instruct their Hearers in the Fundamentals of Religion of which they had known little formerly This made the Nation run after these Teachers with a wonderful Zeal but they mixed too much Sharpness against the Friars in their Sermons which was judged indecent in them to do tho their Hypocrisy and Cheats did in a great measure excuse those Heats and it was observed that our Saviour had exposed the Pharisees in so plain a manner that it did very much justify the treating them with some Roughness yet it is not to be denied but Resentments for the Cruelties they or their Friends had suffered by their means might have too much Influence on them This made it seem necessary to suffer none to preach at least out of their own Parishes without Licence and many were licensed to preach as Itinerants There was also a Book of Homilies on all the Epistles and Gospels in the Year put out which contained a plain Paraphrase of those Parcels of Scripture together with some practical Exhortations founded on them Many Complaints were made of those that were licensed to preach and that they might be able to justify themselves they began generally to write and read their Sermons and thus did this Custom begin in which what is wanting in the heat and force of Delivery is much made up by the strength and solidity of the Matter and has produced many Volumes of as excellent Sermons as have been preached in any Age. Plays and Enterludes were a great Abuse in that time in them Mock-Representations were made both of the Clergy and of the Pageantry of their Worship The Clergy complained much of these as an Introduction to Atheism when things Sacred were thus laught at and said They that begun to laugh at Abuses would not cease till they had represented all the Mysteries of Religion as ridiculous The graver sort of Reformers did not approve of it but political Men encouraged it and thought nothing would more effectually pull down the Abuses that yet remained than the exposing them to the scorn of the Nation A War did now break out between England and Scotland at the Instigation of the King of France A War with Scotland King Henry set out a Declaration pretending that the Crown of Scotland owed Homage to him and cited many Precedents to shew that Homage was done not only by their Kings but by consent of the States for which Original Records were appealed to The Scots on the other hand asserted that they were a free and independent Kingdom that the Homages antiently made by their Kings were only for Lands which they had in England and that those more lately made were either offered by Pretenders in the case of a doubtful Title or were extorted by Force And they said their Kings could not give up the Rights of a free Crown and People The Duke of Norfolk made an In-road into Scotland with 20000 Men in October but after he had burnt some small Towns and wasted Teviotdale he returned back to England In the end of November an Army of 15000 Scots with a good Train of Artillery was brought together They intended to march into England by the Western Road. The King went to it in Person but he was at this time much disturbed in his Fancy and thought the Ghost of one whom he had unjustly put to death followed him continually he not only left the Army but sent a Commission to Oliver Sinclare then called his Minion to command in chief This disgusted the Nobility very much who were become weary of the Insolence of that Favourite so they refused to march and were beginning to separate While they were in this Disorder 500 English appeared and they apprehending it was a fore Party of the Duke of Norfolk's Army refused to fight so the English fell upon them and dispersed them they took all their Ordinance and Baggage and 1000 Prisoners of whom 200 were Gentlemen The chief of these were the Earls of Glencarn and Cassilis The News of this so over-charged the Melancholy King that he died soon after leaving only an Infant Daughter newly born to succeed him The Lords that were taken were brought up to London and lodged in the Houses of the English Nobility Cassilis was sent to Lambeth where he received those Seeds of Knowledg which produced afterwards a great Harvest in Scotland The other Prisoners were also instructed to such a degree that they came to have very different Thoughts of the Changes that had been made in England from what the Scotish Clergy had possessed them with who had encouraged their King to engage in the War both by the assurance of Victory since he fought against an Heretical Prince and the Contribution of 50000 Crowns a Year The King's Death and the Crowns falling to his Daughter made the English Council lay hold on this as a proper Conjuncture for uniting the whole Island in one therefore they sent for the Scotish Lords and proposed to them the marrying the Prince of Wales to their young Queen this the Scots liked very well and promised to promote it all they could And so upon their giving Hostages for the performing their Promises faithfully they were sent home and went away much pleased both with the Splendor of the King's Court and with the way of Religion which they had seen in England A Parliament was called A Parliament called in which the King had great Subsidies given him of six Shillings in the Pound to be paid in three Years A Bill was proposed for the advancement of true Religion by Cranmer and some other Bishops for the Spirits of the Popish Party were much fallen ever since the last Queen's Death yet at this time a Treaty was set on foot between the King and the Emperour which raised them a little for since the King was like to engage in a War with France it was necessary for him to make the Emperour his Friend Cranmer's Motion was much opposed and the timorous Bishops forsook him yet he put it as far as it would go An Act about Religion tho in most Points things went against him By it Tindall's Translation of the Bible was condemned as crafty and false and also all other Books contrary to the Doctrine set forth by the Bishops But Bibles of another Translation were still allowed to be kept only all Prefaces or Annotations that might be in them were to be dashed or cut out All the King's Injunctions were confirmed No Books of Religion might be printed without Licence there was to be no Exposition of Scripture in Plays or Enterludes none of the Laity might read the Scripture or explain it in any publick Assembly But a Proviso was made for publick Speeches which then began generally with a Text of Scripture and were like Sermons Noblemen Gentlemen and their Wives or Merchants might have Bibles but no ordinary Woman Tradesman Apprentice or Husbandman might have any Every Person might have the Book set out by the
freedome of Speech but being much cried down he said they were a company of men who had dissembled with God and the World in the late Reign and were now met together to set forth false devices which they were not able to maintain Theodoret's words were much and often insisted on so Weston answered if Theodoret should be yielded to them they had an hundred Fathers on the other side Cheyney shewed out of Hesychius that the custome of Jerusalem was to burn so much of the Elements as was not consumed And he asked what it was that was burnt One answered it was either the Body of Christ or the substance of Bread put there by Miracle at which he smiled and said a reply was needless When much discourse had past Weston asked if the House were not fully satisfied to which the Clergy answered Yes but the Spectators cried out No No for the doors were opened then Weston asked the five Disputants if they would answer the Arguments that should be put to them Ailmer said they would not enter into such a Disputation where matters were so indecently carried They proposed only the Reasons why they could not joyn with the Vote that had been put concerning the Sacrament but unless they had fairer Judges they would go no further Weston broke up all by saying You have the Word but we have the Sword rightly pointing out that wherein the strength of both fides consisted It is not to be doubted but that the Popish party pretended they had the Victory for that always the stronger side does upon such occasions Yet it was visible that this dispute was not so fairly carried as those were in King Edward's days in which for near a year before any change was made there were publick disputes in the Universities which were more proper places for them than a Town full of noise and business The question was also here determined first and then disputed And the presence and favour of the Privy Council did as much raise the one party as it depressed the other In the end of this year Veysey was again repossessed of the See of Exeter Coverdale being now a Prisoner in the Tower In the beginning of the next year a great Embassy came from the Emperour The Treaty of Marriage begun to agree the conditions of the Marriage between his Son and the Queen Gardiner took care to have extraordinary ones granted both to induce the Parliament more easily to consent to it and to keep the Spaniards from being admitted to any share in the Government that so he might keep it in his own hands But the Emperour was resolved to grant every thing that should be asked It was agreed that the Government should be entirely in the Queen and that though Pr. Philip was to be named in all Writs and his Image was to be on the Coin and Seals yet the Queens hand alone was to give authority to every thing without his No Spaniard was to be capable of any Office No change was to be made in the Law nor was the Queen to be required to go out of England against her will Nor might their issue go out of England but by the consent of the Nobility The Queen was to have of Jointure 40000 l. out of Spain and 20000 l. out of the Netherlands If the Queen had a Son he was to inherit Burgundy and the Netherlands as well as England if Daughters only they were to succeed to her Crowns and to have such portions from Spain as was ordinary to be given to Kings Daughters The Prince was to have no share in the Government after her death And the Queen might keep up her League with France notwithstanding this Match But this did not satisfie the Nation Which provokes some to rebel which lookt on these offers only as baits to hook them into slavery The severities of the Spanish Government in all the Provinces that were united to that Crown and the monstrous Cruelties exercised in the West Indies were much talkt of and it was said England must now preserve it self or be for ever inflaved Carew and Wiat undertook to raise the Countrey the one in Cornwall and the other in Kent and the Duke of Suffolk promised to raise the Midland Counties for the disposition to rise was general and might have been fatal to the Queen if there had been good heads to have led the people But before it grew ripe the design was discovered and upon that Sir Peter Carew fled to France Wiat gathered some men about him Wiat's Rebellion and on the twenty fifth of January he made Proclamation at Maidstone that he intended nothing but to preserve the Nation from the yoke of strangers and assured the people that all England would rise The Sheriff of Kent required him under pain of Treason to disperse his Company but he did not obey his Summons One Knevet raised a body of men about Tunbridge and marched towards him but was intercepted and routed by a force commanded by the Duke of Norfolk who was sent with two hundred Horse and six hundred Londoners to dissipate this Insurrection but some that came over from Wiat as deserters perswaded the Londoners that it was a common cause in which they were engaged to maintain the liberty of the Nation So they all went over to Wiat. Upon this the Duke of Norfolk retired back to London and Wiat who had kept himself under the defence of Rochester-Bridge advanced towards it The Duke of Suffolk made a faint attempt to raise the Country but it did not succeed and he was taken and brought to the Tower The Queen sent the offer of a Pardon to Wiat and his men but that not being received by them she sent some of her Council to treat with him He was blown up with his small success and moved that the Queen would come to the Tower of London and put the command of it into his hands till a new Council were setled about her So it appeared there was no Treaty to be thought on The Queen went into London and made great protestations of her love to her people and that she would not dispose of herself in Marriage but for the good of the Nation Wiat was now four thousand strong and came to Southwark but could not force the Bridge of London He was informed the City would all rise if he should come to their aid but he could not find Boats for passing over to Essex so he was forced to go to the Bridge of Kingston On the fourth of February he came thither but found it cut yet his men mended it and he got to Hide Park next morning His men were weary and disheartned and now not above 500 so that though the Queens forces could have easily dispersed them yet they let them go forward that they might cast themselves into their hands He marched through the Strand and got to Ludgate where he hoped to have found the Gate opened but
The Pope promises to satisfy the King ibid But proceeds hastily to a Sentence Pag. 102 Arguments for rejecting the Pope's Power Pag. 103 And for the Kings Supremacy Pag. 106 The Clergy submit to it Pag. 108 1534. The Pope's Power condemned in Parliam Pag. 109 The Act of the Succession Pag. 110 An Act concerning Hereticks Pag. 111 The Submission of the Convocation Pag. 112 An Act for the Election of Bishops Pag. 113 The Attainder of the Nun of Kent Pag. 114 All swear the Oath of Succession Pag. 119 Fisher Bishop of Rochester is in trouble ibid But is very obstinate Pag. 121 More and Fisher refuse the Oath ibid Another Session of Parliament establishes the King's Supremacy Pag. 123 The Progress of the Reformation in Engl. Pag. 125 The Supplication of the Beggars Pag. 127 Frith writes against Purgatory Pag. 128 A Persecution set on by More Pag. 129 Bilney 's Martyrdom ibid Frith 's Sufferings Pag. 133 A stop put to further Cruelties Pag. 135 The Interest the Reformers had at Court Pag. 136 Others oppose them much Pag. 137 The Opinion of some Bishops of a General Council Pag. 138 Heads of a Speech of Cranmer's Pag. 139 The state of England at that time Pag. 141 1535. A General Visitation proposed Pag. 144 Instructions and Injunctions for it ibid The state of the Monasteries in England Pag. 146 Some Houses surrendered to the King Pag. 150 1536. Queen Katherin's Death Pag. 151 The lesser Monasteries suppressed Pag. 152 A Translation of the Bible designed Pag. 153 Queen Ann Boleyn 's Fall Pag. 155 Her Trial Pag. 159 And Execution Pag. 162 Censures past upon it Pag. 164 Lady Mary 's Submission to the King Pag. 165 The Act of the Succession Pag. 167 The Pope desires a Reconciliation with the K. Pag. 168 Acts against the Pope's Power ibid The Convocation examines some Points of Religion Pag. 169 Articles of Religion agreed on Pag. 172 Which are variously censured Pag. 174 Other Alterations proposed Pag. 175 The King protests against all Councils called by the Pope Pag. 178 Card. Pool writes against him Pag. 179 The lesser Monasteries seized on Pag. 181 Which gave a general discontent Pag. 182 Injunctions given by the King Pag. 184 A Rebellion in Lincolnshire Pag. 186 Another in Yorkshire Pag. 187 They are every where quieted Pag. 191 Greater Monasteries surrendered Pag. 193 Some Abbots Attainted Pag. 196 The Impostures of some Images discovered Pag. 200 Becket 's Shrine broken Pag. 201 The Pope thunders against the King Pag. 203 The English Bishops assert the King's Supremacy and explain the Nature of the Power of the Church Pag. 205 The Bible set out in English and new Injunctions Pag. 208 Prince Edward born Pag. 209 Lambert is condemned and burnt for denying the Corporal Presence Pag. 210 Treaties with the German Princes Pag. 213 1539. The Act of the six Articles Pag. 215 Censures past upon it Pag. 219 An Act for the suppressing the Monasteries Pag. 220 An Act for new Bishopricks Pag. 222 An Act for Proclamations Pag. 224 Some Attainted without being heard Pag. 225 The King's kindness to Cranmer Pag. 226 Bishops hold their Sees at the Kings Pleasure Pag. 228 All the Monasteries supprest Pag. 229 A Treaty for a Match with Ann of Cleve Pag. 233 The King marries her but never likes her Pag. 234 The Knights of St. John suppressed Pag. 236 A new Parliament Pag. 235 Cromwel 's Fall Pag. 238 His Attaindor Pag. 240 Censures past upon it Pag. 241 The King's Marriage annull'd Pag. 242 Cromwel 's Death Pag. 246 A Book of Religion set out by the Bishops Pag. 247 The Explanation of Faith Pag. 248 And of the Sacraments Pag. 250 The Book is publisted Pag. 253 Barns ard others fall into Trouble Pag. 255 And burnt Pag. 257 New Sees founded Pag. 260 1541. The Bible set up in Churches Pag. 262 The Affairs of Scotland Pag. 264 A Persecution set on foot in Scotland Pag. 269 The Queen 's ill Life is discovered Pag. 271 1542. A design to suppress the Bible Pag. 274 Bonner's Injunctions ibid The way of Preaching at that time Pag. 275 A War with Scotland Pag. 279 1543. A Parliament called Pag. 280 An Act about Religion ibid Affairs in Scotland Pag. 282 Some burnt at Windsor Pag. 284 Cranmer 's Ruine is designed Pag. 286 1544. The Act of the Succession Pag. 288 The King makes War on France and Scotland Pag. 290 The King takes Bulloign Pag. 291 1545. Wishart burned in Scotland Pag. 292 Cardinal Beaton is murdered Pag. 294 Chantries given to the King Pag. 296 1546. A Peace with France Pag. 297 Ann Aiscough and others burnt Pag. 298 Designs against Cranmer Pag. 300 And against the Queen Pag. 301 The Duke of Norfolk's Fall Pag. 303 1547. The Earl of Surrey executed Pag. 304 The Duke is Attainted in Parliament Pag. 305 The King's Sickness Pag. 307 And Death Pag. 308 His Severities against Papists Pag. 309 The Carthusians in particular Pag. 310 Fisher 's Sufferings Pag. 311 More 's Death and Character Pag. 312 Attainders after the Rebellions Pag. 314 Forrest burnt for Heresy Pag. 315 Cardinal Pool's Friends Attainted Pag. 316 Some Attainted without being heard ibid The Conclusion Pag. 319 BOOK II. Of the Life and Reign of King Edward the Sixth KIng Edward 's Birth and Education Pag. 1 King Henry's Testament Pag. 2 A Protector chosen Pag. 4 Bishops take out Commissions ibid A Creation of Noblemen Pag. 5 Laymen had Ecclesiastical Dignities Pag. 7 Some take down Images Pag. 8 Arguments for and against it Pag. 9 The King's Funeral Pag. 12 Soul Masses examined ibid The Coronation Pag. 14 The Chancellour turned out Pag. 15 Protectors Patent Pag. 17 The Affairs of Germany ibid The Council of Trent Pag. 19 Divisions in England Pag. 20 The Visitation of all Churches Pag. 23 Censures on the Injunctions Pag. 26 The War with Scotland Pag. 28 The Battel of Musselburgh Pag. 31 The Success of the Visitation Pag. 32 A Parliament meets Pag. 35 An Act of Repeal ibid An Act about the Sacrament Pag. 36 An Act concerning the Nomination of Bishops Pag. 37 An Act against Vagabonds Pag. 39 An Act for dissolving the Chantries Pag. 40 The Convocation sits ibid The Affairs of Germany Pag. 43 Differences between the Protector and the Admiral Pag. 45 1548. The M. of Northampton 's Divorce Pag. 48 Some Ceremonies abrogated Pag. 49 A new Office for the Communion Pag. 52 Auricular Confession examined Pag. 54 Gardiner is imprisoned Pag. 56 A new Liturgy composed Pag. 58 The new Offices Pag. 61 Private Communion Pag. 62 Censures past on the Common-Prayer Book Pag. 63 All Preaching was for some time restrained Pag. 64 Affairs in Scotland Pag. 65 Affairs in Germany Pag. 67 1549. A Session of Parliament Pag. 69 An Act for the Marriage of the Clergy ibid An Act confirming the Liturgy Pag. 72 An Act for Fasting Pag. 73 The Admirals Attainder Pag. 74 A new Visitation Pag. 77 Disputes concerning Christs Presence
Arthur and Katherine the Infanta of Spain She came into England was married in November but on the second of April after the Prince died They were not only bedded in Ceremony the night of the Marriage but continued still to lodg together and the Prince by some indecent Rallery gave Occasion to believe that the Marriage was consummated which was so little doubted that some imputed his too early end to his excess in it After his Death his younger Brother was not created Prince of Wales till ten Months had past it being then apparent that the Princess was not with Child by the late Prince Women were also set about her to wait on her with the Precaution that is necessary in such a Case so that it was generally believed that she was no Virgin when the Prince died Henry the seventh being unwilling to restore so great a Portion as two hundred thousand Ducats proposed a second Match for her with his Younger Son Henry Warham did then object against the Lawfulness of it yet Fox Bishop of Winchester was for it and the Opinion of the Pope's Authority was then so well established that it was thought a Dispensation from Rome was sufficient to remove all Objections Decemb. 1503. so one was obtained grounded upon a desire of the two young Persons to marry together for preserving Peace between the Crowns of England and Spain by which the Pope dispensed with it notwithstanding the Princess's Marriage to Prince Arthur which was as is said in the Bull perhaps consummated The Pope was then in War with Lewis the twelfth of France and so would refuse nothing to the King of England being perhaps not unwilling that Princes should contract such Marriages by which the Legitimation of their Issued epending on the Pope's Dispensation they would be thereby obliged in Interest to support that Authority upon this a Marriage followed the Prince being yet under Age but the same day in which he came to be of Age he did by his Father's Orders make a Protestation that he retracted and annulled his Marriage Henry the seventh at his Death charged him to break it off entirely being perhaps apprehensive of such a return of Confusion upon a controverted Succession to the Crown as had been during the Wars of the Houses of York and Lancaster but upon his Death Henry the Eighth being then eighteen Years of Age married her She bore him two Sons who died soon after they were born and a Daughter Mary that lived to reign after him Matches proposed for his Daughter but after that the Queen contracted some Diseases that made her unacceptable to the King so all hope of any other Issue failing several Matches were proposed for his Daughter the first was with the Dauphin then she was contracted with the Emperor and after that a Proposition was made for the King of Scotland and last of all a Treaty was made with Francis the first either for himself he being then a Widower or for his second Son the Duke of Orleans to be determin'd at his Option upon which the Bishop of Tarbe was sent over Ambassador to conclude it he made an Exception that the Marriage was doubtful and the Lady not legitimate which had been likewise made by the Cortes of Spain by whose Advice the Emperor broke the Contract upon that very account so that other Princes moving Scruples against a Marriage with his Daughter the Heir of so great a Crown the King began to make some himself or rather to publish them for he said afterwards he had them some Years before Yet the Cardinal's hatred to the Emperor was look'd on as one of the secret Springs of the King's Aversion to his Aunt which the King vindicating him in publick afterwards did not remove that being considered only as a Court Contrivance The King seemed to lay the greatest Weight on the prohibition in the Levitical Law of marrying the Brother's Wife The King has some scruples concerning his Marriage and he being conversant in Thomas Aquinas's Writings found that he and the other Schoolmen look'd on those Laws as Moral and for ever binding and that by Consequence the Pope's Dispensation was of no force since his Authority went not so far as to dispence with the Laws of God All the Bishops of England Fisher of Rochester only excepted declared under their Hands and Seals that they judged the Marriage unlawful The ill Consequences of Wars that might follow upon a doubtful Title to the Crown were also much considered or at least pretended It is not probable that the engagement of the King's Affections to any other gave the rise to all this for so prying a Courtier as Wolsey was would have discovered it and not have projected a Marriage with Francis's Sister if he had seen the King prepossessed It is more probable that the King conceiving himself upon the point of being discharged of his former Marriage gave a free scope to his Affections which upon that came to settle on Anne Bolleyn The King had reason enough to expect a quick and favourable dispatch of his business at Rome where Dispensations or Divorces in Favour of Princes used to pass rather with regard to the Merits of the Prince that desired them than of the Cause it self His Alliance seemed then necessary to the Pope who was at that time in Captivity Nor could the Emperour with any good colour oppose his Suit since he had broken his Contract with his Daughter upon the account of the doubtfulness of the Marriage The Cardinal had also given him full Assurances of a good Answer from Rome whether upon the knowledg he had of that Court and of the Pope's temper or upon any promise made him is not certain The Reasons gathered by the Canonists for annulling the Bull of Dispensation upon which the Divorce was to follow in course were grounded upon some false suggestions in the Bull and upon the Protestation which the King had made when he came to be of Age. In a word they were such that a favourable Pope left to himself would have yielded to them without any scruple Anne Bolleyn was born in the year 1507 and went to France at seven years of Age and returned twelve years after to England She was much admired in both Courts and continued to live without any Blemish till her unfortunate Fall gave occasion to some malicious Writers to defame her in all the Parts of her Life She was more beautiful than graceful and more chearful than discreet She wanted none of the Charms of Wit or Person and must have had extraordinary Attractives since she could so long manage such a King's Affection in which her being with Child soon after the Marriage shews that in the whole course of seven years she kept him at a due distance Upon her coming to England the Lord Piercy being then a Domestick of the Cardinals made love to her and went so far as to engage himself some way to
long Debate there being 23 only in the Lower House 14 were against the Marriage and 7 for it and two voted dubiously In the upper House Stokesly Bishop of London and Fisher maintained the Debate long the one for the Affirmitive and the other the Negative At last it was carried Nemine contradicente the few that were of the other side it seems withdrawing against the Marriage 216 being present For the other that concerned matter of Fact it was referred to the Canonists and they all except five or six reported That the Presumptions were violent and these in a matter not capable of plain proof were alwayes received in Law The smal number in the Lower and the far greater number in the upper House of Convocation makes it probable that then not only Bishops but all Abbots Priors Deans and Arch-deacons sate in the upper House for they were all called Prelates and had their Writs to sit in a General Council as appears by the Records of the fourth Council in the Lateran and the Council at Vienna and so them might well sit in the upper House And perhaps the two Houses of Convocation were taken from the Patern of the two Houses of Parliament and so none might sit in the lower House but such as were chosen to represent the Inferiour Clergy The Books of Convocation are now lost having perished in the Fire of London but the Author of Antiquitaies Britannicae who lived in that time is of that great credit that we may well depend upon his Testimony Cranmer gives the final Sentence The Convocation having thus judged in the matter the Ceremoy of pronouncing the Divorce judicially was now only wanting The new Queen began to have big a Belly which was a great Evidence of her living chastly before that with the King On Easter Eve she was declared Queen of England And soon after Cranmer with Gardiner who was made upon Wolsey's death Bishop of Winchester and the Bishops of London Lincoln Bath and Wells with many Divines and Canonists went to Dunstable Queen Katherine living then near it at Ampthil The King and Queen were cited he appeared by Proxy but the Queen refused to take any notice of the Court So after three Citations she was declared Contumax and all the Merits of the Cause formerly mentioned were examined At last on the 23 of May Sentence was given declaring the Marriage to have been null from the beginning Among the Archbishops Titles in the beginning of the Judgment he is called Legate of the Apostolick See which perhaps was added to give it the more force in Law Some days after this he gave another Judgment confirming the King's Marriage with Queen Ann and on the first of June she was Crowned Queen This was variously censured It was said Censures past upon it that in the Intervals of a General Council the asking the Opinions of so many Universities and Learned Men was the only sure way to find out the Tradition of the Church And a Provincial Council had sufficient Authority to judge in this Case Yet many thought the Sentence dissolving the first Marriage should have preceded the second And it being contracted before the first was Legally annulled there was great colour given to question the Validity of it But it was answered That since the first was judged null of it self there was no need of a Sentence Declaratory but only for form Yet it was thought either there ought to have been no Sentence past at all or it should have been before the second Marriage Some objected That Cranmer having appeared so much against the Marriage was no competent Judge but it was said that as Popes are not bound by the Opinions they held when they were private Men so he having changed his Character could not be challenged on that account but might give Sentence as Judges decide Causes in which they formerly gave Counsel And indeed the Convocation had judged the Cause he only gave Sentence in form of Law The World wondered at the Pope's Stiffness but he often confessed he understood not those matters only he was afraid of provoking the Emperour or of giving the Lutherans advantage to say that one Pope condemned that with which another had dispensed All People admired Q. Ann's conduct who in a course of so many Years managed a King's Spirit that was so violent in such a manner as neither to surfeit him with too many Favours nor to provoke him with too much Rigour and her being so soon with Child gave hopes of a mumerous Issue They that loved the Reformation lookt for better dayes under her Protection but many Priests and Friars both in Sermons and Discourses condemned the King's Proceedings The King sent Ambassadours to all Courts to justify what he had done He sent also some to Queen Katherine to charge her to assume no other Title but that of Princess Dowager and to give her hopes of puting her Daughter next in the Succession to the Crown after his Issue by the present Queen if she would submit her self to his Will but she would not yield she said she would not take that Infamy on her self and so resolved that none should serve about her that did not treat her as Queen All her Servants adhered so to her Interest that no Threatnings nor Promises could work on them And the stir which the King kept in this matter was thought below his Greatness and seemed to be set on by a Woman's Resentments for since she was deprived of the Majesty of a Crown the Pageantry of a Title was not worth the noise that was made about it The Emperour seemed big with Resentments The French King was colder then the King expected yet he promised to intercede with the Pope and the Cardinals on his account But he was now so entirely gained by the Pope That he resolved not to involve himself in the King's Quarrel as a Party And he also gave over the Designs he once had of setting up a Patriarch in France for the Pope granted him so great a Power over his own Clergy that he could not desire more With this the Emperour was not a little pleased for this was like to separate those two Kings whose Conjunction had been so hurtful to him At Rome the Cardinals of the Imperial Faction The proceedings at Rome upon it complained much of the Attempt made on the Pope's Power since a Sentence was given in England in a Process depending at Rome so they prest the Pope to proceed to Censures But instead of putting the matter past reconciling there was only Sentence given annulling all that the Archbishop of Canterbury had done and the King was required under the pain of Excommunication to put things again in the state in which they were formerly and this was affixed at Dunkirk The King sent a great Embassy to Francis who was then setting out to Marseilles where the Pope was to meet him Their Errand was to disswade him from the
condemned to be burnt as detestable Hereticks in general Words In the same Act by which they were condemned four other were attainted of Treason for being confederated with Reginald Pool and for intending to surprize Calais and as there was a strange mixture in their Condemnation so the like was in their Executions for Abel Featherston and Powell that were attainted in the same Parliament for owning the Pope's Supremacy were executed with them and were coupled together in the Hurdles in which they were carried to Smithfield the King in this affecting an extravagant Appearance of Impartiality in his Justice Barnes being tied to the Stake And burnt went over the Articles of the Creed and declared his Belief of them all and that he abhorred the impious Opinions of some German Anabaptists He asserted the necessity of Good Works but ascribed Justification wholly to the Merits of Christ he professed all due Reverence to the Saints but said he saw no Warrant to pray for them he asked the Sheriff and the People if they knew for what they were condemned and what Heresies they were accused of but none made Answer he prayed God to forgive all that sought their Death and in particular Gardiner if he had done it then prayed for the King and the Prince and expressed his Loyalty to the King that he believed all his just Laws were to be obeyed for Conscience sake and that in no Case it was lawful to resist him he sent some Desires to the King as that he would apply the Abby-Lands to good Uses and the Relief of his poor Subjects that he would punish the Contempt of Marriage that was so common and would put a stop to the Liberty many took of casting off their Wives and living in Whoredom that Swearers might be punished and that since the King had begun to set forth the Christian Religion that he would go on with it for a great deal remained yet to be done he asked the Forgiveness of all People whom he might have at any time offended and so turned and prepared himself for Death then the other two spoke to the same purpose they declared their Faith and exhorted the People to a good Life and mutual Love and they all prayed and embraced one another after that the Fire was set to The Constancy they expressed together with the Gentleness of their Deportment towards their Enemies made great Impressions on the Spectators and cast a heavy Imputation on Gardiner as the Procurer of their Deaths tho he justified himself in an Apology which he printed in which he denied any other Accession to it but giving his Vote to the Bill of Attainder Bonner began now to shew himself in his own Colours He had courted Cromwell more than any Person whatsoever yet the very day after his Disgrace he shewed his Ingratitude for Grafton that had printed the Bible and was much in Cromwell's Favour upon that account meeting Bonner expressed his Sorrow for Cromwell's being sent to the Tower but the other answered that it had been good he had been there much sooner Grafton saw his Error in speaking so freely and went from him but some Verses being printed in Cromwell's Praise Bonner informed the Council what Grafton had said to him and so thought it was probable he had printed them yet he had so many Friends that he was let go He procured many to be indicted upon the Act of the six Articles but an Order came from the King to stop further Proceedings yet he pick'd out one Instance which did equally discover his brutal Cruelty and his want of Judgment One Mekins not above fifteen Years old had said somewhat against the Corporal Presence and in Commendation of Dr. Barnes The Witnesses differed in their Evidence one swore he had said the Sacrament was only a Ceremony the other swore he had said it was only a Signification so two Grand Juries returned an Ignoramus on the Bill upon which he fell into a fit of Cursing and violent Rage and he made the second Grand Jury go aside and consider better of it they being terrified found the Bill and he was condemned to be burnt but hoping to be preserved by what he should say at the Stake he railed at Barnes and praised Bonner much yet that did not save him Two were burnt at Salisbury and two at Lincoln upon the same Statute besides great Numbers that were put in Prison In the end of this Year New Sees founded the King began to endow the new Bishopricks Westminster was the first in which he endowed a Bishoprick a Deanry 12 Prebendaries a Quire and other Officers The Year after this he endowed Chester Glocester and Peterborough but in these Cathedrals he only endowed six Prebendaries two Years after he likewise endowed Oxford and Bristol The Foundations had Preambles are almost the same with that of the Act of Parliament that empowred him to erect them he promoted the Bishops to those Sees by a special Writ tho that was to go thereafter in the way of Election as it was in the other Sees he also converted the Priories of Canterbury Winchester Duresme Worcester Ely Rochester and Carlile into Collegiate Churches consisting of Deans and Prebendaries But as all this came much far short of what the King had at first intended so the Channel in which those Foundations run differed much from what Cranmer had projected whose Interest was so low at Court that his Opinion was not now regarded as it had been formerly He intended to have restored the Cathedrals to what they had been at first to be Colleges and Nurseries for the Diocess and to have set up Readers of the Learned Tongues and of Divinity in them that so a considerable number of young Clerks might have been trained up under the Bishop's Eye both in their Studies and in a Course of Devotion to be by him put afterwards in Livings according to their Merit and Improvements The want of such Houses for the strict Education of those who are to serve in the Church has been the occasion of many fatal Consequences since that time by the Scandals which Men initiated to the Sacred Functions before they were well prepared for them have given the World The Popish Party beyond Sea censured these Endowments both as being a very defective Restitution of the Lands that had been invaded and as an Invasion on the Spiritual Authority when the King divided Diocesses and removed Churches from one Jurisdiction and put them under another To which it was answered That as their Practices against the King had put him to such a charge that he could not execute what he at first intended so both the Roman Emperours and other Christian Kings had regulated and divided the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and made Primates and Patriarchs as they pleased Ely in England was taken out of Lincoln only by the King and his Parliament tho P. Nicolaus did officiously send a Confirmation of it that being an Art of
in the Sacrament Pag. 79 Arguments against the Corporal Presence Pag. 81 Anabaptists in England Pag. 85 Two were burnt Pag. 84 The Doctrine of Predestination abused Pag. 87 Tumults in several parts of England ibid The Rebellion in Devonshire Pag. 89 And in Norfolk Pag. 91 The French begin a War ibid The Rebels every where routed Pag. 92 A Visitation at Cambridge Pag. 94 Bonner's Process Pag. 95 And Deprivation Pag. 100 Ill Success of the English Pag. 101 Several Expedients proposed Pag. 105 The Emperour refuses his Assistance Pag. 106 A Faction against the Protector Pag. 108 Which turns to a Publick Breach Pag. 110 The Protector 's Fall Pag. 112 The Emperour will not assist them Pag. 114 A Session of Parliament ibid 1550. The Duke of Somerset fined but restored into Favour Pag. 116 A Progress of the Roformation ibid. The Book of Ordinations put out Pag. 117 Pool chosen Pope but lost it Pag. 120 A Treaty with France Pag. 122 Ridley made Bishop of London Pag. 123 Gardiner 's Process Pag. 124 Latimer preaches at Court Pag. 126 Hooper made Bishop of Glocester has some Scruple concerning the Vestments ibid A review of the Common-Prayer Book Pag. 128 Bucer offers some Advices to the King Pag. 130 The King 's great Knowledg ibid Altars put down Pag. 131 Affairs of Scotland Pag. 132 And Germany Pag. 133 1551. The Popish Party comply generally Pag. 134 Bucer 's Death Pag. 135 Gardiner 's Deprivation Pag. 136 The Articles of Religion agreed on Pag. 138 Changes made in the Com. Prayer Book Pag. 139 Lady Mary in trouble for having Mass said Pag. 142 The Earl of Warwick's Designs Pag. 147 A Treaty for a Marriage to the King Pag. 149 The Duke of Somerset 's Fall Pag. 150 His Tryal Pag. 151 Rich gives up the Great Seal and it was given to the Bishop of Ely Pag. 154 The Duke of Somerset 's Execution Pag. 156 The Affairs of Germany Pag. 158 1552. A Session of Parliament Pag. 161 An Act against Vsury Pag. 164 A Repeal of the Settlement of the Duke of Somerset 's Estate Pag. 165 Tonstall is imprisoned Pag. 166 A Reformation of Ecclesiastical Laws Pag. 167 The Heads of it Pag. 169 The Poverty of the Clergy Pag. 174 Affairs in Ireland Pag. 175 A Change in the Garter Pag. 177 Northumberland's Severity Pag. 178 Trade flourishes much Pag. 179 Cardan in England Pag. 180 Affaires in Scotland Pag. 183 The Affairs in Germany Pag. 185 An Account of the Council of Trent Pag. 187 The Emperours Designs are blasted Pag. 189 1553. A Bill proposed that Laymen should not hold Church Dignities Pag. 191 An Act suppressing the Bishoprick of Durham ibid Another Visitation Pag. 192 Bishops made by the King's Patent Pag. 193 Affairs in Germany Pag. 194 The King's Sickness Pag. 196 The Patents for the Succes to the Crown Pag. 197 The King's Death and Character Pag. 199 BOOK III. The Life and Reign of Queen Mary QVeen Mary succeeds Pag. 203 But Lady Jane Gray is proclaimed Pag. 205 Censures past upon that Pag. 206 Many turn to Queen Mary Pag. 208 Northumberland marches against her Pag. 209 The Council declares for her Pag. 210 She comes to London Pag. 212 Her former Life ibid The Councils then laid down Pag. 214 Northumberland 's Trial Pag. 215 And Execution Pag. 216 King Edward 's Funeral Pag. 217 A Tumult at St. Pauls Pag. 218 Severe Proceedings against the Men of Suffolk and others Pag. 220 Particularly against Judge Hales Pag. 221 Cranmer 's Imprisonment Pag. 222 The Strangers driven out of England Pag. 224 The Popular Arts used by Gardiner Pag. 225 A Parliament meets and repeals several Laws Pag. 226 The Queen's Mother's Marriage confirmed Pag. 227 King Edward 's Laws about Religion repealed Pag. 229 The Duke of Norfolk's Attainder repealed Pag. 230 A Treaty for reconciling England to the Pope Pag. 232 And for a Match with the Prince of Spain Pag. 233 Pool 's Advices to the Queen Pag. 234 The Parliament opposes the Match and is dissolved Pag. 236 A Convocation meets and dispute about the Sacrament Pag. 237 1554. The Treaty of Marriage begun Pag. 241 Which provokes some to rebel Pag. 242 Lady Jane Gray's Execution Pag. 245 Several others suffered Pag. 247 The Imposture of the Spirit in the Wall Pag. 248 Iujunctions sent to the Bishops ibid. Many Bishops turned out Pag. 249 A new Parliament Pag. 251 A Proposition to make the Queen absolute Pag. 252 New Disputations at Oxford with Cranmer Pag. 254 The Prince of Spain lands and marries the Queen Pag. 258 The Bishops visit their Diocesses Pag. 261 Another Parliament Pag. 263 The Nation is reconciled to the See of Rome Pag. 264 Gardiner 's Policy in the steps of this Change Pag. 268 Consultations about the way of proceedings against Hereticks Pag. 269 1555. A Persecution is set on foot Pag. 271 Rogers and Hooper condemned and burnt Pag. 272 The Burnings much condemned Pag. 274 Arguments against them and for them Pag. 276 The Queen restores the Church-Lands Pag. 279 Marcellus chosen Pope Paul the 4th succeeds ibid. The English Ambassadors come to Rome Pag. 280 The English grow backward to Persecution Pag. 281 The Queen's Delivery in vain looked for Pag. 282 More Hereticks burnt ibid. Religious Houses set up Pag. 285 Sir Tho. More 's Works published ibid. Ridley and Latimer burnt Pag. 286 Gardiner 's Death Pag. 289 The Parliament ill pleas'd with the Queens conduct Pag. 290 Pool 's Decrees for the Reformation of the Clergie Pag. 293 He refuses to bring the Jesuits into England Pag. 295 More of the Reformed are burnt Pag. 296 Affairs in Germany ibid. Charles the 5th 's Resignation Pag. 297 1556. Cranmer 's Sufferings Pag. 298 He repents and is burnt Pag. 301 His Character Pag. 303 More Burnings Pag. 304 The Reformed encrease upon this Pag. 306 The Troubles at Frankford ibid. Pool made Arch-bishop of Canterbury Pag. 307 More Religious Houses ibid. The Pope sets on a War between France and Spain Pag. 309 1557. A Visitation of the Vniversities Pag. 311 A severe Inquisition of Hereticks Pag. 312 More Burnings Pag. 313 Lord Stourton hanged Pag. 315 The Queen joyns in a War against France Pag. 316 The Battel at St. Quintin Pag. 317 The Pope recals Pool Pag. 318 Affairs of Germany Pag. 320 1558. Calais and other Places taken by the French Pag. 322 Great Discontents in England Pag. 324 The Parliament meets Pag. 325 The Carriage and Vsage of L. Eliz. all this Reign ibid. Ill Success and strange Accidents Pag. 329 The Dauphin and the Q. of Scotland married Pag. 331 A Parliament in England Pag. 332 The Queens Death Pag. 333 Pool 's Death and Character ibid. The Queens Character Pag. 334 BOOK IV. QVeen Elizabeth proclaimed Pag. 337 The Queen came to London Pag. 338 Philip proposes Marriage to the Queen but in vain Pag. 339 The Counsels about changing Religion Pag. 340 A Scheme proposed Pag. 341 The Impatience of some Pag. 342 Parker
not Thus the People sought for Shelter under their Protection and found more Mercy at the hands of Common Lawyers than from them who ought to have been the Pastors of their Souls and the Publishers of the most merciful Religion that ever was In the beginnings of this Reign The Prosecution of Lollards before Warham there were several Persons brought into the Bishops Courts for Heresy before Warham Forty eight were accused But of these forty three abjured twenty seven Men and sixteen Women most of them being of Tenterden and five of them four Men and one Woman were condemned some as obstinate Hereticks and others as Relapses and against the common Ties of Nature the Woman's Husband and her two Sons were brought Witnesses against her Upon their Conviction a Certificate was made by the Archbishop to the Chancery upon which since there is no Pardon upon Record the Writs for burning them must have gone out in Course and the Execution of them is little to be doubted for the Clergy were seldom guilty of much Mercy in such Cases having devested themselves of all Bowels as the Dregs of unmortified Nature The Articles objected to them were That they believed that in the Eucharist there was nothing but material Bread That the Sacraments of Baptism Confirmation Confession Matrimony and Extream Unction were neither necessary nor profitable That Priests had no more Power than Laymen That Pilgrimages were not meritorious and that the Mony and Labour spent in them were spent in vain That Images ought not to be worshipped and that they were only Stocks and Stones That Prayers ought not to be made to Saints but only to God That there was no vertue in Holy-water or Holy-bread Those who abjured did swear to discover all that held those Errours or were suspected of them and they were enjoyned to carry a Faggot in Procession and to wear on their Cloaths the Representation of one in Flames as a publick Confession that they had deserved to be burnt There were also four in London that abjured almost the same Opinions and Fox says that six were burnt in Smithfield who might be perhaps those whom Warham had condemned for there is no mention of any that were condemned in the Registers of London By all this it will appear that many in this Nation were prepared to receive those Doctrines which were afterwards preached by the Reformers even before Luther began first to oppose Indulgences The Rise and Progress of his Doctrine are well known The Progress of Luthet's Doctrine the Scandalous extolling of Indulgences gave the first occasion to all that Contradiction that followed between him and his followers and the Church of Rome in which if the Corruptions and Cruelties of the Clergy had not been so visible and scandalous so small a matter could not have produced such a Revolution but any Crisis will put ill humours in Fermentation The Bishops were grosly ignorant they seldom resided in their Diocesses except it had been to riot it at high Festivals and all the Effect their Residence could have was to corrupt others by their ill Example They followed the Courts of Princes and aspired to the greatest Offices The Abbots and Monks were wholly given up to Luxury and Idleness and the unmarried State both of the Seculars Regulars gave infinite Scandal to the World for it appeared that the restraining them from having Wives of their own made them conclude that they had a right to all other Mens The Inferiour Clergy were no better and not having places of retreat to conceal their vices in as the Monks had they became more publick In sum all Ranks of Church-men were so universally despised and hated that the World was very apt to be possessed with prejudice against their Doctrines for the sake of the Men whose Interest it was to support them and the Worship of God was so defiled with much gross Superstition that without great enquiries all Men were easily convinced that the Church stood in great need of a Reformation This was much encreased when the Books of the Fathers began to be read in which the difference between the former and latter Ages of the Church did very evidently appear They found that a blind Superstition came first in the room of true Piety and when by its means the Wealth and Interest of the Clergy was highly advanced the Popes had upon that established their Tyranny under which not only the meaner People but even the crowned Heads had long groaned All these things concurred to make way for the Advancement of the Reformation And so the Books of the Germans being brought into England and Translated many were prevailed on by them Upon this a hot Persecution which is alwayes the Foundation on which a vitious Clergy set up their Rest was vigorously set on foot to such a Degree that six Men and Women were burnt in Coventry in Passion-week only for teaching their Children the Creed the Lord's Prayer and the ten Commandments in English Great Numbers were every where brought into the Bishop's Courts of whom some were burnt but the greater part abjured The King laid hold on this Occasion to become the Church's Champion and wrote against Luther as was formerly told His Book besides the Title of Defender of the Faith drew upon him all that Flattery could invent to extol it yet Luther not daunted with such an Antagonist but rather proud of it answered it and treated him as much below the Respect that was due to a King as his Flatterers had raised him above it Tindal's Translation of the New Testament with some Notes added to it drew a severe Condemnation from the Clergy there being nothing in which they were more concerned then to keep the People unacquainted with that Book Sir Thomas More seconded the King and imployed his Pen in the Service of the Clergy but mixed too much Gall with his Ink. The Cardinal's Behaviour in this matter was unaccountable for he not only acted nothing against the new Preachers but when some Bishops moved for a Visitation of the Universities upon a report of the spreading of Heresy in them he stop'd it yet afterwards he called a Meeting of several Bishops Abbots and Divines before whom two Preachers Bilney and Arthur were brought and Articles of Heresy being objected to them and proved by Witnesses they for a while seemed resolved to seal their Doctrines with their Blood but what through Fear what through Perswasion they were prevailed on first Arthur and Bilney five days after to abjure but tho Bilney was a Relapse yet the Cardinal was gentle to him and Tonstall Bishop of London injoyned him Penance and discharged him So much may suffice to shew the condition of Affairs in England both in Church and State when the Process of the King's Divorce was first set on foot Henry the seventh entered into a firm Alliance with Ferdinand of Spain The King's Marriage and agreed a Match between his Son Prince
French Universities for the Divorce Yet after that he came to England and was present when the Convocation declared the King to be their Supream Head And it is probable that he joined in it for he kept his Deanry some Years after this which it is not likely would have been granted him if he had not done that The King suffered him after that to go beyond Sea but could never draw him over again Some time afterwards he wrote plainly to the King that he condemned both his Divorce and his Separation from the Apostolick See The King upon that sent him a Book writ by Sampson Bishop of Chichester in defence of these things and that set him on writing his Book de Vnione Ecclesiastica which was printed this Year It was full of sharp Reflections on the King whom he compared to Nebuchadnezzar It tended much to depress the Regal and to exalt the Papal Authority And in Conclusion he addressed himself to the Emperour praying him rather to turn his Arms against the King than the Turk It was very Eloquently wrote but there was little Learning or Reasoning in it and it was full of Indecencies in the Language that he bestowed not only on Sampson but on the King The King required him to come over but that was not to be expected after he had made such a step So he devested him of all his Dignities but that recommended him to a Cardinal's Hat Stokesly and Tonstal wrote him a long and learned Letter in the King's Vindication Gary diner wrote also his Book de vera Obedientia to which Bonner prefixed a vehement Preface against the Pope's Power and for justifying the King's Supremacy The King's anger at Pool could not reach him but it fell Heavy on his Kindred Visitors were appointed to survey all the lesser Monasteries The lesser Monasteries cited in They were required to carry along with them the Concurrence of the Gentry near them and to examine the estate of their Revenues and Goods and take Inventories of them and to take their Seals into their keeping They were to try how many of the Religious would take Capacities and return to a Secular Course of Life and these were to be sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Lord Chancellour for them and an Allowance was to be given them for their Journey But those who intended to continue in that state were to be sent to some of the great Monasteries that lay next A Pension was also to be assigned to the Abbot or Prior during Life And of all this they were to make their report by Michaelmass And they were particularly to examine what Leases had been made all the last Year The Abbots hearing of what was coming on them had been raising all the Mony they could and so it was intended to recover what was made away by ill Bargains There were great Complaints made of the Proceedings of the Visitors of their Violencies and Briberies and perhaps not without reason Ten Thousand of the Religious were set to seek for their Livings with Forty Shillings and a Gown a Man Their Goods and Plate were estimated at an 100000 l. And the valued Rents of their Houses was 32000 l. but was really above ten times so much The Churches and Cloisters were in most places pulled down and the Materials sold This gave a general Discontent Which gave a general Discontent and the Monks were now as much pitied as they were formerly hated It was thought strange to see the King devour what his Ancestors had dedicated to the Honour of God and his Saints The Nobility and Gentry who provided for their younger Children or Friends by putting them in those Sanctuaries were sensible of their Loss The People who had been fed at the Abbot's Tables and as they travelled over the Country found the Abbies to be places of Reception to Strangers saw what they were to lose But the more Superstitious who thought their Friends must now ly still in Purgatory without that Relief which the Masses procured them were out of measure offended at these Proceedings The Books that were published of the Disorders in these Houses had no great effect on the People For it was said There was no reason to destroy whole Houses for the sake of some vicious Persons who ought to have been driven out of them and punished But to remove this general discontent Cromwel advised the King to sell these Lands at very easy Rates to the Nobility and Gentry and to oblige them to keep up the wonted Hospitality This would both be grateful to them and would engage them to assist the Crown in the Maintenance of the changes that had been made since their own Interests would be Interwoven with the Rights of Crown and the commoner sort whose grudges lay chiefly in their Stomachs for the want of the good Dinners they used to find would be easily pacified if these were still kept up And upon a Clause in the Act empowering the King to found anew such Houses as he should think fit there were 15 Monasteries and 16 Nunneries new founded It seems these had been more regular than the rest so that for a while they were reprived till the General Suppression came that they fell with the rest They were bound to obey such Rules as the King should send them and to pay him Tenths and first Fruits But all this did not so pacify the People but there was still a great out-cry The Clergy studied much to inflame the Nation and built much on this That an Heretical Prince deposed by the Pope was no more to be acknowledged which had been for 500 Years received as an Article of Faith and was decreed in the same Council that Established Transubstantiation and had been received and caried down from Gregory the Seventh's time who pretended that it was a part of the Papal Power to depose Kings and give away their Dominions and had it been oft put in Practice in almost all the Parts of Europe and some that had been raisers of great Sedititions had been Canonized for it The Pope had summoned the King to appear at Rome and answer for putting away his Queen and taking another Wife for the Laws he had made against the Church and for putting the Bishop of Rochester and others to death for their not obeying them if he did not appear nor reform these things he excommunicated and deprived him absolved his Subjects from their Obedience dissolved his Leagues with Forreign Princes and put the Kingdom under an Interdict But tho the force of these Thunders was in this Age much abated yet they had not quite lost their Strength and the Clergy resolved to make the most of them that could be Some Injunctions which were given by Cromwell Injunctions given by the King increased this ill Disposition They were to this Effect All Church-men were required every Sunday for a quarter of a Year and twice every Quarter after that to preach against
That the matter of the Precontract with the Prince of Lorrain was not fully cleared and it did not appear if it was made by the Queen or whether it was in the Words of the present time or not That the King had married her against her Will and had not given an inward and compleat Consent and that he had never consummated the Marriage so that they saw he could have no Issue by the Queen Upon these grounds the whole Convocation with one consent annulled the Marriage and declared both Parties free This was the grossest piece of Compliance that the King had from his Clergy in his whole Reign For as they knew that there was nothing in the pretended Precontract so by voiding the Marriage because the Consent was not internal and free they made a most pernicious Precedent for breaking all publick Treaties for none can know Men's Hearts it would be easy for every one to pretend that he had not given a perfect Consent and that being allowed there could be no Confidence nor safety among Men any more And in the Process for the King 's first Divorce they had laid it down as a Principle that a Marriage was compleat tho it were never consummated But in a Word the King was resolved to be rid of the Queen and the Clergy were resolved not to offend him And they rather sought out Reasons to give a colour to their Sentence then past it on the force of those Reasons Cromwel was required to send a Declaration of all he knew concerning the Marriage which he did but ended in these most abject Words Written with the heavy Heart and trembling Hand of your Highness's most heavy and most miserable Prisoner and poor Slave Tho. Cromwel and under his Subscription he wrote Most Sacred Prince I cry for Mercy Mercy Mercy The Judgment of the Convocation was reported to the House of Lords by Cranmer and the Reasons were opened by Gardiner They were sent down to the Commons to give them the same account and both Houses were satisfied with it Next day some Lords were sent to the Queen who had retired to Richmond They told her The King was resolved to declare her his adopted Sister and to setle 4000 l. a Year on her if she would consent to it which she cheerfully embraced and it being left to her choice either to live in England or to return to her Brother She preferred the former They prest her to write to her Brother that all this matter was done with her good Will that the King used her as a Father and that therefore he and the other Allies should not take this ill at his hands She was a little averse to this but was prevailed on to do it When things were thus prepared the Act confirming the Judgment of the Convocation past without any Opposition An Act past mitigating one Clause in the Act of the six Articles by which the pains of Death for the Marriage or Incontinence of the Clergy were changed into a Forfeiture of their Goods and Benefices Another Act past Authorizing those Committees of Bishops and Divines that had been named by the King both for the Doctrine and Ceremonies to go on in it and appointing that what should be agreed on by them and Published with the King's Approbation should bind the Subjects as much as if every Particular in it had been ennumerated in that Act any Law or Custome to the contrary notwithstanding But a Proviso was added That nothing might be done by them contrary to the Laws then in force Which Contradiction in the Provisos seems to have been put in on design to keep all Ecclesiastical Proceedings under the Inspection of the Secular Courts since they are the only Expounders of Acts of Parliament Another Act past That no Pretence of a Precontract should be made use of to annul a Marriage duly Solemnized and Consummated And that no Degrees of Kindred but those ennumerated in the Law of Moses might hinder a Marriage This last was added To enable the King to marry Katherine Howard that was Cousin German to Ann Boleyn which was one of the Degrees prohibited by the Canon Law but the reason of the former part is not known It directly condemns the King's Divorce of Ann Boleyn grounded on a pretended Precontract The Province of Canterbury gave the King a Subsidy of 4 s. in the Pound to be payed in two Years with a Preamble of high Acknowledgments of their Happiness under his Protection A Subsidy was also asked of the Laity but in the House of Commons it was much opposed Many said they had given the King the Abbey-Lands in hopes that no Subsidies should have been any more demanded and it shewed a strange Profuseness that now within a Year after that a Subsidy was demanded But it was answered That the King had been at great charge in fortifying his Coasts and in keeping up such Leagues beyond Sea as preserved the Nation in safety a Tenth and four 15ths were granted Several Bills of Attainder were past And in Conclusion the King sent a General Pardon out of which Cromwel and divers others were excepted and then the Parliament was dissolved Cromwel's mean Addresses could not preserve him So he was executed on the 28 of July Cromwels Death He thanked God for bringing him to die in that manner which was just on the account of his Sins against God and his Offences against his Prince He declared that he doubted of no Article of the Catholick Faith nor of any Sacrament of the Church He said He had been seduced but now he died in the Catholick Faith and denied he had supported the Preachers of ill Opinions He desired all their Prayers and prayed very fervently for himself and thus did he end his days He rose meerly by the strength of his Natural Parts for his Education was suitable to his mean Extraction Only he had all the New Testament in Latin by Heart He carried his Greatness with Extraordinary Moderation and fell rather under the weight of Popular Odium than Guilt At his Death he mixed none of the Superstitions of the Church of Rome with his Devotions So it was said that he used the Word Catholick Faith in its true sense and in Opposition to the Novelties of the Church of Rome Yet his Ambiguous way of expressing himself made the Papists say that he died repenting of his Heresy But the Protestants said that he died in the same Perswasions in which he lived With him fell the Office of the King's Vicegerent and none after him have aspired to that Character that proved so fatal to him who first carried it It was believed that the King lamented his Death when it was too late and the Miseries that fell on the new Queen and on the Duke of Norfolk and his Family were look'd on as Strokes from Heaven on them for their cruel prosecuting this unfortunate Minister With his Fall the Progress of the Reformation stopt for Cranmer
of Portugal's Brother but it was let fall soon after She refused to acknowledge the Laws made when the King was under age and carried herself very high for she knew well that the Protector was then afraid of a War with France and that made the Emperours Alliance more necessary to England Yet the Council sent for the Officers of her houshold and required them to let her know that the Kings Authority was the same when he was a child as at full age and that it was now lodged in them and though as they were single persons they were all inferiour to her yet as they were the Kings Council she was bound to obey them especially when they executed the Law which all Subjects of what rank soever were bound to obey Yet at present they durst go no further for fear of the Emperours displeasure So it was resolved to connive at her Mass The Reformation of the greatest Errours in Divine Worship being thus established Disputes concerning Christs presence in the Sacrament Cranmer proceeded next to establish a form of Doctrine the chief point that hitherto was untouched was the presence of Christ in the Sacrament which the Priests magnified as the greatest Mystery of the Christian Religion and the chief priviledge of Christians with which the simple and credulous vulgar were mightily affected The Lutherans received that which had been for some Ages the Doctrine of the Greek Church that in the Sacraments there was both Bread and Wine and also the substance of the Body and Blood of Christ The Helvetians lookt on it only as a Commemoration of the Death of Christ The Princes of Germany were at great pains to have these reconciled in which Bucer had laboured with great Industry But Luther being a man of a harsh temper did not easily bear contradiction and was too apt to assume in effect that Infallibility to himself which he condemned in the Pope Some took a middle way and asserted a Real Presence but it was not easie to understand what was meant by that expression unless it was a real application of Christs death so that the meaning of Really was Effectually But though Bucer followed this method Pet. Martyr did in his Lectures declare plainly for the Helvetians So Dr. Smith and some others intended publickly to oppose and affront him and challenged him to a dispute about it which he readily accepted on these conditions That the Kings Council should first approve of it and that it should be managed in Scripture terms For the strength of those Doctors lay in a nimble managing of those barbarous and unintelligible terms of the Schools which though they sounded high yet really they had no sense under that So all the Protestants resolved to dispute in Scripture terms which seemed more proper in matters of Divinity than the Metaphysical language of School men The Council having appointed Dr. Cox and some others to preside in the dispute Dr. Smith went out of the way and a little after fled out of England But before he went he wrote a very mean submission to Cranmer Other Doctors disputed with Peter Martyr concerning Transubstantiation but that had the common fate of all publick disputes for both sides gave out that they had the better At the same time there were also disputes at Cambridge which were moderated by Ridley that was sent down thither by the Council He had fallen on Bertrams Book of the Sacrament and wondred much to find so celebrated a Writer in the ninth Century engage so plainly against the Corporal Presence This disposed him to think that at that time it was not the received belief of the Church He communicated the matter to Cranmer and they together made great Collections out of the Fathers on this head and both wrote concerning it The substance of their Arguments was Arguments against the Corporal Presence That as Christ called the Cup the Fruit of the Vine so S. Paul called the other Element Bread after the Consecration which shews that their natures were not changed Christ speaking to Jews and substituting the Eucharist in the room of the Paschal Lamb used such expressions as had been customary among the Jews on that occasion who called the Lamb the Lords Passeover which could not be meant literally since the Passeover was the Angels passing by their Houses when the first born of the Egyptians were killed So it being a commemoration of that was called the Lords Passeover and in the same sense did Christ call the Bread his Body Figurative expressions being ordinary in Scripture and not improper in Sacraments which may be called Figurative actions It was also appointed for a Remembrance of Christ and that supposes absence The Elements were also called by Christ his Body broken and his Blood shed so it is plain they were his Body not as it is glorified in Heaven but as it suffered on the Cross And since the Scriptures speak of Christs continuance in Heaven till the last day from thence they inferred that he was not Corporally present And it was shewed that the eating Christs Flesh mentioned by S. John was not to be understood of the Sacrament since of every one that did eat it is said that he has Eternal life in him So that was to be understood only of receiving Christs doctrine and he himself shewed it was to be meant so when he said that the Flesh profited nothing but his words were Spirit and Life So that all this was according to Christs ordinary way of teaching in Parables Many other Arguments were brought from the nature of a body to prove that it could not be in more places than one at once and that it was not in a place after the manner of a Spirit but was always extended They found also that the Fathers had taught that the Elements were still Bread and Wine and were the Types the Signs and Figures of Christs Body not only according to Tertullian and S. Austin but to the Ancient Liturgies both in the Greek and Roman Churches But that on which they built most was that Chrysostome Gelasius and Theodoret arguing against those who said that the humane nature in Christ was swallowed up by its Union to his Godhead They illustrated the contrary thus as in the Sacrament the Elements are united to the Body of Christ and yet continue to be the same that they were formerly both in Substance Nature and Figure So the Humanity was not destroyed by its Union with the Word From which it appeared that it was then the received opinion that the Elements were not changed and therefore all those high expressions in Chrysostome or others were only strains and figures of Eloquence to raise the devotion of the people higher in that holy action But upon those expressions the following Ages built that opinion which agreeing so well with the Designs of the Priests for establishing the authority of that Order which by its Character was qualified for the greatest performance that
only as a Paper of News and so ordered their Ambassadours to communicate them to the Emperour But the King's death broke off this Negotiation He had contracted great Colds by Violent Exercises which in January setled in a deep Cough and all Medicines proved ineffectual The Kings sickness There was a suspicion taken up and spred over all Europe that he was poisoned but no certain grounds appear for justifying that During his sickness Ridley preached before him and among other things run out much on works of Charity and the duty of Men of high condition to be Eminent in good works The King was much touched with this so after Sermon he sent for the Bishop and treated him with such respect that he made him sit down and be covered then he told him what Impression his Exhortation had made on him and therefore he desired to be directed by him how to do his duty in that matter Ridley took a little time to consider of it and after some consultation with the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London he brought the King a Scheme of several Foundations one for the sick and wounded another for such as were wilfully idle or were mad and a third for Orphans so he endowed St. Bartholomew's Hospital for the first Bridewell for the second and Christ's Church near Newgate for the third and he enlarged the Grant he made the former year for St. Thomas's Hospital in Southwark The Statutes and Warrants relating to these were not finished before the 26. of June though he gave order to make all the hast that was possible and when he set his hand to them he blest God that had prolonged his life till he finished his designs concerning them These Houses have by the good Government and great Charities of the City of London continued to be so useful and grown to be so well-endowed that now they may be well reckoned among the Noblest in Europe The King bore his sickness with great submission to the will of God The Patents for the succession to the Crown and seemed concerned in nothing so much as the state that Religion and the Church would be in after his death The Duke of Suffolk had only three Daughters the eldest of these was now married to Lord Guilford Dudley the second to the Earl of Pembroke's eldest Son and the third that was crooked to one Keys The Duke of Northumberland for strengthning his Family married also his own two Daughters the one to Sir Henry Sidney and the other to the Earl of Huntington's eldest Son He grew to be much hated by the People and the jealousie of the King 's being poisoned was fastened on him But he regarded these things little and resolved to improve the fears the King was in concerning Religion to the advantage of Lady Jane The King was easily perswaded to order the Judges and his Learned Council to put some Articles which he had signed for the succession of the Crown in the common form of Law They answered that the Succession being setled by Act of Parliament could not be taken away except by Parliament yet the King required them to do what he commanded them But next time they came to the Council they declared that it was made Treason to change the Succession by an Act past in this Reign so they could not meddle with it Mountague was chief Justice and spake in the name of the rest Northumberland fell out in a great passion against him calling him Traitor for refusing to obey the King's commands for that is always the language of an Arbitrary Minister when he acts against Law But the Judges were not shaken by his threatnings so they were again brought before the King who sharply rebuked them for their delays but they said all that they could do would be of no force without a Parliament yet they were required to do it in the best manner they could At last Mountague desired they might have a Pardon for what they were to do that being granted all the Judges except Gosnald and Hales agreed to the Patent deliver'd their Opinions that the Lord Chancellor might put the Seal to it and that then it would be good in Law yet the former of these two was at last wrought on so Hales was the only Man that stood out to the last who though he was a zealous Protestant yet would not give his Opinion against his Conscience upon any consideration whatsoever The Privy Councellours were next required to set their hand to it Cecyl in a Relation he writ of this transaction says that hearing some of the Judges declare so positively that it was against Law he refused to set his hand to it as a Privy Councellour but signed it only as a Witness to the King's subscription Cranmer stood out long he came not to Council when it was past there and refused to consent to it when he was prest to it for he said he would never have a hand in disinheriting his late Master's Daughters The young dying King was at last set on him and by his Importunity prevailed with him to do it and so the Seal was put to the Patents The King's distemper continued to encrease so that the Physicians despaired of his Recovery A confident Woman undertook his Cure and he was put in her hands but she left him worse than she found him and this heightned the jealousie of the Duke of Northumberland that had introduced her and put the Physicians away At last to Crown his designs he got the King to write to his Sisters to come and divert him in his sickness and the matter of the Exclusion had been carried so secretly that they apprehending no danger had begun their Journey In the 6th of July The Kings death and Character the King felt death approaching and prepared himself for it in a most devout manner He was often heard offering up Prayers and Ejaculations to God Particularly a few Moments before he died he prayed earnestly that God would take him out of this wretched life and committed his Spirit to him he interceded very fervently for his Subjects that God would preserve England from Popery and maintain his true Religion among them soon after that he breathed out his Innocent Soul being in Sir Henry Sidney's arms Endeavours were used to conceal his death for some days on design to draw his Sisters into the snare before they should be aware of it but that could not be done Thus died Edward the VI. in the sixteenth Year of his Age. He was counted the wonder of that time he was not only Learned in the Tongues and the Liberal Sciences but knew well the state of his Kingdom He kept a Table-Book in which he had writ the Characters of all the eminent Men of the Nation he studied Fortification and understood the Mint well he knew the Harbours in all his Dominions with the depth of Water and way of coming into them He understood foreign
the Zuinglians with so much Artifice that a Conference which was appointed for setling matters of Religion was broken up without any good effect Only it discovered a common practice of the Popish party in engaging those that divided from them into heats and animosities one against another by which their strength was not only much weakned but their Zeal instead of turning against the Common Enemy turned upon one another But yet the many Experiments that have been made of this have not been able to infuse that moderation and prudence in many of the Reformed Churches which might have been expected In France the numbers of the Reformed increased so much that 200. assembled in St. Germains one of the Suburbs of Paris to receive the Communion This was observed by the People of the Neighbourhood and a Tumult was raised the Men for most escaped but 160. Women and some few Men were taken of these six Men and one Woman were burnt and most horrid things were published of that Meeting and among other Calumnies it was said they sacrificed and eat a Child All these were confuted in an Apology Printed for their Vindication The German Princes and the Cantons interposed so effectually and their Alliance was then so necessary to the Crown of France that a stop was put to further severities The Pope complained much of that and of some Edicts that the King had set out annulling Marriages without consent of Parents and requiring Churchmen to reside at their Benefices as Invasions on the Spiritual Authority The beginning of the next Year was famous by the loss of Calais The Duke of Guise sat down before it on the 1. of January Calais and other places taken by the French The Garrison consisted but of 500. Men so that two Forts about it of which the one commanded the Avenue to it by Land and the other commanded the Harbour were easily taken for the Lord Wentworth that was Governour could not spare Men enough to defend them The French drew the Water out of the Ditches and made the Assault and carried the Castle which was thought Impregnable After that the Town could do little so it was surrendred and the Governour with 50. Officers were made Prisoners of War Thus was this Important place which the English had kept 210. Years lost in a Week and that in Winter From this the Duke of Guise went to besiege Guines which had a better Garrison of 1100. Men but they were much disheartned by the loss of Calais they retired into the Castle and left the Town to the French but yet they beat them once out of it The French after a long Battery gave the Assault and forced them to Capitulate The Souldiers as at Calais had leave to go away but the Officers were made Prisoners of War The Garrison that was in Hammes seeing themselves cut off from the Sea and lost abandoned the Place before the French summoned them The loss of Calais raised great complaints against the Council and they to excuse themselves cast the blame on the Lord Wentworth and ordered a Citation to be made of him when he was a Prisoner with the French his Defence was not fit to be heard otherwise it had been easie for the Council to have brought him over He had not above the fourth part of that number that was necessary to defend the place and in time of War had no more than were usually kept there in times of Peace of this both he and Sir Edward Grimston that was Controuler gave full and timely advertisements but had not those Supplies sent them that were necessary They both came over in Queen Elizabeth's time and offered themselves to Trial and were acquitted Grimston was unwilling to pay the great Ransom that was set on him so after two years Imprisonment he made his escape out of the Bastile came to England and lived till the 98. year of his Age. He was Great-grand-father to Sir Harbottle Grimston the Author 's Noble Patron and Benefactor The French after this took Sark a little Island in the Channel but it was ingeniously retaken by a Fleming who pretended that he desired to bury a Friend of his that had died aboard his ship in that Island the French were very careful to search the Men that came ashore that they should have no Arms about them but did not think of looking into the Coffin which was full of Arms and when they thought the Seamen were burying their dead Friend they armed themselves and took all the French that were in the Castle The Ingeniousness rather than the Importance of this makes it worth the mentioning The discontent that the loss of Calais gave to the English Great discontents In England was such that the Queen could not hope ever to overcome it and it sunk so deep in her mind that it hastned her death not a little Both sides took upon them to draw Arguments from this loss The Reformers said it was a Judgment on the Nation for the contempt of the true Religion and the Cruelties that had been of late practised The Papists said the Hereticks had found such shelter and connivence there that no wonder the place was lost Philip sent over and offered his assistance to go and retake the place before the Fortifications should be repaired if the English would send over a Force equal to such an undertaking but they upon an Estimate made of the Expence that this and a War for the next Year would put them to found it would rise to 520000 l. Sterling and as the Treasure was exhausted and could not furnish such a Sum so they had no reason to expect such liberal Supplies from the People The Bishops were afraid lest the continuance of the War should make it necessary to proceed more gently against Hereticks and thought it better to sit down with the loss of Calais than hazard that they seemed confident that within a Year they should be able to clear the Kingdom of Heresie and therefore moved that preparations might be made for a War to begin the Year after this The Parliament assembled for which the Abbot of Westminster and the Prior of St. The Parliament meets John of Jerusalem had their Writs and sat in it The Lords desired a Conference with the Commons concerning the safety of the Nation and upon that a Subsidy a Tenth and a Fifteenth were given by the Laity and the Clergy gave eight shillings in the Pound to be payed in four Years The Abbot of Westminster moved that the Priviledges of Sanctuary might be again restored to his House but that was laid aside The procurers of wilful Murder were denied the benefit of the Clergy but great opposition was made to it in the House of Lords A Bill was brought in confirming the Letters Patents which the Queen had granted or might grant This related to the Foundations of Religious Houses but one Coxley opposed this and insinuated that perhaps the
Wars lasted near 30. Years for in all that time notwithstanding some Intervals of Peace the seeds of War were never so rooted out but that they were ready to spring up upon every new occasion In this the Queen Interposed and supported the Protestant Party sometimes with Men but oftner with Money so that she had near the half of that Kingdom depending on her In the Netherlands a long continuance of civil Wars almost on the same account gave her the like advantages The King of Spain And in the Netherlands by endeavouring to set up the Courts of Inquisition in those Provinces and by keeping some Spanish Troops among them and other excesses in his Government contrary to the Articles of the Laetus Introitus provoked them so much that they shook off his Yoke and were supported by the Aid and Money which the Queen sent them So that the Queen met with such a Conjuncture of affairs in the Dominions of those Princes that were next her of whom only she had reason to be afraid as scarce any Prince ever had In foreign Parts The excellent administration of affairs in England she was the Arbiter of Christendom and at home things were so happily managed Trade did so flourish and Justice was so equally distributed that she became the wonder of the World She was Victorious in all her Wars with Spain and no wonder for it appeared signally in the ruine of the great Armada which Spain lookt on as Invincible that Heaven fought for her She reigned more absolutely over the Hearts than the Persons of her Subjects She always followed the true Interests of her People and so found her Parliaments always ready to comply with her desires and to grant her Subsidies as often as she called for them and as she never asked them but when the occasion for them was visible so after they were granted if the state of her affairs changed so that she needed them not she readily discharged them Rome and Spain set many Engines on work both against her Person and Government but she still lived and triumphed In the first ten Years of her Reign the Papists were so Compliant that there was no stir made about matters of Religion Pope Pius the fourth condemned the madness of his Predecesfor in that high and provoking Message which he sent her and therefore he attempted a reconciliation with her at two several times and offered if she would joyn her self to the See of Rome that he would annul the sentence against her Mothers Marriage and confirm the English service and the Communion in both kinds But she refused to enter into any Treaty with him Pius the fifth that succeeded him in that Chair resolved to contrive her death Catena as is related by him that writes his Life The unfortunate Queen of Scotland was forced to take Sanctuary in England where it was resolved to use her well and restore her to her Crown and Countrey But her own officious friends and the frequent Plots that were laid for taking away the Queens life brought on her the Calamities of a long Imprisonment that ended in a Tragical death which though it was the greatest blemish of this Reign yet was made in some sort justifiable if not necessary by the many Attempts that the Papists made on the Queen's Life and by the Deposition which Pope Pius the fifth thundred out against Her from which it was inferred that as long as that Party had the hopes of such a Successor the Queen's Life was not safe nor her Government secure This led her towards the end of her Reign Severities against the Papists were necessary to greater severities against those of the Roman Communion of which a Copious Account is given by Sir Francis Walsingham that was for so many Years imployed either in foreign Embassies or in the secrets of State at home that none knew better than he did the hidden springs that moved and directed all Her Councils He writ a long Letter to a French man giving him an account of all the severities of the Queen's Government both against Papists and Puritans The substance of which is Sir Fr. Walsingham's account of the steps in which she proceeded That the Queen laid down two Maximes of State the one was not to force Consciences the other was not to let factious practices go unpunished because they were covered with the pretences of Conscience At first she did not revive those severe Laws past in her Father's time by which the refusal of the Oath of Supremacy was made Treason but left her People to the freedom of their thoughts and made it only Penal to extol a foreign Jurisdiction She also laid aside the word Supream Head and the refusers of the Oath were only disabled from holding Benefices or Charges during their Refusal Upon Pius the Fifth's Excommunicating her though the Rebellion in the North was chiefly occasioned by that she only made a Law against the bringing over or publishing of Bulls and the venting of Agnus Dei's or such other Love-tokens which were sent from Rome on design to draw the Hearts of Her People from her which were no Essential parts of that Religion so that this could hurt none of their Consciences But when after the 20th Year of her Reign it appeared that the King of Spain designed to Invade her Dominions and that the Priests that were sent over from the Seminaries beyond Sea were generally employed to corrupt the Subjects in their Allegiance by which Treason was carried in the Clouds and Infused secretly in Confession Then pecuniary Punishments were inflicted on such as withdrew from the Church and in Conclusion she was forced to make Laws of greater rigour but did often mitigate the severity of them to all that would promise to adhere to her in case of a Foreign Invasion As for the Puritans as long as they only inveighed against some abuses as Pluralities Non residence or the like it was not their Zeal against those but only their Violence that was condemned When they refused to comply with some Ceremonies and questioned the superiority of Bishops and declared for a Democracy in the Church they were connived at with great gentleness But it was observed that they affected Popularity much and the Methods they took to compass their ends were judged dangerous and they made such use of the aversion the Nation had to Popery that it was visible they were in a hazzard of running from one Extream to another They set up a New Model of Church-Discipline which was like to prove no less dangerous to the Liberties of private Men than to the Sovereign Power of the Prince Yet all this was born with as long as they proceeded with those expressions of duty which became Subjects But afterwards when they resolved to carry on their Designs without waiting for the consent of the Magistrate and entred into Combinations when they began to defame the Government by ridiculous Pasquils and