guilty were to be punished in the same manner The Innocent Party might marry again after a Divorce Desertion or Mortal Enmity or the constant perversness of a Husband might induce a Divorce but little quarrels nor a perpetual Disease might not do it and the separation from Bed and Board except during a Trial was never to be allowed 11. Patrons were charged to give presentations without making bargains to choose the fittest persons and not to make promises till the Livings were vacant The Bishops were required to use great strictness in the Trial of those whom they ordained all Pluralities and Non-residence were condemned and all that were presented were to purge themselves of Simony by Oath The twelfth and thirteenth were concerning the changing of Benefices The fourteenth was concerning the manner of purgation upon common fame all superstitious Purgations were condemned Others followed about Dilapidations Elections and Collations The nineteenth was concerning Divine Offices The Communion was ordered to be every Sunday in Cathedrals and a Sermon was to be in them in the afternoon such as received the Sacrament were to give notice to the Minister the day before that he might examine their Consciences The Catechism was appointed to be explained for an Hour in the afternoon on Holy-days After the Evening Prayer the Poor were to be taken care of Penances were to be enjoyned to scandalous Persons and the Minister was to confer with some of the Ancients of the People concerning the state of the Parish That admonitions and censures might be applied as there was occasion given The twentieth was concerning other Church-Officers A Rural Dean was to be in every Precinct to watch over the Clergy according to the Bishops directions Archdeacons were to be over them and the Bishop over all who was to have yearly Synods and visit every third Year His Family was to consist of Clergymen in imitation of St. Austin and other ancient Bishops these he was to train up for the service of the Church When Bishops became infirm they were to have Co-adjutors Arch-bishops were to do the Episcopal duties in their Diocess and to visit their Province Every Synod was to begin with a Communion and after that the Ministers were to give an account of their Parishes and follow such directions as the Bishop should give them Other heads followed concerning Church-Wardens Tithes Universities Visitations and several sorts of Censures In the thirtieth a large Scheme was drawn of Excommunication which was intrusted to Church-men for keeping the Church pure and was not to be inflicted but for obstinacy in some gross fault all causes upon which it was pronounced were to be examined before the Minister of the Parish a Justice of Peace and some other Church-men It was to be pronounced and intimated with great seriousness and all were to be warned not to keep company with the person censured under the like pains except those of his own Family Upon his continuing forty days obstinate under it a Writ was to be issued out for Commitment till the Sentence should be taken off Such as had the King's Pardon for Capital offences were yet liable to Church censures Then followed the Office of absolving Penitents They were to come to the Church-door and crave admittance and the Minister having brought them in was to read a long discourse concerning Sin Repentance and the Mercies of God Then the Party was to confess his sin and to ask God and the Congregation pardon upon which the Minister was to lay his hands on his Head and to pronounce the Absolution Then a thanksgiving was to be offered to God at the Communion Table for the reclaiming that sinner The other Heads of this work relate to the other parts of the Law of those Courts It is certain that the abounding of Vice and Impiety flows in a great measure from the want of that strictness of censure which was the glory of the Christian Church in the Primitive times and it is a publick connivance at sin that there have not been more effectual ways taken for making sinners ashamed and denying them the Priviledges of Christians till they have changed their ill course of life There were at this time also remedies under consideration The Poverty of the Clergy for the great misery and poverty the Clergy were generally in but the Laity were so much concerned to oppose all these that there was no hope of bringing them to any good effect till the King should come to be of Age himself and endeavour to recover again a competent maintenance for the Clergy out of their hands who had devoured their Revenues Both Heath and Day the Bishops of Worcester and Chichester were this Year deprived of their Bishopricks by a Court of Delegates that were all Lay-men But it does not appear for what offences they were so censured The Bishopricks of Gloucester and Worcester were both united and put under Hooper's care but soon after the former was made an exempted Archdeaconry and he was declared Bishop only of Worcester In every See as it fell vacant the best Mannors were laid hold on by such hungry Courtiers as had the Interest to procure the Grant of them It was thought that the Bishops Sees were so out of Measure enriched that they could never be made poor enough but such hast was made in spoiling them that they were reduced to so low a condition that it was hardly possible for a Bishop to subsist in them If what had been thus taken from them had been converted to good uses such as the supplying the Inferiour Clergy it had been some mitigation of so heinous a robbery But their Lands were snatched up by Laymen who thought of making no Compensation to the Church for the spoils thus made by them This Year the Reformation had some more footing in Ireland than formerly Affairs in Ireland Henry the VIII had assumed to himself by consent of the Parliament of that Kingdom the Title of King of Ireland the former Kings of England having only been called Lords of it The Popes and Emperours have pretended that such Titles could be given only by them The former said all power in Heaven and Earth was given to Christ and by consequence to his Vicar The latter as carrying the Title of Roman Emperour pretended that as they Anciently bestowed those Titles so that devolved on them who retained only the name and shadow of that Great Authority But Princes and States have thought that they may bring themselves under what Titles they please In Ireland though the Kings of England were well obeyed within the English Pale yet the Irish continued barbarous and uncivilised and depended on the heads of their Names or Tribes and were obedient or did rebel as they directed them In Vlster they had a great dependance on Scotland and there were some risings there during the War with Scotland which were quieted by giving the Leading-men Pensions and getting them to come and live within
weaker and needed his Assistance most But tho hitherto Spain was an unequal Match to France yet all Spain being now united except Portugal and strengthned by the Accession of the Dominions of Burgundy and inriched by the discovery of the Indies and all this falling into the hands of so great a Prince as Charles afterwards the fifth Emperor of that Name the ballance between these Kingdoms grew as equal as the Qualities of the Princes themselves were which ingaged them in a Rivalry that made their Minds as divided as their Interests were opposite Charles being preferred to Francis in the Competition for the Empire that kindled the Animosity higher and seemed to encrease Charles's Party tho the extent and distance of his Dominion was such that one Soul tho his was one of the largest and most active in the World could not animate so vast a Body He is courted both by France and Spain Both these Princes saw how considerable an Ally or Enemy England might prove under a King so much esteemed and beloved so they spared no Arts that might engage him into their Interests they gained his Ministers by their Presents and himself by their Complements for it was soon found out that Vanity was his weak side May 1520 The Emperour came in Person to England without the distrustful Precaution of a Passport and did so prevail with him and his great Favourite Cardinal Wolsey by the promise of the Popedom that tho an Interview followed between Francis and him June yet he found the Scale of France was then the heavier so that upon the War which followed between those Princes he joyned with the Emperour Charles to assure himself of Cardinal Wolsey gave him hopes of the Popedom which perhaps he did the more easily because Pope Leo being so young a Man there was no great appearance of a Vacancy but the Pope dying sooner than perhaps was expected Adrian Decemb 1521 that had been the Emperour's Tutor was then chosen and Cardinal Wolsey had the promise of succeeding him But a second Vacancy following within two Years the Emperour broke his word the second time upon which the Cardnial was so offended that he resolved to take his Revenge so soon as a favourable Conjuncture should offer it self and tho he had laid the best Train he could at Rome for the Chair yet upon Clement the seventh's Advancement he dissembled the matter so with him as to protest that he was the very person whom he had wished to see raised to that Dignity The Battel of Pavia Francis the first is taken Prisoner in which Francis was taken Prisoner and his Army defeated turned the Scale mightily the Pope was nearest the danger and felt it soonest for he projected the Clementine League by which both He and the Republick of Venice and the Princes of Italy engaged in the Interests of France and the King of England was declared the Protector of it Both publick and private Interests wrought on the King and his own Resentments as well as the Cardinals animated him to it for the Emperour was so lifted up with his Success that he began to form the Project of an Universal Empire and tho he had come to England in Person a second time and had contracted a Marriage with the King's Daughter yet he preferred a Match with the Infanta of Portugal to it judging it to be of more Importance to him to keep all quiet in Spain Francis was now at liberty but had given his Sons as Hostages so he was slow in his Proceedings tho he was the Person most concerned in the League The Emperour was highly displeased with the Pope whom he look'd on as his own Creature but it was always observed that of what Faction soever a Cardinal might be yet upon the Advancement he became the Head of his own The Colonesi entred Rome with three thousand Men Septemb. and sack'd it the Pope retiring to the Castle of Saint Angelo and submitting to the Conditions that were offered but their Troops being drawn out of Rome the Pope gathered his together and fell on their Lands and by a Creation of fourteen Cardinals for Money which perhaps may be excused from Simony because they took no care of Souls he was enabled to prosecute the War but the Duke of Bourbon that upon a Discontent given him in France had gone over to the Emperour's Service came to Rome and took it by storm himself being killed in the Assault the Pope and seventeen Cardinals May And afterwards the Pope shut themselves in the Castle St. Angelo but he was forced to render and was kept Prisoner some Months This gave great Scandal to all Europe the Emperour himself seem'd ashamed of it for he would suffer no rejoycing to be in Spain for his Sons Birth but appointed publick Processions for the Pope's Liberty Wolsey had now the best opportunity he could wish to declare his Zeal for the Pope's Service and his Aversion to the Emperour so he went to France and made a new League for setting the Pope at liberty The Emperour prevented the Conjunction he saw like to follow and having brought the Pope to his own Terms he restored him again to his Freedom And thus both the Pope and the King of France that by very unususal Accidents had been taken Prisoners acknowledged that their Liberty was chiefly due to the Indeavours that King Henry had used for procuring it When he was thus firmly united to the Interests of France Scotland in disorder he had less to fear from Scotland which being a perpetual Ally to France gave him no Disturbance but as it was drawn into the War by that Court That Kingdom was also for many Years under a King not of Age and so was much distracted by Faction and those Broils at home being the surest way to keep them from making Inroads into England were kept up by the Mony which the King sent the Malecontents therefore both the Courts of France and England by the Pensions they gave kept the several Parties there in pay which Advantage that Kingdom lost when it was joyned to England As for Domestick Affairs in the Government of England the King left Matters much in the hands of his Council in which there were two different Parties Factions in the Council headed by the Bishop of Winchester and the Lord Treasurer that was Duke of Norfolk The former much complained of the Consumption of the Treasure the other justified himself that he only obeyed the King's Orders But the Treasurer's Party under a bountiful King must always be strongest both in the Court and Council In the first Parliament the Justice done upon Empson and Dudly gave so great Satisfaction that all things went as the Court desired In the second Parliament a Brief that Pope Julius writ complaining of Lewis the twelfth was first read in the House of Lords and then carried down by the L. Chancellor and some other Lords
Journey unless the Pope would promise to give the King Satisfaction The King of France said he was engaged in Honour to go on but assured them he would mind the King 's Concerns with as much Zeal as if they were his own In September the Queen brought forth a Daughter the renowned Queen Elizabeth and the King having before declared Lady Mary Princess of Wales Sept 7. Q. Elizabeth born did now the same for her Tho since a Son might put her from it she could not be Heir Apparent but only the Heir Presumptive to the Crown At Marseilles the Marriage was made up between the Duke of Orleans and the Pope's Neece to whom the Pope gave besides 100000 Crowns many Principalities which he pretended were either Fiefs of the Papacy or belonged to him in the Rights of the House of Medici The Pope's Historian with some Triumph boasted that the Marriage was Consummated that very Night tho it was thought not credible that P. Arthur that was Nine Months older than the new Duke of Orleans afterwards Henry the Second did Consummate his There was a secret Agreement made between the Pope and Francis that if King Henry would refer his Cause to the Consistory excepting only to the Cardinals of the Imperial Faction as partial and would in all other things return to his Obedience to the See of Rome The Pore promises to satisfy K. Henry then Sentence should be given in his Favours but this to be kept secret So Bonner not being trusted with it and sent thither with an Appeal from the Pope to the next General Council made it with great boldness and threatned the Pope upon it with so much Vehemence that the Pope talked of throwing him into a Cauldron of melted Lead or burning him alive And he apprehending some danger fled away privately But when Francis came back to Paris he sent over the Bishop of that City to the King to let him know what he had obtained of the Pope in his Favours and the Terms on which it was promised This wrought so much on the King that he presently consented to them And upon that the Bishop of Paris tho it was now in the middle of Winter took Journey to Rome being sure of the Scarlet if he could be the Instrument of regaining England which was then upon the point of being lost What these Assurances were which the Pope gave is not certain but the Archbishop of York and Tenstal of Duresm in a Letter which they wrote on that Occasion say that the Pope said at Marseilles That if the King would send a Proxy to Rome he would give Sentence for him against the Queen for he knew his Cause was good and just Upon the Bishop of Paris's coming to Rome the matter seemed agreed for it was promised that upon the King 's sending a Promise under his hand to put things in their former state and his ordering a Proxy to appear for him Judges should be sent to Cambray for making the Process and then Sentence should be given Upon the notice given of this and of a Day that was prefixt for the return of the Courier the King dispatched him with all possible hast and now the Business seemed at an end But the Courier had a Sea and the Alps to pass and in Winter it was not easy to observe a limited day so exactly This made that he came not to Rome on the prefixed day upon which the Imperialists gave out that the King was abusing the Pope's Easiness so they prest him vehemently to proceed to a Sentence The Bishop of Paris moved only for a delay of six days which was no unreasonable time in that Season and in favours of such a King who had a Suit depending six Days and since he had Patience so many Years the delay of a few days was no extraordinary Favour But the design of the Imperialists was to hinder a Reconciliation for if the King had been set right with the Pope there would have been so powerful a League formed against the Emperour as would have broke all his Measures And therefore it was necessary for his Designes to imbroil them It was also said That the King was seeking Delayes and Concessions meerly to delude the Pope and that he had proceeded so far in his Design against that See that it was necessary to go on to Censures And the angry Pope was so provoked by them and by the News that he heard out of England that without consulting his ordinary Prudence he brought in the matter to the Consistory and there the Imperialists being the greater number it was driven on with so much Precipitation that they did in on day that which according to Form should have been done in three They gave the final Sentence declaring the King's Marriage with Queen Katherine good and required him to live with her as his Wife 23. March But proceeds hastily to a Sentence otherwise they would proceed to Censures Two days after that the Courier came with the King's Submission in due form He also brought earnest Letters from Francis in the King's Favours This wrought on all the indifferent Cardinals as well as those of the French Faction So they praied the Pope to recall what was done A new Consistory was called but the Imperialists prest with greater Vehemence then ever that they would not give such Scandal to the World as to recall a definitive Sentence past of the validity of a Marriage and give the Hereticks such Advantages by their unsteadiness in matters of that nature And so it was carried that the former Sentence should take place and the Execution of it was committed to the Emperour When this was known in England it determined the King in his Resolutions of shaking off the Pope's Yoke in which he had made so great a Progress that the Parliament had past all the Acts concerning it before he had the News from Rome For he judged that the best way to Peace was to let them at Rome see with what vigour he could make War All the rest of the World lookt on astonished to see the Court of Rome throw off England with so much scorn as if they had been weary of the Obedience and Profits of so great a Kingdom and their Proceedings look'd as if they had been secretly directed by a Divine Providence that designed to draw great Consequences from this Rupture and did so far infatuate those that were most concerned to prevent it that they needlesly drew it on themselves In England they had been now examining the Foundations on which the Papal Authority was built The â—rguments used for rejecting the Pope's Power with extraordinary Care for some Years and several Books being then and soon after written on that Subject the Reader will be able to see better into the Reasons of their Proceedings by a short Abstract of these All the Apostles were made equal in the Powers that Christ gave them and he often condemned
shake him a little but he said he thought in his Conscience that it would be a Sin in him and offered to take his Oath upon that and that he was not led by any other Consideration The Abbot of Westminster told him he ought to think his Conscience was misled since the Parliament was of another Mind an Argument well becoming a rich ignorant Abbot But More said if the Parliament of England was against him yet he believed all the rest of Christendom was on his side In conclusion both he and Fisher declared that they thought it was in the Power of the Parliament to settle the Succession to the Crown and so were ready to swear to that but they could not take the Oath that was tendred to them for by it they must swear to maintain all the Contents in the Act of Succession and in it the King 's former Marriage was declared unlawful to which they could not assent Cranmer press'd that this might be accepted for if they once swore to maintain the Succession it would conduce much to the Quiet of the Nation but sharper Counsels were more acceptable so they were both committed to the Tower and Pen Ink and Paper was kept from them The old Bishop was also hardly used both in his Cloaths and Diet he had only Rags to cover him and Fire was often denied him which was a Cruelty not capable of any Excuse and was as barbarous as it was imprudent In Winter another Session of Parliament was held the first Act that pass'd Another Session of Parliament declared the King to be the Supream Head on Earth of the Church of England and appointed that to be added to his other Titles and it was enacted that he and his Successors should have full Authority to reform all Heresies and Abuses in the Spiritual Jurisdiction By an other Act they confirmed the Oath of Succession which had not been specified in the former Act tho agreed to by the Lords They also gave the King the first Fruits and Tenthes of Ecclesiastical Benefices as being the Supream Head of the Church for the King being put in the Pope's room it was thought reasonable to give him the Annats which the Popes had formerly exacted The Temporalty were now willing to revenge themselves on the Spiritualty and to tax them as heavily as they had formerly tyrannized over them Another Act past declaring some things Treason one of these was the denying the King any of his Titles or the calling him Heretick Schismatick or Usurper of the Crown By another Act Provision was made for setting up 26 Suffragan Bishops over England for the more speedy Administration of the Sacraments and the better Service of God It is also said they had been formerly accustomed to be in the Kingdom The Bishop of the Diocess was to present two to the King and upon the King 's declaring his choice the Archbishop was to consecrate the Person and then the Bishop was to delegate such parts of his Charge to his Care as he thought fitting which was to last during his Pleasure These were the same that the Ancients called the Chorepiscopi who were at first the Bishops of some Villages but were afterwards put under the Jurisdiction of the Bishop of the next City They were set up before the Council of Nice and continued to be in the Church for many Ages but the Bishops devolving their whole Spiritual Power to them they were put down and a Decretal Epistle was forged in the name of P. Damasus condemning them The great Extent of the Diocesses in England made it hard for one Bishop to govern them with that Exactness that was necessary these were therefore appointed to assist them in the discharge of the Pastoral Care In this Parliament Subsidies were granted payable in three Years with the highest Preamble of their Happiness under the King's Government all those 24 Years in which he had reigned that Flattery could dictate Fisher and More by two special Acts were attainted of Misprision of Treason five other Clerks were in like manner condemned all for refusing to swear the Oath of Succession The See of Rochester was declared void yet it seems few were willing to succeed such a Man for it continued vacant two Years This Severity against them was censured by some as Extream since they were willing to swear to the Succession in other Terms so that it was merely a point of Conscience in which the common Safety was not concerned at which they stuck and it was thought the prosecuting them in this manner would so raise their Credit that it might endanger the Government more than any Opposition which they could make But now that the King entered upon a new Scene The Progress the New Doctrines made in England it will be necessary to open the Progress that the new Opinions had made in England all the time of the King's Suit of Divorce During Wolsey's Ministry those Preachers were gently used and it is probable the King ordered the Bishops to give over their enquiring after them when the Pope began to use him ill for the Progress of Heresy was always reckoned up at Rome among the Mischiefs that would follow upon the Pope's denying the King's Desires But More coming into Favour he offered new Counsels he thought the King 's proceeding severely against Hereticks would be so meritorious at Rome that it would work more effectually than all his Treatnings had done so a severe Proclamation was issued out both against their Books and Persons ordering all the Laws against them to be put in Execution Tindall and some others at Antwerp were every Year either translating or writing Books against some of the received Errors and sending them over to England But his Translation of the New Testament gave the greatest Wound and was much complained of by the Clergy as full of Errors Tonstall then Bp of London being a Man of great Learning and Vertue which is generally accompanied with much Moderation returning from the Treaty of Cambray to which More and he were sent in the King's Name as he came through Antwerp dealt with an English Merchant that was secretly a Friend of Tindall's to procure him as many of his New Testaments as could be had for Mony Tindall was glad of this for being about a more correct Edition he found he would be better enabled to set about it if the Copies of the Old were sold off so he gave the Merchant all he had and Tonstall paying the Price of them got them in his hands and burnt them publickly in Cheapside This was called a burning of the Word of God and it was said the Clergy had reason to revenge themselves on it for it had done them more Mischief than all other Books whatsoever But a Year after this the second Edition being sinished great Numbers were sent over to England and Constantine one of Tindall's Partners hapned to be taken so More believing that some of the
5 Days after the time prefixed should expire leaving only so many as might serve for Baptizing Children or giving the Sacrament to such as died in Penitence He charged all his Subjects to rise in Arms against him and that none should assist him He absolved all other Princes from their Confederacies with him and obtested them to have no more Commerce with him He required all Christians to make War on him and to seize on the Persons and Goods of all his Subjects and make Slaves of them He charged all Bishops to publish the Sentence with due Solemnities and ordained it to be affixed at Rome Tournay and Dunkirk This was first given out the 30 of August 1535 but it had been all this while suspended till the Suppression of the Monasteries and the burning of Becket's Bones did so inflame the Pope that he resolved to forbear going to Extremities no longer So on the 17 of December this Year the Pope published the Bull which he said he had so long suspended at the Intercession of some Princes who hoped that King Henry might have been reclaimed by gentler Methods and therefore since it appeared that he grew still worse and worse he was forced to proceed to his Fulminations By this Sentence it is certain That either the Popes Infallibility must be confessed to be a Cheat put upon the World or if any believe it they must acknowledge that the Power of deposing Princes is really lodged in that Chair For this was not a sudden fit of Passion but was done ex Cathedra with all the Deliberation they ever admit of The Sentence was in some particulars without a Precedent but as to the main Points of deposing the King and absolving his Subjects from their Obedience there was abundance of Instances to be brought in these last 500 Years to shew that this had been all along asserted the Right of the Papacy The Pope writ also to the Kings of France and Scotland with design to inflame them against King Henry And if this had been an Age of Croissades no doubt there had been one undertaken against him for it was held to be as meritorious if not more to make War on him than on the Turk But now the Thunders of the Vatican had lost their force The King got all the Bishops The Bishops of England assert the King's Power and the Nature of Ecclesiastical Offices and Eminent Divines of England to sign a Declaration against all Church-men who pretended to the Power of the Sword or to Authority over Kings and that all that assumed such Powers were Subverters of the Kingdom of Christ Many of the Bishops did also sign another Paper declaring the Limits of the Regal and Ecclesiastical Power that both had their Authority from God for several Ends and different Natures and that Princes were subject to the Word of God as well as Bishops ought to be obedient to their Laws There was also another Declaration made signed by Cromwel the 2 Archbishops 11 Bishops and 20 Divines asserting the Distinction betwen the Power of the Keys and the Power of the Sword The former was not absolute but limited by the Scripture Orders were declared to be a Sacrament instituted by Christ which were conferred by Prayer and Imposition of Hands And that in the New Testament no mention was made of any other Ranks but of Deacons or Ministers and of Priests or Bishops After this the use of all the Inferiour Degrees of Lectures Acolyths c. was laid down These were set up about the beginning of the 3d Century for in the middle of that Age mention is made of them both by Cornelius and Cyprian and they were intended to be degrees of Probation through which Men were to ascend to the higher Functions But the Canonists had found out so many Distinctions of Benefices and that a simple Tonsure qualified a Man for several of them that these Institutions became either a matter of Form only or were made a Colour for Laymen to possess Ecclesiastical Benefices In this and several other Books of that time Bishops and Priests are spoken of as being both one Office In the Ancient Church there were different Ordinations and different Functions belonging to these Offices tho the Superiour was believed to include the Inferiour But in the latter Ages both the School-men Canonists seemed on different grounds to have designed to make them appear to be the same Office and that the one was only a higher degree in the same Order The School-men to magnify Transubstantiation extolled the Office by which that was performed so high and the Canonists to exalt the Pope's Universal Authority deprest the Office of Bishops so low to make them seem only the Pope's Delegates and that their Jurisdiction was not from Christ that by these means these two Offices were thought so near one another that they differed only in degree And this was so well observed at Trent that the Establishing the Episcopal Jurisdiction as founded on a Divine Right was apprehended as one of the fatallest Blows that could have been given to the Papacy This being at this time so commonly received it is no wonder if before that matter came to be more exactly inquired into some of the Reformers writ more carelessly in the Explanations they made of these Offices which is so far from being an Argument that they were upon due enquiry of another mind that it is to be look'd on as a part of the Dregs of Popery flowing from the belief of Transubstantiation and the Pope's Supremacy of which all the Consequences were not so early observed This Year the English Bible was finished The Bible in English and new Injunctions The Translation was sent over to Paris to be printed there for the Workmen in England were not thought able to go about it Bonner was then Embassadour in France and he obtained a Licence of Francis for printing it but upon a Complaint made by the French Clergy the Press was stopt and many of the Copies were seized on and burnt So it was brought over to England and was undertaken and now finished by Grafton Cromwel procured a General Warrant from the King allowing all his Subjects to read it for which Cranmer wrote his thanks to Cromwel and rejoyced to see the day of Reformation now risen in England since the Word of God did shine over it all without a Cloud Not long after this Cromwel gave out Injunctions requiring the Clergy to set up Bibles in their Churches and to encourage all to read them He also exhorted the People not to dispute about the sense of difficult places but to leave that to Men of better Judgments Incumbents were required to instruct the People and teach them the Creed the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments in English And that once every Quarter there should be a Sermon to declare the true Gospel of Christ and to exhort the People to Works of Charity and not to trust to
Bishops and the Psalter and other Rudiments of Religion in English All Church-men that preached contrary to that Book for the first Offence were only required to recant for the second to abjure and carry a Faggot but were to be burnt for the third the Laity for the third Offence were only to forfeit their Goods and Chattels and to be liable to perpetual Imprisonment but they were to be proceeded against within a Year The Parties accused were not allowed Witnesses for their Purgation The Act of the six Articles was confirmed and it was left free to the King to change this Act or any Proviso in it There was also a new Act past giving Authority to the King's Proclamations and any nine Privy Counsellours were empowered to proceed against Offenders To this the Lord Mountjoy dissented and it is the only Instance of any Protestation against any of the publick Acts that past in this whole Reign By the Act about Religion as the Laity were delivered from the fear of Burning so the Clergy might not be burnt but upon the third Conviction The Act being also put entirely in the King's Power he had now the Reformers all at mercy for he could bind up the Act or execute it as he pleased and he affected this much to have his People depend entirely upon him The League offensive and defensive for England and Calais and for the Netherlands was sworn by the King and the Emperour and Assurances were given that tho the King would not declare Lady Mary legitimate upon which the Emperour insisted much yet she should be put in the Succession to the Crown next Prince Edward The Emperour was glad thus to engage the Kings of England and France in a War by which the Germans were left without Support and so he resolved to carry on his great design of making himself Master of Germany In Scotland the Earl of Arran Affairs in Scotland Hamilton next in Blood to the young Queen was established in the Government during the Queen's Minority he was a Man of great Vertue and much inclined to the Reformation but was soft and easie to be wrought on King Henry sent Sir Ralph Sadler to him to induce him to set forward the Match and to offer him Lady Elizabeth to his Son It was agreed and confirmed in Parliament that the Young Queen should be bred in Scotland till she was ten Years old the King of England sending a Nobleman and his Lady with others not exceeding twenty to wait on her and after that Age she was to be sent to England and in the mean while six Hostages were to be given but all the Clergy headed by Cardinal Beaton set themselves much against this The Queen-Mother opposed it much and it was also said a Match with the French would be more for the Interest of the Nation who being at so great a distance could not oppress them so easily as the English might for if the French opprest them the English would be ready to protect them but if they came under the Yoke of England they could expect no Protection from any other Prince This meeting with that Antipathy that was then formed between the two Nations and being inflamed by the Clergy turned the People generally to prefer a Match with France to that which was proposed for the Prince of Wales The French sent over the Earl of Lennox to make a Party against the Governour they sent also over the Governour 's Base-Brother afterwards made Arch-bishop of St. Andrews to take him out of the hands of the English and he made him apprehend great danger if he went on in his Opposition to the Interests of Rome that he would be declared illegitimate as being begotten in a second Marriage while the first that was annulled because of a Precontract did subsist for if the annulling the first should be reversed then the second could be of no force and if that were once done the Earl of Lennox who was next to him in blood would be preferred to him These threatnings joyned with his Brother 's Artifices had their full Effect on him for he turned off wholly from the Interests of England and gave himself up to the French Councils When it was thus resolved to break the Match with England the Lords that had left Hostages for their faithful performing the Promises they made to King Henry were little concerned either in their own Honour or in the safety of their Hostages only the Earl of Cassilis thought it was unworthy of him to break his Faith in such a manner so he came into England and put himself in King Henry's Hands who upon that called him another Regulus but used him better for he gave him his Liberty and a Noble Present and sent him back with his Hostages but resolved to take a severe Reparation of those who had failed him in that Kingdom At the same time he began the War with France one of the Reasons he gave for it was that Francis had failed in the matter of shaking off the Pope's Authority and advancing a Reformation in which he had promised to second him The King married Katherine Parre Some burnt at Windsor Widow to Nevill Lord Latimer She secretly favoured the Reformation but could not divert a Storm which fell then on a Society at Windsor Person a Priest Testwood and Marbeck two Singing-men and Filmer one of the Town were informed against by Dr. London who had insinuated himself much into Cromwel's Favour and was eminently zealous in the Suppression of the Monasteries But now he made his Court no less dextrously to the Popish Party Gardiner moved in Council That a Commission might be granted for searching all suspected Houses for Books written against the six Articles So the four before mentioned were found to have some of them and upon that account were seized on Sir Philip Hobbey and Dr. Hains Dean of Exeter were also put in Prison There was a Concordance of the Bible and some Notes upon it in English found written by Marbeck which was look'd on as the Work of some learned Man for it was known that he was illiterate Marbeck said the Notes were his own gathered by him out of such Books as he fell on And for the Concordance he said he compiled it by the help of a Latin Concordance and an English Bible tho he understood little Latin He had brought it to the Letter L. This seemed so incredible that it was look'd on only as a Pretence to conceal the true Author so to try him they gave him some Words of the Letter M and shut him up with a Latin Concordance and an English Bible and by his Performance in that they clearly saw that the whole Work was his own and were not a little astonished at the Ingeniousness and Diligence of so poor a Man When the King heard of it he said Marbeck was better imployed than they were that examined him So he was preserved tho the other
of Age he was put into the hands of Dr. Cox and Mr. Cheek the one was to form his mind and to teach him Philosophy and Divinity the other was to teach him the Tongues and Mathematicks other Masters were also appointed for the other parts of his Education He discovered very early a good disposition to Religion and Vertue and a particular Reverence for the Scriptures for he took it very ill when one about him laid a great Bible on the Floor to step up on it to somewhat which was out of his reach without such an advantage He profited well in Letters and wrote at eight Years old Latin Letters frequently both to the King to Q. Katherine Parre to the Archbishop of Canterbury and his Uncle the Earl of Hartford who had been first made Viscount Beauchamp being the Heir by his Mother of that Family and was after that advanced to be an Earl In the end of his Fathers life it had been designed to create him Prince of Wales for that was one of the reasons given to hasten the attainder of the D. of Norfolk because he held some places during life which the King intended to put in other hands in order to that Ceremony Upon his Fathers death the E. of Hartford and Sir Anth. Brown were sent to bring him up to the Tower of London and when King Henry's death was published he was proclaimed King At his coming to the Tower his Fathers Will was opened K. Hen. testament by which it was found that he had named 16. to be the Governors of the Kingdom and of his Sons person till he should be eighteen Years of Age. These were the Archbishops of Canterbury the Lord Wriothesly Lord Chancellor Lord St. John Great Master Lord Russel Lord Privy Seal Earl Hartford Lord Great Chamberlain Vis Lisle Lord Admiral Tonstall B. of Duresme Sir Anth. Brown Master of the Horse Sr Will. Paget Secretary of State Sr Ed. North Chancellour of the Augmentations Sir Ed. Mountague L d Chief Just of the Common Pleas Judge Bromley Sir Anth. Denny and Sir Will. Herbert Chief Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber Sr Ed. Wotton Treasurer of Callis Doctor Wotton Dean of Canterbury and York They were also to give the Kings Sisters in Marriage and if they married without their consent they were to forfeit their right of succession for the King was Impowered by Act of Parliament to leave the Crown to them with what limitations he should think fit to appoint There was also a Privy Council named to be their Assistants in the Government if any of the 16. died the Survivers were to continue in the Administration without a power to substitute others in their rooms who should die It was now proposed that one should be chosen out of the 16. to whom Ambassadours should address themselves and who should have the chief direction of affairs but should be restrained to do nothing but by the consent of the greater part of the other Co-executors The Chancellor who thought the Precedence fell to him by his Office since the Archbishop did not meddle much in secular Affairs opposed this much and said it was a change of the Kings will who had made them all equal in power and dignity and if any were raised above the rest in Title it would not be possible to keep him within due bounds since great Titles make way for High Power but the Earl of Hartford had so prepared his Friends that it was carried that he should be declared the Governour of the Kings Person and the Protector of the Kingdom A Protector chosen with this restriction that he should do nothing but by the advice and consent of the rest Upon this advancement and the opposition made to it two Parties were formed the one headed by the Protector and the other by the Chancellour the favourers of the Reformation were of the former and those that opposed it were of the latter The Chancellor was ordered to renew the Commissions of the Judges and Justices of Peace and King Henry's great Seal was to be made use of till a new one should be made The day after this all the Executors took their Oaths to execute their trust faithfully the Privy Councellors were also brought into the Kings presence who did all express their satisfaction in the choice that was made of the Protector and it was ordered that all dispatches to foreign Princes should be signed only by him All that held Offices were required to come and renew their Commissions Bishops take out Commissions and to swear Allegiance to the King among the rest the Bishops came and took out such Commissions as were granted in the former Reign only by those they were subaltern to the Kings Vicegerent but there being none now in that Office they were immediately subaltern to the King and by them they were to hold their Bishopricks only during the Kings pleasure and were impowered in the Kings name as his Delegates to perform all the parts of the Episcopal function Cranmer set an Example to the rest in taking out one of those It was thought fit thus to keep the Bishops under the terror of such an Arbitrary power lodged in the King that so it might be more easie to turn them out if they should much oppose what might be done in points of Religion but the ill consequences of such an unlimited power being well foreseen the Bishops that were afterwards promoted were not so fettered but were provided to hold their Bishopricks during life The late King had in his Will required his Executors to perform all the promises he had made A Creation of Noblemen so Paget was required to give an account of the Promises the late King had made and he declared upon Oath that upon the prospect of the attainder of the D. of Norfolk the King intended a Creation of Peers and to divide his Lands among them the Persons to be raised were Hartford to be a Duke Essex a Marquess Lisle Russel St. John and Wriothesly to be Earls Sir Tho. Seimour Cheyney Rich Willoughby Arundell Sheffield St. Leger Wymbish Vernon and Danby to be Barons and a division was to be made of the Duke of Norfolks Estate among them some shares were also set off for others who were not to be advanced in Title as Denny and Herbert and they finding Paget had been mindful of them but had not mentioned himself had moved the King for a share to him The King appointed Paget to give notice of this to the Persons named but many excused themselves and desired no addition of honor since the Lands which the King intended to give them were not sufficient to support that dignity The Duke of Norfolk prevented all this for being apprehensive of the ruine of his Family if his Estate were once divided he sent a message to the King desiring him to convert it all to be a Revenue to the Prince of Wales This wrought so much on the
without consent of the Parliament of Paris and of the States but the Emperor had a more unlimited power in making Treaties As for the business of Bulloign the Bishop of Arras said it was taken after the Emperor's Treaty with England and so was not included in it nor could the Emperor comprehend it within it without breach of his Faith and Treaties with France which was so contrary to the Emperor's honour that it could not be done For the honour of a Prince is a good excuse when he has no mind to engage in a deceitful or unjust War but it is often forgotten when the Circumstances are more favourable Paget after several other Conferences found there was nothing more to be expected of the Emperor so he returned back to England It was upon that proposed in Council whether since by the Treaty with France Bulloign was to be delivered up within a few Years it were not better to prevent a new War and a Siege the issue of which was like to prove very dangerous and to enter into a Treaty for doing it presently and if at the same time it were not more advisable to make an end of the War in Scotland since there was no possibility of compassing the Marriage for which it was first begun Upon this A Faction against the Protector all the Protector 's Enemies took off the Mask and declared themselves against it The Earl of Southampton and the Earl of Warwick were the chief sticklers the one hated him for turning him out of his Office and the other hoped to be the chief Man in business if he should fall Many things concurred to raise the Protector many Enemies his partiality to the Commons provoked the Gentry his cutting off his Brothers head and building a Magnificent Palace in the Strand upon the ruines of some Bishops Houses and Churches and that in a time both of War and Plague disgusted the People The Clergy hated him not only for his promoting the changes made in Religion but for his possessing himself of so many of the Bishops best Mannors his entertaining foreign Troops both Germans and Italians though done by the consent of Council yet gave a general distast and that great advancement he was raised to wrought much both on himself and others for it raised his pride as much as it provoked the envy of others The Privy Counsellors complained that he was become so Arbitrary in his proceedings that he little regarded the opposition that was made by the Majority of the Council to any of his designs All these things concurred to beget him many Enemies and except Cranmer who never forsook his friend and Paget and Smith all turned against him so they violently opposed the proposition for a Treaty with France they also complained that the Places about Bulloign were lost by his carelesness and by his not providing them well and that he had recalled the Garrison out of Hadington and they put him in mind of the conditions upon which he was first made Protector by which he was limited to do nothing but by their advice though he had since that taken out a Patent which cloathed him with a far greater power Upon Pagets return when it was visible that nothing could be expected from the Emperor he prest them much to consent to a Treaty with France but it was said that he had secretly directed Paget to procure no better answer that so he might be furnished with an excuse for so dishonourable an Action therefore they would not give way to it The Protector carried the King to Hampton Court Which turns to a publick breach October and put many of his own Creatures about him which increased the Jealousies so Nine of the Privy Council met at Ely-House and assumed to themselves the Authority of the Council and Secretary Petre being sent by the King to ask an account of their meeting instead of returning joyned himself to them They made a large Declaration of the Protector 's ill government and bad designs and of his engaging the King to set his hand to Letters for raising Men and for dispersing Seditious Papers therefore they resolved to see to the safety of the King and Kingdom Both the City of London and the Lieutenant of the Tower declared for them They also sent Letters all over England desiring the assistance of the Nobility and Gentry Seven more Privy Counsellors came and joyned with them They wrote to the King complaining of the Protector 's obstinacy and his refusing to hearken to their Counsels though the late King had left the Government of his Person and Kingdom to them in common and the Protector was advanced to that dignity by them upon conditions which he had little regarded therefore they desired the King would construct well of their Intentions and proceedings The Protector had removed the King from Hampton Court as being an open place to Windsor which had some more defence about it and had armed some of his own Servants and set them about the King's Person which heightned the Jealousies of him yet seeing himself abandoned by all friends except a few and finding the Party against him was formed to such a strength that it would be in vain to struggle any longer he offered to submit himself to the Council So a Proposition of a Treaty was set on foot and the Lords at London were desired to send two of their number with their Propositions and a Passeport was sent them for their safety Cranmer and the other two writ to the Council to dispose them to an agreement and not to follow Cruel Counsels Many false reports as is usual on such occasions were carried of the Protector as if he had threatned that if they intended to put him to death the King should dye first which served to increase the prejudices against him The Council writ to Cranmer and Paget charging them to look well to the Kings Person that he should not be removed from Windsor and that the Duke of Somerset's Servants might be put from him and his own sworn Servants admitted to wait they also protested that they would proceed with all the moderation and favour towards the Duke of Somerset that was possible The Council understanding that all things were prepared as they had desired sent first three of their number to see that the Duke of Somerset and some of his Creatures Smith Stanhop Thynne Wolf and Cecil should be confined to their Lodgings and on the 12th of October the whole Council went to Windsor and made great protestations of their duty to the King which he received favourably and assured them he took all that they had done in good part The Duke of Somerset with the rest of his friends The Protector 's fall except Cecil who was presently inlarged were sent to the Tower and many Articles were objected to him That he being made Protector with this condition that he should do nothing but by the consent of
down all the Churches as for laying aside those Habits Cranmer desired Bucer's opinion concerning the lawfulness of those Habits and the obligation lying on Subjects to obey the Laws about them His opinion was that every creature of God was good and that no former abuse could make a thing indifferent in its self become unlawful He thought ancient customes ought not to be lightly changed and that there might be a good use made of those Garments that they might well express the purity and candour that became all who ministred in Holy things and that it was a sin to disobey the Laws in such matters Yet since those Garments had been abused to Superstition and were like to become a subject of Contention he wished they might be taken away by Law and that Ecclesiastical Discipline and a more compleat Reformation might be set up and that a stop might be put to the robbing of Churches otherwise they might see in the present State of Germany a dreadful prospect of that which England ought to look for He also writ to the same effect to Hooper and wished that all good men would unite against the greater Corruptions and then lesser abuses would easily be redressed Peter Martyr did also deliver his opinion to the same purpose and was much troubled at Hooper's stiffness and at such contests among the professors of true Religion Hooper was suspended from Preaching but the Earl of Warwick writ to Cranmer to dispense with him in that matter He answered That while the Law continued in force he could not do it without incurring a Praemunire Upon that the King writ to him allowing him to do it and dispensing with the Law Yet this matter was not setled till a year after John à Lasco with some Germans of the Helvetian Confession came this year into England being driven out of Germany by the Persecution there They were erected by Letters Patents into a Corporation and à Lasco was their Superintendent he being a stranger medled too much in English affairs and wrote both against the Habits and against kneeling in the Sacrament Polydore Virgil was this year suffered to go out of England and still to hold the preferments he had in it Pomet was made Bishop of Rochester and Caverdale Co-adjutor to Veysy in Exeter There was now a design set on foot A review of the Common-Prayer-Book for a review of the Common-Prayer-Book In order to which Bucer's opinion was asked He approved the main parts of the former Book he wished there might be not only a denunciation against scandalous persons that came to the Sacrament but a discipline to exclude them That the Habits might be laid aside that no part of the Communion Office might be used except when there was a Sacrament that Communions might be more frequent that the Prayers might be said in a plain voice that the Sacrament might be put in the peoples hands and that there might be no Prayers for the Dead which had not been used in Justin Martyr's time He advised a change of some phrases in the Office of the Communion that favoured Transubstantiation too much and that Baptism might be only in Churches He thought the hallowing the Water the Chrisme and the White garment were too scenical nor did he approve of adjuring the Devil nor of the Godfathers answering in the Childs name He thought Confirmation should be delayed till the person was of Age and came sincerely to renew the Baptismal Covenant He advised Catechizing every Holy-day both of Children and the Adult he disliked private Marriages Extream Unction and offering Chrisomes at the Churching of Women And thought there ought to be greater strictness used in the examining of those who came to receive Orders At the same time he understood that the King expected a New-years gift from him of a Book written particularly for his own use So he made a Book for him concerning the Kingdom of Christ He prest much the setting up a strict discipline the Sanctification of the Lords day Bucer offers some advices to the King the appointing many days of Fasting and that Pluralities and Non-residence might be effectually condemned that Children might be Catechized that the Reverence due to Churches might be preserved that the Pastoral function might be restored to what it ought to be that Bishops might throw off Secular affairs and take care of their Diocesses and govern them by the advice of their Presbyters that there might be Rural Bishops over twenty or thirty Parishes and that Provincial Councils might meet twice a year that Church-lands should be restored and that a fourth part should be assigned to the poor that Marriage without consent of Parents should be annulled that a second Marriage might be declared lawful after a Divorce for Adultery and some other Reasons that care should be taken of the education of youth and for repressing luxury that the Law might be reformed that no Office might be sold but given to the most deserving that none should be put in Prison upon slight offences and that the severity of some Laws as that which made Theft capital might be mitigated The young King was much pleased with these advices The Kings great understanding and upon that began himself to form a Scheme for amending many things that were amiss in the Government which he writ with his own hand and in a stile and manner that had much of a Child in it though the thoughts were manly It appears by it that he intended to set up a Church discipline and settle a method for breeding of youth but the discourse is not finished He also writ a Journal of every thing that past at home and of the news that came from beyond Sea It has clear marks of his own Composing as well as it is written with his own hand He wrote another discourse in French being a Collection of all the places of Scripture against Idolatry with a Preface before it dedicated to the Protector At this time Ridley made his first Visitation of his Diocess Altars put down the Articles upon which he proceeded were chiefly relating to the Service and Ceremonies that were abolished whether any continued to use them or not and whether there were any Anabaptists or others that used private Conventicles He also carried some Injunctions with him against some remainders of the former superstition and for exhorting the people to give Alms and to come oft to the Sacrament and that Altars might be removed and Tables put in their room in the most convenient place of the Chancel In the Ancient Church their Tables were of Wood But the Sacrament being called a Sacrifice as Prayers Alms and all Holy Oblations were they came to be called Altars This gave the rise to the Opinion of Expiatory Sacrifice in the Mass and therefore it was thought fit to take away both the name and form of Altars Ridley only advised the Curates to do this but upon some contests arising
when nothing was to be got by flattering he writ the following Character of him All the Graces were in him he had many Tongues when he was yet but a Child together with the English his Natural Tongue he had both Latin and French nor was he ignorant as I hear of the Greek Italian and Spanish and perhaps some more But for the English French and Latin he was exact in them and was apt to learn every thing Nor was he ignorant of Logick of the Principles of Natural Philosophy nor of Musick The sweetness of his Temper was such as became a Mortal his Gravity becoming the Majesty of a King and his Disposition was suitable to his high Degree In sum that Child was so bred had such parts and was of such expectation that he looked like a Miracle of a Man These things are not spoken Rhetorically and beyond the Truth but are indeed short of it And afterwards he adds He was a marvellous Boy when I was with him he was in the 15th year of his Age in which he spake Latin as politely and as promptly as I did He asked me what was the subject of my Book de Rerum varietate which I dedicated to him I answered that in the first Chapter I gave the true cause of Comets which had been long enquired into but was never found out before What is it said he I said it was the concourse of the Light of wandring Stars He answered How can that be since the Stars move in different motions How comes it that the Comets are not soon dissipated or do not move after them according to their motions To this I answered they do move after them but much quicker than they by reason of the different aspect as we see in Crystal or when a Rain-bow rebounds from a Wall for a little change makes a great difference of place But the King said How can that be where there is no subject to receive that Light as the Wall is the subject for the Rain-bow To this I answered That this was as in the Milky way or where many Candles were lighted the middle place where their shining met was white and clear From this little tast it may be imagined what he was And indeed the ingenuity and sweetness of his Disposition had raised in all good and learned Men the greatest expectation of him possible He began to love the Liberal Arts before he knew them and to know them before he could use them and in him there was such an Attempt of Nature that not only England but the World hath reason to lament his being so early snatcht away How truly was it said of such extraordinary Persons that their Lives are short and seldom do they come to be old He gave us an Essay of Vertue though he did not live to give a Pattern of it When the gravity of a King was needful he carried himself like an old Man and yet he was always affable and gentle as became his Age. He played on the Lute he medled in affairs of State and for Bounty he did in that emulate his Father though he even when he endeavoured to be too good might appear to have been bad but there was no ground of suspecting any such thing in the Son whose mind was cultivated by the study of Philosophy These extraordinary blossoms gave but too good reason to fear that a fruit which ripened so fast could not last long In Scotland there was a great change in the Government Affairs in Scotland the Governor was dealt with to resign it to the Queen Dowager who returned this Year from France and was treated with all that respect that was due to her rank as she past through England She brought Letters to the Governour advising him to resign it to her but in such terms that he saw he must either do it or maintain his power by force he was a soft Man and was the more easily wrought on because his ambitious Brother was then desperately ill but when he recovered and found what he had done he expressed his displeasure at it in very vehement terms The young Queen of Scotlands Uncles proposed a Match for her with the Dolphin which had been long in discourse and the King of France inclined much to it Constable Monmorancy opposed it He observed how much Spain suffered in having so many Territories at a distance though those were the best Provinces of Europe So he reckoned the keeping Scotland would cost France more than ever it could be worth A Revolt to England would be easie and the sending Fleets and Armies thither would be a vast charge He therefore advised the King rather to marry her to some of the Princes of the Blood and to send them to Scotland and so by a small Pension that Kingdom would be preserved in the Interests of France But the Constable was a known Enemy to the House of Guise and so those wise advices were little considered and were imputed to the fears he had of so great a strengthning as this would have given to their Interest at Court In Scotland there were now two Factions the one was headed by the Archbishop and all the Clergy were in it who were jealous of the Queen as leaning too much to some Lords who were believed to incline to the Reformation of whom the Prior of St. Andrews afterwards the Earl of Murray was the chief These offered to serve the Queen in all her designs in particular in sending the Matrimonial Crown to France upon their young Queens Marriage with the Dolphin if she would defend them from the Violence of the Clergy in matters of Religion which being made generally subservient to other Interests in all Courts this was well entertained by the Queen though she was otherwise very zealous in her own Religion There was a great and unexpected turn this year in the affairs of Germany The affairs in Germany The Emperour's Ministers began to entertain some jealousie of Maurice so that the Duke of Alva advised the Emperour to call for him and so to take him off from the head of the Army and then make him give an account of some suspicious passages in his treating with other Princes but the Bishop of Arras said he had both his Secretaries in pay and he knew by their means all his Negotiations and relied so on their Intelligence that he prevailed with the Emperour not to provoke him by seeming distrustful of him But Maurice knew all this and deluded his Secretaries so that he seemed to open to them all his secretest Negotiations yet he really let them know nothing but what he was willing should come to the Emperor's ears and had managed his Treaties so secretly that they had not the least suspicion of them At last the Emperour was so possest with the Advertisements that were sent him from all parts that he writ to Maurice to come and clear himself and then he refined it higher for he
Norfolk those who had purchased some parts of his Estate from the Crown opposed it much in the House of Commons but the Duke came down to the House and desired them earnestly to pass it and assured them that he would refer all differences between him and the Patentees either to Arbiters or to the Queen and so it was agreed to It set forth the pretences that were made use of to Attaint him as that he used Coats of Arms which he and his Ancestors had lawfully used There was a Commission given to some to declare the Royal assent to it but that was not signed but only stamped by the King's mark and that not at the upper end as was usual but beneath nor did it appear that the Royal Assent was ever given to it and they declared that in all time coming the Royal assent should be given either by the King in Person or by a Commission under the Great Seal signed by the King's hand and publickly declared to both Houses Cranmer Guilford Dudley and his Wife the Lady Jane and two of his Brothers were tryed for Treason they all confessed their Indictments only Cranmer appealed to the Judges who knew how unwillingly he had consented to the Exclusion of the Queen and that he did it not till they whose profession it was to know the Law had signed it They were all Attainted of Treason for levying War against the Queen and their Attainders were confirmed in Parliament so was Cranmer legally divested of his Archbishoprick but since he was put in it by the Pope's authority it was resolved to degrade him by the forms of the Canon-Law and the Queen was willing to pardon his Treason that it might appear she did not act upon revenge but Zeal she was often prevailed with to pardon Injuries against her self but was always inexorable in matters of Religion But now her Treaty with the Pope began to take vent which put the Parliament in some disorder When she came first to the Crown A Treaty for reconciling England to the Pope the Popes Legate at Brussels sent over Commendone to see if he could speak with her and to perswade her to reconcile her Kingdom to the Apostolick See The management of the matter was left to his discretion for the Legate would not trust this secret to Gardiner nor any of the other Bishops Commendone came over in the disguise of a Merchant and by accident met with one of the Queens Servants who had lived some years beyond Sea and was known to him and by his means he procured access to the Queen She assured him of her firm resolution to return to the obedience of that See but charged him to manage the matter with great prudence for if it were too early discovered it might disturb her affairs and obstruct the design By him she wrote both to the Pope and to Cardinal Pool and instructed Commendone in order to the sending over Pool with a Legatine power She also asked him whether the Pope might not dispence with Pool to marry since he was only in Deacons Orders This was a welcome Message to the Court of Rome and proved the foundation of Commendone's advancement There was a publick rejoicing for three days and the Pope said Mass himself upon it and gave a largess of Indulgences in which he might be the more liberal because they were like to come into credit again and to go off at the old rates Yet all that Commendone said in the Consistory was That he understood from good hands that the Queen was well disposed to a re-union Some of the stiffer Cardinals thought it was below the Popes dignity to send a Legate till an Embassie should come first from the Queen desiring it Yet the secret was so whispered among them that it was generally known It was said they ought to imitate the Shepherd in the Parable who went to seek the stray Sheep And therefore Pool was appointed to go Legate with ample powers Gardiner was in fear of him and so advised the Emperour to stop him in his journey and to touch the Emperour in a tender part it is said that he let him know that the Queen had some Inclinations for the Cardinal And for a Match with the Prince of Spain The Emperour had now proposed a Match with her for his Son though he was nine years younger than she was yet she being but thirty seven there was reason enough to hope for Children and the uniting England to the Spanish Monarchy seem'd to be all that was wanting to strengthen it on all hands so as to ruine the French Kingdom The Queen saw reasons enough to determine her to entertain it She found it would be hard to bring the Nation about in matters of Religion without the assistance of a soreign power Yet it is more reasonable to think that Gardiner who was always governed by his Interests would have rather promoted the match with Pool for then he had been Infallibly made Arch-bishop of Canterbury and had got Pool's Hat and the Government would have been much easier if the Queen had married a Subject than it could be under a Stranger especially one whose greatness made all people very apprehensive of him The restoring the Papal power Pool's advices to the Queen and the Match with the Prince of Spain were things of such uneasie digestion that it was not fit to adventure on both at once therefore the Emperour prest the Queen to begin with her Marriage and by that she would be powerfully assisted to carry on her other designs and at last the Queen her self was perswaded to send to Pool to advise him to stop his Journey for some time She sent over the Acts of this Parliament to let him see what progress she was making and to assure him she would make all convenient haste in the Re-union But the Parliament had expressed so great an aversion to the restoring the Popes power and were so apprehensive of losing the Abbey-Lands that it would prejudice her affairs much if he should come over before the peoples minds were better prepared She also desired him to send her a List of those that were fit to be made Bishops in the room of those that were turned out To this he writ a long and tedious answer he rejoiced at the Acts that were passed but observed great defects in them In that concerning her Mothers Marriage there was no mention made of the Popes Bull of Dispensation by which only it could be a lawful Marriage The other for setting up the Worship as it was in the end of her Fathers reign he censured more for they were then in a state of Schism and so this established Schism by a Law And he said that while the Interdict lay on the Nation it was a sin to perform Divine Offices He had been very frankly dispatched by the Pope and the Consistory with many favourable Instructions but if these were so despised and he still
the Zuinglians with so much Artifice that a Conference which was appointed for setling matters of Religion was broken up without any good effect Only it discovered a common practice of the Popish party in engaging those that divided from them into heats and animosities one against another by which their strength was not only much weakned but their Zeal instead of turning against the Common Enemy turned upon one another But yet the many Experiments that have been made of this have not been able to infuse that moderation and prudence in many of the Reformed Churches which might have been expected In France the numbers of the Reformed increased so much that 200. assembled in St. Germains one of the Suburbs of Paris to receive the Communion This was observed by the People of the Neighbourhood and a Tumult was raised the Men for most escaped but 160. Women and some few Men were taken of these six Men and one Woman were burnt and most horrid things were published of that Meeting and among other Calumnies it was said they sacrificed and eat a Child All these were confuted in an Apology Printed for their Vindication The German Princes and the Cantons interposed so effectually and their Alliance was then so necessary to the Crown of France that a stop was put to further severities The Pope complained much of that and of some Edicts that the King had set out annulling Marriages without consent of Parents and requiring Churchmen to reside at their Benefices as Invasions on the Spiritual Authority The beginning of the next Year was famous by the loss of Calais The Duke of Guise sat down before it on the 1. of January Calais and other places taken by the French The Garrison consisted but of 500. Men so that two Forts about it of which the one commanded the Avenue to it by Land and the other commanded the Harbour were easily taken for the Lord Wentworth that was Governour could not spare Men enough to defend them The French drew the Water out of the Ditches and made the Assault and carried the Castle which was thought Impregnable After that the Town could do little so it was surrendred and the Governour with 50. Officers were made Prisoners of War Thus was this Important place which the English had kept 210. Years lost in a Week and that in Winter From this the Duke of Guise went to besiege Guines which had a better Garrison of 1100. Men but they were much disheartned by the loss of Calais they retired into the Castle and left the Town to the French but yet they beat them once out of it The French after a long Battery gave the Assault and forced them to Capitulate The Souldiers as at Calais had leave to go away but the Officers were made Prisoners of War The Garrison that was in Hammes seeing themselves cut off from the Sea and lost abandoned the Place before the French summoned them The loss of Calais raised great complaints against the Council and they to excuse themselves cast the blame on the Lord Wentworth and ordered a Citation to be made of him when he was a Prisoner with the French his Defence was not fit to be heard otherwise it had been easie for the Council to have brought him over He had not above the fourth part of that number that was necessary to defend the place and in time of War had no more than were usually kept there in times of Peace of this both he and Sir Edward Grimston that was Controuler gave full and timely advertisements but had not those Supplies sent them that were necessary They both came over in Queen Elizabeth's time and offered themselves to Trial and were acquitted Grimston was unwilling to pay the great Ransom that was set on him so after two years Imprisonment he made his escape out of the Bastile came to England and lived till the 98. year of his Age. He was Great-grand-father to Sir Harbottle Grimston the Author 's Noble Patron and Benefactor The French after this took Sark a little Island in the Channel but it was ingeniously retaken by a Fleming who pretended that he desired to bury a Friend of his that had died aboard his ship in that Island the French were very careful to search the Men that came ashore that they should have no Arms about them but did not think of looking into the Coffin which was full of Arms and when they thought the Seamen were burying their dead Friend they armed themselves and took all the French that were in the Castle The Ingeniousness rather than the Importance of this makes it worth the mentioning The discontent that the loss of Calais gave to the English Great discontents In England was such that the Queen could not hope ever to overcome it and it sunk so deep in her mind that it hastned her death not a little Both sides took upon them to draw Arguments from this loss The Reformers said it was a Judgment on the Nation for the contempt of the true Religion and the Cruelties that had been of late practised The Papists said the Hereticks had found such shelter and connivence there that no wonder the place was lost Philip sent over and offered his assistance to go and retake the place before the Fortifications should be repaired if the English would send over a Force equal to such an undertaking but they upon an Estimate made of the Expence that this and a War for the next Year would put them to found it would rise to 520000 l. Sterling and as the Treasure was exhausted and could not furnish such a Sum so they had no reason to expect such liberal Supplies from the People The Bishops were afraid lest the continuance of the War should make it necessary to proceed more gently against Hereticks and thought it better to sit down with the loss of Calais than hazard that they seemed confident that within a Year they should be able to clear the Kingdom of Heresie and therefore moved that preparations might be made for a War to begin the Year after this The Parliament assembled for which the Abbot of Westminster and the Prior of St. The Parliament meets John of Jerusalem had their Writs and sat in it The Lords desired a Conference with the Commons concerning the safety of the Nation and upon that a Subsidy a Tenth and a Fifteenth were given by the Laity and the Clergy gave eight shillings in the Pound to be payed in four Years The Abbot of Westminster moved that the Priviledges of Sanctuary might be again restored to his House but that was laid aside The procurers of wilful Murder were denied the benefit of the Clergy but great opposition was made to it in the House of Lords A Bill was brought in confirming the Letters Patents which the Queen had granted or might grant This related to the Foundations of Religious Houses but one Coxley opposed this and insinuated that perhaps the
that would execute the Sentence Nor would any do so much as sell a Cord to tye him to the Stake so that the Archbishop was forced to send for the Cords of his own Pavilion The old Man expressed great firmness of mind and such chearfulness in his sufferings that the People were much affected at it and this being every where looked on as a Prologue to greater severities that were to follow the Nobility and Gentry began to consider what was fit to be done They had offered a Petition to the Queen Regent the last year that the worship might be in the Vulgar Tongue that the Communion might be given in both kinds and that scandalous Priests might be turned out and worthy Men be put in their places The Queen Regent being unwilling to irritate so great a Party before the Dauphin was declared King of Scotland promised that they should not be punished for having their Prayers in the Vulgar Tongue In Parliament they moved for a Repeal of the Laws for the Bishops proceedings against Hereticks and that nothing might be judged Heresie but that which was condemned by the Word of God but the Queen Regent told them these things could not pass because of the Opposition which was made to them by the Spiritual Estate upon that they made a Protestation that whereas they had modestly moved for a redress of abuses they were not to be blamed for the ill effects of rejecting their Petition and the Violences that might follow But when the Queen had gained her end in relation to the Dauphin she ordered a Citation to be served on all the Reformed Preachers The Earl of Glencawn was upon that sent to put her in mind of her former promises she answered him roughly That maugre all that would take those Mens part they should be banished Scotland and added that Princes were bound only to observe their promises so far as they found it convenient for them to do it To this he replied that if she renounced her Promises they would renounce their obedience to her In St. Johnstown It is first set up in St. Johnstown that Party entred into the Churches and had Sermons publickly in them The Ministers were coming from all parts to appear on the 20th of May for to that day they had been cited and great numbers came along with them The Queen apprehending the ill effects of a great Confluence of People sent them word not to come and upon this many went home again yet upon their not appearance they were all declared Rebels This foul dealing made many leave her and go over to those that were met at St. Johnstown And the heat of the People was raised to that pitch that they broke in upon the Houses of the Monks and Friars and after they had distributed all that they found in them except that which the Monks conveyed away to the Poor they pulled them down to the ground This provoked the Queen so much that she resolved to punish that Town in a most exemplary manner so she gathered the French Souldiers together with such others as would joyn with her but the Earl of Glencairn gathered 2500. Men together and with incredible hast he marched to that place where there were now in all 7000. armed Men. This made the Queen afraid to engage with them so an agreement was made An oblivion was promised for all that was past Matters of Religion were referred to a Parliament and the Queen was to be received into St. Johnstown without carrying her Frenchmen with her But she carried them with her into the Town and as she put a Garrison in it so she punished many for what was past and when her promises were objected to her she answered Princes were not to be strictly charged with their Promises especially when they were made to Hereticks and that she thought it no sin to kill and destroy them all and then would excuse it as well as could be when it was done This turned the Hearts of the whole Nation from her and in many places they began to pull down Images and to rase Monasteries The Queen Regent represented this to the King of France as done on design to shake off the French yoke and desired a great Force to reduce the Countrey On the other hand some were sent over from the Lords to give a true representation of the matter and to let him know that an Oblivion for what was past and the free Exercise of their Religion for the time to come would give full satisfaction The French King began now to apprehend how great a charge the keeping that Kingdom in peace was like to come to and saw the danger of the Scots casting themselves into the Arms of the Queen of England therefore he sent one in whom the Constable put an entire confidence to Scotland to bring him a true report of the state of that matter that was so variously represented But before he could return the King of France was dead and the Constable was in disgrace and all affairs were put in the hands of the Brothers of the House of Guise so that all moderate Councils were now out of doors The people did so universally rise against the Queen Regent that she was forced to retire to Dunbar-Castle She was once willing to refer the whole matter to a Parliament But 2000. Men coming over from France and assurances being sent Her of a greater Force to follow she took heart and came and fortified Leith and again broke her last agreement upon which the Lords pretended that in their Queens Minority the Government was chiefly in the States and that the Regent was only the chief Administrator and accountable to them so they resolved to depose her from her Regency They objected many Maleadministrations to her The Queen Regent is deposed as her beginning a War in the Kingdom and bringing in strangers to subdue it her embasing the Coin governing without consent of the Nobility breaking her Faith and Promises to them upon which they declared that she had fallen from her Regency and suspended her Power till the next Parliament The Lords now called the Lords of the Congregation retired from Edenburgh to Sterlin upon which the French came to Edenburgh and set up the Masse again in the Churches then a new Supply came from France commanded by the Marquess of Elbeufe one of the Queen Regents Brothers so that there were in all 4000. French in Scotland But by her having this foreign Force the whole Nation came to be united against the Queen and to look on her as a common Enemy The Scots who had been hitherto animated and secretly supplied with Money and Ammunition from England were now forced to desire the Queen of England's aid more openly and France was now like to be so much divided within it self that the Queen did not much apprehend a War with that Crown so she was more easily determined to assist the Scots A Treaty was
made between the Duke of Norfolk and the Scots they promised to be the Queen 's perpetual Allies and that after the French were driven out of Scotland The Queen of England assists the Scots they should continue their Obedience to their own Queen upon which 2000. Horse and 6000. Foot were sent to assist the Scots These besieged Lieth during which there were considerable losses on both sides but the losses on the side of the English were more easily made up supplies being nearer at hand The French offered to put Calais again in the Queen of England's hands if she would recall her Forces out of Scotland She answered on the sudden that she did not value that Fish-Town so much as she did the quiet of the Isle of Brittain But she offered to Mediate a Peace between them and the Scots Before this could be effected 〈◊〉 June The Queen Regent dies the Queen Regent of Scotland died she sent for some of the Scottish Lords in her sickness and asked them pardon for the Injuries she had done them She advised them to send both the French and English out of Scotland and prayed them to continue in their Obedience to their Queen She also discoursed with one of their Preachers and declared that she hoped to be saved only by the Merits of Christ She had governed the Nation before the last year of her life with such Justice and Prudence and was so great an Example both in her own Person and in the Order of her Court that if she had died before her Brother's bloody Counsels had involved her in these last passages of her life she had been the most lamented and esteemed Queen that had been in that Nation for many Ages Her own Inclinations were Just and Moderate and she often said that if her Counsels might take place she did not doubt but she should bring all things again to perfect Tranquillity and Peace Soon after a Peace was concluded between England France and Scotland An Oblivion was granted for all that was past The French and English were to be sent out of Scotland and all other things were referred to a Parliament During the Queen's absence the Kingdom was to be governed by a Council of 12. all Natives of these the Queen was to name 7. and the States were to choose 5. So both the English and French were sent out of Scotland and the Parliament met in August In it A Parliament meets and settles the Reformation all Acts for the former way of Religion were repealed and a confession of Faith penned by Knox afterwards inserted among the Acts of Parliament 1567. was confirmed These Acts were opposed only by three Temporal Lords who said they would believe as their Fathers had done but all the Spiritual Lords both Bishops and Abbots consented to them and they did dilapidate the Lands and Revenues of the Church in the strangest manner that was ever known the Abbots converted their Abbies into Temporal Estates and the Bishops though they continued Papists still divided all their Lands among their Bastards or Kindred and procured confirmations of many of the Grants they gave from Rome by which that Church was so impoverished that if King James and King Charles the First had not with much zeal and great endeavours retrieved some part of the Ancient Revenues and provided a considerable maintenance for the Inferiour Clergy all the encouragements to Religion and Learning had been to such a degree withdrawn that Barbarism must have again over-run that Kingdom When these Acts thus agreed on in the Parliament of Scotland were sent over to France they were rejected with great scorn so that the Scots began to apprehend a new War but Francis the second 's death soon after delivered them from all their fears for their Queen having no more the support of so great a Crown was forced to return home and govern in such a manner as that Nation was pleased to submit to Thus had the Queen of England divided Scotland from its ancient dependance on France The Queen of England the Head of all the Protestants and had tied it so to her own Interests that she was not only secure on that side of her Dominions but came to have so great an interest in Scotland that affairs there were for most part governed according to the Directions she sent thither Other Accidents did also concur to give her a great share in all the most Important affairs of Europe In France upon Henry the second 's fatal end great Divisions arose between the Princes of the Blood and the Brothers of the House of Guise Both in France into whose hands the administration of affairs was put during Francis the second 's short Reign It was pretended on the one hand that the King was not of Age till he was 22. and that during his Minority the Princes of the Blood were to Govern by the Advice of the Courts of Parliaments and the Assembly of Estates On the other hand it was said that the King might assume the Government and Imploy whom he pleased at 14. A design was laid in which many of both Religions concurred for taking the Government out of the hands of the strangers and seising on the King's Person but a Protestant moved by a Principle of Conscience discovered it Upon this the Prince of Conde and many others were seised on and if the King had not died soon after they had suffered for it Charles the Ninth succeeding who was under Age the King of Navarre was declared Regent but he though before a Protestant was drawn into the Papist Interest and joyned himself with the Queen Mother and the Constable A severe Edict was made against the Protestants but the Execution of it was like to raise great disorders so another was made in a great Assembly of many Princes of the Blood Privy Councellours and 8. Courts of Parliament allowing the free exercise of that Religion yet after this the Duke of Guise reconciled himself to the Queen Mother and they resolved to break the Edict so the Duke of Guise happening to pass by a Meeting of Protestants his Servants offered violence to them from reproachful words it went to the throwing of stones by one of which the Duke was hurt upon which his Servants killed 60. of the Protestants and wounded 200. and upon this the Edict was every where broken It was said that the Regent's power did not extend so far as that he could break so Publick an Edict and that therefore it was lawful for the Protestants to defend themselves The Prince of Conde set himself at the Head of them and the King of Navarre being killed soon after the breaking out of the War he as the first Prince of the Blood that was of Age ought to have been declared Regent so that the Protestants said their defending themselves was not Rebellion since they had both the Law and the first Prince of the Blood on their side The