implying that it existed before. I have assigned its formation to 1564, because Sir Christopher Hat- ton (see " Life and Times of Hat- ton," p. 45 7) declared in the House of Commons. February 22d, 1586-7, that it ivas projected in the Council of Trent, and because Randolph, in a letter to Cecil dated February, 1565-6, speaks of it as haA-ing been iJien " lately devised," and as hav- ing been entered into by " the late Pope," (see Wright, L 219,) who was Pius IV. Now Pius lY. died in the previous year, December, 1565, and the Council of Trent was dissolved in 1. ')(];>. The Icacrne must, therefore, have been made between the dissolution of the Coun- cil and the death of the Pope, most probably within a year at\er the former event, — a time sufficient for the necessary diplomatic nego- tiations. Was there any such league ? Cathai'ine, the queen mother of France, met her daughter, Isabella, queen of Spain, at Bayonne, in 1565. The Duke of Alva was in attendance. Lingard says (VIII. 64, and note), that " the Protestant leaders in France believed, or af- fected to believe, that at this inter- view a league had been formed for the extirpation, first of the Protes- tants in France, and then of the Protestants in other countries " ; and considers the falsehood of it settled, because Yon Raiuner in his pub- lished researches respecting the con- ferences at Bayonne has not a pas- sage corroborative of such a league ! But that " dark and sanguinary councils " of some kind were then held, is evident from the testimony of the young Prince of Navarre, Ch. XIII. 1 THE PArALINS. 343 the leaguers might elect to the same ; and that all " well-wishers and assisters " of Protestantism should be " displaced, banished, and condemned to death." ^ Late events had already begun to indicate that the Papal party of Europe were to find their centre of power in PhilijD of Spain, and the Protestant party theirs in Elizabeth of England.^ Consequently, it was considered of great imjDortance by the Popish confederates, — and in a few years it became the grand object to which they bent all their counsels, and for which they strained every sinew of their power, — to undermine the ecclesiastical and civil ■who was present, and communicated ■what he heard to the President de Calignon, from whose memoir we derive it. (See Life of Henry TV. by G. P. R. James, Vol. I. Bk. UI. p. 217. New York, 1847.) I also submit the following. In reference to the Emperor Ferdi- nand I., Philip, and the Pope, Cecil received a letter, to which no name is appended, from Brussels, dated February 5, 1559-60, and contain- ing this passage : " The Emperor hath received great demonstrations of amity at the Pope's hands The Emperor's Puissance and the King Catholic's — as all men here account — are like to be much ad- vanced by means of this Pope. I could wish and trust it is considered what their straighter amity doth imparte," — sic ; qu. " import " ? — " which may be unto us a pillow in utramque aurem dormire." (Haynes, 237.) ]\Ii'. Ilallam does not give credit to the league, " as printed by Strype." (Hallam, 87, note.) It will be perceived, however, that I rely not at all upon any transac- tions, real or supposed, at Bayonne ; but upon the statements of Hatton and of Randolph, whose letter to Cecil was written before the meet- ing at Bayonne. Beal, also, the Secretary of the Queen's Council, refers "the conjuration to root out all such as, contrary to the Pope's traditions, make profession of the Gospel," only to " the Council of Trent."' (Strype's Parker, 357.) It may be asked, and perhaps not impertinently, do not the massacre of 1572, the atrocities in the Low Countries, the plot of "the Pope, Philip, and the French king," to co-operate with the Earls in Eng- land, the purjiose of the queen's murder, &c. revealed by the Em- peror's ambassador to Montague, and other like things afterwards, — do not all these wonderfully coin- cide with the supposition of such a league ? Compare Hume, IH. 19, 27. * Strype's Annals, 11. 244. Life of Hatton, 47. ^ Butler, L 341. 344 THE PAPALINS. (Ch. XIH. establishments of the Enghsh queen, she being reck- oned the great champion and " chiefest proteetrix " of Protestantism.^ While Cecil had his spies abroad, through whom he received constant intelligence of Catholic devices,^ Pius v., since he could not have his apostolical nun- cio in England, employed a secret agent. Full of zeal for recovering the realm to the Roman See, and, as a necessary means, for dethroning Eliza- beth, he secured the services of Ridolpho, a Flor- entine merchant and banker, who had resided in London since 1554.^ It was this man's commission from the Pope, " to animate men's minds to work the destruction of the queen " ; in other words, to " sow sedition" in England, and particularly among the Papists. He acted not only under the direction of the Pope, but of the other confederates also,* who placed large moneys in his hands for the further- ing of their designs. He was a faithful, very busy, and very effective agent; and was commended to the Queen of Scots by special letters from his Ho- liness.^ Thus the foreign conspiracy — known to the Eng- lish Court, and, unquestionably, to the English Cath- olics through the Italian banker — emboldened the Lancashireans in 1567 to the open practice of their ^ Life of Hatton, 47 ; Davison to posed to have been the better im- Hatton. formed. 2 Lloyd, 475. * Lodge, 11. 53. ^ Strype says that he came to ^ Hieronymo Catena, in Camden, England about the year 1566 ; Lin- 179. Strj^De's Annals, IL 220, and gard, that he had lived in Lon- Life of Parker, 264. Haynes, 466 ; don fifteen years previous to 1569. Norris to Cecil. Camden, 118, 154. In regard to such a matter, the Wright, L 392, note. Lingard, Catholic historian may be sup- VIII. 44, note. Ch. XIII.] THE PAPALINS. 345 illegal worship, and at the same time .softened the measures of the government for their correction. It well became Elizabeth, with foes crouching all around her, to deport herself warily ; and it was well, too, that at this crisis she had counsellors of consummate wisdom by her side, to rein her imperi- ous pride and moderate the execution of law. The lesser punishment, in 15G8, of a case like that of Blagrave in 1566, also shows how the action of the government was modified by the present attitude of the Catholic princes. Thomas Heath, a Jesuit, and brother to the Archbishop of York and High Chancellor of England, who announced to Parliament the death of Mary and the accession of Elizabeth, had itinerated in the kingdom during the last six years in the character of a Puritan minister.^ He preached his last sermon, however, in the pulpit of the Dean of Eochester, where he accidentally dropped a letter, which was found by the sexton, and which betrayed him. The bishop of the diocese. Guest, immediately brought the pseudo-Puritan to examina- tion and confession; for rosaries. Popish books and papers, a license from the Jesuits, a bull from Pius y. for preaching whatever doctrines the Society of ^ Some historians of the time, deed, " combined with the Puritans " "when speaking of the Papists under against the Establishment ; but noth- guise of Puritans, allow themselves ing could be farther from the truth, in the use of language which may than that the Puritans combined convey to an unwatchful reader the with the Papists, for between no idea that there were sympathy and two religious sects was there then, collusion in those days between the nor to this day has there ever been, two ; as though the Puritans were a greater antipathy. Under Eliz- willing to connive at, and abet, these abeth, the Puritans were at least masked Papists, for the sake of the as forward as the rigid Churchmen mischief they might do to the Estab- to enact severe laws against the lished Church. " The Papists," in- Papists. VOL. I. 44 346 THE PAPALINS. [Ch. XIII. Jesus might appoint for confounding and dividing the Protestants, — all found in his possession, — be- sides the letter, which contained directions from a Spanish Jesuit for the prosecution of his insidious mission, were proofs of his real character and business which it was in vain to gainsay. Unhke Blagrave, he was spared from the gallows, but, to expiate his offence, was placed in the pillory at Rochester during three days in November, 1568, had his ears cut off, his nose slit, his forehead branded with the letter R, and was condemned to perpetual imprisonment. He died, however, within a few months.^ Another Catholic movement this year betokened a vigorous and radical determination to sap the foundations of the English commonwealth, and ex- cited anew the jealousy and apprehension of the government. The old priests who had remained at home were fast dropping into the grave ; and al- thouech others who had fled abroad returned for the clandestine exercise of their priesthood, yet they were but few, and were alike passing away. The rising generation of English Cathohcs could neither receive at home a theological education in their own faith, nor ordination from Catholic bishops. Thus it was certain that, if no remedy were found, the English Catholic priesthood would soon become ex- tinct, and their laity destitute of the rites of their own religion. To provide this remedy, William Allen, an Englishman and a Romish priest, — after- wards Cardinal Allen, — devised the planting of a college at Douay in Flanders, — that place being 1 Stn^je's Annals, IT. 272, 273. Carte, III. 496. Collier, VI. 464. Ch. Xni.] THE PAPALINS. 347 selected for its nearness to England,^ — where Eng- lish-born youth might be educated, and ordained as missionaries to their native land. His plan being approved, and funds being provided, he opened his seminary this year, 15G8, "with six companions."^ In a few years, the establishment consisted of one hundred and fifty professors and students.^ Though they were driven awhile to Rheims in 1576, so well did the school prosper, that, between the years 1575 and 1580, Dr. Allen sent one hundred of his pupils on the English mission, and in the next five years a greater number.* Other colleges, for the same mis- sionary purpose, were afterwards established in sev- eral other cities on the Continent.^ Upon entering these schools, the pupils were required to take the following oath : — "I — A. B. — considering how great benefits God hath bestowed on me, but then especially when he brought me out of mine own country, so much infected with heresy, and made me a member of the Catholic Church, as also desiring, with a thankful heart, to improve so great a mercy of God, have resolved to offer myself wholly up to Divine service, as much as I may to fulfil the end for which this our College was founded. I promise, therefore, and swear, in the presence of Almighty God, that I am prepared from mine heart, Avith the assistance of Divine grace, in due time to receive Holy Orders, and to return into England, to convert the souls of my countrymen and kindred, when, and as often, as ^ Heyl. Presb., Bk. VI. Sec. 31. ^ Butler, I. 314. 2 Fuller, Bk. IX. p. 84. Lin- * E^id., 316. gard, Vm. 149, 150. Butler, I. ^ Ibid., 334, 336. 310, 313. Camden, 244, 245. 348 THE PAPALINS. [Ch. XIII. it shall seem good to the superior of this College to command me." ^ The statement above made concerning the purpose for which these seminaries were founded is undoubt- edly truth, but not the whole truth. There was a deeper purpose, which, it cannot be doubted,^ Allen cherished at the beginning of his enterprise. To recover by a religious mission the heretical Church of England, was to imdermine the throne of the heretical queen ; and it is preposterous to suppose that this was not the vUimate aim of the missionary crusade. But we are not left to inference or con- jecture. Years after, when Mary, Queen of Scots, was in her bloody tomb, the Cardinal d'Ossat, an eminent statesman, said, in a letter to Henry IV. of France : " For this purpose were the colleges and seminaries erected by the Spaniards for the English at Douay and St. Omer's, wherein the young gentle- men of the best families in England are entertained, for the purpose of winning their favor, and that of their parents, kindred, and friends. The principal care which these colleges and seminaries have, is to catechise and educate these young gentlemen in the full faith and finn belief that the late king of Spain had, and that his children now have, the true right of succession to the crown of England, and that this is expedient not only for the realm of England, but for every place in which true Christian- ity is established. And when these young gentle- men have finished their classical studies, and have * Fuller, Bk. IX. p. 92, refers to ^ Taylor's Romantic Biography, Sanders. Collier, VI. 470, 471. II. 142, 151. Strype's Whitglft, 89. Ch. XIII.] THE PAPALINS. 349 reached an age when they may be made thorough Spaniards, they are carried out of the Netherlands into Spain to other colleges, where they are instruct- ed in philosophy and divinity, and confirmed in the same holy faith that the kingdom of England did of right belong to the king of Spain, and does now belong to his children. And after that these young gentlemen have finished their courses, such of them as are found to be most Ilispaniolized, and most courageous and firm in their adherence to this Spanish creed, are sent into England to sow this faith among their countrymen, and to be spies. They regularly send information to the Spaniards of what is doing in England, and what must and ought to be done to bring England under the dominion of Spain. And they are ready, if need be, to undergo martyr- dom as soon, or rather sooner, for this Spanish faith, than for the Cathohc religion." ^ True indeed it is, that all antagonism in the Douay school to the sovereignty of Queen Elizabeth was carefully covered, in 1568, under the cloak of unmixed religion and care for souls ; but the saga- cious statesmen who managed the English helm easily looked through the j^retensions of pious zeal, and, if they did not at first unravel the subtle and deadly plot against the peace and stability of the realm, saw at a glance the bearing of Catholic pros- elytism upon the affairs of state. In these times of secret plots and secret missions, ' Taylor, II. 149. Strype's An- mationof 1591. Compare Camden, nals, V. 58, Queen's Proclamation in 482, 483. 1581 ; and VII. 79, Queen's Procla- 350 THE PAl'ALINS. [Ch. XIII. when not only the Privy Council and the Queen's Ecclesiastical Commissioners, but the common people, Churchmen and Puritans alike, were on the watch for lurking Papalins, there was an odd sort of man in London whose name is well known even in this day by the students of Elizabethan history. He was a quiet man, chiefly anxious, as are all true men, that it might be written of him in heaven, if not on earth, " He fulfilled his course." He was a tailor, plying his task with some diligence and due skill ; " odd," because, being a tailor, he was a book- worm, busying himself as much or more with the musty records of generations dead, as with the gay apparel of the generation living ; " quiet," for, al- though a few times he was the occasion of some commotion in the state, it was not his fault. Nor was it now his fault that her Majesty's Privy Council, and her Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and my Lord of Canterbury, and my Lord Bishop of London, and some lesser folks, were all agog about him. On the 21st of February, 1568-9, there happened a lull of business in his shop, of which he took advantage to exchange the counting-room for the study, and shears for books. The study was a curiosity-shop; for, besides poring over old books, the good man had a passion for natural history, botany, anatomy, surgery, pharmacy, and (I ween) a leaning to astrol- ogy and alchemy. There were skulls and cross- bones fixed upon the wall ; there was the stuffed skin of a snake hanging beside them ; there were queer reptiles drowned in vials of aqua-vit98, bunches of dried grasses and herbs, and a regiment of bugs, beetles, butterflies, and dragon-flies. On the Ch. XIII.] THE PAPALINS. 351 opposite side of the room was a large oaken press filled with books, old and young; some printed, folded, and bound, some in manuscript rolls of parchment or paper. Here were pestle and mortar ; there, a pair of small scales ; in a corner, a crucible ; and on a table, a parchment scroll, with pen, ink, and paper. The master of the premises was in the act of impaling a beetle in his jacket of purple and gold, when he was startled by a stealthy step at the door, which was instantly and rudely thrust open. He turned pale ; the Philistines were upon him. Foremost stood a stranger wearing the queen's badge ; and behind him, two men in square caps and side-gowns, and a fourth, in the robe of a clerk, with inkhorn and tablets. " John Stow ? " inquired the pursuivant. Tliere was a choking sensation in the tailor's throat, and he could return only a timorous gesture, which said, being interpreted, — "John Stow, cul- prit." " Queen's warrant ! " said the other, drawino; a paper from his doublet. " Odd zooks ! my masters," as he moved aside for their entrance, " I make no marvel ye be in suspect. A Papalin ! A Papalin ! " John Stow, culprit, was a little comforted when, as the clergymen passed the pursuivant, who stood sen- tinel in the doorway, he recognized Doctor Wattes, Archdeacon of London and a chaplain of Bishop Grindal, and Master Williams, a divine of the city. The other, whom he did not know, was Bedle, clerk of the Queen's Ecclesiastical Commissioners. " Goodman Stow," said the Archdeacon, with some courtesy but more solemnity, " it hath been bruited 352 THE PAPALINS. [Ch. XIII. to the Lords of the Council that you heed not the Queen's Majesty's proclamation touching such books as be dangerous to her and her government. We are commanded to make search here, and seize all such traitorous books that may be found. Master Bedle, we will proceed." It were tedious to narrate the proceeding. It is enough to state that the sanctuary of John Stow was effectually rummaged; that by some things they saw, the gentlemen were puzzled; of some, ludicrously shy ; and at some, they solemnly shook their heads for having such a black-art look. But books were the great object of their inquisition. In vain did the tailor tell them that he was making a chronicle of the historical antiquities of London and England ; that there were his rough manuscripts on the table ; that the printed books and written rolls were his authorities, his raw materials ; that he had never had, and never should have, anything to do with treason; that he was working purely for the good of posterity, &c., &c. They shook their heads again, and said, they knew that he pretended so; and asked hun significantly, "What this book and that book — as full of Papistry as an egg of meat, just printed over the sea, too — had to do with the historical antiquities of England, or the good of posterity ? " And when he said that " Papistry had much concerned generations past, and would concern those to come, and that new-printed books had old stories, — as his would have if they would only let him finish and print it," — they only pursed up their lips and looked solemn again. " There was Papistry enough there, that Avas certain." Cii. XIII.] THE PAPALINS. 353 Mr. Strype says, that they not only took a large inventory, but 'perused all his books the mme dtuj " • which last may be doubted, for at this time ''his library abounded with books," and had of '• unlawfid " ones no less- than forty .^ At least, the report which they made to the Bishop of London was dated on the 24th, — not till three days after. In this report, they said, that " the man had a great sort of foolish, fabulous books of old print, and great parcel of old written English chronicles, both in jDarchment and in paper, some long, some short; that he had besides, as it were miscellanea of divers sorts, both touching physic, surgery, and herbs, with medicines of ex- perience : also old fantastical Popish books, printed in the old time, with many such, all written in old English, in j)archment; that these they omitted making any inventory of; but that of another sort they did, viz. of such books as had been lately set forth in the realm, or beyond sea, m defence of Papistry, with a note of some of his own devices and writings touching such matter as he had gathered for chronicles, whereabout he seemed to them to have bestowed much travail. His books," they said, in conclusion, " declared him to be a great Fautor of Papistry." ^ What was done with this great Fautor of Papistry, or with his " foolish books," does not appear ; but it is certain that he and they were spared from execu- tion; else "The Annals of England," and "The Survey of London," would never have been given to posterity. Probably the Chancellors of the ^ Strype's Grindal, Append., Bk. I. Xo. XVII. ■ Ibid., pp. 124, 125. VOL. I. 45 THE TAPALINS. ICii. XIII. Universities — Cecil and Leicester — understood bet- ter than, the Archl)ishop how an historian might use Papistical hooks, and yet he a right loyal Protestant and true.^ Just before this domiciliary visit, — we have di- verged from the order of time, to retain in connec- tion cause and effect, — there was a vast crowd of people in St. Bartholomew's Church, which stood ^ Stow was at this time forty-four years of age ; tall and lean ; " his eyes small and crystalline ; of a pleasant and cheerful countenance ; very sober, mild, and courteous." Leicester was his literaiy friend, and, in some measure at least, his literary patron. Fortunate it was for his own peace, that he was of a serene temperament, and " very careless of scoffers, backbiters, and detractors " ; for he must have been beset by them. In 1544, he had been in great danger from the false accusation of a priest. But the tables were turned upon the perjurer, who was adjudged, in the Star-Chamber, to tlie pillory, and to be branded on the cheek, F. A. — for False Accuser. The very year after the occur- rence stated in the text, when the nation were full of fears about Pa- pistry, when Papists were expecting the restoration of their religion, and Papist astrologers were predicting the queen's death, (Strype's Parker, 293,) he was arraigned before the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, " or in the Star-Chamber," on suspicion, apparently, of being a Fautor of Popery. The accusation was laid by Ms own brother, who had previ- ously " despoiled him of his goods " I It consisted of no less than one hun- dred and forty articles; but, upon trial, was proved false. " An hon- est man, and of unspotted life," was John Stow. He must have been i-arely so, to have escaped under accusations as "a favorer of Pop- ery " at such a time, when to be accused in such matters was almost sure to bring conviction. He was indefatigable in his anti- quarian researches. Being prevent- ed from riding by a local disease which carried him to his grave, he "made use of his own legs" to go up and down the country in search- ing records in cathedral churches and other " chief places." He lived poor, but peacefully ; and died poor and painfully, at eighty years of age, in 1605. His various works, he said, had cost him many a weary mile's travel, many a hard-earned penny and pound, and many a cold winter night's study. " Lived poorely where he trophies gave, Lies poorely there in noteless grave," — was written before the erection of his " monument, set up at the char- ges of Elizabeth his wife." (Introd. Notice to Thorn's edit, of Stow's Survey. Biog. Diet., 15 vols. 8vo, London, 1798.) Ch. Xni.] THE PAPALINS. 355 behind the Exchange in London. It was on the 19th of February, 15G8-9. The solemn service for the dead was in progress, and the whole multitude were mourners. Good old Father Coverdale had '^fallen asleep," and they had come to lay his tabernacle away, and to take their last look of that familiar face, whence nor changes, nor perils, nor buffetings, nor eighty-one years, had been able to remove the placid look wdiich Grace had stamped, which heaven- ly-mindedness had kept fresh and genial. No one had been so venerated as he, by all the thousands of London; and seldom have so many tears been dropped upon a coffin by unpretending, noiseless grief, as upon his. They committed dust to dust; they closed the chancel upon his remains; and, as they went away to their homes, each was murmuring in heart, '' Let my last end be like his." ^ ^ The discrepancy among annal- Parker, 328, 320.) On p. 493 of ists respecting tlie time of Cover- Parker's biography, Parker dies in dale's death is remarkable. Strype May; but on p. 190 of Grindal's (Annals, 11. 43) says he died May Life, he is resuscitated until August. 20//;, 1565; and yet (Life of Grin- Neal (L 90) says that Coverdale dal, 116) speaks of him as living in died May 20th, 1567; and cites 156 7. But Strype seems to have Strype's Parker, where no such had a liking for the resurrection of statement is made, the dead ; for in his Annals (V. 3 7) The Parker Society says he died he kills Cox, Bishop of Ely, in 1581, in February, 1569. and then (p. 486) brings him to life Brook (I. 127) says he died again, and to a peck of troubles, in "January 20th, 1568, aged eighty- 1585. (Fuller says that Cox died one years," and immediately gives in February, 1579-80. Bk. IX. p. a translation of his epitaph; which 111.) He also makes Robert John- translation reads that he was but son, who died of want and cruelty eiyhty years of age. Brook cites in prison in 1574, a very naughty Stow's Survey of London, Bk. 11. p. man at Cambridge in 1576 ; a very 122. naughty preacher at Paul's Cross in Fuller (Worthies, m. 412, where 1609 ; and the same again in the 1588 is an error of type, and His- same pulpit in 1620. (Strype's tory, Bk. TX. p. 65) gives the date, 356 THE PAPALINS. [Cii. XIII What a contrast was the funeral of Bonner, — Queen Mary's Butcher of Protestants, — who died on the 5th of September of this same year!^ In 1559, he had been sent to the King's Bench prison to protect him from the fury of the populace,^ whence he w^as removed to the Marshalsea in 1560.^ There, he '' had the use of the gardens and orchards when he was minded to walk abroad to take the air ; suffering nothing like imprisonment, unless that he was circumscribed within certain bounds. Nay, he had his liberty to go abroad, but dared not venture." ^ His friends had free access to him ^ ; "he lived plen- tifully, daintily " ; and was even permitted to receive the dailv visits of his concubine.*^ He had been " Obiit 1568, Jan. 20," i. e. 1568-9 ; and Coverdale's age eighty-one, — " Octaginta annos grandaevus vixit, et unum." Tliis epitaph, he says, " I took from the brass inscription of his marble stone under the com- munion-table in the chancel of St. Bartholomew's, behind the Ex- change." Brook does not translate the words " et unum." Tlie Parker Society adds, that St. Bartholomew's Church was taken down, to make room for the new Exchange , in 1 840 ; when the re- mains of Coverdale were removed to St. ]\Iagnus. I find that Brook cites, not from Stow, but from something added to Stow's Survey by Munday, the edi- tor of the edition of 1633. It fur- ther appears, from " The Register of Burials in the Parish Church of St. Bartholomew's by the Ex- change," that " Miles Coverdale, doctor of divinity, was huricd ano 1568, the 19th of February"; i. e. in modern style, 1569. (Memorials of Coverdale, Bagster's edit., Lon- don, 1838, p. 181, and note L, p. 190.) Fuller's copy of the epitaph differs in a few places from that in the " ]\Iemorials " ; besides having ''Ohiit 1568, Feb. 20," which the latter has not. In the text, I give only the date of the funeral services. If the time of decease was not added by Fuller, — and it is hardly to be sup2:)osed that it was, — Coverdale must have lain without burial a month. ^ Wood's Athense, I. 372. - Strype's Grindal, - 102, 141. Fuller's Worthies, III. 364. Fuller's Hist., Bk. IX. p. 58. ^ Strype's Annals, I. 220. * Ibid., I. 214. '•> Ibid., n. 358. « Ibid., III. 303. Cii. XUL] THE PArALINS. 357 under sentence of excommunication eight or nine years, and therefore by law was barred from Chris- tian burial. This, however, was not withheld. But, as his Popish friends had arranged to give signal honor to his interment, and as such parade would have been at the risk of a riot by the people, who detested him for his atrocities, the Bishop of London considerately ordered him to be buried as privately as was consistent with decency.^ He was carried to his grave, in St. George's Churchyard in Southwark, at midnight, September the 8th; "some Popish friends and relatives " being in attendance, but " with derision of men and women ; buried among thieves and murderers ; his grave stamped and trampled on after he was laid into it : and this was all the perse- cution he suffered." ^ " The memory of the just is blessed ; but the name of the wicked shall rot." Mary, Queen of Scots, had had larger experience of the caprice and rough usage of fortune in twen- ty-seven years of life, than usually falls to the lot of men and women during threescore years and ten. Queen of Scotland, in her cradle ; queen consort and queen dowager of France, and queen regnant in her native realm, while yet in her teens; she was now twice a widow, twice a captive, and four years a mother. Beautiful, young, of gentle disposition, kind heart, and "winning grace," accustomed from infancy to the refined usages of the French Court, she was ill fitted to curb the turbulence, or brook the 1 Grindal to Cecil, Sept. 9. 1569; ^ Strype's Grindal, 142. Wood's in Ellis, 1st Series, 11. 258. Athenas, I. 372. 158 THE PAPALINS. [Ch. XTTT. rudeness, of semi-barbarous Scots. Tbe owl, the crow, the vulture, had pitted themselves against this talonless bird of fair plumage and sweet song, and had hawked at her till, for very hfe, she had flown away for refiige. She had sought and been promised shelter in England.^ But state poHcv — that gory ogre — had put the trembling, helpless, trusting fugitive into a cage, to pine and flutter and make her sad plaint there untU the time of blood. She had now been eighteen months the prisoner of Eliz- abeth. "State pohcy?" Yes; state policy, — conscience- less, shameless, remorseless. Godless, Bible-less ! ^ ^ Camden. 109. Echard, 811. - It is singular to find Sir James ^Mackintosh (L 356) in the mazes of state policy, and trying to draw a parallel between the imprisonment of the fugitive !Mary, by a power Tsith whom she was at peace, and that of the fugitive Xapoleon, by a power "with Tvhom he was at "war. But it is painiul to find Alison, in the same mazes, penning the "words following. '• This feeling " — of pop- ular disapprobation of the bombard- ment of Copenhagen and the steal- ing of the Danish fleet, in 1807 — " This feeling -was creditable to the public mind, the conception of the measure, honorable to the government." (Vol. 11. p. 593, Xew York, 1842.) It is well to distinguish between a government and a peo- ple ; and it is a pleasure to know that, in this infamous instance, the moral sense of the two was at strifie, — that what was counted their glorv- by the British ministers, was counted their shame by the people. But — to repeat it — it is painful to find a Christian "writer of repute com- mending in the same breath, and as alike worthy of approval in the court of conscience, sentiments so utterly different : gravely telling us that moral discord is moral harmony. So men reason upon political ethics, when they pet state policy and cut loose from God. In this connection, and in this country, it may not be amiss to discriminate between the atrocities of an oligarchical government, and those of a democratic ; to consider that there is a difference between the moral responsibility of a people tmder the former, and that of a people under the latter ; and to pon- der whether He who has ever been " the Grovemor among the nations," while he may not "visit upon the former the sins of their rulers, may not righteously and notably chastise the latter for the wrongs done by theirs. Time were better spent upon points like these, than upon many Cn. XIIL] THE PAPALINS. 359 Mary was presumptive heir to the EngHsh throne ; but Mary was a CathoHc. She was therefore the dread of the Enghsh Protestants ; for " the rehgion estabhshed was thought not secure whilst she was in being." ^ For the same reason, she was the Star of Hope to all who wished England recovered to the Papal See. The zealot Catholics of England — chiefly resident in the northern counties — were naturally exasper- ated by the outrage upon the Scottish queen. The powerful Earls of Northumberland and Westmore- land — " both Catholics and declared friends of Mary " — plotted an insurrection for her deliverance, and for the re-establishment of the old religion.^ To this they were emboldened by the previous measures of the Catholic states, — above recited, — by the intrigues of RidoljDho, and by promises made (through him, doubtless) of troops, arms, and an ex- perienced general to be furnished by the Duke of Alva from the Low Countries.^ Takino- advantacce of this state of affairs, Dr. Nicholas Morton, formerly a Prebendary of York/ joined their counsels in the spring of 15G9. He came directly from Rome Avith the title of '* Apostolical Penitentiary " ; not only to impart holy faculties to the bishopless priests, but to fan and feed these embers of revolt, and to declare by the Pope's authority to these noblemen, that which demagogues drawl about in ^ Haynes, 466. Camden, 1 79 ; the school-boy conventions of our day. where this insurrection is errone- ^ Lord Buckhurst to Mary ; But- ously said to have been forwarded ler, II. 10. by a bull from Rome, which was not - Elizabeth to Sussex ; Haynes, issued until the insurrection had 55G. Fuller, Bk. IX. p. 83. Lin- failed, gard, VIII. 45, 49. Butlt-r, L 375. * Camden, 134. 360 THE PAPALINS. [Ch. XIII. Elizabetlij being a heretic, had no queenly right.^ He had, in the district, kinsmen of wealth and in- fluence, whom, as well as the Earls, he stimulated by the intelligence that the curse of excommunication was already hanging over the head of their heretical queen.^ As early as July, 1568, Cecil had received infor- mation of some such enterprise, " conspired twixt the king of Spain, the Pope, and the French king, where- by the Queen's Majesty might be destroyed and the Queen of Scots succeed her " ; ^ and before the prep- arations were ripe, it became evident to the conspira- tors that their design was suspected, if not kno^vn, at Court.'^ In consequence of this, about the middle of October^ the standard of revolt was precipitately inifurled; the communion-table, the English Bible and Service-Book, were torn to pieces,^ and Mass celebrated before thousands in the cathedral of Dur- ham ; and the common people were mustered in ^ Holingslietl, IV. 521. Strypc's Majesty. The Italian is he to whom Annals, VI. 340 ; Append., Bk. I. the Duke of Alva doth send his No. XL VII. Camden, 179. Ech- letters of conspiracy, as he" — the ard, 81G. marshal — "afHrmeth. The Fi-ench - Lingard, VIII. 4.5, note. king hath sent them Captain De la ^ " The provost-marshal wished I Garde, with speed to prepare six should advei'tise, that the Queen's galleys to aid their enterprise Majesty did hold the wolf that From Paris, in haste, this 7th of would devour her, and that it is July, 15G8." — Norris to Cecil ; conspired twixt the king of Spain, Haynes, 466. Cecil's answer to the Pope, and the French king, that this letter, dated July 13th, is in the Queen's Majesty should be de- the Cabala, p. 138. stroyed, whereby the Queen of Scots * Lodge, II. 2G ; Cecil to Shrews- might succed her Majesty, and bury and Huntingdon. further saith that there is an Italian ^ Cabala, 160; Cecil to Norris. that being privily taken could " Haynes, 554 ; Queen to Sussex. disclose much of treason that is to Hohngshed, IV. 235. be Avrought against the Queen's Ch. XIII.] THE PAPALINS. 361 arms to the number of seventeen hundred horse and nearly four thousand foot. The Earls despatched letters to the Catholic nobility and gentry all over the kingdom, exhorting them to arm for their most holy faith ; but most of them, instead of responding to the call, emulated each other in offers of purse, person, and sword in the service of the queen.^ Indeed, the larger portion of her advance army under the Earl of Sussex were Catholic gentlemen and their tenants. Besides, the succors expected from abroad did not arrive. Thus disappointed and unsupported,, the body of the insurgents began to wane by daily desertions ; the Earls disagreed ; and the remnant of their forces, upon the first approach of the royal army, scattered to their homes. The Earls, with a fragment of their cavalry, fled across the border.^ Not a blow had been struck.^ The blows were struck after all was over. The offenders were ferreted out. Hundreds of the poorer were strung upon the gibbet. Men of substance — to secure to the Crown the forfeiture of their estates — were reserved for process of law.* ^ Haynes, 563, 6G4, 589. Cabala, that noble-spirited soldier. It was 160; Cecil to Norris. Camden, written to Cecil in a moment of 134. Echard, 816. indignation, on the 23d of January, 2 Cabala, 160. 1569-70. "I was first a Lieuten- ^ Holingshed, IV. 336. Fuller, ante : I was after little better than Bk. IX. p. 83. Echard, 817. Lin- a Marshall: (I had then nothing gard, VIII. 47-54. Hume, III. 64. left to me but to direct hanging Camden, 133 - 135. matters ; in the nieane tyme all was * Camden, 136. Lingard, VIII. disposed that was in my comission) 35, 60. and nowe I am offered to be made I cannot withhold an extract from a shrieff's bayly " — sheriff's bai- a letter of Sussex ; partly because liff — " to deliver over possessions, it illustrates the text, and partly Blame me not, good Mr. Secretarie, because it shows the character of though my pen utter sumwhat of VOL. I. 46 362 THE PAPALINS. [Ch. XIII. Such were the antecedents at home and abroad, and such the chief incidents of this ephemeral in- surrection. It was provoked by the forlorn condi- tion of Mary, and sprung by the cabals of the Popish league. For the loyalty of the great body of the English Catholics, upon this occasion, there may appear below a more honorable reason than that assigned by their own historian, — " regard for their personal safety." ^ A person convicted under the Statute of Praemu- nire had forfeited the king's protection. Any one might wrong him with impunity, even to the taking of his life.^ Like a wild beast or a rabid dog, he was a creature to be shunned, a pest to be hunted down. But so to deal with one who had not fallen under this forfeiture was counted a crime. In like man- ner, it was held pre-eminently as a deed '^ shocking that swell in my stomake, for I see lyon, and yelde no other shewc then I am but kepte for a brome, and as it shall please others to give the when I have done my office to be couUer, I will content myself to hve throwen out of the dore. I am the a private lyfe. God send her Ma- first nobelman hathe been thus used, jeste others that mean as Avell as I Trewe service deserveth honor and have done." — Lodge, 11. 35. credite, and not reproche and open ^ Lingard, VHI. 52. defaming : but seeing the one is ever " This was the popular opinion dclyvered to me in stede of the to a greater or less extent, until other, I must leave to serve, or lose corrected by statute in 1562-3. my honor ; which being continewed " And forasmuch as it is doubtful so long in my howse, I wolde be whether, by the laws of this realm, lothe shoolde take blemishe with me. there be any punishment for such These matters I knowe procede as kill or slay any person or persons not from lacke of good and honor- attainted in or on a prjemunire : abell meaning in the Q. Majestic Be it therefore enacted. That it towards me, nor for lacke of dewte shall not be lawful to slay or kill and trewthe in me towards her, such pereons so attainted," &c. — which grevethe me the more ; and 5 Eliz. Cap. I. Sec. XVIII. therefore, seing I shalbe still a came- Cii. Xni.| THE PAPALINS. 303 to human nature to take away the life of God's anointed prince." ^ Hence, notwithstanding the in- stigations of the Papal conclave, no assassin had yet moved against the queen. On the other lumd, an open and avowed action on the part of other po- tentates for her dethronement, while yet she stood unimpeached and uncondemned, would have been in- sanely hnpolitic, — a terrible precedent against princes. Hence, all action of the Popish league had hitherto been indirect and under cover. But were it supposed that Queen Elizabeth was abandoned of God, that her anointing was cancelled, that she had forfeited and lost the sanctity which attached to the princely office and even the common claims of humanity, no one — so far as he held her thus — would have scruples of conscience or of policy either against her dethrone- ment or her assassination. There was one thing wanting, then, to make her fairly a mark for the archers of the league, — her spiritual outlawry, an edict of her excommunication. It was at hand. For several months her case had been on trial in the Papal Court. English Catholic ecclesiastics — among whom was the sedition-mover, Morton — had deposed to her crimes against the See of Rome; and the judges had pronounced her ob- noxious to the penalties of heresy. The Pope hesi- tated ; but at length he signed the decree, on the 25th of February, 1569-70, declaring " Elizabeth, the pretended queen of England, the servant of wicked- ness, to have incurred the sentence of Anathema, to be cut off from the unity of the body of Christ, to be deprived of her pretended title to the king- ■ Ilarleian Miscellany, I. 115. 364 THE PAPALINS. [Ch. XIII. dom aforesaid; absolving her subjects from their oaths and duty of allegiance ; commanding them all not to obey her ; and innodating " — tying up — " all with the like sentence of Anathema who should do the contrary."-^ Some of the Catholics in Ens-land received this bull with cordial satisfaction ; but generally they disapproved of it, as uselessly exposing them to sus- j)icion, harassments, and severities, and as tending to produce a civil war.^ But more than this. There were two opinions in the Romish Church respecting the Pope's divine right to'^.eal with princes ; both of which obtained, not with'^e Cath- olics of England alone, but with those alsoHipon the Continent. By one party it was held, that, when the Pope should think it for the good of the Church, he might depose a prince and absolve his subjects from their allegiance ; by the other, that he had no right to intermeddle with state affairs, and, by con- sequence, no right to annul the sovereignty of a prince, or the obligations of his subjects.^ This lat- ter opinion — as subsequently appeared — prevailed, though not universally, with the Catholics of Eng- land ; and on this ground the bull of excommunica- tion against Elizabeth was held by them of n,o authority, and of no force.* They did not admit that religious faith, or ecclesiastical authority, could touch , the bonds of patriotism or loyalty. This will appear hereafter. 1 Fuller, Bk. IX. pp. 93 - 95. ^ Butler, I. 7. Lingard, YIII. 59, 60. " Fuller, Bk. IX. p. 95. 2 Fuller, Bk. IX. p. 95. Camden, 148. Butler, I. 349. Ch. XIII.] THE PAPALINS. oG5 The queen " counted the hull but parchment, or a water-bubble," — "as a vain crack of words that made a noise only " ; and took pains to counteract it by laws, only so far as she saw, or thought she saw, that it instigated and emboldened her "bad subjects to work mischief"^ Early in the morning of the 15th of May, a copy of the bull was discovered, " hung like a squib " upon the palace-gate of the Bishop of London, near the cathedral church of St. Paul. " The rack " was soon put in play, and a confession extorted, that John Felton, "a gentleman of large property and considerable acquirements, but of an ungovernable temper," was privy to the act. Tliis " lewd person " was -immediately arrested; boldly confessed that he had set up the bull, and in August was hanged, drawn, and quartered for high treason.^ Though the majority of the English Catholics denied the validity of the Papal act against the authority of their queen, they still regarded with reverence its spiritual censures. To its unsparing ^ Burleigli's "Execution of Jus- of the story, — and it is evidently tice," in Harleian Miscellany, II. apocryphal. 1.3G, and in Holingshed, IV. 529. " " Execution of Justice " ; Ilarl. Camden, 148. Fuller, Bk. IX. p. 96. Misc., II. 136. Osborne, 36. Hol- In Vol. Vni. p. 62, Lingard gives ingshed, IV. 252, 254. Butler, I. a smart syllogistic answer of Pius 350. Lingard, VIII. 61. V. to a request of Elizabeth, made Lingard says, " he gloried in through the Emperor Maximilian, the deed"; Butler, that "he ac- that the bull might be revoked, knowledged the guilt of his action." That such a woman as she should The latter is sustained by Howell's have proffered such a petition, can- State Trials, p. 1085. Camden (148) not be credited without good cvi- doubtless expresses the truth more dence. Add to this the positive accurately than either : " With an denial of Fuller, — who gives San- undaunted mind he confessed tiie ders, a writer of the day, by no fact, which notwithstanding he would means trustworthy, as the author not acknowledge to be a fault." 366 THE PAPALINS. [Ch. XIII. denunciation of the English Church and its worship, as apostate and heretical, they bowed ; and their de- fection therefrom — hut limited and voluntary during the last two or three years — now became religiously necessary and general. The established worship had not changed ; but their Pontiff had spoken.-^ Such had been the machinations of the Papal See, of its satellite princes, of its missionary priests — and such the domestic movements — against the person, government, and ecclesiastical polity of Elizabeth. The reader is asked to keep them in view, with all their ramifications, underplots, and specious pre- tences, because they show the reasons of future statutes, which — sweeping and terrible as they were — had some pretext of justification in the subtle, rancorous, baptized hostilities by which they were provoked; and because they throw light, not only upon statutes, but upon the character of the sov- ereign, who, as will appear, showed less hatred and less cruelty to the sect implicated therein than to the Puritans, whose abhorrence of disloyalty was equalled only by their abhorrence of Popery, and whose abhorrence of Popery was as large as human nature could hold. ^ Fuller, Bk. IX. p. 98. Heyl. Prayer contained no positive hetero- Presb., Bk. VI. Sec. 30, 32. doxy, there was no divine prohibi- " The question of the lawfulness tion of being one of the audience, of Catholics attending divine ser- Allen took a different stand, on the vice in Protestant churches to avoid ground, chiefly, that religiom com- penalties, was differently regard- merce with schismatics and heretics ed by English Catholic divines, was wrong and dangerous," &c. — The old priests — Queen Mary's — Butler's English Catholics, I. 310, contended that it was not a thing 311. per se malum ; that, as the Common CHAPTER XIV. THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. Religious Affairs. — Hek JLvjesty's Progrf.ss to the Parliamext-IIouse. — Parllvment opened. — The Commons forbidden to originate JIatteks OF State. — Strickl.vnd introduces a Bill for Reformation in the Church. — Debate upon it. — Resolve to petition Her Majesty for Leave to proceed therein. — Strickland detained from the House. — His Detention resented by the Commons as a Breach of Privilege. — Spirited Debate. — The Rights of the Crown questioned. — Debate SUSPENDED. — Strickland re-appears. — A Protest against Monopolies. — The Protester and the Commons scared. — They recover from THEIR Fright. — Peter Wentworth — for the Dignity of the House AND Liberty of Speech. — Bill to require Protestant Communion. — Debated. — Retrospective Law. — Wentworth's Protest against Pope- Bishops. — Bills for Reformation lost. — An Act for the Safety of the Queen's JLvjesty. — An Act against Papal Bulls and other Super- stitious Things from Rome. — An Act to reform Disorders touching Ministers. — The Commons petition for Redress of Abuses in the Church. — The Commons rebuked, and the Parliament dissolved. Soon after the congregation of the Hall of the Plumbers had been convicted, letters were received from Beza, to whom the most zealous Puritans paid great deference, deprecating as unlawful a sep- aration from a Church m which sound doctrine was maintained.^ Owing to this, or to the terrible pun- ishment of confinement in the pest-house prisons of the day, or to both, we hear no more of sejjarate religious assemblies for some years, excepting rather a mysterious affair in January, 1569-70.^ Yet of non-conformity there was no lack. The Puritans still resolutely evaded the use of the sur- » Heyl. Presb., Bk. V. Sec. 37. "■ Strj-pe's Grindal, 15.3 - 15G. 368 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. [Ch. XIV. plice, and of the Book of Common Prayer, when- ever, and so far as, they thought they could do so Avith safety;^ and the number of zealous non-con- formists wonderfully "increased in all parts of the kingdom."^ The University of Cambridge was full of them.^ y- But spies were placed in every parish " to watch the tripping of the clergy and the manners of the jDCople," and to bring each class under the penal laws.*^ Consequently, ecclesiastical prosecutions were greatly multiphed, and many of the most valuable ministers were not only harassed by citation after citation before the spiritual courts, and b}^ proceed- ings tediously and needlessly protracted, but were impoverished by the costs of their own and the sheriff's travel, and by the extortion of enormous fees. They were also suspended, deprived, impris- oned, and forced when liberated to seek their sub- sistence in foreign lands.^ There was no more toleration in London for non-conforming ministers; for, upon Grindal's translation to the archbishopric of York, in 1570, Sandys, his successor in the diocese, ordered all such tolerations to be called in.^ At the same time, most of those wdio merely for their outward grace of conformity were permit- ted to retain their ecclesiastical livings, w^ere more ' than suspected of being hearty Papists ; and many of them were known as illiterate, Hcentious, profane swearers, gamblers, and drunkards.^ 1 Heyl. Presb., Bk. VI. Sec. 38. ^ Neal, I. 112. Brook, I. 30. = Brook, I. 151. ^« Neal, I. 115. -- - ^ U-- ^ Hallam, 113. ^ See in/r«) P- 405, note 1. Hal- * Strj-pe's Parker, 260; Annals, lam, 112. Brook, I. 30. II. 132. Cii. XIV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. 3G9 Public worship was neglected ; the Lord's day was grossly disregarded ; victualling-houses and shops were opened for traffic, people went hither and yon about their secular callings, and markets and fairs were thronged, on Sundays as on other days of the week. Yet, while scandalous curates were tolerated, and exemplary ministers "laid by the heels," impoverished, and driven into exile, the prelates moved languidly, and had failed to secure the action of Parliament against a profanation which was sapping the foundation of religion and morals.^ Although Mass-worshippers had been arrested and '^ punished,^ and although Papists, "flocking about the Court," had been excluded by order of the X"yC (^ queen,^ still some of them were to be found, not only in subordinate ^Dublic offices, but in those of y high honor and trust; and to some her Majesty granted license to keej) Romish priests in their fam- ilies, and winked at their celebration of the Mass.* Besides, immediately after the Northern insurrection, / — was it to conciliate the class on-eligionrsts^who were plotting against the Church and the realm? — the crucifix, which her Majesty had removed from her chapel m 1562,^ "was brought in again, to the // great disgust of the peoj)le."^ On the other hand, alarmed and disgusted l^y the uneasiness of the Puritans, — in whose dishke of ecclesiastical restraint she saw symptoms of polit- -^ ical liberty, and whom she fancied mutinously dis- * Strype's Annals, I. 532, II. * Camden, 223. Butler, I. 3fil. 238. Lingard, VIII. Gl, note, and 84. " Haynes, 395. '" Zurich Letters, p. 161. ' Strype's Parker, 269. ° Strype's Parker, 310. VOL- I. 47 370 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. ICii. XIV. posed/ — the queen had again upbraided her bishops for suffering the neglect of pubHc worship, and of the rites and ceremonies of the Church ; and had ordered them to make a rigid inquiry for all such delin- quents? Moreover, the influx of Romish priests, of which both parties of Protestants were sensible ; the detec- tion of some skulking in disguise ; the aggressive movements of Catholic powers abroad, known mi- nutely by those who were in the secrets of state ; the object of the late insurrection; the issue of the t\^ Pope's anathema; the withdrawal of the Catholics from the established worship ; — all these things, in connection with a late sickness of the queen, — in which she had been brought so near to death that she had, this time, doubted terribly whether " the ceas- ing of her reign at Whitehall ivould be the beginning of one in heaven," ^ — had wrought intense anxiety lest Popery should gather strength again, and come in upon the nation like a flood. Such was the , state of religious affairs in April, 1571. On Monday, the second day of that month, all London and Westminster were astir in holiday gear. Prentices and journeymen, in their long blue cloaks and flat caps, wearing the sixpenny love-tokens of y their mistresses, curiously wrought and folded,^ were lounging about the tap-rooms, or swaggering along the streets. Pretty maids and buxom housewives, 1 Butler, I. 290. Mackintosh, I. ^ Strype's Annals, 11. 26 7. Com- 360. pare above, p. 279. == Strype's Parker, 281, 282. ^ Stow, 1039. ^^ y Ch. XIV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. 371 in ruffs of linen or cambric,^ — but ungTcatefully ob- livious of neat Mistress Dinglien, to whose starching- < --/ craft they were indebted,^ — were peeping from their windows, or chattering with gay beaux at their door- ways. Mercers, who had that morning sold many a pennyivorth of pretty things to pretty customers, found themselves deserted at nine of the clock, and were emptying their tills, or closing their shops. Soon the women, the maids, the prentices, the mer- cers, were leaving their homes, mingling in the streets, and moving merrily toward the ample thor- oughfare which then skirted the river, from the queen's palace of Whitehall to Westminster Church. It was but a short distance between the two ; and before ten of the clock the way was lined on either side by a dense throng, while every door and win- dow was filled with people, and every roof suitable for the purpose bore its burden of human life and throbbing loyalty. The queen was to pass from her palace, — not, as in 1566, in her barge, but "in the / rsj ancient, accustomed, most honorable passage," — to open her Parliament; and her people were always eager to see and greet her when she moved in regal state. At ten o'clock the trumpets sounded loud and long from the palace-yard, when her Majesty appeared at the grand entrance in her imperial robes, her heavy mantle being borne up from her arms by two of her V nobles, until she was seated in her coach of state. A close-fitting kirtle of crimson velvet displaj^ed the mature symmetry of her form. From her neck hung a rich collar, set with jewels ; wpon her head rested * Stow, 869. / 372 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. [Cn. XIV. a coronet of gold, glittering with pearls and pre- cious stones. Her coach was drawn by two palfreys draped with cloth of crimson velvet, richly em- bossed and embroidered. No sooner was her Ma- jesty seated, than the trumpets gave another peal of joy, and the magnificent train of her attendants, which had already been formed and in waiting, began to move. First rode the gentlemen sworn to attend her per- son ; then, the Bachelor Knights of the Bath ; then the Barons of the Exchequer ; then, the Judges, with the Master of the EoUs, her Majesty's Attorney- General, and her Solicitor-General, — all arrayed in the insignia and robes of their orders and offices. Next followed the bishops, riding in their robes of scarlet, lined with meniver, their hoods, fined with the same, thrown back upon their shoulders. After these moved the Earls ; and next, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his full robes. The hat of mainte- "^ nance was carried before her Majesty by the Marquis of Northampton ; and the sword, by the Earl of Sus- ^ sex. On either side of her Majesty went the Pen- <, sioners, mth their axes, and her footmen, men of extraordinary stature, symmetry, and strength, and without the least blemish or defecV Next after the royal coach rode the queen's favorite, the Earl of ^-^ Leicester, in respect of his office of the Master of ^ Horse, leading her Majesty's spare horse. Then fol- lowed forty-seven ladies and women of honor, pro- tected on each side by the Guard, in their mag- nificent uniform. Along the whole crowded course, the heralds and ' Osborne, 55, 56. Cii. XIV.j THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. 373 the Earl Marshcal maintained perfect order, and with quiet case. The trumpeters sounded ; the people shouted, " God save the Queen ! " " God ^save the Queen!" and her Majesty graciously acknowleged their plaudits through the whole of her progress. Upon reaching Westminster Church, she alighted at the north door, whence she was ushered within by the Dean, and other officials there belonging, to the table of administration ; while her noble attendants, the Lords spiritual and temporal, and others, w^ere seated before her according to rank. Then there was singing by the choir ; a prayer by the Dean ; a sermon by Dr. Cooper, the Bishop of Lincoln; and the singing of another psalm. Immediately after these services, her Majesty left by the south door for the Parliament^House, with the Lords in the same order as before, all on foot, a rich canopy being car- ried over her head the whole distance. She pro- ceeded directly to the chamber of the Lords, and took her seat in her royal chair of estate ; her robe sup- ported by the Earl of Oxford ; the sword by the Earl of Sussex, kneeling at her left hand ; and the hat of estate, by the Earl of Huntington, also kneeling at her left. So soon as she was seated, the Lords, her Judges, and her learned Council, took their respective places ; the Lords spiritual on her right, the Lords temporal on her left, the others in the midst of the chamber on the woolsacks. At her Highness's feet kneeled on each side of her one of her gentlemen of the chamber. The knights, citizens, and burgesses of the Lower House, so many of them as could enter, stood without the bar at the farther end of the chamber. When the bustle of arrangement had sub- 374 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. [Ch. XIV. sided, her Majesty rose ; and after a single sentence of salutation to the Parliament, directed the Lord Keeper ^acon to declare the cause of their being assembled.-^ In obeying her command, he dwelt largely upon the twelve years prosperity and peace of her Majes- ty's reign ; asserting roundly that God had blessed them in her, not only with a Bara Avis, but with a Phoenix. They were wanted, he said, — but in this matter particularly the bishops, — to consider whether the ecclesiastical laws for the disciphne of the Church were sufficient or no ; to see whether the temporal laws were too stringent or too loose, too few or too many ; and, especially, to fill the Exchequer, for the Queen's Majesty's customs had decayed, though in time they would revive ; " but then," said he, " you know the horse must be provided for whilst the v^ grass is in growing."^ He then directed the Commons to choose their Speaker; and the ceremony of opening the Parlia- ment was over. On Wednesday the Commons presented them- selves with their Speaker elect, Christopher Wray, Sergeant at Law, who ably " disabled " himself, >i was "approved," and offered the usual petitions. In answer to that for liberty of speech, the Lord Keeper replied, "that her Majesty — having had experience, of late, of some disorder and certain offences, which must still be accounted such although they had not been punished — did therefore declare, 1 D'Ewes, 136, 137, compared - D'Ewes, 137-139. with 59, and with Strype's Annals, I. 435. Ch. XIV] the PAKLIAMENT of 1571. 375 through him, that the Commons would do well to meddle with no matters of state but such as should be propounded to them."^ How much this was heeded, we shall see. Puritanism had outgrown its swaddling-bands. There was a strong party in the Commons who were bent upon a reformation of religion for the relief of the non-conformists, upon whom the bish- ops had borne harder and harder.^ On the second day after the election of the Speaker had been con- firmed, commenced a series of proceedings, in the course of which was a sharp struggle between the fledgling prerogative of the subject and the old V prerogative of the crown. The lists were opened by Mr. Stricldand, "a grave and ancient man of great zeal," who couched a lance^ / for the honor of God and the Church. He was mem- ber for Scarborough and a Puritan.^ On the 6th of April, he addressed the House in a long and spirited speech against certain disorderly and unseemly things which were suffered in the Church. ^' Great hath been God's goodness," said he, " to- wards this nation, in giving us the light of his Word. Gracious hath been the disposition of the Queen's Highness, by whom, as his instrument, God hath wrought so great things towards our deliverance from the superstitions of Rome. In other nations, where God hath suffered the same good light to shine, the professors of the Gospel have published to the world a Confession of their Faith ; and for * D'Ewes, 141. ^ Mackintosh, m. 15G, 158, note * Strype's Annals, HI. 93. Neal, (London edit. 1831). I. 115. 376 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. [Ch. XIV. this purpose learned men in this realm have in time V past travailed, — Martyr, Fagius, and others. And before this time, an offer thereof was made in Par- liament that it might be approved. But it was hindered ; how, I will not say. This book is m the custody, as I do guess, of Mr. Norton, a member of this House ; and I call upon him to produce the same on this floor, whereof I hope he will not fail. After so many years, we ought not to permit errors of doctrine, if there be such, to continue. " Although the Book of Common Prayer — God be praised ! — is drawn very near the truth, yet are there some things inserted more superstitious than m so high matters be tolerable ; as, in the admin- istration of the sacrament of baptism, the sign of the cross to be made ; with some other ceremonies. Such like other errors there be therein; all which .- may well be changed without note being taken, as if of our dropping or changing of religion ; it being a reformation not contrariant, but pursuant, to our profession, which is, to have all things brought to the purity of the jDrimitive Church and institution of Christ. " There be also abuses of the Church of England. There be also abuses of churchmen. All these, it were high time were corrected. " Ask you what abuses ? I will answer. Known ^ Papists, if so be they do only make show ^ of con- ^ formity to the rites and ceremonies laid down in the Liturgy, are admitted to have ecclesiastical govern- ment and great livings. At the same time, Protes- X tant ministers — honest, learned, godly ^ — have little or nothing of preferments. Preferments ! Verilj^, Ca. XIV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. 377 the offices which the Holy Ghost hath ordained, and the hvings which He hath appointed thereto, be made merchandise, — bought and sold, — bought and sold for money ! Simon Magus ! Simon Magus! that thou shouldst have thy prentices and craftsmen in the Church of England! Here, one man is allowed to have divers ecclesiastical liv- ings. There, men who have no manner of parts for the duties of God's most sacred ministry, be hoisted therein by favor. Yea, boys are dispensed with, to have s.piritual promotions. Let them but make friendship with the Master of Faculties, then their lack of faculty, by youth, or by ignorance, or by gracelessness, be no hinderance to their advance- ment; by whose presence in the sacred office, fit men be excluded ; by whose nothingness therem, the flock of Christ be starved. " These be grave matters, Mr. Speaker ; so grave, so nearly touching God's glory and the Church which he hath purchased, that it well becometh this Parliament to give attention thereto. And well were it an we be not sparing of time, but give it both largely and freely; so that all reproachful speeches of slanderers may be stopped, drawbacks in religion be brought forward, over-runners of the law reduced. I do therefore move that a committee of some convenient number be assigned by this House, to have conference with the Lords of the Spirituality for the consideration and reformation of these matters ; not only of things exceptionable in the Book of Common Prayer, but of the flagrant abuses in the holding of ecclesiastical offices."^ ^ D'Ewes, 156, 157, and Strype's Annals, III. 93, 97, 98, compared. VOL. I. 48 378 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. [Ch. XIV. Mr. Norton, a wise, bold, and eloquent man, said in reply, " that truth it was he had a book tending to the same effect ; not drawn, however, by those whom Mr. Strickland had named, but under King Edward by the act of thirty-two " (persons) ; " viz. eio-ht bishops, eight divines, eight civilians, and eight temporal lawyers. These thirty-two, having in charge to make ecclesiastical constitutions, took the same in hand. It was drafted by Mr. Dr. Had- don, the learned civilian, and Master of Requests to the queen ; and was penned by Mr. Cheeke. From this book," he added, " Mr. Fox had of late prepared one, after considerable pains, which had been newly printed." This book he then produced ; saying, " that he approved of Mr. Strickland's motion ; but especially of that part of it for avoiding and sup- pressing Simoniacal Ingrossments." -^ ^ D'Ewes, 157, compared "with temporality, and the other sixteen to Strype's Annals, III. 9 7 ; Parker, 323. be of the clergy. It further enacted, "By virtue of the Act of 32," is that such canons and constitutions the reading in D'Ewes, p. 157. Still as his Highness and the said thirty- more strangely, in Hansard's Parlia- two persons, or the more jiartof them, mentary History, I. 734, the reading should deem worthy to be continued, is, " The Book was drawn by vir- should thenceforth be of force, and tue of the Act of 1532." the residue thenceforth void. By The Act 25 Henry VHI. Cap. Sec. VII., all such canons, &c. as XIX., after reciting that convoca- were not repugnant to the laws or tions of the clergy should be assem- statutes of the realm, nor to the pre- bled only by the king's writ, and rogatives of the crown, were to re- that the clergy had promised in verho main in force until the examination sacerdocii never to enact or execute and review of the said thirty-two per- new canons without the royal assent sons should have been completed, and license, enacts that the existing By subsequent acts, this eccle- canons should be submitted to the siastical commission was extended, examination of thirty-two persons, to from time to time, during the life of be appointed by his Highness ; six- the king. The provisions and objects teen of them to be of the upper and of these acts were not carried into nether Houses of Parliament, of the effect while he lived. A new com- Cii. XIV.J THE PAELIAMENT OF 1571. 379 A committee was then appointed '* for the redress of smidry defections in these matters." On the 14th — Saturday — Mr. Strickland, one of this committee, introduced " a Bill for the reforma- tion of the Book of Common Prayer, and some Ceremonies in the Church"; which bill he pressed very earnestly, and it was then read for the first time.^ It seems to have embraced the book intro- duced by Mr. Norton, with a Preface by Mr. Fox, recommending it to Parliament.^ Upon this bill, the Treasurer of her Majesty's Household, Sir Francis KnoUys, remarked : " If the matters mentioned to be reformed are heretical, then verily they are forthwith to be condemned. But if they are but matters of ceremony, then it behooveth us to refer the same to her Majesty, who hath author- ity, as chief of the Church, to deal herein. But for us to meddle with matters of her prerogative, is not expedient. Withal, what cause there may be why her Majesty doth not run and join with those who seem most earnest in such matters, we know not. Nor are we to inquire what such cause there may be ; for in time and due order she hopeth to bring out these matters of herself" ^ mission of thirty-two persons was Yet, by the reviving of the Act appointed, to prepare and complete 25 Henry VIII. Cap. XIX., it a code of canon law, by the Act thenceforth became law, that no 3 & 4 Edward VI. Cap. XI. From canons could be of force which were this commission was appointed a " repugnant, contrarlent, or derog- committee of eight persons, who atory to the laws or statutes of the framed a code ; the ratification of realm." which was prevented by the death * D'Ewes, 166, 176. of Edward. These acts, repealed - Collier, VI. 498. by Mary, were revived by Eliza- ^ " The Treasurer of the House- beth ; but nothing was ever done hold, though he allowed that any to carry them into execution. heresy might be repressed by Parlia- 380 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. [Cii. XIV. " Zeal in these matters," said the Comptroller of her Majesty's Household, " is to be commended ; but neither this time nor place is fit. And since we acknowledge her Majesty to be Supreme Head, we are not in these petty matters to run before the ball, which to do, and therein offend, were great folly. In other words, heady and hasty proceedings, con- trary to the law and before it, do rather hinder than help." " Conscience enforceth me to speak on this mat- ter," said Mr. Pistor, " even though to the hazard of my credit ; for hundreds of this, honorable and wor- shipful assembly are well able to teach me, and at their lips would I gladly learn. Yet have I grief of which I would fain be disburdened. It is this, — that matters of such importance, stretching higher and further to every one of us than the monarchy of the whole world, are either not treated of, or so slenderly, that, after more than ten days' continual consultation, nothing is concluded. The cause is God's. All others before us are but terrene, yea, trifles in comparison. Call you them never so great, or pretend you that they imjDort never so much, — subsidies, crowns, kingdoms, — I know not what they ment, (a concession which seems to power wliich he did not specify. It have been rash and unguarded,) should be remembered that, although yet affirmed that It belonged to the he was a Councillor, he was a Puri- queen alone, as head of the Church, tan, " a zealous opposer of bishops." to regulate every question of cere- (Strype's Parker, 394.) Perhaps mony In worship." — Hume, III. 70. he spake as a courtier, and ivilhhdd I conceive that KnoUys neither speech as a politic Puritan. Or It affirmed nor denied anything about may be that, Puritan as he was, he the power of Parliament to rej>7-e.ts revered the vested rights of the heresy; that he only said that it crown, should be " condemned " bv some Cu. XIV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. 381 be ill comparison of this. But one thing I know, — for Avhich I do the most thank God, — ' Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added mito you.' This rule is the direction; and this desire shall bring us to the light; whereupon Ave may stay ourselves, and then proceed to the rest. Certes, we have no abiding city here ! " Mr. Snagg — in the opinion of the House falling far below Mr. Pistor in matter and style — main- tained Strickland's articles ; particularly that for not kneelmo- when receivinjj; the sacrament. '' I would rather," said he, " that the law require us even to lie prostrate at this ordinance, than, by kneeling, to countenance the old superstition of transubstantia- tion.^ But, rather than either, let every man be left at liberty in this behalf to do accordmg to his own conscience and his sjDirit of devotion. This would be nothing contrary to the royal prerogative, or derogatory thereto." But the awe inspired l^y the prerogative, as pre- sented by the members of the Privy Coimcil, swayed the House; and it was agreed, upon the question, that a petition be made to her Majesty for her license and privity to proceed in this bill, before it be any further dealt in.^ After vehement debates upon a bill "Against Licenses and Dispensations granted by the Arch- bishop of Canterbury," and upon two other " shame- ful usages " and " griefs," the Parliament adjourned, it being Easter Eve, until Thursday next. When they re-assembled after the recess, Mr. Strickland was not in his place. Early in the week, ^ Compare ante, \). 22G, note 4. ^ D'Ewes, 1G6, 1G7. 382 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. [Cu. XIV. he had been called before the Privy Council, and commanded by them to forbear coming to the Com- mons' House, and in the mean time to attend their further pleasure.-^ His absence was now noticed, and a rumor that he was detained by order excited no little commotion among the members; and on the next day, — Friday, the 20th, — Mr. Carleton called the attention of the House to the fact. " A member of this House," said he, " is detained from us ; by whose command, or for what cause, I know not. It should be by us considered, Mr. Speak- er, that he is not a private, but a pubhc man 5 — the property of the country; the representative of a multitude, his constituents ; and, moreover, a part of ourselves, as is the hand, or the foot, or the eye, of the body. Neither may the country be wronged, nor the liberty or the wholeness of this body be infringed. For these reasons, we may not permit his detention from this House. Whatsoever may be the purport of his offence, the projoer ])\ace for his arraignment is at our own bar. Let him be brought here, then, to be questioned and to answer." To this Sir Francis Knollys said in reply : " Let us be Avary in our proceedings ; and not venture farther than our assured warrant may stretch, nor hazard our good opinion with her Majesty on any doubtful cause. I say, her good opinion ; for you have but just told us, Mr. Speaker, of Jier gracious approbation ; how she hath in plain words declared unto yourself, that she hath good intelligence of our orderly proceed- ings ; that she hath as good liking of us as ever she hath had of any Parhament since she came unto the 1 D'Ewes, 1 76. Ch. XIV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. d83 crown ; and that she wisheth we should give her no other cause than to continue the same. This high reckoning of her Majesty hath been to our great contentation. Therefore, I say, let us not hazard our good opinion with her Majesty, nor lose this our joy, on any cause which we do not wholly under- stand. The man that is meant, is neither detained nor misused. But, upon certain good considerations, he is only required to expect the queen's pleasure upon certain special points. In this his attendance upon her Majesty's pleasure, I dare assure this House that he shall neither have cause to mislike or com- plain ; since as much favor be meant unto him as in reason he can wish. Moreover, he is in no sort stayed for any word or speech by him in this place uttered ; but for the exliibiting into this House of a bill for the reformation of the Book of Common Prayer and some ceremonies of the Church,^ which bill was against the prerogative of the Queen, — a thmg not to be tolerated. Nevertheless, the con- struction put upon this his fault is, that he hath rather erred in his zeal and bill offered, than to have meant, maliciously, anything contrarious to the royal dignity. Yet after all, it is no new thing, but that which hath oft been seen, that speeches have been examined and considered of So, if he were called to account for words uttered, it were no marvel to make stir about." But the House was not satisfied with soft words from a Privy Councillor. The case evidently was one of privilege, touching upon their liberties ; and they were resolved to press it. Sir Nicholas Arnold ^ D'Ewes, 176. 384 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. [Cu. XIV. followed Mr. Treasurer with a spirited, vehement exhortation, that the House should have a care for their liberty ; adding, " that, on such an affair, he was forced to speak, and so to run into danger of offence to others, rather than to be offended wdth himself for cowardice and silence." " Mr. Strickland must be sent for," said Mr. Yel- verton. " The precedent of his detention is perilous. Although, in this happy time of lenity, among so good and honorable personages, and under so gra- cious a prince, nothing of extremity or injury is to be feared, yet times may change ; and, if we jDermit this usage now, we may thereby give occasion and ground that the like usage may hereafter be con- strued as of duty, and be enforced. " All matters which are not treason, or too much to the derogation of the imperial crown, are in place here, and to be permitted ; here, I say, where all things come to be considered of, where there is such fulness of power, that it is the jolace where even the right of the crown is to be determined. To say that Parliament hath no power to determine of the crown, y Y is high treason. " Men come not here for themselves, but for their countries. It is fit for princes to have their preroga- tives ; but even their ^prerogatives must be straitr ened within reasonable limits. The prince cannot of herself make laws; neither may she, by the same reason, break laws. The speech offered here, and the offer of the bill, are not to be condemned as evil; for if there be anything in the Book of Common Prayer either Jewish, Turkish, or Pop- ish, the same surely is to be reformed. Amongst Cii. XIV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. 385 the Papists it is bruited, that, by the judgment of the Privy Council, Mr. Strickland is taken for ^ an heretic ; and tliis it behooveth us to keep in mind." But Mr. Fleetwood argued otherwise; showing, from precedents which he quoted, that members had been committed to prison, or stayed from the House, y^ by command of the crown ; and that remedy there was none, but to be humble suitors in their behalf; whereupon he urged, that the only and whole help of the House for the ease of their grief was, to be humble suitors to her Majesty ; and that, therefore, ^ they should neither send for him, nor demand him -V of right. But they who were present of the Privy Council thought differently ; ]3referring, for politic reasons, that the House should neither demand their mem- ber, nor be urged to sue for him. Either expedient was fraught with risk. While Mr. Fleetwood was speaking, they whispered together ; and the result of their conference was, that the Speaker propounded that the House should simply suspend their consul- tations upon the matter. This suggestion was prob- ably imderstood as significant. The House quietly acceded to it, and passed to other business. It was a timely expedient to save the honor of the House, and the dignity of the queen, and to avert a hazr ardous contest between the two. The next morning the result of the armistice ap- peared in the person of Strickland himself, who resumed his seat in the House just as they were referring to committees the bill for coming to church v and receiving the communion. To signify their joy, 49 386 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. [Ch. XIV. they immediately placed him on one of the com- mittees.^ This experiment of the queen upon the temper of the House, inspiring them, as it did, to a stand so resolute for Parliamentary rights, — eliciting also a doctrine so true, and new, and therefore bold, as the y \j dependence and hmitation of monarchy, and so sa- gacious a care against precedents which might in future prejudice the freedom of the subject, — is an incident of no mean interest to whoever would trace our political liberties to their infant sources. But it is a memorable landmark to us, who are surveying the times from a religious stand-point, because in this House of Commons the Puritan party was con- -yc^ fessedly in the ascendant.^ But another royal experiment had been made, upon another Puritan. The queen had granted li- censes, or patents, to four of her courtiers, under which they monopolized certain commercial j^rivi- leges at the port of Bristol, to the utter ruin of Y some six or eight thousand of her Majesty's sub- jects.^ Against this monster wrong, Robert Bell, a Puritan, had protested on the 7th of April. To a proj)osition then made for a subsidy, he had replied, that by these and such licenses to do things contrary to the statutes^ a few were enriched, while the multi- /^ ^ tude were impoverished ; and that, when a remedy should be provided for such enormities, a subsidy would wilUngly be paid.^ Immediately after this speech, — which gave such 1 D'Ewes, 168, 175, 176. * Tliid., 159. 2 Hallam, 88, 149. ^ ji^jj,^ 153. 8 D'Ewes, 242. Cn. XIV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. 387 offence "above," that lier Majesty sent a message to the House ordermg them not to tallc so much/ — ^^ Bell had been smnmoned before the Privy Council, ^ who gave him so rough a handling that he returned to the House — who well knew where he had been — with so scared a look as infected every member.^ \ Just a week after, Sir Humphrey Gilbert took upon himself the task of deepening this impression. He y attacked the motion of Mr. Bell as a perilous one. -v He declared that it tended to the derogation of the imperial prerogative ; that to say that the queen was not to use the privileges of the crown, was to say that she was no queen. Peoj^le were in danger, he intimated, who uttered such sj)eeches; and so were they who j)ermitted the m to be u ttered, hear- y ing them without rebuke.^ X The House were so daunted, particularly by the woebegone appearance of their offending member, that for nearly a fortnight after his chastisement not a man dared touch a matter of importance ; and ' whenever they ventured upon simple matters, they labored more that they might not be misunderstood, >C than upon the matters in hand.^ But on the 20th of the month, the effect of this y experiment had worn off. Peter Wentworth, anoth- er Puritan, then opened his mouth in resentment of ^ D'Ewes, 159. the House had certainly recovered ^ Ibid., 242. their courage on the 20th, when * Ibid., 168. they entered upon Strickland's case. * Ibid., 242. " Ten, twelve, or sixteen days " was Tlie time of Bell's schooling by the duration of their fright, as stated the Council is not stated in D'Ewes. from memory by Wentworth four But I think it must have been the years after. (D'Ewes, 242.) It very day of his offensive speech, or could not have been " sixteen." Monday, the second day after it ; for 388 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. [Ch. XIV. the speech of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, — but without mentioning his name, — declaring that it proved its author to be a fawiiing_courtier, and was an jnsult to —I the manhood of the Commons ; for it was an attempt to frighten men who ought to ])e free. He then exhorted the House to have a care for their credit, y s/ to maintain free_S£eech, to preserve theii' liljcrties, and to eschewjOlJiars.-^ It was upon the very heel of this exhortation, that the Commons came to the rescue of Strickland. Thus, the first "experiment" had only paved the way for the resistance and failure of the other ; and through the whole affair we see the footprints of the Puritan. But the debates in the Commons were, in other particulars, indicative of the reforming spirit which pervaded that body, and were remarkable for some of the opinions disclosed. A bill was introduced early in the session, requir- ing all persons above a certain age, not only to attend upon divine worship, but also to receive the communion, according to the forms prescribed by law.^ Its object was stated by Mr. Norton. He said, " that it was necessary, in the present circum- stances of the realm, not only to secure the outward show of Protestantism, but, in God's cause, to dis- cover if possible secret religious opinions ; to sift the good seed in the commonwealth from the cockle, \^ that the one miffhf he hnoimi from the other. Now the very touchstone of trial who be those rchellious calves whom the Pope's bull hath begotten, must be the receiving of the communionV ^ ' D'Ewes, 175. " D'Ewes, 177. 2 Ibid., 156, 157. Lingard, VIII. 77. Cn. XIV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. 389 It was objected to the bill, by Mr. Aglionby, that it was not proper to enforce consdence, as was pro- v^ posed in the article for receiving the communion.^ To this Mr. Strickland rej)lied, — upon the sj)ur of the moment, it should be remembered, — " that con- science ought indeed io he left free, provided it did not prompt one to disturb the common quiet " ; a senti- ment perfectly consistent hitherto with the religious behavior of the most zealous Puritans, — consistent also with the highest principles of liberty short of licentiousness and anarchy. He said further, " that the bill did not propose to straiten conscience ; for it did not propose to force the receiving of the com- munion, which a man might still refuse if offensive 7 to his conscience. The only Wm\.g forced was, not his ^ conscience, but his purse." ^ However much, upon a strict verbal construction, this concluding statement might be sustained, there ^ was moral sophistry in it. This was exposed by Mr. Aglionby, who declared it to be at variance wdtli the morality of the Gospel, and even with that of en- V lightened Paganism. " Religion," said he, " is the distinctive fact of dif- ference between a man and brute beasts ; therefore it is proper to enforce by law the worship of God, inasmuch as not to come to church is to make a man ^ D'Ewes, 161. lam's opinion — which, I think, must * Ibid. have been the result of a curso- I am confident that I have here ry reading — is positively opposed, expressed Strickland's true mean- " It was objected, that consciences ing ; and that I shall be justified by ought not to be urged. But IVIr. any one who scrutinizes his speech Strickland entirely denied this prin- as recorded by D'Ewes. To tiiis ciple." (p. 89.) The appeal can interpretation, however, Mr. Hal- only be to the text of D'Ewes. 390 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. [Ch. XIV. seem no man. But there is a cliflference between requiring one to come to church, and requiring him \/ /\ to receive the communion. In the former case, we require only a decent external act ; and neither Jew nor Turk requires more, save that their religion shall not be impugned. But in the latter case, we should be more intolerant than Jew or Turk \ for we should enforce the conscience of a man, which is eternal and invisible, which cannot be restrained by any policy, which is not in the power of the greatest monarchy. And in answer to that which hath been said, that the conscience is not straitened by this bill, but only a penalty of the loss of goods is X X adjudged, I reply this out of Cicero de Legibus, — that by the voice of his own nature man is told to care for his fellow, and not seek to bereave another of his necessary livelihood. But more. Saint Paul saith we must not do evil that good may grow there- by ; we must not take from a man his goods, to the end that he shall do what is not in his power. This compulsory bill condemneth the not coming to communion, which some cannot in conscience do ; so that the only favor which it giveth to such is, that they be either impoverished to beggary, or quit their native land. Besides, St. Paul hath pronounced another penalty upon him who cometji unworthily, to wit, death and damnation, as guilty of the blood and death of Christ. Some, then, to escape the pen- alty of this your bill, must meet the penalty ap- pointed by the Apostle. And yet again ; there is no example in the primitive Church to prove a com- mandment for coming to communion, but only an exliortation. St. Ambrose did excommunicate Theo- Cn. XIV.] THE PARLIAIVIENT OF 1571. 391 closius, and forbid him to come, because lie was an evil man. For us to will and command men to come because they are wicked, — it is too strange an en- forcement, and without precedent." ^ On that branch of the bill which concerned com- ing to church, Mr. Aglionby "moved that the law might be without exception or privilege for any gentlemen in their private oratories; and quoted Plato and Cicero, both prescribing, for the observa- tion of laws, an equality between the prince and the poor man, mjt giving scope to the one ahove the other r^- Another moved, " that the penalty of the law — a pecuniary mulct — should not go to promoters, by whom in most cases no reformation was sought, but only private gain."^ He might have added, "and \/ private malice." " Promoter " was another word for "informer"; one who promoted a law by informing \y ao;ainst those who disres-arded it.^ Another shrewdly observed, that there were some "inconveniences" attending the existing law upon this subject; intimating covertly that it might be mended. One inconvenience he particularly speci- fied, — that many ministers, notwithstanding all that had been done to enforce uniformity, still deviated, some in one way, some in another, some more and some less, from the forms prescribed ; — that the law not only required the minister to conform, but for- bade under a penalty any one to be j)resent at such v service ; that, at the same time, it prescribed a ^ penalty upon whoever was absent from his parish ^ D'Ewes, 177. 8 Ibid., 157. Strype's Parker, 260. 2 Ibid., 161. * Camden, 87. 392 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. [Ch. XIV. church. "Now," said he, "here is a dilemma. If a man come not to church, in such a case, he forfeits twelve pence; if he come, he forfeits a hundred marks." ^ The "mending" of the law proposed for obviating this " inconvenient dilemma " was, not to disciphne the ministers, but that deviations from the pre- scribed form should be counted no offence, provid- ed the deviator did not deviate into Popish forms.^ Here the bill rested to be considered ; but it failed to become a law. In discussing the bill for the Act 13 Eliz. Cap. I., — which will be stated below, — it was attempted to make the penalty of treason attach to any one ^ who /lad^ ever impugned the queen's title to the crown. Even two Puritans, Mr. Norton and Sir Francis Knollys, defended this proposition ; and, it must be confessed, with some ingenuity of argu- ment.^ But it was eloquently presented in oppo- sition, that, of present time, man's wisdom may judge ; future time, his policy may reach to ; but to call again the time past, or to raise what is dead in any kind, man may not, nor in reason is it to be presumed ; — that to make treason of a fault already committed, which, at the time of perpetrating the same, was not in the degree of treason, was a pre- cedent most perilous."* Whether this advocate of common justice was a Puritan or not, his sentiments were so obviously in accordance with reason and humanity, that they prevailed ; and the reflex bear- ing of this bill was expunged. 1 lEUz.Cap.n.Sec.ni. D'Ewes, 161. » Ibid., 163. 2 D'Ewes, 177, * Ibid., 162. Ch. XIV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF ir,71. 6v6 111 reviewing our sketch of the proceedings in this Puritan House of Commons, we gather much to their honor which merits our remembrance ; — the expo- sition of the impracticaljihty of uniformity ; their manly stand for freedom of debate ; their jealousy of dangerous precedents; their attempt against ve- nial informers ; their claim of equal privileges of worship to the poor and to the rich; and their re- sentment of the monstrous monopoly of commercial privilege. It is worthy of remark, that the House of Commons in the new Parliament, which assembled the next year, elected for their Speaker the bold mover against this last abuse.^ There were seven bills "for the reformation of several enormities and ceremonies in matters of religion and Church government" introduced into this Parliament; six of which had been stayed in the last Parliament by its dissolution.^ On the 25th of April, a committee of six — one of whom was the Puritan, Peter Wentworth, " the most distin- guished asserter of civil liberty in this reign "^ — X was appointed to wait upon Archbishop Parker for answer touching matters of religion.* They attended upon his Grace accordingly ; having " a model of reformation, wherein, as some articles of religion were allowed by them, so others, already received into the Church, were left out." ^ "Why," asked his Grace as he surveyed their draft, " why put ye out of the Articles of Religion 1 D'Ewes, 205, 242. * D'Ewes, 179. * Ibid., 180, 184, 185. * Strype's Annals, m. 98. = Hallam, 117. VOL. f. .')0 394 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. [Ch. XIV. those for Homilies, for the Consecrating of Bishops, and others Hke ? " " Surely, sir," said Wentworth, " because we have been so occupied in other matters, that we have had no time to examine them, how they agree with the Word of God." " What ! Surely ye mistook the matter ! Ye will refer yourselves wholly to us bishops there- in ? " " No, by the faith I bear to God ! " exclaimed the intrepid man. " We will pass nothing before we understand what it is ; for that were to make you popes. Make ye popes who list, for we will not."i On the first day of May, the Commons received a message from the Lords, " that the Queen's Majesty, having been made privy to the Articles of Religion," — the most of which related to matters of faith, the others to the consecration of bishojDS and j)riests, to the supremacy, and to the jjower of the Church to order rites and ceremonies,^ — "liked very well of them, and intended to publish them, and have them executed by the bishops, by direction of her Highness's regal authority of Supremacy of the Church of England ; and not to have the same dealt in Parliament." ^ This occurring so soon after his interview with Wentworth, it seems j^robable that the Archbishop, disturbed thereby, had suggested ^ D'Ewes, 239, 240. it under its right date in liis An- Strype, in his Life of Parker (p. nals. 394), assigns this incident to the - Hallam, 117. Parliament of 1572; but places ^ D'Ewes, 180. Ch. XIV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 157]. 395 this message to the queen as a politic one to avoid coUision with the Commons. But notwithstanding, the Commons did proceed upon some of the seven bills ; three of which they afterwards passed and sent to the Lords.^ By reason of the queen's jealousy of her supremacy, particularly excited for the occa- sion by some of the hierarchy,^ these bills all fell to the ground. Three others, which received the royal sanction, claim our attention. By the first ^ it was enacted, that whoever should affirm that any other than Elizabeth ought to wear the crown, or that the laws did not bind its right and descent, or should publish her to be heretic, schismatic, tyrant, or infidel, should be adjudged guilty of high treason. To affirm by Avriting or printing, during her life, that any one not designated by Parliament, or not >^ the natural issue of her body, was, or ought to be, her heir or successor, and to aid or abet the pub- lishing of such writing or printing, was made pun- ishable with a year's imprisonment and the forfeiture of half one's goods, for the first offence ; with the penalties of a praemunire, for the second. With the relation of the Queen of Scots to the -y crown, and the machinations of the Catholics in her behalf, in our eye the cause and object of this law are obvious. In the preamble to the next act,* it is stated that seditious persons, meaning to reinstate Papacy and to excite rebellion in the realm, had procured bulls or writings from the Pope which purported to ab- I D'Ewes, 185. M3 Eliz. Cap. T. * Ibid., 184. * 13 Eliz. Cap. II. 396 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. [Cii. XIV. solve and reconcile ^ those who would forsake obe- dience to the queen, and yield themselves to his usurped authority. Wherefore it was enacted, that whoever should put in use any such Papal instru- ment, or under color thereof should absolve or reconcile any one, or should willingly be absolved or reconciled, and whoever had obtained, since the queen's first Parliament, or should obtain or publish after the 1st of July following, any such Papal writing, and whoever should abet and counsel any of all such offences, should be judged guilty of high treason ; that whoever should aid, comfort, or main- tain such offenders after the said acts or offences, should incur the penalties of a praemunire. To conceal for six weeks a ^^roffer from any one of any such Popish writings, or of absolution or reconcilia- tion, should be counted misj)rision of treason. To bring, deliver, cause to be delivered, and to receive wdth intent to wear or use, any Agnus Deif crosses, pictures, beads, or such like, consecrated by the Pope or by his authority, should subject one to the penalties of a praemunire. Other sections provided for the exemption of informers from any of these penalties, and for the pardon of penitents.^ ^ See ante, p. 340, note 7. secrated it, on the reverse. The J 2 u 'j'jjg Agnus Dei is a composi- Church of Rome ascribes many vir- tion of white wax and the powder tues to this sort of relic, and con- of human bones dug out of the cat- fines the touch of it to persons in acombs, or ancient burial-places of orders." (Harleian Miscellany, IT. the Christians at Rome. It is in the 125, note.) It was always " conse- form of an oval medal, with a rep- crated by the Pope on Low Sun- resentation of the Holy Lamb and day." (Collier, VI. 495.) Christ Jesus, who is still styled ^^WMS * I have been minute in my ab- Dei, or the Lamb of God, on the one stract of this statute ; and the more side, and the Pope's effigy who con- so, because it is imperfectly present- Cu. XIV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. 307 It will be perceived that this statute declared that to be treason which migM be no treason; that it decreed the most savage mode of death which man ever invented upon the Catholic priest, or penitent, however innocently, in regard to the state, they might observe certain prescript duties of their relig- ion ; that, while the queen erected her cross in her oratory, the same symbol worn in all religious sim- plicity and purity in the bosom of the peasant maiden doomed her to a dungeon for life ; that even to feed the starving, to clothe the naked, to re- lieve the sick, to minister to the dying, was ordained, under certain circumstances, a crime. Such was the legislation of men resolute for liberty so far as they had measured it, but ignorant of its true nature and dimensions. It is not to be justified. Yet who w^ould have avoided it where the odor of Eome was as the odor of the Upas, where the ingenuity and strength of Rome were tasked against the common- wealth, and where religion and state affairs were so identified that no human eye could distinguish the loyal devotee from the sanctimonious traitor? With like fears, with like antipathies, and under like political circumstances, should tve? For the retro- spective clause of the third section, there is no apology. The bill containing " the Articles of Religion," which the jtueen liked, but chose to take care of ed by Hume, fiallam, Neal, and the aiders and abettors of absolution others, who do not bring to view its and reconcilement ; and not bringing most cruel points. Even Lingard to view, that the com/orters and ma<>i- has failed to do it justice, mistaking tainers of offenders, after the fact, the penalties of praemunire, instead were involved in a prEemunire. of those of treason, as attaching to (VIII. 77.) 398 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. [Ch. XIV. herself, was one of the six bills introduced to the Commons in 1566, and now re-introduced on the 6 th or 7th of April.^ The articles were those " for sound Christian religion," adopted and printed by the Convocation in 1562-3, — "The Thirty-Nine Articles." As the queen stopped this bill, the only Parliamentary sanction which was given to these Articles was, by hnplication, in the " Act to reform certain disorders touching the ministers of the Church." By this act,^ " every person under the degree of bishop, who doth or shall pretend" — claim — "to be a priest or minister of God's holy "Word and sacraments by reason of any other form of institution, consecration, or ordering than the form now used, shall declare his assent, and subscribe, to all the articles of religion ivUch only concern the confession of the true Christian /«zi'/i and the doctrine of the sacraments comprised in a book im- printed and intituled ^Articles whereupon it was agreed by the Archbishop and Bishops and the whole Clergy in Convocation, holden at London in the year of our Lord God a thousand five hundred and sixty-two,' &c." To maintain doctrine contrary to the said Articles was made punishable by deprivation of ecclesiastical promotions. Twenty-three years of age, and subscription, were required for admission to any benefice :\y^ith cure. None, permitted by any dispensaticwi or other- wise, should retain any benefice with cure, being under twenty-one years of age. None should be made minister, or be admitted to » D'Ewes, 132, 160, 184. M3 Eliz. Cap. XII. Cu. XIV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. 399 preach or administer the sacraments, being under twenty-four years of age, nor unless of sound rehg- ion and honest hfe, nor unless he be able to answer in Latin according to the said Articles, or have special gift and ability to be a preacher. In these last three sections the truth of Strick- land's most starthng statements on the 6th of April is confessed, and their influence is apparent. But the first section is of large and peculiar sig- nificance. A part of the Articles of Religion — those relating to the rites, ceremonies, order, and policy of the Church — it does not sanction. Again ; the Catholics alone dissented from the articles " which concerned the true Christian faith and the doctrine of the sacraments"; therefore the Puritan clergy were not hereby excluded from the offices and liv- mgs of the Church, for a subscription to the other articles was not required. " In the Book made in the time of King Edward, a subscription to these other articles seemed to be required." Therefore, this Parlia- ment of 1571, "misliking" such subscription, ^'^ put it out," by inserting the words, "which 07ii^ concern the confession of the true Christian faith," &c.^ But there is still another point of more importance. The validity of all forms of ecclesiastical ordination then practised throughout Christendom, whether by bishops, presbyters, or otherwise, is indirectly ad- mitted ; and this admission — implying, as it does, that neither form was then questioned by any of the parties assenting to the act — is, for that reason, the more significant and emphatic. ' Strype's Whitgift, 196; and Appendix, Bk. HI. No. XVI. p. 79, "Arti- cle First." 400 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. [Ch. XIV. Nor is this important admission to be considered extra-ecclesiastical, because it was Parliamentary j for it had the deliberate assent of the head of the Anglican Church, who claimed "the full authority which the Popes had usurped " ; ^ and whose Arch- bishop, even, had already declared that " this claim to Papal jurisdiction he would by no means dis- pute." ^ These last two points of this section will claim attention hereafter. When the Commons found themselves precluded, by the action of the crown, from effecting further reformations in religion, they resorted to supplica- tion; petitioning her Majesty either to recommit those subjects to her Parliament for proper legislative provision, or to secure the desired ends by some other means. By its faithful, disclosure of deplorable facts, this petition left her Majesty without excuse as " Overseer of the Church " ; for it was disregarded and unavailing. " For lack of true discij)line in the Church," said this paper, " great numbers are admit- ted to the ministry who are infamous in their lives and conversation. The gifts of those who have any gifts are in many places useless, by reason of plural- ities and non-residency. Thus infinite numbers of your Majesty's subjects are like to perish for lack of knowledge. By means of these things, together with the common blaspheming of the Lord's name, • the most wicked licentiousness of life, the abuse of excommunication, the commutation of penance, the great number of atheists, schismatics daily springing > Strype's Whitgift, 260. ^ Collier, VI. 467. ClH. XIV.] THE PAKLIAMENT OF 1571. 401 up, and the increase of Papists, the Protestant rehg- ion is in imminent danger. Wherefore, — in regard first and principally to the glory of God, and next in discharge of our boimden duty to your Majesty, besides being moved with pity towards so many thousands of your Majesty's subjects, daily in danger of being lost for want of the food of the Word and true discipline, — We, the Commons in this present Parliament assembled, are humbly bold to oj)en the griefs, and to seek the salving of the sores, of our country; and to beseech yonv Majesty, — seeing the same is of so great importance, — if the Parliament at this time may not be so long continued as that, by good and godly laws, provision may be made for supply and reformation of these great and grievous wants and abuses, that yet, by such other means as to 3'our Majesty's wisdom shall seem meet, a perfect redress of the same may be had. By such measures, the number of your Majesty's faithful subjects will be increased. Popery will be destroyed, the glory of God will be promoted, and your Majesty's renown will be recommended to all posterity." ^ But her Majesty and her Primate were Precisians; more zealous and painstaking for " a show of wisdom in will worship," for " the handwriting of ordinances after the commandments of men," for the exact appliance of " the very ornaments of their religion," than for the preaching of the Gospel, the ability of its ministers, or the suppression of vice. " External matters in religion so employed clergy and laity, that the better and more substantial parts of it were very little regarded."^ 1 Neal, I. 116. ^ gtrj'pe's Parker, 395. VOL. I. 51 402 THE PARLIAMENT OF 1571. [Ch. XIV. So does a Levitical ritual, when the occasion for its language is passed, overshadow the Gospel which once it eloquently symbolized. So natural is it for a worship muffled by " ornaments " and forms, to dis- place that which is in spirit and in truth. So easy is it even for the good, where importance is given to outward ceremonies, to forget or overlook the vital truth, that "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." The queen brought the Parliament to a close, by dissolution, on the 29th of May; not, however, with- out an acid reprimand to the Commons. To the Speaker's parting address. Sir Nicholas Bacon replied, " Mr. Speaker, her Majesty hath commanded me to say, that like as the greatest number of them of the Lower House have, in the proceedings of this Ses- sion, showed themselves modest, discreet, and dutiful, as becometh good and loving subjects, so there be certain of them, although not many in number, who in the jji'oceedings of this Session have showed themselves audacious, arrogant, and presumptuous ; calling her Majesty's grants " — of Bristol patents — "and prerogatives" — as Overseer of the Church — "in question, contrary to their duty and "place that they be called unto ; and contrary to the express admonition given in her Majesty's name in the begin- ning of this Parliament, — which it might very well have become them to have had more regard unto. But her Majesty saith, that, seeing they will thus wilfully forget themselves, they are otherwise to be remembered. And like as her Majesty allows and much commends the former sort, for the respects Ch. XIV.] THE PAKLIAMENT OF 1571. 403 aforesaid, so doth her Highness utterly disallow and condemn the second sort, for their audacious, arro- gant, and presumptuous folly, thus by superfluous speech spending much time in meddling with mat- ters neither pertaining to them, nor ivUhln the capacity of their understandings^ ^ If they to whom such a taunt was ministered took it meekly, there must have been in their hearts something of the grace of God. ^ D'Ewes, 151. CHAPTER XV. THE PRESBYTERIANS AND THE PARLIAMENT OF ir,72. A Puritan Petition to the Convocation of 1571 rejected. — New Canons FOR enforcing UNIFORMITY — ThE StATUTE 13 EeIZ. Cap. XII. STRAINED to ENFORCE SUBSCRIPTION. — OrDER FROM THE QUEEN TO ENFORCE EXACT Uniformity. — Ejected Ministers preach. — Thomas Cartwright op- pugns THE Constitution of the Anglican Church. — Driven from Cambridge. — Field and Wilcox resolve to petition Parliament. — Parliament assemble, May 8th. — Foreign Plot for Invasion and Rev- olution. — Alarm of the Nation. — "The Great Cause" of the Queen OF Scots. — Elizabeth objects to Proceedings against her' in the Degree of Treason. — Both Houses dissent from the Queen. — The Eeasons for the Proceedings of Parliament against Mary. — Eliza- beth DESIRES ANOTHER BiLL. — ThE PARLIAMENT SUDDENLY ADJOURNED BY THE Queen. — Bills in the Commons for Rites and Ceremonies. — The Queen demands them. — Her Majesty herself the Defender of the Faith. The ministers of the Church who had been beg- gared by deprivation jDleaded hard for pity and rehef before the Convocation of the bishops and clergy, vj> who, as usual , met at the same time with the Parlia- ment of 1571. They came in the name of their flocks without pastors, of their wives and children without bread, praying that they might be suffered to preach the Gospel of Christ, without risk of fines and imprisonment; that they might at least have Y equal chance of livelihood with conforming Papists, who were notorious for vice, and who, under cap, cope, surplice, and side-gown, were whispering to the y -y people in corners, that there was no salvation out of the Church of Rome, and that the new religion was Cii. XV.] PRESBYTERIANS AND PARLIAMENT OF 1572. 405 about to fall.^ " The wood was " not " green " now. It began to consume. The cry was in vain. The Convocation were deaf. They passed canons yet more stringent, requiring the precise observance of the Liturgy ; that no minister should preach, or even in a private house read the Common Prayers, with- out a license.^ It was also ordered, " That every bishop should, before September next, call to him all public preachers that should be in their resjDCC- tive dioceses, and require of them their faculties for • Strj^e's Annals, I. 2G4. Brook, I. 171. The Papists were sanguine in ex- pectation of what they called " The ^ Golden Day," predicted by their as- trologers and conjurers, when the queen's power should be ended by her deposition or death, and when their own religion should revive and flourish. (Strypc's Parker, 203 ; Annals, IIL 278.) The petition mentioned in the text stated : " Those who observe your ceremonies, though they be idolaters, common swearers, adul- terers, or much worse, live without punishment, and have many friends." This statement, and that of Strick- land before the Parliament, that ■\<, known Papists were tol erat ed in the ministry, were confirmed by a book published about this time by Mr. Northbroke, minister of E,ad- clifTe in Bristol. None of these public statements appear to have been contradicted. Northbroke said : » " Certain ministers. Papists, avow themselves such in their discourses. They subscribe, and observe the order of service, and wear the side- gown, square cap, cope, and sur- plice. They run into corners and say to the people, ' Believe not this new doctrine ; it is naught ; it will not last long. Thougli we use order among them outwardly, our heart and profession is from them, agree- ing with the Mother Church of Rome. No, no ; we do not preach, nor yet teach openly. We read their new devised Homilies for a color, to satisfy the time for a sea- son.' Several now-a-days of the Popish priests," continued North- broke, " are thieves, perjurers, mur- derers, — I blush to repeat the rest ; and some are arraigned for it at the bar in Exeter." One of the most scandalous of these was Blackal, — a priest in whose exposure and arrest North- broke was instrumental. He was convicted of affixing the Arch- bishop's seal to a counterfeit writ- ing, and of having four wives ; in atonement for which he did penance in a white sheet at Paul's Cross on the 6th of August; and on the 10th, was set in the pillory at Cheapside. A singular proportion between the punishment and the crimes ! The sheet was for polygamy ; the pillory for forgery. >= Heyl. Presb., Bk. VI. Sec. 41. v^ y\J 406 THE PRESBYTERIANS AND [Ch. XV. preaching which they hold under authentic seal ; and either to keep them or annul them. And then, making a prudent choice, Avliom he should find, by age, learning, judgment, innocency, modesty, and gravity, fit for so great a function, freely to give new licenses ; yet they first to subscribe the Articles of the Christian Eeligion apjDroved in Synod, and promise to maintain the doctrine contained in them, as being most agreeable to the truth of God's Word."i These canons had ecclesiastical force only, — not the force of law. For this reason, Grindal, now the Archbishop of York, absolutely refused to join in pressing them,^ and Archbishop Parker, to divide from himself the odium of his proceedings, asso- ciated therein Horn, Bishop of Winchester, and Cox, Bishop of Ely, — both of Frankfort memory.^ With such Precisians in concert, the prospects of the non- conformists were gloomy. Early in June, several of the most prominent min- isters about London, who were kno^vn to dislike the Statute of Uniformity, were summoned to appear before their ecclesiastical lords at Lambeth;* there to surrender their licenses, and to qualify themselves for new ones. One was called to a reckoning for a book which he had published in Queen Mary's time ; another was sifted for his opinions, political, theo- logical, ceremonial; and so on, and so on; but all were required to subscribe to the Articles of Re- ligion.^ * ^ Sparrow, 225, 226. Strype's ' Strype's Parker, 330. Parker, 321. Collier, VI. 449. " Ibid., 325. ^ Strype's Parker, 322, 330. Neal, ^ Neal, I. 119. Brook, I. 176, I. 117,119. 193; n. 125. Ch. XV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1572. 407 Hitherto, the bishops with all their severity had been comparatively sparing in pressing subscription to the Articles of 1562-3 ; and the ministers them- \^ selves had been the more resolute in refusing it, or in qualifying it with reservations, — in each case be- cause these articles had received no countenance \ X. from the Parhament.^ But the Statute 13 Eliz. Cap. XII. had given a sort of semi-legal authority to the Articles, of which the bishops now took the advan- tage, and because of which the Puritans, desirous to avoid disturbance, were the more willing to subscril:>e. They had no objection to the Confession of Faith and the doctrine of the holy Sacraments ; and to the Book of Common Prayer they would assent, with the simple qualification, " so far forth as is agreeable to the AVord of God." Now, to their amazement, they were required to subscribe to all the Articles ; to those concerning the episcopal government and the pubhc Liturgy, as well as to the others. They ap- pealed to the statute ; to the unequivocal and em- phatic word, ^^ onlyT They were told, that even "■ in the first part of the statute an ambiguity " at- tached ; that that potent word was not to be found in the other sections, particularly in the second, which designated " the deprivation of ecclesiastical promo- tions" ; that its words, "the said articles," meant, not the said articles of " doctrine," but the said articles, without exception, which were adopted by the Convoca- tion of 1562-3.^ Such a construction was worthy ^ Fuller, Bk. IX. p. 102. which the bishops justified their re- " Collier, W. 499. quisition ; but he thus justifies it Collier, to be sure, does not state himself, if I apprehend his meaning. that this was the precise shape in Nor can I doubt that he truly repre- 408 THE PRESBYTEEIANS AJSID [Ch. XV. of the " trifles " in support of which it was extorted. It was of course resisted. " Subscribe the whole of the articles," was the rejoinder, " and pledge your words to maintain everything therein as altogether agree- able to the Word of God ; ^ or resign quietly, or be deprived." ^ Thus the edge of a statute, shaped by the Puritans themselves, only to protect their own clergy and to cut off Catholic heresy, was turned against the witnesses of Gospel truth. On the same grounds were the licenses of all preachers cancelled, and the same subscription re- quired. Consequently, great niunbers were ejected from their Hvings ; ^ which, in the phrase of the Pri- mate, was " bringing them to some better stowage." * It would seem, however, that the arch-Precisian himself was conscious of some lameness in his au- thority ; for on the 20th of August, he was furnished with the following mandate from the queen. " Elizabeth : — " Most Reverend Father in God, Right Trusty and Right Well-beloved, — We greet you well We, minding earnestly to have a perfect reformation of all abuses attempted to deform the uniformity pre- scribed by our laws and injunctions, and that none should be suffered to decline, either on the left hand or on the right hand, from the direct line limited by authority of our said laws and injunc- tions, do earnestly, by our authority royal, will and sents, and meant to represent, their ^ Strype's Parker, 325. process of interpretation, for I can ^ Strype's Annals, III. 167 ; Ap- conceiveof none other by which their pendix, Bk. I. No. XII. Neal, I. conclusion could have been reached. 117. Brook, I. 32. "■ Collier, VI. 499. * Strype's Parker, 330. Cii. XV. j THE I'ARUAMENT OF 1572. 409 charge you, by all means lawful, to proceed herein as you have hcgun ; and for your assistance we wall that you shall, by authority hereof, and in our name, send for the Bishops of London and Salisbury, and communicate these our letters with them, and strait- ly charge them to assist you from time to time, betwixt this month and the month of October, to do all manner of things requisite to reform such abuses as aforementioned, in whomsoever you shall find them." ^ " This letter, so roundly penned, put life and vigor into the Archbishop, in this troublesome busi- ness " ; ^ and its directions, as we shall see, he in- tently obeyed. Little had her Majesty learned of human nature. Little had she profited by two experimental lessons, given under her own eye, showing that religious severity defeats its own aims. She had known that, in a single year, thousands had been converted from Papistry to Protestantism by the fires which her sister had kindled at Smithfield.^ And right well she knew, that the Papal anathema against herself had only energized her own opposition and that of her Protestant subjects, and provoked galling enact- ments against those of them who paid him alle- giance. Yet she pursued the same policy, sowed the same seed, cherished the same fruit. Many of the non-conformists who were deprived of their livings and licenses came not to repentance, but were the more resolute in their non-conformity. ^ Murdin, 183. Strype's Parker, ^ Strype's Parker, 331. 330. 3 Strype's Memorials,V. 470, 471. VOL. I. 5-2 410 THE PRESBYTERIANS AND [Ch. XV. They still preached in their own or in other church- es, culling from the English Book at discretion, or discarding it for the Book of Geneva, until her Majesty ordered the church-wardens, on their peril, to exclude them from the parish pulpits.^ These extreme measures crowded them beyond the narrow field of visible things, — the vestments of the priest- hood, the sign of the cross, and kneeling at the com- munion. Very naturally, they began to question the authority of a Church which would thus deal with the sincere followers of Christ, — to question whether there was not something wrong in its very consti- tution. In 1570, Thomas Cartwright, Professor of Divinity in Cambridge, a profound scholar, of remarkable pul- pit eloquence, of high repute for acuteness, judg- ment, and virtue, began to discuss, in his lectures at the University, the ecclesiastical policy of the Church. In these lectures, and otherwise, he boldly maintained the following propositions : — 1. That the names and functions of archbishops and archdeacons ought to be abolished. 2. That the of&ces of the lawful ministers of the Church, viz. bishops and deacons, ought to be re- duced to then' apostolical institution;^ bishops to ^ Stn-pe's Parker, 325. It is probable that like questions had - As early as 1563, Dr. Turner, been asked, in a private way, be- the Dean of Wells, called in question fore the rigors adopted in 1564-5; the office of bishop as it existed in particularly in the cli'cle of those the English Church. " "\\Tio gave who had been conversant with the bishops authority more over me, than Geneva school. But I do not find I over them, either to forbid me such opinions given out in a way preaching, or to deprive me, unless to attract public attention, until they have it from their Holy Father provoked by persecution and pro- the Pope ? " (Str)'pe's Parker, 151.) pounded by Cartwright. Cii. XV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1572. 411 preach the Word of God and to pray, deacons to be employed in takmg care of the poor. 3. That the government of the Church ought not to be entrusted to bishops' chancellors, or the offi- cials of archdeacons ; but every church ought to be governed by its own ministers and presbyters. 4. That ministers ought not to be at large ; but every one should have the charge of a particular congregation. 5. That no man ought to solicit, or to stand as a candidate for the ministry. 6. That ministers ought not to be created by the sole authority of the bishop ; ^ but to be openly and fairly chosen by the people.^ In addition to these propositions, other ojoinions were incidentally expressed in his lectures, some of which were as follows : that in reforming the Church it is necessary to reduce all things to the apostolic institution; that no man ought to be admitted to the ministry who is not capable of preaching ; that Popish ordinations are not valid ; that only canoni- cal Scripture ought to be read in the churches ; that equal reverence is due to all canonical Scripture, and therefore there is no reason why the people should stand only at the reading of the Gospel; that equal reverence is due to all the names of God, and therefore there is no reason why the peoj)le should bow only at the name of Jesus ; that it is as lawful to sit at the Lord's table as to kneel or stand ; that the Lord's Supper ought not to be administered in private, nor baptism, by women or ^ Neal has it— "by civil an- = Neal, I. 114. Brook, 11. 140. thority." 412 THE PRESBYTERIANS AND [Ch. XV. lay persons ; that the sign of the cross in baptism is superstitious ; that it is reasonable and proper, that a parent should offer his own child in baptism, mak- ing a confession of that faith in which he intends to educate it, without being obliged to answer in the -^ cJdld's name, "I will," "I will not," "I believe," &c., nor ought it to be allowed that women, or persons under age, should be sponsors ; that the observation of Lent, and fasting on Fridays and Saturdays, is ^ superstitious ; that trading or keeping markets on the Lord's day is unlawful; that in ordaining min- isters, the pronouncing of those words, " Eeceive -y the Holy Ghost," is ridiculous and wicked.^ We see here, not the opinions of Cartwright only, but, by contrast, the opinions and practices of the Church to which all these statements were in oppo- sition. For the maintenance of these '^ heterodoxies and misrepresentations," as Collier calls them, these " un- true, dangerous, and seditious propositions, tending to the ruin of learning and religion," Cartwright was deprived of his lecture and professorship, and ex- pelled from the University. Doctor John Whitgift, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, but now Vice- ChanceUor of the University, was his chief j)erse- cutor ; and, when he had taken away his means of livelihood, had the gracelessness to uj)braid him with " going up and down, doing no good, and hving at other men's tables " ! " That I was not idle," said Cartwright, " he knew well. Whether I was well occupied, or no, let it be judged. I lived, indeed, at other men's tables, having ^ Neal, I. 114. Brook, II. 141. Cii. XV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1572. 413 no house nor wife ; but not without their desire, and with small delight of mine, for fear of evil v' tongues. And although I were not able to requite it, yet toward some I went about it, instructing their children partly in the principles of religion, partly in other learning." He soon went abroad, as others had been obliged to do, to earn that bread which he could not earn in his native land.^ This was an important event in the history of the English Church ; and its issues will continually appear, as we pursue our retrospective record. The views of Cartwright, so far at least as they were opposed to the hierarchy, were eagerly embraced by those Avho w^ere smarting under its rod, and by others who were in jeopardy for non-conformity. Wandsworth was a quiet hamlet, although it was only four miles from London. There might have been eight hundred or a thousand people, great and small, living there in 1571-2 ; some of them dyers ; a few, mechanics ; but most of them farm-tenants on >y an humble scale. When they returned from the city, where they often went with their produce or wares, they used to wonder how people could live so far off, and in such a noisy place. " Certainly the queen never would, but for the good of her sub- jects!" They never had a more exalted idea of her good sense, than when her gay fleet of barges ^— shot by them, as she turned her back upon Lon- don to find fresh air, and real life, and the beau- ties which God made, at Eichmond. They always 1 Neal, I. 115. Brook, 11. 141-143. 414 THE PRESBYTERIANS AND [Ch. XV. knew when she was on her way; for they Hved close on the south bank of the river, and could hear " the drums beating and the trumpets sound- ^ ing," which told of her progress. Then they w^ould X drop their work, and hurry to the water s edge, — the old man with his staff, and the young wife with her nursling babe ; and when the royal barge came opposite, the bell in the church up there on a green knoll would ring in ecst asy; and the people, with their heads unc overe d, and kerchiefs waving, would shout, " God save the queen ! " so stoutly, so heartily, one would have thought there never was such a queen. But when she leaned forward from beneath her canopy and waved her own scarf in return, and V bowed, and smiled, "?m5 there ever such a queen?" Their good minister — aftcnvards minister at Alder- mary Church in London ^ — used to stand there with them ujDon such occasions. No one of them cried, " God save the queen ! " more stoutly or more de- voutly than he. Nevertheless, this John Field was a Puritan.^ Like many of his non-conforming breth- ren, he had adopted the opinions of Cartwright, and resented the subscription contrary to the intent of ^ the statute, by which the Puritans were persecuted anew. But this did not abate his loyalty. One mild afternoon about the middle of April, 1572, his good friend, Mr. Thomas Wilcox, had come from London to visit him ; and they were sitting together in a rustic arbor of Mr. Field's little garden, talking heartily, as brother ministers always do when 1 Compare Neal, I. 121, and - Heyl. Presb., Bk. VII. Sec. 3. Brook, I. 322, and Heyl. Presb., Bk. Brook, I. 318 - 324. ^'11. Sec. 3. Neal is mistaken. Ch. XV.] THE TARLIAMENT OF 1572. 415 by themselves. Wilcox was " a learned, zealous, and useful preacher in Honeywell Lane." He was a young man, not more than twenty-three or twenty- four years of age, but in high repute for piety and talent.^ Like Mr. Field, he was married, was a flxther, and a Puritan. So there were many matters on which they sympathized. They had been con- versing for some tune about the astounding and arbitrary perversion of the late law of Parliament requiring subscription from certain of the cler- • g}', when Mr. Wilcox exclaimed with vehemence : "There is no hope from her Majesty. There is no >^ hope from the bishops, or the Convocation. This tyranny will not be minished. Brother ! let us re- nounce this Antichristian lordship! Let us establish i^ for ourselves a church order after the apostolical model, and leave the issues with God." " It would be crushed to powder." "Nay; be not faithless, but believing. There be no necessity laid upon us to proclaim our deed. Think you the Church of Galatia, or of Ephesus, went to the priests of Diana, or of Jupiter, and told them of their secre t assemblies ? " -^ Prithee, brother ! an you frame your purer disci- pline, and the bruit of it be not heard, what will it profit? We escape not the rule of the Church established, with her bishops and archbishojDS, her Liturgy and her saints' days. Wherewithal will our yoke be lightened ? " "At least, w^e can have our deacons and our elders; and they chosen by the jDCople, instead of \y being thrust upon them." ' Brook, II. 18.5. '^lAM^fTVL^ ^ ' I W . 416 THE PRESBYTERIAJSfS AND [Ch. XV. " And the same not known ? " " We can devise some way." "And wdien a congregation, having no minister, doth elect one to their own hking, how prefer him to the benefice so as he can claim the living ? " " Let the congregation choose ; let the presbytery examine and approve. Then is he a minister called according to the rule of the Gospel. After that, let him apply to the Bishop for the imposition of hands. It will not mar his calhng, while it qualifieth him in the eye of the law." "And the patron?" "Let our classes ply their influence with patrons to present to the livings whom the churches elect." "An your elder elect believe, as many do, that the imposition of hands by one not himself rightly called to his bishopric hath no virtue, what then ? " " Let him cross the sea and take ordination in the Reformed churches there. By the same late law which requireth subscription to doctrine, that be counted true ordination, I trow." ^ " Troth ! The like be subscribing the Articles which onli/ concern the true Christian faith and the doctrines of the sacraments. Sitli they deny that \/ f ^ only ' meaneth ^ only,' they need not exceed them- selves to say, that ordination save by a lord bishop \ be no ordination, — maugre the law." " They have already allowed that the imposition of hands of a presbytery is ordination ; because they require not, of those who have received it, the hands of a bishop, but subscription onli/y Mr. Field mused; and Mr. Wilcox kept silence 1 Neal, I. 114, note. Cu. XV.] "the parliament of 1572. 417 that he might muse. Several mmutes passed thus before Mr. Field replied : " You have an inventive head, of a truth, brother ! Moreover, in the inven- tion, there be no lack of fair seeming. Nevertheless, there be one hope of remedy that you have not propounded. Methinks it should be tried first." "Marry^! nominate it. Mine ear itcheth," — with a short ironic laugh. " Parliament." " Doubtful," muttered Wilcox. " Possible. Be not faithless, but behoving ; so you just said to me." " Granted, — possihky " We can make interest among the members." ^ " But the bishops ? " " Outvote them." " The queen. To the smallest bill for reform, an she saith, ' La Roigne s'advisera,' what then ? Your v bill proveth a castle in the air." " Be it so. Then we can try if your plan hath substance, or be a phantom. We can do it with a better seeming, and a better conscience, when the last hope by other means hath failed." " How will you move Parliament ? " " I would lay before them a plan for establishing the Church according to the plan of presbytery, as in the primitive Church, — as in the Church of Geneva. I would prove to them how ministers should be chosen, and how deacons; how they should be set apart to their offices ; what be then' duties ; and how all elders, each being bishop over his own congrega- tion, should be of equal and joint authority in the gov- 1 Neal, I. 121. VOL. T. 53 418 THE PRESBYTERIANS AND [Ch. XV. eriiment of the Church at large. I would tell them, too, how corrupt is the present government of the Church; how the shepherds that be, keep not the wolf from the fold ; how they care more for the bell on the wether's neck, or the mark of the cross on the fleece, than for the feeding or housing of the sheep ; how they put the crib so high that the lambs can get no fodder ; and how they scatter and beggar and imprison the under-shepherds Avho cannot say Shibboleth, or who lack gay gear. I would tell them, and prove it withal, that bishops, as they make them to be, are contrary to the Gospel. And, in fine, I would entreat that discipline more after God's Word, and agreeable to the foreign Reformed churches, may be established by law." ^ " Will you draw up such a paper ? " " With God's help and yours." " Why mine ? " " In sooth, ^ two be better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor ; and a threefold cord is not easily broken.' Besides, time presseth. Parliament will soon assemble. We have to bestir the members in our behalf; we must draw up our complaint and prayer with painful carefulness; we must have other brethren to revise and approve it." And thus it was agreed. They were to prepare each his part ; they were to meet again, form their separate writings into one ; and, if approved by their brethren, to present it to Parliament. Whereupon they parted ; and Wilcox, in a little boat, glided down to London. A new Parliament was assembled on the 8th of ' Neal, I. 121. Brook, I. 319. iMJ ^(X^ Cu. XV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1572. 419 May, 1572. In his opening speech, the Lord Keeper ] |^ recogniz^ the scarcity and unfitness of the minis- ters of the Church ; evils which, he said, it behooved the bishops speedily, diligently, and carefully to rec- tify. He censured the indolence and timidity of ecclesiastical officers in not duly executing discipline. " In consequence of this negligence," he added, " the laudable rites and ceremonies of the Church, the very ornaments of our religion^ are ill kept, or at least have lost a great part of their estimation ; and the com- y mon people in the country universally come seldom toTCoimnon Prayer and Divine service." He recom- mended a plan for a systematic and vigorous enforce- ment of the ecclesiastical laws ; advising, in addition, " that the bishops should devise and exhibit to Parlia- ment temporal acts for the amending and reforming of these lacks, that thus the civil sword might sup- j)ort the sword ecclesiastic." In regard to affairs strictly civil, he said that the greatest which con- cerned them was " the defence against the foreign enemy abroad and his confederates brought up and bred among themselves." ^ This last point it is ne- ^ cessary to explain. From the time when she took refuge in England from her rebellious subjects, Mary, Queen of Scots, had been held as a prisoner of state by her royal kinswoman. As soon as this her true situation be- came evident, her name was made the fulcrum on X X which to rest ah the plots of the religious and politi- cal enemies of Elizabeth.^ Of this, she and her ministers were aware ; and, when too late, they had 1 D'Ewes, 192-195. "■ Norris to Cecil; Haynes, 466. Camden, 179. 420 THE PRESBYTERIANS AND [Ch. XV. heartily regretted their error in making Mary their captive, and as heartily wished her out of the realm.^ At length, in 1571, Mary, justly irritated by her pro- tracted wrongs, and despairing of relief at the hands of her captor," had assented to a plot for an invasion ^ of England, and for a domestic insurrection in con- cert, which had for its object the overturning of the government of Elizabeth and the instating of herself in her room. Eidolpho, the Florentine, was the agent in England of the conspiracy. A leader was needed, however, of noble blood, and of influence among the joeople, to head the insurrection at home.^ The power, rank, and popularity of the Duke of Norfolk were sufficient recommendations to Eidol- pho. Taking advantage of the fact, that this noble- man had fallen from the royal favor and confidence, and that he was smarting under the disgrace of a late imprisonment, the foreigner succeeded in entangling him, to some extent at least, in this nefarious scheme, which included an engagement of marriage between the Duke and the Scottish queen."* Eidolpho then left the kingdom to notify the Pope and the king of Spain that preparations were ripe in England, and to move them to action.^ These two potentates were the chiefs of the conspiracy. "M. Mignet has recently brought to light some remarkable facts. On the 28th of June, 1570, a letter from Pius V. was presented to Philip II. by ail agent Just arrived from Eome. ' Our dear son, ^ Haynes, 4G7; Norrls to Ce- ^ Ibid., 157, cil. Cabala, 138, 155; Cecil to * Ibid., 157. Lingard, VIII. 86. Norris. ^ Lodge, II. 53 ; Burleigh to ^ Camden, 156. Shrewsbury. Camden, 179. Cii. XV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1572. 421 Robert Ridolfi,' says the writer, 'will explain (God willing) to your Majesty certain matters which con- cern not a little the honor of Almighty God We conjure your Majesty to take into serious con- sideration the matter which he will lay before you, and to furnish him with all the means your Majesty may judge most proper for its execution.' The Pope's '^ dear son/ accordingly, explained to the Duke of Feria, who was commissioned by Philip to receive his communication, Hhat it was proposed to kill Queen Elizabeth ; that the attempt would not X )* be made in London, because it was the seat of her- esy, but during one of her journeys ; and that a cer- tain James G would undertake it.' The same ^ day, the Council met and deliberated on Elizabeth's assassination. Philip declared his willingness to un- dertake the foul deed recommended by his Holiness ; n/ but, as it would be an expensive business, his minis- ters hinted to the nuncio, that the Pope ought to furnish the money." -^ Philip had been provoked by Elizabeth's seizure of certain ships of his containing treasure ; ^ and was >/ further stimulated by his zeal for the Catholic faith. He was also encouraged by the spirituality and the religious houses of his kingdom, who pledged him two millions of ducats for the enterprise ; for four hundred thousand of which the Archbishop of Toledo y alone made himself responsible.^ Nor was Pius V. behindhand in the business ; but entered into it with ^ " Tlie details of tliis affair may " Camden, 179. be found in the Historie de Marie ^ Murdin, 221 ; letter from Spain ^ Stuart, by Mignet, Vol. II. p. 159, to Lord Burleigh. &c." — D'Aubigne, V. Preface, pp. vii., viii. vy I • i\y^ v" ^ If v^ ^v*v^v lA/ »*' t 7^ 422 THE PRESBYTERIANS AND [Ch. XV. apostolic zeal, promising Philip to pawn, if neces- sary, all the goods of his see, to its very chalices, cross- es, and sacred vestments, to further the enterprise of invasion, — an enterprise so holy, so acceptable to God, so beneficial to the Church and to a world lying in wickedness.^ The plan was, to operate upon England by a Spanish army from the Netherlands, — y four thousand horse and six thousand foot. It was confidently believed that there were enough of the queen's disaffected subjects who would effect an effi- cient rising in favor of the invaders the moment they should land at Harv\dck, the port agreed upon ; and X that the queen's parsimony and the effeminacy of her people would render her throne an easy prey.^ "Never," said Philip to Cardinal Alexandrino, "never was any conspiracy entered into with better advice, nor with greater consent and constancy concealed, which in so long a time was never discovered by iuiy of the conspirators. Forces might in four and twenty >y. y hours' time have easily been transported out of the Netherlands, which might at unawares have sur- prised the queen and the city of London, restored religion, and established the Queen of Scots on the throne.^ But the conspiracy was discovered in the hour of its ripeness, in the summer of 1571,* to the great consternation of the Privy Council. They were in- 1 The Life of Plus V. by HIerono- ^ MurtUn, 222 ; letter to Burleigh, mo Catena, Secretary to Cardinal Camden, 157. Alexandrino, the Pope's " nephew." ^ Hieronomo Catena. Published with " the Privilege " of * Digges's " Complete Ambassa- Sixtus v., in 1588. Camden, 180. dor," 107. Harleian Miscellany, Lingard does not notice this mate- 11.460-462. rial witness. Cii. XV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1572. 423 stantly busied day and night at the Tower in ferret- ing it out, by the examination of those whom they had seized.-^ The queen ordered that certain of the examinates "should find taste of the rack, if fear thereof should not move them to utter knowledge." ^ v Norfolk w'as immediately committed to the Tower ; and in January, 1571-2, was tried for high treason, and unanimously condemned by a jury of his peers.^ Such were the transactions which occasioned the Parliament of 1572 ; " chiefly called for consultation and deliberation touching the dangers of her Majesty and the realm by reason of the Scottish queen." * The whole nation was in a ferment ; the Catholics apprehensive that the discovery of such a plot would entail greater severities upon the Queen of Scots and upon themselves ; the Protestants alarmed and indignant at such peril to crown, realm, and religion, and convinced that there would be no safety for either so long as Mary should live. These latter opinions sw^ayed the Parliament, and in the House of Commons were imiversal.^ Immediately after the Lord Keeper's opening speech, Robert Bell, Esq., of the Middle Temple, London, was chosen Speaker of the Commons, — the same who w^as so frighted by the Council in the y time of the last Parliament. On Saturday, the lOtli, he was "presented, accepted, and allowed." On \ Monday, the 12th, the very first business day after ^ Lodge, II. 56. Wright, I. SD2, ^ " All men now cry out of your note. prisoner," wrote Burleigh, under date 2 Ellis, 1st Series, II. 2G1. of September 7, 1572, to the Earl of MVright, I. 392. Hume, III. 8G. Shrewsbury, Mary's keeper. Lodge, * D'Ewes, 204, 225. 11. 75. 424 THE PRESBYTERIANS AND [Ch. XV. the organization of Parliament, both Houses entered at once upon " The Great Cause," by appointing, at the queen's commandment, a large joint committee for " deliberation and consultation." Report of the doin2CS of this committee was made to the Commons on the lOtli; immediately upon which the House resolved, " That for the safety and preservation of the queen's person and of the realm, proceedings ought to be had against the Scottish queen in the highest degree of treason,^ and that of necessity with ^ The proceedings against the Queen of Scots for treason, and like proceedings against John Story, ap- pear oddly when brought into jux- taposition. Story has been mentioned (Chap. VI.) as a malignant persecutor un- der Mary of England ; as boasting of it in his opposition to the Bill for Uniformity ; and as entering the service of the Duke of Alva. " Like cup, like cover," says Fuller. In his new home, he repudiated his native country, devoting himself to Alva's schemes against England with all the venom of a fanatic and a renegade. The Duke make Eng- lish merchandise contraband at Ant- werp, and Story was liis zealous agent in searching for it. He did this with so much vigor and cruelty, that his person was inordinately coveted by English merchants, who set a trap to catch him. One Par- ker entered the port of Antwerp and suborned men to whisper that there were Bibles and other hereti- cal books on board ; a sort of goods for which Story was particularly voracious. No terrier ever rushed upon a haunt of vermin with more eagerness than did Story beneath the deck of the English skipper. The hatches were shut upon him ; and when he next saw sunlight, it was under his native sky at Yar- v^ mouth. He was tried and con- demned for high treason ; and in June, 1571, executed. On his trial he was charged with having con- spired against the life of the queen and for the invasion of her kingdom. The question Avas, whether, these things being true, he was guilty of treason. He denied that he was ; and on this ground, — that he was no sworn subject to the queen of sJ ^^ England, but to the king of Spain. He was tried and sentenced, on the ground that he was English-born, and that no man can i-enounce sub- jection to his native government. (Bigges, 105 ; Burleigh to Walslng- ham. Zurich Letters, No. CLV; Horn to Bulhnger. Fuller, Bk. IX. p. 84. Camden, 123, 168. Hol- ingshed, IV. 260. Fox, HI. 1023. Strype's Annals, HI. 124; Parker, 464. Mackintosh, I. 369.) One would think that, if Story could not shake off allegiance by voluntary expatriation, Mary could V y Ch. XV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1572. 425 vl\ jjossihle sjjcecl" This was passed "by the voice of the whole House." ^ On the 21st, this resolve was sent to the Upper House, with request "to know their lordships' liking " of the same ; to which immediate answer was returned, " that they had themselves re- solved in the Great Cause much to the like effect ; and that, for better and more speedy proceeding therein, they did pray immediate conference with the previous committee of the House." The Com- mons thereupon directed the committee accordingly.^ The second day after, Mr. Comptroller declared from her Majesty, "that she did thankfully accept the care of the House for her safety ; but that, partly in honor and partly in conscience, it w^as her mind to defer, though not to reject, the determina- tion for a bill against the Scottish queen for high treason, and that she liked better with all convenient speed proceeding should be had in a second bill/ which should be only to disable the Scottish queen V for any claim or title to the crown."* The Com- mons mstantly resolved, " That nevertheless, with one ivhole voice and consent, they did still rely upon the proceeding for high treason as most necessary; not acquire allegiance by involim- tacl done treason, a fortiori she, the tary expatriation ; that if Story, a queen, owed no allegiance to Eng- native-born Englishman, could not land, and therefore had done no transfer fealty to Spain, Mary, a treason. native-born Scotchwoman, could not But as we see in 13 Eliz. Cap. II. have fealty to England thrust upon any act was created treason in those her ; that if Story, by birth a sub- days, as it suited the convenience of ject, could not become a subject the law-makers, elsewhere by oath, Mary, by birth a ^ D'Ewes, 20G, 207. sovereign princess, could not become ^ Ibid., 213. a subject elsewhere without oath. ^ Ibid., 213. If he, the subject, stiU owed alle- * Ibid., 216. glance to England, and therefore VOL. I. 54 426 THE PRESBYTERIANS AND [Ch. XV. without any liking or allowance of the other propo- sition." This resolve they sent immediately to the Lords, requesting that, if they concurred therein, further conference might be had. The next day — the 24th — the Lords replied, " that they did like well and approve of the opinion of the Commons, and would join in committees of conference in the afternoon in the Star-Chamber." ^ The result was that on Wednesday — the 28th — these committees waited upon her Majesty, by her appointment, to lay before her " The Reasons for their Opinion touch- ing the Great Cause." ^ We have given this very succinct account, that it may appear how ripe for action the Parliament were at their very assembling; and that both Houses were of one mind, of like diligence, and hke zeal. Li the Commons there were " sundry speeches " ; but, it would seem, no debate, no difference of opin- ion. The Catholic peers, doubtless, dissented from a purpose of blood against the orthodox heir j)resump- tive to the throne ; but, with this exception, the bent of the whole Parliament was for the swift execution of one on whose account — to say the least — the kingdom was in constant peril. The devoted and ^ clear-headed Cecil, — now Lord Burleigh, — in whose mental conflicts self-possession never struck flag to passion, was "overthrown in heart, with no spark almost of good spirits left to nourish health in his body " ; yet not so much for a danger which he was ready to grapple by the beard, as for the temporizing policy of the queen by which he was held in check. "There can be no greater soundness than is m the 1 D'Ewes, 214. "- Ibid., 215. Cn. XV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1572. 427 Commons' House," said he, " and no lack appearetli in the Upper House ; but in the highest person such slowness in the offers of surety." — i. e. the execution of Mary and of Norfolk, — " and such stay in resolution, as it seemeth God is not pleased that the mrebj shall succeed."^ There can be no doubt that the Puritans were of importance in this House of Commons; for in the next session, in 1575-6, of this same Parliament, — which was continued for eleven years,^ — their voice was distinctly heard. Nor can we suppose that they were behind the Precisians of the Church in zealous \y promotion of vital measures against Mary. But to attribute the act which passed against her in both Houses,^ the reasonings by which it was sustained, and the queen's "forbearing to allow it," all solely, or even chiefly, to " their j)revalence in the House," and tlicir " intemperance," is both untrue, and in the IX face of known facts.^ In the prosecution of these ^ Digges, 203; Burleigli to Wal- Testament"; and lie insinuates that singham, 21 May 1572. tlie queen would not accede to the - D'Ewes, 226, 277, 310. application, because "she so little ^ Ibid., 204. loved the sect." All this is unfor- * I here refer to Hume, III. 87. tunate. • He says, " The Commons made a The use of the " authorities " direct application for the immediate would equally argue a prevalence trial and execution " of Mary. So of Puritanical interest among the they did ; but the application was I^ords spiritual and temporal ; for -^ from the Lords and the Commons, — both Houses reasoned alike, and which, as he uses, it, alters the case sanctioned the papers presented, entirely. Burleigh's particular posi- But again. The Apocryphal tion he wholly overlooks. He adds, Books of the Old Testament — be- " Nothing could be a stronger cause unknown in the Hebrew Ian- v y/ proof that the Puritanical interest guage ; because never received into prevailed in the House, than the in- the sacred canon by the Jewish v/* temperate use of authorities derived Church, and therefore never sanc- from Scripture, especially the Old tioned by our Saviour ; and because 428 U THE PRESBYTERIANS AND [Cii. XV. measures, the Precisian of the Church and the Puri- tan forgot their differences; and stood as one man against the milder proposition of the queen. In the Upper House, the bishop joined with the temporal lord, and both seconded the Puritan of the Commons, in " exciting the prince to cruelty and blood, contrary to her merciful inclinations " -, ^ and if there was not hteral unanimity among the lords, there were hot unkno-wn in the Christian canon of Scriptures untU more than four hun- y dred years after Christ (Home's Introduction, I. C27, 628) — were not allowed by the Puritans in the time of Elizabeth to be of any authority. They disliked that they should be even read in the churches ; and made it one of their prominent ob- jections to the established service, that the reading of them was re- quired. A Puritan might quote Aristotle or Cicero to illustrate a principle in law or morals ; but he would no sooner quote " The Wis- dom of Solomon," or " Ecclesiasti- cus," than he would a heathen classic, to prove a civil or a religious duly. Yet both these apocryphal books are cited as " authorities " in the document to which Hume refers. However, therefore, the Puritanical interest may have prevailed in the Commons, and however the Puritans may have joined in the application, it is clear from the paper itself, that it must have been/ramecZ by Church- men ; and the sneer of the historian is wasted. Apropos : a word to balance the ridicule so freely bestowed upon the Puritans for their deductions from Old Testament Scriptures. Two instances will suffice. "The pun- ishment for high treason," argued Sir Edward Coke, " is warranted by divers examples in Scripture ; tor Joab was drawn, Bithan was hanged, Judas was embowelled " ! (Black- V* stone, IV. 92, note k.) Another notable instance : Mr. Barwick, a clergyman of the Established Church, and not a Puritan, proved that God delights in mediocrity thus : " Man V was put into the midst of Paradise. A rib was taken out of the midst of • man. The Israelites went through the 7mdst of the Red Sea and of , Jordan. Samson put firebrands In i the midst, between the foxes' tails. David's men had their garments cut off by the viidst. Christ was hanged , in the midst, between two thieves " ! \ (Strype's Annals, Oxford edit., VI. 232 ; folio edit.. III. Append. Bk. I. No. XXIV. p. 41.) Were the Puri- tans, who often doubtless misinter- preted and misapplied Scripture, sinners and sQly above all others V Did they ever equal Coke and Bar- wick V The truth is, the principles of hermeneutics, especially In their application to the Holy Scrljitures, were very imperfectly understood, in those days, by the learned of all parties alike. 1 D'Ewes, 211. Ch. XV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1572. 429 zeal and stem resolution no wliit less than in the Commons. Besides, there was no honester or hotter zealot in the Great Cause than her Majesty's most influential minister. So intense was the anxiety of Lord Burleigh, — as stated above, — so watchful and untiring was he lest Parliament perchance should divide or flag in furthering Mary's death, that, crip- pled and tortured as he was by disease, he would be carried before the queen, that he might argue and persuade ; and to the senate, that he might strength- en and inspire.^ It is not within the range of our theme to canvass the prison history of Mary, or to speculate upon her complicity in the plot which, before the Parliament was adjourned, cost Norfolk his head. But it is due to her memory to say, that if she did conspire to overthrow the power which thralled her, and if that overthrow was the only feasible means of her deHv- erance, she did but follow a law of nature which, in ^ Digges, 203 ; Burleigh to Wal- health in my body, being every third singham. day thrown down to the ground, so I think it well to transcribe the as now I am forced to be carried letter of Burleigh, previously quoted into the Parliament-House, and to in part, so far as it illustrates the her Majesty's presence; and to la- subject-matters in hand. ment it openly is to give more com- " Of our Parliament, there can fort to the adversaries. These are be found no more soundness than is our miseries, and such as I see no in the Conmaons House, and no lack end thereof; and amongst others, appearing in the Upper House, but shame doth as much trouble me as in the highest person such slowness the rest, that all persons should be- in the offers of surety, and such hold our follies as they may think, stay in resolution, as it seemeth God imputing these lacks and errors to is not pleased that the surety shall some of us that are accounted in- succeed. To lament that secretly ward counsellors, where indeed the I cannot forbear, and thereby with fault is not ; and yet they must be it and such like I am overthrown so suffered, and to be so imputed, in heart, as I have no spark almost for saving the honor of the highest." of good spirits left in me to nourish 430 THE PRESBYTERIANS AND [Cu. XV. its true meaning, always coincides with that of God. To what Nature teaches, an Apostle could appeal.^ On the other hand, it is due to their memory whose history is in hand to state the grounds on which, in common mth the other members of this Parliament, and with the masses out of Parliament, they justified their proceedings. The case admitted of but two questions. For the real and serious hazards in which a wrong policy had involved the government by the imprisonment of the refugee queen, was there any remedy but the axe? There was none. The answer was self- evident; reached without process, and held with- out doubt. Was this remedy a righteous one? In other words, had the Queen of Scots forfeited life ? did justice coincide with the exigencies of the state? The Puritan answered, "Yes." For this answer there were reasons. Be it that they were false ; in his mind they w^ere true. Be it that Mary was innocent of crime ; m his very soul he believed her proven guilty, " found so by the judges of the realm." ^ Be it that he was a lame interpreter of Scripture, a jaundiced inspector of facts, a bad reasoner, a dupe to calumny and his own credulity, yet he acted upon the best mformation he could obtain, — uj)on his convictions. He was honest. Because of her rehgion, because of her religious allies or sympathizers, because of her relation to the crown, and, we may add, because of the grievous wrongs done to her, Mary had long been a terror to all the Protestants of England. It was their firm conviction, that " she had sought and wrought, by > 1 Cor. xi. 14. « D'Ewes, 215. Cn. XV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1572. 431 all means, to f^cduce God's people in the realm from true religion ; that she was the only hope of all the adversaries of God throughout all Europe, and the instrument whereby they trusted to overthrow the Gospel of Christ in all countries," — both of which, it was believed, she and they sought to do by sub- verting the governments ; that " she had sought both the disinheriting and the destruction of Elizabeth " ; that " she had heaped up together all the sins of adultery, murder, conspiracy, treason, and blasphemy against God." ^ Upon these premises, over which in their minds there hung no cloud of doubt, they reasoned from Scripture cited, that " her Majesty must needs offend in conscience before God, if she did not punish so grievous an offender," — " queen or sub- .ject, stranger or citizen, kin or not kin," — " accord- ino^ to the measure of her offence in the hio-hest degree " ; an offender, too, " whom God's special and remarkable Providence had put into the Queen's Majesty's hands to he punished " ; that " if such an one should escape with small punishment, there was reason to fear " — as most certainly there was — " that God would reserve her as an instrument to put the queen from her royal seat, and to plague the naughty subjects " ; that " to spare one person, being an enemy, a stranger, a professed member of Anti- christ, and convicted of so many heinous crimes, with the evident peril of so many thousands of bodies and souls of good and faithful subjects, might justly be termed cruel compassion " ; and that her Majesty "would be in danger of the blood of God's people, if she should not cut off'^ so great and dan- 1 D'Ewes, 208, 209. 432 THE PRESBYTERIANS AND [Cii. XV. geroiis a sinner. ^^Thcrcforc^^ — said the petitioners of both Houses of ParUament in their " Reasons " given, — " as the Queen's Majesty indeed is merciful, so we most humbly desire her that she will open her mercy towards God's people and her good subjects in despatching those enemies " — the Duke of Nor- folk is here included — " that seek the confusion of God's cause amongst us and of tJds nolle realms -^ In their "Petition," they argued against her Ma- jesty's scheme "to proceed only in disabling the Scottish queen for any claim or title to the crown," that "such special disabling would be in effect a special confirmation of a right she should have had " ; meaning, "a special admission that a title had pre- viously existed," — and most shrewdly was this said. In proposmg this procedure, Elizabeth had by impli- cation — but as yet only to her Parliament — ad- mitted inadvertently that Mary was in verity the next heir to the crown. They argued further, that " a firebrand once kindled and having matter to work upon would hardly be quenched without great haz- ard"; that "hope of gain through Mary would make her partisans bold, more than any penalties ever so terrible would deter them " ; that " she wanted neither wit nor wisdom to escape," nor courage to do it even at the hazard of her life, all of which she had proved when "she adventured herself at Loch Leven";^ that "there were traitors ready ^ D'Ewes, 208-210, ^assm. more clearly to what utter self- ^ I could not consent to insert in abandonment to vice it was be- the text words whicli contain a lieved, hy all classes of English Prot- scui'rilous innuendo. Yet I place estants, this unfortunate princess them here, because perhaps noth- had arrived. " She was told at ing in the records of the time shows Loch Leven, there was no way but Cii. XV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1572. 433 to do for her liberty, avIio would adventure deep for a kingdom, because — the service done — the reward would be great"; "and when that day shall come, woe be to all true Christians universally ; for upon her do depend the chiefest enemies of religion and of this kingdom!" "Whereby it appeareth" — is the close of the argument — "that the disabling her would be rather for her benefit than her hurt; whereas dealing with her in the first degree ac- cording to her deserts " — although " she hath fallen into your hands from the violence of others, and so as a bird followed by a hawk seeketh succor at your Majesty's feet" — "is lawful, safe, necessary, and honorable for your Majesty and all Christen- dom besides." ^ In reply to these persuasives, her Majesty declared to iDoth Houses, that she did thankfully accept their good-will and zeal; that what they recommended was certainly the best and surest for safety; but that, for private reasons, she should for the present suspend, though not reject, the course of jDroceed- ing advised by their memorial. She further desired a second bill, to embrace the other course of pro- ceeding, yet so as it should neither admit nor deny any right of succession to the crown to be or to have been in the Scottish queen.^ To secure this, death -with her, if she did not take Journal ; but only to express my her imprisonment quietly, and live understanding of its true meaning. without seeking liberty. Notwith- That the reader may judge for him- standing, she adventured herself self, I give the words from D'Ewes. with a young fellow very dishonor- " Her Majesty, minding in that bill ably to get away in a boat." by any implication or drawing of ^ D'Ewes, 216, 217. words not to have the Scottish ^ I have here taken, perhaps, a queen either enabled or disabled large liberty with the text of the to or from any manner of title to vor,. I. 55 434 THE PRESBYTERIANS AND [Ch. XV. she would have the bill first drawn by her Coun- cil ; and in conclusion, she forbade either House to enter, in the mean time, upon any speeches or argu- ments upon the matter. A bill, however, afterwards passed both Houses " against Mary, the dmicjliter and heir of James V., late King of Scots, commonly called the Queen of Scots " ; ^ but it did not receive the royal sanction. Four days after it was sent to the Lords from the Commons, the Parliament was "adjourned" by the queen's command.^ Thus began,^ and thus for the present ended, the Great Cause of the Queen of Scots. Experts, perhaps novices, in casuistry and Scrip- tural exegesis may find flaws in the reasonings of the committees in this cause. But it should be remem- bered, that these are not chargeable to either one of the dominant religious sects, but to the entire Prot- estant mind of England, — misled, doubtless, by libels and forgeries, and certainly hard pressed to decisive measures for national defence. the crown of this realm, or any much as any mention made of the other title to the same whatsoever Queen of Scots in that Parlia- touched at all, willeth that the bill ment." be first drawn by her learned Coun- Unless " io make unable" be dif- cU," &c. ferent from " to disable," the bill 1 D'Ewes, 204, 221, 224. " against Mary, commonly called the ^ Ibid., 204. Queen of Scots," was drawn contra- 3 Hallam seems to say on p. 88, ry to the queen's intent ; and not and distinctly says on p. 149, that a by the Council, but by Parliament bill attainting the Queen of Scots in direct disobedience of her com- was introduced into the Parliament mand. Burleigh describes it as " a of 1571. So also say Camden, p. law to ?wa^e her wnable and unwor- 1G8, and "Rapin, 11. 100. This is a thy of succession to the crown." mistake, the source of which is stated (Lingard, VIII. 102, note; quoted by D'Ewes, 207, 212, 215 ; where it from Digges, 219.) There is no appears, as well as from the Journal clew to its puiport in D'Ewes, other of 1 5 7 1 itself, that ' ' there was not so than its title. Cu. XV.] THE PARLIAMENT OF 1572. 435 In the very face of the royal recommendation at the opening of Parhament, that they should enlist the civil sword with the sword ecclesiastic in the service of "the ornaments of religion," the Commons pro- posed laws to lighten the ceremonial burdens. They brought in two bills " for Rites and Ceremonies/' ^ one of which — to redress the hardships of the Puri- tans — was read the third time and referred, on the 20th of May. On the 22d, her Majesty ordered that henceforth no bills concerning religion should X X be presented or received there, unless first consid- ered and hked by the clergy ; and demanded that the bills be sent to her.^ The House sent them, with a humble request, that, if her Majesty liked them not, she would not think ill of the House, or of the per- sons who presented them. The next day, Mr. Treas- urer reported, that "her Majesty did mislike the first bill, and him who brought the same into the House ; that she would have no preacher or minister im- peached or indicted, as the preamble of the bill did purport ; and that she herself, as Defender of the Faith, would aid and maintain all good Protestants to the discouraging of all Papists."^ We should be slow to concede that " the submis- siveness of this Parhament," in this instance, "was owing to the queen's vigorous dealings with the last ; ^ for it was after her dealing with Bell, and dur- ing her dealing with Strickland, that the most bold and interesting debates broke forth in that House of N ^ Commons, andTlieir most spirited resentment of her breach of privilege. True, the Commons of 1572 * Strype's Parker, 394. ^ Piid., 214. =* D'Ewes, 213. * Hallam, 160. 436 PEESBYTERIANS AND PARLIAMENT OF 1572. [Ch. XV. were not the same ; but we have just seen that they could reject a royal dictation, notwithstanding the memory of vigorous deahngs in 1571. Besides, the very man, Peter Wentworth, who revived the cour- age of the last House by his indignant retort upon Sir Humphrey Gilbert, was present here in this ; and, although he held his peace, he was not cowed, but aroused and incensed, by the arbitrary interference of the queen. This he proved most memorably in the next session of this same Parliament. It is more reasonable to suppose that the Commons, instead of being overawed by her Majesty's frown, yielded their indignation to the paramount, absorbing interest of " The Great Cause." The Puritan knew when to speak, and when to be silent. CHAPTER XVI. THE ADMONITION TO PARLIAMENT. The First Pkesbyteey. — A Pukitax Reply to a Bishop's Defence of the Church. — Field axd Wilcox imprisoned. — Their Conference with THE Archbishop's Chaplain. — Whitgift's Answer to the Admonition. Caetwright publishes a Second Admonition, and a Eeply to Whit- gift's Answer. — Their Controversy. — The Queen's Proclajiation against the Admonition, and Cartwright's Eeply. — The Alarm of THE Precisian Prelates. — Subscription enforced throughout the Kingdom. — The JLvssacre on St. Bartholomew's Day in Paris. Re- joicings at Rome. — Effect of the Massacre in England. — The Con- dition OF Religion. 1572. Mr. Field and Mr. Wilcox did not folter in their plan. They matured their memorial after the gen- eral outline which has heen described, submitted it to the revision of several of their dissenting brethren, and j)resented it themselves to Parliament early in the session. It was entitled " An Admonition to Par- liament for Reformation of Church Discipline " ; was printed when presented, and soon passed through four editions, notwithstanding strenuous efforts by authority to suppress it.^ The special umbrage given to the queen by what was designated as " the first bill," affords ground to suppose that it had been framed to further " the Ad- 1 Fuller, Bk. IX. p. 102. Heyl.