the King's Marriage with Queen Anne Then the lower House made an Address to the upper House complaining of 67 Opinions that they found were much spread in the Kingdom they were either the Tenets of the old Lollards or the new Reformers or of the Anabaptists and many of them were only unsavoury and indiscreet Expressions which might have flowed from the Heat and Folly of some rash Zealots who by petulant Jeers and an Affectation of Wit had endeavoured to disgrace both the received Doctrines and Rites They also complained of some Bishops who were wanting in their Duty to suppress such Abuses which was understood as a Reflection on Cranmer Shaxton and Latimer It was hoped that Cranmer was now declining by Queen Ann's Fall and the other two who were raised by her would not have stood long if he had been once disgraced yet they premised to this a Protestation that they intended to do nothing that might displease the King whom they acknowledged to be their Supream Head and they were resolved to obey his Laws and they renounced the Pope's Authority with all his Laws All these Projects failed for Cranmer was now fully established in the King's Favour Cromwell was sent to them with a Message from the King That they should reform the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church according to the Rules set down in Scripture which ought to be preferred to all Glosses or Decrees of Popes There was one Alesse a Scotch-man whom Cromwell entertained in his House and he being appointed to deliver his Opinion largely shewed that there was no Sacraments instituted by Christ but Baptism and the Lord's Supper Stokesly answered him in a long Discourse upon the Principles of the School-Divinity upon which Cranmer took occasion to shew the Vanity of that sort of Learning and the Uncertainty of Tradition and that Religion had been so corrupted in the latter Ages that there was no finding out the Truth but by resting in the Authority of the Scriptures Fox Bishop of Hereford seconded him and told them the World was now awake and would be no longer imposed on by the Niceties and dark Terms of the Schools for the Laity now did not only read the Scriptures in the vulgar Tongues but searched the Originals themselves therefore they must not think to govern them as they had been in the Times of Ignorance Among the Bishops Cranmer Goodrick Shaxton Latimer Fox Hilsey and Barlow prest a Reformation but Lee Arch-bishop of York Stokesly Tonstall Gardiner Longland and several others opposed it as much But the Contest had been sharper if the King had not sent some Articles to them to be considered of by them so they whose chief Design it was to recommend themselves to Preferment by the easiness of their Compliance with him in all Points did agree on the following Particulars 1. Articles of Religion agreed on That the Bishops and Preachers ought to instruct the People according to the Scripture the three Creeds and the four first General Councils 2. That Baptism was necessary to Salvation and that Children ought to be baptized for the pardon of Original Sin and obtaining the Holy Ghost 3. That Penance was necessary to Salvation and that it consisted in Confession Contrition and Amendment of Life with the External Works of Charity to which a lively Faith ought to be joyned and that Confession to a Priest was necessary where it might be had 4. That in the Eucharist under the forms of Bread and Wine the very Flesh and Blood of Christ was received 5. That Justification was the Remission of Sins and a perfect Renovation in Christ and that not only outward good Works but inward Holiness was absolutely necessary As for the outward Ceremonies the People were to be taught that it was meet to have Images in Churches but they ought to avoid all such Superstition as had been usual in time past and not to worship the Image but only God 2. That they were to honour the Saints but not to expect those things from them which God only gives 3. That they might pray to them for their Intercession but all Superstitious Abuses were to cease and if the King should lessen the number of Saints Days they ought to obey him 4. That the use of the Ceremonies was good and that they contained many Mystical Significations that tended to raise the mind towards God such were Vestments in Divine Worship Holy Water Holy Bread the carrying of Candles and Palms and Ashes and creeping to the Cross and the Hallowing the Font with other Exorcisms 5. That it was good to pray for departed Souls and to have Masses and Exequies said for them but the Scriptures having neither declared in what Place they were nor what Torments they suffered that was uncertain and to be left to God therefore all the Abuses of the Pope's Pardons or saying Masses in such or such Places or before such Images were to be put away These Articles were signed by Cromwel the two Arch-bishops sixteen Bishops fourty Abbots and Priors and fifty of the lower House to them the King added a Preface declaring the Pains that he and the Clergy had been at for the removing the Differences in Religion that were in the Nation and that he approved of these Articles and required all his Subjects to accept them with the like Unanimity with which they were consented to and he would be thereby encouraged to take further Pains in the like Matters for the future When these things were published They are variously censured those that desired a Reformation tho they did not approve of every Particular yet were well pleased to see things brought under Examination and since some things were at this time changed they did not doubt but more Changes would follow they were glad that the Scriptures and the Ancient Creeds were made the Standards of the Faith without adding Tradition and that the nature of Justification and the Gospel-Covenant were rightly stated that the immediate Worship of Images and Saints was condemned and that Purgatory was left uncertain but the necessity of Auricular Confession and the Corporal Presence the doing Reverence to Images and praying to Saints were of hard Digestion to them yet they were glad to see some grosser Abuses removed and a Reformation once set on foot The Popish Party were sorry to see four Sacraments past over in silence and the Trade about Purgatory put down and were very apprehensive of the Precedent of bringing matters of Religion under debate which would bring on other Alterations When these things were known beyond Sea the Court of Rome made great use of them to let all Princes see the necessity of adhering to the Holy See for no sooner did England depart from that than it began to change the Doctrine likewise The Germans on the other hand said This was a Political Daubing for satisfying all Parties and that it savoured not of the Sincerity that became the Professors of True Religion to
Conquerors time besides many other Acts that clearly imported a Supremacy over all Persons and in all Causes But they did at the same time so explain and limit this Power that it was visible they did not intend to subject Religion wholly to the Pleasure of the King for it was declared that his Power was only a Coercive Authority to defend the true Religion to abolish Heresies and Idolatries to cause Bishops and Pastors to do their Duties and in case they were negligent or would not amend their Faults to put others in their room Upon the whole matter they concluded that the Pope had no Power in England and that the King had an intire Dominion over all his Subjects which did extend even to the regulating of Ecclesiastical Matters These things being fully opened in many Disputes The Clergy submitted to it and published in several Books all the Bishops Abbots and Priors of England Fisher only excepted were so far satisfied with them or so much in love with their Preferments that they resolved to comply with the Changes which the King was resolved to make Fisher was in great esteem for Piety and strictness of Life and so much pains was taken on him A little before the Parliament met Cranmer proposed to him that he and any five Doctors he would choose and Stokesly with five on his side should confer on that point and examine he Authorities that were on both sides he accepted of it and Stokesly wrote to him to name time and place but Fisher's Sickness hindered the Progress of that motion The Parliament met the 15th of January A Session of Parliament there were but seven Bishops and twelve Abbots present the rest it seems were unwilling to concur in making this change tho they complied with it when it was made Every Sunday during the Session a Bishop preached at St. Paul's and declared that the Pope had no Authority in England Before this they had only said that a General Council was above him and that the Exactions of that Court and Appeals to it were unlawful but now they went a strain higher to prepare the People for receiving the Acts then in Agitation On the 9th of March The Pope's Power taken away the Commons began the Bill for taking away the Pope's Power and sent it to the Lords on the 14th who past it on the 20th without any dissent In it they set forth the Exactions of the Court of Rome grounded on the Pope's Power of dispensing and that as none could dispense with the Laws of God so the King and Parliament only had the Authority of dispensing with the Laws of the Land and that therefore such Licenses or Dispensations as were formerly in use should be for the future granted by the two Arch-bishops some of these were to be confirmed under the Great Seal and they appointed that thereafter all Commerce with Rome should cease They also declared that they did not intend to alter any Article of the Catholick Faith of Christendome or of that which was declared in the Scripture necessary to Salvation They confirmed all the Exemptions granted to Monasteries by the Popes but subjected them to the King's Visitation and gave the King and his Council power to examine and reform all Indulgences and Priviledges granted by the Pope The Offenders against this Law were to be punished according to the Statutes of Premunire This Act subjected the Monasteries entirely to the King's Authority and put them in no small Confusion Those that loved the Reformation rejoyced both to see the Pope's Power rooted out and to find the Scripture made the Standard of Religion After this Act The Act of the Succession another past in both Houses in six Days time without any Opposition Settling the Succession of the Crown confirming the Sentence of Divorce and the King's Marriage with Queen Anne and declaring all Marriages within the Degrees prohibited by Moses to be unlawful All that had married within them were appointed to be divorced and their Issue illegitimated and the Succession to the Crown was settled upon the King's Issue by the prefent Queen or in default of that to the King 's right Heirs for ever All were required to swear to maintain the Contents of this Act and if any refused to swear to it or should say any thing to the Slander of the King's Marriage he was to be judged guilty of misprision of Treason and to be punished accordingly The Oath is also set down in the Journals of the House of Lords by which they did not only swear Obedience to the King and his Heirs by his present Marriage but also to defend the Act of Succession and all the Effects and Contents in it against all manner of Persons whatsoever by which they were bound to maintain the Divorce both against the Pope's Censures and the Emperour if he went about to execute them At this time An Act regulating the proceedings against Hereticks one Philips complained to the House of Commons of the Bishop of London for using him cruelly in Prison upon Suspicion of Heresy the Commons sent up this to the Lords but received no Answer So they sent some of their Members to the Bishop desiring him to answer the Complaints put in against him But he acquainted the House of Lords with it and they all with one consent voted that none of their House ought to appear or answer to any Complaint at the Bar of the House of Commons So the Commons let this particular Case fall and sent up a Bill to which the Lords agreed regulating the Proceedings against Hereticks That whereas by the Statute made by King Henry the Fourth Bishops might commit Men upon Suspition of Heresy and Heresy was generally defined to be whatever was contrary to the Scriptures or Canonical Sanctions which was liable to great Ambiguity therefore that Statute was repealed and none were to be committed for Heresy but upon a Presentment made by two Witnesses None were to be accused for speaking against things that were grounded only upon the Pope's Canons Bail was to be taken for Hereticks and they were to be brought to their Trials in open Court and if upon Conviction they did not abjure or were Relapses they were to be burnt the King 's Writ being first obtained This was a great check to the Bishop's Tyrrany and gave no smal comfort to all that favoured the Reformation The Convocation sent in a Submission at the same time The Submission of the Clergy by which they acknowledged That all Convocations ought to be assembled by the King 's Writ and promised upon the Word of Priests never to make nor execute any Canons without the King's Assent They also desired That since many of the received Canons were found to be contrary to the King's Prerogative and the Laws of the Land there might be a Committee named by the King of 32 the one half out of both Houses of Parliament and the other
and Industry and so was on all accounts well prepared for that Work to which the Providence of God did now call him And tho he was in some things too much subject to the King 's Imperious Temper yet in the matter of the six Articles he shewed that he wanted not the Courage that became a Bishop in so Critical an Affair as that was Cromwel was his great and constant Friend a man of mean Birth but of excellent Qualities as appeared in his adhering to his Master Wolsey after his fall a rare Demonstration of Gratitude in a Court to a disgraced Favourite And in his greatest height he happening to see a Merchant of Lucca who had pitied and relieved him when he was in Italy but did not so much as know him or pretend to any returns for the small Favours he had formerly shewed him and was then reduced to a low condition treated him with such acknowledgments that it became the Subjects of several Pens which strove who should celebrate it most As these set themselves to carry on a Reformation Others oppose it much there was another Party formed that as vigourously opposed it headed by the Duke of Norfolk and Gardiner and almost all the Clergy went into it They perswaded the King that nothing would give the Pope or the Emperour such Advantages as his making any Changes in Religion and it would reflect much on him if he who had writ so learnedly for the Faith should in spite to the Pope make any Changes in it Nothing would encourage other Princes so much to follow his Example nor keep his Subjects so much in their Duty to him as his continuing stedfast in the Antient Religion These things made great Impressions on him But on the other hand Cranmer represented to him that if he rejected the Pope's Authority it was very absurd to let such Opinions or Practices continue in the Church that had no other Foundation but Papal Decrees and therefore he desired that this might be put to the Trial he ought to depend on God and hope for good Success if he proceeded in this matter according to the Duty of a Christian Prince England was a compleat Body within its self and tho in the Roman Empire when united under one Prince General Councils were easily assembled yet now that was not to be so much depended on but every Prince ought to reform the Church in his Dominions by a National Synod and if in the Antient Church such Synods condemned Heresies and reformed Abuses that might be much more done when Europe was divided into so many Kingdoms It was visible that tho both the Emperour and the Princes of Germany had for 20 Years desired a Ceneral Council it could not be obtained of the Pope he had indeed offered one at Mantua but that was only an Illusion Upon that the Kiug desired some of his Bishops to give their Opinion concerning the Emperour's Power of calling Councils The Opinion of some Bishops of a General Council So Cranmer Tonstall Clark of Bath and Wells and Goodrick of Ely made answer That tho Ancient Councils were called by the Roman Emperours yet that was done by reason of the Extent of their Monarchy that was now ceased but since other Princes had an entire Monarchy within their Dominions Yet if one or more of those Princes should agree to call a Council to a good Intent and desire the Concurrence of the rest they were bound by the Rule of Charity to agree to it They were also of Opinion that none but Bishops and Priests had Right to a definitive Voice in matters of Doctrine Cranmer also made a long Speech at that time Heads of a Speech of Cranmers setting forth the necessity of a Reformation It is probable it was in the House of Peers for it begins My Lords He begun with the Impostures and Deceit used by the Canonists and other Courtiers at Rome Then he speak to the Authority of a General Councils he shewed that it flowed not from the Number of the Bishops but from the matter of their Decisions which were received with an Universal Consent for there were many more Bishops at the Council of Arimini which was condemned than either at Nice or Constantinople which were received Christ had named no Head of the whole Church as God had named no Head of the World but that grew up for Orders sake as there were Arch-bishops set over Provinces yet some Popes were condemned for Heresy as Liberius and others If Faith must be shewed by Works the ill Lives of most Popes of late shewed that their Faith was to be suspected and all the Priviledges which Princes or Synods granted to that See might be recalled Popes ought to submit themselves to General Councils and were be tried by them he shewed what were the present Corruptions of the Pope and his Court which needed Reformation The Pope according to the Decree of the Council of Basil was the Churches Vicar and not Christ's and so was accountable to it The Churches of France declared the Council to be above the Pope which had been acknowledged by many Popes themselves The Power of Councils had also Bounds nor could they judg of the Rights of Princes or proceed to a Sentence against a King nor were their Canons of any force till Princes added their Sanctions to them Councils ought also to proceed moderately even against those that held Errors and ought not to impose things indifferent too severely The Scriptures and not Men's Traditions ought to be the Standards of their Definitions The Divines of Paris held That a Council could not make a new Article of Faith that was not in the Scriptures and all Christ's Promises to the Church were to be understood with this condition if they kept the Faith therefore there was great reason to doubt concerning the Authority of a Council some of them had contradicted others and many others were never received The Fathers had always appealed to the Scriptures as Superiour in Authority to Councils by which only all Controversies ought to be decided yet on the other hand it was dangerous to be wise in ones own Conceit and he thought when the Fathers all agreed in the Exposition of any place of Scripture that ought to be look'd on as flowing from the Spirit of God He shewed how little Regard was to be had to a Council in which the Pope presided and that if any common Error had past upon the World when that came to be discovered every one was at liberty to shake it off even tho they had sworn to maintain that Error this he applied to the Pope's Authority In conclusion he promised to entertain them with another Discourse of the Authority that all Bishops had in their Sees and that Princes had within their Dominions But I could never recover that and probably it is lost This was the state of the Court after King Henry had shaken off the Pope's Power
first vented in King James's time above forty Years after this It was then said that the Elect Bishops met at the Naggs Head Tavern in Cheapside and were in great disorder because Kitchin refused to consecrate them upon which Scory made them all kneel down and laid the Bible on their Heads saying Take thou Authority to Preach the Word of God sincerely and that this was all the Ordination that they ever had and to confirm this it was pretended that Neale one of Bonner's Chaplains watched them into the Tavern and saw all that was done through the Key-hole This was given out when all that were concerned in it were dead yet the old Earl of Nottingham who had seen Parker's Consecration was still alive and declared that he saw it done at Lambeth in the Chappel according to the Common-Prayer-Book and both the Records of the Crown and the Registers of the See of Canterbury do plainly confute this The Author did also see the Original Instrument then made describing all the particulars relating to Parker's Consecration preserved still in Corpus Christi Colledge in Cambridge among the other Manuscripts which he left to that House in which he had his Education The first thing that the Bishops set about The Articles of the Church published was the publishing the Doctrine of the Church In order to this a Review was made of those Articles that had been compiled under Edward the VI. and some small alterations were made The most considerable was that a long determination that was made formerly against the Corporal Presence was now left out and it was only said That the Body of Christ was given and received in a spiritual manner and that the means by which it was received was Faith Yet in the Original Subscription of the Articles by both Houses of Convocation still extant there was a full declaration made against it in these words Christ when he ascended into Heaven made his Body Immortal but took not from it the nature of a Body For still it retains according to the Scriptures a true Humane Body which must be always in one definite place and cannot be spread into many or all places at once since then Christ was carried up to Heaven and is to remain there to the end of the World and is to come from thence and from no other place to judge the Quick and the Dead None of the Faithful ought to believe or profess the Real or as they call it the Corporal Presence of his Flesh and Blood in the Eucharist But the design of the Queen's Council was to unite once the whole Nation into the Communion of the Church and it was feared that so express a definition against the Real Presence would have driven many out of the Communion of the Church who might have been otherwise kept in it and therefore it was thought enough to assert only the Spiritual Presence but that it was not necessary to condemn the Corporal Presence in such express words and therefore though the Convocation had so positively determined this matter it was thought more conducing to the publick peace to dash it in the Original Copy and to suppress it in the Printed Copies The next thing they took in hand A Tranflation of the Bible was a new Translation of the Bible Several Books of it were given to several Bishops who were appointed to call for such Divines as were learned in the Greek or Hebrew Tongues and by their assistance they were to translate that parcel that fell to their share and so when one had compleated that which was assigned to him he was to offer it to the Correction of those that were appointed to translate the other parts and after every Book had thus past the Censure of all who were imployed in this matter then it was approved of And so great hast made they in this important work that within two or three years the whole Translation was finished There was one thing yet wanting The want of Church discipline to compleat the Reformation of this Church which was the restoring a Primitive Discipline against scandalous Persons the establishing the Government of the Church in Ecclesiastical hands and the taking it out of Lay-hands who have so long profaned it and have exposed the authority of the Church and of the Censures of it chiefly Excommunication to the contempt of the Nation by which the reverence due to Holy things is in so great a measure lost and the dreadfullest of all Censures is now become the most scorned and despised But upon what reasons it cannot be now known this was not carried on with that Zeal nor brought to that perfection that was necessary The want of Ecclesiastical Discipline set on some to devise many new Platforms for the administration of it in every Parish all which gave great offence to the Government and were so much opposed by it that they came to nothing Other differences were raised concerning the Vestments of the Clergy and some Factions growing up in the Court these differences were heightned by those who intended to serve their own ends by making the several Parties quarrel with so much animosity that it should scarce be possible to reconcile them Since that time the fatal Division of this Nation into the Court and Country party has been the chief occasion of the growth and continuance of those differences so that all the attempts which have been made by moderate Men to compose them have proved ineffectual At this time there was a great revolution of affairs in Scotland The Reformation in Scotland When there was a probability of bringing the Treaty of Cambray to a good effect the Cardinal of Lorrain writ to his Sister the Queen Regent of Scotland and to the Archbishop of St. Andrews and let them know the Resolution that was taken to extirpate Heresie and exhorted them to use their endeavours for that end The Queen Regent saw that by doing this she would not only break her faith to the Lords who had hitherto adhered to her upon the assurance she gave them of her Protection but that the Peace of Scotland would be endangered for as their Party was strong so it was not to be doubted but the Queen of England would support them and so she was not easily brought to follow her Brother 's cruel Counsels But the Bishops shut their eyes upon all dangers and resolved to strike a terror into the People by some severe Executions They began with Walter Mell an old insirm Priest who had preached in some places against many of the Opinions then received he was particularly accused for having asserted the lawfulness of the Marriage of the Clergy and for having condemned the Sacrifice of the Mass and Transubstantiation with some other particulars all which he confessed and upon his refusal to abjure them he was condemned to be burnt Yet so averse were the People from those Cruelties that it was not easie to find any