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B01850 The history of the reformation of the Church of England. The second part, of the progress made in it till the settlement of it in the beginning of Q. Elizabeth's reign. / By Gilbert Burnet, D.D. Burnet, Gilbert, 1643-1715. 1681 (1681) Wing B5798A; ESTC R226789 958,246 890

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the Arch-Bishop sent the Cords of his own Pavilion for that use When Mill was brought to the Stake he said he would not go up of his own accord because he would not be accessary to his own Death but if they would put their hand to him they should see how chearfully he should do it That being done he went up and said I will go in to the Altar of God He exhorted the People to be no more seduced by the Lyes of their Priests but to depend upon Christ and his Mercy for whose Doctrine as many Martyrs had offered up their Lives so he blessed God that had so honoured him to call him to give this Testimony for whose Glory he most willingly offered up his Life When the Fire was set to him he called to the People to pray for him and continued to cry Lord have mercy on me till he could speak no more His Suffering was much resented by the Inhabitants of St. Andrews The Nation was much provoked by it who raised a great heap of Stones in the place where he was burnt for a Memorial of it and though the Priests scattered them often they renewed them still till a Watch was set about it In all parts of Scotland and especially in the Towns and in the Families of the Nobility and Gentry the Reformation had been received and secretly professed So they began now to consult what to do They had many meetings in several places and finding their Interest was great over the Kingdom they entred into Confederacies to maintain the true Religion Before the Parliament met last Year they had sent a Petition to the Queen Regent That the Worship of God might be in the Vulgar Tongue and the Communion might be given in both Kinds That there should be great care taken in the Election of Ministers that it might be according to the Custom of the Primitive Church and that scandalous Ministers might be removed and more worthy Men put in their Places But the Queen Regent to keep them in hopes till the Dolphin should be acknowledged King of Scotland promised they should not be hindred to have Prayers in their own Tongue so they would keep no publick Assemblies in Edinburgh and Leith In the Parliament they proposed the abrogating of the Laws for Church-mens proceedings against Hereticks and that none should be condemned of Heresy but according to the Word of God with some other Limitations of the Severities against them But the Queen still gave them good hopes only she said she could not agree to those things by reason of the opposition that would be made by the Spiritual Estate But she suffered them to read a Protestation in Parliament declaring their desires of a Reformation and that if upon the denial of it Abuses were removed violently they were not to be blamed who had begun thus in a modest way to Petition for it This Year it was become visible that she resolved to proceed to extremities She ordered all the reformed Preachers to appear at Sterling the 10th of May. When this was done the Earl of Glencarn went to her in the Name of the rest and asked her the reason of that way of proceeding She answered him in passion ' That maugre them and all that would take part with them the Ministers should be banished Scotland though they preached as soundly as St. Paul did Upon this he remembred her of the Promises she had often made them to which she answered ' That the Promises of Princes should be no further strained then seem'd convenient to them to perform Glencarn replied ' if she would keep no Promises they would acknowledge her no more but renounce their Obedience to her A Revolt began at St. Johnstoun ● That very night she heard that in the Town of St. Johnstoun the People had Sermons openly in their Churches Upon that she ordered the Lord Ruthven to go and reduce that Town He answered he could not govern their Consciences Upon which she vowed she would make him and them both repent it The Ministers were coming from all parts accompanied with many Gentlemen to appear on the Day to which they were cited The Queen hearing that sent word to them to go home for she would not proceed in the Citation Many of them upon that returned to their homes but others went to St. Johnstoun Yet upon their not appearing she made them all be declared Rebells contrary to her Promise This made many leave her and go over to them at St. Johnstoun The People began there first to break Images and then they fell into the Houses of the Franciscans and Dominicans where they found much more Wealth than agreed with their pretended Poverty They also pulled down a great House of the Carthusians with so much Hast that within two days there was not one Stone left to shew where it had stood but yet the Prior was suffered to carry away the Plate All that was found in these Houses besides what the Monks carried away was given to the Poor The Queen hearing this resolved to make that Town an Example and sent over all the Kingdom to gather the French Souldiers together with such others as would joyn with her in this Quarrel But the Earl of Glencarn with incredible hast came to their assistance with 2500 Men And there were gathered in all in and about the Town 7000 Men. The Queen seeing it now turned to an open Rebellion employed the Earl of Argile and the Prior of St. Andrews to treat with them An Oblivion for what was past was agreed on The Queen was to come to St. Johnstoun without her French-men and the matters of Religion were to be referred to a Parliament Upon this she went thither but carried French-men with her and put a Garrison in the Town and proceeded to the Fining of many and the Banishing of others Being pressed with her Promise she said The Promises of Princes ought not to be strictly urged and those were not to be kept that were made to Hereticks she declared that she would take it on her Conscience to kill and undo all that Sect and make the best excuse she could when it was done Upon this all the Nation forsook her and in many other places they went on to cleanse the Churches and pull down Monasteries When the News of this came to the Court of France it was at first not rightly understood The Queen Regent represented it as if it had been a Design to shake off the French Power and desired a great Force to reduce them The King then saw too late that the Constable had given him good Advice in diswading the Match with Scotland The French Kind intends to grant Liberty of Religion and fearing to be intangled in a long chargeable War he resolved to send one thither to know the true occasion of these Stirrs So the Constable proposed to him the sending of Melvil by whom he had understood that the Reason of all
was in great straits and intended to have returned back to England without hazarding an Engagement But the Scots thought they were so much superior to the English and that they had them now at such a disadvantage that they resolved to fall upon them next day And that the fair offers made by the Protector might not raise division among them the Governour having communicated these to a few whom he trusted was by their advice perswaded to suppress them but he sent a Trumpeter to the English Army with an Offer to suffer them to return without falling upon them Rejected by them which the Protector had reason to reject knowing that so mean an Action in the beginning of his Administration would have quite ruined his Reputation But to this another that came with the Trumpeter added a Message from the Earl of Huntley That the Protector and he with ten or twenty of a side or singly should decide the Quarrel by their Personal Valour The Protector said This was no private Quarrel and the Trust he was in obliged him not to expose himself in such a way and therefore he was to fight no other way but at the Head of his Army But the Earl of Warwick offered to accept the Challenge The Earl of Huntley sent no such Challenge as he afterwards purged himself when he heard of it For as it was unreasonable for him to expect the Protector should have answered it so it had been an affronting the Governour of Scotland to have taken it off of his hands since he was the only Person that might have challenged the Protector on equal terms The truth of the matter was a Gentleman that went along with the Trumpeter made him do it without Warrant fancying the Answer to it would have taken up some time in which he might have viewed the Enemies Camp Sept. 10. The Ba●tel of Pinkey near Musselburgh On the 10th of September the two Armies drew out and fought in the Field of Pinkey near Musselburgh The English had the advantage of the Ground And in the beginning of the Action a Canon Ball from one of the English Ships killed the Lord Grames eldest Son and 25 Men more which put the Earl of Argiles Highlanders into such a fright that they could not be held in order But after a Charge given by the Earl of Angus in which the English lost some few Men the Scots gave ground and the English observing that and breaking in furiously upon them the Scots threw down their Arms and fled The English pursued hard and slew them without mercy A great defeat given the Scots There were reckoned to be killed about 14000 and 1500 taken Prisoners among whom was the Earl of Huntley and 500 Gentlemen and all the Artillery was taken This loss quite disheartned the Scots so that they all retir'd to Strivling and left the whole Country to the Protectors mercy Who the next day went and took Lieth and the Soldiers in the Ships burnt some of the Sea-Towns of Fife and re-took some English Ships that had been taken by the Scots and burnt the rest They also put a Garrison in the Isle of St. Columba in the Frith of about 200 Soldiers and left two Ships to wait on them He also sent the Earl of Warwick's Brother Sir Ambrose Dudley to take Broughty a Castle in the Mouth of Tay in which he put 200 Soldiers He wasted Edenburgh and uncovered the Abbey of Holyrood-house and carried away the Lead and the Bells belonging to it But he neither took the Castle of Edenburgh nor did he go on to Strivling where the Queen with the straglers of the Army lay And it was thought that in the consternation wherein the late defeat had put them every Place would have yielded to him But he had some private reasons that pressed his return and made him let go the advantages that were now in his hands and so gave the Scots time to bring Succours out of France whereas he might easily have made an end of the War now at once if he had followed his success vigorously The Earl of Warwick who had a great share in the Honour of the Victory but knew that the errors in conduct would much diminish the Protectors glory which had been otherwise raised to an unmeasurable height was not displeased at it So on the 18th of September Sept. 18. the Protector drew his Army back into England and having received a Message from the Queen and the Governour of Scotland offering a Treaty he ordered them to send Commissioners to Berwick to treat with those he should appoint As he returned through the Merch and Teviotdale all the chief Men in these Counties came in to him and took an Oath to King Edward the Form whereof will be sound in the Collection Collection Number 11. and delivered into his hands all the Places of strength in their Counties He left a Garrison of 200 in Home Castle under the Command of Sir Edw. Dudley and fortified Roxburgh where for encouraging the rest he wrought two hours with his own hands and put 300 Soldiers and 200 Pioneers into it giving Sir Ralph Bulmer the Command At the same time the Earl of Lennox and the Lord Wharton made an in-road by the West Marches but with little effect On the 29th of September the Protector returned into England Sept. 29. The Protector returned to England full of Honour having in all that Expedition lost not above 60 Men as one that then writ the account of it says The Scotch Writers say he lost between 2 and 300. He had taken 80 Piece of Canon and bridled the two chief Rivers of the Kingdom by the Garrisons he left in them and had left many Garrisons in the strong Places on the Frontier And now it may be easily imagined how much this raised his reputation in England since Men commonly make Auguries of the Fortune of their Rulers from the Successes of the first Designs they undertake So now they remembred what he had done formerly in Scotland and how he had in France with 7000 Men raised the French Army of 20000 that was set down before Bulloigne and had forced them to leave their Ordnance Baggage and Tents with the loss of one Man only in the year 1544 and that next year he had fallen into Picardy and built New-haven with two other Forts there So that they all expected great success under his Government And indeed if the breach between his Brother and him with some other errors had not lost him the advantages he now had this prosperous Action had laid the foundation of great Fortunes to him He left the Earl of Warwick to treat with those that should be sent from Scotland But none came for that Proposition had been made only to gain time The Queen Mother there was not ill pleased to see the interest of the Governour so much impaired by that misfortune and perswaded the chief Men of that
be eaten therefore they saw no necessity because of a former abuse to throw away Habits that had so much decency in them and had been formerly in use In the compiling the Offices they began with Morning and Evening Prayer These were put in the same Form they are now only there was no Confession nor Absolution the Office beginning with the Lords Prayer In the Communion Service the Ten Commandements were not said as they are now but in other things it was very near what it is now All that had been in the Order of the Communion formerly mentioned was put into it The Offertory was to be made of Bread and Wine mixed with Water Then was said the Prayer for the state of Christs Church in which they gave thanks to God for his wonderful Grace declared in his Saints in the Blessed Virgin the Patriarchs Apostles Prophets and Martyrs and they commended the Saints departed to Gods Mercy and Peace that at the day of the Resurrection we with them might be set on Christs Right Hand To this the consecratory Prayer which we now use was joyned as a part of it only with these words that are since left out With thy Holy Spirit vouchsafe to Ble † ss and Sanc † tifie these thy Gifts and Creatures of Bread and Wine that they may be unto us the Body and Blood of thy most dearly beloved Son c. To the Consecration was also joyned the Prayer of Thanksgiving now used After the Consecration all Elevation was forbidden which had been first used as a Rite expressing how Christ was lifted up on the Cross but was after the belief of the Corporal Presence made use of to shew the Sacrament that the People might all fall down and worship it And it was ordered That the whole Office of the Communion except the Consecratory Prayer should be used on all Holy-days when there was no Communion to put People in mind of it and of the Sufferings of Christ The Bread was to be unleavened round but no print on it and somewhat thicker than it was formerly And though it was anciently put in the Peoples Hands yet because some might carry it away and apply it to superstitious uses it was ordered to be put by the Priest into their Mouths It is clear that Christ delivered it into the Hands of the Apostles and it so continued for many Ages as appears by several remarkable Stories of Holy Men carrying it with them in their Journeys In the Greek Church where the Bread and Wine were mingled together some began to think it more decent to receive it in little Spoons of Gold than in their Hands but that was condemned by the Council in Trullo Yet soon after they began in the Latin Church to appoint Men to receive it with their Hands but Women to take it in a Linnen Cloath which was called their Dominical But when the belief of the Corporeal Presence was received then a new way of receiving was invented among other things to support it The People were now no more to touch that which was conceived to be the Flesh of their Saviour and therefore the Priests Thumb and Fingers were particularly anointed as a necessary disposition for so holy a Contact and so it was by them put into the Mouths of the People A Letany was also gathered consisting of many short Petitions interrupted by Suffrages between them and was the same that we still use only they had one Suffrage that we have not to be delivered from the tyranny of the Bishop of Rome and all his detestable enormities In Baptism there was besides the Forms which we still retain a Cross at first made on the Childs Forehead and Breast with an adjuration of the Devil to go out of him and come at him no more Then the Priest was to take the Child by the Right Hand and to place him within the Font there he was to be dipt thrice once on the right side once on the left and once on the Breast which was to be discreetly done but if the Child were weak it was sufficient to sprinkle Water on his Face Then was the Priest to put a White Vestment or Chrisome on him for a token of Innocence and to anoint him on the Head with a Prayer for the Unction of the Holy Ghost In Confirmation those that came were to be Catechised which having in it a formal engagement to make good the Baptismal Vow was all that was asked The Catechism then was the same that is now only there is since added an Explanation of the Sacraments This being said the Bishop was to Sign them with the Cross and to lay his Hands on them and say I Sign thee with the Sign of the Cross and lay my Hands on thee in the Name of the Father c. The Sick who desired to be anointed might have the Unction on their Forehead or their Breast only with a Prayer that as their Body was outwardly anointed with Oyl so they might receive the Holy Ghost with Health and victory over Sin and Death At Funerals they recommended the Soul departed to Gods Mercy and prayed that his sins might be pardoned that he might be delivered from Hell and carried to Heaven and that his Body might be raised at the last day They also took care that those who could not come or be brought to Church should not therefore be deprived of the use of the Sacraments The Church of Rome had raised the belief of the indispensable necessity of the Sacraments so high that they taught they did ex opere operato by the very action it self without inward acts justifie and confer Grace unless there were a barr put to it by the Receiver and the first rise of the Questions about Justification seems to have come from this For that Church teaching that Men were justified by Sacramental Actions the Reformers opposed this and thought Men were justified by the Internal Acts of the Mind If they had held at this the Controversie might have been managed with much greater advantages which they lost in a great measure by descending to some minuter subtleties In the Church of Rome pursuant to their belief concerning the necessity of the Sacraments Women were allowed in extream Cases to Baptize and the Midwives commonly did it which might be the beginning of their being licensed by Bishops to exercise that Calling And they also believed that a simple attrition with the Sacraments was sufficient for Salvation in those who were grown up and upon these Grounds the Sacraments were administred to the Sick In the Primitive Church they sent Portions of the Sacrament to those who were sick or in Prison and did it not only without Pomp or Processions but sent it often by the hands of Boys and other Laicks as appears from the famed Story of Serapion which as it shews they did not then believe it was the very Flesh and Blood of Christ so when that Doctrine was received it was
silent only after long intervals cried out sometimes Chastise me Lord but throw me not off in mine old Age. He was by order from Cranmer and Sir John Cheek buried with the highest Solemnities that could be devised to express the value the University had for him The Vice-Chancellor and all the Graduates and the Major with all the Town accompanied his Funeral to St. Maries where after Prayers Haddon the University Orator made such a Speech concerning him and pronounced it with that affection that almost the whole Assembly shed Tears Next Dr. Parker that had been his most intimate Friend made an English Sermon in his praise and concerning the sorrowing for our departed Friends And the day following Dr. Redmayn then Mr. of Trinity Colledge made another Sermon concerning Death and in it gave a full account of Bucers Life and Death He particularly commended the great sweetness of his temper to all but remarkably to those who differed from him Redmayn and he had differed in many things both concerning Justification and the Influences of the Divine Grace But he said as Bucer had satisfied him in some things so he believed if he had lived he had satisfied him in more and that he being dead he knew none alive from whom he could learn so much This Character given him by so grave and learned a Man who was in many Points of a different perswasion from him was a great commendation to them both And Redmayn was indeed an extraordinary Person All in the University that were eminent either in Greek or Latin Poetry did adorn his Coffin with Epitaphs in which they expressed a very extraordinary sense of their loss about which one Carr writ a copious and passionate Letter to Sir John Cheek But Peter Martyr bore his death with the most sensible sorrow that could be imagined having in him lost a Father and the only intimate Friend he had in England His Character He was a very learned judicious pious and moderate Person Perhaps he was inferior to none of all the Reformers for Learning but for Zeal for true Piety and a most tender care of preserving Unity among the Forreign Churches Melancthon and he without any injury done the rest may be ranked a-part by themselves He was much opposed by the Popish Party at Cambridge who though they complied with the Law and so kept their Places yet either in the way of Argument as it had been for disputes sake or in such Points as were not determined set themselves much to lessen his esteem Nor was he furnished naturally with the quickness that is necessary for a Dispute from which they studied to draw advantages and therefore Peter Martyr writ to him to avoid all publick Disputes with them For they did not deal candidly on these occasions They often kept up their Questions till the hour of the Dispute that so the extemporary faculty of him who was to preside might be the more exposed and right or wrong they used to make Exclamations and run away with a Triumph In one of his Letters to Bucer he particularly mentions Dr. Smith for an Instance of this It was that Smith he said who writ against the Marriage of Priests and yet was believed to live in Adultery with his Mans Wife This Letter was occasioned by the Disputes that were in August the former Year between Bucer and Sedgwick Young and Pern about the Authority of the Scripture and the Church Which Disputes Bucer intending to publish caused them to be writ out and sent the Copy to them to be corrected offering them that if any thing was omitted that they had said or if they had any thing else to say which was forgot in the Dispute they might add it but they sent back the Papers to him without vouchsafing to read them At Ratisbone he had a Conference with Gardiner who was then King Henry's Ambassador in which Gardiner broke out into such a violent passion that as he spared no reproachful words so the Company thought he would have fall'n on Bucer and beat him he was in such disorder that the little Vein between his Thumb and Fore-finger did swell and palpitate which Bucer said he had never before that observed in any Person in his life But as Bucer was taken away by death Gardiner is deprived so Gardiner was soon after put out which was a kind of death though he had afterwards a Resurrection fatal to very many There was a Commission issued out to the Arch-bishop the Bishops of London Ely and Lincoln Secretary Petre Judge Hales Griffith and Leyson two Civilians and Goodrick and Gosnosd two Masters of Chancery to proceed against Gardiner for his contempt in the matters formerly objected to him He put in a Compurgation by which he endeavoured to shew there was malice born to him and Conspiracies against him as appeared by the Business of Sir Hen. Knevet mentioned in the former Part and the leaving him out of the late Kings Will which he said was procured by his Enemies He complained of his long Imprisonment without any Trial and that Articles of one sort after another were brought to him so that it was plain he was not detained for any Crime but to try if such usage could force him to do any thing that should be imposed on him He declared that what Order soever were set out by the Kings Council he should never speak against it but to the Council themselves and that though he could not give consent to the Changes before they were made he was now well satisfied to obey them but he would never make any acknowledgment of any fault The things chiefly laid against him were that being required he refused to preach concerning the Kings Power when he was under Age and that he had affronted Preachers sent by the King into his Diocess and had been negligent in obeying the Kings Injunctions and continued after all so obstinate that he would not confess his fault nor ask the King mercy His Crimes were aggravated by this that his timely asserting the Kings Power under Age might have been a great mean for preventing the Rebellion and Effusion of Blood which had afterwards happened chiefly on that pretence to which his obstinacy had given no small occasion Upon this many Witnesses were examined chiefly the Duke of Somerset the Earls of Wilt-shire and Bedford who deposed against him But to this he answered That he was not required to do it by any Order of Council but only in a private Discourse to which he did not think himself bound to give obedience Other Witnesses were also examined on the other Particulars But he appealed from the Delegates to the King in Person Yet his Judges on the 18th of April gave sentence against him by which for his disobedience and contempt they deprived him of his Bishoprick Upon that he renewed his Protestation and Appeal and so his Process ended and he was sent back to the Tower where he lay till
And if the Arch-duke Charles Philip's only Son died they should succeed to all Her and His Dominions If she had only Daughters they should succeed to her Crowns and the Netherlands if they married by their Brothers consent or otherwise they should have such Portions as was ordinarily given to those of their Rank But if the Queen had no Issue the King vvas not to pretend to any part of the Government after her death but the Crown vvas to descend according to the Laws of England to her Heirs There vvas to be a perpetual League betwixt England and Spain but this was not to be in prejudice of their League with France vvhich vvas still to continue in force These were the Conditions agreed on and afterwards confirmed in Parliament by vvhich it appears the Spaniards vvere resolved to have the Marriage on any Terms reckoning that if Prince Philip vvere once in England he could easily enlarge his Authority vvhich vvas hereby so much restrained The Match generally disliked It was now apparent the Queen vvas to Marry the Prince of Spain vvhich gave an universal discontent to the vvhole Nation All that loved the Reformation saw that not only their Religion vvould be changed but a Spanish Government and Inquisition vvould be set up in its stead Those vvho considered the Civil Liberties of the Kingdom vvithout great regard to Religion concluded that England would become a Province to Spain and they saw how they governed the Netherlands and heard how they ruled Milan Naples and Sicily but above all they heard the most Inhumane things that ever any Age produced had been Acted by them in their new conquest in the West-Indies It was said what might they expect but to lye at the mercy of such Tyrannical Masters who would not be long kept within the Limits that were now prescribed All the great conditions now talked of were but the guilding the Pill but its operation would be fatal if they once swallowed it down These things had Influence on many But the chief Conspirators were the Duke of Suffolk Plots to oppose it Sir Thomas Wiat and Sir Peter Carew The one was to raise the Mid-land Counties the other to raise Cornwal and Wiat was to raise Kent Hoping by rising in such remote places so to distract the Government that they should be able to engage the Commons who were now as much distasted with the Queen as they had been formerly fond of her Are discovered But as Carew was carrying on his Design in the West it came to be discovered and one that he had trusted much in it was taken upon that Carew fled over into France Wiat was in Kent when he heard this but had not yet laid his Business as he intended Therefore fearing to be undone by the Discovery that was made he gathered some Men about him and on the 25th of January went to Maidston There he made Proclamation Wiat breaks out that he intended nothing but to preserve the Liberty of the Nation 1554. and keep it from coming under the Yoke of Strangers which he said all the Council one or two excepted were against and assured the People that all the Nobility and chief Men of England would concur with them He said nothing of Religion but in private assured those that were for the Reformation that he would declare for them One Roper came and declared him and his Company Traitors but he took him with some Gentlemen that were gathering to oppose him From thence he went to Rochester and writ to the Sheriff of Kent desiring his Assistance against the Strangers for there were already as he said an hundred Armed Spaniards landed at Dover The Sheriff sent him word That if he and those with him had any Suits they were to make them to the Queen on their knees but not with Swords in their hands and required them to disperse under pain of Treason Wiat kept his Men in good order so that they did no hurt but only took all the Arms they could find At the same time one Isley and Knevet gathered People together about Tunbridg and went to join with Wiat. The Queen sent down a Herald to him with a Pardon if he would disperse his Company in 24 hours but Wiat made him deliver his Message at the end of Rochester Bridg and so sent him away The High Sheriff gathered together as many as he could and shewed them how they were abused by Lyes there was no Spaniards landed at all and those that were to come were to be their Friends and Confederates against their Enemies Those that he brought together went to Gravesend to meet the Duke of Norfolk and Sir Hen. Jerningham who were come thither with 600 Men from London and they hearing that Knevet was in his way to Rochester went and intercepted and routed him sixty of his Men were killed the rest saved themselves in the Woods The News of this disheartned Wiat much who was seen to weep and called for a Coat which he stuffed with Angels designing to have escaped But the Duke of Norfolk marching to Rochester with 200 Horse and 600 Foot commanded by one Bret they were wrought on by a pretended Desertor Harper who seemed to come over from Wiat he persuaded the Londoners The Londoners revolt that it was only the preservation of the Nation from the Spaniards that they designed and it was certain none would suffer under that Yoke more than they This had such an effect on them that they all cried out We are all English Men and went over to Wiat. So the Duke of Norfolk was forced to march back And now Kent was all open to Wiat who thereupon sent one to the Duke of Suffolk pressing him to make haste and raise his Country but the Bearer was intercepted Upon that the Earl of Huntington was sent down with some Horse to seize on him The Duke was at all times a mean-spirited Man but it never appeared more than now For after a faint endeavour to raise the Country he gave it over and concealed himself in a privat House but was betrayed by him to whom he had trusted himself into the hands of the Earl of Huntington and so was brought to the Tower Wiat's Party increasing they turned towards London As they came to Debtford Sir Edward Hastings and Sir Thomas Cornwallis came to them in the Queen's Name to ask what vvould content them Wiat desired that he might have the Command of the Tower that the Queen might stay under his Guard and that the Council might be changed Upon these extravagant Propositions Wiat's Demands there passed high words and the Privy Counsellors returned to the Queen After this she vvent into Guild-hall and there gave an account of her Message to Wiat and his Answer And for her Marriage she said she did nothing in it but by advice of her Council and spoke very tenderly of the love she bore to her People and to that City
and Queen and be obedient to their Superiors both Spiritual and Temporal according to their duties It is plain this was so contrived that they might have Signed it without either prevaricating or dissembling their Opinions for it is not said That they were to be subject to the Church of Rome but to the Church of Christ and they were to be obedient to their Superiors according to their duties which was a good reserve for their Consciences I stand the longer on this that it may appear how willing the Cardinal was to accept of any shew of submission from them and to stop Bonners rage Upon this they were set at liberty But Bonner got three Men and two Women presented to him in London in January and after he had allowed them a little more time than he had granted others they standing still firm to their Faith were burnt at Smithfield on the 12th of April After that White the new Bishop of Winchester condemned three who were burnt on the third of May in Southwark one of these Stephen Gratwick being of the Diocess of Chichester appealed from him to his own Ordinary whether he expected more favour from him or did it only to gain time I know not but they brought in a Counterfeit who was pretended to be the Bishop of Chichester as Fox has printed it from the account written with the Man 's own Hand and so condemned him On the seventh of May three were burnt a Bristol On the 18th of June two Men and five Women were burnt at Maidston and on the 19th three Men and four Women were burnt at Canterbury fourteen being thus in two days destroyed by Thornton and Harpsfield in which it may seem strange that the Cardinal had less influence to stop the Proceedings in his own Diocess than in London but he was now under the Popes disgrace as shall be afterwards shewn On the 22d of June six Men and four Women were burnt at Lewis in Sussex condemned by White for Christopherson Bishop Elect of Chichester was not yet consecrated On the 13th of July two were burnt at Norwich On the second of August ten were burnt at Colchester six in the Morning and four in the Afternoon they were some of those who had been formerly discharged by the Cardinals Orders but the Priests in the Country complained that the mercy shewed to them had occasioned great disorders among them Hereticks and the favourers of them growing insolent upon it and those who searched after them being disheartned so now Bonner being under no more restraints from the Cardinal new Complaints being made that they came not to Church condemned them upon their Answers to the Articles which he objected to them At this time one George Eagle a Taylor who used to go about from place to place and to meet with those who stood for the Reformation where he prayed and discoursed with them about Religion and from his indefatigable diligence was nicknamed Trudge-over was taken near Colchester and was condemned of Treason for gathering the Queens Subjects together though it was not proved that he had ever stirred them up to Rebellion but did it only as himself always protested to encourage them to continue stedfast in the Faith he suffered as a Traitor On the fifth of August one was burnt at Norwich and on the 20th a Man and a Woman more were burnt at Rochester One was also burnt at Litchfield in August but the day is not named The same Month a Complaint was brought to the Council of the Magistrates of Bristol that they came seldom to the Sermons at the Cathedral so that the Dean and Chapter used to go to their Houses in Procession with their Cross carried before them and to fetch them from thence upon which a Letter was written to them requiring them to conform themselves more willingly to the Orders of the Church to frequent the Sermons and go thither of their own accord On the 17th of September three Men and one Woman were burnt at Islington near London and on the same day two Women were burnt at Colchester On the 20th a Man was burnt at Northampton and in the same Month one was burnt at Laxefield in Suffolk On the 23d a Woman was burnt at Norwich There were seventeen burnt in the Diocess of Chichester about this time one was a Priest thirteen were Lay-men and three Women but the day is not marked On the 18th of November three were burnt in Smithfield On the 12d of December John Rough a Scotchman was burnt whose suffering was on this occasion On the 12th of December there was a private Meeting of such as continued to Worship God according to the Service set out by King Edward at Islington where he was to have administred the Sacrament according to the Order of that Book The new Inquisitors had corrupted one of this Congregation to betray his Brethren so that they were apprehended as they were going to the Communion But Rough being a Stranger it was considered by the Council whether he should be tried as a Native He had a Benefice in York-shire in King Edwards days so it was resolved and signified to the Bishop of London that he should be proceeded against as a Subject Thereupon Bonner objected to him his condemning the Doctrine of the Church and setting out the Heresies of Cranmer and Ridley concerning the Sacrament and his using the Service set out by King Edward that he had lived much with those who for their Heresies had fled beyond Sea that he had spoken reproachfully of the Pope and Cardinals saying That when he was at Rome he had seen a Bull of the Popes that licensed Stews and a Cardinal riding openly with his Whore with him with several other Articles The greatest part of them he confessed and thereupon he with a Woman that was one of the Congregation was burnt in Smithfield And thus ended the Burnings this Year seventy nine in all being burnt These severities against the Hereticks made the Queen shew less pity to the Lord Stourton The Lord Stourton hanged for Murder than perhaps might have been otherwise expected He had been all King Edwards time a most zealous Papist and did constantly dissent in Parliament from the Laws then made about Religion But he had the former Year murdered one Argall and his Son with whom he had been long at variance and after he had knock'd them down with Clubs and cut their Throats he buried them fifteen Foot under ground thinking thereby to conceal the Fact but it breaking out both he and four of his Servants were taken and indicted for it He was found guilty of Felony and condemned to be hanged with his Servants in Wilt-shire where the Murder was committed On the sixth of March they were hanged at Salisbury All the difference that was made in their Deaths being only thus That whereas his Servants were hanged in common Halters one of Silk was bestowed on their Lord. It seemed an indecent thing
despise their Doctrine whose Persons they have in contempt 10. Look into the whole World Christian or Unchristian and see if the Civil State in every Place be not supported and maintained by the Dignity and Authority of their Clergies subordinate and subjected unto them As on the contrary where the Clergy is base and contemptible there grows an Anarchy and Confusion It is Conscience that works Obedience to the temporal Magistrate not Constitutions nor Constraint the one may command it the other may correct the breach of it only Religion effects a peaceable Subjection 11. It concerneth the Clergy most of all Men in England that the present State be continued as now it is happily established without any alteration Whereas some others in that House may think it would be good for them to fish in troubled Waters or that any change would be better to them than their present Estate wherein they live so Malecontent through their own unthriftiness or malignity of Nature or perverseness of Opinion 12. If hereafter God in justice should plague us for our Sins by taking away the joy of our Hearts yet how greatly would it tend to his Glory the Good of this Land and the Honour of her blessed Memory if it shall please her Majesty to leave a Portion of the Clergy interessed in that House where they may stand for the Godly Government established in her days against all Innovation of Popery or Puritanism 13. In the mean time which God in Mercy grant may be for many Generations her Majesty shall be sure of a number more in that Assembly that ever will be most ready to maintain her Prerogative and to enact whatsoever may make most for her Highness safety and contentment as the Men that next under God's Goodness do most depend upon her Princely Clemency and Protection 14. It would much recover the ancient Estimation and Authority of that Assembly if it might be encreased with Men of Religion Learning and Discretion which now is somewhat imbased by Youths Serving-men and Out-Laws that injuriously are crept into the Honourable House 15. And it is the more necessary that there were some more Men of Sobriety and Judgment in that Meeting that might counterpoise the haste and headiness of others that have intruded themselves especially considering that a Cipher is as sufficient to promote a single Figure of One into the place of Ten as the best Man that giveth Voice in that House when they come to calculating Number 19. A Letter of Martin Bucers to Gropper Gratiam Pacem Doctissime Amicissime Vir. QUod tam sero respondeo ad tuas Literas Ex M S. Col. C. C. Cantab. quanquam etiam occupationes Ministerii mei tamen id magis in causa fuit quod non satis liqueret quomodo respondere conveniret simul meae in te Charitati meoque Ministerio praesenti temporis conditioni Sed tamen quia Charitati Deus facile omnia secundat frugifera facit hac incitatus nunc respondeo respondeo ex ejus dictatione Et primum de eo quod te de meo adventu Ministerio non praemonuerim Quod per totam Germaniam increbuerat etiam antea-quam Ego certus de vocatione ista essem non putavi te latere posse Mox etiam ut adveni priusquam aliquid Ministerii inivissem tuum colloquiuum expetii Certe nihil maluissem quam a te ante omnia doceri institui Novit Christus quid tibi Tribuam Quod scribis te cupere meam conditionem sic esse ut Clero Populo Vestrae Coloniae Agrippinae gratus esse placere possem nunc cum secus se res habeant non esse quod tibi quid imputem Tibi optime Groppere nihil hujus imputo confido enim te me quo ipse loco habes eo etiam studere apud alios collocare Sed cogitemus juxta cui Ego Clero istic cui populo cur gratus minus sim non placeam Clerus Populus Christi cum Domino suo Personam nullam in invocantibus Christum in iis praesertim quos aliqua Religionis Nostrae opinio commendat aversatur quamvis deprehensi in contumelia Christi in desertione verbi ejus in Scandalo objecto Ecclesiae ejus Lex nostra non Judicat quenquam nisi audierit prius ab eo cognoverit quid fecerit Audiant cognoscant tum Judicent si audire cognoscere nolunt nec Judicare jure possunt Vulgata est haec Responsio sed nosti etiam Jure Divino Naturae scripto ab hominibus niti Sed O Clerum O sortem Domini habentes Christum sortem suam Gratias ago Christo Domino nostro quod in me nihil deprehendet vester Clerus Populus cur me ullo Jure abjicere nedum persequi queant Assumpsit me Dominus Servorum non est rejicere posuit me in Ministerium suum Christus depelli me eo nemo de Clero Christi postulabit Agnoscunt se invicem amant atque in opere eodem promovent quicunque Christi Spiritu vivunt aguntur qui hunc non habent Christi non sunt quicquid ipsi se vel alii eos vocent Displicet in me quod videor aliquid Canonum sed humanitus tantum Conditorum transgressus Hoc si propter Ecclesiam Christi vel ejus aedificationem vel ornatum displiceret non tolerata fuissent tam diu hodie tolerarentur tam horrendae Manifestae Simoniae Sacrilegia vitae totius tanta adeoque Canonibus Divinis Legibus graviter damnata foeditas Christi igitur veritas libertas in me istis displicet non transgressio Canonum quam in summa necessariis Sanctionibus penitus tot jam saeculis pro ridiculo habent Consolabor itaque me in Domino Beati estis cum vos odio habuerint homines a se excluserint atque convitiis prosciderint rejecerint nomen vestrum tanquam nefandum Causa filii hominis Qui in Coelis sedet Pater ridet profecto hosce conatus contra Regnum Filii sui brevi loquetur illis in ira sua Avertat misericordia ejus quae sequuntur Deploranda profecto Caecitas non videre hanc Dei clarissimam Lucem infanda stupiditas ista Dei Judicia non sentire Quotidie enim vident audiunt ut collidantur qui impingunt in hanc poenam Scandali ut commolat illa in quos ipsa ceciderit tamen conantur adhuc rejicere hunc lapidem quem Pater in Zion pro fundamento angulo posuit Sed dolent haec tibi ac mecum ea deploras provides enim quid ista malorum invehant adhuc invectura sint Audio plerosque multo quam antea solitum fuit concionari purius audivi etiam quosdam ipse in quorum concionibus nihil reprehendendum audiebatur at quam multa desiderabantur Nam pro Amplitudine
King Edward the 6th by the same Act limited and appointed to remain to the Lady Mary his eldest Daughter and to the Heirs of her Body lawfully begotten And for default of such Issue the Remainder thereof to the Lady Elizabeth by the Name of the Lady Elizabeth his second Daughter and to the Heirs of her Body lawfully begotten with such Conditions as should be limited and appointed by the said late King of worthy memory King Henry the 8th our Progenitor our Great Uncle by his Letters Patents under his Great Seal or by his last Will in writing signed with his Hand And forasmuch as the said Limitation of the Imperial Crown of this Realm being limited as is afore-said to the said Lady Mary and Lady Elizabeth being illegitimate and not lawfully begotten for that the Marriage had between ●he said late King King Henry the 8th our Progenitor and Great Uncle and the Lady Katherine Mother to the said Lady Mary and also the Marriage had between the said late King King Henry the 8th our Progenitor and Great Uncle and the Lady Ann Mother to the said Lady Elizabeth were clearly and lawfully undone by Sentences of Divorce according to the Word of God and the Ecclesiastical Laws and which said several Divorcements have been severally ratified and confirmed by Authority of Parliament and especially in the 28th Year of the Reign of King Henry the 8th our said Progenitor and Great Uncle remaining in force strength and effect whereby as well the said Lady Mary as also the said Lady Elizabeth to all intents and purposes are and been clearly disabled to ask claim or challenge the said Imperial Crown or any other of the Honours Castles Manours Lordships Lands Tenements or other Hereditaments as Heir or Heirs to our said late Cousin King Edward the 6th or as Heir or Heirs to any other Person or Persons whatsoever as well for the Cause before rehearsed as also for that the said Lady Mary and Lady Elizabeth were unto our said late Cousin but of the half Blood and therefore by the Ancient Laws Statutes and Customs of this Realm be not inheritable unto our said late Cousin although they had been born in lawful Matrimony as indeed they were not as by the said Sentences of Divorce and the said Statute of the 28th Year of the Reign of King Henry the 8th our said Proge●●●or and Great Uncle plainly appeareth And forasmuch also as it is to be thought or at the least much to be doubted that if the said Lady Mary or Lady Elizabeth should hereafter have or enjoy the said Imperial Crown of this Realm and should then happen to marry with any Stranger born out of this Realm that then the said Stranger having the Government and Imperial Crown in his Hands would adhere and practise not only to bring this Noble Free Realm into the Tyranny and Servitude of the Bishops of Rome but also to have the Laws and Customs of his or their own Native Country or Countries to be practised and put in ure within this Realm rather than the Laws Statutes and Customs here of long time used whereupon the Title of Inheritance of all and singular the Subjects of this Realm do depend to the peril of Conscience and the uttersubversion of the Common-Weal of this Realm Whereupon our said late dear Cousin weighing and considering within himself which ways and means were most convenient to be had for the stay of the said Succession in the said Imperial Crown if it should please God to call our said late Cousin out of this transitory Life having no Issue of his Body And calling to his remembrance that We and the Lady Katharine and the Lady Mary our Sisters being the Daughters of the Lady Frances our natural Mother and then and yet Wife to our natural and most loving Father Henry Duke of Suffolk and the Lady Margaret Daughter of the Lady Elianor then deceased Sister to the said Lady Frances and the late Wife of our Cousin Henry Earl of Cumberland were very nigh of his Graces Blood of the part of his Fathers side our said Progenitor and great Uncle and being naturally born here within the Realm And for the very good Opinion our said late Cousin had of our said Sisters and Cousin Margarets good Education did therefore upon good deliberation and advice herein had and taken by his said Letters Patents declare order assign limit and appoint that if it should fortune himself our said late Cousin King Edward the Sixth to decease having no Issue of his Body lawfully begotten that then the said Imperial Crown of England and Ireland and the Confines of the same and his Title to the Crown of the Realm of France and all and singular Honours Castles Prerogatives Privileges Preheminencies and Authorities Jurisdictions Dominions Possessions and Hereditaments to our said late Cousin K. Edward the Sixth or to the said Imperial Crown belonging or in any wise appertaining should for lack of such Issue of his Body remain come and be to the eldest Son of the Body of the said Lady Frances lawfully begotten being born into the World in his Life-time and to the Heirs Males of the Body of such eldest Son lawfully begotten and so from Son to Son as he should be of vicinity of Birth of the Body of the said Lady Frances lawfully begotten being born into the World in our said late Cousins Life-time and to the Heirs Male of the Body of every such Son lawfully begotten And for default of such Son born into the World in his life-time of the Body of the said Lady Frances lawfully begotten and for lack of Heirs Males of every such Son lawfully begotten that then the said Imperial Crown and all and singular other the Premises should remain come and be to us by the Name of the Lady Jane eldest Daughter of the said Lady Frances and to the Heirs Males of our Body lawfully begotten and for lack of such Issue then to the Lady Katherine aforesaid our said second Sister and the Heirs Male of her Body lawfully begotten with divers other Remainders as by the same Letters Patents more plainly and at large it may and doth appear Sithence the making of our Letters Patents that is to say on Thursday which was the 6th day of this instant Month of July it hath pleased God to call unto his infinite Mercy our said most dear and entirely beloved Cousin Edward the Sixth whose Soul God pardon and forasmuch as he is now deceased having no Heirs of his Body begotten and that also there remaineth at this present time no Heirs lawfully begotten of the Body of our said Progenitor and great Uncle King Henry the Eighth And forasmuch also as the said Lady Frances our said Mother had no Issue Male begotten of her Body and born into the World in the life-time of our said Cousin King Edward the Sixth so as the said Imperial Crown and other the Premises to the same belonging or in any wise appertaining
to preserve the Catholick Religion both which she promised but performed neither This is said without any Proof and is not at all probable but is an Ornament added to set off the one and blemish the other Queen Mary's Sickness was concealed as much as was possible A week before her Death they were burning Hereticks as busily as ever and by the managing Affairs in the Parliament it appears there was great care taken to conceal the desperate Condition she was in so it is not likely that any such Messages was sent by her to her Sister And thus far have I traced our Author in the History he gives of the Reigns of King Henry the Eighth Edward the Sixth and Queen Mary and have discovered an equal measure of Ignorance and Malice in him but he was the fitter to serve their Ends who employed him and were resolved to believe him how false or improbable soever his Relation might be We see what use they have made of him ever since that Time His Friends were so sensible of the Advantage their Cause received from such a way of Writing that they resolved to continue down the History through Queen Elizabeth's Reign in which we are told Sanders himself made some Progress but that not being done to such a perfection as Rishton and others intended to bring it they undertook it and have written so skilfully after the Copy Sanders had given them that if it is possible they have out-done him in these two particular Excellencies of writing Histories in which he was so great a Master Impudence and Falshood as to Matter of Fact In one thing they had manifestly the better of him that they writing of what fell out in their own Time could not be ignorant of the truth of Things whereas he writing of what was done before he was born or when he was but a Child might have said many things more innocently delivering them as he had them by report But this Excuse cannot fit them who did knowingly and on Design prevaricate so grosly in Matters of Fact A little taste of these I shall give only so far as I have carried down the History of this Queen for to examine all the Faults they have committed would require a new Volume but from the taste I shall give the Reader he will easily know what judgment to pass on the whole work As for the Decency of the Style the first Period gives an Essay of it in which the Author promises such a Description of the Queen's Reign that this Lioness shall be known by her Claws And for his sincerity in writing the whole Preface is one indication of it in which he accuses the Queen for acting against the Laws of Nature and Religion in assuming the Supremacy and represents it so that the Reader must needs think she was the High Priest of England that ordained Bishops and Ministers and performed all other Holy Offices whereas she was so scrupulous in this Point that as she would not be called the Supream Head of this Church so she made it be declared both in one of the Articles of Religion set forth in the beginning of her Reign and afterwards in an Act of Parliament what was the nature of that Supremacy which she assumed making it both a part of the Religion and the Law of the Land By these it was declared that they gave her not the Ministry of God's Word or of the Sacraments but only that Prerogative which was given by God himself in the Scriptures to Godly Princes that they should rule all committed to their charge by God whether they be Ecclesiastical or Temporal and restrain with the Civil Sword the stubborn and evil Doers If Men were not past shame they could not after such an express and publick Declaration put on the confidence of writing as this Author does I shall follow him in some more steps and doubt not not but I shall convince the Reader that he was the fittest Man that could be found to have writ a Continuation of Sanders's History Pag. 255. 1. He says Henry the Second of France in a solemn Assembly did after Queen Mary's Death declare the Queen of Scotland his Daughter-in-Law Queen of England and Ireland This was neither done in a Solemn Assembly nor presently after Queen Mary's Death nor was it done by Henry the Second The Queen of Scotland did by her Uncles Advice assume that Title without any publick Act and it was not done till they understood that Philip was moving for a Dispensation in the Court of Rome for marrying Queen Elizabeth King Henry did only connive at it but neither ordered it nor justified it when the Queen's Ambassador complained of it An Author that is so happy in his first Period as to make three such Mistakes is likely to give us an excellent History Ibid. 2. He says The Arch-Bishop of York and all the other Bishops one only excepted refused to anoint her This was one of the most extraordinary things that ever was in any Government that the Bishops refusing to crown the Queen were not only not punished for it but continued to hold their Bishopricks still and the Arch-Bishop of York was continued a Privy Counsellor many months after this This is none of the Claws of a Lioness but rather a slackness and easiness of Clemency that deserves censure if it had not been that the Queen resolved to begin her Reign with the most signal Acts of Mercy that were possible Pag. 256. 3. He says Cecil and his Friend Bacon raised vast Estates to themselves and involved the Government into vast Difficulties and brought the Queen's Revenue into great or rather inextricable Confusion This may pass among Forreigners and perhaps be believed but we at home that when we wish for happy Times and excellent Counsellors do naturally reflect on the Days of that glorious Queen and her wise Councils will not be much wrought on by it The Revenue was never better managed the Undertakings of the Government were never greater and the Charge was never less This gives a Character of those Ministers beyond all exception Sir Nicholas Bacon never raised himself above that Quality which he brought with him into the Court. And Cecil was not advanced above the lowest Rank of Nobility tho he was in the chief Ministry above thirty Years and though they both left good Estates behind them yet far short of what might have been expected after so long a course in such great and high Employments 4. He says Pag. 257. There was an Oath enacted in the Parliament for the Queen's Supremacy and those who refused to swear it for the first Offence were to forfeit their Benefices and all their Goods and to be Prisoners for Life the second Offence was made Treason Such a false recital of a printed Act deserves a severer Animadversion than I shall bestow on it The refusing that Oath did infer no other punishment but the forfeiture of Benefices and