prayed in general for their quiet Rest and their speedy Resurrection Yet these Prayers growing as all superstitious devices do to be more considered some began to frame an Hypothesis to justifie them by that of the Thousand Years being generally exploded And in St. Austin's time they began to fancy there was a state of punishment even for the Good in another Life out of which some were sooner and some later freed according to the measure of their Repentance for their Sins in this Life But he tells us this was taken up without any sure ground and that it was no way certain Yet by Visions Dreams and Tales the belief of it was so far promoted that it came to be generally received in the next Age after him and then as the People were told that the Saints interceded for them so it was added that they might intercede for their departed Friends And this was the Foundation of all that Trade of Souls-Masses and Obits Now the deceased King had acted like one who did not believe that these things signified much otherwise he was to have but ill reception in Purgatory having by the subversion of the Monasteries deprived the departed Souls of the benefit of the many Masses that were said for them in these Houses yet it seems at his death he would make the matter sure and to shew he intended as much benefit to the Living as to himself being dead he took care that there should be not only Masses and Obits but so many Sermons at Windsor and a frequent distribution of Alms for the relief of the Poor But upon this occasion it came to be examined what value there was in such things Yet the Arch-bishop plainly saw that the Lord Chancellor would give great opposition to every motion that should be made for any further alteration for which he and all that Party had this specious pretence always in their Mouths That their late Glorious King was not only the most learned Prince but the most learned Divine in the World for the flattering him did not end with his Life and that therefore they were at least to keep all things in the condition wherein he had left them till the King were of Age. And this seemed also necessary on Considerations of State For Changes in matter of Religion might bring on Commotions and Disorders which they as faithful Executors ought to avoid But to this it was answered That as their late King was infinitely learned for both Parties flattered him dead as well as living so he had resolved to make great Alterations and was contriving how to change the Mass into a Communion that therefore they were not to put off a thing of such consequence wherein the Salvation of Peoples Souls was so much concerned but were immediately to set about it But the Lord Chancellor gave quickly great advantage against himself to his Enemies who were resolved to make use of any Error he might be guilty of so far as to ease themselves of the trouble he was like to give them The Kings Funeral being over The Creation of Peers order was given for the Creation of Peers The Protector was to be Duke of Somerset the Earl of Essex to be Marquess of Northampton the Viscount Lisle to be Earl of Warwick the Lord Wriothesley Earl of Southampton beside the new Creation of the Lords Seimour Rich Willoughby of Parham and Sheffield the rest it seems excusing themselves from new Honours as it appeared from the Deposition of Paget that many of those on whom the late King had intended to confer Titles of Honour had declined it formerly 1547. Feb. 20. Coronation On the 20th of Feb. being Shrove-Sunday the King was Crowned by the Arch-bishop of Canterbury according to the form that was agreed to The Protector serving in it as Lord Steward the Marquess of Dorset as Lord Constable and the Earl of Arundel as Earl Marshal deputed by the Protector A Pardon was proclaimed out of which the Duke of Norfolk Cardinal Pole and some others were excepted The first Business of importance after the Coronation The Lord Chancellor is removed from his Office was the Lord Chancellors fall Who resolving to give himself wholly to Matters of State had on the 18th of Feb. put the Great Seal to a Commission directed to Sir Richard Southwell Master of the Rolls John Tregonnel Esq Master of Chancery and to John Oliver and Anthony Bellasis Clerks Masters of Chancery setting forth that the Lord Chancellor being so employed in the Affairs of State that he could not attend on the hearing of Causes in the Court of Chancery these three Masters or any two of them were empowered to execute the Lord Chancellors Office in that Court in as ample manner as if he himself were present only their Decrees were to be brought to the Lord Chancellor to be Signed by him before they were Enrolled This being done without any Warrant from the Lord Protector and the other Executors it was judged a high presumption in the Lord Chancellor thus to devolve on others that Power which the Law had trusted in his Hands The Persons named by him encreased the offence which this gave two of them being Canonists so that the common Lawyers looked upon this as a President of very high and ill consequence And being encouraged by those who had no good will to the Chancellor they petitioned the Council in this Matter and complained of the evil consequences of such a Commission and set forth the fears that all the Students of the Law were under of a Change that was intended to be made of the Laws of England The Council remembred well they had given no Warrant at all to the Lord Chancellor for the issuing out any such Commission so they sent it to the Judges and required them to examine the Commission with the Petition grounded upon it Who delivered their Opinions on the last of Feb. That the Lord Chancellor ought not without Warrant from the Council to have set the Seal to it Feb. 28. and that by his so doing he had by the Common Law forfeited his Place to the King and was liable to Fine and Imprisonment at the Kings pleasure March 6. This lay sleeping till the sixth of March and then the Judges Answer being brought to the Council Signed with all their Hands they entred into a debate how far it ought to be punished The Lord Chancellor carried it very high and as he had used many Menaces to those who had petitioned against him and to the Judges for giving their Opinions as they did so he carried himself insolently to the Protector and told him he held his Place by a better Authority than he held his That the late King being empow'red to it by Act of Parliament had made him not only Chancellor but one of the Governours of the Realm during his Sons Minority and had by his Will given none of them Power over the rest to throw
a natural effect of that belief to have the Sacrament carried by the Priest himself with some Pomp and Adoration The Ancients thought it more decent and sutable to the Communion of Saints to consecrate the Elements only in the Church and to send Portions to the Sick thereby expressing their Communion with the rest The Reformers considering these things steered a middle course They judged the Sacraments necessary where they could be had as appointments instituted by Christ and though they thought it more expedient to have all Baptisms done in the Church at the Fonts than in private Houses thereby signifying that the Baptized were admitted to the fellowship of that Church yet since our Saviour had said That where two or three are gathered together he will be in the midst of them they thought it savoured too much of a Superstition to the Walls or Fonts of Churches to tie this Action so to these that where Children either through infirmity or the sharpness of Weather could not be without danger carried to Church they should be denied Baptism But still they thought publick Baptism more expressive of the Communion of the Saints so that they recommended it much and only permitted the other in Cases of necessity This has since grown to a great abuse many thinking it a piece of state to have their Children Baptized in their Houses and so bringing their pride with them even into the most Sacred Performances There may be also a fault in the Ministers who are too easily brought to do it But it is now become so universal that all the endeavours of some of our Bishops have not been able to bring it back to the first design of not Baptizing in private Houses excepting only where there was some visible danger in carrying the Children to Church As for the other Sacrament it was thought by our Reformers that according to the mind of the Primitive Church none should be denied it in their extremities it never being more necessary than at that time to use all means that might strengthen the faith and quicken the devotion of dying Persons it being also most expedient that they should then profess their dying in the Faith and with a good Conscience and in Charity with all Men Therefore they ordered the Communion to be given to the Sick and that before it were so given the Priest should examine their Consciences and upon the sincere profession of their Faith and the confession of such sins as oppressed their Consciences with the doing of all that was then in their power for the compleating of their Repentance as the forgiving injuries and dealing justly with all People he should give them the Peace of the Church in a formal Absolution and the Holy Eucharist But that they might avoid the pomp of vain Processions on the one hand and the indecencies of sending the Sacrament by common Hands on the other they thought it better to gather a Congregation about the Sick Person and there to consecrate and give the Sacrament to that small Assembly where as Christs Promise of being in the midst of two or three that were gathered together in his Name should have put an end to the weak exceptions some have made to these private Communions so on the other hand it is to be feared that the greater part retain still too much of the Superstition of Popery as if the Priests Absolution with the Sacrament and some slight sorrow for sin would be a sure Pass-port for their admittance to Heaven which it is certain can only be had upon so true a Faith as carries a sincere Repentance with a change of Heart and Life along with it for to such only the Mercies of God through the Merits of Jesus Christ are applied in all ordinary Cases To all this they prefixed a Preface concerning Ceremonies The Preface to the Book of Common-Prayer the same that is still before the Common-Prayer-Book In which Preface they make a difference between those Ceremonies that were brought in with a good intent and were afterwards abused and others that had been brought in out of vanity and superstition at first and grew to be more abused The one they had quite rejected the other they had reformed and retained for decency and edification Some were so set on their old Forms that they thought it a great matter to depart from any of them others were desirous to innovate in every thing between both which they had kept a mean The burthen of Ceremonies in St. Austins days was such that he complained of them then as intolerable by which the state of Christians was worse than that of the Jews but these were swelled to a far greater number since his days which did indeed darken Religion and had brought Christians under a heavy Yoke Therefore they had only reserved such as were decent and apt to stir up Mens Minds with some good signification Many Ceremonies had been so abused by superstition and avarice that it was necessary to take them quite away But since it was fit to retain some for decency and order it seemed better to keep those which were old than to seek new ones But these that were kept were not thought equal with Gods Law and so were upon just causes to be altered they were also plain and easie to be understood and not very subject to be abused Nor did they in retaining these condemn other Nations or prescribe to any but their own People And thus was this Book made ready against the next meeting of Parliament In it the use of the Cross was retained Reflections made on the new Liturgy since it had been used by the ancient Christians as a publick declaration that they were not ashamed of the Cross of Christ Though they acknowledged this had been strangely abused in the later Ages in which the bare use of the Cross was thought to have some Magical Vertue in it And this had gone so far that in the Roman Pontifical it was declared that the Crosier Staff was to be worshiped with that supream degree of Adoration called Latria But it was thought fit to retain it in some parts of Worship and the rather because it was made use of among the People to defame the Reformers that they had no Veneration for the Cross of Christ And therefore as an outward expression of that in the Sacrament of Baptism and in the Office of Confirmation and in the consecration of the Sacramental Elements it was ordered to be retained but with this difference that the Sign of the Cross was not made with the opinion of any vertue or efficacy in it to drive away evil Spirits or to preserve one out of dangers which were thought Vertues that followed the use of it in the Roman Church for in Baptism as they used the Sign of the Cross they added an Adjuration to the evil Spirit not to violate it and in the making it said Receive the Sign of the Cross both in
We are accounted Righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith and not for our own Works or deservings Wherefore that we are justified by Faith is a most wholesome Doctrine and very full of comfort as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification in that sense wherein it is set forth in the Homily of Justification is the most certain and most wholesome Doctrine for a Christian Man XII Of Good Works Albeit the Good Works which are the Fruits of Faith and follow after Justification cannot put away our Sins and endure the severity of God's Judgment yet are they pleasing and acceptable unto God in Christ and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith insomuch that by them a lively Faith may be as evidently known as a Tree discerned by the Fruit. XII Works before Justification Works done before the Grace of Christ and the inspiration of his Spirit are not pleasant to God forasmuch as they spring not of Faith in Jesus Christ neither do they make Men meet to receive Grace or as the School Authors say deserve Grace of Congruity yea rather for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done we doubt not but they have the nature of Sin XIII Works of Supererrogation Voluntary Works besides over and above God's Commandments which they call Works of Supererrogation cannot be taught without arrogancy and impiety for by them Men do declare that they do not only render unto God as much as they are bound to do but that they do more for his sake than of bounden Duty is required Whereas Christ saith plainly When you have done all that are commanded to you say we are unprofitable Servants XIV None but Christ without Sin Christ in the truth of our Nature was made like unto us in all things sin only excepted from which he was clearly void both in his Flesh and in his Spirit He came to be a Lamb without spot who by Sacrifice of himself once made should take away the Sins of the World and Sin as St. John saith was not in him But all we the rest although baptized and born in Christ yet offend in many things and if we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the Truth is not in us XV. Of the Sin against the Holy Ghost Not every deadly Sin willingly committed after Baptism is Sin against the Holy Ghost and unpardonable Wherefore the grant of Repentance is not to be denied to such as fall into sin after Baptism After we have received the Holy Ghost we may depart from Grace given and fall into sin and by the Grace of God we may arise again and amend our Lives And therefore they are to be condemned which say They can no more sin as long as they live here or deny the * Place of Forgiveness place of Penance to such as truly repent XVI The Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost The Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is then committed when any Man out of malice and hardness of heart doth wilfully reproach and persecute in an hostile manner the Truth of God's Word manifestly made known unto him Which sort of Men being made obnoxious to the Curse subject themselves to the most grievous of all wickednesses from whence this kind of Sin is called unpardonable and so affirmed to be by our Lord and Saviour XVII Of Predestination and Election Predestination unto Life is the everlasting Purpose of God whereby before the Foundations of the World were laid he hath constantly decreed by his Counsel secret unto us to deliver from Curse and Damnation those whom he hath chosen * In Christ out of Man-kind and to bring them by Christ to everlasting Salvation as Vessels made to Honour Wherefore they which be endued with so excellent a benefit of God be called according to God's Purpose by his Spirit working in due season they through Grace obey the Calling they be justified freely they are made Sons of †God by Adoption they are made like the Image of ‖ His. the only begotten Jesus Christ they walk religiously in good Works and at length by God's Mercy they attain to everlasting felicity As the godly consideration of Predestination and Election in Christ is full of sweet pleasant and unspeakable comfort to godly Persons and such as feel in themselves the working of the Spirit of Christ mortifying the Works of the Flesh and their Earthly Members and drawing up their mind to high and heavenly Things as well because it doth greatly establish and confirm their Faith of eternal Salvation to be enjoyed through Christ as because it doth fervently kindle their love towards God So for curious and carnal Persons lacking the Spirit of Christ to have continually before their eyes the sentence of God's Predestination is a most dangerous downfal whereby the Devil doth thrust them either into desparation or into wretchlesness of most unclean living no less perilous than desparation Furthermore * Left out though the Decrees of Predestination be unknown to us yet must we receive God's Promises in such wise as they be generally set forth to us in Holy Scripture and in our doings that Will of God is to be followed which we have expresly declared unto us in the Word of God XVIII Everlasting Salvation to be obtained only in the Name of Christ They also are to be had accursed that presume to say That every Man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth so that he be diligent to frame his Life according to that Law and the Light of Nature For Holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the Name of Jesus Christ whereby Men must be saved XIX All Men are bound to keep the Precepts of the Moral Law Although the Law given from God by Moses as touching Ceremonies and Rites do not bind Christian Men nor the Civil Precepts thereof ought of necessity to be received in any Common-Wealth yet notwithstanding no Christian Man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the Commandments which are called Moral Wherefore they are not to be heard which teach that the Holy Scriptures were given to none but to the Weak and brag continually of the Spirit by which they do pretend that all whatsoever they preach is suggested to them though manifestly contrary to the Holy Scripture XX. Of the Church The Visible Church of Christ is a Congregation of faithful Men in which the pure Word of God is preached and the Sacraments be duly ministred according to Christ's Ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same As the Church of Jerusalem Alexandria and Antioch have erred so also the Church of Rome hath erred not only in their Livings and manner of Ceremonies but also in Matters of Faith XXI Of the Authority of the Church The Church hath power to decree Rites and Ceremonies and Authority
Name who made that Testament was appointed to be struck out of the List of those Church-men who had died in the Faith and were remembred in the daily Offices Samosatenus is represented as one of the first eminent Church-men that involved himself much in Secular Cares Upon the Emperors turning Christian it was a natural effect of their Conversion for them to cherish the Bishops much and many of the Bishops became so much in love with the Court and publick Imployments that Canons were made against their going to Court unless they were called and the Canalis or Road to the Court was kept by the Bishop of Rome so that none might go without his Warrant Their medling in Secular Matters was also condemned in many Provincial Councils but most copiously and amply by the General Council at Chalcedon It is true the Bishops had their Courts for the Arbitration of Civil Differences which were first begun upon St. Pauls Epistle to the Corinthians against their going to Law before Unbelievers and for submitting their Sutes to some among themselves The Reasons of this ceased when the Judges in the Civil Courts were become Christians yet these Episcopal Audiences were still continued after Constantines time and their Jurisdiction was sometimes enlarged and sometimes abridged as there was occasion given St. Austin and many other Holy Bishops grew weary even of that and found that the hearing Causes as it took up much of their time so filled their Heads with thoughts of another nature than what properly belonged to them The Bishops of Rome and Alexandria taking advantage from the greatness and Wealth of their Sees began first to establish a Secular Principality of the Church and the Confusions that fell out in â—aly after the 5th Century gave the Bishops of Rome great opportunities for it which they improved to the utmost advantage The Revolutions in Spain gave a Rise to the Spanish Bishops medling much in all Civil Matters And when Charles the Great and his Son had given great Territories and large Jurisdictions to many Sees and Monasteries Bishops and Abbots came after that not only to have a share in all the publick Councils of most of the States of Europe to which their Lands gave them a Right but to be chiefly imployed in all Affairs and Offices of State The Ignorance of these Ages made this in a manner necessary and Church-Preferments were given as Rewards to Men who had served in the State in Embassies or in their Princes Courts of Justice So that it was no wonder if Men advanced upon that merit continued in their former Method and course of Life Thus the Bishops became for the greatest part only a sort of Men who went in peculiar Habits and upon some high Festivities performed a few Offices but for the Pastoral care and all the Duties incumbent on them they were universally neglected and that seriousness that abstraction from the World that application to Study and Religious Exercises and chiefly the care of Souls which became their Function seemed inconsistent with that course of Life which Secular Cares brought on Men who pursued them Nor was it easie to perswade the World that their Pastors did very much aspire to Heaven when they were thrusting themselves so indecently into the Courts of Princes or ambitiously pretending to the Administration of Matters of State and it was always observed that Church-men who assumed to themselves Imployments and an Authority that was excentrick to their Callings suffered so much in that Esteem and lost so much of that Authority which of right belonged to their Character and Office But to go on with the Series of Affairs There was all possible care taken to divert and entertain the Kings Mind with pleasing Sights as will appear by his Journal which it seems had the effect that was desired for he was not much concerned in his Unkles Preservation 1552. An Order was sent for beheading the Duke of Somerset on the 22d of January on which day he was brought to the Place of Execution on Tower-hill His whole deportment was very composed and no way changed from what it had ordinarily been he first kneeled down and prayed and then he spake to the People in these words The Duke of Somerset's Speech at his Execution Dearly beloved Friends I am brought here to suffer death albeit that I never offended against the King neither by word nor deed and have been always as faithful and true to this Realm as any Man hath been But for so much as I am by Law condemned to die I do acknowledge my self as well as others to be subject thereto Wherefore to testifie my obedience which I owe unto the Laws I am come hither to suffer death whereunto I willingly offer my self with most hearty thanks to God that hath given me this time of Repentance who might through sudden death have taken away my Life that neither I should have acknowledged him nor my self Moreover there is yet somewhat that I must put you in mind of as touching Christian Religion which so long as I was in Authority I always diligently set forth and furthered to my power neither repent I me of my doings but rejoice therein sith that now the State of Christian Religion cometh most near unto the Form and Order of the Primitive Church which thing I esteem as a great benefit given of God both to you and me most heartily exhorting you all that this which is most purely set forth to you you will with like thankfulness accept and embrace and set out the same in your living which thing if you do not without doubt greater mischief and calamity will follow DUX EDWARDUS SEIMERUS SOMERSETI R White sculp â—OY POUR DEVOâ— Angliae Protector Edwardi Regis Avunculus Capitruncatus 22 JaÌ„ 1552. Printed for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crowne in S. t Pauls Churchyard When he had gone so far there was an extraordinary noise heard as if some House had been blown up with Gun-powder which frighted all the People so that many run away they knew not for what and the Relator who tarried still says it brought into his remembrance the astonishment that the Band was in that came to take our Saviour who thereupon fell backwards to the ground At the same time Sir Ant. Brown came riding towards the Scaffold and they all hoped he had brought a Pardon upon which there was a general shouting Pardon Pardon God save the King many throwing up their Caps by which the Duke might well perceive how dear he was to the People But as soon as these disorders were over he made a Sign to them with his Hand to compose themselves and then went on in his Speech thus Dearly beloved Friends there is no such matter here in hand as you vainly hope or believe It seemeth thus good unto Almighty God whose Ordinance it is meet and necessary that we all be obedient to Wherefore I pray you all to be quiet
punishment rather than put himself in danger of Everlasting Burnings by such an Apostacy So the Fire was set to him which consumed him to Ashes Hooâ—er burnt at Glocester For Hooper after they had degraded him they resolved to send him to Glocester At which he much rejoiced hoping by his Death to confirm their Faith over whom he had been formerly placed He was carried thither in three days After he came he had one days interval given him which he spent in Fasting and Prayer Some came to perswade him to accept of the Queen's Mercy since Life was sweet and Death was bitter He Answered The Death that was to come after was more bitter and the Life that was to follow was more sweet As some of his Friends parted with him he shed some Tears and told them All his Imprisonment had not made him do so much On the 9th he was led out to his Execution where being denied leave to speak but only to pray in the strain of a Prayer he declared his belief Then the Queen's Pardon being shewed him he desired them to take it away He prayed earnestly for strength from God to endure his Torment patiently and undressed himself and embraced the Reeds When he was tied to the Stake with Iron Chains he desired them to spare their pains for he was confident he should not trouble them The Fire was put to him but the Wood being green burnt ill and the Wind blew away the flame of the Reeds He prayed oft O Jesus thou Son of David have mercy on me and receive my Soul and called to the People for the Love of God to bring him more Fire for the Fire was burning his neather Parts but did not reach his Vitals The Fire was renewed but the Wind still blew it away from rising up to stifle him so that he was long in the Torment The last words he was heard to say were Lord Jesus receive my Spirit One of his Hands dropped off before he died with the other he continued to knock on his Breast some time after and was in all near three quarters of an hour a burning Next these was Sanders condemned Sanders burnt at Coventry and sent to Coventry to be burnt where he suffered on the 8th of February He had been made a Prisoner for Preaching notwithstanding the Queen's Prohibition and was condemned for refusing to conform to the New Laws When he was led out to the Stake a Pardon was likewise offered him But he said He held no Heresies but the blessed Gospel of Christ and that he would never recant When he came to the Stake he embraced it and said Wellcome the Cross of Christ wellcome Everlasting Life and so he was burnt Dr. Taylor followed next who was Parson of Hadley And Taylor at Hadley Some of his neighbouring Priests came to Hadley and resolved to say Mass in his Church He went thither and openly declared against it but was by violence thrust out of the Church Gardiner being informed of this writ for him to come up Many of his Friends wished him to go out of the way He said He must follow Christ the good Shepherd who not only fed his Flock but died for it He was old and thought he should never be able at any other time to do his good God such Service as he was then called to so he went with much chearfulness Gardiner received him with his ordinary Civilities of Traitor Villain Heretick and Knave He answered He was none of these and put Gardiner in mind of the Oaths he had sworn both to King Henry and King Edward Gardiner said An unlawful Oath was not to be kept and charged him for hindring Mass to be said at his Church He said He was by Law Parson of Hadley and no Man had a right to come thither and defile his Church and People with Idolatry After some Discourse on that Head he was sent to the Kings Bench Prison and being carried before the Council on the 22d of January he refused to turn After that he was condemned and degraded And it was resolved to send him to Hadley to be burnt there All the way he expressed great chearfulness When he was brought to the Stake he said to the People he had taught them nothing but God's Holy Word and was now to Seal it with his Blood But one of the Guard struck him over the Head and made him give over speaking Then he went to his Prayers and so to the Stake where he was put in a Pitcht Barrel as the Faggots were laying about him one flung a Faggot at his Head which broke it and fetch'd a great deal of Blood but all he said was Oh Friend I have harm enough what needed that He repeated the 51 Psalm in English at which one of the Guard struck him over the Mouth and bid him speak Latin He continued in his Ejaculations to God till the Fire was kindled and one of the Guard cut him in the Head with his Halbert so that his Brains fell out This was done on the 9th of February Bradford was also at the same time condemned but his Execution was respited Soon after the Condemnation of these Men fix others were apprehended on the account of Heresy By this Gardiner saw that what he had expected did not follow for he thought a few severe instances would have turned the whole Nation but finding he was disappointed Gardiner is disiappointed he would meddle no more in the condemning of them but left the whole matter wholly to Bonner who undertook it chearfully being naturally savage and brutal and retaining deep resentments for what had befallen himself in King Edwards time These Cruelties are much considered The whole Nation stood amazed at these Proceedings and the burning of such Men only for their Consciences without the mixture of any other thing so much as pretended against them And it was look't upon as a horrible cruelty because those Men had acted nothing contrary to the Laws For they were put in Prison at first for smaller matters and there kept till those Laws were past by which they were now burnt So that remembring Gardiners Plea for himself in his imprisonment when he desired to be first Tried and discharged in the particular for which he was committed before new matter was brought against him all Men saw now how much more justly those men might have demanded the like at his hands But now the spirit of the two Religions shewed it self In King Edwards time Papists were only turned out of their Benefices and at most imprisoned and of those there were but very few but now that could not serve turn but barbarous Cruelties must be executed on innocent Men only for their Opinions One piece of Severity was taken notice of among the rest The Council sent for those who were to be burnt in the Country and required of them a promise to make no Speeches otherwise they threatned to cut out
mutual Love and to relieve the Poor according to their abundance Then he came to that on which he said all his past Life and that which was to come did hang being now to enter either into the joys of Heaven or the pains of Hell He repeated the Apostles Creed and declared his belief of the Scriptures and then he spake to that which he said troubled his Conscience more than any thing he had ever done in his whole Life which was the subscribing a Paper contrary to the Truth and against his Conscience out of the fear of Death and the love of Life and when he came to the Fire he was resolved that Hand that had signed it should burn first He rejected the Pope as Christ's enemy and Antichrist and said he had the same belief of the Sacrament which he had published in the Book he writ about it Upon this there was a wonderful Confusion in the Assembly Those who hoped to have gained a great Victory that day seeing it turning another way were in much disorder They called to him to dissemble no more He said he had ever loved Simplicity and before that time had never dissembled in his whole Life And going on in his discourse with abundance of tears they pulled him down and led him away to the Stake which was set in the same place where Ridley and Latimer were burnt All the way the Priests upbraided him for his changing but he was minding another thing When he came to the Stake he first prayed He suffers Myrtyrdome with great constancy of Mind and then undressed himself and being tied to it as the Fire was kindling he stretched forth his Right-Hand towards the Flame never moving it save that once he wiped his Face with it till it was burnt away which was consumed before the Fire reached his Body He expressed no disorder for the pain he was in sometimes saying that unworthy Hand and oft crying out Lord Jesus receive my Spirit He was soon after quite burnt But it was no small matter of Astonishment to find his Heart entire and not consumed among the Ashes which tho the Reformed would not carry so far as to make a Miracle of it and a clear proof that his Heart had continued true tho his Hand had erred yet they objected it to the Papists that it was certainly such a thing that if it had fallen out in any of their Church they had made it a Miracle Thus did Thomas Cranmer end his days in the sixty seventh year of his Age. He was a Man raised of God for great Services His Character and well fitted for them He was naturally of a milde and gentle temper not soon heated nor apt to give his Opinion rashly of things or persons and yet his Gentleness tho it oft exposed him to his Enemies who took advantages from it to use him ill knowing he would readily forgive them did not lead him into such a weakness of Spirit as to consent to every thing that was uppermost for as he stood firmly against the six Articles in K. Henry's time notwithstanding all his heat for them so he also opposed the Duke of Somerset in the matter of the sale and alienation of the Chantry Lands and the Duke of Northumberland during his whole Government and now resisted unto Blood so that his meekness was really a vertue in him and not a pusillanimity in his temper He was a Man of great Candor He never dissembled his Opinion nor disowned his Friend two rare qualities in that Age in which there was a continued course of dissimulation almost in the whole English Clergy and Nation they going backward and forward as the Court turned But this had got him that esteem with King Henry that it always preserv'd him in his days He knew what Complaints soever were brought against him he would freely tell him the truth so instead of asking it from other hands he began at himself He neither disowned his esteem of Queen Anne nor his friendship to Cromwel and the Duke of Somerset in their misfortunes but owned he had the same thoughts of them in their lowest Condition that he had in their greatest State He being thus prepared by a candid and good nature for the searches into Truth added to these a most wonderful diligence for he drew out of all the Authors that he read every thing that was remarkable digesting these Quotations into Common-places This begat in King Henry an admiration of him for he had often tried it to bid him bring the Opinions of the Fathers and Doctors upon several questions which he commonly did in two or three dayes time This flowed from the copiousness of his common place Books He had a good judgment but no great quickness of apprehension not closeness of Stile which was diffused and unconnected therefore when any thing was to be penned that required more Nerves he made use of Ridley He laid out all his Wealth on the poor and pious uses He had Hospitals and Surgeons in his House for the King's Seamen He gave Pensions to many of those that fled out of Germany into England and kept up that which is Hospitality indeed at his Table where great numbers of the honest and poor neighbours were always invited instead of the Luxury and Extravagance of great Entertainments which the vanity and excess of the Age we live in has honoured with the name of Hospitality to which too many are led by the Authority of Custom to comply too far He was so humble and affable that he carried himself in all conditions at the same rate His last Fall was the only blemish of his life but he expiated it with a sincere repentance and a patient Martyrdom He had been the chief advancer of the Reformation in his Life and God so ordered it that his death should bear a proportion to the former parts of his life which was no small Confirmation to all that received his Doctrine when they heard how constantly he had at last sealed it with his Blood And tho it is not to be fancied that King Henry was a Prophet yet he discovered such things in Cranmers temper as made him conclude he was to die a Martyr for his Religion and therefore he ordered him to change his Coat of Arms and to give Pelicans instead of Cranes which were formerly the Arms of his Family Intimating withal that as it is reported of the Pelican that she gives her Blood to feed her young ones so he was to give his Blood for the good of the Church That King's kindness to him subjected him too much to him for great Obligations do often prove the greatest snares to generous and noble minds And he was so much over-born by his respects to him and was so affected with King Henry's Death that he never after that shaved his Beard but let it grow to a great length which I the rather mention because the Pictures that were afterwards made for
Cotton John Gate Number 58. A Letter written by B. Ridley setting out the Sins of that Time To his Well-beloved the Preachers within the Diocess of London AFter hearty Commendations having regard especially at this time Regist Ridl Fol. 239. to the Wrath of God who hath plagued us diversly and now with extream punishment of sudden Death poured upon us for Causes certain known unto his high and secret Judgment and as may seem unto Man for our wicked living daily encreasing unto such sort that not only in our Conversations the Fear of God is alas far gone from before our Eyes but also the World is grown into that uncharitableness that one as it appeareth plainly goeth about to devour another moved with insatiable Covetousness both contrary to God's Word and Will and to the extream peril and damnation of Christ's Flock bought so dearly with his precious Blood and to the utter destruction of this whole Common Wealth except God's Anger be shortly appeased wherein as according to my bounden Duty I shall God willing in my own Person be diligent and labour so I exhort and require you first in God's Name and by authority of him committed unto me in that behalf and also in the King's Majesty's Name from whom I have Authority and special Commandment thus to do That as you are called to be setters forth of God's Word and to express in your livings the same so now in your Exhortations and Sermons you do most wholsomely and earnestly tell unto Men their Sins Juxta illud anuncia populo meo scelera eorum with God's punishments lately poured upon us for the same now before our Eyes and specially to beat down and destroy with all your Power and Wit that greedy and devouring Serpent of Covetousness that doth so now universally reign calling upon God for Repentance and provoking to Common Prayer and amendment of life with most earnest Petitions that hereby God's Hands may be staied the World amended and obedience of Subjects and faithfulness of Ministers declared accordingly Thus I bid you heartily well to fare From London July 25. 1551. Yours in Christ Nic. London Number 59. Bishop Ridley's Letter to the Protector concerning the Visitation of the University of Cambridg Right Honourable I Wish your Grace the holy and wholsome Fear of God because I am persuaded your Grace's Goodness to be such unfeignedly that even wherein your Grace's Letters doth sore blame me yet in the same the advertisement of the Truth shall not displease your Grace and also perceiving that the cause of your Grace's discontentation was wrong Information therefore I shall beseech your Grace to give me leave to shew your Grace wherein it appeareth to me that your Grace is wrong informed Your Grace's Letters blameth me because I did not at the first before the Visitation began having knowledg of the Matter shew my Mind the Truth is Before God I never had nor could get any fore-knowledg of the Matter of the uniting of the two Colleges before we had begun and had entred two days in the Visitation and that your Grace may plainly thus well perceive A little before Easter I being at Rochester received Letters from Mr. Secretary Smith and the Dean of Pauls to come to the Visitation of the University and to make a Sermon at the beginning thereof whereupon I sent immediately a Servant up to London to the Dean of Pauls desiring of him to have had some knowledg of things there to be done because I thought it meet that my Sermon should somewhat have savoured of the same From Mr. Dean I received a Letter instructing me only That the cause of the Visitation was to abolish Statutes and Ordinances which maintained Papistry Superstition Blindness and Ignorance and to establish and set forth such as might further God's Word and good Learning and else the Truth is he would shew me nothing but bad me be careless and said There was Informations how all things was for to be done the which I take God to Witness I did never see nor could get knowledg what they were before we were entred in the Visitation two days although I desired to have seen them in the beginning Now when I had seen the Instructions the Truth is I thought peradventure the Master and Company would have surrendred up their College but when their consent after labour and travel taken therein two dayes could not be obtained and then we began secretly to consult all the Commissioners thinking it best that every Man should say his Mind plainly that in execution there might appear but one way to be taken of all there when it was seen to some that without the consent of the present Incumbents by the King 's absolute Power we might proceed to the uniting of the two Colleges I did in my course simply and plainly declare my Conscience and that there only secretly among our selves alone with all kind of softness so that no Man could be justly offended Also I perceive by your Grace's Letters I have been noted of some for my barking there and yet to bark lest God should be offended I cannot deny but indeed it is a part of my Profession for God's Word condemneth the dumb Dogs that will not bark and give warning of God's Displeasure As for that that was suggested to your Grace that by my aforesaid barking I should dishonour the King's Majesty and dissuade others from the Execution of the King's Commission God is my Judg I intended according to my Duty to God the King the maintenance and defence of his Highness Royal Honour and Dignity If that be true that I believe is true which the Prophet saith Honor Regis Judicium diligit and as the Commissioners must needs and I am sure will all testify that I dissuaded no Man but contrariwise exhorted every Man with the quiet of other to satisfy their own Conscience desiring only that if it should otherwise be seen unto them that I might either by my absence or silence satisfy mine The which my plainness when some otherwise than according to my expectation did take I was moved thereupon both for the good Opinion I had and yet have in your Grace's Goodness and also specially because your Grace had commanded me so to do to open my mind by my private Letters freely unto your Grace And thus I trust your Grace perceiveth now both that anon after knowledg had I did utter my Conscience and also that the Matter was not opened unto me before the Visitation was two days begun If in this I did amiss that before the knowledg of the Instructions I was ready to grant to the Execution of the Commission Truly I had rather herein acknowledg my Fault and submit my self to your Grace's Correction then after knowledg had then wittingly and willingly commit that thing whereunto my Conscience doth not agree for fear of God's displeasure It is a Godly Wish that is wished in your Grace's Letters that Flesh
Church received that Sacrament frequently and in both kinds To the sixth Baptism in Cases of necessity was to be administred at any time but out of these Cases it was fit to do it solemnly and in the Ancient Church it was chiefly done on the Eves of Easter and Whit-Sunday of which usage some Footsteps remained still in the old Offices To the seventh these were late superstitious devices Images were contrary to the Scriptures first set up for remembrance but soon after made Objects of Worship To the eight The old Service had many ludicrous things in it the new was simple and grave If it appeared ridiculous to them it was as the Gospel was long ago foolishness to the Greeks To the ninth The Scriptures say nothing of it it was a superstitious Invention derogatory to Christs death To the tenth The Scriptures are the Word of God and the readiest way to confound that which is Heresie indeed To the eleventh These were ignorant superstitious and deceitful Persons To the twelfth Pool had been attainted in Parliament for his spiteful Writings and Doings against the late King To the thirteenth It was foolish and unreasonable one Servant could not do a Man's business and by this many Servants would want employment To the fourteenth This was to rob the King and those who had these Lands of him and would be a means to make so foul a Rebellion be remembred in their Prayers To the fifteenth These were notorious Traitors to whom the Kings Council was not to submit themselves After this they grew more moderate and sent eight Articles They make new Demands 1. Concerning Baptism 2. About Confirmation 3. Of the Mass 4. For reserving the Host 5. For Holy Bread and Water 6. For the old Service 7. For the single Lives of Priests 8. For the Six Articles and concluded God save the King for they were His both Body and Goods To this there was an Answer sent in the Kings Name on the 8th of July so long did the Treaty with them hold in which Which were also rejected after Expressions of the Kings affection to his People he taxes their rising in Arms against him their King as contrary to the Laws of God He tells them That they are abused by their Priests as in the Instance of Baptism which according to the Book might necessity requiring it be done at all times that the Changes that had been set out were made after long and great consultation and the Worship of this Church by the advice of many Bishops and Learned Men was reformed as near to what Christ and his Apostles had taught and done as could be and all things had been setled in Parliament But the most specious thing that misled them being that of the Kings Age it was shewed them that his Blood and not his Years gave him the Crown and the state of Government requires that at all times there should be the same Authority in Princes and the same Obedience in the People It was all penned in a high threatning Style and concluded with an earnest Invitation of them to submit to the Kings Mercy as others that had risen had also done to whom he had not only shewed Mercy but granted Redress of their just grievances otherwise they might expect the utmost severity that Traitors deserved But nothing prevailed on this enraged Multitude whom the Priests inflamed with all the Artifices they could imagine and among whom the Host was carried about by a Priest on a Cart that all might see it But when this Commotion was thus grown to a Head The Rebellion in Norfolk headed by Ket a Tanner the Men of Norfolk rose the 6th of July being led by one Ket a Tanner These pretended nothing of Religion but only to suppress and destroy the Gentry and to raise the commons and to put new Councellors about the King They encreased mightily and became 20000 strong but had no Order nor Discipline and committed many horrid outrages The Sheriff of the County came boldly to them and required them in the Kings Name to disperse and go home but had he not been well mounted they had put him cruelly to death They came to Moushold Hill above Norwich and were much favoured by many in that City Parker afterwards Arch-bishop of Canterbury came among them and preached very freely to them of their ill Lives their Rebellion against the King and the Robberies they daily committed by which he was in great danger of his Life Ket assumed to himself the Power of Judicature and under an old Oak called from thence the Oak of Reformation did such Justice as might be expected from such a Judge and in such a Camp The Marquess of Northampton was sent against them but with Orders to keep at a distance from them and to cut off their Provisions for so it was hoped that without the shedding much Blood they might come to themselves again When the news of this Rising came into York-shire the Commons there rose also A Rising in York-shire being further encouraged by a Prophecy That there should be no King nor Nobility in England that the Kingdom should be ruled by four Governours chosen by the Commons who should hold a Parliament in commotion to begin at the South and North Seas This they applied to the Devon-shire Men on the South Seas and themselves on the North Seas They at their first rising fired Beacons and so gathered the Country as if it had been for the defence of the Coast and meeting two Gentlemen with two others with them they without any provocation murdered them and left their naked Bodies unburied The French fall into the Bullognese At the same time that England was in this Commotion the News came that the French King had sent a great Army into the Territory of Bulloigne so that the Government was put to most extraordinary straits A Fast at Court where Cranmer preached Ex MS. Col. C. C. Cantab. There was a Fast proclaimed in and about London Cranmer preached on the Fast-day at Court I have seen the greatest part of his Sermon under his own Hand and it is the only Sermon of his I ever saw It is a very plain unartificial Discourse no shews of Learning or conceits of Wit in it but he severely expostulated in the Name of God with his Hearers for their ill Lives their Blasphemies Adulteries mutual Hatred Oppression and Contempt of the Gospel and complained of the slackness in punishing these sins by which the Government became in some sort guilty of them He set many Passages of the Jewish Story before them of the Judgments such sins drew on and of Gods Mercy in the unexpected deliverances they met with upon their true Repentance But he chiefly lamented the scandal given by many who pretended a zeal for Religion but used that for a Cloak to disguise their other Vices He set before them the fresh Example of Germany where People generally
loved to hear the Gospel but had not amended their Lives upon it for which God had now after many years forbearance brought them under a severe scourge and intimated his apprehensions of some signal stroke from Heaven upon the Nation if they did not repent Exeter besieged The Rebels in Devon-shire went and besieged Exeter where the Citizens resisted them with great courage they set fire to the Gates of the City which those within fed with much Fuel for hindering their entry till they had raised a Rampart within the Gates and when the Rebels came to enter the Fire being spent they killed many of them The Rebels also wrought a Mine but the Citizens Countermined and pour'd in so much Water as spoiled their Powder So finding they could do nothing by force they resolved to lie about the Town reckoning that the want of Provision would make it soon yield The Lord Russel having but a small Force with him stayed a while for some Supplies which Sir William Herbert was to bring him from Bristol But being afraid that the Rebels should inclose him he marched back from Honnington where he lay and finding they had taken a Bridge behind him he beat them from it killing 600 of them without any loss on his side By this he understood their strength and saw they could not stand a brisk Charge nor rally when once in disorder So the Lord Gray and Spinola that commanded some Germans joyning him he returned to raise the Siege of Exeter which was much straitned for want of Victuals The Rebels had now shut up the City twelve days they within had eat their Horses and endured extream Famine but resolved to perish rather than fall into the Hands of those Savages for the Rebels were indeed no better They had block'd up the Ways and left 2000 Men to keep a Bridge which the Kings Forces were to pass But the Lord Russel broke thorough them and killed about 1000 of them upon that the Rebels raised the Siege and retired to Lanceston The Lord Russel gave the Citizens of Exeter great thanks in the Kings Name for their Fidelity and Courage and pursued the Rebels But is relieved and the Rebels defeated by the Lord Russel who were now going off in Parties and were killed in great numbers Some of their Heads as Arundel and the Major of Bodmyne Temson and Barret two Priests with six or seven more were taken and hanged And so this Rebellion was happily subdued in the West about the beginning of August to the great Honour of the Lord Russel who with a very small Force had saved Exeter and dispersed the Rebels Army with little or no loss at all But the Marquess of Northampton was not so successful in Norfolk He carried about 1100 Men with him but did not observe the Orders given him and so marched on to Norwich The Rebels were glad of an occasion to engage with him and fell in upon him the next day with great fury and the Town not being strong he was forced to quit it but lost 100 of his Men in that Action among whom was the Lord Sheffield who was much lamented The Rebels took about 30 Prisoners with which they were much lifted up This being understood at Court the Earl of Warwick was sent against them Warwick disperses the Rebels at Norfolk with 6000 Foot and 1500 Horse that were prepared for an Expedition to Scotland He came to Norwich but was scarce able to defend it for the Rebels fell often in upon him neither was he well assured of the Town But he cut off their Provisions so that the Rebels having wasted all the Country about them were forced to remove And then he followed them with his Horse They turned upon him but he quickly routed them and killed 2000 of them and took Ket their Captain with his Brother and a great many more Ket was hanged in Chains at Norwich next January The Rebels in York-shire had not become very numerous not being above 3000 in all but hearing of the defeating of those in other Parts they accepted of the offer of Pardon that was sent them only some few of the chief Ringleaders continued to make new stirs and were taken and hanged in York the September following When these Commotions were thus over the Protector pressed that there might be a general and free Pardon speedily proclaimed for quieting the Country and giving their Affairs a reputation abroad This was much opposed by many of the Council who thought it better to accomplish their several ends by keeping the People under the lash than by so profuse a Mercy But the Protector was resolved on it judging the state of Affairs required it A general Pardon So he gave out a general Pardon of all that had been done before the 21st of August excepting only those few whom they had in their hands and resolved to make publick Examples Thus was England delivered from one of the most threatning Storms that at any time had broke out in it in which deliverance the great prudence and temper of the Protector seems to have had no small share Of this whole Matter Advertisement was given to the Forreign Ministers in a Letter which will be found in the Collection Collection Number 36. There was this Year a Visitation of the University of Cambridge Ridley was appointed to be one of the Visitors A Visitation at Cambridge and to preach at the opening of it he thereupon writ to May Dean of St. Pauls to let him know what was to be done at it that so his Sermon might be adjusted to their business He received answer That it was only to remove some superstitious Practises and Rites and to make such Statutes as should be found needful But when he went to Cambridge he saw the Instructions went further They were required to procure a resignation of some Colledges and to unite them with others and to convert some Fellowships appointed for encouraging the Study of Divinity to the Study of the Civil Law In particular Clare-Hall was to be suppressed But the Master and Fellows would not resign and after two days labouring to perswade them them to it they absolutely refused to do it Upon this Ridley said he could not with a good Conscience go on any further in that matter the Church was already so robbed and stript that it seemed there was a design laid down by some to drive out all Civility Learning and Religion out of the Nation therefore he declared he would not concurre in such things and desired leave to be gone The other Visitors complained of him to the Protector that he had so troubled them with his barking so indecently did they express that strictness of Conscience in him that they could not go on in the Kings Service and because Clare-hall was then full of Northern People they imputed his unwillingness to suppress that House to his partial affection to his Country-men for he was born in