ENGLAND. 



659 



Hi*try. pearabce of some person of rank as a leader, to over- 

 ^ "Y"^*' turn the authority of Mary. A partial insurrection 

 broke out in Kent, headed by Sir Thomas Wiat, a Ro- 

 man Catholic, who issued a declaration against the Spa- 

 nish match, and the queen's evil counsellors, without 

 making any mention of religion, and marched to Lon- 

 don with a body of 4000 men. But he suffered the 

 critical season to elapse ; and his partizans, upon dis- 

 covering that he was not joined by any person of note, 

 deserted rapidly from his standard. Obliged to sur- 

 render at discretion, he was tried and executed. Great 

 cruelty was exercised against his followers. Four hun- 

 dred of them are said to have suffered by the hand of 

 the executioner ; and the same number were conducted 

 before the queen, with ropes about their necks, to re- 

 ceive a pardon on their knees. The Princess Elizabeth, 

 and her lover the Earl of Devonshire, were committed 

 to the Tower, upon suspicion of having been concerned 

 in the plot ; but as Wiat had acquitted them by a so- 

 lemn declaration upon the scaffold, of all share in his 

 rebellion, it was found impracticable to proceed farther 

 against them, except to retain them both in custody. 

 The Duke of Suffolk having made an unsuccessful at- 

 tempt, at the same time with Wiat, to raise the mid- 

 land counties, his daughter, Lady Jane Grey, and her 

 husband, who still remained under the sentence for- 

 merly pronounced against them, were ordered to pre- 

 pare for death ; and the council, dreading the compas- 

 sion which their youth, beauty, innocence, and noble 

 birth might excite in the hearts of the people, gave 

 directions that they should be beheaded within the li- 

 mits of the Tower. The Duke of Suffolk was soon af- 

 ter brought to the scaffold. Lord Thomas Grey, Sir 

 John Throgmorton, and many other persons of distinc- 

 tion, suffered on the same account. The late rebellion 

 furnished the queen with a pretence for exercising the 

 native cruelty of her disposition ; and her vengeance 

 was directed againt>t many of the nobility and gentry, 

 more on account of their interest with the nation, than 

 any appearance of their guilt. Finding that she had 

 become the object of universal hatred to her subjects, 

 he determined to disable them from future resistance, 

 and ordered them to be mustered in different parts of 

 the kingdom, and to be deprived of their arms. 



The authority of Mary was much increased by the sup- 

 pression of Wiat's rebellion; the emperor had sent 400,000 

 crowns to l>e distributed, in bribes and pensions, among 

 the members of parliament ; and the queen had removed 

 all alarm regarding the restoration of the church lands, 

 by resuming the title of supreme head of the church, 

 which she had dropped some time before. But while the 

 parliament readily ratified the articles of marriage, which 

 were drawn so favourably for England, they refused to 

 pass a law proposed by the chancellor, investing the 

 queen with a power of disposing of the crown, and ap- 

 pointing her successor ; but, on the contrary, made 

 uch enactments, as effectually precluded Philip from 

 possessing any authority in the government of the 

 kingdom. They refused also to revive the law of the 

 six articles, and to pass certain bills against heresy ; 

 and the queen finding tliat they would not sufficiently 

 serve all her purposes, finished the session by dissolving 

 them. 



Mary'g whole thoughts were now occupied with the 

 completion of her marriage with Philip ; and she dis- 

 covered all the impatience of the youngest and fondest 

 lover for his arrival. Her health, and even her under- 

 standing, were visibly impaired, by her extreme anxie- 

 ty ; and she at last became apprehensive, lest her per- 



lof 

 lip in 



son should be so injured by time and sickness, as to History. 

 become disagreeable to her future consort. News at ''"T""""' 

 length were brought of his arrival at Southampton, and 

 they were married a few days after at Westminster. 

 They made a pompous entry into London, where Phi- 

 lip displayed his wealth with great ostentation ; but 

 his cold and haughty manners were ill calculated to 

 remove the prejudices of the English nation against 

 him. Mary soon found that his ruling passion was am- 

 bition, and that the only way of securing his affections 

 was to render him master of England. Ready to sacri- 

 fice to his pleasure the interest and liberty of her peo- 

 ple, she summoned a new parliament ; and the influ- 

 ence of Spanish gold, the zeal of the Catholics, the 

 powers of the prerogative, procured a House of Com- 

 mons sufficiently compliant. Both houses, upon the 

 representation of Cardinal Pole, who had come to Eng- 

 land in the capacity of legate, addressed the King and 

 Queen, professing their desire to be reconciled to the 

 apostolical see, and requesting their intercession with 

 the holy father for their absolution. Their request was 

 easily granted, and the parliament and kingdom were 

 formally re- admitted into the bosom of the church. 

 But while they repealed all former statutes enacted 

 against the Pope's authority in England, they took spe- 

 cial care to secure the plunder which they had made 

 from the ecclesiastics, and to retain possession of all the 

 abbey and church lands. Having thus made provision 

 for the safety of their own estates, they became very 

 indifferent about the interests of religion, or the lives of 

 their countrymen ; and readily revived all the old san- 

 guinary laws against heretics, placing the national re- 

 ligion nearly on the same footing as at the death of 

 Henry VIII. But, with all their submission, they still 

 preserved a regard to national independence ; and re- 

 sisted all proposals to put the administration into the 

 hands of Philip, to declare him presumptive heir of 

 the crown, or even to assist his father by subsidies in 

 hi.s war against France. The Queen, however, in her 

 extreme desire to have issue, mistaking the commence- 

 ment of a dropsy for a state of pregnancy, great re- 

 joicings were made in the prospect of an heir to tile 

 throne ; and the parliament passed a law, which, in 

 case of the Queen's decease, appointed Philip protec- 

 tor during the minority ; but, resisting all farther con- 

 cessions in his favour, they were unexpectedly dis- 

 solved. 



It was now frequently debated in the council, whe- Violent 

 ther the laws, lately revived against heretics, should persccu- 

 be put in execution, or merely employed by way of ^ 

 terror, as a restraint upon the more turbulent and ob- ' 

 trusive. Cardinal Pole, though firmly attached to the 

 Catholic tenets, strongly recommended a toleration of 

 the Protestants ; but Gardiner, though subjected of 

 less sincerity in his religious principles, keenly con- 

 tended for the expediency of a violent persecution. 

 The arguments of the latter being more agreeable to 

 the cruel bigotry of Mary and Philip, it was determi- 

 ned to enforce the laws in all their rigour against the 

 reformed religion ; and England was for three years 

 filled with scenes of horror, which disgraced human 

 nature, and rendered the Catholic system an object of 

 general detestation. It has been computed, that, du- 

 ring the above mentioned period, '277 persons were 

 brought to the stake ; besides those who were punish- 

 ed by imprisonment, fines, and confiscation. Among 

 those who suffered by fire, were 5 bishops, 21 clergy- 

 men, 8 lay gentlemen, 84 tradesmen, 100 servants and 

 kbourers, 55 women, and 4 children. Those persons, 

 3 



