600 



ENGLAND. 



\Tr decU- 

 rrd against 

 France, 

 1557. 



Draft of 

 I4M. 





too, vrere not convicted of publicly teaching tenets con- 

 i"""*' tr.-iry to the established religion ; but were seixed upon 

 Mi*j>i< ' ' of hereby, required to subscriln- the Koiuish 

 .irticli- of faith, rind were generally condemned for re- 

 fu-iiii; to acknowledge the doctrine of the rc.il presence. 

 Among ti i "ilcrcrs. were Hooper, Bishop of 



(ilouccstcr ; Rogers, Prebendary of S< Paul's; Ridley, 

 l-'errar, Bishop of St David's; La- 

 tinier, Bishop of Worcester; and Cranmer, Archbishop 

 tt-rbuiy. The principal agent in these barbari- 

 rien wa Bonner, Bishop of London, upon whom Car- 

 diner ha:! devolved the invidious office ; a man of pro- 

 fligate manners and brutal disposition, who seemed to 

 in the torments of the unhappy sufferers, and 

 who fnijnently applied the mo-t cruel punishments 

 with his own hands. Repeated orders were sent from 

 the council, to quicken the diligence of the magistrates 

 in searching out heretics ; and, in some places, the gen- 

 try were constrained to countenance, by their prcscncr. 

 the barbarous proceedings against the unhappy victims. 

 An attempt even was nuide to introduce the inquisi- 

 tion into the country. But all those instances of cruelty 

 and opprt-.-sion were so abhorrent to the feelings of tin- 

 English nation, tlwt they produced the very opposite 

 effect of what was intended ; rendered the Spanish go- 

 vernment daily more odious ; and forwarded, instead 

 of checking, the progress of the new opinions. 



The effects of the public discontent appeared even 

 in the next parliament that was summoned ; and the 

 Queen's application for a subsidy, and for additional 

 enforcements of persecution, was resolutely rejected. 

 Philip, in the mean time, finding his authority in Eng- 

 land extremely limited, sensible of the general hatred 

 which he had incurred, and tired by the Queen's im- 

 portunate love and jealousy, went over to Flanders, 

 where he continued to spend most of his time, and 

 seldom took any notice of his consort's fond epistles, 

 except when he had occasion to demand a supply of 

 money. In order to gratify his wishes, Mary had re- 

 course to all the violent and irregular expedients of 

 loans, levies, and similar extortions ; and, at the same 

 time, engaged the council, not, however, without the 

 most vehement importunity and menaces, to declare 

 war in aid of Spain against France. This measure in- 

 volved the nation in new difficulties ; and the town of 

 Calais, which had been held by England above 200 

 years, having been taken by the French, the whole 

 kingdom was filled with jnurmurs and complaints 

 against the improvidence otf the Queen and her coun- 

 sellors. The Queen herself, who had been long in a 

 declining state of health, conscious of being hated by 

 her Mibjects, dejected by the loss of Calais, apprehen- 

 sive, in the prospect of Elizabeth's succession, for the 

 safety of the Catholic faith, and overwhelmed with 

 grief on account of her husband's determination to re- 

 side in Spain during the remainder of his life, fell into 

 a lingering fever, which terminated her days in the 43d 

 year of her age, and the sixth of her reign. She pos- 

 sessed few qualities, that were either estimable or ami- 

 able ; and her person was as little engaging as her 

 mind. She was cruel from natural disposition, and bi- 

 goltrd from a narrow understanding ; and, excepting 

 the single virtue of sincerity, her character was a com- 

 plication of the most odious vices, of obstinacy, tyran- 

 ny, malignity, and revenge. 



Alter the death of Mary, the Princess Elizabeth 

 icled the throne, in the 25th year of her age, not 

 only without opposition, but with the joyful acclama- 

 tions of the whole nation. During the reign of her 



slater, she had been treated with great severity, and 1 

 r\pi-ed to the most imminent dangers. Marv ami the 

 Popish bishops, well aware th::t. u]x>n coining to the 

 throne, she would instantly overturn that religion, 

 which they were using such extreme means to esta- 

 blish, only waited tor some new insurrection, or other 

 favourable pretext, to take awav her life. Compassion 

 for her .situation rendered her n object of interest to 

 the nation : and the difficult part which she had to act, 

 inured her to that exercise of prndence which qualified 

 lu r to reign. I )eh:!rrcd also, by her confinement, from 

 seeking amusement abroad, she applied herself to the 

 pursuit of knowledge at home ; and improved her un- 

 derstanding by the study of Imv 'il science. 

 She entered London amidst crowds of people, who 

 strove with each other to give her the strongest testi- 

 monies of their affection ; and when she reached the 

 Tower, win-re she hud formerly been exposed to ;:11 the 

 lii^i.'.ted malignity of her enemies, she gave tK-ntks-on 

 her knees to the Almighty, for her deliverance from 

 bloody persecutors. ; bi.t this wns the only instance in 

 which she testified her recollec;. ,11 of p. -t injuries, and 

 with a magnanimity truly laudable, she neeived, with 

 affability, even those who had treated her with the great- 

 est malevolence. When the bishop*, however, cam' 1 

 to express their homage, she turned a-ide from Bon- 

 ner, as from a man polluted with blood, and as a just 

 object of horror to every friend of humanity. Imme- 

 diately after her accession, she received proposals of 

 marri.igc from 1'hilip of Spain, who still hoped to ob- 

 tain, by her means, that dominion over England, of 

 which he had been disappointed in espousing Mary. 

 But Elizalieth, neither attached to the person nor to 

 the religion of her admirer, an, I sen-oble-of the aver- 

 sion which her subjects tnu-rtaint.it to the Spanish in- 

 fluence, declined his addresses ; \.t in such an evasive 

 manner, that for some time he retailed hopes of suc- 

 cess, and even took measures for procuring a dispensa- 

 tion from the Pope for the match. 



The young queen, who had formed a determination, 

 even amidst the restraints of a prison, to reform the 

 church, upon her coming to the throne, proceeded with- 

 out delay, in conjunction with Sir William Cecil, her 

 secretary of state, to concert measures for restoring the 

 Protestant religion; and as the cruelties exercised in the 

 last reign had completely alienated the people from the 

 ancient faith, it became a very easy matter to accomplish 

 this object. Resolved, however, to proceed by secure 

 and gradual steps, she checked the furious; attncks of 

 the Protestant teachers on the Romish superstitions, by 

 prohibiting all preaching without a special licence, and 

 by exempting from this restriction only the more mo- 

 derate and judicious of her own party ; and made nr 

 oilier innovations in the form of worship, except to for- 

 bid the elevation of the hoste, and to cause the greater 

 part of the service to lx- read in English. At the same 

 time, she clearly indicated her intentions of supporting 

 the Kct'oni'..tio;i, by recalling the Protestant exiles, ana 

 setting at liberty all prisoners who were confined on 

 account of religion ; but delayed the entire change of 

 the national faith till the meeting of the parliament, 

 which was summoned to assemble, and in the election* 

 for which the Catholics scarcely struggled for the su- 

 periority. After recognizing the queen's title to the 

 throne, they annexed the supremscy of the church to 

 the crown ; confirmed all the statutes enacted in Kirif 

 Edward's reign with regard to religion ; and, in one 

 session, without violence or clamour, altered the whole 

 public system of religion, nearly to the very state it- 



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