than to make a new one which might give occasion to more Objections and he was the most indifferent Writer they knew Afterwards Cranmer knowing what was likely to work most on him let fall some words as Gardiner writ to the Protector of bringing him into the Privy-Council if he would concur in what they were carrying on But that not having its ordinary effect on him he was carried back to the Fleet. There were also many complaints brought by some Clergy-men of such as had used them ill for their obeying the Kings Injunctions and for removing Images Many were upon their submission sent away with a severe rebuke others that offended more hainously were put in the Fleet for some time and afterwards giving Bond for their good behaviour were discharged But upon the Protectors return the Bishop of Winchester writ him a long Letter in his own vindication He complained of the Visitors proceeding in his absence in so great a matter He said the Injunctions were contrary to themselves for they appointed the Homilies to be read and Erasmus's Paraphrase to be put in all Churches so he selected many passages out of these that were contrary to one another He also gathered many things out of Erasmus's Paraphrase that were contrary to the Power of Princes and several other censurable things in that Work which Erasmus wrote when he was young being of a far different strain from what he writ when he grew older and better acquainted with the World But he concluded his Letter with a discourse of the extent of the King and Councils Power Collection Number 14. which is all I transcribed of it being very long and full of things of no great consequence He questions how far the King could command against Common or Statute Law of which himself had many occasions to be well informed Cardinal Wolsey had obtained his Legatine Power at the Kings desire but notwithstanding that he was brought into a Praemunire and the Lawyers upon that Argument cited many Precedents of Judges that were fined when they transgressed the Laws though commanded by Warrants from the King and Earl Typteft who was Chancellor lost his Head for acting upon the Kings Warrant against Law In the late Kings time the Judges would not set Fines on the breakers of the Kings Proclamations when they were contrary to Law till the Act concerning them was passed about which there were many hot words when it was debated He mentions a Discourse that passed between him and the Lord Audley in the Parliament concerning the Kings Supremacy Audley bid him look the Act of Supremacy and he would see the Kings doings were restrained to Spiritual Jurisdiction and by another Act no Spiritual Law could take place against the Common Law or an Act of Parliament otherwise the Bishops would strike in with the King and by means of the Supremacy would order the Law as they pleased but we will provide said he that the Praemunire shall never go off of your backs In some late Cases he heard the Judges declare what the King might do against an Act of Parliament and what danger they were in that medled in such matters These things being so fresh in his memory he thought he might write what he did to the Lords of Council But by this it appears that no sort of Men is so much for the Kings Prerogative but when it becomes in any instance uneasie to them they will shelter themselves under the Law He continued afterwards by many Letters to the Protector to complain of his ill usage That he had been then seven weeks in the Fleet without Servants a Chaplain or a Physician that though he had his Writ of Summons he was not suffered to come to the Parliament which might be a ground afterwards of questioning their Proceedings He advised the Protector not to make himself a Party in these matters and used all the insinuations of decent flattery that he could invent with many sharp reflections on Cranmer and stood much on the force of Laws that they could not be repealed by the Kings Will. Concerning which he mentions a Passage that fell out between Cromwel and himself before the late King Cromwel said That the King might make or repeal Laws as the Roman Emperors did and asked his opinion about it whether the Kings Will was not a Law To which he answered facetiously That he thought it was much better for the King to make the Law his Will than to make his Will a Law But notwithstanding all his Letters which are printed in the second Volume of Acts and Monum Edit 1641. yet he continued a Prisoner till the Parliament was over and then by the Act of Pardon he was set at liberty This was much censured as an invasion of Liberty and it was said these at Court durst not suffer him to come to the House lest he had confounded them in all they did And the explaining Justification with so much nicety in Homilies that were to be read to the People was thought a needless subtilty But the former abuses of trusting to the Acts of Charity that Men did by which they fancied they bought Heaven made Cranmer judge it necessary to express the matter so nicely though the expounding those Places of St. Paul was as many thought rather according to the strain of the Germans than to the meaning of these Epistles And upon the whole matter they knew Gardiners haughty temper and that it was necessary to mortifie him a little though the pretence on which they did it seemed too slight for such severities But it is ordinary when a thing is once resolved on to make use of the first occasion that offers for effecting it The Party that opposed the Reformation The Lady Mary dissatisfied with the Reformation finding these attempts so unsuccessful engaged the Lady Mary to appear for them She therefore wrote to the Protector that she thought all changes in Religion till the King came to be of Age were very much contrary to the respect they owed the memory of her Father if they went about to shake what he had setled and against their duty to their young Master to hazard the Peace of his Kingdom and engage his Authority in such Points before he was capable of judging them The Protector writ to her Collection Number 15. I gather this to have been the substance of her Letter from the Answer which the Protector wrote which is in the Collection In it he wrote That he believed her Letter flowed not immediately from her self but from the instigation of some malicious Persons He protests they had no other design but the Glory of God and the Honour and Safety of the King and that what they had done was so well considered that all good Subjects ought rather to rejoyce at it than find fault with it And whereas she had said That her Father had brought Religion to a godly order and quietness to which both Spiritualty
and Temporalty did without compulsion give their assent he remembers her what opposition the stiff-necked Papists gave him and what Rebellions they raised against him which he wonders how she came so soon to forget Adding that death had prevented him before he had finished these Godly Orders which he had designed and that no kind of Religion was perfected at his death but all was left so uncertain that it must inevitably bring on great disorders if God did not help them and that himself and many others could witness what regret their late Master had when he saw he must die before he had finished what he intended He wond'red that she who had been well bred and was learned should esteem true Religion and the knowledge of the Scriptures Newfangledness or Fantasie He desired she would turn the Leaf and look on the other side and would with an humble Spirit and by the assistance of the Grace of God consider the matter better Thus things went on till the Parliament met The Parliament meets which was summoned to meet the fourth of November The day before it met Novemb. 3. the Protector gave too publick an instance how much his prosperous success had lifted him up For by a Patent under the Great Seal Rot. Pat. 1. Reg. 7. Part. he was warranted to sit in Parliament on the Right Hand of the Throne under the Cloath of State and was to have all the Honours and Priviledges that at any time any of the Unkles of the Kings of England whether by the Fathers or Mothers side had enjoyed with a Non obstante to the Statute of Precedence The Lord Rich had been made Lord Chancellor on the 24th of October but whether the Protector or he opened the Parliament by any Speech does not appear from the Journal of the Lords House On the 10th of Decemb. Decemb. 10. a Bill was brought in for the repealing several Statutes It was read the second time on the 12th and the third time on the 16th day On the 19th 19. some Provisoes were added to it and it was sent down to the Commons who sent it up the 23d of December 23. Dec. to which the Royal Assent was given The Commons had formed a new Bill for repealing these Statutes which upon some Conferences they were willing to let fall only some Provisoes were added to the old one upon which the Bishops of London Duresme Ely Hereford and Chichester dissented An Act repealing former severe Laws The Preamble of it sets forth That nothing made a Government happier than when the Prince governed with much clemency and the Subjects obeyed out of love Yet the late King and some of his Progenitors being provoked by the unruliness of some of their People had made severe Laws but they judging it necessary now to recommend the Kings Government to the affections of the People repealed all Laws that made any thing to be Treason but what was in the Act of 25 of Edw. the 3d as also two of the Statutes about Lollardies together with the Act of the six Articles and the other Acts that followed in explanation of that All Acts in King Henry the 8th's time declaring any thing to be Felony that was not so declared before were also repealed together with the Acts that made the Kings Proclamations of equal Authority with Acts of Parliament It was also Enacted That all who denied the Kings Supremacy or asserted the Popes in words should for the first offence forfeit their Goods and Chattels and suffer Imprisonment during pleasure For the second offence should incur the Pain of Praemunire and for the third offence be attainted of Treason But if any did in Writing Printing or by any overt Act or Deed endeavour to deprive the King of his Estate or Titles particularly of his Supremacy or to confer them on any other after the first of March next he was to be adjudged guilty of High Treason and if any of the Heirs of the Crown should usurp upon another or did endeavour to break the Succession of the Crown it was declared high Treason in them their Aiders and Abettors And all were to enjoy the Benefit of Clergy and the Priviledge of Sanctuary as they had it before King Henry the 8th's Reign excepting only such as were guilty of Murder Poisoning Burglary Robbing on the High-way the stealing of Cattel or stealing out of Churches or Chappels Poisoners were to suffer as other Murderers None were to be accused of Words but within a Month after they were spoken And those who called the French King by the Title of King of France were not to be esteemed guilty of the Pains of translating the Kings Authority or Titles on any other In Ch. Coll. Camb. among Parkers Papers This Act was occasioned by a Speech that Arch-bishop Cranmer had in Convocation in which he exhorted the Clergy to give themselves much to the study of the Scripture and to consider seriously what things were in the Church that needed Reformation that so they might throw out all the Popish trash that was not yet cast out Upon this some intimated to him that as long as the six Articles stood in force it was not safe for them to deliver their Opinions This he reported to the Council upon which they ordered this Act of Repeal By it the Subjects were delivered from many fears they were under and had good hopes of a mild Government when in stead of procuring new severe Law the old ones were let fall The Council did also free the Nation of the jealousies they might have of them by such an abridgment of their own Power But others judged it had been more for the interest of the Government to have kept up these Laws still in force but to have restrained the execution of them This Repeal drew on another which was sent from the Commons on the 20th of December and was agreed to by the Lords on the 21st It was of an Act in the 28th year of the last King by which all Laws made while his Son was under 24 years of Age might be by his Letters Patents after he attained that Age annulled as if they had never been Which they altered thus That the King after that Age might by his Letters Patents void any Act of Parliament for the future but could not so void it from the beginning as to annul all things done upon it between the making and annulling of it which were still to be lawful Deeds The next Bill of a publick nature was concerning the Sacrament Act about the Communion Which was brought in and read the first time on the 12th of Novemb. the second time on the 15th and was twice read on the 17th And on the 24th a Bill was brought in for the Communion to be received in both kinds on the third of December it was read the second time and given to the Protector on the 5th read again and given to two
being read there once it was like to have raised such debates that it being resolved to end the Session before Christmas the Lords laid it aside But while the Parliament was sitting The Convocation meets they were not idle in the Convocation though the Popish Party was yet so prevalent in both Houses that Cranmer had no hopes of doing any thing till they were freed of the trouble which some of the great Bishops gave them The lower House made some Petitions Number 16. The most important thing they did was the carrying up four Petitions to the Bishops which will be found in the Collection 1. That according to the Statute made in the Reign of the late King there might be Persons empow'red for reforming the Ecclesiastical Laws The second That according to the ancient Custom of the Nation and the Tenor of the Bishops Writ to the Parliament the inferior Clergy might be admitted again to sit in the House of Commons or that no Acts concerning matters of Religion might pass without the sight and assent of the Clergy The third That since divers Prelates and other Divines had been in the late Kings time appointed to alter the Service of the Church and had made some progress in it that this might be brought to its full perfection The fourth That some consideration might be had for the maintenance of the Clergy the first year they came into their Livings in which they were charged with the First-fruits to which they added a desire to know whether they might safely speak their minds about Religion without the danger of any Law For the first of these four Petitions an account of it shall be given hereafter As to the second it was a thing of great consequence and deserves to be farther considered in this place Anciently all the free Men of England The Inferior Clergy desire to be admited to have Representatives in the House of Commons or at least those that held of the Crown in chief came to Parliament and then the inferior Clergy had Writs as well as the Superior and the first of the three Estates of the Kingdom were the Bishops the other Prelates and the Inferior Clergy But when the Parliament was divided into two Houses then the Clergy made likewise a Body of their own and sate in Convocation which was the third Estate But the Bishops having a double capacity the one of Ecclesiastical Prelature the other of being the Kings Barons they had a Right to sit with the Lords as a part of their Estate as well as in the Convocation And though by parity of reason it might seem that the rest of the Clergy being Freeholders as well as Clarks had an equal Right to choose or be chosen into the House of Commons yet whether they were ever in possession of it or whether according to the Clause Premonentes in the Bishops Writ they were ever a part of the House of Commons is a just doubt For besides this assertion in the Petition that was mentioned and a more large one in the second Petition which they presented to the same purpose which is likewise in the Collection Number 17. I have never met with any good reason to satisfie me in it There was a general Tradition in Queen Elizabeths Reign that the Inferior Clergy departed from their Right of being in the House of Commons when they were all brought into the Praemunire upon Cardinal Wolsey's Legatine Power and made their submission to the King But that is not credible for as there is no footstep of it which in a time of so much writing and printing must have remained if so great a change had been then made so it cannot be thought that those who made this Address but 17 years after that Submission many being alive in this who were of that Convocation Polidore Virgil in particular a curious observer since he was maintained here to write the History of England none of them should have remembred a thing that was so fresh but have appealed to Writs and ancient Practises But though this design of bringing the Inferior Clergy into the House of Commons did not take at this time yet it was again set on foot in the end of Queen Elizabeths Reign and Reasons were offered to perswade her to set it forward Which not being then successful these same Reasons were again offered to King James to induce him to endeavour it The Paper that discovers this was communicated to me by Dr. Borlace the Worthy Author of the History of the Irish Rebellion It is corrected in many places by the Hand of Bishop Ravis then Bishop of London a Man of great Worth This for the affinity of the matter and the curiosity of the thing I have put into the Collection Number 18. with a large Marginal Note as it was designed to be transcribed for King James But whether this Matter was ever much considered or lightly laid aside as a thing unfit and unpracticable does not appear certain it is that it came to nothing Upon the whole matter it is not certain what was the Power or Right of these Proctors of the Clergy in former times Some are of opinion that they were only assistants to the Bishops Coke 4. Inst 3.4 but had no Voice in either House of Parliament This is much confirmed by an Act pass'd in the Parliament of Ireland in the 28th Year of the former Reign which sets forth in the Preamble That though the Proctors of the Clergy were always summoned to Parliament yet they were no part of it nor had they any right to Vote in it but were only Assistants in case Matters of Controversie or Learning came before them as the Convocation was in England which had been determined by the Judges of England after much enquiry made about it But the Proctors were then pretending to so high an Authority that nothing could pass without their consents and it was presumed they were set on to it by the Bishops whose Chaplains they were for the most part Therefore they were by that Act declared to have no right to Vote From this some infer they were no other in England and that they were only the Bishops Assistants and Council But as the Clause Premonentes in the Writ seems to make them a part of the Parliament so these Petitions suppose that they sate in the House of Commons anciently where it cannot be imagined they could sit if they came only to be Assistants to the Bishops for then they must have sate in the House of Lords rather as the Judges the Masters of Chancery and the Kings Council do Nor is it reasonable to think they had no Voice for then their sitting in Parliament had been so insignificant a thing that it is not likely they would have used such endeavours to be restored to it since their coming to Parliament upon such an account must have been only a charge to them There is against this Opinion an
would consent to it so if he had married her without that the possibility of succeeding to the Crown was cut off by King Henry's Will And this Attempt of his occasioned that Act to be put in which was formerly mentioned for declaring the marrying the Kings Sisters without consent of Council to be Treason Seeing he could not compass that design he resolved to carry away the King to his House of Holt in the Country and so to displace his Brother and to take the Government into his own hands For this end he had laid in Magazines of Arms and listed about 10000 Men in several Places and openly complained that his Brother intended to enslave the Nation and make himself Master of all and had therefore brought over those German Soldiers He had also entred into Treaty with several of the Nobility that envied his Brothers greatness and were not ill pleased to see a breach between them and that grown to be irreconcilable To these he promised that they should be of the Council and that he would dispose of the King in Marriage to one of their Daughters the Person is not named The Protector had often told him of these things and warned him of the danger into which he would throw himself by such ways but he persisted still in his designs though he denied and excused them as long as was possible Now his restless ambition seeming incurable he was on the 19th of Jan. sent to the Tower The original Warrant Jan. 19. The Admiral sent to the Tower Signed by all the Privy Council is in the Council-Book formerly mentioned where the Earl of Southampton Signs with the rest who was now in outward appearance reconciled to the Protector On the day following the Admirals Seal of his Office was sent for and put into Secretary Smiths Hands And now many things broke out against him and particularly a Conspiracy of his with Sir W. Sharington Vice-Treasurer of the Mint at Bristol who was to have furnished him with 10000 l. and had already coined about 12000 l. false Money and had clipt a great deal more to the value of 40000 l. in all for which he was attainted by a Process at Common Law and that was confirmed in Parliament Fowler also that waited in the Privy Chamber with some few others were sent to the Tower Many complaints being usually brought against a sinking Man the Lord Russel the Earl of Southampton and Secretary Petre were ordered to receive their Examinations And thus the Business was let alone till the 28 of Feb. in which time his Brother did again try if it were possible to bring him to a better temper And as he had since their first breach granted him 800 l. a year in Land to gain his friendship so means were now used to perswade him to submit himself and to withdraw from Court and from all employment But it appeared that nothing could be done to him that could cure his ambition or the hatred he carried to his Brother And therefore on the 22d of Feb. a full report was made to the Council of all the things that were informed against him consisting not only of the Particulars formerly mentioned but of many foul misdemeanours in the discharge of the Admiralty several Pirates being entertained by him who gave him a share of their Robberies and whom he had protected notwithstanding the Complaints made by other Princes by which the King was in danger of a War from the Princes so complaining The whole Charge consists of 33 Articles which will be found in the Collection Collection Number 31. The Particulars as it is entred in the Council-Book were so manifestly proved not only by Witnesses but by Letters under his own Hand that it did not seem possible to deny them Yet he had been sent to and examined by some of the Council but refused to make a direct Answer to them or to Sign those Answers that he had made So it was ordered that the next day all the Privy Council except the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and Sir John Baker Speaker to the House of Commons who was engaged to attend in the House should go to the Tower and examine him On the 23d the Lord Chancellor with the other Councellors went to him and read the Articles of his Charge and earnestly desired him to make plain Answers to them excusing himself where he could and submitting himself in other things and that he would shew no obstinacy of Mind He answered them That he expected an open Trial and his Accusers to be brought face to face All the Councellors endeavoured to perswade him to be more tractable but to no purpose At last the Lord Chancellor required him on his Allegiance to make his Answer He desired they would leave the Articles with him and he would consider of them otherwise he would make no Answer to them But the Councellors resolved not to leave them with him on those terms On the 24th of Feb. it was resolved in Council that the whole Board should after Dinner acquaint the King with the state of that Affair and desire to know of him whether he would have the Law to take place and since the thing had been before the Parliament whether he would leave it to their determination so tender they were of their young King in a Case that concerned his Unkles Life But the King had begun to discern his seditious temper and was now much alienated from him The Council desired the King to refer the Matter to the Parliament When the Councellors waited on him the Lord Chancellor opened the Matter to the King and delivered his Opinion for leaving it to the Parliament Then every Councellor by himself spake his mind all to the same purpose Last of all the Protector spake he protested this was a most sorrowful business to him that he had used all the means in his power to keep it from coming to this extremity but were it Son or Brother he must prefer his Majesties safety to them for he weighed his Allegiance more than his Blood and that therefore he was not against the request that the other Lords had made and said if he himself were guilty of such offences he should not think he were worthy of life and the rather because he was of all Men the most bound to his Majesty and therefore he could not refuse Justice The King answered them in these words Who consented to it We perceive that there are great things objected and laid to my Lord Admiral my Unkle and they tend to Treason and We perceive that you require but Justice to be done We think it reasonable and We Will that you proceed according to your Request Which words as it is marked in the Council-Book coming so suddenly from his Graces Mouth of his own motion as the Lords might well perceive they were marvellously rejoyced and gave the King most hearty praise and thanks yet resolved that some of both Houses
of some Opinions should be declared Felony it passed with them but was laid aside by the Lords 1550. A Bill for the Form of Ordaining Ministers was brought in to the House of Lords and was agreed to the Bishops of Duresme Carlisle Worcester Chichester and Westminster protesting against it The Substance of it was An Act about the Forms of giving Orders That such Forms of Ordaining Ministers as should be set forth by the advice of six Prelates and six Divines to be named by the King and authorized by a Warrant under the Great Seal should be used after April next and no other On the second of January a Bill was put in against the Duke of Somerset An Act about the Duke of Somerset of the Articles formerly mentioned with a Confession of them Signed by his Hand This he was prevailed with to do upon assurances given that he should be gently dealt with if he would freely confess and submit himself to the Kings mercy But it was said by some of the Lords that they did not know whether that Confession was not drawn from him by force and that it might be an ill President to pass Acts upon such Papers without examining the Party whether he had subscribed them freely and uncompelled so they sent four Temporal Lords and four Bishops to examine him concerning it And the day following the Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield made the Report that he thanked them for that kind Message but that he had freely subscribed the Confession that lay before them He had made it on his Knees before the King and Council and had Signed it on the 13th of December He protested his offences had flowed from rashness and indiscretion rather than malice and that he had no treasonable design against the King or his Realms So he was fined by Act of Parliament in 2000 l. a year of Land and he lost all his Goods and Offices Upon this he wrote to the Council acknowledging their favour in bringing off his Matter by a Fine he confess'd that he had fall'n into the frailties that often attend on great Places but what he had done amiss was rather for want of true Judgment than from any malicious meaning he humbly desired they would interpose with the King for a moderation of his Fine and that he might be pardoned and restored to favour assuring them that for the future he should carry himself so humbly and obediently that he should thereby make amends for his former follies This was much censured by many as a sign of an abject Spirit others thought it was wisely done in him once to get out of Prison on any terms since the greatness of his former condition gave such jealousie to his Enemies that unless he had his pardon he would be in continual danger as long as he was in their hands So on the 6th of February he was set at liberty giving Bond of 10000 l. for his good behaviour and being limited that he should stay at the Kings House of Sheen or his own of Zion and should not go four Miles from them nor come to the King or the Council unless he were called He had his Pardon on the 16th of February and carried himself after that so humbly that his behaviour with the Kings great kindness to him did so far prevail that on the 10th of April after he was restored into favour and sworn of the Privy-Council And so this storm went over him much more gently than was expected but his carriage in it was thought to have so little of the Hero that he was not much considered after this The Reformation is set on vigorously But to go on with the business of the Parliament reports had been spread that the old Service would be again set up and these were much cherished by those who still loved the former superstition who gave out that a change was to be expected since the New Service had been only the Act of the Duke of Somerset Upon this the Council wrote on Christmas day a Letter to all the Bishops of England to this effect That whereas the English Service had been devised by Learned Men according to the Scripture and the use of the Primitive Church therefore for putting away those vain expectations all Clergy-men were required to deliver to such as should be appointed by the King to receive them all Antiphonales Missals Grayles Processionals Manuals Legends Pies Portuasses Journals and Ordinals after the use of Sarum Lincoln York or any other private use requiring them also to see to the observing one uniform Order in the Service set forth by the common consent of the Realm and particularly to take care that there should be every where provision made of Bread and Wine for the Communion on Sunday This will be found in the Collection But to give a more publick declaration of their zeal Collection Number 46. an Act was brought into Parliament about it and was agreed to by all the Lords except the Earl of Darby the Bishops of Duresme Coventry and Litchfield Carlisle Worcester Westminster and Chichester and the Lords Morley Stourton Windsor and Wharton By it not only all the Books formerly mentioned were to be destroyed but all that had any Image that had belonged to any Church or Chappel were required to deface it before the last of June and in all the Primers set out by the late King the Prayers to the Saints were to be dashed out There was also an Act for a Subsidy to be payed in one year for which there was a Release granted of a Branch of the Subsidy formerly given Last of all came the Kings general Pardon out of which those in the Tower or other Prisons on the account of the State as also all Anabaptists were excepted Thus were all Matters ended and on the first of February the Parliament was prorogued Only in the House of Commons there was a Debate that deserves to be remembred It seems that before this time the Eldest Sons of Peers were not Members of the House of Commons and Sir Francis Russel becoming by the death of his elder Brother Heir apparent to the Lord Russell it was on the 21st of Jan. carried upon a Debate That he should abide in the House as he was before So it is entred in the Original Journal of the House of Commons which was communicated to me by Mr. Surle and Mr. Clark in whose Hands it is now and is the first Journal that ever was taken in that House But it may be expected that I should next give an account of the Forms of Ordination now agreed on Twelve were appointed by the Council to prepare the Book among whom Heath Bishop of Worcester was one but he would not consent to the Reformations that were proposed in it So on the 8th of February he was called before the Council and required to agree to that which all the rest had consented to But he could not be
afraid of burdening her Conscience by assuming that which belonged to them and that she was unwilling to enrich her self by the spoils of others But they told her all that had been done was according to the Law to which all the Judges and Counsellors had set their Hands This joined with their Persuasions and the Importunities of her Husband who had more of his Fathers temper than of her Philosophy in him at length prevailed with her to submit to it Of which her Father-in-Law did afterwards say in Council She was rather by enticement of the Counsellors and force made to accept of the Crown then came to it by her own seeking and request Upon this order was given for proclaiming her Queen the next day And an Answer was writ to Queen Mary signed by the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury the Lord Chancellor the Dukes of Suffolk and Northumberland the Marquesses of Winchester and Northampton the Earls of Arundel Shrewsbury Huntington Bedford and Pembrook the Lords Cobham and Darcy Sir Thomas Cheyney Sir Robert Cotton Sir William Petre Sir William Cecil Sir John Cheek Sir John Mason Sir Edward North and Sir Robert Bowes in all one and twenty Council writes to Q. Mary letting her know That Queen Jane was now their Soveraign according to the Ancient Laws of the Land and the late King's Letters Patents to whom they were now bound by their Allegiance They told her That the Marriage between her Father and Mother was dissolved by the Ecclesiastical Courts according to the Laws of God and of the Land That many noble Universities in Christendom had consented to it That the Sentence had been confirmed in Parliaments and she had been declared illegitimate and uninheritable to the Crown They therefore required her to give over her Pretences and not to disturb the Government and promised that if she shewed her self Obedient she should find them all ready to do her any Service which in Duty they could The day following they proclaimed Queen Jane Lady Jane proclaimed Queen Collection Number 1. The Proclamation will be found in the Collection It sets forth That the late King had by his Letters Patents limited the Crown that it should not descend to his two Sisters since they were both illegitimated by Sentences in the Spiritual Courts and Acts of Parliament and were only his Sisters by the Half-Blood who though it were granted they had been legitimate are not inheritable by the Law of England It was added That there was also great cause to fear that the King's Sisters might marry Strangers and so change the Laws of the Kingdom and subject it to the Tyranny of the Bishops of Rome and other Forreign Laws For these Reasons they were excluded from the Succession and the Lady Frances Dutchess of Suffolk being next the Crown it was provided that if she had no Sons at the death of the King the Crown should devolve immediately on her eldest Daughter Jane and after her and her Issue to her Sisters since she was born within the Kingdom and already married in it Therefore she was proclaimed Queen promising to be most benign and gracious to all her People to maintain God's Holy Word and the Laws of the Land requiring all the Subjects to obey and acknowledg her When this was proclaimed great multitudes were gathered to hear it but there were very few that shouted with the Acclamations ordinary on such Occasions And whereas a Vintner's Boy did some-way express his scorn at that which was done it was ordered that he should be made an Example the next day by being set on a Pillory and having his Ears nail'd to it and cut off from his Head which was accordingly done a Herauld in his Coat reading to the multitude that was called together by sound of Trumpet the nature of his Offence Censures past upon it Upon this all People were in great distraction The Proclamation opening the new Queen's Title came to be variously descanted on Some who thought the Crown descended by right of Blood and that it could not be limited by Parliament argued that the King having his Power from God it was only to descend in the natural way of Inheritance therefore they thought the next Heir was to succeed And whereas the King 's two Sisters were both by several Sentences and Acts of Parliament declared Bastards and whether that was well judged or not they were to be reputed such as the Law declared them to be so long as it stood in force therefore they held that the Queen of Scotland was to succeed who though she pretended this upon Queen Mary's Death yet did not claim now because by the Papal Law the Sentence against Queen Mary was declared Null Others argued that though a Prince were named by an immediate appointment from Heaven yet he might change the course of Succession as David did preferring Solomon before Adonijah But this it was said did not belong to the King 's of England whose right to the Crown with the extent of their Prerogative did not come from any Divine Designation but from a long Possession and the Laws of the Land and that therefore the King might by Law limit the Succession as well as he and other Kings had in some Points limited the Prerogative which was clearly Sir Thomas More 's Opinion and that therefore the Act of Parliament for the Succession of the King's Sisters was still strong in Law It was also said That if the Kinâ—'â— Sisters were to be excluded for Bastardy all Charles Brandon's Issue were in the same predicament since he was not lawfully married to the French Queen his former Wife Mortimer being then alive and his Marriage with her was never dissolved for though some English Writers say they were divorced yet those who wrote for the Queen of Scots Title in the next Reign denied it But in this the difference was great between them since the King's Sisters were declared Bastards in Law whereas this against Charles Brandon's Issue was only a Surmise Others objected That if the Blood gave an Indefeasible Title How came it that the L. Jane's Mother did not Reign It is true Maud the Empress and Margaret Countess of Richmond were satisfied that their Sons Henry the Second and Henry the Seventh should reign in their Rights but it had never been heard of that a Mother had resigned to her Daughter especially when she was yet under Age. But this was imputed to the Duke of Suffolk's weakness and the Ambition of the Duke of Northumberland That Objection concerning the Half-Blood being a Rule of Common Law in the Families of Subjects to cut off from Step-Mothers the Inclinations and Advantages of destroying their Husbands Children was not thought applicable to the Crown Nor was that of Ones being born out of the Kingdom which was hinted at to exclude the Queen of Scotland thought pertinent to this Case since there was an Exception made in the Law for the King's Children which was thought to
that would be too little if the Danes and Swedes which they were afraid of should joyn against them There was also great want of Ammunition and Ordnance of which they had lost vast quantities in Calais and Guisnes All this would rise to above 520000 l. and they doubted much whether the People would endure such Impositions who were now grown stubborn and talked very loosely So they did not see how they could possibly enter into any Action this Year One Reason among the rest was suggested by the Bishops they saw a War would oblige them to a greater moderation in their Proceedings at home they had not done their Work which they hoped a little more time would perfect whereas a slack'ning in that would raise the drooping Spirits of those whom they were now pursuing So they desired another Year to prosecute them in which time they hoped so to clear the Kingdom of them that with less danger they might engage in a War the Year after Nor did they think it would be easie to bring new raised Men to the hardships of so early a Campagne and they thought the French would certainly work so hard in repairing the breaches that they would be in a good condition to endure a strait and long Siege All this they wrote over to the King on the first of February as appears from their Letter which will be found in the Collection Collection Number 37. A Parliament is called The Parliament was opened on the 20th of January where the Convocation to be a good Example to the two Houses granted a Subsidy of eight Shillings in the Pound to be paid in four Years In the House of Peers the Abbot of Westminster and the Prior of St. John of Jerusalem took their Places according to their Writs Tresham that had given great assistance to the Queen upon her first coming to the Crown was now made Prior. But how much was done towards the endowing of that House which had been formerly among the richest of England I do not know On the 24th of January the Lords sent a Message to the Commons desiring that the Speaker with ten or twelve of that House should meet with a Committeâ— of the Lords which being granted the Lords proposed that the Commons would consider of the defence of the Kingdom What was at first demanded does not appear but after several days arguing about it they agreed to give one Subsidy a Fifteenth and a Tenth and ordered the Speaker to let the Queen know what they had concluded who sent them her hearty Thanks for it Then Complaints being made of some French-men that were not Denizens it was carried that they should go out of the Kingdom and not return during the War The Abbot of Westminster finding the Revenues of his House were much impaired thought that if the old Priviledges of the Sanctuary were confirmed it would bring him in a good Revenue from those that fled to it so he pressed for an Act to confirm it He brought a great many ancient Grants of the Kings of England which the Queen had confirmed by her Letters Patents but they did not prevail with the House who proceeded no further in it In this Parliament the Procurers of wilful Murder were denied the Benefit of Clergy which was carried in the House of Lords by the greater number as it is in their Journals The Bishops did certainly oppose it though none of them entred their dissent Sir Ambrose and Sir Robert Dudley two Sons of the late Duke of Northumberland were restored in Blood The Countess of Sussex's Joynture was taken from her for her living in Adultery so publickly as was formerly mentioned In the end of the Session a Bill was put in for the confirming of the Queens Letters Patents It was designed chiefly for confirming the Religious Foundations she had made As this went through the House of Commons one Coxley said He did not approve such a general Confirmation of those she had given or might give lest this might be a colour for her to dispose of the Crown from the right Inheritors The House was much offended at this and expressed such dislike at the imagination that the Queen would alienate the Crown that they both shewed their esteem for the Queen and their resolution to have the Crown descend after her death to her Sister Coxley was made to withdraw and voted guilty of great irreverence to the Queen He asked pardon and desired it might be imputed to his youth yet he was kept in the Serjeants Hands till they had sent to the Queen to desire her to forgive his offence She sent them word that at their sute she forgave it but wished them to examine him from whence that motion sprung There is no more entred about it in the Journal so that it seems to have been let fall The Parliament was on the seventh of March prorogued to the seventh of November Soon after this the King of Sweden sent a Message secretly to the Lady Elizabeth The King of Sweden treats a Marriage with the Lady Elizabeth who was then at Hatfield to propose Marriage to her King Philip had once designed to marry her to the Duke of Savoy when he was in hope of Children by the Queen but that hope vanishing he broke it off and intended to reserve her for himself How far she entertained that motion I do not know but for this from Sweden she rejected it since it came not to her by the Queens direction But to that it was answered the King of Sweden would have them begin with her self judging that fit for him as he was a Gentleman and her good liking being obtained he would next as a King address himself to the Queen But she said as she was to entertain no such Propositions unless the Queen sent them to her so if she were left to her self she assured them she would not change her state of Life Upon this the Queen sent Sir Tho. Pope to her in April to let her know how well she approved of the Answer she had made to them but they had now delivered their Letters and made the Proposition to her in which she desired to know her mind She thanked the Queen for her favour to her but bade Pope tell her that there had been one or two noble Propositions made for her in her Brother King Edwards time and she had then desired to continue in the state she was in which of all others pleased her best and she thought there was no state of Life comparable to it She had never before heard of that King and she desired never to hear of that Motion more She would see his Messenger no more since he had presumed to come to her without the Queens leave Then Pope said he did believe if the Queen offered her some Honourable Marriage she would not be averse to it She answered What she might do afterwards she did not know but protested solemnly that as
Deputies from the Towns one from every Town only Edenburgh sends two were the third Estate Anciently all that held Lands of the Crown were summoned to Parliaments as well the greater as the lesser Barons But in King James the first 's time the lesser Barons finding it a great charge to attend ou such Assemblies desired to be excused from it and procured an Act of Parliament exempting them and giving them power to send from every County two three four or more to represent them but they afterwards thought this rather a Charge than a Priviledge and did not use it so that now the second Estate consisted only of the Nobility But the Gentry finding the prejudice they suffered by this and that the Nobility grew too absolute procured by King James the sixth's favour an Act of Parliament restoring them to that Right of sending Deputies two from every County except some small Counties that send only one But according to the Ancient Law none has a Vote in the Elections but those who hold Lands immediately of the Crown of such a value The difference between a Parliament and a Convention of Estates is that the former must be summoned forty days before it sits and then it meets in State and makes Laws which are to be prepared by a Committee of all the Estates called the Lords of the Articles but a Convention may be called within as few days as are necessary for giving notice to all parts of the Nation to make their Elections They have no Power of making Laws being only called for one particular Emergent which during the division of the Island was chiefly upon the breaking out of War betwixt the two Nations and so their Power was confined to the giving of Money for the occasion which then brought them together In the Convention now held after much debate and opposition whether they should consent to the demand made by the Ambassador sent from France it was carried that the Dolphin should be acknowledged their King great assurances being given that this should be only a bare Title and that he should pretend to no Power over them So the Earl of Argile and the Prior of St. Andrews who had been the main sticklers for the French Interest upon the promises that the Queen Regent made them that they should enjoy the free exercise of their Religion were appointed to carry the Matrimonial Crown into France But as they were preparing for their Journey a great revolution of Affairs fell out in England A Session of Parliament in England The Parliament met on the fifth of November On the seventh the Queen sent for the Speaker of the House of Commons and ordered him to open to them the ill condition the Nation was in for though there was a Treaty begun at Cambray yet it was necessary to put the Kingdom in a posture of defence in case it should miscarry But the Commons were now so dissatisfied that they could come to no resolution So on the 14th day of November the Lord Chancellor the Lord Treasurer the Duke of Norfolk the Earls of Shrewsbury and Pembroke the Bishops of London Winchester Lincoln and Carlisle the Viscount Mountacute the Lords Clinton and Howard came down to the House of Commons and sate in that place of the House where the Privy-Counsellors used to sit The Speaker left his Chair and he with the Privy-Counsellors that were of the House came and sate on low Benches before them The Lord Chancellor shewed the necessity of granting a Subsidy to defend the Nation both from the French and the Scots When he had done the Lords withdrew but though the Commons entred both that and the two following days into the debate they came to no issue in their Consultations The Queen had never enjoyed her health perfectly since the false conception that was formerly spoken of The Queens sickness upon which followed the neglect from her Husband and the despair of Issue that encreased her Melancholly and this receiving a great addition from the loss of Calais and the other misfortunes of this Year she by a long declination of Health and decay of her Spirits was now brought so low that it was visible she had not many days to live and a Dropsie coming on her put a conclusion to her unhappy Reign And death and unfortunate Life on the 17th of November in the 43d Year of her Age after she had reigned five Years four Months and eleven Days At the same time Cardinal Pool Cardinal Pool dies as if one Star had governed both their Nativities was also dying and his end being hastened by the Queens death he followed her within sixteen hours in the 59th Year of his Age. He left his whole estate to Aloisi Prioli a Noble Venetian with whom he had lived six and twenty years in so entire a friendship that as nothing could break it off so neither was any thing able to separate them from one anothers company Prioli being invited by Pope Julius to come and receive a Cardinals Hat preferred Pools company before it and as he had supplied him in his necessities in Italy so he left his Country now to live with him in England Pool made him his Executor But Prioli was of a more Noble temper than to enrich himself by his Friends Wealth for as he took care to pay all the Legacies he left so he gave away all that remained reserving nothing to himself but Pools Breviary and Diary And indeed the Cardinal was not a Man made to raise a Fortune being by the greatness of his Birth and his excellent Vertues carried far above such mean designs He was a Learned His Character Modest Humble and good natured Man and had indeed such Qualities and such a Temper that if he could have brought the other Bishops to follow his Measures or the Pope and Queen to approve of them he might have probably done much to have reduced this Nation to Popery again But God designed better things for it so he gave up the Queen to the Bloody Councils of Gardiner and the rest of the Clergy It was the only thing in which she was not led by the Cardinal But she imputed his Opinion in that Particular rather to the sweetness of his Temper than to his Wisdom and Experience and he seeing he could do nothing of what he projected in England fell into a languishing first of his mind that brought after it a decay of his Health of which he died I have dwelt the more copiously on his Character being willing to deny to none of whom I write the Praises that are due to them and he being the only Man of that whole Party of whom I found any reason to say much good I was the more willing to enlarge about him to let the World see how little I am biassed in the account I give by Interest or Opinion So that if I have written sharply of any others that have been mentioned in
he said they were Mathew Mark Luke and John that were still shut up for the People longed much to see them abroad She answered him as pleasantly she would first talk with themselves and see whether they desired to be set at such liberty as he requested for them A Consultation about the change of Religion Now the two great things under Consultation were Religion and Peace For the former some were appointed to consider how it was to be Reform'd Beal a Clerk of the Council gave advice to Cecil that the Parliaments under Queen Mary should be declared void the first being under a force as was before related and the Title of Supream Head being left out of the Summons to the next Parliament before it was taken away by Law from whence he inferred that both these were not lawfully held or duly summoned and this being made out the Laws of King Edward were still in force but this was laid aside as too high and violent a way of proceeding since the annulling of Parliaments upon little errors in Writs or some particular disorders was a Precedent of such consequence that to have proceeded in such a manner would have unhinged all the Government and security of the Nation More moderate Courses were thought on The Queen had been bred up from her Infancy with a hatred of the Papacy and a Love to the Reformation But yet as her first Impressions in her Fathers Reign were in favour of such old Rites as he had still retained so in her own Nature she loved State and some Magnificence in Religion as well as in every thing else She thought that in her Brothers Reign they had stript it too much of external Ornaments and had made their Doctrine too narrow in some Points therefore she intended to have some things explained in more general terms that so all Parties might be comprehended by them She inclined to keep up Images in Churches and to have the manner of Christs Presence in the Sacrament left in some general words that those who believed the Corporal Presence might not be driven away from the Church by too nice an Explanation of it Nor did she like the Title of Supream Head she thought it imported too great a Power and came too near that Authority which Christ only had over the Church These were her own private thoughts She considered nothing could make her Power great in the World abroad so much as the uniting all her People together at home Her Fathers and her Brothers Reign had been much distracted by the Rebellions within England and she had before her Eyes the Instance of the Coldness that the People had expressed to her Sister on all occasions for the maintaining or recovering of the Dominions beyond Sea Therefore she was very desirous to find such a Temper in which all might agree She observed that in the Changes formerly made particularly in renouncing the Papacy and making some Alterations in Worship the whole Clergy had concurred and so she resolved to follow and imitate these by easie steps There was a long Consultation had about the Method of the Changes she should make The substance of which shall be found in the Collection in a Paper where in the way of Question and Answer A Method of doing it proposed Collection Number 1. the whole design of it is laid down This Draught of it was given to Sir William Cecil and does exactly agree with the account that Cambden gives of it That Learned and Judicious Man has written the History of this Queens Reign with that Fidelity and Care in so good a Stile and with so much Judgment that it is without question the best part of our English History but he himself often says that he had left many things to those who should undertake the History of the Church therefore in the Account of the beginnings of this Reign as I shall in all things follow him with the credit that is due to so extraordinary a Writer so having met with some things which he did not know or thought not necessary in so succinct a History to enlarge on I shall not be afraid to write after him though the Esteem he is justly in may make it seem superfluous to go over these matters any more It seemed necessary for the Queen to do nothing before a Parliament were called The Heads of it for only from that Assembly could the affections of the People be certainly gathered The next thing she had to do was to ballance the dangers that threatned her both from abroad and at home The Pope would certainly excommunicate and depose her and stir up all Christian Princes against her The King of France would lay hold of any opportunity to embroil the Nation and by the assistance of Scotland and of the Irish might perhaps raise troubles in her Dominions Those that were in Power in Queen Maries time and remained firm to the old Superstition would be discontented at the Reformation of Religion the Bishops and Clergy would generally oppose it and since there was a necessity of demanding Subsidies they would take occasion by the discontent the People would be in on that account to inflame them and those who would be dissatisfied at the retaining of some of the old Ceremonies would on the other hand disparage the Changes that should be made and call the Religion a Cloak'd-Papistry and so alienate many of the most zealous from it To remedy all these things it was proposed to make Peace with France and to cherish those in that Kingdom that desired the Reformation The Curses and Practises of Rome were not much to be feared In Scotland those must be encouraged who desired the like change in Religion and a little Money among the Heads of the Families in Ireland would go a great way And for those that had borh Rule in Queen Maries time ways were to be taken to lessen their credit throughout England they were not to be too soon trusted or employed upon pretence of Turning but those who were known to be well affected to Religion and the Queens Person were to be sought after and encouraged The Bishops were generally hated by the Nation It would be easie to draw them within the Statute of Praemunire and upon their falling into it they must be kept under it till they had renounced the Pope and consented to the Alterations that should be made The Commissions of the Peace and for the Militia were to be carefully reviewed and such Men were to be put in them as would be firm to the Queens Interests When the Changes should be made some severe punishments would make the rest more readily submit Great care was to be had of the Universities and other publick Schools as Eaton and Winchester that the next Generation might be betimes seasoned with the Love and Knowledge of Religion Some learned Men as Bill Parker May Cox Whitehead Grindall Pilkington and Sir Thomas Smith were to be ordered
the Government in his own Name but put it into the hands of his Mother the Cardinal of Lorrain and the Duke of Guise The Constable was put from the Court the Princes of the Blood were not regarded but all things were carried by the Cardinal and his Brother between whom and the Queen-Mother there arose great misunderstandings which proved fatal to the Queen of Scotland for she being much engaged with her Uncles and having an Ascendant over her Husband did so divide him from his Mother that before he died she had only the shadow of the Government This she remembred ever after against her Daughter-in-Law and took no care of her afterwards in all her Miseries But the Prince of Conde with the Admiral and many others resolving to have the Government in their Hands engaged some Lawyers to examine the point of the King's Majority These writ several Books on that Subject to prove that two and twenty was the soonest that any King had been ever held to be of Age to assume the Government and that no Strangers nor Women might be admitted to it by the Law of France but that it belonged to the Princes of the Blood during the King's Minority who were to manage it by the Advice of the Courts of Parliament and the three Estates So that the Design now concerted between these great Lords to take the King out of their hands who disposed of him was grounded on their Laws Yet as this Design was laying all over France Papists and Protestants concurring in it it was discovered by a Protestant who thought himself bound in Conscience to reveal it Upon this the Prince of Conde and many others were seized on and had not the King's Death in the beginning of December 1560 saved him the Prince himself and all the Heads of that Party had suffered for it But upon his Death Charles the Ninth that succeeded him being but eleven Years Old the King of Navarre was declared Regent and the Queen Mother who then hated the Cardinal of Lorrain united her self to him and the Constable and drew the weak Regent into her Interests Upon this some Lawyers examining the Power of the Regents found that the other Princes of the Blood were to have their share of the Government with him and that he might be checkt by the Courts of Parliament and was subject to an Assembly of the three Estates In July the next Year there was a severe Edict passed against the Protestants to put down all their Meetings and banish all their Preachers The Execution of it was put into the hands of the Bishops but the greater part of the Nation would not bear it So in January thereafter another Edict passed in a great Assembly of the Princes of the Blood the Privy Counsellors and eight Courts of Parliament for the free exercise of that Religion requiring the Magistrates to punish those who should hinder or disturb their Meetings Soon after this the Duke of Guise and his Brother reconciled themselves to the Queen Mother and resolved to break that Edict This was begun by the Duke of Vassy where a Meeting of the Protestants being gathered his Servants disturbed them they began with reproachful Words from these it went to Blows and throwing of Stones and by one of them the Duke was wounded for which his Men took a severe Revenge for they killed sixty of them and wounded two hundred sparing neither Age now Sex After this the Edict was every-where broken Many Lawyers were of Opinion that the Regent could not do it and that the People might lawfully follow the next Prince of the Blood in defence of the Edict Upon this his Brother the Prince of Conde gathered an Army In the beginning of the War the King of Navarre was killed at the Siege of Roan so that by the Law the Prince of Conde ought to have succeeded him in the Regency and thus the Wars that followed after this could not be called Rebellion since the Protestants had the Law and the first Prince of the Blood of their side to whom the Government did of right belong Thus began the Civil Wars of France which lasted above thirty Years in all which time the Queen of England by the Assistance she sent them sometimes of Men but for the most part of Mony and Ammunition did support the Protestant Interest with no great Charge to her self And by that she was not only secured from all the Mischief which so powerful a Neighbour could do her but had almost the half of that Kingdom depending on her The Wars of the Netherlands The State of the Netherlands afforded the like Advantages in those Provinces where the King of Spain finding the Proceedings of the Bishops were not effectual for the Extirpation of Heresy their Sees being so large intended to have founded more Bishopricks and to have set up the Courts of Inquisition in those Parts and apprehending some opposition from the Natives he kept Garrisons of Spaniards among them with many other things contrary to the Laetus Introâ—â—us that had been agreed to when he was received to be their Prince The People finding all Terms broken with them and that by that Agreement they were disengaged from their Obedience if he broke those Conditions did shake off his Yoke Upon which followed the Civil Wars of the Netherlands that lasted likewise above thirty Years To them the Queen gave assistance at first more secretly but afterwards more openly and as both they and the French Protestants were assisted with Men out of Germany which were generally led by the brave but seldom fortunate Casimir Brother to the Elector Palatine so the mony that payed them was for most part furnished from England And thus was Queen Elizabeth the Arbiter of all the Neighbouring parts of Christendom She at Home brought the Coin to a true Standard Navigation prospered Trade spread both in the Northern Seas to Arch-Angel and to the East and West Indies and in her long Wars with Spain she was always Victorious That great Armada set out with such assurance of Conquest was what by the Hand of Heaven in a Storm what by the unweildiness of their Ships and the nimbleness of Ours so shattered and sunk that the few remainders of it returned with irrecoverable shame and loss to Spain again She reigned in the Affections of her People and was admired for her Knowledg Vertues and Wisdom by all the World She always ordered her Councils so that all her Parliaments were ever ready to comply with them for in every thing she followed the true Interest of the Nation She never asked Subsidies but when the necessity was visible and when the Occasions that made her demand any vanished she discharged them She was admired even in Rome it self where Sixtus the Fifth used to speak of her and the King of Navarre Vita de Sisto 5. as the only Princess that understood what it was to Govern and profanely wished he might enjoy her
nobis virtutem faciet ad nihilum rediget Hostes nostros Serenitatem ac Sanctitatem vestram conservet Altissimus Ecclesiae suae Sanctae per tempora diuturna Datum apud Monasterium de Aberbroth in Scotia 6 die Aprilis Anno gratiae Millesimo trecentesimo vicesimo Anno vero Regni Regis nostri supradicti quintodecimo Number 11. The Oath given to the Scots who submitted to the Protector YOu shall bear your Faith to the King's Majesty Ex Libro Concilii Fol. 139. our Soveraign Lord Edward the Sixth c. till such time as you shall be discharged of your Oath by special License And you shall to the uttermost of your power serve his Majesty truly and faithfully against all other Realms Dominions and Potentates as well Scots as others You shall hear nothing that may be prejudicial to his Majesty or any of his Realms or Dominions but with as much diligence as you may shall cause the same to be opened so as the same come to his Majesty's Knowledg or to the knowledg of the Lord Protector or some of his Majesty's Privy-Council You shall to the uttermost of your possible Power set forwards and advance the King's Majesties Affairs in Scotland for the Marriage and Peace Number 12. The Protestation of the Bishop of London made to the Visitors when he received the King's Majesties Injunctions and Homilies Ex Libro Concilii Fol. 110. I Do receive these Injunctions and Homilies with this Protestation That I will observe them if they be not contrary and repugnant to God's Law and the Statutes and Ordinances of this Church The Submission and Revocation of the same Bishop made before the Lords of the Kings Majesty's Council presently attending upon his Majesty's Person with the subscription of his Name thereunto VVHere I Edmund Bishop of Lodon have at such time as I received the King's Majesty's my most dread Soveraign Lord's Injunctions and Homilies at the Hands of his Highness Visitors did unadvisedly make such Protestation as now upon better consideration of my duty of Obedience and of the ill Example that may ensue to others thereof appeareth to me neither reasonable nor such as might well stand with the Duty of an humble Subject forasmuch as the same Protestation at my request was then by the Register of that Visitation enacted and put in Record I have thought it my bounden Duty not only to declare before your Lordships That I do now upon better consideration of my Duty renounce and revoke my said Protestation but also most humbly beseech your Lordships that this my Revocation of the same may likewise be put in the same Records for a perpetual Memory of the Truth Most humbly beseeching your good Lordships both to take order that it may take effect and also that my former unadvised doings may by your good Mediations be pardoned of the King's Majesty Edmund London Number 13. Gardiner's Letter to Sir John Godsalve concerning the Injunctions Ex MS. Col. C. C. Cantab. Mr. Godsalve after my right hearty Commendations with like thanks for the declaration of your good mind towards me as you mean it although it agreeth not with mine Accompt such as I have had leasure to make in this time of Liberty since the Death of my late Soveraign Lord whose Soul Jesu pardon For this have I reckon'd that I was called to this Bishoprick without the offence of God's Law or the King 's in the attaining of it I have kept my Bishoprick these sixteen Years accomplished this very day that I write these my Letters unto you without offending God's Law or the King 's in the retaining of it howsoever I have of frailty otherwise sinned Now if I may play the third part well to depart from the Bishoprick without the offence of God's Law or the King 's I shall think the Tragedy of my Life well passed over and in this part to be well handled is all my care and study now how to finish this third Act well for so I offend not God's Law nor the King's I will no more care to see my Bishoprick taken from me than my self to be taken from the Bishoprick I am by Nature already condemned to die which Sentence no Man can pardon nor assure me of delay in the execution of it and so see that of necessity I shall leave my Bishoprick to the disposition of the Crown from whence I had it my Houshold also to break up and my bringing up of Youth to cease the remembrance whereof troubleth me nothing I made in my House at London a pleasant Study that delighted me much and yet I was glad to come into the Country and leave it and as I have left the use of somewhat so can I leave the use of all to obtain a more quiet it is not loss to change for the better Honesty and Truth are more leef to me than all the Possessions of the Realm and in these two to say and do frankly as I must I never forbare yet and in these two Honesty and Truth I take such pleasure and comfort as I will never leave them for no respect for they will abide by a Man and so will nothing else No Man can take them away from me but my self and if my self do them away from me then my self do undo my self and make my self worthy to lose my Bishoprick whereat such as gape might take more sport than they are like to have at my hands What other Men have said or done in the Homilies I cannot tell and what Homilies or Injunctions shall be brought hither I know not such as the Printers have sold abroad I have read and considered and am therefore the better instructed how to use my self to the Visitors at their repair hither to whom I will use no manner of Protestation but a plain Allegation as the Matter serveth and as Honesty and Truth shall bind me to speak for I will never yield to do that should not beseem a Christian Bishops ought never to lose the Inheritance of the King's Laws due to every English Man for want of Petition I will shew my self a true Subject humble and obedient which repugneth not with the preservation of my Duty to God and my Right in the Realm not to be enjoined against an Act of Parliament which mine intent I have signified to the Council with request of redress in the Matter and not to compel me to such an Allegation which without I were a Beast I cannot pretermit and I were more than a Beast if after I had signified to the Council Truth and Reason in words I should then seem in my Deeds not to care for it My Lord Protector in one of such Letters as he wrote to me willed me not to fear too much and indeed I know him so well and divers others of my Lords of the Council that I cannot fear any hurt at their hands in the allegation of God's Law and the King 's and I will
never defame them so much to be seen to fear it And of what strength an Act of Parliament is the Realm was taught in the case of her that we called Queen Ann where all such as spake against her in the Parliament-House although they did it by special Commandment of the King and spake that was truth yet they were fain to have a Pardon because that speaking was against an Act of Parliament Did you never know or here tell of any Man that for doing that the King our late Soveraign Lord willed devised and required to be done He that took pains and was commanded to do it was fain to sue for his Pardon and such other also as were doers in it and I could tell who it were Sure there hath been such a Case and I have been present when it hath been reasoned That the doing against an Act of Parliament excuseth not a Man even from the Case of Treason although a Man did it by the King's Commandment You can tell this to your remembrance when you think further of it and when it cometh to your remembrance you will not be best content with your self I believe to have advised me to enter the breach of an Act of Parliament without surety of Pardon although the King command it and were such indeed as it were no matter to do it at all And thus I answer the Letters with worldly civil Reasons and take your Mind and Zeal towards me to be as tender as may be and yet you see that the following of your Advice might make me lose my Bishoprick by mine own Act which I am sure you would I should keep and so would I as might stand with my Truth and Honesty and none otherwise as knoweth God who send you heartily well to fare Number 14. The Conclusion of Gardiner's Letter to the Protector against the lawfulness of the Injunctions Cotton Libr. Vesp D. 18. VVHether the King may command against the Common Law or an Act of Parliament there is never a Judg or other Man in the Realm ought to know more by experience of that the Lawyers have said than I. First My Lord Cardinal had obtained his Legacy by our late Soveraign Lord's Request at Rome yet being it was against the Laws of the Realm the Judges censured the Offence of Premunire which Matter I bore away and take it for a Law of the Realm because the Lawyers said so but my Reason digested it not The Lawyers for the confirmation of their Doings brought in a Case of my Lord Typtest an Earl he was and learned in Civil Laws who being Chancellor because in execution of the King's Commission he offended the Laws of the Realm he suffered on Tower-Hill they brought in the Examples of many Judges that had Fines set on their Heads in like case for transgression of the Laws by the King's Commandment and this I learned in this Case Since that time being of the Council when many Proclamations were devised against the Carriers out of Corn when it came to punishing the Offenders the Judges would answer it might not be by the Laws because the Act of Parliament gave liberty Wheat being under a price Whereupon at the last followed the Act of Proclamations in the passing whereof were many large words When the Bishop of Exeter and his Chancellor were by one Body brought into a Premunire I reasoned with the Lord Audley then Chancellor so far as he bad me hold my peace for fear of entring a Premunire my self But I concluded that although I must take it as of their Authority that it is Common Law yet I could not see how a Man authorised by the King as since the King's Majesty hath taken upon him the Supremacy every Bishop is that Man could fall in a Premunire I reasoned once in the Parliament House where was free Speech without danger and there the Lord Audley Chancellor then to satisfie me because I was in some secret estimation as he knew Thou art a good Fellow Bishop quoth he look the Act of the Supremacy and there the King's doings be restrained to Spiritual Jurisdiction And in an other Act No Spiritual Law shall have place contrary to a Common Law or an Act of Parliament And if this were not quoth he the Bishops would enter in with the King and by means of his Supremacy order the Law as you listed but we will provide quoth he that the Premunire shall never go off your Heads This I bare away there and held my peace Since that time in a Case of Jewels I was fain with the Emperor's Ambassador Chapinius when he was here and in the Emperor's Court also to defend and maintain by Commandment that the King's Majesty was not above his Laws and therefore the Jeweller although he had the King's Bill signed yet it would not serve because it was not obtained after the Order of the Law in which Matter I was very much troubled Even this time twelve-month when I was in Commission with my Lord great Master and the Earl of Southampton for the altering of the Court of Augmentations there was my Lord Montague and other of the King 's Learned Council of whom I learned what the King might do against an Act of Parliament and what danger it was to them that medled It is fresh in my Memory and they can tell whether I say true or no and therefore being learned in so notable Causes I wrote in your absence therein as I had learned by hearing the Common Lawyers speak whose Judgments rule these Matters howsoever my reason can digest them When I wrote thereof the Matter was so reasonable as I have been learned by the Lawyers of the Realm that I trusted my Lords would have staied till your Graces return Number 15. A Letter from the Duke of Somerset to the Lady Mary in the beginning of King Edward's Reign Madam my humble Commendations to your Grace premised THese may be to signify unto the same Cotton Libr. Faustin C. 2. that I have received your Letters of the second of this present by Jane your Servant reknowledging my self thereby much bound unto your Grace nevertheless I am very sorry to perceive that your Grace should have or conceive any sinister or wrong Opinion in me and others which were by the King your late Father and our most gracious Master put in trust as Executors of his Will albeit the truth of our doings being known to your Grace as it seemeth by your said Letter not to be I trust there shall be no such fault found in us as in the same your Grace hath alleadged and for my part I know none of us that will willingly neglect the full execution of every Jot of his said Will as far as shall and may stand with the King our Master's Honour and Surety that now is otherwise I am sure that your Grace nor none other his Faithful Subjects would have it take place not doubting but our Doings and
Proceedings therein and in all things committed to our Charge shall be such as shall be able to answer the whole World both in honour and discharge of our Consciences And where your Grace writeth that the most part of the Realm through a naughty Liberty and Presumption are now brought into such a Division as if we Executors go not about to bring them to that stay that our late Master left them they will forsake all Obedience unless they have their own Will and Phantasies and then it must follow that the King shall not be well served and that all other Realms shall have us in an Obloquy and Derision and not without just cause Madam as these words written or spoken by you soundeth not well so can I not perswade my self that they have proceeded from the sincere mind of so vertuous and so wise a Lady but rather by the setting on and procurement of some uncharitable and malicious Persons of which sort there are too many in these days the more pity but yet we must not be so simple so to weigh and regard the Sayings of ill-disposed People and the Doings of other Realms and Countries as for that Report we should neglect our Duty to God and to our Soveraign Lord and Native Country for then we might be justly called evil Servants and Masters and thanks be given unto the Lord such hath been the King's Majesty's Proceedings our young Noble Master that now is that all his faithful Subjects have more cause to render their hearty thanks for the manifold Benefits shewed unto his Grace and to his People and Realm sithence the first day of his Reign until this hour than to be offended with it and thereby rather to judg and think that God who knoweth the Hearts of all Men is contented and pleased with his Ministers who seek nothing but the true Glory of God and the Surety of the King's Person with the Quietness and Wealth of his Subjects And where your Grace writeth also That there was a Godly Order and Quietness left by the King our late Master your Graces Father in this Realm at the time of his Death and that the Spiritualty and Temporalty of the whole Realm did not only without compulsion fully assent to his Doings and Proceedings specially in Matters of Religion but also in all kind of Talk whereof as your Grace wrote ye can partly be witness your self at which your Graces Sayings I do something marvel For if it may please you to call to your remembrance what great Labours Travels and Pains his Grace had before he could reform some of those stiff-necked Romanists or Papists yea and did not they cause his Subjects Rise and Rebel against him and constrained him to take the Sword in his hand not without danger to his Person and Realm Alas why should your Grace so shortly forget that great Outrage done by those Generations of Vipers unto his Noble Person only for God's Cause Did not some of the same ill kind also I mean that Romanist Sect as well with his own Realm as without conspire oftentimes his Death which was manifestly and oftentimes proved to the confusion of some of their privy Assisters Then was it not that all the Spiritualty nor yet the Temporalty did so fully assent to his Godly Orders as your Grace writeth of Did not his Grace also depart from this Life before he had fully finished such Orders as he minded to have established to all his People if death had not prevented him Is it not most true that no kind of Religion was perfected at his Death but left all uncertain most like to have brought us in Parties and Divisions if God had not only helpt us And doth your Grace think it convenient it should so remain God forbid What regret and sorrow our late Master had the time he saw he must depart for that he knew the Religion was not established as he purposed to have done I and others can be witness and testify and what he would have done further in it if he had lived a great many know and also I can testifie And doth your Grace who is learned and should know God's Word esteem true Religion and the knowledg of the Scriptures to be new-fangledness and fantasie For the Lord's sake turn the Leaf and look the other while upon the other side I mean with another Judgment which must pass by an humble Spirit through the Peace of the Living God who of his infinite Goodness and Mercy grant unto your Grace plenty thereof to the satisfying of your Soveraign and your most noble Hearts continual desire Number 16. Certain Petitions and Requests made by the Clergie of the Lower House of the Convocation to the most Reverend Father in God the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury his Grace and the residue of the Prelats of the Higher House for the furtherance of certain Articles following FIrst Ex M. S. Dr. Stillingfleet That Ecclesiastical Laws may be made and established in this Realm by thirty two Persons or so many as shall please the King's Majesty to name and appoint according to the effect of a late Statute made in 35th Year of the most noble King and of most famous Memory King Henry the 8th So that all Judges Ecclesiastical proceeding after those Laws may be without danger and peril Also that according to the Ancient Custom of this Realm and the Tenour of the King 's Writ for the summoning of the Parliament which be now and ever have been directed to the Bishops of every Diocess the Clergy of the Lower House of the Convocation may be adjoined and associate with the Lower House of the Parliament or else That all such Statutes and Ordinances as shall be made concerning all Matters of Religion and Causes Ecclesiastical may not pass without the sight and assent of the said Clergy Also that whereas by the Commandment of King Henry the 8th certain Prelats and learned Men were appointed to alter the Service in the Church and to devise other convenient and uniform Order therein Who according to the same Appointment did make certain Books as they be informed Their Request is That the said Books may be seen and perused by them for a better expedition of Divine Service to be set forth accordingly Also that Men being called to Spiritual Promotions or Benefices may have some Allowance for their necessary Living and other Charges to be sustained and born concerning the same Benefices in the first Year wherein they pay the first Fruits Whether the Clergy of the Convocation may liberally speak their Minds without danger of Statute or Law Number 17. A second Petition to the same purpose Ex M. S. Dr. Stillingfleet WHere the Clergy in this present Convocation assembled have made humble suit unto the most Reverend Father in God my Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and all the other Bishops That it may please them to be a Mean to the King's Majesty and Lord Protector 's Grace
that the said Clergy according to the Tenour of the King 's Writ and the Ancient Laws and Customs of this Noble Realm might have their Room and Place and be associated with the Commons in the Nether House of this present Parliament as Members of the Common-Wealth and the King 's most humble Subjects And if this may not be permitted and granted unto them that then no Statutes nor Laws concerning the Christian Religion or which shall concern especially the Persons Possessions Rooms Livings Jurisdictions Goods or Chattels of the said Clergy may pass nor be enacted the said Clergy not being made privy thereunto and their Answers and Reasons not heard The said Clergy do most humbly beseech an Answer and Declaration to be made unto them what the said most Reverend Father in God and all other the Bishops have done in this their humble Suit and Request to the end that the said Clergy if need be may chuse of themselves such able and discreet Persons which shall effectually follow the same Suit in the Name of them all And whereas in a Statute ordained and established by Authority of Parliament at Westminster in the 25th Year of the Reign of the most excellent Prince King Henry the 8th The Clergy of this Realm submitting themselves to the King's Highness did knowledg and confess according to the Truth That the Convocations of the same Clergy have been and ought to be assembled by the King 's Writ and did promise farther in Verbo Sacerdotii that they never from thenceforth would presume to attempt alledg claim or put in use or enact promulge or execute any new Canons Constitutions Ordinances Provincials or other or by whatsoever other Name they shall be called in the Convocation unless the King 's most Royal Assent and License may to them be had to make promulge and execute the same And his Majesty to give his most Royal Assent and Authority in that behalf upon pain of every one of the Clergy doing the contrary and being thereof Convict to suffer Imprisonment and make Fine at the King 's Will. And that no Canons Constitutions or Ordinances shall be made or put in execution within this Realm by Authority of the Convocation of the Clergy which shall be repugnant to the King's Prerogative Royal or the Customs Laws or Statutes of this Realm which Statute is eft-soons renewed and established in the 27th Year of the Reign of the most noble King as by the Tenour of both Statutes more at large will appear The said Clergy being presently assembled in Convocation by Authority of the King 's Writ do desire that the King's Majesty's License in writing may be for them obtained and granted according to the effect of the said Statutes authorising them to attempt entreat and commune of such Matters and therein freely to give their Consents which otherwise they may not do upon pain and peril premised Also the said Clergy desireth that such Matters as concerneth Religion which be disputable may be quietly and in good order reasoned and disputed among them in this House whereby the Verities of such Matters shall the better appear and the Doubts being opened and resolutely discussed Men may be fully perswaded with the quietness of their Consciences and the time well spent Number 18. A Paper offered to Q. Elizabeth and afterwards to K. James concerning the Inferior Clergies being brought to the House of Commons Reasons to induce her Majesty that Deans Arch-Deacons and some other of her grave and wise Clergie may be admitted into the Lower House of Parliament 1. IN former Times when Causes Ecclesiastical were either not at all Ex M.S. Dr. Borlace or else very rarely treated of in that Assembly the Clergy were thought Men most meet to consult and determine of the Civil Affairs of this Realm 2. The Supream Authority in Church Causes is not newly granted but reunited and restored to the Crown and an Order is by Law already established how all Abuses in the Church are to be reformed so as no cause concerning Religion may be handled in that House without her Majesty's special leave but with the manifest impeaching of her Prerogative Royal and contempt of the said Order 3. If it shall please her Highness to give way to this Course that Church-Matters be there debated and in part concluded How much more necessary is it now than it was in former Times that some of the Clergy should be there present at the same * In the same Paper written over to be presented to K. James this Article is thus varied It is thought the Clergie falling into a Premunire and so not in the King's Protection it did afterwards please the King to pardon them but not to restore them So began this Separation as far forth as can be collected then the Wisdom of a great Politician meeting with the Ambition of as great a Prelat wrought the continuance of the said Separation under this pretence That it should be most for the Honour of him and his Clergie to be still by themselves in two Assemblies of Convocation answerable in proportion to the two Houses of Parliament There are many other inconsiderable Amendments made by Bishop Ravis 's own hand It doth not appear why they were excluded but as it is thought either the King offended with some of them did so grievously punish the whole Body or else the Ambition of one of them meeting with the subtilty of an undermining Politick did occasion this causeless Separation 5. They are yet to this day called by several Writs directed into their several Diocesses under the Great Seal to assist the Prince in that High Court of Parliament 6. Though the Clergy and the Universities be not the worst Members of this Common-Wealth yet in that respect they are of all other in worst condition for in that Assembly every Shire hath their Knights and every incorporate Town their Burgesses only the Clergy and the Universities are excluded 7. The Wisdom and Justice of this Realm doth intend That no Subject should be bound to that Law whereunto he himself after a sort hath not yielded his Consent but the Clergy and the Universities may now be concluded by Law without their Consent without their just Defence without their Privity 8. The many Motions made so prejudicial to the State and being of the Clergy and Universities followed now with so great eagerness in that House would then be utterly silenced or soon repressed with the sober and sufficient Answers of the Clergy present 9. It would much repair the Reputation and Credit of the Clergy which now is exposed to great contumely and contempt as generally abroad in this Land so particularly in that House And whoso is religious and wise may observe That the Contempt of the Clergy is the high way to Atheism and all Prophaneness Men are Flesh and not Spirit led by ordinary outward Means and not usually overwrought by extraordinary Inspirations and therefore do easily
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 â—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 Progeâ—â—â—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
may clearly see he would bribe him into no Opinion or Party by false or indirect Arts But since Men are generally so apt to let some easie Notions enter into their Minds which will pre-engage their Affections and for most part those who set themselves to gain Proselites do begin with such Arts it will not be amiss to give the Reader such an account of these as may prepare him against them that so he may with a clearer mind consider what is now to be delivered to him concerning the Reformation of Religion among us I shall begin with that which is most commonly urged that the whole Church being one Body the Changes that were made in Religion did break that Vnity and dissolve the Bond by which the Catholick Church is to be knit together and that therefore the first Reformers began and we still continue a Schisme in the Church In answer to this it is to be considered that the Bishops and Pastors of the Church are obliged to instruct their People in the true Faith of Christ according to the Scriptures The nature of their Function being a Sacred Trust binds them to this they were also at their Consecration engaged to it by a formal Sponsion according to the Questions and Answers that are in the Roman Pontifical to this day Pastors owe it as a Debt to their People to teach them according to the Scriptures They owe a Charity to their Brethren and are to live with them in the terms of Brotherly Love and Friendly Correspondence but if that cannot be had on easier terms than the concealing necessary Truths and the delivering gross errors to those committed to their charge it is certain that they ought not to purchase it at so dear a rate When the Pastors of this Church saw it over-run with errors and corruptions they were obliged by the duty they owed to God and to their People to discover them and to undeceive their misled Flocks It is of great importance to maintain Peace and Vnity but if a Party in the Church does set up some Doctrines and Practises that do much endanger the Salvation of Souls and makes advantages by these so that there is no hope left to gain them by rational and softer Methods then as St. Peter was to be withstood to his Face in a lesser matter much more are those who pretend no higher than to be his Successors to be withstood when the things are of great moment and consequence When Heresies sprung up in the Primitive Church we find the neighbouring Bishops condemned them without staying for the concurrence of other Churches as in the Case of Samosatenus Arius and Pelagius and even when the greatest part of the Church was become Semi-Arian and many great Councils chiefly that at Ariminum consisting of above 800 Bishops as some say had through ignorance and fear complied the Orthodox Bishops did not forbear to instruct those committed to their care according to the true Faith A general concurrence is a thing much to be laboured for but when it cannot be had every Bishop must then do his duty so as to be answerable to the chief Bishop of Souls So that instead of being led away by so slight a prejudice we must turn our Enquiries to this Whether there were really such abuses in the Church as did require a Reformation and whether there was any reason to hope for a more general concurrence in it In the following History the Reader will see what corruptions were found to be both in the Doctrine and Worship of this Church from whence he may infer what need there was of Reformation And it is very plain that they had no reason to expect the concurrence of other Churches for the Council of Trent had already made a great progress and it was very visible that as the Court of Rome governed all things there so they were resolved to admit of no effectual Reformation of any considerable matters but to establish by a more formal decision those errors and abuses that had given so much scandal to the Christian World for so many Ages This being the true state of the Case it is certain that if there were really great corruptions either in Belief or Manners in this Church then the Bishops were bound to reform them since the backwardness of others in their duty could not excuse them from doing theirs when they were clearly convinced of it So that the Reader is to shake off this prejudice and only to examine whether there was really such need of a Reformation since if that be true it is certain the Bishops of this as well as of other Churches were bound to set about it and the faultiness of some could be no excuse to the rest The second Prejudice is That the Reformation was begun and carried on not by the major part of the Bishops and Clergy but by a few selected Bishops and Divines who being supported by the Name of the Kings Authority did frame things as they pleased and by their Interest at Court got them to be Enacted in Parliament and after they had removed such Bishops as opposed them then they procured the Convocation to consent to what was done So that upon the matter the Reformation was the Work of Cranmer with a few more of his Party and not of this Church which never agreed wholly to it till the Bishops were so modelled as to be compliant to the designs of the Court. In short the resolution of this is to be taken from a common Case when the major part of a Church is according to the Conscience of the Supream Civil Magistrate in an Error and the lesser part is in the right The Case is not hard if well understood for in the whole Scripture there is no promise made to the major part of the Pastors of the Church and there being no Divine Promise made about it it is certain that the Nature of Man is such that Truth separated from Interest hath few Votaries but when it is opposite to it it must have a very small Party So that most of those things which needed Reformation being such as added much to the Wealth and Power of the Clergy it had been a wonder indeed if the greater part had not opposed it In thâ—t Case as the smaller part were not to depart from their Sentiments because opposed in them by a more numerous Party that was too deeply concerned in the matter so it was both natural for them and very reasonable to take Sanctuary in the Authority and Protection of the Prince and the Law That Princes have an Authority in things Sacred was so universally agreed to in King Henry's Reign and was made out upon such clear Evidence of Reason and Precedents both in the Jewish State and in the Roman Empire when it turned Christian that this ground was already gained It is the first Law in Justinians Code made by Theodosius when he came to the Empire That all should every
were under severe pains follow that Faith which was received by Damasus Bishop of Rome and Peter of Alexandria And why might not the King and Laws of England give the like Authority to the Arch-bishops of Canterbury and York When the Empire and especially the Eastern part of it had been during the Reign of Constantius and Valens succeeding him after a short Interval so overspread with Arianisme it is scarce to be imagined how it could have been reformed in any other manner for they durst not at first trust it to the discretion of a Synod and yet the Question then on foot was not so link'd with Interest being a Speculative Point of Divinity as those about which the Contests were in the beginnings of the Reformation It is not to be imagined how any Changes in Religion can be made by Sovereign Princes unless an Authority be lodged with them of giving the Sanction of a Law to the sounder though the lesser part of a Church for as Princes and Law-givers are not tied to an implicite obedience to Clergy-men but are left to the freedom of their own discerning so they must have a Power to choose what side to be of where things are much enquired into The Jurisdiction of Synods or Councils is founded either on the Rules of Expediency and Brotherly Correspondence or on the force of Civil Laws for when the Christian Belief had not the support of Law every Bishop taught his own Flock the best he could and gave his Neighbours such an account of his Faith at or soon after his Consecration as satisfied them and so maintained the Vnity of the Church The formality of Synods grew up in the Church from the division of the Roman Empire and the Dignity of the several Cities which is a thing so well known and so plainly acknowledged by the Writers of all sides that it were a needless imposing on the Readers patience to spend time to prove it Such as would understand it more perfectly will find it in De Marca the late Arch-bishop of Paris's Books de Concordia Imperii Sacerdotii and in Blondells Works De la Primaute de l'Eglise None can imagine there is a Divine Authority in that which sprang from such a beginning The major part of Synods cannot be supposed to be in matters of Faith so assisted from Heaven that the lesser part must necessarily acquiesce in their Decrees or that the Civil Powers must always measure their Laws by their Votes especially where Interest does visibly turn the Scales And this may satisfie any reasonable Man as to this prejudice that if Arch-bishop Cranmer and Holgate the two Primates and Metropolitanes of this Church were in the right in the things that they procured to be reformed though the greater part of the Bishops being biassed by base ends and generally both superstitious and little conversant in the true Theological Learning did oppose them and they were thereby forced to order matters so that at first they were prepared by some selected Bishops and Divines and afterwards Enacted by King and Parliament this is no just exception to what was so managed And such a Reformation can no more be blasted by being called a Parliament-Religion than the Reformations made by the Kings of Israel without or against the Majority of the Priests could be blemish'd by being call'd the Kings Religion A third Prejudice is that the Persons who governed the Affairs at Court were weak or ill Men that the King being under Age things were carried by those who had him in their Power And for the two great Ministers of that Reign or rather the Administrators of it the Dukes of Somerset and Northumberland as their violent and untimely deaths may seem to be effects of the indignation of Heaven for what they did so they were both eminently faulty in their Administration and are supposed to have sought too much their own ends This seems to cast a blemish on their Actions and to give some reason to suspect the things were not good which had such Instruments to advance them But this Prejudice compounded of many Particulars when taken to pieces will appear of no force to blast the credit of what they did By our Law the King never dies and is never young nor old so that the Authority of the King is the same whether administred by himself or by his Governours when he is under Age nor are we to judge of Men by the events that befall them These are the deepest Secrets of Divine Providence into which it is impossible for Men of limited understandings to penetrate and if we make Judgments of Persons and Things by accidents we shall very often most certainly conclude falsely Solomon made the Observation which the Series of Humane Affairs ever since hath fully justified That there are Just Men to whom it happens according to the Work of the Wicked and Wicked Men to whom it happens according to the Work of the Righteous and the enquiring into these seemingly unequal steps of Gods Governing the World is a vanity As for the Duke of Northumberland the Reformation is not at all concerned in him for if we believe what he said when there was the least reason to suspect him on the Scaffold he was all the while a Papist in his Heart And so no wonder if such a Man striking in for his own ambitious ends with that which was popular even against the perswasions of his Conscience did very ill things The Duke of Somerset was indeed more sincere and though he was not without his faults which we may safely acknowledge since the Man of Infallibility is not pretended to be without sin yet these were not such heinous transgressions but rather such as humane infirmity exposes most Men to when they are raised to an high condition He was too vain too much addicted to his own Notions and being a Man of no extraordinary Parts he was too much at the disposal of those who by flatteries and submissions insinuated themselves into him and he made too great hast to raise a vast Estate to be altogether innocent but I never find him charged with any personal disorders nor was he ever guilty of falshood of perverting Justice of Cruelty or of Oppression He was so much against the last of these that he lost the affections of the Nobility for being so careful of the Commons and covering them from the oppression of their Landlords The Business of his Brother though it has a very ill appearance and is made to look worse by the lame account our Books give of it seems to have been forced on him for the Admiral was a Man of most incurable ambition and so inclined to raise disturbance that after so many relapses and such frequent Reconciliations he still breaking out into new disorders it became almost necessary to put him out of a capacity of doing more mischief But if we compare the Duke of Somerset with the great Ministers even in
the best Courts we shall find him better than most of them and if some few have carried their Prosperity better many more even of those who are otherwise recorded for extraordinary Persons have been guilty of far greater faults He who is but a little acquainted with History or with the Courts of Princes must needs know so much of this Argument that he will easily cure himself of any ill effects which this Prejudice may have on him A fourth Prejudice is raised from the great Invasions which were then made upon the Church-Lands and things dedicated to Pious Vses which is a thing hated by Men of all Religions and branded with the odious Names of Sacriledge and robbing of God so that the Spoils of Religious Houses and Churches seem to have been the secret Motives that at first drew in and still engage so many to the Reformation This has more weight in it than the former and therefore deserves to be more fully considered The Light of Nature teaches that those who are dedicated to the Service of God and for instructing the People ought to be so well provided for that they may be delivered from the distractions of Secular Cares and secured from the contempt which follows Poverty and be furnished with such means as may both enable them to know that well wherein they are to instruct others and to gain such an Interest in the affections of those among whom they labour as modest Hospitality and liberal Alms-giving may procure In this all Nations and Religions have so generally agreed that it may be well called a Law of Nations if not of Nature Had Church-men been contented with this measure it is very probable things had never run to the other Extream so much as they have done But as the Pope got to himself a great Principality so the rest of his Clergy defigned to imitate him in that as much as was possible they spared no pains nor thought they any Methods too bad that could set forward these Projects The belief of Purgatory and the redeeming of Souls out of it by Masses with many other publick Cheats imposed on the World had brought the Wealth of this and other Nations into their Hands Vpon the discovery of this imposture it was but a reasonable and just proceeding of the Government to re-assume those Lands and dispose otherwise of them which had been for most part fraudulently drawn from the former Ages for indeed the best part of the Soil of England being in such ill Hands it was the Interest of the whole Kingdom to have it put to better uses So that the Abbies being generally raised and endowed by the efficacy of those false Opinions which were infused into the People I can see no just exception against the dissolution of them with the Chantries and other Foundations of like superstition and the fault was not in taking them away but in not applying a greater part of them to uses truly Religious But most of these Monasteries had been enriched by that which was indeed the Spoil of the Church for in many Places the Tithes which belonged to the Secular Clergy were taken from them and by the Authority of Papal Bulls were given to the Monasteries This was the Original of the greatest mischief that came on this Church at the Reformation The Abbots having possessed themselves of the Tithes and having left to those who served the Cure either some small Donative or Stipend and at best the small Tithes or Viccarage those who purchased the Abbey-Lands from the Crown in the former Reign had them with no other charge reserved for the Incumbents but that small Pittance that the Abbots had formerly given them and this is now a much less allowance than the Curates had in the times of Popery for though they have now the same Right by their Incumbency that they then had yet in the time of Superstition the Fees of Obits Exequies Soul Masses and such other Perquisites did furnish them so plentifully that considering their obligation to remain unmarried they lived well though their certain maintenance was but small but these things falling off by the Reformation which likewise leaves the Clergy at liberty in the matter of Marriage this has occasioned much ignorance and scandal among the Clergy I shall not enter into the debate about the Divine Right of Tithes this I am sure of a decent maintenance of the Clergy is of natural Right and that it is not better looked to is a publick reproach to the whole Nation when in all other Religions and Nations those who serve at the Altar live by it The ancient Allowances for the Curates in Market Towns being generally so small because the Number and Wealth of the People made the Perquisites so considerable has made those Places to be too often but ill supplied and what way this makes for the seducers of all hands when the Minister is of so mean a condition and hath so incompetent a Maintenance that he can scarce secure himself from extream want and great contempt I leave it to every Man to judge This is as high a contempt of Religion and the Gospel as any can be and is one of those things for which this Nation has much to answer to God that now in one hundred and twenty years time so little has been done by publick Authority for the redress of such a crying oppression Some private Persons have done great things this way but the publick has yet done nothing sutable to the occasion Though their Neighbour Nation of Scotland has set them a very good Example where by the great zeal and care of King James and the late blessed King Acts and Orders of Parliament have been made for examining the whole state of the Clergy and for supplying all poor Livings so plentifully that in Glebe and Tithes all Benefices are now raised to at least fifty Pounds Sterling yearly What greater scorn can be put on Religion than to provide so scantly for those that are trusted with the care of Souls that some hundreds of Parishes in England pay not Ten Pounds a year to their Pastors and perhaps some thousands not Fifty This is to be numbred among those crying sins that are bringing down vengeance on us since by this many Souls are left to perish because it is not possible to provide them with faithful and able Shepherds I shall not examine all the particular Reasons that have obstructed the redress of this mischief but those concerned in it may soon find some of them out in themselves And here I acknowledge a great and just prejudice lies against our Reformation which no man can fully answer But how faulty soever we may be in this Particular they of the Church of Rome have little reason to object it to us since the first and true occasion of it was of their own doing Our fault is that at the dissolution of the Monasteries restitution was not made to the Parish Priests of
in these has left Divines to the freedom of their several Opinions nor did she run on that other Rock of Defining at first so peremptorily the manner of Christs Presence in the Sacrament which divided the German and the Helvetian Churches but in that did also leave a Latitude to Men of different perswasions From this great temper it might have reasonably been expected that we should have continued Vnited at Home and then for things Sacred as well as Civil we had been out of the Danger of what all our Forreign Enemies could have Contrived or done against us But the Enemy while the Watchmen slept sowed his Tares even in this Fruitful Field of which it may be expected I should give some Account here and the rather because I end this Work at the time when those unhappy differences first arose so that I give them no part in this History and yet I have in the search I made seen some things of great Importance which are very little known that give me a clearer light into the beginnings of these Differences than is commonly to be had of which I shall discourse so as becomes one who has not blindly given himself up to any Party and is not afraid to speak the truth even in the most critical matters There were many Learned and Pious Divines in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's Reign who being driven beyond Sea had observed the New Modells set up in Geneva and other places for the Censuring of Scandalous Persons of mixed Judicatories of the Ministers and Laity and these reflecting on the great loosness of Life which had been universally Complained of in King Edward's time thought such a Platform might be an Effectual way for keeping out a return of the like disorders There were also some few Rites reserved in this Church that had been either used in the Primitive Church or tho brought in of later time yet seemed of excellent use to beget Reverence in Holy Performances which had also this to be said for them that the keeping these still was done in Imitation of what Christ and his Apostles did in Symbolizing with the Jewish Rites to gain the Jews th reby as much as could be so it was Judged necessary to preserve these to let the World see that tho Corruptions were thrown out yet the Reformers did not love to change only for change sake when it was not otherwise needful and this they hoped might draw in many who otherwise would not so easily have forsaken the Roman Commnaion Yet these Divines excepted to those as Complyances with Popery and tho they Professed no great dislike to the Ceremonies themselves or doubt of their Lawfulness yet were they against their Continuance upon that single Account which was indeed the chief reason why they were continued But all this Debate was modestly Managed and without violent Heat or Separation afterwards some of the Queens Courtiers had an eye to the fair Mannours of some of the greater Sees and being otherwise Men of ill Tempers and Lives and probably of no Religion would have perswaded the Queen that nothing could Vnite all the Reformed Churches so effectually as to bring the English Church to the Modell beyond Sea and that it would much Enrich the Crown if she took the Revenues of Bishopricks and Cathedrals into her own Hands This made those on the other hand who laid to Heart the true Interest of the Protestant Religion and therefore endeavoured to preserve this Church in that strong and well Modelled Frame to which it was brought particularly the Lord Burleigh the Wisest States-man of that Age and perhaps of any other study how to Engage the Queen out of Interest to support it and they Demonstrated to her that these New Modells would certainly bring with them a great Abatement of her Prerogative since if the Concerns of Religion came into Popular Hands there would be a Power set up distinct from hers over which she could have no Authority This she perceived well and therefore resolved to Maintain the Antient Government of the Church but by this means it became a matter of Interest and so these differences which might have been more easily reconciled before grew now into formed Factions so that all Expedients were left unattempted which might have made up tâ—â— Breach And it becoming the Interest of some to put it past reconciling this was too easily effected Those of the Division finding they could not carry their main design raised all the Clamours they could against the Churchmen and put in Bills into the Parliament against the abuses of Pluralities Non-residences and the Excesses of the Spiritual Courts But the Queen being possessed with this that the Parliaments medling in these matters tended to the lessening of her Authority of which she was extreamly sensible got all these Bills to be thrown out If the abuses that gave such occasion to the mal-contented to complain had been effectually redressed that Party must have had little to work on but these things furnished them with new Complaints still the Market-Towns being also ill provided for there were Voluntary Contributions made for Lectures in these places The Lecturers were generally Men that overtopped the Incumbents in diligent and Zealous Preaching and they depending on the bounty of the People for their Subsistence were engaged to follow the humours of those who Governed those Voluntary Contributions All these things tended to the encrease of the Party which owed its chief growth to the scandalous Maintenance of the Ministers of great Towns for which reason they were seldom of great Abilities and to the scandals given by the Pluralities and Non-residences of others that were over-provided Yet the Government in Civil matters was so steady all the Queens Reign that they could do no great thing after she once declared her self so openly and resolutely against them But upon King James's coming to the Crown and the divisions that came to be afterwards in Parliaments between the too too often named Parties for the Court and Country and Clergymen being linked to the interests of the Crown all those who in Civil matters Opposed the designs of the Court resolved to cherish those of the Division under the Colour of their being hearty Protestants and that it was the interest of the Reformed Religion to use them well and that all Protestants should Vnite And indeed the differences between them were then so small that if great Art had not been used to keep them asunder they had certainly Vnited of their own accord But the late unhappy Wars engaged those who before only complained of Abuses into a formed separation which still continues to the great danger and disgrace of the Protestant Religion I shall not make any Observations on latter Transactions which fall within all Mens View but it is plain that from the beginning there have been laboured designs to make Tools of the several Parties and to make a great breach between them which lays us now so
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
his aid and assistance he did by the advice of his Unkle and others Nobles Prelates and wise Men accept of these Persons for his Councellors the Arch-bishop of Canterbury the Lord St. John President the Lord Russel Lord Privy-Seal the Marquess of Northampton the Earls of Warwick and Arundel the Lord Seimour the Bishop of Duresme the Lord Rich Sir Thomas Cheyney Sir Joh. Gage Sir Anth. Brown Sir Anthony Wingfield Sir William Paget Sir William Petre Sir Ralph Sadler Sir John Baker Doctor Wotton Sir Anth. Denny Sir William Herbert Sir Edw. North Sir Ed. Montague Sir Ed. Wotton Sir Edm. Peckham Sir Tho. Bromley and Sir Richard Southwell giving the Protector Power to swear such other Commissioners as he should think fit and that he with so many of the Council as he should think meet might annul and change what they thought fitting restraining the Council to act only by his Advice and Consent And thus was the Protector fully setled in his Power and no more under the curb of the Co-executors who were now mixed with the other Councellors that by the late Kings Will were only to be consulted with as they saw cause But as he depressed them to an equality with the rest of the Councellors so he highly obliged the others who had been formerly under them by bringing these equally with them into a share of the Government He had also obtained to himself an high Authority over them since they could do nothing without his consent but he was only bound to call for so many of them as he thought meet and was not limited to act as they advised but cloathed with the full Regal Power and had it in his Hands to oblige whom he would and to make his Party greater by calling into the Council such as he should nominate How far this was legal I shall not enquire It was certainly contrary to King Henry's Will And that being made upon an Act of Parliament which empowred him to limit the Crown and the Government of it at his pleasure this Commission that did change the whole Government during the Kings Minority seems capable of no other defence but that it being made by the consent of the major part of the Executors it was still warrantable even by the Will which devolved the Government on them or the major part of them All this I have opened the more largely both because none of our Historians have taken any notice of the first Constitution of the Government during this Reign and being ignorant of the true account of it they have committed great errors and because having obtained by the favour of that most industrions Collector of the Transactions of this Age Mr. Rushworth the Original Council-Book for the two first years of this Reign I had a certain Authority to follow in it the exactness of that Book being beyond any thing I ever met with in all our Records For every Council-day the Privy-Councellors that were present set their Hands to all that was ordered judging so great caution necessary when the King was under Age. And therefore I thought this a Book of too great consequence to lie in private Hands so the owner having made a Present of it to me I delivered it to that Noble and Vertuous Gentleman Sir John Nicolas one of the Clerks of the Council to be kept with the rest of their Books And having now given the Reader a clear Prospect of the state of the Court I shall next turn to the Affairs that were under their consideration The state of Affairs in Germany That which was first brought before them was concerning the state of Germany Francis Burgartus Chancellor to the Duke of Saxe with others from the other Princes and Cities of the Empire were sent over upon the news of the former Kings death to sollicit for Aids from the new King toward the carrying on the War with the Emperor In order to the clearing of this and to give a just account of our Councils in reference to Forreign Affairs especially the cause being about Religion I shall give a short view of the state of Germany at this time The Emperor having formed a design of an Universal Monarchy laid hold on the differences of Religion in Germany as a good mean to cover what he did with the specious pretence of punishing Heresie and protecting the Catholicks But before he had formed this design 1531. Jan. 11. Ferdinand Crown'd King of the Romans he procured his Brother to be chosen King of the Romans and so declared his Successor in the Empire which he was forced to do being obliged to be much in Spain and his other hereditary Dominions and being then so young as not to enter into such deep Counsels as he afterwards laid But his Wars in Italy put him oft in ill terms with the Pope and being likewise watched over in all his Motions by Francis the I. and Henry VIII and the Turk often breaking into Hungary and Germany he was forced to great compliances with the Princes of the Empire Who being animated by the two great Crowns did enter into a League for their mutual defence against all Aggressors And at last in the Year 1544. 1544. Feb. 20. Diet began at Spire in the Diet held at Spire the Emperour being engaged in War with France and the Turk both to secure Germany and to obtain Money of the Princes was willing to agree to the Edict made there which was That till there was a free Council in Germany or such an Assembly in which Matters of Religion might be setled there should be a general Peace and none was to be troubled for Religion the free exercise of both Religions being allowed and all things were to continue in the state they were then in And the Imperial Chamber at Spire was to be reformed for the Judges of that Court being all Papists there were many Processes depending at the Suit of the Ecclesiasticks against the Protestant Princes who had driven them out of their Lands and the Princes expecting no fair dealing from them all these Processes were now suspended and the Chamber was to be filled up with new Judges that should be more favourable to them They obtaining this Decree contributed very liberally to the Wars the Emperour seemed to be engaged in 1544. Sept. 24. Emperor has Peace with France Who having his Treasure thus filled presently made Peace both with France and the Grand Seigniour and resolved to turn his Wars upon the Empire and to make use of that Treasure and Force they had contributed 1545. Oct. Peace with Turk to invade their Liberties and to subdue them entirely to himself Upon this he entred into a Treaty with the Pope that a Council should be opened in Trent upon which he should require the Princes to submit to it which if they refused to do he should make War on them The Pope was to assist him with 10000 Men besides levy Taxes hard on his
Kingdom to cast themselves wholly into the Arms of France and to offer their young Queen to the Dolphin and to think of no Treaty with the English So the Earl of Warwick returned to London having no small share in the Honour of this Expedition He was Son to that Dudley who was attainted and executed the first year of King Henry the 8th's Reign But whether it was that the King afterwards repented of his severity to the Father or that he was taken with the qualities of the Son he raised him by many degrees to be Admiral and Viscount Lisle He had defended Bulloigne when it was in no good condition against the Dolphin whose Army was believed 50000 strong and when the French had carried the Bassetown he recovered it and killed 800 of their Men The Year after that being in Command at Sea he offered the French Fleet Battel which they declining he made a descent upon Normandy with 5000 Men and having burnt and spoiled a great deal he returned to his Ships with the loss only of one Man And he shewed he was as fit for a Court as a Camp For being sent over to the French Court upon the Peace he appeared there with much Splendour and came off with great Honour He was indeed a Man of great Parts had not insatiable ambition with profound dissimulation stained his other Noble Qualities The Protector at his return was advised presently to meet the Parliament for which the Writs had been sent out before he went into Scotland now that he was so covered with Glory to get himself established in his Authority and to do those other things which required a Session The Visitors execute the Injunctions He found the Visitors had performed their Visitation and all had given obedience And those who expounded the secret Providences of God with an Eye to their own opinions took great notice of this that on the same day in which the Visitors removed Acts and Monuments and destroyed most of the Images in London their Armies were so successful in Scotland in Pinkey Field It is too common to all Men to magnifie such Events much when they make for them but if they are against them they turn it off by this That Gods Ways are past finding out So partially do Men argue where they are once engaged Bonner and Gardiner had shewed some dislike of the Injunctions Bonner received them with a Protestation that he would observe them if they were not contrary to Gods Law and the Ordinances of the Church Upon which Sir Anthony Cook and the other Visitors complained to the Council So Bonner was sent for where he offered a submission but full of vain Quiddities so it is expressed in the Council-Book But they were not well received by Bonner Collection Number 12. But they not accepting of that he made such a full one as they desired which is in the Collection Yet for giving terror to others he was sent to lie for some time in the Prison called the Fleet. Gardiner seeing the Homilies was also resolved to protest against them Nor by Gardiner Sir John Godsalve who was one of the Visitors wrote to him not to ruine himself nor lose his Bishoprick by such an Action To whom he wrote a Letter that has more of a Christian and of a Bishop in it than any thing I ever saw of his He expresses in handsome terms a great contempt of the World and a resolution to suffer any thing rather than depart from his Conscience Besides that as he said the things being against Law he would not deliver up the Liberties of his Country but would petition against them This Letter will be found in the Collection Collection Number 13. for I am resolved to suppress nothing of consequence on what side soever it may be Sept. 15. On the 25th of September it being informed to the Council that Gardiner had written to some of that Board and had spoken to others many things in prejudice and contempt of the Kings Visitation and that he intended to refuse to set forth the Homilies and Injunctions he was sent for to the Council Where being examined he said he thought they were contrary to the Word of God and that his Conscience would not suffer him to observe them He excepted to one of the Homilies that it exclude Charity from justifying Men as well as Faith This he said was contrary to the Book set out in the late Kings time which was afterwards confirmed in Parliament in the Year 1542. he said further that he could never see one place of Scripture nor any ancient Doctor that favoured it He also said Erasmus's Paraphrase was bad enough in Latin but much worse in English for the Translator had oft out of ignorance and oft out of design misrendred him palpably and was one that neither understood Latin nor English well He offered to go to Oxford to dispute about Justification with any they should send him to or to enter in conference with any that would undertake his Instruction in Town But this did not satisfie the Council So they pressed him to declare what he intended to do when the Visitors should be with him He said he did not know he should further study these Points for it would be three weeks before they could be with him and he was sure he would say no worse than that he should obey them as far as could consist with Gods Law and the Kings The Council urged him to promise that he would without any limitation set forth the Homilies and the Injunctions which he refusing to do was sent to the Fleet. Some days after that Cranmer went to see the Dean of St. Pauls having the Bishops of Lincoln and Rochester with Dr. Cox and some others with him He sent for Gardiner thither and entred into discourse with him about that Passage in the Homily excluding Charity out of our Justification and urged those Places of St. Paul That we are justified by Faith without the Works of the Law He said his design in that Passage was only to draw Men from trusting in any thing they did and to teach them to trust only to Christ But Gardiner had a very different Notion of Justification For as he said Infants were justified by Baptism and Penitents by the Sacrament of Penance and that the Conditions of the justifying of those of Age were Charity as well as Faith as the three Estates make a Law all joyned together for by this Simile he set it out in the report he writ of that Discourse to the Lord Protector reckoning the King one of the three Estates a way of Speech very strange especially in a Bishop and a Lawyer For Erasmus it was said that though there were faults in his Paraphrase as no Book besides the Scriptures is without faults yet it was the best for that use they could find and they did choose rather to set out what so learned a Man had written
with a hot Iron on their Breast A great many Provisoes follow concerning Clerks so convict which shew that this Act was chiefly levelled at the idle Monks and Friars who went about the Country and would betake themselves to no employment but finding the People apt to have compassion on them they continued in that course of life Which was of very ill consequence to the State For these Vagrants did every where alienate the Peoples Minds from the Government and perswaded them that things would never be well setled till they were again restored to their Houses Some of these came often to London on pretence of suing for their Pensions but really to practise up and down through the Country To prevent this there was a Proclamation set out on the 18th of September requiring them to stay in the Places where they lived and to send up a Certificate where they were to the Court of Augmentations who should thereupon give order for their constant payment Some thought this Law against Vagabonds was too severe and contrary to that common liberty of which the English Nation has been always very sensible both in their own and their Neighbours particulars Yet it could not be denied but extream Diseases required extream Remedies and perhaps there is no punishment too severe for Persons that are in health and yet prefer a loitering course of life to an honest employment There followed in the Act many excellent Rules for providing for the truly poor and indigent in the several Places where they were born and had their abode Of which this can only be said That as no Nation has laid down more effectual Rules for the supplying the Poor than England so that indeed none can be in absolute want so the neglect of these Laws is a just and great reproach on those who are charged with the execution of them when such numbers of poor Vagabonds swarm every where without the due restraints that the Laws have appointed On the 6th of December the Bill for giving the Chantries to the King was brought into the House of Lords An Act giving the Chantries to the King It was read the second time on the 12th the third time on the 13th and the fourth time on the 14th of that Month. It was much opposed both by Cranmer on the one hand and the Popish Bishops on the other The late Kings Executors saw they could not pay his Debts nor satisfie themselves in their own pretensions formerly mentioned out of the Kings Revenue and so intended to have these to be divided among them Cranmer opposed it long For the Clergy being much empoverished by the Sale of the impropriated Tithes that ought in all reason to have return'd into the Church but upon the dissolution of the Abbies were all sold among the Laity he saw no probable way remaining for their supply but to save these Endowments till the King were of Age being confident he was so piously disposed that they should easily perswade him to convert them all to the bettering of the Condition of the poor Clergy that were now brought into extream misery And therefore he was for reforming and preserving these Foundations till the Kings full Age. The Popish Bishops liked these Endowments so well that upon far different Motives they were for continuing them in the state they were in But those who were to gain by it were so many that the Act passed the Arch-bishop of Canterbury the Bishops of London Duresme Ely Norwich Hereford Worcester and Chichester dissenting So it being sent down to the House of Commons was there much opposed by some Burgesses who represented that the Boroughs for which they served could not maintain their Churches and other publick Works of the Guilds and Fraternities if the Rents belonging to them were given to the King for these were likewise in the Act. This was chiefly done by the Burgesses of Linn and Coventry who were so active that the whole House was much set against that part of the Bill for the Guild-Lands Therefore those who managed that House for the Court took these off by an assurance that their Guild-Lands should be restored to them And so they desisted from their opposition and the Bill passed on the promise given to them which was afterwards made good by the Protector In the Preamble of the Act it is set forth That the great superstition of Christians rising out of their ignorance of the true way of Salvation by the death of Christ in stead of which they had set up the vain conceits of Purgatory and Masses satisfactory was much supported by Trentals and Chantries And since the converting these to godly uses such as the endowing of Schools Provisions for the Poor and the augmenting of Places in the Universities could not be done by Parliament they therefore committed it to the care of the King And then reciting the Act made in the 37th year of his Fathers Reign they give the King all such Chantries Colledges and Chappels as were not possessed by the late King and all that had been in being any time these five years last past as also all Revenues belonging to any Church for Anniversaries Obits and Lights together with all Guild-Lands which any Fraternity of Men enjoyed for Obits or the like and appoint these to be converted to the maintenance of Gramar-Schools or Preachers and for the encrease of Vicarages After this followed the Act giving the King the Customs known by the Name of Tonnage and Poundage besides some other Laws of Matters that are not needful to be remembred in this History Last of all came the Kings general Pardon with the common mon Exceptions among which one was of these who were then Prisoners in the Tower of London in which the Duke of Norfolk was included So all business being ended the Parliament was Prorogued from the 24th of December to the 20th of April following Acts that were proposed but not carried But having given this account of these Bills that were passed I shall not esteem it an unfruitful piece of History to shew what other Bills were designed There were put into the House of Lords two Bills that were stifled The one was for the use of the Scriptures which came not to a second reading The other was a Bill for erecting a new Court of Chancery for Ecclesiastical and Civil Causes which was committed to some Bishops and Temporal Lords but never more mentioned The Commons sent up also some Bills which the Lords did not agree to One was about Benefices with Cure and Residence It was committed but never reported Another was for the Reformation of divers Laws and of the Courts of Common-Law and a third was that married Men might be Priests and have Benefices To this the Commons did so readily agree that it being put in on the 19th of December and read then for the first time it was read twice the next day and sent up to the Lords on the 21st But
Objection of great force from the Acts pass'd in the 21st Year of Richard the second 's Reign In the second Act of that Parliament it is said That it was first prayed by the Commons and that the Lords Spiritual and the Proctors of the Clergy did assent to it upon which the King by the assent of all the Lords and Commons did enact it The 12th Act of that Parliament was a Repeal of the whole Parliament that was held in the 11th Year of that Reign and concerning it it is expressed That the Lords Spiritual and Temporal the Proctors of the Clergy and the Commons being severally examined did all agree to it From hence it appears that these Proctors were then not only a part of the Parliament but were a distinct Body of Men that did severally from all the rest deliver their Opinions It may seem strange that if they were then considered as a part of either House of Parliament this should be the only time in which they should be mentioned as bearing their share in the Legislative Power In a matter that is so perplexed and dark I shall presume to offer a Conjecture which will not appear perhaps improbable In the 129th Page of the former part I gave the Reasons that made me think the lower House of Convocation consisted at first only of the Proctors of the Clergy So that by the Proctors of the Clergy both in the Statute of Ireland and in those made by Richard the second is perhaps to be understood the lower House of Convocation and it is not unreasonable to think that upon so great an occasion as the annulling a whole Parliament to make it pass the better in an Age in which the People payed so blind a Submission to the Clergy the concurrence of the whole Representative of the Church might have been thought necessary It is generally believed that the whole Parliament sate together in one House before Edward the thirds time and then the Inferior Clergy were a part of that Body without question But when the Lords and Commons sate a-part the Clergy likewise sate in two Houses and granted Subsidies as well as the Temporalty It may pass for no unlikely conjecture that the Clause Premonentes was first put in the Bishops Writ for the summoning of the lower House of Convocation consisting of these Proctors and afterwards though there was a special Writ for the Convocation yet this might at first have been continued in the Bishops Writ by the neglect of a Clark and from thence be still used So that it seems to me most probable that the Proctors of the Clergy were both in England and Ireland the lower House of Convocation Now before the Submission which the Clergy made to King Henry as the Convocation gave the King great Subsidies so the whole business of Religion lay within their Sphere But after the Submission they were cut off from medling with it except as they were authorized by the King So that having now so little power left them it is no wonder they desired to be put in the state they had been in before the Convocation was separated from the Parliament or at least that Matters of Religion should not be determined till they had been consulted and had reported their Opinions and Reasons The Extreme of raising the Ecclesiastical Power too high in the Times of Popery had now produced another of depressing it too much For seldom is the Counterpoise so justly ballanced that Extremes are reduced to a well-tempered Mediocrity For the third Petition it was resolved that many Bishops and Divines should be sent to Windsor to labour in the Matter of the Church-Service But that required so much consideration that they could not enter on it during a Session of Parliament And for the fourth what Answer was given to it doth not appear On the 29th of November a Declaration was sent down from the Bishops concerning the Sacraments being to be received in both kinds To which Jo. Tyler the Prolocutor and several others set their Hands and being again brought before them it was agreed to by all without a contradictory Vote 64 being present among whom I find Polidore Virgil was one And on the 17th of December the Proposition concerning the Marriage of the Clergy was also sent to them and subscribed by 35 affirmatively and by 14 negatively so it was ordered that a Bill should be drawn concerning it I shall not here digress to give an account of what was alledged for or against this reserving that to its proper place when the thing was finally setled And this is all the account I could recover of this Convocation I have chiefly gathered it from some Notes and other Papers of the then Dr. Parker afterwards Arch-bishop of Canterbury which are carefully preserved with his other MSS. in Corpus Christi Colledge Library at Cambridge To which Library I had free access by the favour of the most learned Master Dr. Spencer with the other Worthy Fellows of that House and from thence I collected many remarkable things in this History The Parliament being brought to so good a Conclusion the Protector took out a new Commission in which all the Addition that is made to that Authority he formerly had is that in his absence he is empow'red to substitute another to whom he might delegate his Power The state of Affairs in Germany And thus this Year ended in England but as they were carrying on the Reformation here it was declining apace in Germany The Duke of Saxe and the Landgrave were this Year to command their Armies apart The Duke of Saxe kept within his own Country but having there unfortunately divided his Forces the Emperor overtook him near the Alb at Mulberg where the Emperors Soldiers crossing the River and pursuing him with great fury after some resistance in which he himself performed all that could be expected from so great a Captain was taken Prisoner 1547. Apr. 24. Duke of Saxe taken and his Country all possessed by Maurice who was now to be invested with the Electoral Dignity He bore his misfortunes with a greatness and equality of mind that is scarce to be parallel'd in History Neither could the insolence with which the Emperor treated him nor the fears of death to which he adjudged him nor that tedious imprisonment which he suffered so long ever shake or disorder a Mind that was raised so far above the inconstancies of Humane Affairs And though he was forced to submit to the hardest Conditions possible of renouncing his Dignity and Dominions some few Places being only reserved for his Family yet no Entreaties nor Fears could ever bring him to yield any thing in Matters of Religion He made the Bible his chief Companion and Comfort in his sharp Afflictions which he bore so as if he had been raised up to that end to let the World see how much he was above it It seemed unimitable and therefore engaged Thuanus with the other
Dutchess of Somerset should be so foolish as to think that she ought to have the precedence of the Queen Dowager Therefore I look upon this Story as a meer Fiction though it is probable enough there might upon some other accounts have been some Animosities between the two high-spirited Ladies which might have afterwards be thought to have occasioned their Husbands quarrel It is plain in the whole thread of this Affair that the Protector was at first very easie to be reconciled to his Brother and was only assaulted by him but bore the trouble he gave him with much patience for a great while though in the end seeing his factious temper was incurable he laid off Nature too much when he consented to his Execution Yet all along till then he had rather too much encouraged his Brother to go on by his readiness to be after every breach reconciled to him When the Protector was in Scotland the Admiral then began to act more avowedly and was making a Party for himself of which Paget took notice and charged him with it in plain terms He asked him why he would go about to reverse that which himself and others had consented to under their Hands Their Family was now so great that nothing but their mutual quarrelling could do them any prejudice But there would not be wanting officious Men to inflame them if they once divided among themselves and the Breaches among near Friends commonly turn to the most irreconcilable Quarrels Yet all was ineffectual for the Admiral was resolved to go on and either get himself advanced higher or to perish in the Attempt It was the knowledge of this which forced the Protector to return from Scotland so abruptly and disadvantageously for the securing of his Interest with the King on whom his Brothers Artifices had made some impression Whether there was any reconciliation made between them before the Parliament met is not certain But during the Session the Admiral got the King to write with his own Hand a Message to the House of Commons for the making of him the Governour of his Person and he intended to have gone with it to the House and had a Party there by whose means he was confident to have carried his business He dealt also with many of the Lords and Counsellors to assist him in it When this was known before he had gone with it to the House some were sent to him in his Brothers Name to see if they could prevail with him to proceed no further He refused to hearken to them and said That if he were cross'd in his attempt he would make this the blackest Parliament that ever was in England Upon that he was sent for by Order from the Council but refused to come Then they threatned him severely and told him the Kings Writing was nothing in Law but that he who had procured it was punishable for doing an Act of such a nature to the disturbance of the Government and for engaging the young King in it So they resolved to have sent him to the Tower and to have turned him out of all his Offices But he submitted himself to the Protector and Council and his Brother and he seemed to be perfectly reconciled Yet as the Protector had reason to have a watchful Eye over him so it was too soon visible that he had not laid down but only put off his high Projects till a fitter conjuncture For he began the next Christmas to deal Money again among the Kings Servants and was on all occasions infusing into the King a dislike of every thing that was done and did often perswade him to assume the Government himself But the sequel of this Quarrel proved fatal to him as shall be told in its proper place And thus ended the Year 1547. On the 8th of Jan. 1548. Jan. 8. next year Gardiner was brought before the Council Where it was told him that his former Offences being included in the Kings general Pardon he was thereupon discharged a grave admonition was given him to carry himself reverently and obediently and he was desired to declare whether he would receive the Injunctions and Homilies and the Doctrine to be set forth from time to time by the King and Clergy of the Realm He answered he would conform himself as the other Bishops did and only excepted to the Homily of Justification and desired four or five days to consider of it What he did at the end of that time does not appear from the Council-Book no farther mention being made of this matter for the Clerks of Council did not then enter every thing with that exactness that is since used He went home to his Diocess where there still appeared in his whole behaviour great malignity to Cranmer and to all motions for Reformation yet he gave such outward compliance that it was not easie to find any advantage against him especially now since the Councils great Power was so much abridged The Marquess of Northampton sues a Divorce for Adultery In the end of Jan. the Council made an Order concerning the Marquess of Northampton which will oblige me to look back a little for the clear account of it This Lord who was Brother to the Queen Dowager had married Anne Bourchier Daughter to the Earl of Essex the last of that Name But she being convicted of Adultery he was divorced from her which according to the Law of the Ecclesiastical Courts was only a separation from Bed and Board Upon which Divorce it was proposed in King Henry's time to consider what might be done in favour of the Innocent Person when the other was convicted of Adultery So in the beginning of King Edward's Reign on the 7th of May a Commission was granted to the Arch-bishop of Canterbury the Bishops of Duresme and Rochester this was Holbeack who was not then translated to Lincoln to Dr. Ridley and six more ten in all of whom six were a Quorum to try whether the Lady Anne was not by the Word of God so lawfully divorced that she was no more his Wife and whether thereupon he might not marry another Wife This being a new Case and of great importance Cranmer resolved to examine it with his ordinary diligence and searched into the Opinions of the Fathers and Doctors Ex MSS. D. Stillingfleet so copiously that his Collections about it grew into a large Book the Original whereof I have perused the greatest part of it being either written or marked and interlined with his own Hand This required a longer time than the Marquess of Northampton could stay and therefore presuming on his great Power without waiting for Judgment he solemnly married Eliz. Daughter to Brooke Lord Cobham On the 28th of Jan. Information was brought to the Council of this which gave great scandal since his first Marriage stood yet firm in Law So he being put to answer for himself said he thought that by the Word of God he was discharged of his tie to
trade with them and bring all the Money they could gather by that means to Rome They being bred up to a voluntary Poverty and expecting great Rewards for their Industry sold those Secrets with as much cunning as Mounte-banks use in selling their Tricks only here was the difference that the ineffectualness of the Mountebanks Medicines was soon discovered so their Trade must be but short in one Place whereas the other could not be so easily found out The chief Piece of the Religion of those Ages being to believe all that their Priests taught them Of this sort the Reader will find in the Collection an Essay of Indulgences as they were printed in the Hours after the use of Sarum Collection Number 26. which were set down in English though the Prayers be all Latine that so all the People might know the value of such Ware Those had been all by degrees brought from Rome and put into Peoples Hands and afterwards laid together in their Offices By them Indulgences of many years Hundreds Thousands and Millions of years and of all sins whatsoever were granted to such as devoutly said such Collects but it was always understood that they must confess and be absolved which is the meaning of those Expressions concerning their being in a state of Grace And so the whole Business was a Cheat. And now all this Trade was laid aside and Confession of secret sins was left to all Mens free choice since it was certain that the Confession to a Priest was no where enjoyned in the Scriptures It was a reasonable Objection that as secret Confession and private Penance had worn out the primitive practice of the publick censuring of scandalous Persons so it had been well if the reviving of that Discipline had driven out these later Abuses but to let that lie unrestored and yet to let Confession wear out was to discharge the World of all outward restraints and to leave them to their full liberty and so to throw up that Power of Binding and Loosing which ought to take place chiefly in admitting them to the Sacrament This was confessed to be a great defect and effectual endeavours were used to retrieve it though without success and it was openly declared to be a thing which they would study to repair But the total disuse of all publick censure had made the Nation so unacquainted with it that without the effectual concurrence of the Civil Authority they could not compass it And though it was acknowledged to be a great disorder in the Church yet as they could not keep up the necessity of private Confession since it was not commanded in the Gospel so the generality of the Clergy being superstitious Men whose chief influence on the People was by those secret Practices in Confession they judged it necessary to leave that free to all People and to represent it as a thing to which they were not obliged and in the place of that ordered the general Confession to be made in the Church with the Absolution added to it For the Power of Binding and Loosing it was by many thought to be only Declarative and so to be exercised when the Gospel was preached and a General Absolution granted according to the Ancient Forms In which Forms the Absolution was a Prayer that God would absolve and so it had been still used in the Absolution which was given on Maundy-Thursday but the Formal Absolution given by the Priest in his own Name I absolve thee was a late invention to raise their Authority higher and signified nothing distinct from those other Forms that were anciently used in the Church Others censured the Words in distributing the two kinds in the Lords Supper the Body being given for the preserving the Body and the Blood of Christ for preserving the Soul This was thought done on design to possess the People with an high value of the Chalice as that which preserved their Souls whereas the Bread was only for the preservation of their Bodies But Cranmer being ready to change any thing for which he saw good reason did afterwards so alter it that in both it was said Preserve thy Body and Soul And yet it stands so in the Prayer We do not presume c. On all this I have digressed so long because of the importance of the matter and for satisfying the Scruples that many still have upon the laying aside of Confession in our Reformation Commissions were next given to examine the state of the Chantries and Guildable Lands The Instruction about them will be found in the Collection of which I need give no abstract here Collection Number 27. for they were only about the Methods of enquiring into their value and how they were possessed or what Alienations had been made of them The Protector and Council were now in much trouble The War with Scotland they found was like to grow chargeable since they saw it was supported from France There was a Rebellion also broke out in Ireland and the King was much indebted nor could they expect any Subsidies from the Parliament in which it had been said that they gave the Chantry Lands that they might be delivered from all Subsidies Therefore the Parliament was prorogued till Winter Upon this the whole Council did on the 17th of April unanimously resolve that it was necessary to sell 5000 l. a year of Chantry Lands for raising such a Sum as the Kings occasions required and Sir Hen. Mildmay was appointed to treat about the Sale of them Gardiner falls into new Troubles The new Communion-Book was received over England without any opposition Only complaints were brought of Gardiner that he did secretly detract from the Kings Proceedings Upon which the Council took occasion to reflect on all his former behaviour And here it was remembred how at first upon his refusing to receive the Kings Injunctions he had been put in the Fleet where he had been as well used as if it had been his own House which is far contrary to his Letters to the Protector of which mention has been already made and that he upon promise of Conformity had been discharged But when he was come home being forgetful of his Promises he had raised much strife and contention and had caused all his Servants to be secretly armed and harnessed and had put publick affronts on those whom the Council sent down to preach in his Diocess for in some Places to disgrace them he went into the Pulpit before them and warned the People to beware of such Teachers and to receive no other Doctrine but what he had taught them Upon this he had been sent for a second time but again upon his Promise of Conformity was discharged and ordered to stay at his own House in London That there he had continued still to meddle in publick Matters of which being again admonished he desired that he might be suffered to clear himself of all misrepresentations that had been made of him in a Sermon
lose their Degree in the Church This was soon received over all the Western Church and Arguments were found out afterwards by the Canonists to prove the necessity of continuing it from Davids not being suffered to build the Temple since he was a Man of Blood and from the qualification required by St. Paul in a Bishop That he should be no striker since he seemed to strike that did it either in Person or by one whom he deputed to do it But when afterwards Charles the Great and all the Christian Princes in the West gave their Bishops great Lands and Dominions they obliged them to be in all their Councils and to do them such Services as they required of them by vertue of their Tenures The Popes designing to set up a Spiritual Empire and to bring all Church-lands within it required the Bishops to separate themselves from a dependance on their Princes as much as it was possible And these Laws formerly made about Cases of Blood were judged a Colour good enough why they should not meddle in such Trials so they procured these Cases to be excepted But it seems Cranmer thought his Conscience was under no tie from those Canons and so judged it not contrary to his Function to Sign that Order The Parliament was on the 14th of March Prorogued to the 4th of Nov. the Clergy having granted the King a Subsidy of 6 s. in the Pound to be paid in three Years Subsidies granted by the Clergy and Laity In the Preamble of the Bill of Subsidy they acknowledged the great quietness they enjoyed under him having no Let nor Impediment in the Service of God But the Laity set out their Subsidy with a much fuller Preamble of the great happiness they had by the true Religion of Christ declaring that they were ready to forsake all things rather than Christ as also to assist the King in the Conquest of Scotland which they call a part of his Dominion therefore they give 12 d. in the Pound of all Mens Personal Estates to be paid in three Years But now to look into Matters of Religion there was A New Visitation immediately after the Act of Vniformity pass'd a new Visitation which it is probable went in the same Method that was observed in the former There were two things much complained of the one was that the Priests read the Prayers generally with the same tone of Voice that they had used formerly in the Latin Service so that it was said the People did not understand it much better than they had done the Latin formerly This I have seen represented in many Letters and it was very seriously laid before Cranmer by Martin Bucer The course taken in it was that in all Parish Churches the Service should be read in a plain audible Voice but that the former way should remain in Cathedrals where there were great Quires who were well acquainted with that Tone and where it agreed better with the Musick that was used in the Anthems Yet even there many thought it no proper way in the Letany where the greatest gravity was more agreeable to such humble Addresses than such a modulation of the Voice which to those unacquainted with it seemed light and for others that were more accustomed to it it seemed to be rather use that had reconciled them to it than the natural decency of the thing or any fitness in it to advance the devotion of their Prayers But this was a thing judged of less importance It was said that those who had been accustomed to read in that Voice could not easily alter it but as those dropt off and died others would be put in their places who would officiate in a plainer Voice Some of the old Abuses coninued in the new Service Other Abuses were more important Some used in the Communion-Service many of the old Rites such as kissing the Altar crossing themselves lifting the Book from one place to another breathing on the Bread shewing it openly before the distribution with some other of the old Ceremonies The People did also continue the use of their praying by Beads which was called an Innovation of Peter the Hermite in the 12th Century By it ten Aves went for one Pater Noster and the reciting these so oft in Latin had come to be almost all the devotion of the Vulgar and therefore the People were ordered to leave that unreasonable way of Praying it seeming a most unaccountable thing that the reciting the Angels Salutation to the Blessed Virgin should be such a high piece of Divine Worship And that this should be done ten times for one Prayer to God looked so like preferring the Creature to the Creator that it was not easie to defend it from an appearance of Idolatry The Briests were also ordered to exhort the People to give to the Poor The Curates were required to preach and declare the Catechism at least every sixth Week And some Priests continuing secretly the use of Soul Masses in which for avoiding the censure of the Law they had one to communicate with them but had many of these in one day It was ordered that there should be no selling of the Communion in Trentals and that there should be but one Communion in one Church except on Easter-day and Christmas in which the People coming to the Sacrament in greater numbers there should be one Sacrament in the Morning and another near Noon And there being great abuses in Churches and Church-yards in which in the times of Popery Markets had been held and Bargains made that was forbid chiefly in the time of Divine Service or Sermon Collection Number 33. These Instructions which the Reader will find in the Collection were given in charge to the Visitors Cranmer had also a Visitation about the same time in which the Articles he gave out are all drawn according to the Kings Injunctions By some Questions in them they seem to have been sent out before the Parliament because the Book of Service is not mentioned but the last Question save one being of such as contemned married Priests and refused to receive the Sacrament at their hands I conceive that these were compiled after the Act concerning their Marriage was past but before the Feast of Whit-Sunday following for till then the Common-Prayer-Book was not to be received There were also Orders sent by the Council to the Bishop of London to see that there should be no special Masses in St. Pauls Church which being the Mother-Church in the chief City of the Kingdom would be an example to all the rest and that therefore there should be only one Communion at the great Altar and that at the time when the high Mass was wont to be celebrated unless some desired a Sacrament in the Morning and then it was to be celebrated at the high Altar Bonner who resolved to comply in every thing sent the Councils Letter to the Dean and Residentiaries of St. Pauls to see it obeyed
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
Son about the Towns in Flanders and Brabant with the many Ceremonies and Entertainments that followed it made it not easie for him to consider of Matters that required such deep consultation He put him off from Brussels to Gaunt and from Gaunt to Bruges But Paget growing impatient of such delays since the French were marched into the Bulloignese the Bishop of Arras Son to Granvell that had been long the Emperors chief Minister who was now like to succeed in his Fathers room that was old and infirm and the two Presidents of the Emperors Councils St. Maurice and Viglius came to Sir William Paget and had a long communication with him and Hobbey Collection Number 39. an account whereof will be found in the Collection in a Dispatch from them to the Protector He meets with the Emperors Ministers They first treated of an explanation of some ambiguous words in the Treaty to which the Emperors Ministers promised to bring them an Answer Then they talked long of the Matters of the Admiralty the Emperors Ministers said no justice was done in England upon the Merchants complaints Paget said every Mariner came to the Protector and if he would not sollicite their business they run away with a Complaint that there was no Justice whereas he thought that as they medled with no private matters so the Protector ought to turn all these over upon the Courts that were the competent Judges But the Bishop of Arras said There was no Justice to be had in the Admiralty Courts who were indeed Parties in all these Matters Paget said There was as much Justice in the English Admiralty Courts as was in theirs and the Bishop confessed there were great corruptions in all these Courts So Paget proposed that the Emperor should appoint two of his Council to hear and determine all such Complaints in a Summary way and the King should do the like in England For the Confirmation of the Treaty the Bishop said the Emperor was willing his Son should confirm it but that he would never sue to his Subjects to confirm his Treaties and he said when it was objected that the Treaty with France was confirmed by the three Estates that the Prerogative of the French Crown was so restrained that the King could alienate nothing of his Patrimony without the Parliament of Paris and his three Estates He believed the King of England had a greater Prerogative he was sure the Emperor was not so bound up he had fifteen or sixteen several Parliaments and what work must he be at if all these must descant on his Transactions When this general discourse was over the two Presidents went away but the Bishop of Arras staid with him in private Paget proposed the Business of Bulloigne but the Bishop having given him many good words in the general excepted much to it as dishonourable to the Emperor since Bulloigne was not taken when the League was concluded between the Emperor and England so that if he should now include it in the League it would be a breach of Faith and Treaties with France and he stood much on the Honour and Conscience of observing these Treaties inviolably So this Conversation ended in which the most remarkable Passage is that concerning the Limitations on the French Crown and the Freedoms of the English for at that time the Kings Prerogative in England was judged of that extent that I find in a Letter written from Scotland one of the main Objections made to the marrying their Queen to the King of England was That an Union with England would much alter the constitution of their Government the Prerogatives of the Kings of England being of a far larger extent than those in Scotland Two or three days after the former Conversation the Emperors Ministers returned to Pagets Lodging with answer to the Propositions which the English Ambassadors had made of which a full account will be found in the Collection in the Letter which the Ambassadors writ upon it into England Collection Number 40. The Emperor gave a good answer to some of the Particulars which were ambiguous in former Treaties For the Confirmation of the Treaty he offered that the Prince should joyn in it but since the King of England was under Age he thought it more necessary that the Parliament of England should confirm it To which Paget answered That their Kings as to the Regal Power were the same in all the Conditions of Life and therefore when the Great Seal was put to any agreement the King was absolutely bound by it If his Ministers engaged him in ill Treaties they were to answer for it at their Perils but howsoever the King was tied by it They discoursed long about the Administration of Justice but ended in nothing And as for the main business about Bulloigne the Emperor stood on his Treaties with the French which he could not break upon which Paget said to the Bishop that his Father had told him they had so many Grounds to quarrel with France that he had his Sleeve full of them to produce when there should be occasion to make use of them But finding the Bishops Answers were cold and that he only gave good words he told him that England would then see to their own security and so he took that for the Emperors final Answer and thereupon resolved to take his leave which he did soon after and came back into England But at home the Councils were much divided of which the sad Effects broke out soon afterward It was proposed in Council that the War with Scotland should be ended For it having been begun and carried on Debates in Council concerning Peace only on design to obtain the Marriage since the hopes of that were now so far gone that it was not in the power of the Scots themselves to retrieve them it was a vain and needless expence both of Blood and Money to keep it up and since Bulloigne was by the Treaty after a few more years to be delivered up to the French it seemed a very unreasonable thing in the low state to which the Kings Affairs were driven to enter on a War in which they had little reason to doubt but they should lose Bulloigne after the new expence of a Siege and another years War The Protector had now many Enemies who laid hold on this conjuncture to throw him out of the Government The Earl of Southampton was brought into the Council but had not laid down his secret hatred of the Protector and did all he could to make a Party against him The Earl of Warwick was the fittest Man to work on him therefore he gained over to his side and having formed a confidence in him he shewed him that he had really got all these Victories for which the Protector triumphed he had won the Field of Pinkey near Musselburgh and had subdued the Rebels of Norfolk and as he had before defeated the French so if he were sent over thither new
the Earl of Shrewsbury Sir Tho. Cheyney Sir John Gage Sir Ralph Sadler and the Lord Chief-Justice Montague joyned with them Then they wrote to the King a Letter Collection Number 41. which is in the Collection full of expressions of their duty and care of his Person complaining of the Duke of Somerset's not listening to their Councils and of his gathering a Force about him for maintaining his wilful doings they owned that they had caused Secretary Petre to stay with them and in it they endeavoured to perswade the King that they were careful of nothing so much as of his preservation They also wrote to the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and to Sir William Paget to see to the Kings Person and that his own Servants should attend on him and not those that belonged to the Duke of Somerset But the Protector hearing of this disorder had removed the King to Windsor in all hast and had taken down all the Armour that was either there or at Hampton-Court and had armed such as he could gather about him for his preservation The Council at London complained much of this that the King should be carried to a Place where there were no Provisions fit for him So they ordered all things that he might need to be sent to him from London And on the 8th of October they went to Guild-hall when they gave an account of their Proceedings to the Common-Council of the City and assured them they had no thoughts of altering the Religion as was given out by their Enemies but intended only the safety of the King and the Peace of the Kingdom and for these ends desired their assistance The City of London joyns with them The whole Common-Council with one Voice declared they thanked God for the good intentions they had expressed and assured them they would stand by them with their Lives and Goods At Windsor when the Protector understood that not only the City but the Lieutenant of the Tower of whom he had held himself assured had forsaken him he resolved to struggle no longer and though it is not improbable that he who was chiefly accused for his protecting the Commons might have easily gathered a great Body of Men for his own preservation yet he resolved rather to give way to the Tide that was now against him So he protested before the King and the few Councellors then about him that he had no design against any of the Lords and that the Force he had gathered was only to preserve himself from any violent attempt that might be made on his Person he declared that he was willing to submit himself The Protector offers to treat and submit and therefore proposed that two of those Lords should be sent from London and they with two of those that were yet about the King should consider what might be done in whose determination he would acquiesce and desired that whatsoever was agreed on should be confirmed in Parliament Hereupon there was sent to London a Warrant under the Kings Hand for any two of the Lords of the Council that were there to come to Windsor with twenty Servants a-piece who had the Kings Faith for their safety in coming and going and Cranmer Paget and Smith wrote to them to dispose them to end the matter peaceably and not follow cruel Councils nor to be misled by them who meant otherwise than they professed of which they knew more than they would then mention This seemed to point at the Earl of Southampton On the 9th of October the Council at London encreased by the accession of the Lord Russel the Lord Wentworth Sir Anthony Brown Sir Ant. Wingfield and Sir John Baker the Speaker of the House of Commons For now those who had stood off a while seeing the Protector was resolved to yield came and united themselves with the prevailing Party so that they were in all two and twenty They were informed that the Protector had said that if they intended to put him to death the King should die first and if they would famish him they should famish the King first and that he had armed his own Men and set them next to the Kings Person and was designing to carry him out of Windsor and as some reported out of the Kingdom upon which they concluded that he was no more fit to be Protector But of those words no proofs being mentioned in the Council-Books they look like the forgeries of his Enemies to make him odious to the People The Council ordered a Proclamation of their Proceedings to be printed and writ to the Lady Mary and the Lady Elizabeth acquainting them with what they had done They also wrote to the King as will be found in the Collection acknowledging the many bonds that lay on them in gratitude both for his Fathers goodness to them and his own to take care of him Collection Number 4â— They desired he would consider they were his whole Council except one or two and were those whom his Father had trusted with the Government that the Protector was not raised to that Power by his Fathers Will but by their choice with that condition that he should do all things by their advice which he had not observed so that they now judged him most unworthy of these Honours therefore they earnestly desired they might be admitted to the Kings Presence to do their duties about him and that the Forces gathered about his Person might be sent away and the Duke of Somerset might submit himself to the Order of Council They also wrote to the Arch-bishop and Sir William Paget which is in the Collection charging them as they would answer it Collection Number 43. that the Kings Person might be well looked to that he should not be removed from Windsor and that he should be no longer guarded by the Duke of Somersets Men as they said he had been of which they complained severely but by his own sworn Servants and they required them to concur in advancing the desire they had signified by their Letter to the King protesting that they would do with the Duke of Somerset as they would desire to be done by and with as much moderation and favour as in honour they could so that there was no reason to apprehend from them such cruelty as they had mentioned in their Letters These were sent by Sir Philip Hobbey who was returned from Flanders and had been sent by the King to London on the day before Upon this Cranmer and Paget as is entred in the Council-Book perswaded both the King and the Protector to grant their desire The Protectors Servants were dismissed and the Kings were set about his Person And Cranmer Paget and Smith wrote to the Council at London that all they had proposed should be granted They desired to know whether the King should be brought to London or stay at Windsor and that three of the Lords might be sent thither who should see all things done according to their
to that See vacant as his Patent has it by the free resignation of William the former Bishop And the same day being the first of April Ridley was made Bishop of London and Westminster Both were according to the common Form to be Bishops durante vita naturali during Life Proceedings against Gardiner The See of Winchester had been two years as good as vacant by the long imprisonment of Gardiner who had been now above two years in the Tower When the Book of Common-Prayer was set out the Lord St. John and Secretary Petre were sent with it to him to know of him whether he would conform himself to it or not and they gave him great hopes that if he would submit the Protector would sue to the King for mercy to him He answered That he did not know himself guilty of any thing that needed mercy so he desired to be tried for what had been objected to him according to Law For the Book he did not think that while he was a Prisoner he was bound to give his Opinion about such things it might be thought he did it against his Conscience to obtain his liberty but if he were out of Prison he should either obey it or be liable to punishment according to Law Upon the Duke of Somersets Fall the Lord Treasurer the Earl of Warwick Sir William Herbert and Secretary Petre were sent to him Fox says this was on the 9th of July but there must be an error in that for Gardiner in his Answer says That upon the Duke of Somersets coming to the Tower he looked to have been let out within two days and had made his farewel Feast but when these were with him a Month or thereabout had passed so it must have been in November the former year They brought him a Paper to which they desired he would set his Hand It contained first a Preface which was an acknowledgment of former faults for which he had been justly punished There were also divers Articles contained in it Some Articles are sent to him which were touching the Kings Supremacy his Power of appointing or dispencing with Holy-days and Fasts that the Book of Common-Prayer set out by the King and Parliament was a most Christian and Godly Book to be allowed of by all Bishops and Pastors in England and that he should both in Sermons and Discourses commend it to be observed that the Kings Power was compleat now when under Age and that all owed Obedience to him now as much as if he were thirty or forty years old that the six Articles were justly abrogated and that the King had full Authority to correct and reform what was amiss in the Church both in England and Ireland He only excepted to the Preface and offered to Sign all the Articles but would have had the Preface left out They bid him rather write on the Margent his Exceptions to it so he writ that he could not with a good Conscience agree to the Preface and with that Exception he set his Hand to the whole Paper The Lords used him with great kindness Which he Signed with some Exceptions and gave him hope that his troubles should be quickly ended Herbert and Petre came to him some time after that but how soon is not so clear and pressed him to make the acknowledgment without exception he refused it and said he would never defame himself for when he had done it he was not sure but it might be made use of against him as a Confession Two or three days after that Ridley was sent to him together with the other two and they brought him new Articles In this Paper the acknowledgment was more general than in the former It was said here in the Preface that he had been suspected of not approving the Kings Proceedings and being appointed to preach had not done it as he ought to have done and so deserved the Kings displeasure for which he was sorry The Articles related to the Popes Supremacy New Articles sent to him the suppression of Abbies and Chantries Pilgrimages Masses Images the adoring the Sacrament the Communion in both kinds the abolishing the old Books and bringing in the new Book of Service and that for ordaining of Priests and Bishops the compleatness of the Scripture and the use of it in the Vulgar Tongue the lawfulness of Clergy-mens Marriage and to Erasmus's Paraphrase that it had been on good considerations ordered to be set up in Churches He read all these and said he desired first to be discharged of his imprisonment and then he would freely answer them all so as to stand by it and suffer if he did amiss but he would trouble himself with no more Articles while he remained in Prison since he desired not to be delivered out of his troubles in the way of Mercy but of Justice After that he was brought before the Council and the Lords told him they sate by a special Commission to judge him and so required him to subscribe the Articles that had been sent to him He prayed them earnestly to put him to a Trial for the grounds of his Imprisonment and when that was over he would clearly answer them in all other things but he did not think he could subscribe all the Articles after one sort some of them being about Laws already made which he could not qualifie others of them being matters of Learning in which he might use more freedom In conclusion he desired leave to take them with him and he would consider how to answer them But they required him to subscribe them all without any qualification But he refusing to Sign them which he refused to do Upon this the Fruits of his Bishoprick were sequestred and he was required to conform himself to their Orders within three Months upon pain of deprivation and the liberty he had of walking in some open Galleries Was hardly used when the Duke of Norfolk was not in them was taken from him and he was again shut up in his Chamber All this was much censured as being contrary to the liberties of English-men and the Forms of all legal Proceedings It was thought very hard to put a Man in Prison upon a complaint against him and without any further enquiry into it after two years durance to put Articles to him And they which spoke freely said it savoured too much of the Inquisition But the Canon Law not being rectified and the King being in the Popes room there were some things gathered from the Canon Law and the way of proceeding ex officio which rather excused than justified this hard measure he met with The sequel of this business shall be related in its proper place Latimers advice to the King concerning his Marriage This Lent old Latimer preached before the King The discourse of the Kings marrying a Daughter of France had alarum'd all the Reformers who rather enclined to a Daughter of Ferdinand King of the Romans To a
Darcy Sturton Windsor Cromwell Cobham and Bray The Crimes laid against him were cast into five several Indictments as the King has it in his Journal but the Record mentions only three whether Indictments or Articles is not so clear That he had designed to have seized on the Kings Person and so have governed all Affairs and that he with one hundred others intended to have imprisoned the Earl of Warwick afterwards Duke of Northumberland and that he had designed to have raised an Insurrection in the City of London Now by the Act that passed in the last Parliament if twelve Persons should have assembled together to have killed any Privy-Counsellor and upon Proclamation they had not dispersed themselves it was Treason or if such Twelve had been by any malicious Artifice brought together for any Riot and being warned did not disperse themselves it was Felony without benefit of Clergy or Sanctuary It seemed very strange that the three Peers Northumberland Northampton and Pembroke who were his professed Enemies and against the first of whom it was pretended in the Indictment that he had conspired should sit his Judges for though by the Law no Peer can be challenged in a Trial yet the Law of Nations that is Superior to all other Laws makes that a Man cannot be Judge in his own Cause and which was very unusual the Lord Chancellor though then a Peer was left out of the number but it is like the Reconciliation between the Duke of Somerset and him was then suspected which made him not be called to be one of his Judges The Duke of Somerset being it seems little acquainted with Law did not desire Council to plead or assist him in Point of Law but only answered to matters of Fact He prefaced that he desired no advantage might be taken against him for any idle or angry word that might have at any time fallen from him He protested he never intended to have raised the Northern Parts but had only upon some reports sent to Sir William Herbert to be his Friend that he had never determined to have killed the Duke of Northumberland or any other Person but had only talked of it without any intention of doing it that for the design of destroying the Gendarmoury it was ridiculous to think that he with a small Troop could destroy so strong a Body of Men consisting of 900 in which though he had succeeded it could have signified nothing that he never designed to raise any stirs in London but had always looked on it as a Place where he was most safe that his having Men about him in Greenwich was with no ill design since when he could have done mischief with them he had not done it but upon his Attachment rendred himself a Prisoner without any resistance He objected also many things against the Witnesses and desired they might be brought face to face He particularly spake much against Sir Tho. Palmer the chief Witness But the Witnesses were not brought only their Examinations were read Upon this the Kings Council pleaded against him that to levy War was certainly Treason that to gather Men with intention to kill Privy-Counsellors was also Treason that to have Men about him to resist the Attachment was Felony and to assault the Lords or contrive their deaths was Felony Whether he made any defence in Law or not does not appear For the material defence is not mentioned in all the accounts I have seen of it which was that these Conspiracies and gatherings of the Kings Subjects were only treasonable and fellonious after they had been required to disperse themselves and had refused to give obedience And in all this matter that is never so much as alledged no not in the Indictment it self to have been done It is plain it was not done For if any such Proclamation or Charge had been sent him it is probable he would either have obeyed it or gone into London or to the Country and tryed what he could have done by force but to have refused such a command and so to have come within the guilt of Treason and yet not to stir from his House are not things consistent When the Peers withdrew it seems the Proofs about his design of raising the North or the City or of the killing the Gandarmes did not satisfie them For all these had been without question treasonable So they only held to that Point of conspiring to imprison the Duke of Northumberland If he with Twelve Men about him had conspired to do that and had continued together after Proclamation it was certainly Felony But that not being pretended it seems there was no Proclamation made The Duke of Suffolk was of opinion that no contention among private Subjects should be on any account scrued up to be Treason The Duke of Northumberland said he would never consent that any practise against him And is acquitted of Treason but found guilty of Felony should be reputed Treason After a great difference of Opinion they all acquitted him of Treason But the greater number found him guilty of Felony When they returned him not guilty of Treason all the People who were much concerned for his preservation shouted for joy so loud and so long that they were heard at Charing-Cross But the joy lasted not long when they heard that he was condemned of Felony and Sentence was thereupon given that he should die as a Felon The Duke had carried himself all the while of the Trial with great temper and patience and though the Kings Council had in their usual way of Pleading been very bitter against him perhaps the rather that thereby they might recommend themselves to the Duke of Northumberland yet he never took notice of these reflections nor seemed much affected with them When Sentence was given he thanked the Lords for their favour and asked pardon of the Duke of Northumberland Northampton and Pembroke for his ill intentions against them and made sute for his Life and for his Wife and Children From thence he was carried back to the Tower Whether this asking the Lords pardon had in it a full Confession of the Crime charged on him or was only a complement to them that they might not obstruct his Pardon is but a matter of conjecture He confessed he had spoken of killing them and this made it reasonable enough for him to ask their pardon so that it does not imply a Confession of the Crime All People thought that being acquitted of Treason and there being no fellonious Action done by him but only an intention of one and that only of Imprisoning a Peer proved that one so nearly joyned to the King in Blood would never be put to death on such an occasion But to possess the King much against him a Story was brought him and put by him in his Journal That at the Dukes coming to the Tower he had confessed that he had hired one Bartuile to kill the Lords and that Bartuile himself acknowledged it and
them but if their Divines had any scruple in which they desired satisfaction with a humble and obedient mind they should be heard And for a safe Conduct he thought it was a distrusting the Council to ask any other than what was already granted Soon after this there arrived Ambassadors from Strasburg and from other five Cities and those sent from the Duke of Saxe were on their Journey so the Emperor ordered his Ambassadors to study to gain time till they came and then an effectual course must be taken for compassing that about which he had laboured so long in vain to bring it to a happy conclusion And thus this Year ended The Parliament was opened on the 23d of January 1552. A Session of Parliament and sate till the 15th of April So I shall begin this Year with the account of the Proceedings in it The first Act that was put into the House of Lords was for an Order to bring Men to Divine Service which was agreed to on the 26th and sent down to the Commons who kept it long before they sent it back On the 6th of April when it was agreed to the Earl of Darby the Bishops of Carlisle and Norwich and the Lords Sturton and Windsor dissented The Lords afterwards brought in another Bill for authorizing a new Common-Prayer-Book according to the Alterations which had been agreed on the former Year This the Commons joyned to the former and so put both in one Act. By it was first set forth That an Order of Divine Service being published An Act authorizing the new Common-Prayer-Book many did wilfully abstain from it and refused to come to their Parish-Churches therefore all are required after the Feast of All-hallows next to come every Sunday and Holy-day to Common-Prayers under pain of the Censures of the Church And the King the Lords Temporal and the Commons did in Gods Name require all Arch-bishops Bishops and other Ordinaries to endeavour the due execution of that Act as they would answer before God for such Evils and Plagues with which he might justly punish them for neglecting that good and wholesome Law and they were fully authorized to execute the Censures of the Church on all that should offend against this Law To which is added That there had been divers doubts raised about the manner of the Ministration of the Service rather by the curiosity of the Ministers and Mistakers than of any other worthy Cause and that for the better explanation of that and for the greater perfection of the Service in some places where it was fit to make the Prayer and fashion of Service more earnest and fit to stir Christian People to the true honouring of Almighty God therefore it had been by the Command of the King and Parliament perused explained and made more perfect They also annexed to it the Form of making Bishops Priests and Deacons and so appointed this new Book of Service to be every where received after the Feast of All-Saints next under the same Penalties that had been enacted three years before when the former Book was set out Which was much censured It was upon this Act said by the Papists That the Reformation was like to change as oft as the Fashion did since they seemed never to be at a Point in any thing but new Models were thus continually framing To which it was answered That it was no wonder that the corruptions which they had been introducing for above a thousand years were not all discovered or thrown out at once but now the business was brought to a fuller perfection and they were not like to see any more material Changes Besides any that would take the pains to compare the Offices that had been among the Papists would clearly perceive that in every Age there was such an encrease of additional Rites and Ceremonies that though the old ones were still retained yet it seemed there would be no end of new improvements and additions Others wondred why the execution of this Law was put off so long as till the end of the Year All the account I can give of this is that it was expected that by that time the new Body of the Ecclesiastical Laws which was now preparing should be finished and therefore since this Act was to be executed by the Clergy the day in which it was to be in force was so long delayed till that Reformation of their Laws were concluded An Act concerning Treasons On the 8th of February a Bill of Treasons was put in and agreed to by all the Lords except the Lord Wentworth It was sent down to the Commons where it was long disputed and many sharp things were said of those who now bore the sway that whereas they who governed in the beginning of this Reign had put in a Bill for lessening the number of such offences now they saw the change of Councils when severer Laws were proposed The Commons at last rejected the Bill and then drew a new one which was passed By it they Enacted That if any should call the King or any of his Heirs named in the Statute of the 35th of his Fathers Reign Heretick Schismatick Tyrant Infidel or Usurper of the Crown for the first offence they should forfeit their Goods and Chattels and be imprisoned during pleasure for the second should be in a Praemunire for the third should be attainted of Treason but any who should advisedly set that out in printing or writing was for the first offence to be held a Traitor And that those who should keep any of the Kings Castles Artillery or Ships six days after they were lawfully required to deliver them up should be guilty of Treason that Men might be proceeded against for Treasons committed out of the Kingdom as well as in it They added a Proviso That none should be Attainted of Treason on this Act unless two Witnesses should come and to their face averr the Fact for which they were to be tried except such as without any violence should confess it and that none should be questioned for any thing said or written but within three Months after it was done This Proviso seems clearly to have been made with relation to the Proceeding against the Duke of Somerset in which the Witnesses were not brought to averr the Evidence to his Face and by that means he was deprived of all the benefit and advantage which he might have had by cross examining them It is certain that though some false Witnesses have practised the Trade so much that they seem to have laid off all shame and have a brow that cannot be daunted yet for the greatest part a bright serenity and cheerfulness attends Innocence and a lowring dejection betrays the Guilty when the Innocent and they are confronted together On the 3d of March a Bill was brought into the Lords for Holy-days and Fasting days and sent down to the Commons on the 15th of March An Act about Fasts and Holy-days by
whom it was passed and had the Royal Assent In the Preamble it is set forth That Men are not at all times so set on the performance of Religious Duties as they ought to be which made it necessary that there should be set times in which labour was to cease that Men might on these days wholly serve God which days were not to be accounted holy of their own nature but were so called because of the Holy Duties then to be set about so that the Sanctification of them was not any Magical Vertue in that time but consisted in the dedicating them to Gods Service that no day was dedicated to any Saint but only to God in remembrance of such Saints that the Scripture had not determined the number of Holy-days but that these were left to the liberty of the Church Therefore they Enact That all Sundays with the days marked in the Calendar and Liturgy should be kept as Holy-days and the Bishops were to proceed by the Censures of the Church against the disobedient A Proviso was added for the observation of St. George's Feast by the Knights of the Garter and another That Labourers or Fisher-men might if need so required work on those days either in or out of Harvest The Eves before Holy-days were to be kept as Fasts and in Lent and on Fridays and Saturdays abstinence from Flesh was Enacted but if a Holy-day fell to be on a Mâ—nday the Eve for it was to be kept on Saturday since Sunday was never to be a Fasting-day But it was generally observed that in this and all such Acts the People were ready enough to lay hold on any relaxation made by it but did very slightly observe the stricter parts of it so that the liberty left to Trades-men to work in cases of necessity was carried further than it was intended to a too publick profanation of the time so sanctified and the other parts of it directing the People to a conscientious observing of such times was little minded On the 5th of March a Bill concerning the relief of the Poor was put into the House of Lords the Form of passing it has given occasion to some to take notice that though it is a Bill for taxing the Subjects yet it had its first birth in the Lords House and was agreed to by the Commons By it the Church-wardens were empow'red to gather charitable Collections for the Poor and if any did refuse to contribute or did disswade others from it the Bishop of the Diocess was to proceed against them On the 9th of March the Bishops put in a Bill for the security of the Clergy from some ambiguous words that were in the submission which the Convocation had made to King Henry in the 21st year of his Reign by which they were under a Praemunire if they did any things in their Courts contrary to the Kings Prerogative which was thought hard since some through ignorance might transgress Therefore it was desired that no Prelate should be brought under a Praemunire unless they had proceeded in any thing after they were prohibited by the Kings Writ To this the Lords consented but it was let fall by the Commons There was another Act brought in for the Marriage of the Clergy which was agreed to by the Lords An Act for the Marriagé of the Clergy the Earls of Shrewsbury Darby Rutland and Bath and the Lords Abergaveny Stourton Mounteagle Sands Windsor and Wharton protesting against it The Commons also passed it and it was assented to by the King By it was set forth That many took occasion from words in the Act formerly made about this matter to say that it was only permitted as Usury and other unlawful things were for the avoiding greater evils who thereupon spake slanderously of such Marriages and accounted the Children begotten in them to be Bastards to the high dishonour of the King and Parliament and the Learned Clergy of the Realm who had determined that the Laws against Priests Marriages were most unlawful by the Law of God to which they had not only given their Assent in the Convocation but Signed it with all their Hands These slanders did also occasion that the Word of God was not heard with due reverence whereupon it was Enacted That such Marriages made according to the Rules prescribed in the Book of Service should be esteemed good and valid and that the Children begot in them should be inheritable according to Law The Marquess of Northampton did also put in a Bill for confirming his Marriage which was passed only the Earl of Darby the Bishops of Carlisle and Norwich and the Lord Stourton dissented By it the Marriage is declared lawful as by the Law of God indeed it was any Decretal Canon Ecclesiastical Law or usage to the contrary notwithstanding This occasioned another Act That no Man might put away his Wife and marry another unless he were formerly divorced to which the Bishop of Norwich dissented because he was of opinion that a Divorce did not break the Marriage-Bond But this Bill fell in the House of Commons being thought not necessary for the Laws were already severe enough against such double Marriages By another Act the Bishoprick of Westminster was quite suppressed and re-united to the See of London but the Collegiate Church with it s exempted Jurisdiction An Act against Usury was still continued Another Bill was put in against Usury which was sent from the Lords to the Commons and passed by both and assented to By it an Act passed in Parliament in the 37th year of the late Kings Reign That none might take above 20 per Cent. for Money lent was repealed which they say was not intended for the allowing of Usury but for preventing further inconveniences and since Usury was by the Word of God forbidden and set out in divers places of Scripture as a most odious and detestable vice which yet many continued to practise for the filthy gain they made by it therefore from the first of May all Usury or gain for Money lent was to cease and whosoever continued to practise to the contrary were to suffer imprisonment and to be fined at the Kings pleasure This Act has been since repealed and the gain for Money lent has been at several times brought to several regulations It was much questioned whether these Prohibitions of Usury by Moses were not judicial Laws which did only bind the Nation of the Jews whose Land being equally divided among the Families by Lot the making gain by lending Money was forbid to them of that Nation yet it did not seem to be a thing of its nature sinful since they might take encrease of a Stranger The not lending Money on use was more convenient for that Nation which abounding in People and being shut up in a narrow Country they were necessarily to apply themselves to all the ways of Industry for their subsistence so that every one was by that Law of not lending upon use forced
to emply his Money in the way of Trade or Manufacture for which they were sure to have vent since they lay near Tyre and Sidon that were then the chief Places of Traffick and Navigation of the World and without such Industry the Soil of Judea could not possibly have fed such vast numbers as lived on it So that it seemed clear that this Law in the Old Testament properly belonged to that policy Yet it came to be looked on by many Christians as a Law of perpetual obligation It came also to be made a part of the Canon Law and Absolution could not be given to the breakers of it without a special faculty from Rome But for avoiding the severity of the Law the invention of Mortgages was fallen on which at first were only Purchases made and let back to the owner for such Rent as the use of the Money came to so that the use was taken as the Rent of the Land thus bought And those who had no Land to sell thus fell upon another way The Borrower bought their Goods to be payed within a Year for instance an hundred and ten Pound and sold them back for a Sum to be presently laid down as they should agree it may be a hundred Pound by this means the one had a hundred Pound in hand and the other was to have ten Pound or more at a years end But this being in the way of Sale was not called Usury This Law was look'd on as impossible to be observed in a Country like England and it could not easily appear where the immorality lay of lending Money upon moderate gain such as held proportion to the value of Land provided that the perpetual Rule of Christian Equity and Charity were observed which is not to exact above the proportion duly limited by the Law and to be merciful in not exacting severely of Persons who by inevitable accidents have been disabled from making payment This digression I thought the more necessary because of the scruples that many good and strict Persons have still in that matter Another Act passed both Houses against all Simoniacal Pactions A Bill against Simony the reservation of Pensions out of Benefices and the granting Advowsons while the Incumbent was yet alive It was agreed to by the Lords the Earls of Derby Rutland and Sussex the Viscount Hereford and the Lords Mounteagle Sands Wharton and Evers dissenting But upon what reason I do not know the Bill was not assented to by the King who being then sick there was a Collection made of the Titles of the Bills which were to have the Royal Assent and those the King Signed and gave Commission to some Lords to pass them in his Name These abuses have been oft complained of but there have been still new contrivances found out to elude all Laws against Simony either bargains being made by the Friends of the Parties concerned without their express knowledge or Bonds of Resignation given by which Incumbents lie at the mercy of their Patrons and in these the faultiness of some Clergy-men is made the colour of imposing such hard terms upon others and of robbing the Church oftentimes by that means There was a private Bill put in about the Duke of Somersets Estate which had been by Act of Parliament entailed on his Son in the 23d Year of the last Kings Reign A Repeal of the Entail of the Duke of Somersets Estate On the third of March it was sent to the House of Commons Signed by the King it was for the Repeal of that Act. Whether the King was so alienated from his Unkle that this extraordinary thing was done by him for the utter ruine of his Family or not I cannot determine but I rather incline to think it was done in hatred to the Dutchess of Somerset and her Issue For the Estate was entailed on them by that Act of Parliament in prejudice of the Issue of the former Marriage of whom are descended the Seimours of Devon-shire who were disinherited and excluded from the Duke of Somersets Honours by his Patents and from his Estate by Act of Parliament partly upon some jealousies he had of his former Wife but chiefly by the power his second Wife had over him This Bill of Repeal was much opposed in the House though sent to them in so unusual a way by the King himself And though there was on the 8th of March a Message sent from the Lords that they should make hast towards an end of the Parliament yet still they stuck long upon it looking on the breaking of Entails that were made by Act of Parliament as a thing of such consequence that it dissolved the greatest security that the Law of England gives for property It was long argued by the Commons and was fifteen several days brought in At last a new Bill was devised and that was much altered too it was not quite ended till the day before the Parliament was dissolved But near the end of the Session a Proviso was sent from the Lords to be added to the Bill confirming the Attainder of the Duke and his Complices It seems his Enemies would not try this at first till they had by other things measured their strength in that House and finding their interest grew there they adventured on it but they mistook their measures for the Commons would not agree to it In conclusion the Bill of Repeal was agreed to But whereas there had been some Writings for a Marriage between the Earl of Oxfords Daughter and the Duke of Somersets Son and a Bill was put in for voiding these upon a division of the House the 28th of March there were sixty eight that agreed and sixty nine that rejected it so this Bill was cast out By this we see what a thin House of Commons there was at that time the whole being but 137 Members But this was a natural effect of a long Parliament many of those who were at first chosen being infirm and others not willing to put themselves to the charge and trouble of such constant and long attendance It is also from hence clear how great an interest the Duke of Somerset had in the affections of the Parliament The Commons refuse to attaint the Bishop of Duresme by Bill Another Bill gave a more evident discovery how hateful the Duke of Northumberland was to them The Bishop of Duresme was upon some complaint brought against him of misprision of Treason put into the Tower about the end of December last year What the Particulars were I do not find but it was visible that the secret reason was that he being Attainted the Duke of Northumberland intended to have had the Dignities and Jurisdiction of that Principality conferred on himself so that he should have been made Count Palatine of Duresme Tonstall had in all Points given obedience to every Law and to all the Injunctions that had been made but had always in Parliament protested against the changes in
Religion which he thought he might with a good Conscience submit to and obey though he could not consent to them Only in the matter of the Corporal Presence he was still of the old Perswasion and writ about it But the Latine Stile of his Book is much better than the Divinity and Reasonings in it So what he would have done if he had been required to subscribe the Articles that were now agreed on did not appear for he was all this while Prisoner There was a constant good correspondence between Cranmer and him Though in many things they differed in opinion yet Tonstall was both a Man of candor and of great moderation which agreed so well with Cranmers temper that no wonder they lived always in good terms So when the Bill for Attainting him as guilty of Misprision of Treason was passed in the House of Lords on the 31st of March being put in on the 28th Cranmer spake so freely against it that the Duke of Northumberland and he were never after that in friendship together What his Arguments were I could not recover but when he could do no more he protested against it being seconded only by the Lord Stourton How it came to pass that the other Popish Lords and Bishops that protested against the other Acts of this Parliament did not joyn in this I cannot imagine unless it was that they were the less concerned for Tonstall because Cranmer had appeared to be so much his friend or were awed by their fear of offending the Duke of Northumberland But when the Bill was carried down to the Commons with the Evidences against him which were some Depositions that had been taken and brought to the Lords they who were resolved to condemn that practise for the future would not proceed upon it now So on the fifth of April they ordered the Privy-Counsellors of their House to move the Lords that his Accusers and he might be heard face to face and that not being done they went no further in the Bill By these Indications the Duke of Northumberland saw how little kindness the House of Commons had for him The Parliament is Dissolved The Parliament had now sate almost five years and being called by the Duke of Somerset his Friends had been generally chose to be of it So that it was no wonder if upon his Fall they were not easie to those who had destroyed him nor was there any motion made for their giving the King a Supply Therefore the Duke of Northumberland thought it necessary for his Interest to call a new Parliament And accordingly on the 15th of April the Parliament was dissolved and it was resolved to spend this Summer in making Friends all over England and to have a new Parliament in the opening of the next Year The Convocation at this time agreed to the Articles of Religion that were prepared the last Year which though they have been often printed yet since they are but short and of so great consequence to this History I have put them into the Collection as was formerly told Thus the Reformation of Doctrine and Worship were brought to their perfection and were not after this in a tittle mended or altered in this Reign nor much afterwards only some of the Articles were put in more general words under Queen Elizabeth Another part of the Reformation was yet unfinished A Reformation of Ecclesiastical Courts considered and it was the chief work of this year that was the giving Rules to the Ecclesiastical Courts and for all things relating to the Government of the Church and the exercise of the several Functions in it In the former Volume it was told that an Act had passed for this effect yet it had not taken effect but a Commission was made upon it and these appointed by King Henry had met and consulted about it and had made some progress in it as appears by an Original Letter of Cranmers to that King in the Year 1545. in which he speaks of it as a thing then almost forgotten and quite lâ—id aside for from the time of the six Articles till then the design of the Reformation had been going backward At that time the King began to re-assume the thoughts of it and was resolved to remove some Ceremonies such as the creeping to the Cross the ringing of Bells on St. Andrews Eve with other superstitious Practises for which Cranmer sent him the draught of a Letter to be written in the Kings Name to the two Arch-bishops and to be by them communicated to the rest of the Clergy In the Postscript of his Letter he complains much of the sacrilegious wast of the Cathedral Church of Canterbury where the Dean and Prebendaries had been made to alienate many of their Mannours upon Letters obtained by Courtiers from the King as if the Lands had been desired for the Kings use upon which they had surrendred those Lands which were thereupon disposed of to the Courtiers that had an Eye upon them This Letter should have come in in the former Volume but I had not seen it then so I took hold on this Occasion to direct the Reader to it in the Collection Collection Number 61. It was also formerly told that an Act had passed in this Reign to empower thirty two Persons who should be named by the King to make a Reformation of the Ecclesiastical Laws which was to be finished within three years But the revolutions of Affairs and the other more pressing things that were still uncompleated had kept them hitherto from setting to that work On the first of November last year a Commission was given to eight Persons to prepare the matter for the review of the two and thirty that so it might be more easily compiled being in a few hands than could well be done if so many had been to set about it These eight were the Arch bishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely Dr. Cox and Peter Martyr two Divines Dr. May and Dr. Taylor two Doctors of the Law and John Lucas and Richard Goodrick two Common Lawyers But on the 14th of November the Commission was renewed and the Bishop of London was named in the room of the Bishop of Ely one Traheron in the room of May and Gosnald in Goodrick's room These it seems desiring more time than one year to finish it in for two of the years were now lapsed in the last Session of the Parliament they had three years more time offered them But it seems the Work was believed to be in such a forwardness that this continuation was not judged necessary for the Royal Assent was not given to that Act. After the Parliament was ended they made hast with it But I find it said in the Preface to the Book as it was printed in Queen Elizabeths Reign that Cranmer did the whole Work almost himself which will justifie the Character some give of him that he was the greatest Canonist then in England Dr. Haddon that was
Heath of Worcester and Day Bishop of Chichester Heath and Day turned out of their Bishopricks were put out of their Bishopricks For Heath it has been already said that he was put in prison for refusing to consent to the Book of Ordinations But for Day whether he refused to submit to the new Book or fell into other transgressions I do not know Both these were afterwards deprived not by any Court consisting of Church-men but by Secular Delegates of whom three were Civilians and three Common Lawyers as King Edwards Journal informs us Dayes Sentence is something ambiguously expressed in the Patent that Scory Bishop of Rochester had to succeed him which bears date the 24th of May and mentions his being put there in the room of George late Bishop of that See who had been deprived or removed from it In June following upon Hollbeach Bishop of Lincoln's death Taylour that had been Dean of Lincoln was made Bishop This Year the Bishoprick of Glocester was quite suppressed and converted into an exempted Arch-deaconry and Hooper was made Bishop of Worcester In the December before Worcester and Glocester had been united by reason of their Voicinage and their great poverty and that they were not very populous so they were to be for ever after one Bishoprick with two Titles as Coventry and Litchfield and Bath and Wells were and Hooper was made Bishop of Worcester and Glocester But now they were put into another method and the Bishop was to be called only Bishop of Worcester In all the vacancies of Sees there were a great many of their best Lands taken from them and the Sees that before had been profusely enriched were now brought to so low a condition that it was scarce possible for the Bishops to subsist and yet if what was so taken from them had been converted to good uses to the bettering the condition of the poor Clergy over England it had been some mitigation of so hainous a Robbery but these Lands were snatched up by every hungry Courtier who found this to be the easiest way to be satisfied in their pretensions and the World had been so possessed with the opinion of their excessive Wealth that it was thought they never could be made poor enough This Year a Passage fell out relating to Ireland The Affairs of Ireland which will give me occasion to look over to the Affairs of that Kingdom The Kings of England had formerly contented themselves with the Title of Lords of Ireland which King Henry the 8th in the 33d Year of his Reign had in a Parliament there changed into the Title of a Kingdom But no special Crown or Coronation was appointed since it was to follow the Crown of England The Popes and the Emperors have pretended that the conferring Titles of Sovereign Dignity belonged to them The Pope derived his claim from what our Saviour said That all Power in Heaven and in Earth was given to him and by consequence to his Vicar The Emperors as being a dead shadow of the Roman Empire which Title with the designation of Caesar they still continued to use and pretended that as the Roman Emperors did anciently make Kings so they had still the same right though because those Emperors made Kings in the Countreys which were theirs by Conquest it was an odd stretch to infer that those who retained nothing of their Empire but the Name should therefore make Kings in Countries that belonged not to them and it is certain that every entire or independent Crown or State may make for or within it self what Titles they please But the Authority the Crown of England had in Ireland was not then so entire as by the many Rebellions that have fallen out since it is now become The Heads of the Clans and Names had the Conduct of all their several Tribes who were led on by them to what designs they pleased And though within the English Pale the King was obeyed and his Laws executed almost as in England yet the native Irish were an uncivilized and barbarous Nation and not yet brought under the Yoke and for the greatest part of Vlster they were united to the Scots and followed their Interests There had been a Rebellion in the second Year of this Reign But Sir Anthony St. Leiger then Deputy being recalled and Sir Edw. Bellinghame sent in his room he subdued O-Canor and O-More that were the chief Authors of it and not being willing to put things to extremities when England was otherwise distracted with Wars he perswaded them to accept of Pensions of 100 l. a-piece and so they came in and lived in the English Pale But the Winter after there was another Rebellion designed in Vlster by O-Neal O-Donnel O-Docart and the Heads of some other Tribes who sent to the Queen Dowager of Scotland to procure them assistance from France and they would keep up the disorders in Ireland The Bishop of Valence being then in Scotland was sent by her to observe their strength that he might accordingly perswade the King of France to assist them He cross'd the Seas and met with them and with Wauchop a Scotch-man who was the Bishop of Armagh of the Popes making and who though he was blind was yet esteemed one of the best at Riding Post in the World They set out all their greatness to the French Bishop to engage him to be their friend at the Court of France but he seemed not so well satisfied of their ability to do any great matter and so nothing followed on this One passage fell out here which will a little discover the temper of that Bishop When he was in O-Docarts House he saw a fair Daughter of his whom he endeavoured to have corrupted but she avoided him carefully Two English Gray-Friars that had fled out of England for their Religion and were there at that time observing the Bishops inclinations brought him an English Whore whom he kept for some time She one night looking among his things found a Glass full of somewhat that was very odoriferous and poured it all down her Throat which the Bishop perceiving too late fell into a most violent passion for it had been presented to him by Soliman the Magnificent at his leaving that Court as the richest Balm in Egypt and was valued at 2000 Crowns The Bishop was in such a rage that all the House was disturbed with it whereby he discovered both his lewdness and passion at once This is related by one that was then with him and was carried over by him to be a Page to the Scotch Queen Sir James Melvil who lived long in that Court under the Constable of France and was afterwards much employed by the Prince Elector Palatine in many Negotiations and coming home to his own Country was sent on many occasions to the Court of England where he lived in great Esteem He in his old Age writ a Narrative of all the Affairs that himself had been concerned in which is one of
trust that Shop of false Wares in any one thing that comes out of it And therefore it is not easie to be assured of the truth and genuineness of any of the Materials out of which the Jesuite composed his Work But as for the main Thread of the Story both his and Father Pauls Accounts do so agree that whosoever compares them will clearly see that all things were managed by Intrigues and secret Practises so that it will not be easie for a Man of common sense after he has read over Pallavicini's History to fancy that there was any extraordinary influence of the Holy Ghost hovering over and directing their Councils And the care they took for palliating all the corcuptions then complained of was so apparent that their Historian had no other way by which to excuse it but to set up a new Hypothesis which a French Writer since has wittily called the Cardinals New Gospel That there must be a Temporal Principality in the Church that all things which support that Principality are to be at least tolerated though they be far contrary to the Primitive Patterns and to the first delivery of the Gospel by Christ and his Apostles That which was then set up he accounts a state of Infancy to which Milk was proper but the Church being since grown to its full state and strength other things are now necessary for the maintaining and preserving of it But to return to Maurice he having possessed the Emperor with an entire confidence in him gathered his Army together took Ausburg with many other Imperial Cities and displaced the Magistrates which the Emperor had put in them and restored their old ones with the banished Ministers so that every thing began to put on a new face Ferdinand King of the Romans did Mediate both on his own account for the Turks were falling into Hungary and on the Empires for the King of France was come with a great Army to the Confines of the Empire and the Constable pretending that he only desired passage through the Town of Metz entred it and possessed himself of it Toul and Verdun fell also into his Hands and the French were endeavouring to be admitted into Strasburg The Emperor was now in great disorder he had no Army about him those he had confided in were declared against him his own Brother was not ill pleased at his misfortune the French were like to gain ground on his Hereditary Dominions Being thus perplexed and irresolved he did not send a speedy Answer to Maurice's Demands which he had sent by his Brother for the setting of the Landgrave at liberty restoring the freedoms of the Empire and particularly in matters of Religion But to lose no time the mean while Maurice marched on to Jnspruch where the Emperor lay and surprized a Pass to which he had trusted so that he was within two Miles of him before he was aware of it Upon this the Emperor rose from Supper in great hast and by Torch light fled away to make his escape into Italy He gave the Duke of Saxe his liberty but he generously resolved to follow him in this his calamity and perhaps he was not willing to owe his liberty to his Cousin Maurice Thus all that design which the Emperor had been laying so many years was now broken off on a sudden he lost all the advantages he had of his former Victories and was forced to set the Prisoners at liberty and to call in the Proscriptions and in conclusion the Edict of Passaw was made by which the several Princes and Towns were secured in the free exercise of their Religion I have made this digression which I thought not disagreeable to the matter of my History to give account of the extream danger in which Religion was in Germany and how strangely it was recovered in which he who had been the chief Instrument of the miseries it had groaned under was now become its unlooked-for deliverer I have enlarged on some Passages that are in none of the Printed Histories which I draw from Melvils Memoires who says he had them from the Elector Palatines own Mouth The Emperor is much cast down But the Emperors misfortunes redoubled on him For having made Peace in the Empire he would against all reason or probability of success sit down before Metz. But the Duke of Guise defended the Place so against him and the time of the year was so unseasonable being in December that after a great loss of Men and vast expence of Treasure he was forced to raise his Siege From thence he retired into Flanders where his afflictions seised so violently on him that for some time he admitted none to come near him Some said he was frantick others that he was sullen and Melancholly The English Ambassadors at Brussels for many Weeks could learn nothing certain concerning him Here it is said he began to reflect on the vanity of the World when he who had but a year before given Law to Christendome was now driven to so low an ebbe that as he had irrecoverably lost all his footing in Germany so in all other things his Councils were unlucky It was one of the notablest turns of Fortune that had been in many Ages and gave a great demonstration both of an over-ruling Providence that disposes of all humane Affairs at pleasure and of a particular care that God had of the Reformation in thus recovering it when it seemed gone without hope in Germany These Reflections made deep impressions on his mind and were believed to have first possessed him with the design which not long after he put in execution of laying down his Crowns and retiring to a private course of Life In his retirement having time to consider things more impartially he was so much changed in his opinion of the Protestant Religion that he who hitherto had been a most violent opposer of it was suspected of being turned to it before he died 1553. Thus ended this Year and now I come to the last and fatal Year of this young Kings Life and Reign The first thing done in it A Regulation of the Privy-Council was a regulation of the Privy-Council which was divided into so many Committees and every one of these had its proper Work and days appointed for the receiving and dispatching of all Affairs In all these things a Method was prescribed to them of which the Reader will see a full account in the sixth Paper of those that follow King Edwards Journal King Edwards Remains Number 6. which Paper though it is not all written with his Hand as the others be yet it is in so many places interlined by him that he seems to have considered it much and been well pleased with it A new Parliament His second Parliament was opened on the first of March On the sixth of March it was moved in the House of Commons to give the King two Tenths and two Fifteenths with a Subsidy for two years
It was long argued at first and at the passing the Bill it was again argued but at last the Commons agreed to it The Preamble of it is a long Accusation of the Duke of Somerset for involving the King in Wars wasting his Treasure engaging him in much Debt embasing the Coin and having given occasion to a most terrible Rebellion In fine considering the great Debt the King was left in by his Father the loss he put himself to in the reforming the Coin and they finding his temper to be set wholly on the good of his Subjects and not on enriching himself therefore they give him two Tenths and two Fifteenths with one Subsidy for two years Whether the debate in the House of Commons was against the Subsidies in this Act or against the Preamble cannot be certainly known but it is probable the Debate at the engrossing the Bill was about the Preamble which the Duke of Northumberland and his Party were the more earnestly set on to let the King see how acceptable they were and how hateful the Duke of Somerset had been The Clergy did also for an expression of their affection and duty give the King six Shillings in the Pound of their Benefices There was also a Bill sent down from the Lords That none might hold any Spiritual Promotion unless he were either Priest or Deacon But after the third reading it was cast out The reason of it was because many Noblemen and Gentlemens Sons had Prebends given them on this pretence that they intended to fit themselves by Study for entring into Orders but they kept these and never advanced in their Studies upon which the Bishops prevailed to have the Bill agreed to by the Lords but could carry it no further Another Act passed for the suppressing the Bishoprick of Duresme The Bishoprick of Duresme suppressed and two new ones appon ed. which is so strangely mis-represented by those who never read more than the Title of it that I shall therefore give a more full account of it It is set forth in the Preamble That that Bishoprick being then void of a Prelate so that the Gift thereof was in the Kings pleasure and the compass of it being so large extending to so many Shires so far distant that it could not be sufficiently served by one Bishop and since the King according to his godly disposition was desirous to have Gods Holy Word preached in these Parts which were wild and barbarous for lack of good Preaching and good Learning therefore he intended to have two Bishopricks for that Diocess the one at Duresme which should have 2000 Marks Revenue and another at Newcastle which should have 1000 Marks Revenue and also to Found a Cathedral Church at Newcastle with a Deanry and Chapter out of the Revenues of the Bishoprick therefore the Bishoprick of Duresme is utterly extinguished and dissolved and Authority is given for Letters Patents to erect the two new Bishopricks together with the Deanry and Chapter at Newcastle with a Proviso that the Rights of the Deanry Chapter and Cathedral of Duresme should suffer nothing by this Act. When this Bill is considered that dissolution that was designed by it will not appear to be so sacrilegious a thing as some Writers have represented it For whosoever understands the value of old Rents especially such as these were near the Marches of an Enemy where the Service of the Tenants in the War made their Lands be set at very low rates will know that 3000 Marks of Rent being reserved besides the endowing of the Cathedral which could hardly be done under another thousand Marks there could not be so great a Prey of that Bishoprick as has been imagined Ridley as himself writes in one of his Letters was named to be Bishop of Duresme being one of the Natives of that Country but the thing never took effect For in May and no sooner was the Temporalty of the Bishoprick turned into a County-Palatine and given to the Duke of Northumberland But the Kings sickness and soon after his death made that and all the rest of these designs prove abortive How Tonstall was deprived I cannot understand It was for misprision of Treason and done by Secular Men. For Cranmer refused to meddle in it I have seen the Commission given by Queen Mary to some Delegates to examine it in which it is said That the Sentence was given only by Lay-men and that Tonstal being kept Prisoner long in the Tower was brought to his Trial in which he had neither Counsel assigned him nor convenient time given him for clearing himself and that after divers Protestations they had notwithstanding his Appeal deprived him of his Bishoprick He was not only turned out but kept Prisoner till Queen Mary set him at liberty At the end of this Parliament the King granted a free Pardon concerning which this is only remarkable That whereas it goes for a Maxime that the Acts of Pardon must be passed without changing any thing in them the Commons when they sent up this Act of Pardon to the Lords desired that some words might be amended in it but it is not clear what was done for that same day the Acts were passed and the Parliament was dissolved In it the Duke of Northumberland had carried this Point That the Nation made a publick Declaration of their dislike of the Duke of Somersets Proceedings which was the more necessary because the King had let fall words concerning his death by which he seemed to reflect on it with some concern and look'd on it as Northumberlands deed But the Act had passed with such difficulty that either the Duke did not think the Parliament well enough disposed for him or else he resolved totally to vary from the Measures of the Duke of Somerset who continued the same Parliament long whereas this that was opened on the first was dissolved on the last day of March. A Visitation for the Plate in the Churches Visitors were soon after appointed to examine what Church-plate Jewels and other Furniture was in all Cathedrals and Churches and to compare their account with the Inventories made in former Visitations and to see what was embezeled and how it was done And because the King was resolved to have Churches and Chappels furnished with that that was comely and convenient for the Administration of the Sacraments they were to give one or two Chalices of Silver or more to every Church Chappel or Cathedral as their discretions should direct them and to distribute comely Furniture for the Communion-Table and for Surplices and to sell the rest of the Linen and give it to the Poor and to sell Copes and Altar-Cloaths and deliver all the rest of the Plate and Jewels to the Kings Treasurer Sir Edm. Pecham This is spitefully urged by one of our Writers who would have his Reader infer from it that the King was ill principled as to the matters of the Church because when this Order was given by
present and he somewhat sharply asked them Why they had not prepared the Book as he had ordered them They answered That what ever they did would be of no force without a Parliament The King said He intended to have one shortly Then Mountague proposed that it might be delayed till the Parliament met But the King said He would have it first done and then ratified in Parliament and therefore he required them on their Allegiance to go about it and some Counsellors told them if they refused to obey that they were Traitors This put them in a great consternation and old Mountague thinking it could not be Treason what ever they did in this matter while the King lived and at worst that a Pardon under the Great Seal would secure him consented to set about it if he might have a Commission requiring him to do it and a Pardon under the Great Seal when it was done Both these being granted him he was satisfied The other Judges But through fear all yielded except Judge Hales being asked if they would concur did all agree being overcome with fear except Gosnald who still refused to do it But he also being sorely threatned both by the Duke of Northumberland and the Earl of Shrewsbury consented to it the next day So they put the Entail of the Crown in Form of Law and brought it to the Lord Chancellor to put the Seal to it They were all required to set their Hands to it but both Gosnald and Hales refused Yet the former was wrought on to do it but the latter though a most steady and zealous Man for the Reformation would upon no consideration yield to it After that the Lord Chancellor for his Security desired that all the Counsellors might set their Hands to it which was done on the 21st of June by thirty three of them it is like including the Judges in the Number But Cranmer as he came seldom to Council after the Duke of Somersets Fall so he was that day absent on design Cecil in a Relation which he made one write of this Transaction for clearing himself afterwards says That when he had heard Gosnald and Hales declare how much it was against Law he refused to set his Hand to it as a Counsellor and that he only Signed as a Witness to the Kings Subscription But Cranmer still refused to do it after they had all Signed it and said he would never consent to the disinheriting of the Daughters of his late Master Many Consultations were had to perswade him to it Cranmer was very hardly brought to consent to it But he could not be prevailed on till the King himself set on him who used many Arguments from the danger Religion would otherwise be in together with other Perswasions so that by his Reasons or rather Importunities at last he brought him to it But whether he also used that distinction of Cecils that he did it as a Witness and not as a Counsellor I do not know but it seems probable that if that liberty was allowed the one it would not be denied the other The Kings sickness becomes desperate But though the setling this business gave the King great content in his mind yet his Distemper rather encreased than abated so that the Physicians had no hope of his recovery Upon which a confident Woman came and undertook his Cure if he might be put into her Hands This was done and the Physicians were put from him upon this pretence that they having no hopes of his recovery in a desperate Case desperate Remedies were to be used This was said to be the Duke of Northumberlands advice in particular and it encreased the Peoples jealousie of him when they saw the King grow very sensibly worse every day after he came under the Womans care which becoming so plain she was put from him and the Physicians were again sent for and took him into their charge But if they had small hopes before they had none at all now Death thus hastening on him the Duke of Northumberland who knew he had done but half his work except he had the Kings Sisters in his Hands got the Council to write to them in the Kings Name inviting them to come and keep him company in his sickness But as they were on the way on the sixth of July his Spirits and Body were so sunk that he found death approaching and so he composed himself to die in a most devout manner His whole exercise was in short Prayers and Ejaculations The last that he was heard to use was in these words Lord God deliver me out of this miserable and wretched Life His last Prayer and take me among thy Chosen Howbeit not my Will but thine be done Lord I commit my Spirit to thee O Lord thou knowest how happy it were for me to be with thee yet for thy Chosens sake send me Life and Health that I may truly serve thee O my Lord God bless my People and save thine Inheritance O Lord God save thy chosen People of England O Lord God defend this Realm from Papistry and maintain thy true Religion that I and my People may praise thy Holy Name for Jesus Christ his sake Seeing some about him he seemed troubled that they were so near and had heard him but with a pleasant countenance he said he had been praying to God And soon after the Pangs of death coming on him he said to Sir Henry Sidney who was holding him in his Arms I am faint Lord have mercy on me and receive my Spirit and so he breathed out his Innocent Soul The Duke of Northumberland according to Cecils Relation intended to have concealed his death for a fortnight but it could not be done His Death and Character Thus died King Edward the sixth that incomparable young Prince He was then in the sixteenth Year of his Age and was counted the wonder of that Time He was not only learned in the Tongues and other Liberal Sciences but knew well the State of his Kingdom He kept a Book in which he writ the Characters that were given him of all the chief Men of the Nation all the Judges Lord-Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace over England in it he had marked down their way of living and their zeal for Religion He had studied the matter of the Mint with the Exchange and value of Money so that he understood it well as appears by his Journal He also understood Fortification and designed well He knew all the Harbours and Ports both of his own Dominions and of France and Scotland and how much Water they had and what was the way of coming in to them He had acquired great knowledge in Forreign Affairs so that he talked with the Ambassadors about them in such a manner that they filled all the World with the highest opinion of him that was possible which appears in most of the Histories of that Age. He had great quickness of apprehension and
had been long very apprehensive when he considered the sins then prevailing and the Judgments which they had reason to look for as will appear by an excellent Letter which he sent about to his Clergy to set them on to such Duties as so sad a Prospect required It will be found in the Collection Collection Number 58. and though it belongs to the former Year yet I choose rather to bring it in on this occasion These things having been fully laid open in the former parts of this Work I shall not insist on them here having mentioned them only for this cause that the Reader may from hence gather what we may still expect if we continue guilty of the same or worse sins after all that illumination and knowledge with which we have been so long blest in these Kingdoms The END of the First BOOK MARIA ANGLIAE HISPANIAE ct REGINA R. White sculp Nata 18 Feb 1516 Regnare cepit 6. to HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE Julij 1553. Obijt 17.mo Novemb 1558 Printed for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crowne in S. t Pauls Church yard BOOK II. THE LJFE AND REIGN OF Queen MARY UPon the Death of King Edward the Crown devolved 1553. Q. Mary succeeds but is in great danger according to King Henry's Will and the Act of Parliament made in the 35th Year of his Reign on his Eldest Sister the now Queen Mary She was on her way to London in obedience to the Letters that had been writ to her to come and comfort her Brother in his Sickness and was come within half a days Journey of the Court when she received an Advertisement from the Earl of Arundel that her Brother was dead together with an account of what was done about the Succession The Earl also informed her that the King's Death was concealed on design to entrap her before she knew of it and therefore he advised her to retire Upon this she knowing that the Duke of Northumberland was much hated in Norfolk for the great slaughter he had made of the Rebels when he subdued them in the third Year of the last Reign And retires to Suffolk therefore chose to go that way to the Castle of Framlingham in Suffolk Which Place being near the Sea she might if her Designs should miscarry have an opportunity from thence to fly over to the Emperor that was then in Flanders At London it seems the whole Business of setting up the Lady Jane had been carried very secretly since if Queen Mary had heard any hint of it she had certainly kept out of the way and not adventured to have come so near the Town It was an unaccountable Error in the Party for the Lady Jane that they had not immediately after the Seal was put to the Letters Patents or at furthest presently after the King's Death sent some to make sure of the King's Sisters instead of which they thus lingred hoping they would have come into their Toils in an easier and less violent way On the 8th of July they writ to the English Ambassadors at Brussels the news of the King's Death but said nothing of the Succession On the 9th of July they perceived the King's Death was known for Queen Mary writ to to them She writes to the Council from Kenning-Hall that she understood the King her Brother was dead which how sorrowful it was to her God only knew to whose Will she did humbly submit her Will. The Provision of the Crown to her after his Death she said was well known to them all but she thought it strange that he being three days dead she had not been advertised of it by them She knew what Consultations were against her and what Engagements they had entred into but was willing to take all their Doings in good part and therefore did give Pardon for all that was past to such as would accept of it and required them to proclaim her Title to the Crown in London Upon this Letter they saw the death of the King could no longer be concealed so the Duke of Suffolk and the Duke of Northumberland went to Durham-House where the Lady Jane lay to give her notice of her being to succeed to the Crown in the room of the deceased King She received the News with great sorrow for King Edward's Death Who declare for the Lady Jane which was not at all lessened but rather encreased by that other part of their Message concerning her being to succeed him Lady Jane's Character She was a Lady that seemed indeed born for a great Fortune for as she was a beautiful and graceful Person so she had great Parts and greater Vertues Her Tutor was Dr. Elmer believed to be the same that was afterwards made Bishop of London by Queen Elizabeth She had learned from him the Latin and Greek Tongues to great â—erfection so that being of the same Age with the late King she seeâ—ed superior to him in those Languages And having acquired the helps of Knowledg she spent her time much in the study of it Roger Ascham Tutor to the Lady Elizabeth coming once to wait on her at her Father's House in Leicestershire found her reading Plato's Works in Greek when all the rest of the Family were hunting in the Park He asked her How she could be absent from such pleasant Diversions She answered The Pastimes in the Park were but a shadow to the delight she had in reading Plato's Phedon which then lay open before her and added That she esteemed it one of the greatest Blessings that God ever gave her that she had sharp Parents and a gentle School-master which made her take delight in nothing so much as in her Study She read the Scriptures much and had attained great knowledg in Divinity But with all these Advantages of Birth and Parts she was so humble so gentle and pious that all People both admired and loved her and none more than the late King She had a Mind wonderfully raised above the World and at the Age wherein others are but imbibing the Notions of Philosophy she had attained to the practice of the highest Precepts of it She was neither lifted up with the hope of a Crown nor cast down when she saw her Palace made afterwards her Prison but carried her self with an equal temper of Mind in those great inequalities of Fortune that so suddenly exalted and depressed her All the Passion she expressed in it was that which is of the noblest sort and is the indication of tender and generous Natures being much affected with the Troubles her Father and Husband fell in on her account The mention of the Crown when her Father with her Father-in-Law saluted her Queen did rather heighten her disorder upon the King's Death She said She knew by the Laws of the Kingdom Her unwillingness to accept of the Crown and by natural Right the Crown was to go to the King's Sisters so that she was
extend to all their Issue But all People agreed in this that though by Act of Parliament King Henry was empowred to provide or limit the Crown by his Letters Patents yet that was a Grant particularly to him and did not descend to his Heirs So that the Letters Patents made by King Edward could have no force to settle the Crown and much less when they did expresly contradict an Act of Parliament The proceeding so severely against the Vintners Boy was imputed to the violent temper of the Duke of Northumberland And though when a Government is Firm and Factions are weak the making some publick Examples may intimidate a Faction otherwise disheartned yet Severities in such a juncture as this when the Council had no other support but the assistance of the People seemed very unadvised and all thought it was a great Error to punish him in that manner This made them reflect on the rest of Northumberland's Cruelties The Duke of Northumberland much hated His bringing the Duke of Somerset with those Gentlemen that suffered with him to their End by a foul Conspiracy but above all things the Suspitions that lay on him of being the Author of the late King 's untimely Death enraged the People so much against him that without considering what they might suffer under Queen Mary they generally inclined to set her up The Lady Jane was proclaimed in many Towns near London yet the People were generally running to Queen Mary Many declare for Q. Mary Many from Norfolk came to her and a great Body of Suffolk Men gathered about her who were all for the Reformation They desired to know of her whether she would alter the Religion set up in King Edward's Days to whom she gave full Assurances that she would never make any Innovation or Change but be contented with the private Exercise of her own Religion Upon this they were all possessed with such a belief of her sincerity that it made them resolve to hazard their Lives and Estates in her Quarrel The Earls of Bath and Suffolk raised Forces and joined with her so did the Sons of the Lord Wharton and Mordant with many more Upon this the Council resolved to gather Forces for the dispersing of theirs The Council orders Forces to be sent against her and sent the Earl of Huntington's Brother to raise Buckinghamshire and others to other parts ordering them to meet the Forces that should come from London at New-Market It was at first proposed to send the Duke of Suffolk to command them but the Lady Jane was so much concerned in her Father's preservation that she urged he might not be sent and he being but a soft Man was easily excused So it fell next on the Duke of Northumberland who was now much distracted in his Mind He was afraid if he went away the City might declare for Queen Mary nor was he well assured of the Council who seemed all to comply with him rather out of fear than good will Cecil would not officiate as Secretary as himself relates the Judges would do nothing and the Duke plainly saw that if he had not according to the custom of our Princes on their first coming to the Crown gone with the Lady Jane and the Council into the Tower whereby he kept them as Prisoners the Council were inclined to desert him This divided him much in his Thoughts The whole success of his Design depended on the dispersing of the Queen's Forces And it was no less necessary to have a Man of courage continue still in the Tower There was none there whom he could entirely trust but the Duke of Suffolk and he was so mean spirited that he did not depend much on him But the progress the Queen's Forces made pressed him to go and make head against her So he laid all the heavy Charges he could on the Council to look to Queen Jane and to stand firmly to her Interests and left London on the 14th of July marching out with 2000 Horse and 6000 Foot But as he rode through Bishops-gate street and Shoreditch though there were great Crouds looking on none cried out to wish him success which gave a sad indication how ill they were affected to him And write to the Emperor The Council writ to the Emperor by one Shelley whom they sent to give notice of the Lady Jane's Succession complaining that the Lady Mary was making Stirs and that his Ambassador had officiously medled in their Affairs but that they had given Orders for reducing the Lady Mary to her Duty They also desired the continuance of his Friendship and that he would command his Resident to carry himself as became an Ambassador Sir Philip Hobbey was continued Ambassador there the others were ordered to stay and prosecute the Mediation of the Peace but the Emperor would not receive those Letters and in a few days there went over others from Queen Mary Ridley preaches for the L. Jane's Title Ridley was appointed to set out Queen Jane's Title in a Sermon at Pauls and to warn the People of the Dangers they would be in if Queen Mary should reign which he did and gave an account in his Sermon of what had passed between him and her when he went and offered to preach to her At the same time the Duke of Northumberland at Cambridg where himself was both Chancellor of the University and Steward of the Town made the Vice-Chancellor preach to the same purpose But he held in more general terms and managed it so that there was no great Offence taken on either hand Q. Mary's Party grows strong But now the Queen had made her Title be proclaimed at Norwich and sent Letters all over England requiring the Peers and others of great Quality to come to her assistance Some Ships had been sent about to lie on that Coast for intercepting her if she should fly away but those who commanded them were so dealt with that instead of acting against her they declared for her Sir Edward Hastings having raised 4000 Men in Buckinghamshire instead of joining with the Duke of Northumberland went over with them into her Service Many were also from all Places every day running to her and in several Counties of England she was proclaimed Queen But none came in to the Duke of Northumberland so he writ earnestly to the Lords at London to send him more Supplies They understanding from all the Corners of England And the Council turn to her that the Tyde grew every-where strong for the Queen entred into Consultations how to redeem their passed Faults and to reconcile themselves to her The Earl of Arundel hated Northumberland on many accounts The Marquess of Winchester was famous for his dexterity in shifting sides all ways to his own Advantage To them joined the Earl of Pembrook the more closely linked to the Interests of the Lady Jane since his Son had married her Sister which made him the more careful to disentangle himself in
infer that this would soon grow up to an extream Persecution so that above a thousand Persons fled beyond Seas most of them went in the company and as the Servants of French Protestants who having come over in King Edwards time were now required as the Germans had been to return into their own Country The Council understanding this took care that no Englishman should escape out of their hands and therefore sent an Order to the Ports that none should be suffered to go over as Frenchmen but those who brought Certificates from the French Embassador Among those that had got over some eminent Divines went who either having no Cures or being turned out of their Benefices were not under such ties to any Flock so that they judged themselves disingaged and therefore did not as Hirelings leave their Flock to the Persecution then imminent but rather went to look after those who had now left England The chief of these that went at first were Cox Sanders Grindal and Horn. Cox was without any good colour turned out both of his Deanery of Christ-Church and his Prebendary at Westminster He was put into the Marshalsea but on the 19th of August was discharged Sancts was turned out for his Sermon before the Duke of Northumberland at Cambridge On what account Grindal was turned out I know not Horn soon after he got beyond Sea printed an Apology for his leaving his Country he tells that he heard there was some Crimes against the State objected to him which made him come up from Duresm to clear himself It was said that three Letters had been written to him in the Queens name requiring him to come up and intimating that they were resolved to charge him with contempt and other points of State He protests that he had never received but one which was given him on the Road but seeing how he was like to be used he withdrew out of England upon which he takes occasion in that discourse to vindicate the Preachers in King Edwards time against whom it was now objected that they had neglected Fasting and Prayer and had allowed the People all sorts of Liberty This he said was so false that the ruling Men in that time were much offended at the great freedom which the Preachers then took so that many of them would hear no more Sermons and he says for himself that though Tonstal was now his great enemy he had refused to accept of his Bishoprick and was ill used and threatned for denying to take it All these things tended much to inflame the People The Queen rewards those who had served her Therefore great care was taken first to oblige all those Noblemen who had assisted the Queen at her coming to the Crown since a grateful acknowledgment of past Services is the greatest encouragement both to the same Persons to renew them to others to undertake the like upon new occasions The Earl of Arundel was made Lord Steward Sir Edward Hastings was made Master of the Horse and afterwards Lord Hastings Sir John Gage Lord Chamberlain Sir John Williams who had Proclaimed the Queen in Oxford-shire was made Lord Williams and Sir Henry Jerningham that first gathered the Men of Norfolk about her was made Captain of her Guard but Ratcliff Earl of Sussex had done the most considerable Service of them all for to him she had given the chief Command of her Army and he had managed it with that Prudence that others were thereby encouraged to come in to her Assistance so an unusual Honour was contrived for him that he might cover his head in her Presence which passed under the Great Seal the second of October he being the only Peer of England in whom this Honour was ever conferred as far as I know The like was granted to the Lord Courcy Baron of Kingsale in Ireland whose Posterity enjoy it to this day but I am not so well informed of that Family as to know by which of our Kings it was first granted The Queen having summoned a Parliament to the tenth of October was Crowned on the first of that month by Gardiner who with ten other Bishops all in their Mitres Coaps and Crosiers performed that Ceremony with great Solemnity The Queen is Crowned and discharges all Taxes Day preaching the Coronation Sermon who it seems was accounted the best Preacher among them since he was ordered to Preach both at the late Kings Funeral and now again at the Coronation But Gardiner had prepared a Largess of an extraordinary nature for the Queen to distribute that day among her People besides her general Pardon he caused a Proclamation to be published which did set forth that whereas the good Subjects of England had always exhibited Aid to their Princes when the good of the Publick and Honour of the Realm required it and though the Queen since her coming to the Crown found the Treasury was marvelously exhausted by the evil Government of late years especially since the Duke of Northumberland bare Rule though she found her self charged with diverse great sums of her Father and Brothers Debts which for her own Honour and the Honour of the Realm she determined to pay in times convenient and reasonable yet having a special regard to the welfare of of her Subjects and accounting their loving hearts and prosperity the chiefest Treasure which she desired next to the Favour and Grace of God therefore since in her Brothers last Parliament two Tenths two Fifteenths and a Subsidy both out of Lands and Goods were given to him for paying his Debts which were now due to her she of her great Clemency did fully pardon and discharge these Subsidies trusting her said good Subjects will have loving consideration thereof for their parts whom she heartily requires to bend themselves wholly to God to serve him sincerely and with continual Prayer for the honour and advancement of the Queen and the Common-Wealth A Parliament summoned And thus matters were prepared for the Parliament which was opened the tenth of October In the Writ of Summons and all other Writs the Queen retained still the Title of Supream Head Taylor Bishop of Lincoln and Harley Bishop of Hereford came thither resolving to justifie their Doctrine Most of the other reformed Bishops were now in Prison for besides these formerly mentioned on the fourth of October the Arch-Bishop of York was put in the Tower no cause being given but heinous Offences only named in general When the Mass begun it is said that those two Bishops withdrew and were upon that never suffered to come to their Places again Bishops violently thrust out for not worshiping the Mass But one Beal the Clerk of the Council in Queen Elizabeths time reports this otherwise and more probably that Bishop Taylor took his place in his Robes but refusing to give any reverence to the Mass was violently thrust out of the House He says nothing of Harley so it is probable that he followed the other The
same Writer also informs us that in many places of the Country Men were chosen by Force and Threats in other places those imployed by the Court Great disorder in Elections did by violence hinder the Commons from coming to chuse in many places false Returns were made and that some were violently turned out of the House of Commons upon which reasons he concludes that it was no Parliament since it was under a Force and so might be annulled as the Parliament held at Coventry in the 38th year of King Henry the 6th was upon Evidence of the like Force declared afterwards to be no Parliament The Journals of the House of Lords in this Parliament are lost so there is no light to be had of their proceedings but from the imperfect Journals of the House of Commons On the second day of the Session one moved in the House of Commons for a review of King Edwards Laws But that being a while argued was at this time laid aside and the Bill for Tonnage and Poundage was put in Then followed a Debate upon Dr. Nowell's being returned from Loo in Cornwal whether he being a Prebendary of Westminster could sit in that House and the Committee being appointed to search fot Precedents it was reported that he being represented in the Convocation House could not be a Member of that House so he was cast out The Bill of Tonnage and Poundage was sent up to the Lords who sent it down to the Commons to be reformed in two proviso's that were not according to former Precedents How far this was contrary to the Rights of the Commons who now say that the Lords cannot alter a Bill of Money I am not able to determine The only publick Bill that passed in this short Session was for a Declaration of Treasons and Felonies An Act for moderating some severe Laws by which it was ordained that nothing should be judged Treason but what was within the Statute of Treasons in the twenty fifth of Edward the third and nothing should be so judged Felony that was not so before the 1st year of King Henry the eight excepting from any benefit of this Act all such as had been in Prison before the last of September who were also excepted out of the Qeens Pardon at her Coronation Two private Bills also passed the one for the restoring of the Wife of the late Marquess of Exeter who had been Attainted in the 32 year of King Henry's Reign and the other for her Son Edward Courtney Earl of Devonshire And so the Parliament was Prorogued from the 21 to the 24 of October that their might be a Session of Parliament consisting only of Acts of Mercy though this Repeal of additional Treasons and Felonies was not more than what had passed in the beginning of King Edwards Reign without the clogg of so severe a proviso by which many were cut off from the Favour designed by it Some have thought that since Treasons had been reduced by the second Act of Edward the 6th to the standard of the 25th of Edward the third that therefore there was somewhat else designed by this Act then barely the repealing some late severe Acts which being done the 1st of Edward 6th needed not be now repealed if it imported no more And since this Act as it is worded mentions or rather excepts those Treasons that are declared and expressed in the 25th of Edward the 3d they have inferred that the power of Parliaments declaring of Treasons ex Post facto which was reserved by that Statute is hereby taken away and that nothing is now to be held Treason but what is ennumerated in that Statute Yet this is still liable to Debate since the one may be thought to be declared and expressed in general words as well as the other specialties are in more particular words and is also still in force So nothing seems comprehended within this Repeal but the Acts passed in King Edwards Reign declaring other Crimes to be Treason some are added in the same Act and others in that of the 3d and 4th of his Reign chap. 5. Nor is it likely that if the Parliament had intended to have delivered the Subjects from the apprehensions of all Acts of Attainder upon a Declaration of new Treasons they would not have expressed it more plainly since it must have been very grateful to the Nation which had groaned heavily under Arbitrary Attainders of late years When the Parliament met again the first Bill the Commons entred on was that of Tonnage and Poundage which they passed in two days The Mariage of Queen Katherine to King Henry Confirmed Then was the Bill about King Henry's Marriage with the Queens Mother sent down on the 26th by the Lords and the Commons passed it no the 28th so strangly was the stream turned that a Divorce that had been for seven years much desired by the Nation was now repealed upon fewer days consultation In the Preamble it was said That truth how much soever obscured and born down will in the end break out and that therefore they declared that King Henry the 8th being lawfully married to Queen Katherine by the consent of both their Parents and the advice of the wisest Men in the Realm and of the best and notablest Men for learning in Christendom did continue that state twenty years in which God blessed them with her Majesty and other issue and a course of great happiness but then a very few malicious Persons did endeavour to break that happy agreement between them and studied to possess the King with a scruple in his Conscience about it and to support that caused the Seals of some Vniversities to be got against it a few Persons being corrupted with money for that end They had also by sinistrous ways and secret threatnings procured the Seals of the Vniversities of this Kingdom and finally Thomas Cranmer did most ungodlily and against Law judge the Divorce upon his own unadvised understanding of the Scriptures upon the Testimonies of the Vniversities and some bare and most untrue conjectures and that was afterwards confirmed by two Acts of Parliament in which was contained the Illegitimacy of her Majesty But that Marriage not being prohibited by the Law of God and lawfully made could not be so broken since what God hath joyned together no Man could put asunder all which they considering together with the many miseries that had fallen on the Kingdom since that time which they did esteem Plagues sent from God for it therefore they declare that Sentence given by Cranmer to be unlawful and of no force from the begining and do also repeal the Acts of Parliament that had confirmed it By this Act Gardiner had performed his Promise to the Queen of getting her Illegitimation taken off Which was much Censured without any relation to the Popes Authority But in the drawing of it he shewed that he was past all shame when he could frame such an Act of a
Priest said all these things should be amended speedily and knowing that a good Dinner was the best way to temper Bishop Bonner he desired him to go and dine at his House but Bonner took it so ill Bonner's rage that Hadham which was one of his own Churches was an ill Example to those about it that he lost all patience and reaching at Dr. Bricket that was the Parson's Name to beat him he misguided the stroke which fell on Sir Thomas Josselin's Ear with great force Fecknam then Dean of Pauls in Dr. May's room studied to appease Josselin and said to him That the Bishop's being so long in the Marshalsea had so disordered him that in his Passion he knew not what he did but when he came to himself he would be sorry for what he had done Josselin answered he thought now that he was taken out of the Marshalsea he should be carried to Bedlam But Bonner continued in his Fury and though he had purposed to stay at his House there some days and had ordered Provisions to be made yet he would needs be gone though it disordered the rest of his Visitation for he came to every place sooner than he intended or had given notice The Carvers and makers of Statues had now a quick Trade for Roods and other Images which were to be provided for all Places Bonner had observed that in most Churches the Walls were painted with places of Scripture and in many places there were Passages written that either favoured the Marriage of the Clergy or were against the Corporal Presence and the Sacrifice of the Mass and the multiplicity of the Ceremonies of the Church So he did at his return send out Episcopal Letters on the 24th of October to raze all those Paintings Upon this it was generally said That the Scriptures must be dasht out to make way for the Images since they were so contrary one to another that they could not decently stand together There were many ludicrous things every where done in derision of the old Forms and of the Images Many Poems were printed with other ridiculous Representations of the Latin Service and the Pageantry of their Worship But none occasioned more laughter than what fell out at Pauls the Easter before the custom being to lay the Sacrament into the Sepulchre at the Even Song on Good-Friday and to take it out by break of day on Easter Morning At the time of the taking of it out the Quire sung these words Surrexit non est hic He is risen he is not here The Sacrament stollen But then the Priest looking for the Host found it was not there indeed for one had stollen it out which put them all in no small disorder but another was presently brought in its stead Upon this a Ballad followed that their God was stollen and lost but a new one was made in his room This Railery was so salt that it provoked the Clergy much They offered large Rewards to discover him that had stollen the Host or had made the Ballad but could not come to the knowledg of it But they resolved e're long to turn that mirth and pleasantness of the Hereticks into severe mourning And thus Matters went on to the 11th of November A New Parliament when the third Parliament was summoned In the Writ of Summons the Title of Supream Head of the Church was left out though it was still by Law united to the other Royal Titles And therefore this was urged in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's Reign as a good reason for annulling that Parliament since it was not called by a lawful Writ Now was Cardinal Pool allowed to come into England The Emperor had this Summer brought him to Flanders where to make a-mends for the rudeness of stopping him on his way he desired him to mediate a Peace between France and him but that had no effect It soon appeared that all things were so well prepared by Gardiner's Policy and the Spanish Gold that it would be an easy Matter to carry every thing in this Session The Lord Paget and the Lord Hastings were sent from the King and Queen to bring the Cardinal over At the opening of the Parliament it was an unusual sight to see both King and Queen ride in state and come into it with two Swords of State and two Caps of Maintenance carried before them The Swords were carried one by the Earl of Pembroke the other by the Earl of Westmoreland and the Caps by the Earls of Arundel and Shrewsbury The first Bill put into the Lords House was the Repeal of the Attainder of Cardinal Pool The Attainder of Cardinal Pool repealed it began on the 17th and was sent down to the Commons on the 19th who read it three times in one day and sent it up This Bill being to be passed before he could come into England it was questioned in the House of Commons Whether the Bill could be passed without making a Session which would necessitate a Prorogation It was resolved it might be done so on the 22d the King and Queen came and passed it It set forth that the only reason of his Attainder was because he would not consent to the unlawful Separation and Divorce between King Henry and his most godly vertuous and lawful Wife Queen Katherine Therefore they considering the true and sincere Conscience of the Cardinal in that Point and his other many godly Vertues and Qualities did repeal that Act. He comes to Eondon On the 24th he came to London but without the Solemnities of a Legates Entry because the Pope's Authority was not yet set up by Law What Cardinal Pool Instructions were I do not know nor is it fully understood by Learned Men what was the Power of a Legat a Latere in those Days But I found in the King 's Paper Office the Original Bull of Cardinal Beaton's Legatine Power in Scotland which it seems was intercepted by some of the King's Ships in the passage bâ— Sea thither or was sent up to London by those who killed him anâ— possessed themselves of his Castle and Goods And I having mentioned this Bull to those Learned Men by whose direction I have governed my self in this Work I did by their advice give it a room in the Collection Col. Number 17. though it be large since no doubt Cardinal Pool's Bull was in the same form In it the Reader will clearly perceive what Authoâ—iâ—â— was lodged in the Legats to overthrow and dispense with almost all tâ—â— Rules and Canons of the Church only some peculiar things which were more conspicuously scandalous were still reserved to the Apostolick See it self whose singular Priviledg it has been always esteemed to dispense with the best things and allow of the worst so the Pretenders to those Graces payed proportionably for them this Authority was too Sacred to be trusted even to a Legat it being the Prerogative of the Popes themselves to be the most eminent
Transgressors of all Canons and Constitutions The Cardinal first declared what his Designs and Powers were to the King and Queen and then on the 27th a Message was sent to the Parliament to come and hear him deliver his Legation which they doing he made them a long Speech And makes a Speech to the Parliament inviting them to a Reconciliation with the Apostolick See from whence he was sent by the common Pastor of Christendom to reduce them who had long strayed from the Inclosure of tâ—â— Church This made some emotion in the Queen which she fondly thought was a Child quickned in her Belly this redoubled the Joy some not sparing to say The Queen is believed to be with Child that as John Baptist leaped in his Mothers Belly at the Salutation of the Virgin so here a happy Omen followed on this Salutation from Christ's Vicar In this her Women seeing that she firmly believed her self with Child flattered her so far that they fully persuaded her of it Notice was given of it to the Council who that night writ a Letter to Bonner about it ordering a Te Deum to be sung at St. Pauls and the other Churches of London and that Collects should be constantly used for bringing this to a happy perfection All that night and next day there was great joy about the Court and City On the 29th the Speaker reported to the Commons the substance of the Cardinal's Speech and a Message coming from the Lords for a Conference of some of their House with the Lord Chancellor four Earls four Bishops and four Lords to prepare a Supplication for their being reconciled to the See of Rome it was consented to and the Petition being agreed on at the Committee was reported and approved of by both Houses It contained an Address to the King and Queen EFFIGIES REGINALDI POLI CARDINALIS R White sculp Natus Anno 1500. Maij. cc Cardinalis S. Marioe in Cosmedin 1536. Maij 22 Consecr Archiepisc Cantuariensis 1555 6. Mar 22. Obijt 1558. Nov 17. Printed for Rich Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Pauls Church yard That whereas they had been guilty of a most horrible Defection and Schism from the Apostolick See The Parliaments Petition to be reconciled to the See of Rome they did now sincerely repent of it and in sign of their Repentance were ready to repeal all the Laws made in prejudice of that See therefore since the King and Queen had been no way defiled by their Schism they pray them to be Intercessors with the Legat to grant them Absolution and to receive them again into the Bosom of the Church So this being presented by both Houses on their Knees to the King and Queen they made their Intercession with the Cardinal who thereupon delivered himself in a long Speech He thanked the Parliament for repealing the Act against him The Cardinal makes a long Speech and making him a Member of the Nation from which he was by that Act cut off In recompence of which he was now to reconcile them to the Body of the Church He told them The Apostolick See cherished Britain most tenderly as the first Nation that had publickly received the Christian Faith The Saxons vvere also afterwards converted by the means of that See and some of their King 's had been so devoted to it that Offa and others had gone to visit the Thresholds of the Apostles That Adrian the fourth an English Pope had given Ireland to the Crown of England and that many mutual Marks of reciprocal kindness had passed between that common Father of Christendom and our Kings their most beloved Sons but none more eminent than the bestowing on the late King the Title of Defender of the Faith He told them That in the Unity with that See consisted the happiness and strength of all Churches that since the Greeks had separated from them they had been abandoned by God and vvere now under the Yoke of Mahometans That the Distractions of Germany did further demonstrate this but most of all the Confusions themselves had felt ever since they had broken that Bond of Perfection That it vvas the Ambition and Craft of some who for their privat Ends began it to vvhich the rest did too submissively comply and that the Apostolick See might have proceeded against them for it by the assistance of other Princes but had stayed looking for that Day and for the Hand of Heaven He run out much on the commendation of the Queen and said God had signally preserved her to procure this great Blessing to the Church At last he enjoined them for Penance to repeal the Laws they had made and so in the Pope's Name And grants them Absolution he granted them a full Absolution vvhich they received on their Knees and he also absolved the vvhole Realm from all Censures The rest of the day vvas spent vvith great solemnity and triumph all that had been done vvas published next Sunday at Pauls There vvas a Committee appointed by both Houses to prepare the Statute of Repeal which vvas not finished before the 25th of December and then the Bishop of London only protesting against it because of a Proviso put in for the Lands which the Lord Wentworth had out of his Bishoprick it vvas agreed to and sent to the Commons They made more hast vvith it for they sent it back the 4th of January with a desire that twenty Lines in it vvhich concerned the See of London and the Lord Wentworth might be put out and two new Proviso's added One of their Proviso's vvas not liked by the Lords who drew a new one to vvhich the Viscount Montacute and the Bishops of London and Coventry dissented The twenty Lines of the Lord Wentworth's Proviso vvere not put out but the Lord Chancellor took a Knife and cut them out of the Parchment and said Now I do truly the Office of a Chancellor the word being ignorantly derived by some from Cancelling It is not mentioned in the Journal that this vvas done by the Order of the House but that must be supposed otherwise it cannot be thought the Parliament vvould have consented to so unlimited a Power in the Lord Chancellor as to raze or cut out Proviso's at his pleasure The Act of Repealing all Laws against that See By the Act is set forth their former Schism from the See of Rome and their Reconciliation to it now upon vvhich all Acts passed since the 20th of Henry the Eighth against that See were specially enumerated and repealed There it is said that for the removing of all Grudges that might arise they desired that the following Articles might through the Cardinal's Intercession be established by the Pope's Authority 1. That all Bishopricks Cathedrals or Colleges now established might be confirmed for ever 2. That Marriages made within such degrees as are not contrary to the Law of God but only to the Laws of the Church might be confirmed and the Issue
run so fast that the Bishops themselves were forced to moderate their Heats They all understood how much the Queen was set upon having the Church raised as high as could be and saw there was nothing so effectual to recommend any to her Favour as to move high in these Matters And though their Motions were thought too violent and rejected yet their Affections were thereby discovered so that they knew they should be looked on as Men deeply engaged in these Interests An Act declaring Treasons After this the Bill of Treasons was brought in This was also argued for some days in the House of Commons but at last agreed to By it any who denied the King's Right to the Title of the Crown with the Queen's or endeavoured to put him from it together with them that did several other Offences were to forfeit all their Goods and to be imprisoned during Life and Clergy Men were to be deprived by their Ordinaries In these cases the second Offence was to be Treason But if any should compass the King's Death and utter it by any overt Deed during his Marriage to the Queen the first Offence of this kind should be Treason It was also enacted that the Parliament having petitioned the King that if the Queen died with any Issue he would take on him the Government of them till they came of Age to which he had assented therefore if the Queen died before her Children came to be of Age the Government of the Kingdom should be in the King's Hands if it were a Son till he were eighteen or if a Daughter till she was fifteen Years of Age And in all that time the conspiring his Death was to be Treason The Witnesses were to be brought before the Parties and none was to be tried for any words but within six months after they were spoken Another against seditious words Another Act passed upon a Report made of some Heretical Preachers who had as was informed prayed in their Conventicles that God would turn the Queen's Heart from Idolatry to the true Faith or else shorten her days and take her quickly out of the way All therefore that so prayed for taking away the Queen's Life were to be judged Traitors but if they shewed themselves penitent for such Prayers they were not to be condemned of Treason but put to any Corporal Punishment other than Death at the Judges Discretion This was passed in great haste for it was thrice read in the House of Lords and passed on the 16th of January in which the Parliament was Dissolved There was another Act past against those that spread Lying Reports of any Noblemen Judges or great Officers that such as spread them should be imprisoned till they brought their Authors according to former Acts. If any spread such Reports of the King and Queen they were to be set on a Pillory and pay 100 l. or have their Ears cut off and be three months Prisoners and they were to pay 100 Merks and suffer one months Imprisonment though they had Authors for them if they reported them maliciously But if their Reports tended to the stirring of any Insurrection they were to lose their right Hands and upon a second Offence to suffer Imprisonment during their Lives but they were to be proceeded against within three months after the words so spoken All the Bills being ended the Parliament was dissolved on the 16th of January to Gardiner's Gardiner is in great esteem no small joy He had now performed all that he had undertaken to the Queen or the Emperor Upon which he had the Reputation that he was formerly in of a great Statesman and a dextrous manager of Affairs much confirmed and raised since he had brought about in so small a time so great a change where the Interests of those who consented to it seemed to lead them another wav To those who had apprehended the Tyranny of Rome he had said That as our former Kings had always kept it under in a great measure so there was less danger of that now since they saw that all Princes had agreed to preserve their own Rights entire against the Pope's Pretensions He shewed them that therefore all the Old Laws against Provisions from Rome were still kept in force And so upon Cardinal Pool's being called over there was a Commission sent him under the Great Seal bearing date the 10th of November authorising him to exercise his Legatine Power in England By this he shewed them that no Legat should ever come into England to execute any Power till his Faculties were seen and approved by the Queen Others thought this was but a vain Imagination for if the Papacy were once fully established and People again brought under the old Superstition of esteeming the Popes Christ's Vicars and the infallible Heads of the Church it would not be possible to retain the People in their Obedience since all the assistance that the Princes of Christendom of this time had from their Subjects in their Wars with the Popes flowed chiefly from this that they generally did no more submit implicitly to their Priests But if once that blind Obedience were restored it would be easy for the Priests by their privat dealings in Confession to overturn Governments as they pleased But that which stuck most was That the Church Lands were Great fear about the Church-Lands by the Cannon Law so indissolubly annexed to the Church that they could not be separated from it To this it was answered that they should secure it by a Law at Rome and should confirm all the Alienations that had been made both by consent of the Clergy and by the Pope's Authority committed to the Legat. Yet even that did not satisfy many who found some Laws in the Canon so strict that the Pope himself could not dispence with them If the Legate did it the Pope might refuse to confirm it and then it was nothing and what one Pope did another often recalled So it was said that this Confirmation was but an Artifice to make it pass the more easily Besides all observed that in the Cardinal's Confirmation of those Lands there was a charge given to all to be afraid of the Judgments of God that fell on Belshazar for using the Holy Vessels which was to pardon the thing and yet to call it a Sacrilege for which they might look for the Vengeance of God So that the Cardinal did at the same time both bind and loose and it was plain both by that Clause and the Repeal of the Statute of Mortmain that it was designed to possess People with the Opinion of the Sin of retaining Church-Lands It was thought this Confirmation was rather an Indemnity and Permission to keep them than a declaring the Possessors had any lawful Title to them So that when Men were near Death and could no longer enjoy those Lands themselves it was not to be doubted but the Terrors of Sacrilege and the Punishments due to it with
but in vain At this time the Nation was in expectation of the Queen's Delivery And on the third of May the Bishop of Norwich writ a Letter to the Earl of Sussex of which I have seen the Original that news was brought him from London that the Queen had brought forth a Noble Prince for which he had Te Deum solemnly sung in his Cathedral and in the other Churches thereabout He adds in the Postscript that the News was confirmed by two other Hands But tho this was without any ground the Queen continued still in her opinion that she was with Child and on the 29th of May Letters were written by the Council to the Lord Treasurer to have Money in readiness that those who were appointed to carry the joyful news of the Queens happy Delivery might be speedily dispatched In the beginning of June she was believed to be in Labour and it flew over London again that she had brought forth a Son The Priests had setled all their hopes on that so they did every where sing Te Deum and were transported into no small Extasies of Joy One more officious than the rest made a Sermon about it and described all the lineaments of their young Prince but they soon found they were abused It was said that they had been deceived and that the Queen had no great Belly But Melvil in his Memoirs says he was assured from some of her Women that she did cast forth at several times some Moles and unformed pieces of flesh So now there was small hopes of any Issue from her This encreased the sowrness of her temper and King Philip being so much younger than she growing out of conceit with her did not much care for her but left her some months after He saw no hope of Children and finding that it was not possible for him to get England in his hands without that gave over all his Designs about it so having lived with her about fifteen months after their first Marriage he found it necessary to look more after his Hereditary Crown and less after his Matrimonial one and henceforth he considered England rather as a sure Ally that was to adhere firmly to his Interests than as a Nation which he could ever hope to add to his other Crowns All these things concurred to encrease the Queen's Melancholy Humours and did cast her into an ill state of Health so that it was not probable she could live long Gardiner upon that set himself much to have the Lady Elizabeth put out of the way but as it was formerly said King Philip preserved her Proceedings against Hereticks And thus Affairs went on as to Civil matters till the meeting of the next Parliament in October following But I now return to the Proceedings against the poor men called Hereticks who were again after a short intermission brought to new Sufferings John Cardmaker 1555. that had been Divinity-Reader at S. Pauls and a Prebendary at Bath and John Warne an Upholster in London were both burnt in Smithfield on the 30th of May for denying the Corporal presence being proceeded against ex Officio On the 4th of June there was a piece of Pageantry acted on the Body of one Tooly who being executed for a Robbery did at his death say something that savoured of Heresy upon which the Council writ to Bonner to enquire into it and to proceed according to the Ecclesiastical Laws He thereupon form'd a Process cited the dead Body to answer the Points objected to him but he to be sure neither appearing nor answering was condemned and burnt After this on the 10th of June Thomas Hawkes a Gentleman in Essex who had lived much in the Court was also burnt at Coxhall and on the same day John Simpson and John Ardeley two Husbandmen were also burnt in Essex Thomas Watts a Linen-Draper was burnt at Chelmsford On the 9th Nicholas Chamberlain a Weaver was burnt at Colchester and on the 15th Thomas Osmond a Fuller was burnt at Manning-tree and the same day William Bamford a Weaver was burnt at Harwich These with several others had been sent up by the Earl of Oxford to Bonner because they had not received the Sacrament the last Easter and were suspected of Heresie and Articles being given to them they were upon their Answers condemned and sent to be burnt in the places where they had lived But upon this occasion The Council writ to the Lords in Essex to gather the Gentry and assist at these Burnings the Council fearing some Tumult or violent Rescue writ to the Earl of Oxford and the Lord Rich to gather the Country and to see the Hereticks burnt The Earl of Oxford being some way indisposed could only send his People to the Lord Rich who went and obeyed the Orders that had been sent him for which Letters of Thanks were written to him and the Council understanding that some Gentlemen had come to the burning at Colchester that had not been writ to but as the words of the Letter have it had honestly and of themselves gone thither writ to the Lord Rich to give them the Council's thanks for their Zeal I find in the Council Books many Entries made of Letters writ to several Counties to the Nobility and Gentry to assist at these Executions and such as made excuses were always after that looked on with an ill eye and were still under great jealousy After these followed the Execution of Bradford in July Bradford's Martyrdome He had been condemned among the first but was not burnt till now He had been a Prebendary of St. Pauls and a celebrated Preacher in the end of King Edwards days He had preserved Bourn in the tumult at Pauls-Cross and that afternoon preaching at Bow-Church he severely reproved the people for the disorder at Pauls but three days after was put in Prison where he lay removed from one Prison to another near three years where-ever he came he gained so much on the Keepers that they suffered Preach and give the Sacrament to his Fellow Prisoners He was one of those that were carried before the Council on the 22d of January where Bonner accused him of the Tumult at Pauls though all he pretended to prove it by was that his way of speaking to the People shewed he thought he had some Authority over them and was a presumption that he had set on the Sedition Bradford appealed to God that saw his Innocency and how unworthily he was requited for saving his Enemies who rendered him evil for good At last refusing to conform himself to the Laws he was condemned with the rest on the 31. of Jan. where that Rescue was again laid to his Charge together with many Letters he had written over England which as the Earl of Darby informed the Parliament had done more hurt than he could have done if he had been at liberty to Preach He said since he understood that they acted by a Commission which was derived from
the Pope he could not answer them having sworn never to acknowledge that Authority What he had done at Pauls was at Bourn's earnest desire who prayed him for the Passion of Christ to speak to the People upon which he stepped up to the Pulpit and had almost been killed with the Dagger that was thrown at Bourn for it touched his Sleeve But in the points of Religion he professed his Faith so constantly that for that cause he was condemned Yet the saving of Bourn was so publickly known that it was thought undecent to proceed against him so quick as they did with the rest So both Heath Arch-Bishop of York and Day Bishop of Chichester Weston Harpsfield and the King's Confessor and Alphonsus a Castro went to see him and endeavoured to gain him but all to no purpose It looks very ill in Bourn that he never interposed for Bradford nor came once to visit him and as when Bradford was before the Council Bourn's Brother the Secretary was very sharp upon him so when he was brought to his Tryal Bourn himself then Bishop of Bath and Wells being present did not open his mouth for him though he appealed to him as to the business of the Tumult With Bradford one John Lease an Apprentice of nineteen years old was lead out to be burnt who was also condemned upon his answers to the Articles exhibited to him When they came to the Stake they both fell down and Prayed Then Bradford took a Fagot in his hands and kissed it and so likewise kissed the Stake expressing thereby the joy he had in his Sufferings and cried O England repent repent beware of Idolatry and false Antichrists But the Sheriff hindring him to speak any more he embraced his Fellow Sufferer and prayed him to be of good comfort for they should Sup with Christ that night His last words were Strait is the way and narrow is the gate that leadeth into eternal Life and few there be that find it Now the Persecution was carried on to other places Bonner stopping in it again But Thornton Suffragan of Dover Harpsfield Arch-Deacon of Canterbury and some others resolved likewise to shew their zeal This Thornton had from the first change made by King Henry been the most officious and forward in every turn and had been the first in this Reign that had set up the Mass at Canterbury He was much despised for it by Cardinal Pool but Pool could not hinder the fury of those men without drawing on himself the Pope's indignation The Pope was his professed and inveterate Enemy but knew not how to vent his hatred to him since he had done such an eminent service to the Church as the reconciling of England Gardiner understanding this sent secretly to Rome to give ill Characters of Pool which the ill-natured Pope was ready enough to receive Gardiner designed to be made a Cardinal and to get Pool recalled and himself made Arch-Bishop of Canterbury The Pope was resolved on the first occasion to take the Legatine power from Pool and give it to Gardiner but Pool was so much in the Queens favour that this required some time to bring it about This made Gardiner study to preserve Cranmer as long as he lived It seemed more reasonable to have begun with him who had indeed been the chief Author of the Reformation and promoter of that they called Heresie nor had Gardiner such kindness for him as to interpose on his account but he knew that as soon as he was burnt Pool would be presently invested in the See of Canterbury Therefore he suggested that if he could be any way brought off it would be the most effectual means possible to extirpate Heresie for if he who had so much set on these Doctrines did forsake them it would confound the whole Party and bring over at least all that were weak or staggering whereas on the other hand if he died resolutly for it his death would confirm them all very much This was a colour good enough to preserve him But why the See of Canterbury was not declared vacant since he was now pronounced an obstinate Heretick I do not so well apprehend whether there was any thing in the Pall or the latter inventions of the Canonists that made it necessary not to fill his See so long as he lived I know not Pool being in these circumstances durst neither offend those at Rome nor openly hinder the prosecution of Hereticks which it seems he would have done more steadily if it had not been for fear of the Popes taking thereby advantages against him who had before given out in the Conclave that he was a favourer of Heresie and therefore would the more easily be induced to believe any thing that might be written over to Rome to his prejudice Those that sat in Canterbury to judge the Hereticks had four Men brought before them two Priests Bland and Frankesh and Shiterden and Midleton two Laymen They were condemned upon their Answers to the Articles exhibited to them and burnt at Canterbury Some burnt at Canterbury the 25th of June and in July Margery Polley was burnt at Tunbridge on the like account who was the first Woman that suffered in this Reign Christopher Ward was Condemned with her and burnt in Darford On the 22d of July Dirick Carver was burnt at Lewis and on the 23d John Launder was burnt at Stoning They had been taken in London and brought before Bonner but he would not meddle with them and desired they might be sent to their own Ordinaries One of them being of Surrey was within Gardiners Jurisdiction who resolved to proceed no more against the Hereticks so he procured a Letter from the Council to Bonner requiring him to proceed against them who thereupon presently condemned them There were at this time several discoveries of Plottings in several Counties especially in Dorsetshire and Essex Pretended Plots and some put to the Torture to make Discovery but the nature of these Plots is not set down in the Council Books Some were taken and put in the Tower Two or three Privy Councellors were sent thither on the 9th of June with a Letter from the Council to the Lieutenant of the Tower to put them to the Torture according to their discretions yet nothing following upon this it is probable these were only surmises devised by the Clergy to set on the Council more severely against them whose Ruine they were contriving by all the ways they could think on There was also an outrage committed on two Friars Peyto and Elston who were Franciscans of the Observance They had spoken sharply against King Henry in the business of the Divorce and had fled beyond Sea on that account The Qâ— rebuilds the Franciscan's house at Greenwich therefore the Queen had sent for them and not only procured the Attainder that had passed against them to be repealed in the last Parliament but made Peyto her Confessor and being resolved to raise Religious
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
on the Dead or cast the burthen of it wholly upon her Sister But she assured them if ever she married she would make such a Choice as should be to the satisfaction and good of her People She did not know what credit she might yet have with them but she knew well she deserved to have it for she was resolved never to deceive them Her People were to her in stead of Children and she reckoned her self married to them by her Coronation They would not want a Successor when she died and for her part she should be well contented that the Marble should tell Posterity HERE LIES A QUEEN THAT REIGNED SO LONG AND LIVED AND DIED A VIRGIN She took their Address in good part and desired them to carry back her hearty thanks for the care the Commons had of her The Journals of the House of Lords are imperfect so that we find nothing in them of this matter yet it appears that they likewise had it before them for the Journals of the House of Commons have it marked that on the fifteenth of February there was a Message sent from the Lords desiring that a Committee of thirty Commoners might meet with twelve Lords to consider what should be the Authority of the Person whom the Queen should marry The Committee was appointed to treat concerning it but it seems the Queen desired them to turn to other things that were more pressing for I find nothing after this entred in the Journals of this Parliament concerning it On the ninth of February the Lords past a Bill for the Recognizing of the Queens Title to the Crown They recognize her Title to the Crown It had been considered whether as Queen Mary had procured a former Repeal of her Mothers Divorce and of the Acts that passed upon it declaring her Illegitimate the like should be done now The Lord Keeper said The Crown purged all defects and it was needless to look back to a thing which would at least cast a reproach on her Father the enquiring into such things too anxiously would rather prejudice than advance her Title So he advised that there should be an Act passed in general words asserting the lawfulness of her descent and her Right to the Crown rather than any special Repeal Queen Mary and her Council were careless of King Henry's Honour but it became her rather to conceal than expose his Weakness This being thought both Wise and Pious Council the Act was conceived in general Words That they did assuredly believe and declare that by the Laws of God and of the Realm she was their lawful Queen and that she was rightly lineally and lawfully descended from the Royal Blood and that the Crown did without all doubt or ambiguity belong to her and the Heirs to be lawfully begotten of her Body after her and that they as representing the Three Estates of the Realm did declare and assert her Title which they would defend with their Lives and Fortunes This was thought to be very wise Council for if they had gone to repeal the Sentence of Divorce which passed upon her Mothers acknowledging a Precontract they must have set forth the force that was on her when she made that Confession and that as it was a great dishonour to her Father so it would have raised discourses likewise to her Mothers prejudice which must have rather weakned than strengthened her Title And as has been formerly observed this seems to be the true reason why in all her Reign there was no Apology printed for her Mother There was another Act passed for the restoring of her in Blood to her Mother by which she was qualified as a private Subject to succeed either to her Grand-fathers Estate or to any others by that Blood But for the matters of Religion the Commons began The Acts that were passed concerning Religion and on the fifteenth of February brought in a Bill for the English Service and concerning the Ministers of the Church On the 21st a Bill was read for annexing the Supremacy to the Crown again and on the 17th of March another Bill was brought in confirming the Laws made about Religion in King Edwards time and on the 21st another was brought in That the Queen should have the Nomination of the Bishops as it had been in King Edwards time The Bill for the Supremacy was past by the Lords on the 18th of March the Archbishop of York the Earl of Shrewsbury the Viscount Mountacute and the Bishops of London Winchester Worcester Landaffe Coventry and Litchfield Exeter Chester and Carlisle and the Abbot of Westminster dissenting But afterwards the Commons annexed many other Bills to it as that about the Queens making Bishops not according to the Act made in King Edwards time but by the old way of Elections as it was Enacted in the 25th Year of her Fathers Reign with several Provisoes which passed in the House of Lords with the same dissent By it all the Acts past in the Reign of King Henry for the abolishing of the Popes Power are again revived and the Acts in Queen Maries time to the contrary are repealed There was also a Repeal of the Act made by her for proceeding against Hereticks They revived the Act made in the first Parliament of King Edward against those that spoke irreverently of the Sacrament and against private Masses and for Communion in both kinds And declared the Authority of Visiting Correcting and Reforming all things in the Church to be for ever annexed to the Crown which the Queen and her Successors might by her Letters Patents depute to any Persons to exercise in her Name All Bishops and other Ecclesiastieal Persons and all in any Civil Imployment were required to swear that they acknowledged the Queen to be the Supream Governour in all Causes as well Ecclesiastical as Temporal within her Dominions that they renounced all Forreign Power and Jurisdiction and should bear the Queen Faith and true Allegiance Whosoever should refuse to swear it was to forfeit any Office he had either in Church or State and to be from thenceforth disabled to hold any Imployment during Life And if within a Month after the end of that Session of Parliament any should either by discourse or in writing set forth the Authority of any Forreign Power or do any thing for the advancement of it they were to forfeit all their Goods and Chattels and if they had not Goods to the value of twenty Pounds they were to be Imprisoned a whole year and for the second offence they were to incur the Pains of a Praemunire and the third offence in that kind was made Treason To this a Proviso was added That such Persons as should be Commissioned by the Queen to Reform and Order Ecclesiastical Matters should judge nothing to be Heresie but what had been already so Judged by the Authority of the Canonical Scriptures or by the first four General Councils or by any other General Council in which such Doctrines
were declared to be Heresies by the express and plain Words of Scripture All other Points not so decided were to be judged by the Parliament with the assent of the Clergy in their Convocation This Act was in many things short of the Authority that King Henry had claimed and the severity of the Laws he had made The Title of Supream Head was left out of the Oath This was done to mitigate the Opposition of the Popish Party but besides the Queen her self had a scruple about it which was put in her Head by one Lever a famous Preacher among those of the Reformation of which Sands afterwards Bishop of Worcester complained to Parker in a Letter that is in the Collection Collection Number 2. There was no other punishment inflicted on those that denied the Queens Supremacy but the loss of their Goods and such as refused to take the Oath did only lose their Imployments whereas to refuse the Oath in King Henry's time brought them into a Praemunire and to deny the Supremacy was Treason The Bishops oppose the Queens Supremacy But against this Bill the Bishops made Speeches in the House of Lords I have seen a Speech of this kind was said to have been made by Arch-bishop Heath but it must be forgery put out in his Name for he is made to speak of the Supremacy as a new and unheard of thing which he who had sworn it so oft in King Henry's and King Edwards times could not have the face to say The rest of the Bishops opposed it the rather because they had lately declared so high for the Pope that it had been very indecent for them to have revolted so soon The Bishop of Duresme came not to this Parliament There were some hopes of gaining him to concur in the Reformation for in the Warrant the Queen afterwards gave to some for Consecrating the new Bishops he is first named and I have seen a Letter of Secretary Cecils to Parker that gives him some hope that Tonstal would joyn with them He had been offended with the Cruelties of the late Reign and though the resentments he had of his ill usage in the end of King Edwards time had made him at first concur more heartily to the restoring of Popery yet he soon fell off and declared his dislike of those violent Courses and neither did he nor Heath bring any in trouble within their Diocesses upon the account of Religion though it is hardly credible that there was no occasion for their being severe if they had been otherwise enclined to it The Bishop of Ely was also absent at the passing of this Act for though he would not consent to it yet he had done all that was prescribed by it so often before that it seems he thought it more decent to be absent than either to consent to it or to oppose it The Power that was added for the Queens Commissionating some to Execute her Supremacy gave the Rise to that Court which was commonly called the High Commission Court The beginning of the High Commission and was to be in the room of a single Person to whom with the Title of Lord Vice-gerent King Henry did delegate his Authority It seems the Clergy-men with whom the Queen consulted at this time thought this too much to be put in one Mans Hand and therefore resolved to have it shared to more Persons of whom a great many would certainly be Church-men so that they should not be altogether kept under by the hard Hands of the Laity who having groaned long under the Tyranny of an Ecclesiastical Yoke seemed now disposed to revenge themselves by bringing the Clergy as much under them for so Extreams do commonly rise from one another The Popish Clergy were now every where beginning to declaim against Innovation and Heresie Harpsfield had in a Sermon at Canterbury in February stirred the People much to Sedition and the Members belonging to that Cathedral had openly said that Religion should not nor could not be altered The Council also heard that the Prebendaries there had bought up many Arms so a Letter was written to Sir Thomas Smith to examine that matter Harpsfield was not put in Prison but received only a Rebuke There came also complaints from many other Places of many Seditious Sermons So the Queen following the Precedent her Sister had set her did in the beginning of March forbid all Preaching except by such as had a Licence under the Great Seal But lest the Clergy might now in the Convocation set out Orders in opposition to what the Queen was about to do she sent and required them under the Pains of a Praemunire to make no Canons Yet Harpsfield that was Prolocutor with the rest of the lower House made an Address to the upper House to be by them presented to the Queen for the discharge of their Consciences They reduced the Particulars into five Articles 1. That Christ was corporally present in the Sacrament 2. That there was no other Substance there but his Body and Blood 3. That in the Mass there was a Propitiatory Sacrifice for the Dead and the Living 4. That St. Peter and his lawful Successors had the Power of feeding and governing the Church 5. That the Power of treating about Doctrine the Sacraments and the Order of Divine Worship belonged only to the Pastors of the Church These they had sent to the two Universities from whence they were returned with the Hands of the greatest part in them to the first four but it seems they thought it not fit to sign the last For now the Queen had resolved to have a publick Conference about Religion in the Abby-Church of Westminster The Arch-bishop of York was continued still to be of the Council so the Conference being proposed to him he after he had Communicated it to his Brethren accepted of it though with some unwillingness It was appointed that there should be nine of a side who should confer about these three Points 1. Whether it was not against the Word of God and the Custom of the Ancient Church to use a Tongue unknown to the People in the Common-Prayers and the Administration of the Sacraments 2. Whether every Church had not Authority to appoint change and take away Ceremonies and Ecclesiastical Rites so the same were done to edification 3. Whether it could be proved by the Word of God that in the Mass there was a Propitiatory Sacrifice for the Dead and the Living All was ordered to be done in Writing The Bishops as being actually in Office were to read their Papers first upon the first Point and the Reformed were to read theirs next and then they were to exchange their Papers without any discourse concerning them for the avoiding of jangling The next day they were to read their Papers upon the second and after that upon the third Head and then they were to answer one anothers Papers The Nine on both sides were the Bishops of Winchester
had been left out in his second Liturgy as favouring the Corporal Presence too much and in stead of them these words were ordered to be used in the distribution of that Sacrament Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee and feed on him in thy Heart by Faith with Thanksgiving and Drink this in remembrance that Christs Blood was shed for thee and be thankful They now joyned both these in one Some of the Collects were also a little altered and thus was the Book presented to the House But for the Book of Ordination it was not in express terms named in the Act which gave an occasion afterwards to question the lawfulness of the Ordinations made by that Book But by this Act the Book that was set out by King Edward and confirmed by Parliament in the fifth Year of his Reign was again authorized by Law and the Repeal of it in Queen Maries time was made void So the Book of Ordinations being in that Act added to the Book of Common-Prayer it was now legally in force again as was afterwards declared in Parliament upon a Question that was raised about it by Bonner The Bill that was put in on the 15th of February concerning the new Service being laid aside a new one was framed and sent up by the Commons on the 18th of April and debated in the House of Lords Debates about the Act of Ueiformity Heath made a long Speech against it rather Elegant than Learned He enlarged much on the several Changes which had been made in King Edward's time he said that both Cranmer and Ridley changed their Opinions in the matter of Christ's presence he called Ridley the most notably learned Man that was of that way These Changes he imputed to their departing from the Standard of the Catholick Church he complained much of the robbing of Churches the breaking of Images and the Stage-Plays made in mockery of the Catholick Religion Upon all these Reasons he was against the Bill The Bishop of Chester spake also to it He said the Bill was against both Faith and Charity that Points once defined were not to be brought again into question nor were Acts of Parliament Foundations for a Churches Belief he enlarged on the Antiquity of their Forms and said it was an insolent thing to pretend that our Fathers had lived in Ignorance The Prophets oftentimes directed the Israelites to ask of their Fathers Matters of Religion could not be understood by the Laity It was of great consequence to have their Faith well grounded Jeroboam made Israel to Sin when he set up a new way of Worship and not only the Orthodox but even the Arrian Emperours ordered that points of Faith should be examined in Councils Gallio by the light of Nature knew that a Civil Judge ought not to meddle with matters of Religion In the Service-Book that was then before them they had no Sacrifice for their Sins nor were they to adore Christ in the Host and for these reasons he could not agree to it but if any thought he spoke this because of his own concern or pittied him for what he might suffer by it he would say in the words of our Saviour Weep not for me Weep for your selves After him spake Fecknam Abbot of Westminster He proposed three Rules by which they should judge of Religion it 's Antiquity its constancy to it self the influence it had on the Civil Government he said the old Religion began in the time of King Lucius according to Gildas the Book now proposed was not used before the two last years of King Edward the one was always the same the other was changed every second year as appeared in the point of the Presence of Christ in the Sacrament there had been great Order and Obedience in Queen Maries Reign but now every where great Insolences were committed by the People with some very indecent Prophanations of the most holy things he recommended to them in St. Austines words the adhering to the Catholick Church the very name Catholick which Hereticks had not the confidence to assume shewed their Authority The Consent of the whole Church in all Ages with the perpetual Succession of Pastors in St. Peter's Chair ought to weigh more with them than a few new Preachers who had distracted both Germany and England of late Thus I have given the substance of their Speeches being all that I have seen of that side I have seen none at all on the other side tho it is not probable but some were made in defence of the Service as well as these were against it But upon this Occasion I shall set down the substance of the second Paper which the Reformed Divines had prepared on the second point for the Conference about the Authority of every particular Church to change or take away Ceremonies I do not put it in the Collection because I have not that which the Papists prepared in Opposition to it But the heads of this Paper were as followeth Arguments for the Changes made in the Service It is clear by the Epistles which St. Paul writ to the Corinthians and other Churches that every Church has Power in it self to order the Forms of their Worship and the administration of the Sacraments among them so as might best tend to Order Edification and Peace The like Power had also the seven Angels of the Churches to whom St. John writ And for the first three Ages there was no General Meeting of the Church in Synods but in those times the neighbouring Pastors and Bishops by mutual advice rather than Authority ordered their affairs and when Heresies sprung up they condemned them without staying for a General Determination of the whole Church There were also great differences among them in their Customs as about observing Lent and Easter Ceremonies grew too soon to a great number When Errors or Abuses appeared private Bishops reformed their own Diocesses So those who came in the room of Arrian Bishops even when that Heresie was spread over all the East and the See of Rome it self was defiled with it yet reformed their own Churches Ambrose finding the custom of Feasting in Churches on the Anniversaries of the Martyrs gave occasion to great Scandals took it away Even in Queen Maries time many of the old Superstitions of Pilgrimages and Reliques which had been abolish'd in King Henry's time were not then taken up again from which they argued that if some things might be altered why not more So that if there was good reason to make any Changes it could not be doubted but that as Hezekiah and Josiah had made by their own power so the Queen might make Reformations which were not so much the setting up of new things as the restoring of the state of Religion to what it was anciently which had been brought in by consent of Parliament and Convocation in King Edward's time The Rules they offer'd in this Paper about Ceremonies were that
they should not be made necessary parts of Worship that they should not be too many nor dumb and vain nor should be kept up for gain and advantage These were the Arguments used on both sides But the Reformed being superiour in number the Bill passed in the House of Lords the Archbishop of York the Marquess of Winchester the Earl of Shrewsbury the Viscount Mountacute the Bishops of London Worcester Ely Coventry Chester and Carlisle and the Lords Morley Stafford Dudley Wharton Rich and North and the Abbot of Westminster dissenting By this Act the new Book was to take place by St. John Baptist's day Another Act passed That the Queen might reserve to her self the Lands belonging to Bishopricks as they fall void giving the full value of them in Impropriated Tithes in lieu of them To this the Bishops dissented on the 7th of April when it passed in the House of Lords But when this came to the Commons there was great opposition made to it Many had observed that in Edward the 6th's time under a pretence of giving some Endowments to the Crown the Courtiers got all the Church-Lands divided amongst themselves so it was believed the use to be made of this would be the robbing of the Church without enriching the Crown After many days Debate on the 17th of April the House divided and 90 were against it but 133 were for it and so it passed On the 5th of May another Bill passed with the like opposition It was for annexing of all Religious Houses to the Crown After that there followed some private Acts for declaring the deprivation of the Popish Bishops in K. Edward's Time to have been good When they were restored by Q. Mary the Sentences passed against them were declared to have been void from the beginning and so all Leafes that were made by Ridley Poinet and Hooper and the Patents granted by the King of some of their Lands were annulled It was particularly remembred in the House of Commons that Ridley had made the confirming of these Leases his last desire when he was going to be tied to the Stake The ground on which the Sentences were declared void was because the Parties had appealed though in the Commission by virtue of which the Delegates deprived them they were impowered to proceed notwithstanding any Appeal To this not only the Bishops but the Marquess of Winchester and the Lords Stafford Dudley and North dissented It shews the great Moderation of this Government that this Marquess notwithstanding his adhering to the Popish Interest in the House of Lords was still continued Lord Treasurer which employment he held fourteen Years after this and died in the 97th Year of his Age leaving 103 issued from his own Body behind him He was the greatest instance of good Fortune and Dexterity that we find in the English History who continued Lord Treasurer in three such different Reigns as King Edward's Queen Mary's and Queen Elizabeth's were There was a Subsidy and two Tenths and two Fifteenths given by the Parliament with the Tonnage and Poundage for the Queen's Life and so on the 8th of May it was dissolved There were three Bills that did not pass in the House of Commons Bills that were proposed but not passed but upon what account they were laid aside it does not appear The one was for the Restoring of the Bishops that had been deprived by Q. Mary There were but three of these alive Barlow Scory and Coverdale the first of these had resigned and the last being old had no mind to return to his Bishoprick So perhaps it was not thought worth the while to make an Act for one Man's sake especially since there were so many vacant Bishopricks in the Queen's hands and more were like to fall The other Bill was for the restoring of all Persons that were deprived from their Benefices because they were married This the Queen odered to be laid aside of which Sands complained much in his Letter to Parker But yet the Queen took no notice of the Laws formerly made against their Marriage and promoted many married Priests particularly Parker himself There was no Law now in force against Clergy-mens marrying for Queen Mary had only repealed the Laws of Edward the 6th which allowed it but had made none concerning that Matter So there was nothing but the Canon Law against it and that was resolved to be condemned by continuing that Article of Religion concerning the Lawfulness of their Marriage among those that should be set out The next Bill that came to nothing was a new Act for giving Authority to 32 Persons to revise the Ecclesiastical Laws and digest them into a Body it was laid aside at the second Reading in the House of Commons and has slept ever since The Bishops refuse the Oath of Supremacy When the Parliament was over the Oath of Supremacy was soon after put to the Bishops and Clergy They thought if they could stick close to one another in refusing it the Queen would be forced to dispence with them Vita Parkeri and would not at one stroke turn out all the Bishops in England It does not appear how soon after the Dissolution of the Parliament the Oath was put to them but it was not long after for the last Collation Bonner gave of any Benefice was on the 6th of May this Year The Oath being offered to Heath Arch-Bishop of York to Bonner of London Thirleby of Ely Bourn of Bath and Wells Christopherson of Chichester Bain of Litchfield White of Winchester and Watson of Lincoln Oglethorpe of Carlisle Turbervile of Exeter Pool of Peterburgh Scot of Chester Pates of Worcester and Goldwell of St. Asaph they did all refuse to take it So that only Kitchin Bishop of Landaff took it There was some hope of Tonstall so it was not put to him till September but he being very old chose to go out with so much Company more for the decency of the thing than out of any scruple he could have about the Supremacy for which he had formerly writ so much They were upon their refusal put in Prison for a little while but they had all their Liberty soon after except Bonner White and Watson There were great Complaints made against Bonner that he had in many things in the prosecution of those that were presented for Heresy exceeded what the Law allowed so that it was much desired to have him made an Example But as the Queen was of her own nature Merciful so the Reformed Divines had learned in the Gospel not to render Evil for Evil nor to seek Revenge and as Nazianzen had of old exhorted the Orthodox when they had got an Emperor that favoured them not to retaliate on the Arrians for their former Cruelties So they thought it was for the honour of their Religion to give this real demonstration of the Conformity of their Doctrine to the Rules of the Gospel and of the Primitive Church by avoiding all Cruelty and
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 â— 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
assurance of a great Army if it was necessary and charged the Lord Gray not to quit the Seige till the French were gone Ships were also sent to lye in the Frith to block them up by Sea The French apprehending the total loss of Scotland sent over Monluc Bishop of Valence to London to offer to restore Calais to the Queen of England if she would draw her Forces out of Scotland She gave him a quick Answer on the sudden her self that she did not value that Fish-Town so much as she did the quiet of Brittain But the French desiring that she could mediate a Peace between them and the Scots she undertook that and sent Secretary Cecil and D. Wotton into Scotland to conclude it As they were on the Way the Queen Regent died The Queen Regent of Scotland dies in the Castle of Edinburgh on the 10th of June She sent for some of the chief Lords before her Death and desired to be reconciled to them and asked them pardon for the Injuries she had done them She advised them to send both the French and English Souldiers out of Scotland and prayed them to continue in their Obedience to their Queen She also sent for one of their Preachers Willock and discoursed with him about her Soul and many other things and said unto him that she trusted to be saved only by the Death and Merits of Jesus Christ and so ended her Days which if she had done a Year sooner before these last Passages of her Life she had been the most universally lamented Queen that had been in any time in Scotland For she had governed them with great Prudence Justice and Gentleness and in her own Deportment and in the order of her Court she was an Example to the whole Nation but the Directions sent to her from France made her change her Measures break her Word and engage the Kingdom in War which rendred her very hateful to the Nation Yet she was often heard to say that if her Counsels might take place she doubted not to bring all things again to perfect Tranquillity and Peace The Treaty between England France and Scotland A Peace is concluded was soon after concluded The French were to be sent away within Twenty Days an Act of Oblivion was to be confirmed in Parliament the Injuries done to the Bishops and Abbots were referred to the Parliament Strangers and Church-men were no more to be trusted with the chief Offices a Parliament was to meet in August for the confirming of this During the Queen's absence the Nation was to be governed by a Council of Twelve of these the Queen was to name seven and the States five the Queen was neither to make Peace nor War but by the Advice of the Estates according to the Ancient Custom of the Kingdom The English were to return as soon as the French were gone and for the matter of Religion that was referred to the Parliament and some were to be sent from thence to the King and Queen to set forth thier desires to them and the Queen of Scotland was no more to use the Arms and Title of England All these Conditions were agreed to on the 8th of July and soon after both the French and English left the Kingdom In August thereafter the Parliament Reformation is setled in Scotland by Parliament met where four Acts passed one for the abolishing of the Pope's Power A second For the repealing of all Laws made in favour of the former Superstition A third For the punishing of those that said or heard Mass And the fourth was A Confirmation of the Confession of Faith which was afterwards ratified and inserted in the Acts of Parliament held Anno 1567. It was penned by Knox and agrees in almost all things with the Geneva Confession Of the whole Temporalty none but the Earl of Athol and the Lords Somervile and Borthick dissented to it They said they would believe as their Fathers had done before them The Spiritual Estate said nothing against it The Abbots struck in with the Tyde upon assurance that their Abbies should be converted to Temporal Lordships and be given to them Most of the Bishops seeing the Stream so strong against them complied likewise and to secure themselves and enrich their Friends or Bastards did dilapidate all the Revenues of the Church in the strangest manner that has ever been known and yet for most of all these Leases and Alienations they procured from Rome Bulls to confirm them pretending at that Court that they were necessary for making Friends to their Interest in Scotland Great numbers of these Bulls I my self have seen and read So that after all the noise that the Church of Rome had made of the Sacriledge in England they themselves confirmed a more entire waste of the Churches Patrimony in Scotland of which there was scarce any thing reserved for the Clergy But our Kings have since that time used such effectual endeavours there for the recovery of so much as might give a just encouragement to the Labours of the Clergy that universally the inferior Clergy is better provided for in no Nation than in Scotland for in Glebe and Tythes every Incumbent is by the Law provided with at least 50 l. Sterling a Year which in proportion to the cheapness of the Country is equal to twice so much in most parts of England But there are not among them such Provisions for encouraging the more Learned and deserving Men as were necessary When these Acts of the Scotish Parliament were brought into France to be confirmed they were rejected with much scorn so that the Scots were in fear of a new War Francis the 2d died But the King of France dying in the beginning of December all that Cloud vanished their Queen being now only Dowager of France and in very ill tearms with her Mother-in-Law Queen Katherine de Medici who hated her because she had endeavoured to take her Husband out of her Hands and to give him up wholly to the Counsels of her Uncles So she being ill used in France was forced to return to Scotland and govern there in such manner as the Nation was pleased to submit to Thus had the Queen of England separated Scotland entirely from the Interests of France and united it to her own And being engaged in the same Cause of Religion she ever after this had that influence on all Affairs there that she never received any disturbance from thence during all the rest of her glorious Reign In which other Accidents concurred to raise her to the greatest Advantages in deciding Forreign Contests that ever this Crown had In July after she came to the Crown Henry the Second of France The Civil Wars of France was unfortunately wounded in his Eye at a Tilting the Beaver of his Helmet not being let down so that he died of it soon after His Son Francis the Second succeeding was then in the 16th Year of his Age and assumed
Queen declares she will force no Conscience pag. 245. A Tumult at Pauls ibid. A Proclamation against Preaching ibid. Censures passed upon it pag. 246. She uses those of Suffolk ill ibid. Consultations among the Reformed pag. 247. Judge Hales barbarously used ibid. Cranmer declares against the Mass pag. 248. Bonners insolence ibid. Cranmer and Latimer sent to the Tower pag. 250. Forreigners sent out of England ibid. Many English fly beyond Sea ibid. The Queen rewards those who had served her pag. 251. She is Crowned and discharges a Tax ibid. A Parliament summoned pag. 252. The Reformed Bishops thrust out of the House of Lords ibid. Great disorders in Elections ibid. An Act moderating severe Laws pag. 253. The Marriage of the Queens Mother Confirmed ibid. Censures passed upon it pag. 254. The Queen is severe to the Lady Elis. ibid. King Edwards Laws about Religion repealed pag. 255. An Act against injuries to Priests ibid. An Act against unlawful assemblies ibid. Marquess of Northamptons 2d Marriage broken pag. 256. The Duke of Norfolks Attaindor annulled ibid. Cranmer and others attainted pag. 257. But his See is not declared void ibid. The Queen resolves to reconcile with Rome ibid. Cardinal Pool sent Legate pag. 258. But is stopt by the Emperor pag. 259. The Queen sends to him ibid. His advice to the Queen pag. 260. Gardiners methods are preferred pag. 261. The House of Commons offended with the Queens Marriage then treated about ibid. The Parliament is dissolved ibid. 1200000 Crowns sent to corrupt the next Parliament pag. 262. Proceedings in the Convocation ibid. Disputes concerning the Sacrament ibid. Censures passed upon them pag. 283. 1554. Ambassadors treat with the Queen for her Marriage ibid. Articles agreed on ibid. The Match generally disliked p. 284. Plots to oppose it are discovered ibid. Wiat breaks out in Kent ibid. His Demands p. 286. He is defeated and taken ibid. The Lady Jane and her Husband Executed p. 271. Her preparations for Death ibid. The Duke of Suffolk is Executed p. 272. The Lady Elis is unjustly suspected p. 273. Many severe proceedings ibid. The Imposture in the Wall ibid. Instructions for the Bishops p. 274. Bishops that adhere to the Reform deprived ibid. The Mass every where set up pag. 276. Books against the married Clergy pag. 277. A New Parliament ibid. The Queens Regal Power asserted ibid. The secret Reasons for that Act. ibid. Great jealousies of the Spaniards pag. 279. The Bishoprick of Duresm restored ibid. Disputes at Oxford pag. 280. With Cranmer pag. 281. And Ridley pag. 282. And Latimer pag. 283. Censures passed upon them ibid. They are all Condemned ibid. The Prisoners in London give reasons why they would not dispute pag. 284. King Philip Lands pag. 286. And is Married to the Queen ibid. He brings a great Treasure with him ibid. Acts of favour done by him pag. 287. He preserves the Lady Elizabeth ibid. He was little beloved pag. 288. But much Magnifyed by Gardiner ibid. Bonners carriage in his Visitation ibid. No reordination of those Ordained in King Edward's time pag. 289. Bonners rage pag. 290. The Sacrament stollen pag. 291. A New Parliament ibid. Cardinal Pools Attaindor repealed ibid. He comes to London pag. 292. And makes a speech to the Parliament ibid. The Queen is believed with Child ibid. The Parliament petition to be reconciled pag. 293. The Cardinal absolves them ibid. Laws against the See of Rome repealed pag. 294. A Proviso for Church Lands ibid. A Petition from the Convocation ibid. An Address from the inferior Clergy pag. 295. Laws against Hereticks revived pag. 296. An Act declaring Treasons ibid. Another against seditious words ibid. Gardiner in great esteem pag. 297. The fear of losing the Church Lands ibid. Consultations how to deal with Hereticks pag. 298. Cardinal Pool for moderate courses pag. 299. But Gardiner is for violent ones ibid. To which the Queen is inclined pag. 300. 1555. They begin with Rogers and others ibid. Who refusing to comply are judged pag. 301. Rogers and Hooper burnt pag. 302. Sanders and Taylor burnt pag. 303. These cruelties are much censured pag. 304. Reflections made on Hoopers Death ibid. The Burnings much disliked pag. 305. The King Purges himself ibid. A Petition against persecution ibid. Arguments to defend it pag. 306. More are Burnt pag. 307. Ferrar and others Burnt pag. 308. The Queen gives up the Church Lands ibid. Pope Julius dies and Marcellus succeeds pag. 309. Paul the 4th succeeds him pag. 310. English Ambassadors at Rome ibid. Instructions sent for persecution pag. 311. Bonner required to Burn more pag. 312. The Queens delivery in vain expected ibid. Bradford and others Burnt pag. 313. Sir Thomas Mores works Published pag. 316. His Letter of the Nun of Kent ibid. Ridley and Latimer Burnt pag. 318. Gardiners Death and Character pag. 320. The temper of the Parliament is much changed pag. 322. The Queen discharges tenths and first fruits ibid. An Act against those that fled beyond Sea rejected pag. 323. An Act debarring a Murderer from the benefit of Clergy opposed ibid. Sir Anthony Kingston put in the Tower pag. 324. Pool holds a Convocation ibid. The heads of his Decrees ibid. Pools design for Reforming of abuses pag. 326. Pool will not admit the Jesuits to England pag. 327. Philpots Martyrdome pag. 328. Forreign affairs ibid. Charles the 5ths Resignation pag. 329. Cranmers Tryal pag. 332. He is degraded pag. 333. He recants ibid. He repents of it pag. 334. His Martyrdome pag. 335. His Character ibid. Others suffer on the like account pag. 337. A Child born in the Fire and burnt ibid. The Reformation grows pag. 338. Troubles at Frankfort among the English there pag. 339. Pool is made Arch-bishop of Canterbury pag. 340. Some Religious Houses are endowed ibid. Records are razed pag. 341. Endeavours for the Abbey of Glassenburg ibid. Forreign Affairs pag. 342. The Pope is extravagantly proud ibid. He dispenses with the French Kings Oath pag. 343. And makes War with Spain pag. 344. 1557. A Visitation of the Vniversities pag. 345. The Persecution set forward pag. 346. A Design for setting up the Inquisition pag. 347. Burnings for Religion pag. 348. Lord Stourton hanged for Murder pag. 350. The Queen is jealous of the French pag. 351. The Battel at St. Quintin pag. 352. The Pope offended with Cardinal Pool ibid. He recalls him pag. 353. The Queen refuses to receive Cardinal Peito ibid. A Peace between the Pope and Spain pag. 354. A War between England and Scotland ibid. The Affairs of Germany pag. 355. A Persecution in France pag. 356. 1558. Calais is besieged ibid. And it and Guisnes are taken pag. 357. Sark taken by the French pag. 358. And retaken strangely pag. 359. Great discontents in England ibid. A Parliament is called pag. 360. King of Sweden courts the Lady Elizabeth pag. 361. But is rejected by her ibid. She was ill used in this Reign pag. 362. The Progress of the Persecution pag. 363. The Methods of it pag.
among all Christian People Also ye shall pray for all our Parishes where that they be on Land or on Water that God save them from all manner of Perils and for all the good Men of this Parish for their Wives Children and Men that God them maintain save and keep Also ye shall pray for all true Tithers that God multiply their Goods and Encrease for all true Tillers that labour for our Sustenance that Till the Earth and also for all the Grains and Fruits that be sown set or done on the Earth or shall be done that God send such Weather that they may grow encrease and multiply to the help and profit of all Mankind Also ye shall pray for all true Shipmen and Merchants wheresoever that they be on Land or on Water that God keep them from all Perils and bring them home in safety with their Goods Ships and Merchandises to the Help Comfort and Profit of this Realm Also ye shall pray for them that find any Light in this Church or give any Behests Book Bell Chalice or Vestment Surplice Water-cloath or Towel Lands Rents Lamp or Light or any other Adornments whereby God's Service is the better served sustained and maintained in Reading and Singing and for all them that thereto have counselled that God reward and yield it them at their most need Also ye shall pray for all true Pilgrims and Palmers that have taken their way to Rome to Jerusalem to St. Katherines or St. James or to any other Place that God of his Grace give them time and space well for to go and to come to the profit of their Lives Souls Also ye shall pray for all them that be sick or diseased of this Parish that God send to them Health the rather for our Prayers for all the Women which be in our Ladys Bands and with Child in this Parish or in any other that God send to them fair Deliverance to their Children right Shape Name and Christendom and to the Mother's purification and for all them that would be here and may not for Sickness or Travail or any other lawful Occupation that they may have part of all the good Deeds that shall be done here in this Place or in any other And ye shall pray for all them that be in good Life that good them hold long therein and for them that be in Debt or deadly Sin that Jesus Christ bring them out thereof the rather for our Prayer Also ye shall pray for him or her that this day gave the Holy Bread and for him that first began and longest holdeth on that God reward it him at the day of Doom and for all them that do well or say you good that God yield it them at their need and for them that otherwise would that Jesus Christ amend them For all those and for all Christian Men and Women ye shall say a Pater Noster Ave Maria Deus misereatur nostri Gloria Patri Kyrie Eleison Christe Eleison Kyrie Eleison Pater Noster Et ne nos Sed libera Versus Ostende nobis Sacerdotes Domine salvum fac Regem Salvum fac Populum Domine fiat Pax Domine exaudi Dominus vobiscum Oremus Ecclesiae tuae quaesumus Deus in cujus manu Deus a quo sancta c. Furthermore ye shall pray for all Christian Souls for Arch-Bishops and Bishops Souls and in especial for all that have been Bishops of this Diocess and for all Curats Parsons and Vicar's Souls and in especial for them that have been Curats of this Church and for the Souls that have served in this Church Also ye shall pray for the Souls of all Christian Kings and Queens and in especial for the Souls of them that have been Kings of this Realm of England and for all those Souls that to this Church have given Book Bell Chalice or Vestment or any other thing by the which the Service of God is better done and Holy Church worshipped Ye shall also pray for your Father's Soul for your Mother's Soul for your God-fathers Souls for your God-mothers Souls for your Brethren and Sisters Souls and for your Kindreds Souls and for your Friends Souls and for all the Souls we be bound to pray for and for all the Souls that be in the Pains of Purgatory there abiding the Mercy of Almighty God and in especial for them that have most need and least help that God of his endless Mercy lessen and minish their Pains by the means of our Prayers and bring them to his Everlasting Bliss in Heaven And also of the Soul N. or of them that upon such a day this Week we shall have the Anniversary and for all Christian Souls ye shall devoutly say a Pater Noster and Ave Maria Psalmus de profundis c. with this Collect Oremus Absolve quaesumus Domine animas famulorum tuorum Pontificum Regum Sacerdotum Parentum Parochianorum Amicorum Benefactorum Nostrorum omnium fidelum defunctorum ab omni vinculo delictorum ut in Resurrectionis Gloria inter sanitos electos tuos resuscitati respirent per Iesum Christum Dominum nostrum Amen Number 9. Bishop Tonstall's Letter proving the Subjection of Scotland to England An Original Cotton Libr. Caligula B. 7 PLease it your Grace my Lord Protector and you right hounourable Lords of the King's Majestys Council to understand that I have received your Letter of the 4th of this month by which ye will me to search all mine old Registers and ancient Places to be sought where any thing may be found for the more clear declaration to the World of the King's Majestys Title to the Realm of Scotland and to advertise you with speed accordingly And also to signify unto you what ancient Charters and Monuments for that purpose I have seen and where the same are to be sought for According unto which your Letters I have sought with all diligence all mine old Registers making mention of the Superiorities of the Kings of England to the Realm of Scotland and have found in the same of many Homages made by the Kings of Scots to the Kings of England as shall appear by the Copies which I do send to your Grace and to your Lordships herewith Ye shall also find in the said Copies the Gift of the Barony of Coldingham made to the Church of Duresm by Edgar the King of Scots which Original Gift is under Seal which I shewed once to my Lord Maxwell at Duresm in the presence of you my Lord Protector I find also a confirmation of the same Gift by King William Rufus in an old Register but not under Seal the Copy whereof is sent herewith The Homages of Kings of Scotland which I have found in the Registers I have sent in this Copy I send also herewith the Copy of a Grant made by King Richard the First unto William King of Scots and his Heirs How as oft as he is summoned to come to the Parliament
he shall be received in the Confines of the Realm of Scotland and conducted from Shire to Shire unto his coming to the Parliament and what the King doth allow him for his Diet every day unto the Court and also what Diet and Allowance he hath being at the Parliament both in Bread and Wine Wax and Candle for his time of his abode there and of his Conduct in his return home And where King William King of Scots made Homage to King Henry the Second and granted That all the Nobles of his Realm should be his Subjects and make Homage to him and all the Bishops of his Realm should be under the Arch-Bishops of York And the said King William delivered to the said King Henry the Castles of Roxburgh Edinburgh and the Castle of Barwick as is found in my Register and that the King of England should give all Abbeys and Honours in Scotland or at least they should not be given without his Counsel I do find in the confirmation of the same out of the old Registers of the Priors of Duresm Hommage made by the Abbots Priors and Prioresses of Scotland to King Edward the First in French which I do send herewith Also I do send herewith in French how King Edward the First was received and taken to be Supream Lord in Scotland by all those that pretended Title to the Crown of Scotland as next Heirs to the King that was then dead without Issue and the compromise of them all made unto the said King Edward the First to stand to his Judgment which of all them that did claim should have the Crown of Scotland The Transcript of which Compromise in French was then sent by the said King Edward under the Seal of the King's Exchequer in green Wax to the Prior of Duresm to be registred for a perpetual Memory that the Supremity of Scotland belonged to the Kings of England which yet the Chapiters of Duresm have to shew which thing he commandeth them to put in their Chronicles And touching the second part of your Letter where you will me to advertise you what I have seen in the Premisses so it is that I was commanded by mine old Master of famous memory King Henry the 8th to make search among the Records of his Treasury in the Receipt for Solemnities to be done at his Coronation in most solemn manner according to which commandment I made search in the said Treasury where I fortuned to find many Writings for the Supremacy of the King to the Realm of Scotland and among others also a Writing with very many Seals of Arms of Scots confessing the right of the Supremacy to the King of England which Writings I doubt not may be found there I have also sent a Copy of a Book my self have of Homages made to the Kings of England by the Kings of Scotland which the Chancellor of England in King Henry the Sevenths days had gathered out of the King's Records which I doubt not but out of the King's Records and Ancient Books the same may be found again by my Lord Chancellor and the Judges Furthermore your Grace and you the Right Honourable Lords of the Council shall understand That in making much search for the Premisses at the last we found out of the Registers of the Chapters of Duresm when it was a Priory the Copy of a Writing by which King Edward the Second doth renounce such Superiority as he had in the Realm of Scotland for him and his Heirs to Robert King of Scots then being as will appear by a Copy of the same which I do send you herewith making mention in the end of the said Writings of a Commission that he gave to Henry the Lord Percy and to William the Lord Souch under his Letters Patents to give his Oath upon the same And after the said Writing we found also in the said Book a Renunciation of the said King Edward of a Process that he had commenced before the Bishop of Rome against Robert King of Scots and his Subjects for breaking their Oath to him as will appear by the Copy thereof which I do send also herewith And touching the said Renunciation of King Edward the Second to the Superiority of the Realm of Scotland I have often heard it spoken of by Scots but I did never see the form of it in writing until I see it now which thing it is not unlikely but the Scots have under the Seal of the said King Edward Whereunto answer is to be made That a King renouncing the right of his Crown cannot prejudice his Successors who have at the time of their entry the same whole right that their Predecessors had at their first entry as Men learned in the Civil Law can by their learning shew And furthermore search is to be made in the King's Records in the Treasury whether Homages have been made sithence King Edward the Second's Time that is to say in the Times of King Edward the Third King Richard the Second King Henry the Fourth King Henry the Fifth and King Henry the Sixth In which Times if any Homage can be found to be made it shall appear the same Renunciation to have taken none effect in the Successors and Ancient Right to be continued again For after King Edward the Fourth and King Henry the Sixth strove for the Crown I think none Homage of Scotland will be found for then was also lost Gascoigne and Guienne in France It is also to be remembred that when the Body of King Henry the Fifth was brought out of France to be buried at Westminster the King of Scots then being came with him and was the chief Mourner at his Burial which King of Scots whether he made any Homage to King Henry the Fifth in his Life-time or to King Henry the Sixth at his Coronation it is to be searched by the Records of that time This is all that can be found hitherto by all most diligent search that I could make in my Records here and if any more can be found it shall be sent with all speed And thus Almighty preserve your Grace and your Honourable Lordships to his Pleasure and yours From Ackland the 15th of October 1547. Your Graces most humble Orator at Commandment Cuth Duresme Number 10. A Letter from the Scotish Nobility to the Pope concerning their being an Independent Kingdom An Original Literae directae ad Dominum Summum Pontificem per Communitatem Scotiae 1320. SAnctissimo Patri in Christo Ex Autogr. apud Ill. Com. de H. ac Domino D. Johanni Divina Providentia Sacrosanctae Romanae Universalis Ecclesiae Summo Pontifici filii sui humiles devoti Duncanus Comes de Fife Thomas Ranulph Comes Moraviae D. Manniae Vallis Annandiae Patricius de Dumbar Comes Marchiae Malisius Comes de Straherne Malcolmus Comes de Levenex Willielmus Comes de Ross Magnus Comes Cathaneae Orcadiae Willielmus Comes Sutherlandiae Walterus Senescallus Scotiae Willielmus
exhort and counsel Priests to live in Chastity Ex MS. Col. C. C. Cant. out of the cumber of the Flesh and of the World that thereby they may wholly attend to their Calling yet the Bond of continuing from Marriage doth only lie upon Priests in this Realm by reason of Canons and Constitutions of the Church and not by any Precept of God's Word as in that they should be bound by any Vow Which in as far as my Conscience is Priests in this Church of England do not make I think that it standeth well with God's Word that a Man which hath been or is but once married being otherwise accordingly qualified may be made a Priest And I do think that for as much as Canons and Rules made in this behalf are neither Universal nor Everlasting but upon Considerations may be altered changed Therefore the King's Majesty and the higher Powers of the Church may upon such Reasons as shall move them take away the Clog of perpetual Continence from Priests and grant that it may be lawful for such as cannot or will not contain to marry a Wife and if she die then the said Priest to marry no more remaining still in the Ministration John Redmayn Number 31. Articles of High Treason and other Misdemeanours against the King's Majesty and his Crown objected to Sir Thomas Seymour Kt. Lord Seymour of Sudley and High Admimiral of England Ex Libro Concilii Fol. 236. 1. VVHereas the Duke of Somerset was made Governor of the King's Majesty's Person and Protector of all his Realms and Dominions and Subjects to the which you your self did agree and gave your consent in writing it is objected and laid unto your Charge That this notwithstanding you have attempted and gone about by indirect means to undoe this Order and to get into your hands the Government of the King's Majesty to the great danger of his Highness Person and the subversion of the State of the Realm 2. It is objected and laid to your Charge that by corrupting with Gifts and fair Promises divers of the Privy Chamber you went about to allure his Highness to condescend and agree to the same your most heinous and perilous purposes to the great danger of his Highness Person and of the subversion of the State of the Realm 3. It is objected and laid unto your Charge that you wrote a Letter with your own hand which Letter the King's Majesty should have subscribed or written again after that Copy to the Parliament House and that you delivered the same to his Highness for that intent With the which so written by his Highness or subscribed you had determined to have come into the Commons-House your self and there with your Fautors and Adherents before prepared to have made a Broil or Tumult or Uproar to the great danger of the King's Majesty's Person and subversion of the State of this Realm 4. It is objected and laid unto your Charge That you your self spake to divers of the Council and laboured with divers of the Nobility of the Realm to stick and adhere unto you for the Alteration of the State and Order of the Realm and to attain your other Purposes to the danger of the King's Majesty's Person now in his tender Years and subversion of the State of the Realm 5. It is objected and laid unto your Charge that you did say openly and plainly You would make the Blackest Parliament that ever was in England 6. It is objected and laid to your Charge That being sent for by the Authority to answer to such things as were thought meet to be reformed in you you refused to come to a very evil Example of Disobedience and danger thereby of the subversion of the State of the Realm 7. It is Objected and laid to your Charge That sith the last Sessions of this Parliament notwithstanding much clemency shewed unto you you have still continued in your former mischievous Purposes and continually by your self and other studied and laboured to put into the King's Majesty's Head and Mind a misliking of the Government of the Realm and of the Lord Protector 's doings to the danger of his Person and the great peril of the Realm 8. It is Objected and laid to your Charge That the King's Majesty being of those tender Years and as yet by Age unable to direct his own things you have gone about to instill into his Grace's Head and as much as lieth in you perswaded him to take upon himself the Government and managing of his own Affairs to the danger of his Highness Person and great peril of the whole Realm 9. It is Objected and laid to your Charge That you had fully intended and appointed to have taken the King's Majesty's Person into your own hands and custody to the danger of his Subjects and peril of the Realm 10. It is Objected and laid to your Charge That you have corrupted with Mony certain of the Privy-Chamber to perswade the King's Majesty to have a credit towards you and so to insinuate you to his Grace that when he lacked any thing he should have it of you and none other Body to the intent he should mislike his ordering and that you might the better when you saw time use his King's Highness for an Instrument to this purpose to the danger of his Royal Person and subversion of the State of the Realm 11. It is Objected and laid unto your Charge That you promised the Marriage of the King's Majesty at your Will and Pleasure 12. It is Objected and laid unto your Charge That you have laboured and gone about to combine and confederate your self with some Persons and specially moved those Noble-men whom you thought not to be contented to depart into their Countries and make themselves strong and otherwise to allure them to serve your purpose by gentle Promises and Offers to have a Party and Faction in readiness to all your Purposes to the danger of the King's Majesty's Person and peril of the State of the Realm 13. It is Objected and laid unto your Charge That you have parted as it were in your imagination and intent the Realm to set Noble-men to countervail such other Noble-men as you thought would lett your devilish Purposes and so laboured to be strong to all your Devices to the great danger of the King's Majesty's Person and great peril of the State of the Realm 14. It is Objected and laid unto your Charge That you had advised certain Men to entertain and win the favour and good-wills of the head Yeomen and Ringleaders of certain Countries to the intent that they might bring the Multitude and Commons when you should think meet to the furtherance of your Purposes 15. It is Objected and laid to your Charge That you have not only studied and imagined how to have the Rule of a number of Men in your hands but that you have attempted to get and also gotten divers Stewardships of Noblemens Lands their Mannoreds to
Parties so injured and spoiled so that thereby Forreign Princes have in a manner been weary of the King's Majesty's Amity and by their Ambassadors divers times complained to the great slander of the King's Majesty and danger of the State of the Realm 28. It is Objected and laid unto your Charge That where certain Men have taken certain Pirats you have not only taken from the Takers of the said Pirats all the Goods and Ships so taken without any reward but have cast the said Takers for their good Service done to the King's Majesty into Prison and there detained them a great time some eight Weeks some more some less to the discouraging of such as truly should serve the King's Majesty against his Pirats and Enemies 29. It is Objected and laid unto your Charge That divers of the Head Pirats being brought unto you you have let the same Pirats go again free unto the Seas and taking away from the Takers of them not only all their Commodity and Profit but from the true Owners of the Ships and Goods all such as ever came into the Pirats hands as though you were authorised to be the chief Pirat and to have had all the Advantage they could bring unto you 30. It is Objected and laid unto your Charge That where Order hath been taken by the Lord Protector and the whole Council that certain Goods piratically taken upon the Seas and otherwise known not to be Wreck nor Forfeited should be restored to the true Owners and Letters thereupon written by the Lord Protector and the Council to the which Letters you your self among the other did set to your Hand Yet you this notwithstanding have given commandment to your Officers That no such Letters should be obeyed and written your private Letters to the contrary commanding the said Goods not to be restored but kept to your own use and profit contrary to your own Hand before in the Council-Chamber written and contrary to your Duty and Allegiance and to the perilous Example of others and great slander and danger of the Realm 31. It is Objected and laid unto your Charge That where certain Strangers which were Friends and Allies to the King's Majesty had their Ships with Wind and Weather broken and yet came unwrecked to the Shore when the Lord Protector and the Council had written for the restitution of the said Goods and to the Country to aid and save so much of the Goods as might you your self subscribing and consenting thereto yet this notwithstanding you have not only given contrary commandment to your Officers but as a Pirat have written Letters to some of your Friends to help that as much of these Goods as they could should be conveyed away secretly by Night further off upon hope that if the same Goods were assured the Owners would make no further labour for them and then you might have enjoyed them contrary to Justice and your Honour and to the great slander of this Realm 32. It is Objected and laid unto your Charge That you have not only disclosed the Kings Majesty's Secret Council but also where you your self amongst the rest have consented and agreed to certain things for the advancement of the King's Affairs you have spoken and laboured against the same 33. It is further Objected and laid unto your Charge That your Deputy Steward and other your Ministers of the Holt in the County of Denbigh have now against Christmass last past at the said Holt made such provision of Wheat Malt Beefs and other such things as be necessary for the sustenance of a great number of Men making also by all the means possible a great Mass of Mony insomuch that all the Country doth greatly marvel at it and the more because your Servants have spread Rumours abroad that the King's Majesty was dead whereupon the Country is in a great maze doubt and expectation looking for some Broil and would have been more if at this present by your apprehension it had not been staied The Lord Admiral 's Answer to three of the former Articles TO the first he saith That about Easter-Tyde was twelve-months he said to Fowler as he supposeth it was that if he might have the King in his custody as Mr. Page had he would be glad and that he thought a Man might bring him through the Gallery to his Chamber and so to his House But this he said he spoke merrily meaning no hurt And that in the mean time after he heard and upon that sought out certain Precedents that there was in England at one time one Protector and another Regent of France and the Duke of Exeter and the Bishop of Winchester Governors of the King's Person Upon that he had thought to have made suit to the Parliament-House for that purpose and he had the names of all the Lords and totted them whom he thought he might have to his purpose to labour them But afterwards communing with Mr. Comptroller at Ely-place being put in remembrance by him of his assenting and agreeing with own his Hand that the Lord Protector should be governor of the King's Person he was ashamed of his doings and left off that suit and labour To the second he saith He gave Mony to two or three of them which were about the King To Mr. Cheek he saith he gave at Christmass-tide was twelve-months when the Queen was at Enfield 40 l. whereof to himself 20 l. the other for the King to bestow where it pleased his Grace amongst his Servants Mr. Cheek was very loath to take it howbeit he would needs press that upon him and to him he gave no more at no time as he remembreth sith the King's Majesty was crowned To the Grooms of the Chamber he hath at Newyears-tydes given Mony he doth not well remember what To Fowler he saith he gave Mony for the King sith the beginning of this Parliament now last at London 20 l. And divers times he saith the King hath sent to him for mony and he hath sent it And what time Mr. Latimer preached before the King the King sent to him to know what he should give Mr. Latimer and he sent to him by Fowler 40 l. with this word that 20 l. was a good reward for Mr. Latimer and the other he might bestow amongst his Servants whether he hath given Fowler any mony for himself he doth not remember To the third he saith It is true he drew such a Bill indeed himself and proffered it to the King or else to Mr. Cheek he cannot well tell and before that he saith he caused the King to be moved by Mr. Fowler whether he could be contented that he should have the Governance of him as Mr. Stanhope had He knoweth not what answer he had but upon that he drew the said Bill to that effect that his Majesty was content but what answer he had to the Bill he cannot tell Mr. Cheek can tell Number 32. The Warrant for the Admiral 's Execution March 17.
between Us and the Emperor but shall depend wholly upon his proceeding there so as if the Emperor shall upon consultation of his Affairs determine with us to do any thing to France we will frame our Communications with the French thereafter if otherwise than the said Commissioners now sent to the French shall do accordingly Item For making the Treaty perpetual We think convenient that the Prince of Spain do confirm and sign the same and the Low-Countries comprised therein do also in their General Parliaments or Assemblies make like Confirmation and in their Courts to make Decrees thereof and this or such form as hath been used in those Parts heretofore in like Cases to be done for their part And for our part the King to Ratify it the Parliament to Confirm it and the Courts of Chancery King's Bench and Common-Pleas to make Decrees thereof Item In the revising of the Treaty if any Doubt rise for the understanding of it which shall seem by his and the Ambassadors discretion to be for the King's Profit to conclude upon it if they will agree to the same and if there arise doubt which shall seem to their discretions against the King then to advertise hither Item For the case of the Marriage to declare at the first what was left by the King's Majesty deceased and yet nevertheless afterward to offer 100000 Crowns or the Revenue yearly which she hath now upon convenable Dower The said 100000 Crowns or Revenue to be paid at Calais if the Marriage take place she to be conveyed to Calais at the King's Charges the Marriage to be made in the Emperor's Court or else-where in the Low-Country by his appointment and for her Dowry to ask _____ by the Year to be paid in case of the Infant 's Death at Calais yearly at the Feasts of _____ and the Feast of _____ and She to return into England with Jewels Plate Houshold-stuff such as should be agreed upon And thus far to enter for the first Degree and in case of further Communication to advertise and reecive answer from hence Item Touching our Proceeding with France to declare how we have continued in War with them and Scotland these four Years alone without help and that we think it expedient for us upon this occasion now ministred by France to give ear in the which hearing we mind to attribute much to the Emperor's Friendship for loath we are to let slip from the King any one jot of his Right if the Emperor will assist but otherwise we must make such a Bargain for the King as we may with regard to his Honour and Surety And in this Point the Comptroller shall press the said Emperor to enter with us and to put him in a remembrance of his Quarrels and all such other things as he can devise for this purpose and to put him in hope generally that we will enter gallantly with him And if he descend to Particulars for the form of the Entry to hear his Opinion and to advertise and then proceed as answer cometh from hence but specially to remember to set forth the comprehension of Bulloign for defence upon a like Reciproque for so shall he be brought to think we mind not to conclude with France and thereby stay such practices as upon occasion of the said Comptroller's going either he with France or France with him might enter together And so the Commissioners sent to France may make the better Bargain for the King Marry this Point is not to be opened throughly till he hear some likelihood that our Commissioners in France break off without conclusion Item The said Comptroller shall essay as of himself whether they will accept Bulloign at the King's Majesty's Hands for some other reasonable recompence Item The said Comptroller shall use his discretion to open the Points aforesaid to the Emperor Granvela or D'arras either at one time or several times as to his discretion shall seem convenient and shall address his Pacquets to the Commissioners for France lying at Calais to the end they may see his Proceedings and send them over with speed directing their Charge the better hereafter Number 39. An Account of a Conference the English Ambassadors had with the Emperor's Ministers in a Letter to the Protector IT may like your Grace to be advertised Cotton Libr. Galba B. 12. that upon the 20th of this Present came to the Lodging of me the Comptroller Monsieur d' Arras and in his company the two Presidents of the Council St. Maurice and Viglius who after a few words of Office passed between them and us entred the cause of their coming saying That the Emperor having been informed of such Conference as was passed this other day between me and Granvela hath to declare his readiness to any thing that might satisfy his good Will and Affection to the intent of the King sent us here to revisite the Treaties and see how we do agree upon the understanding of the same I the Comptroller answered That it was not amiss howbeit I had not so opened the Matters nor looked to have it passed in such order But first to know the Emperor's Resolution how he can be contented with the Confirmation of the Treaty in the form that I had moved and then that agreed upon to proceed to the revisitation of the same In good Faith quoth d' Arras we did so understand it and have so reported to the Emperor and this Commission hath he now given us Well quoth I seeing you are now here and have brought the Treaty with you for that purpose we may do somewhat in it and afterwards be advised further requiring that in case any thing should be found in the passages of the Treaty meet to be considered that we might before further wading in the Matter know the Emperor's Resolution touching as well the Confirmation of the Treaty as in such things as now might be moved which they thought reasonable And so we began to read the Treaty and when we came to the sixth Article wherein it is provided for the common Enmity in case of Invasion and by the Establishment set forth with what number the Invasion must be made and that both for the Invasion and the Number the Prince required to join shall credit the Letters of the Prince requiring I put this Case quoth I for the understanding of this Matter that the King my Master will signify by his Letters to the Emperor that such a day the Scots our common Enemies to the number of 7000 Men with the aid of the French King affronted the Borders of England comprehended in the Treaty and set above 2000 Men into the Realm to invade who did indeed invade and spoil and burn and take Prisoners and therefore would require the Emperor according to the Treaty to take the French King who had aided his Enemies for his Enemies for so doth he and so will use him for his Enemies Is not the Emperor bound to do
it What say you quoth I how do you understand this Article It should seem yes quoth d' Arras but we will speak with the Emperor in it and bring you an answer The words be plain quoth I and cannot be avoided Then in the seventh Article where it is said That the Prince requiring for his Aid Mony instead of Men must if the Invasion made by the Enemy cease restore the Mony again which remaineth And afterwards says That though the Invasion cease yet if he will follow the Enemy he may use the Aid for the time appointed in the Treaty saying in generality eo casu subsidiis auxiliaribus c. I asked Whether in those general words they mean not the Mony as well as the Men Wherupon they seemed to doubt and took a Note thereof to know the Emperor's Pleasure in the same In the ninth Article where it is treated for redress of Injuries done by one Subject to the other there we fell into a brawl of half an hour upon a Question that I moved viz. When they took Justice to be denied And their Answer was That we used none at all And here at length I fell into their manner of Arresting of one whole Nation upon a Knave Mariner's Complaint And he What Thieves our Nation was upon the Sea and Lawless People and that they never proceed to such Extremities but when their Subjects had been in England and Justice was denied That hath never been seen quoth I but if any of your Subjects think himself grieved streight he runneth to Monsieur le Protecteur and he by and by setting all the King's Affairs apart must attend to the Affairs of Monsieur le Mariniure or else home runneth he with open cry That he cannot have Justice in England and you streight believe and thereupon cometh these often Blusters And do you think it reason that Monsieur G. or you should attend to every private Man's Complaint you should then have a goodly Office No you send them to the ordinary Justices and so let that take place and way as it will but you will never impeach your self more with the Matter And reason quoth he but the Cause is not alike with you in England for there quoth he all things come to the Lord Protector 's Hand there is none other Judg or Justice used or cared for in the Realm no and his Letters sometimes not esteemed and that our Subjects fear full often and therefore of force they must resort to Monsieur Protecteur And this is not true quoth I and that Monsieur Hobbey knoweth my Lord Protector nor none of the Privy-Council meddle with no private Matters whosoever it be but only meddle with Matters of State leaving all other things to the ordinary course of Justice except only many times to gratify your Ambassador and to shew himself glad to nourish the Amity he troubleth himself with the Complaints of your Subjects which by St. Mary by my advice he shall do no more seeing it is so little considered but shall refer them to the common Justice Whither is that quoth he To the Admiralty quoth I. Marry a goodly Justice quoth he for so shall the poor Man's Cause be tried before his Adversary And why not tried in our Admiralty quoth I as well as in yours Nay quoth he both be naught indeed they were very ordinary Courts at the beginning of the redress of Matters upon the Sea but now they feel the sweet of the Gain such as they care little for Justice And here as well for relief of poor Men spoiled and robbed upon the Seas as to avoid Arrests and such other troublesome Proceedings on either side we fell to devising and came to this Point If the Princes for their parts upon their advertisement to the Emperor and we to your Grace shall like it that Commission sufficient be given by the Emperor to two of his Privy-Council to hear and determine by their discretion summary de pleno all Complaints by the King's Subjects here for criminal Causes upon the Sea and the King's Majesty to do the like to two of his Privy-Council for the Complaints in like case of the Emperor's Subjects And this was all was passed in open Conference saying That in the Discourse for the Confirmation in the Treaty by the Prince and their Countries as they seemed to shew the Emperor's readiness but yet not so resolved that the Prince should confirm the Treaty and that further any other thing should be done that he might reasonably do to declare his good Will to the entertainment and augmentation of his Amity and Affection to the King's Majesty So he alleaged divers Reasons why the Emperor should not seek to his Subjects to confirm his Treaties with Forreign Princes We alleaged the Example of the King and the French King in times past and what was said in that Case at C. _____ in the presence of himself de C. _____ and Chap. _____ Whereunto he answered That the State of France was more restrained than the Emperor's and that the French King could give no piece of his Patrimony nor bind his Country without the consent of his Parliament at Paris and the three Estates but he thought the King of England to have a greater Prerogative and the Emperor he was sure had a greater Prerogative and so had all his Ancestors and therefore would be loath now to put himself so far in their danger They were he said fifteen or sixteen Parliaments and if a thing should be proposed unto them whereof they had never heard the like before they would not only muse much at the Matter but they would have also the scanning of it and what would come of it the Emperor could not tell peradventure dash the Matter and so prejudice his Prerogative with them Yet now where he and his Ancestors do and have always passed Treaties with other Princes and bind their Subjects thereby without making them privy thereto it would by this means come to pass that from henceforth their Subjects would look to be privy to every Treaty which were not convenient marry for the Prince which shall succeed to confirm the Treaty he thought the Emperor could not take it but reasonable and doubted not to bring a good Answer in the same So as we see for this Point it will come to the confirmation of the King and the Prince and upon any condition or interpretation of the Treaty to them also wherein we intend to go forwards for so our Instruction beareth us unless that before the conclusion and shutting up of the Matter we hear from your Grace to the contrary The things being thus far passed and our open Talk at a Point and they ready to depart Monsieur d' Arras taking occasion as it seemed to stay because of the Rain took me aside and asked me if I would command him any other Service I answered No Service but Friendship and the continuance of his good Will to the King's
the poor Man and his Heirs put from their Right which his Majesty wisheth to be considered And albeit he thinketh that the King your Master being under Age cannot himself by the order of the Law conclude upon any thing now in his Minority that shall be of due force and strength able to bind him and his Country when he shall come to his perfect Age. Yet taking that his Tutors being authorised thereto by the common Assent of your Parliament may go through and conclude upon these or like things in his Name his Majesty thinketh it will do well when his Subjects shall be recompenced of the Wrongs they have hitherto sustained that some order be devised for the administration of Justice hereafter in like Cases As touching the Confirmation of the Treaty considering that the same was first made between the Emperor and King Henry the Eighth and not ratified by the King your Master since his Father's Death his Majesty thinketh that he hath most cause to require the same Wherefore because as I told you even now he thinketh that these things the King himself should conclude upon during his Minority cannot be of sufficient force if his Tutors shall be by the Authority of your Parliament enabled thereto his Majesty is content the Treaty be confirmed by them in the King's Name and by the Prince of Spain in such form as shall be thought best for both Parties As to the comprehension of Bulloign ye must know that we have a Treaty with France as well as with you which the Emperor cannot without some touch of his Honour break without just Grounds And albeit his Majesty would be loath to see the King his good Brother forgoe either that Peece or any other Jot of his Right yet can he not enter this Defence unless he would break with France out of hand which in respect of his other Affairs he cannot yet do howbeit he will gladly assist his good Brother in any other thing the best he may and will not fail to shew him all the Pleasure he can with regard to his Honour but with Bulloign he cannot meddle at this time And here he staying Is this the Emperor's resolute and full Answer Monsieur d' Arras quoth I. Yea quoth he wherewith he prayeth the King his good Brother to rest satisfied and take it in good part Albeit quoth I I have no Commission to make any Reply thereto because it was not known to your Grace what the Emperor's Resolution should be yet in the way of talk I will be bold to say my mind herein We have Monsieur d' Arras quoth I always esteemed the Emperor's Friendship and desired the observation of the Treaties and the entertainment of the Amity as a thing necessary and common to both the Parties for the better establishment whereof and that now and in this time some good Fruit to the benefit of both might appear to the World to follow of the same I was sent hither which was the chiefest cause of my coming And because that the Amity between both Princes might be the firmer and that all Doubts being taken away no cause of Quarrel shall be left we thought best to put you in mind of the Confirmation and Revisitation of the Treaty to the intent that by the one the World might see an establishment of our Friendship by our deed and that by the other one of us might understand another and consider whether any thing were to be added for the Commodity of both Parties which I suppose standeth you as much upon to desire as it doth us And whereas ye say that the King's Majesty because he is under Age cannot conclude or go through with any thing that shall be of sufficient force I must needs tell you plainly That ye touch his Majesty's Honour over-near herein for we think that the Majesty of a King is of such efficacy that he hath even the same Authority and full Power at the first hour of his Birth that he hath thirty Years after And what your Laws are I know not but sure I am that by our Laws whatsoever is done by the King in his Minority or by his Ministers in his Name is of no less force and strength than if it had been done in time of his full Age and Years if once the Great Seal of his Realm have passed there is no Remedy but needs must he stand thereto Marry let the Ministers take heed what they do and look that they may be able to discharge themselves towards him of their Doings if he shall require account of them when he cometh to Age for it is they must answer him but he must needs stand to whatsoever they have counselled him to agree unto during his Minority And to prove that our Laws giveth him the same Authority now that he shall have when he cometh to his perfect Age if any Man either for instruction of Learning or any other Cause should presume to lay hands on or touch his Majesty in way of correction he should by Law be taken for a Traitor And if the Matter were as ye take it we should then be in a strange and evil case for neither might we conclude Peace League or Treaty nor make Laws or Statutes during the King's Minority that should be of sufficient force to bind him and his to the observation of the same But ye mistake the Matter much and therefore if the Emperor mind to proceed to this Confirmation he may or otherwise do as it shall please him And as touching my Case quoth I ye must understand I did not move it without some just ground for remembring that all your Commissioners and all ours being together at Vtrecht for the Esclarcisement of the Treaty although the words of the Treaty were plain enough and could receive none other interpretation than was there plainly written yet would ye needs understand the Article for common Enmity in case of Invasion after your own minds And whereas by the words of the Treaty no mention is made of any number and therefore with howsoever few in number the Invasion be made ought the Invaders to be taken for common Enemies Your Commissioners did nevertheless interpret the Matter at their pleasure and would needs prescribe a number of 8000 Men under which number of Invasion were made the Treaties in this case should not stand to any force And like-as ye put a doubt here where none was to be found so thought I ye might do in other things were they never so plain and that moved me to put this case to see whether ye understood this Point as ye ought to do after the literal sense and partly to know your minds therein because perhaps the Matter hath been already in ure This I say was the occasion why I put further this Question and not for any mistrust of the Emperor's Friendship whom I must confess we have always found our Well-willer and so we doubt not he will continue and
plain words of Scripture overthroweth the nature of a â—acrament and hath given occasion to many Superâ—â—itions The Body of Christ is given taken and eaten in the Supper only after an Heavenly and Spiritual Manner And the mean whereby the Body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper is Faith but it is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture and hath given occasion to many Superstitions Since the very Being of humane Nature doth require that the Body of one and the same Man cannot be at one and the same time in many places but of necessity must be in some certain and determinate place therefore the Body of Christ cannot be present in many different places at the same time And since as the Holy Scriptures testify Christ hath been taken up into Heaven and there is to abide till the end of the World it becometh not any of the Faithful to believe or profess that there is a Real or Corporeal presence as they phrase it of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Holy Eucharist The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was not by Christ's Ordinance reserved carried about lifted up or worshipped XXIX Of the Wicked which eat not the Body of Christ in the Lord's Supper The wicked and such as be void of a lively Faith altho they do carnally and visibly press with their Teeth as St. Augustine saith the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ yet in no wise are they partakers of Christ but rather to their condemnation do eat and drink the Sign or Sacrament of so great a thing XXX Of both Kinds The Cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the Lay-people For both the parts of the Lord's Sacrament by Christ's Ordinance and Commandment ought not to be ministred to all Christian People alike XXX Of the one Oblation of Christ finished upon the Cross The Offering of Christ once made is a perfect Redemption Propitiation and Satisfaction for all the Sins of the whole World both Original and Actual and there is none other Satisfaction for Sin but that alone Wherefore the Sacrifices of Masses in which it was commonly said That the Priests did offer Christ for the Quick and the Dead to have remission of Pain or Guilt were * blasphemous Fables and dangerous Deceits XXXI A single Life is imposed on none by the Word of God Bishops Priests and Deacons are not commanded by God's Law either to vow the estate of a single Life or to abstain from Marriage Therefore it is lawful for them as for all other Christian Men to Marry at their own discretion as they shall judg thâ— same to serve better to Godliness XXXII Excommunicated Persons are to be avoided That Person which by open Denunciation of the Church is rightly cut off from the Unity of the Church and Excommunicated ought to be taken of the whole Multitude of the Faithful as an Heathen and Publican until he be openly reconciled by Penance and received into the Church by a Judg that hath Authority thereunto XXXIII Of the Tradition of the Church It is not necessary that Traditions and Ceremonies be in all places one and utterly alike for at all times they have been divers and may be changed according to the diversities of Countries Times and Mens Manners so that nothing be ordained against God's Word Whosoever through his private judgment willingly and purposely doth openly break the Traditions and Ceremonies of the Church which be not repugnant to the Word of God and be ordained and reproved by common Authority ought to be rebuked openly that others may fear to do the like as he that offendeth against the common Order of the Church and hurteth the Authority of the Magistrate and woundeth the Consciences of the weak Brethren Every Particular or National Church hath Authority to ordain change or abolish Ceremonies or Rites of the Church ordained onely by Man's Authority so that all things be done to edifying XXXIV Of the Homilies The second Book of Homilies the several Titles whereof we have joined under this Article doth contain a godly and wholesome Doctrine and necessary for the Times as doth the former Book of Homilies which were set forth in the time of Edward the 6th and therefore we judg them to be read in Churches by the Ministers diligently and distinctly that they may be understood of the People The Names of the Homilies Of the Right Use of the Church Of Repairing Churches Against the Peril of Idolatry Of Good Works c. The Homilies lately delivered and commended to the Church of England by the King's Injunctions do contain a godly and wholsome Doctrine and fit to be embraced by all Men and for that cause they are diligently plainly and distinctly to be read to the People XXXV Of the Book of Common Prayer and other Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England The Book lately delivered to the Church of England by the Authority of the King and Parliament containing the manner and form of publick Prayer and the Ministration of the Sacraments The Book of Consecration of Arch-Bishops and Bishops and ordering of Priests and Deacons lately set forth in the time of King Edward the Sixth and confirmed at the same time by Authority of Parliament doth contain all things necessary to such Consecration and Ordering Neither hath it any thing that of it self is superstitious and ungodly And therefore whosoever are Consecrated and Ordered according to the Rites of that Book since the second Year of the afore-named King Edward unto this time or hereafter shall be Consecrated or Ordered according to the same Rites we decree all such to be rightly orderly and lawfully Consecrated and Ordered in the said Church of England as also the Book published by the same Authority for ordering Ministers in the Church are both of them very pious as to truth of Doctrine in nothing contrary but agreeable to the wholsome Doctrine of the Gospel which they do very much promote and illustrate And for that cause they are by all faithful Members of the Church of England but chiefly of the Ministers of the Word with all thankfulness and readiness of mind to be received approved and commended to the People of God XXXVI Of the Civil Magistrates The King of England is after Christ The Queens Majesty hath the chief Power in this Realm of England and other her Dominions unto whom the chief Government of all Estates of this Realm whether they be Ecclesiastical or Civil in all Cases doth appertain and is not nor ought to be subject to any Forreign Jurisdiction Where we attribute to the Queens Majesty the chief Government by which Titles we understand the minds of some slanderous Folks to be offended We give not to our Princess the Ministry either of God's Word or of the Sacraments the which thing the Injunctions lately set forth by Elizabeth our Queen do most plainly testifie but that only Prerogative which we see to
clam Autographum surripuerat 5. Septemb. Anno Dom. 1553. Number 9. The Conclusion of Cardinal Pool's Instructions to Mr. Goldwell sent by him to the Queen An Original Cotton Libr. Titus B. 2. FOr the conclusion of all that is comprised in your Instruction as that the which containeth the whole Sum of my poor Advice and Counsel it pleaseth her Grace to ask of me you shall say That my most humble desire is that in all deliberation her Grace shall make touching the maintenance of her State the same will ever well ponder and consider what the Providence of God hath shewed therein above that which hath been shewed in her Predecessors Kings of this Realm in this one Point which is to have the Crown not only as a King's Daughter and Heir but hath ordered that this Point of right Inheritance shall depend as it doth of the Authority he hath given to his Church and of the See of Rome which is the See Apostolick approving her Mother to be Legitimate Wife of King Henry the Eighth whereby she is bound afore God and Man as she will show her self the very Daughter of the said King Henry the Eighth right Heir of the Crown so also to show her self right Daughter of the Church and of them that be resident in the See Apostolick who be the right Heirs of Peter to whom and his Successors Christ chief Head of the Church in Heaven and in Earth hath given in Earth to bear his Place touching the Rule of the same Church and to have the Crown thereof which well considered and pondered her Grace shall soon see how in her Person the Providence of God hath joined the Right she hath by her Father in the Realm with the Right of the Church that she cannot prevail by the one except she join the other withal and they that will separate these two take away not only half her Right but her whole Right being not so much Heir because she is King Henry's only Daughter without Issue Male as she is his lawful Daughter which she hath by the Authority of the Church Which thing prudently and godly considered she cannot but see what faithful counsel this is That above all Acts that in this Parliament shall be made doth advertise her Grace to establish that the which pertaineth to the establishing of the Authority of the Church and the See of the same what rendering to him that is right Successor to Peter therein his right Title of Head in the Church in Earth without the which she cannot be right Head in the Realm and this established all Controversy is taken away and who will repine unto this he doth repine unto her right of the Crown Wherefore this is my first Advice That this Point above all other should be entreated and enacted in the Parliament and so I know her Graces full mind was and is that it should be But she feareth Difficulties and hereupon dependeth that her Grace asketh my poor Advice how these Difficulties may be taken away Unto this you may say That they must be taken away by the help of him that by his high Providence above Man's expectance hath given her already the Crown Which will have as well this second Act known of the maintainance thereof to depend of him as the first in attaining thereto And to have his help the mean is by humble Prayer wherein I would advertise her Highness not only to give her self to Prayer but also by Alms to the needy excitate the Minds of others to Prayer these be the means of most efficacy and with this to take that ardent Mind to establish the Authority of the Church casting away all fear of Man that she to be to have her Crown and not so much for her own sake as for the Honour of God which gave her the Crown And if any Difficulty should be feared in the Parliament herein leave the honour to take away the difficulty thereof to none other but assume that person to her self as most bound thereto and to propone that her self which I would trust to be of that efficacy that if inwardly any Man will repugn outwardly the Reasons be so evident for this part that joined with the Authority of her Person being proponent none will be so hardy temerarious nor impious that will resist And if in this deliberation it should seem strange to put forth these Matters in the Parliament as I have said in the Instructions without communicating the same with any of her Council I would think it well her Grace might confer it with two of the chiefest that be counted of the People most near her favour one Spiritual and another Temporal with declaring to them first how touching her Conscience afore God and her Right afore the World she can never be quiet until this Matter be stablished touching the Authority of the Church requiring their uttermost help in that as if she should fight for the Crown her Majesty may be sure she putting the same forth with that earnest manner they will not lack to serve her and they may serve quietly in the Parliament after her Grace hath spoken to prosecute and justify the same with efficacy of words to give all others example to follow her Grace leaving this part unto them That if the Name of Obedience to the Pope should seem to bring as it were a Yoke to the Realm or any other kind of servitude beside that it should be profitable to the Realm both afore God and Man that her Grace that bringeth it in again will never suffer it nor the Pope himself requireth no such thing And herein also that they say That my Person being the Mean to bring it in would never agree to be an Instrument thereof if I thought any thraldom should come thereby they shall never be deceived of me And if they would say beside I would never have taken this Enterprize upon me except I thought by the same to bring great Comfort to the Country wherein the Pope's Authority being accepted I would trust should be so used that it might be an Example of Comfort not only to that Country but to all other that hath rejected it afore and for that cause hath been ever since in great misery This is the sum of all my poor Advice at this time in this Case whereof I beseech Almighty God so much may take effect as shall be to his Honour and Wealth to her Grace and the whole Realm besides Amen Number 10. A Copy of a Letter with Articles sent from the Queens Majesty unto the Bishop of London and by him and his Officers at her gracious Commandment to be put in speedy execution with effect in the whole Diocess as well in places exempt as not exempt whatsoever according to the Tenour and Form of the same Sent by the Queen's Majesty's Commandment in the Month of March Anno Dom. 1553. By the QUEEN RIght Reverend Father in God Right trusty and well-beloved We
for it but the Author's word and Poets must make Circumstances as well as more signal Contrivances to set off their Fables But there was no occasion for Bucer's saying this since he never declared against the Corporal Presence but was for taking up that Controversy in some general Expressions So it was not suitable to his Opinion in that Matter for him to talk so loosely of the Scriptures And is it credible that a Story of this nature should not have been published in Queen Mary's Time and been made use of when he was condemned for an Heretick and his Body raised and burnt But our Author perhaps did not think of that 15. He says Pag. 191. Peter Martyr was a while in suspence concerning the Eucharist and stayed till he should see what the Parliament should appoint in that Matter P. Martyr argued and read in the Chair against the Corporal Presence four Years before the Parliament medled with it For the second Common-Prayer Book which contained the first publick Declaration that the Parliament made in this Matter was enacted in the fifth Year of King Edward and Peter Martyr from his first coming to England had appeared against it 16. He said The first Parliament under King Edward Pag. 193. appointed a new Form to be used in ordaining Priests and Bishops who till that time had been Ordained according to the Old Rites save only that they did not swear Obedience to the Pope This is a further Evidence of our Author's care in searching the printed Statutes since what was done in the Fifth Year of this Reign he represents as done in the First His Design in this was clear he had a mind to possess all his own Party with an Opinion that the Orders given in this Church were of no force and therefore he thought it a decent piece of his Poem to set down this Change as done so early since if he had mentioned it in its proper place he knew not how to deny the validity of the Orders that were given the first four Years of this Reign which continued to be conferred according to the old Forms 17. He says The Parliament did also at the same time Ibid. confirm a new Book of Common-Prayer and of the Administration of the Sacraments This is of a piece with the former for the Act confirming the Common-Prayer Book which is also among the Printed Statutes passed not in this Session of Parliament but in a second Session a Year after this These are Indications sufficient to shew what an Historian Sanders was that did not so much as read the Publick Acts of the Time concerning which he writ 18. He says They ordered all Images to be removed Ibid. and sent some lewd Men over England for that effect who either brake or burnt the Images of our Saviour the Blessed Virgin and the Saints therein declaring against whom they made War and they ordered the King's Arms three Leopards and three Lillies with the Supporters a Dog and a Serpent to be set in the place where the Cross of Christ stood thereby owning that they were no longer to worship Jesus Christ whose Images they broke but the King whose Arms they set up in the room of those Images In this Period there is an equal mixture of Falshood and Malice 1. The Parliament did not order the removal of Images It was done by the King's Visitors before the Parliament sat 2. The total removal of Images was not done the first Year only those Images that were abused to Superstition were taken down and a Year after the total removal followed 3. They took care that this should be done regularly not by the Visitors who only carried the King's Injunctions about it but by the Curats themselves 4. They did not order the King's Arms to be put in the place where the Cross had stood It grew indeed to be a custom to set them up in all Churches thereby expressing that they acknowledged the King's Authority reached even to their Churches but there was no Order made about it 5. I leave him to the Correction of the Heraulds for saying the King's Arms are Three Leopards when every Body knows they are three Lions and a Lion not a Dog is one Supporter and the other is a Dragon not a Serpent 6. By their setting up the King's Arms and not his Picture it is plain they had no thought of worshipping their King but did only acknowledg his Authority 7. It was no less clear that they had no design against the Worship due to Jesus Christ nor that inferiour respect due to the Blessed Virgin and Saints but intended only to wean the People from that which at best was but Pageantry but as it was practised was manifest Idolatry And the painting on the Walls of the Churches the Ten Commandments the Creed the Lord's Prayer with many other passages of Scripture that were of most general use shewed they intended only to cleanse their Churches from those mixtures of Heathenism that had been brought into the Christian Religion Pag. 193. 19. He says They took away the Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ that they might thereby give some colour to the converting of the Sacred Vessels to the King's use They took away no part of the Institution of Christ for they set it down in the Act past about it and recited all the words of the first Institution of the Sacrament they only condemned private Masses as contrary to Christ's Institution They did not convert the Holy Vessels to the King's use nor were they taken out of the Churches till five Years after this that the Necessities of the Government either real or pretended were alleged to excuse the taking away the superfluous Plate that was in Churches But this was not done by Act of Parliament but by Commissioners empowred by the King who were ordered to leave in every Church such Vessels as were necessary for the Administration of the Sacraments Ibid. 20. He says The Parliament ordered the Prayers to be in the Vulgar Tongue and upon that he infers that the Irish the Welsh and the Cornish-men were now in a much worse condition than before since they understood no English so that the Worship was to them in a Tongue more unknown than it had formerly been The Parliament made no such Order at this Time the Book of Common Prayer was set out first by the King's Authority and ratified by the subsequent Session of Parliament There was also a Design which though it was then accomplished yet it was done afterwards of translating the Liturgy into these Tongues but still the English was much more understood by all sorts of Men among them than the Latin had been 21. He says The Office of the Communion Pag. 194. appointed by this Parliament differed very little from the Mass save that it was in English The Error of the Parliaments appointing the new Offices runs through all he says on this
being married as he falsly insinuates 28. He says Pag. 202. The Protector bore great hatred to Gardiner and Tonstal both because they opposed the Hereticks and because they had been made equals to him if not preferred before him by King Henry's Will in the Government during the King's being under Age. This is another of our Author's Figures Gardiner was not mentioned in King Henry's Will neither as an Executor nor so much as a Counsellor and by it none were preferred to another all being made equal And for Tonstal he continued still in a firm friendship with the Protector and was so well satisfied with the first Changes that were made that he was complained of as well as Cranmer by Gardiner in the Letters which he writ to the Protector 29. He says Ibid. The Protector made a Speech about Religion before the King and thereafter he put first Gardiner then Tonstall and at another time the Bishops of London Chichester and Worcester in Prison Gardiner and Bonner were indeed imprisoned some time during the Protector 's Government the latter was also deprived while he was Protector But Tonstall was not put in Prison till two Years after and it was at the time of the Duke of Somerset's total fall and by the same Persons means that wrought his Ruin From which it appears he was always a firm Friend to the Duke of Somerset The Bishops of Worcester and Chichester were also brought in trouble long after the Government was taken out of the Protector 's Hands 30. He says ' They were all deposed from their Degree Ibid. They were not deposed from their Degree but deprived of their Bishopricks for they having accepted Commissions by which they held their Sees only during the King's Pleasure they might well be deprived by a Sentence of the Delegates But had they been to be deposed and thrust from their Order it must have been done by a Synod of Bishops They were deprived as many Bishops were under the Christian Emperors by selected Synods that sat in the Court and judged of all Complaints that were brought before the Emperors Pag. 204. 31. He reckons up the Judgments of God upon the Hereticks and says the Protector made kill his Brother and Dudley took him away This is a way of writing familiar enough to our Author to represent things in such a manner as might fill the Reader with horror as if these Persons had been secretly murdered whereas the one was condemned in Parliament the other by a Judgment of his Peers Ibid. 32. He says King Edward died not without suspition of being poisoned by Dudley and the Duke of Suffolk who aspired to the Crown It was never suspected that the Duke of Suffolk had any hand in poisoning the King nor could I ever see any reason to conclude that he was poisoned but neither of these Dukes aspired to the Crown the one resigned any Pretension he could ever have to his Daughter and the other intended only that his fourth Son should reign Pag. 205. 34. He says The Protector 's Lady claimed the precedence of the Queen Dowager and upon the denial of it conspired the ruin of the Admiral All this is a contrivance of the Enemies of that Family for as it had been absurd for the Dutchess of Somerset to have disputed Precedence with the Queen Dowager so in that whole Matter it is plain the Admiral began with his Brother and conspired his ruin and the Protector was often reconciled to him and forgave him many Faults till it appeared that his Ambition was incurable Ibid. 34. He says There being no ground of any Accusation against him the Dutchess of Somerset got Latimer to accuse him of Treason in a Sermon The Articles upon which he was condemned shew what Matter there was against him Latimer did never accuse him of Treason but being a Man of great plainness of Speech he reflected on him as Ambitious and not sincere in the Profession of Religion And when it was suspected that the Dutchess of Somerset had set him on to make these Reflections he did vindicate her in a most solemn manner Nor is there any reason to think that how indiscreet soever he might be in preaching in such a sort that he did it to flatter or to aspire by such means for he refused to accept of any Preferment though the House of Commons interposed to have him repossessed of the See of Worcester Ibid. 35. He says At the same time that he was Beheaded the Queen Dowager died She died in Septemb. 1548 and he was beheaded in March following and one of the Articles against him was That after her Death he intended to have married the King's Sister Elizabeth and it was suspected that to make for that he had poisoned her 36. He says The Men of Devonshire and Cornwal did Pag. 206. with one consent take up Arms for the Faith In one thing he says true that this Rebellion was set on by the Priests and made on the account of Religion but the brutal cruelty of those Rebels shewed it was not for the Faith but in compliance to their Priests and Leaders that they rose 37. He says Pag. 209. The Clergy finding that their being Married was generally an ingrateful thing procured an Act of Parliament declaring that there was no Humane Law against their Marriages and this was all they were concerned in for they cared little for the Law of God This is a genuine piece of our Author's Wit If the Parliament meddles in declaring what is the Law of God he accuses them for medling in things without their Sphere And if they only declare what is the Law of the Land he says they have no regard to the Law of God So he is resolved do what they will they shall not escape his Censure But in this he shews his Ignorance as well as his Malice The lawfulness of the Marriage of the Clergy was enquired into with such exactness that scarce any thing can be added since to what was then written on that Argument It was made out that there was no Law of God against it It was also proved that there was no general Law made by the Primitive Church about it but that it was a part of the Yoke that the Popes laid on the Clergy to engage them more zealously in their Concerns It was at first carried in the Convocation that they might lawfully Marry then an Act of Parliament passed permitting it of all which our Author takes no notice Then three Years after some that were ill-affected to them taking advantage from the words of the Statute as if the Permission had only been such a conniving at it as had been formerly to the Stews a second Act passed confirming those Marriages and the Issue by them 38. He says The Catholick Doctors in the Universities Pag. 210. grew more couragious in the Defence of the Faith and so desired a publick Dispute
kill the Queen for which he justly suffered Of this I find nothing on Record so it must depend on our Author's Credit which is not infallible 75. He says The Imposture of Elizabeth Crofts Ibid. was set up by the Persuasion of many of the Hereticks and when it was discovered she confessed she had been set on to it by others and by one Drake in particular but they all fled In the Account that was then published of that Imposture Drake only is accused for it what he was does not appear to me for I have never found him mentioned but on this Occasion so there was no reason to transfer the private Guilt of this Conspiracy on a whole Party as our Author does though upon his Credit one of our Writers has also done it 76. He says Those in whose hands the Church-Lands were Pag. 243. had great apprehensions of their being forced to restore them because the Queen had restored all the Land that were in her hands and had again converted the Collegiat Church of Westminster into an Abbey But to prevent the ill Effects that might have followed on this the Cardinal did in the Pope's Name absolve them from all Censures for possessing those Lands and that was confirmed by Letters sent over from the Pope He observes the order of Time very exactly when he sets the Queen's restoring the Church-Lands and founding the Abbey of Westminster as the occasions of the Fears the Laity were in of being forced to restore the rest of the Church-Lands and of the Cardinal 's absolving them from all Censures for keeping them still in their hands The Order in which this was done was thus In Novemb. 1554 in the Act of Reconciliation with the See of Rome there was a special Proviso made for the Church-Lands which the Cardinal confirmed in the Pope's Name In the Year after that the Queen gave up into the Cardinal Hands all the Church-Lands that belonged to the Crown and two Years after she founded the Abbey of Westminster so little influence had these things on the other that were done before But he was grosly mistaken when he said the Pope approved All for he in plain terms refused to ratify what the Cardinal had done and soon after set out a severe Bull Cursing and Condemning all that held any Church-Lands 77. He says Pag. 244. All the Bishops being sensible of their Schismatical way of entring into their Sees did desire and obtain a Confirmation from the Pope Kitchin Bishop of Landaff only excepted who afterwards relapsed into Heresy under Queen Elizabeth and says it is likely the want of this Confirmation made him be more easily overcome This our Author wrote being a thing very probable and seldom do his Authorities for what he asserts rise higher It was also a pretty strain of his Wit to make the omitting of it fall singly on the only Bishop that conformed under Queen Elizabeth But it is certain there was no such thing done at all for if any had done it Bonner was as likely as any other since as none had been more faulty in King Henry's Time so none studied to redeem that with more servile compliances than he did yet there is nothing of this recorded in his Register which continues entire to this day Pag. 246. 78. He says The State of the Universities was restored to what it had been and Oxford in particular by Petrus a Soto's means who was in the Opinion of all much preferred to P. Martyr He that gathered the Antiquities of Oxford though no partial Writer on this occasion represents the state of that University very differently that there were almost no Divines in it and scarce any publick Lectures But when Sanders writ his Poem the Spanish Councils were so much depended on by him and his Party that it was fit to put that Complement on the Nation concerning Petrus a Soto Whether it was true or false was a Circumstance which he generously overlook'd for most part Pag. 248. 79. He says Queen Elizabeth had done many things in Queen Mary's Time both against her Person and Government He knew this was so false that there was never a Circumstance or a Presumption brought against her but the Information which Wiat gave hoping thereby to save himself and yet he denied that on the Scaffold If there had been any colour to have justified the taking away her Life both the Queen and her Counsellors were as much enclined to it as our Author himself was Ibid. 80. He says King Henry said in Parliament she was not and could not be his Daughter for a secret Reason which he had revealed to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury This was aptly enough said by a Writer that had emancipated himself from the Laws of Truth and Veracity to appeal to such a Story yet to have made it pass the better he should have named other Circumstances for such a thing cannot be easily believed since after Ann Boleyn's Death the King continued to treat Elizabeth still as his Daughter so that when she writ to his next Queen she subscribed Daughter she was in all things educated with the Care and State that became a King's Child and was both by Act of Parliament and by his Will declared to be so Now to think that such a King would have done all this after he had in Parliament declared that she could not be his Child is a little too coarse to be believed and so should have been supported with more than ordinary Proofs Ibid. 81. He says She came to the Crown meerly by virtue of the Act of Parliament without being Legitimated In this she and her Sister were upon the same Level for neither of them were declared Legitimate so this was not to be objected to the one more than to the other Sister Pag. 249. 82. He says Queen Mary being declared by Act of Parliament in the beginning of her Reign Legitimate and her Mothers Marriage being declared good Elizabeth was thereby of new Illegitimated yet she never repealed the Laws against her Title but kept the Crown meerly upon the Authority of an Act of Parliament without having any regard to her Birth Queen Mary came to the Crown being in the same Condition and was either a lawful Queen before that Act was made or else that Act was of no force if it had not the Royal Assent given by a lawful Queen So Queen Elizabeth was as much Queen before any such Act could have passed as afterwards and therefore since it was not necessary for the securing her Title it was a sign of her tenderness of her Father's Memory to which Queen Mary had no regard not to revive the remembrance of things that must have turned so much to his dishonour as that would have done 83. He says Pag. 250. Queen Mary not being able to prevent her Sisters Succession sent a Message to her on her Death-Bed desiring her to pay her Debts and
Wittemberg submitting themselves to the Emperors mercy the rest were much disheartned which is a constant forerunner of the ruine of a Confederacy Such was the state of Religion abroad The design laid for a further Reformation at home At home Mens minds were much distracted The People especially in Market Towns and Places of Trade began generally to see into many of the corruptions of the Doctrine and Worship and were weary of them Some preached against some abuses Glasier at Pauls Cross taught that the observance of Lent was only a Positive Law others went further and plainly condemned most of the former abuses But the Clergy were as much engaged to defend them They were for the most part such as had been bred in Monasteries and Religious Houses For there being Pensions reserved for the Monks when their Houses were surrendred and dissolved till they should be otherwise provided The Court of Augmentations took care to ease the King of that Charge by recommending them to such small Benefices as were at the Kings disposal and such as purchased those Lands of the Crown with that Charge of paying the Pensions to the Monks were also careful to ease themselves by procuring Benefices for them The Benefices were generally very small so that in many Places three or four Benefices could hardly afford enough for the maintenance of one Man And this gave some colour for that abuse of one Man's having many Benefices that have a care of Souls annexed to them and that not only where they are so contiguous that the duty can be discharged by one and so poor that the maintenance of both will scarce serve for the encouragement of one Person but even where they are very remote and of considerable value This Corruption that crept in in the dark Ages of the Church was now practised in England out of necessity By an Act made in King Henry the 8th's time none might hold two Benefices without a Dispensation but no Dispensation could enable one to hold three yet that was not at this time much considered The excuses made for this were That in some Places they could not find good Men for the Benefices but in most Places the Livings were brought to nothing For while the Abbies stood the Abbots allowed those whom they appointed to serve the Cure in the Churches that belonged to them which were in value above the half of England a small Stipend or some little part of the Vicarage Tithes and they were to raise their subsistence out of the Fees they had by the Sacraments and other Sacramentals and chiefly by the singing Masses for the Poor that died for the Abbies had the profit of it from the Rich. And Masses went generally for 2 d. a Groat was thought a great Bounty So they all concluded themselves undone if these things were withdrawn This engaged them against any Reformation since every step that was made in it took their Bread out of their Mouths But they being generally very ignorant could oppose nothing with the force of Reason or Learning So although they were resolved to comply with any thing rather than forfeit their Benefices yet in their hearts they abhorred all Reformation and murmured against it where they thought they might do it safely some preached as much for the old abuses as others did against them Dr. Peru at St. Andrews Vndershaft justified the Worship of Images on the 23d of April yet on the 19th of June he preached a Recantation of that Sermon Besides these there were great Prelates as Gardiner Bonner and Tonstall whose long experience in Affairs they being oft employed in Forreign Ambassies together with their high preferment gave them great Authority and they were against all Alterations in Religion But that was not so decent to profess therefore they set up on this pretence That till the King their Supream Head were of Age so as to consider things himself all should continue in the state in which King Henry had left them and these depended on the Lady Mary the Kings eldest Sister as their Head who now professed her self to be in all Points for what her Father had done and was very earnest to have every thing Enacted by him but chiefly the six Articles to continue in force On the other hand Crvnmer being now delivered from that too awful subjection that he had been held under by King Henry resolved to go on more vigorously in purging out abuses He had the Protector firmly united to him in this design Dr. Cox and Mr. Cheek who were about the young King were also very careful to infuse right Principles of Religion into him and as he was very capable of understanding what was laid before him so he had an early liking to all good and generous Principles and was of so excellent a temper of mind that as he naturally loved Truth so the great probity of his Manners made him very inclinable to love and cherish true Religion Cranmer had also several Bishops of his side Holgate of York Holbeach of Lincoln Goodrick of Ely and above all Ridley Elect of Rochester designed for that See by King Henry but not Consecrated till September this Year Old Latimer was now discharged of his Imprisonment but had no mind to return to a more publick Station and did choose rather to live private and employ himself in Preaching He was kept by Cranmer at Lambeth where he spent the rest of his days till he was imprisoned in Queen Maries time and attained the glorious end of his innocent and pious Life But the apprehensions of his being restored again to his old Bishoprick put Heath then Bishop of Worcester into great anxieties sometimes he thought if he consented to the Reformation then Latimer who left his Bishoprick on the account of the six Articles must be restored and this made him joyn with the Popish Party at other times Journal of the House of Commons when he saw the House of Commons moved to have Latimer put in again then he joyned in the Councils for the Reformation to secure Friends to himself by that compliance Others of the Bishops were ignorant and weak Men who understood Religion little and valued it less and so although they liked the old Superstition best because it encouraged Ignorance most and that was the only sure Support of their Power and Wealth yet they resolved to swim with the Stream It was designed by Cranmer and his Friends to carry on the Reformation but by slow and safe degrees not hazarding too much at once They trusted in the Providence of God that he would assist them in so good a Work They knew the corruptions they were to throw out to be such that they should easily satisfie the People with what they did and they had many Learned Men among them who had now for divers years been examining these matters There were also many that declared they had heard the late King express his great regret for leaving the state
of Religion in so unsetled a condition and that he had resolved to have changed the Mass into a Communion besides many other things And in the Act of Parliament which he had procured see Pag. 263. first Part for giving force and Authority to his Proclamations a Proviso was added That his Sons Councellors while he should be under Age might set out Proclamations of the same Authority with these which were made by the King himself This gave them a full Power to proceed in that Work in which they resolved to follow the method begun by the late King of sending Visitors over England with Injunctions and Articles A Visitation is made over England They ordered them six several Circuits or Precincts The first was London Westminster Norwich and Ely The second Rochester Canterbury Chichester and Winchester The third Sarum Exeter Bath Bristol and Glocester The fourth York Durham Carlisle and Chester The fifth Peterborough Lincoln Oxford Coventry and Litchfield And the sixth Wales Worcester and Hereford For every Circuit there were two Gentlemen a Civilian a Divine and a Register They were designed to be sent out in the beginning of May as appears by a Letter to be found in the Collection Collection Number 7. written the fourth of May to the Arch-bishop of York There is also in the Registers of London another of the same strain Yet the Visitation being put off for some Months this Inhibition was suspended on the 16th of May till it should be again renued The Letter sets forth That the King being speedily to order a Visitation over his whole Kingdom therefore neither the Arch-bishop nor any other should exercise any jurisdiction while that Visitation lasted And since the minds of the People were held in great suspence by the Controversies they heard so variously tossed in the Pulpits that for quieting these the King did require all Bishops to preach no where but in their Cathedrals and that all other Clergy-men should not preach but in their Collegiate or Parochial Churches unless they obtained a special Licence from the King to that effect The design of this was to make a distinction between such as preached for the Reformation of abuses and such as did it not The one were to be encouraged by Licences to preach where-ever they desired to do it but the others were restrained to the Places where they were Incumbents But that which of all other things did most damp those who designed the Reformation was the misery to which they saw the Clergy reduced and the great want of able Men to propagate it over England For the Rents of the Church were either so swallowed up by the suppression of Religious Houses to whom the Tithes were generally appropriated or so basely alienated by some lewd or superstitious Incumbents who to preserve themselves being otherwise obnoxious or to purchase Friends had given away the best part of their Revenues and Benefices that there was very little encouragement left for those that should labour in the Work of the Gospel And though many Projects were thought on for remedying this great abuse yet those were all so powerfully opposed that there was no hope left of getting it remedied till the King should come to be of Age and be able by his Authority to procure the Church-men a more proportioned maintenance Two things only remained to be done at present The one was to draw up some Homilies for the instruction of the People which might supply the defects of their Incumbents Some Homilies compiled together with the providing them with such Books as might lead them into the understanding of the Scripture The other was to select the most eminent Preachers they could find and send them over England with the Visitors who should with more Authority instruct the Nation in the Principles of Religion Therefore some were appointed to compile those Homilies and Twelve were at first agreed on being about those Arguments which were in themselves of the greatest importance The 1st was about the use of the Scriptures The 2d of the misery of Mankind by sin 3d. Of their Salvation by Christ 4th Of True and Lively Faith 5th Of Good Works 6th Of Christian Love and Charity 7th Against Swearing and chiefly Perjury 8th Against Apostacy or declining from God 9th Against the fear of Death 10th An Exhortation to Obedience 11th Against Whoredom and Adultery setting forth the state of Marriage how necessary and honourable it was And the 12th against Contention chiefly about Matters of Religion They intended to set out more afterwards but these were all that were at this time finished The chief design in them was to acquaint the People with the method of Salvation according to the Gospel in which there were two dangerous Extremes at that time that had divided the World The greatest part of the ignorant Commons seemed to consider their Priests as a sort of People who had such a secret trick of saving their Souls as Mountebanks pretend in the curing of Diseases and that there was nothing to be done but to leave themselves in their hands and the business could not miscarry This was the chief Basis and support of all that superstition which was so prevalent over the Nation The other Extreme was of some corrupt Gospellers who thought if they magnified Christ much and depended on his Merits and Intercession they could not perish which way soever they led their Lives In these Homilies therefore special care was taken to rectifie these errors And the Salvation of Mankind was on the one hand wholly ascribed to the Death and Sufferings of Christ to which Sinners were taught to fly and to trust to it only and to no other devices for the pardon of sin They were at the same time taught that there was no Salvation through Christ but to such as truly repented and lived according to the Rules of the Gospel The whole matter was so ordered to teach them that avoiding the hurtful errors on both hands they might all know the true and certain way of attaining Eternal Happiness For the understanding the New Testament Erasmus's Paraphrase which was translated into English was thought the most profitable and easiest Book Therefore it was resolved that together with the Bible there should be one of these in every Parish-Church over England They next considered the Articles and Injunctions that should be given to the Visitors The greatest part of them were only the renewing what had been ordered by King Henry during Cromwel's being Vicegerent which had been much neglected since his fall For as there was no Vicegerent so there was few Visitations appointed after his death by the Kings Authority but the executing former Injunctions was left to the several Bishops who were for the most part more careful about the six Articles than about the Injunctions So now all the Orders about renouncing the Popes Power and asserting the Kings Supremacy about Preaching teaching the Elements of Religion in the Vulgar
they continued still in that mind that they could not be offered by them as Mediators yet they ordered them to impart them unto the Emperor as News and carefully to observe his looks and behaviour upon their opening of every one of them But now the Kings death broke off this Negotiation The Kings sickness together with all his other Affairs He had last year first the Measels and then the Small-Pox of which he was perfectly recovered In his Progress he had been sometimes violent in his Exercises which had cast him into great Colds but these went off and he seemed to be well after it But in the beginning of January this year he was seized with a deep Cough and all Medicines that were used did rather encrease than lessen it upon which a suspition was taken up and spread over all the World so that it is mentioned by most of the Historians of that Age that some lingering Poison had been given him but more than Rumours and some ill-favoured Circumstances I could never discover concerning this He was so ill when the Parliament met that he was not able to go to Westminster but ordered their first meeting and the Sermon to be at White-hall In the time of his sickness Bishop Ridley preached before him and took occasion to run out much on Works of Charity and the obligation that lay on Men of high Condition to be eminent in good Works This touched the King to the quick So that presently after Sermon he sent for the Bishop His care of the Relief of the Poor And after he had commanded him to sit down by him and be covered he resumed most of the Heads of the Sermon and said he looked on himself as chiefly touched by it he desired him as he had already given him the Exhortation in general so to direct him how to do his duty in that Particular The Bishop astonished at this tenderness in so young a Prince burst forth in Tears expressing how much he was overjoyed to see such inclinations in him but told him he must take time to think on it and craved leave to consult with the Lord Major and Court of Aldermen So the King writ by him to them to consult speedily how the Poor should be relieved They considered there were three sorts of Poor such as were so by natural infirmity or folly as impotent Persons and Mad-men or Ideots such as were so by accident as sick or maimed Persons and such as by their idleness did cast themselves into poverty So the King ordered the Gray-friars Church near Newgate with the Revenues belonging to it to be a House for Orphans St. Bartholomews near Smith-field to be an Hospital and gave his own House of Bridewell to be a Place of Correction and Work for such as were wilfully idle He also confirmed and enlarged the Grant for the Hospital of St. Thomas in Southwark which he had erected and endowed in August last And when he set his Hand to these Foundations which was not done before the 26th of June this Year He thanked God that had prolonged his Life till he had finished that design So he was the first Founder of those Houses which by many great Additions since that time have risen to be among the Noblest in Europe He expressed in the whole course of his sickness great submission to the Will of God and seemed glad at the approaches of death only the consideration of Religion and the Church touched him much and upon that account he said he was desirous of Life About the end of May Several Marriages or beginning of June the Duke of Suffolks three Daughters were married The eldest Lady Jane to the Lord Guilford Dudley the fourth Son of the Duke of Northumberland who was the only Son whom he had yet unmarried The second the Lady Katharine to the Earl of Pembroke's eldest Son the Lord Herbert The third the Lady Mary who was crooked to the Kings Groom-Porter Martin Keys The Duke of Northumberland married his two Daughters the eldest to Sir Henry Sidney Son to Sir William Sidney that had been Steward to the King when he was Prince the other was married to the Lord Hastings Son to the Earl of Huntington The People were mightily inflamed against this insolent Duke for it was generally given out that he was sacrificing the King to his own extravagant ambition He seemed little to regard their Censures but attended on the King most constantly and expressed all the care and concern about him that was possible And finding that nothing went so near his Heart as the ruine of Religion which he apprehended would follow upon his death when his Sister Mary should come to the Crown He is perswaded to leave the Crown to the Lady Jane Upon that he and his Party took advantage to propose to him to settle the Crown by his Letters Patents on the Lady Jane Gray How they prevailed with him to pass by his Sister Elizabeth who had been always much in his favour I do not so well understand But the King being wrought over to this the Dutchess of Suffolk who was next in King Henry's Will was ready to devolve her Right on her Daughter even though she should come afterwards to have Sons So on the 11th of June Mountague that was Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas and Baker and Bromley two Judges Which the Judges at first opposed with the Kings Attorney and Solicitor were commanded to come to Council There they found the King with some Privy-Councellors about him The King told them he did now apprehend the danger the Kingdom might be in if upon his death his Sister Mary should succeed who might marry a Stranger and so change the Laws and the Religion of the Realm So he ordered some Articles to be read to them of the way in which he would have the Crown to descend They objected that the Act of Succession being an Act of Parliament could not be taken away by any such device yet the King required them to take the Articles and draw a Book according to them they asked a little time to consider of it So having examined the Statute of the first Year of this Reign concerning Treasons they found that it was Treason not only after the Kings death but even in his Life to change the Succession Secretary Petre in the mean while pressed them to make hast When they came again to the Council they declared they could not do any such thing for it was Treason and all the Lords should be guilty of Treason if they went on in it Upon which the Duke of Northumberland who was not then in the Council-Chamber being advertised of this came in great fury calling Mountague a Traitor and threatned all the Judges so that they thought he would have beaten them But the Judges stood to their Opinion They were again sent for and came with Gosnold added to them on the 15th of June The King was
new Titles Philip and Mary King and Queen of England France Naples Jerusalem and Ireland Princes of Spain and Sicily Defendors of the Faith Arch-Dukes of Austria Dukes of Milan Burgundy and Brabant Counts of Habspurg Flanders and Tirol Spain having always delighted in a long enumeration of pompous Titles It was observed how happy Marriages had been to the Austrian Family who from no extraordinary Beginnings had now in eighty Years time been raised by two Marriages first with the Heir of Burgundy and the Netherlands and then with the Heir of Spain to be the greatest Family in Christendom and the Collateral Family by the Marriage of the Heir of Bohem and Hungary was now the greatest in the Empire And surely if Issue had followed this Marriage the most extraordinary success possible would have seemed to be entailed on them But there was no great appearance of that for as the Queen was now far advanced in Years so she was in no good state of Health a long course of Discontent had corrupted both the health of her Body and the temper of her Mind Nor did the Matter alter much by her Marriage except for the worse The King 's wonderful Gravity and Silence gained nothing upon the English but his Magnificence and Bounty was very acceptable He brought after him a vast Mass of Wealth He brings a great Treasure with him to England seven and twenty Chests of Bullion every Chest being a Yard and some Inches long which were drawn in twenty Carts to the Tower after which came ninety nine Horse and two Carts loaded with coined Gold and Silver This great Wealth was perhaps the Sum that was formerly mentioned which was to be distributed among the English for it is not improbable that though he empowred his Ambassadors and Gardiner to promise great Sums to such as should promote his Marriage yet that he would not part with so much Mony till it was made sure and therefore he ordered this Treasure to be brought after him I mention it here yet it came not into England till October and January following He made his entry into London with great state At his first setling in England he obtained of the Queen Act of Favour done by him that many Prisoners should be set at Liberty among whom the chief were the Arch-Bishop of York and ten Knights with many other Persons of Quality These I suppose had been committed either for Wiat's Rebellion or the Business of the Lady Jane for I do not believe any were discharged that were imprisoned on the account of Religion As for this Arch-Bishop though he went along in the Reformation yet I find nothing that gives any great Character of him I never saw any Letter of his nor do I remember to have seen any honourable mention made of him any where so that he seems to have been a soft and weak Man and except those little Fragments of his Opinions in some Points about the Mass which are in the Collection I know no remains of his Pen. It seems he did at this time comply in Matters of Religion for without that it is not probable that either Philip would have moved for him or that the Queen would have been easily entreated The Intercessions that Philip made for the Lady Elizabeth He preserves the Lady Elizabeth and the Earl of Devonshire did gain him the Hearts of the Nation more than any thing else that he ever did Gardiner was much set against them and studied to bear down the declaration that Wiat had made of their Innocency all that he could but it was made so openly on the Scaffold that it was not possible to suppress it Before in his Examinations Wiat had accused them hoping to have saved himself by so base an Action but he redeemed it all he could at his Death This had broken Gardiner's Design who thought all they did about Religion was but half work unless the Lady Elizabeth were destroyed For he knew that though she complied in many things yet her Education had been wholly under the Reformed and which was more to him who judged all People by their Interest he reckoned that Interest must make her declare against the Papacy since otherwise she was a Bastard if ever she should out-live her Sister Philip opposed this at first upon a generous Account to recommend himself by obtaining such Acts of Favour to be done by the Queen But afterwards when the hopes of Issue failed him by his Marriage he preserved her out of Interest of State for if she had been put out of the way the Queen of Scotland that was to be married to the Dolphin was to succeed which would have made too great an Accession to the French Crown and besides as it afterwards appeared he was not without hopes of persuading her to marry himself if her Sister should die without Issue For the Earl of Devonshire he more easily obtained his freedom though not till some months had passed That Earl being set at liberty finding he was to lie under perpetual Distrusts and that he might be perhaps upon the first Disorder again put into the Tower to which his Stars seemed to condemn him resolved to go beyond Sea but died within a Year after as some say of Poison All this I have laid together though it fell not out all at once that I might give a full account of all the Acts of Grace that Philip did in England He was little beloved by the English But for the rest of his Behaviour it was no way acceptable to the People for as he engaged the Nation in all his Interests so that henceforth during this Reign England had no share in the Consultations of Europe but was blindly led by him which proved fatal to them in the conclusion by the ignominious loss of Calais So his temper and way of deportment seemed most ridiculous and extravagantly formal to the English Genius which naturally loves the mean between the excessive jollity and talkativeness of the French and the sullen staiedness of the Spaniard rather enclining more to the briskness of the one than the superciliousness of the other And indeed his Carriage was such here that the acting him and his Spaniards was one of the great Diversions of Queen Elizabeth's Court. The Hall of the Court was almost continually shut all his Time and none could have access unless it were first demanded with as much formality as Ambassadors use in asking Audience So that most of the Nobility left the Court few staying but the Officers of the Houshold Gardiner magnifies him much in a Sermon Gardiner had now the Government put entirely in his Hands And he to make his Court the better with the new King preached at St. Paul's the 30th of September where after he had inveighed long against the Preachers in King Edward's Time which was the common Subject of all their Sermons he run out much in commendation of the King affirming him to
be as wise sober gentle and temperate as any Prince that ever was in England and if he did not prove so he was content that all his Hearers should esteem him an impudent Lyar. The State of the Court continued in this posture till the next Parliament But great Discontents did now appear every-where The severe Executions after the last rising the Marriage with Spain and the overturning of Religion concurred to alienate the Nation from the Government This appeared no where more confidently than in Norfolk where the People reflecting on their Services thought they might have the more leave to speak There were some malicious Rumours spread that the Queen was with Child before the King came over This was so much resented at Court that the Queen writ a Letter to the Justices there which is in the Collection to enquire into those false Reports and to look to all that spread false News in the County Coll. Numb 14. The Earl of Sussex upon this examined a great many but could make nothing out of it It flowed from the officiousness of Hopton the new Bishop of Norwich who thought to express his Zeal to the Queen whose Chaplain he had long been by sending up the Tales of the Country to the Council Table not considering how much it was below the Dignity of the Government to look after all vain Reports Bonner's Carriage in his Visitation This Summer the Bishops went their Visitations to see every thing executed according to the Queen's Injunctions Bonner went his with the rest He had ordered his Chaplains to draw a Book of Homilies with an Exposition of the Christian Religion He says in his Preface to it that he and his Chaplains had compiled it but it is likely he had only the Name of it and that his Chaplains composed it Yet the greatest and indeed the best part of it was made to their hands for it was taken out of the Institution of a Christian Man set out by King Henry only varied in those Points in which it differed from what they were now about to set up So that concerning the Pope's Power since it was not yet established he says nothing for or against it The Articles upon which he made his Visitation will be found in the Collection Coll. Numb 15. and by these we may judg of all the other Visitations over England In the Preface he protests he had not made his Articles out of any secret grudg or displeasure to any but meerly for the discharge of his Conscience towards God and the World The Articles were Whether the Clergy did so behave themselves in Living Teaching and Doing that in the judgment of indifferent Men they seemed to seek the Honour of God of the Church and of the King and Queen Whether they had been Married or were taken for Married and whether they were Divorced and did no more come at their Wives or whether they did defend their Marriages Whether they did reside keep Hospitality provide a Curat in their absence And whether they did devoutly celebrate the Service and use Processions Whether they were suspect of Heresy Whether they did haunt Ale-houses and Taverns Bowling-Allies or suspect Houses Whether they favoured or kept company with any suspect of Heresy Whether any Priest lived in the Parish that absented himself from Church Whether these kept any privat Conventicles Whether any of the Clergy was Vicious blasphemed God or his Saints or was guilty of Simony Whether they exhorted the People to Peace and Obedience Whether they admited any to the Sacrament that was suspect of Heresy or was of an ill Conversation an Oppressor or Evil-Doer Whether they admitted any to preach that were not licensed or refused such as were Whether they did officiate in English Whether they did use the Sacraments aright Whether they visited the Sick and administred the Sacraments to them Whether they did marry any without asking the Banes three Sundays Whether they observed the Fasts and Holy-Days Whether they went in their Habits and Tonsures Whether those that were ordained schismatically did officiate without being admitted by the Ordinary Whether they set Leases for many Years of their Benefices Whether they followed Merchandise or Usury Whether they carried Swords or Daggers in Times or Places not convenient Whether they did once every quarter expound to the People in the Vulgar Tongue the Apostles Creed Ten Commandments the Two Commandments of Christ for loving God and our Neighbour the Seven Works of Mercy Seven deadly Sins Seven principal Vertues and the Seven Sacraments These were the most considerable Heads on which he visited One thing is remarkable that it appears both by these No Reordination of those ordained in King Edwards Time and the Queen's Injunctions that they did not pretend to re-ordain those that had been ordained by the New Book in King Edward's Time but to reconcile them and add those things that were wanting which were the Anointing and giving the Priestly Vestments with other Rites of the Roman Pontifical In this Point of re-ordaining such as were ordained in Heresy or Schism the Church of Rome has not gone by any steady Rule For though they account the Greek Church to be guilty both of Heresy and Schism they receive their Priests without a New Ordination Yet after the time of the Contests between Pope Nicolaus and Photius and much more after the outragious heats at Rome between Sergius and Formosus in which the dead Bodies of the former Popes were raised and dragged about the Streets by their Successors they annulled the Ordinations which they pretended were made irregularly Afterwards again upon the great Schism between the Popes of Rome and Avignon they did neither annul nor renew the Orders that had been given But now in England though they only supplied at this time the Defects which they said were in their former Ordination yet afterwards wheâ— they proceeded to burn them that were in Orders they went upon the old Maxim That Orders given in Schism were not valid 〈◊〉 they did not esteem Hooper nor Ridley Bishops and therefore only dâ—grâ—ded them from Priesthood though they had been ordained by their own Forms saving only the Oath to the Pope but for those who were ordained by the new Book they did not at all degrade them supposing noâ—â—hey had no true Orders by it Bonner in his Visitation took great care to see all things were every where done according to the old Rules which was the main thing intended other Points being put in for form When he came to Hadham he prevented the Doctor who did not expect him so soon by two hours so that there was no ringing of Bells which put him in no small disorder And that was much encreased when he went into the Church and found neither the Sacrament hanging up nor a Rood set up thereupon he fell a railing swearing most intemperately calling the Priest an Heretick a Knave with many other such goodly words The