before the end of this year but not consecrated till the 15th of August in the beginning of the next Some alterations hapned also amongst the Peers of the Realm in the creation of one and the destruction of another A Rebellion had been raised in the Norâ—h upon the first suppression of Religious Houses Anno 1536. in which Sir â— homas Percy second soâ— to Henry the fifth Earl of Northumberland of that name and family was thought to be a principal stickler and for the same was publickly arraigned condemned and executed By Eleanar his wife one of the daughters and heirs of Sir Gâ—iscard Harâ—â—oâ—tle he was the father of Thoâ—as and Henry who hitherto had suffered under his Attaindure But now it pleased Queen Mary to reflect on their Fathers sufferings and the cause thereof which moved her not onely to restore them to their blood and honors but also to so much of the Lands of the Percies as were remaining in the Crown In pursuance whereof she advanced Thomas the elder brother on the last of April to the Style Title and Degree of Earl of Noâ—thumberland the remainder to his brother Henry in case the said Thomas should depart this life without Issue male By vertue of which Entail the said Henry afterwards succeeded him in his Lands and Honors notwithstanding that he was attainted condemned and executed for high Treason in the time of Queen Elizabeth Anno 1572. Not many weeks before the restitution of which noble Family that of the Lord Sturton was in no small danger of a final destruction a Family first advanced to the state of a Baron in the person of Sir John Sturton created Lord Sturton in the 26th of King Henry the 6th and now upon the point of expiring in the person of Charls Lord Sturton condemned and executed with four of his servants on the 6th of March for the murder of one Argal and his son with whom he had been long at variance It was his first hope that the murther might not be discovered and for that cause had buried the dead bodies fifteen foot under ground his second that by reason of his zeal to the Popish Religion it might be no hard matter to procure a pardon But the Murder was too foul to be capable of any such favour so that he was not onely adjudged to die but condemned to be hanged It is reported of Marcus Antonius that having vanquished Artanasdes King of Armenia he led him bound in chains to Rome but for his greater honor and to distinguish him from the rest of the prisoners in chains of gold And such an honour was vouchsafed to this noble Murderer in not being hanged as his servants and accomplices were in a halter of hemp but in one of silk And with this fact the Family might have expired if the Queen having satisfied Justice by his execution had not consulted with her mercy for the restoring of his next Heir both in blood and honor An. Reg. Mar. 5º An. Dom. 1557 1558. WE must begin this year with the success of those forces which were sent under the command of the Earl of Pembrock to the aid of Philip who having made up an Army of 35 thousand Foot and 12 thousand Horse besides the Forces out of England sate down before St. Quintin the chief Town of Piccardy called by the Romans Augusta Veromandnorum and took this new name from St. Quintin the supposed tutelaty Saint and Patron of it a Town of principal importance to his future aims as being one of the Keys of France on that side of the Kingdom and opening a fair way even to Paris it self For the raising of which Siege the French King sends a puissant Army under the command of the Duke of Montmorancy then Lord High Constable of France accompanied with the Flower of the French Nobility On the 10th day of August the Battels joyâ— in which the French were vanquished and their Army routed the Constable himself the Prince of Mantua the Dukes of Montpensier and Longâ—aville with fix others of the prime Nobility and many others of less note being taken prisoners The Duke of 〈◊〉 the Viscount Turin four persons of honorable ranck most of the Foor Captains and of the common Soldiers to the number of 2500 slain upon the place The news whereof struck such a terrour in King Henry the 2d that he was upon the point of for saking Paru and retiring into Langâ—edock or some other remote part of his Dominions In the suddenness of which surprise he dispatcht his Curriers for recalling the Duke of Guise out of Iâ—aly whom he had sent thither at the Popes inâ—â—igation with a right puissant Army for the Conquest of Naples But Philip knowing better how to enjoy than to use his victory continued his Siege before St. Quintin which he stormed on the 18th of that month the Lord Henry Dudley one of the younger sons of the Duke of Northuâ—bâ—r land who lost his life in the Assault together with Sir Edward Windsor being the first that scaled the walls and advanced their victorious Colours on the top thereof After which gallant piece of service the English finding some neglect at the hands of Philip humbly desire to be dismist into their Country which for fear of some fuâ—â—her inconvenience was indulged unto them By which dismission of the English as Thuanâ—s and others have observed King Philip was not able with all his Spaniards to perform any action of importance in the rest of the War But the English shall pay dearly for this Victory which the Spaniard bought with no greater loss than the lives of 50 of his men The English at that time were possessed of the Town of Calais with many other pieces and â—orts about as Guisuesse Fanim Ardres c. together with the whole Territory called the County Oye the Town by Caesar called Portus Iccius situate on the mouth or entrance of the English Chanel opposite to Dover one of the five principal Havens in those parts of England from which distant not above twenty five miles a Town much aimed at for that reason by King Edward this 3d. who after a Siege of somewhat more than eleven months became Master of it Anno 1347. by whom first made a Colonie of the English Nation and after one of the Staple Towns for the sale of Wool Kept with great care by his Successors who as long as they had it in their possession were said to caâ—ry the Keys of France at their girdle esteemed by Philip de Cominâ—â— for the goodliest Captainship in the world and therefore trusted unto none but persons of most eminent ranck both for courage and honour A Town which for more than 200 years had been such an eye-sore to the French and such a thorn in their sides that Monsieur de Cordes a Nobleman who lived in the Reign of King Lewis the 11th was wont to say that he could be content to lie seven years in hell
some decent Trimming And might not these be handsomly converted unto private uses to serve as Carpets for their Tables Coverlids to their Beds or Cushions to â—heir Chairs or Windows Hereupon some rude People are encouraged under-hand to beat down some Altars which makes way for an Order of the Counciâ—-Table to take down the rest and set up Tables in their places Followed by a Commission to be executed in all parts of the Kingdom for seising on the Premises to the use of the King But as the Grandees of the Court intended to defraud the King of so great a Booty and the Commissioners to put a Cheat upon the court-Court-Lords who employed them in it So they were both prevented in some places by the â—oâ—ds and Gentry of the Countrey who thought the Altar-Cloths together with the Copes and â—late of their several Churches to be as necessary for themselves as for any others â—his Change drew on the Alteration of the former Liturgâ— reviewed by certain Godly Prelates reduced almost into the same Form in which now it stands and confirmed by Parliament in the 5th and 6th years of this King but almost as unpleasing to the Zuinglian Faction as the former was In which Conjuncture of Affairs dyed King Edward the Sixth From the beginning of whose Reign the Church accounts the â—poche of a Reformation All that was done in oâ—der to it under Henrâ— the Eight seemed to be accidental onely and by the by rather designed on private Ends then out of any setled purpose to â—eform the Church and therefore intermitted and resumed again as those Ends had variance But now the Work was carried on wiâ—h a constant Hand the Prelates of the Church co-operating with the King and his Council and each contriving with the other for the Honour of it Scarce had they brought it to this pass when King Edwaâ—d dyed whose Death I cannot reckon for an Infelicity to the Church of England For being ill-principled in himself and easily inclined to embrace such Counsels as were offered to Him it is not to be thought but that the rest of the Bishopricks before sufficiently empoverished muâ—t have followed Durham and the poor Church be left as destitute of Lands and Ornaments as when she came into the World in Her Natural Nakedness Nor was it like to happen otherwise in the following Reign if it had lasted longer then a Nine Day 's Wonder For Dudley of Northumberland who then ruled the Roast and had before dissolved and in hope devoured the Wealthy Bishâ—prick of Durham might easily have possessed himself of the greatest part of the Revenues of York and Carlisle By means whereof He would have made himself more absolute on the North-side of the Trent then the poor Titular Queen a most virtuous Lady could have been suffered to continue on the South side of it To carry on whose Interess and maintain Her Title the poor remainder of the Church's Patrimony was in all probability to have been shared amongst those of that Party to make them sure unto the side But the Wisdom of this great Achitophel being turned to foolishness He fell into the Hands of the Publick Hang-man and thereby saved himself the labour of becoming his own Executioner Now MARY comes to Act Her Part and She drives on furiously Her Personal Interess had strongly byassed Her to the Church of Rome On which depended the Validity of Her Mother's Marriage and consequently Her own Legitimation and Succession to the Crown of this Realm And it was no hard matter for Her in a time unsettled to Repeal all the Acts of Her Brother's Reign and after to restore the Pope unto that Supremacy of which Her Father had deprived Him A Reign Calamitous and unfortunate to Her Self and Her Subjects Unfortunate to Her Self in the loss of Calais Calamitous to Her Subjects by many Insurrections and Executions but more by the effusion of the Bloud of so many Martyâ—s For though she gave a Check to the Rapacity of the former Times yet the Professours of the Reformation paid dearly for it whose Bloud she caused to be poured forth like Water in most parts of the Kingdom but no where more abundantly then in Bonner's Slaughter-House Which being within the view of the Court and under Her own Nose as the Saying is must needs entitle Her to a great part of those Horrid Cruelties which almost every day were acted by that bloudy Butcher The Schism at Frankâ—oâ—t took beginning in the same time also occasioned by some Zealots of the Zuinglian Faction who needs must lay aside the use of the Publick Liturgie retained by all the rest of the English Exiles the better to make way for such Forms of Worship as seemed more consonant to Calvin's Platform and the Rules of Geneva Which woful Schism so wretchedly begun in a Foreign Nation they laboured to promote by all sinister Practises in the Church of England when they returned from Exile in the following Reign The miserable Effects whereof we feel too sensibly and smartly to this very day But the great Business of this Reign related to the restitution of the Abbey-Lands end eavoured earnestly by the Queen and no less strenuously opposed by the then present Owners who had all the reason in the World to maintain that Right which by the known Laws of the Land had been vested in them For when the Monasteries and Religious Houses had been dissolved by several Acts of Parliament in the time of King Henry the Lands belonging to those Houses were by those Acts conferr'd upon the King and His Successours Kings and Queens of England Most of which Lands were either exchanged for others with the Lords and Gentry or sold for valuable Consideration to the rest of the Subjects All which Exchanges Grants and Sales were passed and Confirmed by the King's Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England in due Form of Law Which gave unto the Patentees as good a Title as the Law could make them This was well known unto the Pope and He knew well upon what ticklish Terms He stood with the Lords and â—ommons then Assembled in Parliament whom iâ— He did not gratifie with some Signal Favour He could not hope to be restored by them to His former Power for being deprived of His Supâ—emacy by Act of Parliament in the Time of King HENRY He could not be restored unto it but by Act of Parliamâ—nt in the time of Queen MARY and no such Ast could be obtained or compassed for Him without a Confirmation of Church-â—ands to the present Owners To which Necessity Pope Julius being forced to submit Himself He issueth a Decree accompanied with some Reasons which might seem to induce Him to it for confirming all such Lands on the present Occupants of which they stood possessed justo Titulo by a Lawful Title And this was onely reckoned by him for a Lawful Title First that they were possessed of the said Lands juxta Leges hujus Regni pro
for pressing him to the disinheriting of his foâ—mer children But whether this were so or not certain it is that his last wife being a proud imperious woman and one that was resolved to gain her own ends upon him never leâ—t plying him with one suspition after anoâ—her till in the end she had prevâ—iled to have the greatest part of his lands and all his Honourable Titles setled on her eldest son And that she might make sure work of it she caused him to obtaine a private Act of Parliament in the 32. yeare of Henry the Eighth Anno 1540. for entailing the same on this last Edward and the Heires male of his body So easie was he to be wrought on by those that knew on which side he did lie most open to assaults and batteries Of a farr different temper was his brother Thomas the youngest sonne of Sir John Seimour of a daring and enterprising nature arrogant in himselfe a dispiser of others and a Contemner of all Counsells which were not first forged in his own brain Following his sister to the Court he received the Order of Knighthood from the hands of the King at such time as his brother was made Earle of Hartford and on May day in the thirtieth yeare of the Kings Reign he was one of the Challengers at the Magnificent Justs maintained by him and others against all comers in the Pallace of Westminster in which together with the rest he behaved himselfe so highly to the Kings contentment and their own great Honoâ—r that they were all severally rewarded with the Grant of 100. Marks of yearely rent and a convenient house for habitation thereunto belonging out of the late dissolved order of Saint John oâ— Iâ—rusalem Which being the first foundation of his following greatness proved not sufficient to support the building which was raised upon it the Gentleman and almost all the rest of the challengers coming within few yeares after to unfortunate ends For being made Lord Seimour of Sudley and Lord High Admirall of England by King Edward the sixth he would not satisfie his ambition with a lower marriage then the widow of his deceased Soveraign aspiring after her death to the bed of the Princes of Elizabeth the second daughter of the King Which wrought such Jealousies and distrusts in the Head of his brother then being Lord Protector of the King and Kingdom that he was thereupon Arraigned Condemned and Executed of which more anon to the great joy of such as practised to â—ubvert them both As for the Barrony of Sudley denominated from a goodly Mannor in the County of Glâ—câ—ster it wasâ— ancâ—ently the Patrimony of Harrold the eldest Son of Ralph d' Mont. the son of 〈◊〉 Medantinuâ— or d' Mount and of Goda his wife one of the daughters of Ethilred and sister of Edmond sirnamed â—roâ—side Kings of England whose Posterity taking to themselves the name of Sudley continued in possession of it till the time of John the last Baron of this name and Famiâ—y VVhose daugâ—ter Joane conveyed the whole estate in marriage to Sir William Botteler of the Family of Wemm in Shropshire From whom deâ—cended Ralph Lord Botteleâ— of Sudley Castle Chamberlain of the Houshold to King Henry the sixth by whom he was created Knight of the Garter and Lord High Treasurer of England And though the greatest part of this Inheritance being devided between the sisters and co-heires came to other Families yet the Castle and Barony of Sudley remained unto a male of this house untill the latter end of the Reign â—f King Henry the eighth to whom it was escheated by the Attainder of the last Lord Botteller whose greatest Crime was thought to be this goodly Mannor which some greedy Courtiers had an eye on And being fallen unto the Crown it was no hard matter for the Lord Protector to estate the same upon his brother who was scarce warmed in his new Honour when it fell into the Crown again Where it continued all the rest of King Edwards Reign and by Queen Mary was conferred on Sir John Bruges who derived his Pedigree from one of the said sisters and co-heires of Ralph Lord Botteler whom she ennobled by the Title of Lord Chaundos of Sudley As for Sir Henry Seimour the second son of Sir John Seimour he was not found to be of so fine a metall as to make a Courtier and was therefore left unto the life of a Country Gentleman Advanced by the Power and favour of his elder Brother to the oâ—der of Knighthood and afterwards Estated in the Mannours of Marvell and Twyford in the County of Southhampton dismembred in those broken times from the see of Winchester To each of these belonged a Park that of the first containing no less then foure miles that of the last but two in compass the first being also Honoured with a goodly Mancion house belonging anciently to those Bishops and little inferiour to the best of the Wealthy Bishopricks There goes a story that the Priest Officiating at the Altar in the Church of Ouslebury of which Parish Marvell was a part after the Mass had been abolished by the Kings Authority was violently dragged thence by this Sir Henry beaten and most reproachfully handled by him his servants universally refusing to serve him as the instruments of his Rage and Fury and that the poore Priest having after an opportunity to get into the Church did openly curse the said Sir Henry and his posterity with Bell Book and Candle according to the use observed in the Church of Rome Which whether it were so or not or that the maine foundation of this Estate being laid on Sacrilidge could promise no long blessing to it Certain it is that his posterity are brought beneath the degree of poverty For having three Nephewes by Sir John Seâ—mour his only Son that is to say Edward the eldest Henry and Thomas younger sons besides severall daughters there remaines not to any of them one foot of Land or so much as a penny of money to supply their necessities but what they have from the Munificence of the Marquesse of Hartford or the charity of other well disposed people which have affection or Relation to them But the great ornament of thisâ— house was their sister Jane the only daughter of her father by whose care she was preferred to the Court and service of Queen Ann Bollen where she outâ—shined all the other Ladies and in short time had gained exceeding much on the King a great admirer of Fresh Beauties and such as could pretend unto no command on his own affections Some Ladies who had seen the pictures of both Queenes at White Hall Gallery have entertained no small dispute to which of the two they were to give Preheminence in point of beauty each of them having such a plentifull measure of Perfections as to Entitle either of them to a Superiority If Queen Ann seemed to have the more lively countenance Queen Jane was thought to carry it in the exact
Appellation had been so entituled Which appeares more plainly by a particular of the Robes and Ornaments which were preparing for the day of this Solemnity as they are entred on Record in the book called The Catalogue of Honour published by Thomas Mills of Canterbury where it appeares also that they were prepared only but never used by reason of the Kings death which prevented the Sollemnities of it The ground of this Error I conceive first to be taken from John Stow who finding a creation of some Noble men and the making of many Knights to relate to the 18 day of October supposed it to have been done with reference to the Creation of a Prince of Wales whereas if I might take the liberty of putting in my own conjecture I should conceive rather that it was done with Reference to the Princes Christning as in like manner we find a creation of three Earles and five to inferiour Titles at the Christning of the Princesse Mary born to King James after his coming into England and Christened upon Sunday the fifth of May. 1604. And I conceive withall that Sir Edward Seimour Vicount Beauchamp the Queenes elder brother was then created Earle of Hartford to make him more capable of being one of the Godfathers or a Deputy-Godfather at the least to the Royall Infant the Court not being then in a condition by reason of the mournfull accident of the late Queenes death to show it selfe in any extraordinary splendour as the occasion had required at another time Among which persons so advanced to the Dignity and degree of Knighthood I find Mr. Thomas Seimour the Queenes youngest brother to be one of the number of whom we shall have frequent occasion to speak more fully and particularly in the course of this History No other alteration made in the face of the Court but that Sir William Pawlet was made Treasurer and Sir John Russell Comptroller of his Majesties Houshold on the said 18th day of October which I conceive to be the day of the Princes Christning both of them being principall Actors in the Afâ—aires and troubles of the following times But in the face of the Church there appeared some lines which looked directly towards a Reformation For besides the surrendring of divers Monasteries and the executing of some Abbots and other Religious Persons for their stiffenesse if I may not call it a perversenesse in opposing the Kings desires there are two things of speciall note which concurred this year as the Prognosticks or â—ore-runners of those great events which after followed in his Reign For it appeares by a Memoriall of the Famous Library of Sir Robert Cotton that Grafton now made known to Cromwell the finishing of the English Bible of which he had printed 1500. at his own proper charges amounting in the totall to 500. p. desiring stoppage of a surreptitions Edition in a lesse Letter which else would tend to his undoing the suit endeared by Cranmer Arch-Bishop of Canterbury at whose request Cromwell presents one of the Bibles to the King and procures the same to be allowed by his Authority to be read publiquely without comptrole in all his Dominions and for so doing he receives a letter of thanks from the said Arch-Bishop dated August the 13th of this present year Nor were the Bishops and Clergy wanting to advance the work by publishing a certain book in the English Tongue which they entituled The Institution of a Christian Man in which the Doctrine of the Sacraments the Creed the Lords Prayer and the Commandments were opened and expounded more perspicuously and lesse abhorrent from the truth then in former times By which clear light of Holy Scripture and the principall duties of Religion so laid opâ—n to them the people were the better able to discerne the errors and corruptionâ— of the Church of Rome From which by the piety of this Prince they were fully Freed And for a preamble thereunto the Rood of Boxley commonly called the Rood of Grace so Artificially contrived by reason of some secret wires in the body or concavities of it that it could move the eyes the lips c. to the great wonder and astonishment of the common people was openly discovered for a lewd imposture and broke in pieces at St. Pauls Cross on Sunday the 24. of February the Rood of Bermondsey Abby in South-work following the same fortune also within six dayes The next year brings an end to almost all the Monasteries and Religious houses in the Realme of England surrendered into the Kings hands by publâ—que instruments under the seales of all the severall and respective Convents and those surrenderies ratified and confirmed by Act of Parliament And this occasionally conduced to the future peace and quiet of this young Prince by removing out of the way some Great Pretenders who otherwise might have created to him no small disturbance For so it happened that Henry Earle of Devâ—nshire and Mary wife of Exceter descended from a daughter of King Edward the fâ—urth and Henry Pole Lord Mountacute descended from a daughter of George Duke of Clarence the second brother of that Edward under colour of preventing or revenging the Dissolution of so many famous Abbyes and religious houses associated themselves with Sir Edward Nâ—vill and Sir Nicholas Carew in a dangerous practise against the person of the King and the Peace of the Kingdom By whose endictment it appeares that it was their purpose and designe to destroy the King and advance Reginald Pole one of the younger brothers of the said Lord Mountacute of whom we shall hear more in the course of this History to the Regalâ— Throne Which how it could consist with the Pretensions of the Marquisse of Exceter or the Ambition of the Lord Mountacute the elder brother of this Reginald it is hard to say But having the Chronicle of John Speed to justifie me in the truth hereof in this particular I shall not take upon me to dispute the point The dangerous practise of which Persons did not so much retard the worke of Reformation as their execution did advance it to this year also appertaineth the suppressing of Pilgrimages the defacing of the costly and magnâ—ficent shrines of our Lady of Walsingham Ipswich Worcester c and more particularly of Thomas Becket once Arch-Bishop of Canterbury This last so rich in Jewells of most inestimable value that two great chests were filled with the spoyles thereoâ— so heavy and capacious as is affirmed by Bishop â—oodwin that each of them required no fewer then eight men to carry them out of the Church nothing inferiour unto Gold being charged within them More modestly in this then Sanders that malitious Sycophant who will have no lesse then twenty six waine load of silver Gold and precious stones to be seised into the Kings hands by the spoyle of that Monument Which proceedings so exasperated the Pope then being that without more delay by his Bull of January 1. he deprived the King
with the present as to receive the same in a Sollemn Assembly of the Cardinalls and Court of Rome expressing the contentment which he took therein by a fluent Oration the Copy whereof we have in Speed Fol. 991. And whereas in former times the French were Honoured with the Title of Most Christian and the Spaniard lately with the Title of The Catholick King This Pope in due acknowledgement of so great a Merit bestowes on Henry the more Glorious Attribute of The Defender of the Faith Which Bull being dated on the tenth of Octob. Anno 1521. is to be found exemplified in The Titles of Honour and thither I referr the Reader for his satisfaction Twenty three yeares the King enjoyed this Title by no other Grant then the Donation of Pope Leo. But then considering with himselfe that it was first Granted by that Pope as a Personall favour and not intended to descend upon his Posterity as also that the Popes by the reason of such differences as were between them might possibly take a time to deprive him of it he resolved to stand no longer on a ground of no greater certainty And therefore having summoned his High Court of Parliament to Assemble on the 29th of March Anno 1544. he procured this Title to be assured unto his Person and to be made perpetuall to his Heires and Successors for all times succeeding For which Consult the Statute 35. Hen. 8. Cap. 3. And by the Act it was ordained that whosoever should malitiously diminish any of his Majesties Royall Titles or seek to deprive him of the same should suffer death as in case of Treason and that from thenceforth the Stile Imperiall should no otherwise be exprest then in this forme following that is to say N. N. by the Grace of God King of England France and Ireland Defender of the Faith and on Earth of the Churches of England and Ireland the Supreme Head By vertue of which Act Queen Mary still retained this Title though she disclaimed the other of Supreme Head by Act of Parliament in the first yeare of her Reign as being incompetible with her submission and Relations to the See of Rome As for the Title of King of Ireland it was first given unto this King by a Parliament there holden in the Month of June 1541. under Sir Anthony Saint-Leiger being then Lord Deputy The Acts whereof being transmitted to the King and by him confirmed he caused himselfe to be first Proclaimed King of Ireland on the 23th of January then next following Which though it added somewhat to him in point of Title yet it afforded him no advantage in point of Power but that the name of King was thought to carry more respect and awe with it amongst the Irish then the Title of Lord which only till that time had been assumed by the Kings of England For otherwise the Kings of England from the first Conqâ—est of the Country by King Henry the second enjoyed and exercised all manner of Royalties and Preheminences which do or can belong to the greatest Kings Governing the same by their Vice-Gerâ—nts to whom sometimes they gave the Title of Lord Lieutenants sometimes Lord Deputies of Ireland then whom no Vice-Roy in the VVorld comes nearer to the Pomp and splendor of a Soveraign Prince And though they took no other Title to themselves then Lords of Ireland yet they gave higher Titles to their Subjects there many of which they advanced to the Honour and Degree of Earles And at the same time when King Richard the second contented himselfe with no Higher Stile then Lord of Ireland he exalted his great Favourite Robert d' Vere the tenth Earle of Oxon of that Family first to the Dignity and Stile of Marquesse of Dublin and after to the invidious Appellation of Duke of Ireland which he enjoyed unto his death The Countrey at the same time changed it's Title also being formerly no otherwise called in our Records then Terra Hiberniea or the Land of Ireland but from henceforth to be called upon all occasions in Acts of Parliament Proclamations and Letters Patents by the name of Regnum Hiberniae or the Realm of Ireland At the assuming of which new Title by this King the Scots were somewhat troubled but the Pope much more The Scots had then some footing in the North parts of that Iland and thought the taking of that Title by the Kings of England to tend to the endangering of their possession or at least to bring them under a Subjection of a Foreign Prince And on the other side it was complained of in the Court of Rome as a great and visible encroachment on the Pâ—pall Power to which it only appertained to erect new Kingdomes and that the injury was the greater in the present case because the King holding that Iland by no other Title as it was then and there pretended then by the Donation of Pope Adrian to King Henry the second was not withâ—ut the Popes consent to assume that Title But the King cared as little for the Pope as he did for the Scots knowing how able he was to make good all his Actings against them both and not only for enjoying this Title for the rest of his life but for the leaving of it to his Heires and Successors though afterward Queen Mary accepted a new Grant of it from the Pope then being Having thus setled and confirmed the Regall Style his next care was for setling and preventing all disputes and quarrells which might be raised about the Succession of the Crown if the Prince his son should chance to dye without lawfull issue as he after did In which as he discharged the trust reposed in him so he waved nothing of the Power which he had took unto himself by Act of Parliament made in that behalfe in the 35 year of his Reign as before wasnoted In pursuance whereof finding himself sensibly to decay but having his wits and understanding still about him he framed his last Wil and Testament which he caused to be signed and attested on the 30 of December Anno 1546 being a full Month before his death First published by Mr. Fuller in his Church History of Brittain Lib. 5. Fol. 243 244. And out of him I shall crave leave to transcribe so much thereof as may suffice to show unto posterity the sence he had of his own condition the vile esteem he had of his sinfull body what pious but unprofitable care he took for the Decent Interment of the same in what it was wherein he placed the hopes of Eternall life and finally what course he was pleased to take in the intailing of the Crown after his decease by passing over the line of Scotland and setling the Reversion in the House of Suffolk if his own children should depart without lawfull Issue as in fine they did In which and in some other points not here summed up the Reader may best satisfie himselfe by the words and tenour of the VVill which are
towards London where he was Proclaimed King with all due Solemnities He made his Royal Entry into the Tower on the last of January Into which He was conducted by Sir John Gage as the Constable of it and there received by all the Lords of the Council who with great Duty and Affection did attend His comings and waiting on Him into the Chamber of Presence did very chearfully swear Allegiance to him The next day by the general consent of all the Council the Earl of Hartford the King's Uncle was chosen Governour of His Person and Protectour of His Kingdomes till He should come unto the Age of eighteen years and was Proclaimed for such in all parts of London Esteemed most fit for this high Office in regard that he was the King's Uncle by the Mothers side very near unto Him in Blood but yet of no capacity to succeed in the Crown by reason whereof his Natural Affâ—ction and Duty was less easie to be over-carried by Ambition Upon which Gâ—ound of civil Prudence it was both piously and prudently Ordained by Solon in the State of Athens That no man should be made the Guardian unto any Orphan to whom the Inheritance might fall by the Death of his Ward For the first Handselling of his Office he Knighted the young King on the sixth of February Who being now in a capacity of conferring that Order bestowed it first on Henry Hoble-Thorn Lord Mayor of London and presently after on Mr. William Portman one of the Justices of the Bench being both dubbed with the same Sword with which He had received the Order of Knighthood at the hands of His Vncle. These first Solemnities being thus passed over the next care was for the Interment of the Old King and the Coronation of the New In order to which last it was thought expedient to advance some Confidents and Principal Ministers of State to higher Dignities and Titles then before they had the better to oblige them to a care of the State the safety of the King's Person and the preservation of the Power of the Lord Protectour who chiefly moved in the Design Yet so far did self-Interest prevail above all other Obligations and tyes of State that some of these men thus advanced proved his greatest Enemies the rest forsaking him when he had most need to make use of their Friendship In the first place having resigned the Office of Lord High Chamberlain he caused himself to be created Lord Seimour and Duke of Somerset Which last Title â—ppâ—rtaining to the King's Progenitours of the House of Lancaster and since the expiring of the Beauforts conferred on none but Henry the Natural Son of the King decealed was afterwards charged upon him as an Argument of his aspiring to the Crown which past all doubt he never aimed at His own turn being thus unhappily served the Lord William Parr Brother of Queen Katherinâ— Parr the Relict of the King deceased who formerly in the thirty fifth of the said King's Reign had been created Earl of Essex with reference to Ann his Wife Daughter and Heir of Henry Bâ—urchier the last Earl of Essex of that House was now made Marquess of Northampton in reference to her Extraction from the Bohunes once the Earls thereof John Dudly Viscount L'isle and Knight of the Garter having resigned his Office of Lord Admiral to gâ—â—tifie the Lord Protectour who desired to confer that place of Power and Trust on his younger Brother was in Exchange created Lord High Chamberlain of England and Earl of Warwick Which Title he affected in regard of his Discent from the Beauchamps who for long time had worn that Honour from whom he also did derive the Title of Viscount L'isle as being the Son of Edmond Sutton alias Dudley and of Elizabeth his Wife Sister and Heir of John Gray Viscount L'isle discended by the Lord John Talbot Viscount L'isle from Richard Beauchamp Earl of Warwick and Dame Elizabeth hisâ— Wife the direct Heir of Waren Lord L'isle the last of the Male Issue of that Noble Family In the next place comes Sir Thomas Wriothsley a man of a very new Nobility as being Son of William Wriothsley and Grand-Child of John Wriothsley both of them in their Times advanced no higher then to the Office of an Herald the Father by the Title of York the Grand-father by that of Garter King at Arms. But this man being planted in a warmer Sun grew up so fast in the esteem of King Henry the Eight that he was first made Principal Secretary afterwards created Baron of Tichfield advanced not long after to the Office of Lord Chancellour And finally by the said King installed Knight of the Garter An. 1545. For an addition to which Honours he was now dignified with the Title of the Earl of South-hampton enjoyed to this day by his Posterity These men being thus advanced to the highest Titles Sir Thomas Seimour the new Lord Admiral is Honoured with the Stile of Lord Seimour of Sudeley and in the beginning of the next year made Knight of the Garter prepared by this accumulation of Honours for his following Marriage which he had now projected and soon after compassed With no less Ceremony though not upon such lofty Aims Sir Richard Rich another of the twelve which were appointed for Subsidiaries to the great Council of Estate by the King deceased was prefered unto the Dignity of Lord Rich of Leez in Essex the Grand-father of that Robert Lord Rich who by King James was dignified with the Title of Earl of Warwick Anno 1618. In the third place came Sir William Willoughby discended from a younger Branch of the House of Eresby created Lord Willoughby of Parham in the County of Sussex And in the Rear Sir Edmond Sheffield advanced unto the Title of Lord Sheffield of Butterwick in the County of Lincoln from whom the Earls of Moulgrave do derive themselves All which Creations were performed with the accustomed Solemnities on the seventeenth of February and all given out to be designed by King Henry before his death the better to take off the Envy from the Lord Protectour whom otherwise all understanding people must needs have thought to be too prodigal of those Honours of which the greatest Kings of England had been so sparing For when great Honours are conferred on persons of no great Estates it raiseth commonly a suspicion amongst the people That either some proportionable Revenue must be given them also to the impoverishing of the King or else some way left open for them to enrich themselves out of the purses of the Subject These Preparations being dispatched they next proceed unto the Coronation of the King performed with the accustomed Rites on the twentieth of the same Moneth by Arch-Bishop Cranmer The Form whereof we finde exemplified in a Book called The Catalogue of Honour published by Thomas Mills of Canterbury in the year 1610. In which there is nothing more observable then this following Passage The King saith he being brought
unto the Church of Saint Peter in Westminster was placed in the Chair of Saint Edward the Confessour in the middest of a Throne seven steps high This Throne was erected near unto the Altar upon a Stage arising with steps on both sides covered with Carpets and Hangings of Arras Where after the King had rested a little being by certain noble Courtiers carried in another Chair unto the four sides of the Stage He was by the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury declared unto the People standing round about both by God's and Man's Laws to be the Right and Lawfull King of England France and Ireland and Proclaimed that day to be Crowned Consecrated and Anointed Unto whom He demanded whether they would obey and serve or Not By whom it was again with a loud cry answered God save the King and Ever live his Majesty Which Passage I the rather note because it is observed that at the Coronation of some former Kings The Arch-Bishop went to the four squares of the Scaffold and with a loud voice asked the Consent of the People But this was at such Times and in such Cases only when the Kings came unto the Crown by Disputed Titles for maintainance whereof the Favour and Consent of the people seemed a matter necessary as at the Coronations of King Henry the Fourth or King Richard the Third and not when it devolved upon them as it did upon this King by a Right unquestioned The Coronation was accompanied as the Custome is with a general Pardon But as there never was a Feast so great from which some men departed not with empty bellies so either out of Envy or some former Grudge or for some other cause unknown six Persons were excluded from the taste of this gracious Banquet that is to say the Lord Thomas Howard Duke of Nâ—rfolk a condemned Prisoner in the Tower Edward Lord Courtney eldest Son to the late Marquess of Exeter beheaded in the last times of King Henry the Eight Cardinal Pâ—le one of the Sons of Margaret Countess of Salisbury proscribed by the same King also Doctour Richard Pate declared Bishop of Worcester in the place of Hierome de Nugaticis in the year 1534. and by that Name subscribing to some of the first Acts of the Councel of Trent who being sent to Rome on some Publick Imployment chose rather to remain there in perpetual Exile then to take the Oath of Supremacy at his coming home as by the Laws he must have done or otherwise have fared no better then the Bishop of Rochester who lost his head on the refusal Of the two others Fortescue and Throgmorton I have found nothing but the Names and therefore can but name them onely But they all lived to better times the Duke of Norfolk being restored by Queen Mary to his Lands Liberty and Honours as the Lord Courtney was to the Earldom of Devonshire enjoyed by many of his Noble Progenitours Cardinal Pole admitted first into the Kingdom in the capacity of a Legate from the Pope of Rome and after Cranmer's death advanced to the See of Canterbury and Doctour Pate preferred unto the actual Possession of the See of Worcester of which he formerly had enjoyed no more but the empty Title These Great Solemnities being thus passed over the Grandees of the Court began to entertain some thoughts of a Reformation In which they found Arch-Bishop Cranmer and some other Bishops to be as foreward as themselves but on different ends endeavoured by the Bishops in a pious Zeal for rectifying such thing as were amiss in God's publick Worship but by the Courtiers on an Hope to enrich themselves by the spoil of the Bishopricks To the Advancement of which work the Conjuncture seemed as proper as they could desire For First the King being of such tender age and wholly Governed by the Will of the Lord Protectour who had declared himself a friend to the Lutheran Party in the time of King Henry was easie to be moulded into any form which the authority of Power and Reason could imprint upon Him The Lord Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk and Doctour Stephen Gardiner Bishop of Winchester who formerly had been the greatest Sticklers at the Coâ—ncil-Table in Maintainance of the Religion of the Church of Rome were not long able to support it the one of them being a condemned Prisoner in the Tower as before was said and the other upon some just displeasure not named by King Henry amongst the Councellours of State who were to have the managing of Affairs in His Son's Minoâ—â—ty Bonner then Bishop of London was absent at that time in the Court of the Emperour to whom he had been sent Embassadour by the former King And no professed Champion for the Papacy remained amongst them of whom they had cause to stand in doubt but the new Earl of South-hampton Whom when they were not able to remove from his old Opinions it was resolved to make him less both in Power and Credit so that he should not be able to hinder the pursuit of those Counsels which he was not willing to promote And therefore on the sixth of March the Great Seal was taken from him by the King's Command and for a while committed to the custody of Sir William Pawlet Created Lord St John of Basing and made Great Master of the Houshold by King Henry the Eighth And on the other side it was thought expedient for the better carrying on of the Design not onely to release all such as had been committed unto Prison but also to recall all such as had been forced to abandon the Kingdom for not submitting to the Superstitions and Corruptions of the Church of Rome Great were the Numbers of the first who had their Fetters strucken off by this mercifull Prince and were permitted to enjoy that Liberty of Conscience for which they had suffered all Extremities in His Father's time Onely it is observed of one Thomas Dobbs once Fellow of Saint John's-College in Cambridg condemned for speaking against the Mass and thereupon committed to the Counter in Bread-street that he alone did take a view of this Land of Canaan into which he was not suffered to enter It being so ordered by the Divine Providence that he died in Prison before his Pardon could be signed by the Lord Protectour Amongst the rest which were in number very many those of chief note were Doctour Miles Coverdale after Bishop of Exeter Mr. John Hooper after Bishop of Glocester Mr. John Philpot after Arch-Deacon of Winchester Mr. John Rogers after one of the Prebends of Saint Paul's and many others eminent for their Zeal and Pâ—ety which they declared by preferring a good Conscience before their Lives in the time of Queen Mary But the busâ—nâ—ss was of greater Moment then to expect the coming back of the Learned men who though they came not time enough to begin the work yet did they prove exceeding serviceable in the furtherance of it And therefore neither to lose time nor to press too
till Michaelmass-Day An. 1547. At what time and for some time after Doctour Barlow who succeeded Knight was actually Bishop of St. Davia's and therefore Farrars could not be Consecrated to that See some weeks before I finde again in a very good Authour that Doctour Farrar was the first Bishop made by Letters Patents without Capitular Election which could not be till after the end of the last years Parliament because till then the King pretended not to any such Power of making Bishops And Thirdly if Bishop Barlow had not been Translated to the See of Wells till the year 1549. as Bishop Godwin saith he was not it must be Barlow and not Farrars who first enjoyed the benefit of such Letters Patents because Barlow must first be removed to Wells before the Church of St. Davia's was made void for Farrars So that the Consecration of Farrars to the See of St. David's being placed by the Canons of that Church in an Information made against him on the fifth of September it must be on the fifth day of September in this present year and neither in the year 1547. as the Acts and Monuments make it nor in the year 1549. as in Bishop Godwin Anno Regni Edw. Sexti 3 o. An. Dom. 1548 1549. THere remains yet one Act of this Parliament which we have not spoke of but of a different nature from all the rest I mean the Act for the Attainder of the Lord Thomas Seimour whose Tragedy came on but now though the Ground thereof was laid in the former year The occasion much like that of the two great Ladies in the Roman Story Concerning whom it is related by Herodian that when the Emperour Commodus was unmarried he permitted his Sister Lucilla whom he had bestowed on Pompeianus a Right Noble Senatour to have a Throne erected for Her on the Publick Theatre Fire to be borne before Hâ—r when she walked abroad and to enjoy all other Privileges of a Princâ—'s Wife But when Commodus had Married Crispina a Lady of as great a Spirit though of lower Birth Lucilla was to lose her place and to grow less in Reputation then before she was This so tormented her proud heart when she perceived that nothing could be gained by disputing the Point that she never lest practicing one mischief on the neck of another till she had endangered the young Emperour's life but utterly destroyed her self and all those friends whom she had raised to advance her Interess VVhich Tragedy the Names of the Actours being onely changed was now again played over in the Court of England Thomas Lord Seimour being a man of lofty Aims and aspiring Thoughts had Married Queen Katharine Parr the Relict of the King deceased who looking on him as the Brother of the Lord Protectour and being looked on as Queen Dowager in the eye of the Court did not conceive that any Lady could be so forgetfull of her former Dignity as to contend about the place But therein she found her self deceived for the Protectour's Wife a Woman of most infinite Pride and of a Nature so imperious as to know no rule but her own Will would needs conceive her self to be the better Woman of the two For if the one were widow to the King deceased the other thought her self to stâ—nd on the Higher ground in having all advantages of Power above her For what said She within Her self Am not I wife to the Protectour who is King in Power though not in Title a Duke in Order and Degree Lord Treasurer and Earl Marshal and what else he pleaseth and one who hath Enâ—obled His highest Honours by his late great Victory And did not Henry Marry Katharine Parr in His doting Days when he had brought himself to such a Condition by His Lusts and Cruelty that no Lady who stood upon Her Honour would adventure on Him Do not all Knees bow before Me and all Tongues celebrate My Praises and all Hands pay the Tribute of Obedience to Me and all Eys look upon Me as the first in State through whose Hands the Principal Offices in the Court and chief Preferments in the Church are observed to pass Have I so long Commanded him who Commands two Kingdoms And shall I now give place to Her who in her former best Estate was but Latimer's Widow and is now fain to cast Her self for Support and Countenance into the despised Bed of a younger Brother If Mr. Admiral teach his Wife no better Manners I am She that will and will choose rather to remove them both whether out of the Court or out of the World shall be no great mâ—tter then be out-shined in My own Sphere and trampled on within the Verge of my Jurisdiction In this Impatiency of Spirit she rubs into the Head of the Duke her Husband over whom she had obtained an absolute Mastery How much he was despised by the Lord Admiral for his Mildness and Lenity What secret Practices were on foot in the Court and Kingdom to bring him out of Credit with all sorts of People What â—tore of Emissaries were imployed to cry up the Lord Admiral as the Abler man And finally that if he did not look betimes about him he would he forthwith dispossessed of his Place and Power and see the same conferred on one of his own preferring This first begat a Diffidence in the Duke of his Brother's Purposes which afterwards improved it self to an estranging of Affection and at last into an open Breach But before Matters could proceed to the last Extremity the Queen died in Child-birth which happened September last 1648 being delivered of a Daughter who afterwards was Christened by the name of Mary A Lady of a mild and obliging Nature honoured by all the Court for her even Behaviour and one who in this Quarrel had been meerly passive rather maintaining what she had then seeking to invade the place which belonged not to her And here the Breach might have been closed if the Admiral had not ran himself into further Dangers by practicing to gain the good Affections of the Princess Elizabeth He was it seems a man of a strange Ambition in the choice of his Wives and could not level his Affections lower then the Bed of a Princess For an Essay whereof he first addressed himself to the Lady Mary Duchess of â—ichmond and Sommerset Daughter of Thomas Duke of Norfolk and Widow of Duke Henry before mentioned the King 's Natural Brother But she being of too high a Spirit to descend so low he next applied himself to the Wâ—dow-Queen whom he beheld as double Jointured one who haâ— filled her Coffers in the late King's Time and had been gratified with a Legacy of four thousand pounds in Plate Jewels and Mony which he had Means enough to compass though all other Debts and Legacies should remain unpaid And on the other side She looked on him as one of the Peers of the Realm Lord Admiral by Office Uncle to the King and Brother to
of ordinary attendance about his Person which was on the same Day when his Father was created Duke For whereas most men gave themselves no improbable hopes that betwixt the Spring time of his life the Growing season of the year and such Medicinal applications as were made unto him the disease would wear it self away by little and little yet they found the contrary It rather grew so fast upon him that when the Parliament was to begin on the first of March the Lords Spiritual and Temporal were Commanded to attend him at White-Hall instead of waiting on him from thence to Westminster in the usual manner Where being come they found a Sermon ready for them the Preacher being the Bishop of London which otherwise was to have been Preached in the Abby-Church and the Great Chamber of the Court accomodated for an House of Peers to begin the Session For the opening whereof the King then sitting under the Cloth of State and all the Lords according to their Ranks and Orders he declared by the Lord Chancellor Goodrick the causes of his calling them to the present Parliament and so dismist them for that time A Parliament which began and ended in the Month of March that the Commissions might the sooner be dispatched to their several Circuits for the speedier gathering up of such of the Plate Copes Vestments and other Furnitures of which the Church was to be spoyled in the time of his sickness Yet in the midst of these disorders there was some care taken for advancing both the honour and the interest of the English-Nation by furnishing Sebastian Cabol for some new discoveries Which Sebastian the Son of John Cabol a Venetian born attended on his first imployment under Henry the seventh Anno 1497. At what time they discovered the Barralaos and the Coasts of Caenada now called New-France even to the 67½ degree of Northern Latitude Bending his Course more toward the South and discovering a great part of the shoars of Florida he returned for England bringing with him three of the Natives of that Country to which the name of New-Found-Land hath been since appropriated But finding the KING unhappily Embroyled in a War with Scotland and no present Encouragements to be given for a further Voiage he betook himself into the service of the KING of SPAIN and after fourty years and more upon some distast abandoned SPAIN and offered his service to this KING By whom being made Grand Pilot of England in the year 1549. he animated the English-Merchants to the finding out of a passage by the North-East Seas to Cathay and China first enterprised under the Conduct of Sr. Hugh Willoughby who unfortunately Perished in the Action himself and all his Company being Frozen to Death all the particulars of his Voiage being since committed to Writing as was certified by the Adventures in the year next following It was upon the twentith of May in this present year that this Voiage was first undertaken three great Ships being well manned and fitted for the Expedition which afterwards was followed by Chancelour Burrought Jackman Jenkinson and other noble Adventurers in the times Succeding Who though they failed of their Attempt in finding out a shorter way to Cathay and China yet did they open a fair Passage to the Bay of S. Nicholas and thereby layd the first foundation of a Wealthy Trade betwixt us and the Muscovites But the KING'S Sickness still encreasing who was to live no longer then might well stand with the designs of the DVKE of Northumber-land some Marriages are resolved on for the Daughters of the DVKE of Suffolk in which the KING appeared as forward as if he had been one of the Principalls in the Plot against him And so the matter was Contrived that the Lady IANE the eldest Daughter to that DVKE should be Married to the Lord Guilford Dudly the fourth Son then living of Northumberland all the three Elder Sons having Wives before that Katherine the second Daughter of Suffolk should be Married to the Lord Henry Herbert the Eldest Son of the Earl of Pembrock whom Dudly had made privy to all his Counsels and the third Daughter named Mary being Crook-Backed and otherwise not very taking affianced to Martin Keys the KING'S Gentleman-Porter Which Marriages together with that of the Lady Katherine one of the Daughters of Duke Dudly to Henry Lord Hastings Eldest Son of the Earl of Huntington were celebrated in the end of May or the beginning of June for I finde our Writers differing in the time thereof with as much Splendour and solemnity as the KING' 's weak Estate and the sad Condition of the Court could be thought to bear These Marriages all solemnized at Dâ—rham House in the Strand of which Northumberland had then took possession in the name of the Rest upon a Confidence of being Master very shortly of the whole Estate The noise of these Marriages bred such Amazement in the Hearts of the common People apt enough in themselves to speak the worst of Northumberland's Actions That there was nothing left unsaid which might serve to shew their hatred against him or express their Pity toward the KING But the DVKE was so little troubled at it that on the contrary he resolved to Dissemble no longer but openly to play his Game according to the Plot and Project which he had been Hammering ever â—ince the Fall of the DVKE of Somerset whose Death he had Contrived on no other Ground but for laying the way more plain and open to these vast ambitions The KING was now grown weak in Body and his Spirits much decaied by a languishing Sickness which Rendred him more apprehensive of such fears and Dangers as were to be presented to him then otherwise he could have been in a time of strength In which Estate Duke Dudly so prevailed upon him that he conâ—ented at the last to a transposition of the Crown from his natural sisters to the Children of the Dutchess of Suffolk Confirming it by Letters Patents to the Heirs Males of the Body of the said Dutchess And for want of such Heirs Males to be Born in the lifetime of the KING the Crown immediately to descend on the Lady IANE the eldest Daughter of that House and the Heirs of her Body and so with several Remainders to the rest of that Family The carriage of which Business and the Rubs it met with in the way shall be reserved to the particular story of the Lady IANE when she is brought unwilling upon the Stage there on to Act the part of a Queen of England It sufficeth in this place to note that the KING had no sooner caused these Leters Patents to passe the Seal but his Weakeness more visibly encreased then it did before And as the KING'S Weakeness did encrease so did the Northumberland's Diligence about him for he was little absent from him and had alwaies some well-assured to Epy how the State of his Health changed every Hour And the more joyful he
Her Reign but of nine Days and no more Her Life not twice so many years as She Reigned days Such was the end of all the Projects of the two great Dukes for Her Advancement to the Crown and their own in Hers. To which as She was raised without any Blows so She might have been deposed without any Blows if the Ax had not been more cruel on the Scaffold then the Sword in the Field The Sword had never been unsheathed but when the Scaffold was once Erected and the Ax once sharpened there followed so many Executions after one another till the Death of that Queen that as Her Reign began in the Blood of those who took upon them the Puâ—suit of this Lady's Title so was it stained more fouly in the Blood of 〈◊〉 as were Maâ—tyred in all parts for Her Religion To the Relation of which 〈◊〉 Deaths and Martyrdoms and other the Calamities of that Tragical and unpâ—â—â—perous Reign we must next proceed The Parentage Birth and first Fortunes of the Princesse ELIZABETH The second Daughter of King Henry the Eighth before her coming to the CROWN With a true Narrative of the first Loves of King Henry the Eighth to Queen Anne Bollen The Reasons of his alienating of his first affections and the true causes of her woful and calamitous death ELIZABETH the youngest daughter of King Henry the 8th was born at Greenwich on the 7th of September being the Eve of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary 1533. begotten on the body of Queen Anne Bollen the eldest daughter of Thomas Bollen Earl of Wiltshire and of Elâ—zabeth his wife one of the daughters of Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk and Earl Marshal of England The Family of the Bollens before this time neither great nor antient but highly raised in reputation by the marriage of the Lady Anne and the subsequent birth of Queen Elizabeth the first rise thereof comming out of the City in the person of Sir Geofrey Bollen Lord Mayor of London Anno 1457. which Geofrey being son of one Geofrey Bollen of Sulle in Norfolk was father of Sir William Bollen of Blickling in the said County who took to wife the Lady Margaret daughter and one of the heirs of Thomas Butler Earl of Ormond brother and heir of James Butler Earl of Wiltshire Of this marriage came Sir Thomas Bollen above mentioned imployed in several Embassies by King Henry the Eighth to whom he was Treasurer of the Houshold and by that name enrolled amongst the Knights of the Garter Anno 1523. advanced about two years after being the seventeenth of that King to the style and title of Viscount Rochfort and finally in reference to his mothers extraction created Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond 1529. But dying without issue male surviving the title of Ormond was restored to the next heir male of the Butlers in Ireland and that of Wiltshire given by King Edward the 6th to Sir William Paules being then great Master of the Houshold And as for that of Viscount Rochfort it lay dormant after his decease till the 6th of July Anno 1621. when conferred by King James on Henry Cary Lord Hunsâ—on the son of John and Grandchild of Henry Cary whom Queen Elizabeth in the first year of her Reign made Lord Cary of Hunsdon he being the son and heir of Sir William Cary one of the Esquires of the body to King Henry the 8th by the Lady Mary Bâ—llen his wife the youngest daughter and one of the Coheirs of the said Thomas Bollen Viscount Rochfort and Earl of Wiltshire Such being the estate of that Family which became afterwards so fortunate in the production of this Princess to the Realm of England we must in the next place enquire more particularly into the life and story of Queen Anne her Mother Who in her tender years attending on Mary the French Queen to the Court of France was by her Father after the return of the said Queen placed in the retinue of the Dutchess of Alanzone the beloved sister of King Francis where she not only learnt the language but made her self an exact Mistriss both of the Gaities and Garb of the great French Ladies She carried such a stock of natural graces as render'd her superlatively the most admired beauty in the Court of France and returned thence with all those advantages which the civilities of France could add to an English beauty For so it hapned that her Father being sent with Sir Anthony Brown Anno 1527. to take the oath of the French King to a solemn league not long before concluded betwixt the Crowns resolved to bring back his daughter with him to see what fortunes God would send her in the Court of England Where being Treasurer of the houshold it was no hard matter for him to prefer her to Queen Katherines service on whom she waited in the nature of a Maid of Honour which gave the King the opportunity of taking more than ordinary notice of her parts and person Nor was it long before the excellency of her beauty adorned with such a gracefulness of behaviour appeared before his eyes with so many charms that not able to resist the assaults of Love he gave himself over to be governed by those affections which he found himself unable to Master But he found no such easie task of it as he had done before in bringing Mrs Elizabeth Blunt and others to be the subjects of his lusts all his temptations being repelled by this vertuous Lady like arrows shot in vain at a rock of Adamants She was not to be told of the Kings loose love to several Ladies and knew that nothing could be gained by yielding unto such desires but contempt and infamy though for a while disguised and palliated by the plausible name and Courtly Title of a Princes Mistriss The humble and modest opposition of the Lady Gray to the inordinate affections of King Edward the 4th advanced her to his bed as a lawful wife which otherwise she had been possessed of by no better title than that of Jane Shore and his other Concubines By whose example Mistriss Bollâ—n is resolved to steer her courses and not to yield him any further favours than what the honour of a Lady and the modesty of a virgin might inoffensively permit to so great a King But so it chanced that before her coming back from the Court of France the King began to be touched in conscience about his marriage with the Queen upon occasion of some doubts which had been cast in the way both by the Ministers of the Emperour and the French King as touching the legitimation of his daughter Mary Which doubts being started at a time when he stood on no good terms with the Emperour and was upon the point of breaking with him was secretly fomented by such of the Court as had advanced the party of Francis and sought alwaies to alienate him from the friendship of Charles Amongst which none more forward than Cardinal Wolsie who
for almost twenty years together had governed his affairs with such power and prudence The Emperor had disgusted the ambitious Prelate not only by crossing him in his sute for the Popedome but by denying him the Archbishoprick of Toledo of which he had once given him no small hopes And now the Cardinal is resolved to cry quits for both thinking himself as much affronted in the sailer of his expectations as if he had been disgracefully deprived of some present possession No way more open to his ends than by working on that scruple of Conscience which had been raised unto his hand to the advance whereof the reservedness of the Queens behaviour and the inequality of her years which render'd her the less agreeable to his conversation gave no small advantage In which conjuncture it was no hard matter to perswade him unto any way which might give satisfaction to his conscience or content to his fancy especially iâ— it came accompanied with such a change as promised him the hopes of a son and heir or at the least of a more lawful and unquestioned issue And then what fitter wife could be found out for him than Madam Rheene one of the daughters of King Lewis the 12th and sister to the wife of the King then Reigning By which alliance he might be able to justifie his separation from the bed of Katherine not only against Charls her Nephew but against all Kings and Emperors in the Christian world taking the Pope into the reckoning A proposition so agreeable to the Kings own thoughts who began to grow weary of his Queen that he resolved to buy the amity of Francis at any rate to which end he not only made a league with him against the Emperour when the condition of the French was almost desperate but remitted unto Francis a very vast debt to the value of 500000 Crowns partly accruing unto him by some former contracts and parâ—ly for the payment of forfeiture incurred by Charles with which the French had charged himself by the capitulations And so far matters went on smoothly to the Cardinals wish and possibly might have succeeded in all particulars had not the plot miscaried by the return of Viscount Rochfort and the planting of Anne Bollen in the Court The admirable attractions of which young Lady had drawn the King so fast unto her that in short time he gave her an absolute soverainty over all his thoughts But so long he concealed his affections from her that a great league and entercourse was contracted betwixt her and the young Lord Percy the eldest son of Henry Lord Percy the 5th Earl of Northumberland of that Name and Family who being brought up in the Cardinals service had many opportunities of confirming an acquaintance with her when either his own pleasure or his Lords affairs occasioned his waiting at the Court But these compliances on both sides neither were nor probably could be so closely caried as not to come unto the knowledge of the jealous King impatient of a Rival in his new affections and yet resolved to carry the business in such a manner as to give no distaste to her whom he so much loved The Cardinal is therefore dealt with to remove that obstacle to which he readily condescended not looking further at the present into the design but that the King intended to appropriate the young Lady to his private pleasures as he had done many others in the times foregoing A messenger is thereupon dispatched to the Earl of Northumberland who at his coming to the Court is informed by the Cardinal how unadvisedly the Lord Percy had entred himself into the affections of Mrs Bollen one of the daughters of Viscount Rochfort not only without his fathers privity but against the express will of the King who was resolved to dispose otherwise of her And this he urged upon the strength of an old prerogative both then and after exercised by the Kings of England in not permitting any of the Nobility to contract mariages and make alliances with one another but by their consents The old Earl startled at the newes and fearing nothing more than the Kings displeasure calls for his son and presenâ—ly schools him in this manner Son quoth he even as thou art and ever haste been a proud disdainful and very unthtifty Master so haste thou now declared thy self Wherefore what joy what pleasure what comfort or what solace can I conceive in thee that thus without discretion hast abused thy self having neither regard to me thy natural father nor to thy natural Soverain Lord the King to whom all honest and loyal subjects bear faithful obedience nor yet to the prosperity of thy own estate but hast so unadvisedly ensâ—ared thy self to her for whom thou hast purchased the Kings high displeasure intolerable for any subject to sustain And but that the King doth consider the lightness of thy head and wilful quality of thy person his displeasure and indignation were sufficient to cast me and all my posterity into utter ruine and destruction But he being my singular good Lord and favourable Prince and my Lord Cardinal my very good friend hath and doth clearly excuse me in thy lewdness and doth rather lament thy folly than malign thee and hath advised an order to be taken for thee to whom both I and you are more bound than we conceive of I pray to God that this may be sufficient admonition to thee to use thy self more wisely hereafter For assure thy self if thou dost not amend thy prodigality thou wilt be the last Earl of our house For thy natural inclination thou art masterful and prodigal to consume all that thy progenitors have with so great travail gathered and kept together with honour But having the Kings Majesty my singular good Lord I trust I assure thee so to order my succession that thou shalt consume thereof but a little For I do not intend I tell thee truly to make thee heir for thanks be to God I have more boys that I trust will use themselves much better and prove more like to be wise and honest men of whom I will chuse the most likely to succeed me So said the much offended father and yet not thinking he had done enough for his own security a marriage is presently concluded for him to the Kings good liking with the Lady Mary one of the daughters of George Lord 〈◊〉 Earl of Shrewsbury Mrs Anne Bollen in the mean time is removed by her father from the Court to her no small trouble who knowing nothing of the Kings had willingly admitted the Lord Percy into her affections And understanding by him what had past betwixt him and his father she conceived such a mortal grudge against the Cardinal whom she looked on as the only cause of this separation that she contributed her best assistance to his final ruine It was about the time when the Kings cause was to be agitated in the Leganâ—ine Court that he caused her to be sent
not to divâ—lge so great a secret for fear the Princesse Dowager on the hearing of it either before or on the day of passing Sentence should make her appearance in the Court For saith he if the noble Lady Katherine should upon the bruit of this matter either in the mouthes of the Inhabitants of the Country or by her Friends or Counsell hearing of this bruite be moved stirred counselled or perswaded to appear before me in the time or afore the time of Sentence I should be thereby greatly staid and let in the Processe and the King's Grace's Councell here present shall be much uncertain what shall be then further done therein For a great bruite and voice of the people in this behalf might perchance move her to do the thing which peradventure she would not if she hear little of it And therefore I pray you to speak as little of this matter as you may and to move the King's Highnesse so to do for consideration above recited But so it hapned to their wish that the Queen persisting constant in her Resolution of standing to the Judgment of no other Court than the Court of Rome vouchsafed not to take any notice of their proceeding in the Cause And thereupon at the day and time before designed she was pronounced to be Contâ—max for defect of Appearance and by the generall consent of all the Learned men then present the Sentence of the Divorce was passed and her Marriage with the King declared void and of none effect Of all these doings as the Divorced Queen would take no notice so by her Officers and Attendants she was served as in her former capacity Which comming to the King's knowledge he sends the Duke of Suffolk and some others in the month of July with certain Instructions given in Writing to perswade her to submit to the Determinations of the King and State to lay aside the Title of Queen to content her self with that of the Princesse Dowager and to remove her from the Bishop of Lincoln's house at Bayden where she then remained to a place called Someâ—sham belonging to the Bishop and Church of Eli. To none of which when she would hearken an Oath is tendred to her Officers and the rest of her Houshold to serve her onely in the capacity of Princesse Dowager and not as formerly in the noâ—ion of a Queen of England Which at the first was generally refused amongst them upon a Resolution which had been made in the Case by Abel and Berker her two Chaplains that is to say That having already took an Oath to serve her as Queen they could not with a good conscience take any other But in the end a fear of losing their said places but more of falling into the King's displeasure so prevailed upon them that the Oath was taken by most of them not suffered from thenceforth to come into the Queen's presence who looked upon them as the betrayers of her Cause or to perform any service about her Person Some Motives to induce her to a better conformity were ordered to be laid before her none like to be more prevalent than that which might concern the Interest of her daughter Mary And therefore it was offered to her consideration That chiefly and above all things she should have regard to the Honourable and her most dear Daughter the Lady Princesse from whom in case the King's Highnesse being thus enforced exagitated and moved by the unkindnesse of the Dowager might also withdraw his Princely estimation goodnesse zeal and affection it would be to her no little regret sorrow and extream calamity But the wise Queen knew well enough that if she stood her Daughter could not do amisse whereas there could be nothing gained by such submissions but the dishonour of the one the Bastardising of the other and the exâ—luding of them both from all possibility of being restored in time to come to their first condition Finding small hopes of any justice to be done her in the Realm of England and not well able to endure so many indignities as had been daily put upon her she makes her complaint unto the Pope whom she found willing to show his teeth though he could not bite For presently hereupon a Bull is issued for accursing both the King and the Realm the Beaâ—er hereof not daring to proclaim the same in England caused it to be set up in some publick places in the Town of Dunkirk one of the Haven Towns of Flanders that so the roaring of it might be heard on this side of the Sea to which it was not safe to bring it But neither the Pope nor the Queen Dowager got any thing by this rash adventure which onely served to exasperate the King against them as also against all which adheared unto them For in the following Parliament which began on the 25 th of January and ended on the 30 th of March an Act was pass'd inhibiting the payment of First-fruits to the Bishop of Rome and for the Electing Consecrating and Confirming of the Archbishops and Bishops in the Realm of England without recourse unto the Pope cap. 20. Another Act for the Attaindure of Elizabeth Barton commonly called the holy Maid of Kâ—nt with many other her adhearents for stickling in the cause of the Princesse Dowager cap. 12. and finally of Establishing the Succession in the Crown Imperiall of this Realm cap. 22. In which last Act the Sentence of the Divorce was confirmed and ratified the Princesse Mary deâ—lared to be illegitimate the Succession of the Crown entailed on the King's Issue by Queen Anne Bollen an Oath prescribed for all the Subjects in maintenance of the said Statute of Succession and taken by the Lords and Commons at the end of that Parliament as generally by all the Subjects of the Kingdom within few months after For the refusall whereof as also for denying the King's Supremacy and some suspition of confederacy with Elizabeth Barton Doctor John Fisher Bishop of Rochester not many days before created Cardinall by Pope Paul the 3 d. was on the 22 of June beheaded publickly on the Tower-hill and his head most disgracefully fixed upon a Pole and set on the top of the Gate on London-Bridge And on the 6 th of July then next following Sir Thomas Moor who had succeeded Wolsie in the place of Lord Chancellor was beheaded for the same cause also But I find him not accused as I do the other for having any hand in the Conspiracy of Elâ—zabeth Barton The Execution of which great persons and of so many others who wish'd well unto her added so much affliction to the desolate and disconsolate Queen that not being able longer to bear the burden of so many miseries she fell into a languishing sicknesse which more and more encreasing on her and finding the near approach of death the onely remedy now left for all her sorrows she dictated this ensuing Letter which she caused to be delivered to the King by one of her
of his love and goodnesse Which so prevailed that the Duke of Norfolk is sent to treat with her upon certain Instructions so neâ—essary to the knowledge of her affairs in this Conjuncture that they deserve a place here and are these that follow Certain Articles and Injunctions given by the King's Highness to his right Trusty and right entirely beloved Cousen and Counsellor the Duke of Norfolk whom with certain others in his company His Majesty sendeth to the Lady Mary his Daughter for the Purposes ensuing FIrst whereas the said Lady Mary hath sundry ways with long continuance shewed her self so obstinate towards the King's Majâ—sty her Soveraign Lord and Father and so disobedient to his Laws conceived and â—ade upon most just vertuâ—â—s and godly grounds that as the wilfull disobedience thereof seemeth a monster in Nature so unlesse the mercy of his Highnesse had been most abundantly extended unto hâ—r by the course of his Grace's Laws and the force of his Justice shâ— endâ—â—gâ—red her self so far that it was greatly tâ— his Highnesse's regret and hearty sorrow to see and perceive how little 〈◊〉 esteâ—meth the same extending to the losse of his favour the losse of her honour the losse of her life and undoubâ—edly to the indignation of Almighty God For that she neither obeyeth her Father and Soveraign nor his just and vertuous Laws aforesaid And that of late neverthelesse calling to remembrance her transgressions and offences in this pâ—rt towards God her Father and Soveraign Lord the King's Highnesse she hath writtâ—n to the same three suâ—dâ—y Letters containing a declaration of her repentance conceived for the Premises with such an humble and simple submission as she appeareth not onely to submit hâ—r sâ—lfwholly and without exception especially by the last Letter to the Laws but also for her state and condition to put her self onely to his Grace's mercy nothing desiring but mercy and forgivenesse for her offences with a reconciliation to his Grace's favour Albeit his Majesty hath been so ingrately handled and used by her as is aforâ— declared that the like would enforce any private person tâ— abâ—ndon for ever such an unkind and inobedient child from their grace and favour yet such is his Majesties gracious and divine nature such is his clemency and pitty such his mercifull inclination and Princely heart that as he hath been ever ready to take pitty and compâ—ssiâ—n of all offenders repentantly calling and crying for the same So in case he may throughly parceive the same to be in the said Lady Mary's heart which she hath put in pen and writing his Highnesse considering the imbecillity of her sex being the same is frail inconstant and easie to he perswaded by simple counsell can be right well contented to remit unto her part of his said displeasure And therefore hath 〈◊〉 this time for the certain knowledge of her heart and stomack sâ—â—t unto her his said Cousen with others to demand and enquire of her certain Questions Her Answeâ—s whereunto his pleasure is they shall require and note in writing which sâ—all throughly decipher whether she be indeed the person she pretendeth or for any respect hath with generall words laboured to cloak the speciall matter which is repugnant and contrary to that which his Majesty hath gathered and conceived of the same 1. And first after their Accesse and Declaration of the Premises they shall for their first Question demand of her Whether she doth recognise and knowledge the King's Highnesse for her Soveraign Lord and King in the Emperiall Crown of this Realm of England and will and doth submit her self unto his Highnesse and to all and singuâ—ar the Laws and Statutes of this Realm as becommeth every true and faithfull Subject to do 2. Also whether she will with all her power and qualities that God hath endu'd her withall not onâ—ly obey keep and observe all and singular Laws and Statutes of this Realm but also set forth advance and maintain the same to the utmost of her power according to her bounden duty 3. Also whether she will recognise accept take and repute the King's Highnesse to be supream Head in Earth under Christ of the Church of England and utterly refuse the Bishop of Rome's pretended Power and Jurisdiction heretofore usurped in this Realm according to the Laws and Statutes of the same made and ordained in the behalf of all the King 's true Subjects humbly received admitted obeyed kept and observed And also will and do renounce and utterly forsake all manner of Remedy Interesse and Advantage by the said Bishop of Rome's Laws Processe or Jurisdiction to her in any wise appertaining or that hereafter may by any Title Colour or Mean belong grow succeed or appertain or in any case may follow or ensue 4. And whether she will and doth of her Duty and Obedience towards God her Alleigance towards the King's Highnesse and the Laws of this Realm and also of the sincere love and zeal that she beareth towards the Truth freely and franckly recognize and knowledge without any other respect both by Goâ—'s Law and Man's Law the Marriage heretofore had between his Majesty and her Mother to be unlawfull 5. Also Be she enquired or examined For what cause and by whose motion and means she hath continued and remained in her obstinacy so long and who did eâ—bold or animate her thereto with other circumstances thereof appertaining 6. Also What is the cause that she at this present time rather then at any other heretofore doth submit her selfe To these six Articles she was required to give a plain and positive answer Which plainly shews the doubtfulnesse and uncertainty of her present condition in being either forced to confesse her selfe to be illegitimate or running on the last hazzard of the Kings displeasure if she should do otherwise But wisely considering in her selfe whom she had to deal with she thought it safest to strike sale and to submit her selfe to him with whom it was not lawfull for her to dispute that point if she had been able She therefore makes a cleer acknowledgement of the four first Articles by the subscribing of her name but craved leave to demur on the two last because some persons were concern'd in them whom she was not willing to discover And by this means she gain'd so far upon the King that from that time forwards he held her in the same ranck with the rest of his children gave her her turn in the succession of the Kingdome assigned her portion of ten thousand pounds to be paid at her marriage and in the interim three thousand pounds per annum for her personal maintenance And more then this he did not do for his daughter Elizabeth notwithstanding the esteem and affection which he bare to her mother for bringâ—â—g whom into his bed he had cancelled all the bonds of his former marriage Little or nothing more occurreth of her in the time of King Henry because there was little or nothing altered in
Ricot in reference perhaps to his fatheâ—s suffering in the cause of her mother from whom descended Francis Lord Norris advanced by King James to the Honors of Viscount Tame and Earl of Berkshire by Letters Patens bearing date in January Anno 1620. After him on the 7th of April comes Sir Edward North created Baron of Charâ—eleg in the Country of Cambridge who having been Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations in the time of King Henry and raised himself a fair Estate by the fall of Abbyes was by the King made one of his Executors and nominated to be one of the great Councill of Estate in his Son's Minority Sir John Bâ—ugis brings up the rear who being descended from Sir John Chandois a right noble Banneret and from the Bottelers Lords of Sudley was made Lord Chandois of Sudley on the 8th of April whiâ—h goodly Mannor he had lately purchased of the Crown to which it was Escheated on the death of Sir Thomas Seymour Anno. 1549. the Title still enjoyed though but little else by the seventh Lord of this Name and Family most of the Lands being dismembred from the House by the unparallel'd Impudence to give it no worse name of his elder brother Some Bishops I find consecrated about this time also to make the stronger party for the Queen in the House of Peers no more Sees actually voided at that time to make Rome for others though many in a fair way to it of which more hereafter Hooper of Glocester commanded to attend the Lords of the Council on the 22 of August and committed prisoner not long after was outed of his Bishoprick immediately on the ending of the Parliament in which all Consecrations were declared to be void and null which had been made according to the Ordinall of King Edward the 6 th Into whose place succeeded James Brooks Doctor in Divinity sometimes Fellow of Corpus Christi and Master of Bâ—liol Colledge in Oxon employed not long after as a Delegat from the Pope of Rome in the proceedings against the Archbishop of Canterbury whom he condemned to the stake To Jaylor of whose death we have spoken before succeeded Doctor John White in the See of Lincoln first School-master and after Warden of the Colledge near Winchester to the Episcopall See whereof we shall find him translated Anno 1556. The Church of Rochester had been void ever since the removall of Doctor Story to the See of Chichester not suffered to return to his former Bishoprick though dispoiled of the later But it was now thought good to fill it and Maurice Griffin who for some years had been the Archdeacon is consecrated Bishop of it on the first of April One suffrage more was gained by the repealing of an Act of Parliament made in the last Session of King Edward for dissolving the Bishoprick of Durham till which time Doctor Cuthbert Tunstall though restored to his Liberty and possibly to a good part also of his Churches Partimony had neither Suffrage as a Peer in the House of Parliament not could act any thing as a Bishop in his own Jurisdiction And with these Consecrations and Creations I conclude this year An. Reg. Mar. 2º An. Dom. 1554 1555. THe next begins with the Arrivall of the Prince of Spain wafted to England with a Fleet of one hundred and sixty sail of Ships twenty of which were English purposely sent to be his Convoy in regard of the warrs not then expired betwixt the French and the Spaniards Landing at Southampton on the 19 th of July on which day of the month in the year foregoing the Queen had been solemnly proclaimed in London he went to Winchester with his whole Retinue on the 24 th where he was received by the Queen with a gallant Train of Lords and Ladies solemnly married the next day being the Festival of St. James the supposed Tutelary Saint of the Spanish Nation by the Bishop of Winchester at what time the Queen had passed the eight and thirtieth year of her age and the Prince was but newly entred on his twenty seventh As soon as the Marriage-Rites were celebrated Higueroa the Emperors Embassador presented to the King a Donation of the Kingdoms of Naples and Cicily which the Emperor his father had resigned unto him Which presently was signified and the Titles of the King and Queen Proclaimed by sound of Trumpet in this following Style PHILIP and MARY by the grace of the God King and Queen of England France Naples Jerusalem Ireland Defenders of the Faith Princes of Spain and Cicily Arch-Dukes of Austria Dukes of Millain Burgundy and Brabant Counts of Ausperge Flanders and Tirroll c. At the proclaiming of which Style which was performed in French Latine and English the King and Queen showed themselves hand in hand with two Swords born before them for the greater state or in regard of their distinct Capacity in the publick Government From VVinchester they removed to Basing and so to VVindsor where Philip on the 5 th of August was Installed Knight of the Garter into the fellowship whereof he had been chosen the year before From thence the Court removed to Richmond by land and so by water to Suffolk-place in the Burrough of Southwark and on the 12 th of the same month made a magnificent passage thorow the principal streets of the City of London with all the Pomps accustomed at a Coronation The Triumphs of which Entertainment had continued longer if the Court had not put on mourning for the death of the old Duke of Norfolk who left this life at Framingham Castle in the month of September to the great sorrow of the Queen who entirely loved him Philip thus gloriously received endeavoureth to sow his Grandure to make the English sensible of the benefits which they were to partake of by this Marriage and to engratiate himself with the Nobility and People in all generous ways To which end he caused great quantity of Bullion to be brought into England loaded in twenty Carts carrying amongst them twenty seven Chests each Chest containing a Yard and some inches in length conducted to the Tower on the second of October by certain Spaniards and English-men of his Majesties Guard And on the 29 th of January then next following ninety nine Horses and two Carts laden with Treasures of Gold and Silver brought out of Spain was conveyed through the City of the Tower of London under the conduct of Sir Thomas Grosham the Queens Merchant and others He prevailed also with the Queen for discharge of such Prisoners as stood committed in the Tower either for matter of Religion or on the account of Wyaâ—'s Rebellion or for engaging in the practice of the Duke of Northumberland And being gratified therein according unto his desire the Lord Chancellor the Bishop of Ely and certain others of the Councill were sent unto the Tower on the 18 th of January to see the same put in execution which was accordingly performed to the great joy
sute so they were altogether as forward to confer it on him not doubting but that during the time of such Government he would by all wayes and means study travail and imploy himself to advance the weal both publick and private of this Realm and Dominions thereunto belonging according to the trust reposed in him with no less good will and affection than if his Highness had been naturally born amongst us Set Forms of Prayers were also made for her safe delivery and one particularly by Weston the Prolocutor of the first Convocation in which it was prayed That she might in due season bring forth a child in body beautiful and comeâ—y in mind noble and valiant So that she forgetting the trouble might with joy laud and praise c. Great preparations were also made of all things necessary against the time of her delivery which was supposed would fall out about Whiâ—sun tide in the month of June even to the providing of Midwives Nurses Rockers and the Cradle too And so far the hopes thereof were entertained that on a sudden rumour of her being delivered the bels were rung and bonfires made in most parts of London The like solemnities were used at Antwerp by discharging all the Ordnance in the English ships for which the Mariners were gratified by the Queen Regent with 100 Pistolets In which as all of them seem'd to have a spice of madness in them so none was altogether so wild as the Curate of St Anns neer Aldersgate who took upon him after the end of the Procession to describe the proportion of the child how fair how beautiful and great at Prince it was the like whereof had never been seen But so it hapned that notwithstanding all these triumphs it proved in fine that the Queen neither was with child at the present nor had any hopes of being so for the time to come By some it was conceived that this report was raised upon policy only to hold her up in the affection of her husband and the love of her subjects by others that she had been troubled with a Timpany which not only made her belly swell but by the windiness of the disease possess'd her with a fancy of her being quick And some again have left in writing that having had the misfortune of a false conception which bred in her a fleshy and informed substance by the Physicians called a Moâ—a the continual increase whereof and the agitation it made in her occaâ—ioned her to believe what she most desired and to report what she believed But this informed lump being taken from her with no small difficulty did not onely turn her supposed joy to shame and sorrow but made much game amongst some of the Zuâ—nglian Gospellers for I cannot think that any true English Protestant could make sport thereat who were so far from desiring that the Queen should have any Issue to succeed in the Throne that they prayed God by shortning her days to deprive her of it Insomuch that one Râ—se the Minister to a private Congregation in Bow Church-yard did use to pray That God would either turn her heart from Idolatry or else shorten her days On which occasion and some others of the like ill nature an Act was made in the said Parliament for punishing of traiterous words against the Queen in which it was enacted That the said Praiers and all others of the like mischievous quality should be interpreted to be high treason against the Queen The like exhorbitances I find too frequent in this Queens Reign to which some men were so transported by a furious zeal that a Gun was shot at one Doctor Pendleton as he preached at St. Paul's Cross on Sunday the 10th of June Anno 1554. the Pellet whereof went very near him but the Gunner was not to be heard of Which occasioned the Queen to publish a Proclamation within few days after prohibiting the shooting in Hand-guns and the bearing of weapons Before which time that is to say on the 8th of April some of them had caused a Cat to be hanged upon a Gallows near the Cross in Cheapside with her head shorn the likeness of a Vestment cast upon her and her two fore-feet tied together holding between them a piece of paper in the form of a Wafer Which tending so apparently to the disgrace of the Religion then by Law established was showed the same day being Sunday at St. Paul's Crosse by the said Doctor Pendleton which possibly might be the sole reason of the mischief so desperately intended to him Such were the madnesses of those People but the Orthodox and sober Protestant shall be brought to a reckoning and forced to pay dearly for the follies of those men which it was not in their powers to hinder The Governours of the Church exasperated by these provocations and the Queen charging Wyat's Rebellion on the Protestantâ— party she both agreed on the reviving of some antient Statutes made in the time of King Richard the 2d King Henry the 4th and King Henry the 5th for the severe punishment of obstinate Hereticks even to death it self Which Act being passed the three great Bishops of the time were not alike minded for the putting it in execution The Lord Cardinal was clearly of opinion that they should rest themselves contented with the restitution of their own Religion that the said three Statuâ—es should be held forth for a terrour onely but that no open persecution should be raised upon them following therein as he affirmed the counsell sent unto the Queen by Charls the Emperour at her first comming to the Crown by whom she was â—dvised to create no troubble unto any man for matter of conscience but to be warned unto the contrary by his example who by endeavouring to compell others to his own Religion had tired and spent himself in vain and purchased nothing by it but his own dishonour But the Lord Chancellor Gaâ—dinâ—r could not like of this to whom it seemed to be all one never to have revived the said three Statutes as not to see them put in execution That some blood should be drawn in case of refractorinesse and an incorrigible non-conformity he conceived most necessary But he would have the Ax laid onely to the Root of the Tree the principal supporters of the Hereticks to be taken away whether they were of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy or the Lay-Nobility and some of the more pragmatick preachers to be cut off also the rest of the people to be spared as they who meerly did depend on the power of the other Let but the Shepherds be once smitten and the whole flock will presently be scattered without further trouble Well then said Bonner to himself I see the honour of this work is reserved for me who neither fear the Emperor's frowâ—s nor the peoples curses Which having said as if he had been pumping for a reâ—olution he took his times to make it known unto the other two that he perceived they were
he was not able to resist and thereby gained so much displeasure from the Cardinal Legate that before the end of the next year Anno 1557. he was outed of his Deanry of Windsor and all his other Ecclesiastical promotions upon an information of his being taken in the act of adultery which otherwise perhaps might have been pardoned or connived at in him as in many others But willing or unwilling he had first surrender'd the Church of Westminster which the Queen stocked with a new Convent of Benâ—dictines consisting of an Abbot and fourteen Monks which with their officers were as many as the Lands then left unto it could well maintain And for the first Abbot she made choice of Dr John Fecknam a learned grave and moderate man whom she had formerly made Dean of St Paul's in the place of Dr William May and now made choice of Dr Henry Cole Arch-Deacon of Ely and Prolocutor of the Convocation Anno 1555. to succeed him in it It was upon the 21 of November that the new Abbot and his Monks entred on the possession of their ancient Convent which they held not fully out three years when it was once again dissolved by Act of Parliament of which more hereafter Which fate befel the rest of her foundations also two of which cost her little more than this at Westminster A Convent of Observants being a reformed Order of Franciscan Friers had been founded by King Henry the 7th neer the Mannor of Greenwich and was the first which felt the fury of King Henry the 8th by reason of some open opposition made by some of the Friers in favour of Queen Katherine the mother of the Queen now reigning Which moved her in a pious gratitude to re-edifie that ruined house and to restore as many as could be found of that Order to their old habitations making up their Corporation with some new Observants to a competent number She gathered together also a new Convent of Dominicans or black Friers for whom she provided an house in Smithfield in the City of London â—itting the same with all conveniences both for divine Offices and other necessary uses And having done this she was at no more charges with either of them for both the Observants and Dominicans being begging Fryers might be resembled not unfitly to a swarm of Bees which being provided of an hive are left to make their combs and raise themselves a livelyhood by their natural industry But so she went not off in her other foundations which were to be provided of some proportionable endowment out of the revenues of the Crown towards their support Aâ— Sion nere Brentford in the Country of Middlesex there had been anciently a house of religious women Nuns of the Order of St Bridget dissolv'd as were all teh rest by King Henry the 8th Most of the old ones dead and the younger maried Yet out of such of the old Nuns as remained alive and the addition of some others who were willing to embrace that course of life a competent number was made up for a new Plantation but seated as before at Sion which the Queen repaired and laid unto it a sufficient estate in Lands for their future maintenance Which house being afterwards dissolved also by Queen Elizabeth came first to the possession of Sir Thomas Perrot who gave it to his wife the Lady Dorothy one of the daughters of Walter Divereux Earl of Essex by whom being after married to Henry Lord Percy Earl of Northumberland it was left for a retiring house to that Noble Family who do still enjoy it At Sheen on the other side of the water there had been anciently another religious house not far from a mansion of the Kings to which they much resorted till the building of Richmond This house she stock'd with a new Convent of Carthusians corruptly called the Charter-hoâ—se-Moncks which she endowed with a revenue great enough to maintain that Order which profest more abstemiousness in diet and sparingness of expence in all other things than any others which embraced a Monastical life And the next year having closed up the West end of the Quire or Chancel of the Church of St Johns neer Smithfield which was all the Protector Sommerset had left standing of it she restored the same to the Hospitalry of Knights of St John to whom it formerly belonged assigning a liberal endowment to it for their more honourable subsistence Over whom she placed Sir Thomas Treshaâ—â— for the first Lord Prior a Gentleman of an ancient Family and one that had deserv'd exceeding well of her in defence of her claim against Queen Jane who on the 30th of November 1557. received the Order of the Crosse at Westminster and took possession of his place which having scarce warmed he was taken from it by the stroke of death and left it by the Queen to be disposed of to Sir Râ—chard Shellie the last great Master of that Order in the Realm of England But this expiring with the rest within two years after there remained nothing of all Queen Mary's foundations but her new Hoâ—pital in the Savoy An Hospital had formerly been founded in thaâ— House by her Grandfather King Henry the seventh for the relief of such pilgrims as either went on their Devotions to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket of Canterbury or any other eminent Shrine or Saint in those parts of the Kingdom On a suggestion made to King Edward the sixth that it served onely for a recepracle of vagrant persons it was surrendred to him in the last year of his Reign by the Master and Brethren of the same out of the Lands whereof he assigned the yearly Rent of seven hundred Marks for the maintenance of his new working house of Bridewel which he had given for ever to the Lord Mayor and City of London as hath been signified before in the life of that King together with all the beds bedding and other furniture which were found in this Hospital And though this Grant bare date on the 26 of June in the last year of his Reign Anno 1553. yet the Lord Mayor and Aldermen entred not on the possession of it till the month of February now last past Anno 1555. But having took possession of it and so much of the Lands of this Hospital being setled on it the Hospital in the Savoy could not be restored to its first condition but by a new Endowment from such other Lands belonging to Religious Houses which were remaining in the Crown But the Queen was so resolved upon it that she might add some works of Charity unto those of Piety or else in honour of her Grandfather whose foundation she restored at Greenwich also the Hospital was again refounded on the third of November and a convenient yearly Rent allotted to the Master and Brethren for the entertainment of the Poor according to the tenour and effect of the first Institution Which Prince-like Act so wrought upon the Maids of Honor and other Ladies
poor people there exceeding charitable It was supposed that Oxon stood as much in need of a Visitation as Cambrige did A Commission is therefore granted by the Cardinal-Legat to Doctor James Brooks Bishop of Glocester Ormanete the Popes Datary Cole and Wright Doctors of the Civil Law c. to rectifie such things as they foundamiss in that University or in any College of the same It was given them also in charge amongst other things that they should take the body of this good woman out of her grave into which she had been laid Anno 1552. and to consume the same with fire not doubting but she was of the same Religion which her husband had professed before But when the Commissioners came to execute that part of their business they could find no witnesse to depose any thing for certain touching her Religion such as were brought before them agreeing generally in this answer That they did not understand her Language and therefore could not tell of what Religion she was It was therefore signified to the Cardinal that for want of legal evidence against her they could not lawfully proceed in burning her body as they had done the bodies of Bucer and Fagius against whom there was evidence enough to be found in their writings beâ—ides that which was given in from the moutheâ— of Witnesses The Cardinal thereupon gives order to Doctor Marshal Dean of Christ-Church to take up her body which had been buried near to that of St. Frideswide and to lay it out of Christian burial who very readily obeyed took up the bones of that vertuous woman and most prophanely buried them in a common dunghil But long they lay not in that place for Queen Elizabeth comming to the Crown within two years after gave order that this body should be decently interred as became the quality of her person and the reverence due unto her husband as also that Bucer â—agius should in the other University be publickly restor'd to their former honors In obedience unto whose commands the body of the one is taken out of the dunghil and laid into the grave of St. Frideswide their bones so intermingled with one another that there could be no fear of offering the like inhumanity to them for the time to come And that the like honour might be done to Bucer and â—agius a solemn commemoration of them was held at Cambridge the Sermon preached by Mr. James Pilkington who not long after was preferred to the See of Durham the Panegyrick made by Ackworth Orator of that University who spared no part of a good Orator in setting forth their due praises and deserved commendations But we must now look back again on the Reign of Queen Mary in which we find little more to do than the magnificent reception of Osep Napea Embassador from the great Duke of Muscovy upon this occasion The English Merchants at the sollicitation of Sebastian Cabot had furnished out some ships for the discovery of a North-East passage towards the rich Countries of Cathai and China in which they made so good a progress that they attained as far as the Port of St. Nicholas one of the principal Port-towns of the Empire of Russia and laid the first foundation of a wealthy Trade with that mighty Empire For their encouragement therein the Privileges of the Easterlings commonly called the Merchants of the Stilyard who before had managed all the Trade of the North East parts were seized on by King Edward the 6th and the way thereby laid open to the Merchant-Adventurers to encrease their shipping with their wealth For the continuance of which Trade betwixt the Nations the Emperor John Basiliwits sends his Ambassador above named imbarked in one of the English ships under the conduct and government of Richard Chancellor the most expert Pilot of that age But so it hapned that the rest of the ships being scattered by a strong tempest on the coast of Norway the ship which carried the Ambassador was wreckt upon the coast of Scotland the lading for the most part lost amounting to twenty thousand pounds and upwards besides many rich presents sent from the Russian Emperor to the King and Queen The Ambassador with much ado was preserv'd from drowning but the Pilot lost who by labouring to preserve the life of the other neglected the best opportunity to save his own The news wherof being brought to the Merchants of London who by this time were grown into a Company of 140. they procured Letters from the King to the Regent of Scotland for the courteous entertainment of the said Ambassador and the restoring of such goods as had escaped the wreck and having furnished him with mony and all other necessaries caused him to be conducted towards the Court. Taking his leave of Scotland on the 14th of February he is brought by easie journeys within twelve miles of London honorably entertained in all places as he past along and there received by four-score of the Russian Merchants in their chains of gold Furnished with Gold Velvet Silk and all other things he is by the whole Company of the Russian Merchants magnificently brought into London on the last of that month met on the way by the Lord Viscount Montacute attended with a gallant train of three hundred Horse at the Queens command and received at Smithfield-bars by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen in their scarlet Robes Conducted to his lodgings in Fâ—â—-Church street he was there presented in the Queens naâ—e with a piece of cloâ—th of Tissue two pieces of cloth of gold one whereof was raised with Crimson Velvet with many other pieces of the like rich making which very thankfully he received Abiding at his lodging till the Kings coming back from Flanderâ— which was not till the 21 of March he was brought upon out Lady day by water to the Court at Westminster received at his landing by six Lords he was by them brought into a chamber where he found the Lords Chancellor Treasurer Privy Seal Admiral Bishop of Ely and other Counsellors Who having exchanged salutations with him attended him to the King and Queen sitting under a rich Canopy or cloath of State in the great Hall there Having presented his Letters of Credence exprest himself unto their Majesties in a short Oration which was interpreted to them both in English and Spanish and presented them with two timber of Sables which with much diligence had been recovered out of the wreck he was by them remitted to his lodging with the like solemnity Attended shortly after by the Bishop of Ely and Mr Secretary Peter who after much Communication and several Treaties setled at last a friendly entercourse and commerce betwixt the Nations the Articles whereof engrossed in parchment were afterwards presented to him raâ—ified and confirmed by the Great Seal of England On the 23d of April he was brought again into the Court where having seen the Pomps and Orders of St George's Feast the Service of the Royal Chapel
out of his mothers womb as she was at the stake and most unmercifully flung into the fire in the very birth Sixty four more in those furious times were presented for their faith whereof seven were whipped sixteen perished in prison twelve buried in Dunghills and many more lay in captivity condemned which were delivered by the opportune death of Queen Mary and the most auspicious entrance of Queen Elizabeth whose gracious government blotted out the remembrance of all former sufferings the different conditions of whose Reigns with the former two may seem to have somewhat in them of those appearances which were presented to Elijah in the Book of Kings in the first Bâ—ok and ninteenth Chapter wherein we find it written That a great and strong wind rent the mountains and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord but the Lord was not in the wind and after the wind an earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake and after the earthquake a fire but the Lord was not in the fire and finally after the fire a still small voice in which the Lord spake unto his Prophet So in like manner it may be feared that God was neither in that great and terrible wind which threw down so many Monasteries and Religious houses in the Reign of King Henry nor in that Earthquake which did so often shake the very foundations of the State in the time of King Edward nor in the Fire in which so many godly and religious persons were consumed to ashes in the days of Queen Mary but that he shewed himself in that still small Voice which breathed so much comfort to the souls of his people in the most gracious and fortunate Government of a Virgin-Queen For now it pleased God to hearken to the cry of those his Saints which lay under the Altar and called upon him for an end of those calamities to which their dear brethren were exposed The Queen had inclined unto a Dâ—opsie ever since the time of her supposed being with child which inclination appeared in her more and more when her swelling fell from the right place to her lower parts increasing irrecoverably in despight of Physick till at last it brought her to her death But there are divers other causes which are supposed to have contributed their concurrence in it Philip upon the resignation of his fathers Kingdoms and Estates had many necessary occasions to be out of the Kingdom and yet she thought that he made more occasions than he needed to be absent from her This brought her first into a fancy that he cared not for her which drew her by degrees into a fixed and setled melancholly confirmed if not encreased by a secret whisper that Philip entertained some wandring Loves when he was in Flanders Her Glasses could not so much flatter as not to tell her that she had her fathers feitures with her mothers complexion and she was well enough able to inform her self that the â—everity of her humour had no great charms in it so that on the point she wanted many of those natural and acquired attractions which might have served to invite or reward affection Fixed on this melancholy pin the death of Charls the Emperour which hapned on the 2â— of September comes to help it forward a Prince upon whose countenance and support she had much depended both when she was in disgrace with her father and out of favour with her brother But that which came nearest to her heart was the loss of Calais first lost for want of giving credit to the intelligence which had been sent her by her Husband and secondly by the loss of that opportunity which might have been taken to regain it Monsieur â— ' Termes who was made Governour of the Town had drained it of the greatest part of the Garison to joyn with some other forces for the taking of some Towns in Flanderâ— But in a Battel fought near Graveling on the 13th of July he lost not onely his own liberty but more then five thousand of his men the fortune of the day falling so heavily on the Soldiers of Calais that few of them escaped with life So that if the Queens Navy which had done great service in the fight had showed it self before the Town and Count Egmond who commanded the Flemmings had sate down with his victorious Army to the Landward of it it might have been recovered in as few days as it had been lost This opportunity being neglected she gave her self some hopes of a restitution upon an agreement then in treaty between France and Spain But when all other matters were accorded between those Crowns and that nothing else was wanting to compose all differences but the restoring of this Town the French were absolutely resolved to hold it and the Spaniards could in honor make no Peace without it So the whole Treaty and the deceiptful hopes which she built upon it came at last to nothing And though she had somewhat eased her self not long before by attainting the Lord Wâ—ntworth and certain others for their cowardly quitting of the place which they could not hold yet that served onely like a cup of Strong-waters for the present qualm without removing the just cause of the present distemper And it encreased so plainly in her that when some of her Visitants not knowing the cause of her discomforts applyed their several cordials to revive her spirits she told them in plain tearms that they were mistaken in the nature of her disease and that if she were to be dissected after her death they would find Calais next her heart Thus between jealousie shame and sorrow taking the growth of her infirmity amongst the rest she became past the help of Physick In which extremity she began to entertain some thoughts of putting here sister Elizabeth beside the Crown and setling the Succession of it on her cousen the Queen of Scots and she had done it at the least as much as in her was if some of the Council had not told her That neither the Act of the Succession nor the Last Will and Testament of King Henry the Eighth which was built upon it could otherwise be repealed than by the general consent of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament So that being altogether out of hope of having her will upon her sister of recovering Calais of enjoying the company of her husband and reigning in the good affection of her injured subjects she gave her self over to those sorrows which put an end to her life on the 17th of November some few hours before day when she had reigned five years and four months wanting two days onely Her death accompanied within few howers after by that of the Lord Cardinal-Legat ushered in by the decease of Purefew alias Wharton Bishop of Hereford and Holyman the new Bishop of Bristow and Glyn of Bangor and followed within two or three months after by Hopton Bishop of Norwich and Brooks of Glocester As if it had
symitry which showed it selfe in all her features and what she carried on that side by that advantage was over-ballanced on the other by a pleasing sprightfulnesse which gained as much upon the hearts of all beholders It was conceived by those Great Critticks in the schooles of Beauty that love which seemed to threaten in the eyes of Queen Jane did only seem to sport it selfe in the eyes of Queen Ann that there was more Majesty in the Gaâ—b of Queen Jane Seimour and more lovelinesse in that of Queen Ann Bollen yet so that the Majesty of the one did excell in Lovelyness and that the Lovelinesse of the other did exceed In majesty Sir John Russell afterwards Earle of Bedford who had beheld both Queens in their greatest Glories did use to say that the richer Queen Jane was in clothes the fairer she appeared but that the other the richer she was apparrelled the worse she looked which showes that Queen Ann only trusted to the Beauties of Nature and that Queen Jane did sometimes help her selfe by externall Ornaments In a word she had in her all the Graces of Queen Ann but Governed if my conjecture doth not faile me with an evener and more constant temper or if you will she may be said to be equally made up of the two last Queens as having in her all the Attractions of Queen Ann but Regulated by the reservednesse of Queen Katharine also It is not to be thought that so many rare perâ—ections should be long concealed from the eye of the King or that love should not worke in him it's accustomed effects of desire and hope In the prosecution whereof he lay so open to discovery that the Queen couâ—d not chuse but take notice of it and intimated her suspitioâ—s to him as appeares by a letter of hers in the Scrinia Sacra Iâ— which she signifies unto him that by hastning her intended death he would be left at liberty both before God and man to follow his affection already setled on the Party for whose sake she was reduced unto that condition and whose name she could some while since have pointed to his Grace not being ignorant of her suspicions And it appeared by the event that she was not much mistaken in the Mark she aimed at For scarce had her lementable death which happened on the nineteenth of May prepared the way for the Legitimating of this new affection but on the morrow after the King was secretly married to Mistress Seimour and openly showed her as his Queen in the Whitsontide following A Marriage which made some alteration in the face of the Court in the advancing of her kindred and discountenancing the Dependants of the former Queen but otherwise produced no change in Affaires of State The King proceeded as before in suppressing Monasteries extinguishing the Popes Authority and â—ltering divers things in the face of the Câ—uâ—ch which tended to that Reformation which after followed For on the eighth of June began the Parliament in which here past an Act for tâ—e finall extinguishing of the Power of the Popes of Rome Cap. 10. And the next day a Convocation of the Bishops and Clergy managed by Sir Thomas Cromwell advanced about that time unto the Title of Lord Cromwell of Wimbledon and made his Majesties Viccar Generall of all Ecclesiast â—all Matâ—ers in the Realme of England By whose Authority a book was published after Mature debate and Deliberation under the name of Articles Devised by the Kings Highness in which mentioned â—ut three Sacraments that is to â—ay Baptisme Penâ—ance and the Lords Supper Besides which book there were some Acts agreed upon in the Convocation for diminishing the superflâ—ous number of Holy dayes especially of such as happened in the time of Harvest Sâ—gnified afterwards to the people in certain Injunctions published in the Kings name by the new Viccar Generall as the first fruits of his Authority In which it was ordained amongst other things that the Curates in every Parish Church should teach the People to say the Lords Prayer the Creed the Ave-Mary and the Ten Commandments in the English Tongue But that which seemed to make most for the Advantage of the new Queen and her Posterity if it please God to give her any was the unexpected death of the Duke of Richmond the Kings naturall Son begotten on the body of the Lady Talboiâ— So dearly cherished by his Father having then no lawful Issuâ—-male that in the sixth yeare of his Age An. 1525. he created him Earl of Nottingham and not long after Duke of Richmond and Sommerset preferred him to the Honourable office of Earle Marshall elected him into the Order of the Garter made him Lord Admirall of the Royall Navy in an expedition against France and finally Affianced him to Mary the daughter of Thomas Howard Duke of Norâ—olk the most â—owerfull Subject in the Kingdom Now were these all the favours intended to him The Crown it selfe being designed him by the King in default of Lawfull Issue to be procreated and begotten of his Royall Body For in the Act of the Succession which past in the Parliament of this year the Crown being first setled upon the Issue of this Queen with the remainder to the Kings issue lawfully begotten on any following wife whatsoever there past this clause in favour of the Duke of Richmond as it was then generally conceived that is to say That for lack of lawfull heires of the Kings body to be procreated or begotten as is afore limitted by this Act it should and might be lawfull for him to confer the same on any such Person or Persons in Possession and Remainder as should please his Highnesse and according to such Estate and after such manner â—orme fashion order and condition as should be expressed declared named and lâ—mitted in his said Letters Patents or by his last Will the Crown to be enjoyed by such person or persons so to be nominated and appointed in as large and ample manner as if such Person or Persons had been his Highnesse Lawfull Heires to the Imperiall Crown of this Realm And though it might please God as it after did to give the King some Lawfull Issue by this Queen yet took he so much care for this naturall son as to enable himselfe by another Clause in the said Act to advance any person or persons of his most Royall Blood by Letters Patents under the Great Seale to any Title Stile or Name of any Estate Dignity or Honour whatsoever it be and to give to them or any of them any Castles Honours Mannours Lands Tenements Liberties Franchiefes or other Hereditaments in â—ee simple or Fee â—tail or for terme of their lives or the life of any of them But all these expectations and Provisions were to no effect the Duke departing this life at the age of 17 yeares or thereabouts within few dayes after the ending of this Session that is to say on the 22th day of July Anno 1536. to the
of his Dominions and caused the sentence of his Deprivation to be posted up at the Townes of Bruges Taurney and Dunkiâ—ke in Flanders at Bolloigne and Diepe in France and St. Andrewes in Scotland effâ—cting nothing by the unadviâ—edness of that desperate Counsell but that the King became more fixed in his Resolutions and more averse from all the thoughts of Reconciliation with the See of Rome The surrenderies of the former year cofirmed by Act of Parliament in the beginning of this drew after it the finall dissolution of all the rest none daring to oppose that violent Torrent which seemed to carry all before it but the Abbots of Colchester Reading and Glastenbury quarrelled for which they were severally condemned and executed under colour of denying the Kings Supremacy and their rich Abbeys seized upon as confiscations to the use of the King which brought him into such a suspition of separating from the Communion of the Church of Rome that for the better vindicating of his integrity as to the particulars he passed in the same Parliament the terrible Statute of the six Articles which drew so much good blood from his Protestant Subjects And being further doubtfull in himselfe what course to steere he marries at the same time with the Lady Ann sister unto the Duke of Cleve whom not long after he divorseth Advanceth his Great Minister Cromwell by whom he had made so much havock of Religious houâ—es in all parts of the Realm to the Earldome of Essex and sends him headlesse to his Grave within three moneths after takes to his bed the Lady Katharine Howard a Neece of Thomas Duke of Norfolk and in short time found cause enough to cut off her head not being either the richer in children by so many wives nor much improved in his Revenue by such horrible Rapines In the middest of which confusions he sets the wheele of Reformation once more going by moderating the extreme severity of the said Statute touching the six Articles abolishing the Superstitious usages accustomedly observed on St. Nicholas day and causing the English Bible of the Larger vollumne to be set up in all and every Parish Church within the Kingdome for such as were Religiously minded to Resort unto it The Prince had now but newly finished the first yeare of his age when a fit wife was thought of for him upon this occasion The Pope incensed against King Henry had not long since sententially deprived him of his Kingdom as before was said And having so done he made an offer of it to King James the fifth then King of the Scots the only Son of Margaret his eldest sister wife of James the fourth To whom he sent a Breve to this effect viz. That he would assist him against King Henry whom in his Consistory he had pronounced to be an Heretick a Scismatick a manifest Adulterer a publique Murtherer a committer of Sacriledge a Rebell and convict of Lesae Majestatis for that he had risen against his Lord and therefore that he had justly deprived him of his Kingdom and would dispose the same to him and other Princes so as they would assist him in the recovery of it This could not be so closely carried but that the King had notice of it who from thenceforth began to have a watchfull eye upon the Actions of his Nephew sometimes alluring him unto his party by offering him great hopes and favours and practising at other times to weaken and distract him by animating and maintaining his owne Subjects against him At last to set all right between them an enterview was appointed to be held at York proposed by Henry and condescended to by James But when the day appointed came the Scots King failed being deterred from making his appeareance there by some Popish Prelates who put into his head a fear of being detained a Prisoner as James the first had been by King Henry the fourth Upon this breach the King makes ready for a Warr sets out a manifest of the Reasons which induced him to it amongst which he insists especially on the neglect of performing that Homage which anciently had been done and still of Right ought to be done to the Kings of England In prosecuting of which Warr the Duke of Norfolk entred Scotland with an Army October 21. Anno 1542. waâ—ts and spoyles all the Country followed not long after by an Army of Scots consisting of 15000. men which in like manner entred England but were discomfited by the valour and good fortune of Sir Thomas Wharton and Sir William Mâ—sgrave with the help of some few Borderers only the Scots upon some discontent making little resistance In which fight besides many of the Scottish Nobility were taken eight hundred Prisoners of inferiour note twenty foure peeces of Ordinance some cart loadâ— of Armes and other booty On the 19 of December the Scottish Lords and other of the Principall Prisoners to the number of 20. or thereabouts were brought into London followed on the third day after with the newes of the death of King James and the birth of the young Queen his daughter This put King Henry on some thoughts of uniting the two Crowns in a firme and everlasting League by the Marriage of this infant Queen with his Son Prince Edward In pursuance whereof he sent for the inprisoned Lords feasted them royally at White Hall and dealt so effectually with them by himselfe and his Ministers that they all severally and joyntly engaged themselves to promote this Match Dismist into their own Country upon these promises and the leaving of Hostages they followed the Negotation with such care and diligence that on the 29th of June in the yeare ensuing notwithstanding the great opposition made against them by the Queen Dowager Cardâ—nall Beton and divers others who adhered to the Faction of France they brought the businesse at the last to this Conclusion viz. 1. That the Lords of Scotland shall have the Education of the Princess for a time yet so as it might be Lawfull for our King to send thitâ—er a Noble man and his wife with a Family under twenty Persons to waâ—te on her 2. That at ten yeares of Age she should be brought into England the contract being first finished by a Proxie in Scotland 3. That within two moneths after the date heâ—eof six Noble Scâ—ts should be given as Hostages for the performance of the Conditions on their Part And that if any of them dyed their number should be supâ—lyed 4. And furthermore it was agreed upon that the Realme of Scotland by that name should preserve it's Lawes and Rights and that Peace should be made for as long time as was desired the French being excluded But though these Capitulations thus agreed on were sent into â—ngland signed and â—ealed in the August following yet the Cardinall and his Party grew so strong that the whâ—le Treaty câ—me to nothing the Noble Men who had been Prâ—soners falsifying their Faith
22th day of March next following Upon this ground were buâ—lt the Statutes prohibiting all Appeales to Rome and for determining all Ecclesiasticall suites and controversies within the Kingdom 24. Hen. 8. cap. 1â— That for the manner of declaring and consecrating of Arch-Bishops and Bishops 25. Hen. 8. Cap. 20. and the prohibiting the payment of all impositions to the Court of Rome and for obtaining all such dispensations from the see of Canterbury which formerly were procured from the Popes of Rome 25. Hen. 8. Cap. 21. and finally that for declaring the King to be the Supreme Head of the Church of England and to have all Honours and Preheminences and amongst others the first-fruits and tenths of all Ecclesiasticall promotions within the Realm which were annexed unto that Title In the forme of consecrating Arch-Bishops and Bishops and the rule by which they excercised their Jurisdiction there was no change made but what the transposition of the Supreme Power from the Pope to the King must of necessity infer For whereas the Bishops and Clergy in the Convocation An. 1532. had bound themselves neither to make nor execute any Canons or Constitutions Ecclesiasticall but as they were thereto enabled by the Kings Authority it was by them desired assented to by him and confirmed in Parliament that all such Canons and Constitutions Synodall and Provinciall as were before in use and neither Repugnant to the Word of God the kings Prerogative Royall or the known Lawes of the Land should remaine in force till a review thereof were made by thirty two Persons of the Kings appointment Which review not having been made from that time to this all the said old Canons and Constitutions so restrained and qualified do still remaine in force as before they did For this Consult the Act of Parliament 25. Hen. 8. Cap. 1. And this and all the rest being setled then followed finally the Act for extinguishing the Power of the Pope of Rome 28. Hen. 8 Cap. 10. which before we mentioned In order to a Reformation in points of Doctrine he first directed his Bishops and Clergy in their Convocation Aâ—no 1537. to compile a Book containing The Exposition of the Creed the Lords Prayer the Avemary and the Ten Commandements together with an Explication of the use and nature of the seven Sacraments More cleerely in it self and more agreeable to the Truth of Holy Scripture then in former times which book being called The Institution of a Christian Maâ— was by them presented to the King who liked thereof so well that he sent it by Doctor Barlow Bishop of St. Davids to King James the fifth hoping thereby to induce him to make the like Reformation in the Realm of Scotland as was made in England though therein he was deceived of his expectation But this Book having lien dormant for a certain time that is to say as long as the six Articles were in force was afterwards corrected and explained by the Kings own hand and being by him so corrected was sent to be reviewed by Archâ—Bishop Cranmer by him referred with his own emendations on it to the Bishopâ— and Clergy then Assembled in their Convocation Anno 1543. and by them Approved VVhich care that Godly Prelate took as himselfe confesseth in a Letter to a friend of his bearing date January 25. because the book being to come out by the Kings Censure and Judgement he would have nothing in the same which Momus himselfe could Reprehend VVhich being done it was published shortly after by the name of a Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for any Christian man with an Epistle of the Kings Prefixt before it in which it was commended to the Perusall of all his subjects that were Religiously disposed Now as the first book was ushered in by an injunction published in Sâ—ptember An. 1536. by which all Curates were required to Teach the people to say the Lords Prayer the Creed the Aveâ—ary and the Ten Commandements in the English Tongue â—o was the second countenanced by a Proclamation which made way unto it bearing date May the sixth 1541 whereby it was commanded that the English Bible of the Larger Vollumne should publiquely be placed in every Parish-Church of the Kings Dominions And here we are to understand that the Bible having been Translated into the English Tongue by the great paines of William Tyndall who after suffered for Religion in the Reigne of this King was by the Kings Command supprest and the reading of it interdicted by Proclamation the Bishops and other Learned men advising the reâ—traint thereof as the times then stood But afterward the times being changed and the People better fitted for so great a benefit the Bishops and Clergy Assembled in their Convocation Anno 1536. humbly petitioned to the King that the Bible being faithfully Translated and purged of such Prologues and Marginall Notes as formerly had given offence might be permitted from thenceforth to the use of the people According to which Godly motion his Majesty did not only give Order for a new Translation but in the Interim he permitted Cromwell his Viccar Generall to set out an Injunction for providing the whole Bible both in Latine and English after the Translation then in use which was called commonly by the name of Matthews Bible but was no other then that of Tyndall somewhat altered to be kept in every â—arish Church throughout the Kingdome And so it stood but not with such a Generall observation as the case required till the finishing of the new Translation Printed by Grafton countenanced by a learned Preface of Arch-Bishop Cranmer and Authorised by the Kings Proclamation of the sixth of May as before was said Finally that the people might be better made acquainted with the Prayers of the Church it was appointed a little before the Kings going to Bolloigne Anno 1545. that the Lâ—tany being put into the same forme almost in which now it stands should from thenceforth be said in the English Tongue So farr this King had gone in order to a Reformation that it was no hard matter for his Son or for those rather who had the Managing of Affaires during his Minority to go thorough with it In Reference to the Regall State he added to the Royal Stile these three Glorious Attributes that is to say Defender of the Faith The Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England and King of Ireland In what manner he obtained the Title of Supreme Head conferred upon him by the Convocation in the year 1530. and confirmed by Act of Parliament in the 26 yeare of his Reign hath been showne before That of Defender of the Faith was first bestowed upon him by Pope Leo the tenth upon the publishing of a Book against Martin Luther which Book being presented unto the Pope by the hands of Doctor Clark afterwards Bishop of Bath and Wells hath been preserved ever since amongst the choisest Rarities of the Vatican Library Certain it is that the Pope was so well pleased
the same to the great Perill of his Souls health 25. And that no Curate admit to the Communion such who are in Ranchor and Malice with their Neighbours till such controversies be reconciled That to avoid Contentions and strife which heretofore have risen amongst the King's Subjects by challenging of places in Procession no Procession hereafter be used about the Church or Church-yard but immediately before High-Mass the Letany shall be distinctly said or sung in English none departing the Church without just cause and all ringing of Bells save one utterly forborn That they take away and destroy all Shrines Covering of Shrines Tables Candlesticks Trindils and Rolls of Wax Pictures Paintings and other Monuments of feigned Miracles so that no Memory of them remain in Walls or Windows exhotting their Parishioners to do the like in their several houses That the Holy-day at the first beginning Godly-Instituted and ordained be wholly given to God in hearing the Word of God read and taught in private and publique Prayers in acknowledging their Offences to God and amendment in reconciling themselves to their Neighbours receiving the Communion Visiting the sick c. Onely it shall be lawfull for them in time of Harvest to labour upon Holy and Festival days and save that thing which God hath sent and that scrupulosity to abstain from working upon those days doth grievously offend God That a Register Book be carefully kept in every Parish for Weddings Christenings and Burials 29. That a strong Chest with an hole in the upper part thereof with three keys thereunto belonging be provided to receive the Charity of the People to the Poor and the same at convenient times be distributed unto them in the presence of the Parish And that a comely Palpit be provided in a convenient place That because of the lack of Preachers Curates shall read Homilies which are or shall be set forth by the King's Authority 36. That when any such Sermon or Homily shall be had the Primes and Hours shall be omitted That none bound to pay Tithes detain them by colour of Duty omitted by their Curates and so redoub one wrong with another 33. And whereas many indiscrete persons do incharitably condemn and abuse Priests having small Learning His Majesty chargeth His Subjects That from henceforth they be reverently used for their Office and Ministration sake 31. And that to avoid the detestable sin of Simonie the Seller shall lose his right of Patronage for that time and the Buyer to be deprived and made unable to receive Spiritual Promotion That to prevent sick persons in the damnable vice of Despair They shall learn and have always in readiness such comfortable places and Sentences of Scripture as do set forth the Mercies Benefits and Goodness of God Almighty towards all penitent and believing persons 30. But that Priests be not bound to go visit women in Child-bed except in times of dangerous sickness and not to fetch any Coars except it be brought to the Church yard 34. That all persons not understanding Latine shall pray on no other Primer but what lately was set forth in English by King Henry the Eighth and that such who have knowledge in the Latine use no other also that all Graces before and after Meat be said in English and no Grammar taught in Scholes but that which is set forth by Authority 39. That Chantry-Priests teach Youth to read and write And finally That these Injunctions be read once a Quarter Besides these general Injunctions for the whole Estate of the Realm there were also certain others particularly appointed for the Bishops onely which being delivered unto the Commissioners were likewise by them in their Visitations committed unto the said Bishops with charge to be inviolably observed and kept upon pain of the King's Majesties displeasure the effect whereof is as in manner followeth 1. That they should to the utmost of their power wit and understanding sâ—e and cause all and singular the King's Injunctions heretofore given or after to be given from time to time in and through their Diocess duly faithfully and truly to be kept observed and accomplished And that they should Personally Preach within their Diocess every Quarter of a year once at the least that is to say once in their Cathedral Churches and thrice in other several places of their Diocesses whereas they should see it most convenient and necessary except they had a reasonable excuse to the contrary Likewise that they should not retain into their Service or Houshold any Chaplain but such as were Learned and able to Preach the Word of God and those they should also cause to Exercise the same 2. And Secondly That they should not give Orders to any Person but such as were Learned in Holy Scripture neither should deny them to such as were Learned in the same being of honest conversation or living And Lastly That they should not at any time or place Preach or set forth unto the People any Doctrine contrary or repugnant to the effâ—ct and intent contained or set forth in the King's Highnesse's Homilies neither yet should admit or give Licence to Preach to any within their Diocess but to such as they should know or at least assuredly trust would do the same And if at any time by hearing or by report proved they should perceive the contrary they should then incontinent not only inhibit that Person so offending but also punish him and revoke their Licence There was also a Form of Bidding Prayer prescribed by the Visitours to be used by all Preachers in the Realm eiâ—her before or in their Sermons as to them seemed best Which Form of Bidding Prayer or Bidding of the Beads as it was then commonly called was this that followeth You shall Pray for the whole Congregation of Christ's Church and specially for this Church of England and Ireland wherein first I commend to your devout Prayers the King 's most Excellent Majesty Supreme Head immediately under God of the Spirituality and Temporality of the same Church And for Queen Katharine Dowager and also for my Lady Mary and my Lady Elizabeth the King's Sisters Secondly You shall Pray for my Lord Protectour's Grace with all the rest of the King's Majesty His Council for all the Lords of His Realm and for the Clergy and the Commons of the same beseeching God Almighty to give â—very of them in his degree grace to use themselves in such wise as may be to God's Glory the King's Honour and the VVeal of this Realm Thirdly You shall Pray for all them that be departed out of this VVorld in the Faith of Christ that they with us and we with them at the day of Judgement may rest both body and soul with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven Such were the Orders and Injunctions wherewith the King's Commissioners were furnished for their Visitation Most of them such as had been formerly given out by Cromwell or otherwise published and pursued but not
said Church to have been deceived in that what he before had taught them and to be sorry for delivering such Doctrine to them But these men might pretend some Warrant from the King's Injunctions which they might conceive it neither fit nor safe to oppose and therefore that it was the wisest way to strike Sail betimes upon the shooting of the first Warning-Piece to bring them in But no man was so much before hand with Authority as one Doctour Glasier who as soon as the Fast of Lent was over and it was well he had the Patâ—ence to stay so long affirmed publickly in a Sermon at Saint Paul's Cross That The Lent was not ordained of God to be Fasted neither the Eating of Flesh to be forborn but that the same was a Politick Ordinance of men and might therefore be broken by men at their pleasures For which Doctrine as the Preacher was never questioned the Temper of the Times giving Incouragement enough to such Extravagancies so did it open such a Gap to Carnal Liberty that the King found it necessary to shut it up again by a Proclamation on the sixteenth of January commanding Abstinence from all Flesh for the Lent then following But there was something more then the Authority of a Minour King which drew on such a General Conformity to these Injunctions and thereby smoothed the way to those Alterations both in Doctrine and Worship which the Grandees of the Court and Church had began to fashion The Lord Protectour and his Party were more experienced in Affairs of State then to be told That All great Counsels tending to Innovation in the Publick Government especially where Religion is concerned therein are either to be back'd by Arms or otherwise prove destructive to the Undertakers For this cause he resolves to put himself into the Head of an Army as well for the security of His Person and the Preservation of his Party as for the carrying on of the Design against all Opponents And for the Raising of an Army there could not be a fairer Colour nor a more popular Pretence then a War in Scotland not to be made on any new emergent Quarrel which might be apt to breed suspicion in the Heads of the People but in Pursuit of the great Project of the King deceased for Uniting that Realm by the Marriage of their young Queen to His onely Son to the Crown of England On this pretense Levies are made in all parts of the Kingdom great store of Arms and Ammunition drawn together to advance the service considerable Numbers of Old Souldiers brought over from Bulloign and the Peeces which depended on it and good Provision made of Shipping to attend the Motions of the Army upon all occasions He entertained also certain Regiments of Walloons and Germanes not out of any great Opinion which he had of their Valour though otherwise of good Experience in the Wars but because they were conceived more likely to enforce Obedience if his Designs should meet with any Opposition then the Natural English But in the first place Care was taken that none of the neighbouring Princes should either hinder his Proceedings or assist the Enemy To which end Doctour Wotton the first Dean of Canterbury then Resident with the Queen Dowager of Hungary who at that time was Regent of the Estates of Flanders for Charls the Fifth was dispatched unto the Emperour's Court there to succeed in the place of Doctour Bonner Bishop of London who together with Sir Francis Bryan had formerly been â—ent Embassadours thâ—ther from King Henry the Eighth The Principal part of his Employment besides such matters as are incident to all Ambassadours was to divert the Emperour from concluding any League with France contrary to the Capitulations made between the Emperour and the King deceased but to deal with him above all things for declaring himself an Enemy to all of the Scotish Nation but such as should be Friends to the King of England And because some Remainders of Hostility did still remain between the English and the French notwithstanding the late peace made between the Crowns it was thought fit to sweeten and oblige that People by all the acts of Correspondence and friendly Neighbourhood In Order whereunto it was commanded by the King's Proclamation That Restitution should be made of such Ships and Goods which had been taken from the French since the Death of King Henry Which being done also by the French though far short in the value of such Reprisals as had been taken by the English there was good hope of coming to a better understanding of one another and that by this Cessation of Arms both Kings might come in short time to a further Agreement But that which seemed to give most satisfaction to the Court of France was the performance of a solemn Obsequie for King Francis the First who left this Life on the twenty second day of March and was Magnificently Interred amongst His Predecessours in the Monastery of Saint Dennis not far from Paris Whose Funerals were no sooner Solemnized in France but Order was given for a Dirige to be sung in all the Churches in London on the nineteenth of June as also in the Cathedral Church of Saint Paul in the Quire whereof being hung with black a sumptuous Herse had been set up for the present Ceremony For the next day the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury assisted with Eight other of the Bishops all in their Rich Mitres and other their Pontificals did sing a Mass of Requiem the Funeral Sermon being preached by Doctour Ridley Lord Elect of Rochester who if he did his part therein as no doubt he did could not but magnifie the Prince for His Love to Learning Which was so great and eminent in Him that He was called by the French L' pere des Arts des Sciences and The Father of the Muses by some Writers of other Nations Which Attributes as He well deserved so did He Sympathize in that Affection as he did in many other things with King Henry the Eighth of whose Munificence for the Encouragements of Learning we have spoke before This great Solemnity being thus Honourably performed the Commissioners for the Visitation were dispatched to their several Circuits and the Army drawn from all parts to their Rendez-vous for the War with Scotland Of which two Actions that of the Visitation as the easiest and meeting with a People which had been long trained up in the Schole of Obedience was carried on without any shew of Opposition submitted to upon a very small Dispute even by some of those Bishops who were conceived most likely to have disturbed the business The first who declared his aversness to the King's Proceedings was Dr. Stephen Gardiner Bishop of Winchester who stomaching his being left out of the Lift of the Council appeared more cross to all their doings then other of his Order For which being brought before their Lordships and not giving them such satisfaction as they looked for from
any other shuffling till the end of the Game this very Parliament without any sensible alteration of the Members of it being continued by Protogation from Session to Session untill at last it ended by the Death of the King For a Preparatory whereunto Richard Lord Rich was made Lord Chancellour on the twenty fourth of October and Sir John Baker Chancellour of the Court of First-Fruits and Tenths was nominated Speaker for the House of Commons And that all things might be carried with as little opposition and noise as might be it was thought fit that Bishop Gardiner should be kept in Prison till the end of the Session and that Bishop Tonstal of Duâ—ham a man of a most even and moderate Spirit should be made less in Reputation by being deprived of his Place at the Council-Table And though the Parliament consisted of such Members as disagreed amongst themselves in respect of Religion yet they agreed well enough together in one Common Principle which was to serve the present Time and preserve themselves For though a great part of the Nobility and not a few of the Chief Gentry in the House of Commons were cordially affected to the Church of Rome yet were they willing to give way to all such Acts and Statutes as were made against it out of a fear of losing such Church-Lands as they were possessed of if that Religion should prevail and get up again And for the rest who either were to make or improve their Fortunes there is no question to be made but that they came resolved to further such a Reformation as should most visibly conduce to the Advancement of their several Ends. Which appears plainly by the strange mixture of the Acts and Results thereof some tending simply to God's Glory and the Good of the Church some to the present Benefit and enriching of particular Persons and some again being devised of purpose to prepare a way for exposing the Revenues of the Church unto Spoil and Rapine Not to say any thing of those Acts which were merely Civil and tended to the Profit and Emolument of the Common-Wealth Of the first Sort was The Act for repealing several Statutes concerning Treason Under which head besides those many bloody Laws which concerned the Life of the Subject in Civil Matters and had been made in the distracted Times of the late King Henry there was a Repeal also of all such Statutes as seemed to touch the Subject in Life or Liberty for matter of Conscience some whereof had been made in the Times of King Richard the Second and Henry the Fourth against such as dissenting in Opinion from the Church of Rome were then called Lollards Of which Sort also was another made in the twenty fifth of the King Deceased together with that terrible Statute of the Six Articles commonly called The whip with six strings made in the thirty first year of the said King Henry Others were of a milder Nature but such as were thought inconsistent with that Freedom of Conscience which most men coveted to enjoy that is to say The Act for Qualification of the said Six Articles 35. H. 8. cap 9. The Act inhibiting the Reading of the Old and New Testament in the English Tongue and the Printing Selling Giving or Delivering of any such other Books or Writings as are there in mentioned and condemned 34. H. 3. cap. 1. But these were also Abrogated as the others were together with all and every Act or Acts of Parliament concerning Doctrine and Matters of Religion and all and every Article Branch Sentence and Matter Pains and Forfeitures in the same contained By which Repeal all men may seem to have been put into a Liberty of Reading Scripture and being in a manner their own Expositours of entertaining what Opinions in Religion best pleased their Fancies and promulgating those Opinions which they entertained So that the English for a time enjoyed that Liberty which the Romanes are affirmed by Tacitus to have enjoyed without comptrol in the Times of Nerva that is to say A liberty of Opining whatsoever they pleased and speaking freely their Opinions wheresoever they listed Which whether it were such a great Felicity as that Authour makes it may be more then questioned Of this Sort alâ—o was the Act. entituled An Act against such as speak against the Sacrament of the Altar and for the receipt thereof in both kinds cap. 1. In the first part whereof it is Provided with great Care and Piety That Whatsoever person or persons from and after the first day of May next coming shall deprave despise or contemn the most Blessed Sacrament by any contemptuous words or by any words of depraving despising or reviling c. that then he or they shall suffer Imprisonment and make Fine and Ransome at the King's pleasure And to say Truth it was but time that some provision should be made to suppress that Irreverence and Profaness with which this Blessed Sacrament was at that time handled by too many of those who seemed most ignorantly Zealous of a Reformation For whereas the Sacrament was in those Times delivered unto each Communicant in a small round Wafer called commonly by the name of Sacramentum Altaris or The blessed Sacrament of the Altar and that such parts thereof as were reserved from time to time were hanged up over the Altar in a Pix or Box those zealous ones in hatred to the Church of Rome reproached it by the odious Names of Jack-in-a-box Round-Robin Sacrament of the Halter and other Names so unbecoming the Mouths of Christians that they were never taken up by the Turks and Infidels And though Bishop Ridley a right Learned and Religious Prelate frequently in his Sermons had rebuked the irreverent behaviour of such light and ill-disposed Persons yet neither he nor any other of the Bishops were able to Reform the Abuse the Quality and Temper of the Times considered which therefore was thought fit to be committed to the power of the Civil Magistrate the Bishop being called in to assist at the Sentence In the last branch of the Act it is First declared According to the Truth of Scripture and the Tenour of approved Antiquity That it is most agreeable both to the Institution of the said Sacrament and more conformable to the common Vse and Practice both of the Apostles and of the Primitive Church by the space of five hundred years after Christ's Ascension that the said Blessed Sacrament should rather be ministred unto all Christian people under both the Kinds of Bread and Wine then under the form of Bread onely And thereupon it was Enacted That The said most Blessed Sacrament should be hereafter commonly delivered and ministred unto the People within the Church of England and Ireland and other the King's Dominions under both the Kinds that is to say of Bread and Wine With these Provisoes notwithstanding If necessity did not otherwise require as in the Case of suddain Sickness and other such like Extremities in
the Grant of the said Chanteries Free-Chapels c. came to take Effect In the mean time It will not be amiss to shew that these Chanteries consisted of Salaries allowed to one or more Priests to say daily Mass for the Souls of their deceased Founders and their Friends Which not subsisting on themselves were generally Incorporated and United to some Parochial Collegiate or Cathedral Church No fewer then 47. in Number being found and Founded in Saint Paul's Free-Chapels though Ordained for the same Intent were Independent of themselves of stronger Constitution and Richer Endowment then the Chanteries severally were though therein they fell also short of the Colleges which far exceeded them both in the Beauty of their Building the number of Priests maintained in them and the Proportion of Revenue allotted to them All which Foundations having in them an Admixture of Superstition as Pre-supposing Purgatory and Prayers to be made for Deliverance of the Soul from thence were therefore now suppressed upon that Account and had been granted to the late King upon other Pretences At what time it was Preached at Mercers-Chapel in London by one Doctour Cromer a Man that wished exceeding well to the Reformation That If Trentals and Chantery-Masses could avail the Souls in Purgatory then did the Parliament not well in giving away Colleges and Chanteries which served principally for that purpose But if the Parliament did well in dissolving and bestowing them upon the King which he thought that no man could deny then was it a plain Case that such Chanteries and private Masses did confer no Relief on the Souls in Purgatory Which Dilemma though it were unanswerable yet was the matter so handled by the Bishops seeing how much the Doctrine of the Church was concerned therein that they brought him to a Recantation at Saint Paul's Cross in the June next following this Sermon being Preached in Lent where he confessed himself to have been seduced by naughty books contrary to the Doctrine then received in the Church But the Current of these Times went the other way and Cromer might now have Preached that safely for which before he had been brought into so much trouble But that which made the greatest Alteration and threatened most danger to the State Ecclesiastical was the Act entituled An Act for Election of Bishops and what Seals and Styles shall be used by Spiritual Persons c. In which it was Ordained for I shall onely repeat the Sum thereof That Bishops should be made by the King's Letters Patents and not by the Election of the Deans and Chapters That all their Processes and Writings should be made in the King's Name onely with the Bishop's Teste added to it and sealed with no other Seal but the King 's or such as should be Authorised and Appointed by Him In the Compounding of which Act there was more Danger couched then at first appeared By the last Branch thereof it was plain and evident that the Intent of the Contrivers was by degrees to weaken the Authority of the Episcopal Order by forcing them from their Strong-hold of Divine Institution and making them no other then the King's Ministers onely His Ecclesiastical Sheriffs as a man might say to execute His Will and disperse His Mandates And of this Act such use was made though possibly beyond the true intention of it that the Bishops of those Times were not in a Capacity of conferring Orders but as they were thereunto enpowered by especial Licence The Tenour whereof if Sanders be to be believed was in these words following viz. The King to such a Bishop Greeting Whereas all and all manner of Jurisdiction as well Ecclesiastical as Civil flows from the King as from the Supreme Head of all the Body c. We therefore give and grant to thee full Power and Liceâ—ce to continue during Our Good Pleasure for holding Ordination within thy Diocess of N. and for promoting fit Persons unto Holy Orders even to that of the Priest-hood Which being looked on by Queen Mary not onely as a dangerous Diminution of the Episcopal Power but as an Odious Innovation in the Church of Christ â— She caused this Act to be repealed in the first Year of Her Reign leaving the Bishops to depend on their former claim and to act all things which belonged to their Jurisdiction in their own Names and under their own Seals as in former Times In which Estate they have continued without any Legal Interruption from that time to this But in the first Branch there was somewhat more then what appeared at the first sighâ— For though it seemed to aim at nothing but that the Bishops should depend wholly on the King for their preferment to those great and eminent Places yet the true Drift of the Design was to make Deans and Chapters useless for the time to come and thereby to prepare them for a Dissolution For had nothing else been intended in it but that the King should have the sole Nomination of all the Bishops in His Kingdoms it had been onely a Reviver of an Antient Power which had been formerly Invested in His Predecessour's and in all other Christian Princes Consult the Stories and Records of the Eâ—der Times and it will readily appear not onely that the Romane Emperours of the House of France did nominate the Popes themselves but that after they had lost that Power they retained the Nomination of the Bishops in their own Dominions The like done also by the German Emperours by the Kings of England and by the Antient Kings of Spain the Investiture being then performed Per Annulum Baculum as they used to Phrase it that is to say by delivering of a Ring together with a Crosier or Pastoral Staff to the Party nominated Examples of which Practice are exceeding obvious in all the Stories of those Times But the Popes finding at the last how necessary it was in order to that absolute Power which they ambitiously affected over all Christian Kings and Princes that the Bishops should depend on none but them challenged this power unto themselves declaring it in several Petit Councels for no less then Simony if any man should receive a Bishoprick from the Hands of his own Natural Prince From hence those long and deadly Quarrels begun between Pope Hildebrand and the Emperour Henry the Fourth and continued by their Successours for many years after From hence the like Disputes in England between Pope Vrban the Second and King William Rufus between Pope Innocent and King Iâ—hn till in the end the Popes prevailed both here and elsewhere and gained the point unto themselves But so that to disguise the matter the Election of the future Bishop was committed to the Prior and Convent or to the Dean and Chapter of that Cathedral wherein he was to be Installed Which passing by the Name of Free Elections were wholly in a manner at the Pope's Disposing The Point thus gained it had been little to their Profit if they had
1547. Your Lordship 's assured Loving Friends Edw. Sommerset Hen. Arundel Anth. Wingfield John Russell Thomas Seimour William Paget These quick Proceedings could not but startle those of the Romish Party though none so much as Bishop Bonner who by his place was to disperse those unwelcome Mandates in the Province of Canterbury And though he did perform the service with no small Reluctancy yet he performed it at the last his Letter to the Bishop of Westminster his next neighbouring Bishop not bearing Date untill the twentieth of that Moneth Nor was Bishop Gardiner better pleased when he heard the News who thereupon signified in his Letter to one Mr. Vaughan his great dislike of some Proceedings had at Portsmouth in taking down the Images of Christ and his Saints certifying him withall not onely that with his own eyes he had seen the Images standing in all Churches where Luther was had in Estimation but that Luther himself had purposely written a Book against some men which had defaced them And therefore it may well be thought that Covetousness spurred on this business more then Zeal there being none of the Images so poor and mean the Spoyl whereof would not afford some Gold and Silver if not Jewels also besides Censers Candlesticks and many other rich Utensils appertaining to them In which Respect the Commissioners hereto Authorised were entertained in many places with scorn and railing and the further they went from London the worse they were handled Insomuch that one of them called Body as he was pulling down Images in Cornwal was stabbed into the body by a Priest And though the Principal Offender was â—anged in Smithfield and many of his Chief Accomplices in other Parts of the Realm which quieted all Matters for a time yet the next year the storm broke out more violently then before it did not onely to the endangering of the Peace of those Western Counties but in a manner of all the Kingdom Which great Commotions the Council could not but fore-see as the most probable Consequents of such Alterations especially when they are suddain and pressed too fast There being nothing of which People commonly are so tender as they are of Religion on which their Happiness dependeth not onely for this World but the World to come And therefore it concerned them in point of Prudence to let the People see that there was no intention to abolish all their antient Ceremonies which either might consist with Piety or the Profit of the Common-Wealth And in particular it was held expedient to give the generality of the Subject some contentment in a Proclamation for the strict keeping of Lent and the Example of the Court in pursuance of it For Doctour Glasâ—er having broke the Ice as before was said there was no scarcity of those that cryed down all the Observations of Days and Times even to the Libelling against that antient and Religious Fast in most scandalous Rhythms Complaint whereof being made by Bishop Gardiner in a Letter to the Lord Protectour a Proclamation was set out bearing Date in January by which all People were Commanded to abstain from Flesh in the time of Lent and the King's Lenten-Dyet was set out and served as in former Times And now comes Bishop Latimer on the Stage again being a man of Parts and Learning and one that seemed inclinable enough to a Reformation He grew into esteem with Cromwel by whose Power and Favour with the King he was made Bishop of Worcester An. 1535. continuing in that See till on the first of Juâ—ly 1539. he chose rather willingly to Resign the same then to have any hand in Passing the Six Articles then Agitated in the Convocation and Confirmed by Parliament After which time either upon Command or of his own accord he forbore the Pulpit for the space of eight whole years and upwards betaking himself to the retiredness of a private life but welcome at all times to Arch-Bishop Cranmer to whom the Piety and Plainness of the Man was exceeding acceptable And possible enough it is that being Sequestred from Preaching and all other Publick Acts of the Ministration he might be usefull to him in Composing the Homilies having much in them of that plain and familiar Style which doth so visibly shew it self in all his Writings On New-Years Day last past being Sunday he Preached his first Sermon at St. Paul'â—-Crâ—ss the first I mean after his re-Admission to his former Ministry and at the same place again on that Day seven-night and on the Sunday after also and finally on the day of St. Paul's Conversion the twenty fifth of that Moneth By means whereof he became so Famous and drew such multitudes of People after him to hear his Sermons that being to Preach before the King on the first Friday in Lent it was thought necessary that the Pulpit should be placed in the King's Privâ—-Garden where he might be heard of more then four times as many Auditours as could have thronged into the Chapel Which as it was the first Sermon which was Preached in that place so afterward a fixed and standing Pulpit was erected for the like Occasions especially for Lent-Sermons on Sundays in the after-noon and hath so continued ever since till these later Times Now whilst Affairs proceeded thus in the Court and City some Godly Bâ—shops and other Learned and Religious Men were no less busily imployed in the Castle of Windsor appointed by the King's Command to Consult together about one Vniform Order for Administring the Holy Communion in the English Tongue under both Kinds of Bread and Wine according to the Act of Parliament made in that behalf Which Persons so convened together if at the least they were the same which made the first Liturgie of this King's time as I think they were were these who follow that is to say Thomas Cranmer Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Thomas Goodrick Bishop of Ely and afterwards Lord Chancellour Henry Holbeck Bishop of Lincoln George Day Bishop of Chichester John Skip Bishop of Hereford Thomas Thirlby Bishop of Westminster Nicholas Ridley Bishop of Rochester Richard Cox Almoner to the King and Dean of Christ-Church Doctour May Dean of St. Paul's Doctour Taylor then Dean after Bishop of Lincoln Doctour Heyns Dean of Exeter Doctour Robertson afterwards Dean of Durham Doctour Ridley Master of Trinity-College in Cambridge Who being thus Convened together and taking into Consideration as well the right Rule of the Scripture as the Usage of the Primitive Church agreed on such a Form and Order as might comply with the Intention of the King and the Act of Parliament without giving any just Offence to the Romish Party For they so Ordered it that the whole Office of the Mass should proceed as formerly in the Latine Tongue even to the very end of the Canon and the receiving of the Sacrament by the Priest himself Which being passed over they began with an Exhortation in the English Tongue directed to all those which did intend to be
sorry Pittances were forced to put themselves into Gentlemens Houses and there to serve as Clerkâ— of the Kitching Surveyourâ— Receivers c. pag. 241. All which Enormities though tending so apparently to the Dâ—shonour of God the Disservice of the Church and the Disgrace of Religion were generally connived at by the Lords and others who onely had the power to Reform the same because they could not question those who had so miserably invaded the Churches Patrimony without condemning of themselves Thus leaving England for a while we are to take a short Survey of Affairs in Scotland into which the French had put ten thousand Souldiers three thousand of them being Almains under the Command of Mounsieur D' Essie who joyning with the Scots laid Siege before the Town of Haddington on Peter's-Eve For the Relief whereof a strength of one thousand three hundred Horse was sent from Berwick under the Conduct of Sir Robert Bowes and Sir Thomas Palmer who falling very unfortunately into the Hands of the Enemy were for the most part slain or taken The English notwithstanding made good the Town and held it out so long that in the end the Earl of Shrewsbury with a Power of sixteen thousand men of which there were four thousand Lansquenets or Germane Souldiers appeared in fight On whose approach the Enemy withdrew themselves and raised their Siege on or about the twentieth day of August giving great commendation to the English Garison for the notable service they had done in defence of the Town The Siege being raised the Earl of Shrewbury with his Forces returned for England leaving the Town well stored with Victuals and plentifully furnished with all manner of Ammunition which put the Souldiers of the Garison into so good heart that they made many Sallies out and frequently Skirmished with the French and Scots whom they found Quartered in the Villages and Towns adjoyning But the matter being taken into Debate by the Council of England it was Resolved especially by those who secretly envied at the Power and Greatness of the Lord Protectour That the keeping of the Town would not quit the Cost as being farthest from the Borders and not to be Relieved if it were distressed without the raising and imploying of a Royal Army And thereupon the Earl of Rutland was sent thither with three thousand of the Lansquenets and as many Borderers who coming to the Town on the twentieth of September sleighted the Works and having destroyed the Houses caused all the Ordnance and Carriages to be sent to Berwick and returned without Battail The voluntary quitting of which Town drew after it the loss of all the Peeces which we held in Scotland The English Forces being removed from the Town of Haddington the French immediately prepared for their going home-wards carrying a richer Lading with them then all the Arms and Ammunition which they brought at their coming For while the Army lay at the Siege at Haddington the Ministers of the French King were busied in Treaty with the Scots for putting the Young Queen into their Power transporting her into France and Marrying her unto the Daulphin But in this point they found the Council much divided Some thought That the Conditions offered by the Lord Protectour not till then generally known were to be embraced in regard it gave them an assurance of ten years Peace at the least and that if either of the Princes died within that time they should be left at Liberty to Order the Affairs of that Kingdom to the most Advantage But against this it was alledged by those of the opposite Party whom the French King had bought with ready Money and Anual Pensions That as long as the Queen remained amongst them they should never be Free from the Pretensions of the English From which there was no question but they would desist when they saw the Ground thereof to be taken away by the Queens Removal Of which Party besides those which were corrupted by the Gold of France were the Bishops and Clergy who being Zealous for the preservation of their Old Religion abominated nothing more then the Alliance with England And so the matter being carried in behalf of the French and there being now no further need of them for defence of the Countrey they gave Order to make ready their Shipping and nominated a set day for their Departure Which day being come they Coasted about Scotland by the Isles of Orkney took in the young Queen at Dunâ—britton-Castle and passing through St. George's Chanel arrived in Bretaigne whilest a strong Squadron of the English attended for their coming in the Narrow-Seas But this Departure of the French though it much weakened did not disanimate the Scots for making trial of their Fortune against the Hume-Castle and Fast-Castle remained amongst some others as Thorns in their Sides but they regained them both this year Hume-Castle they surprised by means of some of their own Nation who being reputed Friends and suffered to have free and frequent Access unto it had Opportunity both to discover the Weaknesses of it and by what Ways it might most easily be taken And being more cordially affected to their Old Country-men then their New Acquaintance they directed a select number of Souldiers to some secret Paâ—sages by which having fiâ—st climbed up a very steep Rock they found an Entrance into the Castle put the secure Garison to the Sword and possessed the Place leaving a fair warning unto all others Fast-Castle they surprised by a Warlike Stratageme For the Governour having Commanded the neighbouring Villages at a prefixed day to bring in their Contribution of Corn and other necessary Provision the Enemy makes Use of this Opportunity Souldiers habited like Peasants came at the day fraught with their Burthens whereof having eased their Horses they carry them on their shoulders over the Bridg which joyned two Rocks together and so gained Entrance the Watch-word being given they cast down their Burthens till the Sentinels open the Gates to their Fellows and become Masters of the Place The News of which Surprisals together with that of the Queens Removal being brought into the Court of England which then began to be divided into Sides and Factions there was no further Care taken for the Prosecution of the Scotish War which for the pâ—esent much refreshed that impoveâ—ished Kâ—ngdom Now while these Traverses of War were made in Scotland there was no solid Peace though no open Discord in the Church of England It hath been shewed that Bishop Gardiner having long lain Prisoner in the Fleet was on the Morrow after Twelâ—th-Day last restored to Liberty and permitted to return unto his Diocess Where contrary to the Promise made at his Enlargment he began to shew himself displeased with the King's Proceedings in the case of Images Concerning which he wrote a long Letter to the Lord Protectour on the twenty first of May and backed it with another of the sixth of June and otherwise appeared so cross to the
is that upon the very first Reports of a Reformation here intended Calvin had offered his Assistance to Arch-Bishop Craenmer as himself confesseth But the Arch-Bishop knew the Man and refused the Offer And it appears in one of Bishop Latimer's Sermons that there was report about this time of Melancthon's coming but it proved onely a Report And though it was thought necessary for the better seasoning of the Vniversities in the Protestant Reformed Religion that Martin Bucer and Peter Martyr two eminent Divines of the Foreign Churches should be invited to come over yet the Arch-Bishop's Letter of Invitation sent to Martin Bucer was not written till the twelfth day of October At what time the Liturgie then in hand being the chief Key to the whole Work of Reformation was in very good forwardness and must needs be compleatly finished before he could so settle and dispose his Affairs in Germany as to come for England And though Peter Martyr being either more at Leasure or less engaged or otherwise more willing to accept of the Invitation came many Moneths before the other yet neither do we finde him here till the end of November when the Liturgie had been approved of by the King and Council if it had not also passed the Approbation of both Houses of Parliament Nor was it likely that they should make use of such a Man in composing a Liturgie wherein they were resolved to retain a great part of the Antient Ceremonies who being made Canon of Christ-Church in Oxford and frequently present at Divine Service in that Church could never be prevailed with to put on the Surplice Being left therefore to themselves they were at the more liberty for following the King 's most Godly and most Wise Directions having in the first place an eye and respect to the most sincere and Pure Religion taught by the Scripture and in the second to the Vsages of the Primitive Church and making out of both one convenient and meet Order Rite and Fashion of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments to be had and used in the Realm of Englâ—nd and the Principality of Wales Which being finished they all subscribed their Names unto it but Day of Chichester who would by no means have his Hand in the Subscription as is related in the Register-Book of the Parish of Petwoâ—th But being subscribed by all the rest it was by them with all due Reverence humbly presented to the King by whom it was received to His great Comfort and Quietness of mind as the Statute telleth us And being by him commended to the Lords and Commons then Assembled in Parliament which Parliament took beginning on the fourth day of November they did not onâ—ly give His Highness most hearty and lowly thanks for his Care therein but on peruâ—aâ— of the Book declared it to be done by the aid of the Holy Ghost And therâ—upoâ— considering the Godly Prayers Orders Rites and Ceremonies in the said Book mentioned and also the reasons of Altering of those things which be altered and the retaining those things which be retained together with the Hoâ—our of God and the great Quietâ—ess which by the Grace of God was likely to ensâ—e on suâ—h an Uâ—iform Order in Common Prayer Rites and External Ceremonies to be used in all England and Wales in Calice and the Marches of the â—ame it was Eâ—acâ—ed That all and singular Ministers in any Cathedral or 〈◊〉 Church or other Place within this Realm of England Wales Calce and the Marches of the same or other the King's Dominions should from and after the Feast of Pentecost next coming that Interval being given for the Printing of it be bounden to say and use the Mattens Even-song Celebration of the Lord's Supper â—â—mmonly caâ—â—ed The Mass and Administration of each of the Sacraments and all their Common and Open Prayer in such Order and Form as is mentioned in the same Book and no otherwise with several Penalties therein mentioned to be imposed on all such in their several places as either should willfully refuse to Officiate by it or hinder the Lawfull Exâ—cution oâ— it or speak any thing in Derogation of the said Book or any thing therein contained The passing of this Act gave great Offence to those of the Romish Paâ—ty not that they could except against it in regard either of the Manner or Matter of it which they acknowledged to be Consonant to the Antient Forms but bâ—cause it was communicated to the People in the Vulgar Tongue And this they charged as a gâ—eat Eâ—rour in those Men who had the chief Hand in the Conduct of that Affâ—iâ— becaâ—se that by the Rules thereof the Scriptures were to be read publâ—ckly in the 〈◊〉 Tongue Which what else was it as they said but the committing so much Heavenly Treasure unto Râ—tten Vessels the trusting so much Excellent 〈◊〉 to such Musty Bâ—ttles And being that there are many things in he Divine Offices of the Church quae secreta esse debent as the Cardinal telleth us which ought to have been kept as Secrets from all Vulgar knowledg it must needs be of very ill Conâ—equence to communicate them to all sorâ—s of People But certainly the Holy Ghost was able to direct the Church in â— betâ—er way then such as should be subject unto Man's Exceptions And he directs the Service of the Church to be Officiated in such a Language to which the ignorant and unlearned may say Amen 1 Cor. xiv 9 16. Upon which Words it is observed by Lyra and Aquinas two as great Clerks as any in the Church of Rome That The Publick Service of the Church in the Primitive Times was in the Common Vulgar Language The like affirmed by Doctour Haâ—aing as great a Stickler for that Church and the Doctrines of it as any other of his Time adding withall That it was necessary in the Primitive Times that it should be so and granting also That it were still better that the People had their Service in their own Vulgar Tongue for their better understanding of it So he in Answer to the Challenge made by Bishop Jewel Art 3. Sect. 28 and 33. And theâ—efore having the confession and acknowledgment of the very Adveâ—saâ—y not onely as to the Antiquity but the Fitness also of Celebrating Divine Offices in the Vulgar Language it may be thought a loss both of Time and Travail to press the Argument any further Which nâ—twithstanding for the more perfect clearing of the Point in question it wâ—ll be found upon a very easie seach that the Jews did Celebrate their Divine Offiâ—es Tractatus and Oblationes as the Father hath it most commonly in the Syriack and sometimes in the Hebrew Tongue the natural Languages of that People as is affirmed by St. Ambrose upon 1 Cor. cap. 14. and out of him by Durand in his Rationale Eckius a great Servant of the Popes affirmeth in his Common Places That the Indians have their Service in the Indian Tongue and
Edward Wotton Doctour Wotton and Sir Richard Southwell Of which some shewed themselves against him upon former Grudges as the Earl of South-hampton some out of hope to share those Offices amongst them which he had ingrossed unto himself many because they loved to follow the strongest side few in regard of any Benefit which was like to Redound by it to the Common-Wealth the greatest part complaining that they had not their equal Dividend when the Lands of Chanteries Free-Chapels c. were given up for a Prey to the greater Courtiers but all of them disguising their private Ends under pretense of doing service to the Publick The Combination being thus made and the Lords of the Defection convented together at Ely-House in Holborn where the Earl then dwelt they sent for the Lord Mayour and Aldermen to come before them To whom it is declared by the Lord Chancellour Rich a man of Sommerset's own preferring in a long Oration in what dangers the Kingdom was involved by the mis-Government and Practices of the Lord Protectour against whom he objected also many Misdemeanours some frivolous some false and many of them of such a Nature as either were to be condemned in themselves or forgiven in him For in that Speech he charged him amongst other things with the loss of the King's Peeces in France and Scotland the sowing of Dissension betwixt the Nobility and the Commons Embezelling the Treasures of the King and inverting the Publick stock of the Kingdom to his private use It was Objected also That he was wholly acted by the Will of his Wife and therefore no fit man to command a Kingdom That he had interrupted the ordinary Course of Justice by keeping a Court of Requests in his own House in which he many times determined of mens Free-holds That he had demolished many Consecrated Places and Episcopal Houses to Erect a Palace for himself spending one hundred pounds per diem in superflous Buildings That by taking to himself the Title of Duke of Sommerset he declared plainly his aspiring to the Crown of this Realm and finally having so unnaturally laboured the Death of his Brother he was no longer to be trusted with the Life of the King And thereupon he desires or conjures them rather to joyn themselves unto the Lords who aimed at nothing in their Counsels but the Safety of the King the Honour of the Kingdom and the Preservation of the People in Peace and Happiness But these Designs could not so closely be contrived as not to come unto the Knowledg of the Lord Protectour who then remained at Hampton-Court with the rest of the Lords who seemed to continue firm unto him And on the same day on which this meeting was at London being the sixth day of October he causeth Proclamation to be made at the Court-Gates and afterwards in other places near adjoyning requiring all sorts of persons to come in for the defence of the King's Person whom he conveyed the same night unto Windsore-Castle with a strength of five hundred men or thereabouts too many for a Guard and too few for an Army From thence he writes his Letters to the Earl of Warwick to the rest of the Lords as also to the Lord Mayour and City of London of whom he demanded a supply of a thousand men for the present service of the King But that Proud City seldom true to the Royal Interess and secretly obsequious to every popular Pretender seemed more inclinable to gratifie the Lords in the like Demands then to comply with his Desires The News hereof being brought unto him and finding that Master Secretary Peter whom he had sent with a secret Message to the Lords in London returned not back unto the Court be presently flung up the Cards either for want of Courage to play out the Game or rather choosing willingly to lose the Set then venture the whole Stock of the Kingdom on it So that upon the first coming of some of the opposite Lords to Windsore he puts himself into their hands by whom on the fourteenth day of the same Moneth he is brought to London and committed Prisoner to the Tower pitied the less even by those that loved him because he had so tamely betrayed himself The Duke of Sommerset no longer to be called Protectour being thus laid up a Parliament beginneth as the other two had done before on the fourth of November In which there passed two Acts of especial consequence besides the Act for removing all Images out of the Church and calling in all Books of false and superstitious Worship before-remembred to the concernments of Religion The first declared to this Effect That Such form and manner of making and Consecrating Arch-Bishops and Bishopt Priests Deacons and other Ministers of the Church as by six Prelates and six other Learned Men of this Realm learned in God's Law by the King to be appointed and assigned or by the most number of thâ—m shall be devised for that purpose and set forth under the Great Seal before the First of April next coming shall be lawfully exercised and used and no other The number of the Bishops and the Learned Men which are appointed by this Act assure me that the King made choice of the very same whom he had formerly imployed in composing the Liturgie the Bishop of Chichester being left out by reason of his Refractoriness in not subscribing to the same And they accordingly applyed themselves unto the Work following therein the Rules of the Primitive Church as they are rather recapitulated then ordained in the fourth Councel of Carthage Anno 401. Which though but National in it self was generally both approved and received as to the Form of Consecrating Bishops and inferiour Ministers in all the Churches of the West Which Book being finished was made use of without further Authority till the year 1552. At what time being added to the second Liturgie it was approved of and confirmed as a part thereof by Act of Parliament An. 5. Edw. 6. cap. 1. And of this Book it is we finde mention in the 36th Article of Queen Elizabeth's Time In which it is Declared That Whosoever wâ—re Consecrated and Ordered according to the Rites thereof should be reputed and adjudged to be lawfully Consecrated and rightly Ordered Which Declaration of the Church was afterwards made good by Act of Parliament in the eighth year of that Queen in which the said Ordinal of the third of King EDVVARD the Sixth is confirmed and ratified The other of the said two Acts was For enabling the King to nominate Eight Bishops as many Temporal Lords and sixteen Members of the Lower House of Parliament for reviewing all such Canons and Constitutions as remained in force by Virtue of the Statute made in the 25th year of the late King HENRY and fitting them for the Vse of the Church in all Times succeeding According to which Act the King directed a Commission to Arch-Bishop Cranmer and the rest of the Persons whom he
threatned more Danger then the other To which Request He did not onely refuse to hearken except the King would promise to restore the Catholick Religion as He called it in all His Dominions but expresly commanded that neither His Men noâ— Ammunition should go to the Assistance of the English An Ingratitude not easie to be marked with a fitting Epithete considering what fast Friends the Kings of England had alwaies been to the House of Burgundy the Rights whereof remained in the person of Charles with what sums of Money they had helped them and what sundry Wayâ— they had made for them both in the Nether-Lands to maintain their Authority and in the Realm of France it self to increase their Power For from the Marriage of Maximilian of the Family of Austriâ— with the Lady Mary of Burgundy which happened in the year 1478. unto the Death of Henry the Eight which fell in the year 1546 are just threescore and eight years In which time onely it was found on a just account that it had cost the Kings of England at the least six Millions of Pounds in the meer Quarrels of that House But the French being more assured that the English held some secret Practice with the Emperour then certain what the Issue thereof might be resolved upon a Peace with EDVVARD in hope of getting more by Treaty then he could by Force To this end one Guidolti a Florentine is sent for England by whom many Overtures were made to the Lords of the Council not as from the King but from the Constable of France And spying with a nimble Eye that all Affairs were governed by the Earl of Warwick he resolved to buy him to the French at what price soever and so well did he ply the Business that at the last it was agreed that four Ambassadours should be sent to France from the King of England to treat with so many others of that Kingdom about a Peace between the Crowns but that the Treaty it self should be held in Guisnes a Town belonging to the English in the Marches of Calice In pursuance whereof the Earl of Bedford the new Lord Paget Sir William Peter Principal Secretary of Estate and Sir John Mason Clerk of the Council were on the twenty first of January dispatched for France But no sooner were they come to Calice when Guidolâ—i brings a Letter to them from Mounsieur d' Rochpot one of the four which were appointed for that Treaty in behalf of the French In which it was desired that the English Ambassadours would repair to the Town of Bulloign without putting the French to the Charge and Trouble of so long a Journey as to come to Guisnes Which being demurred on by the English and a Post sent unto the Court to know the pleasure of the Council in that particular they received word for so the Oracle had directed that they should not stand upon Punctilioes so they gained the point nor hazard the Substance of the Work to preserve the Circumstances According whereunto the Ambassadours removed to Bulloign and pitch'd their Tents without the Town as had been desired for the Reception of the French that so they might enter on the Treaty for which they came But then a new Dâ—fficulty appeared for the French would not cross the Water and put themselves under the Command of Bulloign but desired rather that the English would come over to them and fall upon the Treaty in an House which they were then preparing for their Entertainment Which being also yielded to after some Disputes the French grew confident that after so many Condescensions on the part of the English they might obtain from them what they liâ—ted in the main of the Business For though it cannot otherwise be but that in all Treaties of this Nature there must be some Condescendings made by the one or the other yet he that yields the first inch of Ground gives the other Party a strong Hope of obtaining the rest These Preparations being made the Commissioners on both sides begin the Treaty where after some Expostulations touching the Justice or Injustice of the War on either side they came to particular Demands The English required the payment of all Debts and Pensions concluded on between the two Kings deceased and that the Queen of Scots should either be delivered to their Hands or sent back to Her Kingdom But unto this the French replyed That the Queen of Scots was designed in Marriage to the Daulphin of France and that She looked upon it as an high Dishonour that their King should be esteemed a Pensioner or Tributary to the Crown of England The French on the other side propounded That all Arrears of Debts and Pensions being thrown aside as not likely to be ever paid they should either put the higher Price on the Town of Bulloign or else prepare themselves to keep it as well as they could From which Proposals when the French could not be removed the Oracle was again consulted by whose Direction it was ordered in the Council of England That the Commissioners should conclude the Peace upon such Articles and Instructions as were sent unto them Most of them ordinary and accustomed at the winding up of all such Treaties But that of most Concernment was That all Titles and Claims on the one side and Defences on the other remaining to either Party as they were before the Town of Bulloign with all the Ordnance found there at the taking of it should be delivered to the French for the Sum of four hundred thousand Crowns of the Sun Of which four hundred thousand Crowns each Crown being valued at the Price of six Shillings and six Pence one Moity was to be paid within three days after the Town should be delivered and the other at the end of six Moneths after Hostages to be given in the mean time for the payment of it It was agreed also in relation to the Realm of Scotland That if the Scots razed Lowder and Dowglass the English should raze Rox-borough and Aymouth and no Fortification in any of those places to be afterwards made Which Agreement being signed by the Commissioners of each side and Hostages mutually delivered for performance of Covenants Peace was Proclaimed between the Kings on the last of March and the Town of Bulloign with all the Forts depending on it delivered into the power of the French on the twenty fifth day of April then next following But they must thank the Earl of Warwick for letting them go away with that commodity at so cheap a Rate for which the two last Kings had bargained for no less then two Millions of the same Crowns to be paid unto the King of England at the end of eight years the Towns and Territory in the mean time to remain with the English Nor was young Edward backward in rewarding his Care and Diligence in expenditing the Affair Which was so represented to him and the extraordinary Merit of the Service so highly magnified
after another till they sunk to eight The French on the other side began as low at one hundred thousand but would be drawn no higher then to Promise two that being as they affirmed the greatest Portion which ever any of the French Kings had given with a Daughter But at the last it was accorded that the Lady should be sent into England at the French King's Charges when She was come within three Moneths of the Age of Marriage sufficiently appointed with Jewels Apparel and convenient Furniture for Her House That at the same time Bonds should be delivered for Performance of Covenants at Paris by the French and at London by the King of England and That in case the Lady should not consent after She should be of Age for Marriage the Penalty should be one hundred and fifty thousand Crowns The perfecting of the Negotiation and the settling of the Ladie 's Joynture referred to such Ambassadours as the French King should send to the Court of England Appointed whereunto were the Lord Marshal of France the Duke of Guise the President Mortuillier the Principal Secretary of that King and the Bishop of Perigeux who being attended by a Train of 400. men were conducted from Graves-end by the Lord Admiral Clinton welcomed with Great Shot from all the Ships which lay on the Thames and a Vollie of Ordnance from the Tower and lodged in Suffolk-Place in South-wark From whence attended the next day to the King's House at Richmond His Majesty then remaining at Hampton-Court by reason of the Sweating Sickness of which more anon which at that time was at the Highest Having refreshed themselves that night they were brought the next day before the King to whom the Marshal presented in the name of his Master the Collar and Habit of St. Michael being at that time the Principal Order of that Realm in testimony of that dear Affection which he did bear unto him greater then which as he desired him to believe a Father could not bear unto his Natural son And then Addressing himself in a short Speech unto His Highness he desired him amongst other things not to give entertainment to Vulgar Rumours which might breed Jealousies and Distrusts between the Crowns and that if any difference did arise between the Subjects of both Kingdoms they might be ended by Commissioners without engaging either Nation in the Acts of Hostility To which the King returned a very favourable Answer and so dismissed them for the present Two or three days being spent in Feasting the Commissioners on both sides settled themselves upon the matter of the Treaty confirming what had passed before and adding thereunto the Proportioning of the Ladie 's Jointure Which was accorded at the last to the yearly value of ten thousand Marks English with this Condition interposed that if the King died before the Marriage all her Pretensions to that Jointure should be buried with him All Matters being thus brought unto an happy Conclusion the French prepared for their Departure at which Time the Marshal presented Monsieur Boys to remain as Legier with the King and the Maâ—quess presented Mr. Pickering to be his Majestie 's Resident in the Court of France And so the French take leave of England rewarded by the King in such a Royal and Munificent Manner as shewed he very well understood what belonged to a Royal Suitour those which the French King had designed â—or the English Ambassadours not actually bestowed till all things had been fully settled and dispatched in England hardly amounting to a fourth part of that Munificence which the King had shewed unto the French Grown confident of his own Security by this new Alliance the King not onely made less Reckoning of the Emperour 's Interposings in the Case of Religion but proceeded more vigorously then before in the Reformation the Building up of which upon a surer and more durable Bottom was contrived this year though not established till the next Nothing as yet had been concluded positively and Dogmatically in Points of Doctrine but as they were to be collected from the Homilies and the Publick Liturgie and those but few in Reference to the many Controversies which were to be maintained against the Papists Anabaptists and other Sectaries of that Age. Many Disorders had grown up in this little time in the Officiating the Liturgie the Vestures of the Church and the Habit of Church-Men began by Calvin prosecuted by Hooper and countenanced by the large Immunities which had been given to John a Lasco and his Church of Strangers And unto these the change of Altars into Tables gave no small Encrease as well by reason of some Differences which grew amongst the Ministers themselves upon that Occasion as in regard of of that Irreverence which it â—bred in the People to whom it made the Sacrament to appear less Venerable then before it did The People had been so long accustomed to receive that Sacrament upon their Knees that no Rule or Canon was thought necessary to keep them to it which thereupon was not imprudently omitted in the Publick Rubricks The Change of Altars into Tables the Practise of the Church of Strangers and Lasco's Book in Maintainance of sitting at the Holy Table made maâ—y think that Posture best which was so much countenanced And what was like to follow upon such a Liberty the Proneness of those Times to Heterodoxies and Prophaness gave just cause to fear Somewhat was therefore to be done to prevent the Mischief and nothing could prevent it better then to reduce the People to their Antient Custome by some Rule or Rubrick by which they should be bound to receive it kneeling So for the Ministers themselves they seemed to be as much at a Loss in their Officiating at the Table as the People were in their Irreverences to the Blessed Sacrament Which cannot better be expressed then in the words of some Popish Prelats by whom it was objected unto some of our chief Reformers Thus White of Lincoln chargeth it upon Bishop Ridley to omit his prophane calling of the Lord's Table in what Posture soever scituated by the Name of an Oyster-Board That when their Table was Constituted they could never be content iâ—placing the same now East now North now one way now another untill it pleased God of his Goodness to place it quite out of the Church The like did Weston the Prolocutour of the Convocation in the first of Queen Mary in a Disputation held with Latimer telling him with Reproach and Contempt enough that the Protestants having turâ—ed their Table were like a Company of Apes that knew not which way to turn their Tails looking one day East and another West one this way and another that way as their Fancies lead them Thus finally one Miles Hubbard in a Book called The Display of Protestants doth report the Business How long say they were they learning to set their Tables to minister the Communion upon First they placed it aloft where the High
to the great Troubles in the Court began in the Destruction of the Duke of Sommerset but ending in the untimely death of this Hopeful King so signified as it was thought upon the Post-Fact by two strange Presages within the compass of this year and one which followed in the next The first of this year was a great and terrible Earthquake which happened on the twenty fifth of May at Croydon and some other Villages thereabouts in the County of Surrey This was conceived to have Prognosticated those Concussions which afterwards happened â—n the Court to the fall of the Great Duke of Sommerset and divers Gentlemen of Note and Quality who perished in the same ruin with him The last was of six Dolphins taken up in the Thames three of them at Queen Borough and three near Grenwich the least as big as any Horse The Rarity whereof occasioned some Grave men to dispence with their Prudence and some Great Persons also to put off their State that they might behold a Spectacle so unusual to them Their coming up so far beheld by Mariners as a Presage of foul weather at Sea but afterwards by States-Men of those Storms and Tempests which afterwards befell this Nation in the Death of King Edward and the Tempestuous Times of Queen Marie's Reign But the most sad Presage of all was the Breaking out of a Disease called the Sweating Sickness appearing first at Shrewsbury on the fifteenth of April and after spreading by degrees over all the Kingdom ending its Progress in the North about the beginning of October Described by a very Learned Man to be a new strange and violent Disease wherewith if any man were attached he dyed or escaped within nine hours of ten at most if he slept as most men desired to do he dyed within six hours if he took cold he dyed in three It was observed to Rage chiefly amongst men of strongest Constitution and years few aged Men or Women or young Children being either subject to it or dying of it Of which last sort those of most Eminent Rank were two of the Sons of Chaâ—ls Brandon both dying at Cambridg both Dukes of Suffolk as their Father had been before but the youngest following his dead Brother so close at the Heels that he onely out-lived him long enough to enjoy that Title And that which was yet most strange of all no Foreigner which was then in England four hundred French attending here in the Hottest of it on that King's Ambassadours did perish by it The English being singled out tainted and dying of it in all other Countries without any danger to the Natives called therefore in most Latine Writers by the name of Sudor Anglicus or The English Sweat First known amongst us in the beginning of the Reign of King Henry the Seventh and then beheld as a Presage of that troublesom and Laborious Reign which after followed the King being for the most part in continual Action and the Subjects either sweating out their Blood or Treasure Not then so violent and extreme as it was at the present such infinite Multitudes being at this time swept away by it that there died eight hundred in one week in London onely These being looked on as Presages we will next take a view of those sad Events which were supposed to be prognosticated by them beginning first with the Concussions of the Court by open Factions and ending in a Sweating Sickness which drew out some of the best Blood and most Vital Spirits of the Kingdom The Factions Headed by the Duke of Sommerset and the Earl of Warwick whose reconciliation on the Earl's part was but feigned and counterfeit though he had both given and taken Pledges for a faster Friendship The good success he found in his first attempt against the Duke when he degraded him from the Office of Lord Protectour emboldened him to make some further trial of his Fortune to which there could not be a stronger Temptation then the Servility of some Great Men about the Court in prostituting their affection to his Pride and Tyranny Grown absolute in the Court but more by the weakness of others then any virtue of his own he thought it no impossible matter to make that Weakness an improvement of his strength and Power And passing from one Imagination to another he fixed at last upon a Fancy of transferring the Imperial Crown of this Realm from the Royal Family of the Tudors unto that of the Dudlies This to be done by Marrying one of his Sons to the Lady Jane the eldest Daughter of Henry Lord Marquess Dorset and of the Lady Francis his Wife one of the Daughters and co-Heirs of Charls Brandon the late Duke of Suffolk by Mary Dowager of France and the beâ—t-beloved Sister of King Henry the Eighth In order whereunto he must first oblige the Marquess by some signal favour advance himself to such a Greatness as might render any of his Sons an agreeable match for either of the Marquess's Daughters and finally devise some means by which the Duke of Sommerset might be took out of the way whose life he looked on as the principal Obstacle to his great Aspirings By this Design he should not onely satisfie his Ambition but also sacrifice to Revenge The Execution of his Father in the first year of the Reign of the late King Henry would not out of his mind and by this means he might have opportunity to execute his just vengeance on the King's Posterity for the unjust Murther as he esteem'd it of his innocent Father Confirmed in these Resolves by Sir John Gates Lieutenant of the Band of Pensioners who was reported afterwards to have put this Plot into his Head at the first as he stood to him in the prosecution of it to the very last The Privy Council of his own thoughts having thus advised the Privy Council of the King was in the next place to be made sure to him either obliged by Favours or gained by Flatteries those of most Power to be most Courted through a smooth Countenance fair Language and other thriving Acts of insinuation to be made to all Of the Lord Treasurer Paulet he was sure enough whom he had found to have so much of the Willow in him that he could bend him how he pleased And being sure of him he thought himself as sure of the Publick Treasure as if it were in his own Pockets The Marquess of North-hampton was Captain of the Band of Pensioners encreased in Power though not in Place by ranging under his Command as well the Light-Horse as the Men at Arms which had served at Bulloign With him the Earl had peeced before drew him into his first Design for bringing down the Lord Protectour to a lower Level but made him faster then before by doing so many good Offices to Sir William Herbert who had Married his Sister Which Herbert being son of Richard Herbert of Ewias one of the Bastards of William Lord Herbert of Ragland the first
name of Treason and Felony because in all Treasons the intent and purpose is as Capital as the Act it self if once discovered either by word or deed or any other material Circumstance though it go no further But though Treason made the loudest noise it was the Felony which was especially relied upon for his Condemnation Two Statutes were pretended for the Ground of the whole Proceedings The first made in the time of King Henry the Seventh by which it was Enacted to be Felony for any inferiour Person to contrive the death of a Lord of the Council The second that of the last Session of Parliament By which it was Declared to be Treason for any Twelve Persons or more to Assemble together with an intent to murther any of the Lords of the Council if after Proclamation made they dissolved not themselves within the space of an hour The Indictment being Read and the Confessions of Palmer and the rest being produced and urged by the King's Council who spared not to press them as is accustomed in such Cases to the best advantage The Duke though much dismayed returned this Answer to the Branches of his Accusation viz. That He never intended to raise the North Parts of this Realm but that upon some bruits he apprehended a Fear which made him send to Sir William Herbert to remain his Friend That He determined not to kill the Duke of Northumberland nor any other Lord but spake of it onely and determined the contrary That It had been a mad enterprise with his hundred men to assail the Gens d' Arms consisting of nine hundred which in case he had prevailed would nothing have advanced the pretended purpose That Therefore this bâ—ing senseless and absurd must needs discredit other matters which otherwise might have been believed That At London he never projected any stir but ever held it a good place for his security That For having men in his Chamber at Greenwich it was manifest that he meant no harm because when he might have done it he did not And further against the persons of them whose Examinations had been read he objected many things desiring that They might be brought to his face which in regard of his Dignity and Estate he conceived to be reasonable And so it happened unto him as with many others that hoping to make his fault seem less by a fair Confession he made it great enough to serve for his Condemnation For presently upon these words the Council thinking they had matter enough from his own Confession to convict him of Felony insisted chiefly on that Point and flourished out their Proofs upon it to their best Advantage But so that they neglected not to aggravate his Offence in the Treason also that his Peers might be under some necessity of finding him guilty in the one if they should finde themselves unsatisfied for passing their Verdict in the other And though neither the one nor the other were so clear in Law as to make him liable to a Sentence of Condemnation if either the Statute in the Contents had been rightly opened or the Opinion of the Judges demanded in them yet what cannot the Great Wit of some Advocates do when they have a mind to serve their Turn upon a Statâ—te contrary to the Mind and Meaning of them that made it The Duke of Northumberland thereupon with a Counterfeit Modesty conceiving that he had him fast enough in Respect of the Felony desired their Lordships that no Act against his life might be brought within the Compass of Treason and they who understood his meaning at half a Word after a full hearing of the Evidence withdrew themselves into a Room appointed for them and after some Conference amongst themselves acquitting him of Treâ—son they pronounced him guilty of the Felony onely which being returned for their Verdict by all the Lords one after another in their Rank and Order and nothing objected by the Duke that Judgement should not pass upon him the Lord High Steward with a seeming Sorrow gave Sentence That he should be had to the Place from whence he came from thence to the Place of Execution and there to hang while he was dead which is the Ordinary Form of condemning Felons A Matter not sufficiently to be admired that the Duke should either be so ignorant or ill advised so destitute of present Courage or so defective in the Use of his Wit and Judgment as not to crave the common Benefit of his Clergy which had he done it must have been allowed him by the Rules of the Court whether it were that of his own Misfortunes might render him uncapable of laying hold on such Advantages as the Laws admitted or that he thought it better to die once for all then living in a perpetual Fear of dying daily by the malicious Practises and Devises of his powerfull Adversaries or that he might presume of a Pardon of Course in regard of the nature of the Offence in which neither the King nor the Safety of the Kingdom was concerned and that the Law by which it was found guilty of Felony had never been put in Execution upon a man of his Quality if perhaps at all or finally whether it were some secret Judgment on him from above as some men conceived that he who had destroyed so many Churches invaded the Estate of so many Cathedrals deprived so many Learned Men of their Means and Livelyhood should want or rather not desire the Benefit of the Clergy in his greatest extremity In stead whereof he suffered Judgment of death to pass upon him gave thanks unto the Lords for his gentle Tryall craved Pardon of the Duke of Northumberland the Marquess of North-hampton and the Earl of Pembroke for his ill Meaning towards them concluding with an humble Suit for his Life and Pity to be shewed to his Wife and Children It is an antient Custome in the Triall of all great Persons accused of Treason that the Ax of the Tower is carried before them to the Bar aâ—d afterwards at their Return from thence on the Pronouncing of the Sentence of Condemnation Which Ceremony not being performed at his going thence in regard he was condemned of the Felony onely gave an occasion unto such as had thronged into the Hall and knew not otherwise how things passed to conceive that he had been acquitted absolutely of the whole Indictment And thereupon so loud a Shout was made in the lower end of the Hall that the noise thereof was heard beyond Charing-Cross to the great Terrour and Amazement of his guilty Adversaries But little pleasure found the Prisoner in these Acclamations and less the People when they understood of his Condemnation so that departing thence with grief they left the way open for the Prisoner to be carried by water to the Cranes in the Viâ—etry and from thence peaceably conveyed to the Tower again Not long after followed the Arraignment of Sir Michael Stanhop Sir Thomas Arundel Sir Ralph Vane and Sir
Miles Partridge on whom also passed the Sentence of Death but the certain Day and Time of their Triall I have no where found Most probable it is that they were not brought to their Triall till after the Ax had done its part on the Duke of Sommerset which was on the twenty third of January because I finde they were not brought to their Execution till the twenty sixth of February then next following the two first being then beheaded and the two last hanged at what time they severally Protested taking God to witness that they never practised Treason against the King or against the Lives of any of the Lords of his Council Vane adding after all the rest that his Blood would make Northumberland's Pillow uneasie to him None of them less lamented by the Common People then Sir Miles Partridge against whom they had an old Grudge for depriving them of the best Ring of Bells which they had at that time called Jesus-Bells which winning of King Henry at a Cast of Dice he caused to be taken down and sold or melted for his own Advantage If any Bell tolled for him when he went to his Death or that the sight of an Halter made him think of a Bell-Rope it could not but remember him of his Fault in that Particular and mind him of calling upon Christ Jesus for his Grace and Mercy But in the mean time Care is taken that the King should not be too apprehensive of these Misfortunes into which his Uncle had been cast or enter into any Enquiries whether he had been cast into them by his own Fault or the Practises of others It was therefore thought fit to Entertain him frequently with Masks and Dancings brave Challenges at Tilts and Barriers and whatsoever Sports and Exercises which they conceived most pleasing to him But nothing seemed more delightfull to him then the appearing of His Lords and others in a General Muster performed on the twenty third of December in Saint James his Fields At what time sitting on Horse-back with the Lords of His Council the Band of Pensioners in compleat Arms with four Trumpeters and the King's Standard going before them first appeared in sight each Pensioner having two Servants waiting on him with their several Spears Next followed in distinct Companies of one hundred apiece the Troops of the Lord Treasurer Paulet the Duke of Northumberland the Lord Privy Seal the Marquess of North-hampton the Earl of Pembroke and the Lord Warden of the Cinque-Ports a Trumpet and a Standard carried before each Troop fourty of the Duke of Northumbeland's Men and as many of the Earl of Pembroke's having Velvet Goats upon their Harness with these were mingled in like Equipage as to the Trumpets and the Standards the distinct Troops of the Earls of Rutland and Hâ—ntington and the new Lord Darcy consisting each of fifty Horse and Rancked according to the Order and Precedency of their several Lords All which rode twice before the King by five in a Ranck all excellently well Armed and bravely Mounted to the great Contentment of the King the Delight of the People and as much to the Honour of the Nation in the Eye of all such Strangers as were present at it But then the Lords of England were Lords indeed and thought it not consistent with a Title of Honour to walk the Streets attended by a Lacquie onely and perhaps not that The Particulars of which Glorious Muster had not been specified but for supplying the Place of Musick as the Solemn Reception of the Queen Regent did before betwixt the two last Acts of this Tragedy to the last whereof we shall now come and so end this year Two Moneths had passed since the Pronouncing of the Fatal Sentence of Condemnation before the Prisoner was brought out to his Execution In all which time it may be thought that he might easily have obtained his Pardon of the King who had passed the first years of His Reign under his Protection and could not but behold him with the Eye of Respect as hisâ—nearest Kinsman by the Mother But first his Adversaries had so possessed the King with an Opinion of his Crimes and Misdemeanours that he believed him to be guilty of them as appears by his Letter to Fitz-Patrick for which Consult the Church Historian Lib. 7. fol. 409 410. wherein he Summarily repeateth the Substance of the Charge the Proofs against him the Proceedings of the Lords in the Arraignment and his Submiss Carriage both before and after the Sentence They also filled his Ears with the Continual Noise of the Unnatural Prosecuting of the late Lord Admiral inculcating how unsafe it was to trust to the Fidelity of such a Man who had so lately washed his Hands in the Blood of his Brother And that the King might rest himself upon these Perswasions all ways were stopped and all the Avenues blocked up by which it might be possible for any of the Duke's Friends to finde access either for rectifying the King's Opinion or obtaining his Pardon So that at last upon the twenty second of January before-remembred the King not being sufficiently possessed before of his Crimes and Cruelties he was brought to the Scaffold on Tower-Hill Where he avouched to the People That His Inâ—tentions had been not onely harmless in regard of particular Persons but driving to the Common Benefit both of the King and of the Realm Interrupted in the rest of his Speech upon the suddain â—ear of a Rescue by the coming in of the Hamlets on the one side aâ—d the Hopes of a Pardon which the People conceived to have been brought him by Sir Anthony Brown who came speedily galloping on the other he composed himself at last to make a Confession of his Faith heartily praying for the King exhorting the People to Obedience and humbly craving Pardon both of God and Man Which said he chearfully submitted his Head to the stroke of the Ax by which it was taken off at a Blow putting an end thereby to his Cares and Sorrows Such was the End of this Great Person whose Power and Greatness may be best discerned by this following Style used by him in the Height of his former Glories that is to say Edward by the Grace of God Duke of Sommerset Earl of Hertford Viscount Beauchamp Baron Seimour Uncle to the King's Highness of England Governour to the King's Highness Person Protectour of all his Realms Dominions and Subjects Lieutenant General of His Majestie 's Armies both by Sea and Land Lord High Treasurer and Earl Marshal of England Captain of Isles the of Garnsey and Jarsey and Knight of the most Honourable Order of the Garter As to his Parts Person and Abilitie there needs no other Character of him then what was given in the beginning and may be gathered from the Course of this present History More Moderate in carrying on the Work of Reformation then those who after had the Manageing and Conduct of it as one that in himself was
1282. that they had a Synodal Authority unto them committed to make such Spiritual Laws as to them seemed to be nâ—câ—ssary or convenient for the use of the Church Had it been otherwise King Edward a most Pious and Religious Prince must needs be looked on as a Wicked and most Lewd Impostour in putting such an horrible Cheat upon all His Subjects by Fathering these Articles on the Convocation which begat them not nor ever gave consent unto them And yet it is not altogether improbable but that these Articles being debated and agreed upon by the said Commitee might also pass the Vote of the whole Convocation though we finde nothing to that purpose in the Acts thereof which either have been lost or were never Registred Besides it is to be observed that the Church of England for the first five years of Queen Elizabeth retained these Articles and no other as the publick Tenents of the Church in point of Doctrine which certainly She had not done had they been commended to Her by a less Authority then a Convocation Such hand the Convocation had in canvasing the Articles prepared for them and in concluding and agreeing to so much or so many of them as afterwards were published by the King's Authority in the name thereof But whether they had any such hand in Reviewing the Liturgie and passing their Consent to such Alterations as were made therein is another Question That some necessity appeared both for the Reveiwing of the whole and the altering of some Parts thereof hath been shew'd before And it was shewed before by whose Procurement and Sollicitation the Church was brought to that necessity of doing somewhat to that Purpose But being not sufficiently Authorised to proceed upon it because the King 's sole Authority did not seem sufficient they were to stay the Leasure and Consent of the present Parliament For being the Liturgie then in force had been confirmed and imposed by the King in Parliament with the Consent and Assent of the Lords and Commons it stood with Reason that they should not venture actually on the Alteration but by their permission first declared And therefore it is said expresly in the Act of Parliament made this present year That The said Order of Common Service Entituled The Book of Common-Prayer had been Perused Explained and made fully perfect not single by the King's Authority but by the King with the Assent of the Lords and Commons More then the giving of their Assent was neither required by the King nor desired by the Prelats and less then this could not be fought as the Case then stood The signifying of which Assent enabled the Bishops and the rest of the Clergy whom they had taken for their Assistants to proceed to the Digesting of such Alterations as were before considered and resolved on amongst themselves and possibly might receive the like Authority from the Convocation as the Articles had though no such thing remaining upon Record in the Registers of it But whether it were so or not certain it is that it received as much Authority and Countenance as could be given unto it by an Act of Parliament by which imposed upon the Subject under certain Penalties Imprisonments Pecuniarie Mulcts c. which could not be inflicted on them by Synodical Acts. The Liturgie being thus Settled and Confirmed in Parliament was by the King's Command translated into French for the Use of the Isles of Guernsey and Jersey and such as lived within the Marches and Command of Calais But no such Care was taken for Wales till the fifth year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth nor of the Realm of Ireland from that time to this King Henry had so far prepared the Way to a Reformation as His own Power and Profit was concerned in it to which Ends he excluded the Pope's Authority and caused Himself to be declared Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of Ireland by Act of Parliament And by like Acts he had annexed to the Crown the Lands of all Monasteries and Religious Orders together with thetwentieth Part of all the Ecclesiastical Promotions within that Kingdom and caused the like Course to be settled for the Electing and Consecrating of Arch-Bishops and Bishops as had been done before in England Beyond which as he did not go so as it seems King Edward's Council thought not fit to adventure further They held it not agreeable to the Rules of Prudence to have too many Irons in the Fire at once nor safe in Point of Policy to try Conclusions on a People in the King's Minority which were so far tenacionsly addicted to the Superstitions of the Church of Rome and of a Nature not so tractable as the English were And yet that Realm was quiet even to Admiration notwithstanding the frequent Embroilments and Commotions which so miserably disturbed the Peace of England which may be reckoned for one of the greatest Felicities of this King's Reign and a strong Argument of the Care and Vigilancy of such of His Ministers as had the chief Direction of the Irish Affairs At the first Payment of the Money for the Sale rather then the Surrendry of Bulloign eight thousand pounds was set apart for the Service of Ireland and shortly after out of the Profits which were raised from the Mint four hundred men were Levied and sent over thither also with a Charge given to the Governours that the Laws of England should be Carefully and Duly administred and all such as did oppose suppressed by Means whereof great Countenance was given to those who embraced the Reformed Religion there especially within those Counties which are called commonly by the name of the English Pale The Common-Prayer-Book of England being brought over thither and used in most of the Churches of the English Plantation without any Law in their own Parliaments to impose it on them But nothing more conduced to the Peace of that Kingdom then that the Governours for the most part were men of such Choice that neither the Nobility disdained to endure their Commands nor the inferiour sort were oppressed to supply their Wants Besides which as the King drew many men from thence to serve him in his Wars against France and Scotland which otherwise might have disturbed the common Peace so upon notice of some great Preparations which were made in France for the Assistance of the Scots he sent over to guard the Coast of Ireland four Ships four Barks four Pinnaces and twelve Victuallers By the Advantage of which Strength He made good three Havens two on the South-side toward France and one toward Scotland which afterwards made themselves good Booties out of such of the French as were either cast away on the Coast of Ireland or forced to save themselves in the Havens of it For the French making choice rather of their Passage by Saint George's Chanel then by the ordinary Course of Navigation from France to Edenborough fell from one Danger to another and for fear of being
with the suppression of such Bishopricks and Collegiate Churches as either lay â—urthest off or might best be spared In reference whereunto it was concluded in a Chapter held at Westminster by the Knights of the Garter That from thenceforth the said most noble Order of the Garter should be no longer entâ—tuled by the Name of St. George but that it should be called the Oâ—der of the Garter onely and that the Feast of the said Order should be celebrated upon Whitson-Eve Whitson-day and Whitson-Monday and not on St. George's day as before it was And to what end was this concluded and what else was to follow upon this Conclusion but the dissolving of the Free-Chapel of St. George in the Castle of Windsor and the transferring of the Order to the Chapel of King HENRY the Seventh in the Abbey of Westminster Which had undoubtedly been done and all the Lands thereof converted to some powerful Courtiers under pretence of laying them to the Crown if the King's Death which happened within four Moneths after had not prevented the Design and thereby respited that Ruin which was then intended The like preservation happened at the same time also in the Church of Durham as liberally endowed as the most and more amply priviledged then the best in the King's Dominions The Bishops hereof by Charter and long Prescription enjoyed and exercised all the Rights of a County Palatine in that large Tract of Ground which lyes between the Tees and the Tine best known in those Parts by the Name of the Bishoprick the Diocess containing also all Northumberland of which the Bishops and the Percies had the greatest shares No sooner was Bishop Tonstal committed to the Tower which was on the Twentieth of December 1551. but presently an Eye was cast upon his Possessions Which questionless had followed the same fortune with the rest of the Bishopricks if one more powerful then the rest had not preserved it from being parcelled out as the others were on a â—â—rong Confidence of getting it all unto himself The Family of the Percies was then reduced to such a point that it seemed to have been quite expired a Family which first came in with the Norman Conquerour by whom enriched with most of the forfeited Estates of Morchar Gospatrick and Waltheof the three last Earls of Northumberland of the Saxon Race But this Line ending in the latter times of King HENRY the First Josseline of Lorain descended from the Emperour CHARLES the Great and one of the younger Brothers of Adeliza the last Wife of the King enrich'd himself by Marriage with the Heir-General of this House upon condition that keeping to himself the Arms of his own Family he should assume the Name of Percy to remain always afterward unto his Posterity Advanced in that respect by the Power and Favour of John of Gaunt to the Rank and Title of the Earls of Northumberland at the Coronation of King Richard the Second They held the same with great Power and Honour the short interposing of the Marquess Mountacute excepted onely till toward the latter end of King Henry the Eighth At what time it happened that Henry Lord Peircy the sixth Earl of this House had incurred the heavy displeasure of that King First for an old affection to the Lady Ann Bollein when the King began first to be enamoured of her excellent Beauties and afterwards for denying to confess a Precontract to have been formerly made between them when the King now as weary of her as before he was fond was seeking some fair Pretences to divorce himself from her before she was to lose her Head He had no Children of his own and Thâ—mas his Brother and next Heir was to his greater grief attainted of Treason for being thought to have a chief hand iâ— the Northern Rebellion Anno 1536. In both respects he found himself at such a loss and the whole Family without hope of a Restitution to its antient splendour that to preserve himself from running into further danger he gave unto the King the greatest part of that fair Inheritance and dying not long after left his Titles also to the King 's disposing The Lands and Titles being thus fallen into the Crown continued undisposed of till the falling of the Duke of Somerset when Dudley Earl of Warwick having some projections in his Head beyond the greatness of a Subject advanced himself unto the Title of Duke of Northumberland not doubting but he should be able to possess himself in short time also of all the Landâ— of that Family which were then remaining in the Crown To which Estate the Bishoprick of Duâ—ham and all the Lands belonging to it could not but be beheld as a fair Addition if at the least it might be called an addition which was of more value then the Patrimony to which it was to have been added He had long Reigned without a Crown suffering the King for some years to enjoy that Title which was to be transferred if all Contrivances had held good upon one of his Sons whom He designed in Marriage to the eldest Daughter of the House of Suffolk And then how easie was it for him having a King of his own begetting a Queen of his own making the Lords of the Council at his beck and a Parliament to serve his turn for all occasions to incorporate both the Lands of the Peircies and the Patrimony of that Church into one Estate with all the Rights and Privileges of a County Palatine Count Palatine of Durham Prince Palatine of Northumberland or what else he pleased must be the least he could have aimed at in that happy Conjuncture happy to him had the Even been answerable unto his Projections but miserable enough to all the rest of the Kingdom who should not servilely submit to this Glorious Upstart Upon which Grounds as the Bishoprick of Durham was dissolved by Act of Parliament under pretence of patching up the King's Revenue so the greatest part of the Lands thereof had been kept together that they might serve for a Revenue to the future Palatine But all these Projects failing in the death of the King and his own Attaindure not long after the Peircies were restored by Queen Mary to their Lands and Honours as the Bishop was unto his Liberty and to most of his Lands it being almost impossible that such a fair Estate should fall into the hands of the Courtiers and no part of it be left sticking in those Glutinous Fingers For to begin the Year withall the King was taken with a very strong Cough in the Moneth of January which at last ended in a Consumption of the Lungs the Seeds of which Malignity were generally supposed to have been sown in the last Summer's Progress by some over-heatings of himself in his Sports and Exercises But they that looked more narrowly into the matter observed some kind of decayings in him from the time that Sir Robert Dudley the third Son of Northumberland was admitted into a place
for dispatch of Business to which he lai'd such Farms and Tenements in the Town and elsewhere as had been vested in the Brother-hood of the Holy-Cross before remembred and committed the Care and Governance of the whole Revenue to a Corporation of twelve Persons by the Name of the Master and Governours of the Hospital of Christ in Abindon All which he fortified and assured to the Town for ever by Virtue of this His Majestie 's Letters Patents â—earing Date the nineteenth of May in the seventh and last Year of His Reigne Anno 1553. And so I conclude the Reign of King Edward the Sixth sufficiently remarkable for the Progress of the Reformation but otherwise tumultuous in it self and defamed by Sacrilege and so distracted into Sides and Factions that in the end the King Himself became a Prey to the strongest Party which could not otherwise be safe but in His Destruction contrived on Purpose as it was generally supposed to smooth the Way to the Advancement of the Lady Jane Grey to the Royal Throne Of whose short Reign Religious Disposition and Calamitous Death We are next to speak AN APPENDIX TO THE FORMER BOOK Touching the Interposings made in Behalf of the Lady JANE GRAY Publickly Proclaimed QUEEN of ENGLAND Together with the History of Her Admirable Life Short Reign and most Deplorable Death Prov. xxxi 29. Many Daughters have done vertuously but thou excellest them all Vell. Paterc lib. 2. Genere Probitate Formâ Romanorum Eminentissima per omnia Deis quám hominibus similior Foemina Cambd. in Reliquiis Miraris Janam Graio Sermone loquutam Quo primùm nata est tempore Graia fuit LONDON Printed Anno Dom. 1660. THE LIFE and REIGN OF QUEEN JANE Anno Domini 1553. THE Lady IANE GRAY whom King EDWARD had Declared for His next Successour was Eldest Daughter of HENRY Lord GRAY Duke of Suffolk and Marquess Dorset descended from THOMAS Lord GRAY Marquess Dorset the Eldest Son of Queen ELIZABETH the onely Wife of EDWARD the Fourth by Sir IOHN GRAY Her former Husband Her Mother was the Lady Frances's Daughter and in fine one of the Co-Heirs of Charls Brandon the late Duke of Suffolk by Mary His Wife Queen Dowager to Lewis the Twelfth of France and youngest Daughter of King HENRY the Seventh Grandfather to King EDWARD now Deceased Her High Descent and the great Care of King HENRY the Eighth to see Her happily and well bestowed in Marriage Commended Her unto the Bed of Henry Lord Marquess Dorset before-remembred A man of known Nobility and of Large Revenues possess'd not onely of the Patrimony of the Grays of Groby but of the whole Estate of the Lord Harrington and Bonvile which descended on him in the Right of his Grand-Mother the Wife of the first Marquess of Dorset of this Name and Family And it is little to be doubted but that the Fortunes of the House had been much increased by the especial Providence and Bounty of the said Queen Elizabeth who cannot be supposed to have neglected any Advantage in the Times of Her Glory and Prosperity for the Advancement of Her Children by Her former Husband In these Respects more then for any Personal Abilities which he had in himself he held a very fair Esteem amongst the Peers of the Realm rather Beloved then Reverenced by the Common People For as he had few Commendable Qualities which might produce any High Opinion of his Parts and Merit so was he guilty of no Vices which might blunt the Edg of that Affection in the Vulgar sort which commonly is born to Persons of that Eminent Rank His Wâ—fe as of an Higher Birth was of greater Spirit but one that could accommodate it to the will of Her Husband Pretermitted in the Succession to the Crown by the last Will and Testament of King Henry the Eighth not out of any Disrespect which that King had of Her but because he was not willing to think it probable that either She or the Lady Ellanor Her younger Sister whom he had pretermitted also in that Designation could live so long as to Survive His own three Children and such as in the course of Nature should be issued from them Of this Marriage there were born three Daughters that is to say Jane Katharine and Mary Of which the Eldest being but some Moneths older then the late King Edward may be presumed to have took the name of Jane from the Queen Jane Seimour as Katharine from Queen Katharine Howard or Queen Katharine Parr and Mary from the Princess Mary the eldest Daughter of King Henry or in Relation to Her Grand-Mother His youngest Sister But the great Glory of this Family was the Lady Jane who seemed to have been born with those Attractions which seat a Sovereignty in the face of most beautifull Persons yet was Her mind endued with more Excellent Charms then the Attractions of Her face Modest and Mild of Disposition Courteous of Carriage and of such Affable Deportment as might Entitle Her to the Name of Queen of Hearts before She was Designed for Queen over any Subjects Which Native and Obliging Graces were accompanied with some more profitable ones of Her own Acquiring which set an higher Valew on them and much encreased the same both in Worth and Lustre Having attained unto that Age in which other young Ladies used to apply themselves to the Sports and Exercises of their Sex She wholly gave Her mind to good Arts and Sciences much furthered in that pursuit by the care and diligence of one Mr. Elmer who was appointed for Her Tutour the same if my Conjecture deceive me not who afterwards was deservedly Advanced by Queen Elizabeth to the See of London Under his charge She came to such a large Proficiency that She spake the Latine and Greek Tongues with as sweet a fluency as if they had been Natural and Native to Her Exactly skilled in the Liberal Sciences and perfectly well Studied in both kinds of Philosophy For Proof whereof there goes a Story that Mr. Râ—ger Ascham being then Tutour to the Princess Elizabeth came to attend 〈◊〉 once at Broadgates a House of Her Father's neighbouring to the Town of Leicester where he found Her in Her Chamber reading Phaedon Platonis in Greek with as much delight as some Gentlemen would have read a Merry Tale in Geoffery Chaâ—cer The Duke Her Father the Duchess and all the rest of the Houshould were at that time hunting in the Park which moved him to put this Question to Her How She could find in Her Heart to loose such Excellent Pastimes To which She very chearfully returned this Answer That all the Pastimes in the Park were a Shadow onely of the Pleasure and Contentment which She found in that Book adding moreover That one of the greatest blessings God ever gave Her was in sending Her sharp Parents and a gentle Schole-Master which made Her take delight in nothing so much as in Her Study By which agreeableness of Disposition and eminent
and to deâ—se how they might extricate themselves out of those perplexities into which they had been brought by his Ambition Amongst which none more forward then the Earl of Pembroke in whom he had placed more Confidence then in all the others Who together with Sir Thomas Cheyny Lord Warden of the â—inque-Ports with divers others endeavoured to get out of the Tower that they might hold some secret Consultation with their Friends in London but were so narrowly watched that they could not do it On Sunday the sixteenth of the Moneth Doctour Nicholas Ridley Bishop of London is ordered by the Lords of the Council to Preach at St. Paul's-Cross and in his Sermon to Advance the Title of Queen Jane and shew the invalidity of the Claim of the Lady Mary Which he performed according to such Grounds of Law and Polity as had been lai'd together in the Letters Patents of King Edward by the Authority and Consent of all the Lords of the Council the greatest Judges in the Land and almost all the Peers of the Kingdom But then withall he press'd the Incommodities and Inconveniencies which might arise by receiving Mary for their Queen prophecying that which after came to pass Namely that She would bring in a Foreign Power to Reign over this Nation and that She would subvert the True Religion then Established by the Laws of this Reaâ—m He also shewed that at such time as She lived in his Diocess he had Travailed much with Her to reduce Her to the True Religion but that though otherwise She used him with great Civility She shewed Her self so stiff and obstinate that there was no hope to be conceived but that She would disturb and destroy all that which with such great Labour had been settled in the Reign of Her Brother For which Sermon he incurred so much displeasure that it could never be forgiven him when the rest were Pardoned by whose Encouragement and Command he had undertook it But this Sermon did not work so much on the People as the ill News which came continually to the Tower had prevailed on many of the Lords For presently upon that of the six Ships which were Revolted from the Queen Advertisement is given that the Princess Mary was Proclaimed Queen in Oxfordâ—Shirâ— â—Shirâ— by Sir John Williams and others in Buckingham-Shire by the Lord Windsore Sir Edward Hastings c. and in North-hampton-Shire by Sir Thomas Tresham And which was worse then all the other that the Noble-Mens Tenants refused to serve their Lords against Her Upon the first bruit of which Disasters the Lord Treasurer Pawlet gets out of the Tower and goes unto his House in Broâ—d-street which made sâ—ch a powerfull apprehension of sâ—me dangerous practises to be suddenly put in Execution that the Gates of the Tower were locked about seven of the Clock and the Keys carried to the Queen And though the Lord Treasurer was brought back about twelve at night yet now the knot of the Confederacy began apparently to break For finding by intelligence from so many Parts of the Realm but chiefly by the Lord Treasurer's return that generally the People were affected to the Title of the Princess Mary they thought it most expedient for them to Declare themselves in Her Favour also and not to run themselves their Friends and Families on a certain Ruin But all the Difficulty was in finding out a way to get out of the Tower the Gates whereof were so narrowly watched that no man could be suffered to go in and out but by the Knowledg and Permission of the Duke of Suffolk But that which their own Wisdom could not the Duke of Northumberland's Importunity effected for them who failing of the Supplies which the Lords had promised to send after him as before is said had pressed them earnestly by his Letters not to be wanting to their own Honour and the Publick Service This gave them a fair Colour to procure their Liberty from that Restraint by representing to the Queen and the Duke Her Father that the Supplies expected and all things necessary to the same could not be raised unless they were permitted personally to attend the Business both for the Pressing of the Men providing them of all things needfull and choosing fit Commanders to Conduct them in good Order to the Duke of Northhumberland Which seemed so reasonable to the Duke of Suffolk a Man of no great Depth himself and so not like to penetrate into the bottom of a deep Design that he gave way to their Departure for the present little conceiving that they never meant to come back again till the State was altered Being thus at their desired Liberty the Earls of Shrewsbury and Pembroke together with Sir Thomas Cheyny and Sir John Mason betake themselves immediately to Baynard's Castle an House belonging then as now to the Earls of Pembroke To which Place they were followed not long after by almost all the rest of the Lords of the Council bringing with them as many of the Nobility then about the Town as they conceived to â—tand fair for the Princess Mary And that the Meeting might be held with the less Suspicion it was given out to be upon a Conference with Laval the French Ambassadour about Affairs of great Importance for the Weal of both Kingdoms No sooner had they took their Places but the Earl of Arundel who had held Intelligence with the Princess ever since the first Extremities of Her Brother's Sickness inveighed most bitterly against the Duke of Northumberland And after he had ripped up the Acts of his former Life and burthened him with all that had been done unjustly cruelly or amiss in King Edward's Time he at last descends to the Treacherous Act of the Disherison of the Children of the late King Henry professing that he wondred how he had so enthralled such persons as the Lords there present as to make them Instruments of his Wickedness For was it not saith he by Our Consent and Suffrages that the Duke of Suffolk 's Daughter the same Northumberland 's Daughter-in-Law hath took upon Her the Name and Title of Queen of England though it be nothing but the Title the Sovereign Power remaining wholly in the Hands of Dudly who contrived the Plot that â—e might freely exercise his Tyranny on our Lives and Fortunes Religion is indeed the thing pretended But suppose we have no regard to these Apostolical Rules Evil must not be done that Good may come thereof and We must obey even evil Princes not for Fear but for Conscience-sake Yet how doth it appear that the Princess Mary intends any Alteration in Religion Certainly having been lately Petitioned to in this Point by the Suffolk men She gave them a very hopefull Answer And what a mad Blindness is it for the avoidance of an uncertain Danger to precipitate Our selves into a most certain Destruction I would we had not erred in this kind But Errours past cannot be recalled some may peradventure be amended wherein speedy
Execution â—ft-times happily supplyeth former Defects Recâ—llect Your selves then and so make use of Your Authority that the Princess Mary the undoubtedly Lawfully Heir may publickly be Proclaimed Queen of England c. No other way but this as the Case now stands to recover our lost Honours and preserve the State The Earl of Pembroke was a man altogether unlettered but so well skilled in humouring King Henry the Eighth that he had raised Himself to a great Estate for whâ—ch he could not but express some sense of Gratitude in doing good Offices for his Children And having formerly been suspected to have had too great a part in Northumberland's Counsels he conceâ—ved himself obliged to wipe off that Stain by declaring his Zeal and Resolution in the Cause of the Princess And therefore assoon as the Earl of Arundel had concluded his Speech he very chearfully professed that he approved and would subscribe the Proposition and therewithall laying his Hand upon his Sword he signifiâ—d his Readiness and Resolution to defend the Lady Marie's Cause against all Opponents The rest of the Lords encouraged by these good Examples and seeing nothing but apparent Danger on all sides if they did the contrary came to a speedy Conclusion with them and bound themselves to stand together in Defence of the late King's Sisters against all their Enemies Which being thus so generously and unanimously agreed upon a Messenger is presently dispatched to the Lord Mayour requiring him to repair to Baynara'â—-Castle within an hour and to bring with him the Recorder and such of the Aldermen of the City as to him seemed best Who being come accordingly at the time appointed their Lordships told them in few words as well their Resolution as their Reason of it and so desired their Company to Cheap-side-Cross to Proclaim Queen Mary Which said without any further Dispute about the Title they rode all together in good order through Saint Paul's-Church-Yard till they came to the Gate which openeth into the Street where they found such Multitudes and Throngs of People whom the Noise of such a Confluence at Baynard's-Castle and the going down of the Lord Mayour and Aldermen had drawn together that they could hardly force a Way through them to come to the Cross. But being come thither at the last though with much ado Sir Christopher Barker Knight of the Bath and Principal King at Arms Proclaimed by the Sound of Trumpet the Princess Mary Daughter of King Henry the Eighth and Queen Kaharine His Wife to be the Lawfull and Undoubted Queen of England France and Ireland Defender of the Faith adding thereto that Sacred Title of Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England which She retained till the beginning of the following Parliament and then rescinded all those Acts by which it had been formerly united to the Crown of this Realm The Proclamation being ended they went together in a Solemn Prâ—cession to Saint Pauâ—'s Church where they caused the Te Deum to be sung with the Rights accustomed and so dismissed the Assembly to their several dwellings Being returned to Baynard's-Castle the Earl of Arundel and the Lord Paget are presently dispatched to Framlingham with thirty Horse to give the Queen a Narrative of their whole Proceedings Some Companies are also sent to assure the Tower and to Command the Duke of Suffolk to discharge the Family and Attendants of the Lady Jane to signifie unto Her that She must lay aside the Name and Title of Queen and suffer Her Self to be reduced to the Rank of a private Person All which he readily obeyed as easily subject to Despair as before he had been swelled with Ambitious Hopes and the next day adjoyns himself to the rest of the Counâ—il subscribing amongst others to such Instructions as were to be dispatched to the Duke of Northumberland for the disbanding of his Forces and carâ—ying himself like an obedient and dutifull Subject as he ought to do But there was little need of this last Message and none at all of the other Foâ— the noise of these loud Acclamâ—â—ions which were made at the Proclaiming of the new Queen passing from one Street to another came at last to the Tower â—efore the Message had been sent to the Duke of Suffolk where they were heard by the â—ady Jane now no longer Queen with such Tranquility of Mâ—nd and Composedness of Countenance as if she had not been concerned in the Alteration She had before received the offer of the Crown with as even a Temper as if it had been nothing but a â—arland of Flowers and now She lays aside the thought thereof with as much contentedness as She could have thrown away that Garland when the sent was gone The time of her Glories was so short but a nine Days wonder that it seemâ—d nothing but a Dream out of which She was not sorry to be awakened The Tower had been to Her a Prison rather then a Court and interrupted the Delights of Her former Life by so many Terrours that no day passed without some new Alarms to disturb Her Quiet She doth now know the worst that Fortune can do unto Her And having always feared that there stood a Scaffold secretly behind the Throne She was as readily prepared to act her Part upon the one as upon the other If Sorrow and Affliction did at any time invade Her Thoughts it was rather in reference to Her Friends but most of all unto Her Husband who were to be involved in the Calamity of Her Misfortunes then upon any Apprehensions which She had for Her Self And hereunto the bringing in of so many Prisoners one day after another gave no small Encrease brought hither for no other Reason but because they had seemed forward in contributing towards Her Advancement In the middest of which Disconsolations the restoring of the Duke Her Father to his former Liberty gave some Repose unto Her Mind whose Sufferings were more grievous to Her then Her own Imprisonment And then to what a miserable Extremity must his Death have brought Her And though the Attainder and Death of the Duke of Northumberland â—hich followed very shortly after might tell Her in Effect what She was to trust to yet She was willing to distinguish betwixt his Case and Her own betwixt the Principal and the Accessaries in the Late Design In which Respect She gave Her self no improbable Hopeâ— thâ—â— possibly the like Mercies which was shewed to Her Father might possibly be extended unto others and amongst others to Her Husband as innocent as Her self from any open Practice against the Queen And who could tell but that it might descend on Her self at last whom no Ambition of Her own had tempted to the acceptation of that Dangerous Offer which She beheld as the greatest Errour of Her Life and the onely Stain of all â—er Actions But neither the Queen's Fears nor the publick Justice of the Land could so be satisfied It was held Treason to accept of a Kingdom
proceed upon The Lord Rochfort her own brother having some sute to obtain by her of the King was found whispering to her on her bed when she was in it which was interpreted for an act of some great dishonor done or intended to the King as if she had permitted him some farther liberties than were consistent with the innocent familiarity between brothers and sisters In the aggravating whereof with all odious circumstances none was more forward than the Lady Rochfort her self whether out of any jealousie which she had of her husband or whether out of some inveterate hatred which she had to the Queen according to the peccant humor of most sisters in law is not clearly known It was observed also that Sir Henry Norris Groom of the Stool unto the King had entertained a very dear affection for her not without giving himself some hopes of succeeding in the King's bed as Sir Thomas Seimer after did if she chanced to survive him And it appears that she had given him opportunity to make known his affection and to acquaint her with his hopes which she expressed by twitting him in a frolick humor with â—ooking after dead mens shoos Weston and Bâ—eerton both Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber were observed also to be very diligent in their services and addresses to her which were construed rather to proceed from love than duty though no reciprocation could be found to proceed from her but what was agreeable to that affability and general debonairness which she shewed to all men Out of these premises weak and imperfect though they were the King resolves to come to a conclusion of his aims and wishes A solemn Tilting was maintained at Greenwich on the first of May at which the King and Queen were present the Lord Rochfort and Sir Henry Norris being principal Challengers The Queen by chance let fall her handkerchief which was taken up by one of her supposed favourits who stood under the window whom the King perceived to wipe his face with it This taken by the King to be done of purpose and thereupon he leaves the Queen and all the rest to behold the Sports and goeâ—h immediately in great haste to Westmâ—â—ster to the no small amazement of all the company but the Queen especially Rochfort and Norris are committed to the Tower on the morrow after to which unfortunate place the Queen her self on the same day was conducted by Sir Thomas Audeley Lord Chancellor the Duke of Norfolk Cromwel then Master of the Rolls and principal Secretary and Kingston Lieutenant of the Tower Informed by them upon the way of the Kings suspitions she is said to have fallen upon her knees and with dire imprecations to have disavowed the crime whatsoever it were wherewith she was charged beseeching God so to regard her as the justness of her cause required After which William Breerton Esquire and Sir Francis Westâ—n of the King 's Privy Chamber together with Mark Smeton one of the King's Musicians were committed on the same occasion These persons being thus committed and the cause made known the next care was to find sufficient Evidence for their condemnation It was objected that thâ— Queen growing out of hope of having any issue male by the King had used the company of the Lord Râ—chfort Norris Bâ—eerton and Weston and possibly of Smeton also involving her at onâ—e in no smaller crimes than those of Adultery and Incest For proof whereof there was no waâ—t of any artifices in sifting canvasing and intangling not onely the Prisoners themselves but all such Wiâ—nesses of either sex as were thought fit to be examined by the Kingâ— Commissioners from none of which they were able to get any thing by all their Arts which might give any ground for her conviction but that Maâ—k Smeton had been wrought on to make some confession of himself to her dishonor out of a vain hope to save his own life by the loss of hers Concerning which Cromwel thus writes unto the King after the Prisoners had been throughly examined in the Tower by the Lords of the Council Many things saith hâ— have been objected but nothing confessed onely some circumstances have been a knowledged by Mark. To which effect and other the particulars before remembred take here a Letter written by Sir Eâ—ward Baynâ—on to Sir William Fitswilâ—iams being then Treasurer of the Household and not long after raised unto the style and Title of Earl of Southampâ—on Mr. Treasurer THis shall be to advertise you that here is much communication that no man will confess any thing against her at all but onely Mark of any actual thing Wherefore in my foolish conceit it should much touch the Kings honor if it should no further appear And I cannot believe but that the other two be as far culpable as ever was he and I think assuredly the one keepeth the others counsel as many conâ—ectures in my mind causeth me to think and especially of the communication that was last between the Queen Mr. Norres Mr. Amner and me as I would if I might speak with Mr. Secretary and you together more plainly expresse my mind If the case be that they have confessed like witnesses aâ—l things as they â—â—ould do then the matter is at a point I have mused much at the manner of Mistresse Margery which hath used her self so strangely towards me of late being her friend so much as I have been But no doubt it cannot be chosen but she must be of counsell therewith for there hath been great friendship between the Queen and her of â—aâ—e I hear further that the Queen standeth stifly in her opinion that she will die in it which I think is in the trust that she hath of the other two But if your businesse be such as you cannot come I would gladly come and wait on you if you think it requisite In appears also by a Letter of Sir William Kingstons that he had much communication with her when she was his prisoner in which her language seemed to be broken and distressed betwixt tears and laughter out of which nothing could be gathered but that she exclaimed against Norris as if he had accused her It was further signified in that Letter that she named some others who had obsequiously applied themselves to her love and service acknowledging such passages though not sufficient to condemn her as shewed she had made use of the utmost liberty which could be honestly allowed her Most true it is as far as any truth can be collected from common and credible reports that Norris being much favoured by the King was offered pardon for his life if he would confess the crimes which he was accused of To which he made this generous answer That in his conscience he thought her guiltlesse of the crimes objected but whether she were or no he could not accuse her of any thing and that he had rather undergo a thousand deaths than betray the innocent So that upon the point
to speak a truth never Prince had never wife more loyal in all duty or in all true affection than you have ever found in Anne Bollen With which name and place I could willingly have contented my self if God and your Graces pleasure had so been pleased Neither did I at any time forget my self in my exaltation or received Queenship but that I â—â—oked alwaies for such an alteration as now I find the ground of my preferment being on no surer foundation than your Graces fancy the least alteration whereof I knew was fit and sufficient to draw that fancy to some other subject You have chosen me from a low estate to be your Queen and companion far beyond my desert or desire If then you find me worthy of such honour Good your Grace let not any light fancy or bad counsel of my enemies withdraw your Princely favour from me neither let that stain that unworthy stain of a disloyal heart towards your Good Grace ever cast so foul a blot on your most dutiful wife and the infant Princesse your daughter Try me good King but let me have a lawful trial and let not my swâ—rn enemies sit as my accusers and judges Yea let me receive an open tryal for my tâ—uths shall fear no open shames then shall you see either my innocence cleared your suspicion and conscience satisfied the ignominy and slander of the world stopped or my guilt openly declared So that whatsoever God or you may determine of 〈◊〉 your Grace may be freed from an open censure and my offence being so lawfulâ—y proved your Grace is at liberty both before God and man not only to execute worthy punishment on me as an unfaithful wife but to follow your affection already setled on that party for whose sake I am now as I am whose name I could somewhile since have pointed to your Grace being not ignorant of my suspicion therein But if you have already determined of me and that not only my death but an infamous slander might bring you the enjoying of a desired happinesse then I desire of Goâ— that he wiâ—l pardon your great sin herein and likewise my enemies the instruments thereof and that he will not call you to a strict account for your unprincely and cruel usage of me at his general judgement seat where both you and my self must shortly appear and in whose judgement I doubt not whatsoever the world may think of me my innocency shall be openly known and sufficiently cleared My last and only request shall be that my self may bear the burthen of your Graces displeasure and that it may not touch the innocent souls of those poor Gentlemen who as I understand are in streight imprisonment for my sake If ever I have found favour in your sight if ever the name of Anne Bollen hath been pleasing in your ears let me obtain this last request and I will so leave to trouble your Grace any further with my earnest prayers to the Trinity to have you in his good keeping and to direct you in all your actions Your most loyal and faithful Wife Anne Bollen From my dolefull prison in the Tower May the 6th 1536. I had not dwelt so long upon the story of this Queen but that there is so much which depends upon it in reference to the Honour Birth and Title of the Princess Elizabeth whose Reign of 44 years accompanied with so many signal blessings both at home and abroad is used by some for a strong Argument of her mothers innocence For further proof whereof they behold the Kings precipitate and hasty mariage casting himself into the bed of a third before the sword was dried from the blood of his second wife But of these miseries and calamitâ—es which befel her mother the Princess was too young as not being fully three years old to take any notice And when she came unto the years of understanding she had been much sweetned and repaired by her fathers goodness By whose last will she was assured of her turn in the succession to the Crown if her brother and sister died without lawful issue allowed the same yearly maintenance and allotted the same portion in mariage with the Princess Mary But nothing more declares his good affection to her than the great care he took of her education committed to the government and tuition of Roger Ascam a right learned man she attained unto the knowledge of the Greek and Latine and by the help of other School-masters of the Modern Languages Insomuch that she very well understood the Greek and was able readily to express her self in the Latine tongue as appears by an Oration which she made at her entertainment in Cambridge and the smart answer which she gave ex tempore to a Polish Ambassador of which we may hear more in their proper place And as for the Italian and the French she spake them with as much facility and elegance as if they had been natural to her And if some times she made use of Interpreters when she conversed with the Ambassadors of forein Princes it rather was to keep her State than that she could not entertain discourse with them in their proper languages Her person may be best known by her pictures and the perfections of her mind by her following government Suffice it in this place to know that she seemed to be made up of Modesty and Majesty in an equal mixture and was so moderate in the course and caâ—iage of her desires that King Edward who took much delight in her conversation used commonly to call her his Sister Temperance Yet notwithstanding all these personal Graces I do not find that she was sought in mariage in the time of King Henry the blots of infamy which had been laid upon her Mother serving as a bar to her preferment amongst forein Princes In the beginning of King Edward's she was aimed at by Sr Thomas Seymour a brother of the Lord Protector Sommersets for the advancing of his lofty and ambitious projects And in the latter end thereof propounded to the eldest son of the King of Denmark But it was propounded only and not persued whether neglected by that King for the former reason or intermitted by her own aversness from mariage we are yet to seek But in the first year of Queen Mary she was desired by Edward Courtney Earl of Devonshire the eldest son of Henry Marquiss of Exeter descended from a daughter of King Edward the 4th which proved so much to the displeasure of the Queen that it became dangerous to both of them as was shewed before For notice of the Queens displeasure having been took by some of great place about her they were both dâ—awn into suspicion of being privy at the least unto Wiat's rebellion raised on the noise of the Queens mariage with the Prince of Spain both of them clapt in prison upon that account and so detained for a long time though both acquitted publickly by Wiat at the time
who do less deserve it that it is therefore necessary that the ears of Princes should be open unto all complaints and their hands ready to receive Petitions from all sorts of people to the end that knowing their grievances and distresses they may commiserate them in the one and afford them remedy in the other that a good Prince must have somewhat in him of the Priest who if he be not sensible of the infirmities of his brethren cannot be thought to intercede so powerfully in their behalf as when he hath been touched with the true sense and feeling of their extremities and finally that the School is never better governed than by one who hath past through all the forms and degrees thereof and having been perfectly trained up in the ways of obedience must know the better how to use both the Rod and Ferula when he comes to be Master of the rest The first eight years of the Reign of QUEEN ELIZABETH An. Reg. Eliz. 1. An. Dom. 1558 1559. ELizabeth the only child then living of King Henry the 8th succeeded her Sister in the Throne on the 17th of November Anno 1558. Ferdinand of Austria being then Emperour Henry the 2d King of the French Philip the second King of Spain and Paul the 4th commanding in the Church of Rome Queen Mary not long before her death had called a Parliament which was then sitting when the news thereof was brought unto the Lords in the House of Peers The newes by reason of the Queens long sickness not so strange unto them as to take them either unresolved or unprovided for the declaring of their duty to the next successor though some of them perhaps had some secret wishes that the Crown might have fallen rather upon any oâ—her than upon her to whom it did of right belong so that upon a short debate amongst themselves a message is sent to the Speaker of the House of Commons desiring him and all the Members of that House to come presently to them upon a business of no small importance to the good of the Kingdom Who being come the Lord Chancellor Heath with a composed and setled countenance not without sorrow enough for the death of the one or any discontent for the succession of the other declared unto them in the name of the rest of the Lords that God had taken to his mercy the late Queen Mary and that the succession to the Crown did belong of right to the Princess Elizabeth whose Title they conceived to be free from all legal questions that in such cases nothing was more necessary than expedition for the preventing of all such plots and practices of any discontented or ambitious persons as might be set on foot to the disturbance of the common quiet and therefore that there concurrence was desired in proclaiming the new Queen with all speed that might be they being then so opportunely convened together as the Representees of the whole body of the Commons of the Realm of England Which being said the Knights and Burgestes gave a ready consent to that which they had no reason to deny and they which gave themselves some thoughts of inclining otherwise conceived their opposition to the general Vote neither safe nor seasonable So that immediately the Princess Elizabeth was proclaimed by the King at Arms first before Westminster Hall door in the Palace Yard in the presence of the Lords and Commons and not long after at the Cross in Cheapside and other places in the City in the presence of the Lord Mayor Aldermen and principal Citizens to the great joy of all peaceable and well-affected people It was not long before the Princess had advertisement of the death of her sister together with the general acknowledgement of her just and lawful Title to the Crown Imperial The newes whereof being brought unto her by some of the Lords she prepared for her removal from Hatfield on the Saturday after being the 19th of that month and with a great and Royal train set forwards to London At Higate four miles from the City she was met by all the Bishops then living who presented themselves before her upon their knees in testimony of their loyalty and affection to her In which address as she seemed to express no small contentment so she gave to each of them particularly her hand to kiss except only unto Bonner of London whose bloody butcheries had render'd him uncapable in her opinion of so great a favour At her first coming to the City she took her lodging in the Charterhouse where she staid some days till all things in the Tower might be fitted and prepared for her reception Attended by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen with a stately strain of Lords and Ladies and their several followers She entreth by Cripple gate into the City passeth along the wall till she came to Bishops gate where all the Companies of the City in their several Liveries waited her coming in their proper and distinct rancks reaching from thence until the further end of Mark Lane where she was entertained with a peal of great Ordnance from the Tower At her entrance into which place she render'd her most humble thanks to Almighty God for the great and wondrous change of her condition in bringing her from being a prisoner in that place to be the Prince of her people and now to take possession of it as a Royal Palace in which before she had received so much discomfort Here she remained till the 5th day of December then next following and from thence removed by water unto Sommerset House In each remove she found such infinite throngs of people who flocked from all parts to behold her both by land and water and testified their publick joy by such loud acclamations as much rejoyced her heart to hear and could not but express it in her words and countenance by which she doubled their affections and made her self the absolute Mistriss at all times of their hands and purses She had been forged upon the anvil of adversity which made her of so fine a temper that none knew better than her self how to keep her State and yet descend unto the meanest of her subjects in a popular Courtship In the mean time the Lords of the Council had given Order for the stopping of all Ports and Havens that no intelligence of the Queens death might be caried out of the Realm by which any disturbance might be plotted or contrived against it till all things were setled here at home But finding such a general concurrence in all sorts of people in acknowledging her just and lawful Title testified by so many outward signs of a publick joy that there was no fear of any danger from abroad that bar was speedily removed and the Ports opened as before to all sorts of passengers And in the next place care was taken for sending new Commissions unto such Embassadors as resided in the Courts of several Princes both to acquaint them with
no Sermon was preached at St. Paul's Cross or any publick place in London till the Easter following At what time the Sermons which were to be preached in the Spittle according to the antient custom were performed by Doctor Bill the Almoner to the Queen and afterwards the first Dean of Westminster of the Queens foundation Doctor Richard Cox formerly Dean of Westminster preferred in short time after to the See of Ely and Mr. Robert Horn of whom mention hath been made before at the troubles of Franckfort advanced not long after to the See of Winchester The Rehearsal Sermon accustomably preached at St. Pauls Crosse on the Sunday following was undertook by Doctor Thomas Sampson then newly returned from beyond the Seas and after most unhappily made Dean of Christ-church But so it chanced that when he was to go into the Pulpit the dore was locked and the key thereof not to be found so that a Smith was sent for to break open the dore and that being done the like necessity was found of cleansing and making sweet the place which by a long disuse had contracted so much filth and nastiness as rendred it unfit for another Preacher By the other Proclamation which was published on the 30th of December â—t was enjoyned That no man of what quality or degree soever should presume to alter any thing in the state of Religion or innovate in any of the rites and ceremonies thereunto belonging but that all such rites and ceremonies should be observed in all Parish Churches of the Kingdom as were then used and retained in her Majesties Chapel until some further order should be taken in it Onely it was permitted and withall required that the Letany the Lords Prayer the Creed and the Ten Commandments should be said in the English tongue and that the Epistle and the Gospel at the time of the High Mass should be read in English which was accordingly done in all the Churches of London on the next Sunday after being New-years day and by degrees in all the other Churches of the Kingdom also Further than this she thought it not convenient to proceed at the present but that she had commanded the Priest or Bishop for some say it was the one and some the other who officiated at the Altar in the Chapel-Royal not to make any Elevation of the Sacrament the better to prevent that adoration which was given unto it and which she could not suffer to be done in her sight without a most apparent wrong to her judgment and conscience Which being made known in other places and all other Churches being commanded to conform themselves to the example of the Chapel the elevation was forborn also in most other places to the great discontent and trouble of the Popish party And though there was no further progress toward a Reformation by any publick Act or Edict yet secretly a Reformation in the form of Worship and consequently in point of Doctrine was both intended and projected For making none acquainted with her secret purposes but the Lord Marquis of Northampton Francis Earl of Bedford Sir John Gray of Pergo one of the late Duke of Suffolk's brothers and Sir William Cecil she committed the reviewing of the former Litutgy to the care of Doctor Parker Doctor Gryndal Doctor Cox Doctor Pilkington Doctor Bill Doctor May and Mr. Whitehead together with Sir Thomas Smith Doctor of the Laws a very learned moderate and judicious Gentleman But what they did and what preferments they attained to on the doing of it we shall see anon wheu we shall find the Book reviewed confirmed by Act of Parliament and executed in all parts of the Kingdom as that Act required But first some publick Acts of State and great Solemnities of Court are to be performed The Funeral of the Queen deceased solemnised on the 13th of December at the Abbey of Westminster and the Sermon preached by Doctor White then Bishop of Winchester seemed onely as a preamble to the like Solemnity performed at the said place about ten days after in the Obsequies of Charls the 5th which mighty Emperor having first left the world by resigning his Kingdoms and retiring himself into a Monastery as before was said did after leave his life also in September last and now upon the 24th of this present December a solemn Obsequie was kept for him in the wonted form a rich Hearse being set up for him in the Church of Westminster magnificently covered with a Pall of gold his own Embassador serving as the principal Mourner and all the great Lords and Officers about the Court attending on the same in their rancks and orders And yet both these though stately and majestical in their several kinds came infinitely short of those Pomps and Triumphs which were prepared and reserved for the Coronation As a Preparation whereunto she passed from Westminster to the Tower on the 12th of January attended by the Lord Mayor the Aldermen and other Citizens in their Barges with the Banners and Escutcheons of their several Companies loud Musick sounding all the way and the next day she restored some unto their old and advanced others to new honors according to her own fancy and their deservings The Marquis of Northampton who had lain under an Attaindure ever since the first beginning of the Reign of Queen Mary she restored in blood with all his Titles and Estates The Lord Edward Seimer eldest son to the late Duke of Somerset was by her reconfirmed in the Titles of Viscount Beaâ—châ—mp and Earl of Hertford which had been formerly entayled upon him by Act of Parliament The Lord Thomas Howard second son of Thomas the late Duke of Norfolk and brother to Henry Earl of Surrey beheaded in the last days of King Henry the Eighth she advanced to the Title of Viscount Howard of Bindâ—n She also preferred Sir Oliver St. Johns who derived himself from the Lady Maâ—garet daughter of John Duke of Somerset from whom the Queen her self descended to the dignity of Lord St. John of Bletso and Sir Henry Carte son of Sir William Carie Knight and of Mary Bollen his wife the onely sister of Queen Anne Bollen she promoted to the honor and degree of Lord Carie of Hansdon The ordinary acts of grace and favour being thus dispatched she prepares the next morning for a triumphant passage through London to her Palace at Westminster But first before she takes her Chariot she is said to have lifted up her eyes to heaven and to have used some words to this or the like effect O Lord Almigâ—â—y and everâ—iving 〈◊〉 I give thee most hearty thanks that thou hast been so mercifu unto me as to spare me to see this joyful day And I acknowledge that thou hast dealt as wonderfully and aâ— mercifully with me as thou didst with thy true and faithful servant Daniel thy Prophet whom thou deliveredst out of the den from the cruelty of the raging greedy Lyons even so was I overwhelmed and only by
which are herein mentioned and by degrees also did they the Te Deum the Magnificat and the Nunc dimittis Concerning the Position of the holy Table it was ordered thus viz. That no Altar should be taken down but by oversight of the Curat of the Church or the Church-wardens or one of them at the least wherein no riotous or disoâ—dered manner was to be used and that the holy Table in every Church be decently made and set in the place where the Altar stood and there commonly covered as thereto belongeth and as should be appointed by the Visitors and so to stand saving when the â—ommunion of the Sacrament is to be administred at which time the same shall be so placed in good sort within the Quire or Chancel as whereby the Minister may be more conveniently heard of the Communicants in his Prayer and Ministration and the Communicants also more conveniently and in more number communicate with the said Minister And after the Communion done from time to time the said holy Table to be placed where it stood before Which permission of removing the Table at Communion-times is not so to be understood as the most excellent King Charls declared in the case of St. Gregories as if it were ever left to the discretion of the Parish much less to the particular fancy of any humorous person but to the judgment of the Ordinary to whose place and function it doth properly belong to give direction in that point both for the thing it self or for the time when and how long as he may find cause By these Injunctions she made way to her Visitation executed by Commissioners in their several Circuits and regulated by a Book of Articles printed and published for that purpose Proceeding by which Articles the Commissioners removed all carved Images out of the Church which had been formerly abused to superstition defacing also all such Pictures Paintings and other monuments as served for the setting forth of feigned Miracles and this they did without any tumult and disorder and without laying any sacrilegious and ravenous hands on any of the Churches Plate or other Utensils which had been repaired and re-provided in the late Queens time They enquired also into the life and doctrine of Ministers their diligence in attending their several Cures the decency of their apparel the respect of the Parishioners towards them the reverent behaviour of all manner of persons in Gods publiâ—k worship Inquiry was also made into all sorts of crimes haunting of Taverns by the Clergy Adultery Fornication Drunkenness amongst those of the Laity with many other things since practised in the Visitations of particular Bâ—shops by means whereof the Church was setled and confirmed in so good an order that the work was made more easie to the Bishops when they came to govern than otherwise it could have been But more particularly in Londâ—â— which for the most part gives example to the rest of the Kingdom the Visitors were Sir Richard Sackvile father to â—homas Earl of Dorset Mr. Robert Hern after Bishop of Winchester Dr. Hâ—ick a Civilian and one Salvage possibly a Common Lawyer who calling before them divers persons of every Parish gave them an Oath to enquire and present upon such Articles and 〈◊〉 as were given unto them In persuance whereof both the Commissionâ—rs and the People shewed so much forwardness that on St. Bartholomews day and the morrow after they burned in St. Paul's Church-yard Cheap-side and other places of the City all the Roods and other Images which had been taken out of the Churches And as it is many times supposed that a thing is never well done if not over-done so hapned it in this case also zeal against superstition had prevailed so far with some ignorant men that in some places the Coaps Vestments Altar-cloaths Books Banners Sepulchres and Rood-lofts were burned altogether All matters of the Church being thus disposed of it will be time to cast our eyes on the concernments of the civil State which occurred this year in which I find nothing more considerable than the overtures of some Marriages which had been made unto the Queen Philip of Spain had made an offer of himself by the Count of Feria his Ambassadour but the Queen had heard so much of the disturbances which befell King Henry by marrying with his brothers wife that she had no desire to run into the like perplexities by marrying with her sisters husband and how he was discouraged from proceeding in it hath been shewed already Towards the end of the Parliament the Lords and Commons made an humble Addresse unto her in which they most earnestly besought her That for securing the peace of the Kingdom and the contentation of all her good and loving subjects she would think of marrying not pointing her particularly unto any one man but leaving her to please her self in the choice of the person To which she answered That she thanked them for their good affections and took their application to her to be well intended the rather because it contained no limitation of place or person which had they done she must have disliked it very much and thought it to have been a great presumption But for the matter of their sure she lets them know That she had long since made choice of that state of life in which now she lived and hoped that God would give her strength and constancy to go throw with it that if she had been minded to have changed that course she neither wanted many invitations to it in the reign of her brother not many strong impulsions in the time of her sister That as she had hitherto remained so she intended to continue by the grace of God though her Words compared with her Youth might be thought by some to be far different from her meaning And so having thanked them over again she licensed them to depart to their several businesses And it appeared soon after that she was in earnest by her rejecting of a motion made by Gustavus King of Sweden for the Prince Ericus for the solliciting whereof his second son John Duke of Finland who succeeded his Brother in that Kingdom is sent Ambassador into England about the end of September Received at Harwich in Essex by the Earl of Oxford and the Lord Robert Dudley with a goodly train of Gentlemen and Yeoman he was by them conducted honourably towards London where he was met by the Lords and Gentlemen of the Court attended through the City on the 5th of Octobâ—r to the Bishop of Winchesters house in Souâ—hwark there he remained with his Train consisting of about fifty persons till the Easter following magnificently feasted by the Queen but otherwise no farther gratified in the buâ—â—ness which he came about than all the rest who both before and after tried their fortunes in it The next great business of this year was a renewing of the Peace with the crown of France agreed on at the Treaty near the
City of Cambray in which all differences were concluded also between France and Spain all other Articles being accorded the restitution of Calais to the Queen of England seemed the onely obstacle by which the general peace of Christendom was at the point to have been hindred But the Queen either preferring the publick good before private interest or fearing to be left alone if she should stand too obstinately upon that particular came at the last to this agreement viz. That Calais should remain for the tearm of eight years then next following in the hands of the French that at the end of the said tearm it should be deliveâ—ed unto the English or otherwise the French King should pay unto the Queen the sum of 500000 Crowns According unto which Agreement Peace was proclaimed in London on the 7th of April between the Queens Majesty on the one part and the French King on the other as also between her and the King Dolphin with his wife the Queen of Scots and all the Subjects and Dominions of the said four Princes The Proclamation published by Garter and Norrey Kings at Arms accompanied with three other Heralds and five Trumpeters the Lord Mayor and Aldermen in their Scarlet Gowns being present on horseback But long the French King lived not to enjoy the benefit of this general Peace unfortunately wounded in Paris at a Tilt or Tournament by Count Monâ—gomery of which wound he shortly after died on the 10th of July leaving be hind him four sons Francis Charls Henry and another Francis of which the three first according to their seniority enjoyed that Kingdom And though she had just cause to be offended with the young King Francis for causing the Queen of Scots his wife to take upon her self the Title and Arms of England yet she resolved to bestow a royal Obsequy on the King deceased which was performed in St. Paul's Church on the 8th and 9th of September in most solemn manner with a rich Hearse made like an Imperial Crown sustained with eight pillars and covered with black Velvet with a Valence fringed with gold and richly hanged with Scâ—tcheous Pennons and Banners of the French Kings Arms the principal mourner for the first day was the Lord Treasurer Paulet Marquis of Winchester assisted with ten other Lords Mourners with all the Heralds in black and their Coat-Armours uppermost The divine Offices performed by Doctor Matthew Parker Lord elect of Canterbury Doctor William Barlow Lord elect of Chichester and Doctor Iâ—hn Scory Lord elect of Hereford all sitting in the Throne of the Bishop of London no otherwise at that time than in hoods and Surplices by whom the Derige was executed at that time in the English toung The Funeral Sermon preached the next morning by the Lord of Hereford and a Communion celebrated by the Bishops then attired in Copes upon their Surplices At which time six of the chief mourners received the Sacrament and so departed with the rest to the Bishops Palace where a very liberal Entertainment was provided for them By which magnificency and the like this prudent Queen not onely kept â—er own reputation at the highest amongst forein Princes but caused the greater estimation to be had by the Catholick party of the Religion here established Anno Reg. Eliz. 2. A. D. 1559 1560. WE must begin this year with the Consecration of such new Bishops as were elected to succeed in the place of those which had been deprived the first of which was that of the most reverend Doctor Matthew Parker elected to the See of Canterbury on the first of August but not consecrated till the 17th of December following That Dignity had first been offered as is said by some to Doctor Nicholas Wotton Dean of Canterbury and York who grown in years and still a well-willer to the Pope desired to be excused from undertaking of a charge so weighty And some say it was offered unto Whitehead also who had been Chaplain to Anne Bollen the Queen's mother but he returned the like refusal though on other grounds as more inclined by reason of his long abode in Calvin's Churches to the Presbyterians than the Episcopal form of Government and it was happy for the Church might have been betrayed by his dissaffection that he did refuse it The Chair being better filled by Parker another of Queen Bollen's Chaplains but better principled and of a far more solid judgment in affairs of moment The Congeâ—d ' sleiur which opened him the way to this eminent Dignity bears date on the 18th day of July within few days after the deprivation of the former Bishops to satisfie the world in the Queens intention of preserving the Episcopal Government And therefore why the consecration was deferred so long maybe made a question some think it was that she might satisfie her self by putting the Church into a posture by her Visitation before she passed it over to the care of the Bishops others conceive that she was so enamoured with the power and title of Supream Governess that she could not deny her self that contentment in the exercise of it which the present Interval afforded For what are Titles without Power and what pleasure can be took in Power if no use be made of it And it is possible enough that both or either of these considerations might have some influence upon her But the main cause for keeping the Episcopal Sees in so long a vacancy must be found else-where An Act had passed in the late Parliament which never had the confidence to appear in print in the Preamble whereof it was declared That by dissolution of Religious Houses in the time of the late King her Majesties father many Impropriations Tithes and portions of Tithes had been invested in the Crown which the Queen being a Lady of a tender conscience thought not fit to hold nor could conveniently dismember from it without compensation in regard of the present low condition in which she found the Crown at her comming to it And thereupon it was enacted that in the vacancy of any Archbishoprick or Bishoprick it should be lawful for the Queen to issue out a Commission under the Great Seal for taking a survey of all Castles Mannors Lands Tenements and all other Hereditaments to the said Episcopal Sees belonging or appertaining and on the return of such surveys to take into her hands any of the said Castles Mannors Lands Tenements c. as to her seemed good giving to the said Archbishops or Bishops as much annual Rents to be raised upon Impropriations Tithes and portions of Tithes as the said Castles Mannors Lands c. did amount unto The Church Lands certified according to the antient Rents without consideration of the Casualties and other Perqâ—isites of Court which belonged unto them the Retribution made in Pensions Tithes and portions of Tithes extended at the utmost value from which no other profit was to be expected than the Rent it self Which Act not being to take effect
circumstances and Punctillioes before laid down This stilled the clamour for the present though it brake out again forty years after and was again stilled by the care and industry of the right Reverend Dr. Bâ—amhall Lord Bishop of Derry in a Book Entituled The Church of England defended against some scandalous and fabulous â—â—pâ—tations cast upon her c. Which cavil for it is no better being thus refelled the other objections of the Adversaries will be easily answered though Barlow and Scory were deprived of their Episcopal Sees yet first the justice and legality of their deprivation was not clear in Law and secondly they neither were nor could be deprived of their Episcopal character which remained in them undefaced as before it was And whilst the character remained they were in a capacity of performing all Episcopal Offices to which they should be called by their Metropolitan or any higher Power directing and commanding in all such matters as concerned the Church And as for Suffragans by which title Hodgskins is Commissionated for the Consecration they were no other than the Chore-Epâ—scopi of the Primitive times Subsidiary Bishops ordained for easing the Diocesan of some part of his burthen By means whereof they were enabled to perform such offices belonging to that sacred function not limited to time and place by the ancient Canons by which a Bishop was restrained in some certain acts of Jurisdiction to his proper Diocess Of this sort there were twenty six in the Realm of England distinguished by the names of such principal Towns as were appointed for their title and denomination The names and number whereof together with the jurisdiction and preheminences proportioned to them the Reader may peruse in the Act of Parliament made in the â—6th year of King Henry the 8th No sooner was this solemnity ended but a new mandate comes for the Confirmation of Dr. Barlow in the See of Chichester and Dr Scory to the See of Hereford to which they had been severally elected in August last And though the not restoring of them to their former Sees might seem to juâ—â—ifie the late Queen Mary in their deprivation yet the Queen wanted not good reasons for their present removal not that she did consult therein her own power and profit as is thought by some but studied rather their content and satisfaction than her own concernments For Baâ—low having wasted the revenue of the Church of Wells could not with any comfort behold a place which he had so spoiled and Scory having been deprived of the See of Chichester under pretence of wanting a just title to it desired not to be put upon the hazard of a second ejction But as for Coverdale he did not only wave the acceptation of Oxon but of any other Church then vacant He was now 72 years old and desired rather to enjoy the pleasure of a private life than be disquieted in his old age with the cares of Government And somewhat might be also in it of a disaffection not to the Calling but the Habit which is to be believed the rather because he attended not at the Consecration in his Cope and Rocher as the others did but in a plain black Coat reaching down to his Ankles And now the rest of the Episcopal Sees begin to fill for on the 21 of the same December Dâ— Edmond Gâ—indall was consecrated to the See of London Dr. Râ—chard Cox to that of Ely Dr. Edwin Sandys to the Church of Worcester Dr. Rowland Merick unto that of Bangor On the 21 of January then next following Dr. Nicholas Bullingham was by the like consecration made Bishop of Lincoln the right learned Mr. John Jewel who afterwards accepted the degree of Doctor Bishop of Sarisbury Dr. Thomas Young Bishop of St. Davids and Mr. Râ—chard Davis Bishop of St. Asaph The 24th of March was honoured with the Consecration of three other Bishops that is to say of Mr. Thomas Bentham to the See of Coventry and Lichfield of Mr. Gilbert Barclay to the See of Wâ—lls and of Dr. Edmund Guest to that of Rochester On the 14th of July comes the consecration of Dr. William Alley to the Church of Exon and that of Mr John Parkhurst to the Church of Norwich on the first of September By which account we find no â—ewer than sixteen Sees to be filled with new Bishops within the compass of the year men of ability in matter of learning and suâ—h as had a good report for the integrity of their lives and conversations Nor was it long before the rest of the Episcopal Sees were supplied with new Pastors as shall be shewn hereafter in due time and place The Queens commission of sarvey had not crossed the Trent which possibly may be the reason why we find no new Bishops in the Province of York and Wâ—nchâ—ster must afford one Michaelmas rent more to the Queens Exchequer before the Lord Treasurer could give way to a new incumbent And now we may behold the face of the Church of England as it was first setled and established under Queen Elizabeth The Government of the Church by Archbishops and Bishops according to the practice of the best and happiest times of Christianity These Bishops nominated and elected according to the Statute in the 26th of King Henry the 8th and consecrated by the Ordinal confirmed by Parliament in the 5th and 6th years of King Edward the 6th never appearing publickly but in their Rochets nor officiating otherwise than in Copes at the Holy Altar The Priests not stirring out of doors but in their square Caps Gowns or Canonical Coats nor executing any divine Office but in their Surplice avestment set apart for Religious services in the Primitive times as may be gathered from St Chrysostome for the Eastern Churches and from St Hierom for the Western The Doctrine of the Church reduced unto its ancient purity according to the Articles agreed upon in Convocation Anno 1552. The Liturgy conform to the Primitive patterns and all the Rites and Ceremonies therein prescribed accommodated to the honour of God and increase of piety The Festivals preserved in their former dignity observed with their distinct Offices peculiar to them and celebrated with a Religious couâ—cuâ—â—â— of all sorts of people the weekly Fasts the holy time of Lent the Embrâ—â—◠〈◊〉 together with the Fast of the Rogation severely kept by a forbearance of all â—ind of flesh not now by vertue of the Statute as in the time oâ— King Edward but as appointed by the Church in her publick Calender before the Book of Common Prayer The Sacrament of the Lords Supper celebrated in most reverend manner the Holy Table seated in the place of the Altar the people making their due reverence at their first entrance into the Church kneeling at the Communion the Confession and the publick Prayers standing up at the Creed the Gospels and the Gloria Patri and using the accustomed reverence at the name of Jesus Musick retained in all such Churches
her self to good counsel there should be place left unto her of regresse to the same honors from which for good causes she ought to be deprived This Act is intimated to the Queen Regent who now begins as seriously to provide for her own preservation as she had done before in maintenance of the Queens Authority Some Forces had been sent from France together with many Arms and Ammunition in proportion to them but these not being great enough to suppress those insolencies she is supplied at times with 3000 Foot beside Octavian's Regiment sent over to make way for the rest Some Horse were also shipt from France but so scattered and dispersed by tempest that few of them came safely thither Yet by the terrour of their comming and the noise of more she recovereth Edenborough compelleth the confederate Scots to go further North fortifies Lieth the Port-Town to Edenborough and the chief Key of all that Kingdom Garrisoned forthwith by the French not onely to make good their Entrance but second their Exit On these discouragements many of the Scots soldiers drop away and the rest refuse to stand unto their Arms without present pay Had the French gone to work like soldiers and poured such forces into that Kingdom as the condition of affairs did require at their hands they might easily have suppressed that scattered Faction before they were united under the protection of a forein Power but this doing of their work by halves proved the undoing of the whole and onely served to give the Scots sufficient time to renew their forces and call the English to their aid They had all along maintained a correspondence with some in England but more particularly with Crofts Governor of the Town of Barwick To him they send for a supply in this great necessity by whom their Agents are dispatched with four thousand Crowns but the Queen Regent was so seasonably advertised of it that she intercepted on the way both the men and the mony In this extremity they take counsel of despair with Knox by whom they are advised to cast themselves into the arms of the Queen of England the onely visible means then left to support the cause to whom the neighbourhood of the French upon just jealousies and reasons of State was not very acceptable No better counsel being offered as indeed none could Maitland and Melvin are dispatched â—o the Court of England by whom the Queen is made acquainted with the state of that Kingdom the difficulty under which it strugled the danger like to fall on her own Dominions if the French should grow too strong in Scotland and thereupon entreat her succours and assistance for the expulsion of that People who otherwise might to both Realms prove alike destructive The business being taken into consideration it was conceived by some of the Council that the Queen ought not to give ear unto their desires that it was a matter of dangerous consequence and of ill example to assist the Subjects of that or any other Kingdom against their own natural and lawful Princes and that she did not know how soon it might be her own case to have the like troubles and commotions raised against her by those who liked not her proceedings in the change of Religion By others it was thought a matter of no small impiety not to assist their brethren of the same profession imploring their assistance in the present exigency that it was a work of charity to defend their neighbours from the oppression of strangers that the French were always enemies to the Crown of England and therefore that it could not be consistent with the rules of prudence to suffer them to grow too strong upon their borders that the French King had already assumed the Title of England and it concerned them to take care that they gave him not by their improvidence the possession also These reasons carried it for the Scots And so they are dismist with promise of such present aid and on such conditions as should be agreed on by Commissioners on both sides in the Town of Barwick About the middle of February the Commissioners meet the Duke of Norfolk for the Queen the Lord James Stewart one of the bastard brothers of the Queen of Scots the Lord Ruthwen and some other principal men of the Congregation in the name of the rest By whom it was concluded on the 27th of that month That the Queen should send sufficient forces into Scotland both by Sea and Land furnished with Mony Arms and Ammunition that she should not recall her forces till that Kingdom was cleared of all the French that provision of Victuals for the Army should be made by the Scots that the Scots should shew themselves enemies to all such as were enemies to the Crown of England whether Scots or French But by all means that nothing should be done by vertue of this Agreement which might import the least withdrawing of the Scots from that loyalty duty and obedience which was due unto their natural Queen or the King her husband By which Agreement with the Scots the Queen abundantly provided for her own security from all Invasions on that side and by affording them such succours as their wants required but chiefly by conferring some small annual pensions on the Chiefs amongst them she made her self more absoâ—ute on that side of the Tweed than either the Queen of Scoâ—s her self or King James her son or any of their Predecessors in all times before According to these Capitulations an Army gallantly appointed is sent into Scotland consisting of 6000 Foot and 2000 Horse and commanded by the Lord Gray a right expert Soldier accompanied by some Lords and Gentlemen of eminent quality some ships were also sent to block up the Haven and hinder all relief which might come by Sea to the Town of Lieth on the defence whereof depended the whole hopes of the French together with the interest of that Crown in the Realm of Scotland It was about the beginning of April that the English Army came before it recruited afterwards by the comming of 2000 more which fresh supply together with some ill success which they found in the action did so disanimate the besieged that they conceived no possibility of a long resistance Ambassadors are therefore sent from France to Edenborough there to confer with such of the same quality as should also come thither authorised by the Queen of England by whom it was in fine concluded That all the French Forces should forthwith depart out of Scotland except 60 onely to be left in Dunbar and as many in the Fort of Nachkeeth that they should be transported for their greater safety in English Bottoms that all matters of Religion should be referred to the following Parliament that an act of Oblivion should be passed for the indemnity of all who had born Arms on either side that a general Bond of Love and Amity should be made betwixt the Lords and their Adherents of
Senior Fellow sufficiently known to be of Popish inclinations though for the saving of his place he had conformed as others did to the present time No sooner was he in this power but he retrives some old superstitious hymns which formerly had been sung on several Festivals in the times of Popery prohibiting the use of such as had been introduced by Gervase the late Warden there This gave incouragement and opportunity to the Popish party to insult over the rest especially over all those of the younger sort who had not been trained up in their Popish principles so that it seemed a penal matter to be thought a Protestant Notice whereof being given to Archbishop Parker the Ordinary Visitour of that College in the Right of his See he summoneth Hall on the 20th of May to appear before him and caused the Citation to be fastned to the Gate of the College But his authority in that case was so little regarded that the seal of the Citation was torn off by some of that party Hereupon followed a solemn visitation of the College by the said Archbishop The result whereof was briefly this that all were generally examined Man confirmed Warden Hall justly expelled his party publickly admonished the young scholars relieved the Papists curbed and suppressed and Protestants countenanced and incouraged in the whole University But this was only the Essay of those greater commotions which were to have insued upon it though withall it proved a prognostick of their ill success which constantly attended the designs of the Romish faction For presently on the neck of this a far more dangerous conspiracy declared it self in some chief Leaders of that party The present sitting of the Council the practices of some forein Ministers and the Queens countenancing the French Hugoâ—ots then being in Arms against their King might serve both as encouragements and exasperations to put that party upon dangerous and destructive projects And it is possible enough that somewhat might be aimed at by them in favour of the Title of the Queen of Scots or of some other of the Race of King Henry the 7th by Margaret his eldest daughter married to James the 4th of Scotland which may the rather be supposed because I find the Lady Margaret Countess of Lenox daughter of the said Queen Margaret by her second husband and mother of Henry Lord Dâ—rnley who was after married to Queen Mary of Scotland to have been confined unto her House with the Earl her husband upon suspition of some practice against the Queen Certain it is that many strange whispers were abroad and no small hopes conceived by those of the Popish faction for suppressing the Protestants in all parts of the Kingdom and setting up their own Religion as in former times a matter neither to be entertained without strong temptations nor compassed without stronger forces than they could raise amongst themselves but by intelligence supply from some forein Princes On which account amongst some others which were found to be of the Plot Arthur Pole granchild of Margaret Countess of Salisbury by Geofry her third son the younger brother unto Reâ—gnald Pole the late Cardinal Legat was apprehended and arraigned together with his brother Geofry Fortescue who had married his sister divers others The substance of their Chaâ—ge as it is generally in all Treasons was a design of levying war against the Queen and otherwise entertaining many dangerous counsels against the peace and safety of her Dominions with a particular intention of advancing the Queen of Scots to the Crown of England and Polâ— himself unto the Title of Duke of Clarence All which they confessed upon the Indictment and did all receive the sentence of death but were all afterwards pardoned by the Queens great clemency out of that great respect which she carried to their Royal extraction And yet it may be possible that there was something in it of State-craft as well as clemency which might induce the Queen to spare them from the stroke of the Ax which was to keep them for a ballance to the House of Suffolk of whom she now began to conceive some jealousies The Lady Katharine Gray one of the younger daughters of Henry Duke of Suffolk and sister to the late Queen Jane had been marryed to the Lord Henry Herbert son and heir to the Earl of Pembrock at such time as the said Queen Jane was married to the Lord Guilford Dudley at Durham-House But the old Earl seasonably apprehending how unsafe it was to marry into that Family which had given so much trouble to the Queen took the advantage of the time and found some means to procure a sentence of Divorce almost upon the very insâ—ant of the Consummation And knowing how well Queen Maâ—yâ—â—ood â—â—ood affected to the Earl of Shrewsbury he presently clapt up a marriage for his son with another Katherine one of the daughters of that Earl who dying about the begining of the Reign of this Queen he married him as â—peedily to Mary Sâ—dâ—ey the daughter of Sir Henry Sidney and of Mary his wife one of the daughters of John Dudley the late Duke of Northumberland in which last marriage he as much endeavoured to ingratiate himself with Sir Robert Dâ—dleâ— who at that time began to grow Lord Paramount in all Court-favours as by the first Match to insinuate into old Duke Dudley who did then predominate In the mean time the Lady Katherine Gray languisheth long under the disgrace of this rejection none daring to make any particular addresses to her for fear of being involved in the like calamities as had befallen her father and the rest of that Family But at the last the young Earl of Hertford contracts himself privately unto her and having consummated the marriage with her gets leave to travail into France But long he had not left the Kingdom when the Lady was found to be with child being imprisoned in the Tower she makes known her marriage till then kept secret by agreement the Earl is thereupon called home and standing honestly to the Marriage for which he could produce no sufficient witnesse is committed prisoner also The Queen exceeding jealous of all Competitors refers the cognisance of the cause to the Archbishop of Canterbury and some other Delegates by whom a certain time is set for the bringing in of Witnesses to prove the Marriage and on default thereof a sentence of unlawful copulation is pronounced against them during which troubles and disquiets the Lady is delivered of the Lord Edward Seâ—mer her eldest son in the Tower of London and conceived after of another by some sâ—oln meetings which she had with the Earl her husband their Keepers on both sides being corrupted to give way unto it Which practice so incensed the Queen that hurried on with jealousie and transported with passion she caused a fine of five thousand pounds to be set upon him in the Star-chamber and kept him close prisoner for the space of nine years at the
person which was the Marquis of Winchester Lord Treasurer of England the other twelve being two Earls six Lords and four Knights the sacred part thereof performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury assisted by the Bishops of London and Rochester the funeral Sermon being pâ—eached by the Bishop of London which tended much unto the praise and commendation of that famous Emperor By which solemnity as she did no small honor to the dead so she gave great contentment to the living also the people being generally much delighted with such glorious pomps and the Church of England thereby held in estimation with all forein Princes Nothing else memorable in this year but the comming out of certain books and the death of Caâ—vin Dorman an English fugitive first publisheth a book for proof of certain of the Articles denyed in Bishop Jewel's challenge encountred first by Alexander Nowel Dean of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul who first appeared in print against those of Lovain and is replyed upon by Dorman in a book entituled A Discovery of Mr. Nowel's untruths not published till the year next following But of more consequence to this Church was the death of Calvin by whose authority so much disorder and confusion was to be brought upon it in the times succeeding a name much reverenced not onely by those of his own party and perswasions but by many grave and moderate men who did not look at first into the dangers which ensued upon it His platform at Geneva made the onely pattern by which all reformed Churches were to frame their Government his Writings made the onely rule by which all Students in Divinity were to square their Judgments What Peter Lombart was esteemed to be in the Schools of Rome the same was Calvin reckoned in all those Churches which were reformed according to the Zuinglian doctrine in the point of the Sacrament But Hic Magister non tenetur as the saying was he was not so esteemed in England nor was there any reason why it should be so for though some zealous brethren of the Presbyteterian or Puritan faction appeared exceeding ambitious to wear his Livery and thought no name so honorable as that of Calvinist yet the sounder members of the Church the Royal and Prelatical Divines as the others called them conceived otherwise of him And the right learned Adrian Sararia though by birth a Dutch-man yet being once preferred in the Church of England he stomached nothing more than to be called Calvinian Anno Reg. Eliz. 7. A. D. 1564 1565. WE shall begin this year with the concernments of the Kirk of Scotland where Queen Eâ—izabeth kept a Stock still going the Returns whereof redounded more to her own security than to the profit and advantage of the Church of England The Queen of Scots was young poffessed of that Kingdom and next Heir to this first married to the Daulphin of France and sued to after his decease in behalf of Charls the younger son of the Emperor Maximilian as also of the Prince of Conde and the Duke of Bavaria But Queen Elizabeth had found so much trouble and danger from her first alliance with the French that she was against all Marriages which might breed the like or any way advance the power of that Competitor But on the contrary she commended to her the Earl of Leicester whom she pretended to have raised to those eminent honors to make him in some fort capable of a Queens affection Which proposition proved agreeable to neither party the Queen of Scots disdaining that unequal offer and Leicester dealing underhand with Randolph the English Resident to keep her still in that averseness He had foolishly given himself some hopes of marrying with Elizabeth his own dread Mistress interpreting all her favours to him to proceed from affection and was not willing that any Proposition for that purpose with the Queen of Scots should be entertained During these various thoughts on both sides the English began to be divided in opinion concerning the next heir to the Crown Imperial of this Realm One Hales had writ a discourse in favour of the House of Suffolk but more particularly in defence of the late marriage between the Earl of Hertford and the Lady Katherine for which he was apprehended and committed prisoner The Romish party were at the same time sub-divided some standing for the Queen of Scots as the next heir apparent though an alien born others for Henry Lord Darnlie eldest son to the Earl of Lenox born in the Realm and lineally descended from the eldest daughter of King Henry the 7th from whom the Queen of Scots also did derive her claim The Queen of Scots also at the same time grown jealous of the practices of the Lord James her bastard-brother whom she had not long before made Earl of Murrey and being over-powered by those of the Congregation was at some loss within her self for finding a fit person upon whose integrity she might depend in point of counsel and on whose power she might rely in point of safety After a long deliberation nothing seemed more conducible to her ends and purposes than the recalling of Matthew Earl of Lenox to his native Country from whence he had been forced by the Hamiltonians in the time of King Henry Being of great power in the West of Scotland from the Kings whereof he was extracted Henry conceived that some good use might be made of him for advancing the so much desired marriage between his onely son Prince Edward and the Infant-Queen The more to gain him to his side he bestowes upon him in marriage the Lady Margaret Dowglas daughter of Queen Margaret his eldest sister by Archibald Dowglas Earl of Angus her second husband of which marriage were born Henry Lord Darnly of whom more anone and Charls the second son whom King James created Earl of Lenox father of Arabella before remembred And that they might support themselves in the nobler equipage he bestowes upon him also the Mannor of Setrington with other good Lands adjoyning in the County of Yoâ—k passing since by the name of Lenox his Lands in the style of the people In England he remained above twenty years but keptâ— himself constant in all changes to the Church of Rome which made him the more estimable both with his own Queen and the English Papists Being returned into his Country he found that Queen so gracious to him and such a handsome correspondence with the chief Nobility that he sends for his two sons to come thither to him but leaves his wife behind in the Court of England lest otherwise Queen Elizabeth might take some umbrage or displeasure at it if they should all remove at once It was about the middle of February that the Lord Darnly came to the Court of Scotland Who being not full twenty years old of lovely person sweet behaviour and a most ingenuous disposition exceedingly prevailed in short time on the Queens affection She had now met with such a
some artifices used to illude that purpose had not changed her mind She had scarce liv'd to the third year of her age when she was promised in marriage to the Daulphine of France with a Portion of 333000 Crowns to be paid by her Father and as great a Joynture to be made by the French King Francis as ever had been made by any King of that Country And so far did the businesse seem to be acted in earnest that it was publickly agreed upon in the treaty for the Town of Tournay that the Espousals should be made within four months by the said two Kings in the name of their children in pursuance whereof as the French King sent many rich gifts to some leading men of the Court of England to gain their good liking to this League so he sent many costly Presents to the Princesse Mary the designed wife if Princes could be bound by such designations of the heir of France But war beginning to break out between the French and the Spaniards it was thought fit by Charles the fifth being then Emperour of Germany and King of Spain to court the favour of the English for the obtaining whereof his neernesse to Queen Katherine being sister to the Queen his Mother gave him no small hopes Upon this ground he makes a voyage into England is royally feasted by the King installed solemnly Knight of the Order of the Garter in the Castle of Windsor and there capitulates with the King amongst other things to take to wife his daughter Mary as soon as she should come to the years of marriage it was also then and there agreed that as soon as she was twelve years old the Emperour should send a proxie to make good the contract espouse her per verba de praesenti in the usual form that in the mean time the King of England should not give her in marriage unto any other that a dispensation should be procured from the Pope at the charge of both Princes in regard that the parties were within the second degree of consanguinity that within four months after the contract the Princesse should be sent to the Emperour's Court whether it were in Spain or Flanders at the sole charge of the King of England and married within four dayes after her comming thither in the face of the Church her portion limited to 400000 crowns if the King should have no issue male but to be inlarged to 600000 crowns more if the King should have any such issue male to succeed in the Kingdom A jointure of 50000 crowns per annum to be made by the Emperour the one part thereof to be laid in Flanders and the other in Spain and finally that if either of the said two Princes should break off this marriage he should forfeit 400000 crowns to the party injured And now who could have thought but that the Princesse Mary must have been this Emperour's wife or the wife rather of any Prince then one that was to be begotten by this Emperour on another woman though in conclusion so it hapned As long as Charles had any need of the assistance and friendship of England so long he seemed to go on really in the promised marriage and by all means must have the Princesse sent over presently to be declared Empresse and made Regent of Flanders But when he had taken the French King at the battel of Pavia sackt Rome and made the Pope his prisoner he then conceived himselfe in a condition of seeking for a wife elsewhere which might be presently ripe for marriage without such a tedious expectation as his tarrying for the Princesse Mary must needs have brought him And thereupon he shuts up a marriage with the Lady Issabell Infanta of Pâ—lugull and daughter to another of his Mother's â—isters For which being questioned by the King he layes the blame upon the importunity of his Council who could not patiently permit him to remain unmarried till the Princesse Mary came to age and who besides had caused a scruple to be started touching her illegitimation as being born by one that had been wife to his elder brother King Henry thereupon proceeds to a new treaty with the French to whom his friendship at the time of their King's captivity had been very useful which is by them as cheerfully excepted as by him it had been franckly offered She had before been promised to the Daulphin of Francâ— but now she is design'd for the second son then Duke of Orleance who afterwards by the death of his elder brother succeeded his father in the Crown But whilst they were upon this treaty the former question touching her legitimation was again revived by the Bishop of Tarbâ—e one of the Commissioners for the French which though it seem'd not strong enough to dissolve the treaty which the French were willing to conclude as their affairs then stood upon any conditions yet it occasioned many troubles in the Court of Engâ—and and almost all Christendome besides For now the doubt being started a second time and started now by such who could not well subsist without his friendship began to make a deep impression in the mind of the King and to call baâ—k such passages to his remembrance as otherwise would have been forgotten He now bethinks himselfe of the Protestation which he had made in the presence of Bishop Fox before remembred never to take the Lady Katherine for his wife looks on the death of his two sons as a punishment on him for proceeding in the marriage and casts a fear of many inconveniences or mischiefs rather which must inevitably befall this Kingdome if he should dye and leave no lawful issue to enjoy the Crown Hope of more children there was none and little pleasure to be taken in a conversation which the disproportion of their years and a greater inequality in their dispositions must render lesse agreeable every day then other In this perplexity of mind he consults his Confessor by whom he was advised to make known his griefs to Cardinal Wolsie on whose judgement he relied in most other matters which hapned so directly to the Cardinal's mind as if he had contrived the project The Emperour had lately cross'd him in his suit for the Popedome and since denied him the Archbish prick of Tâ—ledo with the promise whereof he had before bound him to his side And now the Cardinal resolves to take the opportunity of the King's distractions for perfecting his revenge against him In order whereunto as he had drawn the King to make peace with France and to conclude a marriage for his daughter with the Duke of Orleance so now he hopes to separate him from the bed of Katherine the Emperour's Aunt and marry him to Madam Rhinee the French Queens sister who afterwards was wife to the Duke of Ferrara About which time the picture of Madam Margaret the sister of King Francis first married to the Duke of Alanzon was brought amongst others into
Englanâ— by Thomas Bolâ—n Viscount Rochford at his return from the Frenâ—h Court where he had been Ambassador for the King of England which firâ—t occasioned areport in the common people and afterwaâ—ds a mistake in our common Chronicles touching this Ladie 's being designed by Wolsie for a wife to his Master whereas she was at that time actually married to the Count of Aâ—bret King of Navarre in title and in title only But Rochford brought with him out of France another Piece which more excelled the picture of the Dutchesse of Alanzâ—n then that Dutchesse did the ordinary beauties in the Court of France that is to say his daughter Anne whom he had bred up for a time in the house of the Dutchesse which render'd her an exact mistresse of the gaities and garb of the great French Ladies Appearing in the Court of England she shewed her selfe with so many advantages above all other Ladies about the Queen that the King easily took notice of her Whether more captivated by the Allurements of her beauty or the facetiousnesse of her behaviour it is hard to say certain it is that he suffered himselfe to be so far transpoâ—ted in affection towards her that he could think of nothing else but what might tend to the accomplishment of his desires so that the separation from the bed of Katherine which was but coldly followed upon case of Conscience is now more hotly prosecuted in the heat of Concupiscâ—nce In the mean time the King adviseth with the Cardinal and the Cardinal with the most learned men in the Realm of England By whom it was modestly resolved that the King had a very just ground to consult the Pope and to 〈…〉 lawful means for extricating himselfe out of those perplexities in which this marriage had involved him The Pope had been beholden to the King for procuring his liberty when the Imperialists held him prisoner in the Fort of St Angelâ— and was in reason bound to gratifie him for so great a benefit But then withall he neither was to provoke the Emperour nor hazard the Authority and Reputation of the See Apostolick by running on the King's errand with more haâ—te then speed He therefore goes to work like a Pope of Rome and entertains the King with hopes without giving the Emperour and his adherents any cause of despair A Commission is therefore granted to two Cardinals that is to say Cardinal Thomas Wolsiâ— Archbishop of York and Laurene Campâ—gius whom Henry some few years before had made Bishop of Saâ—isbury both beneficiaries to the King and therefore like enough to consult more his interest then the Queen's contentment Of the erecting of a Court Lâ—gantâ—ne in the Convent of the Black Friers in London the citing of the King and Queen to appear before them the Kings patheticall Oration in the bemoaning of his own misfortunes and the Queen's Appeal from the two Cardinals to the Pope I shall now say nothing leaving the Reader for those passages to our common Annals Suffice in this place to note that while the businesse went on favourable in the King's behalfe Wolsie was given to understand of his desperate loves to Mistrisse Bollen which represented to him two ensuing mischiefs not to be otherwise avoided then by slackning the course of these proceedings For first he saw that if the King should be divorc'd definitively from his present wife he should not be able to draw him to accept of Madam Rhenee the French Queens sister which was the mark he chiefly aimed at And secondly he feared that Mistrisse Anne had brought so much of the Lutheran with her as might in time become destructive to the Church of Rome Of this he certifies the Pope the Pope recals Campegius and revokes his Commission leaving the King to cast about to some new wayes to effect his purpose And at this time it hapned that Dr Thomas Cramâ—er who afterwards obtained to the See of Canterbury discoursing with some of the Kings Ministers about the intricaâ—enesse and perplexity of this great affair declared for his opinion in it that it were better for the King to govern himselfe therein by the judgement and determination of the Universities beyond the seas then to depend upon the shifts and Artifices of the Court of Rome Which being told unto the King he dispatcheth Cramner unto Rome in the company of Rochford now made Earl of Wilâ—shire to maintain the King's cause by disputation and at the same time employs his agents to the Universities of France and Italy who being under the command of the French King or the power of the Pope gave sentence in behalfe of Henry condemning his marriage with the Lady Katherine the Relict of his brother to be simply unlawful in it selfe and therefore not to be made valid by a dispensation from the Popes of Rome The putting the King upon this course proved the fall of Wolsiâ— who growing every day lesse then other in the King's esteem was brought within 〈◊〉 compasse of a Pramunire and thereby stript of all his goods to an infinite value removed not long after unto York and there arrested of High Treason by the Earl of Northumberland and committed to the custody of Sir William Kingston being then Lievtenant of the Tower By whom conducted towards London he departed this life in the Abby of Leicester his great heart not being able to endure so many indignities as had been lately put upon him and having cause to fear much worse then his former sufferings But the removing of this Rub did not much smooth the way to the King's desires The Queen's appeal unto the Pope was the greatest difficulty from which since she could not be removed it must be made unprofitable and ineffectual for the time to come And thereupon a Proclamation is set forth on the 19 of September 1530. in these following words viz. The King's Highnesse streightly chargeth and commandeth That no manner of person of what estate degree or condition he or they be of do purchase or attempt to purchase from the Court of Rome or elsewhere nor use nor put in execution divulge or publish any thing heretofore within this year passed purchased or to be purchased hereafter containing matter prejudicial to the High Authority Jurisdiction and prerogative Royal of this his said Reâ—lm or to the lett hinderance or impeachment of his Grace's Noble and Vertuous intended purposes in the premises upon pain of incurring his Highnesse's indignation and imprisonment and farther punishment of their bodies for their so doing at his Graceâ—s pleasure to the dreadful example of all others This was the Prologue to the downfall of the Pope in England seconded by the Kings taking to himselfe the Title â—upream Head of the Churches of England and Ireland acknowledged in the Convocation and confirmed in Parliament and ending finally in an Act intituled An Act for extinguishing the authority of the Bishops of Rome And in all this the King did nothing but what
he had example and Authority for at that very time for in the year 1520 being but ten years before the setting forth of this Proclamation Monseiur a' Lautreth Governour for the French King in the Dukedome of Millain taking a displeasure against Pope Leo the tenth deprived him of all his jurisdiction within the Dukedom And that being donâ— he so disposed of all Ecclesiasticall affairs that the Church there was supremely governed by the Bishop of Bigorre a Bishop of the Church of France without the intermedling of the Pope at all The like we find to have been done by the Emperour Charles the fifth who being no lesse displeased with Pope Clement the eighth abolished the Papal power and jurisdiction out of all the Churches of his Kingdome in Spain which though it held but for a while till the breach was closed yet left he an example by it as my Author noteth that there was no necessity of any Pope or supreme Pastor in the Church of Christ. And before either of these Acts or Edicts came in point of practice the learned Gerson Chancellor of the University of Paris when the Popes power was greater far then it was at the present had writ and published a discourse entituled De auferibilitaâ—e Papae touching the totall abrogating of the Papall Office Which certainly he had never done had the Papall Office been found essentiall and of intrinsecall concernment to the Church of Christ. According unto which position of that learned man the greatest Princes of those times did look upon the Pope and the Papall power as an Excrescence at the least in the body mysticall subject and fit to be pared off as occasion served And if they did or do permit him to retain any part of his former greatnesse it is permitted rather upon selfe-ends or Reasons of state or otherwise to serve their turn by him as their 〈◊〉 requireth then out of any opinion of his being so necessary that the Church cannot be well governed or subsist without him But leaving these disputes to some other place we must return unto the Queen To whom some Lords are sent in the end of May an 1531. declaring to her the determinations of the Universities concerning the pretended â—â—rriage betwixt her and the King And therewith they demanded of her whether for quieting the King's conscience and putting an end to that debate she would be content to refer the matter to four Bishops and four temporall Lords But this she absolutely refused saying She was his lawful Wife that she would stand to her Appeal and condescend to nothing in that particular but by the counsel of the Emperour and the rest of her friends This answer makes the King more resolute more open in the demonstration of his affections to the Lady Anne Bollen whom he makes Marchionesse of Pembrook by his Letters Patents bearing date the first of September 1532. takes her along with him to Callis in October following there to behold the glorious enterview betwixt him and the French King and finally privately marrieth her within few dayes after his return the divorce being yet unsentenced betwixt him and the Queen Not long after which it was thought necessary to the King to call a Parliament wherein he caused an Act to passe that no person should appeal for any cause out of this Realm to the Pope of Rome but that all Appeals should be made by the party grieved from the Commissary to the Bishop from the Bishop to the Archbishop and from the Archbishop to the King as had been anciently observed amongst the first Kings of the House of Normandy It was also enacted in the same that all causes Ecclesâ—aticall Cognisances in which the King himself was a Party should be determined finally in the Upper-House of Convocation without being bound to make recourse to the Court of Rome During the sitting of which Parliament it is declared by Proclamation that Queen Katherine should no longer be called Queen but Princesse Dowager as being the Widow of Prince Arthur not the Wife of King Henry Warham Archbishop of Canterbury in the mean time dying Cranmer is designed for his Successor in that eminent dignity which he unwillingly accepts of partly in regard that he was married at that time and partly in reference to an Oath which he was to take unto the Pope at his Consecration But the King was willing for his own ends to wink at the one and the Pope was not in a condition as the case then stood to be too peremptory in the other So that a Protestation being admitted of not being otherwise bound to the Pope than should be found agreeable to the Word of God and the Laws and Statuâ—es of the Realm he takes his Oath and receives the Episcopall Consecration the 30th of March 1533. the Parliament still sitting which before we spake of At his first entrance into the House of Convocation he propounds two Questions to be considered and disputed by the Bishops and Clergy the first was Whether the marrying of a Brother's wife carnally known though without any issue by him be so prohibited by the Will and Word of God as not to be dispenc'd withall by the Pope of Rome The second was Whether it did appear upon the Evidence given in before the Cardinalls that Katherine had been carnally known by Prince Arthur or not Both Questions being carried in the Affirmative though not without some Opposition in either House in the first especially it was concluded thereupon in the Convocation and not long after in the Parliament also That the King might lawfully proceed to another Marriage These preparations being made the Marriage precondemned by Convocation and all Appeals to Rome made ineffectuall by Act of Parliament the new Archbishop upon his own desire motion contain'd in his Letters of the 11th of April is authorised by the King under his Signe Manuall to proceed definitively in the Cause Who thereupon accompanied with the Bishops of London Winchester Wells and Lincoln and diveâ—s other persons to serve as Officers in that Court repaired to Dunstable in the begining of May and having a convenient place prepared in the form of a Consistory they sent a Citation to the Princesse Dowager who was then at Amptill a Mannor-house of the King 's about six miles off requiring her to appear before them at the day appointed which day being come and no appearance by her made either in Person or by Proxie as they knew there would not she is called peremptorily every day fifteen days together and every day there was great poasting betwixt them and the Court to certifie the King and Cromwell a principall stickler in this businesse how all matters went In one of which from the new Archbishop extant in the Cottonian Library a Resolution is signified to Cromwelâ— for comming to a finall Sentence on Friday the 18 th of that Month but with a vehement conjuration both to him and the King
Women wherein she laid before him these her last requests viz. My most dear Lord King and Husband for so she called him THe hour of my death now approaching I cannot chuse but out of the love I bear you advise you of your souls health which you ought to prefer before all considerations of the world or flesh whatsoever For which yet you have cast me into many calamities and your self into many troublâ—s But I for give you all and pray God to do so likewise For the rest I commend unto you Mary our daughâ—er beseeching you to be a good Father unto her as I have heretofore desired I must enâ—reat you also to respect my Maids and give them in Marriage which is not much they being but three And to all my other Servants a yeaâ—s pay besides their due lest otherwise they should be unprovided for Lastly I make this Vow That mine Eyes have desired you above aâ—l things Farewell Within few days after the writing of which Letter that is to say on the 8 th of January then next following she yielded her pious Soul to God at the King's Mannor-house of Kimbolton in the County of Huâ—tingâ—on and was solemnly interred not long after in the Abbey of Peterborough The reading of her Letter drew some tears from the King which could not but be much encreased by the news of her death Moved by them both to such a measure of commiseration of her sad condition that he caused the greatest part of her goods amounting to 5000 Marks to be expended on her Funerall and in the recompencing of such of her servants as had best deserved it Never so kind to her in the time of her life as when he had rendred her incapable of receiving a kindnesse The Princesse Mary is now left wholly to her self declared illegitimate by her Father deprived of the comfort of her Mother and in a manner forsaken by all her friends whom the severe proceedings against Moor and Fisher had so deterred that few durst pay her any offices of Love or Duty Of any proceedings in the Match with the Duke of Orleance we hear no more news all further prosecution of it being at a stand by the misfortunes of her Mother nor was she sought in Marriage by any other Prince in the life of her Father buâ— onely by James the 5 th of Scotland but finding himself deluded in it by King Henry he thought it best to strengthen himself by a Match with France where he was first married to Madam Magdaleene the first daughter of K. Francis and afterwards to Mary daughter of Claude of Lorrain Duke of Guise by whom he had one onely daughter called Mary also In which condition the poor Princesse had no greater comfort than what she could gather from her Books in which she had been carefully instructed by Doctor John Voisie aliâs Harman appointed her Tutor by the King and for his good performance in that place of trust advanced by him to the Sea of Exon An. 1529. and afterwards made Lord President of Wales which sell out better for the Tutor than it did for the Pupill Who being left destitute of the counsell of so grave a Man began to give way more and more to her grief and passions which brought her at the last to such an aversenesse from the King and such a manifest disaffection to his Person and Government that he was once upon the point of sending her prisoner to the Tower and had so done if Cranmer had not interposed some powerfull reasons to disswade him from it During which time of her aversenesse the King sent certain of the Lords to remove her to Hatfield who having no authority to treat her by the name of Princesse but onely to execute the King's commands gave her occasion thus to signifie her discontentments My Lords said she as touching my removing to Hatfield I will obey his Grace as my duty is or to any other place that his Grace will appoint me But I protest before you and all other that be here present that my conscience will in no wise suffer me to take any other than my self for Princesse or for the King's Daughter born in lawfull Matrimony and that I will never wittingly or willingly say or do whereby any person might take occasion to think that I agree to the contrary Nor say I this out of any ambition or proud mind as God is my Judge but that if I should do otherwise I should in my conscience slander the Deed of our Mother the holy Church and the Pope who is the Judge in this matter and none other and also should dishonour the King my Father the Queen my Mother and falsly confesse my self a Bastard which God defend that I should do since the Pope hath not so declared it by his Sentence definitive to whose finall Judgment I submit my self In pursuance of which claim to the Title of Princesse together with the Priviledges and Preheminences thereunto belonging she writes this following Letter to the King her Father on a like occasion IN most humble wise I beseech your Grace of your daily blâ—ssing Pleaseth it the same to be advertised that this morning my Chamberlain came and shewed me that he had received a Letter from Sir William Paulet Controller of your House the effect whereof was that I should with all diligence remove unto the Castle of Hertford Whereupon I desired him to see the same Letter which he shewed me wherein was written That the Lady Mary the King's Daughter should remove to the place before-said leaving out in the same the name of Princesse Which when I heard I could not a little marvail trusting verily that your Grace was not privy to the same Letter as concerning the leaving out of the name of Princesse for asmuch as I doubt not in your goodnesse but that your Grace doth take me for your lawfull Daughter born in true Matrimony Wherefore if I should agree to the contrary I should in my conscience run into the displeasure of God which I hope assuredly that your Grace would not that I so should And in all other things your Grace shall have me always as humble an obedient Daughter and Handmaid as ever was child to thâ— father which my duâ—y biâ—doth 〈◊〉 to as knoweth â—ur Lord Who have your Grace in his most holy tuiâ—ion with much honor and long life to his pleasure From your Mannor of 〈◊〉 Octob. 2 By your most humble Daughter MARY Princess And on these tearms she stood from the Divorce of her Mother till the Attaindure of Queen Anne Bollen against whom she thought it did concern her to bear up to the highest as she did accordingly But growing into better hopes by the death of the â—aid Queen Anne the Annulling of the Marriage also and the Bastardiâ—ing of the Princesse Elizabeth her onely daughter she began to cast about again writes her submissive Letters to the King her father and humbly craves some testimonies
the face of Religion which might give her any cause of publick or personall dislike But when the great alterations hapned in the time of King Edward she then declared her selfe more openly as she might more safely in opposition to the same concerning which she thus declared her selfe in a Letter to the Lord Protector and the rest of the Council dated at Kenninghall June 22. An. 1549. My Lord I Perceive by the Letters which I late receiv'd from you and other of the Kings Majesties Councel that you be all sorry to find so little conformity in me touching the observation of his Majestie 's Laws who am well assured I have offended no law unlesse it be a late law of your own making which in my conscience is not worthy the name of Law both for the King's honors sake and the wealth of the Realm and giving the occasion of an evil bruit throughout all Christendome besides the partiality used in the same and as my conscience is very well perswaded the offending God which passeth all the rest But I am well assured that the King his Fathers Lawes were all allowed and consented to without compulsion by the whole Realm both spiritual and temporal and all the Executors sworn upon a book to fulfil the same so that it was an authorized Law And that I have obeyed and will do with the grace of God till the King's Majesty my brother shall have sufficient years to be a judge in this matter himself Whereto my Lord I was plain with you at my last being in the Court declaring unto you at that time whereunto I would stand and now do assure you all that the only occasion of my stay from a tering of mine opinion is for two causes One principally for my conscience the other that the King my brother shall nor hereafter charge me to be one of those that were agreeable to such alterations in his tender years And what fruits dayly grow by such changes since the death of the King my Father to every indifferent person it well appeareth both to the displeasure of God and unquietnesse of the Realm Notwithstanding I assure you all I would be as loath to see his Highnesse take hurt or that any evil should come to this his Realm as the besâ— of you all and none of you have the like cause considering how I am compelled by nature being his Majesties poor and humble sister most tenderly to love and pray for him and unto this his Realm being born within the same with all wealth and prosperity to God's honour And if any judge of me the contrary for mine opinions sake as I trust none doth I doubt not in the end with Gods help to prove my selfe as true a natural and humble Sister as they of the contrary opinion with all their divices and altering of lawes shall prove themselves true Subjects I pray you my Lords and the rest of the Councel no more to unquiet and trouble me with matters touching my conscience wherein I am at a full point with Gods help whatsoever shall happen to me intending with his grace to trouble you little with any worldly suits but to bestow the short time I think to live in quietnesse and I pray for the King's Majesty and all you heartily wishing that your proceedings may be to God's honour the safeguard of the King's person and quietnesse of the whole Realm And thus my Lords I wish unto you and all the rest as well to do as my selfe Upon such passages of this Letter which seemed most to pinch upon them the Lords returned their Glosse or Comment but such as had more in it of an Animadversion then an Explication They signified withall how well they understood their own Authority how sensible they were of those inconveniences which the example of her inconformity to the lawes established was likely to produce amongst the rest of the subjects No favour being otherwise to be hoped for from them the Emperour is moved to intercede in her behalfe by his Ambassador then residing about the Court Upon whose earnest solicitation it was declared by the King with the consent of his Councel as appeareth by their letters to her of the 25th of December That for his sake and her own also it should be suffered and winked at if she had the private Masse used in her own closet for a season untill she might be better informed but so that none but some few of her own chamber should be present with her and that to all the rest of her houshold the Service of the Church should be only used For the abuse of which indulgence in saying Masse promiscuously in her absence to her houshold servants Mallet and Barkley two of her Chaplains are seized on and committed prisoners which first occasioned an exchange of Letters betwixt her and the King and afterwards more frequently between her and the Councel for which consult the Acts and Mon. fol. 1213. 1214. A proposition had been made about the surrendry of Bâ—lâ—oigne for a marriage betwixt her and the Prince of Portugall and the like motion made in favour of the Duke of Brunswick whilst the other treaty was depending But neither of the two succeeding to the wish of the party a plot was laid to passe her over into Flanders shipping provided to transport her some of her servants sent before and a commotion practised in the County of Essex that in the busle she might be conveyed away without any discovery But this plot being happily prevented by the care and diligence of Sir John Gates one of the Captaâ—ns of the Gents a'armes then lately ranged under the command of the Marquess of Nâ—rthampton she was by him conducted much against her will to the Lord Chancellors house at Leezdi from thence to Hunsdon and at last to Westminster Much troubled at her comming thither upon the apprehension of Sir Robert Ruchestâ—r Sir Walgrave and Sir Francis Inglâ—field servants of special trust about her and all suspected to be privy to the design for conveying her over into Flanders Much care was taken and many endeavor used by the King and Councel to win her to good conceit of the Reformation But her interest was 〈◊〉 bound up with that of the Pope that no perswasions could prevaile with her to desert that cause on which her own legiâ—imation and the validity of her mothers marriage did so much depend As much unprofitable pains was taken by the Emperours Agents in labouring to procure for her the exercise of her own Religion mingling some threats with their intreaties in case so great a Prince should be refused in so small a suit Which when it could not be obtained from the King by the Lords of the Councel nor by the mediation of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London whom the Lords imployed to move him in it the Emperour laid aside the prosecution of a cause which he perceived he could not carry And the King
slackned by degrees his accustomed diligence in labouring be perswasions to work on one who was resolved before hand not to be perswaded So that being weary of the Court and the court of her she was permitted for a time to remain at Hunâ—sdon in the County of Hartford To which place being in the Diocesse of London Bishop Ridley had recourse unto her and at first was kindly entertained But having staid dinner at her request he made an offer of his service to preach before her on the Sunday following to which she answered That the doors of the Parish Church adjoining should be open for him that hâ— might preach there if he liâ—ted but that neither she nâ—r any of her sâ—rvants would bâ—â—her◠〈◊〉 hear him Madam said he I hope you will not refuse to hear Gods word To which she answered That she could not tell what they called Gods word that which was now called thâ—â—â—rd of God 〈◊〉 having been accounted such in the â—â—yes of her father After which falling into many different expressions against the Religion then established she â—ismissed him thus My Lord said she For your gentlenesse to come and see me I thank you but for your offer to preach before me I thank 〈◊〉 nâ—t Which said he was conducted by Sir Thâ—mas Wâ—arton one of her principall Officerâ— to the place where they dined by whom he was presented with a cup of wine which having drank and looking very sadly on it Surely said he 〈…〉 Which words he spake with such a vehemency of spirit aâ— made the hair of some of those which were present to stand an end as themselves afterwardâ— confessed Of this behaviour of the Princesse aâ— the Bishop much complained in other pâ—aâ—es so most especially in a Sermon preached at St Paul's Crosse on the sixteenth of July in which he was appointed by the Lords of the Council to set forth the title of Queen Jane to whom the sâ—ccession of the Crown had been transferred by King Edward at the solicitation and procurement of the Duke of Nâ—rthâ—mbeâ—land who served himself of nothing more than of her obstinate aversnesse from the reformed Religion then by law established The cunning contrivance of which plot and all that had been done in pursuance of it hath been laid down at large in the Appendix to the former book Suffice in this place to know that being secretly advertised of her brothers death she dispatched her letters of the ninth of July to the Lords of Council requiring them not only to acknowledge her just title to the Crown of this Realm but to cause proâ—lamation of it to be made in the usual form which though it was denied by them as the case then stood yet she was gratified therein by the Mayor of Norwich who firsâ— proclaimed her Queen on the fourth day after as afterwards was done in some other places by those who did prefer the interest of King Henry's children before that of the Dudâ—y's But hearing of the great preparations which were made against her and finding her condition in a manner desperate when she first put her self into Framâ—ngham Castle she faithfully assureu the Gentry and other inhabitants of the County of Suffolk that she would not alter the Religion which had been setled and confirmed in the Reign of her brother On which assurance there was such a confluence to her from those parts of the Kingdom that in short space she had an army of fourteen thousand fighting men to maintain her quarrel The newes whereof together with the risings of the people in other places on the same account wrought such an alteration in the Lords of the Council whom she had before solicited in vain to allow her title that on the nineteenth of July she was solemnly proclaimed Queen at Cheapside Crosse not only by their general and joint consent but by the joyful acclamations of all sorts of people But as Mariners seldome pay those vows which they make in a tempest when once they are delivered from the danger of it so Mary once established in the Royal Throne forgot the services which she received from those of Suffolk together with the promises which she made unto them in the case of Religion Insomuch that afterwards being petitioned by them in that behalf it was answered with more churlishnesse than could be rationally expected in a green Estate That members must obey their Head and not look to rule it And that she might no more be troubled with the like Petitions she caused one Dobb a Gentlemen on Windham side who had presumed to put her in remembrance of her former promise to be punished by standing in the Pillory three dayes together to be a gazing stock to all men But such is the condition of our humane nature that we are far more ready to require a favour when we stand in need of it than willing to acknowledge or requite it when our turn is served Of which we cannot easily meet with a cleerer evidence than the example of this Queen who was so far from gartifying those who had been most aiding to her in the time of her trouble that she persecuted them and all others of the same perswasions with fire and faggot as by the sequel of her story will at large appear The Life and Reign of QUEEN MARY An. Reg. Mar. 1. A. D. 1553. 1554. THe interposings in behalf of the Lady Jane being disrelished generally in most parts of the Kingdome Mâ—ry the eldest sister of King Edward the sixt is proclaimed Queen by the Lords of the Council assiâ—â—ed by the Lord Mayor of London and such of the Nobility as were then resident about that City on Wednesday the nineteenth day of July Annâ— 1553. The Proclamation published at the Crosse in Cheâ—p with all sâ—lemnities accustomed on the like occasions and entertained with joyfull acclamations by all sorts of people who feared nothing more than the pride and tyranny of the Duke of Northumberland To carry which news to the Queen at Framingham the Earl of Arundel and the Lord Paget are dispatched immediately by the rest of the Council and Letters are speedily posted by some private friends to the Duke at Cambridgâ— Who understanding how things went without expecting any order from the Lords at London dismist the remnant of his Army and presently repairing into the Market place proclaimed the Queen crying God save Queen Mary as loud as any and flinging up his cap for joy as the others did Which service he had scarce performed when Rose a Pouâ—suivant of Arms comes to him with instructions from the Lords of the Council subscribed by the Archbishop of Canterbury the Lord Chancellor Goodrick the Lord Treasurer Paulet the Duke of Suffolk the Earl of Bedford Shrewsbury and Pembrook the Lord Darsie Sir Robert Cotton Sir William Peter and Sir William Cecil the two principall Secretaries Sir John Cheeck Tutor to the last King Sir John Baker Chancellor of the tenths and first fruits
obedience to his commands who was their Father in which as his desires were granted by the Lords so the Lords were gratified in them by the Queen none of his sons being executed though all condemned except Guilford only whose case was different from the others The like judgement also pass'd on the morrow after on Sir John Gates Sit Henry Gates Sir Andrew Dudley and Sir Thomas Palmer who confessing the Indictment also submitted themselves to the Queens mercy without further tryal In that short interval which past between the sentence and the execution the Duke was frequently visited by Dr Nicholas Heath then newly restored unto the See of Worcester It was another of the requests which he made to the Lords that some godly and learned man might be licenced by the Queen to repair unto him for the quiet and satisfaction of his conscience and the resolved to send him none as she did to others in like case but one of her own under a pretence of doing good unto their soâ—ls by gaining them to a right understanding of the faith in Christ. According to which purpose Heâ—â—h bestirs himself with such dexterity that the Duke either out of weaknesse or hope of life or that it was indifferent to him in what Faith he died who had shewn so little while he lived retracted that Religion which he had adorned in the time of King Edward and outwardly professed for some years in the Reign of King Henry And hereof he gave publick notice when he was on the scaffold on the 22 of that monâ—h In the way towards which there passed some words betwixt him and Gates each laying the blame of the late action on the other but afterwards mutually forgiving and being forgiven they died in good charity with one anoâ—her Turning himself unto the people he made a long Oration to them touching the quality of his offence and his fore-passed life and then admonished the spectators To stand to the Religion oâ— their Ancestâ—rs rejecting that of lâ—â—er date which had occasioned all the 〈◊〉 of the foregoing thirty years and that for prevention for the future if they desired 〈◊〉 present their souls unspotted in the â—ight of God and were truly affected to their Country they should expel those trumpets of Sedition the Preachers of the reformed Religion that for himself whatever had otherwise been pretended he professed â—o other Religion than that of his Fathers for testimony whereof he appealed to his good friend and ghâ—stly father the Lord Bishop of Worcester and finally that being blinded with ambition he had been contenâ—ed to make a rack of his conscience by teâ—porising for which he professed himself sincerely repentant and so acknowledged the justice of his death A declaration very unseasonable whether true or false as that which render'd him less pitied by the one side and more scorned by the other With him died also Gates and Pâ—lâ—â—r the rest of the condemned prisoners being first reprieved and afterwards absolutely pardoned Such was the end of this great person the first Earl of Warwick and the laâ—â— Duke of Northumberland of this Name and Family By birth he was the eldest son of Sir Edâ—ond Sutton alias Dudley who together with Sir Richard Empson were the chief instruments and promoters under Henry the 7th for putting the penal lawes in execution to the great grievance and oppression of all sorts of subjects For which and other offences of a higher nature they were both sacrificed to the fury of the common people by King Henry the 8th which possible might make him carry a vindicative mind towards that King's children and prompt him to the dis-inheriting of all his Progeny First trained up as his Father had also been before him in the study of the common Laws which made him cunning enough to pick holes in any mans estate and to find wayes by which to bring their lives in danger But finding that the long sword was of more estimation than the long Robe in the time of that King he put himself forwards on all actions wherein honour was to be acquired In which he gave such testimony of his judgement and valour that he gained much on the affections of his Prince By whom he was created Viscount Lisâ—e on the 15th of March An. 1541. installed Knight of the Garter 1543. and made Lord Admiral of England Imployed in many action against the Scots he came off alwayes with successe and victory and having said this we have said all that was accounted good or commendable in the whole course of his life Being advanced unto the Title of Earl of Wâ—rwick by King Edward the 6th he thought himself in a capacity of making Queens as well as Richard Nevil one of his Predecessors in that Title had been of setting up and deposing Kings and they both perished under the ambition of those proud attempts Punished as Nevil also was in having no issâ—e male remaining to preserve his name For though he had six sons all of them living to be men and all of them to be married men yet they went all childlesse to the grave I mean as to the having of lawful issue as if the curse of Jeconiâ—ah had been laid upon them With him died also the proud Title of Duke of Nâ—rthâ—â—berland never aspired to by the Percies though men of eminent Nobility and ever since the time of King Henry the first of the Race of Emperours Which Family as well in reference to the merit oâ— their Noble Ancestors as the intercession of some powerful friends were afterwards restored to all the Titles and Honours which belonged to that House in the persons of Thomas and Henry Grand children to Henry the 5th Earl thereof An. 1557. The matters being thus laid together we must look back upon the Queen Who seeing all obstacles removed betwixt her and the Crown dissolved her Camp at 〈◊〉 consisting of fourteen thousand men and prepared for her journey towards London Met on the way by the Princesse Elizabeth her sister attended with no fewer than 1000 horse She made her entrance into London on the third of August no lesse magnificent for the Pomp and bravery of it than that of any of her predecessors Taking possession of the Tower she was first welcomed thither by I 〈◊〉 the old Duke of Norfolk Annâ— Dutchesse of Sommerset Edward Lord Coâ—â—â—ney eldest son to the late Marquesse of Excester and Dr Stephan Gardiner Bishop of Winchester all which she lifted from the ground called them her prisoners graciously kissed them and restored them shortly after to their former liberty Taking the Great Seal from Dr Goodrick Bishop of Ely within two dayes after she gave it for the present to the custody of Sir Nichâ—lâ—s Hare whom she made Master of the Rolls and afterwards committed it on the 23d of the same month together with the Title of Lord Chancellor on the said Dr Gardiâ—er then actually restored to the See of Wâ—â—chestor Having performed the obsequies of her
of Worcester to which See 〈◊〉 Day and Heath were again restored The like course also followed for the depriving of all Deaâ—â— Dâ—gnâ—â—â—â—â—â—s and Parochial Ministers who had succeeded into any of those preâ—erments during the Reign of the two last Kings the old incumbeâ—ts whereof were then â—ound living and able to supply their places Which though it could not be objected against Dr Cox either in râ—ference to his Deâ—nry of â—hrist Church or that of 〈◊〉 both which he held at the same time yet being brought unto the Marshalâ—ey on the 5th of 〈◊〉 he was unjustly spoiâ—ed of both to make room for Dr Richard Marshall in the one and Dt Hugh Weston in the other And all this done without so much as any shew of legal processe or the conventing of the persons whom it did concern or any satisfaction given unto the Laws which in some cases favour possession more than right so strangely violated But greater was the havock which was made amongst them when there was any colour or pretence of Law as in the case of having wives or not conforming to the Queens pleasure in all points of Religion conâ—idering how forward and pragmatical too many were to run before the Laws in the like particular The Queen was zealous in her way and by her interesse strongly byassed to the Church of Rome But it concerned her to be wary and not to presse too much at once upon the people which generally were well affected to the Reformation Of this she had a stout experiment within very few dayes after her first entrance into London For so it hapned that Dr Bourn Arch-Deacon of London and one of the Prebends of St Paul's preaching a Sermon at the Crosse on the 13th of August inveighed in favour of Bishop Bonner who was present at it against some proceedings in the time of the late King Edward Which so incensed the people that suddenly a great tumult arose upon it some pelting him with stones others crying out aloud pull him down pull him down and one who never could be known flinging a dagger at his head which after was found sticking in a post of the Pulpit And greater had the mischief been upon this occasion if Mr Bradford and Mr Rogers two eminent Preachers in the time of King Edward and of great credit and esteem with the common people had not endeavoured to appease the enraged multitude and with great difficulty secured the Preacher in the School adjoining By reason of which tumult an Order was taken by the Lords of the Counâ—il with the mayor and Aldermen of London that they calling the next day following a Common Council of the City should thereby charge every housholder to cause their children and Apprentices to keep their own Parish Churches upon the Holy dayes and not to suffer them to attempt any thing to the violating of the common peace Willing them also to signifie to the said Assembly the Queens determination uttered to them by her Highnesse the 12th of August in the Tower Which was that albeit her Grace's conscience was staid in matters of Religion yet she gratiously meant to compel or strain other mens otherwise than God should as she trusted put into their hearts a perswasion of that truth which she was in through the opening of his word unto them by godly vertuous and learned Preachers that is to say such Preachers only as were to be hereafter licenced by the Queen's authority But yet for fear that these instructions might not edifie with the common people Order was taken for preventing the like tumult on the Sunday following At what time the Sermon was preached by Dr Watson who afterwards was Bishop of Lincoln but Chaplain only at that time to the Bishop of Winchester For whose security not only many of the Lords of the Council that is to say the Lord Treasurer the Lord Privy Seal the Earl of Bedford the Earl of Pembrook the Lords Wentworth and Rich were severally desired to be there present but Gerningham Captain of the Guard was appointed with two hundred of his stourest Yeomen to stand round about him with their Halberts The Mayor had also taken Order that all the Companies in their Liveries should be present at it which was well taken by the Queen And because the comming of the Guard on the one side affrighted some and the Order of the Lords above mentioned had restrained others from comming to those publick Sermons it was commanded by the Lord Mayor that the Ancients of all Companies should give attendance at those Sermons for the time to come lest otherwise the Preachers might be discouraged at the sight of so thin an Auditory The safety of those publick Preachers being thus provided for by the Lords of the Council there next care was that nothing should be preached in private Churches contrary to the Doctrine which was and should be â—aughâ— at the Cross by them which were appointed to it Whereupon it was further Ordered that every Alderman in his Ward should forthwith send for the Curates of every Church within their Liberties and warn them not only to forbear preaching themselves but also not to suffer any other to preach or make any open or solemn reading of Scripture in their Churches unless the said Preachers were severally licensed by the Queen To which purpose Letters were directed also to the Bishop of Norwich and possibly to all other Bishops in their several Diocesses But nothing more discovers the true state and temper of the present time than a Proclamation published by the Queen on the 18th of August The Tenor of which is as followeth The Queen's Highnesse well remembring what great inconvenience and dangers have grown to this her Reaâ—m in timesâ— past through the diversities of opinions in Questions of Religion and hearing also that now of late sithence the beginning of her most gratious Reign the same contentions be again much revived through certain false and untrue reports and rumoâ—rs spread by some evil-disposed persons hath thought good to give to understand to all Her Highnesse's most loving subjects her most grrtious pleasure in manner following First Her Majesty being presently by the only goodness of God setled in her just possession of the Imperial Crown of this Realm and other Dominions thereunto belonging cannot now hide that Religion which God and the world knoweth she hath ever proâ—essed from her infancy hitherto Which at her Majesty is minded to observe and maintain for her self by God's grace during her time so doth her Highness much desire and would be glad the some were of all her subjects quietly and charitably entertain'd And yet she doth signifie unto all her Majestie 's loving subjects that of Her most gratious disposition and clemency Her Highness mindeth not to â—ompel any Her said subjects thereunto until such time as further Order by common assent may be taken therein Forbidding nevertheless all her subjects of all degrees at their perils to move seditions or stir
of the Prisoners amongst which were the Archbishops of York ten Knights and many other persons of name and quality But nothing did him greater honour amongst the English than the great pains he took for procuring the enlargment of the Earl of Devonshire and the Princesse Elizabeth committed formerly on a suspition of having had a hand in Wyaâ—'s Rebellion though Wyat hâ—â—ettly disavowed it at the time of his death It was about the Feast of Easter that the Earl was brought unto the Court where having obtained the leave to travell for which before he had petitioned in vain he pass'd the Seas cross'd France and came into Italy but he found the air of Italy as much too hot for him as that of England was too cold dying at Padua in the year 1556. the eleventh and last Earl of Devonshire of that noble Family About ten days after his enlargement followed that of the Princesse Elizabeth whose comming to the Court her entertainment with the Queen and what else followed thereup on we shall see hereafter But we have run our selves too far upon these occasions and therefore must look back again on that which followed more immediately on the Kings reception the celebrating of whose Marriage opened a fair way for the Cardinals comming so long expected by the Queen and delayed by the Emperour by whom retarded for a while when he was in Italy and openly detained at Dilling a Town in Germany as he was upon his way towards England From thence he writes his Letters of Expostulation representing to the Emperor the great scandal which must needs be given to the Churches enemies in detaining a Cardinal-Legat Commissioned by his Holinesse for the peace of Christendom and the regaining of a Kingdom Which notwithstanding there he stayeth till the Articles of the Marriage were agreed on by the Queen's Commissioners and is then suffered to advance as far as Brussells upon condition that he should not passe over into England till the consummation of the Marriage The Interim he spends in managing a Treaty of Peace betwixt the Emperour and the French which sorted to no other effect but onely to the setting forth of his dexterity in all publick businesses And now the Marriage being past the Emperour is desired to give him leave to come for England and Pole is called upon by Letters from the King and Queen to make haste unto them that they might have his presence and assistance in the following Parliament and in the mean time that they might advise upon such particulars as were to be agreed on for the honour and advantage of the See Apostolick Upon the Emperor's dismission he repairs to Calais but was detained by cross winds till the 24 th of November at which time we shall find the Parliament sitting and much of the businesse dispatched to his hand in which he was to have been advised with The businesse then to be dispatched was of no small moment no lesse than the restoring of the Popes to the Supremacy of which they had been dispossessed in the time of King Henry For smoothing the way to which great work it was thought necessary to fill up all Episcopall Sees which either Death or Deprivation had of late made vacant Holgate Archbishop of York had been committed to the Tower on the 4 th of October Anno 1553. from whence released upon Philips intercession on the 18 th of January Marriage and Heresie are his crimes for which deprived during the time of his imprisonment Doctor Nicolas Heath succeeded him in the See of York and leaves the Bishoprick of VVorcester to Doctor Richard Pates who had been nominated by King Henry the Eighth Anno 1534. and having spent the intervening twenty years in the Court of Rome returned a true servant to the Pope every way fitted and instructed to advance that See Goodrich of Elie left his life on the 10 th of April leaving that Bishoprick to Doctor Thomas Thurlby Bishop of Norwich one that knew how to stand his ground in the strongest tempest and Doctor John Hopton heretofore Chaplain and Controuler of Queen Mary's Houshold when but Princess onely is made Bishop of Norwich Barlow of VVells having abandoned that dignity which he could not hold had for his Successor Doctor Gilbert Bourn Arch-Deacon of London and Brother of Sir John Bourn principal Secretary of Estate Sufficiently recompenced by this preferment for the great danger which he had incurred the year before when the Dagger was thrown at him as he preached in St. Paul's Church-yard Harley of Hereford is succeeded by Purefew otherwise called Wharton of St. Asaph who had so miserably wasted the Patrimony of the Church in the time of King Edward that it was hardly worth the keeping For the same sins of Protestantism and Mariage old Bujh of Briâ—â—ow and Bira of Chester the two first Bishops of those Sees were deprived also the first succeeded to by Holiman once a Monck of Reading the last by Coles sometimes Fellow of Magdalen and afterwards Master of Baliol College in Oxon. Finally in the place of Doctor Richard Sampson Bishop of Coventry and Liâ—hfield who lest this life on the 25th of September Doctor Radolph Bayne who had been Hebâ—ew Reader in Paris in the time of King Francis was consecrated Bishop of that Church a man of better parts but of a more inflexible temper than his Predecessor And now the Parliament begins opened upon the 11 th of November and closed on the 16 th of January then next following It had been offered to consideration in the former Session That all Acts made against the Pope in the Reign of King Henry might be declared null and void for the better encouragement of the Cardinal to come amongst us But the Queen had neither eloquence enough to perswade nor power enough to awe the Parliament to that Concession Nothing more hindred the designe than general fear that if the Popes were one restored to their former power the Church might challenge restitution of her former possessions Do but secure them from that fear then Pope and Cardinals might come and welcome And to secure them from that fear they had not onely the promise of the King and Queen but some assurance underhand from the Cardinal-Legat who knew right well that the Church Lands had been so chopped and changed by the two last Kings as not to be restored without the manifest ruine of many of the Nobility and most of the Gentry who were invested in the same Secured on both sides they proceed according to the King's desires and passe a general Act for the repealing of all Statutes which had been made against the Power and Jurisdiction of the Popes of Rome But first they are to be intreated to it by the Legate himself for the opening a way to whose reception they prepared a Bill by which he was to be discharged of the Attainture which had passed upon him in the year 1539. restored in Blood and rendred capable of
enjoying all those Rights and Privileges which formerly he stood possessed of in this Kingdom For the passing of which Bill into Act the King and Queen vouchsafed their presence as soon as it was fitted and prepared for them not staying till the end of the Session as at other times because the businesse might not suffer such a long delay It was upon the 24 th of November that the Cardinal came first to London and had his Lodgings in or near the Court till Lambeth house could be made ready to receive him Having reposed himself for a day or two the Lords and Commons are required to attend their Majesties at the Court where the Cardinal in a very grave and eloquent speech first gave them thanks for being restored unto his Country in recompence whereof he told them that he was come to restore them to the Country and Court of Heaven from which by their departing from the Church they had been estranged He therefore earnestly exhorts them to acknowledge their errors and cheerfully to receive that benefit which Christ was ready by his Vicar to extend unto them His Speech is said to have been long and artificial but it concluded to this purpose That he had the Keys to open them a way into the Church which they had shut against themselves by making so many Laws to the dishonour and reproach of the See Apostolick on the revoking of which Laws they should â—ind him ready to make use of his Keys in opening the doors of the Church unto them It was concluded hereupon by both Houses of Parliament that a Petition should be made in the name of the Kingdom wherein should be declared how â—orry they were that they had withdrawn their obedience from the Apostolick See and consenting to the Statutes made against it promising to do their best endeavour hereafter that the said Laws and Statutes should be repealed and beseeching the King and Queen to intercede for them with his Holiness that they may be absolved from the Crimes and Censures and be received as penitent children into the bosom of the Church These things being thus resolved upon both Houses are called again to the Court on St. Andrews day where being assembled in the presence of the King and Queen they were asked by the Lord Chancellor Gardiner whether they were pleased that Pardon should be demanded of the Legat and whether they would return to the Unity of the Church and Obedience of the Pope Supream Head thereof To which when some cryed Yea and the rest said nothing their silence was taken for consent and so the Petition was presented to their Majesties in the name of the Parliament Which being publickly read they arose with a purpose to have moved the Cardinal in it who meeting their desires declared his readinesse in giving them that satisfaction which they would have craved And having caused the Authority given him by the Pope to be publickly read he showed how acceptable the repentance of a sâ—nner was in the sight of God and that the very Angels in Heaven rejoyced at the conversion of this Kingdom Which said they all kneeled upon their knees and imploring the mercy of God received absolution for themselves and the rest of the Kingdom which Absolution was pronounced in these following words Our Lord Jesus Christ which with his most precious blood hath redeemed and wash'd uâ— from all our sins and iniquities that he might purchase unto himself a glorious Spouse without spot or wrinckle and whom the Father hath appointed Head over all his Church He by his mercy absolve you And we by Apostolick Authority given unto us by the most holy Lord Pope Julius the 3 d his Vicegerent here on earth do absolve and deliver you and every of you with the whole Realm and the Dominions thereof from all Heresie and Schism and from all and every Judgment Censures and Pains for that cause incurred And also we do restore you again unto the unity of our Mother the holy Church as in our Letters more plainly it shall appear In the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost Which words of his being seconded with a loud Amen by such as were present he concluded the days work with a solemn Procession to the Chapel for rendring Prayers and Thanks to Almighty God And because this great work was wrought on St. Andrews day the Cardinal procured a Decree or Canon to be made in the Convocation of the Bishops and Clergy that from thenceforth the Feast of St. Andrew should be kept in the Church of England for a Majus Duplex as the Rituals call it and celebrated with as much solemnity as any other in the year It was thought fit also that the actions of the day should be communicated on the Sunday following being the second of December at St. Paul's Crosse in the hearing of the Lord Mayor Aldermen and the rest of the City According to which appointment the Cardinal went from Lambeth by water and landing at St. Paul's Wharf from thence proceeded to the Church with a Cross two Pillars and two Pole-axes of silver born before him Received by the Lord Chancellor with a solemn Procession they â—arried till the King came from Westminster Immediately upon whose comming the Lord Chancellor went into the Pulpit and preached upon on those words of St. Paul Rom. 13. Fratres scientes quia hora est jam nos de somno surgerâ— c. In which Sermon he declared what had been done on the Friday before in the submission which was made to the Pope by the Lords and Commons in the name of themselves and the whole Kingdom and the Absolution granted to them by the Cardinal in the name of the Pope Which done and Praiers being made for the whole Estate of the Catholick Church the company was for that time dismissed And on the Thursday after being the Feast of St. Nicholas day the Bishops and Clergy then assembled in their Convocation presented themselves before the Cardinal at Lamboth and kneeling reverently on their knees they obtained pardon for all their Perjuries Schisms and Heresies From which a formal Absolution was pronounced also that so all sorts of people might partake of the Pope's Benediction and thereby testifie their obedience and submission to him The news whereof being speedily posted over to the Pope he caused not onely many solemn Processions to be made in Rome and most parts of Italy but proclaimed a Jubile to be held on the 24th of December then next comming For the anticipating of which solemnity he alleged this reason That it became him to imitate the father of the Prodigal child and having received his lost son not onely to expresse a domestical joy but to invite all others to partake thereof During this Parliament was held a Convocation also as before was intimated Bonner continuing President of it and Henry Cole Archdeacon of Ely admitted to the office of Prolocutor They knew well how the Cards were
Lord Mayor of that City And that from thenceforth all such censures as concerned Tithes might be heard and determined by the Ordinary as in other places To all which Propositions the Bishops cheerfully consented and so adjurned the Convocation from St. Pauls to Westminster that they might have the better opportunity of consulting the Lord-Cardinal in the businesse of whom it was no hard matter to obtain the second and by his power to secure the Clergy in the first but as for the removall of the Cognisance of the London Tithes from the Lord Mayor unto the Bishops there was nothing done that Statute still remaining as before it did to the continual impoverishing and vexation of the City Clergy Nothing else memorable in this Convocation but the comming in of the two new Bishops which had never voted there before Purefew the Bishop of St. Asaph being translated unto Hereford in the former year had made such havock of the Patrimony of the Church of St. Asaph that it lay void above a twelve month before any became Suter for it But being a Bishoprick though impoverished and consequently a step to some richer preferment it was desired and accepted by Mr. Thomas Goldnel a right zealous Romanist consecrated Bishop hereof in the beginning of October Anno 1555. not many days before the opening of the Parliament and Convocation And being Bishop here he procured many Indulgences and other Graces from the Pope then being for all such persons of each sex as went on Pilgrimage or for health to St. Winifrids Well The like havock had been made of the Lands and Patrimony of the Church of Bangor by Buckley the present Bishop of it preferred unto this See Anno 1541. and continuing on it till this year who not content to alienate the Lands and weaken the Estate thereof resolved to rob it of its Bells for fear perhaps of having any Knell rung out at the Churches Funetal And not content to sell the Bells which were five in number he would needs satisfie himself with seeing them conveyed on shipboard and had searce given himself that satisfaction but he was pâ—esently struck blind and so continued from that time to the day of his death To whom succeeded Doctor William Glyn a Cambridge man but one of the Disputants at Oxford who received his Episcopal Consecration if I guesse aright on the same day with Bishop Goldneâ— And now it will be time to look back on Cranmer whom we left under a Citation to the Court of Rome without which nothing could be done for by an antient privilege no Judgment could be past upon the person of a Metropolitan before the Pope have taken cognisance of the cause and eighty days had seemingly been given to Crâ—nmer for making his appearance in the Court of Rome And though the Pope knew well enough as well the Archbishops readiness to appear before him if he were at liberty as the impossibility of making any such appearance as the case then stood yet at the end of the said eighty days he is pronounced by the Pope to be contumacious and for his contuâ—acy to be Degraded Excommunicated and finally delivered over to the Secular Magistrate According unto which Decree a second Commission is directed to Edmond Bonner Bishop of London and Thâ—mas Thoriby Bishop of Ely to proceed to the Degradation of the said Archbishop In which Commission it was said with most horrible falshood That all things had been so indifferently examined in the Court of Rome that is to say as well the Articles laid unto his charge as the Answers which he made unto them together with the Allegations Witnesses and Defences made or produced by the Counsel on either side so that nothing had been wanting which was necessary to his just defence According to which supposition the said two Bishops being commanded to proceed against him caused him to be Degraded on the 14 th of February notwithstanding that he appealed from the Pope and them to a General Council and caused the said Appeal to be drawn and offered in due form of Law During the interval between his degradation and the time of his death great pains was taken by some learned men in the University to perswade him to a Retractation of his former Opinions in which unhappy undertaking no man prevailed so far as a Spanish Ftier by whom it was suggested to him How acceptable it would be to the King and Queen how pleasing to the Lords who most dearly loved him and how gainfull to himself in regard both of his soul and his temporal being assuring him or at least putting him in good hope that he should not onely have his life but be restored again to his antient dignity and that there should be nothing in the Realm which the Queen would not easily grant him whether it pleased him to make choice of Riches and Honors or otherwise should desire the sweet retirements of a private life without the charge and trouble of a publick Ministery and all this to be compassed without putting himself to any more pains than the subscribing of his name to a piece of paper which was made ready for his hand By these temptations and many others of the like alluring and deceitfull nature he suffered himself to be prevailed upon so far as to sign the Writing in which were briefly comprehended the chief points of Doctrine defended in the Church of Rome and by him formerly condemned both in publick and private The obtaining whereof occasioned great joy amongst the Papists and no lesse sorrow and astonishment in the hearts of those who cordially were affected to the Reformation But all this could not save him from being made a sacrifice to revenge and avarice The Queen had still a vindicative spirit against him for the injury which she conceived had been done to her mother and the Cardinal who hitherto had enjoyed the profits of the See of Canterbury as an usu-fructuary was altogether as solicitous for getting a right and title to them as the sole Proprietary No way to pacifie the one and satisfie the desires of the other but by bringing him when he least looked for it to the fatall Stake And to the fatall Stake they brought him on the 21 of March when he had for some time flattered himself in a conceit like the King of Amaleck that the bitternesse of deaâ—h was past Finding the contrary he first retracts his Retractarion and after punisheth that hand which had subscribed it by holding it forth into the flame and suffering it to be consumed before the rest of his body had felt the fire The residue of his body being burnt to ashes his heart was found entire untouched in the midst of the sinders Which possibly may serve as a witnesse for him that his heart stood fast unto the Truth though with his hand he had subscribed some Popish Errors Which whether it were done out of human frailty on the hope of life or out of a
also the Calvinian Doctrines to the discredit of the state of the Church of England in King Edwards time the great grief of the Martyrs and other godly men in the reign of Queen Marâ— and to the raising of most unquenchable combustions in all parts of the Church under Queen Elizabeth It was not long after the setling of the Liturgie before Whitehead left the Ministry of the English Congregation which Cox obtained for Mr. Horn whom he knew to be a man both of courage constancy And that being done he left the Congregation and so withdraws himself to â—ralsburge there to enjoy the company of Peter Martyr with whom he was intimately acquainted while he lived in Christ-Church By his departure a new gap is opened to another dissention Some words had passed at a supper intended rather for increase of charity than the breach of friendship betwixt Horn and Ashâ—ey Horn the chief Pastor of the flock and Ashâ—ey a Gentleman of good note in the Lay part of it Some three dayes after being the 16th of January Ashleyâ—is is cited to appear at the house of one of the Elders to answer for some words which he had spoken in contempt of the Ministry But from the Elders he appeals to the Congregation amongst whom he prevails so fat that they send a message by two of their company to the Pastor and Elders requiring them to proceed no further in the cause Horn being backed by Chambers the publick Treasurer excepts against this message as decreed at a private Conventicle not by the general suffrages of the Congregation and thereupon resolves to stand to that Authority which formerly had been conferred on him and the rest of the Elders by the Rules of their Discipline Ashley and his adhâ—rents on the other side declare their former private meeting not to be a â—onventicle protest against the Pastor and Elders as an adverse party and therefore not in a capacity to sit as Judges in the present case and set themselves upon the making of a Book of Discipline for the curbing the exorbitant power for such they thought it of the Pastor and Elders The Pastor and Elders thereupon forsake their Offices and on the 5th of February being the next day of publick meeting take place amongst the rest as private persons The Congregation full but the Pulpit empty which put the rest upon a humour of electing others to take the publick charge upon them The noise of these disorders awakes the Magistrates who command Horn and Chambers to forbear the congregation until further Order and afterwards restoring them to their former authority by publick Edict were contradicted in it by Ashley's party who having got some power into their hands were resolved to keep it In the mean time a Book of Discipline had been drawn and tendered to the Congregation on the â—4th of February According to the Rules whereof the supreme power in all Ecclesi astical causes was put into the hands of the Congregations and the disposing of the publick monies committed to the trust of certain Officers by the name of Deacons This makes the breach wider than before Horn and his party labouring to retain the old the other to establish the new Discipline of their own devising The Magistrates not able to agree the difference dispatch their Letters unto Sâ—ralsburge of the 3d. of April desiring Dr Cox and Dr. Sandys together with Robert Bertie Esq to undertake the closing of the present rupture To their arbitrement each party is content to submit the controversie but differ in conclusion in the terms of their Reference Much talk and no small scandal groweth upon these divisions not made the less by the Pen-combats between Horn and Whitehead In the end a form of reconciliation is drawn up by some of the English who more endeavoured the peace of the Church than the interess of either party But those who stood for the new Discipline being grown the stronger refused to submit themselves to any establishment by which the power of the diffusive body of the Congregation might be called in question Whereupon Horn and Chambâ—rs depart to Stralshurge from whence Chambers writ his Letters to them of the 20th of June and after of the 30th of July but to no effect They had before proceeded to the election of some new Ministers March the 22d Against which though Horn and his opposed yet they concluded it for the present on the 29th and now they mean to stand unto the conclusion let Horn and Chambers go or tarry as best pleased themselves Such were the troubles and disorders in the hurch of Franckfort occasioned first by a dislike of the publick Liturgy before which they preferred the nakedness and simplicity of the French and Genevian Churches and afterwards continued by the opposition made by the general body of the Congregation against such as were appointed to be Pastors and Rulers over them Hence the beginning of the Puritan faction against the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church that of the Presbyterians against the Bishops of Episcopal Government and finally that also of the Independents against the superintendency of the Pastors and Elders The terrible effects whereof will appear hereafter if God shall give me means and opportunity to carry on the History of those disturbances which have been raised by the Pâ—ritans or Presbyterians against the Orders of this Church and the peace of Christendome But sorrows seldome go alone the abberrations from the Government and Form and Worship established in the Church of England drew on and alteration also in point of Doctrine Such of the English as had retired into Geneva imploy themselves in setting out a new Translation of the Bible in the English Tongue which afterwards they published with certain marginal Notes upon it most of them profitable for the understanding of the Text but so that some were heâ—eâ—odox in point of Doctrine some dangerous and seditious in reference to the Civil Magistrate and some as scandalous in respect of Episcopal Government From this time the Calvinian Doctrine of Predestination began to be dispersed in English Pamphlets as the only necessary Orthodox and saving truth Knox publisheth a book Against an adversary of God's predestination wherein it is declared That whatsoever the Ethnicks and ignorant did attribute to Fortune by Christians is to be â—ssigned to God's heavenly providence that we 〈◊〉 to judge nothing to come of Fortune but that all cometh by the determinate counsel of God and finally that it would be displeasing unto God if we should esteem any thing to proceed from any other and that we do not only behold him as the principal cause of all things but also the author appointing all things to the one or the other by his only counsel After comes out a Book first written in French and afterwards by some of them translated into English which they called A brief Declaration of the Table of predestination in which it is put down
and the magnificent Procession of the Knights of the Garter he takes his leave of the King and Queen is re-conveyed unto his lodging and on the 3d. of May embarks for Russiâ— accompanied with four good ships well frought with Merchandise most proper for the trade of that Country to which they were bound The costly presents sent by him from the King and Queen to the Russian Emperour and those bestowed upon himself I leave to be reported by him at his coming home and the relation of John Stow in his Annals of England fol. 630 Nor had I dwelt so long upon these particulars but to set forth the ancient splendor and magnificence of the State of England from which we have so miserably departed in these latter times Worse entertainment found an agent from the French King at his coming hither because he came on a worse errand Stafford an English Gentleman of a Noble Family having engaged himself in some of the former enterprises against this Queen and finding no good fortune in them retired with divers others to the Court of France from whence they endeavoured many times to create some dangers to this Realm by scattering and dispersing divers scandalous Pamphlets and seditious papers tending to the apparent defamation of the King and Queen And having got some credit by these practices amongst the Ministers of that King he undertakes to seize upon some Fortress or Port Town of England and put the same into the hands of the French In prosecution of which plot accompanied with some English Rebels and divers French Adventurers intermingled with them he seizeth on the strong Castle of Scurborough in the Coâ—nty of York From thence he published â— most traiterous and seditious Manifest in which he trayterously affirmed the Queen neither to be the Rightful Queen of this Realm nor to be worthy of the Title affirming that the King had brought into this Realm the number of twelve thousand Spaniards who had possess'd themselves of twelve of the best Holds in all the Kingdome upbraiding the Queen with her misgovernment and taking to himself the Title of Protector of the Realm of England But the Queen being secretly advertised of the whole design by the diligence of Dr Nicholas Wotton Dean of Canterbury who was then Ambassador in that Court Order was taken with the Earl of Westmorland and other Noble men of those parts to watch the Coasts and have a care unto the safety of those Northern Provinces By whom he was so closely watch'd and so well attended that having put himself into that Castle on the 24th he was pulled out of it again on the last of April from thence brought prisoner unto London condemned of Treason executed on the Tower Hill May 28. and on the morrow after three of his accomplices were hanged at Tyburn cut down and quartered But as it was an ill wind which blowes no body good so this French Treason so destructive to the chief conspiratours redounded to the great benefit and advantage of Philip. He had for three years borne the Title of King of England without reaping any profit and commodity by it But being now engaged in war with King Henry the 3d. though in pursute rather of his fathers quarrels than any new ones of his own he takes this opportunity to move the Queen to declare her self against the French to assist him in his war against that King for the good of her Kingdoms It was not possible for the Queen to separate her interest from that of her husband without hazarding some great unkindness if not a manifest breach between them She therefore yields to his desire and by her Proclamation of the 7th of June chargeth that King in having an hand not only in the secret practices of the Duke of Northumberland but also in the open rebellion of Wâ—at and his confederates She also laid unto his charge that Dudley Ashton and some other male contents of England were entertained in the house of his Ambassadors where they cotrived many treasons and conspiraâ—ies against her and her Kingdom that flying into France they were not only entertained in the Court of that King but relieved with pensions Finally that he had aided and encouraged Stafford with shipping men mony and munition to invade her Realm thereby if it were possible to dispossess her of her Crown She therefore gives notice to her subjects that they should forbear all traffick and commerce with the Realm of France from which she had received so many injuries as could admit no reparation but by open war And that she might not seem to threaten what she never intended she causeth an army to be raised consisting of one thousand horse four thousand foot and two thousand pioners which she puts under the command of the Earl of Pembrook and so dispatcheth them for Flanders to which they came about the middle of July King Philip had gone before on the 6th of that month and all things here were followed with such care and diligence that the army staid not long behind but what they did falls not within the compass of this present year All which remains to be remembred in this present year relates unto such changes and alterations as were made amongst the Governors of the Church and the Peers of the Realm It hath been signified before that White of Lincoln had prevailed by his friends in Court to be translated unto Winchester as the place of his Nativity and Education To whom succeeded Dr Thomas Watson Master of St John's College in Cambridge and Dean of Durham elected to the See of Lincoln before Christmass last and acting by that name and in that capacity against the dead body of Martin Bucer To Day of Chichester who deceased on the 2d of Aug. in the beginning of his year succeeded Dr John Christopherson a right learned man Mr of Trinity College in Cambridge and Dean of Norwich elected about the same time when the other was and acting as he did against Bucer and Fagius as also did Dr Cuthbert Scot who at that time was actually invested in the See of Chester upon the death of Dr â—oats the preceding Bishop And finally in the place of Aldrick Bishop of Carlisle who died on the 5th of March 1555. Dr Owen Oglethorp President of Magdalen College in Oxon and Dean of Windsor receives Consecration to that See in that first part of this year but the particular day and time thereof I have no where found Within the compass of this year that is to say the 4th year of the Reign of this Queen died two other Bishops Salcot or Capon Bishop of Salisbury and Chambers the first Bishop of Peterborough to the first of which there was no successor actually consecrated or confirmed for the reasons to be shewed anon in the Reign of this Queen But to the other succeeded Dr David Pool Dr of both laws Dean of the Arches Chancellor to the Bishop of Lichfield and Arch-Deacon of Derby elected
been necessary in point of State that so great a Princess should not die without some of her Bishops going before and some comming after Her funeral solemnized at Westminster with a Mass of Reqâ—iem in the wonted form on the 13th of December then next following and her body interred on the North side of the Chapel of King Henry the seventh her beloved Grandfather I shall not trouble my self with giving any other character of this Queen than what may be gathered from her story much less in descanting on that which is made by others who have heaped upon her many gracious praise-worthy qualities of which whether she were Mistress or not I dispute not now She was indeed a great Benefactresse to the Clergy in releasing them of their Tenths and First-fruits but she lost nothing by the bargain the Clergy paid her back again in their Bills of Subsidies which growing into an annual payment for seven years together and every Subsidy amounting to a double Tenth conduced as visibly to the constant fillâ—ng of the Exchequer as the payment of the Tenths and First-fruits had done before That which went clearly out of her purse without retribution was the re-edifying and endowment of some few Religious Houses mentioned in their proper place she also built the publick Schools in the University of Oxon for which commemorated in the list of their Benefactors which being decayed in tract of time and of no beautiful structure when they were at the best were taken down about the year 1612. in place whereof but on a larger extent of ground was raised that goodly and magnificent Fabrick which we now behold And though she had no followers in her first foundations yet by the last she gave encouragement to two worthy Gentlement to add two new Colleges in Oxon to the former number Sir â—homas Pope one of the Visitors of Abeys and other Religious Houses in the time of King Henry had got into his hands a small College in Oxon long before founded by the Bishop and Prior of Durham to serve for a Nursery of Novices to that greater Monastery with some of the Lands thereunto belonging and some others of his own he erected it into a new Foundation consisting of a President twelve Fellows and as many Scholars and called it by the name of Trinity College A College sufficiently famous for the education of the learned and renowned Selden who needs no other Tâ—tles of honor than what may be gathered from his Books and the giving of eight thousand Volumes of all sorts to the Oxford Library Greater as to the number of Fellows and Scholars was the Foundation of Sir Thomas White Lord Mayor of London in the year 1553. being the first year of the Queen who in the place where formerly stood an old House or Hostel commonly called Barnards Inne erected a new College by the name of St. John Baptists College consisting of a President fifty Fellows and Scholars besides some Officers and Servants which belonged to the Chapel the vacant places to be filled for the most part out of the Merchant Taylors School in London of which Company he had been free before his Mayoralty A College founded as it seems in a lucky hour affording to the Church in less than the space of eighty years no fewer than two Archbishops and four Bishops that is to say Doctor William Laud the most renowned Archbishop of Canterbury of whom more else-where Doctor Tobiâ— Matthews the most reverend Archbishop of York Doctor William Juxon Bishop of London and Lord Treasurer Doctor John Bucheridge Bishop of Elie Doctor Rowâ—and Serchfield Bishop of Bristol Doctor Boyl Bishop of Cork in the Realm of Ireland Had it not been for these Foundations there had been nothing in this Reign to have made it memorable but onely the calamities and misfortunes of it ECCLESIA RESTAVRATA OR THE HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION of the CHURCH OF ENGLAND CONTAINING The Beginning Progress and Successes of it the Counsels by which it was conducted the Rules of Piety and Prudence upon which it was Founded the several Steps by which it was promoted or retarded in the Change of Times FROM The first Preparations to it by King HENRY the Eight untill the Legal Settling and Establishment of it under Queen ELIZABETH TOGETHER With the Intermixture of such Civil Actions and Affairs of State as either were Co-incident with it or related to it BY PETER HEYLYN LONDON Printed for H. Twyford T. Dring J. Place W. Palmer to be sold in Vine-Court Middle-Temple the George in Fleet-street Furnival 's Inne-Gate in Holborn and the Palm-Tree in Fleet-street MDCLXI To the Most Sacred MAJESTY OF KING CHARLES THE SECOND Most Gracious Sovereign IT was an usual Saying of King JAMES Your Majestie 's most Learned Grand-Father of Blessed Memory that Of all the Churches in the World He knew not any which came nearer to the Primitive Pattern for Doctrine Government and Worship then the Reformed Church of England A Saying which He built not upon Fancy and Affection onely but on such Just and Solid Reasons as might sufficiently endear it to all Knowing Men. The Truth and Certainty whereof will be made apparent by the following History which here in all Humility is offered to Your Majestie 's View It is Dread Sir an History of the Reformation of the Church of ENGLAND with all the Various Fortunes and Successes of it from the first Agitations in Religion under HENRY the Eight which served for a Preamble thereunto until the Legal Settling and Establishment of it by the great Queen ELIZABETH of Happy Memory A Piece not to be Dedicated to any other then Your Sacred Majesty who being rais'd by God to be a Nursing-Father to this part of His Church may possibly discharge that Duty with the Greater Tenderness when You shall finde upon what Rules of Piety and Christian Prudence the Work was carryed on by the first Reformers Which being once found it will be no hard matter to determine of such Means and Counsels whereby the Church may be restored to her Peace and Purity from which She is most miserably fallen by our late Distractions It cannot be denyed but that some Tares grew up almost immediatly with the Wheat it self and seem'd so specious to the Eye in the Blade or Stalk that they were taken by some Credulous and Confiding Men for the better Grain But still they were no more then Tares distinguished easily in the Fruits the Fruits of Errour and False Doctrine of Faction Schism Disorder and perhaps Sedition from the LORD' 's good Seed And being of an aâ—ter sowing a Supersemination as the Vulgar reads it and sown on purpose by a Cunning and Industrious Enemy to raise an Harvest to himself they neither can pretend to the same Antiquity and much less to the Purity of that Sacred Seed with which the Field was sown at first by the Heavenly Husband-man I leave the Application of this Parable to the following History and shall
conclude with this Address to Almighty God That as He hath restored Your Majesty to the Throne of Your Father and done it in so strange a manner as makes it seem a Miracle in the Eyes of Christendom so He would settle You in the same on so sure a Bottom that no Design of Mischievous and Unquiet Men may disturb Your Peace or detract any thing from those Felicities which You have acquired So prayeth Dread Sovereign Your Majestie 's most obedient Servant and most Loyal Subject PETER HEYLYN To the Reader READER I Here present thee with a Piece of as great variety as can be easily comprehended in so narrow a compass the History of an Affair of such Weight and Consequence as had a powerful Influence on the rest of Christendome It is an History of the Reformation of the Church of England from the first Agitations in Religion under HENRY the Eight untill the final settling and establishing of it in Doctrine Government and Worship under the Fortunate and most Glorious Reign of Queen ELIZABETH Nor hast thou here a bare Relation onely of such Passages as those Times afforded but a discovery of those Counsels by which the Action was conducted the Rules of Piety and Prudence upon which it was carryed the several steps by which it was promoted or retarded in the Change of Times together with the Intercurrence of such civil Concernments both at home and abroad as either were co-incident with it or related to it So that We may affirm of this present History as Florus doth of his Compendium of the Roman Stories Ut non tam populi unius quam totius generis humani that is to say That it contains not onely the Affairs of one State or Nation but in a manner of the greatest part of all Civil Governments The Work first hinted by a Prince of an undanted Spirit the Master of as great a Courage as the World had any and to say truth the Work required it He durst not else have grapled with that mighty Adversary who claiming to be Successour to St. Peter in the See of Rome and Vicar-General to Christ over all the Church had gained unto himself an absolute Sovereignty over all Christian Kings and Princes in the Western Empire But this King being violently hurried with the transport of some private Affections and finding that the Pope appeared the greatest Obstacle to his desires he first divested him by degrees of that Supremacy which had been challenged and enjoyed by his Predecessours for some Ages past and finally extinguished His Authority in the Realm of England without noise or trouble to the great admiration and astonishment of the rest of the Christian World This opened the first way to the Reformation and gave encouragement to those who enclined unto it To which the King afforded no small Countenance out of Politick Ends by suffering them to have the Bible in the Englishâ—ongue â—ongue and to enjoy the benefit of such Godly Tractates as openly discovered the Corruptions of the Church of Rome But for his own part he adhered to his old Religion severely persecuted those who dissented from it and dyed though Excommunicated in that Faith and Doctrine which he had sucked in as it were with his Mother's Milk and of the wâ—ich he shewâ—d himself so stout a Champion against Martin Luther in his first Quarrels with the Pope Next comes a Minor on the Stage just mild and gracious whose Name was made a Property to serve turns withall and his Authority abused as commonly it happeneth on the like occâ—sions to his own undoing In his first year the Reformation was resolved on but on different ends endeavoured by some Godly Bâ—shops and other Learned and Religious Men of the lower Clergy out of Judgment Conscience who managed the Affair according to the Word of God the Practice of the Primitive Times the general current and consent of the old Catholick Doctours but not without an Eye to such Foreign Churches as seemed to have most consonancy to the antient Forms Promoted with like Zeal and Industry but not with like Integrity and Christian Candour by some great men about the Court who under colour of removing such Corruptions as remained in the Church had cast their â—yes upon the spoil of Shrines and Images though still preserved in the greatest part of the Lutheran Churches and the improving of their own Fortunes by the â—hantery-Lands All which most sacrilegiously they divided amongst themselves without admitting the poor King to his share therein though nothing but the filling of his Coffers by the spoil of the one and the encrease of his Revenue by the fall of the other was openly pretended in the Conduct of it But separating this â—bliquity from the main Intendment the Work was vigorously carryed on by the King and his Councellours as appears clearly by the Doctrinals in the Book of Homilies and by the Practical part of Christian Pâ—ety in the first Publick Liturgie confirmed by Act of Parliament in the second and third year of this King and in that Act and which is more by Fox himself affirmed to have been done by the especial aid of the Holy Ghost And here the business might have rested if Catvin's Pragmatical Spirit had not interposed He first began to quarrel at some passages in this Sacred Liturgâ—e and afterwards never left solliciting the Lord Protectour and practising by his Agents on the Court the Countrey and the Universities till he had laid the first Foundation of the Zuinglian Faction who laboured nothing more then Innovation both in Doctrine and Discipline To which they were encouraged by nothing more then some improvident Indulgence granted unto John A-Lasco Who bringing with him a mixt multitude of Poles and Germans obtained the Privilege of a Church for himself and his distinct in Government and Forms of Worship from the Church of England This gave a powerful animation to the Zuinglian Gospellers as they are called by Bishop Hooper and some other Writers to practise first upon the Church who being countenanced if not headed by the Earl of Warwick who then began to undermine the Lord Protectour first quarrelled the Episcopal Habit and afterwards inveighed against Caps and Surplices against Gowns and Tippets but fell at last upon the Altars which were left standing in all Churches by the Rules of the Liturgie The touching on this String made excellent Musick to most of the Grandees of the Court who had before cast many an envious Eye on those costly Hangings thâ—t Massie Plate and other rich and preâ—ious Utensils which adorned those Altars And What need all this waste said Judas when one poor Chalice onely and perhaps not that might have served the turn Besides there was no small spoil to be made of Copes in which the Priest officiated at the Holy Sacrament some of them being made of Cloth of Tyssue of Cloth of Gold and Silver or embroidered Velvet the meanest being made of Silk or Sattin with
Queens Progenitours but that we may the better understand the State of that Family which was to Act so great a part on the Stage of England Know then that Queen Jane Seimour was Daughter of S. John Seimour of Wolf-Hall in the County of Wilts Descended from that William de S. Mauro contractedly afterwards called Seimour who by the Aide of Gilbert Lord Mareshall Earle of Pembrooke recovered Wendy aud Penhow now parts of Monmouth shire from the hands of the Welsh Anno. 1240. being the two and twentieth yeare of King Henry the thirds Reign which William as he descended lineally from the 〈…〉 d' Sancto Mauro whose name we find in the Roll of Battle Abbey amongst those Noble Families which came in with the Conquerour so was he one of the Progenitours of that S. Roger S. Maur or Seimour Knight who marryed one of the daughters and Heires of John Beauchamp of Hach a right Noble Baron who brought his Pedigree from Sybill one of the five daughters and Heires of William Mareshall the famous and most puissant Earle of Pembrooke married to William de Herrares Earle of Herrars and Darby as also from Hugh d' Vivon and William Mallet men in times past most Renowned for Estate and Chivalry which goodly Patrimony was afterwards very much augmented by the mariage of one of this Noble Family with the Daughter and Heire of the Esturmies Lords of Wolf-Hall not far from Marleborough in the County of Wilts who bare for Armes Argent 3. Dâ—mie Lions Gules And from the time of King Henry the second were by right of inheritance the Bayliffes and Guardians of the Forrest of Sarernaâ—k lying hard by which is of great note for plenty of Good Game and for a kind of Ferne there that yieldeth a most pleasant savour In remembrance whereof their Hunters Horne of a mighty bigness and tipt with silver is kept by the Earles of Hartford unto this day as a Monument of their Descent from such Noble Ancestors Out of which house came Sir John Seimour of Wolfe-Hall the Father of this Excellent Queen as also of three sons Edward Henry and Thomas of which we shall speak somewhat severally in the way of Preamble the first and last being Principal Actors on the Publique Theatre of King Edwards Reigne And first Sir Edward Seymour the Eldest son received the Order of Knighthood at the hands of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk and brother in law to King Henry the Eighth In the fifteenth yeare of whose Reign he Commanded a Right puissant Army in a War with France where he took the Town of Mont Dedier and other pieces of Importance On this foundation he began the rise of his following Fortunes exceedingly improved by the Mariage of the King with his only sister from whom on Tuesday in Whitson week Anno 1536. he received the Title of Viscount Beauchamp with reference to his Descent from the Lord John Beauchamp above mentioned and on the eighteenth of October in the yeare next following he was created Earle of Hartford A man obierved by Sir John Haywood in his History of K. Edward the sixth to be of little esteem for Wisdom Personage or Courage in Armes but found withall not onely to be very faithfull but exceeding fortunate as long as he served under the more Powerfull Plannet of King Henry the eighth About five yeares before the end of whose Reign He being then Warden of the Marches against Scotland the invasion of K. James the fifth was by his direction encountred and broken at Solâ—me Mosse where divers of the Scottish Nobility were taken Prisoners In the next yeare after accompanied with Sir John Dudly Viscount Lisle Created afterwards Earle of Warwick and Duke of Northumberland by king Edward the sixth with a handfull of men he fired Lieth and Edinborough and returned by a leisurely March 44. miles thorough the body of Scotlanâ— And in the year following he invaded the Scottish Borders wasted Tive dale and the Marches defacing all those Parts with spoyle and ruine As fortunate in his undertakings against the French as against the Scoâ—s for being appointed by the King to view the Fortifications upon the Marches of Callice he did not onely perform that service to the Kings contentment but with the hardy approach of 7000. English men raised an Army of 21000. French Encamped over the River before Bolloine won their Ordinance Carriage Treasure aâ—d Tents with the loss only of one man winning in his return from thence the Caâ—tle of Ouling commonly called the Red Pile within shot and rescue of the Town of Ardes And finally in the yeare ensuing being the last of that Kings Reign he began the Fortresses of New Haven Blackness and Bullingberg in which he plyed his worke so well that before his departure from those places he had made them tenable Such were hâ—s Actings in the time of King Henry the Eighth against whose Powerfull Genius there was no withstanding In all whose time he never rose to any haughtiness in himselfe or contempt of others but still remained curteous and affable towards all choosing a course least subject to envy between stâ—ffe stubbornness and servile flattery without aspiring any further then to hold a second place in the Kings good Grace But being left unto himself and either overwhelmed by the Greatness of that Authority which was cast upon him in the Minority of King Edward or undermined by the practises of his cunning and malicious Enemies he suddenly became according to the usuall Disports of Fortune a calamitous ruine as being in himselfe of an easie nature apt to be wrought upon by more subtle heads and wholly Governed by his last wife of which more hereafter In the mean time we are to know that having married one of the daughters and Co-heires of William Hilol of Woodlands in the County of Dorset he had by her amongst other children a son called Edward from whom descends Sir Edward Seimâ—ure of Berrie Pomerie in the County of Devon Knight and Barron After whose death he married Ann the daughter of Sir Edward Stanhop by whom he had a soâ— called Edward also on whom he was prevailed with to entaile both his Lands and Honours the children of the former bed being pretermitted Concerning which there goes a stoâ—y that the Earle having been formerly â—mployed in France did there acquaint himselfe with a Learned man supposed to have great skill in Magick of whom he obtained by great rewards and importunities to let him see by the help of some Magicall perspective in what Estate all his Relations stood at home In which impertinent curiosity he was so â—arr satisfied as to behold a Gentleman of his acquaintance in a more familiar posture with his wife then was agreeable to the Honour of either Party To which Diabollicall Illusion he is said to have given so much credit that he did not only estrange himselfe from her society at his coming home but furnished his next wife with an excellent opportunity
extreame griefe of the King and the generall sorrow of the Court who had him in a High degree of veneration for his birth and Galantry It appeares also by a passage in this Act of Parliament above mentioned that the King was not only hurried to this Marriage by his own affections but by the humble petition and intercession of mâ—st of the Nobles of his Realm moved thereunto as well by the conveâ—ienâ—y of her yeares as in respect that by her excellent beauty and purenesse of flesh and blood I speak the very words of the Act it selfe she was apt God willing to concieve issue And so accordingly it proved For on the 12th of October 1537. about two of the clock in the morning she was delivered of a young Prince Christened not long after by the name of Edward but it cost her deare she dying within two dayes after and leaving this Character behind her of being the Discreetest Humblest and Fairest of all the Kings Wives It hath been commonly reported and no lesse generally believed that that childe being come unto the birth and there wanting naturall strength to be delivered his Mothers body was ripped open to give him a passage into the World and that she died of the Incision in a short time after The thing not only so related in our common Heralds but taken up for a constant and undoâ—bted truth by Sir John Haywood in his History of the Life and Reign of King Edward the sixth which notwithstanding there are many reasons to evince the contrary For first it is observed by the said Sir John Haywood that children so brought forth were by the ancient Romans esteemed fortunate and commonly proved great enterprisers with happy successe And so it is affirmed by Pliny viz. Auspicatius Enecta Matre Nascuntur c. called first Caesones and afterwards more commonly Caesares as learned Writers do averr quia caeso matris utero in Lucem prodiissent because their Mothers bodies had been opened to make passage for them Amongst whom they reckon Caeso and Fabius who was three times Consull Scipio sirnamed Affricanus Renowned for his Victories in Spain his vanquishing of Haniball and humbling the proud Cities of Carthage And besides others Julius Caesar who brought the whole Roman Empire under his Command whereas the life of this Prince was short his Reigne full of troubles and his end generally supposed to be traiterously contrived without performing any memorable Action either at home or abroad which might make him pass in the account of a fortunate Prince or any way successefull in the enterprising of Heroick Actions Besides it may appeare by two severall Letters the one written by the appointment of the Queen her selfe immediately after her delivery the other by one of her Physitians on the morrow after that she was not under any such extream necessity though questionlesse she had a hard labour of it as report hath made her For first the Queen immediately upon the birth of the Prince caused this ensuing Letter signed with her own signet to be sent unto the Lordâ— of the Privy Counsell that is to say RIght trusty and well Beloved we greet you well And forasmuch as by the inestimable goodnesse and Grace of Almighty God we be delivered and brought in Childeâ—â—ed of a PRINCE concieved in most Lawfull Matrimony between my Lord the Kings Majesty and us Doubting not but that for the Love and affection you beare unto us and to the Common-Wealth of this Realme this knowledge shall be joyous and Glad Tidings unto you We have thought good to certifie you of this same To the intent ye might not only render unto God Condigne thanks and praise for so great a benefit but also continually pray for the long Continuance and preservation of the same here in this life to the Honour of God joy and pleasure of my Lord the KING and us and the Vniversall Weale quiet and tranquillity of this whole Realme Given under our signet at my Lords Mannor of Hamptonâ—Court the twelâ—th day of October But having a hard labour of it as before was said it brought her first into a very high distemper and after into a very great looseness which so accelerated the approach of death that she prepared her selfe for God according to the Rites of the Church then being And this appâ—ares by a letter of the Queenes Physitians directed in these words to the Lords of the Counsell viz. THese shall be to advise your Lordships of the Queenes Estate Yesterday afternoon she had a naturall lax by reason whereof she began to lighten and as it appeared to amend and so continued till towards night All this night she hath been very sick and doth rather appare then amend her Confessor hath been with her Grace this morning and hath done that to his office appertaineth and is even now preparing to Administer to her Grace the Sacrament of Vnction Subscribed at Hampton Court on Wednesday morning at eight of the clock by Thomas Cutland Robert Karhold Edward Bayntam John Chambers Priest William Butts George Owen So died this Noble Beautifull and Vertuous Queen to the Generall lamentation of all good Subjects and on the twelfth of November following with great Solemnity was conveyed to Windsor and there Magnificently interred in the midst of the quire In memory of whom I find this Epitaph not unworthy the greatest wits of the present times to have then been made viz. Phoenix Jana Jacet nâ—to Phaenice Dolendum est Saecula Phoenices nulla tulisse duas That is to say Here Jane a Phenix lies whose death Gave to another Phenix breath Sad case the while that no age ever Could show two Phaenixes together But to return unto the Prince It is affirmed with like confidence and as little truth that on the 13th day of October then next following that being but the sixth day after his birth he was created Prince of Wales Duke of Cornwall Earle of Chester c. In which though I may easily excuse John Stow and Bishop Goodwine who report the same yet I shall never pardon the late Lord Herbert for his incuriosity as one that had fit opportunities to know the contrary For first Prince Edward was never created Duke of Cornwall and there was no reason why he should he being actually Duke of Cornwall at the houre of his birth according to the Entaile which was made of that Dukedome to the Crown by King Edward the third And secondly he was never created Prince of Wales nor then nor any time then after following his Father dying in the midst of the preparations which were intended for the Pomp and Ceremony of that Creation This truth confessed by Sir John Haywood in his History of the Life and Reigâ— of this King and generally avowed by all our Heralds who reckon none of the children of King Henry the Eighth amongst the Princes of Wales although all of them successively by vulgar
in which he heard the greatest part of the Office till the Consecration and then Received the Blessed Sacrament on his knees as at other times saying withall as Sanders doth Relate the story That if he did not only cast himselfe upon the ground but even under it also he could not give unto the Sacrament the Honour which was due unto it The instant of his death approaching none of his Servants though thereunto desired by his Physitians durst acquaint him with it Till at last Sir Anthony Denny undertook that ungratefull office which the King entertaining with lesse impatience then was looked for from him gave order that Arch-Bishop Cramner should be presently sent for But the Arch-Bishop being then at his house in Croyden seven miles from Lambeth it was so long before he came that he found him speechlesse Howsoever applying himselfe to the Kings present condition and discoursing to him on this Point that Salvation was to be obtained only by Faith in Christ he desired the King that if he understood the effect of his words and believed the same he would signifie as much by some signe or other which the King did by ringing him gently by the hand and within short time after he gave up the Ghost when he had lived fifty five yeares seven moneths and six dayes over of which he had Reigned thirty seven yeares nine moneths and six dayes also Having brought King Henry to his death we must next see in what estate he left the Kingdome to his Son with reference to the condition of Affaâ—res both at home and abroad Abroad he left the Pope his most bitter enemy intent on all advantages for the recovery of the Power and Jurisdiction which had been exercised in England by his Predecessors and all the Princes of his Party in Germany Italy and elsewhere either in Action or Design concurring with him The Protestant Kings and Princes he had disobliged by repudiating the Lady Ann of Cleve and the precipitated death of Cromwell upon whose Power and favour with him they did most rely But nothing did moâ—e alienate their affections from him then the persecution raised at home upon the terrible Statute of the six Articles before remembered by which they saw themselves condemned and executed in the persons of those who suffered for the same Religion which themselves professed And as for the two great Kings of France and Spaine he had so carried himselfe between them that he was rather feared of both then beloved by either of them The Realms and Signeuries of Spaine excâ—pt Portugall only together with the Kingdomes of Naples Scicilie and Sardâ—nia and the Estates belonging to the House of Burgundy in the Belgick Provinces were all united in the Person of Chaâ—les the fifth to which he aâ—ded by his own proper Power and Valour the Dukedomes of Millain and Gulldress the Earldome of Zâ—tphen with the Estates of Grâ—iniâ—gen Vtrecht and Over-yssâ—ll And on the other side the French Kings were not only in the quiet possession of those goodly Territories Normandy Guienne and the rest which anciâ—ntly belonged to the Kings of England but lately had inpaâ—ronised themselves of the Dukedomes of Burgoine and Bretagne and the Earledome of Provence all meeting in the Person of King Francis the first Of which two great and puissant Princes the first being resolved to admit no equall and the second to acknowledge no superiour they endeavoured by all wayes and meanes immaginable to subdue each other whereby the Conqueror might attaine in time to the Empire of Europe It was therefore Kâ—ng Henries chiefest care as it was his interess to keep the scales to even between them that neither of them should preponderate or weigh down the other to the endangering of the rest of the Princes of Christendome Which he performed with so great constancy and courage as made him in effect the Arbitrer at all times between them So as it may be truely affirmed of him that he sate at the Helmne and Steered the great Affaires of Christendome to what point he pleased But then withall as his constant and continuall standing to thâ—s Maxime of State made him friend to neither so he was suspected of them both both having also their particular Animosities against his person and proceedings The Emperour irreconciliably incenst against him for the injury done unto his Aunt from whom he had caused himselfe to be divorced the French King no less highly enraged by the taking of Bâ—iloigne for which though the King had shuffled up a peace with France Prince Edward shall be called to a sober Reckoning when he least lookes for it To look to matters near at home we finde the Scots exasperated by his Annuall inrodes but more by his demanding the long neglected duty of Homage to be performed from that Kingdom to the Crown of England The Irish on the other side of the sea being kept under by strong hand but standing upon no good termes of affection with him the executing of the young Earle of Kildare and five of his Unckles at one time being fresh in memory and neither forgotten nor forgiven by the rest of the Clanns And as for England it self the People were generally divided into Schismes and Factions some being two stiff in their old Mumpsimus as others no lesse busie in their new Sumpsimus as he used to phrase it The Treasures of the Crown exhausted by prodigall gifts and his late chargeable Expedition against the French the Lands thereof charged with Rents and Pensions granted to Abbots Priors and all sorts of Religious Persons some of which remained payable and were paid accordingly till the time of King James and which was worst of all the Mony of the Realm so imposed and mixed that it could not pass for currant amongst Forreign Nations to the great dishonour of the Kingdome and the losse of the Merchant For though an infinite Masse of Jewels treasure in Plate and ready Mony and an incredible improvement of Revenue had acrued unto him by such an universell spoyle and dissolution of Religious Houses yet was he little or nothing the richer for it In so much that in the yeare 1543. being within lesse then seven yeares after the Generall suppression of Religious Houses he was faign to have recourse for moneyes to his Houses of Parliament by which he was supplied after an extraordinary manner the Clergy at the same time giving him a subsidy of 6. s. in the pound to be paid out of all their Spirituall Promotions poore stipendary Priests paying each 6. s. 8. d. to encrease the summe Which also was so soon consumed that the next yeare he prest his Subjects to a Benevolence for carrying on his Warr with France and Scotland and in the next obtained the Grant for all Chanteries Hospitalls Colledges and Free-Chappells within the Realm though he lived not to enjoy the benefit of it as before was said Most true it is that it was somewhat of the latest before he
cast his eye on the Lands of Bishoppricks though there were some who thought the time long till they fell upon them Concerning which there goes a story that after the Court-Harpies had devoured the greatest part of the spoyle which came by the suppression of Abbyes they began to seek some other way to satiate that greedy Appetite which the division of the former booty had left unsatisfied and for the satisfying whereof they found not any thing so necessary as the Bishops Lands This to effect Sir Thomas Seimour is imployed as the fittest man as being in favour with the King as brother to Queen Jane his most and best beloved wife and having the opportunity of accesse unto him as being one of the Gentlemen of his Privy Chamber And he not having any good affection to Arch-Bishop Cranmer desired that the experiment should be tryed on him and therefore took his time to informe the King that my Lord of Canterbury did nothing but fell his woods letting long leases for great fines and making havock of the Royalties of his Arch-Bishopprick to raise thereby a fortune to his wife and children withall he did acquaint the King that the Arch-Bishop kept no hospitality in respect of such a large Revenue and that in the opinion of many wise men it was more meet for the Bishops to have a sufficient yearely Stipend out of the Exchequer then to be so encumbred with temporall Royalties being so great a hindrance to their Studies and Pastorall Charge and that the said Lands and Royalists being taken to his Majesties use would afford him besides the said Annuall Stipends a great yearly Revenue The King soon smelt out the Device and shortly after sent him on an Errand to Lambeth about dinner time where he found all the tables in the great Hall to be very bountifully furnished the Arch-Bishop himselfe accompanied at dinner with divers persons of Quality his Table exceeding plentifully served and all things answerable to the Port of so great a Prelate Wherewith the King being made acquainted at his coming back he gave him such a Ratle for his false information and the design which visibly depended on it that neither he nor any other of the Courtiers durst stir any further in the suite whilest King Henry lived But the King considering further of it could not think fit that such a plausible Proposition as taking to himselfe the Lands of the Bishops should be made in vaine Only he was resolved to prey further off and not to fall upon the spoyle two neere the Court for feare of having more partakers in the Booty then might stand with his profit And to this end the deales with Hâ—lgate preferred not long before from Landâ—ff to the See of Yorke from whom he takes at one time no fewer then seventy Mannors and Town-ships of good old Rents given him in exchange to the like yearly value certain Impropriations Pensions Tithes and Portions of Tithes but all of an extended Rent which had accrued unto the Crown by the fall of Abbyes Which Lands he â—aid by Act of Parliament to the Dutchy of Lancaster For which see 37 Hen. 8. Câ—p 16. He dismembred also by these Acts certain Mannors from the See of Loâ—don in favâ—ur of Sir William Petie and others in the like manner from the See of Canterbury but not without some reasonable compensation or allowance for them And though by reason of his death which folâ—owed within short time after there was no further alienation made in his time of the Churches Patrimoney yet having opened such a Gap and discovered this secret that the sacred Patrimony might be alienated with so little trouble the Courtieâ—s of King Edwards time would not be kept from breaking violently into it and making up their own fortune in the spoyle of the Biâ—hopricks Of which we may â—peak more hereafter in it's proper place So impossible a thing it is for the iâ—l example of Great Princes not to finde followers in all ages especially where profit or preferment may be furthered by it But then it cannot be deâ—ied but that King Henry left the Church in many Respects in a better condition then he found it not only in order to the Reformation of Religion which none but such a Masculine Prince durst have undertaken but also in the Polity and endowments of it The Mâ—nâ—steries and Religious Houses might possibly be looked upon no otherwise then as so many excrescences upon the body of the Church exempt for the most part from the Episcopall Jurisdiction wholly depending on the Pope and such as might be taken away without any derogation to the Church in Power or Patrimony But Bishopricks being more essentiall to the constitution of the same he did not only preserve as before he found them but increased their number Such of the old Cathedralls as were founded on a Prior and Covent he changed into a Corporation of secular Priests consisting of a Deane and Prebendarles according to the proportion of their yearely rents of which sort were the Churches of Canterbury Winton Durham Elie Rochester Norwich and Carlile Six of the wealthier Monasteries he turned into Episcopall Sees that is to say the Abbyes of Westminster Peter Borough Bristoll Glocester and Chester with that of Oâ—sney for the See of the Bishop of Oxon assigning to every new Episcopall See its Deane and Chapter and unto every such Cathedrall a competent number of Quiremen and other Officers all of them liberally endowed and provided for And that the Church might be continually furnished with sufficient Seminaries he sounded a Grammer Schoole in every one of his Cathedralls either old or new with Annuall pensions to the Master and some allowance to be made to the children yearely and ordained also that in each of the two Universities there should be publick Readers in the faculties of Divinity Law and Physick and in the Greek and Hebrew Tongues all which he pensioned and endowed with lâ—berall Saâ—aries as the times then were Besides which publique benefactions he confirmed Cardinall Wolsies Colledge in Oxon by the name of Kings Colledge first and of Christ church afterwards and erected that most beautifull piâ—e of Trinity Colledge in Cambridge those being the two faâ—rest and most magnificent foundations in the Christian World As for the Polity of the Church he setled it in such a manner that Arch-bishops and Bishops might be chosen confirmed and consecrated and all the Subjects be relieved in their suits and Grievances without having such Recourse to the Court of Rome as formerly had drained the Realm of so much Treasure For having by his Proclamation of the 19th of September Anno 1530. prohibited all addresses and Appeales to the Popes of Rome he prevailed so farr upon his Bishops and Clergy intangled by the Cardinalls fall in a Premunire that they acknowledged him in their Convocation to be the Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England and signified as much in a Publick Instrument bearing date the
without some intermissions by the King deceased and therefore to be put in Execution with the greater safety For though the young King by Reason of his tender Age could not but want a great proportion of His Father's Spirit for carrying on a work of such weight and moment yet he wanted nothing of that power in Church-concernment which either Naturally was inherent in the Crown Imperial or had been Legally vested in it by Acts of Parliament Neither could His Being in Minority nor the Writings in His Name by the Lord Protectour and the Rest of the Council make any such difference in the Case as to invalidate the Proceedings or any of the Rest which followed in the Reformation For if they did the Objection would be altogether as strong against the Reformation made in the Minority of King Josias as against this in the Minority of the present King That of Josias being made as Josephus telleth us by the Advice of the Elders as this of King EDVVARD the Sixth by the Advice of the Council And yet it cannot be denyed but that the Reformation made under King Iâ—sias by Advice of His Council was no less pleasing unto God nor less valid in the Eys of all His Subjects then those of Jeboshaphat and Hezekiah in their Riper years who perhaps acted singly on the strength of their Own Judgements onely without any Advice Now of Josias we are told by the said Historian That When He grew to be twelve years old He gave manifest Approbation of His Piety and Justice For He drew the People to a conformable Course of Life and to the Detestation and Abolishing of Idols that were no Gods and to the Service of the Onely True God of their Fore-Fathers And considering the Actions of His Predecessours He began to Rectifie them in that wherein they were deficient with no less Circumspection then if He had been an Old Man And that which He found to be Correspondent and Advisedly done by them that did He both maintain and imitate All which things He did both by Reason of His Innated Wisdom as also by the Aâ—moâ—shment and Council of His Elders in following orderly the Laws not onely in matters of Religion but of Civil Politie Which puts the Parallel betwixt the two young Kings in the Case before us above all Exception and the Proceedings of King Edward or His Council rather beyond all Dispute Now whereas Question hath been made whether the twenty fourth Injunction for Labouring on the Holy Day in time of Harvest extend as well to the Lord's Day as the Annual Festivals The matter seems to any well-discerning eye to be out of Question For in the third Chapter of the Statute made in the fifth and sixth years of King Edward the Sixth when the Reformation was much more advanced then it was at the present the Names and Number of such Holy Days as were to be observed in this Church are thus layed down That is to say All Sundaies in the year the Feasts of the Circumcision of our Lord Jesus Christ of the Epiphany c. with all the Rest still kept and there named particularly And then it followeth in the Act That it shall and may be lawfull for every Husband-man Labourer Fisher-man and to all and every other person or persons of what Estate Degree or Condition he or they be upon the Holy-Days afore-said in Harvest or at any other times in the year when necessity shall so require to Labour Ride Fish or Work any kind of work at their free-will and Pleasure any thing in this Act to the contrary notwithstanding The Law being such there is no question to be made in point of practice nor consequently of the meaning of the King's Injunction For further opening of which Truth we finde that not the Country onely but the Court were indulged the Liberty of attending business on that day it being Ordered by the King amongst other things That the Lords of the Council should upon Sundays attend the publique Affairs of this Realm dispatch Answers to Letters for good order of State and make full dispatches of all things concluded the Week before Provided alwaies That they be present at Common Prayer and that on every Sunday-Night the King's Secretary should deliver him a Memorial of such things as are to be debated by the Privy Council in the week ensuing Which Order being compared with the words of the Statute may serve sufficiently to satisfie all doubts and scruples touching the true intent and meaning of the said Injunction But as this Question was not startled till the Later Times when the Lord's Day began to be advanced into the Reputation of the Jewish Sabbath so was there nothing in the rest of the said Injunctions which required a Commentary Some words and Passages therein which seem absurd to us of this present Age being then clearly understood by all and every one whom they did concern Published and given in charge by the Commissioners in their several Circuits with great Zeal and Chearfullness and no less readily Obeyed in most parts of the Realms both by Priests and People who observed nothing in them either new or strange to which they had not been prepared in the Reign of the King deceased None forwarder in this Compliance then some Learned men in and about the City of London who not long since had shewed themselves of a contrary Judgement Some of them running before Authority and others keeping even pase with it but few so confident of themselves as to lagg behind It was Ordered in the twenty first That at the time of High Mass the Epistle and Gospel should be read in the English Tongue and That both at the Mattens and Even-Song a Chapter out of the New Testament should be also read And for Example to the rest of the Land the Complime being a part of the Evening Service was sung in the King 's Chapel on Mâ—nday in the Easter-week then falling on the eleventh of April in the English Tongue Doctour Smith Master of Whittington-College in London and Reader in Divinity at the King's-College at Oxford afterwards better known by the name of Christ-Church had before published two Books One of them written In Defence of the Mass The other endeavouring to prove That unwritten Verities ought to be believed under pain of Damnation But finding that these Doctrines did not now beat according to the Pulse of the Times he did voluntarily retract the said Opinions declaring in a Sermon at Saint Paul's Cross on Sunday the fifteenth of May that his said former Books and Teachings were not only erroneous but Heretical The like was done in the Moneth next following by Doctour Pern afterwards Master of Peter-House in Cambridge who having on Saint George's day delivered in the Parish-Church of Saint Andrew Vndershaft for sound Catholick Doctrine That the Pictures of Christ and of the Saints were to be adored upon the seventeenth day of June declared himself in the
him they sent him Prisoner to the Fleet where he remained from the twenty fifth of September till the seventh of January the King's Commissioners proceeding in the mean time without any disturbance With less aversness but with success not much unlike was the business entertained by Dr. Edmond Bonner then Bishop of London whom the Commissioners found far more tractable then could have been expected from a man of so rough a Nature and one so cordially affected to the Church of Rome The Commissioners Authorised for this Imployment were Sir Anthony Cook and Sir John Godsal Knights John Godsal Christopher Nevinson Doctours of the Laws and John Madew Doctour in Divinity who sitting in St. Paul's Church on the first day of September called before them the said Bishop Bonner John Royston the renowned Polydore Virgil and many other of the Dignitaries of the said Cathedral to whom the Sermon being done and their Commission openly read they ministred the Oath of the King's Supremacy according to the Statute of the thirty first of King Henry the Eighth requiring them withall to present such things as stood in need to be Reformed Which done they delivered to him a Copy of the said Injunctions together with the Homilies set forth by the King's Authority received by him with Protestation that he would observe them if they were not contrary to the Law of God and the Statutes and Ordinances of the Church Which Protestation he desired might be enrolled amongst the Acts of the Court But afterwards considering better with himself as well of his own Danger as of the Scandal and ill Consequents which might thence arise he addressed himself unto the King revoking his said Protestation and humbly submitting himself to His Majestie 's Pleasure in this manner following Whereas I Edmond Bishop of London at such time as I received the King's Majestie 's Injunctions and Homilies of my most Dread and Sovereign Lord at the Hands of His Highness Visitours did unadvisedly make such Protestation as now upon better consideration of my Duty of Obedience and of the evil Example that might ensue unto others thereof appeareth to me neither Reasonable nor such as might well stand with the Duty of a most humble Subject for so much as the same Protestation at my Request was then by the Register of the Visitation Enacted and put in Record I have thought it my Duty not onely to declare before your Lordships that I do now upon better consideration of my Duty renounce and revoke my said Protestation but also most humbly beseech your Lordships that this my Revocation of the same may be in like wise put in the same Records for a perpetual Memory of the Truth most humbly beseeching your Good Lordships both to take order that it may take effect and also that my former unadvised doings may be by your good Mediations pardoned of the King's Majesty Edmond London This humble carriage of the Bishop so wrought upon the King and the Lords of the Council that the edg of their displeasure was taken off though for a terrour unto others and for the preservation of their own Authority he was by them committed Prisoner to the Fleet. During the short time of whose Restraint that is to say on the Eighteenth day of the same Moneth of September the Letany was sung in the English Tongue in Saint Paul's Church between the Quire and the High Altar the Singers kneeling half on the one side and half on the other And the same day the Epistle and Gospel was also read at the High Mass in the English Tongue And about two Moneths after that is to say on the seventeenth day of November next following Bishop Bonner being then restored to his former Liberty the Image of Christ best known in those Times by the name of the Rood together with the Images of Mary and John and all other Images in that Church as also in all the other Churches of London were taken down as was commanded by the said Injunctions Concerning which we are to note That though the Parliament was then sitting whereof more anon yet the Commissioners proceeded onely by the King's Authority without relating any thing to that High Court in this weighty Business And in the speeding of this Work as Bishop Bonner together with the Dean and Chapter did perform their parts in the Cathedral of Saint Paul so Bellassere Arch-Deacon of Colchester and Doctour Gilbert Bourn being at that time Arch-Deacon both of London and Essex but afterwards preferred by Queen Mary to the Bishoprick of Bath and Wells were no less Diligent and Officious in doing the like in all the Churches of their Respective Jurisdictions according to the Charge imposed upon them by his Majestie 's Visitours In the mean time whilst matters were thus calmly Acted on the Stage of England all things went no less fortunately forward with the Lord Protectour in his War with Scotland in which he carried himself with no less Courage and Success when it came to blows then he had done with Christian Prudence before he put himself on the Expedition For having taken Order for his Forces to be drawn together he thought it most expedient to his Affairs to gain the start in point of Reputation with his very Enemies by not ingaging in a War untill they had refused all Terms of Peace And to this end a Manifest is dispatched unto them declaring the Motives which induced him to put this Kingdom into a posture of Arms. In which he remembred them of the Promises Seals and Oaths which by publick Authority had passed for concluding this Marriage That These being Religious Bonds betwixt God and their Souls could not by any Politick Act of State be dissolved untill their Queen should attain unto years of Dissent Adding that The Providence of God did therein manifestly declare it self in that the Male-Princes of Scotland failing the Kingdom was left unto a Daughter and in that King Henry left onely one Son to succeed That These two Princes were agreeable both for Years and Princely Qualities to be joyned in Marriage and thereby to knit both Realms into One That This Vnion as it was like to be both easily done and of firm continuance so would it be both profitable and Honourable to both the Realms That Both the Easiness and Firmness might be conjectured for that both People are of the same Language of like Habit and Fashion of like Quality and Condition of Life of one Climate not onely annexed entirely together but severed from all the World besides That as these are sure Arguments that both discended from one Original so by Reason that Likeness is a great Cause of Liking and of Love they would be most forcible Means both to joyn and hold them in one Body again That Profit would rise by extinguishing Wars between the two Nations by Reason whereof in former times Victories abroad have been impeached Invasions and Seditions occasioned the Confines of both Realms lay'd wast
look upon themselves and upon their enemies themselves dreadful their enemies gorgeous and brave on their side men on the other spoyle in case either through flowness or cowardise they did not permit them to escape who â—o now already had began their flight And to say truth the English having changed their Ground to gain the Hill which â—â—y near their Shipping and which also gave them the advantage both of Sun and Wind wrought an opinion in the Scots that they dislodged to no â—ther end then to recover their Ships that they might save themselves though they lost their Carriages In confidence whereof they quitted a place of great strength where they were incamped and from which the whole Army of England was not able to force them But the old English Proverb telleth us that They that reckon without their Host are to reckon twice and so it fared with this infatuated People For on the tenth of September the Battails being ready to joyn a Peece of Ordnance discharged from the Galley of England took off five and twenty of their men amongst whom the eldest Son of the Lord Graham was one Whereupon four thousand Archers terrified with so unexpected a slaughter made a stand and could never after be brought on so that they stood like men amazâ—d as neither having Hearts to Fight nor Opportunity to Fly Which consternation notwithstanding the Lord Gray being sent with a strong Party of Horse to give the Onset found the Main Body so well Embattailed and such a Valiant Opposition made by a stand of Pikes that they were almost as impenetrable as a Rock of Adamants till being terrified by the English Ordnance which came thundering on them from the top of the Hill and galled by the Great-Shot from the Ships they began to brangle Which being perceived by the English they gave a loud Shout crying They Fly They Fly and thereby so astonished the affrighted Enemy that they began to fly indeed and presently throwing down their Arms betook themselves unto their Heels Many were slain upon the Place more executed in the Chase and not a few in the Esk which so improvidently they had passed the day before so that the number of the slain was thought to have amounted to fourteen thousand About fifteen hundred of both sorts were taken Prisoners amongst which the daring Earl of Huntly was one of the Chief who being after asked How he liked the Marriage is said to have returned this Answer That He could well enough brook the Wedding but that he did not like that kind of Woing Amongst the number of the slain were found good store of Monks and Friers some thousands of which had put themselves into the Army which had been raised especially by their Power and Practices The Greatness of the Booty in Arms and Baggage was not the least cause that the English reaped no better Fruit from so great a Victory and did not prosecute the War to an absolute Conquest For being intent in pillaging the dead and gathering up the Spoils of the field and solacing themselves in Leith for five dayes together they gave the Scots time to make Head again to fortifie some Strong places on the other side of the Fryth and to remove the Queen to Dun-britton-Castle from whence they conveyed her into France in the year next following And though the loss rather then neglect of this opportunity is to be attributed in the first place to God's secret pleasure who had reserved the Union of the Kingdoms till an happier time yet were there many Second Causes and subordinate Motives which might prevail upon the Lord Protectour to return for England without advancing any further For either he might be taken off by the Earl of Warwick who then began to cast an Envious eye on his Power and Greatness Or might be otherwise unwilling of his own accord to tempt his Fortune any further by hazarding that Honour in a second Battail which he had acquired in the first Or he might think it more conducible to his Affairs to be present at the following Parliament in which he had some work to do which seemed more needfull to him then the War with Scotland The good Success whereof would be ascribed to his Officers and Commanders but the Misfortunes wholly reckoned upon His account Or finally which I rather think he might conceive it necessary to preserve his Army and Quarter it in the most convenient places near the English Borders that it might be ready at Command upon all occasions if his Designs should meet with any opposition as before was said And this may be believed the rather because that having fortified some Islands in the Mouth of the Fryth he Garisoned the greatest part of his Army in Hume-Castle and other Peeces of importance most of them lying near together and the furthest not above a days March from Berwick Now as concerning the Day in which this Victory was obtained I finde two notable Mistakes The one committed by the Right Reverend Bishop Godwin and the other by the no less Learned Sir John Hayward By Bishop Godwin it is placed exceeding rightly on the tenth of September but then he doth observe it as a thing remarkable That this memorable Victory was obtained on the very same day in which the Images which had been taken out of the several Churches were burned in London Whereas we are informed by John Stow a diligent Observer of Days and Times That the Images in the Churches of London were not taken down before the seventeenth of November And we are told by Sir John Hayward that the day of this Fight was the tenth of December which must be either a mistake of the Press or a slip of the Pen it being noted in the words next following That on the same day thirty four years afore the Scots had been defeated by the English at Flodden-field Which though it pointeth us back to the Moneth of September yet the mistake remaineth as unto the Day that Battail being fought not on the tenth but the ninth of September as all our Writers do agree But leaving these Mistakes behind us let us attend the Lord Protectour to the Court of England Towards which he hastened with such speed that he stayed but twenty five days upon Scotish Ground from his first Entrance to his Exit And being come unto the Court he was not onely welcomed by the King for so great a Service with a Present of 500l per Ann. to him and to his Heirs for ever but highly Honoured by all sorts of people the rather in regard that he had bought so great a Victory at so cheap a Rate as the loss of sixty Horse onely and but one of his Foot And now 't is high time to attend the Parliament which took beginning on the fourth of November and was Prorogued on the twenty fourth of December following In which the Cards were so well packed by Sir Ralph Sadlier that there was no need of
not put the same in Execution Which being done by Pope Innocent the Fourth in Consecrating certain English Bishops at Lyons in France without the King's Knowledge Consent it was observed by Matthew Paris to be dishourable to the King and of great Dammage to the Kingdom So much the more by how much the Mischief grew more common and the Design concealed under that Disguise became more apparent which plainly was that being bound unto the Pope in the stricter Bonds and growing into a Contempt of their Natural King they might the more readily be inclined to worke any Mischief in the Kingdom The Danger whereof being considered by King Edward the First He came at last to this Conclusion with the Popes then being that is to say That the said Priors and Convents or the said Deans and Chapters as the Case might vary before they proceeded to any Election should demand the King 's Writ of Congâ—â— D'â—esliere and after the Election made to crave his Royal Assent unto it for Confirmation of the same And so much was avowed by the Letters of King Edward the Third to Pope Clement the Fifth In which it was declared That all the Cathedral Churches in England were Founded and Endowed by His Progenitours and that therefore as often as those Churches became void of a Bishop they were filled again with fit Persons by His said Progenitours as in their own Natural and proper Right The like done by the French Kings to this very day partly by virtue of the Pragmatical Sanction established at the Councel of Basil and partly by the Concordate between King Francis the First and Pope Leo the Tenth And the like also challenged by the State of Venice within the Verge and Territories of that Republick For which consult the English History of that State Decad. 5. lib. 9. fol. 229. So that upon the whole matter there was no Innovation made as to this particular but a Restoring to the Crown an antient Power which had been Naturally and Originally in the Crown before But howsoever having the appearance of an Alteration from the received manner of Electings in the Church of Rome and that which was Established by the late King for the Realm of England it was repealed by Queen Mary and put into the former Chanel by Queen Elizabeth But from this Alteration which was made in Parliament in reference to the manner of Making Bishops and the way of Exercising their Authority when they were so made let us proceed unto such Changes as we finde made amongst the Bishops themselves The first whereof was the Election of Doctor Nicholas Ridley to the See of Rochester to which he had been nominated by King Henry the Eighth when Holbeck who preceded him was designed for Lincoln But the King dying shortly after the Translation of Holbeck was deferred till the Time of King Edward which was no sooner done but Ridley was chosen to succeed him although not actually Consecrated till the fifth of September A man of great Learning as the Times then were and for his excellent way of Preaching highly esteemed by the late King whose Chaplain he had been for many years before His death and upon that onely designed to this Preferment as the reward of his Service Being well studyed in the Fathers it was no hard matter for him to observe That as the Church of Rome had erred in the Point of the Sacrament so as well the Lutheran as the Zuinglian Churches had run themselves into some errour by opposing the Papists the one being forced upon the Figment of Consubstantiation the other to fly to Signs and Figures as if there had been nothing else in the blessed Eucharist Which being observed he thought it most agreeable to the Rules of Piety to frame his Judgement to the Dictates of the Antient Fathers and so to hold a Real Presence of Christ's Body and Blood in the Holy Sacrament as to exclude that Corporal Eating of the same which made the Christian Faith a scorn both to the Turks and Moors Which Doctrine as he stoutly stood to in all his Examinations at Oxford when he was preparing for the Stake so he maintained it constantly in his Sermons also in which it was affirmed That In the Sacrament were truly and verily the Body and Blood of Christ made forth effectually by Grace and Spirit And being so perswaded in his own Opinion he so prevailed by Discourse and Argument with Arch-Bishop Cranmer as to bring him also to the same for which consult the Acts and Mâ—n fol. a man of a most even and constant spirit as he declared in all his Actions but in none more then in the opposition which he made against Bishop Hooper in Maintainance of the Rites and Ceremonies then by Law Established of which we shall have opportunity to speak more hereafter In the next place we are to look upon the Preferment of Doctor Barlow to the Bishoprick of Bath and Wells succeeding in the place of Knight who dyed on the twenty ninth of the same September He had been once Prior of the Monastery of Bisham in the County of Berks from whence preferred to the See of Asaph in the end of February An. 1535. And in the April following Translated to the Church of St. David's During his sitting in which See he fell upon an honest and convenient Project for removing the Episcopal See from the decayed City of St. David's most incommodiously Scituate in the remotest Angle of all the Diocess to the rich Borough of Caer-marthen in the midst thereof in the Chief Church whereof being a Monastery of Grey-Friars the body of Edmond Earl of Richmond the Father of K. Henry the Seventh received Interment Which Project he presented to Cromwel being then Vicar General endearing it by these Motives and Propositions that is to say That being scituate in the midst of the Diocess it was very opportune for the profiting of the King's Subjects for the Preferment of God's Word for abolishing all Antichristian Superstition and settling in the Diocess the King's Supremacy That it was furnished with all things necessary for the conveniency of the Canons and might be done without any prejudice to the Friars for every one of which he offered to provide a sufficient Maintainance And to advance the work the more he offered to remove his Consistory thither to found therein a Grammar-Schole and settle a daily Lecture in Divinity there for the reducing of the Welsh from their ancient Rudeness to the Civility of the Time All which I finde in the Memorials of Sir Robert Cotton And unto these he might have added That he had a fair Episcopal House at Abberguilly very near that Town in which the Bishops of that Diocess have for the most part made their Dwelling So that all Parties seemed to have been provided for in the Proposition and therefore the more to be admired That in a Time so much addicted unto Alterations it should speed no better
For notwithstanding all these Motives the See remained where it was and the Bishop continued in that See till this present year in which he was made use of amongst many others by the Lord Protectour for Preaching up the War against Scotland For which and many other good Services already passed but more to be performed hereafter he was Translated to this See on the death of Knight but the precise Day and Time thereof I have no where found But I have found that being Translated to this See he gratified the Lord Protectour with a Present of eighteen or nineteen Manours which antiently belonged unto it and lying all or most part of them in the County of Sommerset seemed very conveniently disposed of for the better Maintainance of the Dukedom or rather of the Title of the Duke of Sommerset which he had took unto himself More of which strange Donations we shall finde in others the more to be excused because there was no other means as the Times then were to preserve the whole but by advancing some part thereof to the Spoil of others Anno Regni Edw. Sexti 2o. An. Dom. 1547 1548. THe Parliament ending on the twenty fourth day of December as before was said seems to have put a stop to all Publique Businesses as if it had been done of purpose to give the great Ministers of State a time of breathing But no sooner was the year begun I mean the second year of the King but that a Letter is sent from the Arch-Bishop to Doctour Bonnâ—r Bishop of London requiring him in the name of his Majesty and the Lords of his Council to proceed unto the Reformation of such Abuses as were therein mentioned and to give Order for the like to the rest of the Suffragans By antient Right the Bishops of London are accounted Deans of the Episcopal College and being such were by their place to signifie the pleasure of their Metropolitane to all the Bishops of the Province to execute his Mandates and disperse his Missives on all Emergency of Affairs as also to preside in Convocations or Provincial Synods during the vacancy of the See or in the necessary absence of the Metropolitane In which Capacity and not out of any Zeal he had to the Reformation Bishop Bonner having received the Arch-Bishop's Letters communicateth the Contents thereof to the rest of the Suffragan-Bishops and amongst others to Doctour Thomas Thirlby then Bishop of Westminster in these following words My very Good Lord AFter my most hearty Commendations These are to Advertise your Good Lordship that my Lord of Canterbury's Grace this present 28th of January sent unto me his Letters Missive containing this in Effect That my Lord Protectour's Grace with advice of other the King's Majestie 's Honourable Privy Council for certain Considerations them moving are fully resolved that no Candles shall be borne upon Candlemassâ— day nor also from henceforth Ashes or Palms used any longer requiring Me thereupon by his said Letters to cause Admonition and Knowledg thereof to be given unto your Lordship and other Bishops with celerity accordingly In consideration whereof I do send at this present these said Letters to your Good Lordship that you thereupon may give Knowledge and Advertisement thereof within your Diocess as appertaineth Thus committing your Good Lordship to Almighty God as well to fare as your Good heart can best desire Written in haste at my House in London the said 28th of January 1547 8. Such was the Tenour of this Letter the Date whereof doth very visibly declare that the Counsel was as suddain as the Warning short For being Dated on the 28th of January it was not possible that any Reformation should be made in the first particular but onely in the Cities of London and Westminster and the parts adjoyning the Feast of Purification following within five days after But yet the Lords drove on so fast that before this Order could be published in the remote parts of the Kingdom they followed it with another as little pleasing to the main body of the People concerning Images which in some places of the Realm were either not taken down at all as was required the year before by the King's Injunctions or had been re-advanced again assoon as the first Heats of the Visitation had began to cool Which because it cannot be expressed more clearly then in the Letters of the Council to the Lord Arch-Bishop and that the Reader be not troubled with any Repetitions I shall commit the Narrative thereof to the Letters themselves which are these that follow AFter Our Right Hearty Commendations to Your Good Lordship where now of late in the King's Majestie 's Visitations amongst other Godly Injunctions Commanded generally to be observed through all parts of this His Highness Realm One was set forth for the taking down of such Images as had at any time been abused with Pilgrimages Offerings or Censes albeit that this said Injunction hath in many parts of the Realm been quietly obeyed and executed yet in many other places much strife and contention hath risen and dayly riseth and more and more increaseth about the execution of the same Some men being so Superstitious or rather Willfull as they would by their good Wills retain all such Images still though they have been most manifestly abused And almost in every place is Contention for Images Whether they have been abused or not And whilst these men go on on bothsides contentiously to obtain their minds contending whether this Image or that Iâ—age hath been Offered unto Kissed Censed and otherwise abused Paris have in some places been taken in such sort as further Inconveniences be like to ensue if remedy be not found in time Considering therefore that almost in no place of this Realm is any sure quietness but where all Image be clean taken away and pulled down already to the intent that all Contention in every part of this Realm for this matter may be clearly taken away and the lively Image of Christ should not contend for the dead Imaâ—es which be things not necessary and without the which the Churches of Christ continued most Godly many years We have thought good to signifie unto you that his Highness Pleasure with the Advice and Consent of Vs the Lord Protectour and the rest of the Council is That immediately upon sight hereof with as convenient diligence as you may you shall not onely give Order that all the Images remaining in any Church or Chapel within your Diocess be removed and taken away but also by your Letters signifie unto the rest of the Bishops within your Province this his Highness pleasure for the like Order to be given by them and every of them within their several Diocesses And in the Execution hereof We require both you and the rest of the said Bishops to use â—uch forâ—-sight as the same may be quietly done with as Good satisfaction of the People as may be From Sommerset Place the 11th of Febr.
partâ—kers of the Holy Communion Which Exhortation beginning with these Words Dearly-beloved in the Lord â—ye coming to this Holy Communion c. is in effect the last of those which afterwards remained in the Publick Liturgie Then followed the Invitation thus You that do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins c. proceeding to the General Confession the Absolution the Comfortable Sentences out of Holy Scripture and so unto the Prayer of Humble Address We do not presume to come to this Table c. the Distribution of the Sacrament to the People present continuing still upon their knees and finally dismissing them In the Peace of God Which Godly Form being presented to the King and the Lords of the Council and by them exceeding well approved was Published on the eighth of March together with his Majestie 's Proclamation Authorising the same and Commanding all His Loving Subjects to conform unto it in this Manner following By the King EDWARD by the Grace of God King of England France and Ireland Defender of the Faith and of the Church of England and Ireland in Earth the Supreme Head To All and Singular Our Loving Subjects Greeting For so much as in Our High Court of Parliament lately holden at Westminster it was by Vs with the consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons there Assembled most Godly and agreeable to Christ's Holy Institution Enacted That the most Blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ should from henceforth be commonly Delivered and Ministred unto all Persons within Our Realm of England and Ireland and other Our Dominions under both Kinds that is to say of Bread and Wine except necessity otherwise require lest every man fantasying and devising a sundry way by himself in the Vse of this most Blessed Sacrament of Vnity there might thereby arise any unseemly or ungodly Diversity Our pleasure is by the Advice of Our most Dear Vncle the Duke of Sommerset Governour of Our Person and Protectour of Our Realms Dominions and Subjects and other Our Privy Council that the said Blessed Sacrament be Ministred unto Our People â—nely after such Form and Manner as hereafter by Our Authority with the Advice before-mentioned is set out or declared Willing every man with due Reverence and Christian Behaviour to come to this Holy Sacrament and most Blessed Communion lest that by the unworthy receiving of such high Mysteries they become guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord and so eat and drink their own Damnation but rather diligently trying themselves that they so come to this Holy Table of Christ and so be partakers of this Holy Communion that they may dwell in Christ and have Christ dwelling in them And also with such Obedience and Conformity to receive this Our Ordinance and most Godly Direction that we may be incouraged from Time to Time further to travail for the Râ—formation and setting forth of such Godly Orders as may be most to God's Glory the Edifying of Our Subjects and for the Advancement of true Religion which is thething We by the help of God most earnestly endeavoured to bring to effect Willing all Our Loving Subjects in the mean time to stay and quiet themselves with this Our Direction as men content to follow Authority according to the bounden Duty of Subjects and not enterprising to run before and so by their Rashness become the greatest Hinderers of such things as they more arrogantly then Godly would seem by their own Private Authority most hotly to set forward We would not have Our Subjects so much to mistake Our Judgement so much to mistrust Our Zeal as though we either would not discern what were to be done or would not do all things in due time God be praised We know both what by his Word is meet to be redressed and have an earnest mind by the Advice of Our most Dear Vncle and other of Our Privy Council with all diligence and convenient speed so to set forth the same as it may most stand with God's Glory and edifying and quietness of Our People Which We doubt not but all Our Obedient and Loving Subjects will quietly and reverendly tarry for The next Care was to see the said Order put in execution of which the Lords of the Council discharged the King and took the whole Burthen on themselves For causing a sufficient Number of the Printed Copies to be sent to each Bishop in the Realm they there withall directed Letters to them Requiring and in Hiâ— Majestie 's Name Commanding them and every of them to have an earnest Diligence and carefull Respect both in their own Persons and all their Officers and Ministers for causing the said Books to be so delivered to every Parson Vicar and Curate in their several Diocesses that they may have sufficient time well to instruct and advise themselves for the Distribution of the most Holy Communion according to the Order of the said Book before Easter following and that by the good Means of them the said Bishops they may be well directed to use such Good Gentle and Charitable Instructions to their simple and unlearned Parishioners as may be to their good Satisfaction Letting them further know that as the said Order was set forth to the intent there should be in all parts of this Realm and among all men one Vniform manner quietly used so that the Execution thereof did very much stand in the Diligence of them and others of their Vocation who therefore were again required to have a diligent respect unto it as they tendred the King's pleasure and would answer the contrary Which Letter bearing Daâ—e on the thirteenth of March was subscribed by the Arch-Bishop Cranmer the Lord Chancellour Rich the Earl of Arundel the Lords St. John and Russel Mr. Secretary Petre Sir Anthony Wingfield Sir Edward North and Sir Edward â—otton In Obedience unto whose Commands as all the Bishops did not perform their parts alike Gardiner of Winchester Bonner of London Voysie of Exeter and Sampson of Coventry and Lich-field being more backward then the rest so many Parish-Priests not being willing to Advance so good a Work laboured to disaffect the People to the present Government And to that end it was endeavoured in their Sermons to possess their Auditours with an ill opinion of the King as if he did intend to lay strange Exactions on the Subject by forcing them to pay half a Crown a piece for every one who should be Married Christened or Buried For Remedy whereof it was Ordered by Proclamation bearing Date the twenty fourth of April That none should be permitted to Preach but such as were Licenced under the Seals of the Lord Protectour or the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury In the next place we must attend the King's Commissioners dispatched in the beginning of March into every Shire throughout the Realm to take a Survey of all Colleges Free-Chapels Chanteries and Brother-Hoods within the compass of the Statute or Act of Parliament
King's Designs that he was sent for to the Coâ—rt and after some Reproofs dismissed unto his house in South-Wark where he was commanded to remain untill further Order But there also he behaved himself with much unquietness medling in many matters which concerned the King for which he had neither Warrant nor Commission whereof being once again admonished by their Lordships he did not onely promise to conform himself like a good Subject but to declare his Conformity to the World in an open Sermon in sundry Articles agreed upon that such as were offended might be satisfied in him St. Peter's-Day then near at hand was given him for the Day whereon he was to Preach this Sermon In which though he allowed the Sacrament to be Administred in both Kinds and shewed his Approbation of the King's Proceedings in some other Points yet in the rest he gave such little satisfaction to the King and Council that the next day he was sent Prisoner to the Tower where he remained till his Enlargment by Queen Mary The Punishment of this great Prelatâ— did not so much discourage those of the Romish Party as his Example animated and emboldened them to such Iâ—conformity as gave no small Disturbance to the King's Proceedings For notwithstanding His great Care to set forth one Vniform Order of Administring the Holy Communion in both Kinds yet so it happened that through the perverse Obstinacy and froward Dissembling of many of the inferiour Priests and Ministers of Cathedral and other Churches of this Realm there did arise a marvailous Schisme and Variety of Factions in celebrating the Communion-Service and Administration of the Sacraments and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church For some zealously allowing the King's Proceedings did gladly follow the Order thereof and others though not so willingly admitting them did yet dissemblingly and patchingly use some part of them but many causlesly contemning them all would still continue in their former Popery Besides it is Observed in the Register-Book of the Parish of Petworth That many at this time affirmed the most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar to be of little regard that in many places it was irreverently used and cast out of the Church and many other great Enormities committed which they seconded by oppugning the established Ceremonies as Holy Water Holy Bread and divers other Usages of the seven Sacraments And yet these were not all the Mischiefs which the Time produced For in Pursuance of this Schism and to confirm the People in their former ways many of those which had been Licenced in Form and Manner prescribed by the Proclamation of the twenty fourth of April appeared as Active in Preaching against the King's Proceedings as any of the Unlicenced Preachers had been found to be Which being made known unto the King and the Lords of the Council it was advised That a Publick Liturgie should be drawn and confirmed by Parliament with several Penalties to be inflicted on all those who should not readily conâ—orm to the Rules and Appointments of it For though some ill-affected men mâ—ght look upon the late Order for Administring the Holy Sacramâ—nt in the English Tongue as the Act of some few Persons about the King and not proceeding reallâ— from the King Himself yet when the King's Pleasure came to be decâ—ared by Act of Paâ—liâ—ment it was to be presumed that all such Subterfuges and Evâ—sioâ—s being tâ—ken away the Subjects would conform unto it without fuâ—ther trouble Which being thus resolved upon He caused those Godly Bishops and other Learned Diviâ—es whom He had formerly imployed in drawing up the Order for the Holy Communion to attend His pleasure on the first day of September then next following Attending at the day appointed it pleased His Majesty to commend unto them the framing of a Publick Liturgie which should contain the Order of Morning and Evening Prayer together with a Form of Ministring the Sacraments and Sacramentals and for the Celebrating of all other Publick Offices which were required by the Church of good Christian People Which as His Majesty commanded out of a most Religious Zeal to the Honour of God the Edification of His Subjects and to the Peace and Happiness of His Dominions so they who knew no better Sacrifice then Obedience did chearfully apply themselves to the Undertaking And that they might proceed therein not onely with the less Disquiets but with the greater Hope of gaining their desired End it pleased His Majesty to declare by His Proclamation bearing Date the twenty third day of the said Moneth of September into what course he had put this Business letting them know That for the settling of an Vniformity and Order thâ—oughout his Realm and for putting an End to all Controversies in Religion He had caused certain Godly Bishops and other notable Learned men to be Congregated or called together And thereupon doth inferr That notwithstanding many of the Preachers formerly Licenced had behaved themselves very discreetly and wisely to the Honour of God and the Contentation of His Highness yet till such time as the said Order should be generally set forth throughout the Realm His Majesty did thereby inhibit all manner of Persons whatsoever they be to Preach in open Audience in the Pulpit or otherwise by any sought colour or fraud to the disobeying of His Commandment And this he did to this intent That the whole Clergy in the mean space mâ—ght apply themselves to Prayer to Almighty God for the better atchieving of this same Godly Intent and Purpâ—se not doubting but that all His Loving Subjects in the mean time would occupie themselves to God's Honour with due Prayer in the Church and patient Hearing of the Godly Homiliâ—s heretofore set forth by His Highness Injunctions and so endeavour themselves that they may be tâ—e more reaâ—y with thankfull Obedience to receive a most quiet Godly and Vniform Order through all His said Realms and Dominions And to the end that His Majestie 's Pleasure in the Premisses should be the more punctually obeyed He wilâ—â—th and râ—quireth all His Loving Officers and Ministers as well Justices of the Peace as Maors Sheriffs Bailiffs Constables or any other His Officers of what State Degree and Condition soever they be to be attendant upon this Proclamation and Commandment and to see the Infringers and Breakers thereof to be Imprisoned and His Highness or the Lord Protectour's Grace or His Majestie 's Council to be certified thereof immediately as they tendered His Majestie 's Pleasure and would answer to the contrary at their Perils And here it is to be Observed That those who had the chief directing of this weighty Business were before-hand resolved that none but English Heads or Hands should be used therein left otherwise it might be thought and perhaps Objected that they rather followed the Example of some other Churches or were swayed by the Authority of those Foreign Assistants then by the Word of God and the most uncorrupted Practice of the Primitive Times Certain it
that St. Hierom having Translated the whole Bible into the Dalmatick procured that the Service should be celebrated in that Language also The like St. Hierom himself in his Epistle to Heliodorus hath told us of the Bessi a Sarmatian People The like St. Basil in his Epistle to the Neo-Caesarians assures us for the Egyptians Libâ—ans Palestinians Phoenicians Arabians Syrians and such as dwell about the Bank of the River Euphrates The Aethiopians had their Mâ—ssal the Chaldeans theirs each in the Lanâ—uage of their Countries which they still retain so had the Moscovites of old and all the scattered Chuâ—ches of tâ—e Eastern Parts which they contiâ—â—e to this day Nay rather then the People shâ—uld be kept in Ignorance of the Word of God and the Divine Offices of the Church a signal Miracle should be wrought to command the contrary For we are told of the Sclavonians by Aeneas Sylvius who being afterwards Pope was called Pius the Second that being converted unto the Faith they made suit unto the Pope then being to have their Publick Service in their Natural Tongue but some delay being made therein by the Pope and Cardinals a voice was heard seeming to have come from Heaven saying in the Latine Tongue Omnis Spiritus laudet Dominum omnis lingua confiteatur Ei that is to â—ay Let every Soul praise the Name of God and every Tongue or Language make Profession of it whereupon their Desires were granted without more delay Which probably might be a chief Inducement to Innocent the Third to set out a Decree in the Lateran Councel importing That in all such Cities in which there was a Concourse of divers Nations and consequently of Different Languages as in most Towns of Trade there doth use to be the Service should be said and Sacraments administred Secundum diversitates Nationum Linguarum that is According to the Difference of their Tongues and Nations So that if we consider the Direction of the Holy Ghost the Practice of the Primitive Times the General Vsage of all Nations not inthralled to the Popes of Rome the Confession of the very Adversary the Act and Approbation of the Pope himself and finally the Declaration of God's Pâ—easure by so great a Miracle The Church did nothing in this Case but what was justifiable in the sight both of God and Man But then again it is Objected on the other side That neither the undertaking was advised nor the Book it self approved in a Synodical Way by the Bishops and Clergy but that it was the Act onely of some few of the Prelates imployed therein by the King or the Lord Protectour without the Privity and Approbation of the rest The Consideration whereof shall be referred to another place when we shall come to speake of the King's Authority for the composing and imposing of the Scotish Liturgy In the mean time we must take notice of another Act of as great importance for the Peace and Honour of the Church and the Advancing of the Work of Reformation which took away those positive Laws by which all men in Holy Orders were restrained from Marriage In which 〈◊〉 it is first declared That It were much to be desired that Priests and all others in Holy Orders might abstain from Marriage that thereby being freed from the Cares of Wed-lock and abstracted from the Troubles of Domestical Business they might more diligently attend the Ministery and apply themselves unto their Studieâ— But then withall it is considered That as all men have not the Gift of Continence so many great Scandals and other notable Inconveniencies have been occasioned in the Church by the enforced Necessity of a single Life in those admitted unto Orders Which seeing it was no more imposed on them then on any other by the Word of God but onely such positive Laws and Constitutions as had been made to that Effect by the Church of Rome It was therefore Enacted by the Authority of the present Parliament That All such Positive Laws and Ordinances as prohibited the Marriages of Priests or any other in Holy Orders and Pains and Forfeitures therein contained should be utterly void Which Act permitting them to marry but looked on as a matter of Permission onely made no small Pastime amongst those of the Romish Party reproaching both the Priests and much more their Wives as not lawfully married but onely suffered to enjoy the Company of one another without Fear of Punishment And thereupon it was Enacted in the Parliament of the fifth and sixth of Edw. 6. cap. 12. that The Marriages of the Priests should be reputed lawfull thâ—mselves being made Capable of being Tenants by Courtesie their Wives to be endowed as others at the Common Law aâ—d their Childâ—en Heritable to the Lands of their Fathers or Mâ—thers Which Privileges or Capacities rather notwithstanding the Repeal of this Statute in the Time of Queen Mary they and their Wives and Children still enjoyed without Dâ—sturbance or Dispute And to say truth it was an Act not onely of much Châ—istian Piety but more Civil Prudence the Clergy by this means being taken off from all Dependance on the Popes of Rome and rivited in their Dependance on their Natural Princes to whom their Wives and Children serve for so many Hostages The Consequents whereof was so well known to those of Rome that when it was desired by the Ambassadours of the Emperour and the Duke of Bavaria in the Councel of Trent That Marriage might be permitted to the Priests in their several Territories it would by no means be admitted The Reason was Because that having Houses Wives and Children they would depend no longer upon the Pope but onely on their several Princes that the Love to their Children would make them yield to many things which were prejudicial to the Church and in short time confine the Pope's Authority to the City of Rome For otherwise if the Popeâ— were not rather governed in this business by Reason of State then either by the Word of God or the Rules of Piety they had not stood so stiffly on an Inhibition accompanied with so much Scandal and known to be the onely Cause of too much Lewdness and Impuâ—ity in the Râ—mane Clergy If they had looked upon the Scriptures they would have found that Marriage was a Remedy ordained by God for the preventing of Incontinencies and wandring Lusts extending generally to all as much to those in Holy Orders as to any others as being subject all alâ—ke to Humane Infirmities If they had ruled the Case by the Proceedings oâ— the Councel of Nice or the Examples of many Good and Godly men in the Primitive Times they would have found that when the single Life of Priâ—sts was moved at that great Councel it was rejected by the general Consent of all the Fathers there assembled as a Yoke intolerable that Eupsychius a Cappadâ—cian Prelate was married after he had taken the Degree of a Bishop the like observed of one Phileus an Egyptian Prelate
the Lord Protectour with whom she might enjoy all Content and Happiness which a vertuous Lady could desire And that they might appear in the greater Splendour he took into his hands the Episcopal House belonging to the Bishop of Bath and Wells which being by him much Enlarged and Beautified came afterwards to the Possession of the Earls of Arundel best known of late Times by the name of Arundel-House And so far all things went on smoothly betwixt him and his Bâ—other though afterwards there were some distrust between them but this last Practice gave such an hot Alarum to the Duchess of Sommerset that nothâ—ng could content her but his absolute Ruin For what hope could she have of Disputing the Precedence with any of King Henâ—â—e's Daughters who if they were not married out of the Realm might Create many Troubles and Disturbances in it Nor was the Lord Prâ—tectâ—ur so insensible of his own Condition as not to fear the utmost Danger which the Effecting of so great an Enterprise might bring upon him so that the Rupture which before had began to close became more open then before made widâ—r by the Artifices of the Earl of Warwick who secretly playing with both hands exasperated each of them against the other that so he might be able to destroy them both The Plot being so far carried on the Admiral was committed to the Tower on the sixteenth of January but never called unto his Answer it being thought safer to Attaint him by Act of Parliament where Power and Faction might prevail then put him over to his Peers in a Legal way And if he were guilty of the Crimes which I finde charged upon him in the Bill of Attainder he could not but deserve as great a Punishment as was laid upon him For in that Act he stands condemned for Attempting to get into his Custody the Person of the King and the Government of the Realm for obtaining many Offices retaining many Men into his Service for making great Provision for Money and Victuals for endeavouring to marry the Lady Elizabeth the King's Sister and for perswading the King in His Tender Age to take upon Him the Rule and Order of Himself But Parliaments being Governed by a â—allible Spirit the Business still remaineth under such a Cloud that he may seem rather to have fallen a Sacrifice to the Private Malice of a Woman then the Publick Justice of the State For the Bill of Attainder passing at the End of the Parliament which was on the fourteenth day of March he was beheaded at Tower-Hill on the sixth day after the Warrant for his Execution coming under the hand oâ— his own Brother at what time he took it on his Death That he had never committed or meant any Treason against King or Kingdom Thus as it is affâ—â—med of the Emperour Valentinian that by causing the right Noble Aetius to be put to Death he had cut off his Right Hand with his Left so might it be affirmed of the Lord Protectour that when he signed that unhappy Warrant he had with his Right Hand robbed himself of his greatest Strength For as long as the two Brothers stood together they were good support unto one another but now the one being taken away the other proved not Subâ—tantive enough to stand by himself but fell into his Enemies hands within few Moneths after Comparing them together we may finde the Admiral to be Fierce in Courage Courtly in Fashion in Personage Stately in Voice Magnificent the Duke to be Mild Affable Free and Open more easie to be wrought upon and no way Malicious the Admiral generally more esteemed amongst the Nobles the Duke Honoured by the Common People the Lord Protectour to be more desired for a Friend the Lord Admiral to be more feared for an Enemy Betwixt them both they might have made one excellent man if the Defects of each being taken away the Virtues onely had remained The Protectour having thus thrown away the chief Prop of his House hopes to repair that Ruin by erecting a Magnificent Palace He had been bought out of his purpose for building on the Deanery and Close of Westminster and casts his Eye upon a piece of Ground in the Strand on which stood three Episcopal Houses and one Parish-Church the Parish-Church Dedicated to the Virgin Mary the Houses belonging to the Bishops of Worcester Lichfield and Landaff All these he takes into his Hands the Owners not daring to oppose and therefore willingly consenting to it Having cleared the place and projected the intended Fabrick the Workmen found that more Materials would be wanting to go thorough with it then the Demolished Church and Houses could afford unto them He thereupon resolves for taking down the Parish-Church of Saint Marâ—arets in Westminster and turning the Parishioners for the celebrating of all Divine Offices into some part of the Nave or main Body of the Abby-Church which should be marked out for that purpose But the Workmen had no sooner advanced their Scafâ—olds when the Parishioners gathered together in great Multitudes with Bows and Arrows Staâ—es and Clubs and other such offensive Weapons which so terrified the Workmen that they ran away in great Amazement and never could be brought again upon that Imployment In the next place he is informed of some superfluous or rather Superstitious Buildings on the North-side of Saint Paul's that is to say a goodly Cloyster environing a goodly piece of Ground called Pardon-Church-Yard with a Chapel in the midst thereof and beautified with a piece of most curious Workmanship called the Dance of Death together with a fair Charnel-House on the South-side of the Church and a Chapel thereunto belonging This was conceived to be the safer undertaking the Bishop then standing on his good Behaviour and the Dean and Chapter of that Church as of all the rest being no better in a manner by reason of the late Act of Parliament then Tenant at Will of their great Landlords And upon this he sets his Workmen on the tenth of April takes it all down converts the Stone Timber Lead and Iron to the use of his intended Palace and leaves the Bones of the dead Bodies to be buried in the Fields in unhallowed Ground But all this not sufficing to compleat the Work the Steeple and most parts of the Church of Saint John's of Jerusalem not far from Smithfield most beautifully built not long before by Dockwray a late Priour thereof was blown up with Gunpowder and all the Stone thereof imployed to that purpose also Such was the Ground and such were the Materials of the Duke 's New Palace called Sommerset-House which either he lived not to finish or else it must be very strange that having pulled down two Churches two Chapels and three Episcopal Houses each of which may be probably supposed to have had their Oratories to finde Materials for this Fabrick there should be no room purposely erected for Religious Offices According unto this Beginning all the
of Eviland The sixth of August since that Time is observed amongst them for an Annual Feast in perpetual Gratitude to Almighty God for their Deliverance from the Rebels with far more Reason then many such Annual Feasts have been lately Instituted in some Towns and Cities for not being gained unto their King But though the Sword of War was Sheathed there remained work enough for the Sword of Justice in Executing many of the Rebels for a Terrour to others Arundel and the rest of the Chiefs were sent to London there to receive the recompense of their Deserts most of the Raskal Rabble Executed by Martial Law and the Vicar of St. Thomas one of the Principal Incendiaries hanged on the Top of his own Tower apparailed in his Popish Weeds with his Bâ—ads at his Girdle The Norfolk Rebels brake not out till the twentieth of June beginning first at a place called Ail-borough but not considerable either for Strength or Number till the sixth of July when mightily encreased by Ket a Tanner of Windham who took unto himself the conducting of them These men pretended onely against Enclosures and if Religion was at all regarded by them it was rather kept for a Reserve then suffered to appear in the Front of the Battail But when their Numbers were so vastly multiplyed as to amount to twenty thousand nothing would serve them but the suppression of the Gentry the placing of New Councellours about the King and somewhat also to be done in favour of the Old Religion Concerning which they thus Remonstrate to the King or the People rather viz First That the Free-born Commonalty was oppressed by a small Number of Gentry who glutted themselves with Pleasure whilest the poor Commons wasted with dayly Labour did like Pack-Horses live in extreme Slavery Secondly That Holy Rites Established by Antiquity were abolished New ones Authorised and a New Form of Religion obtruded to the subjecting of their Souls to those Horrid Pains which no Death could terminate And therefore Thirdly That it was necessary for them to go in person to the King to place New Councellours about him during his Minority removing those who ruling as they list confounded things Sacred and Profane and regarded nothing but the enriching of themselves with the Publick Treasure that they might Riot it amidst these Publick Calamities Finding no satisfactory Answer to these proud Demands they March directly towards Norwich and possess themselves of Moushold-Hill which gave them not onely a large Prospect over but a full Command upon that City which they entered and re-entered as they pleased For what could a Weak City do in Opposition to so Great a Multitude being neither strong by Art nor Nature and therefore not in a capacity to make any Resistance Under a large Oak on the top of this Hill since called The Oak of Reformation Ket keeps his Courts of Chancery King's Bench c. forcing the neighbouring Gentry to submit to his lawless Ordinances and committing many huge Enormities under pretense of rectifying some Abuses The King sends out his Gracious Pardon which the proud Rebels entertain with Contempt and Scorn Whereupon it was resolved that the Marquess of North-hampton should be sent against them accompanied with the Lords Sheffield and Wentworth and divers Gentlemen of Note assisted by a Band of Italians under the Command of Mala-testa an Experienced Souldier The Marquess was an excellent Courtier but one more skilled in Leading a Measure then a March so that being beaten out of Norwich into which he had peaceably been admitted with loss of some Persons of Principal Quality and the firing of a great part of the City he returns ingloriously to London Yet all this while the Lord Protectour was so far from putting himself upon the Action that he suffered his most dangerous Enemy the Earl of Warwick to go against them with such Forces as had been purposely provided for the War of Scotland Who finding the City open for him entertained the Rebels with divers Skirmishes in most of which he had the better which put them to a Resolution of forsaking the Hill and trying their Fortune in a Battail in a place called Dussing-dale where they maintained a bloody Fight But at the last were broken by the Earl's good Conduct and the valiant Loyalty of his Forces Two thousand of the Rebels are reported to have been slain in the Fight and Chase the residue of them scattered over all the Country the Principals of them taken and deservedly Executed Robert Ket hanged on Norwich-Castle William his Brother on the top of Windham-Steeple nine of his chief Followers on as many Boughs of the Oak where Ket held his Courts Which great Deliverance was celebrated in that City by a Publick Thanks giving on the twenty seventh of August and hath been since perpetuated Annually on that day to these present Times The like Rising happened about this time in York-shire began by Dale and Ombler two seditious persons and with them it ended for being taken in a Skirmish before their number had amounted to three thousand men they were brought to York where they were executed with some others on the twenty first of September then next following The breaking out of these Rebellions but most especially that of Devonshire quickned the Lords of the Council to a sharper course against all those whom they suspected not to favour the King's Proceedings nor to advance the Execution of the Publick Liturgie amongst whom none was more distrusted then Bonner of London concerning whom it was informed that by his negligence not onely many People within his Diocess were very forgetfull of their Duty to God in frequenting the Divine Service then by Law established but divers others utterly despising the same did in secret places often frequent the Popish Mass. For this he is Commanded to attend the Lords of the Council on the eleventh of August by whom he was informed of such Complaints as were made against him and so dismissed with certain private Injunctions to be observed by him for the time to come And for a further Trial to be made of his Zeal and Loyalty if it were not rather for a Snare to entrap him in he was Commanded to Preach against the Rebels at Saint Paul's Cross on the first of September and there to shew the unlawfullness of taking Arms on Pretence of Religion But on the contrary he not onely touchedâ— not upon any thing which was enjoyned him by the Council but spent the most part of his Sermon in maintenance of the Gross Carnal and Papistical presence of Christs Body and Blood in the most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar Complaints whereof being made by William Latimer Parson of St. Laurence Poultâ—ey and John Hooper sometimes a Cister'ian Monk a Commission is issued out to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the Bishops of Rochester and Peterborough Sir Thomas Smith and Doctour May before whom he was convented at Lambeth on the tenth of the Moneth where after many
had been given before between the time of the Duke's Acknowledgment and the Sentence passed on him by the Lords and so disposed that none of the Factions might have any ground for a Complaint One of each side being taken out for these Advancements For on the nineteenth day of January William Lord St. John a most affectionate Servant to the Earl of Warwick was preferred unto the Title of Earl of Wiltshire the Lord Russell who had made himself the Head of those which were engaged on neither side was made Earl of Bedford and Sir William Paget Comptroller of his Majestie 's Houshold who had persisted faithfull to the Lord Protectour advanced to the Dignity of a Baron and not long after to the Chancellour-ship of the Dutchy of Lancaster Furnished with Offices and Honours it is to be presumed that they would finde some way to provide themselves of sufficient Means to maintain their Dignities The Lord Wentworth being a younger Branch of the Wentworths of Yorkshire had brought some Estate with him to the Court though not enough to keep him up in Equipage with so great a Title The want whereof was supplied in part by the Office of Lord Chamberlain now conferred upon him but more by the goodly Manours of Stebunâ—th commonly called Stepney and Hackney bestowed upon him by the King in consideration of the Good and Faithfull Services before performed For so it happened that the Dâ—an and Chapter of St. Paul's lying at the Mercy of the Times as before was said conveyed over to the King the said two Manours on the twelfth day after Christmâ—ss now last past with all the Members and Appertenances thereunto belonging Of which the last named was valued at the yearly rent of 41. pounds 9. â— 4 d. The other at 140. pounds 8 â— 11. â— ob And being thus vested in the King they were by Letters Patents bearing Date the sixteenth of April then next following transferred upon the said Lord VVâ—ntworth By means whereof he was possessed of a goodly Territory extending on the Thames from St. Katharine's near the Tower of London to the Borders of Essex near Black-wall from thence along the River Leâ— to Stratford le Bow and fetching a great compass on that side of the City contains in all no fewer then six and twenty Town-ships Streets and Hamlets besides such Rows of Building as have since been added in these later Times The like provision was made by the new Lord Pâ—get a Londoner by Birth but by good Fortune mixed with Merit preferred by degrees to be one of the Principal Secretaries to the late King Henry by whom he was employed in many Embassies and Negotiations Being thus raised and able to set up for himself he had his share in the division of the Lands of Chantery Free-Chapels c. and got into his hands the Episcopal House belonging to the Bishop of Exeter by him enlarged and beautified and called Paget-House sold afterwards to Robert Earl of Leicester from whom it came to the late Earls of Essex and from them took the name of Essex-House by which it is now best known But being a great House is noâ— able to keep it self he played his Game so well that he got into his possession the Manour of Beau-desart of which he was created Baron and many other fair Estates in the County of Stafford belonging partly to the Bishop and partly to the Dean and Chaâ—ter of Lichfield neither of which was able to contend with so great a Courtier who held the See and had the Ear of the Protectour and the King 's to boot What other Course he toâ—k to improve his Fortunes we shall see hereafter when we come to the last part of the Tragedy of the Duke of Sommerset For Sommerset having gained his Liberty and thereby being put into a Capacity of making use of his Friends found Means to be admitted to the King's Presence by whom he was not onely welcomed with all the kind Expressions of a Gracious Prince and made to sit down at his own Table but the same day the eighth of April he was again sworn one of the Lords of the Privy Council This was enough to make Earl Dudly look about him and to pretend a Reconciliation with him for the present whom he meant first to make secure and afterwards strike the last blow at him when he least look'd for it And that the knot of Amity might be tyed the faster and last the longer a True-Loves-Knot it must be thought or else nothing worth a Marriage was nâ—gotiated between John Lord Viscount L'isle the Earl's Eldest Son and the Lady Ann Seimour one of the Daughters of the Duke which Marriage was joyfully solemnized on the third of June at the King's Mannour-House of Shâ—â—e the King himself gracing the Nuptials with his Presence And now who could imagine but that upon the giving of such Hostages unto one another a most inviolable League of Friendship had been made between them and that all Animosities and Displeasures being quite forgotten they would more powerfully Co-operate to the publick Good But leaving them and their Adâ—erents to the dark Contrivances of the Court we must leave England for a time and see how our Affairs succeeded on the other side of the Sea Where in the middle of the former Dissensions the French had put us to the Worst in the way of Arms and after got the Better in a Treaty of Peace They had the last year taken in all the Out-works which seemed the strongest Ramparâ—s of the Town of Bulloign but had not strength enough to venture on the Town it self provided plentifully of all necessaries to endure a Siege and bravely Garisoned by men of too much Courage and Resolution to give it up upon a Summons Besides they came to understand that the English were then Practicing with Charles the Emperour to associate with them in the War according to some former Capitulations made between those Crowns And if they found such Dâ—ffiâ—ulties in maintaining the War against either of them when they fought singly by themselves there was no hope of any good Success against them should they unite and poure their Forces into France Most true it is that after such time as the French had bid Defiance to the King and that the King by reason of the Troubles and Embroilments at home was not in a Condition to attend the Affairs of France Sir William Paget was sent Ambassadour to Charles the Fifth to desire Succour of Him and to lay before Him the Infancy and several Necessities of the young King being then in the twelfth year of His Age. This desire when the Emperour had refused to hearken to they besought Him that he would at the least be pleased to take into His Hands the keeping of the Town of Bulloign and that for no longer time then untill King EDVVARD could make an End of the Troubles of His Subjects at home and compose the Discords of the Court which
that he was made General Warden of the North gratified with a thousand Marks of good Rent in Land and the Command of an hundred Hors-men at the King's Charge Such is the Fortune of some Princes to be most Bountifull to those who are falsest to them Guidolti also was rewarded with Knighthood a Present of a thousand Crowns and an Annual Pension of as much to maintain his Honour besides a Pension of two hundred and fifty Crowns per annum which was given to his Son What Râ—compense he had of the Crown of France I have no where found but have good Reason to believe that he did not serve their Turn for nothing Great Care was also taken for the preventing of such Disorders as the dissolving of great Garisons and the disbanding of Armies do for the most part carry with them And to this end the Lord Clinton Governour of the Town and Territoâ—y of Bulloign was created Lord Admiral the Officers and Captains rewarded with Lands Leases Offices and Annual Pensions all foreign Forces satisfied and sent out of the Kingdom the Common Souldiers having all their Pay and a Moneths-Pay over dismissed into their several Countries and great Charge given that they should be very well observed till they were quietly settled at home the Light-Hors-men and Men-at-Arms put under the Command of the Marquess of North hampton then being Captain of the Band of Pensioners and finally some of the Chief Captains with six hundred Ordinaries disposed of on the Frontiers of Scotland All Things thus quieted at Home and composed Abroad in reference to the Civil State we must next see how Matters went which concerned Religion all Parties making use of the Publick Peace for the advancing of their Private and particular Ends. And the first Matter of Remark which occurs this year is the Burning of John Butcher by others called John Knell but generally best known by the Name of Joan of Kent condemned for Heresie in the year last past about the time that so many Anabaptists were convented in the Church of Saint Paul before Arch-Bishop Cranmer and his Assistants whereof mention hath been made already Her Crime was That she denied Christ to have takâ—n Flâ—sh from the Virgin Mary affirming as the Valentinians did of old that he onely passed through her Body as Water through the Pipe of a Conduit without participating any thing of that Body through which He passed Great Care was taken and much Time spent by the Arch-Bishop to perswade her to a better sence but when all failed and that he was upon the Point of passing Sentence upon her for persisting obstinate in so gross an Heresie she most maliciously reproached him for passing the like Sentence of Condemnation on another Woman called Ann Aâ—kew for denying the Carnal Presence of Christ in the Sacrament telling him That he had condemned the said Ann Aâ—kew not long before for a piece of Bread and was then ready to condemn her for a piece of Flesh. But being convicted and delivered over to the Secular Judges she was by them condemned to be burnt but no Execution done upon it till this present year The Interval was spent in using all Means for her Conversion and amendment which as it onely seemed to confirm her in her former Obstinacy so it was found to have given no small encouragement to others for entertaining the like dangerous and un-Christian Errours His Majesty was therefore moved to sign the Warrant for her Death To which when the Lords of the Council could by no means win Him the Arch-Bishop is desired to perâ—wade Him to it The King continued both in Reason and Resolution as before He did notwithstanding all the Arch-Bishop's Arguments to perswade the contrary the King affirming that He would not drive her headlong to the Devil and thinking it better to chaâ—tise her with some corporal Punishment But when the Gravity and Importunity of the Man had prevailed at last the King told him as He signed the Warrant that upon him He would lay all the Charge thereof before God Which Words of His declare sufficiently His Aversness from having any hand in shedding of that Womans Blood how justly soever she deserved it But that the Arch-Bishop's Earnestness in bringing her to exemplary Punishment should contract any such guilt in the sight of God as to subject him to the like cruel Death within few years after as some would bear the World in hand is a Surmise not to be warranted by any Principle of Piety or Rule of Charity The Warrant being signed and the Writ for Execution Sealed she was kept a whole Week before her Death at the Lord Chancellour's House daily resorted to both by the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London who spared no pains to bring her to a â—ight belief in that Particular But the same Spirit of Obstinacy still continued with her and held her to the very last For being brought to the Stake in Smithfield on the second of May Dr. Scoâ—y not long after made Bishop of Rechester was desired to Preach unto the People who insisting on the proof of that Point for denyal whereof the obstinate Wretch had been condemned she interrupted him and told him with a very loud Voice that He lied like c. And so the Sermon being ended the Executioner was commanded to do his Office which he did accordingly And yet this terrible Execution did not so prevail as to extirpate and exterminate the like impiouâ— Doâ—ages though it suppressed them for a time For on the twenty â—ourth of April in the year next follâ—wing I finde one George Paris a Dutch man to have been burnt for Arianism in the very same place Better Success had John à Lasco a Polonian born with his Congregation of Germans and other Strangers who took Sanctuary this year in England hoping that here they might enjoy that Liberty of Conscience and Safety for their Goods and Persons which their own Countrey had denyed them Nor did they fall short in any thing which their Hopes had promised them For the Lords of the Council looking on them as afflâ—cted Strangers and persecuted for the same Religion which was here professed interceded for them with the King And He as Gracioâ—sly vouchsafed to give them both Entertainment and Protection assigned them the West-part of the Church belonging to the late dissolved House of Augustineâ— Friers for the Exercise of Religious Duties made thâ—m a Corporation consisting of a Super-intendent and four other Ministers with power to fill the vacant Places by a new Succession whensoever any of them should be void by Death or otherwise the Parties by them chosen to be approved by the King and Council And this he did with a Command to the Lord Mâ—your of London the Aldermeâ— and Sheriffs thereof as also to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and all other Bishops of this Realm not to disturb them either in the Free Exercise of their Religion and Ecclesiâ—stical Government
notwithstanding that they differed from the Government and Forms of Worship Established in the Church of England All which and more He grants by His Letters Patents bearing Date at Lâ—ez the Lord Chancellour's House on the twenty fourth of July and the fourth year of His Reâ—gn Which Grant though in it self an Act of most 〈◊〉 Compassion in respect of those Strangers yet proved the occasion of no small disturbance to the Proceedings of the Church and the quiet ordering oâ— the State for by suffering these men to live under another kind of Government and to Worship God after other Forms then those allowed of by the Laws proved in effect the 〈◊〉 up of one Altar against another in the midst of the Church and the erecting â—f a Common-Wealth in the midst of the Kingdom So much the more unfortunately peâ—â—itted in this present Conjuncture when such a Repâ—ure began to appear amongst our selves as was made wider by the coming in of these Dutch Reformerâ— and the Indulgence granted to them as will appear by the follâ—wing Story of John Hooper designed to the Bishoprick of Glocester which in brâ—ef was this John Hooper the designed Bishop of Glocester being bred in Oxford studious in the Holy Scriptures and well-affected unto those Beginnings of the Reformation whiâ—h had been countenanced by King Henry about the time of the Six Articles found himself so much in danger as put upon him the necessity of forsaking the Kingdom Settling himself at Zurich a Town of Switzerland he acquaints himself with Bulliâ—ger a Scholar in those Times of great Name and Note and having staiâ—d there till the Death of King Henry he returned into England bringing with him some very strong Affections to the Nakendness of the Zuinglian or Helvetian Churches though differing in Opinion from them in some Points of Doctrine and more especially in that of Predestination In England by his constant Preaching and learned Writings he grew into great Favour and Esteem with the Earl of Warwick by whose procurement the King most Graciously bestowed upon him without any seeking of his own the Bishoprick of Glocester which was then newly void by the Death of Wakeman the last Abbot of 〈◊〉 and the first Bishop of that See Having received the King's Letters Patents for his Preferment to that Place he applies himself to the Arch-Bishop for his Consecration concerning which there grew a difference between them For the Arch-Bishop would not Consecrate him but in such an Habit which Bishops were required to wear by the Rules of the Church and Hooper would not take it upon such Conditions Repairing to his Patron the Earl of Warwick he obtains from him a Letter to the Arch-Bishop desiring a forbearance of those things in which the Lord Elect of Glocester did crave to be forborne at his hands implying also that it was the King's desire as well as his that such forbearance should be used It was desired also that he would not charge him with any Oath which seemed to be burthenous to his Conscience For the Elâ—ct Bishop as it seems had boggled also at the Oath of paying Canâ—nical Obedience to his Metropolitan which by the Laws then and still in force he was bound to take But the Arch-Bishop still persisting in the Denyal and being well seconded by Bishop Ridley of London who would by no meanes yield unto it the King himself was put upon the business by the Earl of VVarwick who thereupon wrote to the Arch-Bishop this ensuing Letter RIght-Reverend Father and Right-Trusty and VVell-Beloved VVe Greet you well VVhereas VVe by the Advice of Our Council have Calaen and Chosen Our Right-VVell-Beloved and VVell-VVorthy Mr. John Hooper Professour of Divinity to be Our Bishop of Glocester as well for his Great Learning Deep Judgment and Long Study both in the Scriptures and other Profound Learning as also for his Good Discretion Ready Vtterance and Honest Life for that kind of Vocation c. From Consecrating of whom VVe understand you do stay because he would have you omit and let pass certain Rights and Ceremonies offensive to his Conscience whereby you think you should fall in Praemunire of Our Laws VVe have thought Good by Advice afore-said to dispence and discharge you of all manner of Dangers Penalties and Forfeitures you should run into and be in in any manner of way by omitting any of the same And this Our Letters shall be your sufficient Warrant and Discharge therefore Given under Our Signet at Our Castle of Windsore the fifth day of August in the fourth year of Our Reign This Gracious Letter notwithstanding the two Bishops wisely taking into consideration of what Danger and Ill Consequence the Example was humbly craved leave not to obey the King against his Laws and the Earl finding little hope of prevailing in that suit which would not be granted to the King leaves the new Bishop to himself who still persisting in his Obstinacy and wilfull Humour was finally for his Disobedience and Contempt committed Prisoner and from the Prison writes his Letters to Martin Bucer and Peter Martyr for their Opinion in the Case From the last of which who had declared himself no friend to the English Ceremonies he might presume of some Encouragement but that he had any from the first I have no where found The contrary whereunto will appear by his Answer unto John à Lasco in the present Case whereof more anon In which condition of Affairs Calvin addresseth his Letters to the Lord Protectâ—ur whom he desireth to lend the man an helping hand and extricate him out of those Perplexities into which he was cast So that at last the Differences were thus compromised that is to say That Hooper should receive his Consecration attired in his Episcopal Robes that he should be dispensed withall from wearing it at ordinary times as his dayly Habit but that he should be bound to use it when soever he Preached before the King in his own Cathedral or any other place of like Publick Nature According to which Agreement being appointed to Preach before the King he shewed himself apparelled in his Bishop's Robes namely a long Scarlet Chimere reaching down to the ground for his upper Garment changed in Queen Elizabeth's Time to one of Black Satten and under that a white Linen Rochet with a Square Cap upon his head which Fox reproacheth by the name of a Popish Attire and makes to be a great cause of Shame and Contumeliâ— to that Godly man And possibly it might be thought so at that time by Hooper himself who from thenceforth carried a strong Grudg against Bishop Ridley the principal man as he conceived and that not untruly who had held him up so closely to such hard Conditions not fully reconciled unto him till they were both ready for the Stake and then it was high time to lay aside those Animosities which they had hereupon conceived on against another But these thingâ— happened not I mean his Consecration
the rest it was Ordered That none should be presented unto any Benefice in the King's Donation either as in the Right of His Crown or by Promotion Wardship Lapse c. till he had Preached before the King and thereby passed Hâ—s Judgment and Approbation And it was much about this time that Sermons at the Court were increased also For whereas formerly there were no Sermons at the Court but in time of Lent and possibly on some â—ew of the greater Festivals in which reâ—pect six Chaplains were sufficient to attend in Ordinary it was now Ordered That from thenceforth there should be Sermons every Sunday for all such as were so disposed to resort unto But the Great business of this Year was the taking down of Altars in many places by the Publick Authorâ—ty which in some few had formerly been pulled down by the irregular forwardness of the Common People The Principal Motive whereunto was in the first place the Opinion of some dâ—slikes which had been taken by Calvin against the Liturgie and the desire of those of the Zuinglian Faction to reduce this Church unto the Nakedness and Simplicity of those Transmarine Chuâ—ches which followed the Hâ—lveâ—ian or Calvinian Forms For the Advancement of which Work it had been Preached by Hooper above-mentioned before the King about the bâ—ginning of this year That It would be very well that it might please the Magistrate to tuâ—n the Altars into Tables according to the first Institution of Christ and thereby to take away the falâ—e perswâ—sion of the People which they have of Sacrifices to be done upon the Altars Because said he as long as Altars remain both the ignorant People and the ignorant and evill-perswaded Priâ—st will dream always of Sacrifice This was â—nough to put the thoughts of the Alteration into the Head of some Great Men about the Court who thereby promised themselves no small Hopes of Profit by the disfurnishing of the Altars of the Hangings Palls Plate and other Rich Vtensils which every Parish more or less had provided for them And that this Consideration might prevail upon thâ—m as much as any other if perhaps not more may be collected from an Eâ—quiry made about two years after In which it was to be interrogated What Jewels of Gold and Silver or Silver Crosses Candlâ—sticks Censers Chalices Câ—pes and other Vâ—stments were then remaining in any of the Cathedral or Parochial Churches or otherwise had been embezelled or taken away the leaving â—f one Chalice to every Church with a Cloath or Covering for the Câ—mmunion-Table being thought sufficient The matter being thus resolved on a Letter comes to Bishop Ridley in the name of the King Signed with His Royal Signet but Subscribed by Sommerset and other of the Lords of the Council concerning the taking down of Altars and setting up Tables in the stead thereof Which Letter because it relates to somewhat which was done before in some of the Churches and seems onâ—ly to pretend to an Vniformity in all the rest I shall here subjoyn that bâ—ing the Chief Ground on which so great an Alteration must be supposed to have been raised Now the Tenour of the said Letter is as followeth RIght-Reverend Father in God Right-Trusty and Well-Beloved We Greet You well Whereas it is câ—me to â—ur Knâ—wlâ—dge that being the Altars within the more part of the Churches of the Realm upon Good and Godly Considerations are takâ—n down there doth yet remain Altars standing in divers other Churches by occasion wheâ—eof â—uch Variâ—nce and Contention ariseth amongst sundry of Our Subjects which if good Foâ—e-sight were not had might perhaps engenâ—er great Hurt and Inconvenience We let you wit that minding to have all â—ccasions of 〈◊〉 taken away which many times groweth by thâ—se and sâ—ch lâ—ke Diversities and considering that amongst other thiâ—gs belongiâ—g to Our 〈…〉 anâ— Care We do account the greatest to be to mâ—intain the câ—mmon Quiet of Our Reâ—lm We have thought Good by the Advice of Ouâ— Câ—urcil to reqâ—ire You and nevertheless especially to Charge aâ—d Câ—mmâ—nd You for the avoidiâ—g of all mâ—tters of further 〈…〉 about the standing or taâ—ing away of the said 〈◊〉 to give 〈◊〉 Order thâ—â—ughout all Your Diocess that with alâ— Dilâ—gence all the Altars in every Church or Chapel as well in places Exempted as not Exempted within Your said Dioceâ—s be taken â—own and in stead of them a Table to be set up in some convenâ—ent part of the Chancel within every such Church or Châ—pâ—l to serve for the Ministration â—f the Blâ—sted Communion And to the intent the same may be done without the Offence of such Our Loving Subjects as be not yet so well perswaded in that behalf as We â—ould wish We send unto You herewith certain Considerations Gathered and Collected that makâ— for the purpose The which and such others as You shall think meet to be set forth to perswade the weak to embrace Our Procâ—edings in this paâ—t We pray You cause to be declared to the People by some discreet Preachers in such places as You shall thiâ—k â—eet before the taking down of the said Altars so as both the weak Consciences of others mâ—y be instructed and satisfied as much as mâ—y be and this Our Pleasure the more quietly Executed For the better doing whereof We require You to open the foreâ—said Considerations in that Our Cathedral Church in Your own Person if You conveniently may or otherwâ—â—e by Your Chancellour or other Grave Preacher both there and in such other Markâ—t-Towns and most Notable Places of Your Diocess as You may think most requisite Which Letter bearing Date on the twenty fourth of November in the fourth year of the King was Subscribed by tâ—e Duke of Sommerset the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the Lord Admiral Clinton the Earls of Warwick Bedford and Wiltshire the Bishop of Ely the Lords Wentworth and North. Now tâ—e Effect of the said Reasons mentioned in the last part of this Letter were First â—o move the People from the Superstitioâ—s Opinions of the Popish Mass unto the right Use of the Lora's Supper The Use of an Altar being to Sacrifice upâ—n and the Use of a Table to Eat upon and therefore a Table to be fâ—r more 〈◊〉 for Our feeding on Him who was once onely Crucified and Offered for us Secondly That in the Book of Common-Prayer the name of Altaâ— the Lord's Board and Table are used indifferently without prescâ—ibing any thing in the Form thereof For as it is called a Table and the Lord's Board in reference to the Lord's Supper which is there Administred so it is called an Altar also in reference to the Sacrifice of Praise and Thanks-giving which is there â—fferâ—d unto God And so the changing the Altars into Tables nâ—t to be any way repugnant to the Rules of the Liturgie The third Reason seems to be no other then an Illustration of the First for taking away the superstitious Opinion out of the Minds of the People touching the Sacrifice of
unto that Honour by the King's Letters Patenâ—s As for Ridley we have spoke before and as for Poynet he is affirmed to have been a Man of verâ— good Learning with Reference to his Age and the Time he lived in well studied in the Greek Tongue and of no small Eminence in the Arts and Mathematical Sciences A Change was also made in Cambridg by the Death of Bucer which I finde placed by Fâ—x on the twenty third of December by others with more Truth on the nineteenth of January both in the Compass of this year and by some others with less Reaâ—â—n on the tenth of March But at whâ—t time sover he died certain it is that he was most Solemnly Interred in Saint Marie's Church attended to Fu his â—rave by all the Heads and most of the Graduates in that Vniversity his neâ—al Sermon Preached by Dâ—ctâ—ur Parâ—er â—he first Arch-Bishop of Canterbury in Queen Elizâ—beth'â— Time the Panegyrick made by one of the Haddons a Man of a moâ—â— Fluenâ— and Rhetorical Sâ—yle all that pretended to the Muses in both Vniverâ—ities setting forth his great Worth and their own Loss in him with the best of their Poetry Anno Regni Edw. Sexti 5 o. An. Dom. 1550 1551. WE must begin this year with the Deprivation of Bishop Gardiner whom we left committed to the Tower the last of June in the year 1548. There he remained almost two years without being pressed to any particular Point the yielding unto which might procure his Liberty or the Refusal justifie such a long Imprisonment On the tenth of June this year the Publick Liturgie now being generally executed in all Parts of the Kingdom was offered to his Consideration that some Experiment might be made whether he would put his Hand unto it and promise to advance the Service Upon the fourth day after the Duke of Sommerset with five other of the Lords of the Council was sent unto the Tower to receive his Answer Which he returned to this effect That he had deliberately considered of all the Offices contained in the Common-Prayer-Book and all the several Branches of it That Though he could not have made it in that Manner had the Matter been referred unto him yet that he found such things therein as did very well satisfie his Conscience and therefore that he would not onely execute it in his own Person but cause the same to be Officiated by all those of his Diocess But this was not the Answer which the Courtiers looked for It was their Hope they should have found him more averse from the King's Proceedings that making a Report of his Perversness he might be lifted out of that Wealthy Bishoprick which if it either were kept Vacant or filled with a more Tractable Person might give them opportunity to enrich themselves by the Spoil thereof Therefore to put him further to it the Lord Treasurer the Earl of Warwick Sir William Herbert Master of the Horse and Mr. Secretary Petre are sent upon the ninth of July with certain Articles which for that end were Signed by the King and the Lords of the Council According to the Tenour hereof he was not onely to testifie his Consent to the Establishing of the Holy-Days and Fasting-Days by the King's Authority the Allowance of the Publick Liturgie and the Abrogating of the Statute for the Six Articles c. but to Subscribe to the Confession of his Fault in his former Obstinacy after such Form and Manner as was there required To which Articles he Subscribed without any great Hesitancy but refused to put his Hand to the said Confession There being no reason as he thought and so he answered those which came unto him from the Court on the Morrow after that he should yield to the Confâ—ssion of a Guilt when he knew himself Innocent He is now faln into the Toil out of which he finds but Little Hope of being set free For presently on the neck of this a Book of Articles is drawn up containing all the Alteration made by the King and His Father as well by Acts of Parliament as their own Injunctions from the first Suppression of the Monasteries to the coming out of the late Form for the Consecration of Arch-Bishops Bishops c. Of all which Doings he is required to signifie his Approbation to make Confession of his Fault with an Acknowledgment that he had deserved the Punishment which was aid upon him Which Articles being tendered to him by the Bishop of London the Master of the Horse Mr. Secretary Petre and Goodrick a Counsellour at Law appeared to him to be of such an hard Digestion that he desir'd first to be set at Liberty before he should be pressed to make a particular Answer This being taken for a Refusal and that Refusal taken for a Contempt the Profits of his Bishoprick are Sequestered from him for three Moneths by an Order of the Council-Table bearing date the nineteenth of the Moneth the said Profits in the mean time to be collected or received by such Person or Persons as the King should thereunto appoint with this Intimation in the Close that if he did not tender his Submission at the end of that Term he should be taken for an Incorrigible Person and unmeet Minister of this Church and Finally to be procceeded against to a Deprivation The Term expired and no such humble Submission or Acknowledgment made as had been required at his Hands a Commission is directed to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the Bishops of London Ely and Lincoln Sir William Peter c. authorised thereby to proceed against him upon certain Articles in the same contained Convented before whom at Lambeth on the fifteenth of December he received his Charge Which being received he used so many Shifts and found so many Evasions to elude the Business that having appeared six Days before them without coming to a plain and Positive Answer he was upon the fourteenth of February Sentenced to a Deprivation and so remitted to the Tower But Gardiner did not mean to die so tamely and therefore had no sooner heard the Definitive Sentence but presently he Protesteth against the same makes his Appeal unto the King and causeth both his said Appeal and Protestation to be Registred in the Acts of that Court. Of all which he will finde a time to serve himself in the Alâ—eration of Affairs It was presumed that the Report of this Severity against a Man so eminent for his Parts and Place would either bring such other Bishops as had yet stood out to a fit Conformity or otherwise expose both them and their Estates to the like Condemnation But some there were so stiff in their old Opinions that neither Terrour nor Perswasion could prevail upon them either to give their Approbation of the King's Proceedings or otherwise to advance the Service And some there were who though they outwardly complyed with the King's Commands yet was it done so coldly and with such Reluctancy as laâ—'d them open to the
Spoil though not to the Loss of their Bishopricks Of which last Sort were Kitching Bishop of Landaff Salcot otherwise called Capon Bishop of Salisbury and Sampson of Coventry and Lichfield Of which the last to keep his ground was willing to fling up a great part of his Lands and out of those which either belonged unto his See or the Dean and Chapter to raise a Baron's Estate and the Title of the Baronie too for Sir William Paget not born to any such fair Fortunes as he thus acquired Salcot of Salisbury knowing himself obnoxious to some Court-Displeasures redeems his Peace and keeps himself out of such Danger by making long Leases of the best of his Farms and Manours known afterwards most commonly by the Name of Capons-Feathers But none of them more miserably Dilapidated the Patrâ—mony of his See then Bishop Kitching of Landaff A Church so liberally endowed by the Munificence and Piety of some Great Persons in those Times that if it were possessed but of a tenth Part of what once it had it might be reckoned as is affirmed by Bishop Godwine one of Kitching's Successours amongst the Richest Churches in these Parts of Christendom But whatsoever Kitching found it it was made poor enough before he left it so poor that it is hardly able to keep the Pot boiling for a Parson's Dinner Of the first Rank I reckon Voysie of Exeter Heath of Worcester and Day of Chichester for the Province of Canterbury together with Bishop Tonstal 〈◊〉 Durham in the Province of York The first once Governour to the Princess Mary Preferred afterwards by King Henry to the Lord-President-ship of Wales and the See of Exeter Which See he found possessed at his coming to it of twenty two goodly Manours and fourteen Mansion-Houses Richly furnished But the Man neither could approve the Proceedings of the King in the Reformation nor cared in that respect to Preserve the Patrimony of the Church for those who might differ in Opinion from him And being set upon the Pin he made such Havock of his Lands before he was brought under a Deprivation that he left but seven or eight of the worst Manours and those let out into long Leases and charged with Pensions and not above two Houses both bare and naked Having lost so much Footing within his Diocess it is no marvail if he could no longer keep his Standing For being found an open Hinderer of the Work in hand and secretly to have fomented the Rebellion of the Devonshire-Men in the year 1549 he either was deprived of or as some say resigned his Bishoprick within few Moneths after the Sentence passed on Gardiner but lived to be restored again as Gardiner also was in the Time of Queen Mary Of Day and Heath I have nothing to remember more particularly but that they were both Deprived on the tenth of October and lived both to a Restitution in Queen Marie's Reign Heath in the mean time being Liberally and Lovingly entertained by the Bishop of London and afterwards Preferred to the Arch-Bishoprick of York and made Lord Chancellour of England Nor shall I now say more of Tonstal but that being cast into the Tower on the twentieth day of December he was there kept untill the Dissolution of his Bishoprick by Act of Parliament of which we shall speak more at large in its proper place We must not leave these Churches vacant considering that it was not long before they were supplyed with new Incumbents To Gardiner in the See of Winton succeeded Doctour John Poynet Bishop of Rochester a better Scholar then a Bishop and purposely Preferred to that Wealthy Bishoprick to serve other Mens Turns For before he was well warm in his See he dismembred from it the Goodly Palace of Marwel with the Manours and Parks of Marwel and Twiford which had before been seised upon by the Lord Protectour to make a Knight's Estate for Sir Henry Seimour as before was signified The Palace of Waltham with the Park and Manour belonging to it and some good Farms depending on it were seised into the hands of the Lord Treasurer Pawlet Earl of Wiltshire who having got into possession so much Lands of the Bishoprick conceived himself in a fit Capacity to affect as shortly after he obtained the Title of Lord Marquess of Winchester But this with many of the rest of Poynet's Grants Leases and Alienations were again recovered to the Church by the Power of Gardiner when being restored unto his See he was by Queen Mary made Lord Chancellour To Voysie in the See of Exeter succeeded Doctour Miles Coverdale one who had formerly assisted Tyndal in Translating the Bible into English and for the most part lived at Tubing an Vniversity belonging to the Duke of Saxonie where he received the Degree of Doctour Returning into England in the first year of King Edward and growing into great Esteem for Piety and Diligent Preaching he was Consecrated Bishop of this Church the thirtieth of August the Bones whereof were so clean picked that he could not easily leave them with less Flesh then he found upon them Nor have we more to say of Scory who succeeded Day but that being Consecrated Bishop of Rochester in the place of Poynet on the thirtieth of August also he succeeded Day at Chichester in the year next following Of which Bishoprick he was deprived of in the Time of Queen Mary and afterwards preferred by Queen Elizabeth to the See of Hâ—reford in which place he dyed To Heath at Worcester no Successour was at all appointed that Bishoprick being given in Commendam to Bishop Hooper who having been Consecrated Bishop oâ— Glocester on the eighth of March was made the Commendatory of this See to which he could not legally be Translatâ—d as the Case then stood both Latimer and Heath being stâ—ll alive and both reputed Bishops of it by their several Parties And here we have a strange Conversion of Affairs for whereas heretofore the County of Glocester was a part of the Diocess of Worcester out of which it was taken by King Henry when first made a Bishoprick the Diocess of Worcester was now lay'd to the See of Glocester Not that I think that Hooper was suffered to enjoy the Temporal Patrimony of that Wealthy Bishoprick but that he was to exercise the Jurisdiction and Episcopality with some short Allowance for his Pains The Pyrates of the Court were too intent on all Advantages to let such a Vessel pass untouched in which they might both finde enough to enrich themselves and yet leave that which was sufficient to content the Merchant Anâ— this perhaps may be one Reason why Latimer was not restored unto his Bishoprick upon this Avoydance not in regard of any sensible Dislike which was taken at him by the Court for his down-right Preaching or that the Bishops feared from him the like Disturbances which they had met withall in Hooper But I conceive the Principal Reason of it might proceed from his own Unwillingness to cumber his
old Age with the Trouble of Business and to take that Burthen on his Shoulders which he had long before thrown off with such great Alacrity And possible enough it is that finding his Abilities more proper for the Pulpit then they were for the Consistory he might desire to exercise himself in that Imployment in which he might appear most serviceable both to God and his Church For both before and after this we finde him frequent in the Pulpit before the King and have been told of his Diligent and Constant Preaching in other places His Sermons for the most part as the use then was upon the Gospels of the Day by which he had the Opportunity of Opening and Expounding a greater Portion of the Word of God then if he had confined his Meditations to a single Text. His Entertainment generally with Arch-Bishop Cranmer where he found all necessary Accommodation and so extreamly honoured by all sorts of People that he never lost the Name of Lord and was still looked on as a Bishop though without a Bishoptick But notwithstanding the Remove of so many Bishops there still remained one Rub in the Way which did as much retard the Progress of the Reformation as any of the rest if not altogether The Princess Mary having been bred up from Her Infancy in the Romish Religion could not be won by any Arguments and perswasions to change Her Minde or permit that any Alteration should be made in those Publick Offices to which She had so long been used The King had writ many Letters to Her in hope to take Her off from those Affections which She carried to the Church of Rome The like done also by the Lords of the Council and with like Success For besides that She conceived Her Judgment built on so good a Foundation as could not easily be subverted there were some Politick Considerations which possibly might prevail more with Her then all other Arguments She was not to be told That by the Religion of the Protestants Her Mother's Marriage was Condemned That by the same She was declared to be Illigitimate and Consequently made uncapable to succeed in the Crown in Case She should survive Her Brother All which She must acknowledge to be legally and justly determined Upon these Grounds She holds Her self to Her first Resolution keeps up the Mass with all the Rites and Ceremonies belonging to it and suffers divers Persons besides her own Domestick Servants to be present at it The Emperour had so far mediated in Her behalf that Her Chaplains were permitted to Celebrate the Mass in Her Presence but with this Cautioâ— and Restriction That they should Celebrate the same in Her Presence onely For the transgressing of which Bounds Mallet and Barkley Her two Chaplains were Committed Prisoners in December last of which She makes Complaint to the Lords of the Council but finds as cold Return from Them as they did from Her A Plot is thereupon contrived for conveying Her out of the Realm by Stealth to transport Her from Essex where She then lay to the Court of the Queen Regent in Flanders some of Her Servants sent before Flemish Ships ready to receive Her and a Commotion to be raised in that County that in the Heat and Tumult of it She might make Her Escape The King is secretly advertised of this Design and presently dispatcheth certain Forces under Sir John Gates then newly made Lievtenant of the Band of Pensioners to prevent the Practice secures His Coasts orders His Ships to be in Readiness and speeds away the Lord Chancellour Rich with Sir William Peter to bring the Princess to the Court. Which being effected at the last though not without extream Unwillingness on Her part to begin the Journey Inglesfield Walgrave and Rochester being all of Principall place about Her on the thirtieth of October were commiâ—ted to Custody which adds a new Affliction to Her but there was no Remedy The Lords of the Council being commanded by the King to attend upon Her declared in the name of His Highness how long He had permitted Her the Mass that finding how unmoveable She was from Her former Courses He resolved not to endure it longer unless He might perceive some hope of Her Conformity within short time after To which the Princess Answered That Her Soul was Goa's and for Her Faith that as She could not change so She would not dâ—ssemble it The Council thereunto rejoyn That the King intended not to Constrain Her Faith but to restrain Her in the outward Profession of it in regard of those many dangers and inconveniences which might ensue on the Example Which enterchange of words being passed She is appointed for the present to remain with the King but neither Mallâ—t nor any other of Her Chaplains permitted to have speech with Her or access unto Her The Emperour being certified how all things passed sends an Ambassadour to the King with a Threatning Message even to the Denouncing of a Wâ—r in case his Cousin the Princess Mary were not permitted to enjoy the exercise of Her own Religion To Gratifie whom in His desires the Lords of the Council generally seemed to be very inclinable they well considered of the Prejudice whâ—ch must fall upon the English Merchants if they should lose their Trade in Flâ—â—ders where they had a whole year's cloth beside other Goods And they knew well what inconvenience must befall the King who had there 500. Quintals of Powder and good store of Armour which would be seised into the Emperour's hands and imployed against Him if any Breach should grow between them The King is therefore moved with the joynt Consent of â—he whole Board to grant the Emperour's Request and to dispence with the utmost Rigour of the Law in that particular for fear of drawing upon Himself a greater mischief But they found Him so well Studied in the Grounds and Principles of His Religion that no Consideration drawn from any Reason of State could induce Him to it It was thereupon thought fit to send the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London being both Members of that Body to try what they could do upon Him in the way of Argument By them the Point being brought unto such an Issue as might give them some hopes of being admited it was Propounded to Him as their Opinion after some Progress made in the Disputation that Though it were a sin to give Licence to sin yet a connivance of it might be allowed in case it neither were too long nor without some probable hope of a Reformation With which Nicety the young King was so unsatisfied that he declared a Resolution rather to venture Life and all things else which were dear unto Him then to give way to any thing which He knew to be against the Truth Upon which words the King expressed His inward Trouble by a flood of Tears and the Bishops on the sight thereof wept as fast as He the King conceiving Himself wronged in being
so unreasonably presâ—'d and the Bishops thinking themselves neglected because unseasonably denied Thus stood they siâ—ent for a time each Party looking sadly on the apprehension of those Extremities which this Dispute had brought upon them as certainly the Picture of Unkindness is never represented in more lively Colours then when it breaks out betwixt those who are most tenderly affected unto one another The Bishops thereupon withdrew admiring at such great Abilities in so young a King and magnified the Name of God for giving them a Prince of such Eminent Piety This being made known unto the Council it was thought necessary to dismiss the Emperour's Embassadour with such an Answer as should both give the English time to fetch off their Goods and let his Master have the â—â—st of the Winter to allay his Heats It was therefore signified unto him That The King would shortly send an Ageâ—t to reside with the Emperour Authourised and â—â—strâ—cted in all particulars which might beget a right Vnderstanding between both Princes Thus answered he returns to the Emperour's Court whom Wotton shortly after followeth â—ufficiently Instructed To desire the Emperour to be less violent in his requests and to Advertise him That The Lady Mary as She was His Couâ—sin so She was the King's Sister and which is more His Subject â— That seeing the King was a Sovereign Prince without dependency upon any but God it was not reason that the Emperour should intermeddle either with Ordering His Subjects or directing the Affairs of His Realm But so far he was Authourised to offer That whatsoever favour the King's Subjects had in the Emperour 's Dominions for their Religion the same should the Emperour 's Subjects receive in England Further then this as the King his Master would not go so it would be a lâ—st labour to desire it of him This was enough to let the Emperour see how little his Threats were feared which made him the less forward in sending more Which Passages relating to the Princess Mary I have lai'd together for the better understanding how all matters stood about this time betwixt Her and the King though possibly the sending of Wotton to the Emperour might be the Work of the next year when the King's Affairs were better setled then they were at the present For the King finding the extraordinary Coldness of the Emperour when his assistance was required for Defence of Bulloign and the hot Pursuit of his Demands of a Toleration for the Family of the Lady Mary conceived it most expedient for His Affairs to unite Himself more strongly and entirely in a League with France For entrance whereunto an Hint was taken from some Words which fell from Guidolti at the Treaty of Bulloign when he propounded That in stead of the Queen of Scots whom the English Commissioners demanded for a Wife to their King a Daughter of the French King might be joyned in Mariage with Him affirming merrily That If it were a dry Peace it would hardly be durable These Words which then were taken onely for a Slight or Diversion are now more seriously considered as Many times the smallest Overtures produce Conclusions of the greatest Consequence A Solemn Embassie is thereupon directed to the Court of France the Marquess of Northhampton nominated for the Chief Embassadour associated with the Bishop of Ely Sir Philip Hobby Gentleman-Usher of the Order Sir William Pickering Sir Thomas Smith Principal Secretary of State and Sir John Mason Clerk of the Council as Commissioners with him And that they might appear in the Court of France with the greater Splendour they were accompanied with the Earls of Arundel Rutland and Ormond and the Lords L'isle Fitz-water Abergavenny Bray and Evers with Knights and Gentlemen of Note to the number of six and twenty or thereabouts Their Train so limited for avoiding of contention amongst themselves that no Earl should have above four Attendants no Baron above three nor any Knight or Gentleman above two a piece the Commissioners not being limited to any number as the others were Setting forwards in the Moneth of June they were met by the Lord Constable Chastition and by him Conducted to the Court lying at Chasteau Bryan the nearer to which as they approached theÌ„ greater was the concourse of the French Nobility to attend upon them Being brought unto the King then being in his Bed-chamber the Marquess first presented him in the name of his King with the Order of Saint George called The Garter wherewith he was presently Invested by Sir Philip Hobby who being an Officer of the Order was made Commissioner as it seemed for that purpose chiefly rewarded for it by that King with a Chain of Gold valued at two hundred pounds and a Gown richly trimmed with Ayglets which he had then upon his back This Ceremony being thus performed the Bishop of Ely in a short Speech Declared How desirous his Master was not onely to continue but to encrease Amity with the French King that for this end He had sent the Order of The Garter to be both a Testimony and Tye of Love between them to which purpose principally those Societies of Honour were first devised Declaring that they had Commission to make Overtures of some other matters which was like to make the Concord betwixt the Kings and their Realms not onely more durable but in all expectation perpetual and thereupon desired the King to appoint some persons enabled with Authourity to Treat with them To which it was Answered by the Cardinal of Lorrain in the name of that King That his Master was ready to apprehend and embrace all Offers tending to encrease of Amity and the rather for that long Hostility had made their new Friendship both more weak in it self and more obnoxious unto Jealousies and Distrusts and therefore promised on the King's behalf that Commissioners should be appointed to Treat with them about any matters which they had in Charge In pursuance whereof the said Cardinal the Constable Chastilion the Duke of Guise and others of like Eminent note being appointed for the Treaty the English Commissioners first prosecute their Old Demand for the Queen of Scots To which it was Answered by the French That they had parted with too much Treasure and spent too many Lives upon any Conditions to let Her go and that Conclusion had been made long before for her Marriage with the Daulphin of France The English upon this proposed a Marriage between their King and the Lady Elizabeth the Eldest Daughter of France who after was Married to Philip the Second to which the French Commissioners seemed very inclinable with this Proviso notwithstanding That neither Party should be bound either in Conscience or Honour untill the Lady should accomplish twelve years of Age. And so far Matters went on smoothly but when they came to talk of Portion there appeared a vast difference between them The English Commissioners ask no more then fifteen hundred thousand Crowns but fell by one hundred thousand
Earl of Pembroke of that House was of himself a Man of a daring Nature Boisterously bold and upon that account much favoured by King â—enry the Eighth growing into â—ore Credit with the King in regard of the Lady Ann his Wife the Sister of Queen Katâ—â—in Par and having mightily raised hâ—msâ—lf in the fall of Abbies he was made chief Gentleman of the Privy-Chamber and by that Title raâ—ked amongst the Executours of the King 's last Will and then appointed to be one of the Council to the King now Reigning Being found by Dudly a fit man to advance his ends he is by his Procurement gratâ—fiâ—d for I know not what Service unless it were for furthering the Sale of Bulloign with some of the King's Lands amounting to five hundred pounds in yearly Rents and made Lord Prâ—sident of Wales promoted afterwards to the place of Master of the Horse that he might be as considerabâ—e in the Court as he was in the Country It was to be presumed that he would not be wanting unto him who had so preferred him By these three all Affairs of Court were carried plotâ—ed by Dudley smoothed by the Courtship of the Marquess and executed by the bold hand of the new Lord President Being thus fortified he revives his former Quarrel with the Duke of Sommerset not that he had any just ground for it but that he looked upon him as the onely Block which lay in the way of his Aspirings and â—herefore was to be removed by what means soever Plots are lai'd therefore to entrap him Snares to catch him Reports raised him as a Proud and Ambitious Person of whose Aspirings there would be no other end then the Crown it self and common Rumours spread abroad that some of his Followers had Proclaimed him King in several places onely to finde how well the People stood affected to it His Doors are watched and Notice took of all that went in and out his Words observed made much worse by telling and aggravated with all odious Circumstances to his Disadvantage No way untravailed in the Arts of Treachery and Fraud whâ—ch might bring him into Suspicion with the King and Obloquie with the common People The Duke's Friends were not ignorant of all these Practises and could not but perceive but that his Ruin and their own was projected by them The Law of Nature bound them to preserve themselves but their Adversaries were too cunning for them at the Weapon of Wit and had too much Strength in their own Hands to be easily overmastered in the way of Power Some dangerous Counsels were thereupon infused into him more likely by his Wife then by any other to invite these Lords unto a Banquet and either to kill them as they sate or violently to drag them from the Table and cut of their Heads the Banquet to be made at the Lord Pageâ—'s Hoâ—se near Saint Clement's Church and one hundred stout Men to be lodged in Sommerset-Place not far off for the Execution of that Mâ—rther This Plot confessed if any Credit may be given to such Confessions by one Crane and his Wife both great in the Favour of the Duchess and with her committed And after justâ—fied by Sir Thomas Palmer who was committed with the Duke in his Examination taken by the Lords of the Council There were said to be some Consultations also for raising the Forces in the North for setting upon the Gens'd arms which served in the Nature of a Life-Guard as before was said upon some day of General-Muster two thousand Foot and one hundred Horse of the Duke's being designed unto that Service and that being done to raise the City by Proclaiming Liberty To which it was added by Hammond one of the Duke 's false Servants That his Chamber at Greenwich had been strongly guarded by Night to prevent the Surprisal of his Person How much of this is true or whether any of it be true or not it is not easie to determâ—ne though possibly enough it is that all this Smoak could not be without some Fire which whosoever kindled first there is no doubt but that Earl Dudly blew the Coals and made it seem greater then it was Of all these Practises and Designs if such they were the Earl is conâ—tantly advertised by his Espials whom he had amongâ—â— them and gave them as much Linâ— and Leisure as they could desire till he had made all things ready for the Executing of his own Projectments But first there must be a great day of bestowing Honours as well for gaining the more Credit unto him and his Followers as by the jollity of the Time to take away all Fear of Danger from the Opposite Party In Pursuit whereof Henry Lord Gray Marquess of Dorset descended from Elizabeth Wife of King Edward the Fourth by Her former Husband is made Duke of Suffolk to which he might pretend some Claim in Right of the Lady Frances his Wife the eldest Daughter of Charls Brandon Duke of Suffolk and Sister of Henry anâ— Charls the two late Dukes thereof who dyed a few Moneths since at Cambridg of the Sweating Sickness The Earl himself for some Reasons very well known to himself and not unknown to many others is made Duke of Northumberland which Title had lain Dormant ever since the Death of Henry Lord Percy the sixth Earl of that Family who dyed in the year 1537. or thereabouts of whom more anon The Lord Treasurer Pawlet being then Earl of Wiltshire is made Marquess of Winchester Sir William Herbert created at the same time Lord Herbert of Cardiff and Eâ—rl of Pembroke Some make Sir Thomas Darcie Captain of the Guard to be advanced unto the Title of Lord Darcy of Chich on the same day also which others place perhaps more rightly on the fifth of April The Solemnity of which Creations being passed over the Order of Knighthood is conferred on William Cecil Esquire one of the Secretaries of Estate John Cheek Tutour or Schole-Master to the King Henry Dudley and Henry Nevil Gentlemen of the Privy-Chamber At or about which time Sir Robert Dudley the third Son of the new Duke of Nâ—rthumberland but one which had more of the Father in hâ—m then all the rest is sworn of the Bedâ—Chamber to the King which was a place of greatest Trust and Nearness to His Majestie 's Person The Triumphs of this Day being the eleventh day of October were but a Porlogue to the Tragedy which began on the fifth day after At what time the Duke of Sommerset the Lord Gray Sir Thomas Palmer Sir Ralph Vane Sir Thomas Arundel together with Hammond Newdigate and two of the Seimours were seised on and committed to Custody all of them except Palmer Vane and Arundel being sent to the Tower And these three kept in several Chambers to attend the pleasure of the Council for their Examinations The Duchess of Sommerset Crane and his Wife above-mentioned and one of the Gentlewomen of her Chamber were sent unto the Tower on the morrow
more inclinable to the Lutheran but where his profit was concerned in the spoil of Images then thâ—â— Zuinglian Doctrines so well beloved in general by the Common People that divers dipt their Handkerchiefs in his Blood to keep them in perpetual Remembrance of him One of which being a sprightly Dame about two years after when the Duke of Northumberland was led through the City for his opposing the Title of Queen Mary ran to him in the Streets and shaking out her bloody Handkerchief before him Behold said she the Blood of that worthy man that good Vncle of that Excellent King which shed by thy malicious Practice doth now begin apparently to revenge it self on thee The like Opinion also was conceived of the business by the most understanding men in the Court and Kingdom though the King seemed for the present to be satisfied in it In which opinion they were exceedingly confirmed by the Enlargment of the Earl of Arundel and restoring of Crane and his Wife to their former Liberty but most especially by the great Endearments which afterwards appeared between the Duke of Northumberland and Sir Thomas Palmer and the great confidence which the Duke placed in him for the Advancement of his Projects in behalf of the Duke of Suffolk of which more hereafter But the Malice of his Enemies stayed not here extending also to his Friends and Children after his Decease but chiefly to the eldest Son by the second Wife in favour of whom an Act of Parliament had been passed in the thirty second year of the late King Henry for the entailing on his Person all such Lands Estates and Honours as had been or should be purchasâ—d by his Father from the twenty fifth day of May then next foregoing Which Act they caused to be repealed at the end of the next Session of Parliament which began on the morrow after the Death of the Duke whereby they strip'd the young Gentleman being then about thirteen years of Age of his Lands and Titles to which he was in part restored by Queen Elizabeth who in pity of his Father's Suffâ—rings and his own Misfortunes created him â—arl of Hertford Viscount Beauchamp c. Nor did the Duke's Fall end it self in no other ruin then that of his own house and the Death of the four Knights which suffered on the same account but drew along with it the â—emoval of the Lord Rich from the Place and Office of Lord Chancellour For so it happened that the Lord Chancellour commiserating the Condition of the Duke of Sommerset though formerly he had shewed himself against him dispatched a Letter to him concerning some Proceedings of the Lords of the Council which he thought fit for him to know Which Letter being hastily superscribed To the Duke with no other Title he gave to one of his Servants to be carried to him By whom for want of a more particular direction it was delivered to the hands of the Duke of Norfolk But the Mistake being presently found the Lord Chancellour knowing into what hands he was like to fall makes his Address unto the King the next morning betimes and humbly prays that in regard of his great Age he might be discharged of the Great Seal and Office of Chancellour Which being granted by the King though with no small difficulty the Duke of Northumberland and the Earl of Pembroke forward enough to go upon such an Errand are sent on the twenty first of December to receive the Seal committed on the morrow after to Doctour Thomas Goodwin Bishop of Ely and one of the Lords of the Privy Council Who afterwards that is to say on the two and twentieth of January was sworn Lord Chancellour the Lord Treasurer Paulet giving him the Oath in the Court of Chancery Next followed the Losses and Disgraces suffered by the Lord Paget on the Duke's account To whom he had continued faithfull in all his Troubles when Sir William Cecil who had received greater Benefits from him and most of the Dependants on him had either deserted or betrayed him His House designed to be the place in which the Duke of Northumberland and the rest of the Lords were to be murthered at a Banquet if any credit may be given to the Informations for which Committed to the Tower as before is said But having no sufficient Proof to warrant any further Proceeding to his Condemnation an Enquiry is made not long after into all his Actions In the return whereof it was suggested That he had sold the King's Lands and Woods without Commission That he had taken great Fines for the King's Lands and applyed them to his proper use and That he had made Leases in Reversion for more then one and twenty years Which Spoyl is to be understood of the Lands and Woods of the Dutchy of Lancaster of the which he was Chancellour and for committing whereof he was not onely forced to resign that Office but condemned in a fine of six thousand pounds not otherwise to be excused but by paying of four thousand pounds within the year This Punishment was accompanied with a Disgrace no less grievous to him then the loss both of his Place and Money He had been chosen into the Society of the Garter An. 1548. when the Duke of Sommerset was in Power and so continued till the fifteenth of April in the year next following Anno 1552. At what time Garter King of Aâ—ms was sent to his Lodging in the Tower to take from him the Garter and the George belonging to him as a Knight of that most Noble Order Which he suffered willingly to be done because it was His Majestie 's Pleasure that it should so be More sensible of the Affront without all question then otherwise he would have been because the said George and Garter were presently afâ—er sent by the King to John Earl of Warwick the Duke of Northumberland's eldest Son Admitted thereupon into that Society So prevalent are the Passions of some Great Persons that they can neither put a measure upon their Hatred nor an end to their Malice Which two last Passages though more properly belonging to the following year I have thought fit to place in this because of that dependance which they have on the Fall of Sommerset The like Ill-Fortune happened at the same time also to Doctour Robert Farrar Bishop of St. David's who as he had his Preferments by him so he suffered also in his Fall not because Guilty of the Practice or Conspiracy with him as the Lord Paget and the rest were given out to be but because he wanted his Support and Countenance against his Adversaries A Man he was of an unsociable disposition rigidly self-willed and one who looked for more Observance then his place required which drew him into a great dislâ—ke with most of his Clergy with none more then the Canons of his own Cathedral The Faction headed amongst others by Doctour Thomas Young then being the Chantour of that Church and afterwards advanced by Queen
intercepted or molested by the Ships of England were Shipwracked as before was said on the Coast of Ireland Nothing else Memorable in this King's Reign which concerned that Kingdom and therefore I have lai'd it altogether in this Place and on this Occasion But we return again to England where we have seen a Reformation made in Point of Doctrine and settled in the Forms of Worship the Superstitions and corruptions of the Church of Rome entirely abrogated and all things rectified according to the Word of God and the Primitive Practice nothing defective in the Managing of so great a Work which could have been required by equal and impartial Men but that it was not done as they conceived it ought to have been done in a General Council But first we finde not any such Necessity of a General Council but that many Heresies had been suppressed and many Corruptions removed out of the Church without any such Trouble Saint Augustine in his fourth Book against the two Epistles of the Pelagians cap. 12. speaks very plainly to this Purpose and yet the Learned Cardinal though a great Stickler in behalf of General Councils speaks more plain then he By whom it is affirrmed that for seven Heresies condemned in seven General Councils though by his leave the seventh did not so much suppress as advance an Heresie an huudred had been quashed in National and Provincial Councils The Practice of the Church in the several Councils of Aquilia Carthage Gangra Milevis c. make this plain enough all of them being Provincial or at least but National and doing their own Work without Help from others The Church had been in an ill Condition had it been otherwise especially under the Power of the Heathen Emperours when such a Confluence of the Prelats from all Parts of the World would have been construed a Conspiracy against the State and drawn Destruction on the Church and the Persons both Or granting that they might assemble without any such Danger yet being great Bodies moving slowly and not without long time and many Difficulties and Disputes to be rightly Constituted the Church would suffer more under such Delay by the spreading of Heresie then receive Benefit by this Care to suppress the same So that there neither is or can be any such Necessity either in Order to the Reformation of a National Church or the Suppressing of particular Heresies as by the Objectours is supposed Howsoever taking it for granted that a General Council is the best and safest Physick that the Church can take on all Occasions of Epidemical Distempers yet must it be granted at such times and in such Cases onely when it may conveniently be had For where it is not to be had or not had conveniently it will either prove to be no Physick or not worth the taking But so it was at the time of the Reformation that a General Council could not conveniently be assembled and more then so it was impossible that any such Council should assemble I mean a General Council rightly called and constituted according to the Rules lai'd down by our Controversers For first they say It must be called by such as have Power to do it Secondly That it must be intimated to all Christian Churches that so no Church nor People may plead Ignorance of it Thirdly That the Pope and the four chief Patriarchs must be present at it either in person or by Proxie And lastly That no Bishop be excluded if he be known to be a Bishop and not Eâ—xcommunicated According to which Rules it was impossible I say that any General Council should be assembled at the time of the Reformation oâ— the Church of England It was not then as when the chief four Patriarchs together with their Metropolitan and Suffragan Bishops were under the Protection of the Christian Emperours and might without Danger to themselves or to their Churches obey the Intimation and attend the Service the Patriarchs with their Metropolitans and Suffragans both then and now languishing under the Power and Tyranny of the Turk to whom so general a Confluence of Christian Bishops must needs give matter of Suspicion of just Fears and Jealousies and therefore not to be permitted as far as he can possibly hinder it on good Reason of State And then besides it would be known by whom such a General Council was to be assembled if by the Pope as generally the Papists say He and his Court were looked on as the greatest Grievance of the Christian Church and it was not probable that he should call a Council against himself unless he might have leave to pack it to govern it by His own Legats fill it with Titular Bishops of His own creating or send the Holy Ghost to them in Cloak-Bag as he did to Trent If joyntly by all Christian Princes which is the Common Tenent of the Protestant Scholes what Hopes could any man conceive as the Times then were that they should lay aside their particular Interesses to enter all together upon one design Or if they had agreed about it what Power had they to call the Prelats of the East to attend the Business and to protect them for so doing at their going home So that I look upon the hopes of a General Council I mean a General Council rightly called and constituted as an empty Dream The most that was to be expected was but a meeting of some Bishops of the West of Europe and those but of one Party onely as such were excommunicated and that might be as many as the Pope should please being to be excluded by the Cardinal's Rule Which how it may be called an Oecumenical or General Council unless it be a Topical-Oecâ—menical a Particular-General as great an Absurdity in Grammar as a Romaeu-Catholick I can hardly see Which being so and so no question but it was either the Church must have continâ—ed without Reformation or else it must be lawfull for National particular Churches to Reform themselves And in that case the Church may be Reformed per partes part after part Province after Province as is said by Gerson Further then which I shall not enter into this Dispute this being enough to Justifie the Church of England from doing any thing Unadvisedly Unwarrantably or without Example That which remains in Reference to the Progress of the Reformation concerns as well the Nature as the Number of such Feasts and Fastâ— as were thought fit to be retained Determined and Concluded on by an Act of Parliament to which the Bishops gave their Vote but whether Predetermined in the Convocation must be left as doubtfull In the Preamble to which Act it is Declared That At all times men are not so mindfull of performing those Publick Christian Duties which the true Religion doth require as they ought to be and therefore it hath been wholesomly provided that for calling them to their Duties and for helping their Infirmities that some certain Times and Days should be appointed wherein
Sermon wrought so far upon Him that He caused the Bishop to be sent for gave him great Thanks for his good Exhortation and thereupon entred into Communication with him about the devising of some Coâ—rse by which so great and good a Work should be brought to pass His Advice was That Letters should be written to the Lord Mayour and Aldermen for taking the Business into Consideration in Reference to such Poor as swarmed in great numbers about the City To which the King so readily hearkened that the Letters were dispatched and Signed before He would permit the Bishop to go out of His Presence Furnished with these Letters and Instructions the Bishop calls before him Sir Richard Dobbs then Lord Mayour of London with so many Aldermen as were thought fit to be advised with in the present Business By whom it was agreed upon That a General Contribution should be made by all wealthy and well-affected Citizens towards the Advancement of a work so necessary for the publick good For the effecting whereof they were all called to their Parish-Churches where by the said Lord Mayour their several Aldermen and other grave Citizens they were by Eloquent Orations perswaded how great and how many Commodities would ensue unto them and their City if the Poor of divers sorts were taken from out their Streets Lanes and Allyes and were bestowed and provided for in several Hospitals It was therefore moved that every man would signifie what they would grant towards the preparing and furnishing of such Hospitals as also what they would contribute weekly towards their Maintenance untill they were furnished with a more Liberal Endowment Which Course prevailed so far upon them that every man subscribed according to his Ability and Books were drawn in every Ward of the City containing the Sum of that Relief which they had contributed Which being delivered unto the Mayour were by Him humbly tendred to the King's Commissioners on the seventeenth of February This good Foundation being lai'd a Beginning was put to the Reparation of the decayed Buildings in the Gray-Friers on the twenty sixth of July for the Reception of such poor fatherless Children as were then to be provided for at the publick Charge The like Reparation also made of the Ruinous Buildings belonging to the late dissolved Priory of Saint Thomas in the Burough of Southwark which the Citizens had then newly bought of the King to serve for an Hospital of such Wounded Sick and Impotent Persons as were not fit to be intermingled with the Sound The Work so diligently followed in both places at once that on the twenty third of November the sick and maimed People were taken into the Hospital of Saint Thomas and into Christ-Hospital to the number of four hundred Children all of them to have Meat Drink Lodging and Cloths at the Charge of the City till other means could be provided for their future Maintainance And long it was not before such further Means was provided for them by the Bounty and Piety of the King then drawing as near unto his End as his Father was when he lai'd the first Foundation of that Pious Work For â—earing with what chearfulness the Lord Major and Aldermen had conformed themselves to the effect of His former Letters and what a great advance they had made in the Work commanded them to attend Him on the tenth of April gave them great thanks for their Zeal and forwardness and gave for ever to the City his Palace of Bridewel erected by King Henry the Eight to be employed as a relieving house for such Vagabounds and thriftless Poor as should be sent thither to receive Chastisement and be forced to labour For the better maintainance whereof and the more liberal Endowment of the other Hospitals before remembred it was suggested to him that the Hospital founded in the Savoy by King Henry the seventh for the Relief of Pilgrims and Travellers was lately made the Harbour or relieving Place for Loytereâ—s Vagabonds and Strumpets who sunned themselves in the Fields all Day and at Night found entertainment there The Master and Brethren of the House are thereupon sent for to the King who dealt so powerfully and effectually with them that they resigned the same into His Hands with all the Lands and Goods thereunto belonging Out of which He presently bestowed the Yearly Rent of Seven Hundred Marks with all the Beds Bedding and other Furniture which he found therein towards the maintainance of the said Work-House and the Hospital of St. Thomas in Southwark The Grant whereof He confirmed by His Letters Patents bearing Date the 26th of June adding thereunto a Mort-Main for enabling the City to purchase Lands to the value of four thousand Marks per annum for the better maintainance of those and the other Hospitals So that by the Donation of Bridewel which He never built and the suppression of the Hospital in the Savoy which He never endowed He was entituled to the Foundation of Bridewel St. Bartholomew's and St. Thomas without any charge unto himself But these last Passages concerning the Donation of Bridewel the suppression of the Hospital in the Savoy and the Endowment of the said three Houses with the Lands thereof hapned not till the year ensuing Anno 1553. though lai'd unto the rest in the present Narrative in regard of the Dependence which it hath on the former Story Nothing else memorable in the course of this present Year but the coming of Cardanus the death of Leland and the preferment of Doctor John Taylor to the See of Lincoln The See made void by the death of Doctor Henry Holbeach about the beginning of August in the former year and kept void by some powerful men about the King till the 26th of June in the year now present At what time the said Doctour Taylor who before had been Dean of that Church was Consecrated Bishop of it During which interval the Patrimony of that great and wealthy Bishoprick one of the richest in the Kingdom was so dismembred in it self so parcelled and marked out for a Prey to others that when the New Bishop was to be restored unto his Temporals under the Great Seal of England as the Custom is there was none of all his Maours reserved for him but his Manour of Bugden together with some Farms and Impropriations toward the support of his Estate The rest was to be raised out of the profits perquisits and emoluments of his Jurisdict â— on yet so that nothing was to be abated in his Tenths and first-fruits which were kept up according to the former value As for John Leland for whose death I finde this year assigned he had his Education in Christ's Colledg in Cambridg Being a man of great parts and indefatigable industry he was imployed by King Henry the Eight to search into the Libraries and Collect the Antiquities of Religious Houses at such time as they lay under the fear of suppression Which work as he performed with more
French when they were in England the onely two great Charges which we finde Him at in the whole course of His Reign must be inconsiderable It was to no purpose for Him to look too much backward or to trouble Himself with enquiring after the ways and means by which He came to be involved in so great a Debt It must be now his own care and the endeavours of those who plunged Him in it to finde the speediest way for His getting out And first they fall upon a course to lâ—ssen the Expenses of His Court aâ—d Family by suppressing the Tables formerly appointed for young Lords the Masters of the Requests Serjeant at Arms c. which thought it saved some money yet it brought in none In the next place it was resolved to call such Officers to a present and publick Reckoning who either had embezelled any of the Crown Lands or inverted any of the King's Money to their private use On which course they were the more intent because they did both serve the King and content the People but might be used by them as a Scourge for the whipping of those against whom they had any cause of quarrel Amongst which I finde the new Lord Paget to have been fined six thousand pound as before was said for divers Offences of that nature which were charged upon him Bâ—aumont then Master of the Rolls had purchased Lands with the King's Money made longer Leases of some other Crown Lands then he was authorized to do by his Commission and was otherwise guâ—lty of much corrupt and fraudulent dealing For expiating of which Crimes he surrendred all his Lands and Goods to the King and seems to have been well befriended that he sped no worse The like Offences proved against one Whaley one of the King's Receivers for the County of York for which he was punished with the loss of his Offices and adjudged to â—tand to any such Fine as by his Majesty and the Lords of hâ—s Council shouâ—d be set upon him Which manner of proceeding though it be for the most part pleasing to the Common People and profitable to the Common-Wealth yet were it more unto the honour of a Pâ—ince to make choice of such Officers whom He thinks not likely to offend then to sacrifice them to the People and His own Displeasures having thus offended But the main Engine at this time for advancing Money was the speeding of a Commission into all parts of the Realm under pretence of selling such of the Lands Goods of Chanterys c as remained unsold but in plain truth to seize upon all Hangings Altar-Cloths Fronts Parafronts Copes of all sorts with all manner of Plate which was to be found in any Cathedral or Parochial Church To which Rapacity the demolishing of the foâ—mer Altars and placing the Communion Table in the middle of the Quires or Chancels of every Church as was then most used gave a very good hâ—â—t by rendring all such Furnitures rich Plate and other costly Utensils in a manner useless And that the business might be carryed with as much advantage to the King as might be He gave out certain Instâ—uctâ—ons under his Hand by which the Commissioners were to regulate themselves in their Proceedings to the advancement of the service Amongst which pretermitting those which seem to be Preparatoriâ—s onely unto all the rest I shall put down as many as I think material And that being done it shall be left to the Reader 's Judgment whether the King being now in the sixteenth year of his Age were either better studied in his own Concernments or seemed to be worse principled in Maâ—ters which concerned the Church Now the most Material of the said Instructions were these that follow 1. The said Commissioners shall upon their view and survey taken cause due Inventories to be made by Bills or Bookâ— indented of all manner of Goods Plates Jewels Bells and Ornaments as yet remaining or any wise forthcoming and belonging to any Churches Chapels Fraternities or Gilds and one part of the said Inventories to send and return to 〈◊〉 Privy Council and the other to deliver to them in whose hands the said Goods Plate Jewels Bells and Ornaments shall remain to be kept and preserved And thâ—y shall also give good Charge and Order that the same Goods and every part thereof be at all times forthcoming to be answered leaving nevertheless in every Parish-Church or Chapel of common resort one two or more Chalices or Cups according to the multitude of People in every such Church or Chapel and also such other Ornameâ—ts as by their discretion shall seem requisite for the Divine Service in every such place for the time 2. That because Information hath been made that in many Places great quantities of the said Plate Bells Jewels Ornaments hath been embezelled by certain private men contrary to his Majestie 's express Commandment in that behalf the said Commissioners shall substantially and justly enquire and attain the knowledge thereof by whose default the same is or hath been or in whose hands any part of the same is come And in that point the said Commissioners shall have good regard that they attain to certain Names and dwelling Places of every person or persons that hath sold alienated embezelled taken or carryed away or of such also as have counselled advised and commanded any part of the said Goods Plate Jewels Bells Vestments and Ornaments to be taken or carryed away or otherwise embezelled And these things they shall as certainly and duly as they can cause to be searched and understood 3. That upâ—n full search and enquiry thereof the said Commissioners four or three of them shall cause to be called before them all such persons by whom any of the said Goods Plate Jewels Bells Ornaments or any other the Premises have been alienated embezelled and taken away or by whose means and procurement the same or any part thereof hath been attempted or to whose hands or use any of the same or any profit for the same hath grown And by such means as to their discretions shall seem best cause them to bring into these the said Commissioners hands to Our use the said Plate Jewels Bells and other the Premises so alienated for the true and full value thereof certifying unto Our Privy Council the Names of all such as refuse to stand to or obey their Order touching their delivery or restitution of the same or the just value thereof To the intent that as cause and reason shall require every man may answer to his doings in this behalf 4. To these another Clause was added touching the moderation which they were to use in their Proceedings to the end that the effect of their Commission might go forward with as much quiet and as little occasion of trouble or disquiet to the Multitude as might be using therein such wise perswasions as in respect of the place and disposition of the People may seem to their Wisdoms most
Proficiency in all parts of Learning she became very dear to the young King Edward to whom Fox not onely makes Her equal but doth acknowledge her also to be His Superiour in those Noble Studies And for an Ornament superadded to Her other Perfections she was most zealously affected to the true Protestant Religion then by Law established which She embraced not out of any outward compliance with the present current of the Times but because Her own most Excellent Judgment had been fully satisfied in the Truth and Purity thereof All which together did so endear her to the King that he took great Delight in Her Conversation and made it the first step to that Royal Throne to which He afterwards designed Her in the Time of His Sickness Thus lived she in these sweet Contentments till she came unto the years of Marriage when she that never found in Her self the least Spark of Ambition was made the most unhappy Instrument of another man's Dudly of Warwick a Person of a proud deceitfull and aspiring Nature began to entertain some Ambitious thoughts when Edward first began to Reign but kept them down as long as his two Uncles lived together in Peace and Concord But having found a means to dissolve that knot occasioned by the Pride and Insolency of the Duchess of Sommerset one as ill-Natured as himself he first made use of the Protectour to destroy the Admiral and after served himself by some Lords of the Court for humbling the Lord Protectour to an equal Level with the rest of the Council Finding by this Experiment how easie a thing it was to serve his Turn by them on all other Occasions he drew unto himself the managing of all Affairs none being so hardy as to question any of his Actions and much less to cross them But not content with being looked on as the Chief in Power he is resolved to make himself the first in Place thinking no private Greatness to be answerable to so great a Merit as he had fancied in himself Thus busying his unquiet thoughts upon new Designs and passing from one imagination to another he fixed at last upon a purpose of Husbanding the Opportunities to his best Advantage in transferring the Crown into his own Family which he thought Capable enough of the highest Honours For why said he within himself should not the Son of a Dudly being the more Noble House of the two be thought as Capable of the Imperial Crown of this Realm as the Son or Grand-Childe of a Seimour Though I pretend not to be born of the Race of Kings yet I may give a King to England of my Race and Progeny on as good ground as any which derive themselves from Owen Tudor the Ancestour of the Boy now reigning That Family pretended onely from a Daughter to the House of Sommerset and there are now some Daughters of the House of Suffolk which may pretend as much as she If by a Match into that House I can finde a way to bring the Crown into mine own I shall want no Presidents at home and finde many abroad Some Dangers may present themselves in the Pursuit of this Enterprise but Dangers are to be despised as in all great Actions so chiefly when a Crown is aimed at It is resolved that I will try my Fortune in it which if it prosper to my wish I shall live Triumphantly if I sink under the Attempt I shall perish Nobly Which being concluded and resolved on he first insinuates himself into the good affections of the Marquess of Dorset whom he assisteth in his Suit for the Title of Suffâ—lk which without him was not to be gained exalts himself to the like Glorious Title of Duke of Northumberland that he might stand on equal â—round with the proudest of them and in a word so cunningly prepareth his Toils for the Duke of Sommerset that at the last he fell into them never to be set free again untill Death released him all which Particulars have been at large laid down in the former History And this being done he suffered the young King to wear out all the following year the better to avoid all Popular suspition that His Uncle's Death was onely hastened to make way for His. And possible it is that he might have tired it out a little longer but for a smart Jest which He put upon this Ambiâ—ious Minister The King took great delight in his Bow and Arrows and shooting one day at the Butt as He used to do hit the very White Well aimed my Liege said Merrily the Mighty Duke But you aimed better said the King when you shot off the head of My Vncle Sommerset which words so stang the Conscience of the guilty man that he could not think himself secure but by accelerating his Design for settling the Crown upon the Head of one of his Children according to the Plot which he had hammered in the Forge of his Wretched Brain For now the King beginning sensibly to decay he takes his time to enter into Communication with the Duke of Suffolk about a Marriage to be made betwixt the Lord Guilford Dudly his fourth Son and the Lady Jane Gray the Duke's eldest Daughter which with the rest of the Marriages before-mentioned being propounded and concluded for he was grown too great and known to be too dangerous to be denied in any reasonable Suit a day was set in which this Excellent Lady was to be transplanted into the Family of the Dudlies A day which she expected with a Virgin Modesty and after the Solemnity of the Nuptial Rites delivers Her pure Body to the chast Embraces of a Vertuous Conâ—ort who of all Dudlie's Brood had nothing of the Father in him All which succeeding to his wish he sets himself to the accomplishing of that Project which he had long before designed The King was now grown weak in Body and decayed in Spirits and in that weak Estate he takes his Opportunities to inculcate to Him what infinite Blessings had been derived from Him on this Church and Nation by the Blessed Reformation of Religion so happily began and brought to such Perfection by Him That it must therefore be His Care so to provide for the Continuance of those infinite Blessings that Posterity might enjoy the Benefit and Comfort of it which would gain Him a more pretious Memory amongst His Subjects then all His other Princely Virtues That nothing was more feared by all Sorts of People then that the Crown Imperial if it should please Almighty God to call Him to a Crown of Glâ—ry would fall upon the Head of the Lady Mary a Princess passionately affected to the Interess of the Church of Rome and one who by Her Marriage with some Potent Prince of that Religion might Captivate the Free-Born English Nation to a Foreign Servitude That both His Sisters being born of disputed Marriages and howsoever being but his half Sisters onely and by several Ventures could neither be Heirs to Him nor to
one another by the known Laws of the Land which neither Acts of Parliament nor the last Will and Testament of the King Deceased were of power to alter That the young Queen of Scots was an Alien born by Consequence uncapable of any Inheritance in the Realm of England and had besides preferred the Alliance of the French before that of His Majesty which rendered Her as unworthy as she was uncapable That for the better carrying on of that Blessed Work of Reformation the Peace and Happiness of His People the preventing of all Emergent Mischiefs and His own everlasting Fame it was not possible to make a more happy Provision then by transferring the Crown to the Lady Jane a Lady of such Excellent Virtues as were sufficient to adorn the Richest Diadem That there was no Question to be made but that His Majesty knew as well as any the admirable qualities of that Matchless Lady Her Zeal to the Religion here by Him established the agreeableness of Her Conversation with His own Affections and could not but conceive that Nation to be infinitely happier then all others which might fall under the Command of so mild a Government And finally That he was bound by His Duty to God the Light of His own Conscience and the Love He had to all His Subjects to lay aside all Natural Affections to His Father's House in respect of that great Obligation which He had to God's Glory and the true Religion following therein the Example of our Lord and Saviour who looked both for his Brothers and Sisters amongst his Disciples without relating to his nearest Kindred by Joseph or Mary By these Suggestions and Inducements he much enclined the King to hearken to his Propositions For furtherance whereof he caused such as were about Him to entertain Him with continual Discourses of the Divine Perfections and most Heavenly Graces of the Lady Jane the high Esteem in which She was with all the Subjects for Her Zeal and Piety the everlasting Fame which would wait upon Him by providing such a Successour to enjoy the Crown in whom Virtues would survive to succeeding Ages Then which no Musick could sound sweeter in the Ears of the King whom he knew to have an affectionate Sympathy with that Excellent Lady as being much of the same Age brought up in the same Studies as near to Him in the sweetness of Her Disposition as She was in Blood and of a Conversation so agreeable to Him as if They had been but the same Person in divers Habits And they all plied their Game so cunningly that the weak King not being able to withstand so many Assaults did at last condescend to that which he found not onely most conformable to their Importunities but to His own Affections also Order was taken thereupon that an Instrument should be drawn in due Form of Law for the transposing of the Crown to the Children of the Lady Frances Duchess of Suffolk and Daughter to Mary the French Queen one of the Sisters of King Henry His Majeâ—tie's â—â—ther In which Instrument nothing was to be defective which either could be drawn from the Grounds of Law or the Rules of Polity to justifie and endear the Action In drawing up whereof there was none thought fitter to be used then Sir William Cecil one of the Chief Secretaries of Estate who having before served Dudlie's Turn against his old Master the Duke of Sommerset was looked on as the Readiest Man for the present Service The Pretensions taken from the Law for excluding the King's two Sisters from the Right of Succession were grounded First Upon the Invalidity of their Mother's Marriage both being made void by Legal Sentences of Divorce and those Divorces ratified by Acts of Parliament In which the said two Sisters were declared to be illegitimate and consequently uncapable of any of those Favours which were intended to them by the Act of Succession made in the thirty fifth year of the late King Henry or by the last Will and Testament of that King which was built upon it In the next Place it was pretended that the said two Sisters Mary and Elizabeth being but of half Blood to the King now Reigning admitting them to have been born in lawfull Wedlock were not in any Capacity by the Common-Law the old good Law of England to be Heirs unto Him or to Succeed in any Part of that Inheritance which came unto Him by His Father It was considered also that by the known Rules and Principles of the Common-Law no manner of Person was Inheritable to any Estate of Lands or Tenements in the Realm of England who was not born under the King's Allegiance as King of England but in the case of Naturalization by Act of Parliament Which seemed to be a sufficient Bar against all Titles and Demands for the Line of Scotland although derived from Margaret the Eldest Daughter of King Henry the Seventh And whereas the Lady Frances Duchess of Suffolk might seem both by the Law of Nature and the Right of Succession to have precedency in Title before her Daughter yet was no Injury offered to her in regard that she was willing to pass by all her Personal Claims for the Preferment of her Children Which Pretermissions of the Mother were neither new nor strange in the Succession to the Crown of this Kingdom Not new because the like was done by Maud the Emperess for the Advancement of her Son King Henry the Second nor strange because it hâ—d been lately practised in the Person of the Lady Margaret Countess of Richmond in giving Way to the Preferment of King Henry the Seventh the first King of the House now Regnant The Reasons or Pretexts which seemed to be built on Polity and Point of State were first the unavoydable Danger of Reducing this Free and Noble Realm under the Vassalage and Servitude of the Bishop of Rome if either of the King 's two Sisters in their several Turns should marry with a Foreign Prince of that Religion or otherwise by the Transport of their own Affections submit their Scepters to the Pope It was considered also That by such Marriages not onely many Foreign Customs and Laws would be introduced but that there might follow an Abolishment of those Antient Laws upon which the Native Rights of all the Subjects seemed to have dependance Besides that possibly the Realm might hereby be annexed to some greater Kingdom of which in time it would be reckoned for a Member and consequently be reduced unto the Form of a Province to the utter Subversion of the Antient Dignity and Estate thereof Which whensoever it should happen it was neither impossible nor improbable that the People upon a just Sence of the Indignities Pressures might elect some popular and seditious man to be their King who to countenance his own unworthiness obscurity would little regard what Contumelie he cast upon the falling Family of the Kings before him To which perchance some further Countenance might be
added from the Holy Scripture where Solomon is found to be preferred unto the Throne by David before Adonijah the youngest Son before the eldest a Childe before a Man experienced and well grown in years And some Examples also might be had of the like Transpositions in the Realm of Scotland in Hungary Naples and else where enough to shew that nothing had been done in this great Transaction which was not to be presidented in other Places Upon all which Considerations it was thought most agreeable to the Rules of Polity that the King by Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England should so dispose of the Possession of the Crown with such Remainders and Reversions as to him seemed best as might prevent such Inconveniencies and Emergent Mischiefs as might otherwise happen which could not better be effected then by setting the Crown on the Head of the Lady Jane a Lady of a Royal Blood born in the Realm brought up in the Religion now by Law established Married already to a Person of Desert and Honour and such an one in whom all those Graces were concentred which were sufficient to adorn all the rest of Her Sex Thus Reason being thus prepared the next Care was to have the Instrument so contrived in due form of Law that nothing might be wanting in the Stile and Legalities of it which might make it any way obnoxious to Disputes and Questions For the doing whereof it was thought necessary to call in the Assistance of some of the Judges and others of His Majesties Council learned in the Laws of this Realm by whose Authority it might be thought more passable amongst the People Of all which Rank none was thought fitter to be taken into the Consultation then Sir Edward Montague not onely as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and very well experienced in His own Profession But because he being one of the Executours of the King deceased his concurrence with the rest of the Council seemed the more considerable A Letter is therefore sent unto him on the eleventh of June subscribed by the Lord Treasurer the Duke of Northumberland the Earls of Shrewsbury Bedford and Pembroke the Lord Admiral Clinton the Lord Darcie Sir John Gale Sir William Peter Sir William Cecil and Sir John Cheek By the Tenour whereof he was commanded to attend upon their Lordships the next day in the Afternoon and to bring with him Sir John Baker Chancellour of the first-Fruits and Tenths Master Justice Bromeley together with the Attorney and Sollicitour General Being brought into the King's Presence at the time appointed whom they found attended by the Lord Treasurer and some others of those who had subscribed the former Letter the King declared Himself with a weak Voice to this Effect viz. That He had considered in His Sickness of the Estate of His Realm which if it should descend on the Lady Mary who was then unmarried it might so happen that She might marry a Stranger born whereby not onely the Laws of the Realm might be changed and altered but all His own Proceedings in Religion might be also reversed That it was His Pleasure therefore that the Crown should Descend after His Decease unto such Persons aâ—d in such Form as was contained in certain Articles then ready to be shewed unto them to be by them digested and disposed of in due Form of Law These Articles when they had Perused and Considered of they signified unto the King that they conceâ—ved them to be contrary to the Act of Succession which being made in Parliament could not be Frustrated or made Ineffectual but by Parliaments onely Which Answer notwithstanding the King without allowing further time or deliberation commanded them to take the Articles along with them and give the Business a Dispatch with all speed as might be But finding greater Difficulties in it then had appeared unto their Lordships they made a Report unto them at their next Attendance that they had Considered of the King's Articles and the Act of Succession whereby it appeared manâ—festly that if they should make any Book concerning the King's Commandment they should not onely be in danger of Treason but their Lordships also The sum of which Report being cerâ—ifiâ—d to the Duke of Northumberland who though absent was not out of Call he came in great Rage and Fury to the Council-Chamber called the Chief Justice Traitour affirmed that he would fight in his Shirt in that Quarrel against any man living and behaved himself in such an outragious manner as put both Mountague and Justice Bromely in a very great fear that he would have struck them Calâ—ed to the Court again by a Letter of the fourteenth of the same Moneth they found the King more earnest in it then He was before requiring them with a sharp Voice and a displeased Countenance to dispatch the Book according to the Articles delivered to them and telling them that He would have a Parliament shortly to Confirm the same When nothing else would serve the turn Answer was made That His Câ—mmandment should be obeyed upon Condition that they might be Commissionated so to do by His Majestie 's Warrant under the Great Seal of England and have a General Pardon for it when the Deed was done Not daring longer to resist and having made as good Provision as they could for their own Indemnâ—ty they betook themselves unto the Work digested it in form oâ— Law caused â—t to be Engrossed in Parchment and so dispatched it for the Seal to the Lord Chancellour Goodrick sufficiently prepared before-hand not to stick upon it Bâ—t then appeared another Difficulty amongst the Lords of the Council some of whâ—ch not well satisfied with these Proceedings appeared as backward in Subscribing to the Instrument before it went unto the Seal as the Great Lawyers had done at the first in being brought to the Employment But such was the Authority which Dudley and his Party had gained amongst them that some for fear and some for favour did Subscribe at last a Zeal to the Reformed Religion prevailing in it upon some a doubt of loosing their Church-Lands more powerfully over-swaying others and all in fear of getting the displeasure of that Mighty Tyrant who by his Power and Practices carried all before him The last that stood it out was Arch-Bishop Cranmer Who being sent for to the Court when all the Lords of the Council and most of the Judges of the Realm had subscribed the Instrument refused to put his hand unto it or to consent to the Disherison of the late King's Daughters After much Reasoning of the Case he requires a longer time of deliberation consults about it with some of the most Learned Lawyers and is finally sent for by the King who having fully set his heart upon the Business did use so many Reasons to him in behalf of Religion and plyed him with such strong Perswasions in pursuance of them that at the last he suffered himself to be overcome by His Importunities
and so Subscribed it with the rest Onely Sir James Hales one of the Justices of the Common-Pleas carried the Honour of a Resolute and Constant Man not onely from those of his own Rank but even from all the Lords of the Council and almost all the Peers of the Realm to boot who being a man observed to be both Religious and upright did very worthily refuse to Subscribe and was afterwards as unworthily requited by Queen Mary for it Yet notwithstanding all these Rubs the Project was driven on so fâ—st by the haâ—ty Duke that by the one and twentieth of June the Letters Patents were made ready to pass the Seal which was about a fortnight before the Death of the King During which Interval he had another Game to Pay which was the getting into his Power the Princess Mary whom of all others he most feared as the most likely Person to destroy his whole Contrivance For well he knew that if She stood upon Her Right as no doubt She would She was not onely sure of a strong Party in the Realm who still remained in good Affections to the Church of Rome but that Her Party heâ—e would be Backed and Countenanced by Her Alliances abâ—â—ad wâ—o câ—â—ld â—ot but Prefer and Support Her Interess against all Pretenders 〈◊〉 â—ust make sure of Her or else account all Void and Frâ—stiate which was done already Aâ—d that he might make sure of Her he so prevailed that Letters were directed to â—er in the King's Name from the Lords of the Couâ—cil Willing Her foâ—l wâ—â—h to resort to the Kâ—ng as well to be a comfort to Him in His 〈◊〉 as to see all Matters well Ordered about Him The Lady suspecting to 〈◊〉 Mischief addressed Her Self with all speâ—d to the 〈…〉 gâ—eaâ— Joy that either Her Company or Her Service shâ—uld be esteem'd Needfull to the King But as She was upon the way and 〈…〉 half a Daâ—'s Journey of the Court She received Advice both of the King 's desperate Estate and of the Duke's Designs against Her whereupon She 〈◊〉 in haâ—t to Her House at Hoveden where in a very short time She hâ—ard the Sad Nâ—ws of Her Brother's Death who dyed upon the sixth of July as before was saâ—d Which being the same day of the Moneth on which King Henryâ—ad â—ad taken off the Head of Sir Thomas More for his Adhesion to the Pope the Interess of Queen Katharine Dowager and the Princess Mary gave an occasion unto â—hose of the Râ—mish Party to look upon it as a Piece of Divine Retrâ—bution in taking away the 〈◊〉 of His onely Son on the same day also Two days the Death of the King was by Special Order kept so secret that it was known to very fâ—w about the Court. And it concerned them so to do partly in expectation of the coming of the Princess Mary whâ—m thâ—y knâ—w to be upon the way and partly to make sure of the City of London the Favour and Fidelity whereof was of great Importance for the carrying on of the Design But understanding by their Espiâ—ls that the Princess Mary was retired a Message was sent on Saturday the eighth of July to Sir George Barns the Lord Mayour of London requiring him in the Name of the Lords of the Council to give his Attendance at the Court and bring with him six of the Principal Aldermen six Merchants of the Staple and as many of the Company of Merchant-Adventurers No haste was wanting on their parts And coming at the time appointed they were privily informed by some of the Council but in the Name of all the rest that the King was dead and that He had Declared by His Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England subscribed by all the Lords of the Council and almost all the Peers of the Realm that His Cousin the Lady Jane Gray was to Succeed Him in the Crowns of England and Ireland as the most True Certain and Undoubted Heir of all His Dominions Which being signified unto them it was no hard matter to obtain their Consent to that which they were not able to deny And so upon a Promise of their best Assistance to Promote the Cause and to keep secret the King's Death untill further Order they were dismissed unto their Houses It is an Antient Custom of the Kings of England immediately on the Death of their Predecessours to provide their Lodgings in the Tower Taking possession as it were by that Royal Fortress of the rest of the Kingdom and from thence passing in a Solemn and Magnificent manner through the Principal Streets of London to their Coronation According to which Antient Custom the Lodgings in the Tower being fitted and prepared for the Queen's Reception the Lords of the Council passed over from Greenwich on Munday the tenth of the same Moneth A Letter had been brought the night before from the Princess Mary who had received Advertisement of Her Brother's Death notwithstanding all their Care and Diligence in labouring to conceal it from His nearest Servants which made them meet the earlier and in greater numbers to return an Answer thereunto The Princess knew Her own Right and the Wrong which was intended to Her both which She signified unto Them in these following words My LORDS WE Greet You well and have received sure Advertisement that Our Dearest Brother the King Our late Sovereign Lord is departed to God's Mercy Which News how wofull they be unto Our Heart He onely knoweth to whose Will and Pleasure We must and do humbly submit Vs and Our Wills But in this so lamentable a Case that is to wit after His Majestie 's Departure and Death concerning the Crown and Governance of this Realm of England with the Title of France and all things thereto belonging what hath been provided by Act of Parliament and the Testament and Last Will of Our Dearest Father besides other Circumstances Advancing Our Right You know the Realm and the whole World knoweth the Rolls and Records appear by the Authority of the King Our said Father and the King Our said Brother and the Subjects of this Realm So that We verily trust that there is no good true Subject that is can or would pretend to be ignorant thereof And of Our part We have of Our Selves caused and as God shall aid and strengthen Vs shall cause Our Right and Title in this behalf to be Published and Proclaimed accordingly And albeit this so Weighty a Matter seemeth strange that the Dying of Our said Brother upon Thursday at night last past We hitherto had no knowledge from You thereof yet We consider Your Wisdom and Prudence to be such that having eftsoons amongst You Debated Pondred and well Weighed this present Case with Our Estate Your Own Estate the Common-Wealth and all Our Honours We shall and may conceive Great Hope and Trust with much assurance in Your Loyalty and Service and therefore for the time interpret and take things not to the worst that Ye yet will like
Noble Men Work the best Nevertheless We are not ignorant of Your Consultations to Vndo the Provisions made for Our Preferment nor of the Great Hands and Provisions forcible wherewith You be Assembled and Prepared by whom and to what end God and You know and Nature cannot but fear some Evil. But be it that some Consideration Politick or whatsoever thing else hath moved You thereto yet doubt ye not My Lords but We can take all these Your doings in Gratious Part being also Right-Ready to remit and fully Pardon the same and that to Eschew Bloodshed and Vengeance against all those that can or will intend the same trusting also assuredly that Ye will take and accept this Grace and Vertue in Good Part as appertaineth and that We shall not be Enforced to use the Service of other Our True Subjects and Friends which in this Our Just and Right Cause Goâ— in whom all Our affiance is shall send Vs. Wherefore My Lords We require You and charge you and every of You of Your Allegiance which You ow to God and Vs and to none other for Our Honour and the Surety of Our Person onely imploy Your Selves and forthwith upon receipt hereof cause Our Right and Title to the Crown and Governance of this Realm to be Proclaimed in Our City of London and other places as to your Wisdoms shall seem Good and as to this Case appertaineth not failing hereof as Our very Trust is in You. And this Our Letter Signed with Our Hand shall be your sufficient Warrant in that behalf Given under Our Signet at Our Mannour of Kenning-Hall the ninth of July 1553. This Letter seemed to give their Lordships no other trouble then the returning of an Answer For well they knew that She could do no less then put up Her Claim and they conceived that She was not in a condition for doing more Onely it was thought fit to let Her know what She was to trust to the better to prevent such Inconveniencies as might otherwise happen And to that end an Answer was presently dispatched under the Hands of the Archâ—Bishop of Canterbury the Lord Chancellour Goodrich Bishop of Ely the Dukes of Northhumberland and Suffâ—lk the Marquesses of Winchester and North-hampton the Earls of Arundel Shrewsbury Huntington Bedford and Pembroke the Lords Cobham and Darcie Sir Thomas Cheny Sir Robert Cotton Sir William Peter Sir William Cecil Sir John Cheek Sir John Mason Sir Edward North Sir Robert Bows The Tenour whereof was as followeth MADAM WE have received Your Letters the ninth of this Instant Declaring Your Supposed Title which You Judg Your Self to have to the Imperial Crown of this Realm and all the Dâ—minions thereunto belonging For Answer whereof this is to Advertise You that for as much as Our Sovereign Lady Queen Jane is after the Death of Our Sovereign Lord King Edward the Sixth a Prince of most Noble Memory Invested and Possessed with the just and Right Title in the Imperial Crown of this Realm not onely by Good Order of Old Antient Laws of this Realm but also by Our late Sovereign Lord's Letters Patents Signed with His Own Hand and Sealed with the Great Seal of England in presence of most part of the Nobles Counsellours Judges with divers others Grave and Sage Personages Assenting and Subscribing the same We must therefore as of most Bound Duty and Allegiance and Assent unto Her said Grace and to none other except we should which Faithfull Subjects cannot fall into grievous and unspeakable Enormities Wherefore We can no less do both for the quiet of the Realm and You also to advertise you that for as much as the Divorce made between the King of Famous Memory King Henry the Eighth and the Lady Katharine Your Mother was necessary to be had both by the Everlasting Laws of God and also by the Ecclesiastical Laws and the most part of the Noble and Learned Vniversities in Christenaâ—m and Confirmed also by the sundry Acts of Parliaments remaining yet in Force and thereby You justly made Illegitimate and Vn-heritable to the Crown Imperial of this Realm and the Rules and Dominions and Possessions of the same You will upon just consideration hereof and of divers other Causes Lawfull to be Alledged for the same and for the just Inheritance of the Right Line and Godly Order taken by the late King Our Sovereign Lord King Edward the Sixth and agreed upon by the Nobles and Greatest Personages aforesaid Surcease by any pretents to vex or molest any of Our Sovereign Lady Queen Jane Her Subjects from their True Faith and Allegiance due unto Her Grace assuring You that if you will for Respect shew Your Self Quiet and Obedient as You ought You shall find Vs all and several ready to do You any Service that We with Duty may and be glad with Your quietness to preserve the Common State of this Realm wherein You may be otherwise grievous Vs to Your Self and to them And thus We bid You most Heartily well to fare c. These Letters being thus dispatched and no further danger seeming to be feared on that side all things are put in Readiness against the coming of the Queen who the same day about three of the Clock in the Afternoon was brought by water to the Tower attended by a Noble Train of both Sexes from Durham House in the Strand where She had been entertained as a part of Dudley's Family ever since Her Marriage She could not be ignorant of that which had been done in Order unto Her Advancement to the Royal Throne and could not but conceive that Her being Conducted to the Tower in that Solemn manner did portend somewhat which looked toward a Coronation But still She hoped that either She should hear some Good News of the King's Recovery or of the Altering of His Purpose and that She might be suffered to enjoy those Divine Contentments which she had found in the Repose of a Studious Life But when She came into the presence of the two Dukes Her Father and Her Father-in-Law She observed their Behaviour towards Her to be very different from that which they had used before To put Her out of which Amazement it was signified to Her by the Duke of Northumberland That The King was Dead and that He had Declared Her for His next Successour in the Crown Imperial That This Declaration was Approved by all the Lords of the Council most of the Peers and all the Judges of the Land which they had Testified by the Subscription of their Names and all this Ratified and Confirmed by Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England That The Lord Mayour the Aldermen and some of the Principal Citizens had been spoke withall by whom they were assured of the Fidelity of the rest of the City That There was nothing wanting but Her Gratefull Acceptance of the High Estate which God Almighty the Sovereign Disposer of all Crowns and Scepters never sufficiently to be thanked by Her for so great
a Mercy had advanced Her to That Therefore She should chearfully take upon Her the Name Title and Estate of Queen of England France and Ireland with all the Royalties and Preheminencies to the same belonging Receiving at their hands the First-Fruits of the Humble Duty now tendred by them on their Knees which shortly was to be payed to Her by the rest of the Kingdom This Speech being ended the poor Lady found Her Self in a great Perplexity not knowing whether she Should more lament the Death of the King or Her Adoption to the Kingdom the first Loss not to be repaired the next Care possible to be avoided She looked upon the Crown as a great Temptation to resist which She stood in need of all the Helps which both Philosophy and Divinity could suggest unto Her And She knew also that such Fortunes seldom knocked twice for entrance at the same Man's Gate but that if once refused they are gone for ever Taking some time therefore of Deliberation She summoned a Council of Her purest Thoughts by whose Advice half drownned in Tears either as sorrowing for the King's Death or fore-seeing Her own She returned an Answer in these Words or to this Effect That The Laws of the Kingdom and Natural Right standing for the King's Sister She would beware of burthening Her weak Conscience with a Yoke which did belong to them That She understood the Infamy of those who had permitted the violation of Right to gain a Scepter That it were to mock God and deride Justice to scruple at the stealing of a Shilling and not at the Vsurpation of a Crown Besides said She I am not so young nor so little read in the Guils of Fortune to suffer my self to be taken by them If she inrich any it is but to make them the Subject of her Spoil If she raise others it is but to pleasure her Self with their Ruins What shâ— adored but yesterday is to day her Pastime And if I now permit her to adorn and Crown me I must to Morrow suffer her to crush and tear me in pieces Nay with what Crown doth she Present me A Crown which hath been Violently and Shamefully wrested from Katharine of Arragon made more unfortunate by the Punishment of Ann Bulloign and others that wore it after Her And why then would you have me add my Blood to theirs and to be the third Victime from whom this Fatal Crown may be ravished with the Head that wears it But in Case it should not prove Fatal unto me and that all its Venom were consumed if Fortune should give me Warranties of her Constancy Should I be well advised to take upon me these Thorns which would dilacerate though not kill me outright to burthen my self with a Yoke which would not fail to torment me though I were assured not to be strangled with it My Liberty is better then the Chain you proffer me with what pretious stones soever it be adorned or of what Gold soever framed I will not exchange my Peace for Honourable and pretious Jealousies for Magnificent and Glorious Letters And if you love me sincerely and in good earnest you will rather wish me a secure and quiet Fortune though mean then an exalted Condition exposed to the Wind and followed by some dismal Fall It had been happy for Her self Her Fathers and their several Families if they had suffered themselves to be overcome by such powerfull Arguments which were not onely persuasive but might seem convincing had they not all been fatally hurried unto their own Destruction But the Ambition of the two Dukes was too Strong and Violent to be kept down by any such prudent Considerations So that being wearied at the last with their Importunities and overcome by the entreaties of Her Husband whom She dearly loved She submitted unto that necessity which She could not vanquish yielding her Head with more unwillingness to the Ravishing Glories of a Crown then afterwards She did to the Stroak of the Ax. The Point being thus concluded on the two Dukes with all the rest of the Lords of the Council swore Allegeance to her And on the same day about five of the Clock in the afternoon they caused Her Solemnly to be Proclaimed Queen of England France and Ireland c. in many of the principal Streets in London and after by Degrees in most of the Chief Cities Towns and Places of greatest Concourse and Resort of People In which Proclamation it was signified That by the Letters Patents of the late King Edward bearing Date the twenty first of June last past the Lady Jane Gray Eldest Daughter to the Duchess of Suffolk had been declared His true and lawfull Successour to the Crown of England the same to be enjoyed after Her Decease the Heirs of Her Body c. as in the said Letters Patents more especially did at large appear Which Proclamation though it was published in the City with all due Solemnities and that the Concourse of People was exceeding great yet their Acclamations were but few which served as a sufficient Argument to the Friends and Followers of the Princess Mary that they were rather drawn together out of Curiosity to behold some unusual Spectacle then out of any purpose to congratulate at the Queen's Advancement And so far some of of them declared their dislike thereof that the next Day one Gilbert Pot was set on the Pâ—llory in Cheâ—pside his Ears first nailed and afterwards cut off for certain words which he had spoken at the Publishing of the Proclamation a Trumpet sounding at the Time of the Execution and an Herald in his Coat of Arms publickly noting his Offence in a Form prescribed A Severity neither safe nor necessary the party being of no better Condition then a Vintner's Boy as the Case then stood For the next day the Lords received Advertisement from divers hands that many persons of Quality were drawn together at Kenning-Hallâ—Castle in Norfolk to offer their Service and assistance to the Princess Mary who finding by the Answer which She had received from the Lords of the Council that no good was otherwise to be be done resolved not to be wanting to Her own Pretensions and to that end gave chearfull Entertainment to all comers which either favoured Her Title or embraced Her Religion Amongst such Gentlemen as were certified to the Lords of the Council I finde the names of the Earl of Bath Sir Thomas Wharton son to the Lord Wharton Sir John Mordant Son to the Lord Mordant Sir William Drury Sir John Shelton Sir Henry Bedingfield Mr. Henry Jenningham Mr. John Sulierd Mr. Richard Higham of Lincoln's-Inn It was advertised also that the Earl of Sussex and Mr. Henry Ratcliff his Son were coming towards Her with their Forces which last Advertisement gave the Business some appearance of Danger for what else was to be expected but that the Countenance and Encouragement of so great a Person might draw many more unto the side who otherwise would have
for out of the Country to give her attendance on the Queen as in former times impatient of a longer absence and fearful of a second Rival if he should any longer conceal his purpose Which having taken some fit time to disclose unto her he found in her a vertue of such strength against all temptations that he resolves upon the sentencing of the divorce which he little doubted to take her to him as the last sole object of his wandring loves A matter not to be concealed from so many espials as Wolsie had about the King Who thereupon slackneth his former pace in the Kings affairs and secretly practiseth with the Pope to recall the Commission whereby he was impowred together with Campegius to determine in it Anne Bollen formerly offended at his two great haste in breaking the compliance betwixt her and Percy is now as much displeased with him for his being too slow in sentencing the Kings Divorse On which as she had built the hopes of her future greatness so she wanted neither will nor opportunity to do him ill offices with the King whom she exasperates against him upon all occasions The King growes every day more open in his cariage towards her takes her along with him in his progress diâ—es with her privately in her chamber and causeth almost all adresses to be made by her in matters of the greatest moment Resolved to break through all impediments which stood betwixt him and the accomplishment of his desires he first sends back Campegius an alien born presently caused Wolsie to be indicted and attainted in a premunire and not long after by the counsel of Thomas Cromwel who formerly had been the Cardinals Solicitor in his Legantine Court involves the whole body of the Clergy in the same crime with him By the perswasions of this man he requires the Clergy to acknowledge him for supreme head on earth of the Church of England to make no new Canons and Constitutions nor to execute any such when made but by his consent And having thus brought his own Clergy under his command he was the less solicitous how his matters went in the Court of Rome to which the Pope recalled his cause which he either quickned or retarded as rather stood with his own interess than the Kings concernments The King being grown more confident in the equity and justice of his cause by the determinations of many of the Universities in France and Italy better assured than formerly of his own Clergy at home and wanting no encouragement from the French King to speed the business advanced the Lady Anne Bollen for by this time her father for her sake was made Earl of Wâ—ltshire to the Title Stile and Dignity of Marchâ—oness of Pâ—mbrook on the first of September 1532. assigning her a pension of a thousand pounds per annum out of the Bishopâ—ick of Durham And now the time of the intended interview betwixt him and the French King drawing on a pace he takes her along with him unto Calais where she entertained both Kings at a curious Mask At what time having some communication about the Kings intended mariage the French encouraged him to proceed assuring him that if the matter should be questioned by the Pope or Emperour against whom this must make him sure to the party of France to assist him with his utmost power what fortune soever should beâ—ide him in it On which assurance from the French the mariage is privately made up on the 14th of November then next following the sacred Rites performed by Dr Rowland Lee whom afterwards he preferred to the See of Lichfield and made Lord President of Wales None present at the Nuptials but Archbishop Cranmer the Duke of Norfolk the Father Mother and Brother of the new Queen and possibly some other of the Confidents of either side whom it concerned to keep it secret at their utmost peril But long it could not be concealed For finding her self to be with child she acquaints the King with it who presently dispatcheth George Lord Rochfort her only brother to the Court of France as well to give the King advertisement of his secret mariage as to desire him not to fail of performing his promises if occasion were and therewithall to crave his counsel and advice how it was to be published since it could not long be kept unknown It is not to be doubted but that the French King was well pleased with the news of a mariage which must needs fasten England to the party of France and that he would be forward enough to perform those promises which seemed so visible to conduce to his own preservation And as for matter of advice it appeared unnecessary because the mariage would discover it self by the Queens being with child which could no longer be concealed And being to be concealed no longer on Easter Eve the twelfth of April she shewed her self openly as Queen all necessary officers and attendants are appointed for her an Order issueth from the Parliament at that time sitting that Katherine should no longer be called Queen but Princesse Dowager Cranmer the new Archbishop repairs to Dunstable erects his Consistory in the Priory there cites Katherine fifteen dayes together to appear before him and in default of her appearance proceedeth judicially to the sentence which he reduceth into writing in due form of Law and caused it to be openly publish'd with the consent of his Colleagues on Friday the 23d of May. And on the Sunday sevennight being then Whitsunday the new Queen was solemnly crowned by the said Archbishop conducted by water from Greenwich to the Tower of London May 29. from thence through the chief streets of the City unto Westminster Hall May 31. and the next day from Westminster Hall to the Abby Church to receive the Crown a solemn tilting before the Court gate on the morrow after All which was done with more magnificence and pomp than ever had been seen before on the like occasion the particulars whereof he that lists to see may find them punctually set down in the Annals of John Stow fol. 563 564 c. And he may find there also the solemnities used at the Christning of the Princess Elizabeth born upon Sunday the 7th day of September and Christned on the Wednesday following with a pomp not much inferiour to the Coronation her Godfather being the Archbishop of Canterbury her Godmothers the old Dutchess of Norfolk and the old Marchioness of Dorset by whom shâ— was named Elizabeth acâ—ording to the name of the Grandmothers on eitheâ— side Not long after Christmass then next following began the Parliament in which the Kings mariage with the Lady Katherine was declared unlawful her daughter the Lady Mâ—ry to be illegitimate the Crown to be entailed on the Kings heirs males to be begotten on the body of the present Queen and for default of such issue on the Princess Elizabeth an oath devised in maintenance of the said succession and not long after
conformity as to believe that she was catholickly affected But the Queen was not the onely one who believed so of her though she behaved her self so warily as not to come within the danger of the Laws for acting any thing in opposition unto that Religion which was then established Concerning which there goes a story that when a Popish Priest had urged her very earnestly to declare her judgment touching the Presence of Christ in the blessed Sacrament she very cautelously resolved the point in these following Verses 'T was God the word that spake it He took the bread and bâ—ake it And what the Word did make it That I believe and take it But all this caution notwithstanding her aversness from the Church of Rome was known sufficiently not to be altered while she lived and therefore she to live no longer to be the occasion of continual fears and jealousies to the Catholick party The times were then both sharp and bloody and a great persecution was designed against the Protestants in all parts of the Kingdom At what time Bishop Gardiner was heard to say That it was to no purpose to cut off the boughs and branches if they did not also lay the Ax to the root of the Tree More plainly the Lord Paget in the hearing of some of the Spaniaâ—ds That the King should never have a quiet Government in England if her â—â—ad were not stricken off from her shoulders With which the King being made acquainted he resolved to use his best endeavour not onely to preserve her life but obtain her liberty For he considered with himself that if the Princess should be taken away the right of the Succession would remain in the Queen of Scots who being married to the Daulphin of Frâ—â—ce would be a means of joyning this Kingdom unto that and thereby gain unto the French the Soveraignty or supream command above all other Kings in Europe He considered also with himself that the Queen was noâ— very healthy supposed at that â—ime to be with child but thought by others of more judgment not to be like to bring him any children to succeed in the Crown and hoped by such a signall favour to oblige the Princess to accept him for her husband on the Queens decease by means whereof he might still continue Master of the treasures and strength of England in all his wars against the French or any other Nation which maligned the greatness of the Austrian Family Upon which grounds he dealt so effectually with the Queen that order was given about a fortnight after Easter to the Lord Williams and Sir Henry Bedingfield to bring their prisoner to the Court which command was not more cheerfully executed by the one than stomach'd and repin'd at by the other Being brought to Hampton Court where the Queen then lay she was conducted by a back way to the Prince's Lodgings where she continued a fortnight and more without being seen or sent to by any body Bedingfield and his guards being still about her so that she seemed to have changed the place but not the Prison and to be so much nearer danger by how much she was nearer unto those who had power to work it At last a visit was bestowed upon her but not without her earnest sute in that behalf by the Bishop of Winchester Lord Chancellor the Earls of Arundel and Shrewsbery and Sir William Peter whom she right joyfully received desiring them to be a means unto the Queen that she might be freed from that restraint under which she had been kept so long together Which being said the Bishop of Winchester kneeling down besought her to submit her self to the Queen that being as he said the onely probable expedient to effect her liberty To whom she answered as before that rather than she would betray her innocence by such submission she would be content to lie in prison all the days of her life For by so doing said she I must confess my self to be an offender which I never was against her Majesty in thought word or deed and where no just offence is given there needs no submission Some other Overtures being made to the same effect but all unto as little purpose she is at last brought before the Queen whom she had not seen in more than one year before about ten of the clock at night before whom falling on her knees she desired God to preserve her Malesty not doubting as she said but that she should prove her self to be as good a Subject to her Majesty as any other whosoever Being first dealt with by the Queen to confess some offence against her self and afterwards to acknowledge her imprisonment not to be unjust she absolutely refused the one and very handsomely declined the other So that no good being to be gotten on her on either hand she was dismissed with some uncomfortable words from the present Enterview and about a week after was discharged of Bedingfield and his guard of soldiers It was reported that King Philip stood behind the Hangings and hearkned unto every word which passed between them to the end that if the Queen should grow into any extremity he might come in to pacifie her displeasures and calm her passions He knew full well how passionately this Princess was beloved by the English Nation and that he could not at the present more endear himself to the whole body of the people than by effecting her enlargment which shortly after being obtained she was permitted to retire to her own houses in the Country remaining sometimes in one and sometimes in another but never without fear of being remanded unto prison till the death of Gardiner which hapned on the 12th of November then next following Some speech there was and it was earnestly endeavoured by the Popish Party of marrying her to Emanuel Philebert Duke of Savoy as being a Prince that lived far off and where she could give no encouragement to any male-contented party in the Realm of England Against which none so much opposed as the King who had a designe on her for himself as before is said and rather for himself than for Charls his son though it be so affirmed by Cambden the Princess being then in the twenty second year of her age whereas the young Prince was not above seven or eight So that a resolution being finally fixed of keeping her within the Kingdom she lived afterwards for the most part with less vexations but not without many watchfull eyes upon all her actions till it pleased God to call her to the Crown of England She had much profited by the Pedagogie of Ascham and the rest of her Schoolmasters but never improved her self so much as in the School of Affliction by which she learned the miseries incident to Subjects when they groan under the displeasure of offended Princes that the displeasures of some Princes are both made and cherished by the art of their Ministers to the undoing of too many innocent persons
the change and to assure those Princes of the Queens desire to maintain all former leagues between them and the Crown of England but more particular instructions were directed to her Agent in the Court of Spain to whom it was given in charge to represent unto the King the dear remembrance which she kept of those many humanities received from him in the time of her troubles Instructions are sent also to Sir Edward Karn the late Queens Agent with the Pope and now confirmed by her in the same imployment to make his Holiness acquainted with the death of Queen Mary and her succession to the Crown not without out some desire that all good offices might be reciprocally exchanged between them But the Pope answered hereunto according to his accustomed rigour That the Kingdom of England was held in Fee of the Apostolick See that she could not succeed being illegitimate that he could not contradict the declarations of Clement the 7th and Paul the 3d. that it was a great boldness to assume the name and government of it without him yet being desirous to shew a fatherly affection if she will renounce her pretensions and refer her self wholly to his free disposition he will do whatsoever may be done with the honour of the Apostolick See To the making of which sudden answer though there needed no other instigation of his own rough nature yet many thought that he was put upon it by some Ministers of the Court of France who fearing nothing more than that Philip will endeavour by a second mariage to assure himself of the possession of the Realm of England and to that end sollicit for a dispensation to make way unto it thought it expedient to prevent those practices in the first beginning by putting the Pope upon such counsels as would be sure to dash all his hopes that way But the new Queen having perform'd this office of civility to him as she did to others expected not the coming back of any answer not took much thought of it when she heard it She knew full well that her legitimation and the Popes supremacy could not stand together and that she could not possibly maintain the one without a discarding of the other But in this case it concerned her to walk very warily and not to unmask her self too much at once for fear of giving an alarum to the Papal party before she had put her self into a posture of ability to make good her actions Many who were imprisoned for the cause of Religion she restored to liberty at her first coming to the Crown Which occasioned Rainsford a Buffonly Gentleman of the Court to make a sute to her in the behalf of Mathew Mark Luke and John who had been long imprisoned in a Latine Translation that they also might be restored to liberty and walk abroad as formerly in the English Toung To whom she presently made answer That he should first endeavour to know the minds of the Prisoners who perhaps desired no such liberty as was demanded Which notwithstanding upon a serious debate of all particulars she was resolved to proceed to a reformation as the times should serve In order whereunto she constitutes her Privy Council which she compounds of such ingredients as might neither give encouragement to any of those who wish'd well to the Church of Rome or alienate their affections from her whose hearts were more inclined to the Reformation Of such as had been of the Coâ—ncil to the Quen her sister she retained the Lord Archbishop of York the Lord Marquess of Winchester the Earls of Arundel Shrewsbury Darby and Pembrock the Lords Clynton and Effingham Sir Thomas Cheiney Sir William Petice Sir John Mason Sir Richard Sackvile and Doctor Wotton To whom she added of her own the Marquess of Northampton the Earl of Bedford Sir Thomas Parre Sir Edward Roâ—ers Sir Ambrose Care Sir William Cecil and Sir Nicholas Bâ—câ—n To which last being then Attorney of the Dutchy of Lancaster and one that had been much employed by her in some former services which had relation to the Law she committed the custody of the Great Seal on the 22 of December the Title of Lord Chancellor remaining to Archbishop Heath as before it did and that of the Lord keeper being given to Bacon Which being a new Title and consequently subject unto some disputes an Act was passed in the second Parliament of her Reign for investing the said new Lord Keeper and all that should from thenceforth enjoy that Office with all the Powers Privileges and Preheminences which antiently had been exercised and enjoyed by the Lord Chancellor of England and for confirming of all sentences and decrees in Chancery which had or should be made by the said Lord Keepers in all times to come The like mixture she also caused to be made amongst other her subordinate Ministers in adding such new Commissioners for the Peace in every County as either were known to be of the Reformed Religion or to wish well to it The preferring of so many of the Protestant party as well to places of employment in their several Countries as to the ranck and dignity of Privy Counsellors and the refusal of her hand to Bishop Bonner at her very first comming to the Crown were taken to be strong presumptions as indeed they were that she intended to restore the Reformed Religion And as the Papists in the first beginning of the Reign of Queen Mary hoping thereby the better to obtain her favour began to build new Altars and set up the Mass before they were required so to do by any publick Authority so fared it now with many unadvised Zelots amongst the Protestants who measuring the Queens affections by their own or else presuming that their errors would be taken for an honest zeal employed themselves as busily in the demolishing of Altars and defacing of Images as if they had been licenced and commanded to it by some legal warrant It hapned also that some of the Ministers which remained at home and others which returned in great numbers from beyond the Seas had put themselves into the Pulpits and bitterly inveighed against the superstitions and corruptions of the Church of Rome The Popish Preachers did the like and were not sparing of invectives against the others whom they accused of Heresies Schisms and Innovation in the Worship of God For the suppressing of which disorders on the one side and those common disturbances on the other the Queen set out two Proclamations much about one time by one of which it was commanded that no man of what perswasion soever he was in the points of Religion should be suffered from thenceforth to preach in publick but onely such as should be licensed by her authority and that all such as were so licensed or appointed should forbear preaching upon any point which was matter of Controversie and might conduce rather to exasperate than to calm mens passions Which Proclamation was observed with such care and strictness that
who were appointed to revise it as before is said In the performance of which service there was great care taken for expunging all such passages in it as might give any scandal or offence to the Popish party or be urged by them in excuse for their not comming to Church and joyning with the rest of the Congregation in Gods publick Worship In the Letany first made and published by King Henry the 8th and afterwards continued in the two Lituâ—gies of King Edward the 6th there was a Prayer to be delivered from the tyranny and all the detestable enormities of the Bâ—shop of Rome which was thought fit to be expunged as giving matter of scandal and dis-affection to all that party or otherwise wisht well to that Religion In the first Liturgie of King Edward the Sacrament of the Lords Body was delivered with this Benediction that is to say The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for the preservation of thy body and sâ—ul to life everlasting The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ c. Which being thought by Calvin and his Disciples to give some countenance to the grosse and carnal Presence of Christ in the Sacrament which passeth by the name of Transâ—bstantiation in the Schools of Rome was altered into this form in the second Liturgy that is to say Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee and â—eed on him in thy heart by faith with thanksgiving Take and drink this c. But the Revisors of the Book joyned both Forms together lest under colour of rejecting a Carnal they might be thought also to deny such a Real Presence as was defended in the Writings of the Antient Fathers Upon which ground they expunged also a whole Rubrick at the end of the Communion-service by which it was declared that kneeling at the participation of the Sacrament was required for no other reason than for a signification of the humble and grateful acknowledging of the benefits of Christ given therein unto the worthy Receiver and to avoid that prophanation and disorder which otherwise might have ensued and not for giving any adoration to the Sacramental Bread and Wine there bodily received or in regard of any real and essential presence of Christs body and blood And to come up the closer to those of the Church of Rome it was ordered by the Queens Injunctions that the Sacramental Bread which the Book required onely to be made of the finest flower should be made round in fashion of the Wafers used in the time of Queen Mary She also ordered that the Lords Table should be placed where the Altar stood that the accustomed reverence should be made at the name of Jesus Musick retained in the Church and all the old Festivals observed with their several Eves By which compliances and the expunging of the passages before remembred the Book was made so passable amongst the Papiâ—ts that for ten years they generally repaired to their Parish Churches without doubt or scruple as is affirmed not onely by Sir Edward Coke in his speech againâ—t Gâ—â—net and his Charge given at the Assizes held at Norwich but also by the Queen her self in a Letter to Sir Francis Walsingham then being her Resident or Leiger-Ambassador in the Court of France the same confessed by Sanders also in his Book de Schismate And that the Book might passe the better in both Houses when it came to the Vote it was thought requisite that a Disputation should be held about some points which were most likely to be checked at the Disputants to be five Bishops and four other learned men of the one side and nine of the most learâ—ed men graduated in the Schools on the other side the Disputation to begin on the 30th of March and to be holden in the Church of Westminster in the presence of as many of the Lords of the Council and of the Members of both Houses as were desirous to inform themselves in the state of the Questions The Disputation for that reason to be held in the English Tongue and to be managed for the better avoiding of confusion by a mutual interchange of writings upon every point those writings which were mutually given in upon one day to be reciprocally answer'd on another so from day to day till the whole were ended To all which points the Bishops gave consent for themselves and the rest of their party though they refused to stand unto them when it came to the tryal The points to be disputed on were three in number that is to say That it is against the word of God and the custom of the antient Church to use a Tongue unknown to the people in Common-Praier and in the administration of the Sacâ—aments 2. That every Church hath authority to appoint take away and change Ceremonies and Ecclesiastical Rites so the same be to edification 3. That it cannot be proved by the word of God that there is in the Masse offered up a sacrifice propitiatory for the living and the dead And for the Disputants of each side they were these that follow that is to say first for the Popish party Dr. White Bishop of Winchester Dr. Bayn Bishop of Lichfield Dr. Scot Bishop of Chester and Dr. Watson Bishop of Lincâ—ln Dr. Fecknam Abbot of Westminster Dr. Henry Cole Dean of St. Pauls Dr. Harpâ—field Archdeacon of Canterbury Dr. Chadsey Prebend of St. Paâ—ls and Dr. Langdale Archdeacon of Lewis in Sussex For those of the Protestant perswasion appeared Dr. Scory the late Bishop of Chichester Dr. Cox the late Dean of Westminster Dr. Sandys late Master of Katherine Hal. Mr. Horn the late Dean of Durham Mr. Elmar late Archdeacon of Stow Mr. Whâ—tehead Mr. Gryndal Mr. Gâ—est and Mr. Jewel all of which except onely Whiâ—ehead attained afterwards to some eminent place in the sacred Hieraâ—chy The day being come and the place fitted and accommodated for so great an audience the Lord Keeper Bacon takes the Chair as Moderator not for determining any thing in the points disputed but for seeing good order to be kept and that the Disputation might be managed in the form agreed on When contrary to expectation the Bishops and their party brought nothing in writing to be read publickly in the hearing of all the Auditors but came resolved to try it out by word of mouth and to that end appointed Cole to be their Spokesman For which neglect being reproved by the Lord Keeper they promised a conformity on the Monday following being the second day of April but would not stand unto it them because they would not give their Adversaries so much leisure as a whole nights deliberation to return an answer Desired and pressed by the Lord Keeper to proceed according to the form agreed on for the better satisfaction and contentment of so great an Audience it was most obstinately denyed Wâ—tson and White behaving themselves with so little reverence or so much insolency rather as to threaten the Queen
we find the Queens Professor in Oxford to pass amongst the Non-Conformists though somewhat more moderate than the rest and Cartwright the Lady Margarets in Cambridge to prove an unextinguished firebrand to the Church of England Whittington the chief Ringleader of the Franckfort Schismaticks preferred unto the Deanry of Durham from thence encouraging Knox and Goodman in setting up Presbytery and Sedition in the Kirk of Scotland Sampson advanced unto the Deanry of Christ-Church and within few years after turned out again for an incorrigible Non-Conformist Hardiman one of the first twelve Prebends of the Church of Westminster deprived soon after for throwing down the Altar and defacing the vestments of the Church Which things I only touch at now leaving the further prosecution of them to another place Of all these traverses the Pope received advertisement from the first to the last But being of a rugged humouâ— he fell most infinitely short of that dexterity which the case required for finding out a fit expedient to prevent the rupture When his first sullen fits had left him he began to treat more seriously with the English Agent not that the Queen should sue unto him for the Crown which she was possessed of but that no alteration of Religion might be driven at by her To whiâ—h Karn answered according to such instructions as he had received That he could give him no assurance in that point unless the Pope would first declare that the mariage of King Henry with Queen Anne Bollen had been good and lawful Which cross request so stumbled both the Pope and the Conclave that they made choise rather of doing nothing than to do that of which they could not promise to themselves any fortunate issue Roused at the last by the continual alarums which came from England he entertains some secret practices with the French and on the sudden signifies his commands to Karn that he should not depart out of Râ—me without his leave and that in the mean time he should take upon him the government of the English Hospital in the City In which command each of them is affirmed to have had his own proper ends For Karn affected that restraint which he was thought to have procured under hand because he had no mind to return into England where he wâ—s like to find a different Religion from that which he embraced in his own particular And the Pope had his own ends also in hindering as he thought â—he discovering of that secret intelligence which he maintained with the French King to the Queens destruction if his designs had took effect But his design was carried with so little cunning that presently it discovered it self without the help of a revelation from the English Agent For whether it were by his instigation or by the solicitation of the French King or the ambition of the Daulphin who had then maried the Queen of Scots as before was said the Queen of Scots assumes unto her self the stile and title of Queen of England quartereth the Arms thereof upon all her Plate and in all Armories and Escoutcheons as she had occasion And this she did as Cosen and next heir to the Queen deceased which could not be without imputing bastardy to the Queen then living A folly which occasioned such displeasure in the heart of Elizabeth that it could neither be forgotten nor so much as forgiven till that unfortunate Lady was driven out of her Kingdom hunted into a close imprisonment and finally brought out to the fatal block This as it somewhat startled the new Queen of England so it engaged her the more resolutely in that Reformation which was so happily begun And to that end she sets out by Advice of her Council a certain Body of Injunctions the same in purpose and effect with those which had been published in the first of King Edward but more accommodated to the temper of the present time Nothing more singular in the same than the severe course taken about Ministers Mariages the use of singing and the Reverences in Divine Worship to be kept in Church the posture of the Communion Table and the form of bidding Prayers in the Congregation This last almost the same verbaâ—im with that which is prescribed Can. 55. Anno 1603. and therefore not so necessary to be here repeated The first worne long since out â—f use and not much observed neither when it first came out as if it had been published in the way of caution to make the Clergy men more wary in the choice of their wives than with a purpose of persuing it to an execution But as for that concerning the use of singing and the accustomed Reverences to be kept in Churches they are these that follow Touching the last it is enjoyed That whensoever the name of Jesus should be in any Lesson Sermon or otherwise in the Church pronounced that due reverence be made of all persons young and old with lowliness of courtesie and uncovering of the heads of the men kind as thereunto did necessarily belong and heretofore hath been accustomed For the encouragement of the Art and the continuance of the use of Singing in the Church of Engâ—and it was thus enjoyned that is to say That because in divers Collegiat as also in some Parish Câ—urches heretofore there hath been Livings appointed for the maintenance of men and children for singing in the Church by means whereof the laudable exercise of Musick hath been had in estimation and preserved in knowledge The Queens Majesty neither meaning in any wiâ—e the decay of any thing that might conveniently tend to the use and continuance of the said Science neither to have the same so abused in any part of the Church that thereby the Common-Prayer should be the worse understood by the Hearers willeth and commandeth that first no alterations be made of such assignments of Living as heretofore hath been appointed to the use of Singing or Musick in the Church but that the same so remain And that there be a modest and distinct Song so used in all parts of the Common-Prayers in the Church that the same may be as plainly understood as if it were read without singing And yet nevertheless for the comforting of such as delight in Musick it may be permitted that in the beginning or in the end of common-Prayer either at morning or evening there may be sung an Hymn or such like Song to the praise of Almighty God in the best Melody and Musick that may be conveniently devised having respect that the sentence of the Hymn may be understood and perceived According to which order as Plain-song was retained in most Parish-Churches for the daily Psalms so in her own Chapels and in the Quire of all Cathedrals and some Colleges the Hymns were sung after a more melodious manner with Organs commonly and sometimes with other musical Instruments as the solemnity required No mention here of singing David's Psalms in Meeter though afterwards they first thrust out the Hymns
till the end of that Parliament the interval between the end of the Parliament the deprivation of the old Bishops and the consecration of the new was to be taken up in the executing of such surveys and making such advantages of them as most redoâ—nded to the profit of the Queen and her Courtiers Upon whiâ—h ground as all the Bishops Sees were so long kept vacant before any one of them was filled so in the following times they were kept void one after another as occasion served till the best Flowers in the whole Garden of the Church had been câ—lled out of it There was another Clause in the said Statutes by which the patrimony of the Church was as much dilapidaâ—ed sede plena as it was pulled by this in the times of vacancy for by that Clause all Bishops were restrained from making any Grants of their Farms and Mannors for more than twenty one years or three lives at the most except it were unto the Queen her Heirs and Successors But either to the Queen or to any of her Heirs and Successors and under that pretence to any her hungry Courtiers they might be granted in Fee farm or for a Lease of fourscore and nineteen years as it pleased the Parties By which means Credinton was dismembered from the See of Exon the goodly mannor of Sherborn from that of Salâ—sbury many fair mannors alienated for ever from the rich Sees of Winchester Elie and indeed what not But to proceed unto the Consecration of the new Archbishop the first thing to be done after the passing of the Royal Assent for ratifying of the election of the Dean and Chapter was the confirming of it in the Court of the Arches according to the usual form in that behalf Which being accordingly performed the Vicar General the Dean of the Arches the Proctors and Officers of the Court whose presence was required at this Solemnity were enteâ—tained at a dinner provided for them at the Nags head Tavern in Cheapside for which though Parker paid the shot yet shall the Church be called to an after reâ—koning Nothing remains to expedite the Consecration but the Royal Mandat which I find dated on the sixth of December directed to Anthony Ktâ—ching Bishop of Landaff William Barlow late Bishop of Bath and Wells Lord Elect of Chichester John Scory late Bishop of Chichester Lord Elect of Hereford Miles Coverdale late Bishop of Exeter John Hodgskins Suffragan of Bedford John Suffragan of Thetford and John Bale Bishop of Osserâ—â— in the Realm of Ireland requiring them or any of them at the least to proceed unto the consecration of the right reverend Matthew Parker lately elected to the Metropolitical See of Canterbury The first and the two last either hindred by sickness or by some other lawfull impediment were not in a condition to attend the service whiâ—h notwithstanding was performed by the other four on Sunday the seventeenth of that Month according to the Ordinal of King Edward the sixth then newly printed for that purpose the Ceremony performed in the Chapel at Lambeth house the East end whereof was hanged with rich Tapestry and the floor covered with red cloth the Morning Service read by Pearson the Archbishops Chaplain the Sermon preached by Doctor Scâ—â—y Lord Elect of Hereford on those words of St. Peter The Elders which are among you â— exhort c. 1 Pet. 5. 1. The Letters Parents for proceeding to the Consecration publickly read by Doctor Dale the Act of Consecration legally performed by the imposition of the hands of the said four Bishops according to the antient Canons and King Edward's Ordinal and after all a plentiful dinner for the entertainment of the company which resorted thither amongst whom Charls Howard eldest son of William Lord Effingham created afterwards Lord Admiral and Earl of Notingham hapned to be one and after testified to the truth of all these particulars when the reality and form of this Consecration was called in question by some captious sticklers for the Church of Rome For so it was that some sticklers for the Church of Rome having been told of the dinner which was made at the Nags head Tavern at such time as the election of the new Archbishop was confirmed in the Arches raised a report that the Nags head Tavern was the place of the Consecration And this report was countenanced by another slander causing it to be noised abroad and published in some seditious Pamphlets that the persons designed by the Queen for the several Bishopricks being met at a Tavern did then and there lay hands upon one another without Form or Order The first calumny fathered on one Keale once Hebrew Reader in the University of Oxford and Chaplain unto Bishop Bonner which last relation were sufficient to discredit the whole tale if there were no other evidence to disprove the same And yet the silence of all Popish Writers concerning this Nags head-Consecration during the whole Reign of Queen Elizabeth when it had been most material for them to insist upon it as much discrediteth the whole figment as the Author of it The other published by Dr. Nicholas Sanders never more truly Dr. Sâ—anders than in that particular in his pestilent and seditious Book Entituled De Schismate Anglicano whose frequent falshoods make him no fit Author to be built upon in any matter of importance Yet on the credit of these two but on the first especially thâ— Tale of the Nags-head-Consecration being once taken up was generally exposed to sale as one of the most vendible commodities in the writings of some Romish Pâ—iests and Jesuits as Champney's Fitzsimons Parson Kellison c. They knew right well that nothing did more justifie the Church of England in the eye of the world than that it did preserve a succession of Bishops and consequently of all other sacred Orders in the ministration Without which as they would not grant it to be a Church so could they prove it to be none by no stronger Argument than that the Bishops or the pretended Bishops rather in their opinion were either not consecrate at all or not canonically consecrated as they ought to be And for the gaining of this point they stood most pertinaâ—iously on the fiction of the Nags-head Tavern which if it could be proved or at least believed there was an end of the Episcopal succession in the Church of England and consequently also of the Church it self For the decrying of this clamour and satisfying all opponents in the truth of the matter it was thought fit by Dr. George Abbot then Archbishop of Canterbury to call before him some of the Priests and Jesuits that is to say Fairecloth Leake Laithwaite and Collins being then prisoners in the Clinck Who being brought to Lambeth on the 12th of May 1613. were suffered in the presence of divers Bishops to peruse the publick Registers and thereby to satisfie themselves in all particulars concerning the Confirmation and Consecration of Archbishop Parker according to the
not be affirmed of England in the times preceding so neither can it now be said of any State or Nation in the Christian world in all which there are several sorts of copper mony as current with them for publick uses as the purest metal She provided also in like manner for her peoples safety and the encrease of Trade and Merchandise in English Bottoms For towards the end of this second year she made great preparation of Ordinance Arms Munition and Powder of her own materials to be in a readiness to defend her Realm in all emergencies of danger For the advancing of which service it so pleased the divine Providence which watched over her actions that a rich Mine of Brass was found near Keswick in Cumberland such as sufficed not onely for furnishing her own Forts and Ships with all manner of Ordinance but for supplying other Countries as their wants required And to compleat so great a mercy in her preservation the Stone called Lapis Calaminaris exceeding necessary for all Brass-works was at the same time also found in England in most plentiful manner And whereas complaint was made unto her by the Merchants of the Hans-towns or Merchants of the Stilyard as then commonly called that King Edward had first ceized their Liberties and that afterwards Queen Mary had raised their Customs upon all sorts of Merchandises from one to twenty in the Hundred her Answer was That as she was resolved not to Innovate any thing so she could grant no other privileges and immunities to them than those in which she found them when she came to the Crown Their Trading hereupon being intermitted the English Merchants took the managing of it upon themselves and thrived therein so well after some adventures that Cloth and other Manufactures heretofore transported in the ships of those Merchants were from henceforth fraughted and dispersed in English Vessels By means whereof the English in a very short time attained unto the reputation of being the wealthiest Merchants the most expert Mariners and the ablest Commanders for Sea-fights of any Nation in the world I shall conclude this year with a work of piety in the foundation of the Collegiat Church of St. Peter in Westminster which in the space of twenty years had been changed from an Abbey to a Deanry from a Deanry to a See Episcopal reduced unto a Deanry again and finally restored to the state of an Abbey But the Abbey being dissolved in the foregoing Parliament an offer was made to Fecknam and the rest of the Convent if Sanders be to be believed in this particular for continuing in their places and possessions as before they did clogged with no other conditions than the taking of the Oath of Supremacy and officiating all divine Offices by the English Liturgy But this offer being by them rejected the Act of dissolution passed in both Houses of Parliament Concerning which there goes a story that the Lord Abbot being then busied in planting some young Elms in the Deans yard there one that came by advised him to desist from his purpose telling him That the Bill was just then passed for dissolving his Monastery To which the good old man replied That he resolved howsoever to go on with his work being well assured that that Church would be always kept for an encouragement and seat of Learning And so it proved in the event for the Queen having pleased her self in the choice of some of the best Lands which remained unto it confirmed the rest upon that Church which she caused to be called the Collegiat Church of St. Peter in Westminster as appears by her Letters Parens bearing date in the second year of her most gracious and most prosperous Reign A foundation of a large capacity and as amply privileged consisting of a Dean and twelve secular Canons two School masters and forty Scholars petit Canons and others of the Quire to the number of thirty ten Officers belonging to the Church and as many servants appertaining to the College diet and twelve Alms-men besides many Officers Stewards Receivers and Collectors for keeping Courts and bringing in of their Revenue the principal of which called the High Steward of Westminster hath ever since been one of the prime Nobility and in great favour at the Court The Dean entrusted with keeping the Regalia honored with a place of necessary service at all Coronations and a Commissioner for the Peace within the City of Westminster and the Liberties of it by Act of Parliament The Dean and Chapter vested with all manner of jurisdiction both Ecclesiastical and Civil not onely within the City and liberties of Westminster but within the precinct of St. Martins le grand and some Towns of Essex exempted in the one from the Bishop of London and in the other from the power of the Archbishop of Canterbury The Scholars annually preferred by election either to Christ-Church in Oxon or Trinity College in Cambrige each College being bound by an Indenture made with Queen Elizabeth to take off yearly two or three at the least though since that number is extended to four or five to be preferred to Scholarships Fellowships in their several Houses A College founded as it proved in such a happy conjuncture that since this new foundation of it it hat given breeding and preferment to four Archbishops two Lord Chancellors or Lord Keepers of the Great Seal of England twenty two Bishops and thirteen Deans of cathedral Churches besides Archdeacons and Prebendaries and other dignitaries in the Church to a proportionable number which is more than can be said of either of the two famous Colleges of Aeton and Winchester or of both together though the one was founded 168 and the other 114 years before it Anno Reg. Eliz. 3. A. D. 1560 1561. WE shall begin this third year of the Queen with the death of Francis the second King of the French who deceased on the 5th day of December when he had scarce lived to the end of his 17th year and had Reigned but one year and five months or thereabouts His death much altered both the counsels and affairs of Christendom distracting the French Nation into schisms and â—actions incouraging the Sâ—ots to proceed with confidence in their Reformation and promising no small security to Queen Elizabeth in regard of the pretensions of the Queen of Scots But so little was her condition bettered by it that she seemed to be in more danger by the acts of her enemies after his decease than formerly in the time of his life and government Francis of Gâ—ise a man of great abilities for Camp and Counsel had made himself a very strong party in the Court of France which he intended to make use of for the Queen of Scots whose Mother the late Queen Regent of Scotland was his only sister And this he might the better do by reason of a division in the Court of France about the government of the Kingdom during the minority of Charls
the 9th the second brother and next heir to the King deceased Katherine de Medices the Relict of Henry the 2d and the Mother of Charls layes claim to the Regency for who could have a greater care either of the young Kings person or estate than his natural Mother But against her aâ— being a meer stranger to the Nation and affairs of France Anthony of Burboâ— Duke of Vendosme by descent and King of Navarr at the least in Title in the Right of Joan d' Albret his wife the sole Heir of that Crown layes his claim unto it as being the first Prince of the blood and therefore fitter to be trusted with the Regency by the rules of that government The Guisian faction joyn themselves to that of the Queen of whom they better knew how to make advantage than they could of the other and to that end endeavour by all subtil artifices to invest her in it To this end they insinuate themselves into the Duke perswade him either to relinquish his demands of the Regency or to associate himself with the Queen-Mother in the publick government and to joyn counsels with the Catholick party for suppressing the Hâ—gonots Which that they might allure him to or at least take him off from his first persute they offered to procure a Divorce from his present wife and that instead of holding the Kingdom of Navarr in Right of his wife he should hold it in his own personal capacity by a grant from the Pope his wife being first deprived of it by his Holiness as suspected of Lutheranism that being divorced from his wife he should marry Mary Queen of the Scots with whom he should not only have the Kingdom of Scotland but of England also of which Elizabeth was to be deprived on the same account that for the recovery of that Kingdom he should not only have the Popes authority and the power of France but also the forces of the King of Spain and finally that the Catholick King did so much study his contentment that if he would relinquish his pretensions to the Crown of Navarr he should be gratified by him with the soverainty and actual possession of the Isle of Sardinia of which he should receive the Crown with all due solemnities By which temptations when they had render'd him suspected to the Protestant party and thereby setled the Queen-Mother in that place and power which so industriously she aspired to they laid him by as to the Title permitting him to live by the air of hope for the short time of his life which ended on the 17th of November Anno 1562. And so much of the game was plaid in earnest that the Dâ—ke of Guise did mainly labour with the Pope to fulminate his Excommunications against Elizabeth as one that had renounced his authority apostated from the Catholick Religion and utterly exterminated the profession of it out of her Dominions But the Duke sped no better in this negotiation than the Count of Feria did before The Pope had still retained some hope of regaining England and meant to leave no way unpractised by which he might obtain the point he aimed at When first the See was vacant by the death of Pope Paul the 4th the Cardinals assembled in the Conclave bound themselves by oath that for the better setling of the broken and distracted estate of Christendome the Council formerly held at Trent should be resumed withall convenient speed that might be Which being too fresh in memory to be forgotten and of too great importance to be laid aside the new Pope had no sooner setled his affairs in Rome which had been much disordered by the harshness and temerity of his predecessor but he resolved to put the same in execution For this cause he consults with some of the more moderate and judicious Cardinals and by his resolution and dexterity surmounts all difficulties which shewed themselves in the design and he resolved not only to call the Council but that it should be held in 〈◊〉 to which it had been formerly called by Pope Paul the 3d. 1545. that it should rather be a continuance of the former Council which had been interrupted by the prosecution of the wars in Germany than the beginning of a new and that he would invite unto it all Christian Princes his dear daughter Queen Elizabeth of England amongst the rest And on these terms he stood when he was importuned by the Ministers of the Duke of Gvise to proceed against her to a sentence of Excommunication and thereby to expose her Kingdoms to the next Invader But the Pope was constantly resolved on his first intention of treating with her after a fair and amicable manner professing a readiness to comply with her in all reciprocal offices of respect and friendship and consequently inviting her amongst other Princes to the following Council to which if she should please to send her Bishops or be present in the same by her Ambassadors he doubted not of giving them such satisfaction as might set him in a fair way to obtain his ends Leaving the Pope in this good humour we shall go for England where we shall find the Prelates at the same imployment in which we left them the last year that is to say with setting forth the Consecrations of such new Bishops as served to fill up all the rest of the vacant Sees The first of which was Robert Horn Dr. in Divinity once Dean of Durham but better known by holding up the English Liturgy and such a form of Discipline as the times would bear against the schismaticks of Franckfort preferred unto the See of Winchester and consecrated Bishop in due form of Law on the 16th of February Of which we shall speak more hereafter on another occasion On which day also Mr. Edmond Scambler Batchelor of Divinity and one of the Prebendaries of the new Collegiat Church of St. Peter in Westminster was consecrated Bishop of the Church of Peterborough During the vacancy whereof and in the time of his incumbency Sir William Caecil principal Secretary of Estate possess'd himself of the best Mannors in the Soake which belonged unto it and for his readiness to confirm the same Mannors to him preferred him to the See of Norwich Anno 1584. Next followes the translation of Dr. Thomas Young Bishop of St. Davids to the See of York which was done upon the 25th of February in an unlucky hour to that City as it also proved For scarce was he setled in that See when he pulled down the goodly Hall and the greatest part of the Episcopal Palace in the City of York which had been built with so much care and cost by Thomas the elder one of his predecessors there in the year of our Lord 1090. Whether it were for covetousness to make money of the materials of it or out of fordidness to avoid the charge of Hospitality in that populous City let them guess that will Succeeded in the See of St. David's by Davis
a most prudent Prince had formerly protested against the calling of this Council by Pope Paul the 3d. who did as much pretend to the peace of Christendome as the Pope now being that to admit a Minister of the Pope in the quality or capacity of a Nuncio inferred a â—acit acknowledgement of that supâ—emacy whereof he had been deprived by Act of Parliament that the Popes of Rome have alwaies raised great advantages by the smallest concessions and therefore that it was most expedient for the good of the Kingdom to keep him alwaies at a distance that Queen Mary in favour only unto Pâ—lâ— refused to give admittance to Cardinal Peitow though coming from the Pope in quality of a Legate a Lateâ—â—e that a great part of the people were in discontentment with the change of Religion and wanted nothing but such an opportunity to break out into action as the Nuncio's presence might afford them and therefore that it concerned the Queen to be as zealous for Religion and the weal of her people as her sister the late Queen Mary was in maintenance of Cardinal Pole and his private authority And to say truth the greatest obstacle in the way of the Nuncio's coming was partly laid in it by the indiscretion of some Papists in England and partly by the precipitancy of the Popes Ministers in Ireland For so it was that the only noise of the coming of a Nuncio from the Pope had wrought in sundry evil-disposed persons such a courage and boldness that they did not only break the Laws made against the Pope and his authority with great audacity but spread abroad false and slanderous reports that the Queen was at the point to change her Religion and alter the government of the Realm Some also had adventured further even to a practising with the Devil by conjurations charms and casting of Figures to be informed in the length and continuance of her majesties Reign And on the other side the Popes Legate being at the same time in Ireland not only joyned himself to some desperate Traytors who busied themselves in stirring up rebellion there but for as much as in him was had deprived her Majesty of all Right and Title to that Kingdom Upon which grounds it was carried clearly by the Board against the Nuncio Nor would they vary from the Vote upon the intercession of the French the Spaniard or whose displeasure was more dangerous of the Duke of Alva Nothing discouraged with the repulse which had been given to the French and Spaniard the Emperour Ferdinand must make tryal of his fortune also not as they did in favour of the Nuncio's coming but in perswading her to return to the old Religion To this end he exhorts her by his Letters in a friendly way not to relinquish the Communion of so many Catholick Kings and Princes and her own Ancestors into the bargain nor to prefer her single judgement and the judgement of a few private persons and those not the most learned neither before the judgement and determination of the Church of Christ. That if she were resolved to persist in her own opinion she should deal favourably with so many reverend and Religious Prelates as she kept in prison and which she kept in prison for no other reason but for adhering unto that Religion which himself professed and finally he intreats most earnestly that she would set apart some Churches to the use of the Catholicks in which they might with freedome exercise their own Religion according to the Rites and Doctrines of the Church of Rome To which desires she made a full and sufficient answer by satisfying him touching her merciful dealing with those Bishops whom for their obstinacy and many other weighty reasons she had deprived of their preferments in the Church And to the rest she answered That she had setled her Religion on so sure a bottome that she could not easily be changed that she doubted not but that she had many learned men in her Dominions which were able to defend the doctrine by them taught against all Opponents and that for granting any Churches to the use of the Papists it was a point so contrary to the polity and good Lawes of the Land that she desired to be excused for not yielding to it In which last she seemed to have an eye upon the Edict of the Emperour Constantine touching the meetings of the Marcionites Novatians Valentinians and other Hereticks of that age In which it was enjoined that none of them should from thenceforth hold any assemblys and that for the more certain conforming unto his Decree those Churches or other houses whatsoever they were in which they used to hold their Meetings should be demolished to the ground to the end that there might be no place in which such men as were devoted to their superstitious faction might have the opportunity of assembling together For which the Reader may consult Eusebius in the life of Constantine l. b. 3. cap. 63. But that it might appear both to him and others that she was ready to shew all just favours she laid a most severe command upon all her Officers for the full payment of all such pensions as had been granted unto all such Abbots Monks and Friers in the time of her father as were not since preferred in the Church to cures or dignities And this to be performed to the utmost farthing on pain of her most high displeasure in neglect thereof It could not be but that the governing of her affairs with such an even and steady hand though it occasioned admiration in some must needs create both envy and displeasure in the hearts of other Christian Princes from none of which she had a juster cause to fear some practice than the King of Spain or rather from the fierce and intemperate Spirit of the Duke of Alva as appeared afterwards when he was made Lord Deputy or Vice-Gerent of the Belgick Provinces They had both shewed themselves offended because their intercession in behalf of the Nuncio had found no better entertainment and when great persons are displeased it is no hard matter for them to revenge themselves if they find their adversaries either weak or not well provided But the Queen looked so well about her as not to be taken tardy in either kind For which end she augments her store of Arms and Ammunition and all things necessary for the defence of her Kingdom which course she had happily begun in the year foregoing But holding it a safer maxim in the Schools of Polity not to admit than to endeavour by strong hand to expel an enemy She entertains some fortunate thoughts of walling her Kingdom round about with a puissant Navy for Merchants had already increased their shipping by managing some part of that wealthy trade which formerly had been monopolized by the Haâ—se or Easterlings And she resolves not to be wanting to her self in building ships of such a burthen and so fit for service as might inable
her in short time not only to protect her Merchants but command the Ocean Of which the Spaniard found good proof to his great loss and almost to his total ruine in the last 20 years of her glorious government And knowing right well that mony was the â—inew of war she fell upon a prudent and present course to fill her coffers Most of the monies in the Kingdom were of forein coynage brought hither for the most part by the Easterling and Flemish Merchants These she called in by Proclamation â—â—ted the 15th of November being but two dayes before the end of this 3d. year commanding them to be brought to her Majesties Mint there to be coyned and take the stamp of her Royal authority or otherwise not to pass for current within this Realm which counsel took such good effect that monies came flowing into the Mint insomuch that there was weekly brought into the Tower of London for the space of half a year together 8000. 10000. 12000. 16000. 20000. 22000 l. of silver plate and as much more in Pistols and other gold of Spanish coins which were great sums according to the standard of those early dayes and therefore no small profit to be growing to her by the coynage of them The Genevians slept not all this while but were as busily imployed in practising upon the Church as were the Romanists in plotting against the Queen Nothing would satisfie them but the nakedness and simplicity of the Zuinglian Churches the new fashions taken up at Franckfort and the Presbyteries of Geneva According to the pattern which they saw in those mounts the Church of England is to be modell'd nor would the Temple of Jerusalem have served their turn if a new Altar fashioned by that which they found at Damascus might not have been erected in it And they drove on so fast upon it that in some places they had taken down the steps where the Aâ—tar stood and brought the Holy Table into the midst of the Church in others they had laid aside the antient use of Godfathers and Godmothers in the administration of Baptism and left the answering for the child to the charge of the father The weekly Fasts the time of Lent and all other dayes of abstinence by the Church commanded were looked upon as superstitious observations No fast by them allowed of but occasional only and then too of their own appointing And the like course they took with the Festivals also neglecting those which had been instituted by the Church as humane inventions not fit to be retained in a Church reformed And finally that they might wind in there outlandish Doctrines with such forein usages they had procured some of the inferiour Ordinaries to impose upon their several Parishes certain new books of Sermons and Expositions of the holy Scripture which neither were required by the Queens Injunctions nor by Act of Parliament Some abuses also were discovered in the Regular Clergy who served in Churches of peculiar or exempt jurisdiction Amongst whom it began to grow too ordinary to marry all such as came unto them without Bains or Licence and many times not only without the privity but against the express pleasure and command of their Parents For which those Churches past by the name of Lawlesse Churches in the voice of the people For remedy whereof it was found necessary by the Archbishop of Canterbury to have recourse unto the power which was given unto him by the Queens Commission and by a clause or passage of the Act of Parliament for the Uniformity of Common Prayer and Service in the Church c. As one of the Commissioners for Causes Ecclesiastical he was authorized with the rest of his associates according to the Statute made in that behalf To reform redresse order correct and amend all such Errours Heresies Schisms abuses offences conâ—empts and enormities whatsoever as might from time to time arise in the Church of England and did require to be redressed and reformed to the pleasure of Almighty God the increase of vertue and conservation of the peace and unity of the Kingdom And in the passage of the Act before remembred it was especially provided That all such Ornaments of the Church and of the Ministers thereof should be retained and be in use as were in the Church of England by authority of Parliament in the second year of the Reign of King Edward the 6th until further Order should be therein taken by authority of the Queens Majesty with the advice of her Commissioners Appointed Ordered under the Great Seal of England for Causes Ecclesiastical or of the Metropolitan of this Realm And also if there shall happen any contempt or irreverence to be used in the Ceremonies or Rites of the Church by the misusing of the Orders of the said Book of Common Prayer the Queens Majesty might by the like advice of the said Commissioners or Metropolitan Ordain or publish such further Ceremonies or Rites as should be most for the advance of Gods glory the edifying of his Church and the due reverence of Christs holy Mysteries and Sacraments Fortified and assured by which double power the Archbishop by the Queens consent and the advice of some of the Bishops Commissionated and instructed to the same intent sets forth a certain book of Orders to be diligently observed and executed by all and singular persons whom it might concern In which it was provided That no Parson Vicar or Curate of any exempt Church commonly called Lawless Churches should from thenceforth attempt to conjoin by solemnization of Matrimony any not being of his or their Parish Church without sufficient testimony of the Bains being ask'd in the several Churches where they dwel or otherwise were sufficiently licenced That there should be no other dayes observed for Holy days or Fasting dayes as of duty and commandment but only such Holy dayes as be expressed for Holy dayes in the Calendar lately set forth by the Queens authority and none other Fasting dayes to be so commanded but as the Lawes and Proclamations of the Queens Majesty should appoint that it should not be lawful to any Ordinary to assign or enjoyn the Parishes to buy any Books of Sermons or Expositions in any sort than is already or shall be hereafter appointed by publick Authority that neither the Curates or Parents of the children which are brought to Baptism should answer for them at the Font but that the antient use of Godfathers and Godmothers should be still retained and finally that in all such Churches in which the steps to the Altar were not taken down the said steps should remain as before they did that the Communion Table should be set in the said place where the steps then were or had formerly stood and that the Table of Gods Precepts should be fixed upon the wall over the said Communion Board Which passage compared with that in the Advertisements published in the year 1565. of which more hereafter make up this construction that
might have done so also if they had not either been well watched or trusted upon their Parol to be forth-comming as the phrase is upon all occasions And though I find the name of Pates subscribed to some of the former Sessions yet it is not to be found to this the man being of a moderate and gentle spirit and possibly not willing to engage himself in any Counsels which might prove detrimental to his native country And as for Goldnel though his zeal to Popery was strong enough to carry him beyond the Seas yet it did not carry him so far as Trent there being so many retireing places nearer home in which he might repose himself with more contentment But leaving the Fathers in Trent to expect the comming of the holy Ghost in a cloak-bag from Rome according to the common scorn which was put upon them we must prepare our selves for England first taking in our way the affairs of France which now began to take up a great part of the thoughts of the Queen and her Council The Reformed Religion had made some entrance in that kingdome during the Reign of king â—rancis the first exceedingly dispersed and propagated in most parts thereof notwithstanding the frequent Martyrdoms of particular persons the great and terrible Massacres of whole Townships Commonalties and Churches even by hundreds and thousands in divers places of the Realm To which encrease the fickle nature of the French the diligence of their Preachers and the near neighbourhood of Genevâ— were of great advantage all which advantages were much improved by the authority and reputation which Calvin carried in those Churches and the contentment which the people took in a form of Government wherein they were to have a share by the rules of their Discipline and thereby draw the managery of affairs unto themselves Being grown numerous in the City of Tours and not permitted to enjoy the liberty of assembling within the walls they held their meetings at a village not far off for their publick Devotions the way to which leading through the gate of St. Hugo is thought to have occasioned the name of Hugonots which others think to have been given them by reason of their frequent nightly meetings resembled by the French to the walking of a Night-spirit which they called St. Hugh but from what ground soever it came it grew in short time to be generally given as a by-name to those which professed the Reformed Religion whether in France or else-where after Calvin's platform Their numbers not diminished by so many butcheries gave them the reputation of a party both stout and active which rendred them the subject of some jealousie to the Roman Catholicks and specially to those of the House of Guise who laboured nothing more than their extirpation But this severity sorted to no other effect than to confirm them in their Doctrines and attract many others to them who disdained to see poor people drawn every day to the Stake to be burned guilty of nothing but of zeal to worship God and to save their own souls To whom were joyned many others who thinking the Guisiards to be the cause of all the disorders in the Kingdom judged it an Heroick Act to deliver it from oppression by taking the publick Administration out of their hands But nothing more encreased their party than the accession of almâ—st all the Princes of the Blood of the House of Burbon the Chiefs whereof were the Duke of Vendosm who called himself King of Navarr in right of his Wife the Princes of Conde the Duke of Montpensier who finding themselves neglected by the Queen-Mother and oppressed by the Guisiards retired in no small discontments from the Court and being otherwise unable to make good their quarrels offered themselves as Leaders of the Hâ—gonot-faction who very cheerfully submitted to their rule and conduct The better to confirm their minds they caused the principal Lawyers of Germany and France and the most famous Protestant Divines to publish in writing that without violating the Majesty of the King and the dignity of the lawful Magistrate they might oppose with Arms the violent Domination of the House of Guise who did not onely labour to suppress the true Religion and obstruct the free passage of Justice but seemed to keep the King in prison Having thus formed their Party in the minority of King â—rancis the second their first design was that a great multitude should appear before the King without Arms to demand that the severity of the judgments might be mitigated and liberty of conscience granted intending that they should be followed by Gentlemen who should make supplication against the Government of the Guisiards But the purpose being made known to the Court the King was removed from Bloâ—sâ—n â—n open Town to the strong Castle of Amboise as if he could not otherwise be safe from some present Treason After which followed a strict inquiry after all those who had a hand in the design the punishment of some and the flight of others with the conclusion taken up by the Guisian faction to settle the Spanish Inquisition in the Realm of France To pacifie the present troubles an Edict is published by the King on the 18th of March 1560 in the French account for the pardoning of all who simply moved with the zeal of Religion had ingaged in the supposed conspiracy upon condition that they disarmed within 24 hours and after that another Edict by which a general pardon was indulged to all Reformatiâ—â—â— but so that all assemblies under the colour of Religion were prohibited by it and a charge laid upon the Bishops to take unto themselves the cognisance of all causes of Heresie in their several Diocesses But this so little edified with those of that party that greater tumults were occasioned by it in Provence Languedock and Poictoâ— To which places the Ministers of Geneva were called who most willingly came By whose Sermons the number of Protestants so increased in those Provinces and by their Agents in most others that in this year 1562. they were distributed into two thousand one hundred and fifty Churches as appeared upon a just computation of them But in the midst of these improvements the power and reputation of the side was shrewdly weakned by the falling off of Anthony Duke of Vendosme and King of 〈◊〉 who did not only openly forsake the party but afterwards joined himself in counsel and design against it with the Duke of Guise The foundâ—ing of so great a pillar threatned a quick ruine to the fabrick if some other butteress were not found to support the same The war was carried on from one place to another but seemed to aim most at the reduction of Normandâ— where the Hugonoâ—s had possessed themselves of some Towns and Casâ—les by which they might be able to distress the City of Paris and thereby make a great impression on the rest of the Kingdom It was thereupon advised by Lewis Prince of Coâ—de the
Cardinal Chastilion and other of the principal Leaders that they should put themselves under the protection of the Queen of England whâ— had not long before so seasonably relieved the Scots in the like distress No better counsel being offered nor any hope of succour to be had elsewhere the Vidame of Chartresse Governour at that time of the Port of Newhaven together with the Bayliâ—â— of Rowen the Seneshal of Diep and others made their address unto the Queen in the name of the Prince of Conde and of all the rest of the Confederates who professed the Gospel in that Kingdom they profered to her the said Towns whereof they had charge if it would please her Majesty to further their proceedings in defence of the Gospel as they called it And seemed to justifie their offer by a publick acknowledgement that her Majesty was not only true inheritour to those Towns but also to the whole Kingdom of France But neither their coming not their message was unknown unto her who had been secretly advertised of all passages there by Sir Nicholas Throgmorton a vigilant and dexterous man who being her Majesties Resident in that Kingdom had driven the bargain before hand and made all things in readiness against their coming Nor was the Queen hard to be intreated to appear in that cause which seemed so much to her advantage She was not ignorant of the pretensions of the Queen of Scots and the practices of her Uncles of the House of Guâ—se to advance her interess Who if they should possess themselves of all the strengths in the Dukedom of Normandy might from thence find an easie passage into England when she least looked for them On these and other considerations of the like importance it was agreed upon between them that the Queen should supply the Prince of Conde and his associates with a sufficient quantity of money corn and ammunition for the service of the French King against the plots and practices of the House of Guise that she should aid them with her forces both by land and sea for the taking in of such Castles Towns and Ports as were possessed by the faction of the said Duke that the said Prince of Conde and his associates should not come to any terms of peace with the opposite party without the privity and approbation of the Queen and that as well for securing the payment of all such monies as for the safe going in and out of all such forces as her Majesty should supply them with the Town and Port of Newhaven should be put unto her Majesties hands to be garrison'd by English souldiers and commanded by any person of quality whom her Majesty should authorise to keep and defend the same Immediately on which accord a Manifest was published in the name of the Queen in which it was declared how much she had preferred the peace of Christendom before her own particular intereâ—s that in persuance of that general affection to the publick peace she had relinquished her claim to the Town of Calais for the term of eight years when as all other Princes were restored by that Treaty to their lost estates that for the same reasons she had undertaken to preserve the Scots from being made vassals to the French without retaining any part of that Kingdom in her own possession after the service was performed that with the like bowels of commiseration she had observed how much the Queen-Mother of France was awed and the young King himself inthralled by the Guisian faction who in their names and under pretence of their authority endeavoured to root out the professors of the Reformed Religion that in persuance of that purpose they had caused such terrible massacres to be made at Vassey Paris Sene Tholouse â—loys Towers Angierâ— and other places that there were thought to be butchered no fewer than one hundred thousand of the naturall French between the first of March and the 20th of August then last past that with like violence and injustice they had treated such of her Majesties subjects as traded in the Ports of Bretagne whom they caused to be apprehended spoiled and miserably imprisoned such as endeavoured to preserve themselves to be cruelly killed their goods and merchandise to be seized without charging any other crime upon them but that they were Hâ—gonoâ—s and finally that in consideration of the Premises her Majesty could do no less than use her best endeavors for rescuing the French King and his Mother out of the power of that dangerous faction for aiding such of the French subjects as preferred the service of their King and the good of their Country before all other respects whatsoever for preserving the Reformed Religion from an universal destruction and the maintaining of her own subjects and Dominions in peace and safety Nor did she only publish the afoâ—esaid Manifest the better to satisfie all those whom it might concern in the reasons of her taking arms upon this occasion but she gives a more particulâ—â— account of it to the King of Spain whom she considered as the chief Patron of the Guisian League And knowing how unsafe it was for her to appear alone in a cause of that nature and importance she deals by Knollis and other of her Agents with the Princes of Germany to give their timely assistanâ—e to the Prince of Conde in maintenance of that Religion which themselves professed But howsoever not expecting the success of those counsels she proceeds to the supplying of the said Prince and his party with all things necessary for the war and sends over a sufficient strength of ships arms and men as well to scour the seas as secure the land The men amounting to 6000 were divided into two equal parts of which the one was destined to the defence of Rowen and Diepe then being in the hands of the Confederates the other to take possession of the Town of Newhaven which by the Townsmen and Inhabitants was joyfully surrender'd into the hands of the English The Town commodiously seated at the mouth of the Seine and having the command of a spacious Bay in former times not much observed or esteemed But being more carefully considered of by King Francis the first he caâ—sed the Bay to be inlarged the passages into iâ— cleared and the entrances of it to be strongly fortified which falling into the hands of any enemy might have destroyed the trade of Rowen and Paris being both built upon the River Called for this reason Franciscopolis by our Latine Writers Newhaven by the English Merchant and Haver d' Grace by reason of the beauty of it amongst the French it hath been looked on ever since as a place of consequence For her Commander in Chief she sends over the Lord Ambrose Dudley the eldest son then living of the late Duke of Northumberland whom on the 26th of December she had created Lord Lislâ— and Earl of Warwick And he accordingly preparing for his passage over took shipping at Portsmouth on the 17th
of October but was so hindered by cross winds that he could not reach the Town till the 29th where he was solemnly received with a peal of Ordnance On the morrow after he received into the Town a Troop of Light-horse-men all Scots and of the Regiment of Count Montgomery which were sent to him from the Port of Diep and the next day he took the Oath of his principal Officers on whose fidelity and courage the safâ—ty of the place seemed most to depend On the 4th of November a Bark belonging to the Town brought in four Merchants Ships of Bretagne fraughted for the most part with Gascoin Wines as afterwards two more with the like commodity which proved a great refreshment to the souldiers in it And on the 6th the Reingrave shewed himself upon the top of the hills with two thousand foot betwixt whom and the garison souldiers of Hareflew on the one side and those of Newhaven on the other the remainder of the year was taken up in continual skirmishes Cross we next over into Scotland that we may see in what condition our affairs stood there The death of the late French King had made that Kingdom so uncomfortable to the Queen of Scots that she desired to hasten back into her own And thereunto she was much animated by the Heads of either faction but on different ends Her presence earnestly solicited by the Popish party in hope by her authority to suppress their opposites and by the Protestants on some strong presumptions that they could deal better with her when they had her there than when she was protected by the power of France and governed by the counsels of the Guisian faction Before her leaving of that Kingdom she had been pressed by Throgmorton the English Resident to ratifie the Pacification mâ—de at Edenborough to which she would by no means yield till she had advised with the nobility and other of her subjects of the Realm of Scotland This makes the Queen of England doubtful that she should be deserted by the Scots of the Congregation to whom she had done so many good offices in the time of their troubles But having dealt with some of the chief amongst them she found a resolution in them for adhering to her which so assured her on that side that she feared but little danger from the Queen and her party whensoever she came Which notwithstanding it was held to be the safer course to intercept her if they could in her passage thither And to that end a squadron of ships was sent to sea but under colour of suppressing some Pirates by whom the trade of merchandise was given out to be hindered But the taking of one of the Scotish ships with the Earl of Eglington and other passengers of that Nation were making homewards declared sufficiently that they looked for a far richer prize But for the Queen of Scots her self by reason of a thick fog which hung over the seas she past by the English unperceived and landed at the Port of Leeth on the 20th of August Anno 1561. From thence she sends Lethington the younger with Letters to the Queen of England tending especially to express that great love and kindness which she bare to her as to her dearest friend and Sister and the desire she had to continue in true and sincere friendship with her At what time she received letters also to the same effect from some of the Nobility of that Kingdom In which they signified withall That the surest way to continue amity and friendship betwixt them two were to declare the Queen of Scots to be her next and lawful heir to the Kingdom of England But this demand as it was unlooked for so was it of too high a nature to be hastily answered So that the Laird of Lethington could prevail no further at that time than to gain a promise from the Queen that she would do nothing to the prejudice of the Title of her Cosen of Scotland The rest was left to be considered of in a personal conference appointed to be held at York in the end of June Which motion first proceeded from the Queen of Scots who was thought to have been earnest and real in it partly for making a firm peace with her 〈◊〉 of England and partly to make her self known to the principal subjects of that Country Neither was the meeting disliked of the better sort as thinking it would serve besides the preservation of the common peace to bring her to a liking of the Reformed Religion But they who were popishly set fearing greatly the conference spake openly against it saying that of such interviews there was never seen any good effect and that it would not be safe for the Queen of Scots to put heâ— self into the power of her to whose Kingdom she had made a claim But notwithstanding these unprofitable deliberations the interview was agreed upon and the numbers on either side determined and all things provided for the journey when suddenly the Queen of England by her Letters excused her self desiring that it might be respited till the year next following Which the Scots Queen was not sorry to hear upon further thoughts considering how much the French King and her Uncles of the House of Guise might have been dissatisfied on the newes of that Inter-Parleance Neither did Queen Elizabeth want her reasons to decline the meeting which some believe was never really intended by her but that she hoped the fail would have been on 〈◊〉 other side which would have given her the same cause of quarrel against the daughter which King Henry took against the father on the like disappointment Others conceived that she might fear a growing less by it in the eyes of her people the Queen of Scots having so many advantages above her both in youth and beauty But it was generally concluded to be against all reason of State to give her Rival opportunity of growing gracious with the Nobility and Gentry of England and laying the foundation of a faction in the Court it self But the Queen had deeper matters to take up her thoughts than any such feminine jealousies and emulations though these perhaps might also have their place amongst them A spirit of sedition had begun to shew it self in the year last past upon the bare noise of the coming of the Nuncio hither Not much diminished if it were not much increased by the sitting of the Council of Trent in which it was believed that some proceedings would be had against her Which seeds being sowen began first to shew themselves in a petit rebellion in Merton College in Oxon sufficiently discovered by those small beginnings that some design of greater consequence was in agitation The Wardenship of that house being void by the death of Gervase one Man is chosen to the place But his election being questioned and his admission thereupon opposed by a contrary faction the goverâ—ment of the College devolved of course upon one Hall a
end whereof he was restored to liberty by the death of the Lady who died a prisoner in the Tower And though the Lady Francis Dutchess of Suffolk might hope to have preserved her self from the like Court-thunder-claps by her obscure marriage with Adrian Stokes who had bin Gentleman of the Horse to the Duke her husband yet neither could that save her from abiding a great part of the tempest which fell so heavily upon her and all that family that William the nephew of this Earl by Edward Viscount Beauchamp his eldest son was prudently advised by some of his friends to procure a confirmation of his grand-fathers honors from the hand of King James which without much difficulty was obtained and granted by his Majesties Letters Patents bearing date the 14th of May in the 6th year of his Reign But such was the fortune of this House that as this Earl being newly restored unto the Title of Hertford by the great goodness of the Queen incurred her high displeasure and was thereupon committed prisoner for his marriage with the Lady Katherine Gray the onely heir then living of Mary the youngest daughter of King Henry the 7th so William above mentioned being confirmed in the expectancy of his grand-fathers honors by the like goodness of King James was committed prisoner by that King for marrying with the Lady Arabella daughter and heir of Charls Earl of Lennox descended from the eldest daughter of the said King Henry Such were the principal occurrences of this present year relating to the joynt concernments of Church and State In reference to the Church alone nothing appears more memorable than the publishing of an elegant and acute Discourse entituled The Apology of the Church of England first wait in Latin by the right reverend Bishop Jewel translated presently into English French Italian Dutch and at last also into Greek highly approved of by all pious and judicious men stomached by none excepting our own English fugitives and yet not undertook by any of them but by Harding only who had his hands full enough before in beating out an answer to the Bishopâ— challenge By him we are informed if we may believe him that two Tractats or Discourses had been writ against it the one by an Italian in the Tongue of that Country the other in Latine by a Spanish Bishop of the Realm of Naples both finished and both stopped as they went to the Press out of a due regard â—orsooth to the Church of England whose honour had been deeply touched by being thought to have approved such a lying unreasonable slanderous and ungodly Pamphlet which were it true the Church was more beholden to the modesty of those Spaniards and Italians than to our own natural English But whether it were true or not or rather how untrue it is in all particulars the exchange of writings on both sides doth most plainly manifest In general it was objected That the Apology was published in the name of the Church of England before any mean part of the Church were privy to it as if the Author either were ashamed of it or afraid to stand to it that the Inscription of it neither was directed to Pope nor Emperor nor to any Prince not to the Church nor to the General Council then in being as it should have been that there was no mans name seâ— to it that it was printed without the privilege of the Prince contrary to the Law in that behalf that it was allowed neither by Parliament nor Proâ—lamation nor agreed upon by the Clergy in a publick and lawful Synod and therefore that the Book was to be accounted a famous Libel and a scandalâ—us Writing To which it was answered in like Generals by that learned Prelate That the profession of the Doctrine contained in it was offered unto the whole Church of God and so unto the Pope and the Council too if they were any part or member of the Church that if names be so necessary he had the names of the whole Clergy of England to confirm that Doctrine and Harding's too amongst the rest in the time of King Edward that for not having the Princes privilege it might easily be disproved by the Printer that it was not conceived in such a dark corner as was objected being afterwards imprinted at Paris in Latine and having since been translated into the French Italian Dutch and Spanish Toungs that being sent afterwards into France Flanders Germany Spain Poland Hungary Denmark Sweden Scotland Italy Naples and Rome it self it was tendred to the judgment of the whole Church of God that it was read and seriously considered of in the convent of Trent and great threats made that it should be answered and the matter taken in hand by two notable learned Bishops the one a Spaniard and the other an Italian though in fine neither of them did any thing in it and finally that certain of the English Papists had been nibling at it but such as cared neither what they writ nor was cared by others And so much may suffice in general for this excellent Piece to the publishing whereof that learned Prelate was most encouraged by Peter Martyr as appears by Martyr's Letter of the 24th of August with whom he had spent the greatest part of his time when he lived in Exile And happy had it been for the Church of England if he had never done worse offices to it than by dealing with that reverend Bishop to so good a purpose But Martyr onely lived to see the Book which he so much longed for dying at Zurick on the 12th day of November following and laid into his grave by the Magistrates and People of that Town with a solemn Funeral Nothing remains for the concluding of this year but to declare how the three vacant Bishopricks were disposed of if those may say to be disposed of which were still kept vacant Glocester was onely filled this year by the preferment of Mr. Râ—chaâ—d Cheny Archdeacon of Hereford and one of the Prebendaries of the Collâ—giat Church of St. Peter in Westminster who received hâ—s Episcopal consecration on the 19th of April Together with the See of Glocester he held that of Bristol in commendam as did also Bullingham his Successor that is to say the Jurisdiction with the Profits and Fees thereof to be exercised and enjoyed by them but the temporal Revenue of it to continue in the hands of some hungry Courtiers who gnawed it to the very bone in which condition it remained under the two Bishops till the year 1589. when the Queen was pleased to bestow the remainders of it together with the title of Bishop on Doctor Richard Flesher Dean of Peterborough whom afterwards she preferred to the See of London And as for Oxon it was kept vacant from the death of King the first Bishop of it who died on the 4th of December 1557. till the 14th of October 1567. at which time it was conferred on Dr. Hugh Curwyn Archbishop of Dublin
then being and therefore that he could not consent to the holding of a Convocation in that place without some Declaâ—ation to be made by the Archbishops Bishops that their holding the Convocation in the same should not be taken or intended for any violation of the rights privileges that belong'd unto it which was accordingly perform'd It was â—n the 19th day of January that these formalities were transacted at whâ—t time the Archbishops and Bishops having first had some secret communication amongst themselves about the Articles of Religion established in King 〈◊〉 time râ—quired the Prolocutor and six others of the Lower Hâ—use of Convocation to repair unto them By whom it was signified unto their Lordships that some of the Clergy had prepared certain Bills containing a specification of such matters as were conceived to be amiss in the state of the Church and that the Articles of Religion agreed upon in the Reign of King Edward the 6th had been delivered unto others to be considered of corrected and accommodated as they found it necessary Being encouraged in the last and furthered by the diligence of some of the Bishops who were employed in the same work the Articles were agreed upon publickly read before the Bishops in the Chapter-house of St. Paul on the 29th of the same month and by all of them subscribed with great unanimity The Prelates had observed some deviation from the Doctrine of King Edward's Reign which had been made by the Calviniâ—n on Zuinglian Gospellers in the Articles of Predestination Grace Free-will and final perseverance Nor could they but take notice with how little reverence the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was administred and the Authority of the Church despised by too many of the same party also which they were willing to impute to the want of some known rule amongst them by which they were to regulate their judgments and conform their actions To which end it was thought expedient that the Book of Articles agreed upon in Convocation Anno 1552. should be revised and accommodated to the use of the Church the Queens leave being first obtained for their warrant in it In the managing of which great business I know not whether I should more admire their moderation or their wisdome Their wisdome eminent in not suffering any Outlandish Divine who might drive on a different interess from that of the Church either to vote amongst them or carry any stroke in their consultations Their moderation no less visible in declining all unnecessary determinations which rather tended to the multiplying of controversies and ingendring strifes than either unto edification or increase of piety So that they seemed to have proceeded by those very Rules which King James so much approved of in the conference at Hampton Court First in not separating further from the Church of Rome in points of Discipline or Doctrine than that Church had separated from what she was in her purest times Secondly in not stuffing the Book of Articles with all Conclusions Theological in which a latitude of judgement was to be allowed as far as it might be consistent with peace and charity and Thirdly in not thrusting into it every opinion or Position negative which might have made it somewhat like Mr. Craiges Confession in the Kirk of Scotland who with his I renounce and I abhor his detestations and abrenunciations did so amaze the simple people as the King observeth that not being able to conceive or understand all those points utterly gave over all and fell back to Popery or else remained in their former ignorance Upon which grounds as they omitted many whole Articles and qualified the expressions of some others in King Edward's book so were they generally very sparing in defining any thing which was meerly matter of moduliâ—y or de modo only As namely touching the manner of Christs presence in the Holy Eucharist the manner of effecting grace by the blessed Sacraments or of the operation of Gods grace in a mans conversion Which rules being carefully observed by all the Bishops on whose authority and consent the greatest part of the whole Work did seem to rest and all particulars agreed upon amongst themselves it was no wonder if they passed their Votes without contradiction But in taking the subscriptions of the lower house there appeared more difficulty For though they all testified their consent unto them on the said 29th of January either by words express or by saying nothing to the contrary which came all to oâ—e yet when subscription was required many of the Calvinians or Zuinglian-Gospellers possibly some also which enclined rather to their old Religion and who found themselves unsatisfied in some particulars had demurred upon it With this demur their Lordships are acquainted by the Prolocutor on the 5th of February By whom their Lordships were desired in the name of that House that such who had not hitherto subscribed the Articles might be ordered to subscribe in their own proper house or in the presence of their Lordships Which request being easily granted drew on the subscription of some others but so that many still remained in their first unwillingness An Order thereupon is made by their Lordships on the â—oth then following that the Prolocutor should return the names of all such persons who refused subscription to the end that such further course might be taken with them as to their Lordships should seem most fit After which we hear no news of the like complaints and informations which makes it probable if not concluded that they all subscribed And being thus subscribed by all they were soon after published both in English and Latine with this following Title that is to say Articles agreed upon by the Archbishops and Bishops of both Provinces and the whole Clergy in the Convocation holden at London in the year 1562. for the avoiding of diversities of opinions and establishing consent touching true Religion But what they were and wherein they agreed or differed with or from those established by King Edward the 6th shall be referred for the avoiding of all interruptions in the course of this History to a place more proper Nothing else brought to a conclusion by them but the Bill of Subsidy which having past that House was confirmed in Parliament Nothing else brought into conclusion though many things were had in deliberation On Friday the 5th of February the Bishops of Salisbury Exon St David's and Lichfield were appointed by the rest of the Prelates to examine a Catechism which it seems was presented to them But being by them remitted to the consideration of the lower house they were advertised by Day and Sampson on the 3d. of March that the said house unanimously had approved thereof And there it rested for that time and for ever after nothing being done in confirmation of it as a publick Doctrine by whomsoever it was written nor any further speech made of it in the time succeeding Which fortune also hapned to a Book of Discipline projected
man as might please her fancy and more secure her title to the Crown of England than any of the great Kings in Europe What then should hinder her from making up a mariage so agreeable to her so acceptable to the Catholick party in both Kingdoms and which she thought withall of so safe a condition as could create no new jealousies in the brest of Elizabeth But those of the Leicestrian faction conceived otherwise of it and had drawn most of the Court and Council to conceive so to For what could more secure the interess of the Queen of Scots than to corroborate her own Title with that of Darnly from which two what children soever should proceed they would draw to them many hearts in the Realm of England who now stood fair and faithful to their natural Queen In this great fear but made much greater of set purpose to create some trouble it was advised that the Queen should earnestly be intreated to think of mariage to the end that the succession might be setled in her own posterity that all Popish Justices whereof there were many at that time might be put out of Commission and none admitted to that office but such as were sincerely affected to the Reformed Religion that the old deprived Bishops which for the most part lived at liberty might be brought to a more close restraint for fear of hardning some in their errours and corrupting others with whom they had the freedom of conversation that a greater power might be conferred upon the English Bishops in the free exercise of their jurisdiction for suppressing all such Popish Books as were sent into England depriving the English Fugitives of all those Benefices in this Kingdom which hitherto they had retained and all this to be done without incurring the danger of a Premunire with which they were so often threatned by the common Lawyers It was advised also that for a counterpoise unto the Title of the Queen of Scots some countenance should be given to the House of Suffolk by shewing favour to the Earl of Hartford and the Lady Katherine and that to keep the ballance even with the Romish Catholicks some moderation should be used to such Protestant Ministers you may be sure the Earl of Leicester had a hand in this as hitherto had been opposiâ—e in external matters to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church here by Law established Nor was this mariage very pleasing to the Scots themselves the chief Lords of the Romish party who faithfully had adher'd to their natural Queen in all her former troubles conceived that some of them might be as capable of the Queens affections as a young Gentleman born in England and one that never had done any service which might enoble and prefer him before all the rest The Ministers exclaimed against it in their common preachings as if it were designed of purpose to destroy Religion and bring them under their old vassalage to the Church of Rome The Noble men and others of the Congregation who had sold themselves to Queen Elizabeth were governed wholly by her Counsels and put themselves into a posture of Arms to disturb the Maâ—ch the Edenburgers do the like but are quickly scatter'd and forc'd to submit themselves to their Queens good pleasure who was so bent upon her mariage with this young Nobleman that neither threatnings nor perswasions could divert her from it And thaâ— he might appear in some capacity fit for the mariage of a Queen she first confers upon him the Order of Knighthood and afterwards creats him Baron of Ardamanack Earl of Rosse and Duke of Rothsay which are the ordinary Titles of the eldest and second sons of Scotland In May she had convented the Estates of Scotland to whom she communicated her intention with the reasons of it Which by the greatest part of the Assembly seemed to be allowed of none but the Lord Ochiltrie opposing what the rest approved About the middle of July the mariage Rites were celebrated in the Royal Chapel by the Dean of Restairig and the next day the new Duke was proclaimed King by sound of Trumpet and declared to be associated with the Queen in the publick government The newes whereof being brought unto Queen Elizabeth she seemed more offended than indeed she was For well she knew that both the new King and the Earl his Father were men of plain and open natures not apt to entertain any dangerous counsels to the disturbance of her quiet that as long as she retained the Countesse with her who was the Mother of the one and the Wife of the other they seemed to stand bound to their good behaviour and durst act nothing to the prejudice of so dear a pledge but by the precipitation of this mariage the Queen of Scots had neither fortified her self in the love of her people nor in alliances abroad and that it could not otherwise be but some new troubles must break out in Scotland upon this occasion by which it would be made uncomfortable and inglorious to her And so it proved in the event for never was mariage more calamitous to the parties themselves or more dishonourable to that Nation or finally more scandalous to both Religions in nothing fortunate but in the birth of James the 6th born in the Palace of Edenborough on the 19th of July Anno 1566. solemnly Crowned King of the Scots on the same day of the Month Anno 1567. and joyfully received to the Crown of England on the 14th of March Anno 1602. In greater glory and felicity reigned the Queen of England Whose praise resounding in all Kingdoms of the North and West invited Caecille sister to the King of Sweden and wife of Christopher Marquisse of Baden to undertake a tedious journey both by land and sea from the furthest places of the North to see the splendor of her Court and observe the prudence of her Government Landing at Dover in the beginning of September they were there received by the Lord Cobham with a goodly train of Knights and Gentlemen at Canterbury by the Lady Cobham with the like honourable train of Ladies and Gentlewomen at Gravesend by the Lord Hunsdon with the band of Pensioners at London on the 11th of September by the Earl of Sussex and his Countesse who waited on them to the Lodging appointed for them Scaâ—â—e had she rested there four dayes when she fell into a new travel of which she was happily delivered by the birth of a son whom the Queen Christned in her own person by the name of Edwardus Fortunatus the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Duke of Norfolk being Sureties with her at the Font. She called him Edward with relation to the King her brother whose memory she dearly loved and Fortunatus in regard that he came so luckily into the world when his Mother after a most painful pilgrimage was safely come to pay her Devotions at that Shrine which she so much honoured Having remained here till the April
following they were dismist with many rich Presents and an annual pension from the Queen conducted honourably by the Lord Aburgavenny to the Port of Dover and there shipped for Calais filling all places in the way betwixt that and Baden with the report of the magnificence of their entertainment in the Court of England And that the Glories of their entertainment might appear the greater it hapned that Rambouillet a French Ambassador came hither at that time upon two solemnities that is to say to be installed Knight of the Garter in the place and person of that King and to present the Order of St Michael the principal Order of that Kingdom to Thomas Duke of Norfolk and the Earl of Leicester The one performed with the accustomed Pomps and Ceremonies in the Chapel of St George at Windsor the other with like State and splendour in the Royal Chapel at Whitehall Such a well tempered piety did at that time appear in the Devotions of the Church of England that generally the English Papists and the Ambassadors of forein Princes still resorted to them But true it is that at that time some zealots of the Church of Rome had begun to slacken their attendance not out of any new dislike which they took at the service but in regard of a Decree set forth in the Council of â—rent prohibiting all resort to the Churches of Hereticks Which notwithstanding the far greater part continued in their first obedience till the coming over of that Roaring Bull from Pope Pius the 5th by which the Queen was excommunicated the subjects discharged from their obedience to the Laws and the going or not going to the Church made a sign distinctive to difference a Roman Catholick from an English Protestant And it is possible enough that they might have stood much longer to their first conformity if the discords brought into the Church by the Zuinglian faction together with their many innovations both in Doctrine and Discipline had not afforded them some further ground for the desertion For in this year it was that the Zuinglian or Calvinian faction began to be first known by the name of Puritans if Genebrard Gualier and Spondanus being all of them right good Chronologers be not mistaken in the time Which name hath ever since been appropriate to them because of their pretending to a greater Purity in the service of God than was held forth unto them as they gave it out in the Common Prayer Book and to a greater opposition to the Rites and Usages of the Church of Rome than was agreeable to the constitution of the Church of England But this Purity was accompanied with such irreverence this opposition drew along with it so much licenciousnesse as gave great scandal and offence to all sober men so that it was high time for those which had the care of the Church to look narrowly unto them to give a check to those disorders and confusions which by their practices and their preachings they had brought into it and thereby laid the ground of that woful schism which soon after followed And for a check to those disorders they published the Advertisement before remembred subscribed by the Archbishop of Canâ—erbury the Bishops of London Winchester Ely Lincoln Rochester and other of her Majesties Commissioners for Causes Ecclesiastical according to the Statute made in that behalf This was the only present remedy which could then be thought of And to prevent the like confusions for the time to come a Protestation was devised to be taken by all Parsons Vicars and Curates in their several stations by which they were required to declare and promise That they would not preach not publickly interpret but only read that which is appointed by publick authority without special Licence of the Bishop under his Seal that they would read the Service plainly distinctly and audibly that all the people might hear and understand that they would keep the Register book according to the Queens Majesties Injunctions that they would use sobriety in apparel and especially in the Church at Common Prayers according to Order appointed that they would move the Parishioners to quiet and concord and not give them cause of offence and help to reconcile them that be at variance to their utmost power that they would read dayly at the least one Chapter of the Old Testament and another of the New with good advisement to the increase of their knowledge that they would in their own persons use and exercise their Office and Place to the honour of God and the quiet of the Queens subjects within their charge in truth concord and unity as also observe keep and maintain such Order and Uniformity in all external Policy Rites and Ceremonies of the Church as by the Lawes good usages and Orders are already well provided and established and finally that they would not openly meddle with any Artificers occupations as covetously to seek a gain thereby having in Ecclesiastical Livings twenty Nobles or above by the year Which protestation if it either had been generally pressed upon all the Clergy as perhaps it was not or better kept by them that took it the Church might questionlesse have been saved from those distractions which by the Puritan Innovators were occasioned in it Anno Reg. Eliz. 8. A. D. 1565 1566. THus have we seen the publick Liturgy confirmed in Parliament with divers penalties on all those who either did reproach it or neglect to use it or wilfully withdrew their attendance from it the Doctrine of the Church declared in the Book of Articles agreed upon in Convocation and ratified in due form of Law by the Queens authority external matters in officiating Gods publick service and the apparel of the Clergy regulated and reduced to their first condition by the Books of Orders and Advertisements Nothing remaineth but that we settle the Episcopal Government and then it will be time to conclude this History And for the setling of this Government by as good authority as could be given unto it by the Lawes of the Land we aâ—e beholden to the obstinacy of Dr Edmond Bonner the late great slaughter-man of London By a Statute made in the last Parliament for keeping her Majesties Subjects in their due obedience a power was given unto the Bishops to tender and receive the oath of Supremacy of all manner of persons dwelling and residing in their several Diocesses Bonner was then prisoner in the Clink or Marshalsea which being in the Burrough of Southwark brought him within the Jurisdiction of Horn Bishop of Winchester by whose Chancellor the Oath was tender'd to him On the refusal of which Oath he is endicted at the Kings Bench upon the Statute to which he appeared in some Term of the year foregoing and desires that counsel be assigned to plead his cause according to the course of the Court The Court assigns him no worse men than Christopher Wâ—ay afterwards chief Justice of the Common Pleas that famous Lawyer Edmond
they saâ—e in sides or lay on the ground or fell prostrate or sung Te Deum or looked toward the South or did wear Copes of Tissâ—e or Velvet with a thousand more such questions p. 446. Whereas the Church of God so well ordered with excellent men of learning and godlinesse is constrained to suffer Coblers Weavers Tinkers Tanners Cardmakers â—apsters Fidlers Gaolers and other of like profession not only to enter into disputing with her but also to climb up into Pulpits and to keep the place of Priests and Ministers c. p. 2. Or that any Bagpipers Horse coursers Jaylers or Ale basters were admitted then into the Clergy without good and long tryal of their conversation p. 162. Or that any Bishop then did swear by his honour when in his visitation abroad in the Country he would warrant his promise to some poor prisoner Priest under him or not satisfied with the prisoning of his adversary did cry out and call upon the Prince not disposed that way to put them to most cruel deaths or refused to wear a white Rochet or to be distinguished from the Laity by some honest Priests apparel p. 162. or gathered a Benevolence of his Clergy to set him up in his houshold p. 163. Or that the Communion Table if any then were was removable up and down hither and thither and brought at any time to the lower parts of the Church there to execute the Lords Supper or that any Communion was said on Good Friday or that the Sacrament was ministred then sometimes in loaf Bread sometimes in Wafers and those rather without the name of Jesus or the sign of the Crosse than with it or that at the Communion time the Minister should wear a Cope and at all other Service a Surplice only or as at some places it is used nothing at all besides his common apparel or that they used a common and prophane cup at the Communion and not a consecrated and hallowed vessel p. 162 163. Or that a solemn curse should be used on Aâ—h Wednesday or that a Procession about the fields was used in the Rogation week rather thereby to know the bounds and borders of every Parish than to move God to mercy and shew mens hearts to devotion or that the man should put the Wedding ring upon the fourth finger of the left hand of the Women and not on the right as hath been many hundred years continued p. 163. Or that the resiâ—ue of the Sacrament unreceived was taken of the Priest or of the Parish Clerk to spread their young childrens butter thereupon or to serve their own tooth with it at their homely table or that it was lawful then to have but one Communion in one Church in one day p. 164. or that the Lent or Friday was to be fasted for civil policy not for any devotion p. 165. or that the Lay people communicating did take the cup at one another hands and not at the Priests p. 166. Or that any Bishop then threw down the Images of Christ and his Saints and set up their own their wives and their childrens pictures in their Chambers and Parlours p. 164. or that being a virgin at the taking of his Office did afterwards yet commendably take a wife unto him p. 165. or that was married on Ash Wednesday or that preached it to be all one to pray on a dunghil and in a Church or that any Fryer of 60 years obteining afterwards the room of a Bishop married a young woman of nineteen years c p. 166. Thus have we seen the Church established on a sure foundation the Doctrine built upon the Prophers and Apostles according to the explication of the ancient Fathers the Government truly Apostolical and in all essential parts thereof of Divine institution the Liturgy an extract of the Primitive forms the Ceremonies few but necessary and such as tended only to the preservation of decency and increase of piety And we have seen the first Essays of the Puritan faction beginning low at Caps and Surplices and Episcopal habits but aiming at the highest points the alteration of the Government both in Church and State the adulterating of the Doctrine and the subversion of the Liturgy and form of worship here by Law established But the discovery of those dangerous Doctrines and those secret Plots and open practises by which they did not onely break down the roofe and walls of this goodly building but digged up the foundation of it will better fall within the compasse of a Presbyterian or Acrian History for carring on of whose designes since the dayes of Calvin they have most miserably imbroyled all the Estates and Kingdomes of these parts of Christendome the Realmes and Churches of Great Brittaine more than all the rest Let it suffice me for the present if I have set the Church on its proper bottom and shewed her to the world in her Primative lustre that we may see how strangely she hath been unsetled how monstruously disfigured by unquiet men whose interess is as incompatible with the rights of Monarchy as with distinction of apparrell the Government of Bishops all set formes of Prayer and whatsoever also they contend against And therefore heare I will conclude my History of the Reformation as not being willing to look further into those disturbances the lamentable effects whereof wee feele to this very day AN APPENDIX To the former BOOK CONTAINING 1. The Articles of Religion agreed upon in Convocation Anno 1562. compared with those which had been made and published in the Reign of King Edward the 6 th Anno 1552. 2. Notes on the former Articles concerning the Particulars in which they differed and the reasons of it A PREFACE to the following ARTICLES THe Lutherans having published that famous Confession of their faith which takes name from Ausbâ—rge at which City it was tendered to the consideration of Charls the 5th and the Estates of the Empire there assembled Anno 1530. In tract of time all other Protestant and Reformed Churches followed that example And this they did partly to have a constant Rule a mongst themselves by which all private persons were to frame their judgments and pâ—rtly to declare that consent and harmony which was betwixt them and the rest of those National Churches which had made an open separation from the Popes of Rome Upon which grounds the Prelates of the Church of England having concurred with the godly desires of King Edward the sixth for framing one uniform Order to be used in God's publick Worship and publish ing certain pious and profitable Sermons in the English Toung for the instruction of the people found a necessity of holding forth some publick Rule to testifie as well their Orthodoxie in some points of Doctrine as their abhorrency from the corruptions of the Church of Rome and the extravagancies of the Anabaptists and other Sectaries This gave the first occasion to the Articles of Religion published in the Reign of King Edward the sixth
rather to their condemnation do eat and drink the Sign or Sacrament of so great a thing XXX Of Both Kinds 32 The Cup of the Lord is not to be denyed to the Lay People For both the parts of the Lords Sacrament by Christs Ordinance and Commandment ought to be ministred to all Christian People alike _____ XXX Of the one Oblation of Christ finished upon the Crosse. The Offering of Christ once made is the perfect Redemption Propitiation and Satisfaction for all the sins of the whole World both Original and Actual and there is none other Satisfaction for sin but that alone Wherefore the Sacrifices of Masses in which it was commonly said that the Priests did offer Christ for the quick and the dead to have remission of pain or guilt were fables and dangerous deceits XXXI Of the one Oblation of Christ finished upon the Crosse. The offering of Christ once made is the perfect Redemption c. were blasphemous fables and 33 dangerous deceits XXXI A single Life is imposed on none by the Word of God Bishops Priests and Deacons are not commanded by God's Law either to vow the estate of a single life or to abstain from Marriage XXXII Of the Marriage of Priests Bishops Priests and Deacons are not commanded by Gods Law c. Therefore it is lawful also for them 34 as for all other Christian men to marry at their own discretion as they shall judge the same to serve better to godlinesse XXXII Excommunicated Persons are to be avoided That person which by open Denunciation of the Church is rightly cut off from the unity of the Church and Excommunicated ought to be taken of the whole multitude of the faithful as an Heathen and Publican untill he be openly reconciled by Penance and received into the Church by a Judge which hath authority thereunto XXXIII Of Excommunicated Persons how they are to be avoided That person which by open Denunciation of the Church c. XXXIII Of the Traditions of the Church It is not necessary that Traditions and Ceremonies be in all places one and utterly like for at all times they have been divers and may be changed according to the diversities of Countries Times and mens Manners so that nothing be ordained against Gods Word Whosoever through his private judgment willingly and purposely doth openly break the Traditions and Ceremonies of the Church which be not repugnant to the Word of God and be ordained and approved by common Authority ought to be rebuked openly that others may fear to do the like as he that offendeth against the common Order of the Church and hurteth the Authority of the Magistrate and woundeth the Consciences of the weak Brethren XXXIV Of the Traditions of the Church It is not necessary that Traditions and Ceremonies c. Every particular or National Church 35 hath Authority to ordain change or aboâ—ish Ceremonies or Rites of the Church ordained onely by Man's Authority so that all things be done to edifying XXXIV Of the Homilies The Homilies lately delivered 36 and commended to the Church of England by the Kings Injunctionâ— do contain a godly and wholsome Doctrine and fit to be embraced by all men and for that cause they are diligently plainly and distinctly to be read to the People XXXV Of Homilies The second Book of Homilies the several Titles whereof we have joyned under this Article doth contain a godly and wholsome Doctrin and necessary for the times as doth the former Book of Homilies which were set forth in the time of Edward the sixth and therefore we judge them to be read in Churches by the Ministers diligently and distinctly that they may be understood of the People The names of the Homilies Of the Right use of the Church Of Repairing Churches Against the Peril of Idolatry Of Good Works c. XXXV Of the Book of Common Prayer and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England The Book lately delivered to the Church of England by the Authority of the King and Parliament 37 containing the manner and form of publick Prayer and the ministration of the Sacraments in the said Church of England as also the Book published by the same Authority for Ordering Ministers in the Church are both of them very pious as to â—uth of Doctrine in nothing contrary but agreeable to the wholsome Doctrine of the Gospel which they do very much promote and illustrate And for that cause they are by all faithful Members of the Church of England but chiefly of the Ministers of the Word with all thankfulness and readiness of mind to be received approved and commended to the People of God XXXVI Of Consecration of Bishops and Ministers The Book of Consecration of 38 Archbishops and Bishops and ordering of Priests and Deacons lately set forth in the time of King Edward the sixth and confirmed at the same time by Authority of Parliament doth contain all things necessary to such Consecration and Ordering Neither hath it any thing that of it self is superstitious and ungodly And therfore whosoever are Consecrated or ordered according to the Rites of that Book since the second year of the afore-named King Edward unto this time or hereafter shall be Consecrated or ordered according to the same Rites we decree all such to be rightly orderly and lawfully Consecrated and Ordered XXXVI Of the Civil Magistrates The King of England is after Christ 39 the Supream Head on Earth of the Church of England and Ireland The Bishop of Rome hath no Jurisdiction in this Realm of England The Civil Magistrate is ordained and approved by God and therefore are to be obeyed not onely for fear of wrath but for conscience sake Câ—vil or temporal Laws may punish Christian men with death for heinous and grievous offences It is lawful for Christian men at the commandment of the Magistrate to wear Weapons and serve in the Wars XXXVII Of the Civil Magistrates The Queens Majesty hath the chief Power in this Realm of England and other her Dominions unto whom the chief Government of all Estates of this Realm whether they be Ecclesiastical or Civil in all cases doth appertain and is not nor ought to be subject to any Forein Jurisdiction Where we attribute to the Queens Majesty the chief Government 40 by which Titles we understand the minds of some slanderous folks to be offended We give not to our Princess the Ministry either of Gods Word or of the Sacraments the which thing the Injunctions lately set forth by Elizabeth our Queen do most plainly testifie but that onely Prerogative which we see to have been given always to all godly Princes in holy Scriptutes by God himself that is that they should rule all Estates committed to their charge by God whether they be Ecclesiastical or Temporal and restrain with the Civil Sword the stubborn and evil doers The Bishop of Rome hath no Jurisdiction in this Realm of England The Laws of this Realm may punish Christian men with death
vain about it In these distractions some of the Franckfort Schismaticks desire that all divine Offices might be executed according to the order of the Church of Geneva which Knox would by no means yield unto thinking himself as able to make a Rule for his own Congregation as any Calvin of them all But that the mouths of those of Stralsburge and Zuriâ—k might be stopped for ever he is content to make so much use of him as by the authority of his judgment to disgrace that Liturgy which those of Zurick did contend for He knew well how he had bestirred himself in quarrelling the first Liturgy of King Edward the 6th and nothing doubteth but that the second though reviewed on his importunity would give him as little satisfaction as the other did To this intent the Order of the English Liturgy is drawn up in Latine transmitted to him by Knox and Whittingham by this infallible judgment to stand or fall The Oracle returns this answer on the 31 of January In Liturgia Anglâ—cana qualem mihi describitis multas vidâ—o tolerabiles ineptias That in the Book of England as by them described he had observed many tolerable fooleries Whiâ—h last words being somewhat ambiguous as all Oracles are he explicates himself by telling them That there wanted much of that purity which was to be desired in it that it contained many relicks of the dregs of Popery that being there was no manifest impiety in it it had been tolerated for a season because at first it could not otherwise be admitted But howsoever though it was lawful to begin with such beggarly rudiments yet it behoved the learned grave and godly Ministers of Christ to endeavour farther and set forth something more refined from filth and rustinesse This being sent for his determinate sentence unto Knox and Whittingham was of such prevalency with all the rest of that party that such who â—ormerly did approve did afterwards as much dislike the English Liturgy and those who at the first had conceived onely a dislike grew afterwards into an open detestation of it Those who before had been desirous that the Order of Geneva should be entertained had now drawn Knox and Whittingham unto them Mr. John Fox the Author of the Acts and Monuments contributing his approbation amongst the rest But in the end to give content to such as remained affected to the former Liturgy it was agreed upon That a mixt Form consisting partly of the Order of Geneva and partly of the Book of England should be digested and received till the first of April consideration in the mean time to be had of some other course which should be permanent and obliging for the time to come In this condition of affairs Doctor Richard Cox the late Dean of Christ-Church and Westminster first Schoolmaster and after Almoner to King Edward the sixth putteth himself into Franckfort March 13. accompanied with many English Exiles whom the cause of Religion had necessitated to forsake their Country Being a man of great learning of great authority in the Church and one that had a principal hand in drawing up the Liturgy by Law established he could with no patience endure those innovations in it or rather that rejection of it which he found amongst them He thereupon first begins to answer the Minister contrary to the Order there agreed on and the next Sunday after causeth one of his company to go into the Pulpit and read the Letany Against which doings of his Knox in a Sermon the same day inveigheth most bitterly affirming many things in the Book of England not onely to be imperfect but superstitious For the which he is not onely rebuked by Cox but forbidden to preach Wherewith Whittingham being much offended deals with some of the Magistrates from whom he procureth an Order of the 22 of March requiring That the English should conform themselves to the Rules of the French Knox had not long before published a seditious Pamphlet entituled An Admonition to Christians containing the substance of some Sermons by him preached in Engâ—and in one of which he affirmed the Emperor to be no lesse an enemy to Christ that the â—yrant Nero. For this and several other passages of the like dangerous nature he is accused by Cox for Treason against the Emperor the Senate made acquainted with it and Knox commanded thereupon to depart the City who makes hâ—s Farewel-Sermon on the 25th of March and retires himself unto Geneva Following his blow Cox gets an order of the Senate by the means of another of the Glaâ—berges by which Whittingham and the rest of his faction were commanded to receive the Book of England Against which order Whiâ—tingham for a time opposeth encouraged therein by Goodman who for the love of Knox with whom afterwards he associated in all his practices had left the grave soâ—iety of those of Stralsbâ—rge to joyn himself unto the Sectaries of 〈…〉 But finding Cox to be too strong for them in the Senate both they and all the rest who refused conformity resolved to betake themselves to some other place as they shortly did Cox thus made Master of the field begins to put the Congregation into such order as might preserve the face and reputation of an English Church He procures Whitehead to be chosen for the principal Paâ—â—or appoints two Ministers for Elders and four Deacons for aâ—â—istants to him recommends Mr. Robert Horn whom he had drawn from Zurick thither to be Hebrew-Reader Mullings to read the Greek Lecture Trahern the Lecture in Divinity and Chambers to be Treasurer for the Contributions which were sent in from time to time by many godly and wellâ—affected persons both Dutch and English for the use of that Church Having thus setled all things answerable to his own desires he gives an account thereof to Calvin subscribed by fourteen of the chief men in that Congregation partly excusing themselves that they had proceeded so far without his consent and partly rejoycing that they had drawn the greatest part of that Church to their own opinions Calvin returns his Answer on the last of May which puts his party there on another project that is to say to have the whole business referred to some Arbitrators equally chosen on both sides But Cox was already in possession great in esteem with the chief Magistrates of the City and would by no means yield to refer that point which had already been determined to his advantage With these debates the time is taken up till the end of August at what time Whiâ—tingham and the rest of the faction take their leave of Franckfort Fox with some few others go to Basil but the main body to Geneva as their Mâ—ther-City where they make choice of Knox and Goodman for their constant Preachers under which Ministry they reject the whole frame and fabrick of the Reformation made in England conformed themselves wholly to the fashions of the Church of Geneva and therewith entertain
thought fit to nominate to that imployment And afterwards appointed a Sub-Committee of eight Persons to prepare the Work make it ready for the rest that it might be dispatched with the more expedition which said eight persons were the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Doctour Thomas Goodrick Bishop of Elâ— Doctour Richard Cox the King's Almoner and Peter Martyr Doctour in Divinity William May and Rowland Taylour Doctours of the Laws John Lucas and Richard Goodrick Esquires By whom the Work was undertaken and digested fashioned according to the Method of the Romane Decretals and called by the Name of Reformatiâ— Legum Ecclesiasticarum c. But not being Commissionated hereunto till the eleventh of November in the year 1551 they either wanted time to communicate it to the chief Commissioners by whom it was to be presented to the Kâ—ng or found the King encumbred with more weighty matters then to attend the peâ—â—sal of it And so the King dying as he did before he had given life unto it by his Royal Signature the Design miscarried never thought fit to be resumed in the following Times by any of those who had the Government of the Chuâ—ch or were concerned in the Honour and Safety of it There also passed another Act in Order to the Peace of the Common-Wealth but especially procuâ—ed by the Agents of the Duke of Sommerset the better to secure him from all Attempts and Practices for the Times ensuing by which his Life might be illegally endangered The purport of which Act was to make it High Treason for any twelve Persons or above assembled together to kill or imprison any of the King's Council or alter any Laws or continue together the space of an hour being Commanded to return by any Justice of the Peace Mayour Sheriff c. Which Act intended by his Friends for his Preservation was afterwards made use of by his Enemies for the onely means of his Destruction deferred a while but still resolved upon when occasion served It wâ—s not long before Earl Dudly might perceive that he had served other mens Turâ—s against the Duke as well as his own and that having served their Turns therein he â—ound no such forwardness in them for raising him unto the Place They were all willing enough to unhorse the Duke but had no mind that such a rank Rider as the Earl should get into the Saddle Besides he was not â—o be told that there was nothing to be charged against the Duke which could touch his life that so many men of dâ—fferent Humours were not like to hold â—ong in a Plot together now their Turns were served that the Dukâ—'s Friends could not be so dull as not to see the emptiness of the Practice which was forged against him nor the King so forgetfull of his Uncle when the Truth was known as not to raise him up again to his former height it therefore would be fittest for his ends and purposes to close up the Breach to set the Duâ—e at Liberty from his Imprisonment but so to order the Affair that the Benefit should be acknowledged to proceed from himself alone But first the Duke must so acknowlege his Offences that his Adversaries might come off with Honour In Order whereunto he is first Articled against for many Crimes and Misdemeanours rather imputed to him then proved against him And unto all these he must be laboured to subscribe acknowledging the Offences contained in them to beg the Favour of the Lords and cast himself upon his Knees for his Majestie 's Mercy All which he very poorly did subscribing his Confession on the twenty third of December Which he subjoyned unto the Articles and so returned it to the Lords Anno Regni Edw. Sexti 4 o. An. Dom. 1549 1550. THe Lords thus furnished with sufficient matter for a Legal Proceeding condemned him by a Sentence passed in the House of Peers unto the Loss of all his Offices of Earl Marshal Lord Treasurer and Lord Protectour as also to â—he Forfeiture of all his Goods and near two thousand pounds of good yearly Rents Which being signified unto him he acknowledged himself in his Letter of the second of February to be highly â—avoured by their Lordships in that they brought his Cause to be Finable Which Fine though it was to him almost unsupportable yet he did never purpose to contend with them nor once to justifie himself in any Action He confess'd That being none of the wisest he might easily err that it was hardly possible for any man in Eminent place so to carry himself that all his Actings should be blameless in the eye of Justice He therefore submitted himself wholly to the King's Mercy and to their Discretions for some Moderation desiring them to conceive of what he did amiss as rather done through Rudeness and want of Judgment then through any malicious Meaning and that he was ready both to do and suffer what they should appoint And finally he did again most humbly upon his Knees intreat Pardon and Favour and they should ever finde him so lowly to their Honours and Obedient to their Orders as he would thereby make Amends for his former Follies By which Submission it may be called an Abjectedness rather as he gave much secret Pleasure to the most of his Adversaries so he gained so far upon the King that he was released of his Imprisonment on the fourth day after And by his Majestie 's Grace and Favour he was discharged of his Fine his Goods and Lands being again restored unto him except such as had been given away either the malice of his Enemies being somewhat appeased or wanting power and credit to make Resistance This great Oak being thus shrewdly shaken there is no doubt but there will be some gathering up of the Sticks which were broken from him and somewhat must be done as well to gratifie those men which had served the Turn as to inclinâ— others to the like Propensions And therefore upon Candlemasâ—-Day being the dâ—y on which he had made his humble Submission before-mentioned William Lord St. John Lord Great Master and President of the Council is made Lord Treasurer John Dudley Earl of Warwick Lord High Chamberlain is preferred to the Office of Lord Great Master the Marquess of North-hampton created Lord High Chamberlain Sir Anthony Wingfield Captain of the Guard is made Comptroller of the King's House in the place of Sir William Paget of whom more anon and Sir Thomas Darcie advanced to the Office of Vice-Chamberlain and Captain of his Majestie 's Guard And though the Earls of Arundel and Souâ—â—-hampton had been as forward as any of the rest in the Duke's destruction yet now upon some Court-displeasures they were commanded to their Houses and dismissed from their Attendance at the Council-Table the Office of Lord Chamberlain of his Majestie 's Houshold being taken from the Earl of Arundel and bestowed on Wentworth ennobled by the Title of Lord Wentworth in the first year of the King Some Honours
Moor and Fisher executed as before was said for the refusal of that oath The Kings cause all this while depended in the Court of Rome not like to be determined for him and yet the Pope not willing to declare against him till by the solicitation of the Emperour and for the vindication of the honour of the See Apostolick he seemed to be necessitated to some acts of rigour which at last proved the total ruine of his power and party in the Realm of England For the new Queen considering that the Pope and she had such different interesses that they could not both subsist together resolved upon that course which Nature and self-preservation seem'd to dictate to her But finding that the Popes was too well intrenched to be dislodged upon a sudden it was advised by Cromwel made Mr of the Rols on her commendation to begin with taking in the out-works first which being gained it would be no hard matter to beat him out of his trenches In order whereunto a visitation is begun in the month of October 1535. in which a diligent enquiry was to be made into all Abbies Priories and Nunneries within the Kingdome Cromwel himself Dr Lee and others being named for Visitors Who governing themselves according to certain instructions of their own devising dismist all such religious persons as were under the age of â—4 or otherwise were willing to relinquish their several houses shutting up such from going out as were not willing to accept the benefit of that permission all such religious persons as departed thence to be gratified by the Abbot or Prior with a Priests Gown and forty shillings in mony and all Nuns to be put into a secular habit and suffered to go where they would They took order also that no men should go into the houses of women nor women into the houses of men but only for the hearing of Divine Service making thereby that course of life less pleasing unto either Sex than it had been formerly They also inventaried or else directly â—ook away the Relicts and chief Jewels out of most of the said Monasteries or Religious houses pretending that they took them for the Kings use but possibly keeping them for their own And having made a strict and odious inquisition into the lives of all the Votaries of both Sexes they return'd many of them guilty of exorbitant luâ—ts and much carnal uncleanness representing their offences in such multiplying glasses as made them seem both greater in number and more horrid in nature than indeed they were And in the February following was held a Parliament in which all Monasteries Priories and other Religious houses under the yearly value of 200l were granted unto the King and his heirs for ever The number of the Houses then suppressed were said to be 376 their yearly Rents then valued at the sum of thirty two thousand pounds and upwards their movable goods as they were sold at Hood's penny-worths amounting to one hundred thousand pounds and more The Religious persons thus despoiled of their Estates either betook themselves to some of the greater Houses of their several Orders or went again into the world and followed such secular businesses as were offered to them towards the getting of their livings Much lamentation made in all parts of the Country for want of that relief and sustenance which the poor of all sorts received daily from their hospitality and for the want of that employment which they found continually in and about those Houses in their several Trades insomuch that it was commonly thought that more than ten thousand persons as well Masters as Servants had lost their livelyhoods by that act of suppression To the passing whereof the Bishops and the Mitred Abots which made the prevalent part of the House of Peers contributed their Votes and Suffrages as the other did whether it were out of pusillanimity as not daring to appear in behalf of their brethren or out of a weak hope that the Rapacity of the Queen and her Ministers would proceed no farther it is hard to say Certain it is that by their improvident assenting to the present Grant they made a rod for their own backs as the saying is with which they were sufficiently scourged within few years after till they were all finally whipt out of the Kingdom though the new Queen for whose sake Cromwel had contrived the plot did not live to see it For such is the uncertainty of human affairs that when she thought her self most safe and free from danger she became most obnoxious to the ruine prepared for her It had pleased God on the eighth of January to put an end unto the calamities of the vertuous but unfortunate Queen into whose Bed she had succeeded the news whereof she entertained with such contentment that she caused her self to be apparalled in lighter colours than was agreeable to the season or the sad occasion Whereas if she had rightly understood her own condition she could not but have known that the long life of Katherine was to be her best preservative against all changes which the Kings loose affections or any other alterations in affairs of State were otherwise like to draw upon her But this contentment held not long for within three weeks after she fell in travail in which she miscarried of a Son to the extream grief of the Mother and discontent of the Father who looked upon it as an argument of Gods displeasure as being as much offended at this second Marriage as he was at the first He then began to think of his ill forâ—une with both his Wives both Mariages subject to dispute and the Legitimation of his daughter Elizabeth as likely to be called in question in the time succeeding as that of Mary in the former He much therefore cast about for another wife of whose marriage and his issue by her there could arise no conâ—roversie or else must die without an heir of his own body or leave the Crown to be contended for by those who though they were of his own body could not be his heirs His eye had carried him to a Gentlewoman in the Queens attendance of extraordinary beauty and superlative modesty on the enjoying of whom he so fixed his thoughts that he had quite obliterated all remembrance of his former loves As resolute but more private in this pursute than he was in the former yet not so private but that the Queen so piercing are the eyes of Love and Jealousie had took notice of it and signified her suspitions to him of which more anon In the mean time she was not wanting in all those honest arts of Love Obsequiousness and Entertainment which might endear her to the King who now began to be as weary of her gaities and jocular humor as formerly of the gravity and reservedness of Katherine And causing many eyes to observe her actions they brought him a return of some particulars which he conceived might give him a sufficient ground to