[Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected, all other inconsistencies are as in the original. The author'sspelling has been maintained. 

Page numbers have been kept in the format {p. Xxx}. ]

 EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY EDITED BY ERNEST RHYS

 HISTORY

 FROUDE'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND

 MARY TUDOR · INTRODUCTION BY W. LLEWELYN WILLIAMS M. P. , B. C. L. 

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 "CONSIDER HISTORY WITH THE BEGINNINGS OF IT STRETCHING DIMLY INTO THE REMOTE TIME; EMERGING DARKLY OUT OF THE MYSTERIOUS ETERNITY:

 THE TRUE EPIC POEM AND UNIVERSAL DIVINE SCRIPTURE. .. . "

 CARLYLE

 THE REIGN _of_ MARY TUDOR _by_ JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE

 LONDON: PUBLISHED by J. M. DENT & SONS Ltd AND IN NEW YORK BY E. P. DUTTON & CO

{p. Vii} INTRODUCTION

The memory of no English sovereign has been so execrated as that ofMary Tudor. For generations after her death her name, with its horridepithet clinging round it like the shirt of Nessus, was a bugbear inthousands of Protestant homes. It is true that nearly 300 persons wereburnt at the stake in her short reign. But she herself was moreinclined to mercy than almost any of her predecessors on the throne. Stubbs speaks of her father's "holocausts" of victims. The persecutionof Papists under Edward was not less rigorous than that of Protestantsunder Mary. When her record is compared with that of Philip of Spain, with his Council of Blood in the Netherlands, or of Charles IX. InFrance, she appears as an apostle of toleration. Why, then, has hermemory been covered through centuries with scorn and obloquy?

Froude will have it that it was due to a national detestation of thecrimes which were committed in the name of religion. Those who take amore detached view of history can find little evidence to support theassumption. The nation as a whole seemed to acquiesce in thepersecution. The government was weak, there was no standing army, andMary, like all the Tudors, rested her authority on popular sanction. Plots against her were few, and they were all easily suppressed. Parliament met regularly. It was not the submissive parliament ofHenry VIII. It thwarted some of Mary's dearest projects. For some timeit offered opposition to, if it did not actively resist, the Spanishmarriage. It was inexorably opposed to the restitution of churchproperty. It refused to alter the succession to the Crown as Marywished. But it never remonstrated against the persecution ofProtestants. It cheerfully revived the old acts for the burning ofLollard heretics. Froude suggests that Englishmen were aghast at theuse to which they were afterwards put. But though parliament afterparliament was summoned after the Smithfield fires had been lit, therewas no sign of disapproval or of condemnation. When Edward died, therewas an instantaneous return to Catholicism. When Mary died, Elizabeth{p. Viii} had to walk warily in bringing about innovations inreligion. Mary was crowned with the ceremonies of the Catholic Church. When Elizabeth was crowned, nearly all the bishops, including the"bloody" Bonner, attended, and the service of the mass was used. Harpsfield, the notorious Archdeacon of Canterbury, the last man tocondemn heretics to the stake in England, publicly stated, weeks afterthe accession of Elizabeth, that there should be no change inreligion. Later generations, judging events and characters by theirown standard, have pitilessly condemned the Marian persecutions. TheEnglishmen of those days were not so squeamish or so indifferent. 

There can be no doubt that Mary was unpopular among her owncontemporaries. Two reasons probably account for it. The first was hermarriage with Philip of Spain. There is no nation in Europe which hasshown itself more tolerant of alien sovereigns than the English. Theysubmitted to William of Normandy almost without a struggle afterSenlac. They adopted the Plantagenet as their national line of kings. The Tudors were Welsh; the Stuarts Scotch; William III. Was aDutchman; the Hanoverian dynasty was German. But though tolerant offoreign dynasties, the English have, since the days of John, beenexcessively jealous of foreign influences. One of the main causes ofHenry III. 's unpopularity was the overweening influence of his foreignfavourites. From Edward I. Downwards the Plantagenets ruled as Englishsovereigns. Henry VII. , though he was crowned on the field of battleand claimed the throne by right of conquest, was too discreet tomaintain his power, as Mary was once tempted to do, by the aid ofWelsh guards. The fiercest hostility was evoked by James I. , WilliamIII. , and the first two Georges, because they surrounded themselveswith favourites from their own countries. Foreigners might sit on thethrone of England, but they had to rule as English sovereigns and resttheir power on the support of the English people. This intensenational jealousy was unhappily aroused by Mary. The strictlimitations which were placed on her husband's powers should havewarned her of her danger. Philip was allowed the empty title of king, but from the realities of power he was studiously excluded. Philip wascareful to maintain the spirit as well as the letter of hisobligations. He made no attempt to encroach upon the sovereignty ofMary. He advised her, as it was his duty to do, but he did notinterfere with the government of the country. No {p. Ix} Spanishtroops were landed in England, even when war had broken out withFrance, and the coasts of England were unguarded. Yet the morbidsuspicions of the people were not allayed. The Dudley plot and theStafford invasion were justified by their authors, not on the groundof Mary's bloody persecutions, but because it was feared that Philipwas planning a _coup d'état_. Mary's popularity began to wane with hermarriage; it sunk lower and lower till it almost disappeared whenEngland was dragged into a war with France in the interests of Spain. St. Quintin and Gravelines for a time roused a feeble enthusiasm forthe war, but the loss of Calais finally extinguished the Queenspopularity. Mary is reported to have said that if her body were openedCalais would be found written on her heart. Froude disbelieves thereport. But whether the story be apocryphal or not, there is no doubtthat the loss of Calais was accountable, if not for the death of theQueen, for the permanent destruction of her fame. 

Calais was called the "brightest jewel in the English crown. " It wasthe last relic of the French possessions of the Plantagenets. It wasthe Gibraltar of the sixteenth century. It helped to make of thenarrow seas an English channel. It was a mart for English goods. Itafforded a foothold for Continental enterprises. To some extent itlinked England with her traditional allies, the old Burgundianpossessions in the Netherlands. By us, looking back over the chequeredstory of the last three centuries, the loss of Calais is seen to havebeen a blessing in disguise. England gained by it as she did by theloss of Normandy under John, and of Hanover at the accession of QueenVictoria. But to Mary's subjects it was a corroding humiliation. 

"If Spain should rise suddenly into her ancient strength, " Froudetruly remarks, "and tear Gibraltar from us, our mortification would befaint, compared to the anguish of humiliated pride with which the lossof Calais distracted the subjects of Mary. "

It was the galling reflection that Calais was lost to the French in aSpanish quarrel that crowned the poor Queen's obloquy. She had lost itthrough wanton neglect. Had the warnings of Wentworth and Grey beenheeded, Calais might have been saved. Calais need never have beenimperilled had the Queen thought more of English interests and less ofthe needs of her Spanish husband. 

{p. X} The odium in which Mary's memory was held was turned to accountby the friends of the new religion. Early in the next reign thereappeared one of the most remarkable books ever written--Foxe's _Bookof Martyrs_. The authenticity of its narrative has been impugned byLingard and other Catholic historians; Froude bears testimony to itstrustworthiness wherever it can be tested, except when it deals withpurely hearsay evidence. When Foxe's narrative of the horribleGuernsey case was challenged by a Catholic controversialist in thereign of Elizabeth, the matter was inquired into, and the account wasfound to be absolutely true. No one will be found, however, in thesedays to assert that a book, written by an avowed partisan, in anuncritical age, recording transactions of which from the very natureof things he could have had no personal knowledge, was not too highlycoloured in parts and in others absolutely untrustworthy. Few books, nevertheless, have exercised a more abiding influence on the course ofour national life. Its simplicity, its directness, its poignant style, and its dramatic power combined to make it an English classic. If itloaded Bonner and Gardiner with shame and hatred, it fixed for threecenturies the popular estimate of Mary Tudor. Froude used it withextraordinary skill. His relation of the death of a young Protestantmartyr, an apprentice from Essex, taken as it is almost bodily fromFoxe, must thrill even yet the least emotional of his readers. Thepermanence of Mary's hideous title and her abiding unpopularity aremore due to the compelling power of a work of genius than to anyoutstanding demerits, as judged by contemporary standards, in theCatholic Queen. 

Instead of being condemned to eternal infamy, poor Mary Tudor mightwell have expected a juster as well as a more charitable verdict fromposterity. From her girlhood to her grave her story was tragic in itssadness. When she was in the first bloom of maidenhood, she was takenby her father to hold her Court of the Welsh Marches at Ludlow in1525. The title of Princess of Wales was not conferred upon her, butshe was surrounded by all the pomps and emblems of sovereignty. TheCourt was the Princess's Court, as it had been Prince Henry's Court inher father's youth. Three years later she was degraded from her highestate, and deprived of her Court. Henceforth, throughout her father'sreign, she was known as the Lady, not the Princess, Mary. She was old{p. Xi} enough to feel all the bitterness of her mother's tragedy. She remembered to her dying day the humiliation of the Boleynmarriage. She never ceased to resent the birth of her sisterElizabeth. Her brother Edward was born in lawful wedlock after QueenCatherine's death, and Mary was always perfectly loyal and obedient tohim as she was to her father. But she looked with cold disfavour, mingled with morbid jealousy, on the budding promise of Elizabeth. Hervery existence was an insult to Mary's mother and a menace to Mary'sreligion. If Elizabeth was legitimate, Catherine of Arragon wasrightly divorced, and Mary herself had no claim to the throne otherthan by her father's will. Elizabeth could never be reconciled to Romewithout casting an aspersion on Anne Boleyn's honour. 

No woman was ever more lonely or loveless than the ill-starred andill-favoured Queen Mary. She had no near relatives in England exceptElizabeth, and Elizabeth, by the irony of fate, was worse than astranger to her. The awful solitude of a throne excluded her, evenmore than her own ill-health and brooding temper, from the joys offriendship. Philip of Spain was at once her nearest relation on hermother's side, and the only man she ever confided in except CardinalPole. She lavished all the pent-up affection of an unloved existenceon her husband. She was repaid by cold neglect, studied indifference, and open and vulgar infidelity. Philip made no pretence to care forhis wife. She was older in years, she was ungainly in person, shepossessed no charm of manner or grace of speech, her very voice wasthe deep bass of a man. In the days of her joyous entrance intoLondon, amid the acclamations of the populace, her high spirit, herkind heart, and the excitement of adventure lent a passing glow to hersallow cheeks. But ill-health and disillusion followed. She becamemorbid and sullen, sometimes remaining for days in a dull stupor, atother times giving way to gusts of hysterical passion. But beneath herforbidding exterior there beat a warm, tender, womanly heart, whichyearned for some one to love and to cherish. Her mother had died whenshe was yet young, her father never encouraged her to display heraffection for him, and she was verging on middle age before she sawPhilip. He became her hero, her master. Wifely obedience became to herthe greatest of virtues; she held herself and England at his service. She longed for a son who would bind her husband more closely toherself and who {p. Xii} would save England from the hated Elizabeth, and still more from Elizabeth's hated religion. When old and ill, andon the brink of the grave, she still cherished the vain dream ofgiving birth to the saviour of England and the champion of the faith. 

But Froude dwells with malicious irony on the frustration of the poorwoman's hopes. He covers the incident with a ridicule which must jaron all sensitive minds. The fact that Cardinal Pole encouraged herbelief adds zest to Froude's satisfaction. No purer soul ever sethimself to right the world than Reginald Pole; no one failed morecompletely in his cherished plans. He and Mary died on the same day;the bells that tolled their knell rang out the order for which theystood. But the utter failure of their hopes roused no emotion savethat of bitter contempt in Froude. He saw no merit in the "hystericaldreamer" who had sacrificed his all for his religion; he saw no pathosin the life of that lone woman who was condemned, almost from hercradle, to a loveless existence and a forlorn death. His final epitaphon her is that "she had reigned little more than five years, and shedescended into the grave amidst curses deeper than the acclamationswhich had welcomed her accession. " The only excuse he can find for heris that she was suffering from "hysterical derangement" akin toinsanity, which placed her absolutely under the domination of Gardinerand Pole. When we remember her magnanimity towards Lady Jane Grey ather accession, when we contrast her conduct towards the formidableElizabeth with Elizabeth's subsequent conduct towards Mary Queen ofScots, her generosity to the causes she had at heart with Elizabeth'sunfailing parsimony, and her open and straightforward dealings both inmatters of Church and of State with her sister's mean and tortuoussubterfuges, we may well extend not only our pity to the woman, butsome tribute of admiration to the Queen. At least we may agree withFroude that "few men or women have lived less capable of doingknowingly a wrong thing. "

 W. LLEWELYN WILLIAMS. _February 3, 1910. _

{p. Xiii} Bibliography

The following is a list of the published works of J. A. Froude--

 Life of St. Neot (Lives of the English Saints, edited by J. H. Newman), 1844; Shadows of the Clouds (Tales), by Zeta (_pseud. _), 1847; A Sermon (on 2 Cor. Vii. 10) preached at St. Mary's Church on the Death of the Rev. George May Coleridge, 1847; Article on Spinoza (_Oxford and Cambridge Review_), 1847; The Nemesis of Faith (Tale), 1849; England's Forgotten Worthies (_Westminster Review_), 1852; Book of Job (_Westminster Review_), 1853; Poems of Matthew Arnold (_Westminster Review_), 1854; Suggestions on the Best Means of Teaching English History (Oxford Essays, etc. ), 1855; History of England, 12 vols. , 1856-70; The Influence of the Reformation on the Scottish Character. 1865; Inaugural Address delivered to the University of St. Andrews, March 19, 1869, 1869; Short Studies on Great Subjects, 1867, 2 vols. , series 2-4, 1871-83 (articles from _Fraser's Magazine_, _Westminster Review_, etc. ); The Cat's Pilgrimage, 1870; Calvinism: Address at St. Andrews, 1871; The English in Ireland, 3 vols. , 1872-74; Bunyan (English Men of Letters), 1878; Cæsar: a Sketch, 1879; Two Lectures on South Africa, 1880; Thomas Carlyle (a history of the first forty years of his life, etc. ), 2 vols. , 1882; Luther: a Short Biography, 1883; Thomas Carlyle (a history of his life in London, 1834-81), 2 vols. , 1884; Oceana, 1886; The English in the West Indies, 1888; Liberty and Property: an Address [1888]; The Two Chiefs of Dunboy, 1889; Lord Beaconsfield (a Biography), 1890; The Divorce of Catherine of Arragon, 1891; The Spanish Story of the Armada, 1892; Life and Letters of Erasmus, 1894; English Seamen in the Sixteenth Century, 1895; Lectures on the Council of Trent, 1896; My Relations with Carlyle, 1903. 

 Edited:--Carlyle's Reminiscences, 1881; Mrs. Carlyle's Letters, 1883. 

{p. Xv} CONTENTS

 Chapter Page

 I. Queen Jane and Queen Mary 1

 II. The Spanish Marriage 79

 III. Reconciliation With Rome 147

 IV. The Martyrs 201

 V. Calais 260

 VI. Death of Mary 305

 Index 321

{p. 001} MARY TUDOR

CHAPTER I. 

QUEEN JANE AND QUEEN MARY. 

On the 7th of July the death of Edward VI. Was ushered in with signsand wonders, as if heaven and earth were in labour with revolution. The hail lay upon the grass in the London gardens as red as blood. AtMiddleton Stony in Oxfordshire, anxious lips reported that a child hadbeen born with one body, two heads, four feet and hands. [1] About thetime when the letters patent were signed there came a storm such as noliving Englishman remembered. The summer evening grew black as night. Cataracts of water flooded the houses in the city and turned thestreets into rivers; trees were torn up by the roots and whirledthrough the air, and a more awful omen--the forked lightning--struckdown the steeple of the church where the heretic service had been readfor the first time. [2]

 [Footnote 1: _Grey Friars' Chronicle_: Machyn. ]

 [Footnote 2: Baoardo's _History of the Revolution in England on the Death of Edward VI. _, printed at Venice, 1558. A copy of this rare book is in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. ]

The king died a little before nine o'clock on Thursday evening. Hisdeath was made a secret; but in the same hour a courier was gallopingthrough the twilight to Hunsdon to bid Mary mount and fly. Her planshad been for some days prepared. She had been directed to remainquiet, but to hold herself ready to be up and away at a moment'swarning. The lords who were to close her in would not be at theirposts, and for a few hours the roads would be open. The Howards werelooking for her in Norfolk; and thither she was to ride at her bestspeed, proclaiming her accession as she went along, and sending outher letters calling loyal Englishmen to rise in her defence. 

So Mary's secret friends had instructed her to act as her one chance. Mary, who, like all the Tudors, was most herself in the moments ofgreatest danger, followed a counsel boldly which agreed with her ownopinion; and when Lord Robert Dudley {p. 002} came in the morningwith a company of horse to look for her, she was far away. Relays ofhorses along the road, and such other precautions as could be takenwithout exciting suspicion, had doubtless not been overlooked. 

Far different advice had been sent to her by the new ambassadors ofthe emperor. Scheyfne, who understood England and English habits, andwho was sanguine of her success, had agreed to a course which hadprobably been arranged in concert with him; but on the 6th, the day ofEdward's death, Renard and M. De Courières arrived from Brussels. ToRenard, accustomed to countries where governments were everything andpeoples nothing, for a single woman to proclaim herself queen in theface of those who had the armed force of the kingdom in their hands, appeared like madness. Little confidence could be placed in hersupposed friends, since they had wanted resolution to refuse theirsignatures to the instrument of her deposition. The emperor could notmove; although he might wish well to her cause, the alliance ofEngland was of vital importance to him, and he would not compromisehimself with the faction whose success, notwithstanding Scheyfne'sassurance, he looked upon as certain. Renard, therefore, lost not amoment in entreating the princess not to venture upon a course fromwhich he anticipated inevitable ruin. If the nobility or the peopledesired to have her for queen, they would make her queen. There was noneed for her to stir. [3] The remonstrance agreed {p. 003} fully withthe opinion of Charles himself, who replied to Renard's account of hisconduct with complete approval of it. [4] The emperor's power was nolonger equal to an attitude of menace; he had been taught, by therepeated blunders of Reginald Pole, to distrust accounts of popularEnglish sentiment; and he disbelieved entirely in the ability of Maryand her friends to cope with a conspiracy so broadly contrived, andsupported by the countenance of France. [5] But Mary was probably gonefrom Hunsdon before advice arrived, to which she had been lost if shehad listened. She had ridden night and day without a halt for ahundred miles to Keninghal, a castle of the Howards on the Waveneyriver. There, in safe hands, she would try the effect of an appeal toher country. If the nation was mute, she would then escape to the LowCountries. [6]

 [Footnote 3: Avant nostre arrivée elle mist en delibération avec aulcungs de ses plus confidens ce qu'elle debvroit faire, advenant la dicte morte; la quelle treuva, que incontinant la dicte morte decouverte, elle se debvoit publier royne par lettres et escriptz, et qu'en ce faisant, elle conciteroit plusieurs à se déclairer pour la maintenir telle, (et aussy que y a quelque observance par de çà que celuy ou celle qui est appelé à la couronne se doit incontinent tel déclairer et publier) pour la haine qu'ilz portent audict duc, le tenant tiran et indigne; s'estant absolument resolue qu'elle debvoit suyvre ceste conclusion et conseil, aultrement elle tomberoit en danger de sa personne plus grand qu'elle n'est et perdroit l'espoir de parvenir à la couronne. La quelle conclusion avons treuvé estrange, difficile, et dangereuse, pour les raisons soubzcriptes: pour aultant que toutes les forces du pays sont ès mains dudict duc: que la dicte dame n'a espoir de contraires forces ny d'assistance pour donner pied à ceulx qu'ilz adhérer luy vouldroient; que se publiant royne, le roy et royne désignés par le dict testament (encores qu'il soit mal) prendroient fondement, de l'invahir par la force et que n'y aura moien d'y résister si vostre majesté ne s'en empesche; ce que avons pesé pour les grands affaires et empeschemens qu'elle a contre les Françoys et en divers lieux, que ne semble convenir que l'on concite en ceste saison les Angloys contre vostre Majesté et ses pays. 

 Comme n'avons peu communiquer verbalement avec elle, l'avons advertie desdicts difficultés. .. . Que si la noblesse ses adhérens, ou le peuple la desiroit et maintenoit pour royne, il le pourroit démonstrer par l'effect; que la question estoit grande mêsme entre barbares et gens de telle condition que les Angloys . .. Luy touchant ces difficultez pour le respect de sa personne et pour suyvre la fin de la dicte instruction qu'est de non troubler le royaulme au désadvantaige de vostre Majesté--The Ambassadors in England to the Emperor: _Papiers d'État du Cardinal de Granvelle_, vol. Iv. Pp. 19, 20. ]

 [Footnote 4: Nous avons veu par vos lectres l'advertissement qu'avez donné soubz main à Madame la princesse nostre cousine, affin qu'elle ne se laisse forcompter par ceulx qui luy persuadent qu'elle se haste de se déclairer pour royne, que nous a semblé tres bien pour les raisons et considerations touschez en vosdictes lectres. --The Emperor to the Ambassadors: Ibid. Pp. 24, 25. ]

 [Footnote 5: Ne se pouvoient faire grand fondement sur la faveur et affection que aulcuns particuliers et le peuple peuvent porter à nostredicte cousine, ne fust que y en y eust plus grant nombre ou des principaulx, n'estant cela souffisant pour contreminer la negociation si fondée et de si longue main que le dict duc de Northumberland a empris avec l'assistance que doubtez de France. --Ibid. Pp. 25, 26. ]

 [Footnote 6: Baoardo. ]

In London, during Friday and Saturday, the death of Edward was knownand unknown. Every one talked of it as certain. Yet the Duke ofNorthumberland still spoke of him as living, and public business wascarried on in his name. On the 8th of July the mayor and aldermen weresent for to Greenwich to sign the letters patent. From them the truthcould not be concealed, but they were sworn to secrecy before theywere allowed to leave the palace. The conspirators desired to haveMary under safe custody in the Tower before the mystery was publishedto the world, and another difficulty was not yet got over. 

The novelty of a female sovereign, and the supposed constitutionalobjection to it, were points in favour of the alteration whichNorthumberland was unwilling to relinquish. The "device" had beenchanged in favour of Lady Jane; but Lady Jane was not to reign alone:Northumberland intended to hold {p. 004} the reins tight-grasped inhis own hands, to keep the power in his own family, and to urge thesex of Mary as among the prominent occasions of her incapacity. [7]England was still to have a king, and that king was to be GuilfordDudley. 

 [Footnote 7: In the explanation given on the following Tuesday to the Emperor's ambassadors, Madame Marie was said--"N'estre capable dudict royaulme pour le divorce faict entre le feu Roy Henry et la Royne Katherine; se référant aux causes aians meu ledict divorce; _et mesme n'estre suffisante pour l'administration d'icelluy comme estant femme_, et pour la religion. "--_Papiers d'État du Cardinal de Granvelle_, p. 28. Noailles was instructed to inform the King of France of the good affection of "the new King" ("le nouveaulx Roy"). He had notice of the approaching coronation of "the King;" and in the first communication of Edward's death to Hoby and Morryson in the Netherlands, a "king, " and not a "queen, " was described as on the throne in his place. ]

Jane Grey, eldest daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, was nearly of thesame age with Edward. Edward had been precocious to a disease; theactivity of his mind had been a symptom, or a cause, of the weaknessof his body. Jane Grey's accomplishments were as extensive asEdward's; she had acquired a degree of learning rare in matured men, which she could use gracefully, and could permit to be seen by otherswithout vanity or consciousness. Her character had developed withtheir talents. At fifteen she was learning Hebrew and could writeGreek; at sixteen she corresponded with Bullinger in Latin at leastequal to his own; but the matter of her letters is more striking thanthe language, and speaks more for her than the most elaboratepanegyrics of admiring courtiers. She has left a portrait of herselfdrawn by her own hand; a portrait of piety, purity, and free, nobleinnocence, uncoloured, even to a fault, with the emotional weaknessesof humanity. [8] While the effects of the Reformation of England hadbeen chiefly visible in the outward dominion of scoundrels and in theeclipse of the hereditary virtues of the national character, Lady JaneGrey had lived to show that the defect was not in the reformed faith, but in the absence of all faith--that the graces of a St. Elizabethcould be rivalled by the pupil of Cranmer and Ridley. The Catholicsaint had no excellence of which Jane Grey was without the promise;the distinction was in the freedom of the Protestant from thehysterical ambition for an unearthly nature, and in the presence, through a more intelligent creed, of a vigorous and practicalunderstanding. 

 [Footnote 8: Letters of Lady Jane Grey to Bullinger: _Epistolæ Tigurinæ_, pp. 3-7. ]

When married to Guilford Dudley, Jane Lady had entreated that, beingherself so young, and her husband scarcely older, {p. 005} she mightcontinue to reside with her mother. [9] Lady Northumberland hadconsented; and the new-made bride remained at home till a rumour wentabroad that Edward was on the point of death, when she was told thatshe must remove to her father-in-law's house, till "God should callthe king to his mercy;" her presence would then be required at theTower, the king having appointed her to be the heir to the crown. 

 [Footnote 9: Baoardo--who tells the story as it was told by Lady Jane herself to Abbot Feckenham. ]

This was the first hint which she had received of the fortune whichwas in store for her. She believed it to be a jest, and took no noticeof the order to change her residence, till the Duchess ofNorthumberland came herself to fetch her. A violent scene ensued withLady Suffolk. At last the duchess brought in Guilford Dudley, whocommanded Lady Jane, on her allegiance as a wife, to return with him;and, "not choosing to be disobedient to her husband, " she consented. The duchess carried her off, and kept her for three or four days aprisoner. Afterwards she was taken to a house of the duke's atChelsea, where she remained till Sunday, the 9th of July, when amessage was brought that she was wanted immediately at Sion House, toreceive an order from the king. 

She went alone. There was no one at the palace when she arrived; butimmediately after Northumberland came, attended by Pembroke, Northampton, Huntingdon, and Arundel. The Earl of Pembroke, as heapproached, knelt to kiss her hand. Lady Northumberland and LadyNorthampton entered, and the duke, as President of the Council, roseto speak. 

"The king, " he said, "was no more. A godly life had been followed, asa consolation to their sorrows, by a godly end, and in leaving theworld he had not forgotten his duty to his subjects. His majesty hadprayed on his death-bed that Almighty God would protect the realm fromfalse opinions, and especially from his unworthy sister; he hadreflected that both the Lady Mary and the Lady Elizabeth had been cutoff by act of parliament from the succession as illegitimate;[10] theLady Mary had been disobedient to her father; she had been againdisobedient to her brother; she was a capital and principal enemy ofGod's word; and both she and her sister were bastards born; King Henrydid not intend that the crown should be worn by either of them; KingEdward, therefore, had, before his death, bequeathed {p. 006} it tohis cousin the Lady Jane; and, should the Lady Jane die withoutchildren, to her younger sister; and he had entreated the council, fortheir honours' sake and for the sake of the realm, to see that hiswill was observed. "

 [Footnote 10: La detta maestà haveva ben considerato un atto di Parliamento nel quale fu già deliberato che qualunque volesse riconoscere Maria overo Elizabetha sorelle per heredi della corona fusse tenuto traditore. --Baoardo. ]

Northumberland, as he concluded, dropped on his knees; the four lordsknelt with him, and, doing homage to the Lady Jane as queen, theyswore that they would keep their faith or lose their lives in herdefence. 

Lady Jane shook, covered her face with her hands, and fell fainting tothe ground. Her first simple grief was for Edward's death; she felt itas the loss of a dearly loved brother. The weight of her own fortunewas still more agitating; when she came to herself, she cried that itcould not be; the crown was not for her, she could not bear it--shewas not fit for it. Then, knowing nothing of the falsehoods whichNorthumberland had told her, she clasped her hands, and, in arevulsion of feeling, she prayed God that if the great place to whichshe was called was indeed justly hers, He would give her grace togovern for his service and for the welfare of his people. [11]

 [Footnote 11: Mr. John Gough Nichols, the accomplished editor of so many of the best publications of the Camden Society, throws a doubt on the authenticity of this scene, being unable to find contemporary authority for it. It comes to us, through Baoardo, from Lady Jane herself. ]

So passed Sunday, the 9th of July, at Sion House. In London, the hopeof first securing Mary being disappointed, the king's death had beenpublicly acknowledged; circulars were sent out to the sheriffs, mayors, and magistrates in the usual style, announcing the accessionof Queen Jane, and the troops were sworn man by man to the newsovereign. Sir William Petre and Sir John Cheke waited on theemperor's ambassador to express a hope that the alteration in thesuccession would not affect the good understanding between the courtsof England and Flanders. The preachers were set to work to pacify thecitizens; and, if Scheyfne is to be believed, a blood cement wasdesigned to strengthen the new throne; and Gardiner, the Duke ofNorfolk, and Lord Courtenay[12] were directed to prepare for death inthree days. [13] But Northumberland would scarcely have risked an actof gratuitous tyranny. Norfolk, being under attainder, might have beenput to death {p. 007} without violation of the _forms_ of law, bywarrant from the crown; but, Gardiner was uncondemned, and Courtenayhad never been accused of crime. 

 [Footnote 12: Edward Lord Courtenay was son of the executed Marquis of Exeter and great grandson of Edward IV. He was thrown into the Tower with his father when a little boy, and in that confinement, in fifteen years, he had grown to manhood. Of him and his fortunes all that need be said will unfold itself. ]

 [Footnote 13: Scheyfne to Charles V. , July 10: _MS. Rolls House_. ]

The next day, Monday, the 10th of July, the royal barges came down theThames from Richmond; and at three o'clock in the afternoon Lady Janelanded at the broad staircase at the Tower, as queen, in undesiredsplendour. A few scattered groups of spectators stood to watch thearrival; but it appeared, from their silence, that they had beenbrought together chiefly by curiosity. As the gates closed, theheralds-at-arms, with a company of the archers of the guard, rode intothe city, and at the cross in Cheapside, Paul's Cross, and FleetStreet they proclaimed "that the Lady Mary was unlawfully begotten, and that the Lady Jane Grey was queen. " The ill-humour of London wasno secret, and some demonstration had been looked for in Mary'sfavour;[14] but here, again, there was only silence. The heralds cried"God save the queen!" The archers waved their caps and cheered, butthe crowd looked on impassively. One youth only, Gilbert Potter, whosename for those few days passed into fame's trumpet, ventured toexclaim, "The Lady Mary has the better title. " Gilbert's master, one"Ninian Sanders, " denounced the boy to the guard, and he was seized. Yet a misfortune, thought to be providential, in a few hours befellNinian Sanders. Going home to his house down the river, in the Julyevening, he was overturned and drowned as he was shooting LondonBridge in his wherry; the boatmen, who were the instruments ofProvidence, escaped. 

 [Footnote 14: Noailles. ]

Nor did the party in the Tower rest their first night there withperfect satisfaction. In the evening messengers came in from theeastern counties with news of the Lady Mary, and with letters fromherself. She had written to Renard and Scheyfne to tell them that shewas in good hands, and for the moment was safe. She had proclaimedherself queen. She had sent addresses to the peers, commanding them ontheir allegiance to come to her; and she begged the ambassadors totell her instantly whether she might look for assistance fromFlanders; on the active support of the emperor, so far as she couldjudge, the movements of her friends would depend. 

The ambassadors sent a courier to Brussels for instructions; but, pending Charles's judgment to the contrary, they thought they hadbetter leave Mary's appeal unanswered till they could see how eventswould turn. There was one rumour current {p. 008} indeed that she hadfrom ten to fifteen thousand men with her; but this they could illbelieve. For themselves, they expected every hour to hear that she hadbeen taken by Lord Warwick and Lord Robert Dudley, who were gone inpursuit of her, and had been put to death. [15]

 [Footnote 15: Renard to Charles V. : _Papiers d'État du Cardinal Granvelle_, vol. Iv. ]

The lords who were with the new queen were not so confident. They werein late consultation with the Duchess of Northumberland and theDuchess of Suffolk, when, after nightfall, a letter was brought in tothem from Mary. The lords ordered the messenger into arrest. The sealof the packet was broken, and the letter read aloud. It was dated theday before, Sunday, July 9:--

"My lords, " wrote Mary, "we greet you well, and have received sureadvertisement that our deceased brother the king, our late SovereignLord, is departed to God's mercy; which news how they be woeful to ourheart He only knoweth to whose will and pleasure we must and do submitus and all our wills. But in this so lamentable a case that is, towit, now, after his majesty's departure and death, concerning thecrown and governance of this realm of England, that which hath beenprovided by act of parliament and the testament and last will of ourdearest father, you know--the realm and the whole world knoweth. Therolls and records appear, by the authority of the king our saidfather, and the king our said brother, and the subjects of this realm;so that we verily trust there is no true subject that can pretend tobe ignorant thereof; and of our part we have ourselves caused, and asGod shall aid and strengthen us, shall cause, our right and title inthis behalf to be published and proclaimed accordingly. 

"And, albeit, in this so weighty a matter, it seemeth strange that thedying of our said brother upon Thursday at night last past, wehitherto had no knowledge from you thereof; yet we consider yourwisdom and prudence to be such, that having eftsoons amongst youdebated, pondered, and well-weighed the present case, with our estate, with your own estate, the commonwealth, and all our honours, we shalland may conceive great hope and trust, with much assurance in yourloyalty and service; and therefore, for the time, we interpret andtake things not for the worst; and that ye yet will, like noblemen, work the best. Nevertheless, we are not ignorant of your consultationto undo the provisions made for our preferment, nor of the greatbanded provisions forcible whereunto ye be assembled {p. 009} andprepared, by whom and to what end God and you know; and nature canfear some evil. But be it that some consideration politic, orwhatsoever thing else, hath moved you thereunto; yet doubt ye not, mylords, but we can take all these your doings in gracious part, beingalso right ready to remit and also pardon the same, with that freelyto eschew bloodshed and vengeance against all those that can or willintend the same; trusting also assuredly you will take and accept thisgrace and virtue in good part as appertaineth, and that we shall notbe enforced to use the service of other our true subjects and friendswhich, in this our just and rightful cause, God, in whom our wholeaffiance is, shall send us. 

"Whereupon, my lords, we require and charge you, and every of you, onyour allegiance, which you owe to God and us, and to none other, thatfor our honour and the surety of our realm, only you will employyourselves; and forthwith, upon receipt hereof, cause our right andtitle to the crown and government of this realm to be proclaimed inour city of London, and such other places as to your wisdom shall seemgood, and as to this cause appertaineth, not failing hereof, as ourvery trust is in you; and this our letter, signed with our own hand, shall be your sufficient warrant. "[16]

 [Footnote 16: Holinshed. ]

The lords, when the letter was read to the end, looked uneasily ineach other's faces. The ladies screamed, sobbed, and were carried offin hysterics. There was yet time to turn back; and had the Reformationbeen, as he pretended, the true concern of the Duke of Northumberland, he would have brought Mary back himself, bound by conditions which, inher present danger, she would have accepted. But Northumberland caredas little for religion as for any other good thing. He was a greatcriminal, throwing a stake for a crown; and treason is too consciousof its guilt to believe retreat from the first step to be possible. 

Another blow was in store for him that night, before he laid his headupon his pillow. Lady Jane, knowing nothing of the letter from Mary, had retired to her apartment, when the Marquis of Winchester came into wish her joy. He had brought the crown with him, which she had notsent for; he desired her to put it on, and see if it requiredalteration. She said it would do very well as it was. He then told herthat, before her coronation, another crown was to be made for herhusband. Lady Jane started; and it seemed as if for the first time thedreary {p. 010} suspicion crossed her mind that she was, after all, but the puppet of the ambition of the duke to raise his family to thethrone. Winchester retired, and she sat indignant[17] till GuilfordDudley appeared, when she told him that, young as she was, she knewthat the crown of England was not a thing to be trifled with. Therewas no Dudley in Edward's will, and, before he could be crowned, theconsent of Parliament must be first asked and obtained. Theboy-husband went whining to his mother, while Jane sent for Arundeland Pembroke, and told them that it was not for her to appoint kings. She would make her husband a duke if he desired it; that was withinher prerogative; but king she would not make him. As she was speaking, the Duchess of Northumberland rushed in with her son, fresh from theagitation of Mary's letter. The mother stormed; Guilford cried like aspoilt child that he would be no duke, he would be a king: and, whenJane stood firm, the duchess bade him come away, and not share the bedof an ungrateful and disobedient wife. [18]

 [Footnote 17: Le quale parole io senti con mio gran dispiacere. --Baoardo. ]

 [Footnote 18: Baoardo. ]

The first experience of royalty had brought small pleasure with it. Dudley's kingship was set aside for the moment, and was soon forgottenin more alarming matters. To please his mother, or to pacify hisvanity, he was called "Your Grace. " He was allowed to preside in thecouncil, so long as a council remained, and he dined alone[19]--tinseldistinctions, for which the poor wretch had to pay dearly. 

 [Footnote 19: Se faisoit servir de mesme. --Renard to Charles V. : _MS. Rolls House_. ]

The next day (July 11) restored the conspirators to their courage. Noauthentic accounts came in of disturbances. London was still quiet; soquiet, that it was thought safe to nail Gilbert Potter by the ears inthe pillory, and after sufficient suffering, to slice them off with aknife. Lord Warwick and Lord Robert were still absent, and no news hadcome from them--a proof that they were still in pursuit. The duke madeup his mind that Mary was watching only for an opportunity to escapeto Flanders; and the ships in the river, with a thousand men-at-armson board them, were sent to watch the Essex coast, and to seize her, could they find opportunity. Meanwhile he himself penned a reply toher letter. "The Lady Jane, " he said, "by the antient laws of therealm, " and "by letters patent of the late king, " signed by himself, and countersigned by the nobility, was rightful queen of England. Thedivorce of Catherine of Arragon from Henry VIII. Had been prescribedby {p. 011} the laws of God, pronounced by the Church of England, andconfirmed by act of parliament; the daughter of Catherine was, therefore, illegitimate, and could not inherit; and the duke warnedher to forbear, at her peril, from molesting her lawful sovereign, orturning her people from their allegiance. If she would submit andaccept the position of a subject, she should receive every reasonableattention which it was in the power of the queen to show to her. 

During the day rumours of all kinds were flying, but Mary's friends inLondon saw no reasonable grounds for hope. Lord Robert was supposed byRenard[20] to be on his way to the Tower with the princess as hisprisoner; and if she was once within the Tower walls, all hope wasover. It was not till Wednesday morning (July 12) that the duke becamereally alarmed. Then at once, from all sides, messengers came in withunwelcome tidings. The Dudleys had come up with Mary the day before, as she was on her way from Keninghal to Framlingham. They had dashedforward upon her escort, but their own men turned sharp round, declared for the princess, and attempted to seize them; they had beensaved only by the speed of their horses. [21] In the false calm of thetwo preceding days, Lord Bath had stolen across the country intoNorfolk. Lord Mordaunt and Lord Wharton had sent their sons; SirWilliam Drury, Sir John Skelton, Sir Henry Bedingfield, and many more, had gone in the same direction. Lord Sussex had declared also forMary; and, worse than all, Lord Derby had risen in Cheshire, and wasreported to be marching south with twenty thousand men. [22] Scarcelywere these news digested, when Sir Edmund Peckham, cofferer of thehousehold, was found to have gone off with the treasure under hischarge. Sir Edward Hastings, Lord Huntingdon's brother, had called outthe musters of Buckinghamshire in Mary's name, and Peckham had joinedhim; while Sir Peter Carew, the very hope and stay of the westernProtestants, had proclaimed Mary in the towns of Devonshire. 

 [Footnote 20: Renard to Charles V. : _MS. Rolls House_. ]

 [Footnote 21: Ibid. ]

 [Footnote 22: _Queen Jane and Queen Mary. _ Renard to Charles V. ]

Now, when too late, it was seen how large an error had been committedin permitting the princess's escape. But it was vain to waste time inregrets. Her hasty levies, at best, could be but rudely armed; theduke had trained troops and cannon, and, had he been free to act, withno enemies but those in the field against him, he had still the bestof the game. But Suffolk and {p. 012} Northampton, the least able ofthe council, were, nevertheless, the only members of it on whom hecould rely. To whom but to himself could he trust the army which mustmeet Mary in the field? If he led the army in person, whom could heleave in charge of London, the Tower, and Lady Jane? Winchester andArundel knew his dilemma, and deliberately took advantage of it. Theguard, when first informed that they were to take the field, refusedto march. After a communication with the Marquis of Winchester, theywithdrew their objections, and professed themselves willing to go. Northumberland, uneasy at their conduct, or requiring a larger force, issued a proclamation offering tenpence a day to volunteers who wouldgo to bring in the Lady Mary. [23] The lists were soon filled, butfilled with the retainers and servants of his secret enemies. [24]

 [Footnote 23: _Grey Friars' Chronicle. _]

 [Footnote 24: "Ille impigre quidem, utpote cujus res agebatur, proponit magna stipendia; conducit militem partim invitum partim perfidum; constabant enim majori ex parte satellitia nobilium qui secreto Mariæ favebant. "--Julius Terentianus to John 'ab Ulmis: _Epistolæ Tigurinæ_, p. 243. ]

The men being thus collected, Suffolk was first thought of to leadthem, or else Lord Grey de Wilton;[25] but Suffolk was inefficient, and his daughter could not bring herself to part with him; Grey was agood soldier, but he had been a friend of Somerset, and the duke hadtried hard to involve him with Arundel and Paget in Somerset'sruin. [26] Northampton's truth could have been depended upon, butNorthampton four years before had been defeated by a mob of Norfolkpeasants. Northumberland, the council said, must go himself--"therewas no remedy. " No man, on all accounts, could be so fit as he; "hehad achieved the victory in Norfolk once already, and was so feared, that none durst lift their weapons against him:"[27] Suffolk in hisabsence should command the Tower. Had the duke dared, he would havedelayed; but every moment that he remained inactive added to Mary'sstrength, and whatever he did he must risk something. He resolved togo, and as the plot was thickening, he sent Sir Henry Dudley to Paristo entreat the king to protect Calais against Charles, should thelatter move upon it in his cousin's interest. 

 [Footnote 25: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 26: Ibid. ]

 [Footnote 27: _Chronicle of Queen Jane. _]

Noailles had assured him that this and larger favours would be grantedwithout difficulty; while, as neither Renard nor his companions had asyet acknowledged Lady Jane, and were notoriously in correspondencewith Mary, the French ambassador {p. 013} suggested also that hewould do wisely to take the initiative himself, to send Renard hispassports, and commit the country to war with the emperor. [28]Northumberland would not venture the full length to which Noaillesinvited him; but he sent Sir John Mason and Lord Cobham to Renard, with an intimation that the English treason laws were not to betrifled with. If he and his companions dared to meddle in matterswhich did not concern them, their privileges as ambassadors should notprotect them from extremity of punishment. [29]

 [Footnote 28: Noailles, vol. Ii. ]

 [Footnote 29: Ajoutant menace de la rigeur de leurs lois barbares. --Renard to Charles V. : _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. ]

Newmarket was chosen for the rendezvous of the army. The men were togo down in companies, in whatever way they could travel mostexpeditiously, with the guns and ammunition waggons. The duke himselfintended to set out on Friday at dawn. In his calculations of thechances, hope still predominated--his cannon would give him theadvantage in the field, and he trusted to the Protestant spirit inLondon to prevent a revolution in his absence. But he took theprecaution of making the council entangle themselves more completelyby taking out a commission under the Great Seal, as general of thearmy, which they were forced to sign; and before he left the Tower, hemade a parting appeal to their good faith. If he believed they wouldbetray him, he said, he could still provide for his own safety; but, as they were well aware that Lady Jane was on the throne by no will ofher own, but through his influence and theirs, so he trusted her totheir honours to keep the oaths which they had sworn. "They were allin the same guilt, " one of them answered; "none could excusethemselves. " Arundel especially wished the duke God speed upon hisway, and regretted only that he was not to accompany him to thefield. [30]

 [Footnote 30: _Chronicle of Queen Jane. _]

This was on Thursday evening. Northumberland slept that night atWhitehall. The following morning he rode out of London, accompanied byhis four sons, Northampton, Grey, and about six hundred men. Thestreets were thronged with spectators, but all observed the sameominous silence with which they had received the heralds'proclamation. "The people press to see us, " the duke said, "but notone saith God speed us. "[31]

 [Footnote 31: Ibid. ]

The principal conspirator was now out of the way; his own particularcreatures--Sir Thomas and Sir Henry Palmer, and {p. 014} Sir JohnGates, who had commanded the Tower guard, had gone with him. Northampton was gone. The young Dudleys were gone all but Guilford. Suffolk alone remained of the faction definitely attached to the duke;and the duke was marching to the destruction which they had preparedfor him. But prudence still warned those who were loyal to Mary towait before they declared themselves; the event was still uncertain;and the disposition of the Earl of Pembroke might not yet, perhaps, have been perfectly ascertained. 

Pembroke, in the black volume of appropriations, was the most deeplycompromised. Pembroke, in Wilts and Somerset, where his new lands lay, was hated for his oppression of the poor, and had much to fear from aCatholic sovereign, could a Catholic sovereign obtain the reality aswell as the name of power; Pembroke, so said Northumberland, had beenthe first to propose the conspiracy to him, while his eldest son hadmarried Catherine Grey. But, as Northumberland's designs began toripen, he had endeavoured to steal from the court; he was adistinguished soldier, yet he was never named to command the armywhich was to go against Mary; Lord Herbert's marriage was outward andnominal merely--a form, which had not yet become a reality, and neverdid. Although Pembroke was the first of the council to do homage toJane, Northumberland evidently doubted him. He was acting and wouldcontinue to act for his own personal interests only. With his vastestates and vast hereditary influence in South Wales and on theBorder, he could bring a larger force into the field than any othersingle nobleman in England; and he could purchase the securepossession of his acquisitions by a well-timed assistance to Mary asreadily as by lending his strength to buttress the throne of herrival. 

Of the rest of the council, Winchester and Arundel had signed theletters patent with a deliberate intention of deserting or betrayingNorthumberland, whenever a chance should present itself, and ofcarrying on their secret measures in Mary's favour[32] {p. 015} withgreater security. The other noblemen in the Tower perhaps imperfectlyunderstood each other. Cranmer had taken part unwillingly with LadyJane; but he meant to keep his promise, having once given it. Bedfordhad opposed the duke up to the signature, and might be supposed toadhere to his original opinion; but he was most likely hesitating, while Lord Russell had been trusted with the command of the garrisonat Windsor. Sir Thomas Cheyne and Shrewsbury might be counted amongMary's friends; the latter certainly. Of the three secretaries, Cecil's opposition had put his life in jeopardy; Petre was the friendand confidant of Paget, and would act as Paget should advise; Cheke, afeeble enthusiast, was committed to the duke. 

 [Footnote 32: "Aliqui subscripserunt, id quod postea compertum est, ut facilius fallerent Northumbrum, cujus consilio hæc omnia videbant fieri et tegerent conspirationem quam adornabant in auxilium Mariæ. "--Julius Terentianus to John ab Ulmis: _Epistolæ Tigurinæ_, p. 242. John Knox allowed his vehemence to carry him too far against the Marquis of Winchester, who unquestionably was not one of those who advised the scheme of Northumberland. In the "aliqui" of Julius Terentianus, the letters of Renard, of Scheyfne, enable us to identify both him and Arundel; but there must have been many more, in the council or out of it, who were acting in concert with them. ]

The task of bringing the council together was undertaken by Cecil. Cecil and Winchester worked on Bedford; and Bedford made himselfresponsible for his son, for the troops at Windsor, and generally forthe western counties. The first important step was to readmit Paget tothe council. Fresh risings were reported in Northamptonshire andLincolnshire;[33] Sir John Williams was proclaiming Mary round Oxford;and on Friday night or Saturday morning (July 15) news came from thefleet which might be considered decisive as to the duke's prospects. The vessels, so carefully equipped, which left the Thames on the 12th, had been driven into Yarmouth Harbour by stress of weather. Sir HenryJerningham was in the town raising men for Mary; and knowing that thecrews had been pressed, and that there had been desertions among thetroops before they were embarked, [34] he ventured boldly among theships. "Do you want our captains?" some one said to him. "Yea, marry, "was the answer. "Then they shall go with you, " the men shouted, "orthey shall go to the bottom. " Officers, sailors, troops, all declaredfor Queen Mary, and landed with their arms and artillery. The reportwas borne upon the winds; it was known in a few hours in London; itwas known in the duke's army, which was now close to Cambridge, andwas the signal for the premeditated mutiny. "The noblemen's tenantsrefused to serve their lords against Queen Mary. "[35] Northumberlandsent a courier at full speed to the council for reinforcements. Thecourier returned "with but a slender answer. "[36]

 [Footnote 33: Cecil's Submission, printed by Tytler, vol. Ii. ]

 [Footnote 34: Scheyfne to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 35: _Chronicle of Queen Jane. _]

 [Footnote 36: Ibid. ]

The lords in London, however, were still under the eyes of the Towergarrison, who watched them narrowly. Their first {p. 016} meeting toform their plans was within the Tower walls, and Arundel said "heliked not the air. "[37] Pembroke and Cheyne attempted to escape, butfailed to evade the guard; Winchester made an excuse to go to his ownhouse, but he was sent for and brought back at midnight. Though Marymight succeed, they might still lose their own lives, which they wereinclined to value. 

 [Footnote 37: Cecil's Submission: Tytler, vol. Ii. ]

On Sunday, the 16th, the preachers again exerted themselves. Ridleyshrieked against Mary at Paul's Cross;[38] John Knox, more wisely, atAmersham, in Buckinghamshire, foretold the approaching retributionfrom the giddy ways of the past years; Buckinghamshire, Catholic andProtestant, was arming to the teeth; and he was speaking at the perilof his life among the troopers of Sir Edward Hastings. 

 [Footnote 38: Stow. ]

"Oh England!" cried the saddened Reformer, "now is God's wrath kindledagainst thee--now hath he begun to punish as he hath threatened by histrue prophets and messengers. He hath taken from thee the crown of thyglory, and hath left thee without honour, and this appeareth to beonly the beginning of sorrows. The heart, the tongue, the hand of oneEnglishman is bent against another, and division is in the realm, which is a sign of desolation to come. Oh, England, England! if thymariners and thy governors shall consume one another, shalt not thousuffer shipwreck? Oh England, alas! these plagues are poured upon theebecause thou wouldst not know the time of thy most gentlevisitation. "[39]

 [Footnote 39: Account of a Sermon at Amersham: _Admonition to the Faithful in England_, by John Knox. ]

At Cambridge, on the same day, another notable man preached--EdwinSandys, then Protestant Vice-Chancellor of the University, andafterwards Archbishop of York. Northumberland the preceding eveningbrought his mutinous troops into the town. He sent for Parker, Lever, Bill, and Sandys to sup with him, and told them he required theirprayers, or he and his friends were like to be "made deacons of. "[40]Sandys, the vice-chancellor, must address the university the nextmorning from the pulpit. 

 [Footnote 40: Some jest, perhaps, upon a shorn crown; at any rate, a euphemism for decapitation; for Foxe, who tells the story, says, "and even so it came to pass, for he and Sir John Gates, who was then at table, were made deacons ere it was long after on the Tower Hill. "--Foxe, vol. Viii. P. 590. ]

Sandys rose at three o'clock in the summer twilight, took his Bible, and prayed with closed eyes that he might open at a {p. 017} fittingtext. His eyes, when he lifted them, were resting on the 16th of the1st of Joshua: "The people answered Joshua, saying, All thoucommandest us we will do; and whithersoever thou sendest us we willgo; according as we hearkened unto Moses, so will we hearken untothee, only the Lord thy God be with thee as he was with Moses. "

The application was obvious. Edward was Moses, the duke was Joshua;and if a sermon could have saved the cause, Lady Jane would have beensecure upon her throne. [41]

 [Footnote 41: Foxe, vol. Viii. P. 590. ]

But the comparison, if it held at all, held only in its leastagreeable features. The deliverers of England from the Egyptianbondage of the Papacy had led the people out into a wilderness wherethe manna had been stolen by the leaders, and there were no tokens ofa promised land. To the universities the Reformation had brought withit desolation. To the people of England it had brought misery andwant. The once open hand was closed; the once open heart was hardened;the ancient loyalty of man to man was exchanged for the scuffling ofselfishness; the change of faith had brought with it no increase offreedom, and less of charity. The prisons were crowded, as before, with sufferers for opinion, and the creed of a thousand years was madea crime by a doctrine of yesterday; monks and nuns wandered by hedgeand highway, as missionaries of discontent, and pointed with bittereffect to the fruits of the new belief, which had been crimsoned inthe blood of thousands of English peasants. The English people werenot yet so much in love with wretchedness that they would set asidefor the sake of it a princess whose injuries pleaded for her, whosetitle was affirmed by act of parliament. In the tyranny under whichthe nation was groaning, the moderate men of all creeds looked to theaccession of Mary as to the rolling away of some bad black nightmare. 

On Monday Northumberland made another effort to move forward. Histroops followed him as far as Bury, and then informed him decisivelythat they would not bear arms against their lawful sovereign. He fellback on Cambridge, and again wrote to London for help. As a lastresource, Sir Andrew Dudley, instructed, it is likely, by his brother, gathered up a hundred thousand crowns' worth of plate and jewels fromthe treasury in the Tower, and started for France to interestHenry--to bribe him, it was said, by a promise of Guisnes andCalais--to send an army into England. [42] The duke foresaw, and dared{p. 018} the indignation of the people; but he had left himself nochoice except between treason to the country or now inevitabledestruction. [43] When he called in the help of France he must haveknown well that his ally, with a successful army in England, wouldprevent indeed the accession of Mary Tudor, but as surely would tearin pieces the paper title of the present queen and snatch the crownfor his own Mary, the Queen of Scots, and the bride of the Dauphin. 

 [Footnote 42: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 43: La peine où se retreuve ledict due est qu'il ne se ose fier en personne, pour n'avoir faict où donné occasion à personne de l'aimer, --que a meu envoyer en France le Millor Dudley son frère, pour l'assurer du secours que luy a esté promis par le roy de France, et le prier en faire demonstration pour intimider ceulx de par deça. Car encores qu'il entende qu'il dégoustera davantage ceulx du pays pour y amener François, si est ce craignant d'estre rebouté de son emprinse, et d'estre massacré du peuple et sa generation, et que ma dicte dame Marie ne parvienne à la couronne, il ne respectera chose quelconque: plustôt donnera il pied aux François ou peys: tel est le couraige d'ung homme tiran, obstiné, et resolu, signamment quant il est question de se démesurer pour regner. --Renard to Charles V. : _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 38. ]

But the council was too quick for Dudley. A secret messenger followedor attended him to Calais, where he was arrested, the treasurerecovered, and his despatches taken from him. 

The counter-revolution could now be accomplished without bloodshed andwithout longer delay. On Wednesday the 19th July word came that theEarl of Oxford had joined Mary. A letter was written to Lord Richadmonishing him not to follow Oxford's example, but to remain true toQueen Jane, which the council were required to sign. Had they refused, they would probably have been massacred. [44] Towards the middle of theday, Winchester, Arundel, Pembroke, Shrewsbury, Bedford, Cheyne, Paget, Mason, and Petre found means of passing the gates, and madetheir way to Baynard's Castle, [45] where they sent for the mayor, thealdermen, and other great persons of the city. When they were allassembled, Arundel was the first to speak. 

 [Footnote 44: The letter is among the _Lansdowne MSS. _ It is in the hand of Sir John Cheke, and dated July 19. The signatures are Cranmer, Goodrich, Winchester, Bedford, Suffolk, Arundel, Shrewsbury, Pembroke, Darcy, Paget, Cheyne, Cotton, Petre, Cheke, Baker, Bowes. ]

 [Footnote 45: Fronting the river, about three-quarters of a mile above London Bridge. The original castle of Baynard the Norman had fallen into ruins at the end of the fifteenth century. Henry VII. Built a palace on the site of it, which retained the name. ]

The country, he said, was on the brink of civil war, and if theycontinued to support the pretensions of Lady Jane Grey to the crown, civil war would inevitably break out. In a few more days or weeks thechild would be in arms against the {p. 019} father, the brotheragainst the brother; the quarrels of religion would add fury to thestruggle; the French would interfere on one side, the Spaniards on theother, and in such a conflict the triumph of either party would bealmost equally injurious to the honour, unity, freedom, and happinessof England. The friends of the commonwealth, in the face of sotremendous a danger, would not obstinately persist in encouraging thepretensions of a faction. It was for them where they sate to decide ifthere should be peace or war, and he implored them, for the sake ofthe country, to restore the crown to her who was their lawfulsovereign. 

Pembroke rose next. The words of Lord Arundel, he said, were true andgood, and not to be gainsaid. What others thought he knew not; forhimself, he was so convinced, that he would fight in the quarrel withany man; and if words are not enough, he cried, flashing his sword outof the scabbard, "this blade shall make Mary Queen, or I will lose mylife. "[46]

 [Footnote 46: E quando le persuasioni del conte d'Arundel non habiano luogo appresso di voi, o questa spada farà Reina Maria, o perderò io la vita. --Baoardo. ]

Not a voice was raised for the Twelfth-day Queen, as Lady Jane wastermed, in scornful pity, by Noailles. Some few persons thought that, before they took a decisive step, they should send notice toNorthumberland, and give him time to secure his pardon. But it washeld to be a needless stretch of consideration; Shrewsbury and Masonhastened off to communicate with Renard;[47] while a hundred and fiftymen were marched directly to the Tower gates, and the keys weredemanded in the queen's name. 

 [Footnote 47: Renard had been prepared, by a singular notice, to expect their coming, and to suspect their good faith. Ce matin, he wrote, relating the counter-revolution to the Emperor; ce matin, à bonne heure, il y a venu une vieille femme de soixante ans en nostre logis pour nous advertir que l'on deust faire sçavoir à madicte dame Marie qu'elle se donna garde de ceulx de conseil car its la vouloient tromper soubz couleur de luy monstrer affection. --_Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. ]

It is said that Suffolk was unprepared: but the goodness of his heartand the weakness of his mind alike saved him from attempting a uselessresistance: the gates were opened, and the unhappy father rushed tohis daughter's room. He clutched at the canopy under which she wassitting, and tore it down; she was no longer queen, he said, and suchdistinctions were not for one of her station. He then told her brieflyof the revolt of the council. She replied that his present words weremore welcome to her than those in which he had advised her to accept{p. 020} the crown;[48] her reign being at an end, she askedinnocently if she might leave the Tower and go home. [49] But the Towerwas a place not easy to leave, save by one route too often travelled. 

 [Footnote 48: Baoardo to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 49: Narrative of Edward Underhill: _Harleian MSS. _ 425. ]

Meanwhile the lords, with the mayor and the heralds, went to the Crossat Cheapside to proclaim Mary Queen. Pembroke himself stood out toread; and this time there was no reason to complain of a silentaudience. He could utter but one sentence before his voice was lost inthe shout of joy which thundered into the air. "God save the queen, ""God save the queen, " rung out from tens of thousands of throats. "Godsave the queen, " cried Pembroke himself, when he had done, and flungup his jewelled cap and tossed his purse among the crowd. The gladnews spread like lightning through London, and the pent-up hearts ofthe citizens poured themselves out in a torrent of exultation. Abovethe human cries, the long-silent church-bells clashed again into life;first began St. Paul's, where happy chance had saved them fromdestruction; then, one by one, every peal which had been spared caughtup the sound; and through the summer evening and the summer night, andall the next day, the metal tongues from tower and steeple gave voiceto England's gladness. The lords, surrounded by the shoutingmultitude, walked in state to St. Paul's, where the choir again sang aTe Deum, and the unused organ rolled out once more its mighty volumeof music. As they came out again, at the close of the service, theapprentices were heaping piles of wood for bonfires at the cross-ways. The citizens were spreading tables in the streets, which their wiveswere loading with fattest capons and choicest wines; there was freefeasting for all comers; and social jealousies, religious hatreds, were forgotten for the moment in the ecstasy of the common delight. Even the retainers of the Dudleys, in fear or joy, tore their badgesout of their caps, and trampled on them. [50]

 [Footnote 50: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _ All authorities agree in the general description of the state of London. Renard, Noailles, and Baoardo are the most explicit and interesting. ]

At a night session of the council, a letter was written toNorthumberland, which Cranmer, Suffolk, and Sir John Cheke consentedto sign, ordering him in the name of Queen Mary to lay down his arms. If he complied, the lords undertook to intercede for his pardon. If herefused, they said that they {p. 021} would hold him as a traitor, andspend their lives in the field against him. [51]

 [Footnote 51: This letter is among the _Tanner MSS. _ in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. It was printed by Stowe. ]

While a pursuivant bore the commands of the council to the duke, Arundel and Paget undertook to carry to Mary at Framlingham theirpetition for forgiveness, in which they declared that they had beeninnocent at heart of any share in the conspiracy, [52] and had onlydelayed coming forward in her favour from a desire to preventbloodshed. 

 [Footnote 52: "Our bounden duties most humbly remembered to your excellent Majesty. It may like the same to understand, that we, your most humble, faithful, and obedient subjects, having always, God we take to witness, remained your Highness's true and humble subjects in our hearts, ever since the death of our late Sovereign Lord and master your Highness's brother, whom God pardon, and seeing hitherto no possibility to utter our determination without great destruction and bloodshed, both of ourselves and others, till this time, have this day proclaimed in your city of London your Majesty to be our true natural sovereign liege Lady and Queen; most humbly beseeching your Majesty to pardon and remit our former infirmities, and most graciously to accept our meanings, which have been ever to serve your Highness truly, and so shall remain with all our power and force, to the effusion of our blood, as these bearers, our very good Lords, the Earls of Arundel and Paget, can, and be ready more particularly to declare--to whom it may please your excellent Majesty to give firm credence; and thus we do and shall daily pray to Almighty God for the preservation of your most royal person long to reign over us. "--_Lansdowne MSS. _ 3. Endorsed, in Cecil's hand, "Copy of the Letter of the Lords to the Queen Mary from Baynard's Castle. " The signatures are, unfortunately, wanting. ]

The two lords immediately mounted and galloped off into the darkness, followed by thirty horse, leaving the lights of illuminated Londongleaming behind them. 

The duke's position was already desperate: on the 18th, before theproclamation in London, Mary had felt herself strong enough to sendorders to the Mayor of Cambridge for his arrest;[53] and, although hehad as yet been personally unmolested, he was powerless in the midstof an army which was virtually in Mary's service. The news of therevolution in London first reached him by a private hand. He at oncesent for Sandys, and, going with him to the market cross, he declared, after one violent clutch at his beard, that he had acted under ordersfrom the council; the council, he understood, had changed their minds, and he would change his mind also; therefore he cried, "God save QueenMary, " and with a strained effort at a show of satisfaction, he, too, like Pembroke, threw up his cap. The queen, he said to Sandys, was amerciful woman, and there would be a general pardon. "Though the queengrant you a {p. 022} pardon, " Sandys answered, "the lords never will;you can hope nothing from those who now rule. "[54]

 [Footnote 53: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 54: Foxe, vol. Viii. ]

It was true that he could hope nothing--the hatred of the wholenation, which before his late treasons he had brought upon himself, would clamour to the very heavens for judgment against him. An hourafter the proclamation of Mary (July 20), Rouge-cross herald arrivedwith the lords' letter from London. An order at the same time was readto the troops informing them that they were no longer under the duke'scommand, and an alderman of the town then ventured to execute thequeen's warrant for his arrest. Northumberland was given in charge toa guard of his own soldiers; he protested, however, that the councilhad sent no instructions for his detention; and in some uncertainty, or perhaps in compassion for his fate, the soldiers obeyed him oncemore, and let him go. It was then night. He intended to fly; but heput it off till the morning, and in the morning his chance was gone. Before he could leave his room he found himself face to face withArundel, who, after delivering the council's letter to the queen, hadhastened to Cambridge to secure him. 

Northumberland, who, while innocent of crime, had faced death on landand sea like a soldier and a gentleman, flung himself at the earl'sfeet. "Be good to me, for the love of God, " he cried; "consider I havedone nothing but by the consent of you and the council. " He knew whatkind of consent he had extorted from the council. "My lord, " saidArundel, "I am sent thither by the Queen's Majesty; and in her name Ido arrest you. "--"I obey, my lord, " the duke replied; "yet show memercy, knowing the case as it is. "--"My lord, " was the cold answer, "you should have sought for mercy sooner; I must do according to mycommandment. "[55]

 [Footnote 55: Holinshed. ]

At the same moment Sandys was paying the penalty for his sermon. Theuniversity, in haste to purge itself of its heretical elements, metsoon after sunrise to depose their vice-chancellor. Dr. Sandys, whohad gone for an early stroll among the meadows to meditate on hisposition, hearing the congregation-bell ringing, resolved, like abrave man, to front his fortune; he walked to the senate-house, entered, and took his seat. "A rabble of Papists" instantly surroundedhim. He tried to speak, but the masters of arts shouted "Traitor;"rough hands shook or dragged him from his chair: and the impatienttheologian, in sudden heat, drew his dagger, and "would have done amischief {p. 023} with it, " had not some of his friends disarmedhim. [56] He, too, was handed over to a guard, lashed to the back of alame horse, and carried to London. 

 [Footnote 56: Foxe, vol. Viii. Pp. 591-2. ]

Mary, meanwhile, notwithstanding the revolution in her favour, remained a few more days at Framlingham, either suspicious oftreachery or uncertain whether there might not be another change. Butshe was assured rapidly that the danger was at an end by the hastewith which the lords and gentlemen who were compromised sought theirpardon at her feet. On the 21st and 22nd Clinton, Grey, Fitzgerald, Ormond, Fitzwarren, Sir Henry Sidney, and Sir James Crofts presentedthemselves and received forgiveness. Cecil wrote, explaining hissecret services, and was taken into favour. Lord Robert and LordAmbrose Dudley, Northampton and a hundred other gentlemen--Sir ThomasWyatt among them--who had accompanied the duke to Bury, were not sofortunate. The queen would not see them, and they were left underarrest. Ridley set out for Norfolk, also, to confess his offences;but, before he arrived at the court, he was met by a warrant for hiscapture, and carried back a prisoner to the Tower. 

The conspiracy was crushed, and crushed, happily, without bloodshed. The inquiry into its origin, and the punishment of the guilty, couldbe carried out at leisure. There was one matter, however, whichadmitted of no delay. Mary's first anxiety, on feeling her crownsecure, was the burial of her dead brother, who, through all thesescenes, was still lying in his bed in his room at Greenwich. In herfirst letter to the Imperial ambassadors, the day after the arrival ofArundel and Paget at the court, she spoke of this as her greatestcare; to their infinite alarm, she announced her intention ofinaugurating her reign with Requiem and Dirige, and a mass for therepose of his soul. 

Their uneasiness requires explanation. 

While on matters of religion there was in England almost every varietyof opinion, there was a very general consent that the queen should notmarry a foreigner. The dread that Mary might form a connection withsome continental prince, had formed the strongest element inNorthumberland's cause; all the Catholics, except the insignificantfaction who desired the restoration of the Papal authority, [57] allthe moderate Protestants, {p. 024} wished well to her, but wished tosee her married to some English nobleman; and, while her accession wasstill uncertain, the general opinion had already fixed upon a husbandfor her in the person of her cousin Edward Courtenay, the imprisonedson of the Marquis of Exeter. The interest of the public in the longconfinement of this young nobleman had invested him with all imaginarygraces of mind and body. He was the grandchild of a Plantagenet, and arepresentative of the White Rose. He had suffered from the tyranny, and was supposed to have narrowly escaped murder at the hands of theman whom all England most hated. Nature, birth, circumstances, allseemed to point to him as the king-consort of the realm. [58] Theemperor had thought of Mary for his son; and it has been seen that thefear of such an alliance induced the French to support Northumberland. To prevent the injury which the report, if credited in England, wouldhave done to her cause, Mary, on her first flight to Keninghal, empowered Renard to assure the council that she had no thought at allof marrying a stranger. The emperor and the bishop of Arras, inassuring Sir Philip Hoby that the French intended to strike for theQueen of Scots, declared that, for themselves they wished only to seethe queen settled in her own realm, as her subjects desired; andespecially they would prevent her either from attempting innovationsin religion without their consent, or from marrying against theirapprobation. [59]

 [Footnote 57: I must again remind my readers of the distinction between Catholic and Papist. Three-quarters of the English people were Catholics; that is, they were attached to the hereditary and traditionary doctrines of the Church. They detested, as cordially as the Protestants, the interference of a foreign power, whether secular or spiritual, with English liberty. ]

 [Footnote 58: "Adversity is a good thing. I trust in the Lord to live to see the day her Grace to marry such an one as knoweth what adversity meaneth; so shall we have both a merciful queen and king to their subjects; and would to God I might live to have another virtuous Edward. "--Epistle of Poor Pratt to Gilbert Potter, written July 13: _Queen Jane and Queen Mary_, Appendix, p. 116. The occasion of this curious epistle was the punishment of Gilbert on the pillory. The writer was a Protestant, and evidently thought the Reformation in greater danger from Northumberland than Mary. "We have had many prophets and true preachers, " he said, "which did declare that our king shall be taken away from us, and a tyrant shall reign. The gospel shall be plucked away, and the right heir shall be dispossessed; and all for our unthankfulness. And, thinkest thou not, Gilbert, this world is now come? Yea! truly! and what shall follow, if we repent not in time? The same God will take from us the virtuous Lady Mary our lawful Queen, and send such a cruel Pharaoh as the Ragged Bear to rule us, which shall pull and poll us, and utterly destroy us, and bring us in great calamities and miseries. "]

 [Footnote 59: _MS. Harleian_, 523. ]

But the emperor's disinterestedness was only the result of hisdespondency. While the crisis lasted, neither Charles nor Henry ofFrance saw their way to a distinct course of action. Charles, on the20th of July, ignorant of the events in London, {p. 025} had writtento Renard, despairing of Mary's success. Jane Grey he would notrecognise; the Queen of Scots, he thought, would shortly be on theEnglish throne. Henry, considering, at any rate, that he might catchsomething in troubled waters, volunteered to Lord William Howard, [60]in professed compliance with the demands of Northumberland, togarrison Guisnes and Calais for him. Howard replied that the Frenchmight come to Calais if they desired, but their reception might not beto their taste. [61] The revolution of the 19th altered the aspect ofthe situation both at the courts of Paris and of Brussels. Theaccession of Mary would be no injury to France, provided she could bemarried in England; and Henry at once instructed Noailles tocongratulate the council on her accession. Noailles himself indeedconsidered, that, should she take Courtenay for a husband, the changemight, after all, be to their advantage. The emperor, on the otherhand, began to think again of his original scheme. Knowing that theEnglish were sincere in their detestation of the Papacy, andimperfectly comprehending the insular distinction between generalattachment to Catholic tradition and indifference to Catholic unity, he supposed that the country really was, on the whole, determined inits adherence to the reformed opinions. But the political alliance wasstill of infinite importance to him; and therefore he was anxiousbeyond everything that the princess whom he intended to persuade tobreak her word about her marriage should be discreet and conciliatoryabout religion. He lost not a moment, after hearing that she wasproclaimed queen, in sending her his congratulations; but he sent withthem an earnest admonition to be cautious; to be content with the freeexercise for herself of her own creed, to take no step whateverwithout the sanction of parliament, and to listen to no one who wouldadvise her, of her own authority, to set aside the Act of Uniformity. Her first duty was to provide for the quiet of the realm; and she mustendeavour, by prudence and moderation, to give reasonable satisfactionto her subjects of all opinions. Above all things, let her remember tobe a good Englishwoman (_bonne Anglaise_). [62]

 [Footnote 60: Governor of Calais. ]

 [Footnote 61: Noailles. ]

 [Footnote 62: Charles V. To Renard, July 22: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. ]

It was, in consequence, with no light anxiety that Renard learnt fromMary her intention of commencing her reign with an act which was sofar at variance with the emperor's advice, and which would at oncedisplay the colours of a party. To give the late king a public funeralwith a ceremonial forbidden {p. 026} by the law, would be a strain ofthe prerogative which could not fail to create jealousy even amongthose to whom the difference between a Latin mass and an Englishservice was not absolutely vital; and the judicious latitudinarianismto which the lay statesmen of the better sort were inclining, wouldmake them dread the appearance of a disposition that would encouragethe revolutionists. She owed her crown to the Protestants as well asto the Catholics. If she broke the law to please the prejudices of thelatter, Renard was warned that her present popularity would not be oflong continuance. [63]

 [Footnote 63: Elle sera odieuse, suspecte, et dangereuse. --Renard to the Emperor: _Rolls House MSS. _]

Yet, as the ambassador trembled to know, a carelessness ofconsequences and an obstinate perseverance in a course which shebelieved to be right were the principal features in Mary's character. He wrote to her while she was still at Framlingham, using everyargument which ought, as he considered, to prevail. He reminded her ofthe long and unavailing struggle of the emperor to bring back Germanyout of heresy, where the obstinacy of the Romanists had been asmischievous to him as the fanaticism of the Lutherans. "Her duty toGod was of course the first thing to be considered; but at such a timeprudence was a part of that duty. The Protestant heresies had taken ahold deep and powerful upon her subjects. In London alone there werefifteen thousand French, Flemish, and German refugees, most of themheadstrong and ungovernable enthusiasts. The country dreaded any freshconvulsions, and her majesty should remember that she had instructedhim to tell the council that she was suspected unjustly, and had nothought of interfering with the existing settlement of the realm. "[64]

 [Footnote 64: Renard to Queen Mary, copy enclosed to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

With all his efforts, however, Renard could but bring the queen toconsent to a few days' delay; and fearing that she would return to herpurpose, he sent to the emperor a copy of his letter, which he urgedhim to follow up. Charles on the 29th replied again, lauding theambassador's caution, and suggesting an argument more likely to weighwith his cousin than the soundest considerations of public policy. Edward had lived and died in heresy, and the Catholic services wereintended only for the faithful sons of the Church. [65] He desired{p. 027} Renard to remind her that those who had been her mostvaluable friends were known to hold opinions far from orthodox; and heonce more implored her to be guided by parliament, and to take carethat the parliament was free. She had asked whether she should imitateNorthumberland and nominate the members of the House of Commons. Hecautioned her against so dangerous an example; he advised her to letthe counties and towns send deputies of their own choice; and if thewrits were sent into Cornwall and the northern counties, which hadremained most constant to the Catholic religion, these places might beexpected to return persons who would support her own sentiments. [66]

 [Footnote 65: Vous avez tres bien faict de desconseillier à la dicte Royne qu'elle fist les obsèques du feu Roy, ce qu'elle peult tant plus delaisser avecque le repos de sa conscience, puisque comme escripvez il est décedé soustenant jusques à la fin, selon, qu'il avoit esté persuadé de depuis sa jeunesse, les opinions de desvoyez de nostre ancienne religion: par ou l'on ne peult sans scrupule luy faire l'enterrement et obsèques accoustumez en nostre dicte religion. Et est bien que l'ayez persuadé par vostre dicte lettre à la dicte dilation. --Charles V. To Renard, July 29: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. ]

 [Footnote 66: Et il seroit a esperer que y appellant ceulx du Noort et de Cornuailles avec les autres comme ce sont ceulx qui sont demeurez plus ferme en la religion, et qui ont démonstré plus d'affection en son endroit qu'elle trouveroit envers iceulx pour tout ce qu'elle vouldroit ordonner plus de faveur. --Ibid. ]

If the emperor had been equally earnest in urging Mary to consult thewishes of her subjects on her marriage, he would have been a truerfriend to her than he proved to be. But prudential arguments producedno effect on the eager queen; Renard had warned her not to resistNorthumberland; she had acted on her own judgment, and Northumberlandwas a prisoner, and she was on the throne. By her own will she wasconfident that she could equally well restore the mass, and in goodtime the pope's authority. The religious objection to the funeral wasmore telling, and on this point she hesitated. Meantime she began tomove slowly towards London, and at the end of the month the reachedher old house of Newhall in Essex, where she rested till thepreparations were complete for her entry into the city. 

The first point on which she had now to make up her mind concerned thepersons with whom she was to carry on the government. The emperor wasagain clear in his advice, which here she found herself obliged tofollow. She was forced to leave undisturbed in their authorities suchof her brother's late ministers as had contributed to the revolutionin her favour. Derby, Sussex, Bath, Oxford, who had hurried to hersupport at Framlingham, were her loyal subjects, whom she could affordto neglect, because she could depend upon their fidelity. Pembroke andWinchester, Arundel and Shrewsbury, Bedford, {p. 028} Cobham, Cheyne, Petre, too powerful to affront, too uncertain to be trusted assubjects, she could only attach to herself by maintaining in theiroffices and emoluments. She would restore the Duke of Norfolk to thecouncil; Gardiner should hold office again; and she could rely on thegood faith of Paget, the ablest, as well as the most honest, of allthe professional statesmen. But Norfolk was old, and thelatitudinarian Paget and the bigoted Gardiner bore each other no goodwill; so that, when the queen had leisure to contemplate her position, it did not promise to be an easy one. She would have to govern withthe assistance of men who were gorged with the spoils of the church, suspected of heresy, and at best indifferent to religion. 

In Mary's absence, the lords in London carried on the government asthey could on their own responsibility. On the 21st Courtenay wasreleased from the Tower. Gardiner was offered liberty, but he waitedto accept it from the queen's own hand. He rejoined the council, however, and on the first or second day of his return to the board, heagitated their deliberations by requiring the restoration of his housein Southwark, which had been appropriated to the Marquis ofNorthampton, and by reminding Pembroke that he was in possession ofestates which had been stolen from the See of Winchester. 

On the 25th Northumberland and Lord Ambrose Dudley were brought infrom Cambridge, escorted by Grey and Arundel, with four hundred of theguard. Detachments of troops were posted all along the streets fromBishopsgate, where the duke would enter, to the Tower, to prevent themob from tearing him in pieces. It was but twelve days since he hadridden out from that gate in the splendour of his power; he was nowassailed from all sides with yells and execrations; bareheaded, withcap in hand, he bowed to the crowd as he rode on, as if to win somecompassion from them; but so recent a humility could find no favour. His scarlet cloak was plucked from his back; the only sounds whichgreeted his ears were, "Traitor, traitor, death to the traitor!" Hehid his face, sick at heart with shame, and Lord Ambrose, at the gateof the Tower, was seen to burst into tears. [67] Edwin Sandys, Northampton, Ridley, Lord Robert Dudley, the offending judges Cholmleyand Montague, with many others, followed in the few next days. Montague had protested to the queen that he had acted only undercompulsion, but his excuses were not fully received. LadyNorthumberland {p. 029} went to Newhall to beg for mercy for hersons, but Mary refused to admit her. [68]

 [Footnote 67: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _ Baoardo. _Grey Friars' Chronicle. _]

 [Footnote 68: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

In general, however, there was no desire to press hard upon theprisoners. Few had been guilty in the first degree; in the seconddegree so many were guilty, that all could not be punished, and tomake exceptions would be unjust and invidious. The emperor recommendeda general pardon, from which the principal offenders only should beexcluded, and Mary herself was as little inclined to harshness. Herpresent desire was to forget all that had passed, and take possessionof her power for the objects nearest to her heart. Her chiefembarrassment for the moment was from the overloyalty of her subjects. The old-fashioned lords and country gentlemen who had attended herwith their retainers from Norfolk, remained encamped round Newhall, unable to persuade themselves that they could leave her with safety inthe midst of the men who had been the ministers of the usurpation. [69]

 [Footnote 69: Ibid. ]

Her closest confidence the queen reserved for Renard. On the 28th ofJuly she sent for him at midnight. On the 2nd of August he was againwith her, and the chief subject of her thoughts was still the funeral. "She could not have her brother committed to the ground like a dog, "she said. While her fortunes were uncertain, she allowed Renard topromise for her that she would make no changes in religion, but "shehad now told the lords distinctly that she would not recognise any ofthe laws which had been passed in the minority, [70] and she intendedto act boldly; timidity would only encourage the people to beinsolent;" "the lords were all quarrelling among themselves, andaccusing one another; she could not learn the truth on any point ofthe late conspiracy; she did not know who were guilty or who wereinnocent; and, amidst the distracted advices which were urged uponher, she could not tell whether she could safely venture to London ornot; but outward acquiescence in {p. 030} the course which she choseto follow she believed that she could compel, and she would govern asGod should direct her. The emperor, she added, had written to herabout her marriage, not specifying any particular person, but desiringher to think upon the subject. She had never desired to marry whileprincess, nor did she desire it now; but if it were for the interestsof the church, she would do whatever he might advise. "

 [Footnote 70: She, perhaps, imagined that she was not exceeding her statutable right in the refusal. The 17th of the 28th of Henry VIII. Empowered any one of the heirs to the crown named in the king's will, on arriving at the age of twenty-four, to repeal laws passed not only in his or her own minority; but under circumstances such as those which had actually occurred, where the first heir had died before coming of age. The 11th of the 1st of Edward VI. Modified the act of Henry, limiting the power of repeal to the sovereign in whose own reign the law to be repealed had been passed. But this act of Edward's was, itself, passed in a minority, and Mary might urge that she might repeal that as well as any other statute passed in his reign in virtue of the act of her father. ]

On this last point Renard knew more of the emperor's intentions thanMary, and was discreetly silent; on other point he used his influencewisely. He constrained her, with Charles's arguments, to relinquishher burial scheme. "Edward, as a heretic, should have a hereticfuneral at Westminster Abbey; she need not be present, and mightherself have a mass said for him in the Tower. As to removing toLondon, in his opinion she had better go thither at once, takepossession of her throne, and send Northumberland to trial. Herbrother's body ought to be examined also, that it might be ascertainedwhether he had been poisoned; and if poisoned, by whom and for whatpurpose. "[71]

 [Footnote 71: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

Mary rarely paused upon a resolution. Making up her mind that, asRenard said, it would be better for her to go to London, she set outthither the following day, Thursday, the 3rd of August. Excitementlent to her hard features an expression almost of beauty, [72] as sherode in the midst of a splendid cavalcade of knights and nobles. Elizabeth, escorted by two thousand horse and a retinue of ladies, waswaiting to receive her outside the gates. The first in hercongratulations, after the proclamation, yet fearful of givingoffence, Elizabeth had written to ask if it was the queen's pleasurethat she should appear in mourning; but the queen would have nomourning, nor would have others wear it in her presence. The sombrecolours which of late years had clouded the court were to be banishedat once and for ever; and with the dark colours, it seemed for a timeas if old dislikes and suspicions were at the same time to pass away. The sisters embraced; the queen was warm and affectionate, kissing allthe ladies in Elizabeth's train; and side by side the daughters ofHenry VIII. Rode through Aldgate at seven in the evening, amidst theshouts of the people, the thunder of cannon, and pealing of churchbells. [73] At the Tower gates the old Duke of Norfolk, Gardiner, Courtenay, and the Duchess of Somerset {p. 031} were seen kneeling asMary approached. "These are my prisoners, " she said as she alightedfrom her horse, and stooped and kissed them. Charmed by theenthusiastic reception and by the pleasant disappointment of heranxieties, she could find no room for hard thoughts of any one; so farwas she softened, Renard wrote, that she could hardly be brought toconsent to the necessary execution of justice. Against Northumberlandhimself she had no feeling of vindictiveness, and was chiefly anxiousthat he should be attended by a confessor; Northampton was certainlyto be pardoned; Suffolk was already free; Northumberland should bespared, if possible; and, as to Lady Jane, justice forbade, she said, that an innocent girl should suffer for the crimes of others. [74]

 [Footnote 72: "La beauté de visage plus que médiocre, " are Renard's words to Charles. ]

 [Footnote 73: Renard; Noailles; Machyn; _Grey Friars' Chronicle_. ]

 [Footnote 74: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

The emperor had recommended mercy; but he had not advised a generalindemnity, as Renard made haste to urge. The imperialist conception ofclemency differed from the queen's; and the same timidity which hadfirst made the ambassadors too prudent, now took the form of measuredcruelty. Renard entreated that Lady Jane should not be spared;"conspirators required to be taught that for the principals in treasonthere was but one punishment; the duke must die, and the rival queenand her husband must die with him. " "We set before her"--Renard's ownhand is the witness against him--"the examples of Maximus and his sonVictor, both executed by the Emperor Theodosius; Maximus, because hehad usurped the purple; Victor, because, as the intended heir of hisfather, he might have been an occasion of danger had he lived. "[75]

 [Footnote 75: Et luy fust proposé l'exemple de Maximus et Victor son filz que Theodose l'Empereur feit mourir pour s'estre attribué le nom d'Empereur par tyrannie et l'avoir voulu continuer en son diet filz Victor, escripvant l'histoire que l'on feit mourir le filz pour le scandale et danger qu'en eust peu advenir. --Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _ For the story, see Gibbon, cap. Xxvii. ]

Looking also, as Renard was already doing, on the scenes which werearound him, chiefly or solely as they might affect the interests ofhis master's son, he had been nervously struck by the entourage whichsurrounded Elizabeth and the popularity which she, as well as thequeen, was evidently enjoying. 

Elizabeth, now passing into womanhood, was the person to whom theaffections of the liberal party in England most definitely tended. Shewas the heir-presumptive to the crown; in matters of religion she wasopposed to the mass, and opposed as decidedly to factious and dogmaticProtestantism; while {p. 032} from the caution with which she hadkept aloof from political entanglements, it was clear that herbrilliant intellectual abilities were not her only or her mostformidable gifts. Already she shared the favour of the people with thequeen. Let Mary offend them (and in the intended marriage offencewould unquestionably have to be given), their entire hearts might betransferred to her. The public finger had pointed to Courtenay as thehusband which England desired for the queen. When Courtenay should beset aside by Mary, he might be accepted by Elizabeth; and Elizabeth, it was rumoured, looked upon him with an eye of favour. [76] On allaccounts, therefore, Elizabeth was dangerous. She was a figure on thestage whom Renard would gladly see removed; and a week or two later hebid Mary look to her, watch her, and catch her tripping if goodfortune would so permit: "it was better to prevent than to beprevented. "[77]

 [Footnote 76: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 77: Signantment sembleroit que vostre majesté ne se deust confier en Madame Elizabeth que bien a point, et discouvrir sur ce qu'elle ne se voit en espoir d'entrer en règne, ne avoir voulu fleschir quant au point de la religion ny ouyr la messe; ce que l'on jugeoit elle deust faire pour la respect de vostre majesté, et pour les courtoysies dont elle use en son endroit encores qu'elle ny eust faict sinon l'assister et l'accompaigner. Et davantage l'on peult discouvrir comme elle se maintient en la nouvelle religion par practique, pour attirer et gaigner a sa dévotion ceulx quilz sont de la dicte religion en s'en aider, si elle avoit intention de maligner; et jaçois l'on se pourroit fourcompter quant à son intention, si est en ce commencement, qu'il est plus sure prévenir que d'estre prévenu et penser a ce que peult advenir; actendu que les objects sont evidens. --Les Ambassadeurs de l'Empereur à Marie, Reine d'Angleterre: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Ii. Pp. 64-69. ]

The queen did not close her ears to these evil whispers; but for thefirst few days after she came to the Tower her thoughts were chieflyoccupied with religion, and her first active step was to release andto restore to their sees the deprived and imprisoned bishops. Thefirst week in August, Ponet, by royal order, was ejected fromWinchester, Ridley from London, and Scory from Chichester. The See ofDurham was reconstituted. Tunstal, Day, and Heath were set at liberty, and returned to their dioceses. The Bishop of Ely was deposed from thechancellorship, and the seals were given to Gardiner. "On the 5th ofAugust, " says the _Grey Friars' Chronicle_, "at seven o'clock atnight, Edmond Bonner came home from the Marshalsea like a bishop, andall the people by the wayside bade him welcome home, both man andwoman, and as many of the women as might kissed him; and so he came toPaul's, and knelt on the {p. 033} steps, and said his prayers, andthe people rang the bells for joy. "[78]

 [Footnote 78: _Chronicle of the Grey Friars of London_, p. 82. ]

While Mary was repairing acts of injustice, Gardiner, with Sir WilliamPetre, was looking into the public accounts. The debts of the lategovernment had been reduced, the currency unconsidered, to£190, 000. [79] A doubt had been raised whether, after the attempt toset aside the succession, the queen was bound to take theresponsibility of these obligations, but Mary preferred honour toconvenience; she promised to pay everything as soon as possible. Further, there remain, partly in Gardiner's hand, a number of hastynotes, written evidently in these same first weeks of Mary's reign, which speak nobly for the intentions with which both Mary and himselfwere setting generally to work. The expenses of the household were tobe reduced to the scale of Henry VII. , or the early years of HenryVIII. ; the garrisons at Berwick and Calais were to be placed on a moreeconomical footing, the navy reduced, the irregular guard dismissed ordiminished. Bribery was to be put an end to in the courts ofWestminster, at quarter sessions, and among justices of the peace;"the laws were to be restored to their authority without suffering anymatters to be ordered otherwise than as the laws should appoint. "[80]These first essentials having been attended to, the famous or infamousbook of sales, grants, and exchanges of the crown lands was to belooked into; the impropriation of benefices was to cease, and decencyto be restored to the parish churches, where the grooms andgamekeepers should give way to competent ministers; economy, order, justice, and reverence were to heal the canker of profligate profanitywhich had eaten too long into the moral life of England. 

 [Footnote 79: August 1553. Debts of the crown. Irish debt, £36, 094 18s. Household debts, £14, 574 16s. Further household debts, £7450 5s. Berwick debt, with the wages of the officers, £16, 639 18s. Calais debt, beside £17, 000 of loans and other things, £21, 184 10s. Ordnance Office, £3134 7s. Public works, £3200. Admiralty debt, £3923 4s. Debts in the Office of the Chamber, £17, 968. Debts beyond the seas by Sir Thomas Gresham's particular bill, £61, 068. Alderney's debt, £3028. Scilly debt, £3071. --_MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. I. State Paper Office. ]

 [Footnote 80: Note of things to be attended to: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. I. ]

In happier times Mary might have been a worthy queen, and Gardiner anillustrious minister;[81] but the fatal superstition {p. 034} whichconfounded religion with orthodox opinion was too strong for both ofthem. 

 [Footnote 81: Another natural feature of these curious days was the arrest of suspected persons; one of whom, Edward Underhill, the Hot Gospeller, has left behind him, in the account of his own adventures, a very vivid picture of the time. Underhill was a yeoman of the guard. He had seen service in the French wars, but had been noted chiefly for the zeal which he had shown in the late reign in hunting Catholics into gaol. He had thus worked his way into Court favour. During the brief royalty of Jane Grey, his wife was confined. His child was christened at the Tower church, and Suffolk and Pembroke were "gossips, " and Jane herself was godmother. The day that Mary was proclaimed, he put out a ballad, which, as he expected, brought him into trouble. "The next day, " he is telling his own story, "after the queen was come to the Tower, the foresaid ballad came into the hands of Secretary Bourne, who straightway made inquiry for the said Edward, who dwelt in Lymehurst; which he having intelligence of, sent the sheriff of Middlesex with a company of bills and glaives, who came into my house, being in my bed, and my wife newly laid in childbed. The high constable, whose name is Thomas Joy, dwelled at the house next to me, whom the sheriff brought also with him. He being my very friend, desired the sheriff and his company to stay without for frighting of my wife, and he would go fetch me unto him; who knocked at the door, saying, he must speak with me. I, lying so near that I might hear him, called unto him, willing him to come unto me, for that he was always my very friend and earnest in the gospel, who declared unto me that the sheriff and a great company was sent for me. Whereupon I rose and made me ready to come unto him. 

 "Sir, said he, I have commandment from the council to apprehend you and bring you unto them. 

 "Why, said I, it is now ten of the clock at night; you cannot now carry me unto them. 

 "No, sir, said he, you shall go with me to my house in London, where you shall have a bed, and to-morrow I will bring you unto them in the Tower. 

 "In the name of God, quoth I, and so went with him, requiring him if I might understand the cause. He said he knew none. "

 Underhill, however, conjectured that it was the ballad. He "was nothing dismayed;" and in the morning went readily to the Tower, where he waited in the presence chamber talking to the pensioners. 

 Sir Edward Hastings passed through, and as he saw him, "frowned earnestly. " "Are you come?" said Hastings, "we will talk with you ere you part, I warrant you. " They were old acquaintances. Underhill had been controller of the ordnance at Calais when Lord Huntingdon was in command there. The earl being in bad health, his brother Sir Edward was with him, assisting in the duties of the office; and Underhill, being able to play and sing, had been a frequent visitor at the Government House. The earl, moreover, "took great delight to hear him reason" with Sir Edward, on points of controversy--chiefly on the real presence--where the controller of the ordnance (according to his own account) would quote Scripture, and Sir Edward would "swear great oaths, " "especially by the Lord's foot;" on which Underhill would say, "Nay, then, it must needs be so, and you prove it with such oaths, " and the earl would laugh and exclaim, "Brother, give him over, Underhill is too good for you. "

 Hastings, it seemed, could not forgive these passages of wit, and Underhill was too smart for them. While he stood waiting, Secretary Bourne came in, "looking as the wolf at the lamb, " and seeing the man that he had sent for, carried him off into the council room. Hastings was gone, Bedford sat as President, "and Bedford, " says Underhill, "was my friend, for that my chance was to be at the recovery of his son, my Lord Russell, when he was cast into the Thames by Lymehurst, whom I received into my house, and gate him to bed, who was in great peril of his life, the weather being very cold. "

 Bedford, however, made no sign of recognition. Bourne read the ballad; on which Underhill protested that there was no attack on the queen's title in it. No! Bourne said, but it maintains the queen's title with the help of an arrant heretic, Tyndal. Underhill used the word Papist. Sir John Mason asked what he meant by that: "Sir, " he says that he replied, "I think, if you look among the priests in Paul's, you shall find some old mumpsimusses there. 

 "Mumpsimusses, knave, said he, mumpsimusses! Thou art an heretic knave, by God's blood!

 "Yea! by the mass, said the Earl of Bath, I warrant him an heretic knave indeed. 

 "I beseech your honours, " Underhill said, "speaking to the Lords that sat at the table (for those others stood by and were not of the council), be my good Lords. I have offended no laws. I have served the Queen's Majesty's father and brother long time, and spent and consumed my living therein. I went not forth against her Majesty, notwithstanding I was commanded. "

 He was interrupted by Arundel, who said that, "by his writing, " "he wished to set them all by the ears. " Hastings re-entered at the moment, telling the council that they must repair to the queen, and the Hot Gospeller was promptly ordered to Newgate. 

 The sheriff led him through the streets, his friend Joy "following afar off, as Peter followed Christ. " He wrote a few words to his wife at the door of Newgate, asking her to send him "his nightgown, his Bible, and his lute;" and then entered the prison, his life in which he goes on to describe. 

 In the centre of Newgate was "a great open hall. " "As soon as it was supper time, " the board was covered in the same hall. The keeper, whose name was "Alisander, " with his wife, came and sat down, and half a dozen prisoners that were there for felony, Underhill "being the first that for religion was sent unto that prison. " One of the felons had served with him in France. "After supper, " the story continues, "this good fellow, whose name was Bristow, procured me to have a bed in his chamber, who could play well upon a rebeck. He was a tall fellow, and after one of Queen Mary's guard; yet a Protestant, which he kept secret, for else, he said, he should not have found such favour as he did at the keeper's hands and his wife's, for to such as loved the gospel they were very cruel. Well, said Underhill, I have sent for my Bible, and, by God's grace, therein shall be my daily exercise; I will not hide it from them. Sir, said he, I am poor; but they will bear with you, for they see your estate is to pay well; and I will shew you the nature and manner of them; for I have been here a good while. They both do love music very well. Wherefore you with your lute, and I to play with you on my rebeck, will please them greatly. He loveth to be merry, and to drink wine, and she also. If you will bestow upon them, every dinner and supper, a quart of wine and some music, you shall be their white son, and have all the favour they can shew you. "

 The honour of being "white son" to the governor and governess of Newgate was worth aspiring after. Underhill duly provided the desired entertainments. The governor gave him the best room in the prison, with all other admissible indulgences. 

 "At last, " however, "the evil savours, great unquietness, with over many drafts of air, " threw the poor gentleman into a burning ague. He shifted "his lodgings, " but to no purpose; the "evil savours" followed him. The keeper offered him his own parlour, where he escaped from the noise of the prison; but it was near the kitchen, and the smell of the meat was disagreeable. Finally, the wife put him away in her store-closet, amidst her best plate, crockery, and clothes, and there he continued to survive till the middle of September, when he was released on bail through the interference of the Earl of Bedford. --Underhill's Narrative: _Harleian MSS. _ 425. ]

{p. 035} Edward's body was meanwhile examined. The physicians{p. 036} reported that without doubt he had died of poison, and therewas a thought of indicting the Duke of Northumberland for his murder:but it was relinquished on further inquiry; the poison, if thephysicians were right, must have been administered by negligence oraccident. The corpse was then buried (August 6) with the forms of theChurch of England at Westminster Abbey; the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had so far been left at liberty, read the service; it was the lastand saddest function of his public ministry which he was destined toperform. Simultaneously, as Mary had determined, requiems were chantedin the Tower Chapel; and Gardiner, in the presence of the queen andfour hundred persons, sung the mass for the dead with much solemnity. The ceremony was, however, injured by a misfortune; after the gospelthe incense was carried round, and the chaplain who bore it wasmarried; Doctor Weston, who was afterwards deprived of the deanery ofWindsor for adultery, darted forward and snatched the censer out ofthe chaplain's hand. "Shamest thou not to do thine office, " he said, "having a wife, as thou hast? The queen will not be censed by such asthou. "[82] Nor was scandal the worst part of it. Elizabeth had beenrequested to attend, and had refused; angry murmurs and curses againstthe Bishop of Winchester were heard among the yeomen of the guard;while the queen made no secret of her desire that the example whichshe had set should be imitated. Renard trembled for the consequences;Noailles anticipated a civil war; twenty thousand men, the lattersaid, would lose their lives before England would be cured ofheresy;[83] yet Mary had made a beginning, and as she had begun shewas resolved that others should continue. 

 [Footnote 82: Strype. ]

 [Footnote 83: Noailles, vol. Ii. P. 111. ]

In the Tower she felt her actions under restraint. She was stillsurrounded by thousands of armed men, the levies of Derby andHastings, the retainers of Pembroke and Arundel and Bedford; thecouncil were spies upon her actions; the sentinels at the gates were acheck upon her visitors. She could receive no one whose business withher was not made public to the lords, and whose reception they werenot pleased to sanction; even Renard was for a time excluded from her, and in her anxiety to see him she suggested that he might come to herin disguise. [84] {p. 037} Such a thraldom was irksome andinconvenient. She had broken the promise which Renard had been allowedto make for her about religion; she had been troubled, it is easy tobelieve, with remonstrances, to which she was not likely to haveanswered with temper; Pembroke absented himself from the presence; hewas required to retire and to reduce the number of his followers; thequarrels which began while the queen was at Newhall broke out withworse violence than ever; Lord Derby complained to Renard that thosewho had saved her crown were treated with neglect, while men likeArundel, Bedford, and Pembroke, who had been parties to the treasonsagainst her, remained in power; Lord Russell was soon after placedunder arrest; Pembroke and Winchester were ordered to keep theirhouses, and the court was distracted with suspicion, discord, anduncertainty. [85]

 [Footnote 84: Monseigneur, je n'ay sceu trouver moien jusques à ceste heure de communiquer avec la royne, ce que je deliberois faire avec l'occasion des lectres de sa Majesté, si sans suspicion, j'eusse pen avoir accès, que n'a esté possible pour estre les portes en la Tour de Londres où elle este logée, si gardées que n'est possible y entrer que l'on ne soit congneu; elle m'avoit faict dire si je me pouvoys desguiser et prendre ung manteau, mais il m'a semblé pour le mieux et plus seur d'attendre qu'elle soit a Richemont. --Renard to Charles V. : _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. Pp. 71, 72. ]

 [Footnote 85: Renard to the Emperor: _Rolls House MSS. Queen Jane and Queen Mary_, p. 15. ]

From such a scene Mary desired to escape to some place where she couldbe at least mistress of her own movements; her impatience wasquickened by a riot at St. Bartholomew's, where a priest attempted tosay mass; and on Saturday, the 12th of August, she removed toRichmond. Her absence encouraged the insubordination of the people. OnSunday, the 13th, another priest was attacked at the altar; thevestments were torn from his back, and the chalice snatched from hishands. Bourne, whom the queen had appointed her chaplain, preached atPaul's Cross. A crowd of refugees and English fanatics had collectedround the pulpit; and when he spoke something in praise of Bonner, andsaid that he had been unjustly imprisoned, [86] yells rose of "Papist, Papist! Tear him down!" A dagger was hurled at the preacher, swordswere drawn, the mayor attempted to interfere, but he could not makehis way through the dense mass of the rioters; and Bourne would havepaid for his rashness with his life had not Courtenay, who was apopular favourite, with his mother, the Marchioness of Exeter, thrownthemselves on the pulpit steps, while Bradford sprung to his side, andkept the people back till he could be carried off. 

 [Footnote 86: Renard says it was at these words that the exasperation broke out. ]

But the danger did not end there. The Protestant orators sounded thealarm through London. Meetings were held, and inflammatory placardswere scattered about the streets. If {p. 038} religion was to betampered with, men were heard to say, it was better at once to fetchNorthumberland from the Tower. 

Uncertain on whom she could rely, Mary sent for Renard (August 16), who could only repeat his former cautions, and appeal to what hadoccurred in justification of them. He undertook to pacify Lord Derby;but in the necessity to which she was so soon reduced of appealing tohim, a foreigner, in her emergencies, he made her feel that she couldnot carry things with so high a hand. She had a rival in the Queen ofScots, beyond her domestic enemies, whom her wisdom ought to fear; shewould ruin herself if she flew in the face of her subjects; and heprevailed so far with her that she promised to take no further stepstill the meeting of parliament. After a consultation with the mayor, she drew up a hasty proclamation, granting universal toleration tillfurther orders, forbidding her Protestant and Catholic subjects tointerrupt each other's services, and prohibiting at the same time allpreaching on either side without licence from herself. 

Being on the spot, the ambassador took the opportunity of again tryingMary's disposition upon the marriage question. His hopes had wanedsince her arrival in London; he had spoken to Paget, who agreed thatan alliance with the Prince of Spain was the most splendid which thequeen could hope for; but the time was inopportune, and the peoplewere intensely hostile. The exigencies of the position, he thought, might oblige the queen to yield to wishes which she could not oppose, and accept Lord Courtenay; or possibly her own inclination might setin the same direction; or, again, she might wish to renew her earlyengagement with the emperor himself. The same uncertainty had beenfelt at Brussels; the Bishop of Arras, therefore, had charged Renardto feel his way carefully and make no blunder. If the queen inclinedto the emperor, he might speak of Philip as more eligible; if shefancied Courtenay, it would be useless to interfere--she would onlyresent his opposition. [87] Renard obeyed his instructions, and theresult was reassuring. When the ambassador mentioned the word"marriage, " the queen began to smile significantly, not once, but manytimes; she plainly liked the topic: plainly, also, her thoughts werenot turning in the direction of any English husband; she spoke of herrank, and of her unwillingness to {p. 039} condescend to a subject;Courtenay, the sole remaining representative of the White Rose exceptthe Poles, was the only Englishman who could in any way be thoughtsuitable for her; but she said that she expected the emperor toprovide a consort for her, and that, being a woman, she could not makethe first advances. Renard satisfied himself from her manner that, ifthe Prince of Spain was proposed, the offer would be most entirelywelcome. [88]

 [Footnote 87: Car si elle y avoit fantasie, elle ne laisseroit, si elle este du naturel des autres femmes, de passer oultre, et si se ressentiroit à jamais de ce que vous en pourriez avoir dit. --Arras to Renard: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 77. ]

 [Footnote 88: Renard to the Bishop of Arras: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 79. Renard to Charles V. , August 16: _Rolls House MSS. _]

The trials of the conspirators were now resolved upon. The queen wasdetermined to spare Lady Jane Grey, in spite of all which Renard couldurge; but the state of London showed that the punishment of the reallyguilty could no longer be safely delayed. On this point all parties inthe council were agreed. On Friday, the 18th of August, therefore, acourt of peers was formed in Westminster Hall, with the aged Duke ofNorfolk for High Steward, to try John Dudley Duke of Northumberland, the Earl of Warwick, and the Marquis of Northampton for high treason. Forty-four years before, as the curious remarked, the father ofNorfolk had sat on the commission which tried the father ofNorthumberland for the same crime. 

The indictments charged the prisoners with levying war against theirlawful sovereign. Northumberland, who was called first to the bar, pleaded guilty of the acts which were laid against him, but hesubmitted two points to the consideration of the court. 

1. Whether, having taken the field with a warrant under the GreatSeal, he could be lawfully accused of treason. 

2. Whether those peers from whom he had received his commission, andby whose letters he had been directed in what he had done, could situpon his trial as his judges. 

The Great Seal, he was answered briefly, was the seal of a usurper, and could convey no warrant to him. If the lords were as guilty as hesaid, yet, "so long as no attainder was on record against them, theywere persons able in law to pass upon any trial, and not to bechallenged but at the prince's pleasure. "[89]

 [Footnote 89: _Queen Jane and Queen Mary. _ The anomaly in the constitution of the Court amused Renard, who commented upon it to the Emperor, as an illustration of England and the English character. --_Rolls House MSS. _]

The duke bowed and was silent. 

Northampton and Warwick came next, and, like Northumberland, confessedto the indictment. Northampton, however, pleaded in his defence, thathe had held no public office {p. 040} during the crisis; that he hadnot been present at the making of Edward's device, and had beenamusing himself hunting in the country. [90] Warwick, with proudsadness, said merely, that he had followed his father, and would sharehis father's fortunes; if his property was confiscated, he hoped thathis debts would be paid. [91]

 [Footnote 90: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _ _Queen Jane and Queen Mary_, Appendix. Baoardo says, Northampton pleaded--Ch' egli non si era mai messo in governo et che sempre attese alla caccia. ]

 [Footnote 91: Ibid. ]

But Northampton had indisputably been in the field with the army, and, as his judges perfectly well knew, had been, with Suffolk, the Duke'suniform supporter in his most extreme measures; the queen had resolvedto pardon him; but the court could not recognise his excuse. Norfolkrose, in a few words pronounced the usual sentence, and broke hiswand; the cold glimmering edge of the Tower axe was turned towards theprisoners, and the peers rose. Northumberland, before he was led away, fell upon his knees; his children were young, he said, and had actedunder orders from himself; to them let the queen show mercy; forhimself he had his peace to make with Heaven; he entreated for a fewdays of life, and the assistance of a confessor; if two of the councilwould come to confer with him, he had important secrets of state tocommunicate; and, finally, he begged that he might die by the axe likea nobleman. [92]

 [Footnote 92: _Queen Jane and Queen Mary_, p 17, Renard says that he asked the council to intercede for his life. ]

On the 19th, Sir John and Sir Henry Gates, Sir Andrew Dudley, and SirThomas Palmer were tried before a special commission. Dudley had gonewith the treasonable message to France; the three others were theboldest and most unscrupulous of the Duke's partisans, while Palmerwas also especially hated for his share in the death of Somerset. These four also pleaded guilty, and were sentenced, Palmer onlyscornfully telling the commissioners that they were traitors as wellas he, and worse than he. [93]

 [Footnote 93: So Renard states. The author of the _Chronicle of Queen Mary_ says merely that he denied that he had borne arms against the queen, but admitted that he had been with the army. ]

Seven had been condemned; three only, the duke, Sir John Gates, andPalmer, were to suffer. 

Crime alone makes death terrible: in the long list of victims whosebloody end, at stake or scaffold, the historian of England in thesixteenth century has to relate, two only showed signs of cowardice, and one of those was a soldier and a nobleman, who, {p. 041} in amoment of extreme peril, four years before, had kissed swords with hiscomrades, and had sworn to conquer the insurgents at Norwich, or diewith honour. 

The Duke of Northumberland, who since that time had lived veryemphatically without God in the world, had not lived without religion. He had affected religion, talked about religion, played with religion, till fools and flatterers had told him that he was a saint; and now, in his extreme need, he found that he had trifled with forms andwords, till they had grown into a hideous hypocrisy. The Infinite ofdeath was opening at his feet, and he had no faith, no hope, noconviction, but only a blank and awful horror, and perhaps he feltthat there was nothing left for him but to fling himself back in agonyinto the open arms of superstition. He had asked to speak with somemember of the council; he had asked for a confessor. In Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, he found both. 

After the sentence Gardiner visited him in the Tower, where he pouredout his miserable story; he was a Catholic, he said, he always hadbeen a Catholic; he had believed nothing of all the doctrines forwhich he had pretended to be so zealous under Edward. "Alas!" hecried, "is there no help for me?" "Let me live but a little longer todo penance for my many sins. " Gardiner's heart was softened at thehumiliating spectacle; he would speak to the queen, he said, and hedid speak, not wholly without success; he may have judged rightly, that the living penitence of the Joshua of the Protestants would havebeen more useful to the church than his death. [94] Already Mary hadexpressed a wish that, if possible, the wretched man should be spared;and he would have been allowed to live, except for the reiteratedprotests of Renard in his own name and in the emperor's. 

 [Footnote 94: The authority for this story is Parsons the Jesuit, who learnt it from one of the council who was present at the interview. Parsons says, indeed, that Mary would have spared the duke; but that some one wrote to the emperor, and that the emperor insisted that he should be put to death. This could not be, because there was no time for letters to pass and repass between Brussels and London, in the interval between the sentence and the execution; but Renard says distinctly that Mary did desire to pardon him, and that he was himself obliged to exert his influence to prevent it. ]

It was decided at last that he should die; and a priest was assignedhim to prepare his soul. Doctor Watts or Watson, the same man whomCranmer long ago had set in the stocks at Canterbury, took charge ofPalmer and the rest--to them, {p. 042} as rough soldiers, spiritualconsolation from a priest of any decent creed was welcome. 

The executions were fixed originally for Monday, the 21st; but theduke's conversion was a triumph to the Catholic cause too importantnot to be dwelt upon a little longer. Neither Northampton, Warwick, Andrew Dudley, or Sir Henry Gates were aware that they were to berespited, and, as all alike availed themselves of the services of aconfessor and the forms of the Catholic faith, their compliance couldbe made an instrument of a public and edifying lesson. The lives ofthose who were to suffer were prolonged for twenty-four hours. OnMonday morning "certain of the citizens of London" were requested tobe in attendance at the Tower chapel, where Northumberland, Northampton, Dudley, Henry Gates, and Palmer were brought in; and, "first kneeling down, every one of them, upon his knees, they heardmass, saying devoutedly, with the bishop, [95] every one of them, _Confiteor_. "

 [Footnote 95: Gardiner. ]

"After the mass was done, the duke rose up, and looked back upon mylord marquis, and came unto him, asking them all forgiveness, the oneafter the other, upon their knees, one to another; and the one didheartily forgive the other. And then they came, every one of them, before the altar, every one of them kneeling, and confessing to thebishop that they were the same men in the faith according as they hadconfessed to him before, and that they all would die in the Catholicfaith. " When they had all received the sacrament, they rose and turnedto the people, and the duke said:--

"Truly, good people, I profess here before you all, that I havereceived the sacrament according to the true Catholic faith: and theplague that is upon the realm and upon us now is that we have erredfrom the faith these sixteen years; and this I protest unto you allfrom the bottom of my heart. "

Northampton, with the rest, "did affirm the same with weepingtears. "[96]

 [Footnote 96: _Harleian MSS. _ 284. Compare the account of the chronicler, _Queen Jane and Queen Mary_, pp. 18, 19. ]

Among the spectators were observed the sons of the Duke of Somerset. 

In exhibiting to the world the humiliation of the professors of thegospel, the Catholic party enjoyed a pardonable triumph. Northumberland, in playing a part in the pageant, was hoping to savehis wretched life. When it was over he wrote (August 22) a passionateappeal to Arundel. 

{p. 043} "Alas, my lord, " he said, "is my crime so heinous as noredemption but my blood can wash away the spots thereof? An oldproverb there is, and that most true--A living dog is better than adead lion; oh that it would please her good grace to give me life, yea, the life of a dog, if I might but live and kiss her feet, andspend both life and all in her honourable service. "

But Arundel could not save him--would not have saved him, perhaps, hadhe been able--and he had only to face the end with such resolution ashe could command. 

The next morning, at nine o'clock, Warwick and Sir John Gates heardmass in the Tower chapel; the two Seymours were again present withCourtenay: and before Gates received the sacrament, he said a fewwords of regret to the latter for his long imprisonment, of which headmitted himself in part the cause. [97] On leaving the chapel Warwickwas taken back to his room, and learned that he was respited. Gatesjoined Palmer, who was walking with Watson in the garden, and talkingwith the groups of gentlemen who were collected there. Immediatelyafter, the duke was brought out. "Sir John, " he said to Gates, "Godhave mercy on us; forgive me as I forgive you, although you and yourcouncil have brought us hither. " "I forgive you, my lord, " Gatesanswered, "as I would be forgiven; yet it was you and your authoritythat was the only original cause of all. " They bowed each. The dukepassed on, and the procession moved forward to Tower Hill. 

 [Footnote 97: "Not for any hatred towards you, " he added, "but for fear that harm might come thereby to my late young master. "--_Queen Jane and Queen Mary_, p. 20. ]

The last words of a worthless man are in themselves of little moment;but the effect of the dying speech of Northumberland lends to it anartificial importance. Whether to the latest moment he hoped for hislife, or whether, divided between atheism and superstition, hethought, if any religion was true, Romanism was true, and it wasprudent not to throw away a chance, who can tell? At all events, hemounted the scaffold with Heath, the Bishop of Worcester, at his side;and then deliberately said to the crowd, that his rebellion and hispresent fall were owing to the false preachers who had led him to errfrom the Catholic faith of Christ; the fathers and the saints had everagreed in one doctrine; the present generation were the first that haddared to follow their private opinions; and in England and in Germany, where error had taken deepest root, there had followed war, famine, rebellion, misery, tokens {p. 044} all of them of God's displeasure. Therefore, as they loved their country, as they valued their souls, heimplored his hearers to turn, all of them, and turn at once, to thechurch which they had left; in which church he, from the bottom of hisheart, avowed his own steadfast belief. For himself he called them allto witness that he died in the one true Catholic faith; to which, ifhe had been brought sooner, he would not have been in his presentcalamity. 

He then knelt; "I beseech you all, " he said again, "to believe that Idie in the Catholic faith. " He repeated the _Miserere_ psalm, thepsalm _De Profundis_, and the _Paternoster_. The executioner, asusual, begged his pardon. "I have deserved a thousand deaths, " hemuttered. He made the sign of the cross upon the saw-dust, and kissedit, then laid down his head, and perished. 

The shame of the apostasy shook down the frail edifice of theProtestant constitution, to be raised again in suffering, as the firstfoundations of it had been laid, by purer hands and noblerspirits. [98] In his better years Northumberland had been a faithfulsubject and a fearless soldier, and, with a master's hand over him, hemight have lived with integrity, and died with honour. Opportunitytempted his ambition--ambition betrayed him {p. 045} into crime--and, given over to his lower nature, he climbed to the highest round of thepolitical ladder, to fall and perish like a craven. He was one ofthose many men who can follow worthily, yet cannot lead; and thevirtue of the beginning was not less real than the ignominy of theend. 

 [Footnote 98: Lady Jane Grey spoke a few memorable words on the duke's conduct at the scaffold. "On Tuesday, the 29th of August, " says the writer of the _Chronicle of Queen Mary_, "I dined at Partridge's house (in the Tower) with my Lady Jane, she sitting at the board's-end, Partridge, his wife, and my lady's gentlewoman. We fell in discourse of religion. I pray you, quoth she, have they mass in London. Yea, forsooth, quoth I, in some places. It may so be, quoth she. It is not so strange as the sudden conversion of the late duke; for who could have thought, said she, he would have so done? It was answered her, perchance he thereby hoped to have had his pardon. Pardon! quoth she, woe worth him! He hath brought me and our stock in most miserable calamity by his exceeding ambition; but for the answering that he hoped for life by his turning, though other men be of that opinion, I utterly am not. For what man is there living, I pray you, although he had been innocent, that would hope of life in that case, being in the field in person against the queen, as general, and after his taking so hated and evil spoken of by the Commons; and at his coming into prison, so wondered at as the like was never heard by any man's time. Who can judge that he should hope for pardon whose life was odious to all men? But what will ye more? Like as his life was wicked and full of dissimulation, so was his end thereafter. I pray God I view no friend of mine die so. Should I, who am young and in my few years, forsake my faith for the love of life? Nay, God forbid! Much more he should not, whose fatal course, although he had lived his just number of years, could not have long continued. But life was sweet, it appeared. So he might have lived, you will say, he did not care how; indeed the reason is good; for he that would have lived in chains to have had his life, by like would leave no other means unattempted. But God be merciful to us, for he saith, whoso denyeth him before men, he will not know him in his Father's kingdom. "--_Queen Jane and Queen Mary_, p. 24. ]

Gates was the second sufferer. He, too, spoke in the same key. He hadbeen a great reader of Scripture, he said, but he had not read it tobe edified, but to be seditious--to dispute, to interpret it after hisprivate affection; to him, therefore, the honey had been poison, andhe warned all men how they followed his ill example; God's holymysteries were no safe things to toy or play with. Gates, in dying, had three strokes of an axe;--"Whether, " says an eye-witness, [99] "itwas by his own request or no was doubtful"--remarkable words: as ifthe everlasting fate of the soul depended on its latest emotion, andrepentance could be intensified by the conscious realisation of death. 

 [Footnote 99: _Harleian MSS. _ 284. ]

Last came Sir Thomas Palmer, in whom, to judge by his method of takingleave of life, there was some kind of nobleness. It was he who led thecavalry forlorn hope, at Haddington, when the supplies were thrown infor the garrison. 

He leapt upon the scaffold, red with the blood of his companions. "Good morning to you all, good people, " he said, looking round himwith a smile; "ye come hither to see me die, and to see what news Ihave; marry, I will tell you; I have seen more in yonder terribleplace [he pointed towards the Tower] than ever I saw before throughoutall the realms that ever I wandered in; for there I have seen God, Ihave seen the world, and I have seen myself; and when I beheld mylife, I saw nothing but slime and clay, full of corruption; I saw theworld nothing else but vanity, and all the pleasures and treasuresthereof nought worth; I saw God omnipotent, his power infinite, hismercy incomprehensible; and when I saw this, I most humbly submittedmyself unto him, beseeching him of mercy and pardon, and I trust hehath forgiven me; for he called me once or twice before, but I wouldnot turn to him, but even now by this sharp kind of death he hathcalled me unto him. I trust the wings of his mercy shall spread overme and save me; and I do here confess, before you all, Christ to bethe very Son of God the Father, born of the Virgin Mary, which cameinto the world to fulfil the law for us, and to bear our offences onhis back, and suffered his passion for our redemption, by the which Itrust to be saved. "

{p. 046} Like his fellow-sufferers, Palmer then said a few prayers, asked the queen's forgiveness, knelt, and died. 

Stunned by the apostasy on the scaffold of the man whom they hadworshipped as a prophet, the ultra-faction among the Protestantsbecame now powerless. The central multitude, whose belief wasundefined, yielded to the apparent sentence of Heaven upon a causeweakened by unsuccessful treason, and disavowed in his death by itschampion. Edward had died on the anniversary of the execution of More;God, men said, had visited his people, and "the Virgin Mary" had beenset upon the throne for their redemption. [100] Dr. Watson, on the 20thof August, preached at Paul's Cross under a guard of soldiers; on the24th, two days after the scene on Tower Hill, so little was a guardnecessary, that mass was said in St. Paul's Church in Latin, withmatins and vespers. The crucifix was replaced in the roodloft, thehigh altar was re-decorated, the real presence was defended from thepulpit, and, except from the refugees, not a murmur was heard. [101]Catching this favourable opportunity, the queen charmed the countrywith the announcement that the second portion of the last subsidygranted by Parliament should not be collected; she gave her word thatthe currency at the earliest moment should be thoroughly restored;while she gained credit on all sides for the very moderate vengeancewith which she appeared to be contenting herself. Ridley only, Renardwrote, on the 9th of September, would now be executed; the otherprisoners were to be all pardoned. The enthusiasm was slightly abated, indeed, when it was announced that their forgiveness would not bewholly free. Montague and Bromley, on their release from the Tower, were fined £7000 a-piece; Suffolk, Northampton, and other noblemen andgentlemen, as their estates would bear. But, to relieve the burdens ofthe people at the expense of those who had reaped the harvest of thelate spoliations was, on the whole, a legitimate retribution; themoneyed men were pleased with the recognition of Edward's debts, andprovided a loan of 25, 000 crowns for the present necessities of thegovernment. London streets rang again with shouts of "God Save theQueen;" and Mary recovered a fresh instalment of popularity to carryher a few steps further. [102]

 [Footnote 100: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 101: Ibid. ]

 [Footnote 102: Noailles; Renard. ]

The refugees were the first difficulty. They were too numerous toimprison; and the most influential among them--men like PeterMartyr--having come to England on the invitation {p. 047} of the lategovernment, it was neither just nor honourable to hand them over totheir own sovereigns. But both Mary and her Flemish adviser wereanxious to see them leave the country as quickly as possible. Theemperor recommended a general intimation to be given out, thatcriminals of all kinds taking refuge in England would be liable toseizure, offences against religion being neither specially mentionednor specially excepted. [103] The foreign preachers were ordered todepart by proclamation; and Peter Martyr, who had left Oxford, and wasstaying with Cranmer at Lambeth, expecting an arrest, received, instead of it, a safe-conduct, of which he instantly availed himself. The movements of others were quickened with indirect menaces; whileGardiner told Renard, with much self-satisfaction, that a few messagesdesiring some of them to call upon him at his house had given themwings. [104]

 [Footnote 103: Renard to Queen Mary: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 65. ]

 [Footnote 104: Renard to Charles V. , September 9: _Rolls House MSS. _]

Finding her measures no longer opposed, the queen refused next torecognise the legality of the marriage of the clergy. Married priestsshould either leave their wives or leave their benefices; and on the29th of August, Gardiner, Bonner, Day, and Tunstal, late prisoners inthe Tower, were appointed commissioners to examine into the conditionsof their episcopal brethren. Convocation was about to meet, and mustundergo a preliminary purification. Unhappy Convocation! So lately thesupreme legislative body in the country, it was now patched, clipped, mended, repaired, or altered, as the secular government put on itsalternate hues. The Protestant bishops had accepted their offices onProtestant terms--_Quamdiu se bene gesserint_, on their goodbehaviour; and, with the assistance of so pliant a clause, a swiftclearance was effected. Barlow, to avoid expulsion, resigned Bath. Paul Bush retreated from Bristol. Hooper, ejected from Worcester bythe restoration of Heath, was deprived of Gloucester for heresy andmarriage, and, being a dangerous person, was committed on the 1st ofSeptember to the Fleet. Ferrars, of St. David's, left in prison byNorthumberland for other pretended offences, was deprived on the samegrounds, but remained in confinement. Bird, having a wife, was turnedout of Chester; Archbishop Holgate out of York. Coverdale, Ridley, Scory, and Ponet had been already disposed of. The bench waswholesomely swept. [105]

 [Footnote 105: Some of the Protestant bishops (Cranmer, Hooper, Ridley, and Ferrars were admirable exceptions) had taken care of themselves in the seven years of plenty. At the time of the deposition of the Archbishop of York an inventory was taken of the personal property which was then in his possession. He had five houses, three very well provided, two meetly well. At his house at Battersea he had, of coined gold, £300; plate gilt and parcel gilt, 1600 oz. Mitre, gold, with two pendants set with very fine diamonds, sapphires, and balists, and other stones and pearls, weight 125 oz. ; six great gold rings, with very fine sapphires, emeralds, diamonds, turquoises. "At Cawood he had of money £900; mitres, 2. Plate gilt and parcel gilt, 770 oz; broken cross of silver gilt, 46 oz. ; two thousand five hundred sheep; two Turkey carpets, as big and as good as any subject had; a chest full of copes and vestments. Household stores: wheat, 200 quarters; malt, 500 quarters; oats, 60 quarters; wine, five or six tuns; fish and ling, six or seven hundred; horses at Cawood, four or five score; harness and artillery sufficient for seven score men. "--Strype's _Crammer_, vol. I. P. 440. ]

{p. 048} The English Protestant preachers seeing that priestseverywhere held themselves licensed _ex officio_ to speak as theypleased from the pulpit, began themselves also, in many places, todisobey the queen's proclamation. They were made immediately to feeltheir mistake, and were brought to London to the Tower, theMarshalsea, or the Fleet, to the cells left vacant by their opponents. Among the rest came one who had borne no share in the late misdoings, but had long foreseen the fate to which those doings would bring himand many more. When Latimer was sent for, he was at Stamford. On the4th of September six hours' notice was given him of his intendedarrest; and so obviously his escape was desired, that the pursuivantwho brought the warrant left him to obey it at his leisure; hisorders, he said, were not to wait. But Latimer had business inEngland. While the fanatics who had provoked the catastrophe wereslinking across the Channel from its consequences, Latimer determinedto stay at home, and help to pay the debts which they had incurred. Hewent quietly to London, appeared before the council, where his"demeanour" was what they were pleased to term "seditious, "[106] andwas committed to the Tower. "What, my friend, " he said to a warder whowas an old acquaintance there, "how do you? I am come to be yourneighbour again. " Sir Thomas Palmer's rooms in the garden wereassigned for his lodging. In the winter he was left without a fire, and, growing infirm, he sent a message to the Lieutenant of the Towerto look better after him, or he should give him the slip yet. [107]

 [Footnote 106: _Privy Council Register, MS. Mary. _]

 [Footnote 107: Foxe. ]

And there was another besides Latimer who would not fly when thechance was left open to him. Archbishop Cranmer had continued atLambeth unmolested, yet unpardoned; his conduct with respect to theletters patent had been more upright than the conduct of any othermember of the council by {p. 049} whom they had been signed; and onthis ground, therefore, an exception could not easily be made in hisdisfavour. But his friends had interceded vainly to obtain the queen'sdefinite forgiveness for him; treason might be forgotten; the divorceof Catherine of Arragon could never be forgotten. So he waited on, watching the reaction gathering strength, and knowing well the pointto which it tended. In the country the English service was set asideand the mass restored with but little disturbance. No force had beenused or needed; the Catholic majorities among the parishioners hadmade the change for themselves. The archbishop's friends came to himfor advice; he recommended them to go abroad; he was urged to gohimself while there was time; he said, "it would be in no ways fittingfor him to go away, considering the post in which he was; and to showthat he was not afraid to own all the changes that were by his meansmade in religion in the last reign. "[108]

 [Footnote 108: Strype's _Cranmer_. ]

Neither was it fitting for him to sit by in silence. The world, misconstruing his inaction, believed him false like Northumberland;the world reported that he had restored mass at Canterbury; the worldprofessed to have ascertained that he had offered to sing a requiem atEdward's funeral. In the second week of September, therefore, he madea public offer, in the form of a letter to a friend, to defend thecommunion service, and all the alterations for which he wasresponsible, against any one who desired to impugn them; he answeredthe stories against himself with a calm denial; and, though the letterwas not printed, copies in manuscript were circulated through Londonso numerously that the press, said Renard, would not have sent outmore. [109]

 [Footnote 109: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _ In these late times, when men whose temper has not been tried by danger, feel themselves entitled, nevertheless, by their own innocence of large errors, to sit in judgment on the greatest of their forefathers, Cranmer has received no tender treatment. Because, in the near prospect of a death of agony, his heart for a moment failed him, the passing weakness has been accepted as the key to his life, and he has been railed at as a coward and a sycophant. Considering the position of the writer, and the circumstances under which it was issued, I regard the publication of this letter as one of the bravest actions ever deliberately ventured by man. 

 Let it be read, and speak for itself. 

 "As the devil, Christ's antient adversary, is a liar and the father of lying, even so hath he stirred his servants and members to persecute Christ and his true word and religion, which he ceaseth not to do most earnestly at this present. For whereas the most noble prince, of famous memory, King Henry VIII. , seeing the great abuses of the Latin masses, reformed some things therein in his time, and also our late sovereign lord King Edward VI. Took the same wholly away, for the manifold errours and abuses thereof, and restored in the place thereof Christ's holy supper, according to Christ's own institution, and as the Apostles in the primitive Church used the same in the beginning, the devil goeth about by lying to overthrow the Lord's holy supper, and to restore the Latin satisfactory masses, a thing of his own invention and device. And to bring the same more clearly to pass, some have abused the name of me, Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, bruiting abroad that I have set up the mass at Canterbury, and that I offered to say mass before the Queen's Highness at Paul's Cross and I wot not where. I have been well exercised these twenty years, to suffer and to bear evil reports and lies, and have not been much grieved thereat, and have borne all things quietly; yet where untrue reports and lies turn to the hindrance of God's truth, they be in no ways to be tolerated and suffered. Wherefore these be to signify to the world that it was not I that did set up the mass at Canterbury, but a false, flattering, lying, and dissembling monk, which caused the mass to be set up there without my advice and counsel: and as for offering myself to say mass before the Queen's Highness, or in any other place, I never did, as her Grace knoweth well. But if her Grace will give me leave, I shall be ready to prove against all that will say the contrary, that the Communion-book, set forth by the most innocent and godly prince King Edward VI. , in his High Court of Parliament, is conformable to the order which our Saviour Christ did both observe and command to be observed, which his Apostles and primitive Church used many years; whereas the mass in many things not only hath no foundation of Christ, his Apostles, nor the primitive Church, but also is contrary to the same, and containeth many horrible blasphemies. "]

{p. 050} The challenge was answered by an immediate summons before thecouncil; the archbishop was accused of attempting to excite seditionamong the people, and was forthwith committed to the Tower to wait, with Ridley and Latimer, there, till his fate should be decided on. Meantime the eagerness with which the country generally availed itselfof the permission to restore the Catholic ritual, proved beyond adoubt that, except in London and a few large towns, the popularfeeling was with the queen. The English people had no affection forthe Papacy. They did not wish for the re-establishment of thereligious orders, or the odious domination of the clergy. But thenumerical majority among them did desire a celibate priesthood, theceremonies which the customs of centuries had sanctified, and theancient faith of their fathers, as reformed by Henry VIII. The rightsof conscience had found no more consideration from the Protestantdoctrinalists than from the most bigoted of the persecuting prelates;and the facility with which the professors of the gospel had yieldedto moral temptations, had for the time inspired moderate men with muchdistrust for them and for their opinions. 

Could Mary have been contented to pursue her victory no further, shewould have preserved the hearts of her subjects; and the reaction, left to complete its own tendencies, would in {p. 051} a few years, perhaps, have accomplished in some measure her larger desires. But fewsovereigns have understood less the effects of time and forbearance. She was deceived by the rapidity of her first success; she flatteredherself that, difficult though it might be, she could build up againthe ruined hierarchy, could compel the holders of church property toopen their hands, and could reunite the country to Rome. Before shehad been three weeks on the throne, she had received, as will bepresently mentioned, a secret messenger from the Vatican; and she hadopened a correspondence with the pope, entreating him, as an act ofjustice to herself and to those who had remained true to theirCatholic allegiance, to remove the interdict. [110]

 [Footnote 110: Renard to Charles V. , September 9: _Rolls House MSS. _]

Other actors in the great drama which was approaching were alreadycommencing their parts. 

Reginald Pole having attempted in vain to recover a footing in Englandon the accession of Edward, having seen his passionate expectationsfrom the Council of Trent melt into vapour, and Germany confirmed inheresy by the Peace of Passau, was engaged, in the summer of 1553, ata convent on the Lago di Garda, in re-editing his book against HenryVIII. , with an intended dedication to Edward, of whose illness he wasignorant. The first edition, on the failure of his attempt to raise aCatholic crusade against his country, had been withdrawn fromcirculation; the world had not received it favourably, and there was amystery about the publication which it is difficult to unravel. In theinterval between the first despatch of the book into England as aprivate letter in the summer of 1536, and the appearance of it inprint at Rome in the winter of 1538-9, it was re-written, as I havealready stated, enlarged, and divided into parts. In a letter ofapology which Pole wrote to Charles V. , in the summer or early autumnof 1538, [111] he spoke of that division as having been executed byhimself;[112] he said that he had kept his book secret till the churchhad spoken; but Paul having excommunicated Henry, he could no longerremain silent; he dwelt at length on the history of the work which hewas then editing, [113] and he sent a copy at the same time with aletter, or he {p. 052} wrote a letter with the intention of sending acopy, to James V. Of Scotland. [114]

 [Footnote 111: Before his embassy to Spain. ]

 [Footnote 112: Opus in quatuor libros sum partitus. ]

 [Footnote 113: "Scripta quæ nunc edo, " are his own words in the apology, and therefore, in an earlier part of this work, I said that he published his book himself. There is no doubt, from the context, that in the word _scripta_ he referred to that book and to no other. ]

 [Footnote 114: "Eum ad te librum Catholice princeps nunc mitto, et sub nominis tui auspiciis cujus te strenuum pietatis ministrum præbes in lucem exire volo. "--Epistola ad Regem Scotiæ: _Poli Epistolæ_, vol. I. P. 174. ]

But Charles had refused to move; the book injured Henry not at all, and injured fatally those who were dear to Pole; he checked thecirculation of the copies, and he declared to the Cardinal of Naplesthat it had been published only at the command of the pope--that hisown anxiety had been for the suppression of it. [115] Thirteen yearsafter this, however, writing to Edward VI. , he forgot that he haddescribed himself to Charles as being himself engaged in thepublication; and he assured the young king that he had never thoughtof publishing the book, that he had abhorred the very thought ofpublishing it; that it was prepared, edited, and printed by hisfriends at Rome during his own absence;[116] now, at length, he foundhimself obliged in his own person to give it forth, because an editionwas in preparation elsewhere from one of the earlier copies; and heselected the son of Henry as the person to whom he could mostbecomingly dedicate the libel against his father's memory. 

 [Footnote 115: "Qui si postea editus fuit magis id aliorum voluntate et illius qui mihi imperare potuit quam meâ est factum, mea vero fuit ut impressus supprimeretur. "--Ibid. Vol. Iv. P. 85. ]

 [Footnote 116: "Nam cum ad urbem ex Hispaniâ rediens libros injussu meo typis excusos reperissem, _toto volumine amicorum studio et operâ non sine ejus auctoritate qui jus imperandi haberet in plures libros disposito quod ego non feceram_ quippe qui de ejus editione nunquam cogitâssem, " etc. 

 "Quid aliud hoc significavit nisi me ab his libris divulgandis penitus abhorruisse ut certe abhorrui. "--Epistola ad Edwardum Sextum: Poli _Epistolæ_. The book being the sole authority for some of the darkest charges against Henry VIII. , the history of it is of some importance. 

 This was not the only instance in which his recollection of his own conduct was something treacherous. In the apology to Charles V. , speaking of a war against Henry, he had said: "Tempus venisse video, ad te primum missus, deinde ad Regem Christianissimum, ut hujus scelera per se quidem minime obscura detegam, et te Cæsar a bello Turcico abducere coner et quantum possum suadeam ut arma tua eo convertas si huic tanto malo aliter mederi non possis. " For thus, "levying war against his country, " Pole had been attainted. The name of traitor grated upon him. To Edward, therefore, he wrote: "I invited the two sovereigns rather to win back the king, by the ways of love and affection, as a fallen friend and brother, than to assail him with arms as an enemy. This I never desired nor did I urge any such conduct upon them. _Hoc ego nunquam profecto volui neque cum illis egi. _"--Epistola ad Edwardum Sextum; Ibid. ]

Edward did not live to receive this evidence of Pole's good feeling. He died before the edition was completed; and as soon asNorthumberland's failure and Mary's accession were known at Rome, England was looked upon in the Consistory {p. 053} as alreadyrecovered to the faith, and Pole was chosen by the unanimous consentof the cardinals as the instrument of the reconciliation. The accountof the proclamation of the queen was brought to the Vatican on the 6thof August by a courier from Paris; the pope in tears of joy drew hiscommission and despatched it on the instant to the Lago di Garda; andon the 9th Pole himself wrote to Mary to say that he had been namedlegate, and waited her orders to fly to England. He still clung to hisconviction that the revolution in all its parts had been the work of asmall faction, and that he had but himself to set his foot upon theshore to be received with an ovation; his impulse was therefore to setout without delay; but the recollection, among other things, that hewas attainted by act of parliament, forced him to delay unwillinglytill he received formal permission to present himself. 

Anxious for authentic information as to the state of England and thequeen's disposition, Julius had before despatched also a secret agent, Commendone, afterwards a cardinal, with instructions to make his wayto London to communicate with Mary, and if possible to learn herintentions from her own lips. Rapid movement was possible in Europeeven with the roads of the sixteenth century. Commendone was probablysent from Rome as soon as Edward was known to be dead; he was inLondon, at all events, on the 8th of August, [117] disguised as anItalian gentleman in search of property which he professed had beenbequeathed him by a kinsman. By the favour of Providence, [118] he fellin with an acquaintance, a returned Catholic refugee, who had a placein the household; and from this man he learnt that the queen wasvirtually a prisoner in the Tower, and that the heretics on thecouncil allowed no one of whose business they disapproved to haveaccess to her. Mary, however, was made acquainted with his arrival; asecret interview was managed, at which she promised to do her verybest in the interests of the church; but she had still, she said, toconquer her kingdom, and Pole's coming, much as she desired it, wasfor the moment out of the question; before she could draw thespiritual sword she must have the temporal sword more firmly in hergrasp, and she looked to marriage as the best means of strengtheningherself. If she married abroad, she thought at that time of theemperor; if she accepted one of her subjects, {p. 054} shedoubted--in her dislike of Courtenay--whether Pole might not return ina less odious capacity than that of Apostolic Legate; as the queen'sintended husband the country might receive him; he had not yet beenordained priest, and deacon's orders, on a sufficient occasion, couldperhaps be dispensed with. [119] The visit, or visits, were concealedeven from Renard. Commendone was forbidden, under the strictestinjunctions, to reveal what the queen might say to him, except to thepope or to Pole; and it is the more likely that she was serious in herexpressions about the latter, from the care with which she left Renardin ignorance of Commendone's presence. 

 [Footnote 117: He remained fifteen days, and he left for Rome the day after the execution of Northumberland. --Pallavicino. ]

 [Footnote 118: Cælitum ductu. ]

 [Footnote 119: "Nec destiterat regina id ipsum Commendono indicare, eum percontata an existimaret Pontificem ad id legem Polo relaxaturum, cum is nondum sacerdos sed diaconus esset, extarentque hujusmodi relaxionum exempla ingentis alicujus emolumenti gratiâ. "--Pallavicino. ]

The papal messenger remained long enough to witness a rapid change inher position; he saw the restoration of the mass; he was in London atthe execution, and he learnt the apostasy, of Northumberland; and hecarried letters from Mary to the pope with assurances of fidelity, andentreaties for the absolution of the kingdom. But Mary was obliged tosay, notwithstanding, that for the present she was in the power of thepeople, of whom the majority mortally detested the Holy See; that thelords of the council were in possession of vast estates which had beenalienated from the church, and they feared their titles might becalled in question;[120] and, although she agreed herself in all whichPole had urged (she had received his letter before Commendone leftEngland), yet that, nevertheless, necessity acknowledged no law. Herheretical sister was in every one's mouth, and might at any momenttake her place on the throne, and for the present, she said, to herdeep regret, she could not, with prudence or safety, allow the legateto come to her. 

 [Footnote 120: Mary described her throne as, "acquistato per benevolenze di quei popoli, che per la maggior parte odiano a morte questa sancta sede, oltre gl' interessi dei beni ecclesiastici occupati da molti signori, che sono del suo consiglio. "--Julius III. To Pole: _Poli Epistolæ_, vol. Iv. ]

The queen's letters were confirmed by Commendone himself; he had beenpermitted to confer in private with more than one good Catholic in therealm; and every one had given him the same assurances, [121] althoughhe had urged upon them the opposite opinion entertained by Pole:[122]he had himself witnessed the {p. 055} disposition with which thepeople regarded Elizabeth, and he was satisfied that the queen's alarmon this head was not exaggerated. [123]

 [Footnote 121: "Le parole che haveva inteso da lei disse di haver inteso da persone Catholice et digne di fede in quel paese. "--Ibid. ]

 [Footnote 122: "Et similmente espose l' opinione vostra con le ragioni che vi movano. "--Ibid. ]

 [Footnote 123: Julius III. To Pole: _Poli Epistolæ_, vol. Iv. ]

In opinions so emphatically given, the pope was obliged to acquiesce, and the same view was enforced upon him equally strongly by theemperor. Charles knew England tolerably well; he was acquaintedperfectly well with the moral and intellectual unfitness of theintended legate for any office which required discretion; and Julius, therefore, was obliged to communicate to the eager cardinal thenecessity of delay, and to express his fear that, by excess of zeal, he might injure the cause and alienate the well-affected queen. [124]Though Pole might not go to England, however, he might go, as he wentbefore, to the immediate neighbourhood; he might repair to Flanders, with a nominal commission to mediate in the peace which was stillhoped for. In Flanders, though the pope forbore to tell him so, hewould be under the emperor's eyes and under the emperor's control, till the vital question of the queen's marriage had been disposed of, or till England was in a calmer humour. 

 [Footnote 124: "Onde se per questa molta diligenza nostra, le avvenisse qualche caso sinistro, si rovinarebbe forse (il che Dio non voglie) ogni speranza della reduttione di quella patria, levando se le forze a questa buona e Catholica regina, overo alienando la de noi par offesa ricevuta. "--Ibid. ]

About the marriage Charles was more anxious than ever; Pole wasunderstood to have declined the honour of being a competitor;[125]Renard had informed the emperor of the present direction of thequeen's own inclinations; and treating himself, therefore, as out ofthe question on the score of age and infirmities, he instructed hisminister to propose the Prince of Spain as a person whom the religiousand the political interests of the world alike recommended to her as ahusband. The alliance of England, Spain, and Flanders would command aEuropean supremacy; their united fleets would sweep the seas, andScotland, deprived of support from France, must become an Englishprovince; while sufficient guarantees could be provided easily for thesecurity of English liberties. These, in themselves, were powerfulreasons; Renard was permitted to increase their cogency by promises ofpensions, lands, and titles, or by hard money in hand, in whateverdirection such liberality could be usefully employed. [126]

 [Footnote 125: "Ayant le Cardinal Pole si expressement declairé qu'il n'a nul désir de soy marier, et que nous tenons, que pour avoir si longuement suivi l'état ecclesiastique, et s'accommodé aux choses duysant a icelluy et estant diacre. "--Charles V. To Renard: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. ]

 [Footnote 126: Ibid. ]

{p. 056} The external advantages of the connection were obvious; itrecommended itself to the queen from the Spanish sympathies which shehad contracted in her blood, and from the assistance which it promisedto afford her in the great pursuit of her life. The proposal was firstsuggested informally. Mary affected to find difficulties; yet, if sheraised objections, it was only to prolong the conversation upon asubject which delighted her. She spoke of her age; Philip wastwenty-seven, she ten years older; she called him "boy;" she fearedshe might not be enough for him; she was unsusceptible; she had noexperience in love;[127] with such other phrases, which Renardinterpreted at their true importance. With the queen there would be nodifficulty; with the council it was far otherwise. Lord Paget was theonly English statesman who listened with any show of favour. 

 [Footnote 127: "Elle jura que jamais elle n'avoit senti esquillon de ce que l'on appelle amour, ny entre en pensement de volupté, etc. "--Renard to the Bishop of Arras: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. ]

The complication of parties is not to be easily disentangled. Someattempt, however, may be partially successful. 

The council, the peers, the Commons, the entire lay voices of England, liberal and conservative alike, were opposed to Rome; Gardiner was theonly statesman in the country who thought a return to Catholic unionpracticable or desirable; while there was scarcely an influentialfamily, titled or untitled, which was not, by grant or purchase, inpossession of confiscated church property. 

There was an equal unanimity in the dread that if Mary became the wifeof a Spanish sovereign England would, like the Low Countries, sinkinto a provincial dependency; while, again, there was the utmostunwillingness to be again entangled in the European war; the Frenchambassador insisted that the emperor only desired the marriage tosecure English assistance; and the council believed that, whateverpromises might be made, whatever stipulations insisted on, such amarriage, sooner or later, would implicate them. The country wasexhausted, the currency ruined, the people in a state of unexampledsuffering, and the only remedy was to be looked for in quiet andpublic economy; there were attractions in the offer of a powerfulalliance, but the very greatness of it added to their reluctance; theydesired to isolate England from European quarrels, and marry theirqueen at home. With these opinions Paget alone disagreed, whileGardiner was loudly national. 

{p. 057} On the other hand, though Gardiner held the restoration ofthe papal authority to be tolerable, yet he dreaded the return ofPole, as being likely to supersede him in the direction of the EnglishChurch;[128] the party who agreed with the chancellor about themarriage, and about Pole, disagreed with him about the pope; whilePaget, who was in favour of the marriage, was with the lords on thesupremacy, and, as the Romanising views of the queen became notorious, was inclining, with Arundel and Pembroke, towards the Protestants. 

 [Footnote 128: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

No wonder, therefore, that the whole council were in confusion and atcross purposes. No sooner were Charles's proposals definitely knownthan the entire machinery of the government was dislocated. Maryrepresented herself to Renard as without a friend whom she couldtrust; and the letters, both of Renard and Noailles, contain littleelse but reports how the lords were either quarrelling, or had, oneafter the other, withdrawn in disgust to their country houses. Now itwas Pembroke that was gone, now Mason, now Paget; then Courtenay was aprisoner in his house; then Lord Winchester was forbidden to appear atcourt: the ministers were in distrust of each other and of theirmistress; the queen was condemned to keep them in their officesbecause she durst not make them enemies; while the Stanleys, Howards, Talbots, and Nevilles were glooming apart, indignant at the neglect oftheir own claims. 

The queen herself was alternately angry and miserable; by the middleof September Renard congratulated Charles on her growing ill-humour;the five Dudleys and Lady Jane, he hoped, would be now disposed of, and Elizabeth would soon follow. 

Elizabeth's danger was great, and proceeded as much from her friend'sindiscretion as from the hatred of her enemies. Every one who dislikedthe queen's measures, used Elizabeth's name. Renard was for everhissing his suspicions in the queen's ear, and, unfortunately, she wasa too willing listener--not, indeed, that Renard hated Elizabeth forher own sake, for he rather admired her--or for religion's sake, forhe had a most statesmanlike indifference to religion; but he saw inher the queen's successful rival in the favour of the people, theheir-presumptive to the crown, whose influence would increase thefurther the queen travelled on the road on which he was leading her, and, therefore, an enemy who, if possible, should be destroyed. Anopportunity of creating a collision between the sisters was not longwanting. The lords of the council were {p. 058} now generally presentat mass in the royal chapel. Elizabeth, with Anne of Cleves, had asyet refused to appear. Her resistance was held to imply a sinisterintention; and on the 2nd and 3rd of September the council wereinstructed to bring her to compliance. [129] Yet the days passed, thepriest sang, and the heir to the crown continued absent. Gardiner, indeed, told Renard that she was not obdurate; he had spoken to her, and she had seemed to say that, if he could convince her, herobjections would cease;[130] but they had not ceased so far; she didnot attend. In the happiness of her first triumph Mary had treatedElizabeth like a sister, but her manner had relapsed into coldness;and the princess, at length, knowing how her name was made use of, requested a private interview, which, with difficulty, was granted. The sisters, each accompanied by a single lady, met in a gallery witha half-door between them. Elizabeth threw herself on her knees. Shesaid that she perceived her majesty was displeased with her; she couldnot tell what the cause might be, unless it was religion; and forthis, she said, she might be reasonably forgiven; she had beeneducated, as the queen was aware, in the modern belief, and sheunderstood no other; if her majesty would send her books and teachers, she would read; she would listen; she could say no more. 

 [Footnote 129: Noailles to the King of France: _Ambassades_, vol. Ii. P. 147. ]

 [Footnote 130: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

Mary, at the moment, was delighted. Like a true Catholic, however, sheinsisted that obedience must precede faith; come to the mass, shesaid, and belief will be the reward of your submission; make yourfirst trial on the mass of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. [131]

 [Footnote 131: Ibid. ]

Elizabeth consented. She was present, but present reluctantly;pretending, as Renard said, to be ill; the next Sunday she was againabsent. The queen, knowing the effect which her conduct would produce, again sent for her, and asked her earnestly what she really believed;the world said that, although she had complied once, her compliancewas feigned, and that she had submitted out of fear; she desired tohear the truth. Elizabeth could reply merely that she had done as thequeen had required her to do, with no ulterior purpose; if her majestywished she would make a public declaration to that effect. [132] Thequeen was obliged to receive her answer; but she told Renard that hersister trembled as she spoke, and well, Renard said, he understood heragitation; she was the hope of the {p. 059} heretics, and theheretics were raising their heads; the Papists, they said, had hadtheir day, but it was waning; if Elizabeth lived, England would againapostatise. 

 [Footnote 132: Renard to Charles V. , September 23: Ibid. ]

There was no difficulty in keeping the queen's jealousy alive againsther sister. Courtenay was another offence in the eye of theambassador, as the rival to Philip, who found favour with the Englishcouncil. The queen affected to treat Courtenay as a child; shecommanded him to keep to his house; she forbade him to dine abroadwithout special permission; the title of Earl of Devon was given tohim, and he had a dress made for him to take his seat in, of velvetand gold, but the queen would not allow him to wear it:[133] and yet, to her own and the ambassador's mortification, she learnt that heaffected the state of a prince; that he spoke of his marriage with heras certain; that certain prelates, Gardiner especially, encouraged hisexpectation, and one or more of them had knelt in his presence. [134]The danger had been felt from the first that, if she persisted in herfancy for the Prince of Spain, Courtenay might turn his addresses toElizabeth; the lords would in that case fall off to his support, andthe crown would fall from her head as easily as it had settled there. 

 [Footnote 133: Noailles. ]

 [Footnote 134: Renard to Charles V. , September 19: _Rolls House MSS. _]

More afflicting to Mary than these personal grievances was thepertinacity with which the council continued, in their publicdocuments, to describe her as Head of the Church, the execrable titlewhich was the central root of the apostasy. In vain she protested; thehateful form--indispensable till it was taken away by parliament--wasthrust under her eyes in every paper which was brought to her forsignature, and she was obliged to acknowledge the designation with herown hand and pen. 

Amidst these anxieties, September wore away. Parliament was to open onthe fifth of October, and either before or after the meeting the queenwas to be crowned. The ceremony was an occasion of considerableagitation; Mary herself was alarmed lest the holy oil should have lostits efficacy through the interdict; and she entreated Renard toprocure her a fresh supply from Flanders, blessed by the excellenthands of the Bishop of Arras. But the oil was not the gravestdifficulty. As the rumour spread of the intended Spanish marriage, libellous handbills were scattered about London; the people said itshould not be till they had fought for it. A disturbance at Greenwich, on the 25th of September, extended to Southwark, {p. 060} whereGardiner's house was attacked, [135] and a plot was discovered tomurder him: in the day he wore a shirt of mail under his robes, and heslept with a guard of a hundred men. Threatening notices were evenfound on the floor of the queen's bed-room, left there by unknownhands. Noailles assured the lords that his own government would regardthe marriage as little short of a declaration of war, so inevitablywould war be the result of it; and Gardiner, who was unjustlysuspected of being in the Spanish interest, desired to delay thecoronation till parliament should have met; intending that the firstact of the assembly should be to tie Mary's hands with a memorialwhich she could not set aside. She inherited under her father's will, by which her accession was made conditional on her marrying notwithout the consent of the council; parliament might remind her bothof her own obligation to obey her father's injunctions, and of theirsto see that they were obeyed. 

 [Footnote 135: Noailles; Renard. ]

With the same object, though not with the same object only, the lordsof the council supported the Bishop of Winchester. They proposed toalter the form of the coronation oath, and to bind the queen by anespecial clause to maintain the independence of the English Church--aprecaution, as it proved, not unnecessary--for the existing form wasalready inconvenient, and Mary was meditating how, when called on toswear to observe the laws and constitutions of the realm, she couldintroduce an adjective _sub silentio_; she intended to swear only thatshe would observe the JUST laws and constitutions. [136] But she lookedwith the gravest alarm to the introduction of more awkward phrases; ifwords were added which would be equivalent (as she would understandthem) to a denial of Christ and his Church, she had resolved to refuseat all hazards. [137]

 [Footnote 136: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 137: Ibid. ]

But her courage was not put to the test. The true grounds on which thedelay of the coronation was desired could not be avowed. The queen wastold that her passage through the streets would be unsafe until heraccession had been sanctioned by parliament, and the act repealed bywhich she was illegitimatised. With Paget's help she faced down theseobjections, and declared that she would be crowned at once; sheappointed the 1st of October for the ceremony; on the 28th ofSeptember she sent for the council to attempt an appeal to theirgenerosity. She spoke to them at length of her past life andsufferings, of the conspiracy to set her aside, and of the wonderfulProvidence {p. 061} which had preserved her and raised her to thethrone; her only desire, she said, was to do her duty to God and toher subjects; and she hoped, turning as she spoke, pointedly toGardiner, that they would not forget their loyalty, and would stand byher in her extreme necessity. Observing them hesitate, she cried, "Mylords, on my knees I implore you"--and flung herself on the ground attheir feet. [138]

 [Footnote 138: "Devant les quelz elle se mist à genoulx. "--Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

The most skilful acting could not have served Mary's purpose betterthan this outburst of natural emotion; the spectacle of their kneelingsovereign overcame for a time the scheming passions of her ministers;they were affected, burst into tears, and withdrew their opposition toher wishes. [139]

 [Footnote 139: Ibid. ]

On the 30th, the procession from the Tower to Westminster through thestreets was safely accomplished. The retinues of the lords protectedthe queen from insult, and London put on its usual outward signs ofrejoicing; St. Paul's spire was rigged with yards like a ship's mast, an adventurous sailor sitting astride on the weathercock five hundredfeet in the air:[140] there was no interruption; and the next day(October 1), Arras having sent the necessary unction, [141] theceremony was performed at the Abbey without fresh burdens being laidon Mary's conscience. 

 [Footnote 140: The Hot Gospeller, half-recovered from his gaol fever, got out of bed to see the spectacle, and took his station at the west end of St. Paul's. The procession passed so close as almost to touch him, and one of the train seeing him muffled up, and looking more dead than alive, said, There is one that loveth her majesty well, to come out in such condition. The queen turned her head and looked at him. To hear that any one of her subjects loved her just then was too welcome to be overlooked. --Underhill's Narrative: _MS. Harleian_, 425. ]

 [Footnote 141: Arras to Renard: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 105. ]

The banquet in the great hall passed off with equal success; SirEdward Dymocke, the champion, rode in and flung down his gage, and waslistened to with becoming silence: on the whole, Mary's friends wereagreeably disappointed; only Renard observed that, between the Frenchambassador and the Lady Elizabeth there seemed to be some secretunderstanding; the princess saluted Noailles as he passed her; Renardshe would neither address nor look at--and Renard was told that shecomplained to Noailles of the weight of her coronet, and that Noailles"bade her have patience, and before long she would exchange it for acrown. "[142]

 [Footnote 142: Renard to the Regent Mary: _Rolls House MSS. _]

{p. 062} The coronation was a step gained; it was one more victory, yet it produced no material alteration. Rome, and the Spanishmarriage, remained as before, insoluble elements of difficulty; thequeen, to her misfortune, was driven to rely more and more on Renard;and at this time she was so desperate and so ill-advised as to thinkof surrounding herself with an Irish bodyguard; she went so far as tosend a commission to Sir George Stanley for their transport. [143]

 [Footnote 143: "Mary, by the grace of God, Queen of England, etc. .. . To all mayors, sheriffs, justices of the peace, and other our subjects, these our letters, hearing or seeing: whereas we have appointed a certain number of able men to be presently levied for our service within our realm of Ireland, and to be transported hither with diligence, we let you wit that for that purpose we have authorised our trusty Sir George Stanley, Knight, " etc. --October 5, 1553. From the original Commission: _Tanner MSS. _ 90, Bodleian Library. ]

The scheme was abandoned, but not because her relations with her ownpeople were improved. Before parliament met, an anonymous pamphletappeared by some English nobleman on the encroachments of the House ofAustria, and on the treatment of other countries which had fallenthrough marriages into Austrian hands. In Lombardy and Naples everyoffice of trust was described as held by a Spaniard; the Prince ofSalerno was banished, the Prince of Benevento was a prisoner inFlanders, the Duke of Calabria a prisoner in Spain. Treating Mary'shopes of children as ridiculous, the writer pictured England, boundhand and foot, at the mercy of the insolent Philip, whose first step, on entering the country, would be to seize the Tower and the fleet, the next, to introduce a Spanish army and suppress the parliament. Thefree, glorious England of the Plantagenets would then be convertedinto a prostrate appanage of the dominions of Don Carlos. The pamphletwas but the expression of the universal feeling. Gardiner, indeed, perplexed between his religion and his country, for a few dayswavered. Gardiner had a long debt to pay off against the Protestants, and a Spanish force, divided into garrisons for London and othertowns, would assist him materially. [144] Partly, however, fromattachment to Courtenay, partly from loyalty to his country, he shookoff the temptation and continued to support the opposition. [145]

 [Footnote 144: "J'estime qu'il desire presentment y veoir une bonne partie de l'Espaigne et Allemaigne, y tenir grosses et fortes garnisons, pour mortifier ce peuple, et s'en venger, " etc. --Noailles to the King of France: _Ambassades_, vol. Ii. P. 169. ]

 [Footnote 145: A look at Gardiner, at this time, through contemporary eyes, assists much towards the understanding him. Thomas Mountain, parson of St. Michael's by the Tower, an ultra-Reformer, had been out with Northumberland at Cambridge. The following story is related by himself. 

 "Sunday, October 8, " Mountain says, "I ministered service, according to the godly order set forth by that blessed prince King Edward, the parish communicating at the Holy Supper. Now, while I was even a breaking of bread at the table, saying to the communicants, Take and eat this, Drink this, there were standing by several serving-men, to see and hear, belonging to the Bishop of Winchester; among whom one of them most shamefully blasphemed God, saying:

 "Yea, by God's blood, standest thou there yet, saying--Take and eat, Take and drink; will not this gear be left yet? You shall be made to sing another song within these few days, I trow, or else I have lost my mark. "

 A day or two after came an order for Mountain to appear before Gardiner at Winchester House. Mountain said he would appear after morning prayers; but the messenger's orders were not to leave him, and he was obliged to obey on the instant. 

 The bishop was standing when he entered, "in a bay window, with a great company about him; among them Sir Anthony St. Leger, reappointed Lord Deputy of Ireland. "

 "Thou heretic, " the Bishop began; "how darest thou be so bold as to use that schismatical service still, seeing God hath sent us a Catholic queen. There is such an abominable company of you, as is able to poison a whole realm with heresies. "

 "My lord, " Mountain replied, "I am no heretic, for in that way you count heresy, so worship we the living God. "

 "God's passion, " said the Bishop, "did I not tell you, my Lord Deputy, how you should know a heretic. He is up with his living God as though there was a dead God. They have nothing in their mouths, these heretics, but the Lord liveth; the living God; the Lord! the Lord! and nothing but the Lord. "

 "Here, " says Mountain, "he chafed like a bishop; and as his manner was, many times he put off his cap, and rubbed to and fro up and down the forepart of his head, where a lock of hair was always standing up. "

 "My good Lord Chancellor, " St. Leger said to him, "trouble not yourself with this heretic; I think all the world is full of them; God bless me from them. But, as your Lordship said, having a Christian queen reigning over us, I trust there will shortly be a reformation and an order taken with these heretics. " "Submit yourself unto my lord, " he said to Mountain, "and you shall find favour. "

 "Thank you, sir, " Mountain answered, "ply your own suit, and let me alone. "

 A bystander then put in that the parson of St. Michael's was a traitor as well as a heretic. He had been in the field with the duke against the queen. 

 "Is it even so?" cried Gardiner; "these be always linked together, treason and heresy. Off with him to the Marshalsea; this is one of our new broached brethren that speaketh against good works; your fraternity was, is, and ever will be unprofitable in all ages, and good for nothing but the fire. "--Troubles of Thomas Mountain: printed by Strype. 

 The portraits of Gardiner represent a fine, vehement-looking man. The following description of him, by Ponet, his rival in the See of Winchester, gives the image as it was reflected in Ponet's antipathies. 

 "The doctor hath a swart colour, hanging look, frowning brows, eyes an inch within his head, a nose, hooked like a buzzard's, nostrils like a horse, ever snuffing in the wind; a sparrow mouth, great paws like the devil, talons on his feet like a gripe, two inches longer than the natural toes, and so tied with sinews that he cannot abide to be touched. "]

{p. 063} Mary, except for the cautious support of Paget, stoodotherwise alone coquetting with her fancy, and played upon by theskilful Renard. The queen and the ambassador were incessantlytogether, and Philip was the never-tiring subject of conversationbetween them. She talked of his disposition. She had heard, {p. 064}she said, that he was proud; that he was inferior to his father inpoint of ability; and then he was young, and she had been told sadstories about him; if he was of warm temperament, he would not suither at all, she said, considering the age at which she hadarrived. [146] Moreover, when she was married, she must obey as Godcommanded; her husband, perhaps, might wish to place Spaniards inauthority in England, and she would have to refuse; and that he wouldnot like. To all of which, being the fluttering of the caught fly, Renard would answer that his highness was more like an angel than aman; his youth was in his favour, for he might live to see his childof age, and England had had too much experience of minorities. Life, he added remarkably, was shorter than it used to be; sixty was now agreat age for a king; and as the world was, men were as mature atthirty as in the days of his grandfather they were considered atforty. [147] Then touching the constant sore--"her majesty, " he said, "had four enemies, who would never rest till they had destroyed her orwere themselves destroyed--the heretics, the friends of the late Dukeof Northumberland, the courts of France and Scotland, and, lastly, hersister Elizabeth. Her subjects were restless, turbulent, andchangeable as the ocean of which they were so fond;[148] thesovereigns of England had been only able to rule with a hand of iron, and with severities which had earned them the name of tyrants;[149]they had not spared the blood royal in order to secure their thrones, and she too must act as they had acted, leaning for support, meanwhile, on the arm of a powerful prince. "

 [Footnote 146: "Que s'il vouloit estre voluptueux ce n'est ce quelle desire pour estre de telle eaige. "--Renard to the Emperor: _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 147: Renard to the Emperor: _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 148: "Vostre Majesté seit les humeurs des Angloys et leur voluntez estre forte discordantes, désireux de nouvelleté, de mutation, et vindicatifz, soit pour estre insulaires, ou pour tenir ce natural de la marine. "--Renard to Mary: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 129. ]

 [Footnote 149: "Les roys du passé on esté forcés de traicter en rigueur de justice et effusion de sang par l'execution de plusieurs du royaulme, voir du sang royal, pour s'asseurer et maintenir leur royaulme, dont ils out acquis le renom de tyrans et cruelz. "--Ibid. ]

To these dark hints Mary ever listened eagerly--meantime she washarassed painfully from another quarter. 

{p. 065} Reginald Pole, as might have been expected from histemperament, could ill endure the delay of his return to England. Thehesitation of the queen and the objections of the emperor weregrounded upon arguments which he assured himself were fallacious; theEnglish nation, he continued to insist, were devoted to the Holy See;so far from being himself unpopular, the _Cornish_ in the rebellionunder Edward had petitioned for his recall, and had even designatedhim by the forbidden name of cardinal; they loved him and they longedfor him; and, regarding himself as the chosen instrument of Providenceto repair the iniquities of Henry VIII. , he held the obstructions tohis return not only to be mistaken, but to be impious. The duty of thereturning prodigal was to submit; to lay aside all earthlyconsiderations--to obey God, God's vicegerent the pope, and himselfthe pope's representative. 

Mendoza had been sent by Charles to meet Pole on his way to Flanders, and reason him into moderation. In return the legate wrote himself toCharles's confessor, commanding him to explain to his master the sinwhich he was committing. "The objection to his going to England, " asPole understood, "was the supposed danger of an outbreak". Were thetruth as the emperor feared, the queen's first duty would be, nevertheless, to God, her own soul, and the souls of the millions ofher subjects who were perishing in separation from the church; for noworldly policy or carnal respect ought she to defer for a moment toapply a remedy to so monstrous a calamity. [150] But the danger wasimaginary--or, rather, such danger as there was, arose from theopposite cause. The right of the queen to the throne did not rest onan act of parliament; it rested on her birth as the lawful child ofthe lawful marriage between Henry and Catherine of Arragon. Parliament, he was informed, would affirm the marriage legitimate, ifnothing was said about the pope; but, unless the pope's authority wasfirst recognised, parliament would only stultify itself; the papaldispensation alone made valid a connection which, if the pope had nopower to dispense, was incestuous, and the offspring of itillegitimate. God had made the peaceful settlement of the kingdomdependent {p. 066} on submission to the Holy See, [151] and forparliament to interfere and give an opinion upon the subject would bebut a fresh act of schism and disobedience. 

 [Footnote 150: "Quanto grave peccato et irreparabil danno sia il differir cosa che pertenga alle salute di tante anime, le quale mentre quel regno sta disunito dalla Chiesa, si trovano in manifesto pericolo della loro dannatione. "--Pole to the Emperor's Confessor: _MS. Germany_, bundle 16, State Paper Office. ]

 [Footnote 151: God, he said, had joined the title to the Crown, "con l'obedientia della Sede Apostolica, che levata questa viene a cader in tutto, quella non essendo ella legitime herede del regno, se non per la legitimation del matrimonio della regina sua madre, et questa non valendo senon per l'autorita et dispensa del Papa. "--Pole to the Emperor's Confessor: _MS. Germany_, bundle 16, State Paper office. ]

The original letter, being in our own State Paper Office, was probablygiven by the confessor to Charles, and by Charles sent over toEngland. Most logical it was; so logical that it quite outwitted theintention of the writer. While it added to the queen's distress, itremoved, nevertheless, all objections which might have been raised bythe anti-papal party against the act to legitimatise her. So long asthere was a fear that, by a repeal of the Act of Divorce between herfather and mother, the pope's authority might indirectly be admitted, some difficulty was to be anticipated; as a new assertion of Englishindependence, it could be carried with unanimous alacrity. 

What parliament would or would not consent to, however, would sooncease to be a mystery. The advice of the emperor on the elections hadbeen, for the most part, followed. It was obvious, indeed, that asovereign who was unable to control her council was in no position todictate to constituencies. There were no circulars to thelords-lieutenant of counties, such as Northumberland had issued, orsuch as Mary herself, a year later, was able to issue; while theunusual number of members returned to the Lower House--four hundredand thirty, it will be seen, voted on one great occasion--shows thatthe issue of writs had been on the widest scale. On the whole, it was, perhaps, the fairest election which had taken place for many years. Inthe House of Lords the ejection of the Reforming bishops and therestoration of their opponents--the death, imprisonment, or disgraceof three noblemen on the Reforming side, and the return to public lifeof the peers who, in the late reign, had habitually absentedthemselves, had restored a conservative majority. How therepresentatives of the people would conduct themselves was the anxiousand all-agitating question. The queen, however, could console herselfwith knowing that Protestantism, as a system of belief, had made itsway chiefly among the young; the votes were with the middle-aged andthe old. 

The session opened on the 5th of October with the ancient {p. 067}form, so long omitted, of the mass of the Holy Ghost. Two Protestantbishops, Taylor of Lincoln and Harley of Hereford, who had been leftas yet undisturbed in their sees, on the service commencing, rose andwent out; they were not allowed to return. Two prebends, AlexanderNowel and Doctor Tregonwell had been returned to the Lower House;Nowel as a member of Convocation was declared ineligible;[152]Tregonwell, being a layman, was on consideration allowed to retain hisseat. These were the only ejections which can be specifically traced, and the silence of those who were interested in making the worst ofMary's conduct, may be taken to prove that they did not know of anymore. [153] The Houses, purged of these elements, then settled to theirwork; and, plunging at once into the great question of the time, theCommons came to an instant understanding that the lay owners of churchlands should not be disturbed in their tenures under any pretextwhatsoever. 

 [Footnote 152: "Friday, October 13, it was declared by the commissioners that Alex. Nowel, being prebendary in Westminster, and thereby having a voice in the Convocation House, cannot be a member of this House, and so agreed by the House. "--_Commons Journal_, 1 Mary. ]

 [Footnote 153: Burnet and other Protestant writers are loud-voiced with eloquent generalities on the interference with the elections, and the ill-treatment of the Reforming members; but of interference with the elections they can produce no evidence, and of members ejected they name no more than the two bishops and the two prebends. Noailles, indeed, who had opportunities of knowing, says something on both points. "Ne fault douter, sire, " he wrote to the King of France, "que la dicte dame n'obtienne presque tout ce qu'elle vouldra en ce parlement, de tant qu'elle a faict faire election de ceulx qui pourront estre en sa faveur, et jetter quelques uns à elle suspectz. " The queen had probably done what she could; but the influence which she could exercise must obviously have been extremely small, and the event showed that the ambassador was entirely wrong in his expectations. ]

Commendone, on returning to Rome, had disregarded his obligations tosecrecy, and had related all that the queen had said to him in theopen consistory; from the consistory the account travelled back toEngland, and arrived inopportunely at the opening of parliament. Thefatal subject of the lands had been spoken of, and the queen hadexpressed to Commendone her intention to restore them, if possible, tothe church. The council cross-questioned her, and she could neitherdeny her words nor explain them away; the Commons first, the Lordsimmediately after, showed her that, whatever might be her own hopes orwishes, their minds on that point were irrevocably fixed. [154]

 [Footnote 154: Renard to Charles V. , October 19: _Rolls House MSS. _]

No less distinct were the opinions expressed in the Lower House on thePapacy. The authority of the pope, as understood {p. 068} in England, was not a question of doctrine, nor was the opposition to it of recentorigin. It had been thrown off after a struggle which had lasted forcenturies, and a victory[155] so hardly won was not to be lightlyparted with. Lord Paget warned the queen that Pole's name must not beso much as mentioned, or some unwelcome resolution about him would beimmediately passed;[156] and she was in hourly dread that before theywould consent to anything, they would question her whether she wouldor would not maintain the royal supremacy. [157] On the other hand, ifno difficulties were raised about the pope or the church lands, thepreliminary discussion, both among Lords and Commons, showed a generaldisposition to re-establish religion in the condition in which Henryleft it--provided, that is to say, no penalties were to attach tononconformity; and the Houses were ready also to take the step so muchdeprecated by Pole, and pass a measure legitimatising the queen, provided no mention was to be made of the papal dispensation. Somedifference of opinion on the last point had shown itself in the Houseof Commons, [158] but the legate's ingenuity had removed all seriousobstacles. 

 [Footnote 155: Even the most reactionary clergy, men like Abbot Feckenham and Doctor Bourne, had no desire, as yet, to be re-united to Rome. In a discussion with Ridley in the Tower, on the real presence, Feckenham argued that "forty years before all the world was agreed about it. Forty years ago, said Ridley, all held that the Bishop of Rome was supreme head of the Universal Church. What then? was Master Feckenham beginning to say; but Master Secretary (Bourne) took the tale, and said that was a positive law. A positive law, quoth Ridley; he would not have it so; he challenged it by Christ's own word, by the words, 'Thou art Peter; thou art Cephas, ' Tush, quoth Master Secretary, it was not counted an article of our faith. "--Foxe, vol. Vi. ]

 [Footnote 156: Renard to Charles V. , October 28: _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 157: Ibid. October 15: _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 158: Ibid. ]

Again parliament seemed determined that the Act of Succession, and thewill of Henry VIII. , should not be tampered with, to the disfavour ofElizabeth. It is singular that Renard, and probably, therefore, Mary, were unaware of the position in which Elizabeth was placed towards thecrown. They imagined that her only title was as a presumptivelylegitimate child; that if the Act of Divorce between Catherine ofArragon and Henry was repealed, she must then, as a bastard, be cutoff from her expectations. Had Elizabeth's prospects been liable to beaffected by the legitimisation of her sister, the queen would havesued as vainly for it as she sued afterwards in favour of her husband. With unmixed mortification Renard learnt that Elizabeth, in the eye ofthe law, had been as illegitimate as Mary, and that her {p. 069}place in the order of succession rested on her father's will. Heflattered himself, at first, that Henry's dispositions could be setaside;[159] but he very soon found that there was no present hope ofit. 

 [Footnote 159: Renard to Charles V. , October 21: _Rolls House MSS. _]

These general features of the temper of parliament were elicited inconversation in the first few days of the session. The Marchioness ofExeter, during the same days, was released from her attainder, Courtenay was restored in blood, and a law, similar to that with whichSomerset commenced his Protectorate, repealed all late treason acts, restricted the definition of treason within the limits of the statuteof Edward III. , and relieved the clergy of the recent extensions ofthe Premunire. The queen gave her assent to these three measures onthe 21st of October; and there was then an interval of three days, during which the bishops were consulted on the view taken byparliament of the queen's legitimacy. Renard told the Bishop ofNorwich, Thirlby, that they must bend to the times, and leave the popeto his fortunes. They acted on the ambassador's advice. An act waspassed, in which the marriage from which the queen was sprung, wasdeclared valid, and the pope's name was not mentioned; but theessential point being secured, the framers of the statute were willingto gratify their mistress by the intensity of the bitterness withwhich the history of the divorce was related. [160] The bishops musthave been glad to escape from so mortifying a subject, and to applythemselves to the more congenial subject of religion. 

 [Footnote 160: 1 Mary, cap. 1. ]

As soon as the disposition of parliament had been generallyascertained, the restoration of the mass was first formally submitted, for the sake of decency, to the clergy of Convocation. 

The bench had been purged of dangerous elements. The Lower Housecontained a small fraction of Protestants just large enough to permita controversy, and to insure a triumph to their antagonists. Theproceedings opened with a sermon from Harpsfeld, then chaplain of theBishop of London, in which, in a series of ascending antitheses, Northumberland was described as Holofernes, and Mary as Judith;Northumberland was Haman, and Mary was Esther; Northumberland wasSisera, and Mary was the mother in Israel. Mary was the sister who hadchosen the better part: religion ceased and slept until Mary arose avirgin in Israel, and with the mother of God Mary might sing, "Behold, from henceforth all generations shall call {p. 070} me blessed. " Thetrumpet having thus sounded, the lists were drawn for the combat; thebishops sat in their robes, the clergy stood bareheaded, and thechampions appeared. Hugh Weston, Dean of Windsor, Dean of Westminsterafterwards, Dr. Watson, Dr. Moreman, and the preacher Harpsfeldundertook to defend the real presence against Phillips Dean ofRochester, Philpot, Cheny, Aylmer, and Young. 

The engagement lasted for a week. The reforming theologians fought fortheir dangerous cause bravely and temperately; and Weston, who was atonce advocate and prolocutor, threw down his truncheon at last, andtold Philpot that he was meeter for Bethlehem than for a company ofgrave and learned men, and that he should come no more into theirhouse. [161] The orthodox thus ruled themselves the victors: but beyondthe doors of the Convocation House they did not benefit their cause. The dispute, according to Renard, resolved itself, in the opinion ofthe laity, into scandalous railing and recrimination;[162] the peoplewere indignant; and the Houses of Parliament, disgusted anddissatisfied, resumed the discussion among themselves, as morecompetent to conduct it with decency. In eight days the variouschanges introduced by Edward VI. Were argued in the House of Commons, and points were treated of there, said Renard, which a general councilcould scarcely resolve. At length, by a majority, which exceededGardiner's most sanguine hopes, of 350 against 80, the mass wasrestored, and the clergy were required to return to celibacy. [163]

 [Footnote 161: Report of the Disputation in the Convocation House. --Foxe, vol. V. P. 395. ]

 [Footnote 162: Renard to Charles V. , October 28: _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 163: Ibid. November 8: _Rolls House MSS. _]

The precipitation with which Somerset, Cranmer, and Northumberland hadattempted to carry out the Reformation, was thus followed by a naturalrecoil. Protestant theology had erected itself into a system ofintolerant dogmatism, and had crowded the gaols with prisoners whowere guilty of no crime but Nonconformity; it had now to reap thefruits of its injustice, and was superseded till its teachers hadgrown wiser. The first parliament of Mary was indeed more Protestant, in the best sense of that word, than the statesmen and divines ofEdward. While the House of Commons re-established the Catholicservices, they decided, after long consideration, that no punishmentshould be inflicted on those who declined to attend thoseservices. [164] There was to be no pope, no persecution, no restorationof the abbey {p. 071} lands--resolutions, all of them disagreeable toa reactionary court. On the Spanish marriage both Lords and Commonswere equally impracticable. The Catholic noblemen--the Earls of Derby, Shrewsbury, Bath, and Sussex were in the interest of Courtenay. Thechancellor had become attached to him in the Tower when they werefellow-prisoners there; and Sir Robert Rochester, Sir FrancisEnglefield, Sir Edward Waldegrave, the queen's tried and faithfulofficers of the household, went with the chancellor. Never, on anysubject, was there greater unanimity in England than in thedisapproval of Philip as a husband for the queen, and, on the 29th ofOctober, the Lower House had a petition in preparation to entreat herto choose from among her subjects. 

 [Footnote 164: Ibid. December 8. ]

To Courtenay, indeed, Mary might legitimately object. Since hisemancipation from the Tower he had wandered into folly and debauchery;he was vain and inexperienced, and his insolence was kept in checkonly by the quality so rare in an Englishman of personal timidity. Butto refuse Courtenay was one thing, to fasten her choice on the heir ofa foreign kingdom was another. Paget insisted, indeed, that, as theQueen of Scots was contracted to the Dauphin, unless England couldstrengthen herself with a connection of corresponding strength, theunion of the French and Scottish crowns was a menace to herliberties. [165] But the argument, though important in itself, waspowerless against the universal dread of the introduction of a foreignsovereign, and it availed only to provide Mary with an answer to theprotests and entreaties of her other ministers. 

 [Footnote 165: Renard. ]

Perhaps, too, it confirmed her in her obstinacy, and allowed her topersuade herself that, in following her own inclination, she wasconsulting the interests of her subjects. Obstinate, at any rate, shewas beyond all reach of persuasion. Once only she wavered, after herresolution was first taken. Some one had told her that, if she marriedPhilip, she would find herself the step-mother of a large family ofchildren who had come into the world irregularly. A moral objectionshe was always willing to recognise. She sent for Renard, and conjuredhim to tell her whether the prince was really the good man which hehad described him; Renard assured her that he was the very paragon ofthe world. 

She caught the ambassador's hand. 

"Oh!" she exclaimed, "do you speak as a subject whose duty is topraise his sovereign, or do you speak as a man?"

{p. 072} "Your majesty may take my life, " he answered, "if you findhim other than I have told you. "

"Oh that I could but see him!" she said. 

She dismissed Renard gratefully. A few days after she sent for himagain, when she was expecting the petition of the House of Commons. "Lady Clarence, " one of the queen's attendants, was the only otherperson present. The holy wafer was in the room on an altar, which shecalled her protector, her guide, her adviser. [166] Mary told them thatshe spent her days and nights in tears and prayers before it, imploring God to direct her; and as she was speaking her emotionsovercame her; she flung herself on her knees with Renard and LadyClarence at her side, and the three together before the altar sang the_Veni Creator_. The invocation was heard in the breasts from which itwas uttered. As the chant died into silence, Mary rose from the groundas if inspired, and announced the divine message. The Prince of Spainwas the chosen of Heaven for the virgin queen; if miracles wererequired to give him to her, there was a stronger than man who wouldwork them; the malice of the world should not keep him from her; shewould cherish him and love him, and him alone; and neverthenceforward, by a wavering thought, would she give him cause forjealousy. [167]

 [Footnote 166: "Elle l'avoit toujours invoqué comme son protecteur, conducteur, et conseilleur. "--Renard to Charles V. , October 31: _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 167: Renard to Charles V. , October 31: _Rolls House MSS. _]

It was true that she had deliberately promised not to do what she wasnow resolved on doing, but that was no matter. 

The Commons' petition was by this time (November) ready, but theagitation of the last scene brought on a palpitation of the heartwhich for the time enabled the queen to decline to receive it; whileRenard assailed the different ministers, and extracted from them theirgeneral views on the state of the country, and the measures whichshould be pursued. 

The Bishop of Winchester he found relaxing in his zeal for Rome, anddesiring a solid independent English government, the re-enactment ofthe Six Articles, and an Anglican religious tyranny supported by thelords of the old blood. Nobles and people were against the pope, Gardiner said, and against foreign interference of all sorts; Marycould not marry Philip without a papal dispensation, which must bekept secret; the country would not tolerate it;[168] the French wouldplay into the hands of {p. 073} the heretics, and the Spanishalliance would give them the game; there would be a cry raised thatSpanish troops would be introduced to inflict the pope upon the peopleby force. If the emperor desired the friendship of England, he wouldsucceed best by not pressing the connection too close. Politicalmarriages were dangerous. Cromwell tied Henry VIII. To Anne of Cleves;the marriage lasted a night, and destroyed him and his policy. Let thequeen accept the choice of her people, marry Courtenay, send Elizabethto the Tower, and extirpate heresy with fire and sword. 

 [Footnote 168: "Il fauldra obtenir dispense du Pape, pour le parentage, qui ne pourra estre publique ains secrete, autrement le peuple se revolteroit, pour l'auctorité du Pape qu'il ne veult admettre et revoir. "--Renard to Charles V. , November 9: _Rolls House MSS. _]

These were the views of Gardiner, from whom Renard turned next toPaget. 

If the queen sent Elizabeth to the Tower, Lord Paget said, her lifewould not be safe for a day. Paget wished her to be allowed to chooseher own husband; but she must first satisfy parliament that she had nointention of tampering with the succession. Should she die withoutchildren, the country must not be left exposed to claims from Spain onbehalf of Philip, or from France on behalf of the Queen of Scots. Hisown advice, therefore, was, that Mary should frankly acknowledge hersister as her presumptive successor; Elizabeth might be married toCourtenay, and, in default of heirs of her own body, it might beavowed and understood that those two should be king and queen. Couldshe make up her mind to this course, could she relinquish her dreamsof restoring the authority of the pope, of meddling with the churchlands, and interfering with the liberties of her people, she mightrely on the loyalty of the country, and her personal inclinationswould not be interfered with. [169]

 [Footnote 169: Renard to Charles V. , November 4: _Rolls House MSS. _]

Both the lines of conduct thus sketched were consistent andintelligible, and either might have been successfully followed. Butneither the one nor the other satisfied Mary. She would have Philip, she would have the pope, and she would not recognise her sister. Ifshe insisted on choosing a husband for herself, she felt it would bedifficult to refuse her; her object was to surprise the council intocommitting themselves, and she succeeded. On the 8th of November, whenthey were in session in a room in the palace, Renard presented Mary inthe emperor's name with a formal offer of Philip's hand, and requesteda distinct answer, Yes or no. The queen said she would consult herministers, and repaired in agitation to the council-room. [170]Distrusting {p. 074} one another, unprepared for the sudden demand, and unable to consult in her presence, the lords made some answer, which she interpreted into acquiescence: Mary returned radiant withjoy, and told the ambassador that his proposal was accepted. 

 [Footnote 170: "Visage intimidé et gestes tremblans. "--Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

A momentary lull followed, during which Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop ofCanterbury, Lady Jane Grey, Lord Guilford, Lord Ambrose, and LordHenry Dudley were taken from the Tower on foot to the Guildhall, andwere there tried, found guilty of high treason, and sentenced to die. Lady Jane the queen still intended to spare; the Dudleys she meant topause upon. Cranmer, in a grave, mild letter, explained what hisconduct had been with respect to his so-called treason; but his story, creditable to him as it was, produced no effect; Cranmer wasimmediately to be put to death. That was the first intention, thoughit was found necessary to postpone his fate through a superstitiousscruple. The archbishop had received the pallium from Rome, and, untildegraded by apostolic authority, he could not, according to Catholicrule, be condemned by a secular tribunal. But there was no intentionof sparing him at the time of his trial; in a few days, Renard wroteon the 17th of November, "the archbishop" will be executed; and Mary, triumphant, as she believed herself, on the question nearest to herheart, had told him that the melancholy which had weighed upon herfrom childhood was rolling away; she had never yet known the meaningof happiness, and she was about to be rewarded at last. [171]

 [Footnote 171: Renard to Charles V. , November 17: _Rolls House MSS. _]

The struggle had told upon her. She was looking aged and worn, [172]and her hopes of children, if she married, were thought extremelysmall. But she considered that she had won the day, and was now readyto face the Commons; the House had chafed at the delay: they hadtalked largely of their intentions; if the queen's answer wasunsatisfactory, they would dissolve themselves, they said, and returnto their counties. On the 16th of November a message was brought thatthe Speaker would at last be admitted to the presence. The interviewwhich followed, Mary thus herself described to Renard. The councilwere present; the Speaker was introduced, and the queen received himstanding. 

 [Footnote 172: "Fort envieillie et agée. "--Noailles. ]

In an oration, she said, replete to weariness with fine phrases andhistoric precedents, the Speaker requested her, in the name of thecommonwealth, to marry. The succession was perplexed; the Queen ofScots made pretensions to the crown; and, in the {p. 075} event ofher death, a civil war was imminent. Let her majesty take a husband, therefore, and with God's grace the kingdom would not be long withoutan heir whose title none would dispute. Yet, in taking a husband, theSpeaker said, her majesty's faithful Commons trusted she would notchoose from abroad. A foreign prince had interests of his own whichmight not be English interests; he would have command of Englisharmies, fleets, and fortresses, and he might betray his trust; hemight involve the country in wars; he might make promises and breakthem; he might carry her highness away out of the realm; or he mightbring up her children in foreign courts and in foreign habits. Let hermarry, therefore, one of her own subjects. 

The Speaker was so prolix, so tedious, so confused, the queensaid--his sentences were so long drawn and so little to thepurpose--that she sate down before he had half-finished. When he cameto the words "Marry a subject, " she could remain silent no longer. 

Replies to addresses of the House of Commons were usually read by thechancellor; but, careless of forms, she again started to her feet, andspoke:--[173]

 [Footnote 173: Renard is the only authority for this speech, which he heard from the queen. Translated by him into French, and retranslated by myself into English, it has, doubtless, suffered much in the process. ]

"For your desire to see us married we thank you; your desire todictate to us the consort whom we shall choose we consider somewhatsuperfluous; the English parliament has not been wont to use suchlanguage to their sovereigns, and where private persons in such casesfollow their private tastes, sovereigns may reasonably challenge anequal liberty. If you, our Commons, force upon us a husband whom wedislike, it may occasion the inconvenience of our death;[174] if wemarry where we do not love, we shall be in our grave in three months, and the heir of whom you speak will not have been brought into being. We have heard much from you of the incommodities which may attend ourmarriage; we have not heard from you of the commodities thereof--oneof which is of some weight with us, the commodity, namely, of ourprivate inclination. We have not forgotten our coronation oath. Weshall marry as God shall direct our choice, to his honour and to ourcountry's good. "

 [Footnote 174: "Ce seroit procurer l'inconvenient de sa mort. "]

She would hear no reply. The Speaker was led out, and as he left theroom Arundel whispered to Gardiner that he had lost his office; thequeen had usurped it. At the same moment the {p. 076} queen herselfturned to the chancellor--"I have to thank you, my lord, for thisbusiness, " she said. 

The chancellor swore in tears that he was innocent; the Commons haddrawn their petition themselves; for himself it was true he was wellinclined towards Courtenay; he had known him in the Tower. 

"And is your having known him in the Tower, " she cried, "a reason thatyou should think him a fitting husband for me? I will never, nevermarry him--that I promise you--and I am a woman of my word; what I sayI do. "

"Choose where you will, " Gardiner answered, "your majesty's consortshall find in me the most obedient of his subjects. "

Mary had now the bit between her teeth, and, resisting all efforts tocheck or guide her, was making her own way with obstinate resolution. 

The next point was the succession, which, notwithstanding the humourof parliament, should be re-arranged, if force or skill could do it. There were four possible claimants after herself, she told Renard, andin her own opinion the best title was that of the Queen of Scots. Butthe country objected, and the emperor would not have the English crownfall to France. The Greys were out of the question, but their mother, the Duchess of Suffolk, was eligible; and there was Lady Lennox, also, Darnley's mother, who perhaps, after all, would be the best choicethat could be made. [175] Elizabeth, she was determined, should never, never succeed. She had spoken to Paget about it, she said, and Pagethad remonstrated; Paget had said marry her to Courtenay, recognise heras presumptive heir, and add a stipulation, if necessary, that shebecome a Catholic; but, Catholic or no Catholic, she said, her sistershould never reign in England with consent of hers; she was a heretic, a hypocrite, and a bastard, and her infamous mother had been the causeof all the calamities which had befallen the realm. 

 [Footnote 175: Renard to Charles V. , November 28: _Rolls House MSS. _]

Even Renard was alarmed at this burst of passion. He had fed Mary'ssuspicions till they were beyond either his control or her own; andthe attitude of parliament had lately shown him that, if any step weretaken against Elizabeth without provocation on her part, it wouldinfinitely increase the difficulty of concluding the marriage. He wasbeginning to believe, and he ventured to hint to the queen, thatPaget's advice might be worth consideration; but on this subject shewould listen to nothing. 

{p. 077} Elizabeth had hitherto, when at court, taken precedence ofall other ladies. The queen now compelled her to walk behind LadyLennox and the Duchess of Suffolk, as a sign of the meditatedchange;[176] and the ladies of the court were afraid to be seenspeaking to her. But in reply to Mary's derogatory treatment, theyoung lords, knights, and gentlemen gathered ostentatiously round theprincess when she rode abroad, or thronged the levees at her house;old-established statesmen said, in Renard's ear, that, let the queendecide as she would, no foreigner should reign in England; and LordArundel believed that Elizabeth's foot was already on the steps of thethrone. A large and fast-growing party, which included more than onemember of the Privy Council, were now beginning to consider, as thebest escape from Philip, that Courtenay had better fly from the court, taking Elizabeth with him--call round him in their joint names all whowould strike with him for English independence, and proclaim the queendeposed. 

 [Footnote 176: "Elle l'a faict quelquefois aller apres la Comtesse de Lennox, que l'on appelle icy Madame Marguerite, et Madame Françoise, qu'est la susdicte Duchesse de Suffolk. "--Noailles to the King of France, November 30. ]

There was uncertainty about Elizabeth herself; both Noailles andRenard believed that she would consent to this dangerous proposal; butshe had shown Courtenay, hitherto, no sign of favour; while Courtenay, on his side, complained that he was frightened by her haughty ways. Again there was a serious difficulty in Courtenay's character; he wastoo cowardly for a dangerous enterprise, too incapable for anintricate one, and his weak humour made men afraid to trust themselvesto a person who, to save himself, might at any moment betray them. Noailles, however, said emphatically that, were Courtenay anything butwhat he was, his success would be certain. [177]

 [Footnote 177: Noailles to the King of France, December 6. ]

The plot grew steadily into definite form. Devonshire and Cornwallwere prepared for insurrection, and thither, as to the stronghold ofthe Courtenay family, Elizabeth was to be first carried. Meantime theferment of popular feeling showed in alarming symptoms through thesurface. The council were in continual quarrel. Parliament, since therebuff of the Speaker, had not grown more tractable, and awkwardquestions began to be asked about a provision for the married clergy. All had been already gained which could be hoped for from the presentHouse of Commons; and, on the 6th of December, the session ended in adissolution. The same day a dead dog was thrown {p. 078} through thewindow of the presence chamber with ears cropped, a halter about itsneck, and a label saying that all the priests in England should behanged. 

Renard, who, though not admitted, like Noailles, into the confidenceof the conspirators, yet knew the drift of public feeling, and knewalso Arundel's opinion of the queen's prospects, insisted that Maryshould place some restraint upon herself, and treat her sister atleast with outward courtesy; Philip was expected at Christmas, shouldnothing untoward happen in the interval; and the ambassador prevailedon her, at last, to pretend that her suspicions were at an end. Hisown desire, he said, was as great as Mary's that Elizabeth should bedetected in some treasonable correspondence; but harshness only placedher on her guard; she would be less careful, if she believed that shewas no longer distrusted. The princess, alarmed perhaps at findingherself the unconsenting object of dangerous schemes, had askedpermission to retire to her country house. It was agreed that sheshould go; persons in her household were bribed to watch her; and thequeen, yielding to Renard's entreaties, received her when she came totake leave with an appearance of affection so well counterfeited, thatit called out the ambassador's applause. [178] She made her a presentof pearls, with a head-dress of sable; and the princess, on her side, implored the queen to give no more credit to slanders against her. They embraced; Elizabeth left the court; and, as she went out ofLondon, five hundred gentlemen formed about her as a voluntaryescort. [179] There were not wanting fools, says Renard, who wouldpersuade the queen that her sister's last words were honestly spoken;but she remembers too acutely the injuries which her mother andherself suffered at Anne Boleyn's hands; and she has a fixedconviction that Elizabeth, unless she can be first disposed of, willbe a cause of infinite calamities to the realm. [180]

 [Footnote 178: "La Reine a tres bien dissimulée, en son endroict. "--Renard to Charles V. , December 8: _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 179: Noailles. ]

 [Footnote 180: Renard to Charles V. , December 8: _Rolls House MSS. _]

{p. 079} CHAPTER II. 

THE SPANISH MARRIAGE. 

The fears of Renard and the hopes of Noailles were occasioned by theunanimity of Catholics and heretics in the opposition to the marriage;yet, so singular was the position of parties, that this very unanimitywas the condition which made the marriage possible. The Catholic lordsand gentlemen were jealous of English independence, and, had theystood alone, they would have coerced the queen into an abandonment ofher intentions: but, if they dreaded a Spanish sovereign, they hatedunorthodoxy more, and if they permitted, or assisted in the schemes ofthe Reformers, they feared that they might lose the control of thesituation when the immediate object was obtained. Those who were underthe influence of Gardiner desired to restore persecution; andpersecution, which was difficult with Mary on the throne, would beimpossible under a sovereign brought in by a revolution. They made afavourite of Courtenay, but they desired to marry him to the queen, not to Elizabeth: Gardiner told the young earl that he would soonersee him the husband of the vilest drab who could be picked out of theLondon kennels. [181]

 [Footnote 181: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

Thus, from their murmurs, they seemed to be on the edge of rebellion;yet, when the point of action came, they halted, uncertain what to do, unwilling to acquiesce, yet without resolution to resist. From amodern point of view the wisest policy was that recommended by Paget. The claim of the Queen of Scots on the throne unquestionably made itprudent for England to strengthen herself by some powerful foreignalliance; sufficient precautions could be devised for the security ofthe national independence; and, so far from England being in danger ofbeing drawn into the war on the continent, Lord Paget said that, ifEngland would accept Philip heartily, the war would be at an end. Elizabeth of France might marry Don Carlos, taking with her the Frenchpretensions to Naples and Milan as a dowry. Another French princessmight be given to the expatriated Philibert, and Savoy and Piedmontrestored with her. "You, " {p. 080} Paget said to Noailles, "by yourDauphin's marriage forced us to be friends with the Scots; we, by ourqueen's marriage, will force you to be friends with the emperor. "[182]

 [Footnote 182: "Le dict Paget me respondict qu'il n'estoit ja besoing d'entrer en si grande jalousie, et que tout ainsi que nous les avions faicts amys avecques les Escossoys, ce marriage seroit aussy cause que nous serions amys avecques l'Empereur. "--Noailles to the King of France, December 26. Compare also the letter of December 23, _Ambassades_, vol. Ii. Pp. 334-356. ]

Paget, however, was detested as an upstart, and detested still more asa latitudinarian; he could form no party, and the queen made use ofhim only to support her in her choice of the Prince of Spain, as inturn she would use Gardiner to destroy the Protestants; and thus thetwo great factions in the state neutralised each other's action in amatter in which both were equally anxious; and Mary, although with noremarkable capacity, without friends and ruined, if at any moment shelost courage, was able to go her own way in spite of her subjects. 

The uncertainty was, how long so anomalous a state of things wouldcontinue. The marriage, being once decided on, Mary could think ofnothing else, and even religion sank into the second place. ReginaldPole, chafing the imperial bridle between his lips, vexed her, soRenard said, from day to day, with his untimely importunities;[183]the restoration of the mass gave him no pleasure so long as the papallegate was an exile; and in vain the queen laboured to draw from himsome kind of approval. He saw her only preferring carnal pleasures toher duty to Heaven; and, indifferent himself to all interests savethose of the See of Rome, he was irritated with the emperor, irritatedwith the worldly schemes to which he believed that his mission hadbeen sacrificed. He talked angrily of the marriage. The queen heard, through Wotton the ambassador at Paris, that he had said openly, itshould never take place;[184] while Peto, the Greenwich friar, who wasin his train, wrote to her, reflecting impolitely on her age, andadding Scripture commendations of celibacy as the more perfectstate. [185] It was even feared {p. 081} that the impatient legate hadadvised the pope to withhold the dispensations. 

 [Footnote 183: Renard to Charles V. : November 14, November 28, December 3, December 8, December 11: _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 184: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _ The queen wrote to Wotton to learn his authority. The Venetian ambassador, Wotton said, was the person who had told him; but the quarter from which the information originally came, he believed, might be relied on. --Wotton to the Queen and Council: _MS. State Paper Office_. ]

 [Footnote 185: "Un des principaulx qu'il a avec luy que se nomme William Peto, theologien, luy a escript luy donnant conseil de non se marrier, et vivre en celibat; meslant en ses lettres plusieurs allegations du Vieux et Nouveau Testament, repetant x ou xii fois qu'elle tombera en la puissance et servitude du mari, qu'elle n'aura enfans, sinon soubz danger de sa vie pour l'âge dont elle est. "--Renard to Charles V. : Tytler, vol. Ii. P. 303. ]

Mary, beyond measure afflicted, wrote to Pole at last, asking what inhis opinion she ought to do. He sent his answer through a priest, bywhom it could be conveyed with the greatest emphasis. First, he said, she must pray to God for a spirit of counsel and fortitude: next, shemust, at all hazards, relinquish the name of Head of the Church; and, since she could trust neither peer nor prelate, she must recallparliament, go in person to the House of Commons, and demandpermission with her own mouth for himself to return to England. Theholy see was represented in his person, and was freshly insulted inthe refusal to receive him; the pope's vast clemency had volunteeredunasked to pardon the crimes of England; if the gracious offer was notaccepted, the legacy would be cancelled, the national guilt would beinfinitely enhanced. The emperor talked of prudence; in the service ofGod prudence was madness; and, so long as the schism continued, herattempts at reform were vanity, and her seat upon the throne wasusurpation. Let her tell the truth to the House of Commons, and theHouse of Commons would hear. [186]

 [Footnote 186: Instructions of Cardinal Pole to Thomas Goldwell: _Cotton MSS. Titus_, B. 11. ]

"Your majesty will see, " wrote Renard, enclosing to Charles a copy ofthese advices, "the extent of the cardinal's discretion, and hownecessary it is that for the present he be kept at a distance. " Thepope was not likely to reject the submission of England at any moment, late or early, when England might be pleased to offer it, and couldwell afford to wait. Julius was wiser than his legate. Pole was notrecalled, but exhorted to patience, and a letter or message from Romecooled Mary's anxieties. Meanwhile the marriage was to be expeditedwith as much speed as possible; the longer the agitation continued, the greater the danger; while the winter was unfavourable torevolutionary movements, and armed resistance to the prince's landingwould be unlikely so long as the season prevented large bodies of menfrom keeping the field. [187]

 [Footnote 187: Renard dwelt much on this point as a reason for haste. ]

The emperor, therefore, in the beginning of December, sent over thedraft of a marriage treaty; and if the security that the articleswould be observed had equalled the form in which they were conceived, the English might have afforded to lay aside their alarms. Charlesseemed to have anticipated almost every {p. 082} point on which theinsular jealousy would be sensitive. The Prince of Spain should bearthe title of King of England so long, but so long only as the queenshould be alive; and the queen should retain the disposal of allaffairs in the realm, and the administration of the revenues. Thequeen, in return, should share Philip's titles, present andprospective, with the large settlement of £60, 000 a year upon her forher life. Don Carlos, the prince's child by his first wife, would, ifhe lived, inherit Spain, Sicily, the Italian provinces, and theIndies. But Burgundy and the Low Countries should be settled on theoffspring of the English marriage, and be annexed to the Englishcrown; and this prospect, splendid in itself, was made moremagnificent by the possibility that Don Carlos might die. Under allcontingencies, the laws and liberties of the several countries shouldbe held inviolate and inviolable. 

In such a treaty the emperor conferred everything, and in returnreceived nothing; and yet, to gain the alliance, a negotiation alreadycommenced for the hand of the Infanta of Portugal was relinquished. The liberality of the proposals was suspicious, but they weresubmitted to the council, who, unable to refuse to consider them, wereobliged to admit that they were reasonable. Five additional clauseswere added, however, to which it was insisted that Philip should swearbefore the contract should be completed--

1. That no foreigner, under any circumstances, should be admitted toany office in the royal household, in the army, the forts, or thefleet. 

2. That the queen should not be taken abroad without her own consent;and that the children--should children be born--should not be carriedout of England without consent of parliament, even though among themmight be the heir of the Spanish empire. 

3. Should the queen die childless, the prince's connection with therealm should be at an end. 

4. The jewel-house and treasury should be wholly under Englishcontrol, and the ships of war should not be removed into a foreignport. 

5. The prince should maintain the existing treaties between Englandand France; and England should not be involved, directly orindirectly, in the war between France and the empire. [188]

 [Footnote 188: Marriage Treaty between Mary, Queen of England, and Philip of Spain: Rymer, vol. Vi. ]

These demands were transmitted to Brussels, where they were {p. 083}accepted without difficulty, and further objection could not beventured unless constraint was laid upon the queen. The sketch of thetreaty, with the conditions attached to it, was submitted to such ofthe Lords and Commons as remained in London after the dissolution ofparliament, and the result was a sullen acquiescence. 

An embassy was immediately announced as to be sent from Flanders. Count Egmont, M. De Courières, the Count de Lalaing, and M. De Nigry, Chancellor of the Golden Fleece, were coming over as plenipotentiariesof the emperor. Secret messengers went off to Rome to hasten thedispensations--a dispensation for Mary to marry her cousin, and adispensation which also was found necessary permitting the ceremony tobe performed by a bishop in a state of schism. The marriage could besolemnised at once on their arrival, the ambassadors standing asPhilip's representatives, while Sir Philip Hoby, Bonner, Bedford, andLord Derby would go to Spain to receive the prince's oaths, and escorthim to England. Again and again the queen pressed haste. Ash-Wednesdayfell on the 6th of February, and in Lent she might not marry. Renardassured her that the prince should be in her arms before Septuagesima, and all her trials would be over. The worst danger which he nowanticipated was from some unpleasant collision which might arise afterthe prince's landing; and he had advised the emperor to have theSpaniards who would form the retinue selected for their meekness. Theywould meet with insolence from the English, which they would notendure, if they had the spirit to resent it; their dispositions, therefore, must be mild and forgiving. [189]

 [Footnote 189: Renard to Charles V. , December 11: _Rolls House MSS. _]

And yet Renard could not hide from himself, and the lords did not hidefrom Mary, that their consent was passive only; that their reluctancewas vehement as ever. Bedford said, if he went to Spain, he must gowithout attendance, for no one would accompany him. Lord Derby refusedto be one of the ambassadors, and with Sir Edward Waldegrave and SirEdward Hastings told the queen that he would leave her service if shepersisted. The seditious pamphlets which were scattered everywherecreated a vague terror in the court, and the court ladies wept andlamented in the queen's presence. The council in a body again urgedher to abandon her intention. The peers met again to consider themarriage articles. Gardiner read them aloud, and Lord Windsor, a dullBrutus, who till then had {p. 084} never been known to utter areasonable word, exclaimed, amidst general applause, "You have told usfine things of the queen, and the prince, and the emperor; whatsecurity have we that words are more than words?" Corsairs from Brestand Rochelle hovered in the mouth of the Channel to catch the couriersgoing to and fro between Spain and London and Brussels, and to terrifyPhilip with the danger of the passage. The Duke of Suffolk's brotherand the Marquis of Winchester had been heard to swear that they wouldset upon him when he landed; and Renard began to doubt whether thealliance, after all, was worth the risk attending it. [190] Mary, however, brave in the midst of her perplexities, vowed that she wouldrelinquish her hopes of Philip only with her life. An army of spieswatched Elizabeth day and night, and the emperor, undeterred by Renard'shesitation, encouraged the queen's resolution. There could be noconspiracy as yet, Charles said, which could not be checked withjudicious firmness; and dangerous persons could be arrested and madesecure. A strong hand could do much in England, as was proved by thesuccess for a time of the late Duke of Northumberland. [191]

The advice fell in with Mary's own temperament; she had already beenacting in the spirit of it. A party of Protestants met in St. Matthew's Church on the publication of the acts of the late session, to determine how far they would obey them. Ten or twelve were seizedon the spot, and two were hanged out of hand. [192] The queen toldHastings and Waldegrave that she would endure no opposition; theyshould obey her or they should leave the council. She would raise afew thousand men, she said, to keep her subjects in order, and shewould have a thousand Flemish horse among them. There was a difficultyabout ways and means; as fast as money came into the treasury she hadpaid debts with it, and, as far as her means extended, she hadreplaced chalices and roods in the parish churches. But, if she waspoor, five millions of gold had just arrived in Spain from the NewWorld; and, as the emperor suggested, her credit was good at Antwerpfrom her honesty. Lazarus Tucker came again to the rescue. InNovember, Lazarus provided £50, 000 for her at fourteen per cent. InJanuary she required £100, 000 more, and she ordered Gresham to find itfor her at low interest {p. 085} or high. [193] Fortunately for Marythe project of a standing army could not be carried out by herselfalone, and the passive resistance of the council saved her fromcommencing the attempt. Neither Irish mercenaries, nor Flemish, norWelsh, as, two months after she was proposing to herself, werepermitted to irritate England into madness. 

 [Footnote 190: "The English, " he said, "sont si traictres, si inconstantes, si doubles, si malicieux, et si faciles à esmover qu'il ne se fault fier; et si l'alliance est grande, aussi est elle hazardeuse pour la personne de son Altesse. "--Renard to Charles V. , December 12: _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 191: Charles V. To Renard, December 24: _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 192: Renard to Charles V. , December 20: Ibid. ]

 [Footnote 193: The queen to Sir Thomas Gresham: _Flanders MSS. Mary_, State Paper Office. ]

While Mary was thus buffeting with the waves, on the 23rd, CountEgmont and his three companions arrived at Calais. The French hadthreatened to intercept the passage, and four English ships-of-war hadbeen ordered to be in waiting as their escort: these ships, however, had not left the Thames, being detained either by weather, as theadmiral pretended, or by the ill-humour of the crews, who swore theywould give the French cruisers small trouble, should they presentthemselves. [194] On Christmas-day ill-looking vessels were hanging inmid-channel, off Calais harbour, but the ambassadors were resolved tocross at all risks. They stole over in the darkness on the night ofthe 26th, and were at Dover by nine in the morning. Their retinue, avery large one, was sent on at once to London; snow was on the ground, and the boys in the streets saluted the first comers with showers ofballs. The ambassadors followed the next day, and were received insilence, but without active insult. The emperor's choice of personsfor his purpose had been judicious. The English ministers intended tobe offensive, but they were disarmed by the courtesy of Egmont, whocharmed every one. In ten days the business connected with the treatywas concluded. The treaty itself was sent to Brussels to be ratified, and the dispensations from Rome, and the necessary powers from thePrince of Spain, were alone waited for that the marriage might beconcluded in public or in private, whichever way would be mostexpeditious. The queen cared only for the completion of theirrevocable ceremony, which would bring her husband to her side beforeLent. [195]

 [Footnote 194: Noailles to the King of France, December 6: _Ambassades_, vol. Ii. ]

 [Footnote 195: The Bishop of Arras to the Ambassadors in England: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 181, etc. ]

The interval of delay was consumed in hunting-parties[196] and dinnersat the palace, where the courtiers played off before the guests thepassions of their eager mistress. [197] The enemies of {p. 086} themarriage, French and English, had no time to lose, if they intended toprevent the completion of it. 

 [Footnote 196: The 10th day of January the ambassadors rode into Hampton Court, and there they had as great cheer as could be had, and hunted and killed, tag and rag, with hounds and swords. --Machyn's _Diary_. ]

 [Footnote 197: After dinner Lord William Howard entered, and, seeing the queen pensive, whispered something to her in English; then turning to us, he asked if we knew what he had said? The queen bade him not tell, but he paid no attention to her. He told us he had said he hoped soon to see somebody sitting there, pointing to the chair next her majesty. The queen blushed, and asked him how he could say so. He answered that he knew very well she liked it; whereat her majesty laughed, and the court laughed, etc. --Egmont and Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

When the queen's design was first publicly announced, the King ofFrance directed Noailles to tell her frankly the alarm with which itwas regarded at Paris. Henry and Montmorency said the same repeatedly, and at great length, to Dr. Wotton. The queen might have the bestintentions of remaining at peace, but events might be too strong forher; and they suggested, at last, that she might give a proof of thegood-will which she professed by making a fresh treaty with them. [198]That a country should be at peace while its titular king was at war, was a situation without a precedent. Intricate questions were certainto arise; for instance, if a mixed fleet of English and Spanish shipsshould escort the prince, or convoy his transports or treasure, or ifthe English ships having Spaniards on board, should enter Frenchharbours. A thousand difficulties such as these might occur, and itwould be wise to provide for them beforehand. 

 [Footnote 198: Noailles. ]

The uneasiness of the court of Paris was not allayed when the queenmet this most reasonable proposal with a refusal. [199] A clause, shereplied, was added to the marriage articles for the maintenance of theexisting treaties with France, and with that and with her own promisesthe French government ought to be content. In vain Noailles pointedout that the existing treaties would not meet the new conditions; shewas obstinate, and both Noailles and the King of France placed theworst interpretation upon her attitude. Philip, after his arrival, would unquestionably drag or lead her into his quarrels; and theydetermined, therefore, to employ all means, secret and open, toprevent his coming, and to co-operate with the English opposition. 

 [Footnote 199: Ibid. ]

The time to act had arrived. Rumours were industriously circulatedthat the Prince of Spain was already on the seas, bringing with himten thousand Spaniards, who were to be landed at the Tower, and thateight thousand Germans were to follow from the Low Countries. Noaillesand M. D'Oysel, then on his way through London to Scotland, had aninterview with a number of lords and gentlemen, who undertook to placethemselves at the head of an insurrection, and to depose the queen. {p. 087} The whole country was crying out against her, and the Frenchministers believed that the opposition had but to declare itself inarms to meet with universal sympathy. They regarded the persons withwhom they were dealing as the representatives of the nationaldiscontent; but on this last point they were fatally mistaken. 

Noailles spoke generally of lords and gentlemen; but those with whomd'Oysel and himself had communicated were a party of ten or twelve ofthe pardoned friends of the Duke of Northumberland, or of menotherwise notorious among the ultra-Protestants; the Duke of Suffolkand his three brothers, Lord Thomas, Lord John, and Lord Leonard Grey;the Marquis of Northampton; Sir Thomas Wyatt, son of the poet; SirNicholas Throgmorton; Sir Peter Carew; Sir Edmund Warner; LordCobham's brother-in-law; and Sir James Crofts, the late deputy ofIreland. [200] Courtenay, who had affected orthodoxy as long as he hadhopes of the queen, was admitted into the confederacy. Cornwall andDevonshire were to be the first counties to rise, where Courtenaywould be all-powerful by his name. Wyatt undertook to raise Kent, SirJames Crofts the Severn border, Suffolk and his brothers the midlandcounties. Forces from these four points were to converge on London, which would then stir for itself. The French Admiral Villegaignonpromised to keep a fleet on the seas, and to move from place to placeamong the western English harbours, wherever his presence would bemost useful. Plymouth had been tampered with, and the mayor andaldermen, either really, or as a ruse to gain information, affected adesire to receive a French garrison. [201] For the sake of their causethe Protestant party were prepared to give to France an influence inEngland as objectionable in itself, and as offensive to the majorityof the people, as the influence of Spain; and the management of theopposition to the queen was snatched from the hands of those who mighthave brought it to some tolerable issue, by a set of men to whom theSpanish marriage was but the stalking-horse for the reimposition oftheir late {p. 088} tyranny. If the Duke of Northumberland, insteadof setting up a rival to Mary, had loyally admitted her to the thronewhich was her right, he might have tied her hands, and secured theprogress of moderate reform. Had the great patriotic anti-papal partybeen now able to combine, with no disintegrating element, they couldhave prevented the marriage or made it harmless. But the ultra-partyplunged again into treason, in which they would succeed only torestore the dominion of a narrow and blighting sectarianism. [202]

 [Footnote 200: Noailles and d'Oysel to the King of France, January 15: _Ambassades_, vol. Iii. ]

 [Footnote 201: "Sire, tout maintenant en achevant cette lettre, les maire et aldermans de Plymouth, m'ont envoyé prier de vous supplier les vouloir prendre en votre protection, voulans et deliberans mettre leur ville entre vos mains, et y recepvoir dedans telle garrison qu'il vous plaira y envoyer; s'estans resoubz de ne recevoir aulcunement le Prince d'Espaigne, ne s'asservir en façon que ce soit à ses commandemens, et s'asseurans que tous les gentilz-hommes de l'entour d'icy en feroient de mesme. "--Noailles to the King of France: _Ambassades_, vol. Ii. P. 342. ]

 [Footnote 202: One of the projects mooted was the queen's murder; a scheme suggested by a man from whom better things might have been expected, William Thomas, the late Clerk of the Council. Wyatt, however, would not stain the cause with dark crimes of that kind, and threatened Thomas with rough handling for his proposal. ]

The conspirators remained in London till the second week in January. Wyatt went into Kent, Peter Carew ran down the Channel to Exmouth in avessel of his own, and sent relays of horses as far as Andover forCourtenay, Sir Nicholas Throgmorton undertaking to see the latter thusfar upon his way. The disaffection was already simmering inDevonshire. There was a violent scene among the magistrates at theChristmas quarter-sessions at Exeter. A countryman came in andreported that he had been waylaid and searched by a party of strangehorsemen in steel saddles, "under the gallows at the hill top, " atFair-mile, near Sir Peter Carew's house. His person had been mistaken, it seemed, but questions were asked, inquiries made, and ugly languagehad been used about the queen. On Carew's arrival the fermentincreased. One of his lacqueys, mistaking intention for fact, whispered in Exeter that "my Lord of Devonshire was at Mohun'sOttery. "[203] Six horses heavily loaded passed in, at midnight, through the city gates. The panniers were filled with harness andhand-guns from Sir Peter's castle at Dartmouth. [204] Sir JohnChichester, Sir Arthur Champernowne, Peter and Gawen Carew, and Gybbesof Silverton, had met in private, rumour said for no good purpose; andthe Exeter Catholics were anxious and agitated. They had been alldisarmed after the insurrection of 1549, the castle was in ruins, thecity walls were falling down. Should Courtenay come, the worstconsequences were anticipated. 

 [Footnote 203: The house of Sir Peter Carew. ]

 [Footnote 204: Miscellaneous Depositions on the State of Devonshire: _MS. Domestic, Mary_, vol. Ii. State Paper Office. ]

But Courtenay did not come. After Carew had left London, he becamenervous; when the horses were reported to be ready, he lingered aboutthe court; he flattered himself that the queen {p. 089} had changedher mind in his favour; and two nights before the completion of thetreaty he sate up, affecting to expect to be sent for to marry her onthe spot. [205] Finding the message did not arrive, he gave an order tohis tailor to prepare a splendid court costume, adding perhaps someboasting words, which were carried to Gardiner. The chancellor'sregard for him was sincere, and went beyond a desire to make himpolitically useful. He sent for him, cross-questioned him, and by theinfluence of a strong mind over a weak one, drew out as much asCourtenay knew of the secrets of the plot. [206]

 [Footnote 205: Instructions to la Marque: Noailles, vol. Iii. P. 25, etc. ]

 [Footnote 206: Noailles to the King of France: _Ambassades_, vol. Iii. P. 31. ]

The intention was to delay, if possible, an open declaration ofrebellion a few weeks longer--till the Prince of Spain's arrivalshould raise the ferment to boiling point. Gardiner, who wasdetermined, at all events, to prevent the Protestants from makinghead, informed the queen, without mentioning Courtenay's name, that hehad cause to suspect Sir Peter Carew. A summons was despatched toDevonshire to require Sir Peter and his brother to return to London;and thus either to compel them to rise prematurely, withoutCourtenay's assistance, or, if they complied, to enable the court tosecure their persons. The desired effect was produced; Carew had wadedtoo deep in treason to trust himself in Gardiner's hands. He wrote anexcuse, yet protesting his loyalty; and he invited the inhabitants ofExeter to join in a petition to the crown against the marriage, as afirst step towards a rising. 

But the Carews were notorious and unpopular; the justices of the peaceat the sessions had been just occupied with a Protestant outragecommitted by one of their nearest friends, [207] and their true objectwas suspected. The barns of Crediton were not forgotten, nor themassacre of the prisoners at Clyst, and without Courtenay they werepowerless. Their invitation met with no response; and Chichester andChampernowne, seeing how the tide was setting, washed their hands ofthe {p. 090} connection. Sir Thomas Dennys, a Catholic gentleman ofthe county, took command of Exeter, sent express for the sheriff, SirRichard Edgecumbe, of Cotteyll, to come to his help, and as well as hecould he put the city in a state of defence. [208] Carew retired toMohun's Ottery, when an order came to Dennys from the court for hisarrest. 

 [Footnote 207: "On the morning of Christmas-day came twelve neighbours of Silverton, being the parish where Mr. Gybbes dwelleth, and they complained to me of a cross of latten, and of an altar-cloth stolen out of the church before that time; and that the cross was set up upon a gate or upon a hedge by the way, where the picture of Christ was dressed with a paste or such like tyre, and the picture of our Lady and St. John tied by threads to the arms of the cross, like thieves. " "Mr. Gybbes" could not be actually convicted of having been the perpetrator, but he was "vehemently suspected, " and, when examined, had used "vile words. "--Depositions of John Prideaux: MS. _Mary, Domestic_, vol. Ii. State Paper Office. ]

 [Footnote 208: Depositions of John Prideaux: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Ii. State Paper Office. ]

Dennys, who desired Carew's escape more than his capture, replied thatfor the moment he could not execute the order. Mohun's Ottery couldnot be taken without cannon, and wet weather had made the roadsimpassable. Meantime he gave Sir Peter notice of his danger; and SirPeter, disposing in haste of his farm stock to raise a supply ofmoney, crossed the country to Weymouth, embarked in a vessel which"Mr. Walter Raleigh" had brought round to meet him, and sailed forFrance. [209]

 [Footnote 209: Ibid. ]

One arm of the conspiracy was thus lopped off at the first blow. But, although Courtenay's treachery was known, some days elapsed before theill success of Carew was heard of in London. Courtenay had beentrusted only so far as his intended share in the action had made itnecessary to trust him, and the confederates were chiefly anxiousthat, having broken down, he should be incapacitated from doingfurther mischief by being restored to the Tower. Courtenay, wroteNoailles, has thrown away his chance of greatness, and will nowprobably die miserably. Lord Thomas Grey was heard to say that, asCourtenay had proved treacherous he would take his place, and run hischance for the crown or the scaffold. [210]

 [Footnote 210: Noailles. ]

They would, perhaps, have still delayed till they had receivedauthentic accounts from Devonshire; but the arrest of Sir EdmundWarner, and one or two others, assured them that too much of theirprojects had transpired; and on the 22nd of January Sir Thomas Wyattcalled a meeting of his friends at Allingham Castle, on the Medway. The commons of Kent were the same brave, violent, and inflammablepeople whom John Cade, a century before, had led to London; thecountry gentlemen were generally under Wyatt's influence. Sir R. Southwell, the sheriff for the year, had been among the loudestobjectors in parliament to the marriage; and if Southwell joined inthe rising he would bring with him Lord Abergavenny. [211] Lord Cobham, Wyatt's uncle, was known to wish him well. Sir {p. 091} ThomasCheyne, the only other person of weight in the county, would be loyalto the queen, but Wyatt had tampered with his tenants; Cheyne couldbring a thousand men into the field, but they would desert when ledout, and there was nothing to fear from them. Whether Southwell andCobham would act openly on Wyatt's side was the chief uncertainty; itwas feared that Southwell might desire to keep within the limits ofloyal opposition; Cobham offered to send his sons, but "the sending ofsons, " some member of the meeting said, "was the casting away of theDuke of Northumberland; their lives were as dear to them as my LordCobham's was to him; let him come himself and set his foot bythem. "[212] The result of the conference was a determination to makethe venture. Thursday the 25th was the day agreed on for the rising, and the gentlemen present went in their several directions to preparethe people. 

 [Footnote 211: Confession of Anthony Norton: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Iii. State Paper Office. ]

 [Footnote 212: Confession of Anthony Norton: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Iii. State Paper Office. ]

Meantime Gardiner was following the track which Courtenay had opened. He knew generally the leaders of the conspiracy, yet uncertain, in theuniversal perplexity, how any one would act, he knew not whom totrust. To send Courtenay out of the way, he allowed a project to beset on foot for despatching him on an embassy to Brussels (January23); and anxious, perhaps, not to alarm Mary too much, he simply toldher what she and Renard knew already, that treasonable designs were onfoot to make Elizabeth queen. In a conversation about Elizabeth thechancellor agreed with Renard that it would be well to arrest herwithout delay. "Were but the emperor in England, " Gardiner said, "shewould be disposed of with little difficulty. "[213] Unfortunately, thespies had as yet detected no cause for suspicion on which thegovernment could act legitimately. 

 [Footnote 213: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

Mary, ignorant that she was in immediate danger, and only vaguelyuneasy, looked to Philip's coming as the cure of her discomforts. "Letthe prince come, " she said to Renard, "and all will be well. " She saidshe would raise eight thousand men and keep them in London as hisguard and hers; she would send a fleet into the Channel and sweep theFrench into their harbours; only let him come before Lent, which wasnow but a fortnight distant: "give him my affectionate love, " sheadded; "tell him that I will be all to him that a wife ought to be;and tell him, too [delightful message to an already hesitatingbridegroom], tell him to bring his own cook with him" for fear heshould be poisoned, [214] The ceremony, could it have beenaccomplished, {p. 092} would have been a support to her; but theforms from Rome were long in coming. On the 24th of January theemperor was at last able to send a brief, which, in the absence of thebulls, he trusted might be enough to satisfy the queen's scruples. Cuthbert Tunstal, who had been consecrated before the schism, mightofficiate, and the pope would remove all irregularitiesafterwards. [215] But when the letter and the brief arrived Mary was atno leisure to be married. 

 [Footnote 214: Ibid. ]

 [Footnote 215: Charles V. To the Ambassadors in England, January 24 _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. ]

Wyatt, having arranged the day for the rising, sent notice to the Dukeof Suffolk, who was still in London. On the morning of the 25th anofficer of the court appeared at the duke's house, with an intimationthat he was to repair to the queen's presence. Suffolk was in a ridingdress--"Marry!" he said, "I was coming to her grace; ye may see I ambooted and spurred; I will but break my fast and go. "[216] The officerretired. The duke collected as much money as he could lay handson--sent a servant to warn his brothers, and, though in bad health, mounted his horse and rode without stopping to Lutterworth, where, onthe Sunday following, Lord John and Lord Thomas Grey joined him. 

 [Footnote 216: _Chronicle of Queen Mary. _ Baoardo says that Suffolk was sent for to take command of the force which was to be sent against Wyatt. But Wyatt's insurrection had not commenced, far less was any resolution taken to send a force against him. Noailles is, doubtless, right in saying that he was to have been arrested. --_Ambassades_, vol. Iii. P. 48. ]

The same morning of the 25th an alarm was rung on the church bells inthe towns and villages in all parts of Kent; and copies of aproclamation were scattered abroad, signifying that the Spaniards werecoming to conquer the realm, and calling on loyal Englishmen to riseand resist them. Wyatt's standard was raised at Rochester, the pointat which the insurgent forces were to unite; his friends had donetheir work well, and in all directions the yeomen and the peasantsrose in arms. Cheyne threw himself into Dover Castle: Southwell andAbergavenny held to the queen as had been feared; Abergavenny raisedtwo thousand men, and attacked and dispersed a party of insurgentsunder Sir Henry Isly on Wrotham Heath; but Abergavenny's followersdeserted him immediately afterwards, and marched to Rochester toWyatt; Southwell could do nothing; he believed that the rebellionwould spread to London, and that Mary would be lost. [217]

 [Footnote 217: Southwell to Sir William Petre: _MS. Mary. Domestic_, State Paper Office. ]

{p. 093} On the 26th, Wyatt, being master of Rochester and the Medway, seized the queen's ships that were in the river, took possession oftheir guns and ammunition, proclaimed Abergavenny, Southwell, andanother gentleman traitors to the commonwealth, [218] and set himselfto organise the force which continued to pour in upon him. Messengers, one after another, hurried to London with worse and worse news;Northampton was arrested and sent to the Tower, but Suffolk and hisbrothers were gone; and, after all which had been said of raisingtroops, when the need came for them there were none beyond theordinary guard. The queen had to rely only on the musters of the cityand the personal retainers of the council and the other peers; both ofwhich resources she had but too much reason to distrust. In fact, thecouncil, dreading the use to which the queen might apply a body ofregular troops, had resisted all her endeavours to raise such a body;Paget had laboured loyally for a fortnight, and at the end he assuredthe queen on his knees that he had not been allowed to enlist aman. [219] Divided on all other points, the motley group of ministersagreed to keep Mary powerless; with the exception of Gardiner andPaget, they were all, perhaps, unwilling to check too soon ademonstration which, kept within bounds, might prove the justice oftheir own objections. 

 [Footnote 218: "You shall understand that Henry Lord of Abergavenny; Robert Southwell, knight, and George Clarke, gentleman, have most traitorously, to the disturbance of the commonwealth, stirred and raised up the queen's most loving subjects of this realm, to [maintain the] most wicked and devilish enterprise of certain wicked and perverse councillors, to the utter confusion of this her Grace's realm, and the perpetual servitude of all her most loving subjects. In consideration whereof, we Sir Thos. Wyatt, knight, Sir George Harper, knight, Anthony Knyvet, esq. , with all the faithful gentlemen of Kent, with the trusty commons of the same, do pronounce and declare the said Henry Lord of Abergavenny, Robert Southwell, and George Clarke to be traitors to God, the Crown, and the commonwealth. "--_MS. Mary, Domestic_, State Paper Office. ]

 [Footnote 219: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

The queen, however, applied to the corporation of the city (January27), and obtained a promise of five hundred men; she gave the commandto the Duke of Norfolk, on whose integrity she knew that she couldrely; and, sending a herald to Rochester with a pardon, if the rebelswould disperse, she despatched Norfolk, Sir Henry Jerningham, and theyoung Lord Ormond, to Gravesend, without waiting for an answer. Thecity bands were to follow them immediately. Afraid that Elizabethwould fly before she could be secured, the queen wrote a letter to herstudiously gracious, in which she told her that, in the disturbedstate of the country, she was uneasy for her safety, and recommended{p. 094} her to take shelter with herself in the palace. [220] HadElizabeth obeyed, she would have been instantly arrested; but she wasill, and wrote that she was unable to move. The next day evidence cameinto Gardiner's hands which he trusted would consign her at last tothe scaffold. 

 [Footnote 220: Strype, vol. V. P. 127. Mr. Tytler appeals to this letter as an evidence of the good feeling of the queen towards her sister; but many and genuine as were Mary's good qualities, she may not be credited with a regard for Elizabeth. Renard's letters explain her real sentiments, and account for her outward graciousness. She had already consulted with Renard and Gardiner on the necessity of sending her to the Tower; and, on the 29th of January, as the princess did not avail herself of the queen's proposal, Renard describes himself to the emperor as pressing her immediate arrest. --_Rolls House MSS. _]

The King of France had sent a message to the confederates that he hadeighty vessels in readiness, with eighteen companies of infantry, andthat he waited to learn on what part of the coast they should effect alanding. [221] The dangerous communication had been made known to thecourt. The French ambassador had been narrowly watched, and one of hiscouriers who left London on the 26th with despatches for Paris wasfollowed to Rochester, where he saw, or attempted to see, Wyatt. Thecourier, after leaving the town, was waylaid by a party of LordCobham's servants in the disguise of insurgents; his despatches weretaken from him and sent to the chancellor, who found in the packet aletter of Noailles to the king in cypher, and a copy of Elizabeth'sanswer to the queen. Although in the latter there was no treason, yetit indicated a suspicious correspondence. The cypher, could it beread, might be expected to contain decisive evidence against her. [222]

 [Footnote 221: Renard to Charles V. , January 29: _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 222: A letter from Gardiner to Sir William Petre is in the State Paper Office, part of which he wrote with the cypher open under his eyes in the first heat of the discovery. The breadth and depth of the pen-strokes express the very pulsation of his passion:--

 "As I was in hand with other matters, " the paragraph runs, "was delivered such letters as in times past I durst not have opened; but now, somewhat heated with these treasons, I waxed bolder, wherein I trust I shall be borne with; wherein hap helpeth me, for they be worth the breaking up an I could wholly decypher them, wherein I will spend somewhat of my leisure, if I can have any. But this appeareth, that the letter written from my Lady Elizabeth to the Queen's Highness, now late in her excuse, is taken a matter worthy to be sent into France; for I have the copy of it in the French Ambassador's packet. I will know what can be done in the decyphering, and to-morrow remit that I cannot do unto you. "--Gardiner to Petre: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, State Paper Office. ]

Meantime the herald had not been admitted into Rochester. He had readthe queen's message on the bridge (January 27), and, being answered byWyatt's followers that they required no pardon, for they had done nowrong, he retired. Sir George {p. 095} Harper, who was jointcommander with Wyatt, stole away the same evening to Gravesend, andpresented himself to Norfolk. The rebels, he said, were discontentedand irresolute; for himself he desired to accept the queen's pardon, which he was ready to earn by doing service against them; if the dukewould advance without delay, he would find no resistance, and Wyattwould fall into his hands. 

The London bands arrived the following afternoon (January 28), andNorfolk determined to take Harper's advice. The weather was "veryterrible. " On Monday morning it blew so hard that no boat could live;Wyatt, therefore, would be unable to escape by the river, and animmediate advance was resolved upon. Sir Thomas Cheyne was coming upfrom Dover; Lord William Howard was looked for hourly, and Abergavennywas again exerting himself: Lord Cobham had urged the duke to wait afew days, and had told him that he had certain knowledge from Wyatthimself that "the Londoners would not fight:"[223] but Norfolk wasconfident; the men had assured him of their loyalty; and at fouro'clock on Monday afternoon he was on the sloping ground facingtowards Rochester, within cannon-shot of the bridge. The duke washimself in front, with Ormond, Jerningham, and eight "field-pieces, "which he had brought with him. A group of insurgents were in sightacross the water, a gun was placed in position to bear upon them; andthe gunner was blowing his match, when Sir Edward Bray galloped up, crying out that the "white coats, " as the London men were called, werechanging sides. The duke had fallen into a trap which Harper had laidfor him. Turning round, he saw Brett, the London captain, with all hismen, and with Harper at his side, advancing and shouting, "A Wyatt! aWyatt! we are all Englishmen!" The first impulse was to turn the gunupon them; the second, and more prudent, was to spring on his horse, and gallop with half a dozen others for his life. His whole force haddeserted, and guns, money, baggage, and five hundred of the besttroops in London fell into the insurgents' hands, and swelled theirranks. 

 [Footnote 223: Norfolk to the Council from Gravesend, Sunday, January 28, Monday, January 29: _MS. Domestic, Mary_, State Paper Office. ]

No sooner was the duke gone, than Wyatt in person came out over thebridge. "As many as will tarry with us, " he cried, "shall be welcome;as many as will depart, let them go, " Very few accepted the latteroffer. Three parts, even of Norfolk's private attendants, took servicewith the rebel leader. 

{p. 096} The prestige of success decided all who were wavering in thecounty. Abergavenny was wholly forsaken; Southwell escaped to thecourt; Cheyne wrote to the council that he was no longer sure of anyone; "the abominable treason of those that came with the Duke ofNorfolk had infected the whole population. "[224] Cobham continued tohold off, but his sons came into Rochester the evening of the duke'sflight; and Wyatt sent a message to the father expressing his sorrowthat he had been hitherto backward; promising to forgive him, however, and requiring him to be in the camp the next day, when the army wouldmarch on London. Cobham still hesitating, two thousand men were at thegates of his house[225] by daybreak the next morning (January 30). Herefused to lower the drawbridge, but the chains were cut with acannon-shot, the gates were blown open, and the rebels were stormingin when his servants forced him to surrender. The house was pillaged;an oath was thrust on Cobham that he would join, which he took withthe intention of breaking it; and the rebels, perhaps seeing cause todistrust him, carried him off to Wyatt as a prisoner. [226] That nightthe insurgents rested at Gravesend. The next day (January 31) theyreached Dartford. Their actual numbers were insignificant, but theirstrength was the disaffection of London, where the citizens were toolikely to follow the example which had been set at Rochester. 

 [Footnote 224: "It is a great deal more than strange, " he added, "to see the beastliness of the people, to see how earnestly they be bent in this their most devilish enterprise, and will by no means be persuaded the contrary but that it is for the commonweal of all the realm. "--Cheyne to the Council: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Iii. ]

 [Footnote 225: Cowling Castle, a place already famous in English Reforming history as the residence of Sir John Oldcastle. ]

 [Footnote 226: He contrived to send a letter to the queen the evening of the day on which his house was taken. After describing the scene, he added: "If your Grace will assemble forces in convenient numbers, they not being above 2000 men, and yet not 500 of them able and good armed men, but rascals and rakehells such as live by spoil, I doubt not but your Grace shall have the victory. "--Cobham to the Queen: _MS. State Paper Office_. But Cobham under-estimated the numbers, and undervalued the composition of Wyatt's forces, perhaps intentionally. Renard, who is generally accurate, says that the rebels at this time amounted to three thousand; Noailles says, twelve or fifteen thousand. ]

Mary's situation was now really alarming: she was without money, notwithstanding the Jews; she had no troops; of all her ministersPaget alone was sincerely anxious to do her service; for Gardiner, onthe subject of the marriage, was as unwilling as ever. It was rumouredthat the King of Denmark intended to unite with the French in supportof the revolutionists, and Renard began calmly to calculate that, should this report prove {p. 097} true, the queen could not be saved. Pembroke and Clinton offered to raise another force in the city andfight Wyatt; but, so far as Mary could tell, they would be as likelyto turn against her as to fight in her defence; and she declined theirservices. Renard offered Gardiner assistance from the LowCountries--Gardiner replied with extreme coldness that he had nodesire to see Flemish soldiers in England--and the council generallywere "so strange" in their manner, and so languid in their action, that the ambassador could not assure himself that they were notWyatt's real instigators. Not a man had been raised to protect thequeen, and part of her own guard had been among the deserters atRochester. She appealed to the honour of the lords to take measure forher personal safety; but they did nothing, and, it seemed, would donothing; if London rose, they said merely, she must retire to Windsor. 

The aspect of affairs was so threatening, that Renard believed thatthe marriage at least would have to be relinquished. It seemed as ifit could be accomplished only with the help of an invading army; andalthough Mary would agree to any measure which would secure Philip, the presence of foreign troops, as the emperor himself was aware, could only increase the exasperation. [227] The queen's resolution, however, grew with her difficulties. If she could not fight she wouldnot yield; and, taking matters into her own hands, she sent Sir ThomasCornwallis and Sir Edward Hastings to Dartford, with directions tospeak with Wyatt, if possible, alone; to tell him that she "marvelledat his demeanour, " "rising as a subject to impeach her marriage;" shewas ready to believe, however, that he thought himself acting in theinterests of the commonwealth; she would appoint persons to talk overthe subject with him, and if it should appear that the marriage wouldnot, as she supposed, be beneficial to the realm, she would sacrificeher wishes. [228]

 [Footnote 227: Renard to the Emperor, January 29: _Rolls House MSS. _ The Emperor to Renard, February 4: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 204. ]

 [Footnote 228: Instructions to Sir Thomas Cornwallis and Sir Edward Hastings: _MS. State Paper Office_. ]

The message was not strictly honest, for the queen had no realintention of sacrificing anything. She desired merely to gain time;and, should Wyatt refuse, as she expected, she wished to place herselfin a better position to appeal to her subjects for help. [229] But themove under this aspect was skilful and successful; when Cornwallis andHastings discharged their commission, Wyatt replied that he wouldrather be trusted than {p. 098} trust; he would argue the marriagewith pleasure, but he required first the custody of the Tower, and ofthe queen's person, and four of the council must place themselves inhis hands as hostages. [230]

 [Footnote 229: Renard to the Emperor: _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 230: Holinshed; Noailles. ]

Had Wyatt, said Noailles, been able to reach London simultaneouslywith this answer, he would have found the gates open and the wholepopulation eager to give him welcome. To his misfortune he lingered onthe way, and the queen had time to use his words against him. The twogentlemen returned indignant at his insolence. The next morning(February 1), Count Egmont waited on Mary to say that he and hiscompanions were at her service, and would stand by her to their death. Perplexed as she was, Egmont said he found her "marvellously firm. "The marriage, she felt, must, at all events, be postponed for thepresent; the prince could not come till the insurrection was at anend; and, while she was grateful for the offer, she not only thoughtit best to decline the ambassadors' kindness, but she recommendedthem, if possible, to leave London and the country without delay. Their party was large enough to irritate the people, and too small tobe of use. She bade Egmont, therefore, tell the emperor that from thefirst she had put her trust in God, and that she trusted in Him still;and for themselves, she told them to go at once, taking her bestwishes with them. They obeyed. Six Antwerp merchant sloops were in theriver below the bridge, waiting to sail. They stole on board, droppeddown the tide, and were gone. 

The afternoon of the same day the queen herself, with a studied air ofdejection, [231] rode through the streets to the Guildhall, attended byGardiner and the remnant of the guard. In St. Paul's Churchyard shemet Pembroke, and slightly bowed as she passed him. Gardiner wasobserved to stoop to his saddle. The hall was crowded with citizens:some brought there by hatred, some by respect, many by pity, but moreby curiosity. When the queen entered she stood forward on the steps, above the throng, and, in her deep man's voice, she spoke tothem. [232]

 [Footnote 231: Vous, asseurant, sire, comme celluy qui l'a veu, que scaichant la dicte dame aller au diet lieu, je me deliberay en cape de veoir de quelle visaige elle et sa compaignie y alloient; que je congneus estre aussy triste et desplorée qu'il se peult penser. --Noailles to the King of France, Feb. 1. ]

 [Footnote 232: La voce grossa et quasi di huomo. --Giovanni Michele: Ellis, vol. Ii. ] series ii. ]

Her subjects had risen in rebellion against her, she said; she hadbeen told that the cause was her intended marriage with the {p. 099}Prince of Spain; and, believing that it was the real cause, she hadoffered to hear and to respect their objections. Their leader hadbetrayed in his answer his true motives; he had demanded possession ofthe Tower of London and of her own person. She stood there, she said, as lawful Queen of England, and she appealed to the loyalty of hergreat city to save her from a presumptuous rebel, who, under speciouspretences, intended to "subdue the laws to his will, and to give scopeto rascals and forlorn persons to make general havoc and spoil. " As toher marriage, she had supposed that so magnificent an alliance couldnot have failed to be agreeable to her people. To herself, and, shewas not afraid to say, to her council, it seemed to promise highadvantage to the commonwealth. Marriage, in itself, was indifferent toher; she had been invited to think of it by the desire of the countrythat she should have an heir; but she could continue happy in thevirgin state in which she had hitherto passed her life. She would calla parliament and the subject should be considered in all its bearings;if, on mature consideration, the Lords and Commons of England shouldrefuse to approve of the Prince of Spain as a fitting husband for her, she promised, on the word of a queen, that she would think of him nomore. 

The spectacle of her distress won the sympathy of her audience; theboldness of her bearing commanded their respect; the promise of aparliament satisfied, or seemed to satisfy, all reasonable demands:and among the wealthy citizens there was no desire to see London inpossession of an armed mob, in whom the Anabaptist leaven was deeplyinterfused. The speech, therefore, had remarkable success. The queenreturned to Westminster, leaving the corporation converted to theprudence of supporting her. Twenty-five thousand men were enrolled thenext day for the protection of the crown and the capital; Lord WilliamHoward was associated with the mayor in the command; and Wyatt, whohad reached Greenwich on Thursday, and had wasted two days there, uncertain whether he should not cross the river in boats to Blackwall, arrived on Saturday morning at Southwark, to find the gates closed onLondon Bridge, and the drawbridge flung down into the water. 

Noailles, for the first time, believed now that the insurrection wouldfail. Success or failure, in fact, would turn on the reception whichthe midland counties had given to the Duke of Suffolk; and of Suffolkauthentic news had been brought to London that morning. 

{p. 100} On the flight of the duke being known at the court, it wassupposed immediately that he intended to proclaim his daughter andGuilford Dudley. Rumour, indeed, turned the supposition intofact, [233] and declared that he had called on the country to rise inarms for Queen Jane. But Suffolk's plan was identical with Wyatt's; hehad carried with him a duplicate of Wyatt's proclamation, and, accompanied by his brother, he presented himself in the market-placeat Leicester on the morning of Monday the 29th. Lord Huntingdon hadfollowed close upon his track from London; but he assured the Mayor ofLeicester that the Earl of Huntingdon was coming, not to oppose, butto join with him. No harm was intended to the queen; he was ready todie in her defence; his object was only to save England from thedominion of foreigners. 

 [Footnote 233: "The Duke has raised evil-disposed persons, minding her Grace's destruction, and to advance the Lady Jane, his daughter, and Guilford Dudley, her husband. "--Royal Proclamation: _MS. State Paper Office_. Printed in the additional Notes to Mr. Nichols's _Chronicle of Queen Mary_. Baoardo says that the duke actually proclaimed Lady Jane. ]

In consequence of these protestations, he was allowed to read hisproclamation; the people were indifferent; but he called about him afew scores of his tenants and retainers from his own estates in thecountry; and, on Tuesday morning, while the insurgents in Kent wereattacking Cowling Castle, Suffolk rode out of Leicester, in fullarmour, at the head of his troops, intending first to move onCoventry, then to take Kenilworth and Warwick, and so to advance onLondon. The garrison at Warwick had been tampered with, and wasreported to be ready to rise. The gates of Coventry he expected tofind open. He had sent his proclamation thither the day before, by aservant, and he had friends within the walls who had undertaken toplace the town at his disposal. 

The state of Coventry was probably the state of most other towns inEngland. The inhabitants were divided. The mayor and aldermen, thefathers of families, and the men of property, were conservatives, loyal to the queen, to the mass, and to "the cause of order. " Theyoung and enthusiastic, supported by others who had good reasons forbeing in opposition to established authorities, were those who hadplaced themselves in correspondence with the Duke of Suffolk. 

Suffolk's servant (his name was Thomas Rampton), on reaching the town, on Monday evening, made a mistake in the first person to whom headdressed himself, and received a cold answer. Two others of thetownsmen, however, immediately {p. 101} welcomed him, and told himthat "the whole place was at his lord's commandment, except certain ofthe town council, who feared that, if good fellows had the upper hand, their extremities heretofore should be remembered. "[234] They tookRampton into a house, where, presently, another man entered of thesame way of thinking, and, in his own eyes, a man of importance. "Mylord's quarrel is right well known, " this person said, "it is God'squarrel, let him come; let him come, and make no stay, for this townis his own. I say to you assuredly this town is his own. I am it. "

 [Footnote 234: Rampton's Confession: _MS. Domestic. Mary_, vol. Iii. State Paper Office. ]

It was now night; no time was to be lost, the townsmen said. Theyurged Rampton to return at once to Suffolk, and hasten his movements. They would themselves read the proclamation at the market-crossforthwith, and raise the people. Rampton, who had ridden far, and wasweary, wished to wait till the morning; if they were so confident ofsuccess, a few hours could make no difference: but it appeared shortlythat the "good fellows" in Coventry were not exclusively under theinfluence of piety and patriotism. If a rising commenced in thedarkness, it was admitted that "undoubted spoil and peradventuredestruction of many rich men would ensue, " and with transactions ofthis kind the duke's servant was unwilling to connect himself. 

Thus the hours wore away, and no resolution was arrived at; and, inthe meantime, the town council had received a warning to be on theirguard. Before daybreak the constables were on the alert, the decentcitizens took possession of the gates, and the conspirators had losttheir opportunity. In the afternoon Suffolk arrived with a hundredhorse under the walls, but there was no admission for him. Whilst hewas hesitating what course to pursue, a messenger came in to say thatthe Earl of Huntingdon was at Warwick. The plot for the revolt of thegarrison had been detected, and the whole country was on the alert. The people had no desire to see the Spaniards in England; but sober, quiet farmers and burgesses would not rise at the call of the friendof Northumberland, and assist in bringing back the evil days ofanarchy. 

The Greys had now only to provide for their personal safety. 

Suffolk had an estate a few miles distant, called Astley Park, towhich the party retreated from Coventry. There the duke shared suchmoney as he had with him among his men, and bade them shift forthemselves. Lord Thomas Grey changed coats {p. 102} with a servant, and rode off to Wales to join Sir James Crofts. Suffolk himself, whowas ill, took refuge with his brother, Lord John, in the cottage ofone of his gamekeepers, where they hoped to remain hidden till the hueand cry should be over, and they could escape abroad. 

The cottage was considered insecure. Two bowshots south of AstleyChurch there stood in the park an old decaying tree, in the hollow ofwhich the father of Lady Jane Grey concealed himself; and there, fortwo winter days and a night, he was left without food. A proclamationhad been put out by Huntingdon for Suffolk's apprehension (January30), and the keeper, either tempted by the reward, or frightened bythe menace against all who should give him shelter, broke his trust--arare example of disloyalty--and going to Warwick Castle, undertook tobetray his master's hiding-place. A party of troopers were despatched, with the keeper for a guide; and, on arriving at Astley, they foundthat the duke, unable to endure the cold and hunger longer, hadcrawled out of the tree, and was warming himself by the cottage fire. Lord John was discovered buried under some bundles of hay. [235] Theywere carried off at once to the Tower, whither Lord Thomas Grey andSir James Crofts, who had failed as signally in Wales, soon afterfollowed them. [236]

 [Footnote 235: Renard to the Emperor: _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 236: I follow Baoardo in the account of the duke's capture. Renard says that he was found in the tree by a little dog: "qu'a esté grand commencement du miracle pour le succès prospere des affaires de la dicte dame. "--Renard to the Emperor, February 8: _MS. _]

The account of his confederates' failure saluted Wyatt on his arrivalin Southwark, on the 3rd of February. The intelligence was beingpublished, at the moment, in the streets of London; Wyatt himself, atthe same time, was proclaimed traitor, and a reward of a hundredpounds was offered for his capture, dead or alive. The peril, however, was far from over; Wyatt replied to the proclamation by wearing hisname, in large letters, upon his cap; the success of the queen'sspeech in the city irritated the council, who did not choose to sitstill under the imputation of having approved of the Spanish marriage. They declared everywhere, loudly and angrily, that they had notapproved of it, and did not approve; in the city itself public feelingagain wavered, and fresh parties of the train-bands crossed the waterand deserted. The behaviour of Wyatt's followers gave the lie to thequeen's charges against them: the prisons in Southwark were notopened; property was respected scrupulously; the only attempt atinjury was at Winchester House, and there it {p. 103} was instantlyrepressed; the inhabitants of the Borough entertained them with warmhospitality; and the queen, notwithstanding her efforts, found herselfas it were besieged, in her principal city, by a handful of commoners, whom no one ventured, or no one could be trusted, to attack. Somatters continued through Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Thelawyers at Westminster Hall pleaded in harness, the judges woreharness under their robes; Doctor Weston sang mass in harness beforethe queen; tradesmen attended in harness behind their counters. Themetropolis, on both sides of the water, was in an attitude of armedexpectation, yet there was no movement, no demonstration on eitherside of popular feeling. The ominous strangeness of the situationappalled even Mary herself. [237]

 [Footnote 237: Noailles. ]

By this time (February 5) the intercepted letter of Noailles had beendecyphered. It proved, if more proof was wanted, the correspondencebetween the ambassador and the conspirators; it explained the objectof the rising--the queen was to be dethroned in favour of her sister;and it was found, also, though names were not mentioned, that the plothad spread far upwards among the noblemen by whom Mary was surrounded. Evidence of Elizabeth's complicity it did not contain; while, toGardiner's mortification, it showed that Courtenay, in his confessionsto himself, had betrayed the guilt of others, but had concealed partof his own. In an anxiety to shield him the chancellor pronounced thecypher of Courtenay's name to be unintelligible. The queen placed theletter in the hands of Renard, by whom it was instantly read, and thechancellor's humour was not improved; Mary had the mortification offeeling that she was herself the last object of anxiety either to himor to any of her council; though Wyatt was at the gates of London, thecouncil could only spend the time in passionate recriminations; Pagetblamed Gardiner for his religious intolerance; Gardiner blamed Pagetfor having advised the marriage; some exclaimed against Courtenay, some against Elizabeth; but, of acting, all alike seemed incapable. Ifthe queen was in danger, the council said, she might fly to Windsor, or to Calais, or she might go to the Tower. "Whatever happens, " sheexclaimed to Renard, "I am the wife of the Prince of Spain; crown, rank, life, all shall go before I will take any other husband. "[238]

 [Footnote 238: Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _ February 5. ]

The position, however, could not be of long continuance. {p. 104}Could Wyatt once enter London, he assured himself of success; but thegates on the bridge continued closed. Cheyne and Southwell hadcollected a body of men on whom they could rely, and were coming upbehind from Rochester. Wyatt desired to return and fight them, andthen cross the water at Greenwich, as had been before proposed; buthis followers feared that he meant to escape; a backward movementwould not be permitted, and his next effort was to ascertain whetherthe passage over the bridge could be forced. 

London Bridge was then a long, narrow street. The gate was at theSouthwark extremity; the drawbridge was near the middle. On Sunday orMonday night Wyatt scaled the leads of the gatehouse, climbed into awindow, and descended the stairs into the lodge. The porter and hiswife were nodding over the fire. The rebel leader bade them, on theirlives, be still, and stole along in the darkness to the chasm fromwhich the drawbridge had been cut away. There, looking across theblack gulf where the river was rolling below, he saw the dusky mouthsof four gaping cannon, and beyond them, in the torch-light, LordHoward himself, keeping watch with the guard: neither force nor skillcould make a way into the city by London Bridge. 

The course which he should follow was determined for him. Thelieutenant of the Tower, Sir John Brydges, a soldier and a Catholic, had looked over the water with angry eyes at the insurgents collectedwithin reach of his guns, and had asked the queen for permission tofire upon them. The queen, afraid of provoking the people, hadhitherto refused; on the Monday, however, a Tower boat, passing theSouthwark side of the water, was hailed by Wyatt's sentries; thewatermen refused to stop, the sentries fired, and one of the men inthe boat was killed. The next morning (February 6) (whether permissionhad been given at last, or not, was never known), the guns on theWhite Tower, the Devil's Tower, and all the bastions, were loaded andaimed, and notice was sent over that the fire was about to open. Theinhabitants addressed themselves, in agitation, to Wyatt; and Wyatt, with a sudden resolution, half felt to be desperate, resolved to marchfor Kingston Bridge, cross the Thames, and come back on London. Hisfriends in the city promised to receive him, could he reach Ludgate bydaybreak on Wednesday. 

On Tuesday morning, therefore, Shrove Tuesday, which the queen hadhoped to spend more happily than in facing an army of insurgents, Wyatt, accompanied by not more than fifteen hundred men, pushed out ofSouthwark. He had cannon with {p. 105} him, which delayed his march, but at four in the afternoon he reached Kingston. Thirty feet of thebridge were broken away, and a guard of three hundred men were on theother side; but the guard fled after a few rounds from the guns, andWyatt, leaving his men to refresh themselves in the town, went to workto repair the passage. A row of barges lay on the opposite bank; threesailors swam across, attached ropes to them, and towed them over; and, the barges being moored where the bridge was broken, beams and plankswere laid across them, and a road was made of sufficient strength tobear the cannon and the waggons. 

By eleven o'clock at night the river was crossed, and the march wasresumed. The weather was still wild, the roads miry and heavy, andthrough the winter night the motley party plunged along. The Rochestermen had, most of them, gone home, and those who remained were theLondon deserters, gentlemen who had compromised themselves too deeplyto hope for pardon, or fanatics, who believed they were fighting theLord's battle, and some of the Protestant clergy. Ponet, the lateBishop of Winchester, was with them; William Thomas, the late clerk ofthe council; Sir George Harper, Anthony Knyvet, Lord Cobham's sons, Pelham, who had been a spy of Northumberland's on the continent, [239]and others more or less conspicuous in the worst period of the latereign. 

 [Footnote 239: The Regent Mary to the Ambassadors in England: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. ]

From the day that Wyatt came to Southwark the whole guard had beenunder arms at Whitehall, and a number of them, to the agitation of thecourt ladies, were stationed in the queen's ante-chamber. But theguard was composed of dangerous elements. Sir Humfrey Radcliff, thelieutenant, was a "favourer of the gospel;"[240] and the "HotGospeller" himself, on his recovery from his fever, had returned tohis duties. [241] No {p. 106} additional precautions had been taken, nor does it seem that, on Wyatt's departure, his movements werewatched. Kingston Bridge having been broken, his immediate approachwas certainly unlooked for; nor was it till past midnight thatinformation came to the palace that the passage had been forced, andthat the insurgents were coming directly back upon London. Between twoand three in the morning the queen was called from her bed. Gardiner, who had been, with others of the council, arguing with her in favourof Courtenay the preceding day, was in waiting; he told her that herbarge was at the stairs to carry her up the river, and she must takeshelter instantly at Windsor. 

 [Footnote 240: Underhill's _Narrative_. ]

 [Footnote 241: Underhill, however, was too notorious a person to be allowed to remain on duty at such a time of danger. 

 "When Wyatt was come to Southwark, " he says, "the pensioners were commanded to watch in armour that night at the Court. .. . After supper, I put on my armour, as the rest did, for we were appointed to watch all the night. So, being all armed, we came up into the chamber of presence with our pole-axes in our hands, wherewith the ladies were very fearful. Some lamenting, crying, and wringing their hands, said, Alas! there is some great mischief toward: we shall all be destroyed this night. What a sight is this, to see the Queen's chamber full of armed men: the like was never seen nor heard of! Mr. Norris, chief usher of Queen Mary's privy chamber, was appointed to call the watch to see if any were lacking; unto whom, Moore, the clerk of our check, delivered the book of our names; and when he came to my name, What, said he, what doth he here? Sir, said the clerk, he is here ready to serve as the rest be. Nay, by God's body, said he, that heretic shall not watch here. Give me a pen. So he struck my name out of the book. "]

Without disturbing herself, the queen sent for Renard. Shall I go orstay? she asked. 

Unless your majesty desire to throw away your crown, Renard answered, you will remain here till the last extremity; your flight will beknown, the city will rise, seize the Tower, and release the prisoners;the heretics will massacre the priests, and Elizabeth will beproclaimed queen. 

The lords were divided. Gardiner insisted again that she must andshould go. The others were uncertain, or inclined to the opinion ofRenard. At last Mary said that she would be guided by Pembroke andClinton. If those two would undertake to stand by her, she wouldremain and see out the struggle. [242]

 [Footnote 242: Renard to Charles V. , February 8: _Rolls House MSS. _]

They were not present, and were sent for on the spot. Pembroke forweeks past had certainly wavered; Lord Thomas Grey believed at onetime that he had gained him over, and to the last felt assured of hisneutrality. Happily for Mary, happily, it must be said, forEngland--for the Reformation was not a cause to be won by suchenterprises as that of Sir Thomas Wyatt--he decided on supporting thequeen, and promised to defend her with his life. At four o'clock inthe morning drums went round the city, calling the train-bands to aninstant muster at Charing Cross. Pembroke's conduct determined theyoung lords and gentlemen about the court, who with their servantswere swiftly mounted and under arms; and by eight, more than tenthousand men were stationed along the ground, then an open field, which slopes from Piccadilly to Pall Mall. The road or causeway onwhich Wyatt was expected to advance ran nearly {p. 107} on the siteof Piccadilly itself. An old cross stood near the head of St. James'sStreet, where guns were placed; and that no awkward accident like thatat Rochester might happen on the first collision, the gentlemen, whoformed four squadrons of horse, were pushed forwards towards Hyde ParkCorner. 

Wyatt, who ought to have been at the gate of the city two hoursbefore, had been delayed in the meantime by the breaking down of a gunin the heavy road at Brentford. Brett, the captain of the citydeserters, Ponet, Harper, and others, urged Wyatt to leave the gunwhere it lay and keep his appointment. Wyatt, however, insisted onwaiting till the carriage could be repaired, although in the eyes ofevery one but himself the delay was obvious ruin. Harper, seeing himobstinate, stole away a second time to gain favour for himself bycarrying news to the court. Ponet, unambitious of martyrdom, told himhe would pray God for his success, and, advising Brett to shift forhimself, made away with others towards the sea and Germany. [243] Itwas nine o'clock before Wyatt brought the draggled remnant of hisforce, wet, hungry, and faint with their night march, up the hill fromKnightsbridge. Near Hyde Park Corner a lane turned off; and herePembroke had placed a troop of cavalry. The insurgents straggled onwithout order. When half of them had passed, the horse dashed out, andcut them in two, and all who were behind were dispersed or captured. Wyatt, caring now only to press forward, kept his immediate followerstogether, and went straight on. The queen's guns opened, and killedthree of his men; but, lowering his head, he dashed at them and overthem; then, turning to the right, to avoid the train-bands, he struckdown towards St. James's, where his party again separated. Knyvet andthe young Cobhams, leaving St. James's to their left, crossed the parkto Westminster. Wyatt went right along the present Pall Mall, past theline of the citizens. They had but to move a few steps to intercepthis passage, close in, and take him; but not a man advanced, not ahand was lifted; where the way was narrow they drew aside to let himpass. At Charing Cross Sir John Gage was stationed, with part of theguard, some horse, and among them, Courtenay, who in the morning hadbeen heard to say he would not obey orders; he was as good a man asPembroke. As Wyatt came up Courtenay turned his horse towardsWhitehall, and began to move off, followed by Lord Worcester. "Fie! mylord, " Sir Thomas {p. 108} Cornwallis cried to him, "is this theaction of a gentleman?"[244] But deaf, or heedless, or treacherous, hegalloped off, calling Lost, lost! all is lost! and carried panic tothe court. The guard had broken at his flight, and came hurryingbehind him. Some cried that Pembroke had played false. Shouts oftreason rung through the palace. The queen, who had been watching fromthe palace gallery, alone retained her presence of mind. If othersdurst not stand the trial against the traitors, she said, she herselfwould go out into the field and try the quarrel, and die with thosethat would serve her. [245]

 [Footnote 243: Letter of William Markham: _Tanner MSS. _ Bodleian Library. Compare Stow. ]

 [Footnote 244: Renard to Charles V. , February 8: _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 245: Holinshed. ]

At this moment Knyvet and the Cobhams, who had gone round by the oldpalace, came by the gates as the fugitive guard were struggling in. Infinite confusion followed. Gage was rolled in the dirt, and three ofthe judges with him. The guard shrunk away into the offices andkitchens to hide themselves. But Knyvet's men made no attempt toenter. They contented themselves with shooting a few arrows, and thenhurried on to Charing Cross to rejoin Wyatt. At Charing Cross, however, their way was now closed by a company of archers, who hadbeen sent back by Pembroke to protect the court. Sharp fightingfollowed, and the cries rose so loud as to be heard on the leads ofthe White Tower. At last the leaders forced their way up the Strand;the rest of the party were cut up, dispersed, or taken. [246]

 [Footnote 246: The dress of the Londoners who came with Wyatt being the city uniform, they were distinguished by the dirt upon their legs from their night march. The cry of Pembroke's men in the fight was "Down with the daggle-tails!"]

Wyatt himself, meanwhile, followed by three hundred men, had hurriedon through lines of men who still opened to give him passage. Hepassed Temple Bar, along Fleet Street, and reached Ludgate. The gatewas open as he approached, when some one seeing a number of men comingup, exclaimed, "These be Wyatt's antients. " Muttered curses were heardamong the bystanders; but Lord Howard was on the spot; the gates, notwithstanding the murmurs, were instantly closed; and, when Wyattknocked, Howard's voice answered, "Avaunt! traitor; thou shalt notcome in here. " "I have kept touch, " Wyatt exclaimed; but hisenterprise was hopeless now. He sat down upon a bench outside theBelle Sauvage Yard. His followers scattered from him among theby-lanes and streets; and, of the three hundred, twenty-four aloneremained, among {p. 109} whom were now Knyvet and one of the youngCobhams. With these few he turned at last, in the forlorn hope thatthe train-bands would again open to let him pass. Some of Pembroke'shorse were coming up. He fought his way through them to Temple Bar, where a herald cried, "Sir, ye were best to yield; the day is goneagainst you; perchance ye may find the queen merciful. " Sir MauriceBerkeley was standing near him on horseback, to whom, feeling thatfurther resistance was useless, he surrendered his sword; andBerkeley, to save him from being cut down in the tumult, took him upupon his horse. Others in the same way took up Knyvet and Cobham, Brett and two more. The six prisoners were carried through the Strandback to Westminster, the passage through the city being thoughtdangerous; and from Whitehall Stairs, Mary herself looking on from awindow of the palace, they were borne off in a barge to the Tower. 

The queen had triumphed, triumphed through her own resolution, andwould now enjoy the fruits of victory. 

Had Wyatt succeeded, Mary would have lost her husband and her crown;and had the question been no more than a personal one, England couldhave well dispensed both with her and Philip. But Elizabeth would haveascended a throne under the shadow of treason. The Protestants wouldhave come back to power in the thoughtless vindictiveness ofexasperated and successful revolutionists; and the problem of theReformation would have been more hard than ever of a reasonablesolution. The fanatics had made their effort, and they had failed;they had shaken the throne, but they had not overthrown it; thequeen's turn was come, and, as the danger had been great, so was theresentment. She had Renard at one ear protesting that, while theseturbulent spirits were uncrushed, the precious person of the princecould not be trusted to her. She had Gardiner, who, always pitilesstowards heretics, was savage at the frustration of his own schemes. Renard in the closet, Gardiner in the pulpit, alike told her that shemust show no more mercy. [247] On Ash Wednesday evening, after Wyatt's{p. 110} surrender, a proclamation forbade all persons to shelter thefugitive insurgents under pain of death. The "poor caitiffs" werebrought out of the houses where they had hidden themselves, and weregiven up by hundreds. Huntingdon came in on Saturday with Suffolk andhis brothers. Sir James Crofts, Sir Henry Isly, and Sir Gawen Carewfollowed. The common prisons overflowed into the churches, wherecrowds of wretches were huddled together till the gibbets were readyfor their hanging; the Tower wards were so full that Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer were packed into a single cell; and all the livingrepresentatives of the families of Grey and Dudley, except two younggirls, were now within the Tower walls, sentenced, or soon to besentenced, to death. 

 [Footnote 247: "On Sunday, the 11th of February, the Bishop of Winchester preached in the chapel before the queen. " "The preachers for the seven years last past, he said, by dividing of words and other their own additions, had brought in many errours detestable unto the Church of Christ. " "He axed a boon of the Queen's Highness, that, like as she had beforetime extended her mercy particularly and privately, [and] so through her lenity and gentleness much conspiracy and open rebellion was grown . .. She would now be merciful to the body of the commonwealth and conservation thereof, which could not be unless the rotten and hurtful members thereof were cut off and consumed. "--_Chronicle of Queen Mary_, p. 54. ]

The queen's blood is up at last, Renard wrote exultingly to theemperor on the 8th of February;[248] "the Duke of Suffolk, Lord ThomasGrey, and Sir James Crofts have written to ask for mercy, but theywill find none; their heads will fall, and so will Courtenay's andElizabeth's. I have told the queen that she must be especially promptwith these two. We have nothing now to hope for except that Francewill break the peace, and then all will be well. " On the 12th ofFebruary the ambassador was still better satisfied. Elizabeth had beensent for, and was on her way to London. A rupture with France seemedinevitable, and as to clemency, there was no danger of it. "Thequeen, " he said, "had told him that Anne of Cleves was implicated;"but for himself he was sure that the two centres of all past and allpossible conspiracies were Elizabeth and Courtenay, and that whentheir heads, and the heads of the Greys, were once off theirshoulders, she would have nothing more to fear. The prisoners wereheretics to a man; she had a fair plea to despatch them, and she wouldthen settle the country as she pleased;[249] "The house of Suffolkwould soon be extinct. "

 [Footnote 248: _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 249: Renard to Charles V. , February 12: _Rolls House MSS. _]

The house of Suffolk would be extinct: that too, or almost that, hadbeen decided on. Jane Grey was guiltless of this last commotion; hername had not been so much as mentioned among the insurgents; but shewas guilty of having been once called queen, and Mary, who before hadbeen generously deaf to the emperor's advice, and to Renard'sarguments, yielded in her present humour. Philip was beckoning in thedistance; and while Jane Grey lived, Philip, she was again and againassured, must remain for ever separated from her arms. 

{p. 111} Jane Grey, therefore, was to die--her execution was resolvedupon the day after the victory; and the first intention was to put herto death on the Friday immediately approaching. In killing her body, however, Mary desired to have mercy on her soul; and she sent themessage of death (February 9) by the excellent Feckenham, afterwardsAbbot of Westminster, who was to bring her, if possible, to obedienceto the Catholic faith. 

Feckenham, a man full of gentle and tender humanity, felt to thebottom of his soul the errand on which he was despatched. He felt as aCatholic priest--but he felt also as a man. 

On admission to Lady Jane's room he told her that she was to die thenext morning, and he told her, also, for what reason the queen hadselected him to communicate the sentence. 

She listened calmly. The time was short, she said; too short to bespent in theological discussion; which, if Feckenham would permit, shewould decline. 

Believing, or imagining that he ought to believe, that, if she diedunreconciled, she was lost, Feckenham hurried back to the queen to begfor delay; and the queen, moved with his entreaties, respited theexecution till Monday, giving him three more days to pursue hislabour. But Lady Jane, when he returned to her, scarcely appreciatedthe favour; she had not expected her words to be repeated, she said;she had given up all thoughts of the world, and she would take herdeath patiently whenever her majesty desired. [250]

 [Footnote 250: Baoardo. The writer of the _Chronicle of Queen Mary_, says, "She was appointed to have been put to death on Friday, but was stayed--for what cause is not known. " Baoardo supplies the explanation. ]

Feckenham, however, still pressed his services, and courtesy to a kindand anxious old man forbade her to refuse them. He remained with herto the end; and certain arguments followed on faith and justification, and the nature of sacraments; a record of which may be read by thecurious in Foxe. [251] Lady Jane was wearied without being convinced. The tedium of the discussion was relieved, perhaps, by the now moreinteresting account which she gave to her unsuccessful confessor ofthe misfortune which was bringing her to her death. [252] The nightbefore she suffered she wrote a few sentences of advice to her sisteron the blank leaf of a New Testament. To her father, knowing hisweakness, and knowing, too, how he would be worked upon to imitate therecantation of Northumberland, {p. 112} she sent a letter ofexquisite beauty, in which the exhortations of a dying saint aretempered with the reverence of a daughter for her father. [253]

 [Footnote 251: Vol. Vi. Pp. 415-417. ]

 [Footnote 252: The story told by Baoardo, to whom, it would seem, Feckenham related it. ]

 [Footnote 253: Foxe, vol. Vi. ]

The iron-hearted Lieutenant of the Tower, Sir John Brydges, had beensoftened by the charms of his prisoner, and begged for some memorialof her in writing. She wrote in a manual of English prayers thefollowing words:--

"Forasmuch as you have desired so simple a woman to write in so worthya book, good Master Lieutenant, therefore I shall, as a friend, desireyou, and as a Christian, require you, to call upon God to incline yourheart to his laws, to quicken you in his way, and not to take the wordof truth utterly out of your mouth. Live still to die, that by deathyou may purchase eternal life, and remember how Methuselah, who, as weread in the Scriptures, was the longest liver that was of a man, diedat the last; for, as the Preacher saith, there is a time to be bornand a time to die; and the day of death is better than the day of ourbirth. Yours, as the Lord knoweth, as a friend, Jane Dudley. "[254]

 [Footnote 254: _Chronicle of Queen Mary_, p. 57, note. In the same manual are a few words in Guilford Dudley's hand, addressed to Suffolk, and a few words also addressed to Suffolk by Lady Jane. Mr. Nichols supposes that the book (it is still extant among the _Harleian MSS. _) was used as a means of communicating with the duke when direct intercourse was unpermitted. If this conjecture is right, Lady Jane's letter, perhaps, never reached her father at all. There is some difficulty about the memorial which the Lieutenant of the Tower obtained from her. Baoardo says, that she gave him a book, in which she had written a few words in Greek, Latin, and English. 

 "La Greca era tale. La morte dara la pena al mio corpo del fallo ma la mia anima giustificara inanzi al conspetto di Dio la innocenza mia. 

 "La Latina diceva. Se la giustitia ha luogo nel corpo mio l'anima mia l'havera nella misericordia di Dio. 

 "La Inglese. Il fallo e degno di morte ma il modo della mia ignoranza doueva meritar pieta e excusatione appresso il mondo e alle leggi. "]

Her husband was also to die, and to die before her. The morning onwhich they were to suffer he begged for a last interview and a lastembrace. It was left to herself to consent or refuse. If, she replied, the meeting would benefit either of their souls, she would see himwith pleasure; but, in her own opinion, it would only increase theirtrial. They would meet soon enough in the other world. 

He died, therefore, without seeing her again. She saw him once aliveas he was led to the scaffold, and again as he returned a mutilatedcorpse in the death-cart. It was not wilful cruelty. The officer incommand had forgotten that the ordinary road led past her window. Butthe delicate girl of seventeen was as {p. 113} masculine in her heartas in her intellect. When her own turn arrived, Sir John Brydges ledher down to the green; her attendants were in an agony of tears, buther own eyes were dry. She prayed quietly till she reached the foot ofthe scaffold, when she turned to Feckenham, who still clung to herside. "Go now, " she said; "God grant you all your desires, and acceptmy own warm thanks for your attentions to me; although, indeed, thoseattentions have tried me more than death can now terrify me. "[255] Shesprung up the steps, and said briefly that she had broken the law inaccepting the crown; but as to any guilt of intention, she wrung herhands, and said she washed them clean of it in innocency before Godand man. She entreated her hearers to bear her witness that she died atrue Christian woman; that she looked to be saved only by the mercy ofGod and the merits of his Son: and she begged for their prayers aslong as she was alive. Feckenham had still followed her, notwithstanding his dismissal. "Shall I say the _Miserere_ psalm?" shesaid to him. [256] When it was done, she let down her hair with herattendants' help, and uncovered her neck. The rest may be told in thewords of the chronicler:--

 [Footnote 255: Andate: che nostro Signore Dio vi contenti d'ogni vostro desiderio, e siate sempre infinitamente ringratiato della compagnia che m'havete fatta avenga che da quella sia stata molto piu noiata che hora non mi spaventa la morte. --Baoardo. ]

 [Footnote 256: The 51st: "Have mercy on me, oh Lord, after thy goodness. "]

"The hangman kneeled down and asked her forgiveness, whom she forgavemost willingly. Then he willed her to stand upon the straw, whichdoing, she saw the block. Then she said, I pray you despatch mequickly. Then she kneeled down, saying, Will you take it off before Ilay me down? and the hangman answered No, Madam. She tied a kerchiefabout her eyes; then, feeling for the block, she said, What shall Ido; where is it? One of the bystanders guiding her thereunto, she laidher head down upon the block, and stretched forth her body, and said, Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And so ended. "[257]

 [Footnote 257: _Chronicle of Queen Mary_, pp. 58, 59. ]

The same day Courtenay was sent to the Tower, and a general slaughtercommenced of the common prisoners. To spread the impression, gibbetswere erected all over London, and by Thursday evening eighty or ahundred bodies[258] were dangling {p. 114} in St. Paul's Churchyard, on London Bridge, in Fleet Street, and at Charing Cross, in Southwarkand Westminster. At all cross-ways and in all thoroughfares, saysNoailles, "the eye was met with the hideous spectacle of hanging men;"while Brett and a fresh batch of unfortunates were sent to suffer atRochester and Maidstone. Day after day, week after week, commissionerssat at Westminster or at the Guildhall trying prisoners, who passedwith a short shrift to the gallows. The Duke of Suffolk was sentencedon the 17th; on the 23rd he followed his daughter, penitent for hisrebellion, but constant, as she had implored him to be, in his faith. His two brothers and Lord Cobham's sons were condemned. WilliamThomas, to escape torture, stabbed himself, but recovered to die atTyburn. Lord Cobham himself, who was arrested notwithstanding hisdefence of his house, Wyatt, Sir James Crofts, Sir William St. Lowe, Sir Nicholas Arnold, Sir Nicholas Throgmorton, and, as the councilexpressed it, "a world more, " were in various prisons waiting theirtrials. Those who were suspected of being in Elizabeth's confidencewere kept with their fate impending over them--to be tempted eitherwith hopes of pardon, or by the rack, to betray their secrets. [259]

 [Footnote 258: Renard says: "A hundred were hanged in London and a hundred in Kent. " Stow says: "Eighty in London and twenty-two in Kent. " _The Chronicle of Queen Mary_ does not mention the number of executions in London, but agrees with Stow on the number sent to Kent. The smaller estimate, in these cases, is generally the right one. ]

 [Footnote 259: On Sunday the 11th of February, the day on which he exhorted the queen to severity from the pulpit, Gardiner wrote to Sir William Petre, "To-morrow, at your going to the Tower, it shall be good ye be earnest with one little Wyatt there prisoner, who by all likelihood can tell all. He is but a bastard, and hath no substance; and it might stand with the Queen's Highness's pleasure there were no great account to be made whether ye pressed him to say truth by sharp punishment or promise of life. "--_MS. Domestic, Mary_, vol. Iii. State Paper Office. I do not know to whom Gardiner referred in the words "little Wyatt. "]

But, sooner or later, the queen was determined that every one whocould be convicted should die, [260] and beyond, and above them all, Elizabeth. Elizabeth's illness, which had been supposed to have beenassumed, was real, and as the feeling of the people towards hercompelled the observance of the forms of justice and decency, physicians were sent from the court to attend upon her. On the 18th ofFebruary they reported that she could be moved with safety; and, escorted by Lord William Howard, Sir Edward Hastings, and Sir ThomasCornwallis, she was brought by slow stages, of six or seven miles aday, to London. [261] Renard had described her to the emperor asprobably _enceinte_ through some vile intrigue, and crushed withremorse and disappointment. [262]

 [Footnote 260: Renard to the Emperor: _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 261: The Order of my Lady Elizabeth's Grace's Voyage to the Court: _MS. Mary, Domestic_ vol. Iii. State Paper Office. ]

 [Footnote 262: Renard to the Emperor: February 17: _Rolls House MSS. _]

{p. 115} To give the lie to all such slanders, when she entered thecity, the princess had the covering of her litter thrown back; she wasdressed in white, her face was pale from her illness, but theexpression was lofty, scornful, and magnificent. [263] Crowds followedher along the streets to Westminster. The queen, when she arrived atWhitehall, refused to see her; a suite of rooms was assigned for herconfinement in a corner of the palace, from which there was no egressexcept by passing the guard, and there, with short attendance, shewaited the result of Gardiner's investigations. Wyatt, by vagueadmissions, had already partially compromised her, and, on thestrength of his words, and the discovery of the copy of her letter inthe packet of Noailles, she would have gone direct to the Tower, hadthe lords permitted. The emperor urged instant and summary justiceboth on her and on Courtenay; the irritation, should irritation arise, could be allayed afterwards by an amnesty. [264] The lords, however, insisted obstinately on the forms of law, the necessity of witnesses, and of a trial; and Renard watched their unreasonable humours withangry misgivings. It was enough, he said, that the conspiracy wasundertaken in Elizabeth's interests; if she escaped now, the queenwould never be secure. [265] In fact, while Elizabeth lived, the princecould not venture among the wild English spirits, and Charles wasdetermined that the marriage should not escape him. 

 [Footnote 263: "Pour desguyser le regret qu'elle a, " says Renard, unable to relinquish his first conviction. ]

 [Footnote 264: Renard was instructed to exhort the queen: "Que l'execution et chastoy de ceulx qui le meritent se face tost; usant à l'endroit de Madame Elizabeth et de Cortenay comme elle verra convenir à sa seureté, pour après user de clémence en l'endroit de ceulx qu'il luy semblera, afin de tost reassurer le surplus. "--The Emperor to Renard: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. Pp. 224, 225. ]

 [Footnote 265: Il est certain l'enterprinse estoit en sa faveur. Et certes, sire, si pendant que l'occasion s'adonne elle ne la punyt et Cortenay, elle ne sera jamais asseurée. --Renard to Charles V. : Tytler, vol. Ii. P. 311. ]

As soon as the rebellion was crushed, Egmont, attended by Count Horn, returned to complete his work. He brought with him the dispensationsin regular form. He brought also a fresh and pressing entreaty thatElizabeth should be sacrificed. An opportunity had been placed in thequeen's hand, which her duty to the church required that she shouldnot neglect; and Egmont was directed to tell her that the emperor, intrusting his son in a country where his own power could not protecthim, relied upon her honour not to neglect any step essential to hissecurity. [266] Egmont gave his message. The unhappy queen {p. 116}required no urging; she protested to Renard, that she could neitherrest nor sleep, so ardent was her desire for the prince's safearrival. [267] Courtenay, if necessary, she could kill; against him theproofs were complete; as to Elizabeth, she knew her guilt; theevidence was growing; and she would insist to the council that justiceshould be done. 

 [Footnote 266: Renard to the Emperor, March 8: _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 267: La quelle me respondit et afferme qu'elle ne dort ny repose pour le soucy elle tient de la seuré venue de son Altesse. --Renard to the Emperor: Tytler, vol. Ii. ]

About the marriage itself, the lords had by this time agreed to yield. Courtenay's pretensions could no longer be decently advanced, andGardiner, abandoning a hopeless cause, and turning his attention tothe restoration of the church, would consent to anything, if, on hisside, he might emancipate the clergy from the control of the civilpower, and re-establish persecution. Two factions, distinctly marked, were now growing in the council--the party of the statesmen, composedof Paget, Sussex, Arundel, Pembroke, Lord William Howard, the Marquisof Winchester, Sir Edward Hastings, and Cornwallis: the party of thechurch, composed of Gardiner, Petre, Rochester, Gage, Jerningham, andBourne. Divided on all other questions, the rival parties agreed onlyno longer to oppose the coming of Philip. The wavering few had beendecided by the presents and promises which Egmont brought with himfrom Charles. Pensions of two thousand crowns had been offered to, andwere probably accepted by the Earls of Pembroke, Arundel, Derby, andShrewsbury; pensions of a thousand crowns were given to Sussex, Darcy, Winchester, Rochester, Petre, and Cheyne; pensions of five hundredcrowns to Southwell, Waldegrave, Inglefield, Wentworth, and Grey;[268]ten thousand crowns were distributed among the officers and gentlemenwho had distinguished themselves against Wyatt. The pensions werelarge, but, as Renard observed, when Charles seemed to hesitate, several of the recipients were old, and would soon die; and, as to therest, things in England were changing from day to day, and means ofsome kind would easily be found to put an early end to thepayments. [269]

 [Footnote 268: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 267. ]

 [Footnote 269: Renard to Charles V. , March 8: _Rolls House MSS. _]

Unanimity having been thus secured, on the day of Egmont's arrivalRenard demanded an audience of the lords, and in the queen's presencerequested their opinion whether the condition of England allowed thecompletion of the contract. The life of the prince of Spain was ofgreat importance to Europe; should {p. 117} they believe in theirhearts that he would be in danger, there was still time to close thenegotiation. The rebellion having broken out and having failed, thelords replied that there was no longer any likelihood of openviolence. Arundel hinted, again, that the prince must bring his owncook and butler with him;[270] but he had nothing else to fear, if hecould escape the French cruisers. 

 [Footnote 270: Arundel nous dit qu'il convenoit que son alteze amena ses cuyseniers, sommeliers du cave, et autres officiers pour son bouche, que quant aux autres luy y pourvoyeroit selon les coustumes d'Angleterre. --Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

These assurances, combined with the queen's secret promises aboutElizabeth, were held sufficient; and on the 6th of March, at threeo'clock in the afternoon, the ambassadors were conducted by Pembrokeinto the presence chamber. The queen, kneeling before the sacrament, called it to witness that, in consenting to the alliance with thePrince of Spain, she was moved by no carnal concupiscence, but only byher zeal for the welfare of her realm and subjects; and then, risingup, with the bystanders all in tears, she gave her hand to Egmont asPhilip's representative. The blessing was pronounced by Gardiner, andthe proxy marriage was completed. [271] The prince was to be sent forwithout delay, and Southampton was chosen as the port at which heshould disembark, "being in the country of the Bishop of Winchester, "where the people were, for the most part, good Catholics. 

 [Footnote 271: Puis par la main de l'Évesque de Winchester les promesses et paroles de præsenti, furent dictes et prononcées intelligiblement par la diet Egmont seul et la dicte Dame. --Ibid. Compare Tytler, vol. Ii. P. 327. The great value of Mr. Tytler's work is diminished by the many omissions which he has permitted himself to make in the letters which he has edited. ]

Parliament was expected to give its sanction without furtherdifficulty; the opposition of the country having been neutralised bythe same causes which had influenced the council. The queen, indeed, in going through the ceremony before consulting parliament, though shehad broken the promise which she made in the Guildhall, had placed itbeyond their power to raise difficulties; but other questions werelikely to rise which would not be settled so easily. She herself waslonging to show her gratitude to Providence by restoring the authorityof the pope; and the pope intended, if possible, to recover hisfirst-fruits and Peter's pence, and to maintain the law of the churchwhich forbade the alienation of church property. [272] The Englishlaity {p. 118} were resolute on their side to keep hold of what theyhad got; and to set the subject at rest, and to prevent unpleasantdiscussions on points of theology, Paget, with his friends, desiredthat the session should last but a few days, and that two measuresonly should be brought forward; the first for the confirmation of thetreaty of marriage, the second to reassert the validity of the titlesunder which the church estates were held by their present owners. Ifthe queen consented to the last, her title of Head of the Church mightbe dropped informally, and allowed to fall into abeyance. [273]

 [Footnote 272: Pole's first commission granted him powers only "concordandi et transigendi cum possessoribus bonorum ecclesiasticorum, (restitutis prius si expedire videtur immobilibus per eos indebite detentis, ) super fructibus male perceptis ac bonis mobilibus consumptis. "--Commission granted to Reginald Pole: Wilkins's _Concilia_, vol. Iv. Cardinal Morone, writing to Pole as late as June, 1554, said that the pope was still unable to resolve on giving his sanction to the alienation. --Burnet's _Collectanea_. ]

 [Footnote 273: Paget to Renard: Tytler, vol. Ii. ]

Gardiner, however, saw in the failure of the insurrection anopportunity of emancipating the church, and of extinguishing heresywith fire and sword. [274] He was preparing a bill to restore theancient rigorous tyranny of the ecclesiastical courts; and by his ownauthority he directed that, in the writs for the parliament, thesummons should be to meet at Oxford, [275] where the conservatism ofthe country would be released from the dread of the London citizens. The spirit which, thirteen years before, had passed the Six ArticlesBill by acclamation, continued to smoulder in the slow minds of thecountry gentlemen, and was blazing freely among the lately persecutedpriests. The Bishop of Winchester had arranged in his imagination asplendid melodrama. The session was to begin on the 2nd of April; andthe ecclesiastical bill was to be the first to be passed. On the 8thof March, Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer were sent down to theUniversity to be tried before a committee of Convocation which hadalready decided on its verdict; and the Fathers of the Reformationwere either to recant or to suffer the flaming penalties of heresy inthe presence of the legislature, as the first-fruits of a renovatedchurch discipline. 

 [Footnote 274: Par feug et sang. --Renard to Charles V. , March 14: _Rolls House MSS. _; partially printed by Tytler. ]

 [Footnote 275: Ibid. ]

Vainly Renard protested. In the fiery obstinacy of his determination, Gardiner was the incarnate expression of the fury of theecclesiastical faction, smarting, as they were, under their longdegradation, and under the irritating consciousness of those falseoaths of submission which they had sworn to a power which theyloathed. Once before, in the first reaction against Protestantexcesses, the Bishop of Winchester had seen the Six {p. 119} ArticlesBill carried--but his prey had then been snatched from his grasp. Now, embittered by fresh oppression, he saw his party once more in aposition to revenge their wrongs when there was no Henry any longer tostand between them and their enemies. He would take the tide at theflood, forge a weapon keener than the last, and establish theInquisition. [276] Paget swore it should not be. [277] Charles V. Himself, dreading a fresh interruption to the marriage, insisted thatthis extravagant fervour should be checked;[278] and the Bishop ofArras, the scourge of the Netherlands, interceded for moderation inEngland. But Gardiner and the clergy were not to be turned from thehope of their hearts by the private alarms of the Imperialists; and inthe heart of the queen religious orthodoxy was Philip's solitaryrival. Renard urged her to be prudent in religion and cruel to thepolitical prisoners. Gardiner, though eager as Renard to killElizabeth, would buy the privilege of working his will upon theProtestants by sparing Courtenay and Courtenay's friends. Marylistened to the worst counsels of each, and her distempered humoursettled into a confused ferocity. So unwholesome appeared the aspectof things in the middle of March that, notwithstanding the formalcontract, Renard almost advised the emperor to relinquish the thoughtof committing his son among so wild a people. [279]

 [Footnote 276: Establir forme d'Inquisition contre les hérétiques. --Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 277: Ibid. ]

 [Footnote 278: La chaleur exhorbitante. --Charles V. To Renard: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 229. ]

 [Footnote 279: Pour estre la plus part des Angloys sans foy, sans loy, confuz en la religion, doubles, inconstans, et de nature jaloux et abhorrissans estrangiers. --_Rolls House MSS. _]

As opposition to extreme measures was anticipated in the House ofLords, as well as among the Commons, it was important to strengthenthe bench of bishops. The pope had granted permission withoutdifficulty to fill the vacant sees; and on the 1st of April six newprelates were consecrated at St. Mary Overies, while Sir John Brydgesand Sir John Williams of Thame were raised to the peerage. 

The Protestants, it must be admitted, had exerted themselves to makeGardiner's work easy to him. On the 14th of March the wall of a housein Aldgate became suddenly vocal, and seventeen thousand persons werecollected to hear a message from Heaven pronounced by an angel. Whenthe people said "God save Queen Mary, " the wall was silent; when theysaid "God save Queen Elizabeth, " the wall said "Amen!" When {p. 120}they asked, "What is the mass?" the wall said, "It is idolatry. " Asthe nation was holding its peace, the stones, it seemed, were cryingout against the reaction. But the angel, on examination, turned out tobe a girl concealed behind the plaster. Shortly after, the inhabitantsof Cheapside, on opening their shop windows in the morning, beheld ona gallows, among the bodies of the hanged insurgents, a cat inpriestly robes, with crown shaven, the fore-paws tied over her head, and a piece of paper clipped round between them, representing thewafer. 

More serious were the doings of a part of the late conspirators whohad escaped to France. Peter Carew, when he left Weymouth, promisedsoon to return, and he was received at Paris with a cordiality thatanswered his warmest hopes. Determined, if possible, to prevent Philipfrom reaching England, the French had equipped every vessel which theypossessed available for sea, and Carew was sent again to the coast ofthe Channel to tempt across into the French service all those who, like himself, were compromised in the conspiracy, or whose blood washotter than their fathers'. Every day the queen was chafed with thenews of desertions to their dangerous rendezvous. Young men ofhonourable families, Pickerings, Strangways's, Killegrews, Staffords, Stauntons, Tremaynes, Courtenays, slipped over the water, carryingwith them hardy sailors from the western harbours. The French suppliedthem with arms, ships, and money; and fast-sailing, heavily-armedprivateers, officered by these young adventurers in the cause offreedom, were cruising on their own account, plundering Flemish andSpanish ships, and swearing that the Prince of Spain should set nofoot on English shores. [280]

 [Footnote 280: The French and Calais correspondence in the State Paper Office contains a vast number of letters on this subject. The following extracts are specimens:--

 On the 24th of March Thomas Corry writes to Lord Grey that "two hundred vessels be in readiness" in the French harbours. "There is lately arrived at Caen in Normandy Sir Peter Carew, Sir William Pickering, Sir Edward Courtenay, John Courtenay, Brian Fitzwilliam, and divers other English gentlemen. It is thought Sir Peter Carew shall have charge of the fleet. There be three ships of Englishmen, which be already gone to sea with Killegrew, which do report that they serve the king to prevent the coming of the King of Spain. "--_Calais MSS. _

 On the 28th of March, Edgar Hormolden writes from Guisnes to Sir John Bourne: "The number of Sir Peter Carew's retinue increaseth in France by the confluence of such English _qui potius alicujus præclari facinoris quam artis bonæ famam quærunt_; and they be so entreated there as it cannot be otherwise conjectured but that they practise with France: insomuch I have heard credible intelligence that the said Carew used this persuasion, of late, to his companions: Are not we, said he, allianced with Normandy; yea! what ancient house is either there or in France, but we claim by them and they by us? why should we not rather embrace their love than submit ourselves to the servitude of Spain?"--_Calais MSS. _

 April 17, Dr. Wotton writes in cypher from Paris to the queen: "Yesterday, an Italian brought a letter to my lodging, and delivered it to a servant of mine, and went his way, so that I know not what he is. The effect of his letter is, that for because he taketh it to be the part of every good Christian man to further your godly purpose and Catholic doings, he hath thought good to advertise me that those fugitives of England say to their friends here that they have intelligence of great importance in England with some of the chiefest on the realm, which shall appear on the arrival of the Prince of Spain. Within few days they go to Normandy to embark themselves there, so strong, that, if they do not let the Prince of Spain to land, as they will attempt to do, yet they will not fail, by the help of them that have intelligence with them, to let him come to London. "--_French MSS. _ bundle xi. ]

{p. 121} The queen indignantly demanded explanations of Noailles, and, through her ambassador at Paris, she required the French government toseize "her traitors, " and deliver them to her. Noailles, alarmed, perhaps, for his own security, suggested that it might be well toconceal Carew, and to affect to make an attempt to arrest him. ButHenry, at once more sagacious and more bold, replied to the ambassadorthat "he was not the queen's hangman:" "these men that you require, "he said, "deny that they have conspired anything against the queen;marry, they say they will not be oppressed by mine enemy, and that isno just cause why I should owe them ill-will. "[281] He desiredNoailles, with quiet irony, to tell her majesty "that there wasnothing in the existing treaties to forbid his accepting the servicesof English volunteers in the war with the emperor: her majesty mightremember that he had invited her to make a new treaty, and that shehad refused:" "he would act by the just letter of his obligations. "[282]

 [Footnote 281: Wotton to the Queen: _French MSS. _ bundle xi. State Paper Office. ]

 [Footnote 282: Noailles to the King of France: _Ambassades_, vol. Iii. ]

Would her subjects have permitted, the queen would have replied by adeclaration of war. As it was, she could only relieve herself withindignant words. [283] But Carew and his friends might depend onsupport so long as they would make themselves {p. 122} useful toFrance. Possessed of ships and arms, they were a constant menace tothe Channel, and a constant temptation to the disaffected; and, growing bitter at last, and believing that Elizabeth's life was on thepoint of being sacrificed, they were prepared to support Henry in asecond attempt to seize the Isle of Wight, and to accept the Frenchcompetitor for the English crown in the person of the Queen ofScots. [284] Thus fatally the friends of the Reformation played intothe hands of its enemies. By the solid mass of Englishmen the armedinterference of France was more dreaded than even a Spanish sovereign;and the heresy became doubly odious which was tampering with thehereditary enemies of the realm. In London only the revolutionaryspirit continued vigorous, and broke out perpetually in unexpectedforms. At the beginning of March three hundred schoolboys met in ameadow outside the city walls: half were for Wyatt and for France, half for the Prince of Spain; and, not all in play (for evidently theychose their sides by their sympathies), they joined battle, and foughtwith the fierceness of grown men. The combat ended in the capture ofthe representative of Philip, who was dragged to a gallows, and wouldhave been hanged upon it, had not the spectators interfered. [285] Theboys were laid hands upon. The youngest were whipped, the elderimprisoned. It was said that the queen thought of gibbeting one ofthese innocents in real fact, for an example; or, as Noailles put it, as an expiation for the sins of the people. [286]

 [Footnote 283: "When the Ambassador replied that his master minded to do justly, her Grace remembering how those traitors be there aided, especially such of them as had conspired her death and were in arms in the field against her; and being not able to bear those words, so contrary to their doings, told the Ambassador that, for her own part, her Majesty minded simply and plainly to perform as she had promised, and might with safe conscience swear she ever meant so; but, for their part, her Grace would not swear so, and being those arrant traitors so entertained there as they be, she could not have found in her heart to have used, in like matter, the semblable part towards his master for the gain of two realms, and with those words she departed. "--Gardiner to Wotton: _French MSS. _ bundle xi. ]

 [Footnote 284: On the 29th of April Wotton wrote in a cypher to Mary; "Towards the end of the summer the French king, by Peter Carew's provocation, intendeth to land the rebels, with a number of Scots, in Essex, and in the Isle of Wight, where they mean to land easily, and either go on, if any number of Englishmen resort unto them, as they say many will, or else fortify themselves there. They council the French king to make war against your Highness in the right and title of the young Queen of Scots. "--_French MSS. _ bundle xi. ]

 [Footnote 285: The execution was commenced in earnest. The prince, says Noailles, "fust souldainement mesné au gibet par ceulx de la part du Roy et de M. Wyatt; et sans quelques hommes qui tout à propoz y accoururent, ils l'eussent estranglé; ce que se peult clairement juger par les marques qu'il en a et aura encores d'icy à long temps au col. "--Noailles to Montmorency: _Ambassades_, vol. Iii. ]

 [Footnote 286: Dict on qu'elle veult que l'ung d'eulx soit sacrifié pour tout le peuple. --Ibid. ]

Over Elizabeth, in the meantime, the fatal net appeared to be closing;Lord Russell had received a letter for her from Wyatt, which, thoughthe princess declared that it had never been in her hands, he saidthat he had forwarded; and Wyatt himself was flattered with hopes oflife if he would extend his confession. Renard carried his ingenuityfarther; he called {p. 123} in the assistance of Lady Wyatt, andpromised her that her husband should be spared; he even urged thequeen to gain over, by judicious leniency, a man whose apostasy wouldbe a fresh disgrace to his cause, and who might be as useful as aservant as he had been dangerous as a foe. [287] Wyatt, being a manwithout solidity of heart, showed signs of yielding to what wasrequired of him; but his revelations came out slowly, and to quickenhis confession he was brought to his trial on the 15th of March. Hepleaded guilty to the indictment, and he then said that Courtenay hadbeen the instigator of the conspiracy; he had written to Elizabeth, hesaid, to advise her to remove as far as possible from London, andElizabeth had returned him a verbal message of thanks. This being notenough, he was sentenced to death; but he was made to feel that hemight still earn his pardon if he would implicate Elizabeth moredeeply; and though he said nothing definite, he allowed himself todrop vague hints that he could tell more if he pleased. [288]

 [Footnote 287: Ce qui faict juger à beaulcoup de gens que Wyatt ne mourra point, mais que la dicte dame le rendra tant son obligé par ceste grace de luy rendre la vie qu'elle en pourra tirer beaulcoup de bons et grandes services. Ce qui se faict par le moyen dudict ambassadeur de l'Empereur par l'advis duquel se conduisent aujourdhuy toutes les opinions d'icelle dame, et lequele traice ceste composition avecques la femme dudict Wyatt à laquelle comme l'on diet il a asseuré la vie de son dict mari. --Noailles to the Constable of France, March 31. Renard's secrets were betrayed to Noailles by "a corrupt secretary" of the Flemish embassy. --Wotton to the Queen: _French MSS. _ bundle xi. State Paper Office. ]

 [Footnote 288: Noailles says: Wyatt a esté condamné à mourir; toutesfois il n'est encores executé et avant que luy prononçer sa sentence on luy avoit promis tant de belles choses que vaincu par leur doulces paroles oultre sa deliberation, il a accusé beaulcoup de personnages et parlé au desadvantage de mylord de Courtenay et de Madame Elizabeth. --Noailles to d'Oysel, March 29. The different parties were so much interested in Wyatt's confession, that his very last words are so wrapped round with contradictions, that one cannot tell what they were. It is certain, however, that he did implicate Elizabeth to some extent; it is certain, also, that he did not say enough for the purposes of the court, and that the court believed he could say more if he would, for, on Easter Sunday he communicated, and the queen was distressed that he should have been allowed to partake, while his confession was incomplete. As to Courtenay, Renard said he had communicated enough, "mais quant à Elizabeth l'on ne peult encores tomber en preuves suffisantes pour les loys d'Angleterre contre elle. "--Renard to Charles V. : _Rolls House MSS. _]

At all events, however, sufficient evidence had been obtained in theopinion of the court for the committal of the princess to the Tower. On the day of Wyatt's trial, the council met, but separated without aresolution; on Friday, the 16th, Elizabeth was examined before them inperson; and when she withdrew, Gardiner required that she should besent to the Tower instantly. Paget, supported by Sussex, Hastings, andCornwallis, said that {p. 124} there was no evidence to justify soviolent a measure. [289] Which of you, then, said Gardiner, withdexterous ingenuity, will be responsible for the safe keeping of herperson?

 [Footnote 289: Holinshed says that a certain lord exclaimed that there would be no safety for the realm until Elizabeth's head was off her shoulders; and either Holinshed himself, or his editor, wrote in the margin opposite, the words: "The wicked advice of Lord Paget. "--Renard describes so distinctly the attitude of Paget, that there can be no doubt whatever of the injustice of such a charge against him. ]

The guardian of Elizabeth would be exposed to a hundred dangers and athousand suspicions; the lords answered that Gardiner was conspiringtheir destruction. No one could be found courageous enough toundertake the charge, and they gave their reluctant consent to hisdemand. The same night Elizabeth's attendants were removed, a hundredsoldiers were picketed in the garden below her window, and on Saturdaymorning (March 17) the Marquis of Winchester and Lord Sussex waited onher to communicate her destination, and to attend her to a barge. 

The terrible name of the Tower was like a death-knell; the princessentreated a short delay till she could write a few words to the queen;the queen could not know the truth, she said, or else she was playedupon by Gardiner. Alas! she did not know the queen: Winchesterhesitated; Lord Sussex, more generous, accepted the risk, andpromised, on his knees, to place her letter in the queen's hands. 

The very lines traced by Elizabeth in that bitter moment may still beread in the State Paper Office, [290] and her hand was more thanusually firm. 

 [Footnote 290: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Iv. Printed by Ellis, 2nd series, vol. Ii. P. 255. ]

"If ever any one, " she wrote, "did try this old saying that a king'sword was more than another man's oath, I most humbly beseech yourmajesty to verify it in me, and to remember your last promise, and mylast demand, that I be not condemned without answer and due proof, which it seems that I now am: for that without cause proved I am byyour council from you commanded to go unto the Tower, a place morewonted for a false traitor than a true subject: which, though I know Ideserve it not, yet in the face of all this realm appears that it isproved; which I pray God that I may die the shamefullest death thatany died, afore I may mean any such thing: and to this present hour Iprotest, afore God who shall judge my truth, whatsoever malice shalldevise, that I never practised, counselled, nor consented to anythingthat might be prejudicial to your person any {p. 125} way, ordangerous to the state by any means. And I therefore humbly beseechyour majesty to let me answer afore yourself, and not suffer me totrust to your councillors; yea, and that afore I go to the Tower, ifit is possible; if not, afore I be further condemned. Howbeit, I trustassuredly your highness will give me leave to do it afore I go, forthat thus shamefully I may not be cried out on, as now I shall be, yea, and without cause. Let conscience move your highness to take somebetter way with me, than to make me be condemned in all men's sight, afore my desert known. Also, I most humbly beseech your highness topardon this my boldness, which innocency procures me to do, togetherwith hope of your natural kindness, which I trust will not see me castaway without desert: which what it is I would desire no more of Godthan that you truly knew; which thing, I think and believe, you shallnever by report know, unless by yourself you hear. I have heard in mytime of many cast away for want of coming to the presence of theirprince; and in late days I heard my Lord of Somerset say that, if hisbrother had been suffered to speak with him, he had never suffered;but the persuasions were made to him so great, that he was brought inbelief that he could not live safely if the admiral lived, and thatmade him give his consent to his death. Though these persons are notto be compared to your majesty, yet I pray God as evil persuasionspersuade not one sister against the other, and all for that they haveheard false reports, and not hearken to the truth known; therefore, once again kneeling with all humbleness of my heart, because I am notsuffered to bow the knees of my body, I humbly crave to speak withyour highness, which I would not be so bold to desire if I knew notmyself most clear, as I know myself most true. And as for the traitorWyatt, he might peradventure write me a letter, but on my faith Inever received any from him; and for the copy of my letter sent to theFrench king, I pray God confound me eternally if ever I sent him word, message, token, or letter by any means:[291] and to this my truth Iwill stand to my death your highness's most faithful subject that hathbeen from the beginning, and will be to the end. " Elizabeth. 

 [Footnote 291: As soon as Noailles learnt that his enclosure formed part of the case against Elizabeth, he came forward to acquit her of having furnished him with it; "jurant et blasphémant tous les sermens du monde pour la justification de la dicte Dame Elizabeth. "--Renard to Charles V. , April 3: _Rolls House MSS. _]

"I humbly crave but one word of answer from yourself. "

{p. 126} Had Elizabeth known the history of those words of the queento her, to which she appealed, she would have spared herself thetrouble of writing this letter. Sussex fulfilled his promise, andduring the delay the tide turned, and the barge could not pass LondonBridge till the following day. The queen could not venture to send theprincess through the streets; and in dread lest, at the last moment, her prey should be snatched from her, she answered the appeal only bystorming at the bearer, and at his friends in the council. "They weregoing no good way, " she said, "for their lives they durst not haveacted so in her father's time; she wished that he was alive and amongthem but for a single month. "[292]

 [Footnote 292: Renard. ]

At nine o'clock the next morning--it was Palm Sunday (March 18)--thetwo lords returned to Elizabeth to tell her that her letter hadfailed. As she crossed the garden to the water she threw up her eyesto the queen's window, but there was no sign of recognition. What dothe lords mean, she said, that they suffer me thus to be led intocaptivity? The barge was too deep to approach sufficiently near to thelanding-place at the Tower to enable her to step upon the causewaywithout wetting her feet; it was raining too, and the pettyinconveniences, fretting against the dreadful associations of theTraitors' Gate, shook her self-command. She refused to land; thensharply rejecting an offer of assistance, she sprang out upon the mud. "Are all those harnessed men there for me?" she said to Sir John Gage, who was waiting with the Tower guard. "No, madam, " Gage answered. "Yes, " she said, "I know it is so; it needed not for me, being but aweak woman. I never thought to have come in here a prisoner, " she wenton, turning to the soldiers; "I pray you all good fellows and friends, bear me witness that I come in no traitor, but as true a woman to thequeen's majesty as any is now living, and thereon will I take mydeath. " She threw herself down upon a wet stone; Lord Chandos beggedher to come under shelter out of the rain: "better sitting here thanin a worse place, " she cried; "I know not whither you will bring me. "

But it was not in Elizabeth's nature to protract a vain resistance;she rose, and passed on, and as she approached the room intended forher, the heavy doors along the corridor were locked and barred behindher. At the grating of the iron bolts the heart of Lord Sussex sank inhim: Sussex knew the queen's true feelings, and the efforts which weremade to lash her into {p. 127} cruelty; "What mean ye, my lords, " hesaid to Chandos and Gage, "what will you do?" "she was a king'sdaughter, and is the queen's sister; go no further than yourcommission, which I know what it is. "[293]

 [Footnote 293: Contemporary Narrative: _Harleian MSS. _ 419. _Chronicle of Queen Mary_, p. 71. Holinshed. ]

The chief danger was of murder--of some swift desperate act whichcould not be undone; the lords who had so reluctantly permittedElizabeth to be imprisoned would not allow her to be openlysacrificed, or indeed permit the queen to continue in the career ofvengeance on which she had entered. The executions on account of therebellion had not ceased even yet. In Kent, London, and in the midlandcounties, day after day, one, two, or more persons had been put todeath; six gentlemen were, at that very moment, on their way toMaidstone and Rochester to suffer. The lords, on the day ofElizabeth's committal, held a meeting while Gardiner was engagedelsewhere; they determined to remonstrate, and, if necessary, toinsist on a change of course, and Paget undertook to be the bearer ofthe message. He found Mary in her oratory after vespers; he told herthat the season might remind a sovereign of other duties besidesrevenge; already too much blood had been shed; the noble house ofSuffolk was all but destroyed; and he said distinctly that if sheattempted any more executions, he and his friends would interfere; thehideous scenes had lasted too long, and, as an earnest of a return tomercy, he demanded the pardon of the six gentlemen. 

Mary, as she lamented afterwards to Renard, was unprepared; she waspressed in terms which showed that those who made the request did notintend to be refused--and she consented. [294] The six gentlemenescaped; and, following up this beginning, the council, in the courseof the week, extorted from her the release of Northampton, Cobham, andone of his sons, with five others. In a report to the emperor, Renardadmitted that, if the queen attempted to continue her course ofjustice, there would be resistance; and the party of the chancellor, being the weakest, would in that case be overwhelmed. It was the morenecessary, therefore, that, by one means or another, Elizabeth shouldbe disposed of. The queen had condescended to apologise to him for hersecond act of clemency, which she excused as being an Easter custom. It was not for him to find fault, he said that he had replied, if hermajesty was pleased to {p. 128} show mercy at the holy season; but itwas his duty to remind her that he doubted whether the prince could betrusted with her. 

 [Footnote 294: Renard to Charles V. , March 22; _Rolls House MSS. _]

This argument never failed to drive Mary to madness; and, on the otherside, Renard applied to Gardiner to urge despatch in bringingElizabeth to trial: as long as she lived, there was no security forthe queen, for the prince, or for religion. Gardiner echoed the sameopinion. If others, he said, would go to work as roundly as himself, all would be well. [295]

 [Footnote 295: Il me repliqua que vivant Elizabeth il n'a espoir à la tranquillité du Royaulme, que quant à luy si chascun alloit si rondement en besoyn comme il fait, les choses se porteroient mieux. --Renard to the Emperor, April 3: _Rolls House MSS. _ From these dark plotters, what might not be feared? Holinshed says that while Elizabeth was in the Tower, a writ was sent down for her execution devised, as was believed, by Gardiner; and that Lord Chandos (Sir John Brydges, the Lieutenant of the Tower) refused to put it in force. The story has been treated as a fable, and in the form in which it is told by Holinshed, it was very likely untrue: yet in the presence of these infernal conversations, I think it highly probable that, as the hope of a judicial conviction grew fainter, schemes were talked of, and were perhaps tried, for cutting the knot in a decisive manner. In revolutionary times men feel that if to-day is theirs, to-morrow may be their enemies'; and they are not particularly scrupulous. The anxious words of Sussex did not refer to the merely barring a prisoner's door. ]

In this condition of the political atmosphere parliament assembled onthe 2nd of April. The Oxford scheme had been relinquished asimpracticable. The Lord Mayor informed the queen that he would notanswer for the peace of the city in the absence of the court; theTower might be surprised and the prisoners released; and to lose theTower would be to lose the crown. The queen said that she would notleave London while her sister's fate was undetermined. [296] The Housesmet, therefore, as usual, as Westminster, and the speech from thethrone was read in Mary's presence by the chancellor. 

 [Footnote 296: Renard. ]

Since the last parliament, Gardiner said, the people of England hadgiven proofs of unruly humour. The queen was their undoubtedsovereign, and a measure would be submitted to the Lords and Commonsto declare, in some emphatic manner, her claim to her subjects'obedience. 

Her majesty desiring, further, in compliance with her subjects'wishes, to take a husband, she had fixed her choice on the Prince ofSpain, as a person agreeable to herself and likely to be a valuablefriend to the realm: the people, however, had insolently andignorantly presumed to mutiny against her intentions, and, in heraffection for the commonwealth, her majesty had consented to submitthe articles of the marriage to the approval of parliament. 

{p. 129} Again, her majesty would desire them to take into theirconsideration the possible failure of the blood royal, and adoptnecessary precautions to secure an undisturbed succession to thecrown. It would be for the parliament to decide whether the privilegewhich had been granted to Henry VIII. Of bequeathing the crown by willmight not be, with propriety, extended to her present majesty. [297]

 [Footnote 297: Noailles, vol. Iii. P. 141. ]

Finally, and at great length, the chancellor spoke of religion. Thelate rebellion, he said, was properly a religious rebellion: it wasthe work of men who despised the sacraments, and were the enemies oftruth, order, and godliness. A measure would be laid before thelegislature for the better restraint of irregular licence of opinion. 

The marriage was to pass quietly. Those of the Lords and Commons whopersevered in their disapproval were a small minority, and did notintend to appear. [298] The bill, therefore, passed both Houses by the12th of April. [299] The marriage articles were those originallyoffered by the emperor, with the English clauses attached, and someexplanatory paragraphs, that no room might be left for laxity ofinterpretation. [300] Lord Bedford and Lord Fitzwalter had already goneto Plymouth, where a ship was in readiness to carry them to Spain. They waited only till the parliamentary forms were completed, andimmediately sailed. Lord William Howard would go to sea with thefleet, at his earliest convenience, to protect the passage, and theprince might be expected in England by the end of May. The bill forthe queen's authority was carried also without objection. The forms ofEnglish law running only in the name of a king, it had been pretendedthat a queen could not be a lawful sovereign. A declaratory statuteexplained that the kingly prerogative was the same, whether vested inmale or female. [301] Here, however, unanimity was at an end. Theparagraph about the succession in the queen's speech being obviouslyaimed at Elizabeth, produced such an irritation in the council, aswell as in parliament, that Renard expected it would end in actualarmed conflict. [302]

 [Footnote 298: Renard to Charles V. , April 7. ]

 [Footnote 299: 1 Mary, cap. Ii. ]

 [Footnote 300: See the treaty of marriage between Philip and Mary in Rymer. ]

 [Footnote 301: 1 Mary, cap. I. ]

 [Footnote 302: Y a telle confusion que l'on n'attend sinon que la querelle se demesle par les armes et tumults. --Renard to Charles V. , April 22. ]

From the day of Elizabeth's imprisonment Gardiner had laboured toextort evidence against her by fair means or foul. [303] {p. 130} Shehad been followed to the Tower by her servants. Sir John Gage desiredthat her food should be dressed by people of his own. The servantsrefused to allow themselves to be displaced, [304] and, to the distressof Renard, angry words had been addressed to Gage by Lord Howard, sothat they could not be removed by force. [305]

 [Footnote 303: Holinshed says, Edmund Tremayne was racked, and I have already quoted Gardiner's letter to Petre, suggesting the racking of "little Wyatt. "]

 [Footnote 304: Her grace's cook said to him, My lord, I will never suffer any stranger to come about her diet but her own sworn men as long as I live. --_Harleian MSS. _ 419, and see Holinshed. ]

 [Footnote 305: L'Admiral s'est coleré au grand chamberlain de la Royne que a la garde de la dicte Elizabeth et luy a dit qu'elle feroit encores trancher tant de testes que luy et autres s'en repentiroient. --Renard to Charles V. , April 7: _Rolls House MSS. _]

The temptation of life having failed, after all, to induce Wyatt toenlarge his confession beyond his first acknowledgments, it wasdetermined to execute him. On the 11th of April he was brought out ofhis cell, and on his way to the scaffold he was confronted withCourtenay, to whom he said something, but how much or what it isimpossible to ascertain. [306] Finding that his death was inevitable, he determined to make the only reparation which was any longer in hispower to Elizabeth. When placed on the platform, after desiring thepeople to pray for him, lamenting his crime, and expressing a hopethat he might be the last person to suffer for the rebellion, heconcluded thus:

 [Footnote 306: Lord Chandos stated the same day in the House of Lords that he threw himself at Courtenay's feet and implored him to confess the truth. The sheriffs of London, on the other hand, said that he entreated Courtenay to forgive him for the false charges which he had brought against him and against Elizabeth. --Foxe, vol. Vi. Compare _Chronicle of Queen Mary_, p. 72, note. ]

"Whereas it is said abroad that I should accuse my Lady Elizabeth'sGrace and my Lord Courtenay; it is not so, good people, for I assureyou neither they nor any other now yonder in hold or durance was privyof my rising or commotion before I began. "[307]

 [Footnote 307: So far the _Chronicle of Queen Mary_, Holinshed, Stow, and the narratives among the _Harleian MSS. _ essentially agree. But the chronicle followed by Stow makes Wyatt add, "As I have declared no less to the Queen's council;" whereas Foxe says that he admitted that he had spoken otherwise to the council, but had spoken untruly. Noailles tells all that was really important in a letter to d'Oysel: "M. Wyatt eust la teste coupée, dischargeant advant que de mourir Madame Elizabeth et Courtenay qu'il avoit aulparavant chargé de s'estre entendus en son entreprinse sur promesses que l'on luy avoit faictes de luy saulver la vie. "--Noailles, vol. Iii. ]

The words, or the substance of them, were heard by every one. Weston, who attended as confessor, shouted, "Believe him not, good people! heconfessed otherwise before the council. " {p. 131} "That which I saidthen I said, " answered Wyatt, "but that which I say now is true. " Theexecutioner did his office, and Wyatt's work, for good or evil, wasended. 

All that the court had gained by his previous confessions was now morethan lost. London rang with the story that Wyatt, in dying, hadcleared Courtenay and Elizabeth. [308] Gardiner still thundered in theStar Chamber on the certainty of their guilt, and pilloried two decentcitizens who had repeated Wyatt's words; but his efforts were vain, and the hope of a legal conviction was at an end. The judges declaredthat against Elizabeth there was now no evidence;[309] and, even ifthere had been evidence, Renard wrote to his master, that the courtcould not dare to proceed further against her, from fear of LordWilliam Howard, who had the whole naval force of England at hisdisposal, and, in indignation at Elizabeth's treatment, might join theFrench and the exiles. [310] Perplexed to know how to dispose of her, the ambassador and the chancellor thought of sending her off toPomfret Castle; doubtless, if once within Pomfret walls, to find thefate of the second Richard there: but again the spectre of Lord Howardterrified them. 

 [Footnote 308: Courtenay, however, certainly _was_ guilty; and had Wyatt acquitted Elizabeth without naming Courtenay, his words would have been far more effective than they were. This, however, it was hard for Wyatt to do, as it would have been equivalent to a repetition of his accusations. ]

 [Footnote 309: Les gens de loy ne treuvent matière pour la condamner. --Renard to Charles V. , April 22: Tytler, vol. Ii. ]

 [Footnote 310: Ibid. And see a passage in the MS. , which Mr. Tytler has omitted. ]

The threatened escape of her sister, too, was but the beginning of thequeen's sorrows. On the 17th of April Sir Nicholas Throgmorton wastried at the Guildhall for having been a party to the conspiracy. Theconfessions of many of the prisoners had more or less implicatedThrogmorton. Cuthbert Vaughan, who was out with Wyatt, swore in thecourt that Throgmorton had discussed the plan of the insurrection withhim; and Throgmorton himself admitted that he had talked to Sir PeterCarew and Wyatt about the probability of a rebellion. He it was, too, who was to have conducted Courtenay to Andover on his flight intoDevonshire; and the evidence[311] leaves very little doubt that he wasconcerned as deeply as any one who did not actually take up arms. SirNicholas, however, defended himself with resolute pertinacity; hefought through all the charges against him, and dissected thedepositions with the skill of a practised pleader; and in the end, thejury returned the bold verdict of {p. 132} "Not guilty. " Sir ThomasBromley urged them to remember themselves. The foreman answered theyhad found the verdict according to their consciences. 

 [Footnote 311: It is printed at length in Holinshed. ]

Their consciences probably found less difficulty in the facts chargedagainst Throgmorton than in the guilt to be attached to them. Theverdict was intended as a rebuke to the cruelty with which therebellion had been punished, and it was received as an insult to thecrown. The crowd, as Throgmorton left the court, threw up their capsand shouted. The queen was ill for three days with mortification, [312]and insisted that the jurors should be punished. They were arrested, and kept as prisoners till the following winter, when they werereleased on payment of the ruinous fine of £2000. Throgmorton himselfwas seized again on some other pretext, and sent again to the Tower. The council, or Paget's party there, remonstrated against the arrest;they yielded, however, perhaps that they might make the firmer standon more important matters. 

 [Footnote 312: Que tant altère la dicte dame qu'elle a esté trois jours malade, et n'est encore bien d'elle. --Renard to Charles V. : Tytler, vol. Ii. P. 374. ]

Since Elizabeth could not be executed, the court were the more anxiousto carry the Succession Bill. Gardiner's first desire was thatElizabeth should be excluded by name; but Paget said that this wasimpossible. [313] As little could a measure be passed empowering thequeen to leave the crown by will, for that would be but the same thingunder another form. Following up his purpose, notwithstanding, Gardiner brought out in the House of Lords a pedigree, tracingPhilip's descent from John of Gaunt; and he introduced a bill to makeoffences against his person high treason. But at the second readingthe important words were introduced, "during the queen'slifetime;"[314] the bill was read a third time, and then disappeared;and Paget had been the loudest of its opponents. [315]

 [Footnote 313: He whom you wrote of comes to me with a sudden and strange proposal, that, since matters against Madame Elizabeth do not take the turn which was wished, there should be an Act brought into Parliament to disinherit her. I replied that I would give no consent to such a scheme. --Paget to Renard: Tytler, vol. Ii. P. 382. ]

 [Footnote 314: _Lords Journals. _]

 [Footnote 315: Renard complains of Paget's conduct bitterly. --Renard to Charles V. , May 1: Tytler, vol. Ii. ]

Beaten on the succession, the chancellor, in spite of Renard'sremonstrances, brought forward next his Religious Persecution Bills. The House of Commons went with him to some extent; and, to securesuccess in some form or other, he introduced three separate measures, either of which would answer his purpose--{p. 133} a bill for therestoration of the Six Articles, a bill to re-enact the LollardStatute of Henry IV. , _De Hæretico Comburendo_, and a bill to restore(in more than its original vigour) the Episcopal Jurisdiction. The SixArticles had so bad a name that the first bill was read once only, andwas dropped; the two others passed the Commons, [316] and, on the 26thof April, the Bishops' Authority Bill came before the Lords. LordPaget was so far in advance of his time that he could not hope toappeal with a chance of success to his own principles of judiciouslatitudinarianism; but he determined, if possible, to preventGardiner's intended cruelties from taking effect, and he spread analarm that, if the bishops were restored to their unrestricted powers, under one form or other the holders of the abbey lands would be attheir mercy. To allay the suspicion, another bill was carried throughthe Commons, providing expressly for the safety of the holders ofthose lands; but the tyranny of the episcopal courts was so recent, and the ecclesiastics had shown themselves uniformly so little capableof distinguishing between right and wrong when the interests ofreligion were at stake, that the jealousy, once aroused, could not bechecked. The irritation became so hot and so general as to threatenagain the most dangerous consequences; and Paget, pretending to bealarmed at the excitement which he had raised, urged Renard to use hisinfluence with the queen to dissolve parliament. [317]

 [Footnote 316: _Commons Journals. _]

 [Footnote 317: Paget to Renard; Tytler, vol. Ii. P. 382. And compare Renard's correspondence with the emperor during the month of April. --_Rolls House MSS. _]

Renard, who was only anxious that the marriage should go off quietly, agreed in the desirableness of a dissolution. He told the queen thatthe reform of religion must be left to a better opportunity; and theprince could not, and should not, set his foot in a country whereparties were for ever on the edge of cutting each other's throats. Itwas no time for her to be indulging Gardiner in humours which weredriving men mad, and shutting her ears to the advice of those whocould ruin her if they pleased; she must think first of her husband. The queen protested that Gardiner was acting by no advice of hers;Gardiner, she said, was obstinate, and would listen to no one; sheherself was helpless and miserable. But Renard was not to be moved bymisery. At all events, he said, the prince should not come till latein the summer, perhaps not till autumn, not, in fact, till it could beseen what form these wild humours would {p. 134} assume; summer wasthe dangerous time in England, when the people's blood was apt toboil. [318]

 [Footnote 318: Pour ce qui ordinairement les humeurs des Angloys boulissent plus en l'esté que en autre temps. ]

Gardiner, however, was probably not acting without Mary's secretapprobation. Both the queen and the minister especially desired, atthat moment, the passing of the Heresy Bill, and Renard was obliged tocontent himself with a promise that the dissolution should be as earlyas possible. Though parliament could not meet at Oxford, a committeeof Convocation had been sitting there, with Dr. Weston, the adulterousDean of Windsor, for a president. Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer hadbeen called upon to defend their opinions, which had been pronouncedfalse and damnable. They had been required to recant, and, havingrefused, they were sentenced (April 20), so far as the power of thecourt extended, to the punishment of heretics. 

Cranmer appealed from the judgment to God Almighty, in whose presencehe would soon stand. 

Ridley said the sentence would but send them the sooner to the placewhere else they hoped to go. 

Latimer said, "I thank God that my life has been prolonged that I mayglorify God by this kind of death. "

Hooper, Ferrars, Coverdale, Taylor, Philpot, and Sandars, who were inthe London prisons, were to have been simultaneously tried andsentenced at Cambridge. These six, however, drew and signed a jointrefusal to discuss their faith in a court before which they were to bebrought as prisoners; and for some reason the proceedings against themwere suspended; but whether they refused or consented was of littlemoment to the Bishop of Winchester; they were in his hands--he couldtry them when he pleased. A holocaust of heresiarchs was waiting to beoffered up, and before a faggot could be lighted, the necessary powershad to be obtained from parliament. 

The bishop, therefore, was determined, if possible, to obtain thosepowers. He had the entire bench of prelates on his side; and LordHoward, the Earl of Bedford, and others of the lay lords who wouldhave been on the side of humanity, were absent. The opposition had tobe conducted under the greatest difficulties. Paget, however, foughtthe battle, and fought it on broad grounds: the bishops' bill was readtwice; on the third reading, on the 1st of May, he succeeded inthrowing it out: the Lollards' bill came on the day after, and herehis difficulty was far greater; for toleration was imperfectlyunderstood by {p. 135} Catholic or Protestant, and many among thepeers, who hated the bishops, equally hated heresy. Paget, however, spoke out his convictions, and protested against the iniquity ofputting men to death for their opinions. [319] The bill was read afirst time on the day on which it was introduced; on the 4th of May itwas read again, [320] but it went no further. The next day parliamentwas dissolved. The peers assured the queen that they had no desire tothrow a shield over heresy; the common law existed independent ofstatute, and the common law prescribed punishments which could stillbe inflicted. [321] But, so long as heresy was undefined, Anabaptists, Socinians, or professors of the more advanced forms of opinion, couldalone fall within the scope of punishments merely traditional. 

 [Footnote 319: Quant l'on a parlé de la peyne des hérétiques, il a sollicité les sieurs pour non y consentir, y donner lieu à peyne de mort. --Renard to Charles V. , May 1. ]

 [Footnote 320: _Lords Journals. _]

 [Footnote 321: There can, I think, be no doubt that it was this which the peers said. The statute of Henry IV. Was not passed; yet the queen told Renard, "que le peyne antienne contre les hérétiques fut agrée par toute la noblesse, et qu'ilz fairent dire expressement et publiquement qu'ilz entendoient l'hérésie estre extirpée et punie. " The chancellor informed Renard that, "Although the Heresy Bill was lost, there were penalties of old standing against heretics which had still the form of law, and could be put in execution. " And, on the 3rd of May, the privy council directed the judges and the queen's learned counsel to be called together, and their opinions demanded, "what they think in law her highness may do touching the cases of Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, being already, by both the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, judged to be obstinate heretics, which matter is the rather to be consulted upon, for that the said Cranmer is already attainted. "--_MS. Privy Council Register. _ The answer of the judges I have not found, but it must have been unfavourable to the intentions of the court. Joan Bocher was burnt under the common law, for her opinions were condemned by all parties in the church, and were looked upon in the same light as witchcraft, or any other profession definitely devilish. But it was difficult to treat as heresy, under the common law, a form of belief which had so recently been sanctioned by act of parliament. ]

The tempers of men were never worse than at that moment, Renard wrote. In the heat of the debate, on the 28th of April, Lord Thomas Grey wasexecuted as a defiance to the liberal party. Gardiner persuaded thequeen, perhaps not without reason, that he was himself in danger ofbeing arrested by Paget and Pembroke;[322] and an order was sent tothe Lieutenant of the Tower that if the chancellor was brought thitherunder warrant of the council only, he was not to be received. [323]

 [Footnote 322: Renard to Charles V. , May 13: _Rolls House MSS. _]

 [Footnote 323: Noailles. ]

On the other hand, twelve noblemen and gentlemen undertook to stand byMary if she would arrest Paget and Pembroke. The chancellor, SirRobert Rochester, and the Marquis of Winchester {p. 136} discussedthe feasibility of seizing them; but Lord Howard and the Channel fleetwere thought to present too formidable an obstacle. With the queen'ssanction, however, they armed in secret. It was agreed that, on onepretence or another, Derby, Shrewsbury, Sussex, and Huntingdon shouldbe sent out of London to their counties. Elizabeth, if it could bemanaged, should be sent to Pomfret, as Gardiner had before proposed;Lord Howard should be kept at sea; and, if opportunity offered, Arundel and Paget might, at least, be secured. [324]

 [Footnote 324: Renard to Charles V. , May 13: Tytler, vol. Ii. ]

But Pomfret was impossible, and vexation thickened on vexation. LordHoward was becoming a bugbear at the court. Report now said that twoof the Staffords, whom he had named to command in the fleet, hadjoined the exiles in France; and for Lord Howard himself the queencould feel no security, if he was provoked too far. She was haunted bya misgiving that, while the prince was under his convoy, he mightdeclare against her, and carry him prisoner to France; or if Howardcould himself be trusted, his fleet could not. On the eve of sailingfor the coast of Spain, a mutiny broke out at Plymouth. The sailorsswore that if they were forced on a service which they detested, boththe admiral and the prince should rue it. Lord Howard, in reporting tothe queen the men's misconduct, said that his own life was at hermajesty's disposal, but he advised her to reconsider the prudence ofplacing the prince in their power. Howard's own conduct, too, was farfrom reassuring. A few small vessels had been sent from Antwerp tojoin the English fleet, under the Flemish admiral Chappelle. Chappellecomplained that Howard treated him with indifference, and insulted hisships by "calling them cockle-shells. " If the crews of the two fleetswere on land anywhere together, the English lost no opportunity ofmaking a quarrel, "hustling and pushing" the Flemish sailors;[325]and, as if finally to complete the queen's vexation, Lord Bedfordwrote that the prince declined the protection of her subjects on hisvoyage, and that his departure was postponed for a few weeks longer. 

 [Footnote 325: Les ont provoqué à debatz, les cerrans et poulsans. --Renard to Charles V. : Tyler vol. Ii. P. 413. ]

The fleet had to remain in the Channel; it could not be trustedelsewhere; and the necessity of releasing Elizabeth from the Tower wasanother annoyance to the queen. A confinement at Woodstock was thefurthest stretch of severity that the country would, for the present, permit. On the 19th of May, {p. 137} Elizabeth was taken up theriver. The princess believed herself that she was being carried off_tanquam ovis_, as she said--as a sheep for the slaughter. But theworld thought that she was set at liberty, and as her barge passedunder the bridge Mary heard, with indignation, from the palacewindows, three salvoes of artillery fired from the Steelyard, as asign of the joy of the people. [326] A letter from Philip would havebeen a consolation to her in the midst of the troubles which she hadencountered for his sake; but the languid lover had never written aline to her; or, if he had written, not a line had reached her hand;only a ship which contained despatches from him for Renard had beentaken, in the beginning of May, by a French cruiser, and the thoughtthat precious words of affection had, perhaps, been on their way toher and were lost, was hard to bear. 

 [Footnote 326: Samedy dernier Elizabeth fut tirée de la Tour et menée a Richmond; et dois ledict Richmond l'on l'a conduit à Woodstock pour y estre gardée surement jusques l'on la fasse aller à Pomfret. Et s'est resjouy le peuple de sa departye, pensant qu'elle fut en liberté, et passant par devant la Maison des Stillyards ilz tirerent trois coups d'artillerie en signe d'allegrie, que la reyne et son conseil ont prins a desplaisir et regret, et estimons que l'on en fera demonstration. --Renard to Charles V. : _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. ]

In vain she attempted to cheer her spirits with the revivedceremonials of Whitsuntide. She marched day after day, in procession, with canopies and banners, and bishops in gilt slippers, round St. James's, round St. Martin's, round Westminster. [327] Sermons andmasses alternated now with religious feasts, now with _Diriges_ forher father's soul. But all was to no purpose; she could not cast offher anxieties, or escape from the shadow of her subjects' hatred, which clung to her steps. Insolent pamphlets were dropped in her pathand in the offices of Whitehall; she trod upon them in the passages ofthe palace; they were placed by mysterious hands in the sanctuary ofher bedroom. At length, chafed with a thousand irritations, andcraving for a husband who showed so small anxiety to come to her, shefled from London, at the beginning of June, to Richmond. 

 [Footnote 327: Machyn's Diary; Strype's _Memorials of the Reformation_. ]

The trials of the last six months had begun to tell upon Mary'sunderstanding: she was ill with hysterical longings; ill with thepassions which Gardiner had kindled and Paget disappointed. A lady whoslept in her room told Noailles that she could speak to no one withoutimpatience, and that she believed the whole world was in league tokeep her husband from her. She found fault with every one--even withthe prince himself. Why had he not written? she asked again and again. Why had she never {p. 138} received one courteous word from him? Ifshe heard of merchants or sailors arriving from Spain, she would sendfor them and question them; and some would tell her that the princewas said to have little heart for his business in England; othersterrified her with tales of fearful fights upon the seas; and othersbrought her news of the French squadrons that were on the watch in theChannel. [328] She would start out of her sleep at night, picturing athousand terrors, and among them one to which all else wereinsignificant, that her prince, who had taken such wild possession ofher imagination, had no answering feeling for herself--that, with hergrowing years and wasted figure, she could never win him to loveher. [329]

 [Footnote 328: Le doubte luy est souvent augmentée par plusieurs marchants mariniers et aultres malcontens de son marriage qui venans de France et Espaign luy desguisent et luy controuvent un infinité de nouvelles estranges, les ungs du peu de volunté que le prince a de venir par deçà, les aultres d'avoir ouy et entendus combats sur la mer, et plusieurs d'avoir descouvert grand nombre de voisles Françoises avec grand appareil. --Noailles to the King of France: _Ambassades_, vol. Iii. P. 253. ]

 [Footnote 329: L'on m'a dict que quelques heures de la nuict elle entre en telle resverie de ses amours et passions que bien souvent elle se met hors de soy, et croy que la plus grande occasion de sa douleur vient du desplaisir qu'elle a de veoir sa personne si diminuée et ses ans multiplier en telle nombre qu'ilz luy courent tous les jours à grande interest. --Noailles to the King of France: _Ambassades_, vol. Iii. P. 252. ]

"The unfortunate queen, " wrote Henry of France, "will learn the truthat last. She will wake too late, in misery and remorse, to know thatshe has filled the realm with blood for an object which, when she hasgained it, will bring nothing but affliction to herself or to herpeople. "[330]

 [Footnote 330: Ibid. P. 255. ]

But the darkest season has its days of sunshine, and Mary's trialswere for the present over. If the statesmen were disloyal, the clergyand the Universities appreciated her services to the church, and, inthe midst of her trouble, Oxford congratulated her on having beenraised up for the restoration of life and light to England. [331] Morepleasant than this pleasant flattery was the arrival, on the 19th ofJune, of the Marquis delas Navas from Spain, with the news that bythat time the prince was on his way. 

 [Footnote 331: Nuper cum litterarum studia pene extincta jacerent cum salus omnium exiguâ spe dubiâque penderet quis non fortunæ incertos eventus extimescebat? Quis non ingemuit et arsit dolore? Pars studia deserere cogebantur; pars huc illucque quovis momento rapiebantur; nec ulli certus ordo suumve propositum diu constabat. --The happy change of the last year was then contrasted with proper point and prolixity. --The University of Oxford to the Queen: _MS. Domestic, Mary_, vol. Iv. ]

It was even so. Philip had submitted to his unwelcome {p. 139}destiny, and six thousand troops being required pressingly by theemperor in the Low Countries, they attended him for his escort. Apaper of advices was drawn for the prince's use by Renard, directinghim how to accommodate himself to his barbarous fortune. Neithersoldiers nor mariners would be allowed to land. The noblemen, therefore, who formed his retinue, were advised to bring Spanishmusketeers, disguised in liveries, in the place of pages and lacqueys;their arms could be concealed amidst the baggage. The war would be anexcuse for the noblemen being armed themselves, and the prince, onlanding, should have a shirt of mail under his doublet. As to manner, he must endeavour to be affable: he would have to hunt with the younglords, and to make presents to them; and, with whatever difficulty, hemust learn a few words of English, to exchange the ordinarysalutations. As a friend, Renard recommended Paget to him; he wouldfind Paget "a man of sense. "[332]

 [Footnote 332: "Homme d'esprit. "--Instructions données à Philippe, Prince d'Espagne: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 267. ]

Philip, who was never remarkable for personal courage, may be pardonedfor having come reluctantly to a country where he had to bringmen-at-arms for servants, and his own cook for fear of being poisoned. The sea, too, was hateful to him, for he suffered miserably fromsickness. Nevertheless, he was coming, and with him such a retinue ofgallant gentlemen as the world has rarely seen together. The Marquisde los Valles, Gonzaga, d'Aguilar, Medina Celi, Antonio de Toledo, Diego de Mendoza, the Count de Feria, the Duke of Alva, Count Egmont, and Count Horn--men whose stories are written in the annals of twoworlds: some in letters of glorious light, some in letters of bloodwhich shall never be washed out while the history of mankind survives. Whether for evil or good, they were not the meek innocents for whomRenard had at one time asked so anxiously. 

In company with these noblemen was Sir Thomas Gresham, charged withhalf a million of money in bullion, out of the late arrivals from theNew World; which the emperor, after taking security from the Londonmerchants, had lent the queen, perhaps to enable her to make hermarriage palatable by the restoration of the currency. [333]

 [Footnote 333: Gresham's Correspondence: _Flanders MSS. _ State Paper Office. The bullion was afterwards drawn in procession in carts through the London streets. ]

Thus preciously freighted, the Spanish fleet, a hundred and fiftyships, large and small, sailed from Corunna at the beginning {p. 140}of July. The voyage was weary and wretched. The sea-sicknessprostrated both the prince and the troops, and to the sea-sickness wasadded the terror of the French--a terror, as it happened, needless, for the English exiles, by whom the prince was to have beenintercepted, had, in the last few weeks, melted away from the Frenchservice, with the exception of a few who were at Scilly. Sir PeterCarew, for some unknown reason, had written to ask for his pardon, andhad gone to Italy;[334] but the change was recent and unknown, and theships stole along in silence, the orders of the prince being that nota salute should be fired to catch the ear of an enemy. [335] At last, on the 19th of July, the white cliffs of Freshwater were sighted; LordHoward lay at the Needles with the English fleet; and on Friday, the20th, at three o'clock in the afternoon, the flotilla was safelyanchored in Southampton Water. 

 [Footnote 334: Wotton's Correspondence: _French MSS. _ State Paper Office. The title of the Queen of Scots was, perhaps, the difficulty; or Carew may have felt that he could do nothing of real consequence, while he might increase the difficulty of protecting Elizabeth. ]

 [Footnote 335: Noailles to the King of France, July 23: _Ambassades_, vol. Iii. ]

The queen was on her way to Winchester, where she arrived the nextmorning, and either in attendance upon her, or waiting at Southampton, was almost the entire peerage of England. Having made up their mindsto endure the marriage, the lords resolved to give Philip the welcomewhich was due to the husband of their sovereign, and in the uncertaintemper of the people, their presence might be necessary to protect hisperson from insult or from injury. 

It was an age of glitter, pomp, and pageantry; the anchors were nosooner down, than a barge was in readiness, with twenty rowers in thequeen's colours of green and white; and Arundel, Pembroke, Shrewsbury, Derby, and other lords went off to the vessel which carried the royalstandard of Castile. Philip's natural manner was cold and stiff, buthe had been schooled into graciousness. Exhausted by his voyage, heaccepted delightedly the instant invitation to go on shore, and heentered the barge accompanied by the Duke of Alva. A crowd ofgentlemen was waiting to receive him at the landing-place. As hestepped out--not perhaps without some natural nervousness and sharpglances round him--the whole assemblage knelt. A salute was fired fromthe batteries, and Lord Shrewsbury presented him with the order of theGarter. [336] An enthusiastic eye-witness thus describes Philip'sappearance:--

 [Footnote 336: Antiquaries dispute whether Philip received the Garter on board his own vessel or after he came on shore. Lord Shrewsbury himself settles the important point. "I, the Lord Steward, " Shrewsbury wrote to Wotton, "at his coming to land, presented the Garter to him. "--_French MSS. Mary_, State Paper Office. ]

{p. 141} "Of visage he is well favoured, with a broad forehead andgrey eyes, straight-nosed and manly countenance. From the forehead tothe point of his chin his face groweth small. His pace is princely, and gait so straight and upright as he loseth no inch of his height;with a yellow head and a yellow beard; and thus to conclude, he is sowell proportioned of body, arm, leg, and every other limb to the same, as nature cannot work a more perfect pattern, and, as I have learned, of the age of 28 years. His majesty I judge to be of a stout stomach, pregnant-witted, and of most gentle nature. "[337]

 [Footnote 337: John Elder to the Bishop of Caithness: _Queen Jane and Queen Mary_, appendix 10. Elder adds that his stature was about that of a certain "John Hume, my Lord of Jedward's kinsman, " which does not help our information. Philip, however, was short. ]

Sir Anthony Brown approached, leading a horse with a saddlecloth ofcrimson velvet, embroidered with gold and pearls. He presented thesteed, with a Latin speech, signifying that he was his highness'sMaster of the Horse; and Philip, mounting, went direct to Southamptonchurch, the English and Spanish noblemen attending bareheaded, tooffer thanks for his safe arrival. From the church he was conducted toa house which had been furnished from the royal stores for hisreception. Everything was, of course, magnificent. Only there had beenone single oversight. Wrought upon the damask hangings, in conspicuousletters, were observed the ominous words, "Henry, by the Grace of God, King of England, France, and Ireland, and Supreme Head of the Churchof England. "[338]

 [Footnote 338: Baoardo. ]

Here the prince was to remain till Monday to recover from his voyage;perhaps to ascertain, before he left the neighbourhood of his ownfleet, the humour of the barbarians among whom he had arrived. InLatin (he was unable to speak French) he addressed the lords on thecauses which had brought him to England, the chief among those causesbeing the manifest will of God, to which he felt himself bound tosubmit. It was noticed that he never lifted his cap in speaking to anyone, [339] but he evidently endeavoured to be courteous. With a stomachunrecovered from the sea, and disdaining precautions, he sate down onthe night of his arrival to a public English supper; he even drained atankard of ale, as an example, he said, to his Spanish companions. [340]The first evening passed off well, and he {p. 142} retired to seeksuch rest as the strange land and strange people, the altered diet, and the firing of guns, which never ceased through the summer night, would allow him. 

 [Footnote 339: Non havendo mai levato la berretta a persona. --Baoardo. ]

 [Footnote 340: Noailles. ]

Another feature of his new country awaited Philip in the morning (July21); he had come from the sunny plains of Castile; from his window atSouthampton he looked out upon a steady downfall of July rain. Throughthe cruel torrent[341] he made his way to the church again to mass, and afterwards Gardiner came to him from the queen. In the afternoonthe sky cleared, and the Duchess of Alva, who had accompanied herhusband, was taken out in a barge upon Southampton Water. Both Englishand Spaniards exerted themselves to be mutually pleasing; but thesituation was not of a kind which it was desirable to protract. Sixthousand Spanish troops were cooped in the close uneasy transports, forbidden to land lest they should provoke the jealousy of the people;and when, on Sunday (July 22), his highness had to undergo a publicdinner, in which English servants only were allowed to attend uponhim, the Castilian lords, many of whom believed that they had come toEngland on a bootless errand, broke out into murmurs. [342]

 [Footnote 341: Crudele pioggia. --Baoardo. ]

 [Footnote 342: La Dominica Mattina se n'ando a messa et tornato a casa mangio in publico servito da gli officiali che gli haveva data la Reina con mala satisfattione degli Spagnuoli, i quali dubitando che la cosa non andasse a lungo, mormoravano assai tra di loro. --Baoardo. ]

Monday came at last; the rain fell again, and the wind howled. Thebaggage was sent forward in the morning in the midst of the tempest. Philip lingered in hopes of a change; but no change came, and after anearly dinner the trumpet sounded to horse. Lords, knights, andgentlemen had thronged into the town, from curiosity or interest, outof all the counties round. Before the prince mounted it was reckoned, with uneasiness, that as many as four thousand cavaliers, under nocommand, were collected to join the procession. 

A grey gelding was led up for Philip; he wrapped himself in a scarletcloak, and started to meet his bride--to complete a sacrifice theleast congenial, perhaps, which ever policy of state extracted from aprince. 

The train could move but slowly. Two miles beyond the gates a drenchedrider, spattered with chalk mud, was seen galloping towards them; onreaching the prince he presented him with a ring from the queen, andbegged his highness, in her majesty's name, to come no further. Themessenger could not explain the cause, being unable to speak anylanguage which {p. 143} Philip could understand, and visions ofcommotion instantly presented themselves, mixed, it may be, with ahope that the bitter duty might yet be escaped. Alva was immediatelyat his master's side; they reined up, and were asking each otheranxiously what should next be done, when an English lord exclaimed inFrench, with courteous irony, "Our queen, sire, loves your highness sotenderly that she would not have you come to her in such wretchedweather. "[343] The hope, if hope there had been, died in its birth;before sunset, with drenched garments and draggled plume, the objectof so many anxieties arrived within the walls of Winchester. 

 [Footnote 343: "Sire, la Nostra Reina ama tanto l'Altezza vostra ch'ella non vorebbe che pigliasse disagio di caminar per tempi cosi tristi. "--Baoardo. ]

To the cathedral he went first, wet as he was. Whatever Philip ofSpain was entering upon, whether it was a marriage or a massacre, astate intrigue or a midnight murder, his opening step was ever to seeka blessing from the holy wafer. He entered, kissed the crucifix, andknelt and prayed before the altar; then taking his seat in the choir, he remained while the choristers sang a _Te Deum laudamus_, till thelong aisles grew dim in the summer twilight, and he was conducted bytorch-light to the Deanery. 

The queen was at the bishop's palace, but a few hundred yards distant. Philip, doubtless, could have endured the postponement of an interviewtill morning; but Mary could not wait, and the same night he wasconducted into the presence of his haggard bride, who now, after alife of misery, believed herself at the open gate of Paradise. Let thecurtain fall over the meeting, let it close also over the weddingsolemnities which followed with due splendour two days later. Thereare scenes in life which we regard with pity too deep for words. Theunhappy queen, unloved, unlovable, yet with her parched heartthirsting for affection, was flinging herself upon a breast to whichan iceberg was warm; upon a man to whom love was an unmeaning word, except as the most brutal of passions. For a few months she createdfor herself an atmosphere of unreality. She saw in Philip the ideal ofher imagination, and in Philip's feelings the reflex of her own; butthe dream passed away--her love for her husband remained; but remainedonly to be a torture to her. With a broken spirit and bewilderedunderstanding, she turned to Heaven for comfort, and, instead ofheaven, she saw only the false roof of her creed painted to imitateand shut out the sky. 

{p. 144} The scene will change for a few pages to the Low Countries. Charles V. More than any other person was responsible for thismarriage. He had desired it not for Mary's sake, not for Philip'ssake, not for religion's sake; but that he might be able to assert adecisive preponderance over France; and, to gain his end, he hadalready led the queen into a course which had forfeited the regard ofher subjects. She had murdered Lady Jane Grey at the instigation ofhis ambassador, and under the same influence she had done her best todestroy her sister. Yet Charles, notwithstanding, was one of nature'sgentlemen. If he was unscrupulous in the sacrifice of others to hispurposes, he never spared himself; and in the days of his successes heshowed to less advantage than now, when, amidst failing fortunes andruined health, his stormy career was closing. 

In the spring he had been again supposed to be dying. His militaryreputation had come out tarnished from his failure at Metz, and whilehe was labouring with imperfect success to collect troops for asummer's campaign, Henry of France, unable to prevent the Englishmarriage, was preparing to strike a blow so heavy, as should enablehim to dictate peace on his own terms before England was drawn intothe quarrel. 

In June two French armies took the field. Pietro Strozzi advanced fromPiedmont into Tuscany. Henry himself, with Guise, Montmorency, andhalf the peerage of France, entered the Low Countries, sweeping allopposition before him. First Marienbourg fell, then Dinant fell, stormed with especial gallantry. The young French nobles were taughtthat they must conquer or die: a party of them flinched in the breachat Dinant, and the next morning Henry sat in judgment upon themsceptre in hand; some were hanged, the rest degraded from their rank:"and whereas one privilege of the gentlemen of France was to be exemptfrom taylles payable to the crown, they were made tayllable as anyother villains. "[344]

 [Footnote 344: Wotton to the Queen; cypher: _French MSS. Mary_, bundle xi. ]

From Dinant the French advanced to Namur. When Namur should havefallen, Brussels was the next aim; and there was nothing, as itseemed, which could stop them. The imperial army under the Prince ofSavoy could but hover, far outnumbered, on their skirts. Thereinforcements from Spain had not arrived, and a battle lost was theloss of Belgium. 

In the critical temper of England, a decisive superiority obtained byFrance would be doubly dangerous; and Charles, seeing Philibertperplexed into uncertain movements which {p. 145} threatenedmisfortune, disregarding the remonstrances of his physicians, hisministers, and his generals, started from his sick bed, flew to thehead of his troops, and brought them to Namur, in the path of theadvancing French. Men said that he was rushing upon destruction. Theheadstrong humour which had already worked him so heavy injury wasagain dragging him into ruin. [345] But fortune had been disarmed bythe greatness with which Charles had borne up against calamity, orelse his supposed rashness was the highest military wisdom. BeforeHenry came up he had seized a position at an angle of the Meuse, wherehe could defend Namur, and could not be himself attacked, except at adisadvantage. The French approached only to retire, and, feelingthemselves unable to force the imperial lines, fell back towards theBoullonnois. Charles followed cautiously. An attack on Renty broughton an action in which the French claimed the victory; but the emperorheld his ground, and the town could not be taken; and Henry's army, from which such splendid results had been promised, fell back on thefrontier and dispersed. The voices which had exclaimed against theemperor's rashness were now as loud in his praise, and the disasterswhich he was accused of provoking, it was now found that he only hadaverted. [346] Neither the {p. 146} French nor the Imperialists, intheir long desperate struggle, can claim either approval or sympathy;the sufferings which they inflicted upon mankind were not the lessreal, the selfishness of their rivalry none the less reprehensible, because the disunion of the Catholic powers permitted the Reformationto establish itself. Yet, in this perplexed world the deeds of men maybe without excuse, while, nevertheless, in the men themselves theremay be something to love, and something more to admire. 

 [Footnote 345: "You shall understand that the Emperor hath suddenly caused his army to march towards Namur, and that himself is gone after in person; the deliberation whereof, both of the one and the other, is against the advice of his council, and all other men to the staying of him. Wherein Albert the Duke of Savoy, John Baptiste Castaldo, Don Hernando de Gonzaga, and Andrea Doria have done their best, as well by letter as by their coming from the camp to this town, _vivâ voce_ alleging to him the puissance of his enemy, the unableness as yet of his army to encounter with them, the danger of the chopping of them between him and this town, the hazard of himself, his estate, and all these countries, in case, being driven to fight, their army should have an overthrow; in the preservation whereof standeth the safety of the whole, and twenty other arguments. Yet was there no remedy, but forth he would, and commanded them that they should march _sans plus répliquez_. His headiness hath often put him to great hindrance, specially at Metz, and another time at Algiers. This enterprise is more dangerous than they both. God send him better fortune than _multi ominantur_. "--Mason to Petre, Brussels, July 10; _German MSS. Mary_, bundle 16, State Paper Office. ]

 [Footnote 346: "The Emperor, in these nine or ten days following of his enemy, hath showed a great courage, and no less skilfulness in the war; but much more notably showed the same when, with so small an army as he then had, he entered into Namur, a town of no strength, but commodious for the letting of his enemy's purpose, against the advice and persuasion of all his captains; which, if he had not done, out of doubt first Liége, and after, these countries, had had such a foil as would long after have been remembered. By his own wisdom and unconquered courage the enemy's meaning that way was frustrated. "--Mason to the Council, Aug. 13: _German MSS. Mary_, bundle 16, State Paper Office. ]

{p. 147} CHAPTER III. 

RECONCILIATION WITH ROME. 

Mary had restored Catholic orthodoxy, and her passion for Philip hadbeen gratified. To complete her work and her happiness, it remained tobring back her subjects to the bosom of the Catholic Church. ReginaldPole had by this time awoke from some part of his delusions. He hadpersuaded himself that he had but to appear with a pardon in his handto be welcomed to his country with acclamation: he had ascertainedthat the English people were very indifferent to the pardon, and thathis own past treasons had created especial objections to himself. Eventhe queen herself had grown impatient with him. He had fretted herwith his importunities; his presence in Flanders had chafed theparliament, and made her marriage more difficult; while he wassupposed to share with the English nobles their jealousy of a foreignsovereign. So general was this last impression about him, that hisnephew, Lord Stafford's son, who was one of the refugees, went to seekhim in the expectation of countenance and sympathy: and, farther, hehad been in correspondence with Gardiner, and was believed to be atthe bottom of the chancellor's religious indiscretions. [347] Thus hisanxiety to be in England found nowhere any answering desire; andRenard, who dreaded his want of wisdom, never missed an opportunity ofthrowing difficulties in the way. In the spring of 1554 Pole had goneto Paris, where, in an atmosphere of so violent opposition to themarriage, he had not thought it necessary to speak in favour of it. The words which Dr. Wotton heard that he had used were reported to theemperor; and, at last, Renard went so far as to suggest that thescheme of sending him to England had been set on foot at Rome by theFrench party in the Consistory, with a view of provoking insurrectionand thwarting the Imperial policy. [348]

 [Footnote 347: Renard. ]

 [Footnote 348: Que pourroit estre l'on auroit mis en avant au consistoire cette commission par affection particulière pour plustôt nuire, que servir aux consciences; attendu qu'ilz sont partiaulx pour les princes Chrestiens, et souvent meslent les choses séculières et prophanes avec les conseils divins et ecclésiastiques. --Renard to Philip: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. ]

{p. 148} The emperor, taught by his old experiences of Pole, acquiesced in the views of his ambassador. If England was to bebrought back to its allegiance, the negotiation would require adelicacy of handling for which the present legate was wholly unfit;and Charles wrote at last to the pope to suggest that the commissionshould be transferred to a more competent person. Impatient languagehad been heard of late from the legate's lips, contrasting thevexations of the world with the charms of devotional retirement. Tosoften the harshness of the blow, the emperor said that he understoodPole was himself weary of his office, and wished to escape intoprivacy. 

The respect of Julius for the legate's understanding was not muchlarger than the emperor's; but he would not pronounce the recallwithout giving him an opportunity of explaining himself. CardinalMorone wrote to him to inquire whether it was true that he had thoughtof retirement; he informed him of the emperor's complaints; and, toplace his resignation in the easiest light (while pointing, perhaps, to the propriety of his offering it), he hinted at Pole's personalunpopularity, and at the danger to which he would be exposed by goingto England. 

But the legate could not relinquish the passionate desire of his life;while, as to the marriage, he was, after all, unjustly suspected. Herequested Morone, in reply, to assure the pope that, much as he lovedretirement, he loved duty more. He appealed to the devotion of hislife to the church as an evidence of his zeal and sincerity; and, although he knew, he said, that God could direct events at his willand dispense with the service of men, yet, so long as he had strengthto be of use, he would spend it in his Master's cause. In going toEngland he was venturing upon a stormy sea; he knew it well;[349] but, whatever befell him, his life was in God's hands. 

 [Footnote 349: He begged Morone not to suppose him ignorant, "quale sia il mare d'Inghilterra nel quale io ho da navigare et che fortuna et travagli potrei haver a sostinere per condurre la navi in porto. "--Pole to Morone: _Epist. _ Reg. Pol. Vol. Iv. I have not seen Morone's first letter. The contents are to be gathered, however, from Pole's answer, and from a second letter of apology which Morone wrote two months later. ]

A fortnight after (May 25), he wrote again, replying more elaboratelyto the emperor's charges. It was true, he admitted, that in hisletters to the queen he had dwelt more upon her religious duties thanupon her marriage: it was true that he had been backward in hisdemonstrations of pleasure, because he was a person of few words. But, so far from disapproving of that marriage, he looked upon it as thedistinct work of God; {p. 149} and when his nephew had come withcomplaints to him, he had forbidden him his presence. He had spoken ofthe rule of a stranger in England as likely to be a lesson to thepeople; but he had meant only that, as their disasters had befallenthem through their own king Henry, their deliverance would be wroughtfor them by one who was not their own. When the late parliament hadbroken up without consenting to the restoration of union, he hadconsoled the queen with assuring her that he saw in it the hand ofProvidence; the breach of a marriage between an English king and aSpanish princess had caused the wound which a renewed marriage of aSpanish king and an English queen was to heal. [350]

 [Footnote 350: Scrissi alla Regina non la volendo contristare condolermi di cio, che lo interpretava et intendeva che questa tardita non venisse tanto da lei quanto delle Providentia di Dio, il qual habbia ordinato che si come per discordia matrimoniale d'un Re Inglese et d'una Regina Hispana fu levata l'obedientia della chiesa de quel Regno cosi dalla concordia matrimoniale d'un Re Hispano et d'una Regina Inglese ella vi doverse ritornare. --Pole to Morone: _Epist. _ Reg. Pol. Vol. Iv. ]

The defence was elaborate, and, on the whole, may have been tolerablytrue. The pope would not take the trouble to read it, or even to hearit read;[351] but the substance, as related to him by Morone, convinced him that the emperor's accusations were exaggerated: torecall a legate at the instance of a secular sovereign was anundesirable precedent;[352] and the commission was allowed to stand. Julius wrote to Charles, assuring him that he was mistaken in thelegate's feelings, leaving the emperor at the same time, however, fullpower to keep him in Flanders or to send him to England at his owndiscretion. 

 [Footnote 351: E benchè S. Sanctità non havesse patienza secundo l'ordinario suo di leggere o di udir la lettera, nondimeno le dissi talmente la summa che nostro restare satisfattissima, e disse esser più che certa che quella non haveva dato causa ne all' Imperatore ne ad altri d'usar con lei termini cosi extravaganti. --Morone to Pole: Burnet's _Collectanea_. ]

 [Footnote 352: Ibid. ]

Pole was to continue the instrument of the reconciliation; theconditions under which the reconciliation could take place were lesseasy to settle. The popes, whose powers are unlimited where theexercise of them is convenient for the interests of the Holy See, haveuniformly fallen back upon their inability where they have been calledon to make sacrifices. The canons of the church forbade, under anypretext, the alienation of ecclesiastical property; and until Juliuscould relinquish _ex animo_ all intention of disturbing the layholders of the English abbey lands, there was not a chance that thequestion of his supremacy would be so much as entertained by eitherLords or Commons. 

{p. 150} The vague powers originally granted to the legate were notsatisfactory; and Pole himself, who was too sincere a believer in theRoman doctrines to endure that worldly objections should stand in theway of the salvation of souls, wrote himself to the Holy See, entreating that his commission might be enlarged. The pope inappearance consented. In a second brief, dated June 28th, he extendedthe legate's dispensing powers to real property as well as personal, and granted him general permission to determine any unforeseendifficulties which might arise. [353] Ormaneto, a confidential agent, carried the despatch to Flanders, and on Ormaneto's arrival, thelegate, believing that his embarrassments were at last at an end, senthim on to the Bishop of Arras, to entreat that the perishing souls ofthe English people might now be remembered. The pope had given way;the queen was happily married, and the reasons for his detention wereat an end. [354]

 [Footnote 353: Powers granted by the Pope to Cardinal Pole: Burnet's _Collectanea_. ]

 [Footnote 354: Charles V. To Renard: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. ]

Both Arras and the emperor, however, thought more of Philip's securitythan of perishing souls. Arras, who understood the ways of the Vaticanbetter than the legate, desired that, before any steps were taken, hemight be favoured with a copy of these enlarged powers. He wished toknow whether the question of the property was fairly relinquished tothe secular powers in England, and whether the church had finallywashed its hands of it;[355] at all events, he must examine the brief. On inspection, the new commission was found to contain an enablingclause indeed, as extensive as words could make it; but the See ofRome reserved to itself the right of sanctioning the settlement afterit had been made;[356] and the reservation had been purposely made, inorder to leave the pope free to act as he might please at a futuretime. Morone, writing to Pole a fortnight after the date of the brief, told him that his holiness was still unable to come to aresolution;[357] while Ormaneto said openly to Arras, that, althoughthe pope would be as moderate as possible, yet his moderation must notbe carried so far as to {p. 151} encourage the rest of Christendom inan evil example. Catholics must not be allowed to believe that theycould appropriate church property without offence, nor must the HolySee appear to be purchasing by concessions the submission of itsrebellious subjects. [358]

 [Footnote 355: Che gran differenza sarebbe se fosse stata commessa la cosa o al S. Cardinale, o alli Serenissimi Principi. --Ormaneto to Priuli, July 31: Burnet's _Collectanea_. ]

 [Footnote 356: Salvo tamen in his, in quibus propter rerum magnitudinem et gravitatem hæc sancta sedes merito tibi videretur consulenda, nostro et præfatæ sedis beneplacito et confirmatione. --Powers granted by the Pope to Cardinal Pole: Ibid. ]

 [Footnote 357: Nondimeno non si risolveva in tutto, com anco non si risolveva nella materia delli beni ecclesiastici, sopra la qual sua Sanctità ha parlato molte volte variamente. --Morone to Pole, July 13: Ibid. ]

 [Footnote 358: Il sçauroit bien user de modération quant aux biens occupez; mais que toutesfois il fauldroit que se fust de sorte que la reste de la Chrestienté n'en prînt malvais exemple; et signamment que aucuns Catholiques qui tiennent biens ecclésiastiques soubz leur main ne voulsissent pretendre d'eulx approprier avec cest exemple; et que de vouloir laisser les biens à ceulx qui les occupent, il ne conviendroit pour ce qu'il sembleroit que ce seroit racheter, comme à deniers comptans l'auctorité du siége apostolique en ce coustel-là. The Emperor to Renard: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. Pp. 282, 283. ]

This language was not even ambiguous; Pole was desired to wait till ananswer could be received from England; and the emperor wrote to Renard(August 3), desiring him to lay the circumstances before the queen andhis son. He could believe, he said, that the legate himself meantwell, but he had not the same confidence in those who were urging himforward, and the pope had given no authority for haste or precipitatemovements. [359]

 [Footnote 359: Nous sçavons que le diet Cardinal n'a commission de presser si chauldement en cette affaire--ains avons heu soubz main advertissement du nunce propre de sa Saincteté que la résolution de la commission dudict Cardinal est que toutes choses se traictent comm'il nous semblera pour le mieulx et qu'il tienne cecy pour règle. --_Granv. Papers_, vol. Iv. ]

The emperor's letter was laid before a council of state at Windsor, onthe 6th of August; and the council agreed with Charles that thelegate's anxieties could not for the present be gratified. He washimself attainted, and parliament had shown no anxiety that theattainder should be removed. The reimposition of the pope's authoritywas a far more ticklish matter than the restoration of orthodoxy, [360]and the temper of the people was uncertain. The cardinal had, perhaps, intelligence with persons in England of a suspicious and dangerouskind, and the execution of his commission must depend on the pleasureof the next parliament. He was not to suppose that he might introducechanges in the constitution of the country by the authority of a papalcommission, or try experiments which might put in peril the sacredperson of the prince. [361]

 [Footnote 360: Trop plus chastolleux que celuy de la vraye religion. --Renard to the Emperor: Ibid. P. 287. ]

 [Footnote 361: Ibid. ]

Once more the cup of hope was dashed to the ground, and Reginald Polewas sent back to his monastery at Dhilinghen like a child unfit to betrusted with a dangerous plaything. In times of trial his pen was hisrefuge, and in an appeal to Philip he poured out his characteristicprotest. 

{p. 152} "For a whole year, " he wrote, "I have been now knocking atthe door of that kingdom, and no person will answer, no person willask, Who is there? It is one who has endured twenty years of exilethat the partner of your throne should not be excluded from herrights, and I come in the name of the vicar of the King of kings, theShepherd of mankind. Peter knocks at your door; Peter himself. Thedoor is open to all besides. Why is it closed to Peter? Why does notthat nation make haste now to do Peter reverence? Why does it leavehim escaped from Herod's prison, knocking?

"Strange, too, that this is the house of Mary. Can it be Mary that isso slow to open? True, indeed, it is, that when Mary's damsel heardthe voice she opened not the door for joy; she ran and told Mary. ButMary came with those that were with her in the house; and though atfirst she doubted, yet, when Peter continued knocking, she opened thedoor; she took him in, she regarded not the danger, although Herod wasyet alive and was king. 

"Is it joy which now withholds Mary, or is it fear? She rejoices, thatI know, but she also fears. Yet why should Mary fear now when Herod isdead? The providence of God permitted her to fear for awhile, becauseGod desired that you, sire, who are Peter's beloved child, shouldshare the great work with her. Do you, therefore, teach her now tocast her fears away. It is not I only who stand here--it is not onlyPeter--Christ is here--Christ waits with me till you will open andtake him in. You who are King of England, are defender of Christ'sfaith; yet, while you have the ambassadors of all other princes atyour court, you will not have Christ's ambassador; you have rejectedyour Christ. 

"Go on upon your way. Build on the foundation of worldly policy, and Itell you, in Christ's words, that the rain will fall, the floods willrise, the winds will blow, and beat upon that house, and it will fall, and great will be the fall thereof. "[362]

 [Footnote 362: Pole to Philip: _Epist. _ Reg. Pol. Vol. Iv. ]

The pleading was powerful, yet it could bear no fruits--the door couldnot open till the pope pronounced the magic words which held itclosed. Neither Philip nor Mary was in a position to use violence orforce the bars. 

After the ceremony at Winchester, the king and queen had gone first toWindsor, and thence the second week in August they went to Richmond. The entry into London was fixed for the 18th; after which, should itpass off without disturbance, {p. 153} the Spanish fleet might sailfrom Southampton Water. The prince himself had as yet met with nodiscourtesy; but disputes had broken out early between the English andSpanish retinues, and petty taunts and insolences had passed amongthem. [363] The prince's luggage was plundered, and the property stolencould not be recovered nor the thieves detected. The servants of Alvaand the other lords, who preceded their masters to London, wereinsulted in the streets, and women and children called after them thatthey need not have brought so many things, they would be soon goneagain. The citizens refused to give them lodgings in their houses, andthe friars who had accompanied Philip were advised to disguisethemselves, so intense was the hatred against the religiousorders. [364] The council soon provided for their ordinary comforts, but increase of acquaintance produced no improvement of feeling. 

 [Footnote 363: Avecques d'aultres petits depportements de mocquerie qui croissent tous les jours d'ung cousté et d'aultre. --Noailles to the King of France, August 1. ]

 [Footnote 364: Noailles, and compare Pole to Miranda, Oct. 6: _Epist. _ Reg. Pol. Vol. V. ]

The entry passed off tolerably. Gog and Magog stood as warders onLondon Bridge, and there were the usual pageants in the city. Renardconceived that the impression produced by Philip had been ratherfavourable than otherwise; for the people had been taught to expectsome monster but partially human, and they saw instead a well-dressedcavalier, who had learnt by this time to carry his hand to his bonnet. Yet, although there were no open signs of ill-feeling, the day did notend without a disagreeable incident. The conduit in Gracechurch Streethad been newly decorated: "the nine Worthies" had been painted roundthe winding turret, and among them were Henry VIII. And Edward. Thefirst seven carried maces, swords, or pole-axes. Henry held in onehand a sceptre, in the other he was presenting a book to his son, onwhich was written _Verbum Dei_. As the train went by, the unwelcomefigure caught the eye of Gardiner. The painter was summoned, called"knave, traitor, heretic, " an enemy to the queen's Catholicproceedings. The offensive Bible was washed out, and a pair of glovesinserted in its place. [365]

 [Footnote 365: _Chronicle of Queen Mary. _ Contemporary Narrative: _MS. Harleian_, 419. ]

Nor did the irritation of the people abate. The Spaniards, beingwithout special occupation, were seen much in the streets; and a vaguefear so magnified their numbers that four of them, it was thought, were to be met in London for one Englishman. [366] {p. 154} The hallsof the city companies were given up for their use; a fresh provocationto people who desired to be provoked. A Spanish friar was lodged atLambeth, and it was said at once he was to be Archbishop ofCanterbury; at the beginning of September twelve thousand Spanishtroops were reported to be coming to "fetch the crown. " Rumour andreality inflated each other. The peers, who had collected for themarriage, dispersed to their counties; and on the 10th of September, Pembroke, Shrewsbury, and Westmoreland were believed to have raised astandard of revolt at York. Frays were continually breaking out in thestreets, and there was a scandalous brawl in the cloisters atWestminster. Brief entries in diaries and council books tellcontinually of Englishmen killed, and Spaniards hanged, hanged atTyburn, or hanged more conspicuously at Charing Cross; and on the12th, Noailles reported that the feeling in all classes, high and low, was as bad as possible. 

 [Footnote 366: _Chronicle of Queen Mary. _]

There was dread, too, that Philip was bent on drawing England into thewar. The French ambassador had been invited to be present at the entryinto London; but the invitation had been sent informally by a commonmessenger not more than half an hour before the royal party were toappear. The brief notice was intended as an affront, and only aftersome days Noailles appeared at court to offer his congratulations. When he came at last, he expressed his master's hope to Philip thatthe neutrality of England would continue to be observed. Philipanswered with cold significance, that he would keep his promise andmaintain the treaties, as long as by doing so he should consult theinterest of the realm. [367]

 [Footnote 367: Tant et si longuement que se seroit l'utilité et commodité de ce dict Royaulme d'Angleterre. --Noailles to the King of France. ]

Other menacing symptoms were also showing themselves: the claim forthe pensions was spoken of as likely to be revived; the English shipsin the Channel were making the neutrality one-sided, and protectingthe Spanish and Flemish traders; and Philip, already weary of hisbride, was urging on Renard the propriety of his hastening, like anobedient son, to the assistance of his father. Under pretence ofescort he could take with him a few thousand English cavalry andmen-at-arms, who could be used as a menace to France, and whosepresence would show the attitude which England was about to assume. Sick, in these brief weeks, of maintaining the show of an affectionwhich he did not feel, and sick of a country where his friends wereinsulted if he was treated respectfully himself, he was {p. 155}already panting for freedom, and eager to utilise the instrumentswhich he had bought so dearly. [368]

 [Footnote 368: Renard to Charles V. : _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 294. ]

Happily for the queen's peace of mind, Renard was not a man toencourage impatience. The factions in the council were again showingthemselves; Elizabeth lay undisposed of at Woodstock. Pomfret, Belgium, even Hungary, had been thought of as a destination for her, and had been laid aside one after the other, in dread of the people. If she was released, she would again be dangerous, and it wasuncertain how long Lord Howard would endure her detention. A plansuggested by Lord Paget seemed, after all, to promise the best--tomarry her to Philibert of Savoy, and thus make use of her as a secondlink to connect England with the House of Austria. But here thedifficulty would be with the queen, who in that case would have torecognise her sister's rank and expectations. 

The question should be settled before Philip left England, and he musthave faced parliament too, and, if possible, have been crowned. If hewent now, he would never come back; let him court the people advisedthe keen Renard; let him play off the people against the lords; therewas ill blood between the rich and poor, let him use the opportunity. 

The state of public feeling did not improve when, at the end ofSeptember, Bonner commenced an inquisition into the conduct andopinions of the clergy of his diocese. In every parish he appointed aperson or persons to examine whether the minister was or ever had beenmarried; whether, if married and separated from his wife, he continuedin secret to visit her; whether his sermons were orthodox; whether hewas a "brawler, scolder, hawker, hunter, fornicator, adulterer, drunkard, or blasphemer;" whether he duly exhorted his parishioners tocome to mass and confession; whether he associated with heretics, orhad been suspected of associating with them; his mind, his habits, hissociety, even the dress that he wore, were to be made matter of closescrutiny. 

The points of inquiry were published in a series of articles whichcreated an instantaneous ferment. Among the merchants they wereattributed to the king, queen, and Gardiner, and were held to bethe first step of a conspiracy against their liberties. A reportwas spread at the same time that the king meditated a seizure ofthe Tower; barriers were forthwith erected in the great thoroughfaresleading into the city, and no one was allowed to pass unchallenged. [369]

 [Footnote 369: Renard to the Bishop of Arras: Ibid. P. 330. ]

{p. 156} The Bishop of London was called to account for havingventured so rash a step without permission of crown or council. Hereplied that he was but doing his duty; the council, had hecommunicated with them, would have interfered with him, and in theexecution of his office he must be governed by his own conscience. [370]But the attitude of the city was too decided even for the stubbornBonner, he gave way sullenly, and suspended the execution of hisorder. 

 [Footnote 370: Renard to the Emperor: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 321. ]

Worse clouds than these nevertheless had many times gathered over thecourt and dispersed again. It was easy to be discontented; but whenthe discontent would pass into action, there was nothing definite tobe done; and between the leading statesmen there were such largedifferences of opinion, that they could not co-operate. [371] Thecourt, as Renard saw, could accomplish everything which they desiredwith caution and prudence. The humours of the people might flame outon a sudden if too hastily irritated, but the opposite tendencies ofparties effectually balanced each other; and even the papal difficultymight be managed, and Pole might in time be brought over, if onlythere was no precipitation, and the pope was compelled to bereasonable. 

 [Footnote 371: Entre les seigneurs et gens de la noblesse et de credit et administration, il y a telle partialité que l'un ne se fie de l'autre. --Ibid. ]

But prudence was the first and last essential; the legate must becontent to wait, and also Philip must wait. The winter was coming on, and the court, Renard said, was giving balls; the English and Spanishnoblemen were learning to talk with one another, and were beginning todance with each other's wives and daughters. The ill-feeling wasgradually abating; and, in fact, it was not to be believed that GodAlmighty would have brought about so considerable a marriage withoutintending that good should come of it. [372] The queen believed herself_enceinte_, and if her hopes were well founded, a thousand causes ofrestlessness would be disposed of; but Philip must not be permitted toharass her with his impatience to be gone. She had gathered somethingof his intentions, and was already pretending more uncertainty than inher heart she felt, lest he {p. 157} should make the assurance of herprospects an excuse for leaving her. In a remarkable passage, Renardurged the emperor on no account to encourage him in a step soeminently injudicious, from a problematic hope of embroiling Englandand France. "Let parliament meet, " he said, "and pass off quietly, andin February his highness may safely go. Irreparable injury may andwill follow, however, should he leave England before. Religion will beoverthrown, the queen's person will be in danger, and parliament willnot meet. A door will be opened for the practices of France; thecountry may throw itself in self-protection on the French alliance, and an undying hatred will be engendered between England and Spain. Asthings now are, prudence and moderation are more than ever necessary;and we must allow neither the king nor the queen to be led astray byunwise impatient advisers, who, for the advancement of their privateopinions, or because they cannot have all the liberty which theydesire, are ready to compromise the commonwealth. "[373]

 [Footnote 372: Les choses se vont accommoder à quoy sert la saison de l'hiver et ce que en la court l'on y danse souvent; que les Espaignolz et Angloys commencent à converser les ungs avec les aultres . .. Et n'y a personne qui puisse imaginer que Dieu ait voulu ung si grand marriage et de telz princes, pour en esperer sinon ung grand bien publique pour la Chrestienté, et pour restablir et asseurer les estatz de vostre majesté troublez par ses ennemis. --Renard to the Emperor: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 319. ]

 [Footnote 373: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 320. ]

So matters stood at the beginning of October, when parliament wasabout to be summoned, and the great experiment to be tried whetherEngland would consent to be re-united to Catholic Christendom. Thewrits went out on the 6th, and circulars accompanied them, addressedto those who would have the conduct of the elections, stating that, whatever false reports might have been spread, no "alteration wasintended of any man's possessions. " At the same time the queenrequired the mayors of towns, the sheriffs, and other influentialpersons to admonish the voters to choose from among themselves "suchas, being eligible by order of the laws, were of a wise, grave, andCatholic sort; such as indeed meant the true honour of God and theprosperity of the commonwealth. "[374]These general directions werecopied from a form which had been in use under Henry VII. , and thecitizens of London set the example of obedience in electing fourmembers who were in every way satisfactory to the court. [375] In thecountry the decisive failure of Carew, Suffolk, and Crofts showed thatthe weight of public feeling was still in favour of the queennotwithstanding the {p. 158} Spanish marriage; and the reactionagainst the excesses of the Reformation had not yet reached itslimits. On the accession of Mary, the restoration of the mass hadappeared impossible, but it had been effected safely and completelyalmost by the spontaneous will of the people. In the spring the pope'sname could not be mentioned in parliament; now, since the queen wasbent upon it, and as she gave her word that property was not to bemeddled with, even the pope seemed no longer absolutely intolerable. 

 [Footnote 374: Royal Circular; printed in Burnet's _Collectanea_. ]

 [Footnote 375: Les lettres de la convocation du parlement sont esté pourjectées sur la vieille forme dont l'on usoit au temps du Roy Henry septième pour avoir en icelluy gens de bien Catholiques: et à propos et selon ce ceulx de Londre en publique assemblée ont choisiz quatre personnaiges que l'on tient estre fort saiges et modestes. --Renard to the Emperor: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 324. ]

The reports of the elections were everywhere favourable. In the UpperHouse, except on very critical points, which would unite the smallbody of the lay peers, the court was certain of a majority, beingsupported of course by the bishops--and the question of Pole's comingover, therefore, was once more seriously considered. The pope had beengiven to understand that, however inconsistent with his dignity hemight consider it to appear to purchase English submission by settingaside the canons of the church, he must consent to the English terms, or there was no hope whatever that his supremacy would be recognised. If in accepting these terms he would agree to a humiliatingreconciliation, only those who objected on doctrinal grounds to thepapal religion were inclined to persist in refusing a return of hisfriendship. The dream of an independent orthodox Anglicanism which hadonce found favour with Gardiner was fading away. The indifferent andthe orthodox alike desired to put an end to spiritual anarchy; and theexcommunication, though lying lightly on the people, and despised evenby the Catholic powers, had furnished, and might furnish, a pretextfor inconvenient combinations. Singularity of position, where therewas no especial cause for it, was always to be avoided. 

These influences would have been insufficient to have brought theEnglish of themselves to seek for a reunion. They were enough toinduce them to accept it with indifference when offered them on theirown conditions, or to affect for a time an outward appearance ofacquiescence. 

Philip, therefore, consulted Renard, and Charles invited Pole toBrussels. Renard, to whom politics were all-important, and religionuseful in its place, but inconvenient when pushed into prominence, adhered to his old opinion. He advised the "king to write privately tothe pope, telling him that he had already so many embarrassments onhis hands that he could not afford to increase them;" "the changesalready made were insincere, and the legatine authority was odious, not only in England, {p. 159} but throughout Europe;" "the queen, onher accession, had promised a general toleration, [376] and it wasuseless to provoke irritation, when not absolutely necessary. " Yeteven Renard spoke less positively than before. "If the pope would makeno more reservations on the land question--if he would volunteer ageneral absolution, and submit to conditions, while he exactednone--if he would sanction every ecclesiastical act which had beendone during the schism, the marriages and baptisms, the ordinations ofthe clergy, and the new creations of episcopal sees--above all, if hewould make no demand for money under any pretence, the venture might, perhaps, be made. " But, continued Renard, "his holiness, even then, must be cautious in his words; he must dwell as lightly as possible onhis authority, as lightly as possible on his claims to be obeyed: inoffering absolution, he must talk merely of piety and love, of theopen arms of the church, of the example of the Saviour, and such othergeneralities. "[377] Finally, Renard still thought the legate hadbetter remain abroad. The reconciliation, if it could be effected atall, could be managed better without his irritating presence. 

 [Footnote 376: Le mandement et declaration que vostre Majesté a faict publier sur le point de la religion, laissant la liberté à ung chacun pour tenir quelle religion l'on vouldra. --Renard to Philip and Mary: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 327. ]

 [Footnote 377: Et que sa Saincteté le fonde in pietate Christianâ et ecclesiasticâ quia, nunquam Ecclesia claudit gremium, semper indulget exemplo Salvatoris, et Evangelium semper consolatur, semper remittit, et sur plusieurs aultres fondemens generaulx. --Ibid. P. 326. ]

Pole himself had found the emperor more gracious. Charles professedthe greatest anxiety that the papal authority should be restored. Hedoubted only if the difficulties could be surmounted. Pole repliedthat the obstacles were chiefly two--one respecting doctrine, on whichno concession could be made at all; the other respecting the lands, onwhich his holiness would make every concession. He would ask fornothing, he would exact nothing; he would abandon every shadow of aclaim. 

If this was the case, the emperor said, all would go well. Nevertheless, there was the reservation in the brief, and the pope, however generous he might wish to be, was uncertain of his power. Thedoctrine was of no consequence. People in England believed onedoctrine as little as another;[378] but they {p. 160} hated Rome, they hated the religious orders, they hated cardinals; and, as to thelands, _could_ the church relinquish them?[379] Pole might believethat she could; but the world would be more suspicious, or less easyto convince. At all events, the dispensing powers must be clogged withno reservations; nor could he come to any decision till he heard againfrom England. 

 [Footnote 378: Perciocche quanto alla Doctrina disse che poco se ne curavano questo tali non credendo ne all' una ne all' altra via. --Pole to the Pope, October 13: Burnet's _Collectanea_. ]

 [Footnote 379: Disse anche che essendo stati questi beni dedicati a Dio non era da concedere cosi ogna cosa a quelli che la tenevano. --Burnet's _Collectanea_. ]

The legate was almost hopeless; yet his time of triumph--such triumphas it was--had nearly arrived. The queen's supposed pregnancy hadincreased her influence; and, constant herself in the midst of generalindecision, she was able to carry her point. She would not mortify thelegate, who had suffered for his constancy to the cause of her mother, with listening to Renard's personal objections; and when the characterof the approaching House of Commons had been ascertained, she gainedthe consent of the council, a week before the beginning of thesession, to send commissioners to Brussels to see Pole and inspect hisfaculties. With a conclusive understanding on the central question, they might tell him that the hope of his life might be realised, andthat he might return to his country. But the conditions were explicit. He must bring adequate powers with him, or his coming would be worsethan fruitless. If those which he already possessed were insufficient, he must send them to Rome to be enlarged;[380] and although the courtwould receive him as legate _de latere_, he had better enter thecountry only as a cardinal and ambassador, till he could judge of thestate of things for himself. [381] On these terms the commissionersmight conduct him to the queen's presence. 

 [Footnote 380: The greatest and only means to procure the agreement of the noblemen and others of our council was our promise that the Pope's Holiness would, at our suit, dispense with all possessors of any lands or goods of monasteries, colleges, or other ecclesiastical houses, to hold and enjoy their said lands and goods without any trouble or scruple; without which promise it had been impossible to have had their consent, and shall be utterly impossible to have any fruit and good concord ensue. For which purpose you shall earnestly pray our said cousin to use all possible diligence, and say that if he have not already, he may so receive authority from the See Apostolic to dispense in this manner as the same, being now in good towardness, may so in this Parliament take the desired effect; whereof we see no likelihood except it may be therewithal provided for this matter of the lands and goods of the Church. --Instructions to Paget and Hastings, November 5; Tytler, vol. Ii. P. 446. ]

 [Footnote 381: Tytler, vol. Ii. P. 446. ]

The bearers of this communication were Lord Paget and Sir {p. 161}Edward Hastings, accompanied, it is curious to observe, by Sir WilliamCecil. [382]

 [Footnote 382: Cecil had taken no formal part in Mary's government, but his handwriting can be traced in many papers of State, and in the Irish department he seems to have given his assistance throughout the reign. In religion Cecil, like Paget, was a latitudinarian. His conformity under Mary has been commented upon bitterly; but there is no occasion to be surprised at his conduct--no occasion, when one thinks seriously of his position, to blame his conduct. There were many things in the Catholic creed of which Cecil disapproved; and when his opportunity came, he gave his effectual assistance for the abolition of them; but as long as that creed was the law of the land, as a citizen he paid the law the respect of external obedience. 

 At present religion is no longer under the control of law, and is left to the conscience. To profess openly, therefore, a faith which we do not believe is justly condemned as hypocrisy. But wherever public law extends, personal responsibility is limited. A minority is not permitted to resist the decisions of the legislature on subjects in which the legislature is entitled to interfere; and in the sixteenth century opinion was as entirely under rule and prescription as actions or things. Men may do their best to improve the laws which they consider unjust. They are not, under ordinary circumstances, to disobey them so long as they exist. However wide the basis of a government, questions will ever rise between the individual and the state--questions, for instance, of peace or war, in which the conscience has as much a voice as any other subject; where, nevertheless, individuals, if they are in the minority, must sacrifice their own opinions; they must contribute their war taxes without resistance; if they are soldiers, they must take part as combatants for a cause of which they are convinced of the injustice. That is to say, they must do things which it would be impious and wicked in them to do, were they as free in their obligations as citizens as they are _now_ free in the religion which they will profess. 

 This was the view in which the mass was regarded by statesmen like Cecil, and generally by many men of plain straightforward understanding, who believed transubstantiation as little as he. In Protestantism, as a constructive theology, they had as little interest as in Popery; when the alternative lay between the two, they saw no reason to sacrifice themselves for either. 

 It was the view of common sense. It was not the view of a saint. To Latimer, also, technical theology was indifferent--indifferent in proportion to his piety. But he hated lies--legalised or unlegalised--he could not tolerate them, and he died sooner than seem to tolerate them. The counsels of perfection, however, lead to conduct neither possible, nor, perhaps, desirable for ordinary men. ]

They presented themselves to the emperor, who, after the report whichthey brought with them, made no more difficulty. The enlarged powershad been sent for three weeks before; but there was no occasion towait for their arrival. They might be expected in ten days or afortnight, and could follow the legate to England. [383]

 [Footnote 383: Charles was particular in his inquiries of Mary's prospect of a family. He spoke to Sir John Mason about it, who was then the resident ambassador:--

 "Sir, quoth I, " so Mason reported the conversation, "I have from herself nothing to say, for she will not confess the matter till it be proved to her face; but by others I understand, to my great joy, that her garments wax very straight. I never doubted, quoth he, of the matter, but that God, that for her had wrought so many miracles, would make the same perfect to the assisting of nature to his good and most desired work: and I warrant it shall be, quoth he, a man-child. Be it man, quoth I, or be it woman, welcome it shall be; for by that we shall be at the least come to some certainty to whom God shall appoint by succession the government of our estates. "--Mason to the King and Queen, November 9: Tytler, vol. Ii. P. 444. ]

{p. 162} The effect on Pole of the commissioners' arrival "thereneeded not, " as they said themselves, "many words to declare. "[384]His eager temperament, for ever excited either with wild hopes orequally wild despondency, was now about to be fooled to the top of itsbent. On the pope's behalf, he promised everything; for himself, hewould come as ambassador, he would come as a private person, come inany fashion that might do good, so only that he might come. 

 [Footnote 384: Paget and Hastings to the Queen: Ibid. P. 459]

Little time was lost in preparation. Parliament met on the 12th ofNovember. The opening speech was read, as usual, by Gardiner, and waswell received, although it announced that further measures would betaken for the establishment of religion, and the meaning of thesewords was known to every one. The first measure brought forward wasthe repeal of Pole's attainder. It passed easily without a dissentientvoice, and no obstacle of any kind remained to delay his appearance. Only the cautious Renard suggested that Courtenay should be sent outof the country as soon as possible, for fear the legate should take afancy to him; and the Prince of Savoy had been invited over to seewhether anything could be done towards arranging the marriage withElizabeth. Elizabeth, indeed, had protested that she had no intentionof marrying; nevertheless, Renard said, she would be disposed of, asthe emperor had advised, [385] could the queen be induced to consent. 

 [Footnote 385: Neantmoins il sera necessaire achever avec elle selon l'advis de vostre Majesté. --Renard to the Emperor: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. ]

England was ready therefore, and the happy legate set out fromBrussels like a lover flying to his mistress. His emotions arereflected in the journal of an Italian friend who attended him. Thejourney commenced on Tuesday, the 13th; the retinues of Paget andHastings, with the cardinal's household, making in all a hundred andtwenty horse. The route was by Ghent, Bruges, and Dunkirk. On the 19ththe party reached Gravelines, where, on the stream which formed theboundary of the Pale, they were received in state by Lord Wentworth, the Governor of Calais. In the eyes of his enthusiastic admirers the{p. 163} apostle of the church moved in an atmosphere of marvel. TheCalais bells, which rang as they entered the town, were ofpreternatural sweetness. The salutes fired by the ships in the harbourwere "wonderful. " The cardinal's lodging was a palace, and as anaugust omen, the watchword of the garrison for the night was "God longlost is found. "[386] The morning brought a miracle. A westerly galehad blown for many days. All night long it had howled through thenarrow streets; the waves had lashed against the piers, and thefishermen foretold a week of storms. At daybreak the wind went down, the clouds broke, a light air from the eastward levelled the sea, andfilled the sails of the vessel which was to bear them to England. Atnoon the party went on board, and their passage was a fresh surprise. They crossed in three hours and a half, and the distance, as itpictured itself to imagination, was forty miles. [387] At Dover thelegate slept. The next day Lord Montague came with the Bishop of Ely, bringing letters of congratulation from the queen and Philip, and anintimation that he was anxiously looked for. He was again on horsebackafter breakfast; and as the news of his arrival spread, respect orcuriosity rapidly swelled his train. The Earl of Huntingdon, who hadmarried his sister, sent his son Lord Hastings, with his tenants andservants, as an escort. But there was no danger. Whatever might be thefeelings of the people towards the papal legate, they gave to ReginaldPole the welcome due to an English nobleman. 

 [Footnote 386: Dio gran tempo perduto e hora ritrovato. --Descriptio Reductionis Angliæ: _Epist. _ Reg. Pol. Vol. V. ]

 [Footnote 387: Imbarcatosi adunque sua S. R. Ad un hora di giorno, passo a Doure nell' Isola in tre hore et mezza che fu camino di quaranta miglia fatto con extraordinaria prestezza. --_Epist. _ Reg. Pol. Vol. V. ]

The November evening had closed in when the cavalcade enteredCanterbury. The streets were thronged, and the legate made his waythrough the crowd, amidst the cries of "God save your grace. " At thedoor of the house--probably the archbishop's palace--where he was topass the night, Harpsfeld, the archdeacon, was standing to receivehim, with a number of the clergy; and with the glare of torcheslighting up the scene, Harpsfeld commenced an oration as the legatealighted, so beautiful, so affecting, says Pole's Italian friend, thatall the hearers were moved to tears. The archdeacon spoke of themercies of God, and the marvellous workings of his providence. Hedwelt upon the history of the cardinal, whom God had preserved througha thousand dangers for the salvation of his country; and, firing up atlast in a blaze of enthusiasm, he {p. 164} exclaimed, "Thou art Pole, and thou art our Polar star, to light us to the kingdom of theheavens. Sky, rivers, earth, these disfigured walls--all things--longfor thee. While thou wert absent from us all things were sad, allthings were in the power of the adversary. At thy coming all thingsare smiling, all glad, all tranquil. "[388] The legate listened so far, and then checked the flood of the adoring eloquence. "I heard you withpleasure, " he said, "while you were praising God. My own praises I donot desire to hear. Give the glory to Him. "

 [Footnote 388: "Tu es Polus, qui aperis nobis Polum regni cælorum. Aer, flumina, terra, parietes ipsi, omnia denique te desiderant. Quamdiu abfuisti omnia fuerunt tristia et adversa. In adventu tuo, omnia rident, omnia læta, omnia tranquilla. " I have endeavoured to preserve the play on the word Polus, altering the meaning as little as the necessities of translation would allow. It has been suggested to me that the word "parietes" implies properly _internal_ walls, and the allusion was to the defacement of the cathedral. ]

From Canterbury, Richard Pate, who, as titular Bishop of Worcester, had sat at the council of Trent, was sent forward to the queen with ananswer to her letter, and a request for further directions. The legatehimself went on leisurely to Rochester, where he was entertained byLord Cobham, at Cowling Castle. So far he had observed theinstructions brought to him by Paget, and had travelled as an ordinaryecclesiastic, without distinctive splendour. On the night of the 23rd, however, Pate returned from the court with a message that the legatineinsignia might be displayed. A fleet of barges was in waiting atGravesend, where Pole appeared early on the 24th; and, as a furtheraugury of good fortune, he found there Lord Shrewsbury, with his earlyfriend the Bishop of Durham, who had come to meet him with the repealof his attainder, to which the queen had given her assent inparliament the day before. 

To the fluttered hearts of the priestly company the coincidence of therepeal, the informality of an act of parliament receiving the royalassent before the close of a session, were further causes ofadmiration. They embarked; and the Italians, who had never seen atidal river, discovered, miracle of miracles, that they were ascendingfrom the sea, and yet the stream was with them. The distance to Londonwas soon accomplished. They passed under the bridge at one o'clock onthe top of the tide, the legate's barge distinguished splendidly bythe silver cross upon the bow. In a few minutes more they were at thepalace-stairs at Whitehall, where a pier was built on arches out intothe river, and on the pier stood the Bishop of Winchester, with thelords of the council. 

{p. 165} The king and queen were at dinner, the arrival not beingexpected till the afternoon. Philip rose instantly from the table, hurried out, and caught the legate in his arms. The queen followed tothe head of the grand staircase; and when Pole reached her, she threwherself on his breast, and kissed him, crying that his coming gave heras much joy as the possession of her kingdom. The cardinal, incorresponding ecstasy, exclaimed, in the words of the angel to theVirgin, "Ave Maria gratia plena, Dominus tecum, benedicta tu inmulieribus. "[389] The first rapturous moments over, the king, queen, and legate proceeded along the gallery, Philip and Pole supportingMary on either side, and the legate expatiating on the mysteries ofProvidence. 

 [Footnote 389: "Cardinalis cum reginam salutaret, nec ulla humana verba occurrerent tali muliere digna, Sanctis Scripturarum verbis abuti non verebatur, sed in primo congressu iisdem quibus matrem Dei salutavit Angelus, Reginam Polus alloquitur, Ave Maria, " etc. --Salkyns to Bullinger: _Epistolæ_ Tigurinæ, p. 169. ]

"High thanks, indeed, " he exclaimed, "your majesty owes to the favourof the Almighty, seeing that, while he permits you to bring your godlydesires to perfection, he has united at this moment in your favour thetwo mightiest powers upon earth--the majesty of the emperorrepresented in the king your husband, and the pope's holinessrepresented in myself. " The queen, as she walked, replied "in words ofsweet humility, " pouring out gentle excuses for past delays. Thelegate, still speaking with ecstatic metaphor, answered that it wasthe will of God; God waited till the time was mature, till he couldsay to her highness, "Blessed be the fruit of thy womb. "[390]

 [Footnote 390: "Il Signor Legato rispose che Dio havea voluto, che fusse tardato a tempo piú maturo, perchè egli havesse potuto dire a sua Altezza come diceva Benedictus fructus ventris tui. "--Descriptio Reductionis Angliæ. ]

In the saloon they remained standing together for another quarter ofan hour. When the cardinal took his leave for the day, the king; inspite of remonstrance, re-attended him to the gate. Alva and theBishop of Winchester were in waiting to conduct him to Lambeth Palace, which had been assigned him for a residence. The See of Canterbury wasto follow as soon as Cranmer could be despatched. 

Arrived at Lambeth, he was left to repose after his fatigues andexcitements. He had scarcely retired to his apartments when he wasdisturbed again by a message from the queen. Lord Montague had hurriedover with the news that the angelic salutation had been alreadyanswered. "The babe had leapt {p. 166} in her womb. "[391] Not amoment was lost in communicating the miracle to the world. Letters ofcouncil were drawn out for _Te Deums_ to be sung in every church inLondon. The next day being Sunday, every pulpit was made to ring withthe testimony of heaven to the truth. 

 [Footnote 391: Descriptio Reductionis Angliæ. ]

On Monday the 26th the cardinal went to the palace for an audience, and again there was more matter for congratulation. As he wasapproaching the king's cabinet, Philip met him with a packet ofdespatches. The last courier sent to Rome had returned with unheard-ofexpedition, and the briefs and commissions in which the poperelinquished formally his last reservations, had arrived. Never, exclaimed the Catholic enthusiast, in a fervour of devoutastonishment--never since the days of the apostles had so many tokensof divine approbation been showered upon a human enterprise. Themoment of its consummation had arrived. [392] Since the thing was tobe, no one wished for delay. Three days sufficed for the few necessarypreparations, and the two Houses of Parliament were invited to bepresent unofficially at Whitehall on the afternoon of Wednesday the28th. In the morning there was a procession in the city and a _TeDeum_ at St. Paul's. After dinner, the Great Chamber was thrown open, and the Lords and Commons crowded in as they could find room. Philipand Mary entered, and took their seats under the cloth of state; whilePole had a chair assigned him on their right hand, beyond the edge ofthe canopy. The queen was splendidly dressed, and it was observed thatshe threw out her person to make her supposed condition as conspicuousas possible. [393] When all were in their places, the chancellor rose. 

 [Footnote 392: The queen's assurances respecting her child were so emphatic, that even Noailles believed her. Profane persons were still incredulous. On Sunday the 25th, the day after the _Te Deums_, Noailles says, "S'est trouve ung placard attaché à la porte de son palais, y estant ces mots en substance: 'serons nous si bestes, oh nobles Angloys, que croy renotre reyne estre enciente si non d'un marmot ou d'un dogue?'"]

 [Footnote 393: Contemporary Diary: _MS. Harleian_, iv. 19. ]

"My Lords of the Upper House, " he said, "and you my masters of theNether House, here is present the Right Reverend Father in God theLord Cardinal Pole, come from the Apostolic See of Rome as ambassadorto the king's and queen's majesties, upon one of the weightiest causesthat ever happened in this realm, and which pertaineth to the glory ofGod and your universal benefit; the which embassy it is theirmajesties' {p. 167} pleasure that it be signified unto you all by hisown mouth, trusting that you will accept it in as benevolent andthankful wise as their highnesses have done, and that you will give anattent and inclinable ear to him. "

The legate then left his chair and came forward. He was now fifty-fouryears old, and he had passed but little of his life in England; yethis features had not wholly lost their English character. He had thearched eye-brow, and the delicately-cut cheek, and prominent eye ofthe beautiful Plantagenet face; a long, brown, curling beard floweddown upon his chest, which it almost covered; the mouth was weak andslightly open, the lips were full and pouting, the expressiondifficult to read. In a low voice, audible only to those who were nearhim, he spoke as follows:--"My Lords all, and you that are the Commonsof this present parliament assembled, as the cause of my repair hitherhath been wisely and gravely declared by my Lord Chancellor, so, before I enter into the particulars of my commission, I have to saysomewhat touching myself, and to give most humble and hearty thanks tothe king's and queen's majesties, and after them to you all--which ofa man exiled and banished from this commonwealth, have restored me tobe a member of the same, and of a man having no place either here orelsewhere within this realm, have admitted me to a place where tospeak and where to be heard. This I protest unto you all, that thoughI was exiled my native country, without just cause, as God knoweth, yet the ingratitude could not pull from me the affection and desirethat I had to your profit and to do you good. 

"But, leaving the rehearsal hereof, and coming more near to the matterof my commission, I signify unto you all, that my principal travail isfor the restitution of this noble realm to the antient nobility, andto declare unto you that the See Apostolic, from whence I come, hath aspecial respect to this realm above all others; and not without cause, seeing that God himself, as it were, by providence hath given to thisrealm prerogative of nobility above others, which, to make plain untoyou, it is to be considered that this island first of all islandsreceived the light of Christ's religion. "

Going into history for a proof of this singular proposition, thelegate said that the Britons had been converted by the See Apostolic, "not one by one, as in other countries, as clocks increase the hoursby distinction of times, " "but altogether, at once, as it were, in amoment. " The Saxons had brought back heathenism, but had again beensoon converted; and the popes {p. 168} had continued to heap benefitupon benefit on the favoured people, even making them a present ofIreland, "which pertained to the See of Rome. " The country hadprospered, and the people had been happy down to the time of the lateschism; from that unhappy day they had been overwhelmed withcalamities. 

The legate dwelt in some detail on the misfortunes of the precedingyears. He then went on: "But, when all light of true religion seemedextinct, the churches defaced, the altars overthrown, the ministerscorrupted, even like as in a lamp, the light being covered yet it isnot quenched--even so in a few remained the confession of Christ'sfaith, namely, in the breast of the queen's excellency, of whom tospeak without adulation, the saying of the prophet may be verified, _ecce quasi derelicta_: and see how miraculously God of his goodnesspreserved her highness contrary to the expectations of men, that whennumbers conspired against her, and policies were devised to disinherither, and armed power prepared to destroy her, yet she, being a virgin, helpless, naked, and unarmed, prevailed, and had the victory oftyrants. For all these practices and devices, here you see her graceestablished in her estate, your lawful queen and governess, born amongyou, whom God hath appointed to govern you for the restitution of truereligion and the extirpation of all errors and sects. And to confirmher grace more strongly in this enterprise, lo how the providence ofGod hath joined her in marriage with a prince of like religion, who, being a king of great might, armour, and force, yet useth towards youneither armour nor force, but seeketh you by way of love and amity;and as it was a singular favour of God to conjoin them in marriage, soit is not to be doubted but he shall send them issue for the comfortand surety of this commonwealth. 

"Of all princes in Europe the emperor hath travailed most in the causeof religion, yet, haply by some secret judgment of God, he hath notobtained the end. I can well compare him to David, which, though hewere a man elect of God, yet for that he was contaminate with bloodand wars, he could not build the temple of Jerusalem, but left thefinishing thereof to Solomon, who was _Rex pacificus_. So it may bethought that the appeasing of controversies of religion in Christendomis not appointed to this emperor, but rather to his son; who shallperform the building that his father had begun, which church cannot bebuilded unless universally in all realms we adhere to one head, and doacknowledge him to be the vicar of God, and to have power fromabove--for {p. 169} all power is of God, according to the saying, _non est potestas nisi in Deo_. 

"All power being of God, he hath derived that power into two partshere on earth, which is into the powers imperial and ecclesiastical;and these two powers, as they be several and distinct, so have theytwo several effects and operations. Secular princes be ministers ofGod to execute vengeance upon transgressors and evil livers, and topreserve the well-doers and innocents from injury and violence; andthis power is represented in these two most excellent persons theking's and queen's majesties here present. The other power is ofministration, which is the power of keys and orders in theecclesiastical state; which is by the authority of God's word andexample of the apostles, and of all holy fathers from Christ hithertoattributed and given to the Apostolic See of Rome by specialprerogative: from which See I am here deputed legate and ambassador, having full and ample commission from thence, and have the keyscommitted to my hands. I confess to you that I have the keys--not asmine own keys, but as the keys of Him that sent me; and yet cannot Iopen, not for want of power in me to give, but for certain impedimentsin you to receive, which must be taken away before my commission cantake effect. This I protest before you, my commission is not ofprejudice to any person. I am come not to destroy, but to build; Icome to reconcile, not to condemn; I am not come to compel, but tocall again; I am not come to call anything in question already done;but my commission is of grace and clemency to such as will receiveit--for, touching all matters that be past, they shall be as thingscast into the sea of forgetfulness. 

"But the mean whereby you shall receive this benefit is to revoke andrepeal those laws and statutes which be impediments, blocks, and barsto the execution of my commission. For, like as I myself had neitherplace nor voice to speak here amongst you, but was in all respects abanished man, till such time as ye had repealed those laws that lay inmy way, even so cannot you receive the benefit and grace offered fromthe Apostolic See until the abrogation of such laws whereby you haddisjoined and dissevered yourselves from the unity of Christ's Church. 

"It remaineth, therefore, that you, like true Christians and providentmen, for the weal of your souls and bodies, ponder what is to be donein this so weighty a cause, and so to frame your acts and proceedingsas they may first tend to the glory of {p. 170} God, and, next, tothe conservation of your commonwealth, surety, and quietness. "

The speech was listened to by such as could hear it with profoundattention, and several persons were observed to clasp their handsagain and again, and raise them convulsively before their faces. Whenthe legate sat down, Gardiner gave him the thanks of parliament, andsuggested that the two Houses should be left to themselves to considerwhat they would do. Pole withdrew with the king and queen, andGardiner exclaimed: A prophet has "the Lord raised up among us fromamong our brethren, and he shall save us. " For the benefit of thosewho had been at the further end of the hall, he then recapitulated thesubstance of what had been said. He added a few words of exhortation, and the meeting adjourned. 

The next day, Thursday, Lords and Commons sat as usual at Westminster. The repeal of all the acts which directly, or by implication, wereaimed at the papacy, would occupy, it was found, a considerable time;but the impatient legate was ready to accept a promise as a pledge ofperformance, and the general question was therefore put severally inboth Houses whether the country should return to obedience to theApostolic See. Among the Peers no difficulty was made at all. Amongthe Commons, in a house of 360, there were two dissentients--one, whose name is not mentioned, gave a silent negative vote; the other, Sir Ralph Bagenall, stood up alone to protest. Twenty years, he said, "that great and worthy prince, King Henry, " laboured to expel the popefrom England. He for one had "sworn to King Henry's laws, " and, "hewould keep his oath. "[394]

 [Footnote 394: The writer of the Italian "Description" says that Bagenall gave way the next day. The contemporary narrative among the _Harleian MSS. _ says that he persisted, and refused to kneel at the absolution. ]

But Bagenall was listened to with smiles. The resolution passed, thevery ease and unanimity betraying the hollow ground on which itrested; and, again, devout Catholics beheld the evident work ofsupernatural agency. Lords and Commons had received separately thesame proposition; they had discussed it, voted on it, and come to aconclusion, each with closed doors, and the messengers of the twoHouses encountered each other on their way to communicate theirseveral decisions. [395] The chancellor arranged with Pole the formswhich should be {p. 171} observed, and it was agreed that the Housesshould present a joint petition to the king and queen, acknowledgingtheir past misconduct, engaging to undo the anti-papal legislation, and entreating their majesties, as undefiled with the offences whichtainted the body of the nation, to intercede for the removal of theinterdict. A committee of Lords and Commons sate to consider the wordsin which the supplication should be expressed, and all preparationswere completed by the evening. 

 [Footnote 395: "Mentre la casa alta mandava a far sapere la sua conclusione alla casa bassa, la casa bassa mandava anch' ella per fare intendere il medesimo alla casa alta, sicchè i messi s' incontrarono per via; segno evidentissimo che lo Spirito di Dio lavorava in amendue i luoghi in un tempo i di una medesima conformita. "--Descriptio Reductionis Angliæ. ]

And now St. Andrew's Day was come; a day, as was then hoped, whichwould be remembered with awe and gratitude through all ages of Englishhistory. Being the festival of the institution of the Order of theGolden Fleece, high mass was sung in the morning in Westminster Abbey;Philip, Alva, and Ruy Gomez attended in their robes, with six hundredSpanish cavaliers. The Knights of the Garter were present in gorgeouscostume, and nave and transept were thronged with the blended chivalryof England and Castile. It was two o'clock before the service wasconcluded. Philip returned to the palace to dinner, and the briefNovember afternoon was drawing in when the parliament reassembled atthe palace. At the upper end of the great hall a square platform hadnow been raised several steps above the floor, on which three chairswere placed as before; two under a canopy of cloth of gold, for theking and queen; a third on the right, removed a little distance fromthem, for the legate. Below the platform, benches were placedlongitudinally towards either wall. The bishops sat on the side of thelegate, the lay peers opposite them on the left. The Commons sat onrows of cross benches in front, and beyond them were the miscellaneouscrowd of spectators, sitting or standing as they could find room. Thecardinal, who had passed the morning at Lambeth, was conducted acrossthe water in a state barge by Lord Arundel and six other peers. Theking received him at the gate, and, leaving his suite in the care ofthe Duke of Alva, who was instructed to find them places, heaccompanied Philip into the room adjoining the hall, where Mary, whosesituation was supposed to prevent her from unnecessary exertion, waswaiting for them. The royal procession was formed. Arundel and theLords passed in to their places. The king and queen, with Pole in hislegate's robes, ascended the steps of the platform, and took theirseats. 

When the stir which had been caused by their entrance was over, Gardiner mounted a tribune; and in the now fast-waning light he bowedto the king and queen, and declared the resolution {p. 172} at whichthe Houses had arrived. Then turning to the Lords and Commons, heasked if they continued in the same mind. Four hundred voicesanswered, "We do. " "Will you then, " he said, "that I proceed in yournames to supplicate for our absolution, that we may be received againinto the body of the Holy Catholic Church, under the pope, the supremehead thereof?" Again the voices assented. The chancellor drew a scrollfrom under his robe, ascended the platform, and presented it unfoldedon his knee to the queen. The queen looked through it, gave it toPhilip, who looked through it also, and returned it. The chancellorthen rose and read aloud as follows:--

"We, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Commons of the presentparliament assembled, representing the whole body of the realm ofEngland, and dominions of the same, in our own names particularly, andalso of the said body universally, in this our supplication directedto your majesties--with most humble suit that it may by your graciousintercession and means be exhibited to the Most Reverend Father in Godthe Lord Cardinal Pole, Legate, sent specially hither from our MostHoly Father Pope Julius the Third and the See Apostolic of Rome--dodeclare ourselves very sorry and repentant for the schism anddisobedience committed in this realm and dominions of the same, against the said See Apostolic, either by making, agreeing, orexecuting any laws, ordinances, or commandments against the supremacyof the said See, or otherwise doing or speaking what might impugn thesame; offering ourselves, and promising by this our supplication that, for a token and knowledge of our said repentance, we be, and shall bealways, ready, under and with the authority of your majesties, to dothat which shall be in us for the abrogation and repealing of the saidlaws and ordinances in this present parliament, as well for ourselvesas for the whole body whom we represent. Whereupon we most humblybeseech your majesties, as persons undefiled in the offences of thisbody towards the Holy See--which nevertheless God by his providencehath made subject to your majesties--so to set forth this, our mosthumble suit, that we may obtain from the See Apostolic, by the saidMost Reverend Father, as well particularly as universally, absolution, release, and discharge from all danger of such censures and sentencesas by the laws of the church we be fallen in; and that we may, aschildren repentant, be received into the bosom and unity of Christ'sChurch; so as this noble realm, with all the members {p. 173}thereof, may, in unity and perfect obedience to the See Apostolic andpope for the time being, serve God and your majesties, to thefurtherance and advancement of his honour and glory. "[396]

 [Footnote 396: Foxe, vol. Vi. P. 571. The petition was in Latin; but, as I have nowhere seen the original, I have not ventured to interfere with Foxe's translation. Foxe, who could translate very idiomatically when he pleased, perhaps relieved his indignation on the present occasion by translating as awkwardly as possible. ]

Having completed the reading, the chancellor again presented thepetition. The king and queen went through the forms of intercession, and a secretary read aloud, first, the legate's original commission, and, next, the all-important extended form of it. 

Pole's share of the ceremony was now to begin. 

He first spoke a few words from his seat: "Much indeed, " he said, "theEnglish nation had to thank the Almighty for recalling them to hisfold. Once again God had given a token of his special favour to therealm; for as this nation, in the time of the Primitive Church, wasthe first to be called out of the darkness of heathenism, so now theywere the first to whom God had given grace to repent of their schism;and if their repentance was sincere, how would the angels, who rejoiceat the conversion of a single sinner, triumph at the recovery of agreat and noble people. "

He moved to rise; Mary and Philip, seeing that the crisis wasapproaching, fell on their knees, and the assembly dropped at theirexample; while, in dead silence, across the dimly-lighted hall, camethe low, awful words of the absolution. 

"Our Lord Jesus Christ, which with his most precious blood hathredeemed and washed us from all our sins and iniquities, that he mightpurchase unto himself a glorious spouse without spot or wrinkle, whomthe Father hath appointed head over all his Church--he by his mercyabsolves you, and we, by apostolic authority given unto us by the MostHoly Lord Pope Julius the Third, his vicegerent on earth, do absolveand deliver you, and every of you, with this whole realm and thedominions thereof, from all heresy and schism, and from all and everyjudgment, censure, and pain for that cause incurred; and we do restoreyou again into the unity of our Mother the Holy Church, in the name ofthe Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. "

Amidst the hushed breathing every tone was audible, and at the pauseswere heard the smothered sobs of the queen. "Amen, amen, " rose inanswer from many voices. Some were really affected; some were caughtfor the moment with a contagion which it was hard to resist; somethrew themselves weeping in {p. 174} each other's arms. King, queen, and parliament, rising from their knees, went immediately--the legateleading--into the chapel of the palace, where the choir, with therolling organ, sang _Te Deum_; and Pole closed the scene with abenediction from the altar. 

"Blessed day for England, " cries the Italian describer, in a raptureof devotion. "The people exclaim in ecstasies, we are reconciled toGod, we are brought back to God: the king beholds his realm, so latelytorn by divisions, at the mercy of the first enemy who would seizeupon it, secured on a foundation which never can be shaken: and whocan express the joy--who can tell the exultation of the queen? She hasshown herself the handmaid of the Lord, and all generations shall callher blessed: she has given her kingdom to God as a thank-offering forthose great mercies which He has bestowed upon her. "[397]

 [Footnote 397: Descriptio Reductionis Angliæ: _Epist. _ Reg. Pol. Vol. V. ]

And the legate; but the legate has described his emotions in his owninimitable manner. Pole went back to Lambeth, not to rest, but to pourout his soul to the Holy Father. 

In his last letter he said "he had told his holiness that he had hopedthat England would be recovered to the fold at last; yet he had thensome fears remaining, so far estranged were the minds of the peoplefrom the Holy See, lest at the last moment some compromise might ruinall. "

But the godly forwardness of the king and queen had overcome everydifficulty; and on that evening, the day of St. Andrew--of Andrew whofirst brought his brother Peter to Christ--the realm of England hadbeen brought back to its obedience to Peter's See, and through Peterto Christ. The great act had been accomplished, accomplished by thevirtue and the labour of the inestimable sovereigns with whom God hadblessed the world. 

"And oh, " he said, "how many things, how great things, may the churchour mother, the bride of Christ, promise herself from these herchildren? Oh piety! oh antient faith! Whoever looks on them willrepeat the words of the prophet of the church's early offspring; 'Thisis the seed which the Lord hath blessed. ' How earnestly, how lovingly, did your holiness favour their marriage; a marriage formed after thevery pattern of that of our Most High King, who, being Heir of theworld, was sent down by his Father from his royal throne, to be atonce the Spouse and the Son of the Virgin Mary, and be made theComforter and the Saviour of mankind: and, in like manner, thegreatest {p. 175} of all the princes upon earth, the heir of hisfather's kingdom, departed from his own broad and happy realms, thathe might come hither into this land of trouble, he, too, to be spouseand son of this virgin; for, indeed, though spouse he be, he so bearshimself towards her as if he were her son, to aid in thereconciliation of this people to Christ and the church. [398]

 [Footnote 398: This amazing comparison (for one cannot forget what Philip had been, was, and was to be) must be given in the original words of the legate:

 "Quam sancte sanctitas vestra omni auctoritate studioque huic matrimonio favit; quod sane videtur præ se ferre magnam summi illius regis similitudinem, qui mundi hæres a regalibus sedibus a patre demissus fuit, ut esset virginis sponsus et filius, et hâc ratione universum genus humanum consolaretur ac servaret. Sic enim hic rex maximus omnium qui in terris sunt hæres, patriis relictis regnis de illis quidem amplissimis ac felicissimis in hoc turbulentum regnum de contulit, hujusque virginis sponsus et filius est factus; ita enim erga illam se gerit tanquam filius esset cum sit sponsus, ut quod jam plane perfecit sequestrem se atque adjutorem ad reconciliandos Christo et Ecclesiæ hos populos præberet. "--Pole to the Pope: _Epist. _ Reg. Pol. Vol. V. ]

"When your holiness first chose me as your legate, the queen wasrising up as a rod of incense out of trees of myrrh, and asfrankincense out of the desert. And how does she now shine out inloveliness? What a savour does she give forth unto her people. Yea, even as the prophet saith of the mother of Christ, "before she was inlabour she brought forth, before she was delivered she hath borne aman-child. " Who ever yet hath seen it, who has heard of the similitudeof it? Shall the earth bring forth in a day, or shall a nation of menbe born together? but Mary has brought forth the nation of Englandbefore the time of that delivery for which we all are hoping!"

Unable to exhaust itself in words, the Catholic enthusiasm flowed overin processions, in sermons, masses, and _Te Deums_. Gardiner at Paul'sCross, on the Sunday succeeding, confessed his sins in having borne apart in bringing about the schism. Pole rode through the city betweenthe king and queen, with his legate's cross before him, blessing thepeople. When the news reached Rome Julius first embraced themessenger, then flung himself on his knees, and said a Paternoster. The guns at St. Angelo roared in triumph. There were jubilees andmasses of the Holy Ghost, and bonfires, and illuminations, andpardons, and indulgences. In the exuberance of his hopes, the popesent a nuncio to urge that, in the presence of this great mercy, peaceshould be made with France, where the king was devoted to the church;the Catholic powers would then have the command of Europe, and theheretics could be destroyed. [399] One thing only {p. 176} seemedforgotten, that the transaction was a bargain. The papal pardon hadbeen thrust upon criminals, whose hearts were so culpably indifferentthat it was necessary to bribe them to accept it; and the conditionsof the compromise, even yet, were far from concluded. 

 [Footnote 399: Pallavicino. ]

The sanction given to the secularisation of church property was acruel disappointment to the clergy, who cared little for Rome, butcared much for wealth and power. Supported by a party in the House ofCommons who had not shared in the plunder, and who envied those whohad been more fortunate, [400] the ecclesiastical faction began toagitate for a reconsideration of the question. Their friends inparliament said that the dispensation was unnecessary. Every man'sconscience ought to be his guide whether to keep his lands orsurrender them. The queen was known to hold the same opinion, andeager preachers began to sound the note of restitution. [401] Growingbolder, the Lower House of Convocation presented the bishopsimmediately after with a series of remarkable requests. The pope, inthe terms on which he was reinstated, was but an ornamental unreality;and the practical English clergy desired substantial restorationswhich their eyes could see and their hands could handle. 

 [Footnote 400: Renard to the Emperor: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. ]

 [Footnote 401: "It was this morning told me by one of the Emperor's council, who misliked much the matter, that a preacher of ours whose name he rehearsed, beateth the pulpit jollily in England for a restitution of abbey lands. It is a strange thing in a well-ordered commonwealth that a subject should be so hardy to cry unto the people openly such learning, whereby your winter work may in the summer be attempted with some storm. These unbridled preachings were so much misliked in the ill-governed time as men trusted in this good governance it should have been amended; and so may it be when it shall please my Lords of the Council as diligently to consider it, as it is more than necessary to be looked unto. The party methinketh might well be put to silence, if he were asked now, being a monk, and having professed and vowed solemnly wilful poverty, he can with conscience keep a deanery and three or four benefices. "--Mason to Petre: _MS. Germany_, bundle 16, _Mary_, State Paper Office. It is not clear who the offender was. Perhaps it was Weston, Dean of Westminster and Prolocutor of Convocation. ]

They demanded, therefore, first, that if a statute was brought intoparliament for the assurance of the church estates to the presentpossessors, nothing should be allowed to pass prejudicial to theirclaims "on lands, tenements, pensions, or tythe rents, which hadappertained to bishops, or other ecclesiastical persons. "

They demanded, secondly, the repeal of the Statute of Mortmain, andafterwards the abolition of lay impropriations, the {p. 177}punishment of heretics, the destruction of all the EnglishPrayer-books and Bibles, the revival of the act _De HæreticoComburendo_, the re-establishment of the episcopal courts, therestoration of the legislative functions of Convocation, and theexemption of the clergy from the authority of secular magistrates. 

Finally, they required that the church should be restored absolutelyto its ancient rights, immunities, and privileges; that no Premunireshould issue against a bishop until he had first received notice andwarning; that the judges should define "a special doctrine ofPremunire, " and that the Statutes of Provisors should not be wrestedfrom their meaning. [402]

 [Footnote 402: Demands of the Lower House of Convocation, December, 1554; printed in Wilkins's _Concilia_. ]

The petition expressed the views of Gardiner, and was probably drawnunder his direction. Had the alienated property been no more than theestates of the suppressed abbeys, the secular clergy would haveacquiesced without difficulty in the existing disposition of it. Butthe benefices impropriated to the abbeys which had been sold orgranted with the lands, they looked on as their own; the cathedralchapters and the bishops' sees, which had suffered from the secondlocust flight under Edward, formed part of the local Anglican Church:and Gardiner and his brother prelates declared that, if the pope choseto set aside the canons, and permit the robbing of the religiousorders, he might do as he pleased; but that he had neither right norpowers to sanction the spoliation of the working bishops and clergy. Thus the feast of reconciliation having been duly celebrated, bothHouses of Parliament became again the theatre of fierce and fieryconflict. 

There were wide varieties of opinion. The lawyers went beyond theclergy in limiting the powers of the pope; the lawyers also said thepope had no rights over the temporalities of bishops or abbots, deans, or rectors; but they did not any more admit the rights of the clergy. The English clergy, regular and secular, they said, had held theirestates from immemorial time under the English crown, and it was notfor any spiritual authority, domestic or foreign, to decide whether anEnglish king and an English parliament might interfere to alter thedisposition of those estates. 

On other questions the clerical party were in the ascendant; They hada decided majority in the House of Commons; in the Upper House therewas a compact body of twenty bishops; and Gardiner held the proxies ofLord Rich, Lord Oxford, Lord {p. 178} Westmoreland, and LordAbergavenny. The queen had created four new peers; three of whom, LordNorth, Lord Chandos, and Lord Williams, were bigoted Catholics; thefourth, Lord Howard, was absent with the fleet, and was unrepresented. Lord North held the proxy of Lord Worcester; and the Marquis ofWinchester, Lord Montague, and Lord Stourton acted generally with thechancellor. Lord Russell was keeping out of the way, being suspectedof heresy; Wentworth was at Calais; Grey was at Guisnes; and theproxies of the two last noblemen, which in the late parliament wereheld by Arundel and Paget, were, for some unknown reason, now held byno one. Thus, in a house of seventy-three members only, reduced tosixty-nine by the absence of Howard, Russell, Wentworth, and Grey, Gardiner had thirty-one votes whom he might count upon as certain; heknew his power, and at once made fatal use of it. 

For two parliaments the liberal party had prevented him fromrecovering the power of persecution. He did not attempt to pass theInquisitorial Act on which he was defeated in the last session. Butthe act to revive the Lollard Statutes was carried through the Houseof Commons in the second week in December; on the 15th it was broughtup to the Lords; and although those who had before fought the battleof humanity, struggled again bravely in the same cause, this timetheir numbers were too small; they failed, and the lives of theProtestants were in their enemies' hands. [403] Simultaneously Gardinerobtained for the bishops' courts their long-coveted privilege ofarbitrary arrest and discretionary punishment, and the clergyobtained, as they desired, the restoration of their legislativepowers. The property question alone disintegrated the phalanx oforthodoxy, and left an opening for the principles of liberty to assertthemselves. The faithful and the faithless among the laity were alikeparticipators in church plunder, and were alike nervously sensitivewhen the current of the reaction ran in the direction of a demand forrestitution. 

 [Footnote 403: "La chambre haulte y faict difficulté pour ce que l'auctorité et jurisdiction des evesques est autorizée et renouvellée, et que le peine semble trop griefve. Mais l'on tient qu'ilz s'accorderont par la pluralité. "--Renard to the Emperor, December 21: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. ]

Here, therefore, Paget and his friends chose their ground to maintainthe fight. 

It has been seen that Pole especially dreaded the appearance of anysort of composition between the country and the papacy. The submissionhad, in fact, been purchased, but the purchase ought to be disguised. As soon, therefore, as the parliament {p. 179} set themselves to thefulfilment of their promise to undo the acts by which England hadseparated itself from Rome, the legate required a simple statute ofrepeal. The pope had granted a dispensation; it was enough, and itshould be accepted gratefully: the penitence of sinners ought not tobe mixed with questions of worldly interest; the returning prodigal, when asking pardon at his father's feet, had made no conditions; theEnglish nation must not disfigure their obedience by alluding, in theterms of it, to the pope's benevolence to them. 

The holders of the property, on the other hand, thinking more of thereality than the form, were determined that the Act of Repeal shouldcontain, as nearly as possible, a true statement of their case. They_had_ made conditions, and those conditions had been reluctantlycomplied with; and, to prevent future errors, the nature of thecompact ought to be explained with the utmost distinctness. They hadreplaced the bishops in authority, and the bishops might be made useof at some future time, indirectly or directly, to disturb thesettlement. A fresh pontiff might refuse to recognise the concessionsof his predecessors. The papal supremacy, the secularisation of thechurch property, and the authority of the episcopal courts should, therefore, be interwoven inextricably to stand or fall together; andas the lawyers denied the authority of the Holy See to pronounce uponthe matter at all, the legal opinion might be embodied also as afurther security. 

After a week of violent discussion, the lay interest in the House ofLords found itself the strongest. Pole exclaimed that, if thesubmission and the dispensation were tied together, it was asimoniacal compact; the pope's holiness was bought and sold for aprice, he said, and he would sooner go back to Rome, and leave hiswork unfinished, than consent to an act so derogatory to the Holy See. But the protest was vain; if the legate was so anxious, his anxietywas an additional reason why the opposition should persevere; if hechose to go, his departure could be endured. [404]

 [Footnote 404: "Le parlement faict instance que, en statut de la dicte obedience la dicte dispense soit inserée, ce que le dict cardinal ne veult admettre, à ce que ne semble la dicte obedience avoir este rachetée; et est passée si avant la dicte difficulté que le dict cardinal a déclaré qu'il retourneroit plutôt à Rome et delaisseront la chose imparfaite que consentir à chose contre l'auctorité dudict S. Siége, et de si grande préjudice. "--Renard to the Emperor, December: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. ]

So keen was the debate that there was not so much as a Christmasrecess. Christmas Day was kept as a holyday. On {p. 180} the 26th thestruggle began again, and, fortunately, clouds had risen between theHouse of Commons and the court. Finding more difficulty than heexpected in embroiling England with France, Philip, to feel the temperof the people, induced one of the peers to carry a note to the LowerHouse to request an opinion whether it was not the duty of a son toassist his father. An answer was instantly returned that the questionhad been already disposed of by the late parliament in the marriagetreaty, and the further discussion of it was unnecessary. [405]Secretary Bourne, at the instigation of Gardiner, proposed to revivethe claims on the pensions; but he met with no better reception. Andthe court made a further blunder. Mary had become so accustomed tosuccess, that she assured herself she could obtain all that shedesired. The object of the court was to secure the regency for Philip, with full sovereign powers, should she die leaving a child; should shedie childless, to make him her successor. The first step would bePhilip's coronation, which had been long talked of, and which theHouse of Commons was now desired to sanction. The House of Commonsreturned a unanimous refusal. [406]

 [Footnote 405: "Ces jours passez, il y eust ung personnaige de la haulte chambre, auquel il sembla pour ne perdre temps debvoir porter, (comme il fist) un billette à la basse par laquelle il mettait en advant s'il n'estoit pas raisonnable que le filz secourust le père, voullant dire de ce roy a l'Empereur. Ce qui fut si bien recueilly du tiers estat, si promptment et avecques grande raison respondu, comme par le dernier parlement et le traité de mariaige d'entre ce roy et royne cela avoit esté et estoit tellement considéré, qu'il n'estoit plus besoing mettre telles choses en advant pour les faire entrer à la guerre. "--Noailles to the King of France: _Ambassades_, vol. Iv. P. 76. ]

 [Footnote 406: "Je vous puis dire, Sire, que toutes ces choses ont passé bien loing de l'espérance qu'il avoit, puisqu'il s'attendoit de se faire couronner, comme despuis six jours il en avoit particulièrement faict rechercher ceulx de la basse chambre dudict parlement qui luy out tous d'une voix rejetté. "--Noailles to the King of France: _Ambassades_, vol. Iv. P. 137. ]

The effects of these cross influences on the papal statute, thoughthey cannot be traced in detail, must have been not inconsiderable. Atlength, on the 4th of January, after passing backwards and forwardsfor a fortnight between the two Houses, the Great Bill, as it wascalled, emerged, finished, in the form of a petition to the crown:--

"Whereas, " so runs the preamble, [407] "since the 20th year of KingHenry VIII. , of famous memory, much false and erroneous doctrine hathbeen taught, preached, and written, partly by divers natural-bornsubjects of this realm, and partly being brought in hither from sundryforeign countries, hath been sown {p. 181} and spread abroad withinthe same--by reason whereof as well the spiritualty as the temporaltyof your highness's realm and dominions have swerved from the obedienceof the See Apostolic, and declined from the unity of Christ's Church, and so have continued until such time as--your majesty being firstraised up by God, and set in the seat royal over us, and then by hisdivine and gracious Providence knit in marriage with the most nobleand virtuous prince the king our sovereign lord your husband--thepope's holiness and the See Apostolic sent hither unto your majesties, as unto persons undefiled, and by God's goodness preserved from thecommon infection aforesaid, and to the whole realm, the Most ReverendFather in God the Lord Cardinal Pole, Legate _de Latere_, to call usagain into the right way, from which we have all this long whilewandered and strayed; and we, after sundry and long plagues andcalamities, seeing, by the goodness of God, our own errours, haveknowledged the same unto the said Most Reverend Father, and by himhave been and are (the rather at the contemplation of your majesties)received and embraced into the unity of Christ's Church, upon ourhumble submission, and promise made for a declaration of ourrepentance to repeal and abrogate such acts and statutes as had beenmade in parliament since the said 20th year of the said King HenryVIII. , against the supremacy of the See Apostolic, as in oursubmission exhibited to the said most Reverend Father in God, by yourmajesties appeareth--it may like your majesty, for the accomplishmentof our promise, that all such laws be repealed. That is to say:--

 [Footnote 407: 1 and 2 Philip and Mary, cap. 8. ]

"The Act against obtaining Dispensations from Rome for Pluralities andnon-Residence. [408]

 [Footnote 408: 21 Henry VIII. Cap. 13. ]

"The Act that no person shall be cited out of the Diocese where he orshe dwelleth. [409]

 [Footnote 409: 23 Henry VIII. Cap. 9. ]

"The Act against Appeals to the See of Rome. [410]

 [Footnote 410: 24 Henry VIII. Cap. 12. ]

"The Act against the Payment of Annates and First-fruits to the See ofRome. [411]

 [Footnote 411: 23 Henry VIII. Cap. 20. The Act was repealed, but the annates were not restored. ]

"The Act for the Submission of the Clergy. [412]

 [Footnote 412: 25 Henry VIII. Cap. 19. ]

"The Act for the Election and Consecration of Bishops. [413]

 [Footnote 413: 25 Henry VIII. Cap. 20. ]

"The Act against Exactions from the See of Rome. [414]

 [Footnote 414: 25 Henry VIII. Cap. 21. ]

"The Act of the Royal Supremacy. [415]

 [Footnote 415: 26 Henry VIII. Cap. 1. ]

{p. 182} "The Act for the Consecration of Suffragan Bishops. [416]

 [Footnote 416: 26 Henry VIII. Cap. 14. ]

"The Act for the Reform of the Canon Law. [417]

 [Footnote 417: 27 Henry VIII. Cap. 15. ]

"The Act against the Authority of the Pope. [418]

 [Footnote 418: 28 Henry VIII. Cap. 10. ]

"The Act for the Release of those who had obtained Dispensations fromRome. [419]

 [Footnote 419: 28 Henry VIII. Cap. 16. ]

"The Act authorising the King to appoint Bishops by LettersPatent. [420]

 [Footnote 420: 31 Henry VIII. Cap. 9. ]

The Act of Precontracts and Degrees of Consanguinity. [421]

 [Footnote 421: 33 Henry VIII. Cap. 38. ]

The Act for the King's Style. [422]

 [Footnote 422: 35 Henry VIII. Cap. 3. ]

The Act permitting the Marriage of Doctors of Civil Law. "[423]

 [Footnote 423: 37 Henry VIII. Cap. 17. ]

In the repeal of these statutes the entire ecclesiastical legislationof Henry VIII. Was swept away; and, so far as a majority in a singleparliament could affect them, the work was done absolutely and withclean completeness. 

But there remained two other acts collaterally and accidentallyaffecting the See of Rome; for the repeal of which the court was noless anxious than for the repeal of the Act of Supremacy, where theparliament were not so complaisant. 

Throughout the whole reaction under Mary there was one point on whichthe laity never wavered. Attempts such as that which has been justmentioned were made incessantly, directly or indirectly, to alter thesuccession and cut off Elizabeth. They were like the fretful andprofitless chafings of waves upon a rock. The two acts on whichElizabeth's claims were rested[424] touched, in one or other of theirclauses, the papal prerogative, and were included in the list to becondemned. But, of these acts, "so much only" as affected the See ofRome was repealed. The rest was studiously declared to continue inforce. 

 [Footnote 424: 28 Henry VIII. Cap. 7; 35 Henry VIII. Cap. 1. ]

Yet, with this reservation, the parliament had gone far in theirconcessions, and it remained for them to secure their equivalent. 

They reinstated the bishops, but, in giving back a power which hadbeen so much abused, they took care to protect--not, alas! theinnocent lives which were about to be sacrificed--but their owninterests. The bishops and clergy of the Province of Canterbury havingbeen made to state their case and their claims, in a petition to thecrown, they were then compelled formally to relinquish those claims;and the petition and the relinquishment were embodied in the act asthe condition of the {p. 183} restoration of the authority of thechurch courts. [425] In continuation, the Lords and Commons desiredthat, for the removal "of all occasion of contention, suspicion, andtrouble, both outwardly and inwardly, in men's conscience, " the pope'sholiness, as represented by the legate, "by dispensation, toleration, or permission, as the case required, " would recognise all suchfoundations of colleges, hospitals, cathedrals, churches, schools, orbishoprics as had been established during the schism, would confirmthe validity of all ecclesiastical acts which had been performedduring the same period; and, finally, would consent that all property, of whatever kind, taken from the church, should remain to its presentpossessors--"so as all persons having sufficient conveyance of thesaid lands, goods, and chattels by the common laws, or acts, orstatutes of the realm, might, without scruple of conscience, enjoythem without impeachment or trouble, by pretence of any generalcouncil, canon, or ecclesiastical law, and clear from all dangers ofthe censures of the church. " The petitions, both of clergy andparliament, the act went on to say, had been considered by thecardinal; and the cardinal had acquiesced. He had undertaken, in thepope's name, that the possessors of either lands or goods should neverbe molested either then or in time to come, in virtue of any papaldecree, or canon, or council; that if any attempt should be made byany bishop or other ecclesiastic to employ the spiritual weapons ofthe church to extort restitution, such act or acts were declared vainand of none effect. The dispensation was pronounced, nor could thelegate's protests avail to prevent it from appearing in the act. Hewas permitted, only in consideration of the sacrifice, to interweaveamidst the legal technicalities some portion of his own feeling. Theimpious detainers of holy things, while permitted to maintain theiriniquity, were reminded of the fate of Belshazzar, and were urged torestore {p. 184} the patines, chalices, and ornaments of the altars. The impropriators of benefices were implored, in the mercy of Christ, to remember the souls of the people, and provide for the decentperformance of the services of the churches. [426]

 [Footnote 425: "Albeit, by the laws of the Church, the bishops and clergy were the defenders and protectors of all ecclesiastical rights, and would therefore in nature be bound to use their best endeavours for the recovery of the lands and goods lost to the Church during the late schism, they, nevertheless, perceiving the tenures of those lands and goods were now complicated beyond power of extrication, and that the attempt to recover them might promote disaffection in the realm, and cause the overthrow of the present happy settlement of religion, preferring public peace to private commodity, and the salvation of souls to worldly possessions, did consent that the present disposition of those lands and goods should remain undisturbed. They besought their Majesties to intercede with the legate for his consent, and, for themselves, they requested, in return, that the lawful jurisdiction of the Church might be restored. "--1 and 2 Philip and Mary, cap. 8, sec. 31. ]

 [Footnote 426: "Et licet omnes res mobiles ecclesiarum indistincte iis qui eas tenent relaxaverimus, eos tamen admonitos esse volumus ut ante oculos habentes divini judicii severitatem contra Balthazarem Regem Babylonis, qui vasa sacra non a se sed a patre a templo ablata in profanos usus convertit, ea propriis ecclesiis si extant vel aliis restituant, hortantes etiam et per viscera misericordiæ Jesu Christi obtestantes eos omnes quos hæc res tangit, ut salutis suæ non omnino immemores hoc saltem efficiant, ut ex bonis ecclesiasticis maxime iis quæ ratione personatuum et vicariatuum populi ministrorum sustentationi fuerint specialiter destinata, seu aliis cathedralibus et aliis quæ nunc extant inferioribus ecclesiis curam animarum exercentibus, ita provideatur, ut eorum pastores commode et honeste juxta eorum qualitatem et statum sustentari possint, et curam animarum laudabiliter exercere. "--1 and 2 Philip and Mary, cap. 8, sec. 31. ]

Here the act might have been expected to end. The nature of thetransaction between the parliament and the pope had been madesufficiently clear. Yet, had nothing more been said, the surrender oftheir claims by the clergy would have implied that they had partedwith something which they might have legitimately required. Under theinspiration of the lawyers, therefore, a series of clauses weresuperadded, explaining that, notwithstanding the dispensation, "Thetitle of all lands, possessions, and hereditaments in their majesties'realms and dominions was grounded in the laws, statutes, and customsof the same, and by their high jurisdiction, authority royal, andcrown imperial, _and in their courts only_, might be impleaded, ordered, tried, and judged, and none otherwise:" and, therefore, "whosoever, by any process obtained out of any ecclesiastical courtwithin the realm or without, or by pretence of any spiritualjurisdiction or otherwise, contrary to the laws of the realm, shouldinquiet or molest any person or persons, or body politic, for any ofthe said lands or things above specified, should incur the danger ofPremunire, and should suffer and incur the forfeitures and painscontained in the same. "[427]

 [Footnote 427: Ibid. ]

Vainly the clergy had entreated for a limitation or removal ofPremunire. That spectre remained unexorcised in all its shadowyterror; and while it survived, the penitence of England went no deeperthan the lips, however fine the words and eloquent the phrases inwhich it was expressed. As some compensation, the Mortmain Act wassuspended for twenty years. Yet, as if it were in reply to Pole'sappeal, a mischievous provision {p. 185} closed the act, that, notwithstanding anything contained in it, laymen entitled to tithesmight recover them with the same readiness as before the first day ofthe present parliament. [428]

 [Footnote 428: 1 and 2 Philip and Mary, cap. 8, sec. 31. ]

Such was the great statute of reconciliation with Rome, with which, inthe inability to obtain a better, the legate was compelled to besatisfied, and to reconsider his threat of going back to Italy. 

This first conflict was no sooner ended than another commenced. TheCommons would not consent that Philip should be crowned; but, as thequeen said she was _enceinte_, provision had to be made for a regency, and a bill was introduced into the Upper House which has not survived, but which, in spirit, was unfavourable to the king. [429] Gardiner, inthe course of the debate, attempted to put in a clause affectingElizabeth, [430] but the success was no better than usual. The act wentdown to the Commons, where, however, it was immediately cancelled. Though the Commons would give Philip no rights as king, they werebetter disposed towards him than the Lords; and they drew another billof their own, in which they declared the father to be the natural andfitting guardian of the child. The experience of protectorates, theysaid, had been uniformly unfortunate, and should the queen die leavingan heir, Philip should be regent of the realm during the minority; ifobliged to be absent on the Continent, he might himself nominate hisdeputy;[431] and so long as it should be his pleasure to remain inEngland, his person should be under the protection of the laws of hightreason. 

 [Footnote 429: "It was suspected, " says Renard, "que le dict act se proposoit à maulvais fin, qu'il estoit contre les traictez et capitulation de marriage pour hereder la couronne qui venoit de maulvais auteurs quilz plustôt desiroient le mal dudict S. Roy et inquietude dudict royaulme que le bien. "--Renard to the Emperor: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 347. ]

 [Footnote 430: Ibid. Vol. Iv. P. 348. ]

 [Footnote 431: "Et que en son absence il y pourra nommer qui luy plaira. "--Ibid. Vol. Iv. P. 348. ]

Taking courage from the apparent disposition of the House, the friendsof the court proposed that, should the queen die childless, the crownshould devolve absolutely upon him for his life. [432] But in this theywere going too far. The suggestion was listened to coldly; and Philip, who had really calculated on obtaining from parliament, in some formor other, a security for his succession, despatched Ruy Gomez toBrussels, to consult the {p. 186} emperor on the course which shouldbe pursued. [433] On the whole, however, could the bill of the House ofCommons be carried, Renard was disposed to be contented; the queen wasconfident in her hopes of an heir, and it might not be worth while toirritate the people unnecessarily about Elizabeth. [434] The clauseempowering Philip to govern by deputy in his absence was especiallysatisfactory. [435]

 [Footnote 432: "Aulcuns particuliers proposaient en ladicte chambre basse que le dict S. Roy deust demeurer roy absolut dudict royaulme mourant ladicte dame sans hoirs sa vie durant. "--Ibid. Vol. Iv. P. 348. ]

 [Footnote 433: "Ruy Gomez est allé vers l'Empereur pour faire entendre les difficultez qu'ilz trouvent de faire demeurer ceste couronne à son dict filz, au cas que la royne sa femme allast de vie à trespaz sans enfans, et d'aultant qu'ilz ont congneu la volunté de ceulx cy estre bien loin de leur intention; et pour ce scavoir par quelz moyens il semblera bon audict Empereur qu'on puisse mettre cela en termes devant la fin de ce parlement. "--Noailles. ]

 [Footnote 434: "Et quant à la declaration de bastardise l'on n'est d'opinion qu'elle se doige entamer aux dict parlement, puisque l'apparence d'heretier est certaine et pour l'evident et congneue contrarieté que seroit en toute le royaulme. "--Renard to the Emperor: _Granvelle Papers_, p. 348. ]

 [Footnote 435: Ibid. ]

But the peers, whom the Commons had refused to consult on the new formof the measure, would not part so easily with their own opinions; theyadopted the phraseology of the Lower House, but this particular andprecious feature in it they pared away. The bill, as it eventuallypassed, declared Philip regent till his child should be of age, and solong as he continued in the realm; but, at the same time, fatally forthe objects at which he was aiming, it bound him again to observe allthe articles of the marriage treaty, "which, during the time that heshould hold the government, should remain and continue in as fullforce and strength, as if they were newly inserted and rehearsed inthe present act. "[436]

 [Footnote 436: 1 and 2 Philip and Mary, cap. 10. ]

The disposition of the House of Lords was the more dangerous, becausethe bishops, of course, voted with the government, and the strength ofthe opposition, therefore, implied something like unanimity in the laypeers. The persecuting act had been carried with difficulty, and inthe reconciliation with Rome the legate had been studiously mortified. On the succession and the coronation the court had been whollybaffled; and in the Regency Bill they had obtained but half of whatthey had desired. At the least Mary had hoped to secure for the kingthe free disposal of the army and the finances, and she had not beenable so much as to ask for it. Compelled to rest contented with suchadvantages as had been secured, the court would not risk the resultsof further controversy by prolonging the session; and on the 16th ofJanuary, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the {p. 187} king andqueen came to the House of Lords almost unattended, and with anevident expression of dissatisfaction dissolved the parliament. [437]

 [Footnote 437: "Ilz sont pour cejourdhuy bien esloignez de ce qu'ilz pensoient faire il y a six sepmaines en ce parlement, ou ilz faisoient compte que ne pouvant couronner ce roy ou luy faire succeder ce royaulme, à tout le moings de luy en faire tumber l'administration, avecques tel pouvoir sur les forces et finances qu'il en eust pen disposer à sa volunté. Toutefois la chose a prins telle issue que pour ce coup il fault qu'il se contente à beaucoup moings qu'il ne s'attendoit. 

 "Ce qui a tellement despleu à cedict roy et royne, que le 16 de ce mois ilz allerent par eau tous deulx clorre et terminer ledict parlement, sur les quatre heures du soir, assez petitement accompaignez et sans aulcune ceremonie, monstrans et faisans congnoistre à ung chascun avoir quelque grand mescontentement contre l'assemblé d'icelluy. "--Noailles to the Constable: _Ambassades_, vol. Iv. P. 153. ]

I have been particular in relating the proceedings of this parliament, because it marks the point where the flood tide of reaction ceased toascend, and the ebb recommenced. From the beginning of the Reformationin 1529, two distinct movements had gone on side by side--thealteration of doctrines, and the emancipation of the laity from papaland ecclesiastical domination. With the first, the contemporaries ofHenry VIII. , the country gentlemen and the peers, who were the headsof families at the period of Mary's accession, had never sympathised;and the tyranny of the Protestants while they were in power hadconverted a disapproval which time would have overcome, into activeand determined indignation. The papacy was a mixed question; thePilgrims of Grace in 1536, and the Cornish rebels in 1549, haddemanded the restoration of the spiritual primacy to the See of St. Peter, and Henry himself, until Pole and Paul III. Called on Europe tounite in a crusade against him, had not determined wholly against somedegree of concession. In the pope, as a sovereign who claimedreverence and tribute, who interfered with the laws of the land, andmaintained at Rome a supreme court of appeal--who pretended a right todepose kings and absolve subjects from their allegiance--who held aweapon in excommunication as terrible to the laity as Premunire wasterrible to ecclesiastics--in the pope under this aspect, only a fewinsignificant fanatics entertained any kind of interest. 

But experience had proved that to a nation cut off from the centre ofCatholic union, the maintenance of orthodoxy was impossible: thesupremacy of the pope, therefore, came back as a tolerated feature inthe return to the Catholic faith, and the ecclesiastical courts werereinstated in authority to check unlicensed {p. 188} extravagance ofopinion. Their restored power, however, was over opinion only;wherever the pretensions of the church would come in collision withthe political constitution, wherever they menaced the independence ofthe temporal magistrate or the tenure of property, there the progressof restoration was checked by the rock, and could eat no further intothe soil. The pope and the clergy recovered their titular rank, and inone direction unhappily they recovered the reality of power. But thetemporal spoils of the struggle remained with the laity, and if theclergy lifted a hand to retake them, their weapons would be instantlywrenched from their grasp. 

If the genuine friends of human freedom had acquiesced withoutresistance in this conclusion, if the nobility had contentedthemselves with securing their worldly and political interests, andhad made no effort to restrain or modify the exercise of the authoritywhich they were giving back, they might be accused of having accepteda dishonourable compromise. But they did what they could. They workedwith such legal means as were in their power, and for two parliamentsthey succeeded in keeping persecution at bay; they failed in thethird, but failed only after a struggle. The Protestants themselveshad created, by their own misconduct, the difficulty of defendingthem; and armed unconstitutional resistance was an expedient to beresorted to, only when it had been seen how the clergy would conductthemselves. English statesmen may be pardoned if they did notanticipate the passions to which the guardians of orthodoxy were aboutto abandon themselves. Parliament had maintained the independence ofthe English courts of law. It had maintained the Premunire. It hadforbidden the succession to be tampered with. If this was noteverything, it was something--something which in the end would be theundoing of all the rest. 

The court and the bishops, however, were for the present absolute intheir own province. The persecuting acts were once more upon theStatute Book; and when the realities of the debates in parliament haddisappeared, the cardinal and the queen could again give the rein totheir imagination. They had called up a phantom out of its grave, andthey persuaded themselves that they were witnessing the resurrectionof the spirit of truth, that heresy was about to vanish from off theEnglish soil, like an exhalation of the morning, at the brightness ofthe papal return. The chancellor and the clergy were springing at theleash like hounds with the game in view, fanaticism and revenge{p. 189} lashing them forward. If the temporal schemes of the courtwere thwarted, it was, perhaps, because Heaven desired that exclusiveattention should be given first to the salvation of souls. 

For all past political offences, therefore, there was now an amnesty, and such prisoners as remained unexecuted for Wyatt's conspiracy werereleased from the Tower on the 18th of January. On the 25th a hundredand sixty priests walked in procession through the London streets, chanting litanies, with eight bishops walking after them, and Bonnercarrying the host. On the 28th the cardinal issued his first generalinstructions. The bishops were directed to call together their clergyin every diocese in England, and to inform them of the benevolent loveof the Holy Father, and of the arrival of the legate with powers toabsolve them from their guilt. They were to relate the acts of thelate parliament, with the reconciliation and absolution of the Lordsand Commons; and they were to give general notice that authority hadbeen restored to the ecclesiastical courts, to proceed against theenemies of the faith, and punish them according to law. 

A day was then to be fixed on which the clergy should appear withtheir confessions, and be received into the church. In the assignmentof their several penances, a distinction was to be made between thosewho had taught heresy and those who had merely lapsed into it. 

When the clergy had been reconciled, they were again in turn to exhortthe laity in all churches and cathedrals, to accept the grace whichwas offered to them; and that they might understand that they were notat liberty to refuse the invitation, a time was assigned to themwithin which their submissions must be all completed. A book was to bekept in every diocese, where the names of those who were received wereto be entered. A visitation was to be held throughout the country atthe end of the spring, and all who had not complied before Easter day, or who, after compliance, "had returned to their vomit", would beproceeded against with the utmost severity of the law. [438]

 [Footnote 438: Instructions of Cardinal Pole to the Bishops: Burnet's _Collectanea_. ]

The introduction of the Register was the Inquisition under anothername. There was no limit, except in the humanity or the prudence ofthe bishops, to the tyranny which they would be enabled to exercise. The cardinal professed to desire that, before heretics were punishedwith death, mild means should {p. 190} first be tried with them;[439]the meaning which he attached to the words was illustrated in aninstant example. 

 [Footnote 439: The opinion of Pole, on the propriety of putting men to death for nonconformity, was strictly orthodox. He regarded heretics, he said, as rebellious children, with whom persuasion and mild correction should first be tried. "Nec tamen, negârim fieri posse, " he continued, "ut alicujus opiniones tam perniciosæ existant, ipseque jam corruptus tam sit ad corrumpendos alios promptus ac sedulus ut non dubitârim dicere eum e vitâ tolli oportere et tanquam putridum membrum e corpore exsecari. Neque id tamen priusquam ejus sanandi causâ omnis leviter medendi tentata sit ratio. "--Pole to the Cardinal of Augsburg: _Epist. _ Reg. Pol. Vol. Iv. ]

The instructions were the signal for the bishops to commence business. On the day of their appearance, Gardiner, Bonner, Tunstal, and threeother prelates, formed a court in St. Mary Overy's Church, inSouthwark; and Hooper, and Rogers, a canon of St. Paul's, were broughtup before them. 

Rogers had been distinguished in the first bright days ofProtestantism. He had been a fellow-labourer with Tyndal andCoverdale, at Antwerp, in the translation of the Bible. Afterwards, taking a German wife, he lived for a time at Wittenberg, not unknown, we may be sure, to Martin Luther. On the accession of Edward, hereturned to England, and worked among the London clergy till the endof the reign; and on Mary's accession he was one of the preachers atPaul's Cross who had dared to speak against the reaction. He had beenrebuked by the council, and his friends had urged him to fly; but, like Cranmer, he thought that duty required him to stay at his post, and, in due time, without, however, having given fresh provocation, hewas shut up in Newgate by Bonner. 

Hooper, when the unfortunate garment controversy was brought to anend, had shown by his conduct in his diocese that in one instance atleast doctrinal fanaticism was compatible with the loftiestexcellence. While the great world was scrambling for the churchproperty, Hooper was found petitioning the council for leave toaugment impoverished livings out of his own income. [440] In the hallof his palace at Gloucester a profuse hospitality was offered daily tothose who were most in need of it. The poor of the city were invitedby relays to solid meat dinners, and the bishop with the courtesy of agentleman dined with them, and treated them with the same respect asif they had been the highest in the land. He was one of the firstpersons arrested after Mary's accession, and the cross of persecutionat once happily made his peace with Ridley. In an affectionateinterchange of letters, the two confessors exhorted each other{p. 191} to constancy in the end which both foresaw, determining "ifthey could not overthrow, at least, to shake those high altitudes" ofspiritual tyranny. [441] The Fleet prison had now been Hooper's housefor eighteen months. At first, on payment of heavy fees to the warden, he had lived in some degree of comfort; but as soon as his deprivationwas declared, Gardiner ordered that he should be confined in one ofthe common prisoners' wards; where "with a wicked man and a wickedwoman" for his companions, with a bed of straw and a rottencounterpane, the prison sink on one side of his cell and Fleet ditchon the other, he waited till it would please parliament to permit thedignitaries of the Church to murder him. [442]

 [Footnote 440: _Privy Council Register_, Edward VI. _MS. _]

 [Footnote 441: Correspondence between Hooper and Ridley: Foxe, vol. Vi. ]

 [Footnote 442: Account of Hooper's Imprisonment, by himself: Foxe, vol. Vi. ]

These were the two persons with whom the Marian persecution opened. Ontheir appearance in the court, they were required briefly to maketheir submission. They attempted to argue; but they were told thatwhen parliament had determined a thing, private men were not to callit in question, and they were allowed twenty-four hours to make uptheir minds. As they were leaving the church Hooper was heard to say, "Come, brother Rogers, must we two take this matter first in hand andfry these faggots?" "Yea, sir, with God's grace, " Rogers answered. "Doubt not, " Hooper said, "but God will give us strength. "

They were remanded to prison. The next morning they were brought againbefore the court. "The queen's mercy" was offered them, if they wouldrecant; they refused, and they were sentenced to die. Rogers asked tobe allowed to take leave of his wife and children. Gardiner, with asavage taunt, rejected the request. The day of execution was leftuncertain. They were sent to Newgate to wait the queen's pleasure. Onthe 30th, Taylor of Hadley, Laurence Sandars, rector of All Hallows, and the illustrious Bradford, were passed through the same forms withthe same results. Another, a notorious preacher, called Cardmaker, flinched, and made his submission. 

Rogers was to "break the ice, " as Bradford described it. [443] On themorning of the 4th of February the wife of the keeper of Newgate cameto his bedside. He was sleeping soundly, and she woke him withdifficulty to let him know that he was wanted. The Bishop of Londonwas waiting, she said, to degrade him from the priesthood, and he wasthen to go out and die. Rubbing {p. 192} his eyes, and collectinghimself, he hurried on his clothes. "If it be thus. " he said, "I neednot tie my points. " Hooper had been sent for also for the ceremony ofdegradation. The vestments used in the mass were thrown over them, andwere then one by one removed. They were pronounced deposed from thepriestly office, incapable of offering further sacrifice--except, indeed, the only acceptable sacrifice which man can ever offer, thesacrifice of himself. Again Rogers entreated permission to see hiswife, and again he was refused. 

 [Footnote 443: Bradford to Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer: Foxe. ]

The two friends were then parted. Hooper was to suffer at Gloucester, and returned to his cell; Rogers was committed to the sheriff, and ledout to Smithfield. The Catholics had affected to sneer at the faith oftheir rivals. There was a general conviction among them, which wasshared probably by Pole and Gardiner, that the Protestants would allflinch at the last; that they had no "doctrine that would abide thefire. " When Rogers appeared, therefore, the exultation of the peoplein his constancy overpowered the horror of his fate, and he wasreceived with rounds of cheers. His family, whom he was forbidden topart with in private, were waiting on the way to see him--his wifewith nine little ones at her side and a tenth upon her breast--andthey, too, welcomed him with hysterical cries of joy, as if he were onhis way to a festival. [444] Sir Robert Rochester was in attendance atthe stake to report his behaviour. At the last moment he was offeredpardon if he would give way, but in vain. The fire was lighted. Thesuffering seemed to be nothing. He bathed his hands in the flame as"if it was cold water, " raised his eyes to heaven, and died. 

 [Footnote 444: "Cejourdhuy a esté faicte la confirmation de l'alliance entre le Pape et ce Royaulme par ung sacrifice publique et solempnel d'ung docteur predicant nommé Rogerus, lequel a esté brulé tout vif pour estre Lutherien; mais il est mort persistant en son opinion, à quoy la plus grand part de ce peuple a prins tel plaisir qu'ilz n'ont eu craincte de luy faire plusieurs acclamations pour comforter son courage; et mesmes ses enfans y ont assistés le consolantes de telle façon qu'il sembloit qu'on le menast aux nopces. "--Noailles to Montmorency: _Ambassades_, vol. Iv. ]

The same night a party of the royal guard took charge of Hooper, theorder of whose execution was arranged by a mandate from the crown. As"an obstinate, false, and detestable heretic, " he was to be burned inthe city "which he had infected with his pernicious doctrines;" and"forasmuch as being a vainglorious person, and delighting in histongue, " he "might persuade the people into agreement with him, had heliberty to use it, " care was to be taken that he should not speakeither at {p. 193} the stake or on his way to it. [445] He was carrieddown on horseback by easy stages; and on the forenoon of Thursday, the7th, he dined at Cirencester, "at a woman's house who had always hatedthe truth, and spoken all evil she could of him. " This woman hadshared in the opinion that Protestants had no serious convictions, andhad often expressed her belief that Hooper, particularly, would failif brought to the trial. She found that both in him and in his creedthere was more than she had supposed; and "perceiving the cause of hiscoming, she lamented his case with tears, and showed him all thefriendship she could. "

 [Footnote 445: Mandate for the execution of Hooper: Burnet's _Collectanea_. ]

At five in the evening he arrived at Gloucester. The road, for a mileoutside the town, was lined with people, and the mayor was inattendance, with an escort, to prevent a rescue. But the feeling wasrather of awe and expectation, and those who loved Hooper best knewthat the highest service which he could render to his faith was to diefor it. 

A day's interval of preparation was allowed him, with a private room. He was in the custody of the sheriff; "and there was this differenceobserved between the keepers of the bishops' prisons and the keepersof the crown prisons, that the bishops' keepers were ever cruel; thekeepers of the crown prisons showed, for the most part, such favour asthey might. "[446] After a sound night's rest, Hooper rose early, andpassed the morning in solitary prayer. In the course of the day, youngSir Anthony Kingston, one of the commissioners appointed tosuperintend the execution, expressed a wish to see him. Kingston wasan old acquaintance, Hooper having been the means of bringing him outof evil ways. He entered the room unannounced. Hooper was on hisknees, and, looking round at the intruder, did not at first know him. Kingston told him his name, and then, bursting into tears, said:--

 [Footnote 446: Foxe. ]

"Oh, consider; life is sweet and death is bitter; therefore, seeinglife may be had, desire to live, for life hereafter may do good. "

Hooper answered:--

"I thank you for your counsel, yet it is not so friendly as I couldhave wished it to be. True it is, alas! Master Kingston, that death isbitter and life is sweet; therefore I have settled myself, through thestrength of God's Holy Spirit, patiently to pass through the fireprepared for me, desiring you and others to commend me to God's mercyin your prayers. "

{p. 194} "Well, my Lord, " said Kingston, "then there is no remedy, andI will take my leave. I thank God that ever I knew you, for Godappointed you to call me, being a lost child. I was both an adultererand a fornicator, and God, by your good instruction, brought me to theforsaking of the same. "

They parted, the tears on both their faces. Other friends wereadmitted afterwards. The queen's orders were little thought of, forHooper had won the hearts of the guard on his way from London. In theevening the mayor and aldermen came, with the sheriffs, to shake handswith him. "It was a sign of their good will, " he said, "and a proofthat they had not forgotten the lessons which he used to teach them. "He begged the sheriffs that there might be "a quick fire, to make anend shortly;" and for himself he would be as obedient as they couldwish. 

"If you think I do amiss in anything, " he said, "hold up your fingers, and I have done; for I am not come hither as one enforced or compelledto die; I might have had my life, as is well known, with worldly gain, if I would have accounted my doctrine falsehood and heresy. "

In the evening, at his own request, he was left alone. He sleptundisturbed the early part of the night. From the time that he awoketill the guard entered, he was on his knees. 

The morning was windy and wet. The scene of the execution was an openspace opposite the college, near a large elm tree, where Hooper hadbeen accustomed to preach. Several thousand people were collected tosee him suffer; some had climbed the tree, and were seated in thestorm and rain among the leafless branches. A company of priests werein a room over the college gates, looking out with pity orsatisfaction, as God or the devil was in their hearts. 

"Alas!" said Hooper, when he was brought out, "why be all these peopleassembled here, and speech is prohibited me?" He had suffered inprison from sciatica, and was lame, but he limped cheerfully alongwith a stick, and smiled when he saw the stake. At the foot of it heknelt; and as he began to pray, a box was brought, and placed on astool before his eyes, which he was told contained his pardon if hewould recant. 

"Away with it;" Hooper only cried; "away with it!"

"Despatch him, then, " Lord Chandos said, "seeing there is no remedy. "

He was undressed to his shirt, in the cold; a pound of gunpowder wastied between his legs, and as much more under either {p. 195} arm; hewas fastened with an iron hoop to the stake, and he assisted with hisown hands to arrange the faggots round him. 

The fire was then brought, but the wood was green; the dry straw onlykindled, and burning for a few moments was blown away by the wind. Aviolent flame paralysed the nerves at once, a slow one was torture. More faggots were thrown in, and again lighted, and this time themartyr's face was singed and scorched; but again the flames sank, andthe hot damp sticks smouldered round his legs. He wiped his eyes withhis hands, and cried, "For God's love, good people, let me have morefire!" A third supply of dry fuel was laid about him, and this timethe powder exploded, but it had been ill placed, or was not enough. "Lord Jesu, have mercy on me!" he exclaimed; "Lord Jesu, receive myspirit!" These were his last articulate words; but his lips were longseen to move, and he continued to beat his breast with his hands. Itwas not till after three-quarters of an hour of torment that he atlast expired. 

The same day, at the same hour, Rowland Taylor was burnt on AldhamCommon, in Suffolk. Laurance Sandars had been destroyed the day beforeat Coventry, kissing the stake, and crying, "Welcome the cross ofChrist! welcome everlasting life!" The first-fruits of the Whitehallpageant were gathered. By the side of the rhetoric of the hystericaldreamer who presided in that vain melodrama, let me place a few wordsaddressed by the murdered Bishop of Gloucester to his friends, a weekbefore his sentence. 

"The grace of God be with you, amen. I did write unto you of late, andtold you what extremity the parliament had concluded upon concerningreligion, suppressing the truth, and setting forth the untruth;intending to cause all men, by extremity, to forswear themselves; andto take again for the head of the church him that is neither head normember of it, but a very enemy, as the word of God and all ancientwriters do record. And for lack of law and authority they will useforce and extremity, which have been the arguments to defend the popeand popery since their authority first began in the world. But now isthe time of trial, to see whether we fear more God or man. It was aneasy thing to hold with Christ whilst the prince and the world heldwith him; but now the world hateth him, it is the true trial who behis. 

"Wherefore in the name, and in the virtue, strength, and power of hisHoly Spirit, prepare yourselves in any case to adversity andconstancy. Let us not run away when it is most {p. 196} time tofight. Remember, none shall be crowned but such as fight manfully; andhe that endureth to the end shall be saved. Ye must now turn yourcogitations from the perils you see, and mark the felicity thatfolloweth the peril--either victory in this world of your enemies, orelse a surrender of this life to inherit the everlasting kingdom. Beware of beholding too much the felicity or misery of this world; forthe consideration and too earnest love or fear of either of themdraweth from God. Wherefore think with yourselves as touching thefelicity of the world, it is good; but none otherwise than it standethwith the favour of God; it is to be kept, but yet so far forth as bykeeping it we lose not God. It is good abiding and tarrying stillamong our friends here, but yet so that we tarry not therewithal inGod's displeasure, and hereafter dwell with the devils in fireeverlasting. There is nothing under God but may be kept, so that God, being above all things we have, be not lost. Of adversity judge thesame. Imprisonment is painful, but yet liberty upon evil conditions ismore painful. The prisons stink; but yet not so much as sweet houses, where the fear and true honour of God lack. I must be alone andsolitary; it is better so to be, and have God with me, than to be incompany with the wicked. Loss of goods is great, but loss of God'sgrace and favour is greater. I am a poor simple creature, and cannottell how to answer before such a great sort of noble, learned, andwise men. It is better to make answer before the pomp and pride ofwicked men, than to stand naked, in the sight of all heaven and earth, before the just God at the latter day. I shall die by the hands of thecruel men; but he is blessed that loseth this life full of miseries, and findeth the life of eternal joys. It is pain and grief to departfrom goods and friends; but yet not so much as to depart from graceand heaven itself. Wherefore there is neither felicity nor adversityof this world that can appear to be great, if it be weighed with thejoys or pains in the world to come. "[447]

 [Footnote 447: Hooper to his friends: Foxe, vol. Vi. ]

Of five who had been sentenced, four were thus despatched. Bradford, the fifth, was respited, in the hope that the example might tell uponhim. Six more were waiting their condemnation in Bonner's prisons. Theenemies of the church were to submit or die. So said Gardiner, in thename of the English priesthood, with the passion of a fierce revenge. So said the legate and the queen, in the delirious belief that theywere chosen instruments of Providence. 

So, however, did not say the English lay statesmen. The {p. 197}first and unexpected effect was to produce a difference of opinion inthe court itself. Philip, to whom Renard had insisted on the necessityof more moderate measures, found it necessary to clear himself ofresponsibility; and the day after Hooper suffered, Alphonso a Castro, the king's chaplain, preached a sermon in the royal presence, in whichhe denounced the execution, and inveighed against the tyranny of thebishops. The Lords of the Council "talked strangely;" and so deep wasthe indignation, that the Flemish ambassador again expected Gardiner'sdestruction. Paget refused to act with him in the council any more, and Philip himself talked more and more of going abroad. Renard, fromthe tone of his correspondence, believed evidently at this moment thatthe game of the church was played out and lost. He wrote to theemperor to entreat that when the king went he might not himself beleft behind; he was held responsible by the people for the queen'smisdoings; and a party of the young nobility had sworn to killhim. [448]

 [Footnote 448: "L'évesque de Londres avec les autres évesques assembléez en ce lieu pour l'exécution du statut conclu en dernier Parlement sur le faict de la religion, a fait brusler trois hérétiques; l'ung en ce lieu et les deux autres en pays; et sont après pour continuer contre les obstinez: dont les nobles et le peuple hérétique murmure et s'altère; selon que l'ay faict entendre au roy par ung billet par escript duquel la copie va avec les présentes; et la noblesse tousjours désire d'avoir occasion d'attirer le peuple et le faire joindre à révolte avec elle; et prévoys si Dieu n'y remédie, ou que telle précipitation ne se modère, les choses prendront dangereux succès, et signamment les partiaulx, contre le chancelier ne perdront ceste commodité de vengeance. .. . Les dictes conseilliers se retirent de négoces. Paget se voyant en la male grâce de la royne, et de la pluspart du conseil, se trouve souvent au quartier dudict Sieurroy . .. Le peuple parle contre la royne estrangement. .. . Comme j'entendz que l'on parle pour me faire demeurer, et séjourner par deçà après le départ du roy, je n'ay pen délaisser de supplier très humblement vostre majesté me excuser . .. Je suys certain l'on me tueroit incontinant après ledict parlement, " etc. --Renard to Charles V. : _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. Pp. 400-402. ]

Among the people the constancy of the martyrs had called out a burstof admiration. It was rumoured that bystanders had endeavoured tothrow themselves into the fire to die at their side. [449] A prisoner, on examination before Bonner, was asked if he thought he could bearthe flame. You may try me, if you will, he said. A candle was brought, and he held his hand, without flinching, in the blaze. [450] With sucha humour abroad, {p. 198} it seemed to Renard that the Lords had onlyto give the signal, and the queen and the bishops would beoverwhelmed. 

 [Footnote 449: "Et a l'on dict que plusieurs . .. Se sont voulu voluntairement mettre sur le bûche à costé de ceulx que l'on brusloit. "--Ibid. P. 404. ]

 [Footnote 450: "Un bourgeois estant interrougé par ledict évesque de Londres se souffriroit bien le feug, respondist qu'il en fist l'expérience: et aiant fait apporter une chandelle allumée, il meit la main dessus sans la retirer ny se mouvoir. "--Renard to Charles V. : _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Vi. P. 404. The man's name was Tomkins. Foxe, who tells the story as an illustration of Bonner's brutality, says that the Bishop himself held the hand. But Renard's is probably the truer version. ]

He expected the movement in the spring. It is singular that, preciselyas in the preceding winter, the deliberate intentions of moderate andcompetent persons were anticipated and defeated by a partial andpremature conspiracy. At the end of February a confederate revealed aproject for an insurrection, partly religious and partly agrarian. Placards were to be issued simultaneously in all parts of the country, declaring that the queen's pregnancy was a delusion, and that sheintended to pass upon the nation a supposititious child; the peoplewere, therefore, invited to rise in arms, drive out the Spaniards, revolutionise religion, tear down the enclosures of the commons, andproclaim Courtenay king under the title of Edward VII. [451] In such ascheme the lords and country gentlemen could bear no part. They couldnot risk a repetition of the popular rebellions of the late reign, andthey resolved to wait the issue of the queen's pregnancy, while theywatched over the safety of Elizabeth. The project of the court was nowto send her to Flanders, where she was to remain under charge of theemperor; if possible, she was to be persuaded to go thither of her ownaccord; if she could not be persuaded, she would be otherwise removed. Lord William Howard, her constant guardian, requested permission tosee and speak with her, and learn her own feelings. He was refused;but he went to her notwithstanding, and had a long private interviewwith her; and the court could only talk bitterly of his treason amongthemselves, make propositions to send him to the Tower which theydurst not execute, and devise some other method of dealing with theirdifficulty. [452]

 [Footnote 451: Renard to Charles V. : _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 403. ]

 [Footnote 452: Renard to Charles V. : Ibid. Pp. 404, 405. ]

Meantime, Philip, who had pined for freedom after six weeks'experience of his bride, was becoming unmanageably impatient. A paperof advice and exhortation survives, which was addressed on thisoccasion by the ambassador to his master, with reflections on thecondition of England, and on the conduct which the king should pursue. 

"Your majesty must remember, " said Renard, "the purpose for which youcame to England. The French had secured the Queen of Scotland for theDauphin. They had afterwards made an alliance with the late king, andspared no pains to secure the support of England. To counteract theirschemes, and to {p. 199} obtain a counter advantage in the war, theemperor, on the accession of the queen, resolved that your highnessshould marry her. Your highness, it is true, might wish that she wasmore agreeable;[453] but, on the other hand, she is infinitelyvirtuous, and, things being as they are, your highness, like amagnanimous prince, must remember her condition, and exert yourself, so far as you conveniently may, to assist her in the management of thekingdom. 

 [Footnote 453: "Et combien l'on pouvoit requérir plus de civilité en la Reyne. --Renard to Philip: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 394. ]

"Your highness must consider that your departure will bemisrepresented, your enemies will speak of it as a flight rather thanas a necessary absence. The French will be busy with their intrigues, and the queen will not be pleased to lose you. The administration isin confusion, the divisions in the council are more violent than ever. Religion is unsettled; the heretics take advantage of these latebarbarous punishments to say, that they are to be converted by fire, because their enemies are unable to convince them by reason orexample. The orthodox clergy are still unreformed, and theirscandalous conduct accords ill with the offices to which they arecalled. [454]

 [Footnote 454: "Les gens d'église ne sont reformées, il y a plusieurs abuz qui donnent scandale et maulvaise impression, et ilz ne respondent aux offices auxquelz ilz sont appellez. "--Ibid. P. 395. ]

"Further, your highness will do well to weigh the uncertainty of thesuccession. Should the queen's pregnancy prove a mistake, the hereticswill place their hopes in Elizabeth: and here you are in a difficultywhatever be done; for if Elizabeth be set aside, the crown will go tothe Queen of Scots; if she succeed, she will restore heresy, andnaturally attach herself to France. Some step must be taken about thisbefore you leave the country; and you must satisfy the queen that youwill assist her in her general difficulties, as a good lord andhusband ought to do. [455]

 [Footnote 455: "Donner ce contentement à la royne d'avoir intention de asseurer et establir ses affaires et la secourir comme bon Seigneur et mari. "]

"The council must be reformed, if possible, and the number diminished;those who remain must be invited to renew their oaths to your majesty. Regard must be had to the navy, and especially to the admiral LordWilliam Howard; and above all there must be no more of this barbarousprecipitancy in putting heretics to death. The people must be won fromtheir errors by gentleness and by better instruction. Except in casesof especial scandal, the bishops must not be permitted to irritatethem by {p. 200} cruelty, and the legate must see that a betterexample is set by the clergy themselves. [456] The debts of the crownmust be attended to; and your majesty should endeavour to do somethingwhich will give you popularity with the masses. Before all things, attend to the succession. 

 [Footnote 456: "Que ès choses de la religion l'on ne use de précipitation par punition cruelle, ains avec la modération, et mansuétude requise, et dont l'église a tousjours usé; retirant le peuple de l'erreur par doctrine et prédication, et que si ce n'est un acte scandaleux l'on ne passe oultre en chastoy que puisse altérer le peuple et le désgouter, que la reformation requise pour le bon example, soit introduicte sur les gens de l'église comme le légat advisera pour le mieulx. "--Renard to Philip: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. P. 395. ]

"You cannot set aside the dispositions of King Henry in favour ofElizabeth without danger of rebellion. To recognise her asheir-presumptive without providing her with a husband, who can controlher, will be perilous to the queen. The mean course between theextremes, will be therefore, for your highness to bring about hermarriage with the Prince of Savoy. It will please the English, provided that her rights of inheritance are not interfered with; andalthough they will not go to war for our quarrel, they will not inthat case be unwilling to assist in expelling the French fromPiedmont. 

"If your majesty approve, the thing can be done without delay. At allevents, before you leave the country, you should see the princessyourself; give her your advice to be faithful to her sister, and, onyour part, promise that you will be her friend, and assist her whereyou can find opportunity. "

{p. 201} CHAPTER IV. 

THE MARTYRS. 

The protests of Renard against the persecution received no attention. 

The inquisition established by the legate was not to commence tillEaster; but the prisons were already abundantly supplied with personswho had been arrested on various pretexts, and the material was readyin hand to occupy the interval. The four persons who had firstsuffered had been conspicuous among the leaders of the Reformation;but the bishops were for the most part prudent in their selection ofvictims, and chose them principally from among the poor andunfriended. 

On the 9th of February, a weaver named Tomkins (the man who had heldhis hand in the candle), Pigot, a butcher, Knight, a barber, Hunter, an apprentice boy of 19, Lawrence, a priest, and Hawkes, a gentleman, were brought before Bonner in the Consistory at St. Paul's, where theywere charged with denying transubstantiation, and were condemned todie. The indignation which had been excited by the first executionscaused a delay in carrying the sentence into effect; but as the menaceof insurrection died away the wolves came back to their prey. On the9th of March, two more were condemned also, Thomas Causton and ThomasHigbed, men of some small property in Essex. To disperse the effect, these eight were scattered about the diocese. Tomkins died atSmithfield on the 16th of March; Causton and Higbed, Pigot and Knight, in different parts of Essex; Hawkes suffered later; Lawrence was burntat Colchester. The legs of the latter had been crushed by irons in oneof Bonner's prisons; he was unable to stand, and was placed at thestake in a chair. "At his burning, he sitting in the fire, the youngchildren came about and cried, as well as young children could speak, Lord strengthen thy servant, and keep thy promise--Lord, strengthenthy servant, and keep thy promise. "[457]

 [Footnote 457: Foxe, vol. Vi. ]

Hunter's case deserves more particular mention. The London apprenticeshad been affected deeply by the Reforming preachers. It was to themthat the servant of Anne Askew "made her {p. 202} moan, " and gatheredsubscriptions for her mistress. William Hunter, who was one of them, had been ordered to attend mass by a priest when it wasre-established; he had refused, and his master, fearing that he mightbe brought into trouble, had sent him home to his family at Brentwood, in Essex. [458] Another priest, going one day into Brentwood Church, found Hunter reading the Bible there. 

 [Footnote 458: The story of Hunter was left in writing by his brother, and was printed by Foxe. I have already said that whenever Foxe prints documents instead of relating hearsays, I have found him uniformly trustworthy; so far, that is to say, as there are means of testing him. ]

Could he expound Scripture, that he read it thus to himself? thepriest asked. He was reading for his comfort, Hunter replied; he didnot take on himself to expound. The Bible taught him how to live, andhow to distinguish between right and wrong. 

It was never merry world, the priest said, since the Bible came forthin English. He saw what Hunter was--he was one of those who dislikedthe queen's laws, and he and other heretics would broil for it beforeall was over. 

The boy's friends thought it prudent that he should fly to some placewhere he was not known; but, as soon as he was gone, a Catholicmagistrate in the neighbourhood required his father to produce him, onperil of being arrested in his place; and, after a struggle ofaffection, in which the father offered to shield his son at his ownhazard, young Hunter returned and surrendered. 

The magistrate sent him to the Bishop of London, who kept him inprison three quarters of a year. When the persecution commenced, hewas called up for examination. 

Bonner, though a bigot and a ruffian, had, at times, a coarsegood-nature in him, and often, in moments of pity, thrust an easyrecantation upon a hesitating prisoner. He tried with emphatic anxietyto save this young apprentice. "If thou wilt recant, " he said to him, "I will make thee a freeman in the city, and give thee forty pounds inmoney to set up thy occupation withal; or I will make thee steward ofmine house, and set thee in office, for I like thee well. "

Hunter thanked him for his kindness; but it could not be, he said; hemust stand to the truth: he could not lie, or pretend to believe whathe did not believe. Bonner said, and probably with sincere conviction, that if he persisted he would be damned for ever. Hunter said, thatGod judged more righteously, and justified those whom man unjustlycondemned. 

He was therefore to die with the rest; and on Saturday, the {p. 203}23rd of March, he was sent to suffer at his native village. Mondaybeing the feast of the Annunciation, the execution was postponed tillTuesday. The intervening time he was allowed to spend with his friends"in the parlour of the Swan Inn. " His father prayed that he mightcontinue to the end in the way that he had begun. His mother said, shewas happy to bear a child who could find in his heart to lose his lifefor Christ's sake. "Mother, " he answered, "for my little pain which Ishall suffer, which is but a short braid, Christ hath promised me acrown of joy. May you not be glad of that, mother?"

Amidst such words the days passed. Tuesday morning the sheriff's soncame and embraced him, "bade him not be afraid, " and "could speak nomore for weeping. " When the sheriff came himself for him, he took hisbrother's arm and walked calmly to the place of execution, "at thetown's end, where the butts stood. "

His father was at the roadside as he passed. "God be with thee, sonWilliam!" the old man said. "God be with thee, good father, " the sonanswered, "and be of good comfort!"

When he was come to the stake, he took one of the faggots, knelt uponit, and prayed for a few moments. The sheriff read the pardon with theconditions. "I shall not recant, " he said, and walked to the post, towhich he was chained. 

"Pray for me, good people, while you see me alive, " he said to thecrowd. 

"Pray for thee!" said the magistrate who had committed him, "I will nomore pray for thee than I will pray for a dog. "

"Son of God, " Hunter exclaimed, "shine on me!" The sun broke out frombehind a cloud and blazed in glory on his face. 

The faggots were set on fire. 

"Look, " shrieked a priest, "how thou burnest here, so shalt thou burnin hell!"

The martyr had a Prayer-book in his hands, which he cast through theflames to his brother. 

"William, " said the brother, "think on the holy passion of Christ, andbe not afraid of death. "

"I am not afraid, " were his last words. "Lord, Lord, Lord, receive myspirit!"

Ten days later another victim was sacrificed at Carmarthen, whose fatewas peculiarly unprovoked and cruel. 

Robert Ferrars, who twenty-seven years before carried a faggot withAnthony Dalaber in High Street at Oxford, had been appointed bySomerset Bishop of St. David's. He was a {p. 204} man of largehumanity, justice, and uprightness--neither conspicuous as atheologian nor prominent as a preacher, but remarkable chiefly forgood sense and a kindly imaginative tenderness. He had found hisdiocese infected with the general disorders of the times. The Chapterwere indulging themselves to the utmost in questionable pleasures. Thechurch patronage was made the prey of a nest of Cathedral lawyers, and, in an evil hour for himself, the bishop endeavoured to makecrooked things straight. 

After three years of struggle, his unruly canons were unable to endurehim longer, and forwarded to the Duke of Northumberland an elaborateseries of complaints against him. He was charged with neglecting hisbooks and his preaching, and spending his time in surveying the landsof the see, and opening mines. He kept no manner of hospitality, itwas said, but dined at the same table with his servants; and his talkwas "not of godliness, " "but of worldly matters, as baking, brewing, enclosing, ploughing, mining, millstones, discharging of tenants, andsuch like. "

"To declare his folly in riding (these are the literal words of theaccusation), he useth a bridle with white studs and snaffle, whiteScottish stirrups, white spurs; a Scottish pad, with a little staff ofthree quarters [of a yard] long. 

"He said he would go to parliament on foot; and to his friends thatdissuaded him, alleging that it was not meet for a man in his place, he answered, I care not for that; it is no sin. 

"Having a son, he went before the midwife to the church, presentingthe child to the priest; and giving the name Samuel with a solemninterpretation of the name, [459] appointed two godfathers and twogodmothers contrary to the ordinance, making his son a monster andhimself a laughing-stock. 

 [Footnote 459: Wherefore it came to pass that Hannah bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the Lord. 1 _Samuel_ i. 20. ]

"He daily useth whistling of his child, and saith that he understoodhis whistle when he was but three years old; and being advertised ofhis friends that men laughed at his folly, he answered, They whistletheir horses and dogs: they might also be contented that I whistle mychild; and so whistleth him daily, friendly admonition neglected. 

"In his visitation, among other his surveys, he surveyed MilfordHaven, where he espied a seal-fish tumbling, and he crept down to therocks by the water-side, and continued there {p. 205} whistling bythe space of an hour, persuading the company that laughed fast at him, he made the fish to tarry there. 

"Speaking of the scarcity of herrings, he laid the fault to thecovetousness of fishers, who in time of plenty took so many that theydestroyed the breeders. 

"Speaking of the alteration of the coin, he wished that what metalsoever it was made of, the penny should be in weight worth a penny ofthe same metal. "

Such were the charges against Ferrars, which, notwithstanding, wereconsidered serious enough to require an answer; and the bishopconsented to reply. 

He dined with his servants, he said, because the hall of the palacewas in ruins, and for their comfort he allowed them to eat in his ownroom. For his hospitality, he appealed to his neighbours; and for hisconversation, he said that he suited it to his hearers. He talked ofreligion to religious men; to men of the world, he talked "of honestworldly things with godly intent. " He saw no folly in having his horsedecently appointed; and as to walking to parliament, it wasindifferent to him whether he walked or rode. God had given him achild, after lawful prayer, begotten in honest marriage; he hadtherefore named him Samuel, and presented him to the minister as apoor member of Christ's Church; it was done openly in the cathedral, without offending any one. The crime of whistling he admitted, "thinking it better to bring up his son with loving entertainment, " toencourage him to receive afterwards more serious lessons. He hadwhistled to the seal; and "such as meant folly might turn it to theirpurpose. " He had said that the destruction of the fry of fishprevented fish from multiplying, because he believed it to be true. 

Answered or unanswered, it is scarcely credible that such accusationsshould have received attention; but the real offence behind, and isindicated in a vague statement that he had supposed himself to apremunire. The exquisite iniquity of the Northumberland administrationcould not endure a bishop who had opposed the corrupt administrationof patronage; and the explanation being held as insufficient, Ferrarswas summoned to London and thrown into prison, where Mary's accessionfound him. 

Cut off in this way from the opportunities of escape which were longopen to others, the bishop remained in confinement till the opening ofthe persecution. He was deposed from his see by Gardiner's firstcommission, as having been married; otherwise, {p. 206} however, Ferrars was unobnoxious politically and personally. Being in prison, he had been incapable of committing any fresh offence against thequeen, and might reasonably have been forgotten or passed over. But hehad been a bishop, and he was ready caught to the hands of theauthorities; and Mary had been compelled unwillingly to release a moreconspicuous offender, Miles Coverdale, at the intercession of the Kingof Denmark. Ferrars was therefore brought before Gardiner on the 4thof February. On the 14th he was sent into Wales to be tried by Morgan, his successor at St. David's, and Constantine, the notary of thediocese, who had been one of his accusers. By these judges, on the11th of March, he was condemned and degraded; he appealed to thelegate, but the legate never listened to the prayer of heretics; thelegate's mission was to extirpate them. On Saturday the 30th of March, Ferrars was brought to the stake in the market-place inCarmarthen. [460]

 [Footnote 460: Foxe, vol. Vii. ]

Rawlins White, an aged Cardiff fisherman, followed Ferrars. In thecourse of April, George Marsh, a curate, was burnt at Chester; and onthe 20th of April, a man named William Flower, who had been once amonk of Ely, was burnt in Palace-yard, at Westminster. Flower hadprovoked his own fate. He appeared on Easter day in St. Margaret'sChurch, while mass was being said; and provoked, as he persuadedhimself, by the Holy Spirit, he flew upon the officiating priest, andstabbed him with a dagger in the hand; when to the horror of piousCatholics, the blood spurted into the chalice, and was mixed with theconsecrated elements. 

Sixteen persons had now been put to death, and there was again a pausefor the sharp surgery to produce its effects. 

While Mary was destroying the enemies of the church, Julius the Thirdhad died at the end of March, and Reginald Pole was again a candidatefor the vacant chair. The courts of Paris and Brussels alike promisedhim their support, but alike gave their support to another. Theyflattered his virtues, but they permitted Marcellus Cervino, theCardinal of St. Cross, to be elected unanimously; and the Englishlegate was told that he must be contented with the event which God hadbeen pleased to send. [461] An opportunity, however, seemed to offeritself to him of accomplishing a service to Europe. 

 [Footnote 461: Noailles to the King of France, April 5 and April 17. Montmorency to Noailles, April 21. Noailles to Montmorency, April 30: _Ambassades_, vol. Iv. ]

{p. 207} For thirty-five years the two great Catholic powers had beenwrestling with but brief interruption. The advantage to either hadbeen as trifling as the causes of their quarrel were insignificant. Their revenues were anticipated, their credit was exhausted, yet yearafter year languid armies struggled into collision. Across the Alps inItaly, and along the frontiers of Burgundy and the Low Countries, towns and villages, and homesteads were annually sacked, and peasantsand their families destroyed--for what it were vain to ask, except itwas for some poor shadow of imagined honour. Two mighty princesbelieved themselves justified in the sight of Heaven in squanderingtheir subjects' treasure and their subjects' blood, because the prideof each forbade him to be the first in volunteering insignificantconcessions. France had conquered Savoy and part of Piedmont, and hadpushed forward its northern frontier to Marienbourg and Metz: theemperor held Lombardy, Parma, and Naples, and Navarre was annexed toSpain. The quarrel might have easily been ended by mutual restitution;yet the Peace of Cambray, the Treaty of Nice, and the Peace of Crêpy, lasted only while the combatants were taking breath; and those whowould attribute the extravagances of human folly to supernaturalinfluence might imagine that the great discord between the orthodoxpowers had been permitted to give time for the Reformation to strikeits roots into the soil of Europe. But a war which could be carried ononly by loans at sixteen per cent. Was necessarily near itsconclusion. The apparent recovery of England to the church revivedhopes which the Peace of Passau and the dissolution of the Council ofTrent had almost extinguished; and, could a reconciliation be effectedat last, and could Philip obtain the disposal of the military strengthof England in the interests of the papacy, it might not even yet betoo late to lay the yoke of orthodoxy on the Germans, and, in aCatholic interpretation of the Parable of the Supper, "compel them tocome in. "

Mary, who had heard herself compared to the Virgin, and Pole, whoimagined the Prince of Spain to be the counterpart of the Redeemer ofmankind, indulged their fancy in large expectations. Philip was theSolomon who was to raise up the temple of the Lord, which the emperor, who was a man of war, had not been allowed to build: and France, atthe same time, was not unwilling to listen to proposals. The birth ofMary's child was expected in a few weeks, when England would, as amatter of course, become more decisively Imperialist, and Henry, whose{p. 208} invasion of the Netherlands had failed in the previoussummer, was ready now to close the struggle while it could be ended onequal and honourable terms. 

A conference was, therefore, agreed upon, in which England was tomediate. A village in the Calais Pale was selected as the place ofassembly, and Pole, Gardiner, Paget, and Pembroke were chosen toarrange the terms of a general peace, with the Bishop of Arras, theCardinal of Lorraine, and Montmorency. The time pitched upon was thatat which, so near as the queen could judge, she would herself bringinto the world the offspring which was to be the hope of England andmankind; and the great event should, if possible, precede the firstmeeting of the plenipotentiaries. 

The queen herself commenced her preparations with infiniteearnestness, and, as a preliminary votive offering, she resolved togive back to the church such of the abbey property as remained in thehands of the crown. Her debts were now as high as ever. The Flanderscorrespondence was repeating the heavy story of loans and bills. Promises to pay were falling due, and there were no resources to meetthem, and the Israelite leeches were again fastened on thecommonwealth. [462] Nevertheless, the sacrifice should be made; themore difficult it was, the more favourably it would be received; and, on the 28th of March, she sent for the Lord Treasurer, and announcedher intention. "If he told her that her estate would not bear it, shemust reply, " she said, "that she valued the salvation of her soulbeyond all earthly things. "[463] As soon as parliament could meet andgive its sanction, she would restore the first-fruits also to the HolySee. She must work for God as God had worked for her. 

 [Footnote 462: Letters to and from Sir Thomas Gresham: _MS. Flanders, Mary_, State Paper Office. ]

 [Footnote 463: Strype's _Memorials_. ]

About the 20th of April she withdrew to Hampton Court for entirequiet. The rockers and the nurses were in readiness, and a cradlestood open to receive the royal infant. Priests and bishops sangLitanies through the London streets; a procession of ecclesiastics incloth of gold and tissue marched round Hampton Court Palace, headed byPhilip in person; Gardiner walked at his side, while Mary gazed from awindow. [464] Not only was the child assuredly coming, but its sex wasdecided on, and circulars were drawn and signed both by the king andqueen, with blanks only for the month and day, announcing to ministers{p. 209} of state, to ambassadors, and to foreign sovereigns, thebirth of a prince. [465]

 [Footnote 464: Machyn's _Diary_. ]

 [Footnote 465: These curious records of disappointed expectations remain in large numbers in the State Paper Office. The following is the letter addressed to Pole:--

 Philip. --Mary the Queen. --Most Reverend Father in God, our right trusty and right entirely beloved cousin, We greet you well: And whereas it hath pleased Almighty God, of His infinite goodness, to add unto the great number of other His benefits bestowed upon us, the gladding of us with the happy deliverance of a prince, for the which we do most humbly thank Him; knowing your affections to be such towards us as whatsoever shall fortunately succeed unto us, the same cannot be but acceptable unto you also; We have thought good to communicate unto you these happy news of ours, to the intent you may rejoice with us; and praying for us, give God thanks for this his work accordingly. Given under our signet, at our house of Hampton Court, the ---- of ----, the 1st and 2nd year of our and my Lord the King's reign. --_MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. V. State Paper Office. ]

On the 30th, the happy moment was supposed to have arrived; a messagewas sent off to London, announcing the commencement of the pains. Thebells were set ringing in all the churches; _Te Deum_ was sung in St. Paul's; priests wrote sermons; bonfires were piled ready for lighting, and tables were laid out in the streets. [466] The news crossed theChannel to Antwerp, and had grown in the transit. The great bell ofthe cathedral was rung for the actual birth. The vessels in the riverfired salutes. "The regent sent the English mariners a hundred crownsto drink, " and, "they made themselves in readiness to show some worthytriumph upon the waters. "[467]

 [Footnote 466: Noailles to Montmorency, April 30: _Ambassades_, vol. Iv. ]

 [Footnote 467: Sir Thomas Gresham to the Council: _MS. Flanders, Mary_, State Paper Office. ]

But the pains passed off without result; and whispers began to beheard, that there was, perhaps, a mistake of a more considerable kind. Mary, however, had herself no sort of misgiving. She assured herattendants that all was well, and that she felt the motion of herchild. The physicians professed to be satisfied, and the priests werekept at work at the Litanies. Up and down the streets they marched, through city and suburb, park and square; torches flared alongCheapside at midnight behind the Holy Sacrament, and five hundred poormen and women from the almshouses walked two and two, telling theirbeads in their withered fingers: then all the boys of all the schoolswere set in motion, and the ushers and the masters came after them;clerks, canons, bishops, mayor, aldermen, officers of guilds. [468]Such marching, such chanting, such praying was never seen or heardbefore or since in London streets. A profane {p. 210} person ran oneday out of the crowd, and hung about a priest's neck, where the beadsshould be, a string of puddings; but they whipped him, and prayed on. Surely, God would hear the cry of his people. 

 [Footnote 468: Machyn's _Diary_. ]

In the midst of the suspense the papal chair fell vacant again. Thepontificate of Marcellus lasted three weeks, and Pole a third timeoffered himself to the suffrages of the cardinals. The courts wereprofuse of compliments as before. Noailles presented him with a notefrom Montmorency, containing assurances of the infinite desire of theKing of France for the success of so holy a person. [469] Philip wroteto Rome in his behalf, and Mary condescended to ask for the support ofthe French cardinals. [470] But the fair speeches, as before, were buttrifling. The choice fell on Pole's personal enemy, Cardinal Caraffa, who was French alike in heart and brain. 

 [Footnote 469: Noailles to Montmorency, May 15: _Ambassades_, vol. Iv. ]

 [Footnote 470: Philip and Mary to Gardiner, Arundel, and Paget: Burnet's _Collectanea_. ]

The choice of a pope, however, would signify little, if only the childcould be born; but where was the child? The queen put it offstrangely. The conference could be delayed no longer. It openedwithout the intended makeweight, and the court of France was lessinclined to make concessions for a peace. The delay began to tell onthe bourse at Antwerp. The Fuggers and the Schertzes drew theirpurse-strings, and made difficulties in lending more money to theemperor. [471] The plenipotentiaries had to separate after a fewmeetings, having effected nothing, to the especial mortification ofPhilip and Mary, who looked to the pacification to enable them to cureEngland of its unruly humours. The Duke of Alva (so rumour insisted)was to bring across the Spanish troops which were in the LowCountries, take possession of London, and force the parliament intosubmission. [472] The English were to be punished, for the infiniteinsolences in which they had indulged towards Philip's retinue, bybeing compelled, whether they liked it or not, to bestow upon him thecrown. [473]

 [Footnote 471: Noailles: _Ambassades_, vol. Iv. P. 313. ]

 [Footnote 472: "Et là où ladicte paix ou trefve adviendront ledict seigneur (l'Empereur) fera bientost après repasser en ce royaulme le duc d'Alva avecque la plus grande part de sesdictes forces pour y fabvoriser les affaires de ce roy. "--Noailles, vol. Iv. P. 330. ]

 [Footnote 473: "Il n'est rien que l'Empereur ne fasse pour venir à la paix, tant il désire avant de retourner en Espaigne de faire couronner son filz, roy de ce pays. Et pensera par même moyen se saisir des places fortes d'icelluy et chastier des Angloys d'infinies injures qu'ilz out faict recepvoir aux Espagnols, mettant grosses garnisons en ceste ville de Londres, et aultres lieux, à quoy ces roy et royne proposent . .. S'y faire obéir absolument aux parlemens, suyvant ce qu'ilz n'ont peu faire par cydevant. "--Noailles, vol. Iv. Pp. 332, 333. 

 In these reports the truth was anticipated but not exceeded. It will be seen that such projects were really formed at a later period. ]

{p. 211} But the peace could not be, nor could the child be born; andthe impression grew daily that the queen had not been pregnant at all. Mary herself, who had been borne forward to this, the crisis of herfortunes, on a tide of success, now suddenly found her exulting hopesclosing over. From confidence she fell into anxiety, from anxiety intofear, from fear into wildness and despondency. She vowed that with therestoration of the estates, she would rebuild the abbeys at her owncost. In vain. Her women now understood her condition; she was sick ofa mortal disease; but they durst not tell her; and she whose careerhad been painted out to her by the legate, as especial and supernatural, looked only for supernatural causes of her present state. ThroughoutMay she remained in her apartments waiting--waiting--in passionaterestlessness. With stomach swollen, and features shrunk and haggard, she would sit upon the floor, with her knees drawn up to her face, inan agony of doubt; and in mockery of her wretchedness, letters wereagain strewed about the place by an invisible agency, telling her thatshe was loathed by her people. She imagined they would rise again inher defence. But if they rose again, it would be to drive her and herhusband from the country. [474]

 [Footnote 474: "Ladicte dame plusieurs fois de le jour demeure longtemps assise à terre, les genoulx aussy haultz que la teste. 

 "Se trouva hier fort malade et plus que de coustume, et pour la soulager, fust trouvé à mesme heure en sa court plusieurs lettres semées contre son honneur, " etc. --Noailles, vol. Iv. P. 342. ]

After the mysterious quickening on the legate's salutation, she couldnot doubt that her hopes had been at one time well founded; but forsome fault, some error in herself, God had delayed the fulfilment ofhis promise. And what could that crime be? The accursed thing wasstill in the realm. She had been raised up, like the judges in Israel, for the extermination of God's enemies; and she had smitten but a fewhere and there, when, like the evil spirits, their name waslegion. [475] She had before sent orders round among the magistrates, to have their eyes upon them. On the 24th of May, when her distractionwas at its height, she wrote a circular to quicken the over-languidzeal of the bishops. 

 [Footnote 475: "The Queen said she could not be safely and happily delivered, nor could anything succeed prosperously with her, unless all the heretics in prison were burnt _ad unum_. "--Burnet. ]

{p. 212} "Right Reverend Father in God, " it ran, "We greet you well;and where of late we addressed our letters unto the justices of thepeace, within every of the counties within this our realm, whereby, amongst other good instructions given therein for the good order ofthe country about, they are willed to have special regard to suchdisordered persons as, forgetting their duty to Almighty God and us, do lean to any erroneous and heretical opinions; whom, if they cannotby good admonition and fair means reform, they are willed to deliverunto the ordinary, to be by him charitably travelled withal, andremoved, if it may be, from their naughty opinions; or else, if theycontinue obstinate, to be ordered according to the laws provided inthat behalf: understanding now, to our no little marvel, that diversof the said misordered persons, being, by the justices of the peace, for their contempt and obstinacy, brought to the ordinary, to be usedas is aforesaid, are either refused to be received at their hands, or, if they be received, are neither so travelled with as Christiancharity requireth, nor yet proceeded withal according to the order ofjustice, but are suffered to continue in their errors, to thedishonour of Almighty God, and dangerous example of others; like as wefind this matter very strange, so have we thought convenient both tosignify this our knowledge, and therewithal also to admonish you tohave in this behalf such regard henceforth unto the office of a goodpastor and bishop, as where any such offenders shall be, by the saidjustices of the peace, brought unto you, ye do use your good wisdomand discretion in procuring to remove them from their errors if it maybe, or else in proceeding against them, if they continue obstinate, according to the order of the laws, so as, through your goodfurtherance, both God's glory may be the better advanced, and thecommonwealth more quietly governed. "[476]

 [Footnote 476: Burnet's _Collectanea_. This letter is addressed to Bonner, and was taken from Bonner's _Register_; but, from the form, it was evidently a circular. The Bishop of London had not deserved to be singled out to be especially admonished for want of energy. ]

Under the fresh impulse of this letter, fifty persons were put todeath at the stake in the three ensuing months, --in the diocese ofLondon, under Bonner; in the diocese of Rochester, under MauriceGriffin; in the diocese of Canterbury, where Pole, the archbishopdesignate, so soon as Cranmer should be despatched, governed throughHarpsfeld, the archdeacon, and Thornton, the suffragan bishop ofDover. Of these sacrifices, which were distinguished all of them by auniformity of quiet heroism in the {p. 213} sufferers, that ofCardmaker, prebendary of Wells, calls most for notice. 

The people, whom the cruelty of the Catholic party was reconverting tothe Reformation with a rapidity like that produced by the gift oftongues on the day of Pentecost, looked on the martyrs as soldiers arelooked at who are called to accomplish, with the sacrifice of theirlives, some great service for their country. Cardmaker, on his firstexamination, had turned his back and flinched. But the consciousnessof shame, and the example of others, gave him back his courage; he wascalled up again under the queen's mandate, condemned, and brought outon the 30th of May, to suffer at Smithfield, with an upholsterer namedWarne. The sheriffs produced the pardons. Warne, without looking atthem, undressed at once, and went to the stake; Cardmaker "remainedlong talking;" "the people in a marvellous dump of sadness, thinkinghe would recant. " He turned away at last, and knelt, and prayed; buthe had still his clothes on; "there was no semblance of burning;" andthe crowd continued nervously agitated, till he rose and threw off hiscloak. "Then, seeing this, contrary to their fearful expectations, asmen delivered out of great doubt, they cried out for joy with so greata shout as hath not been lightly heard a greater, God be praised; theLord strengthen thee, Cardmaker. The Lord Jesus receive thyspirit. "[477] Every martyr's trial was a battle; every constant deathwas a defeat of the common enemy; and the instinctive consciousnessthat truth was asserting itself in suffering, converted the naturalemotion of horror into admiring pride. 

 [Footnote 477: Foxe, vol. Vii. ]

Yet, for the great purpose of the court, the burnt-offerings wereineffectual as the prayers of the priests. The queen was allowed topersuade herself that she had mistaken her time by two months; and tothis hope she clung herself, so long as the hope could last: but amongall other persons concerned, scarcely one was any longer under adelusion; and the clear-eyed Renard lost no time in laying theposition of affairs before his master. 

The marriage of Elizabeth and Philibert had hung fire, from theinvincible unwillingness on the part of Mary to pardon or in any wayrecognise her sister;[478] and as long as there was a hope of a child, she had not perhaps been pressed about it; but {p. 214} it was nowabsolutely necessary to do something, and violent measures towards theprincess were more impossible than ever. 

 [Footnote 478: A letter of Mary's to Philip on the subject will be given in the following chapter, which reveals the disagreement which had arisen between them about this marriage. ]

"The entire future, " wrote Renard to the emperor, on the 27th of June, "turns on the accouchement of the queen; of which, however, there areno signs. If all goes well, the state of feeling in the country willimprove. If she is in error, I foresee convulsions and disturbancessuch as no pen can describe. The succession to the crown is sounfortunately hampered, that it must fall to Elizabeth, and withElizabeth there will be a religious revolution. The clergy will be putdown, the Catholics persecuted, and there will be such revenge for thepresent proceedings as the world has never seen. I know not whetherthe king's person is safe; and the scandals and calumnies which theheretics are spreading about the queen are beyond conception. Some saythat she has never been _enceinte_; some repeat that there will be asupposititious child, and that there would have been less delay coulda child have been found that would answer the purpose. [479] The looksof men are grown strange and impenetrable; those in whose loyalty Ihad most dependence I have now most reason to doubt. Nothing iscertain, and I am more bewildered than ever at the things which I seegoing on around me. There is neither government, nor justice, nororder; nothing but audacity and malice. "[480]

 [Footnote 479: The impression was very generally spread. Noailles mentions it, writing on the 20th of June to the King of France; and Foxe mentions a mysterious attempt of Lord North to obtain a new-born child from its mother, as having happened within his own knowledge. The existence of the belief, however, proves nothing. At such a time it was inevitable, nor was there any good evidence to connect Lord North, supposing Foxe's story true, with the court. The risk of discovery would have been great, the consequences terrible, and few people have been more incapable than Mary of knowingly doing a wrong thing. ]

 [Footnote 480: Renard to the Emperor, June 27: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Vi. ]

The faint hopes which Renard expressed speedily vanished, and everyone but the queen herself not only knew that she had no child atpresent, but that she never could have a child--that her days werenumbered, and that if the Spaniards intended to secure the throne theymust obtain it by other means than the order of inheritance. Could thewar be brought to an end, Mary might live long enough to give herhusband an opportunity of attempting violence; but of peace there wasno immediate prospect, and it remained for the present to make themost of Elizabeth. Setting her marriage aside, it was doubtful whetherthe people would permit her longer confinement after the queen's{p. 215} disappointment; and, willingly or unwillingly, Mary must beforced to receive her at court again. 

The princess was still at Woodstock, where she had remained for ayear, under the harsh surveillance of Sir Henry Bedingfield. LordWilliam Howard's visit may have consoled her with the knowledge thatshe was not forgotten by the nobility; but her health had sufferedfrom her long imprisonment, and the first symptom of an approachingchange in her position was the appearance of the queen's physician totake charge of her. 

A last effort was made to betray her into an acknowledgment of guilt. "A secret friend" entreated her to "submit herself to the queen'smercy. " Elizabeth saw the snare. She would not ask for mercy, shesaid, where she had committed no offence; if she was guilty, shedesired justice, not mercy; and she knew well she would have foundnone, could evidence have been produced against her: but she thankedGod she was in no danger of being proved guilty; she wished she was assafe from secret enemies. 

But the plots for despatching her, if they had ever existed, were laidaside; she was informed that her presence was required at HamptonCourt. The rumour of her intended release spread abroad, and sixtygentlemen, who had once belonged to her suite, met her on the way atColebrook, in the hope that they might return to attendance upon her;but their coming was premature; she was still treated as a prisoner, and they were ordered off in the queen's name. 

On her arrival at Hampton Court, however, the princess felt that shehad recovered her freedom. She was received by Lord William Howard. The courtiers hurried to her with their congratulations, and Howarddared and provoked the resentment of the king and queen by making themkneel and kiss her hand. [481] Mary could not bring herself at first toendure an interview. The Bishop of Winchester came to her on thequeen's behalf, to repeat the advice which had been given to her atWoodstock, and to promise pardon if she would ask for it. 

 [Footnote 481: Joanna of Castille, the emperor's mad mother, dying soon after, masses were said for her with some solemnity at St. Paul's. "Aux obsèques que la royne commanda estre faictes à Londres, l'admiral d'Angleterre démontra ouvertement avoir quelque ressentment, de ce qu'il disoit le roy ne luy faisoit si bonne chiere et démonstration si favorable qu'il avoit accoustumé, disant qu'il sçavoit bien pourquoy s'estoit, inférant que ce fust pour ce qu'il avoit faict baiser les mains de Elizabetz aux gentilhommes qui l'avoient visitez. "]

Elizabeth had been resolute when she was alone and friendless, she wasnot more yielding now. She repeated that she had {p. 216} committedno offence, and therefore required no forgiveness; she had rather liein prison all her life than confess when there was nothing to beconfessed. 

The answer was carried to Mary, and the day after the bishop cameagain. "The queen marvelled, " he said, "that she would so stoutlystand to her innocence;" if she called herself innocent, she impliedthat she had been "unjustly imprisoned;" if she expected her liberty"she must tell another tale. "

But the causes which had compelled the court to send for her, forbadethem equally to persist in an impotent persecution. They had desiredonly to tempt her into admissions which they could plead injustification for past or future severities. They had failed, and theygave way. 

A week later, on an evening in the beginning of July, Lady Clarence, Mary's favourite attendant, brought a message, that the queen wasexpecting her sister in her room. The princess was led across thegarden in the dusk, and introduced by a back staircase into the royalapartments. Almost two years had elapsed since the sisters had lastmet, when Mary hid the hatred which was in her heart behind a veil ofkindness. There was no improvement of feeling, but the necessity ofcircumstances compelled the form of reconciliation. 

Elizabeth dropped on her knees. "God preserve your majesty, " she said;"you will find me as true a subject to your majesty as any; whateverhas been reported of me, you shall not find it otherwise. "

"You will not confess, " the queen said; "you stand to your truth: Ipray God it may so fall out. "

"If it does not, " said Elizabeth, "I desire neither favour nor pardonat your hands. "

"Well, " Mary bitterly answered, "you persevere in your truth stiffly;belike you will not confess that you have been wrongly punished?"

"I must not say so, your majesty, " Elizabeth replied. 

"Belike you will to others?" said the queen. 

"No, please your majesty, " answered the princess. "I have borne theburden, and I must bear it. I pray your majesty to have a good opinionof me, and to think me your true subject, not only from the beginningbut while life lasteth. "

The queen did not answer, she muttered only in Spanish, "_Sabe Dios_, ""God knows, " and Elizabeth withdrew. [482]

 [Footnote 482: Foxe; Holinshed. ]

It was said that, during the interview, Philip was concealed {p. 217}behind a curtain, anxious for a sight of the captive damsel whosefavour with the people was such a perplexity to him. 

At this time, Elizabeth was beautiful; her haughty features weresoftened by misfortune; and as it is certain that Philip, when he leftEngland, gave special directions for her good treatment, so it ispossible that he may have envied the fortune which he intended for thePrince of Savoy; and the scheme which he afterwards attempted toexecute, of making her his own wife on the queen's death, may havethen suggested itself to him as a solution of the English difficulty. The magnificent girl, who was already the idol of the country, musthave presented an emphatic contrast with the lean, childless, haggard, forlorn Mary; and he may easily have allowed his fancy to play with apleasant temptation. If it was so, Philip was far too careless of thequeen's feelings to conceal his own. If it was not so, the queen'shaunting consciousness of her unattractiveness must have beenaggravated by the disappointment of her hopes, and she may havetortured herself with jealousy and suspicion. 

At all events, Mary could not overcome her aversion. Elizabeth was setat liberty, but she was not allowed to remain at the court. Shereturned to Ashridge, to be pursued, even there, with pettyannoyances. Her first step when she was again at home was to send forher friend Mrs. Ashley; the queen instantly committed Mrs. Ashley tothe Fleet, and sent three other officers of her sister's household tothe Tower; while a number of gentlemen suspected of being heradherents, who had remained in London beyond their usual time ofleaving for the country, were ordered imperiously to theirestates. [483]

 [Footnote 483: Le dict conseil voyant que plusieurs gentilhommes s'assembloient à Londres, et communicquoient par ensemble, qu'ils se tenoient à Londres, contre ce qu'est accoustumé en Angleterre, qu'est que ceulx qu'ilz eu moien ne demeurent à Londres en l'esté, ains au pays pour la chaleur et maladies ordinaires qu'ilz y reignent, et que toutes les dicts gentilhommes sont hérétiques, ains esté pour le plus part rebelles, les autres parens et adhérens de Elizabetz, leur a faict faire commandement de se retirer chascun en sa maison et se separer; qu'ilz ont prins mal et en out fait grandes doleances, en prétendant qu'ilz estoient gens de bien, qu'ilz n'estoient traistres. --Renard to the Emperor: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. Iv. ]

But neither impatience nor violence could conceal the fatal changewhich had passed over Mary's prospects. Not till the end of July couldshe part finally from her hopes. Then, at last, the glittering dreamwas lost for the waking truth; then at once from the imagination ofherself as the virgin bride who was to bear a child for the recoveryof a lost world, she was precipitated into the poor certainty that shewas a blighted and {p. 218} a dying woman. Sorrow was heaped onsorrow; Philip would stay with her no longer. His presence wasrequired on the continent, where his father was about to anticipatethe death which he knew to be near, and, after forty years of battlingwith the stormy waters, to collect himself for the last great changein the calm of a monastery in Spain. 

It was no new intention. For years the emperor had been in the habitof snatching intervals of retreat; for years he had made up his mindto relinquish at some time the labours of life before relinquishinglife itself. The vanities of sovereignty had never any particularcharm for Charles V. ; he was not a man who cared "to monarchise andkill with looks, " or who could feel a pang at parting with the baubleof a crown; and when the wise world cried out in their surprise, andstrained their fancies for the cause of conduct which seemed sostrange to them, they forgot that princes who reign to labour, growweary like the peasant of the burden of daily toil. 

Many influences combined to induce Charles to delay no longer inputting his resolution in effect. 

The Cortes were growing impatient at the prolonged absence both ofhimself and Philip, and the presence of the emperor, although inretirement, would give pleasure to the Spanish people. His health wasso shattered, that each winter had been long expected to be his last;and although he would not flinch from work as long as he was requiredat his post, there was nothing to detain Philip any more in England, unless, or until, the succession could be placed on another footing. To continue there the husband of a childless queen, with authoritylimited to a form, and with no recognised interest beyond the term ofhis wife's life, was no becoming position for the heir of the throneof Spain, of Naples, the Indies, and the Low Countries. 

Philip was therefore now going. He concealed his intention till it wasbetrayed by the departure of one Spanish nobleman after another. Thequeen became nervous and agitated, and at last he was forced to avowpart of the truth. He told her that his father wanted to see him, butthat his absence would not be extended beyond a fortnight or threeweeks; she should go with him to Dover, and, if she desired, she couldwait there for his return. [484] Her consent was obtained by the milddeceit, and it was considered afterwards that the journey to Dovermight be too much for her, and the parting might take place atGreenwich. 

 [Footnote 484: Noailles, vol. V. Pp. 77-82. ]

{p. 219} On the 3rd of August, the king and queen removed for a fewdays from Hampton Court to Oatlands; on the way Mary receivedconsolation from a poor man who met her on crutches, and was cured ofhis lameness by looking on her. [485]

 [Footnote 485: Machyn's _Diary_. ]

On the 26th, the royal party came down the river in their barge, attended by the legate; they dined at Westminster on their way toGreenwich, and as rumour had said that Mary was dead, she was carriedthrough the city in an open litter, with the king and the cardinal ather side. To please Philip, or to please the people, Elizabeth wasinvited to the court before the king's departure; but she was sent bywater to prevent a demonstration, while the archers of the guard whoattended on the queen, were in corslet and morion. [486]

 [Footnote 486: Noailles, vol. V. Pp. 98, 99, 123. ]

On the 28th, Philip went. Parliament was to sit again in October. Itwould then be seen whether anything more could be done about thesuccession. On the consent or refusal of the legislature his futuremeasures would depend. To the queen he left particular instructions, which he afterwards repeated in writing, to show favour to Elizabeth;and doubting how far he could rely upon Mary, he gave a similar chargeto such of his own suite as he left behind him. [487] Could he obtainit, he would take the princess's crown for himself; should he fail, hemight marry her; or should this too be impossible, he would win hergratitude, and support her title against the dangerous competition ofthe Queen of Scots and Dauphiness of France. 

 [Footnote 487: Elle a bonne part en la grace dudict Seigneur Roy, lequel par plusieurs lettres qu'il escript à la royne sa femme la luy recommende, comme aussy il a faict particulièrement et par soubz main aux principaux seigneurs Espaignolz qui sont demourez en ce lieu. --Ibid. P. 127. ]

On these terms the pair who had been brought together with so muchdifficulty separated after a little more than a year. The cardinalcomposed a passionate prayer for the queen's use during her husband'sabsence. [488] It is to be hoped that she was {p. 220} spared thesight of a packet of letters soon after intercepted by the French, inwhich her husband and her husband's countrymen expressed theiropinions of the marriage and its consequences. [489] The truth, however, became known in England, although in a form under which thequeen could turn from it as a calumny. 

 [Footnote 488: Domine Jesu Christe, qui es verus sponsus animæ meæ, verus Rex ac Dominus meus qui me ad Regni hujus gubernacula singulari tuâ providentiâ ac benignitate vocatam, cum antea essem derelicta et tanquam mulier ab adolescentiâ abjecta, eum virum in matrimonium et regni societatem expetere voluis ti, _qui plus cæteris imaginem tuam quam in sanctitate et justitiâ mundo ostendisti in suis meisque actionibus dirigendis exprimeret, et expetitum dedisti_, cujus nunc discessum moerens defleo--quæso per illum pretiosissimum sanguinem quem pro me sponsâ tuâ proque illo et omnibus in arâ crucis effudisti, ut hunc meum dolorem ita lenias, ita purges, ita temperes, ut quoties ille sanctis suis consiliis mihi adest, quoties per litteras quæ ad salutem hujus populi tui pertinent commendat, toties illum præsentem esse, teque unicum consolatorem in medio nostro adesse sentiam, utque in illo te semper amem atque glorificem. Obsecro, Domine, ut in nobis tua imago sic indies per tuam gratiam renovetur in conspectu populi tui, quern nobis gubernandum commisisti, ut cum is justitiæ tuæ severitatem, in iis quæ amiserat dum hi regnarent qui a rectâ fide declinantes sanctitatem et justitiam expulerunt, jam pridem senserit, quæ nunc per tuam misericordiam recuperaverit sub illorum Regno quos nunquam a rectâ fide declinare es passus, cum gratiarum actione lætus intelligat ut uno ore tarn nos quam populus noster Deum patrem per te ejus unicum filium in unitate Spiritûs glorificemus, ad nostram ipsorum et piorum omnium salutem et consolationem. Amen. --_Epist. _ Reg. Pol. Vol. V. ]

 [Footnote 489: Il me fauldroit faire ung merveilleux discours pour vous rendre compte de tous les propoz qui font dans les dictes lettres. Je vous diray seulment ce qui plus tousche et regarde le lieu où vous estes. Et premièrement la royne a tant enchanté et ensorcelé ce beau jeune prince son mary que de luy avoir faict croyre ung an entier qu'elle estoit grosse pour le retenir près d'elle, dont il se trouve à présent si confus et fasché qu'il n'a plus délibéré de retourner habiter ceste terre, promettant à tous ses serviteurs que s'il peult estre une fois en Espaigne qu'il n'en sortira plus à si maulvaise occasion, etc. .. . --Le Protonotaire de Noailles à M. De Noailles: _Ambassades_, vol. V. P. 136. ]

Before the meeting of parliament, a letter was published, addressed tothe Lords of the Council, by a certain John Bradford. [490] The writeraccounted for his knowledge of the secrets which he had to tell, bysaying that he had lived in the household of one of the Spanishnoblemen who were in attendance on Philip; that he had learnt thelanguage unknown to his master, and had thus overheard unguardedconversations. He had read letters addressed to Philip, and letterswritten by him and by his confidential friends; and he was able tosay, as a thing heard with his own ears, and seen with his own eyes, that the "Spaniards minded nothing less than the subversion of theEnglish commonwealth. " In fact, he repeated the rumours of the summer, only more circumstantially, and with fuller details. Under pretence ofimproving the fortifications, Philip intended to obtain command of theprincipal harbours and ports; he would lay cannon on the land side, and gradually bring in Spanish troops, the queen playing into hishands; and as soon as peace could be made with France, he would havethe command of the fleet and the sea, and could do what hepleased. [491]

 [Footnote 490: Not the martyr; he had been despatched by Bonner among the victims of the summer; but a person otherwise-known. ]

 [Footnote 491: "Ye will say, How could this fellow know their counsel?--I was chamberlain to one of the privy council, and with all diligence gave myself to write and read Spanish, which thing once obtained I kept secret from my master and my fellow-servants, because I might be trusted in my master's closet or study, where I might read such writing as I saw daily brought into the council chamber. "--John Bradford to the Lords of the Council: Strype's _Memorials of the Reformation_. ]

{p. 221} "I saw, " the writer continued, "letters sent from theemperor, wherein was contained these privities, --that the king shouldmake his excuse to the queen that he would go to see his father inFlanders, and that immediately he would return--seeing the good simplequeen is so jealous over my son. (I term it, " said Bradford, "as theletter doth. ") "We, " said the emperor, "shall make her agree unto allour requests before his return, or else keep him exercised in ouraffairs till we may prevail with the council, who, doubtless, will bewon with fair promises and great gifts, politicly placed in time. " "Inother letters I have read the cause disputed, that the queen is boundby the laws of God to endue her husband in all her goods andpossessions, so far as in her lieth; and they think she will do itindeed to the uttermost of her power. No man can think evil of thequeen, though she be somewhat moved when such things are beaten intoher head with gentlemen; but whether the crown belongs to the queen orthe realm, the Spaniards know not, nor care not, though the queen, toher damnation, disherit the right heir apparent, or break her father'sentail, made by the whole consent of the realm, which neither she northe realm can justly alter. "[492]

 [Footnote 492: Elizabeth, when she came to the throne, refused to admit that she was under any real obligation to Philip. She was entirely right in her refusal. The Spaniards had sworn, if possible, to make away "with all those which by any means might lay claim to the crown. "

 "I call God to record, " Bradford continues, "I have heard it with mine ears, and seen the said persons with mine eyes, that have said, if ever the king obtain the crown, he would make the Lady Elizabeth safe from ever coming to the same, or any of our cursed nation. For they say, that if they can find the means to keep England in subjection, they would do more with the land than with all the rest of his kingdoms. I speak not of any fool's communication, but of the wisest, and that no mean persons. Yea, and they trust that there shall means be found before that time to despatch the Lady Elizabeth well enough by the help of assured traitors, as they have already in England plenty, and then they may the more easier destroy the others when she is rid out of the way. 

 2. I speak not this, as some men would take it, to move dissension; for that were the best way for the Spaniards to come to their prey. Such a time they look for, and such a time they say some nobleman hath promised to provide for them. 

 3. God is my witness that my heart will not suffer me for very shame to declare such vile reports as I have heard them speak against the queen, and yet her Grace taketh them for her faithful friends. The Spaniards say, that if they obtain not the crown, they may curse the time that ever the king was married to a wife so unmeet for him by natural course of years; but and if that may be brought to pass that was meant in marriage-making, they shall keep old rich robes for high festival days. 

 "Alas, for pity! Ye be yet in such good estate that ye may, without loss of any man's life, keep the crown and realm quietly. If ye will hear a fool's counsel, keep still the crown to the right succession in your hands, and give it to no foreign princes. Peradventure her Grace thinketh the king will keep her the more company and love her the better, if she give him the crown. Ye will crown him to make him chaste contrary to his nature. They have a saying--'The baker's daughter is better in her gown than Queen Mary without the crown. ' They say, 'Old wives must be cherished for their young fair gifts. ' 'Old wives, ' they say, 'for fair words will give all that they have. ' But how be they used afterwards? Doth the queen think the king will remain in England with giving him the realm? The council of Spain purposeth to establish other matters; to appoint in England a viceroy with a great army of Spanish soldiers, and let the queen live at her beads like a good antient lady. "--John Bradford to the Earls of Arundel, Shrewsbury, Derby, and Pembroke: Strype's _Memorials_, vol. Vi. P. 340, etc. ]

Struggle as the queen might against such a representation of {p. 222}her husband's feelings towards her, it was true that he had left herwith a promise to return; and the weeks went, and he did not come, andno longer spoke of coming. The abdication of the emperor would keephim from her, at least, till the end of the winter. And news came soonwhich was harder still to bear; news, that he, whom she had beentaught to regard as made in the image of our Saviour, [493] wasunfaithful to his marriage vows, [494] Bradford had spoken generally ofthe king's vulgar amours; other accounts convinced her too surely thathe was consoling himself for his long purgatory in England, bymiscellaneous licentiousness. Philip was gross alike in all hisappetites; bacon fat was the favourite food with which he gorgedhimself to illness;[495] his intrigues were on the same level ofindelicacy, and his unhappy wife was forced to know that he preferredthe society of abandoned women of the lowest class to hers. 

 [Footnote 493: Prayer written by Cardinal Pole for Queen Mary: _supra_. ]

 [Footnote 494: Noailles to the King of France, October 21: _Ambassades_, vol. V. ]

 [Footnote 495: Noailles to Montmorency, December 5: Ibid. ]

The French ambassador describes her as distracted with wretchedness, speaking to no one except the legate. The legate was her only comfort;the legate and the thing which she called religion. 

Deep in the hearts of both queen and cardinal lay the conviction thatif she would please God, she must avoid the sin of Saul. Saul hadspared the Amalekites, and God had turned his face from him. God hadgreater enemies in England than the Amalekites. Historians haveaffected to exonerate Pole from the crime of the Marian persecution;although, without the legate's sanction, not a bishop in England couldhave raised a finger, not a bishop's court could have been opened{p. 223} to try a single heretic. If not with Pole, with whom did theguilt rest? Gardiner was jointly responsible for the commencement, butafter the first executions, Gardiner interfered no further; he died, and the bloody scenes continued. Philip's confessor protested; Philiphimself left the country; Renard and Charles were never weary ofadvising moderation, except towards those who were politicallydangerous. Bonner was an instrument whose zeal more than once requiredthe goad; and Mary herself, when she came to the throne, was so littlecruel, that she would have spared even Northumberland himself. Whenthe persecution assumed its ferocious aspect, she was exclusivelyunder the direction of the dreamer who believed that he was born forEngland's regeneration. All evidence concurs to show that, afterPhilip's departure, Cardinal Pole was the single adviser on whom Maryrelied. Is it to be supposed that, in the horrible crusade whichthenceforward was the business of her life, the papal legate, thesovereign director of the ecclesiastical administration of the realm, was not consulted, or, if consulted, that he refused his sanction? Butit is not a question of conjecture or probability. From the legatecame the first edict for the episcopal inquisition; under the legateevery bishop held his judicial commission; while, if Smithfield isexcepted, the most frightful scenes in the entire frightful periodwere witnessed under the shadow of his own metropolitan cathedral. Hisapologists have thrown the blame on his archdeacon and his suffragan:the guilt is not with the instrument, but with the hand which holdsit. An admiring biographer[496] has asserted that the cruelties atCanterbury preceded the cardinal's consecration as archbishop, and thebiographer has been copied by Dr. Lingard. The historian and hisauthority have exceeded the limits of permitted theologicalmisrepresentation. The administration of the see belonged to Pole asmuch before his consecration as after it; but it will be seen thateighteen men and women perished at the stake in the town of Canterburyalone, --besides those who were put to death in other parts of thediocese--and five were starved to death in the gaol there--after thelegate's installation. He was not cruel; but he believed that, in thecatalogue of human iniquities, there were none greater than the denialof the Roman Catholic Faith, or the rejection of the Roman bishop'ssupremacy; and that he himself was chosen by Providence for there-establishment of both. Mary was driven to madness by thedisappointment {p. 224} of the grotesque imaginations with which hehad inflated her; and where two such persons were invested by thecircumstances of the time with irresponsible power, there is nooccasion to look further for the explanation of the dreadful events ofthe three ensuing years. 

 [Footnote 496: Phillips. ]

The victims of the summer were chiefly undistinguished persons:Cardmaker and Bradford alone were in any way celebrated; and thegreater prisoners, the three bishops at Oxford, the court had pausedupon--not from mercy--their deaths had been long determined on; butPhilip, perhaps, was tender of his person; their execution mightoccasion disturbances; and he and his suite might be the first objectson which the popular indignation might expend itself. Philip, however, had placed the sea between himself and danger, and if this was thecause of the hesitation, the work could now go forward. 

A commission was appointed by Pole in September, consisting ofBrookes, Bishop of Gloucester, Holyman, Bishop of Bristol, and White, Bishop of Lincoln, to try Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, for obstinateheresy. The first trial had been irregular; the country was thenunreconciled. The sentence which had been passed therefore was treatedas non-existent, and the tedious forms of the papacy continued stillto throw a shield round the archbishop. 

On Saturday, the 7th of September, [497] the commissioners took theirplaces under the altar of St. Mary's Church, at Oxford. The Bishop ofGloucester sat as president, Doctors Story and Martin appeared asproctors for the queen, and Cranmer was brought in under the custodyof the city guard, in a black gown and leaning on a stick. 

 [Footnote 497: Foxe says the 12th; but this is wrong. --See Cranmer's letter to the Queen: Jenkins, vol. I. P. 369. ]

"Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, " cried an officer of the court, "appear here, and make answer to that which shall be laid to thycharge; that is to say, for blasphemy, incontinency, and heresy; makeanswer to the Bishop of Gloucester, representing his holiness thepope. "

The archbishop approached the bar, bent his head and uncovered toStory and Martin, who were present in behalf of the crown, then drewhimself up, put on his cap again, and stood fronting Brookes. "Mylord, " he said, "I mean no contempt to your person, which I could havehonoured as well as any of the others; but I have sworn never to admitthe authority of the Bishop of Rome in England, and I must keep myoath. "

{p. 225} The president remonstrated, but without effect, and thenproceeded to address the archbishop, who remained covered:[498]--

 [Footnote 498: Exhortation of the Bishop of Gloucester to Thomas Cranmer: _Cotton MSS. , Vespasian_, A. 25. A copy, more rounded and finished, is given by Foxe, in his account of Cranmer's trial: but the latter has the appearance of having been touched up afterwards. ]

"My lord, we are come hither at this present to you, not intrudingourselves by our own authority, but sent by commission, as you know, by the pope's holiness partly; partly from the king's and queen's mostexcellent majesties; not utterly to your discomfort, but rather toyour comfort if you will yourself. For we are come not to judge youimmediately, but to put you in remembrance of that which you have beenpartly judged of before, and shall be thoroughly judged of ere long. 

"Neither our coming or commission is to dispute with you, but toexamine you in matters which you have already disputed in, taught, andwritten; and of your resolute answers in those points and others, tomake relation to them that shall give sentence on you. If you, of yourpart, be moved to come to a uniformity, then shall not only we takejoy of our examination, but also they that have sent us. Rememberyourself then, _unde excideris_, from whence you have fallen. You havefallen from the unity of your mother, the Holy Catholic Church, andthat by open schism. You have fallen from the true and received faithof the same Catholic Church, and that by open heresy. You have fallenfrom your fidelity and promise towards God, in breaking your ordersand vow of chastity, and that by open apostasy. You have fallen fromyour fidelity and promise towards God's vicar-general, the pope, inbreaking your oath made to his holiness at your consecration, and thatby open perjury. You have fallen from your fidelity and allegiancetowards God's magistrate, your prince and sovereign lady the queen, and that by open treason, whereof you are already attainted andconvicted. Remember, _unde excideris_, from whence you have fallen, and in what danger you have fallen. 

"You were sometime, as I and other poor men, in mean estate. God hathcalled you from better to better, from higher to higher, and nevergave you over till he made you, _legatum natum_, MetropolitanArchbishop, Primate of England. Who was more earnest then in defenceof the real presence of Christ's body and blood in the sacrament ofthe altar than ye were? Then was your candle shining to be a light toall the world, set on high on a pinnacle. But after you began to fallfrom the unity of the Catholic Church by open schism, and would no{p. 226} longer acknowledge the supremacy of the pope's holiness byGod's word and ordinance;--and that by occasion, that you, in whosehands then rested the sum of all, being primate, as was aforesaid, would not, according to your high vocation, stoutly withstand the mostungodly and unlawful request of your prince touching his divorce, asthat blessed martyr, St. Thomas of Canterbury, sometime yourpredecessor, did withstand the unlawful requests of the prince of histime, but would still not only yield and bear with things not to beborne withal, but also set a-flame the fire already kindled--then yourperfections diminished; then began you, for your own part, to fancyunlawful liberty. Then decayed your conscience of your former faith, your former promise, the vow of chastity and discipline after theorder of priesthood; and when good conscience was once cast off, thenfollowed after, as St. Paul noteth, a shipwreck in the faith. Thenfell you from the faith, and out of the Catholic Church, as out of asure ship, into a sea of dangerous desperation; for out of the church, to say with St. Cyprian, there is no hope of salvation at all. To bebrief; when you had forsaken God, his Spouse, his faith, and fidelityto them both, then God forsook you; and as the apostle writeth of theingrate philosophers, delivered you up _in reprobum sensum_, andsuffered you to fall from one inconvenience to another, as fromperjury into schism, from schism into a kind of apostasy, fromapostasy into heresy, from heresy into traitory, and so, inconclusion, from traitory into the highest displeasure and worthiestindignation of your most benign and gracious queen. "[499]

 [Footnote 499: The address concluded with a prolix exhortation to repentance, which I omit. It may be read in a form sufficiently accurate in Foxe. ]

When the bishop ceased, the crown proctors rose, and demanded justiceagainst the prisoner in the names of the king and queen. 

"My lord, " Cranmer replied, "I do not acknowledge this session ofyours, nor yet yourself my mislawful judge; neither would I haveappeared this day before you, but that I was brought hither; andtherefore here I openly renounce you as my judge, protesting that mymeaning is not to make any answer as in a lawful judgment, for then Iwould be silent; but only for that I am bound in conscience to answerevery man of that hope which I have in Jesus Christ. "

He then knelt, and turning towards the west with his back to the courtand the altar, he said the Lord's Prayer. After which, he rose, repeated the creed, and said--

{p. 227} "This I do profess as touching my faith, and make myprotestation, which I desire you to note; I will never consent thatthe Bishop of Rome shall have any jurisdiction in this realm. "

"Mark, Master Cranmer, " interrupted Martin, "you refuse and deny himby whose laws you do remain in life, being otherwise attainted of hightreason, and but a dead man by the laws of the realm. "

"I protest before God I was no traitor, " said the archbishop. "I willnever consent to the Bishop of Rome, for then I should give myself tothe devil. I have made an oath to the king, and I must obey the kingby God's law. By the Scripture, the king is chief, and no foreignperson in his own realm above him. The pope is contrary to the crown. I cannot obey both, for no man can serve two masters at once. Youattribute the keys to the pope and the sword to the king. I say theking hath both. "

Continuing the same argument, the archbishop entered at length intothe condition of the law and the history of the Statutes of Provisorsand Premunire: he showed that the constitution of the country wasemphatically independent, and he maintained that no English subjectcould swear obedience to a foreign power without being involved inperjury. 

The objection was set aside, and the subject of oaths was anopportunity for a taunt, which the queen's proctors did not overlook. Cranmer had unwillingly accepted the archbishopric when the Act ofAppeals was pending, and when the future relations of England with theSee of Rome, and the degree of authority which (if any) the pope wasto retain, were uncertain. In taking the usual oaths, therefore, bythe advice of lawyers, he made an especial and avowed reservation ofhis duty to the crown;[500] and this so-called perjury Martin nowflung in his teeth. 

 [Footnote 500: Although the circumstances of the time called properly for an open declaration of this kind on the part of Cranmer, yet every one of his predecessors, from the time of Edward I. , must have been inducted with a tacit understanding of the same kind. If a bishop had been prosecuted under the Statutes of Provisors, his oath to the Papacy would have been no more admitted as an excuse by the Plantagenet sovereigns, than the oath of a college Fellow to obey the statutes of the founder would have saved him from penalties under the House of Hanover had he said mass in his college chapel. Because Cranmer, foreseeing an immediate collision between two powers, which each asserted claims upon him, expressed in words a qualification which was implied in the nature of the case--it was, and is (I regret to be obliged to speak in the present tense), but a shallow sarcasm to taunt him with premeditated perjury. ]

"It pleased the king's highness, " Cranmer replied, "many and sundrytimes to talk with me of the matter. I declared that, if I acceptedthe office of archbishop, I must receive it at {p. 228} the pope'shands, which I neither would nor could do, for his highness was theonly supreme governor of this church in England. Perceiving that Icould not be brought to acknowledge the authority of the Bishop ofRome, the king called Doctor Oliver and other civil lawyers, anddevised with them how he might bestow it on me, enforcing me nothingagainst my conscience, who informed him I might do it by way ofprotestation. I said, I did not acknowledge the Bishop of Rome'sauthority further than as it agreed with the word of God, and that itmight be lawful for me at all times to speak against him; and myprotestation did I cause to be enrolled, and there I think itremaineth. "

"Let your protestation, with the rest of your talk, give judgmentagainst you, " answered Martin. "_Hinc prima mali labes_: of that yourexecrable perjury, and the king's coloured and too shamefully sufferedadultery, came heresy and all mischief into the realm. "

The special charges were then proceeded with. 

In reply to a series of questions, the archbishop said, that he hadbeen twice married--once before, and once after he was in orders. Inthe time of Henry, he had kept his wife secretly, "affirming that itwas better for him to have his own wife, than to do like otherpriests, having the wives of others;" and he was not ashamed of whathe had done. 

He admitted his writings upon the Eucharist; he avowed the authorshipof the Catechism, of the Articles, and of a book against the Bishop ofWinchester; and these books, and his conduct generally as Archbishopof Canterbury, he maintained and defended. His replies were entered bya notary, to be transmitted to the pope, and for the present thebusiness of the court with him was over. 

"Who can stay him that willingly runneth into perdition?" saidBrookes. "Who can save that will be lost? God would have you to besaved, and you refuse it. "

The archbishop was cited to appear at Rome within eighty days toanswer to the charges which would there be laid against him; and inorder that he might be able to obey the summons he was returned to hiscell in Bocardo prison, and kept there in strict confinement. 

Ridley and Latimer came next, and over them the papal mantle flung noprotection. 

They had been prisoners now for more than two years. What Latimer'soccupation had been for all that time, little remains {p. 229} toshow, except three letters:--one, of but a few lines, was to a Mrs. Wilkinson, thanking her for some act of kindness:[501] another, was ageneral exhortation to "all unfeigned lovers of God's truth, " to beconstant in their faith: the third, and most noteworthy, was to someone who had an opportunity of escaping from arrest, and probablemartyrdom, by a payment of money, and who doubted whether he mightlawfully avail himself of the chance: there was no question ofrecantation; a corrupt official was ready to accept a bribe and ask noquestions. 

 [Footnote 501: If the gift of a pot of cold water shall not be in oblivion with God, how can God forget your manifold and bountiful gifts, when He shall say unto you. "I was in prison, and you visited me. " God grant us all to do and suffer while we be here as may be to His will and pleasure. --Latimer to Mrs. Wilkinson, from Bocardo: Latimer's _Remains_, p. 444. ]

Latimer had not been one of those fanatics who thought it a merit togo in the way of danger and court persecution; but in this presentcase he shared the misgiving of his correspondent, and did "highlyallow his judgment in that he thought it not lawful to redeem himselffrom the crown, unless he would exchange glory for shame, and hisinheritance for a mess of pottage. "

"We were created, " Latimer said, "to set forth God's glory all thedays of our life, which we, as unthankful sinners, have forgotten todo, as we ought, all our days hitherto; and now God, by affliction, doth offer us good occasion to perform one day of our life, our duty. If any man perceive his faith not to abide the fire, let such an onewith weeping buy his liberty until he hath obtained more strength, lest the gospel suffer by him some shameful recantation. Let the deadbury the dead. Do you embrace Christ's cross, and Christ shall embraceyou. The peace of God be with you for ever. "[502]

 [Footnote 502: Latimer's _Remains_, p. 429. ]

Ridley's pen had been more busy: he had written a lamentation over thestate of England; he had written a farewell letter, taking leave ofhis friends, and taking leave of life, which, clouded as it was, hissunny nature made it hard to part from: he had written comfort to theafflicted for the gospel, and he had addressed a passionate appeal tothe Temporal Lords to save England from the false shepherds who werewasting the flock of Christ. But both he and Latimer had looked deathsteadily in the face for two years, expecting it every day or hour. Itwas now come. 

On the 30th of September, the three bishops took their seats in theDivinity school. Ridley was led in for trial, and the {p. 230}legate's commission was read, empowering them to try him for theopinions which he had expressed in the disputation at Oxford the yearbefore, and "elsewhere in the time of perdition. " They were to degradehim from the priesthood if he persisted in his heresies, and deliverhim over to the secular arm. 

On being first brought before the court, Ridley stood bareheaded. Atthe names of the cardinal and the pope, he put on his cap, likeCranmer, declining to acknowledge their authority. But his scrupleswere treated less respectfully than the archbishop's. He was orderedto take it off, and when he refused, it was removed by a beadle. 

He was then charged with having denied transubstantiation, and thepropitiatory sacrifice of the mass, and was urged at length to recant. His opinions on the real presence were peculiar. Christ, he said, wasnot the sacrament, but was really and truly in the sacrament, as theHoly Ghost was with the water at baptism and yet was not the water. The subtlety of the position was perplexing, but the knot was cut bythe crucial question, whether, after the consecration of the elements, the substance of bread and wine remained. He was allowed the night toconsider his answer, but he left no doubt what that answer would be. "The bishops told him that they were not come to condemn him, theirprovince was to condemn no one, but only to cut off the heretic fromthe church, for the temporal judge to deal with as he should thinkfit. " The cowardly sophism had been heard too often. Ridley thankedthe court "for their gentleness, " "being the same which Christ had ofthe high priest:" "the high priest said it was not lawful for him toput any man to death, but committed Christ to Pilate; neither wouldsuffer him to absolve Christ, though he sought all the means thereforethat he might. "

Ridley withdrew, and Latimer was then introduced--eighty years oldnow--dressed in an old threadbare gown of Bristol frieze, ahandkerchief on his head with a night-cap over it, and over that againanother cap, with two broad flaps buttoned under the chin. A leatherbelt was round his waist, to which a Testament was attached; hisspectacles, without a case, hung from his neck. So stood the greatestman perhaps then living in the world, a prisoner on his trial, waitingto be condemned to death by men professing to be the ministers of God. As it was in the days of the prophets, so it was in the Son of man'sdays; as it was in the days of the Son of man, so was it in theReformers' days; as it was in the days of the Reformers, so will it beto the {p. 231} end, so long and so far as a class of men arepermitted to hold power, who call themselves the commissioned andauthoritative teachers of truth. Latimer's trial was the counterpartof Ridley's: the charge was the same, and the result was the same, except that the stronger intellect vexed itself less with nicedistinctions. Bread was bread, said Latimer, and wine was wine; therewas a change in the sacrament, it was true, but the change was not inthe nature, but the dignity. He too was reprieved for the day. Thefollowing morning, the court sat in St. Mary's Church, with theauthorities of town and university, heads of houses, mayor, aldermen, and sheriff. The prisoners were brought to the bar. The same questionswere asked, the same answers were returned, and sentence waspronounced upon them, as heretics obstinate and incurable. 

Execution did not immediately follow. The convictions for which theywere about to die had been adopted by both of them comparatively latein life. The legate would not relinquish the hope of bringing themback into the superstition in which they had been born, and had livedso long; and Soto, a Spanish friar, who was teaching divinity atOxford in the place of Peter Martyr, was set to work on them. 

But one of them would not see him, and on the other he could make noimpression. Those whom God had cast away, thought Pole, were not to besaved by man;[503] and the 16th of October was fixed upon as the dayon which they were to suffer. Ridley had been removed from Bocardo, and was under the custody of the mayor, a man named Irish, whose wifewas a bigoted and fanatical Catholic. On the evening of the 15th therewas a supper at the mayor's house, where some members of Ridley'sfamily were permitted to be present. He talked cheerfully of hisapproaching "marriage;" his brother-in-law promised to be inattendance, and, if possible, to bring with him his wife, Ridley'ssister. Even the hard eyes of Mrs. Irish were softened to tears, asshe listened and thought of what was coming. The brother-in-lawoffered to sit up through the night, but Ridley said there was nooccasion; he "minded to go to bed, and sleep as quietly as ever he didin his life. " In the morning he wrote a letter to the queen. As Bishopof London he had granted {p. 232} renewals of certain leases, onwhich he had received fines. Bonner had refused to recognise them, andhe entreated the queen, for Christ's sake, either that the leasesshould be allowed, or that some portion of his own confiscatedproperty might be applied to the repayment of the tenants. [504] Theletter was long; by the time it was finished, the sheriff's officerswere probably in readiness. 

 [Footnote 503: A Rev. P. Soto accepi litteras Oxonio datas quibus me certiorem facit quid cum duobus illis hæreticis egerit qui jam erant damnati, quorum alter ne loqui quidem cum eo voluit: cum altero est locutus sed nihil profecit, ut facile intelligatur a nemine servari posse quos Deus projecerit. Itaque de illis supplicium est sumptum. --Pole to Philip: _Epist. _ Reg. Pol. Vol. V. P. 47. ]

 [Footnote 504: Foxe, vol. Vii. P. 545. It is to the discredit of Mary that she paid no attention to this appeal, and left Bonner's injustice to be repaired by the first parliament of Elizabeth. _Commons Journals_, 1 Elizabeth. ]

The place selected for the burning was outside the north wall of thetown, a short stone's throw from the southward corner of BalliolCollege, and about the same distance from Bocardo prison, from whichCranmer was intended to witness his friends' sufferings. 

Lord Williams of Thame was on the spot by the queen's order; and thecity guard were under arms to prevent disturbance. Ridley appearedfirst, walking between the mayor and one of the aldermen. He wasdressed in a furred black gown, "such as he was wont to wear beingbishop, " a furred velvet tippet about his neck, and a velvet cap. Hehad trimmed his beard, and had washed himself from head to foot; a manevidently nice in his appearance, a gentleman, and liking to be knownas such. The way led under the windows of Bocardo, and he looked up;but Soto, the friar, was with the archbishop, making use of theoccasion, and Ridley did not see him. [505] In turning round, however, he saw Latimer coming up behind him in the frieze coat, with the capand handkerchief--the workday costume unaltered, except that under hiscloak, and reaching to his feet, the old man wore a long new shroud. 

 [Footnote 505: The execution, however, was doubtless appointed to take place on that spot, that Cranmer might see it. An old engraving in Foxe's _Martyrs_ represents him as on the leads of the Tower while the burning was going forward, looking at it, and praying. ]

"Oh! be ye there?" Ridley exclaimed. 

"Yea, " Latimer answered. "Have after as fast as I can follow. "

Ridley ran to him and embraced him. "Be of good heart, brother, " hesaid. "God will either assauge the flame, or else strengthen us toabide it. " They knelt and prayed together, and then exchanged a fewwords in a low voice, which were not overheard. 

Lord Williams, the vice-chancellor, and the doctors were seated on aform close to the stake. A sermon was preached, {p. 233} "a scantone, " "of scarce a quarter of an hour;" and then Ridley begged thatfor Christ's sake he might say a few words. 

Lord Williams looked to the doctors, one of whom started from hisseat, and laid his hand on Ridley's lips--

"Recant, " he said, "and you may both speak and live. "

"So long as the breath is in my body, " Ridley answered, "I will neverdeny my Lord Christ and his known truth. God's will be done in me. Icommit our cause, " he said, in a loud voice, turning to the people, "to Almighty God, who shall indifferently judge all. "

The brief preparations were swiftly made. Ridley gave his gown andtippet to his brother-in-law, and distributed remembrances among thosewho were nearest to him. To Sir Henry Lee he gave a new groat, toothers he gave handkerchiefs, nutmegs, slices of ginger, his watch, and miscellaneous trinkets; "some plucked off the points of his hose;""happy, " it was said, "was he that might get any rag of him. "

Latimer had nothing to give. He threw off his cloak, stood boltupright in his shroud, and the friends took their places on eitherside of the stake. 

"O Heavenly Father, " Ridley said, "I give unto thee most humblethanks, for that thou hast called me to be a professor of thee evenunto death. Have mercy, O Lord, on this realm of England, and deliverthe same from all her enemies. "

A chain was passed round their bodies, and fastened with a staple. 

A friend brought a bag of powder and hung it round Ridley's neck. 

"I will take it to be sent of God, " Ridley said. "Have you more, formy brother?"

"Yea, sir, " the friend answered. "Give it him betimes then, " Ridleyreplied, "lest ye be too late. "

The fire was then brought. To the last moment, Ridley was distressedabout the leases, and, bound as he was, he entreated Lord Williams tointercede with the queen about them. 

"I will remember your suit, " Lord Williams answered. The lighted torchwas laid to the faggots. "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, " Latimercried at the crackling of the flames; "Play the man: we shall this daylight such a candle, by God's, grace, in England, as I trust shallnever be put out. "

"_In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum_, " cried Ridley. "_Domine, recipe spiritum meum. _"

{p. 234} "O Father of Heaven, " said Latimer, on the other side, "receive my soul. "

Latimer died first: as the flame blazed up about him, he bathed hishands in it, and stroked his face. The powder exploded, and he becameinstantly senseless. 

His companion was less fortunate. The sticks had been piled toothickly over the gorse that was under them; the fire smouldered roundhis legs, and the sensation of suffering was unusually protracted. "Icannot burn, " he called; "Lord have mercy on me; let the fire come tome; I cannot burn. " His brother-in-law, with awkward kindness, threwon more wood, which only kept down the flame. At last some one liftedthe pile with "a bill, " and let in the air; the red tongues of fireshot up fiercely, Ridley wrested himself into the middle of them, andthe powder did its work. 

The horrible sight worked upon the beholders as it has worked since, and will work for ever, while the English nation survives--being, notwithstanding, as in justice to those who caused these accursedcruelties, must never be forgotten--a legitimate fruit of thesuperstition, that, in the eyes of the Maker of the world, an error ofbelief is the greatest of crimes; that while for all other sins thereis forgiveness, a mistake in the intellectual intricacies ofspeculative opinion will be punished not with the brief agony of apainful death, but with tortures to which there shall be no end. 

But martyrdom was often but a relief from more barbarous atrocities. In the sad winter months which were approaching, the poor men andwomen, who, untried and uncondemned, were crowded into the bishops'prisons, experienced such miseries as the very dogs could scarcelysuffer and survive. They were beaten, they were starved, they wereflung into dark, fetid dens, where rotting straw was their bed, theirfeet were fettered in the stocks, and their clothes were their onlycovering, while the wretches who died in their misery were flung outinto the fields where none might bury them. [506]

 [Footnote 506: Foxe, vols. Vii. Viii. , _passim_, especially vol. Vii. P. 605. Philpot's Petition, Ibid. P. 682; and an account of the Prisons at Canterbury, vol. Viii. P. 255. At Canterbury, _after_ Pole became archbishop, his archdeacon, Harpsfeld, had fifteen prisoners confined together, of whom five were starved to death; the other ten were burnt. But before they suffered, and while one of those who died of hunger still survived, they left on record the following account of their treatment, and threw it out of a window of the castle:--

 "Be it known to all men that shall read, or hear read, these our letters, that we, the poor prisoners of the castle of Canterbury, for God's truth, are kept and lie in cold irons, and our keeper will not suffer any meat to be brought to us to comfort us. And if any man do bring in anything--as bread, butter, cheese, or any other food--the said keeper will charge them that so bring us anything (except money or raiment), to carry it thence again; or else, if he do receive any food of any for us, he doth keep it for himself, and he and his servants do spend it; so that we have nothing thereof: and thus the keeper keepeth away our victuals from us; insomuch that there are four of us prisoners there for God's truth famished already, and thus it is his mind to famish us all. And we think he is appointed thereto by the bishops and priests, and also of the justices, so to famish us; and not only us of the said castle, but also all other prisoners in other prisons for the like cause to be also famished. Notwithstanding, we write not these our letters to that intent we might not afford to be famished for the Lord Jesus' sake, but for this cause and intent, that they having no law so to famish us in prison, should not do it privily, but that the murderers' hearts should be openly known to all the world, that all men may know of what church they are, and who is their father. "--Foxe, vol. Viii. P. 255. ]

{p. 235} Lollard's Tower and Bonner's coal-house were the chief scenesof barbarity. Yet there were times when even Bonner loathed his work. He complained that he was troubled with matters that were none of his;the bishops in other parts of England thrust upon his hands offenderswhom they dared not pardon and would not themselves put to death; and, being in London, he was himself under the eyes of the court, and couldnot evade the work. [507] Against Bonner, however, the world's voicerose the loudest. His brutality was notorious and unquestionable, anda published letter was addressed to him by a lady, in which he wascalled the "common cut-throat and general slaughter-slave to all thebishops in England. "[508] "I am credibly informed, " said this personto him, "that your lordship doth believe, and hath in secret said, there is no hell. The very Papists themselves begin now to abhor yourbloodthirstiness, and speak shame of your tyranny. Every child cancall you by name, and say, 'Bloody Bonner is Bishop of London!' andevery man hath it as perfect upon his fingers' ends as hisPaternoster, how many you for your part have burned with fire andfamished in prison this three-quarters of a year. Though your lordshipbelieve neither heaven nor hell, neither God nor devil, yet if yourlordship love your own honesty, you were best to surcease from thiscruel burning and murdering. Say not but a woman gave you warning. Asfor the obtaining your popish purpose in suppressing of the truth, Iput you out of doubt, you shall not obtain it so long as you go thisway to work as you do. You have lost the hearts of twenty thousandthat were rank Papists within this twelve months. "

 [Footnote 507: See especially his conversation with Philpot: Foxe, vol. Vii. P. 611. ]

 [Footnote 508: Godly Letter addressed to Bonner: Ibid. P. 712. ]

In the last words lay the heart of the whole matter. The {p. 236}martyrs alone broke the spell of orthodoxy, and made the establishmentof the Reformation possible. 

In the midst of such scenes the new parliament was about to meet. Money was wanted for the crown debts, and the queen was infatuatedenough still to meditate schemes for altering the succession, or, atleast, for obtaining the consent of the legislature to Philip'scoronation, that she might bribe him back to her side. [509]

 [Footnote 509: Pour le faire plustost retourner elle fera toutes choses incrédible en ce dict parlement en faveur dudict Sieur. .. . L'on dict que l'occasion pour laquelle le dict parlement a esté assemblé, ne tend à aultre fin que pour faire s'il est possible tomber le gouvernement absolu de ce royaulme entre les mains de ce roy. --Noailles to the King of France, October 21: _Ambassades_, vol. V. ]

As the opening of the session approached, Elizabeth was sent againfrom the court to be out of sight and out of reach of intrigue; andMary had the mortification of knowing that her sister's passagethrough London was a triumphal procession. The public enthusiasmbecame so marked at last that the princess was obliged to ride forwardwith a few servants, leaving the gentlemen who were her escort to keepback the people. Fresh alarms, too, had risen on the side of thepapacy. Cardinal Caraffa, Paul IV. As he was now named, on assumingthe tiara, had put out a bull among his first acts, reasserting thedecision of the canons on the sanctity of the estates of the church, and threatening laymen who presumed to withhold such property from itslawful owners with anathemas. In a conversation with Lord Montague, the English ambassador at Rome, he had used language far fromreassuring on the concessions of his predecessor; and some violentdemonstration would undoubtedly have been made in parliament, had notPaul been persuaded to except England especially from the generaledict. 

Even then the irritation was not allayed, and a whole train of sorrowswas in store for Mary from the violent character of Caraffa. Politicalpopes have always been a disturbing element in the European system. Paul IV. , elected by French influence, showed his gratitude byplunging into the quarrel between France and the Empire. He imprisonedImperialist cardinals in St. Angelo; he persecuted the Colonnas onaccount of their Imperialist tendencies, levelled their fortresses, and seized their lands. The Cardinal of Lorraine hastened to Rome toconclude an alliance offensive and defensive on behalf of France; andthe queen, distracted between her religion and her duty as a wife, sawPhilip on the point of being drawn into parricidal hostility {p. 237}with his and her spiritual father. Nay, she herself might be involvedin the same calamity; for so bitter was the English humour that theliberal party in the council were inclined to take part in the war, ifthey would have the pope for an enemy; and Philip would be too happyin their support to look too curiously to the motives of it. [510]

 [Footnote 510: Ce soit ung argument plus grand que tout aultre pour faire entrer ceulx cy à la guerre ouverte; estant ceste nation comme ung chascung sçait fort ennemie de sadict Sainctité. --Noailles to Montmorency: _Ambassades_, vol. V. P. 188. ]

A calamity of a more real kind was also approaching Mary. She was onthe point of losing the only able minister on whose attachment shecould rely. Gardiner's career on earth was about to end. 

On the 6th of October, Noailles described the Bishop of Winchester assinking rapidly, and certain to die before Christmas, [511] yet stilleager and energetic, perfectly aware of his condition, yet determinedto work till the last. 

 [Footnote 511: Same to the same. --Ibid. P. 150. ]

Noailles himself had two hours' conversation with him on business:when he took his leave, the chancellor conducted him through thecrowded ante-chamber to the door, leaning heavily on his arm. "Thepeople thought he was dead, " he said, "but there was some life in himyet. "

Notwithstanding his condition, he roused himself for the meeting ofparliament on the 21st; he even spoke at the opening, and he was inhis place in the House of Lords on the second day of the session; buthis remaining strength broke down immediately after, and he died atWhitehall Palace on the 13th of November. The Protestants, whobelieved that he was the author of the persecution, expected that itwould cease with his end; they were deceived in their hopes, for theirsufferings continued unabated. In their opinion of his conduct theywere right, yet right but partially. 

Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, was the pupil of Wolsey, andhad inherited undiminished the pride of the ecclesiastical order. Ifhe went with Henry in his separation from the papacy, he intended thatthe English Church should retain, notwithstanding, unimpairedauthority and undiminished privileges. The humiliations heaped uponthe clergy by the king had not discouraged him, for the Catholicdoctrine was maintained unshaken, and so long as the priesthood wasregarded as a peculiar order, gifted with supernatural powers, so longas the sacraments were held essential conditions of {p. 238}salvation, and the priesthood alone could administer them, he couldfeel assured that, sooner or later, their temporal position would berestored to them. 

Thus, while loyal to the royal supremacy, the Bishop of Winchester hadhated heresy, and hated all who protected heresy with a deadly hatred. He passed the Six Articles Bill; he destroyed Cromwell; he labouredwith all his might to destroy Cranmer; and, at length, when Henry wasabout to die, he lent himself, though too prudently to be detected, tothe schemes of Surrey and the Catholics upon the regency. The failureof those schemes, and the five years of arbitrary imprisonment underEdward, had not softened feelings already more than violent. Hereturned to power exasperated by personal injury; and justified, as hemight easily believe himself to be, in his opinion of the tendenciesof heresy, by the scandals of the Protestant administration, heobtained, by unremitting assiduity, the re-enactment of thepersecuting laws, which he himself launched into operation withimperious cruelty. 

Yet there was something in Gardiner's character which was not whollyexecrable. For thirty years he worked unweariedly in the service ofthe public; his judgment as a member of council was generallyexcellent; and Somerset, had he listened to his remonstrances, mighthave saved both his life and credit. He was vindictive, ruthless, treacherous, but his courage was indomitable. He resisted Cromwelltill it became a question which of the two should die, and the lot wasas likely to have fallen to him as to his rival. He would havemurdered Elizabeth with the forms of law or without, but Elizabeth wasthe hope of all that he most detested. He was no dreamer, nohigh-flown enthusiast, but he was a man of clear eye and hard heart, who had a purpose in his life which he pursued with unflagging energy. Living as he did in revolutionary times, his hand was never slow tostrike when an enemy was in his power; yet in general when Gardinerstruck, he stooped, like an eagle, at the nobler game, leaving thelinen-drapers and apprentices to "the mousing owls. " His demerits werevast; his merits were small, yet something. 

"Well, well, " as some one said, winding up his epitaph, "Mortuus est, et sepultus est, et descendit ad inferos; let us say no more abouthim. "[512]

 [Footnote 512: Special Grace appointed to have been said at York on the Accession of Elizabeth. --_Tanner MSS. _, Bodleian Library. ]

To return to the parliament. On the 23rd of October a bull {p. 239}of Paul IV, confirming the dispensation of Julius, was read in theHouse of Commons. [513] On the 29th the crown debts were alleged as areason for demanding a subsidy. The queen had been prevented fromindulging her desire for a standing army. The waste and peculation ofthe late reign had been put an end to; and the embarrassments of thetreasury were not of her creation. Nevertheless the change in socialhabits, and the alteration in the value of money, had prevented thereduction of the expenditure from being carried to the extent whichhad been contemplated; the marriage had been in many ways costly, andlarge sums had been spent in restoring plundered church plate. Sogreat had been the difficulties of the treasury, that, although freshloans had been contracted with the Jews, the wages of the householdwere again two years in arrear. 

 [Footnote 513: _Commons Journals_, 2nd and 3rd Philip and Mary. ]

Parliament showed no disposition to be illiberal; they only desired tobe satisfied that if they gave money it would be applied to thepurpose for which it was demanded. The Subsidy Bill, when firstintroduced, was opposed in the House of Commons on the ground that thequeen would give the keys of the treasury to her husband; and after adebate, a minority of a hundred voted for refusing the grant. [514] Thegeneral spirit of the Houses, however, was, on the whole, moregenerous. Two fifteenths were voted in addition to the subsidy, whichthe queen, on her side, was able to decline with thanks. [515] Themoney question was settled quietly, and the business of the sessionproceeded. 

 [Footnote 514: _Commons Journals_, 2nd and 3rd Philip and Mary. --Noailles to the Constable, October 31. ]

 [Footnote 515: _Commons Journal. _ Noailles says that the queen demanded the fifteenths, and that the Commons refused to grant them. The account in the _Journals_ is confirmed by a letter of Lord Talbot to the Earl of Shrewsbury. --Lodge's _Illustrations_, vol. I. P. 207. ]

If her subjects were indifferent to their souls, Mary was anxiousabout her own. On the 11th of November, a bill was read a first timein the House of Lords, "whereby the king's and queen's majestiessurrendered, and gave into the hands of the pope's holiness thefirst-fruits and tenths of all ecclesiastical benefices. " Thereception of the measure can be traced in the changes of form which itexperienced. The payment of annates to the See of Rome was agrievance, both among clergy and laity, of very ancient standing. Theclergy, though willing to be relieved from paying first-fruits to thecrown, were not so loyal to the successors of St. Peter as to desireto restore their contributions into the old channel; while the laity, who from {p. 240} immemorial time had objected on principle to thepayment of tribute to a foreign sovereign, were now, through theirpossession of the abbey lands and the impropriation of benefices, immediately interested parties. On the 19th of November fifty membersof the House of Commons waited, by desire, upon the queen, to hear herown resolutions, and to listen to an admonition from thecardinal. [516] On the 20th a second bill was introduced, "whereby theking's and queen's majesties surrendered and gave the first-fruits andtenths into the hands of the laity. "[517] The crown would not receiveannates longer in any form; and as laymen liable to the payment ofthem could not conveniently be required to pay tribute to Rome, it wasleft to their consciences to determine whether they would follow thequeen's example in a voluntary surrender. 

 [Footnote 516: Mr. Speaker declared the queen's pleasure to be spoken yesterday, for to depart with the first-fruits and tenths; and my Lord Cardinal spake for the tithes and impropriations of benefices to be spiritual. --_Commons Journals_, November 20: 2nd and 3rd Philip and Mary. ]

 [Footnote 517: _Lords Journals. _]

Even then, however, the original bill could not pass so long as thepope's name was in it, or so long as the pope was interested in it. Asit left the Lords, it was simply a surrender, on behalf of the crown, of all claims whatever upon first-fruits of benefices, whether fromclergy or laity. The tenths were to continue to be paid. Layimpropriators should pay them to the crown. The clergy should pay themto the legate, by whom they were to be applied to the discharge of themonastic pensions, from which the crown was to be relieved. The crownat the same time set a precedent of sacrifice by placing in thelegate's hands unreservedly every one of its own impropriations. [518]

 [Footnote 518: 2nd and 3rd Philip and Mary, cap. Iv. ]

In this form the measure went down to the Commons, where itencountered fresh and violent opposition. To demand a subsidy in oneweek, and in the next to demand permission to sacrifice a sixth partof the ordinary revenue, was inconsistent and irrational. The laityhad no ambition to take upon themselves the burdens of the clergy. Onthe 27th there was a long discussion;[519] on the 3rd of December thebill was carried, but with an adverse minority of a hundred andtwenty-six, against a majority of a hundred and ninety-three. [520]

 [Footnote 519: _Commons Journals. _]

 [Footnote 520: Ibid. The temper of the opposition may be gathered from the language of a pamphlet which appeared on the accession of Elizabeth. 

 The writer describes the clergy as "lads of circumspection, and verily _filii hujus sæculi_. " He complains of their avarice in inducing the queen, "at one chop, to give away fifty thousand pounds and better yearly from the inheritance of her crown unto them, and many a thousand after, unto those idle hypocrites besides. "

 He then goes on:--

 "And yet this great profusion of their prince did so smally serve their hungry guts, like starven tikes that were never content with more than enough; at all their collations, assemblies, and sermons, they never left yelling and yelping in pursuit of their prey, Restore! Restore! These devout deacons nothing regarded how some for long service and travail abroad, while they sat at home--some for shedding his blood in defence of his prince's cause and country, while they with safety, all careless in their cabins, in luxe and lewdness, did sail in a sure port--some selling his antient patrimony for purchase of these lands, while they must have all by gift a God's name--they nothing regarding, I say, what injury to thousands, what undoing to most men, what danger of uproar and tumult throughout the whole realm, and what a weakening to the State, should thereby arise; with none of these matters were they moved a whit, but still held on their cry, Restore! Restore!"

 "And that ye may be sure they meant nothing more than how to have all, and that with all haste; after that their Pope, this seditious Paul IV. , that now is, had sent hither his bulls and his thunderbolts for that cause, and other (and yet little restored, because the world, indeed, would not be so faced out of their livelihood) sundry of our prelates, like hardy champions, slacke not a whit themselves to thrust lords out of their lands, and picked quarrels to their lawful possessions. Well. Let nobility consider the case as they list; but, as some think, if the clergy come to be masters again, they will teach them a school point. Christ taught the young man that perfection was in _vade, vende, et da_, not in _mane, acquire, accumula_. "--Grace to be said at the Accession of Elizabeth: _Tannes MSS. _, Bodleian Library. ]

{p. 241} Language had been heard in both Houses, during the debates, of unusual violence. Bradford's letter on the succession wascirculating freely among the members, and the parliament from whichthe queen anticipated so much for her husband's interests proved themost intractable with which she had had to deal. [521] After thedifficulty which she had experienced with the first-fruits, she durstnot so much as introduce the question of the crown. [522] She attempteda bill for the restoration of the forfeited lands of the Howards, butit was lost. [523] The Duchess of Suffolk, [524] with {p. 242} severalother persons of rank, had lately joined the refugees on theContinent; she attempted to carry a measure for the confiscation oftheir property, and failed again. [525] A sharp blow was dealt also atthe recovered privileges of ecclesiastics. A man named Benet Smith, who had been implicated in a charge of murder, and was escaping underplea of clergy, was delivered by a special act into the hands ofjustice. [526] The leaven of the heretical spirit was still unsubdued. The queen dissolved her fourth parliament on the 9th of December; andseveral gentlemen who had spoken out with unpalatable freedom wereseized and sent to the Tower. She was unwise, thought Noailles; sucharbitrary acts were only making her day by day more detested, and, should opportunity offer, would bring her to utter destruction. 

 [Footnote 521: Noailles. ]

 [Footnote 522: Michele, the Venetian ambassador, in his curious but most inaccurate account of England during this reign, states that the queen had it in her power to cut off Elizabeth from the succession, but that she was prevented from doing it by Philip. Michele's information suffered from the policy of Venice. Venice held aloof from the complications of the rest of Europe, and her representatives were punished by exclusion from secrets of state. The letters of Noailles might be suspected, but the correspondence of Renard with Charles V. Leaves no doubt whatever either as to the views of the Spaniards towards Elizabeth, of their designs on the crown, or of the causes by which they were baffled. ]

 [Footnote 523: Noailles to the King of France, December 16. ]

 [Footnote 524: The witty Katherine Brandon, widow of Henry VIII. 's Charles Brandon, married to Richard Bertie. She was a lady of advanced opinions, between whom and the Bishop of Winchester there were some passages-at-arms. She dressed a dog in a rochet on one occasion, and called it Bishop Gardiner. 

 Gardiner himself said that he was once at a party at the Duke of Suffolk's, and it was a question who should take the duchess down to dinner. She wanted to go with her husband; but as that could not be, "My lady, " said Gardiner, "taking me by the hand, for that my lord would not take her himself, said that, forasmuch as she could not sit down with my lord whom she loved best, she had chosen me whom she loved worst. "--Holinshed. ]

 [Footnote 525: Et de mesme fust rejetté audict parlement à la grande confusion de ladicte dame ung aultre bill, par lequel elle vouloit confisquer les personnes et biens de ceulx qui sont transfuges de ce royaulme despuis son advènement à la couronne. --Noailles to the King of France, December 16: _Ambassades_, vol. V. ]

 [Footnote 526: 2nd and 3rd Philip and Mary, cap. 17. ]

Unwise she was indeed, and most unhappy. When the poor results of thesession became known to Philip, he sent orders that such of hisSpanish suite as he had left behind him should no longer afflictthemselves with remaining in a country which they abhorred; hesummoned them all to come to him except Alphonso, his confessor. "Thequeen wept and remonstrated; more piteous lamentations were neverheard from woman. " "How, " exclaimed a brother of Noailles, [527] "isshe repaid now for having quarrelled with her subjects, and set asideher father's will! The misery which she suffers in her husband'sabsence cannot so change her but that she will risk crown and life toestablish him in the sovereignty, and thus recall him to her side. Nevertheless, she will fail, and he will not come. He is weary ofhaving laboured so long in a soil so barren; while she who feels oldage stealing so fast upon her, cannot endure to lose what she hasbought so dearly. "

 [Footnote 527: François de Noailles to Madame de Roye: _Ambassades_, vol. V. ]

Nothing now was left for Mary but to make such use as she {p. 243}was able of the few years of life which were to remain to her. IfElizabeth, the hated Anne Boleyn's hated daughter, was to succeed heron the throne, and there was no remedy, it was for her to work sovigorously in the restoration of the church that her labours could notafterwards be all undone. At her own expense she began to rebuild andrefound the religious houses. The Grey Friars were replaced atGreenwich, the Carthusians at Sheene, the Brigittines at Sion. Thehouse of the Knights of St. John in London was restored; the Dean andChapter of Westminster gave way to Abbot Feckenham and a college ofmonks. Yet these touching efforts might soften her sorrow but couldnot remove it. Philip was more anxious than ever about the marriage ofElizabeth; and as Mary could not overcome her unwillingness tosanction by act of her own Elizabeth's pretensions, Philip wrote hercruel letters, and set his confessor to lecture her upon her duties asa wife. [528] These letters she chiefly spent her time in answering, shut up almost alone, trusting no one but Pole, and seeing no one buther women. If she was compelled to appear in public, she had lost herpower of self-control; she would burst into fits of violent anduncontrollable passion; she believed every one about her to be a spyin the interest of the Lords. So disastrously miserable were all theconsequences of her marriage, that it was said, the pope, who had{p. 244} granted the dispensation for the contraction of it, hadbetter grant another for its dissolution. [529] Unfortunately there wasone direction open in which her frenzy could have uncontrolled scope. 

 [Footnote 528: Among the surviving memorials of Mary, none is more affecting than a rough copy of an answer to one of these epistles, which is preserved in the Cotton Library. It is painfully scrawled, and covered with erasures and corrections, in which may be traced the dread in which she stood of offending Philip. _Demander license de votre Haultesse_, is crossed through and altered into _Supplier très humblement_. Where she had described herself as _obeissante_, she enlarged the word into _très obeissante_; and the tone throughout is most piteous. She entreats the king to appoint some person or persons to talk with her about the marriage. She says that the conscience which she has about it she has had for twenty-four years; that is to say, since Elizabeth's birth. Nevertheless, she will agree to Philip's wish, if the realm will agree. She is ready to discuss it; but she complains, so far as she dares complain, of the confessor. The priests trouble her, she says. "Alfonsez espécialement me proposoit questions si obscures que mon simple entendement ne les pouvoit comprehendre, comme pour exemple il me demandoit qui estoit roy au temps de Adam, et disoit comme j'estoy obligée de faire ceste marriage par ung article de mon Credo, mais il ne l'exposoit. .. . Aultres choses trop difficiles pour moy d'entendre . .. Ainsy qu'il estoit impossible en si peu de temps de changer . .. Conscience. .. . Votre Haultesse escript en ses dictes lettres que si le consent de ce royaulme iroyt au contraire, Votre Haultesse en imputeroit la coulpe en moy. Je supplie en toute humilité votre Haultesse de différer ceste affaire jusques à votre retour; et donques Votre Haultesse sera juge si je seray coulpable ou non. Car autrement je vinray en jalousie de Votre Haultesse la quelle sera pire à moy que mort; car j'en ay commencé déjà d'en taster trop à mon grand regret, " etc. --_Cotton MSS. , Titus_, B. 2: printed very incorrectly in Strype's _Memorials_, vol. Vi. 418. ]

 [Footnote 529: Noailles. ]

The Archbishop of Canterbury, after his trial and his citation toRome, addressed to the queen a singular letter; he did not ask formercy, and evidently he did not expect mercy: he reasserted calmly thetruth of the opinions for which he was to suffer; but he protestedagainst the indignity done to the realm of England, and thedegradation of the royal prerogative, "when the king and queen, as ifthey were subjects in their own realm, complained and required justiceat a stranger's hand against their own subjects, being alreadycondemned to death by their own laws. " "Death, " he said, "could notgrieve him much more than to have his most dread and gracioussovereigns, to whom under God he owed all obedience, to be hisaccusers in judgment before a stranger and outward power. "[530]

 [Footnote 530: Cranmer to Queen Mary: Jenkins, vol. I. P. 369. This protest was committed to Pole to answer, who replied to it at length. 

 The authority of the pope in a secular kingdom, the legate said, was no more a foreign power than "the authority of the soul of man coming from heaven in the body generate on earth. " "The pope's laws spiritual did no other but that the soul did in the body, giving life to the same, confirming and strengthening the same;" and that it was which the angel signified in Christ's conception, declaring what his authority should be, that he should sit _super domum David_, which was a temporal reign, _ut confirmet illud et corroboret_, as the spiritual laws did. 

 The quotation is inaccurate. The words in the Vulgate are, _Dabit illi Dominus sedem David patris ejus: et regnabit in domo Jacob in æternum_. 

 The letter contains another illustration of Pole's habit of mind. "There was never spiritual man, " he says, "put to execution according to the order of the laws of the realm but he was first by the canon laws condemned and degraded; whereof there be as many examples afore the time of breaking the old order of the realm these last years, as hath been delinquents. Let the records be seen. And specially this is notable of the Bishop of ----, which, being imprisoned for high treason, the king would not proceed to his condemnation and punishment afore he had the pope's bull given him. .. . "

 The historical argument proceeded smoothly up to the name, which, however, was not and is not to be found. Pole was probably thinking of Archbishop Scrope, who, however, unfortunately for the argument, was put to death _without_ the pope's sanction. --Draft of a Letter from Cardinal Pole to Cranmer: _Harleian MSS. _ 417. ]

The appeal was intended perhaps to provoke the queen to let him diewith his friends, in whose example and companionship he felt hisstrength supported. But it could not be; he was the spectator of theirfate, while his own was still held at a distance before him. Hewitnessed the agonies of Ridley; and the long imprisonment, theperpetual chafing of Soto the Spanish friar, {p. 245} and the drearysense that he was alone, forsaken of man, and perhaps of God, began towear into the firmness of a many-sided susceptible nature. Some vagueindication that he might yield had been communicated to Pole by Sotobefore Christmas, [531] and the struggle which had evidently commencedwas permitted to protract itself. If the Archbishop of Canterbury, thefather of the Reformed Church of England, could be brought to arecantation, that one victory might win back the hearts which thegeneral constancy of the martyrs was drawing off in tens of thousands. Time, however, wore on, and the archbishop showed no definite signs ofgiving way. On the 14th of December, a mock trial was instituted atRome; the report of the examination at Oxford was produced, andcounsel were heard on both sides, or so it was pretended. Paul IV. Thenpronounced the final sentence, that Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop ofCanterbury, having been accused by his sovereigns of divers crimes andmisdemeanours, it had been proved against him that he had followed theteachings of John Wicliff and Martin Luther of accursed memory;[532]that he had published books containing matters of heresy, and stillobstinately persisted in those his erroneous opinions: he wastherefore declared to be anathema, to be deprived of his office, andhaving been degraded, he was to be delivered over to the secular arm. 

 [Footnote 531: Pole to Philip: _Epistolæ_ Reg. Pol. , vol. V. P. 47. ]

 [Footnote 532: _Damnatæ memoriæ. _ Sentence Definitive against Thomas Cranmer: Foxe, vol. Viii. ]

There was some delay in sending the judgment to England. It arrived atthe beginning of February, and on the 14th, Thirlby and Bonner wentdown to finish the work at Oxford. The court sat this time in ChristChurch Cathedral. Cranmer was brought to the bar, and the papalsentence was read. The preamble declared that the cause had been heardwith indifference, that the accused had been defended by an advocate, that witnesses had been examined for him, that he had been allowedevery opportunity to answer for himself. "O Lord, " he exclaimed, "whatlies be these! that I, being in prison and never suffered to havecounsel or advocate at home, should produce witness and appointcounsel at Rome; God must needs punish this shameless lying. "

Silence would perhaps have been more dignified; to speak at all was anindication of infirmity. As soon as the reading was finished, thearchbishop was formally arrayed in his robes, and when the decorationwas completed, Bonner called out in exultation:

{p. 246} "This is the man that hath despised the pope's holiness, andnow is to be judged by him; this is the man that hath pulled down somany churches, and now is come to be judged in a church; this is theman that hath contemned the blessed sacrament of the altar, and now iscome to be condemned before that blessed sacrament hanging over thealtar; this is the man that, like Lucifer, sat in the place of Christupon an altar[533] to judge others, and now is come before an altar tobe judged himself. "[534]

 [Footnote 533: An allusion to a scaffold in St. Paul's Church, on which Cranmer had sat as a commissioner; said to have been erected over an altar. ]

 [Footnote 534: Foxe, vol. Viii. P. 73. ]

Thirlby checked the insolence of his companion. The degradation wasabout to commence, when the archbishop drew from his sleeve an appeal"to the next Free General Council that should be called. " It had beendrawn after consultation with a lawyer, in the evident hope that itmight save or prolong his life, [535] and he attempted to present it tohis judges. But he was catching at straws, as in his clearer judgmenthe would have known. Thirlby said sadly that the appeal could not bereceived; his orders were absolute to proceed. 

 [Footnote 535: Cranmer to a Lawyer: Jenkins, vol. I. P. 384. ]

The robes were stripped off in the usual way. The thin hair wasclipped. Bonner with his own hands scraped the finger points which hadbeen touched with the oil of consecration; "Now are you lord nolonger, " he said, when the ceremony was finished. "All this needednot, " Cranmer answered; "I had myself done with this gear long ago. "

He was led off in a beadle's threadbare gown, and a tradesman's cap;and here for some important hours authentic account of him is lost. What he did, what he said, what was done or what was said to him, isknown only in its results, or in Protestant tradition. Tradition saidthat he was taken from the cathedral to the house of the Dean ofChrist Church, where he was delicately entertained, and worked uponwith smooth words, and promises of life. "The noblemen, " he was told, "bare him good-will; he was still strong, and might live many years, why should he cut them short?" The story may contain some elements oftruth. But the same evening, certainly, he was again in his cell; andamong the attempts to move him which can be authenticated, there wasone of a far different kind; a letter addressed to him by Pole tobring him to a sense of his condition. 

"Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, "so the legate addressed a prisoner in the expectation of {p. 247}death, [536] "hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you andbring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bidhim God speed; for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of hisevil deeds. There are some who tell me that, in obedience to thiscommand, I ought not to address you, or to have any dealings with you, save the dealings of a judge with a criminal. But Christ came not tojudge only, but also to save; I call upon you, not to enter into yourhouse, for so I should make myself a partaker with you; my desire isonly to bring you back to the church which you have deserted. 

 [Footnote 536: _Epist. _ Reg. Pol. , vol. V. P. 248. I am obliged to abridge and epitomise. ]

"You have corrupted Scripture, you have broken through the communionof saints, and now I tell you what you must do; I tell you, or rathernot I, but Christ and the church through me. Did I follow my ownimpulse, or did I speak in my own name, I should hold other language;to you I should not speak at all; I would address myself only to God;I would pray him to let fall the fire of Heaven to consume you, and toconsume with you the house into which you have entered in abandoningthe church. [537]

 [Footnote 537: Car se je n'écourtois que les mouvemens de la nature, se je ne vous parlois qu'en mon nom, je vous tiendrois un autre langage au plutôt je ne vous dirois rien; je m'entretiendrois avec Dieu seul at je lui demanderois de faire tomber le feu du ciel pour vous consumer avec cette maison où vous avez passé en abandonnant l'Église. The letter was only known to the editor of Pole's remains in a French translation. I do not know whether the original exists, or whether it was in Latin or in English. ]

"You pretend that you have used no instruments but reason to lead menafter you; what instrument did the devil use to seduce our parents inParadise? you have followed the serpent; with guile you destroyed yourking, the realm, and the church, and you have brought to perditionthousands of human souls. 

"Compared with you, all others who have been concerned in these deedsof evil, are but objects of pity; many of them long resistedtemptation, and yielded only to the seductions of your impious tongue;you made yourself a bishop--for what purpose, but to mock both God andman? Your first act was but to juggle with your king, and you were nosooner primate, than you plotted how you might break your oath to theHoly See; you took part in the counsels of the evil one, you made yourhome with the wicked, you sat in the seat of the scornful. Youexhorted your king with your fine words, to put away his wife; youprated to him of his obligations to submit to the judgment of the{p. 248} church;[538] and what has followed that unrighteoussentence? You parted the king from the wife with whom he had lived fortwenty years; you parted him from the church, the common mother of thefaithful; and thenceforth throughout the realm law has been trampledunder foot, the people have been ground with tyranny, the churchespillaged, the nobility murdered one by the other. 

 [Footnote 538: The innumerable modern writers who agree with Pole on the iniquity of the divorce of Catherine forget that, according to the rule which most of us now acknowledge, the marriage of Henry with his brother's wife _really was incestuous_--really was forbidden by the laws of God and nature; that the pope had no more authority to dispense with those laws then than he has now; and that if modern law is right, Cranmer did no more than his duty. ]

"Therefore, I say, were I to make my own cries heard in heaven, Iwould pray God to demand at your hands the blood of his servants. Never had religion, never had the church of Christ a worse enemy thanyou have been; now therefore, when you are about to suffer the justreward of your deeds, think no more to excuse yourself; confess yoursins, like the penitent thief upon the cross. 

"Say not in your defence that you have done no violence, that you havebeen kind and gentle in your daily life. Thus I know men speak of you;but cheat not your conscience with so vain a plea. The devil, whencalled to answer for the souls that he has slain, may plead likewisethat he did not desire their destruction; he thought only to make themhappy, to give them pleasure, honour, riches--all things which theirhearts desired. So did you with your king: you gave him the woman thathe lusted after; you gave him the honour which was not his due, andthe good things which were neither his nor yours; and, last and worst, you gave him poison, in covering his iniquities with a cloak ofrighteousness. Better, far better, you had offered him courtesans forcompanions; better you and he had been open thieves and robbers. Thenhe might have understood his crimes, and have repented of them; butyou tempted him into the place where there is no repentance, no hopeof salvation. 

"Turn then yourself, and repent. See yourself as you are. Thus may youescape your prison. Thus may you flee out of the darkness wherein youhave hid yourself. Thus may you come back to light and life, and earnfor yourself God's forgiveness. I know not how to deal with you. Yourexamination at Oxford has but hardened you; yet the issue is with God. I {p. 249} at least can point out to you the way. If you, then, persist in your vain opinions, may God have mercy on you. "

The legate, in his office of guide, then travelled the full round ofcontroversy, through Catholic tradition, through the doctrine of thesacraments and of the real presence, where there is no need to followhim. At length he drew to his conclusion:

"You will plead Scripture to answer me. Are you so vain, then, are youso foolish, as to suppose that it has been left to you to find out themeaning of those Scriptures which have been in the hands of thefathers of the church for so many ages? Confess, confess that you havemocked God in denying that he is present on the altar; wash out yoursins with tears; and in the abundance of your sorrow you may findpardon. May it be so. Even for the greatness of your crimes may it beso, that God may have the greater glory. You have not, like others, fallen through simplicity, or fallen through fear. You were corrupted, like the Jews, by earthly rewards and promises. For your own profityou denied the presence of your Lord, and you rebelled against hisservant the pope. May you see your crimes. May you feel the greatnessof your need of mercy. Now, even now, by my mouth, Christ offers youthat mercy; and with the passionate hope which I am bound to feel foryour salvation, I wait your answer to your Master's call. "

The exact day on which this letter reached the archbishop isuncertain, but it was very near the period of his sentence. He haddared death bravely while it was distant; but he was physically timid;the near approach of the agony which he had witnessed in othersunnerved him; and in a moment of mental and moral prostration Cranmermay well have looked in the mirror which Pole held up to him, andasked himself whether, after all, the being there described was histrue image--whether it was himself as others saw him. A faith whichhad existed for centuries, a faith in which generation aftergeneration have lived happy and virtuous lives; a faith in which allgood men are agreed, and only the bad dispute--such a faith carries anevidence and a weight with it beyond what can be looked for in a creedreasoned out by individuals--a creed which had the ban upon it ofinherited execration; which had been held in abhorrence once by himwho was now called upon to die for it. Only fools and fanatics believethat they cannot be mistaken. Sick misgivings may have taken hold uponhim in moments of despondency, whether, after all, the millions whoreceived the Roman supremacy might not be more right than thethousands {p. 250} who denied it; whether the argument on the realpresence, which had satisfied him for fifty years, might not be betterfounded than his recent doubts. It is not possible for a man of gentleand modest nature to feel himself the object of intense detestationwithout uneasy pangs; and as such thoughts came and went, a windowmight seem to open, through which there was a return to life andfreedom. His trial was not greater than hundreds of others had borne, and would bear with constancy; but the temperaments of men areunequally constituted, and a subtle intellect and a sensitiveorganisation are not qualifications which make martyrdom easy. 

Life, by the law of the church, by justice, by precedent, was given toall who would accept it on terms of submission. That the archbishopshould be tempted to recant, with the resolution formed, notwithstanding, that he should still suffer, whether he yielded orwhether he was obstinate, was a suspicion which his experience of thelegate had not taught him to entertain. 

So it was that Cranmer's spirit gave way, and he who had disdained tofly when flight was open to him, because he considered that, havingdone the most in establishing the Reformation, he was bound to facethe responsibility of it, fell at last under the protraction of thetrial. 

The day of his degradation the archbishop had eaten little. In theevening he returned to his cell in a state of exhaustion:[539] thesame night, or the next day, he sent in his first submission, [540]which was forwarded on the instant to the queen. It was no sooner gonethan he recalled it, and then vacillating again, he drew a second, inslightly altered words, which he signed and did not recall. There hadbeen a struggle in which the weaker nature had prevailed, and theorthodox leaders made haste to improve their triumph. The first stepbeing over, confessions far more humiliating could now be extorted. Bonner came to his cell, and obtained from him a promise in writing, "to submit to the king and queen in all their laws and ordinances, aswell touching the pope's supremacy, as in all other things;" with anengagement further "to move and stir all others to do the like, " andto live in quietness and obedience, without murmur or grudging; hisbook on the sacrament he would submit to the next general council. 

 [Footnote 539: Jenkins, vol. Iv. P. 129. ]

 [Footnote 540: Forasmuch as the king's and queen's majesties, by consent of parliament, have received the pope's authority within this realm, I am content to submit myself to their laws herein, and to take the pope for chief head of this Church of England so far as God's laws and the customs of this realm will permit. --Thomas Cranmer. ]

{p. 251} These three submissions must have followed one anotherrapidly. On the 16th of February, two days only after his trial, hemade a fourth, and yielding the point which he had reserved, hedeclared that he believed all the articles of the Christian religionas the Catholic Church believed. But so far he had spoken generally, and the court required particulars. In a fifth and longersubmission, [541] he was made to anathematise particularly the heresiesof Luther and Zuinglius; to accept the pope as the head of the church, out of which was no salvation; to acknowledge the real presence in theEucharist, the seven sacraments as received by the Roman Catholics, and purgatory. He professed his penitence for having once held ortaught otherwise, and he implored the prayers of all faithfulChristians, that those whom he had seduced might be brought back tothe true fold. 

 [Footnote 541: Of this fifth submission there is a contemporary copy among the MSS. At Corpus Christi College, Oxford. It was the only one known to Foxe; and this, with the fact of its being found in a separate form, gives a colour of probability to Mr. Southey's suspicion that the rest were forgeries. The whole collection was published by Bonner, who injured his claims to credit by printing with the others a seventh recantation, which was never made, and by concealing the real truth. But the balance of evidence I still think is in favour of the genuineness of the first six. The first four lead up to the fifth, and the invention of them after the fifth had been made would have been needless. The sixth I agree with Strype in considering to have been composed by Pole, and signed by Cranmer. ]

The demands of the church might have been satisfied by these lastadmissions; but Cranmer had not yet expiated his personal offencesagainst the queen and her mother, and he was to drain the cup ofhumiliation to the dregs. 

A month was allowed to pass. He was left with the certainty of hisshame, and the uncertainty whether, after all, it had not beenencountered in vain. On the 18th of March, one more paper wassubmitted to his signature, in which he confessed to be all which Polehad described him. He called himself a blasphemer, and a persecutor;being unable to undo his evil work, he had no hope, he said, save inthe example of the thief upon the cross, who when other means ofreparation were taken from him, made amends to God with his lips. Hewas unworthy of mercy, and he deserved eternal vengeance. He hadsinned against King Henry and his wife; he was the cause of thedivorce, from which, as from a seed, had sprung up schism, heresy, andcrime; he had opened a window to false doctrines of which he had beenhimself the most pernicious teacher; especially he reflected withanguish that he had denied the presence {p. 252} of his Maker in theconsecrated elements. He had deceived the living and he had robbed thesouls of the dead by stealing from them their masses. He prayed thepope to pardon him; he prayed the king and queen to pardon him; heprayed God Almighty to pardon him, as he had pardoned Mary Magdalen;or to look upon him as, from his own cross, He had looked upon thethief. [542]

 [Footnote 542: Recantations of Thomas Cranmer: Jenkins, vol. Iv. P. 393. ]

The most ingenious malice could invent no deeper degradation, and thearchbishop might now die. One favour was granted to him alone of allthe sufferers for religion--that he might speak at his death; speak, and, like Northumberland, perish with a recantation on his lips. 

The hatred against him was confined to the court. Even among those whohad the deepest distaste for his opinions, his character had wonaffection and respect; and when it was known that he was to beexecuted, there was a widespread and profound emotion. "Although, "says a Catholic who witnessed his death, "his former life and wretchedend deserved a greater misery, if any greater might have chanced tohim; yet, setting aside his offence to God and his country, beholdingthe man without his faults, I think there was none that pitied not hiscase and bewailed not his fortune, and feared not his own chance, tosee so noble a prelate, so grave a councillor, of so long-continuedhonours, after so many dignities, in his old years to be deprived ofhis estate, adjudged to die, and in so painful a death to end hislife. "[543]

 [Footnote 543: Death of Cranmer, related by a Bystander: _Harleian MSS. _, 442. Printed, with some inaccuracies, by Strype. ]

On Saturday, the 21st of March, Lord Williams was again ordered intoOxford to keep the peace, with Lord Chandos, Sir Thomas Brydges, andother gentlemen of the county. If they allowed themselves tocountenance by their presence the scene which they were about towitness, it is to be remembered that but a few years since, these samegentlemen had seen Catholic priests swinging from the pinnacles oftheir churches. The memory of the evil days was still recent, andamidst the tumult of conflicting passions, no one could trust hisneighbour, and organised resistance was impracticable. 

The March morning broke wild and stormy. The sermon intended to bepreached at the stake was adjourned, in consequence of the wet, to St. Mary's, where a high stage was erected, on which Cranmer was to standconspicuous. Peers, knights, {p. 253} doctors, students, priests, men-at-arms, and citizens, thronged the narrow aisles, and through themidst of them the archbishop was led in by the mayor. As he mountedthe platform many of the spectators were in tears. He knelt and prayedsilently, and Cole, the Provost of Eton, then took his place in thepulpit. 

Although, by a strained interpretation of the law, it could bepretended that the time of grace had expired with the trial; yet, toput a man to death at all after recantation was a proceeding soviolent and unusual, that some excuse or some explanation was felt tobe necessary. 

Cole therefore first declared why it was expedient that the latearchbishop should suffer, notwithstanding his reconciliation. Onereason was "for that he had been a great causer of all the alterationsin the realm of England; and when the matter of the divorce betweenKing Henry VIII and Queen Catherine was commenced in the court ofRome, he, having nothing to do with it, sate upon it as a judge, whichwas the entry to all the inconvenients which followed. " "Yet in thatMr. Cole excused him--that he thought he did it, not out of malice, but by the persuasion and advice of certain learned men. "

Another occasion was, "for that he had been the great setter-forth ofall the heresy received into the church in the latter times; hadwritten in it, had disputed, had continued it even to the last hour;and it had never been seen in the time of schism that any mancontinuing so long had been pardoned, and that it was not to beremitted for example's sake. "

"And other causes, " Cole added, "moved the queen and council thereto, which were not meet and convenient for every one to understand. "[544]

 [Footnote 544: Narrative of the Execution of Thomas Cranmer: _MS. Harleian_, 422. Another account gives among the causes which Cole mentioned, that "it seemed meet, according to the law of equality, that, as the death of the Duke of Northumberland of late made even with Sir Thomas More, Chancellor, that died for the Church, so there should be one that should make even with Fisher, Bishop of Rochester; and because that Ridley, Hooper, and Ferrars were not able to make even with that man, it seemed that Cranmer should be joined with them to fill up their part of equality. "--Foxe, vol. Viii. P. 85. Jenkins, vol. Iv. P. 133. ]

The explanations being finished, the preacher exhorted his audience totake example from the spectacle before them, to fear God, and to learnthat there was no power against the Lord. There, in their presence, stood a man, once "of so high degree--sometime one of the chiefprelates of the church--an archbishop, the chief of the council, thesecond person of the realm: of long time, it might be thought, ingreat assurance, a king on his side;" {p. 254} and now, "notwithstandingall his authority and defence, debased from a high estate unto a lowdegree--of a councillor become a caitiff, and set in so wretchedestate that the poorest wretch would not change conditions with him. "

Turning, in conclusion, to Cranmer himself, Cole then "comforted andencouraged him to take his death well by many places in Scripture;bidding him nothing mistrust but that he should incontinently receivethat the thief did, to whom Christ said, To-day shalt thou be with mein Paradise. Out of Paul he armed him against the terrors of fire, bythe words, The Lord is faithful, and will not suffer you to be temptedbeyond that which you are able to bear; by the example of the threeChildren, to whom God made the flame seem like a pleasant joy; by therejoicing of St. Andrew on his cross; by the patience of St. Lawrenceon the fire. " He dwelt upon his conversion, which, he said, was thespecial work of God, because so many efforts had been made by men towork upon him, and had been made in vain. God, in his own time, hadreclaimed him, and brought him home. 

A dirge, the preacher said, should be sung for him in every church inOxford; he charged all the priests to say each a mass for the reposeof his soul; and finally, he desired the congregation present to kneelwhere they were, and pray for him. 

The whole crowd fell on their knees, the archbishop with them; and "Ithink, " says the eye-witness, [545] "that there was never such a numberso earnestly praying together; for they that hated him before, nowloved him for his conversion, and hopes of continuance: they thatloved him before could not suddenly hate him, having hope of hisconfession; so love and hope increased devotion on every side. "

 [Footnote 545: _MS. Harleian_, 422. ]

"I shall not need, " says the same writer, "to describe his behaviourfor the time of sermon, his sorrowful countenance, his heavy cheer, his face bedewed with tears; sometimes lifting his eyes to heaven inhope, sometimes casting them down to the earth for shame--to be brief, an image of sorrow, the dolour of his heart bursting out of his eyes, retaining ever a quiet and grave behaviour, which increased the pityin men's hearts. "

His own turn to speak was now come. When the prayer was finished, thepreacher said, "Lest any man should doubt the sincerity of this man'srepentance, you shall hear him speak before you. I pray you, MasterCranmer, " he added, turning to him, "that you will now perform thatyou promised not long {p. 255} ago; that you would openly express thetrue and undoubted profession of your faith. "

"I will do it, " the archbishop answered. 

"Good Christian people, " he began, "my dear, beloved brethren andsisters in Christ, I beseech you most heartily to pray for me toAlmighty God, that he will forgive me all my sins and offences, whichbe many and without number, and great above measure; one thinggrieveth my conscience more than all the rest, whereof, God willing, Ishall speak more; but how many or how great soever they be, I beseechyou to pray God of his mercy to pardon and forgive them all. "

Falling again on his knees:--

"O Father of heaven, " he prayed, "O Son of God, Redeemer of the world, O Holy Ghost, three Persons and one God, have mercy upon me, mostwretched caitiff and miserable sinner. I have offended both heaven andearth more than my tongue can express; whither then may I go, orwhither should I flee for succour? To heaven I am ashamed to lift upmine eyes, and in earth I find no succour nor refuge. What shall I do?Shall I despair? God forbid! Oh, good God, thou art merciful, andrefusest none that come to thee for succour. To thee, therefore, do Icome; to thee do I humble myself, saying, O Lord, my sins be great, yet have mercy on me for thy great mercy. The mystery was not wroughtthat God became man, for few or little offences. Thou didst not givethy Son, O Father, for small sins only, but for all and the greatestin the world, so that the sinner return to thee with a penitent heart, as I do at this present. Wherefore have mercy upon me, O Lord, whoseproperty is always to have mercy; although my sins be great, yet isthy mercy greater; wherefore have mercy upon me, O Lord, for thy greatmercy. I crave nothing, O Lord, for mine own merits, but for thyName's sake, and, therefore, O Father of heaven, hallowed be thyName. "

Then rising, he went on with his address:--

"Every man desireth, good people, at the time of his death, to givesome good exhortation that others may remember after his death, and bethe better thereby; for one word spoken of a man at his last end[546]will be more remembered than the sermons {p. 256} made of them thatlive and remain. So I beseech God grant me grace, that I may speaksomething at my departing whereby God may be glorified and youedified. 

 [Footnote 546: Shakspeare was perhaps thinking of this speech of Cranmer when he wrote the magnificent lines which he placed in the mouth of the dying Gaunt:--

 "O, but they say, the tongues of dying men Enforce attention, like deep harmony: Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in vain: For they breathe truth, that breathe their words in pain. He, that no more must say, is listened more Than they whom youth and ease have taught to gloze; More are men's ends marked, than their lives before: The setting sun, and music at the close, As the last taste of sweets, is sweetest last; Writ in remembrance more than things long past. "

"But it is an heavy case to see that many folks be so doted upon thelove of this false world, and be so careful for it, that of the loveof God or the world to come, they seem to care very little or nothing;therefore this shall be my first exhortation--that you set notover-much by this glozing world, but upon God and the world to come;and learn what this lesson meaneth which St. John teacheth, that thelove of the world is hatred against God. 

"The second exhortation is, that next unto God, you obey your king andqueen willingly, without murmur or grudging, not for fear of themonly, but much more for the fear of God, knowing that they be God'sministers, appointed of God to rule and govern you, and thereforewhosoever resisteth them resisteth God's ordinance. 

"The third exhortation is, that you live all together like brethrenand sisters: but, alas! pity it is to see what contention and hatredone man hath against another, not taking each other for brethren andsisters, but rather as strangers and mortal enemies. But I pray youlearn and bear well away the lesson, to do good to all men as much asin you lieth, and hurt no man no more than you would hurt your ownnatural brother or sister. For this you may be sure, that whosoeverhateth his brother or sister, and goeth about maliciously to hinder orhurt him, surely, and without all doubt, God is not with that man, although he think himself never so much in God's favour. 

"The fourth exhortation shall be to them that have great substance andriches of this world, that they may well consider and weigh thesethree sayings of the Scriptures. One is of our Saviour Christ himself, who saith that it is a hard thing for a rich man to come to heaven; asore saying, and spoken of Him that knoweth the truth. The second isof St. John, whose saying is this: He that hath the substance of thisworld, and seeth his brother in necessity, and shutteth up hiscompassion and mercy from him, how can he say he loveth God? The third{p. 257} is of St. James, who speaketh to the covetous and rich menafter this manner: Weep and howl for the misery which shall come uponyou; your riches doth rot, your clothes be moth-eaten, your gold andsilver is cankered and rusty, and the rust thereof shall bear witnessagainst you, and consume you like fire; you gather and hoard uptreasure of God's indignation against the last day. I tell them whichbe rich, ponder these sentences; for if ever they had occasion to showtheir charity, they have it now at this present; the poor people beingso many, and victuals so dear; for although I have been long inprison, yet have I heard of the great penury of the poor. "

The people listened breathless, "intending upon the conclusion. "

"And now, " he went on, "forasmuch as I am come to the last end of mylife, whereupon hangeth all my life past and all my life to come, either to live with my Saviour Christ in joy, or else to be ever inpain with wicked devils in hell; and I see before mine eyes presentlyeither heaven"--and he pointed upwards with his hand--"or hell, " andhe pointed downwards, "ready to swallow me. I shall therefore declareunto you my very faith, without colour or dissimulation; for now it isno time to dissemble. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker ofheaven and earth; in every article of the Catholic faith; every wordand sentence taught by our Saviour Christ, his apostles, and prophets, in the Old and New Testament. 

"And now I come to the great thing that troubleth my conscience morethan any other thing that ever I said or did in my life, and that isthe setting abroad of writings contrary to the truth, which here I nowrenounce and refuse, [547] as things {p. 258} written with my handcontrary to the truth which I thought in my heart, and written forfear of death to save my life, if it might be; and that is, all suchbills and papers as I have written and signed with my hand since mydegradation, wherein I have written many things untrue; and forasmuchas my hand offended in writing contrary to my heart, my hand thereforeshall first be punished; for if I may come to the fire, it shall bethe first burnt. As for the pope, I utterly refuse him, as Christ'senemy and Anti-Christ, with all his false doctrine; and as for thesacrament, I believe as I have taught in my book against the Bishop ofWinchester. "

 [Footnote 547: There are two original contemporary accounts of Cranmer's words--_Harleian MSS. _, 417 and 422--and they agree so far almost word for word with "The Prayer and Saying of Thomas Cranmer a little before his Death, " which was published immediately after by Bonner. But we now encounter the singular difficulty, that the conclusion given by Bonner is altogether different. The archbishop is made to repeat his recantation, and express especial grief for the books which he had written upon the Sacrament. 

 There is no uncertainty as to what Cranmer really said; but, inasmuch is Bonner at the head of his version of the speech has described it as "written with his own hand, " it has been inferred that he was required to make a copy of what he intended to say--that he actually wrote what Bonner printed, hoping to the end that his life would be spared; and that he would have repeated it publicly, had he seen that there was a chance of his escape. Finding, however, that his execution had been irrevocably determined on, he made the substitution at the last moment. 

 There are many difficulties in this view, chiefly from the character of the speech itself, which has the stamp upon it of too evident sincerity to have been composed with any underhand intentions. The tone is in harmony throughout, and the beginning leads naturally to the conclusion which Cranmer really spoke. 

 There is another explanation, which is to me more credible. The Catholics were furious at their expected triumph being snatched from them. Whether Cranmer did or did not write what Bonner says he _wrote_, Bonner knew that he had not _spoken_ it, and yet was dishonest enough to print it as having been spoken by him, evidently hoping that the truth could be suppressed, and that the Catholic cause might escape the injury which the archbishop's recovered constancy must inflict upon it. A man who was capable of so considerable a falsehood would not have hesitated for the same good purpose to alter a few sentences. Pious frauds have been committed by more religious men than Edmund Bonner. See the Recantation of Thomas Cranmer, reprinted from Bonner's original pamphlet: Jenkins, vol. Iv. P. 393. ]

So far the archbishop was allowed to continue, before his astonishedhearers could collect themselves. "Play the Christian man, " LordWilliams at length was able to call; "remember yourself; do notdissemble. " "Alas! my lord, " the archbishop answered, "I have been aman that all my life loved plainness, and never dissembled till now, which I am most sorry for. " He would have gone on; but cries now roseon all sides, "Pull him down, " "Stop his mouth, " "Away with him, " andhe was borne off by the throng out of the church. The stake was aquarter of a mile distant, at the spot already consecrated by thedeaths of Ridley and Latimer. Priest and monks "who did rue[548] tosee him go so wickedly to his death, ran after him, exhorting him, while time was, to remember himself. " But Cranmer, having flung downthe burden of his shame, had recovered his strength, and such wordshad no longer power to trouble him. He approached the stake with "acheerful countenance, " undressed in haste, and stood upright in hisshirt. Soto and another Spanish friar continued expostulating; butfinding they could effect nothing, one said in Latin to the other, "Let us go from him, for the devil is within him. " An Oxford {p. 259}theologian--his name was Ely--being more clamorous, drew from him onlythe answer that, as touching his recantation, "he repented him rightsore, because he knew that it was against the truth. "

 [Footnote 548: _Harleian MS. _, 422. Strype has misread the word into "run, " losing the point of the expression. ]

"Make short, make short!" Lord Williams cried, hastily. 

The archbishop shook hands with his friends; Ely only drew back, calling, "Recant, recant, " and bidding others not approach him. 

"This was the hand that wrote it, " Cranmer said, extending his rightarm; "this was the hand that wrote it, therefore it shall suffer firstpunishment. " Before his body was touched, he held the offending membersteadily in the flame, "and never stirred nor cried. " The wood was dryand mercifully laid; the fire was rapid at its work, and he was soondead. "His friends, " said a Catholic bystander, "sorrowed for love, his enemies for pity, strangers for a common kind of humanity, wherebywe are bound to one another. "

So perished Cranmer. He was brought out, with the eyes of his soulblinded, to make sport for his enemies, and in his death he broughtupon them a wider destruction than he had effected by his teachingwhile alive. Pole was appointed the next day to the See of Canterbury;but in other respects the court had overreached themselves by theircruelty. Had they been contented to accept the recantation, they wouldhave left the archbishop to die broken-hearted, pointed at by thefinger of pitying scorn; and the Reformation would have been disgracedin its champion. They were tempted, by an evil spirit of revenge, intoan act unsanctioned even by their own bloody laws; and they gave himan opportunity of redeeming his fame, and of writing his name in theroll of martyrs. The worth of a man must be measured by his life, notby his failure under a single and peculiar trial. The apostle, thoughforewarned, denied his Master on the first alarm of danger; yet thatMaster, who knew his nature in its strength and its infirmity, chosehim for the rock on which He would build His church. 

{p. 260} CHAPTER V. 

CALAIS. 

Not far from Abingdon, on the London road, was a house belonging to agentleman named Christopher Ashton. Here, on their way to and frobetween the western counties and the capital, members of parliament, or other busy persons, whom the heat of the times tempted from theirhomes, occasionally called; and the character of the conversationwhich was to be heard in that house, may be gathered from thefollowing depositions. On the 4th of January, Sir Nicholas Arnoldlooked in, and found Sir Henry Dudley there. 

"Well, Sir Nicholas, what news?" said Ashton. 

"None worth hearing, " Arnold answered. 

"I am sure you hear they go about a coronation, " Dudley said. 

"I hear no such matter, " said Arnold. "The news that are worth thehearing, are in such men's heads that will not utter them, and therest are not to be credited. "[549]

 [Footnote 549: Saying of Sir Nicholas Arnold: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Vii. ]

"There be news come out of Flanders, as I heard from Sir PeterMewtas, " said Ashton, laughing, to another visitor:[550] "The king haswritten to the queen that he will not come hither a great while, or, as men think, any more; and the queen was in a rage, and caused theking's picture to be carried out of the privy chamber, and she in awonderful storm, and could not be in any wise quieted. "[551]

 [Footnote 550: The conversations with Ashton were sometimes at his own house; sometimes at an inn by the waterside, near Lambeth; sometimes at other places. The localities are not always easy to make out. ]

 [Footnote 551: Deposition of Thomas White: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Vii. ]

"They have put me in the Tower for their pleasures, " said Sir AnthonyKingston; "but so shall they never do more. "[552]

 [Footnote 552: Wotton to the Queen, cypher: _French MSS. _, bundle 13. State Paper Office. Kingston was one of the members of the House of Commons who was imprisoned at the close of the late session, for the freedom of his language in parliament. He was "Vice-Admiral of the Ports about the Severn, " and a man of large influence in the Welsh Marches. ]

At another time Sir Henry Peckham was alone with Ashton. {p. 261}Peckham[553] had been one of the sharers in the forfeited estates ofthe Duke of Norfolk. He was obliged to relinquish his grant, with butsmall compensation, and he complained of his treatment. Ashton badehim "be of good cheer. "

 [Footnote 553: Younger son of Sir Edward Peckham, Cofferer of the Household, and Member of Council under Edward VI. ]

"If you will keep my counsel, " Ashton said, "I will tell you news thatwill bring your land again or it be long. "

Peckham promised to be secret. 

"Sir Anthony Kingston, " Ashton continued, "and a great many of thewestern gentlemen, are in a confederacy to send the queen's highnessover to the king, and make the Lady Elizabeth queen, and to marry theEarl of Devonshire to the said Lady Elizabeth. The laws of the realmwill bear it, that they may do it justly; and Sir Anthony Kingstonhath required me to hearken to King Henry VIII. 's will; for there issufficient matter for our purpose, as Sir Anthony doth tell me. Ipray, if you can, help me to it. "

Peckham said it was to be had in the Rolls. Ashton did not like to puthimself in the way of suspicion by asking to see it publicly, andbegged Peckham to obtain a copy for him elsewhere. 

"I will show you a token, " he then said, and took out half a brokenpenny; "the other half is with Sir Anthony, and whensoever I do sendthis same to Sir Anthony, then will he be in readiness with tenthousand men within three days upon receipt of this token. " If LordPembroke's men made resistance on the Marches, Kingston would cut themoff, and would be in London in twenty days at furthest. And "when thisis done, " Ashton continued, "your father shall be made a duke; for Itell you true, that the Lady Elizabeth is a jolly liberal dame, andnothing so unthankful as her sister is; and she taketh this liberalityof her mother, who was one of the bountifullest women in all her timeor since; and then shall men of good service and gentlemen beesteemed. "

Peckham, who had not anticipated so dangerous a confidence, lookedgrave and uneasy; Ashton said he hoped he would not betray him. "No, "Peckham answered, and gave him his hand with his promise. 

"I will tell you more, then, " his friend went on; "we shall have thatwill take our part, the Earl of Westmoreland, who will not come alone, and we shall have my Lord Williams. "[554]

 [Footnote 554: Lord Williams of Thame, who superintended the executions of Ridley, Latimer, and Cranmer. ]

{p. 262} "That cannot be, " Peckham said; "he hath served the queenright well, and by her highness was made lord. "

"I can better tell than you, " Ashton answered; "the Lord Williams is agood fellow, and is as unthankfully dealt with as you, Sir Henry. Itell you that he is sure on our side; and Sir Henry Dudley hath spokenwith all the gentlemen that be soldiers, that be about the town, andthey be all sure ours, so that we have left the queen never a man ofwar that is worth a button. "[555]

 [Footnote 555: Confession of Sir Henry Peckham: _Mary, Domestic, MS. _ vol. Viii. ]

The scene changes. Readers of the earlier volumes of this history willremember Arundel's, in Lawrence Poultney Lane, where Lord Surrey andhis friends held their nightly festivities. Times had changed, and sohad Arundel's. It was now the resort of the young liberal members ofparliament, where the opposition tactics in the House of Commons werediscussed and settled upon. Here during the late session had met themen whose names have been mentioned in the preceding conversation, andwho had crossed the queen's purposes; Kingston, Peckham, Ashton, Dudley, and with them Sir John Perrot, Sir William Courtenay, Sir HughPollard, Sir John Chichester, and two young Tremaynes of Colacombe inDevonshire, one of whom had been concerned with Wyatt and Carew. Herealso came John Daniel, in the service at one time of Lord Northampton, who, not being in parliament, was excluded from the more privateconsultations, but heard much of the general talk; "how they, withgreat wilfulness, as might be perceived by their behaviour, did soremislike such Catholic proceedings as they saw the queen went about, and did intend to resist such matters as should be spoken of in theParliament House other than liked them. "[556]

 [Footnote 556: Confession of John Daniel: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Viii. ]

The party broke up with the dissolution. Some of them, however, cameback to London, and Daniel, one afternoon in March, was waiting forhis dinner in the public room, when a ruffling cavalier named NedHorsey came in, humming a catch of "Good man priest, now beware yourpallet, " "and bringing out a rhyme thereto of 'Fire and faggot, ' and'helm and sallet. '"

"I desire to live no longer than Whitsuntide next, " Horsey said toDaniel; "for if I live so long, I mistrust not but my deeds shall bechronicled. "

"Tush, my boy, " he went on, "be of good cheer; for when thou shalthear what the matter is, thou wilt take up thy hand {p. 263} andbless thee, and marvel that such young heads could ever bring such amatter as this to pass. I tell thee, the matter hath been a-brewingthis quarter of a year at least, when thou wast in the country like alout. Well, well, man, we shall either be men shortly, or no men; yea, and that very shortly, too. "

"Tell me what you mean, " said Daniel. 

"Alas! good lout, " quoth Horsey, "and do you not know, I pray you?hath not Harry Dudley told you of it?"

"No, by the faith of a Christian man, " said Daniel, "Harry Dudley toldme nothing except that he was going into France. But I pray thee, goodNed Horsey, tell me. "

"By God's blood!" said Horsey, "then I will not tell you; for we haveall taken an oath on the Testament, that no man should break it to anyman, except as told first by Harry Dudley. "

Horsey went on to talk of preparations, in which Daniel had beenconcerned, for an expedition to Southampton. Daniel, being a man ofproperty, had undertaken to provide the horses, and had deposited asum of money for the purpose; but, from Horsey's words, he perceivedthat schemes were on foot, which, having something to lose, he hadbetter keep clear of. "His heart, " he said, "rys in his body as big asa loaf;" he left the table, went down into the garden, and walked upand down an alley to collect himself; at last he ran into an arbour, where he knelt and said his prayers. 

"What, man!" said Sir John Harrington, looking in, "you are welloccupied on your knees so soon after dinner. "

Daniel made up his mind that his friends were bringing him into afool's paradise; "as they did brew, so they should bake for him, " hethought, "and those heads that had studied it before he came to townshould work the end of it. " He stole away, therefore, and crossed theriver to Southwark, where he took into his confidence a surgeon namedBlacklock. Daniel pretended a broken leg, which Blacklock pretended toset: and thus the expedition to Southampton went off without him; theobject of it being the despatch of one of the party into France, andthe arrangement of the details of the conspiracy with the Captain ofthe Isle of Wight. 

The characters of the persons who were concerned in this new plotagainst Mary's throne will not require much further elucidation. SirHenry Dudley was Northumberland's cousin--the same who had beenemployed by the duke as an agent with the French court; the rest wereeager, headstrong, not very {p. 264} wise young men, who, in thegeneral indignation of the country at the barbarity of the government, saw an opportunity of pushing themselves into distinction. LordWilloughby, Lord Westmoreland, and Lord Oxford were suspected by thequeen of being unsound in religion; they had been reprimanded, andOxford was thought likely to lose his lands. [557] If the first movecould be made successfully, the conspirators counted on generalsupport from these noblemen, and indeed from the whole body of the laypeers. 

 [Footnote 557: Noailles to the King of France, March 12: _Ambassades_, vol. V. ]

The plan was identical with that of Wyatt and Suffolk and Carew. Kingston was to march on London from Wales, and the force of thewestern counties was to join him on the Severn. One of theThrogmortons, called "Long John, " had been at the French court, andmade arrangements with Henry. Throgmorton returned to England, andHenry Dudley crossed the Channel in his place. The French promised tosupply ships and money, while Dudley undertook to furnish them withcrews from among the refugees or the western privateers, as Carew haddone two years before. The Captain of the Isle of Wight, Uvedale, undertook to betray the island and Hurst Castle to the French. Dudleywas to attack Portsmouth, where he would find the cannon"pegged;"[558] and when Portsmouth was taken, Hampshire, Sussex, andKent were expected to rise. 

 [Footnote 558: Uvedale's Confession: _Mary, Domestic, MS. _, vol. Vii. ; Peckham's Confession, vol. Viii. ]

Although known to so many persons, the secret was well kept. OnDudley's disappearance, inquiries were made about him. It waspretended that he was in debt, and had gone abroad to escape from hiscreditors. Some suspicion attached to the Tremaynes, who had long beenconnected with the privateers at Scilly. Strangways, the pirate, happened to be taken prisoner, and told something to the council aboutthem which led to their arrest; but though the matter was "trueenough, " they bore down their accuser by mere courageous audacity ofdenial; and their resolution and fidelity were held up as an examplein the secret meetings of the conspirators. [559]

 [Footnote 559: John Throgmorton said to Bedyll, Derick, and me, on this wise: "Whatsoever becomes of any of us in this dangerous enterprise, we will here promise, that albeit, I, you, and your nannye, every of us, by name, should accuse any of us of this, or any part touching this enterprise, bye and bye to revile him with most taunting and naughty rebukes that may be devised. And thereby setting a stern countenance, and for our couraging and better comfort herein, he shewed us of a matter that was most true, and accused by Strangways against two brethren, meaning [the] Tremaynes, who being but little men in personage, so reviled Strangways, accusing them before your honours, that because Strangways had no further proof but his only saying, and they so stoutly denying it, even to the threatening of the rack (or whether they were anything thereto constrained or no, as he said, I do not perfectly remember); but at length Strangways was in effect ready to weep, and think he had accused them wrongfully, and so they dismissed, and Strangways much of your honours rebuked. "--Thomas White to the Council: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Vii. ]

{p. 265} The active co-operation of France was an essential element inthe chances of success. From France, however, it became suddenlyuncertain whether assistance was to be looked for. The Englishmediation in the European war had failed, because, after Mary'sdisappointment, France refused to part with Savoy; and the emperorcould not bring himself to make a peace where the sacrifices would bewholly on his own side. But the negotiations between the principalswere never wholly let fall; the emperor had now resigned. Philip, withan embarrassed treasury, with his eye on the English crown, and withtrouble threatening him from the Turks, was anxious to escape from theexhausting conflict; and at the beginning of February a truce for fiveyears was concluded at Vaucelles, by which Henry was left inundisturbed possession of all his conquests. 

Terms so advantageous to the court of France could not be rejected;but past experience forbade, nevertheless, any very sanguine hope thatthe truce would last out its term. Unquestionably, in the opinion ofthe French king, it would be broken without scruple could Philipobtain the active help of England; and Henry would not, therefore, relinquish his correspondence with the conspirators. He instructedNoailles only to keep them quiet for the present till Philip'sintentions should be revealed more clearly. [560]

 [Footnote 560: The Constable to Noailles, Feb. 7: _Ambassades_, vol. V. ]

The "young heads, " of whom Horsey had spoken to Daniel, were not, however, men whom it was easy to keep quiet. Noailles replied, thatthey were so anxious to make an effort for liberty, and felt socertain of success, that he found great difficulty in restrainingthem; if the King of France would give them some slight assistance atthe outset, [561] they undertook to do the rest themselves. 

 [Footnote 561: De leur prêtur un peu d'espaule. ]

Dudley, therefore, remained in France, whither he was followed byAshton and Horsey, and Henry admitted them to a midnight audience. Hesaid that, for the moment, he could not act with them openly; but hewould throw no difficulty in their way; if they were as strong as theyprofessed to be (and they said that members of the privy council were{p. 266} in the confederacy), he would have them go forward withtheir project; and if he found Philip occupied, as he expected that hewould be with the Turks in Hungary, he would assist them with men, money, and other things. Meanwhile, he gave Dudley 1500 crowns, distributed considerable sums among his companions, and advised themto go, as Carew had done before, to the coast of Normandy, and keep uptheir communications with their friends. 

The interview and the promises of Henry were betrayed to Wotton, andby him reported in cypher to Mary;[562] but the fear or treachery ofone of the party had already placed the government in possession ofinformation, as the first step was about to be taken. Fifty thousandpounds were in the treasury: to embarrass the court, and to providethe insurrection with funds, a party of four or five--Rosey, keeper ofthe Star Chamber, Heneage, an officer of the Chapel Royal, a man namedDerick, and one or two others--were chosen to carry off the money. Before the enterprise could be undertaken, Thomas White--perhaps oneof the five, in alarm at the danger--communicated with the council;and on the 18th of March, Throgmorton, Peckham, Daniel, Rosey, andtwelve or fourteen others, were seized suddenly, and sent to theTower. Dudley was traced to Southampton; he was himself beyondpursuit, but Uvedale was discovered, and brought to London; Kingstonwas sent for, but died on his way up from Wales, probably by his ownhand, in despair. 

 [Footnote 562: Wotton to the Queen: _French MSS. _, bundle 13. ]

Information was, of course, the great object of the court; and theywould shrink from nothing which would enable them to extortconfessions. The prisoners knew what was before them, and preparedthemselves according to their courage. 

Throgmorton, when locked into the room which was allotted to him inthe Tower, found that Derick was in the chamber underneath. Heloosened a board in the floor, and "required him that, in any case, heshould not be the destruction of others besides himself;" "for look, "Throgmorton said, "how many thou dost accuse, so many thou dostwilfully murder. "

Derick, it seems, was already thinking whether he could not, perhaps, save his own life. None of the party as yet knew how much of theirsecret had been discovered, or the value, therefore, which thegovernment would place upon a full confession. 

"He would do nothing, " Derick answered, "but that which {p. 267} Godhad appointed; and if God would that he should do it, there was noremedy. "

When a man has made up his mind that it is God's will that he shouldbe a rogue, he has small chance of recovering himself. Throgmortontried to reason him into manliness, and thought he had succeeded. Derick even promised to "abide the torture, " "whereupon MasterThrogmorton did sup his porridge to him, in token of his truth. " Butthe torture was used or threatened, and Derick did not "abide" it;promises of pardon were also used, which the prisoners knew to meannothing, and yet were worked on by them. [563]

 [Footnote 563: Although they be promised by your means to move the queen's majesty to be gracious lady to them, they know that it is not so meant; but to suck out of others all ye may, and yet thereby to have no mercy shewed. --Thomas White to the Council: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Vii. ]

Derick turned approver, so did Rosey, so did Bedyll: Uvedale, who wasill and feeble, yielded to the rack; and, piece by piece, the wholeconspiracy was drawn out. The investigation was committed exclusivelyto the queen's clique, Rochester, Englefield, Waldegrave, Jerningham, and Hastings. The rest of the council refused to meddle, [564] forreasons which, perhaps, the queen hoped to learn from one or other ofthe prisoners. Throgmorton, however, who could tell the most, wouldtell nothing, though the rack was used freely to open his lips. Howmuch he suffered may be gathered from a few words which he used to aMr. Walpole, who was one of his examiners. 

 [Footnote 564: Robert Swift to Lord Shrewsbury: Lodge's _Illustrations_, vol. I. ]

"Tell me, I pray you, Mr. Walpole, " he said, "if the council may rackme, or put me to torment, after the time I am condemned, or no?"

"They may, " Walpole answered, "if it shall please them. "

"Then, " said Throgmorton, "I fear I shall be put to it again; and, Iwill assure you, it is terrible pain. "[565]

 [Footnote 565: Walpole's Deposition: _MS. _ Lodge's _Illustrations_, vol. Viii. ]

When torture would not answer, promises were tried, and promisesapparently of an emphatic kind. 

"I pray you, pray for me, " Throgmorton said to his brother prisoners;"for I shall not be long with you. I cannot live without I should bethe death of a number of gentlemen; and therewithal the saidThrogmorton recited a story of the Romans, commending much an old manthat was taken prisoner by the enemy, whom the Romans would haveredeemed with a great number of young men, which would have been muchmore worth to the Romans; but this old man would in no case agree{p. 268} thereto, but received his death at the enemies' hand verypatiently, considering his old years, and also what profit these youngmen should be to the Romans. "[566]

 [Footnote 566: Peckham's Confession: _MS. _ Lodge's _Illustrations_, vol. Viii. ]

The inquiry lasted till June, and much was learnt from those who hadnot Throgmorton's courage. Matters came out implicating Lord Bray andLord Delaware. Lord Bray was arrested and examined; Lord Delaware wastried and found guilty. But they were powerful, and had powerfulfriends. [567] The court were forced to content themselves with smallergame. Successive batches of the conspirators were despatched, as theirconfessions were exhausted or despaired of. Throgmorton, silent to thelast, was sentenced on the 21st of April, and suffered on the 28th. Onthe 19th of May, Captain Stanton was hanged; on the 2nd of June, Derick followed--his cowardice had not saved him--with Rosey andBedyll. On the 7th of July, Sir Henry Peckham was disposed of, andwith him John Daniel, who was guilty, if not of worse, yet of havingconcealed machinations dangerous to the state. [568]

 [Footnote 567: Swift to Lord Shrewsbury: Ibid. , vol. I. ; Machyn's _Diary_. ]

 [Footnote 568: Daniel was supposed, like Throgmorton, to know more than he had told; and to quicken his confession he was confined in a dungeon, of which he has left his own description in an appeal to the mercy of the commissioners. "I beseech your honours be good to me, " he wrote, "for I am a sick man, laid here in a dungeon where I am fain to do ---- and ---- in the place that I do lie in, and if I do lie here all this night, I think I shall not be alive to-morrow. Mr. Binifield [perhaps an examiner] as he cometh to me is ready to cast his gorge, so he saith; and I have no light all day so much as to see my hands perfectly. Pity me, for God's sake--Your honours' footstool, John Daniel. Good Master of the House, good Mr. Controller, good Mr. Vice-Chamberlain, good Mr. Englefield, good Mr. Waldegrave!"

 Again in another letter, he writes:--

 "For God's sake, be my honourable masters, and rid me out of this dungeon, for I do lie here a man sore pained with the stone, and among the newts and spiders. For the love of God, I ask it; for I do all things in the place that I do lie in. My good and honourable masters, for God's sake, be good to me, and consider that I did never give my consent to do no evil. Good Mr. Englefield, consider my meaning, and be good master to me, and consider the place I lie in, and the pain of the stone. "--Daniel's Confessions: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Viii. 

 The effect, however, apparently was what the examiners desired. A note of the council remains to the effect that--

 "Daniel being yesterday removed, to a worse lodging, beginneth this day to be more open and plain than he hath been, whereby we perceive he knoweth all, and we trust and think verily he will utter the same. "--Privy Council Minutes, Ibid. ]

But the danger did not pass off with the execution of a few youths. Aninveterate conviction had taken hold of men of all ranks, that Philipwas coming over with an army to destroy {p. 269} English liberty. Paget went to Flanders to entreat him to come back unattended, todispel the alarm by his presence, and to comfort the queen; but Pagetreturned with a letter instead of Philip, and the poor queen lookedten years older on the receipt of it. She durst not stir abroad toface the execration with which the people now received her. She passedher time in frenzied extremities of passion, "because she couldneither enjoy the presence of her husband, nor the affection of hersubjects; and dreading every moment that her life might be attemptedby her own attendants. "[569] A fleet was fitted out in the Channel. Abishop in the queen's confidence was asked the reason by anotherbishop. "To overawe rebels, " was the answer, "and to carry offElizabeth into Flanders or Spain. "[570] The government was conductedentirely by the legate and the small knot of Catholic fanatics who hadadhered to the queen's fortunes in the late reign. Lord William Howardtold Noailles that he and the other lords lived in perpetual dread andsuspicion; if his honour would allow him, he would throw up hisoffice, and retire, with those who had gone before him, as a poorgentleman, to France. 

 [Footnote 569: Estant en continuel fureur de ne pouvoir jouir de la présence de son mary ny de l'amour de son peuple, et dans une fort grande peur d'estre offensée de sa propre vie par aulcungs des siens. --Noailles to the King of France, May 7: _Ambassades_, vol. V. ]

 [Footnote 570: Same to Montmorency, April 21: Ibid. ]

The general suffering was aggravated by a likelihood of famine. Theharvest of 1555 had failed, and bread, with all other articles offood, was daily rising. The conspiracy exasperated the persecution, which was degenerating into wholesale atrocity. On the 23rd of April, six men were burnt at Smithfield; on the 28th, six more were burnt atColchester; on the 15th of May, an old lame man and a blind man wereburnt at Stratford-le-Bow. In the same month three women suffered atSmithfield, and a blind boy was burnt at Gloucester. In Guernsey, amother and her two daughters were brought to the stake. One of thelatter, a married woman with child, was delivered in the midst of hertorments, and the infant just rescued was tossed back into theflames. [571] Reason, humanity, even common prudence, were cast to thewinds. On the 27th of June, thirteen unfortunates, eleven men and twowomen, were destroyed together at Stratford-le-Bow, in the presence{p. 270} of twenty thousand people. [572] A schoolmaster, in Norfolk, in July read an inflammatory proclamation in a church. He and threeothers were instantly hanged. Ferocity in the government andlawlessness in the people went hand in hand. Along the river bankstood rows of gibbets, with bodies of pirates swinging from them inthe wind. In the autumn, sixty men were sentenced to be hangedtogether, for what crime is unknown, at Oxford;[573] and as a symbolat head-quarters of the system of the administration, four corpses ofthieves hung as a spectacle of terror before the very gates of St. James's Palace. [574]

 [Footnote 571: Foxe. This hideous story was challenged by Harding, the controversialist, in the next reign. He was unfortunate in calling attention to it, for the case was inquired into, and the account was found too certainly true. ]

 [Footnote 572: Machyn's _Diary_. ]

 [Footnote 573: Machyn. ]

 [Footnote 574: Ibid. ]

On the 20th of August, twenty-three men and women were brought toLondon from Colchester, tied in a string with ropes to furnish anotherholocaust. A thousand people cheered them through the streets as theyentered the city; and the symptoms of disorder were so significant andthreatening, that Bonner wrote to Pole for instructions how he shouldproceed. The government was alarmed; "the council, not without goodconsideration, " decided that it would be dangerous to go on with theexecutions; and Pole, checking Bonner's zeal, allowed the prisoners toescape for the time, under an easy form of submission which they couldconscientiously make. They were dismissed to their homes, only, however, for several of them to be slaughtered afterwards, under freshpretexts, in detail;[575] and Pole took an occasion, as will bepresently seen, of reprimanding the citizens of London for theirunnatural sympathy with God's enemies. That he had no objection tothese large massacres, when they could be ventured safely, he showedhimself in the following year, when fourteen heretics, of both sexes, were burnt in two days at Canterbury and Maidstone. [576]

 [Footnote 575: See their stories: Foxe, vol. Viii. ]

 [Footnote 576: Foxe, vol. Viii. ]

Why, it may well be asked, did not the lords and gentlemen of Englandrise and trample down the perpetrators of these devilish enormities?It is a grave question, to which, nevertheless, some tolerable answeris possible. 

On the 21st of January, 1557, the English ambassador in Paris wrote incypher to Sir William Petre, of "a matter" which he desired should notbe communicated to the queen, "lest it should disquiet her. " A refugeehad informed him, "that there was a great conspiracy in hand againstthe queen, which without doubt would deprive her of her estate. " Hehad asked for names, but these his informant would not give, sayingmerely, "the best of England were in it, " and "such a {p. 271} numberagreed thereupon, that it was impossible but that it would takeeffect. " There was no chance of discovery; "the matter had been inhand for a year or thereabouts, " yet no one "had uttered a word ofit;" should it become known, the conspirators were so strong that thecatastrophe would only be precipitated. They would have moved already, "but for one man who had stayed them for a while. "

Entreaties for more explicitness were fruitless. "By no means, " wroteWotton, "would he name any man unto me; but only said that thechiefest of them were such as had never offended the queen's highnessbefore; that the matter should begin in the evening, and the next dayby eight in the morning it should be done. "

The queen was not to be killed; at least, not immediately. "They willnot kill her, " the man said, "but deprive her of her estate, and thenmight she chance to be used as she used Queen Jane;" and he added, "_that they who went about the matter would not agree that any foreignprince should have any meddling in it; neither Dudley nor any of theEnglish gentlemen in France were privy to the matter_. "[577]

 [Footnote 577: Wotton to Petre, cypher: _French MSS. , Mary_, bundle 13. State Paper Office. ]

That any such combination as this letter described ever really menacedMary's throne cannot be affirmed with certainty. The last twosentences, however, point to the difficulty which had embarrassed allattempts which had been hitherto ventured. The vice of the previousconspiracies had been the intrigues with France. The better order ofEnglish statesmen refused to connect themselves with movements whichwould give the court of Paris a dangerous influence in England, andwould entitle the French king to press the claims of the Queen ofScots upon the English crown. If there was truth in the refugee'sstory, if there really was a conspiracy of "the best of England, "clear of all such mischievous elements, it must have consisted of thebody of the nobility, whom Lord William Howard described to Noaillesas equally dissatisfied with himself. The heresy acts had beenrestored by the help of the bishops against the sustained oppositionof the majority of the lay peers. For the hundred and fifty yearsduring which those acts had been upon the Statute Book, they hadexpressed the general feeling of the country, yet during all thattime, fewer persons had suffered under them than had been sacrificedduring the last twelve months. Having failed to destroy her sister, having been unable to alter {p. 272} the succession, the queen wasdesperate; the Spaniards were watching their opportunity to interfereby force, and would want no encouragement which she could give them;and every honest English statesman must have watched her with the mostjealous distrust. Yet, on the other hand, she was childless; her lifemust necessarily soon close by the course of nature, and with her lifethe tyranny would end. If force was attempted, she would not fallwithout a struggle; the clergy would stand by her, and all whom theclergy could influence. Philip would have the pretext, for which hewas longing, for sending Spanish troops; and though liberty might andwould prevail in the end, thousands of lives might be sacrificed, andElizabeth's succession would be stained. The appeal to strength was, and is, the last to which good men will allow themselves to be driven. The lords understood one another: they would not be the first tocommence; but if an attempt were made to carry off Elizabeth, or tothrow on land a single Spanish battalion, they would know how to act. 

Meantime, Dudley, Ashton, Horsey, the brothers Tremayne, and "diversothers, " were safe in France, and were hospitably entertained there. In England they were proclaimed traitors. At Paris they were receivedopenly at court. The queen wrote to Wotton with her own hand, commanding him to demand their surrender. [578] She sent for Noailles, and required that "those wretches, those heretics, those traitorousexecrable villains, " who had conspired against her throne should beplaced in her hands. [579] Henry, with unembarrassed coolness, promisedWotton that they should be apprehended, while he furnished them withships, which they openly fitted for sea at the mouth of the Seine; andone of their number, Henry Killegrew, went to Italy to look forCourtenay, who was in honourable exile there, to entreat him to puthimself at their head. Courtenay promised to come, so Killegrewreported on his return;[580] his name would have given them strength, his presence weakness; but if he really thought again of mixinghimself in conspiracies his intentions were frustrated. The lastdirect heir of the noblest family in England died at the end of thesummer, of an ague caught among the lagoons at Venice. [581]

 [Footnote 578: The Queen to Wotton: _MS. France_, bundle 13. ]

 [Footnote 579: Gens abominables, hérétiques et traistres villains et exécrables. --Noailles to the King, May 7: _Ambassades_, vol. V. ]

 [Footnote 580: Wotton to Petre, cypher: _French MSS. _ State Paper Office, bundle 13. ]

 [Footnote 581: His death was of course attributed by the world to poison. Courtenay's birth, and the fortune which was so nearly thrust upon him, give his fate a kind of interest, and an authentic account of it may not be unwelcome. 

 On the 18th of September, Peter Vannes, the English resident at Venice, wrote to the queen from Padua:--

 "It hath pleased Almighty God, as the Author of all goodness, and as One that doth nothing in vain, to call the Earl of Devonshire to his mercy, even about the hour, or little more or less, that I am writing of this present; and being very sorry to trouble your Highness with this kind of news, yet forasmuch as the providence of God must be fulfilled in all things, I shall somewhat touch his sickness till the hour of death. True it is that he, as I have perceived, for the avoiding all suspicion from himself, hath chosen a life more solitary than needed, saving the company of certain gentlemen, Venetians, among whom he was much made of. It chanced him upon three weeks agone, for his honest recreation, to go to a place called Lio, a piece of an island five miles from Venice, for to see his hawks fly upon a wasted ground, without any houses; and there he was suddenly taken with a great tempest of wind and rain, insomuch that his boat, called [a] gondola, could not well return to Venice: and he was fain, for his succour, to take a certain searcher's boat that by chance there arrived, and so to Venice he came, being body and legs very thinly clothed, refusing to change them with any warmer garment. And upon that time, or within few days after, as he told me, had a fall upon the stairs of his house, and after seeming to himself to be well, and finding no pain, took his journey hither unto Padua; and for the avoiding of the weariness of the water, and the labouring of horses, chose the worse way coming; and so by certain waggons called coaches, very shaking and uneasy to my judgment, came to Padua upon Saturday at night. Of whose coming being advertised, I went to visit him on the morrow after, and found him very weak; and since that time he began to appear every day worse and worse, avoiding friends' visitations; and drew himself to the counsel of two of the best physicians of this town, and entered into a continued hot ague, sometimes more vehement than at another; and as I have seen and heard, he hath been always diligently attended. I have charged his servants in your name, and as they will avoid your displeasure, that a true inventory shall be made of such small movables as he had here, and that especially all kind of writings and letters that he had either here or at Venice, shall be put in assurance, abiding for your commandment. I am now about to see the order of his burial, with as much sparing and as much honour as can be done; for the merchantmen on whom, by your Grace's commandment, he had a credit of 3 or 4 thousand crowns, are not as yet willing to disburse any money without a sufficient discharge of my Lord of Devonshire's hand, the doing whereof is past. I shall shift to see him buried as well as I can; notwithstanding, I beseech your Grace not to be discontented with me that I am at the next door to go a begging. 

 "My said Lord of Devonshire is dead, in mine opinion a very good Christian man; for after that I had much exhorted him to take his communion and rites of the Church as a thing most necessary, and by whose means God giveth unto His chosen people health, both bodily and ghostly, he answered me, by broken words, that he was well content so to do: and in token thereof, and in repentance for his sins, he lift up his eyes and knocked himself upon the heart; and after I had suffered him to pause a good while, I caused the Sacrament to be brought, and after the priest's godly exhortation, he forced himself to receive the blessed Communion; but his tongue had so stopped his mouth, and his teeth so clove together, that in no wise he could receive that same; and after this sort this gentleman is gone, as I do not doubt, to God his mercy. 

 "I shall not let to say to your Grace, that since his coming to Padua, by way of communication, he showed unto me, that it had been reported unto him that some one had said that he was better French than English, and if God did recover him and send him his health so that he might come to the knowledge of his misreporter, he was minded to try that quarrel by the sword. "

 In a letter written a few days later, Vannes said that, in consequence of rumours having gone abroad that the earl had been poisoned, the Podesta, at his request, had ordered the body to be opened, and examined by physicians, which was accordingly done. --Peter Vannes to the Queen: _Venetian MSS. _ State Paper Office. ]

{p. 273} The refugees, however, could do their work without Courtenay. The Killegrews, the Tremaynes, young Stafford, and many more, put tosea with three or four vessels, and treated all Spaniards with whomthey could fall in as their natural enemies. Before the summer wasout, they had "taken divers good prizes, " and "did trust they shouldtake more. " "In case the worst fell, the gain thereof would find themall;" and on the 4th of August it was reported that they had taken afort "on one of her majesty's islands, " probably in Scilly, where thedangerous and intricate navigation placed them beyond risk of capture. Making war on their own account, half as pirates, half as crusaders, these youthful adventurers seized the Spanish caracks on their way toFlanders, sailed openly with their prizes into Rochelle or La Hogue, sold them, and bought arms {p. 274} and ammunition. Their financeswere soon prosperous. Wild spirits of all nations--Scots, English, French, whoever chose to offer--found service under their flag. Theywere the first specimens of the buccaneering chivalry of the nextgeneration--the germ out of which rose the Drakes, the Raleighs, theHawkinses, who harried the conquerors of the New World. 

In vain Wotton protested. The French king affected to be sorry. TheConstable said that France was large; things happened which ought notto happen, yet could not be helped; the adventurers should be putdown, if possible. 

"These men brought nothing with them out of England, " Wotton doggedlyreplied, "and were in such good credit with the people in France thatnobody would lend them a shilling, and yet had they found ships whichthey had armed, and manned with good numbers of soldiers. What wouldthe queen's highness think?"

The French court, in affected deference to such complaints, armedvessels, which they pretended were to pursue the privateers to theirnest; but, as Wotton ascertained, they were intended really to act astheir consorts. [582]

 [Footnote 582: Letters of Wotton to the Queen: _French MSS. _, bundle 13, State Paper Office. ]

It was plain that the French king did not anticipate any long{p. 275} continuance to the truce of Vaucelles. In fact, Paul IV. , whose schemes in Italy that truce had arrested, had succeeded ininducing him to break it. Lest his oath should make a difficulty, thepope had an ever-ready dispensation; and Paul's nephew, CardinalCaraffa, came to Paris in July to make arrangements for the expulsionof the Spaniards from Naples. [583]

 [Footnote 583: Wotton to Petre: _MS. _ Ibid. Compare Sir James Melville's _Memoirs_, p. 38. ]

To insure Henry the continued support of the papacy, Paul undertook tocreate French cardinals on so large a scale as would give him thecommand of the next election. Henry, in spite of the entreaties ofMontmorency, promised, on his side, to send an army to Paul's support;and the pope, without waiting for the arrival of the French troops, seized the Duchy of Paleano, and excommunicated the Colonnas, as thefriends of the enemies of the Holy See. Scarcely caring to look for apretext, he declared the Spanish prince deprived of the kingdom ofNaples; and himself attempted to put in force his sentence against theDuke of Alva, who was acting there as Philip's viceroy. 

The event had thus actually arrived, of which the expectation the yearbefore had appeared so alarming. The most orthodox sovereign in Europefound himself forced into war with his spiritual father. The parentwas become insane; the faithful child was obliged, in consequence, toplace him under restraint, with as much tenderness and respect as thecircumstances permitted. To the English council Philip explained thehard necessity under which he was placed. [584]

 [Footnote 584: "Pontifex, tantum abest ut mollissimis obsequiis atque officiis acquieverit, non potuit tandem sibi obtemperare quin pleno Cardinalium Senatu Regni Neapolitani privationem per suum fiscalem proposuerit, cum nullius nos in ipsum Pontificem, aut sedem apostolicam contumaciæ, summæ quin potius uti fas est observantiæ nobis simus conscii, ac ne in præfractâ quidem ejus obstinatione a solitis officiis destitum est, donec cum nullâ molliore ope malum posset mitigari; magisque indies ac magis propagaretur videretque Albæ Dux copias eum undique contrahere, apparatum facere, tempus ducere, quoscumque principes quibuscumque conditionibus sollicitare, ut ingruenti rerum omnium ruinæ occurreret, ad hoc extremum remedium invitus coactusque descendit. Quæ omnia quanquam vobis comperta quando in eorum mentionem per vestras litteras incidistis, per nos etiam vobis significanda duximus; atque id præterea eâ temperantiâ ac modestiâ hoc bellum a duce geri atque administrari, ut nihil nisi orbis Christiani tranquillitas, sedis apostolicæ dignitas, et nostrorum regnorum securitas procuretur, neque ullum nos ex hoc bello gloriæ aucupemur, summum potius dolorem animique ægritudinem percipiamus. "--Philip to the English Council: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Ix. State Paper Office. ]

The Duke of Alva crossed the Neapolitan frontier into the States ofthe Church with twelve thousand men, taking the towns {p. 276} thatlay in his way; and protesting while he did it that he was the mostfaithful servant of the Holy See. Individually a pious Catholic, officially a military machine, Alva obeyed orders with mechanicalinflexibility, and, irresistible as destiny, advanced towards Rome. The college of cardinals, who remembered the occupation of the city byBourbon's army, implored the pope to have pity on them. The pope hadbeen too precipitate in commencing operations without waiting for theFrench. He was forced to submit his pride, and sue for an armistice, to which Alva, in the moderation of conscious strength, consented. 

The French, on the other hand, were preparing to strike a blow in aquarter where as yet they were unlooked for. 

The pastoral anxieties of the English legate had extended to Calais, where the Protestants were in considerable numbers. A commission wassent thither which proceeded with the usual severities, [585] and thesufferers, or those among the garrisons in Calais and Guisnes whosesympathy with the Reformation was stronger than their patriotism, placed themselves in correspondence with Sir Henry Dudley, at Paris. The pay of the troops was long in arrear, and they were all mutinousand discontented. Neither Guisnes, Hammes, nor Calais itself wereprovisioned for more than three or four weeks; and the refugees, caring only to revenge themselves on Mary, were laying a train inconnection with several of the "chiefest officers" in the threefortresses, to betray them into the hands of France. The existence ofa conspiracy became known by accident to some one, who placed Wottonon his guard; and Wotton, by vigilance and by the help of spies, ascertained gradually the nature of the scheme. In the beginning ofOctober he discovered that Senarpont, the governor of Boulogne, wassilently increasing the garrison of the Boullonnois. Then he heard oftroops collecting at Rouen, of large preparations of military stores, of sappers' and miners' tools, and "great files, which would cut intwo without noise the largest [harbour] chains. "[586] Next, it seemedthat the leader of the adventurous party, which fourteen years before"took the town of Marano by practise and subtlety, " was in Calais indisguise. Finally, he learnt that Henry himself was going to Rouen, toconduct the enterprise in person. 

 [Footnote 585: "There is a faction or dissension within Calais for religion's sake, whereof it seemeth that a commission of late sent thither, I cannot tell whether somewhat rigorously used, may have given occasion. "--Wotton to the Queen, cypher: _French MSS. _, bundle 13, State Paper Office. ]

 [Footnote 586: Wotton to the Queen, cypher: _French MSS. _, bundle 13, State Paper Office. ]

{p. 277} The disaffection had penetrated so deeply into the Englishgarrisons that caution was required in dealing with them; while forsome weeks either the queen disbelieved the danger, or the counciltook no steps to obviate it. The Catholic clique had, in fact, not asoldier among them, and possibly knew not in which direction to turn. The honour of his country at last recalled Lord Pembroke to the publicservice in time to save Calais for a few more months. 

By the middle of November eighteen ensigns of French infantry and athousand horse were at Abbeville. Dudley, with the refugee fleet, wasin readiness to blockade the harbour, while Henry was to march uponthe town. If possible, he would find the gates open: at all events hewould meet with no protracted resistance. But the move had beenanticipated. Reinforcements and supplies were sent from England, moneywas despatched to pay up the arrears of the troops, and Pembrokehimself went over in command. [587] No open inquiry was ventured, butthe suspected persons were quietly removed. The French withdrew, andthe queen's government, through the bad patriotism of the refugees, recovered a momentary strength. 

 [Footnote 587: The Council to Philip, November 22nd: _MS. Domestic, Mary_, vol. Ix. ]

The faint good fortune came opportunely; for in England the harvesthad again failed, and the threat of famine had become the reality. Onthe 23rd of December malt was sold in London for forty shillings aquarter, and white flour at six shillings a bushel. The helplessremedy was attempted of crying up the base money, but the marketsanswered only by a further rise. [588] In the utter misery of thepeople, some were feeding upon acorns; some, in London, morepiteously, left their infant children at the doors of their wealthyneighbours, to save them from starvation. 

 [Footnote 588: Machyn. ]

A famine was considered to be the immediate work of Heaven, and to besent for an immediate moral cause. And yet the monasteries were risingfrom their ruins. Westminster was again an abbey. Feckenham wasinstalled abbot on the 29th of November, with the ancient ceremonies, and walked in sad procession round the cloisters at the head of hisfriars. [589] The remnant of the monks of Glastonbury had crawled backinto the ruins of their home. The queen had spared no effort and no{p. 278} sacrifice where her own power extended; and she had exhortedand advised where she was unable to act. Yet enough had not been done. In Ireland, indeed, the Catholic spirit had life in it. The Earl ofDesmond had allowed no stone to be thrown down from the religioushouses which had fallen to his share in the distribution. He hadsheltered and supported the monks in the bad times, he now replacedthem at his private cost;[590] and the example was telling among thechiefs. But in England, unfortunately, the lay owners of the churchlands, orthodox and unorthodox alike, were hopelessly impenitent. 

 [Footnote 589: The new monks did not do credit to their restoration. Anne of Cleves died the next year, and lay in state in the abbey. 

 "The 22nd of August, " says Machyn, "was the herse of my Lady Anne Cleves taken down at Westminster, the which the monks by night had spoiled of all velvet cloth, arms, banners, penselles, of all the majesty and valence, the which was never seen afore so done. "--_Diary_, p. 148. ]

 [Footnote 590: Desmond to the Queen: _Irish MSS. _ State Paper Office. ]

This, perhaps, was one cause of God's displeasure--the heretics wereanother; the heretics, and the sympathy with heresy displayed by theinhabitants of London, which had compelled the temporary release ofthe prisoners sent up from Essex. 

It has been mentioned that the legate took occasion to admonish thecitizens for their behaviour. In the present or the followingyear[591] he issued a pastoral letter, laying before them, and beforethe educated inhabitants of England generally, their duty at thepresent crisis; with an explanation, not entirely accurate, of thespirit in which the church had hitherto dealt with them. "That bylicense and dispensation, " he said, "you do enjoy, and keep, andpossess such goods and lands of the church as were found in yourhands, this was done of the church your mother's tenderness unto you, considering your imbecility and weakness after so sore a sickness thatyou had in the schism, at the which time your appetite served you tono meat, but to that fruit that came from the lands of the church; andby that you lived, which she was content you should keep still, andmade promise it should not be taken from you. And so it was left inyour hand, as it were an apple in a child's hand given by the mother, which she, perceiving him to feed too much of, and knowing it shoulddo him hurt if he himself should eat the whole, would have him giveher a little piece thereof, which the boy refusing, and whereas hewould cry out if she would take it from him, letteth him alonetherewith. But the father, her husband, coming in, if he shall see howthe boy will not let go one morsel to the mother that hath given himthe whole, she asking it with so fair means, he may peradventure takethe apple out of the {p. 279} boy's hand, and if he cry, beat himalso, and cast the apple out of the window. "

 [Footnote 591: "Three years and more after the restoration of the people to the church, " the legate says in the body of the letter. The date of it will be December, 1556, or December, 1557, as the three years are calculated from the restoration of Orthodoxy, or from the reunion with Rome. ]

The maternal tenderness, under this aspect of the secularisation, hadbeen more weak than wise. 

"As the English laity had dishonoured the ministers of the churchabove all people, " continued the legate, "so must they now honour themabove all people, remembering Christ's words--'He that despiseth youdespiseth Me. ' They must obey the priests, therefore, implicitly; theymust be careful to pay their tithes honestly; what they denied theirpriests they denied their God; and they must show their repentanceespecially where they had especially offended, touching the injuriesthey had done to the ministers of God, whom God had set over them, tobe honoured as they would their natural father. "

"And this, " he said, coming to the heart of the matter, "this youcannot do if you favour heretics, who being the very enemies of Godand man, yet specially their enmity extendeth against priests. Here isanother point that you must show worthy of a repentant mind: thatwhereas you have sore offended God by giving favour to heretics, nowtemper your favour under such manner that if you can convert them byany ways unto the unity of the church, then do it, for it is a greatwork of mercy. But if ye cannot, and ye suffer or favour them, therecannot be a work of greater cruelty against the commonwealth than tonourish or favour any such. _For be you assured, there is no kind ofmen so pernicious to the commonwealth as they be; there are nothieves, no murderers, no adulterers, nor no kind of treason, to becompared to theirs, who, as it were, undermining the chief foundationof all commonwealths, which is religion, maketh an entry to all kindsof vices in the most heinous manner. _" . .. "You specially of the Cityof London, you being the first that received the fruit of grace in thenew plantation, the seed of benediction being first cast upon you, tomake you a ground to bring forth all fruit of sanctity and justice;. .. Shall I say, that after all this done, more briars and thorns hathgrown here among you than in all the realm besides? I cannot say so, nor I will not; albeit it might so seem, for a greater multitude ofthese brambles and briars were cast in the fire here among you than inany place besides; but many of them being grown in other places, andbrought in and burned among you, may give occasion that you have aworse name without your desert. The thing standeth not in thename--bethink you yourselves how it standeth. .. . Wherefore comeththis, that when any heretic {p. 280} shall go to execution, he shalllack no comforting of you, and encouraging to die in his perverseopinion? that when he shall be put in prison he shall have morecherishing?. .. As it is now, this may not be suffered. .. . For theirboldness in their death, it is small argument of grace to be in them;Christ himself showing more heaviness and dolour at his dying hourthan did the thieves that hung beside him, which did blaspheme Christ, setting nought by him, specially one of them, showing no further fear. So do the heretics at their deaths like the blasphemer. "[592]

 [Footnote 592: Address of Cardinal Pole to the citizens of London: Strype's Memorials, vol. Vi. ]

Cruel and savage as the persecution had become, it was stillinadequate. The famine lasted, and therefore God was angry. 

The new year opened with the appointment of a commission, consistingof Bonner, Thirlby, and twenty other peers, gentlemen, and canonlawyers, on whom the court could rely. "Wicked persons" had inventedslanders against the queen's person, and had sown "pestilent heresies"in the realm. The queen, therefore, "minding to punish suchenormities, " and having especial trust in the wisdom of these persons, gave them power to institute inquiries at their pleasure into theconduct and opinions of every man and woman in all parts of thekingdom. The protection of the law was suspended. The commissionersmight arrest any person at any place. Three of them were enough toform a court; and mayors, sheriffs, and magistrates were commanded toassist at their peril. 

The object of the commission was "to search and find out" the sellersof heretical books, or those who in any way professed heresy or taughtit; to ascertain who refused to attend mass, to walk in procession, touse holy water, or in any way betrayed disrespect for the establishedreligion. Those who "persisted in their bad opinions" were to be givenup to their ordinary, to be punished according to law. Thecommissioners were themselves empowered to punish with fine orimprisonment those who yielded, or those whose offences were in thesecond degree, taking care to collect the fines which they inflicted, and to certify the exchequer of their receipts. They were notembarrassed by a necessity of impanelling juries; they might calljuries if they pleased; they might use "all other means and politicways that they could devise. " No Spanish inquisition possessed largeror less tolerable powers; no English sovereign {p. 281} ever moreentirely set aside the restrictions of the law. [593] The appointmentof the commission was followed up by Pole in a visitation of thediocese of Canterbury. Persons were nominated to examine into thedoctrines of the clergy; to learn whether those who had been marriedheld communication with their wives; whether the names of those whohad not been reconciled had been registered as he had ordered; andfrom every clergyman to ascertain the habits, beliefs, and opinions ofevery resident, male or female, in his parish. [594]

 [Footnote 593: Royal Commission printed in Foxe, vol. Viii. P. 301, and by Burnet in his _Collectanea_. ]

 [Footnote 594: Articles of the visitation of Cardinal Pole: Foxe, vol. Iii. ]

Other commissioners again were sent to the universities, with powersextending, not over the living only, but the dead. 

Scot, Bishop of Chester, Watson, Bishop of Lincoln, andChristopherson, Master of Trinity and Bishop of Chichester, went inJanuary to Cambridge, accompanied by Ormaneto, the Venetian, aconfidential friend of the legate. Bucer and Fagius slept in St. Mary's and St. Michael's. The 10th of January, the day after thebishops' arrival, the two churches were laid under an interdict, asdefiled with the presence of unhallowed bodies. On the 15th a summonswas fixed to St. Mary's door, citing Martin Bucer and Paul Fagius, orany other who would plead on their behalf, to make answer three daysafter, before the commission, on a charge of heresy. The court sate, and no one appeared. The session was adjourned for a week, while thecolleges were searched, and Primers, Prayer-books, Bibles, or otherinterdicted volumes, were hunted out and brought together. On the 26ththe bishops met again; the accused remained undefended, and the heresywas taken to be proved; sentence was passed therefore, that the bodiesshould be disinterred and burnt. On the 6th of February the coffinswere taken out of the graves, and chained to a stake in themarket-place; the Bibles and prayer-books were heaped round them witha pile of faggots, and books and bodies were reduced to ashes. 

Having purged Cambridge, Ormaneto proceeded to Oxford, on business ofthe same description. 

Peter Martyr, when he came into residence as divinity professor atChrist Church, had outraged the orthodox party in the university bybringing a wife within the college walls; and Catherine Cathie, so thewife was named, had, like the wife of Luther, been a professed nun. She had died before Mary's accession, and had been buried in thecathedral. A process has now instituted against her similar to that atCambridge. 

{p. 282} An unforeseen difficulty occurred in the conduct of theprosecution. Catherine Cathie had lived quietly and unobtrusively; shehad taught nothing and had written no books; and no evidence could befound to justify her conviction on a charge of heresy. 

Ormaneto wrote to the legate for instructions; and as burning was notpermissible, the legate replied that, "forasmuch as Catherine Cathie, of detestable memory, had called herself the wife of Peter Martyr, aheretic, although both he and she had before taken vows of religion;forasmuch as she had lived with him in Oxford in fornication, andafter her death was buried near the sepulchre of the Holy Virgin St. Frideswide, Ormaneto should invite the dean of the cathedral to castout the carcase from holy ground, and deal with it according to hisdiscretion. "

Catherine Cathie, therefore, was dug up, taken out of her coffin, andflung into a cesspool at the back of the dean's house, and it washoped that by this means the blessed St. Frideswide would be able torest again in peace. Human foresight is imperfect; years passed andtimes changed; and Elizabeth, when she had the power to command, directed that the body should be restored to decent burial. Thefragments were recovered with difficulty, and were about to bereplaced in the earth under the floor of the cathedral, when some oneproduced the sacred box which contained the remains of St. Frideswide. Made accessible to the veneration of the faithful by Cardinal Pole, the relics had been concealed on the return of heresy by some piousworshipper. They were brought out at the critical moment, and aninstant sense of the fitness of things consigned to the sameresting-place the bones of the wife of Peter Martyr. The married nunand the virgin saint were buried together, and the dust of the twostill remains under the pavement inextricably blended. [595]

 [Footnote 595: Wood's _Annals of the University of Oxford_. --The story is authentic. The following is the Roman Catholic version of it:--"Oxonii sepulta fuerat digna Petro Martyre concubina, parthenonis et ipsa desertrix sacrilega ut ille coenobii. Ejus ossa refodi jusserat Maria et sterquilinio ut par erat condi. Nunc æmulo plane sanctitatis et virginitatis in Elizabâthe ingenio requisita sunt inter sordes sterquilinii publici quarum foedissima pars erant, et incredibili studio inventa purgata lota in thecam eandem reponuntur in quâ S. Frideswidæ reliquiæ colebantur, et cum his adeo confusa ut nullâ unquam possunt diligentiâ secerni. Clauditur loculus et cubitalibus litteris hoc epitaphio decoratur, 'Hic jacet religio cum superstitione, ' meliore titulo meretrici hæretici pessimi concubinæ; proh nefas! deteriore ancillæ Christi sanctissimæ virgini attributo. "--Foxe, vol. Viii. Editor's note. ]

{p. 283} But Pole did not live to see the retribution. Convinced, ifever there was a sincere conviction in any man, that the course whichhe was pursuing was precisely that which God required of him, helaboured on in his dark vocation. Through the spring and summer thepersecution, under the new commission, raged with redoubled fury. 

The subject is one to which it will not be necessary to return, exceptwith some brief details. In this place, therefore, shall be given anextract from a tract in circulation among the Protestants who wereexpecting death; and it may be judged, from the sentiments with whichthese noble-natured men faced the prospect of their terrible trial, with what justice Pole called them brambles and briars only fit to beburnt--criminals worse than thieves, or murderers, or adulterers. [596]

 [Footnote 596: An excellent epistle, translated from French into English by Thomas Pownell, with a preface, A. D. 1556. The copy from which I make my extract is in the Bodleian Library at Oxford; it is marked in the margin in various places with a finger [Symbol: Hand] apparently almost as old as the printing; and this finger was perhaps drawn by some one whom the words were consoling or inspiriting in the hour of his own trial. ]

"The cross of persecution, if we will put childishness apart, andvisibly weigh the worthiness thereof, is that sovereign, triedmedicine that quencheth the daily digested poison of self-love, worldly pleasure, fleshly felicity. It is the only worthy poison ofambition, covetousness, extortion, uncleanness, licentiousness, wrath, strife, sedition, sects, malice, and such other wayward worms: it isthe hard hammer that breaketh off the rust from the anchor of aChristian faith. O profitable instrument! O excellent exercise, thatcannot be spared in a Christian life! with what alacrity of mind, withwhat desirous affection, with what earnest zeal, ought we to embracethis incomparable jewel, this sovereign medicine, this comfortable cupof tribulation. 

"When a piece of ground is limited and bounded, it doth not onlysignify that it goeth no further, but also it tendeth and stretchethto the bound. It is not enough to consider that we shall not pass thetime that God hath limited and determined us to live, but we mustassuredly persuade ourselves that we shall live as long as He hathordained us to live; and so shall we do, in despite of all ourenemies. 

"And tell me, have men given us our life? No, forsooth. No more canthey take it away from us. God hath given it, and God only doth takeit away, for He is the Lord of death as well as of life; whereforewhen the appointed time of our death is come, let us assure ourselves, that it is God only and none {p. 284} other that doth kill us, for Hesaith, It is I that kill and make alive again. 

"Let us follow the example of Christ, our Master, who seeing His deathapproaching, said to God, My Father, not as I will, but as thou wilt;thy will be done, and not mine. --Let us offer then, unto God ourFather, ourselves for a sacrifice, whose savour, although it be evilin the nose of the world, yet it is good and agreeable unto God, byJesus Christ his Son, in the faith of whom we do dedicate and offerourselves, when we perceive our hour to approach. 

"And, whatsoever betide, let us not fear men; let us not fear them. God doth inhibit and forbid us in the same, saying, by his prophet, Fear them not, for I am with you; and seeing God doth forbid us tofear men, can we fear them without sin? No truly. To what purpose dowe fear them? Men of themselves can do nothing, and if at any timethey have any power, the same only cometh unto them from God, and isgiven unto them only to accomplish the will of God. But peradventureye will say to me that Jesus Christ himself, in the time of his cross, did fear death, and therefore it is no marvel though we do fear it, inwhom is no such perfection and constancy. Truly the flesh doth alwaysabuse herself with the example of Jesus Christ; she doth abuse it, forshe cannot rightfully use it, inasmuch as the flesh is in all waysrepugnant unto the spirit and the good will of God. Forasmuch as yewill herein follow Christ--well, I am contented--fear death, but fearit as he did fear it. If you will say that Christ had fear of death, consider the same also to be on such sort as the fear did not keep himback from the voluntary obedience of his Father, and from saying, withunfeigned lips, Thy will be done. 

"Ye will say, We fear not death for any fear we have to be damned, neither for any diffidence that we have of eternal life; but we feardeath for the human understanding that we have of the great pain thatsome do suffer in dying, and especially in dying by fire; for wesuppose that pain to surmount all patience. O fond flesh, thy voice isalways full of love of thyself, and of a secret diffidence andmistrust of the Almighty power, wisdom, and goodness of God. "

While the true heroes of the age were fighting for freedom with theweapons of noble suffering, the world was about to recommence its ownbattles, with which it is less easy to sympathise. The attempt onCalais having failed, it became a question at the French court, whether, after having given so {p. 285} just cause of quarrel toEngland, wisdom would not suggest an abandonment of the intention ofrecommencing the war with Philip. Noailles crossed to Paris inDecember, where the king questioned him whether Mary would be able todeclare war. Noailles assured him, "that out of doubt she would not;for if she should send those whom she trusted out of the realm, thenwould they whom she trusted not, not fail to be busy within therealm. "[597] Reassured by the ambassador's opinion, Henry resumed hisintentions. In March, the Duke of Guise led an army into Italy. Thepope recovered courage, defied Alva, and again laid claim to Naples;and it was to be seen now whether Noailles was right--whether theEnglish people would unite with the court to resent the French king'sconduct sufficiently to permit Mary at last to join in the quarrel. 

 [Footnote 597: Wotton to Petre: _French MSS. _, bundle 13, State Paper Office. ]

Philip, anxious and hopeful, paid England the respect of returning fora few weeks, and in the same month of March came over to sue thecouncil in person. The affair at Calais was a substantial ground for arupture, but the attack, though intended, had not been actually made. The story might seem, to the suspicions of the country, to have beeninvented by the court; and, in other respects, Mary's injuries werenot the injuries of the nation. The currency was still prostrate; thepeople in unexampled distress. The Flanders debts were as heavy asever, and the queen had insisted on abandoning a fifth of herrevenues. A war would inevitably be most unpopular. The attemptnevertheless was made. The queen produced the treaty of 1546, betweenEngland and the empire; and, in compliance with its provisions, laidbefore the privy council a proposal, if not to declare war withFrance, yet to threaten a declaration, in the event of an invasion ofthe Netherlands. 

The privy council considered the queen's request; their conclusion wasnot what she desired. 

The treaty of 1546, the council replied, had been abrogated by thetreaty of marriage, so far as it might involve England in a war withFrance. "Her majesty would be unable to maintain a war, and, therefore, to say to the French king that she would aid her husband, according to the treaty, and not being able to perform it, indeedwould be dishonourable, and many ways dangerous. " "It was to beconsidered further, that, if by these means the realm should be drawninto war, the fault would be imputed to the king's majesty. " "Thecommon {p. 286} people of the realm were at present many waysgrieved--some pinched with famine, some for want of payment of moneydue to them, some discontented for matters of religion; and, generally, all yet tasting the smart of the late wars. It would behard to have any aid of money of them. And in times past, " the counciladded, significantly, "although the prince found himself able to makeand maintain wars, yet the causes of those wars were opened for themost part in parliament. "[598]

 [Footnote 598: Answer of the Privy Council to the queen's question whether England shall enter the wars with France. --_Sloane MSS. _ 1786, British Museum. ]

Objections so decided and so just would have hardly been overcome, butfor an injudicious enterprise of the refugees, under French auspices. The French court believed that, by keeping Mary in alarm at home, theywould make it the less easy for her to join in the war. They mistookthe disposition of the people, who resented and detested theinterference of France in their concerns. 

Among the exiles at the court of Paris, the most distinguished bybirth, if not by ability, was Sir Thomas Stafford, Lord Stafford'ssecond son, and grandson of the Duke of Buckingham, who was put todeath under Henry VIII. On the 27th of April, Wotton sent notice tothe queen that Stafford had sailed from the mouth of the Seine withtwo vessels well manned and appointed. His destination was unknown;but it was understood that he intended to take some fortress on theEnglish coast, and that the refugees, in a body, intended to followhim. Before Wotton's letter arrived, the scheme, such as it was, hadbeen already executed. Stafford, with thirty Englishmen and oneFrenchman, had surprised Scarborough Castle, and sent hisproclamations through Yorkshire. He was come, he said, to deliver hiscountry from foreign tyranny. He had sure evidence that an army ofSpaniards was about to land, and that Philip intended to seize thecrown by force. The queen, by her marriage with a stranger, hadforfeited her own rights; and he himself, as the protector of Englishliberty, intended to bestow the crown on the next rightful heir, andto restore all such acts, laws, liberties, and customs as wereestablished in the time of that most prudent prince, King Henry VIII. "He did not mind, " he thought it necessary to add, "to work his ownadvancement touching possession of the crown, but to restore the bloodand house of the Staffords to its pristine estate, which had beenwrongfully suppressed by Cardinal Wolsey. "[599]

 [Footnote 599: Proclamation of Thomas Stafford, son to the Lord Henry, rightful Duke of Buckingham. --Strype's _Memorials_, vol. Vi. P. 515. ]

{p. 287} The landing of Edward IV. , at Ravenspurg, had made any wildenterprise seem feasible, and Stafford had counted on the notorioushatred of the people for the queen. 

But if the Spaniards meditated a descent upon England, it was not byadventurers like the refugees that their coming would be eitherprevented or avenged; and the good sense of the country had determinedonce for all to give no countenance to revolution supported by France. The occupation of Scarborough lasted two days, at the end of whichStafford and his whole party were taken by the Earl of Westmoreland. Thirty-two prisoners were sent to London; thirty-one were put todeath; and the council reluctantly withdrew their opposition to thewar. A hundred and forty thousand pounds were in the exchequer, beingpart of the subsidy granted by parliament to pay the crown debts. [600]With this the court prepared to commence, trusting to fortune for thefuture. War was to be declared on the 7th of June, and, while seventhousand men were to cross the Channel and join Pembroke in the LowCountries, [601] Howard was to cruise with the fleet in the Channel touse his discretion in annoying the enemy, and, if possible, to destroythe French ships at Dieppe. [602]

 [Footnote 600: Exchequer Accounts: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Xii. State Paper Office. ]

 [Footnote 601: Bitterly hating their work that they were sent upon, "the people went to the musters, said Sir Thomas Smith, with kerchiefs on their heads--they went to the wars hanging down their looks; they came from them as men dismayed and forlorn. "--Strype's _Life of Sir Thomas Smith_, Appendix, p. 249. ]

 [Footnote 602: Instructions to the Lord Admiral: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Xi. ]

Happy, however, in having succeeded in gratifying her husband, thequeen brought at once upon herself a blow which she had littleforeseen, and from a quarter from which an injury was most painful. Inher desire to punish France for assisting her rebellious hereticalsubjects, she seemed to have forgotten that France had an ally beyondthe Alps. No sooner did Paul IV. Learn that England was about todeclare on the side of Philip, than, under the plausible pretence thathe could have no ambassador residing in a country with which he was atwar, he resolved to gratify his old animosity against Cardinal Pole, and cancel his legation. 

Sir Edward Karne, the English resident at Rome, waited on the pope toremonstrate. He urged Paul to recollect how much the Holy See owed tothe queen, and how dangerous it might be to re-open a woundimperfectly healed. The pope at first was obstinate. At length heseemed so far inclined to yield as to {p. 288} say that, if the queenwould herself expressly desire it, he would distinguish between herand her husband. [603] But the suspension of the legation, though notat first published, was carried through the Consistory; and soingeniously was it worded, that not only the formal and especialcommission was declared at an end, but the legatine privileges, attached by immemorial custom to the archbishopric of Canterbury, werecancelled with it. The pope chose to leave himself withoutrepresentative, ordinary or extraordinary, at the English court. 

 [Footnote 603: Sir Edward Karne to the Queen: Burnet's _Collectanea_. ]

The queen was in despair. Before Karne's letter reached her, she hadheard what was impending, and she wrote a letter of passionateexpostulation, in which she expatiated on her services to religion, and on the assistance which Pole had rendered her. She said that, inthe unsettled condition of England, the presence of a legate withsupreme authority was absolutely necessary; and she implored Paul toreconsider a decision so rash and so unkind. 

The council added their separate protest. [604] "They had heard withinfinite grief that the legate was to be taken from them. There was noprecedent for the recall of a legate who had been once commissioned, unless from fault of his own; and for themselves, they wereunconscious of having misconducted themselves in any way since thereconciliation. Cardinal Pole had been the saviour of religion. Beforehis coming to England, the queen, with the best intentions to do good, had failed to arrest the growth of heresy, and the name of the HolySee was held in detestation. Pole, the noblest and most distinguishedof the cardinals, had made what was crooked straight; he hadintroduced reforms everywhere; in a few years the wound would heal, and all would be well. If, however, he were now removed, theconvalescent, deserted too soon by his physician, would relapse, andbe worse than before. They entreated his holiness, therefore, tolisten to them, and allow him to remain. When they were reconciled, the pope then reigning had promised that the customary privileges andimmunities of the English nation should be maintained. It was thespecial prerogative {p. 289} of English sovereigns to have a legateperpetually resident in the person of the Archbishop of Canterbury;and from immemorial time there was no record of any archbishop to whomthe legatine character had not attached as of right. The queen, whohad risked her life for the faith of the church, did not deserve thatthe first exception should be made in her disfavour. The bishops didnot deserve it. The few who, in the late times of trial, had remainedfaithful, did not deserve it. Even if the queen would consent and giveway, they would themselves be obliged to remonstrate. "[605]

 [Footnote 604: Printed by Strype, _Memorials of the Reformation_, vol. Vi. P. 476, and described by him as a letter of the parliament. But at this time there was no parliament in existence; the last had been dissolved eighteen months before, the next did not meet till the ensuing January. The queen's letter is dated the 21st May, and the letter which I suppose to have been from the council, and another, said also to have been from "the nobility, " were evidently written under the same impression, and at the same time, when the idea of the recall was new. ]

 [Footnote 605: Letters to the Pope: Strype, vol. Vi. Pp. 476-482. The drafts of the letters are not signed, nor does it appear what names were attached to them. It is not even certain that they were sent. ]

Karne's letter produced a brief hope that the pope would relent. Butthe partial promise of reconsidering his resolution had been extortedfrom Paul, while it was uncertain whether England would actually joinin the conflict; the intended declaration of war had in the intervalbecome a reality, and the pope, more indignant than ever, chose toconsider Pole personally responsible for the queen's conduct. Since apoint was made of the presence of a papal legate in England, he was sofar ready to give way; but so far only. The king left England thefirst week in July. Mary accompanied him to Dover, and there a papalnuncio met her, bringing a commission by which Pole was reduced intothe ordinary rank of archbishop; and the office of papalrepresentative was conferred on Peto, the Greenwich friar. For hisobjections to the present legate, the pope gave the strange butwounding reason, that his orthodoxy was not above suspicion. 

The queen, with something of her father's temper in her, ordered thenuncio to return to Calais till she could again communicate with Rome. She interdicted Peto from accepting the commission, and desired Poleto continue to exercise his functions till the pope had pronouncedagain a final resolution. Pole, however, was too faithful a child ofthe church to disobey a papal injunction; he relinquished his office, but he sent Ormaneto to Rome with his own entreaties and protests. 

Never had a legate of the Holy See been treated as he was treated, hesaid; there was no precedent, therefore, to teach him how to act, norwas ever charge of heresy urged with less occasion than against onewhose whole employment had been to recover souls to Christ and hischurch, and to cut off those that were obstinate as rotten members. His services to the {p. 290} church, he passionately exclaimed, transcended far the services of any legate who had been employed forcenturies, and, nevertheless, he found himself accused of heresy bythe Vicar of Christ upon earth. Such an insult was unjust andunprovoked; and his holiness should consider also what he was doing inbringing the queen, the mother of obedience, into heaviness andsorrow. Mother of obedience the Queen of England might well be called, whom God had made a mother of sons who were the joy of the wholechurch. How was the pope rewarding this sainted woman, when with thethunder of his voice he accused the king, her husband, of schism, andhimself, the legate, of heresy?[606]

 [Footnote 606: Pole to the Pope: Strype's _Memorials_, vol. Vi. P. 34, etc. ]

Scarcely in his whole troubled life had a calamity more agitatingovertaken Reginald Pole. To maintain the supremacy of the successor ofSt. Peter, he had spent twenty years in treason to his native country. He had held up his sovereign to the execration of mankind forrejecting an authority which had rewarded him with an act of enormousinjustice; and to plead his consciousness of innocence before theworld against his spiritual sovereign, would be to commit the samecrime of disobedience for which he had put to death Cranmer, andlaboured to set Europe on fire. Most fatal, most subtleretribution--for he knew that he was accused without cause; he knewthat the pope after all was but a peevish, violent, and spiteful oldman; he knew it--yet even to himself he could not admit his ownconviction. 

Fortune, however, seemed inclined for a time to make some amends toMary in the results of the war. 

The French usually opened their summer campaigns by an advance intoLorraine or the Netherlands. This year their aggressive resources hadbeen directed wholly into Italy, and at home they remained on thedefensive. Philip, with creditable exertion, collected an army of50, 000 men, to take advantage of the opportunity. Fixing his ownresidence at Cambray, he gave the command in the field to the Duke ofSavoy; and Philibert, after having succeeded in distracting theattention of the enemy, and leading them to expect him in Champagne, turned suddenly into Picardy, and invested the town of St. Quentin. The garrison must soon have yielded, had not Coligny, the Admiral ofFrance, broken through the siege lines and carried in reinforcements. Time was thus gained, and the constable, eager to save a strong place, the possession of which would open to the Spaniards the road to Paris, advanced with all the force {p. 291} which he could collect, notmeaning to risk a battle, but to throw provisions and further suppliesof men into St. Quentin. Montmorency had but 20, 000 men with him. Hislevies consisted of the reserved force of the kingdom--princes, peers, knights, gentlemen, with their personal retinues, the best blood inFrance. It was such an army as that which lost Agincourt, and a fatenot very different was prepared for it. 

On the 10th of August, the constable was forced by accident into anengagement, in which he had the disadvantage of position as well as ofnumbers. Mistaken movements caused a panic in the opening of thebattle, and the almost instant result was a confused and hopelessrout. The Duke d'Enghien fell on the field with four thousand men; theconstable himself, the Duke de Montpensier, the Duke de Longueville, the Marshal St. André, three hundred gentlemen, and several thousandcommon soldiers, were taken; the defeat was irretrievably complete, and to the victors almost bloodless. The English did not share in theglory of the battle, for they were not present; but they arrived twodays after to take part in the storming of St. Quentin, and to share, to their shame, in the sack and spoiling of the town. They gained nohonour; but they were on the winning side. The victory was credited tothe queen as a success, and was celebrated in London with processions, bonfires, and _Te Deums_. 

Nor was the defeat at St. Quentin the only disaster which the Frencharms experienced. Henry sent in haste to Italy for the Duke of Guiseto defend Paris, where Philibert was daily expected. Guise was alreadyreturning after a failure less conspicuous, but not less complete, than that of the constable. The pope had received him on his arrivalwith enthusiasm, but the promised papal contingent for the campaignhad not been provided; the pope was contented to be the soul of theenterprise of which France was to furnish the body. Guise advancedalone for the conquest of Naples, and he found himself, like DeLautrec in 1528, baffled by an enemy who would not meet him in thefield, and obliged to waste his time and the health of his army in aseries of unsuccessful sieges, till in a few months the climate haddone Alva's work. The French troops perished in thousands, and Guiseat last drew off his thinned ranks and fell back on Rome. Here thenews of St. Quentin reached him, and the duke, leaving Paul to hisfate, amid a storm of mutual reproaches, hurried back to his owncountry. 

The pontiff had now no resource but to yield; and the piety of theSpaniards, whom he had compelled against their will to {p. 292} behis enemies, softened the ignominy of his compelled submission. Cardinal Caraffa and the Duke of Alva met at Cava, where, in a fewwords, it was agreed that his holiness should relinquish his alliancewith France, and cease to trouble the Colonnas. Alva, on his side, restored the papal towns which he had taken; he went to Rome to askpardon on his knees, in Philip's name, for the violence which he hadused to his spiritual father; and the pope gave him graciousabsolution. 

This bad business, which had tried Mary so severely, was thus wellfinished, and on the 6th of October London was again illuminated forthe peace between the king and the papacy. But the shadow which hadbeen thrown on Pole was maliciously permitted to remain unremoved; onhim, perhaps from personal ill-feeling, Paul visited his owndisappointment. With the return of peace there was no longer anyplausible reason for the recall of the legation; Peto was dead, havingsurvived his unpropitious honours but a few months: yet, unmoved byPole's entreaties, the pope refused to permit him to resume hislegatine functions, except so far as they were inherent in thearchbishopric. The odious accusation of heresy was not withdrawn; andthe torturing charge was left to embitter the peace of mind, andpoison the last days of the most faithful servant of the church whowas then living. [607]

 [Footnote 607: Pole's sufferings in consequence were really piteous. "Your holiness, " he wrote on the 30th of March, 1558, "is taking my life from me when you take from me the reputation of orthodoxy. You told the English ambassador it was God's doing; God has told you, like Abraham, to kill your son; and that your holiness intends that kind of death for me, I know far more certainly than Isaac seemed to know his father's purpose. When I see the fire and the knife in the hands of your holiness, and the wood laid upon my shoulders, there is no need for me to ask where is the victim. 

 "When I was yet a lamb, I gave myself as a sacrifice to the pontiff, who chose me for a cardinal. Thus I thought of myself; thus I spoke when I lay prostrate before the altar. Little did I then think the time would come, when I should be offered up by my father's hands a second time, especially when the Bishop of Rochester was here hanging as a ram among the briars ready to be immolated, " etc. --Pole to the Pope: _Epistolæ_, vol. V. P. 31. ]

And again, though there was peace with the pope, there was still warwith France; there was still war with Scotland. The events which hadtaken place in Scotland will be related hereafter. It is enough forthe present to say that the Scots had been true as usual to their oldallies; no sooner was an English army landed in France, than a Scotcharmy was wasting and burning on the Border. A second force had to beraised and kept in the field to meet them, and the scantily suppliedtreasury was soon empty. 

{p. 293} Money had to be found somewhere. The harvest, happily, hadbeen at last abundant, and wheat had fallen from fifty shillings aquarter to four or five. The country was in a condition to lend, and acommission was sent out for a forced loan, calculated on theassessment of the last subsidy. Lists of the owners of property ineach county were drawn out, with sums of money opposite to theirnames, and the collectors were directed "to travail by all the bestways they might for obtaining the sums noted. " Persons foundconformable were to receive acknowledgments. Should "any be froward"they were to find securities to appear when called on before the privycouncil, or to be arrested on the spot and sent to London. [608] Ahundred and ten thousand pounds were collected under the commission, in spite of outcry and resistance;[609] but it was not enough for thehungry consumption of the war, and the court was driven to call aparliament. 

 [Footnote 608: Commission for the Loan: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Xi. ]

 [Footnote 609: Ibid. Vol. Xii. ]

The writs went out at the beginning of December, accompanied with theusual circulars; to which the queen added a promise, that if themayors and sheriffs[610] would consult her wishes she would remembertheir services. In a second address she said her pleasure was thatwhen the privy council, or any of them within their jurisdiction, should recommend "men of learning and wisdom, " their directions should"be regarded and followed. "[611] Yet there was not perhaps any wish tohave the House of Commons unfairly packed. Mary desired, probably{p. 294} with sincerity, "to have the assembly of the most chiefestmen in the realm for advice and counsel. "

 [Footnote 610: The queen to all sheriffs, mayors, etc. --For the well choosing of the knights of the shire and burgesses:

 "Trusty and well-beloved, we greet you well: and whereas for certain great and weighty causes touching both the honour of Almighty God, and the wealth and good government of this our realm, we have summoned our High Court of Parliament, to be holden at Westminster, the 20th of January next: and forasmuch as we consider that a great part of the furthering of such things, as shall be treated in our said parliament, and bringing them to good effect, shall consist in the well appointing and choosing of such as shall be knights of shires, citizens of any city, or burgesses of other towns corporate, we have thought good to require you to have good regard, and so far forth as in you may lie, to provide that such as shall be appointed may be men given to good order, Catholic, and discreet, and so qualified, as the antient law of this realm requireth; giving the freeholders, citizens, burgesses within our said county to understand, what our will and pleasure is in that behalf. Hereby as you shall do good service unto God and this your country, so shall you also do us right acceptable pleasure, which we shall consider towards you as any occasion may shew. Given under our signet, December 10, 1557. "--_MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Xii. ]

 [Footnote 611: _MS. _ Ibid. ]

How the parliament would have acted in the circumstances under whichthe meeting was anticipated, is very uncertain. The intenseunpopularity of the war had been little relieved by the victory at St. Quentin, and the general state of suffering made a fresh demand formoney infinitely grievous. But between the issue of the writs and the20th of January a blow had fallen on England which left room for noother thought. 

For the last ten years the French had kept their eyes on Calais. Therecovery of Boulogne was an insufficient retaliation for the disgracewhich they had suffered in the loss of it, while the ill success withwhich the English maintained themselves in their new conquest, suggested the hope, and proved the possibility, of expelling them fromthe old. The occupation of a French fortress by a foreign power was aperpetual insult to the national pride; it was a memorial of eviltimes; while it gave England inconvenient authority in the "narrowseas. " Scarcely a month had passed since Mary had been on the throne, without a hint from some quarter or other to the English government tolook well to Calais; and the recent plot for its surprise was but oneof a series of schemes which had been successively formed andabandoned. 

In 1541 the defences of Guisnes, Hammes, and Calais, had been repairedby Henry VIII. The dykes had been cleared and enlarged, theembankments strengthened, and the sluices put in order. [612] But inthe wasteful times of Edward, the works had fallen again into ruin;and Mary, straitened by debt, by a diminished revenue, and a supposedobligation to make good the losses of the clergy, had found neithermeans nor leisure to attend to them. 

 [Footnote 612: A complete account of the repairs at Calais, with the cost of work, and the wages of the workmen, is printed in an appendix to the _Chronicle of Calais_, published by the Camden Society. ]

In the year 1500, the cost of maintaining the three fortresses wassomething less than £10, 000 a-year;[613] and the expense had beenalmost or entirely supported by the revenue of the Pale. The moreextended fortifications had necessitated an increase in the garrison;two hundred men were now scarcely sufficient to man the works;[614]while, owing to bad government, and the growing anomaly of the Englishposition, the wealthier inhabitants {p. 295} had migrated over thefrontiers, and left the Pale to a scanty, wretched, starvingpopulation, who could scarcely extract from the soil sufficient fortheir own subsistence. [615] While the cost of the occupation wasbecoming greater, the means of meeting it became less. The countrycould no longer thrive in English hands, and it was time for theinvaders to begone. 

 [Footnote 613: _Chronicle of Calais. _]

 [Footnote 614: Lord Grey to the Queen, June 13, 1557: _Calais MSS. _ bundle 10, State Paper Office. ]

 [Footnote 615: In 1550, Sir John Mason wrote to the council, "I have heard say that, not long sythen the Low Countries were able to set to the field 300 able men on horseback; I think there lacketh of that number at this present a great many, the occasion whereof, by the report of the king's ministers on this side, is for that the king's lands are so raised as no man is able to live thereupon unless it is a sort of poor dryvells, that must dig their living with their nails out of the ground, and be not able scarce to maintain a jade to carry their corn to market. " _French MSS. _ Edward VI. Bundle 9. ]

The government in London, however, seemed, notwithstanding warnings, to be unable to conceive the loss of so old a possession to be apossibility; and Calais shared the persevering neglect to which thetemporal interests of the realm were subjected. The near escape fromthe Dudley treason created a momentary improvement. The arrears ofwages were paid up, and the garrison was increased. Yet a few monthsafter, when war was on the point of being declared, there were but twohundred men in Guisnes, a number inadequate to defend even the castle;and although the French fleet at that time commanded the Channel, Calais contained provisions to last but for a few weeks. [616] LordGrey, the governor of Guisnes, reported in June, after thedeclaration, that the French were collecting in strength in theneighbourhood, and that unless he was reinforced, he was at theirmercy. A small detachment was sent over in consequence of Grey'sletter; but on the 2nd of July Sir Thomas Cornwallis informed thequeen that the numbers were still inadequate. "The enemy, " Cornwallissaid, "perceiving our weakness, maketh daily attempts upon yoursubjects, who are much abashed to see the courage of your enemies, whom they are not able to hurt nor yet defend themselves. " Heentreated that a larger force should be sent immediately, andmaintained in the Pale during the war. The charge would be great, butthe peril would be greater if the men were not provided; and as hermajesty had been pleased to enter into the war, her honour must bemore considered than her treasure. [617]

 [Footnote 616: _Calais MSS. _ bundle 10. ]

 [Footnote 617: Cornwallis to the Queen: _Calais MSS. _ bundle 10. ]

The arrival of the army under Pembroke removed the immediate groundfor alarm; and after the defeat of the French, the {p. 296} dangerwas supposed to be over altogether. The queen was frightened at theexpenses which she was incurring, and again allowed the establishmentto sink below the legitimate level. Lord Wentworth was left at Calaiswith not more than five hundred men. Grey had something more than athousand at Guisnes, but a part only were English; the rest wereBurgundians and Spaniards. More unfortunately also, a proclamation hadforbidden the export of corn in England, from which Calais had notbeen excepted. Guisnes and Hammes depended for their supplies onCalais, and by the middle of the winter there was an actual scarcityof food. [618]

 [Footnote 618: When all your majesty's pieces on this side make account to be furnished of victuals and other necessaries from hence, it is so that of victuals your highness hath presently none here, and the town hath none; by reason that the restraint in the realm hath been so strait, and the victuallers as were wont to bring daily hither good quantities of butter, cheese, bacon, wheat, and other things, might not of late be suffered to have any recourse hither, whereby is grown a very great scarcity. --Wentworth to the Queen: _Calais MSS. _ bundle 10. ]

Up to the beginning of December, notwithstanding, there were noexternal symptoms to create uneasiness; military movements lay underthe usual stagnation of winter, and except a few detachments on thefrontiers of the Pale, who gave trouble by marauding excursions, theFrench appeared to be resting in profound repose. On the 1st ofDecember, the governor of Guisnes reported an expedition for thedestruction of one of their outlying parties, which had beenaccomplished with ominous cruelty. 

"I advertised your grace, " Lord Grey wrote to the queen, "how Ipurposed to make a journey to a church called Bushing, stronglyfortified by the enemy, much annoying this your majesty's frontier. Itmay please your majesty, upon Monday last, at nine of the clock atnight, having with me Mr. Aucher marshal of Calais, Mr. Alexandercaptain of Newnham Bridge, Sir Henry Palmer, my son, [619] and mycousin Louis Dives, with such horsemen and footmen as could beconveniently spared abroad in service, leaving your majesty's piecesin surety, I took my journey towards the said Bushing, and carriedwith me two cannon and a sacre, for that both the weather and the waysserved well to the purpose, and next morning came hither before day. And having before our coming enclosed the said Bushing with twohundred footmen harquebuziers, I sent an officer to summon the same inthe king's highness' and your majesty's name; whereunto the captainthere, a man of good {p. 297} estimation, who the day before was sentthere with twelve men by M. Senarpont, captain of Boulogne, answeredthat he was not minded to render, but would keep it with such men ashe had, which were forty in number or thereabouts, even to the death;and further said, if their fortune was so to lose their lives, he knewthat the king his master had more men alive to serve, with many otherwords of French bravery. Upon this answer, I caused the gunners tobring up their artillery to plank, and then shot off immediately tenor twelve times. But yet for all this they would not yield. At length, when the cannon had made an indifferent breach, the Frenchmen madesigns to parley, and would gladly have rendered; but I again, weighingit not meet to abuse your majesty's service therein, and having Sir H. Palmer there hurt, and some others of my men, refused to receive them, and, according to the law of arms, put as many of them to the sword ascould be gotten at the entry of the breach, and all the rest wereblown up with the steeple at the rasing thereof, and so allslain. "[620]

 [Footnote 619: Sir Arthur Grey. ]

 [Footnote 620: Grey to the Queen: _Calais MSS. _ bundle 10. ]

The law of arms forbade the defence of a fort not rationallydefensible; but it was over hardly construed against a gallantgentleman. Grey was a fierce, stern man. It was Grey who hung thepriests in Oxfordshire from their church towers. It was Grey who ledthe fiery charge upon the Scots at Musselburgh, and with a pike wound, which laid open cheek, tongue, and palate, he "pursued out the chase, "till, choked by heat, dust, and his own blood, he was near fallingunder his horse's feet. [621]

 [Footnote 621: He was held up by the Earl of Warwick, who sprang from his own horse, and "did lift a firkin of ale" to Grey's mouth. _Life of Lord Grey of Wilton_, by his son. ]

Three weeks passed, and still the French had made no sign. On the 22ndan indistinct rumour came to Guisnes that danger was near. The frosthad set in; the low damp ground was hard, the dykes were frozen; andin sending notice of the report to England, Grey said that Calais wasunprovided with food; Guisnes contained a few droves of cattle broughtin by forays over the frontier, [622] but no corn. On the 27th, theintelligence became more distinct and more alarming. The Duke of Guisewas at Compiegne. A force of uncertain magnitude, but known to belarge, had suddenly appeared at Abbeville. Something evidently wasintended, and something on a scale which the English commanders feltill prepared to encounter. In a hurried council of war held at Calais, it was resolved to make no attempt {p. 298} to meet the enemy in thefield until the arrival of reinforcements, which were written for inpressing haste. [623]

 [Footnote 622: Grey to the Queen: _Calais MSS. _ bundle 10. ]

 [Footnote 623: Wentworth and Grey to the Queen: _Calais MSS. _ bundle 10. ]

But the foes with whom they had to deal knew their condition, and wereas well aware as themselves that success depended on rapidity. Had thequeen paid attention to Grey's despatch of the 22nd there was time tohave trebled the garrison and thrown in supplies; but it was vague, and no notice was taken of it. The joint letter of Grey and Wentworthwritten on the 27th, was in London in two days, and there were shipsat Portsmouth and in the Thames, which ought to have been ready forsea at a moment's warning. Orders were sent to prepare; the Earl ofRutland was commissioned to raise troops; and the queen, thoughwithout sending men, sent a courier with encouragements and promises. But when every moment was precious, a fatal slowness, and more fatalirresolution hung about the movements of the government. On the 29thWentworth wrote again, that the French were certainly arming and mightbe looked for immediately. On the 31st, the queen, deceived probablyby some emissary of Guise, replied, that "she had intelligence that noenterprise was intended against Calais or the Pale, " and that she hadtherefore countermanded the reinforcements. [624]

 [Footnote 624: The Queen to Wentworth: Ibid. ]

The letter containing the death sentence, for it was nothing less, ofEnglish rule in Calais was crossed on the way by another from Grey, inwhich he informed the queen that there were thirty or forty vessels inthe harbour at Hambletue, two fitted as floating batteries, the restloaded with hurdles, ladders, and other materials for a siege. Four-and-twenty thousand men were in the camp above Boulogne; andtheir mark he knew to be Calais. For himself, he would defend hischarge to the death; but help must be sent instantly, or it would betoo late to be of use. 

The afternoon of the same day, December 31, he added, in a postscript, that flying companies of the French were at that moment beforeGuisnes; part of the garrison had been out to skirmish, but had beendriven in by numbers; the whole country was alive with troops. 

The next morning (January 1, 1558) Wentworth reported to the samepurpose, that, on the land side, Calais was then invested. The sea wasstill open, and the forts at the mouth of the harbour on the Rysbankwere yet in his hands. Heavy siege cannon, however, were said to be ontheir way from Boulogne, and it was uncertain how long he could holdthem. 

{p. 299} The defences of Calais towards the land, though in badrepair, had been laid out with the best engineering skill of the time. The country was intersected with deep muddy ditches; the roads werecauseways, and at the bridges were bulwarks and cannon. Guisnes, whichwas three miles from Calais, was connected with it by a line of smallforts and "turnpikes. " Hammes lay between the two, equidistant fromboth. Towards the sea the long line of low sandhills, rising in frontof the harbour to the Rysbank, formed a natural pier; and on theRysbank was the castle, which commanded the entrance and the town. Thepossession of the Rysbank was the possession of Calais. 

The approaches to the sandhills were commanded by a bulwark towardsthe south-west called the Sandgate, and further inland by a large workcalled Newnham Bridge. At this last place were sluices, through which, at high water, the sea could be let in over the marshes. If doneeffectually, the town could by this means be effectually protected;but unfortunately, owing to the bad condition of the banks, the seawater leaked in from the high levels to the wells and reservoirs inCalais. 

The night of the 1st of January the French remained quiet; with themorning they advanced in force upon Newnham Bridge. An advanced partyof English archers and musketeers who were outside the gate weredriven in, and the enemy pushed in pursuit so close under the wallsthat the heavy guns could not be depressed to touch them. The English, however, bored holes through the gates with augers, fired theirmuskets through them, and so forced their assailants back. TowardsHammes and Guisnes the sea was let in, and the French, findingthemselves up to their waists in water, and the tide still rising, retreated on that side also. Wentworth wrote in the afternoon in highspirits at the result of the first attack. The brewers were set towork to fill their vats with fresh water, that full advantage might betaken of the next tide. Working parties were sent to cut the sluices, and the English commander felt confident that if help was on the way, or could now be looked for, he could keep his charge secure. But theenemy, he said, were now thirty thousand strong; Guise had taken theSandgate, and upwards of a hundred boats were passing backwards andforwards to Boulogne and Hambletue, bringing stores andammunition. [625] {p. 300} If the queen had a body of men inreadiness, they would come without delay. If she was unprepared, "thepassages should be thrown open, " and "liberty be proclaimed for allmen to come that would bring sufficient victuals for themselves;"thus, he "was of opinion that there would be enough with more speedthan would be made by order. "

 [Footnote 625: "Surely, " Wentworth wrote to the queen, "if your majesty's ships had been on the shore, they might either have letted this voyage, or, at the least, very much hindered it, and not unlike to have distressed them, being only small boats. Their ordnance that comes shall be conveyed in the same sort. It may therefore please your majesty to consider it. I am, as a man may be, most sure that they will first attempt upon Rysbank, and that way chiefly assail the town. Marry, I think that they lie hovering in the country for the coming of their great artillery and also to be masters of the sea, and therefore I trust your highness will haste over all things necessary with all expedition. "--Wentworth to the Queen: _Calais MSS. _ bundle 10. ]

So far Wentworth had written. While the pen was in his hand, a messagereached him, that the French, without waiting for their guns, werestreaming up over the Rysbank, and laying ladders against the walls ofthe fort. He had but time to close his letter, and send his swiftestboat out of the harbour with it, when the castle was won, and ingressand egress at an end. The same evening, the heavy guns came fromBoulogne, and for two days and nights the town was fired uponincessantly from the sandbank, and from "St. Peter's Heath. "

The fate of Calais was now a question of hours; Wentworth had but 500men to repel an army, and he was without provisions. Calais wasprobably gone, but Guisnes might be saved; Guisnes could be relievedwith a great effort out of the Netherlands. On the night of the 4th, Grey found means to send a letter through the French lines to England. "The enemy, " he said, "were now in possession of Calais harbour, andall the country between Calais and Guisnes. " He was now "clean cut offfrom all relief and aid which he looked to have;" and there "was noother way for the succour of Calais" and the other fortresses, but "apower of men out of England or from the king's majesty, or from both, "either to force the French into a battle or to raise the siege. Comewhat would, he would himself do the duty of a faithful subject, andkeep the castle while men could hold it. [626]

 [Footnote 626: Grey to the Queen: _Calais MSS. _ The letter was dated January 4, seven o'clock at night. The messenger was to carry it to Gravelines under cover of darkness. It is endorsed, "Haste, haste, haste! post haste for thy life, for thy life. "]

The court, which had been incredulous of danger till it had appeared, was now paralysed by the greatness of it. Definite orders to collecttroops were not issued till the 2nd of January. The Earl of Rutlandgalloped the same day to Dover, where the musters were to meet, flunghimself into the first boat that he {p. 301} found, without waitingfor them, and was half-way across the Channel when he was met by thenews of the loss of the Rysbank. [627] Rutland therefore returned toDover, happy so far to have escaped sharing the fate of Wentworth, which his single presence could not have averted. The next day, the3rd, parties of men came in slowly from Kent and Sussex; but so vaguehad been the language of the proclamation, that they came withoutarms; and although the country was at war with France, there were noarms with which to provide them, either in Deal, Dover, or Sandwich. Again, so indistinct had been Rutland's orders, that although a fewhundred men did come in at last tolerably well equipped, and thePrince of Savoy had collected some companies of Spaniards atGravelines, and had sent word to Dover for the English to join him, Rutland was now obliged to refer to London for permission to go over. On the 7th, permission came; it was found by that time, or supposed tobe found, that the queen's ships were none of them seaworthy, and anorder of the council came out to press all competent merchant shipsand all able seamen everywhere, for the queen's service. [628] Rutlandcontrived at last, by vigorous efforts, to collect a few hoys andboats, but the French had by this time ships of war in co-operationwith them, and he could but approach the French coast near enough tosee that he could venture no nearer, and again return. [629]

 [Footnote 627: Rutland to the Queen: _Calais MSS. _]

 [Footnote 628: _MS. Council Records. _]

 [Footnote 629: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Xi. ]

He would have been too late to save Calais at that time, however, evenif he had succeeded in crossing. 

The day preceding, the 6th of January, after a furious cannonade, Guise had stormed the castle. The English had attempted to blow it upwhen they could not save it, but their powder train was wetted, andthey failed. The Spaniards, for once honourably careful of Englishinterests, came along the shore from Gravelines alone, since no onejoined them from England, and attempted in the face of overwhelmingodds to force their way into the town; but they were driven back, andWentworth, feeling that further resistance would lead to uselessslaughter, demanded a parley, and after a short discussion acceptedthe terms of surrender offered by Guise. The garrison and theinhabitants of Calais, amounting in all, men, women, and children, to5000 souls, were permitted to retire to England with their lives, andnothing more. Wentworth and fifty others {p. 302} were to remainprisoners; the town, with all that it contained, was to be given up tothe conquerors. 

On these conditions the English laid down their arms and the Frenchtroops entered. The spoil was enormous, and the plunder of St. Quentinwas not unjustly revenged; jewels, plate, and money were deposited onthe altars of the churches, and the inhabitants, carrying with themthe clothes which they wore, were sent as homeless beggars in theensuing week across the Channel. 

Then only, when it was too late, the queen roused herself. As soon asCalais had definitely fallen, all the English counties were called onby proclamation to contribute their musters. Then all was haste, eagerness, impetuosity; those who had money were to provide for thosewho had none, till "order could be taken. "

On the 7th of January, the vice-admiral, Sir William Woodhouse, wasdirected to go instantly to sea, pressing everything that would float, and promising indemnity to the owners in the queen's name. Thirtythousand men were rapidly on their way to the coast; the weather hadall along been clear and frosty, with calms and light east winds, andthe sea off Dover was swiftly covered with a miscellaneous crowd ofvessels. On the 10th came the queen's command for the army to cross toDunkirk, join the Duke of Savoy, and save Guisnes. 

But the opportunity which had been long offered, and long neglected, was now altogether gone; the ships were ready, troops came, and armscame, but a change of weather came also, and westerly gales andstorms. On the night of the 10th a gale blew up from the south-westwhich raged for four days: such vessels as could face the sea, slippedtheir moorings, and made their way into the Thames with loss of sparsand rigging; the hulls of the rest strewed Dover beach with wrecks, orwere swallowed in the quicksands of the Goodwin. 

The effect of this last misfortune on the queen was to produce utterprostration. Storms may rise, vessels may be wrecked, and excellententerprises may suffer hindrance, by the common laws or common chancesof things; but the queen in every large occurrence imagined a miracle;Heaven she believed was against her. Though Guisnes was yet standing, she ordered Woodhouse to collect the ships again in the Thames, "forasmuch as the principal cause of their sending forth hadceased;"[630] and on {p. 303} the 13th she counter-ordered themusters, and sent home all the troops which had arrived at Dover. [631]

 [Footnote 630: The Queen to Sir William Woodhouse, January 12: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Xii. ]

 [Footnote 631: Circular for Staying of the Musters: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Xii. ]

Having given way to despondency, the court should have communicatedwith Grey, and directed him to make terms for himself and thegarrisons of Guisnes and Hammes. In the latter place there was but asmall detachment; but at Guisnes were eleven hundred men, who mightlose their lives in a desperate and now useless defence. The disaster, however, had taken away the power of thinking or resolving uponanything. 

It must be said for Philip that he recognised more clearly anddischarged more faithfully the duty of an English sovereign than thequeen or the queen's advisers. Spanish and Burgundian troops werecalled under arms as fast as possible; and when he heard of the galehe sent ships from Antwerp and Dunkirk to bring across the Englisharmy. But when his transports arrived at Dover they found the men allgone. Proclamations went out on the 17th to call them back;[632] buttwo days after there was a counter-panic and a dread of invasion, andthe perplexed levies were again told that they must remain at home. Soit went on to the end of the month; the resolution of one dayalternated with the hesitation of the next, and nothing was done. 

The queen's government had lost their heads. Philip having done hisown part, did not feel it incumbent on him to risk a battle withinferior numbers, when those who were more nearly concerned werecontented to be supine. Guisnes, therefore, and its defenders, wereleft to their fate. 

 [Footnote 632: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Xii. , January 17. ]

On Thursday, the 13th, the Duke of Guise appeared before the gates. The garrison could have been starved out in a month, but Guise gaveEngland credit for energy, and would not run the risk of a blockade. To reduce the extent of his lines, Grey abandoned the town, burnt thehouses, and withdrew into the castle. The French made their approachesin form. On the morning of Monday the 17th they opened fire from twoheavily armed batteries, and by the middle of the day they hadsilenced the English guns, and made a breach which they thoughtpracticable. A storming party ventured an attempt: after sharpfighting the advanced columns had to retreat; but as they drew backthe batteries re-opened, and so effectively, that the coming on ofnight alone saved the English from being driven at once, and on thespot, from their defences. The walls were of the old {p. 304} sort, constructed when the art of gunnery was in its infancy, and brick andstone crumbled to ruins before the heavy cannon which had come latelyinto use. 

Under shelter of the darkness earthworks were thrown up, which proveda better protection; but the French on their side planted otherbatteries, and all Tuesday and Wednesday the terrible bombardment wascontinued. The old walls were swept away; the ditch was choked withthe rubbish, and was but a foot in depth; the French trenches had beenadvanced close to its edge, and on Wednesday afternoon (January 19), twelve companies of Gascons and Swiss again dashed at the breaches. The Gascons were the first; the Swiss followed "with a statelyleisure;" and a hand-to-hand fight began all along the English works. The guns from a single tower which had been left standing causing lossto the assailants, it was destroyed by the batteries. The fightcontinued till night, when darkness as before put an end to it. 

The earthworks could be again repaired, but the powder began to fail, and this loss was irreparable. Lord Grey, going his rounds in thedark, trod upon a sword point, and was wounded in the foot. Thedaylight brought the enemy again, who now succeeded in makingthemselves masters of the outer line of defence. Grey, crippled as hewas, when he saw his men give way, sprung to the top of the rampart, "wishing God that some shot would take him. " A soldier caught him bythe scarf and pulled him down, and all that was left of the garrisonfell back, carrying their commander with them into the keep. The gatewas rammed close, but Guise could now finish his work at his leisure, and had the English at his mercy. He sent a trumpeter in the eveningto propose a parley, and the soldiers insisted that if reasonableterms could be had, they should be accepted. The extremity of theposition was obvious, and Grey, as we have seen, was no stranger tothe law of arms in such cases. Hostages were exchanged, and the nextmorning the two commanders met in the French camp. 

Better terms were offered by Guise than had been granted toCalais--Grey, Sir Henry Palmer, and a few officers should considerthemselves prisoners; the rest of the garrison might depart with theirarms, and "every man a crown in his purse. " Grey, however, demandedthat they should march out with their colours flying; Guise refused, and after an hour's discussion they separated without a conclusion. 

But the soldiers were insensible to nice distinctions; if they{p. 305} had the reality, they were not particular about the form. Grey lectured them on the duties of honour; for his part, he said, hewould rather die under the red cross than lose it. The soldiersreplied that their case was desperate; they would not be thrust intobutchery or sell their lives for vain glory. The dispute was at itsheight when the Swiss troops began to lay ladders to the walls; theEnglish refused to strike another blow; and Grey, on his own rule, would have deserved to be executed had he persisted longer. 

Guise's terms were accepted. He had lived to repay England for hisspear wound at Boulogne, and the last remnant of the conquests of thePlantagenets was gone. 

Measured by substantial value, the loss of Calais was a gain. Englishprinces were never again to lay claim to the crown of France, and thepossession of a fortress on French soil was a perpetual irritation. But Calais was called the "brightest jewel in the English crown. " Ajewel it was, useless, costly, but dearly prized. Over the gate ofCalais had once stood the insolent inscription:--

 "Then shall the Frenchmen Calais win, When iron and lead like cork shall swim:"

and the Frenchmen had won it, won it in fair and gallant fight. 

If Spain should rise suddenly into her ancient strength and tearGibraltar from us, our mortification would be faint, compared to theanguish of humiliated pride with which the loss of Calais distractedthe subjects of Queen Mary. 

CHAPTER VI. 

DEATH OF MARY. 

The queen would probably have found the parliament which met on the20th of January little better disposed towards her than itspredecessor. The subsidy which should have paid the crown debts hadgone as the opposition had foretold, and the country had been draggedafter all into the war so long dreaded and so much deprecated. Theforced loan of £100, 000 had followed, and money was again wanted. 

But ordinary occasions of discontent disappeared in the enormousmisfortune of the loss of Calais; or rather, the loss of Calais had sohumbled the nation in its own eyes, that it expected {p. 306} to beoverrun with French armies in the approaching summer. The church hadthriven under Mary's munificence, but every other interest had beenrecklessly sacrificed. The fortresses were without arms, the shipswere unfit for service, the coast was defenceless. The parliamentpostponed their complaints till the national safety had been providedfor. 

On the 26th, a committee, composed of thirty members of both houses, met to consider the crisis. [633] "That no way or policy should beundevised or not thought upon, " they divided themselves into threesub-committees; and after three days' separate consultation the thirtymet again, and agreed to recommend the heaviest subsidy which had beenever granted to an English sovereign, equivalent in modern computationto an income-tax of 20 per cent, for two years. If levied fairly sucha tax would have yielded a large return. Michele, the Venetian, saysthat many London merchants were worth as much as £60, 000 in money; thegraziers and the merchants had made fortunes while the people hadstarved. But either from hatred of the government, or else frommeanness of disposition, the money-making classes generally could notbe expected to communicate the extent of their possessions. Thelandowners, truly or falsely, declared that, "for the most part, theyreceived no more rent than they were wont to receive, " "yet, payingfor everything, they provided thrice as much by reason of the basenessof the money. "[634] It was calculated that the annual proceeds of thesubsidy would be no more than £140, 000;[635] and even this the Houseof Commons declared that the country would not bear for more than oneyear. They did not choose perhaps to leave the queen at liberty toabuse their confidence by giving her the full grant to squander on theclergy. They were unanimous that the country must and should bedefended. They admitted that the sum which they were ready to votewould fall short of the indispensable outlay; nevertheless, when thereport of the committee was laid before them they cut it down to half. They agreed to give four shillings in the pound for one year, and topay it all at Midsummer. "They entreated her majesty to stay thedemanding of more" until another session of parliament. Shouldcircumstances then require it, they promised that they {p. 307} wouldadd whatever might be necessary; but, for the present, "if anyinvasion should be in the realm, or if the enemy should seek to annoythem at home, they would have to employ themselves with all theirpowers, which would not be without their great charges. "[636]

 [Footnote 633: _Commons Journals. _]

 [Footnote 634: Ibid. The famous graziers and other people, how well willing soever they be taken to be, will not be known of their wealth, and by miscontentment of their loss, be grown stubborn and liberal of talk. The Council to Philip: _Cotton. MS. Titus_, B. 2. ]

 [Footnote 635: Estimate of the money to be provided for the furniture and charges of the war: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Xii. ]

 [Footnote 636: Discourse on the order that was used in granting of the Subsidy: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Xii. ]

The resolution of parliament decided the council in the course whichthey must pursue with respect to Calais. Philip, unable to prevent thecatastrophe alone, proposed to take the field at once with a unitedarmy of English and Spaniards, to avenge it, and effect a recapture. He laid his plans before the council. The council, in reply, thankedhis majesty for his good affection towards the realm; they would haveaccepted his offer on their knees had it been possible, but the stateof England obliged them to decline. The enemy, after the time whichhad been allowed them, "would be in such strength that it was doubtfulif by force alone they could be expelled. " If England sent out anarmy, it could not send less than twenty thousand men; and the troopswould go unwillingly upon a service for which they had no heart, at atime of year when they were unused to exposure. Before the year wasout £150, 000 at the lowest would have to be spent in keeping themusters of the country under arms. The navy and the defences of thecoast and of the isles, would cost £200, 000, without including thelosses of cannon and military stores at Guisnes and Calais, whichwould have to be made good. The campaign which Philip proposed couldnot cost less than a further £170, 000; and so much money could not behad "without the people should have strange impositions set upon them, which they could not bear. " There was but "a wan hope of recoveringCalais, " and "inconveniences might follow" if the attempt was made andfailed. [637]

 [Footnote 637: The Council to Philip: Cotton. _MSS. Titus_, B. 2. ]

"The people have only in their heads, " the council added, "the defenceof the realm by land and sea. " The hated connection with Spain hadproduced all the evils which the opponents of the marriage hadforetold, and no good was expected from any enterprise pursued incommon with Philip. Prone as the English were to explain events bysupernatural causes, they saw, like the queen, in the misfortuneswhich had haunted her, an evidence that Heaven was not on her side, and they despaired of success in anything until it could be undertakenunder better auspices. They would take care of themselves at home, andthey would do no more. In reducing the subsidy, the Commons {p. 308}promised to defend the country "with the residue of their goods andlife, " to "provide every man armour and weapons according to hisability, " and to insist by a special law that it should be done. [638]

 [Footnote 638: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Xii. ]

Every peer, knight, or gentleman, with an income above £1000 a-year, was called on to furnish sixteen horses, with steel harness, fortycorslets, coats of mail, and morions, thirty longbows, with sheaves ofarrows, and as many steelcaps, halberds, blackbills, and haquebuts. All English subjects, in a descending scale, were required to armothers or arm themselves according to their property. [639]

 [Footnote 639: 4 and 5 Philip and Mary, statute 2. ]

In the levies of the past summer, men had shrunk from service, andmuster-masters, after the fashion of Falstaff, had taken bribes toexcuse them. On the present occasion no excuse was to be taken, andevery able-bodied man, of any rank, from sixteen to sixty, was to beready to take arms when called upon, and join his officers, under painof death. [640] With these essential orders, the business of thelegislature ended, and parliament was prorogued on the 7th of Marchtill the following November. 

 [Footnote 640: Ibid. Statute 3. ]

The chief immediate difficulty was to find money for presentnecessities. The loan was gone. The subsidy would not come in for sixmonths. Englefield, Waldegrave, Petre, Baker, and Sir Walter Mildmay, were formed into a permanent committee of ways and means, withinstructions to sit daily "till some device had been arrived at. "[641]Sir Thomas Gresham was sent again to Antwerp to borrow £200, 000, ifpossible, at fourteen per cent. [642] The queen applied in person for aloan to the citizens of London. For security, she offered to bind thecrown lands, "so assuredly as they themselves could cause to bedevised;"[643] and she promised, further, that, if she could legallydo it, she would dispense in their favour with the statute for thelimitation of usury. 

 [Footnote 641: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Xii. ]

 [Footnote 642: _Flanders MSS. Mary. _ The aggregate of the debts to the Flanders Jews, which Elizabeth inherited, cannot be prudently guessed at; and I have not yet found any complete account on which I can rely. It cost her, however, fifteen years of economy to pay them off. ]

 [Footnote 643: Queen Mary to the Aldermen of the City of London: _MS. _ Ibid. ]

To this last appeal the corporation responded with a loan of £20, 000, at twelve per cent. ; the Merchant Adventurers contributed £18, 000more; and Gresham sent from Flanders from time to time whatever hecould obtain. In this way dockyards and armouries were set inactivity, and the castles on the coast were repaired. 

{p. 309} Yet with the masses the work of arming went forwardlanguidly. The nation was heavy at heart, and it was in vain that thenoblemen and gentlemen endeavoured to raise men's spirits; the blackincubus of the priesthood sat upon them like a nightmare. The burningshad been suspended while parliament was in session. On the 28th ofMarch the work began again, and Cuthbert Simson, the minister of aprotestant congregation, was put to death in Smithfield, having beenfirst racked to extort from him the names of his supporters;[644] onthe same day Reginald Pole, to clear himself of the charge of heresy, sent a fresh commission to Harpsfeld, to purge the diocese ofCanterbury;[645] and the people, sick to their very souls at theabominable spectacles which were thrust before them, sank into asullen despondency. 

 [Footnote 644: Foxe: Burnet. ]

 [Footnote 645: Strype's _Memorials_, vol. Vi. P. 120. ]

The musters for Derbyshire were set down at fifteen hundred. LordShrewsbury raised four hundred from among his own dependents on hisestates. The magistrates declared that, owing to dearth, want, andwaste of means in the war of the last year, the "poor little county"could provide but one hundred more. 

The musters in Devonshire broke up and went to their homes. Themusters in Lincolnshire mutinied. The ringleaders in both countieswere immediately hanged;[646] yet the loyalty was none the greater. The exiled divines in Germany, believing that the people were at lastripe for insurrection, called on them to rise and put down the tyrannywhich was crushing them. Goodman published a tract on the obedience ofsubjects, and John Knox blew his "First Blast against the MonstrousRegimen of Women. " The queen, as if the ordinary laws of the countryhad no existence, sent out a proclamation that any one who was foundto have these books in his or her possession, or who, finding suchbooks, did not instantly burn them, should be executed as a rebel bymartial law. [647] "Affectionate as I be to my country and countrymen, "said Sir Thomas Smith, "I was ashamed of both; they went about theirmatters as men amazed, that wist not where to begin or end. And whatmarvel was it? Here was nothing but firing, heading, hanging, quartering and burning, taxing and levying. A few priests in whiterochets ruled all, who with setting up of six-foot roods andrebuilding of roodlofts, thought to make all sure. "

 [Footnote 646: _Privy Council Register, MS. Mary. _]

 [Footnote 647: Royal Proclamation, June 6, 1558: Strype's _Memorials_, vol. Vi. ; Foxe, vol. Xiii. ]

With the summer, fever and ague set in like a pestilence, {p. 310}"God did so punish the realm, " said Sir Thomas Smith again, "withquartan agues, and with such other long and new sicknesses, that inthe last two years of the reign of Queen Mary, so many of her subjectswas made away, what with the execution of sword and fire, what bysicknesses, that the third part of the men of England wereconsumed. "[648] In the spring, the queen, misled by the same symptomswhich had deceived her before, had again fancied herself _enceinte_. She made her will in the avowed expectation that she was about toundergo the perils of childbearing. She wrote for her husband to cometo her. She sent the fleet into the Channel, and laid relays of horsesalong the roads to London from Dover and from Harwich, that he mightchoose at which port to land. 

 [Footnote 648: Oration on the Queen's Marriage: Strype's _Life of Sir Thomas Smith_. ]

Philip so far humoured the fancy, which he must have known to bedelusive, that he sent the Count de Feria to congratulate her. Herletter, he said, contained the best news which he had heard since theloss of Calais. But the bubble broke soon. Mary had parted from herhusband on the 5th of the preceding July, and her suspense, therefore, was not long protracted. It is scarcely necessary to say in whatdirection her second disappointment vented itself. 

Cranmer alone hitherto had suffered after recantation; to others, pardon had continued to be offered to the last moment. But this poormercy was now extinguished. A man in Hampshire, named Bembridge, exclaimed at the point of execution that he would submit; a form wasproduced on the spot, which Bembridge signed, and the sheriff, SirRichard Pexall, reprieved him by his own authority. But a letter ofcouncil came instantly to Pexall, that "the queen's majesty could notbut find it very strange" that he had saved from punishment a mancondemned for heresy: the execution was to proceed out of hand; and"if the prisoner continued in the Catholic faith, as he pretended, ""some discreet and learned man might be present with him in his death, for the aiding of him to die God's servant. "[649] Bembridge wasaccordingly burnt, and the sheriff, for the lenity which he had dareto show, was committed to the Fleet. Whole detachments of men andwomen were again slaughtered in London; and the queen, exasperated atthe determination with which the populace cheered the sufferers withtheir sympathy, sent out a proclamation forbidding her subjects toapproach, touch, speak to, or comfort heretics on {p. 311} their wayto execution, under pain of death. Shortly after, a congregation ofProtestants were detected at a prayer-meeting in a field near thecity; thirteen were taken as prisoners before Bonner, and seven wereburnt at Smithfield together on the 28th of June. The people repliedto the queen's menaces by crowding about the stake with passionatedemonstrations of affection, and Thomas Bentham, a friend of Lever thepreacher, when the faggots were lighted, stood out in the presence ofthe throng, and cried:

 [Footnote 649: _Privy Council Register, MS. _]

"We know that they are the people of God, and therefore we cannotchoose but wish well to them and say, God strengthen them. Godalmighty, for Christ's sake, strengthen them. "

The multitude shouted, in reply, "Amen, Amen. "[650]

 [Footnote 650: Bentham to Lever: Strype's _Memorials_, vol. Vi. ]

Alarmed himself, this time, at the display of emotion, Bonner darednot outrage the metropolis with the deaths of the remaining six. Yet, not to let them escape him, he tried them privately in his own houseat Fulham, and burnt them at Brentford at night in the darkness. [651]

 [Footnote 651: "This fact, " says Foxe, "purchased him more hatred than any that he had done of the common people. "]

So fared the Protestants, murdered to propitiate Providence, and, ifpossible, extort for the queen a return of the Divine favour. Thealarm of invasion diminished as summer advanced. England had again afleet upon the seas which feared no enemy, and could even act on theoffensive. In May, two hundred and forty ships, large and small, werecollected at Portsmouth;[652] and on the day of the burning atBrentford, accident gave a small squadron among them a share in aconsiderable victory. 

 [Footnote 652: Swift to the Earl of Shrewsbury: Lodge's _Illustrations_. ]

Lord Clinton, who was now admiral in the place of Howard, after anineffectual cruise in the south of the Channel, returned to Portsmouthon the 8th of July. A few vessels remained in the neighbourhood ofCalais, when M. De Thermes, whom the Duke of Guise left in commandthere, with the garrison of Boulogne, some levies collected inPicardy, and his own troops, in all about 9000 men, ventured an inroadinto the Low Countries, took Dunkirk, and plundered it. Not caring topenetrate further, he was retreating with his booty, when CountEgmont, with a few thousand Burgundians and Flemings, cut in atGravelines between the French and their own frontiers. They had nomeans of passing, except at low water, between the town of Gravelinesand the sea, and the English ships, which were in {p. 312}communication with Egmont, stood in as near as they could venture, soas to command the sands. 

De Thermes, obliged to advance when the tide would permit him, dashedat the dangerous passage; the guns of Gravelines on one side, the gunsof the English vessels on the other, tore his ranks to pieces, andEgmont charging when their confusion was at its worst, the French werealmost annihilated. Five thousand were killed, De Thermes himself, Senarpont of Boulogne, the Governor of Picardy, and many other men ofnote, were taken. If Clinton had been at hand with the strength of thefleet, and a dash had been made at Calais by land and sea, it wouldhave been recovered more easily than it had been lost. But fortune hadno such favour to bestow on Queen Mary. Clinton was still loitering atSpithead, and when news of the action came it was too late. 

The plan of the naval campaign for the season was to attack Brest withthe united strength of England and Flanders, and hold it as a securityfor the restoration of Calais at the peace. It was for the arrival ofhis allies that Clinton had been waiting, and it was only at the endof the month that the combined fleet, a hundred and forty sail, leftPortsmouth for the coast of Brittany. They appeared duly off Brest;yet, when their object was before them, they changed their minds onthe feasibility of their enterprise; and leaving their original designthey landed a force at Conquêt, which they plundered and burnt, andafterwards destroyed some other villages in the neighbourhood. Theachievement was not a very splendid one. Four or five hundred Flemingswho ventured too far from the fleet were cut off; and as the Duked'Estampes was said to be coming up with 20, 000 men, Clintonre-embarked his men in haste, returned to Portsmouth, after anineffectual and merely mischievous demonstration, and then reportedthe sickness in the fleet so considerable, that the operations for theseason must be considered at an end. [653]

 [Footnote 653: _MS. Mary, Domestic_, vol. Xiii. ]

In the meantime, the contending princes in their own persons, Philipwith the powers of the Low Countries and Spain, Henry with the wholeavailable strength of France, sate watching each other in entrenchedcamps upon the Somme. The French king, with the recollection of St. Quentin fresh upon him, would not risk a second such defeat. Philipwould not hazard his late advantage by forcing an action which mightlose for him all that he had gained. In the pause, the conviction cameslowly over both, that there was no need for further bloodshed, andthat the {p. 313} long, weary, profitless war might at last have anend. A mighty revolution had passed over Europe since Francis firstled an army over the Alps. The world had passed into a new era; andthe question of strength had to be tried, not any more betweenSpaniard and Frenchman, but between Protestant and Catholic. Alreadythe disciples of Calvin threatened the Church of France; Holland wasvexing the superstition of Philip, and the Protestants in Scotlandwere breaking from the hand of Mary of Guise: more and more theCatholic princes felt the want of a general council, that thequestions of the day might be taken hold of firmly, and theInquisition be set to work on some resolute principle of concert. 

On September 21, the emperor passed away in his retirement at St. Just. With him perished the traditions and passions of which he wasthe last representative, and a new page was turning in the history ofmankind. Essential ground of quarrel between Henry and Philip therewas none; the outward accidental ground--the claims on Milan andNaples, Savoy and Navarre--had been rendered easy of settlement by theconquest of Calais, and by the marriage which was consummated a fewweeks after Guise's victory, between the Dauphin and the Queen ofScots. 

Satisfied with the triumph of a policy which had annexed the crown ofScotland to France, and with having driven the English by mainstrength from their last foothold on French soil, Henry could now becontent to evacuate Savoy and Piedmont, if Philip, on his side, wouldrepeat the desertion of Crêpy, and having brought England into thewar, would leave her to endure her own losses, or avenge them by hersingle strength. With this secret meaning on the part of France, anoverture for a peace was commenced in the autumn of 1558, through themediation of the Duchess of Lorraine. An armistice was agreed upon, and the first conference was held at the abbey of Cercamp, whereArundel, Wotton, and Thirlby attended as the representatives ofEngland. 

How far Philip would consent to an arrangement so perfidious towardsthe country of which he was the nominal sovereign, depended, first, onthe life of the queen. The titular King of England could by no fictionor pretext relieve himself of the duties which the designation imposedupon him; and if the English were deserted their resentment wouldexplode in a revolution of which Mary would be the instantvictim. [654]

 [Footnote 654: Renard found it necessary to warn Philip of this, in a despatch written in October: _Granvelle Papers_, vol. V. P. 225. ]

{p. 314} Mary, indeed, would soon cease to be a difficulty. She wasattacked in September by the fever which was carrying off so many ofher subjects. The fresh disease aggravated her constitutionaldisorder, and her days were drawing fast to their end. But Philip'shold on England need not perish with the death of his wife, if hecould persuade her sister to take her place. His policy, therefore, was for the present to linger out the negotiations; to identify inappearance his own and the English interests, and to wait the eventsof the winter. 

At the opening of the conference it was immediately evident thatFrance would not part with Calais. The English commissioners had beenordered to take no part in the discussion, unless the restitution wasagreed on as a preliminary; and when they made their demand, Henryreplied that "he would hazard his crown rather than forego hisconquest. "[655] The resolution was expressed decisively; and they saw, or thought they saw, so much indifference in the Spanishrepresentatives, that they at first intended to return to England onthe spot. 

 [Footnote 655: Arundel, Thirlby, and Wotton to the Council: _French MSS. _, bundle 13. ]

"To our minds, " they wrote, "Calais is so necessary to be had againfor the quieting of the world's mind in England, and it should so muchoffend and exasperate England, if any peace was made withoutrestitution of it, that, for our part, no earthly private commoditynor profit could induce us thereto, nor nothing could be more grievousto us than to be ministers therein. "[656]

 [Footnote 656: Ibid. ]

They were on the point of departure, when a letter from Philiprequired them to remain at their posts. Contrary to their expectation, the king promised to support England in insisting on the restoration, and his own commissioners were instructed equally to agree to nothingunless it was conceded. [657] Thus for a time the negotiation remainedsuspended till events should clear up the course which the differentparties would follow. 

 [Footnote 657: Philip to the English Ambassador, October 30: Ibid. ]

And these events, or the one great event, was now close, and theshadows were drawing down over the life of the unfortunate Mary. Amidst discontent and misery at home, disgrace and failure abroad, thefantastic comparisons, the delirious analogies, the child which was tobe born of the Virgin Mary for the salvation of mankind--where werenow these visionary and humiliating dreams?

{p. 315} On the 6th of October, the privy council were summoned toLondon "for great and urgent affairs. " At the beginning of Novemberthree men and two women suffered at Canterbury. They were the last whowere put to death, and had been presented by Pole in person to bevisited "with condign punishment. "[658] On the 5th, parliament met, and the promised second subsidy was demanded, but the session was toobrief for a resolution. The queen's life, at the time of the opening, was a question perhaps of hours, at most of days; and aware of whatwas impending, Philip despatched the Count de Feria to her with adesire that she should offer no objections to the succession ofElizabeth. 

 [Footnote 658: "Condigna animadversione plectendos. "--Wilkins's _Concilia_, vol. Iv. ]

The count reached London on the 9th of November. He was admitted to aninterview, and the queen, too brave to repine at what was nowinevitable, and anxious to the last to please her husband, declaredherself "well content" that it should be as he wished; she entreatedonly that her debts might be paid, and that "religion" should not bechanged. 

Leaving Mary's deathbed, De Feria informed the council of the king'srequest, and from the council hastened to the house of Lord Clinton, afew miles from London, where Elizabeth was staying. In Philip's name, he informed her that her succession was assured; his master had usedhis influence in her favour, and no opposition need be anticipated. 

Elizabeth listened graciously. That Philip's services to her, however, had been so considerable as De Feria told her, she was unable toallow. She admitted, and admitted thankfully, the good offices whichhe had shown to her when she was at Woodstock. She was perhapsignorant that it was for the safety of Philip's life that her own hadbeen so nearly sacrificed; that Philip's interest in her successionhad commenced only when his own appeared impossible. But she knew hownarrow had been her escape; she had neither forgotten her danger, norceased to resent her treatment. It was to the people of England, shetold the count, that she owed her real gratitude. The people had savedher from destruction; the people had prevented her sister fromchanging the settlement of the crown. She would be the people's queen, and she would reign in the people's interest. 

De Feria feared, from what she said, that "in religion she would notgo right. " The ladies by whom she was surrounded were suspected; SirWilliam Cecil, whose conformity was as transparent then as it is now, would be her principal secretary; {p. 316} and the count observed, with a foreboding of evil, that "she had an admiration for the kingher father's mode of ruling;" and that of the legate she spoke withcold severity. [659]

 [Footnote 659: Report of the Count de Feria: Tytler, vol. Ii. P. 494. _Memorial of the Duchess of Feria, MS. _, quoted by Lingard. ]

It is possible that Pole was made acquainted with Elizabeth's feelingstowards him. To himself personally, those feelings were of littlemoment, for he, too, like the queen, was dying--dying to be spared asecond exile, and the wretchedness of seeing with his eyes thedissolution of the phantom fabric which he had given the labours ofhis life to build. 

Yet what he did not live to behold he could not have failed toanticipate. The spirit of Henry VIII. Was rising from the grave toscatter his work to all the winds; while he, the champion of Heaven, the destroyer of heresy, was lying himself under a charge of the samecrime, with the pope for his accuser. Without straining too far thelicence of imagination, we may believe that the disease which wasdestroying him was chiefly a broken heart. But it was painful to himto lie under the ill opinion of the person who was so soon to be onthe throne of England; and possibly he wished to leave her, as alegacy, the warning entreaties of a dying man. 

Three days after De Feria's visit, therefore, Pole sent the Dean ofWorcester to Elizabeth with a message, the import of which is unknown;and a short letter, as the dean's credentials, saying only that thelegate desired, before he should depart, to leave all personssatisfied of him, and especially her grace. [660]

 [Footnote 660: _Cotton. MS. Vespasian. _ F. 3. The letter is written in a shaking hand. The address is lost, and being dated the 14th of November, while Mary was still alive, it has been described as to her and not to her sister. But an endorsement "From the queen's majesty at Hatfield, " leaves no doubt to whom it was written. ]

This was the 14th of November. The same day, or the day after, alady-in-waiting carried the queen's last wishes to her successor. Theywere the same which she had already mentioned to De Feria--that herdebts should be paid, and that the Catholic religion might bemaintained, with an additional request that her servants should beproperly cared for. [661] Then, taking leave of a world in which shehad played so ill a part, she prepared, with quiet piety, for the end. On the 16th, at midnight, she received the last rites of the church. Towards {p. 317} morning, as she was sinking, mass was said at herbedside. At the elevation of the Host, unable to speak or move, shefixed her eyes upon the body of her Lord; and as the last words of thebenediction were uttered, her head sunk, and she was gone. 

 [Footnote 661: Among the apocryphal or vaguely attested anecdotes of the end of Mary, she is reported to have said, that if her body was opened, Calais would be found written on her heart. The story is not particularly characteristic, but having come somehow into existence, there is no reason why it should not continue to be believed. ]

A few hours later (November 17), at Lambeth, Pole followed her, andthe reign of the pope of England, and the reign of terror, closedtogether. 

No English sovereign ever ascended the throne with larger popularitythan Mary Tudor. The country was eager to atone to her for hermother's injuries; and the instinctive loyalty of the English towardstheir natural sovereign was enhanced by the abortive efforts ofNorthumberland to rob her of her inheritance. She had reigned littlemore than five years, and she descended into the grave amidst cursesdeeper than the acclamations which had welcomed her accession. In thatbrief time she had swathed her name in the horrid epithet which willcling to it for ever; and yet from the passions which in general temptsovereigns into crime, she was entirely free: to the time of heraccession she had lived a blameless, and, in many respects, a noblelife; and few men or women have lived less capable of doing knowinglya wrong thing. 

Philip's conduct, which could not extinguish her passion for him, andthe collapse of the inflated imaginations which had surrounded hersupposed pregnancy, it can hardly be doubted, affected her sanity. Those forlorn hours when she would sit on the ground with her kneesdrawn to her face; those restless days and nights when, like a ghost, she would wander about the palace galleries, rousing herself only towrite tear-blotted letters to her husband; those bursts of fury overthe libels dropped in her way; or the marchings in procession behindthe host in the London streets--these are all symptoms of hystericalderangement, and leave little room, as we think of her, for otherfeelings than pity. But if Mary was insane, the madness was of a kindwhich placed her absolutely under her spiritual directors; and theresponsibility for her cruelties, if responsibility be anything but aname, rests first with Gardiner, who commenced them, and, secondly, and in a higher degree, with Reginald Pole. Because Pole, with thecouncil, once interfered to prevent an imprudent massacre inSmithfield; because, being legate, he left the common duties of hisdiocese to subordinates, he is not to be held innocent of atrocitieswhich could neither have been commenced nor continued without hissanction; and he was notoriously the one person in the council whomthe queen {p. 318} absolutely trusted. The revenge of the clergy fortheir past humiliations, and the too natural tendency of an oppressedparty to abuse suddenly recovered power, combined to originate theMarian persecution. The rebellions and massacres, the politicalscandals, the universal suffering throughout the country duringEdward's minority, had created a general bitterness in all classesagainst the Reformers; the Catholics could appeal with justice to theapparent consequences of heretical opinions; and when the reformingpreachers themselves denounced so loudly the irreligion which hadattended their success, there was little wonder that the world tookthem at their word, and was ready to permit the use of strongsuppressive measures to keep down the unruly tendencies ofuncontrolled fanatics. 

But neither these nor any other feelings of English growth could haveproduced the scenes which have stamped this unhappy reign with acharacter so frightful. The parliament which re-enacted the Lollardstatutes, had refused to restore the Six Articles as being too severe;yet under the Six Articles twenty-one persons only suffered in sixyears; while, perhaps, not twice as many more had been executed underthe earlier acts in the century and a half in which they had stood onthe Statute roll. The harshness of the law confined the action of itto men who were definitely dangerous; and when the bishops' powerswere given back to them, there was little anticipation of the mannerin which those powers would be misused. 

And that except from some special influences they would not have beenthus misused, the local character of the persecution may be taken toprove. The storm was violent only in London, in Essex, which was inthe diocese of London, and in Canterbury. It raged long after thedeath of Gardiner; and Gardiner, though he made the beginning, ceasedafter the first few months to take further part in it. The Bishop ofWinchester would have had a persecution, and a keen one; but thefervour of others left his lagging zeal far behind. For the first andlast time the true Ultramontane spirit was dominant in England; thegenuine conviction that, as the orthodox prophets and sovereigns ofIsrael slew the worshippers of Baal, so were Catholics rulers calledupon, as their first duty, to extirpate heretics as the enemies of Godand man. 

The language of the legate to the city of London shows the devoutsincerity with which he held that opinion himself. Through him, andsustained by his authority, the queen held it; and by these two theecclesiastical government of England was conducted. 

{p. 319} Archbishop Parker, who succeeded Pole at Canterbury, and hadtherefore the best opportunity of knowing what his conduct had reallybeen, called him _Carnifex et flagellum Ecclesæ Anglicanæ_, thehangman and the scourge of the Church of England. His character wasirreproachable; in all the virtues of the Catholic Church he walkedwithout spot or stain; and the system to which he had surrenderedhimself had left to him of the common selfishnesses of mankind hisenormous vanity alone. But that system had extinguished also in himthe human instincts, the genial emotions by which theological theoriesstand especially in need to be corrected. He belonged to a class ofpersons at all times numerous, in whom enthusiasm takes the place ofunderstanding; who are men of an "idea;" and unable to accept humanthings as they are, are passionate loyalists, passionate churchmen, passionate revolutionists, as the accidents of their age maydetermine. Happily for the welfare of mankind, persons so constitutedrarely arrive at power: should power come to them, they use it, asPole used it, to defeat the ends which are nearest to their hearts. 

The teachers who finally converted the English nation to Protestantismwere not the declaimers from the pulpit, nor the voluminouscontroversialists with the pen. These, indeed, could produce argumentswhich, to those who were already convinced, seemed as if they ought toproduce conviction; but conviction did not follow till the fruits ofthe doctrine bore witness to the spirit from which it came. Theevangelical teachers, caring only to be allowed to develop their ownopinions, and persecute their opponents, had walked hand in hand withmen who had spared neither tomb nor altar, who had stripped the leadfrom the church roofs, and stolen the bells from the church towers;and between them they had so outraged such plain honest minds asremained in England, that had Mary been content with mild repression, had she left the pope to those who loved him, and married, instead ofPhilip, some English lord, the mass would have retained its place, theclergy in moderate form would have resumed their old authority, andthe Reformation would have waited for a century. In an evil hour, thequeen listened to the unwise advisers, who told her that moderation inreligion was the sin of the Laodicæans; and while the fanatics who hadbrought scandal on the Reforming cause, either truckled, like Shaxton, or stole abroad to wrangle over surplices and forms of prayer, thetrue and the good atoned with their lives for the crimes of others, and vindicated a noble cause by nobly dying for it. 

{p. 320} And while among the Reformers that which was most bright andexcellent shone out with preternatural lustre, so were the Catholicspermitted to exhibit also the preternatural features of the creedwhich was expiring. 

Although Pole and Mary could have laid their hands on earl and baron, knight and gentleman, whose heresy was notorious, although in thequeen's own guard there were many who never listened to a mass, [662]they dared not strike where there was danger that they would be struckin return. They went out into the highways and hedges; they gatheredup the lame, the halt, and the blind; they took the weaver from hisloom, the carpenter from his workshop, the husbandman from his plough;they laid hands on maidens and boys "who had never heard of any otherreligion than that which they were called on to abjure;"[663] old mentottering into the grave, and children whose lips could but just lispthe articles of their creed; and of these they made theirburnt-offerings; with these they crowded their prisons, and when filthand famine killed them, they flung them out to rot. How long Englandwould have endured the repetition of the horrid spectacles is hard tosay. The persecution lasted three years, and in that time somethingless than 300 persons were burnt at the stake. [664] "By imprisonment, "said Lord Burghley, "by torment, by famine, by fire, almost the numberof 400 were, " in their various ways, "lamentably destroyed. "

 [Footnote 662: Underhill's _Narrative_. ]

 [Footnote 663: Burghley's _Execution of Justice_. ]

 [Footnote 664: The number is variously computed at 270, 280, and 290. ]

Yet, as has been already said, interference was impossible except byarmed force. The country knew from the first that by the course ofnature the period of cruelty must be a brief one; it knew that asuccessful rebellion is at best a calamity; and the bravest and wisestmen would not injure an illustrious cause by conduct less than worthyof it, so long as endurance was possible. They had saved Elizabeth'slife and Elizabeth's rights, and Elizabeth, when her time came, woulddeliver her subjects. The Catholics, therefore, were permitted tocontinue their cruelties till the cup of iniquity was full; till theyhad taught the educated laity of England to regard them with horror;and till the Romanist superstition had died, amidst the execrations ofthe people, of its own excess. 

{p. 321} INDEX

 Abergavenny, Lord, 90, 92-6, 177. D'Aguilar, 139. Alexander, Mr. , 296. Alva, Duke of, 139-43, 165, 171, 210, 275, 276, 285, 292. Annates, payment of, 239, 240. Arnold, Sir Nicholas, 114, 260. Arras, Bishop of, 38, 60, 61, 85, 119, 150, 155, 208. Arundel, Lord, 13, 18, 21, 22, 28, 42, 43, 116, 171, 313, 314. "Arundel's, " 262. Ashley, Mrs. , 217. Ashridge, Elizabeth at, 217. Ashton, Christopher, 260-2. Askew, Anne, 201, 202. Astley Park, 101. Aucher, Mr. , 296. Augsburg, Cardinal of, 190. Aylmer, 70. 

 Bagenall, Sir Ralph, 170. Baker, 308. Baoardo's _History_, 1, 10, 20, 28, 35, 40, 92, 100, 102, 111, 112, 141-3. Barlow, Bishop, 47. Bath, Earl of, 11, 71. Baynard's Castle, 18. Bedford, Lord, 34, 83, 129, 136. Bedingfield, Sir Henry, 11, 215. Bedyll, 267, 268. Bembridge, 310. Bentham, Thos. , 311. Berkeley, Sir Maurice, 109. Binifield, 268. Bird, Bishop, 47. Bishops Authority Bill, 133; creation of new, 119; requests to the, 176, 177; Mary's letter to the, 212. Blacklock, 263. Bocher, Joan, 135. Bonner, Edmond, 32, 47, 83, 155, 190, 197, 201, 202, 212, 223, 232, 235, 245, 246, 257, 278, 280, 311. Bourne, Dr. , 34, 37, 68, 116, 180. Bradford, Bishop, 37, 191, 196. Bradford, John, 220-2. Bray, Sir Ed. , 95, 268. Brett, Captain, 95, 107-9, 114. Bromley, Sir Thos. , 46, 132. Brookes, Bishop of Gloucester, 224. Brown, Sir Anthony, 141. Brydges, Sir John, 104, 112, 119, 126, 135, 178, 194, 252. Bucer, Martin, 281. Burghley, Lord, 320. Burnet, referred to, 67, 118, 149, 150, 157, 189, 193, 211, 212, 281, 288, 309. Bush, Paul, 47. Bushing, 296. 

 Calais, 294-305, 314. Caraffa, Cardinal, _see_ Paul IV. Cardmaker, 191, 213. Carew, Sir Gawen, 110. Carew, Sir Peter, 11, 87-90, 120-2, 140, 157. Castaldo, John Baptiste, 145. Castro, Alphonse, 197. Cathie, Catherine, 281. Causton, Thos. , 201. Cava, meeting at, 292. Cecil, Sir Wm. , 15, 23, 161, 315. Celi, Medina, 139. Celibacy of clergy, 47, 70. Cercamp, conference at, 313. Cervino, Marcellus, 206, 210. Champernowne, Sir Arthur, 88, 89. Chandos, Lord, _see_ Brydges. Chappelle, Admiral, 136. Charles V. , 24, 25, 29, 30, 51, 55-7, 67, 83, 84, 94, 110, 114-19, 144, 151, 159, 161, 218, 223. Cheke, Sir John, 6, 15, 20. Cheny, 70. Cheyne, Sir Thos. , 15, 16, 91, 92, 95, 96, 104, 116. Chichester, Bishop of, _see_ Scory. Chichester, Sir John, 88, 89, 262. Cholmley, Judge, 28. Christopherson, Bishop, 281. Church property secularised, 176, 178, 179. Clarence, Lady, 72, 216. Clarke, George, 93. Clinton, Lord, 23, 106, 311, 312, 315. Cobham, Lord, 13, 90, 91, 94-6, 109, 114, 127, 164. Cole, 253, 254. Colebrook, meeting at, 215. Coligny, Admiral, 290. Commendone, Cardinal, 53, 54, 67. _Commons Journals_, quoted, 133, 232, 239, 240. Conquêt, plundering of, 312. Convocation, demands of the Lower House, 176, 177. Cornwallis, Sir Thos. , 97, 107, 114, 116, 123, 295. Coronation Oath, 60. Corry, Thos. , 120. De Courières, 2, 83, 85. Cotton MSS. , 81, 225, 243, 306, 307. Courtenay, Lord, 6, 24, 30, 37-9, 59, 69-71, 76, 87-91, 103, 107, 110, 113-16, 130, 131, 162, 198, 262, 272. Coventry, 100. Coverdale, Miles, 47, 134, 206. Cowling Castle, 96, 164. Cranmer, Thos. , 15, 20, 48, 74, 110, 118, 134, 165, 212, 224-34, 245-59. Crofts, Sir James, 23, 87, 102, 110, 114, 157. 

 Dalaber, Anthony, 203. Daniel, John, 262, 263, 266, 268. Darcy, 116. Day, Bishop, 32, 47. Debts of the Crown, 33. Delaware, Lord, 268. Dennys, Sir Thos. , 90. Derby, Earl of, 11, 36, 37, 71, 83, 116, 136. Derick, 267, 268. Desmond, Earl of, 278. Devonshire, Earl of, 273, 274. Dives, Louis, 296. Doria, Andrea, 145. Drury, Sir Wm. , 11. Dudley, Lord Ambrose, 23, 28, 74. Dudley, Sir Andrew, 17, 40-2. Dudley, Lord Guilford, 4, 5, 10, 74. Dudley, Lord Henry, 12, 74. Dudley, Sir Henry, 260, 263-7. Dudley, Lord Robert, 23, 28. Dunkirk, plundering of, 311. Durham, Bishop of, 164. Dymocke, Sir Ed. , 61. 

 Edgecumbe, Sir Richard, 90. Edward VI. , 1-3, 35, 36. Egmont, Count, 83, 85, 98, 115, 139, 311. Elder, John, 141. Elizabeth Tudor, 30-2, 57, 76-8, 93, 94, 103, 110, 114, 115, 122-31, 136, 155, 162, 199, 200, 213-19, 236, 315-320. D'Enghien, Duc, 291. Englefield, Sir Francis, 71, 267, 268, 308. D'Estampes, Duke, 312. Exeter, Marchioness of, 69. 

 Fagius, Paul, 281. Famine in England, 277. Feckenham, Abbot, 68, 111, 277. Feria, Count de, 139, 310, 315. Ferrars, Robert, 47, 134, 203-6. Fitzgerald, 23. Fitzwalter, Lord, 129. Fitzwarren, 23. Flanders MSS. , 85. Flower, Wm. , 206. Foxe, quoted, 16, 17, 22, 23, 48, 68, 70, 130, 173, 191, 196, 197, 200, 202, 213, 214, 216, 224, 225, 232-5, 245, 246, 253, 269, 270, 281, 282, 309. Framlingham, 21. 

 Gage, Sir John, 107, 108, 116, 126, 130. Gardiner, Stephen, 28, 30, 33, 36, 41, 47, 56-63, 72-6, 83, 89, 91-7, 103, 106, 109, 114-23, 132-5, 162, 171, 172, 175, 177, 190, 196-7, 208, 223, 237, 238. Gates, Sir Henry, 40-2. Gates, Sir John, 14, 40-5. Goldwell, Thos. , 81. Gomez, Ruy, 171, 185, 186. Gonzaga, Hernando de, 139, 145. Goodman, 309. Granvelle Papers, 3, 8, 13, 18, 19, 25, 27, 32, 37-9, 47, 55, 56, 61, 64, 85, 92, 97, 105, 115, 116, 119, 137, 139, 147, 150, 151, 155-7, 162, 176, 178, 179, 185, 186, 197-9, 200, 214, 216, 313. Gravelines, Cardinal Pole at, 162. Great Bill, the, 180-2. Greenwich, disturbance at, 60. Gresham, Sir Thos. , 84, 139, 208, 209, 308. Grey, Lady Jane, 4-20, 31, 39, 44, 74, 100, 110, 111. Grey, Lord John, 87, 92, 102, 110, 178. Grey, Lord Leonard, 87. Grey, Lord Thomas, 87, 90, 92, 101, 102, 106, 110, 116, 135. Grey, de Wilton, Lord, 12, 23, 28, 295-304. Grey, Sir Arthur, 296. _Grey Friars Chronicle_, _see_ Machyn. Griffin, Maurice, 212. Guise, Duke of, 285, 291, 297-305. Guisnes, 294-9, 302, 303. Gybbes, Mr. , 88, 89. 

 Hambletue, 298. Hammes, 294, 296, 299, 303. Hampton Court, Mary at, 208; Elizabeth at, 215. Harding, 269. Harleian MSS. , 20, 24, 35, 42, 45, 61, 112, 127, 130, 153, 166, 170, 244, 252-4, 257, 258. Harley, Bishop of Hereford, 67. Harper, Sir George, 93, 95, 105, 107. Harpsfeld, 69, 163, 212, 234, 309. Harrington, Sir John, 263. Hastings, Sir Ed. , 11, 34, 83, 97, 114, 116, 123, 160, 162, 267. Hastings, Lord, 163. Hawkes, 201. Heath, Bishop, 32, 43, 47. Heneage, 266. Henry of France, 24, 25, 86, 121, 138, 144, 275-7, 312, 313. Heresy Bill, 134. Heresy, Commission on, 280, 281. Higbed, Thos. , 201. Hoby, Sir Philip, 24, 83. Holgate, Archbishop, 47. Holinshed quoted, 8, 9, 22, 98, 108, 124, 128-31, 216, 242. Holyman, Bishop of Bristol, 224. Hooper, Bishop, 47, 134, 190-6. Hormolden, Edgar, 120. Horn, Count, 115, 139. Horsey, Ned, 262, 263. Hot Gospeller, _see_ Underhill. Howard, Lord Wm. , 25, 85, 95, 99, 104, 108, 114, 116, 129, 136, 140, 155, 178, 198, 199, 215, 269, 271, 287. Hunter, 201-3. Huntingdon, Earl of, 100-2, 110, 136, 163. 

 Inglefield, 116. Irish, Mr. , 231. Isly, Sir Henry, 92, 110. Italy, Philip's invasion of, 290. 

 Jenkins quoted, 224, 250, 252, 253. Jerningham, Sir Henry, 15, 93, 116, 267. Joanna of Castile, 215. Julius III. , Pope, 53-5, 81, 148, 175, 206. 

 Karne, Sir Ed. , 287, 288. Keninghal, 3. Killegrew, Henry, 272, 273. Kingston, Sir Anthony, 193, 194, 260-2, 266. Kingston, Wyatt at, 105. Knight, 201. Knox, John, 16. Knyvet, Anthony, 93, 105-9. 

 Lalaing, Count de, 83, 85. Lansdowne MSS. , 21. Latimer, Bishop, 48, 110, 118, 134, 161, 224-34. Lawrence, 201. Lee, Sir Henry, 233. Leicester, rising at, 100. Lennox, Lady, 76, 77. Lingard, Dr. , 223. Loans, raising of, 308. Lodge quoted, 239, 267. Lollard statutes, 178. London Bridge, closing of, 99, 104. Longueville, Duke de, 291. _Lords Journals_ quoted, 132, 135, 240. Lorraine, Cardinal of, 208, 236. Low Countries, campaign in, 144, 207. 

 Machyn, 1, 12, 28, 30, 32, 33, 85, 137, 208, 209, 219, 270, 277. Markham, Wm. , 107. Marsh, George, 206. Martin, Dr. , 224. Martyn, Peter, 46, 47, 231, 281. _Mary, Chronicles of Queen_, 100, 109, 111-13, 127, 130, 153. Mary, Queen of Scots, 79, 122. Mason, Sir John, 13, 19, 35, 145, 161, 176, 295. Mendoza, Diego de, 65, 139. Merchant adventurers, loan of the, 308. Mewtas, Sir Peter, 260. Michele, Giovanni, 98, 241, 306. Mildmay, Sir Walter, 308. Mohun's Ottery, 88-90. Money, shortage of, 239. Mordaunt, Lord, 11. Moreman, Dr. , 70. Montague, Judge, 28, 46. Montague, Lord, 163, 165, 178, 236. Montmorency, 86, 208, 210, 269, 291. Montpensier, Duke de, 291. Morgan, Bishop, 206. Morone, Cardinal, 148, 149, 151. Mortmain, Statute of, 176; suspended, 184. Mountain, Thos. , 62. 

 Namur attacked, 144, 145. Navas, Marquis delas, 138. Newhall, 27. Newnham Bridge, 299. Nichols, John Gough, 6. De Nigry, 83, 85. Noailles referred to, 7, 12, 19, 25, 30, 36, 46, 57-9, 60-2, 67, 74, 77-80, 86, 87, 90, 92, 98, 99, 103, 114, 121, 122, 125, 129, 130, 135, 137, 138, 140, 141, 153, 154, 166, 180, 187, 192, 206, 209, 210, 214, 218, 219, 220, 222, 236, 237, 239, 241, 242, 244, 264, 265, 269, 271, 272, 285. Norfolk, Duke of, 28, 30, 39, 93. North, Lord, 178, 214. Northampton, Marquis of, 23, 28, 31-42, 87, 127. Northumberland, Duke of, 3, 11-22, 28, 31, 39-42, 43, 44. Norton, Anthony, 90, 91. Nowel, Alexander, 67. 

 Oatlands, Mary at, 219. Oldcastle, Sir John, 96. Oliver, Dr. , 228. Ormaneto, 150, 281, 289. Ormond, Lord, 23, 93. Oxford, Earl of, 18, 177, 264. _Oxford, Annals of University of_, 282. D'Oysel, 86, 87. 

 Paget, Lord, 15, 21, 28, 68, 71, 73, 76, 79, 80, 93, 103, 116, 118, 123-7, 132-5, 139, 160, 162, 197, 208, 269. Paleano, seizure of, 275. Pallavicino, quoted, 53, 175. Palmer, Sir Henry, 13, 296, 297, 304. Palmer, Sir Thomas, 13, 40-2, 45, 46. Parker, Archbishop, 319. Parsons, 41. Paul IV. , 210, 236, 239, 275, 287-9, 292. Peckham, Sir Edmund, 11. Peckham, Sir Henry, 260-4, 266-8. Pelham, 105. Pembroke, Earl of, 14, 16, 18-20, 36, 37, 98, 106-8, 116, 135, 154, 208, 277, 287. Perrot, Sir John, 262. Peto, Wm. , 80, 289, 292. Petre, Sir Wm. , 6, 33, 92, 94, 114, 116, 270, 308. Pexall, Sir Richard, 310. Philibert of Savoy, 144, 145, 155, 162, 213, 290. Philip of Spain, 38, 71-4, 137-42, 153, 165, 171, 185, 197, 198, 217-24, 268, 269, 303, 312-14. Phillips, Dean of Rochester, 70. Phillips, 223. Philpot, Bishop, 70, 134, 234. Pigot, 201. Plots against Mary, 263-8. Pole, Reginald, 51-4, 65-8, 80, 81, 147-52, 158, 159, 162-70, 178, 188-90, 206-8, 210, 212, 219-22, 231, 234, 278-80, 284, 287-90, 292, 309, 316. Pollard, Sir Hugh, 262. Pomfret, 136. Ponet, Bishop, 32, 47, 105, 107, 118, 134, 165, 215. Potter, Gilbert, 7, 10, 24. Premunire, Act of, 184, 187. Prideaux, John, 90. Property of Church, 176, 178, 179. Protestants, set-back to, 69, 70; hanging of, 84. 

 Radcliff, Sir Humfrey, 105. Rampton, Thos. , 100. Regency Bill, 185, 186. Register introduced, 189. Religious houses rebuilt, 243. Religious Persecution Bills, 132. Renard quoted, 2, 7, 8, 10, 12, 17-21, 24-6, 28-32, 36-40, 46, 47, 49, 51, 55, 57-64, 68-84, 91, 93-7, 102, 103, 106, 108-19, 122-37, 139, 147, 153-9, 162, 176, 178, 185, 186, 197-200, 214, 223. Renty, attack on, 145. Repeal, Act of, 179. Rich, Lord, 18, 177. Richmond, Mary at, 137. Ridley, Bishop, 16, 23, 28, 32, 46, 47, 68, 110, 118, 134, 190, 191, 224-34. Rochester, Sir Robert, 71, 116, 135, 192, 267. Rochester, rising at, 93. Rogers, Canon, 190-2. _Rolls House MSS. _, 6, 10-12, 15, 17, 20, 21, 26, 28, 30, 37, 39, 40, 46, 47, 49, 51, 57-61, 64, 67-9, 70-4, 78-80, 83-4, 86, 91, 93, 94, 97, 102, 103, 106, 108, 110, 114-19, 123, 127, 128, 133, 135. Rome, supplication to, 172. Rosey, 266-8. Russell, Lord, 37, 122, 178. Rutland, Earl of, 300, 301. Rymer quoted, 82. Rysbank, 298-300. 

 St. André, Marshal, 291. St. Leger, Sir Anthony, 63. St. Lowe, Sir Wm. , 114. St. Mary Overy, Church of, 190. St. Quentin, battle of, 290, 291. Salkyns quoted, 165. Sandars, Laurence, 134, 191, 195. Sanders, Ninian, 7. Sandgate, 299. Sandys, Edwin, 16, 21, 22, 28. Scarborough, occupation of, 286, 287. Scheyfne, 2, 6, 15. Schoolboys, fight between, 122. Scory, Bishop, 32, 47. Scot, Bishop, 281. Senarpont, 276, 297, 312. Shrewsbury, Earl of, 19, 71, 116, 136, 140, 141, 154, 164, 239, 309. Sidney, Sir Henry, 23. Simson, Cuthbert, 309. Six Articles, the, 318. Skelton, Sir John, 11. Sloane MSS. , 286. Smith, Benet, 242. Smith, Sir Thos. , 287, 309, 310. Somerset, Duchess of, 30. Soto, P. , 231, 232. Southwell, Sir R. , 90-6, 104, 116. Stafford, Sir Thos. , 286, 287. Stanley, Sir George, 62. Stanton, Captain, 268. Story, Dr. , 224. Stourton, Lord, 178. Stow quoted, 130. Strangways, 264, 265. Strozzi, Pietro, 144. Strype quoted, 36, 48, 49, 63, 94, 137, 208, 221, 222, 243, 280, 286-90, 309-11. Subsidy Bill, 239, 240. Succession, question of the, 68, 132, 182, 185, 186, 199, 200, 214, 218. Suffolk, Duchess of, 76, 77, 102. Suffolk, Duke of, 19, 20, 31, 87, 92-100, 110, 114, 157. Sussex, Earl of, 11, 71, 116, 123-7, 136. Swift, Robert, 267, 268. 

 Talbot, Lord, 239. Tanner MSS. , 21, 62, 107, 238, 241. Tate, Richard, 164. Taylor, Bishop, 67, 134. Taylor, Rowland, 191, 195. De Thermes, 311, 312. Thirlby, Bishop, 69, 245, 246, 280, 313, 314. Thomas, Wm. , 105, 114. Thornton, Bishop, 212. Throgmorton, Sir Nicholas, 87, 88, 114, 131, 132, 266. Throgmortons, the, 264. Toledo, Antonio de, 139. Tomkins, 197, 201. Treason, Act of, 69. Tregonwell, Dr. , 67. Tremayne, Edmund, 129. Tremaynes of Colacombe, the, 262, 264. Tucker, Lazarus, 84. Tunstal, Cuthbert, 32, 47, 92, 190. Tytler quoted, 80, 116, 131, 136, 160, 162, 316. 

 Underhill, Ed. , 33, 61, 105, 320. Uvedale, 264-7. 

 Valles, Marquis de los, 139. Vannes, Peter, 273, 274. Vaughan, Cuthbert, 131. Villegaignon, Admiral, 87. 

 Waldegrave, Sir Ed. , 71, 83, 116, 267, 268, 308. Walpole, 267. Warne, 213. Warner, Sir Edmund, 87, 90. Warwick, Earl of, 39-43. Watson, Bishop, 281. Watson, Dr. , 41, 46, 70. Wentworth, Lord, 116, 162, 178, 296-300. Westmoreland, Lord, 154, 177, 264, 287. Weston, Dr. , 36, 70, 103, 130, 134, 176. Wharton, Lord, 11. White, Bishop, 224. White, Rawlins, 206. White, Thomas, 266, 267. Wight, Isle of, 122, 264. Wilkins quoted, 177, 315. Wilkinson, Mrs. , 229. Williams, Lord, of Thame, 15, 119, 178, 232, 233, 252, 258, 259, 261. Willoughby, Lord, 264. Winchester, Bishop of, _see_ Ponet. Winchester, Marquis of, 9, 16, 116, 124, 136, 178. Windsor, Lord, 83. Woodhouse, Sir Wm. , 302, 303. Woodstock, Elizabeth at, 136, 137, 155, 215. Worcester, Dean of, 316. Worcester, Lord, 107, 178. "Worthies, the nine, " 153. Wotton, Dr. , 80, 86, 121, 140, 144, 147, 260, 267, 271-6, 285, 286, 313, 314. Wyatt, Sir Thos. , 23, 87-114, 122, 123, 130, 131, 189. 

 Young, 70.