UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
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NICOLAUS RIDLE
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வாட் தாக்கத்தக்க
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THE
7
L I F
E
A
OF
Dr. NICHOLAS RIDLEY,
SOME TIME
saves
BISHOP of LONDON:
SHE WING THE
PLAN
Α Ν D
PROGRESS
OF THE
R E F O R M A TION.
In which he was a principal Inſtrument, and ſuffered MARTYRDOM
for it in the Reign of Queen MARY.
By the Rev. GLOCESTER RIDLEY, LL.B.
Hæc pala illa quæ et nunc Dominicam aream purgat, ecclefiam fcilicet, confufum
acervum fidelium eventilans, frumentum Martyrum, et paleas Negatorum.
Tertull. de fugâ in perfecut.
L O N D ON:
Printed for J. WHISTON and B. WHITE, in Fleet-Street ; and
R, and J. DODSLEY, in PALL-MALL.
MDCCLXIII.
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Τ Η Ε
P R E F A C E.
V
THE encouragement which this undertaking has
met with makes it unneceſſary to apologize for at-
tempting the Life of this Good Prelate ; for while the
Compiler acknowledges with gratitude many favors
meant perſonally to himſelf, it would be vanity in him
not to ſee that the much greater part was intended a
reſpect to the memory of the Martyr.
And indeed it is ſurpriſing that among all the Lives
of particular Reformers, which have been written, that
of Biſhop Ridley ſhould not have yet appeared ; of
whom I may truly ſay with reſpect to Them, what St.
Paul faid of Himſelf with reſpect to the Apoſtles, that
he was not a whit behind the very chiefeft.
PARKER, GRINDALL, WHITGIFT, Aylmer and Jewell
have been deſervedly honored with their reſpective
lives, written to perpetuate the memory of their noble
renunciation
A 2
A
}
iv
The PREFACE.
-
renunciation of all worldly emoluments by a voluntary
exile, and of their important ſervices in the re-eſta-
bliſhment of the Proteſtant Church under Queen Elisa-
BETH: yet theſe were ſenſible that they were only ſe-
cond to thoſe, who, having boldly reſcued Truth from
the captivity in which it had been long held, bravely
ſhed their blood in the ſupport and maintenance of it.
So GRINDAL'I writes to-Ridlet in the words of CYPRIAN,
Primus eſt victoria titulus, gentilium manibus apprehenſum,
Dominum confiteri : ſecundus ad gloriam gradus eft, cautá
fedeljione fubtractum Domino' rėjèrvari and Tertul-
LTAN Obferves, that a foldier Häin in båttle is a nobler
object than one who by Alight 'preſerves himſelf for fu-
ture ſervice, Pulchrior milės in proelio amiſſus, quam in,
quani in
fugá falousti
sonite indeed of the martyred Pietatés håve had this
juſtice done to their memories, as Cranmer and Lati-
MER'; while Ridley, their Fellow-Labourer, and Fel-
low-Sufferer, has not yet been admitted to his ſhare
with them in this poſthumous reward : yet, with re-
gard to his comparative merit, Cranmer acknowledges,
that his own labors in the Reformation, in taking away.
Pardons, Pilgrimages, and ſuch like fuperftitions, 'had
been only' like lopping away fome branches and
leaves.
a De Lapfis.
$ De Fugâ in Perſecutione.
The PRÉFACE.
leaves that would in time ſhoot again : but that Ridley
had been more uſefully employed in digging up the
root, by removing the doctrine of Tranſubſtantiation.
Both theſe Fathers were indebted to Him, for their
knowledge of the truth in this moſt concerning point ;
in maintenance of which all three voluntarily offered up
their Lives.
To place in a true light the difficulties, merit, and
importance of his actions, it was neceſſary to weave,
with His, the hiſtory of the Times in which he lived ;
a repetition which. I hope will not be judged imperti-
nent, or be found uſeleſs. Frequent Commemorations
of national bleſſings are due in gratitude ; and frequent
Reviews of a national Conſtitution are neceſſary in pru-
dence. For theſe purpoſes; the deliverance of the Jews
from Ægyptian bondage, and the plan of the Mofaical
Inſtitutions were commanded to be read over to the peo-
ple every ſeventh year, in the year of releaſe, that they
might bear, and learn to fear the Lord their God as long
as they lived, whither they went over Fordan to polejs it.
And it would certainly be dangerous in US to loſe fight
of the errors and ſlavery from which we have been deli
vered, or the truths and liberty to which we have been
reſtored. The human mind is fo framed, that it cannot
long
+
But
a Deut. xxxix. 9.-13..
I
vi
The PR E FACE.
pery itſelf.
long ſupport itſelf without ſomething of religion to reſt
upon; and if no publick care is taken to inſtruct it in
a reaſonable one, it will lay hold on any deluſion that
the firſt Impoſtor ſhall recommend. Our licentiouſneſs
has already driven multitudes into Enthufaſm; and a
conſcience plunged in guilt may as readily catch at Po-
We ſeem indeed but little apprehenſive of
danger from that quarter at preſent; yet the Converts
from our Church to Popery, as well as to Methodiſm, are
notoriouſly encreaſing. The Mine, not attended to, is
more dangerous than the unmaſked battery, which,
while it threatens, puts us on our guard ; and expe-
rience convinces us, that nominal Profeſſors, when un-
principled, may fly for ſhelter into the very jaws of that
ſuperſtition, which we have thrice happily eſcaped, from
a Religion to whoſe power and beauty they were entire-
ly ſtrangers.
If the noble example here propoſed ſhall prove a
mean to inſtruct us in the true principles of the Religion
which we profeſs, equally abhorrent from the ſuperſti-
tious Navery of Rome, and the unſocial enthuſiaſms of
Germany ; ſuch knowledge, I am perſuaded, would in-
Auence many to the production of an undiſſembled
piety to God, and a conſcientious love of our neighbour;
which at preſent ſeem to lie almoſt extinguiſhed under
an
2
+
THE PREFACE.
vii
an indifference and licentiouſneſs, diſhonorable to God,
and deſtructive to Society.
In compiling this work I have not only made uſe of
all the general and particular Hiſtories of the Times
and Perſons mentioned in it, the Statutes, Publick Re-
cords, Letters, Tracts and Treatiſes that I could find
already publiſhed : but alſo have examined the ſeveral
Regiſters of Canterbury, London, Rocheſter, and Nor-
wich, Pembroke Hall, and Univerſity College ; MSS.
in the Libraries of Lambeth, Bennet College, the Pa-
per Office, and the Mufæum ; beſide ſeveral Original
Letters of Bucer, Martyt, John à Laſco, Cranmer, and
Hoper, which once belonged to Biſhop Morley, but
are now in my poſſeſſion. And here I beg leave to re-
turn my thanks to all thoſe Gentlemen, through whoſe
civility and obliging readineſs I have had ſuch eaſy ac-
ceſs to the ſeveral Repoſitories which I had occaſion to
viſit.
Τ Η Ε
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رومان هفته سمج . م , کمد مهلوسینهجتهمتهنوجتهد پر انج جودت یه شهيتهجئتی حجت الاستاي
V
THE
CONTENT S.
*
11
2.
9
1
воок І.
From Igo0 to 1521.
The ſtate of RELIGION and LEARNING during RIDLEY'S
Minority.
§. 1. HIS Birth and Family
Page 1
The Pope's Dominion in England
3
.
3. The Pope's Revenue in England
4.
The Revenues of the Clergy
14
5. An account of their. Learning
I
6. A view of the Popiſh Religion
25
7. The neceffity of a Reformation
27
8. The obſtacles againſt it
35
9. A brief view of publick Tranſactions during this period
10. A brief view of Ridley during this Period
BOOK II. From 1522 to 1540.
RIDLEY at Cambridge.
§. 1. Publick Tranſaktions to the year 1527
50
2. Tendencies to a Reformation from 1522 to 1527
54
3. A view of Ridley in this. Interval
60
$. 4. From
36
48
$
a
X
THE CONTENTS.
3
118
138
§. 4. From 1527 to 1534. The hiſtory of the divorce Page 65
5. A view of Ridley in this Interval
94
6. Relating to the Supremacy
99
7. Characters of Biſhop ToNsTAL, GARDINER, and BONER 108
8. Progreſs of the Reformation from 1534 to 1540
II3
9. Publick Tranſactions from 1534 to 1540
10. A view of Ridley in this Interval
133
BOOK III. From 1540 to 1547.
RIDLEY Maſter of Pembroke Hall.
$. 1. Ridley made Maſter of Pembroke Hall, and Chaplain to
the King
2. Madi. Prebendary of Chriſt Church, Canterbury 144
3. Wincheſter in Confederacy againf tbe Archbiſhop and
Ridley
149
4. Ecclefiaftical Laws
5. Ridley freed from the error of Trianfubftantiation, and
made.a Prebendary of Weſtminſter
162
6. Wincheſter attempts to deſtroy Q. Catharine Parr
175
7
Review of the ſtate of Religion af tbe death of Henry vin.
and defence of Ridley, from the afperfions of Pierfon 1.84
BOOK IV. From 1547 to 1550..
RIDLEY Biſhop of Rocheſter.
$. 1. Edward vi. Crowned; affairs at Court
190
2. Dr. Ridley a celebrated Preacher
1.99
3. Is confecrated Biſhop of Rocheſter
207
4. He and Cranmer confer with Wincheſter committed to the
Fleet
5. The Biſhop of Rocheſter againſt the revilers of the Sacra-
159
1
MER
21.2
ment
215
2.21.
6. Reformation of the Common Prayer
7. State affairs
250
&..A
3
.
THE CONTENTS.
xi
.8. A view of the general avarice, and its ill confequences p: 257
9. The Biſhop of Rocheſter in commiſſion to viſit Cambridge,
holds diſputations, there
10. Iu commiſion to examine Boner
280
11. Ridley vindicated from the afperſions of Pierſon
291
263
-
BOOK V.
From 1550 to 1553
:
RIDLEY Bifhop of London.
en
restauration
$. 1. Ridley tranſlated to London
297
2. In Comifion ķo receipe Wincheſter's fubmisſion to the
King, or to deprive him
303
3. His diſpute about veftments with Hoper, Eleft of Gloceſter 309
4. Day, Biſhop of Chicheſter, imprijaned
324
5. Lady Mary's Inconformity
329
6. Second review of the Common Prayer
333
7. Articles of Religion
340
8. The Biſhop of London withſtands the publick avarice and
facrilege
353
9. "The death of the Protector
362
Jo. Proceedings in Parliament and Convocation
369
II. Hethe Biſkop of Worcefter deprived
373
1:2. The Biſhop of London's care of the Poor in London
375
13. His Conference with Lady Mary
379
14. Northumberland increaſes his power and influence 381
15. The Biſhop of London petitions for ſome of the ſuperfluous
Linen given to the King
387
1.6. King Edward's dehgn of reformation in church and ſtate.
The Biſhop of London called to affift in Council
391
17. The Biſhop of London obtains the endowment of the Hoſpi-
tals from the King
18. The death of King Edward
400
BOOK
1
396
a 2
t
xii
THE CONTENTS
!
BOOK VI. From July 1553 to March 1554.
· RIDLEY Priſoner.
418
main conditionen tarina online dan ciklinowy modlin sensualidation direct indian moden
§. i. The Interregnum of Queen Jane
Page 413
2. Queen Mary recovers the Crown
3. Ridley, and afterward Cranmer and Latimer committed
to the Tower
427
4. Ridley's Conference with the Lieutenant of the Tower,
and others
435
5. Conférence between Dr. Ridley and Maſter Latimer 44:5
6. A fecond Conference betwixt N. Ridley and H. Latimer 456
BOOK VIL From March 1554 to June 15:55.
RIDLEY Confeffor.
g. I. Cranmer, Ridley and Latimer fent to Oxford to diſpute 487
2. General View of the Controverſy
494
3. Account of the diſputations there
503
4. The good'influence of this exemplary Confeffion on others
514
5 5. Publick diſputatións intended at Cambridge
521
6. The Queen marries. Philip. of Spain. The Spaniard's deſign
in that matches
533
7. Priſon Letters to and from Ridley
8. Somė account of Ridley's Chaplains
orientation manage to the skin and later stand will
Ei teritoriale on the interioare
importante esta noin smiles de cine poate the same this with continuini d'imitadori
546
576
+
:
BOOK VW:I. From May to October 1555.
RIDLEY Martyr.
8. 1. Publick Affairs
596
2. The laſt Examination of Ridley
600
3.
He is delivered over to the Secular Power
622
His lali Farewell
631
5. The Martyrdom of Ridley and Latimer
PRÆFATIO. ET PROTESTATIO NICOLAI RIDLEII
HABITÆ IN SCHOLIS PUBLICIS OXONII. MDLIV. 675
662.
.
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3
Τ Η Ε
NA
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OF
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R
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A.
Rev. Dr. Aſhton, Fellow of Eton
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John Conyers, Eſq. Copt-Hall, Efex
Rev. Mr. Canning, Miniſter of St. Lawa Mr. John Cook
rence, Ipſwich
Rev. Mr. Cookſey
Mr. James Cappes
John Gilbert Cooper, Erg:
Sir John Cartwright, Knt. and Alderman Richard Coozens, Eſq. Deptford
Mr. Edmund Cartwright, of Magdalen Mrs. Cotton
College, Oxon.
Rev. Mr. Coulfon, Fellow of Univerſity
Capt. Joſeph Cartwright
College, Oxon.
Rey,
wi
SUBSRIBERS NAME 9.
i cili
:
.
Rev. Mr. William Couperthwaite, two Robert Dingley, Erą.
copies
Rev. Dr. Dixon, Principal of Edmund-
Mr. Richard Cowley
Hall, Oxon.
Hon. and Rev. Dr. Cowper, Dean of Rev. Mr. Dockwray
Durham
Rev. Mr. Dodd
Mrs. Cranke, of Albyns, Effex
Mr. Robert Dodſley
Philip Creſpigny, Eſq.
Capt. William Dodſworth
Rev. Dr. Creſwicke, Dean of Wells Sir William Dolben, Bart. Northampton,
George Croſby, Eſq.
ſhire
Mr. George Croſby
John Dorrien, Eſq.
Mr. Crozier, Merchant
Rev. Mr. Dovey, of Birmingham
Dr. Cruſius, Maſter of the Charter-Houſe Rev. Dr. Douglas, Prebendary of Durham
School
Mrs. Douglas, of Newcaſtle, two copies
Mr. Currie, of Poplar, ten copies Rev. Dr. Doyley, Archdeacon, of Lewes
Mr. Thomas Curteis
Rev. Dr. Drake, Rector of Amerſham,
Mr: John Curteis
Bucks
Mr. Samuel Curteis
Thomas Drew, Eſq.
George Cuthbertſon, Eſq.
Rev. Mr. George Drury, Northampton-
Rev. Mr. Cutler, at Bocking
thire
Rev. Mr. Duqueſne, Vicar of Eaſt Tud-
nam, Norfoik
D.
George Dudley, Eſq.
William Duncombe, Eſq.
His Grace the Duke of Devonſhire John Dupee, Eſq.
Right Hon. the Earl of Dartmouth William Duval, Eſq.
Right Hon. Counteſs of Denbigh
Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of Durham,
three copies
Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of Downe
Right Hon. Lord Deſpenſer
Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of Ely
William Daffy, Eſq. of Romford Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of Exeter
Rev. Dr. Dalton, Prebendary of Worceſter John Edwards, Eſq.
Rev. Mr. Darch
Rev. Mr. Edwards, Greenwich
John Davie, Eſq. of Bleigh, Devonſhire Rev. Mr. Jukes Egerton
Mr. Thomas Davies, Bookfeller, fix copies Rev. Ben-Joſeph Ellis, D. D. Norwich
Chriſtopher Dawſon, Eſq. of Bolton. Henry Elliſon, Eſq.
Hall, Yorkfhire
Mr. Arthur Evans, Fellow of New Col-
Mr. William Dearſiy, of Romford
lege, Oxon,
Rev. Mr. Degge, fix copies
Mr. John Everett
George Delaval, Eſq. -
Joſeph Eyre, Gent.
William Denne, Eſq.
Rev. Dr. Dennifon, Principal of Magda-
len-Hall, Oxon.
F.
Sir Alexander Dick, Bart.
Rev. Dr. Dickens, Prebendary of Durham Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of Ferns and
Robert Dinely, Eſq.
Leighs
Chriſtopher
*
E.
LEVEL.
***
*..***... *..
..
SUBSCRIBERS NAMES.
Xvi
2.
Chriſtopher Fawcet, Eſq.
Rev. Mr. Glubb, Rector of Bicton, Devon
Mr. George Faulkner, Bookfeller, Dub. Rev. Dr. Goddard, Vice Chancellor, and
lin, two copies
Maſter of Clare Hall, Cambridge
Rev. Mr. Fayting, Rector of St. Mar- Thomas Godfrey, Eſq.
tin's Ourwich
Peter Godfrey, Eſq.
Samuel Feake, Eſq.
Edmund Godfrey, Eſq.
Will. Fellows, Eſq.of Shotteſham, Norfolk Joſeph Godfrey, Eſq.
Robert Fetherſton, Eſq.
Shearman Godfrey, Eſq.
Rev. Mr. Fitzherbert, Minor Canon of Mr. Shearman Godfrey
St. Paul's
Francis Godolphin, Eſq.
Hon. Mr. Fitzwilliams, of Trinity-Hall, Rev. Dr. Golding, Warden of Winchef-
Cambridge
ter, two copies
Mr. James Fleming, Bookfeller, at New- Rev. Mr. Gooch, Prebendary of Ely
cattle, 6 copies
Roby Gordon, Eſq.
Thoinas Fletcher, Eſq.
Miſs Charlotte Gore
Sir Samuel Fludyer, Bart. and Alderman, Sir Francis Goſling, Knt. and Alderman
two copies
Robert Goſling, Eſq.
Sir Thomas Fludyer, Knt.
Charles Gough, Eſq.
Mr. James Flory
James Gould, Eſq. Edmonton
Zach. Philip Fonnereau, Eſq.
Rev. Dr. Gower, Chelmsford
Rev. Mr. Foſbrook, of Havering, Eflex John Grace, Eſq.
Thomas Foſter, Eſq.
Mr. J. Marmaduke Grafton, of Romford
Mr. Foſter, of Canterbury
Mr. John Greaves
Rev. Dr. Fothergill, Fellow of Queen's Mr. Francis Gregg
College, Oxon.
Rev. Dr. Gregory, Dean of Chriſt Church,
Rev. Mr. Foulkes, Vicar of Steeple Oxon.
Aſhton, Wilts
Charles Gray, Eſq. Colcheſter
Rev. Mr. Fowler, Rector of Great Parn- Ralph William Gray, Eſq.
don, Effex
Robert Griffith, Eſq. Little Chelfea
Benjamin Franklyn, LL.D. of Penſylvania Mr. Richard Grindall
Rev. Mr. Samuel Freeman, of Romford
Groſvenor, Eſq.
Rev. Mr. Gurdon, Vicar of Aſlington,
G.
Suffolk
Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of Gloceſter Mr. Edward Gulſton, of Calcutta, in
Right Hon. Lord Groſvenor
the Eaſt-Indies
Rev. Dr. Gälly, Rector of St. Giles in Mr. J. Gunter, Tooley-ſtreet, Southwark
the Fields
Thomas Gyll, Eſq. Durham
Rev. Mr. Garden, Chaplain to the Right
Hon, the Earl of Bath
H
Mr. Stephen Gards
Mr. Alexander Garrat
Right Hon. Earl of Hardwicke
David Garrick, Eſq.
Right Rev. Lord Bifhop of Hereford
Samuel Gillam, Eſq. Rotherhithe Lady Herbert
Mr. William George
Henry Hadley, Eſq.
Rev. Mr. Glaſſe, Harrow on the Hill John Haggard, Eſq.
b
Mr.
xyiii
SUBSCRIBERS NAMES,
L
eximin
. a ringan berisi
Mr. Hake
Capt. Thomas Hill
Rev. Mr. Hale, Rector of St. Ann's, Henry Hind, Eſq.
Middleſex, two copies
Rev. Sir Philip Hoby, Bart.
Mr. Minſon Hales
Mr. George Hodgſon
Mr. Thomas Hales
Mr. Thomas Hodgſon
Rev. Dr. Hallifax, Vicar of Ewel, Surry Rev. Mr. Hogarth, Fellow of Brazen-
Rev. Mr. Hamet, A. M. Fellow of Ex Noſe College, Oxon
eter College, Oxon.
Stephen Holland, Eſq.
Mr. William Hammerton
Thomas Holles, Eſq.
Mr. John Harding, jun.
Mr. Charles Hope
Sir Charles Hardy, Knt. Vice Admiral Samuel Home, Efq.
of the Blue
Rev, Mr. Home, Fellow of Univerſity
Richard Hare, Eſq.
College, Oxon.
Mr. Edward Harman
Mr. John Hoſkins
Rev, Mr, Harris, Rector of Weſt Patford, Rev. Mr. Horſemanden, Rector of Pur-
Devonſhire
leigh, Eflex
Sir Thomas Harriſon, Knt, Chamber- Rev. Mr. Hotchkiſs, Smith-ſtreet, Weſt-
lain of London, five copies
minſter
John Harriſon, Eſq.
Thomas Hounſon, Eſq.
Samuel Harriſon, Efq:
Rev. Mr. Howes, Rector of Hockering,
Rev. Mr. Harriſon, Rector of Tadmer Norfolk
ton, Oxfordſhire
Capr. Chriſtopher Huddy
Mr. Benjamin Harriſon, Bow-lane General Hudſon
Mr. Thomas Harriſon
Alexander Hume, Eſq.
William Harvey, Eſq. of Chigwell, Effex Rev. Mr. Hume, Vicar of St. Lawrence.
Mr. Richard Hawes
Henry Humphery, Eſq. of Lewes, Kent
Mrs. Hayley
Mr. 'Uſher Humphreys, of Tichfield,
Mr. George Hayter
Hants
Nic. Heath, Eſq., Gentleman Common Rev. Dr. Hunt, Regius Profeſſor of He-
er of Univerſity College, Oxon.
brew, and Canon of Chriſt Church
Rev. Mr. Heckſtall, Lecturer of Bow, Richard Hunt, Eſq.
Church
Rev. Mr. Hedges, Rector of Thrybork,
Yorkſhire
I.
Carew Helwys, Eſq. Ineworth
Hon. Nicholas Herbert, Eſq. two copies Robert James, Eſq. Secretary to the
Richard Hewett, Eſq. of the Tower
Hon. Eaſt India Company, two copies
Rev. Mr. Hewett, Rector of Buccleſham, Rev. Mr. James Fell, of Dulwich College
Suffolk
William Janſen, Eſq. of Cheſhunt
Rev. Mr. Hewgill, Rector of Smeaton, Samuel Jebb, M. D. Stratford, Effex .
Yorkſhire
Rev. Mr. Jefferſon, Fellow of Queen's
Rev. Mr. Higden, Vice Principal of College, Oxon.
Edmund Hall, Oxon.
Mr. Joſeph Jefferies
George Hill, Eſq. of Rowell, Northamp- Charles Jennens, Efa. two copies
tonſhire
Mrs. Jewkes, of Chiſhulhurſt, Kent
Thomas Hill, Eſq.
Mr. Jenks, Milk-ſtreet
Capt:
1
.
SUBSCRIBERS NAMES.
Xix
.
Capt. John Jolly
Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of Llandaff
Mrs. Suſanna Jones, Stepney
Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of Lincoln
Samuel Jones, Eſq. Stepney
Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of Limerick
John Jones, Eſq.
Right Hon. Lord. Leigh
Rev. Mr. Jones, of Shirſton, in Norfolk Sir Robert Ladbroke, Kne. and Alderman
Rev. Mr. Jones, Vicar of Mountneſſing, Rev. Mr. Lamb, Rector of Gateſhead
Eflex
Thomas Lambard, Eſq.
Capt. Robert Jones
Rev. Mr. Land, Vicar of Pelham, Hert-
Mr. John Johnſon
fordſhire
Thomas Jordan, Eſq.
Mr. Lankopf
Rev. Dr. Jortin, Rector of St. Dunſtan's Mr. Francis Lawſon, Gent.
in the Eaſt
Stephen Law, Eſq. late Governor of
Mrs. Ann Iſted, of Northampton
Bombay
Ambroſe Iſted, Eſq. of Ecton, Nor. Rev. Mr. Lawrence, Miniſter of Alder-
thamptonſhire
manbury
Ralph Izard, Eſq. Fellow Commoner of Rev. Mr. Lawry, Prebendary of Rocheſter
Trinity Hall, Cambridge
John Martin Leake, Elgi,
Stephen Martin Leake, Eſq.
James Lee, Eſq.
K.
Francis Leigh, Eſq. Kent
Hon. Billon Legge, Eſq.,
Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of Kildare Mrs. Lefevre
George Keate, Eſq. two copies
John Lefevre, Eſq. Bromley, five copies
Joſeph Keeling, Eſq.
Mr. Peter Lefevre
John Keeling, Eſq.
Mr, Ifaac Lefevre, Poplar, two copies
Mrs. Katherine Kelſey
Mr. Leonard Lefevre, Bromley
Mrs. Kemp, Aldgate
Rev. Mr. John Le Hunt
Rev. Mr. Kennedy, Derbyſhire
Peter Lekeux, Eſq.
Rev. Dr. Kennicott, Fellow of Exeter Mr. Joſeph Letch, Gent.
College, Oxon.
Moſes Levi, Efq.
Capt. Nathaniel Kerfoot
ŞAll Souls College, Oxon.
Rev. Mr. Arnold King, Rector of St. Bennet College, Cambridge
Michael's, Cornhill
Brazen Noſe College, Oxon.
Rev. Mr. Richard King, Rotherhithe Clare-Hall, Cambridge
Rev. Dr. Kippax, Rector of Brington, Corpus Chriſti College, Cambridge
Huntingdonſhire, fix copies
Durham
Richard Knight, Eſq. of Attlebridge, Edmund Hall, Oxon.
Norfolk
Emanuel College, Cambridge
Eton College
L.
Jeſus College, Oxon.
King's College, Cambridge
Right Hon. Earl of Lincoln, five copies Merton College, Oxon.
Right Rev. late Lord Biſhop of London Pembroke-Hall, Cambridge
Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of London
Queen's College, Cambridge
Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of Litchfield and Queen's College, Oxon.
Coventry
Ditto Taberdar's
Libraries.
.
b 2
St.
SUBSCRIBERS NAMES.
Libraries.
:
fy, Bucks
St. Peter's College, Cambridge Mr. George Martin
Sidney Suſſex College, Cambridge Mr. William Martin
Sion College
Mr. Martin, Aldgate
Trinity College, Oxon.
John Maſon, Eſq. Greenwich
(Trinity-Hall, Cambridge
W. B. Maflingberd, Eſq. S. Ormeſby,
Mr. Thomas Life
Lincolnſhire
Miſs Lincott, of Wormley, Hertfordſhire Rev. Dr. Mather, R. of Whitechapel
Mr. Stephen Lintott, Southampton Joſeph Mawbey, Eſq. Vauxhall
Thomas Llewelin, Eſq.
Mr. John Mawbey
Capt. William Loney
Mr. William Maynard
Charles Long, Eſq.
George Maxwell, Eſq.
Mrs. Sarah Long, of Dunſtom, in Norfolk Mrs. Hefter Meggs
Mr. John Long, Biſhopſgate-ftreet Rev. Dr. Merrick
Rev. Mr. Lowe, Canon of Windſor Dr. Merrick
William Lawes, Eſq.
Jeafferſon Miles, Eſq.
William Lownds, Eſq. of Artwood-Bu- Rev. Dr. Mills, Dean of Exeter
William Mills, Eſq.
Rev. Dr. Lowth, Prebendary of Durham Mr. Moiſes, Newcaſtle
Rev. Mr. Lowth, Prebendary of Win- Mrs. C. Molineux.
chefter
Mr. Moliny
Rev. Dr. Lloyd, Rector of Stow, Nor- James Moncuſter, Eſq.
thamptonſhire
Rev. Mr. Monkhouſe, Fellow of Queen's
Rev. Mr. Lloyd, Senior Vicar of Great College, Oxon.
Wakering, Effex
Rev. Mr. Moreau, R. of Okeford, Dorſet
Rev. Mr. Lloyd, Curate of St. Stephen's, Dagge More, Eſq.
Coleman-ſtreet
Edward Rowe Mores, Eſq.
Mr. John Lloyd
Mr. Joſeph Morrice
Rev. Mr. Lye, Rector of Yardley Hal- Rev. Mr. Morriſon, at Great Torrington,
tings, Northanıptonſhire
Devon.
Rev. Mr. Morton, Rector of Red Mor-
ley, Worceſterſhire
M.
Rev. Dr. Moſs, Rector of St. George
Hanover Square
His Grace the Duke of Mancheſter Henry Muilman, Eſq. Dagenham, Eſſex,
Hon. Lord Charles Greville Montague 2 copies
Robert M'Intoſh, Eſq.
William M.Phädris, Eſq.
Rev.Mr. Majendie, Prebendary of Sarum
N.
Capt. J. Major
Capt. Samuel Malban
Right Rev. Lord Bilaop of Norwich
John Manſhip, Eſq.
Sir
Nathaniel Naſh, Knt. and Alderman
Rev. Dr. Markham, Maſter of Weſt- Rev. Mr. Negus, Vicar of Rotherhithe.
minſter School, and Prebendary of George Nelſon, Eſq. Alderman, 7 copies
Durham
Rev. Mr. Neve, Rector of Middleton,
Rev. Mr. John Marſhall, Rector of Stoney, Oxfordſhire,
Heanton, Devon
Mr. Nathaniel Newberry, Cornhill
Rev.
emer
SUBSCRIBERS NAME S.
of Ely
:
Rev. Dr. Newcome, Prebendary of Wor- Mr. Perry, Blackwall, three copies
ceſter
Charles Philips, Eſq.
John Newington, M. D. Greenwich.
Rev. Mr. Pickering, Rector of North
Richard Newman, Eſq. Weſt Ham Weald, Effex,
Michael Newton, Eſq.
Rev. Mr. Pilgrim, of the Inand of Bar,
Rev. Mr. Nicholas, of Beckenham, Kent badoes, three copies
Rev. Dr. Nicholl, Preacher at the Char- Mr. Pilgriin, of Thames-ſtreet
ter-Houſe, 2 copies
Rev. Mr. Pilkington, Rector of Stanton,
Rev. Dr. Nicolls, Vicar of St. Giles, Crip Derbyſhire
plegate
Rev. Mr. Pinnel, V. of Eltham, Kent
Rev. Dr. Samuel Nicolls, Maſter of the Mr. Platt, in Cornhill
Teniple
Rev. Dr. Charles Plumtree, Archdeacon
Mr. Thacker Nightingale, Gent.
Hon. Thomas Noel, Eſq.
Thomas Pocklington, Eſq. of Chelms-
Mrs. Noel
ford, Eflex
Dudley North, Eſq. of Glenham Hall, Daniel Ponton, Eſq. Lambeth
Suffolk
Rev. Dr. Potter, Archdeacon of Oxford
Capt. Abraham North
George Preſcot, Eſq.
Rev. Mr. Nowell, Chaplain to Her Roy. Rev. Mr. Preſton, R. of Alton Barns,
al Highneſs the Princeſs Duwager of Wiltſhire
Wales
Samuel Pye, M. D. Mile End.
Mrs. Pyke
Mrs. Pyle, Saliſbury:
0.
R.
Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of Oxford
Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of Offory Right Hon. Earl of Rochford
Sir John Oglander, Bart. Iſle of Wight Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of Rocheſter
Dr. Owen, Recor of St. Olave's, Hart Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of Raphoe,
Street
thirty copies
William Ord, Eſq.
Mr. James Railbock
Rev. Dr. Randolph, Preſident of Corpus
Chriſti Coll. Oxon.
P.
Rev. Mr. Randolph, Principal of Alban
Hall, Oxon.
Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of Peterborough Philip Raſhleigh, Eſq. of Menobilly, ,
Edward Page, Eſq.
Cornwall, two copies
Rev. Mr. Parfect, Fell. of Oriel. Col. Ox. David Ravaud, Eſq.
Henry Partis, Eſq.
Mr. William Rawlins
Thomas Patrie, Elq.
Mr. Thomas Rayner
Charles Pearſe, Eſq.
Richard Raynsfield, Eſq.of Binfield, Bucks,
Frederick Pegue, Eſq.
Mr. William Reade, Lombard-ſtreet
Rev. Mr. Pennington, M. A. Fellow of Jeremiah Redwood, Eſq.
Queen's Coll. Cambr. and Lecturer of Mr. Charles Criſp Rice, Deptford
St. John, Hackney
Capt. George Richardfon
Capt. John Richardſon
Mrs.
Mrs. Perry
xxii
SUBSCRIBERS NAME S.
Mrs. Ridley, late of Mortimer-ftreet Rev. Mr. Sandys, Prebendary of Wor-
Mrs. Ridley, of Newcaſtle
ceſter
Matthew Ridley, Eſq.
Charles Savage, Eſq.
Major Ridley, two copies
Henry Savage, Eſq.
Mr. Matthew White Ridley
Francis Schnebbelic, Eſq.
Rev. Mr. James Ridley, Romford
Lewis Schrader, Eſq.
Rev. Mr. Ring, Lecturer of Garlick-Hythe Mr. Nathaniel Scorch
Mr. Jeffery Roades
Rev. Mr. Chriſtopher Scott, B. A.
Hugh Roberts, Eſq.
Mr. John Scurfield, of Great Upworth
Dr. Robertſon, Principal of the Univerſi- Rev.Dr.Sécker, Prebendary of Canterbury
ty of Fdinburgh
Mr. Ephraim Rinhold Seehl
Samuel Roffey, Eſq. Lincolns-Inn-Fields Richard Seward Eſq.
Gle: Rock, La
Mr. John Shakeſpear
Rev. Mr. Rojc, Rector of Berwick St. Iſaac Pacatus Shard, Eſq.
John's, Wilith re, two copies
Mr. John Shepherd
Rev. Mr. Kull Lecturer of All Mrs. Sherron
Hallows, Bark,
Rev. Dr. Shipman, Fellow of All-Souls
Mis Romiey
Coll. Oxon.
Rev. Mr. Rotherham, Sherburn Houſe, John Archer Shiſh, Eſq. Ford-place, Effex
near Durham
Mr. Joſhua Shrimpton
Mr. Richard Roundale, Commoner of Capt. Richard Shubrick
Univerſity Coll. Oxon.
Skinner, Eſq. Eflex
Thomas Rous, Eſq.
Rev. Mr. Skinner, of Biſhopſgate
Rev. Mr. Rowland, of Sir George Whee- Capt. Gilbert Slater
ler's Chapel
Rev. Dr. Sleech, Provoſt of Eton
Edward Rudge Eſq. three copies
Rev. Mr. Smallbroke, Archdeacon of
Rev. Dr. Rutherford, Profeſſor of Divi Litchfield
nity in Cambridge
Mrs. Snart, Poplar
Iſaac Rutton, M. D. Aſhford, Kent Miſs Smart, Poplar
Joſeph Smith, Efq. LL.D. of Oxon.
John Smith, Eſq. Cambridge
Charles Smith, Eſq. of Stratford, Edex,
two copies
Right Hon. Viſcount Say and Sele Richard Smith, Eſq.
Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of Saliſbury Capt. Edmund Smith
Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of St. David's Mr. Moſes Smith
Right Hon. Lord Sandys
Mr. William Smith
Mr. Robert Salmon, Limehouſe
Sir Sydney Stafford Smythe, Knt, one of
Rev. Dr. Salter, Maiter of the Charter the Barons of the Exchequer
houſe
Rev. Mr. W. Smythe, R. of Stapleford
Capt. James Sanders
Tawney, Eflex
Rev. Mr. Sanderſon, of Bramly, Hants William Snell, Eſq.
Rev. Mr. Sandford, Fell. of All-Souls Mr. Southouſe, Attorney at Law
Coll. Oxon.
Mr. Spagg, Limehouſe, two copies
Rev. Mr. Sandiford, V. of Chriſt-Church Capt. Sparks, Limehouſe
Rev.
giging in
S.
49
21
SUBSCRIBERS NAMES.
I.
Rev. Mr. Samuel Speed, Wincheſter
Rev. Mr. Robert Speed, Vicar of Horn-
church, Eflex
Mr. Richard Speed
Rev. Mr. Tatterſall, Southampton Row
Rev. Mr. Spence, Prebendary of Dur- Rev. Dr. Tarrant, Rector of St. George,
ham, five copies
Bloomsbury Square
Rev. Mr. Spence, of Donnomore in Ire- Rev. Dr. Taylor, Reſidentiary of St. Paul's
land
Rev. Dr. Taylor, Chancellor of Sarum
Mr. Thomas Spiller
Rev. Dr. Taylor, Archdeacon of Leiceſter
Mrs. Stanley
Rev. Mr. Taylor, Fellow of Wincheſter
Thomas Stanton, Eſq.
Rev. Mr. Elias Thackeray, Fellow of
Mr. Henry Stanton, Poplar
King's Coll. Cambridge
Roger Staples, Eſq. Cornhill
Rev. Dr. Thomas, Prebendary of Weſt-
Mr. Rich. Stapells, Limehouſe, two copies minſter
Thomas Staunton, Eſq. of Holbrook Rev. Dr. Thomas, Rector of St. Peter's
Hall, Suffolk
Cornhill
Rev. Dr. Stebbing, Preacher of Grays-Inn Rev. Mr. Thomſon, of Blyth
George Steevens, Eſq. fen, five copies Mr. Henry Thomſon
George Steevens, Eſq. jun. five copies John Thornton, Eſq.
Rev. Mr. Gilbert Stephens, Vicar of William Thornton, Eſq.
Noke, Oxfordſhire
Sir John Thorold, Bart. of Cranville,
Mr. John Stephens
Lincolnſhire
Sir Will. Stephenſon, Knt. and Alderman Rev. Mr. Tomkyns, two copies
George Stephenſon, Efq.
Rev. Mr. Tooke, R. of Lambourn, Eſſex
Henry Stevens, Eſq. Devonſhire
Rev. Dr. Tottie, Canon of Chriſtchurch
Mr. Seymour Stocker
Mrs. Towart, Newcaſtle
Rev. Dr. Stonehouſe, R. of Clapham, Surry Mr. Townſend, Surgeon
James Stonehouſe, M. D. Surry
Rev. Mr. Townſon, Rector of Malpas,
Mr. William Strange, Poplar
Cheſhire
Mr. Strollhoft
Mr. John Trapnall
John Strutt, Eſq. Eſſex
Mr. Trigg, of Ilford, Ellex
Joſeph Strutt, Eſq.
Timothy Tullie, Eſq.
Philip Sturgeon, Eſq.
Mr. John Turner, Radcliff, ſix copies
Rev. Mr. Sturges, Prebendary of Win- Sir Charles Tynte, Bart.
cheſter
Sir John Tyrell, Bart. of Heron, Eflex
Rev. Mr. Charles Sturges, Vicar of Ken- Mr. Tyrwhit, M. A. Fellow of Jeſus
ton, Devonſhire
College, Cambridge
Laurence Sulivan, Eſq.
Aubone Surtees, Eſq.
John Sutton, M. D. Leiceſter
Mr. John Swaine
Rev. Mr. Swinden, Rector of Stifford, Rev. Dr. Vane, Prebendary of Durham
Eflex, two copies
Frederick Vanfittart, Eſq.
John Symonds, Eſq. Bury
John Upton, Eſq. Lincolns-Inn
:
7
V.
W.
xxiv.
SUBSCRIBERS NA MES.
ha
flooring in
Rev. Mr. Wight, Vicar of Tedbury,
W.
Glouceſterſhire
William Burton Wilbye,
Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of Wincheſter, Joſeph Wilcox, Eſq. of Barton Seagrave,
five copies
Northamptonſhire
Right Rev. Lord Biſhop of Worceſter, Mr. Wild Wilder
three copies
Rev. Mr. Willes, Rector of North Ocken-
Right Hon. Lord Wentworth
don, Eflex
Right Hon. Lord Wenman
Mr. Heaton Wilkes
Mrs. Wakelin, Kenſington
Mr. Jacob Wilkinſon
Peter Waldo, Elg. Mitcham, Surry,
Surry, Mr. John Wilkinſon
two copies
Mr. Robert Wilkinſon
Rev. Mr. Walker, Windſor
Rev. Sir Gilbert Williams
Mr. John Walker, Deptford
Thomas Williams, Eſq.
Mr. Samuel Wall
William Williams, Eſq.
Jobo Wallinger, Eſq.
Rev. Mr. Sherlock Willis
Mr. John Walſh
Mr. Willis, Lombard ſtreet
Jobo Rolle Walter, Eſq.
John Wilmer, M. D. Chelſea
Bourchier Walton, Eſq.
Rev. Dr. Wilmot, Canon of Windſor
George Walton, Eſq. Little Burſted, Effex Rev. Dr. Wilſon, Prebendary of Weſt-
Rev. Mr. Waring, Rector of St. Mildreds minſter
Richard Warner, Eſq.
Rev.Dr. Wilſon, Reſidentiary of St. Paul's
Rev. Mr. Joſeph Warton, ſecond Maſter Mr. William Wilſon
of Wincheſter School
Mr. Richard Windſor, Old Broad-ſtreet
Mr. Robert Waſtfield, Mile End
Mr. Thomas Wint
Matthew Waters, Efq.
Mr. Richard Winter
Thomas Waters, Eſq.
Rev. Mr, Wife, Rector of Harlow
Mr. Watlington
Thomas Wood, Eſq. Secretary of the
William Webber, Eſq.
Cuſtoms
Godfrey Webſter, Elq. of Hornchurch, Mr. Sweet Wood, Limehouſe
Eflex
Rev. Mr. Wood, Vicar of Stanington
Rev. Dr. Weeks
Mr. William Woodbine, Merchant of
George Wegge, Eſq. Colcheſter
Yarmouth
Mr. Wilkſhear West
Rev. Mr. Woodcock, Rector of St. Mi-
Rev. Mr. Weſton, M. A.
chael's Wood-ſtreet
Samuel Whitbread, Eſq.
Rev. Mr. Wooddeſon, Maſter of King-
Sir Matthew White, Bart.
fton School, Surry
William Whire. Eſq.
Rev. Mr. Woodruffe, Rector of Cran-
Rev. Mr. Stephen White, Rector of Hol ham, Eflex
ton in Suffolk
Mr. Woodham
Mr. John White
Rev. Mr. Worth, Rector of High Bick-
Meff. Whiſton and White, Bookſellers enton, Devon.
Rev. Mr. Wight, Preacher at Bridewell Miſs Maria Wotton
Rev.
.
ME
!
:
SUBSCRIBERS NAMES.
Rev: Mr: Hugh Wyatt, late Vicar of Hon. & Rev. Mr. James York, Dean of
Weſt Ham, Effex
Lincoln
Sir Marmaduke Wyville, Bart. of Trini. Rev. Dr. Yarborough, Principal of Bra-
ty Hall, Cambridge
zen Nore Coll. Oxon.
Rev. Mr. Yardley, Archdeacon of Car-
Y.
digan
Robert Dobyns Yate, Eſq. of Bromel-
His Grace the Lord Archbiſhop of York, berrow, Gloceſterſhire
fix copies
Rev. Mr. Young, Dean of Clogher.
Hon. Charles York, Eſq. Attorney Ge- Mr. Jahn Cooper
poral
+
3
ERRAT A.
1
..
DIO2 AU 2
T
2016
M2
E , Ꭱ , R
Α Τ Α.
Among theſe, the Reader may be inclined to reckon many words purpoſely ſpelt differently
from the more uſual manner, to preſerve a more uniform orthography. I. Words immediately
derived from Latin ones in or. As much the greater part of theſe are terminated in or in Engliſh;
I ſee no good reaſon why all words ſo derived ſhould not have the ſame termination; if we write
horror and terror, why not honor and favor? In words purely Engliſh, or Saxon, or French, or
remotely derived from Latin through the French, I have retained the u where I found it, as in be-
haviour, neighbour, endeavour, Saviour. 2. Where the radical Latin vowel is retained in ſome
Engliſh words, and unneceſſarily changed into a dipthong in others of the ſame family, as explana.
tion explain, precede proceed, I have preſerved the etymology uniformly. But in ſome of theſe in-
ſtances habit has been too ſtrong for the attention of the Compoſitor or the Corrector. Some
other miſtakes haye eſcaped the preſs, which the Reader is deſired to correct with his pen ; eſpe-
cially thoſe which affect the ſenſe.
Page 4. line 19. inſert as before clerk.
13. line 5. from the bottom, dele the.
32. line 25. in /citing. deleſ.
64. line 9. in the margent, for 1537 r. 1527.
123. line 4. read Marchioneſs.
167. line penult. for They read The.
199. line 2. for Duke read Marquis.
213. line 7. for charges read changes.
232. line 19. after we add might.
238. line ult. for Renandot read Renaudot
241. line 22. after had add not.
243. line 15. for cantele read cautela.
270. line 22. for power read honor.
319. line ult, for vili read veli.
320. line penult. for cognita read cognitu.
P. 347. line 6. of the notes, for aliquid r. aliquis.
348. line 11. in guilty, dele y.
363. line 5 from the bottom, for Earl read
Marquis.
374. line 7. read learned.
405. line 9 from the bottom, for ſome r. come.
416. line 6. for wiſ read with.
453. line ult. for placce read place.
477. line 4. read Maccabees.
494. f. 1. ſhould be $. 2.
496. line 5 from the bottom, dele that.
507. line 7. for io read to.
547. line 1. after mean add time.
580. line 25. for John II. read 1 John II.
be
:
T HE
L I F E
OF
Dr. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
Β Ο Ο Κ Ι. From 1500 to 1521.
The State of RELIGION and LEARNING during
his Minority.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like to a grain of muſtard-ſeed, which a
man took and fowed in his field, Which indeed is the ſmalleſt of all
feeds : Matth. xiii. 31, 32.
§. I. His Birth
W
E often grow inſenſible of our bler-
fings, merely from the long and un-
and Family.
interrupted poffefſion of them. And
this inſenſibility uſually makes us
careleſs of preſerving them, till we are again taught to judge of
their value, by their loſs. Something of this kind, it is to be
feared, is our own caſe at preſent with regard to the Reformation ;
we have poleſſed that bleſſing ſo long, 'that we have forgot to enjoy
B
it.
THE LIFE OF
Воок Е.
it. Ignorant of the ſervitude under which our Fathers groaned,
we know not how to reliſh our own deliverance : the deformities
of a Superſtition two hundred years ago are ſo far out of ſight, as
to inake us leſs attentive to the beauties of a Reaſonable Service.
By theſe means, we not only reap leſs pleaſure than we might, and
produce leſs fruit than we ought ; but we grow leſs apprehenſive
of the Tyranny that watches to enſlave us, and leſs zealous to
maintain that Liberty which our Anceſtors facrificed their lives to
parchafe for us.
To awaken us to a due ſenſe both of our preſent happineſs, and
threatned danger, I have attempted to draw the Life of that
venerable Prelate Dr. Nicholas Ridley. A review of his ſtudies,
labors and ſufferings will give us a clear idea of the corruptions of
the Romiſh Church, and a plan of that perfection which was aimed
at by the Reformers : teaching us to abhor Popery, not from a
difreliſh of any religious reſtraint, but with a zeal that is according
to knowledge ; and at the ſame time, to eſteem and defend the
Proteſtant Religion, by living up to the ſpirit of it.
Such an effect would be the beſt gratitude, and higheſt honor
we can pay to this good man's memory; and to aim at producing
it will, I hope, warrant this attempt to write the Hiſtory of his
Life. To mean no more by it than the amuſement of an idle
hour, would be an unworthy trifling with his character : he lived
and died for nobler purpoſes.
Dr. Nicholas Ridley was born in the beginning of the xvith
Century in Tynedale, not far from the Scotch borders in Northum-
berland, as he himſelf informs us a ; and, by the report of his
Countryman, and Fellow-Collegian Dr. Turner, at Wilmontſwick.
His Father was the third Son of a very antient Family, which had
been ſeated there through a long deſcent of Knights for many
generations; the ſecond Son was John, Father to Dr. Lancelot
Ridleys
*
1
.
• Ridley's Farewel
Book I. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
3
ů
up this
Ridley, Preacher in the Church of Canterbury ; and a fourth Son
was Dr. Robert Ridley, a celebrated Divine and Canoniſt in the
reign of King Henry viii.
Deſcended from this antient ſtock he degenerated not from the
virtues of any of his Anceſtors ; but gave a much greater luſtre to
the Family, than he derived from it. His ſchool education he
received at Newcaſtle upon Tyne, from whence he was removed
to Pembroke Hall in Cambridge, at the charges of his Uncle
Dr. Robert Ridley, Fellow of Queen's College, about the Year
1518, when Luther was preaching againſt Indulgences in Ger-
many.
As I find nothing particular recorded of him before he became
Batchelor of Arts, only in general of his application to his ſtudies,
and great proficiency in them, I ſhall endeavour to fill
chaſm, from the beginning of the Century to the Year 1521, with
a view of the age in which he was born, that from the modes of
Religion and Learning which then prevaled we may the better
form our judgment of him ; for having dedicated himſelf to both,
he muſt have received his firſt color and tincture from them. And
indeed without a knowledge of the times in which he lived, it
will be impoſſible to eſtimate the difficulties, the dangers, and the
importance of his actions. Such a ſurvey will be neceſſary, as a
kind of map of the country through which we are to travel.
The great ſpring, which put the whole king-
The Pope's dom into motion, was the Supremacy of the Biſhop
Dominion in England.
of Rome. This gave that Prelate an effectual
Empire here, and perpetually ſupplied his Exchequer.
of ſo much importance to the Popedom, that Pius iyth, who un-
derſtood it well, would have ſubmitted even to authoriſe the Re-
formation, on this ſingle condition, that Queen Elizabeth would
acknowledge his Supremacy . Give him this footing, and he
could
$. 2.
A point
B 2
Twiſden's Hiftorica Vindicatioa, p. 155-173
!
THE LIFE OF
Воок І.
could ſoon frame engines to toſs the world about at his pleaſure,
as England had unhappily experienced through a courſe of about
four hundred
years.
The foundation of the Pope's Dominion here was laid in the
exemption of Ecclefiaſticks from the juriſdiction of the Civil Ma-
giſtrate, and making them amenable to him only. Prelates, Car-
dinals, Abbots, Priors, Monks, Friers, with the inferior Orders of
Subdeacons, Sacriſts, Exorciſts, Sextons, and Porters, raiſed a pro-
digious Army, all engaged to defend and extend that Power, by
which they were protected from the Civil Sword. And this im-
munity was clamed not only for Eccleſiaſtical Perſons ; the ſame
was challenged for Ecclefiaftical Edifices alſo, which were Sanctua-
ries to robbers and cut-throats, who fled thither for protection.
Such numbers were by feveral means privileged, that Henry viii.
complained, that he was • King of only Half his Subjects.
Nor was the Pope's Empire in England confined within theſe
limits ; it extended itſelf even over all the Laity, by means of the
Legate's court, to which, for herefy, or the fufpicion of it, and all
other ſpiritual cauſes, Laymen, as well Clerks, were ſubject. And
the dread of vexatious proſecutions there, coſts, fines, tortures, and
burning to death were ſuch effectual arts to keep the people in awe,
that few had courage to ſtruggle againſt the tyranny.
The inconveniences however were ſo ſeverely felt, that they oc-
caſioned an Act of Parliament in the ivth year of Henryʻviii. that
all perſons hereafter committing murder or felony in any church,
' or
e This clame owed its riſe to a Law of the Emperour Valentinian about 368, impowering
the Biſhop of Rome to examine and judge other Biſhops, that religious and ecclefiaftical
diſputes might not be decided by profane or ſecular Judges, but by a Pontiff of the ſame
Religion, and his Collegues. Cod. Theod. ap. p. 80. Some think this power was pro-
vincial only, within the limits of the Biſhop of Rome's jurifdi&tion, the Suburbicarian Pro-
vinces. Blondel Prim, p. 165. Others, only temporary, and that it extended no further
than to thoſe Biſhops alone, who were concerned in that ſchiſm, as the Law was enacted
to ſettle the Church fhaken by that contention betwixt Damaſus and Urfinus. Bowyer's
Lives of the Popes.
BOOK I. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
5
or chapel, or in the King's high-way, or thoſe who ſhould rob or
murder any perſon in his houſe, ſhould not be admitted to the Be-
nefit of the Clergy. Yet this act preſumed not to meddle with
thoſe who were within the Holy Orders of Biſhop, Prieſt, or Dea-
ecn; nor durſt venture further than for a year, by way of trial.
The Clergy were exaſperated, and publickly maintained, that all
who had aliented to that Ad had by ſo doing incurred the cenſures
of the Church. This provoked the Lords and Commons, who re-
queſted the King to ſuppreſs the growing infolence of the Clergy.
The Point was argued before him. The Clergy proceded to fum-
mon the pleaders for the Act before the Convocation, and even
threatned the King himſelf with the cenſures of the Church, if he
ſhould do any thing contrary to his Coronation Oath, by which he
had engaged to defend the Liberties of Holy Church : the Com-
mons on the other hand addreſs him to maintain his Temporal ju-
riſdiction, by virtue of the fame Oath. The King was in great
perplexity, unwilling to part with his temporal juriſdiction, yet
apprehenſive of ill effects from the reſentment of the Clergy, who
would not diſmiſs Dr. Standiſh, the chief pleader againſt them,
unleſs the cauſe was referred to the Pope. At length the cruelty
of the Clergy brought this affair to an accommodation ; one Hun,
a Merchant Taylor in London, had provoked them by declaming
againſt their avarice and oppreſſion, and giving them trouble in
recovering fome dues they clamed : their revenge was to impri-
ſon him on ſuſpicion of hereſy : but diſtruſting the ſufficiency of
proof, the Chancellor Dr. Horfey, and the Bifhop's Sumner mur-
dered him in priſon, and then hung him up that he might be
thought to have been his own executioner ; as appeared on the
Coroner's Inqueſt by the confeſſion of one of the parties. After
ſeveral attempts to ſtop procedings againſt the Chancellor, Wolſey
brought the King and Clergy to this Agreement, that Dr. Horſey
ſhould be diſmiſſed out of the King's Bench, and Dr. Standiſh
out of the Court of Convocation. Thus ended both theſe affairs
together ;
6
Book I.
Τ
THE LIFE OF
together ; which as they ſhewed the tyranny of the Popiſh Cler-
gy to the People in a ſtrong light, ſo this tyranny alienated their
minds from them, and diſpoſed the Kingdom to ſhake off the
yoke, whenever it ſhould lie in their power to do it.
But how imperious foever the Clergy were over the Laity, they
were in an abſolute dependance upon the Pope. The Two Arch-
biſhops could not call Councils, make Chriſm", dedicate Church-
€s, ordain Clerks, or conſecrate Biſhops, till they had received the
confecrated Pall from Rome : for which they paid above twelve
hundred pounds, each, even at that time of dayc, moderated to this
ſum ſince the year 1250, when Walter Grey, Archbiſhop of York,
paid ten thouſand pounds for that ornament. It was accompanied
with the Oath of Canonical Obedience to the See of Rome, to de-
fend the Regalia of St. Peter. The other Biſhops were not only
Suffragans to the Archbiſhops in their reſpective Provinces, and ſo
virtually ſubject to the Pope s but They with the Abbots alſo took
the fame Oath, with the obligation to viſit Rome in perfon. And
the parochial Clergy and Friers being ſworn to the obedience of
their Ordinaries and Principals, all the Clergy were in an entire
ſubjection to his Holineſs.
And left any Act of Power exerted by the Archbiſhop of Can-
terbury ſhould appear to be done by virtue of his Office, or de-
rivatively of the Crown, the Pope artfully conſtituted him his or-
dinary Vicegerent, under the title of Legatis natus; and very of-
ten promoted to that chair ſuch men as he could beſt truſt with
this power
power : but as ſometimes the King had intereſt or reſolution
enough
:
-- to pass
the interesting ikaw
******..::,,* W......'
medicines
& An ointment conſecrated by the Biſhop every year, on Maundy Thurſday, which
cvery Pariſh Prieſt was to fend for once a year, to put into the water in the Baptiſmal
Fant. See Peckham's Conſtitutions.
Money was effectively quadruple to what it is in this age, ſays Lord Herbert, 1650 :
there was a Law in the 24 H. viii, to fix the price of meats ; beef at a halfpenny a pound,
and mutton and veal at three farthings. Muft we not then rate it at fix times the preſent
value? At which valuation, the confecrated Pall coſt at that time betwixt ſeven and eight
thouſand pounds.
BOOK I. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
7
*
tions.
enough to appoint an Archbiſhop of his own, if he did not become
quite pliant and devoted to Rome, the Pope ſuperſeded his au-
thority by a particular commiſfion to a Legate à latere', during
which commiſſion, the Archbiſhop's Legateſhip was ſuſpended.
By theſe arts, invaſions, and uſurpations the Pope's power had
taken ſuch deep root in England, that it was not in human fore-
fight to perceive any poſſibility of plucking it up.
There were no hopes from the King ; He had been taught, by
the contention that had been between King Henry ii. and Thomas
Becket, how dangerous it was to fet his face againſt theſe uſurpa-
The Kings of England generally choſe a more politick
part; which was to make the Pope their friend, who by diſpen-
ſations contrary to Gcd's Laws, mediating betwixt Princes at væ-
riance, and ſometimes taxing the people on purpoſe to oblige the
King, with the whole, or part of it, made it in ſome meaſure the
King's Intereſt to ſupport the Pope's Supremacy : but at the ſame
time gave occaſion to the people to complain, in a Proverb uſual
in thoſe days, that the King and the Pope were the Lion and the
Wolf. And for this reaſon the Kings did ſupport the Pope by ſe-
veral Acts of Parliament.
Theſe Acts of Parliament cut off all hopes that Private Perſons
could, or would dare to oppoſe this tyranny. For by the 2 Hen. iv.
a Law paffed greatly encreaſing the power of the Ordinary, allow-
ing him to impriſon, fine, determine all cauſes of hereſy accord-
‘ing to the Canonical Decrees within three months.
Now, by
virtue of thoſe Decrees, we find, that the Biſhops did ſo behave
themſelves,
* In 379, Gratian, in favor of Theodofius, added Dacia and Greece (formerly part of
the Weſtern Empire) to the Eaſtern. Damafus, the Biſhop of Rome, unwilling to loſe Eaſt
Illyricum, though now diſmembered from the Weſtern Empire, appointed a Vicar there.
His Succeffors improved upon him, and appointed Vicars in other Provinces and Kingdoms;
generally annexed to certain Sees, but ſometimes conferred on particular perſons. The
Inſtitution of Vicars was by fucceding Popes, improved into that of Legates ; who, as
Pope Leo expreſſes it, were admitted to a far greater fare of his care, though not to the
plenitude of his power. Leon. Ep. 48.
8
BOOK I.
TÁ E LIFE OF
..
themſelves, “ that the moſt learned man of the realm, diligently
lying in wait upon himſelf, could not eſchew and avoid the ſaid
“ Act and Canonical Sanctions, if he ſhould be examined
upon
“ ſuch captious Interrogataries, as is, and has been accuſtomed to
• be miniſtred by the Ordinaries of this realm, in caſes where
they will ſuſpect of hereſy 8.” Upon which Act, ſays Coke",
If
any did refuſe obedience to his Dioceſan in ought, there would
• be means found to bring him within the ſuſpicion of herefy.'
What treatment then muſt any private perſon expect, whether
Clerk or Layman, who ſhould be bold enough publickly to oppoſe
the Pope's Supremacy; when by this Act the Ordinary could de-
termine it to be hereſy, and Hereticks by the Common Law of
England at that time were to be burned ? Eſpecially as by the
2 Henry v. it was enacted by a Parliament at Leiceſter, that the
Chancellor, Treaſurer, Juſtices of the Peace, and Sheriffs ſhould
take an Oath for deſtroying all manner of hereſies, commonly
called Lollardies, to be aſſiſtant to the Ordinary therein : Perſons
convict of hereſy were to lofe their Fee-ſimple land : and Juſtices
of the King's Bench, Juſtices of Aflize, and Juſtices of the Peace
were to enquire of all holding any error or hereſies, or Lollardies,
with their Maintainers, Receivers, and Fautors.
Theſe were to enquire, that none might efcape; but the ſuſpect-
ed perſon was not left to their judgment, they were to deliver hiin
up within ten days to the Spiritual Judge. Both theſe Acts of Par-
liament were in force during the term of years of which I am now
ſpeaking. Nay, tó awe even the moſt ſecret whiſperer, by the
Conſtitutions of Archbiſhop Chichely, in a Convocation held at
London 1416, all Suffragans and Archdeacons in the Province of
Canterbury, with their Officials and Commiſſaries in their feve-
ral juriſdictions, were enjoined diligently to enquire twice every
year
?
& Stat. 25 H. viii. cap. 14.
Inftit. 3. cap. 6. p. 42.
.
Book I.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
19
year after perſons ſuſpected of herefy : that where any reputed He-
reticks were reported to dwell, Three or more of that pariſh
ſhould be obliged to take an Oath that they would certify in writing
to the Suffragans, Archdeacons, or their Commiffaries, what per-
fons were Hereticks; or who kept private Conventicles; or differ-
ed in life or manners from the common converſation of the Faith-
ful; or aſſerted hereſies or errors; or had any ſuſpected books in
the vulgar Engliſh tongue; or received, favored, or were conver-
fant with any perſons ſuſpected of error or hereſy.
How active they were at this very time to detect and puniſh all
ſuſpected perſons, agreeably to theſe Conſtitutions, may be gueſſed
at from the Regiſter of John Longland Biſhop of Lincoln, in the
laſt
year of this Term 1521; in whoſe ſingle dioceſe, in that one
year, above five hundred perſons were accuſed and detected.
As little relief was to be expected from a General Council, which
was held by the Pope himſelf, and formed of Biſhops and Abbots,
who were ſworn to the defence of the Regalia Saneti Petri, the
Supremacy and Privileges of the Roman See.
So firmly riveted was the Roman Yoke, ſo hopeleſs any delivery
from it, at this time particularly, when the Pope's Legate à latere,
and the King's prime Favorite and Miniſter centered in one and
the ſame perſon, Cardinal Wolſey.
more
The Primacy was not only a mean of procuring
$. 3. The Pope's
a Dominion to the Pope over the Engliſh, but of
Revenue in England.
filling his Exchequer, and impoveriſhing the king-
dom, which he effected by various arts and impofitions, ſome of
which I ſhall mention.
Peter-pence ; a ſtated tribute paid annually to his Holineſs, at
the rate of a
every chimney : which Fuller computes at
more than ſeven thouſand pounds per annum.
Inveſtitures ; The king uſed formerly to give Bihops poffeffion
by delivery of the paſtoral ſtaff and ring : but afterwards the Pope
prevaled
penny for
C
ܕܪܫ
:
10
Воок 1.
2
THE LIFE OF
.
prevaled ſo far as to have them choſen by their Chapters. Then,
upon any diſpute, introduced himſelf ; till at length, he would
often, without expecting the King's recommendation, or the Chap-
ter's election, himſelf fill up the yacancy : but by whomſoever the
Prelate was appointed, the Pope's inſtruments were neceſſary; for
which they were to pay no inconſiderable Sum.
In the 24th year
of this reign a calculation was made, by which it appeared, that in
the forty years preceding, there had been paid to Rome for Inveſti-
tures of Biſhops only, not leſs than one hundred and fixty thouſand
pounds; which is four thouſand pounds a year during the whole
term of this interval 1.
Firſt-fruits ; Perſons promoted by the Pope uſed to pay a gratui-
ty for it, which introduced the payment of Firſt-fruits demanded
now of a long time for all the benefices in England. Inſomuch
that the Commons complained, even ſo far back as 1376, that the
Pope's Collector fent annually to Rome from the Clergy, for Pro-
cúrațion of Abbies and Priories, and for Firſt-fruits twenty thou-
fand marks, betwixt three and four thouſand pounds k
Appeals to Rome, and Revocation of Cauſes there ; for the Pope
reſerved to himſelf to give definitive ſentence in all high controver-
dies; for which purpoſe there were Proctors and Agents continual-
ly reſiding at Rome to tranſact theſe affairs : all ſupported and
maintained at the coſt of the Engliſh Suitors.
Diſpenſations were another conſtant drain into the Pope's Trea-
fury; ſuch as licenſes to eat meat on Faſt-days ; for Sons of the
Clergy to ſuccede their Fathers in an ecclefiaftical benefice ;
marry within the forbidden degrees; for divorces, and on many
other occaſions. The Pope had multiplied Canons, Decrees, and
Conſtitutions,
to
$
i Twenty four thouſand pounds according to the preſent value: See
pag.
6.
k An Act of Parliament in 1532 ſets it at eighty thouſand dollar3 fince the 2 Hen, vii.
which was in 1486, which is near four thouſand a year, i. c. twenty-four thouſand pounds.
preſent value.
5
*
3
:
Book I.
IT
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
2
Conſtitutions in indifferent things, that he might have the more
opportunities of being paid for the breach of them: nay ſometimes
for the ſake of this Idol, Gold, he would take upon him to diſ
penſe with the Laws of God himſelf. What his gains were from
this article is not eaſy to ſay : but that they were great, muſt ap-
pear
from the frequency of divorces and double marriages in En-
gland, to the continual embroiling of families and inheritances ;
ſuch families eſpecially as were rich enough to pay for being made
unhappy. Of which the King's ſingle family may be a ſufficient
proof; for Henry viii. himſelf and his Two Siſters were every one
entangled in the vexatious conſequences of a double marriage.
The King had, as is well known, when Prince of Wales; a dif-
penſation to marry his Brother Arthur's Widow. And whát con-
fuſion that occafioned afterwards to Himſelf, and the Succeſſion,
appears in all the Hiſtories of thoſe times.
And though the Di-
vorces he obtained were not granted by the Pope, yet were they
made by virtue of a power which he had introduced ; and which,
for not exerciſing it as he ought, in the King's favor, was wreſted
out of his hands.
The King's Eldeſt Siſter, the Princeſs Margaret, after burying
her firſt huſband, James iv. King of Scotland, married the Earl of
Angus, who was at the ſame time married to another Lady, and
had a daughter, the Lady Lenox, by him. She was afterwards
divorced from the Earl, and during his life married the Lord Muf-
fein, and baſtardiſed her daughter by the Earl of Angus.
The Princeſs Mary, the King's youngeſt Siſter, was firſt married
to Lewis the French King, and after his death, to Sir Charles Bran-
don; wlio, having been contracted to Mrs. Ann Brown, had a
daughter by her before Marriage : but broke his promiſe, with
her, and married the Lady Mortimer. That Marriage was dif-
ſolved by divorce, and he married Mrs. Brown; after whoſe death
he married the French Queen, the Lady Mortimer being till
living.
1
C 2
12
Book I.
THE LIFE OF
.
living.
Upon which her daughters, the Ladies Frances and
Eleanor, had baſtardy alledged againſt them in the reign of
Edward vi.
And how generally this inconvenience had prevaled, and needed
reformation, may be gathered from a Sermon of Biſhop Latimer's
before King Edward'. “For the Love of God, ſays be, take
" an order for marriages here in England. For here is marriage
"s for pleaſure and voluptuouſneſs, and for goods; and ſo that they
may join land to land, and poſſeſſions to poſſeſſions, they care
« for no more here in England. And that is the cauſe of ſo much
“ adultery, and ſo much breach of wedlock in the Noblemen and
u Gentlemen, and ſo much divorcing. And it is not now in the
« Noblemen only, but it is come now, to the inferior fort. Every
“ man, if he have but a ſmall cauſe, will caſt off his old wife, and
W take a new one, and will marry again at his pleaſure ;, and there
“ be many that have, ſo done.
This thews what accafion there was to reform this abuſe intro-
duced by the Pope's avarice in granting diſpenſations and divorces.
And long before, Wicliff had complained, that “ he was no ways
pleaſed with the multitude of the cauſes of divorce, ſince many
“ of them are of human appointment without any foundation
But as many would fin without a diſpenſation, his Holineſs
had a device to draw large fums of money out of their pockets by
Pardons and Indulgences for fins already committed.
Pope Alexander vi. celebrated a jubilee at Rome for, diſtributing
heavenly grace, as the phraſe was. At which Fuller computes above
twenty thouſand Engliſh. To encourage as many as could to come,
he was very indulgent to ſuch as died in their pilgrimage thither ;
as appears by Two Bulls, in the one of which it is ſaid,
« We
abſolutely command the Angels, that they place their ſouls in
« Paradiſe
In 1900,
1 Latimer's Sermons, p. 106..
Life of Wicklif, p. 347,
Book I. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
13
1
" Taradiſe, entirely exempt from Purgatory :" In the other, “ Our
pleaſure is, that the pains of Hell do not afflict them, in any
“ wiſe "."
After he had made the moſt of Theſe that he could, for the ſake
of ſuch as (hindered by any forcible impediment) could not come
to Rome at that time, he ſent over into England, towards the end
of the year, Jaſper Pons a Spaniard ; with commiſſion to him (and
ſuch Confeſſors and Penitentiaries as he ſhould appoint,) to grant
to all perſons truly confeſt and contrite, and viſiting ſuch churches
as by that ſaid Commiſſary ſhould be aſſigned to be viſited, and
putting into the cheſt for the intent ordained, (namely a war with
the Turk) ſuch ſum or quantity of money, gold or ſilver, as is
limited by a ſchedule annext, the ſame indulgence, pardon, and
grace, with remiſſion of their ſins, as they ſhould have had, if
they had gone perſonally to Rome in the year of grace ; name-
ly, to abſolve them of all manner of crimes, treſpaſſes, : tranſ-
greſſions and ſins, whatſoever they be, though the abſolution
thereof be reſerved to the Court of Rome, or to the Pope himſelf :
nothing excepted, but ſuch as was excepted to the Penitentiaries
of Rome. If any be curious to know what theſe irremiſſible fins
were ; they were conſpiracies againſt the Pope and ſtate of Rome ;
falſifying his bulls, and laying violent hands on Biſhops and Pre-
lates. In which pardons and exceptions it is difficult to determine
which we ſhould admire moſt, the placability or the implacability,
of his Holineſs.
But beſide the year of Jubilee, every year brought Pilgrims from
England to Rome, and thoſe Pilgrimages brought Offerings to the
the Pope's cheſt.
The Clergy likewiſe had been ſubject formerly to great oppreſ-
fions by demands of Taxes. and Levies, a charge upon every
every reli-
gious houſe to find and pay a number of ſoldiers for the Pope's
wars as
• See Grove's Life of Wolſey, P. i. p. 258.
14
Book 1:
THE LIFE OF
*
wars : but theſe grew to be fo-frequent and burthenfome, that
Martin v. was forced at the Council of Conſtance to ordain that
theſe taxes ſhould not be laid univerſally without a General Coun-
cil ; nor upon any particular kingdom or province without the
conſent of the Biſhops there. Accordingly when Leo x. demand-
ed a contribution of the Engliſh Clergy, to ſupport a war againſt
the Turk, 'they twice refuſed him. His ordinary exactions and
the King's wars being more than they were well able to bear.
There were ſeveral other methods of draining the people of En-
gland of their money. It is, I prefume, impoſſible to ſay with
tolerable exactneſs what the Pope's annual income from hence
was. · The general computation will make us wonder how the
people could anſwer the demands ; for the Pope and Cardinal
Wolſey are reported, each of them, to have received yearly froin
hence more than the King's revenue.
It is true the greateſt part roſe from Church preferments and
payments from the Clergy: but ſtill their abilities roſe from the
labor of the people. And the Pope was too diſcrete to ſuffer
Them to be ſtarved whom he intended to milk.
any
Beſide the Baronies of Bishops, the Manors
$. 4. The Revenues of Chapters, and the Tithes and Offerings of
of the Clergy.
the people due to the Pariſh Prieſts for their la-
bors in the miniſtry of the goſpel, other Orders
and other Services were invented (the numbers and revenues of the
former being too ſhort to feed the. avarice of the Court of Rome)
that new pretences might raiſe new ſupplies from the people.
Such were Abbots with their Colleges of Monks ; originally
Holy men, who were driven by perſecution to lead folitary lives in
wilderneſſes. Afterwards, men of melancholy humors volunta-
rily choſe that unſocial retrødt, which others had been compelled
to
• In 1414.
Book 1: DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
15
to by neceſſity. Whoſe auſterity, piety, and frugality procured
ſuch reverence, that the people recommended themſelves to their
prayers, and often choſe them to be their Almoners to diſtribute
their bounty to the Poor. This preſently improved thoſe dens and
caves of the earth into regular edifices, with large endowments to
be diſpoſed of in pious and charitable uſes ; and to pray for the
Souls of their Founders, and their Anceſtors and Poſterity.
Theſe multiplied apace, and were of ſeveral Orders, Benedictines,
Auguſtinians, Gilbertines, and Carthuſians, with their ſeveral
ſubdiviſions. Not only amply endowed at firſt, but daily encreaſing
by the devotion of new Benefactors, bequeathing manors, lands,
and tenements to them ; ſome of them ſo rich as to occaſion a com-
mon ſaying, that if the Abbot of Glaſtonbury might marry the Ab-
beſs of Shafteſbury, their Heir would have more land than the
King of England.
Their rapacious arts were fo great, as to give occaſion to the
Emperour Valentinjan to enact a new law, ftri&tly forbidding the
Ecclefiaftics, and ſuch of them as profefled celibacy, meaning the
Monks, to frequent the houſes of Orphans or Widows, or to ac-
cept from thoſe whom they attended, under the veil of religion,
any thing whatſoever by way of donation, legacy, or feoffment
in truſt
As the tithe of the land was thus diſpoſed of to the ſecular Cler-
gy, and the lands themſelves in great meaſure to the Abbies, and
Monaſteries, that merchandize and labor might not paſs unexciſed,
ſeveral Orders of Friers, Beggars by profeſſion, ſwarmed over the
kingdom, who at firſt had no property, only a houſe to live in,
and were to be maintained by the alms and offerings of the people.
By degrees they alſo began to have lands and endowments, and
are therefore not eaſily to be diſtinguiſhed from Monks ; only,
that the Friers prowled about to pick up what they could, while the
monks were confined to their cloiſters: They clamed the Pulpits
from
P
? Cod. Theodof. 16. tit. 2. 1. 25. p. 48. anno 1370,
16
Book I.
THE LIFE OF
3
what
from the Pariſh Prieſts, inveighing againſt their ignorance and ina-
bility to preach; and magnified themſelves above the Monks, repre-
ſenting the latter as idle drones, who indolently indulged themſelves in
their hives. And by enlarging on the miracles of the Saints to allure
offerings to their ſhrines, and by attending the ſick beds of rich men,
they procured a very good ſubfiftence. They were far more active and
buſy than the Monks, running into every family, hearing confef-
fions, carrying about Indulgences, Agnus Dei's, Roſaries, Pebbles,
and other trumpery, which they made the world believe had great
virtue in them. Eraſmus paints them in three ſeveral pictures ? :
a fox in the pulpit; with a gooſe popping its head out of the hood
behind : a wolf abfolving ; but his cloke not ſufficient quite to
conceal the ſheep he had made a prey of : a monkey attending a
dying perſon ; one paw elevates the Hoſt, while the other is diving
into the fick man's pocket. In ſhort, Preachers to plunder ; Con-
feſſors to devour ; and charitable Viſitors of the fick to gull them
of their money. The Friers and the Monks between them are re-
ported to have become Lords of little leſs than half the Tempo-
ralities of the Kingdom '.
I ſhall ſay nothing of Chantries, Free Chapels, and ſuch Col-
leges as were founded for praying Souls out of Purgatory; as they
are all ſo well known to have ſerved the fame ends, and employed
the ſame perſons as have been already mentioned.
And when to all theſe we ihall have added the numbers engaged,
and the great coſt yearly expended in the Pope's Court at Rome,
his Legate's, and the Biſhop's courts here in England, we ſhall be
ſenſible that the primacy of Rome coſt the Engliſh an immenſe
ſum of money to maintain it.
It will be a natural curioſity to enquire what uſe and benefit the
people reaped in return, and what effect this ſcheme of Papa! Do-
minion had upon the Learning and Manners of that
age.
The
?
In his Ptochoploufioi.
i Sanderſon's Sermons, p. 211, 212.
:10.
Воок І.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
17
i
The ſecular or parochial Clergy were at a very
An Account
low ebb in point of learning.
. 5
They were
of their Learning greatly impoveriſhed by Impropriations ; one
third of the livings being vicarages with ſmall fti-
pends or allotments, did not afford them much money with which
they might purchaſe books: and for the richer rectories, many of
them were beſtowed by the Pope upon Italians, who never ſaw
their churches, but got them ſupplied as cheap as they could ; ſo
that their blind pariſhioners were left to as blind guides, fit only,
as the Friers upbraided them, like hackneys, to run the ſtage in
the Maſs-book.
The Monks wallowed in wealth, luxury, floth and idleneſs
their ſtudy ſeems to have been chiefly for amuſement, in reading
and writing hiſtories. Eraſmus very ſmartly laſhes them in his
Dialogue betwixt an Abbot and a learned Lady, where he
repre-
ſents the Abbots diſcouraging their monks from ſtudy, left they
ſhould become impertinently buſy and troubleſome : and deſcribes
them as conſuming their time in their ſeveral maſſes, hunting, fine
horſes, and entertainments ; inſomuch that there was danger, up-
on the revival of letters, that the very women would drive them
out of the Pulpits, Divinity-chairs, and Biſhopricks, and take pof-
ſeſſion of them themſelves.
The Friers, as their employment and gains rofe from giving ab-
ſolutions, pardons, and indulgences, and diſpenſing the merits and
interceſſions of Saints, exerciſed themſelves in the caſuiſtry and ſub-
tleties of the Schoolmen, to qualify themſelves for Confeſſors.
And in order to draw offerings to the ſhrines of their Saints, they
amuſed the people with legends of their miracles. This evil had
taken deep root an hundred years before, and was complained of
by Wicliff, “
Cap'd Friers, ſays he, that been cleped maiſters of
Divinity, ſenden out idiots full of covetiſe to preche, not the
Goſpel, but chronicles, fables, and leaſings to pleaſe the people,
" and to rob them."
D
There
***
IS
Book I.
THE LIFE OF
Amikor
There were few Sermons but in Lent ; for their diſcourſes on
the Holidays were rather Panegyricks on the Saints then commemo-
rated, or the vain magnifying of ſome of their reli&ts, which were
laid up in ſuch and ſuch places : in Lent the Friers uſed all the
force of their ſkill and induſtry to raiſe the people into heats by
paſſionate and affecting diſcourſes, which generally tended to raiſe
the value of ſome of the laws of the church, ſuch as abſtinence at
that time, confeſſion, and corporal ſeverities ; or ſome of the lit-
tle devices that both inflamed devotion, and drew money ; ſuch
as indulgences, pilgrimages, or the enriching the ſhrines and re-
licts of the Saints".
This bred emulations among them for the honor and enriching
of their reſpective cloiſters. The Franciſcans and Dominicans had
raiſed a mighty controverſy, which, at the beginning of this inter-
val, exerciſed almoſt all the Schools and Univerſities through the
whole Church. The Franciſcans, called Grey Friers or Minorites,
held with their Maſter Scotus, that the Virgin Mary, prevented
by the Grace of the Holy Ghoſt, was ſo fanctified, that the was
never ſubject one moment in her conception to Original Sin. This
was to enable her the better to be a Mediatrix: for in conſequence
of this they held, that ſhe did not pray to God at any time for re-
miffion of her owni fins, but for the remiſſion of other men's fins ;
and that ſhe counted their fins for hers. The Dominicans, called
Black Friers, or Preaching Friers, held with Thomas Aquinas,
that ſhe was conceived as all other children of Adam are. On
this point they had preached one againſt the other : but in 1483,
Pope Sixtus iv. by a Bull determined in favor of the Franciſcans,
as more agreeable to the ſyſtem of Popery: which was greatly to
the diſadvantage, as well as the diſgrace of the Dominicans.
The Dominicans endeavoured to recover their credit by a ſleight'.
Four of that Order had fo infatuated a ſimple Frier, who had
newly planted himſelf in the Cloiſter, with ſeveral ſuperſtitions and
illuſions,
, Burnet.
At Berne, in 1509. See Fox.
Book I. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
19
illuſions, that he believed the Virgin Mary had appeared to him,
and had offered him a red Hoſt confecrated, with the miraculous
blood of Chriſt : which bleſſed Virgin, he was alſo perſuaded,
had ſent him to the Senators of Berne with inſtructions, declaring
unto them from the mouth of the Virgin, that ſhe was conceived
in fin, and that the Franciſcan Friers were not to be credited, nor
ſuffered in the city, who were not yet reformed from that erroneous
opinion of her conception : moreover, that they ſhould reſort to a
certain Image there of the Virgin (which Image the Friers by en-
gines had made to ſweat) and Thould do their worſhip, and make
their oblations to the ſame. This device was ſcarce ſooner forged
by the Friers than it was believed by the people ; ſo that a great
while the red coloured Hoſt was taken undoubtedly for the true
body and blood of Chriſt ; and ſeveral coloured drops thereof fent
abroad to many noble Perſons and States for a great relict, which
brought in ample returns. Thus the deceived people flocked in
crowds to the Image, and to the red Hoſt and coloured blood with
their gifts and oblations. In ſhort they ſo vanquiſhed the Fran-
ciſcans, that all the alms came to their box. The Franciſcans
perceived they were over-reached, but were by no means con-
vinced. They had too much experience of theſe juggles to be de-
ceived by them ; and therefore were upon the watch to detect
them : which at length they did, and the Provincial of the Do-
minicans with his three Accomplices were burned for it.
This may ſerve for a taſte of the kind of learning that then en-
gaged the chief Scholars of the age, as the Friers were accounted
and the ſcope at which their ſtudies aimed. Many like Impoſtors
were diſcovered in England. And how by theſe, and other arts
they enriched their ſhrines, and miſled the people's devotion, may
be judged by the compariſon of two year's offerings, which Biſhop
Burnet gives us, made at three altars in Chriſt's Church, Canter-
bury ; namely, Chriſt's, the Virgin Mary's, and Thomas Becket's :
in one year there was offered at Chriſt's altar three pounds two
ſhillings
;
D 2
:
2
Book I.
THE LIFE OF
4
Thillings and fix pence. At the Virgin’s altar as much more : but
at St. Thomas's altar eight hundred and thirty two pounds twelve
ſhillings and three pence. In the next year, not a penny was of-
fered at Chriſt's altar ; at the Virgin's four pounds fifteen ſhillings
and eight pence. And at St. Thomas's nine hundred and fifty four
pounds fix ſhillings and three
pence.
In ſhort, an entire new Goſpel and ſcheme of Redemption was
invented. Chriſt was no longer a Saviour, but a Judge only ; be-
fore whom we need only produce for our acquittal, the merit of our
own Good Works, ſuch as alms, offerings, and pilgrimages ; or
the merits or interceſſions of ſome Saints that we had purchaſed ;
or the acts of grace from Popes in our favor.
As all this was contrary to the Scriptures, the Bible was very
little known, locked up from the people in a language to which
they were ſtrangers, and the Clergy had no occaſion (as far as
that religion was concerned) or any encouragement to ſtudy it.
Wicliff tells us, that in his time, it was ordered in the Univerſity
of Oxford, that Prieſts and Curates were not to read the Scrip
tures, till they were nine or ten years ſtanding there. And by the
Conſtitutions of Arundel it was ordered, that none ſhould preach
any doctrine contrary to the determination of the Church, nor
• call in queſtion what the Church had determined on pain of ex-
communication ipfo faéto, and for the ſecond offence of being de-
clared an Heretick. And that nobody by his own authority
· Mould tranſlate any text of Holy Scripture into Engliſh, or any
other language, by way of a book, libel, or tract ; and that no
• ſuch ſhould be read, either in part or all, publickly or privately,
under pain of the greater excommunication, until by the Dioceſan
• of the place, or, if the caſe ſhould require it, by a Provincial
* Council, the Tranſlation flould be approved.' Such care was ta-
ken to keep the people entirely from the knowledge of the ſcrip-
tures, and diſcourage the Clergy's ſtudy of them. Theſe laſt acted
upon the principle, which had not loſt ground fince Wicliff's days,
namely,
<
.
Book I. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
21
namely, that the decrees of Biſhops in the Church are of greater
authority than the Scriptures". Such as did look into them, found
little there to their ſatisfaction ; as appears from a ſaying of Whit-
gift, Abbot of Wellow, in Lincolnſhire, and Uncle to the Arch-
biſhop of that name in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. He ſaid, the
religion of the Monaſteries could not long continue.
« I have
" read, ſaid he, the Scriptures over and over; and could never find
therein that our Religion was founded by God: and every plant-
ing which my heavenly Father hath not planted, ſhall be rooted
"o up".
As to the people, they were ſeverely proſecuted if they preſumed
to read ſuch heretical books as the Scriptures were accounted.
We find ſeveral cited before Faitzjames, Biſhop of London, in 1512,
for reading and uſing certain Engliſh books repugnant to the faith
of the Romiſh Church, as the four Evangeliſts, a book of the
ten Commandments of Almighty Got the Revelation of St.
• John, the Epiſtles of Paul and James.' And again, . One Richard
• Butler y, for that he did erroneouſly and damnably read in a great
· book of Robert Durdants, certain chapters of the Evangeliſts in
Engliſh, containing in them divers erroneous and dainnable opi-
inions and concluſions of hereſy”. And in Scotland, when the
Lutheran Controverſy had been for ſome time carried on, fome
Monks there charged Luther with being the Author of a wicked
Book called the New Teſtament a.
Another branch of learning in vogue was the Canon Law,
through which lay the high road to honors and preferments.
In the Univerſities ſophiſtical querks, Ariſtotle and Scotus gene-
rally prevaled. Eraſmus gives us a good view of this Scholaſtick
Divinity, when he aſks, what was to be done with the Turks, if
we conquered them, and would attempt to bring them over to
Chriſtianity. • Shall we, ſays he, put into their hands an Occam,
• a Durandus, a Scotus, a Gabriel, or an Alvarus ? What will
' they think of us? (for after all they are rational creatures) What
« will
y In 1521
& Life of Wicliff, p. 27.
2 Fox, Hen. viii. p. 10.
* Fuller's Church Hiſtory.
a Perizonius, in hiftor. fæc. ſexti decimi, p. 233
THE LIFE OF
BOOK I.
;
• will they think, when they hear of our intricate and perplexed
• Subtleties concerning Inftants, Formali'ies, Quiddities, and Rela-
' tions ? What, when they obſerve our quibbling Profeſſors fo lit-
« tle of a mind, that they diſpute together till they turn pale with
fury, call names, ſpit in one another's faces, and even come to
• blows ? What, when they behold the Jacobins fighting for their
• Thomas, and the Minorites for their moſt refined and ſeraphick
· Doctors, and the Nominaliſts and Realiſts, each defending their
' own jargon, and attacking that of their adverſaries 6.'
In the laſt reign Greek was a ſtranger in both Univerſities ; and fo
little even of Latin had Cambridge of its own growth, that it had not
ſufficient to furniſh out the common Letters and Epiſtles of the Uni-
verſity; they uſually employed an Italian, one Caius Auberinus,
to compoſe them, whoſe ordinary fee was twenty pence a Letter c.
The firſt publick Orator choſen to this Office was Richard Crook,
in 1525. The ſtate of leārning in Oxford cannot be ſuppoſed any
better, as they with greater difficulty admitted the new learning,
which about the beginning of this century was introduced
into the kingdom ; for in 1497 Eraſmus came over into England,
and went to Oxford, where he grew acquainted with Wolſey and
Mr. (afterwards Sir Thomas) More. His acquaintance with the
former proved fortunate for Oxford, as Wolſey probably received
from it a better taſte of Learning, and a reſolution to encourage it,
which he afterwards did when Chancellor of that Univerſity. In
1505 Eraſmus ſtudied at Queen's College in Cambridge; where
it is not improbable that he was a mean of introducing thoſe many
Authors he mentions", whoſe very names were till then unknown
there. Greek began to be taught in both Univerſities, quietly at
Cambridge, but with ſome tumult at Oxford.
Some eminent Scholars were then in the kingdom, but moſt of
them ſuch as had fetched their learning from abroad, or whoſe un-
common
ز
MSS. in Bennet College Library. Lib. P. p. 194.
Epift. Lib. 23. Epiſt. 7.
Epiſt. Lib. 2. Ep. 1o.
Book I.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
23
common livelineſs of parts and diligence had removed the rubbiſh
that lay in their way. Such was Colet,' whom as often as I
hear, (ſays Eraſmus,) methinks I hear the divine Plato hinfelf.'
he had travelled to Paris and Italy, and at his return read the Epif-
tles at Oxford, inſtead of Scotus and Thomas. He founded a
Grammar School at St. Paul's, and appointed William Lilly the
firſt Schoolmaſter ; who had travelled in pilgrimage as far as Jeru-
falem, and in his return applied himſelf to his ſtudies in Italy un-
der Sulpitius and Sabinus, two eminent Criticks *. Italy was then
the almoſt only ſeat of Claſſick learning; there it flouriſhed to the
excluſion of every other branch, except Phyſick and Law'. ' In
Grocyn, as Eraſmus proceeds, who cannot but admire that uni-
' verſal compaſs of learning ; what more acute, more profound,
* more accurate than the judgment of Linacres what did nature
ever form ſo ſoft, ſo ſweet, ſo happy, as the wit of Sir Thomas
• More?' Indeed in alınoſt all the Univerſities of Europe polite
literature was ſtruggling with its inveterate enemies to gain admit-
tance, except at Cologn only, where it could gain none ; which
Erafmus afcribes to the ſwarms of Franciſcans and Dominicans
there.
So that, though the principal learning in vogue was the ſubtle-
ties of the Schoolmen, legends and miracles, the common law,
decrees and decretals, with very little knowledge of the Scriptures,
barbarous Latin, law French, Gothic poetry, and a contempt of
Greek ; yet by the induſtry of a few, ſuch as Warham, Eraſmus,
Colet, Grocyne, Lilly and others, eſpecially the Chancellors of
both Univerſities, Wolſey at Oxford, and Fiſher, Biſhop of Ro-
cheſter, at Cambridge, a politer taſte of Latin, and new light from
an
e Lilly publiſhed his Latin Grammar in 1515: which, as King Henry enjoined univer-
ſally to be uſed, (Fuller Cent: 16. p. 1687.) was probably the exerciſe of our young
Scholar at Newcaſtle ; where it came time enough to improve him in the Latin tongue,
not to give him his firſt rudiments of it.
f Eraſm. Epift. Lib. 17. Ep. 11..
24
Book I.
THE LIFE OF
an acquaintance with the Greek, began to break upon the nation,
and diſturb the folemn ignorance of the Cloiſters.
Nay, dangerous as it was, the Scriptures began to be opened and
taught ; Colet had laid aſide Scotus and Thomas, and introduced
the reading of St. Paul's Epiſtles at Oxford, and had ventured even
to tranſlate the Pater nofter into Engliſh. It is true this coſt him
much trouble from his Dioceſan Fitzjames, Biſhop of London :
but Archbiſhop Warham, v.ho knew and favored Dean Colet's
merit, ſaved him from the Biſhop's reſentment.
Ever ſince the days of Wicliff, who had tranſlated the New
Teſtament into Engliſh, the whole or ſome parts of it had b en
privately handed about, and greedily read by many.
Not openly,
for that they durſt not do : but, in fecret, before Luther appeared,
they would fit up all night in reading and hearing it; they wou'd
give ſome five marks, fome more, for part of the Scriptures in En-
gliſh; ſome gave a load of hay for a few Chapters of St. James or
St. Paul tranſlated %.
But this was yet only a glimmering, rather than a ſhining out
éither of the Goſpel, or of learning. Printing, which had been
invented about fourſcore years before, had only fown the ſeeds of
learning, the time of harveſt was not yet : Wicliff, who about
the ſame time had endeavoured to unlock the Scriptures by tranſla-
ting them, had rather ſtirred the curioſity of the people, than in-
formed their judgment. In general, the Schoolmen and Canon
Law triumphed, and polite literature was but creeping in ; in-
deed the King, the good Archbishop Warham, and the Chancel-
lors of both the Univerſities gave it ſome encouragement, while
the old Clergy were jealous of the novelty, and ſet themſelves a-
However, both the regal, and the whole facerdotal
power jointly concurred in ſuppreſſing the knowledge of the Scrip-
tures; and he who was wicked enough to read his Bible was in
danger of burning for it ". The preference given to the Schoolmen
above
waitemente *****
gainſt it.
& Fox.
* See Regiſtr. Longland Lincoln, in Fox.
Воок І. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
25
above the Scriptures, made Eraſmus complain in a letter to the
Archbiſhop of Mentz, “ formerly he was accounted a Heretick
« who contradicted the goſpels, or articles of faith, or points de-
• termined by like authority: but now, if any one oppoſes Aquinas,
• or the devices of any little Sophiſt of yeſterday, he is preſently
an Heretick. Whatſoever they like not, whatſoever they under-
• ſtand not, that is hereſy. To underſtand greek is hereſy, to
Speak correctly is hereſy, in ſhort every thing to which they are
not accuſtomed is hereſy'.
This view of the power and revenue of the Pope
$.6. A View of in England, the numbers, orders, and maintenance
the Popiſ Religion. of his Clergy and Officers here, would lead us to
ſuſpect a plan or ſyſtem of Religion rather con-
trived by the Spirit of this world, than one reveled by the Spirit
of God. But I am writing a hiſtory, and not indulging conjec-
tures. We may take ſome aim at their doctrines and diſcipline
from the Biſhop's regiſters in thoſe days, in which are recorded the
opinions abjured, or for which the maintainers of them were put
to death.
Againſt the uſurped Supremacy of the Pope, and the exemption
of Eccleſiaſticks from the Civil power, from which ſo many
incon-
veniences followed, ſome were driven to cut the knot they could
not untie, and to hold that Prieſts have no more power of God
than Laymen.
In oppoſition to the prevaling art of diving into people's ſecrets,
and by that means governing them, others denied the neceſſity of
Auricular Confeffion.
Beſide the abſurdity of Tranſubſtantiation, they ſaw that doctrine
was calculated to create an unbounded reverence of the Prieſts, as
if they were ſuperior to God himſelf * ; and therefore ſome main-
E
tained
Eraſm. Epift. Lib. 12. Ep. 10.
* A Franciſcan preaching before the Marquiſs of Carmupa at Milan, ſaid " Kings in-
* deed were above other men, but that Prieſts were ſuperior to Kings. Among other rea-
fons,
26
Book I.
THE LIFE OF
**,
Wien Witz'.-
RES
tained that the Sacrament of the Altar was not the very body of
Chriſt, but material bread.
Againſt the Idolatry of the age, univerſally inſiſted on to pick
people's pockets at the fhrines, others maintained, that neither
Images, nor the Crucifix were to be worſhipped.
Againſt vain Merit, eſpecially of outward unprofitable works,
highly encouraged for the offerings attending them, many held
that Pilgrimages were neither neceſſary, nor meritorious.
Againſt an attendant or conſequent Idolatry, they maintained
that our prayers were to be addreſſed to God only, and not to
Saints.
Againſt other falſe and vain dependences, ſuch as Holy Water
for the Living, and Extreme Unction for the Dying, they held
that the one was nothing better after benediction than before ; and
that the latter was neither neceſſary, nor profitable '.
It is obvious to diſcern what purpoſes the Popish Doctrines were
calculated to ferve ; and the ſeverity, with which the Oppoſers of
them were puniſhed, declare of what importance the Eccleſiaſtical
Judge thought them.
Such heretical tenets, as they were then accounted, had been
for a long while creeping into the kingdom, ever ſince the days of
Walter Lollard, who revived them in Germany about 1313.
Yet they gained but little ground here, till Wicliff, towards the
end of that century, took pains to propagate them. From his
time, which was now little more than one hundred years, they
were ſecretly countenanced by ſeveral; his numerous writings
Having perſuaded many ; fome of whom went more extravagant
lengths. Wicliff's writings were therefore prohibited. But the.
works of Chaucer had a like effect; who, as he worked more co-
vertly,
fons, becauſe although Kings could command the Creature, the Priert commanded the
-Creator. Kings had much trouble and difficulty to make the people obey him, but the
• Prieſts by virtue of the words of conſecration conſtrained God Almighty Himſelf to dem.
« ſcend into their hands upon the very firſt ſignal.' Hiſtory of Cardinals, p. 13.
Canterbury Regitter, 1511, and others.
3
BOOK I. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
27
vertly, was allowed to be read ; except his Ploughinan's Tale ;
where indeed he ſpeaks plain enough, and very powerfully recom-
mends the Lollards or Wiclivians in preference to the Popiſh
Clergy.
That the corruptions were great, and the abuſes
$.7. The Neceſſity intolerable, was difcerned and felt in general. To
of a Refortxation. paſs over the complaints of Germany, and the de-
clamations of perſons who may be repreſented as
prejudiced, let us enter the Pope's Cabinet, and judge from the
advice of his Privy Counſellors how to ftop the great clamors raiſed
againſt the Court of Rome, what juſt occaſion had been given to
alarm the Weſtern world, and to ſeek for ſome redreſs. The advice
indeed was given many years after the interval I am now ſpeaking of,
ſo late as Queen Mary's Reign : but this counſel of the Biſhops at
Bononia, by what effectual means the Apoſtolical See might be
eſtabliſhed and advanced, after it had been ſhaken by the Reforma-
tion, will evidently thew what reaſon there was for making ſuch a
ſtand againſt it in vindication of Chriſtian Liberty.
After their preface, they acknowledge in ſubſtance thus
· When we had well and long confidered what was the ſtate of
• this weighty controverſy, recollecting all things from the begin-
ning, we at laſt found it to be this : the Lutherans hold and
* confeſs all the articles of the Apoſtles Creed, that of Nice and
* Athanaſius. This is very certain, for we ought not to deny (ef-
pecially among ourſelves) what we all know to be ſo true. And
• theſe Lutherans refuſe to admit of any other doctrine, but that
alone, of which the Prophets, Chriſt, and his Apoſtles were au-
• thors. We, on the other hand, following the opinion of your
• Holineſs, would have all Traditions, Conſtitutions, Rules, and
* Ceremonies, which have hitherto been brought into the Church,
* by the Fathers, Councils, or any Private Men, (with a good in-
tention) believed and received as doctrine neceſſary to Salvation :
'but particularly as to Tradition, we believe as an article of faith,
( what
<
E 2
28
BOOK L
THE LIFE OF
<
Hithers
w
ve the car. ************ pertanyaan
what the Council of Trent has decreed in the third Seſſion, viz.
that our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, and his Apoſtles, delivered more pre-
cepts, relating both to manners and faith, by word of mouth,
* than are in the Scriptures; and that theſe, without writing, were
• handed down to us : and although we cannot prove this clearly,
(for amongſt ourſelves we plainly acknowledge, that we have no
proofs, but fome ſort of conjectures, to make out what we teach
concerning Tradition) yet we confeſs this to be true, becauſe the
• Roman Church maintains it. This in ſhort is the hinge on which
• the whole controverſy turns; hence theſe tumults and contentions,
' procede. But we ought to venture all to keep their doctrine from;
ſpreading ; for it is no trifle that is under debate, but the ſafety:
. and welfare of your whole State, and of us, who are all
your
• creatures and members, is now at ſtake. For in the days of the
Apoſtles (to tell
you the truth, but you muſt be filent) and for
• ſeveral years after them, there was no mention made of either
Pope or Cardinals; there were none of theſe large revenues bem.
• longing to Birhops and Prieſts; no ſumptuous Temples were
• raiſed; there were no Monaſteries, Priors, or Abbots; much leſs
any of theſe Doctrines, thefe Laws, theſe Conſtitutions, nor this
Sovereignty, which we now exerciſe over people and nations.
• But the Miniſters of all Churches (as well that of Rome, as
others) were willingly obedient to Kings, Princes and Governours.
· Let
your
Holineſs therefore judge how hard it would go with us,
• if, by ill deſtiny, we ſhould again be reduced to the primitive
poverty and humility, again ſubjected to the wretched fervitude
. of being under the command of others.
· We find upon füll' examination of the matter, that the glory,
authority, and power of the church firſt aroſe when Ihrewd, dif-
crete, active Biſhops began to preſide over it, who uſed their op-
portunities to obtain from the Emperours, that they would by
* their authority and power eſtabliſh the Primacy and Supreme
a Power over other Churches, in this See.. And this Pope Boni-
• face:
wie internet inte har
***
De tovar
is
:
Book ).
29
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
6
• face iii. amongſt others, is ſaid to have received from the Empe-
'rour Phocas:
We obſerved likewiſe, that the affairs of the Church began
• more and more to flouriſh every day, when Cardinals were created,
- the number of Biſhops was encreaſed, and ſo many and ſo godly
6 Orders of Monks and Nuns were firſt founded.
Nor can we
· doubt, but thoſe Popes, Cardinals, Biſhops, Monks, and Nuns
have by their cunning, their inventions, rites, and ceremonies
• turned away the Church from that antient doctrine which kept
• her ſo poor and humble, and have by theſe arts procured her fa-
óvor and authority. We ought therefore to take the ſame mea-
• ſures to preſerve her in that ſtate to which they have raiſed her, ;-
that is, all kind of application and wit is to be employed ; and
" the number of Cardinals, Biſhops, Monks, and Nuns is to be en-
«creaſed.
· France, Italy, and Spain, are content with your empire, the laſt
of which religiouſly obſerves all your Laws and Conſtitutions,
and does not change or innovate in any thing :
thing: but if
. there are any Hereticks amongſt them, they are ſuch as rather
deny that the Meſſias. is yet come, or that men's Souls are im-
mortal, than queſtion the Power of your
Holineſs. But without
doubt, this herefy of theirs ſeems to us more. ſufferable than that
. of Luther; and the reaſon is plane, for theſe Moriſcoes, though
they believe nothing of Chriſt, or a future ſtate, are yet wont to
* hold their tongues, or at moſt, laugh amongſt themſelves, and
* in the mean time they are not at all wanting in their duty to the
* Roman Church.
It would not be amiſs to ſend a great many of thoſe Prieſts that
they call Chietini and Paulini into France and Italy , for to ſay
the truth, theſe common Prieſts and Monks do really abuſe the
“ Maſs too much, which they ſay with little or no devotion, chop-
ping it up in haſte, and making a public fale of it: beſide, they
• live ſuch diffolute, profligate lives, that men deſervedly, give now
longee
6
30
Book I.
THE LIFE OF
i
Autonomous
GAS
remony
jpg -
* longer credit to them, or ſuffer themſelves to be perſuaded (though
* our Sophiſters take great pains about it) that a wicked debauched
• Fellow can draw Chriſt out of Heaven to the altar, free Souls
from Purgatory, and obtain forgiveneſs of fins both to them-
• ſelves and others, and all this by the works done.
You ſhould likewiſe make it your buſineſs to get new Orders of
* Moriks founded every where ; for They, believe us, do great
ſervice in the eſtabliſhment of
your Dominion.
For you may
conſider how they have encreaſed it by the confeſſions, preaching,
and worſhip, which they have brought into the Church. Be-
** fide, we are taught this by long expérience, that the Sect of the
• Lutherans has been lefs able to intrude itſelf there, where is the
* greateſt numbers of Monks (eſpecially Dominicans and Franciſ-
* cans) who have ſtoutly maintained Your, and overthrown the
• Adverſaries doctrine.
And after ſome directions for the encreaſe of ceremonies, they
procede, ; ' Befide, we adviſe, that your Holineſs ſhould lay your
* commands on thoſe Biſhops and Cardinals that happen to refide
* in their dioceſes, that they take care to have Logick, Sophifry,
« and the Art of the Schoolmen, Metaphyſicks, the Decretals, the
· Clementines, the Extravagants, and the rules of Chancery pub-
lićkly taught and read in their cities. It had been well if men
* had ever applied themſelves induſtriouſly to the reading ſuch fort
• of books, for then our affairs' had never been in ſo bad a poſture
• as they are ; but deſpiſing this ſort of learning, they began to
'employ themſelves in learning Greek and Hebrew, and in a little
* time to examine the Tranſlation of the Bible by the true Origi-
nál, and to ſtudy Divinity, and the artient Fathers of the church;
and hence ſprång all the misfortunes we lie’under therefore you
*muſt endeavour, thát, letting theſe húdies afide, men Yhvaid again
fåll to the ſtudy of the Schoolmen -and of your Canon Law: by
which it is manifeft, the ftudy of Divinity was in a manner over-
whelmed and buried.
*
Wc
>
BOOK I. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
31
6
our churches, will find there is great difference betwixt them ;
We mentioned not the Decretum, for it is a pernicious book,
• and leſſens your Authority, extremely, although it ſeems in ſome
• places to enlarge it : for, amongſt other things, in ſeveral places,
it denies, That the Pope can add the leaſt tittle to that doctrine,
which our Saviour declared to us, and the Apoſtles taught ; for
• thus ſays the Canon, Transferat, &c. 24. 9. 3. • They change
• truth into a lie, who preach any thing elſe than what they re-
ceived from the Apoſtles. This is a downright Lutheran max-
• im ; for what elſe do our Adverſaries daily inculcate, than that
it is not lawful to depart in the leaſt degree from thoſe things
• that were in uſe amongſt the Apoſtles ? But who of us doth not
every day often depart from them ? Indeed in our churches we
* ſcarce retain (as we hinted at the beginning) the leaſt ſhadow of
e that doctrine and diſcipline, which flouriſhed in the times of the
Apoſtles, but have brought in quite another of our own.
· But we have reſerved the moſt conſiderable advice, which we
• could at this time give your Holineſs, to the laſt. And here
you muſt be awake, and exert all your force to hinder, as much
• sis you can poſibly, the Goſpel from being read (eſpecially in the
vulgar tongue) in all the cities that are under your Dominion.
· Let that little text of it which they have in the Maſs ſerve their
turn, nor ſuffer any mortal to read any thing more ;
g more ; for as long
as men were contented with that little, things went to your mind,
.but grew worſe and worſe from that time that they coinmonly
read more. This in ſhort is the book, that has, beyond all others,
• raiſed thoſe ſtorms and tempeſts, in which we are almoſt driven
to deſtruction. And really, whoſoever ſhall diligently weigh the
* Scripture, and then conſider all the things that are uſually done in
$
i
• and that this doctrine of ours is very unlike, and in many things
quite repugnant to it.'
Such was the claſet counſel of the Biſhops of Termulæ, Caprulæ,
and Thefalonica to Pope Julius iji, Ox. 20, 1553, which, though
not
..
BOOK I.
32
ICTAE LIFE OF
:
<
not given till the time of Ridley's death, yet I judged it proper to
produce in this place, to juſtify the wiſhes of many people in this
very interval of which I am ſpeaking, for a reformation ; and to
give the more credit to the complaints which were publiſhed about
this time in England, in a ſmall tract by Mr. Simon Fiſh, a Gentle-
man of Grays-Inn, in the year 1526, addreſſed to Henry viii. and
ſtiled The Supplication of Beggars.
He accounts for the great number of diſtreſt and ſtarving beggars,
from the immenfe and diſproportioned wealth of the Clergy at that
time. Beſide the tithes, the Prelates, Abbots, Priors, Monks, and
Canons had, as he ſays, got more than the third part of all the
realm into their hands. And then procedes to reckon up
the fur-
ther profits of the Clergy, in theſe words ;
* Hereto have they their four offering days ; what money pull
they in by Probates of Teſtaments, privy tithes, and by men's Of-
ferings, and their Pilgrimages, and at their firſt Maſſes ? Every
* man and child that is buried muſt pay ſomewhat for Maſſes and
Dirges to be ſung for him, or elſe they will accuſe their friends
* and executors of hereſy. What money get they by Mortuaries,
by hearing of Confeſſions, and yet they will keep thereof no
counſel,) by hallowing of Churches, Altars, Super-altars, Cha-
pels and Bells, by curſing of men and abſolving them again for
money? What a multitude of money gather the Pardoners in a
year
? How much get the Sumners by extortion in a year, by
fciting the people to the Commiſſaries Court, and afterwards
releaſing the apparents for money ? Finally, the infinite numbers
• of begging Friers, what get they in a year ?"
The five Orders of Friers, he tells us, had each a penny a quar-
ter of every houſehold, that is, every houſe paid twenty pence a
year amongſt them.
• And what do all this greedy fort of ſturdy, idle, holy Thieves
with theſe yearly exactions that they take of the people ? Truly,
nothing but exempt themſelves from the obedience of your Grace.
Nothing
6
1
Book 1. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
33
tas maistas de lavale tensiones de la intencia de les matinska de vista dividir iad
Nothing but tranſlate all rule, power, lordſhip, authority, obe-
dience, and dignity, from your Grace unto them. Yea, and
what do they more ? Truly nothing but apply themſelves, by all
the Neights they may, to have to do with every man's wife,
og every man's daughter, and every man's maid ..... that no man
• ſhould know his own child, that their baſtards might inherit
the poſſeſſions of every man, to put the right begotten children
* clean beſide their inheritance; in ſubverſion of all eſtates and god-
'
ly order. ....
Who is able to number the great and broad bot-
tomleſs ocean ſea full of evils, that this miſchievous and ſinful
* generation may lawfully bring upon us unpuniſhed ? Where is
your ſword, power, crown, and dignity, that ſhould puniſh by
· death, even as other men are puniſhed, the felonies, rapes, mur-
ders, and treaſons committed by this ſinful generation? Where is
« their obedience who ſhould be under your high power in this
• matter? Is it not altogether tranſlated from your Grace unto
o them ?'
Then, to thew how deſperate of relief the kingdom was, he
aſks, • What remedy ? Make Laws againſt them? I am in doubt
• whether ye
be able. Are they not ſtronger in your own Parlia-
• liament Houſe than yourſelf? What a number of Biſhops, Ab-
bots, and Priors are Lords of your Parliament ? What Law can
· be made againſt theni that may be avaleable ? Who is he (al-
though he be grieved ever ſo ſore,) that for the murder of his
• anceſtor, raviſhment of his wife, of his daughter, robbery, tref-
paſs, maim, debt, or any other offence, dare lay it to their charge
by any way of action ? And if he do, then is he by and by,
through their wilineſs accuſed of hereſy : yea, they will ſo handle
him ere he paſs, that except he will bear a faggot for their plea-
ſure, he ſhall be excommunicate, and then be all his actions
• daſhed.
Neither have they any color to gather theſe yearly exactions
into their hands, but that they ſay, they pray for us to God, to
F
• deliver
6
M
34
Воок І.
THE LIFE OF
* deliver our Souls out of the pains of Purgatory ; without whoſe
prayers they ſay, or at leaſt the Pope's pardon, we can never be
• delivered thence. Which, if it be true, then it is good reaſon
* that we give all theſe things, although it were an hundred times
• as much. But there be many men of great literature and judg-
• ment, that for the love they have unto truth, and unto the Com-
• monwealth, have not feared to put themſelves into the greateſt
infamy that may be, in abjection of all the world, yea in peril
• of death,
to declare their opinion in this matter : which is,
that there is no Purgatory ; but that it is a thing invented by the
* covetouſneſs of the Spiritualty, only to tranſlate all kingdoms
* from other Princes unto them; and that there is not one word,
ſpoken of it in all Holy Scripture. They ſay alſo, that if there
were a Purgatory, and alſo that if the Pope with his pardons:
may for money deliver one Soul thence, he may deliver him as
« well without money; if he may deliver one, he
* thouſand ; if he may deliver a thouſand, he may deliver All, and
• ſo deſtroy Purgatory: and then he is a cruel Tyrant, without all
charity, if he keep them there in priſon and in pain, till men
• will give him money.
· Well I wot, that this Purgatory and the Pope's pardons are the
great ſcab, why they will not let the New Teſtament
go
abroad
your mother tongue, left men ſhould eſpy, that by their cloked
· hypocriſy they do tranſlate thus faft your kingdom into their
• hands; that they are not obedient to your high power ; that they
are cruel, unclean, unmerciful and hypocrites; that they ſeek not the
* honor of Chriſt, but their own; that remiſſion of fins is not given
by the Pope's pardon, but by Chriſt, for the true faith and truſt
# that we have in him
may deliver a
in
But:
* Fox.. Henry viii. p. 2a
Book I.
35
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
againſt it.
But though the people had a ſenſe quick enough
8. 8. Te obſtacles to feel the Papal Tyranny, they had not power
fufficient to ſhake it off : although the lucrative
errors in ſupport of that Tyranny began to be diſ-
covered, there were not yet knowledge and underſtanding ſuffi-
cient to reform them with judgment. Learning and Reformation
indeed began to dawn together upon the nation ; but ſuch black
clouds hung over them, as threatned to extinguiſh their riſing day.
God had faid, Let there be light; and there was light : but not
yet digeſted into a regular and uſeful ſyſtem ; the darkneſs, that
mingled with it, was more likely to eclipſe it, than to be diſpelled
by it. The goſpel-light did not ſhine ſo clear and diſentangled,
as to break irreſiſtibly upon the rational or the pious.
Some learned and good men had diſcovered many groſs errors ;
yet had they, as private Doctors, their ſingular opinions, not ſo
certainly true, as to bear up againſt the contempt with which they
were induſtriouſly treated : Others, of more devotion than judg-
ment, brought in their dreams, enthuſiaſms and miſtakes : ma-
ny, zealous againſt the papal exceffes, hurried themſelves into
very extravagant extremes. Beſide Theſe, who meant well, men
of lighter fancies were ſucked in, and ſwam with the ſtream; the
Vain, who affected to be wiſer than their Teachers
the Imperti-
nent, who loved to be meddling ; the Peeviſh, who are always
diſſatisfied; the Warm, who could keep no bounds or temper ; thc
Worldly and Avaritious, who quarrelled at the expence ; the
Profane, who will join with any religion to diſturb that eſtabliſh-
ed ; and the Profligate, who are natural enemies to all reſtraints
of
government, Civil or Religious. It is impoſſible to keep ſuch
men as theſe from bufying themſelves too far : and their abſurdi-
ties, follies, and miſconduct, threw, at this very time, a great diſ-
credit
upon
the
attempts towards a Reformation ; gave the Papal
party great advantages in declaming againſt them ;
diſcouraged
;
.
and very
very much
F 2
36
Book I.
THE LIFE OF
C
0
diſcouraged many good people from joining with them. Such we
find, quite from Wicliff's days, even down to the preſent, have
retarded or diſgraced the Reformation. Knyghton, who gives us
an account of the great numbers of the Wiclivians in his days, does
it in theſe words ; « The number of thoſe who believed in his doc-
'trine very much encreaſed, and, like fuckers growing out of the
root of a tree, were multiplied, and every where filled the com-
paſs of the kingdom. Theſe were like their Maſter, too elo-
quent and too many for other people in all diſputes or contentions
by word of mouth; being powerful in words, ſtrong in pratling,
exceding all in making ſpeeches, and out-talking every body in
litigious diſputations ".
The indiſcrete and ill principled men, that thruſt themſelves in:
the rational and ſerious good Chriſtians, damped the Re-
formation at this time ; obſtructed it by their impertinence in the
latter days of King Henry; deformed it by their enthuſiaſms under
Muncer in Germany ; ſpoiled it by their rapaciouſneſs under Ed-
ward vi. deſerted it by their unfettledneſs under Q. Mary; weak-
ened it by their ſowerneſs under Q. Elizabeth; and have diſgraced
and diſturbed it by their follies and obſtinacy ever ſince.
But befide theſe diſcouragements, the Civil Power very heartily
concurred in ſupport of the Papal ; and the union of the two pow-
ers was ſuch an impediment, as effectually ſuppreſſed the growth
of Goſpel Knowledge. That we may the more clearly apprehend
the ſtrength of this Union, it will be neceſſary to take a curſory:
view of the capital events during the interval before us.
among
1485..
The wars between the Two Houſes of York:
$. 9. A brief viery of and Lancaſter, which had long diſtracted the
publick Tranſactions du
ring this period.
kingdom, were ended in the marriage of the
Earl of Richmond, now. King Henry vii. with
the Princeſs Elizabeth, Heireſs of the Houſe of York. But they
2
were
* De Eyentibus Angliæ. Col. 2663, 2665; ,
*
Book I. DR. NICHOLAS RIDL E Y.
37
:
;
were too near of kin to marry without the Pope's diſpenſation ;
and even his title to the crown, (notwithſtanding his deſcent, his
victory, marriage, and an Act of Parliament,) he thought too in-
ſecure till confirmed by the Pope's Bull. This laid the foundation
of a political friendſhip betwixt the Pope and King of England ;
which was ſtrengthened by an alliance with Ferdinand and Iſabella
of Spain, the moſt devoted Princes in Europe to the See of Rome
who had revived in that kingdom the Court of Inquiſition, which
was taken little notice of, either there, or in
any
other
part
of Eu-
rope, except Italy, till they reſtored it.
Henry viith's chief paſſions were an implacable hatred to the
Houſe of York, and an inſatiable avarice : Both were gratified in
the marriage of his Son, Prince Arthur, with the Infanta of Spain;
as he was to receive in dowry with her two hundred thouſand du-
cats, the greateſt portion that had been given for many ages with
any Princeſs ; and as Ferdinand inſiſted (or at leaſt K. Henry took
this occaſion to give out that he did fo,) in order to ſecure the
crown to the Heirs of that marriage, that the only ſurviving Com-
petitor of the Houſe of York ſhould be removed out of the
way.
With theſe views Arthur and Catharine were married by Proxy,
May 19, and the unhappy Earl of Warwick for conſpiring with 1501.
Perkin Warbeck to raiſe fedition, and to deſtroy the King, was
beheaded the 28th of November following:
A marriage contracted with too bloody a view to be very
fortu-
nate to any perſons concerned in it ! of which Queen Catharine
afterwards was ſenſible, and acknowledged itº. November the
marriage was folemnized; but not bleſſed by Heaven. The Prince,
to whom his Father, by cutting off the Earl of Warwick, hoped
to ſecure his crown, died ſoon after ; and dying without iſſue, half
of the rich dowry (the King's other object) was to be paid back to April 2.
Spain. However, not to be too haſty in this point, Henry waited
ten months, to ſee whether the Princeſs might be left with child,
or not : and then the King's youngeſt Son, Henry, was created
Prince of Wales..
1503
In.
Lord Verulam's Hift. of H. vii. p. 112..
14,
1502.
38
BooΚΙ.
THE L I F E OF
;
--
In the mean time, the King, unwilling to loſe ſo much money,
projected a marriage betwixt Henry and his Brother Arthur's wi-
dow. That learned and good Prelate (as the times then were)
and the King's great Favorite, Archbiſhop Warham, could never
be prevaled upon to approve a conjunction forbidden by God un-
der ſo ſevere a commination. It was likewiſe repreſented, that it
would occaſion conteſts for the crown againſt the heirs of ſo in-
ceſtuous a marriage : but the King, blinded by his avarice, was
ſatisfied by an expedient propoſed by Fox, Biſhop of Wincheſter
which was, a diſpenſation from the Pope, to prevent all the ill
conſequences apprehended.
The deaths of Alexander vi. and Pius iii. ſucceſſively prevented
the diſpenſation being granted till 26 Dec, this year, when it was
obtained of Julius ii. The Pope, though his chief divines did not
aſſent to it', was willing to oblige two ſuch Kings as Ferdinand
and Henry vii. and to ſecure the dependence of England; whoſe
future Princes, born of this marriage, muſt be beholden to the
Pope's friendſhip to allow or diſallow their Title in conſequence
of it.
But how did the over-ruling Providence of God diſappoint the
wicked politicks of theſe Princes, and conduct the events contrary
to what they projected! King Henry vii. to ſecure the crown to
his children, laid the foundation of his eldeſt ſon's marriage in
blood, who died childleſs; and that of his ſecond fon in inceſt,
which embroiled the ſucceſſion : Pope Alexander vi. who was firſt
applied to for a diſpenſation, was prevented from granting it by
the juſt judgment of God; for having projected the murder of ſe-
veral Cardinals at an inſidious entertainment, he fell himſelf by the
poiſon which he had prepared for them : Pope Julius ii. who
granted the diſpenſation, to ſecure the intereſt of the Roman fee
in England, was by that very ſtep the inſtrument of totally de-
ſtroying
1
birini chipnorter on the strengthen are
w
.
+ Parker's Lives of the Archbiſhops of Canterbury.
..
+
Воок І.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
39
ſtroying it there. Leſſons proper for Princes to learn ; to convince
them that they are in the hands of a ſupreme Monarch, who reigns
over Kings themſelves ; and that there is no wiſdom in ſchemes
which are contrary to the maxims of the Divine Lawgiver.
Faithful Warham ceafed not to repreſent the offenſiveneſs of
this marriage to the King, however diſagreeable the truth might
be, till he had convinced him of it. So that Prince Henry by
the King's command, when he was juſt 14 years old, folemnly 1505.
proteſted againſt the marriage, contracted by him when under June 27
age ; and that he did now, coming to be of age, retract and an-
nul it. About four years after, King Henry vii. upon his death-
bed charged his ſon effectually to break the marriage, and died
22 April 1509.
The gay young King, Henry viij. now about 18 years old, be- 1509.
gan his reign with great glory. Empfom and Dudley, the mi-
niſters of his Father's oppreſſions, were ſent to the Tower the
very next day, and in the beginning of the following year ſacri-
ficed to the people's reſentment. Nor did he fatisfy himſelf with
this cheap juſtice only, but made reſtitution of great ſums of mo-
ney, which had been unjuſtly extorted from his ſubjects : And
by his magnificence and liberality in a ſhort time difſipated the
great
treaſure, which his father had been accumulating through many
years of avarice and rapine ; but with it purchaſed the hearts of
his people, which Henry vii. had ſordidly fold.
Nature had endowed the late King with great folidity of judg-
ment; but education had given to Henry viii. a brilliancy be-
yond him.
Inſomuch that he was accounted the moſt learned
Prince that had been in the world for many ages, and obtained
the title of Beau Clerk. Although his taſte for politer learning
might make him diſdain the ignorance of the Popith Clergy, yet
his fondneſs for Thomas Aquinas had tinctured him with too ſtrong
a prejudice in favor of Popiſh Errors; which likewiſe his intereſts
and alliances had recommended ftill more ſtrongly to his protection..
Ferdinand
A 볼
​2.
40
THE LIFE OF
Book I.
ten
1510.
King, in
Ferdinand had addreſs and influence enough in the Engliſh
Court to perſwade the King to confirm his marriage with Catha-
rine, on the 3d. of June, and on the 24th they were both crown-
ed. This linked him with Spain; and his children's title to the
crown, hanging on the Pope's favor, made him a moſt obedient
ſon to the Biſhop of Rome.
In the next year Julius ii. preſented him with the Golden Roſe,
and his Benediction. And preſently after, when France had dif-
treft his Holineſs in Italy, Henry leagued with Ferdinand in his
1511. defence, and called it God's Quarrel. And in the following year,
in return for the indignity offered the Pope by Lewis xii. the French
Anjou, Guienne, and Normandy, which formerly had belonged
to the Kings of England ; and upon Lewis's refuſal declared war
with France. But as King Henry by this time had pretty well exhauſ-
ted his Father's treaſures, the Pope in concert with him, while
1512. the next Parliament was ſitting, fent over a plenary Indulgence
to all the King's ſubjects, who ſhould affiſt him with their perſons
or their purſes in this Holy War. And about this time Wolſey
became the chief fayorite.
The February after, Julius ii. died, and Leo x. ſucceded to
the Papacy; who addreſſed the King in a Letter directed To the
moſt Chriſtian King ; which Title his Predeceſſor had promiſed
to transfer from the French King to him : ſending him at the
ſame time, a conſecrated Hat and Sword, as emblems of the
Spiritual and Temporal powers inveſted in the Pope ; wiſhing him
ſucceſs and proſperity in the uſe of them againſt the enemies of
the church, as well as his own. The King ſoon after having beat
the French, and taken from them Terwin and Tournay, demo-
liſhed the former, and made Wolſey Biſhop of the latter.
While the King was abroad obtaining theſe conqueſts, his
Brother-in-law James iv. of Scotland, married to his eldeſt ſiſter
the Lady Margaret, endeavoured, in favor of France, to give his
1513
1
arms
Воок І.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
AL
arms a diverſion, by an invaſion in the North : where he was de-
feated by the Earl of Surry, in Floddon field, and Nain in the
battle.
In the following year, Lewis xii. reduced to great extremities, 1514.
made his ſubmiſſion to the Pope : who abſolved him, and deſired
Henry to lay down his arms, taken up in defence of the Holy
See ; ſince the Prince, who had oppreſſed the Church, was become
ſenſible of his error, had made ſatisfaction, and was again receiv-
ed into her boſom.
King Henry, under the influences of Wolſey, made peace
with Lewis ; and confirmed it Oct. 9. by the marriage of his fif-
ter, the beautiful Princeſs Mary, with the French King. She
carried over with her into France, among her attendants, the ce-
lebrated Ann Boleyn, then but ſeven years old. The French
King died about three months after the marriage, and was ſuc-
ceded by Francis i. who courted King Henry to renew the peace
with him, which he did. During the courſe of this year, Wol-
{ey's ſervices were rewarded with the Biſhoprick of Lincoln, upon
the death of Dr. Smith, the 5th of March ; which he reſigned
for the Archbiſhoprick of York in Auguſt following, on the death
of Cardinal Bambridge.
In about two months after the death of Lewis, his Queen Dow- 1515.
ager being returned to England married the Duke of Suffolk :
but left Ann Boleyn behind in the ſervice of Queen Claude ; whoſe
Huſband Francis i. falling upon the Milaneſe, provoked the Pope,
who endeavoured to engage Henry in the War again : he was too
devoted to the Holy See to refuſe him a great ſupply in money,
though he excuſed himſelf from declaring againſt France. How-
ever in November the Pope ſent to demand an extraordinary ſub-
ſidy of the Engliſh Clergy, who refuſed; pleading their inability
from the wars in France in ſupport of the Holy See, and a decree
of the council of Conſtance, that Popes could lay no impoſition
on the clergy without a General Council. In the ſame month
G
Wolley
:.
42
Book I.
THE LIFE OF
.;
1,16.
Wolſey obtained the Cardinal's Hat; and for maintaining the
charges of it he held in farm, at very eaſy rates, the Biſhopricks of
Bath, Worceſter, and Hereford, in regard the Biſhops of thoſe ſees
lived abroad. And in December the King gave him the ſeals,
upon the reſignation of the laſt Lord Chancellor, Archbiſhop
Warham.
Early the next year died Ferdinand of Spain, who was ſucceded
by his grandſon Charles, duke of Auſtria, nephew to Queen Ca-
tharine. And February the 19th, the lady Mary was born; the
King had buried two ſons before. The Pope caſt about how to
recruit his exchequer, which his wars had conſiderably impove-
riſhed, and which the decree of the Council of Conſtance prevent-
ed him from filling again at his pleaſure by arbitrary impoſitions ;
as he had experienced the year before, from the anſwer of the En-
gliſh Clergy. In his neceſſity he had recourſe to an extraordinary
jubilee; and ſpread his bulls and commiſſions abroad all over Eu-
rope, to diſpenſe the heavenly Grace; by which every perſon, who
paid ten ſhillings ſhould be enabled to redeem one foul out of Pur-
gatory.
The Archbiſhop of Mentz in his diſtrict, which was Saxony,
employed the Dominican Friers to preach up the Indulgences, and
deal them about ; which they did with ſuch proſtitution and impu-
dence, publickly ſelling them in taverns, that they gave open
ſcandal. One John Tetzel, a Dominican, was the Principal appointed
by the Archbiſhop, who, in his rapacious graſping at money, fold
an Indulgence for a crime intended hereafter to be committed,
which was not mentioned: but the purchaſer waylaid the Frier,
and robbed him of all he had fcraped together, and told him that
was the crime for which he had bought the Indulgence 9. Nay,
of ſuch efficacy he boaſted his Indulgences to be, that although
a mnan had deflowered the Virgin Mary, and got her with child,
he
21
Sechendorf's Hift. of Lutheraniſm.
+
Воок І. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
43
:
1
he could, for money, abſolve him'. The Auguſtine Eremite Friers,
who were wont formerly to be engaged in this merchandiſe, being
now neglected, failed not to animadvert upon this ſcandalous a-
buſe : but none with ſo much effect as Martin Luther, who
ap-
peared to reſent their behaviour upon more ſolid and rational prin-
ciples.
In 1517 he publiſhed his Theſes againſt Purgatory, the Popith 1517.
Sacrament of Penance, and Indulgences. This neceſſarily led
him to prefer Divine Authority before human ; and, in confe-
quence, to reject the ſchool ſubtleties and papal decrees, where
they claſhed with the ſcriptures; and to a better acquaintance with
them his writings began to excite the more inquiſitive and learned
world.
The Turk now growing formidable by his conqueſt of Ægypt
and Syria, the Pope propoſed a league among the Princes of Eu-
rope againſt him, and offered the treaſures of the church in ſup-
port of the war. For this purpoſe Henry, by the advice of the
1518.
Cardinal whom Francis had corrupted, entered into a cloſer league
with France ; by which a marriage was agreed on between the
Dauphin and the Lady Mary, the King's Daughter, with a pe-
nalty in caſe ſhe did not inherit the crown of England ; and that
Tournay ſhould be delivered back on the payment of 600,000
crowns.
The January following Maximilian the Emperor died, and his
grandſon Charles, King of Spain, and the French King were com-
petitors for the Imperial Crown. Charles was elected 28th of
June, which occaſioned a laſting quarrel betwixt the rivals.
To encreaſe the treaſure of the church, which he had promiſed
as the mean of ſupporting a war with the Turk, the Pope again
endeavoured to draw a tenth from the clergy: but they again
avaled themſelves of the decree of the council of Conſtance, and
G 2
refuſed
1519
4
s Sleiden's Hift. of the Reform.
44
BOOK I.
THE LIFE OF
refuſed it. The Pope's emiſſary was cardinal Campegius, who,
failing in this point, had in reſerve a commiſſion with legatine
power to viſit monaſteries, in order to pick up a little money there,
in which Cardinal Wolfey was joined : who chooſing to have that
province to himſelf, fo intrigued as to get Campegius recalled,
and himſelf conſtituted Legate à latere, with power to viſit not
only monaſteries, but all the clergy of England, and to diſpenſe
with church laws for one year next enſuing the date of the Bull,
which was the roth of June.
By this time Luther's writings and opinions were ſpread abroad
all- over Europe : many learned men and univerſities, and the
good Elector Frederic eſpouſed him. It was not long before the
courſe of the controverſy brought the Pope's ſupremacy into quef-
tion. Several other points were likewiſe inveighed againſt, ſuch
as denying the cup to the laity, auricular confeſſion, and the a-
buſes of monaſteries. England, from the impreſſions which Wic-
liff's opinions had made, was particularly prepared to receive
them; and therefore they were foon tranſlated and ſcattered here :
but the regal and ſacerdotal powers were ſtrongly combined againſt
them. The King faw the validity of his marriage and the legiti-
macy of the Princeſs Mary depended on the Pope's diſpenſing pow-
er; and Wolſey's views to the Papacy made him an enemy to
Luther and his friends. Accordingly we find the effect of Luther's
writings in England this year was the bringing fome unhappy peo-
ple to the ſtake at Coventry.
However, the Cardinal's ſenſe of the ignorance and immoralities
of the clergy made him wiſh and project a reformation among
them. In remedy of the former, he founded ſeveral lectures at
Oxford, for theology, civil law, phyſick, philoſophy, mathe-
maticks, rhetorick, humanity, and the Greek tongue ; of which
laſt, Calphurnius, a native of Greece, was the firſt lecturer. To
correct the latter, the Cardinal erected his legatine court, of which
Stephen Gardiner was ſecretary. In this court the Cardinal was
guilty
I
Book I. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
45
}
guilty of great rapine and extortion. As the getting money was
the end for which Campegius was firſt appointed to viſit the mo-
naſteries, we may readily believe Wolſey had an advantage from
his new commiſſion, which was greatly enlarged, and which he
was ſo aſſiduous to obtain : accordingly, we are informed, that
no offence eſcaped cenſure and puniſhment, unleſs privately they
gave money : he ſummoned all religious perſons, of what fort fo-
ever, before him, who were grievouſly chidden and terrified with
expulſion, till they compounded. Warham informed the King
of theſe exceſſes, and, by the King's command, admoniſhed Wol-
fey; which in the event produced in the Cardinal a greater cau-
tion, but an implacable hatred againſt the Archbiſhop. Yet in
comparing the Pope's and Wolſey's views together, perhaps the
preference may be given to the latter in this reſpect; that the Pope,
aiming chiefly at the money, propoſed a reformation only as a mean
to obtain it: while Wolſey really wiſhed a reformation in ſome
things, but choſe fines, mulcts, and commutations, as the means
of producing it.
The next year the Emperour and Francis, each of them, had 1520.
an interview with Henry, to folicit his friendſhip, and the good
offices of his favorite. In which the Emperour had the beſt fuc-
ceſs, having cheaply bought the ambitious Cardinal to his intereſt,
by a promiſe of uſing his influence to obtain the Popedom for him
upon the firſt vacancy; which indeed was not likely to happen
ſoon, Leo x. being then a young man. The acquiſitions of Francis
in Italy were repreſented as endangering the Pope's liberty, and
was an argument that determined the King to take part with the
Emperour.
Luther's doctrines made a great progreſs in Germany ; to ſtop 1521.
which the Emperour called a Diet at Worms February 6. at which
Dr. Tunſtal was ſent by King Henry to aſſiſt. By his letter to
the Cardinal from the Diet, we learn that great numbers, and
many great clerks held with Luther; that ſeveral offered to ſacri-
fice
int
12
46
.
Book I.
THE LIFE.OF?
fice their lives in his cauſe, and were grown too powerful for
Princes to check. He recommended to the Cardinal, that he
would call the printers and bookſellers before him, and give them
a ſtrict charge that they brought none of his books into England,
nor tranſlated them into Engliſh. Upon the noiſe and ſucceſs of
Luther's opinions abroad, the Lollards grew more bold and nume-
rous at home, and were greatly encreaſed from the Lutheran
writings that had been brought over ; for in the laſt year Eraſmus
told Luther in a letter he ſent him, “You have thoſe in England
• who think very well of your writings, and they are very con-
fiderable men.' The Biſhops were buſy in ſuppreſſing them :. In
the dioceſe of Lincoln they multiplied fo faſt, that Dr. Longland
their Biſhop, and the King's Confeffor, thought proper to call
in the King's authority; which he readily granted, by directing
his ſheriffs, bayliffs, officers, and ſubjects to aid the Biſhop in
this behalf. Some relapfers were burned, and above 500 forced
to abjure in his ſingle dioceſe. The King, as deeply intereſted
in theſe diſputes, which tended ſo much to weaken the Pope's
power, did not only lend his regal authority to ſuppreſs the growth
of the Lutheran hereſy within his own territories, but drew his
pen, and employed his learning and ſchool divinity in oppoſition
to theſe opinions abroad, by publiſhing this year a book againſt
Luther (who had written much againſt the Pope's tyranny) and
to maintain the authority of the Scriptures againſt him, under the
title, De Captivitate Babylonica.; in which book Luther had rejected
four of the Romith Sacraments. Our Royal Author, in his an-
fwer, maintains 3 Theſes
I. the doctrine of the Pope's par-
dons, which began the controverſy ; 2. the ſupremacy of the
Biſhop of Rome, the foundation on which the whole fuperſtruc-
ture of Popery is built ; 3. the Seven Sacraments, the vindication
of which is the title of his book'. What was the principal point
in his intention may be gueſſed at from the manner of treating
.
them;
* Afertio feptem Sacramentorum.
Book I. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
47
som
them; for in his defence of the Pope's ſupremacy he was ſo
warm, and defended the Pope's ſpiritual power with ſo little guard
upon his own regal, that Sir Thomas More, who died afterwards
in defence of the Pope's ſupremacy, wiſhed the King to be more
moderate and guarded, as granting what was inconſiſtent with
his royal dignity, and which he might ſome day hereafter wiſh
unſaid : but it was the very point in all probability, for the elta-
bliſhing of which he had framed his book; and he was too te-
nacious of what he had written to ſuffer this material correction
of it. I think it appears from the plain tendency of ſome of Lu-
ther's do&rines, the penalty inſerted in the treaty with France
for a marriage between the Dauphin and the Princeſs Mary, in
cafe me did not inherit the crown of England, (for at that time he
had no further hopes of the Queen's bearing more children) and
from the particular zeal with which the King engaged to defend
the ſupremacy, that ſome ſuſpicions were then riſen of the va-
lidity of the King's marriage. The Pope, to reward this zeal,
granted the King a mighty boon, no leſs than a new title ; and by
a ſpirit of prophecy, of the meaning of which he was unconſcious,
ftiled him DEFENDER Of The Faith. Together with his book,
the King ſent an afſurance to the Pope, that he was ready and re-
ſolved to proſecute, with all the forces of his kingdom, thoſe who
Mould preſume to follow or defend the errors of Luther.
By this time many profelytes to Luther's opinions appeared in
both the univerſities ; which occaſioned the Cardinal's ſending for
ſome ſcholars from each, deputed by their reſpective bodies, to
repair to him at London, to refute thoſe tenets. Here Luther's
doctrine was condemned as altogether repugnant to Chriſtianity ;
and a tranſcript of the cenſure was remitted to the univerſities. Soon
after, Luther's books were burnt both at Oxford and Cambridge.
I ſhall cloſe this year and period with the death of Pope Leo x.
on Dec. 1. which opened that vacancy, which Wolſey hoped to
have
1
48
Book I.
THE LIFE OF
.
have filled up himſelf ; depending on the Emperour, who had
promiſed to employ his intereſt and influence to procure that dig-
nity for the Cardinal.
Period.
Such was the ſtate of things from which Ridley
$.10. Alrief Viru received his firſt impreſſions.
From an ancient
of Ridley during this
and worſhipful houſe he derived an ingenuous
temper and diſpoſition : the care taken of him
in his youth fcafoned his mind with an early piety : that conſtancy
and reſolution with which he was remarkably endued, made him
indefatigable in his ſtudies, both at Newcaſtle and the univerſity.
When he came to Cambridge, about the year 1518, he found it
in ſome diſturbance occaſioned by ſetting up the Pope's indulgen-
ces upon the ſchool-gates, over which was written this verſe of
the Pfalmiſt, Bleſſed is the man that hath fet his bope in the Lord:
and turned not unto the proud, and to ſuch as go about with lies. Pf. xl.
The perſon who ſtuck it up, (though then unknown) was excom-
municated by the Chancellor of that univerſity, Biſhop Fiſher :
It ſeems it was one Peter de Valence, a Norman.
Here Ridley
had an opportunity of learning the Greek tongue, at the publick
lectures of Richard Crook, who about that time began to teach
it in Cambridge ; to which all the ſcholars equally contributed,
whether they attended it or not. As to religious opinions, his
firſt prejudices, the publick diſcredit of Lollardy before he came
to Cambridge, and the diligent and ſevere proſecution of Luther-
ans after he came there, were all in favor of the eſtabliſhed ſuper-
ftitions. Nay more, his uncle Dr. Robert Ridley, at whoſe ex-
pence
and under whoſe influence he was now educating at Pem-
broke Hall, would keep him ſteady in that tract : for in the
year
1520, or 1521, when the Cardinal held a kind of convocation in
his houſe, for the diſcuſſing and refuting Luther's doctrines, Dr.
Ridley
BOOK I.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
49.
Ridley (with others) was ſent from the univerſity of Cambridge to
aſlift in them
1
This is the account which his cotemporaries give of him ; Bp.
Grindal, who was his chaplain, (in Fox) and Biſhop Bale. The
firſt ſays, • Deſcended of a ſtock right worſhipful, he was born in
« Northumberlandſhire ; who being a child learned his grammar .
• with great dexterity in Newcaſtle, and was removed from thence
« to the univerſity of Cambridge ; where he in a ſhort time be-
·came fo famous, that for his fingular aptneſs, he was called to
higher functions and offices of the univerſity, by degrees attain-
*ing thereunto.' Bale tells us," He was a gentleman by his birth,
• and remarkable for an ingenuouſneſs of mind ; not only pious
« in his youth, but even then ſtudiouſly applying himſelf to the
acquiring the learning then moſt in repute. With which yiew
"he repaired to Cambridge, to Pembroke Hall: where his attain-
'ments in Greek and Latin are particularly mentioned " In ſhort
his character at this time appears to be that of an ingenious, vir-
tuous, zealous papiſt.
i Pembroke Coll. Regiſter.
u Nicolaus Ridley, genere illuftris, animi candore clarus, non modo pietati ab ipfâ fta-
tim pueritiâ ſtudebat, verum etiam meliores artes excolere cæpit. Quo nomine Canta-
brigienſem academiam, literis florentem, et in eâ Pembrochienſe collegium pro fuo petiit
ftudio. Unde poft utriufque lingur, Græcæ et Latinæ, adeptionem famæ pretium.
non leve tulit,
.
.
THE
50
BOOK II.
THE LIFE OF
Τ Η Ε
L
I F
E
OF
:
Dr. NICHOLAS RIDLEY
BOOK II. From 1522 to 1540.
RIDLEY at Cambridge.
Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence, receiveth us
not. 3 John ix.
.
145 22.
W
.
E have ſeen the great occaſion for a Re-
$ii. Publick tran-
factions to the year 1527:
for tion, and ſome ſmall tendencies
towards one ; but both the ſecular and
eccleſiaſtical powers active to obſtruct it. Wicliff had diſcovered
many ſuperſtitions: theſe diſcoveries had been again ſuppreſſed, and
his opinions pretty well weeded out of the kingdom ; except from
among the lower claſs of people, whoſe extravagances in ſome
points, and profaneneſs in other, were more likely to hinder than
forward a rational reformation. The revival of letters had indeed
raiſed a diſguſt at the ignorance and immorality of the clergy : but
this aimed at nothing more than introducing a new method of
learning and diſcipline among them ; leaving the doctrines and ſu-
perſtitions of the church unmoleſted. The tyranny of the Pope.
and.
vy
Book II.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
51
and his retinue, it is true, were heavily complained of: and the
rather becauſe it was too mighty to be reſiſted; for the King was
ſo ſtrictly linked with him and intereſted in his welfare as not to will
his influences lefs. The writings of Luther were the likelieſt mean
of effecting it, as they recommended to the learned thoſe opinions
of Wicliff, which had been long in diſcredit from the obſcurity
and indiſcretion of the profeſſors of them : and accordingly we
find that the two fountains of learning were early tinctured by read-
ing his works: but alaſs! the great patrons and encouragers of
learning were ſtrongly engaged againſt them; the prince's miniſ-
ter at this time had the papacy immediately in view, and the
King was fluſhed with the honors of his controverſy with Luther.
Not only his ſword was drawn, in policy, to defend the power
of the Pope, but his judgment too, and what was worſe, his va-
nity, was enliſted againſt the Lutherans. Inſomuch that Sir Rich-
ard Moriſon, ſpeaking of the King's change afterward, ſays,
Of the miracles and wonders of our times, I take the change
* of our Sovereign Lord's opinion, in matters concerning religion,
to be even the greateſt. There was no Prince
There was no Prince in Chriſtendom,
but he was far liker to have changed than our Sovereign Lord.
• He was their pillar, and bare them up a great while. They
gave him fair titles for his ſo doing, and honored his name in
• all their writings."
However, theſe contrary humors working together raiſed that
ferment in the kingdom, which in the end produced ſo happy
an effect. Learned and unlearned planely diſcerned ſeveral ſuper-
ftitions in their religion ; and the ignorance, vices, and extortions
of the clergy were generally reſented. By theſe means there was
a diſpoſition in the people to receive the bleſſing which God was
preparing for them, whenever the courſe of his providence ſhould
remove
H 2
» love Xive againſt Treaſon. vid. Strype's Memoirs, vol. 1. p. 41.
52
Book II.
THE LIFE OF
remove thoſe outward obſtructions which lay in the way. Indeed
the removal of theſe, at that time, was what human wiſdom muſt
rather have deſpaired of than expected : though even then God
began to move thoſe wheels with which he intended to overturn
the pillar and ground of all their ſuperſtitions, the Pope's fupre-
macy.
The Emperour, as was mentioned before, had promiſed to
affiſt Cardinal Wolſey in obtaining the Papacy, when the Roman
See ſhould become vacant. Pope Leo was juſt dead. The King
and the Cardinal employed their emiſſaries to procure the election
according to their wiſhes : but before Pace, who was to negotiate
for them, could get to Rome, (the Emperour having ſecretly
worked for his tutor) the election was over, and the Cardinal
Tortoſa, under the title of Adrian vi. was choſen. Wolſey, how-
ever diſappointed, was too artful a politician to difcover any re-
ſentment: the new Pope was old and infirm ; he therefore choſe
to have the Emperour's promiſe renewed to him, with the addi-
tional hope of the archbiſhoprick of Toledo *: and to merit the
performance of theſe promiſes, when opportunity ſhould offer, he
forwarded Charles's intereſts with his maſter, in the interview
3522. which the Emperour had with Henry this year in England; whi-
ther he came to be inſtalled Knight of the Garter, May 26. There
they entered into a new league of mutual aſſiſtance, and a match
was agreed on between the Emperour and the Lady Mary; ſworn
to on both ſides at Windſor 19th of June ; by which the Empe-
rour obliged himſelf to marry her when ſhe came to age,
under pain of excommunication, and the forfeiture of 100,000
1523. pounds. But the very next year the Cardinal had freſh experience
of the Emperour's inſincerity : for September 14, 1523, Pope A-
drian died, and about November, Julius de Medicis, aſſuming the
name
* Valued at 80,000 £. per annum. Geddes.
Воок ІІ. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
33
name of Clement vii, ſucceded, the Emperour concurring and
ſecretly aſlifting, and a little before he had named Don Antonio
de Tonſeca, Archbiſhop of Compoſtella, to the vacant fee of
Toledo. This opened our Cardinal's eyes, who was now convin-
ced that he could no longer depend on the promiſes of the Em-
perour, who had repetedly deceived him. He ſtudied to be re-
venged: and in the following year ſo wrought with his maſter, 1524.
as to facken the payment of the money with which he was to aſ-
fiſt the Emperbur in his war with the French King ; for which he
received 400,000 crowns of France for his good ſervice'; and
even to demand the yearly penſion, which Charles had taken
up-
on himſelf to pay inſtead of Francis. And in the January after, 1525
entered into a ſecret negotiation with Joachin, a Genoeſe, and
plan'd a league with France, without the privity of Henry?. The
French King was now beſieging Pavia, aſſured of the Cardinal's
friendſhip, while the Imperialiſts, under the Duke of Bourbon,
who had revolted from Francis, were in the greateſt diſtreſs for
want of the ſupplies that were with-held. Francis was too fe-
cure; and Bourbon, having a deſperate game to play, exerted all
his art as well as ſtrength : the event was, the French King was
taken priſoner, nor releaſed from his captivity by the Emperour,
but upon hard terms, to the performance of which he was fo-
lemnly ſworn.
But from the obligation of this oath the Pope
diſcharged him, as extorted from him at a time when he was not
his own maſter. The like favor he had done for the Emperour,
in diſpenſing with his oath to marry the Lady Mary. In the fol-
1526.
lowing ſpring the Emperour married the Infanta of Portugal, that
he might unite all Spain together : and urged in his own defence, ,
that his council had preferred this match, alledging that the Lady
Mary was illegitimate, as being born in an unlawful marriage..
The
Strype's Mem.
z Godwyn's Henry viii.
4
a Burnet,
54
THE LIFE OF
Book II.
1
3
;
The behaviour of the Emperour, his fucceffes, and views of uni-
verſal empire threw the Pope, Henry, and the Venetians into
á league with Francis to check the power and ambition of Charles.
1527. This alliance proved unfortunate to the Pope, as his conduct of-
fénded the Emperour, who took Rome in May 1527, and kept
the Pope priſoner there lix months. Such an indignity to his Ho-
lineſs was generally reſented by other Chriſtian Princes, and in-
duced Francis and Henry to enter into a ſtricter league for his re-
leaſe the cement of which was to be a match between the French
King, or his ſecond fon the Duke of Orleans, with the Princeſs
Mary. But one of the French ambaſſadours, the Biſhop of Tarbe,
objected to the lawfulneſs of Henry's marriage, which would af-
fect the Princeſs, and the iſſue to ſpring from it, and bring into
queſtion the inheritance. At length a treaty was concluded, which
left the two Kings at liberty to procede in this match, or diſpoſe
of their children elſewhere.
Thus ſtood the affairs of Europe at the time when the King's
ſcruples relating to the validity of the Pope's difpenfation, and the
lawfulneſs of his own marriage began to be publick. Let us now
take a view how the people were prepared to receive the great
event to which theſe ſcruples, relating to the King's marriage,
led.
C
n
e
F
i
1522 to 1527
The need of a reformation was fo evident, that
§. 2. Tendencies to the new Biſhop of Rome confeſſed it, as appears
a reformation from from the inſtructions given by Adrian vi. to his
nuncio at the Diet at Nuremberg, in 1523;
in
which he ſays: “It is not to be diſſembled, nor paſt over in filence,
* that God who is the revenger of all iniquity, did in this manner
[by Luther) afflict his church for the fins of the people, but
chiefly of the rulers and miniſters of the church; ſince the ſcrip-
ture
Book IT.
55
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
3
3
* ture faith that the iniquity of the people proceded from the
prieſts: for that in truth, for theſe many years paſt, the fins of Rome
had been manifold and grievous; and that even from the head,
• down to the inferior clergy, that evil and contagion had been
propagated : that no man did his duty, all had gone aſtray, and
• that none were free from guilt, no not one. That ſince things
* were then in ſuch a ſtate, he would take care, that the court of
* Rome, which perhaps had given occaſion to ſo great evils,
* thould firſt of all be ſtrictly reformed ; that ſo the cure might
•begin at the root and cauſe of the diſtemper. But as the diſeaſe
. was very inveterate and complicate, he muſt procede gently by
degrees; for that all ſudden changes were dangerous, and it was
an old proverb, “ that he who blowed his noſe too hard would
ſqueeze out blood.” b
Thefe conceſſions occafioned the demand of a free council in
Germany, to which this Pope's death put a ſtop : but the counte-
nance and ſuccour, which Luther received from them, did not
expire ſo foon. For we find by a Letter from the Cardinal to the
Biſhop of Bath, the King's ambaſſadour at Rome, in the follow-
ing year, that the Lutheran ſect had not only ſpread through
* all Germany, but the feeds of it began to ſprout up in France,
· Spain, Flanders, Denmark, Scotland, and in many parts of
• England: and that the only remedy to be expected was the re-
formation of diſorders by his Holineſs, a reſtoration of diſcipline,
* and cauſing obedience to the laws of Chriſt to be obſerved.'
At home a reformation was as much wanted as any where. As
is acknowledged not only by the Pope's Bull in 1519 to Wolley
for erecting his legatine court, in which it is faid, that the En-
gliſh Clergy were given over to a reprobate mind: but from an
excellent Letter of Biſhop Fox to the Gardinal, January.1-523,.con-
gratulating
• Sleidan's Hift. Reform. B. iv.
Grove's Life of Card, Wolſey, vol. iii. p. 343.
50
...
I
:
Book II.
THE LIFE OF
f
5
r
i
Ã
F
V
C
t
16
C
V
f
t
a
a
i
gratulating him on his deſign to reform the whole body of the
clergy; • for which (that old Prelate ſays) he had no leſs ar-
dently wiſhed, than did Simeon to ſee the much deſired Meſſiah.
. For the ſpace of almoſt three years (as he procedes) this im-
portant affair had been the great end of his ſtudy, labors, and
attention, till he had diſcovered, what before he had not ima-
gined, that all things relating to the primitive fimplicity of the
clergy, eſpecially of the monaſtick ſtate, were either pervert-
*ed by licences and corruption, or elſe become obſolete and ex-
ploded by the iniquity of the times.' How the King, Nobi-
lity, and Commons ſtood affected towards them is manifeſt from
another paſſage in the ſame letter. « This reformation of the
clergy and religion will fo abate the calumnies of the laity, ſo
* advance the honor of the clergy, and ſo reconcile our Sovereign
** Lord the King, and nobility to them, and be ſo much more
acceptable to God than all the ſacrifices we can offer, that I in-
* tend the ſhort courſe of life I have now to run, ſhall be entirely
devoted to the advancement of it.
But the Cardinal's boaſted Reformation ended in a court job
only; to raiſe an unprecedented ſupply from the clergy, for car-
rying on the war with France ; and whoſe exemplary benevolence
was intended as a guide to the commons in parliament.
Whatever his real thoughts and deſigns for a Reformation of
manners were, it is certain the multiplicity of publick affairs did
not prevent his ſtudies and endeavours for the encouragement and
advancement of Learning. And probably to this we muſt attribute
his, otherwiſe unaccountable, favor to thoſe ſcholars, in both
univerſities, who were ſuſpected of inclining to Luther. The
moſt ignorant were generally the moſt furious papiſts; who ſub-
ſtituted zeal in the place of argument : the readers of the new
books diſcovered at leaſt a ſtudiouſneſs and application to let-
ters, which the Cardinal did not ſeem very ſolicitous to ſuppreſs, .
George
t
Book II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
57
George Stafford, Fellow of Pembroke Hall, is noted to be the 1523.
firſt who publickly read lectures out of the ſcriptures : before, they
read only the ſentences. He was proctor and univerſity preacher
in the year 1523, and reader of divinity in 1524, in which of-
fice he continued four years ; and ſoon after he died of the
plague, caught by a charitable viſit to a prieſt, who lay ill of it,
whom Stafford converted in his fickneſs". Aſong others, who at
this time were willing to examine and judge for themſelyes, con-
cerning the high points which began to be moved in controverſy
was Thomas Cranmer, Fellow of Jeſus College, who, for that
purpoſe, gave three years application to the ſcriptures, from 1519
to 1522
The Scripturiſts began to make a noiſe in that univerſity, in-
fomuch that in the year 1523 the Biſhops were very urgent for a
a viſitation of Cambridge, to diſcover who were the maintainers
and favorers of herefy there : but Wolſey, as legate, did inhibit
it. Indeed he ſeemed rather to encourage than diſcountenance
the ſcholars of this claſs ; for in the next year he directed Dr. Ca-
pon to chooſe out ſome ſtudents of the beſt parts and learning, to
be tranſplanted to the Cardinal's college then erecting : for the
endownient of which he obtained licence from the Pope and the
King for diffolving ſeveral ſmall monaſteries, ſituate in different
parts of England, in order to apply their revenues to the ſupport
and maintenance of his new intended college.
Which was a
leading ſtep to the diſſolution of all the monaſteries in England;
the Pope and the Cardinal ſetting the example of ſuch kind of
alienations.
Moſt, if not all theſe ſtudents, were Scripturiſts : among which
Mr. Cranmer was appointed for one, but he refuſed the advan-
tageous offer ; owing probably to his engagement with the wo-
man, whom he ſoon after married. Upon his marriage, which
I
1524.
was
e In 1530.
d
Regiſt. MS. Pembroc. and Strype's Memor. vol. 1.
58
Book I.
.
The LIFE or
I
(
f
a
F
S
(
b
u
$
с
C
to
P
P
1525. was in 1525, he quitted his Fellowſhip of Jeſus College, and
was made divinity reader in Buckingham college: but upon
the
death of his wife, who lived with him but little more than a year,
he was readmitted Fellow of his old college again, and about that
1526. time took his doctor's degree in divinity. The ſtudents who were
removed from Cambridge to Oxford were Dr. Clark ; Friar, af-
terwards doctor of phyſic; Sumner; Harman, afterwards fellow
of Eton ; Betts, afterwards chaplain to Queen Ann; Cox, af-
terwards ſchoolmaſter to Prince Edward; Fryth, afterwards a martyr ;
Baily; Goodman; Drum, afterwards one of the fix preachers at
Canterbury; and Lawney, afterwards chaplain to the Duke of
Norfolk, With theſe were tranſplanted the ſeeds of the new
learning into the univerſity of Oxford, where they throve, chiefly
under the direction of Dr. Clark.
But Luther's books being much diſperſed in both univerſities,
at Oxford under the influences of Dr. Clark, and at Cambridge
under thoſe of Bilney and Stafford, the Cardinal was at length con-
ftrained to act againſt them. Accordingly every one of thoſe a-
bovementioned ſtudents, who had temoved from Cambridge to
the Cardinal's college in Oxford, were caſt into priſon on ſuſpicion
of hereſy; and Dr. Clark, with ſome others, died under the hard-
ſhips which they ſuffered there.
At Cambridge they made great progreſs, and had gained over
as obſtinate a Papiſt as any was in England, as he himſelf teſti-
fies; who had ufed to preach againſt Stafford, and exhort the
people not to believe him, and the ſcholars not to hear him. This
was the univerſity croſs-bearer, Mr. Hugh Latimer of Chriſt's
College. By mean of a private conference with Bilney about
this time, he began to perceive his errors, and became a friend
and follower of Stafford. As did many others of Peter-Houſe,
Gunwell
A
n
a
e Fox
:
Book II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
53
Gunwell Hall, St. John's, Queen's, King's, and Bennet College,
particularly two fellows of Stafford's own college, Dr. Thixtal
and Nicholas Paynel : the authority of the former was ſo allowed
in divinity, that Thixtal dixit, Tbixtal ſaid it was a fufficient
proof. Theſe had frequent meetings at the White Horſe, near
St. John's, which on that account was called by others, in contempt,
Germany.
Dr. Barnes was ſummoned before the Cardinal from Cambridge,
by complaint of Dr. Walter Preſton and Dr. Robert Ridley, the
uncle and patron of Nicholas. Theſe two were relations and
chaplains to Dr. Tonſtal, Biſhop of London. Bullock, fellow of
Queen's College, Humphry, Watſon, and Ridley were ſent for
to London, and appointed to oppoſe the Lutheran opinions. Ste-
phen Gardiner, who was at that time ſecretary to the Cardinal,
prevaled upon his old acquaintance, Dr. Barnes, to abjure: bý
which mean he eſcaped for the preſent. As did alfo Bilney and
Arthur the year following : who, being convened by the Cardi-
nal before himſelf, Archbiſhop Warham, the Bihop of London,
and ſeveral other. Biſhops, Divines, and Lawyers were wrought
upon to abjure, chiefly by the perſuaſions of the Biſhop of Lon-
don. And though Bilney, as a relapſed perfon, according to
the uſual methods of proceding, was to have been burned, yet
the gentleneſs of Dr. Tonſtal was ſuch, that, as the Cardinals
delegate, he was ſatisfied with their abjuration and penance : but
Bilney's remorſe was ſo great, that it almoſt drove him to deſpair.
To make atonement, he boldly preached the goſpel from place
to place in the dioceſe of Norwich ; and at laſt ſealed the truth by
his death in that city, in 1531.
From the articles brought againſt theſe Cambridge divines, we
may ſee the ſtate of the reformation in that univerſity: Not yet
fifted and digeſted by the debates and conferences of deeply
learned and experienced men, but blended with ſome exceſſes and
contrarieties of private opinions. They were charged with read-
I 2
ing
1527.
60
BE
THE LIFE OT
Book II.
--
ed
DI
dit
mt
tri
in
M
pa
of
Ba
upon
tic
th
of
ing Luther's books ;, with whom nevertheleſs they did not hold
in many things, but accounted him an heretick. They inveigh-
ed much againſt the pride and pomp of churchmen ; and ſome
too irregularly extended the power of preaching and adminiſtering
the facraments to all Chriſtians indifferently. But in general they
agreed in quitting the ſchool divines, and in applying themſelves
to the ſtudy of the ſcriptures : from whence they learned to dela
piſe the popith merit of pilgrimages, penances, fafts, offerings,
and maſſes; together with the imputed merit of departed faints,
indulgences, pardons, and every thing that drew the mind from
the true foundation, the merits and interceflion of Chriſt, to reſt
the wood, hay, and ſtubble of man's inventions : recom-
mending part, at leaſt, of the Bible to be read to the people in
Engliſh ; and to prevent its being miſapprehended, to join the in-
terpretation of the fathers in the margin.
And accordingly this year appeared a very uſeful work, which
laid open the errors of popery to the common people, I mean Wil-
liam Tindal's Tranſlation of the New Teſtament. Which in
pro-
ceſs of time produced the happy effect that the author promiſed
from it; for he had ſaid ſome time before, 'ere many years he
would cauſe a boy that driveth the plough to know more of the
fcripture than the Pope did'.But the Cardinal and Biſhops were
buſy in prohibiting this, and many other books which were pub-
liſhed about this time; among which was that ſevere invective a-
gainſt the number, pride, revenues, exactions, and lewdneſs of
the clergy, before mentioned, The Supplication of Beggars.
ar
30
hi
an
th
th
T
hi
ju
pr
ar
tr
th
ft
in this interval.
Amid theſe contentions Ridley was calmly pur-
$•3. A View of
, Ridley fuing his academical ſtudies, and acquiring a re-
putation which already began to make him taken
1522. notice of. In the year 1522 he took his Batchelor of Arts degree;
educated
V
P
V
f. Fox's Martyrs. vol. 1. p. 362:
Book II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
61
educated under the influence, as well as at the expence of his uncle
Dr. Robert Ridley, a little man, but a great divine, ſays Caven-
dith . He was likewiſe a celebrated canonift. Dr. Tonſtal, pro-
moted this year to the ſee of London, was his relation and
pa-
tron, and collated him to the rectory of St. Botolph Biſhopſgate,
in 1523; and in the beginning of the next year to the prebend of
Mora in the church of St. Paul's; he had likewiſe from the ſame
patron
the rectory of St. Edmunds Lombard-ſtreet, the prebend
of Iledon, and the fine-cure of Fulham. He occaſioned Dr.
Barnes to be fummoned before the Cardinal, as was before men-
tioned : and I find him in ſeveral cauſes of hereſy an aſſeſſor to
the Biſhop of London. His nephew was not likely to learn much
of the new divinity from him ; nor do I find that he had yet at all
applied himſelf to the ſtudy of it. He had already acquired a
good ſkill in the Latin and Greek tongues, and was now making
himſelf maſter of the learning more in faſhion, the philoſophy
and theology of the ſchools : in which he was very expert; and
therefore better qualified to diſcern the vanity of it, and to detect
the ſophiſtry of his antagoniſts when attacked from that quarter."
Theſe abilities and qualifications gave greater weight and value to
his determinations afterwards, which were made by a mature
judgment, and gradually as light opened upon him; not haſtily
produced like the flaſhes of light wits, who catch at novelties,
and affect to be thought wiſer than their elders, by forwardly con-
tradicting eſtabliſhed doctrines, which they would never take
the trouble to examine, nor had learning enough to under-
ftand.
His
$ Life of Wolſey.
+ - Poft utriuſque linguæ, Græcæ et Latinæ, adeptionem, ac fcholafticæ philofophiæ,
tum theologiæ cognitionem fummam, doctrinæ et famæ pretium non leve tulit. Serò ille,
vel tanquam noviſſimus, undecimâ horâ in vineam ſeu meſſem Domini venit; et non
prius quam erat ſummatim vocatus ob inſignem eruditionem veritatis adverſariis
valdè formidabilis. Aptiflimus ergo atque opportunus fuit, qui fpinofas fophiftarum.et
Antichriftorum vepres ex Chriſti vineâ evelleret.. Bale.
9
62
BOOK II.
THE LIFE OF
Bo
1524
end
cre
his
an
but
hin
inc
cur
in
of
His character was by this time fo eſtabliſhed, as to procure
him the eſteem of the other univerſity as well as of his own ; for
in the very beginning of 1524 the maſter and fellows of Univerſity
College in Oxford invited him to accept of an exhibition there, foun-
ded by Walter Skyrley, Biſhop of Durham.
This fact has occafioned fome controverſy between the two uni-
verſities. The Oxford writers, Keys,* Godwin,' and Anthony
Wood," unwilling that Oxford ſhould loſe the honor of having
ſuch a fcholar, clame him as their own; and report, that being
Batchelor of Arts, he was elected fellow of Univerſity College,
13 April 1521. On the contrary fide, Caius," Dr. Richardſon,
and the MS. account of the maſters of Pembroke Hall,' vindicate
him wholly to themſelves, and will allow Oxford no ſhare at all in
him. They challenge the others to point out the year, or pro-
duce any proofs in ſupport of their clame, by which they would
endeavour to wreſt their Ridley from them. They urge that it
is impoſſible he ſhould have been choſen 13 April 1521, then
being Batchelor of Arts, becauſe he did not take that degree till
1522 ; and from that year they can trace him advancing to higher
degrees, honors, and offices in their univerſity : nay, the very
walls of the garden at Pembroke Hall bore teftimony of his ſtudies
there, a walk under them being called Ridley's walk to this day,
where he was accuſtomed to learn and repete without book St. Paul's
Epiſtles in Greek.
This
app
i o
of
'34
« Sl
dat
ſig!
W
ta
h
fig
fec
t
th
th
A
I
yo
☆ Affertio Oxonienfis,
I De preſulibus.
n Hift. and Antiq. of Oxford.
* Antiq. Acad. Cantabr.
• Notes upon Godwin,
P In Pembroke Hall,
Nefcio quid in fcriniis fecundis comperit (Godwin) cur eum focium collegio univerſi-
tatis Oxoniæ attribuat, potius quam academiam Oxonienfem tanti alumni gloriâ fraudari
patiatur . . . . inftet, numeret annum, exponat indicia, quibus nos a Ridlæo noftro fperet
aſpellere. Verùm (pace tanti viri dixerim) fruftra eft fi fperet ; fuoſque hâo in re, ut po-
terit maximè, Pembrochianos tamen non poterit fallere, quorum vel ipſa fruticeta quidem
atque hortorum muri Ridlæum, Ridlæum adhuc reſonant. MS. Regiſt. Colleg. Pemb.
Ic
y
BOOK II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
63
This conteft does honor to Ridley : I will endeavour now to
end it with juſtice to each clamant. We muſt give Oxford the
credit of wiſhing him theirs, and of paying the earlieſt regard to
his merit by endeavouring to incorporate him amongſt them by
an advantageous invitation to a fellowſhip in Univerſity College :
but we muſt reſign to Cambridge the uninterrupted poffefſion of
him, for he refuſed to accept the offer that was made him. The
inconſiſtency in the two accounts was owing to ſome little inac-
curacy in the regiſter of Univerſity College, and an inattention
in thoſe who exainined it. The top of the page carries the date
of
1521 ;
and the firſt alteration of date, which is 1524,
appears in the margin againſt an entry fignifying, that 'on the 26th
• of April of the ſame year, the maſter in chapel appointed the
3d of May next enſuing, for their election of a fellow into the
Skyrley exhibition. This immediately follows an entry, without
date, (but againſt which the 1524 below ſhould have been placed)
fignifying that · Nicholas Ridley, Batchelor of Arts in Cambridge,
* was elected into the exhibition of Walter Skyrley, but he refuſed
• to accept it; therefore the maſter declared his place and that ex-
hibition to be vacant.' This entry has been refer'd, and at firſt
fight it ſhould ſeem to refer, to the preceding date at the
top
of the page, 13 April 1521: whereas it connects with the ſub-
fequent entry, againſt which ſtands the date 1524, when, on
• the 26th of April of the ſame year,' that is, of the ſame
year
that Ridley had been elected, and refuſed to accept the fellowſhip,
the maſter appointed a day to fill up that vacant exhibition.
And this appears manifeſtly and expreſsly to have been in the
year
1524
So that Oxford muſt be allowed to have been earneſt in endea-
vouring to do juſtice to Ridley’s diſtinguiſht merit : yet it was not
long ere Cambridge did him the ſame honor; for in that very
year he was choſen fellow of his own college. An event
which
64
Воо
THE LIFE OF
Book II.
10 15
of the
1525
of 1
tain
1537
ente
Qui
the
Em
of a
which probably he foreſaw, and might be one reaſon for his re-
fuſing the offer at Oxford. Thus Cranmer and Ridley, so cloſe-
ly linked together afterwards, were both invited to accept fellow-
ships in Oxford in the ſame year, and both refuſed.
The next year he took his Maſter of Arts degree ; and in the
1526. year following he was appointed by the college their general agent
in all cauſes relating to the churches of Tilney, Soham, and Sax-
thorpe, belonging to Pembroke Hall.
Though his uncle Robert had now probably quitted the uni-
verſity, attending on his cures in London, and frequently em-
ployed by Biſhop Tonſtal, yet he forgot not his nephew, nor re-
mitted his cares in completing his education. To his attainments
in the languages and ſchool-philoſophy, he was willing to add
the advantages of travel, and the improvement of foreign univer-
ſities. Eſpecially as his ſtudies were now directed to divinity, his
uncle, at his own charges, ſent him to ſpend ſome time among
the doctors of the Sorbonne at Paris (which was then the moſt ce-
lebrated univerſity in Europe) and afterwards among the profeſſors
of Louvain. The peace with France opened a communication
with Paris, whither he firſt went; and the Cardinal's embaffy thither
in July this year, attended by Dr. Tonſtal, and a retinue of twelve
hundred horſe, might afford an opportunity to his uncle to ſend
him at that time. There we will at preſent leave him, to pur-
ſue and acquire that knowledge in the theology of the times, as
might enable him to be a thorough judge of it; conducted by
the hand of Providence, like another Moſes, who was ſkilled in
all the learning of the Ægyptians, through the ſeveral ſteps and
ſcenes which were neceſſary to qualify him to be hereafter the
leader and captain of God's people.
fer 1
led
whc
him
agai
the
con
his
hav
loc
Th
Ch
ear
at
vin
ch
tic
m
The
Book II.
65
DR. NICHOLAS RIDL E Y.
the most
The Lutheran doctrines having raiſed ſome
$. 4. From 1527 to doubts with regard to the Pope's diſpenſing pow-
to 1534. The hiſtory
er, which might affect the validity of the King's
of the divorce.
marriage, and, in conſequence, the legitiinacy
of the Princeſs Mary, the King very earneſtly engaged to main-
tain the Pope's authority, on which ſo much depended ; and had
entered into a ſtrict league of friendſhip with the Emperour,
Queen Catharine's nephew, in the interview between them in
the year 1522 ; in which interview, according to Godwyn', the
Emperour admoniſhed the King, that he was now paſt the years
of a child, and needed no tutor; that it was not fit he ſhould ſuf-
fer himſelf to be ſwayed by a Prieſt, one in all reaſon better ſkil-
led in the myſteries of the altar, than of ſtate. But the Cardinal,
who was ſowered againſt the Emperour for twice diſappointing
him with regard to the Papacy, in order to incenſe the King
againſt him, diſcovered what had paſſed in conference betwixt
the Emperour's Ambaſſadour and himſelf in 1524, from which he
concluded that the Emperour would delude him with regard to
his engagement of marrying the Princeſs Mary, the Spaniards
having repreſented her as a baſtard, begotten in inceſtuous wed.
lock; in which caſe it was not in the Pope's power to diſpenſe".
This diſcovery, which ſeemed made only to ſeparate Henry from
Charles, funk deep in the King's mind, and awakened there the
earneſt diſſuaſions of good Archbiſhop Warham from the marriage
at firſt, his father's injunctions never to confirm it, and the di-
vine commination that he who took his brother's wife ſhould die
childleſsº. He thought he had experienced this divine commina-
tion executed upon himſelf; for that many
of his hopes and pro-
miſes of children died abortive; of thoſe born to him, two ſons
K
withered
1524
· Life of K. H. viii. p. 33.
> Ibid. p. 37
< Levit. XX.
THE LIFE OF
BO
Book II.
Kii
Spi
hir
Cla
to
hei
th
In
fro
to
HO
on
Er
wi
Ki
wl
withered away like untimely fruit; one only ſurvived as the heir
of his Crown, to prevent quarrels about the fucceſſion (perhaps as
long and fatal to his kingdoms as thoſe between the Houſes of
York and Lancaſter ;) and this heir was a daughter ; whoſe legiti-
macy had been diſputed even in her mother's family ; and his
Queen had left child-bearing, having borne none ſince the year
1516.
Thefe reflections ſet him upon ſtudying the point himſelf.
which enquiry he found that his oracle, Thomas Aquinas, had
decideď clearly againſt ſuch marriages, as forbidden by God ex-
pref:ly, with whoſe laws no power inveſted in the Pope could dif-
penfe. It was not likely that the King would long conceal theſe
ſcruples from the Cardinal ; who at firſt.did not encourage them :
apprehending probably many ill conſequences from the diffolution
of a marriage of twenty two years ſtanding ; illegitimating the
King's only Heir to his crown, and who might be the cement of
fome uſeful alliance for his Maſter ; looking on it as an ill com-
pliment to the Pope, whoſe friendthip they now depended upon,
if they ſhould diſpute the authority of that See with reſpect to
Diſpenſations ; a point, which the Cardinal himſelf, whofe views
to the Popedom were not yet at an end, might not think it dif-
crete to bring into controverſy. For theſe, or ſuch like reaſons,
the Cardinal might at firſt oppofe the King's inclinations to be di-
vorced; as Henry himſelf acknowledged to the Legates in Court
that the Cardinal had endeavoured to diſſuade him. But his diffua-
fions had but little ſucceſs, for the King's ſcruples grew
fo
ful, as to occaſion him from this time to abſtain from the Queen's
bed.
However, they were yet concealed from publick view : but an
incident happened in the following year, which helped to ripen
the diſcovery of them. Towards the end of February the French
King
CO
he
en
as
H.
ad
P
f
power-
1525.
& K. Henry's Letter to Grynæus.
:
*
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
BOOK II.
6
King was taken Prisoner at the fiege of Pavia, and carried into
Spain ; whither his Siſter the Dutcheſs of Alençon went to viſit
him in September. Ann Boleyn, who, ſince the death of Queen
Claude, attended on the Dutcheſs, not caring perhaps either
to go with her Miſtreſs into Spain, or to be left in France without
her, or at her father, the Earl of Wilt hire's deſire, might take
the opportunity of returning to England with the Ambaſſadours
from the Regent of France this year'. At leaſt I know not where
to place her return hither with ſo great probability as at this time.
Her attendance on Queen Claude till her death ", and afterwards
on the Dutcheſs of Alençon, will not permit me to bring her into
England ſo ſoon as Tillet and Duplex do, I mean in 1522 : nor
will ſome incidents, that happened before the diſcovery of the
King's paflion, allow me to delay her return till the year 1527
where others place it.
No ſooner was the Earl of Wiltſhire's daughter introduced at
Court, than the King ſecretly admired her : but the young Lady
herſelf was ſo little ſenſible of the conqueſt the had made, that ſhe
entertained the Lord Piercy, Son to the Earl of Northumberland,
as her Suitor. The King's intentions ſeem at firſt not to have been
very honorable ; for no defign of making her bis Queen appeared.
However, he could not brook a rival : and the Cardinal ſharply
admoniſhed the young Lord, as did his Father alſo, to drop his
pretenſions. Both Piercy and the Lady were forbidden the court
for fome time : which ſhe, not knowing the cauſe, reſented highly,
and was incenſed againſt the Cardinal. In 1526, the ſuſpicions 1526.
.
with regard to the Emperour's inſincerity, in not intending to ful-
fil his engagements with the Lady Mary, were found to have been
juſt, by his marriage with the Infanta of Portugal. And by this
time the King's uneaſineſs, and doubts about the validity of his
own
..
K2
¢ In June.
She died at Blois, July, 1524,
!
68
BOOK IT.
THE LIFE OF
own marriage, and deſire to be divorced began to be no ſecret ;
though where his ſecond choice would light was not yet gueſ-
fed at.
1527
***
į
Early in 1527 Ann Boleyn returned again to court, and was enter-
tuined as Maid of Honor to Queen Catharine. The Cardinal, who
fuſpected nothing more than that the King intended her to ſupply
the place of Mrs. Blount, his old Miſtreſs, took no pains to rei
ftrain the King's affections, or to remove the object of them.
When he found his Maſter's ſcruples continue, and that they were
not to be removed by political reaſonings, upon conſulting the
Schoolmen and Canoniſts, eſpecially, his Favorite Aquinas, of
whom he was fo fond as to obtain the name of Thomiſt, he was
foon entirely convinced, and pawned his very life and ſoul upon
the:
juſtice and fanctity of the King's deſires to be diſentangled from that
marriage. The French Ambaſſadours, who came over in March
this year to make a league with Henry, and a treaty of marriage
between the Princeſs and the French King or the Dauphine, pub-
lickly objected againſt her legitimacy. Upon this the King applied
to his Confeſſor, the Biſhop of Lincoln, for counſel and advice.
His Confeffor; finding it a point that would draw after it very im-
portant conſequences, expreſſed himſelf doubtfully, and moved the
King to aſk counſel of the reſt of the Biſhops. Whereupon he
ap-
plied to the Cardinal, as Legate, to ſummon the Biſhops for their
opinions. They were accordingly ſummoned to appear at Weft-
minſter : and though they did not then come to a reſolution in
this arduous cauſe, yet Wolſey proſecuted the divorce with ſo much
earneſtneſs, that the Queen charged him with being the firſt con-.
triver and promoter of it, in revenge to her, who had freely re-
proved him for his pride, vanity, and voluptuous life ; and in re-
venge to her Nephew the Emperour, who would not gratify: his
ambition ſo far as to make him Pope by force. And indeed the
Cardinal, to ſtrengthen the league of friendſhip with France, had
caſt:
BOOK IL DR. NICHOLAS RIDL E Y.
69
caſt his thoughts on the Dutcheſs of Alençon, Siſter to Fran-
cis, as a proper Succeffor to Queen Catharine. Nor did they doubt
of the Pope's concurrence to diffolve the firſt marriage, as he was
in alliance with the King, the Venetians, and Francis, to check
the power and ambition of Charles.
The Pope was taken in May at Rome, and kept priſoner fix
months. During which time the King began to avow his paſſion
for Ann Boleyn, to the great regret and diſappointment of the Car-
dinal, who from that time wained in his maſter's favor, from the
ſuperior influence which the Earl of Wiltſhire's daughter had over
him.
In July Secretary Knight was diſpatched to Rome about the Di-
vorce, or Diſpenſation ; with orders to conſult the Cardinal in the
way, who was now in an Embaſſy to France. And towards the
cloſe of this year, the opinions of the Engliſh Divines and Canon-
iſts were taken. Many of whom thought the Pope could not dif-
penſe in this caſe of the firſt degree of affinity, which they eſteem-
ed forbidden by a Divine, Moral, and Natural Law. All the reſt
concluded, that the Pope could do it, but only upon very weighty
reaſons : and they found not any ſuch in the Bull. However,
Fiſher, Biſhop of Rocheſter, did defend the marriage ; he had at
firſt adviſed the Pope's diſpenſation as ſufficient to remove the ſcru-
ples and objections againſt it : yet even he in a Letter to the Car-
dinal in this
he had conſulted all the maſters he could
* on the ſubject; that the greater part of them indeed affirmed ſuch
marriage prohibited by the Divine Law; others that it was not :
. but he thinks in a doubtful caſe the Pope's Diſpenſation would in-
• clíne the ſcale in favor of the lawfulneſs and validity of ſuch mar-
• riage" In December the Pope eſcaped from confinement, and
retired to Orvietto; where he granted a Commiſſion to Two Car-
dinals;
year ſays,
Pluribus afferentibus id efle divino jure prohibitum. Collier's Coll. of Records via
hayo
Book 11.
THE LIFE OF
1528.
$
dinals for hearing and determining the King's Cauſe, in England :
and alſo a diſpenſation for the King to marry another.
But theſe being not ſo full as were deſired, in February, Dr. Ste-
phen Gardiner, the Cardinal's Secretary, Maſter of Trinity-Hall,
and who was eſteemed the ableſt Canoniſt in the Kingdom, with
Dr. Fox, Provoſt of King's College, who was accounted one of
the ableſt Divines, were ſent to procure a Bull for Campegius and
Wolſey to examine the caufe ; which Bull was obtained in April,
1528; but after many ſtudied delays for fear of the Emperour, and
at laſt not in the form, and manner, and to the effect which was
expected. So that Gardiner boldly told the Pope, that the King,
* the Nobles and People of England would think ſtrangely of the
Pope and that College, and would cry out upon them, as a moft
* ungrateful generation, and moſt negligent of the King's kindneſs :
that they, who ought to be ſimple as doves, and of an open breaſt,
• were full of all deceit, craft, and diffimulation ; that they pro-
*miſed all things in words, but performed nothing in deed. And
that ſeeing they would anſwer nothing certain, a hard thought of
* this See would pofleſs the minds of the Engliſh; namely, that
God had taken away the key of knowledge from it. And that
* however the King had hitherto exploded the ſentence of ſome,
yet now he would begin not to be diſpleaſed at it, viz. that the
Pope's laws were fit to be committed to the flames, which were
uncertain even to the Pope himſelf, and to thoſe that belonged to
him.'
The Pope afraid of the King, and of the Emperour, ftudied de-
lay ; and told the Ambaffadours in a private audience that, ale
though it were a faying in the Law, that the Pope had all Law
* in the defk of his breaft, yet God never gave unto him the Key
to open that deik.'
Gardiner
->
Stripe's Mem. vol. 1.
Book II.
71
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
Gardiner then went to Rome to Campegius, the other Legate
joined in commiſſion with Wolſey. He found him very backward
to enter himſelf in this buſineſs, pretending great difficulties, and
contriving delays. Of which when the King heard, he reckoned
himſelf deluded by the Pope, who was protracting the coming of
that Cardinal, to the intent it might be known which Army, the
French or Imperial, would be Conqueror, before any thing was
done or attempted in the caſe “.
At length · Campegius came over into England, and being there,
endeavoured to diſſuade the King from proceding in his intended
Divorce ; ſpinning out the time with many dilatory arts, becauſe
the Pope was then entering into a league with the Emperour.
Henry's earneſtneſs was a mean uſed by his Holineſs to bring the
Emperour to better terms · while, on the other hand, the Em-
perour's miniſters repreſented to the Pope, that the Lutherans
were likely to improve to their advantage any deciſion his Holineſs
might make againſt the diſpenſations and Bulls of his Predeceſſors :
that nothing had ever faln out ſince the beginning of Luther's ſect,
that would ſo much ſtrengthen it as ſuch a ſentence: that the Em-
perour would have a general council called, and whatſoever the
Pope did in that Proceſs ſhould be examined there, and he be pro-
ceded againſt accordingly : and that being a Baſtard, and for that
reaſon by the Canon incapable of that dignity, they would depoſe
him. The Pope being thus intimidated, the year ended without
any thing done in the King's Caufe.
In the mean time the Queen, by means of the Emperour, was
laboring with the Pope for an avocation of the Cauſe to Rome ;
and entered a Proteſtation againſt ſubmitting to the Legates. Up-
on this, Gardiner was recalled from Rome; and the King refolved
to procede in England before the Legates,
June
* Stripe's Mem. vol. i. C. 14.
* In October.
9
72
Book II.
THE LIFE OF
1529.
June 18, 1529, the King and Queen were cited to appear; and
one of her Advocates was that Dr. Ridley who had educated Ni-
cholas at Cambridge, and was now ſupporting him at the Univer-
fities of Paris and Louvaine. - After ſeveral adjournments, at laſt-
the King's Council (of which Gardiner was the chief) cloſed
their evidence, and ſummed up all that had been offered, and in
the King's name deſired that ſentence might be given. Campegius,
who preſided, and by whom all orders of the Court were directed,
either as fent immediately from the Pope, or to ſhelter his Afſo-
ciate from the reſentment of the King, and the odium of the Peo-
ple (though Wolſey was the ſenior Cardinal) appointed Friday, the
25th, for giving the ſentence. Upon the day, there was a great
appearance, and general expectation to hear it : but Campegius
adjourned the Court to the firſt of October ; urging that they ſate
there as a part of the Confiſtory of Rome, and therefore muſt fol-
low the rules of that court, which from that time till October
was in a vacation, and heard no cauſes. This provoked the tem-
poral Lords ; one of whom ſwore by the maſs, that " he ſaw it was
• true, what had been commonly faid, That never Cardinal yet
• did good in England. Soon after, there came an avocation of
the cauſe to Rome.
The King, to divert the great uneaſineſs under which he labor-
ed, reſolved upon a progreſs ; in his return from which he lay
one night at Waltham. Two of his attendants, Gardiner and
Fox, had lodgings provided for them at Mr. Creffy's : there they
found Dr. Cranmer, who was at that time Tutor to Mr. Crefly's
Sons, having fled a little before from Cambridge on account of the
plague that raged there. In their converſation together Cranmer
propoſed conſulting the judgment of the ſeveral Univerſities : not,
as had been done before, that their opinions againſt the marriage
might
. The 21ſt of July.
About Auguft.
BOOK II.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
73
might be a ground for aſking a commiſſion to try the Cauſe, and
to incline judgment in it; but that their determinations, however
they decided, might be a ſufficient rule to the King's conſcience,
without waiting for the event of a tedious proceſs at Rome before
a prejudiced judge. The King liked the propoſal when reported
to him, and ſending for Cranmer was pleaſed with his diſcourſe
and behaviour. Then ordering him to digeſt his own thoughts on
the ſubject in writing, committed him to the family and care of
Sir Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltſhire, where he contracted an
acquaintance with the Lady Ann.
In October fell the Cardinal; at which time he was ordered to
confine himſelf to his Houſe at Eſhur, near Hampton Court, and
the ſeals were taken from him, and committed to Sir Thomas
More,
Soon after, the Parliament paſſed ſome bills againſt the exactions
of the Clergy in the Probate of Wills, Mortuaries, Pluralities, and
againſt their farming of lands; which aiming a blow at the Pope's
Supremacy, were oppoſed by the ſpiritual Lords.
At the ſame time the Houſe of Lords drew up forty-four Articles
of Treaſon againſt the Cardinal : but his truſty Servant, Thomas
Cromwell, very handſomely and ſucceſsfully defended him. . AS
he had been obliged to the Cardinal, he worked his way into the
Houſe of Commons, that he might there help his Maſter, which
he did with great effect, and generouſly adhered to him in his af-
flictions. But the Cardinal knowing it in vain to oppoſe the King,
and dangerous to provoke him, threw himſelf upon his mercy,
and acknowledged he had incurred a Premunire in exerciſing his
power Legatine ; though he had the Royal Aſſent under Seal for
ſo doing. By this confeſſion all his goods and chattels were forfeit-
ed to the King. This ſubmiſſion abated the King's reſentment;
he granted him his protection, and then his pardon ; reſtoring to
him the Archbiſhoprick of York, and the Biſhoprick of Wincheſ-
L
ter ;
74
BOOK II.
THE LIFE OP
1530
ter ; and
gave him back in money, goods, and plate to the amount
of more than fix thouſand pounds; and many kind meſſages were
ſent to him both by his Royal Maſter and the Lady Ann.
When Cranmer had finiſhed his Book on the Divorce, he was
joined in Embaſſy with the Earl of Wiltſhire, and Stokelly, Elect
of London, and others, to diſpute thoſe matrimonial points at Pa-
ris, Rome, and ſome places in Germany; and to procure the ſub-
ſcriptions of Learned Men to the nullity of the Marriage. To
the Pope they were to aſſert the Prerogative of the Crown of En-
gland, which was ſuch, that their Maſter would not ſuffer any
ci-
tation to be made of Him to any foreign Court, and that therefore
the King would not have his Cauſe tried at Rome. The Pope, in
compliment, gave Cranmer the empty Title of his Penitentiary in
England.
In this year, the hands and ſeals of ſeveral Univerſities were ob-
tained by the King's Agents for the Divorce. In thoſe of England,
the Doctors and Heads of Colleges were moſt favorable to the
King: but the Maſters of Arts were in general againſt him. They,
who were enemies to the New Learning, dreaded the growth of
herefy, which the new intended Queen, as they apprehended, fa-
vored; as did likewiſe Cranmer and his friends. However,
Biſhop Longland at Oxford, and Stephen Gardiner at Cambridge
managed fo, as to obtain, 'that the point might be referred to a
Committee of Doctors and Batchelors of Divinity; who gave it for
+
the King.
In which they urge
When he had received the concluſions of the Univerſities, he
fent a remonftrance to the Pope ſigned by moſt of the Nobility”,
and among the reſt by the Cardinal himſelf.
the juſtice of the King's Cauſe, confirmed by the opinion of ſo ma-
ny Learned Men and Univerſities, the King's earneſt requeſts, and
high deſervings of the Apoftolick See, and the dangers threatning
the
2 July 136
Book II.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
S
the ſtate for want of an Heir Male by a lawful marriage.
« In
! which diſtreſs (they ſaid) if the Pope will leave them, refuſing
• that fatherly care which he might and ought to ſhew towards
them, they ſhall look upon themſelves as Orphans deſerted by
• him to take care of themſelves, and ſhall be obliged to think of
* ſome other remedy. If he will not, when it is in his
, power, re-
• dreſs the King's and their grievance, or be dilatory in doing it,
though they ſhall look upon themſelves as unhappy, yet they
* ſhall not altogether deſpair of diſentangling themſelves. Somo
• remedies indeed, they obſerved, were rough in the operation,
* but that a Patient was to cure himſelf as well as he could : and
* that ſomething of comfort there was even in the change of a miſ-
. fortune, which time and cuſtom might make more tolerable.'
The Pope (who was now in ſtrict alliance with the Emperourg
having received from him full reparation of all paſt injuries, with
aſſurance of aſſiſtance for the recovery of his Towns, and for in-
veſting the Pope's Nephew with the Dukedom of Florence, to
whoſe Son the Emperour had alſo engaged to give his own natu-
ral daughter in marriage) would return no ſatisfactory anſwer to
this Remonſtrance, but contented himſelf with promiſing to refuſe
no remedies that might be granted without harm to any one. What
thoſe remedies were in which there was no harm, we learn from
a Letter of Sir Gregory Caffali to the King at the ſame time“, ac-
quainting him that his Holineſs had in ſecret propoſed to him as a
mighty favor to his Majeſty, to indulge him the liberty of marrying
Two wives; an accommodation which Sir Gregory knew was
wiſhed for by the Emperour's faction.
But as this was looked upon as adding the further load of Polyga-
my to a conſcience already overburthened with that of an incef-
tuous marriage, and nothing further could at preſent be obtained
from the Pope ; left the Queen or Wolſey ſhould procure any
L 2
Bull
September, 1530.
76.
BOOK II.
THE LIFE OF
Bull againſt the King, the above Remonſtrance was ſoon follow.
ed by a Proclamation, forbidding the purchaſing, uſing, or pub-
liſhing any thing from the Court of Rome.
In the beginning of November, while the Cardinal who had
retired to York was preparing for his Inſtallation as Archbiſhop of
that See, the Earl of Northumberland arreſted him of High Trea-
ſon. In his journey towards London by leiſurely ſtages, appre-
hending the worſt, though the King had ſent him many kind aſſu-
rances, he took poiſon, as Mr. Cavendiſh, his Gentleman Uſher,
who then attended him, relates ; and arriving at Leiceſter Abbey,
unable to travel further, died there November 28.
In the Parliament and Convocation, it was judged, that the
Cardinal had incurred a Premunire by procuring Bulls
, from Rome
for the exerciſe of his Legatine Juriſdiction ; and with him were
all the Clergy involved in the like Premunire, for ſubmitting to
that Juriſdiction. Their caſe was hard: but the King had views,
and the Clergy, had very few friends left. The King's views were,
a ſum of money for the redemption of the Clergy, one hundred
thouſand pounds in the Province of Canterbury, and eighteen
thouſand eight hundred and forty in that of York; and another
more important one, the ſetting up an Eccleſiaſtical Supremacy.
Wherefore he puſhed his advantage in this juncture, and refuſed
to pardon the Premunire, unleſs the Clergy ſubmitted to own Him
their ſole and ſupreme Head, next and immediately after Chriſt.
This, as Cranmer tells Brooks, was firſt ſuggeſted to him by
Warham.; who alſo, when the Biſhops, Abbots, and Priors in
the
• There was a precedent for the Clergy's ranſoming themſelves before. In 1295 Pope
Boniface viii. made a conſtitution, That if any. Clerk gave to Lay men any ſpiritual goods,
or any Lay perſon took ſuch goods, they ſhould forthwith ſtand excommunicate.
On
the ſtrength of this, the Engliſh Clergy refuſed the King, Edward i. the aid he required of
them for maintenance of his wars. The King called a Parliament, excluding the Biſhops
and. Clergy, who enacted, that their perſons were out of the King's protection, and their
goods confiſcated, unleſs by fubmitting themſelves they redeemed his favor : which they
were glad to do by a very liberal offering for their ranſome.
.
Book II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
77
the Upper Houſe, on the propoſing this new Title, were filent,
took advantage of their ſilence, and conſtrued it into a conſent.
But as a more expreſs acknowledgement was required, the
Clergy not diſputing the King's Civil and Secular Juriſdiction,
and the King, to reſtrain his Supremacy from being underſtood in
caſes purely Spiritual, ſubmitting to the reſtriction of as far as by
Chrift's Law they might, both Houſes of Convocation in each Pror
vince ſubſcribed to this Title in their Submiſſion, and received the
King's Pardon 6.
After the Parliament roſe, the King endeavoured to perſuade 1531.
the Queen to withdraw her Appeal to Rome, and ſubmit her
Cauſe to the deciſion of four Spiritual and four Temporal Lords :
but ſhe refuſed. And after the 14th of July the King ſaw her no
more.
On the 25th of January following, the Pope wrote to Henry, 1532.
exhorting him to take home his Queen, and put away one Ann,
· whom, as he was informed, he kept about him as his Wife,'
The King likewiſe wrote to the Pope, in which he charges him
with dealing inconſtantly and deceitfully, with regarding worldly
reſpects
• Herbert's Life of Henry viii. p. 320. Archbiſhop Parker indeed, in the Life of War:
ham, ſays, that the King, diſtruſting what exceptions might be made to his juſt authority,
under color of this reſtriction, inſiſted on the Clergy's ſubſcribing in general terms to his
being Head of the Church of England : but Biſhop Burnet obſerves (vol. i. p. 112.) that
when the Province of York thought that Title could be given to none but Chrift, the King
ſent them for anſwer, that words were not always to be underſtood in their ſtrict ſenſe, and
that the Convocation of Canterbury had explaned this Title to be as far as was agreeable to
the Law of Chrift
. And Cranmer ſays, (Fox, vol. iii. p. 662.) that he had conferred with
the King on this point, who agreed that Chriſt only was Head of his Church, and of the
faith and religion of it; but that the King was Head and Governour of his people, who
made the viſible Church in England, and that there was never other thing meant. So that
although the Title ſubſcribed had been barely, Head of the Church of England, to guard
againſt the diſloyal exceptions of the Papalins, yet in the ſenſe of the Impofer, as well as
of the Subſcribers, as far as by Chrift's Law they might was anderſtood. In one caſe the
King had the power of interpreting the fatute, in the other it had been kft to the Sultan
ject,
8
Book II.
THE LIFE OP
I
2
]
1
reſpects more than the eaſe of the King's conſcience, with igno-
rance in the point, which the Pope had often acknowledged ;
* wherefore the King had conſulted diverſe Learned Men, and ma-
* ny Univerſities, who had declared his marriage unlawful, and
* the Diſpenſation null ; declaring that he did not intend to impugn
" the Pope's authority, except he compelled him; and that what
* he had done was only to bring that Authority within its firſt and
* antient limits, to which it was better to reduce it, than to let it
* always run on headlong and do amifs ; therefore he deſired the
Pope would conform himſelf to the opinions of ſo many learned
men, and do his duty and office.'
About the ſame time a bill paſſed in parliament prohibiting the
payment of Annates, or firſt fruits, to Rome. They were founded
on no law, but were exacted by reſtraining the bulls for the con-
ſecration of Biſhops till theſe were paid. They were now forbid-
den, under pains of forfeiture of all the lands, goods, and chat-
tels of the perſon that ſhould pay them, together with the
pro.
fits of the ſee during the time he was veſted with it. If the bulls
were reſtrained, the new Biſhop ſhould be conſecrated by the
Archbiſhop of the province, and an Archbiſhop by any two Biſh-
ops in the kingdom. It was likewiſe provided, that if upon this
act the Pope ſhould vex the King, or any of his ſubjects, by ex-
communications or other cenſures, theſe notwithſtanding, the
King ſhould cauſe the ſacraments and other rites of the church
to be adminiſtred; and that none of theſe cenſures ſhould be pub-
liſhed or executed. The King had power to confirm or aboliſh
all or any part of this act before Eaſter 1533, time being given
to try to compound with the Pope for a moderate payment of
them. It was afterwards confirmed by letters patent 9 July,
1533
The Pope, finding his authority declining in England, ordered
a citation to be made of the King to appear in perſon, or by proxy,
at
.
Book II.
70
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
at Romne, to anſwer to the Queen's appeal. Upon which Sir
Edward Karne was ſent to excuſe the King's appearance, and in-
fiſt on the prerogatives of the crown of England. Boner went
with him, a forward bold man, but neither learned nor diſcrete,
ſays Bp. Burnet. They arrived in March at Rome; and one bu-
ſineſs on which they came was expedited ; which was a bull for
a commiſſion to erect fix new Biſhopricks, and to be endowed by
monaſteries that were to be ſuppreſſed.
In England the parliament was prorogued haſtily May 14, on
the breaking out of the plague ; and two days after, Sir Thomas
More deſired leave to deliver up the Great Seal, and Sir Thomas
Audley was made Lord Chancellor.
In the mean time* Ann Boleyn was created Marchioneſs of Pem-
broke; who attended the King in the following month to Bo-
logne; where he and Francis had an interview, each beſtowing
honors on the other's ſervants : Francis, the order of St. Michael
on the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk ; and Henry, that of the
Garter on Montmorancy and Chabot the French Admiral. Nor
did they return to England till 14 Nov. when Lord Herbert ſays,
they were privately married by Rowland Lee, in the preſence of
Archbiſhop Cranmer, the Duke of Norfolk, the Earl of Wiltſhire,
and others. But ſome defer it till January 25.
Even on the
laſt of theſe days, Cranmer was not Archbiſhop ; nor could he be
preſent if the marriage was on the former, for he was then in Gera.
many : Mr. Strype indeed ſays, he finds him in England in
November ; perhaps from an inclination to falve the credit of
Ann Boleyn, who was delivered of the Princeſs Elizabeth on the
6th of September following : but that was needleſs, if, according
In September.
* Life of Hen. viii. P. 240.
› Cranmer himſelf to B. Brooks. Fox, vol, üi. p. 661,
• Life of Cranmer, p. 16.
80
Book II.
THE LIFE OF
to Monf. Peyſonel, a legitimate birth may happen any time be-
twixt the 182d and 28 oth day. All we can venture to affirm in
this caſe is, that if Cranmer was preſent, the marriage was not
till Jan. 25; but if they were married on Nov.14, Cranmer was not at it.
Archbiſhop Parker ſays, that Cranmer performed the ceremony.
Indeed, on Warham's death the King ſent for Cranmer, who was
then in Germany on his maſter's affairs, to fill up that high dignity:
but Cranmer thought himſelf not qualified for ſuch a promotion ;
and foreſeeing tempeſtuous times before him, and alſo fearing to
be entangled in an oath to the Pope, formed a pretext, by which
he kept himſelf out of England half a year. Another reaſon
might probably make him decline this appointment, which was
his ſecond marriage with a neice of Oſiander, while he was in Ger-
many; and by the canon law fecond marriages rendered perſons
incapable of holy orders. However the King would not be re-
fuſed; and Cranmer left his wife in Gerinany, to wait upon the
King in England, where he arrived about the latter end of Janu-
ary.
In the end of January the King ſent to the Pope for the bulls
for Cranmer's promotion ; the act againſt preventing any more
bulls from Rome having not yet been confirmed by the King.
The Pope, however averfe to the advancement of Dr. Cranmer,
was unwilling to precipitate a rupture with England. There
bulls therefore, eleven in number, and the laſt that were receive
ed in England in Henry's reign, were expedited ; and inſtead
of annates, there were only goo ducats paid for them, whereas
there uſed to be demanded 10,000 florins d. In march he was
conſecrated by the Bishops of Lincoln, Exeter, and St. Afaph;
but
1533
2
Archbiſhop Parker calls them, aureos ducatos, ducats of gold : each was gs. 6d. in
value, and the florin about 26. 6d. He therefore paid about 430 pounds, inſtead of 1250.
Book II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
81
but was driven upon ſuch an expedient as that to decline the Arch-
biſhoprick, if he could have been permitted to have done fo, ap-
peared more eligible to him, than to be obliged to have recourſe
to it.
An oath of obedience to the Pope was neceſſary : this he would
avoid, but could not otherwiſe than by this poor ſubterfuge of
the canonifts and caſuiſts, which was to enter a full and formal
proteſtation, before he took the oath, that he did not intend
thereby to reſtrain himſelf from any thing that he was bound to,
either by his duty to God, or to the King, or to his country; and
that he renounced every thing in it that was contrary to any of
theſe.
The parliament of this year paſſed an act againſt appeals to
Rome in cauſes of matrimony, divorces, and other caſes, which
were not ſufficiently provided for by the ſtatutes of Edw. i. Edw.iii.
Rich. ii. and Hen. iv. enacting, that all ſuch cauſes, whether
relating to the King or any of his ſubjects, were to be determined
within the kingdom, in the ſeveral courts to which they belong-
ed, notwithſtanding any appeals to Rome, or inhibitions or bulls
from thence.
This bill ſhewed the ſenſe of the two houſes of parliament with
regard to the King's cauſe; which was now debated fully in the
upper houſe of convocation, as ſoon as they had an Archbiſhop
to preſide. They had two queſtions before them : one, whether
it was againſt the law of God, and indiſpenſible by the Pope,
for a man to marry his brother's wife, he being dead without
iſſue, but having conſummated the marriage ? In the lower houſe
this was carried, 14 for the affirmative, and 7 for the negative;
one doubtful, and one affirming it to be a divine command, but
denying that it was indiſpenſible by the Pope. . In the
In the upper houſe
after long debating, 197 were for the affirmative, Fiſher, Biſhop
M
of
• Matth. Parker de Antiquitate Eccl. Britann. in vitâ Thomæ Cranmer. p. 490.
Archbiſhop Parker ſays 272.
.
I 족
​82
Book II.
THE LIFE OF
of Rocheſter, and 18 more diffenting. The other queſtion was,
whether Prince Arthur had conſummated his marriage with the
Queen? This was remitted to the canoniſts, whether the pre-
ſumptions were ſuch as in the courſe of law muſt be looked on
as good evidence of a thing incapable of formal proof? They all,
except 5 or 6, were for the affirmative; and all the
upper
houſe
confirmed this, except the Biſhop of Bath and Wells.
The Church of England having made ſo full a deciſion, nothing
remained but to give judgment, and formally to declare the mar-
riage null. Wherefore on Eaſter Eve, the Marchioneſs of Pem-
broke was declared Queen of England, her pregnancy making
it difficult to conceal the marriage longer. And in the May fol-
lowing, the King and Queen Catharine were cited to appear bem
fore the Archbiſhop of Canterbury at Dunſtable, with others
his Aſſeſſors, the Biſhops of London, Wincheſter, Bath and Wells,
and Lincoln, on the roth of that month ; but the Queen would
take no notice of the citation. She was therefore declared contu-
macious; and after a full proceſs and many ſeſſions, fentence was
given", declaring the marriage null from the beginning. And
five days after, the Archbiſhop at Lambeth confirmed the King's.
marriage with the Lady Ann; and on the firſt of June ſhe was
crowned Queen.
When theſe things were known at Rome, they declared by a
fentence, which they affixed at Dunkirk, that all that had been
attempted or done in England relating to the King's fuit of di-
vorce, (the matter depending in the court of Rome, by the Queen's
appeal,) was null; and that the King by ſuch attempts was liable
to excommunication, unleſs he put things again in the ſtate they
were, and that too before September next ; and that then they
would procede further.
The
May 230
*
;
BOOK II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
83
The Archbiſhop likewiſe was threatened with a proceſs from
Rome for what he had done. Whereupon the King ſent Boner
to the Pope at Marſeils, who delivered to him an authentick in-,
ſtrument of the King's appeal from him to the next general coun-
cil lawfully called. The Pope rejected the appeal as unlawful,
and obſerved that the calling a general council belonged not to
the King, but to himſelf. Boner alſo delivered another appeal of
the Archbiſhop of Canterbury from the Pope to the next general
council, with ſuch threatenings, delivered with ſuch vehemency
and fury, that the Pope talked of throwing him into a cauldron
of melted lead, or burning him alive : but Boner, apprehend-
ing ſome danger, made his eſcape.
On the 6th of September the Queen was delivered of a Daugh-
ter, named Elizabeth, the Archbiſhop of Canterbury being her
godfather.
The Pope's ſentence againſt the proceſs in England, the King's
appeal from it to a general council, and the rejection of that ap-
peal by the Pope, with his claming a right himſelf to call the
general council, furniſhed matter of debate to the Engliſh coun-
cil"; at length they determined, that a general council was above
the Pope ; and that his Holineſs had no more authority in Eng-
land than any other foreign Biſhop. And this concluſion the
clergy were to ſet forth in their ſermons, and the King's appeal
was to be fixt up at the church door of every pariſh. The Pope's
power to call a general council was denied, for that the firſt four
general councils were called by the Emperour in his own extend-
ed territories ; ſince the diviſion of which, each Prince had the
ſame right within his own territories, and no other Prince may
by his authority call a general council therein : that by the neg-
ligence of the Emperour and other Princes, the Pope had been
ſuffered to uſurp this power : That if one or more of thoſe Princes,
for
:
M 2
b
Dec. 2.
84
:.
Воок Іг.
THE LIFE OF
ent
for the general weal and tranquillity of all Chriſtian people, in-
vite other Princes to a general council in a ſafe place, thoſe ſo in-
vited ought in Chriſtian charity to agree thereto, having no lawful
impediment or juſt cauſe to the contrary.
Such were the tendencies in England at the cloſe of the year
15334 But the Archbiſhop of Paris brought afſurances from his
maſter to the King, that the Pope had promiſed at Marſeils, if
Henry would ſend a proxy to Rome, that he would give the cauſe
for him againſt Q. Catharine, becaufe he knew. bis, cauſe was
good and juſt; and prevaled with the King to ſubmit the whole
matter to the Pope and his confiftory. On this welcome meſa
ſage the Archbiſhop hurried to Rome at that inclement fea-
fon, Dec. 26. where the motion was approved, and an expreſs
ſent back to England with a promiſe, that if the King would
fend his ſubmiſſion under his hand, with an order to his proxies
to appear in court, the cauſe ſhould be determined in his favor :
and they fixed a day for the King to tranſmit his ſubmiſſion in
ta
form,
2534•
And now the important day was in view, when this long per-
plext cauſe was to receive a final determination to the ſatisfaction
of Henry's troubled mind, to the recovery and firmer eſtabliſh-
ment of the Pope's power and ſupremacy in England, and to the
total deſpair of any further reformation in this kingdom. Tha
Pope's promiſe was brought over by the expreſs; and the King's
acquieſcence had been diſpatched back again; all engaged and
haſting to accompliſh that great event, which Heaven would not
permit. The day arrived before the courier ; thoſe of the impe-
rial faction preſſed his Holineſs to procede to a ſentence definitive,
and to cenfures. Bellay, the Archbiſhop of Paris, interpoſed,
and begged a reſpite, in conſideration of winds and waves, which
were not at their command. They were militating under a higher
,
power, to diſappoint the ambition of Rome, and reſcue this kingdom
from
:
1
BOOK II.
85
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
from the tyranny of it. The King of England, Bellay obſerved, had
followed this ſụit fix years, and had patience ſo long; he therefore
deſired the delay of ſix days, and if in that time no return came,
they might procede. The angry Pope, and a plurality of voices
in the conſiſtory, carried it for proceding immediately. Yet, as
in the uſual forms of proceſs, there were to be three ſeſſions be-
fore ſentence was given, Bellay was not without hope that the
courier might arrive in the interim : and indeed he did ſo, for he
arrived the third day. But this dilatory court, by a providential
infatuation, contrary to their uſual forms and practice, concluded all
in one day; and ſo on the 23d of March, the marriage between
the King and Queen Catharine was declared good, and the King
required to take her for his wife : otherwiſe cenſures were to be
denounced againſt him; and the Emperour was commiſſioned to
fee this ſentence executed.
In the mean time Henry was contriving the final demolition
of the Pope's authority in England, in caſe he kept not his word.
The council had ordered ſeveral divines to conſult their books, and
deliver what they found with regard to the Pope's power. The
King had written a book on the ſubject, which (though not yet
publiſhed) crept abroad in MS, and was ſeen by the Pope : after
the parliament fate," a Biſhop preached every Sunday at Paul's
Croſs, and declared that the Biſhop of Rome had no more power
in this kingdom than any other foreign Biſhop. The parliament
paſied an act, that whereas it had been lawful for every ordinary
to arreſt and impriſon any perſon whom they thought defamed or
ſuſpected of hereſy; and that hereſy had been declared to be Burnet.
holding opinions contrary to the determinations of the canonical
fanctions, as well as of holy ſcripture-Hereafter none ſhould be
apprehended by the ordinaries unleſs accuſed of hereſy by two
lawful
* January 15
.
86
Book II.
THE LIFE OF
Life of
H. viii.
lawful witneſſes, and then ſhould anſwer in open Court to ſuch
accuſation and preſentment. And that no manner of ſpeaking,
doing, communication or holding againſt the Biſhop of Rome, or
his pretended power given by Human Laws, and not by Holy
Scripture ; nor any ſpeaking, doing, communication or holding
againſt any Laws, called Spiritual Laws, made by authority of the
See of Rome, repugnant to the ſtatutes of this realm, or the
King's Prerogative Royal, ſhould be deemed or taken to be hereſy.
The Convocation acknowledged that they ought to be called
together only by the King's writ ; and promiſed never to make,
enact, or execute any new Canons, Conſtitutions, Ordinances,
Herbert's provincial, or other, without the Royal aſſent and licence. They
alſo humbly befought the King to aſſign thirty two perſons, fixteen
of the Clergy, and as many of the Laity, to examine, abrogate, or
confirm the Canons as they thought fit ; and the Parliament pro-
hibited all appeals to Rome.
They likewiſe diſcharged the ſubjects of all dependence on the
Court of Rome : the payment of Annates was to be extinguiſhed
without reſerve : Biſhops were no longer to be preſented to the
Pope, but their Election was to be ſignified by Letters Patent from
the King to the Archbiſhop, with orders to conſecrate the Elect
within twenty one days under the penalty of a Premunire. And
then, after homage done to the King, the Spiritualities and Tem-
poralities of the See were to be reſtored. By the fame Act the Ita-
lians, who had Bithopricks in England, were deprived ; Campe-
gius, of Saliſbury, and Jerome de Ghinucci, of Worceſter.
All payments made to the Apoſtolick Chamber, and all Provi-
fions, Bulls, or Diſpenſations from Rome were to ceaſe. Diſpen-
ſations or Licenſes for things not contrary to the Law of God,
but only to the Law of the land, ſhould be granted by the Arch-
biſhops in their reſpective Provinces ; who ſhould not preſume to
grant any contrary to the Laws of Almighty God, declaring that
they
Book II.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
87
they did not intend to vary from Chriſt's Church about the articles
of the Catholick Faith of Chriſtendom, or in any other things de-
clared by the Scriptures, and the word of God neceſſary to Salva-
tion. The Abbots, whoſe elections were formerly confirmed by
the Pope, were now to be confirmed by the King, who might alſo
give Commiſſion under his Great Seal for viſiting them.
They paſſed likewiſe an Act of Succeſſion, in which all mar-
riages within the degrees prohibited by Moſes are declared unlaw-
ful; Diſpenſations for ſuch marriages, as contrary to the Laws of
God, are declared void ; the perſons fo married are appointed to
be divorced ; and the children begotten in ſuch marriages are
made illegitimate. The Iſſue of the King by the preſent Queen is
declared lawful; the Crown to deſcend to the Iſſue Male of Her,
or any other Wife; in default, to the Iſſue Female of the preſent
Queen ; and, in default of ſuch iſſue, to the right Heirs of the
King for ever. All perſons of full age, as well ſpiritual as tempo-
ral, are bound to ſwear and maintain this Act; and refuſing this
oath was made miſpriſion of Treaſon.
The Parliament was prorogued on the 29th of March to the 3d
of November following. And on the 30th of March the Convo-
cation of the Province of Canterbury reſolved, that the Biſhop of
Rome has no greater authority given him by God in this realm
than any other foreign Biſhop. The Univerſity of Cambridge re-
reſolved the fame on the ad of May; as did the Convocation of
the Province of York, June 1. And theſe were followed by al-
moſt all the Dioceſes, Religious Houſes, and Colleges in the King-
dom.
During the ſitting of the Parliament the Maid of Kent, Eliza-
beth Barton, with her immediate accomplices, were attainted of
Treaſon, She had been ſuborned by ſome Monks to uſe ſome
ſtrange geſticulations, and pretend divers feigned miracles to gain
credit to ſeveral revelations and yifions which ſhe related ſhe had
received
88
BOOK II.
THE LIFE OF
received, and to ſome bold prophecies which ſhe uttered, againſt
hereſy and innovations, and even threatening the King's death
within a month, if he ſhould venture to marry the Marchioneſs
of Pembroke. She and her Accomplices the Monks confeffed
their ſubornation and impoſture : but their execution was awhile
reſpited. Silveſter Darius and Antonio Pollioni, the Pope's agents
here, gave her credit and countenance. Biſhop Fiſher and Sir
Thomas More were too willing to believe her; and even the late
Archbiſhop Warham was in ſome meaſure impoſed upon. Fiſher
and More were judged guilty of miſpriſion of treaſon, in know-
ing theſe practices and concealing them : but the King pardoned
them on their ſeveral fubmiflions. Sir Thomas More acknow-
ledges that he had believed her to be a holy woman, favored with
revelations ; but was afterwards convinced of her errors.
I find an examination of her by him among the Harleian MSS.
(No. 283, p.755) reduced to 30 articles ; but he ſays 20 ſheets
of paper would not be ſufficient to write all her ſtories. Some of
theſe I ſhall produce, to ſhew the nature of her pretended viſions.
1. An Angel appeared, and bad her go unto the King, that in-
fidel Prince of England, and ſay, that I command him to amend
his
* The Maid of Kent lived firſt as Servant to Thomas Cobb, át Aldington, which had
been Eraſmus's Living, and from which Eraſmus at that time received a penſion, yearly
paid by the then Rector, Richard Maſters. The Girl had fits, and pretended revelations
in them about Eaſter 1525; her revelations were to recommend the hearing of maſs, con
feflion to Prieſts, and prayer to our Lady at her chapel of Court of Street in the fame pariſh.
Her fame then was fo great, that Archbiſhop Warham fent three monks of Canterbury and
two obſervant Friers with the abovementioned Richard Maſters, Rector of Aldington, to
examine her. They encouraged her, and confirmed the belief of her revelations, which
brought many offerings to the Chapel, and procured for herſelf from the Archbiſhop a
place among the Nuns of St. Sepulchre's, in Canterbury, for ſuch, ſhe faid, was our Lady's
pleaſure. Afterward, when Idolatry fhook, to preſerve it from falling, the ventured to
meddle with ſtate affairs in her revelations; for which ſhe and her Monks and Friers, and
the Parſon of Aldington, confefling their villaniés, were deſervedly hanged. Lambard:
Hift. of Kent, 1576.
See alſo Strype's Mem.
Book II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
89
be;
his life, and that he leave three things which he purpoſeth ; that
is, that he take none of the Pope's right or patrimony from him :
that he deſtroy thoſe new folks of opinion, and the works of the
new learning : that if he married, and took Ann to wife, the
vengeance of God ſhould plague him.
2. Two or three months after this the Angel appeared, and
bad her go again unto the King and ſay, that ſince her laſt being
with his Grace, he hath more ſtudied to bring his purpoſe to paſs.
And that ſhe ſaw in ſpirit the King, the Queen, and the Earl of
Wiltſhire ſtanding in a garden together, and that they did deviſe
how to bring the matter to paſs, and by no means it would not
but that at the laſt a little divel ſtood beſides the Queen, and
put in her mind to ſay thus, You ſhall ſend my Father unto the
Emperour, and let him ſhew the Emperour your mind and con-
ſcience, and give him theſe many thouſand ducats to have his good
will, and thus it will be brought to paſs. Go and fear not to
Thew the King this tale and privy token, and bid him take his old
wife again, or elſe Here Sir Thomas breaks off, and ſays,
• It is ſuch a matter that my hand ſhaketh to write it, and ſome-
thing better unwritten, than written.'
4. That ſhe was charged to go to the Cardinal when he was
moſt in his proſperity, and few him of three Swords that he had
in his hand, one of the Spiritualty, another of the Temporalty,
and the other of the King's marriage.
5.
At another ſeaſon after, the Angel commanded her to go to
the ſaid Cardinal, and ſhew him of his Fall, and that he had not
done as ſhe had commanded him.
6. That ſince he died, ſhe ſaw the diſputation of the divels for
his ſoul, and that ſhe was three times lifted up, and could not ſee
him, neither in heaven, hell, or purgatory. And at the laſt where
ſhe ſaw him ; and that by her penance he was brought into hea-
ven, and what ſouls ſhe ſaw fly through purgatory.
N
10. That
90
Book II.
THE LIFE OF
power of
10. That the Angel commanded her to go to a certain Monk,
and bid him burn the New Teſtament that he had in Engliſh.
14. That the old Biſhop of Canterbury had promiſed to marry
the King, and of the warning by the Angel of God.
18. Of the viſion ſhe had, if the King had married at Calais, of
the
great ſhame that the Queen ſhould have had.
27. The viſion of 9. 9. 9. the reign of the King, how long he
ſhall reign, as faith a propheſy which agreeth with her ſayings.
Thus much I thought neceſſary to ſet down, not only to thew
the ſcope and nature of her particular impofture, but that the rea-
der might judge, where the ſuperſtitious influences of popery were
vigorous, how much it was in the
any little deſigning
Monk to interrupt, or give motion and direction to the great
wheels of government. And ſo alhamed were the Papiſts of this
Burnet. diſcovery, that in Queen Mary's days the letter of Sir Thomas
More, acknowledging his conviction of this groſs impoſition, was
ſuppreſſed, that the opinion of this Nun's fanctity and revelations
might be again eſtabliſhed.
When the Parliament broke up, the determinations at Rome
were eagerly expected ; and the unfavorable ſentence confirming
the former marriage ſoon arrived. A fatal blow to Rome, given
by herſelf; for immediately on the receit of this ſentence, the
King reſolved to break totally from the Pope, and diſengage him-
ſelf and his kingdom from the uſurpations of Rome.
April 20 the Maid of Kent and her Accomplices were hanged
at Tyburn, confeſſing their cheats and treaſons. Worthy Martyrs
for a Roman Catholick Writer to boaſt ofa! But the people of En-
gland with more reaſon grew incenſed againſt the religious Orders,
which were the ſchools where fuch deluſions were invented and
taught. Such pretended viſions and miracles to ſerve their turns,
as England had abundantly experienced, greatly abated their credit
at this time, when people dared to ſpeak their minds, and opened
the
way
to a demolition of Monaſteries.
The
• Sanders de ſchiſmate Anglicano, p. 85.
5
Book II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
of
The account given by a Carthufian himſelf to vindicate and do
honor to the memory of the Prior and Brotherhood of the Char-
treux, who was hanged in the year 1535, may, I believe, be
truſted with the Reader as a ſufficient evidence of their deluſiong
and deſigns.
He tells us, when they were brought to ſuffer their ſentence,
and the Executioner had thrown in their faces their own hearts,
yet beating and alive, torn out of their ſtomachs, and upbraided
them with their diſobedience and diſloyalty to their King, that
theſe devout martyrs with one conſent cried out, o Our hearts
are there where our treaſure is, Jeſus Chriſt : and we now hear
' our obedience and allegiance approved in heaven by the King of
* Kings, who himſelf already begins to encircle our heads with
• crowns of precious ſtones.' Which was an extraordinary ſpeech
to be made by men, whoſe hearts had been pulled out of their
ſtomachs, and thrown in their faces. He likewiſe tells us of
another Prior of that Monaſtery, one John Tynzby, an Iriſhman,
who died in 1529, that before he took the habit he was at Jeruſa-
lem, and was taken by the wild Arabs, and put into priſon to be
murdered : but that the day before he was to be executed, he
remembered an Image of St. Catharine at home in his own coun-
try, to which he prayed very earneſtly for deliverance ; and that
the fervor of his devotion was ſo great as to throw him into a pro-
found ſleep, out of which when he awaked, he found himſelf in
that very chapel in his father's houſe before the Image, conveyed
by the almighty power of God out of priſon over ſuch immenſe
tracts of land and fea. And, to mention but one more out of ma-
ny miraculous ones in that narrative, we are told that Robert
Smith and John Darley were two intimate friends in that Convent;
foon after the martyrdom of our Prior, ſays he, the former took
to his bed and died. His friend Darley, viſiting him, ſaid, Dear
brother, you are now going the way of all fleſh ; I earneſtly beg,
N 2
when
THE LIFE OF
Book II.
when
you are in happineſs, that by God's permiſſion you would
return hither to tell me in what ſtate our martyred brethren are.
The other promiſed to do ſo, God willing. A week after this he
died; and five days after his death, as Darley was walking early
in the morning in his cell, the deceaſed all in white appeared, and
joined him in his walk, who being aſked who he was, anſwered,
Your Brother, who died five days ago. Being aſked in what con-
dition He and our Fathers were, anſwered, It is well with me,
I am in glory enjoying the beatific viſion, I thank God: but in a
glory much inferior to that which our Fathers who ſuffered enjoy.
They are in great glory with a palm of martyrdom ; and the Prior
of this Houſe hath a crown more illuſtrious than any of the others.
If theſe accounts appear improbable and ridiculous, let us be thank-
ful for our deliverance from thofe llaviſh fears under which that
deſigning religion was ſtudious to train their votaries for the more
abſolute dominion over them.
The King was deſirous that Catharine would lay aſide the Title
and Port of a Queen, and Dr. Tonftal, among others, was ſent to
perſuade her to do ſo. But ſhe upbraided Tonſtal, for that he and
others of her Council had always ſhewed her that her Cauſe was
good. The Biſhop told her, that as the chief univerſities in
Chriſtendom, even of Bononia itſelf, which was the Pope's own
Town, had concluded, that after the deceaſe of the Brother (he
having had carnal knowledge of his Wife) the Brother living
might not marry the ſaid Wife by any Diſpenſation from the Pope,
becauſe it was forbidden by the Law of God : and as the Pope
never made anſwer to maintain lawfully his power to the contrary;
but rather in confirmation of the opinions of the ſaid univerſities
had ſaid at Marſeils, that if the King would ſend a Proxy thither,
he would give the ſentence for him againſt Q. Catharine, becauſe
he knew the Cauſe was good and juſt ; therefore He, the Biſhop,
had changed his opinion, and deſired her to do the fame. But
ſhe
• Hiſtoria aliquot noftri ſeculi Matyrum. Anno Dom. MDL.
Book II:
93
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
The reſolutely refuſed for any peril of life or goods to relinquith
her Royal Title.
Clement vii. did not long ſurvive the loſs of England, but died
in September this year ; to whom ſucceded Cardinal Farneſe by
the title of Paul iii.
In the next feffion, which began in November, the King's Su-
premacy was fully ſettled ; and the Convocation unamimouſly ad-
dreſſed the King that he would order the ſcriptures to be tranſlated
into the vulgar tongue ; and that all perſons poffefſed of books of
ſuſpect Doctrine ſhould bring them in before Commiſſioners to be
appointed by the King within three months.
Hitherto the Reformation may be looked upon as purely Regal ;
being only a recovery of that obedience due to the King, which
had for ſome years been diverted from him to the Biſhop of Rome,
by an uſurped authority. Further than this they proceded not
yet; for it was declared that no alteration was intended in the
Doctrines by the Parliament. However, it is eaſy to ſee what an
opening was made to the reformation of Doctrines by the acts
that had been paſſed.
With the Pope's Supremacy and Power of diſpenſing againſt
God's Laws would fall in courſe the Doctrine of Pardons and In-
dulgences : with the abrogation of his Laws would follow in train
the Doctrines built on them : judging herefy by the Scriptures,
and not by Thoſe Laws, muſt change the whole courſe of ſtudies
among the Learned, and turn them from the Decretals to the
word of God : this led to a Verſion of the New Teſtament, that
the people might be acquainted with their duty; and at length to
an examination and rejection of ſuch Doctrines as had no founda-
tion in thoſe ſacred writings.
The oppoſition given to the eſtabliſhed Doctrines proceded as
yet only from the diſagreeing opinions of Individuals, and not the
conſenting judgment of a national Synod : fome of theſe opinions
were
94
Book II.
THE LIFE OF
were founded in truth, and maintained with fobriety; others
were the wild dreams of fanciful men, raſhly ſcattered abroad
like wild fire. The madneſs, diſorder, and impiety of theſe lat-
ter raiſed an odium and diſguſt againſt the former. And the King,
jealous leſt his oppoſition to the Pope ſhould be miſtaken to
pro-
cede from an indifference to Religion, indiſcriminately puniſhed
both with ſeverity. John Frith ſeems to have been the firſt Scho-
lar who at all doubted of the Corporal Preſence, in the year 1532;
and in the year 1534 not only ſome Dutch Anabaptiſts were con-
demned to the ſtake for their impious Tenets, but Frith alſo ſuf-
fered the fire for his opinion ; with ſo implicit and blind faith had
Tranſubſtantiation been received, that no one Biſhop, Doctor, or
Scholar (beſide Frith) ſeemed yet to have entertained any doubt
about it.
wal.
*
It is time to turn our eyes to Ridley, whom we
$. 5. A view of left ſtudying for improvement in Languages, Phi-
Ridley in this Inter-
lofophy, and Divinity, at Paris and Louvain, which
I have placed in the years 1527, 1528, and 1529;
for as this was done at the charge of his Uncle Robert (by the tel-
timony of his Cotemporary and Fellow-collegiate, Dr. Turner, af-
terwards Dean of Wells) it muſt be before the year 1536, when
that celebrated Canoniſt died : we find Ridley at College in every
year preceding thoſe three abovementioned, and in thoſe Three
we meet with nothing recorded of him ; which makes it probable
that he ſpent them abroad : and after the year 1529 we hear of
him ſo often at home, as cannot conſiſt with his ſtudying in foreign
Univerſities after that time.
In the year 1530 I find him choſen to an Office in his College,
not proper for an abſent member, that of Junior Treaſurer ·. And
at this time it was, as I apprehend, when he was purſuing his
theological
530.
5
• Regiſtr, Aulæ Pembroch,
BOOK II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
95
6
theological ſtudies, the foundation of which he had laid abroad,
that he not only applied himſelf diligently to the reading of the
ſcriptures, as the ſafeſt guide in thoſe ſtudies, but for their more
ready aſſiſtance took pains to imprint them in his memory ; for
this purpoſe he uſed to walk in the Orchard at Pembroke-Hall,
and there get without book almoſt all the Epiſtles in Greek: which
walk to this day is called Ridley's Walk ..
About the ſame time he might take under his care Mr. William
Turner, afterwards Phyſician to the Protector Somerſet's Family,
and Dean of Wells, to perfect him in the knowledge of the Greek
tongue ; who gives the following account of him in a letter to
Fox, when he was collecting materials for his Book of Martyrs,
tranſlated by Mr. Strype in his third volume of Memorials Eccle-
fiaftical
Concerning Ridley I am able to ſay things more, and more
' certain than you have in your book ſet down, as being born in
• the ſame Country with him, and for many years his Collegian
• in Pembroke-Hall, and his Opponent in theological exerciſes.
• He was born in my native County of Northumberland, and
ſprang of the gentile Pedigree of the Ridleys : one of his Uncles
' was a Knight, and another was Doctor of Divinity, who by the
' name of Robert Ridley was famous, not only at Cambridge, but
at Paris, where he long ftudied, and throughout Europe, by the
writings of Polydore Virgil. At the charges of this Doctor was
our Nicholas long maintained at Cambridge, afterwards at Pa-
ris, and laſtly at Louvain. After his return from the ſchools be
'yond the feas, he lived with us for many years in Pembroke-
• Hall: but at length was called away from us to the Biſhop of
Canterbury, whom he ſerved faithfully. And laſtly, was raiſed
' to the dignity of a Biſhop.
The Town where he was born was
« called
C
<
MS. in eod, Colleg.
c P. 228.
gb
Book II.
THE LIFE OF
<
1
* called Willowmontiſwick ; now Willowmont : in the Northum-
• brian language fignifying the Duck OF THE Rocks.
Concerning his memory, and his manifold knowledge of tongues
*and arts, although I am able to be an ample witneſs (for he firſt in-
ſtructed me in a further knowledge of the Greek Tongue) yet,
without my teftimony, almoſt all Cantabrigians, to whom he
was ſufficiently known, will, and can teſtify. How able he was
* in confuting or overthrowing any thing, yet without any
boaſt-
ing or noiſe of arms, not only I, but all with whom he diſputed,
eafily perceived ; unleſs he underſtood that they thirſted more af-
* ter glory than was fit : for thoſe he uſed to fet himſelf more vi-
gorduſly to cruſh. His behaviour was very obliging, and very
pious without hypocriſy, or monkiſh auſterity : for very often he
* would ſhoot in the Bow, or play at Tennis with me. If there
' were no other witneſs of his beneficence to the Poor, I will tef-
tify this to all, that before he was advanced to any ecccleſiaſtical
preferment, he carried me along in company with him to the
* next Hoſpital, and when I had nothing to give to the Poor, be-
• fide what he himſelf, according to his eſtate, liberally gave,
• he often ſupplied me that I might give too. While he was
• himſelf in priſon, what aid he ſent out of England to us in our
* exile in Germany, that learned man, his faithful Achates, Dr.
• Edmund Grindall, now Biſhop of London, can teſtify; and ma-
ny
others who were aſſiſted by his liberality.'
One part of this character probably refers to a remarkable inci-
dent within this interval ; I mean, his ſetting himſelf vigorouſly
to cruſh fuch Diſputants as aimed at their own glory more than
was fit, while his uſual method was to be as calm as he was for-
cible in his attacks, and to content himſelf with conqueſt without
a triumph.
In the beginning of the year 1532, in the Proctorſhip of Cake
and Taylor, George Throgmorton and John Aſkwell, two young
men
<
1532.
Book II.
97
DR. NICHOLAS RID L'E Y.
men from Oxford, who happened to think pretty highly of them-
ſelves, ventured to Cambridge on no wiſer an errand than to chal-
lenge all that Univerſity to a Diſputation on two Queſtions, in
which they had prepared themſelves. Ridley was one of the Five
appointed to undertake the Challengers. The oddneſs of the oc-
caſion drew together a great concourſe of Scholars, ſo that the
ſchool doors were broken down by them. For the number of
ſcholars then at Cambridge was very great, as may be gueſſed at
from a paſſage in Latimer's Sermon before King Edward in 1550 ;
where he ſays, that · he verily believes there were then ten thou-
• ſand ſcholars fewer than there were twenty years ago. Throg-
morton was to reſpond on the firſt Queſtion, whom his Opponents
ſo preſſed, that, finding him a little embarraſſed, they purſued
their advantage, (the very character of Ridley with ſuch vain-glo-
rious Diſputants) and never ſuffered him to recover himſelf again.
His Fellow Adventurer Aſkwell, who was to reſpond on the ſe-
cond Queſtion, was ſo diſcouraged, that he declined the Diſputa-
tion, by feigning himſelf fick.
Archbiſhop Teniſon, in his MS. Notes in the Library at Lam-
beth, calls this Duellum Religioſum, a religious Combat ; but in
truth there was no more of Religion in the Queſtions, than there
was of Diſcretion in the Challenge. The Firſt was, Whether
the Civil Law was more excellent than Medicine ? The Second,
which helps us to ſee what Learned Trifles they buſied themſelves
about at that time of day, was, Whether a Woman, condemned
to death, being twice tied up, and the cords both times breaking,
ought to be hanged the third time?
So ended this ridiculous Challenge, to the diſgrace of the Chal-
lengers. Though, as a Cambridge Relater of it a candidly obſerves,
• not the leaſt ſhadow of ſham'e can reflect on Oxford,' for the in-
diſcretion of Two of their hot-headed Members. However, Dr.
Caius tells us, it was ſaid, that Oxford at their return expelled
0
them:
1 Fuller's Hift. of the Univerſity of Cambridge.
1
98
BOOK II.
THE LIFE OF
.
1533
them from the Univerſity.
Which' Fuller cenſures, ſuppoſing
that diſgrace within the Univerſity had been a more proper: pu-
niſhment.
In the following year Mr. Ridley was choſen Senior Proctor of
that Univerſity. And while he continued in that office the impor-
tant point of the Pope's Supremacy came before them to be ex-
amined upon the authority of Scripture. For this purpoſe they
1534. appointed publick Diſputations for fifting the Queſtion thoroughly.
In which it is probable that Ridley's education at Paris had given
him an ability to aſſiſt with great ſucceſs ; as he might have learn-
ed there to overcome the chief difficulty in that Queſtion, which
was to get over the prejudice of human authority in the decrees of
Popes and Councils, and their falſe interpretations of Scripture.
Their famous appeal from the Pope's repeal of the Acts of the
Council of Bafil was yet freſh in memory, and the Writings of
Two of their Members, Gerfon and Occham, were then diligent-
ly read there. The latter of which determines, That neither the
Pope or the Clergy are exempt from the Emperour's Juriſdiction ;
and that whatever greater privileges they enjoy, they hold of hu-
man right only'. Grounding his determination on this Scriptures,
that each, after embracing Chriſtianity, was to remain in the ſame
condition in which he was before he was called. I Cor. vii. 20.
If therefore, ſays he, before ordination, every Prieſt was ſubject
to his own Prince; after Prieſthood taken, he was to continue in,
the ſame ſubjection and conſequently the Pope, if before he was
called to the Papacy he was ſubject to the Emperour, his being
called to the Papacy does not diſcharge him from being under the
· imperial juriſdiction.. "The Univerſity of Cambridge therefore fol-
lowing the judgment of that at Paris, after mature deliberation
came to this Reſolution ; "That the Biſhop of Rome had no more
Authority and Juriſdiction derived to him from God, in this
Kingdom of England, than any other foreign. Biſhop.' Signed
in:
4. De poteſtate Pontificis queſtioniś z. cap: 78.
verything
Book II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
99,
in the name of the Univerſity, May 2d, 1534, by Simon Heynes,
Vice-chancellor ; Nicholas Ridley, Richard Wilkes, Proctors.
The King's Supremacy was now generally ac-
$.6. Relating to knowledged, few of any name oppoſed it, except
the Supremacy.
Sir Thomas More and Fiſher Biſhop of Rocheſter,
The reſt of the Biſhops, even Thoſe, who after-
wards were the Pope's great. Champions, were zealous in the ſup-
port of it. Towards the cloſe of the year 1534, they took an
oath, and utterly renounced the Pope's Authority in England. A.
paffage or two, ſigned by. Lee, Archbiſhop of York, Tunſtal,
Biſhop of Durham, Stokely, who ſucceded him in London, and,
Gardiner, made Biſhop of Wincheſter in the place of his late
Maſter the Cardinal, will ſerve to Thew what they once thought
and ſwore to on this ſubject. 'I do purely of mine own volunta-
ry accord, and abſolutely in the word of a Biſhop profeſs....
* the Papacy of Rome not to be ordained of God by Holy Scrip-
ture, but conſtantly do affirm, and openly declare, and ſhall
• declare it to be ſet up only by Man, and ſhall cauſe diligently
* other men likewiſe to publiſh the ſame. Neither ſhall I enter
any treaty with any perſon or perſons either privily or apertly, or
• ſhall conſent thereto, that the Biſhop of Rome ſhall have or ex-
• erciſe here any authority or juriſdiction, or is to be reſtored to any
* juriſdiction hereafter for the confirmation hereof I give my
faith and truth by firm promiſe, and in the faith of a Biſhop,
that againſt this my aforeſaid profeſſion and promiſe made, I
• Thall defend myſelf by no diſpenſation, exception, nor any reme-
*dy, or caution of Law, or example, during this my natural life. '
Nor content with This, fome were very earneſt by other volun-
tary means to juſtify their fincerity in this point, which they knew
was fuſpected by the King. Whoſe ſuſpicions of Tonſtal appear in
a Letter from the King to the Biſhop, in which the King charged
him with • looking for a new world, or a mutation.' Which the
Biſhop
3
6
O 2
IOO
BOOK II.
THE LIFE OF
:
daily did
6
Biſhop took much to heart, and complained of it to Cromwell in
theſe words ; · If the King's Highneſs knew my mind, as God
doth, ſure I am thoſe words had not been put in. For I have
• been as fore againſt ſuch uſurpations of the Biſhop of Rome, as
grow, as any man of any degree in this realm. And that
• I ſhould now look for the renewing of that thing, which I with-
“ ſtood heretofore, as far as I might, when He floriſhedi moſt, is
* not likely. Surely I look for no mutation, nor new world but
one ; which is the changing of this 'life tranſitory to the Life
« Eternal in the world to come.'
Fox gives us the ſubſtance of a Serinon preached and publiſhed
by this Biſhop, in which he proves from the Example of Chriſt,
and of St. Peter, and other Apoſtles, that the Power clamed by
the Popes, is contrary to the Goſpel Spirit : that the paſſages al-
ledged in defence of their Supremacy are wreſted from their true
ſenſe, and contrary to the interpretation of the Fathers : that the
Councils, falſely cited in their favor, were directly againſt them :
that, following the pride of Lucifer their father, they make thein-
felves fellows with God, and do exalt their ſeats above the ſtars of
heaven, and do aſcend above the clouds, and will be like to AI-
mighty God : that when, four and thirty years ago, in Julius his
time, he ſaw a Nobleman of great age proſtrate himſelf
ground, and kiſs the Biſhop of Rome's ſhoe, which he ſtately ſuf-
fered to be done, as of duty ; he thought he ſaw Cornelius the
Centurion ſubmitting himſelf to Peter, and much honoring him :
but ſaw not Peter there to take him up, and to bid him riſe, fay-
ing, I am a Man as thou art. So that the Biſhops of Rome, ad-
mitting ſuch adoration, due unto God, do climb above the heaven-
ly clouds. ... And now, becauſe he can no longer in this realm
wrongfully uſe his uſurped power in all things (as he was wont to
do) and luck out of this realm by avarice inſatiable innumerable
fums of money yearly, to the great exhauſting of the ſame ; He
therefore, moved and replete with furious ire and peſtilent malice,
goeth
upon the
BOOK II.
IOI
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
goeth about to ſtir all Chriſtian Nations, that will give ears to his
diviliſh enchantments, to move war againſt this realm of England,
giving it in prey to all thoſe that by his inſtigation will invade it.
Whoſe peſtilent purpoſe the Princes, that he breaketh it unto, have
in much abomination ; both for that the Biſhop of Rome (who
being a Biſhop ſhould procure peace) is a ſtirrer of war ; and be-
cauſe this moſt errant and unkind Traitor (Pole) is his miniſter to
fo diviliſh a purpoſe, to deſtroy the country that he was born in,
which any Heathen Man would abhor to do. He ſays further,
that for theſe many years paſt, little war hath been in theſe parts
of Chriſtendom, but the Biſhop of Rome either hath been a ſtirrer
of it, or a nouriſher of it, and ſeldom any compounder of it, un-
leſs it were for his ambition or profit. Wherefore ſince, as St.
Paul ſaith, that God is not the God of diffention, but of peace,
who commandeth by his word peace always to be kept, we are
fure that all thoſe, who go about to break peace between realms,
and to bring them to war, are the Children of the Divil, what
holy names foever they pretend to cloke their peſtilent malice with-
all. Finally, he wiſhes that Gog (by whom he means the Pope)
may drink of the ſame cup, which he maliciouſly goeth about to
prepare for us, that the people of God might afterwards live quiet-
ly and in
peace a.
He likewiſe, together with Stokeſly, Biſhop of London, joined
in a Letter to Pole in maintenance of the King's Supremacy.
But Gardiner, Biſhop of Wincheſter, appeared earlier in the
field, and publiſhed his book De vera obedientia in the year 1534. .
In which ſpeaking of the King's Title of Supreme Head in Earth
of the Church of England, immediately under Chriſt, he acknow-
ledges that he had not come haſtily into this opinion ; but that at
length he was convinced, being compelled by that which com-
pelleth
ܪ
• The abovementioned Sermon could not be preached before 1537, though placed by
Fox in the year 1534 ; becauſe Julius, whom he mentions ſeeing in bis ftate four and
thirty years before, was not Pope till 1503,
102"
BOOK II.
THE LIFE OF
o the
pelleth all men, when God feeth his time, even the mighty
power
of the truth. Then grounds his judgment on the King's
Supremacy in his realm confirmed by Scripture and univerſal con-
ſent; and argues,' ſeeing the Church of England conſiſteth of
the ſame ſorts of people at this day that are compriſed in the word
'realm, of whom the King is called the Head ; ſhall he not, being
called the Head of the realm of England, be alſo the Head of the
* ſame men, when they are named the Church of England ?' He
obſerves, that Religion will not alter the caſe ; for, ſays he,
• authority of the Maſter towards the Servant, and the right of
"the Huſband over the Wife is not loſt by the mean of religion,
* and ſhall.it be loſt to the King! Truely, if he be the Head of
the people, and that by the ordinance of God, as no man faith
nay, yea, even as well when the people as the Prince be moſt far
• diffevered from God through infidelity : how much more now,
ſeeing they accord through the power of God in one profeſſion of
* faith, and by that mean are a Church, ought He to retain the
' name of the Supreme Head ?'
To the argument urged, that the Church hath a Government,
in which Spiritual Men are the Governours appointed by God, ac-
cording to that direction in the Acts of the Apoſtles, Take heed to
yourſelves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghoſt bath made
you Overſeers, to feed the Church of God which he hath purchaſed
with his own blood. Acts xx. 28. He anſwers, « This and fuch
• like ſentences are nothing againſt the King's authority : no more
* than the obedience due to the King is diminiſhed in that the
• Wife is commanded to obey her Huſband, and the Servant his
* Mafter. In like manner, the government of the Church, com-
mitted to the Apoſtles and to thoſe who ſuccede in their rooms,
may not be thought to abrogate or diminiſh that which God.
• hath committed to Princes, in any condition. The Parfon, Vicar,
• or Pariſh-Prieſt's care of his Pariſhioners is not taken away, be-
cauſe the Biſhop ought alſo to overſee; neither may the. Biſhop's
• juriſdiction
6
BOOK II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
103
:
juriſdiction be deemed of no effect, becauſe he muſt take the
• Archbiſhop for his Superior : even ſo by the government of the
• Church, committed to the Apoſtles and their Succeflors, that,
• which beforehand is committed of God to Princes, is in no wiſe
• taken away.'
To their objection, who ſay, Chriſt only is the Head of the
Church, he anſwers, · We all confeſs it ; (meaning thereby the
« Univerſal Church.). Let this be out of controverſy : for the
avoiding of which, there is both to the word Head added in
Earth, and to this word Church is added of England.'
To the old diſtinction, that the Prince ſhould govern in tempo-
ral matters, and the Church in ſpiritual, He obſerves that it is
very unwarrantable to preclude the Prince from a care of ſpiritual
matters. • Muſt every one, ſays he, in his own private care,
' ſeek the kingdom of God firſt and above all things, and muſt
the Prince in his adminiſtration neglect it, or at leaſt take no care
6 of it ?' This he obſerves is contrary to the univerſal practice of
the Church through all ages. • Did not Aaron, ſays he, take
• Moſes for his Sovereign Lord ? Did not Solomon ordain the of-
• fice of the Prieſts in their miniſteries, and Levites in their order,
taking care of ſpiritual matters, not unadviſedly, but by the
ap-
pointment of David his Father, the Man after God's own heart?
• The ſame Solomon put Abiathar the High-Prieſt to death. Je-
hoſaphat ſet up the high judgment ſeat of the Prieſts and Levites
houſeholds in Jeruſalem. By what authority did he fo, but by
.
his regal power, taking it to be his office rather to take charge
concerning divine matters than human ? Would Hezekiah have
• fo buſied himfelf with the adminiftration of divine matters, if
« the diſcipline of his regal office, which he received of God, had
“not required it? In the very firſt year and firſt month of his reign
" he did not only build up the gates of the Lord's Houſe again, but
alſo gave diligence to reform the Prieſts themſelves ; for he not
only admoniſhed them of their negligence in their office, but alſo
6 like
4
(104
Book II.
THE LIFE OF
o be
<
• like a man of authority ſaid, Hearken, Oye Levites and Prieſts,
ye
fanctified and make clean the Houſe of the Lord, the God
of
your fathers, and put away all uncleanneſs from the Sanc-
tuary.
• The Biſhop of Rome therefore muſt either bring out the tables
of the New Teſtament, or none. But Chriſt openly proteſted
• both in words and deeds, that he fought not an earthly kingdom,
* but (the eſtate of orders remaining ſtill) he taught the juſt go-
vernment of the inward mind through the grace of God, which
conſiſteth in humility and contempt of worldly things. And
the points of office of Him that is Chriſt's Vicar, if he will do
· his office faithfully, are not to bear rule, but to be in ſubjection ;
not to command Princes, but to acknowledge himſelf to be un-
• der their power and commandment: not only when they com-
'mand things indifferent and eaſy to be done, but alſo when they
* command things not indifferent (ſo they be not wicked) in checks,
in ſcourgings, and beatings unto death, yea even to the death
of the Croſs. Theſe are Chriſt's footſteps, and this is the ma-
jeſty of rule-bearing in Chriſt. His diſciples who dreamed of a
• temporal kingdom he always rebuked ; but he never hindered
• Cæſar's tribute, nor any man's authority one jot.
Where we
find in Chriſt's actions all contrary to what the Biſhop of Rome
challengech to himſelf as Chriſt's Vicar.
* And can we think his words diſagree with his own deeds ? That
• where he never fought authority among men, he gave it notwith-
ſtanding to the Biſhop of Rome to uſe as his Vicar? Men indeed
may wreſt his words by forced interpretations : but there is not
• found in the holy ſcriptures ſo much as one ſyllable of the Biſhop
• of Rome.
• Nay, admit Chriſt
gave Peter a Supremacy over the other Apof-
• tles, (although Euſebius reports from Clemens that James, called
Juſtus, was ordained Biſhop of the Apoſtles) and that the Biſhop
of Rome is Peter's Succeſſfor, was a kingdom, or lordſhip given
him
3
6
BOOK II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
105
<
· him with the Supremacy? That, which in one relation is Chief
. and Supreme, in another relation hath ſometime an inferior
• place. How great a Supremacy, as I may ſo call it, hath the
Chaplain over his Maſter while he is in divine miniſtration ? And
yet when he is out of his place he leaveth his ſupremacy behind
• him. So the chief Phyſician, the chief Painter, the chief Uni-
verſity have each a ſupremacy, only in their reſpective offices and
• employments; and yet have no power to command even them
• over whom they have this ſupremacy.
· If the Supremacy of the Church of Rome in times paſt, with
great conſent of the world, ſtood in the office of preaching God's
• word, if in the care and charge of advancing Chriſt's name, if in
prompt valiantneſs of mind to defend the truth, and keep the
' faith of Chriſt from hereſies, as it is moſt plane that in thoſe
days it did, when the Biſhops of Rome, and almoſt none but
they, were diligent to heal the fury of tyrants raging againſt
. Chriſtian people : if it were now ſeen that the Biſhop of Rome
* contended about that Supremacy faithfully to paſs all other
Biſhops in godlineſs, in faith, and religious devotion, and would
• ſtrive to go ſo far before, that in this race ho might be worthily
* called the Firſt, all Chriſtian Princes would call them by thoſe
• true names that they ſaw with their eyes, and Him whom they
ſpied ſo to be firſt they would call chief, and in that kind of Su-
premacy they would reverence him with due honor according to
his virtue.'
But that Chriſtian Kings were Supreme in eccleſiaſtical matters
within their own realms, he proves from Hiſtory. · Who, ſays
he, did ever diſallow Juſtinian's fact, who made laws concerning
• the glorious Trinity, and the Catholick faith, concerning Biſhops,
men of the clergy, and hereticks, and others ſuch like? How
often do we read that the cauſes of hereſy have been debated be-
*fore Emperours and Princes, and diſcuſſed by their trial ? If we
will bolt out the antient laws of the Kings of England in times
P
• paſt,
3
C
<
1c6
Book It.
THE LIFE OF
paſt, how many ſhall we find concerning religion and the church
made, proclamed, and bidden to be put in execution by the
• commandment and authority of thoſe Kings ?"
If it be ſaid they did ſo as Defenders of the Church, and not as
Heads of it, he obferves, that “ they made ftatutes by their autho-
rity, and by their own laws to enquire of herefy, wherein con-
• fifteth the principal point of office s which is yet, and hath al-
ways
been obſerved, even unto theſe days. They have permitted
many things unto the Biſhops and Clergy, and have granted
. them many immunities: then either they gave what they had not
" themſelves; or elſe they had power to exerciſe themſelves what
they granted to other, and therefore they remitted and departed
in ſo doing with part of their own right."
With reſpect to matter of fact, that Princes have acknowledged
the Biſhop of Rome to be the Head of the Univerſal Church, as
indeed Henry himſelf had done very roundly in his attack on Lu-
ther, he ſays of deeds which feem to diminish the right, ti-
. tle and authority of the Prince, a certain light of the truth hath
always peeped as it were out of the moft deep darkneſs. If our
• Elders had believed that God had committed the charge of all the
e whole world unto the Biſhop of Rome, what wilful boldneſs
• cauſed them to make fo many ſtatutes againſt and contrary to that
charge and power, advancing itſelf under that pretence? Thoſe
· Princes feem to have known their own right and authority, and
• not to have been at all ignorant of the original beginning and na-
«ture of the Biſhop of Rome's power. And yet the Biſhops of
- Ronie thought good to allow both their judgments and doings in
that behalf, fo much that they have not only not found fault
« with thoſe Princes which both made fùch ſtatutes and kept them,
but alſo, diſſembling the foil they had taken, commended thoſe
* Princes for their fidelity and obedience. As for our Elders, when
they perceived the Biſhop of Rome's authority by his fruits, and
17. judged
BOOK II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
107
are
6
• judged him not to be God's Vicar, they thought that pick-purſe
authority muſt be borne withall, and not clean caſt out (for ſo
• reaſon permitted at that time) but their expreſs deeds do moſt ma-
nifeſtly declare, that they were of the fame judgment that we
of. All forts of people are agreed upon this point, with moſt
• ſtedfaſt conſent, learned and unlearned, both men and women, ,
• that no manner of perſon born and brought up in England hath
ought to do with Rome. All manner of people receiving and
embracing the truth do with one whole conſent acknowledge, ho-
nor, and reverence the King for the Supreme Head of the
• Church of England upon earth. The word of God gives no
more authority to theſe Biſhops of Rome than to all other Biſhops,
• that is, to feed and bring up the people within their dioceſe com-
mitted to their ſpiritual charge, with the miniſtration of the
word of God, and of his Sacraments. Nor let it in this caſe be
prejudicial to the truth, what men have done heretofore to flo-
• rifh out the matter withall; either ſerving their own turn, or
giving place to the time, or elſe blinded through ignorance."
Thus he opens at once the reafons which overcame his prejudices,
and compelled him to acknowledge the truth at this time : and
diſcovers the motives that probably influenced him in his after re-
lapſe ; either ſërving his own turn, or giving place to the time,
contrary to his convictions.
As he had not been one of the forwardeſt to embrace this opi-
nion, Boner, then Archdeacon of Leicefter, who wrote a Preface
to the Biſhop's book, obviates that objection, and turns it into an
argument of his fincerity and truth in this treatiſe. . Neither let
' it move thee, gentle reader, (ſays he) that Wincheſter did not
• before now apply to this opinion ; thou knoweſt well how wife
a part it is for a man to ſuſpect his judgment, and not to be too
* raſh in giving ſentence. It is an old ſaying, that Mary Magdalene
profited us lefs in her quick belief that Chriſt was - riſen, than
Thomas, who was longer in doubt. Wincheſter, after long and
great
P2
6
+
1
103
Book II.
THE LIFE OF
great deliberation had in the matter, becauſe there is no better
* counſellor than leiſure and time, would reſolutely with his learn-
• ed and conſummate judgment confirm it. Whence he infers,
• Thou ſhouldeſt, gentle Reader, efteem his cenſure and authori-
ty to be of more weighty credence, inaſmuch as the matter was,
not rafhly, and at all adventures, but with judgment and with
wiſdom, examined and diſcuſſed.'
As we thall often hereafter meet with theſe Three Divines ir
the courſe of this Hiſtory, it may not be improper to acquaint
ourſelves with their Characters,
A
and
BONER.
Dr. CuthbeRT TONSTAL was born at Hatch-
$. 7. Characters of ford, in Richmondſhire, the baſe Son of one Tona
Biſhop TONSTAL! ftal, a Gentleman of a very antient Houſe.
GARDINER
Thomas More, who was well acquainted with
him, tells us, that as there was no man more
adorned with knowledge and good literature, no man more ſincere
and of greater integrity for his life and manneſs; ſo no man was a
more ſweet and pleaſant Companion, with whom one would ra-
ther chooſe to converſe. And Godwyn repreſents him as a very
good Grecian, well feen in the Hebrew tongue, a very eloquent.
Rhetorician, a paſſing ſkilful Mathematician, a great Lawyer, and
a profound Divine. It is pity any immoralities. Thould ſtain fo fair
a character : but not receiving from God the gift of continency,
and precluded by the Pope's unnatural laws from the remedy of
marriage, he was habitually guilty of lewdneſs ; for Bale, whoſe
courſe language affects not the ſubſtance of his evidence, but the
manner of delivering it, aſſures us, that he had by him a liſt of
Biſhop Tonſtal's Whores and Baſtards. If at that time ſuch un-
chriſtian filthineſs paſied unreproved, the Reader may transfer his
cenfure from the perſon of Tonſtal to the corrupt Religion which
he profeffed. The late Author of the Church Hiſtory of England
in
BOOK II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
109
in endeavouring to vindicate him from a greater crime, in his opi-
nion, impeaches that ſincerity, for which Sir Thomas More ſo
highly commends him.
· When the deſign was laying of cafting
• off the Pope's Juriſdiction, he ſtruggled hard to baffle the attempt;
. and if he afterwards complied, he was rather dragged into it,
* than willing or conſenting. Judge, Reader, by the paſſages be-
fore quoted from his Letter and Sermon. It is true he never al-
lowed the King a power in matters purely ſpiritual; nor, ſuch was
his fincerity, could he be dragged by any means into an acknow-
ledgment of what he did not really believe. Let that ſincerity be
his ſufficient voucher, that he did really believe what he fo clear-
ly and warmly acknowledged, that the Biſhop of Rome had no
juſt authority in England. It will not be ſo eaſy to reconcile his
relapſe into the old opinion again to his wonted ſincerity : though
perhaps not difficult to account for it from Human Infirmity. He
with his Chaplain and Kinſman Dr. Robert Ridley had early ena
gaged in the Queen's quarrel againſt the Divorce; this might eaſi-
ly lead him into a diſaffection towards her Succeſſor, Ann Boleyn :
which, and the King's repeted ſuſpicions of him, threw him into
an affociation with thoſe Prelates who oppoſed the new Queen,
and were tenacious of the old ſuperſtitions. As he ſwam with this
ſtream, conflicting in his progreſs with ſuch lets and impediments
as lay in his
in his way, he ſlid inſenſibly into that oppoſition and change
of opinions to which that current led. Yet, whether from the
ſweetneſs of his temper, or a diffidence of his own judgment,
though ſometimes fowered beyond his uſual mildneſs, he was never
heated into ſuch bloody exceſſes as ſome of his Partiſans were.
STEPHEN GARDINER was born at Bury, in Suffolk, natural
Son of Lyonel Woodville, (Biſhop of Saliſbury, and Brother to Eli-
fabeth Wife of Edward iv.) a perſon of a lively, penetrating wit,
of great application, and remarkably ſkilled in the Civil and Canon
Law ; of an active ſpirit, fit for buſineſs, and who would not live
9
out
2.
??
2
III.
Book II.
THE LIFE OF
.
out of it: but ſelfiſh, ambitious, and vain. His capacity and dili-
gence recommended him as a fit inſtrument to Cardinal Wolſey ;
who entertained him in his ſervice with two others of his own
ſtanding, Mr. More, and Mr. Cromwell. All of them afterward
were taken into the King's ſervice ; Gardiner and More came each
of them to be Lord Chancellor of England, and Cromwell was
made Earl of Effex and the King's Vicar General. But while
Cromwell was careful to diſcharge his debt of gratitude to his old
faln Mafter the Cardinal, by pleading his cauſe ſucceſsfully in the
Houſe of Commons, the diſgraced Cardinal found it neceſſary to
ſupplicate ungrateful Gardiner, and remind him of his obligations,
in order to prevale with this forgetful man to employ his intereſt
with the King in behalf of his unhappy Maſter. The ſame abili-
ties recommending him to the King, he was employed by him in
ſeveral embaſſies abroad, where he improved his political capacity,
but was, as himſelf acknowledges in a Letter to the King, but lit-
tle ſeen in Divinity. His intolerable ſelfiſhneſs and vanity appear
from the account which Boner gives of him in a letter to Cromwell,
when ſent to ſuccede him as Reſident in France. In which he
gives him this character. • The Biſhop of Wincheſter, when
any
* man is ſent in the King's affairs, and by his Highneſs's command-
* ment, unleſs He be the only and chief Inventor of the matter,
• and fetter forth of the perſon, will not only uſe many cavils,
.but alſo great ſtrangeneſs of countenance and cheer to the perſon
« that is ſent : over and beſide, as ſmall comfort and counſel as
may be in the matter, rather diſſuading and diſcouraging the per-
• ſon earneſtly to ſet forward his meſſage, than boldening and com-
forting him, as was his duty, with help and counſel to adventure
• and do his beſt therein. The experience whereof I have had my-
• ſelf with him at Roan, and at Marſeils, and now laſt of all at
my
return from Spain ; where neither my diligence in coming to
• him, and uſing him in the beginning with all the reverence I
could, neither the King's Letter written to him in my favor,
"ne
:
LEY
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
Book II.
III
ne yet other thing could mollify his hard heart and cankered
* malicious ſtomach, but that he would ſpitefully ſpeak, and un-
kindly do, as indeed he did, to his great ſhame and my diſhoneſty.
• He cannot be content that any joined in Commiſſion with him
• ſhould keep houſe, but to be at his table, wherein either he
• ſearcheth thereby a vain glory and pride to himſelf, with ſome
• diſhonor to the King, as who faith, there were among all the
King's Ambaſſadours but one able to maintain a table, and that
were He : or elſe he doth the fame for an evil intent and pur-
• poſe, to bring them thereby into his danger, that they ſhall ſay
• and do as liketh him alone, which I ſuppoſe verily hath been his
« intent. He having private hatred againſt a man, will rather ſa-
tisfy his own ſtomach and affection, hindering and neglecting the
King's affairs, than relenting in any part of his ſturdy and ſtub-
• born will, give familiar and hearty counſel (whereby the King's
· Highneſs matters and buſineſs may be advanced and ſet forward)
to him that he taketh for his adverſary.'
His character of not
yielding to others, but being ſtubborn and wilful in his own opi-
nions was ſo general, that He himſelf bears teſtimony to it in a
Letter to Lord Cromwell, wherein he tells him, I am in fome
'men's judgment too ſtrait in charging myſelf : but I will have
* mine own will therein, that I may be called ſelfwilled for ſome-
*thing. And he acknowledges this infirmity in his treatiſe De
vera obedientia, ſaying, 'I confeſs planely of myſelf, I could do no-
thing with a worſe will, nor more againſt my mind, than to ſhrink
• from any thing that I had been before perſuaded in, whatſoever
. it were.' The truth of this character is again confirmed by the
King himſelf, in an evidence given by Lord Paget to the Privy
Council, who declared, that as he was reading the King's will over
to him, when he came to the Biſhop of Wincheſter's name among
the Counſellors, affiftants to the executors, the King ordered him
to ftrike the Biſhop's name out, ſaying, he was a wilful man, and
not
112
BOOK II.
THE LIFE OF
not meet to be about his Son ; that then, paſſing over to the Biſhop
of Weſtminſter, his Majeſty bad him to be put out alſo, ſaying,
he was ſchooled, or ſuch like term, by the Biſhop of Wincheſter.
And when He, the Lord Paget, and others, began to move the
King again for the Biſhop of Wincheſter, he would in no wiſe be
entreated, ſaying, he marvelled what we meant ; and that all we
knew him to be a wilful man. This being his character, we may
with eaſe account for all his procedings ; going heartily into the
Divorce, the Supremacy, and Diffolution of Monaſteries, thereby
to recommend himſelf to the Royal favor. Accordingly he received
as his reward the Biſhoprick of Wincheſter in 1533. But when he
found he could not be a Leader, the Queen, Cranmer, and Crom-
well managing in chief, he ſecretly endeavoured to undermine
them. His abilities and malice foon qualifying him for a principal
Intriguer on the ſide of the Old Religion, when he found he could
act but a ſecond part on the ſide of the New.
EDMUND BONER was born at Elmley, in Warwickſhire, natural
Son of George Savage, Parfon of Devenham, in Cheſhire. A man,
ſervile to thoſe from whom he expected advancement, but having
no regard for any one beſide'; a fawning Sycophant to Lord Crom-
well in his Proſperity, whoſe Dependent he was, acting vigorouſly
on the ſide of the Reformers while their influences were prevalent
at Court : but the moment his Maſter fell, he moſt baſely deſerted
him ; for the next day after Cromwell was apprehended, when
Grafton expreſſed his forrow to Boner at the news, ' are you ſorry
. for that, ſaid Boner ? It had been good that he had been dif-
patched long ago. And immediately ſtruck in with Gardiner's
faction; which, having been ſtrong enough to pull down his old
Patron, he therefore thought the perſons beſt deſerving his regard
and obſequiouſneſs. From this time, Wincheſter and He, juſt be-
fore bitter enemies, acted in concert as long as they lived together.
His diſlinguiſhing character was that of a bold and fearleſs fpirit,
unreſtrained
BOOK II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
113
unreſtrained by decency or compaſſion. For which qualities he
was employed in embaſſies that required fpirit ; as in appealing
from the Pope to a General Council ; and in demanding ſome En-
gliſh Rebels whom the French King had protected. In the firſt
of which he behaved with ſuch audaciouſneſs, as occaſioned the
Pope to talk of throwing him into a cauldron of melted lead : and
in the latter with ſuch impudence, that the French King
bad
• him write to his Maſter from him, and inform him that his Am-
• baſſadour was a great Fool ; and that if it were not for the love
• of his Maſter, he thould have an hundred ſtrokes with an bal-
• berd. The like qualities recommended him to be employed by
Queen Mary, in bringing two hundred to the ſtake in his dioceſe, for
not changing the opinions which he once held. A conduct fo
meritorious in the opinion of a modern Roman Catholick Writer,
that it atones for his having varied from Himſelf in principles and
behaviour. • If ever any one merited to have ſuch a blot in his
• life overlooked, 'tis Biſhop Boner *.' Whom he admits at this
very time when he merited moſt, and which indeed was his whole
merit, to have been imperious and inſulting when in power ; and
* whom zeal for religion, warmth of temper, or ſome other leſs
• commendable circumſtances might induce to diſtinguiſh himſelf
in the rigorous executions of Queen Mary's reign. We cannot
but admire the uniformity of the ſpirit of Popery; the ſame in
bloody Boner, and in the modern Author of the Church Hiſtory
of England.
Tire King's Supremacy within his own realms,
$. 8. Progreſs of
and extirpation of the Biſhop of Rome's uſurped
the Reformation from authority drew in train the appointment of a l'i-
car General to eaſe the King of part of the bur-
then which his newly recovered Honor brought
with it, and this was Cromwell. It likewiſe ſtirred up the Monks
Q
1534 to 1540.
.
to
e Church Hiſtory of England, vol. i. p. 496 and 463.
.
114
BOOK II.
THE LIFE OF
to ſpirit the people againſt the King ; for their exemptions and
privileges were derived from the Pope, and their credit and profit
flowed from the belief of Purgatory, of redeeming Souls by Mafies,
from the worſhip of Saints and Images, and from Pilgrimages,
and the like. Theſe Monaſteries therefore proving the ſeminaries
of Faction and Superſtition were to be diſſolved : but the way was
to be firſt cleared by ſinking their credit with the people. This
was done by a Viſitation in 1535 ; when fuch monſtrous impuri-
ties were diſcovered, as quite blaſted their reputation, and made
their ſuppreſſion leſs difficult. The ſmaller Monaſteries fell in
1536. And upon a new Viſitation the Impoſtures of ſeveral others
were detected ; the Images publickly broken before the people,
and the hidden ſprings, by which the rolling of the eyes and other
motions were performed, were diſcovered to the abuſed votaries,
who had offered at their ſhrines. So that in 1538 the Greater
Monaſteries ſhared the fame fate which the fmaller had done two
Out of whoſe revenues Cranmer hoped to have
erected ſeveral new Biſhopricks, Schools for the education of
Youth, Alms-houſes for maintenance of the Poor, and to have
promoted other good purpoſes. But it muſt be acknowledged that
little was done to anſwer the good intentions of that Prelate.
Only ſix new Biſhopricks were created ; the Poor were deſerted ;
and except a few ſchools in Henry viii. and Edward vi. time, the
Education of Youth continued, as it does to this day, a neglected
poirt; chiefly ſupplied at preſent by the charity and piety of pri-
vate benefactors.
But beſide the ſuppreſſion of Monaſteries, by the influences of
the Queen, Cranmer, and Cromwell, the Convocation in the cloſe
of 1535, moved for a Tranſlation of the Bible in Engliſh to be
fet
up
in all the Churches throughout the Kingdom. And although
Gardiner and his party ſtrenuouſly oppoſed it, yet the King gave
orders for ſetting about it immediately ; and in three years
time,
under
years before.
very
BOOK II.
115
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
j
under the management of Dr. Boner, it was printed at Paris. And
ſome roots of Popery were plucked up in the Convocation in June,
1536, when the following articles of Religion were publiſhed.
The firſt, made the Bible and Three Creeds the Rule of Faith ;
condemning ſuch opinions as were condemned by the Four Firſt
General Councils. This ſtruck out a great deal of Popiſh rubbiſh
Traditions, unwritten Verities, the Pope's Laws, and other impo-
ſitions:
The ſecond treats of the Sacrament of Baptiſm. În which the
opinions of Anabaptiſts and the Pelagians were condemned as he
refies.
The third treats of the Sacrament of Penance; ſetting forth that
it is neceſſary for men faln into ſin after Baptiſm : that it conſiſts
of three parts ; firſt, Contrition, or a ſenſe of having offended,
wrought in our judgments by conſidering the will of God reveled
in his Laws, and in our conſciences, by the ſtings thereof convin
cing us of God's anger, to the producing an ingenuous ſhame for
having done contrary to our Duty, and a diſquieting fear of God's
diſpleaſure : that to this firſt part of Contrition a ſecond muſt fuc-
cede, which is Faith, Truſt and Confidence in God, conceiving
certain hope that we ſhall be juſtified, not for any merits of the
Penitent, but for the only merits of Jeſus Chriſt ; and that this
Faith is begotten and confirmed by the application of Chriſt's pro-
miſes; and theſe are applied by the Prieſt's abſolution, To obtain
which the ſecond part of Penance is neceſſary, Confeffion to the
Prieſt. That, thirdly, Penance muſt produce its fruits, Amend-
inent of Life ; ſuch as Prayer, Faſting, Almſdeeds, Reſtitution.
By which Penance and Good Works, we ſhall not only obtain
everlaſting life, but deſerve mitigation of preſent pains and afflic-
tions in this world. This was a narrowing of the Popiſh merit,
which They extended fo far as to deſerve Heaven.
Q2
The
410
BOOK ITI.
THE LIFE OF
The fourth treats of the Sacrament of the Altar: which is en-
tirely Popiſh, no light having been yet thrown on the doctrine of
Tranſubſtantiation. Theſe Articles mention only Three Sacra-
ments,
The fifth treats of Juſtifieation, or Reconciliation with God,
attained by Contrition, and Faith joined with Charity ; which yet
do not of themſelves merit ſuch juſtification : the mercy of the
Father promiſed freely for Chriſt's fake, and the merit of his
blood and paſſion being the only ſufficient and worthy cauſes there-
of. There were Five more Articles concerning Ceremonies.
I., Of Images ; From a perſuaſion that they had been allowed
in the New Teſtament, they are continued : but only as repreſen-.
ters of virtue and good example, and occaſions of reminding men
of their fins, and no otherwiſe to be eſteemed, left Idolatry enſue,
which God forbid. As for cenfing them, and kneeling and offer-.
ing unto them, with other like worſhippings, although the ſame
hath entered by devotion, and faln to cuſtom ; yet the people
cught to be diligently taught, that they in no ways do it, nor
think it meet to be done to the ſame Images, but only to God and
his Honor, although it be done before the Images..
2. Of Honoring of Saints; Saints in Heaven are to be honored
as the Elect of Chriſt, and reigning with him in glory; as motives
to praiſe Chriſt for the graces he vouchſafed them, as examples to us ,
of virtue and conſtancy; and in that they may help us as advancers
of our prayers and demands with Chriſt :: but not with that con-
fidence and honor which is due only to God, truſting to attain at
their hands that, which muſt be had of God only..
3. Of Praying to Saints; Chriſt is the only ſufficient. Mediator
for our ſins : yet it is. laudable to pray to Saints in Heaven to be
our Interceſſors for us, and with us to God, that he would give,
for his dear Son's fake, remiffion of our ſins, earneſt purpoſe and
ghoſtly ſtrength to obſerve his Commandments. Without the vain.
Superſtition
Book II.
117
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY,
Superſtition of thinking that any Saint is more merciful, or will
hear us ſooner than Chriſt ; or that any Saint does ſerve for one
thing more than another, or is Patron of the fame.
4
Of Rites and Ceremonies; Veſtments, Holy Water, bearing
Candles, Alhes, Palms, creeping to the Croſs, hallowing the
Font, and other like exorciſms and benedictions were to be uſed
and continued, to put us in remembrance of thoſe ſpiritual things
which they ſignified : but none of theſe Ceremonies have power to
remit fins, but only to ſtir and lift up our minds to God, by whom
only our ſins are forgiven.
5. Of Purgatory; that it is agreeable to Chriſtian charity in our
Prayers to commit the Souls departed to God's mercy; and to
cauſe others to pray for them in Maſſes and Exequies, and to give
alms to others to pray for them, that they may be relieved of ſome
part of their pain : but foraſmuch as the place where they be, the
name thereof, and kind of pains there, be to us uncertain by ſcrip-
ture ; therefore this with all other things we remit to God Al-
mighty, unto whoſe mercy it is meet and convenient for us to
commend them, truſting that God accepteth our Prayers for them,
referring the reſt wholly to God, to whom is known their eſtate
and condition. Wherefore it is much neceſſary, that ſuch abuſes
be clearly put away, which under the name of Purgatory have
been advanced, to make men believe that, through the Biſhop of
Rome's Pardons, Souls might clearly be delivered out of Purgato-
ry, and all the pains of it ; or that Maffes ſaid at Scala Cæli, or
otherwhere in any place, or before any Image, might likewiſe de
liver them from all their pain, and ſend them ſtrait to Heaven ;
and other like abuſes a.
The negative and prohibitory clauſes in theſe Articles repreſent
to us, ſome, the avowed Principles, as in Merit, Purgatory, and
others;
a. Burnet, Hift. Reform, vol. i. Appendixo
118
Book II.
THE LIFE OF
others; and all through, the ſuperſtitious Practices of Popery. The
firſt they endeavoured now to purge away; and to reſtore the Ce-
remonies introduced for pious purpoſes, and conſecrated by Anti-
quity to their original deſign, without the allay of Superſtition
with which they had corrupted them.
But more diſtinctly to diſcern the ſtate and motion of the Refor-
mation in this interval, it will be proper to attend to the Hiſtory
of Publick Affairs in it.
1535
1540.
.
Biſhop Fiſher, having oppoſed the King's Di-
$. 9. Publick Tran
vorce and Supremacy, was ſent Priſoner to the
actions from 1534 to Tower; and Paul iii. in affront to Henry, fent
a Cardinal's Hat to Fiſher, as a reward of his
ſervice. This was an inſult which the King
could not brook; ſo that the indiſcrete honor coſt the new Cardi-
nal his head. In return, the Pope excommunicated the King and
his adherents, and gave his Kingdom a prey to any Invader that
would pleaſe to take it ; but the publication of this Bull was a
while ſuſpended. To guard againſt the intrigues of the Pope and
the Emperour, Henry entered into a treaty with the Proteſtants of
Germany, as he underſtood that the Pope, jealous of the greatneſs
of France and Spain, intended that one of the Princes of Germa-
ny ſhould be the Invader. He therefore entered into treaty with
the Proteſtants, to ſtrengthen himſelf in that Country whence his
danger was to ariſe ; and to enable himſelf for a war, if neceſſary,
was one motive with him to diffolve the Leſs Monaſteries.
1536.
While theſe things were in preparation, the concurrence of two
incidents engaged Henry in new ſchemes ; they were, that Queen
Catharine died on the eighth of January, and preſently after Queen
Ann brought forth a dead Son. Queen Catharine's decline had
inſpired him with ſome hopes, that her death, if he could contrive
to get Queen Ann alſo removed, might open the way to a recon-
ciliation with the Emperour, with whom he had involved himſelf
in
.
Book II.
119
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
in great difficulties on account of his Divorce from the One, and
Marriage with the other ; neither of which had anſwered the end
at which he aimed, the obtaining a Male Heir to inherit his
Crown: nay even a Son by Queen Ann would ſtill embarraſs the
Succeſſion, while the validity of his marriage with her was in dif-
pute. Nor was he without his deſires and ſome expectations of
diſentangling himſelf from the Pope's Cenſures. For which pur-
poſe he was in treaty with the French King to obtain a revocation
of thoſe Cenſures : this the French King promiſed to endeavour,
and propoſed it with much earneſtneſs, and not a few threats to
the new Pope. The other part of the treaty, was a propoſal of
marriage, when they came of a proper age, betwixt the Duke of
Angouleſine, third Son of Francis, and the Princeſs Elizabeth : but
in this many difficulties were ſtarted, and delays interpoſed, ſo
that it continued imperfect at the Queen’s death.
Francis having
objecied, that notwithſtanding all the King's realm ſhould agree
, and condeſcend ever ſo much to the Right and Title of Succeſſion
in the Iſſue of his ſecond marriage, yet when foreign parts ſhall
conceive any other and contrary opinion, great troubles might en-
fue. Thus circumſtanced, and eſpecially as he had found in Jane
Seymour a happy temperament betwixt the levity of the French-
educated Ann Boleyn, and the Gravity of the Princeſs of Arragon ;
He imagined that the deaths of Both would leave an unqueſtiona-
ble title to a Son of the Third ; and it having pleaſed God to re-
move the One, he thought it incumbent on himſelf to get free
from the Other. He doubted not but the unguarded gaiety of
his Queen would furniſh him with an occafion of offence when
he was inclined and determined to find one : but her virtue baffled
his diligence, and political jealouſy. She ſaw he was changed ;
fhe knew his temper ; ſhe had diſcovered the new object of his af-
fections, and trembled at her ſituation. The King's malice was
buſied in examining her paſt life, and her enemies, the Popiſh
Faction,
7
THE LIFE OF
Book II.
.
This appears to
Faction, were careful to feed it. He hunted after diſcoveries to
her diſadvantage, in the correſpondence betwixt her and Lord Pier-
cy, now Earl of Northumberland; in the familiarities with her
Brother, the Lord Rochford ; and intimacies with thoſe who had
moſt eaſy acceſs to her, the Grooms and Gentlemen of the King's
Privy Chamber. Here he was to find his pretext : but his incli-
nation to get rid of her and the Princeſs Elizabeth together was too
obvious to eſcape her diſcernment. She therefore complained of
Chabot, the French Admiral, who had been over in England the
laſt year, when the treaty of marriage betwixt the Duke of An-
gouleſme and the young Princeſs was firſt propoſed, for having de-
layed to perfect that treaty, by which France would have been en-
gaged to acknowledge the validity of her Marriage, and legitima-
cy of her Daughter; both which, after Queen Catharine’s death,
the King ſeemed rather willing to have ſet aſide. This
me to be the meaning of a Letter from Palamedes Gontier to the
Admiral, dated at London 5 February this year. At leaſt it plain-
ly thews the ill accord which was at that time betwixt the King
and Queen (which the Hiſtorians generally begin abruptly with
the King's precipitate departure 1 May following, from the Jouſts
at Greenwich ;) and that Chabot had been in ſome meaſure the oc-
caſion of it. The Letter is to this purpoſe;
My Lord,
I ſpent all this morning with Cromwell, and in the afternoon
he carried me to the Queen's apartment, where the King was. I
made my reverence to the Queen, and preſented to her your Let-
ters, delivering to her at large every thing which I was ordered by
you to ſay to Her from you. I obſerved her much confuſed during
this diſcourſe ; and the complained of my too great delay,
which had occaſioned and produced in the King her Huſband many
doubts and ſtrange thoughts; for which ſhe ſaid it was proper for
you to think of ſome remedy, and by uſing the means of the King
her Brother to prevent her ruin, for the found herſelf near it,
and
Book II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
121
and in a much more uneaſy fituation than before her Marriage.
She charged me to deſire and ſolicit you in her name to take care of
her intereſts ; concerning which ſhe could not ſpeak fo fully as the
wiſhed, on account of the apprehenſions which ſhe was under ;
and that her countenance was watched by the eyes, not only of
her Huſband, but of the Princes who were preſent. She told me
likewiſe that ſhe could not write to me, nor fee me again, nor
ſtay longer with me. After ſaying which ſhe left me, and the
King quitted that room, and went into another near it, where
there was dancing : but the Queen did not go thither. I affure
you, my Lord, that as far as I can perceive, ſhe is not at all at
eaſe. And I preſume, in my poor judgment, that the doubts and
ſuſpicions of the King, which I have mentioned to you before, are
the occaſion of her uneaſineſs.
The King having taken his reſolutions, and prepared all things,
opened the ſcene the ift of May at Greenwich, departing ſudden-
ly, as having taken offence at ſomething. The next day the Queen,
her Brother the Lord Rochford, Henry Norris Groom of the Stole,
Weſton and Brereton of the King's Privy Chamber, and Mark
Sineaton a Muſician were ſent to the Tower. The four laſt on
the 12th of May were arraigned and found guilty of a criminal
converſation with the Queen, and ſentenced to die. On the 15th
the Queen and her Brother were found guilty of Inceſt. The evi-
dence againſt her was the jealouſy of the Lady Rochford, the in-
diſcrete familiarities of the Queen, and the reported declaration of
Lady Wingfield before her death : but as theſe might appear too
light to build a matter of ſuch great weight upon, the accuſed
were practiſed upon with the promiſe of life, if they would accuſe
the Queen. Norris, Weſton, and Brereton diſdained the
propo-
ſals, and died, atteſting the Queen's and their innocence. Norris,
who was much in the King's favor, and lately made Conſtable of
Walingford Caſtle, was offered a pardon by the King, if he would
confeſs that of which he was accuſed but he anſwered, that in
R
« his
*
I
122
Воок ІІ.
THE LIFE OF
• of
• his conſcience he thought the Queen guiltleſs of the objected
• crime : but whether ſhe were or not, He could not accuſe her
any
thing; and that he had rather undergo a thouſand deaths,
• than betray the innocent.' When this anſwer was related to the
King, he cried out, “ Hang him up, hang him up then *. But
Smeaton was mean enough to turn an evidence againſt her, and,
probably, to prevent his contradicting that evidence, was hanged,
on the fame day that Norris, Weſton, Brereton, and Lord Roch-
ford were beheaded. The Queen received ſentence to be burnt,
or beheaded at the King's pleaſure ; though the good Archbiſhop,
in the midſt of the King's reſentment, had juſtice and courage
enough to ſay, from what he had obſerved in her, that he never
had better opinion in Woman, than he had in her ; which made
him think that ſhe was not culpable : The perſons accuſed with
her, all, except one, conſtantly to their deaths declared her inno-
cent for them : And Smeaton's accuſing her has been accounted
for ; who was never brought to confront her at the trial : and
even He, at his death, among his other fins, is ſaid to have re-
pented in particular of the wrong he had done the Queen, in de-
ſtroying her by a falſe accuſation •. Her Keeper Sir William King-
fton was fo fatisfied of her innocence, from what he had heard and
obſerved in her during her impriſonment, though ſhe had acknow-
ledged many indiſcrete levities, that he ſent word to Cromwell
the very morning of her execution, “ that he ſuppoſed ſhe would
• declare herſelf a good woman for all men, but for the King, at
• the hour of her death. I have ſeen (ſays he) many men and wo-
men executed, and they have been in great forrow : and to my
knowledge this Lady hath much joy and pleaſure in death.
And ſuch a ſpirit breaths in her laſt Letter to the King', ariſing
from
%
2
Dugdale's Baron. p. 404.
André Thevet, a French Franciſcan, in his Univerſal Coſmography, Lib. xvi. cap. 5
* Exemplified in Bp. Burnet, and Lord Herbert's Hiſtories,
N
Book II.
123
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
from a conſciouſneſs of innocence, as abundantly juſtifies what
Sir William wrote.
She acknowledged herſelf bound to the King for many favors ; Barnet:
for raiſing her firſt from a mean woman, to be a Margrefs next
to be his Queen. And now ſeeing he could beſtow no further ho-
nor upon her on earth, for propoſing to make her, by matryrdom,
à Saint in Heaven.
On the 19th ſhe was executed in the Tower, to make way for her
Succeffor, whom the King married the very next day. But this was
not ſufficient; the marriage ſtanding good, the Princeſs Elizabeth
would be legitimate, and leave the King as much embroiled with
the Emperour as before. For this purpoſe an alternative ſentence
was pronounced of being burnt or beheaded ; that to avoid the fe-
verer death of burning, her weakneſs might be wrought on to con-
feſs a Precontract with the Earl of Northumberland, which would
invalidate the Marriage from the beginning : accordingly. The con-
fefled before the afflicted Archbiſhop at Lambeth fome juſt and
lawful impediments. Upon which Confeſſion her Marriage with
the King was declared null and void. But the Earl of Northum-
berland inſiſted on the Truth of an Oath he had before taken in the
preſence of the two Archbiſhops, Warham and Wolſey, that no
ſuch Contract had ever paſſed between them. But this affair is
ſaid to have paſſed in fecret ; there is no evidence of this judicial
proceding; the Record of the Archbiſhop's ſentence they ſay was
burnt ; and indeed it is not eaſy to juſtify her ſuffering for un-
faithfulneſs to the King as his wife, after her marriage with him
was declared null and void.
The Germans grew cool towards Henry upon this treatment of
his Queen, whom they knery to be their friend. But Cromwelt
and Cranmer loft not their influence with him at her death, which
continued during the reign of her Succeſſor Jane Seymour.
After
R 2
a On the 15th of May.
A
I 24
Book II.
THE LIFE OF
1537
After the death of Queen Catharine, the Emperour propoſed to
Henry a renewal of their old amity; and after the death of Queen
Ann, the Pope offered terms of reconciliation with him by Sir
Gregory Frffali : but the terms were ſuch that the King could
not comply with either; eſpecially as the legitimation of the Prin-
ceſs Mary was one. Finding therefore no probability of a recon-
ciliation conſiſtent with his honor, and deſirous to fix the fuccef-
ſion on the Iſſue of Queen Jane, whether Male or Female, he
procured two Acts to be paſſed in this Parliament which made the
breach irreparable. 1. For the utter extinguiſhing the authority
of the Biſhop of Rome. 2. To annul and make void all Bulls,,
Breves, and Inſtruments from Rome ; and that all, who enjoyed.
privileges by them, were to have the effects renewed by the Arch-
biſhop under the Great Seal.
In the following year the Queen bleſſed the King with what he
ſo ardently deſired, a Son to inherit his Crown, Edward, born the
12th of October. But the King ſuffered a great allay of his happi .
neſs by the death of his Queen within two days. On the 18th
the Infant was created Prince of Wales, and his Uncle Sir Edward
Seymour, Brother to the deceaſed Queen, Earl of Hertford, The
Archbiſhop thought it would conduce much to the encreaſe of true
Chriſtian Knowledge to have a plane and ſound expoſition of the
Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the grounds
of Religion, recommended to the people by publick authority..
For which purpoſe the King, iſſued a Commiſſion to the Two
Archbiſhops, and moſt of the Biſhops to prepare ſuch an expofi-.
tion. Wincheſter, and Three or Four more of his leaven, endea-
vouring to maintain the old Idolatry and Superſtition ; but at
length they came to an agreement, and ſigned a Book which was,
preſented to the King for his peruſal and approbation, who made
ſome alterations. This year it came out, and was entitled, The
godly and pious. Inſtitution of a Chriſtian Man, commonly called,
from
.
tah
BOOK II.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
125
:
from the Compoſers of it, The Biſkops Book. It conſiſted of a de-
claration of the Lord's Prayer, and of Ave Mary, the Creed, the
Ten Commandments, and the Seven Sacraments ; ſigned by the
two Archbiſhops, nineteen Biſhops, eight Archdeacons, and
ſeventeen Doctors of Divinity and Law.
Among the MSS. of Fox the Martyrologiſt is a life of Cranmer,
in which the following account of this Book is given ; ' A godly
• Book of Religion, not much unlike the Book ſet forth by King
· Edward vi. except in two Points. The one was the Real Pre-
'ſence of Chriſt's Body in the Sacrament of the Altar. Of the
which opinion the Archbiſhop was at that time, and the moſt.
part of the other Biſhops and learned Men. The other Error was
' of Praying, Kiffing, and Kneeling before Images : which was
' added by the King after the Biſhops had ſet their hands to the
contrary.'
However, the Monks and Friers were reſtleſs, and many Re-
bellions, fomented by the Popiſh Clergy, were raiſed this year
in
ſeveral parts of England, and many of their Leaders and Promo-
ters were executed.
Theſe tumults forwarded the Suppreſſion of the Abbies and 1538.
Greater Houſes, all which were ſurrendered the following year.
And the Bible in Engliſh was appointed to be had in every
Pariſh
Church. This was a great victory to Cranmer, as it had been
ſtrenuoully oppoſed by Gardiner's Faction. About this time the.
Doctrine of Tranſubſtantiation was pretty much oppoſed ; and de-
fended by none more zealouſly than by the Archbiſhop, as appears
in his diſputation with Lambert before the King this year, with :
Adam Damplip the next year, and with one Barber, a Maſter of
Arts in Oxford, in 1541. As alſo by a Letter to Joachim Vadia-
nus, a learned Foreigner, who had ſent him a treatiſe to prove no
Corporal Preſence. The Archbiſhop was offended at the attempt;
and declared he would give no Patronage or Aſſent to that opinion,
unleſs
-
126
BOOK II.
습
​THE LIFE OF
15.39.
unleſs he met with ſtronger arguments for it, than he had been
yet able to find.
The King's procedings this year, tranſlating
the Scriptures, ſuppreſſing the Monaſteries, and burning the Holy
Relicts found in them, ſo incenfed the Pope, that December 27
he publiſhed the Bull of Excommunication againſt him, which
had been ſo long ſuſpended.
The
year 1539 was unfavorable to the Reformation. A little
before, Fox, Biſhop of Hereford, died, the beſt friend and ableit
aſſiſtant that Cranmer had at that time ; and although the Arch-
biſhop conceived good hopes of his Succeſſor in the See of Here-
reford, Dr. Boner, he was then at a diſtance on an Embaſſy
abroad. So that Cranmer found himſelf but ill ſupported : the
fimplicity of Latimer gave frequent diſguſt; the pride and petu-
lance of Shaxton were hated; and Barlow's indiſcretion gave him
but little influence. The Preachers of the New Religion (as they
called it) were, many of them, raſh and haſty, flying at many
things that were not yet aboliſhed. The Pope's excommunication,
and calling upon the Princes of Europe to riſe againſt the King of
England, and reduce him to obedience; the fear of an alliance be-
tween the Emperour, France, and Scotland in ſupport of the Ro-
man Religion ; the unquiet temper of many on the diſſolution of
Monaſteries ; and a jealouſy of the German Princes, that they
were making their peace with the Emperour to his diſadvantage,
concurred to ſoften the King towards the Popiſh Faction, and to
give them a greater intereſt at Court. And indeed the King was
willing to give Cranmer and his Friends a check for daring to re-
monſtrate againſt his deſign of converting the revenues of the Mo-
naſteries to his own private uſe. The Archbiſhop was honeſt
enough to oppoſe this facrilegious rapine, except the reſumption
of ſuch lands as had been given by the King's Anceſtors. And
Croniwell ſeems to have deſerted him here, and to have endeavour-
ed to incenfe his Maſter againſt him for his obſtinacy in this point.
This
*
Book II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
127
This opportunity the Popiſh Faction improved, not only in ſtop-
ping the progreſs of the Reformation, but in putting it confidera-
bly back, by the bloody Act of the fix Articles “, which was com-
monly called the fix ftringed Whip.
By this Act they decreed, 1. The Corporal Preſence ; againſt
which whoever fpake, preached, or wrote, were to be burned
without the privilege of abjuration, and their eſtates real and per-
fonal to be forfeited to the King. 2. That Communion in both
kinds was not neceſſary to Salvation. 3. Againſt the Marriage of
Prieſts. Their Marriages were declared void ; ſuch as cohabited
with their wives afterwards were to ſuffer death as Felons : but as
a ſtroke upon the Popiſh impure Celibacy, if a Prieſt lived carnal-
any other Woman, he was upon the firſt conviction to for-
feit his benefices, goods, and chattels, and to be impriſoned du-
ring
ly with
D
· But when He (King Henry) took diſpleaſure with certain Biſhops, as they term them,
of the new learning, becauſe they would not give their conſent in the parliament, that the
King ſhould have all abby lands to his own uſe: but only ſuch lands as were given by his
Anceſtors, Kings of England, and that the reſidue of thoſe lands ſhould have been beſtowa
ed to augment the number of learned men in the Univerſities : to the founding alſo of
Grammar Schools in every ſhire of England, where children (moft apt to learning) ſhould
have been brought up freely, and without great coſt to their friends and kinsfolk: to the
founding of Hoſpitals, where poor and impotent people ſhould have been ſufficiently pro-
vided for with Phyſicians and Surgeons, which ſhould have miniſtered both phyſick and
ſurgery freely, not only to them, but alſo to all other poor folk within this realm: and al-
ſo in every ſhire, town, and other market towns where ſhould be thought moſt meet and
fit, to ſet up divers occupations (moſt profitable for the commonwealth) where all valiant
and ſturdy beggars, ſhould have been ſet to work, and if they refuſed to labor, then to
force them thereto by whipping, ſtocking, and hunger; and the reſidue of the abby lands
above theſe, ſhould have been reſerved in the common treaſuries, to aid the King in his
wars or other affairs of his realm, and thereby to have favored and eaſed the more his fub-
jects, in taxes, ſubſidies, fifteenths, and loans, and ſuch other like things. King Henry,
as I ſaid before, upon the diſpleaſure taken, and by the incitation of the old Popiſh Biſhops,
ſhortly after (by the conſent of the ſame, or the moſt part of them who were makers of the
firſt book of Religion (the Biſhop's book aboven.entioned ) ſet forth by open parliament and
convocation the fix Articles, as well agreeing with the former parliament and the word of
God, as black with white, light with darkneſs, Chriſt with Belial, or with Antichrift,
Preface before Cranmer's Cinfutation of unwritten Verities,
9
BOOK II.
128
THE LIFE OF
ring the King's pleaſure ; and upon the ſecond conviction to ſuffer
as a Felon ; the Women offending were alſo to ſuffer forfeiture
and impriſonment, and on the ſecond conviction, as felons.
4.
That
Vows of Chaſtity ought to be obſerved, by the Laws of God.
5. That private Maſſes ought to be continued, as agreeable to
God's Law, and beneficial to Men. 6. That Auricular Confef-
fion was expedient and neceſſary, and ought to be retained. Thoſe
who contemned or abſtained from Confeſſion, or the Sacrament at
the accuſtomed times, were, for the firſt offence, to forfeit their
goods and chattels, and to be impriſoned ; and for the ſecond
were to be judged Felons. Thoſe who preached, or obſtinately
diſputed againſt the other Articles were to ſuffer as Felons. And
thoſe who either in word or writing ſpake againſt them, were for
the firſt time to be Priſoners during the King's pleaſure, and forfeit
their goods and chattels to him; and for the ſecond offence to ſuffer
as Felons.
Cranmer oppoſed this Act ſteddily for ſeveral days: but the King
came into the Houſe, and would have it paſs. And as he knew
of what weight the Archbiſhop's vote would be, though not to
prevent the paſſing, yet to the diſrepute of the Bill, the King de-
fired him to withdraw without voting at all. But the Archbiſhop
knew his Duty, and modeſtly excuſing himſelf to the King, ſtaid
and bore his teſtimony againſt it. This was no proof of that ſla-
vilh proſtitution of his judgment to his Maſter's pleaſure, with
which the Popiſh Writers conſtantly affect to brand his memory.
And that the King was fatisfied, that he had not oppoſed private
prejudices and perſonal regards to the King's Will, which is the
color the ſame Writers give his behaviour on this occaſion, appear-
ed from the King's ſending for him, and telling him, that he had
heard how much, and with what learning he had argued againſt
the Act, and therefore deſired he would put all his arguments in
writing, and bring them to Him. And the next day ſent the
Dukes
Book II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
129
b
Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, and the Lord Cromwell to dine
with him ; ordering them to aſſure him of the King's conſtant
and unſhaken kindneſs to him, and to encourage him all they
could.
Wincheſter on the ſucceſs of this Act puſhed his advantage
boldly on, and aimed at reſtoring the old rites and ſuperſti-
tions : but Cranmer by his late conduct had ſo recovered the King's
favor, that he entirely defeated that deſign. For the Roman Zea-
lots had prepared a Book of Ceremonies to be uſed by the Church
of England, all running after the old Popith ſtrain. Theſe articles,
eighty eight in all, were propoſed in Convocation November 4 ;
but the Archbiſhop anſwered and confuted them, and fo prevented
their paſſing Latimer and Shaxton fared not fo well ; they had
not only oppoſed the Act, but indiſcretely ſpoken againſt it after
it was paſſed. The event was, they reſigned their Biſhopricks
and were ſent to priſon, where they lay many years ; Latimer, all
the reſt of this King's reign, and Shaxton redemed himſelf to his
diſgrace, but a little before the King's death.
The King fought alliance with the German Proteſtants, but
could come to no accord, they intending no League with him, but
in caſe of Religion; and even on that account much difference was
between them. For the Germans would not allow the King's Su-
premacy, left it ſhould infer an inveſting of the like authority in
the Emperour ; and refuſed all accommodation, unleſs the King
wholly yielded to the Auguſtan Confeſſion. The deputies de-
parted with a reſolution to anſwer the King's arguments concerning
the ſix articles, and to deſire an abolition of them.
However, in order to bring about an accommodation with them, 1540.
and the better to oppoſe the Emperour, (who, for diſinheriting the
Princeſs Mary, it was thought would endeavour to execute the
S
Pope's
. Strype's Life of Cranmer.
July is
*
330
BOOK II.
THE LIFE OF
Pope's Sentence againſt the King) a Marriage was propoſed by
Cromwell with Ann of Cleves, whoſe Father's Dutchy bordered
on the Emperour's Dominions in the Low Countries.
The King
married her on the 6th of January, but preſently diſliked her Per-
ſon; and She, confeffing à pre-contract, was in a few months di-
vorced from him. Cromwell, juſt created Earl of Effex, who
had projected the match, fell a ſacrifice to the King's reſentment
upon it, and was beheaded July 28 following.
The bloody Act of the Six Articles produced ſome unhappy ex-
ecutions, with trouble and impriſonment to many others. Boner,
who in the preceding October had been elected to the See of Lon-
don, as ſoon as Cromwell fell, appeared in his natural colors, pro-
curing many to be proſecuted for hereſy. In July a clauſe in the
Itatute of the Six Articles was moderated, relating to the marriage
of Prieſts, or their incontinency with other women : by it the
pains of death were changed into forfeiture of their goods and chat-
tels, and the rent of their ecclefiaftical promotions to the King.
The Divorce betwixt the King and Ann of Cleves made way for
His Marriage with Catharine Howard, Daughter to Edmund,
third Son of Thomas firft Duke of Norfolk, and Niece to the
pre-
ſent Duke, who was Chief of the Popiſh faction, and who had
been principal engineer in the deaths of Ann Boleyn, and Lord
Cromwell. It pleaſed God that he ſhould meet with a remarkable
puniſhment ; his Niece, Queen Catharine, ſharing Ann Boleyn's
fate, for an incontinence, not pretended, but acknowledged by her-
ſelfs : His Son, the Earl of Surry, loſt his head in the cloſe of
Henry viſith's reign ; and himſelf eſcaped but by a very few hours,
being to be beheaded January 28, which the King's death over-
night prevented.
From the Diffolution of Abbies and Religious Houfes were
boped and promiſed many excellent things for the furtherance of
Religion,
August 8.
$ February 12, 1541.
BOOK II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
azt
ز
Religion, and the profit of the Commonwealth. In the Church, as
appears from the Preamble of a Bill 1539,
· That theſe (Reli-
gious) Houſes, might be converted to better uſes ; that God's
• word might be better ſet forth ; Children brought up in learn-
ing; Clerks nouriſhed in the Univerſities ; old decayed Servants
* have ſuſtenance; Poor Folks alms-houſes to maintain them; Rea-
. ders of Greek, Hebrew, and Latin have ſtipends, daily alms be
* miniſtered ; Highways mended ; Miniſters of the Church have
• exhibitions : It is thought expedient and neceſſary, that more
Biſhopricks, Collegiate and Cathedral Churches ſhall be eſtabliſh-
ed, inſtead of thoſe foreſaid Religious Houſes, within whoſe
· foundation theſe other Titles, before rehearſed, ſhall be eſta-
«bliſhed.
As to the ſecular uſes, Sir Edward Coke mentions them with
this Inſtruction ; · When any plauſible project is made in Parlia-
ment to draw the Lords and Commons to aſſent to any Act, (ef-
pecially in matters of weight and importance) if both Houſes do
give, upon the matter projected, their conſent, it ſhall be moſt
neceſſary, they being truſted for the Commonwealth, to have the
• matter projected and promiſed (which moved the Houſes to con-
fent) to be eſtabliſhed in the ſame Act ; left the benefit of the
· Act be taken, and the matter projected and promiſed never per-
• formed, and ſo the Houſes of Parliament perform not the truſt
repoſed in them; as it fell out in the reign of Henry viii. On
* the King's behalf the Members of both Houſes were informed in
* Parliament, that if they would give unto him all the Abbies, Pri-
ories, Friaries, Nunneries, and other Monaſteries, that for ever
in time to come he would take order that the ſame ſhould not be
* converted to private uſe : but that, 1. His Exchequer for the
* purpoſes aforeſaid ſhould be enriched. 2. The Kingdom ſtrength-
• ened by a continual maintenance of forty thouſand well tried Sol-
diers with ſkilful Captains and Commanders.
3. For the be-
S 2
Inefit
6
Ć
132
BOOK II.
THE LIFE OF
f
any time
• nefit and eaſe of the Subject, who never afterward in
' to come ſhould be charged with Soldiers, Fifteenths, Loans, or
• other common Aids. 4. Leſt the Honor of the realm ſhould re-
·ceive detriment by the diffolution of the ſaid monaſteries (there
being twenty nine Lords of Parliament among the Abbots and
• Priors) that the King ſhould create a number of Nobles. The
* ſaid Monaſteries were given to the King by authority of divers
• Acts of Parliament : but no proviſion was therein made for the
• ſaid project, or any part thereof. The poſſeſſions were given to
• the King, his Heirs and Succeſſors to do, and uſe therewith,
• his and their own wills, to the pleaſure of Almighty God, and
• the honor and profit of the realm.'
There was another project mentioned by Biſhop Burnet, as pro-
pofed by Sir Nicholas Bacon, to found a houſe for the ſtudy of the
Civil Law, and the purity of the Latin and French tongues, as a
Seminary for Ambaſſadours, Envoys, Hiſtorians, and Recorders
of Publick Acts and Monuments.
But all that was done about this time was the erecting fix new
Bithopricks, Weſtminſter, foon after diffolved again ; Cheſter ;
Glouceſter ; Peterborough ; Briſtol and Oxford. And the Prio-
fies at moft Cathedrals, ſuch as Canterbury, Wincheſter, Durham,
Weſtminſter, Worceſter, Carlille, Rochefter, and Ely were con-
verted into Deaneries, and Colleges of Prebendaries. Some Schools
were endowed, and fome Lectures founded in the Univerſities.
Whatever equitable right the people may imagine they ſtill
have to ſome relief from their burthens, out of thoſe revenues
granted by them to the Crown, upon ſuch promiſes and implied
Conditions, the attempt, if it ever was fet about, muſt be ex-
tremely difficult, if not impoſſible, with any juſtice to be executed,
after the exchanges of thoſe Lands then made, the
the many aliena-
tions, appropriations, and purchaſes on valuable conſiderations
that have ſince happened. As to the Obligations that lie on Lay
Impropriators,
BOOK II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
133
Impropriators, I will not ſay to keep hoſpitality, (for though that
was expreſſly made a condition, yet that obligation was diſcharged
by James I.) but to augment poor Vicarages, and educate the
Children of the Poor in thoſe diſtricts, conſidering the good pen-
nyworths they had in their original grants and exchanges, and
that they now enjoy profits purely Spiritual, without exerciſing
any Spiritual functions ; as alſo the obligations that lie on rich
Merchants and Traders, for the lands recovered out of Mortmain,
and the univerſal ſubtraction of perſonal tithes, not to be behind
hand with their anceſtors, who had not thoſe advantages, and yet
were liberal in granting exhibitions for the maintenance of poor
Scholars in the Univerſities; and the obligations that lie on both of
them to forbear making ſcandalous ſale of thoſe Livings that be-
long to their Purchaſes, which muſt in time have a fatal influence
on the virtue, learning, and paſtoral care in the Clergy ; theſe are
points which I hope I may leave with better proſpect of ſucceſs to
private conſcience, which yet I have no authority to direct. And
haſten to take a view of Mr. Ridley through this buſtling interval,
which has ſo long delayed me.
val.
Mr. Ridley diſcharged himſelf of his Proctor's 153d.
Office about October, 1534, and then took his
$. 10. A View of
Ridley in this Inter- Batchelor's Degree in Divinity, and was choſen
Chaplain of the Univerſity “; in which office he
fucceded Hethe, whoſe Predeceſſor was Latimer ;
all Three of them afterward Biſhops. He was likewiſe (if it be
not the fame office) Publick Reader, as himſelf informs us ; which
Archbiſhop Teniſon calls Prædicator Publicus. He is called in
the Pembroke MS. Magiſter Glomeria. Which of the foregoing
offices (if they are different ones) is meant by that Title, or whe-
ther
* MS. in Coll. Pembroch,
Lambethana,
Ridley's Farewell,
• MS, in Bibl.
1
134
?
Book II.
THE LIFE ON
*
ther it comprehends them both, I am not able to determine. But
if, as I ſuppoſe, it includes both, a MS. in Bennet College Libra-
ry will inform us what his imployment was '; That tells us,
that
the Magiſter Glomeria was He, who at this time is called the Uni-
verſity Orator ; whoſe office it was to gather the Votes in ſcruti-
nięs, and declare the Majority: to examine, and reject or approve,
as he found cauſe, the Candidates for their Maſter's degree, in
Grammar : he was wont to be preſent at all congregations, and to
compoſe the publick Epiſtles of the Univerſity ; and always prepa-
red to receive Foreigners, eſpecially of eminence, with a publick
Oration : to collect and preſerve in a regiſter all the notable Acts
and Occurrences of the Univerſity. This office, we are there in-
formed, as far as it relates to the Publick Epiſtles and Orations,
had for a long time been diſcontinued at Cambridge ; and there-
fore (ſuch had been the low ſtate of learning in England, for it
would be very unjuſt to throw the cenſure on Cambridge particular-
ly, Oxford was in no better a condition, for monkiſh darkneſs
had put out the light of Learning) they uſed to requeſt Foreigners
to compoſe their ſpeeches and letters for them ; as appears from
the regiſter in Henry viith's time, when one Caius Auberinus, an
Italian, was often employed in this buſineſs, and had for his cuſto-
mary fee twenty pence a letter, as has been before obſerved. I
think it probable that this laſt part of the office never again came
into the province of the Magiſter Glomeriæ, but it conſtituted the
new office of publick Orator, which was founded upon the revival
of learning at Cambridge in the year 1522. Richard Crook being
the firſt Orator, who was ſucceded in 1528 by George Day, after-
ward Biſhop of Chicheſter.
While he was in theſe offices he loſt his good Uncle and Friend
Dr. Robert Ridley on the 12th of June, 1536. But the education,
which
536.
Miſcell. P. pag. 194.
Book II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
135
which the Uncle had generouſly beſtowed, and the improvement,
which the Nephew had made by his great application, ſoon recom-
mended him to another and greater Patron.
For in the very next year', having continued till then in the of- 1537.
fices above mentioned, and juſt taken his Batchelor of Divinity's
degree, his great reputation as an excellent Preacher, and the beſt
Diſputant of his time, his great and ready memory, and intimate
acquaintance with the Scriptures and Fathers, occaſioned the Arch-
biſhop of Canterbury to deſire the aſſiſtance of his Learning ; for
Cranmer's houſe was a kind of univerſity, where many learned
men were entertained, foreigners as well as natives.
But Ridley
was engrafted into his family, and appointed one of his Chaplains ;
and had an opportunity this year of enjoying much of the Arch-
biſhop's company and leiſure. For about the latter end of July
the plague raged ſo violently at Lambeth, that many people died
at the Palace doors. The virulence of it drove Cranmer to his
houſe at Ford in Kent, where he continued ſeveral months and
probably in that retirement had ſuch a taſte and experience of his
new Chaplain's temper, judgment and reading, as ever after en-
deared him to him.
As an earneſt of his favor and approbation on the 30th of April 153%.
following', the Archbiſhop collated him to the Vicarage of Herne
in Eaſt Kent, vacant by the death of John Warren. Here he was
diligent to inſtruct his charge in the pure doctrines of the Goſpel,
as far as they were yet diſcovered to him, (not from the School-
men and Popiſh Doctors) except in the point of Tranſubſtantiation,
from which error God had not yet delivered him. And the good
fruits of his Miniſtry there were ſeen in the effects it had, particu-
larly on the Lady Fiennes; whom, if I take his meaning right s,
he converted to the Goſpel truths. Which the afterward teſtified
by her future exemplary life and good works. And to enliven the
devotion
;
• Pemb, MS.
Cranmer's Regift. fol. 364.
$ Ridley's Farewell.
136
Book II.
THE LIFE OF
T
1539.
devotion of his Pariſhioners, he uſed to have the Te Deum read in
his Pariſh Church in Engliſh", which was afterward urged in ac-
cuſation againſt him.
In the next year came out the Act of the Six Articles, againſt
which Ridley bore his teſtimony in the Pulpit ; though otherwiſe
he was in no danger from the penalties of the ſtatute. The article
of the Corporal Preſence was at that time an article of his Creed.
The Marriage or Uncleannneſs of Prieſts affected not Him, who
never intended to act againſt the ſtatute in the former inſtance, and
was never charged of doing ſo ir, the latter : though Sanders
names him among the apoſtate and luſtful monks (by which he
means Thoſe who married in King Edward's days) Scory, Bird,
Holdgate, Barlow, Harley, Coverdale, Ridley. Where to aggra-
vate his ſuppoſed crime of Marriage, which was not true, he repre-
ſents him as a Monk, ſworn to Celibacy, which is notoriouſly
falſe. Sanders indeed is not the only Writer among the Roman
Catholicks who has poſitively charged him with being a married
man; for Pierſon ſays, that Ridley bore Cranmer company in in-
novations in Religion, and in taking a Wife alſo. But where is
his proof? To theſe careleſs or impudent aſſertions, without any
truth or the ſhadow of it, let us oppoſe a very capable witneſs,
no leſs than Ridley himſelf, in a Letter written in priſon to his
Chaplain Grindal, who had lived in his family with him ; Licet
(ut noſti) nunquam uxorem habuerim— Althoug} (as you know)
I never was married-Writers who aſperſe fo blindly, and with
ſuch a total diſregard to truth, deſerve to be held in the utmoſt
contempt by Readers of all Perſuaſions.
As to the article of Auricular Confeſſion, he tells us towards
the cloſe of his Life!, that he always thought Confeflion to the
Minifter might do much good. But he made a difference betwixt
what he thought an uſeful appointment or diſcipline in the Church,
and the preſſing it on the Conſcience as a point neceſſary to Salva-
tion.
h
be
Strype's Life of Cranmer,
i Martyr's Letters.
BOOK II. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
187
tion. And his bearing this teſtimony occaſioned him no ſmall
trouble, as we ſhall ſee in the next Book.
And here I ſhall put an end to This ; after apologizing for ha-
ving mixed ſo much of publick affairs in which Ridley was not
immediately concerned: but I judged it impoſſible to give a clear
view of his behaviour without Thewing the ſtate of the times in
which he acted. However, from henceforward I ſhall confine
myſelf more to Him, and to ſuch publick matters as he was more
particularly concerned in. His Character, at this time, was that of
å celebrated Diſputant, a favorite Preacher, undoubting in the
Article of Tranſubſtantiation, a zealous Scripturiſt, and particular-
ly well acquainted with the Fathers.
*
f
*
i :
*
.
.
..
T
THE
338
Book II
THE LIFE OF
Τ Η Ε
L I F E
OF
Dr. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
BOOK III.
From 1540 to 1547:
RIDLEY Maſter of Pembroke-Hall.
The path of the Yuſt is as the ſhining light, that ſhineth more and
more unto the perfect day. Prov. iv. 18.
1540,
I year ago by his Books at the Middle of the
Finiſhed the laſt Book at the Middle of the
f. 1. Ridley made
year 1540 ; this opens with an unfavorable
Maſter of Pembroke-
Hall, and Chaplain
aſpect on the Reformers. Cranmer and his
to the King Biſhops had oppoſed the King in taking the fup-
preſſed monaſteries to his own uſe : and the King
in reſentment gave way to the Popiſh faction ſo far, as to paſs.
the act of the Six Articles. Cranmer had reſolution enough to
ſtay in the Houſe of Lords and bear teſtimony againſt it, contrary.
to:
139
,
Book III. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
to the King's requeſt that he would leave the Houſe without vo-
ting. And although this uncourtly oppoſition did not leſſen the
King's regard for the Archbiſhop as an honeſt and faithful ſervant,
yet his defeat gave ſpirit and advantage to his enemies, the
Duke of Norfolk, and the Biſhop of Wincheſter, who were the
Leaders of the Popiſh faction. The divorce of the Proteſtant
Queen, Ann of Cleves, and the diſguſt of the German Princes,
firſt on occaſion of the Act of the Six Articles, lo contrary to ſome
of their tenets, and then on occaſion of this divorce, were incidents
which greatly ſtrengthened the Roman Catholick Cauſe. Beſide
year ; after which, though Cranmer held his place in the King's
eſteem, yet his influence could not operate ſo ſtrongly, for want of
a prime Miniſter, attached to him, to make way for it, and give
it due effect. The Archbiſhop had likewiſe loſt his moſt uſeful
aſſiſtant Fox, Biſhop of Hereford; and when he hoped to have it
ſome way made up to him by his Succeſſor Dr. Boner, now name-
ed to the See of London, he had the mortification to find, that in
the very beginning of Cromwell's eclipſe this ungrateful man de-
ſerted and railed at his old Patron, and Aying from his diminiſhed
fplendor courted the riſing conſtellations, Norfolk and Wincheſter.
To complete the triumph of the Roman party, the King made
choice of the Lady Catharine Howard, Niece to the Duke of
Norfolk, for his Queen, and married her on the 8th of Auguſt.
To keep their newly obtained Power in exerciſe, that faction
cauſed the act of the Six Articles vigorouſly to be put in execution,
and appointed Commiſſioners in every ſhire to ſearch out and ex-
amine Delinquents.
Latimer and Shaxton had already felt the
edge of this act, being compelled for having preached againſt it to
T 2
exchange
· The Popiſ Writer of the Church Hiſtory of Britain is not aſhamed to blacken Cran-
mer's character, by aſſerting that he never was known to oppoſe the tyrannical procedings
of King Henry, and that he went all the lengths of the court in the fix article act : affer-
tions that contradict all Hiſtory,
:
140
Book III.
THE LIFE OF
exchange their Binhopricks for a Priſon : many were put to death
upon it; and, which occafioned great diſturbance to the Reforma .
tion afterwards, ſeveral became voluntary exiles into Germany and
Switzerland, among whoin were Hoper and Rogers, to eſcape the
rigor of it.
To theſe ſeveral diſadvantages muit be added the diſcredit which
they ſuffered from the blafphenious and diſorderly opinions of the
Anabaptiſts, which furniſhed the Popiſh faction with an opportu-
nity of caſting an odium upon every attempt to a further Reforma-
tion, and of exaſperating the King againſt it, by repreſenting it as
Anabaptiſtical. A Sect even more diſtant from the Chriſtian Truth,
and more ſubverſive of good government than the errors and uſur-
pations which he had caſt off.
But the King, notwithſtanding the aſcendency which the Poo
piſh faction had at Court, was no more inclined to their Religion
than before, and would as little bear the bringing back diſcarded
tenets, as introducing new ones. He endeavoured to preſerve a
temper between the Divines of the Old and New Learning ;
and to bring them to an Agreement appointed ſeveral of the
moſt eminent to deliberate about ſundry points of Religion then in
controverſy, and to give in their judgments diſtinctly : but the
King held the balance, and inclined the beam. As He and Win-
cheſter had carried the act of the Six Articles againſt Cranmer ; fo
He and Cranmer overthrew an attempt to eſtabliſh the old ſuper-
ſtitious Ceremonies projected at that time by Wincheſter. The
reaſon why the Reformation proceded ſo far was, becauſe the King
was better read in Divinity than Gardiner ; and the reaſon why it
proceded no further was, becauſe he was leſs read in it than Cran-
. It is very obſervable that even at this time, when Gardiner's
Power was greateſt, the King left him out of the number of Com-
miſſioners appointed to bring the controverted points to an accord.
Wilful
mer:
BOOK III.
145
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
If Barnes,
Wilful and obftinate was his character ; a very unlikely one to pro-
miſe much good in accommodating and reconciling.
And now came out another Edition of The Inſtitution of a Cbrif-
tian Man, much enlarged beyond that of 1537. In which Religious
inſtruction was carried too far to pleaſe the Papiſts, but fell ſhort
of what was wiſhed for by the Reformers.
The King was willing to manifeſt the like indifference and inn-
partiality in his puniſhments as in his inſtitutions.
Gerard, and Jerome were burned for innovating in religion, at
the ſame time and place ſuffered Abel, Fetherſtone and Powel, for
owning the Pope's Supremacy. And as Biſhop Burnet obſerves, one
of each was put into a hurdle, and carried together : which every
body condemned as an extravagant affectation of the thew of impar-
tial juſtice.
Mr. Ridley had been two years at his Pariſh of Herne, getting
new lights himſelf, by a cloſe application to his ſtudies of the Scrip-
tures and the Fathers, and by friendly conference with his Patron
the Archbiſhop; and faithfully communicating to his people the
word of God, 'not after the Popiſh trade, but after Chriſt's Gof-
pel, as himſelf teſtifies in his Farewell : though as yet he ac-
knowledges that God had not revealed to him the doctrine of the
Lord's Supper. His improvement in knowledge was with great
injuſtice charged upon him as a fickle change of opinions, and a
ſervile conformity to the times : but there never appeared any
fuctuating or ſhifting backward and forward in his judgment,
but a regular progreſſion and advancement in the diſcovery of
Truth ; diligently ſeeking it, and by God's Grace gradually find.
ing it, without any worldly motives influencing his opinions. Of
this He himſelf makes a very folemn declaration, and his whole
life bears teſtimony to the truth of it. • I have thought otherwiſe
(ſays he to the Commiſſioners at Oxford) in times paſt than I now
do: yet, (God I call to record unto my ſoul, I lie not) I have
6. not
.
-
142
Book III.
THE LIFE OF
6
* not altered my judgment, as now it is, either by conſtraint of any
man, or laws, either for the dread of any danger in this world,
* either for any hopes of commodity ; but only for the love of the
• truth, revealed unto me by the grace of God (as I am undoubting-
ly perſuaded) in his Holy Word, and in the reading of the antient
Fathers a.'
While he was at Herne, if we may credit the Author of Eccle-
fiaſtical Hiſtory epitomized", who, however true he may be in the
facts he relates, is certainly miſtaken in the order of time aſſigned
for them) he fo well diſcharged his Paſtoral Office, that he gained
the general applauſe of the people in the adjacent pariſhes ; who,
neglecting their own Teachers, for many miles round would come
to hear his Sermons.
This year, probably by the perſuaſion of the Archbiſhop, who
was now meditating to bring his Chaplain more into the light, he
repaired to Cambridge, and there took his Doctor's Degree in Di-
vinity. And in the October following, the Maſterſhip of Pem-
broke-Hall becoming vacant, the Fellows, who well knew the
learning, abilities, and good diſpoſitions of their old Collegiate, in-
vited him back again to College, to take upon him the Guardian-
ſhip of their Society. A place noted from the very dawn of the
Reformation for fcripturiſts and encouragers of Goſpel-Learning
and famous of old for the floriſhing ſtate of letters in it beyond any
other ſociety in Cambridge ; as appears from the teſtimony of
Henry vith's Charter, granting lands to this Houſe, which he
calls a ' celebrated and very valuable College, which is, and al-
ways has been in a wonderful degree illuſtrious among all other
places of this Univerſity.
And
* Fox, vol. iü. p. 62.
Collected by J. S. Gent. 1682.
* Notabile et inſigne, et quam pretiofum collegium inter omnia loca univerâtatis (prout
fertitudinaliter informamur) mirabiliter fplendet et femper refplenduit.
.
:
BOOK III. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
143
In thy
And it loſt not its credit in Ridley's time ; for Queen Eliſabeth
in her Viſit to Cambridge paid a particular regard to that antient
and religious Houſe. Ridley gives this account of it in his Farewell ;
« Thou wert ever named ſince I knew thee, to be ſtudious and
• well learned, and a great ſetter forth of God's true word. So I
• found thee, and bleſſed be God! ſo I left thee indeed.
. orchard (the walls, butts, and trees, if they could ſpeak, would
. bear me witneſs) I learned without book almoſt all Paul's Epiſtles,
• and the Canonical Epiſtles too, fave only the Apocalypſe. · Of
• which ſtudy, although in time a great part did depart from me,
yet the ſweet ſmell thereof, I truſt, I ſhall carry with me into
• Heaven : for the profit thereof I. think I have felt in all
my
life
6 time ever after. And of late (whether they abide there now or
. no, I cannot tell) there were, who did the like. The Lord
grant that this zeal and love toward that part of God's word,
' which is a key and true commentary to all Holy Scripture, may
' ever abide in that College, ſo long as the world ſhall endure.
Notwithſtanding the influence of the New Queen, and of her
Friends at Court, Cranmer procured the erecting ſome Collegiate
Churches of Deans and Prebendaries out of the diffolution and ruin
of Abbies and Monaſteries. In December the Town of Weſtmin-
ſter was made a City and an Epiſcopal See, with all Middleſex (ex-
cept Fulham) for its Dioceſe. The Abbot and twenty four Monks
were turned into a Dean and twelve Prebendaries. The Firſt Biſhop
was Dr. Thirlby, firſt recommended to Cranmer by Dr. Butts, as
a favorer of all who favored ſincere Religion; and from an expe-
rience of his learning and good qualities recommended by the Arch-
biſhop to the King, as a Man worthy to ſerve him.
And about this time, according to the MS. notes of Archbiſhop
Teniſon in the Library at Lambeth, Cranmer's recommendation
was of its uſual weight with the King, who made Dr. Ridley one
of his Chaplains. One in whom the Archbiſhop could place a ſure
confidence,
1:44
BOOK III.
TÁ E LIFE OF?
confidepce; showever miſtaken he might be in the other ; for Rid-
ley, perſevered in the profeſſion of the Truth once diſcovered, and
mbis friendſhip to his Patron even to death : while Thirlby return ,
ed to his abjured errors, and in commiſſion with Boner degraded
his good Friend the Archbiſhop, in order to prepare him for the
flames.
:
1541.
And ſoon after, the Cathedral Church of Can-
terbury was made. Collegiate, 'with a Dean and
$. 2. Made Pre-
bendary of Chriſt-
Twelve Prebendaries, and Six Preachers. Which
church, Canter being Cranmer's own Church, he found no difficulty
bury.
in obtaining the fifth Prebendal Stall for the King's
New Chaplain; Dr. Ridley ; as appears by the
Foundation Charter in Bennet College Library, dated April 8,
Henrici 8vi 32°, which was in the year 1541.
The Prebendaries and Preachers were chiefly nominated by
Cranmer ; but it was the King's pleaſure that they ſhould be one
half Preachers of the Old Learning, and the rather Half Preachers
of the New Learning; hoping, poſibly, that while his Supremacy
on the one hand, and the Six Articles on the other, would be ſuf-
ficient to keep them from paffing to extremes, their colliſion in
other points might ſtrike out ſuch light as would hereafter guide
to a judicious agreement in the truth.
As Dr. Nicholas Ridley was appointed a Prebendary, his Cou-
ſin Dr. Lancelot Ridley was made one of the Six Preachers in that
Cathedral, with Robert Serles, Edmund Shether, Thomas Brooke,
Michael Drum, and John Scory. Lancelot and Nicholas were
both Nephews to Dr. Robert, and both educated by him ; Lance-
celot took his Doctor's degree 1539.
What became of him in
Queen Mary's reign I have not learned : but under Queen Eliza-
beth I find him reſtored to his Preacher's place at Canterbury Sep-
tember 17, 1560, whoſe ſecond Son was Dr. Mark Ridley the
Phyfician,
How
Book III. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY
145
How honeſtly and prudently the new Prebendary behaved
himſelf appears in good meaſure from his endeavours in the pulpit
to ſet the abuſes of Popery ſo open before the peoples eyes in
his Sermons, as to provoke the Prebendaries and Preachers of
the Old Learning to exhibit articles againſt him, at the Arch-
biſhop's Viſitation this year, for preaching contrary to the ſtatute
of the Six Articles. He feared not to bear his teſtimony againſt
any error he had diſcovered ; yet, with reſpect to the authority
by which the Six Articles were enjoined, delivering his opinion ſo
cautioully, as that his accuſers could prove nothing but the malice
of their accufation.
His ſubjects, and his manner of handling them, we learn from
his adverſaries. His ſubjects were choſen to recommend a ſenſible
ſpirit of devotion ; maintaining, that Prayer ought to be made in
a language which the people underſtood, and not in an unintelli-
gible tongue, 'for ſo it were but babling ;' and for this end intro-
duced in his own Pariſh Church at Herne a tranſlation of that ex-
cellent Hymn of St. Ambroſe, Te Deum; directing at other times
not to build any ſecurity upon mere Ceremonies, for that no meet-
er term could be given them than beggarly ceremonies : and
though he had a very high opinion of the uſefulneſs of Auricular
Confeſſion, as in a letter written by him in priſon he declares he
always had, and it was now appointed by ſtatute, that of the Six
Articles, yet he ingenuouſly and faithfully declared the truth in
that matter, that it was but a mere poſitive law, and ordained as
a godly mean for the Sinner to come to the Prieſt for counſel
ſuch he recommended and wiſhed the uſe of it: but then he de.
clared, that as to the doctrine of its being abſolutely neceſary to
ſalvation, he could not find it in fcripture. Theſe points we
find urged againſt him by the Prebendaries and Preachers of Can-
terbury two years after. The manner in which he treated his ſub-
jects we learn from tlie acknowledgment of Wincheſter in a letter
U
;
as
to
146
THE LIFE OF
Book III.
:
..
Fox. to Ridley in King Edward's reignt, when his authority and reputa-
tion might have emboldened him to be more dogmatical. He ſays,
You declared yourſelf always defirous to ſet forth the mere: Truth,
with great defire of Unity, as you profeffed ; not extending any
6 of your affeverations beyond your knowledge : but always adding :
• ſuch like words, as far as you had read, and if any man could hew
you further, you would hear him ; wherein you were much to be
commended. Such was the meek and gentle ſpirit of Hiin,
whom a late Popiſh Writer is pleaſed to brand for ' his virulent.
• temper in matters of religion *.
Toward the end of this year the Archbiſhop was involved irr
a very nice and arduous affair, where imminent danger threatened
him on either fide.' The King doted on his Queen ; and her par-
tiſans were uppermoſt.. So Happy was his Majeſty with her, that
receiving his Maker (as the expreſſion then was) on Allhallows
day, he gave God moſt humble and hearty thanks for the good
LordHer. life he led, and truſted to lead with her : and deſired his ghoſtly
Father, the Biſhop of Lincoln, to make like prayers and to give
like thanks with himi. The very next day, the Archbiſhop found .
himſelf under a neceſſity of damping his joy, by diſcovering to him
in writing, what his forrow and confuſion would not enable him
to do by word of mouth,, the information he had received a little
before of his Queen's Incontinency, frequent before marriage,
with ſtrong preſumptions of having continued it afterward, and
deſigning to continue it on. The information had been made to
the Archbiſhop by one Laffels, whoſe ſiſter had been ſervant to
the old Dutcheſs of Norfolk, under whom Queen Catharine had
been brought up ; ſhe told her Brother, that the Lady Catharine
had been too familiar with Derham and Mannock, two fervants
to the faid Dutcheſs. This he diſcovered to my Lord of Canter .
bury while the King was in Progreſs. The diſcovery placed him
in
bert.
Church Hiſtory of England, p. 377.
1
.
BOOK III. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
147
in a very hazardous ſituation ; to have concealed the information,
ſhould it afterwards be diſcovered, would have ruined him for ever
with his Maſter : to open it to the King, ſhould it 'not prove true,
would appear ſo much like the malice and intrigue of faction, as
muſt have proved no leſs fatal to the Archbiſhop, and the cauſe
of true religion, which he was laboring to eſtabliſh. Greatly per-
plext with the weight and importance of this matter, he conſulted
with the Lord Chancellor, and the Earl of Hertford, whom the
King, when he went his Progreſs, left to reſide in London, and
order affairs for him there. They were no leſs troubled and
per-
plext than the good Prelate : but finally reſolved that the Arch-
biſhop ſhould revele it to the King; which he did upon All-fouls
day. The King having read the Information thus delivered to him,
fo tenderly loved his Queen, and had ſuch an opinion of her ho-
neſty, that he took the matter, as Cranmer feared he would, ra-
ther as a forgery, than a truth. However, he reſolved ſecretly to
fift it out; and on the examination of Laſſels, his Sifter, Derham
and Mannock, he found out too much for his peace ; and was ſo
ſtruck with the diſcovery, that he could not without many tears
open it to his Council. Two of her Paramours, Derham and Cul-
peper, were indited, and acknowledged the facts : for which the
latter had his head cut off, and the former was hanged on the roth
of December. And on the 12th of February following the Queen,
having confeſſed her guilt to the Archbiſhop, and ſubſcribed it with
her hand, was beheaded, with the Lady Jane Rochfort, her abet.
tor, who had been a very buſy inſtrument in the death of Queen
Ann Boleyn. With her fell in a great meaſure the intereſt of her
Relations and Party.
January the 20th began a new Convocation, to conſult on the 1542.
decayed and decaying ſtate of Religion. The points recommended St. Mem.
by the Archbiſhop were, correcting the Engliſh Verſion of the p. 371.
Bible, aſſigning the ſeveral parts to certain Biſhops ; compoſing a
Book
vol. i.
U 2
148
BOOK IFF.
THE LIFE OF
:
Book of Homilies ; tranſlating into Engliſh and teaching the ordi-
nary people the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the
Apoſtles Creed; the making ſome Statutes or Laws againſt Adul-
terers, perjured Perſons, and Blaſphemers of the name of God,
that the Commands of God in thoſe points might receive a civil
fanction and vindication, as well as thoſe of Theft and Murder ;
for examining and correcting all Maſs Books in the Church of En-
gland, that they ſhould be caftigated from all manner of mention
of the Biſhop of Rome's name, and from all Apocryphas, feigned
Legends, Superſtitious Prayers, Colleets, Verficles and Refponſes..
And that the names and memories of all Saints which be not men-
tioned in the Scriptures, or other authentick Doctors, be put away.
And that after the Te Deum and Magnificat, ſhould be openly read
to the people one Chapter of the New Teſtament in Engliſh with-
out Expoſition.
The Clergy then deſired the Lords to move to the King's Majeſi
ty theſe Petitions ; I. For the Eccleſiaſtical Laws of this realm,
to be made according to the ſtatute in the 5th year of his gracious
reign. II. For remedy to be provided by his Highneſs againſt the
ungodly and unlawful Solemnization. of Marriages, frequently uſed
or abuſed, in the Chapel or. Hoſpital of Bethlem without Biſhopf-
gate. III. For an Act of Parliament to be made this feffion for
the Union; and Corporation of ſmall Benefices through this realm.
IV. For ſome good order and proviſion to be made by his Majeſ-
ty, and eſtabliſhed by Parliament, for due and true payment of
tithes, both predial and perſonal, throughout this realm.
Juſt before came out the Engliſh Bible, in Folio, with the King's
allowance. The marginal notes in a former edition were left out
in this.
The mingling of Preachers in the Church of Canterbury, which
was the King's device for the ſtriking out of Truth, had produced
a great ferment in much jangling, and quarrelling, and preaching
one
a. So it is in Strype: I ſuppoſe it ſhould be the 25th.
:
Book III. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
149
one againſt another. To reſtrain the violence of which the Arch.
biſhop called all the Prebendaries and Preachers before him in his
Conſiſtory at Croydon, on Trinity Sunday; where he argued with
them, inſtructed, rebuked, exhorted them, according as he ſaw
needful for every man, with relation to the articles which had
been exhibited interchangeably againſt one another. But it was
impoſſible to effect a real harmony; ſuch as were Popiſhly inclined
were but inſtruments in the hands of the Faction, Biſhop Gardi-
ner's arrows, when he bent his bow to moot at fome of the head deera;
at preſent more covertly, till he had recovered ſtrength enough to
appear more openly, as we ſhall ſee in the following year.
In March the King entered into a League with 1543.
$. 3. Wincheſter
the Emperour againſt Francis, for the abolition
in confederacy againſt of former injuries and a perpetual peace betwixt
the Arcbhiſhop and themſelves ; leaving the affair of Religion un-
Ridley:
touched, only providing that no Book written in
England ſhould be printed or ſold in Germany or
the Emperour's dominions, nor any Book. written in Dutch ſhould
be printed or ſold in England, under pain of impriſonment to the
ſellers and printers, and burning of the ſaid. Book. This recon-
ciliation with the Emperour produced a temper in the King, of
which the Catholicks avaled themſelves. If he no longer feared
the reſentment of Charles, and therefore ventured to procede ſome
ſteps further in the Reformation ; at the ſame time in civility to
the Emperour he gave more countenance to the Catholicks, of
which the Biſhop of Wincheſter, was willing to take advantage, and
improve it to the utmoſt.
Therefore there came out this year, with many alterations and
additions, another edition of the Inſtitution, under this Title ; A
neceſſary Doctrine and Erudition for any Chriſten Man, ſet forth by
the
Strype's Life of Cranmere.
1.50
Book III.
THE LIFE OF
he
the King's Majeſty. The Preface is a Royal Declaration addreſſed
to all his Subjects, which will fhew us the nature of the Book.
• HENRY the Eighth, by the Grace of God, King of England,
: France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith; and in earth of the
• Church of England, and alſo of Ireland, Supreme Head; unto all
his loving and faithful ſubjects ſendeth greeting, for knowledge
• of the order of the matter in this Book contained, Foraſmuch as
we know not perfectly God, but by Faith, the declaration of
Faith occupieth, in this Treatiſe, the firſt place. Whereunto is
next adjoined, the declaration of the articles of our Creed, con-
cerning what we ſhould believe. And incontinently after them,
* followeth the Explication of the Seven Sacraments: wherein God
ordinarily worketh ; and whereby he participateth unto us his
{piritual gifts and graces in this life. Which matter is ſo digeſted
: and ſet forth with fimplicity and planeneſs, as the capacities and
underſtandings of the multitude of the people may eaſily conceive
+ and comprehend the ſame. Then followeth conveniently the de-
claration of the Ten Commandments, being by God ordained the
high way wherein each man ſhould walk in this Life : to finiſh
* fruitfully his journey here, and after to reſt eternally in joy with
• him. Which becauſe we cannot do of ourſelves, but have need
always of the Grace of God : as without whom we can neither
• continue in this life, nor without his ſpecial Grace do
any thing
* to his pleaſure, whereby to attain the Life to come; we have
. after the declaration of the Ten Commandments, expounded the
• ſeven Petitions of our Pater nofter : wherein be contained requeſts
and ſuits for all things neceſſary to a Chriſtian Man in this preſent
• life; with declaration of the Ave Maria : as a Prayer containing
a joyful rehearſal and magnifying God in the work of the Incarna-
* tion of Chriſt ; which is the ground of our Salvation : wherein
• the bleſſed Virgin our Lady, for the abundance of Grace where-
6 with
<
A
Book TT DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
151
* with God endued her, is alſo with this remembrance honored and
worſhipped.
* And foraſmuch as the heads and ſenſes of our people have been
• buſied, and in theſe days travailed with the underſtanding
• Free-will, Juſtification, Good Works, and Praying for Souls de-
. parted; we have, by the advice of our Clergy, for the purga-
* tion of erroneous doctrine, declared and ſet forth openly, planely,
6 and without ambiguity of ſpeech, the mere and certain Truth in.
them: ſo as we verily truſt, that to know God, and how to live
' after his pleaſure, to the attaining everlaſting life in the end, this
« Book containeth a perfect and ſufficient doctrine, grounded and
« eſtabliſhed in holy ſcriptures.'
Wincheſter by his Intereſt with the King at that time found
means to foiſt in ſome points, which the Archbiſhop did not ap-
prove. Eſpecially denying the liberty of reading the Bible to the
greater part of the Kingdom, ſaying, “it ought to be deemed cer-
tainly, that the reading of the Old and New Teſtament is not fo
neceſſary for all thoſe folks, that of duty they ought to be bound
"to read it, but as the Prince, and Policy of the realm ſhall think
“convenient, fo to be tolerated or taken away.' And in Edward
vith's time Cranmer charged Wincheſter with having ſeduced the
King in it. Yet, becauſe of the authority of the Parliament rati-
fying the Book, and the many good and uſeful things that were in
it, the Archbiſhop would not allow open preaching againſt it.
And indeed by comparing This with the Book publiſhed fix years
before, however ſhort it fell of the perfection which the Archbiſhop.
hoped for, one may ſee what a good ſtep the Reformation of Re-
ligion had made. In the former Book, Devotion to Images, ho-
noring of Saints, and praying to them, Maffes for the dead, and
various Popiſh Rites and Ceremonies were commended and con-
firmed; in this Book they ſpake more dubiouſly and warily of
them, or rejected them. And as for Purgatory, which made one
great
3
152
Book III.
THE LIFE OF
great article in the former Book, it is in this quite left out, and
it declares, that the making men believe, that through the Biſhop
of Rome's Pardons, fouls might clearly be delivered out of Purga-
tory, and releaſed out of the bondage of Sin, were abuſes utterly
• to be aboliſhed and extinguiſhed.'
In the ſame Parliament Cranmer propoſed a Bill to mitigate the
ſeverity of the Acts concerning Religion, with this title, An
Axt for the advancement of true Religion, and aboliſhment of the
contrary : in which he was ſeconded by the Biſhops of Worceſter,
Hereford, Chicheſter, and Rocheſter, who had promiſed to ſtick to
him in it. The Popiſh Party oppoſed it with all poſſible earneſt-
neſs ; ſo that the timorous Biſhops not only forſook Cranmer, but
Hethe of Rocheſter, and Skyp of Hereford, were very importunate
with him to ſtay for a better opportunity ; but he generouſly pre-
ferred his conſcience to thoſe arts of policy, which he would never
practiſe, and ſaid, “ He would puſh it as far as it would go. At
length he prevaled with the King and the other Lords that the
Bill Thould paſs, but clogged with many proviſos, which made it
come much ſhort of what he had deſigned. Yet the Laity were
delivered by it from the hazard of burning, and the Clergy were
not in danger but upon the third conviction. Both were allowed
to bring witneſſes for their own purgation, which was not permit-
ted before ; and no offences were to be objected, which had been
committed above a year. The act of the Six Articles was decla-
red ſtill in force ; but the King had a power of changing this act,
or any proviſion in it, at any time hereafter, at his pleaſure.
The 12th of July the King married the Lady Catharine Parr,
Widow to the Lord Latimer, who rather inclined to favor the
Reformers. But Wincheſter, vexed at the oppoſition which Cran-
mer's influence with the King gave to his deſigns, was working
by his agents how to leſſen it, and at length entirely remove the
Archbiſhop out of his way, and ſuch Courtiers as they ſuſpected
inclined
BOOK III. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
153
inclined to him. For this purpoſe he was now carrying on two
intrigues, at the ſame time, at Windſor and at Canterbury : in
both which the ſame Engineer was employed, Dr. London, a
i ſtout and filthy Prebendary,' as Archbiſhop Parker calls him.
At Windſor they proceded againſt Parſons, Filmer, Teftwood, and
Marbock; of whom the three former were burnt to death ; and
were preparing Inditements againſt Sir Philip Hobby, and Sir Tho-
mas Chardine, both of the Privy Council, with ſeveral Ladies and
others. At Canterbury they took nearer aim at the Archbiſhop,
levelling at him through the fides of his Favorites, particularly Dr.
Nicholas Ridley the Prebendary, Dr. Lancelot Ridley, Scory and
Drum, three of the Preachers.
By the inſtigation of Wincheſter, and practices of Dr. London,
ſeveral of the Prebendaries, and fome of the Six Preachers com-
bined together, and were the tools employed in this bufineſs.
Their firſt attempt was to prefer bills of accuſation againft the Four
juſt mentioned, with Turner, Bland, Lancafter and others. The
ſcheme was to prefer theſe artides to the Juſtices in Kent ; and
from them to the King and Council. London promiſing that a
Commiſſion ſhould be obtained, and ſuch Commiſſioners appointed
as might effectually take order with the Preachers; deſigning that
Parkhurſt, Gardiner, and Miles, three of the Prebendaries, ſhould
be named, and the Archbiſhop left out. London prevaled on
Dr. Willoughby, one of the King's Chaplains, to prefer theſe ar-
ticles to the Juſtices : but they were unwilling to meddle in this
affair. Willoughby, prompted by London, threatened them with
the King's diſpleaſure, if they ſuffered ſuch preaching and conten-
tion, without doing any thing therein to ſtop it. At length, after
intimidating the Juſtices, and packing a Jury, the articles were
ripe to be ſent up to Court.
The articles againſt Ridley the Prebendary were, 1. That he
preached at St. Stevens in the Rogation week, and ſaid, that Au-
X
ricular
:
'154
Book III.
THE LIFE OF
.
ricular Confeſſion was but a mere poſitive Law, and ordained as a
godly mean for the finner to come to the Prieſt for counſel : but
he could not find it in ſcripture.
Witneſſes, Pemblehurſt, Hunt, the Vicar of St. Paul's.
2. That he preached in the ſaid Rogation week, and ſaid, that
there was no meeter term to be given to the Ceremonies of the
Church, than to call them Beggarly Ceremonies.
Witneſſes, Pemblehurſt, Hunt, Gardiner.
3: That Te Deum hath been ſung commonly in Engliſh at Herness
where the ſaid Maſter Doctor is Vicar.
Witneſſes, William Gee, Stephen Sayer, and other Pariſhioners ,
A Book againſt the Archbiſhop was to accompany it, ſtuffed
with hearſays and reports. For this purpoſe ſome of the Preben-
daries were employed to pick up what matters they could : the
rough draughts were brought to Dr. London, and the Biſhop of
Wincheſter, whoſe Secretary, German Gardiner, copied them out
fair; theſe being ſigned by ſome of the Prebendaries, were by
them in the name of the Church of Canterbury preſented to the
Council ; and from thence they came into the King's hands.
Parker The King put the Book of Articles into his fleeve, and went to
divert himſelf upon the river ; ordering the Bargemen to row to-
Strype's wards Lambeth. The Archbiſhop's ſervants perceiving it, acquaint-
Cranmer. ed their Maſter with it, who haſted down to the ſtairs to do his
Duty to the King. The King calling him into his barge, lament-
ed the growth of hereſy, and the diffentions and confuſions that
were like to follow upon it; and ſaid, he intended to find out the
chief encourager and favorer of theſe hereſies, and make him an
example to the reſt; aſking the Archbiſhop his opinion upon
who anſwered him, that it was a good reſolution ; but entreated
the King to conſider well what herefy was, and not to condemn
thoſe as Hereticks who ſtood for the word of God againſt Human
Inventions: . O my Chaplain, (faid the King) now I know whe
6.is
Ant.Brit.
Burnet.
it :
A MS. in Bennet College Library,
BOOK III.
755
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
is the greateſt Heretick in Kent.' And Thewed him the Book of
Articles againſt Him, and his Chaplains, ſigned by ſome Preben-
daries of Canterbury, and the Juſtices of Peace in Kent. The
Archbiſhop, having looked them over, kneeled down to the King,
and knowing both the malice and fallhood of the articles, deſired
him to grant a Commiſſion, to whomſoever he pleaſed, to try the
truth of theſe accuſations, ſo as from the Higheſt to the Loweſt
they might be well puniſhed, if they had done otherwiſe than be-
came them. He acknowledged as to Himſelf that he was ſtill of
the ſame mind as when he oppoſed the Six Articles : but that he
had done nothing againſt them. Then the King aſked himn, if his
Grace's Bed-chamber could ſtand the ſcrutiny of 'that Act ? He
frankly confeſſed he had a wife : but that he had ſent her to Germ
many upon the paſſing of that Act. The King in return for his
ſincerity and openneſs told him he would grant a Commiſſion for
the trial ; but that he had ſuch affiance and confidence in his fide-
lity, that he ſhould be the chief Commiſſioner himſelf ; to whom,
with two or three more, ſuch as he ſhould chuſe, he would whol-
ly commit the examination. The Archbiſhop deſired to be excu-
fed, as it would not ſeem indifferent to make Him a Commiſſioner,
who was a Party accuſed. But the King infifted upon it; naming
Dr. Bellhouſe for one of the Commiſſioners, and leaving the reſt
to the Archbiſhop's choice : who appointed Dr. Cocks, his Vicar
General; and Anthony Huſſey, his Regiſter ; both of them ſecret
favorers of the Papiſts. The Commiſſion was preſently made out,
and the Archbiſhop was commanded to go Himſelf upon it: the
King requiring particularly that the Commiſſioners ſhould fift out
who was the firſt occaſion of this accuſation.
Accordingly the Archbiſhop and other Commiſſioners went
down to Feverfham, and fate three weeks, to find out the Contris
vers of theſe Articles. The Archbiſhop, ſending for the accuſers,
expoftulated with them for their ingratitude and diſingenuity to
X
Him,
#
156
Book III,
THE LIFE OF
Him, who had been their Patron ; expreffing his ſurpriſe more
particularly at Sentleger and Parkhurſt, two of the Prebendaries,
of whom, as he told them, he had conceived a good opinion. She-
ther was ſo affectionately argued with that he could not refrain
from weeping; but He and Serles, two of the Preachers, and
chief Agents, were committed to cuſtody.
The Archbiſhop left the further diſcovery of this miſchief to the
diligence of Cocks and Huſſey. Theſe fate fix weeks : but from
their ſecret inclination to favor the Conſpirators every thing was.
colorably hid. When this was known at Court, the King diſpatch-
éd Dr. Leigh and Dr. Rowland Taylor, Civilians, as new Com-.
miffioners, with inſtructions and a ring, which were delivered to,
the Archbiſhop on Allhallows Eve.
Dr. Leigh, who had been employed before in Ecclefiaftical Viſie.
tations, and in diſcovering the Secrets of the Monaſteries, accord-
ing to the King's advice, immediately upon his coming gave com-
miffion to nine or ten of the Archbiſhop's Officers and Gentlemen,
fuch as were men of tried wit and reſolution, to go and ſearch the
purſes, chefts, and houſes of certain Prebendaries and Gentlemen,
as were fufpected to be of the Confederacy; with orders to bring
whatſoever letters or writings they could find to the Archbiſhop
and Himſelf.
They all went about their work at the ſame hour ; and within
four hours after, the whole Conſpiracy was diſcovered, by finding
letters, fome from the Biſhop of Wincheſter, ſome from Dr. Lon-
don, and others : among the reſt two letters came to hand, which
aſtoniſhed the Archbiſhop, one of Dr. Thornden, Suffragan of
· Dover, made by him Prebendary of Canterbury, whom, contrary,
to the cuſtom of thoſe days, he honored ſo far as to ſet him at his
own table with the Nobility and Dioceſan Biſhops; the other, from
Dr. Barber, retained by the Archbiſhop in his family, for expedi-
tion of matters in ſuit before him, and as a Counſellor to him in
the Law, when need required. The Archbiſhop taking them
apart,
Book III, DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
157
apart, ſhewed them their letters ; and caſting up his hands to hea-
ven, applied himſelf to God, thanking him, that he had, in the
* midſt of ſo many enemies and falſe friends, vouchfafed one Great
• Friend and Maſter, without whoſe protection he was not able to
live ſecurely one day.' He added, “That now he perceived there
was no fidelity nor truth among men ; and that he was brought
« to that point, that he was afraid his Left hand would accuſe his
• Right.' They fell down on their knees, and with many tears
begged his pardon ; acknowledging that they had been a year ago
tempted to do what they had done. He prayed God to make them
good men, and bad them aſk God forgiveneſs, ſeeing he had never
deſerved ſuch uſage at their hands. Not thinking it fit to truſt them
any more, he diſcharged them from his ſervice : but he diſmiſſed
them with gentle and comfortable words. And it was obſerved,
that there never after appeared, either in his countenance or his
words, any remembrance of the injury.
The ſeized papers were put into a cheſt, and brought up to Lam-
beth, the King being deſirous to peruſe them, and to puniſh the
Principals. Divers of the chief were committed to priſon. Abi-
ding there ſome time under affliction, their ſpirits began to molli-
fy; and then, by ſupplicatory letters to the Archbiſhop, they begged
his pardor., made their confeſſions, and deſired their liberty: which
by a General Pardon they at length obtained.
Nevertheleſs, all did not eſcape puniſhment, whatever mercy
they met with from the Archbiſhop'; for Heywood, who was a
chief witneſs in this affair, and German Gardiner, the Biſhop of
Wincheſter's Secretary, deeply concerned in it, were, about a year.
after, both condemned as Traitors, for denying the King's Supre-
macy. The former indeed, making a recantation, had his life
ſpared : but Gardiner was hanged, drawn, and quartered. And
Dr. London, the chief Inſtrument in this Plot, was detected about
the ſame time, I mean the end of this year, in his other intrigue:
againſt
.
c
158
THE LIFE
OF
Book IIT.
againſt Sir Philip Hobby, and others at Windſor ; and by inter-
cepting ſome letters intended for my Lord of Wincheſter, was con-
victed before the Council of perjury, and ſentenced to ride through
Windſor, Reading, and Newbury, where he had done moſt miſ-
chief, with his face towards his horſe's tail, and a paper upon his
head declaring his crime ; and to ſtand in the pillory in each of
thoſe Towns. After which he was ſent to the Fleet, and not long
after with ſhame and vexation died there. The malicious Author,
Herbert. Contriver, and Encourager of the whole, the Biſhop of Wincheſ-
ter, loft his Maſter's favor and good opinion for ever after.
After this I meet with no other attempts againſt Dr. Ridley, any
further than as he would of courſe be involved in the ruin of his
Patron and Supporter the good Archbiſhop. In this plot they
ſtruck at Ridley to wound the Archbiſhop : in the next which
followed ſoon after, they aimed directly at the Archbiſhop, whoſe
fall muſt have drawn all his Dependants after him. The Duke of
Norfolk accuſed him grievouſly to the King,
« that He and his
• Learned Men had fo infected the whole realm with their unſa-
vory Doctrine, that it was likely to produce ſuch commotions
and uproars as were ſprung up in Germany; deſiring that he
might be committed to the Tower; and then men would be bold
Strype's • to tell the truth and ſay their conſciences.' The Event was, the
Cranmer. King gave way a little, the better to find them out, then revoked
the cauſe into his own hands, convinced of the Biſhop's integrity,
and the malice of his enemies. And as in teſtimony of ſuch con-
viction, he altered Cranmer's Paternal Coat of Arms from Three
Cranes Sable to Three Pelicans, fignifying that He, like thoſe birds,
was ready to ſhed his blood for his young ones, brought up in the
Faith of Chriſt. For, ſaid the King, you are likely to be taſted,
if you ſtand to your tackling at length.'
November 1. The General Council, ſo long promiſed and ſo
long delayed, was opened at Trent: but with fo few Biſhops, that
the
Life of
6
Book III. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
259
the Papal Legates ſaid it was not convenient to begin a General
Council with ſo ſmall a number. Nothing was concluded, and the
Council broke up.
Laws.
In the next year the King took another Domef- 1544.
§. 4. Ecclefiaftical
tick from Cambridge, the ingenious Sir John
Cheke, as Tutor to his Son Prince Edward ; ce-
lebrated for his ſkill in the Greek Tongue, and Strype's
Memoirs,
who introduced the method now uſed, of giving each vowel and vol. i.
diphthong their diſtinct and ſeveral ſounds. But Gardiner, Biſhop
of Wincheſter, who was then Chancellor of that Univerſity, inter-
poſed his authority, and from his averſion to all reformation (which
he oppoſed under the name of Novelty, though the Defenders of
it proved it more antient than the corruptions they were willing to
reform) inhibited under penalties Cheke’s pronunciation, and en-
joined the old confuſion to be religiouſly obſerved, by a publick edict.
Cheke, in defence of himſelf, ſaid he did it in vindication of Truth.
But the angry Chancellor cried out, Quid non mortalia petora. cogit
Veri quærendi fames ? What does not the itch of ſeeking out TRUTH
compel men to do? And bad Cheke not be the Author of removing
• an evil well placed.' This was about two years before. Which
I mention to ſhew the diſpoſition of Wincheſter ; and how little .
the King ſeemed to regard this Idolater of old evils, at this time
when he choſe Cheke as Preceptor to the Prince: Cheke took
Grindal into his ſervice, who went into Orders now ; Ridley, as
Maſter of Penzbroke-Hall, ſigning his Teſtimonial to Bird: the firſt
Biſhop of Cheſter. So that the King's Houſhold had now Three
celebrated Reformers added to it ;
to it; Dr. Ridley, Domeſtick
Chaplain ; Sir John Cheke, Tutor to the Prince ; and Dr. Grindal,
his Afliftant. And a great friendſhip was contracted between
them ; which doubtleſs was a mean of giving the Prince a more
intimate acquaintance with them, and a perſonal regard for each.
mn
fo
THE LIFE OF
Book If
11
In the Parliament in the beginning of this year, the King in ami-
ty with the Emperour, intending to war in perfon againſt the
French King, thought it convenient to ſettle the ſucceſſion to his
Herbert. Crown. In the 28th year of his reign, he had made his Iffue by
Donna Catharine, of Arragon, and alſo that by Lady Ann Boleyn,
illegitimate, and not inheritable : that the Iſſue of him by Queen
Jane ſhould be his lawful Children, and the Male Heir inherit the
Imperial Crown of this realm : in default, the Heirs male of any
other future Queen : in default, the female Heirs firſt of Queen
Jane, and in failure there, of any other future Queen : and in de-
fault of all theſe, he might limit the Crown to any perſon or per-
ſons, by his Letters patent under the Great Seal, or by his laſt
Will figned with his hand. Making it High Treaſon to call the
Lady Mary, or the Lady Elizabeth Legitimate. Now in this
35th year of his reign, to oblige the Emperour, he gave his
Daughter Mary a diſtant proſpect of ſucceding to the Crown : but
yet without legitimating her ; as he likewiſe did the Princeſs Eli-
ſabeth. Therefore in caſe he had no Iſſue by his preſent Queen
Catharine Parr, and that the King's Majeſty, and his only Son
Prince Edward, ſhould deceaſe without Heirs of either of their bo-
dies lawfully begotten, ſo that there be no ſuch Heir, Male or Fe-
male, of any of their two bodies, it was enacted, that then the
Imperial Crown fhall be to the Lady Mary the King's Highneſs
Daughter, and to the heirs of her body lawfully begotten, with
fuch conditions as his Highneſs Thall limit; and in default of ſuch
Iſſue, the ſaid Imperial Crown ſhall be to the Lady Eliſabeth, the
King's ſecond Daughter, and the heirs of her body lawfully begot-
ten, on like conditions. But if the King's Majeſty do not by his
Letters Patent, or laſt will, limit any conditions, then the ſaid La-
dy Mary and Lady Eliſabeth fhall enjoy fuch intereſt and remain-
der in the ſaid Imperial Crown without any manner of condition.
And if ſuch Heirs ſhould fail, the King ſhall have full power and
authority
BOOK III. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
16 i
4
2
authority to give, diſpoſe, appoint, affign, declare, and limit by his
Gracious Letters Patent under his Great Seal, or elſe by his laſt
will made in writing, and ſigned by his own hand, at his only
pleaſure, the Imperial Crown of this realm.
In this Parliament ſome Laws were paſſed, which
gave ſtill more
encouragement and aſſiſtance to the Reformation. One of which
was the further blunting the edge of the Six Article Ac. No of-
fender againſt it was to be put upon his trial but by the oath of
twelve men, before Commiſſioners authoriſed ; and the preſent-
ment to be within a year after the offence committed. And, what Burnet.
was probably the good effect produced by the malicious proſecu-
tion of Dr. Ridley, and the others at Canterbury, to prevent ſuch
long concerted ſchemes of miſchief, if any Preacher or Reader
ſhall ſpeak any thing in his fermon or reading, contrary to any
matter contained in the Six Articles, he ſhall be accuſed or indited
thereof within forty days, or elſe ſhall be diſcharged of the ſaid
offence.
Another was, that as the King was declared Supreme Gover-
nour in earth of the Church in England, there ſhould be ſome
known Laws by which he might rule, therefore the Parliament
gave the King authority during his life, to name two and thirty
perſons, fixteen ſpiritual, and fixteen temporal, to examine all
Canons, Conſtitutions and Ordinances, Provincial and Synodal
and to eſtabliſh all ſuch Laws Ecclefiaftical as ſhall be thought by
the King and them convenient to be uſed in all Spiritual Courts.
In which buſineſs the Archbiſhop made ſo good progreſs, that
the Syſtem of Ecclefiaftical Laws was framed ; and Cranmer, after
they were concluded, waited on the King at Hampton-Court, to
remind him of theſe Laws, and urged him to ratify them. The
King bad him ſend him the names of'the perſons employed in com-
piling them, which had been chiefly left to Cranmer's election,
and the Book he had made. Who the perſons then employed
;
1
162
BÓÓK HIT.
i
THE LIFE OF
wete I do not recollect to have ſeen mentioned : but we may pre-
füme, from his being commiſſioned afterward to this Province in
($51, that Dr. Ridley was concerned in it. The Archbiſhop hadi
gone ſo far, as to draw out a letter ready for the King's figning,
to give them authority, directed to all his ſubjects of every degree ;
and informing them that in the room of the corrupt Laws, De-
crees and Statutes that proceded from the Biſhops of Rome, which
were all aboliſhed, he had put forth by his authority another fet of
Eccleſiaſtical Laws, which he required to be obſerved; uider pain
of his indignation. Whether the King's illneſs, or what other
reaſon prevented the completing this deſign, I know not : but the
King dying ſoon after, this attempt died with him for a time.
But this indeed was more than two years after the authority given
him by this Parliament to frame ſuch a body of Laws.
As the King was engaged in a war with France, before he went
on that expedition, he fet out an Order to this effect; God alone
being able to reſtore peace, and unite men's hearts, therefore the
King was reſolved to have general Proceſſions uſed in all churches,
with all reverence and devotion of the people. And becauſe the
not underſtanding the Prayers and Suffrages formerly uſed, cauſed
that the people came but ſlackly to the Proceſſions ; therefore the
King now had publiſhed certain Prayers in our Native Tongue.
In July and Auguſt other Orders came from the Privy Council for
Proceſſions in the Engliſh Tongue, to ſend his Highneſs victorious
ſucceſs. Thus by little and little Engliſh Prayer was introduced ;
and the people by underſtanding part became deſirous of having
their whole ſervice rendered intelligible..
Burnet,
Strype's
Cranmer.
1545
*
In the following year a moſt important advance.
$. 5. Ridley freed
was made in the Reformation, though yet in pri-
from the error of
tranſubſtantiation, and vate. Dr. Ridley ſpent great part of this year
in
made a Prebendary of retirenient at his vicarage of Herne, whither he
Weftminfter..
carried with him ſuch ſtrong impreſſions of the
ſufferings
Book III. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
163
ſufferings and arguments of the more ſerious Sacramentaries, as pre-
valed on him to give their cauſe a more patient examination.
He had been an unſuſpecting Believer of Tranſubſtantiation.
The generally received Doctrine, the Decrees of Popes, and Deci-
ſions of Councils, had' implanted this Faith in him; the rhetorical
expreſſions of the Fathers, and the Letter of Scripture confirmed
and ſtrengthened him in this opinion : the blafphemies of the Ana-
baptiſts, who were at firſt the principal impugners of this doctrine,
and the irreverence and indecency of ſome other Sacramentaries,
barred for a long time the way to his free inquiry, and better in-
formation.
As this is ſo material a part of the Reformation, it may not be
improper to review what the Popiſh doctrine was in this point,
and what alterations had been made in it in other Churches.
The Roman Church, taught that the bread and wine in the Sa-
crament of the Altar were converted into the very natural body and
blood of Chriſt, and ceaſed to be any longer bread and wine. Lu-
ther taught, with the Roman Church, that the
that the very natural body
and blood of Chriſt were in the Sacrament, not by converting the
bread and wine into them, but by being introduced into the bread
and wine, with the ſubſtance of which it was miraculouſly mixed.
Zuinglius, who for five years had joined "Luther in preaching
againſt ſeveral Popiſh abuſes at Zurick, in the year 1524, publiſh-
ed his opinion in this point, holding with the Roman Church
and with Luther, that there was a Real Preſence of Chriſt in the
Sacrament, but differing from both in theſe four particutars ;
1. That the words of Chriſt, This is my body, muſt be underſtood
figuratively. 2. That the body and blood of Chriſt were not re-
ceived by the mouth, but only by faith. 3. That Chriſt's natu-
ral body was locally preſent in heaven, and not diffuſed every
where, as his Divine nature was. And 4. That the wicked receive
Y 2
not
ܪ݇ܝܵܐ
164
Book III.
THE LIFE OF
&
not the very body of Chriſt, only the ſymbols of his body and
blood.
Zuinglius, and Oecolampadius and their followers were indeed ge-
nerally repreſented as mere Figuriſts, who acknowledged nothing
more in the Eucharift than barely the repreſentation or memorial
of Chriſt's body and blood : but in their exceptions to the Aufburg
Confeffion, they admitted, that together with the bread and wine
were verily exhibited the true body and blood of Chriſt to the faithful
receiver ſpiritually vouchſafed,, that they might thereby have com-
munion with him. And in their accord with Calvin in the
year
1549, they ſay, ' although we diſtinguiſh, as we ought, betwixt
the ſigns and the things ſignified by them, yet we mean not to
ſeparate the reality from the hgns : but believe that all, who em-
• brace the promiſes then offered to them, by faith, do ſpiritually
receive Chriſt, with his fpiritual gifts.ba
This doctrine, publiſhed by Zuinglius at Zurick, and by Oeco-
lampadius at Bafil, raiſed great commotions among the Reformed
in Germany.; the Saxons and Lower Germany following Luther,
the Zurickers and ſeveral towns of Upper Germany. holding with
Zuinglius and Oecolampadius. But inveterate, prejudice and the
publick diſcredit, for Papiſts and Lutherans joined in clamors,
againſt this new doctrine, as they called it, intimidated many from
embracing it, and made them profefs to believe, what they could
not poſſibly underſtand, for fear of cenſure. Which made Zuin,
glius compare them to fome Great Men who had been impoſed on
by a bold, impoſtor in painting, who undertook to ornament their
chapels with moſt exquiſite works of the pencil, but which could
ba
3. Dum enim miniftri facramentum corporis et fanguinis Chriſti diftribuunt, Chriftus
ipfe fe impartit fpiriqualiter fruendum, ut pii.communionem cum ipfo habeant, et in ipfo
vivant.
• Quare etfi diftinguimus, ut par eft, inter figna et res fignatas, tamen non diſjungimus
a fignis veritatem, quin omnes qui fide amplectuntur oblatas illic promiffiones, Chriftum
Spiritualiter cum fpiritualibus ejus donis recipere.
D
Book III. DR. NICHOLAS RIDL E Y.
165
Cranmer.
be ſeen by none whoſe births were owing to ſtolen embraces. The
dread of ſcandaliſing themſelves and their mothers made the em-
ployers profeſs to ſee and admire thoſe wonderful pictures which
were never there .
Cranmer's connections with Oſiander and the Lutherans might Strype's
be the reaſon why the truth came fo late into England, with a pre-
judice not uſual with him he rejected with warmth the treatiſe of
Joachim Vadianus, of San Gal in Switzerland, recommending the
figurative interpretation, about the year 1538. He had taken it
for granted that the Chriſtian Church through all ages had held
the contrary: and it is likely he would never have opened his eyes,
if Ridley had not awakened him.
In the year 1544 Luther had written with great heat againſt this
doctrine, calling the Zuinglians hereticks, and aſſigning them over
to eternal damnation. The Zurickers replied in the beginning of
the following year, when they publiſhed their Apology, in which
they explaned their doctrine and faith ; purged themſelves of the
guilt of hereſy; and ſtated Luther's and their doctrine, ſo that the
world might judge where the truth lay:
The coincidence of time makes me believe that. Ridley meeting
with this book, which we are told. was greedily read at that time
by all parties, carried, it with him to employ his retirement at
Herne this ſummer ;, and was inclined by it, to give the queſtion, a
fair examination. So he certainly did, by whatever means induced.
And. procured likewiſe a little treatiſe, written ſeven hundred years
before, by. Ratramus or. Bertram, a monk.of Corbey, at the request
of the Emperour Charles, the Bald, about the year 840 : which
had been publiſhed at Cologne in 1532, and then ſent by the Zu-
rickers to Albert Marquiſs of Brandenburg, to vindicate their doce.
trine from the charge of novelty.
From:
* Epift: Zuingl. ad Elingenfes, Germanice.
Lavater, de origine et progreffu controverfie facramentariz de.cana Domini.
.
166
Book III
THE LIFE OF
3
From this Book Ridley learned, that the determination of the
Church for Tranſubſtantiation had not been ſo early and general as
he had before ſuppoſed; for that Bertram, a Catholick Doctor, ſo
late as 840, held contrary to the preſent Decrees, and that the
Faithful at that time, without either of them being condemned as
Hereticks, were divided in their opinions on this ſubject ; ſome of
the Faithful) affirming, that the Body and Blood of Chriſt, in the
Sacrament, is done under no figure, and under no veil or cover at
all, but performed under the naked manifeſtation and ſhew of the
truth itſelf : others (of the Faithful) that they were contained un-
der a figure, and that it is one thing which appears to our bodily
ſenſes, and another thing that our Faith looketh upon.
This at once razed that foundation of authority on which Ridley
had fo confidently built, and left him more open to conſider the
Reaſonings of this author ; who eſtabliſhes his doctrine of the Figu-
rative and Myſterious Body and Blood, by the evidence of fenſe,
and the nature and analogy of facraments. Every change he ob-
ſerves, is either in deed, or in figure. A change in deed, is ei-
ther by creation, annihilation, or alteration ; yet neither of theſe
are known to be here, for nothing could be more abſurd than to
také bread to be fleſh, and to affirm that wine is blood : neither in
that caſe would the facrament be an object of Faith. Therefore the
change that is, is in figure ; the matter of the facrament being in
fubfiance bread and wine, but in myſtery, power and efficacy the body
and blood of Chriſt. And as in the facrament of Baptiſm, the wa-
ter is in its own property' a corruptible humor or liquor, but in
myſtery and ſpiritual meaning a wholeſome and healthful power :
fo the body and blood of Chrift, being outwardly conſidered, is a
creature ſubject to change and corruption, yet in the power and
virtue of the myſtery it is Life indeed, giving Immortality to the
partakers. Therefore the things ſeen, and the things believed, are
not all one: as ſeen, they feed the corruptible body, being them-
felyes
Book III. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
167
felves corruptible : as believed, they feed our immortal fouls, them-
ſelves being immortal.
This author procedes to confirm his doctrine by ſcripture ; for
when Chriſt ſaid of the bread, This is My Body, and of the cap,
This is My Blood, he had not yet ſuffered : nevertheleſs he made
them the myſtery of his body and blood; for we think truely nó
faithful man believes that the bread then became Chriſt's Body, or
the
cup
his blood. And if the expreſs words This is my body, or,
Except ye eat the fleſh of the Son of Man, create any doubt, he re-
minds us of our Saviour's own explication, Does this offend you ?
What if you fall ſee the Son of Man afcend up where he was before ?
Think not ſo groflly, as that I will give my ſubſtantial fleſh and
blood to be eaten and drank by you (which indeed were a wicked
and ungodly act for you to do) for that ſhall afcend up to heaven ;
and even could you eat and drink this fleſh and blood ſubſtantially,
it would be of no benefit to you ; for the fleſh profiteth nothing :
but
you
Thall eat and drink it in the myſtery, in virtuë, power and
efficacy, it is the Spirit that giveth life.
After this he procedes to ſhew that the Fathers of the Church
before him underſtood this facrament in the ſame manner; and
quotes fome' paſſages from Auguſtir, Ambroſe, Iſidore, Jerome,
and Fulgentius, who define, that ' facraments have a certain fimili-
itude and likeneſs of thoſe things of which they are facraments ;
« in reſpect of which likeneſs they take the very names of the
things themſelves. And that' they are therefore called facra-
«ments becauſe under the veil and coverture of bodily things,
• God's divine power and virtue doth ſecretly work the efficacy or
power of the ſaid facrament !
of the faid facrament 5. And teach us to diſcern the Lord's
body in the ſacrament from the natural body. They body and fleſh
of Chriſt is underſtood two manner of ways ; 1. That fpiritual
and
(
2
2. Auguftin, Epift. ad Bonif.
• Ifidor. Origin. lib. vi..
1
!
I
168
BOOK III.
THE LIFE OF
s
and divine fleſh and blood of which he himſelf faith, my fleſh is
meat indeed. Or elſe, 2. that fleſh that was crucified, and that
blood which was ſhed with the ſoldier's ſpear. And again,
Verily that is the true fleſh of Chriſt, which was crucified, and which
was buried : and therefore this myſtery muſt be indeed the facra-
• ment of that fleth. Which thing the Lord himſelf publiſheth and
proclameth, faying, This is my body. They likewiſe compare
it with the facrifices under the Old Teſtament, in which there
• was a ſignification of Chriſt's fleſh, which even he himſelf ſhould
offer for our fins, and of his blood alſo which he ſhould thed for
the forgiveneſs of our fins : fo in this ſacrifice of bread and wine
. there is a Thankſgiving for, and a Remembrance of that fleſh of
• Chriſt which he offered up for us, and of that blood which he
« Thed for use According to which plane explications and diſ-
tinctions, preciſely determining the ſenſe of theſe writers, and of
the church, it is manifeſt we muſt interpret and learn to underſtand
thoſe rhetorical expreſſions which may be found in the Fathers,
where, to raiſe the gratitude of our hearts, and the devotion of our
ſouls, they give to the Sign the names, titles, characters and
perties of the thing ſignified.
Laſtly, this author Shews that this was the primitive and general
opinion of the church, froin her publick office in the adminiſtra-
tion of this facrament : which he proves from two paffages that he
produces ; • We that do take or receive the pledge of everlaſting
life, do humbly beſeech thee to grant, that we may with a ma-
• nifeft and plane partaking, receive that which we touch in the
- IMAGE.Or REPRESENTATION of the facrament. And again,
• We beſeech thee, Lord, to grant that thy facraments may work
* that in us, which they do contain; that what now we adminifter
* and receive in FORM (that is, in lew or ſimilitude) we may alſo
receive it in the truth of the things.
pron
I hope
• Hieronym. Epift. ad Eph.
d Ambrof. Sacra, lib. v.
Fulgent. de fide.
4
Book IM. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
169
ز
I hope I ſhall be excuſed for giving this ſhort account of a Book
to which we owe ſo much. Few have drawn after it ſuch falutary
conſequences as this has done. This firſt opened Ridley's eyes, and
determined him more accurately to ſearch the ſcriptures in this ar-
ticle, and the doctrine of the Primitive Fathers, who lived before
the time of this controverſy betwixt Bertram and Pafchafius. And
how zealous foever Cranmer might be for Tranſubſtantiation, and
how dangerous foever it might be to doubt of that article, yet Rid-
ley very honeſtly communicated his diſcoveries and ſcruples to his
good Friend and Patron the Archbiſhop ; who knowing the fin-
cerity of the man, and his cool judgment, gave a more open ear to
him, than he had formerly done to Joachim Vadianus, when he
wrote to him on this ſubject from Germany; and was prevaled
upon to examine this doctriue with the utmoſt care.
The event
was the conviction of both of them. This was the great and im-
portant point of the Reformation in do&rine : this was laying the
Axe to the root of the Tree ; ; for as Cranmer expreſſes himſelf,
• the taking away of Beads, Pilgrimages, Pardons, and ſuch like Po-
pery, was but the lopping a few branches ; which would ſoon
ſpring up again, unleſs the roots of the tree, which were Tranſub-
• ſtantiation and the Sacrifice of the Maſs were pulled up. And
this he acknowledges was owing to conference with Dr. Ridley,
who by fundry perſuaſions and authorities of Doctors drew him
• quite from his old opinion. And in the following year, by Cran-
mer's means, old Latimer was brought to a conviction of the fame
truth. But however inſtrumental Ridley might have been in leading
the Archbiſhop into this enquiry, he always diſclamed the honor
of being Cranmer's inſtructor ; profeſſing himſelf to be ' but the
'young ſcholar to his maſter in compariſon of him. Always, with
an exceding modeſty, refuſing the due praiſes which even his ad-
verſaries
gave him, not aſſuming to himſelf the glory of his own.
Z
improvements,
<
f Preface to Cranmer's Treatiſe on the Sacrament.
I Fox.
170
Book III.
THE LIFE OF
܀nܢ
1:14
improvements, but gratefully referring them to the means and op-
portunities of acquiring them ; and therefore acknowledges him-
ſelf a debtor to his vicarage of Herne for the doctrine of the Lord's
Supper ; 'which at that time (ſays he). I acknowledge God had
*not reveled unto me.' And before the Commiſſioners he gives
the following account of Bertram and his Book ; Bertram, a man
• learned, of ſound and upright judgment, and ever counted a ca-
tholick for theſe ſeven hundred years until our age. His treatiſe
whoever ſhall read and weigh, conſidering the time of the writer,
his learning, godlineſs of life, the allegations of antient Fathers,
and his manifeſt and molt grounded arguments, I cannot, (doubt-
leſs) but much marvel, if he have any fear of God at all, how he
'can with good conſcience ſpeak againſt him in this matter of the
Sacrament. This Bertram was the firſt that pulled me by the ear;
.and that firſt brought me from the common error of the Romiſh
church, and cauſed me to ſearch more diligently and exactly both:
* the ſcriptures and the writings of the old ecclefiaftical Fathers in
e this matter.'
The Papiſts themſelves liave ſufficiently declared how much this
book hurts them, by the manner in which they have treated it.
One while they rejected it entirely as ſpurious, and the forgery of
Oecolampadius." : but this wild aſſertion was ſoon refuted. Then
it was written by a Follower of Berengarius'. Then by Joannes
Scotus Erigena, whoſe treatiſe on this ſubject had been condemned
by the ſynods of Vercelli, Paris, and Rome. And this laſt opinion
prevaled amongſt them till Father Mabillon in 1680 did clearly con-
vince the Roman Chatholicks of their prejudice in this caſe ; and
that Bertram was the Author, upon the authority of antient MSS.
which he had ſeen". Thoſe who fuppofed the Book written by
another
:
Sanders de viſib. Monarch, Ecclef. lib,
7*
h Poffeviñus, et Sixtus Senenfis.
i Parſons 3 Converſ. part. 2. cap. 10.
Gregory de valentia..
* Du Pin.
Book III. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
571
another perſon allow Bertram to have lived and died a ſound Ca-
tholick, and that in his time no ſuch doctrine was ever read or
known'. Others tell us that about that time, Bertram began to
be mad; that he wrote of the Sacrament ſuſpiciouſly ; that he
firſt brought in queſtion the Real Preſence, but that Pafchafius
wrote a very learned book in refutation of him". Whereas Du
Pin informs us the fact was juſt contrary ; that Pafchafius gave
of-
fence by his Book, in which he affirmed that the ſame Body which
was born of the Virgin Mary, ſuffered, was buried, and ſits at the
right hand of the Father, is received in the ſacrament : that others
attacked Paſchaſius in the ſame century, ſuch as Scotus Erigena,
and that many of Bertram’s cotemporaries ſpeak of the facrament in
the manner that Bertram does ; as did alſo Alfricus Archbiſhop of
Canterbury one hundred and fifty years after him. In a letter of
the ſame Alfric's in Bennet College Library, I find there is the
following paſſage, which in another copy has been eraſed; “yet
. this facrifice does not become his body which was ſacrificed for
us, nor his blood which was ſhed for us, but is ſpiritually made
his body and blood: And in the ſame Library a form of conſecra-
ting Biſhops, judged to be older than the Norman Conqueſt, “O
• Lord, who after the typical Paſſover, when thou hadft eaten the
fleth of the Lamb, didſt vouchſafe to take bread out of the plate
• into a compariſon (or repreſentation) of thy own body,and diſtribute
• it to thy diſciples, we devoutly beſeech thee that whoſoever ſhall
« in his mouth receive the confecrated bread out of this diſh
may
in
• their heart deſire and receive thee the living and true bread, and
Z 2
« be
i Parſons and Sanders.
- Garefius et Bellarmine de Script. Ecclef. tom. vii.
* Non fit tamen hoc facrificium corpus ejus in quo paſſus eſt pro nobis, nec fanguis ejus
quem pro nobis effudit : fed fpiritualiter corpus ejus efficitur et ſanguis. L. xii. 156.
172
Book III.
THE LIFE OF
:
• be worthy to partake of everlaſting benediction through thee our
• Lord Jeſus Chriſt º.
As the Papiſts have not agreed who the author was, nor what
the merits or opinions of Bertram were, ſo neither have they agreed
even about the merits of the Book itſelf. The authority of the
Council of Trent, and Pope Clement viii. reject it as heretical :
yet the Univerſity of Douay, without regard to Pope or Council,
determine in a very different manner ; Although we care not
greatly for this Book of Bertram's, whether it be extant or no,
yet becauſe it is often printed, and read of many, and the Here-
'ticks know by a catalogue of forbidden books that he was a Caa
*tholick Prieſt, and dear unto Charles the Great; and becauſe wa
• comment upon other writers of the ſame age, and extenuate their
errors oftentimes by a favorable conſtruction of them, by the
• ſame reaſon we may allow Bertram, and acknowledge him, for
" there is nothing worthy of reprehenſion in him, ſetting aſide a lit-
« tle obſcurity in his ſtyle, and his ignorance in uſing fome dark
« words and ſentences, which, with marginal
. notes affixed; may
• manifeſt the true ſenſe and meaning of the author'. But in or-
der to reconcile his opinions with theirs, they are forced to declare
his meaning to be quite contrary to his words, therefore they ex-
plane viſible by inviſible, and tell us that when he ſays. ſubſtance;
he means accidents. By ſuch chymiſtry they make Bertram's Book
Papiſtical : but the Proteſtants, who are ſtrangers to the Douay
arts of interpretation, are apt to take Bertram at his word, and to
ſet him down accordingly. as a writer planely of their opinion in
this article
.
Thus
• Domine, qui poft typicum Paſcha et eſis agni carnibus panem ex catino ſumere in pro
prii comparatione corporis, et diſcipulis diſtribuere dignatus es, Te ſupplici devotione de-
poſcimus, ut quicunque ex hac patina ore panem facratum perceperint, Te vivum et ve
rum panem corde concupiſcant et capiant, et benediâionem mereantur percipere fempiter
num per Te Domine Jeſu Chriſte. L. i. pag. 114.
Index Expurgat. Belgic. p. 5. Antw. 15710
BOOK III. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
173
Thus happily at length by means of this Book Ridley arrived at
this important truth, and communicated it to Cranmer, having gra-
dually diſengaged himſelf from the tyranny of Rome, and her
decrees, and diſcovered many of her errors and ſuperſtitions by a
diligent application to the ſcriptures, and carefully examining the
doctrines of the Primitive Church. It was indeed late before he
diſcovered his error in this point of Tranſubſtantiation ; which I
ſuppoſe makes Bale deſcribe him as coming very late, even at the
eleventh hour, into the Lord's vineyard, yet not before he was ef-
fectually called ; and that from his firſt
and that from his firſt engagement he was found
a moſt faithful laborer in it; and from his great learning, very for-
midable to the enemies of truth.
This change of opinion happened to Ridley in 1545, and to-
wards the cloſe of it, as I ſuppoſe, or in the beginning of the next
year, he communicated it to Cranmer, and put him upon a further
enquiry ; for Cranmer ſays it was but a little before he publiſhed
the Catechiſm (which was in 1547) that he embraced that opinion.
Whether his conviction was early enough for Henry to receive any
benefit from it, I cannot ſay : but it appears that in the laſt year
of his reign there was a deſign of aboliſhing the Maſs, and changing
it into a Communion; that the French King concurred with Hen-
ry in this reſolution, and that both Princes meant to exhort the
Emperour to do the like in Flanders, or elſe to break with him ;
and that Henry particularly had willed the Archbiſhop to pen a
Form to be ſent to the French King to conſider : this muſt have
adminiſtered an opportunity of communicating his new opinion to
the King : bút this happened in the following year..
; I muſt therefore go back to the cloſe of the year 1545, when
the Archbiſhop made further proviſion for his Chaplain Dr. Rid:
ley, by procuring for him the eighth ſtall in the Church of Weſt-
minſter, in'the room of Francis Turpin, on the 15th of November
The Archbiſhop, the Biſhops of Worceſter and Chicheſter, with:
fomes
174
BOOK III.
THE LIFE OF
fome others of the King's Chaplains and learned men, were now
employed by his Majeſty to peruſe certain Books of Service, where-
in were many fuperftitions fit to be amended ; ſuch as the Vigil
and ringing of Bells all the night upon Allhallows, and the cover-
ing of Images in the time of Lent, with the lifting up the veil that
covereth the Croſs upon Palm-Sunday, with the kneeling to the
Croſs at the ſame time, and creeping to it, which by the Ordinal
is appointed to be worthipped. Theſe abuſes were hereafter to
ceaſe and be aboliſhed. And to make the more eaſy way for ſuch
alteration, the Archbiſhop adviſed the King, that ſome Doctrine
ſhould be ſet forth, declaring the cauſe of the aboliſhing thoſe uſages
for the ſatisfaction of the conſciences of the people, who, without
ſome expoſition, would think the honor of Chriſt was taken away,
when the honoring of the Croſs was prohibited. To effect the re-
moval of theſe ſuperſtitions, it was concerted betwixt the King
and the Archbiſhop, that Cranmer ſhould frame Two Letters to
be ſigned by the King, directed to the Two Archbiſhops, enjoin-:
ing them to ſee thoſe enormities reformed in their reſpective pro-
vinces. But when the Letters were prepared and ſent to Sir An-
thony Denny to be preſented to the King for his ſigning, the King
delayed, having received advices from Wincheſter, who was now
abroad ſolliciting a League between the Emperour, and the French
King, and Henry. Suſpecting that advantage might be taken of
his abſence to extirpate the old ſuperſtitions, Gardiner artfully wrote
to the King that his buſineſs was in good train ; but beſeeched him
not to ſuffer any innovations in Religion or Ceremonies, for if he
did, there would be no hopes of his ſucceding with the Emperour.
Thus Wincheſter's icvention abroad ſerved him better than his in-
fluence and intereſt at home would have done.
In November the Parliament gave to the King the Colleges,
Chapels, Chanteries, Hoſpitals, and Fraternities throughout the
Kingdom,
• Ponatur crux ante aliquod altare, ubi a Populo adoretur : et procedant Clerici ad cru-
sem adorandum nodis pedibus,
..
BOOK HI. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
175
Kingdom, confifting of Secular Prieſts, who enjoyed penſions for
ſaying maſs for the ſouls of thoſe who had endowed them ; einpow-
ering him at any time of his life to iſſue out Commiffions for ſeizing
on theſe Foundations. Many were accordingly ſeized on in ſeveral
counties ; and the Two Univerſities began to tremble for themſelves.
Ever ſince the fall of abbies the ſchools were deſerted ; many
fair aims for their ambition were removed, and the total ruin of
learning apprehended. So that at Cambridge there was a general
decay of ſtudents, few colleges having more fcholars in them than
barely thoſe of the foundation. The volunteers were fled, and
only perſons, preſſed in a manner by their places to refide, were
left : but now, the very foundations fhook. From Oxford,
Dr. Cox, Tutor to the Prince, repreſents to the King, the great
want of Schools, Preachers, and Houſes for Orphans ; that beg-
gary would drive the Clergy to flattery, ſuperſtition, and the old
idolatry : there were, as he ſaid, ravenous wolves about the King,
that would devour Univerſity, Cathedrals, and Chantries, and a
thouſand times as much. Both Univerſities applied to the King,
that they might not be included within the general words in the
Act of Diſſolution of Colleges and Fraternities. And if Cox was
earneſt for the ſafety of Oxford, it is not to be ſuppoſed that Rid-
ley was backward to make uſe of what intereſt or influence he had
at Court for Cambridge, and his own College there.
1546.
attempts
to
But the King ſoon made the Univerſities eaſy :
$. 6. Wincheſter and though at Cambridge he ſeized into his hards
deſtroy King's Hall, the beſt landed foundation in that
2. Catharine Parr. Univerſity; and Michael Houſe ; together with
Filewicke's Hoftle, an houſe unendowed ; yet
did it only to erect out of them one fair and ample College, which
he largely endowed, and dedicated to the Holy Undivided Trinity.
About
yet he
176
Book III.
THE LIFE OF
Ww
About the ſame time the Archbiſhop complained to the King of
the plunder that was made of the lands belonging to the Church of
Canterbury. The Courtiers would often engage the King, nay
often uſe his name without his knowledge, to require the Church
to make over to him a portion of land, and then by Gift, or for ſome
trifling confideration, it was conveyed to them from the King.
The Archbiſhop deſired that ſuch alienations might not be made at
other men's pleaſures, but only to his Majeſty's uſe : and that
when his Majeſty was minded to have any of their lands, that they
might have ſome Letters from him, to declare his pleaſure, with-
out which no alienation might be made.
This was a very ſeaſonable ſtand : though not ſo bold a one as
Ridley afterward made in juſtice : to Clare-Hall in Cambridge, and
to his own Cathedral Church of London.
The Reformers had by this time great numbers and influence at
Court, ſo that the ſupporters of the old ſuperſtitions began to fear
for themſelves and their cauſe. Wincheſter indeed had diverted
the King froni making fone iterations by a temporary expedient :
but effectually to prevent any further attempts, and revive his
waining intereſt in the Council, he thought it neceſſary to thin the
King's Court of the Goſpellers and for this purpoſe his faction
laid their traps. They had obſerved that a diſbelief of Tranſub-
ſtantiation prevaled more and more among private perſons; though
to ſpeak any thing againſt it was yet contrary to the ſtatute. And
as this diſbelief had been introduced and propagated by the Ana-
baptiſts, who treated the facrament with great indecency, their
blaſphemies and abſurdities brought all the Sacramentaries into
publick diſgrace and danger. Here therefore they began their
Crucade.
Wincheſter returned from the Empercur in Flanders about Ja-
nuary, and the Emperour prepared to go into Germany to attend
to the Diet to be holden at Ratiſbon, and the Council now fitting
at
Book III. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
177
at Trent ; but ſecretly he was preparing for war againſt the Pro-
teſtants, which the Proteſtants endeavoured to provide againſt by
ſending over Philip Count Palatine, Nephew to the Elector Fre-
derick, to negotiate a Confederation betwixt Them and our King.
He came over in March. And, perhaps, to prevent a coalition be-
twixt the German and Engliſh Proteſtants, the Popiſh faction were
very ſevere in executing the Six Article Act, to which the Germans
had ſtrongly objected. They began as early as March with Mrs.
Ann Ayſcough, Siſter to Sir Francis Ayſcough, of Lincolnſhire, a
Lady of very exemplary piety and unblemished life, as her very
accuſers acknowledged, of a very ſharp and ready wit, and better
education than was ordinary in thoſe of her ſex. They had further
views in falling upon her ; for they hoped to have drawn out of
her confeſſions ſome matters againſt the Dutcheſs of Suffolk, the
Counteſs of Suſſex, the Counteſs of Hertford, the Lady Denny,
the Lady Fitzwilliams, and ſome of the Council. And when her
art eluded their cunning, they proceded to extort from her what
they wanted by the rack : for which, when the uſual tortures were
inſufficient, they ordered the Lieutenant of the Tower to put her
on the rack again ; which his humanity refuſed : but the Lord
Chancellor and Sir Richard Rich, throwing off their gowns, turn-
ed executioners, more relentleſs than the Gaoler exerciſed in the
buſineſs, and tortured her as long as life could ſupport it. And
when they found they could not obtain the end they aimed at,
they contented themſelves for the preſent with burning the poor
Lady"; and with her three others for the ſame crime; which was
for ſpeaking againſt the Corporal Preſence, in diſobedience to the
Six Articles.
What grief muſt the Archbiſhop and his Chaplain conceive at
theſe cruel procedings, when one of them certainly, and probably
by
А а
• In June.
178
Book III..
THE LIFE
LIFE OF
.
by this time both of them, were of the fame opinion ? unable to:
protect her againſt the malice of the Faction and the Letter of the
Statute ; and even themſelves in danger of Iharing her fate, if they
tepped incautiouſly, before Cranmer could prepare the King ?
The aims of the Papiſts were at ſome of the Council, and even
higher perſons ſtill : but they were afraid of adventuring too far.
However, they had the boldneſs to commit Sir George Blage, one
of the Gentlemen of the King's Privy Chamber, to Newgate, on
the Sunday before: Mrs. Ayſcough ſuffered, and condemned him to
the fire on the Wedneſday following. But the King hearing of it,
was greatly offended with the Lord Chancellor, for coming ſo near
him, even to his Privy Chamber, and commanded him immediate-
ly to draw out his pardon. As ſoon as Sir George was releaſed, and.
came into the preſence, the King cried out, as he was wont to call
him, " Ah, my Pig ! · Yes, ſays Sir George. If your Majeſty had .
* not been better to me than your Biſhops, your Pig had been
6 roaſted ere this time."
But, diſappointed as they were in having made no further difco..
veries by racking Mrs. Ayſcough, and offended as the King was at
their boldneſs in ſeizing thoſe fo near his perfon, they were not
entirely diſcouraged from preſſing on their main point, which was
the removing from the King's affection and preſence the great Fa-
vorers of the Reformation.
Queen Catharine was much: given to reading and ſtudying the
Holy Scriptures ; and for that purpoſe had retained ſeveral learned
men to inſtruct her in ſpiritual matters. Theſe Chaplains uſually,
but more eſpecially in Lent, for an hour every day in the afternoon,
preached to Her, and her Ladies, and Gentlewomen, and others
that were diſpoſed to hear, in her Privy Chamber. In which fer-
mons they often touched ſuch abuſes as were common in the
Church. This practice was not unknown to the King, who ſeem-
ed at firſt to approve of it, permitting the Queen to confer with
him.
BOOK III. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
179
him on religious points, when the would often with, exhort and
perſuade the King to perfect and finiſh the purging his Church of
England from the ſuperſtitions which yet remained.
The King was now grown very corpulent and diſeaſed; and his
illneſs made him more impatient than uſual : though contradiction
was what he could never bear with temper, from any one but his
preſent Queen. During his illneſs and confinement ſhe was uſed,
when ſhe thought it would be agreeable to the King, at ſome con-
venient ſeaſon of the day, to viſit him in his chamber : whom the
King always received with great kindneſs, and indulged the free
dom of her converſation without diſpleaſure. But one day the
came into his chamber, when the Biſhop of Wincheſter, with
others of that faction, were with the King, and the falling upon
her old topick of perfecting the reformation, the King ſhewed
ſome tokens of diſlike contrary to his cuſtomary behaviour to her,
and breaking off the diſcourſe talked of other matters. When the
Queen was retired, the King brake out into this expreſſion, * A
good hearing it is, when women become ſuch clerks! and a
thing much to my comfort, to come in mine old age to be taught
by my wife !
Wincheſter failed not to improve the opportunity, and to aggra-
vate the Queen's infolence in difputing with his Majeſty, whoſe
great learning and depth in Divinity he flatteringly extolled ; and
inferred, that thoſe who would contradict him in words, wanted
not the will, but power only, to overthrow him in deeds : repre-
ſenting her religion, according to their conſtant craft, as anabap-
tiſtical, teaching the people that all things ſhould be in common,
which was ſuch a ſubverſion of Government, that had the greateſt
ſubject in the kingdom ſpoken the words the fpake, he had juſtly
deſerved death by the law. And then infinuated that he and his
friends could make great diſcoveries of their own knowledge, rela-
ting to the Queen ; but her faction was ſo powerful, that they
A a 2
could
180
Book IIT.
THE LIFE OF
could not do their duty to their Prince, with ſafety to themſelves :
but if the King would take upon him to be their Protector and
Buckler, they could within ſhort time diſclofe fuch treaſon, cloked
with this cloke of hereſy, that his Majeſty ſhould eaſily perceive
how perilous a matter it was to cheriſh a ferpent in his boſom.
At length the King gave them warrant and commandment to con-
ſult together about the drawing certain articles againſt the Queens
whereby her life might be touched.
Upon this warrant they firſt determined to ſeize ſome Ladies,
who were the Queen's neareſt Relations and chief Confidants, and
to indite them on the Act of the Six Articles; theſe were the Lady,
Herbert, Siſter to the Queen, the Lady Lane, and Lady Tyrwhit,
all of her Privy Chamber : and upon ſeizing them, they intended
to ſearch their cloſets and coffers, that ſomewhat might have been
found, whereby the Queen might be charged. The articles were
prepared, and ſigned by the King : for without that it was not ſafe
for any to impeach the Queen. The very day, and even the hour
was appointed, and made known to the King, when they were to
be ſeized. But the Lord Chancellor careleſlly dropped the Bill of
Articles ; which being taken up by one of the Queen's friends, was
carried to her. She ſeeing the contents, and the King's hand ſet
to them, had reaſon to think herſelf loſt. This threw her into a
violent diſorder, which her phyſicians could not reach : till Dr,
Wendy, having been privately informed by the King of the deſign,
with a ſtrict injunction of ſecrecy, declared to him that her malady
was in the mind ;, and ſo became a mean of bringing the King to
viſit her, when he behaved with great tenderneſs. This ſeaſonable
kindneſs greatly abated the violence of her diſorder; and when the
was a little recovered, by the advice of. Dr. Wendy, who was her
Friend as well as Phyſician, ſhe went to wait upon the King ; who
received her kindly, and on purpoſe ſet on a diſcourſe about reli-
gion. She had been prepared by Dr. Wendy, and therefore an-
fwered,
BOOK III. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
1.8K
<
fwered, that women by their creation at firſt were made ſubject
i to men.; that They, being made after the image of God, as the
women were after Their image, ought to inſtruct their wives,
who were to learn of them. And She much more was to be
taught of his Majeſty, who was a Prince of ſuch excellent learn-
ing and wiſdom. · Not ſo, by St. Mary, ſaid the King, you
are become a Doctor, Kate, able to inſtruct us; and not to be
inſtructed by us.' To which the replied,
« That it ſeemed he
· had much miſtaken the freedom The had taken to argue with
• him ; ſince ſhe did it to engage him in diſcourſe, that being in-
« tent he might with the leſs grief paſs over this painful time of
. his infirmity; and that ſhe at the ſame time might receive profit
by his Majeſty's learned diſcourſe : in which laſt point ſhe had
• not miſſed of her aim, always referring herſelf in theſe matters,
as the ought to do, to his Majeſty.” And is it even ſo, Sweet
• Heart? ſaid the King; then are we perfect Friends again.' And
embracing her, expreſſed great joy at this declaration of hers : dif-
miſſing her, after other pleaſant diſcourſe, with tender aſſurances of
his conſtant love.
The very next day had been appointed for carrying her, and the
Ladies beforementioned to the Tower. The day being fine, the
King went to take a little air in the garden, and ſent for the Queen ;;
who came attended with the Three Ladies of her Privy Chamber
to bear him company. As they were together, the hour (which
the King knew) being come, the Lord Chancellor, who was ig-
norant of the reconciliation, with about Forty of the Guard enter-
ed the garden to arreſt the Queen. But the King ſtepped aſide to
him, and after a little diſcourſe, was heard to call him · Knave,
aye errant Knave, a Fool, and Beaſt ;' and bid hiin preſently
avaunt out of his fight. The Queen, not knowing on what errand
they came, with gentle words endeavoured to qualify the King's.
diſpleaſure, in behalf of the Lord Chancellor, whom he ſeemed to
be
6
182
Book ITI.
THE LIFE OF
:.
* Ah, poor
be offended with ; ſaying, that though the knew not what juſt
cauſe his Majeſty had at that time to be offended with him ; yet
the thought that ignorance, not will, was the cauſe of his error.
And made humble fuit to his Majeſty fo to take it.
** ſoul, ſaid the King, thou little knoweft how ill he deſerves this
grace at thy hands.
On my word, Sweetheart, he hath been
towards thee an errant knave. And ſo let him go.'
This was
the laft effort made in this reign againft the Reformers ; for their
defeat at this time abſolutely diſheartened the Papiſts, and totally
alienated the King from them : particularly from the Biſhop of
Wincheſter, whoſe preſence he could never after endure : but the
vain man would ſhuffle himſelf in among the counſellors, and pro-
cede with them to the Antichamber, and then down with them
again, to preſerve the appearance of ſtill retaining his Maſter's cona
fidence, and of having a fhare in publick buſineſs. But it was over
with him. And he had ſoon after the mortification of being forced
to make his ſubmiſſion to the King, which ſtill ſtands upon
record,
ſays my Lord Herbert ; though for what cauſe is not known,
whether on This, or for his being concerned with the Duke of
Norfolk, who was alſo in diſgrace, and committed to the Tower
in December.
The King, finding himſelf decline in his health, was deſirous of
leaving the affairs of religion and his kingdom more ſettled than
they were at that time. For this purpoſe he made a peace with
Francis, whole Ambaffadour came over here for his ratification of
it in Auguſt; when the King entertained him magnificently, at
Hampton Court, and had a long conference with him and the
Archbiſhop about the eſtabliſhment of ſincere religion in both their
kingdoms. Both the Kings were within half a year after to have
changed the Maſs into a Communion, and have utterly extirpated
the Biſhop of Rome and his uſurped power out of their reſpective
realms and dominions. Nay to join in an application to the Em-
perour
N
Book III. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
183
perour to do the ſame in Flanders, and other countries belonging
to him. And Cranmer was ordered to draw up a form of ſuch
Communion, to be ſent to the French King to conſider of it. But
Henry died before the half year expired, on the 28th of January
following, and Francis preſently after. Had Henry ſurvived but
a few months, as Cranmer reports, it had been paſt my Lord of
Wincheſter's
power
to have deceived him any more.
Before the Duke of Saxony's Ambaſſadour returned to his Maſ-
ter, which was in November, though the League with the Em-
perour would not permit King Henry to enter into a Confederation
with the German Proteſtants for all the purpoſes they deſired, yet
he diſmiſſed him with this aſſurance, that in caſes where religion
only was concerned, if the Duke would ſtand ſtrongly to it, our
King would take his part, and bad him not fear.
His ſtrength ſtill decaying, he ordered his will to be again copied,
and to leave out the name of the Biſhop of Wincheſter, whom he
had left one of his executors before. The Bifhop's Friend, Sir An-
thony Browne, mentioned this omiflion to the King, as a negligence-
he ſuppoſed of the Secretary; and then reminded him of the
Biſhop's great deſervings and abilities. · Hold your peace, ſaid the
• King : I remembered him well enough ; and of good purpoſe:
« have left him out. For ſurely, if he were in my Teſtament, he
* would cumber you all, and you
ſhould never rule him, he is of
6-ſo troubleſome a nature. Therefore talk no more of him to me
in his behalf.' And when in diſcharge of his friendfhip to the
Bifhop, he afterwards moved the King to appoint Gardiner one of
his executors, the King threatned to ſtrike Sir Anthony too out of
his will, if he did not ceaſe his importunity in that matter.
But his affection for the Archbiſhop and his Friends encreafed,
as was evident from the regard he fhewed him to his laft moment ;
;
and the additional ſtrength he gave him by the new Biſhops lately
made : all real or pretended friends to the Reformation. Holgate,,
Archbiſhop
술
​1
184
BOOK III,
THE LIFE OF
Archbiſhop of York, a ſteady friend ; and Kitchin of Landaff,
who veered with every wind ; Hethe, yet his friend, tranſlated to
Worceſter; and Holbeach and Day, who inclined to the Refor-
mation, promoted to the ſees of Rocheſter and Chicheſter. In what
degree of favor Ridley was both with the King and Archbiſhop,
appears in good meaſure from the general conſent of the hiſtorians,
(though upon what authority they ſpeak it, I find not) who affirm
that the King deſigned him for the Biſhoprick of Rocheſter. But
Holbeach bad been advanced to that ſee not long before, and there
was no likelihood of its being ſoon vacant, unleſs the great age and
infirmities of Longland made them think of opening Rocheſter, by
tranſlating Holbeach to Lincoln. That he was deſigned to be the
next Biſhop ſeems to be very probable, as the Executors in the
next reign affected to govern themſelves in great meaſure by the
knowledge they had, as Privy Counſellors, of the late King's in-
tentions. Wherefore we find him immediately a man of the firſt
eſteem and character ; and ſoon after ſucceding to the Biſhoprick,
which, they ſay, King Henry intended for him.
Let us now at the cloſe of this reign take a
5.7. Review of ſhort review of the ſtate of Religion at the death
the fate of religion at
the death of Henry of King Henry the Eighth.
viii. and defence of That Prince's immediate quarrel with the Pope
Ridley from the as- with relation to his Divorce led him to vindicate
perſions of Pierfon.
the Regal Authority, ſo long uſurped by the Biſhop
of Rome : which reſtored to the King a ſupremacy in his own do-
minions over the Clergy as well as Laity, and in ſpiritual cauſes as
well as temporal, where the outward diſcipline and government of
the Church was concerned. He clamed no power from his ſupre-
macy to alter Doctrines. The Parliament indeed in the gift of
his reign granted to him perſonally, not as a privilege or power be-
longing to the ſupremacy, that all determinations, decrees, defini-
tions,
..
BOOK III. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
185
tions, reſolutions and ordinances by the King's advice and confirma-
tion, in matters of Chriſtian faith, and lawful rites and ceremonies,
ſhould by the people be believed and obeyed : but this was rather
in ſupport of the old doctrines, than to introduce new ones ; for
he had then no doubts concerning them, and was chiefly under the
influence of the Papiſts.
With the Pope's authority muſt neceſſarily fall his Decrees,
Laws, Courts, and Officers : inſtead of which were ſubſtituted a
Vicar General, and particular Commiſſions from the King, but a
fyftem of Eccleſiaſtical Laws was wanting. This indeed by the
King's order was provided : but his death prevented the ſigning it.
It was ſoon found that ſome errors in Doctrine lay at the root of
part of the Diſcipline; wherefore it became neceſſary to examine
and reform them. The appeal in theſe caſes was ordered to lie
to the Holy Scriptures, and the conſenting interpretation of the
Fathers and Councils of the fix firſt centuries ; to be diſcuſſed by
the Divines in Convocation, and afterwards confirmed by the Two
Houſes of Parliament and the King. This in time weeded out the
belief of the value of Pardons, Indulgences, and Pilgrimages ; and
Purgatory at laſt fell with them.
This led to a ſtudy and better knowledge of the Scriptures, and
to Tranſlations of the Bible into Engliſh : but the fear of indulging
wild and injudicious concluſions by the ignorant and illiterate, oc-
cafioned that the reading it was reſtrained from the lower people.
However this by degrees brought their Publick Devotions to be in
great meaſure in their own tongue.
The factious ſpirit, the formidable numbers, the buſy intrigues,
and the great revenues of the Monks and Friars, to omit the ſcan-
dal of their lives, were found inconſiſtent with the ſecurity of that
Regal Power which the King had recovered ; this army therefore
was ſoon diſbanded : but the ſupport of the
but the ſupport of the poor, the education
of youth, and the encouragement of learning, were in a great mea-
Bb
ſure
!
186
Book III.
THE LIFE OF
If fo ;
ſure involved in the ruin of theſe houſes. In aid of this inconve-
nience, were fix new Biſhopricks erected, feveral Fraternities of
Deans and Prebendaries founded, with ſchools adjoined, and fome
hoſpitals for the relief of the poor endowed: and many other great
and good deſigns were projected and promiſed, which came to no
thing. In remedy of the regret which may ariſe from the diſap-
pointment of ſuch fair deſigns, let it be confidered, whether the ex-
change of thoſe lands upon eaſy terms to the ncbility, was not the
beſt ſecurity at that time againſt the reſtoration of the Papal Power ?
then we have only purchaſed the Reformation with the
lands of the monaſteries. And with reſpect to the uſes intended,
let it be further conſidered, whether the vaſt tracts of lands then
recovered out of mortmain, and rendered alienable, have not en-
couraged trade to ſuch a degree, and ſpread property among
mul.
titudes, and with it its attendant Liberty, as to have encreaſed the
abilities of the Publick for the encouragement of learning, arts and
ſciences, and to defend ourſelves againſt our enemies more than if
the intended appropriation of thoſe revenues had taken place ? If
ſo, then all the ends have not been diſappointed, though the
methods have been changed : nor is it to be doubted but
many
of
thoſe, who enjoy ſuch advantages and encreaſed abilities, will look
upon
the want of more fchools, and liberal aſliſtances towards a
learned education, of better encouragements to excite ambition,
a comfortable retirement to the aged and infirm, a conſiderable
relief of poor Vicars in market towns, and of the Widows and Or-
phans of the poorer Clergy, as proper occaſions to invite the exer-
ciſe of their humanity, juſtice, and publick ſpirit.
With the Abbies and Monaſteries, the guilty ſcenes of the
greateſt deluſions and impoſitions, were in a great meaſure taken
away
the idolatrous adoration and abuſe of Images ; though the
uſe was ſtill continued : Auricular Confeſſion was enjoined as con-
venient for the benefit of counſel from the prieſt ; but not as ab-
folutely neceſſary to ſalvation : the Maſs was ſtill appointed by
ſtatute,
4
BOOK III. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
187
ſtatute, but the execution of that act was greatly ſuſpended towards
the cloſe of this reign; and a deſign was formed of changing it in-
to a Communion : Tranſubftantiation continued to be the public
belief; but the light of truth in that point began to dawn, chiefly
by the ſtudies and labors of Dr. Ridley.
Before we view him in his more exalted character, travailing for
the reformation and eſtabliſhment of pure Religion under Edward
the Sixth, it may be expected from me to clear the way through
the rubbiſh which Father Peirſon has laid to interrupt us, in his
account of Biſhop Ridley. The ſpecimen which the Reader has
had already of Popiſh ſincerity in the inconſiſtent behaviour of his
Holineſs in the affair of the Divorce; the bloody intrigues of the
faction againſt Queen Catharine Parr, Cranmer, many others of the
Court, and the Canterbury Preachers ; their contradictory judg-
ments, aſſertions, and decrees with reſpect to Bertram and his Trea-
tiſe while they will lefſen his ſurpriſe at the raſhneſs and falſeneſs
of the following repreſentation made by Peirfon, will at the fame
time teach him what candor, truth, and juſtice he is to expect in
the conferences, dealings, or writings of a Papalin.
We will at preſent attend him no further than to the end of
King Henry's reign. He begins with informing us, a that " He
* was born in Northamptonſhire, according to Fox, bred
• Newcaſtle, and ſtudied in Cambridge.' This is contrary both to
Fox, and Ridley's own account : but let it paſs for careleſsneſs only.
* And there was made Prieſt, travelled over the ſea to Paris, and
* returning again became King Henry Eighth’s Chaplain. Many
years paffed between theſe two events. His ftudies at Paris and
Louvain muſt be before the year 1530 ; becauſe he was ſupported
in his travels abroad by his Uncle Dr. Robert Ridley, who died
in 1536, and from the year 1530 to 1537 we find him reſident in
the Univerſity, and diſcharging the publick offices there : nor does
B b 2
;
up in
it
: N. D. alias Pierſon's Three Converſions, vol. iii. p. 204.
1
188
BOOK III.
THE LIFE OF
it appear that Cranmer recommended him to the King as his Chap-
lain, till after he was choſen Maſter of his College, which was late
in 1540. This might paſs for another inaccuracy only, did there
not appear a deſign in it to bring him forwarder in life than the
truth will bear, that it might be poſſible for him to be concerned
in ſome facts in which he really could have no part; · and by him
. was made Biſhop of Rocheſter ; in which ſtate he remained when
the ſaid King died.' But Holbeach was Biſhop of Rocheſter
when King Henry died, and ſo continued till May following, when
he was tranſlated to Lincoln ; and in September Ridley ſucceded
him in the See of Rocheſter. · And was as forward to favor the
' ſaid King's procedings and will in all things, and to burn Here,
* ticks while he lived, as was Cranmer, or any other Biſhop elſe.
We now ſee the reaſon of his haſtening Ridley to Court, and giving
him influence with the King, and a Biſhoprick ſooner than Hiſtory
will warrant, that he might have an opportunity to repreſent him,
contrary to fact, as a ſervile flatterer of the King, favoring hereſies,
or burning hereticks, as his. Maſter's humor varied. The truth is,
Ridley came too late to the acquaintance of Henry to be capable of
behaving in this manner, had he a ſpirit baſe enough to do ſo.
And although his learning, character, and manner of preaching
made him ſtand high enough in his Maſter's eſteem to intend him
for the next vacant See, yet he never was poſſeſſed of that See in
Henry's reign ; and therefore could not, as a Biſhop, be engaged
in burning or proſecuting Hereticks in his Dioceſe, having at that
time none : nor is there any evidence of his complying with the
King's zeal in burning them, for I know of no diſputations or pro-
cedings againſt them in that reign in which Ridley was concerned.
It is allowed he was no friend to Hereticks,, either in this reign, or
He abhorred the blafphemies of Anabaptiſts, the in-
decencies of the Sacramentaries, the intemperance of raſh and
conceited
any other.
A
2
BOOK HI.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY:
189.
conceited Reformers. He acted up to his knowledge and light;
not ſo bigotted to old opinions as to refuſe yielding them up to
truth, nor fo fond of new ones as to embrace them without
conviction : he was earneſ
he was earneſt againſt unneceſſary innovations,
but diſdained to compliment an old error when diſcovered to be
luch.
s
5
2
Τ Η Ε
!
3
igo
Book IV,
TH. LIFE OF
THE
LI F E
Ο F
Dr. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
1
BOOK IV. From 1547 to 1550.
RIDLEY Biſhop of Rocheſter.
$
Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the overſight there-
of, not by conſtraint, but willingly: not for filthy lucre, but of a rea-
dy mind.
Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being enſamples to
the flock. 2 Pet. v. 2, 3.
1547
O
Court.
N the death of King Henry, Edward his
§. 1. Edward vi. Son by his beſt beloved Queen, Jane Sei-
crowned ; affairs at mour, ſucceded to the crown : a Prince of
a very promiſing genius and great application, as
foreigners, and even his enemies confeſſed : but
too young to hold the reins of government himſelf, being but lit-
tle more than nine years old. His Father therefore by his laſt will
appointed fixteen Executors, who ſhould be Governours of his Son
and
BOOK IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
191
i
;
and the Kingdom, till the young King came to eighteen years of
age. The Executors were
The Archbiſhop of Canterbury ;
Lord Chancellor Wriothelly;
Lord St. John, Great Maſter
Lord Ruſſel, Privy Seal ;
The Earl of Hertford, Lord Great Chamberlain ;
Viſcount Lille, Lord Admiral ;
The Biſhop of Durham
Sir Anthony Browne, Maſter of the Horſe;
Sir William Paget, Secretary of State ;
Sir Edward North, Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations
Sir Edward Montague, Lord Chief Juſtice of the Common Pleas;
Judge Bromley ;
Sir Anthony Denny;
Sir William Herbert, Chief Gentleman of the Privy Chamber;
Sir Edward Wotton, Treaſurer of Calais ;
Dr. Wotton, Dean of Canterbury and York.
Theſe, or the major part of them, were to execute his will, and to
adminiſter the affairs of the kingdom. If any of them ſhould die,
the ſurvivers were to adminiſter without ſubſtituting others. By
their advice the young King was to be diſpoſed of in marriage :
but without their conſent the Ladies Mary and Eliſabeth were not
to marry on forfeiture of their right of ſucceſſion ; the late King
having been empowered, by an act in the 35th of his reign, to
leave the crown to them, who had never yet been declared legiti-
mate, with what limitations he ſhould think fit. The Executors
were charged in the will to pay the King's debts and legacies; and
to perfect any grants he had began; and to make good every thing
he had promiſed. The King added by his will a Privy Council to:
be aſſiſting to the Executors, who were
The Earls of Arundel and Eflex;
Sir
.
192
TO
Book IV.
THE LIFE o'r
:
19.
1 Sadler ;
Sir Thomas Cheney, Treaſurer of the Houſhold;
Sir John Gage, Comptroller;
Sir Anthony Wingfield, Vice-Chamberlain ;
Sir William Petre, Secretary of State ;
Sir Richard Rich ;
Sir John Baker ;
Sir Thomas Seimour;
Sir Richard Southwell ; and
Sir Edmond Peckham.
It had been a rare felicity indeed, if among ſo many adınitted to
ſuch great power and influence, none ſhould be found more ſtudious
of their own intereſt, than the welfare of their Prince or their
Country. An almoſt nine years minority, before the King came of
age; the ſucceſſion, if he died without iſſue, ſo particularly circum-
ſtanced, that plauſible reaſons might have been urged either for
eſtabliſhing or ſetting it aſide ; with reſpect to the Princeſſes, they
were both unmarried; both illegitimate by Parliament; both put
into the ſucceſſion by the King's will under limitations of the Ex-
ecutors conſent to their marriage. All theſe circumſtances opened
ſo large a field for ambition to plan her ſchemes in, that the Reader
will not be ſurpriſed if he finds this a very intriguing reign.
The unſettled ſtate of the kingdom, with reſpect to Religion,
would naturally direct the intriguers to gather partiſans from that
diviſion, and recommend to them an attachment to the Old or New
Learning, as the beſt cover under which they might cloke their
ambition. The late King hoped to have guarded againſt theſe in-
trigues, by leaving out ſuch as he knew were Buſy-bodies and
Meddlers ; mixing men of both opinions in the adminiſtration ;
giving no one a fuperiority of power over his Fellows; and fubject-
ing each to the majority of the whole.
The
BOOK IV.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
193
i
The firſt and moſt obvious diviſion of the Executors and Coun-
ſellors would be into the Favorers of the Old and New Learning.
At the head of the former was the Lord Chancellor Wriotherly,
whoſe office gave him place next to the Archbiſhop of Canterbury;
and he perſuaded himſelf, that the good Archbishop, declining
matters of ſtate, would leave him Chief in the adminiſtration
which would, if properly managed, draw after it the chief influence
and ſway in the government. Beſide his friends, among the Coun-
cil, he had the countenance of the Lady Mary, and the affiſtance
of the Biſhop of Wincheſter ; who ftomaching the affront of being
left out of the liſt of the Executors and Counſellors by the late
King, was believed to attach himſelf vehemently to the Popiſh in-
tereſt, more from reſentment than any conſiderations of piety or
religion
At the head of the Reformers, (beſide Cranmer, who very
lits
tle engaged himſelf in ſtate matters where Religion was not con-
cerned) was the Earl of Hertford, Uncle to the King by the mo-
ther's ſide. His near relation to the King, and incapacity of ſuc-
ceding in caſe of the King's death, gave him a particular intereſt in
his welfare, and made him expect a deference to his judgment from
the other Executors, and a ſuperior authority among them. He
had behaved under the late King with great commendation : his
advice in the Council, and conduct in the Field were always fortu-
nate.
His ſucceſs ſeemed to give him only the complacency of an
honeſt feryant, who had done his duty, without kindling any
able ambition in him. So that he was neither haughty nor con-
temptuous to his inferiors, nor ſervile to thoſe above him : but be-
haved with a proper temper betwixt ſtubborneſs and flattery.". So
pious and regular in his life, that he was commonly called the Good
Duke ; yet perhaps more inclining to the exceffes with which
Сс
Cranmer
blame-
• Parker's Lives of the Archbiſhops of Canterbury.
Hayward.
:
194.
Book IV.
THE LIFE OF
Cranmer has been charged with reſpect to the derivation of ſpiri-
tual powers, than to thoſe of a more correct judgment. In ſhort
he had that kind of genius that fitted him to behave excellently in
a circumſcribed province : but had not ſtrength enough to bear
the giddy eminence of ſtate, and addreſs himſelf cool and recollect-
ed to every occurrence in the infinite maze of government.
Sir Thomas Seimour, being his younger Brother, and not an Ex-
ecutor, only a Counſellor, could not yet expect to be chief in the
adminiſtration, but hoped to effect it in time ; at leaſt to have his
fhare in the government of his Nephew, with his elder Brother
the Earl of Hertford : he therefore, though really, of no religion,
ſeemed rather to perſonato a Reformer.
Dudley Lord Viſcount Liſle, at that time Lord Admiral, and
probably ſome others, waited for an opportunity to make the moſt
they could of this conjuncture; falling into train as their preſent
views perſuaded them, and adding weight to the ſcale of which
they hoped to be partakers. Lord Liffe, with as little religion as
Sir Thomas Seimour, profeſt himſelf a Reformer: but at the ſame
time kept fair with the Popiſh faction, who looked upon
their own.
January 31 the new King was proclamed, and the Executors
were ſworn to the due execution of the will : but the only article
of it, to which they ſeemed unanimouſly to pay, any regard, was
the making good every thing that the late King had promiſed. In
obedience to this injunction, and on the teſtimony of Secretary Pa-
get, Sir Anthony Denny, and Sir William Herbert, Chief Gen-
tlemen of the Privy Chamber, declaring the King's mind in this
caſe, Lord Wriotheffy was created Earl of Southampton ;. the Earl
of Hertford, Duke of Somerſet, Parr Earl of Eſſex, Brother to the
Queen Dowager, Marquis of Northampton ; Viſcount Lifle, Earl .
of Warwick ; Sir Thomas Seimour, Baron Sudley; and ſeveral
of the Executors, Council, and others, were created Barons. And
among
him as
1547.
}
A
195
an 'aflignment of conſiderable ſums of money to ſeveral of them.
BOOK IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
among the perſons intended by the late King to be promoted, it
is probable that his Chaplain Dr. Ridley was mentioned as deſign-
ed by him to be the next new Biſhop; for the Hiſtorians in gene-
ral repreſent him as appointed for one by King Henry, though he
was not elected to any particular ſee till ſome months after that
King's death.
Beſide the new honors for the Executors and Council, there was
but an apprehenſion of war with France and the Emperour, made
them think it not prudent to take thoſe fums out of the King's
Treaſury. Which put them afterward on ſelling the Chantry
Lands, and opened a door to let in ſeveral hungry ſpoilers upon
the revenues of the Church.
Some of the Regents moved “, that for the expediting of bufi-
neſs, one ſhould be choſen Preſident, under the title of Protetor
as it would be attended with great inconvenience, if people, eſpe-
cially foreign miniſters, were to apply to Sixteen Perſons of equal
authority. No additional power was to be conveyed by this ap-
pointment; ſuch Preſident continuing incapable of doing any thing
without the conſent of the major part of the Executors.
The Lord Chancellor ſtrenuouſly oppoſed this motion, which
he knew was not made in favor of Him, but tended to diſappoint his
ambition: for he expected from his office, and Cranmer's neglect
of ſtate-affairs, to be in effect that Preſident, which they were
now propoſing to make for the fake of ſome one elſe : but the mo-
tion was ſoon carried againſt him, and the Duke of Somerſet den
clared Protector of the King's realms, and the Governour of his
perſon. His Brother the Lord Sudley, and the Earl of Warwick
readily concurring in this promotion, which they meant as the
ſcaffolding to their own fortunes.
сс 2
An
a February 2.
196
Book IV.
TNE LIFE OF
b
.
An earneſt of which they immediately received ; for the attain-
der of the Duke of Norfolk in the laſt reign vacated the offices of
Lord Treaſurer and Earl Marſhal, which were conferred on the
Protector : while His poſt of Great Lord Chamberlain was given
to the Earl of Warwick; and the office of High Adiniral vacated
by the Earl of Warwick, was beſtowed on Lord Sudley.
The very next day after theſe changes and promotions had taken
place, the Lord Chancellor determining not to be a cypher in the
Council, put the Great Seal to a Commiſſion directed to Sir Ri-
chard Southwell, Maſter of the Rolls, and Three Others, to hear
cauſes in Chancery, and execute the Lord Chancellor's office in that
court, that he might be at leiſure to attend the affairs of ſtate,
This, being done without warrant from the Protector, or the Exe-
cutors, was refented by them. The Judges were conſulted
who delivered in their opinions, that the Lord Chancellor ought
not, without warrant from them, to have ſet the feal to any Com:
miſſion ; and that by having ſet it without ſuch warrant, by the
Common Law he had forfeited his place to the King, and was lia-
ble to fine and impriſonment at the King's pleaſure.
On communicating the Judges opinion to the Chancellor, he
behaved with great heat and inſolence to the Judges, Council, Re-
gents, and Protector: but was humbled by their reſolution to take
the ſeals from him. That they might do this with as little diſ-
grace as poſſible, they permitted him to attend the Council, and
Sermon, it being Sunday, and to return with the Seal to his houſe ;
but that after ſupper they would ſend for it. So far, they were
agreed they had power to do for the correction of his fault : but
to ſtrike him out of the Regency appeared to be a ſtep beyond
their authority. However, to get rid of his troubleſome interrup-
tion in the Council-Chamber, he was confined Priſoner to his own
houfs
- February 17:
• February 28.
į March 6.
B
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
197
houſe till further orders, where he continued till the 29th of June
following.
A few days after, by conſent, the Duke of Somerſet obtained
Letters Patent under the Great Seal (then in the hands of the Lord
St. John) eſtabliſhing him Protector of the Realm, and Governour
of the King, with full authority to do every thing as he in his wiſ-
dom ſhould think for the honor, good, and proſperity of the King's
Perſon and Realm ; appointing him a Council (compoſed of the
Executors and Council jointly, only leaving out the Earl of South-
ampton, without diſtinguiſhing their powers ;) who, or ſo many
of them as he ſhould think proper to call, were reſtrained to act
only by the Protector's advice and conſent.
By this unjuſtifiable reſolution of the Executors and Council the
late King's will was entirely fruſtrated ; and the whole power,
which he prudently intended ſhould be divided among fixteen,
heaped together upon one man, the weight of which overwhelm-
ed him. Rapin ſuppoſes the Protector uſed ſome fraud on this oc-
caſion : but it is hard to ſuppoſe ſo many wiſe Counſellors would
careleſſly let a Patent paſs without examination, or ſubmit to the
leffening of their power by virtue of a fraudulent Patent, to which
they had never conſented. It appears to me more likely that the
real friends of the Protector imagined that he would not make an
ill uſe of his power, and that therefore the more he had, it would
be the better for the kingdom : Cranmer probably, and ſuch as
wiſhed well to the Reformation, believed he would be a more ef-
fectual friend and promoter of true religion : deſigning Courtiers
cared not how much power was conveyed to an office into which
they ſecretly aimed to work themſelves : and if theſe made a ma-
jority, the few who might with his power leſs would learn in
pru:
dence to hold their tongues. But theſe are only conjectures; and
the facts being related, every Reader may aflign what motives, he
thinks moſt probable.
The:
.
198
Book IV.
THE LIFE
6
<
The Duke was ſenſible of the difficulties of his charge, as ap-
pears from his devout prayer for the divine direction and affiftance
in it, and his requeſt to Secretary Paget for his friendly counſel and
advice. What advice that Lord gave him appears by a ſchedule
encloſed in a Letter to the Protector the next new year's day.
Deliberate maturely in all things. Execute quickly the deter-
• minations. Do juſtice without reſpect. Make aſſured and ſtaid
• men miniſters under you. Maintain the miniſters in their office.
• Puniſh the diſobedient according to their deſerts. In the King's
• cauſes give Commiſſions in the King's name.
Reward the King's
worthy fervants liberally and quickly. Give your own to your
own, and the King's to the King's, frankly. Diſpatch ſuitors
ſhortly. Be affable to the Good, and ſevere to the Evil. Follow
advice in Council. Take fee or reward of the King only. Keep
your miniſters about
you uncorrupt. Thus God will proſper you,
the King favor you, and all men love you.
W. P.'
Very good advice at any time; but then the more ſeaſonable, as
the Duke began to loſe his temper, grew haſty and paſſionate, ſnap-
ping up the Counſellors, and anſwering too ſharply thoſe who had
buſineſs with him ; nay his very beſt Friends. To which change
of temper, not only the multiplicity and intricacies of publick af-
fairs, but domeſtick uneaſineſſes from the intrigues of his Brother
the Lord Admiral, and the petulancy of the Dutcheſs of Somerſet,
greatly contributed.
The Lord Admiral married the Queen Dowager, and ſo ſoon
after the King's death, that ſhe might have had a child, that would
have perplexed the ſucceſſion, as doubtful whether the King or
the Lord Admiral was its Father : this greatly offended the Pro-
tector. The fame marriage gave the Admiral an opportunity of
entertaining the Lady Eliſabeth, and the Lady Jane Gray at his
houſe, under the inſpection of the Queen, which might create to
him a power of managing thoſe Ladies, and diſpoſing of them as
he
.
.
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY:
199
he thought proper. For this purpoſe he obtained a promiſe from
the Duke of Dorſet, not to marry his Daughter the Lady Jane
without the Admiral's conſent. And at the ſame time was ſo fa-
miliar with the Lady Elifabeth, beyond the decencies due to a La-
dy’s Bed-chamber, that he created jealoufies in the Queen, and a
more than common regard from the Princeſs. The ſame mar-
riage offended the pride of the Protector's Lady, the Dutcheſs of
Somerſet, beyond all poſſibility of pardon ; for ſhe was now to
give place to the wife of her Huſband's younger brother ; whoſe
influence over the Lady Jané diſconcerted her views for the-mar-
riage of her eldeſt Son, the Earl of Wiltſhire, with her. And
laſtly, by means of this marriage, he had an opportunity of ingra-
tiating himſelf with the young King in private, when he viſited
the Queen ; and by means of the Lady Jane's Beauty hoped to
win him to love and frequent his houſe ; yet not intending any
marriage there ſhould take place, for that would have diſconcerted,
the plan of his vaſt ambition, but to get the King more into his
power. For this end he alſo ſupplied him with money, and art-
fully ſet him againſt his Brother the Lord Protector ; whom we
will at preſent leave in the full adminiſtration of his power, to ſee
what influence it had on the affairs of Religion.
The friends of Rome had no other hopes than
$. 2. Dr. Ridley to keep things at a ſtand as King Henry left them;
a celebrated Preacher. urging the prudence of conforming to the wiſdom
of the late King during the minority of the
pre-
ſent, till he was of age to govern for himſelf.
The Reforniers paid no leſs compliment to the late King's wiſdom:
but knowing many points in which he intended a further Refor-
mation, they urged his intention as warrant for their proceding to
give
Cecil's State Papers
:
THE LIFE OF
Book IV.
give the diſcipline of the Church that perfection which Henry de-
figned:
Orders had been given in the late reign for removing Images,
which had been abuſed to idolatry and ſuperſtition. Dr. Ridley
being appointed to preach before the King on Alhwedneſday, after
having confuted the Biſhop of Rome's pretended authority in go-
vernment and uſurped power, and in pardons, he took occaſion to
diſcourſe touching the abuſes of Images in churches, and ceremo-
nies, and eſpecially Holy Water for the driving away Divils.
Among his auditors was the Biſhop of Wincheſter, who, not
altogether reliſhing his doctrine, favored him with a Letter on the
Monday following. The ſubſtance of which I ſhall tranſcribe
from Fox, as it will ſerve to give us a picture of both the men.
• Maſter Ridley, after right hearty commendations, it chanced
* me upon Wedneſday laſt paſt to be preſent at your Sermon in the
Court, wherein I heard you confirm the doctrine in Religion, ſet
* forth by our late Sovereign Lord and Maſter, whoſe foul God
pardon, admoniſhing your audience that you would ſpecially tra-
• vail in the confutation of the Biſhop of Rome's pretended autho-
rity in government and uſurped power, and in pardons, whereby
* he hath abuſed himſelf in heaven and earth. Which two mat-
ters I note to be plain, and here without controverſy.
In the other two you ſpeak of, touching Images and Ceremo-
nies, ſpecially for Holy Water to drive away Divils, inaſmuch
that you declared yourſelf deſirous to ſet forth the mere truth,
with great deſire of unity as you profeſſed, not extending any of
your aſſeverations beyond your knowledge, but always adding ſuch
• like words (as far as you had read) and (if any man will ſhew
further, you would hear him ;) wherein you were much to be
commended : upon theſe conſiderations, and for the deſire I have
to unity, I have thought myſelf bound to communicate to you
that
which I have read in the matter of Images, and Holy Water, to
o the
6
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you
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
201
6
6
“the intent you may by yourſelf conſider it, and ſo weigh, before
(that
you
will ſpeak in theſe two points, as you may (retaining
your own principles) affirm ſtill that you would affirm, and may
• indeed be affirmed and maintained; wherein I have ſeen other
forget themſelves.
· Firſt I ſend unto you herewith (which I am ſure you have read)
that Euſebius writeth of Images, whereby it appeareth that Ima-
ges have been of great antiquity in Chriſt's Church ; and to ſay
we may have Images, or to call on them when they repreſent
· Chriſt or his Saints, are over groſs opinions to enter into your
« learned head, whatſoever the unlearned would tattle.
A little after he ſays, “ All the matter to be feared is exceſs in
worſhipping, wherein the Church of Rome has been very pre-
• ciſe.' Then quotes from Gregory that he commended the for-
bidding Images to be worſhipped, but blames the breaking them :
ſaying that a picture to the illiterate was inſtead of a book.' And
produces a decree in which it was ordained that they ſhould not
• be called Gods, or worſhipped as ſuch, that men ſhould neither
« truſt in them or fear them, but honor them as remembrances of
primitive Saints : but no religious worſhip to be paid to them,
* or to any creature.'
On the ſubject of Holy Water, he aſcribes the efficacy of driving
away Divils to the invocation of God's name, and gives the Holy
Water only the office and miniſtry of a vehicle to convey that vira
tue, . as the ſpecial gift of curation miniſtered by the Kings of
' this realm, not of their own ſtrength, but by invocation of the
name of God, hath been uſed to be diſtributed in rings of gold
• and ſilver.....
If the ſtrength of the invocation of the name
of God to drive away the divils cannot be diſtributed by
water, why can it be diſtributed in filver to drive away
diſeaſes, and the dangerous one of the Falling Evil ? But
• the Rings hallowed by the Holy Church may do ſo ; there-
D d
• fore
6
202
BOOK IV.
THE LIFE OF
.
0
• fore the water hallowed by the Church may do like ſervice. Theſe
arguments I truſt
I truſt may be conveniently uſed to ſuch as would
• never make an end of talk, but take up every thing which their
• dull fight cannot penetrate. Wherein methought you ſpake ef-
fectually, when you faid, Men muſt receive the determination of
the particular church, and obey, where God's Law repugneth.
not expreſſly.'
• This realm (faith he preſently after) hath learning in it, and
you a good portion thereof; according whereunto I doubt not but
you will weigh this matter, non ad popularem trutinam, fed ad
artificis ftateram ; I mean that artificer that teacheth the church
our mother to give nouriſhment unto us. In which point ſpeak-
*ing of the church, although you touched an unknown church to
us, and known unto God only, yet you declared the union of that
• church in the permixt church, which God ordereth men to com-
plain unto, and to hear again ; wherein the abſurdity is taken
away
of them that would have no church known, but every man
believe as he were inwardly taught himſelf, whereupon follow-
Seth that old proverb, Zot they taula doxovv asisuos of radio Which is
• far from the unity you ſo earneſtly wilhed for; whereof (as me-
thought) you ſaid pride was the let, as it is undoubtedly: which.
• fault God amend, and give you grace fo to faſhion your words,
as you may agree with them in ſpeech, with whom you be in-
clined to agree in opinion. For that is the way to relieve the
* world. And albeit there hath been between you and me no fa-
miliarity, but contrariwiſe a little diſagreement (which I did not
* hide from you) yet conſidering the fervent zeal you profeſſed to
“teach Peter's true doctrine, that is to ſay, Chriſt's true doctrine,
· whereunto you thought the doctrine of Images and Holy Water
« to put away divils agreed not, I have willingly ſpent this time to
“communicate unto you my folly (if it be folly) planely as it is,
whereupon you may have occaſion, the more fubftantially, fully,
6
6
6
and
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
203
• and planely to open theſe matters for the relief of ſuch as be faln
• from the faith, and confirmation of thoſe that receive and fol-
« low it.
This Letter he incloſed in one to the Protector with another
to Biſhop Barlow, who preached at Court on the Friday ; and the
Protector communicated to him both their anſwers, which are no
where preſerved, that I know of. It is ſufficient to obſerve, that
before the ſtate took order in this affair, the haſty populace were
guilty of ſome riotous demoliſhing of Images, which was complain-
ed of: at length, as they had been the occaſion of much idolatry
and ſuperſtition to ſome, and as great offence had been taken at
them by others, the Royal Viſitors this year had inſtructions that
ſuch Images as had been ſuperſtitiouſly abuſed ſhould be removed ;
yet not by the people, but by the Curate only. Afterward, as it
was difficult to ſay which had not been fo abuſed, and ſtill harder
which would not be fo abuſed, there came out an order for the to-
tal removal of Images out of all churches. To the Biſhop of
Wincheſter's argument for retaining them, that Pictures and Ima-
ges were the Laymen's Books, the Protector anſwered, that if the
miſinterpretation of the beſt book in the world, the Bible, had been
judged reaſon ſufficient for taking it away from the people, which
had been done by the Popiſh Biſhops, the groſs abuſe of Images.
was as juſtifiable a reaſon for taking them away from the people.
In the Act of Parliament, which gave force and authority to
the late King's Proclamations, a Proviſo was added, that his Son's
Counſellors, while he ſhould be under age, might ſet out Procla-
mations of the ſame authority with thoſe which were ſet out by
himſelf. By this authority a Royal Viſitation was reſolved on
through the Kingdom, divided into fix circuits, by Viſitors reſpec-
tively choſen for each circuit, to be attended by ſome eminent
Preacher, who ſhould inſtruct the nation in the principles of Reli-
D. d. 2
gion..
a February 28,
204
BOOK.IV.
THE LIFE OF
6
gion. The Northern Circuit containing the dioceſes of York,
Durham, Carliſle, and Cheſter was committed to Dr. Boſton,
Dean of Weſtminſter, and Sir John Horſeley Knight, with Dr.
Ridley for their Preacher.
The ſhorteſt abſtract of their Injunctions is given us by Biſhop
Burnet, (who refers thoſe who would conſider them more careful-
ly to Sparrow's Collection) in the following words ;
All the orders about renouncing the Pope's Power, and aſſert-
ing the King's Supremacy, about preaching, teaching the ele-
ments of religion in the vulgar tongue, about the benefices of the
Clergy, and the taxes on them for the poor, for ſcholars, and
* their manſion houſes, with the other injunctions for the ſtrictneſs
• of churchmen's lives, and againſt Superſtitions, Pilgrimages,
Images, or other Rites of that kind, and for regiſtered books,
were renewed. And to theſe many others were added ; as, That
• Curates ſhould take down ſuch Images as they knew were abuſed
by Pilgrimages, or offerings to them : but that private perſons
• ſhould not do it. That in the confeſſions in Lent they ſhould
examine all people whether they could recite the Elements of
Religion in the Engliſh tongue. That at High Maſs they ſhould
* read the Epiſtle and Goſpel in Engliſh, and every Sunday and Ho-
• lyday they should read at Mattins one chapter out of the New
• Teſtament, and at Even Song another out of the Old in Engliſh.
· That the Curates ſhould often viſit the fick, and have many
places of the ſcripture in Engliſh in readineſs wherewith to com-
* fort them. That there ſhould be no more Proceſſions about
• churches, that contention for precedence in them might be avoid-
. ed. And that the Litany, formerly ſaid in the Proceſſions, ſhould
• be ſaid thereafter in the choir in Engliſh, as had been ordered
by the late King. That the Holyday was inſtituted at firſt that
imen ſhould give themſelves wholly to God; yet God was gene-
rally more diſhonoured upon it than on the other days, by idle-
neſs,
C
6
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Book IV.
205
DR. NICHOLAS RID L E Y.
neſs, drunkenneſs, and quarrelling, the people thinking that they
• ſufficiently honored God by hearing Maſs and Mattins, though
they underſtood nothing of it to their edifying; therefore there-
• after the Holyday ſhould be ſpent according to God's holy will,
• in hearing and reading his holy word, in publick and private pray-
• ers, in amending their lives, receiving the Communion, viſiting the
ſick, and reconciling themſelves to their neighbours : yet the Cu-
• rates were to declare to their people, that in harveſt time they
might upon the holy and feſtival days labor in their harveſt. The
. Curates were to admit none to the Communion, who were not
reconciled to their neighbours. That all dignified Clergymen
• ſhould preach perſonally twice a year. That the people ſhould
• be taught not to deſpiſe any of the ceremonies not yet abrogated,
' but to beware of the ſuperſtition of ſprinkling their beds with
« Holy Water, or the ringing of bells, or uſing of bleſſed candles,
' for driving away divils. That all monuments of Idolatry ſhould
• be removed out of the walls or windows of churches; and that
there ſhould be a cheſt with a hole in it for the receiving the
' oblations of the people for the poor ; and that the people ſhould
be exhorted to almſgiving, as much more profitable than what
they formerly beſtowed on ſuperſtitious Pilgrimages, Trentals,
• and decking of Images. That all Patrons, who diſpoſed of their
Livings by ſimoniacal Pactions ſhould forfeit their right for that
' vacancy to the King. That the Homilies ſhould be read. That
• Prieſts ſhould be uſed charitably and reverently for their office
• fake. That no other Primer ſhould be uſed, but that ſet out by
King Henry. That the Prime and the. Hours ſhould be omitted
• where there was a ſermon or homily. That they ſhould in bid-
ding the Prayers remember the King their Supreme Head, the.
Queen Dowager, the King's Two Siſters, the Lord Protector,
and the Council, the Clergy, and the Commons of the realm ;.
6 and to pray for ſouls departed this life, that at the laſt day we.
s with
6
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200
BOOK IV.
THE LIFE OF
3
1
• with them may reſt both body and ſoul. All which injunctions
were to be obſerved under the pain of excommunication, ſequeſ-
'tration, or deprivation, as the ordinaries ſhould anſwer it to the
King; the Juſtices of Peace being required to aſſiſt them.
Beſide theſe, there were other injunctions given to the Biſhops.
That they ſhould ſee the former put in execution ; and ſhould
preach four times a year in their dioceſes ; once at their Cathedral,
and three times in other Churches, unleſs they had a reaſonable ex-
cuſe for their omiſſion. That their Chaplains ſhould be able to
preach God's word, and ſhould be made to labor often in it. That
they ſhould give Orders to none but ſuch as would do the ſame;
and if any did otherwiſe, that they ſhould puniſh him, and recall
their licence.
The injunctions inention the reading of Homilies, with whiclı
the Commiſſioners were provided, that they might leave a copy in
the hands of every curate. The deſign of theſe, being twelve in
number, t'as to acquaint the people with the method of ſalvation
according to the Gospel: neither relying (with the Papiſts) on ex-
ternal works and merit; nor (with roine irregular and miſtaken
Goſpellers) on a mcre inoperative Faith in Chriſt. Theſe were to
ſerve inſtead of fermons, or as a model and direction how to preach.
And for the better understanding the ſcriptures of the New Teſta-
ment, the Paraphraſe of Eraſınus was tranſlated into Engliſh, and
appointed to be had in every Pariſh-Church throughout England.
No more of the paraphraſe was printed this year than the Gof-
pels and Acts, which were tranſlated by the procurement and at the
charge of Queen Catharine Parr, undertaken before King Henry's
death. Mr. Strype apprehends St. Matthew was tranſlated by the
Queen herſelf. St. Mark was done by Thomas Key, afterwards
Maſter of Univerſity College, who was the firſt that made the mif-
take abovementioned, that Nicholas Ridley was once an actual
Member of that College. St. Luke by Nicholas Udal. And St.
John
1
*
BOOK IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
207
John, in great part by the Lady Mary, and finiſhed by her Chap-
lain, Dr. Mallet. The Tranſlator of the Acts he tells us not : af-
terwards in 1549 came out the Epiſtles.
But before Eraſmus's Paraphraſe on the Epiſtles was tranſlated,
I find Dr. Launcelot Ridley, the Preacher at Canterbury, publiſh-
ed an Expoſition on the Epiſtle to the Coloſſians in 1548; and alſo
(though without date) another on the Philippians : " for the in-
• ſtruction of thoſe that are unlearned in the tongues, gathered out
of Holy Scriptures of the old Catholick Doctors of the Church,
• and of the beſt Authors that now a days do write .'
There was much oppofition to the Homilies and the Paraphraſe
by the Biſhop of Wincheſter, whoſe ſtubborn behaviour before the
Council occaſioned his confinement. But this, though it happened
in the ſummer of this year, I ſhall omit till the concerns which
Biſhop Ridley had with him will oblige me to mention it; when
I ſhall lay together all that relates to Gardiner in this reign.
ter.
The Fellows of Pembroke Hall preſented Dr.
§. 3. Is confecra- Ridley to the Church of Soham in the Dioceſe of
ted Biſhop of Rochef- Norwich : but the Biſhop imagining that the
right of patronage belonged to him, gave it to Dr.
Miles Spencer. On which the Earl of Worceſter
and Sir Nicholas Hare wrote to the Biſhop, either to admit the
King's Chaplain, or appear before the Council on a day appointed.
At length there came a command from the King to the Biſhop
May 4, to remove and diſplace Miles Spencer. Upon which the
Biſhop, on the 17th of the ſame month, admitted Dr. Ridley, by
his Proctor Nicholas Sharp, mentioning that he was authoriſed and
empowered ſo to do by the King.o.
Three days after, a Commiſſion was granted to the Archbiſhop,
the Biſhops of Durham, and Rocheſter, Dr. Ridley, and fix others,
to
a Aimes's Account of Engliſh Printers,
Regiftrum Narvic,
>
1
208
Book IV.
!THE LIFE OF-
4
to examine a cauſe of the Earl of Northampton, whoſe Counteſs
had been guilty of adultery. The Canon Law granted a Separa-
tion ;
but not the liberty of marrying again : the Pope indeed
diſpenſed in thoſe caſes. Theſe Commiſſioners were appointed to
examine what was to be done upon the authority of the ſcriptures,
and judgment of the primitive Chriſtians. They were unwilling
to be haſty and precipitate in a point of this conſequence; and took
more time than agreed with the Earl's impatience for a ſecond mar-
riage : he therefore ventured to take another wife, before his cauſe
was determined. His raſhneſs and precipitancy gave offence; the
Council ſeparated him from his new wife, and delivering her to the
care of the Queen Dowager, obliged the Earl to wait the ſentence
of the Commiſſioners. Who at length, though not till the begin-
ning of the next year, diſſolved the former marriage entirely; and
gave to both the liberty of contracting again elſewhere.
The Canon Law granted no divorce for adultery, only a ſeparation
from bed and board, the bond of wedlock ſtill continuing. The
Pope indeed could diſpenſe : but the Pope's power being now ex-
cluded, it was neceſſary for the Reformers to determine, whether
adultery by God's law diffolved marriage, and what was to become
of the parties. Therefore they took a conſiderable time to lift the
queſtion. And notwithſtanding the deciſion of the Commiſſioners
in this caſe of the Earl of Northampton, there appears to have
been a controverſy, three years after, betwixt Hoper and Ridley
on this point, which is not mentioned by the Hiſtorians, nor are
the particulars of it to be found any where. But Bucer and Martyr
had been conſulted upon it by Hoper at the ſame time that he
deſired their opinions on that warmer queſtion about the Habits.
In their anſwers they wave entering upon the affair of divorce, as
not neceſſary at that time, and becauſe Hoper well knew what was
the judgment and practice of the German Proteſtants at Straſbourgh;
which was, as Bucer ſays, that if the adulterous perſon was ſuffered
to
:
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
209
to live, which yet is againſt God's law, every thing elſe ſhould be
permitted, without which they cannot live piouſly and holily :
therefore, teſt the offending party Thould be driven to continue a
wicked courſe of life, the entering into a new contract ſhould not
be denied either to the man, or woman : provided that the offen-
der was not allowed to live in the fame town with the perſon from
whom he or ſhe was repudiated". In the ſyſtem of ecclefiaftical
laws prepared by Cranmer and his aſliſtants they diſſolve the bond
of marriage on account of adultery, and grant the right of marrying
again to the party injured : but the offender, if the huſband, was
to give his wife her dowry, and half what he was worth ; if the
wife, was to forfeit her right of dowry, and whatever elſe the
might clame of her huſband by law or promiſe ; and whether huſ-
band or wife, was to be condemned to perpetual baniſhment, or
perpetual imprifonment. Judging the practice of the Canon Law
unreaſonable, and contrary to ſcripture, in deſtroying the end, du-
ty, and comfort of marriage, but ſtill retaining the bond and obli-
gation of the contract. Tit. de adulteriis et divortiis, cap. 3, 4, 5,
19. A difference appears betwixt the determination of the Com-
miſſioners in the Earl of Northampton's caſe, and the Eccleſiaſtical
Laws; which may (I think) be thus reconciled : both agreed that
adultery diffolves the marriage bond, whence it ſhould follow, that
the parties have a natural liberty of marrying again ; on which prin-
ciple the Counteſs of Northampton, whom the Civil Power had
not deprived of life or liberty, thould, as well as the Earl, be
per-
mitted to contract a ſecond marriage : but the Compilers of the
Syſtem of Ecclefiaftical Laws, hoping for the concurrence of the
Civil
* De conjugio permittendo, etiam repudiatis adulterii caufâ, fi in vivis relinquantur,
quod tamen contra legem Dei fit, puto te tenere, quid noftra Argentinenfis Ecclefia fen-
ferit et ſervarit, ut ſcilicet cui vita donetur, nihil negetur, quo fine non poffit piè fanétèque
vivere : fed ne eífent tales majori offendiculo, nulli quidem ob adulterium repudiato, vel
viro, vel mulieri negatum eit alteri in Domino jungi : fed non eft his conceſſum, ut eo 'em
in oppido, vel vico habitarent, ubi habitabant qui hos repudiaverant. Buceri Epift. ad
Hoperum. E libro MS. quondam D. Morley Epiſcop. Winton. nuper Franciſci Pyle de
Hornchurch, nunc meo peculio.
в е
2:10
.
BOOK IV.
T HE LIFE OF
5
Civil Power to reſtrain and punith adulteries, appointed, after rea
commending a reconciliation, and allowing lix months or a year for
Chriſtian charity to operate toward it, if that failed, that the of
fending party ſhould not have licence granted them to marry again,
but ſhould be puniſhed by perpetual baniſhment or impriſonment.
Tit. de Adult. et Divort. cap. 6, 7. The concurrence or noncon-
currence of the Civil Magiſtrate making the difference. So that
the conteſt betwixt Hoper and Ridley might be this; that the for- .
mer, according to his uſual ſeverity, was for puniſhing the offenders
by reſtraining them at leaſt from marrying again, whether the Civil
Power would, or would not take notice of thein : while Ridley,
with his wonted charity, might think, that where the Civil Judge
granted life and liberty, there the Eccleſiaſtical Judge ought not
to lead them into fin, by denying the remedy of marriage to them.
On the 19th of June was performed the ſolemn Obſequy for
Francis I. who died the latter end of March preceding. The new
French King, Henry ii. was wholly under the influence of a Car-
dinal, and Family, devoted to the intereſts of Rome. England,
who was upon tickliſh terms with the Emperour, and had a war on
its hands with Scotland, was deſirous to pay fome incenſe to France
to keep her in good humor. For which reaſons, as well as in re-
turn for the compliment paid by Francis on the death of Henry
viiith, the Council ordered a Dirge to be ſung, in all the churches
of London, as alſo in the cathedral of St. Paul; the choir, whereof
was hung with black, and a ſumptuous herſe ſet up
for the preſent
ceremony. The Archbiſhop aſſiſted with eight other Biſhops, all
in their rich mitres and pontificals, ſung a maſs of Requiem ; and
to do honor to his memory, who had been long the intimate Friend
of Henry, Dr. Ridley was made choice of to preach his Funeral Ser-
The Hiſtorians conſtantly call him at this time, Elect of
Rocheſter.
But in this they are a little too haſty; for the fee of Rocheſter
was not yet vacant. Longland, Biſhop of Lincoln, died the 7th of
May
mon.
POOK . IV.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
May preceding. The Conge d'élire was not given till the ift of
Auguſt. Holbeach, Biſhop of Rocheſter, was choſen to Lincoln
on the gth, and confirmed on the 20th of the fame month.
During which time * the Fellows of Pembroke-Hall granted the
reverſion of demeſne lands in Illeham to their Maſter's Sifter, whom
they call the Mother of John Twydel. This perhaps was his Siſ-
ter Alice, at that time married to George Shipfides, but who had
children by a former huſband, whoſe name I cannot recover, unleſs
from this paſſage I may preſume it to have been Twydel'.
Holbeach being confirmed in the Biſhoprick of Lincoln,. Dr.
Ridley was ſoon after promoted to the vacant See of Rocheſter
for on Sunday the 4th of September, Dr. Walter Phillippes, Dean
of Rocheſter, and the Chapter met; and agreeably to their Conge
d'elire choſe him to ſupply the vacancy of that fee.
The Royal
aſſent to their election, and mandate to the Archbiſhop for the
confecration paſſed the 14th. And the Archbiſhop's commiſſion
to his Vicar General to confirm the election bears date the 19th.
And another commiſſion from his Grace to the Biſhop of Lincoln,
with the Suffragan Biſhops John of Bedford, and Thomas of Sydon,
to confecrate the Elect, was given September 23d. And (I pre-
ſume) on Sunday the 25th of September, (though all the Hiſto-
rians, too haſtily copying the Archbiſhop's Regiſter", ſay the 5th of
September) the Elect was conſecrated in the Chapel belonging to
Dr. May, Dean of St. Paul's, by Henry Biſhop of Lincoln, aſſiſted
by the ſuffragans abovementioned, in ſuch form and manner as
was at that time uſual in the Church of England, by chriſm or ho-
ly unction, and impoſition of hands, after an oath renouncing the
ci
E e 2
uſurped
· Auguſt 4.
• This John Twydel (as I ſuppoſe) was afterward taken care of by Biſhop Grindal,
who had been Chaplain to Bihop Ridley, and collated by him to the Rectory of St. Mar-
gin's Ludgate 1567.
• The Archbiſhop's Regiſter fets it down in words at length, Die Dominicâ quinto die
Menſis Septembris : but this neither agrees with the foregoing notes in the ſame Regiſter,
nor with the day of the week, the 5th of September falling that year on a Monday. The
word viceflimo before quinto ſeems to have been careleſsly omitted.
212
Book IV
THE LIFE OF
uſurped juriſdiction of the Roman Pontiff, veſted, according to an-
tient rites, with the robes and inſignia belonging to his dignity.
The day which I have afligned is confirmed, not only becauſe
the ſtatute of Henry viiith requires the confecration to be within
twenty days after the Royal aſſent, and ſo before the 4th of Octo-
ber ; but becauſe the 25th was the only Sunday betwixt: the 23d,
when the commiſſion for confecration was granted, and the 29th,
when the Regiſter of Nicholas Ridley Bishop of Rocheſter begins.
I have been the more circumftantial and exact in this, to prove
that Ridley was conſecrated in the uſual form (More Eccleſ. Anglic.
ſolito) before the new. ordinal took place, nothing different from
the confecration of all the Popish bifhops before him. His abjura-
tion of the Roman Pontiff could not invalidate it without un-
bilhoping Boner, and every Biſhop after him.. Nay Tonftal, Gar-
diner, and every one the moſt Popithly affected had renounced bim
after their confecrations. It was therefore unaccountable why: Dr.
Brooks in Queen Mary's days. would not allow Ridley to have been
a Biſhop, and only degraded him from his prieſt's orders. But
more of this hereafter..
chefter committed to
The ſame day that Ridley was conſecrated, the
ģ6 4. He and Cran. Council fent. Biſhop Gardiner to the Fleet, for
mer confer with Win- having ſpoken and written in prejudice and con-
tempt of the King's Viſitation; and for refuſing
the Fleet..
to ſet forth the homilies and injunctions.
A few days after, the new Bilhop of Rocheſter was taken by
the Archbiſhop, with the Biſhop of Lincoln, Dr. Cox, and ſome
others to confer with Gardiner at Dr. May's houſe.. Thither
Wincheſter was fent for, and they endeavoured to perſuade him to
comply with the injunctions, which recommended Eraſmus his
Paraphraſe of the Goſpels, and the new Book of Homilies.
The
Regiſtr. Cantuarienf,
BOOK IV.
213
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
:
many in
The points of the conference may be gueſſed at from the letters
and arguments elſewhere uſed by the reſpective diſputants. Win-
cheſter had political reaſons for the Protector and the Council,
and theological ones for the Divines. To impede the Re-
formation, he urged to the Protector the obligation which lay on
him of regarding the late King's will; the ill conſequences of
charges, diſturbing the ſtate in the King's minority. To excuſe to
the Council his not complying with the Royal injunctions, he
urged the danger in a ſubject to obey the King's commands in caſes
contrary to: Act. of Parliament, which he proved from
ſtances within his own knowledge, which had been determined in
the late reign ;, and repreſented this caſe as ſimilar, becauſe, as he
obſerved, the Paraphraſe of Eraſmus and the Book of Homilies
were contrary to The Erudition of a Chriſtian Man eſtabliſhed by
Act of Parliamnent. His arguments to the divines were, that the
Paraphraſe had many manifeſt errors in it ; inſomuch that he con-
curred with thoſe who ſaid, Erafmus laid the eggs, and Luther
batched them. ;. that it even contradicted the book of Homilies en-
joined to be received with it ; that the Homilies themſelves con-
tained falſe doctrine, in teaching juſtification by faith alone with-
out works, and in teaching that a dead faith was no faith : and
that though the ſubtleties in that point might be fit for the ſchools,
it was highly improper to diſturb the common people with them.
It was repreſented on the other hand that the late King, as Win-
cheſter well knew, had intended a book of Homilies, to make ſuch
a ſtay of errors as were then by ignorant preachers ſpread among
the people: that Cranmer well knew by whom the King had been
ſeduced from the truth in ſetting forth the Erudition : that death
prevented the late King from finiſhing all that he had godly defign-
ed: that no kind of religion was perfected at his death, but all
was left ſo uncertain, that it muſt inevitably bring on great dif-
orders, if God did not help them : that many could witneſs what
regret their late Maſter had, when he ſaw he muſt die, before he
had
lasit
's
46
*
214
THE LIFE OF
BOOK IV.
had accompliſhed what he intended : that as to Eraſmus, though
there were faults in his Paraphraſe, as no book beſide the ſcripture
is without faults, yet it was the beſt for that uſe that they could
find; and that they choſe rather to ſet out what ſo learned a man
had written, than to make a new one, which might give occaſion
to more objections ; and that he was the moſt unprejudiced writer
that they knew : moreover, that the Paraphraſe was accompanied
with the Homilies, which in many points corrected thoſe errors.
As to the charge againſt the Homilies, the Homilies ſufficiently
vindicate themſelves. They diſtinguiſh two acceptations of faith
in ſcripture; the one, which bringeth forth no good works, but is
idle, barren, and unfruitful. This faith without works the ſcrip-
ture calleth dead, and is not that ſure and ſubſtantial faith which
ſaveth finners ; and therefore is not properly faith. Another faith
there is, quick and lively, which worketh by love ; which is not in
the mouth and outward profeſſion only, but it liveth, and ſtirreth
inwardly in the heart ; and is not without hope and truſt in God,
nor without the love of God and our neighbours, nor without
• the fear of God, nor without the deſire to hear God's word, and
i to follow the ſame in eſchewing evil, and doing gladly all good
works.'
And they taught that this faith juſtified alone : not excluding the
obligation of evangelical good works after juſtification (“for we are
• moſt bounden to ſerve God in doing good deeds commanded by
* him in his holy ſcripture, all the days of our life,') but the merit
of Papiftical good works towards juſtification.
• Such as pilgri-
mages to images, kneeling, kiſling, and cenſing of them; their
hypocritical and feigned works in their fate of religion ".
This ſhews what was the true intention of the compilers of our
Homilies ; not to introduce curious queſtions for the ſchools, but
to inſtruct the people in faving faith in Chriſt's merits alone, which
ſhould beget Chriſtian obedience : in oppoſition to the miſtaken
confidence
.8
. Homily of Good Works, third part.
&
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
2.15
confidence which they had in ſuperſtitious works (their own, or
others,) which had no merit at all in them. More than this thoſe
biſhops ſeem not to have intended; whatever niceties might after-
wards be brought in by foreigners, or Engliſhmen tinctured in their
exile.
But there was in the injunctions cauſe enough to provoke Win-
cheſter ; they levelled againſt the fundamentals of a faction, of
which he had made himſelf the prime engine ; and therefore, he
was extremely angry with his Brother of Durham, who had con-
curred in theſe injunctions : beſide, what he could never forgive,
they had been given in a council, from which he had been exclu-
ded with no flight diſgrace. Cranmer knew his humor well ; and
Tet fall ſome words of bringing him into the Privy Council if he
would concur in what they were carrying on.
But whether Win-
cheſter had formed his party, and hoped by their aſſiſtance to force
his
way; or that he doubted the diſpoſition of the Council in his
favor ; or preferred his wilfulneſs in oppoſing Them and the Re-
formation, he refuſed to comply. Cranmer attributed it. to the:
latter cauſe, and planely told him, that it proceded not from any
zeal for the truth, but perverſe frowardneſs, approving nothing
unleſs he did it himſelf, and diſliking the Homily for that reaſon,
becauſe he was not a counſellor. So he was returned again to the
Fleet, where, (probably for the ſame reaſon that Henry viïith ex-
cluded him from being an executor, that his buſy and troubleſome
fpirit might give them no interruption) they detained him till the
Parliament, then going to ſit, broke up; which was cenſured as an
invaſion of liberty
This year Cranmer communicated to Latimer
$o 5: The Biſhop of (releaſed from his confinement, but refuſing the
Rocheſter againſt the
revilers of the facra- epiſcopal charge, and reſiding with the Archbiſhop)
thoſe truths with regard to the Lord's fupper,
with which Ridley had brought him acquainted
the
year
before. The idolatrous veneration of that facrament in the
Church:
EX
ment.
coller
16
THE LIFE OF
Book IV.
who confounded truth
Church of Rome, in worſhipping the elements, as converted into
the
very
ſubſtantial and natural body and blood of Chriſt; and the
extreme reverence paid to them by the Lutherans, as comprehending
and containing in them the ſame ſubftantial and natural body and
blood, were now openly oppoſed : but the Anabaptiſts, who fled
from Germany hither; the extravagant among ourſelves, who leap
from one extreme, over the truth, to the other; and ſome Proteſtants,
op-
poſition ſo far as to bring this facrament into great contempt. Rail-
ing bills againſt it were fixed upon the doors of St. Paul's Cathedral,
and other places, terming it Jack in a box, the facrament of the
halter, Round Robin, and ſuch like irreverent terms. The new
Bithop of Rocheſter, who was as far removed from profaneneſs as
from ſuperſtition, ſet his face ſtrenuouſly againſt this impiety; and
publickly rebuked it in his fermon at Paul's Croſs this November,
with great earneſtneſs aſſerting the dignity of the ſacrament, and
the Preſence of Chriſt's body there. Reproving with great free-
dom thoſe who did irreverently behave themſelves with regard to
it ; bidding them, who eſteemed the facrament no better than a
piece of bread, to depart, as unworthy to hear the myſtery ; as
the Pænitentes, Audientes, Catechumeni, and Energumeni, in the
primitive times were not adniitted when the facrament was admi-
niſtered. Obſerving to them (as Fecknam reports) that the Divil
believed better than ſome among them; for he believed that Chriſt
was able of ſtones to make bread, but they would not believe that
Chriſt's body was in the facrament : but to the Receivers, the
Saneti, he ſo explaned the Preſence, that he aſſerted, that the ma-
terial ſubſtance of the bread did ſtill remain, and that Chriſt called
it his body, meat, and flerh, giving it the properties of the thing
,
of which it beareth the name. Where we find the ſame lines of
his character continue in the preacher, which were obſerved before
in the diſputant; modeſt in propoſing his opinions to perſons whoſe
judgments
A
.
BOOK IV,
217
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
judgments only were miſtaken, meekly in frucling thoſe who were in
error : but earneſt and ſevere wherever he diſcovered a fault in the
will, boldly rebuking vice. Yet, notwithſtanding all his care and
caution, this fermon was afterwards very untruly and unjuſtly re-
preſented, as he himſelf complained, as if he had in it alſerted
the Preſence of Chriſt's natural body.
The Parliament, which fate this year from November 4 to De-
cember 24, added its authority to the Biſhop's reproofs, and punish-
ed by impriſonment, fine and ranſom at the King's pleaſure all ir-
reverent diſputers or revilers of this ſacred rite. At the ſame time
they enacted, that the ſacrament ſhould be given in both kinds,
(except neceſſity did otherwiſe require it,) as more agreeable to
Chriſt's firſt inſtitution, and the practice of the church for five hun-
dred years after. And likewiſe that the people ſhould receive with
the prieſt, and not the prieſt alone. An abuſe which crept into
the church by the indevotion of the people, and the avarice of the
prieſts. At firſt, as Biſhop Burnet informs us, none came to the
Chriſtian aſſemblies who did not ſtay to receive the myſteries; and
in the poverty of the church, the clergy were ſupported by the
people's oblations made there : afterward the people grew remiſs
in their devotions; but the prieſts to keep up the oblations perſua-
ded the laity to come to the ſacrament and offer, though they did
not ſtay to receive the ſacrament; and deluded them with a no-
tion, that it was ſufficient for the prieſt alone to receive in behalf
of the whole people. And as they had changed the ſymbols into
the very body and blood of Chriſt, ſo they changed the feſtival
commemoration of his ſacrifice into a real expiatory facrifice. And
perſuaded them that the prieſt's conſecrating and conſuming the
ſacrament was propitiatory for the Dead and the Living. But
this reſtoring the communion removed the whole trade of maſſing,
As ſoon as the Parliament was up, a Proclamation was publiſh-
ed, December 27, (ſuppoſed by Mr. Strype to be drawn up by
F f
Cranmer
218
BOOK IV.
THE LIFE OF
"B
Cranmer and Ridley) againſt the irreverent talkers of the facrament;
requiring the people to accommodate themſelves rather to receive
the ſame facrament worthily, than rafhly to enter into the diſcuf-
fing the high myſtery thereof; forbidding curious diſputations
about it in publick, and in pulpits : but permitting the ignorant,
willing to learn, reverently and privately to ſeek for further inſtruc-
tion in that point; and thoſe of more talents and learning, quietly,
devoutly, and reverently to teach the weak and unlearned.
In conſequence of this Act, the King appointed certain grave
and learned biſhops and others to aſſemble at Windſor-Caſtle,
there to treat and confer together; and to conclude upon, and ſet
forth one perfect and uniform order of communion, according to
the rules of ſcripture, and the uſe of the primitive church. Among
which it is probable, that the Biſhop of Rocheſter, who had been fo
inftrumental in reſcuing this facrament from idolatrous and grofs er-
rors, and had led the way by his ſermons to this very act of parlia-
ment, was principally concerned. And in this winter a Committee
was appointed to examine all the offices of the church, to conſider
where they needed reformation, and accordingly to reform them.
Of which Committee were moſt of the biſhops, and ſeveral others
of the moſt learned divines in the nation: which Committee prepa-
red the new office for the communion. And that the Convocation:
might not be prevented from proceding to a further reformation
by the late acts, two about Lollardies, that of the Six Articles, and
others explaning it, were now repealed. The Archbiſhop moving ,
for ſuch repeal in the council to forward the Reformation; and the
Popiſhly inclined gave way to it, both to ſecure their preſent poſ-
feſſions of church lands, and with a view to further plunder.
What fpirit of reformation influenced that parliament, appears in
a bill which paſſed this fefſion to give to the King all the colleges,
free chapels, chantries and hoſpitals, fraternities or guilds, which
were not in the real and actual poſſeſſion of the late King, though
given
܀ܘ̣
BOOK IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
219
given to him by parliament in the 37th year of his reign. By
which there accrued to the King all the lands, tenements, rents;
and other hereditaments, which had been employed for the main-
tenance of any anniverſary, or obit, or any light or lamp in any
church or chapel. The pretence was, that the doctrine and vain
opinion of Purgatory and Maſſes ſatisfactory for the dead, bý
nothing more was maintained and upholden than by the abuſe of
Trentals, Chanteries, and other proviſions made for the continuancé
of the ſaid blindneſs and ignorance. To remove which opinion, it
was neceſſary to ſeize the proviſions made for the maintenance of
it. But then, as the converting them to the good and godly uſes
intended, (viz. erecting Grammar Schools for the education of
youth in virtue and godlineſs, and for augmenting the Univerſities;
the encreaſe of Vicarages, and the better proviſion for the poor and
needy,) could not in that preſent parliament be conveniently done,
therefore in the mean time, they could not, nor ought to be com-
mitted to any other perſons than to the King's Highneſs.
There were accounted ninety colleges within the compaſs of that
grant (excluſive of the univerſities, whoſe foundations, though not Heylin.
included, were thought to ſhake ;) and no fewer than two thou-
ſand three hundred and ſeventy four free chapels and chantries,
Both univerſities applied for protection ; and by favor of their
friends at Court received a ſatisfactory anſwer.
How much the declared deſign of this Bill was diſappointed, by
granting away thoſe lands from the good uſes abovementioned to
courtiers and their friends, this whole reign of plunder was a ſcan-
dalous teſtimony. Cranmer ſaw the ſecret motive, and oppoſed the
Bill; in which he was ſupported by the Popiſh biſhops : but the
Court carried it againſt them.
The Parliament at the ſame time made the Conge d'elire unne-
ceffary; the biſhops hereafter being to be made by the King's Let-
ters Patent, upon which they were to be conſecrated. And the
proceſſes, which were formerly carried on in the Biſhop's names,
Ff2
were.
1
meny
1
220
Book IV.
THE LIFE OF
.
.
were henceforth to be carried on in the King's name, and ſealed
with the King's ſeal : but Letters of Orders, and Collation of Be-
nefices, were ſtill to paſs under the Biſhop's ſeal as formerly.
What further reformation the Convocation thought neceſſary,
appears from what paſſed in their ſeveral ſeſſions this
year,
from
November
5
to December the 17th, and their four petitions to
the biſhops. The firſt was, that, according to the ſtatute made in
the reign of the late King, there might be perſons empowered for
reforming the Eccleſiaſtical Laws. The want of ſuch a digeſt was
a notorious defect, as the King's ſupremacy in the church was ex-
preſſed in the ſtatute to be a power to viſit, correct, repreſs, re-
* dreſs, reform, reſtrain, order, and amend, all ſuch errors, herefies,
abuſes, offences, contempts and enormities, as by any manner of
ſpiritual authority or juriſdiction, ought or may lawfully be re-
' formed. And what might lawfully be reformed was rendered
greatly uncertain by the ſtatute in his 25th year, which orders on-
ly ſuch canons to be received as were not contrary to the laws and
cuſtoms of the realm, or to the damage or hurt of the King's pre-
& rogative. Till a certain ſyſtem of laws was compiled, the deter-
mination of the Ecclefiaftical Judges would be too arbitrary, and
the people be ignorant to what laws they were ſubject. The ſe-
cond was, that according to the antient cuſtom of this nation, as
they aſſert, the Clergy of the Lower Houſe might aſſociate with
the Lower Houſe of Parliament; or elſe that no ftatutes and or-
dinances concerning matters of religion and cauſes eccleſiaſtical
might paſs without their aſſent. The third, that a Book of uni-
form Order in the Divine Service of the Church, deviſed by cer-
tain prelates and learned men, appointed by the commandment of
Henry viii. may be peruſed and examined for a better expedition
in Divine Service: The fourth was, That ſome conſideration
might be had for the maintenance of the Clergy, the firſt year they
came to their livings, in which they were charged with Firſt Fruits.
They
<
26 Henry viii. cap. 2.
i
BOOK IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
They likewiſe agreed unanimouſly that the ſacrament ſhould be
received in both kinds. And with reſpect to vows of celibacy to
be voided, and the liberty of marriage reſtored to the Clergy, fif-
ty three were affirmant, and only twenty two againſt it. Among
the affirmants were ſeveral, neither then married, and who never
uſed the liberty afterward, which they conſcientiouſly vindicated
to others. With whom concurred Biſhop Ridley, both in opinion
of the lawfulneſs of marriage in the Clergy, and in the practice of
chaſte celibacy, as moſt expedient when in their power and volun-
tary; though he is not reckoned in theſe numbers, as belonging
to the Upper Houſe.
er.
After the riſing of the Parliament, Wincheſter 1548.
$. 6. Reformation was called before the Council January 8, and ſet
of the Common Pray- at liberty by the King's general pardon. But the
Council aſked him, whether he and all his dio-
ceſe would receive the Injunctions and Homilies,
lately made.
He ſaid, he would conform to all, and injoin his
dioceſe fo to do : only he heſitated at the Homily of Juſtification
by Faith, and not by Works ; concerning which he deſired ſome
days to conſider,
And to fatisfy and perſuade him in this point
Biſhop Ridley with Cecil were ſent to him. What ſucceſs they
had with him is not mentioned : but it appears that he went down
to his dioceſe, receiving and obeying the book of ſervice, and or-
ders for religion, and all the proclamations, ſtatutes and injunctions
that were then ſet forth by the King's authority; as did alſo the
miniſters of his dioceſe.
At the ſame time Gardiner and Ridley were appointed to deal
with two Anabaptiſts of Kent. Divers of that fect had fled from
Germany hither, and began to infect the realm with ſtrange and
heretical opinions; and particularly ſpake contemptibly of the ho-
ly facrainent of the Lord's fupper. Wherefore at the ſame time
that
THE LIFE OF
Book IV.
that Ridley 'exhorted Gardiner to receive the true doctrine of juſti-
fication, againſt which he was very refractory, he prayed him to
be very diligent in confounding the Anabaptiſts in his dioceſe ;
and that he would be ſteady in defence of the facrament agiinft
them. And this the Biſhop of Wincheſter ſo reported to ſome in
his houſe after Ridley was gone, as if he had approved a Carnal
Preſence. His opinion of a true, ſpiritual, efficacious Preſence by
grace to the faithful receiver, and abhorrence of the light inde-
cent manner in which many treated this facrament, were repre-
ſented either maliciouſly or inaccurately, by thoſe who knew not
how to preſerve a medium, as an avowance of groſs Tranſubſtan-
tiation : an opinion, which, as we have ſeen, he had forſaken
above two years before.
By the 8th of March the new Communion Book was prepared,
and publiſhed with the King's Proclamation prefixt, enjoining the
uſe of it ; and adviſing men to content themſelves with following
authority, and not to run before it : leſt by their raſhneſs they
ſhould become the greateſt hinderers of ſuch things, as they, more
arrogantly than godly, would ſeem, by their own private authority,
moſt hotly to ſet forward.
Notwithſtanding this proviſion and proclamation, various diffe-
rent ways of worſhip were uſed. Some according to the uſe of
Sarum, others the uſe of York, fome of Bangor, and ſome of
Lincoln. Others, who liked not theſe Popiſh forms, or Latin ſer-
vice, uſed Engliſh forms according as their own fancies led them.
Wherefore to prevent this different ſerving of God, by which
great diviſions and contentions happened, the King reſolved to
have one Form of Prayer compoſed, which alone, and none other
ſhould be uſed throughout his realm. And that this might be
drawn up after the beſt manner, the moſt learned and diſcrete
biſhops and divines were choſen to be employed in this buſineſs.
The fame who drew up the Communion Service; who are com-
monly
.
BOOK IV.
223
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
monly reported to have been, the Archbiſhop of Canterbury; fix
biſhops, Day of Chicheſter, Goodrich of Ely, Skyp of Hereford,
Holbeach of Lincoln, Ridley of Rocheſter, and Thirlby of Weſt-
minſter ; four Deans, May of St. Pauls, Taylor of Lincoln, Haines
of Exeter, and Cox of Weſtminſter, and Chriſt-Church, Oxon;
with Robertſon, Archdeacon of Leiceſter, and Dr. Redman, Maf-
ter of Trinity-College, Cambridge. Theſe accordingly met in
May at Windſor, and prepared it ready to be confirmed by the
parliament that fate November 24th following, and enjoined the
uſe of it to commence at the enſuing Whitſuntide.
This Book was probably compiled by only a few of the Com-
miſſioners; diſcuſſed, and aſſented to by cthers; and when enact-
ed, proteſted againſt by Day, Skip, and Thirlby.
It
may not be diſagreeable to the Reader to ſee what was done
at that time, how it differed from the Maſs Book, why ſo much
was altered, and why no more.
The prejudices in favor of the old ſuperſtitions in fome, and the
indiſcrete abhorrence of every thing that belonged to them in others,
made the Reformers ſenſible of the difficulty in endeavouring to
bring them to an accommodation. Thofe judicious men faw, and
complained, that the minds of men were ſo divers, that ſome
thought it a great matter of conſcience to depart from a piece of
the leaſt of their ceremonies, they were ſo addicted to their old.
• cuſtoms. And again on the other ſide, ſome were ſo new fangled,
• that they would innovate all things, and ſo deſpiſe the old, that
nothing could like them but what was new ?! Under this diffi-
culty they conducted themſelves like ſenſible men, and good Chrif-
tians; they' thought it expedient, not ſo much to have reſpect
• how to pleaſe and ſatisfy either of theſe parties, as how to pleaſe
• God, and profit them both b. By correcting the ſuperſtition of
the
6
a Diſcourſe of Ceremonies, placed at the end of Edward vith's first book
b Diſcourſe of Ceremonies..
.
22
:
Book IV,
THE LIFE OF
$
2
<
$
the one, and reſtraining the extravagance of the other. So far
was it froin the purpoſe of the Church of England to forſake and
reject the churches of Italy, France, Spain, Germany, or any
fuch
like churches, in all things which they held and practiſed, that,
as the Apology of the Church of England confeſſeth, · it doch
• with reverence retain thoſe ceremonies, which do neither enda-
mage
the Church of God, nor offend the minds of ſober mon :
• and only departed from them in thoſe particular points, wherein
they were faln, both from themſelves in their antient integrity,
and from the apoſtolical churches which were their firſt foun-
ders.",
Of theſe Ceremonies • ſome had entered into the church by in-
• diſcrete devotion, and ſuch a zeal as was without knowledge ;
theſe, as unprofitable and obſcuring the glory of God, were entire-
• ly rejected : others, were at the firſt of godly intent and purpoſe
deviſed, yet at length, partly by the ſuperſtitious blindneſs of the
• rude and unlearned, and partly by the unſatiable avarice of ſuch
as fought more their own lucre than the glory of God, were turn-
•ed to vanity and ſuperſtition : theſe alſo it was neceſſary to re-
move, becauſe the abuſes could not well be taken away, the thing
remaining ſtill.
Others there were, which although they had
• been deviſed by man, yet as intended to ſerve to a decent order
. and godly diſcipline, and were apt to ſtir up the dull mind of
• man to the remembrance of his duty to God by ſome notable
* and ſpecial ſignification, whereby they might be edified; theſe
it was thought good to reſerve ſtill 6.
Their firſt care was, that all, and the whole of the offices, ſhould
be in Engliſh ; completing what the late King began in the 37th
year of his reign, when he had the Primer tranſlated into Engliſh,
" that the
purport of the prayer being eaſy to be underſtood might
beget attention, and attention might encreaſe devotion. Where-
as
Conftitutions and Canons Ecclefiaftical xxx.
” Diſcourſe of Ceremonics.
:
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
225
as formerly a languor, Nothfulneſs, and averſeneſs to prayer was
• the uſual fruit of offering it in a language not ordinarily under-
'? ſtood ::
And in this point not only all the Commiflioners agreed, (ſome
of whom, on other accounts, proteſted againſt the new Liturgy ;)
but the reaſons were ſo evident to all, that there was an univerſal
conſent to it throughout the kingdom. At leaſt there appeared to
be ſo; for Ridley in a letter to Weſt, once his Chaplain, but re-
lapſed under the Marian perſecution, in order to prove that Weſt
and the reſt of the Papiſts acted againſt conſcience in uſing the
old Latin ſervice again, urges this inſtance ; ' When I was in of-
• fice, ſays he, all that were eſteemed learned in God's word, agreed
** this to be a truth in God's word written, that the Common Pray-
er of the church ſhould be had in the Common tongue. You
* know I have conferred with many, and I enſure you, I never
. found man (ſo far as I do remember) neither Old nor New, Gof-
peller nor Papiſt, of what judgment foever he was, in this thing to
• be of a contrary opinion. If then it were a truth of God's word,
* think you that the alteration of the world can make it an untruth?
• If it cannot, why then do ſo many men ſhrink from the confef-
• fion and maintenance of this truth received once of us all ?'
Whence I conclude Dr. Heylin miſtaken, when he ſays, ' that this
o in particular gave great offence to the Roman party:
The almoſt infinite variety and intricacies of the Breviary and
Miſſal forbid me to attempt an exact collation ; only ſo much of
them as may ſerve to give a general view how the New and Old
Service differed from each other.
In the daily ſervice at Mattins the Reformers began, as the Ro-
mans did, with the Lord's Prayer ; becauſe in this they agreed
with the primitive church : but omitted the Ave Maria, in which
the
Gg
a Preface to Henry vinth's Primer.
• Hift. Reform. p. 66.
• Martyr's Letters,
226
BOOK IV.
THE LIFE OF
.
the Virgin Mary was deſired to pray for them; a practice unknown to.
the early Chriſtians, nor introduced till about the year of Chriſt 470
by Peter the Fuller, Biſhop of Antioch. This was followed by the
Apoſtle's Creed in the Roman Church, which our Reformers in-
troduced into a more convenient pface, after reading the ſcriptures,
as it is a ſummary of truths collected from thoſe ſcriptures. All
theſe were mumbled ſecretly by the Romilh Prieſts : but what the
Reformers retained they directed to be recited aloud.
Then follow in the Roman Service, to be pronounced with an
audible voice, the Verſicles, Gloria Patri, and Allelujah. Which,
as authoriſed by the antient church, and neither contrary to ſound
doctrine, nor ſuperſtitiouſly abuſed; were retained. Only omit-
ting the two Croſſings which the prieſt was directed to make; at
the firſt verſicle, to ſign himſelf with his thumb with the ſign of
the croſs; and at the ſecond, to make a large croſs with his hand
extended from his forehead to his breaſt, and from his left ſhoulder
to his right: To this fucceded the Invitatory, which altered ac-
cording to the feaſt or ſeaſon: but in Henry vil'th Primer it is
the Ave Maria again, which therefore our divines expunged.
The Venite exultemus was retained, ſung alternately according to
the antient cuſtom. To this was ſubjoined in the Romiſh Church
a metrical Hymn of a more modern compoſition, varied according
to the day ; in whiėh variety were ſome good; and ſome very in-
different, all of which our Reformers made no ſcruple to reject.
Then were read the Pfalms ; which, though divided into ſeven
large portions called Nocturns, yet of late they were not gone
through with; a few of them only having been daily ſaid, and the
reſt omitted. In Henry vinth's Primer the viir, XVIII. XXIII.
are appointed. This they fo regulated, as that reading a conve-
vient portion every morning and evening the whole book of Pſalms
might be repeted over every month. And at the end of every Pſalm
the Gloria Patri was introduced; agreeably to the ſecond Canon
of
BOOK IV.
2217
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY,
of the Council of Narbon, Anno Domini 589. After the Pſalms
followed in order an Anthem, Verſe, the Lord's Prayer, Abſolu-
tion, and Benediction, with long and ſhort Reſponds in the middle
and at the end of the Leſſons ; which, as breaking the continual
courſe of reading the ſcriptures, were judged to be more conve-
niently laid aſide ao
The Leſſons followed next ; a practice derived from the Jewiſh
to the Chriſtian Church, in both which they were read in order,
ſo as to go through the ſcriptures once a year ; that the miniſters
in the congregation by often reading God's word might be ſtirred
up to godlineſs themſelves, and more able alſo to exhort others by
wholeſome doctrine, and to confute them that were adverſaries to the
truth : and further, that the people, by daily hearing of holy ſcripture
read in the church, might continually profit more and more in the
knowledge of God, and be the more inflamed with the love of his
true religion. But this godly and decent order of the antient Fa-
thers had been ſo altered, broken, and neglected by planting in un-
certain ſtories, and legends, mith multitude of reſponds, verſes, vain
repetitions, commemorations and ſynodals, that commonly, when
any book of the bible was begun, after three or four chap-
ters were read out, all the reſt were unread". Our Divines there-
fore appointed Two Leſſons, that the Old and New Teſtament
might be orderly read through; and entirely rejected ſuch Leſſons
as were not ſcripture, whether taken out of the Homilies of the
Fathers, or thoſe ridiculous tales which were ſelected out of the
Roman Legends.
And inſtead of the Reſpond, which in Henry
vilith's Primer, after the Firſt Leſſon, was God, the Son of God vouch-
Safe to bleſs and fuccour us : and, after the ſecond, Pray for us,
Holy Mother of God, that we be made worthy to attain the promiſes
of Chriſt : the Reformers inſerted that noble hymn of St. Ambroſe
called
G g 2
a Concerning the Service of the Church.
Concerning the Service of the Church,
1
....
:
228
.
THE LIFE OF
BOOK IV.
called Te Deum, after the Firſt Leffon ; which was ſometimes
uſed inſtead of the Reſpond after the third leſſon in the Roman.
Service : and, after the Second, they appointed the Benedi&tus,,
borrowed from the Lauds, which were now to follow in the Bre-
viary, beginning with O Gød make ſpeed to ſave us; then the Lxvith
Pfalm, Dan. III. Pſalm CXLVIII. with an anthem, and an ad-
dreſs to the Virgin Mary as it is in Henry vilith's Primer, a me-
trical hymn, and Benedictus, with another anthem.. Inſtead of
all theſe, the Benedictus only was retained. And this inſtructive
part of hymns and leſſons was cloſed by a publick recital of the
Apoſtles Creed ; which had formerly been uſed to be ſoftly faid
by the officiating prieſt alone at the beginning of Mattins, as be-
fore obſerved. In the Breviary the Creed of St. Athanaſius was.
ordinarily appointed on Sundays ; inſtead of which the Reformers
appointed the Apoſtles Creed, except on the feaſts of Chriſtmas,
the Epiphany, Eaſter, Aſcenſion, Pentecoſt, and Trinity Sunday.
And now applying themſelves to their devotions, our divines
thought it highly proper to give the preference to that prayer
which Chriſt himſelf enjoined to be uſed. The Breviary had in-
ſerted it between the Pſalms and Leſſons ; and when they had
three No&turns, they repeted it after each ; and again at the end.
of the Collects. The repetition of it after the Pſalms ſeems unne-
ceffary, as the mind is not then addreſſing itſelf to any new duty
or ſervice. As to the placing it in the beginning, or at the cloſe
of their devotions, both are ſupported by the antient church.
Tertullian witneſſes for prefixing itº, and Auſtin for ſubjoining it.
Indeed it is not improbable but that they uſed it both before and
after their other prayers ; for fo the Kaddiſch, into the place of
which
· Tertull. de Orat. præmiffà legitimâ et ordinariâ oratione, quafi fundamento,......
jus eſt ſuperſtruendi extrinſecus petitiones.
Epist. 55 ad Paul. Ferè omnis Ecclefia Dominica Oratione concludit.
Book IV: DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
229
which this ſuccedes, was uſed among the Jews. And in the Ro-
man Breviary, though not in K. Henry's Primer, the Kurie eleeſon
and Lord's Prayer at ſome ſeaſons followed the Benedi&tus imme-
diately before the Suffrages and Collects as well as at the cloſe of
Mattins.
The ſuffrages or Preces in the Breviary were now reduced and
diſpoſed in a different order. The Two firſt are inſtead of Six to
the like purpoſe. Endue thy Prieſts with righteouſneſs : And make
thy choſen people joyful was ſaid before the Suffrages for the King.
Then followed thoſe for the people. Afterward came fourteen
more for the congregation, the dead, the abſent, and the afflicted.
In the room of which the Reformers ſubſtituted, Give peace in our
time, O Lord: Becauſe there is none other that fighteth for us, but
only thou, O God, borrowed from the anthem at Veſpers ; which
they did on Account of their ill ſituation abroad at that time ;;
Scotland being then in the councils of France, France itſelf at war.
with them, the Emperour very cold in his friendſhip, on account
of religion, Germany unable to help, and the Pope an avqwed.
enemy.
Then came the Collects, of theſe there had been great variety
in the primitive church : thoſe which our divines have made.
choice of out of the Maſs Book are the oldeſt that have eſcaped the
wreck of time ; as moſt approved of when the compoſitions of he-
reticks, infuſing their own leaven, occafioned a decree of the Coun-
cil of Milevis, A. D. 402. that no Collects ſhould be uſed in the
church, but what had the approbation of a fynod. After which
there was a collection made of them for the uſe of the church; and
a ſecond review and compilation made by Gregory the Great toward
the cloſe of that century. From him the Roman church, and we
from them, have derived the collects proper for the day; which Dr.
Nichols,
< Legatus Ecclefiæ femper recitat Kaddiſch ante, et poft omnem rationein quam in pubi
lico fundit...
1
230
BOOK IV,
THE LIFE OF
Nichols, with great probability, ſuppoſes to have been compoſed
within the interval above mentioned, when the Pelagian herefy
was diligently oppoſed ; againft the poiſon of which theſe appear
to have been framed, from the frequent petitions for divine grace,
and from the aſſertions of the imbecility of human will and power.
Thoſe appointed for Sundays were generally retained by the Re-
formers : but thoſe for Saints days were many of them omitted,
and the reſt altered. The commemorations of ſaints had greatly
encreaſed ſince the times of Gregory, and were, moſt of them,
comparatively, very modern compoſitions. Down ſo low as the
days of St. Auſtin we hear of no more days peculiariy ſet apart
than the Lord's Day, the commemoration of his birth, death, re-
ſurrection, and aſcenſion, and the coming of the Holy Ghoft. Of
all theſe, except that of the Nativity, that Father makes mention :
and that the day of the Nativity was obſerved before his time is
plane from Nicephorus, who informs us, that Maximinus in the
third century deſtroyed ſome thouſands of Chriſtians at Nicomedia,
by burning the temple in which they were aſſembled to celebrate
the Nativity of their Lord “. And that about the
And that about the year 400 this
feaſt was tranſlated to the 25th of December from the 6th of Ja-
nuary, on which it uſed to be obſerved, and thence obtained the
name of the Epiphany or Theophany, from Chriſt's appearance
in the flesh, and not his manifeſtation to the world. The Eaſtern
Chriſtians altered the day about this time in compliance with the
Romans, as Chryſoſtom witneſſes. Indeed it had been a practice,
carlier than this time, to meet on the anniverſaries of their martyrs
at their tombs, to commemorate their paſſion and conſtancy with-
out either feſtival or invocation, to animate the faithful to the like
Chriſtian fortitude. Wherefore their collects ran in this frame, Grant,
O God, that we may be encouraged by Their examples, whoſe virtues
we
Lib. vii, C.
Book IV DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
233
we celebrate ; or, that we may imitate Their actions, whoſe paſſion
we commemorate. In Conſtantine's days their feſtivals were inſti-
tuted, and orations ſpoken in their honor : in which, rhetorical
apoſtrophes and addreſſes to the deceaſed introduced by degrees a
ferious invocation of them. At firſt, only for their interceſſion :
but at length, for ſafety, protection, and even ſalvation from them.
Nay they proceded to the abſurdity of even invoking their relicts.
For though. Bellarmine ſays, it was never heard among Chriſtians
that divine honors were offered to the relicts of ſaints, yet Vaſquez
ſays, it was an indubitable truth, that they ought to be adored.
Bellarmine. indeed appeals to facts; and: alks, whoever invoked
them? Or heard of ſuch an addreſs as this, O holy relicts, pray
for us? His readers may be referred to the church of Aquitain, in
which the handkerchief of Chriſt, and the napkin on which he ce-
lebrated his laſt ſupper were invoked ;. O holy Handkerchief, pray
for us., The Handkerchief of Chriſt from plague and death deliver
O moſt boly Napkin of God, pray for us?. Even in England
ſomething very like it appeared, with regard to the wood of the
croſs, in their hymn or ſequence on the exultation of the croſs; in
which they addreſs themſelves to it directly.
US.
Thou Medicine to the Chriſtian ſoul,
Heal the diſeas’d, and ſave the whole !
What human power cannot controul,
Is in Thy name effected b.
Theſe
10
a Sancte ſudari, ora pro nobis. Sudarium Chriſti liberet nos à peſte et morte triſti. Sancara
tiffiina Dei mappa, ora pro
nobis.
b o Crux, ſignum triumphale,
Mundi vera falus, vale !
Inter ligna nullum tale,
Fronde, flore, germine.
Medicina Chriftiana,
Salva ſanos, ægros fana,
Quod non valet vis humana
Fit in tuo nomine, Sequentia in Miffa fecundum uſum
Sarum in die exaltationis fanctæ crucis,
+
THE LIFE OF
BOOK IV.
*
Theſe feſtivals and commemorations encreaſed prodigiouſly after
Pope Adrian aſſumed the privilege of canonizing new ſaints; which
was about the year 880. This is very evident even in our own
church in the compaſs of five hundred and fifty years ; for in the
Benedictional of Athelwood, Biſhop of Wincheſter, about the year
970ʻ, there appear to have been but thirty fix apoſtles, evangeliſts,
martyrs and faints commemorated, except the general commemo-
ration on All Saints day : whereas in the ſervice fecundum ufum Sa-
rum, beſides eleven thouſand virgins on the 21ſt of October, and
All Saints, and All Souls in November, there are no leſs than
two hundred names particularly commemorated. Our Reformers
therefore provided in their ſervice for no more feſtivals than thoſe
of the apoſtles and evangeliſts, with a general commemoration of
All Saints. And even for theſe the collects were not proper, being
framed in general to pray for the interceſſion and patronage of him
whoſe memory they celebrated ; that through his merits and inter-
ceſſion God would grant us the divine prote&tion, pardon, and ever-
laſting felicity.
The ſecond collect was, " that we receive ſpiritual bleſſings in
• this life and the next, through the interceſſion of the bleſſed Vir-
gin Mary. A third, for All Saints, that the interceſſion of the
Holy Mother of God, of all the heavenly powers, of the bleſſed
• Patriarchs, Apoſtles, Evangeliſts, Martyrs, Confeſſors, and Vir-
gins, and of all God's Elect might make us every where to re-
• joice, that while we celebrate their merits we might receive their
protection. A fourth, for the whole church. And the laſt, for
peace; which was the ſame with our ſecond at evening prayer.
The Reformers, omitting thoſe idolatrous prayers, made their ſe-
cond collect, for peace, both at morning and evening prayer ; the
morning collect was taken from the poſt communion, and the
evening one from the collect of the Miſſa pro pace. Their third
collect was, in the morning, for grace ; in the evening, for aid
againſt
* E MS. pervetufto quondam D. Compton Epiſcopi Londin. peculio.
<
$
4
233
der, while
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RID L E Y.
againſt all perils, taken from the Greek liturgies. And here their
daily ſervice ended : in the Breviary they proceded thus, The Lord
be with you. And with thy Spirit. . Let us bleſs the Lord. Thanks
be to God. May the ſouls of the faithful by the mercy of God reſt in
peace. Amen. Then the officiating Clerk ſaid the Lord's Prayer
ſecretly, and cloſed the ſervice.
They, who repreſent our Reformers as angrily rejecting the fer-
vice of the Roman Church, in which they had been educated, as
pleaſing men more than God, or indulging their own humor ; may
ſee here what great regard they ſhewed to the Roman practice,
where it was not contrary to ſcripture, and was agreeable to primi-
tive antiquity. They, on the other hand, who repreſent them as
doing little, mąy obſerve ten material differences of the Reformed
Common Prayer from the Roman ; 1. The ſervice in the language
which the people know. 2. Scripture Leſſons inſtead of Legends.
3. The ſcriptures orderly read through, inſtead of a broken and in-
terrupted courſe.
4. The Creed more properly diſpoſed. 5. The
Lord's Prayer, more agreeable to Chriſt's appointment, before read-
ing, and prayer. 6. Repeated aloud, inſtead of ſecretly. 7. The
Ave Mary, and commemoration of the Virgin omitted. 8. The
metrical Hymns rejected. 9. As alſo Prayers for the Dead : and,
10. Addreſſes to Saints : together with the ſuperſtitious conſecra-
ting and exorciſing falt, water, bread, incenſe, candles, palms,
leaves of flowers, grapes, fire, bells, images, altars, croſſes, veſſels,
and garments.
We now procede to the reforming of the Coinmunion Service,
which is the principal part of the Chriſtian devotion, and is pro-
perly. The Service or Liturgy of the Church. In the Roman Or-
tor, Spiritus. And then, where the Reformers begin, the collect
Almighty God, unto whom all hearts be ofen. To this fucceded a
pſalm for an anthem, retained by our divines under the name cf
Hh
the
.
.:
234
THE LIFE OF
Book IV.
the Introitus. The Kurie eleeſon, and Pater nofter followed, which
were alſo retained: but the Ave Maria, a verſe out of the Pſalms
called the Office, and Gloria Patri were left out. As were like-
wiſe the Confeffion of prieſt and people to God, to the bleſſed Vir-.
gin, to all Saints, and mutually to one another, of their having
finned in thought, word, and deed, and beſeeching the Holy Virgin,
and all holy people of God, and one another to pray for them :
together with the abſolution, the prieſt's kiſſing the deacon, and
fubdeacon, with a petition to God that he would take from them
all their iniquities, that they might be worthy with pure minds to
enter the Holy of Holies; the prieſt kiſſing the altar, figning him-
ſelf in the face, bleſſing the incenſe, the deacon kiſſing the prieſt's
hand, the prieſt kiſſing the incenfe pot, the middle and both ſides
of the altar, and the deacon's cenſing the prieſt. Theſe, as too
ſuperſtitious, and contrary to the primitive practice (for Juſtin
Martyr ſays expreſſly, “We have been taught not to worſhip God
with blood, incenſe, and libations a') were all rejected.
The Gloria in excellis, or Glory to God on high, with the ad ,
ditions by Hilary of Poicteurs were next appointed by the Commit-
tee; but not with thofe more modern additions of the Papiſts, con-
verting the Hymn to the Glory of the Virgin Mary, who after the
words, receive our prayer, inſert, to Mary's Glory. And read the
laſt clauſe thus, For thou only art Holy, making Mary Holy; Thou
only art the Lord, governing Mary ; Thou only art the moſt High;
crowning Mary, O. Jeſus Chriſt with the Holy Spirit in the glory of
God the Father.
Then with The Lord be with you. And with thy Spirit. Let
us pray, follows the collect for the day, of which enough has
been obſerved in the order for the daily ſervice. Inſtead of other
collects, which out of a variety provided, were always ſuperſtitiouſ-
ly
content
α Ανευδεη αιμαίων, και σπονδων και θυμιαματων, ας εδιδάχθηκεης.
*
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
235
!
;
ly enjoined to be odd, three, five, or ſeven, the Reformers added to
the collect for the day only one more, for the King.
After the collects the epiſtle for the day was read, whịch our
divines retained; though in the Mozarabick order there was a por-
tion of fcripture out of the Old Teſtament or Prophets, which pre-
ceded the Epiſtle ; and this was agreeable to the antient practice,
as we ſee in the Apoſtolical Conſtitutions ". But that liturgy was
ſuppreſſed by Pope Hildebrand, A.D. 1080, to make way
for The
Roman Order which our Reformers did not chooſe to alter by
making additions, but by retrenching ſuperfluities.
Betwixt the Epiſtle and Goſpel were inſerted in the Romiſh
Church, 1. The Reſponſorium, or Gradual, two verſes of the
Pſalms ſung alternately. 2. Either the Tractus, ſome paſſages of
ſcripture mournfully ſung in token of ſorrow in Lent, and the
Ember weeksi, or Allelujah at other times. 3. A ridiculous
rythmical Ode. in monkiſh meaſure, whoſe antiquity does not riſe
higher than the oth century. All theſe were now omitted, and
immediately after the Epiſtle they read the Goſpel : not with
that pompous ſuperſtition as was practiſed before, cenſing the al-
tar, proceding with the book folemnly carried to the deſk, pre-
ceded by incenſe, wax-lights, and the croſs, the prieſt croſſing
the book, and himſelf firſt in the forehead, and then on the
breaſt. This ceremony of lighting tapers was, I believe, very an-
tient; for we find it objected to in the days of Jerome, as imper-
tinent: and by him defended as a ſymbol of joy and gladneſs. For
which purpoſe they had been formerly uſed in the Jewiſh ſyna-
gogues . Not that it appears that the privacy of the early Chrif-
H h 2
tian's
$
a Apoftolic. Conftit. Lib. xii. Tum lector ftans è ſuperiori loco aliquam fcripturæ
è Veteri Teftamento pericopen legebat: poft lectionem Hymni Davidici populo initia
verſuum concinente in Ecclefiâ refonabant. Hymnis dictis ex Epiftolâ quâdam Novi Tef-
camenti, vel ex Apoftolorum A&ibus facer textus legebatur, et, interfertis hymnis, Evan-
gelium.
Solent in his (Synagogis) accendere lucernas, honoris cauſa. Orach Chajim. Eft om-
ninò obligatorium, ut lucerna in Sabbatho in ædibus fuis accenſa ſit, quod pertinet ad
Gabbathi
236
BOOK IV
THE LIFE ON
i
tian's worſhip admitted them. They ſeem to have been introduced
after Conſtantine's time at the tombs and relicts of the ſaints : and
Jerome acknowledges a ſuperſtitious abuſe of them even in his
time, by ſome ſimple men and women of more zeal than know-
ledge. Inſtead of this ſymbol of joy the Reformers ſubſtituted the
reality; requiring, after the Goſpel was named, the people to give
glory to God : and at the cloſe of it to return thanks.
Theſe ſcriptures were followed by a recital of the Nicene or
Conſtantinopolitan Creed ; firſt introduced by Timothy, Patriarch
of Conſtantinople, about the year 511 : but not brought into the
Roman ſervice till 1014.
After the Creed came an Expoſition of ſcripture, which the
Greeks called an homily, and the Latins a tract or ſermon the
uſe of it was to explane or apply the ſcripture that had been juſt
before read to the congregation. A practice from the Jewiſh fyna-
gogue transferred to the apoſtolical church, and from thence cona
tinued to this day. And the ſermons at the Reformation, like
thoſe of the antient Fathers, inſtead of the legendary tales of the
Romaniſts, or our modern deſultory diſcourſes and effays, were ge-
nerally expoſitions of the Goſpel for the day, or homilies, drawn
up for leſs exerciſed preachers, ſtating the ſcripture doctrine of ſal-
vation, which had been ſo long corrupted by the impoſitions of
the Church of Rome.
If there was no exhortation in the ſermon to the worthy re-
ceiving the holy facrament, then an exhortation was provided to:
be read for that purpoſe, printed in the Common Prayer Book ;
in which, againſt the Revilers of the Elements, they are called bólý
myſteries, the pledge of Chriſt's love, and the remembrance of his own :
bleſſed bidy and precious blood; and, againſt Tranſubſtantiation, it is
added, for us to feed upon Spiritually to our endleſs comfort and
confolation.
-
Sabbathi delicias. Maimon. Pariter in Talmude legimus accendendam effe lucernam in ho-.
norem diei feti. Vitring. de Synag.
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
237
conſolation. And for the more worthy receiving of it by the pre-
paration of a good life, a ſecond exhortation informs them, that
without a good life neither the Abſolution of the prieſt can any
thing avale them, nor the receiving this Holy Sacrament doth
any thing but encreaſe their damnational Directing the ſcrupu-
lous" to go to fome diſcrete and learned prieſt, taught in God's
law, and confeſs his fin and grief ſecretly, that he may
receive
“ſuch ghoſtly council, advice, and comfort, that his conſcience may
be relieved: Requiring, ſuch as ſhall be ſatisfied with a gene-
ral confeſſion not to be offended with them that do uſe, to their
further ſatisfying, the auricular and ſecret confeſſion to the prieſt:
" nor thoſe alſo which think it needful or convenient for the quiet-
• neſs of their own confciences particularly to open their fins to the
“prieſt, to be offended with them that are ſatisfied with their hum-
"ble confeffion to God, and the general confeſſion to the church,
• But in all things to follow and keep the rule of charity, and every
man to be ſatisfied with his own conſcience, not judging men's
minds or conſciences, whereas he has no warrant of God's word
• for the fame' This was exactly according to the opinion and
judgment of the Biſhop of Rocheſter ; who, though he vindicated
men's liberty as to this point of auricular confeſſion, and inſiſted
that it was not abſolutely neceſſary to falvation, yet, as he declares
in his letter to Weſt (written when he was in priſon) he approved
it in many caſes as profitable. Confeſſion to the miniſter, which
is able to inſtruct, correct, comfort, and inform the weak, and
"wounded, and ignorant conſcience, indeed I ever thought might
• do much good in Chriſt's congregation : and ſo I aſſure you
I think
- even at this day a'
Next was ſung one or more of the ſentences during the offertory.
And now the Elements are to be placed upon the table or altar
which.
• Martyr's Letters.
23%
BOOK IV.
THE LIFE OF
which is done with great ceremony by the Church of Rome, with
this prayer, * O Holy Trinity, receive this oblation, which I,
"unworthy finger, offer to the honor of thee, and of the bleffed
• Mary, and of all thy faints, for my fins and offences, and for the
· health of the living, and for the reſt (peace) of all the faithful
departed. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoſt be
o this new facrifice acceptable to Almighty God. Where the Vir-
gin' Mary and All Saints are made partakers of the ſame honor as
is given to the Holy Trinity. Inſtead of this exceſs, defervedly
laid aſide, fome of us have ſlovenly faln into an oppoſite one, by
permitting the Elements to be indecently offered and placed upon
the table by the clerk or ſexton, contrary to our rubrick.
As to the Elements themfelves, the Romans uſed unleavened
afers, ſtampt with a crucifix; and our Reformers ordered, that
• for avoiding all matters and occaſions of diffention, it is meet that
the bread prepared for the Communion be made through all this
• realm after one fort and faſhion, that is to ſay, unleavened and
round, as it was afore, but without all manner of print, and ſome-
thing more large and thicker than it was, that ſo it may be aptly
* divided in divers pieces. The wine, in the Roman Church, was
to be mixt with a little waters and by the rubrick of Edw. vith's
Firſt Book, it was ordered to be mixt, ' putting thereto a little pure
6 and clean water. As theſe were ſuppoſed to be the Elements
which Chriſt uſed at the inſtitution of his ſupper, when the prints
and ſtamps were taken away, the uſe of them might be
very
in-
nocently injoined: and the enjoining them by our firſt Committee
of Divines was agreeable to their general principle, particularly that
of Ridley, who tells us in his letter to Weſt, '. Sodain changes
. without ſubſtantial and neceſſary cauſe, and the heady ſetting
forth of extremities, I did never love •;'. Wherefore Renandot
ſpeaks
3
Martyr's Letters,
1
Book IV.
239
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
fpeaks in the ſpirit of his party, raſh, groundleſs, and intemperate
in his cenſures, when he repreſents the Compilers of our Liturgy
as conſpirators againſt the Church of Rome, whoſe prime maxim
it was to depart from their ſervice as far as ever they poſſibly could".
The croſſings, cenſings, and kiſſings, that follow in the Maſs
Book, were all omitted. But the Surfum corda, and ſome of the
prefaces were retained, with the hymn Therefore with angels and
archangels. Beſide the five prefaces which we ſtill retain, the Ro-
maniſts may plead antiquity in favor of four more; viz. the Epiph-
any, the feaſt of the Apoſtles, the feaſt of the Croſs, and in times
of faſting ; I mean as far back as Pelagius 11. Anno Domini 577,
who mentions theſe nine, as then obſerved from the practice of ma-
ny ages paſt: but he adds, thefe only were to be obſerved. So that
the preface in honor of the Virgin Mary was not yet framed, as the
was not yet grown to be the principal object of worſhip in the Ro-
man Church. The Reformers very cautiouſly abſtained from any
ſuperſtitious veneration of the creature ; and honored no days with
a particular preface, but ſuch as related to the Birth, Reſurrection,
or Aſcenſion of Chriſt, the deſcent of the Holy Ghoſt, or the Bleſ-
fed Trinity.
Then followed the prayer called, according to the Eaſtern Church,
de omnibus & pro omnibus ; by the Romans pro vivis & mortuis ;
and by the Reformers For the whole ſtate of Chriſt's Church bere on
earth. The Romaniſts make this Commemoration of Chriſt's.
Death a propitiatory facrifice for the Living and the Dead; the Re-
formers accompanied it, like the ancients, with the prayers of cha
rity in their behalf. While therefore the Papifts by a late ſuperſti-
tion
pray for protection through the merits and interceſſions of the
Virgin, Apoſtles, and Martyrs, and recommend to God's mercy.
the ſouls of particular perfons departed, that they with all others
may
2. Hæc fuit prima Conjuratorum adverſus Romanam Ecclefiam teſera, ut ab ejus diſci.
plinâ quam longiſſimè recederent. Liturg. Orient. Differt. p. 15,
1
240
Book IV .
THE LIFE OF
grant them his
may enjoy a place of refreſhment, light, and peace ; miſapplying
theſe addreſſes to the ſupport of the lucrative doctrine of Purgatory :
our Reformers gave God' moſt high praiſe and hearty thanks for
the wonderful grace and virtue declared in all his ſaints from the
* beginning of the world. Whoſe examples and ſtedfaſtneſs in his
faith, and keeping his holy commandments they beg he would
grace
to follow : and then, not for baſe lucre, to
deliver ſouls from purgatory, but with a primitive love and charity,
commending to God's mercy all other God's ſervants, which are
departed hence with the ſign of faith, and now reſt in the ſleep of
peace: "beſeeching God to grant them everlaſting peace, and that
• at the day of the general reſurrection, we, and all they that be of
* the myſtical body of thy Son, may altogether be ſet on his right
hand, and hear that his moſt joyful voice, Come, O ye
that.be
bleſſed of my Father.'
Prayers for the dead were doubtleſs antient; Tertullian mentions
them as a traditional cuſtom in his time, which was in the begin-
ning of the third century : but at firſt thoſe prayers were enco-
miums
upon the dead, and thankſgivings to God for their exem-
plary lives; and offered up to God, not for the ſouls of the depart-
ed to benefit them, but for the profit of the living, that they might
be excited to an imitation of their virtues, inflamed with a deſire of
their happineſs, and ſtrengthened in the faith of a reſurrection and
eternal rewards. For thus we learn from the forged Dionyfius,
who (though forged) is nevertheleſs a witneſs for the 5th age of
Chriſtianity. He asks, ſeeing the dead man hath already that
which he thall have, why doth the prieſt pray over his corpſe for
his felicity? He anſwers, that it may be declared to them that
ſtand by, what God hath promiſed to the faithful, giving comfort
and aſſurance to the people preſent, both of the reſurrection, and
the beſtowing of eternal rewards. So that the prieſt therein, un-
der
::
De Ecclefiafticâ Hierarchia.
BOOK IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
241
der the pretence of prayer, only performs the part of God's inter-
preter.
It muſt not however be denied that, even in the cloſe of
the fourth century, falſe opinions had obtained of the dead being
benefited by the prayers of the living ; as appears from the objec-
tions of Aerius, to which Epiphanius replied “ nearly in the ſame
manner as Dionyſius. From which objections and replies we may
learn, that in prayers for the dead, as a teſtimony of our cha-
rity, as an excitement to virtue, as a declaration of their pre-
ſent exiſtence, and happineſs, and of our faith in accounting
to God hereafter for our behaviour, the objectors had nothing to
cenſure : but when offered up in confidence that the dead had their
pains releaſed or mitigated, or their felicity encreaſed by means of
ſuch
prayers, theſe were exceſſes which even the vindicators of
the practice would not defend. And it ſhould be obſerved, in evi-
dence that they preſumed not that their prayers would releaſe from
pain or purgatory thoſe whom they prayed for, that in the oldeſt
liturgies the ſouls of the patriarchs, apoſtles, faints, martyrs, and
confefſors are joined in the ſame addreſs with the ſouls of all others
whom they prayed for, even the Virgin Mother herſelf b.
But this ranging all the dead, who had been baptized, in the
ſame claſs with prophets, apoſtles, and martyrs, and to pray for
their happineſs, in heaven, as if they had already attained it, diſ-
gufted St. Auſtin ; who thought this preſumption injurious to a
martyr, whoſe interceſſion for us we ſhould rather deſire, than
pretend to intercede for him. For others, ſays he, the prayers of the
church obtain remiſſion of fin, mitigation of pain, releaſe from pu-
niſhment, acceſs to the kingdom of God. This was the ſecond
ſtage of this cuſtom, and a great advance beyond the original de-
I i
ſign
a Hærefis LXXV.
• Horum omnium animabus dona requiem in finĉtis tuis tabernaculis, in regno tuo,
largiens eis promiſfionum tuarum bona, Liturg. Alexandr.
c Sermo xvii. de verbis Apoftol.
242
Book IV.
THE LIFE OF
.
ſign. The laſt ſtage of it was the idolatrous and oppreſſive abuſe
in the Church of Rome; directing our prayers to Patriarchs, Apof-
tles, Saints, Martyrs, the Virgin Mary, and even to Miſcreants ca-
nonized, that their abundant merits may be transferred to us, and
that purchaſed maffes might redeme the ſouls of our friends and re-
lations from purgatory. This our Reformers with a juft indigna-
tion expunged, and reverted back, beyond St. Auſtin, to the primi-
tive deſign ; praiſing God for the wonderful graces and virtues de-
clared in all his ſaints from the beginning of the world, and propo-
ſing them as examples for our imitation ; expreſſing cur charity to-
wards all others departed hence in the ſign of faith, that they may
enjoy mercy and everlaſting peace; and directing our faith to a fu-
ture recompence.
With this is connected the Confecration Prayer ; which
which prayer
and the order in which it is placed is warranted by the antient li-
turgies. From the beginning of this prayer to the time of the
prieſt's receiving the elements there were in the Roman ſervice a
great number of croſſings, no leſs than ſeven and twenty : our Re-
formers knowing in what high regard and eſteem the Croſs of
Chriſt was from the time that he wrought our redemption upon it,
and ought to be among Chriſtians to the end of the world; not-
withſtanding the great abuſe, ſuperſtition and idolatry which had
been occaſioned by it, ventured to retain it twice, over the elements,
in token, by ſo retaining it, that they were not aſhamed of the croſs
of Chrift: and by rejecting the ſo frequent uſe of it, as had before
prevaled, teſtifying their diſlike and fear of any ſuperſtitious abuſe.
They confecrated in this manner; "Hear us, O merciful Father,
we beſeech thee, and with thy bleſſed fpirit and word vouchſafe
' to bleefs and fancomatify theſe thy gifts and creatures of bread
* and wine, that they may be' unto us the body and blood of thy
moſt dearly beloved Son Jeſus Chriſt, who in the ſame night
that he was betrayed took bread.' (To be ſaid without any
ele-
vation
BOOK IV.
243
DR. NICHOL AS
RID L E Y.
vation or ſhewing to the people.) Now, though the piety of their
intent, and the practice of great antiquity might juſtify our Refor-
mers in this, yet I doubt not but at the ſecond review it was judg-
ed, that retaining the croſſings juſt at this place would be apt to
miſlead the people, long accuſtomed to the doctrine of Tranſub-
ftantiation, as if theſe croſſes were eſſential to conſecration, and
worked that ſtupendous effect of converting the elements into the
natural body and blood of Chriſt. Their omitting it therefore at
the ſecond review was a good remedy againſt that evil : and the
mind being directed, in that prayer, to meditate on the croſs, and
Chriſt's oblation of himſelf upon it for the ſins of the whole world;
and to receive the bread and wine in remembrance of his death
and paſſion, the pious deſign of our Reformers is ſufficiently pre-
ſerved. For" ſigns and words are meant only to excite the mind :
it is a maxim mentioned in the Cantela Miſa, magna latent in fig-
nis, majora in verbis, maxima in intentione. Great ſecret benefits
are produced by Signs, greater by words, but the greateſt by the mind.
Wherefore he who devoutly meditates on the croſs needs neither
words nor ſigns : but he who wants to have his thoughts awaken-
ed, where figns have been ſuperſtitiouſly abuſed, may be as effec-
tually excited by words only.
Omitting the elevation and adoration of the Croſs practiſed in
the Church of Rome, our Divines (agreeably I believe to every
Chriſtian Church down to that time) commemorated Chriſt's bleſ-
ſed Paffion, mighty Reſurrection, and glorious Aſcenſion, render-
ing moſt hearty thanks for the innumerable benefits procured unto
us by the ſame. And then proceded with that prayer, which is
ſince thrown into the Poſt-Communion, humbly deſiring God to
accept this their facrifice of praiſe and thankſgiving; which con-
cludes, as the Roman does, “command theſe our prayers and ſup-
plications by the miniſtery of thy holy angels, to be brought up in-
* to thy holy tabernacle, before the fight of thy divine Majeſty,
not
1 i 2
(
244
Book IV..
THE LIFE OF
:
be ſung,
not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offences. And then,
(paſſing over the prayers for the dead) agreeably to all the primitive
liturgies now extant, this whole prayer is recommended by ſub-
joining the Pater nofter.
Then an exhortation, confeffion, abſolution, ſentences, and the
prayer, • We do not preſume to come to this thy table, O merciful
• Lord, truſting in our own righteouſneſs,' introduce the Commu-
nion itſelf in both kinds, ſaying at the delivery of the reſpective ele-
ments, · The body (or blood] of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, which;
. was given [or ſhed] for thee, preſerve thy body and ſoul unto:
• everlaſting life.' While they are communicating, is appointed to
• O Lamb of God, that takeſt away the ſins of the world,
• have mercy upon us. O Lamb of God, that takeſt away the lins
• of the world, grant us thy peace.'
After this, are repeted ſeveral ſentences out of the ſcripture, con-
taining precepts and encouragements to a holy life; to which fuc-
cedes our ſecond Collect of Thankſgiving; - Almighty and ever-
living God, we moſt heartily thank thee ; and then the congre-
gation was diſmiſſed with the Bleſſing.
The Six Collects, as in our preſent books, to be ſaid after the
Offertory, when there is no Communion, follow; with one for
rain, and another for fair weather.
The Litany is next in order, taken from that of Gregory : but
expunging the idolatrous addreſſes made to faints in it. Many of
theſe indeed had been added ſince Gregory's time, though ſome
inuſt be referred to him. Gregory gathered it from the Apoſtoli-
cal Conſtitutions, the Office of St. Ambroſe, and other antient Li-
tanies. But he is himſelf ſaid to be the firſt among the Latins
who introduced into the Litanies the invocation of faints, and
par-
ticularly that of the Virgin Mary, Sancta Mater, ora pro nobis.
Holy Mother, pray for us. So that the firſt publick eſtabliſhers of
this idolatry in the Church were Peter, Biſhop of Antioch in the
Eaſt,
BOOK IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
245
Eaſt, A. D. 470, and Gregory in the Weſt, about one hundred
and fifty years after. In the Roman Litany after the addreſs to
the Trinity follow above threeſcore idolatrous fupplications to the
Virgin Mary, Angels, Apoſtles, Evangeliſts, Saints, Martyrs,
Biſhops, Confeſſors, Doctors, Prieſts, Levites, Monks, Friers,
Virgins and Widows, to pray for us.. This Litany was ready
purged to the hands of the Committee by Herman, Archbiſhop
of Cologne, and was publiſhed in Engliſh the year before the
Common Prayer Book came out. One clauſe was inſerted in it,
• From the tyranny of the Biſhop of Rome, and all his deteſtable
• enormities, Good Lord deliver us.' From the year 570 the Li-
tanies had been chiefly uſed in proceſſions : but were now reſtored
to their primitive places, the places of religious worſhip; and were
appointed on Wedneſdays and Fridays in the mornings; as alſo on
Sundays, when the Communion Service was to be read after it, at
the altar : and even if there was no Communion as far as to the
offertory, after which one or more of thoſe collects at the end of
the ſervice were appointed to be uſed.
A like care was taken in the other offices, needleſs here to be
particularly run over : only obſerving, that in Baptiſm exorciſm :
was uſed, the infant was anointed, thrice dipped, and had the chry-
ſom put upon ita: in Confirmation the Biſhop was to croſs the
per-
ſon in the forehead: in Matrimony, bracelets and jewels were to
be given as tokens of ſpouſals : in Viſiting the Sick; unction on the
forehead and breaſt, if deſired, were allowed : in the Funeral Ser-
vice the prieſt was to caſt earth upon the corpſe, and to recommend
the ſoul to God : at Churching the woman was to offer up her
chryſom”.
Ceremonies, which having much in antiquity to plead for them,
to which the people had been long habituated, and in themſelves
indifferent, the Committee found it inconvenient, if not impracti-
cable, to drop; for even the alterations, which the majority thought
it.
The anointed linen cloth put upon infants newly baptized.
246
BOOK IV.
THE LIFE OF
it neceſſary to make, were proteſted againſt by ſome of the Com-
miſſioners ; Day of Chicheſter particularly refuſing to ſubſcribe to
the regulations. Calvin indeed by a letter to the Protector adviſed
a more thorough reformation of the Liturgy and Offices, and would
not allow of this yielding to the times : but it was much eaſier to
dictate imperiouſly at a diſtance, than to behave with propriety in
the midſt of the difficulties. Cranmer therefore, knowing the
man, and the temper of the nation, refuſed the aſſiſtance which
Calvin offered in framing the Liturgy. In which neither could
Peter Martyr, nor Bucer be concerned ; the former not arriving
here till the end of November, after the Liturgy had been printed
in June, though not confirmed by Parliament: and Bucer came
not till ſome time after. It was ſo prudently tempered, rejecting
only what they neceſarily muſt, and yielding all they innocently
could, that even Gardiner himſelf in the main approved it, as Biſhop
Burnet reports, from a view of large notes of his fermon preached
on St. Peter's day, which was ſoon after the Common Prayer Book
was firſt printed. In his ſermon (ſays Biſhop Burnet) he expreſſed
himſelf very fully concerning the Pope's ſupremacy as juſtly abo-
liſhed, and the ſuppreſſion of monaſteries and chanteries he
ap
proved of the King's procedings; he thought indeed images might
have been well uſed, but yet they might be well taken
approved of the facrament in both kinds, and the taking away
that
great number of maſſes ſatisfactory, and liked well the new Order
for the Communion : yet aſſerting largely the preſence of Chriſt's
fleſh and blood in the ſacrament, and ſaying nothing of the King's
authority under age, nor of the power of the Council in that caſe ;
which were the two points, that he was chiefly required to preach
upon. Wherefore for this ſtudied neglect he was again impriſoned.
There has indeed an outcry been made againſt the Reformation,
as only a Parliamentary Religion : but having been drawn up by
the biſhops, and beſt godly learned divines in the kingdom ; paſſed
in
;
away ; he
Book IV.
247
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
in Convocation; approved of by Parliament; and confirmed by the
King and his Council, it had all the ſanction poſſible. It is true
the ſeſſions of that Convocation, and of the reſt in this reign,
were deſtroyed in the fire of London : but Dr. Abbot (af-
terwards Archbiſhop of Canterbury) tells us,
6 that when our
religion, for the ordinary exerciſe of it, had been collected in-
• to the Book of Common Prayer by the pains and labor of many
• learned Men, and of mature judgment, it was afterwards confirm-
• ed by the Upper and Lower Houſe : yet not ſo but that the more
material points were diſputed, and debated in the Convocation
by men of both parties ; and might have been further diſcuſſed
• ſo long as any Popiſh Divine had ought reaſonably to ſay a.'
The Popiſh Author of the Church Hiſtory of England muſt ſay
ſomething to pleaſe his party in relating this tranſaction. He tells
us, 'they pretended to work upon the plan of the four Rituals hi-
• therto uſed in England, viz. thoſe of Sarum, York, Bangor, and
* Lincoln.' And did they not do what they pretended to do? If
they did, one would think a Roman Catholick would not cenſure
them for paying ſuch regard to their old rituals : and that they did,
this writer acknowledges by ſaying that “it (the Engliſh Liturgy)
« varied very little, only in certain omiſſions, from the Latin Litur-
gy.' Theſe omiſſions he intimates were chiefly in diſcipline and
ceremonies b; and that ceremonies are not things of the greateſt
conſequence “; and that of the old ones it might perhaps be ima-
gined, even by the Popiſh Clergy, that there was a ſuperfluity and
abuſe. If ſo, one would think, the Popiſh Clergy themſelves being
judges, our Reformers thus far deſerved commendation. However
he tells us they made their exceptions ; they alleged, that it
was a bold untertaking to model cnew the Liturgy of the Univer-
• fal Church.'—What, did the Universal Church all over the world
till the days of the Reformation uſe but one and the ſame Liturgy?
Did the Eaſt and the Weſt, the Greek and Latin Church, agree in
uſing
<
a. Strype's Mem. vol. 11. p. 87
p. 353
p. 354.
248
BOOK IV.
THE LIFE OF
c
uſing one common Order ? Had not the Orientals ſeveral different
Liturgies? Had not the Latins ſeveral Offices ? Did not their Pope
Gregory new model the Services that had been before him when
he compiled his Sacramentary ? And what was the advice which
the fame Gregory gave to Auſtin the Monk in his miſſion to Us ;
• Your Brotherhood knows, ſays he, the cuſtom of the Roman
• Church in which you was brought up : but I am content that
• whatever you can find in the Roman, Gallican, or any Church,
· which may beſt pleaſe Almighty God, you do carefully chooſe
' that, and infuſe into your new converted Church of England by a
ſpecial inſtitution, what you ſo gather from ſeveral churches; for
things are not to be beloved for the places fake, but places are to
· be beloved for the good things that are there ; wherefore out of
every Church chooſe ſuch things as are pious, religious, and
right, and gathering theſe into one collection, depoſit them for
cuſtoms in the minds of the Engliſh.'
And in England did not Oſmund frame that very ſervice, which
this writer calls the Liturgy of the Univerſal Church, fo late as
1080 ? Which yet was not ſo general even in this kingdom but that
the churches of York, Bangor and Lincoln had their ſeveral uſages
different from it? And was it a boider undertaking in a national
fynod to new model thoſe particular Liturgies, than it was in Of-
mund, and the reſpective Biſhops of thoſe other fees to new model
the Liturgies that had been in uſe before ; eſpecially when it is al-
lowed that in that Liturgy of the Univerſal Church, as this Author
calls it, now to be new modelled, there might be a ſuperfluity and
an abuſe of Ceremonies ?
• But the omiſſions (he tells us,) were ſuſpected of a deſign
againſt the Chriſtian Sacrifice.' They were indeed intended to
drop the idolatry, abſurdities, and corruptions, which time
had introduced into it, and which were impoſed upon the
people; to reſtore it according to its divine inſtitution, to an
euchariſtical facrifice, commemorative of the one only full,
perfect,
į
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
279
perfect and ſufficient ſacrifice, Chriſt Jeſus'; purged from the
abſurdity of believing that bread and wine were the natural feth and
blood of Chriſt ; from the idolatry of worſhipping that bread and
wine as a God; and from the diſhonor done to Chriſt's ſatisfaction,
once made, in offering that bread and wine to propitiate for the fins
of the Living and the Dead.
Laſtly, it is urged by this Author' as a piece of preſumption to
' affirm, as the Act ſpecifies, that it was carried on by the aid of
the Holy Ghoſt.' This reflection falls upon the Act of Parlia-
ment rather than the Liturgy: but ſurely it is no blameable pre-
ſumption to rely upon Chriſt's promiſes, who tells us that when
two or three are gathered together in his name, he is there in the
midſt of them. Therefore when the King, whoſe heart God diſ-
poſes, committed this work to the beſt learned in God's law to be
reviſed; when thoſe learned men met to confer together on ſuch im-
portant points as the truth of Chriſt's doctrine, and the purity of
his worſhip; when the reſt of the Clergy and People were requi-
red to give themſelves to prayer for a bleſſing on that learned af-
ſembly; when their determinations were examined, debated, and
approved of by a national ſynod; it was not ſure too much to pre-
ſume that they were aſſiſted by the ordinary aids of grace. Cer-
tainly the expreſſion is not to be objected to by one who allows it
with regard to the Council of Trent ; where matters were deter-
mined, not by the Divines there aſſembled, but by the previous
deciſions of the Pope, inſomuch that the bigotted Spaniards them-
ſelves fcrupled not to deliver it as a proverb, that the Synod of Trent
was guided by the Holy Ghoſt ſent thither from time to time in a
cloke-bag from Rome. I could wiſh therefore that the natural
born ſubjects of England educated in Popiſh errors, would ex-
change the ſuperſtition and idolatry ditabliſhed by the cloke-bag at
Trent, for the reaſonable ſervice, (purged from acknowledged ſu-
perfluity and abuſe of Ceremonies,) enjoined by due authority of
their own governours at home.
Kk
The
250
THE LIFE OF
BOOK IV.
.
1548.
The Commiſſioners met for this purpoſe, as was
$. 7. State af- before obſerved, in May this year, as not affiſted,
fairs.
fo neither prejudiced by foreign Proteftants; who
were not yet come over into England : but were
foon after invited by the compaſſionate Archbiſhop, upon a mourn-
ful repreſentation by Bucer of his own, and religion's diſtreſt ſtate
in Germany, occaſioned by the decree of the interim. Which
was intended as a palliating ſcheme, in which Papifts and Proteſ-
tants were required to acquieſce till the Pope would grant a Gene-
ral Council to be called in Germany: that which had been called
at Trent being now removed to one of the Pope's own cities, Bo-
lonia. But both parties were diſguſted; the Fathers of Bolonia
were offended that the Emperour ſhould take upon him to decide
in matters of religion, and concede the Communion in both kinds,
and the Marriage of Prieſts without their conſent: the Proteſtants
on the other hand were as ill ſatisfied that all the reſt continued er-
rant Popery. The Interim was publiſhed in the March preceding;
and many Germans fled on account of it this ſummer, ſome into
Switzerland, and others into England.
The Plague raged in London this year when the ſummer was
pretty far adyanced, which occafioned the King to retire to Leghes
and Hatfield during the months of Auguſt, September, and Octo-
ber ; and was the reaſon for prorogueing the Parliament from
October 15 to November 24, and alſo for putting off Michaelmas
Term.
Juſt before, Gardiner was again committed to the Tower for
Burnet. obſtructing the King's procedings in his diocefe, and diſregarding
the Protector's and Council's commands in a ſermon preached on
St. Peter's day : as clemency with regard to his former offence
had wrought no good effect in him; and as they judged it necef-
ſary to terrify others by their proçedings with him.
I hear
:
* June 30
BOOK IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
2-51
I hear nothing of Biſhop Ridley till September, when I find hiin
with the Archbiſhop at Chertſey, afliſting at the conſecration of
that poor unhappy man, Dr. Farrar, now Biſhop of St. David's; to
whoſe memory
the compaſſionate Reader cannot but let drop a tear,
He experienced ſoon how inſeparable trouble is from honor. He
was in high eſteem with the Protector, whoſe Chaplain he was,
and by him promoted to the See of St. David's, by Letters Patent
from the King, without Conge d'elire, the firſt, as the Regiſter
takes notice, who was ſo conſecrated by virtue of the Act paſſed
for that purpoſe in the preceding ſeſſion. As ſoon as his patron
was faln, he fell likewiſe, by the baſe ingratitude of two of his of.
ficers, ſecret Papiſts, whom he too implicitly truſted, his Chancel-
lor and Regiſter. Theſe men accuſed him of incurring a Premu-
nire by omitting the King's Titles in a Commiſſion to his Chan-
cellor to viſit the Chapter of Caermarthen ; which Commiſſion he
left the Chancellor himſelf to draw up, who, having purpoſely
made the miſtake, proſecuted his Maſter the good Biſhop for it ;
and then encouraging the Tenants and Clergy to pay nothing
the Biſhop, diſabled him from paying the Firſt Fruits and Tenths,
by which means he was caſt into priſon, and lay there all the re-
maining part of King Edward's reign ; and in Queen Mary's
days was continued there for his Faith, nor was diſcharged from
his priſon till he changed it for the ſtake.
About this time died the good Queen Dowager ; whoſe death
made way for the ripening thoſe intrigues which diſturbed the re-
mainder of this reign. She died in childbed of a daughter named
Mary; and, as ſome writers ſay, not without ſuſpicion of poiſon ;
but certainly, as Lady Tyrwhit and others witneſſed', with great
jealouſies of the Lord Admiral's affection for the Lady Eliſabeth ;
and grieved to the heart at his taunting and imperious behaviour
to
to her.
K k 2
The
- Haines's Collection of State Papers.
*
--
i
252
THE LIFE
OF
Book IV.
The policies of the two Brothers ſeem to have been, that the
Duke of Somerſet was willing to lift his bloffonis high by twining
himſelf round the King for his ſupport; while his Brother meant
to fupplant him, and ſtand in his room : the Duke of Somerſet
aimed at bringing the Crown into his family; the Lord Sudly at
wearing it himſelf.
To effect his ends, the Protector, after the
Scots had thrown their Queen and themſelves into the hands of
France, ſeems to have defigned his Daughter for the young King ;
and, probably to facilitate that marriage by removing a dangerous
rival out of the way, intended to marry the accompliſhed Lady Jane
Gray (who alſo was in ſucceſſion to the Crown, though at a great
diſtance) to his Son Lord Hartford. The Royal Power he now ex-
erciſed as Lord Protector, and his views of continuing his influence
by making His a Royal Family, probably inſpired him with that
feverity and overbearing behaviour in the Council-Chamber, which
grew upon him from this time : yet he courted the populace by
ſiding with the Commons againſt the Nobility : favoring and in-
terpoſing in their ſuits, and pardoning their offences. But his po-
liticks were conſiſtent with the King's ſafety, and indeed built
upon it.
got
While the Lord Admiral's, both in the aim and in the means,
drew quite a different way. To diſconcert his Brother's ſchemes, he
the Lady Jane into his houſe, and by friendſhip and preſents ob-
tained a promiſe from the Marquiſs and Marchioneſs of Dorſet, that
the ſhould never be difpoſed of without his conſent. This would
effectually bar her marriage with Lord Hartford; for he declared that
though the Marquiſs and Marchioneſs were won over, he never would
grant his conſent to that match. The Lady Jane had her Mother
living, beſide the Ladies Mary and Eliſabeth, and the Queen of
Scots, who were all before her in the ſucceſſion : but he hoped that
the young King might be brought to ſet his affections on this beau-
tiful and deſerving Lady, which would be a mean of giving him
an
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
253
an influence over the King for the preſent, and diſappoint the
other match intended by the Duke of Somerſet for his Daughter.
Theſe were counter-plots to his Brother : but his main deſign
was to bring himſelf within probable proſpect of the chief rule, by
marrying the Lady Eliſabeth ; who ſeems to have been not diſin-
clined to the match. He therefore offered her his houſe this Chriſt-
mas, when the intended to viſit the King ; adviſed her to preſs
that her Patent might be ſealed, and to get it into her own hands;
and projected exchanging her lands for others near his own, that
he might ſtrengthen himſelf in Wales, Glouceſterſhire, and that
neighbourhood.
He likewiſe made a faction among the nobles
againſt his Brother, defiring them to gain over the lower fort in
their counties, who having little to loſe would be eaſily won ; and
had himſelf in readineſs about ten thouſand men, and a magazine
of arms, and was ſupplied by the Mint Maſter of Briſtol with
money for their maintenance. And had he married the Lady Eli-
fabeth, his ambition was ſo well known, that the King's danger
was foreſeen, and Sir Robert Tyrwhit told him of it to his face.
How he intended to diſpoſe of the Lady Mary I meet with no dia
rect information : but I ſuppoſe he conceived that he thould be
able to exclude her as illegitimate, by the ſtrength of that influence
which he had as Lord Admiral, his command of the Mint at Brif-
tol by means of the Maſter Sir William Sharrington, his faction
among the nobles, and the power he had in readinefs.
However his huge ambition was fruſtrated, and the Earl of
Warwick ſiding with the Protector to remove this enterprizing
man out of his way, he was ſent to the Tower January 19.
His
bill of attainder was brought into the Houſe of Lords February 25;
and though the Admiral was not preſent (a practice too frequent
in thoſe days) the evidence was ſo ſatisfactory, that they unani-
mouſly pronounced himn guilty. On the 27th it was carried to the
Commons, where ſome argued againſt attainders in abſence ; but
Ont
--
254
Book IV.
THE LIFE OF
on the 4th of March, when about four hundred Members were
preſent, it was aſſented to, againſt only twelve negatives. His
warrant for execution was ſigned on the 17th, the Lord Protector,
and the Archbiſhop of Canterbury, giving their hands to it; and
on Wedneſday the 20th he was beheaded.
He proteſted at his death, as Heylin relates, that he had never
committed, or meant any treaſon againſt the King, or Kingdom :
and Sir John Hayward is very angry at Latimer, for being ſervice-
able to great men's ends, in defiling places erected for religion and
truth, by defending oppreſſions and factions, ſtaining their profef-
fions by publiſhing odious untruths, upon report and credit of
others, for repreſenting this Lord as guilty, when both Houſes of
Parliament had fo adjudged him ; the truth of which appears plane
now to us by the evidence publiſhed among the Cecil papers.
That
he confeſſed nothing, and that the people judged ſomething hardly
of the procedings againſt him, is, I think, intimated by Latimer
in his Lent Sermon at Court the Friday after the execution; where-
in he reproves his hearers, “Ye take upon you to judge the judg-
* ments of Judges, Charity judges the beſt of all men, and eſpe-
cially of magiſtratęs. Actainders in abſence he ſpoke againſt, in
general ; yet pbſerves, that as innocent men by regular proceſs of
law, and ſuffered to ſpeak for themſelves, have ſometimes by the
iniquity of their Judges been condemned ; fo guilty perſons, for
prudential reaſons of ſtate not perunitted to harangue in publick
may, by the uprightneſs of their Judges, have ſtrict juſtice done
them. That the Lord Admiral had leave, and was commanded
on his allegiance to defend himſelf before a great many. witneſſes,
to whom he might have added many more, if he pleaſed : but he
would not; inſiſting upon doing it in open Court, where they
thought his dangerous fpirit was not to be truſted. The intrepidi-
ty with which he died was conſtrued by the people as an argument
of his innocence. This Latimer reſolves into a ſeerd conſcience,
being
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
255
Site
Being a debauched profligate man, the furtheſt from the fear of
« God (ſays he) that ever I knew or heard of in England.' And that
he diſbelieved the immortality of the ſoul. For the ſame reaſons
his folemn declarations of innocencc would amount to nothing.
Latimer mentions the inſtance of two robbers condemned to die
for the ſame fact ; the firſt died proteſting his innocence and igno-
rance of the fact: the ſecond confeſſed the crime, and declared that
his fellow who died juſt before him was his accomplice in it. And
another inſtance at Oxford when he happened to be there, of a
man denying the fact for which he was condemned, but being cut
down before he was quite dead, and recovered by the fire, he con-
feſſed his guilt. • I think ye know what I mean well enough,
ſays he.' Nay, he ſays, that the Admiral had confefled ſo far, that
he thought the King in his minority ſhould not be kept as a Ward,
under reſtraint and Inſtructors. Which I ſuppoſe Latimer glances
at in another place, where he ſays, ' They (Kings) have clawbacks
• that ſay unto them, What Sir, what need you to trouble your-
• ſelf? Take you your pleaſure, hunt, hawke, dance, and cally, let
• us alone : we will govern and order the common weal matters .
6 well enough.' And he likewiſe, tells us, that the Admiral, when ,
he was ready to lay his head on the block, turned to the Lieu
tenant's ſervant, and ſaid to him, that he ſhould bid his ſervant;
ſpeed the thing that he wot of.? And immediately laid down and
died, having received two ſtrokes of the axe. The words happen,
ing to be overheard, the Admiral's ſervant was taken into exami.
nation ; who confeſſed that they were two Letters which his-Maf
ter had written in the Tower to the Ladies Mary and Eliſabeth ;
which he had enjoined him to take his opportunity to deliver:
And that he had made his pen of the aglet: of a point that he
plucked from his hoſe ; and made his ink ſome other way as craft
tily, and then had cauſed theſe two papers to be ſewed in the fole
of a velvet ſhoe of his. And by theſe means theſe letters came to
light,
.
1
256
!
Book IV.
THE LIFE OF
:
light, and fell into the hands of the Protector and Council. Theſe
letters tended to this end, that the two fifters ſhould conſpire
againft the Protector; enforcing many matters againſt him, to make
theſe Royal Ladies jealous of him. Both theſe letters Latimer
ſays he faw; which made him ſay, that the Admiral . died very
dangerouſly, irkſomely, 'horribly, and to conclude that God had
« left him to himſelf; and had clean forſaken him.'
Latimer had opportunity of knowing him, for at the Admiral's
own requeſt he attended him after the ſentence. And it is injurious
to the character of that plane good man to charge him with ſeek-
ing the favor of great men. Whoſe integrity was ſo well known,
that this very Parliament had moved the Council to reſtore him to
his Biſhoprick, which in Henry vruth's time he had conſcientiouſly
reſigned; and now refuſed in his old age, becauſe he would not be
entangled with the cares and honors of the world.
Such being the dangerous practices of the Lord Admiral, no
wonder that the Duke of Somerſet, who was the King's faithful
Protector, having before unſucceſsfully attempted to reclame him,
having often warned him of his doings, been reconciled to him,
given him eight hundred pounds a year to buy his friendſhip, en-
deavoured after his commitment to bring him to a better mind
it is no wonder, I ſay, that the Duke ſhould now give him up,
and
teſtify his own abhorrence of his Brother's treaſons, by ſigning the
warrant for his execution. And beſide theſe juſt provocations on
the King's account, his high ſpirited Dutcheſs had owed him a
Bright- grudge on account of the Queen Dowager, and was probably a ſe-
cret enemy to him: and Warwick, who aimed at the ruin of
Paper.
both the Brothers, worked all his engines to diſunite them; and by
removing this formidable rival out of his way, opened a freer pal-
fage for ſubverting the Protector himſelf.
;
man's
Thus
1.
Book IV.
257
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
Thus fell the Lord Seimour. The Parliament
$. 8. A view of this winter paſſed an Act injoining the Book of
the general avarice
, Service which had been prepared to be uſed
and its ill conſequences. throughout the realm from Whitſunday then next
enſuing. A bill likewiſe paſſed permitting the
Clergy to marry, yet recommending celibacy. In which appeared
the very ſpirit of Bilhop Ridley, who was ſtrenuous in taking
away thoſe legal reſtraints, unenjoined by God, which had led
the way to moſt ſhameful impurities ; infomuch that it was the
apothegm even of a Pope, Pius 11. ' that there ſeemed good reaſon
• for taking away wives from Prieſts, but better for reſtoring them.'
Yet, while in compaſſion to a weakneſs to which he himſelf was
a-ſtranger, he was diligent in vindicating this liberty to others, he
approved and recommended by his own example a perpetual and
chaſte celibacy. To this purpoſe runs the Act 2 and 3 Edw. vi.
Although it were not only better for the eſtimation
of Prieſts, and other Miniſters in the Church of God, to live
.chaſte, ſole and ſeparate from the company of women, and the
• bond of marriage ; but alſo thereby they might the better intend
to the adminiſtration of the Goſpel, and be leſs intricated and
troubled with the charge of houſehold, being free and unbur-
thened from the care and coſt of finding wife and children, and
that it were moſt to be wiſhed, that they would willingly and of
• theirſelves endeavour to keep a perpetual chaſtity ... yet foraf-
much as the contrary hath rather been ſeen, and ſuch unclean-
neſs of living, and other great inconveniences, not meet to be
• rehearſed, have followed of compelled chaſtity, and of fuch Laws
. as have prohibited ſuch perſons the godly uſe of marriage : it
were better and rather to be ſuffered in the Commonwealth,
• that thoſe which could not contain, ſhould after the counſel of
ſcripture, live in holy marriage, than feignedly abuſe with worſe
L1
enormity
cap. 21.
6
>
.
ht
..
253
Book IV.
THE LIFE OF
enormity outward chaſtity or ſingle life. Therefore all Laws po-
* fitive, Canions, Conftitutions and Ordinances prohibiting marriage
' to Spiritual Perfons are abrogated and made void.
This Bill was attended with a proper companion, one againſt
unnatural luſts, fubje&ting the Guilty to the puniſhment of death :
but when the Prieſts were again reftrained from marrying, in
Queen Mary's reign, in the very firſt ſeſſion of her firſt parliament
this act was repealed,
Many other Acts paffed, which the unſettledneſs of the times .
made neceſſary. The Old Religion was diſcharged, but the New
one was not ſufficiently digeſted and eſtablimed: the Pope's Laws
were abrogated, but the King's Laws Civil and Eccleßaftical were
not reduced to fyftem : and though the old mounds were thrown
down, the new fences were not yet made. The few, who meant
well, found the torrent of avarice too violent to ſtem ; they never-
theleſs ſet themſelves againft it with great reſolution : but, in gene-
ral, men rather aimed at facking the Church, than reforming it ;
and the diſcipline was like that of an army let looſe to plunder.
The diſſolution of monaſteries had turned many thouſands adrift.
Some of theſe, how unworthy foover, were preſented by the new Lay
Patrons to Benefices, in order to ſave the penſions reſerved for them:
which filled the Cures with ignorant, idle, vicious men, who con-
tinued errant Papiſts notwithſtanding their outward conformity.
Others had no penſions paid them; and theſe lived upon free boo-
ty, and occafioned the ſevere AC againſt vagabonds, which enacted
* that all who ſhould any where loiter without work, or without of
fering themſelves to work, three days together, ſhould be ſeized,
* and whoſoever ſhould preſent them to a Juſtice of Peace was to
. have them adjudged to be his ſlaves for two years.' The Lands :
granted away from the monaſteries were now let at rack rents ;
which diſcharged vaſt numbers of little Tenants with their fami-
lies, and turned them unprovided for, upon the Publick. Info-
much that Commiſſions were granted this enſuing year to redreſs
the
<
.
**
259
many families
;
Beſide theſe inconveniences, which grew up after the demolition of
Book IV DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
the following grievances; the decay of towns, villages, and houſes
of huſbandry, which dropt and run to ruin by theſe means ; con-
verting arable into paſture, as the wool was then moſt beneficial,
which almoſt depopulated many places, there being now, only a
poor lhepherd boy or two, in the room of
the
heaping together of farms, which were let at rack rents, to the
expulſion of the poor farmers, and driving the rich ones upon this
expedient for ſelling very dear, holding up their own cattle at a
great price, and buying up what was offered, at leſs, that they might
be maſters of the market, Rents were raiſed from forty to an hun-
dred pounds per annum a; Farmers decreaſed above two thirds":
and the prices of things were raiſed near ſeventy per cent. In
prevention of which evils John Hales, Clerk of the Hanaper,
brought in three bills this ſeſſion to oblige Landlords to rebuild
the farm-houſes, which they had dropt; againſt regrating victuals ;
and for more plenty of proviſion, that every man for every hun-
dred of ſheep above fixfcore ſhould keep two kine ; and for each
of thoſe kine one calf; and for every two kine above ten, one calf.
monafteries, the original Poor of the kingdom, who were former-
ly maintained by thoſe monaſteries, were now deſerted, although
provifion had been made by King Henry, that the Lords, to whom
thoſe lands were let or ſold, ſhould keep hoſpitality, and minifter
daily alms; yet they neglected their duty in this point : and the
great men's neglect to keep hoſpitality was one complaint to be
enquired into, and redreſſed by this Commiſſion.
The remedy
for this came very late, nothing being done in it till the gth and
6th of King Edward, when they were left to be ſupported, as
every pariſhioner of his charitable devotion would give : but by the
39
Eliz. that evil was more effectually obviated by the Pariſh rates.
However, Gentlemen's neglecting the country ; not keeping open
hoſpitality ; racking their tenants; joining farms together ; im-
L 1 2
poveriſhing
Latimer's Sermons,
Hales's Charge.
« Letter from Cambridge.
260
THE LIFE O que
Book IV.
*
verſities left a burthen upon the Publick.
poveriſhing the neighbourhood by the want of their ſuccour and
patronage ; and leaving the turbulence of the people's ſpirits to
work without the awe and reſtraint of fuperiors, was never remem
died in this reign.
To theſe vaſt numbers, diverted from their uſual manner of fup-
port, muſt be added many, whom the decay of ſcholars in both Uni-
The charity of the
Londoners had formerly maintained ſeveral poor ſcholars ; this
charity now ſtopped: the dearneſs of proviſions, and the little en-
couragement left for Learning had ſo reduced them, that Latimer
complains in this year, that there were ten thouſand fewer fcholars
at Cambridge, than were there twenty years before. Here there-
fore was a great army of neceffitous perfons driven out from any
allotment in the ſociety to ſhift for themſelves.
The Great had ſet an example of avarice by their open plunder
of Church Revenues, and oppreſſion of the poor Tenants : and if
the Rich were fo ſelfiſh and graſping at more, thoſe who were
ſtarving would not ſcruple to take a little to relieve their neceſſities.
The Protector himfelf was now building a magnificent Palace, So-
merſet Houfe, on the ſite of the Houſes of the Biſhops of Worcef-
ter, Litchfield, and Landaff, and the Pariſh Church. And as
theſe materiałs were not ſufficient to execute his plan, he demo-
liſhed a ſtately Cloiſter at St. Paul's, which furrounded Pardon
Church-yard, within which incloſure were two Chapels, one of
them famous for a curious piece of ſculpture called The Dance of
Death. And as all theſe would not yet complete the magnificent
deſign, moſt part of the Church of St. John's of Jerufalem near
Smithfield was blown
up with gunpowder to furniſh ſtone for his
buildings. Bifhops, Deans, and Chapters were obliged to alienate
great part of their revenues. The example ſpread : the church
plate and vefſels were ſeized upon by inferior Church Officers, and
fold for their own uſe. Patrons ſold their Livings : they and the
Pariſhioners cheated the vicars of their remaining tithes; the great-
2:
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
265
ma
lin from
p. 115.
Proclam.
er hardſhip, as the poor vicars had loſt much of their incomes by
the aboliſhing of private maſſes, chantries, and obits. To remedy
this, two bills were paſſed this ſeſſion, one for the juſt ſetting
forth of tithes, and the other for Perſonal tithes in trading towns.
This laſt remedy has proved entirely ineffectual ; and the poor
vicars of market-towns continue to have the moſt laborious Cures, See Heya
and the worſt maintenance of any in the kingdom. This rapine Latimer,
and preying one upon another went through the kingdom ; thé P. 61.
officers at court kept the poor tradeſmen out of their money feve-
ral months; thoſe employed in laying out the publick money were
forced to pay three hundred marks to have their bills warranted, Latimer's
and ſo their falſe accounts were paffed. In the army, the King's Sermon,
full pay was received, but the numbers of the Bands were not half
filled, except on a muſter day, when people were hired to ſupply King's
the places; and the ſoldiers taking example from their officers pro-
vided not themſelves of horſe and harneſs meet to ſerve withal.
For remedy of which the King iſſued out a ſtrict Proclamation,
April 6. In Commerce, the mint-maſters made the coin too light,
and ſtole the ſavings : what chiefly paſſed in traffick, the teſtoons
or ſhillings, were in great quantities counterfeited; which, though
done abroad by foreigners, and ſent hither, added greatly to the
other calamities of the Poor. What coin was over-weight the
Goldſmiths and Merchants would engroſs and melt down, leaving
only the light and worn money to paſs cufrent. Againſt this in-
convenience a Proelámation iſſued the 3d of April. That there
ſhould be tricks, frauds and combinations in trades and manufacto-
ries was no wonder ; Latimer mentions fome, and a bill paſſed
this ſeſſion againſt conſpiracies of victuallers and craftſmen. Great
complaints were made of the abounding of vice and immoralities,
which the Clergy could neither reſtrain nor punith. Therefore a
bill was put in for Eccleſiaſtical Laws and Juriſdiction : but the
Temporal Lords, not caring to have their own vices amended,
threw it out, on this pretext, that moſt of the Bifhops and Clergy
being
262
BOOK IV.
THE LIFE OF
age ; which
being ſtill Papiſts in their hearts, they, if power was put into their
hands, would probably employ it againſt the Reformation. The
Clergy therefore, who ſeriouſly meant well, had nothing more in
their power than to preach againſt the vices of the age
they did with great boldneſs. As did Cranmer in a Faſt Sermoni
this enſuing ſummer ; when, in a plane and inartificial diſcourſe, ,
without thews of learning, or conceits of wit, he ſeverely expoftu-
lated in the name of God with his hearers for their ill lives, their
blafphemies, adulteries, mutual hatred, oppreſſion, and contempt
of the Goſpel : and complained of the lackneſs in puniſhing theſe
fins by which the government became in ſome fort guilty of them.
He laments the ſcandal given by many who pretended a zeal for re-
ligion, but uſed it only for a cloke to diſguiſe their other vices.
He ſet before them the freſh example of Germany, where people
generally loved to hear the goſpel, but had not amended their
lives upon it; for which God had now, after many years forbear-
ance, brought them under a ſevere ſcourge, and intimated his
ap-
prehenſions of ſome ſignal ſtroke from heaven upon the nation, if
they did not amend. We ſhall meet with a letter from Biſhop
Ridley to his Dioceſe on the ſame ſubject in the year 1551.
I have brought theſe things under one view, to prepare the Rea-
der to expect the convulſions which ſhook this reign from the ra-
pine and intrigues of the Great, and the diſcontents and infurrec-
tions of the Commons: as alſo the heavy vengeance of God in
withdrawing again the light of his goſpel from a people who made
fo perverſe an uſe of it. And further, that from a compariſon of
thoſe times and our own, we may learn to be thankful in caſes
where we find ourſelves relieved from the grievances which oppreſt
our anceftors; where the ſame continue to this time without re-
medy, that we endeavour, according to our ſtations, to obtain
one ; and where fimilar ones are growing up, that we labor, if in
our power, to prevent them; at leaſt leffen the evil by withdraw-
ing
va
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
263
ing our own concurrence, and thereby endeavour to prevent a fimi-
lar.puniſhment.
tation; there.
Let us now fee how prudently the Biſhop 1549.
$.9. The Biſhop of
Rocheſter, in commif-
of Rocheſter behaved in thefe difficult days, and
fion to viſit Cam- how reſolutely he oppoſed himſelf to the reign-
bridge, holds difpu- ing oppreffion whenever he had opportunity.
The Lord Protector had a deſign of fupprefſing
Clare Hall in Cambridge, and unite it with Trinity Hall, to aug-
ment the number of Fellows there to Twenty, in order to found
a new college for Civilians. For this purpoſe a Commiſfion was
granted to the Biſhops of Ely and Rocheſter, William Paget, Sir
Thomas Smith, John Cheeke, Dr. May, Dean of St. Paul's, and
Thomas Wendy, M. D. When the Commiffion paffed, the Biſhop
of Rocheſter was in his dioceſe, ignorant of the deſign. Thither
Mr. Secretary Smith and the Dean of St. Paul's ſent to acquaint
him that he was in commiſſion to viſit the Univerſity of Cambridge,
and that he was appointed to preach the ſermon at the opening of
it. Upon which the Biſhop immediately diſpatched a ſervant to
London to Dr. May, defiring information to what ends the Viſita-
tion and Commiſfion were intended, that he might frame his fer-
mon accordingly. The Dean returned for anſwer, that it was on-
ly to remove ſome ſuperſtitious practices and rites, and to make
fuch ſtatutes as ſhould be needful. The inſtructions themſelves by
which they were to procede were not ſhewn him till after they
had acted in the Commiſſion.
Preſently after the paſſing of this, he was again put into Com-
miffion with the Archbiſhop, the Biſhops of Ely, Worceſter, Weſt-
minſter, Chicheſter, and Lincoln, Sir William Petre, Sir Thomas
Smith, Dr. Cox, Dr. May and others, to ſearch after all Anabap-
tilts
. April 100
264
Book IV,
THE LIFE OF
**
tiſts, Hereticks, and Contemners of the Common Prayer. For
complaint had been brought to the Council', that, with the Stran-
gers who were come into England, fome Anabaptiſts were min-
gled, who were diſſeminating their errors and making Profelytęs.
Under this general name were comprehended men of various opi-
nions, driven out of Germany with the more fober Proteſtants,
who were in danger from the Emperour, for not complying with
the Interim. Theſe, as Biſhop Burnet informs us, building upon
Luther’s principles, that ſcripture was to be the only Rule of Faith,
rejected all deductions from it, how obvious or certain foever ; and
among theſe the Baptiſm of Infants was one, whom therefore,
when Adults, they baptized again, and from thence were called
Rebaptizers, or Anabaptiſts. Some were more modeſt and mo-
derate, others extravagant and fierce. The opinions of the latter
may
be learned from ſome Tradeſmen in London, who abjured be-,
fore theſe Commiſſionere in May; ſuch as, That a man regenerate
could not ſin; that though the outward man finned, the inward
man ſinned not ; that there was no Trinity of Perſons ; that Chriſt
was only a Holy Prophet, and not God at all; that all we had by:
Chriſt.was, that he taught us the way of Heaven ; that he took no
fleſh of the Virgin ; and that the Baptiſm of Infants was not pro-
fitable, becauſe it goeth before Faith. Among the people who held
theſe and ſuch like heretical opinions was Joan Bocher, commonly
called Joan of Kent. She appearing before the Commiſſioners be-
haved with extreme obſtinacy there, perſiſting in the maintenance
of her error, namely, that the Son of God penetrated through the
Virgin Mary as through a glaſs, taking no ſubſtance of her, as
Latimer reports, who fate in the Commiſſion. Her own words
diſtinguiſhing betwixt Chriſt and the word, and betwixt the out-
ward and inward man of the Virgin ; allowing the word to have
taken fleſh by the conſent of the Virgin's inward man, but deny-
ing
April 12.
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDL E Y.
263
ing that Chriſt took fleſh of her outward man, becauſe it was fin-
ful, are not very intelligible. She treated with ſcorn all the means
made uſe of to recover her to a better mind; and ſentence paſſed
upon her', pronouncing her an Heretick, and delivering her over
to the ſecular arm. Ridley was ſtill at Rocheſter, for I find only
the Archbiſhop, Sir John Smith, William Cook, Dean of the Arch-
es, Hugh Latimer, and Richard Lyel, LL.D. named in the ſen-
tence. The King was hardly prevaled upon by Cranmer to ſign
the warrant for her burning : but the Archbiſhop diſtinguiſhed
betwixt errors in other points, and the open ſcornful rejecting an
expreſs article of the Creed, born of the Virgin Mary ; thinking
that theſe latter, always eſteemed Hereticks from the firſt eſtabliſh-
ment of Chriſtianity , deſerved not the lenity with which others
might be treated : and repreſented, that it betrayed an indifference
towards religion to neglect putting in execution the Laws eſta-
bliſhed for maintaining God's honor, while they were diligent in
thoſe that were enacted to maintain the King's honor, and the
peace or property of the ſubject. However, the Archbiſhop was
not ſo earneſt to get the warrant executed, as ſigned. He labored
much to convince and ſave her from the fire. In which charitable
office, Ridley when he came to London, joined; they both of them
viſited her ; they ſeverally took her home with them to their own
houſes, and earneſtly endeavoured to recover her from her errors :
but ſhe reſiſted with great ſtubborneſs and indecency all their kind
pains to recover her. After their unſucceſsful attempts for a whole
year, ſhe was at laſt burned the 2d of May 1550, perſiſting ob-
ftinately
M m
a In April.
b Gratian and Theodofius in the year 380 define who are Hereticks, all who, fecundum
apoftolicam diſciplinam, evangelicamque doctrinam, Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti unam
Deitatem fub pari majeftate, et fub piâ Trinitate credamus, hanc legem fequentes,
Chriſtianorum Catholicorum nomen jubemus amplecti, reliquos viros dementes veſanosque
judicantes hæretici dogmatis infainiam ſuſtinere. Cod. Theod. Lib. xvi. de fide catholica,
leg. 2.
1
T&E LIFE OF
:
Book N.
*
}
ſtinately in her opinion, and behaving with great infolence to the
laſt. The like fentence was executed upon George van Parre, a
Dutchman, for denying the Divinity of our Saviour. Which I
mention here, though it happened not till the 25th of April 1551; on
the 6th of which month Ridley, who was a Commiſſioner, figned the
fentence of excommunication. Mild and gentle as his nature was to
every modeſt enquirer, though in error, he would not break the
Laws in being in indulgence to obſtinate Blafphemers. The re-
proach caſt on the Reformers as enemies to all religion ; and the
diviſions and diſturbances raiſed in the kingdom by emiffaries from
the Church of Rome, under the name of Anabaptiſts, called for
puniſhment; which the ſeverity of the laws then in being deter-
mined in theſe caſes to be by burning.
One occaſion of this ſeverity was, probably, that in the preceding
winter, there had been a deſign of aniting the Proteſtants abroad, and
at home under the Engliſh diſcipline. The churches abroad, who, not
from choice, but neceſſity, were under the government of Preſbyters
(becauſe reformed in places where all the Biſhops were Papiſts) were
very ready to come into epiſcopal government: and great conſultations
had been held, not only concerning the reformation of this Church,
but alſo of the other foreign Churches in Germany, Switzerland,
France, Italy, and Spain, for uniting them together in one uniform
doctrine. Bullinger and Calvin, with others, in a letter to King
Edward, offered to make him their Defender, and to have Biſhops
in their churches as there were in England; with the tender of
their ſervice to aſſiſt and unite together. This alarmed the Roman
Fathers; who came to the knowledge of it by ſome of their private
intelligencers ; for they verily thought that all the Hereticks (as
they called them) would now unite among themſelves, and become
One Body, receiving the fame diſcipline exerciſed in England.
Whereupon they ſent two of their emiffaries from Roterdam hi-
ther, who were to pretend themſelves Anabaptiſts, and preach
Burnet. againſt baptizing Infants, and recommend Rebaptizing, and incul..
cate
:
Book IV. DR. NICHOL A S RIDLEY.
261
cate a Fifth Monarchy upon earth. Beſide this, one D. G. auther-
riſed by theſe Fathers, diſpatched a letter written in May 1549
from Delf in Holland to iwo Biſhops, (of which Wincheſter was
one) fignifying the coming of theſe pretended Anabaptiſts, and that
they thould receive and cheriſh them, and take their parts, if they
thould receive any checks telling them that it was left to theni
to affift in this cauſe, and to ſome others whom they well knew to
be well affected to the mother Church. This letter was found by
Sir H. Sydney in Queen Eliſabeth's cloſet among ſome papers of
Queen Mary's. Some knowledge or ſuſpicion of theſe intrigues
might occafion the wfing greater ſeverity to the officious and irre-
clamable Anabaptiſts, who were Hereticks in the ſtricteft fenfe,
than would otherwiſe have been exerciſed against them : and if
Boner was the other Biſhop, as none more likely, both from his
zeal and ſituation, it may account for his and Wincheſter's ſuffer-
ings in this reign. But if neither the bold contradicting the arti-
cles of the Creed drawn from fcripture, and confirmed by the four
firſt general Councils ; nor the laws of the Country then in force ;
nor the reproach caſt on the Reformers, as careleſs of the truths of
Chriſtianity, except in oppofition to the Romiſh Church ; nor the
diſturbances occaſioned both in church and ſtate by theſe real or
pretended Anabaptiſts, can excuſe the Commiſſioners for paſſing
this ſentence, when the facts were open and notorious, and their
endeavours to reclame the offenders were earneſt and unwearied, I
muſt be content to leave them to the cenſure of the Reader.
And now, ſometime in May, the Bifhop of Rocheſter repaired
to Cambridge with his Fellow Commiſſioners to hold the Viſita-
tion for the aboliſhing ſtatutes and ordinances which maintained
Popery and Superſtition (as he was informed ;) not knowing the
further end propoſed, which was the ſuppreſſion of Clare-Hall.
He deſired to ſee the Inſtructions : but was put off by his afio-
ciates, who ſeemed afraid to Thew them unto him, till they had
M m 2
engaged
+
268
Book IV.
THE LIFE OF
1
engaged hiin in the action, by opening it with a ſermon, and pro-
ceding two days in the buſineſs of it. They then ventured to thews
him their Inſtructions ; in which he found the ſuppreſſion of
Clare-Hall was the thing intended, under a cover of uniting it to
Trinity-Hall, and erecting there a new College of Civilians. How
ever the Biſhop might difreliſh this defign, he found it was his du-
ty now to concur with the other Commiſſioners in laboring for two
days together with the Maſter and Fellows voluntarily to ſurrender
their College into the King's hands : but the Society could not be
induced to conſent to ſuch a ſurrender. The Commiſſioners fate
fecretly by themſelves, conſulting how to procede. The majority de-
termined that they might procede to the union of the two Colleges, by
the King's abſolute power, without the conſent of the ſocieties. But the
Bp.of Rocheſter modeſtly oppoſed this counſel,and with great calmneſs
diffented': though refolute and determined not to violate the King's
honor, and his own conſcience, by forcibly invading the liberties
and properties of the Maſter and Fellows of Clare-Hall, yet not
cenſuring his Fellows, but exhorted them to act ſo as to ſatisfy
their own conſciences; and if it ſhould be ſo that he could not
concur, he deſired leave to ſatisfy his own conſcience, by abſenting
himſelf, or by filence to refuſe his conſent. This put a ſtop to the
procedings at preſent: the Commiſſioners acquainting the Protector
with this interruption from the Biſhop of Rocheſter, complained,
that he by his barking hindered them from proceding in the King's
ſervice; imputing his diffent to a partial affection for his own.coun-
trymen, with whom at that time Clare-Hall abounded. This ex-
afperated the Protector, who wrote a chiding letter to the Biſhop :
to which the Biſhop immediately returned the following anſwer.
Right Honorable,
Barnet, I wiſh your Grace the holy and wholeſome fear of God, becauſe
en of Re I am perſuaded your Grace's goodneſs to be ſuch unfeignedly, that
even
Collecti.
fords..
BOOK IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
269
.
even wherein your Grace's Letter doth fore blame me, yet in the
ſame the advertiſement of the truth ſhall not diſpleaſe your Grace :
and alſo perceiving that the cauſe of your Grace's diſcontention
was wrong information, therefore I ſhall beſeech your Grace to
give me leave to thew your Grace wherein it appeareth to me that
your Grace is wrong informed.
Your Grace's Letters blame me, becauſe I did not (at the firſt
before the Viſitation began, having knowledge of the matter) Thew
my mind. The truth is, before God, I never had, nor could get
any foreknowledge of the matter, of the uniting the two colleges,
before we had begun and had entered two days in the Viſitation :
and that your Grace may planely thus well perceive.
A little before Eater, I being at Rocheſter, received Letters from
Mr. Secretary Smith, and the Dean of St. Paul's, to come to the
viſitation of the Univerſity, and to make a Sermon at the beginning
thereof. Whereupon I ſent immediately a fervant up to London
to the Dean of Paul's, deliring of him to have had ſome knowledge
of things there to be done ; becauſe I thought it meet that
my
Sermon ſhould ſomewhat have favoured of the fame. From Mr.
Dean I received a letter inſtructing me only, that the cauſe of the
Viſitation was to aboliſh ſtatutes and ordinances, which maintained
Papiſtry, ſuperſtition, blindneſs and ignorance ; and to eſtabliſh
and ſet forth ſuch as might further God's word and good learning:
and elſe, the truth is, he would ſhew me nothing, but bad me be
careleſs, and ſaid, there were informations how all things were to
be done. The which, I take God to witneſs, I did never ſee, nor
could get knowledge what they were, before we were entered in
the viſitation two days, although I deſired to have ſeen them in the
beginning.
Now when I had ſeen the Inſtructions, the truth is, I thought
peradventure the Mafta jand Company would have ſurrendered
up
their
Jw
5
1
THE LIFE OF
Book IV:
their Colleget but when their eanfent, after labor and travail ta-
ken therein two days, could not be obtained, then we began fem
cretly to confult, (all the Commiſſioners thinking it beſt, that
every
man Thould ſay his mind planely, that in execution there might ap-
pear but one way to be taken of all.) There, when it was ſeen
to fome, that without the conſent of the preſent Incumbents, by
the King's abfolute power, we might procede to the uniting the
two Colleges, 4 did, in my courfe, fimply and planely declare my
conſcience ) and that there only fecretly among ourſelves alone,
with all kind of fuftneſs, fo that no man could juſtly be offended.
Alfo, I perceive by your Genee's Letters, I have been noted of fome
for my barking there : and yet to bark, left God ſhould be offended,
I cannot deny, but indeed it is a part of my Profeſſion; for God's
word condemneth the durab dogs that will not bark, and give warn-
ing of God's difpleaſure.
As for that, that was ſuggeſted to your Grace, that by my
afore.
ſaid barking, I ſhould diſhonor the King's Majeſty, and diffuade
Others from the execution of the King's Commiffion, God is my
judge, I intended, according to my duty to God and the King, the
maintenance and defence of his Highneſs's Royal Honor and Dig-
nity. If that be true, that I believe is true, which the Prophet
faith, Honor regis judicium diligit, (The King's power loveth judg-
ment ;) and as the Commiſſioners muſt needs, and I am ſure will
all teſtify, that I diſſuaded no man, but contrariwiſe, exhorted every
man (with the quiet of other) to ſatisfy his own conſcience ; defi-
ring only, that if it ſhould otherwiſe be ſeen unto them, that I
might either by my abſence or filence, fatisfy mine.
The which
my planeneſs, when ſome, otherwiſe than according to my expec-
tation, did take, I was moved thereupon (both for the good opinion
I had, and yet have, in your Grace's goodneſs ; and alſo eſpecially
becauſe your Grace had commanded me for do) to open my mind,
by my private letters freely to your Grace,
And
:
.:
BOOK IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
271
And thus. I truſt your Grace perceiveth now, both that anon, af-
ter knowlege had, I did utter my confcience, and alſo that the
matter was not opened unto me before the viſitation was two days
begun.
If in this I did amifs, that before the knowledge of the Inſtruc-
tions, I was ready to grant to the execution of the Commiffion ;
truly, I had rather herein acknowledge my fault, and ſubmit my-
felf to your Grace's correction, than after knowledge had, witting-
ky and willingly commit that thing whereunto my conſcience doth
not agree, for fear of God's diſpleafüre.
It is a godly wiſh that is wiſhed in your Grace's Letters, that
fleſh, and blood, and country might not more weigh with ſome
men than godlineſs and reaſon : but the truth is, country in this
matter (whatſoever fome men do függeſt unto your Grace) thall
not move me. And that your Grace ſhall well perceive, for I thall
be as ready as any other, firſt thence to expel fome of my own
country, if the report which is made of them, can be tried true.
And as for that your Grace faith of felh and blood, that is, the
favor or fear of mortal man : yea, marry Sir, that is a matter of
weight indeed ; and the truth is, (alas ! my own feebleneſs) of
that I am afraid : but I beſeech your Grace, yet once againy give
me good leave, wherein here I fear my own frailty, to confeſs the
truth.
Before God, there is no man this day (leaving the King's Majef-
ty for the honor only excepted) whoſe favor or diſpleaſure I do ei-
ther ſeek or fear, 'as your Grace's favor or diſpleaſure ; for of God,
both your Grace's authority, and my bound duty for
benefits bind nie foto do. So that if the deſire of
So that if the deſire of any man's favor,
or fear of diſpleaſure, ſhould weigh more with me than godlineſs
and reaſon, truly, if I may be bold to ſay the truth, I muft needs
lay, that I am moſt in danger to offend herein, either for deſire of
your Grace's favor, or for fear of your Grace's diſpleaſure. And
.
yet
your Grace's
1
1
THE LIFE OF
Book IV.
to be offended with
yet I ſhall not ceaſe (God willing) daily to pray to God fo to ſtay
and ſtrengthen my frailty with holy fear, that I do not commit the
thing for favor or fear of any mortal man, whereby my conſcience
may threaten me with the loſs of the favor of the living God; but
that it may pleafe' him of his gracious goodneſs (howſoever the world
goes) to blow this in the cars of my heart, Deus diſipavit offa eorum
qui hominibus placuerint. (God hath broken the bones of them that
pleaſe men.) And this, borrendum eft incidere in manus Dei viven-
tis. (It is a fearful thing to fall into tbe hands of the living God.)
And again, Nolite timere eos qui occidunt corpus. (Fear not thefe
who kill the body.)
Wherefore I moſt humbly beſeech your Grace for God's love not
Grace; which is, that wherein my conſcience can not well
agree,
if any ſuch thing chance in this vifitation, I may, with your Grace's
favor have licence, either by mine abſence or filence, or other like
means, to keep my conſcience quiet. I wiſh your Grace, in God,
honor and endleſs felicity.
SE
Your Grace's humble and daily Orator,
Nicholas Roffen.
From Pembroke-Hall, in
Cambridge, June 1, 1549.
S.
$6
j
The Protector was at that time with the King at Richmond.
And on the receit of the Biſhop of Rocheſter's letter, he conferred
with the Archbiſhop, who was Ridley's chief intimate, to diſcover
the ſecret motives, if any he had, why the Biſhop diſliked the pro-
cedings at the viſitation. And in a little more than a week the
Protector returned the following anſwer
Burnet, After our right hearty. commendations to you.
We have re-
on of Re. ceived your letters of the firſt of June, again replying to thoſe
which
3
cords.
.
.
Book IV.
273
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
which we laſt fent unto you. And as it appeareth, you yet re-
maining in your former requeſt, deſire, if things do occur fo, that
according to your conſcience, you cannot do them, that you might
abſent yourſelf, or otherwiſe keep ſilence. We would be loth any
thing ſhould be done by the King's Majeſty's Viſitors, otherwiſe
than right and conſcience might allow, and approve : and viſitation
is to direct things to the better, not to the worſe; to eaſe conſciences,
not to clog them. Marry, we would with the executors thereof
ſhould not be ſcrupulous in conſcience, otherwiſe than reaſon would.
Againſt your conſcience it is not our will to move you, as we
would not gladly do, or move any man to that which is againſt
right and conſcience; and we truſt the King's Majeſty hath not in
this matter. And we think in this
And we think in this you do much wrong, and much
diſcrédit the other Viſitors, that you ſhould ſeem to think and ſup-
poſe, that they would do things againſt conſcience. We take them
to be men of that honor and honeſty, that they will not. My
Lord of Canterbury hath declared unto us, that maketh partly a
conſcience unto you, that Divines ſhould be diminiſhed. That can
be no cauſe ; for firſt, the ſame was met before in the late King's
time, to unite the two Colleges together ; as we are ſure
heard, and Sir Edward North can tell : and for that cauſe, all ſuch
as were ſtudents of the Law, out of the new-erected Cathedral
Church, were diſappointed of their livings, only reſerved to have
been in that Civil College. The King's Hall being in a manner all
Lawyers, Canoniſts were turned and joined to Michael-Houſe, and
made a College of Divines, wherewith the number of Divines was
much augmented, Civilians diminiſhed. Now at this preſent alſo,
if in all other Colleges, where Lawyers be by the ſtatutes, or the
King's injunctions, you do convert them, or the more part of them,
to Divines, ye ſhall rather have more Divines upon this change
than
ye had before. The King's College ſhould have fix Lawyers;
Jeſus College, ſome; the Queen's College, and other, one or two
Nn
apiece,
you have
:
274
THE LIFE OF
Book IV.
you
from which the Duke po
apiece. And as we are informed by the late King's Injunctions every
College in Cambridge, one at the leaſt : all theſe together do make
a greater number than the Fellows of Clare-Hall be, and they
now made Divines, and the ſtatutes in that reformed, Divinity
Thall not be diminiſhed in number of ſtudents, but encreaſed, as
appeareth, although theſe two Colleges be ſo united. And we are
ſure you are not ignorant, how neceſſary a ſtudy that ſtudy of Civil
Law is to all Treaties with foreign Princes and Strangers, and
how few there be at this preſent to do the King's Majeſty's
ſervice therein. For we would the encreaſe of Divines, as well as
you. Marry, neceſſity compelleth us alſo to maintain the ſcience;
and we require you, my Lord, to have conſideration how much
do hinder the King's Majeſty's procedings in that viſitation, if now
you, who are one of the Viſitors, ſhould thus draw back, and dir-
courage the other, you ſhould much hinder the whole doings; and
peradventure, that thing known, maketh the Maſter and Fellows
of Clare-Hall to ſtand the more obſtinate. Wherefore we require
you to have regard of the King's Majeſty's honor, and the quiet
performings of that viſitation, moſt to the glory of God, and bene-
fit of that Univerſity: the which thing is only meant in your In-
ſtructions. To the performing of that, and in that manner, we
can be content you
your doings as you think beſt, for the quiet-
ing of your conſcience. Thus we bid you heartily farewell.
From Richmond the roth of June, 1549.
Your loving Friend,
E. Somerſet.
.
By which Letter it appears how earneſt the Protector was to per-
ſuade, or intimidate this worthy Prelate to countenance the pro-
cedings by his concurrence. The reigning vice of the age was fpo-
; as ap-
pears not only from his Palace of Somerſet Houſe, as was before
taken
you uſe
}
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
275
taken notice of, but one of the articles againſt him was, that he
did diſpoſe offices of the King's Gift for money, and made ſale of
the King's Lands. This perhaps will give us to gueſs at the ſe-
cret of this viſitation ; while the eſtabliſhing a College of Civilians,
by uniting two Colleges together, was the pretence for demoliſh-
ing Clare-Hall, the ſale of the Lands belonging to that Society was
probabiy the leading motive. The other Viſitors, who were privy
to the deſign, durſt not acquaint Ridley with it, but induſtriouſly
concealed the inſtructions from him, till they had engaged him to
preach on the occaſion, and proceded ſome time in the buſineſs of
the viſitation, when they hoped they ſhould entangle him ſo far,
that for fear or ſhame he could not recede. But he boldly riſked
the diſpleaſure of the Protector, who was now grown very impe-
rious and arbitrary, rather than concur in ſuch unjuſt meaſures.
The affair dropt : the Protector had his attention immediately
drawn off to ſuppreſs ſeveral inſurrections raiſed by the diſcontented
Commons almoſt through the kingdom. The Viſitors, eſpecially
the Biſhop of Rocheſter, had another Commiſſion to execute,
which was to preſide at a Publick Diſputation appointed to be held
at Cambridge, as there had been one a little before at Oxford, re-
lating to the facranient of the Lord's ſupper,
Two Pofitions were appointed to be the ſubjects of this Publick
Diſputation ; and after they had been ſufficiently ventilated, a de-
termination of the matters debated was to be made by the Biſhop
of Rocheſter. The two Poſitions were,
1. Tranſubſtantiation cannot be proved by the plane and manifeſt
words of ſcripture, nor can thereof be neceſſarily collected, nor yet
confirmed by the confents of the antient Fatbers for theſe one thouſand
years paſt.
2. In the Lord's ſupper is none other oblation or ſacrifice, than one
only remembrance of Chriſt's death, and of thankſgiving.
The
Nn 2
E
276
BOOK IV.
THE LIFE OF
nents.
The firſt Diſputation was on Thurſday the 20th of June, Dr.
Madew of Clare-Hall
, Reſpondent; maintaining the above Po-
fitions : Dr. Glyn, Maſter Langdale, Sedgwick and Young, Oppo-
The ſecond Diſputation was held on Monday the 24th,
Dr. Glyn, Reſpondent, maintaining the contrary Poſitions: Maſter
Perne, Grindal, Geſt and Pilkington, Opponents. The third was on
Thurſday the 27th of June, Maſter Perne, Reſpondent, maintaining
the Pofitions : Maſter Parker, (not Matthew, who was afterward
Archbiſhop of Canterbury) Pollard, Vavafor, and Young, Opponents,
There is one difference obſerved between the Diſputations at Oxford
end at Cambridge: Peter Martyr admitted a change in the elements;
and Langdale, one of the opponents, the firſt day at Cambridge,
aſked, fuppofing a change admitted, · Whether that change was
“wrought in the ſubſtance, or in the accidents, or elſe in both, or
. in nothing?" When Ridley interpoſed and anſwered, “ There is
* no change, either of the ſubſtances or of the accidents ; but in
very deed there do come unto the bread other accidents, infomuch,
that whereas the bread and wine were not fanctified before, nor
"holy, yet afterward they be fanctified, and fo do receive then
• another fort or kind of virtue, which they had not before.
After the Diſputations were finiſhed, the Biſhop determined,
1. Againſt Tranſubſtantiaton, on theſe five principal grounds;
1. The authority, majeſty, and verity of Holy Scripture :
I will not drink hereafter of the fruit of the vine. St. Paul and
St. Luke call it Bread after confecration. They ſpeak of breaking,
which agrees with bread, not with Chriſt's Body. It was to be
done in remembrance of him. This is the bread that came down from
beaven but Chriſt's Body came not down from Heaven. It is
the Spirit that quickeneth, the fleſh profiteth nothing.
2. The moft certain. teftimonies of the antient: Catholick Fathers,
who (after my judgment) do ſufficiently declare this matter.
Here he produced many Fathers, Dionyſius, Ignatius, Irenæus,
Tertullian, Chryſoſtom, Cyprian, Theodoret, Gelafuis, Auſtin,
Cyril,
;
e
BOOK IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
Cyril, Iſychius and Bertram, who call it bread after confecration,
facramental bread, the figure of Chriſt's body : and expreſſly de-
clare that bread ſtill continues after confecration, and that the ele
ments ceaſe not to be the ſubſtance of bread and wine ſtill.
The nature of a Sacrament. In which he ſuppoſes natural
fymbols to repreſent like fpiritual effects, which in the facrament
of the Lord's Supper are unity, nutrition, and converſion. They
who take away the union of the grains making one bread, of which
partaking we become one myſtical body of Chriſt; or they who
deny the nutrition, or fubſtance of thoſe grains, by which our bo-
dies being nouriſhed is repreſented the nouriſhment of our fouls by
the Body of Chriſt, theſe take away the fimilitude between the
bread and the Body of Chriſt, and deſtroy the nature of a ſacranrent.
As neither is there any thing to fignify our being turned into Chriſt's
body, if there be no converſion of the bread. into the fubſtance of
our bodies.
The 4th ground was, that Tranſubſtantiation deſtroys one of the
natures in Chriſt.
They which ſay that Chriſt is carnally preſent in the Euchariſt,
do take from him the verity of man's nature. Eutyches granted
the divine nature in Chriſt, but his Haman nature he denied. So
they that defend Tranfubftantiation, aſcribe that to the Human na-
ture, which only belongeth to the Divine nature.
The 5th ground is the moſt fure belief of the article of our Faith,
He aſcended into beaven.
He quotes from St. Auſtin on St. John, "The Lord is above,
. even to the end of the world : but yet the verity of the Lord is,
* here alſo. For his body wherein he roſe again muſt needs be in
one place, but his verity is ſpread abroad every where."
By verity He means an eſſential divine preſence by his inviſible and!
unſpeakable grace, as he diſtinguiſhes on Matth. XXVIII,' As touch-
ing his majeſty, his providence, his inviſible and unſpeakabla
gracej
:
278
Book IV:
TO THE LIFE OF
$
Wiene.. LES
grace, theſe words are fulfilled, which he ſpake, I am with
you
' unto the end of the world : but according to the fleſh which he
• took upon him, fo ye Mall not bave me always with you. And
why? becauſe as concerning his fleſh he went up into heaven,
1 and is not here, for he fitteth at the right hand of the Father : and
yet concerning the preſence of his Divine majeſty he is not de-
parted hence. And from Vigilius he quoted, Concerning his
fleſh we look for him from heaven; whom, as concerning the
* WORD (or Divine nature) we believe to be with us in earth.?
And again, the courſe of ſcripture muſt be ſearched of us, and
many teftimonies muſt be gathered, to ſew planely what a wick-
• edneſs and facrilege it is, to refer thoſe things to the property of
• the Divine nature, which do only belong to the nature of the
fleſhl: and contrariwiſe, to apply thoſe things to the nature of the
· Aeſh, which do properly belong to the Divine nature. Which
he obſerves the Tranſubſtantiators do, who affirm Chriſt's Body
not to be contained in any one place, and aſcribe that to his hu-
manity, which properly belongs to his Divinity.
II. Againſt the oblation of Chriſt in the Lord's Supper he deter-
mined on theſe two grounds. 're
1. Scripture; as Paul faith, Hebrews 1x. Chriſt being become an
High Prieſt of good things to come, by a greater and more perfekt ta-
bernacle not made with bands, that is, not of this building i neither
by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blaods entered once in-
to the Holy Place, and obtained eternal redemption for us. And,
now in the end of the world be bath appeared ONCE to put away fin
by the Jacrifice of Himſelf. And again, Chrif was ONCÉ offered to
take away the fins of many. Moreover he faith, With one offering
hath be made perfect for ever thoſe that are fanétified. Theſe ſcrip-
tures do perſuade me to believe that there is no other oblation of
Chriſt (albeit I am not ignorant that there are many facrifices) but
that which was ONCE made on the croſs.
2. The
.
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
279
the occa-
three
2. The teſtimonies of the antient Fathers. Auftin ad Bonif.
contra Tranſubſtan. lib. 20. cap. 21, 28. where he writes, how
the Chriſtians keep a memorial of the ſacrifice paſt, with an obla-
tion, and participation of the Body and Blood of Chriſt. Fulgen-
tius in his book de Fide, calls the ſame oblation a commemora-
tion. And theſe things are ſufficient at this time for a ſcholaſtick
determination of theſe matters.
Yet this was more than a mere ſcholaſtick exerciſe ;
ſion of appointing this Diſputation aroſe at Oxford, where Dr.
Smith, taking offence at Peter Martyr's expoſition of ſcripture,
challenged Martyr to a publick diſputation. Which Martyr de-
clared himſelf ready to engage in, but not without the King's leave.
The Privy Council gave leave, but Smith ran away from his Chal-
lenge. Then Martyr challenged all the Roman Catholicks in that
univerſity to maintain their Tranſubſtantiation and the Privy Coun-
cil appointed Delegates to hear and preſide at the Diſputation.
And like Diſputations were appointed at Cambridge, that the Pa-
piſts there might likewiſe have an opportunity of defending their
opinions, if they could...
Langdale, one of the Diſputants, and for his zeal made Arch-
deacon of Chicheſter by Queen Mary, compoſed a pretended refu-
tation of Biſhop Ridley's Determination : but with this ſuſpicion
of unfairneſs in his account of managing the Difpute, that though
he had the King's Licence for printing it, at Paris, February 1553 ;
yet it was not printed till three years after, when Langdale was fe-
cure that Ridley could make no reply. However, Pilkington, ano-
ther of the Diſputants, afterward Biſhop of Durham, ſays, that Strype's
the Biſhop made all things ſo clear in his Determination, and the
auditors were ſo convinced, that fome of them would have turn-
ed Archbiſhop Cranmer's book on that ſubject into Latin.
June
Mem. In
p. 21 0
1
uz
280
Book IV.
YO THE LIFE OF
Or
. . 1. coloup vznicin June the oth Being Whitſunday was appointed
$. 10. In commits for the uniform ufe of the New Service.
The
fton to examine Boner. Protector and Council knowing how averſe the
Lady Mary was to it, fent to her, requiring her to
conform to King Edward's Laws, and to obſerve in her Family the
new Book of Common Prayer, now by Parliament' commanded,
the uſe whereof was to commence at Pentecoſt'; and alſo to ſend
unto them her Comptroller, and Dr. Hopton, her Chaplain. But
in her anſwer, June 22, from Keninghall, ſhe refuſed to do either,
ſaying, that ſhe could not ſpare her Comptroller, and her Chaplain
had been fick : that the Law made by Parliament (enjoining the
Common Prayer) was not worthy the name of a Law : that King
Henry's executors were ſworn to his Laws : that her Houſe was
her flock : that ſhe deferred her obedience to the King's Laws, till
he was of fufficient years : and that ſhe was ſubject to none of the
Council. However, at laſt Dr. Hopton came before the Council;
and to them he profeſſed that he allowed the Communion Book.
They bad him declare this his conſcience to her, and diſpatched
him back with anſwers to the ſeveral parts of her Letter, dated
from Richmond, July 7.
Encouraged by her example, and the connivance of ſome of the
Biſhops, and milled by Papiftical Prieſts, there were many places
in which this Book ſo ſtrictly enjoined, was either not known at
all, or not uſed; or at leaſt very feldom, and irreverently. Where-
fore the King fent Letters * to the Biſhops, reprimanding their
negligence, and charging them on their allegiance to do their duty
herein.
But none at this time felt their diſpleaſure fo much as the Biſhop
of London. He was ſoon after called before the Council, where
his
July 23
Augu£ 13.
.
BOOK IV.
281
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
his remiffneſs was complained of; and particularly, that whereas he
was wont formerly on all high feſtivals to officiate himſelf, yet he
had ſeldom or never done it, ſince the New Service was ſet out :
as alſo, that adultery was openly practiſed in his dioceſe, which he
took no care, according to his paſtoral office, to reſtrain, or punidlı ;
therefore he was ſtriatly charged to ſee theſe things reformed. He
was alſo ordered to preach that day three weeks at Paul's Croſs :
and that he ſhould preach there once a quarter for the future, and
be preſent at every ſermon made there, except he was ſick : that
he ſhould officiate at St. Paul's on every high feſtival, and give the
Communion : that he ſhould procede againſt all who did not fre-
quent the Common Prayer, nor receive the Sacrament once a year ;
and thoſe that went to Maſs : that he ſhould take care of the re-
paration of churches, and paying tithes in his dioceſe ; and ſhould
keep his reſidence in his houſe in London.
He had before proteſted againſt the King's Injunctions in 1547,
and although upon being better adviſed he revoked that proteſt,
yet by it he had ſufficiently ſhewed the color of his mind. And
now the ſtate was ſhook with inward convulſions from rebellious
inſurrections in almoſt every quarter, occafioned doubtleſs from the
great numbers turned adrift unprovided for, as was before touched
vpon ; who roſe in May, June, and July, chiefly in places moſt re-
mote, as Cornwall, Norfolk, and Yorkſhire ; and alſo in many in-
termediate counties. Some pretended to fight for the Old Reli-
gion, and others, againſt the oppreſſion of the Great, on a levelling
principle : both in reality for want of employment and bread,
However, as many Prieſts were amongſt them, the ſuſpected Biſhops
were watched ; Wincheſter was now in the Tower, and Boner
was required to purge himſelf in his fermon at St. Paul's.
The
points were given him, which he was to handle ; the heinouſneſs
of Rebellion, that true religion conſiſted not in ceremonies, yet in
the uſe of them men were to obey the magiſtrate, and join true
Oo
devotion
.
282
BOOK IV.
THE
LIFE OF
devotion with them ; and principally, againſt a common Tenet of
the Popiſh faction, he was to teach that the King was no leſs King,
and the People no leſs bound to obey when he was in minority,
than when he was of full
age.
It is not eaſy to imagine how ſuch the contrary opinion could enter
into their heads, as Laws are made by the wiſdom of Parliament with
the King's conſent, and not by the perſonal wiſdom and determi-
nation of the King. Indeed there had been a Law in the laſt
reign, 31 Hen. Vill. c. 8. that Proclamations made by the King
and the greater part of his Council Thould be of equal force with
an act of Parliament. And that any of his Succeſſors (by 28 Hen..
VIII. C. 17.) under the age of twenty-four years, might annul any.
Law made in his minority, by Letters Patent, after he came to
that
age.
Theſe extraordinary. Laws indeed implied a minority
and maturity in the prudence of the Laws, which the Engliſh
conſtitution knows nothing of: yet thoſe very Laws bound the
ſubject till the King, after he ſhould attain the
age
of twenty-four,
ſhould cancel their obligation by his Letters Patent.
Before the ift of September, which was the day Boner was to
preach, all the rebellions were ſuppreſſed. The moſt dangerous
were in the Weſt, and in Norfolk; the firſt was repreſſed by the
Lord Privy Seal and Sir William Herbert; and the latter, after an
unſucceſsful attempt by the Earl of Northampton,, was completely
quelled by the victorious Earl of Warwick, and a Thankſgiving
for it was made the 25th of Auguſt..
When the ift of September came, St. Paul's was full to hear
how the Biſhop of London would acquit himſelf. He touched
the points that were injoined him, excepting that about the King's
age,
of which he ſaid.not one word : inſtead of which he diverted
his diſcourſe to another ſubject, the manner of Chrift's Preſence in
the facrament, aſſerting the groſs corporal Preſence, which he did,
with many ſharp reflections on thoſe who were of another mind.
There
upon
BOOK IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
283
There were preſent, among others, William Latimer, and John
Hoper, ſoon after Biſhop of Gloceſter, who came and informed
againſt him ; that as he had wholly omitted that about the King's
age, ſo he had touched the other points but ſlightly; and advanced
many other things, which tended to ſtir up diſorder and diſſention.
On this information a Commiſſion iſſued to the Archbiſhop and
the Biſhop of Rocheſter, with the two Secretaries Sir William Pe-
tre and Sir Thomas Smith, and Dr. May, Dean of St. Paul's, em-
powering them, or any four, three (or two, ſays the draught of it
now in the Paper Office) of them, “to call before you, as well
* the denouncers of the ſaid fault, as alſo the ſaid Biſhop, and with
• due examination and proofs according to law and juſtice to hear
the ſaid matters ſummarily, and de plano, or otherwiſe as to your
• diſcretions ſhall be thought moſt meet. And if ſo be that you
. find the ſaid Biſhop through his demerits and offence to be wor-
thy of ſuſpenſion from his office for a time, or deprivation utter-
• ly, or otherwiſe more or leſs pain or mulet, according to the quali-
ty of the fault proved before you ; or elſe as not guilty to be ab-
• ſolved clearly : we will that ye procede according to juſtice and
equity in that behalf, and give therein a determinate fentence, any
• Law, Statute, Act or Odinance to the contrary notwithſtanding'.
This latter clauſe of the commiſſion I have copied from a draught
of it now in the Paper Office, becauſe it differs ſomething from that
publiſhed by Fox. (p. 674.) Seven ſeſſions were held on ſeveral
days, from Wedneſday the 11th of September to Tueſday the 1ſt
of October, at Lambeth ; in all which he carried himſelf very dif-
dainfully, abuſing the witneſſes, and the audience, and proteſting
firſt againſt Sir Thomas Smith, and then againſt all the other of the
King's Commiſſioners, endeavouring to divert them to a diſputa-
tion on the Corporal Preſence, and at laſt appealing from them to
the King. The principal part of the charge againſt him, I mean
his not preaching up the King's authority while he was a minor,
he
Oo 2
1
284
BOOK IV.
THE LIFE OF
he 'confeffed in the excuſe he made, which was, that he had pre-
pared notes to that purpoſe, but that not being uſed to preach
his memory failed him, being diſturbed by a meſſage from the
Lords informing him of the King's victory over the Rebels, and
that his book fell from him.
His indecent behaviour was extra-
ordinary, ſwearing at Sir Thomas Smith, and giving him the lie,
and defying him. His outrageous contempt of the King's Commiſ-
fioners, calling them pretenfed, and ſuſpect, and injurious, occa-
fioned his being committed Priſoner to the Marſhalſea; and his
continued contumacy and refuſing to make further anſwer, or ſub-
mit to their juriſdiction, made them to procede to fentence of De-
privation. He appealed to the King as a ſhift, if poſſible, to elude
the ſentence; on which evaſion the Biſhop of Rocheſter quoted a
text of St. John, He that doeth evil hateth the light. The dange-
rous rebellious temper he manifeſted occaſioned his being fent back
to the Marſhalſea.
While this Commiſſion was executing with regard to the Biſhop
of London, a matter of greater importance was carrying on in the
Council Chamber by the Popiſh faction. They oppoſed the Pro-
tector in every thing, with a view either to diſconcert his meaſures,
or drive him upon acting without their conſents, to which he was
now prone, and had diſguſted many of the Lords by too great an
imitation of the late King's behaviour : which was the more unbe-
coming in the Duke of Somerſet, as it grew not out of his natural
temper, nor was ſuited to his place ; which was only a precedence
among Equals, voluntarily conceded to him. His truſty friend
Sir William Paget wrote to him on this impolitick carriage, in the
preceding May. Of late your Grace is grown in great cholerick
faſhions, whenſoever you are contraried in that which
you
have
conceived in your head. A King, which ſhall give men occaſion
of diſcourage to ſay their opinions frankly, receiveth thereby
great hurt and peril to his realm. But a ſubject in great authori-
* ty,
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
285
ty, as your Grace is, uſing ſuch faſhion, is like to fall into great
danger and peril of his own perſon, beſide that to the Common-
& weal. Which for the very love I bear to your Grace, I beſeech
'you, and for God's ſake, conſider and weigh well.' It is not un-
likely but that the Earl of Warwick had blown him up to this
height for the purpoſe; and by an affected ſubmiſſion, and laying
at his feet his new won laurels in Norfolk, encreaſed his arrogance
ſo much, as provoked the Popiſh faction, which was now working
againſt the Duke under the Earl of Southampton, to make over-
tures to him : which accordingly was done by Southampton, who
repreſented to the Earl of Warwick, that He had really got all
theſe victories, for which the Protector triumphed. He had won
the field of Pinkey near Muſſelburgh, and had ſubdued the Rebels
in Norfolk. It was below Him to be ſecond to any. The Invi-
tation coming from them, to whom he artfully gave ſecret aſſuran-
ces of his inclinations to the Old Religion, made him ſure of their
affiſtance in his ſchemes: in which, if he failed, he hoped to make
his peace, by throwing the blame on them; if he ſucceded, he
could favor the Old or New Opinions, uſe or refuſe the Inſtru-
ments by which he had effected ſo much, as occurrences ſhould at
that time perſuade. Accordingly he engages againſt the Protec-
tor, oppoſes him in every thing; and all the month of September
was ſpent in heats, which threatened to burſt out into a flame.
The chief point was the affair of Bologne, a place we held from the
French King; who, taking occaſion of our tumults at home, had
beſieged it this September. Indeed he was driven off by the
plague breaking out in the French camp : but he left the fiege to
be carried on under the command of Chatilion; the exhauſted ex-
chequer; men wanted, on occaſion of the mutinies at home; the
Emperour not inclined to aſſiſt us ; the diſtreft affairs of the Pro-
teſtants in Germany, whom France offered to affiſt, if Bologne was
given up; and the thort time, unexpired before that place was to
be
286
BOOK IV.
THE LIFE OF
V
be ſurrendered by a former treaty, inclined the Protector rather:
to receive a ſum of money for the delivery of a place, which he
could not keep, and make a friend of the French King, than to
incur unneceſſary expences in defence of a place, which could not
long hold out. His dilemma was, that the ſelling it was unpofu-
lar, and the keeping it impracticable. The odiouſneſs of the firſt
ſerved the faction to diſplace the Protector ; ſoon after whoſe Fall
the new Governours yielded to the neceſſity of a ſurrender.
The King and the Protector were at Hampton Court, to whom
the Archbiſhop repaired immediately after the deprivation of Boner,
which was in the beginning of October. By the 6th of this month
the Protector had diſcovered the conſpiracy, as he writes in a letter
to Lord Ruſſel, Lord Privy Seal, requiring him to repair to the
defence of the King's Majeſty at Windſor, to which place they re-
moved the next day. The ſeceders met at Ely Houſe, and were
eighteen in number, Lord St. John, Preſident, Lord Chancellor
Rich, the Marqueſs of Northampton, the Earls of Warwick,
Arundel, Southampton, and Saliſbury, Goodrich Biſhop of Ely, Sir
Thomas Cheyney, Sir John Gage, Sir Edward North, Lord Chief
Juſtice Montague, Sir Ralph Sadeler, Sir John Baker, Sir Richard
Southwell, Sir Edmund Pecham, Sir Edward Wotton, and Dr.
Wotton : and Secretary Petre being ſent on the 6th in the King's
name to aſk what they met for, joined himſelf to them; leaving
none with the Protector but the faithful Archbiſhop, his old Friend
Paget, and Secretary Smith. So deſerted, and the Tower of Lon-
don in the ſeceders hands, the Council deſiring to be admitted to
the King's Preſence to do their duties about him, and promiſing
to uſe the Duke of Somerſet with as much moderation and favor,
as in honor they could, Cranmer and Paget perſuaded both the
King and the Protector to yield to the Council. So that on the
12th of October the whole Council met at Windſor : where the
Protector was charged (as King Edward ſets down in his Journal)
« with
BOOK IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
287
with ambition, vain-glory, entering into raih wars in my youth,
negligent looking on New Haven, enriching himſelf of my trea-
• ſures, following his own opinion, and doing all by his own au-
thority.' Sir Thomas Smith, as chief Inſtrument in all his wil-
ful procedings, was removed from his place of Secretary, and ſent
to the Tower ; as the Duke of Somerſet was the next day, October
13. and a revocation made by Letters Patent of the authority of
Governour of the King's Perſon, and Protectorſhip, granted to him
December
24, i Edw. vi. He was likewiſe deprived of the offi-
ces of Earl Marſhal, and Lord Treaſurer; as Paget was of that of
Comptroller of the King's Houſe. This fall of honors gave good .
hopes to the principal Conſpirators, that they ſhould be amply re-
warded
No ſooner was the Duke in the Tower, than the Papiſts lifted
up their heads; their Champion the Earl of Southampton had
ſucceded againſt the Protector. Warwick, as Thuanus reports,
had given them ſecret aſſurances; whereupon Wincheſter writes
a contratulatory letter to the Earl of Warwick from his priſon, re-
joicing that the late tyranny was now at an end ; and deſiring that
when he had leiſure from the great affairs, fome regard might be
bad of him. Boner alſo, ſeeing his angry Commiſſioner, Smith,
was faln, together with the Protector, whom he looked on as his
chief enemies, and Cranmer in no good terms with the Earl of War--
wick, ſent a petition to the Council, with whom he thought it
would appear meritorious to have been a ſufferer and injuriouſly
treated by the Protector and his Creature Sir Thomas Smith. In
which manner he repreſented his caſe, depending on the preva-
lence of the Popiſh faction, craving therefore that his appeal might
be received, and his proceſs reviewed. Many alſo fell off from
going to the Engliſh Service, or the Communion, it being gene-
rally ſaid, that now the Old Service ſhould come in agaiu.
Warwick
܀
3
298
Book IV.
THE LIFE OF
a Ge-
3
As to
Warwick warily kept off from intangling himſelf too far, till he
had examined which way his path lay. Who finding the King ſo
zealouſly addicted to the carrying on the Reformation, that nothing
could recommend any one ſo much to him as the promoting it fur-
ther would do, foon forſook the Popiſh party, and was ſeemingly
the moſt earneſt for a further Reformation. So that Wincheſter
ſtill continued unregarded in the Tower. And December
25
neral Letter was drawn up to all the Biſhops of England, letting
them underſtand," that there was no intention of bringing in
again Latin ſervice, conjured bread, and water, nor any ſuch abro-
gated ceremonies.
And that the aboliſhing theſe, and the ſet-
ting forth the Book of Common Prayer were done by the whole
• ſtate of the realm. And that the Biſhops ſhould ſee that all an-
tiphoners, miffals, and other books of the Popiſh ſervice, ſhould
be brought in, that they may be defaced and aboliſhed.
Boner, who had petitioned to have his appeal accepted, in the end
of October, he was ſo far indulged, as that they appointed a new
Court of Delegates to review the proceſs againſt him. This Court
conſiſted of four Civilians and four Common Lawyers, who having
examined it, reported that the proceſs had been legally carried on,
and the ſentence juſtly given, and that there was no good reaſon
why the appeal fhould be received, and therefore they rejected it.
This being reported to the Council, they ſent for Biſhop Boner in the
beginning of February, and declared to him that his appeal was re-
jected, and the ſentence againſt him was in full force.
His adverſary Sir Thomas Smith, at whoſe fall and commitment
to the Tower he ſo greatly rejoiced, made his peace, by acknow-
ledging himſelf debtor to the King three thouſand pounds. Nay,
the Duke of Somerſet, having ſubmitted himſelf entirely, was re-
leaſed from the Tower the 6th of February, had his pardon grant-
ed ten days after, and on the tenth of April following was reſto-
red to favor, and ſworn of the Privy Council.
In
BOOK IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY,
289
2
In the diſpoſition of honors the Earl of Warwick took care to
diſappoint the chief Conſpirators, who had invited him to this en-
terpriſe, and for whom he found he had no fạrther ſervice. The
Earl himſelf ſucceded to the Duke of Somerſet in the office of Lord
Great Maſter ; his own office of Lord High Chamberlain was
given to the Marqueſs of Northampton ; the place of Lord Trea-
ſurer, which the Duke had, and the Earl of Southampton hoped
for, was conferred on the Lord Preſident St. John ; Sir Anthony
Wingfield was Comptroller of the King's Houſehold, in the room
of Sir William Paget; who for his fidelity to his late Maſter was
made a Baron, and ſoon after Chancellor of the Dutchy of Lan-
caſter.
What then was the reward which the Earl of Warwick beſtow-
ed on the Conſpirators, who had helped him to the chief rule ?
The principal of them, Wriothefly Earl of Southampton retired
diſguſted, and either poiſoned himſelf, or died of grief at his dif-
appointments by the July following : the Earl of Arundel, for pull-
ing down locks and bolts at Weſtminſter, and giving away
the
King's ſtuff, was ſequeſtered to his houſe in January, and ſubmit-
ted himſelf to a fine of twelve thouſand pounds, to be paid in
twelve years : and Southwell, another chief inſtrument, was foon
after
put into the Fleet, for diſperſing ſome feditious bills : what
became at laſt of the Earl of Warwick himſelf is well known, and
will fall within the courſe of this Hiſtory to be again remembered.
In the Parliament, which ſate this year from November 4 to Fe-
bruary 1, it was thought fit to renew the deſign that was formed
in the preceding reign, of authoriſing Two and thirty Perſons to
compile a Body of Eccleſiaſtical Laws; for which purpoſe an act
paſſed, empowering the King to name Sixteen Perſons of the Spi-
ritualty, of whom Four ſhould be Biſhops, and Sixteen of the
Temporalty, of whom Four ſhould be Common Lawyers ; who
within three years ſhould compile a Body of Eccleſiaſtical Laws,
and
Рp
:
290
.
Book IV.
THE LIFE OF
1
2
and thoſe, being nothing contrary to the Common and Statute
Laws of the Land, ſhould be publiſhed by the King's warrant, un-
der the Great Seal, and have the force of laws in the Eccleſiaſtical
Courts. The Archbiſhop and Biſhop of Rocheſter were two. of
the Biſhops named for this purpoft. .
A Bill likewiſe paſſed for the Form of ordaining Miniſters, which
had been committed to twelve perfons (probably the fame who
compiled the Common Prayer, though) Hethe, Biſhop of Wor-
ceſter, refuſed to be concerned, and was committed to priſon ; the
Biſhops of Durham, Carliſle, Worceſter, Chicheſter, and Weſtminf-
ter, proteſted againſt it.
While the Parliament fate, November 10, died Pope Paul 111..
in the 82d year of his age. Cardinal Pole was choſen to fuccede
him : but when the Cardinals came to adore him, and make him
Pope, as the cuſtom was, he received the honor with coldneſs,
fayings, that it was night, and that God loved light rather than
darkneſs; and therefore deſired to delay the ceremony till day.
came. On this his friends Thrunk from him; and after ſome in-
trigues, choſe the Cardinal de Monte, now Pope Julius ini, who
gave a ſtrange omen of what advancements he intended to make;
when he gave his own Hat, according to the cuſtom of the Popes,
who beſtow their Hats before they go out of Conclave, on a
mcan ſervant of his, who had the charge of a monkey that he kept:
and being aſked what he obſerved in him to make him a Cardinal,
Burnet. he anſwered, as much as the Cardinals had feen in him to make
him a Pope. But it was commonly faid, that the ſecret of this
promotion was an unnatural affection to him.
Upon the confirmation of the ſentence againſt Biſhop Boner the
Council were not unprovided with a proper perſon to fill the im-
portant fee of London. Ridley, ſays Biſhop Burnet, being eſteem-
ed both the moſt learned, and moſt thoroughly zealous for the Re-
formation, was pitched on to be the man. On the 21ſt of Februa-
+
BOOK IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
291
Cranmer.
*
ry he was ſent for ; though it is not unlikely that he was deſigned
for it more than a month before; for on the 16th of January I find
Thomas Broke collated by the Archbiſhop to the vicarage of
Herne, which Ridley had held in commendam with his Biſhoprick Regiſtr.
of Rocheſter. It was alſo thought needleſs to have two Biſhopricks
ſo near together as London and Weſtminſter; the latter therefore
it was now reſolved ſhould be ſuppreſſed, and united to the fee of
London. For this purpoſe Thirlby, the preſent Biſhop; was to be
provided for ; which was done by removing him to Norwich to
ſuccede Dr. William Repps.
The new Biſhop of London was to have one thouſand pounds
per annum of the rents of the Biſhoprick, and for his further fup-
ply was diſpenſed with to hold, as he had done before, a Prebend
of Canterbury, and another of Weſtminſter. The former of theſe
he reſigned the year after, for Thomas Willoughby ſucceded him
in it July 23, 1551, by the free reſignation of Biſhop Ridley.
Biſhop Thirlby reſigned his Biſhoprick, March 29, which three
days after was ſuppreſſed, and the dioceſe reunited to London, as
appears by the laſt note in that Regiſter. Many of the lands of
this Biſhoprick were given in exchange for others belonging to the
Biſhoprick of London. He had alſo the Convicts priſon, and an
houſe between the Weſt end of the Abbey and the Gate-houſe.
His Prebend in this church ke held as long as King Edward lived,
and then was ſucceded in the eighth ſtall by Hugh Griffith, July 4,
1553
5
And now being to take our leave of him as
5.11. Ridley vix. Biſhop of Rocheſter, and having given ſuch a view
dicated from the af- of him as the truth of Hiſtory, his Cotemporaries,
Perfions of Pierfon.
and Records ſtill extant demand, juſtice ſeems to
requise that we hear what his Adverſaries, the
Roman Catholick Writers, have to object againſt him. N. D.
P p 2
alias
+
}
292
Book IV.
THE LIFE O OP
you have
alias Pierſon, procedes thus in his character of him from the Death
of Henry viii. · When Henry the vilith was dead, and his Son
Edward the Child came to the crown, conſidering with himſelf
that the Protector Lord Seimour, and other that bare the ſway,
were inclined to innovations in religion, and that Cranmer, part-
ly by his own natural levity, and partly for the free uſe of his
woman, was ſwaying alſo that way, Ridley thought good to take
part, and bear him company both in that innovation, and taking
a wife alſo, hoping thereby to get himſelf a better Biſhoprick,
through the favor of the time, and deprivation of ſome others;
that were more fcrupulous and conſtant in catholick religion than
himſelf; as namely Dr. Boner and Dr. Gardener, Biſhops of Lon-
odon and Wincheſter : againſt whom Cranmer and he procured
* themſelves to be made Viſitors and Judges, as before
heard, and by the help and accuſations of Hoper and Latimer,
and others, deprived them at length of their Biſhopricks'; and
* Ridley got for his reward the Biſhoprick of London, for that it
firſt fell void before the other.'
Here he is repreſented as embracing his opinions from a ſervile
compliance with the Protector and the Archbiſhop. On the con-
trary, we have ſeen that it was the effect of a progreſſive light from
diligent ſearching the Scriptures and the antient Fathers; which
light he pommunicated to Cranmer, inſtead of being biaſſed to his
opinions by Cranmer: and with reſpect to the Protector, we fee
that Ridley had a conſcience of his own, which he maintained
againſt the Protector, in ſpite of his great diſpleaſure, at the very
time when his impatience of contradiction and arbitrary ſpirit were
at their higheſt pitch.
But he is repreſented not only as believing complaiſantly with
Cranmer, but as taking a wife alſo, in imitation of the Archbiſhop.
And at the cloſe of his account of Ridley, he ſays, “ that none of
* Fox's ſaints Dould have this gift to contain, but that ALL OF
" them
a a
N. DE
vol. 1;II,
P: 370
income
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
293
• them yielded to the paſſion of the fleſh, is a very baſe matter, if
it be well conſidered, and it is well worth the conſidering.' Poor
Pierſon could not have been more unlucky in the choice of a rana
dom charge againſt Ridley than here; for had Ridley been married,
was not the marriage of the Clergy proved to be agreeable to ſcrip-
ture, and now made lawful in England ? And how would it ap-
pear
that he took a wife to bear Cranmer company? Why not in
imitation' of St. Peter? Why not in obedience to the ccunfel of
St. Paul, that it was better to marry than to burn ? But as ill-luck
will have it for this raſh calumniator Ridley was never married at
all; but preſerved an unreproachable chaſtity to his death. Let
thoſe of this Writer's communion conſider well, for it is well worth
the confideration, the compariſon betwixt the moſt eminent Pre-
lates of their church, and this Bifhop of ours. If compariſon be
made betwixt him and this Writer's boaſted Biſhops, who were
' more ſcrupulous and conſtant in Catholick religion than himfelf,
• Dr. Boner and Dr. Gardener, Biſhops of London and Winchef-
"ter,' conſider what Bale, (who indeed is but a coarſe writer, yet)
relates as notorious facts, in his Declaration of Boner's Articles, un-
der the xxiſt article, enquiring whether the Curates viſited their
Pariſhioners in the time of ſickneſs and need; where, after men-
tioning many ſhocking lewd enormities of the Popiſh Prieſts under
this color of viſitation, eſpecially in the dioceſe of Wincheſter, he
adds, ' Their pratling patriarch Gardiner, ſhould ſeem by his
large encreaſe, whom I know by an old familiar of his, now con-
' verted to repentance, to have been a good viſitor alſo, Miſtreſs
"Godſalve not remembered. Laſt of all cometh buttock-faced
• Boner, and he Meweth what he hath been in that behalf, by one
• which is both his ſon and a ſteward of his lands, which beareth
his mother's furname, as he himſelf doch, to keep all clofe, and
by. other ſpiritual fruits of his beſides. I ſpare theſe good ſtories
• allo with D. Darbyſhire, and the fruits that he had by Ann Cau-
I del
i
294
Book IV
1 THE LIFE OF
. del, for my aforeſaid [Book of] Votaries.' Thus much for Pier-
fon's elect faints at home. If we take a ſpecimen abroad, confining
ourſelves to the very times we have now under view, we find the
Archbifhop of Benevento, in teſtimony of the chaſtity of the Ro-
miſh clergy, and as angry as Dorman (or Pierſon) at the free
uſe of the woman, not aſhamed to publifa a Book in defence of
Sodomy Nay his HOLINESS himſelf, who died November 10 in
this year. 1546 vas chaitgeld with a great an averſion to matrimo-
ny as this writer, could with Him, of any Bilbop to hape. In a
little book which came out not long before the Pope's death, under
the name of Bernardine "Ochin, but, as it was thought, written by
another hand, we have the following picture drawn of Paul 111.
• In the time of Pope Innocent, moſt wicked, Prelate, thou waft
caft into priſon for two murders and one-parricide thou commit-
• tedit, in poiſoning thy own mother and a nephew, that all the in-
• heritance might fall to thee. Being afterward ſet at liberty, thou
didft not fcruple to put in for the Purple Hat: but thou waſt
thrice rejected by the College, and it was thy Siſter Julia Farneſe
. who at length prevaled for thee ; for ſhe threatening that his Ho-
• LINÉSS ſhould have no more to do with her, Pope Alexander vi.
fearing her anger; and diſpleafure, thruſt thee into the congrega-
tion of Cardinals.." You alſo poiſoned another ſiſter for her incon-
tinence, the common fault of your Family. When you were Le-
gate of Ancona, in the time of Julius II. you bafely overreached
a maid of that city; for diffembling what you were and making
her believe you were one of the Logate's Gentlemen, you prevaled
with her and deflowered her: which villany, the Cardinal of An-
cona, the Maid's Uncle, after the city, was taken, charged you
• home with in moſt fevere manner before Pope Clement, who
then was prifonor. Nicholás Quercy ſurprized you lying with
• his Wife Laura Farneſe, your own Niece, and gave you a wound
• with a ſtiletto of which you ſtill bear the ſcar. What need I
• ſpeak
<
th
Book IV. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
295
1
6
ſpeak of your Daughter Conſtantinas with whom you have lain
• fo often ? For that you might the more freely enjoy her, you
poiſoned her Huſband Bolio Sfortia, who having perceived your
• naughtineſs with her, conceived ſuch inward grief at it, that, he
* was never ſeen to look merry afterward. You certainly exeede
· Commodus and Heliogabalus in filthy luſt, and that planely ap-
pears by the many Baſtards you have. Lot lay with his Daughters Sleiden,
• indeed, but then he was drunk, and knew not what he did': but B. XXI.
p. 487.
you, being ſober, have lain not only with your Niece, but with
‘ your own Siſter, and Daughter alco.
And now let the indignant Reader judge, whether any one of
theſe, or Ridley, was more worthy to be a Teacher of the Goſpel
and a Chriſtian Biſhop ; theſe, who under folemn oaths and vows
of chaſtity, ſpent their lives in the lewedſt and moſt unnatural
ſcenes of luſt; or he, who generouſly vindicated a liberty from
thoſe oaths, which experience ſhews us were raſhly taken, and
infamouſly broken, and then by a ſuperior virtue voluntarily em-
braced that ſtrictneſs and ſeverity of life, which the Romith Prieſts
violate, though ſworn to obſerve.
The motive alſo aſſigned for his compliance with the Protector,
(whom he remarkably withſtood) and for imitating the Archbiſhop
in marrying, (which he never did) is very abſurdly aſſigned; viz.
the proſpect of a better Biſhoprick; for at King Henry's death,
when this motive is aſſigned, he had no Biſhoprick at all, and there-
fore could have no view to a better ; and that having the Biſhoprick
of Rocheſter he hoped to get a better, by the deprivation of others,
of whom he procured himſelf to be made Viſitor and Judge, is fpo-
ken without any proof, and contrary to appearance. For when he
was put into Commiſſion to examine Boner, he had ſo very lately
offended the Protector by acting conſcientiouſly in a former Com-
miſſion, that it was not likely he ſhould deſire to be employed
ágain, and if employed, and Boner ſhould be found worthy of de-
privation,
.
1
296
Book IV.
THE LIFE
LIFE ON
26
privation, he could not imagine his intereft was ſo great with the
Protector as to ſuccede him in the fee of London. And that he got
this Biſhoprick for his reward, as if in conſequence of his views
and ſchemes, is moſt improbable, becauſe betwixt his appoint-
ment in the Commiſſion to examine Boner, and his Promotion to
the vacant fee, there had happened ſo great a revolution at Court
in the miniſtry, that it was not likely that Ridley ſhould be pro-
moted by the Earl of Warwick, in conſequence of a ſcheme con-
certed betwixt Ridley and the late Protector.
In ſhort his opinions were owing to the light of the Goſpel, and
his continence to the Grace of God : and although he diſobliged
the Protector by ſcruples, which the Protector thought needleſs,
yet his integrity of behaviour in that oppoſition, might convince
him that he was very fit to be again employed : and if his known
integrity and great character made it not improbable, that upon
Boner's deprivation the Duke of Somerſet had deſigned that Ridley
ſhould ſuccede him, ſo, when the Duke fell, and his Rival and
Enemy the Earl of Warwick, after long fluctuating, found it pru-
dent to carry on the Reformation, he concurred with his Predecef-
for in opinion, that no one was ſo worthy to fill up a ſee of that
conſequence as Dr. Ridley.
:
1
THE
*
Book V.
297
DR: NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
:
THE
L
I F E
OF
.
Dr. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
BOOK V. From 1550 to 1553.
RIDLE Y Biſhop of London.
Thou haſt been faithful over a few things, I will make thee Ruler
over many things. MATTH. XXV. 21.
T!
V. II.
p. 217
HIS interval begins with Ridley’s promo• 1550.
3.1. Ridley tran I tion to the See of London, for which he K. Edw.
Kated to London.
took his oath, April 3, and on Saturday, Journal. .
April 12, was inſtalled and enthroned by his proxy St. Mem.
Richard Wilkes, Clerk, before William May, Dean of St. Paul's,
John Cardmaker (alias Taylor) preſent, who was now Vicar of
St. Bride's, and one of the Commiſſioners for this purpoſe.
After Inſtallation, was performed the Te Deum in Engliſh, with Regift.
organs playing, and the choir ſinging ; and then the Dean ſaid Ridley.
this Collect in Engliſh ;
O Lord, Almighty God, we befeech thee to grant to thy ſervant
NICHOLAS, our Biſhop, that by preaching and doing thoſe things
which
4
Q_4
**
198
**E LIFE obe
Book Vi
which be godly, he may both infru&t the minds of his Diocefans with
true faith and example of good works : and finally receive of the moſt
merciful Paſtor the reward of eternal life, who liveth with Thee and
the Holy Ghoſt world without end. Ament.
His Patent, as Biſhop Burnet tells us, was duringi toffe : but
Coll.p.11. Mr. Collier infers from the ſame learned Author, both in his Re-
bia. pag. cords and in the body of his hiftory, that the Biſhops through the
whole courſe of King Edward's reign were upon good behaviour for
their office, and had the expreſs clauſe of quamdiu bene gefferint
put in their patents. It is true that Cranmer craved leave to ex-
erciſe his power, and by his example ted the other Bifhops to take
out Commiſſions, or a Faculty for the exerciſe of Epiſcopal Jurif-
diction, 'ad noltrum beneplacitum täntum duraturan, to contmue önly
during our pleafure : and by a Commiffion of Queen Mary to ſome .
of her Biſhops to examine three of King Edward's Biſhops, Taylor,
Hoper, and Harley, it appears that they treld their Bifhopricks with
the 'čxpreſs clauſe of quandiui fe better seferint, their good behaviour.
Notwithſtanding this, it is certain by the exemplification of King
Edward's Patent to Ridley, in the Regiſter of London, that he
Kegiſtr.
was to hold his Biſhoprick during life. • For the fingular learn-
Ridley.
• ing in the facrad feriptures, and moſt approved manners with
«which the ſaid Nicholas, late Bifhop of Rocheſter, is endued, and
• becauſe, according to the commendation of our Saviour, we judge
* Him above all others worthy to be put over many things, who.
. hath been found faithful over few, we of our grace and meer mo-.
'tion grant to him the Biſhoprick of London to have; hold, and
occupy durante vitâ fuâ naturali, during the term of his nature
life.
In this high ſtation his behaviour was with great dignity ; for
it was benevolent, uſeful, and exemplary. With reſpect to his
Predeceſſor, he was very careful to do him no injury in his goods,
taking not one pennyworth of his moveables, which he found in
the.
Lond.
BOOK V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
299
Letters.
$
the Palace, but gave him liberty to remove whatever was his ; and
what he knew to be his, though not taken away according to this
leave, he carefully preſerved for Boner's uſe. Boner had bought a Martyr's
quantity of lead for the repairs of his Houſe and Church, which
Ridley employed to the uſes deſigned, but paid Boner for it. And
that none might ſuffer innocently by his promotion, he paid fifty
three or fifty five pounds to Boner's own ſervants, which ſum was
due to them from their maſter for liveries and wages. Nor did his
Predeceſſor's Mother, or his Siſter Mrs. Mungey, who lived near
the Palace at Fulham, miſs the honor or the benefit of the Biſhop
of London's board. He always fent for them to dinner and ſup-
per, and placed Mrs. Boner at the upper end of his table, never
diſplacing her, though even any of the King's Council dined with
him, as they often did ; not frowning upon her misfortụnes, but
courteouſly alleviating them with all the honor and tenderneſs that
he could ſhew to her, ſaying, by your Lordſhip’s favor, this
place of right and cuſtom is for my Mother Boner. As if he had
ſucceded to the Relation as well as to the Office of her Son.
With reſpect to himſelf, he was mortified, and given to prayer
and contemplation : with reſpect to his family, careful and in
ſtructive. His mode of life was, as ſoon as he role and had dref
fed himſelf, to continue in private prayer half an hour; then (un-
leſs other buſineſs interrupted him) he retired to his ſtudy, where
he continued till ten of the clock, at which hour he came to com-
mon prayer with his family, and there daily read a lecture to them,
beginning at the Acts of the Apoſtles, and ſo going regularly
through St. Paul's Epiſtles, giving to every one that could read a
New Teſtament, and hiring them to learn by heart ſome choſen
chapters, eſpecially the xuth of the Acts. And to fignify his
reſolution to them, often had the ciſt Pſalm repeted to his houſe-
hold, being very careful to make his family a ſpectacle of virtue
and honeſty to others. After prayers he went to dinner, where he
Q q2
5
3
was
30@
BOOK V.
THE LIFE OF
where
was not very forward to begin diſcourſe, but when occaſion was
adminiſtered, he entered into it with great wiſdom and diſcretion;
and ſometimes, if the caſe required, merrily. This converfation
he would indulge for an hour after dinner, or elſe in playing at
cheſs. The hour for unbending being expired, he returned to his
ftudy, where he continued till five, except fuitors or buſineſs abroad
required otherwiſe.
Then he went to common prayer as in the
morning, after which he fupped; then diverting himſelf for ano-
ther hour after ſupper, as he did after dinner, he went back to
his ſtudy, and continued there till eleven at night, when he reti-
red to private prayer, and then went to bed; where he, and his
houſehold made virtuous by his example and inſtruction, enjoyed
the ſweet repoſe of a day well ſpent.
The only objection I have met with made to him was the aliena-
tion of fands, which on the very day of his inſtallment he paſſed over
to the King. Theſe Heylin has made to look as odious as poſſible,
by repreſenting, the Manors of Hackiney and Stebonheath, parcel of
thoſe laids, as containing no fewer than fix and twenty, townſhips,
ſtreets, and hamlets: but then he makes theſe to have been granted by
the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's on the 12th day after Chriſtmas,
during the vacancy of the ſee, though certainly now confirmed by
the new Biſhop on the 12th of April, together with the manors of
Braintree and Southminſter, and the advowſon of the vicarage of
Coggeſhall in the county of Ellex. It is not likely that he, who
on many other occaſions was very earneſt againſt the plunder of the
times, would tamely ſubmit to-fuch an alienation, unleſs it had
been, as Mr. Strype ſhews it was, an exchange very advantageous
to his ſee ; for on the very ſame day the King paſſed over to him
many manors, houſes, and advowſons in London and Weſtminſter,
and in the counties of Middleſex, Hertford, Eſſex, Warwick, Lin-
coln, Rutland,, Oxford, Northampton, Huntingdon, Surry, Gloceſ-
ter, Berks, and Worceſter, which were parcels of the diſſolved:
Biſhoprick
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
301
Biſhoprick of Weſtminſter, formerly belonging to the Abbot and
Abbey there. Theſe turned the ſcale in favour of the See of Lon-
don.
No ſooner was he promoted to his new Dignity than he applied
himſelf to the duties of it; endeavouring to acquaint himſelf
with the ſtate of his dioceſe by a viſitation of it toward the begin-
ning of June, in which were exhibited articles of Enquiry; and la-
boring to reform all diſorders in it by his injunctions for an unifor-
mity in his dioceſe.
The exemplification of theſe may be ſeen in Biſhop Burnet, ex-
cept two paſſages of ſcripture in the concluſion of them, which he
has omitted ; Proverbs xv. 31, 32. The ear that hearkeneth to the
reformation of life ſhall remain among the wife. He that refuſeth to
be reformed deſpiſeth his own foul : but be that ſubmitteth himſelf to
corre&tion is wife. In Kings XVIII. 21. Elias. "How long halt
you between two opinions ? If the Lord be God, follow him ; but if
Baal be he, then go after him.
Among theſe injunctions one was, that the Curates, Church
wardens and Queſtmen ſhould erect and ſet up the Lord's Board
after the form of an honeft Table, decently covered, in ſuch place
of the choir or chancel as they ſhould judge moſt convenient, that
a godly unity might be obſerved in his dioceſe, and the ſimple be
turned from the old ſuperſtitious opinions of the Popiſh maſs.
And theſe injunétions Sir John Yates, Sheriff of Eſſex, had'or= K. Edwa
ders to ſee performed June the 2zd, by which day the Biſhop had Journal..
finiſhed his viſitation; for on the morrow he conferred Holy Orders
on twenty five perſons before the high altar at St. Paul's, accord-
ing to the rite, manner and form of the Church of England lately
publiſhed and enjoined, all Deacons; among which were Richard
Fletcher, afterward ſucceſſively Biſhop of Briſtol, Worceſter, and
London ; John Fox, the Matyrologiſt ; Henry Markham, the
Archbiſhop's Chaplain; and John Lever, a learned and pious exile
under:
302
THE LIFE OF
Book V.
Mem.
vel. 11.
P. 2, 7.
New-
court's
rium.
under Queen Mary. On the 29th of Jane he affifted at the Confecra-
tion of Dr. John Ponet, his Succeffor in the Soe of Rocheſter,
having on his Surplice and Cope, and his Paſtoral Staff in his hand,
according to the Preſcript of the Book of Common Service; and the
Lord's Supper was celebrated upon a Table covered with a white
linen cloth. And on the ioth of Auguſt following he ordained
Mr. Lever Prieſt at Fulham, and three of his own College, Dea-
cons; theſe were John Bradford the Martyr, Thomas Horton, and
Thomas Sampſon. Mr. Strype by miſtake repreſents this Thomas
Sampſon as the ſame with him who was fucceffively Dean of Chi-
cheſter and Chriſt-church in Oxford, and who was deprived in
Queen Eliſabeth's reign for obftinately refuſing to wear the Cap
and Surplice : but that Sampſon was bred at Oxford, and after-
ward ſtudied at the Temple, and was ordained Deacon by Arch-
Reperto-
biſhop Cranmer in 1549, before the new Ordinal was enjoined,
aſſiſted by Ridley, at that time Biſhop of Rocheſter. One thing
remarkable happened at that Ordination, if we may credit what
Sampſon himſelf relates in a letter to Secretary Cecyl; he ſays that
he objected to the Habits, but was nevertheleſs ordained by the
connivance both of the Archbiſhop and of Bifhop Ridley.
be aſked, how came they to connive in Sampſon's caſe, when in
the caſe of Hoper, as we ſhall ſee hereafter, they would not yield
in the leaſt ? If the fact be true, it acquits thoſe Prelates of any
ſuperſtitious fondneſs for the habits: and the queſtion is, why did
they wink at a breach of the laws in being in one caſe, and yet re-
fuſe to do it in the other ? I apprehend the reaſon to have been
this ; the old Popiſh Ordinal was then in force, with more evident
ſuperſtition and idolatry than they could comply with; wherefore by
indulgence from the Council they ordained Sampfon by the New
Ordinal intended, though not yet injoined. The veſtments indeed
were appointed by the New Ordinal; but Sampſon fcrupleing them,
the Prelates judging them things indifferent, and not yet injoined
by
It may
Book V DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
803
by law, they indulged Sampfon's fcruples at that time, which they
could not afterward do without expoſing the laws and government
both in church and Itatc to great contempt. This point occaſion-
ed a very troubleſome controverſy to the Reformers, as we ſhall
prefently fces, for buy this time the Biſhop of London was employ-
ed, like a true Champion of the Church of England, to reduce to
obedience two kinds of men, who were then, and have been ever
fince, extreme cnemies to it: I mean, Popiſh fophiſters, who
would not abrogate any ceremony, however fuperftitious ; and Fa-
Hatical Nonconformifts, who refuſed to comply with the moſt in-
different, although injoined. Our Bifhop's engagements with both
theſe at the fame time were now begun, and run through the reſt of
the year. For the cafaer perception of them, it will be proper to ſepa-
Mate the caſes, although coincident in time, and treat of each diſ-
tinctly.
:
him.
The firſt was the Biſhop of Wincheſter's affair,
§. 2. In commiffron
to r.ceive Winchef- in which he began to be concerned before the mid
ter's fubmiffion to the dle of July.
King, or to deprive
After the marriage of the Earl of Warwick's
Son to the Lady Ann, daughter of the Duke of.
Somerſet, it was all calm and fair weather at Court; every one
was in good humor, and they had very little buſineſs to trouble
them. They removed with the King to Greenwich the 6th of
K. Edw,
June, where preſently ", conſidering the long impriſonment that Journal.
the Biſhop of Wincheſter had undergone, it was now thought time
that he ſhould be indulged with an opportunity of being eaſily dif-
charged'; agreeing, that if he repented his former obſtinacy, and.
would henceforth apply himſelf to advance the King's procedings,
his Highneſs in this caſe would be his good Lord, and remit all his.
crrors paft ; otherwiſe bis Majeſty was reſolved to procede againſt,
him as his obſtinacy and contempt required. For declaration of
this
June
304
THE LIFE or
Book V.
***
6
this, the Duke of Somerſet, the Lord Treaſurer, the Lord Privy
Seal, the Lord Great Chamberlain, and Mr. Secretary Petre, were
appointed to repair to him the next day : which they did, and aſk-
ed him whether he would promote the King's laws or not? Ho
anſwered, that he would obey and ſet forth all things which had
been ſet forth by the King and Parliament. And if he were trou-
bled in conſcience, he would revele it to the Council, and not rea-
fon openly againſt it. And then deſired to ſee the Book of the
King's procedings. Which was delivered to him by the Lieutenant
of the Tower. Three days after, the Duke of Somerſet, and five
more of the Council repaired to him for his anſwer. He told them,
* I have deliberately ſeen the Book of Common Prayer. Although
• I would not have made it ſo myſelf, yet I find ſuch things in it
as ſatisfy my conſcience. And therefore I will both execute it
myſelf, and alſo fee others my pariſhioners to do it.'
Here indeed was no voluntary acknowledgment of his paſt of
fences, nor ſubmiſſion to the King's mercy, without which, after
fo long impriſonment, no diſcharge could in reaſon follow without
due courſe of law. But the Biſhop flattered himſelf that this
would not be required, and the Lords probably concluded from his
preſent behaviour that he would not refuſe it, when required : ſo
they parted on ſuch good terms, that Wincheſter expected to be
releaſed in two days, and made his farewel feaſt in the Tower.
The Council waited (probably for this voluntary ſubmiſſion) till
the next month, when the Earl of Warwick, the Lord Treaſurer,
Sir William Herbert Maſter of the Horſe, and Secretary Petre,
went to him with a letter from the King, complaining, that in all
this time of confinement, and clement treating with him by divers
Fox. Noblemen and others of the Privy Council, yet in all this time he
had neither acknowledged his faults, nor made any ſubmiſſion, as
might have became him, nor ſhewed any appearance either of re-
pentance,
• July 9.
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
30
Life of
pentance, or of any good conformity to the King's godly procedings.
They therefore brought along with them a ſubmiſſion, and certain Strype,
articles for the Biſhop to ſubſcribe. Theſe articles contained the Craniner.
confeſſion of his fault ; an acknowledgment of the Supremacy of
the King and of his Succeſſors; allowing that the eſtabliſhing of Holy-
days, or diſpenſing with them, was in the Kings that the Service
Book was godly and chriſtian ; that obedience was due to the
King's laws while he was under age ; that there was reaſon for
aboliſhing the Six Article act; and that the King had the power
of correcting and reforming the Church. All which articles he
ſubſcribed with his own hand, except the neceſſary point of ſub-
miſlion, againſt which he wrote in the margin, • I cannot in my
conſcience confeſs the preface, knowing myſelf to be of that fort
I am, and ever have been.'
In this interview the Earl of Warwick behaved with the ſame eaſy
friendſhip as the Duke of Somerſet had done, inviting him to fit
down by him, and on his declining it, pulling him, ſaying,
they had ere this fat together, and truſted they ſhould do ſo again;
and entered into fo free a converſation with the Biſhop, that he
merrily told them, ' they were ſeparately each his good Lord, but
" when you meet together, fays he, I feel no remedy at your
hands. When my Lord of Somerſet was here, I looked to have
gone out in two days. I agreed with him, and now agree with
you: yet I may fortune to be forgotten.'
fortune to be forgotten.' The Lord Treaſurer
aſſured him he thould hear from them the next day. But as to
the Confeffion of his fault; and Submiſſion, he ſaid, " he ſhould
* ſooner tumble himſelf deſperately into the Thames than make
it it.'
This, when reported, diſguſted the Council : yet ſo averſe were
they from ſeverity, or even a juſt reſentment, that Sir William
Herbert and Secretary Petre were ſent from the King to the Biſhop
the very next day, to ſignify the King's ſurpriſe at his refuſal to
Rr
ſign
1
:
306
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
ſign the Confeſſion : yet referring it to himſelf in what manner;
and with what words he would deviſe to ſubmit himſelf, that
upe
on the acknowledgment of his fault, the King might extend his
mercy toward him as was determined: But he refuſed the mer.
cy, and ſtood to his juſtification by triał.
Whereupon, Sunday, July 13, it was agreed by the Council, that
a new book of articles, and a new ſubmiſſion ſhould be framed for
Wincheſter to ſubſcribe. And the Biſhop of London, Secretary
Petre, Mr. Cecil, and Goodrick, a common Lawyer,. were com-
manded to draw up theſe articles according to Law, and to inſert
the ſubmiſſion. Sir William Herbert and Mr. Petre, accompanied
with the Biſhop of London and Mr. Goodrick, were ordered to re-
pair to him with the new draught. At firſt Wincheſter refuſed
even to read the articles; and when, after much earneſt intreaty;
he did, he refuſed any conſideration of them till he was releaſed
from priſon; and labored to divert the diſcourſe from the buſineſs
in hand to a controverſy with the Biſhop of London ; who would
not be ſo diverted from the errand on which he came, but admo-
niſhed the Biſhop of Wincheſter to a patient and ſubmiſſive beha,
viour, by acknowledging God's juſtice to him in this viſitation,
remembering how many perſons he had troubled in times paſt.
Awakening Gardiner's conſcience with a review of all his malicious
intrigues through the laſt years of King Henry's reign, in which
the Queen and her Ladies, the Archbiſhop, Ridley himſelf, and
fome of his Fellow-Preachers at Canterbury had been the marks
at which he had ſo injuſtly and miſchievouſly levelled..
: On the 19th Gardiner was called before the. Council, who by
fpecial commiſſion required him to ſubſcribe the articles, but he
ſtill refuſed ; and for his manifold contempts and diſobedience in
this behalf Secretary Petre read the ſequeſtration of his Benefice
for three months, with intimation, that if he reformed not in that
{pace, be would be deprived. However, his Houſe and Servants
were:
+
Book V.
30.10
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
were ordered to be maintained in their preſent ſtate, during the
three months.
Theſe three months expired, October 19, but his buſineſs was
not immediately renewed; they waited till November 23,
and
then agreed that the Biſhop of Ely, Mr. Secretary Petre, Dr. May,
and Dr. Glynn, all learned in the Civil Law, Tould ſubſtantially
confer
upon the matter, and certify on Tueſday the 26th what was
to be done duly by order of the Law in this caſe.
In conſequence of this, a Commiſſion, dated December 12, was
iſſued out from the King to the Archbiſhop of Canterbury, the
Biſhops of London, Ely, and Lincoln, Sir William Petre, Sir James
Hales, Juſtice of the Common Pleas, Griffith Leyſon, and John
Oliver, Doctors of the Civil Law, Richard Goodrick, and John
Goſnold, Eſquires, Common Lawyers, to call the Biſhop of Win-
cheſter before them, and, if he continued in his contempt, to de-
prive him.
any more
At his firſt appearance, December 15, he proteſted againſt his
Judges, and excepted again their Commiſſion ; at the fame time
publickly affirming that the Duke of Somerſet and other Privy
Counſellors, who were ſent to him in the Tower, had made an
end with him for all the matters for which he was committed : in-
ſomuch that he verily thought he ſhould never have heard
of it. But to his confuſion, the next commiſſion day, a letter ſign-
ed by the Duke of Somerſet, the Earls of Wiltſhire, and Bedford,
and Sir Edward North, was delivered, in which they denied any
ſuch matter, ſaying, that the Biſhop defended his cauſe with un-
truths, and that, upon their fidelity and honor; his tale was falſe
for that their coming to him in the Tower was to do their endea-
vour to reclame him. And they prayed the Commiſſioners, that,
for their vindication, they would cauſe this their letter to be pub-
lickly read.
Rr 2
On
;
3
go
BOOK V.
T'H E LIFE OF
On the 14th of February, after two and twenty ſeſſions, when
the ſentence definitive was ready to be pronounced againſt him, he
made his appeal from the Commiſſioners to the King, for that his
pretended Judges were not indifferent, but prejudiced againſt him ;
that
my Lord of Canterbury had cauſed him to be fent to priſon ;
and that Hales, Goodrick and Goſnold had counſelled to ſend him
thither ; that the Archbiſhop, and the Biſhops of London and
Lincoln did. contrary to the Laws Ecclefiaftical, and ſought to ſet
forth inanifeſt condemned errors againſt the Preſence in the facra-
ment; and that becauſe he, as well in his writings, as otherwiſe,
did ſet forth the Catholick Faith of the very Preſence of Chriſt's
body and blood, therefore they thewed themſelves unduly affected
toward him ; that Sir William Petre decreed the fruits of his
Biſhoprick to be fequeftered de facta, but not de jure, and now was
Judge in his own cauſe. But, notwithſtanding this appeal, the
Archbiſhop, with the reſt of the Commiſſioners, pronounced him.
deprived, and his Biſhoprick void. After this was done, the Biſhop
appealed again to the King, inſtantly, more inſtantly, moſt inftant-
ly, from their fentence, as unjuſt, and of no effect in law ; and :
aſked of them letters dimiffory to be granted to him, and a copy
of the judgment. But the Judges declared they would firſt know
the pleafure of the King and his Council therein.
The next day the Council, debating the Biſhop of Wincheſter's
t'uncil caſe, came to this reſolution ; « foraſmuch as it appeared, he had at:
. all times, before the Judges of his cauſe, uſed himſelf unreverent-
No. 552.. 6 ly to the King's Majeſty, and ſlanderfully toward his Council,
• and eſpecially yeſterday, being the day of his judgment given
againſt him, he called his Judges Hereticks and Sacramentaries,
they being here the King's Commiſſioners and of his Highneſs's
* Council; it was therefore concluded, by the whole board, that
& he ſhould be removed from the lodgings he hath now in the Tow.
er to a meaner lodging, and none to wait upon him, but one by the.
- Lieutenant's
Bool.
Harl.MS.
13
BOOK V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
300
• Lieutenant's appointment, in ſuch ſort as, by the reſort of any
man to him, he have not the liberty to ſend out to any man, or
“to hear from any man. And likewiſe that his books and papers
be taken from him, and feen; and that from henceforth he have
• neither pen, ink, nor paper to write his deteſtable purpoſes, but
« be ſequeſtered from all conferences, and from all means that may
• ſerve him to practice any way.'
And three weeks after this - by the King's own appointment
Dr. Ponet, Biſhop of Rocheſter, was admitted Biſhop of Wincheſ-
And a warrant was made out to pay two hundred and fixty Council
fix pounds thirteen ſhillings and four pence to the Archbiſhop of
Canterbury, to reimburſe him for his charges ſuſtained in the late MSS.
proceſs againſt the late Biſhop of Wincheſter, and divers other p. 15.
ways. The promotion of Ponet to the Biſhoprick of Wincheſter
made way for that of Dr. John Scory, Chaplain to the Biſhop of
London, to the vacant See of Rocheſter.
ter.
Book.
Harl.
No. 357.-
gefter:
The fame Sthi of March put a period alſo to the
şi 3. His diſpute other troubleſome buſineſs, in which the Biſhop
about veſtments with of London had been engaged at the ſame time.
Hoper, Ele&t of Glo..
John Hoper, Profeſſor of Divinity, had been forced
to quit the Univerſity of Oxford, by reaſon of the
Six Article Act under Henry vill, and to ſpend the remainder of
that reign abroad, ſometimes at Baſil, but chiefly at Zurick, where
the Romaniſts had formed a deſign to reſtore Popery, under the
guiſe and pretence of things indifferent. Early in King Edward's.
reign he returned home, and foon recommended himſelf by the
feverity of his manners and doctrine to the Court. He hadi
preached there in the ſpring againſt altars, and by the intereſt of:
the Earl of Warwick was named in Council to the See of Glo
ceſter, now vacant.
But
# March &
Sometime in July,
.
Book V.
.
THE LIFE OF
But when he waited on the Archbiſhop to fix the day of Con-
ſecration, having been too ſtrongly tinctured by his abode in Ger-
many, he objected to the veſtments appointed to be uſed at that
ſolemnity. For not only the principle of Luther, in ſtrictly fol-
lowing the ſcriptures only in matters of religion, had produced in
Germany many unreaſonable opinions and practices among the
Anabaptiſts ; but otherProteſtants, in the article of veſtments parti-
cularly, had reduced themſelves to a great fimplicity, in oppoſition
to the ſuperſtitious uſe of them publickly injoined in that country
in favor of the Church of Rome'. The Elect, bringing over with
him the local abhorrence of thoſe garments, could not drop it here
where the occaſion ceaſed, and deſired the Archbiſhop to excuſe
him in that point. He likewiſe with better reaſon objected againſt
the final clauſe in the oath, So help me, God, and all Saints ! But
as the oath and veſtments were injoined by ſtatute, the Archbiſhop
acquainted him, that it was not in his power to diſpenſe with them,
for that the omiſſion would incur a Premunire. The Elect haſtes
back to his Patron the Earl of Warwick, and procures from him a
Fox. letter to the Archbiſhop, defiring him to favor my Lord Elect of
Gloceſter in ſuch reaſonable things as he craved to be forborne at
· his hands ; principally, that he would not charge him with an
oath burthenſome to his conſcience : telling him, that the King
• himſelf was the chief mover in this requeſt, and did not
apprea
* hend there were any of thoſe dangers which the Archbiſhop had
• repreſented.'. This letter was dated July 23.
But the Archbiſhop could by no means be fo complaiſant to an
unreaſonable ſcruple as to riſk a Premunire by complying with this
requeſt. As Ridley was one of the Biſhops appointed to aſſiſt at the
Confecration,
* poffit enim uſus harum veftium, eâ fuperftitione, in gratiam Romani, vel alicujus al-
terius Antichrifti, ficut nunc in Germaniâ fit, obtrudi, ut piis Chrifti miniftris admitti ille
piè nequeat. Epift. MS. Buceri ad Archiepiſc. Cantuar.
Βσοκ ν. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
318
Conſecration, whoſe zeal in promoting true religion he well knew,
and upon whoſe friendſhip it is likely he depended ; for Hoper's
Court Sermon againſt altars laſt ſpring ſeems to have been ſo ap-
proved of by the Biſhop of London, as to have ſet him
upon
the
removal of them in his laſt viſitation ; and beſide, Hoper had been
the chief evidence againſt Boner, whoſe deprivation had made way
to Ridley's promotion : Hoper therefore had a conference with the
Biſhop of London on this ſubject, of whoſe influence, if he found
him conformable, he might hope to make uſe, as a mean to win
over the Archbiſhop. But he found Biſhop Ridley no leſs averſe
from breaking laws, and playing with Premunires, than Archbiſhop
Cranmer had been. Yet Hoper would not pay any deference or
regard to the opinions and judgment of theſe two great men, but
inſiſted that his ſuperiors ſhould either make new laws, or break
the old ones, in compliment to his prejudices. Accordingly he
makes uſe of his intereſt at Court, in order to oblige thoſe two
Biſhops to comply with him. In which he ſo far ſucceded, as to
obtain a letter from the King to each of them, both of the ſame
tenor and date ; that to the Biſhop of London was as follows :
* To the Right Reverend Father in God, our right truſty and well
beloved the Biſhop of London.
Right Reverend Father in God, and right truſty and well be
“ loved, we greet you well. Whereas We, by the advice of our
Council, have called and choſen our right well beloved and well
worthy Maſter John Hoper, Profeſſor of Divinity, to be our
• Biſhop of Gloceſter, as well for his great knowledge, deep judg.
ment, and long ſtudy, both in the ſcriptures, and other prophane
learning, as alſo for his good diſcretion, ready utterance, and ho-
« neſt life for that kind of vocation, to the intent all our loving
*. fubjects, within his ſaid charge and elſewhere, might,,by his found
ki and true doctrine, learn the better their duties toward God, their:
..obedience
*********************
312
Book V
TAE LIFE OF
& obedience toward us, and love toward their neighbours ; front
* conſecrating of whom we underſtand you do ſtay, becauſe he
« would have you omit and let paſs certain rites and ceremonies of
* fenfive to his conſcience, whereby you think you ſhould fall into
the premunire of our laws: we have thought good by the advice
* aforeſaid to diſpenſe and diſcharge you of all manner of damages,
penalties and forfeitures you ſhould run and be in, any manner
of way, by omitting any of the ſame. And theſe our Letters ſhall
your ſufficient warrant and diſcharge therefore. Given under
* our ſignet, at our Caſtle of Windſor, the 5th of Anguſt, in the
fourth year of our reign.
o of
o be
E. Somerſet.
W. Wiltſhire.
W. Northuinb.
W. Paget.
An. Wingfield.
N. Wotton.
Cranmer,
"The King's Privy Signet was too fender a ſecurity againſt an
Act of Parliament; ſo that this attempt was not only too weak to
juſtify the Biſhops in complying with Hoper, but it alſo convinced
them that his diſobedient wilfulneſs required correction rather than
indulgence. With reſpect to the offenſive part of the oath, it is
true the King himſelf with his own hand ſtruck out the words,
and all Saints: but with reſpect to the Habits, the Council, who
Strype's liked the man, when their endeavours failed of bringing over the
Biſhops, labored on the other ſide to perſuade Hoper to drop his
oppoſition. Ridley, ſays Strype, for his great learning, was thought
to be a fit perſon to confer with him. There were long arguings
between them, and at laſt the diſpute kindled into ſome heats.
The Biſhop conſidering it as a refractory diſobedience to Laws and
Government, which it is neceſſary at all times to ſupport, but was
then more particularly fo, in thoſe days of faction ; for the doctrine
of Lady Mary's Court was, that the King's Laws during his Mi-
nority
..
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RID L E Y.
313
Eccl.Hift
nority were not to be obeyed; Boner and Gardiner had refuſed to
preach that obedience was due to them; and the kingdom was
fcarce quieted from inſurrections in all parts of it from the ſame
principle : nay even among the Goſpellers, as they were called,
whimſey and enthuſiaſm had introduced great diſorders ; not only
Munſter had taught to withdraw all obedience from the Civil Pow-
ers to erect an unfcriptural Kingdom of Chriſt, but Calvin's own Collier's
opinions, to which Hoper inclined, were probably too well known,
which he afterward publiſhed in his Prelections upon Amos ;
where he ſays, “We are ſenſible of the conſequence of that unhap-
* py principle, which gives the Civil Magiſtrate a Sovereignty in
religion. The complimenting Henry the villth with ſuch a
ſovereign authority in all matters ſhocked me extremely. They,
' who called him the Supreme Head of the church under Chriſt,
were planely guilty of blaſphemy. On theſe accounts Ridley
looked upon it as a point of importance that Hoper ſhould comply,
and learn obedience before he took upon him the office of a Gover-
nour, while Hoper endeavoured to repreſent it as a conteſt only
about Habits, indifferent at beſt, but in his judgment finful.
Hence grew a warm controverſy about religious veſtments; and
what was begun by Cranmer on account of the Premunire was now
called the Biſhop of London's Controverſy de rë veſtiaria. The
Pulpits and the Schools engaged in the diſpute ; for Peter Martyr Ep. MS.
in a letter to Bucer mentions diſputations at Oxford, about the mid-
dle of October, on this queſtion, - whether it were lawful to re-
call the Aaronick Ceremonies into the Chriſtian church ? In
which letter he blames Hoper for not coolly canyaſſing the point
among his friends, which would have prevented that heat of preach-
ing, which then could hardly be allayed. Hoper himſelf, who was
a popular Preacher, and foon after filenced, declamed liberally on
the ſubject. Nor was he without ſeconds in his cauſe, John à Laſco
was entirely of his opinion, and many of the Court (as Martyr
Sf
heard
.
3774
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
feard) favored him. Nay he boaſted, that the foreign churches,
and particularly the two Profeſſors, Bucer and Martyr, lided with
him: but in this he was miſtaken, for John à Laſco, who warm-
Jy eſpouſed Hoper's cauſe, acknowledges that he counſelled Hoper
to give out confidently, that all the foreigners then in England
were of his opinion ; for being fo ftraitened in time, that he had
no opportunity of aſking their judgment, he boldly ventured to
ſtrengthen his caufe by the patronage of their names: but in this
both Hoper and Alafco were greatly too forward, and diſappointed
in the event. Theſe flames of contention alarmied the Council,
they knew not how far they might reach, nor what confuſion might
be introduced by them. Therefore, October 3, they ſent for Hoper,
and required him to ceaſe the occaſion of this controverſy, by con-
forming himſelf to the laws. Hoper humbly befought them, that,
for declaration of his doings, he might put in writing fuch argu-
ments as moved him to be of the opinion which he held. This
was granted him; and he offered a Book to the Council againſt
the ufe of thoſe Habits which were then uſed by the Church of
England in her facred miniſtries. The next Sunday, Oober 6, the
Council wrote to the Biſhop of London, that whereas there had
been fome difference between Him and the Elect of Glocefter
upon certain ceremonies belonging to the making a Biſhop, where-
« in their Lordſhips defire is, becauſe they would in no wiſe
.be ſtirring up of controverſies between men of one profeſſion, that
he would ceaſe the occaſion thereof. The Biſhop humbly re-
quired:
vi
Et plane Ego ipfe D. Hopero ſuaſi, cum ex illo quæri audirem, quemnam fibi hâc in
parte affentieatem haberet, ut Te [Bucerum] non prætermitteret, fed nos unà omnes no-
minaret, qui hic peregrini fumus; eo quòd nos omnes hic confenfuros eſſe non dubitarem.
Si quid hic eft peccatun igitur, per me peccatum eft. Sed non tam eft peccatum ullâ ma-
litiâ quam Chriftianâ fiduciâ, quam profectò certam effe putabam. Quod non prius tibi.
res fit indicata, quam nomen tuum præferretur, fa&um eft temporis inopiâ ; conftitatum.
enim erat D. Hopero tempus brevius ad reſpondendum quam ut omnium ſententias rogare
poffes. J. à Laſco ad Bucerum ex Ep. MSS. olim. D.D. Morley Epiſcopi.Winton. peculio,
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
3S
.
V
quired, that as the Elect of Glocefter had leave to offer in writing
his reaſons for diſſenting, He alſo in his own juſtification might put
in writing ſuch arguments as moyed him to be of the opinion
which he held. This was granted, and he had orders to attend
the Council the next Sunday, and to bring with him fuch anſwer
as he thought convenient.
Part of Hoper's Book I have by me in MS. but Ridley's anſwer
I have never ſeen : yet by a letter from John à Laſco I find that it
was not only defenſive ; for, beſides anſwering Hoper's argumenting
ſome objections were added; which Hoper by another writing en.
deavoured to refute. And this refutation was again refuted in &
pretty long anſwer from the Biſhop. And it appears that the Coun-
cil were ſo well ſatisfied that Hoper's ſtiffneſs was more than rear
ſonable, in ſtanding out ſtill againſt any compliance, that even his
great friends forſook him, and forth with commanded him to keep
his houſe, unleſs it were to go to the Archbiſhop of Canterbury, or
the Biſhops of London, Ely, or Lincoln, for counſel and ſatisfaction
of his conſcience.
This he ſignified by letters to Bucer and Martyr the Thurſday
following, whoſe judgment in the caſe he required,
As I have the original letters of theſe learned Foreigners by me
in anſwer to John à Laſco, Hoper, Dr. Bill, and the Archbiſhop
of Canterbury, I muſt content myſelf with giving the ſubſtance of
their reply, inſtead of the Biſhop of London's, which I cannot meet
with.
Hoper had inſiſted chiefly on theſe two arguments; 1. that the
uſe of theſe veſtments would be to call back again the abrogated
prieſthood of Aaron : 2. that it could much leſs confift with Chriſt's
prieſthood to uſe thoſe which have been defiled by Antichriſt; the
papiſtical ones, by their own confeffion, being derived, as ſome from
the Aarónical, ſo others from the Pagan prieſthood. To which he
adds a fanciful myſtery, that Chriſt was crucified naked to intimate,
Sf2
that
************
banana
316
Book IV.
THE LIFE OP
that when the truth was come, there was no longer need for cover-
ings and ſhadows.
As to the firſt argument, they obſerve, that in the Aaronical
rites, fome were types and promiſes of Chriſt to come; theſe they
grant are aboliſhed : others were intended for decency and order ;
theſe may be retained or reſtored. The apoſtles, to promote a
friendly intercourſe among the converts, enjoined even to the Gen-
tiles that abſtinence from things ſtrangled, and from blood, to
which the Jewiſh proſelytes were ſtill obliged. Not to mention
that St. Ambroſe tells us, that the practice of preaching was de-
rived from the Synagogue into the Chriſtian Church. Therefore
the reſtoring any Aaronical rites is not in itſelf ſinful: only when
done as prefigurative of Chriſt yet to come, thereby denying that
he has already appeared in the fleſh; or when required as neceſſa-
ty to ſalvation.
TO
$
2
a Pauli doctrina hæc eft, Gal. III. quod quicanque revocat res abrogatas in Chriſto,
tranſgreditur voluntatem Domini. Atque idem manifeftè docet Aaronis facerdotium in
Chrifti facerdotio effe abolitum. Hebr. VII. VIII. IX. X. cum omnibus ſuis ritibus, vefti.
bus, unctionibus, conſecrationibus, et fimilibus. Si igitur iftæ Aaronici facerdotii
umbræ cum Chrifti facerdotio confiftere non poffunt, multo minus papiſticum illud facer-
dotium, quod vel fuorum librorum teftimonio, aut ab. Aarone, aut ab Ethnicis defump.
tum eſt. Neque verò myfterio ſuo caret, quod Servator nofter. Jeſus Chriftus nudus in cruce
pendebat. Nam Aaronici ſacerdotes in ſuo minifterio veſtimentis utebantur, quia facerdo:
tii ipſorum veritas Chriftus ipſe nondum venerat : Chriftus verò, quando ipfe effet facrifi
candus, omnibus veſtibus exutus, ſuum ex eo facerdotium oftendens, quod quum ipſa
eſſet veritas, nullis jam amplius opus haberet velaminibus aut umbris. Ex libro MS. D.
Hoperi Reg. Confiliariis ab ipfo exhibito. 3 Oct. 1550.
• Cum itaque hi duo fint tui præcipui arietes, primo de illis agam. In lege ſeu Aharo.
nico facerdotio fuerunt facramenta quibus Deo placuit obfignare promiffiones Chrifti ven-
turi : hæc omnia novi et fateor abrogata, nec umquam revocanda; datum enim Chriftum
non dandum credimus“... fuerunt in illâ lege aliæ quædam actiones ita comparatæ, ut
facramenta propriè dici non poffent, ad decorum tamen ad ordinem atque ad aliquam
utilitatem fpectantes. Et hujufmodi, fanè ut lumini naturæ congrua, et aliquam utilitatem
promoventia et revocari et retineri poſle judico. Quis non videt Apoftolos, pro pace et
conviêu credentium faciliori mandaffe gentibus ut a fanguine et præfocato abftinerent:
crant
4
.
3
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
317
To the ſecond, they reply, that it does by no means follow that
the uſe of particular veſtments is finful, either becauſe they have
been defiled by popiſh ſuperſtition, or becauſe they were borrowed
from heathen idolatry. Bells were ſubſervient, in popery, to pur-
poſes of idolatry and ſuperſtition ; in calling people to maſs, and
in being rung as a charm to diſpel tempeſts : but they are now em-
ploeyd in the ſervice of true religion, to bring the congregation to-
gether to hear the goſpel, and to attend other holy offices '. As
for Popery borrowing them from Paganiſm, neither does not that
make them unlawful ; did not our anceſtors convert the heathen
temples into chriſtian churches ? Were not the revenues formerly
conſecrated to pagan idols, the theatre, and veſtal virgins, taken
and appropriated to the maintenance of the chriſtian miniſtry ?
Does not St. Paul himſelf quote the verſes of Menander, Aratus,
and Epimenides, written, for the uſe of the theatre, to propitiate
the heathen deities, applying their profane words to promote the
worſhip of the true God? Did not the pagan prieſts in the ſacred
rites of Mithras diſtribute bread and a cup to the votaries, and ſhall
we
:
:
... '
..'...........
erant tamen ita citra controverfiam Aharonica, fi generaliter omnia, quæ in lege fuerunt
complecti volueris ... Mitto quod Ambrofius apertifſimè dicit morem prophetandi a Paulo
traditam, derivatum eſſe a ſynagogâ in noftras eccleſias .... in his cavendum ne libertas
Chriſtiana periclitetur, quod tum fieret, fi quæ retinentur vel reftituuntur quafi neceffaria
ad falutem conſequendam ftatuerentur. Ep. P. Martyris ad Hoperum. Aharonicas
enim ceremonias imitari per fe vitiofum non eft : vitio!um tantum eft, fi quis ejus uſurparet
tanquam
ad falutem neceſſarias ; aut ut Chriftum adhuc futurum in carnem fignificaret.
Epift. Buceri ad Joannem a Laſco.
• Sed aliud tuam argumentum expendamus : hic ego non video, quomodo firmiter fta-
tuatur, nihil nos uſurpare pofie quod in papatu fit uſurpatum. Equidem profpiciendum
est ne Chrifti ecclefiam niiriâ fervitute premamus, ita ut nihil ufurpari poffit quod Papæ
fuerit. Ep. Martyris ad Hoperum.
• Uſus tintinabulorum erat nota Antichriſtianiſmi in noftris eccleſiis ; cum illis populus
vocabatur ad miſſas, cumque pulſarentur contra tempeſtates : nunc nota eft Chriftianif-
mi; cum illis congregatur populus ad evangelium Chriſti, et alias facras actiones. Buceri
Ep. ad J. à Laſco.
mami
1
318
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
we think it impious to do the fame in honor of Chriſt ? You will
ſay we have Chriſt's expreſs command for our doing it. True: but
this proves that what the wicked have uſed in the ſervice of idolatry,
may without ſin be uſed by good Chriſtians in the worſhip of their
Maſter. The ſuperſtition is not in the habits themſelves, but
ſticks entirely in the wicked minds of the abuſers. So that the
ſame garment may be in fome a mark of fuperftition, and in others
a mark of true religion i. If popery immediately deſecrates what-
ever it touches, the facramental bread and wine, the baptiſmal wa-
ter, impoſition of hands, our churches and our pulpits muſt all
be laid aſide as no longer lawful for us to uſe &
Neither
e Certe majores noAri receperunt idolorum templa, in facras ædes, in quibus Chriftus
coleretur, convertentes. Redditus etiam diis gentium, ludis theatri, virginibus veftalibus
conſecratos, ad alendos ecclefiæ miniſtros tranftulerunt. Et tamen hæc omnia non modo
Antichrifto, fed etiam diabolo inſerviebant. Imò carmina poetarum quæ dicata fuerant
muſis, atque variis diis, vel fabulis in theatro agendis ad deos placandos, quando comme.
da pulchraque viſa fuerunt, ecclefiaftici fcriptores ufurpare non verentur, imitati Paulum,
qui. Menandrum Aratum et Epimenidem citare non veritus eft, idque in ipfâ divinâ fcriptu-
râ quam tradebat, verba quæ alioquin profana erant cultui divino adaptans. Ep. Mart.
ad Hop,
Diſtributionem panis et calcis, et facrificuli dæmonum in facris Mithræ celebraverint ;
quid autem id obftat, quo minus et nos eandem ceremoniam piè ufurpamus ? De hâc verò
ceremoniâ dicetis, habemus domini præceptum. Rectè. Ex hoc ipfo autem liquet, ean-
dem rem, quâ impii ad cultum abutuntur dæmonum, poffe apud filios dei defervire cultui
Chrifti. Buceri Epift. ad Joan. a Laſco.
f Quicquid de abuſu harum veftium, id non in veſtibus, fed impuris hærere animis, Buc.
ad Hop. Ita quid vetat ut eadem veftis apud impios impietatis nota fit, apud pios pietati
deſerviat, Buc, ad a Laſco,
& Efto, fint Papæ inventa ; non tamen propterea mihi perſuadeo papatâs efle tantam im-
pietatem, ut quicquid attingit, prorſus reddat contaminatum et impollatum, quo bonis et
piis ſancto ufui concedi non poflit. Mart. ad Hop. Si enim nullo liceat modo, ea quæ
fuerunt facerdotii Aharonici, ac etiam Ethnici ufurpare, neuqe templa fas eft nos habere, nec
ferias facras obſervare ... res multæ quas Antichrifti fecerunt notas fuæ impietatis, poffunt
etiam notæ effe regni Chriſti; fic at fymbola panis et vini, aqua baptiſmatis, impofitio ma-
nuum, conciones, facra loca, feriæ, et quam plurima alia. Buc. ad à Lafco.
1
*****
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
319
Neither do they grant that the habits injoined were introduced
by. popety, for they were in ufe before the popith corruptions crept
in. Eccleſiaſtical hiſtory mentions the plate of gold or mitre worn
by St. John. St. Cyprian is ſaid to have given his cloke to the ex-
écutioner, his dalmatick or ſhort veft to the deacons, and to have
ſtood in his rochet. [But Mr. Bingham believes that theſe are one
ly old names for new things, being originally the common Lay ha-
bit of the country: yet acknowledging, what is ſufficient for Pe-
ter Martyr's argument, that the clergy had their particular habits
for miniſtering in divine ſervice, at leaſt in the beginning of the
fourth century. Orig. Eccleſ. vol. 11.] And Chryfoftom they
obſerve informs us that the minifters of the Church uſed white
garments; as did alſo the newly baptized ".
They further obſerve, that beſide their natural uſe, things may
have an additional one of ſignifying to us God's þenefits, or our
duties. St. Paul ſpeaks of the myſtical meaning of the woman's
veil, and of the uncovered heads of the men. The ſcriptures of
ten mention the white garments of angels; and Malachai ſays that
the miniſters of the church are the meſſengers or angels of the
Lord of Hoſts : as if the color intimated the light of the goſpel
which by their miniſtry is ſpread abroad, and to remind themſelves
of that innocence which it is their duty to preſerve'. And if
And if any
ſerious Chriſtian ſhould believe it expedient, eſpecially for the ſake
of the more rude and uninſtructed, to uſe ſome particular and ſige
nificant garb in their miniſtration, even ſuch a one as popith ſuper-
ftition
he
hi
Neque etiam conceffero has indumentorum diverfitates, a papå fuom ortum habuifle,
quandoquidem legimus in eccleſiaſticâ hiſtoriâ Joannem Apoftolum Ephefi gekaffe peralam
feu laminam pontificalem. De Cypriano Martyre refert Pontius Diaconus, quod cum effeu
mox capite plectendus. Birrum dederit carnifici, Dalmaticam diaconis, et fteterit in lineis..
Veftis candidæ miniftrorum eeclefiæ Chryfoftomus meminit. Martyr, ad Hop.
1: Jam autem quis neget, dominum dare multis electorum fuorum, ut cunctis ex rebus
fignificationes et:admonitiones, præter ulus naturales, fibi tantam fumant, et Dei beneficio-
mm, et ſuorum officiorum ? Penſitemps, quæ de fignificatione viti muliebris, et detecto ca-
pite
320
ftition had,
1 THE LIFE OF
Book.V.
this point, there is no fcripture ; but much to prove that they
ought to be fo left. All God's creatures are good ; and to the
pure all things are pure*
And Bucer admoniſhes John à Laſco, and in him Hoper, that
it does not become us to move queſtions, and raiſe diſputes about
things not abſolutely neceſſary. We ſhould attend to the weak-
neſs of our judgment, and beware of an innate arrogance and ob-
ftinacy in our own conceits. We ſhould indeed earneſtly contend
for things neceſſary to ſalvation, and clearly reveled in fcripture :
but in other points, let us diſpute with caution, and not be hafty
to determine ; if we have been unwarily drawn into contention
about them, we ſhould diſengage ourſelves as ſoon as poſſible :
victory in thoſe caſes is ſeldom obtained, and when obtained not
worth the coſt
But
..
1
pite viri Spiritus S. doceat. Cur etiam de Angelorum lucidis veftibus Scriptura meminerit,
Buc. ad Hop.
Miniſtri ecclefiæ, teſte Malachiâ, fant angeli et nuntü Dei; et angeli ut plurimom ferè
Ubis veftibus induti apparuerunt. Mart. ad Hope
Quid vetet eccleſias Chrifi albam illam veftem, vel plures etiam ofurpare, præciſè ad
commonefactionem benefici divini quod nobis præftat per facrum ecclefiæ minifterium ;
ac ut minifri magis memores fint officii foi ? Bac. ad Joan. a Laſco.
* Si jam tales veri Chriftiani, in fuis ecclefiis judicarent, facturum aliquid ad f. minif-
terii commendationem apud fimpliciores, homines et pueros, miniſtros fingulari aliquâ
vefte uti, in miniftrando, et eâ etiam, quâ papiftæ funt abufi : cur non deberem ejuſmo
di Chriftianos fuo relinquere judicio, equidem nullam video fcripturam docere ; cur de-
berem autem non dubito clarè doceri, Rom. xiv. 1 Cor. viii, & ix.
Buc. ad Hop
Agnofco tecum omne quod non eft ex fide peccatum eſſe : ad tranquillandum tamen
conſcientiam potiffimum videtur facere, quod ad Titum fcribitur, omnia munda mundis ;
et ad Timoth, omnis creatura bona eft. Mart. Ad Hop.
Samma itaque religione cavendam non dubito, primum, ne abortas queſtiones ſuſcipia-
mus ftatim definiendas! ipfique nullam moveamus non ad regnum Chriſti prorfùs neceſſa-
riam. Agnoſcamus judicii noftri imbecillitatem ; metuamus innatam arrogantiam, et in
propiis inventis pervicaciam. Quæ fint ad falutem cognīta neceffaria, ea dilucidè, clarèque
ac.copioſè tradita funt nobis in D. fcripturis omnia ; et de harum rerum ftudio atque per-
fectione
.:
BOOK V.
321
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
+
!
But their anſwers were not well reliſhed by Hoper, who con.
tinued ſtill immoveable, not without great reſentment againſt the
Biſhop of London, who was now principal in this affair in not
yielding to his extreme ſtubbornneſs ; and having ſucceded ſo ill
with Bucer and Martyr, he next tries his friends abroad, Bullinger
and Gualtier ; defiring them to interfere and intercede in his favor
with the King to drop theſe ceremonies : not without ſome invec-
tives againſt the Biſhop of London, as it ſhould ſeem by their an-
ſwers, who endeavour to ſet him right in this point ; aſſuring him,
that although the Biſhop ſtood upon the forms of Law, yet he was
very earneſt to have Hoper a Biſhop. But neither the
But neither the arguments
of thoſe friends, whoſe judgments he highly eſteemed, nor their
aſſurances of Ridley's general regard for him, could convince or
move him. King's and Prelates, Laws and arguments muſt all
bend to his humor ; nothing leſs could prevale on him to accept
the Biſhoprick. Ridley, who valued his learning, diligence, and
ſtrickneſs of life, yet did not think him worth the price at which
he ſet himſelf; which would be to buy him at the expence of all
order and diſcipline, and muſt have ſet a moſt pernicious example,
at that nice unſettled time, of altering and reforming to every man's
particular whim and fancy. The queſtion was not about the ex-
pediency of injoining Thoſe, or any particular habits ; but, whe-
ther, being injoined, they could be worn without fin, or without
ſin refuſed ? And now, when the Court, the Schools, the Pulpits,
the whole Church of England, and the Proteſtant Churches abroad,
had been exerciſed and troubled with this unſeaſonable diſpute, the
Archbiſhop thought it high time to prepare for a final determina-
Tt
tion
Festione deeft omnibus nobis quam plurimum : id ftudii et perfectiones implere aliquando
abfolvereque elaboremus. De cæteris rebus diſputemus cautiflimè, definiamus tardè, aut
Aunquam, nihil pugnemus. Si autem fatanz aſtu, et negligentiâ noftrâ orta pugna de
his rebus fuerit, ab eâ, quâ liceat ratione, quam primum diſcedamus, aut conftituamus
inducias : victoria enim rarò aliqua ; nunquam vero admodum falutaris obtinetur. Buc. ad
Joan. à Laſco.
322
THE LIFE OF
Book V.
;
those
tion of it, and therefore, December 2, writes to Bucer for a ſhort
anſwer to theſe Two Queſtions
1. Whether the Miniſters of the Church of England may,
with-
out offence to God, wear thoſe Habits at preſent uſually worn by
them, and injoined to be ſo by the Magiſtrate ?
2. Whether He, who ſhall affirm that it is unlawful, and ſhall
refuſe to wear them, fins againſt God, in affirming that to be un-
clean, which God hath fanctified; and againſt the Magiſtrate, in
acting againſt their Civil Government?
Bucer the very next day decided both Queſtions in the Affirma-
tive ; only he ſoftened the latter a little, not directly affirming
Prince.
The Court, where there had been a party in Hoper's favor,
grew to be more and more convinced that his incompliance was
blameable. He had been confined to his houſe, except when he
pleaſed, for the ſatisfaction of his conſcience, to reſort to the Arch-
biſhop, or the Bithops of London, Ely, and Lincoln, to confer
with them; at the ſame time he was ordered not to preach or read
till he had further licence. This order of Council he did not obey,
but continued to preach inflarning fermons, and publiſhed his Con-
Feffión of Fáith, December the zoth, which gave much diſtaſte,
not only as contrary to command, but for ſome paffages in it. Nor
did he ſtop here, but proceded to complain even of the Lords of
the Council. So that they, who at firſt might think Ridley to
Blame in inlifting fo much on things indifferent, as if he was either
too ſuperſtitioufly attached to the habits, or was too rigid in not
gränting ſomething to Hoper's fcruples, were now convinced (after
inuch ſifting of the Queſtion) that both his opinion from the be-
ginning, and his conduct quite through were right.
That the Biſhop of London was not ſuperſtitiouſly attached to
the habits, appears from the ſhare he had preſently after in changing
ſome
.
.
:
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
323
ſome of them, and that he could wink at ſcrupulous perſons was
evident from his doing ſo both with Rogers, his own Chaplain, and
Sampſon, afterwards Dean of Chriſt-Church, who, as I mention-
ed before, had been indulged in 1549 by Cranmer and Ridley to
be ordained Deacon without the cuſtomary habits. Hoper's caſe
was very different; he not only ſcrupied, but abſolutely refuſed to
be conſecrated in the habits then injoined, declaring that the uſe
of them was ſinful. And this not only in private, but in publick,
in ſermons, diſcourſe, petitions, remonſtrances, and letters to the
univerſities and foreign churches. The affair ceaſed to be private
betwixt Hoper and Ridley, it grew to be a contention betwixt
Hoper and the Church of England; whoſe ſpiritual governours
wore thoſe habits, which Hoper declared to be finful, and of which
their temporal governours injoined the uſe.
Here
appear the diſtinguiſhing lines of Ridley's character, which
run uniformly through his life ; meek and gentle to tender con-
ſciences, patiently bearing with their weakneſs : but where he ſaw
the will was in fault from vanity, malice, or obſtinacy, he ſet him-
ſelf with great earneſtneſs and ſteadineſs to reduce it to a ſubmiſſion.
Martyr bears witneſs againſt Hoper, that his cauſe was indefenſi-
The Council, diſguſted at his behaviour, removed him to a
more effectual, but honorable, confinement, committing him to
the care of the Archbiſhop at Lambeth to be reformed, or pu-
niſhed. After a fortnight's fruitleſs labor to reduce him to a com-
pliance, the Archbiſhop reported, that he could in no ſort work
upon him. Upon which there was an order of Council, January
27, that ſeeing Hoper could not be brought to any conformity,
• but rather perſevering in his obſtinacy conceiteth to preſcribe or-
• ders and neceſſary laws of his own head, it was agreed he ſhould
• be committed to the Fleet; and that he ſhould be kept from con-
T t 2
• ference
ble a
-
· Illius caufa fic jacet, ut melioribus et piis nequaquam probetur.
January 13
b
324
܀
Book V
THE LIFE OF
• ference with any perſon, ſaving the miniſters of that houſe." Here,
after ſome time, he became more tractable. And at length was
conſecrated at Lambeth Chapel, March 8, in his linen Surplice and
Cope, the Biſhops of London and of Rocheſter alliſting in the liké
habits.
Theſe two troubleſome affairs, which were both ended on the
fame day, thew what great difficulties the cool judicious Reformers
had to encounter at that time : and, I apprehend from the
general nature of mankind, will always have to conflict with; from
the cunning of worldly men in favor of old well endowed prejudices
and prepoffeflions; and the ſtubbornneſs of opiniated inen, who, fatis-
fied of their own integrity with regard to the end, will not be pre-
valed upon to ſubmit to the reaſon or authority of their ſuperiors
with regard to the means. Yet with what modeſty did the Biſhop
of London mention this variance afterward in a letter to Hoper
when they were both in priſon ? • My dear Brother, I underſtand
by your works that we thoroughly agree and wholly conſent to-
gether in thoſe things which are the grounds and ſubſtantial points
* of our religion, howſoever in time paſt in ſmaller matters and
* circumſtances of religion your wiſdom and my ſimplicity made us
« to think differently.' Even at the time of the diſpute Ridley
agreed with Hoper that there was more pomp than was convenient,
but he judged it dangerous, when the Papiſts withdrew their obe
dience from the King in his minority, and the Anabaptiſts had
maintained errors ſubverſive of all government, to countenance, a
refuſal to ſubniit to the laws in being, in things not finful in them-
ſelves.
...........
The conclufion of theſe two affairs has carried
$: 4 Day, Biſhop us beyond the limits of the year; we muſt there-
of Chicheſter, impri-
Joned.
fore go back. a little to an oppoſition given to the
Reformers by another Biſhop, Dr. Day of Chi-
cheſter
&
Lt
BOOK V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
325
*
It has been already mentioned that the Biſhop of London in his
primary viſitation had injoined a Table inſtead of an Altar to be
uſed for celebrating the Lord's Supper. In which he agreed with
Hoper, who had preached before the King in the beginning of
the year ,
to the ſame purpoſe, ſaying, “it would be very well that
. it might pleaſe the magiſtrate to turn the Altars into Tables ac-
cording to the firſt inſtitution of Chriſt ; and thereby to take
away the falſe perſuaſion of the people, which they have of fa-
• crifices to be done upon the altars. Becauſe, as long as altars
remain, both the ignorant people and the ignorant and evil-per-
• ſuaded prieſts will dream always of ſacrifice.' Ridley approving
of this, had injoined the altars to be taken down in his dioceſe,
and Tables to be ſet up in their ſtead. And as an example to the
reſt, on the evening of St. Barnabas, had cauſed the wall ſtanding
on the back ſide of the altar in the church of St. Paul's to be bro-
ken down. This injunction met with great oppoſition and cenſure,
as contrary to the preſent order of Common-Prayer, and the King's
procedings. Heylin, who concludes Biſhop Ridley to have been
maſter of too great a judgment to run before authority in a buſineſs
of ſuch weight and moment, ſuppoſes that the hiſtories have miſ-
orderly placed the facts, and that the Order of Council about this
matter in November 1550 preceded the Biſhop's viſitation and injunc-
tion for removing altars. But in this he labors to vindicate the Biſhop
by a groundleſs ſuppoſition ; if he cannot be vindicated without
miſrepreſenting facts, I will not be his advocate on thoſe condi-
tions.
The Biſhop of London certainly viſited in June 1550, and then
gave out his injunctions, of which one was to take down altars; for
on the 23d of June King Edward notes in his Journal, that Sir John
Yates, Sheriff of Eſſex, went down with Letters to ſee the Biſhop
of London's injunctions performed, which touched plucking down
of ſuperaltaries, altars, and ſuch like ceremonies and abuſes. But
as,
326
Book V.
THE OF
LIFE LIFE
<
as much clamor was made by the popiſhly inclined clergy, and great
obſtruction given to it, the Biſhop was ſtrengthened by publick
command from the Council to give ſubſtantial orders for doing it
through his dioceſe, ſignified in a Letter to him, bearing date No-
vember 24, 1550.
În which Letter having required him to give ſubſtantial order
throughout his diocefe that all the altars in every church and chapel,
as well in places exempted as not exempted, be taken down, and
l'ox. inſtead of them a Table ſet up in ſome convenient part of the chan-
cel for the miniſtration of the bleſſed Communion; there were ad-
ded. certain Conſiderations gathered and collected, that make for
* that purpoſe. The which and ſuch others, as you ſhall think
meet, to be ſet forth to perſuade the weak to embrace our pro-
' cedings in this part, we pray you cauſe to be declared to the peo-
ple by fome diſcrete preachers in ſuch places as you ſhall think
meet, before the taking down of the ſaid altars, ſo as both the
* weak conſciences of others may be inſtructed and ſatisfied, as much
as may be ; and this our pleaſure the more quietly executed.
* For the better doing whereof we require you to open the afore-
* ſaid Confiderations, in that our Cathedral Church, in your own
* perſon, if you conveniently may; or otherwiſe by your Chancel-
lor or other grave Preacher, both there, and in ſuch other mar-
** ket towns and moſt notable places of your dioceſe as you may
* think moſt requiſite.'
The-Confiderations or Reaſons fent with this Order were ſuch
as the Biſhop himſelf had given to the Council ; as appears by his
Regiar. Regiſter, where thofe Reaſons are inſcribed with this Preface
Ridley.
“ Certain Reaſons why the Reverend Father Nicholas Biſhop of
** London, amongft other his injunctions given in his late viſitation,
did exhort thoſe churches in his dioceſe, where the altars as then
* did remain, to conform themſelves unto thoſe other churches
* which had taken them down, and had ſet up in the ſtead of the
* multitude
BOOK V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
327
« multitude of their altars one decent Table in each church.
And
" that herein he did not any thing contrary to the Book of Common
· Prayer (in which it is called indifferently the Lord's Table or the
altar] or to the King's Majeſty's Procedings; but that he was in-
• duced to do the ſame, partly moved by his office and duty, where-
' with he is charged in the ſame book ;' (wherein matters of diſ-
pute ariſing out of that Book are directed to be decided by the Or-
dinary] • and partly for the advancement and ſincere ſetting forward
. of God's holy word, and the King's Majeſty's moſt godly pro-
cedings.
Then follows an exemplification of the Reaſons, which may be
• ſeen in Fox; who likewiſe miſtakes in making Ridley's viſitation
ſubſequent to the receipt of this Letter from the Council. The
ſubſtance of the reaſons were.
1. That the end of this facrament was to eat of Chriſt's body,
and to drink his blood, not to ſacrifice and crucify him again : the
end therefore required a Table rather than an Altar.
2. It is ſometimes indeed called altar in the Book of Common
Prayer, as that on which the facrifice of praiſe and thankſgiving is
offered; but it is alſo called the Lord's Table, and the Lord's Board
indifferently, without preſcribing any particular form. So that this
injunction is not contrary to the Book of Common Prayer.
3. The Popiſh opinion was that an altar was neceffary for the
celebration of the maſs, which ſuperſtitious opinion was kept alive
by the continuance of altars : therefore the removal of altars was
neceffary for aboliſhing that ſuperſtitious opinion.
4. An altar was ordained for the facrifices of the Law; but now
both the Law and the Sacrifices ceaſing, the altar ſhould alſo ceaſe.
5. Chriſt inſtituted his laſt ſupper at a Table, and not upon an
altar. Nor did either the apoſtles or the primitive church, as we
read of, ever ufe an altar in the miniftration of the Holy Comnru-
nicm
328
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
Cranmer.
nion. Therefore a Table, as more agreeing with Chriſt's inſtitu-
tion and primitive practice is rather to be uſed than an Altar.
6. Becauſe the Book of Common Prayer leaves it to the Dioce-
fan to determine, if any doubt ariſes about the practice of it.
Like Letters, with that above from the Council to Ridley, were
Strype's ſent to the other Biſhops. Day of Chicheſter carried his to the
Duke of Somerſet, ſaying, he could not conform his conſcience
to do that which he was commanded by the ſaid Letter, and there-
fore prayed the ſaid Duke that he might be excufed. On the
Duke's report of this to the Council, Day was called before them,
December 1 : to whom he ſaid, that he could not conform his con-
ſcience to take down the altars in the churches, and in lieu of them
to fet
up
Tables ; for that he ſeemed for his opinion to have the
Scripture and Conſent of the Doctors and Fathers of the Church,
and contrariwiſe did not perceive any ſtrength in the Six Reaſons
which were ſet forth by the Biſhop of London, to perſuade the ta-
king down of altars and erection of Tables. Which ſhews that
the Reaſons delivered from the Council were underſtood to be of
Ridley's framing. The ſcriptures which Day alledged were Ifaiah
XIX. 19. Hebr. XIII. 10. which being anſwered by the Arch-
biſhop and the Biſhop of Ely, the Council required him to pro-
cede to the execution of his Majeſty's command. But he requeſt-
ed that he might not be commanded to offend his conſcience, ſay-
ing, if That might be inſtructed to the contrary, he would not thus
moleft the Council with his refuſal. They then required him to
reſort to the Archbiſhop of Canterbury, or the Biſhops of Ely or
London, and confer with them on this matter, giving him till
the 4th of December to make his anfwer.
peared that indeed he had called at Lambeth one day when the
Archbiſhop was at Council, but had neither conferred with him,
or either of the other two Biſhops, and that he continued of the
fame mind. The Council then expreſſly commanded him on his
allegiance
On which day it ap-
BOOK V. Dr. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
329
allegiance to execute the King's command. And gave him till Sun-
day the 7th to make his final anſwer.
Which time they again
lengthened till Tueſday, when, for his contempt in perfiſting in
his refuſal to obey the King's orders, he was committed to the
Fleet. He had come over fo far as to preach a ſermon at court
againſt Tranſubſtantiation ; in which point we nuſt ſuppoſe his Harl.
conſcience was then rightly inſtructed : yet afterward, in Queen No.422.
Mary's reign, he was one who ſigned the Commiſſion by which
Ridley and his Fellow Confeffors were condemned to the fire for
holding the ſame doctrine. In like manner did Oglethorpe, Burnet.
Magdalen College, Oxford, about the ſame time declare, that
he did reject the lately received doctrine of Tranſubſtantiation, as
being not agreeable to the ſcriptures or to ancient writers: but he
thought there was a wonderful Preſence of Chriſt's Body, which
he could neither expreſs or conceive. And in general, he allowed
that the order of religion ſet forth by King Edward was better, and
much nearer the uſe of the Apoftolical and Primitive Church than
that which was formerly. Yet this Divine was afterward Biſhop
of Carliſle under Queen Mary, and was one of the Commiſſioners
who condemned thoſe three Confeſſors before mentioned, for hold.
ing thoſe doctrines, which he now pretended to approve.
Beſide theſe Biſhops, the refractory Lady Mary Strype's
$.5. Lady Mary's created much trouble this year;
created much trouble this year; the indulgence vol.
Inconformity. which was promiſed in her favor to the Emperour, p. 249.
by Lord Paget and Sir Philip Hobby, that ſhe
ſhould be permitted to have maſs in her private cloſet, with a few
of her domeſticks, for a time, the Emperour conſtrued into an ab-
ſolute promiſe to Her and her Fanlily for the free exerciſe of the
old ſervice. And ſo he informed the Lady Mary, or at leaſt ſo the
pretended ſhe had been informed by him. The King was uneaſy
at her perſeverance in error and ſuperſtition; and the Council, that
ſuch
Mem.
U u
melon
330
THE LIFE OF
Book V.
warrant.
ſuch countenance was given to diſobedience of their orders by the
incompliance of her houſehold. This occaſioned, through the ſum-
mer of this year, many meſſages and intimations to be ſent to her
from the King and Council to diffuade and forbid the uſe of the
maſs.
But the and her Chaplains, unmoved by theſe meſſages, were
guilty of exceſſes beyond what the promiſe to the Emperour would
The Council then awarded forth proceſs againſt her
Chaplains, and required her to ſurrender them up to the Sheriff of
Eſſex. In her anſwer ſhe took the fault upon herſelf, and inſiſted
on the promiſe made to the Emperour's Ambaſſadour. In the
Council's reply, December 25, they inform her, that the promiſe
reſpected only herſelf, and a few of her chamber in her preſence :
but that to the reſt of her Houſehold the Communion Service ſhould
Fox. be uſed. In this letter they tell her, that they had only reduced
that which was commonly called the Maſs to the order of the
• Primitive Church and the inſtitution of Chrift: with which the
King and the whole realm had their conſciences well quieted.
They added, that it had foundation in ſcripture upon plane texts,
. and no gloſſes ; and confirmed by the uſe of the Primitive Church.
That the greateſt change was, not in the ſubſtance of their faith,
* nor in any one article of their Creed; but only that they uſed the
• eeremonies, obſervations, and facraments of their religion, as the
Apoſtles and firſt Fathers of the Church did : whereas ſhe uſed
* thoſe which corruption of time had brought in, and very bar-
barity and ignorance had nouriſhed. She held (they faid) for
• Cuſtom againſt Truth, They for Truth againſt Cuſtom.. And
* whereas the had urged earneſtly the maintenance of her faith,
they aſked her, where her Grace had ground for ſuch a faith, to
* think Common Prayer in the Engliſh church ſhould not be in
Engliſh ; that images of God ſhould be ſet up in the church ;
* or that the facrament of the body and blood of Chriſt ſhould be
« offered
.
BOOK V.
331
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
• offered by the Prieſt for the Dead ? And that although ſhe had
no ſcripture to maintain them, they had evident ſcriptures to for-
• bid them. They obſerve further, that it would be infinite to re-
• count the great number of particular errors crept into the church,
« which ſhe made her foundation : but that the fables of falſe mi-
• racles and leud pilgrimages might ſomewhat teach her. Praying
• her Grace to remember the two words that the Father ſaid of
• his Son Jeſus Chrift, Hear Him. Laſtly, they beſought her for
• God's ſake, to thew her affection and duty to the King, and not
by her diſobedience to the laws encourage the looſeneſs of the
' people in her Brother's minority, and be the cauſe of diſturbance
• to his government. The conſideration of which things we pray
• Almighty God to lay in the bottom of your heart, and thereupon
• to build ſuch a profeſſion in you, as both God may have his true
• honor, the King his due obedience, the realm concord, and we
• moſt comfort. This letter Biſhop Burnet ſuppoſes was penned
either by Cranmer or Ridley.
The diſpute continued almoſt through the whole year following:
the Lady Mary and the Emperour's Ambaſſadour inſiſting upon the
promiſe made to the Emperour, and extending it beyond the con-
ditions and limits mentioned : the Council on the other hand
pro-
ducing the evidence of the King's Ambaſſadours, who made the
promiſe, that it was given only for a time, and for maſs in her own
preſence only, and that in private ; and requeſting that inſtead of
inſiſting upon the promiſe as far as it was given for a ſeaſon only,
The would now upon better advice think of yielding obedience to
the King's laws: the King, uneaſy at the indulgence of what he
thought impious and idolatrous, was deſirous to withdraw it alto-
gether.
However the Council, having many goods belonging to the
publick at Antwerp, thought it not adviſeable to provoke the Em-
perour while ſuch effects were in his ports; nor were they willing
U - 2
332
THE LIFE OF
BOOK V.
***
go to the
to draw a new war on their heads, eſpecially from ſo victorious a
Prince. They therefore adviſed the King to leave his Siſter to her
own diſcretion at preſent : but the King could not be induced to
give way to it; he judged the Popiſh maſs finful, and would not
conſent to the continuance of it. Upon this the Council ordered
Cranmer, Ridley and Ponet to diſcourſe about it with the King.
They told him, that it was always a fin in a Prince to give licence
to fin ; but not always ſo to forbear or remit the puniſhment for a
time in hopes of amendment; and that ſometimes a leſs evil con-
nived at might prevent a greater. The King was prevaled upon
with difficulty; and burſting into tears lamented his Siſter's obſti-
nacy, and that he muſt ſuffer her to continue in fo abominable à
way of worſhip, as he eſteemed the maſs. The Emperour's Am-
K. Edw. baſſạdour inſiſting on the promiſe, and denouncing war, if not
Journal. complied with, had no other anſwer than that one ſhould
Emperour to declare the matter. On this errand Dr. Wotton was
diſpatched in April; with atteſtations from all the Council concern-
ing the qualifications of the promiſe that had been made ; and to :
preſs the Emperour not to trouble the King in his affairs at home in
his own kingdom : offering at the ſame time, that the King would
grant as much liberty for the maſs in England to the Emperour's
ſervants, as the Emperour would grant for the Engliſh ſervice in
his dominions to the King's ſervants : but reſolving that the Lady
Mary, as his Siſter and Subject, ſhould uſe the ſervice appointed
by Act of Parliament.
She continuing to clame the promiſe beyond what was given ;
and the King and Council intreating her not to inſiſt upon it ſo far
as it was given, for a time only; and neither ſubmitting to the
other, ſhe was ordered to continue with the King : her Chaplains
were not permitted to attend her, ſome of her ſeivants for acting
againſt the laws were committed to cuſtody; and two of the King's
ſervants, Sir Anthony Browne and Serjeant Morgan were ſent to
the
Burnet.
.
BOOK V:
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
3:33
the Tower for hearing maſs. The deſign of ſending for her to
Court was not only to endeavour at bringing her over to a confor-
mity with the eſtabliſhed form of religion, but to keep her out of
the Emperour's hands, who had formed a ſcheme in the ſummer
before of conveying her out of England. Biſhop Burnet blames
their politicks in preventing this eſcape : but perhaps the Earl of
Warwick thought it more adviſeable for his purpoſe to keep her
in his own hands than to commit her to the keeping of the Em-
perour. So late as. June in the year 1551 the navy was appointed K. Edw.
Journal.
to be rigged and furniſhed with ordnance, under color of thewing
the French Admiral the force of the Engliſh navy, but indeed on
account of an information received that ſome ſhips were rigging in
Holland to convey the Lady Mary away; to withſtand which was
the real motive for making this preparation.
In January the Biſhop of London was joined in 1551.
$i 6. Second re-
a ſpecial commiſſion with the Archbiſhop and
view of the Common twenty nine perſons more to correct and puniſh all
Prayer.
Anabaptiſts, and ſuch as did not duly adminiſter
the facraments according to the Book of Common
Prayer, ſet forth by the King's Majeſty.
And in the Convocation of this year (of which Heylin fays no
records remain, but a paſſage from which we learn, that) there
were ſome doubts relating to ſome things in the Common Prayer
Book, Feaſts, form of words at delivering the elements. in the ſa-
crament of the Lord's Supper, and the different manner of admi-
niſtering it. A review of it was therefore determined : many things
were thought proper to be altered. Bucer and Martyr were deſired
to give their opinions alſo ; as appears by a letter from Martyr to
Bucer, January 10: in which we ſee that theſe Foreigners in gę-
neral agreed in cenſuring the ſame things. But they had no fura
ther hand in the alterations than in delivering their cenſures, ſepa- .
rately, to the Archbiſhop, ; for in the ſame Letter Martyr ſayse.
that:
334
THE LIFE OF
Book V.
VI.
that what the points were, that it had been agreed ſhould be al-
tered, he knew not, nor durſt preſume to aſk. And as for Bucer,
he died the latter end of the next month, and could be no further
concerned in it. And as the Reviewers were not moved by them,
but by ſome members of the Convocation ; ſo, many alterations were
agreed on before thoſe Profeſſors were conſulted, as appears from
5,6 Edw. the ſame Letter. They meant not to cenſure the Firſt Book, as
containing any efſential fault, but for the reſolution of ſome doubts
in the uſe and exerciſe of it, which proceded rather from curioſity
• than any worthy cauſe. The perſons engaged in this review are
reaſonably ſuppoſed to be the ſame who firſt compiled it ;. but chief-
lý the Archbiſhop and the Biſhop of London. The firſt was very
ſolicitous in procuring what helps he could to make it as perfect as
might be ; and the latter was moſt earneſt in recommending it, as
if it had been a thing he had well weighed and conſidered : which
intimates their great concern in it.
The chief alterations in this Review were theſe that follow ; at
the end of the Preface was added a Rubrick, injoining all Prieſts and
Deacons to ſay daily the Morning and Evening Service, privately or
openly, unleſs they were hindered by preaching, ſtudying of Di-
vinity, or ſome other urgent cauſe; and to let a bell be tolled ſome
convenient time before they began, that thoſe who were diſpoſed
might come to hear God's word, and to pray with them. The
Declaration concerning Ceremonies was placed next after the Pre-
face; and the explanatory notes, which followed in the firſt Li-
turgy, were omitted.
The Service was to be ſaid in that part of
the church where the people could beſt hear; and the uſe of the
Alb, Cope and Tunicle was prohibited, the Prieſt or Deacon being
only to wear a Surplice, and the Biſhop or Archbiſhop his Rochet.
So that Ridley's contention was not in favor of outward
pomp,
but
to enforce a due and chriſtian ſubmiſſion. In the beginning of
the daily Morning Service were added the Sentences, Confeſſion,
and
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
335
and Abfolution; as the German Proteſtant churches had their Str. Me-
morials.
Confeſſion and Abſolution. The Reſponſes after the Lords Prayer
ran in the plural number, and the Hallelujah at the end of them
was omitted; as was alſo the order for ſinging the Leſſons, Epiſtles,
and Goſpels, and for the uſe of the Song of the Three Children in
Lent only. The hundredth Pſalm was inſerted to be uſed fome-
times after the ſecond Leſſon in the morning; as were alſo the
ninety eighth to be uſed after the firſt, and the ſixty ſeventh after
the ſecond Leſſon in the Evening Service. The Athanaſian Creed,
which in the firſt Book was appointed only on the great Feſtivals,
was now directed to be ſaid on ſo many of the Saints days that it
came in courſe once in every month. The Litany was placed next
to the Morning and Evening Service; and the uſe of it was injoin-
ed on Sundays, as well as Wedneſdays and Fridays. The occafion-
al Collects for times of dearth and famine, of war, and of any com-
mon plague or fickneſs, were added at the end of it. The Introits
were all omitted ; as was likewiſe the double Communion at Chriſt-
mas and Eaſter; the Collect, Epiſtle and Goſpel, which were re-
tained, being the ſame with thoſe now in uſe : and the Hymn for
Eaſter Day, which in the Firſt Book was ordered to be ſung be-
fore Mattins, was now appointed inſtead of Venite exultemus; the
Hallelujahs, Verſicles, and Collect at the end being omitted. The
Collect for Eaſter-day was to be repeted on Low Sunday. The
Feaſt of St. Mary Magdalene was ſtruck out of the calendar ; the
Collect for the Feaſt of St. Andrew was changed for that now uſed
and the Goſpel for Whitſunday continued, as at preſent, to the
end of the chapter.
In the title of the Communion Office, the words commonly call-
ed the Maſs were omitted ; and it was to be ſaid in the body of the
church or chancel, where Morning and Evening Prayer were ap-
pointed to be ſaid, the Prieſt ſtanding on the North ſide of the Ta-
ble. The Office began with the Lord's Prayer, and the Collect
for
336
is
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
for purity. After which the Commandments were inſerted, with
a brief, but moſt pious petition at the end of each for the forgive-
nefs of our paſt offences againſt them, and for grace to keep them
more perfectly for the future.
The words militant here on earth were added to the Preface of
the Prayer for the whole ſtate of Chriſt's Church ; and the latter
part of it, in which thanks were returned for the virtues and
gra-
ces of the bleſſed Virgin, and other Saints, and in which the Faith-
ful departed were prayed for, was in part omitted. A new exhor-
tation was added, to be uſed when the people were negligent in
coming to the Holy Communion; the ſubſtance of the former part
of which is contained in the ſecond exhortation now in uſe : but
the latter part was addreſſed to them, who, according to an irreli-
gious cuſtom of thoſe times, would ſtay out of curioſity during the
adminiſtration of the euchariſt, and did not communicate. The
other exhortations were tranſpoſed and altered, and the clauſe re-
lating to auricular Confeffion was omitted. The Rubrick, which
required water to be mixed with the wine, was ſtruck out; and
inſtead of unleavened bread, to take away all occaſion of dif-
ſenfion and ſuperſtition, it was declared ſufficient, that the bread
be ſuch as is uſual to be eaten, but the beſt and pureſt wheat bread
that conveniently may be gotten ::
The exhortation to confeſs to
God
* From a perſuaſion that our Saviour inſtituted his Supper at the Paſchal feſtival, at
which feſtival the Jews were commanded by Moſes to cat unleavened bread, and common-
ly, though without ſuch command, drank wine mixt with water; theſe have been ſuppo-
fed the elements which Chriſt confecrated, and made the facrament of his body and blood,
and have therefore been frequently uſed at the celebrations of the Euchariſt. But the Church
hath not held that they were commanded by Chriſt, as the words of inftitution mention only
bread, in general ; and the cup in which was the fruit of the vine, in general, without mention-
ing the circumſtances of unleavened, or mixt with water. And therefore the Greeks and La-
tins declared, in the Council of Florence, that the body of Jeſus Chriſt is truely conſecrated
in bread-corn, whether it be leavened or unleavened. If the Greeks and Latins have more
generally agreed in practiſing the mixture, it muſt have been for ſome other reaſon than
Chrif's
.
.
.
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
337
God and to his holy church was thus altered; · make your hum-
« ble confeſſion to almighty God before this Congregation here ga-
thered
x x
Chriſt's inſtitution; for if his command, Do this, did not injoin unleavened bread, neither
would the ſame command at the bleſſing of the cup command the mixture. But if we ex-
amine the Evangeliſts we ſhall find reaſon to believe, that Chriſt did not inſtitute his Sup-
per at the Paſchal feſtival, but on the evening before ; REFORE the feaſt of the Paſſover,
ſays St. John : when the day of unleavened bread was come, ſays St. Luke : the firſt day of
unleavened bread, ſay St. Matthew and St. Mark: that is, in the beginning of the prepa-
ration day, when they cleared their houſes of leaven ; but the feaſt of unleavened bread
began not till the following evening, and leavened bread might be uſed till twelve of the
clock on the fourteenth day. (See Lightfoot's Temple Service, c. 12. $. 2.) And pure
wine not only might, but ought to be uſed for the Grace cup after other meals. (See Bux-
torf's Synagog. Judaic. c. 12.) Therefore as Chriſt inſtituted his Supper at the cloſe of
the 13th or beginning of the 14th day, it is by no means certain that Chriſt himſelf con-
fecrated unleavened bread or wine mixt with water at the inſtitution of the Eucharift : and
then there is no grounds for the uſe of either. Accordingly there is evidence that leavened
bread and wine unmixt were the elements which were firſt in uſe. The Greeks have in-
variably adminiſtered in leavened bread from the beginning to this day. , And Ernulphus,
Biſhop of Rocheſter, ſays, that the rites of the Church, in their circumſtances have been
changed in length of time; and that among thoſe changes was the euchariftial bread, for,
according to him, the Apoſtles in their celebrations of that facrament eat panes quotidianos,
common or leavened bread. With regard to the mixture, Pope Alexander 1. is reported to
have introduced it, thereby to repreſent the blood and water that flowed out of the ſide of
Chriſt at his crucifixion. His Decretal Epiſtles, where this is mentioned are allowed indeed
to be forgeries of the 7th century: but woven together from the writings and traditions
that had been before in the Church. And theſe traditions witneſs to the occaſion of intro-
ducing the mixture, although we cannot from them aſcertain the particular perſon or time.
by whom, or when they were introduced. For St. Auſtin (De Eccleſ. dogmat.) tells us,
In Euchariftiâ non debet pura aqua offerri; ut quidam fobrietatis falluntur imagine ; fed
vinum cum aquâ mixtum ; quia et VINUM fuit in redemptionis noftræ myfterio, cum dixit,
nox bibam à modo de hoc genimine vitis : et aquâ mixtum, NON QOUD POST CÆNAM DABA-
TUR, ſed quod de latere ejus lanceâ perfoſfo aquâ cum fanguine egreffà, vinum de verâ
ejus carnis vite expreffum oftenditur. So that the primitive Church allowed that Chriſt
inftituted in pure wine to repreſent his blood that ſhould be fhed for our fins ; but afterward,
obſerving that at his Paſſion came forth both water and blood, his diſciples very early mixt
water with their wine to repreſent this circumſtance, although not particularly command-
ed; and from that time it has generally prevaled in the church. The Greeks fecm with
great exactneſs to diſtinguiſh betwixt the inftitution, and the addition; confecrating in pure
wine,
338
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
6
• thered together in his holy name. The proper Prefaces were to
be continued, as at preſent ; and the Triſagium was reduced to
its preſent form. In the Prayer of Conſecration the petition for
the ſanctification of the elements by God's word and ſpirit, that
they might be to us the body and blood of Chriſt, was changed
into a prayer, that we receiving the creatures of bread and wine
according to our Saviour's inftitution might be made partakers of
his moſt bleſſed body and blood: and the ſigning over the elements
the ſign of the Croſs was left out. At the diſtribution of the
bread inſtead of the Body of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, which was
given for thee, preſerve thy body and ſoul unto eternal life, '
which was the form in the firſt Liturgy, was ſubſtituted this clauſe;
' take and eat This in remembrance that Chriſt died for thee, and
· feed on him in thine heart by faith with thankſgiving.' The
like change was made in the words at the delivery of the Cup.
The Oblation Prayer was removed into the Poſt-Communion, and
reduced to its preſent form; the Sentences appointed to be uſed in
the Poft-Communion were omitted ; and the method and order of
the whole office was brought to much the ſame ſtate in which it
now ftands. The Bread was directed to be ſuch as is uſually eat-
en, but the beſt and pureſt that can poſſibly be gotten ; and it was
now ordered to be given into the hands of the Communicants.
The bread and wine was to be provided by the Curate and Church-
wardens at the charge of the Pariſhioners; and the Pariſhioners
were to be releaſed of thoſe ſums of money and other duties,
which they before uſed to pay in courſe upon that account. Every
Pariſhioner was required to communicate at leaſt three times in the
year, of which Eaſter was to be one s, and he was then to reckon
with
$
wine, and then adding thereto ſome warm water to expreſs the circumſtance that appeared
afterward. So that how generally foever the mixture may have obtained, the evidence of
the Primitive Church is, that it was not injoined by Chriſt..
BOOK V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
339
with the Miniſter or his Deputy, and pay him all eccleſiaſtical du-
ties then due. The Rubrick, which left croſſing, holding up of
hands, knocking upon the breaſt, and other geſtures, to be left
or uſed, as to every man's devotion ſeemeth, was expunged ; and
a new Rubrick added, in which the reaſon, why the poſture of
kneeling was retained, is declared ; and the determination of tho
church in that affair is vindicated from a groundleſs objection of
ſeeming to countenance the Corporal Preſence.
In the office of Baptiſm the Sign of the Croſs on the child's
breaſt, the Exorciſin, the Chriſom, the two laſt of the Interroga-
tories, the Trine Immerſion, and the Unction were omitted, with
the rubrick concerning the monthly change of the water, and the
prayers then to be uſed; and the Lord's Prayer, and the Thankf-
giving after the Baptiſm of the child were added.
In Confirmation the Sign of the Croſs was omitted ; as was alſo
the delivering the gold and ſilver to the Bride in the form of matri-
mony, with the paffages thereto alluding. The apocryphal in-
ſtance of Toby and Sarah in the firſt Collect was changed for that
of Iſaac and Rebecca ; and the ſign of the Croſs at the Benedic.
tion of the married couple was laid aſide. In the order for the Viſi-
tation of the Sick the Pſalm at the beginning and an offenſive
claufe concerning Tobias and Sarah, and the unction of the ſick
perſon, were expunged ; and the communion bread and wine were
always to be conſecrated at the fick man's houſe, which in the for
mer book were directed to be reſerved and carried from the church,
if a communion had been there that day, or if no communion had
been there, but ſeveral fick were to be viſited, that the elements
confecrated in the firſt fick man's houſe ſhould be reſerved, and car-
ried to the reſt. In the Burial Office the
In the Burial Office the prayers for the perſon to
be interred, the proper Pſalms, the Suffrages, and the order for
the Communion were ſtruck out. The Rubrick in the office for
churching of women concerning offering the Chriſomn was omitted:
and
X X 2
340
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
and the title of the Commination was thus altered, « A Com-
'mination againſt finners with certain prayers to be uſed divers
i times in the year.'
The offices of Ordination, drawn up in 1949, were now added
to the Liturgy, and eſtabliſhed as a part of it, with theſe few altera-
tions; the veſtments therein required, and the Introits were laid
aſide in this, as in all other parts of the book; the ſhocking appeal
to the Saints and Evangeliſts at the end of the oath of ſupremacy
was ſtruck out; and the Ceremonies of delivering the chalice with
bread at the ordination of a Prieſt, and the laying the Bible on the
neck, and putting the Paſtoral Staff into the hand at the Confecra-
tion of a Biſhop were omitted.
The great diffentions and diverſity of opinions
$. 7. Articles of that broke loſe in this reign rendered it very ex-
Religion.
pedient that proviſion Thould be made to reduce
people to ſome uniformity. To reſtrain or punifli
private judgment was not conſiſtent with the principles of the Re-
formation, which, rejecting the authority of the Church, when not
founded on Scripture, had fixed the Scriptures and Firſt Four Ge-
neral Councils as the Rule of Faith. This opened a door to wild
interpretations, which whim, ignorance, art, malice and obſtinacy
broached and maintained, till great diſorder and confuſion was the
conſequence. In remedy of this, they were the more ſtrict in obli-
ging to anoutward conformity with the eſtabliſhed order of religion,
and to puniſh the publick preachers and maintainers of opinions con-
trary to the Liturgies and Homilies of the Church of England.
Therefore, in anſwer to the Lady Mary, who had told the King
that her fouł was God's, and that ſhe would not change her faith,
nor diſſemble her opinions with contrary doings, it was ſaid, that
bis Majeſty conſtrained' not her faith, but willed her not as a King
to reign, but as: a. Subject to obey, left her example might breed too
much,
BOOK V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
34.1
MSS.
much inconvenience. This became the more neceſſary, not only
from ſome new fangled interpretations of our own people, but
chiefly from an obftinate adherence to old errors, the licentiouſneſs
of mad German enthuſiaſts, and ſome deſigning emiſſaries from
Rome, who crouded in among the German exiles on purpoſe to
diſtract the church. Theſe have been already mentioned as bring-
ing letters of credence to Biſhop Gardiner, and another Biſhop, ſup-
poſed to be Boner: and perhaps on a like errand came over one
Warham, a Prieſt ; who, having been out of the realm eighteen Harleian-
years, returned, as the council books mention, in manner diſguiſed, Nº. 352.
and ſuſpected of matters of importance, wherefore he had been
committed to the Tower the 16th of May foregoing. One diffi-
culty lay in the way, which was the Emigrants from Germany, who
fed hither to avoid perſecution; who, agreeing in ſubſtance with
us, but under a different outward diſcipline, were to be protected
and encouraged: but under their wing crept multitudes of frantick
Enthuſiaſts or lurking Papiſts perſonating new fectaries. For fift-
ing of theſe in the June of laſt year Auſtin Friars was given to the
Germans and other Foreigners for their church, under the ſuperint-
tendency of John à Laſco the Polander, 'for avoiding of all fects of
Anabaptiſts and ſuch like, as King Edward ſets it down in his
Journal. Theſe were indulged to uſe their own rites and ceremo-
nies, and an injunction was given to all Biſhops, Judges, and Offi-
cers not to moteſt them for their non-compliance with the order of
religion eſtabliſhed here. So that every ftranger, who was not
protected by John à Laſco, became amenable to the Engliſh Go-
vernours. Wherefore we find that on the 7th of April, this year
George Van Paris, a Dutchman, and as a ſtranger comprehended
under à Lafco's ſuperintendency, denying Chrift to be true God,
and for that' opinion publickly maintained excommunicated by the
Congregation of his Countrymen, as King Edward remarks, was,
after long diſputation, condemned to the fire. Joan of Kent: and
this
6
342
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
this Van Paris were all who ſuffered death on the account of religion
in this reign. One denying the Humanity, the other the Divini-
ty of Chriſt. But papiſtical errors, though obſtinately and mali-
ciouſly perſiſted in ; and wild opinions, though they knew many
were induſtriouſly invented on purpoſe to diſturb the tranquility of
the church, were puniſhed only with fine or reſtraint, more eaſy
or more ſtrait, according to the guilt of the offender, ſo long as
they did not contradict the articles of the Creed common to all
Chriſtians. Nor did they procede to the execution of the ſtatutes
ſtill in force againſt theſe, till they had with great patience and
charity uſed every gentle method to inſtruct and reclame them.
But for the better concord and agreement in religion, about
Serxpos. May this year, the King and his Privy Council ordered the Arch-
biſhop to frame a Book of articles of religion for the preſerving
and maintaining peace and unity of doctrine in this church. Of
theſe articles Mr. Strype ſays 'the Archbiſhop was the penner, or
at leaſt the great director, with the aſſiſtance as is very probable
of Biſhop Ridley.' They were not finiſhed till the next year,
when they were agreed to in convocation, and were in number
forty two, agreeing in general with our preſent articles confirmed
under Queen Eliſabeth.
The fourth and fifth are but one in King Edward's Book; and the
four laſt in his were omitted by the Convocation in 1562, which
were · againſt thoſe who aſſerted that the Reſurrection was only
moral, with reſpect to the ſoul, and that there would be none of
the body; againſt thoſe who believed that the foul flept or died
till the reſurrection of the bodyagainſt the Millenaries; and
againſt the Origeniſts, who taught that all men after a limited
time of puniſhment ſhould be finally ſaved. Which brings the
number to thirty nine. But after that of Free-will King Edward's
Divines added one of Grace, teaching, that man's will was not
free to Good till the Grace of Chriſt made it fo, and conſequently
when
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
343
when made ſo, that there was no neceſſary determination of the
will either to Good or Evil. Our article of Good Works was not
in theirs. King Edward's Divinęs alſo framed two articles, which
are not in Queen Eliſabeth's Book ; one defines the Blaſphemy of
the Holy Ghoſt to be a wilful perſecuting in an hoſtile manner the
truth of God's word manifeſtly made known to them : the other,
which follows that of obtaining eternal ſalvation only by the name of
Chrift, afferts nevertheleſs the obligation on all Chriſtians to obſerve
the Moral Law, and çenſures thoſe Enthuſiaſts, who revile the
ſcriptures, and brag of the Spirit ſuggeſting to them the doctrines
which they preach, though contrary to the ſcriptures.
Queen
Elizabeth's Divines added two more, which are not found in King
Edward's articles; one, of the wicked which eat not the Body of
Chriſt in the uſe of the Lord's Supper : and the other, Of both.
kinds.
Many of theſe Articles treat of points much controverted, at that
time, ſuch as Free-will, Grace, Juſtification, Good Works, and
Predeſtination, which even ſtill continue to diſturb the church :
and the meaning of theſe Articles, which were intended as a reme-
dy, has been challenged on both ſides. As it happened in the
Council of Trent, with reſpect to two of theſe points, Grace and
Predeſtination; when the Dominicans and Franciſcans under their
Generals Soto and Vega, after having agreed to the Decree, wrote,
each of them, commentaries, in which they clamed the authority
of the Council in ſupport of contrary doctrines. But if we trace:
this controverſy to its riſe, as far as it reſpects the Reformation, and
collate the Articles with the Homilies and the Pia et Catholica In-
ftitutio, we cannot be at a loſs to know the Compilers meaning at
the time of which we ſpeak.
The trade and merchandiſe of the merits of Popiſh Good Works
drove the Lutherans upon inſiſting on Faith in oppoſition to ſuch:
works : which the Antinomians abſurdly carried much further, ex-
cluding
.
--
344
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
cluding the obligation of the Moral Law; againſt whom Luther
wrote, and recovered their leader Iſebius Agricola from his error:
to avoid this extreme, the Anabaptifts revived the Pelagian herefy
by preaching up the natural powers of Free-will; and thence run
into another dangerous extreme of confidence in their own fufficien-
cy, teaching that they might deſerve Heaven by their own righte-
ouſneſs : ſhocked at this opinion, ſome of the Goſpellers, as they
were called, not able to reconcile Free-will with Grace, totally
denied the former, and reſolved the whole proceſs of man's falva-
tion or reprobation into the abſolute Decrees of God.
The Compilers of our Articles had experienced the ill conſe-
quences of theſe ſeveral errors, and endeavoured to guard againſt
them all ; expreſſing themſelves with the Lutherans, that we are
juſtified by Faith only: but then refer themſelves for their meaning
to the Homily of Juſtification. No Homily occurs under that title;
but there are nine Sermons, three of Salvation, three of Faith, and
three of Good Works, all which together compoſe and make a
treatiſe on Juſtification, all which I apprehend are referred to for
explaning the ſenſe of the Church in this article. Theſe Sermons
are full againſt the Merit of Popiſh Good Works, ' which fects
• and religions (ſay they, meaning the Papiſts) had ſo many hypo-
• critical and feigned works in their ſtate of religion, as they arro-
gantly named it, that their lamps, as they ſaid, ran always over,
• able to ſatisfy not only for their own ſins, but alſo for all other
• Benefactors, Brothers and Siſters of Religion, as moſt ungodlily
• and craftily they had perſuaded the multitude of ignorant people:
keeping in divers places as it were marts or markets of Merits,
being full of their holy relicts, images, ſhrines, and works of over-
flowing abundance ready to be ſold ".' They likewiſe deny the
value of thoſe ſpecious works, apparently good, but done without
faith,
a Sermon of Good Works, 3d part.
J
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
345
6
<
<
faith, in oppoſition to the Anabaptiſts ; grounding on St. Auſtin
and St. Chryſoſtom,. Good deeds be not meaſured by the facta
themſelves, and ſo diſcerned from vices, but by the ends and in-
* tents for the which they were done. If a Heathen man cloath
the naked, feed the hungry, and do ſuch other like works; yet
• becauſe he doth them not in faith, for the honor and love of God
they be but dead, vain, and fruitleſs works to him. They which
gliſter and ſhinc in good works without faith in God, be like dead
men, which have good and ſpecious tombs, and yet it avaleth
• them nothing". At the ſame time they declare as much againſt
the value or efficacy of the Antinomians' unoperative faith; and the
Goſpellers' fond perſuafion of being in God's favor without good
works, • A man may foon deceive himſelf, and think in his own
• fancy, that he by faith knoweth God, loveth him, feareth him,
! and belongeth to him, when in very deed he doth nothing leſs.
• For the trial of all theſe things is a very godly and chriſtian life.
• He that feeleth his heart ſet to ſeek God's honor, aud ſtudieth to
• know the will and commandments of God, and to frame himfelf
thereunto, and leadeth not his life after the deſire of his own fleſh
• to ſerve the divil by fin, but ſetteth his mind to ſerve God for
• his own fake ; alſo to love all his neighbours, whether they be
• friends or adverſaries, doing good to every man, as opportunity
ſerveth, and willingly hurting no man : Such a man may well
rejoice in God, perceiving by the trade of his life, that he un-
feignedly hath the right knowledge of God, a lively faith, a ſted-
. faſt hope, a true and unfeigned love and fear of God."
The Pia et Catholica Inſtitutio, or Erudition of a Chriſtian
man, as publiſhed in 1543, and 1544, delivers the ſame doctrine
with the ſame guards, levelling againſt Free-willers and Fatalifts,
Y
by
6
<
• Sermon of Good Works; part ih.
c Sermon of Faith, 3d part.
:
..
2
34,6
Book V..
THE LIFE OF
by whatever names they might be diſtinguillied ; directing their
-Preachers to keep betwixt thoſe extremes. The Free-will, which
they admit to be in man even after the Fall, they deſcribe in this
manner; free, by the powers left in corrupted nature, to chooſe
Evil; and, by Grace intervening, free to chooſe Good.' The
works done by this liberty of corrupt nature, before Grace given,
are Evil; for they procede from carnal fenfe, or the wiſdom of
the world, what the Article calls ogármec caprès, which the Apoſtle
ſays is not fubje&t to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Rom.
viii.
7. and ſpringing from a mind and conſcience defiled, are not
pure. Tit. i. 15. Not denying their moral fitneſs or beauty, or,
even their reward, at leaſt a temporal one : but denying their va-
lue to juſtify, or entitle the performers to the Goſpel promiſes."
The principle that reſtores our full Freedom is the Grace of God,
Soliciting the will to do Good : but as it only reſtores liberty, it can-
not neceffitate us ; fo that after Grace received, we may either
comply with its ſolicitations by a rational affent of the mind and by
obedience, or we may reject them. Juſtification is conſidered as
the effect of three ſeveral cauſes, the mercy of God, the fatisfaction
of Chriſt, and man's faith and repentance, by which he voluntarily
accepts
* Nec Liberum Arbitrium ita prædicent ut gratiam dei afficiánt contumeliâ : nec gra-
tiam fic efferant ut Libero Arbitrio locum non relinquant. (De Libero Arbitrio.)
* Facultas rationis ac voluntatis, quâ Bonum, affiftente gratiâ, eligitur ; Malum verò
eadem deftituente. (Ibid.)
Quæ etfi bona ſunt, atque a lege naguræ dictata, præmiumquefæpe acremunerationem
faltem temporariam à deo referant; at non funt tamen meritoria, nec valent: ad vitæ e-
ternæ conſecutionem abſque fide in Chriſtum. (De bonis operibus.)
& Deo fapientiffimo vifum eft, ut homo invitatus per gratiam, quam poteft, fi velit,
oblatam amplecti vel afpernari, injuftificationis fuæ opere non fit otiofus. (de Juſtific.).
Hoc fanè soliuseft Gratiæ beneficium, quod primò voluntates ad bonum moventur et exci-.
tantur: at in tentatione reſiſtere ac vincere, in bonis his actionibus perfeverare, et pro.
gredi in ſtudio pietatis, illud utique et. Gratiæ eft, & noftri fimul Arbitrii et conatuse.
(De libero Arbitr.)
3
3
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
34
222
accepts the mercy and applies to himſelf the fâtisfaction. And it
has three degrees or ſtates, beginning, progreffives, and perfect.
Our Free-will in concurrence with Grace produces two forts of good
works, acts of penitence, and acts of righteoufneſs. Of the filt
kind are aſient to the Goſpel revelation, with ſure faith believing
God's righteous judgment and ſeverity againſt finners, his mercy
through Chriſt to them that repent, ſorrow and compunction of
heart for their paſt offences, reſtitution and ſatisfaction for injuries
done to others, earneſt and fervent prayers for acceptance, with
ſerious reſolutions of future amendment. Theſe are required be-
fore, or in order to our firſt juſtification, which is ſealed and confirmed
to us in the facrament of baptiſm; to adults, after theſe works of pe-
nitence teſtified to the church ; and to infants, on the faith of their
ſponſors. But this firf Juſtification is the free Gift of God, al-
though in adults theſe works of penitence are required to precede;
for theſe works could not have been produced without preventing
Grace ſetting the will free to make choice of them, and aſſiſting
in their production. Good works, after this Juftification, called
Y y 2
works
h Viſum eſt omnipotenti et CLEMENTISSIMO Deo pro immenſâ ſuâ erga genus humanum
CHARITATE, unigenitum filium fuum mittere in terras ut REDEMPTIONIS myfterium
operaretur, et ut homo in juſtificationis fuæ opere non fit otiofus, fed per ASSENSUM a-
nimi et OBEDIENTIAM ad juſtificationem adipiſcendam fuam fibi operam accommodet.
(de Juftific.)
Hæc propriè opera penitentiæ vocantur; verbi gratiâ, fit peccator aliquid, qui cum
audit aut recordatur verbum dei, per gratiam compungitur ad pænitentiam, incipit dolete
et gemere ob peccata, et deum precari atque implorare, cæteraque facere bona opera, qui-
bus et iram Dei effugiat, & in gratiam recipiatur.....per ejuſmodi pænitentiæ opera homo
jam incipit juſtificari. ( De Bon. Operib.)
* Hæc juſtificatio, prima juftificatio, rectè poteft vocari ; nempe primus noſter in do-
*mumDei & Chriſti ecclefiam introitus, & in juftorum fanctorumque, i.e. fidelium numerum
afcriptio. (De Juftific.)
Quanquam opera penitentiæ a nobis requirantur ad peccatorum remiffionem et juſtifica-
tionem : at nihilominus juftificatio gratuitum eft Dei munus, gratiſque nobis confertur, quem-
admodum et omnia noftra tum opera tum deſideria bona ex gratiâ procedunt, per quam
preparamur, et idonci efficimur ad juſtificationis gratiam recipiendam. (De Bonis Op.)
I
:
1
348
BOOK V.
|
THE LIFE OF
zoorks of righteoufrefs) are required of us to confirm and encreaſe
this juſtification ; which are, perſiſting in our good reſolutions,
and producing the fruit of them, that denying ungodlineſs and world-
ly luſts, we may live ſoberly, righteouſly, and godly in this preſent
world. Tit. ii. 12. All thoſe good works done in charity from a
pure heart, and good conſcience, and faith unfeigned. 1 Tim. i. 5.
In the production of which we muſt not be remiſs, but uſe great
diligence in them, otherwiſe we Mall forfeit the Grace received,
cancel our former Juftification, and relapfe into the ſervitude of
ſin. Such relapſers may be again reſtored by penitence; a hearty
conviction of their guilty, unfeigned ſhame and forrow for it, a
confidence of pardon for Chriſt's merits, with full purpoſe of a-
mendment." Thus juſtified, whether by Baptiſm, or Penitence
after relapſe, we muſt procede and improve in the works of right-
eouſneſs above deſcribed : and although theſe may be rendered
imperfect through human frailty, and we may daily fall into fins
of infirmity and ſurpriſe, yet if we conſent not to deadly fin, we
fhall not forfeit the grace of God, or falf from Juſtification; but
may notwithſtanding receive greater meaſures of grace, procede
to further degrees of good works, and increaſe our Juſtification.
This
Opera quæ a juſtificatis in charitate fiunt; ex puro corde et conſcientiâ bonâ, ac fide
non fietà, eadem et fructus et opera juftitiæ vocantur. His tribus verbis fobriè, juftè, et
piè, Paulus omnia bonorum operum genera exprimit. Niſi totâ mente in bona opera in-
cumberemur, confeftim ex Dei gratiâ et ftatu juftitiæ in quam evecti eramus excideremus,
atque iterum in peccati ſervitutem, redigeremur. (de Bon. Oper.)
» His qui jam a. baptiſmo lapfi funt, neceffe est ut a pænitentiâ jufificationem petant, ini
quâ haod quaquam mollitèr aut languidè, aut fibi ipfis blandientes verfari oportet. Huic.
pænitentiæ adjuncta effe debet fiducia miſericordiæ Dei et remiffionis peccatorum merito
Chrifti, per quem non dubitandum eft (fi modò ut oportet integrâ fide, et recto animi prouin
pofito pænitentiam egerint) quin fint denuò recipiendi in gratiam cum Deo atque in juſto--
rum gregem referendi. (De Juftif.).
發
​.
:
+
DOOK V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
349
sont
This is the progreffve ſtate of it. Theſe work of righteouſneſs
although imperfect, God will graciouſly accept in his laſt Judg-
ment, through the imputed merit of Chriſt, as a diſcharge of the
law, and as a title to the reward of eternal life, which is our com-
plete or perfeet Juſtification. Yet have we nothing to glory in,
on the account of theſe good works, as if they were our own, and
deſerved of themſelves the reward. It is Grace through Chriſt that.
diſcharges our original obligation to puniſhment; it is Grace that
reſtores the freedom of the will to chooſe Good; it is Grace aſſiſting
that enables us to perform good works ; it is Grace that ſupplies.
the defects of our beſt works; it is Grace that beſtows an overpropor-
tioned reward. It is therefore needleſs for us to buſy ourſelves
about God's ſecret and infcrutable Decrees of Predeſtination and
Election. The ſcriptures and our conſciences will acquaint us with
all that it concerns us to know. What the ſcriptures planely teach
we:
• Atque ita vel per baptiſmum, vel pofteà per pænitentiam juſtificati, etli quotidiana
et leviora peccata, quibus humanæ naturæ fragilitas obnoxia eft, nequeant effugere; et
propterea perpetuam pænitentiam agere debeant, tamen quamdiu peccato mortali non
confenferint, a ftatu fuæ juftificationis non dejiciuntur, ſed filii Dei manent, poffuntque
ii qui in hoc ftatu degunt, per Dei, Spiritum in illis habitantem ejuſmodi opera præftare,
quæ Deo per Chriftum.grata et accepta fint, et, valeant. ad confervandam atque etiam.
augendam juſtificationem. Atque ita quemadmodum in benefaciéndo perſeveramus, fic in
dies magis, magiſque noftra procedit juſtificatio, auctiorque et cumulatior, efficitur. (De
Bon, Op.)
Quæ opera, licet ex fe indigna, imperfecta, et inſuficiéntia fint, tamen quia in
Chrifti fide fiunt, (cujus paffionis virtate ac merito eorum imperfectio fuppletur) ea De-
us, quæ fua eft mifericordia et bonitas, boni conſulit et accepta habet, tanquam legis fuæ
obfervationem. Suntque hæc opera ad conſequendam vitam æternam meritoria.--Ho-
rum operum finis et effectus eſt, ut vocationem et electionem noftram firmam faciamus, ac
incorruptionis gloriam adipifcamur, nec in die judicii vacui et fine fructu inveniamur, in
quo Deus unicuique fecundum opera rediturus. (De Bon.. Op:)
4 Hanc dignitatem operibus tribuere divinæ gratiæ nihil detrahit,.cum oporteat fateri
omnia bona opera ex gratiâ venire, et merita noftra nihil aliud effe ut inquit Auguſtinus;.
quem
Dei dona. (De Bon. Op.) Gratis juftificari nos intelligendum eft, eò quod omnia,
dóna:
.
350
Book V.
HE LIFE OF
$
we are to believe: theſe teach us in ſeveral places to diſtruſt our-
ſelves; and to guard carefully againſt the infirmity of nature, and
its proněneſs to fin; not to depend on abſolute and irreſpective
decrees in our favor, for we can have no other aſſurance of our E-
lection than by the ſpiritual motions in our hearts, inflaming them
with a love of heavenly things, and exerting themſelves in good
works. He who to-day ſtandeth, cannot be aſſured that he ſhall
continue to do ſo, but muft take heed leaſt he fall. 1 Cor. x. It is
our diligence, not our confidence, that will make our calling and elec-
tion fure. 2 Pet. i. 10, 9. Other evidence of our being in the
number of the predeſtinated, neither the ſcriptures nor the antient
Fathers of the church mention ; but ſuch as, from the due uſe of
the means of grace, feel within themſelves the working of the fpi-
rit of Chriſt, mortifying the works of the fleſh and their earthly
members, and drawing up their minds to high and heavenly things,
ſuch may on good grounds receive unſpeakable comfort from the
tonſideration of Predeſtination and their Election in Chriſt. But
others, who find not theſe ſigns of grace in their fouls, are hurt
by the doctrine of God's Decrees; for either they believe them-
ſelves reprobated, and then they deſpair, and reinit all attempts to
recover themſelves as fruitleſs : or they believe themſelves elect, in
ſpite of their fins, and ſo think it needleſs to produce good works}
being
dona quibus abfolvitur juſtificatio ex gratuitâ Dei benignitate et gratiâ, et non ex noftrâ
dignitate provenianti Itaque omnia gratis nobis, et non propter noftram dignitatem col-
lata ſunt, nec ullum meritum noftrum potuit gratiam Dei præcedere cum gratia fit meriti
parenis : funtque merita noftra et bora omnia, a Deo authore et patre hominum profecta.
(De Juftif.) Ne igitur in nos ipfos aut noftram dignitatem oculos reflectamus, fed per-
gamus in ftudio bonorum operum, confitentes nos quo plus proficimus, eo nos plus. Dei
gratiæ debere : nec quicquam facimus, nifi.cujus faciendi poteftatem à Deo accepimus,
idque in noftrum, non in ipfius commodum. (De Bon. Op.)
. Cæterum an fingularis aliqua fit per fidem notitia, quâ quiſquam certè apud fe Ataa
tuere, et fibi confirmare poflit, effe fe de nuniero prædeftinatorum, et corum qui in chrifa
tianâ vocatione ad finem uſque perſeveraturi ſunt, non eft ut in præſentiâ dicamus; cum
nullam hujufmodi notitiam aut certitudinem vel divinarum literarum teftimonio, vel fanca
torum patrum ſcriptis traditam commendatamve habeamus. Fatendum verò omninò eft,
in
9
i
Book V.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY:
351
being thus thruſt either into deſperation, or into wretchleſneſs of
moſt unclean living.
I thought it neceſſary to aſcertain the ſenſe of our articles in theſe
points, or I ſhould have left the view of our Reformation very de-
fective or obſcure. And this ſenſe of our church, Dr. Redman
(who was in great eſteem among the Papiſts, and who had ſtre-
Auouſly oppoſed the doctrine of Juſtification by faith only, leaſt
people ſhould grow negligent to perform Good works) acknow-
ledged to be the truth on his death-bed, which happened in No-
vember following: convinced by ſcripture, as Fox relates his con-
feffion, that our beſt works, even the works of grace, were too
& worthleſs to deſerve eternal life, and repented that he had ſo
much ſtrove againſt the doctrine of Juſtification by faith only; for,
provided faith was taught to ſignify a true, a lively, and a faith
* reſting in Chriſt, and embracing him, it is a true, godly, ſweet
« and comfortable doctrine ; provided alſo that it be ſo taught,
* that the people take no occaſion of carnal liberty thereby.'
This
in facramentis (quæ Chriſtus ad virtutem et gratiam ſuam nobis impertiendam et com-
municandam inftituit) deum efficaciter operari, ac inde merita Chriſti: nobis applicari,
magnafque ex eiſdem confolationes ad erigendos et confirmandos animos noftros exhiberi,
adeò ut certi eſſe poſſimus, deum (quod ad ipfum fpectat) abundè omnia præftiturum,
nec velle nos unquam deferere, fi nos illi adhærere, atque in illo manere voluerimus ::
quo quidem in ftatu, fi in finem uſque perſeveraverimus, de SALUTE NOSTRA CERTA
SUMUS, idque ex infallibili Chrifti promifſióne. (De Fide) )
• Monendi funt homines ne damnationem fuam Deo aſcribant, fed fibi fuoque vitio
acceptam referant, qui tot dei beneficiis ac donis pro fuæ voluntatis malitiâ et libidine
ingrati abutuntur.Nec eft quod Deum impii accuſent; cum hæc gratia omnibus, qui
illius cupidi funt, abundè conetur, fuoque tantum vitio et malignitate homines pereant,
qui gratiam oblatam reſpuant et averſentur. (de libero Arb.) Cum autem in fcripturâ,
aliquoties juſtificatio abſolute attribuitur Fidei, nullâ aliorum donorum adjectâ mentione,
intelligendum eft, hoc dictum effe de fide cum dile&tione conjuncta, quæ viva dicitur."
Hæc enim fides non eft fimpliciter CREDULITATIS donum ; fed poenitentiam etiam et
charitatem, dei timorem et ſpem complectitur, quæ omnia ad juſtificationem noftram ef..
ficiendam confluunt. (De Juftific.)
.
Yü
332
Book V.
LIFE OF
*This judgment was exactly with our Articles and Homilies;
which yet Dr. Redman, from the wild concluſions of ſome Soli-
fidians and Antinomians, from his ſtrong prejudices in favor of
popery, and cloſe connections with Tonſtal and others of that
perſuaſion, labored to oppoſe. But on the day he died he fully
declared againſt Tranſubſtantiation, and for Juſtification by Faith
only, as above explaned. And it may not be improper to ob-
ferve, that this declaration was made preſently after he had been
in conference with the Biſhop of London, who charitably went
to viſit him on that occaſion.
For the better enforcing an agreement in doctrine and an unifor-
mity in worſhip, a Commiſſion was granted, in October this year,
to thirty two Commiſſioners, of which the Biſhop of London was
One, to compile a body of Ecclefiaftical Laws for the regular dif-
cipline and government of the Church. But although this ſyſtem
was at length brought to its due perfection, the ill qualities of ſe-
veral of the Bifhops, who ſhould execute this diſcipline, diſinclined
Journal. the King from giving them ſuch power ; being (as he ſays) fome
for papiſtry, ſome for ignorance, fome for age, ſome for their ill
name, come for all theſe unable to execute diſcipline. Not mean-
ing that all the Biſhops were thus unqualified, but that
them were ſo, and that therefore it was not prudent to intruſt it
to them all in general. Wherefore he made a memorandum in
October 1552 for Commiffions to be granted to thoſe Biſhops who
were grave, learned, wiſe, ſober, and of good religion, for the exe-
cuting of Diſcipline : whether the King's illneſs, which ſucceded
foon after that time, and preſently after, his Death, were the ſole
reaſons for preventing this deſign from taking effect, I cannot ſay:
or whether there was not fome art to hinder theſe laws from being
confirmed,
1
K. Edw.
many of
.
BOOK V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
353
confirmed, in an age of licentiouſneſs, which could ill brook rea
ſtraint. The latter appears not improbable, as from the nature of
vice in general impatient of controul, fo from a letter of Dr. Cox
(one of the Commiſſioners) to Bullinger, in which he tells him, de-
Strype's
We hate thoſe bitter inſtitu- Mem.
ſcribing the temper of the times,
tions of Chriſtian diſcipline.'
Vol. II,
Harleian.
MSS.
Burnet.
While the Publick Service was under review,
9. 8. The Bißop of on the 25th of February an order was given from
London withftands the Council to purge the King's Library of all ſu-
the publick avarice
perſtitious Books, as Maſs Books, Legends, and Nº. 352.
and facrilege.
ſuch like : but even here there ſeems to have been
fome little eye to plunder, for it is added, and to deliver the garni-
ture of the ſame books, being either of gold or ſilver, to Sir An-
thony Aucher in the preſence of Sir Thomas Darcy.
Three days after this, Bucer died at Cambridge, expreſſing his
apprehenſions of ſome like ſtroke falling upon England as had af-
Aicted Germany, by reaſon of the great diſſoluteneſs of the people's
manners, the want of Eccleſiaſtical diſcipline, and the general ne-
glect of the Paſtoral charge. And indeed the want of Eccleſiaſtical
diſcipline, and the rapaciouſneſs of the Rich, were ſuch ſenſible Strype's
evils at that time, that Dr. Scory, chaplain to Biſhop Ridley, who
preached before the King this Lent, complained of two evils
others, which were then very much felt : the one was want of
ecclefiaftical diſcipline, whereby great wickedneſſes were commit-
ted without any cenſures or puniſhments : the other was covet .
ouſneſs, whereby the poor were much wronged by the rich. And.
when he ſucceded Ponet (tranſlated to Wincheſter) in the fee of
Rocheſter, in his letter of thanks to the King for his advance-
ment, he again made humble ſuit to his Majeſty for redreſs of
theſe evils. Indeed from theſe two fources fprung all the troubles
and
In the Auguſt following:
Mem.
among
:
Z z
354
THE LIFE OF
Book V.
up into
and diſquiet of this reign, opening the way to licentiouſneſs and
oppreſſion. The feeds were ſown by Henry viii. in an indigeſted
ſupremacy, and the reſumption of abbey lands; but ſhot
a luxuriant growth under a minor king, and an unſettled order of
religion. Some of the council oppoſed the reformation ; and
many of them ſupported or profeſſed it, only as affording more
opportunities of plunder, but would not permit it to have power
enough to reſtrain their vices. A ſhort picture of it is drawn by
Fox the martyrologiſt, about this time, in a dedication of his
Expoftulatio Jefu Chrifti cum humano genere to Biſhop Ridley: in
Harleian, which he ſays, that “to him, when he reflects upon the mode
6 and cuſtom of the age, ſuch cruelty in
many, ſuch
ſuch perfidiouſneſs
« in others, ſuch a careleſs ſecurity in debauchery amongſt moſt,
6 and ſuch avarice among almoſt all men, there appears ſo total a
• corruption as excedes the power of all human remedies, and
płanely calls for a voice from heaven, denouncing in thunder a-
MSS.
No. 423
*gainſt it.'
Good-
win's K
Edw..
And beſide the natural conſequences of ſuch a ſtate, which
were hereſy, licentiouſneſs, cppreſſion, tumults and rebellion ;
God was provoked to expreſs his indignation by a ſevere diſeaſe,
the ſweating ſickneſs, fo peculiar to the Engliſh, that it ſeized on
none but them in England, (for foreigners, who were here, ef-
caped ) but the Engliſh it purſued in whatever part of the world
they happened to be. It began in April at Shrewſbury, and end-
ed in the North about October. Its rage was violent, but ſhort;
killing ſometimes in twelve hours, and at longeſt in twenty-four.
In London it appeared June 8, and ended the 19th, in which
time 872 died of this diſtemper. At the ſame time died at Bugden,
in the Biſhop of Lincoln's palace, the two young Dukes of Suf-
folk, (for the younger ſurvived to inherit the title a few hours)
on
Sweaters der kaufe
BOOK V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
355
on the 16th of that month; both in the ſame bed. Several of
the court alſo fickned and died; which occaſioned the King to
remove from Weſtminſter to Hampton Court.
Nor was the anger of heaven declared in this ſickneſs only, but
alſo in a ſevere dearth, which continued moſt part of this year.
Therefore orders were iſſued out this July by the King and Council to
the Biſhops, charging and commanding them, that they in their
own perſons, and alſo that their preachers and miniſters in their
Strype's
* reſpective dioceſes, by their command, ſhould preach againſt the
Mem.
· ſin of covetouſneſs, which now grew to be moſt inſatiable among
* the people, inſomuch that each went about to devour other.
* And that the Biſhops and preachers ſhould for this crime threat-
i en men with God's grievous plagues ; not only ſuch temporal
ones as then lay upon the nation, but ſuch as ſhould likewiſe be
· inflicted in the world to come.' Which order, Mr. Strype fup-
poſes, was procured by ſome good men in the court, not only in
reſpect of the monopolizing of corn, but alſo upon contemplation
of that tearing and rending from the church, the univerſities, the
hoſpitals of the poor, and from one another ; which ſome of the
courtiers and great men practiſed, and by their example ſpread
over the whole kingdom. So that common honeſty and juſtice
were ſcarce any where to be found. . In obedience to this
order the biſhop of London fent the following letter to his
clergy, on the Sunday after the ſweating ſickneſs had made ſuch
havock.
To his well-beloved the Preachers within the Dioceſe of
London.
After hearty commendations. Having
Having regard, eſpecially at.
this time, to the wrath of God, who hath plagued us diverſly,
and now with extreme puniſhment of ſudden death poured upon
us, for cauſes certainly known unto his high and ſecret judgment,
and
Z z 2
P
356
BOOK V.
THE LIFE OF
and (as may ſeem to man) for our wicked living daily increaſing
into ſuch ſort, that not only in our converſation the fear of God
is (alaſs !) far gone from before our eyes ; but alſo the world is
grown into that uncharitableneſs, that one (as it appeareth plane-
ly) goeth about to devour another, moved with inſatiable covet-
ouſneſs;
both contrary to God's word and will, and tending to
the extreme peril and damnation of Chriſt's flock, bought ſo
dearly with his precious blood, and to the utter deſtruction of this
whole commonwealth, except God's anger be ſhortly appeaſed..
wherein, as according to my bounden duty, I ſhall (God wil-
ling) in my own perſon be diligent and labor : So I exhort and
require you, firſt in God's name, and by authority of Him com-
mitted unto me, in that behalf, and alſo in the King's Majeſty's
name, from whom I have authority and commandment thus to
do: that as you are called to be ſetters forth of God's Word, and
to expreſs in your living the ſame, ſo now in your exhortations
and ſermons you do moſt folemnly and earneſtly call to mind their
fins, juxta illud, annuncia populo meo fcelera eorum; (according to
that of the Pſalmiſt, tell my people their fins,] with God's puniſh-
ments lately poured upon us for the ſame, now before our eyes ;
and eſpecially to beat down and deſtroy, with all your power and
wit, that greedy and devouring ſerpent of cavetouſneſs, that
doth now ſo univerſally reign : calling upon them for repentance,
and provoking to common prayer and amendment of life, with
more earneſt attention. That hereby God's hand
That hereby God's hand may be ſtayed,
the world amended, and obedience of ſubjects and faithfulneſs of
*miniſters declared accordingly. Thus I bid you heartily well to
fare. From
Yours in Chriſt,
25 July 1551...
Nicholas London
The
BOOK V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
357
The ſame day he repeted his requeſt to Dr. Parker to preach at
Strype's
St. Paul's Croſs, being willing to furniſh that pulpit with diſcrete Parker.
and learned preachers. July 22, he had appointed him a turn
there, which the Doctor earneſtly deſired to decline : to whom
the Biſhop returned this anſwer :
Mr. Doctor, I wiſh you grace and peace. Sir, I pray you re-
fuſe not to take a day at the Croſs. I may have, if I would call
without any choice, enow: but in fome (alafs !) I deſire more
learning, in fome a better judgment, in ſome more virtue and
godly converſation, and in ſome more ſoberneſs and diſcretion.
And He, in whom all theſe do meet, ſhall not do well in
my
judgment to refuſe to ſerve God in that place. Of which number.
becauſe I take you to be, therefore (leaving at this time to charge
you
with anſwering for the contrary to the King and his Council)
I muſt charge you to take a day, as you will anſwer the contrary
to almighty God at your own peril. If the day be thought not
commodious for you, I ſhall appoint another for it. But if I
ſhould diſcharge you from that place for the time hereafter, in
good faith, my conſcience ſhould accuſe me, and tell me, that
I ſhould rather go about to ſatisfy your requeſt (whom the truth
is, as your kindneſs hath bound me, I would be glad to gratify)
than to ſet forth God's cauſe. Thus fare you well, from my
houſe at London. And I pray you commend me to Mrs. Parker,
whom although I do not know, yet for the fame of her virtue in:
God, I do love. Yours in Chriſt,
25 July.
Nic. London.
i
:
:
j
Here we ſee his great zeal in the diſcharge of his office ; con-
tinuing to reſide in London in the midſt of that malignant and
peftilential diſtemper, aſſiduous in the care of his dioceſe, and to
improve God's viſitations to their true uſe, the reformation of
the:
358
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
Paiker.
the people; which he would not neglect to do by the moſt ef-
fectual means, either through indulgence to private friendſhip,
or even for ſelf-preſervation : putting ſuch truſt in God, that
he neither feared the peſtilence that walketh in darkneſs, nor the
fickneſs that deſtroyeth in the noon day. His letters New at once
the affection of a Friend, and the zeal and authority of a Biſhop.
Dr. Parker and he weru old acquaintance, had been both Chap-
lains to King Henry, and were now both Maſters of Colleges in
Stryfe's Cambridge. He had
yet never ſeen Mrs. Parker, only had heard
much of her good qualities, which afterward he found were ſo
excellent, that without any fulſome commendations he ſufficiently
fignified the high eſteem he had of her, by aſking, whether
· Mrs. Parker had a fifter ”' as though he ſhould have been wil-
ling to have married, if he could have found her fellow.
At this very time the Biſhop had an experience of the avarice
and rapaciouſneſs of the courtiers. On June 23, in the laſt
the Council agreed that William Thomas, one of the clerks of the
Council, ſhould have his Majeſty's intereſt in the Prebend of Cantle-
vres Court (or Kentiſh Town) in the Church of St.Paul's, which it is
ſaid in the Council Book was given to his Majeſty by William
Layton, late Prebendary thereof.
But whatever motives might
prevale on Layton to give up his Prebend to the King, in order
to be made over to Mr. Thomas and his heirs as a Lay Eſtate,
the good Biſhop boldly oppoſed this facrilegious alienation, and
laid before the Council his reaſons, why he could not give his con-
fent to it; without whoſe conſent it could not be done. The
Council were much offended at him; and when they could nat
prevale upon him to give his aſſent, they made him promiſe, that
when ever that Prebend ſhould become vacant, he would not
collate to it till ſuch vacancy ſhould be made known to the King.
Now in this July we find that Layton was dead; on which ſome of
the Council wrote to the Biſhop to ſtop collation, becauſe the
King
year,
8
.
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
359
King had determined to appropriate it to the furniture of his
ſtables. This made the Biſhop apply to Mr. Cheke to aſſiſt in
preventing this profanation or colluſion ; which he did by letter.
you of
Maſter Cheke, I wiſh you grace and peace. Sir, in God's
cauſe, for God's fake, and in his name, I beſeech
your
help and furtherance towards God's word. I did talk with
you.
of late what caſe I was in concerning my Chaplains. I have gotten
the good will and grant to be with me, of Three Preachers, men
of good learning, and (as I am perſuaded) of excellent virtue ;
which are all able, both with life and learning, to ſet forth God's
word in London, and in the whole dioceſe of the fame, where
is moſt need of all parts in England; for from thence goeth exain-
ple (as you know) into all the reſt of the King's Majeſty's whole realm.
The men's names be theſe ; M. Grindal, whom you know to be
a man of virtue and learning: M. Bradford, a man by whom (as
I am aſſuredly informed) God hath and doth work wonders, in ſet-
ting forth of his word: the Third is a Preacher, the which for
detecting and confuting the Anabaptiſts and Papiſts in Eſſex, both
by his preaching and his writing, is enforced now to bear Chriſt's
croſs. The Two firſt be fcholars in the univerſity : the Third is
as poor as either of the other Twain. Now there is fallen a Pre-
bend in Paul's called Cantrells, by the death of one Layton,
This Prebend is an honeſt man's living of xxxiv. pounds and better
in the King's books. I would with all my heart give it unto Mr.
Grindal; and ſo I ſhould have him continually with me, and in
my dioceſe to preach.
But alafs ! Sir, I am letted by the means (I fear me) of ſuch as
do not fear God. One M. William Thomas, one of the Clerks
to the Council, hath in times paſt ſet the Council upon me, to
have me to grant that Layton might have alienated the ſaid Pre-
bend unto him and his heirs for ever, God was mine aid and de-
fender
360
Book V,
THE LIFE or
..
fender, that I did not conſent unto his ungodly enterpriſe. Yet
I was then ſo handled before the Council, that I granted, that
whenfoever it ſhould fall, I ſhould not give it before I ſhould make
the King's Majeſty privy unto it. Now Layton is departed, and
the Prebend is fallen, and certain of the Council (no doubt by
this ungodly man's means) have written unto me, to ſtay the col-
lation. And whereas he deſpaireth, that ever I would affent that
a preacher's living ſhould be beſtowed on him, he hath procured
letters unto me, ſubſcribed with certain of the Council's hands,
that now the King's Majeſty hath determined it unto the furniture
of his Highneſs's ſtable. Alafs ! Sir, this is a heavy hearing, when
papiſtry was taught, there was nothing too little for the teachers.
When the Biſhop gave his benefices unto ideots, unlearned, un-
godly, for kindred, for pleaſure, for ſervice, and other worldly
reſpects, all was then well allowed. Now, when a poor living is
to be given unto an excellent clerk, a man known and tried to have
both diſcretion and alſo virtue ; and ſuch a one as, before God, I
do not know a man yet unplaced and unprovided for, more meet
to ſet forth God's word in all England : when a poor living, I ſay,
which is founded for a Preacher, is to be given unto ſuch a man,
that then an ungodly perſon ſhall procure in this fort letters to ſtop
and let the ſame, alaſs! Mr. Cheke, this ſeemeth unto me to be
a right heavy hearing. Is this the fruit of the Goſpel ? Speak,
Mr. Cheke, ſpeak for God's ſake, in God's cauſe, unto whomſo-
do
any good withall. And if
you
ſpeak, then I beſeech you let theſe my letters ſpeak unto M. Gates,
to M. Wrothe, to M. Cecil, whoin all I do take for men that do
fear God.
It was ſaid here conſtantly, my Lord Chamberlain to have been
departed : Sir, though the day be delayed, yet he hath no pardon
of long life, and therefore I do beſeech his good Lordſhip, and ſo
inany as ſhall read theſe letters, if they fear God, to help that
neither
ever you
think you may
you think
will not
A
BOOK V.
361
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
neither horſe, nor yet dog, be ſuffered to devour the poor livings
appointed and founded by godly ordinance to the miniſters of
God's word. The cauſes of conſcience, which do move me to
ſpeak and write thus, are not only thoſe which I declared once in
the cauſe of this Prebend before the King's Majeſty's Council, which
now I let paſs; but alſo now the man, M. Grindal, unto whom
I would give this Prebend, doth move me very much; for he is a
man known to be both of virtue, honeſty, diſcretion, wiſdom and
learning. And beſide all this, I have a better opinion of the King's
Majeſty's Honourable Council, than (although ſome of them have
ſubſcribed, at this their clerk's crafty and ungodly ſuit, to ſuch a
letter) than, I ſay, they will let, and not ſuffer (after requeſt made
to them) the living appointed and founded for a Preacher, and be
beſtowed upon fo honeſt and well a learned man.
Wherefore, for God's fake, I beſeech you all, help, that with
the favor of the Council, I may have knowledge of the King's
Majeſty's good pleaſure, to give this Preacher's living unto Mr.
Grindal. Of late there have been letters directed from the King's
Majeſty and his Honourable Council unto all the Biſhops, whereby
we be charged and commanded, both in our own perſons, and alſo
to cauſe our Preachers and miniſters, eſpecially to cry out againſt
the infatiable ſerpent of covetouſneſs, whereby is ſaid to be ſuch a
greedineſs amongſt the people, that each one goeth about to devour
another; and to threaten them with God's grievous plagues, both
now preſently thrown upon them, and that ſhall be likewiſe in the
world to come. Sir, what Preachers ſhall I get to open and ſet
forth ſuch matters, and ſo as the King's Majeſty and the Council
do command them to be ſet forth, if either ungodly men, or un-
reaſonable beaſts be ſuffered to pull away and devour the good and
godly learned Preachers livings? Thus I wiſh
Thus I wiſh you in God ever:
well to fare, and to help Chriſt's cauſe, as you would have help
of
3 A
!
362
BOOK V.
THE LIFE OF
.
!
that catched and
of him at your moſt need. From Fulham this preſent, the 23d
of July 1551.
Yours in Chrift,
Nicholas London,
Thus ſtrenuouſly did he withſtand the depredationson teehurch,
where he was concerned, and ſeriouſly ſet himſelf practically toop-
poſe that avarice, againſt which the King and the Council had
enjoined him to declame. The event was, that the Bifhop Should
be permitted to collate ; which he did about a month after : but
a better preferment falling vacant in the interim, the Precentor.
fhip of St. Paul's, Mr. Grindal 'was collated to that, and John
Bradford, another of the Biſhop's Chaplains, was collated to the
Prebend of Cantrels, both of them on the 24th of Auguſt. And
on the ſame day he provided for two more of his Chaplains,
promoting Edmund Weſt to the Prebend'of Mora, and John Rio
gers to that of Pancras, both vacated by death. Mr. Thomas,
Strype's
Mem. the Clerk of the Council, was recompenſed in the follow-
ing month, with the manor of Garway in the county of He-
reford, and divers otherlands, to the yearly value of 35
pounds.
But what the good Biſhop could do was but
şu 9. Ibe death of little to ſtem this wild-fire of avarice and iniquity.
the Protector.
objects varied according to the ſpirit, ſtation, or opportunities of
men. The Earl' of Warwick's ambition had in view no leſs than
the kingdom itſelf: his train had been long laying, and he be
gan now to think of ſetting fire to it. The new alliance betwixt
him and the Duke of Somerſet in the marriage of the Earl of
Warwick’son to the Duke's Daughter, was too ſlender a band
to
Helen
Book V.: DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y. 363
Cranncr
to hold them together in friendſhip. The Earl could not brook
the impediment which he knew he ſhould meet with from Somer-
ſet ; nor could the Duke forbear reſenting in an indiſcrete man-
ner the affronts daily given him by Warwick. However, it ap-
pears, that he apprehended Warwick's deſign, from what he ſaid,
when he was ſent for from Windfor; for taking the King by the
hand, · It is not I that they ſhoot at, ſays he; this is the mark at Strype's
* which they ſhoot.' But they could not reach that mark till som
merſet was removed from before him. Rumors, that ſome of the
nobles intended to deſtroy the King, prevaled abroad : and per-
haps, neither the Duke, nor the Earl were ſolicitous to ſuppreſs
theſe rumors, each hoping that the other would fall under fur-
picion. To direct this fufpicion againſt the Duke, where na-
turally it could not light, an old popiſh fraud was pradiſed by
a woman of Pool in Dorſetſhire, pretending that a voice follow-
ed her, which founded theſe words in her ear, He whom the
King did beſt truſt, fhall deceive him, and work treaſon againſt
• him.' This was a little before his laſt commitment. This rus
.
mor, and the ſuggeſtion of Mr. Strype, (if well founded) I mean,
that the articles againſt the Duke were drawn up by Bithop
Gardiner, ſhew that the Earl of Warwick was cloſer linked
with the Papiſts than he would willingly have had it belie-
ved.
To ſtrengthen himſelf, and prepare a way to the full execution
of his deep deſign, on the death of the two young Dukes of Suffolk
he procured that title for the Earl of Dorſet, who had married the
half fiſter of thoſe noblemen, and was Father to the Lady Jane
Gray, whom he deſigned to make an inſtrument in this work.
For himſelf he procured the title of Duke of Northumberland
and the Earl of Wiltſhire was made Marqueſs of Wincheſter; and
Sir
Ibid.
i
3 A 2
:
304
BOOK V.
THE LIFE OF
Sir William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke. Some Knights were
made at the ſame time, among whom were Cheke and Cecil.
Preſently after this, on the 17th of October, the Duke of So-
merfet was apprehended, and ſent to the Tower, and with him
the Lord Gray: Sir Ralph Vane, Sir Thomas Palmer, and Sir
Thomas Arundel were alſo taken, and kept under guard in their
chambers : fome of the Duke's followers, Hammond, Newdigate
and two of the Seimours were fent to priſon : and the next day
the Dutcheſs was ſent to the Tower, with one Crane and his wife,
and two of her Chamber-women: after theſe, Sir Thomas Hold-
croft, Sir Miles Partridge, Sir Michael Stanhope, Wingfield, Ban-
niſter, and Vaughan were all made priſoners. But the attention
of the Court being for a time interrupted, none of theſe were
brought to their trials for fix weeks.
The Queen Regent of Scotland, having made her Daughter a
viſit in France, was deſirous to ſhorten her voyage, and return
home through England. The King's leave being granted, ſhe came
Strype's a hore at Portſmouth, where ſhe was honorably received, and con-
veyed towards London, and arrived there the ad of November, at-
tended by ſeveral Engliſh Lords, Knights and Gentlemen, beſides
an hundred Ladies and Gentlewomen, Engliſh and Scottiſh, with
which retinue the rode through the city to the Biſhop of London's
Palace, where ſhe was received and lodged. The Mayor and Al-
dermen fending great ſtore of proviſion of all kinds for her enter-
tainment. On the 4th ſhe went to Court in a chariot with a greke
train. The King met her in the Hall, and faluted her, embracing
and kiſſing her, and then led her to the cħamber of Preſence,
where was a banquet. Here ſhe was entertained by the King and
the Court with all poflible reſpect, the King converfing long time
with her. Of which converfation, when the came home, the
gave this teſtimony ; that ſhe found more wiſdom and folid judg-
young King Edward, than the would have looked for in
any
Mem.
(ment in
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y. 365
1:
Harl.
MSS.
any
Three Princes that were then in Europe. In the evening
ſhe was conducted back to the Biſhop's Palace to ſupper, where ſhe
lay till the ſixth day; when ſhe was attended through Biſhopſgate
by the Duke of Northumberland, the Earl of Pembroke, and the
Lord Treaſurer, with each an hundred Horſe ; and at the Gate the
Queen was preſented with an hundred marks by the Chamberlain
of London, and then proceded on her journey.
On the roth of this month I find in the Council Book, that all
bills which came for the King's ſignet (which was a ſtamp). uſed to
be ſigned by fix of the Council, now, as ſome of theſe bills paſſed No 352-
fometimes into foreign realms, it was obſerved that it was deroga-
tory from the King's honor ; and therefore to Thew that the King's
doings were of full force without the authority or direction of other,
hereafter they were to be ſigned only by Himſelf. I know of no
ill uſe that was made of this; and it might be done only in com-
pliment to the King, who had entered into his 15th year in the
preceding month: but being done juſt on the removal of the Duke
of Somerſet from the Council, I cannot but obſerve, that it might
be a convenient Order for ſo intriguing a man as the new Duke of
Northumberland was, to have only the young King to perſuade,
or perhaps clandeſtinely to procure his ſtamp to execute deſigns
which he durft not communicate to. Six of the Council.
The Duke of Somerſet was brought to his trial on the iſt of De-
cember, when he was charged with a treaſonable endeavour to get
poſſeſſion of the King's perſon, and depoſe him from his
ment: that he intended to have raiſed the Northern parts to aid
him in his treaſon : to have made an inſurrection in the city of
London : to have deſtroyed the Gend'armory: and to ſeize on and
impriſon the Earls of Warwick, and Pembroke, and the Marqueſs
of Northampton : alſo that his chamber was ſtrongly guarded to
on
prevent a ſurpriſe, and to refiit an attachment. It was an inde-
cency, to ſay no worſe of it, that of the ſeven and twenty Peers
ſummoned
govern-
3
!
366
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
fummoned to try him, Three of them ſhould be the very Lords,
whom they charged him with an intention to kill. The treaſons
had
very ſlender grounds to ſupport them; he had indeed ſounded
his friends about being reſtored to the Protectorſhip: this, in Gar-
dimer's management, (if the articles were of his drawing, as Mr.
Strype ſuſpects,) was a treaſonable deſign of ſeizing the King's Per-
fin, and depriving him of his government: as to raiſing the North,
he had only fent to Sir William Herbert to be his friend: nor was
the proof ſtronger of his intention to raiſe the city, or kill the
Gendarmes : his ſtrongly guarding his chamber was rather a proof
of his ſuſpecting fome violent attempt upon his own perſon, than
of reſiſting an attachment, which, when he was indeed attached,
he never attempted to do. The chief article proved was his deſign
to kill or impriſon the Three Lords beforementioned. There was
evidence produced, (that is, their examinations were read, but the
witneſſes themſelves did not appear) that the Duke had contrived
an entertainment at the Lord Paget's Houſe near St. Clement's in
the Strand, to which the Duke of Northumberland, the Marqueſs
of Northampton, and the Earl of Pembroke were to have been in-
vited, and then, either to have been ſet upon by the way, or aſſalli-
nated at dinner : this plot was confeſſed by Crane and his wife, and
by Sir Thomas Palmer. The Duke of Somerſet deſired that theſe
witneſſes might be brought into Court, and that he might have the
liberty of confronting them. This reaſonable requeſt was not
thought proper to be granted him. And he did himſelf acknow-
ledge that he had talked of ſuch a thing, but hoped no idle, or an-
gry words, that
among
his
many provocations might at any time
have fallen from him, ſhould be urged againſt him, for that he had
never determined to have killed the Duke of Northumberland, or
any other perfon, but had determined not to do it. However, as
by an Act paſſed in the laſt year, it was enacted, that if any per-
ſon by open word or deed ſhould procure, move, or ſtir
any
other
perſon
3
3 and
4
Edw. n
;
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
сно
3671
4
Letter to
trick,
perſon or perſons to exerciſe or put in ureany of the things above.
mentioned [among which were the killing, or imprifoning any
• of the Lords of the Council] it ſhould be declared felony without
• benefit of the Clergy i' the Lords his Judges thought proper to
acquit him of the Treaſon, but to find him guilty of the Felony.
The people, to whom he was dear, when they ſaw that the axe Stowe and
was not carried before him, which was a ſign of his being acquic- Annals
:
ted of the treaſon, conſtrued it into a general acquittal, and expreſ-
ſed their joy by a ſhout that was heard as far as Long Acre: but on
diſcovery of their miſtake a different paſſion fucceded. Northum-
berland and his faction had addreſs enough to perſuade the King of K. Edw.
the Duke's guilt; and that after ſentence he had confeſſed that he Barnaby
meant to deſtroy the Three Lords. It is certain that he reſented Fitzpa-
with an imprudent warmth the provocations he had received from
the Duke of Northumberland and his Partiſans; ſo much he con-
feſſed upon his trial, and that he had been indiſcrete enough in
his paſſion to talk even of killing them; and ſenſible that this was
a fault, after ſentence was paſſed, he aſked their pardons for it.
Further Confeſſion than this does not appear certain. But unleſs
the Duke of Northumberland could poſſeſs the King with a perſua-
fion of his dangerous deſigns, he could not hope to prevale on him
to conſent to the execution of this his ſecond. Uncle within three
years. Indeed the condemned Duke had found means in the Tow-
er to make a friend of the Lord Chancellor Rich, whom he re- Burnet:
queſted to intercede for him to the King, that he might be better
informed, and diſpoſed towards him : in anſwer to this letter the
Chancellor ſent him an advertiſement of ſomewhat deſigned againit
him by the Gouncil : and being in haſte wrote only, on the back
of it, To the Duke ; and bade one of his ſervants carry it to the
Tower, without mentioning the Duke of Somerſét. His fervant,
knowing there was an intimacy betwixt his Maſter and the Duke
of Norfolk, who was ſtill in the Tower), and not knowing that :
there:
.* TÅE LIFE OF
BOOK V.
;
there was any between him and the Lord Somerſet, delivered the
letter to the Duke of Norfolk. The Lord Chancellor finding the
miftake at night, doubted not but that the Duke of Norfolk, to
make Northumberland his friend, would certainly diſcover him
and therefore went in haſte to the King, and deſired to be diſchar-
ged of his office, thereby preventing the malice of his enemies.
Accordingly, conſidering the ſickneſs with which he had long la-
bored, and the approach of the Parliament's fitting, he was per-
K, Edw; mitted to give up the Great Seal on the 21ſt of December ; and
Journal.
the next day it was delivered to the Biſhop of Ely, that he might
be the Keeper of it during the Lord Rich’s fickneſs.
This attempt to recover the King's favor to his condemned Uncle
Sir John made the Faction diligent to divert his thoughts, leſt returning af-
Hayward. fection thould be too powerful for their malice. They therefore
entertained the King with all the delights they could deviſe, pre-
ſenting him often with ſtately Maſques, Challenges at Tilts and
Barriers, and whatever exerciſes or ſports they thought would beſt
pleaſe him. Then alſo he firſt began to keep Hall; and the Chriſt-
mas time was paſſed over with Banquetings, Maſques and Plays,
and variety of diverſions. Often they would call him to ſerious
affairs, in which he took eſpecial pleaſure. Sometimes they would
remember him how dangerous the Duke of Somerſet was, who,
having made away his only Brother, contrived the deaths of the
chief of the nobility. And where (fay they) would his malice
have teſted? Would it have raged againſt all, and left the King
only untouched ? Then repreſenting his avarice and ambition,
which perhaps were faults really chargeable upon him, in aggrava-
ted colors; and adding thereto cruelty and fallhood, of which he
was innocent, though ſometimes too rough and affuming, they
won the King over for the fafety of his people to ſacrifice his Un-
cle and real Protector; not ſo much to the malice of his enemies,
as to the defigning ſubtlety of Northumberland, who aimed through
Him
BOOK V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
369
Burnet.
Him at the King himſelf. On the 22d of January he was be-
headed on Tower-hill; where he met his death unappalled, with-
out any diſorder or diſcompoſure in voice or countenance, but what
the affection, which the people ſhewed for him, occaſioned. Sir
Ralph Vane and Sir Miles Partridge were hanged ſoon after on
Tower-hill; and Sir Michael Stanhope and Sir Thomas Arundel
were there alſo beheaded. All declaring their innocence, as the
Duke had done before; which ſerved the more to ſtrengthen the
opinion of the people, that Somerſet fell a ſacrifice to Northum-
berland, whom from this time they entirely hated. Lord Paget
was ſtripped of his Garter, and fined. Crane, Palmer, Bartuille
and Hammond, the chief witneſſes againſt him, were ſoon after re-
leaſed; and the cloſe intimacy that grew betwixt Palmer and Nor-
thumberland made it ſuſpected, that Palmer had been employed
to incenſe the Duke againſt Northumberland, and then betray the
intemperate expreſſions of his haſty paſſion. Thus fell the people's
favorite, and the King's faithful Protector, and left Northum-
berland unrivalled and unmoleſted to execute the reſt of his mighty
plan.
1552
5
and 6
in Parliament and
Convocation.
cap. I.
The day after the Duke's execution the Parlia-
§. 10. Procedings ment met, in which and the Convocation moſt of
thoſe matters were perfected and confirmed, which Edw. .
had been in hand in the preceding year. The
Common Prayer had been reviewed, and the uſe of the New Ser-
vice injoined from the feaſt of All-Saints next enſuing : The occa-
fion of this review the act ſays was, 'divers doubts riſen about
• the faſhion and manner of the miniſtration of the fame, rather by
the curioſity of the miniſter and miſtakers than of any worthy
• cauſes; and alſo in ſome places to make the faſhion of ſervice
more earneſt, and fit to ſtir Chriſtian people to the true honoring
* of Almighty God, which (as the act obſerves) is profitable to
* thc
3 B
370
THE
Book V.
.
LIFE OF
i
• the eſtate of this realm, upon which the mercy, favor, and bleſ-
fing of Almighty God is in no wiſe ſo readily and plenteouſly pour-
ed, as by Common Prayers, due uſing the Sacraments, and of
• ten preaching of the Goſpel, with the devotion of the hearers.
For both which reaſons the Common Service had been explaned
and made fully perfect.'
For the uſe of it they appointed the keeping of Holidays and
Faſting-days, in which the people were ' to apply themſelves only
• and wholly to holy works properly pertaining unto true religion ;
• that is to hear, to learn, and to remember Almighty God's great
• benefits, and to render him moſt high and hearty thanks with
prayers and ſupplications ; declaring the Holineſs not to be in the
day, but in the godly works then to be performed, not in honor
of any Saint or Creature, but only unto God and his true wor-
fhip.' Then the Holidays are determined; all Sundays in the
year, and the Feſtivals as now obſerved, except St. Barnabas,
which was added afterward. On all theſe days all people were to
ceaſe from lawful and bodily labor, but with this reaſonable in-
dulgence, provided always that it ſhall be lawful to every huſi
• bandman, laborer, filherman, and to all and every other perſon
• of whatever ftate, degree or condition, upon the Holidays a-
• foreſaid in harveſt, or at any other time of the year when neceffi-
ty ſhall require, to labor, ride, fiſh, or work any kind of work
at their free wills and pleaſures.' But this proviſo opened a door
to a general diſregard of the other parts of the act, and a profanation
of the Holidays; and, what was in reaſon indulged to neceſſity,
was wantonly abuſed to the purpoſes of avarice and pleaſure.
The propenſity to defeat good and wholeſome laws was complain-
ed of by Judge Hales, in this reign, in the caſe of incloſures : But
he obſerves that no good man would uſe, but abhor all ſuch arts
Judge
of evaſion. · For every good man will direct his ſtudy to obſerve
Charge the laws rather than to break them, and ſay with himſelf thus ;
• I know
Hale's
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
• I know the makers of theſe laws meant good to the Common-
• wealth. They be but men, they cannot ſee all things : they
• be no Gods, they cannot make things perfect. Therefore I will
* rather do that they meant, although without danger of the law
· I might do otherwiſe; and I will with all my heart do good to my
*country, albeit it be againſt my private profit, rather than hurt
< it.'
Edw. vi.
E. Hift:
They likewiſe enacted the marriage of prieſts to be true, juſt, 5 and 6
and lawful; their children legitimate and inheritable to lands and cap. 12.
tenements; the Prieſts enabled to be tenants by courteſy of their
wive's lands after the wife's death; and their wives endowable
with lands of their husbands. The poor of every pariſh alſo were Cap. 2.
to be relieved with that which every pariſhioner of his own chari-
table devotion would give. By this ſtatute two overſeers for the
poor in every pariſh were firſt ſettled. The Parliament likewiſe Collier's
diſſolved the Biſhoprick of Weſtminſter, and united it to the Sec
of London : but the collegiate church with the exempt juriſdiction
was ſtill continued. This act of parliament was to corroborate the
late procedings of the crown.
The Convocation, which fate now, agreed to the Book of Arti-
cles that had been drawn up, and were mentioned among the
occurrences of the laſt
year.
But there was another Bill brought into the Houſe of Lords,
which was to deprive Dr. Tonſtal of his Biſhoprick. About July
1550 he had been charged with being privy to a rebellion in the
north, and concealing it. His accuſer, Ninian Melville, pretend-
ed that a letter of the Biſhop's would prove it: but as this letter
could not be produced the matter was ſtayed, and the Biſhop only
commanded to keep his houſe. This letter was now found in a cask- Harleiar:
et belonging to the Duke of Somerſet after his being apprehended.
Therefore on the 20th of December laſt the Biſhop was ordered
to attend the Council; where the letter was laid before him,
3
which
MSS.
B 2
:
372
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
which he could not deny to be of his Hand-writing, but offered
to purge himſelf: by what means it is not ſaid. His anſwer be-
ing judged inſufficient by the Council, he was ſent to the Tower.
On this information a bill of attainder was brought into the houſe
for miſprifion of treaſon in order to deprive him. The Lords, of
whom the majority were of Northumberland's faction, paſſed the
bill : but Cranmer, who thought the letter capable of a more fa-
vorable interpretation, and probably ſuſpected more an avaricious
deſign in the Duke of Northumberland than any real guilt in the
Biſhop of Durham, ſpoke againſt it, and made the Duke his ene-
my by ſo doing. And when all the Lords but one concurred in
paffing it, even all the Popiſh Biſhops, he proteſted againſt it; fe-
conded by none but Lord Stourton; not even by thoſe Popiſh
Lords who had proteſted againſt almoſt every bill before. This
fhews Cranmer's integrity and impartiality, whom neither the
frowns of great men, nor the remembrance of an unreaſonable op-
poſition (for Tonſtal ħad oppoſed every meaſure of the Reforma-
tion, though he complied when eſtabliſhed by authority) could
prejudice to act againſt what appeared to him to be right and juſt.
When it came to the Commons, as the evidence in this caſe reſted
on written depofitions, they, having then a bill before them that
there ſhould be two witneſſes in caſe of treaſon, and that the wit-
neſſes and the party arraigned ſhould be brought face to face, and
that treaſon ſhould not be adjudged by circumſtances, but plain
evidence, threw out the bill.
This was believed to be a great diſappointment to the Duke,
&c. Hift. who promiſed himſelf the lands and juriſdiction of that wealthy
Biſhoprick. That the Popiſh Lords and Biſhops ſhould affent to
this ſcheme of Northumberland's, againſt ſo eminent a prelate of
their own faction, and where the evidence was rather doubtful,
appears very ſtrange. Biſhop Burnet apprehends it proceded from
jealouſy, becauſe Cranmer ſpoke for him. If conjectures are per-.
mitted,
Collier's.
1
}
BOOK V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
373
mitted, may not the Duke's ſecret combination with Gardiner
lead us to ſuſpect, that it was upon ſome aſſurances given of his fu-
ture favor to the Popiſh faction, for which this intereſting point of
poffefſing himſelf of the temporalties of Durham was the condi-
tion? However, from the behaviour of the Archbiſhop, and of
the Popiſh Biſhops, I think his caſe muſt be ſuppoſed of that
doubtful kind, that while charity might believe him innocent, even
partial favor might believe him guilty. The refuſal of the Com-
mons to paſs this bill. made the Duke ſee that this Parliament was
not under his command : he therefore got it diſſolved on the
15th of April, although the King was then ill of the Small Pox,
and could not come out to ſign the bills that were paſſed, but
figned one bill in which were ſpecified thoſe that he would paſs ;
and then gave a Commiſſion for diſſolving the Parliament. Men- Strype’s
ville, though the Duke did not fuccede, was not to go unreward- Mem.
ed; therefore a warrant was iſſued out to Sir John Williams to pay
him an hundred pounds by way of his Majeſty's reward.
Cranmer.
Dr. Hethe, Bilhop of Worceſter, was appoint- Strype's
$. Ir. Hethe, B!
ed in 1549, with Ridley and others, to prepare
shop of Worceſter,
a new book for the ordination of miniſters, purg-
deprived.
ed from the ſuperſtitions of the old Ordinal :
but, refuſing to agree with the majority, and to ſubſcribe the
Book when made, he was committed to the Fleet, where he lay
under eafy confinement all the year 1550. In September (551,
by the King's expreſs commandment he was ſent for before the
Council. They repeted to him the cauſe of his impriſonment,
which was for refuſing to ſubſcribe the book deviſed for the form
of making Archbiſhops, Biſhops, Prieſts and, Deacons, being au-
thoriſed by Parliament; telling him, that although for his obſtina-
cy he deſerved longer impriſonment, yet the King's clemency was
luch, that if he would now obey his Majeſty in his former com-
mandment
374
BOOK V.
THE LIFE OF
.
mandment he ſhould recover the King's favor; and that he was
then ſent for, and willed now to ſubſcribe the ſame. He anſwer-
ed, that he took the cauſe of his impriſonment to be as was al-
ledged ; and that he had been very gently uſed, rather like a ſon
than a ſubject : nevertheleſs, he ſaid, he remained ſtill in the ſame
mind, not willing to ſubſcribe it, although he would not diſobey
it. Then the Council offered him to have conference with le ared
men, and to have time to conſider the matter better. He replied,
that he could not have better conference than he had heretofore;
of other mind he thought never to be; adding that there were
many other things whereunto he would never conſent, if he were
demanded ; ſuch as to take down the altars, and to ſet
up
tables.
He was then charged in the King's name to ſubſcribe the book be-
fore Tueſday the 24th (which was but two days) upon pain of
deprivation of his Biſhoprick. He anſwered reſolutely, he could
not find in his conſcience to do it, and ſhould be well content to
abide ſuch end, .either by deprivation or otherwiſe, as pleaſed the
King's Majeſty. Upon which, as a man incorrigible, he was re-
turned to the Fleet. Where lay at the ſame time Day, Biſhop of
Chicheſter, for contempt in refuſing to pull down altars, and to
erect tables in their places. And in October 1551, both were de.
prived of their Biſhopricks, and continued in the Fleet till this
Summer, when they deſired, for their health's fake, to be remov-
ed to ſome place of better air, and more liberty. Whereupon,
June 15, Dr. Day was ſent to the Biſhop of Ely, who had been
appointed Lord Chancellor ; and Dr. Hethe to the Biſhop of Lon-
don, by the appointment of his Majeſty : Who were directed to
uſe them as to Chriſtian charity Mould be moſt ſeemly, at whoſe
hands the King doubted not but they ſhould receive ſuch Chriſtian
advice as would tend to the glory of God. But Dr. Hethe's ill-
neſs continuing, July 17, upon the motion of the Biſhop of Lon-
don, Icave was granted from the Council that Dr. Hethe, might
be
Book V.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
373
be ſent to the Biſhop's own Houſe in London from Fulham, to
recover his health, and then to return. Both theſe Biſhops had
been raiſed by Cranmer, and ſeemed very compliant with him du-
ring King Henry's reign: but afterward fell from him, offend-
ed at his leaving the doctrine of the corporal preſence, and for writ-
ing againſt it. Scory, Biſhop of Rocheſter, ſucceded Day; and
Hoper, Biſhop of Gloceſter, ſucceded Hethe, keeping Worceſter
with his former Biſhoprick. For which purpoſe a Patent paſſed in Harleian, ,
May 1552 to unite the Biſhopricks of Gloceſter and Worceſter, to Nº. 169.
have to him for life fo long as he behaved well. And another Pa-
tent paſſed December 8 following, that the two aforeſaid Biſhop-
ricks ſhould be reputed as one dioceſe.
In the beginning of the Month of May I find the Biſhop of Lon-
don in Commiſſion with the Lord Chancellor, Sir John Cheke,
Dr. May, and Dr. Wendy to viſit Eton College : at which vifi-
tation Fawding, one of the Fellows, was committed to the Fleet
for leud words. I preſume the affair was not then fully determi-
ned, becauſe in King Edward's Journal it is noticed, that on Sep-
tember 26, the Duke of Northumberland, the Marqueſs of Nor-
thampton, the Lord Chancellor, Mr. Secretary Petre, and Mr.
Secretary Cecil ended a matter of Eton College, between the Ma-
Iters and the Fellows; and alſo took order for the amendment of
certain ſuperfluous ſtatutes.
the Poor in London.
About the ſame time the Biſhop of London was
$. 12. The Biſhop engaged in a good and truely Chriſtian work,
of London's care of
contriving means to make the lives of the indigent
more comfortable, by making them more uſeful.
The ſuppreſſion of Monaſteries had not only withdrawn a charita
ble aſſiſtance from many poor people, but greatly increaſed their
numbers ; and the oppreffions of the Lay landlords who ſucceded,
by rack-rents, or by employing a few ſhepherds only inſtead of
many
376
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
cap. 3.
many laborers, filled the towns and cities with ſwarms of people
that had nothing to do; and who, having contracted a habit of
idleneſs, lay a heavy burden upon the induſtrious. Theſe land-
lords, after their avarice and hard dealings had thrown multitudes
into this ſituation, very unreaſonably imagined that they could
remedy the diſorder by ſeverity of law; and therefore, in the firſt
Parliament under King Edward paffed an Act for puniſhing vaga-
1 Ed. vi. bonds, and for the relief of the poor and impotent: By which they
enacted, that any who lived idle and loiteringly for the ſpace of
three days, being brought before two Juſtices ſhould be marked
with a hot iron on the breaſt with V for Vagabond, and be adjudg-
ed a llave to the perſon who brought him for two years : If they
abſented themſelves fourteen days in the two years, two Juſtices
might order him to be marked with S with an hot iron on the fore-
head or ball of the cheek, and adjudge him a Slave to his maſter
for ever : If he ran away a ſecond time he thould be adjudged a
felon. Clerks convict were to be uſed in the fame manner. All
impotent, maimed, or aged perſons were to be relieved by the wil-
ling and charitable diſpoſitions of the Pariſhioners in the cities,
burroughs, or towns where they were born, or where they had
been moſt converſant for the ſpace of three years. But notwith-
Harleian ſtanding this Act, London continued to be fo peſtered with
vaga-
bonds, that a proclamation came out in 1550 for the avoiding
them out of the city, and Southwark, and the liberties of the fame.
It is likely they ſaw the unreaſonableneſs of puniſhing the ſubjects
ſo ſeverely for being beggars, whom the rapacity of the times had
made fo; and the Parliament this year repealed the Act ſo far as
related to the making the unworking people flaves. But their dif-
treſſes continuing, and the city, having no power or authority to
provide properly for them, the good Biſhop could not ſee the mi-
ſeries of the idle without commiſerating them, nor the burthen
and nuance which they were to the induſtrious without wiſhing
fome
MSS.
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
377
fome redreſs. The benevolence of the city had taken ſome care
of the induſtrious and calamitous poor; but the idle vagabonds,
who were diſinclined from working, they knew not how to em-
ploy, or lodge, or teach them to be uſeful. This concerning point
the Biſhop turned over in his thoughts, and finding the rapacity
of the courtiers was ſtill wreſting every thing froin the King,
which they could, at cheap pennyworths; and knowing that there
was an old decayed houſe of the King's in the city, which might
be made very ſerviceable for this purpoſe, and which ſome one
was at that time about purchaſing; he wrote a letter to Sir Wil-
liam Cecil the King's Secretary, whom he knew to be of a pious
diſpoſition, to aſſiſt him in this matter: How earneſt he was to re-
cover theſe unhappy people and to make them uſeful to themſelves
and the publick appears from the letter itſelf.
• Good Mr. Cecil. I muſt be a ſuitor unto you in our good Maf-
ter Chriſt's cauſe ; I beſeech you be good to him. The matter is,
Sir, alaſs! he hath lain too long abroad (as you do know) without
lodging, in the ſtreets of London, both hungry, naked and cold.
Now, thanks be to Almighty God! the citizens are willing to re-
freſh him, and to give him both meat, drink, cloathing and fir-
ing : but alaſs ! Sir, they lack lodging for him. For in ſome one
houſe I dare ſay they are fain to lodge three families under one roof.
Sir, there is a wide, large, empty houſe of the King's Majeſty's,
called Bridewell, that would wonderfully well ſerve to lodge Chriſt
in, if he might find ſuch good friends in the court to procure in his
cauſe. Surely I have ſuch a good opinion of the King's Majeſty, that
if Chriſt had ſuch faithful and hearty friends who would heartily
ſpeak for him, he ſhould undoubtedly ſpeed at the King's Majeſ
ty's hands. Sir, I have promiſed my brethren the citizens to move
you, becauſe I do take you for one that feareth God, and would
that Chriſt ſhould lie no more abroad in the ſtreets.
:
"-"'*'* **.')
3 C
Hé
33
.
378
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
He prayed him alſo for God's ſake that he would ſtop the fale
of this houſe, in caſe any were about buying it, as he heard there
were, and that he would ſpeak in our Maſter's cauſe. He wrote
alſo to Sir John Gates, another great man at court, about this buſi-
neſs more at large, and, as he told him, joined Cecil with him, and
all other who loved and looked for Chriſt's final benediction in the
latter days. Having (as it appears) a better opinion of Gate's
Chriſtian ſincerity than it deſerved. He likewiſe fent inſtructions
by the bearer of his letter to Cecil to confer further with him on
this affair.
The good Biſhop had been ſolicitous about it ever ſince he was
promoted to the See of London, as appears from a Sermon of Le-
ver's preached before the King in 1550'; in which he compared the
greedy counſel of diffolving monaſteries for plauſible pretences to
Judas's advice of ſelling the ointment for 300 pence to be given to
the poor, only that he might get it into his bag. Then mention-
ing what • a number of poor, feeble, halt, blind, lame, fickly,
with idle vagabonds and diſſembling caitiffs mixt among them,
lay and crept begging in the miry ſtreets of London and Weſt-
• minſter, thruſt out from their farms by their covetous new
• landlords, who ſuffered their houſes to fall that they might get
• rid of their tenants and turn their lands into paſture;' He adds,
. but now I truſt that a good Overſeer, a godly Biſhop I mean, will
* ſee that they in theſe two cities ſhall have their need relieved,
. and faults corrected, to the good enſample of all other towns
cand cities."
The Biſhop ſucceded in his application, though the perfect en-
dowment of this houſe was not till the year after, when it was
granted for correcting and reclaming idle, looſe vagrants, finding
them work, and training boys up to ſeveral uſeful trades. Of
which uſeful charity and other hoſpitals, erected in King Edward's
time, Biſhop Pilkington in the beginning of Queen Elifabeth's
reign
:2
BOOK V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
379
reign ſpeaks in anſwer to the Romaniſts who boaſted of their hör-
pitality. Look into London, ſaid he, what hoſpitals are there
• founded in the Goſpel time! the poor indeed relieved, youth
godly brought up, and the idle fet at work. Popery would ſome-
times feed the hungry, but ſeldom correct the unprofitable drones,
• who ſucked the honey from the labouring bees, nor bring up
· children in the fear of God: but to fill the belly, and not to teach
« virtue is to increaſe vice. Well worth Bridewell therefore, for it
' is a good School.'
During Dr. Hethe's removal for the recove-
f. 13. His Confe-
ry of his health, and while the King was in
rence with Lady Mary.
his progreſs, the Biſhop took that opportunity of
viſiting his own College in Cambridge; where by the leave of the
Biſhop of Ely he had an ordination in the College Chapel on Bar-
tholomew-day.
In his return toward London he reſted at his
houſe at Hadham: from whence on the 8th of September in the
morning he waited on the Lady Mary, who was at Hundſdon, two
miles off, to do his duty to her. She thanked him for his civility,
and entertained him with very pleaſant diſcourſe for a quarter of an
hour, telling him that the remembered him at Court, when chap-
lain to her father, and mentioned particularly a Sermon of his be-
fore her Father, at the marriage of the preſent Lady Clinton to Sir
Anthony Brown: And then leaving her chamber of preſence, the
diſmiſſed him to dine with her officers. After dinner, the ſent for
him again ; when the Biſhop in converſation told her that he did
not only come to pay his duty to her Grace by waiting on her, but fur-
ther to offer his ſervice, to preach before her the next Sunday, if
ſhe would be pleaſed to permit him. Her countenance changed at
this; and ſhe continued fome time filent; at laſt the ſaid, As for
this matter, I pray you, my Lord make the anſwer to it yourſelf. The
Biſhop proceding to tell her that his office and duty obliged him to
make this offer ; lhe again deſired him to make the anſwer to him-
3 C 2
felf:
380
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y. Book V.
.
ſelf: for that he could not but know what it would be. Yet if the
anſwer muſt come from her, ſhe told him, the doors of the pariſh
church ſhould be open for hiin if he came, and that he might preach
if he pleafed; but that neither would ſhe hear him, nor ſhould any
of her fervants. Madam, ſaid the Biſhop, I truſt you will not re-
fufe God's word. I cannot tell, ſays ſhe, what you call God's
word. That is not God's word now, which was God's word in
my Father's days. The Biſhop obſerved, God's word is all one at
all times, but has been better underſtood and practiſed in fome ages
than in other. Upon which ſhe could reſtrain her anger no longer,
but told him, Ycu durſt not for your ears have avouched that for
God's word in my Father's days that now you do. And then, to
fhew how able a judge ſhe was in this controverſy, ſhe added, As
for your new books, I thank God I never read any of them ; I ne-
ver did, and never will. She then flew out into many bitter expref-
fions againſt the Form of Religion at preſent eſtabliſhed, and againſt
the government of the realm, and the Laws made in her Brother's
minority; which ſhe ſaid ſhe was not bound to obey, till the King
came to perfect age, and when he was ſhe would obey them. She
then aſked the Biſhop if he was one of the Council ? And on his
anſwering, No: You might well enough, ſaid ſhe, as the Council
goeth now-a-days : and parted from him with theſe words,
My Lord, for your civility in coming to ſee me, I thank
for your offering to preach before me, I thank you not a whit. Af-
ter this the Biſhop was conducted to the room where they had di-
ned, where Sir Thomas Wharton gave him a glaſs of wine, which
when he had drank, he ſeemed concerned, and ſaid, Surely I
have done amiſs. Upon being aſked, Why? He vehemently re-
proached himfelf for having drank in that place where God's word
had been refuſed; whereas, ſaid he, if I had remembered my
duty, I ought to have departed immediately and to have ſha-
ken off the duft from my feet for a teſtimony againſt this houſe.
One
you; but
BOOK V.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
381
Collier's
Ec. Hin.
One of our learned hiſtorians ſuggeſts, that as the Princeſs was un-
der no excommunication, the Biſhop diſcovered his reſentment too
far. Too far in worldly prudence he certainly did, for the Princeſs
never forgave him: but Chriſt's directions to his Apoſtles were not
given with regard to perſons who had been caſt out of their Com-
munion, but to perſons of a different belief refuſing to be inſtructed.
And the Princeſs having avowed an obſtinate perfevering refuſal of
every mean of inſtruction, reading and hearing, no wonder if the
Biſhop blamed himſelf for ſo far forgetting his maſter's command,
as to accept a pledge of friendſhip in the houſe of one who had
ſo wilfully rejected the word of God. This bigotry of hers gave
him a forrowful proſpect of what was to be expected, if ever the
Princeſs came to the crown.
While the King was in progreſs the Duke of
$. 14. Northum- Northumberland was contriving to unite his fami-
berland encreaſes his
porwer and influence. ly with the Royal Family; and for that purpoſe
had ſolicited a match between his Son, the Lord
Guilford Dudley, and the Lady Margaret Clifford, daughter to the
Earl of Cumberland, who had married Eleanor, youngeſt daugh-
ter to the Duke of Suffolk by King Henry's Siſter, the Princeſs
Mary. Many impediments were urged or pretended : but in July
the King wrote to the Earl to grow to ſome good end forthwith
in this marriage, any law, ſtatute or other thing to the contrary
notwithſtanding. But whether the Earl, diſinclined from the match,
had art enough to put it by for the prefent ; or the Duke had
hopes of matching his Son into the elder Siſter's family, the Grays,
the King's application did not ſuccede. This attempt of the Duke
now, and his marrying his Son not long after into the elder
branch of the Royal Family, are, I think, ſtrong ſuſpicions of his
having a view at this time of bringing the crown into his family.
But what was to become of the King? Theſe attempts of the Duke
and
7
*
382
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
and his ſubſequent behaviour muſt incline us to believe that he ne-
ver expected that the King's marriage (now negotiating) with the
daughter of France ſhould produce heirs to diſappoint his own
views. Yet, even ſuppoſing the King's death, there were many
betwixt the crown and the Lady Margaret Clifford. But of theſe,
the King's Siſters had both been declared illegitimate by Parlia-
ment: the Queen of Scots was a foreigner, and excluded by King
Henry's Will: the weakneſs of the new Duke of Suffolk, and
Northumberland's influence over him might open hopes to his wild
ambition of managing him. And he did actually prevale on the
Dutcheſs to reſign her prior pretenſions. However, all his actions
Thew that he did not imagine the King would be long lived. At
this aim were thought to level his fiding with the Duke of Somer-
ſet, and inflaming him againſt his fpirited enterpriſing brother the
Lord Sudley, till that dangerous competitor was removed : then
his intrigues to entangle and get rid of the Duke himſelf, the
King's moſt faithful Protector : and at the ſame time to ſecure the
game in his own hands, his placing his Son Sir Robert Dudley near
the King's perſon ; for he was ſworn one of the ſix ordinary Gen-
tlemen to attend his Majeſty at the time when his Father was cre-
ated Duke of Northumberland. A monſter of luſt and cruelty,
as Sir John Hayward deſcribes him, apt to hate, and ſure to exe-
cute his hate; yet rather by practice, than by open dealing, as
wanting rather courage than wit. Unhappy Prince ! under the di-
rection of Northumberland, and in the poffeffion of his Son!
whoſe aſſiduous application was like the envenomed ſhirt of Her-
cules, the more cloſe the more fatal. The King returned much
fatigued with his over exerciſe from his progreſs, September 28.
And ſoon after, as the ſame hiſtorian informs us, he complained of
a continual infirmity of body, “yet rather as an indiſpoſition of
• health than any fet fickneſs."
Page 310.
3
Page 403.
But
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
383
grant
But while the Duke was thus ſcheming for his family great and
not very diſtant plans, he endeavoured both to enrich and ſtrength-
en himſelf by new plunders of the church. When he was created
Duke of Northuniberland he had 50 marks a year granted him out
of the Cuſtoms of Newcaſtle : in the ſame month he had the
of the office of General Warden or Keeper of the Marches of Eng-
land towards Scotland: and in December he had given him the
ſite of the late monaſtery of Tinmouth in the county of Northum-
berland, and a great number of lordſhips and manors more : and
at the ſame time a gift of the towns of Alnwick and ſome others
in the ſame county : likewiſe in the April following were granted
to him the offices of the chief ſtewardſhip of the Eaſt Riding in
Yorkſhire, and of all the King's lordſhips and manors of Holder-
neſs and Cottingham in the ſame Eaſt-Riding, with privilege to
name and appoint all officers under him. Having obtained ſuch
large poffeffions and powers in Yorkſhire and Northumberland, he
looked with a covetous eye on the Biſhoprick of Durham which
lay between them ; judging the temporalties of that See
very con-
venient for himſelf. In the laſt Parliament he had attempted to de-
prive the Biſhop for miſpriſion of treaſon : but his deſign appearing
planer than the Biſhop's guilt, the Commons would not paſs the
Bill. The Duke was too much intereſted to let him eſcape fo,
therefore what the Parliament would not do, a private Commiſſion
waş, to execute. About September the Biſhop was ſent for up by
the Council upon certain accuſations. He arrived in London, and
was lodged on the 4th of October at the late monaſtery of White
Monks on Tower-Hill, and ſoon after committed to the Tower,
and a Commiſſion directed to the Lord Chief Juſtice of the King's
Bench and others to call before them Cuthbert Biſhop of Durham,
and examine him of all manner of conventicles, conſpiracies, con-
tempts, concealments, or other offences. And if he be found
guilty to deprive him of his Biſhoprick; and otherwiſe to do in the
premiſſes
384
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
Strype's
Mcn.
premiſles according to their wiſdoms. He was found guilty, and
deprived the 14th of Ocober, or on the 11th according to King
Edward's Journal.
But I think the Duke was near ſuffering a ſecond diſappointment;
for on this very IIth of October Dr. Robert Horné, Dean of Dur-
ham, declared a ſecret conſpiracy of the Earl of Weſtmorland, who
was a Privy Counſellor, and Lord Lieutenant for the Biſhoprick
of Durham. The Dean was commanded to keep this matter cloſe'.
However, for encouragement, the Council judged, that the Bi-
Thoprick of Durham now vacant by the deprivation of Tonſtal for
concealing treaſon, was the moſt proper reward to the Dean of
Durham for diſcovering treaſon. And a grant was made to him in
the following month of the ſaid Biſhoprick, with all the lordſhips,
manors and lands to the ſame belonging, during his natural life.
Whether he was ſecretly prevaled on by the Duke to refuſe this
preferment, or afraid to diſappoint him by accepting lands and ma-
nors that Northumberland graſped at, and of which he ſaw in
Tonſtal's caſe how dangerous it had been to be poffeffed, I know
not; but it is certain he declined accepting it : Mr. Strype ſays it
was, becauſe he cared not to take Tonſtal's Biſhoprick over his
head. Yet he ſcrupled not afterward to take Wincheſter over
White's head, when deprived under Queen Eliſabeth.
The Biſhoprick continued open; and in the next Parliament,
which fate the iſt, and broke up on the laſt day of March, it was
diſſolved. The King, who was grown fick of giving away the
Church lands in ſuch quantities, being brought into it from a re-
preſentation of the want of good preachers there, and that two
Biſhopricks might be founded out of its revenues, one at Durham,
and another at Newcaſtle, with an allotment of 2000 marks a
year for the former, and of 1000 for the latter ; and the County
be changed into a County Palatine and united to the Imperial
Crown of the realm. Accordingly it was fo changed by Letters
1553
Patent,
• A pardon was afterwards granted, April 17, 1553.
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
385
Patent the 3d of April following. In this plunder the Mayor and
Burgeſſes of Newcaſtle came in for the lordſhip, manor, town and
borough of Gateshead, in May; and in June the capital meſſurage
of Coldharborough in Thames-ſtreet, London, lately belonging to
the Biſhoprick, was given to the Earl of Shrewsbury. The Coun-
ty Palatine it is ſuppoſed was deſigned for the Duke of Northum-
berland; Bishop Burnet ſays, it was given to him: but whatever
was intended, I find no other grants to him out of the Biſhoprick
but of Bernard's Caſtle, with divers lands to the yearly value of
229 6 31. dated the ſame day that the County Palatine was e-
rected ; together with the office of Steward of all the honors, cal-
tles, manors, lordſhips and lands in the counties of Cumberland,
Northumberland, Weſtmorland and York, or any other where
within the Biſhoprick of Durham, with the ſeveral fees of
50 13 4, to the ſame offices belonging.
The two new Biſhops intended were Ridley for Durham, and
his Chaplain Grindal for Newcaſtle; as appears from Ridley's
farewell to his countrymen, in which he bids them not to be a-
ſhamed of his condemnation to ſuffer death, but rather rejoice, if
they loved him indeed, for that it hath pleaſed God to call me to
' a greater honor and dignity than ever I did enjoy before, either
• in Rocheſter, or in the See of London, or ever ſhould have had
. in the See of Durham, whereunto I was laſt of all elected
and named.' This was not till juſt before the King's death,
which prevented the actual tranſlation : but Grindal was named ſo
long ago as in November laſt, as appears from a letter of Ridley to
his friends Sir John Gates and Sir William Cecil; in which he
gives God hearty thanks, that it had pleaſed him to move the Martyr's
heart of the King's Majeſty to chuſe ſuch a man, of ſuch godly
qualities unto ſuch a room.” He ſeems then to have no apprehen-
fion of his own removal from London ; for the buſineſs of that
letter was that he might have leave to fill up the vacancy in St.
Paul's
Letters.
3D
386
Book V.
THE LIFE
OF
6
Paul's, to be made by Grindal's promotion, with ſome worthy man,
as the eminence of that See was the ſpectacle of all England, and
he himſelf in his fituation was in daily need of learned men's
counſel and conference. He therefore deſires them to be Petitio-
ners for him in God's cauſe to the King, that ſeeing his Highneſs
did perceive, that he did ſo well beſtow the Prebend, which
« Mr. Grindal had of his collation, and three or four others to ſuch
• worthy and well deſerving men, who were known to be ſo ne-
ceſſary abroad in the Commonwealth, that he could keep none
of them with him in his houſe (meaning Bradford, Rogers, and
• Grindal) that it would pleaſe him of his gracious clemency to
grant
him the collation to the fame again ; that he might there-
' with call ſome other like learned man, whom hereafter by God's
grace his Highneſs might think meet likewiſe to promote, as
• Mr. Grindal was.' And if they deſired to know to whom he
wiſhed the Chantorſhip might be given, he told them," unto any
* one of theſe following perſons ; Mr. Bradford, (whom in my
. conſcience, ſaid he, I judge more worthy to be a Biſhop, than
many
of us who are Biſhops already to be Pariſh Prieſts) Mr.
Sampſon, Mr. Harvey, Mr. Grimbold, Mr. Lancelot Rid-
* ley; all preachers.'
Indeed he was very careful to have worthy and learned men
about him ; his Chaplains were Dr. Scory, foon after Biſhop of
Rocheſter; Grindal, and Bradford, both of his own college, the
firſt of whom came afterwards, under Queen Eliſabeth, to be Arch-
biſhop of Canterbury; and the latter to a ſtill higher honor, under
Queen Mary, to die a Chriſtian Martyr: as did alſo Rogers ; Ni-
cholas Weſt, having been collated by his patron to the Prebend of
Mora, and the rectory of Fulham, timorouſly recanted under
Queen Mary; but was ſo affected with the ſenſe of his apoftacy,
that he died for grief in 1554: Grimbold, who was thrown into
priſon for religion, but releaſed; Ridley feared he had made ſome
undue
'
:
a
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
387
undue ſubmiſſions. Such was his gentle cenſure of a man, who
gave too much cauſe to ſuſpect that he was guilty of the greateſt
treachery. What became of him afterwards I learn not, nor of
one Holden who was another of his chaplains. Dr. Henry Her-
vey was his Vicar General, and ſucceeded to Grindal's Precentor-
thip in Queen Mary's Time: Dr. Lancelot Ridley was his firſt
couſin, an exile under Queen Mary, and reſtored by Queen Eliſa-
beth to be one of the preachers at Canterbury.
The Biſhop was in Commiſſion the laſt October, with Cranmer Memes
Strype's
and fome concealed Papiſts, who procured this Commiſſion under
pretence of enquiring after ſundry Hereſies lately ſprung up, eſpe-
cially Arians and Anabaptiſts ; but really to defame and trouble
ſome honeſt profeſſors of the Goſpel : But, by Cranmer's faga-
city, the innocence of the perſons delated, and the malice of their
accuſers were made manifeſt.
>
The Book of Common Prayer having been care-
$. 15. The Biſhop of
London petitions for fully reviſed and corrected laſt year, the Parlia-
ſome of the Juperfiuous ment had enacted, that it ſhould begin to be uſed
linen given to the King.
every where on All Saints day next : but becauſe
the poſture of kneeling excepted againſi by fome, and the words
uſed by the prieſt to the communicant, at the reception of the ele-
ments, occaſioned a ſcruple, as though the adoration of the Hoſt was
intended; to ſatisfy this ſcruple, and to declare the contrary to be the
doctrine of this Church, a letter was ſent from the Council to the
Chancellor, October 27, to cauſe a declaration ſigned by the King,
touching the kneeling at the receiving the Communion, to be
joined to the Book of Common-Prayer lately ſet forth. And the
firſt of November being come, the Biſhop of London celebrated
the new ſervice in St. Paul's church in the forenoon; and then, in
his rochet only, without cope or veſtment, preached in the chair :
and in the afternoon he preached at Paul's Croſs, the Lord Mayor,
3 D 2
and
****
388
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
Fuller's
Leiter.
and Aldermen, and citizens preſent. His ſermon tended to the
ſetting forth this new Edition of the Common Prayer. He preach-
ed till almoſt five of the clock; fo that the auditors went home by
torch light. By this Book all Copes and Veſtments were forbid-
den throughout England.
In this ſame month of November, as the faſhion of the times
was to put in for a little of the public plunder, we find the Biſhop
of London himſelf, who inveighed much againſt this church ſpoily
and oppoſed it as far as he could, at laſt became a Petitioner to the
King for ſome part. The King's exchequer, exhauſted by the riot
and rapacity of his Courtiers, required immediate ſupply. As one
expedient the Parliament had given him the ſuperfluous linen,
plate, and goods belonging to churches and chantries. Theſe in
ſome places had been embezzled and applied to private uſes ; ſo
that fecular men's houſes were furniſhed with altar pieces and
copes, and their maſters drank in chalices at their entertainments,
and turned the confecrated plate to common uſe.
Commiſſions had
therefore been granted to perſons of condition in every county to
recover the embezzled goods, and to puniſh the ſpoilers : and in
the laſt November order was given to take all certificates and re-
turns of the late Commiſſion for the ſaid ſurvey of church goods,
Strypes and to devife the beſt means for bringing and converting to the
King's uſe ſuch goods as could be ſpared in the churches. Among
other things that came into the King's poſſeſſion by virtue of this
Commiffion, was ſtore of linen, good and bad, as ſurplices, altar
cloths, towels, and napkins : and as the late King had granted Grey
Friars by Newgate to the city, which was this year preparing for the
relief of poor Orphans; the Bp. of London begged the ſuperfluity of the
abovementioned articles as were found in the churches of London,
or of his dioceſe, for the uſe of theſe poor Children of Chriſt's-
Church, as it was now called. And accordingly a Letter came
from the King and Council to the Biſhop to deliver to the Gover-
Memoirs.
1
DQUK
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
389
nour of the Hoſpital of Chriſt's-Church in London ſuch linen ver-
tures and other linen cloth noi employed for the miniſtry in the
faid churches, as of the King's gift, for the poor Orphans and other
poor people.
One of our Church Hiſtorians cenſures the calling theſe ſuper-
fuous, and ſays they who called them ſo were none of the beſt
Reformers : but doubtleſs, at the ſuppreſſion of ſo many altars for
private Maſſes and Obits much furniture of this kind muſt become
ſuperfluous; and if only fuch was applied to the preſſing neceſſities
of the ſtate, and publiek charities, ſurely no unprejudiced man
could be offended. If they pared too near the quick, and miſap-
plied theſe gifts, a juſt cenſure might fall on thoſe who did ſo :
but certainly this vigilant Biſhop's care of the city muſt be com-
mended for applying fome of it to ſo good a purpoſe. This is the
ſecond time the good Biſhop ſtood the city's friend this year ; and
we ſhall meet with a third inſtance not long after.
Another expedient for the raiſing of money for the King was the
ſelling away the Rectories and Advowſons of ſuch churches as came
into his hands by Act of Parliament, either from the Monaſteries,
Chantries and Free Chapels, or by exchanges. This deſerved a
much ſeverer cenſure, as it occaſioned very pernicious and ſcanda-
lous bargains between the Lay Patrons and Clerks. Of the ill ef-
fects of this, toward making a uſeleſs and contemptible clergy,
they had had fad experience in the former fales of the like kind.
At the firſt ſeizing theſe Lands and Rectories it was propoſed to
erect Schools, endow new Fellowſhips, and allow ftipends for main-
tenance of Scholars at the Univerſities, to erect more Biſhopricks
and other Honorary Preferments to encourage the ſtudy of Divini-
ty : but by this perverſion very little of this kind was done ; no
new aſliſtance was given to ſtudents in the Univerſities, nay the
cuſtom of rich people's allowing exhibitions to poor Scholars,
which had formerly prevaled, now ceaſed, ſo that the number of
Audents
390
THE LIFE OF
BOOK V.
for money
Court
Sermon
Mem.
ſtudents decreaſed.; and the reputable ſcholars in orders could not
come at Preferments, which were diſpoſed of, not to merit, but
money : infomuch that many were forced to apply themſelves
for a ſubſiſtence to mechanical trades or mean employments. Theſe
Lay Patrons were wont either to farm their Benefices, appointing
the rent at their own pleaſure ; or elſe held the Benefices in their
own hands, and allowed five or fix pounds a year to a Clerk, who
never came near them. Bernard Gilpin complains that the Livings
inStrype’s were ſo robbed of the beſt part, that few had zeal or devotion to
put
their children to ſchools ; the decay of ſtudents was ſo great,
he ſays, that there were ſcarce left of every thouſand an hundred.
Theſe ill effects were likewiſe ſet forth in a Book dedicated to the
Lord Chancellor this year, in which it is obſerved, that without
rewards or encouragements few would apply themſelves to the Pal-
toral Function; and that thoſe in it, if they could not ſubfiſt by it,
muſt turn to other employments; and mentions that at that time
many Clergymen were Carpenters, and Taylors, and ſome kept
ale-houſes. It was a reproach, the author obſerves, on the na-
tion, that there had been fo profuſe a zeal for ſuperſtition, and ſo
much coldneſs in true religion. He complains of many of the Clergy
who did not maintain ſtudents at the Univerſities according to the
King's injunctions, and that in Schools and Colleges the poor
Scholars places were filled with the Sons of the Rich ; and that
Livings were moſt ſcandalouſly fold, and the greateſt part of the
Country Clergy were ſo ignorant, that they could do little more
than read. But therc was no hope of doing any thing effectually
for redreſſing fo great a calamity, till the King Thould be of age
himſelf to ſet forward ſuch laws as might again recover a compe-
tent maintenance for the Clergy,
The.
BOOK V.
391
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
Mem.
cil.
The King was ſenſible of theſe inconveniences; Strype's
$. 16. K. Edward's
and did ſome things, and purpoſed doing more for
deſigns of reformation
in church and ſtate their amendment. He had founded at leaſt ſix-
The Biſhop of London teen Free Schools in fixteen months, from the
called to aſſiſt in Coun-
time of Biſhop Goodrick's coming to the ſeals,
beſides others founded in the
years 1550 and 1551.
But the young King's judgment and good diſpoſition cannot be bet-
ter ſeen than in a Diſcourſe of his own about the Reformation of
fome abuſes : it is exemplified by Biſhop Burnet in his Hiſtory of
the Reformation, vol. 11. among King Edward's Remains ;
it
gives ſuch a picture of the King, and of the Times, that I cannot
forbear tranſcribing great part of it.
• The Government of this realm is divided into two parts, one
• Eccleſiaſtical, and the other Temporal.
· The Eccleſiaſtical conſiſteth in ſetting forth the word of God,
* continuing the people in Prayer, and the Diſcipline.
• The ſetting forth the word of God conſiſteth in the good and
diſcrete doctrine and example of the Teachers and Spiritual Offi-
for as the good Huſbandman maketh his ground good and
plentiful, ſo doth the true Preacher with doctrine and example
print and graft in the people's mind the word of God, that they
• at length become plentiful.' For this purpoſe we find elſewhere
fome memorials of what he intended ſhould be done. As, I. For Mem.
Strype's
an Uniformity of Doctrine, to which all Preachers ſhould ſet their
hands. Which good purpoſe he brought to effect before his death,
by ſetting forth the Book of Articles for avoiding diverſity of opi-
nions, and eſtabliſhing conſent touching religion. II. A Catechifm
to be ſet forth to be taught in all Grammar Schools. This he ſaw
finiſhed in his life time ; given generally to Cranmer or Ridley,
but according to Strype was Nowels. III. He ſeemed determined
cers ;
on
And I find, by a letter from Nic. Partridge to Bullinger, that ſo early as 1547 the
King was deſirous of erecting twelve Monaſteries for the education of youth. In MSS.
Archiy. Ecclef. Turicenſis.
392
THE LIFE OF
BOOK V.
2
on another Royal Viſitation, and therein, To find fault with the
Jothfulneſs of the Paſtors, [i. e. Biſhops) and to deliver them Articles
of Vifitation, willing and commanding them to be more diligent in their
Office, and to keep more Preachers. IV. For making more Homilies
and more Injunctions, for the ſervice and ſupply of Miniſters who
were ignorant and could not preach ; or negligent and ſuperſtitious,
and did not ſufficiently obſerve the rules and inſtitutions of the Re-
formation. His Death prevented theſe. V. For finding out proper
and exemplary Paſtors, he noted Harley for the vacant Biſhoprick
of Hereford ; and an Archbiſhoprick in Ireland to be appointed.
And Durham being then juſt vacant, he made a memorandum for
dividing it into two, and for placing fit men in them.
• Prayers alſo to God muſt be made continually, of the people
• and officers of the church, to aſſiſt them with his Grace. And
· thoſe Prayers muſt firſt with good conſideration be ſet forth, and
• faults therein amended ; next, being ſet forth, the people muſt
continually be allured to hear them.' Part of this had been done
by the review of the Common Prayer ; and the other part in the
Act of Parliament injoining the uſe of it, and that the neglect
ſhould be puniſhed by the Cenſures of the Church.
· For Diſcipline, it were very good that it went forth, and that
thoſe who notably offend in ſwearing, rioting, neglecting God's
: word, or ſuch like vices, were duly puniſhed, ſo that thoſe who
ſhould be the Executors of this diſcipline were men of tried ho-
neſty, wiſdom, and judgment. But becauſe thoſe Biſhops who
Ihould execute it, fome for Papiſtry, fome for ignorance, ſome
• for age, fome for their ill name, ſome for all theſe, are men un-
• able to execute diſcipline; it is therefore a thing unmeet for theſe
* men ; wherefore it were neceſſary that thoſe who were appointed
* to be Biſhops or Preachers were honeſt in life, and learned in
their doctrine, that by rewarding ſuch men others might be al-
• lured to follow their good life.'
The
wie
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
393
power.
The miſchief attending this want of diſcipline had been long ex-
perienced, and loudly complained of. Two and thirty Commiſ-
fioners had been appointed to draw up a Body of Ecclefiaftical
Laws : theſe were prepared by the Committee of Eight, and ap-
proved of by the reſt, but had not yet received the King's allow-
ance and authority of Parliament. The averſeneſs of the Great to
come under the yoke of any diſcipline is the reaſon uſually aſſigned
for withholding their aſſent; but this, though true, was not all, for
there was another reaſon cooperating, which was the King's dif-
inclination to truſt the execution of this diſcipline with the preſent
ordinary Judges of it, the Biſhops. Many of theſe were popiſhly
inclined, ſcarce half of them fit to be truſted with ſuch
However the King law planely that the want of Eccleſiaſtical Diſ-
cipline was a great defect in the Government, and ſet down in his
meniorandums, in remedy, · for abrogating the Old Canon Law,
* and eſtabliſhing a New:' but apprehenſive of the above inconve-
nience from the popiſhly inclined Biſhops, he made another me-
morandum, • That Commiſfions should be granted to thoſe Biſhops
* who were grave, learned, wiſe, fober, and of good religion, for the
* executing of diſcipline.' So that although he ſeems to have had
thoughts of ſuperfeding the Ordinary Juriſdiction of particular unqua-
lified Judges, yet he was very earneſt to have the juriſdiction eſtabliſhed
and exerciſed; and ſome additional aſſiſtance and encouragement to
be made for ſtudents at the Univerſity. Both which points he was
fo fenſible were neceſſary for the care of religion in this realm, that
when he found himſelf too near his death to bring them to effect
himſelf, he left it in charge by his laſt will to his Executors, ' That
they ſhould not ſuffer any piece of religion to be altered. And they
ſhall diligently travail to cauſe godly Eccleſiaſtical Laws to be made
• and ſet forth; ſuch as may be agreeable with the reformation receiv-
red within this realm. And that done, ſhall alſo cauſe the Canon
Laws to be aboliſhed. And for the other purpoſe, gave
to the
College of St. John's in Cambridge one hundred pounds a .year in
3 E
· land;
:
394
BOOK V.
THE
LIFE OF
• land; and left order for a nemo College to be erecled, and endoza-
.ed with lands to the double yearly rent of the ſaid College of St.
Fobn's: to be builded up, and mado by diſcretion of our Executors
· within the ſpace of ſeven years.' Thus far went his care of Eccle-
fiaftical Reformation.
· The Temporal Regimen (he obſerved) conſiſted in well order-
. ing, enriching, and defending the whole Body Politick of the
• Commonwealth ; no member (ſays he) in a well faſhioned and
whole Body is too big for the proportion of that Body. There
muſt be in a well ordered Commonwealth no perſon that ſhall
• have more than the proportion of the Country will bear : it is.
• hurtful immoderately to enrich any one part. I think this Coun-
try can bear no Merchant to have more land than £ 100. No
* Huſbandman or Farmer worth above 100 or f. 200. No Artifi-
cer above an hundred marks. No Laborer much more than lie
ſpendeth. I ſpeak now generally, and in ſuch cafes may fail in
(one particular ; but this is ſure, this Commonwealth may not
• bear one man to have more than Two Farms, than One Benefice
(or place of profit) than 2000 ſheep, and one kind of art to live
by. And as there is no part admitted in the body that doth not
• work and take pains, ſo ought there no part of the Common-
• wealth to be but laborſome in his vocation. ... The vagabonds
ought clearly to be baniſhed, as is the ſuperfluous humor of the
• body, that is to fay, the ſpittle and filth, which becauſe it is for
no uſe, it is put out by the ſtrength of nature. This is the true
ordering of the ſtate of a well faſhioned Commonwealth, That
every part do obey One Head, One Governour, One Law; and
6. that the Laws and Ordinances be well executed, duly. obeyed,
• and miniſtered without corruption.' Then he takes a ſurvey of
the ſtate as it then was, and the abuſes and diſorders in it; after
which he ſays, theſe fores muſt be cured with theſe medicines ;
6. 1. Good Education.
2. Deviſing good Laws. 3. Executing the
« Laws
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
395
1.
• Laws juſtly without reſpect of perſons. 4. Example of Rulers.
5.
Puniſhing of vagabonds and idle perſons. 6. Encouraging the
• Good. 7. Ordering well the Cuſtomers. 8. Engendering friend-
' fhip in all parts of the Commonwealth. Theſe be the chief
points that tend to order well the whole Commonwealth. AS
• for the firſt, youth muſt be brought up, fome in huſbandry, fonie
• in working, graving, gilding, joining, printing, maising cloaths,
• even from their tendereſt age, to the intent they may not, when
they come to man's eſtate, loiter, as they do now adays, but think
* their travail ſweet and honeſt. Secondly, deviſing good Laws, I
would wiſh that beſide them (hereafter when time ſhall ſerve)
the ſuperfluous and tedious ſtatutes were brought into one Sum
• together, and made more plane and ſhort, to the intent that men
• might better underſtand them. Thirdly, nevertheleſs, when all
• theſe Laws be made, eſtabliſhed and enacted, they ſerve to no
purpoſe, except they be fully and duly executed. By whom ?
• By thoſe who have authority to execute ; that is to ſay, the No-
blemen and the Juſtices of Peace. Wherefore I would wiſh that
• after this Parliament (which fate in March 7mº Edv.] were end-
ed, thoſe Noblemen, except a few that ſhould be with me, went
• to their Countries, and there ſhould ſee the ſtatutes fully and du-
' ly executed; and that thoſe men be put from being Juſtices of
Peace, that be touched or blotted with thoſe vices that be
againſt theſe new Laws to be eſtabliſhed ; for no' man that is
. in fault himſelf can puniſh another for the fame offence.' His
obſervations on the other Five are wanting ; perhaps interrupted
by that fatal Illneſs which now attacked him.
But ſome regulations began to be made this year in the Council ;
where, for the greater diſpatch of buſineſs, the whole was divided
into ſeveral Commiſſions, and ſome new members were added to
ſit and affift. Some were appointed for hearing thoſe fuits which Sir John
Hayward.
.
were
1
-396
POOK V
THE LIFE OF
nored by thoſe who heard of him, than by thoſe who converfed
were uſually brought before the whole Table, to ſend matters of
Juſtice to their proper Courts; to give full denial to ſuch as they
fhould not eſteem reaſonable ; to certify what they thought fit to
be granted ; and upon allowance thereof to diſpatch the parties :
Others were appointed to conſider of penal Laws and Proclamations
in force, and to quicken the execution of the moſt principal ; to
conſider which were moſt needful to be executed ; what obedience
was paid to them; and to puniſh offenders, the Greateſt firſt ;
and to enquire what other diſorders were either dangerous or of,
fenſive in every ſhire; and either to puniſh the offenders, or elſe
to report their judgment therein : Others were appointed to at-
tend occurrences of ſtate at large. This Committee confifted of
none but the Council; in the Other ſome new Commiflioners were
added to fit with the Council, and aſſiſt them. To the Firſt Com-
mittee were joined the Biſhop of London, and Two Maſters of
requeſts, Mr. Cook and Mr. Lucas.
And now the King's fickneſs did more apparent-
Hayward.
$. 17. The Biſhop ly ſhew itſelf, eſpecially by the ſymptom of a
of London obtains the
endowment of the Hel.. tough, ſtrong, ſtraining cough, All the medicines
pitals from the King, and diet which could be preſcribed were ſo far
from curing or abating the malady, that it daily
encreaſed by dangerous degrees ; and it was not only the violence
of the cough that affected him, but a weakneſs and faintneſs of
ſpirit attended it; which ſhewed that his vital parts were aſſault-
ed : ſo that an opinion prevaled, that his fickneſs grew by a flow
working poiſon. The danger he was in was much lamented, not
only by his own people, but by ſtrangers abroad, becauſe his cour-
tely and wiſdom had gained him ſuch love, that he was no leſs ho-
Sir John
with him; for he was famous in all places by reaſon of his fore-
fight and judgment in affairs, and did ſo well temper the Great-
nefs
Book V.
397
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
***
neſs of his eflate with modeſty and gravity, that he avoided envy
by the One, and contempt by the Other. Happy I had he been
bleft with an honeſter and abler Miniſter than the Duke of Nor-
thumberland to take the Lead in the Council'; oř, that a very few
years more had lodged the Royal Power in his own hands.
The ſymptoms grew worſe and worſe, inſomuch that when the
Parliament met on the firſt of March, the King was in no condition
to go to Weſtminſter, but ordered both Houſes to attend him at
Whitehall ; where the Biſhop of London preached before him, and
in his Sermon much recommended Charity, as a duty incumbent
upon all to perform, eſpecially on Thoſe in higheſt place and dig-
nity, as well in regard of their large abilities, as for that they were
niuch obliged to give examples of goodneſs to others. The ſame
day after dinner the King fent for the Biſhop privately into the
Gallery at Whitehall, where he cauſed him to fit in a chair by
him, and would not permit him to remain uncovered: then after
courteous thanks, he reported all the principal points of his Ser-
mon; adding, • I took myſelf to be eſpecially touched by your
ſpeech, as well in regard of the abilities which God hath given
• me, as in regard of the example which from me he will require.
For, as in the Kingdom I am next under God, ſo muſt I moſt
nearly approach to him in goodneſs and mercy: for as our miſe-
• ries ſtand moſt in need of help from him, ſo are we the greateſt
· Debtors; Debtors to all that are miſerable, and ſhall be the great-
• eſt accomptants of our diſpenſation therein. And therefore, my
• Lord, as you have given me (I thank you) this general exhorta-
• tion, ſo direct me, I intreat you, by what particular actions I may
* this way beſt diſcharge my duty.'
The Biſhop, no leſs aſtoniſhed than rejoiced at hearing the King,
continued ſometime ſilent : at laſt, tears and words breaking out
together, he declared to his Majeſty, thạt as he little expected
fuch a queſtion, ſo was he not furnished with a preſent anſwer ;
for
$
398
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
for this matter had a great inixture of Civil government, wherein
he conceived that the Citizens of London had beſt experience, as
overburthened with multitudes of poor, not only of their own,
but from all parts of the realm befide ; and therefore as they beſt
knew both the quality of ſuch people, and the inconveniences
which they occaſion, fo could they beſt adviſe what remedies were
fitteſt: wherefore, if the King were pleaſed to afford his Letters
to that effect, he would confer with them, and in very ſhort time
Teturn with anſwer. The King immediately cauſed his Letters to
be written, and would not ſuffer the Biſhop to depart till he had
confirmed them with his hand and ſignet, and injoined the Biſhop
to be the Meſſenger, impoſing great charge for expedition. The
Biſhop haſted with his Letters to the Lord Mayor, Sir George
Barnes, who preſently aſſembled certain Aldermen and Twenty
four Commiſſioners, by whoſe advice the Poor were caſt into
three companies and forts : fome were poor by impotency of na-
ture, as Young fatherleſs Children, Old decripit Perſons, Ideots,
Criples, and ſuch like : other were poor by faculty, as wounded
ſoldiers, diſeaſed and ſick perſons : the third fort were the
poor
by idleneſs or unthriftineſs, as riotous ſpenders, vagabonds, loiter-
ers, lewd ſtrumpets, and their companions. The firſt they ob-
ſerved were to be educated and maintained ; the fecond to be cu
red and relieved and the third to be chaſtized and reduced to
good order.
When this was repreſented to the King, he gave to the City for
education and maintenance of the firſt ſort of Poor the Grey Frier's
Church near Newgate Market, with all the revenues thereto be-
longing : for cure and relief of the ſecond fort he gave St. Bare
tholomew's near Smithfield : for correction of the third, he
ap-
pointed his Houſe at Bridewell, the antient manſion of
many
En-
gliſh Kings. For increaſe and maintenance of theſe places, toge-
ther with the new reedified Hoſpital of St. Thomas in Southwark,
the
;
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
399
the King gave ſeven hundred and fifty marks yearly out of the rents
of the Hoſpital of St. John Baptiſt or the Savoy, with all the bed-
ding and furniture then belonging to that place. And when the
Charter of this gift was preſented to him with a blank left for
lands to be afterward received in mortmain to a yearly value, the
King preſently with his own hand filled up the void ſpace with
theſe words, four thouſand marks by year. This done, with reve-
rend geſture and ſpeech he thanked God for prolonging his life to
finiſh that buſineſs.
And left he ſhould die before the Grant of the lands of the Sa-
voy could be ſufficiently ſecured by law, the King left the follow-
ing article in his laſt will, · The Grant made to the Mayor and City Strype's
of London touching the Savoy and lands thereof, to be performed.
The King dying before they were ſufficiently ſecured, made Ridley
fay in his Farewel, addreſſing himſelf to Sir George Barnes, who
was Mayor when this gift was intended, " That this thine endea-
vour hath not had like ſucceſs, the fault is not in thee, but in
• the conditions and ſtate of the time, which the Lord of his infi-
* nite mercy vouchſafe to aniend, when it ſhall be his gracious
• will and pleaſure.' Soon after this writing of the Biſhop was
publiſhed the City entered and took poffeffion by Gerard their
Mayor, having obtained Queen Mary's confirmation. So that it is
probable, that this Charity hath a treble obligation to Biſhop Rid-
ley; who procured the Houſe at Bridewell by his intereſt with
Sir William Cecil and others; then the endowment of the ſeveral
Hoſpitals from the King; and when the City's poſſeſſion of that
endowment was delayed and endangered, perhaps by provoking
Queen Mary to confirm it.
A little before the King died Ridley was named to ſuccede to Dur-
ham,as himſelf informs us; but he was not actually appointed. For not Boner's
only Boner ſays that he was reſtored again to his Biſhoprick, and that Shirley
by the ſaid ſentence his Uſurper, Dr. Ridley, was utterly repulſed,
(if
Letter to
and Leek.
more.
Burnet's
Records,
400
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
(if Ridley had voided it by Tranſlation, he could not be ſaid to be repull-
ed from it) but on the igth of Júne cáme a command from the King to
the Archbiſhop for holding a Convocation : upon which the Arch-
biſhop iſſued out his Letters of Order to Ridley, Biſhop of Lon-
don, 3d of July, for a Convocation to be held in St. Paul's on the
19th of September then following ;' and Biſhop Ridley iſſued out
his Letters accordingly, which Letters were dated July 6, the
very day on which the King died, in which he ſtiled himſelf Ni-
colaus miferatione divinâ London Epifcopus.
Strype's
Mem.
Strype's
Mem.
April 11 the King removed to Greenwich for
Şu 18. The Death the benefit of the air. Northumberland ſeeing
of King Edward.
him decline ſo faſt, thought it high time to ripen
his ſcheme. Therefore leaving the Lady Marga-
ret Clifford to his Brother Sir Arthur Dudley, in May he married
his fourth Son Lord Guilford to the Lady Jane Gray, eldeſt daugh-
ter to Frances (the eldeſt Daughter of Mary the French Queen)
and the Duke of Suffolk. The Dutcheſs of Suffolk, though con-
ſiderably under forty, and who ſtill might have Male Heirs, re-
ſigned all her pretenſions in the ſucceſſion to the Lady Jane. In
the ſame month, for his own better ſecurity, he procured licence
for his eldeſt Son the Earl of Warwick to retain an hundred men ;
and for his Son Lord Robert to retain fifty. And in order to fe-
cure the Tower, he made one of his creatures, Sir James Croft,
Deputy, in the abſence of Sir John Gage, who was Conſtable of
the Tower, with an appointment of fixteen pence a day for thirty
men under him, and eight pence a day for ten men under Sir Ed-
ward Warner the Lieutenant: and gave orders to the Lord Admi-
ral (Clinton) to diſcharge ſeveral Bullworks and Fortifications, and
to remove the powder and ammunition in them to the Tower, for
the better guard thereof. And in July a Letter was ſent to the Ad-
miral, that it was the King's pleaſure that he ſhould take charge
of
Book V.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY,
401
of the Tower. At this time of the King's great and dangerous lll-
neſs, the pofíeffion of his ſtamp might make the Order of Council
November 10 1551 of great ſervice to Him who could either by
perſuaſion or art ſecure it. His next buſineſs was to prevale on the
King to ſettle the Succeſſion of the Crown on the Lady Jane Grey,
now married to Lord Guilford Dudley : but there ſtood in his way
the ſettlement of the Crown by King Henry's will, in conſequence
of an Act of Parliament, by which will his two Daughters, the
Ladies Mary and Eliſabeth, were to ſuccede in caſe of King Ed-
ward's dying without Iflue. And could they by any pretence be
ſet aſide, the Queen of Scots was next of kin, as Heireſs to King
Henry's eldeſt Sifter ; whereas the Lady Jane clamed from the
youngeſt, and her Mother was ſtill living. But theſe difliculties
he made light of; the Ladies Mary and Eliſabeth had been both
declared illegitimate by Act of Parliament, and never were legiti-
mated by the ſame power : and even if legitimate, they were only
of the Half blood, and therefore could not be Heirs to his High-
neſs, or each other. The Queen of Scots was ſet afide by King
Henry's will; and by the old Laws of the land, a ſtranger was not
to inherit the Crown. And as to the right of the Dutcheſs of Suf-
folk, That ſhe herſelf was willing to cede in favor of her Daughter
Jane. To theſe phantoms of Law he ſuggeſted to the King reaſons
of ſtate ; that the Lady Mary, next in ſucceſſion by King Henry's
will, was a Papiſt ; that both She and the Lady Eliſabeth were
likely to marry Roman Catholick Princes, and ſo ſubject theſe Do-
minions again to the Papal Yoke, to the great diſturbance of the
ſtate, both in its civil and religious Intereſts ; that Lady Jane was
herſelf heartily inclined to the eſtabliſhed Reformed religion, and be-
ing already married to a Proteſtant was ſecure from embroiling the
Kingdom by foreign alliances. And indeed the Lady Jane gave
him room to expatiate on her great deſervings, if the King, who
knew and loved her well, had needed it. For ſhe was, as Sir
ST
John
402.
Book
THE LIFE
OF
E:
John Hayward draws her picture, a woman of moſt rare and in-
comparable perfections.; beſide her excellent beauty, ſhe was
moſt dear to the King in regard both of her religion and other
education in the knowledge of the liberal ſciences and ſkill in
l'anguages; for in Theology, in Philoſophy, in all liberal arts,
• in the Latin and Greek Tongues, and in the vulgar Languages
sof divers near nations ſhe far exceded all of her fex, and any
of
• her years, unleſs haply the King himſelf.' Her unqueſtioned
zeal for the Reformation, and the King's duty to preſerve true re-
ligion above all other conſiderations were ſtrongly inculcated by the
Duke on this occaſion; who, as we ſhall ſee hereafter, was at this
time a Papiſt in his heart, or rather of no religion at all. The
King was induced to come heartily into his ſcheme, and therefore
left his Crown by his laſt will to the Lady Jane Dudley. The
next thing was to put the ſettlement in form of Law. Sir Edward
Montague, the Chief Juſtice of the Common Pleas, and ſome
others were ſent for on this buſineſs. When the matter was open-
ed to them by the King, they deſired to be excuſed and when
afterward required by a meſſage from the Lords, they made their
report, that having compared the articles with the ſtatutes of Suc-
ceffion, they found this trajeſty's Command impracticable : and
that to draw up an Inſtrument purſuant to their Lordſhips Inſtruc-
tions would be Treaſon in themſelves, and in their Lordſhips too;.
and that they had not refolution enough to run ſuch a riſk. The
Duke, highly enraged at the diſappointment, called Sir Edward
Traitor, and menaced to ſuch a degree, that He and Bromley
were afraid he would have ſtruck them.
Next time they appeara
ed, the King reprimanded them for not diſpatching the Inſtrument.
The Chief Juſtice ſaid ſuch an Inſtrument would fignify nothing
after the King's deceaſe; becauſe the ſucceſſion being ſettled by
Act of Parliament, it could not be altered but by the fame Au-
thority ; a Parliament was promiſed to confirm the King's will;
and
j
..
:
BOOK V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
403
and a warrant iſſued to the Lord Chancellor for calling one on the
18th of September following: on which promiſe, and on condi-
tion of being authoriſed under the Broad Seal, and having a Gene-
ral Pardon after the Inſtrument was finiſhed, They complied.
Then all the other Judges were fent for, and required to ſubicribe
the Inſtrument; which they All did, except Sir James Hales, who
was a zealous and worthy Reformer. The Lords without ſcruple
ſigned it, except Cranmer, who argued againſt it with the King.
Afterward he deſired to ſpeak with the King alone, perſuaded that
he could have altered him: but this would not be granted him ;
the Duke told him he had already miſbehaved in remonſtrating
againſt the King's will. The Archbiſhop was not afraid to contend
with the powerful Duke on this point; He inſiſted upon his being
ſworn to perform the late King's will, and urged the entail of the
Crown upon the Two Princeſſes, Mary and Eliſabeth. Neither
his zeal for the Proteſtant religion, the frowns of Northumberland,
his great regard for the Lady Jane, nor the dread he had of the
bigotted Princeſs Mary, could prevale on him to do what appear-
ed to him unjuſt to the late King and to his Children. But the
Council oppoſing to him the reſolution of the Judges, and the opi-
nion of others Learned in the Laws, affirming that the entail could
not hinder the King in poſſeſſion from diſpoſing of his Crown as he
thought fit, He was filenced rather than ſatisfied: but ſtill refuſed
to ſign till the dying King, whom he ſo tenderly loved, told him
He hoped he would not be the only example of incompliance, nor
go further in his fingularities than any of the Board. His affection
for the King, and the opinion of the Judges and of the Attorney
General, whom he conſulted before he could be brought to ſub-
fcribe, at length determined him, and he gave his hand.
Soon after this the Phyſicians deſpaired of the King. Northum-
land ſaw he had one more card to play, which was to get the Lady
Mary into his hands. He therefore prevaled on the Council, de-
voted
3 F 2
1
404
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY. BOOK V.
:
voted to him, to write to her in the King's name, inviting her to
come and keep him company in his ſickneſs. In compliance with
which requeſt ſhe was upon the road, and within half a day's jour-
ney of the Court, ready to fall into the Duke's trap : but the Earl
of Arundel took care to acquaint her with the King's deſperate
ftate, and what had been done about the Succeſſion, adviſing her
to retire, and ſecure herſelf. She returned to Hoveden, and ſoon
found how ſeaſonable this advice was ; for the King on the 6th of
July found death approaching, and compoſed himſelf to die in a
moſt devout manner. His laſt Prayer was in theſe words, Lord
God, deliver me out of this miſerable and wretched life, and take me
among thy chofen. Howbeit, not my will, but Thine be done! Lord,
I commit my ſpirit unto Thee., O Lord, thou knowell how happy it
were for me to be with Thee : yet for thy choſen's fake ſend me life and
health, that I may truly ſerve thee. O Lord God, bleſs my people,
and ſave thine inheritance ; O Lord God, fave thy choſen people of
England. O Lord God,
O Lord God, defend this realm from Papiſtry, and main-
tain thy true religion, that I and my people may praiſe thy holy name
for Jeſus Chriſt bis fake. And ſoon after died in the arms of Sir
Henry Sidney.
Thas died this excellent young Prince. Whoſe character is thus
given us by Cardan, * All the Graces were in him ... the ſweet-
* neſs of his temper was ſuch as became a Mortal, his gravity be-
* coming the majeſty of a King, and his diſpoſition ſuitable to his
high degree; in ſum, that Child was ſo bred, had ſuch parts, was of
* ſuch expectation, that he looked like a miracle of a man
* in him there was ſuch an attempt of nature, that not only En-
gland, but the world had reaſon to lament his being ſo early
ſnatched away.' And indeed ſuch eminent virtues are attended
with this great advantage, that while they do good they make good; ;
emulation ſtirring up many to imitate what they adınire, ſo that
nſeful knowledge was much encouraged and purſued by his exam-
ple.
1
Burnet,
BOOK V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
405
Mem.
« in
5
ple. And as his great abilities and qualifications made him the
wonder of Europe, they at the ſame time reflected high honor 'on
his Inſtructors. As Cooper, afterward Biſhop of Lincoln, ob-
ſerves in an addreſs to the King, • Such and fo excellent Inſtruc- Strype's
• tors were provided for your Highneſs, as ſcantly the like in vir-
• tue and learning may in any place be found ; whoſe godly In-
• ſtructions and virtuous Counſels how effectuouſly they take place
your ſacred Majeſty's breaſt appears to all them, that attend
upon your Royal Perſon, by your wife and godly converſation.
• We abroad by your procedings evidently perceive how your Grace
• willeth that your moſt honorable Counſellors and Miniſters ſhould
endeavour and apply themſelves, firſt to ſet up true religion to
• God's honor and glory, then conſtantly to procede to the ad-
'vancement of the Commonwealth ; that is, truly to adminiſter
• juſtice, to reſtrain extortion and oppreffion, to ſet up tillage and
good huſbandry, whereby the people may increaſe and be main-
• tained. O Prince, moſt worthy to reign, not over two or three
'realms, but over the whole world ! And if our own people
ſhould be ſuſpected of flattery or partiality, Cælius Secundus Cu-
rio, of Baſil, ſpeaking of Sir John Cheke and Sir Anthony Cook,
ſays, 'You, by your united prayers, counſels, and induſtry, form-
• ed a King of the higheſt, even of Divine Hopes. From
• the godlike Youth receive that inſtruction, than which neither
Cyrus nor Achilles, nor Alexander, nor any other King ever re-
* ceived more polite, more hoły. Which had he lived to adult
years to make uſe of, and had ſome therewith to the
government
of the kingdom, what realm on earth had been happier? What
• nation had ever been more bleſſed ? But God was minded only
* to Thew him to the world, and ſuffer him no longer to abide in
* it.' It is impoſſible for an Engliſhman to read this account with-
out feeling his own happineſs; and I think not without reflecting
on the ſevere, but juſt puniſhment, which their Forefathers ſuffered
for
you did
406
Воок у.
THE LIFE OF
for their ingratitude ; when God, provoked by the unworthy re-
turns made to him by the people of England for Two ſuch invalua-
ble Bleſſings, ſo pure a religion, and ſo excellent a King, in his
wrath deprived them of both. It is true, both at that time want.
ted a maturity, which yet they had not acquired. Edward, though
for ſweetneſs of diſpoſition, great ſtrength of natural parts, and in-
credible improvement by education, was but in his fixteenth year
when he died: and the Reformation had many defects, which, if
not remedied, would naturally bring it into a decline. A ſhort
review of it at the end of this reign will be neceſſary.
Henry's Political ends were obtained ; his Authority reſtored by
the reſumption of Temporal Supremacy, which the Pope had uſurp-
ed; and his wants ſupplied by the reſumption of the Abbey Lands,
which had been fraudulently obtained for unwarrantable purpoſes,
the maintenance of ſuperſtition and error, and ſupport of a volup-
tuous and tyrannical Clergy.
This reſumed Supremacy, ſo far as it concerned the diſcipline of
the members of the church, the King exerciſed (as long as Crom-
well lived) by a Vicar General ; and after his death, by particular
Commiſſions, promiſing that it ſhould be delegated ordinarily to
the Biſhops, and regulated by a Syſtem of certain Eccleſiaſtical
Laws. The want of ſuch a Syſtem occaſioned great diſorders in
the realm both in Faith and Practice. The remedy for theſe un-
der King Henry was an extraordinary power conceded by his Sub-
jects to him perfonally, not an inherent privilege in the Crown,
31 H. 8. that all Determinations, Decrees, Definitions, Reſolutions and
• Ordinances by the King's advice and confirmation in matters of
• the Chriſtian Faith, and lawful Rites and Ceremonies of the fame,
ſhall be by the people fully believed and obeyed,' under penalties
therein compriſed. For Papiſts and their opponents were then diſ-
poſed, in their unſettled ſtate, rather to truſt their Conſciences with
the King than with one another. Wherefore this power was grant-
ed
:C. 26.
B@OK V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
4:07
ed only to Henry vilith, and not to his Succeflors, who are not
mentioned in the Act. And even to him under ſeveral reſtraints,
1. as adviſed by counſel of men of ſkill ; 2. without reſpect to any
ſect; 3. according to God's word and Chriſt's Goſpel ; and laſtly,
Aot contrary to the Laws and Statutes of this realm. Under King
Edward, the diſorders in points of Faith had a remedy provided,
by a Catechiſm for the inſtruction of youth, a Book of Articles for
conformity of opinions, and a regular Toleration of ſome uneſſen-
tial differences in opinion and regimen under the government of
John Alaſco ; ſo that every one was amenible, either to his Dio-
ceſan, or to the Superintendant of the ſtrangers church : but the
Dioceſan’s juriſdiction with regard to Practice, in diſcipline and the
correction of vice, was not yet eſtabliſhed ; it was intended, and
planned, but not authoriſed by Parliament, or ſigned by the King.
The conſequence was a great irregularity of manners, which was
loudly complained of by the Preachers and Writers of thoſe times.
What good then, it may be aſked, had the Reformation done?
Beſide the Civil advantages, which were numberleſs, the means of
Goſpel Knowledge were ſo plenteous, that it begat in many a real
Faith, which had power to influence their practice ; fo that they,
who were good, were ſincerely fo upon principle, and ſin in gene-
ral (except to callous conſciences) appeared more deformed. A
writer of that time, ſpeaking of King Edward's reign, ſays,
Of this
green foundation, being yet very newly laid,
thus much good edifying hath already grown in all perſons con-
• ſciences, that blafphemy, perjury, theft, whoredom, making
affrays, and other abominations are more deteſted than they were
• in the blind world very late years gone.' But ſuch as ſhut their
eyes againſt this new light, and continued to be influenced only by
fines and penalties, being now diſcharged from the expence of difier
penſations and licenſes to fin, indulged themſelves without fear or
meaſure, and gave more publick offence than had been given be-
young and
un
fore.;;
402
Book V.
S THE LIFE OF
means.
fore; themſelves being lefs reſtrained, and their vices, from the
more abundant light diffuſed, appearing more evident and more
abomnioable.
The chief change in doctrine from the religion in Henry's time
was the renouncing of Tranſubſtantiation, principally by Ridley's
.
He diſcovered his doubts to Cranmer in the year before
King Henry died: but both the Archbiſhop and himſelf were very
reſerved during the time of their enquiry, and would not publiſh
their new opinion till it had been maturely examined. To aſſiſt in
this, as well as other points of reformation, ſeveral learned Fo-
reigners, Lutherans and Zuinglians, were invited into England,
and ſupported by the King and ſome of the Nobility. So cautious
were both theſe Prelates of being haſty in their determinations, or
broaching new doctrines before they were well aſſured of their truth,
that the Archbiſhop was ſuſpected by the Zuinglians of maintain-
ing either Tranſubſtantiation, or the Lutheran dreams of Conſub-
ftantiation ‘; grounding their ſuſpicion on ſome paſſages in a Lu-
theran Catechiſin publiſhed by Cranmer toward the cloſe of the
year 1547 : and Ridley's Sermon at Paul's Croſs in the ſame
year,
againſt the revilers of the facrament of the Lord's Supper, was ſo
reſerved as to be miſtaken for a defence of the Popith doctrine.
Yet both theſe Biſhops were at that time perſuaded of the figura-
tive ſenſe, or real preſence by grace and efficacy, not in natural
ſubſtance. The Zuinglian Germans were ſo jealous of the preva-
lence of Lutheran influences at Lambeth, through Fagius and Bu-
that they were aſtoniſhed to find in a Diſputation held in
1548, that the Archbiſhop and Biſhop of Rocheſter were earneſt
maintainers of the figurative interpretation ; and rejoiced at the ex-
cluſion of Lutheraniſm as well as of Popery from the Church of
England.
cer
...
Epift
. Joannis ab Ulmis Bullingero. In MSS. Archiv. Ecclef. Turic.
Ep. Burcheri Bullingero. Ibid.
}
3
BOOK V.
409
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
:
England. . . Theſe learned Forcigners were called in to aflitt, not
dire&t them; to be helpers of their faith, not Lords over it : they
fill judged for themſelves, and permitting each to throw into his
ſcale what weight he could, they held the balance, and marked
the inclining of the beam. And great cauſe they had to do ſo; for
the Scriptures being now put into every man's hands that could read
at home, and learned Foreigners invited over, and the perſecuted
abroad Aying hither as to the aſylum of Liberty ; it required a very
cool and found judgment to direct the church among ſo many con-
trary and extravagant opinions. They well knew that haſty and
unneceſſary changes ſuggeſted by whim or blind zeal would never
refornı, but confound a church. And indeed they had more trou.
ble from the madneſs of new Sectaries and Opinionatiſts than from
the inveterate errors of popery. As they had embraced the Zuin-
glian doctrine, in preference to the Lutheran, in the point of the real
preſence ; ſo they as impartially oppoſed ſome extreme opinions of
ſome of the Zuinglians concerning things indifferent. They were
for diſburthening the people of Ceremonies in a great meaſure, and
wiſhed to retain only ſuch as had a pertinence and ſignificancy in
them, and might tend to edification : but to abhor all as abſolute-
ly ſinful, becauſe they had been abuſed, was an error only ſecond
to theirs, who had injoined them as neceſſary and eſſential : both
parties gave to indifferent things an importance beyond their in-
trinſick weight. In the points of Faith, Works, and God's Des
crees they guarded carefully againſt the merit of papiſtical Good
Works, and taught that Faith alone juſtified : but they could not
be brought over to the rigid opinions of ſome, both Lutherans and
Zuinglians, to make God the Author of Sin,' or deny the obliga-
tion of Evangelical Good Works. Which drew a charge againſt
the Engliſh, that they could not eaſily be brought from an opinion
of
3 G
• Ep. Barth. Traherni Bullingero. In MSS. Archir. Ecclef. Turic.
Ep. Mart. Micronii Bullingero. Ibid.
-
410
BOOK V.
THE LIFE OF
of the merit of Good Works. Such was the ſtate of doctrine in
England at King Edward's death. Many things were ſtill want-
ing; that of ecclefiaftical diſcipline was ſo great a defect, that
Knox refuſed to take a cure of ſouls here, becauſe he could not
have a full power of excommunication, which he thought neceſſa-
ryb. In other points Cranmer wiſhed for a free General Council
to determine them : but having no hopes of ſuch a one,
he
pro-
poſed to procede deliberately in giving a further perfection to our
Reformation.
The reſumed Treaſures were promiſed to be applied to publick.
uſes, the proviſion of the Poor, the charges of war, the education
of Youth, proviſion for Scholars at the Univerſities, the encou-
ragement and reward of learning and virtue by eſtabliſhing more
honors and preferments in the Church. For the proviſion of the
Poor and education of Youth King Edward did a great deal, for
Him, though not ſufficient for the Kingdom : but the ſtipends and
exhibitions cuſtomarily allowed by the rich Clergy and Citizens of
London for the maintenance of Scholars at the Univerſities were
withdrawn, inſtead of being encreaſed'; the rewards they were to
expect in the miniſtry were in great meafure cut off, the rich ab-
beys being diffolved; the great tithes taken from the Laborer in
the harveſt, and paid to Lay Lords without any ſpiritual function
performed; the Rectories in great numbers conveyed to Lay Pa-
trons, who made ſhameful refervations, or openly ſold them to
unworthy Clerks, who intended not the Cure of Souls committed
to them, only to make the moſt of the eſtates which they had pur .
chaſed; the Biſhopricks were robbed of their beft manors, and the
little Dignities of the Church, ſuch as Prebends, deſigned for the
affiftance
• Ep. Petr. Martyris Bullingero. In MSS. Archiv. Ecclef. Turic.
Strype's Ecclef. Mem.
Ep. Th. Cranmeri Cant. Archiep. Calvino. MSS. Archiv. Ecclef. Turic.
à In times paſt when any rich man died in London, they were wont to help, poor Scho ..
Lars of the Univerſities with exhibitions.. Latim. Serm. iy..
Book V. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
411
cy
aſſiſtance and encouragement of learned Divines, alienated to grces
dy Courtiers : fo that few could ſupport their Children at the Uniu
verſities; and ſuch as barely could do it would not, becauſe unable
to provide for thein in the church afterward. This made Latimer
complain, that proviſions were ſo dear, and the allowance to Scho
lars fo little, that few ſtaid at the Univerſity to qualify themſelves
for Preachers. "A few Gentlemen's Sons indeed ſtaid and ſtudied Germ. v.
• a little Divinity. Alas! (ſays he) what is that? it will conie to
* paſs that we ſhall have nothing but a little Engliſh Divinity, that
• will bring the realm into a very barbarouſneſs and utter decay of
* learning. It is not this, I wiſt, that will keep out the Suprema-
of the Biſhop of Rome.' And having been charged with ſaya
ing that the Noblemens Sons did not ſet forth the word of God by
preaching, he ſays, “ He did not mean it univerſally, but that for Serm. in
• the moſt part they who labored in that office were the children of
poorer men.'
· For (faid he in the Sermon that gave offence) if Serm. 1.
ye bring it to paſs that the Yeomanry be not able to put their
• fons to ſchool (as indeed Univerſities do wonderfully decay alrea-
dy) I ſay ye pluck ſalvation from the people, and utterly deſtroy
• the realm. For by Yeomens Sons the Faith of Chriſt is, and
• hath been maintained chiefly.' From whence he intreats for a
more liberal invitation and encouragement to Learning.
He, Cranmer, and Ridley withſtood theſe church depredations
and ſpoil of Learning what they could. This Ridley mentions in
his Lamentation of England ;
« I have heard that Cranmer and
another, whom I will not name, (ſuch was his modeſt conceal-
ment of Himſelf] were both in high diſpleaſure, but eſpecially
· Cranmer, for repugning, as they might, againſt the late ſpoils
< of the Church Goods. Latimer and ſome others (whom he
' mentions) were ſo Tharp with their tongues, that theſe magif-
• trates could never abide them ; others (he ſays) after a more ſoft
• manner handled the matter : but alas ! all ſped alike.
3 G 2
But
6
412
Book V.
THE LIFE OF
But however they diſliked the freedom of Ridley's ſpirit, in how
ſoft a manner ſo ever he might expreſs it, yet his weight of learn-
ing and prudence made Henry virth deſign him for Rocheſter ;
prevaled with the Dukes of Somerſet and Northumberland to concur
(who could concur in ſcarce any thing elſe) in promoting him to
London; and moved King Edward to intend him for Durham :
but great as theſe Honors were, which he received, or were in-
tended for him under King Henry and King Edward, the higheſt
were reſerved for him under Queen Mary. Which indeed none
but one thoroughly fanctified by the Spirit of God could attain to,
or reliſh ; which were, to be a Priſoner for the Goſpel, a Con-
feffor of Chriſt in bonds, and a Martyr for his Truth.
::
3
24
1:
.:
$
THE
Book VI.
*3
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
THE
L I F F
7
OF
Dr. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
BOOK VI. From July 1553 to
March 1554.
R I D L E Y Priſoner.
Bonds and affli&tions abide me. But none of theſe things move me ;
neither count I my life dear unto myſelf, ſo that I might finiſ my
courſe with joy; and the miniſtry which I have received of the Lord,
Feſus, to teſtify the goſpel of the grace of God. Acts xx. 21, 24.
T
HE Duke of Northumberfand endeavoured 1553
$. I. The intera to conceal the King's death, in hope of
regnum of Queen Jane. drawing the Lady Mary into his toils; who,
as was mentioned before, had been fent for to at-
tend and divert the King in his ſickneſs : but upon ſecret infor-
mation from the Earl of Arundel ſhe went back, and retreated to-
ward Norfolk and Suffolk, where the imagined the Duke's inte-
reſt
T #E LIFE OF
BOOK VI.
:
reſt was weakeſt, being hated there for his cruelties in Ket's re-
bellion. Indeed the Council ventured, two days after the King's
death, to inform the Engliſh Ambaffadour at Bruſſels of this event :
and on the oth of July received a Letter from the Lady Mary, then
at Kenninghall in Suffolk, in which the informed them, that
knowing the King had been dead three days, ſhe thought it ſtrange
that the had not been advertiſed of it by them. So that they found
it high time to avow their ſcheme, and act openly. They waited
on the Lady Jane, and acquainted her with her ſucceſſion to the
Throne by the late King's will, with the conſent of the Council ;
ſhe long declined it, pleading Queen Mary's right ; and at laſt,
as the Duke of Northumberland himſelf bears witneſs, was rather
by enticement of the Counſellors and force made to accept the
Crow!, than came to it by her own ſeeking and requeſt, On the
ſame day the Billiop of London was commanded by Order of
Council to preach at St. Paul's, and recommend Queen Jane to
the people ; which order he obeyed with great zeal and earneftneſs,
pointing out the Danger in which the nation would have been,
had the Lady Mary fucceded; who was a rigid Papiſt, and would
bring back again the Papal power to enſlave them, and fubvert the
true religion already eſtabliſhed. Then he related his own expe-
rience of her deafneſs to good counſel and averſeneſs from better
information ; refuſing ſo much as to hear him, when on a certain
time in the preceding year he had endeavoured to bring her to the
knowledge of the Goſpel : Inferring from thence, that, if he was
Queen, it muſt be expected the would overturn all the religion ſo
happily eſtabliſhed under King Edward, and would betray the
Kingdom to a foreign power.
The next day Jane was proclamed Queen, and the Council an-
ſwered the Lady Mary's Letter ; in which they acquaint her, that
Queen Jane was their Sovereign according to the antient Laws of
the Land, and the late King's Letters Patent, to whom they were
now
Book VI.
415:
DR. NICHOLAS RIDL E Y.
now bound by their allegiance; that the marriage between her Fa.
ther and Mother was diſſolved by the Eccleſiaſtical Courts, accord-
ing to the Laws of God and of the Land; that many noble Univerſi-
ties in Chriſtendom had conſented to that diſſolution; that the ſentence
had been confirmed in Parliament, and ſhe had been declared illegiti-
mate and uninheritable to the Crown: they therefore required her
to zive over her pretences, and not to diſturb the Government;
and promiſed, that if the Thewed herſelf obedient ſhe ſhould find
them all ready to do her any ſervice which in duty they could. In
the Proclamation they ſet forth, · That the late King had by his
· Letters Patent limited the Crown that it ſhould not defcend to
« his Two Siſters, ſince they were both illegitimated by ſentences
. in the ſpiritual Courts and Acts of Parliament ; and were only
« his Siſters by the half blood, who therefore (although it were
granted they had been legitimate) are not inheritable by the Laws
e of England ; that there was alſo great cauſe to fear that the King's
• Siſters might marry ſtrangers, and fo change the Laws of the
Kingdom, and ſubject it to the tyranny of the Biſhop of Rome
and other foreign Laws. For theſe reaſons they were excluded
from the Succeſſion ; and the Lady Frances, Dutcheſs of Suffolk,
being next to the Crown, it was provided, that if ſhe had no
- Sons at the death of the King, the Crown ſhould devolve imme-
diately on her eldeſt Daughter Jane, and after her and her Iffue,
"to her Siſters ; ſince She was born within the Kingdom, and al-
• ready married in it. Therefore She was proclamed Queen, pro-
“miſing to be molt benign and gracious to all her people, to main-
“- tain God's Holy Word, and the Laws of the Land, requiring all
the ſubjects to obey and acknowledge her.'
But the Proclamation was not affented to by the voice of the
people, and (as Biſhop Godwyn writes) that learned and godly
Prelate Nicholas Ridley, whom he wiſhes not to have erred in this
matter, was ſcarce heard out with patience. But he acted by:
command
.
416
Book VI.
THE LIFE OF
command of his ſuperiors; in obedience to the King's will, and the
Order of the Council, directed by the judgment of the Lawyers.
To determine Right lay on Them : to obey was His Duty. It is
true he judged, as the whole nation has done ſince, that a Papilt
would not make a proper Governour of theſe Proteſtant Kingdoms;
and wiſh more Chriſtian truth and boldneſs than worldly prudence
foretold the calamities that would attend ſuch a reign. However,
the people's hatred of Northumberland, whom they dreaded as
their future manager, made them leſs pleaſed with their old Favo-
rite, the Biſhop of London ; whoſe prophecies, like thoſe of Caf-
ſandra, had the misfortune not to be believed. The Papiſts acted
very conſiſtently in maintaining Queen Mary's Right ; for they
looked on the marriage of Henry and Catherine as valid by the
Pope's diſpenſation ; the ſentence of divorce null, as pronounced
by an incompetent Judge; and the Act of Illegitimation as an inju-
ry to Her, which the ſubſequent act cancelled by reſtoring her to
her juſt right of inheritance. Yet from the number of theſe con-
ſiſtent Papiſts we muſt exclude Gardiner, Boner, Tonſtall, and al
others who like them had been either active in promoting the di-
vorce, or concurred with the ſentence of the Univerſities that her
Mother's marriage was indiſpenſable by the Pope. The Proter-
tants were more embarraſſed : ſome thought the Two Siſters un-
inheritable, even by Act of Parliament, as rendered illegitimate by
divorce, and nullity of both their Mother's marriages from the
beginning : fo that Henry's will could only operate with reſpect to
the inheritable perſons, among whom he gave the preference to
his Younger Siſter's children before thoſe of the Elder : others
again, who could not expect to fix the Crown on Elizabeth, being
under a like Parliamentary illegitimacy with her Siſter Mary, yet
deſirous to diſappoint the deteſted Northumberland and his plans,
were willing to give credit to the Lady Mary's promiſes, who affu-
red the Proteſtants of Norfolk and Suffolk, that ſhe would never
alter
·!
Book VI. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
417
by ſea.
alter the Religion eſtabliſhed in King Edward's days, but content
herſelf with the private exerciſe of her own. This determined
fallhood removed the obſtacles to her Throne : though after the
had mounted it, ſhe remembered her promiſe no more. And ha-
ving been reminded of it by a man of Suffolk, the ordered him to
be ſet three days in the pillory for remembering what the Queen
was reſolved to forget.
By the favor of theſe Norfolk and Suffolk men, chiefly Protef-
tants, her Court and army increaſed, and Jane's dwindled. Το
oppoſe her the Duke of Northumberland led an army of fix thou-
fand men towards Cambridgeſhire, July 13; and gave Commiſſion
to Sir Edward Haſtings to raiſe four thouſand foot; and ſtationed
fix ſhips in the German Ocean to prevent the Lady Mary's eſcape
But he ſorrowfully took notice, that no auſpicious accla-
mations attended his march through London ; and that not one
of all that crowd, which gathered to ſee them paſs, expreſſed their
wiſhes of ſucceſs. Sir Edward Haſtings carried his Levies over to
Mary, and the Mariners and Soldiers in the ſix ſhips driven by tem-
peft into Yarmouth Roads yielded themſelves to Sir Henry Jerne-
gan for her uſe. Tueſday the 18th, a Letter was ſent to Sir John
St. Lowe, and Sir Anthony Kinſtone to raiſe forces to ſubdue cer-
tain tumults and rebellions moved in Buckinghamſhire by Sir Ed-
ward Haſtings againſt Her and her crown, figned Jane the Queen.
This was her laſt Royal Act.
The next day many of the Lords of the Council ſhrunk from her
and toward evening proclamed Queen Mary with the additional
Title of Supreme Head of the Church, diſpatching ſome companies
to ſeize the Tower, requiring the Duke of Suffolk to ſurrender it,
and that the Lady Jane ſhould lay down her Title of Queen. The
dejected Duke of Suffolk entering his Daughter's chamber forbad
the further uſe of Royal Ceremonies, and wiſhed her to be con-
tented with her return to a private fortune. To which ſhe anſwer-
3 H
ed
in
478
Book VI.
THE LIFE OF
.
Annals of
C
Godwyn's ed with a ſettled countenance, Sir, I better brook this meſſage
England.
« than
my forced advancement to Royalty ; out of obedience to
you
and
my mother I have grievouſly finned, and offered violence
' to myſelf. Now I do willingly, and as obeying the motions of
my ſoul relinquiſh the Crown, and endeavour to falve thoſe faults
* committed by others, if at leaſt ſo great an error may be ſalved,
by my willing relinquiſhment and ingenuous acknowlegment.
The Earl of Arundel and Lord Paget rode poſt that night to
Queen Mary to certify her of what was done. The Council wrote
to the Duke of Northumberland, who was retired to Cambridge
to wait for more ſupplies from London, to ſubſcribe the Decree for
Queen Mary's Succeſſion. The mortified Duke proclamed her at
Cambridge, toffing up his hat in a counterfeit joy, and crying,
God ſave Queen Mary! But the Earl of Arundel was ſent by the
Queen to apprehend him ; at whoſe feet the Duke abjectly fell to
beg his favor. With him were apprehended the Earls of Hun-
tington and Warwick, the Lords Ambroſe and Henry Dudley,
Sir Andrew Dudley the Duke's Brother, Sir Thomas Palmer, Sir
John Gates, his Brother Henry Gates, and Dr. Edwyn Sandys.
MS. P. in All theſe on St. James's day were brought to London through
thecâCol. Biſhopſgate, the Duke of Northumberland laſt, all the ſtreets full
Corp.
of people, curſing the Duke, and calling him Traytor.
ht
Biblio.
Chrifti
Cantab.
On this turn of affairs all haſted to the Queen
$. 2. Queen Mary at Framingham to implore her mercy; which ſhe
recovers the Cronin. extended to all, but the Earl of Northampton,
Dr. Ridley Biſhop of London, Lord Robert Dud-
ley, (afterward the Great Ear) of Leiceſter) and Sir Robert
Corbett. Theſe were brought from the Queen's charge
to the Tower July 26; the Biſhop having been ſent up from Fra-
mingham on a lame horfe.
On
Ibid.
Fox.
:.
8
BOOK VI.
419
DR.
NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
و
Annals:
On the 3d of Auguſt the Queen made her triumphant Entry,
through London to the Tower ; whence the releaſed from their
confinement the Duke of Norfolk, the Dutcheſs of Somerfet, and
Dr. Gardiner. The Archbiſhop ſtill continued at liberty, but un-
der a cloud : yet was permitted to celebrate the Burial of King
Edward, Auguſt 3, and adminiſter the Sacrament according to the
ſervice eſtabliſhed in the late reign ; Dr. Day preaching the Fu-
neral Sermon.
The Duke of Northumberland with his Son the Earl of War- Cowyms
wick, and the Marquiſs of Northampton were arraigned at West-
minſter on the 18th, the Duke of Norfolk ſitting as High Stew-
ward of England, and found guilty : as were alſo, the next day,
Sir Andrew Dudley, Sir John Gates, (who was thought to have
projected the Adoption of Lady Jane) Sir Henry Gates, and Sir
Thomas Palmer the betrayer of the Duke of Somerſet. They
were all ordered for execution on the 2 ift. By eight o'clock in Strypc's
the morning near ten thouſand ſpectators were gathered on Tower
Hill, the ſcaffold was ready, the ſand and ſtraw brought, the Offi-
cers waiting, and the Executioner prepared ; when on a ſudden
they were ordered to depart. This was to gain a piece of glory to
the Popiſh Religion: that theſe condemned perſons, all pretend-
ed embracers of the Reformed religion, might be preſent at maſs
before their deaths, thereby as it were giving their approbation of
it, and diſavowing their former profeſſion. To which theſe
per-
ſons, of no great religion before (though Sir John Gates had car-
ried himfelf. fo hypocritically as to have deceived Biſhop Ridley,
who thought him one who ſincerely loved God) were the more
willing to comply, in hope it inight be a mean to procure them
a Pardon. And that this might be done with the more Thew and
boaſt, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen were ſent for to the Tower,
and many of the Privy Council alſo attended : and in the preſence
of
Mem.
3 H 2
420
BOOK VI.
THE LIFE OF
Hail.
MSS.
No. 284:
of them all maſs was ſaid before the Duke and the reſt of the con-
demned Priſoners.
The following day Three of them were brought to the ſcaffold.
Where the confuſed affrighted Duke, attended by Biſhop Hethe,
catching at ſtraws, either to ſave his life here or his ſoul hereafter,
ſeemed eagerly to embrace the Popiſh Religion: and addreſſed him-
felf to the people in the following manner ;
• Good people, hither I am come this day to die, as ye know.
• Indeed I confeſs to you all that I have been an evil Liver, and
have done wickedly all the days of my life. And of all, moſt
e againſt the Queen's Highneſs, of whom I here openly aſk forgive-
' neſs. But I alone was not the original Doer thereof, for there
were other which promiſed the fame, I aſſure you : but I will
« not name them, for I will hurt now no man. And the firſt oc-.
. caſion of theſe falſe and feditious practices was, that I have erred
• from the Catholick Faith, and true doctrine of Chriſt; the doc-
* trine I mean that hath continued throughout all Chriſtendom.
• Do you think, good people, that we be wiſer than all the world
beſides ever fince Chriſt? No, I aſſure you, you be far deceived.
I do not ſay ſo from any great learning that I have, for God
« knows I have very little or none ; but for the experience which
« I have had. For I pray you ſince the death of King Henry villa
• into what miſery have we been brought ? what open rebellion,
& what fedition, what great diviſion hath been throughout the
• whole realm? for God hath delivered us up to our own ſenſuali-
ties, and every day. was worſe and worſe. Look alſo how many
ſince they fwerved from the Faith, into what miſerable ſtate they
have been brought, and how the whole realm is decayed. Then
openly profeſſing himſelf a Member of the Church of Rome, he
added, I
that I ſpeak unfeignedly from the bottom of my ſoul this
«Good Man the Biſhop of Worceſter ſhall be my Witneſs,: The
Bilhop afſenting, he proceded, · And I believe you all bear me
« witneſs.
BOOK VI.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
421
3
witneſs that I die therein. And I do think, that if I had this
* belief ſooner, I never had come to this paſs. Wherefore I ex-
hort you all, good people, take you all example of me, and for-
• fake this new doctrine betime; defer it not long, left God plague
you as he hath me, who now ſuffer this vile death moſt worthi-
. ly. I have no more to ſay, good people ; but of all thoſe whom
• I have offended I aſk forgiveneſs. And thoſe who have offended .
me, I forgive them as I would God forgive me. And I truſt
• the Queen's Highneſs hath forgiven me.' And after he had de-
fired all the people to pray for him, and humbled himſelf to God,
and covered his own eyes with a cloth, he quietly ſuffered execu-
tion.
The next who was beheaded was Sir John Gates, who, though
in hopes of pardon he had conſented to hear maſs, did not pro-
feſs himſelf of the Roman Religion : but, in the following ſpeech,
recommended the ſerious and profitable reading of ſcripture,
with a deſign of being governed by it; ſenſible from his own ex-
perience of the miſchief to which light and vain minds might
abuſe it.
My coming hither this day, good people, is to die ; whereof
I aſſure
you all I am well worthy; for I have lived as viciouſly and
wickedly all the days of my life, as any man hath done in the
• world. I was the greateſt reader of fcripture that might be of a
my degree ; and a worſe follower thereof was not living;
• for I did not read to the intent that I might be edified thereby,
nor to the glory of God: but contrarywiſe, arrogantly, to be ſe-
. ditious, and to diſpute thereof, and privately to interpret it after
my own brain and affection. Wherefore, good people, I exhort
you all to beware how, and after what fort you come to read
• God's Holy Word, for it is no playing game to meddle with
• God's Holy Majeſty; and not to follow your own conceptions.
* For look as the bee of one flower doth gather honey, and the
6
man of
{pider
422
BOOK VI.
THE LIFE OF
* ſpider poiſon of the fame, even fo 'you, except you
humble
your-
• ſelves to God, and charitably read the ſame to the intent to edi-
fy thereby, it is unto you poiſon and worſe : and better it is to
* let it alone.' Then he aſked the Queen's Highneſs forgiveneſs,
and all the world, and deſired the people of their charities to pray
unto God with him for the remiffion of his fins; and ſubmitted
himſelf to the block, receiving three blows before his head was off.
The laſt was Sir Thomas Palmer, who profeſſed his whole con-
fidence of ſalvation only in the merits and ſatisfaction of Chriſt ;
and died with that humility and peace of mind which nothing but
the ſpirit of the Goſpel can inſpire. He ſtepped forward, and with
a iiniling countenance ſaid ;
• Good morning to you all, good people. You come hither to
* ſee me die ; and moreover you come to ſee what news I have :
marry, I will tell you. I have ſeen more in yonder terrible
place (pointing to the Tower) than ever I ſaw before throughout
all the realms that ever I wandered; for there I have ſeen God,
• I have ſeen the world, and I have ſeen inyfelf. And when I be-
· held myſelf, I ſaw nothing elſe but a piece of vile fline and C!WV,
* full of corruption and iniquity. Ifw the world roning at but
vanity, and all the pleafures and creafures thereof, nching wonih.
• I ſaw God omnipotent, his power inisnite, his merit locompre-
• henſible. And when I ſaw this, I mot humbly ſubonitetanya
• ſelf unto God, beſeeching his mercy and pardon for runs of
• fences : and I truſt he hath forgiven me. For he calitate
once or twice before, but I would not turn to him : but can
now by this ſharp meſſenger of death he hath caried me to nic in
ſelf. I truſt the riches of his mercy ſhall ſpread over me, and are
( And I do here openly profeſs before you all, Chriſt to bu
• the very Son of God the Father, born of the Virgin Mary, who
o came into the world to fulfil the Law for us, and to bear our of
• fences
6
me.
#:
BOOK VI. (DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
423
* fences on his back, and ſuffered his paſſion for our redemption,
by the which I truſt to be ſaved.'
The Lady Jane was a priſoner in the Tower, where a few days
before ſhe had kept her Court; and with her the Duke of Suffolk
her Father was confined: but the latter, by the Queen's clemen-
cy, was ſoon ſet at liberty. Which liberty he enjoyed not long ;
for on the reſolution taken for the Queen's marriage with Philip ii.
of Spain, fearing ill conſequences from it, eſpecially to the next
Heir the Lady Eliſabeth, and that the nation ſhould have been
brought into the bondage of ſtrangers, Sir Thomas Wyatt made
an Inſurrection in Kent, demanding the poſſeſſion of the Queen,
and the keeping of the Tower : the Duke of Suffolk was indif- Strype':
crete enough to be a party in this Inſurrection, which broke out
about the latter end of January, but was ſoon quelled ; for by the
8th of February the Duke of Suffolk and his Brother the Lord John
Gray were brought Priſoners to the Tower, and the next day Wy-
att himſelf. On the Sunday following the reſtored Biſhop of
Wincheſter and now Lord Chancellor preached before the Queen,
in which he cxhorted her to uſe no mercy, but extreme juſtice to
thefe Kentiſh Rebels ; in compliance with which bloody advice
the week that enſued was devoted to executions.
Several new
gallows were erected the very next day, at every gate of the City
one, and about fourteen pair more in the City and Liberties.
Where they ſtood as a terror to the citizens till Wedneſday, when
every gibbet was furniſhed with one or more executions.
But of theſe the moſt lamented, though perhaps politically nem
ceſſary from the indiſcretion of her Relations, was that of the
amiable Lady Jane with her Huſband the Lord Guilford Dudley,
who fell the firſt ſacrifices on the Monday of that bloody week.
She had been made the Inſtrument of the late Uſurpation, and was
now, however innocent herſelf, yet the occaſion of the preſent ſe-
dition; her Father being deſirous ſtill of gaining her the Crown.
The
1
424
Book VI.
THE LIFE OF
6
The Queen ſent to her Fecknam, afterward Abbot of Weſtminſ-
ter, to prepare her for death : when he lamented her unhappy
ſituation, ſhe thanked him for his viſit, and told him, that the
• looked on her preſent ſituation as an inſtance of God's favor to-
• ward her; and that none that bore her any good will had occa-
“ſion to lament on that account, which was an event fo profitable
• for her ſoul's health.' Then on his telling her his errand, ſhe
thanked the Queen and Him, and profeſſed her Faith in the Trini-
ty: and upon being aſked whether the thought that Faith was all
that was required of a Chriſtian, the anſwered, that it was alſo
required to love God with all our faculties, and our Neighbour
' as ourſelves.' Thence Feckman inferred, that Faith alone was
not ſufficient, for Love was to be added. She replied, the Love
of God was implied in Faith, for that we could not truſt with-
' out loving ; and the love of our neighbour, or good works, was
neceſſary, in obedience to Chriſt, who commanded it, but not as
* the mean of our Juſtification.' She ſaid that in ſcripture · The
could find only Two Sacraments, Baptiſm by which the was
. waſhed with water and regenerated by the Spirit, and that the
waſhing was a token and ſign that the was the Child of God :
* and the Lord's Supper, which was a ſure ſeal and teſtimony that
. The was by the blood of Chriſt thed for her on the Croſs made
• Partaker of the everlaſting Kingdom.' Then Fecknam aſked her
what ſhe received in that Sacrament, whether it was not the
very
body and blood of Chriſt ? She anſwered, “No ; but bread in re-
membrance of Chriſt's body broken on the Croſs, and wine in
remembrance of his blood ſhed for the remiſſion of fins : and that
by receiving theſe creatures of bread and wine ſhe received the
benefits that accrued from Chriſt's body broken, and his blood
« ſhed for our ſins. What took He but bread, what brake he but
• bread, what gave he but bread ? What he took he brake, what
* he brake he gave, what he gave they eat, and that was bread,
6
not
BOOK VI. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
425
1 was alive before them, and not eaten
by them.' Then Fecknam flew to the authority of the Church,
determining that the very body and blood were received. She
ſaid the Church was to be tried by God's word, and not God's
• word by the Church. And that it was an evil Church, and not
the Spouſe of Chriſt, which altereth the Lord's Supper, taking
• from it and adding to it: but to ſuch a Church, ſhe ſaid, God
' would add plagues, and take from it their part in the book of
• life. Upon this Fecknam took leave of her, ſaying. He was
ſorry for her ; for he was ſure they Two ſhould never meet. •True
• it is, ſaid ſhe, that we ſhall never meet, except God turn
your
heart. For I am aſſured, unleſs you repent and turn to
God, you are in an evil caſe. And I pray God in the bowels of
* his mercy to ſend you his Holy Spirit; for he hath given you his
great gift of utterance, if it pleaſed him alſo to open the eyes of
your heart.
::
To comfort her Father, who was overwhelmed with the thoughts
of the calamities that his imprudence had brought upon his daugh-
ter, ſhe wrote the following Letter.
• Father, although it hath pleaſed God to haſten my death by
'you, by whom my life ſhould rather have been lengthened: yet
• can I ſo patiently take it, as that I yield God more hearty thanks
• for ſhortening my woful days, than if all the world had been
. given into my poſſeſſions with life lengthened at my own will.
* And although I am well aſſured of your impatient grief redoubled
many ways, both in bewailing your own woe, and eſpecially (as
• I hear) my unfortunate ſtate ; yet, my dear Father, if I may
without offence rejoice in my own miſhaps, I think I nay ac-
· count myſelf bleſſed that, waſhing my hands with the innocency
of the fact, my guiltleſs blood may cry before the Lord Mercy to
* the Innocent. And yet though I muſt needs acknowledge, that
being conſtrained, and as you well know continually aſſayed, in
I
• taking
31
426
Book VI.
THE LIFE OF
to
- taking upon me the Royal dignity I ſeemed to confent, and therein
grievouſly offended the Queen and her Laws: yet do I aſſuredly truſt
« that this my offence towards God is ſo much the lefs, in that being in
• fo Royal eſtate as I was, minc enforced Honor blended never with
mine innocent heart. And thus, Good Father, I have opened
you
the ſtate wherein I ſtand at preſent. Whoſe death at hand,
although to you perhaps it may ſeem dreadful, to me there is
nothing that can be more welcome, than from this vale of miſe-
ry to aſpire to that heavenly throne of all joy and pleaſure with
· Chriſt our Saviour. In whoſe ſtedfaſt faith (if it may be lawful
* for the Daughter ſo to write to the Father) the Lord that hither-
* to hath ſtrengthened you, fo continue you, that at the laſt we
may meet in heaven with the Father, the Son, and the Holy
« Ghoſt.'
Her Letter to Harding, wlio had been her Father's Chaplain,
and now fallen off; and that to her Siſter the Lady Catharine ſent
with a Greek Teſtament the night before ſhe ſuffered; her Prayer
and Speech on the ſcaffold (all which may be ſeen in Fox) witneſs
how ſtrong ſhe was in the faith of Chriſt, and what victory over
the world and death ſuch a faith is able to give. We ſhall rarely
meet with ſo uſeful a variety as we find in the deaths of theſe Four
Perſons. The outward Profeſſor of reformed religion, who is a
Proteſtant only for worldly intereſt, when croſſes and afflictions.
happen, is preſently offended; and being a ſtranger to the power
of Faith is ready to part with it on the ſlendereſt hopes of advan-
tage, and at his wits end when he finds he muſt leave this world on
which alone he had ſet his heart : fo died the wretched Northum-
berland ! In Sir John Gates we fee a man convinced of the Truth of the
Goſpel ; yet, conſcious of having abuſed the knowledge of it to the
purpoſes of vanity and contention, trembles at the conſequences of
ſuch a profane and ungrateful return. He only diſcerns more clearly
the horrors of that deſtruction which he is ſenſible he has deſerved.
1
While
Book VI.
427
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
While the more profligate Liver, in whom the good feed has been
ſown, although for a long time ſmothered, (rather neglected than
abuſed) when it is opened by the grace of God through his mer-
ciful afflictions, grows ſhocked at his own vileneſs and unworthi-
neſs; and from this abatement views at once with dread the offended
majeſty of God, and with admiration the great Love of a Redeem-
er, and is urged to embrace him with a lively faith, and to die
well pleaſed in ſuch a confidence. His ſharp afflictions were ne-
ceſſary to his health. Such a picture we had in Sir Thomas Pal-
But where a true Chriſtian Faith had uniformly produced a
Chriſtian Life, with what triumph did it trample on the ſting of
death, and ſpread a glory round the Lady Jane, that eclipſed the
faint luſtre of the ſuperſtitious and cruel Queen Mary on her
Throne. Morgan the Judge, who paſſed the ſentence on her,
whether from mere natural diſtemper, or conſcious of ſome malice
in paffing it, is obſerved by the Hiſtorians to have run mad, and in
his ravings continually to have been calling out to have the Lady
Jane taken away from him: in which diſorder he died. Her Fa-
ther the Duke of Suffolk was beheaded the week following.
mer.
*
ted to the Tower.
We have already ſeen that the Biſhop of Lon-
$. 3. Ridley, and don waiting on the new Queen at Framingham
afterward Cranmer,
and Latimer commit was not received gracioully ; his viſit at Hunſdon
not a year before, and his Sermon at Paul's Croſs,
though by command of the Council, were offences
which ſhe was not diſpoſed to forgive. He was ſent to the Tower
July 26; and on the 5th of Auguſt Dr. Boner was releaſed from
the Marſhalſea ; and the reſt of the Biſhops who had been confined
by King Edward were ſet at liberty at the ſame time. Boner foon
after complained to the Queen, that he had been unjuſtly deprived,
and contrary to law; or rather, that having made a legal appeal
from the Commiſſioners to the King, the deprivation during that
appeal
3 1 2
428
BOOK VI.
THE LIFE OF
Strype's
Mem.
appeal was illegal and null; and that therefore his impriſonment,
which he afterwards ſuffered, was illegal alſo. He likewiſe com-
plained of the loſſes, expences, and troubles that he had under-
gone, defiring liberty of demanding fatisfaction by law. Upon
which the Queen appointed Delegates to examine the whole
Cauſe : to whom Boner preſented his Libel againſt all King Edu
ward's Commiſſioners, the Archbiſhop of Canterbury, who was
yet ſtiled Primate and Metropolitan of all England"; Nicholas Rid-
ley, ſtiled late Biſhop of Rocheſter ; Thomas Smith, Knight, and
William May, Dean of St. Paul's : William Latimer and John
Hoper, (whom they would not own for a Biſhop) Clerks, who
had been Witneſſes againſt Boner.
The Proctors of the Arch.
biſhop, Biſhop Ridley, and Dr. May appeared. After ſeveral
Hearings Dr. Tregonwell, September 5, pronounced the ſentence
Definitive in behalf of Biſhop Boner ; that nothing effectual or
fufficient on the parts of the Commiſſioners had been alledged or
proved which might any ways enervate the intention of the Reve-
rend Father Boner : that the pretended Definitive fentence againſt
him was rafhly attempted to his prejudice, and was null in law ;.
and they decreed him to be reſtored as well to the poſſeſſion of his
ſäid Biſhoprick as to all his Goods and Things with their rights
and appurtenances ; allowing him to take his courſe for the ex-
pences
and incommodities of his impriſonment:
Boner's appeal from the ſentence of the Commiſſioners to the
King had been heard by ſeveral of the Nobles, Great Officers, Di-
vines, Civilians, and Judges purpoſely appointed; who after due
diſcuſſion declared that Boner's appeal was naught and unreaſona-
ble, and that the ſentence againſt him had been rightly and juſtly
pronounced. Yet theſe Delegates reverſed all.
With what tenderneſs and care Ridley behaved toward Boner on
fucceding to the fee of London, with reſpect both to his private
property and relations we have ſeen before : now by way of con-
traſt,
>
2
POOK VI. DR." NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
429
6
traft, and to weigh the ſpirits of the Two Biſhops, let us fee Bo-
ner's account of his reſtoration, in a Letter to his Couſin Thomas
Shirley, and the Worſhipful Richard and Roger Letchmore..
• In moſt hearty wiſe I commend me unto you, aſſerting, that
yeſterday I was by ſentence reſtored again to my Biſhoprick, and
• repoſed in the fame, even as fully as I was at any time before I
was deprived ; and by the ſaid ſentence my Uſurper Dr. Ridley is
utterly repulſed : ſo that I would ye did order all things at Kid-
merley and Buſhley at your pleaſures ; not ſuffering ſheep's head
* or ſhip’s-ſide (alluding to Ridley's Brother Shipſide, whom he had
' appointed Keeper of his Park) to be any medler there, or to ſell
* or carry away any thing from thence ; and I truſt at your coming
up now at the Parliament, I ſhall ſo handle the ſaid ſheep's heads
• and the other calves heads, that they ſhall perceive their ſweet
' ſhall not be without four fauce. This day it is looked that Mr.
Canterbury muſt be placed where is meet for him : He is be-
• come very humble and ready to ſubmit himſelf in all things, but
that will not ſerve. In the ſame predicament is Dr. Smith my
• Friend, and the Dean of St. Paul's, with others. Commend
me to your Bedfellows moſt heartily, and remember the liquor
* that I wrote to you for ; this Bearer ſhall declare the reſt, and
. alſo put you in remembrance for beeves and muttons for my
* Houſe-fare. And thus our Bleſſed Lord long and well keep you
all. Written in haſte this 6th of September.
Aſſuredly all
your own
6
" Edmond London..
To one or both of theſe Letchmores Boner granted a leaſe of the
Park and Manor of Buſhley, which Ridley had before leaſed out to
Carr; and there was a bill put up in the Parliament under Queen
Mary that all Ridley's leaſes might be void. But it would not Strype’š.
Mem,..
paſs
430
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY. BOOK VI.
ter.
Burnet.
paſs even in a Parliament of their own, who would not conſent
to fo much injuſtice as that enraged Biſhop meditated,
Cranmer had been permitted to be ſtill at liberty, and continued
quietly at Lambeth, to which place Peter Martyr had fled for ſhel-
His quietneſs was foundation enough for ſome to give out
that he intended to comply with every thing that the Queen deſi-
red. This, by his Letter, Boner ſeems to have believed ; or at leaſt
was willing to report from common fame. This report made
Cranmer, by Peter Martyr's advice, draw up a writing, in which
he proteſted to all the world,' that the Maſs was not ſet up at
Canterbury by his order, but that a fawning hypocritical monk
(meaning Thornton the Suffragan of Dover) had done it without
• his knowledge ; and for what he was ſaid to have undertaken to
• the Queen, her Majeſty knew well how falſe that was : offering,
· if he might obtain her leave for it, to maintain, that every thing
• in the Communion Service which was ſet out by that innocent
• and good King Edward was according to Chriſt's inſtitution, and
• the practice of the Apoſtles and the antient Church for many
ages : and that He and Peter Martyr, or other four or five, ſuch
* as he ſhould chooſe, would be ready to defend, not only their
Book of Common Prayer and the other Rites of their Service,
• but the whole Doctrine and Order of Religion ſet forth by the
• late King, as more pure and more agreeable to the word of God
fort of Religion that had been in England for a thou-
«
ſand years before it: provided, that all things fhould be judged
by the ſcriptures, and that the reafonings on both ſides ſhould
* be faithfully written down ; that the world
that the world may examine
6 and judge them, and that no man may ſtart back from his wri-
ting. And we will join with them in this point, that the Doc-
trine and Uſage is to be followed which was in the Church fif-
* teen hundred years paſt. And we ſhall prove that the Order of
< the
• than any
BOOK VI. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
437"
* the Church, ſet out at this preſent in this Church of England by
- Act of Parliament, is the ſame that was uſed in the Church fif-
. teen hundred years paſt : and ſo ſhall they never be able to prove
theirs.'
This paper the Archbiſhop ſhewed to Scory, defiring him to
conſider it; who indiſcretely gave Copies of it, one of which had
been publickly read in Cheapfide on the 5th of September, which
made people apprehend that Cranmer would be ſent to the Tower.
And theſe apprehenſions were ſo ſtrong, that ſome adviſed the
Archbiſhop to eſcape by flying beyond ſeas. To whom he anſwer-
ed, 'were I accuſed of theft, parricide, or ſome other crime, al-
• though I were innocent, I might peradventure be induced to
• Thift for myſelf: but being queſtioned for my allegiance, not to
men, but unto God, the truth of whoſe Holy Word is to be af-.
· ſerted againſt the errors of Popery ; I have at this time with a
conſtancy befitting a Chriſtian Prelate reſolved rather to leave
my
« life than the kingdom.'
On the 8th of September he was called before the Star Chamber,
and aſked whether he was the Author of that feditious Bill that
was given out in his name. He acknowledged the Bill to be truly
His, but he was ſorry it had gone from him in ſuch a man-
ner; for he had reſolved to have inlarged it in many things, and
to have ordered it to be affixed to the doors of Paul's and of the
other churches in London with his hand and ſeal to it. Contrary
to expectation he was dimiſſed for the preſent : but that day ſe'n-
night he was again called before the Council with Latimer, who was
then committed, and gave Ridley a beloved companion in the
Tower ; the next day Cranmer made up the venerable Fraternity
there, being committed for matters of treaſon againſt the Queen,
and for aggravating his offence by ſpreading abroad feditious bills,
moving tumult, to the great difquietneſs of the preſent ſtate.
As
!
4.32
BOOK VI.
THE LIFE OF
As ſoon as Cranmer was removed out of the way, they prepared
for the Queen's Coronation, which was performed October i by
the Biſhop of Wincheſter, whom the Queen had made her Chan-
cellor. The roth of October the Parliament fate; in which Para
liament the Queen's Illegitimation was taken off, and all the ſta-
tutes made in King Edward's time for adminiſtration of Common
Prayer and the Sacrament in the Engliſh tongue were repealed.
And on the 16th began the Convocation, when Dr. Weſton was
choſen their Prolocutor. He opened the firſt Seſſion on Wedneſday
the 18th, with a Speech certifying the Houſe that it was the
Queen's pleaſure that they ſhould debate of matters of religion ;
and cenſuring the Catechiſm ſet forth in the late reign, and the Book
of Common Prayer (which he called very abominable) he recom-
mended to them to begin with confirming the natural Preſence of
Chriſt in the Sacrament of the Altar, and Tranſubſtantiation : in-
viting all on the enſuing Friday to ſpeak their conſciences freely in
theſe matters, that all doubts might be removed. By impriſoning
ſome Proteſtant Biſhops, and releaſing ſome Popiſh ones, and
practiſing to get ſuch members returned as they wiſhed, they had
got a Convocation to their minds. So that on the Friday, when the
Prolocutor had propoſed that all ſhould ſpeak their conſciences free-
ly, he came prepared with two inſtruments, one eſtabliſhing the
natural preſence of Chriſt's Body in the facrament, and the other
rejecting the Catechiſm, to which he required them to ſubſcribe as
he had done. And only ſix were found who refuſed to comply
with this extraordinary requeſt. One of theſe, Philpot, Archdeacon
of Wincheſter, obferved that it was againſt reaſon, and very preju-
dicial to Truth, that men thould be urged to ſubſcribe before the
points were thoroughly examined and diſcuffed. And whereas
there were ſo many antient learned men preſent on that fide, as
the like in number were not to be found again in the whole realm;
and that on the ſide of them who had not ſubſcribed there were
but
Book VI.
433
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
but five or fix, both in age and learning far inferior, he deſi-
red that the Prolocutor would move the Lords that fome of
thoſe learned men who were now abſent in priſon might be brought
into the Hoaſe; and that particularly Dr. Ridley and Mr. Rogers
with Two or Three more might be licenſed to be preſent at this
diſputation, and be aſſociates with them. This was thought rea-
fonable, but could not be obtained of the Lords. By the account
of theſe Diſputations in Fox the Proteſtants had greatly the ad-
vantage : and indeed by Weſton's concluſion it ſeems to be ac-
knowledged ; who, as Biſhop Burnet relates, pointing out where-
in the ſtrength of both cauſes lay, ſaid, You have the word, but
we have the ſword.
While theſe things were paſſing in the Convocation, Archbiſhop
Cranmer, with the Lord Guilford Dudley and the Lady Jane, and
two more Sons of the Duke of Northumberland were brought to
trial on the 3d of November, and were all attainted of High Trea-
ſon, for levying war againſt the Queen. The Parliament, ha-
ving confirmed their attainders, was diſſolved as well as the Con-
vocation early in December. And on the 21ſt of that month maſs
began to be celebrated throughout England.
The Archbiſhop, grieving to ſuffer as a Traytor, made moſt
humble Submiffion to the Queen, intreating for his pardon; repre-
ſenting and appealing to the Council, in proof, with what difficul-
ty and reluctance he had been conſtrained to ſign to the late King's
will; and that not before thoſe, whoſe profeffion it was to under-
ſtand the Laws, had aſſured him of the Legality of it. The reſt of
the Council, though none of them had dared the King's and the
Duke of Northumberland's diſpleaſure ſo honeſtly as he had done
in right of her ſucceſſion, were preſently received to favor : but
his pronouncing her Mother's Divorce from King Henry, by which
ſhe had been illegitimated, could not be forgiven. At laſt, after
ſome months, ſhe quieted the Archbiſhop's mind by a Pardon for
his
..
3 K
434
Book VI.
THE LIFE OF
his Treaſon, having inercifully determined to burn him for Here-
ſy. Of which mercy Ridley alſo partook, being never queſtioned
for his Sermon at Paul's Croſs, as the Queen had reſolved to
puniſh him more ſeverely than by the ax.
Notwithſtanding which reſolution Ridley might have redemed him-
ſelf, and recovered her favor, if he would have brought over the weight
of his learning and authority to countenance her procedings in Re-
ligion. He was therefore foon treated with more reſpect and in-
dulgence than the other Priſoners in the Tower ; having the liber-
ty of walking about in it, to ſee whether he would voluntarily be
preſent at the Maſs or not. And Mr. Fox ſays he once was there:
but upon Bradford's writing to him what offence might be given
thereby, he refrained always after. I cannot but think Fox was
miſinformed, from a paſſage or two in Ridley's Conference with
Latimer. Where he introduces the Papiſts inviting him to Maſs
in theſe words ; * All men marvel greatly why You, after the li-
berty which you have granted unto You more than the reſt, do
' not go to Maſs.
to Maſs. What is it then that offendeth you
ſo greatly,
• that you will not vouchfafe ONCE either to hear it, or to ſee it?
And admit there be a fault, if you do not conſent thereto, why
* do you trouble yourſelf in vain ? Do you not know both from
Cyprian and Auſtin that Communion of Sacraments doth not de-
* file a man, but conſent of deeds ?' In anſwer, he mentions what
things offended him in the Maſs, and then adds this reaſon for ab-
ſenting himſelf from it, • left he ſhould ſeem by outward fact to
allow the thing which he was perſuaded was contrary to found
* doctrine, and ſo ſhould be a ſtumbling block to the weak :' and
then acknowledges, that if it were any one trifling Ceremony,
or if it were ſome one thing of itſelf indifferent (although I would
• wiſh nothing ſhould be done in the Church which doth not edi-
fy the ſame) yet for the continuance of the common quietneſs, I
* would be content to bear it. But foraſmuch as things done in
o the
!
moment
BOOK VE DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
435
the Maſs tend openly to the overthrow of Chriſt's Inſtitution, I
* judge that by no means, either in word or deed I ought to con-
< ſent to it. As to what Cyprian and Auſtin ſay, they meant it of
* thoſe who ſuppoſed they were defiled, if any ſecret vice were ei-
'ther in the miniſters, or in them who communicate with them :
not of thoſe who refuſed to ſuffer fuperftition and the wicked
* traditions of men to be thruſt upon themſelves or the Church.'
After this we cannot ſuppoſe he would act fo contrary to his
own judgment, as to be guilty of that offence with which Fox ac-
cuſes him ; neither could Bradford produce better reaſons to dir-
ſuade him, than thoſe of which he himſelf already felt the force.
If we ſuppoſe this preſence at the Maſs was before, and his reaſons
given were the fruit of Bradford's remonftrance, how comes he to
put the Queſtion, “why will not you vouchſafe once to see it?'
I think therefore that in this Fox muſt have been miſinformed.
Lord's
and others.
1
However, it is certain he was uſed with great Preface to
$.4. Ridley's con civility in the Tower ; the Papiſts ſpared neither Treatiſe
ference with the Lien-
courteſy, compliment, nor argument to win him. on the
tenant of the Tower,
One day he was invited to dine with ſome Gen- Supper.
tlemen at the Lieutenant's table, who was Sir
Jchn a Bruges, or Bridges, ſhortly after created Lord Chandois.
There were preſent beſide, the Lieutenant's Brother, Chief Juſtice
Cholmly, Mr. Secretary Bourne, Fecknam Dean of St. Paul's, and
Mr. Pope; who, it ſeems, were appointed Commiſſioners from the
Queen to ſift him. The report of this Conference, Fox tells us,
is from Ridley himſelf; which Mr. Bridges, the Lieutenant's Bro-
ther, opened with a Requeſt, as the Biſhop relates it :
Bridg. I pray you, Maſter Doctors, for my learning, tell me
what an Heretick is.
Secretary Bourne. I will tell you who is an Heretick. Whoſo
ſtubbornly and ſtiffly maintaineth an untruth, He is an Heretick.
Ridl.
*
3 K 2
+
V
436
Book VI.
THE LIFE OF
Ridl. You mean, Sir, an untruth in matters of religion, and con-
cerning our Faith. Yea, that is true, faid He. And in this we
are foon agreed. Then ſaid Mr. Fecknamn, I will tell you by St.
Auſtin who is an Heretick ; He is an Heretick who broaches
or followeth falſe opinions in flattery to Princes, or for the ſake of
worldly profit
Sir, ſaid I, I ween St. Auſtin addeth another member, or for
the ſake of vain glory. You ſay even true, Maſter Doctor, ſaid
he. And thus far we did
agree
all Three.
Fecknam, Whoſo doth not believe what the ſcripture affirm-
eth, but will obſtinately maintain the contrary, He is an Here-
tick. As in the Sacrament of the Altar, Matthew doth affirm
there to be Chriſt's Body ; Mark doth affirm it; Luke affirmeth
it; Paul affirmeth it, and none denyeth it. Therefore to hold the
contrary is Herefy. It is the ſame body and fleſh that was born of
the Virgin : and this is confirmed by Unity, Antiquity, and Uni-
verfality. For none before Berengarius did ever doubt of this; and
He was an Heretick Maſter Doctor there knoweth full well: I
do take to witneſs his own conſcience.
Secretary Bourne.
Marry, Sir. Maſter Fecknam hath ſpoken
well. Theſe be great matters, Unity, Antiquity, and Univerſa-
lity. Do you not think ſo, Maſter Doctor ?
Here, while I ſtrained courteſy, and pretended no willingneſs
to talk, faid one of the Commiſſioners, Peradventure Maſter Rid-
ley doth agree with Maſter Fecknam, and there needs not much
debating of the matter.
Sir, ſaid I, in ſome things I do, and ſhall agree with him; and
in ſome things which he hath ſpoken, to be plane, I do not agree
with him at all. Maſters, ye be (as I underſtand) the Queen's
Commiſſioners here ; and if ye have Commiſſion to examine me
in theſe matters, I ſhall declare unto you planely my faith ; if you
have not, then I ſhall pray you, either give me leave to ſpeak
my
2
BOOK VI.
437
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
.
And then every
iny mind freely, or elſe to hold my peace. There is none here,
faid Maſter Secretary, that doth not favor you.
man ſhewed what favor they bare toward me, and how glad they
would be of an agreement. But as I ſtrained to have licence of
them in plane words to freak my mind, ſome thought they hardly
did grant it me, or at leaſt reluctantly. Well, at the laſt, I was
content to take it for licenſed, and ſo began to talk. To Maſler
Fecknam's argument of the manifold affirmation where no denial
was, I anſwered; where there are a multitude of affirmations in
ſcripture, and where there is but one affirmation, all is one con-
cerning the truth of the matter : for that which any one of the
I vangelists fpake, inſpired by the Holy Ghoſt, was as true as that
which is ſpoken of them all. It is as true that St. John faith of
Chriſt, I am the door of the ſheep, as if all had ſaid it. For it is
not in ſcripture as in witneſs of men, where the number is credit-
ed more than one, becauſe it is uncertain with what fpirit He
doth ſpeak. And where Maſter Fecknam ſpake of ſo many, affirm-
ing without any negation, Sir, ſaid I, all They do affirm the thing
which they meant. Now, if ye take their words, to leave their
meaning, then do they affirm what you take, but not what they
Sir, ſaid I, if in talk with you, I ſhould fo utter my mind
in words, that you by the ſame do, and may planely perceive my
meaning ; and could, if you would be captious, cavil at my words,
and writhe them to another ſenſe, I would think ye were no gen-
tle companions to talk with, except ye did take my words, as ye
did perceive I did mean.
Marry, quoth Maſter Secretary, we ſhould alſo do you plane in-
jury and wrong.
Maſter Fecknam perceiving whereunto my talk went, Why,
quoth he, what circumſtances can you ſhew me that ſhould move
me to think of any other ſenſe, than as the words planely fay, This
is my body which ſhall be given for you?
Sir,
meant.
438
BOOK VI.
THE LIFE OF
Sir, ſaid I, even the next ſentence that followeth, Do this in R:-
membrance of me. And alſo by what reaſon you ſay the bread is
turned into Chriſt's carnal body, by the fame I may ſay that it is
turned into his myſtical body. For as that ſaith of it, This is my
Body which ſhall be given for you ; fo Paul, who ſpake by Chriſt's
Spirit, faith, We being many are one bread, and one body : for we
uire all partakers of that one bread.
Here he calleth one bread one loaf, ſaid Maſter Secretary.
Yea, ſaid I, one loaf, one bread, all is one with me.
But what ſay you, faith Maſter Secretary, of the Univerſality,
Antiquity, and Unity, that Maſter Fecknam fpake of ?
I enſure you, ſaid I, I think them matters weighty, and to be
conſidered well. As for Unity the truth is before God, I do be-
lieve it, and embrace it, ſo it be with verity, and joined to our
head Chriſt, and ſuch One as Paul ſpeaketh of, One Faith, one
God, one Baprifm. And for Antiquity, I am alſo perſuaded that
to be true which Irenæus faith, That which is firſt is true.
Religion Chriſt's faith was firſt truly taught by Chriſt himſelf, by
his Apoſtles, and by many good men, that from the beginning
did ſuccede next unto them. And for this controverſy of the Sa-
crament, I am perſuaded that thoſe old writers, who wrote before
the controverſy, and the uſurping of the See of Rome, do all agree,
if they be well underſtood, in this truth.
I am glad to hear, ſaid Maſter Secretary, that you do fo well
eſteem the Doctors of the Church.
Now as for Univerſality (ſaid the Biſhop) it may have Two
meanings; one to underſtand that to be Univerſal which from the
beginning in all ages hath been allowed ; another to underſtand
Univerſality for the multitude of our age, or of any other ſingular
age,
No, no, faith Maſter Secretary, theſe Three do always agree;
and where there is one, there are all the reſt.
And
In our
ز
1
Book VI. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
439
And here He and I changed many words. And finally, to be
ſhort, in this matter we did not agree.
There were none, faith Maſter Fecknam, before Berengarius,
Wickliff, and Huſs, and now in our days Caroloftadius, and Oeco-
lampadius. And Caroloftadius faith, Chriſt pointed to his own
Body, and not to the Sacrament, and ſaid, This is my Body. And
Melar.cthon writeth to one Micronius–Myconius, ſaid I'- theſe
or like words. I can find no ſufficiently good reaſon why I ſhould dif-.
ſent from the faith of our Anceſtors in this matter.
Thus when he had ſpoken at length with many other words
more; Sir, faid I, it is certain, that other before Theſe have writ-
ten of this matter : not by the way only, as do for the moſt all
the old writers, but even profeſſedly, and their whole books treat
of it alone, as Bertram.
Bertram ? ſaid the Secretary, what man was He ? and who was
he? and how do you know? with many queſtions.
Sir, quoth I, I have read his book ; he propoſeth the ſame
queſtion which is now in controverſy, and anſwereth fo directly,
that no man may doubt but that he affirmeth, that the ſubſtance
of bread remaineth ſtill in the Sacrament; and he wrote to Charles
the Great.
Marry, quoth he, mark, for there is a matter.
He wrote to
Harry, and not to Charles ; for no author maketh
ſuch men-
tion of Bertram,
Yes, quoth I, Trithemius in his Catalogue of Illuſtrious Wri-
ters ſpeaketh of him. Trithemius indeed was but of late time ; but
he ſpeaketh of them that were of antiquity.
Here, after much talk of Bertram, What authors have ye, quoth
Maſter Secretary, to make of the Sacrament a Figure ? Sir, quoth
I,
any ſuch
Oſwald Myconius had been Schoolmaſter at Zurick, and ſucceded colampadius at
Baſil; Martin Micronius had lived ſome time in England, and allifted à Laſco in the care
of the ſtrangers church in London.
449
Book VI.
THE LIFE OF
man.
;
all agree
I, you know, I think, that Tertullian in plane words ſpeaketh
thus ; This is my Body : tbat is, a Figure of my Body. And Gela-
fius faith planely, that the Subſtance of bread remaineth. And Ori-
gen faith likewiſe, That wbich is fanétified, as touching the matter
or ſuliſtance, paſſeth away into the draught.
Maſter Secretary ſaid to me, you know very well as well as any
.
And here, if I would, I might have been ſet in a fooliſh
paradiſe of his commendation of my learning, and that I was a
man of inuch reading, and more to like purpoſe : but this I would
net take at his hand. He ſet me not up ſo high, but I brought
myſelf as low again ; and here was much ado. As for Melancthon,
(quoch I) whom Maſter Fecknamn ſpake of, I marvel that you
will
alledge him
for we are nearer an agreement here in England,
than the opinion of Melancthon is to you : for in this point we
here, that there is in the Sacrament but one material ſub-
ſtance; and Melancthon, as I ween, faith there are two.
You ſay truth, quoth Maſter Secretary ; Melancthon's opinion
is ſo. But I pray you, ye have heard that the Sacrament was in
old time fo reverenced, that many were then forbidden to be pie-
fent at the adminiſtration thereof, the Catechumens, and
many
more.
Truth, Sir, quoth I, there were foine called Audientes, ſome
Pænitentes, ſome Catechumens, and Energumeni, who were coin-
manded to depart.
How, quoth he, and how can you then make but a figure or a
ſign of the Sacrament, as that book doth which is ſet forth in niy
Lord of Canterbury's name? I wiſt you can tell who made it ;
Did not you make it? And here was much murmuring of the
reſt, as though they would have given me the glory of the writing
of that book; which yet was ſaid of ſome there to contain the moſt
heinous hereſy that ever was.
Maſter
>
Book VI.
441
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
Maſter Secretary, quoth I, that book was made of a great learn-
ed man, and one who is able to do the like again : as for me I af-
ſure you (be not deceived in me) I was never able to do or write
any ſuch like thing; he pafſeth me no leſs than the learned Maſter
his young Scholar.- Now here every man would have his ſaying,
which I paſs over, not much material to tell.-- But, Sir, quoth I,
methinks it is not charitably done, to bear the people in hand, that
any man doth ſo lightly eſteem the Sacrament, as to make of it a
figure only; but that but maketh it a bare figure without any more
profit; which that book doth often deny, as appeareth to the Rea-
der moſt planely.
Yes, quoth he, that they do, Sir.
No, quoth I, of a truth: and as for me, I affure you I make no
leſs of the Sacrament than thus; I ſay whoſoever receiveth the Sa-
crament, he receiveth either life or death.
No, quoth Maſter Secretary, Scripture faith not fo.
Sir, quoth I, although not in the ſame found of words, yet it
doth in the ſame ſenſe : and St. Auftin faith, in the found of
words alſo, for Paul faith ; the bread which we break is it not the
partaking or fellowſkip of the body of Chriſt ?' And Auſtin, Eat life,
drink life.
Then ſaid Maſter Pope, what can ye make of it when ye fay,
there is not the real body of Chriſt : which I do believe, and pray
God I may never believe other. How can ye bring as ye ſay either
lifu or death, when Chriſt's body is not there?
Sir, quoth I, when you hear Chriſt's word truly preached, if ye
do believe it, and abide in it, ye ſhall and do receive life with all
and if ye do not believe it, it doth bring unto you death : and yet
Chriſt's body is ſtill in heaven, and not carnal in every Preacher's
mouth.
I pray you tell me, quoth he, how can you anſwer to this, which
ſhall be given for you.: was the figure of Chriſt's body given for us ?
No,
3
3 L
's
442
BOOK VI.
THE LIFE op
for you
were of
No, Sir, quoth I, but the very body itſelf, whereof the Sacra-
ment is a facrainental figure.
How ſay you then, faith he, to theſe words, which ſhall be given
?
Forſooth, quoth I, Tertullian's expoſition maketh it plane ; for
he faith, the Body is a figure of the Body. Now put to it which ſhall
be given for you, and it agreeth exceeding well.
In faith, quoth he, I would give forty pounds that you
a good opinion. For I aſſure you, I have heard you, and had an
affection to you.
I thank
you,
Maſter Pope, for your heart and mind; and
you
know, quoth I, I were a very fool if I would in this matter diffent
from
you, if that in my conſcience the truth did not enforce me fo
to do. For I wiſs, as ye do perceive I trow, it is ſomewhat out
of my way, if I would eſteem worldly gain.
What fay you, faith he, to Cyprian? Doth he not ſay planely,
the bread which the Lord did deliver being changed, not according to
the form, but according to the nature thereof, by the omnipotent word
is made fleſh.
True, Sir, ſo he doth ſay, and I anſwer the ſame which once by
chance I preached at Paul's Croſs in a ſermon, for the which I have
been as unjuſtly reported of, as any poor man hath been. For there,
I ſpeaking of the Sacrament, and inveighing againſt them that
eſteemed it no better than a piece of bread, told even the ſame
thing of Pænitentes, Audientes, Catechumeni, and Energumeni that I
{pake of before : and I bad them depart, as unworthy to hear the
myſtery; and then I ſaid to thoſe that be San&ti, Cyprian the Mar-
tyr ſhall tell you how it is that. Chriſt calleth it, ſaying, Bread is
the body, meat, drink, and flesh; becauſe unto this material ſub-
ſtance is given the property of the thing whereof it beareth the
name: and this place then took. I to utter as the time would then
fuffer, that the material ſubſtance of bread doth remain. -- Maſter
Fecknam (who, as is reported to me, did belie me openly in the ſame
matter
Book VI. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
443
3
matter at Paul's Croſs) heard all this my talk, as red as ſcarict in
his face, and herein anſwered me never one word.
You do know well, quoth Maſter Secretary, that Origen and
Tertullian were not Catholick, but erred.
Sir, ſaid I, there is none of all the Doctors that are holden in
all points, but are thought to have erred in ſome things. But yet
I never heard that it was either laid to Origen's charge, or to Ter-
tullians, that ever they were thought to have erred in this matter
of the Sacrament.
What, ſaid Maſter Cholinley, late Chief Juſtice, doth not Chriſt
fay planely, that it is his very fleſh, and his very blood, and we
muſt needs eat him, or we can have no life?
Sir, replied I, if you will hear how St. Auſtin expoundeth
that place, you ſhall perceive that you are in a wrong box. And
then I began to tell St. Auſtin's mind in his Book Of Chriſtian
Doctrine:
Yea, yea, ſaid Maſter Secretary, that is true, St. Auſtin does take
it figuratively indeed.
Forty years ago, ſaid Maſter Fecknam, all were of one opinion
in this matter.
Forty years ago, ſaid I, all held that the Biſhop of Rome was
fupreme Head of the Univerſal Church.
What then? was Maſter Fecknam beginning to ſay: but Maſter
Secretary took the tale, and ſaid, that was but a poſitive Law.
A poſitive Law, ſaid I; no, Sir, He would not have it ſo : for
it is in his decrees, that he challenged it by Chriſt's own word.
For his Decree faith, The Church of Rome was advanced above all
other churches, not by any Synodical Conſtitutions, nor by Councils,
but by the expreſs voice of the Lord, according as the Lord ſaid to
Peter, Thou art Peter. And in another place, Thou art Cephas,
that is to ſay, the Head.
Tuſh,
3 L 2
**
444
BOOK VI.
THE LIFE OF
2
I
:
Tuſh, it was not counted an article (faid Maſter Secretary) of our
Faith.
Yes, ſaid I, if you call that an Article of our Faith, which is
to be believed under pain of damnation. For he faith, We abfo-
lutely determine, declare, and pronounce, that every creature is ſub-
ject to the obedience of the Biſhop of Rome upon neceſſity of Sal-
vation.
And here when we ſpake of laws and decrees Maſter Roger
Chomley thought himſelf much wronged, that he could not be
fuffered to ſpeak, the reſt were ſo ready to interrupt him ; and
then he up and told a long tale what laws were of Kings of En-
gland made againſt the Biſhop of Rome ; and was vehement to
tell how they alway of the Clergy did fly to him. And here, be-
cauſe he feemed to ſpeak of many things beſide our purpoſe, he was
anſwered of his own fellows, and I let them talk.
Finally, we departed in peace; and Maſter Secretary promiſed in
the end, that of their talk there ſhould come to me no harm.
And after I had made my moan for lack of my Books, he faid they
were all once given to him: but ſince I know (faid he) who hath
them now, write me the name of ſuch as you would have, and I
will ſpeak for you the beſt I can.
Till the Kentiſh Inſurrection under Wyatt Irad fürniſhed the
Tower with crowds of Priſoners the Biſhops appear to have had ſe-
parate rooms, with the opportunity of meeting ſome times, when
they were indulged to take the benefit of the air in the garden of
the Tower : but at thoſe interviews they were guarded. Ridley was
defirous of a ſerious conference with his Fellow Prifoners to ſift his
own opinions, and correct or ſtrengthem them from the experience
of thoſe Veterans.. He knew his life was at ſtake, and he verily
believed the Truth of Chriſt was lo allo : he would not willingly
ruſh on death through tortures for a miſtaken queſtion, or a point
of little importance;, nor weakly betray the cauſe of Truth, either
overreached
>
a
.
BOOK VI. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
445
overreached by their ſophiftry, or terrified by their cruelties. He
therefore deſired the fincere advice of theſe true Friends, either to
point out his errors, or confirm his reſolution. For which purpoſe
he wrote to them, ſetting down his own reaſons, and leaving a
blank under each, which he wiſhed thoſe venerable Fathers to fill
up
with their obſervations or corrections. Latimer's anſwers are pre-
ferved.
' N. Ridley. In the name of Jeſus let every knee
$. 5. Conference bow. Phil. 11.
between Dr. Ridley
and Maſter Latimer. A Biſhop ought to be unreproveable, as the
Steward of God, cleaving faſt to the true word of
doctrine, Tit. II. All worldly reſpects put apart, of ſhame, death,
loſs of goods, and worldly commodities : let me have, I pray you,
your advice in theſe matters following. That is, your aſſent and
confirmation in thoſe things which you judge that God doth allow;
and your beſt counſel and advertiſement, where you think other-
wiſe; and your reaſons for both the ſame. For the wiſe man faith,
One Brother which is helped of another, is like a well-defended
city. Prov. XVII.
The cauſes that move me to abſtain from the Maſs be theſe;
I. It is done in a ſtrange tongue, which the people do not under-
tand, contrary to the doctrine of the Apoſtle. 1 Cor. xiv.
H. Latimer. Where is no underſtanding, there is neither edi-
fying or comfort: for beſide that they ſpeak into the air, the mind
receiveth no profit. They are one to another as aliens, the Pa-
riſhioners will ſay their Prieſts are mad : whereas all things might:
be done ſo as they may edify: Let every man know that the things
which I write (faith St. Paul) are the commandments of the Lord:
ſuch abſurdities are to be eſchewed.
N. Ridley. II. There is alſo wanting the ſhewing of the Lord's
death, contrary to the mind of the Apoſtle : As often as ye ſhall
eat
?
3
446
Book VI.
tat
THE LIFE OF
eat this bread, and drink of this cup, ye hall shew the Lord's death
till be come, i Cor. XI.
,
What thewing can be there, where no
man heareth, that is to ſay, underſtandeth what is ſaid ? No man;
I mean, of the common people, for whoſe profit the prayer of the
Church ought ſpecially to ſerve.
H. Latimer. Chriſt faith, Wo be unto you that take away the key
of knowledge, Luke xi. The Papiſts ſtudy by all means to make
the people ignorant (left their ignorant Sir Johns ſhould be had in
lefs eſtimation, or deſpiſed) which is clean contrary to St. Paul's
practice, who withed that all men might be fulfilled with all know-
ledge, and to be perfect in Chriſt Jeſus, Coloff. 1. The inſtitution
of Chriſt, if it were rehearſed in the vulgar tongue, ſhould be not
only a conſecration, but alſo a fruitful preaching, to the edifica-
tion of the Hearers : whereas in the Popiſh Maſs it is neither un-
derſtood, nor heard, whilſt the common people are utterly igno-
rant what their Prieſts do, or what they go about, whether they
blefs or curſe. The Apoſtles underſtood Chriſt, when he celebra-
ted his Supper. Therefore do theſe Papiſts ſwerve from Chriſt in
their Maſs
N. Ridley. III. There is no Communion, but it is made a pri-
vate table; whereas indeed it ought to be a Communion. For
St. Paul faith, The bread which we break is the partaking of the
Body of Chriſt, 1 Cor. x. And Chriſt brake, diſtributed, and ſaid,
Take and eat, Matth. XXVI. But they make it a private table, it
For where they be many Prieſts which will com-
municate, they do it not at one table or altar, but every one of
them have their altars, maſſes, and tables.
H. Latimer. To make that private which Chriſt made com-
mon, and willed to be communicated, may ſeem to be the work-
manſhip of Antichriſt himſelf. The Canons of the Apoſtles do
excommunicate them, who being preſent at common Prayer, do
not alſo receive the holy Communion. And unto the ſame agreeth
the
is open.
1.
.
YN
::
447
BOOK VI. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
the decree of Anaclitus : when the Confecration is done, ſays he,
let all ſuch communicate, as intend not to be excommunicate,
,
(De Conf. Dift. 1. Cap. Ep. 1.) Tertullian faith, That which is
firſt, is true : that which is latter is counterfeited. But the Pa-
piſts ſay, we do it privately, becauſe we do it for others. But
where have you your commiſſion to maſs and facrifice for others ?
N. Ridley. IV. The Lord's Commandment of communicating
the Cup unto the Lay people is not obſerved, according to the
word of the Lord, Drink ye all of This, Matth. xxvi.
H. Latimer. Paul faith, As often as ye mall eat of this bread,
and drink of this cup, ye ſhall mew the Lord's death, 1 Cor. XI.
So that not the partaking of the one only, but of both, is a ſhew-
ing of the Lord's death ; becauſe in his death the blood was divi-
ded from his body, it is neceſſary that the ſame diviſion be repre-
ſented in the ſupper, otherwiſe the ſupper is not a ſhewing of the
Lord's death. Let a man examine himſelf. But this word Homo
is of both genders, therefore it is as well commanded to the wo-
man to drink of the cup, as the man.
But the King's argument
once againſt me was this, when ye come together to eat ; he faith .
not (faid he) to drink. I anſwered it was not needful, ſeeing that
a little before he had mention of both in theſe words, And ſo let
him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup, 1 Cor. xi. Homo, that
is to ſay, as well the woman as the man.
Under the name of
bread, which betokeneth all ſuſtenance of the body, drink, is alſo
underſtood in the ſcriptures. Otherwiſe they would ſay, that
Chriſt did not drink after his reſurrection with his Diſciples, ex-
cept Peter had ſaid, We did eat and drink with him after he aroſe
from death, Acts x.
N. Ridley. V. They do flaviſhly ſerve the holy ſign (as St.
Auſtin ſpeaketh) inſtead of the thing ſignified, whilſt the facra-
mental bread (by a folemn or common error) is adored and wor-
thipped, for the fleſh taken of the Son of God..
H. Latimer,
B
:
448
Book VI.
THE LIFE Op
:
ye.
XXIX.
H. Latimer. If you deny unto them their corporal preſence a
tranſubſtantiation, their fantaſtical adoration will (by and by) va-
nith away. Therefore be ſtrong in denying ſuch a preſence, and
then you have won the field. Furthermore, in the firſt Supper
celebrated of Chriſt himſelf, there is no mention made of adora-
tion of the elements, who faid, eat ye, and Drink ye, not, worſhip
Therefore againft adoration may be ſpoken that ſaying of
Chrift concerning divorce, From the beginning it was not fo, Matth.
But the divil fecretly (and by little and little) infected all
Chrift's ordinances : and as for the private Maſs, with all the fi-
news thereof, what manner of a thing it is, may be eaſily per-
ceived by the ready acceptation of the people, whoſe hearts are
prone to evil even from their youth, Gėn. vii.
N. Ridley. VI. They pluck away the honor from the only fa-
crifice of Chriſt, whiles this facramental and maſs Sacrifice is be-
lieved to be propitiatory, and ſuch a one as purgeth the ſouls both
of the quick and dead : contrary to that is written in the He-
brews, With one offering bath be made perfect for ever them that
are fan&tified. And again, where remiffion of thoſe things (that is,
Jeſus) is, there is no more offering for fin, Hebr. X.
H. Latimer. By his own perfon he hath purged our fins, Hebr. II.
Theſe words by bis own perfon have an emphaſis or vehemence,
which driveth away all facrificing Prieſts from ſuch office of ſacri-
ficing: ſeeing that which he hath done by himſelf, he hath not
left to be perfected by other ; ſo that the putting away of our fins
may more truly be thought paft and done, than a thing to come
and to be done. If any man fin, John 11. He faith not, let him
have a Prieſt at home to facrifice for him, but, we have an Advo-
cate, the virtue of whoſe One oblation endureth for ever. St. Paul
faith, they that ſerve the altar are partakers with ibe altar ; even
Jo the Lord hath ordained that they which preach the Goſpel fhould
live of the Goſpel, 1 Cor. ix. Why doth he not rather fay, They
that facrifice in the Maſs ?
N. Ridley.
?
*
!
Book VI. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
449
N. Ridley. VII. There be manifold abuſes and ſuperſtitions
which are done in the Maſs, and about the Maſs : ſalt is conjured,
that it
may be a conjured falt for the ſalvation of the believers, to
be a ſalvation and health both of the mind and of the body unto
everlaſting life, to all them that receive it. Water is conjured, to
chaſe away all the power of the enemy, to chaſe away all divils.
Bread alſo hath his ſecond Bleſſing, that it may be health of mind
and body to all them that receive it. If we do think that ſuch
ſtrength is to be given to falt, water, and bread, or if we judge
that theſe things are able to receive any ſuch virtue or efficacy,
what leave we to Chriſt our Saviour ? But if we think not ſo, why
then do we pray on this ſort ? foraſmuch as all prayer ought to
be done of faith.
H. Latimer. As touching the abuſes of the Maſs, I refer you
to a little book, the title whereof is Miſtreſs Milla, where ſhe
was juſtly condemned and baniſhed under pain of burning. But
the divil hath brought her in again, to bring us to burning.
N. Ridley. VIII. The Prieſt turneth himſelf from the altar,
and ſpeaketh unto the people in an unknown tongue, ſaying, Doa
minus vobiſcum.
Orate pro me, fratres et forores. i. e. " The
• Lord be with you. Pray for me, Brothers and Siſters.' And
turning from the people, he faith in Latin, “Let us pray.'
And,
• The peace of the Lord be alway with you.' Alſo the people (or
at leaſt He which ſupplieth the place of the people) is compelled
three times to ſay, Amen, when he hath heard never a word of
that the Prieſt hath praid, or ſpoken, except thoſe few words, Per
omnia fecula feculorum. Whereas to the anſwering of Amen St. Paul
willeth the Anſwerer, not only to hear, but alſo to underſtand
the things that were ſpoken.
H. Latimer. Yea, and Ite Mila eft muſt be ſung to them with
a great rolling up and down of notes, ſo bidding them go home
fafting, when he hath eaten and drank up all himſelf alone. A
M
fellow
3
450
Book VI.
THE LIFE OF
:
fellow once rebuked for going away before Maſs was ended, an-
ſwered, that it was not good manners to tarry till he was bidden to
go. After that, he was blamed for not taking Holy bread : he
anſwered, that he was bidden go away before.
N. Ridley. IX. The Prieſt, when he lifteth up the Sacrament,
murmureth to himſelf theſe words : Hoc quotiefcunque feceritis,
in mei memoriam facietis. i. e. As often as ye do theſe things, ye
fall do them in remembrance of me. He ſeemeth by his words to
ſpeak unto the people, but he ſuffereth not his voice to be heard of
the people.
H. Latimer. I cannot tell to whom the maſs man ſpeaketh as
he is a lifting, ſeeing that neither Chriſt bad him lift, neither is
the people allowed to do thoſe things; and as for that form of
words, it is of their own framing. But the Papiſts do all things
well, be they never ſo much deceitful workers, taking upon them
the viſor and title of the Church, as it were ſheep's clothing, as
though they were the miniſters of righteouſneſs; whereas indeed
they are the divil's miniſters, whoſe end ſhall be according to their
deeds, 2 Cor. ir. They roll out their Latin language by heart,
but in ſo doing they make the poor people of Chriſt altogether ig-
norant: and ſo much as in them lieth, they keep them back from
that which St. Paul calleth the beſt knowledge, 1 Cor. II. which
is to know rightly the things which are given unto us of Chriſt.
But this is the matter, ſo long as the Prieſts ſpeak Latin, they are
thought of the people to be marvellous well-learned.
N. Ridley. X. More yet of the. Canon Upon the which
- vouchſafe to look with thy merciful and chearful countenance.'
What meaneth this Prayer for the Sacrament itſelf, if it be as they
ſay, the Body of Chriſt, if it be God and Man? How ſhould the
Father not look with a chearful countenance upon his only well
beloved Son? Why do not we rather pray for ourſelves, that we
(for
i
Book VI. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
451
"
(for his fake) may be looked upon of the Father with a chearful
countenance ?
H. Latimer. To this let them anſwer that fo pray : except
peradventure this prayer was uſed long before it was eiteemed to
be the Body of Chriſt really and corporally : and then this Prayer
maketh well to deſtroy the Popith opinion, that it is not the opi-
nion of the Church, nor ſo antient as they babble. There be other
prayers of the Maſs, which peradventure be of like effect, but I
have forgotten all maſſing matters, and the Maſs itſelf I utterly
deteſt, and abhor: and ſo I confeſſed openly before our Diotrephes
and others. [Meaning Gardiner and the Council.]
N. Ridley. XI. The Canon again : - Command theſe to be
* carried by the hands of thy holy angel unto thy high altar. If
we underſtand the body and blood of Chriſt, wherefore do we fo
ſoon defire the departure of them, before the receipt of the fame?
And wherefore brought we them thither by making of them, to
let him go ſo ſoon?
Write again, I beſeech you, Fathers and Brethren, moſt dearly
beloved in Chriſt, ſpare not my paper : for I look ere it be long,
that our common enemy will firſt aſſault me, and I wiſh from the
bottom of my heart, to be holpen not only by your prayers, but
alſo by your wholeſome counſels,
H. Latimer. As Peter when he faith, let us make here Three
Tabernacles, Matth. xvii. ſpake, and wiſt not what; lo perad-
venture our maſs men cannot tell what they ſay, ſpeaking ſo ma-
nifeſtly againſt themſelves. So that the old proverb may well be
ſpoken of them, Liars had need to have good memories.
Then, much paper being purpoſely left for his further thoughts,
Latimer wrote a conſiderable deal againſt the ſacrifice of the Maſs,
proving that there is no mention of it in ſcripture, the latter part
of which is as follows.
3 M 2
* H. Latimer.
452
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y. Book VI.
<
ing upon
· H. Latimer. If an Angel from heaven ſkall teach any thing be-
hide that ye have received in the ſcriptures of the Law and the
Goſpel) let him be accurſed, Galat. 1. Our Diotrephes (the Biſhop
of Wincheſter) with his Papiſts are under this curſe. But how
are the ſcriptures (ſay they) to be underſtood ? St. Auſtin anſwer-
eth, giving this rule, “ The circumſtances of the ſcriptures (faith
he) enlighten the ſcriptures, and ſo one fcripture doth expound
• another, to a man that is ſtudious, well willing, and often call-
God in continual prayer, who giveth his Holy Spirit to
• them that deſire it of him'. De Doctrin. Chriſtian. lib. 3. c. 28.
So that the ſcripture is not of any private interpretation at any
time. For ſuch a one though he be a Layman, fearing God, is
much more fit to underſtand the ſcripture, than any arrogant and
proud Prieſt : yea, than the Biſhop himſelf, be he never ſo great,
and gliſtering in all his Pontificals. But what is to be ſaid of the
Fathers ? How are they to be eſteemed ? St. Auſtin anſwereth,
giving this rule alſo: that “we ſhould not therefore think it true,
• becauſe they ſay fo, excell they never ſo much in holineſs and
« learning : but if they be able to prove their ſaying by the canoni-
• cal fcriptures, or by good probable reaſon.” (Epiſt. 19 ad Hier.)
Meaning that to be a probable reaſon (as I think) which doth or-
derly follow upon a right collection and gathering out of the fcrip-
ture.
Let the Papiſts go with their long faith, be you contented witli
the ſhort faith of the ſaints, which is reveled unto us in the word
of God written. Adieu to all Popiſh fancies, Amen. For one
man having the ſcripture and good reaſon for him, is more to be
eſteemed himſelf alone, than a thouſand ſuch as They, either ga-
thered together, or ſucceding: one another. The Fathers have
both herbs and weeds, and Papifts commonly gather the weeds,
and leave the herbs. And they ſpeak many times more vehement-
ty in ſound of words, than they did mean indeed ; or than they
would
.
Book VI.
453
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
would have done, if they had forſeen what ſophiſtical wranglers
fhould have ſucceded them. Now the Papiſts are given to brawl
about words, to the maintenance of their own inventions, and ra-
ther follow the ſound of words than attain unto the meaning of
the Fathers, ſo that it is dangerous to truſt them in citing the
Fathers.
In all ages the divil hath ſtirred up ſome light heads to eſteem
the facraments but lightly, as to be empty and bare ſigns, whom
the Fathers have reſiſted fo fiercely, that in their fervor they ſeem
in ſound of words to run too far the other way, and to give too
much to the facraments, when they did think more meaſurably.
And therefore they are to be read warily, with ſound judgment.
But our Papiſts, if they ſeem but a little founding to their purpoſe,
they will outface, brave, and brag all men, it muſt needs be as
they will have it. Therefore there is no remedy, namely when
they have the maſter bowl in their hand, and rule the roaſt, but
patience. Better it is to ſuffer what cruelty they will put unto
us, than to incur God's high indignation.
Wherefore, good my Lord, be of good chear in the Lord, with
due conſideration what he requireth of you, and what he doth
promiſe you. Our common enemy ſhall do no more than God
will permit him, God is faithful, which will not ſuffer us to be
tempted above our ſtrength, 1 Cor. x. Be at a point what
ſtand unto, ſtick unto that, and let them both fay and do what
they liſt. They can but kill the body, which otherwiſe is of it.-
ſelf mortal. Neither yet ſhall they do that when they. liſt;. but
when God will ſuffer them, when the hour appointed is come.
To uſe many words with them, it ſhall be but in vain, now that
they have a bloody and deadly Law prepared for them. But it.is
very requiſite that you give a reaſonable account of your faith, if
they will quietly hear you, 1 Pet. 111.
1 Pet. 111. Elſe you know, in a wick-
edi placce of judgment a man may keep filence, after the example
of
ye will
454
Book VI.
THE LIFE OF
A
of Chriſt, Luke xxiii. Let them not deceive you with their ſo-
phiſms and fallacies : you know that many falſe things have more
appearance of Truth, than things that be moſt true. Therefore
Paul giveth us a watch word, ſaying, Let no man deceive you with
likelineſs of speech, Coloff. ii. Neither is it requiſite that with
the contentious you ſhould follow ſtrife of words, which tend to
no edification, but to the fubverſion of the hearers, and the vain
bragging and oftentation of the adyerſaries.
Fear of death doth moſt perſuade a great number. Be well
ware of that argument, for that perſuaded Shaxton (as many men
thought) after that he had once made a good profeſſion, only be-
fore the judgment feat. The fleſh is weak, but the willingneſs of
the spirit will refreſh the weakneſs of the fleſh. The number of
the
cryers
under the altar muſt needs be fulfilled ; if we be con-
gregated thereunto, happy be we, Apocal. vi. That is the
great-
eſt promotion that God giveth in this world to be ſuch Philippians
to whom it is given, not only to believe, but alſo to ſuffer for his
ſake, Philip. 1.
But who is able to do theſe things ? Surely all our ability, all
our ſufficiency is of God. He requireth, and promiſeth. Let us
declare our obedience to his will, when it fhall be requifite in the
time of trouble, yea in the midſt of the fire. When that number
is fulfilled, which I ween ſhall be ſhortly, then have at the Pa-
piſts, when they ſhall ſay peace, all things are ſafe, when Chriſt
ſhall come to keep his great Parliament, to the redreſs of all things
that be amiſs. But he ſhall not come as the Papiſts feign him, to
hide himſelf, and to play bo-peep, as it were, under a piece of
bread: but he ſhall come gloriouſly, to the terror and fear of all
Papiſts, but to the great confolation and comfort of all that will
here ſuffer for him. Comfort yourſelves one another with theſe words,
i Thefl. iv.
Lo,
:.
BOOK VI. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
455
8
A
Lo, Sir, I have blotted your paper vainly, and played the fool
egregiouſly : but ſo I thought better, than not to do your requeſt
at this time. Pardon me, and pray for me : pray for me I ſay,
pray for me I ſay; for I am ſometime ſo fearful, that I would
creep
into a mouſe hole ; ſometime God doth viſit me again with his
comfort. So he cometh and goeth, to teach me to feel and to
know mine infirmity, to the intent to give thanks to him that is
worthy, left I ſhould rob him of his duty, as many do, and al-
moſt all the world.
Fare you well,
H. Latimer.
What credence is to be given to Papiſts, it may appear by their
tacking, writhing, wringing, and monſtrouſly injuring of God's
Holy Scripture, as appeareth in the Pope's Law. But I dwell
here now in a ſchool of obliviouſneſs. Fare you well once again.
And be ye ſtedfaſt and unmoveable in the Lord. Paul loved Ti-
mothy marvellous well, notwithſtanding he faith unto him, Be
thou partaker of the aflictions of the Goſpel, 2 Tim. I.
And again,
Harden thyſelf to ſuffer aflitions, 2 Tim. iv. Be thou faithful
unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life, faith the Lord.
Apocal. 11.
This judgment and advice of Latimer was ſo pleaſing to Ridley
that he deſired another conference, in which he mentions the ar-
tifices and threatnings of Gardiner and Boner, under the borrowed
names of Diotrephes and Antonius, with his manner of replying
to them.
Both of thoſe Biſhops harboured an implacable re-
ſentment againſt him, as he had ſat Commiſſioner at the Depri-
vation of both of them : yet ſuch was Ridley's character, that they
thought their cauſe wanted his countenance and aſſent to recom-
mend it, and make it univerſally victorious. They therefore had
their emniffaries to tamper with him, and if poſſible inveigle him
to the Maſs, as if his bare preſence at it would reconcile the peo-
ple.
*
50
Book VI.
THE LIFE OF
ple to it. This is the point they labor, and he reſolves againſt
in this ſecond Conference with Latimer: which ſhews that he had
been attacked on this point, and determined not to be perſuaded
or tempted to comply in that reſpect ; and that being diſappointed
they gave way to their original reſentment, and threatened him
with the ſeverity of the Laws againſt thoſe who would not act in
compliance with them.
mer.
* N. Ridley. In writing again you have done
$.6. A ſecond Con- me an unſpeakable pleaſure : and I pray that the
ference betwixt N.
Lord may requite it to you in that day. For I have
Ridley and H. Lati-
received great comfort at your words : but yet I
am not ſo filled withall, but that I thirſt much
more now than before, to drink more of that
cup of yours, where-
in ye mingle unto me profitable with pleaſant. I pray you, good
Father, let une have one draught more to comfort my ſtomach.
For ſurely, except the Lord aſſiſt me with his gracious aid in the
time of his ſervice, I know I ſhall play but the part of a white-
livered Knight. But truly my truſt is in him, that in mine infir-
mity he ſhall try himſelf ſtrong, and that he can make the coward
in his cauſe to fight like a man. Sir, now I look daily when Dio-
trephes with his warriors ſhall aſſault me ; therefore I pray you,
good Father, for that you are an old ſoldier, and an expert war-
rior, and God knoweth I am but a young ſoldier, and as yet of
ſmall experience in theſe feats, help me I pray you to buckle on
my harneſs : and now I would have you to think that theſe darts
are caſt at my head of ſome one of Diotrephes's or Antonius's
ſoldiers;
Antonius. Objection I. All men marvel greatly, why you (af-
ter the liberty which you have granted unto you more than the
reft) do not go to maſs; which is a thing (as you know) now
much eſteemed of all men, yea and of the Queen herſelf.
N. Ridley.
:
Book VI. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
457
N. Ridley. Becauſe no man that layeth hand on the plough, and
looketh back, is fit for the kingdom of God, Luke ix. And alſo for
the ſelf-fame cauſe, why St. Paul would not ſuffer Titus to be cir.
cumciſed; which is, that the truth of the Goſpel might remain with
us uncorrupted, Galat. 11. And again, If I build again the things
which I deſtroyed, I make myſelf a tranfgreffor. This is alſo ano-
ther cauſe, leſt I ſhould ſeem by outward fact, to allow the thing
which I am perſuaded is contrary to found doctrine : and ſo ſhould
be a ſtumbling block unto the weak. But wo be unto him by whom
offence cometh ; it were better for him that a millſtone were hanged
about his neck, and he caſt into the midſt of the ſea, Matth. XVIII.
Mark ix.
H. Latimer. Except the Lord help me, you ſay : truth it is.
For without me (faith He) ye can do nothing, John xv. much leſs
ſuffer death of our adverſaries, through the bloody law now
prepared againſt us. But it followeth, If ye abide in me, and my
words abide in you, ak what ye will, and it hall be done for you.
What can be more comfortable ? Sir, you make anſwer yourſelf
ſo well, that I cannot better it. Sir, I begin now to ſmell what
you mean by travailing thus with me. You uſe me, as Bilney did
once when he converted me, pretending as though he would be
taught of me, he fought ways and means to teach me : and ſo do
you, I thank you therefore moſt heartily. For indeed
ter armour unto me, whereas I was unarmed before and unprovi-
ded; ſaving that I give myſelf to prayer for my refuge.
Antonius. Objection II. What is it then that offendeth
greatly in the maſs, that you will not vouchſafe once either to hear
it, or ſee it? And from whence cometh this new Religion upon
you? Have not you uſed in times paft to ſay maſſes yourſelf ?
N. Ridley. I confefs unto you my fault and ignorance. But
know you that for theſe matters I have done open penance long
ago,
both at Paul's Croſs, and alſo openly in the pulpit at Cam-
bridge :
you minif-
you fo
3 N
.
+
45€
Book VI.
THE LIFE OF
3
bridge : and I truſt God hath forgiven me this mine offence, for
I did it upon ignorance. But if ye be deſirous to know, and will
vouchſafe to hear, what things do offend me in the maſs, I will
rehearſe unto you thoſe things which be moſt clear, and ſeem to
repugn moſt manifeſtly againſt God's word : and they be theſe
the ſtrange tongue : the want of the Mewing the Lord's death :
the breaking of the Lord's commandment of having a communion:
the facrament is not communicated to all, under both kinds, ac-
cording to the word of the Lord : the ſign is fervilely worſhipped
for the thing ſignified : Chriſt's paſſion is injured, foraſmuch as
this mafs facrifice is affirmed to remain for the purging of fins.
To be ſhort, the manifold ſuperſtitions and trifling fondneſs which
are in the maſs, and about the fame.
H. Latimer. Better a few things well pondered, than to trou-
ble the memory' with too much. You ſhall prevale more with
praying, than with ſtudying, though mixture be beſt. For fo one
ſhall alleviate the tediouſneſs of the other. I intend not to contend
much with them in words after a reaſonable account of my faith
given, for it ſhall be but in vain. They will ſay as their Fathers
ſaid, when they have no more to ſay, We have a law, and by our
law be ought to die, John xix. Be ye ſtedfaſt and unmoveable, faith
St. Paul, I Cor. xv. And again, Stand faſt, 2 Tim. Ill. And
how oft is this repeated, If ye abide, John xv. Coloff. 1.
ſhall be called obſtinate, ſturdy, ignorant, heady, and what not?
So that a man hath need of much patience, having to do with ſuch
men.
Antonius. Objection III. But you know how great a crime it
is to ſeparate yourſelf from communion or fellowſhip of the church,
or to make a fchifm, or diviſion. You have been reported to have
hated the feet of the Anabaptiſts, and always to have impugned
the fames. Moreover this was the pernicious error of Novatus, and.
of
But we
Book VI. DR. NICHOL Å $ RIDLEY.
459
of the Hereticks called Cathari, that they would not communicate
with the church.
N. Ridley. I know that the unity of the church is to be retain-
ed by all means, and the ſame to be neceſſary to ſalvation. But I
do not take the maſs, as it is at this day, for the communion of the
church, but for a Popiſh device, whereby both the commandment
and inſtitution of our Saviour Chriſt (for the oft frequenting the
remembrance of his death) is excluded, and the people of God is
miſerably deluded. The ſect of the Anabaptiſts, and the hereſy of
the Novatians ought of right to be condemned ; 'foraſmuch as with-
out any juſt or neceſſary cauſe, they wickedly ſeparated themſelves
from the communion of the Congregation. For they did not al-
ledge that the facraments were unduly miniſtered ; but turning
away
their eyes from themſelves, wherewith according to St. Paul's
rule, they ought to examine themſelves, i Cor. xh, and caſting
their eyes upon other, either Miniſters or Communicants with
them, they always reproved ſomething ; for the which they ab-
ſtained from the Communion, as from an unholy thing.
H. Latimer. I remember that Calvin beginneth to refute the
Interim after this fort, with this ſaying of Hilary,
The name
• of peace is beautiful, and the opinion of unity is fair, but who
doubteth that to be the true and only peace of the church, which
! is Chriſt's.' I would you had that little book, there ſhould
fee how much is to be given to unity. St. Paul when he requi-
reth unity, he joineth ſtrait withal according to Jeſus Chriſt, Rom.
xv. no farther. Diotrophes now of late did ever harp upon uni-
ty, unity. Yea, Sir, quoth I, but in verity, not in
is a diverſity than an unity in popery. I had nothing again but
ſcornful jeers, with commandment to the Tower.
3 N 2
Antonius
you
popery. Better
:
a Contra Auxent.
i
460
Book VI.
THE LIFE OF
Antonius. Objection IV. But admit there be in the Maſs that
peradventure might be amended, or at leaſt made better : yea,
ſeeing you will have it fo, admit there be a fault, if you do not
conſent thereto, why do you trouble yourſelf in vain ? Do not you
know both by Cyprian and Auſtin * that communion of ſacraments
doth not defile a man, but conſent of deeds?
N. Ridley. If it were any one trifling ceremony, or if it were
ſome one thing of itſelf indifferent, (although I would wiſh no-
thing ſhould be done in the church, which doth not edify the
fame) yet for the continuance of the common quietneſs, I could
be content to bear it. But foraſmuch as things done in the maſs
tend openly to the overthrow of Chriſt's inſtitution, I judge that
by no means either in word or deed, I ought to confent unto it.
As for that which is objected out of the Fathers, I acknowledge
ît to be well ſpoken, if it be well underſtood : but it is meant of
them which ſuppoſe they are defiled, if any ſecret vice be either
in the miniſters, or in them that communicate with them : and
is not meant of them which do abhor ſuperſtition, and wicked
traditions of men, and will not ſuffer the fame to be thruſt
upon
themſelves, or upon the church inſtead of God's word, and the
truth of the Goſpel.
H. Latimer. The very marrow bones of the maſs are altogether
there deteftible, and therefore by no means to be borne withall:
fo that of neceſſity the mending of it is to aboliſh it for ever. For
if
you
take away oblation and adoration, which do hang upon
Conſecration and Tranſubſtantiation, the moſt Papiſt of them all
will not ſet a button by the maſs, as a thing which they eſteem
not, but for the gain that followeth thereon. For if the Engliſh
Communion, which of late was uſed, were as gainful to them,
as the maſs hath been heretofore, they would ſtrive no more for
their maſs. From thence groweth the grief.
Antonius.
Cypr. lib. 1. ep. 2. Aug. Ep. 152.
Book VI.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
461
Antonius.
Objection V. Conſider in what dangers you caſt
yourſelf, if
you
forſake the church : and you cannot but forſake
it, if you refuſe to go to maſs. For the maſs is the facrament of
unity. Without the ark there is no ſalvation. The church is the
ark and Peter's ſhip. Ye know this ſaying well enough, . He
• ſhall not have God to be his Father, who acknowledges not the
• church to be his mother. Moreover, without the church (faith
St. Auſtin“) be the life never ſo well ſpent, it ſhall not inherit the
kingdom of heaven.
N. Ridley. The Holy Catholick or Univerſal Church, which
is the Communion of ſaints, the Houſe of God; the city of God;
the ſpouſe of Chriſt, the Body of Chriſt, the pillar and ſtay of the
Truth : this church I believe according to the Creed: This
church I do reverence and honor in the Lord. But the rule of
this church is the word of God, according to which rule we go
forward unto life. And as many as walk according to this rule; I
fay with St. Paul, peace be upon them, and upon Iſrael which per-
taineth unto God, Galat. VI. The guide of this Church is the Ho-
ly Ghoſt. The marks whereby this Church is known unto me in
this dark world, and in the midſt of this crooked and froward
ge-
neration, are theſe; the ſincere preaching of God's word : the
due adminiſtration of the facraments : charity, and faithful obfër-
ving of eccleſiaſtical diſcipline, according to the word of God.
And that church or Congregation which is garniſhed with theſe
marks, is in very deed that heavenly Jeruſalem, which conſiſteth
of thoſe which be born from above. This is the mother of us all. And
by God's
grace
I will live and die the child of this church. Forth
of this, I grant, there is no ſalvation, and I ſuppoſe the reſt of the
places objected are rightly to be underſtood of this Church only.
* In times paſt, faith Chryſoſtom,
6 there were many ways
to
i know
a Lib. 4. de Symb. cap. 10. In Epift. poft Col. contra Donat,
• In opere imperfec. Hom. 49. in Match.
-462
Book VI.
THE LIFE OF
• know the church of Chriſt; that is to ſay, by good life, by mi-
racles, by chaſtity, by doctrine, by adminiſtering the facraments:
• but from that time that hereſies did take hold of the churches,
• it is only known by the ſcriptures which is the true Church.
• They have all things in outward Thew, which the true Church
hath in truth. They have Temples like unto ours, and in the
* end concludeth, wherefore only by the ſcriptures do we know
· which is the truc Church.' To that which they ſay, the maſs
is the ſacrament of unity, I anſwer, the bread which we break,
according to the inſtitution of the Lord, is the ſacrament of the
unity of Chriſt's myſtical Body, i Cor. x. For we being many are
one bread and one body, foraſmuch as we are all partakers of one
bread. But in the maſs the Lord's inſtitution is not obſerved, for
we be not all partakers of one bread, but one devoureth all. So
that (as it is uſed) it may ſeem a facrament of fingularity, and of
a certain ſpecial privilege for one ſect of people, whereby they
inay be diſcerned from the reſt, rather than a ſacrament of unity,
wherein our knitting together in one, is repreſented.
H. Latimer. Yea, what fellowſhip hath Chriſt with Antichriſt ?
Therefore is it not lawful to bear the yoke with Papiſts. Corne
forth from among them, and
ſeparate yourſelves from them, faith the
Lord, 2 Cor. VI. It is one thing to be the Church indeed, and
another thing to counterfeit that Church. Would God it were
well known what is the forſaking of the Church. In the King's
days, who was the Church of England ? The King and his Fau-
tors, or Maſſmongers in corners ? If the King and the Fautors of,
his procedings, why be not we now the Church, abiding in the
ſame procedings ? If clanculary Maſſmongers might be of the
Church, and yet contrary the King's procedings, why may not
we as well be of the Church, contrarying the Queen's proced-
ings ? Not all that be covered with the title of the Church, are
the Church indeed, Separate thyſelf from them that are ſuch,
܀
faith
Book VI. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
463
Ku..........
:
faith St. Paul, 1 Tim. vr. From whom? the text hath before,
If any man follow other doctrine, he is puffed up and knoweth nothing.
Weigh the whole text, that ye may perceive what is the fruit of
contentious diſputations. But wherefore are ſuch men ſaid to
know nothing, when they know ſo many things ? You know the
old verſes,
Hoc eſt neſcire, fine Chriſto plurima fcire :
Si Chriſtum bene fcis, fatis eſt fi cætera neſcis.
That is, “ This is to be ignorant, to know many things and not
• know Chrift: if thou knoweſt Chriſt well, thou knoweſt enough,
though thou know no more.' Therefore would St. Paul know
nothing but yeſus Chriſt and him crucified, 1 Cor. 11. As many as
are Papiſts and Maſſmongers, they may well be ſaid to know no-
thing, for they know not Chriſt, foraſmuch as in their maffing
they take much away from the benefit and merit of Chriſt.
Antonius. Objection VI. That Church, which you have de-
fcribed unto us, is inviſible : but Chriſt's Church is viſible and
known. For elſe, why would Chriſt have faid, Tell it unto the
Church, Matth. XVIII. For he had commanded in vain to go un-
to the Church, if a man cannot tell which is it.
N. Ridley. The Church, which I have deſcribed, is viſible, it
hath members which may be ſeen, and alſo I have before declared
by what marks and tokens it may be known. But if either our
eyes be fo dazzled that we cannot ſee it, or that Satan hath brought
fuch darkneſs into the world, that it is hard to diſcern the Church,
that is not the fault of the Church, but either of our blindneſs,
or of Satan's darkneſs. But yet in this moſt deep darknefs there
is one moſt clear candle, which of itfelf alone is able to put away
all darkneſs. Thy word is a candle unto my feet, and a light unto my
paths,. Pfalm cxix.
Antonius. Objection VII: The Church of Chriſt is a Catho-
Hickor Univerſal Church diſperſed throughout the whole world ::
this
9
i
467
Book VI.
THE LIFE OF
this Church is the great Houſe of God; in this are good men and
evil mingled together, goats and ſheep, corn and chaff: it is the
net which gathereth all kinds of fishes : this Church cannot err,
becauſe Chriſt hath promiſed it his Spirit, which ſhall lead it in-
to all truth ; and that the gates of hell ſhall not prevale againſt it,
that he will be with it unto the end of the world : whatſoever it
hall loſe or bind on earth ſhall be ratified in heaven: this Church
is the pillar and ſtay of the Truth : this is it for the which St. Auf-
tin faith, he believeth the Goſpel. But this Univerſal Church
alloweth the Mals, becauſe the more part alloweth thereof.
N. Ridley. I grant that the name of the Church is taken after
three divers manners in the ſcripture. Sometime for the whole
multitude of them which profeſs the name of Chriſt, of the which
they are alſo named Chriſtians. But as St. Paul faith of the Jew,
Not every one is a Jew, that is a Jew outwardly, Rom. II. Nei-
ther yet all that be of Iſrael are counted for the feed, Rom, ix.
Even ſo not everyone which is a Chriſtian outwardly is a
Chriſtian indeed. For if any man bath not the ſpirit of Chriſt, the
fame is none of his, Rom. VIII. Therefore that Church which is
his Body, and of which Chriſt is the head, ſtandeth only of living
ftones, and true Chriſtians, 1 Pet. 11. not only outwardly in name
and title, but inwardly in heart and in truth.
But foraſmuch as this Church, (which is the ſecond taking of
the Church) as touching the outward fellowſhip, is contained
within that great Houſe, and hath with the fame outward focie-
.ty
of the facraments, and miniſtry of the word, many things are
ſpoken of that Univerſal Church (which St. Paul calleth the min-
gled Church) which cannot truly be underſtood, but only of that
purer part of the Church. So that the rule of Tyconius concern-
ing the mingled Church may here well take place. (Auguſt. de
doctr. Chriſtian, lib. 111. cap. 32.) When there is attributed un-
to the whole Church that which cannot agree unto the ſame, but
by
Book VI. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
465
.
by reaſon of the one part thereof, that is either for the multitude
of good men, which is the Church indeed; or for the multitude
of evil men, which is the malignant Church, and Synagogue of
Satan : and is alſo the third taking of the Church, of the which
although there be ſeldomer mention in the ſcriptures in that figni-
fication, yet in the world, even in the moſt famous aſſemblies of
Chriſtendom, this Church hath borne the greateſt ſwing. This
diſtinction preſuppoſed, it is an eaſy matter by a figure called Synec-
doche, to give to the mingled and univerſal Church, that which
cannot be truly underſtood, but only of the one part thereof. .
But if any man will ſtiffly affirm, that univerſality doth ſo per-
tain unto the Church, that whatſoever Chriſt hath promiſed to the
Church, it muſt needs be underſtood of that : I would gladly
know of the ſame man, where that Univerſal Church was in the
time of the Patriarchs and Prophets, of Noah, Abraham, and Mo-
ſes, (at ſuch time as the people would have ſtoned him) of Elias,
of Jeremiah ; in the times of Chriſt and the diſperſion of the Apof-
tles ; in the times of Arius, when Conſtantius was Emperour, and
Felix Biſhop of Rome fucceded Liberius. It is worthy to be no-
ted what Lyra writeth upon Matthew ; The Church, faith he,
doth not ſtand in men, by reaſon of their power or dignity, whe-
ther it be Eccleſiaſtical or Secular ; for many Princes and Popes,
and other Inferiors have been found to have fallen away from God :
Therefore the Church conſiſteth in thoſe perſons in whom is true
knowledge, and confeffion of the faith, and of the Truth. Evil
men, as it is in a glofs of the Decrees?, are in the Church in name,
and not in deed. And St. Auſtin (contra Creſconium grammati-
cum, faith) · Whoſoever is afraid to be deceived by the darkneſs
of this queſtion, let him aſk counſel at the ſame Church of it
· which Church the ſcripture doth point out without any doubt-
fulneſs,
6
3
30
• De peni. dift. d. ca, ecclefia. lib. 1. cap. t.
466
Book VI.
THE LIFE OF
• fulneſs. All my notes which I have written and gathered out of
ſuch Authors as I have read in this matter, and ſucli like, are come
into the hands of ſuch, as will not let me have the leaſt of all
my
written books'. Wherein I am forced to complain of them unto
God, for they ſpoil me of all my labors, which I have taken in
my ſtudy theſe many years. My memory was never good, for
help whereof I have uſed for the moſt part, to gather out notes of
my reading, and ſo place them, that thereby I might have had the
uſe of them when the time required. But who knoweth whether
this be God's will, that I ſhould be thus ordered, and ſpoiled of
the poor learning I had (as methought) in ſtore, to the intent that
I now deftitute of that, ſhould from henceforth learn only to know,
with Paul, Chriſt and Him crucified. The Lord grant me herein
to be a good young ſcholar, and to learn this leſſon fo well, that
neither death, nor life, wealth, nor woe make me ever to forget
that. Amen. Amen.
H. Latimer. I have no more to ſay in this matter, for you
yourſelf have ſaid all that is to be ſaid. The ſame vehement ſay-
ing of St. Auſtin, • I would not believe the Goſpel [but for the
• Church,'] was wont to trouble many men ; I remember I have
read it well qualified of Philip Melancthon, but my memory is
altogether ſlippery. This it is in effect :
This it is in effect : ' The Church is not a
* judge, but a witneſs.' There were in his time who lightly ef-
teemed the teſtimony of the Church, and the outward miniſtry of
preaching, and rejected the outward word itſelf, ſticking only to
their inward revelations. Such raſh contempt of the word pro-
voked and drove St. Auftin into that exceffive vehemence. In the
which, after the bare found of the words, he might ſeem to ſuch
as do not attain unto his meaning, that he preferred the Church
far before the Goſpel; and that the Church hath a free authority
over
· So that Mr. Secretary Bourne's promiſe had no good effect, who promiſed to ſpeak
for whatever books Biſhop Ridley ſhould akk for by writing, which had been his own.
Book VI. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
467
over the fame : but that godly man never thought ſo. It were a
ſaying worthy to be brought forth againſt the Anabaptiſts, which
think the open miniſtry to be a thing not neceſſary; if they any
thing eſteemed ſuch teſtimonies, I would not ſtick to affirm that
the more part of the great Houſe, that is to ſay of the whole Uni-
verſal Church, may eaſily err: and again I would not ſtick to af-
firm, that it is one thing to be gathered together in the name of
Chriſt, and another thing to come together with a Maſs of the
Holy Ghoſt going before. For in the firſt, Chriſt ruleth ; in the
latter, the Divil beareth the ſwing : and how then can any thing
be good that they go about? From his latter ſhall our ſix articles
come forth again into the light, they themſelves being very dark-
neſs. But it is demanded whether the founder or better part of
the Catholick Church may be ſeen of men, or no ? St. Paul faith,
the Lord knoweth them that are His, 2 Tim. II. What manner
of ſpeaking is this, in commendation of the Lord, if we know as
well as He who are his? Well thus is the text : the fure founda-
tion of God ſtandeth ſtill, and bath this ſeal, the Lord knoweth them
that are His. And, Let every man that nameth the name of Chriſt
depart from iniquity. Now how many are there of the whole Ca-
tholick Church of England, which depart from iniquity ? How
many of the Noblemen, how many of the Biſhops or Clergy, how
many of the rich men or Merchants, how many of the Queen's
Counſellors, yea
how many of the whole realm ? In how ſmall
room then I pray you is the true Church within the realm of En-
gland ? and where is it? and in what ſtate ? I had a conceit of
mine own, well grounded (as they ſay) when I began, but now
it is fallen by the way.
Antonius. Objection VIII. General Councils repreſent the
Univerſal Church, and have this promiſe of Chriſt, where Two
or Three be gathered together in my name, there am I in the
nuidſt of them. If Chriſt will be preſent with Two or Three,
then
3 O 2
468
Book VI.
THE LIFE or
ga-
then much more where there is ſo great a multitude : but in Gene-
ral Councils the maſs hath been approved, and uſed.
N. Ridley. Of the Univerſal Church, which is mingled of
good and bad, thus I think; whenfoever They which be chief in
it, which rule and govern the ſame, and to whom the reſt of the
whole myſtical Body of Chriſt doth obey, are the lively members of
Chriſt, and walk after the guiding and rule of his word, and
go
before the flock toward everlaſting life ; then undoubtedly Coun-
cils gathered together of ſuch Guides and Paſtors of the Chriſtian
flock, do indeed repreſent the Univerſal Church; and being fo
thered in the name of Chriſt, they have a promiſe of the gift, and
guiding of his fpirit into all truth.
But that
any ſuch Council hath at any time allowed the Maſs,
ſuch a one as ours was of late, in a ſtrange tongue, and ſtutfed
with ſo many abſurdities, errors, and ſuperſtitions, that I utterly
deny, and I affirm it to be impoſſible. For like as there is no
agreement between light and darkneſs, between Chriſt and Belial ;
ſo ſurely ſuperſtitions, and the ſincere religion of Chriſt, will-wor-
ſhip, and the pure worſhipping of God, ſuch as God requireth of
us, that is, in ſpirit and truth, can never agree together.
But
ye will ſay, where ſo great a company is gathered together,
it is not credible, but there are Two or Three gathered in the
name of Chriſt.
I anſwer, if there be One Hundred Good, and
Two Hundred Bad, foraſmuch as the decrees and ordinances are
pronounced according to the greater number of the multitude of
voices, what can the leſs number of voices avale? It is a known
thing, and a common proverb,
• Oftentimes the greater part
overcometh the better.'
H. Latimer. As touching General Councils, at this prefent I
have no more to ſay than you have ſaid. Only I refer
you
own experience to think of our Country Parliaments and Convoca-
tions ;, how and what ye have there ſeen and heard. The more
part
to your
Book VI.
469
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
part
in
my time did bring forth the Six Articles, for then the
King would ſo have it, being ſeduced of certain : afterward the
more part did repeal the ſame, our good Joſias willing to have it
fo: the ſame Articles now again (alas !) another greater, but
worſe part, hath reſtored. O what an uncertainty is this ? But
after this ſort moſt commonly are man's procedings. God be mer-
ciful unto us. Who ſhall deliver us from ſuch torments of mind?
Therefore is death the beſt Phyſician, but unto the Faithful,
whom ſhe together and at once delivereth: from all griefs. You
muſt think this written upon this occaſion, becauſe you would
needs have your paper blotted.
Antonius. Objection IX. If the matter ſhould go thus, that in
General Councils men ſhould not ſtand to the more number of the
whole multitude, I mean of them which ought to give voices,
then ſhould no certain rule be left unto the Church; by the which
controverſies in weighty matters might be determined : but it is
not to be believed that Chriſt would leave his church deſtitute of
ſo neceſſary a help and ſafeguard.
N. Ridley. Chriſt, who is the moſt loving ſpouſe of his eſpouſ-
ed Church, who alſo gave himſelf for it, that he might ſanctify it:
unto himſelf, Ephef.v. did give unto it abundantly all things which
are neceſſary to falvation : but yet ſo, that the Church ſhould de-
clare itſelf obedient unto him in all things, and keep itſelf within
the bonds of the commandments, and not to ſeek any thing which
he teacheth not as neceſſary to ſalvation. Now further, for deter-
mination of all controverſies in Chriſt's religion, Chriſt himſelf
hath left unto the Church, not only Moſes and the Prophets,
whom he willeth his Church in all doubts to go unto, and aſk.
counſel at, but alſo the Goſpels, and the reſt of the New Teſta-
In the which whatſoever is heard in Moſes and the Pro-
phets, whatſoever is neceſſary to be known unto ſalvation, is re-
rcled and opened. So that now we have no need to ſay, wba
Mall
1
ment.
THE LIFE OF
BOOK VI.
frall climb into heaven, or who ſhall go down into the depth, to tell
what is needful to be done, Rom. x. Chriſt hath done both, and
hath commended unto us the word of faith, which alſo is abun-
dantly declared unto us in his word written : ſo that hereafter if
we walk earneſtly in his way, to the ſearching out of his truth,
it is not to be doubted, but through the certain benefit of Chriſt's
ſpirit, which he hath promiſed unto his, we may find it, and ob-
tain everlaſting life. Should men aſk counſel of the dead for the living?
faith Iſaiah. (cap. vin.) Let them go together to the law and to
the teſtimony.
And Chriſt ſendeth them that be deſirous to know
the truth, unto the ſcriptures, ſaying, Search the ſcriptures, John v.
I remember a like thing well ſpoken of Jerome, · Ignorance of the
ſcriptures is the mother and cauſe of all error.' (in Matth.) And
in another place, as I remember, in the fame Author, " The
knowledge of the ſcriptures is the food of everlaſting life.'
But now methinketh I enter into a very broad fea, in that I be-
gin to ſhew, either out of the Scriptures themſelves, or out of the
antient writers, how much the Holy Scripture is of force to teach
the truth of our Religion. But this is it that I am now about,
that Chriſt would have the Church his ſpouſe, in all doubts, to
aſk counſel at the word of his Father written, and faithfully left
and commended unto it in both Teſtaments, the Old and the New.
Neither do we read that Chriſt in any place hath laid ſo great a
burthen upon the members of his ſpoufe, that he hath command-
ed them to go to the Univerſal Church. Whatſoever things are
written (ſaith Paul, Rom. xv.) are written for our learning. And
It is true that Chriſt gave unto his Church fome Apoſtles, fome Pro-
pbets, fome Evangeliſts, fome Shepherds and Teachers, to the edify-
ing of the Saints, till we all come to the unity of Faith. (Ephef. iv.)
But that all men ſhould meet together out of all parts of the world,
to define of the articles of our faith, I neither find it commanded
of Chriſt, nor written in the word of God.
H. Latimer,
Book VI.
471
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
H. Latimer. There is a diverſity betwixt things pertaining to
God, or faith, and politick or civil matters. For in the firſt we
muft ſtand only to the ſcriptures, which are able to make us all
perfect and inſtructed unto ſalvation, if they be well underſtood.
And they offer themſelves to be well underſtood only to them
which have good wills, and give themſelves to ſtudy and prayer.
Neither are there any men leſs apt to underſtand them, than the
prudent and wiſe men of the world : but in the other, that is in
civil and politick matters, oftentimes the magiſtrates do tolerate a
leſs evil, for avoiding of a greater, as they which have this ſaying
oft in their mouths, · Better an inconvenience than a miſchief. '
And it is the property of a wiſe man (faith one) to diſſemble many
things : and he that cannot difſemble, cannot rule. In which
ſaying, they bewray themſelves that they do not earneſtly weigh
what is juſt, what is not. Wherefore, foraſmuch as mens laws, if
it be in this reſpect only, that they be deviſed by men, are not able
to bring any thing to perfection, but are enforced of neceſſity to
fuffer many things out of ſquare, and are compelled ſometime to
wink at the worſt things, ſeeing they know not how to maintain
the common peace and quiet otherwiſe ; they do ordain that the
more part ſhall take place. You know what theſe kinds of ſpeech
I ſpeak after the manner of men. Ye walk after the manner
of men. All men are liars. And that of St. Auſtin, (lib. 1. Re-
tract. cap. 10.) • If ye live after man's reaſon, ye do not live after
" the will of God.'
Antonius. Objection X. If ye ſay the Councils have ſometime
erred, or may err, how then ſhould we believe the Catholick
Church? For the Councils are gathered by the authority of the
Catholick Church.
N. Ridley. From may
be to be indeed, is no good argument :
but from being to may be, no man doubtēth but it is a moſt ſure
argument. But now that Councils have ſometimes erred, it is
manifeſt
mean.
.
THE LIFE OF
BOOK VI.
manifeſt. How many Councils were there in the Eaſt part
of the
world which condemned the Nicene Council ? And all thoſe which
would not forſake the ſame, they called by a ſlanderous name (as they.
thought) Homouſians. Were not Athanaſius, Chryſoſtom, Cyril, Eu-
ſtachius,men very well learned, and of godly life, banished and condem-
ned as famous Hereticks, and that by wicked Councils ? How many
things are there in the Canons and Conſtitutions of the Councils
which the Papiſts themſelves much miſlike ? But here peradven-
ture a man will ſay unto me, we will grant you This in provincial
Councils, or Councils of ſome one nation, for they may ſometime
err ; foraſmuch as they do not repreſent the Univerſal Church :
but it is not to believed that the General and Full Councils have
erred at any time. Here, if I had my books of the Councils, or
rather ſuch notes as I have gathered out of thoſe books, I could bring
fomething which Ihould ſerve for this purpoſe. But now ſeeing I
have them not, I will recite one place only out of St. Auſtin, which,
in my judgment, may ſuffice in this matter inſtead of many. - Who
• knoweth not (ſays he ") that the Holy Scripture is ſo ſet before
us, that it is not lawful to doubt of it ; and that the letters of
Biſhops may be reproved by other wiſer mens words, and by
· Councils : and that the Councils themſelves which are gathered
by Provinces and Countries, do give place to the authority of the
« General and Full Councils : and that the former General Coun-
• cils are amended by the latter, when as by ſome experience of
things, either that which was ſhut up is opened, or that which
I hid is known.' Thus much of Auſtin.
But I will plead
with our Antonian upon matter confeſſed. Here with us when
Papiſtry reigned, I pray you how doth that Book, which is called
the Biſhop's Book, made in the time of King Henry the virth,
whereof the Biſhop of Wincheſter is thought to be either the firſt
Father,
was
Lib. 2. de Bapt. contra Don. c. 3.
Book VI. DR.
. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
473
father, or chief gatherer, how doth it (I ſay) ſharply reprove the
Florentine Council, in which was decreed the Supremacy of the
Bifhop of Rome, and that with the conſent of the Emperour of
Conſtantinople, and of the Grecians ? So that in thoſe days our
learned antient Fathers and Biſhops of England did not ſtick io
affirm, that a General Council might err.
But methinketh I hear another man deſpiſing all that I have
brought forth, and ſaying, Theſe which you have called Councils,
are not worthy to be called Councils, but rather aſſemblies and
conventicles of Hereticks. I pray you, Sir, why do you judge
them worthy of ſo ſlanderous a name ? Becauſe, faith he; they
decreed things heretical, contrary to true godlineſs, and found
doctrine, and againſt the faith of Chriſtian Religion. The cauſe
is weighty for the which they ought of right ſo to be called. But
if it be ſo, that all Councils ought to be deſpiſed, which decree
any thing contrary to found doctrine, and the true word which is
according to godlineſs ; foraſmuch as the Maſs, ſuch as we have
had here of late, is openly againſt the word of God, forſooth it
muft follow of neceſſity, that all ſuch Councils, as have approved
ſuch Maſſes, ought of right to be filed and deſpiſed, as conventicles
and aſſemblies of men that ſtray from the truth.
Another man alledgeth unto me the authority of the Biſhop of
Rome, without which neither can the Councils (faith he) be law-
fully gathered, neither being gathered determine any thing con-
cerning Religion. But this objection is only grounded upon the
ambitious and ſhameleſs maintenance of the Remiſh tyranny, and
uſurped dominion over the Clergy; which tyranny we Engliſhmen;
long ago, by the conſent of the whole realm, have expulſed and
abjured. And how rightly we have done it, a little book ſet
forth De utrâque poteftate", that is, · Of both the Powers, doth
3 P
clearly
• The title of this book was, De vera differentia inter Regiam Poteftatem et Ecclefiafticam,
written by Fox Biſhop of Hereford 1534: and tranſlated by Henry Lord Stafford 1548.
•
474
.
Book VI.
THE LIFE OF
clearly ſhew. I grant that the Romiſh ambition hath gone about
to challenge to itſelf, and to uſurp ſuch a privilege of old time:
but the Council of Carthage, in the year of our Lord 457, did
openly withſtand it, and alſo the Council at Milevite, in the which
St. Auſtin was preſent, did prohibit any appellations to be made to
Biſhops beyond the ſea.
Antonius. Objection XI. St. Auſtin faith, “the Good men are
not to be forfaken for the Evil, but the Evil are to be borne with-
all for the Good". Ye will not ſay, I trow, that in our Con-
gregations all be Evil ?
N. Ridley. I ſpeak nothing of the goodneſs or evilneſs of your
Congregations, but I fight in Chriſt's quarrel againſt the Maſs,
which doth utterly take away and overthrow the ordinance of
Chriſt. Let that be taken quite away, and then the partition of
the wall that made the ſtrife ſhall be broken down. Now to the
place of St. Auſtin for bearing with the Evil for the Good's fake,
there ought to be added other words, which the ſame hath expreff-
ly in other places, that is, . If thoſe evil men do caſt abroad no
· feeds of falfe doctrine, nor lead other to deſtruction, by their ex-
. ample
Antonius. Objection XII. It is perilous to attempt any new
thing in the Church, which lacketh example of Good men.
How much more perilous is it to commit any act unto the which
the example of the Prophets of Chriſt, and of the Apoſtles are con-
trary. But unto this your fact, in abſtaining from the Church by
reafon of the Maſs, the example of the Prophets, of Chriſt, and
of the Apoſtles are clean contrary. The firſt part
is evident, and the ſecond part I prove thus ; In the times of the
Prophets, of Chriſt, and of his Apoſtles, all things were moſt cor-
rupt;
$
of the argument
..
. Ep. 48.
Aug. contra literas Parm. cap. 2, 3.
Book VI. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y. .
475
er.
rupt; the people were miſerably driven to ſuperſtition, the Prieſts
deſpiſed the law of God, and yet notwithſtanding we never read
that the Prophets made any fchiſms or diviſions : and Chriſt him-
ſelf haunted the Temple, and taught in the temples of the Jews.
Peter and John went up into the temple at the ninth hour of pray-
Paul, after the reading of the Law, being deſired to ſay
ſomething to the people, did not refuſe to do it. Yea further no
man can ſhew that either the Prophets, or Chriſt and his Apoſtles
did refuſe to pray together with others, to ſacrifice, or to be par-
takers of the facraments of Moſes' law.
N. Ridley. I I
grant the former
part
your argument : and to
the ſecond part I ſay, that although it contain many true things,
as of the corrupt ſtate in the times of the Prophets, of Chriſt and
the Apoſtles, and of the temple being haunted of Chriſt and his
Apoſtles; yet notwithſtanding, the ſecond part of your argument is
not well proved : for ye ought to have proved, that either the
Prophets, either Chriſt, or his Apoſtles did in the temple com-
municate with the people, in any kind of worſhipping which is
forbidden by the law of God, or repugnant to the word of God.
But that can no where be thewed. And as for the Church, I am
with it, and I never refuſed to go to it, and to pray with
the people, to hear the word of God, and to do all other things
whatſoever may agree with the word of God. St. Auſtin ſpeaking
of the Ceremonies of the Jews (I ſuppoſe in the Epiſtle ad Janua-
rium, Epift. 119.) although he grant they grievouſly oppreſſed
that people, both for the number and bondage of the ſame, yet
he calleth them burthens of the law, which were delivered unto
them in the word of God, not preſumptions of men, which not-
withſtanding, if they were not contrary to God's word, might af-
ter a fort be borne withall. But now ſeeing they are contrary to
thoſe things which are in the word of God written, whether they
ought to be borne of any Chriſtian man or no, let him judge which
3 P 2
is
not angry
5
476
$
Book VI.
T 11 E LIFE
LIFE OF
is ſpiritual, which feareth God more than man, and loveth ever-
laſting life more than this ſhort and tranſitory life. To that which
was ſaid, my fact Jacketh example of the godly Fathers that have
gone before, the contrary is moſt evident in the hiſtory of Tobit.
Of whom it is ſaid (cap. 1.) that when all other went to the golden
calves which Jeroboam the King of Iſrael had made, he himſelf
alone fled all their companies, and got him to Jeruſalem unto the
temple of the Lord, and there worthipped the Lord God of Iſrael.
Did not the Man of God threaten grievous plagues both to the
Prieſts of Bethel, and to the altar which Jeroboam had there made
after his own fancy? 3 Kings xii. Which plagues King Joſias,
the true miniſter of Chriſt, did execute at the time appointed,
4 Kings Ji. And where do we read that the Prophets or Apoſtles did
agree with the people in their idolatry? When as the people went
a whoring with their hill altars, for what cauſe, I pray you, did
the Prophets rebuke the people ſo much, as for their falſe wor-
ſhipping of God after their own minds, and not after God's word?
For what was ſo much as that was? Wherefore the falſe Prophets
ceaſed not to malign the true Prophets of God: therefore they beat
them, and baniſhed them, Jerem. x. How elſe (I pray you) can
you underſtand that St. Paul alledgeth, when he faith, Wbat con-
cord bath Chriſt with Belial ? Either what part bath the Believer
with the Infidel? Hebrews xi. Or how agreeth the temple of God
with images ? 2 Cor. vi. For ye are the temples of the living God,
as God himſelf bath ſaid, I will dwell among them, and I will be
their God, and they ſhall be my people, Levit. VI. Wherefore come
out from among them, and ſeparate yourſelves from them, (faith the
Lord) and touch no unclean thing, fo will I receive you, and will be a
Father unto you,
and ye hall be my ſons and daughters, faith the
Lord Almighty, Il. lii.
Judith, that holy woman, would not ſuffer herſelf to be defiled
with the meats of the wicked. All the Saints of God'which truly
feared
BOOK VI: DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
477
cabees put
feared God, when they have been provoked to do any thing,
which they knew to be contrary to God's law, have choſen to die,
rather than to forfake the Laws of their God. Wherefore the Mac-
themſelves in danger of death, for the defence of the
law, yea and at length died manfully in defence of the ſame. ·lf
we do praiſe (faith St. Auſtin cont. 2 Ep. Gaudent. c. 23.) the
Maccabees, and that with great admiration, becauſe they did
ſtoutly ſtand even unto death for the laws of their country; how
' much more ought we, to ſuffer all things for our Baptiſm, and
' for the Sacrament of the body and blood of Chriſt. But the
Supper of the Lord, ſuch a one (I mean) as Chriſt commandeth us
to celebrate, the Maſs utterly aboliſheth, and corrupteth moſt
ſhamefully.
H. Latimer. Who am I, that I ſhould add any thing to this, which
you have ſo well ſpoken? Nay I rather thank you
that
you have
vouchſafed to miniſter ſo plentiful arms to me, being otherwiſe al-
together unarmed, ſaving that he cannot be left deſtitute of help
which rightly truſteth in the help of God. I only learn to die in
reading of the New Teſtament, and am ever now and then pray-
ing unto my God, that He will be an helper unto me in time of
need.
Antonius. Objection XIII. Seeing you are ſo obſtinately ſet
againſt the Maſs, that you affirm, becauſe it is done in a tongue not
underſtood of the people, and for other cauſes, I cannot tell what,
therefore it is not the true Sacrament ordained of Chrift: I begin
to ſuſpect you, that you do not think catholickly of Baptiſmi alſo.
Is our Baptiſm which we do uſe, in a tongue unknown to the peo-
ple, the true Baptiſm of Chriſt, or no ? If it be, then doth inot
the ſtrange tongue hurt the Maſs. If it be not the Baptifm. of
Chriſt, tell me how were ye baptized ? Or whether you will (as
the Anabaptiſts do) that all which were baptized in Latin ſhould
be baptized again in the English tongue ?
N. Ridley..
473
Book VI.
THE LIFE OF
N. Ridley. Although I would wiſh Baptiſm to be given in the
vulgar tongue for the people's fake who are preſent, that they may
the better underſtand their own profeſſion, and alſo be more able
to teach their children the fame, yet notwithſtanding, theregis not
like neceſſity of the vulgar tongue in Baptiſm as is in the Lord's
Supper. Baptiſın is given to children, who by reaſon of their age,
are not able to underſtand what is ſpoken unto them, what tongue
foever it be., The Lord's Supper is and ought to be given to them
that are of riper years. Moreover, in Baptiſm, which is accuſa
tomed to be given to children in the Latin tongue, all the ſubſtan-
tial points (as a man would ſay) which Chriſt commanded to be
done, are obſerved. And therefore I judge that Baptiſm to be a
perfect and true Baptiſm, and that it is not only not needful, but
alſo not lawful for any man ſo chriſtened to be chriſtened again.
But yet notwithſtanding, they ought to be taught the Catechiſm
of the Chriſtian faith, when they ſhall come to years of diſcretion :
which Catechiſm, whoſoever deſpiſeth or will not deſirouſly em-
brace, and willingly learn, in my judgment he playeth not the
part of a Chriſtian man. But in the Popiſh Maſs are wanting cer-
tain ſubſtantials; that is to fay, things commanded by the word
of God to be obſerved in miniſtration of the Lord's Supper : of the
which there is ſufficient declaration made before.
H. Latimer. Where you ſay I would wiſh ; ſurely I would
wiſh that you had ſpoken more vehemently, and to have ſaid that
it is of neceſſity, that all things in the Congregation ſhould be
done in the vulgar tongue, for the edifying and comfort of them that
are preſent. Notwithftanding that the child itſelf is ſufficiently
baptized in the Latin tongue.
Antonius. Objection XIV. For fo much as I perceive you are
fo ſtiffly (I will not ſay obſtinately) bent, and fó wedded to your
own opinion, that no gentle exhortationis, no wholefome counſels,
no other kind of means can call you home to a better mind : there
remaineth,
BOOK VI DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
479
remaineth, that which in like caſes was wont to be the only reme-
dy againſt ſtiff-necked and ſtubborn perſons; that is, you muſt be
hampered by the law, and compelled either to obey whether you
will or no, or elſe to ſuffer that which a Rebel to the laws ought
to ſuffer. Do you not know that whoſoever refuſeth to obey the
laws of the realm, bewrayeth himſelf to be an enemy to his coun-
try? Do you not know that this is the readieſt way to ſtir up fedi-
tion and civil war ? It is better that you ſhould bear your own fin,
than that, through the example of your breach of the common
laws, the common quiet ſhould be diſturbed. How can you ſay,
you will be the Queen's true ſubject, whereas you do openly pro-
fefs that
you will not keep her laws ?
N. Ridley. O heavenly Father, the Father of all wiſdom and
underſtanding, and true ſtrength, I beſeech thee for thy only Son
our Saviour Chrift's fake, look mercifully upon me wretched crea-
ture, and ſend thy Holy Spirit into my breaſt, that not only I may
underſtand according to thy wiſdom, how this peſtilent and dead-
Jy dart is to be borne off, and with what anſwer it is to be beaten
back ; but alſo when I muſt join to fight in the field for the glory
of thy name, that then I being ſtrengthened with the defence of
thy right hand, may manfully ſtand in the confeſſion of thy faith,
and of thy truth, and continue in the fame unto the end of my
life, through the ſame our Lord Jeſus Chriſt. Amen.
Now to the objection. I grant it to be reaſonable, that he which
by words and gentleneſs cannot be made yield to that is right and
good, should be bridled by the ſtrait correction of the laws: that
is to ſay, he that will not be ſubject to God's word, muſt be
miſhed by the laws. It is true that is commonly ſaid, He that
will not obey the Goſpel, must be tamed and taught by rigor of
the law. But theſe things ought to take place againſt him which
refuſeth to do that is right and juſt, according to true godlineſs :
not againſt him which cannot quietly bear ſuperkition, and the
overthrow
pu.
480
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY. BOOK YI.
overthrow of Chriſt's inſtitutions, but doth hate and deteſt from
his heart ſuch kind of procedings, and that for the glory of the
name of God. To that which ye ſay, a tranſgreſſor of the com-
mon laws bewrayeth himſelf to be an enemy of his country, ſure-
ly a man ought to look unto the nature of the laws, what manner
of laws they be which are broken. For a faithful Chriſtian ought
not to think alike of all manner of laws, but that ſaying ought on-
ly truly to be underſtood of ſuch laws as be not contrary to God's
word. Otherwiſe, whoſoever loveth their country in truth, (that
is to ſay, in God) he will always judge (if at any time the laws of
God and man be the one contrary to the other) that a man ought
rather to obey God than man, Acts iv. And they that think other-
wiſe, and pretend a love to their country, foraſmuch as they make
their country to fight as it were againſt God, in whom conſiſteth
the only ſtate of the country : ſurely I do think that ſuch are to
to be judged moſt deadly enemies and traytors to their country.
For they that fight againſt God, who is the ſafety of their coun-
try, what do they elſe but go about to bring upon their country a
preſent ruin and deſtruction ? But they that do ſo are worthily to
be judged enemies to their country, and be traytors of the realm.
But this is the readieſt way, ye fay, to ſtir up
fedition to trouble
the quiet of the Commonwealth, therefore are theſe things to be
repreſſed in time by force of laws. Behold, Satan doth not ceaſe
to practice his old guiles, and accuſtomed ſubtleties. He hath
ever this dart in a readineſs to whirl againſt his adverſaries, to ac-
cuſe them of fedition, that he may bring them (if he can) in dan.
ger of the higher powers : for fo hath he by his miniſters always
charged the Prophets of God. Ahab ſaid unto Elias, Art thou he
that troubleth Ifrael? (3 Kings xvin.) The falfe: Prophets alſo
complained to their Princes of Jeremiah, that his words were fein
ditious, and not to be ſuffered (cap. xxvi.) Did not the Scribes
and Phariſees falſely accuſe Chriſt as a feditious perſon, and one
that
BOOK VI:
481
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
that fpake againft Cæſar. (Luke xx111.) Did they not at the laſt cry,
If thou let this man go; thou art not Cæfar's friend? (John xix.).
The Orator Tertullus how doth he accuſe Paul before Felix the
high Deputy? We have found this man (faith he) a peftilent fellow,
and a ſtirrer of fedition unto all the Jews in the whole world. (Acts
xxiv.) But I pray ye, were theſe men as they were called, fe-
ditious perſons, Chriſt, Paul, and the Prophets ? God forbid. But
they were of falſe men falſely accuſed. And wherefore, I pray
you ? but becaufe they reproved before the people their guiles, fu-
perſtition and deceits. And when the other could not bear it, and
would gladly have had them taken out of the way, they accuſed
them as feditious perſons, and troublers of the Commonwealth,
that being by thele means made hateful to the people and Princes,
they might the more eaſily be ſnatched up to be tormented and
put to death. But how far they were from all ſedition, their
whole doctrine, life, and converſation doth well declare. For that
which was objected laſt of all, that he cannot be a faithful ſubject
to his Prince, which profeſſed openly that he will not obſerve the
laws which the Prince hath made : Here I would with that I
might have an indifferent Judge, and one that feareth God, to
whoſe judgment in this cauſe I promiſe I will ſtand. I anſwer
therefore, a man ought to obey his Prince, but in the Lord, and
never againſt the Lord. For he that knowingly obeyeth his Prince
againſt God, doth not a duty to the Prince, but is a deceiver of
the Prince, and an helper unto him to work his own deſtruction.
He is alſo unjuſt, which giveth not the Prince that is the Prince's,
and to God that is God's. Here cometh to my remembrance that
notable ſaying of Valentinianus the Emperour for chuſing the
Biſhop of Milain : 'Set him (faith he) in the Biſhop's feat, to
* whom, if we (as man) do offend at any time, we may ſubmit our-
felves. (Theodor. Ecclef. Hiſtor. lib. 4. cap. 5.) And Polycar-
pus the moſt conſtant martyr, when he ſtood before the chief Ru-
3 Q
ler,
482
Book VI.
THE LIFE OF
-..
ler, and was commanded to blaſpheme Chriſt, and to ficar by
the fortune of Cæſar, he anſwered with a mild ſpirit :'. We are
• taught to give honor unto Princes, and thoſe powers which be
of God, but ſuch honor as is not contrary to God's religion .
Hitherto you fee, good Father, how I have in words only
mädę (as it were) a floriſh before the fight, which I ſhortly look
after ; and how I have begun to prepare certain kinds of weapons
to fight againſt the adverſaries of Chriſt, and to muſe with myſelf
how the darts of the old enemy may be borne off ; and after what
fort I may ſmite him again with the ſword of the ſpirit. I learn
alfo hereby to be in ure with armour, and to affxy how I can go
armed.
In Tyndale, where I was born, not far from the Scottiſh borders,
I have known my Countrymen watch night and day in their harnefs,
ſuch as they had, that is in their Jacks, and their ſpears in their
hands (you call them Northern gads) eſpecially when they had any
privy warning of the coming of the Scots. And fo doing, although
at every ſach bickerings fome of them ſpent their lives, yet by ſuch
means like pretty men they defended their country, And thoſe
that fo died, I think, that before God they died in a good quar-
rel, and their offspring and progeny all the country loved the bet-
ter for their fathers fakes. And in the quarrel of Chriſt our Sa.
viour, in the defence of his own divine ordinances, by the which
he giveth unto us life and immortality : yea in the quarrel of Faith
and Chriſtian Religion wherein reſteth our everlaſting ſalvation,
fhall we not watch? Shall we not go always armed ; ever looking
when our adverſary (which like a roaring Lion feeketh whom he
may devour) ſhall come upon us by reaſon of our flothfulneſs?
Yea, and wo be unto us, if he can opprefs us at unawares; which
undoubtedly he will do, if he find us ſleeping. Let us , awake
therefore I ſay, and let us not ſuffer our houſe to be broken úp.
Reff the Divil, ſays St. James, and be will. flee from you. (capi wv.)
Let
a Euſeb. Eccl. Hift. lib. 4. c. 4. Niceph, lib. 3. cap. 35:
BOOK VI. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
483
6
Let us therefore reſiſt him manfully, and taking the croſs upon
our
ſhoulders, let us follow our Captain Chriſt, who by his own blood
hath dedicated and hallowed the way which leadeth unto the Fa-
ther, that is, to the light which no man can attain, the fountain of
everlaſting joys. Let us follow, I ſay, whither he calleth and al-
lureth us, that after all theſe afflictions, which laſt but for a mo-
ment, whereby he trieth our faith as gold by the fire, we may
everlaſtingly reign and triumph with him in the glory of his Fa-
ther, and that through the fame our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, to whom
with the Father and the Holy Ghoſt be all honor and glory now
and for ever. Amen. Amen.
Good Father, foraſmuch as I have determined with myſelf to
pour forth theſe my cogitations into your boſom; here methinketb
I ſee you ſuddenly lifting up your head towards heaven, after your
manner, and then look upon me with your prophetical counte-
nance, and ſpeaking unto me with theſe or like words ; Truſt
not, my Son', (I befeech you vouchſafe me the honor of this
name, for in ſo doing I ſhall think myſelf both honored and loved
of you) . truſt not, I ſay, my Son, to theſe word weapons, for the
Kingdom of God is not in words, but in power, 1 Cor. iv. And
* remember always the words of the Lord, De not imagine afore-
· band what and how you will ſpeak, for it ſhall be given you, even in
that fame hour, what ye fhall ſpeak ; for it is not ye that ſpeak, but
'the Spirit of your Father which speaketb in you, Matth. x, Mark
XI. I I pray you therefore, Father, pray for me, that I may caſt
my whole care upon him, and truſt upon him in all perils. For i
know, and am ſurely perſuaded, that whatſoever I can imagine or
think aforehand, it is nothing, except he aſſiſt me with his Spirit
when the time is, I befeech you therefore, Father,
pray
that ſuch a complete harneſs of the Spirit, ſuch boldneſs of mind
may be given unto me, that I may out of a true faith ſay with
David, I will not truſt in my bow, and it is not my ſword that Mall
fave
for me,
3 Q 2
464
THE LIFE OF
.
Book VI
may remain
unto you beſt, let
fave me. For he hath no pleaſure in the Arength of an borſe. But
the Lord's delight is in them that fear him, and put their truſt in bis
mercy, Pf. cxliv. Pf. CXLVII. I beſeech you pray, pray that I
may enter this fight only in the name of God: and that when all
is paſt, I being not overcome, through his gracious aid
and ſtand faſt in him, till that day of the Lord, in the which to
them that obtain the victory ſhall be given the lively manna to eat,
and a triumphant crown for evermore.
Now, Father, I pray you help me to buckle on this gear a little
better, for you know the deepneſs of Satan, being an old Soldier,
and you have collared with him e'er now : bleffed be God that
hath ever aided you ſo well. I ſuppoſe he may well hold you at
the bay, but truly he will not be ſo willing (I think) to join with
You, as with us younglings. Sir, I beſeech you, let your
ſervant
read this my babbling unto you, and now and then as it ſhall ſeem
my paper, I give you good leave.
As touching this Antonian, whom I have here made mine Ad-
verſary, leſt peradventure any imagination might carry you amiſs,
andmake you
think otherwiſe than I meant : know you that I have
alluded to one Antony", a moft cruel Biſhop of the Arians, and a
very violent Perfecutor of them that were Catholick and of a
right judgment. To whom Hunric, a tyrant of the Vandals,
knowing Antony's fierceneſs, committed his whole authority, that
he ſhould either turn the Chriſtians, which believed well, unto his
falfe religion ; or elſe to puniſh and torment them at his pleaſure.
Which thing Antonius took in hand to do, and executed the ſame
againſt two godly Biſhops, and moſt conſtant in the doctrine which
was according to godlineſs. The name of the one was Eugenius,
an aged man, the other was named Habct Deum. This latter, as
it.
• Vi&or. lib. z. de Perſecut. Africa,
Book VI. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
483
my
it appeared by Victor's hiſtory of the perfecutions of the Vandales,
both the tyrant and the falſe counterfeit Biſhop deſired much to
have turned unto their moſt peftilent hereſy. This Habet Deum
was Biſhop of the city Tamallune, where Antony had been Biſhop
before : and when Antony had vexed him (as the ſtory faith) with
divers and ſundry perſecutions, and had found the foldier of Chriſt
always conſtant in his confeſſion: it is ſaid, that at length in a great
rage he ſwore, and ſaid to his friends, "If I make him not of
Religion, then am I not Antony.' It is incredible what harms
and troubles he put him to, what cruelty he practiſed againſt him,
and it were too long now to deſcribe the ſame unto you. But the
Man of God ſtood always unmoveable, and in the confeffion of
Chriſt's faith remained ever unto the end the conſtant and unfoiled
foldier of Chriſt. This good Biſhop Habet Deum I pray to God
our heavenly Father to give me grace, that I may faithfully follow,
through our Lord Jeſus Chriſt. Amen.
H. Latimer. Sir, I have cauſed my man not only to read your
armour unto me, but alſo to write it out: for it is not only no bare
armour, but alſo well buckled armour. I ſee not how it could be
better. I thank you even from the bottom of my heart for it, and
my prayer you ſhall not lack, truſting that you do the like for me.
For indeed there is the help. Many things make confuſion in me-
mory. And if I were as well learned as St. Paul, I would not be-
ftow much amongſt them, further than to gall them, and ſpur-
gall too, when and where occaſion was given, and matter.came to
mind; for the Law will be their ſheet anchor, and refuge.
Fare you well in Chrift.'
This Conference in writing paffed between theſe venerable Fa-
thers, as I apprehend, in January, when they were in feparate apart-
ments, after the Mafs was publickly reſtored, which was December
21, and before Wyatt's rebellion had ſo crouded the Tower with
State
.
286
Book VI.
TO THE LIFE Or
State Priſoners that the three Prelates were confined in one apart-
ment together, and this rebellion broke out the 26th of January.
Thus did this good Biſhop employ himſelf in his Priſon, examining
himſelf and trying his own fpirit carefully, left either ignorance or
prejudice thould in any degree miſlead him : ſeeking the advice of
the elder and more experienced ; propoſing his reaſons, and ſub-
mitting them to the cenſure of others, that he might be either bet-
er informed, and ſet right, or confirmed by their approbation in
his opinion; and yet not confiding in the mere exerciſe of reaſon,
but requeſting the prayers of good men for God's grace to enlighten
his mind in the ſearch of truth, and to ſtrengthen his conſtancy in
the open acknowledgment of it. And while he ſought he
gave
aſſiſtance : for in laying his reaſons before Latimer, and confirm-
ing them by the Fathers, he furniſhed that old Father with ar-
guments and proofs, which the loſs of his books and the failure of
his memory had made him forget, though he held the conclu-
fions firmly. For which Latimer heartily thanks him.
When the three Prelates were together they prepared themſelves
for the conflict which they ſhortly expected, by mutual confe-
rences, and reading over very diligently with one another the New
Teftament. Much was at ſtake, and a dreadful alternative was.
before them, either Apoſtacy or Burning. They therefore care-
fully examined what evidence could be found in the New Teſta-
ment for Tranſubſtantiation, and the Pope's Supremacy : could
they have found any, preſervation of life, and honors had attended
the diſcovery : but not being able to do this, they endeavoured
to arm each other in defence of the Truth, whatever fophiſtry or
terrors might be employed againſt them. In ſhort all through his
life never man uſed more ſerious induſtry to acquaint himſelf with
the Truth, than this truly Chriſtian Biſhop did; and when aſſured,
no man ever thewed more reſolution in maintaining it.
THE
Book VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY. 407
L
I F
E
the
THE
OF
Dr. NICHOLAS RIDLEY
BOOK VII. From March 1554 to
June 1555.
RID L E Y Confeffar.
Whoſoever ſhall confefs me before men, Him will I confefs alſo be
fore my Father which is in Heaven. MATTH. X. 32.
Omplaints having been made of the partial 1554.
$. 1. Cranmer,
procedings in the laſt Convocation, when
Ridley and Latimer
fent to Oxford to dif-
the ableft Proteftants were confined in pri-
pute.
fons, and could not be preſent to bear their parts
at the difputations, a folemn farce was determined
pal Profeſſors dould be appointed, like Criminals in the amphi-
theatre, to be firſt baited, and then facrifioed. And although the
Prolocutor
I
-
C
?
#
Y II THE LIBEL
BOOK VH.
Prolocutor Weſton had before truly ſtated the ſtrength of the re-
ſpective parties, ſaying, rou bave the WORD, and we have the
SWORD; yet, deſirous to make the beſt appearance they could, they
ſelected the choiceſt Diſputants as a Committee to repreſent the
Convocation ; who were allo to be aſſiſted by the ableft,Divines in
both Univerſities, to oppoſe theſe Prelates. In order hereto, on
the roth of March a letter was ſent to the Lieutenant of the Tow-
er to deliver the bodies of Dr. Cranmer the Archbiſhop of Canter-
bürý, Dr. Ridley, and Mafter Latimer to Sir John Williams, crea-
ted Lord Williams preſently after, to be conveyed by him to Ox-
ford. There they came a little before Eaſter, which fell on the
25th of March ; they were not ſuffered to have any thing with
them but what they carried on their backs, their own ſervants
were taken from them, and each had a ſtranger to attend him, and
they were kept ſeverally apart from one another.
The new Parliament met the ſecond of April ; the Convocation
framed the Queſtions to be diſputed on at Oxford, which were theſe
three ;
I. Whether the natural Body of Chriſt was really in the Sacra-
ment? Ilie
II. Whether any other Subſtance did remain, after the words of
Conſecration, than the Body and Blood of Chriſt ?
III. Whether in the Maſs there was a Propitiatory Sacrifice for
the Sins of the Dead and Living?
And then choſe their committee, Hugh Weſton, S. T. P. Pro-
locutor of the Lower Houſe of Convocation, Owen Oglethorpe,
John Seton, W. Chedſey; S. Th. P. P. Henry Cole, W. Geoffry,
L. L. P. P. William Pye, John Feckenham, John Harpsfield,
S. Th. B. B. repreſenting the whole Lower Houſe of Convocation,
wtio were to repair to Oxford, and defend the Popiſh Propofitions ;
with whom were joined in Coromiffion' the Chancellor, Vice-Chan-
cellor, Profeffors, and Doctors%f the Univerfity of Oxford, name-
ly,
/
Book VII, DR. NICHOLAS RIDL E Y.
489
.
:
ly, Treſham, V. C. Holyman, Marthal, Morwent and Smith,
S. Th. P.P. They likewiſe ſent theſe Queſtions down to Cam-
bridge to be approved of by that Univerſity, who determined
them the ſame way: and choſe John Young, (Succeſſor to Biſhop
Ridley in the Headſhip of Pembroke Hall,) their Vice Chancellor,
Glyn, Atkinſon, Watſon, Scot, Longdale, and Sedgwick, S. Th.P.P.
in the name of the whole Univerſity, as their Commiſſioners, to
repair to Oxford, and maintain theſe Doctrines againſt the three
Biſhops, members formerly of their Univerſity, who oppoſed them.
Their Inſtrument bears date the roth, and on Friday the 13th of
April they arrived at the Croſs Inn, and waiting on the Prolocutor
and Vice Chancellor at Lincoln College, they delivered their Let-
ters ; and then it was concluded that a Proceſſion, Sermon, and
Convocation ſhould be the next day, and the Doctors of each Uni-
verſity incorporated into the other.
This was done the next morning; and after Maſs of the Holy Fox.
Ghoſt, the Regiſter openly read the Commiſſion under the Biſhop
of London's ſeal, and ſigned beſide by the Biſhops of Wincheſter,
Durham, Worceſter, Chicheſter, Lincoln, Bath, Rocheſter, Here-
ford, St. Davids and Oxford. They next read the Letters from
Cambridge ; and then choſe three Notaries who ſhould teſtify of
their doings : theſe were ordered to provide parchment, that all
who had not ſubſcribed the Articles at London in the Convocation,
or at Cambridge in the Senate Houſe, might now do it, while
Maſs was celebrating. Such was the freedom of this Enquiry ;
the Queſtions predetermined, the Judges bound by their ſubſcrip-
tion to maintain one ſide, and the Oppoſers adjudged as Hereticks
to the flames before the diſputation began.
After dinner the Commiſſioners returned to the Choir of St. Ma-
ry's Church, and late before the altar to the number of thirty three
3 R
perſons.
April 7.
.
thi
?
.
490
THE LIFE OF
BOOK VII.
1
perſons. Then they ordered the Mayor to bring in Dr. Cranmer,
who appeared guarded by a number of ruſty billmen. His addreſs
to the Commiſfioners was with great reverence and humility, ſtand-
ing with his ſtaff in his hand, and refuſing to fit, though a ſtool
was offered him. The Prolocutor, with a ſhort preface in praiſe
of Unity, deſired the Archbiſhop to return to that Unity again ;
and acquainted him that the Queen's Grace had ſent them of the
Convocation and other learned men to reſtore him to it, if it might
be ſo; and then ſhewed him the Articles agreed on in Convocation,
willing him to ſubſcribe them. The Archbiſhop dilated on the
benefits and advantages of Unity, expreſſing a great deſire to come
to an Unity, ſo that it were in Chriſt, and agreeable to his word.
Then ruminating on the Queſtions, aſked, whether they meant
by a true and natural Body an Organical ſenſible Body? Their an-
ſwer was confuſed, but in general they agreed that it was the fame
Body that was born of the Virgin. Upon which, the Archbiſhop
denied it directly. And when he had looked on the other two,
he ſaid, they were all falſe and againſt God's Holy Word; and
therefore he would not agree in that Unity with them. The Pro-
locutor willed him to write his mind of them that night, and
cauſed a Copy of the Articles to be delivered to him, afligning
him Monday next to anſwer to them, and then delivered him to
the Mayor again to be had to Bocardo.
Next, Dr. Ridley was brought before them: who hearing the
Articles read over, anſwered without any mufing or delay, they
were all falſo.; and that they ſprang out of a bitter and fower root.
The Commiſſioners charged him with preaching a Sermon, while
he was Biſhop of Rocheſter, in maintenance of Tranſubſtantiation.
This he denied, defying them to produce one witneſs who heard
him; which they could not do. They aſked him next, whether
he did not, about the ſame time, deſire the preſent Lord Chancel-
lor to ſtick to the Maſs? He anſwered, that the Lord Chancellor
would
BOOK VII, DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
499
.
would ſay no ſuch things or words of him ; for if he did, he re-
ported not the truth. It was then demanded of him, whether he
would diſpute or no ? He anſwered, that as long as God gave
him life, he ſhould not only have his heart, but alſo his mouth
and pen to defend his Truth : but that he required time and
books. They ſaid he ſhould diſpute on Tueſday, and till that time
he ſhould have books and time alſo to look for his diſputations.
Then giving him a Copy of the Articles, they required him to
write his mind concerning them that night, and delivered him to
the Mayor.
Laſt of all Latimer was brought, with an handkerchief, and
two or three caps on his head, his ſpectacles hanging by a ſtring
at his breaſt, and a ſtaff in his hand, and was ſet in a chair ; for
ſo the Prolocutor permitted.
After his denial of the Articles,
Wedneſday was appointed him for diſputation. But the good Fa-
ther alledged age, ſickneſs, diſuſe, and want of books; ſaying that
he was almoſt as meet to diſpute as to be Captain of Calais : but
he ſaid, he would declare his mind, either by writing or by word,
and would ſtand to all that they could lay upon his back ; com-
plaining at the ſame time, that he was permitted to have neither
pen nor ink, nor yet any book, but only the New Teſtament
there in his hand, which he told them he had read over ſeven
times deliberately, and yet could not find the Maſs in it, neither
the marrow bones nor the finews of it. At which words the
Commiſſioners were greatly offended ; and the Prolocutor told
him, that he would make him grant, that it had both marrow
bones and finews in the New Teſtament. To which Latimer
returned, That
you will never do, Maſter Doctor. Upon which
he was filenced, and could not be permitted to explane what he
meant by thoſe terms.
In the Diſputation Fox ſays that Ridley's anſwers were marp,
witty, and very learned: but I muſt not conceal that they have
been
3 R 2
wamy
3
492
BOOK VII.
THE LIFE
8
+
been repreſented in a different light, not only by Pierfon, who
ſays, • Sure I am that the learning which he ſhewed at his diſpu-
tations in Cambridge, and in his anſwerings at Oxford were but
very vulgar and ordinary * ;' but alſo by a late ingenious Writer
of our own Church, who, in his zeal for the comparative excel-
lence of Latimer, pafles over the diſputations of Cranmer and Rid-
ley, with this remark; • I ſhall only ſay in general, for the ſake
• of truth, that the Papiſts do not ſeem to have juſtice done them
by their Proteſtant Adverſaries. Let theſe put what gloſs upon
* the affair they pleaſe, the Papiſts certainly had the better of the
argumentation on both thoſe days.' The caſe was this, they drew
« their chief proofs in favor of Tranſubſtantiation from the Fathers ;
many of whom, and ſome of the more eſteemed writers among
thein, ſpeak on this ſubject in a language by no means Evangeli-
cal. The two Biſhops accordingly being preſſed by an authority
• which they durft not reject, were not a little embarraſſed. And
• indeed how could a Proteſtant Divine defend ſuch a paſſage as
this from St. Chryſoſtom ? " What a miracle is this, He who
« fits above with the Father, at the very fame inſtant of time, is
“ handled with the hands of men.” Or ſuch a paſſage as this from
• the ſame writer, “ That which is in the cup is the ſame which
• flowed from the ſide of Chriſt ?" Or this from Theophylact,
“ Becauſe we would abhor the eating of raw fleſh, and eſpecially
“ human fleſh, therefore it appeareth as bread, though indeed it
6 is fleth ?" Or this from St. Auſtin, “ Chriſt was carried in his
“.own hands, when he ſaid, This is my Body?” Or this from
Juſtin Martyr, “We are taught that when this nouriſhing food
" is confecrated, it becomes the flesh and blood of Chriſt ?!". Or
< this from St. Ambroſe, “ It is bread before it is conſecrated, but
* when that ceremony hath paſſed upon it, of bread it becomes
" the
:
2
• Three Converfons, vol. II, p. 232
BOOK VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
495
<
;
“ the fleſh of Chriſt?” Of all theſe paſſages and many others of
* the ſame kind, the Papiſts, with not a little dexterity, made their
o avale. The two Biſhops in the mean time, inſtead of diſavow-
ing an inſufficient authority, weakly defended a good cauſe
evading and diſtinguiſhing after the manner of Schoolmen ”.
· Cranmer's defence, he ſays, was no ways extraordinary : through
• his great modeſty he ſeems to be over-awed by his audience. Rid-
• ley's indeed (he acknowledges) was very animated; for he had
great quickneſs of parts as well as learning : but yet he would
• have acted as wiſe a part if he had taken his Friend Biſhop La-
* timer's advice, and contented himſelf with giving a reaſonable
account of his Faith b.
Such is the cenſure of this Gentleman on theſe two great Pre-
lates ! Such the advice he would have given them how to have
proceded! Which was, to follow the example of a ſuperannuated
Scholar, worn out with age and the vivacity of his own genius, in-
to ſuch a ſtate of forgetfulneſs, as to be, according to his own con-
feffion, as meet to be a Captain of Calais as to diſpute. But was
the caſe the ſame with the other two? Or does this Proteſtant
Writer indeed imagine that the Truth was with the Papiſts in
their Argumentation on thoſe two days ? Or had it been a wiſer part
in the Archbiſhop of Canterbury, who had appeared at the head
of the Reformation, and of the Biſhop of London, to whoſe learn-
ed enquiries both the Archbiſhop and Latimer owed their infor-
mation in this very point, if they had contented themſelves withi
giving a rational account of their faith, and by diſavowing tlfe au-
thority of the Fathers as inſufficient, had acknowledged, that they
themſelves held contrary to the Church through all ages, and that
their faith was built on their own private. ſingular, opinion ? Surely
this had been in Them a very blameable defertion of the Truth,
Latimer:
--Gilpin’s Life of Hugh Latimer, p.: 164, 165.
Ibid.
494
BOOK VIT.
..
THE LIFE OF
5
Latimer did right in his circumſtances, as Mr. Addiſon very
judiciouſly obſerves, (though this Gentleman is not ſatisfied with
the reaſon which the Spectator gives“) · This venerable old Man,
ſays he, knowing how his abilities were impaired by age, and
* that it was impoſſible for him to recollect all thoſe reafons which
· had directed him in the choice of his Religion, left his Compa-
• nions, who were in the full poſſeſſion of their parts and learning,
to baffle and confound their Antagoniſts by the force of reaſon.
* As for himſelf, he only repeted to his Adverſaries the articles in
. which he firmly believed, and in the profeſſion of which he was
determined to die. In the conduct and behaviour of all the
'
three Wiſdom was juſtified of her Children : but had thoſe two great
Leaders declined the diſputation, as Latimer did, the Papiſts muſt
have been permitted to preſume, what now I am ſure they cannot
juſtly boaſt, that their arguments were ſuch as theſe Chiefs could
not anſwer:
That the Reader may the better judge of the merits of this dif-
putation, it will be proper to give a general ſtate of the Controver-
fy, from the treatiſes that were written on both ſides ; in which
the writers were at liberty to purſue their own method : but in the
ſchools, where the Biſhops had the Reſpondent's part aſſigned them,
they could only follow where their opponents lead them, and we
can have but a partial view of the Queſtion : yet enough to ſee that
victory was manifeſtly with the Proteſtants.
The Papiſts repreſented their doctrine of Tran-
$. 1. General vieru ſubſtantiation as founded on theſe three firm pil-
of the Controverſy.
lars, Scripture, the interpretation of the primi-
tive Writers, and the determination of the Church.
I. The Scripture in expreſs terms affirms, in the words of Chriſt
himſelf, This is my Body; confequently, ſay they, This was tran-
fubftantiated
.
· Number 465.
:
>
-
Book VIT. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
495
fübftantiated from the bread it had been, into the Body of Chriſt.
And Chriſt being Truth itſelf and the Wiſdom of the Father, to
refuſe credit to his declarations, or to fuppoſe that when he ſaid
one thing he meant another, is impiety and infidelity":
If the Proteſtants expreſſed, as indeed they did, the greateſt re-
verence for Chriſt's words, and maintained that themſelves under-
ftood his words in the true ſenſe, while the Adverſaries diſhonored
him by interpreting them in an abſurd one ; the Papiſts urged
II. The Conſent of Antiquity; for that all the primitive writers
interpret the words as the Papiſts do, and ſubmitting their imagi-
nations to the wiſdom of God, boldly infift upon that ſenſe which
the Proteſtants call abſurd ; and expreſſly avow that Chriſt bare
himſelf in his own hands o: that be eat Himſelf, ipfe cibus et con-
vivaº : that he took his fleſh to heaven, and left it at the ſame time
an earth". And that while he hittetb at God's right hand, be is in a
thouſand places at once on earth. Unus in multis, idem in diverſis
locis. Therefore that the Proteſtants who fly to a figurative in-
terpretation convict themſelves of holding new fangled doctrines,
which they lick out of their own fingers, contrary to all the an-
tient Doctors ; and contrary
III. To the determination of the Church, the pillar and ground
of the Truth, for Popes, Synods, and General Councils had decreed
Tranſubſtantiation : which the Proteſtants themſelves do not deny.
Now would it have been a ſufficient defence in theſe Biſhops to:
have contented themſelves with diſavowing the authority of all the
antient Fathers and the Church through all ages ; and to have in-
fifted that although they were all againſt the Proteſtant opinion,
yet the Proteſtant opinion was right, and all the Fathers and
Church miſtaken quite from our Saviour's time down to the mid-
dle
• Tónftall de veritate Corp. et Sang. Dom. in Euchariſtià.
b Auftin in Pf. xxxIII. • Jerom in Hor. lib. 111. cap. II.
ad pop. Antioch. Hom. I.
Barnard. Serm. in cænam Domini.
Chryfoft..
:
496
BOOK VII.
THE LIFE OF
trary
dle of the fixteenth Century ? Or would it have been as wiſe a part
in them, by their ſilence, or by diſavowing the authority as inſuf-
ficient, to have conceded to their Adverſaries, that all this autho-
rity was againf them, when they could, and did prove the con-
lick Doctrine of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Saviour
Chrift; and Ridley's Brief Treatiſe of the moſt Bleſſed Sacrament of
the Body and Blood of Cbrift; and in his Preface to the Difputation,
which I have added at the end of the Book.
1. As to Scripture, Ridley obferves the four Evangeliſts and
St. Paul do agree, ſaying, that Jeſus took bread, gave thanks, brake
and gave it to the Diſciples, ſaying, Take, eat, This is my body,
Here it appeareth planely that Chriſt called very bread His Body :
But ſay the Papiſts, (that is, Innocent II. Duns Scotus, and their
Followers) when he gave thanks and bleſſed the bread, he changed
its ſubſtance; fo that he brake not bread, which then was not
there, but only the form thereof. But St. Paul faith it ſtill con-
tinueth bread after the Confecration ; the BREAD which we break
is it not the partaking or fellowſkip of the Lord's Body? Whereupon
it followeth, that after the thankſgiving it is Bread which we
break. And how often in the Acts of the Apoſtles is the Lord's
Supper ſignified by breaking of bread"? And that the natural ſub-
ſtance of the Wine continues is proved from the words of Chriſt ;
for after he had ſaid of the Cup This is my blood of the New Teſta-
ment, he ſays expreſſly, I will not drink benceforth of this fruit of
the vinetree, until that that day when I ſhall drink it new in
my
Father's kingdom. Here note, how Chriſt calleth planely his Cup
the fruit of the vinetree: but the fruit of the vinetree is very natu-
ral wine : wherefore the very natural ſubſtance of the wine doth
remain ſtill in the Sacrament of Chriſt's blood
And
| Page 13
Page 14
Page 15.
BOOK VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
497
And as they are not tranſubſtantiated at all, but continue in their
ſubſtance what they were before Conſecration, that is, bread and
wine, ſo neither can they be tranſubſtantiated into the natural bo-
dy and blood of Chriſt, but are received in remembrance of Him,
namely, of his body given for us, and of his blood ſhed for the re-
miſſion of fins '. ' They (the Proteſtants) deny the Preſence of
Chriſt's body in the natural ſubſtance of his human and affumpt
nature, and grant the preſence of the ſame by Grace, that is, they
affirm and ſay, that the ſubſtance of the natural body and blood of
Chriſt is only remaining in heaven, and ſo ſhall be unto the latter
day, when he ſhall come again in glory accompanied with the an-
gels of heaven to judge the quick and the dead : but by Grace
the ſame body of Chriſt is here preſent with us; as we ſay the
ſun, which in ſubſtance never removeth his place out of the hea,
vens, is yet preſent here by his beams, light, and natural influence,
where it ſhineth
upon
the earth . For all grant that St. Paul's
words require, that the bread which we break ſhould be the Com-
munion of the body of Chriſt; and that the Cup of Bleſſing ſhould
be the Communion of the blood of Chriſt ; and alſo that he who
eateth of that bread and drinketh of that cup unworthily, ſhould
be guilty of the Lord's death, and that he eats and drinks his own
damnation, not conſidering the Lord's body Wherefore the Pa-
piſts did moſt falſely and injuriouſly accuſe the Proteſtants with ma-
king the Sacrament no better than a piece of common broken
bread", and but a bare fign and figure to repreſent Chriſtº. Of
this great injuſtice and miſrepreſentation Ridley complains, and
ſays, Alas ! let us leave lying, and ſpeak the truth every man not
3
S
only
a Page 5
• Pages 1o, II.
Pages 7, 8
d Tonfall in the Preface to his Book De Veritate, &c.
& Gardiner Confutat. Cavill. pafim,
:
498
BOOK VII.
THE LIFE O
C
}
only to his neighbour, but alſo of his neighbour ; for we are all
members one of another *.
II. And becauſe they objected to the Proteſtants that they in-
terpreted Scripture in a ſenſe contrary to the Primitive Writers,
which ſenſe they invented out of their own heads b; therefore Rid-
ley eſtabliſhes the Proteſtant opinion by the Authority and Doctrine
of the old ecclefiaftical Doctors. Chooſing fix as Repreſentatives
of the Univerſal Church; three of the Greek, and as many of the
Latin
Of the Greek, I. Origen"; • That meat which is fanctified by
* the word of God and Prayer, as concerning the matter thereof
'it goeth away into the belly, and is avoided into the draught :
• but for the Prayer which is added unto it, for the proportion of
the faith, it is made profitable, making the mind able to per-
"ceive, and ſee that which is profitable ; for it is not the material
• ſubſtance of the bread, but the word which is ſpoken upon it
* that is profitable to the man, who eateth it not unworthily.-
* And this I mean of the Typical and Symbolical, that is, Sacra-
'mental body." To evade this Evidence, ſome objected, that the
place was ſuſpected, becauſe lately ſet forth by Eraſmus. Others,
that Origen erred in ſome points—but he was never accuſed of Er-
ror concerning the Lord's Supper. Beat from theſe objections the
Papiſts had recourſe to others. 1. That Origen ſpeaks not of the
Sacramental bread and wine-Contrary to Origen's words. 2. Sup-
poſe he ſpake of the Lord's Supper, fays Gardiner", it is no in-
convenience to ſay, that as the material ſubſtance did depart at
the entering in of Chriſt's body under the aforeſaid forms, ſo when
the faid forms be deſtroyed and do not remain, then cometh again
the ſubſtance of bread and wine : ſo that what began with a mira-
cle
1
· Page 7
• Page 35:
& In Matth. xv.
b Tunſtal in Prefat.
f Confutat. Cavill. p. 413.
• Page 26.
.
BOOK VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
499
.
;
cle ſhould end with a miracle. Without ſhadow or pretence of
evidence.
2. Chryfoftom a; If it be a fault to tranſlate the hallowed ver-
• fels in the which is not contained the true body of Chriſt, but
* the myſtery of his body to private uſes how much more amiſs
• is it to abuſe and defile the veſſels of our bodies which God had
prepared as an habitation for himſelf b ? Their anſwers are va-
rious and confuſed, as uſual. 1. The Author is ſuſpected- but
never before theſe our days. 2. This Chryfoftom was not the fa-
mous Archbiſhop of Conſtantinople.—No matter ; all grant he was
a writer of that age. 3. Chryſoſtom ſpeaks here of the Veſſels
uſed in the Temple under the Old Law. But theſe were nerer
ſaid to contain what was called the body of Chriſt. Laſtly, Gar-
diner ſays
Chriſt's body is not contained in thoſe veſſels at the
Lord's Table as in a place, but as in a myſtery.--Wincheſter himſelf
acknowledges that Chryſoſtom would not ſpeak with ſuch ſubtle-
neſs. The ſame Chryfoftom" ſays, 'Before the bread be hallow ,
ed we call it bread, but the Grace of God fanctifying it by the
• means of the Prieſt, it is delivered now from the name of bread,
' and eſteemed worthy to be called Chriſt's body, although the na-
ture of bread abideth in it ſtill f.'
3. Theodoret 8;
• He that called the natural body corn and
bread, and alſo named himſelf a vinetree, even He, the ſame,
* hath honored the ſymbols, that is, the ſacramental figure, with
• the name of his body and blood ; not changing indeed the nature
itſelf, but adding Grace unto the nature.' And again, 'Thoſe
myſtical fymbols or facraments after the fanctification do not go
• out of their own nature, but they tarry and abide ſtill in their ſub-
• ſtance, figure and ſhape". Their anſwers are, 1. The Author
Ꮪ
wrote
☆
a Cap. 5. Hom. 11. Operis Imperfecti.
o Page 29 or pa e 84 of the Latin
edition.
c Confut. Cavill. p. 477.
e Ad Cæfarem
Monachum.
& Contra Eutychen. * Page 31, 32."
d Ibid.
i Page 31.
sco
Book VII.
THE LIFE OF
wrote before the determination of the Church. Therefore the
determination of the Church by Innocent 111 was the novel opi-
pion
2. The Author was ſuſpected of being a Neſtorian.-- He
was acquitted of this charge by the Council of Chalcedon. 3. Dr.
Morman in the Convocation of laſt year, fays, that by ſubſtance
Theodoret meant accidents. Like the Lawyer's gloſs on the De-
cree, who interpreted ſtatuimus, i. e. abrogamus, We decree, that
is, we abrogate and diſanul.
From the Latin Church he produces, 1. Tertullian: ; • Jeſus
made the bread, which he took and diſtributed to his Diſciples,
* his body, ſaying, This is my body, that is to fay, a figure of my
« body.' Their anſwers are, 1. Tertullian writes as none hath
done either before him or after him.-- But Origen, Hilary, Am-
broſe, Baſil, Gregory Nazianzen, Auſtin and other old Authors
call the Sacrament a figure of Chriſt's Body. 2. Tertullian wrote
this in the heat of diſputation with an Heretick coveting rather to
overcome his adverſary than to ſpeak with exactneſs. Thus Gar-
diner thought it neceſſary for bis cauſe to repreſent the authority
of the Fathers as inſufficient.
2. Auſtin 6; If Sacraments had no fimilitudes or likeneſs of thoſe
things whereof they be ſacraments, they could in no wiſe be ſa-
* craments; and for their fimilitude and likeneſs commonly they
• have the names of thoſe things whereof they are facraments:'
Again, We ought not to conſider in facraments what they be,
• but what they fignify; for they be ſigns of things, being one
thing in themſelves, and yet fignifying another thing ; for the
• heavenly bread by ſome manner of ſpeech is called Chriſt's body,
when indeed it is the facrament of his body.' Again , • By his
• Divine Majeſty, by his Providence, by his unſpeakable and invi-
« fible
1
b
23 Epift. ad Bonifac.
Contra Maxaminum.,
1: Adverſus Marcionem.
so Tract. in Joan.
Book VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
501
3
yet neverthe-
fible Grace, that is fulfilled which he ſpake, behold I am with
you unto the end of the world: but as concerning the Aeſh which
• he took in his Incarnation, which was born of the Virgin ...
apprehended by the Jews, and crucified upon the Tree ... was
• buried, and rofe again, and appeared after his Reſurrection, as
.concerning that Fleſh, he ſaid, ye ſhall not ever have me with
* you :
3. Gelafius, who was himſelf a Biſhop of Rome ; . The facra-
ments of the body and blood of Chriſt are godly things, by which
we are made partakers of the Divine Nature : and
leſs the ſubſtance or nature of bread and wine doth not depart or
go away.'
Theſe few authorities are ſufficient to thew the uniform ſenſe of
the Fathers both of the Greek and Latin Church how they under-
ſtood thoſe words of Chriſt, This is my Body. This is
Blood;
for although they (as themſelves tell us) ſometimes in conformity to
thoſe expreſſions, ſpeak of the bread and wine as converted into
the body and blood of Chriſt, yet they meant, as themſelves in-
form us, that the bread and wine ſtill continued; that they were
figures, fimilitudes, repreſentations, and ſignifications of Chriſt's
real body and blood; and that they who faithfully receive them
according to Chriſt's inſtitution, do really by grace and divine effi-
cacy partake of the benefits of Chriſt's paſſion.
UI. As to the Church, Her opinion and doctrine in this point
is ſufficiently ſeen in the general conſent of the primitive Fathers":
the firſt General Council that determined the point of Tranſubſtàn-
tiation was fo late as 1215 under Pope Innocent 111. down to his
time, as Tonſtal himſelf confeſſes, it was free to believe, either that
Chriſt's
This is my
- Page 37, 38.
• Contra Eutychen.
• In his treatiſe on the Euchariſt, p. 45, written in 1551, but not publiſhed till Chriſti
mas 1553, at Paris, about the time that Gardiner publiſhed his Confutatio Cavillationum
at Louvain.
!
11
502
BOOK VII.
THE LIFE OF
body and blood were in the bread and wine, or together with it, or
that the elements were annihilated; or that they were tran-
ſubſtantiated into Chriſt's natural body and blood. And that this
decree had no neceſſary foundation in Scripture, the Schoolmen, the
fturdieſt defenders of Tranſubſtantiation, by their metaphyſical
ſubtleties, planely acknowledge. Thus Gabriel Biel, who wrote
moſt largely on the Canon of the Maſs, and whom Du Pin calls
one of the beſt Scholaſtick Divines in his time, about 1480, ſays,
It is to be noted, that although it be taught in Scripture, that the
body of Chriſt is truly contained and received of Chriſtian people,
under the kinds of bread and wine, yet how the body of Chriſt is
there, whether by converſion of any thing into it, or without
converſion the body is there with the bread, both the ſubſtance
and accidents of bread remaining there ſtill, it is not found ex-
preſſed in the bible. Yet foraſmuch as of the Sacraments men
muſt hold as the Holy Church of Rome holdeth, as it is written,
De Hæreticis, ad abolendam; and that Church holdeth and hath
determined, that the bread is tranſubſtantiated into the body of
Chriſt, and the wine into his blood; therefore is this opinion to be
received of all them that be Catholick, that the ſubſtance of bread re-
inaineth not, but really and truly is turned, tranſubſtantiated and
changed into the ſubſtance of the body of Chriſt. Thus the words of
Chriſt do confeſſedly not neceſſarily infer Tranſubſtantiation : nay
Scotus, the ſubtleſt of all the Shoolmen, acknowledges further,
that the words of Scripture might be expounded more eaſily and
more planely, without Tranſubſtantiation: but the church did
chooſe this ſenſe (which is more hard) being moved thereto,
as it ſeemeth, chiefly becauſe that of the Sacraments, men ought
to hold as the Holy Church of Rome holdeth".
Thus
a Cranmer's Defence, fol. 30.
.
BOOK VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
503
Thus we ſee theſe two biſhops had no occaſion to be embaraſſed
with the authority of the Fathers, nor diſavow it as inſufficient :
but without evading or diſtinguishing after the manner of School-
men, fairly produce them to explane themſelves, and challenge
their authority againſt Tranſubſtantiation ; only diſtinguiſhing, as
the Fathers do, between the Natural Body of Chriſt, and the Di-
vine Grace and Efficacy, and between the Sign and thing ſignified ;
although the name of the latter be given to the former. In the diſ-
putation itſelf, the Papiſts, who had the opponents part, ſpent
the time chiefly in producing theſe rhetorical and highly figured
expreſſions of the Fathers; to which the biſhops could make no
other
proper anſwer but that which they did make, that thoſe ex-
preſſions were figurative, and that the Fathers ſpake of myſtical
things myſtically, and of facramental ſacramentally.
Monday, the 16th of April was the Arch-
$. 3. Account of biſhop's day, which I ſhall paſs over, only ob-
the diſputations there.
ſerving the ominous blunder that the Prolocutor fi:
made at opening the Diſputations. • Brethren, ſays he, we are
* aſſembled here this day to confound the deteſtable hereſy of
· Chriſt's body in the ſacrament:' which involuntary truth broke
from him unawares, and was received with laughter by fome, and
with concern and regret by others.
On Tueſday the 17th, Dr. Ridley was brought to the anf-
werer's place, where no leſs than Fourteen oppoſed him.
The diſputation is publiſhed in Fox, and by Dr. Gilbert Iron-
fide, from a MS. of Biſhop Ridley's; whoſe general account of it
is as follows.
I never yet ſince I was born, faw, or heard any thing done or Fos.
handled more vainly or tumultuouſly, than the diſputation which
was with me, in the Schools at Oxford. Yea, verily, I could
never have thought that it had been poflible to have found.
amongſt
.
&
ter
504
BOOK VII.
THE LIFE OF
amongſt men, recounted to be of knowledge and learning in this
realm, any ſo brazen-faced and ſhameleſs, ſo diſorderly and vainly
to behave themſelves, more like ſtage-players in interludes to ſet
forth a pageant, than grave Divines in Schools to diſpute. The
clamors of the Sorbonne, which at Paris I have ſeen in times
paſt, when Popery moſt reigned, might be worthily thought (in
compariſon of this Thraſonical oftentation) to have had much
modeſty. And no great wonder, ſeeing they which thould have
been moderators and guides of others, and who thould have given
good example in words and gravity, they themſelves, above all
others, gave worſt example, and did, as it were, blow the trum-
pet to the reſt, to rave, roar, rage, and cry out. Whence it
manifeſtly appears, that they never fought for truth, but for the
glory of the world, and a bragging victory. But beſides the in-
numerable railings, rebukes, and taunts, wherewith I was baited
on every ſide, leit our cauſe, which indeed is God's cauſe, and his
Church's, Rould alſo by the falſe accounts of our diſputations, be
evil ſpoken of, and landered to the world, and ſo the truth ſuf-
fer, and be hindered thereby; I have thought good to write my
anſwers myſelf, that whoſoever is deſirous to know them and the
truth withal, may thereby perceive thoſe things which were chief-
ly objected againſt me, and alſo in effect what was anſwered of
me to every of them. Howbeit, Good Reader, I confeſs that
it is impoſſible either to ſet forth what was (God knows) tumul.
tuouſly ſpoken, and confuſedly objected on their parts, being ſo
many, ſpeaking many times altogether fo thick that one could
not well hear another; or that was anſwered on my part, to ſuch
and ſo many different opponents. Moreover, a great part of the
time appointed for the diſputations, was vainly ſpent in oppro-
brious taunts, hiffings, clapping of hands, and triumphs, more
than could have been borne even in ſtage-plays, and that in Eng-
liſh to prejudice the common people. All which things when I
with
BOOK VII.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
505
with godly grief did fuffer, proteſting openly that ſuch exceſſes
and outrageous diſorder was unbecoming thoſe ſchools, and men
of learning and gravity, and did but betray the weakneſs of their
cauſe. I was ſo far by this my humble remonſtrance from doing
any good, that what with hiſſing and ſhouting, and what with
overbearing, I was forced to hear ſuch reproaches, checks, and
taunts for my labor, that no perſon of any honeſty, without
bluſhing could abide to hear ſpoken, by a moſt vile varlet, againſt
a moſt wretched ruffian.
At the firſt beginning of the diſputation, when I ſhould have
confirmed mine anſwer to the firſt propoſition in few words, and
that (after the law and manner of the Schools) before I could
make an end of my firſt probation, which was not very long,
even the Doctors themſelves cried out, he ſpeaketh blaſphemies,
he ſpeaketh blaſphemies. And when I on my knees requeſted
moſt earneſtly, that they would vouchſafe to hear me to the
end; whereat the Prolocutor ſomewhat moved (as it ſeemed)
cried out, let him read it; yet when I began to read again, there
followed immediately ſuch ſhouting, ſuch a noiſe and tumult, and
confuſion of voices, crying, blaſphemies ! blaſphemies ! as I to
my remembrance never heard or read of the like; except it be that
one which was in the Acts of the Apoſtles, ſtirred up of Deme-
trius the filver ſmith and others of his occupation, crying out
againſt Paul, Great is Diana of the Epheſians ! and except it
were a certain diſputation of the Arians, with the true Believers
in Africa, where it is ſaid, that ſuch as the Preſidents and Rulers
of the diſputation were, ſuch was alſo the end of the diſputation.
All was done tumultuouſly, and the flanders of the Arians were
fo outrageous that nothing could be heard in quiet. As Victor
writes in the id book of his Hiſtory. The like cries and tu-
mults of theſe men againſt me ſo prevaled, that, whether I would
or no, I was forced to leave off the reading of my proofs, al-
though
3 T
.
:.
506
::
BOOK VII.
THE LIFE OF
&
.
though they were but ſhort. And of the truth hereof I have all
unprejudiced perſons who were preſent for my witneſſes, who, 1
am fure, will ſay that I do not aggravate. But of this I will ceafe
to complain any further. .
Martyr's
I would alſo have the Reader to underſtand that Mr. Prolocutor
Letters, did publickly promiſe me in the diſputations, that I ſhould ſee how
my anſwers were collected and gathered of the notaries, and that
I ſhould have licence to add or diminiſh, to alter or change after-
ward, as I ſhould think would beſt make for me, to the anſwering
of the propoſitions. He promiſed moreover publickly, that I
Thould have both time and place to bring in freely all that I would,
for the confirmation of my anſwers. Now when he had promiſed
all theſe things openly, in the hearing of other Commiſſioners,
and of the whole Univerſity of Oxford, yet, good Reader, know,
that indeed he performed nothing of all that he promiſed. What
faith then ſhall a man look to find at ſuch Judges hands in God's
ſecret myſteries, who in their promiſes, fo publickly made, and
juſtly due, are found to be fo faithleſs to God and man? I leave
it to the judgment of the ſenſible Readers.
Know further, that when Mr. Prolocutor did put forth Three
propofitions, he commanded us to anſwer particularly to them all.
After our anſwers, neither He nor his Affeffors did ever enter in-
to any diſputation of any one of them, ſave only of the firſt; yet
even before he had received or heard my anſwers to the other Two,
when he had afked us whether we would fubſcribe to the whole,
in the form and words there fet forth, (which we denied to do)
he condemned us all, myſelf, Dr. Cranmer, and Dr. Latimer,
my moſt honoured fathers, and moſt dear brethren in Chriſt, as
guilty of a moſt dreadful hereſy, concerning every of theſe pro-
poſitions; and fo ſeparated us one from another, confining us
apart in different houſes, to be kept in ſafe cuſtody againft the
day of our Burning; and having before commanded that all our
ſervants
fo
.
용
​;
.
Book VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
507
fervants ſhould be kept from us, he now added at his departure,
that the uſe of pen, ink, and paper ſhould alſo be denied us. But
thanks be to God, who gave me to write this before that inter-
diction came. Almighty God, who is wont to behold the cauſe
of the afflicted, and to looſe the bonds, and hear the fighings of
the priſoners, vouchſafe to look upon the cauſe of his Church in
England, and put a ſpeedy end io all its afflictions. Amen,
Amen, Amen.
Nic. Ridley.
If therefore to reſolve figures into their true ſenſe, ac
according
to the analogy of faith, to explane Fathers by their own interpre-
tations ; to ſhew a better acquaintance with the authors which
his opponents produced, than they had themſelves ; and to be
able by his great reading and memory to detect their miſrepreſent-
ations and forgeries, and to anſwer off hand, without the aſſiſtance
of books, what they came prepared to object from books, if this be
to be embarraſſed with an inſufficient authority, and weakly to
defend a good cauſe, the abovementioned writer * had reaſon for
ſaying, that Ridley had acted as wiſe a part if he had taken Lam
timer's advice, and contented himſelf with giving a reaſonable
account of his faith : and if ambiguous equivocations, abſurdi-
ties, falſe facts, forgeries, breach of promiſe, taunts, revilings,
hiffings, noiſe, and clamor, be commendable and concluſive argu-
ments, then that Gentleman might truly fay, that the Papiſts
certainly had the beſt of the argument. If not, then an intem-
perate zeal for good old Latimer, has led him to do much injury
to thoſe two great and learned Prelates, Cranmer and Ridley, and
to the Proteſtant cauf, which they defended. Though La-
timer, from his age and infirmities, acknowledged that he was as
fit to defend Calais as to engage in a Scholaftick diſputation ; yet
he
3 T 2
* Of the Life of Latimer.
..
iy
108
Book VITRI
THE LIFE OF
>
he had great worth and goodneſs, a lively wit and an honeſt heart,
and deſerved the title commonly given him, of the Apoſtle of the
Englifti : all three had their reſpective and appropriate merit, ſuf-
ficient to make them eminent and illuſtrious; and if living neither
of them would have thanked any advocate who ſhould have at
tempted to raiſe his character by an injurious. under-valuing the
other two.
The following day * Dr. Latimer took his turn., He avoided
as much as could be entering into a diſputation, pleading his age
and infirmities, that his memory was loſt, that he was unapt for:
Audy now, nor ready in producing the fruit of his former ftudies,
and that he underſtood no Greek. They were not aſhamed
to take a ſcandalous advantage of this confeſſion, and falfify the
Greek Text, in confidence that he could not diſprove them. This
is no diſgrace to Latimer, who was born thirty years too late to,
be well acquainted with the Greek, for, he was betwixt forty and
fifty before it began to be publickly taught in Cambridge ;, and the
hardſhips of a priſon concurring with old age had, as he complains,
greatly impaired his abilities : but it is an indelible infamy on his ,
Opponents to have practiſed.ſuch arts"; and thews how neceſſary it
was to have a Proteftant Reſpondent, who could ſay. St. Paul's
Greek Epiſtles by heart, and was ſo, converſant with the Fathers
and Councils as to prevent their producing their falſe wares, or ta
expoſe them when they did. This was neceſſary, for the future
juſtification of the Proteſtants, though not for preſent ſucceſs : nein
ther the Learning of Cranmer or Ridley, (though the laft, in Biſhop
Hift: Re- Burnet's judgment, gathered together the chief arguments for,
his opinion in a ſtrong and nervous diſcourſe, as any he ever ſaw.
on that ſubject) nor the apoſtolical fimplicity of Latimer could,
fecure that. On Friday the 20th all three were brought to St.
S. Mary's
!
format.
vol. II.
P 282.
Wedneſday 18
si
BOOK VID DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
30g
Mary's before the Commiſſioners, and required, without diſputing
on two of the Queſtions, directly and peremptorily to ſay whether
they would fubferibe or not to all the three. Upon their refuſing
ſo to do, ſentence was pronounced, that they were no members
of the Church. And therefore they, their fautors and patrons
were condemned as Hereticks. While this ſentence was reading
they were aſked, whether they would turn or no : but they bad.
them read on in the name of God, for they were not minded ta
turn,
After ſentence of condemnation was paſſed on them they anſwer-
ed ſeverally ;
Cranmer. From this your judgment and ſentence I appeal to
the juſt judgment of God Almighty, truſting to be preſent with
him in heaven, for whoſe preſence on the altar. I am thus con-
demned.
Ridley. Although I be not of your company, yet doubt I not
but my name is written in another place, whither this ſentence
will ſend us fooner, than we ſhould by the courſe of nature have
come.
Latimer. I thank God moſt heartily, that he hath prolonged
my life to this end, that I may in this cafe glorify God by this kind:
of death.
To whom the Prolocutor made this reply ; If you go to heaven
in this faith, then I will never come thither, as I am thus perſua-
ded. They were ſeparately carried away; the Archbiſhop to
Bocardo, Dr. Ridley to the Sheriff's houſe, and Dr. Latimer to the
Bailiffs.
On the Monday following the Commiſſioners left. Ox-
ford ; but before their departure, Dr. Glin with Dr. Young the
Vice Chancellor of Cambridge, and who, fucceded Dr. Ridley in
the Maſterſhip of Pembroke-Hall, and Dr. Oglethorpe of Oxfordy
came to the Sheriff's houſe, where Glin, in preſence of the other
two, aſked Dr. Ridley's pardon for his unſcholar like, as well as :
unfriendly
ز
1
5.10,
BOOK VII.
THE LIFE OF
.
anfriendly, treatment of him in the ſchools. Ridley, though at
firſt he took this uſage from Him, an old friend and acquaintance,
very ill, yet had in his mind excuſed him ; reſolving it, not into a
malicious contempt, but a time-ſerving infirmity.
He did now
from his very heart forgive him, wiſhing him the clear knowledge
of the Goſpel Truth, and praying that all offences remitted, not
only to Him, but to all others, they might all, being perfectly
reconciled, be admitted together to the manſions of their heavenly
Father.
Immediately after the ſentence was given Dr. Ridley ſent the
following letter to Dr. Weſton.
::
Mr. Prolocutor,
You remember, I am ſure, how you promiſed me openly in the
Ichools, after my Proteſtation, that I ſhould ſee how
my
anſwers
were there taken and written of the notaries, whom you appointed
to write what ſhould be faid; and to have had licence to have ad-
ded unto them, or to have altered them, as upon more delibera-
tion ſhould have ſeemed me beſt. You granted me alſo, at the de-
livery of my anſwer unto your firſt Præpoſition, a copy of the ſame
theſe promiſes are not performed. If your ſudden departure be
any cauſe thereof, yet I pray you remember that they may be per-
formed; for performance of promiſe is to be looked for at a righte-
ous Judge's hands. Now I ſend you here my anſwers in writing
ſecond and third Propofitions, and do defire and require
earneſtly a copy of the fame, and I ſhall by God's grace procure
the pains of the writer to be paid for and ſatisfied accordingly.
Mr. Prolocutor, in the time of my anfwering in the ſchools,
when I would have confirmed my fayings with authorities and
reafons, you ſaid then openly, that I fhould have time and place
to ſay and bring whatfoever I could another time; and the fame
your ſaying was then and there confirmed of other of the Commif-
fioners
to your
4*
Book VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
(511
:
ſioners : yea, and (I dare ſay) the audience alſo thought then that
I ſhould have had another day, to have brought and ſaid what I
could for the declaration and confirmation of my affertions. Now
that this was not done but fo ſuddenly ſentence given before the
cauſe was perfectly heard, I cannot but marvel.'
He likewiſe ſent a copy of his anſwers to the three propoſitions
to Cranmer with the following Letter.
...
Dr. Ridley to the Archbiſhop of Canterbury.
• I wiſh you might have ſeen theſe my anſwers before I had de-
livered them, that you might have corrected them. But I truſt in
the ſubſtance of the matter we do agree fully, both led by one ſpi-
rit of truth, and both walking after one rule of God's word. It
is reported that Serjeant Morgan the Chief Juſtice of the Common-
Pleas is gone mad'. It is ſaid alſo, that Juſtice Hales has recant-
ed, perverted by Doctor Moreman.
Item that Maſter Rogers,
Dr. Crome, and Maſter Bradford ſhall be had to Cambridge, and
there be diſputed with, as we were here; and that the Doctors of
Oxford ſhall
go likewiſe thither as Cambridge men came hither.
When you have read iny anſwers, ſend them again to Auſtin, ex
cept you will put any thing to them. I truſt the day of our de-
livery out of all miſeries, and of our entrance into perpetual reft,
and to perpetual joy and felicity draweth nigh: the Lord ſtrength-
en us with his mighty ſpirit of grace ! If you have not to write:
with, you muſt make your man your friend. And this bearer de
ſerveth to be rewarded; ſo he may and will do you pleaſure. My
man is truſty ; but it grieveth both him and me, that when I ſend
him with any thing to you, your man will not let him come up to
ſee you, as he may to Maſter Latimer, and yours to me. I haye
a promiſe
주
​a He who had condemned the Lady Jane,
ent
1
312
Book VII.
THE LIFE OT
.:
a promiſe to ſee how my anſwers were written in the ſchools, but
Jas yet I cannot come by it. Pray for me, I pray you, and ſo thall
I for you. The Lord have mercy of his Church, and lighten the
eyes of the magiſtrates, that God's extreme plagues light not on
this realm of England.
Turn, or burn.'
When he found on Monday that the Prolocutor was hafting
away to London without performing his promiſe, he wrote this
ſhort letter to him, deſiring the two Bailiffs and Mr. Alderman
Iriſh to witneſs it.
f.
Dr. Ridley to Dr. Weſton, Prolocutor.
· Mr. Prolocutor,
I deſire you, and in God's name require you, that you truly
bring forth and ſhew all my anſwers written and ſubſcribed by my
own hand unto the Higher Houſe of Convocation, and ſpecially to
my Lord Chancellor, my Lords of Durham, Ely, Worceſter, Nor-
wich, and Chicheſter ; and alſo to thew and exhibit this my wri-
ting unto them, which in theſe few lines here I write unto you :
and that I did make this requeſt unto you by this my writing, know
you that I did take witneſs of them by whom I did ſend it you, and
alſo of thoſe who were then with them preſent, namely, the two
Bailiffs of Oxford, and Mr. Iriſh, Alderman, then there called to
be a witneſs.
By me Nicholas Ridley.
23d of April 1554.
.
At the ſame time Dr. Cranmer fent letters fupplicatory to the
Council by the Prolocutor, complaining of the injuſtice they had
received from the Commiſſioners. Dr. Weſton when he had got
near
BOOK VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY
513
near half way to London opened them, and not liking the contents
ſent them back again, and refuſed to carry them.
On the 3d of May the Council fate, and having ordered the
Mayor of Oxford to bring in his bill of allowances for the charges
of Dr. Cranmer, Dr. Ridley, and Mr. Latimer, and that he ſhould
have a warrant for the ſame ; it was further reſolved by their
Lordſhips that the Judges and Queen's Highneſs's Council Learned
ſhould be called together, and their opinions demanded what they
think in law her Highneſs may do touching the cauſes of the ſaid
Cranmer, Ridley and Latimer, being already by both the Univer-
fities of Oxford and Cambridge judged to be obſtinate Hereticks :
which matter is the rather to be conſulted upon, for that the ſaid
Cranmer is already attainted. Thus ſenſible were they that their
zeal had carried them ſome lengths beyond the point to which Law
or Equity would reach. The Priſoners had been committed,
Cranmer for High Treaſon, Ridley and Latimer for ſedition
former had been attainted by Parliament; the other two had never
been called to any account. And now all three were excommuni-
cated for offences of another nature, by an authority that had no
ſupport; for the Queen clamed no Supremacy in Eccleſiaſtical mat-
ters, nor did the inſert that title in her directions to Boner to ſum-
mon this Convocation : Boner, who ſummoned it, as he could have
no authority from the Queen, fo neither from the Pope ; he was
neither Legate a latere, or Legatus natus ; nay, had he been ei-
ther, the Pope himſelf had as yet no authority here, and there-
fore Boner omitted in his ſummons to the Convocation thoſe cuſ-
tomary words legitimè fuffultus, conſcious that he called it without
any authority at all, They therefore deſired aid from the Judges
and the Queen's learned Council to extricate them out of this diffi-
culty in which they had too haſtily entangled themſelves. We
may gueſs at the Lawyers opinion by the event; none of them were
put to death till another Parliament had been called, and the Pope's
Supremacy
; the
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BOOK VII.
THE LIFE OF
Supremacy reſtored.
reſtored. And even then, when they had proceded to
burn, fome Proteſtants, one in the Convocation moved a queſtion,
by what Law they could juſtify themſelves in doing ſo ? The Pro-
locutor Weſton anſwered, “ It forceth not for a Law; we have a.
“ Commiſſion to procede with them ; and when they be diſpatch-
ed, let their Friends ſuė the Law.”
Life of
Cranmer,
$ 349
In this interim while theſe three Fathers lay
§. 4. The good in under condemnation without authority and with-
fuence of this exem-
out law, they were reſtrained by a moſt rigorous
plary Confeffion on o-
thers,
confinement, not only from any active ſcenes, the
ornament of Hiſtory, but even from converſation.,
The town of Oxford ſhewed them no reſpect; the Univerſity was
more enflamed againſt them : ſuch as wiſhed them well were forced
to fly to ſecure themſelves ; among which was Mr. Jewel, one of
the Notaries appointed by Ridley and Cranmer to ſet down the
Diſputation. Nay, the Biſhops were all kept apart, and denied to
converſe with one another, except before their Keepers at meal
times for I think they uſually dined and ſupped together. So
that the remainder of this interval muſt be furniſhed chiefly from
the Epiſtolary Correſpondence that paffed betwixt Ridley and others
confined in priſon on the ſame account. Of all whom,
Of all whom, as Biſhop
Burnet obſerves, Ridley wrote with the greateſt connexion and
force, both in the matter, and in the way of expreſſion.
No ſooner had theſe three Holy Confeffors fo publickly borne
their teſtimony to the truth, not fearing thoſe who could only
kill the body, but congratulations were ſent them from their Fel-
low Priſoners in the King's Bench and Marſhalſea. Thus wrote
Doctor Rowland Taylor to them,
;
Vol. 1).
P. 284.
Right Reverend Fathers in the Lord, I wiſh you to enjoy con-
tinually God's grace and peace through Jeſus Chriſt : and God be
praiſed again and again for this your moſt excellent promotion
1
which
Book VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
513
+
which ye are called unto at this preſent, that is, that you are count-
ed worthy to be allowed amongſt the number of Chriſt's records and
witneſſes. England hath had but a few learned Biſhops that would
ſtick to Chriſt ad ignem incluſivi, even to the fire. Once again I
thank God heartily in Chrift for your moſt happy onſet, moft va-
liant proceding, moſt conſtant ſuffering of all ſuch infamies, hif-
fings, clappings, taunts, open rebukes, loſs of living and liberty for
the defence of God's cauſe, truth, and glory. I cannot utter with
pen how I rejoice in my heart for you three ſuch Captains in the
Foreward under Chriſt's croſs, banner, or ſtandard in ſuch a caufe
and ſkirmish ; when not only one or two of our dear Redeemer's
ſtrong holds are beſieged, but all his chief caſtles, ordained for our
ſafeguard, are traiterouſly impugned. This your enterpriſe in the
ſight of all that be in heaven, and of all good people on earth, is
moſt pleaſant to behold. This is another manner of nobility than
to be in the Forefront of worldly warfares.
For God's fake pray
for us, for we fail not daily to pray for
you. We are ſtronger and
ſtronger in the Lord, his name be praiſed. And we doubt not but
ye
be ſo in Chriſt's ſweet ſchool. Heaven is all, and wholly on
our ſide. Therefore rejoice in the Lord always, and again I fay
rejoice.
Your aſſured in Chrift,
Rowland Taylor.'
In like manner wrote Laurence Saunders, Rector of Allhallows
Breadſtreet in London, in a letter to them from the Marſhalſea ;
in which he ſays, “We heretofore have had the fruition of you,
moſt reverend Fathers, by bodily preſence to our inexplicable be-
nefit. Praiſed be our gracious God therefore ! and now in ſpirit
we have the experience of unſpeakable comfort by your reverend
fatherhoods; for that in this ſo glorious fort, ye become a town
ſet upon a hill, a candle upon a candleſtick, a ſpectacle into the
3 U 2
world,
+
Hier
---
$
516
THE LIFE OF
Book VII.
world, and to angels and to men.
So that, as we to our great
comfort do feel, ye alſo may aſſuredly ſay with St. Paul, that the
things which happened unto us, have fallen out rather unto the fur-
therance of the Goſpel .... inſomuch that many of the brethren in
the Lord being encouraged through our bonds, dare more boldly speak
the word without fear. And herein as ye have with St. Paul great-
ly to rejoice : fo We do rejoice with you, and we do indeed with
you give thanks for this excellent worthy favor of our God to-
wards
you,
that Chriſt is thus magnified in you ; yea and hereafter
ſhall be magnified in your bodies, whether it be by life or by
death.....
... And although for your own parts Chriſt is unto you
life, and death advantage, and that your deſire is (as indeed it
were better for you) to be looſed, and to be with Chriſt, yet for
the Church of Chriſt it were much more neceffary that ye ſhould
abide in the fleſh : yea, the merciful God for his Chriſt's fake,
grant that ye may abide and continue for the furtherance of the
Church, and rejoicing of faith, that the rejoicing thereof may
be
the more abundant through Jeſus Chriſt by your reſtoring again.
Amen. Amen. But if it ſeem better otherwiſe unto the divine
wiſdom, that by ſpeedy death he hath appointed you to glorify
him ; the Lord's will be done ! Yea even as we do rejoice both
on your behalfs, and alſo on our own, that God is magnified by:
life, and ſhould be more abundantly glad for the continuance
thereof; ſo we ſhall no leſs rejoice to have the ſame wrought by
death. We ſhall give thanks for this honor given unto you, re-
joicing that you are accounted worthy to ſuffer for the name of
Chriſt, and that it is given you of God, not only that ye
ſhould
believe in him, but alſo that ye ſhould ſuffer for his fake. And.
herein we ſhall have to rejoice in the behalf of the Church of
Chriſt, whoſe faith may be the faſter fixed upon God's verity,
being confirmed with three ſuch worthy witneſſes. O thanks be
to God for this his unſpeakable gift.
This
BOOK VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
577
Thus we ſee what happy effect the noble and publick con-
feſſion of theſe Three faithful diſciples of the croſs had upon
others. So treated, in ſuch a cauſe, they triumphed over the malice
of their enemies, and were no longer the objects of contempt
or pity, but of a generous envy and emulation. They were ſhi-
ning lights to the flock of Chriſt, who derived aſſurance in their
doubts, fortitude and reſolution in their trials, and unſpeakable
comfort under all their ſufferings from the glorious examples of
theſe Leaders : ſo great was the victory of their faith. This in-
fluence of example Ridley endeavoured to ſtrengthen by a parti-
cular addreſs in Latin, to this purpoſe :
To the Brethren in the captivity of the fleſh, diſperſed in
divers priſons, but knit together in the unity of the Spirit,
and of their holy religion, in the bowels of Jeſus Chriſti'
• Grace be unto you, and peace and mercy multiplied. What
thanks can we render unto the Lord for you, my Brethren, for
all the confolation which we have received through you in the
Lord; who while Satan rages, ſtudying by all kind of fallacies to
deceive the world, and labors buſily to raiſe and new ſettle his
kingdom, which had for fome time begun to totter, and ſeemed
ready to fall; nevertheleſs ye remain immoveable moſt firmly
founded, as on a rock. And at this time, when Satan by his
guards and ſervants daily (as we hear) draweth to himſelf
many..
ſo that he may be ſaid even to pluck down the ſtars from heaven,
intimidating ſome with fear of death, or the loſs of this world's
accommodations ; enticing others with the fair ſhew and promiſe
of worldly allurements, ſuch as wealth and all kinds of delica-
cies, ſtately houſes, large revenues, far benefices, and what not?
ſo that falling down, not as ſervants of the Lord, but of the dra-
gon, that old Serpent which is the Devil, they might worſhip the
great beaſt and his images and might, with the kings of the
earth
518
Book VII.
THE LIFE OF
earth and the little beaſt, and falſe prophets, commit fornication
with the whore of Babylon, and wanton and riot with her, and
be drunk with the wine of her fornication: But bleſſed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, who hath given you a
manly courage, and hath ſo ſtrengthened you in the inward man,
by the power of his ſpirit, that you are enabled to deſpiſe all theſe,
whether terrors or enticements, as vanities, mere trifles, and en-
tanglements of no worth ; and who hath produced ſuch a conſtan-
cy, implanted ſuch a confidence, and wrought ſuch a love of our
Lord Jeſus Chriſt in your hearts, that no engines of Antichrift,
however dreadful they may be on the one hand, or however a-
greeable or plauſible on the other, can prevale on you to ad-
mit any other Jeſus, or any other Chriſt than him whom the
Prophets foretold, the Apoſtles declared, and the holy Martyrs
of God bore teſtimony to by their blood. In this faith, my bre-
thren, ſtand ye, and be not again entangled in the yoke of ſervi-
tude and ſuperſtition. For ye know, Brethren, as our Lord has
forewarned his followers, that there ſhould come thoſe who would
thew another Chriſt to the world, and recommend him by many
deceits and impoſitions of miracles and deluſions as ſhould deceive,
if it were poflible, the very clocts fo powerful did our Savi-
our foretel the illuſion to be! but endure my Brethren, and take
heart, and remember that our great Captain hath overcome the
world for you already; for greater is He that is in you, than he that is
in the world '; and our Lord has promiſed that the days of tribula-
tion ſhall be ſhortened. In the mean time, hold out, Brethren,
as indeed ye do, I ſay,
:
..
$
Hold out, and ſave yourſelves for happier days. Æn. I.
As the Poet fings. Go on to thew yourſelves valiant combatants
of the Lord, and maintain the faith of the goſpel now militant
Ye
* Revel. xvii.
6 Matth. xxiv.)
1 John iv,
d Matth. xxiv.
2
BOOK VII.
519
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
re have need of patience, that after ye bave done the will of God, ye
might receive the promiſe. For yet a little while, and He that ſhall come
will come, and will not tarry. Now the juft Mall live by faith : but
if any man draw back, my foul Mall have no pleaſure in him. But
we are not of them who draw back unto perdition ; but of them
that believe to the ſaving of the foul“. Let us not, my Brethren,
permit, for any thunders of this world, thoſe words of Chriſt to
ſlip out of our minds, Fear not them which kill the body, ye know
the reſt. I write not as to men ignorant of the truth, but as to
ſuch who know it well; for this only purpoſe, that by our com-
mon faith we may mutually ſtrengthen and comfort one another.
There never was a worthier or nobler cauſe that could juſtify our
contempt of life, or make us laviſh of our blood. There can be
no point of more certain truth, clearneſs, or evidence. For the
queſtion controverted is not concerning ſome uneſſential ceremo-
ny, but the very ſubſtance of all our religion, yea even Chriſt
himſelf. For ſhall we, or can we receive any other Chriſt than
He who is alone the eternal Son of the eternal Father, the bright-
nefs of his glory, and expreſs image of his perfon, in whom dwelleth
all the fullneſs of the Godhead bodilyº; who alone is the way, the
truth, and the life. Far, far, my brethren, be ſuch wickedneſs.
from us! For although there be who are called Gods, whether in
heaven or in earth, as there are Gods many, and Lords many".
But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, ;
and we in him; and one Lord Jeſus Chrift, by whom are all things,
and we by him. Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge..
This, faith St. John, cap. xvii. is life eternal, that we ſhould know
thee, and Jeſus Chriſt whom thou haft fent. Therefore if any one
would obtrude upon us any other God than Him whom Paul and
the apoſtles preached, let us not hear him, but ſhun him as one
accurſed. To the depths of Satan, Brethren, ye are no ſtrangers ; :
2
for i
a Heb. x.
b. Matth. x,
« Heb, i. Col. ii.
d 1 Cor viii,
å
$20
Book VII.
THE LIFE or
for he will not ceaſe to compaſs you, and ſeek by all means poſſi-
ble whom he may devour ; but play the men, and be ſtrong in
the Lord. And although your enemies, and the adverſaries of
the truth ſhall be fortified with all the ſtrength and power of this
world, and attack you, yet faint not in your mind on this account,
but truſt in your General Chriſt, truſt to the Spirit of truth, and
to the truth of your cauſe ; which however it may be for a time
darkened by the wickedneſs of Satan, cannot be fo extinguished.
For we have on our ſide (great thanks be to God for it!) moſt
certainly, moſt manifeſtly, moſt clearly, all the Prophets and Apof-
tles, and without doubt all the antient Church writers down to
the very modern times.
modern times. Let us therefore take courage, and re-
poſe ourſelves entirely on the Lord, in nothing terrified by your ad-
verſaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you
of Salvation, and that of God: becauſe unto you it is given not only
to believe in him, but alſo to ſuffer for his fake'. And when ye
ſuffer reproach for Chriſt's fake, remember that by the voice of
of Chriſt himſelf our Saviour, Happy are ye : happy
with the prophets and Apoſtles, and Martyrs, for the glory and
Spirit of the Lord reſts upon you. On their part our Saviour is
evil ſpoken of ; but on your part he is glorified. For what can they
do to you elſe, by perfecuting, and preparing further cruelties
againſt you, than to make your crowns more glorious, to ado ,
and multiply them; and treaſure up and aggravate againſt them-
felves the heavy wrath of God and their own puniſhments ? there-
fore, my. brethren, let us not wiſh evil to them, even when they
rage againſt us moſt violently, knowing that whilſt they vex us for
Chriſt's fake, their rage turns moſt fiercely on themſelves, and they
heap up coals of fire on their own heads * ; but rather let us with well
to them, knowing that we are called in Chriſt to inherit a bleſſing ".
Let
Peter, nay
Philip. ii.
1 Pet. iy.
C Rom. xii,
di Pet. ij.
BOOK VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
Let us pray therefore that the Lord would drive away the daikneſs
of error from their hearts, and make the light of truth to ſhine
upon them, that they acknowledging their errors, may with all
humble repentance be turned unto the Lord, and with us contes
that only true God who is the Father of lights, and his only Son
our Lord Jeſus Chriſt, and adore him in Spirit and in truth.
Amen.
(Your Brother in the Lord, whoſe name the bearer thalt declare
unto you, ready by the Grace of God to live and to die with
you.'
ܝܸܗ
After the Commiſſioners were returned from
$. 5. Publick diſ. Oxford, it was intended that like diſputations
putations intended at
Cambridge.
ſhould be had at Cambridge, whither Biſhop
Hoper, Biſhop Farrar, Dr. Taylor, Mr. Phil-
pot, and Mr. Bradford, were to be conveyed from the Fleet and
King's Bench, to be oppoſed by Weſton and his Affociates and
a Commiſſion was accordingly prepared for this purpoſe. Ho-
per having intelligence of it, gave notice to the reſt in a letter
dated the 6th of May.
The effect of which was a Proteſtation drawn up and ſigned by
the ſeveral Priſoners two days after, declaring the terms on which
only they would diſpute, with the reafons why they infift on thoſe
terms ; and left they ſhould have no other opportunity of bearing
their teſtimony in publick to the truth, they exhibited an account
of their Faith, in which they all agreed, and in which they were
reſolved to live and die. Of which Fox gives us the following
copy.
Becauſe we hear that it is determined of the Magiſtrates,
and ſuch as be in authority, eſpecially of the clergy, to ſend us
ſpeedily out of the priſons of the King's Bench, the Fleet, the
Marſhalſea, and Newgate, where at this preſent we are, and of
long
3 X
TO THE LIFE OF
Book VIL
$
long time fome of us have been, not as rebels, traitors, fe-
ditious perſons, thieves, or tranſgreffors of any laws of this
ngalm, inhibitions, proclamations, or commandments of the
Queen's Highneſs, or of any of the Council, (God's name be
praiſed therefore!), but only for the conſcience we have to God,
and his moſt holy word and truth, upon moſt certain knowledge:
becauſe (we ſay) we hear that it is determined, we ſhall be ſent
to, one of the Univerſities of Cambridge or Oxford, there to
diſpute with ſuch as are appointed in that behalf: in that we pur-
poſe not to diſpute otherwiſe than by writing, except it.
may
be
before the Queen's Highneſs and her Council, or before the Par-
hiament Houſes isand therefore perchance it will be bruited
abroad, that we are not able to maintain by the truth of God's
word, and the conſent of the true and Catholick Church of
Chriſt, the doctrine we have generally and ſeverally taught, and
fome of us have written and ſet forth; by which means the god-
ly and ſimple may be offended, and ſomewhat weakened; we
have thought it our bounden duty now whilft we may, by writing
to publiſh and notify the cauſes why we will not diſpute otherwiſe
than is aboveſaid, to prevent the offences which might come
up
thereby.
Firft, becauſe it is evidently known to the whole world, that
the determination of both the Univerſities in matters of Religion,
eſpecially wherein we ſhould diſpute, are directly againſt God's
word, yea againſt their own determinations in the time of our late
Sovereign Lord and moſt godly Prince, King Edward: and fur-
ther it is known, they be our open enemies, and have already con-
demned our cauſes, before any diſputation had of the fame.
Secondly, becauſe the Prelates and Clergy do not ſeek either Ušs,
or the Truth, but our deſtruction, and their glory. For if they
had fought Us (as charity requireth) then would they have called
US
Book VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
523
us forth about this buſineſs before their laws were fo made, that
frankly and without peril we might have ſpoken our conſciences.
Again, if they had fought for the Truth, they would not have
concluded of controverſies before they had been diſputed : ſo that
it eaſily appeareth, that they feek their own glory and our deftruc-
tion, and not Us and the Truth. And therefore we have good
cauſe to refuſe diſputation, as a thing which ſhall not further preso
vale than the ſetting forth of their glory, and the ſuppreſſion of the
Truth.
Thirdly, becauſe the Cenſors and Judges (as we hear who they
be) are manifeſt enemies to the Truth, and what is worfe,.obſti-
nate enemies, before whom pearls are not to be caft, by the com-
mandment of our Saviour Jeſus Chriſt, and by his own example.
That they be ſuch, their doings of late at Oxford, and in the Con-
vocation Houſe in October laſt paſt, do moſt evidently declare.
Fourthly, becauſe ſome of us have been in priſon theſe eight or
nine months, where we have had no books, no paper, no pen, no
ink, or convenient place for ſtudy; we think we ſhould do ill thus
ſuddenly, to deſcend into diſputation with them, who may alledge,
as they liſt, the Fathers and their teſtimonies, becauſe our memo-
ries have not that which we have read, fo readily, as to reprove,
when they ſhall report and wreſt the Authors to their purpoſe ; or
to bring forth that which we may have there for our advantage.
Fifthly, becauſe in diſputation we ſhall not be permitted to pro-
ſecute our arguments, but be ſtopt when we ſhould ſpeak ; one
faying this, another that, the third His mind, and ſo on; as was
done to the godly learned Fathers, eſpecially Dr. Ridley at Oxford,
who could not be permitted to declare his mind and meaning of
the propoſitions, and had oftentimes half a dozen at once ſpeaking
againft him, always interrupting him from proſecuting his argu-
ment, and to anſwer accordingly : we will not ſpeak of the hif-
fing, fcoffing, and taunting, which was then uſed in a ſurprizing
3 X 2
manner.
524
THE LIFE OF
BOOK VII.
putations, thall be of their appointment, and ſuch as either do not,
manner. If on this fort, and much worſe, they handled thoſe Fa-
thers, much more will they be shameleſſly bold with us, if we
ſhould enter into difputation with them.
Sixthly, becauſe the Notaries that ſhall receive and write the dif-
mca
or dare not favor the truth ; and therefore muſt write, either to
pleaſe them, or elſe they themſelves (the Cenſors and Judges we
can) at their pleaſure will put to, and take from that which is
written by the Notaries ; who cannot, or muſt not have in their
cuſtody that which they write, longer than the diſputation laſteth,
as their doings at Oxford declare. No copy, or fcrole could any
man have by their good will. For the Cenſors and Judges will
have all delivered into their hands. Yea, if any man was ſeen
there to write, as the report is, the fame man was ſent for, and
his writings taken from him : ſo muſt the difputation ſerve only
for the glory, not of God, but of the enemies of his truth.
For theſe cauſes we all think it fo neceſſary not to diſpute with
them, as if we did diſpute, we ſhould do that which they deſire
and purpoſely ſeek, to promote the kingdom of Antichriſt, and
to ſuppreſs (as much as may be) the truth. We will not ſpeak of
the offence that might come to the godly, when they ſhould hear,
by the report of our enemies, our anſwers and arguments framed
(you may be ſure) for their fancies, to the flandering of the truth. ,
Therefore we publiſh, and by this writing notify unto the whole
Congregation and Church of England, that for theſe aforeſaid cau,
fes we will not diſpute with them, otherwiſe than with the pen ::
unleſs it be before the Queen's Highneſs and her. Council, or before
the Houſes of Parliament, as is aboveſaid. If they will write we will
anſwer ; and by writing confirm and prove out of the infallible yer
rity, even the very word of God, and by the teſtimony of the good
and moſt antient Fathers in Chriſt's Church, this our faith and
every piece thereof, wbich hereafter we in 2. fum do write and
fend
.
BOOK VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
525
fend abroad purpoſely, that our good Brethren and Siſters in the
Lord may know it : and to ſeal up the ſame, we are ready through
God's help and grace to give our lives to the halter or the fire, or
otherwiſe, as God ſhall appoint : humbly requiring, and in the
bowels of our Saviour Jeſus Chriſt, beſeeching all that fear God,
to behave themſelves as obedient ſubjects to the Queen's Highneſs,
and the Superior Powers, which are ordained of God under her,
rather after our example to give their heads to the block, than in
any point to rebel, or once to mutter againſt the Lord's Anointed,
we mean our Sovereign Lady Queen Mary ; into whoſe heart we
befeech the Lord of mercy plentifully to pour the wiſdom and grace
of his Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.
Firſt, We confeſs and believe all the Canonical Books of the Old
Teſtament, and all the Books of the New Teſtament, to be the vea
fy true Word of God, and to be written by the inſpiration of the
Holy Ghoſt, and are therefore to be heard accordingly, as the
Judge in all controverſies and matters of religion
Secondly, We confefs and believe, that the Catholick Church
which is the Spouſe of Chriſt, as a moſt obedient and loving wife,
doth embrace and follow the doctrine of theſe Books in all matters
of religion, and therefore is the to be heard accordingly : fo that
thoſe who will not hear this Church, thus following and obeying
the word of her huſband, we account as Hereticks and Schiſma-
ticks, according to this ſaying, If he will not bear the Church, let.
bim be unto thee as a Heathen.
Thirdly, We believe and confeſs all the articles of faith and
doctrine ſet forth in the ſymbol of the Apoſtles, which we com
monly call the Creed, and in the fymbols of the Council of Nice;
kept An: Dom. 324; of Conſtantinople, An. Dom. 384; of Ephe-
fus, kept An. Dom. 432 ; of Chalcedon, kept An. Dony. 4554 ; of
Toletum, the firſt and fourth. Alſo in the ſymbols of Athanaſius,
Irenæus, Tertullian, and of Damaſus, which was about the year of
QUE
입
​326
BOOK VH.
THE LIFE OF
..
our Lord 976. We confeſs and believe (we fay) the doctrine of
the fymbols generally, and particularly fo that whoſoever doth
otherwiſe, we hold the ſame to err from the truth.
Fourthly, We believe and confefs concerning Juftification, that
as it cometh only from God's mercy through Chriſt, ſo it is per-
· ceived and had of none, who be of years of difcretion, otherwiſe
than by faith only : which faith is not an opinion, but a certain
perfuafion wrought by the Holy Ghoſt in the mind and heart of
man, by which, as the mind is illumined, ſo the heart is ſuppled
to ſubmit itfelf to the will of God, unfeignedly, and ſo ſheweth
forth an inherent righteouſneſs, which is to be diſcerned in the
article of Juſtification from the righteouſneſs which God endueth
us withal in juſtifying us, although inſeparably they go together.
And this we do not for curioſity or contention fake, but for Con-
fcience ſake, that it might be quiet : which it can never be, if we
confound, without diſtinction, forgiveneſs of Sin and Chriſt's
Juſtice imputed to us, with Regeneration and inherent righteouſ-
neſs. By this we diſallow the Papiſtical doctrines of Free-will,
of Works of Supererogation, of Merits, of the neceſſity of Auri-
cular Confeffion, and Satisfaction to Godward.
Fifthly, We confeſs and believe concerning the exterior ſervice of
God, that it ought to be according to the Word of God. And
therefore in the Congregation all things publick ought to be done
in ſuch tongue as may be moft to edify : and not in Latin, where
the people underſtand not the fame.
Sixthly, We confeſs and believe, that God only through Jeſus
Chriſt is to be prayed unto and called upon.
And therefore we
diſallow Invocation or Prayer to faints departed this life.
Seventhly, We confefs and believe, that as a man departeth
this life, fo ſhall he be judged in the laſt day generally, and in
the mean feafon is entered either into the ſtate of the bleffed for
eyer, or Damned for ever. And therefore is either paft all help,
?
OT
book VI. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
327
ocean
or elſe needeth no help of any in this life. By reaſon whereof we
affirm Purgatory, Maſſes of Scala Coeli, Trentals, and ſuch ſuffra-
ges, as the Popiſh Church doth obtrude as neceſſary, to be the
doctrine of Antichrift.
Eighthly, We confeſs and believe the ſacraments of Chriſt,
which be Baptiſm and the Lord's Supper, that they ought to be
miniſtered according to the inſtitution of Chriſt, concerning the
ſubſtantial parts of them. And that they be no longer ſacraments
than they be had in uſe, and uſed to the end for which they were
inſtituted.
And here we planely confeſs, that the mutilation of the Lord's
Supper, the ſubtraction of one kind from the Lay People, is An-
tichriſtian. And ſo is the doctrine of Tranſubſtantiation of the
facramental bread and wine after the words of Conſecration, as
they be called. Item, the Adoration of the Sacrament, with ho.
nor due unto God, the Reſervation and carrying about of the ſame.
Item, the Maſs to be a Propitiatory Sacrifice for the quick and
dead, or a work that pleaſeth God. All theſe we confeſs and be-
lieve to be Antichriſt's doctrine: as is the Inhibition of marriage,
as unlawful, to any ſtate.
And we doubt not, by God's grace, but we ſhall be able to prove
all our Confeſſion here, to be moſt true by the verity of God's
Word, and conſent of the Catholick Church ; which followeth,
and hath followed the governance of God's Spirit, and the judg,
ment of his Word. And this through the Lord's help we will
do, either in diſputation by Word before the Queen's Highneſs
and her. Council, either before the Parliament Houſes (of whom
we doubt not to be indifferently heard) either with our Pens, when
foever we ſhall be thereto, by them that have authority, required
and commanded.
In the mean ſeaſon, as obedient Subjects, we ſhall behave our
felves toward all that be in authority, and not ceaſe to pray to God
for
:
328
Book VII.
THE LIFE OF
됍
​for them; that he would govern them all, generally and particu-
larly, with the Spirit of wiſdom and grace.
And ſo we heartily
deſire, and humbly pray all men to do, in no point conſenting to
any rebellion or fedition againſt our Sovereign Lady the Queen's
Highneſs : but, where they cannot obey, but they muſt diſobey
God, there to ſubmit themſelves with all patience and humility,
to ſuffer as the will and pleaſure of the Higher Powers Thall ad
judge. The Lord of Mercy endue us all with the ſpirit of his
truth, and grace of perſeverance therein unto the end. Amen.
The 8 May 1554
Robert Menaven, alias Robert Farrar.
Rowland Taylor.
John Philpot.
John Bradford.
John Wigorn and Gloc, alias John Hoper.
Edward Crome.
John Rogers.
Laurence Saunders.
Edmund Laurence.
I. P. I. M. Miles Coverdale a.'
.
.
.:
.
But this challenge to a fair difputation they did not care to ac-
cept; and conſcious that as yet they had no law to puniſh them, they
amuſed the People with various reports of what they intended to
do; but did nothing till the next Parliament ſhould ſtrengthen
them by a new Law.
This unexpected interval gave Bradford leiſure to conſult his
old Patron Biſhop Ridley on the reſolution taken among them not
to diſpute, but upon the terms before-mentioned. His letter was
ccompanied wtih a treatiſe on the Communion, and ſome other
tracts, which Bradford ſent to Ridley to peruſe, and to give his
judgment of them; to which Ridley ſent him the following anſwer.
To
acco
• Dr. Edwin Sandys was delivered from priſon on the 6th of May, two days before this
account of his Fellow Priſoners faith was figned,
€
Book VII.
529
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
to your
( To Maſter Bradford.
Dearly beloved, I wiſh you grace, mercy and peace. According
mind I have run over all your papers, and what I have
done, which is but ſmall, therein may appear.
Sir, what thall
beſt be done with thoſe things now you muſt conſider ; for if they
come in ſight at this time, undoubtedly they muſt to the fire with
their father : and as for any ſafeguard that your cuſtody can be un-
to them, I am ſure you look not for it; for as you have been part
ner in the work, ſo I am ſure you look for none other, but to have
and receive like wages, and to drink of the fame cup. Bleſſed be
God that hath given you liberty in the mean ſeaſon, that you may
uſe your pen to his glory, and to the comfort (as I hear ſay) of
many. I bleſs God daily in you, and all your whole company,
to whom I beſeech you to commend me heartily. Now I love my
countryman indeed and in truth; I niean Dr. Taylor, not now for
my earthly country's fake', but for our heavenly Father's fake,
whom I heard ſay he did ſo ſtoutly in time of peril confeſs: and
yet alſo now for our country's ſake, and for all our mothers fake,
but I mean of the kingdom of heaven, and the heavenly Jeruſa-
lem, and becauſe of the Spirit, which bringeth forth in him, in
you, and in your companions ſuch bleſſed fruits of boldneſs in the
Lord's cauſe, of patience and conſtancy. The Lord which hath
began this work in you all, perform and perfect this his own deed
until his own day come. Amen.
As yet I perceive you have not been baited, and the cauſe there-
of God knoweth, which will let them do no more to His, than is
his
.
3 Y
2
* He was a Northumberland man, born at Rothbury not far from Riddeſdale ; and a Strype':
little after Eafter this year was ſent for by the Lord Chancellor to anſwer for obſtructing a Mem.
Popiſh Prieſt in the celebration of the Maſs in Taylor's own church of Hadley. In which' Fox.
appearance before Gardiner he declared againſt the propitiatory facrifice of the Maſs, and
was for it committed to the King's Bench.
M
530
Book VII.
THE LIFE OF
And yet
his will and good pleaſure to ſuffer them to do for his own glory,
and for the profit of them which be truly His; for the Father,
which doth guide them that be Chriſt's to Chriſt, is more mighty
than they, and no man is able to pull them out of the Father's
hands : except (I ſay) it pleaſe our Father, it pleaſe our Maſter
Chriſt to ſuffer them, they ſhall not be able to ſtir one hair of your
heads. My Brother P. the bearer hereof, would that we ſhould
ſay what we think good concerning your mind : that is, not to
anſwer, except ye might have ſomewhat indifferent Judges. We
are (as you know) ſeparated, and one of us cannot in any thing
conſult with another, and much ſtrait watching of the Bailiffs is
about us that there be no privy conference amongſt us.
(as we hear) the Scholars bear us more heavily than the townſmen.
A wonderful thing ! among ſo many, never yet Scholar offered
to any of us (ſo far as I know) any manner of favor, either for,
or in Chriſt's cauſe.
Now as concerning your demand of our counſel, for my part,
I do not millike that which I perceive ye are minded to do ; for
I look for none other, but if ye anſwer before the fame Commiſ-
fioners that we did, ye ſhall be ſerved and handled as we were,
though ye were as well learned as ever was Peter or Paul. And
yet further, I think that occaſion afterward may be given you, and
the confideration of the profit of your Auditory may perchance
move you to do otherwiſe. Finally, to ſay determinately what
fhall be beft, I am not able : but I truſt He, whoſe cauſe
ye
haye
in hand, ſhall put you in mind to do that which ſhall be moſt for
his glory, the profit of his Aock, and your own ſalvation. This
letter muſt be common to you and Mr. Hoper, in whom, and in
his priſon-fellow good Father Crome, I bleſs God even from the
bottom of my heart ; for I doubt not but they do to our Maſter
Chriſt true, acceptable and honorable ſervice, and profitable to his
flock, the one with his pen, and the other with his fatherly ex-
ample
ز
Book VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
531
ample of patience and conſtancy, and all manner of true godlineſs.
But what, ſhall I need to ſay to you, let this be common among
your brethren ? among whom, I dare ſay, it is with you, as it is
with us, to whom all things here are common; meat, money,
and whatſoever one of us hath that can or may do another good.
Although I ſaid the Bailiffs and our hoſts ftraitly watch us, that
we have no conference or intelligence of any thing abroad, yet
hath God provided for every one of us in the ſtead of our ſervants
faithful fellows who will be content to hear and fee, and to do fos
us whatſoever they can: it is God's work ſurely, bleſſed be God
for his unſpeakable goodneſs! The grace of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt,
and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghoſt be
with you all. Amen. Amen.
As far as London is from Oxford, yet thence we have received
of late, both meat, money and ſhirts ; not only from ſuch as are
of our acquaintance, but of fome, whom this bearer can tell, with
whom I had never (to my knowledge) any acquaintance. I know
for whoſe fake they do it : to Him therefore be all honor and glo-
ry and due thanks. And yet I pray you do ſo much as to ſhew
them that we have received their benevolence, and (God be bleſ-
fed) have plenty of all ſuch things. This I deſire you to do, for I
know they be of Maſter Hoper's and your familiar acquaintance.
Mafter Latimer was craſed, but I hear now (thanks be to God)
that he amendeth again.
Yours in Chriſt,
N. R.'
Thele venerable Fathers in their miſerable confinement, and ſe
parate
ffom each other, employed their hours of folitude with a
{pirit as publick as ever buſied them in the high ſtations, in which
of late they had been ſo uſefully engaged. Latimer, when re-
covered from that diſorder in his brain, which the hard uſage in
his
3 Y 2
532.
Book VII.
THE LIFE OF
his old age had brought upon him, yet unfit for controverſy, em-
ployed himſelf in his New Teſtament, which he read over dili-
gently ſeven times in his confinement, and found in it an exhauſt.
leſs treaſure of inſtruction and comfort. Cranmer reviewed and
vindicated his writings on the facrament, in anſwer to Wincheſter,
under the aſſumed name of Marcus Conſtantius. Ridley, though
ſtraitly watched, that he ſhould write nothing, deprived the uſe
of his books, and eveif pen, ink and paper denied him, yet remem-
bering the account he was ſhortly to give of the charge that had
been committed to him by God, and in compaſſion to the neceffi-
ties of his flock, ſnatched every opportunity, and when he could
by no other means procure implements of writing, he cut the lead
of his priſon windows into pencils, and wrote in the margin of books
what he thought ſtill wanting to the due diſcharge of his office.
Some of theſe were,
I. A Treatiſe ſhewing how Wincheſter varied from other Pa-
piſts in eighteen articles.
II. Another, how Wincheſter varied from himſelf in eighteen
more.
III. Shewing ſeveral things that Wincheſter yielded, concern-
ing the ſpiritual uſe of the Sacrament.
IV. A little Treatiſe compoſed by him and Latimer in the Tow-
er : which we have ſeen before.
V. A Treatiſe on the Lord's Supper.
VI. Three Poſitions to the third Queſtion propounded in Ox-
ford concerning the Propitiatory Sacrifice of the Maſs.
VII. His Diſputation in the ſchools.
VIII. A Letter ad fratres in diverſis carceribus : which was
given above..
IX. De abominationibus Sedis Romanæ & Pontificum Roma-
norum,
X. Large
6
BOOK VII.
533
DR. NICHOLAS RIDL E Y.
X. Large Annotations on the firſt book of Tonſtal on Tranſub-
ftantiation, and ſome, though ſhorter, on his ſecond book. Beſide
theſe,
XI. A Treatiſe on Predeſtination.
XII. Several Letters.
XIII. A Lamentation.
XIV. His Farewell.
Several of theſe are now loft, ſome are here exhibited ; and
others may be ſeen in Fox.
Here we ſhall leave them at preſent, to ſee what was doing
abroad that might have any influence on theſe Priſoners in Bo-
cardo.
match,
The Parliament ended on the 25th of May, and
$.6. The Queen on the 29th the Queen ſet forward on her Pro.
marries Philip of greſs to meet the Prince of Spain her intended
Spain. The Spani-
ard's deſign in that Huſband, to whom ſhe was married at Wincheſ-
ter by Gardiner July 25, ſhe being then thirty
eight years of age, and King Philip only twenty.
feven. His deſign by this diſproportionable match was the entire
reduction of England under the Spaniſh yoke, as the Prince of
Orange, then of the Privy Council, afterward declared ; for ſo
writes Lord Burleigh in a Letter to a Nobleman of Scotland. “ It.
os is well known how He [Philip] had figured to himſelf an em-
“ pire over all this part of the world; what plots he laid for the
compaſſing thereof. A foundation was laid for the ſubduing of
“ this land in Queen Mary's time, he being then our King in
right of his Wife. The Conqueſt was fully concluded after-
“ ward under color of Religion : but his deſigns were broken by
“ the ſeaſonable death of Queen Mary.”. Such was one of the
yokes to which Gardiner had been corrupting the Parliament to
fubmit the Kingdom. It is true he prevented one haſty ſtride to-.
ward
$34
BOOK VII.
THE LIFE OF
+
ward it; for as Philip could govern only in right of his wife, his
power could riſe no higher than Her's, which was limited by the
Laws of the Country. So that to make His abſolute, Hers was
to be made fo firſt. In order to this, the Ambaſſadour of the Em-
perour, Prince Philip's Father, preſented to the Queen a Project,
That the Queen was to declare herſelf a Conqueror ; or that ſhe
having ſucceded to the Crown by Common Law, ſhe was not at
all to be limited by the Statute Laws, ſince thoſe were only re-
ſtrictions
upon the Kings, but not on the Queens of England : and
that therefore all thoſe limitations of the Prerogative were only
binding on the perſons of Kings, but that ſhe was free from them;
and might eſtabliſh monaſteries, raiſe her friends, ruin her ene-
mies, and rule according to her pleaſure. This Plan the Queen
thewed to Gardiner, and ſtrictly charged him to give her his opi-
nion of it. His fagacity immediately faw, that as it was not ſure
that his influence over the King would be as powerful as it was
over the Queen, to make Her abſolute now was probably to make
himſelf a ſlave to Philip hereafter : but if he ſubjected Her to the
Laws, of which he was in great meaſure the Interpreter, by re-
laxing or reſtraining the ſenſe, or execution of them, he ſhould
be able to keep a conſiderable authority even over Philip. He
therefore adviſed the Queen not to hearken to ſuch Counſels, and
brought in a bill this laſt Parliament, that, becauſe all the Laws
of England had been made by Kings, and declared the Preroga-
tives to be in the King's Perſon ; from whence ſome might pre-
tend that the Queen had no right to them : it was therefore de-
clared to have been the Law, that theſe Prerogatives did belong
to the Crown, whether it were in the hands of Male or Female,
and whatſoever the Law did limit and appoint for the King, was
of right alſo due to the Queen, who is declared to have as much
authority as any other her Progenitors,
But
BOOK VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
535
But however prudently this might have been deſigned, it had
not been ſufficient (if the Queen had lived) to prevent the ſlavery
to which he expoſed his country by this match; as appears by a
letter from one John Bradford (not the Martyr above-mentioned)
who formerly was ſervant to Sir William Skypworth, and after
for the ſpace of 2 years, ſerved as Chamberlain to one of King
Philip's Privy Council, in Spain. This letter he wrote from
Flanders to the Lords Arundel, Shrewſbury, Derby, and Pem-
broke ; the whole may be ſeen in Strype's Catalogue of Originals
at the end of his und volume of Hiſtorical Memorials. An ab-
ſtract of it will be ſufficient to thew the Spaniſh deſigns in this
marriage with Queen Mary.
· I have purpoſed, ſays he, to declare unto you, not that which
I know by reports, but that which I know perfectly by experi-
ence: I mean that ſubtle device againſt you all and the realm.
The vileneſs of the Spaniards I cannot expreſs in words as the
truth is; yet I ſhall declare the premeditate miſchief and intended
treaſons, not only againſt your Lordſhips perſons, but alſo againſt
the whole realm, fo far as I have heard, ſeen, and proved, for the
ſpace of two or three years, in their company.
In diffimulations until they have their purpoſes, and afterward
in oppreſſion and tyranny when they can obtain them, they do
excede all other nations upon earth ; as he ſays alſo they do in
pride, ambition, diſdain, and luſtfulneſs.
But to declare to your Honours (as he procedes) ſuch things as
I have heard with my own ears, and ſeen with my own eyes in
their writing, which are intended to your deſtruction, the loſs of
your lives, lands, wives, and children, and the ruin of the whole
realm, the ſuppreſſion of the Commonwealth, and bondage of
the Country for ever. Firſt the King knoweth perfectly the ſtout
and divelliſh hearts of the people of England, to work treaſon
and make inſurrections, and therefore he will not deſire the crown,
except
536
Book VII.
THE LIFE
OF
him
except he may firſt have ſome of the ſtrong holds, ports, and
towns (mark theſe three words well) for his refuge at all times,
until his Majeſty may bring in power to withſtand his enemies.
For he purpoſeth to make all our haven towns ſtronger towards
the land, than they be towards the fea, that a few ſoldiers inay
keep the realm in quietneſs, and burn the country on every ſide
three or four times in a year, till they can be content to obſerve all
the Conſtitutions, Ordinances, and Laws; for ſay they, if we
have the ſea to victual us, we ſhall have power to rule England,
ſo long, till they be able to ſuffer it no longer. They truſt that the
Queen's Highneſs, to maintain the King, - will pull the realm fo
much as in her lieth. They think, that there are but few of the
Council but will be contented, either by gifts of the Queen's
Majeſty, or elſe for great bribes, to grant the King a juít title, or
elſe to receive him in upon the one Part, that he may overcome
the other.
Ye will ſay, how could this fellow know their Counſels ? I was
Chamberlain to one of the Privy Council, and with all diligence
gave myſelf to write and read Spaniſh ; which I kept ſecret from
my Maſter and fellow-ſervants, and ſerved diligently, that I might
be truſted in my Maſter's Cloſet or Study, where I might read
ſuch writing which I ſaw brought daily into the Council Chamber,
which I did as opportunity ſerved ; yet I underſtood not their con-
cluded counſels, only the effect of ſuch letters as I have ſeen,
which were ſent from one Counſellor to another. I ſaw certain
letters ſent from the Emperour half a year before the King came
out of England, wherein was contained theſe privities : That
• the King ſhould make his excuſe to the Queen, that he would
go ſee his Father in Flanders, and that immediately he would re-
• turn ; ſeeing the good ſimple Queen is ſo jealous over my fon,
we ſhall make her agree unto all our requeſts before his return,
<
sor
Book VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
537
6
or elſe keep him here exerciſed in our affairs, till we may prevale
with the Council, who doubtleſs will be won by fair promiſes
' and great gifts politicly placed in time. With many other things
how this matter thould be handled, and how it thould be brought
to paſs, how all parties muſt be followed, whom they may truſt,
whom make their friends with bribes, and whom win with fair
words.
In other letters I have read, that the Queen is bound by the
laws of God to endow her Huſband in all her Goods and Poffef-
ſions, ſo far as in her lieth ; and they think ſhe will do it indeed
to the uttermoſt of her power. But whether the Crown belong
to the Queen or to the realm, the Spaniards know not nor care,
though the Queen, to her damnation, disherit the right heirs ap-
parent, or break her Father's entail, made by the whole conſent
of the realm, which neither the nor the realm can juſtly alter.
Nevertheleſs they can be contented to flatter with your Lordſhips,
until he be allowed, and afterward they muſt begin to govern,
and bear rule: for which government I would to God ye knew
their counſels, or would credit me in what I have ſeen or heard.
I have ſeen other letters, touching Lord Paget, the Lord Trea-
furer, the Lords Talbot and Clinton, whom they love not, nor
dare, truſt; therefore, think they, if theſe, and certain other
Lords of the North were made away, they ſhould obtain their
purpoſe the better. They write alſo that there be divers other
men in England, whoſe ſtoutneſs muſt be plucked low, and
er abated. You will find that they think your Lordſhips, the
Lord Admiral, Oxford, Arundel, Pembroke, and divers others,
to be their Friends. Wherefore their purpoſe is, if ever they
bear rule, to join with you in counſel for a time, and the ſtate of
the realm once known, immediately to let you die pleaſantly with
hanging, racking, heading, and whirling upon wheels, juftly ac-
cording to your deſerts. Indeed I never ſaw any ſuch deaths na-
med
pow-
3 Z
$38
:
Book VII.
OF
THE LIFE
I
;
med in their letters; but only they ſhould be uſed according to their
Law ; which all men know is not to bury any offenders, bnt to
uſe them as I have told you. Their reaſon is this; they may not
truſt them long in their councils, nor keep them in authority,
who will be Traytors to their native country. Undoubtedly, ſay
thëy, that nation that will work treaſon againſt their own natural
King and Country, will ſurely, as ſoon as they begin to ſmart, or
be great, work miſchief againſt us and our King.
They purpoſe, if ever their will ſerve them, not to have
one living that hath been born thefe twenty years : but either
to drive them into foreign realms, or elſe to make them
flaves, or elſe to deſtroy them at home : for
for we were
born out of the Faith, and fo, ſay they, we ſhall die and
eſpecially all thoſe, which by any means may lay any clame to
the Crown. I call God to record, I have heard it with mine
ears, and ſeen the ſaid Perſons with mine eyes, who have ſaid, if
ever the King obtain the Crown, he would make the Lady Eliſa-
beth fafe for ever coming to inherit the ſame, or any of our
curſed nation. Yea, and they truſt, that there ſhall be means
found before that time, to diſpatch the Lady Elifabeth well
enough, by the help of aſſured Traytors, as they have already in
England plenty. I ſpeak not this to move diffention, for that
were the beſt way for the Spaniards to come to their Such
a time they look for; and ſuch a time, they ſay, ſome nobleman
hath promiſed to provide for them.
The Spaniards ſay, that if they attain not the Crown, they
may curſe the time that ever the King was married to a wife lo
unmeet for him by natural courſe of years. They ſay, our nobili..
ty
and Council hath neither learning, wit, nor experience; there-
fore they doubt not, though not ſpeedily, yet in proceſs of time,
to have the upper-hand with learning, wiſdom; craft, experience,
and policy,
prey.
If
BOOK VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
.
539
If the King do ſo little eſteem the Queen, when by her High-
neſs he ſeeketh to obtain the Crown; after what ſort will he uſe
himſelf when he hath obtained his purpoſe? Does the Queen
think that he will remain in England with giving him the realm?
The Council of Spain purpoſeth to eſtabliſh other matters, and to
appoint in England a Vice-Roy, with a great army of Spaniſh fol-
diers to keep you in ſubjection, and let the Queen live at her
beads like a good antient Lady. At for the King, he can better
away with Antwerp and other places, where he may go a mum-
ming and maſking, yea even in the holy time of Lent, night af-
ter night. He therefore recommends due caution from this warn-
ing, to behave with fidelity to their country, and union with one
another, to keep the Crown from Philip to the right heirs, or
threatens them with the loſs of pofſeffions, liberties, honor, and
lives under the yoke of the Spaniards, whom he deſcribes as
proud, imperious, treacherous, deſigning, luſtful, and cruel ;
and this not only in a few individuals, but as the conſtitutional
vices of the whole kingdom ; fo general as to be without excep-
tion but of one perſon, whoſe name on that account deſerves to
be tranſmitted with honor, the noble Prince the Duke Medina
Celi.
This King was the blefling which Gardiner had provided for
his country, and whom in a Sermon which he preached at St.
Paul's, on 30th Sept. he did not bluſh to affirm, was as wiſe,
fober, gentle, and temperate as any Prince that ever was in Eng- Burnet.
land; and if he did not prove ſo, he was content that all his
hearers ſhould eſteem him an infinite Lyar. In the Parliament
that followed, in November, a 'way was paved for paſſing the
Crown over to Philip, by a requeſt they made to him, that if the
Queen died with any iſſue, he would take on him the Govern-
ment of them till they came of age : to which he aſſented, and
they enacted, that if the Queen died before her Children came
3
of
Z a
1
540
BOOK VII.
T H E L L F E
LIFE OF
of age, the Government of the kingdom ſhould be in the King's
hands. And it was ſoon reported that the Queen was with child,
Nie being poſſibly herſelf deceived as well as the King for ſome
time ; in May ſhe was ſaid to have been delivered of a Prince ;
but ſome moles or uninformed maſſes of fleſh coming from her,
the rumor of her Big Belly was ſtill continued, and June was.
mentioned as the time of her expected delivery. Whether ſhe was
ſtill deceived, or began-now to come into a deſign of deceiving
the People, I cannot ſay; but a declaration which Fox tells us.
was afterward made to him, (if the woman reported truth) would:
perſuade us to believe the latter. • That ſhe (the Reporter) lived
• at that time near Alderſgate, and that ſhe was delivered June
'II, 1555, being Whitſunday Morning; of a Man-Child. That
the Lord North and another Nobleman came to her, and with
very fair offers, defired to have her Child from her ; that it
• ſhould be well provided for, if the would ſwear that ſhe never
"knew, nor had ſuch Child. And after this, other women came
"to her, of whom one, they ſaid, ſhould have been the Rocker:
.but ſhe would in no caſe part with her child.' But by the 3d
of Auguſt, the Queen's Great Belly vaniſhed without fruit, and
the diſorder that occafioned the miſtake, rendered it unlikely that
ſhe ever ſhould have children ; fo that Philip's expectations of
a Crown from that Event were diſappointed. He therefore grew :
weary of his Queen, and, in 15 months from the marriage, left
her to a melancholy, which continued as long as ſhe lived.
The dangerous ſtate the Queen fell into, alarmed Gardiner
about the Succeflion. He deſired to have the Lady Eliſabeth put
out of the way; for notwithſtanding ſome compliances, he knew
her education had been amongſt the Reformers, and her intereſt
would lead her to oppoſe the Pope to preſerve her own Legitia
macy. He therefore ſet himſelf to deſtroy her; and was wont
1.
Book VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
541
to ſay, when they talked of diſpatching any Hereticks; we ſtrip
off the leaves, or lop off the branches : but unleſs we ſtrike at the
root, that Hope of Hereticks, we do nothing *. How hazardous
then muſt her ſituation appear, when the cunning of Gardiner
concurred with the prenreditated deſigns of Spain to compaſs her
death? But here the ſecret Providence of God interpoſed, and by
a new ſcheme of Politicks in Philip defeated the malice of Win-
cheſter. He, apprehending the Queen's danger, foreſaw that if the
died without Iſſue, and the Lady Eliſabeth ſhould be removed,
the Crown of England would fall on the head of the Queen of
Scotland, and hereby ſtrengthen France, by her alliance with the
Dauphin, whom ſhe was to marry ; He therefore oppoſed Gar-
diner's ſcheme, and preſerved the Princeſs. On ſo ſlight a hair
hung all the glories and happineſs of England in the reign of Eli-
ſabeth.
But the Parliament, which met November 11, 1554, ſummon-
ed by the Queen without the title of Supreme Head of the Church,
though not yet by Law taken from her, repealed the attainder of
Cardinal Pole, who arrived in London the 24th of this month, as
Legate from the Pope, to reconcile the nation to the Apoſtolick
See. The penance enjoined was a repeal of the Laws made
againſt Popery ; which the Parliament did accordingly : but not
without ſtipulating for the retention of the Abby Lands. This be-
ing agreed to by the Pope, the Parliament revived the ſtatutés
againſt Hereticks, and was diſſolved the 16th of January.
Some of the fruits of their reconciliation to the Pope appear-
ed immediately ; the Legate opened his Spiritual Court, in which
were publickly expoſed to ſale Abſolutions for all kinds of offences
paſt, and licences for moſt in times to come, according to a Table
of rates from the apoſtolical Chancery at Rome". Of whoſe ſhame
leſs
* Godwin's Annals.
• In quo plus fcelerum diſcas licet, quam in omnibus omnium vitiorum Summiſtis &
't plurimis quidem licentia, omnibus autem abfolutio empturientibus propo-
Comment. in Titum, cap. 1, digr. I.
..
Som
542
Book VII.
THE LIFE OF
leſs procedings the following fact may be a ſufficient taſte and evi-
dence ; being Mr. William Strictland's own report of what hap-
pened to him at this time.
Mr. Strictland, of Bointon, near Bridlington, in the Eaſt Riding
of Yorkſhire, (being then either one of Queen Mary's Council at
York, or Secretary to her Council there,) fearing to be queſtioned
for not coming to Maſs, which he reſolved never to do, and hearing
that the Cardinal was come from Rome to reconcile England, fur-
niſhed with faculties and powers for granting the diſpenſations and
licences above referred to ; ſent to his Solicitor in London to pro-
cure from the Lord Legate's office a diſpenſation not to go to church,
but to exerciſe his devotions at home. The Solicitor indeed found
it no eaſy matter, as the ſuing for ſuch a diſpenſation created a ſur-
picion that the ſuitor was an heretick : at length by plauſible pre-
tences he removed the ſuſpicion, and obtained the faculty deſired,
paying properly. While the diſpenſation was drawing up, an Ita-
lian officer of that Court cried out, · But how old is your Maſter ?
· Would he not alſo have a licence to keep a Concubine?' The So-
licitor was abaſhed, knowing not only that his client was a mar-
ried man, but a virtuous and ſtrict liver : yet, recollecting that it
might help entirely to obliterate the firſt ſuſpicion, and that he had
wiſdom enough to make a good uſe of an ill thing, and that he
would be glad to have ſuch an advantage againſt the Papiſts, he
cloſed in with the Italian, and aſked the price, which was only a
French crown more. This diſpenſation ſecured him till the laſt
year of Queen Mary's reign, when the Inquiſition grew warm in
Yorkſhire, and he was called before the Commiſſioners to thew
cauſe for his abſenting from Maſs. He pleaded the Pope's difpen-
ſations and being aſked for it, and they promiſing to return it to
him again, he produced his double diſpenſation. The Commiſ-
fioners, being only Engliſh Catholicks, and not Italians, were
confounded at the fight of it, and heartily aſhamed. The firſt
Commiſſioner
1
Book VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
543
Commiſſioner taking him home with him, begged him to con-
ceal their reproach, but would never fuffer him to have his dif-
penſation back again *.
Another fruit of this reconciliation was, that as ſoon as the
ſtatutes againſt Hereticks revived, the Legate granted a Commiſ-
fion for the trial of ſuſpected perſons. And the wax was ſcarce
dry before the Biſhops of Wincheſter, London, Durham, Saliſbu-
ry, Norwich and Carliſle ſat in St. Mary Overies, in Southwark,
to execute this new Commiſſion. January 29 Biſhop Hoper and
Rogers were caſt to be burned; and the next day Bradford, Tay-
lor and Saunders. Rogers was burned at Smithfield the 4th of
February; and on the 5th Hoper was carried to Gloceſter, and
Saunders to Coventry to be burned there ; and on the gth of Fe-
bruary Taylor ſuffered at Hadley. Such extreme puniſhment ſtart-
led the people : but the Queen had declared the would force no
body in theſe points ; the odium therefore fell upon the King.
He, ſenſible of it, and fearing he ſhould thereby become unac-
ceptable to the nation, procured one of his Spaniſh Friars to
preach before him on the roth of February, who, in his ſermon,
greatly blamed the taking away of peoples lives for Religion, and Burnet.
in plane terms inveighed againſt the Biſhops for doing it : he ſaid
they had not learned it in Scripture, which taught Biſhops in the
fpirit of meekneſs to inſtruct thoſe that oppoſed themſelves, and
not to burn them for their conſciences. This ſurprized the Biſhops,
as well it might, to hear a Spaniſh Friar declame againſt burning
of Hereticks, at the inſtigation of a Prince deſcended from Ferdi-
nand and Iſabel, the eſtabliſhers of the Inquiſition in Spain ;, and
who, notwithſtanding his interceſſion in behalf of the Lady Eliſa-
beth, had a zeal fiery enough to expoſe him to the ſuſpicion of
making away with his own Son privately, for too much favoring
the
*
a Craſhaw's Mittimus to the Jubilee at Rome, p: 301.
544
Book VII.
THE LIFE OF
:
Council
Book,
Harl.
MSS.
No. 643.
the Proteſtants. But while the King and the Biſhops were endea-
vouring to ſhift the odium conceived againſt them by theſe ſeveri-
ties from themſelves to the others, neither appear to have uſed their
power or their influence to put an end to them. They ſtill thirſt-
ed for the executions, although they did not palate the offence oc-
cafioned by them. For though Bradford perhaps was ſpared at
this time much beyond his expectation, on account of this ſer-
mon; yet Farrar, Biſhop of St. David's, who had been examined
by the Commiſſioners on the 4th of February, and though not
then condemned, yet lay ready for it, was not permitted to eſcape.
However, to throw the reproach of the ſentence from the Com-
miſſioners at London, on the 14th of February he was ſent down
to Carmarthen, to be examined and ſentenced by his Succeffor
Morgan, then Biſhop of that Dioceſe ; where he was burned the
30th of March. And I find in the Council Books Letters fent
the 18th of March to the Earl of Oxford and Lord Rich to be
preſent at the burning of ſuch obſtinate perſons as preſently are
• ſent down to be burned in divers parts of the County of Eſſex,
and to be aiding to the Sheriff of the ſaid ſhire therein.' And
ſeveral other letters and writs to noblemen in the month of June
for the ſame purpoſe in the Counties of Effex, Kent, and Suſſex.
Other reaſons, in which mercy had no ſhare, preſerved the Ox-
ford Biſhops at preſent. For Wincheſter, ambitious to mount the
high throne of Canterbury, and alſo to exerciſe the legatine power
under the Pope, found that Pole interrupted his views in both,
being appointed already Legate a Latere, and in poſſeſſion of the
palace at Lambeth, with a promiſe of the ſee when it ſhould be-
come vacant. Gardiner therefore, to prevent that vacancy, kept
Cranmer alive, and for a while his other two fellow priſoners, al-
ledging, that, could they prevale on thoſe Champions of the Pro-
teſtant cauſe to deſert their followers, it would have a much better
effect in winning over the whole kingdom than burning them.
In
BOOK VII.
545
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
In the mean he hoped fome event or other might happen to for-
ward his deſigns. And ſuch an event did fall out in March 1555,
in the death of Pope Julius uil. to whom ſucceded · Cardinal Mar- Burrect.
cellus Cervinus; who ſeems ſeriouſly to have intended a reforma-
tion of the corruptions of that ſee, which he found to be ſo great,
that, as if in deſpair of diſcharging his duty in it as he ought, he
forrowfully cried out, that · he did not ſee how they could be
• ſaved who held that high dignity.' Whether this melancholy
conviction of His, or a conviction of the Cardinals that he did in
good earneſt purpoſe a reformation among them, was the cauſe, I
cannot ſay : but in twelve days after his election he ſickened, and
in ten days more his death put an end to all their uneaſy appre-
henſions of being brought back to an Evangelical Simplicity and
Purity. Gardiner was now on an Embaſſy to mediate peace be-
twixt the French and Spaniards, but could obtain no more than a
truce. While he was at Calais the Queen wrote to him to treat
with the Cardinal of Lorrain and other ſtate miniſters of France to
perſuade their Maſter to ſet up Cardinal Pole, that he might ſuc-
cede to the Papal Chair. Doubtleſs Gardiner was Politician enough
to have earneſtly endeavoured to have procured this great dignity
for his Rival, as it would effectually have removed him out
of his own way: but the Queen wrote too late, her letter was da-
ted May 29, and Cardinal Caraffa, under the title of Paul iv. was
choſen the 23d of the ſame month. He was of a very different
ſpirit from the laſt Pope, proud and bloody, and an implacable
enemy to Pole. To the Engliſh Ambaſſadours he refuſed admit-
ting Queen Mary's title of Queen of Ireland, till he had created it
into a Kingdom, and made her a preſent of it. He complained of
the Church Lands not being reſtored, and affirmed the preſent
poſſeſſors could not keep them without incurring damnation, and
that
4 A
• April 6,
܀
546
BOOK VII.
THE LIFE OF
that the Engliſh muſt not expect that St. Peter would open Hea-
ven to them, ſo long as they uſurped his goods on earth.
Gardiner took care to feed the Pope's averſion from Pole by ill
characters of him, aiıning himſelf at the Purple, and to get the
Cardinal recalled, and himſelf ſubſtituted, and then he thought
he ſhould ſecure Canterbury. But, to work this, time was requi-
red; and therefore Cranmer's life was neceſſarily to be prolonged,
in order to ripen and perfect Gardiner's ſchemes. Such influence
had the Court Intrigues on the Oxford Priſoners at this time, to
whom we now return; whom we left in confinement about the
middle of the year 1554.
Council
Book,
Mufæum
Harl.
No. 643.
ley.
;
In September a Letter was ſent from the Coun-
$. 7. Priſon Let cil to the Mayor and Bailiffs of Oxford to deliver
ters to and from Rid-
the late Biſhop of Canterbury, Dr. Ridley and La-
timer over to the charge of the new Mayor and
Bailiffs that were to ſuccede. About which time Boner and the
other Biſhops held their viſitations, which put many to their
ſhifts ſome indeed boldly profeſſed the Faith, and had filled the
priſons ; others fled the realm, and fought for refuge in other
countries; moſt came over to the eſtabliſhed ſuperſtition ; and not
a few, who had not courage enough to endure the fire, attempted
to keep the truth in ſecret, under an outward compliance with the
prevaling idolatry. Auguſtin Bernher, a ſervant of Latimer's,
who travelled betwixt London and Oxford to do good offices be-
twixt the Priſoners in both places, conſulted Ridley on a caſe of
this kind ; where an affectionate Huſband had adviſed his wife to
ſuch a practice. To which Ridley returned the following an-
(wers
TO
BOOK VII.
517
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
* To Auguſtin Bernher.
Brother Auſtin,
Where
you deſire fo earneſtly to know my mind in that piece of Harl.
the Huſband's letter unto his wife, wherein he permits her ' to do No. 416.
* as ſhe may, when ſhe cannot what ſhe would,' giving this reaſon,
that. The muſt keep her religion as the may, in this realm, and
* God ſhall accept her will, and ſhall impute the fault to others..
• What blame is in her, if the uſe the religion here as ſhe may,
though it be not as ſhe would.' This ſeemeth to me to be a
perilous ſaying, wherein I fear me the man tendereth his wife too
much. I wiſh rather he had counſelled her to depart the realm: for
peradventure, the tarrying, to have bidden her openly and boldly,
,
when ſhe ſhould have been commanded to follow ungodlineſs, to
have bidden her (I ſay) there and then to have confeſſed the Truth,
and to have ſtood in it; he thought, and peradventure knew, it
was more than the was like to do.
But, I ſuppoſe, if ſhe had
conſidered more deeply her Huſband's mind in writing, that his
counſel favoured more of a too tender zeal towards her, than of
the contempt of all worldly and carnal affection, which ought to
be in Chriſt's cauſe ; and upon the ſame had required licence to
have departed the realm ; yea, and then had departed indeed,
rather than, after certain knowledge had of their ungodly ways,
to ſeem to allow the ſame by her (in this caſe) open fact; and ſo
not to have followed her Huſband's former counſel : I think ſhe
ſhould leſs have offended her Huſband than the doth now, in that
ſhe hath niade his privy and ſecret letter, not ſo warily written
(methinks) as I would have wiſhed it had been, (if it were her
deed) to have come to the knowledge of thoſe, that will uſe it,
and conſtrue it to the worſt, to the defence and maintenance of
ungodly ways.
N. R.:
4 A 2
With
548
BOOK VII.
THE OF
LIFE LIFE
With this anſwer Bernher on his return to London might proba-
bly carry a Letter to Bradford, in which Ridley points out the chief
ſtrength of the Roman Cauſe; and commiſſioned Bernher withal to
acquaint Bradford what he had written to invalidate theſe pinci-
pal and leading Queſtions.
• To Maſter Bradford.
you and
Brother Bradford,
I will
your company in Chriſt, yea, and all the holy
Brotherhood that now with you in divers priſons ſuffereth and
beareth patiently Chriſt's croſs for the maintenance of his Goſpel,
grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord
Jeſus Chriſt.
Sir, conſidering the ſtate of this chivalry and warfare, wherein
I doubt not but we be ſet to fight under Chriſt's banner and his
croſs againſt our ghoſtly enemy the Divil, and the old ferpent Sa-
tan ; methinks I perceive two things to be his moſt perilous and
moſt dangerous engines, which he hath to impugn Chriſt's veri-
ty, his goſpel, his faith : and the fame two alſo to be the moſt
maſſy poſts and moſt mighty pillars whereby he maintaineth and
upholdeth his ſatanical fynagogue. Theſe two, Sir, are they, in
my judgment, the one his falfe doctrine and idolatrical uſe of the
Lord's Supper ; and the other the wicked and abominable uſurpa-
tion of the Primacy of the See of Rome. By theſe two Satan
ſeemeth to me principally to maintain and uphold his kingdom :
by theſe two he driveth down mightily (alas !) I fear me, the third
part of the ſtars in heaven. Theſe two poiſonful rotten poſts he
hath fo painted over with ſuch a pretence and color of religion of
unity in Chriſt's Church, of the Catholick faith, and ſuch like,
that the wily ſerpent is able to deceive (if it were poſſible) even the
elect of God. Wherefore John faith (Revel. 11.) not without
great
Book VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
549
RESP 06
...-__-4rV.;
-...-...
great cauſe, if any know not Satan's ſubtleties and the depths there-
of, I will wiſh him no other burthen to be laden withall.
Sir, becauſe theſe be his principal and main poſts whereupon
ftandeth all his fallhood, craft, and treachery, therefore according
to the poor power that God hath given me, I have bended mine
artillery to ſhoot at the ſame. I know it to be but little (God
knoweth) that I can do, and of my ſhot I know they paſs not. Yet
will I not (God willing) ceaſe to do the beſt that I can, to ſhake
thoſe cankered and rotten poſts. The Lord grant me good ſuc-
ceſs, to the glory of his name, and the furtherance of Chriſt's goſ-
pel. I have now already (I thank God) for this preſent time ſpent
a good part of my powder in theſe ſcriblings, whereof this bearer
ſhall give you knowledge. Good Brother Bradford, let the wick-
ed ſurmiſe and ſay what they liſt, know you for a certainty by
God's grace, without all doubt, that in Chriſt's Goſpel's cauſe
againſt the foreſaid God's enemies, I am fully determined to live
and die. Farewell, dear Brother, and I beſeech you and all the
reſt of our brethren, to have good remembrance of the condemned
hereticks (as they call them) of Oxford in your prayer. The bear-
er ſhall certify you of our ſtate. Farewell in the Lord. From
Bocardo.
Yours in Chrift,
N. R.'
Ridley's pieces againſt Tranſubſtantiation and the Papal Su-
premacy were returned again by ſome faithful Bearer, with this
Letter.
1
* To my dear Fathers Dr. Cranmer, Dr. Ridley, Dr. Latimer, pri-
ſoners in Oxford for the teſtimony of the Lord Jeſus, and his
Holy Goſpel.
Almighty God our heavenly Father more and more kindle our
hearts and affections with his love, that our greateſt croſs may
be
to
550
Book VII.
THE LIFE OF
to be abſent from him, and ſtrangers from our home, and that we
may godly contend more and more to pleaſe him, Amen.
As always I have had great cauſe to praiſe our dear Father
through Chriſt : ſomethinks I have more and more, in ſeeing more
likely the end of my life, which is due for my ſin, to be (through
the exceding grace of Chriſt) a teſtimony of God's truth. Thus
the Lord dealeth not with every body : not that every body hath
not more deſerved at God's hands than I, who have deſerved more
vengeance than any other, I know of my time and ſtate : but that
by me I hope the Lord will make the riches of his grace to his
glory to be ſeen more excellent. With me therefore I humbly be-
feech you all, my moſt dear Fathers in God, to give thanks for me;
and as you do, ſtill to pray for me, that the Lord, as for his love's
fake in Chriſt he hath begun his good work in me, even ſo of and
for the ſaine his love's fake in Chriſt, he would make it perfect,
and make me continue to the end, as I hope he will, for his mer-
cy and truth endureth for ever.
As for your parts in that it is commonly thought your ſtaff ſtand-
eth next to the door, ye have the more cauſe to rejoice and be
glad, as they which ſhall come to your fellows under the altar :
to the which ſociety God with you bring me alſo in his mercy,
when it ſhall be his good plcaſure.
I have received many good things from you, my good Lord,
Maſter, and dear Father, N. Ridley ; fruits I mean of your godly
labor. All which I ſend unto you again by this Bringer : one
thing excepted, which he can tell I do keep upon your further plea-
fure to be known therein. And herewithal I ſend you a little trea-
tiſe which I have made, that you might peruíe the ſame ; and not
only you, but alſo ye my other moſt dear and reverend Fathers in
the Lord for ever, to give to it your approbation as ye may think
good. All the priſoners hereabout, in manner, have ſeen it, and
read it, and as therein they agree with me, nay rather with the
truth,
BOOK VII.
551
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
:
.
truth, ſo they are ready, and will be, to ſignify it as they ſhall ſee
you give them example. The matter may be thought not ſo ne-
ceſſary as I ſeem to make it. But yet if ye knew the
knew the great evil
that is like hereafter to come to poſterity by theſe men, as partly
this Bringer can fignify unto you, ſurely then could you not but be
moſt willing to put hereto your helping hands. The which thing
that I might more occaſion you to perceive, I have ſent you
here
a writing of Harry Hart's own hand, whereby ye may ſee how
Chriſt's glory and grace are like to loſe much light, if that your
ſheep quondam be not ſomething holpen by them who love God,
and are able to prove, that all good is to be attributed only and
wholly to God's grace and mercy in Chriſt without other reſpect
of worthineſs than Chriſt's merits. The effects of ſalvation they
ſo mingle and confound with the cauſe, that if it be not ſeen to,
more hurt will come by them, than ever came by the Papiſts, in-
aſmuch as their life commendeth them to the world more than the
Papiſts. God is my witneſs that I write not this, but becauſe I would
God's glory and the good of his people. In Free-will they are plane
Papiſts, yea Pelagians, and ye know a little leaven leaveneth the
whole lump. They utterly contemn all learning. But hereof
ſhall this Bringer ſhew you more. As to the chief Captains there-
fore of Chriſt's Church here I complain of it to you ; as truly I
muſt do of you even unto God in the laſt day, if ye will not as ye
can, help ſomething that the truth of the doctrine may remain to
pofterity in this behalf, as ye have done on the behalf of matters
expugned by the Papiſts. God for his mercy in Chriſt guide you,
my moſt dearly beloved Fathers, with his Holy Spirit here, and in
all other things as moſt may make to his glory, and the commodi-
ty of his church. Amen.
All here, God therefore be praiſed ! prepare themſelves willing-
ly to pledge our Captain Chriſt, even when he will, and how he
will. By your good prayers we ſhall all fare the better, and there
fore
552
BOOK VII.
THE LIFE OF
fore we all pray you to continue to cry to God for us; as we, God
willing, do and will remember you. My Brethren here with me
have thought it their duty to ſignify this need to be no leſs than I
make it, to prevent the plantations which may take root by theſe
men.
Yours in the Lord,
John Bradford,
Robert Farrar.
Rowland Taylor.
John Philpot.
To which by the fame Meſſenger Ridley returned this anſwer ;
To Maſter Bradford.
Dearly beloved Brother, Bleſſed be God our heavenly Father
for his manifold and innumerable mercies toward us, and bleſſed
might he be that hath ſpared us thus long together, that each one
of us may bleſs his mercy and clemency in other unto this day,
above the expectation and hope of any worldly appearance.
Whereas you write of the outrageous rule, that Satan our
ghoſtly enemy beareth abroad in the world, whereby he ſtirreth
and raiſeth fo peſtilent and heinous hereſies, as fome to deny the
Bleſſed Trinity, ſome the Divinity of our Saviour Chriſt, ſome
the Divinity of the Holy Ghoſt, ſome the Baptiſm of Infants,
fome Original Sin, and to be infected with the errors of the
Pelagians, and to rebaptize thoſe who have been baptized with
Chriſt's baptiſm already : alas ! Sir, this doth declare this time
and theſe days to be wicked indeed. But what can we look for
elſe of Satan here, and of his miniſters, but to do the worſt that
they can, ſo far forth as God ſhall or will ſuffer them.
And now
methinks he is lefs to be marvelled at, at this time, if he beſtir
him
Book VII. DR. NICHOLAS .
RIDLEY.
553
.
him by all manner of means that the truth indeed do take no
płace. For he ſeeth now, bleſſed be God! that ſome go about in
deed and in truth, not trifling, but with the loſs of all they are
able to loſe in this world, goods, lands, name, fame, and life
alſo, to ſet forth God's word and his truth, and by God's
grace ſhall do, and abide in it unto the end: now therefore it is
time to beſtir him I trow. And as for the diverſity of words,
what careth he though one be never ſo contrary to another? He
reckoneth all, and ſo he may, to be His, whoſoever prevale, ſo
that truth prevale not. Nevertheleſs, good Brother, I ſuppoſe
that the univerſal plague is moſt dangerous, which at this day,
alaſs! is foſtered and maſterfully holden up by wit, worldly po-
licy, multitude of people, power, and all worldly means. As
for other the Devil's Galtroppes that he caſteth in our ways by
ſome of his buſy headed yonkers, I truſt they thall never be able
to do the multitude ſo great harm. For, bleſſed be God! theſe
hereſies before time, when Satan, by his Servants, hath been
about to broach them, have by God's Servants already been ſo
ſharply and truly confounded, that the multitude was never in-
fected by them ; or elſe where they have been infected, they
are healed again, that now the peril is not ſo great. And where
you ſay that if your requeſt had been heard, things, you think,
had been in better caſe than they be : know you that concerning
the matter you mean [that is God's Election and Predeſtination] I
have in Latin drawn out the places of the Scriptures, and upon
the fame have noted what I can for the tinie. Sir, in theſe mat-
ters I am ſo fearful, that I dare not ſpeak further, yea almoſt
none otherwiſe than the very text doth, as it were, lead me by
the hand. And where
you
exhort us to help, O Lord, what is
elſe in this world that we now ſhould liſt to do? I bleſs my Lord
God I never, as methinketh, had more or better leiſure to be oc-
cupied with my pen in ſuch things as I can do to ſet forth (when
they
1
4
A
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Book VII.
THE LIFE OF
they may come to light) God's glory. And I bleſs my Lord God,
through Jeſus Chriſt, my heart and iny work are therein occupied,
not ſo fully and perfectly as I would, but yet ſo as I bleſs God
for the fame. Farewell, dear Brother, the meſſenger tarrieth,
and I may not now be longer with you. The Lord I truſt verily
ſhall bring us thither, where we ſhall each one 'with other, in
Chriſt our Saviour, rejoice and be merry, everlaſtingly.
Your Brother in Chriſt,
N. R.
3.
MS.
In the Martyr's Letters we are told by Miles Coverdale that
on this occaſion Dr. Ridley wrote a treatiſe of Election and Pre-
deſtination, which was in the hands of ſome perſons at that time,
and he hoped would hereafter come to light : but I never heard
that it was publiſhed; nor have I been able to meet with it in
The great learning and cool judgment of this Prelate, and
the entire ſubjection of his imagination to the reveled will of God,
makes the loſs of this Treatiſe much to be lamented.
The Priſoners in Bocardo foon experienced a change from bad
to worfe, from the officiouſneſs of the Magiſtrates new in office :
And Ridley had the particular mortification to hear that his old
acquaintance Hethe, whom he had ſo friendly and kindly treated
during his confinement at Fulham, had paſſed through Oxford in
his return from Worceſter to attend Parliament, and never vouch-
ſafed him or his fellow Priſoners the common humanity and civi-
lity of a viſit. Nay they obſerved that their confinement was
immediately more ſtrait and troubleſome. While the malice of
their enemies abroad was buſy to defame them; at Oxford, with
a report of their attempt to break priſon ; and at London, that
they began to relent, and had uſed Mafs : on which ſubject he
wrote to Bradford, I ſuppoſe towatd the end of November.
Το
BOOK VII.
555
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
271
• To Maſter Bradford, Priſoner in the King's-Bench,
Well Beloved in Chriſt our Saviour, we all with one heart with
you, with all that love God in deed and truth, grace and health;
;
and eſpecially to our dearly beloved Companions, which are in
Chriſt's cauſe, and the cauſe both of their brethren and of their
own ſalvation, ready and willing to put their neck under the yoke
of Chriſt's croſs. How joyful it was to us to hear the report of
Dr. Taylor, and of his godly confeſſion, I enſure you it is hard to
expreſs. Bleſſed be God, which was and is the giver of that and
all ghoſtly ſtrength and ſtomach in the time of adverſity. As for
the rumors that have or do go abroad, either of our relenting, or
maſſing, we truſt that they who know God and their duty to-
ward their Brethren in Chriſt, will not be too light of credit to
believe them. It is not the ſlanderer's evil tongue, but a man's
own evil deed, that can with God defile a man; and therefore,
by God's grace, you ſhall never have cauſe to do otherwiſe than
you ſay you do, that is, not to doubt but that we will continue.
Like rumor as you have heard of our coming to London, hath
been here ſpread of the coming of certain learned men priſoners
hither from London; but as yet we know no certainty whether of
theſe rumors is or ſhall be more true. Know you that we have
you in our daily remembrance, and with you, and all the reſt of
our foreſaid companions, well in Chriſt. It ſhould do us much
comfort if we might have knowledge of the ſtate of the reſt of
our moſt dearly beloved, which in this troubleſome time do ſtand
in Chriſt's cauſe, and in the defence of the truth thereof. We
are in good health, (thanks be to God !) and yet the manner of
our entreating doth change as four ale doth in ſummer.
It is reported to us by our keepers, that the Univerſity beareth
us heavily. A coal chanced to fall in the night out of the chim-
ney,
4 B 2
*
556
BOOK VII.
THE LIFE OF
$
;
ney, and burnt a hole in the floor, and no more harm was done,
the bailiffs ſervants ſitting by the fire. Another night there chanced
a drunken fellow to multiply words, and for the ſame he was ſet
in Bocardo'. Upon theſe things, as is reported, there is riſen a
rumor in the town and country about, that we would have broken
the priſon with ſuch violence, as, if the Bailiffs had not played the
pretty men, we ſhould have made an eſcape. We had out of our
priſon a wall that we might have walked upon, and our ſervants
had liberty to go abroad in the town or fields : but now both they
and we are reſtrained of both. The Biſhop of Worceſter paſſed
by us through Oxford, but he did not viſit us.
The ſame day
began our reſtraint to be more, and the book of the Communion
was taken from us by the Bailiffs at the Mayor's commandment.
No man is licenſed to come to us; before, they might, that would,
ſee us upon the wall : but that is fo grudged at, and ſo evil re-
ported, that we are now reſtrained. Sir, bleſſed be God, with all
our evil reports, grudgings and reſtraints, we are merry in God, and
all our care is and ſhall be, by God's grace, to pleaſe and ſerve Him, of
whom we look and hope, after theſe temporal and momentary mi-
ſeries, to have eternal joy and perpetual felicity with Abraham,
Iſaac and Jacob, Peter and Paul, and all the bleſſed company
of
the Angels in heaven, through Jeſus Chriſt our Lord.
there was never learned man, or any ſcholar, or other that viſited
us fince we came into Bocardo, which now in Oxford
may
be call-
ed a College of Quondams; for as you know we be no fewer here
than three, and I dare ſay every one well contented with his
por-
tion, which I reckon to be our heavenly Father's gracious and fa-
therly good gift. Thus fare you well. We ſhall with God's grace
one day meet together and be merry: the day afſuredly approacheth
apace
*>
As yet
a A filthy priſon in Oxford for the loweſt fort of people, where now were confined an
Archbihop of Canterbury and two of his Conprovincials.
Book VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
557
ier
apace, the Lord grant that it may ſhortly come ; for before that
day come I fear me the world will wax worſe and worſe: but then
all our enemies ſhall be overthrown and trodden under foot, right-
eouſneſs and truth then ſhall have the victory, and bear the bell
away, whereof the Lord grant us to be partners, and all that fina
cerely love the truth. We all pray you, as you can, to cauſe our
commendations to be made to all ſuch as you know did viſit Us
and You when we were in the Tower with their friendly remem-
brances and benefits. Miſtreſs Wilkinſon and Mrs. Warcup have
not forgotten us, but even ſince we came into Bocardo with their
charitable and friendly benevolence have comforted us. Not that elſe
we lack (for God be bleſſed, who ever hitherto hath provided ſuf-
ficiently for us) but it is a great comfort, and an occaſion for us
to bleſs God, when we ſee that he maketh them ſo friendly to
tender of us, whom ſome of us were never familiarly acquainted
withall.
Yours in Chriſt,
N. R.
Soon after, Grimbold, who had been one of Ridley's Chaplains,
was committed to the Marſhalſea ; and from a great zeal and re-
gard for his Patron, as he gave out, labored earneſtly with Geo.
Shipſide, brother-in-law to the Biſhop, to get his Maſter's trea-
tiſes, written in priſon, to perufe : and theſe, either by the neg-
ligence of the meſſenger, or the treachery of Grimbold, fell into
the hands of the Papiſts, who committed Shipfide to Bocardo for
it, of which misfortune Ridley informed his fellow priſoners in
this letter.
• To Maſter Cranmer and Maſter Latimer, being ſeparated from
him, and priſoners in ſeveral places.'
• The cauſe of my Brother's impriſonment is this, ſo far as I
can perceive. There is a young map called Maſter Grimbold, which
was
1
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Book VII.
THE LIFE OF
was iny Chaplain, a Preacher, and a man of much eloquence
both in the Engliſh and alſo in the Latin. To this man, being de-
ſirous of all things which I had written and done, ſince the be-
ginning of my impriſonment, my Brother, (as it is ſaid) hath
ſent copies (no more, but) of all things that I have done. Firſt, a lit-
tle treatiſe which Maſter Latimer and I wrote in the Tower; where
is before my Sayings, N. R. and before Maſter Latimer's, H. L.
alſo another draught which I drew out of the Evangeliſts and of
St. Paul, that the words of the Lord's Supper are figuratively to be
underſtood, alledging out of the Doctors only Six; three of the
Greek Church, which are Origen, Chryſoſtom ad Cæſ. Mona-
chum, and Theodoret, and three of the Latin Church, Tertulli-
an, Auguſtin, and Galaſius. •He had of my Brother alſo a
copy of my three poſitions, in anſwer to the three queſtions
here propounded to us at Oxford: then alſo a copy of my diſpu-
tation in the Schools as I wrote it myſelf after the diſputation.
Item the Letter Ad Fratres in diverſis carceribus, To the Brethren
in divers priſons. All theſe things they have gotten of Grimbold, as
my Brother does ſuppoſe; not that Grimbold hath betrayed
him, but (as is ſuppoſed) one whom my brother truſted to carry
his letters unto Grimbold: for it will not ſink into my head to
think that Grimbold would ever play me ſuch a Judas' part.
part. Al-
though theſe things are chanced far otherwiſe than I had thought
they ſhould (for my mind was that they ſhould not have come
abroad until my body had been laid to reſt in peace) yet truly I
ſuppoſe this is not ſo chanced without God's gracious providence,
which he hath over all His, and I truſt that God of his goodneſs
ſhall turn it to his own glory. For it ſhall evidently appear to the
reader of theſe things abovementioned, which they have, that the
cauſe why I do diffent from the Romiſh religion is not any ſtudy
of vain glory or of fingularity, but of conſcience, of my
bound-
en duty toward God and toward Chriſt's church, and the ſalvation
of
Book VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
559
of my own Soul; for the which, by God's grace, I will willing-
ly jeopard here to loſe life, lands, and goods, name and fame,
and what elſe is or can be unto me pleaſant in this world. My
brother as yet, becauſe they neither thewed any commiſſion or
authority whereby they did examine him, nor alſo any thing of
his letters, (although they ſaid they had them) As yet, I ſay,
iny
brother hath confeſſed nothing But I look for none other,
but he Mall be forced to tell where he had the copies, and where
they be, and I will be content that he ſhall ſay the truth, that he
had them all of me ; let them come and take them, and caſt
them into the fire, if God knows they will promote his glory,
they can do no more than he will ſuffer them. Becauſe in the
book of N. R. and H. L. it is ſaid in the end, that H. L. hath
cauſed his Servant to write it, I would Auſtin ſhould have word,
farther ſearch be, to keep him out of the way. God thall
reward you both for my Brother; you, my Lord of Canterbury,
for your meat and daily comfort, and you, Father Latimer,
for your money and comfortable meſſages. I truſt in God my
Brother, though he be young, yet will ſtudy to learn to bear
Chriſt's croſs patiently, as a young ſcholar in Chriſt's School.
God encreaſe his Grace in us all. Amen.
This happened, as I apprehend from the Letter to Grindal,
about the middle of December. And foon after he seceived by
means of Auſtin Bernher the liberality of the Dutcheſs of Suffolk
to whom he returned a letter which was accompanied with the
following:
if any
* To Auguſtin Bernher,
Brother Auſtin,
I thank you for your manifold kindneſs.
I have received my
Lady's Grace's alms, fix royals, ſix ſhillings and eight pence.
I
have written here a letter to her Grace, but I have made no men-
tion
을
​560
BOOK VII.
THE LIFE OF
tion thereof, wherefore I deſire you to render to her Grace hearty
thanks. Bleſſed be God, as for myſelf I want nothing : but my
Lady's alms cometh happily to relieve my poor Brothers neceſſity,
whom
you
know they have caſt and keep in priſon (as I ſuppoſe
you know the cauſe why.) Farewel, Brother Auſtin, and take
good heed I pray you, and let my Brothers cafe make
you
the
more wary.
Read my letter to
letter to my Lady's Grace. I would Mrs.
Wilkinſon and Mrs. Warcup had a copy of it; for although the
letter is directed to my Lady's Grace alone, yet the matter thereof
pertaineth indifferently to her Grace and to all good women who
love God and his word in deed and truth.
Yours in Chriſt,
N. R.'
It was but a very little while before Bernher returned again to
Oxford with more tokens of Chriſtian Charity from the Dutcheſs
and other Ladies : but not being permitted to ſpeak with the
Bilhop in priſon, the Biſhop ſent him this letter.
• To Auguſtin Bernher.
Brother Auſtin,
You are heartily welcome to Oxford again, you have made good
ſpeed indeed ; and bleſſed be God for his gracious goodneſs that all
is well with you. That our dearly beloved Brethren in Chriſt are all
in good comfort, hearty in Chriſt's cauſe, and ſtand ſtedfaſt in the
confeſſion of his true doctrine: it rejoiceth (I aſſure you) my heart
in God to hear it. This day was Dr. Croke with me, and both he
and Mrs. Iriſh mine Hoſteſs told me that Mr. Hoper is hanged,
drawn and quartered for treaſon : but I did not believe them, for
it is not the firſt tale that mine Hoſteſs hath told me of Mr. Ho-
per. And I truſt the tidings that were here ſpread abroad ſince
your
IES
A
:
2
Book VII.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
$O1
your departure, that Mr. Grimbold alſo thould have been arraiga-
ed and condemned for treaſon to be hanged and quartered, was not
true: let me hear if there be any ſuch thing. Not three days ago ,
there was a privy warning given me from a man of God, ope Lef
ley a Glover, that we Priſoners here all three ſhould be fhortly
and ſuddenly conveyed into three ſeveral Colleges, for what pur-
poſe, and how to be ordered God knoweth. At the which time,
and at the earneſt requeſt of that forenamed Man of God, I did
deliver unto him ſome of the things I had in hand to write out:
what they be you ſhall know of him. Beſide the things which
he hath, I have ſome things elſe, which (if it pleaſed God) I would
wiſh might come to light, if perchance any thereby might receive
the light to love the truth the better, and to abhor the faldhood
of Antichriſt. I have written annotations in priorem librum Ton-
falli plenius,lin fecundum verò parcius: optarem ut franſcriberentur
ne fortaffis una mecum fiant ſubito vulcani cibus, upon the first book
of Tonſtal (on the Euchariſt) more at large, but upon the fecond more
Sparingly: I could wiſh they might be tranſcribed, left perchance they
with me may be foon condemned to the fire. I have alſo many things,
but as yet confuſedly ſet together, of the abominable uſurpation,
pride, arrogancy and wickedneſs of the See and Biſhop of Rome,
and altogether in Latin. If thoſe things were written out, I would
with that Mr. Bradford would take them and tranſlate and order
them as he ſhould think might beſt help to open the eyes of the
fimple to ſee the wickedneſs of the ſynagogue of Satan. But that
at your laſt being here you caſt cold water upon mine affection to-
ward Grimbold, elſe methinks I could appoint where he might
occupy himſelf to his own profit in learning which he liketh, and
to no ſmall profit which might enſue to the Church of Chriſt in
England : as, if he would take in hand to interpret Laurentius
Valla, which (as he knoweth) is a man of fingular eloquence ; his
book I mean which he made and wrote againſt that falfe feign-
ed
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ima
362
Book VII.
THE LIFE OF
ed fable forged of Conſtantinus Magnus and his donation, and glo-
rious exaltation of the Şee of Rome : and when he hath done that,
let him tranſlate a work of Æneas Sylvius de geftis Bafilienfis con-
cilii, In the which although there be many things that favour of
the
pan,
and alſo he himſelf was afterward a Biſhop of Rome : yet
I dare ſay the Papiſts would glory but little to ſee ſuch books go
forth in Engliſh. If you will know where to have theſe books or
treatiſes, you may have them both together and many like treatiſes,
which paint out the wickedneſs of the See of Rome, in a book ſet
forth by a Papiſt called Ortwinus Gratius, intitled, Faſciculus re-
rum expetendarum & fugiendarum. In that book you ſhall have
Confeffionem fratrum Waldenhum, men of much more learning,
godlinefs, foberneſs, and underſtanding in God's word, than I would
have thought them to have been in that time, before I did read
their works. If ſuch things had been ſet forth in our Engliſh
tongue heretofore, I ſuppoſe ſurely great good might have come to
Chriſt's Church thereby.
To my good Lady's Grace, and to my Lady Vane what thanks
can I give, but deſire almighty God to lighten, comfort, and
ſtrengthen them evermore in his ways. The other two whom you
mention I know not, but the Lord knoweth them; to whom in
them all, and for all their kindneſs I give moſt hearty thanks.
: Mr. Bradford deſireth that thanks ſhould be rendered unto you
for your comfortable aid, wherewith you comfort him ; but you
muſt tell him that he muſt bid ſuch thank you on his account who
are not bound to thank you for themſelves; and if you do ſo, then I
ween all we Priſoners of Oxford ſhall ſo ſtop his mouth.
Brother Auſtin, you for our comfort do run up and down, and
who beareth your charges God knoweth. I know you muſt needs
in ſo doing take much pains. I pray you take this poor token of
my good will toward your charges.
N. R.'
Bernher
BOOK VII. DR. NICHOLAS RED L E Y.
563
· Bernher had ſeconded Bradford's requeſt to the Biſhop that he
would anſwer Harry Hart's treatiſe on God's Election ; and had
promiſed his Maſter Latimer to return again fpeedily from Lon-
don. But Bernher delaying, and the Biſhop perceiving the Bur-
gefſes were returned, and the Parliament up, which was diſſolved
the 16th of January 1555, and that they had now obtained, what be-
fore was wanting, a Law to burn them ; imagining he ſhould ſoon be
called forth to the fire, took the firſt opportunity of fignifying his re-
conciliation with Biſhop Hoper, who had ſent him two Letters
ſince their reſpective confinements, which Ridley had no fair oppor-
tunity of anſwering ſooner : but now he would delay it no longer ;
for whatever jealoufies had been between them, mutually fufpi-
cious, that one inclined too much to Roman ſuperſtition, and the
other to German ſedition ; yet Ridley had made fo glorious a ſtand
againſt Popery, and Hoper had thewn ſo real a knowledge of the
Truth in the great eſſentials of religion, in ſome tracts which he
wrote in priſon, and deſired Ridley's opinion about the publication
of them, that both were now ſeverally convinced of each other's
fincerity and evangelical fpirit. Ridley was ſatisfied that Hoper
meant well, and therefore greets him with a warm affection ;
though ſtill his zeal needed ſome prudent reſtraint, which Ridley
very honeſtly adviſed.
« Το
my moſt dear Brother, and Reverend Fellow Elder in Chriſt,
John Hoper, grace and peace.
My dearly beloved Brother and Reverend Fellow Elder in Chriſt,
I beg your kindneſs would excuſe me that I have not hitherto ſince
your impriſonment and mine returned your love by letters; for I
confeſs that I have received from you (ſuch was your civility) two
letters, at ſeveral times, but yet at ſuch times as I could not be
ſuffered to write to you again, or when I could I was greatly in
doubt whether my letters would have come ſafely to your hands.
But
4 C 2
564
BOOK VIL
THE LIFE OP
But now, moſt dear Brother, foraſmuch as I underſtand by your
tracts", which I have yet but ſuperficially ſeen, that we thorough-
lý agree, and wholly conſent together in thoſe things which are
the grounds and ſubſtantial points of our Religion, againſt which
the world at this time fo furiouſly rages, howſoever in time paſt in
ſmaller '
matters, and appendages to religion, your wiſdom and my
planenefs (I confeſs) have in ſome points varied, each following
his ſeveral opinion. But now, my dearly beloved Brother, know,
that even with my whole heart, God is my witneſs, in the bowels .
of Chriſt I love you, in truth, and for the truth's fake, which
abideth in us, and, as I am perſuaded, ſhall by the grace of God
abide in us for ever. And foraſmuch, as I perceive, Brother, the
world ceafes not to defend its cauſe, and confpires againſt Chriſt
our Saviour with all poſſible force and ſtrength, exciting the ſu-
preme powers againſt the knowledge of God, let us join hands to-
gether in Chriſt, and if we cannot overthrow, yet let us do our
beft, and as much as in us lieth to ſhake thoſe powers, not with
carnal, but with fpiritual weapons : and at the ſame time, Brother,
let us prepare ourſelves to the day of our diffolution, whereby, af-
ter the momentary time of this bodily affliction, by the grace of our
Lord Jeſus Chriſt, we ſhall triumph together with him in eternal
glory.
pray you, Brother, ſalute in my name that reverend Father,
your fellow-priſoner Dr. Crome, by whom, ſince the firſt day that
I heard of his moſt godly and fatherly conſtancy in confeſſing the
truth of the goſpel, I have conceived great conſolation and joy in
the Lord. For the integrity and uprightneſs, the gravity and in-
nocency of that man, almoſt all England I think hath known long
ago. Bleffed be God therefore, who, in ſuch overflowing of un-
godlineſ,
I
* Theſe I ſuppoſe were, one for the Lord's Supper, another againſt the Maſs, and a
third againſt the Corporeal Preſence, which, with ſeveral other treatiſes to the number of
twenty four, he wrote in Priſon. Fox and Strype,
:
A
Book VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
365
8
your letters
godlineſs, and ſuch decay of piety hath given to us in this Father's
reverend old age, ſuch a witneſs for the truth of his goſpel. Tru-
ly wretched is he, whom the piety and conſtant confeſſion of fo
worthy, ſo grave, and innocent a man, will not move to acknow-
ledge and confeſs the truth of God. I do not now, Brother, re-
queſt any anſwer, for. I much fear leſt your letters ſhould be inter-
cepted before they can come to my hands : though you may be af-
ſured that I fhall always rejoice to hear of your conſtancy and for-
titude in the Lord's quarrel. And albeit I have not hitherto writ-
ten unto you, yet have I twice, as I had opportunity, ſent you my
mind touching the matter which in
you deſired to
know, nor can I yet, Brother, be otherwiſe perſuaded. For me-
thinks I foreſee ſo many dangers, that I am earneſtly moved to
counſel
you
not to haften the publiſhing of your treatiſes, eſpecially
under your own name. For I fear greatly, left by this occaſion
both your own mouth ſhould be ſtopped hereafter, and all things
taken away from the reſt of the priſoners, by which, otherwiſe,
if it ſo pleaſe God, they may be able to do good to many. Fare-
well in the Lord, my moſt dear Brother, and if there be any more
in priſon with you for Chriſt's cauſe, I beſeech you, as you have
opportunity, falute them in my name : to whoſe and your prayers
I moſt humbly recommend myſelf and my fellow priſoners in the
Lord. Once more, and for ever, moſt dear Brother, farewell in
Chriſt.'
.
This letter was accompanied with another to Bradford.
« To Maſter Bradford.
Brother Bradford,
I wiſh you in Chriſt our Saviour grace, mercy, and peace, and to
all them who are with you, or any where elſe captives in Chriſt :
to hear that
ye be all in good health, and ſtand conſtantly in the
confeflion
566
Book VHL
I THE LIFE or
confeſſion of Chriſt's Goſpel, it doth heartily rejoice us. Know
ye likcwiſe that we all here be, thanks be to God, in good health
and comfort, watching with our lamps lit (I truſt in God) when it
Thall pleaſe our Maſter the Bridegroom to call us to wait upori him
unto the marriage. Now we ſuppoſe the day doth approach apace,
for we hear that the Parliament is diffolved. The Burgeſſes of
Oxford are come home, and other news we hear not, but that the
King is made Protector to the Prince to be born, and that the
"Biſhops have a full authority ex officio, by their office, to enquire
of hereſies. Before the Parliament began, it was a rumor here
that certain from the Convocation-houſe were appointed, yea rea-
dy to have come to Oxford ; and then there was ſpied out one thing
to lack, for want of a law, to perform their intent. Now ſeeing they
can want no law, we cannot but look for them ſhortly, I truſt to
God's glory, let them come when they will.
Brother Bradford, I marvel greatly of good Auſtin where he is,
.for that I heard ſay he promiſed his Malter to have been here before
this time ; and he had from me that I would be loth to loſe, yea
to want, when time ſhall be that it might do, nay help me to do
my Lord and my Maſter Chriſt ſervice. I mean my ſcribblings De
abominationibus Sedis Romane et Pontificum Romanorum. I have no
copy of the ſame, and I look daily to be called in certamen cum an-
tiquo ferpente, to the combat with the old ferpent; and ſo I told
him, and I ween you alſo, by whoſe means I was more moved to
let him have them. I doubt not of his fidelity : I pray God he be
in health and at liberty, for I have been and am careful for him. I
have heard that Maſter Grimbold hath gotten his liberty : if with-
out any blemiſh of Chriſt's glory I am right glad thereof. My
Brother-in-law is where he was, that is, in Bocardo, the common
jail of the town. I have written here a letter to Maſter Hoper, I
pray you cauſe it to be written to him again. Commend me to
all
Book VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
567
all your priſon-fellows and our brethren in Chriſt. If Auſtin
were here, I would have had more to ſay. The Lord grant that
all be with him well, who ever preſerve you, and all that love
our Saviour Chriſt in ſincerity and truth, Amen. Yours, by God's
Grace in our Maſter Chriſt's cauſe, unto the ſtake, and thence-
forth without all danger and peril for ever and ever.
.
I am ſure you have heard of our new apparel, and I doubt not
but London will have their talk of it. Sir, know you that al-
though this ſeemeth to us in our caſe much thanks worthy, yet
have we not that apparel that we look for ; for this in time will
wear, and that which we look for rightly done on, will endure,
and is called ſtola immortalitatis, the robe of immortality.
N. R.'
..
In a day or two Auftin arrived, and I think with a reply from
Harry Hart to the Biſhop's Letter to him on the point of God's
free Election; but certainly with earneſt entreaties from Bradford
that Ridley would take in hand to anſwer Hart's treatiſe on that
fubject; and alfo brought a piece of gold, which Ridley imme-
diately applied to the relief of his Brother Shipfide ſtill in priſon.
• To Maſter Bradford.'
Gratiam & pacem, &c.
&c. Although I ween it is not yet three
days ago,
fince
you
heard from me; yet having ſuch a meſſenger
fo diverſly enforced, I cannot but ſay ſomething to you. What ?
Thall I thank you for your golden token? What mean you, man?
do you not know that we have victum & amictum è penario re-
gio? viktuals and cloat bing from the royal flores? I was ſo moved
with your token, that I commanded it (traitway to be had to Bo-
cardo, which is our common jail. I am right glad of Auſtin's
return; for I was, as I told you, careful for him. Bleſſed be
God,
$68
Book VII.
THE LIFE OF
us
God that all is well. I have feen what he brought from you,
and thortly furveyed thc whole, but in fuch celerity, that other
alſo might ſee the ſame before Auſtin's return : fo that I noted
nothing but a confuſed ſum of the matter, and 'as yet what the
reſt have done, I can tell nothing at all, and it was at the writing
hereof in their hands. To your requeſt and. Auſtin's earneſt de-
mand of the ſame, I have anſwered him (Harry Hart) in a brief
letter, and yet he hath replied again : but he muſt go
without
any
further anſwer of me for this time. I have told Auſtin that I for
my part, as I can and may, for my tardity and dulneſs, will think
of the matter. We are now ſo ordered and ſtraitly watched, that
ſcantly our ſervants dare do any thing for us : ſo much talk and
ſo many tales (as is 'faid) are told of us abroad. One of
cannot eaſily, nor ſhortly be of knowledge of another's mind,
and you know I am youngeſt many ways. Auſtin's perſuaſions
may do more with me, in that I may do conveniently in this
matter, armed with your earneſt and zealous letters, than any
shetorick either of Tully and Demoſthenes, I enſure you thereof.
With us it is ſaid that Maſter Grimbold was adjudged to be
hanged, drawn, and quartered; of whom we hear now, that he
is at liberty. So we heard of late that Maſter Hoper was hanged,
drawn, and quartered in deed, not for hereſy, but for treaſon
but bleſſed be God, we hear now that all is true alike! Falſe
tongues will not ceaſe to lie, and miſchievous hearts to imagine
the worſt. Farewel in Chriſt, and token for token now I fend
you not; but know this, that (as it is told me) I have two ſcar-
let gowns that eſcaped I cannot tell how, in the ſpoil, whereof
you ſhall have your part. Commend me to all our Brethren,
and your fellow priſoners in the Lord.
Yours in Chrift,
N. R.
But
Book VII.
569
DR. NICHOLAS RID L E Y.
Fox. Vol
III.
But now the Commiſſioners were appointed by the Legate to
enquire after hereſies: on the 29th Hoper and Rogers were deli-
vered to the ſecular arm : the latter remonſtrating, that though
he had broken no Law of theirs, he had been unjuſtly detained a
priſoner half a year in his own houſe, and a year in Newgate,
at great coſts and expence with a wife and ten children to ſupport,
and not a penny from his livings was allowed him. The Chan-
cellor told him he had no wife, and his children were Baſtards ;
and that as to his livings, he had no title to a penny of them ;
for that Ridley who gave them to him was an Uſurper, and confe-
quently he himſelf had been the unjuſt poffeffor of them. Rogers
aſked my Lord Chancellor, if the King, who gave Ridley the
Biſhoprick, was an Uſurper. In his raſh and haſty petulance, the
Biſhop ſaid he was an Uſurper : but cooling a little afterward, he
ſaid he had miſuſed his terms to call the King an Uſurper. How-
ever, he was burned on the 4th of February. The day after his
condemnation, on 30th January, Bradford, Taylor, and Saunders
received the like ſentence : and on the 8th February Bradford wrote
as follows:
• To my dear Fathers, Dr. Cranmer, Dr. Ridley, and Dr.
Latimer. Jefus Emanuel. My dear Fathers in the Lord,
I beſeech God our ſweet Father, through Chriſt, to make
perfect the good he hath begun in us all. Amen.
I had thought that every of your ſtaves had ſtood next the door ;
but now it is otherwiſe perceived. Our dear Brother Rogers hath
broken the ice valiantly, and as this day, I think, or to morrow at
the uttermoſt, hearty Hoper, fincere Saunders, and truſty Tay-
lor end their courſe, and receive their crown.
The next am I
who hourly look for the porter to open me the gates after them,
to enter into the deſired reſt. God forgive me mine unthankful-
4D
neſs
570
Book VII.
THE LIFE OF
they
neſs for this exceeding great mercy, that among ſo many thou-
ſands it pleafeth his mercy to chooſe me to be one in whom he
will ſuffer. For although it be moſt true that juftè patior, I ſuffer
deſervedly; (for I have been a great hypocrite and a grievous ſinner,
the Lord pardon me! yea he hath done it, (he hath done it in-
deed) yet, hic autem quid mali fecit? This man, what evil hath
be done? Chriſt whom the Prelates perſecute, his verity which
hate in me, hath done no evil, nor deferveth death. There
fore ought I moſt heartily to rejoice for this dignation and tender
kindneſs of the Lord toward me, which uſeth the remedy for my
fin, as a teſtimonial of his teſtament, to his glory, to my ever-
laſting comfort, to the edifying of his Church, and to the over-
throwing of Antichriſt and his kingdom. O what am I, Lord,
that thou ſhouldſt thus magnify me, fo vile a wretch as I have
always been ? Is this thy wont to ſend for ſuch an hypocrite as I
have been, in a fiery chariot, as thou didſt for Elias? O dear Fa-
thers, be thankful for me, and pray for me, that I ſtill may be
found worthy, in whom the Lord would fanctify his holy name.
And for your parts, make you ready; for we are but your gen-
tlemen uſhers. Nuptiæ agni paratæ funt, venite ad nuptias. Tbe
marriage of the Lamb is ready. Come ye to the marriage. I now
my
fleſh there, where I received it. I ſhall be con-
veyed thither as Ignatius was to Rome, Leopardis, to the beufs :
by whoſe evil I hope to be made better. God grant, if it be his
will that I aſk, it may make them better by me“. For my fare-
wel therefore I write and ſend this unto you, truſting, ſhortly to
ſee you, where we ſhall never be ſeparated. In the mean ſeaſon,
I will not ceaſe, as I have done, to commend you to our Father
in heaven, And that ye would ſo do by me I moſt heartily pray
every one of you. You know now I have moſt need. But fidelis
Deus
go to leave
• He means the deſign there was of ſending him into his own country of Lancaſhire to
be burned,
BOOK VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
571
Deus, qui nunquam finet nos tentari ſupra id quod poſſumus : Faith-
ful is God who will not ſuffer us to be tempted above that we are
able. He never did it hitherto, and I am aſſured, he will never
do it. Amen. A dextris eft mihi, non movebor. Propter hoc latabitur
cor meum, quia non derelinquet animam meam in inferno, nec dabit
me fanctum ſuum, per gratiam in Cbrifto, videre corruptionem. E
carcere, raptim, expectans omni momento carnificem. He is on my right
hand, I mall not be moved. For this my heart ſhall be glad; for be
will not leave my foul in hell, nor ſuffer me his holy one, through
grace in Chriſt, to fee corruption. From my priſon, in haſte, expect-
ing every inoment the executioner.
8th Feb. 1555.
John Bradford
This was anſwered without delay.
"To Maſter Bradford.
Oh dear Brother, ſeeing the time is now come, wherein it
pleaſeth the heavenly Father, for Chriſt our Saviour's ſake, to call
upon you, and to bid you to come; happy are you that ever you
were born, thus to be awake at the Lord's calling, Euge! ferve
bone & fidelis ; quia ſuper pauca fuifti fidelis, fuper multa te conſti-
tuet, et intrabis in giudium domini. Well done, thou good and faith-
ful ſervant ; becauſe thou hajt been faithful in few things, be ſhall
place thee over many things, and thou ſhalt enter into the joy of thy
Lord. O
O dear brother, what meaneth this, that you are ſent
into your own native country? The wiſdom and policy of the
world may mean what they will, but I truſt God will ſo order the
matter finally by his fatherly providence, that ſome great occaſion
of God's gracious goodneſs ſhall be plenteouſly poured abroad
amongſt His, our dear brethren in that country, by this your
Mar-
4 D 2
tyrdom.
572
BOOK VII.
THE LIFE OF
G
tyrdom. Where the Martyrs for Chriſt's fake ſhed their blood,
and loſt their lives, O what wondrous things hath Chriſt after-
ward wrought to his glory, and confirmation of their doctrine?
If it be not the place that fanctifieth the man, but the holy man
doth by Chriſt fanctify the place; Brother Bradford, then happy
and holy ſhall be that place, wherein thou ſhalt ſuffer, and ſhall
be with thy alhes, in Chriſt's cauſe, ſprinkled over withal. All
thy country may rejoice of thee, that ever it brought forth ſuch a
one, which would render his life again in His cauſe, of whom
he had received it.
Brother Bradford ſo long as I ſhall underſtand, that thou art in
thy journey, by God's grace I ſhall call upon our heavenly father
for Chriſt's fake to ſee thee ſafely home: and then, good Brother,
ſpeak you, and
you, and pray for the remnant that are to ſuffer for Chriſt's
fake, according to that thou then ſhalt know more clearly.
We do look now every day, when we ſhall be called on, blef-
fed be God. I ween I am the weakeſt many ways of our com-
pany, and yet I thank our Lord God and heavenly Father, by
Chriſt, that ſince I heard of our dear Brother Rogers’s departing
and ſtout confeffion of Chriſt and his truth, even unto the death,
my
heart, bleſſed be God, ſo rejoiced of it, that ſince that time,
I ſay, I never felt any lumpiſh heavineſs in my heart, as I grant
I
have felt ſometimes before. O good Brother, bleſſed be God in
thee, and bleſſed be the time that ever I knew thee. Farewel.
Farewel.
Your Brother in Chriſt,
N. R. Brother, farewel!'
And on the ſame occaſion he wrote
.
6 TO
BOOK VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
573
• To Auguſtin Bernher.
Brother Auſtin,
I bleſs God with all my heart in his manifold merciful gifts given
urto our dear Brethren in Chriſt, eſpecially to our Brother Rogers,
whom it pleaſed to ſet forth firſt, no doubt but of his gracious
goodneſs and fatherly favor towards him. And likewiſe blefled be
God in the reſt, as Hoper, Saunders and Taylor, whom it hath
pleaſed the Lord likewiſe to ſet in the fore front of the battle,
againſt his adverſaries, and hath endued them all (ſo far as I can
hear) to ſtand in the confeſſion of his truth, and to be content in
his cauſe and for his goſpel's fake to loſe their lives.
And ever-
more and without end bleſſed be even the ſame our heavenly Fa-
ther for our dear and entirely beloved Brother Bradford, whom
now the Lord, I perceive, calleth for ; for I ween he will no lon-
ger vouchſafe him to abide among the adulterous and wicked ge-
neration of this world. I do not doubt but that He (for thoſe gifts
of
grace
which the Lord hath beſtowed on him plenteouſly) hath
holpen thoſe who are gone before in their journey, that is, hatlı
animated and encouraged them to keep the high way, & fic cur.
rere uti tandem acciperent præmium, and ſo to run that they may at-
tain the prize. The Lord be his comfort, whereof I do not doubt;
and I thank God heartily that ever I was acquainted with him,
and that ever I had ſuch a one in my houſe. And yet again I bleſs
God in our dear Brother, and of this time Protomartyr Rogers,
that he was alſo one of my calling to be a Prebendary Preacher of
London. And now becauſe Grindal is gone (the Lord I doubt not
hath and knoweth wherein he will beſtow him) I truſt to God it
ſhall pleaſe him of his goodneſs to ſtrengthen me, to make
up
the
trinity out of Paul's Church, to ſuffer for Chriſt, whom God the
Father hath anointed, the Holy Spirit doth bear witneſs unto, Paul
and all the Apoſtles preached. Thus fare you well. I had no pa-
per,
I was conſtrained thus to write.
But
:
574
BOOK VII.
THE LIFE OF
But before Ridley could write this Letter the Spaniſh Friar's
Sermon at Court againſt burning of Hereticks was preached, and
probably put a ſtop at preſent to Bradford's inartyrdom.
knew not the true human reaſon endeavoured to account for it va-
riouſly according to their fancies ; of which Ridley takes notice in
another Letter which not long after he fent
Such as
To Maſter Bradford.
Dearly beloved Brother Bradford, I had thought of late that I
had written unto you your laſt Farewel, until we ſhould have met
in the kingdom of heaven, by our dear Brother Auſtin ; and I fent
it to meet you in Lancaſhire, whither it was ſaid here you were
appointed to be ſent to ſuffer. But now ſince they have changed
their purpoſe and prolonged your death, I underſtand it is no other
thing than that once happened to Peter and Paul. To which al-
though they were of the firſt which were caft into priſon, and as
little ſhunned peril as any other did, yet God would not have thein
put to death with the firſt, becauſe he had more ſervice to be done
by their miniſtry, which his gracious pleaſure was they ſhould do:
fo without doubt, dear Brother, I am perſuaded that the ſame is
the cauſe of the delay of your martyrdom. Bleffed be the Holy
Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghoſt for your
three-
fold Confeſſion a. I have read all three with great comfort and joy
and thankſgiving unto God for his manifold gifts of grace, where-
with it is manifeſt to the godly reader that God did aſſiſt
you
mightily. And bleſſed be God again and again, who gave you ſo
good a mind and remembrance of your oath once made againſt the
Biſhop of Rome, left you ſhould be partaker of the common per-
jury which all men almoſt are now fallen into, in bringing in
again that wicked uſurped power of his į which oath was made
according
* He was three times examined before the Commiffioners.
os
BOOK VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDL E Y.
575
**W .niniwir.www.
go where
according to the Prophet, in judgment, in righteouſneſs and in truth,
and therefore cannot without perjury be revoked : let Satan roar
and
rage and practice all the cruelty he can. Oh good Lord, that
they are ſo buſy with you about the Church ! It is no new thing,
Brother, that is happened unto you ; for that was always the cla-
mor of the wicked Biſhops and Prieſts against God's true Prophets ;
the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the
Lord : and they said the law ſhall not depart from the Prieſt, nor
wiſdom from the Elder : and yet in them whom they only eſteem-
ed for their Prieſts and Elders there was neither God's law, nor
godly wiſdom. It is a marvellous thing to hear what vain commu-
nication is ſpread abroad of you. It is ſaid here that you are pardon-
ed your life, and that when you were appointed to be baniſhed and
to go, I cannot tell whither, you ſhould ſay that
you
had rather
here ſuffer, than
you
could not live after
your conſcience;
and that this pardon ſhould be begged for you by Borne the Biſhop
of Bath, for that you ſaved his life. Again ſome ſay, and among
others
iny
Hoſteſs reported, that you are highly promoted, and are
a great man with my Lord Chancellor. This I could not believe,
but did deny it as a falſe lie : ſo ſurely was I always perſuaded of
your conſtancy. What God will do with Us he knoweth. In
the mean time wonderful it is to behold how the wiſdom of God
hath infatuated the policy of the world, and ſcattered the crafty
devices of the worldly wiſe. For when the ſtate of religion was
once altered, and perſecution began to wax hot, no man doubted
but Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley ſhould have been the firſt to
have been called to the ſtake. But the ſubtle policy of the world
ſetting us apart, firſt atfaulted them, by whoſe infirmity they
thought to have more advantage : but God diſappointed their ſub-
tle purpoſe. For whom the world eſteemed weakeſt (praiſed be
God) they have found moſt ſtrong, ſound and valiant in Chriſt's
cauſe unto the death, to give ſuch an onſet as I dare ſay all the An-
gels
!
576
2
Book VII.
THE LIFE OF
gels in heaven do no leſs rejoice to behold in them, than they did
in the victorious conſtancy of Peter, Paul, lfaiah, Elias, or Jere-
miah. For greater love hath no man than to beſtow his life.
Good Brother, have me and us all continually in your remembrance
to God in your prayers, as God willing we ſhall not be in our
prayers forgetful of
you.
Your own in Chrift,
N. R.'
So miſtaken was the worldly Gardiner in the
$. 8. Some account nature of ſpiritual fortitude and the grace of God,
of Ridley's Cbap-
that he drove on the execution of theſe fubalternis
lains.
from a perſuaſion that their torments would in-
timidate the great Captains and Leaders themſelves, and compel
them to come in. But they derived new ſtrength and courage
from the conſtancy with which theſe martyrs ſuffered. And great
comfort it was to the impriſoned Biſhop of London to find, that he
had made ſo good a choice of perſons to employ as his Chaplains,
and promote as uſeful Preachers in the Church of St. Paul's. Ro-
gers, the firſt martyr, had been collated by him to a Prebend in
that church ; Bradford, whom he had invited to a Fellowſhip in
Pembroke-Hall, was his Domeſtick Chaplain ; and ſo alſo was
Grindal, whom God had reſerved for the reſtoring his true Reli-
gion again under Queen Eliſabeth. However, ſome whom he had
diſtinguiſhed with his favors fell away and apoſtatized. One of
which was young Grimbold his Chaplain, who was at this time
returned to the idolatrous Church of Rome, yet kept in priſon, as
it was believed, to be a ſpy upon the other Priſoners, and was
therefore often viſited by Weſton, Storie, and other of their
great
Bradford was now ſo ſtraitly confined, that it would be
death to his Keeper if any ſpoke with him. He therefore deſires
Bernher
men.
BOOK VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
577
ry
Bernher, if he can, to learn what Grimbold had ſpoken to Dr. Sto- Martyr's
and others : for the cauſe of all this trouble both to the Keeper fol. 469.
and himſelf, he ſays, was thought to come from Grimboid. It
is therefore to be ſuppoſed, how charitably ſoever his good Maſter
might be in not ſeeing it, that his treacherous Chaplain had labor-
ed to get from Shipſide what writings he could of the Biſhop's, that
he might make a merit by delivering them up to the men in power.
Another inſtance we meet with in another Chaplain of his, Mr.
Weſt, who wrote to him about the beginning of April this year,
with great earneſtneſs and affection, to conſider the danger he was
in, and remember himſelf; to weigh well the things that pertain
to God's glory; to recollect that in the many changes which had
been made in the two laſt reigns, there were ſome, of which the
Biſhop himſelf had expreſſed a diſlike ; not to ſtand in any thing
againſt his learning, and to beware of vain-glory : that for his own
part he had fo greatly deſired to preſerve him, that he had made
much ſuit for him ; and mentioned ſome perſons to whom he ad-
viſes the Biſhop to write to the ſame purpoſe ; for that he muſt ei-
ther agree or die. To whom the Biſhop returned the following
excellent letter.
« To Maſter Weſt.
I wiſh you grace in God and love of the truth, without the which
truly eſtabliſhed in mens hearts by the mighty hand of Almighty
God, it is no more poſſible to ſtand by the truth in Chriſt in time
of trouble, than it is for the wax to abide the heat of the fire.
Sir, know you this, that I am, bleſſed be God, perſuaded that this
world is but tranſitory, and (as St. John faith) the world paſſeth
away and the luſt thereof. 1 John 11. I am perſuaded Chriſt's
words to be true : Whoſoever ſhall confeſs me before men, him .
will I confeſs alſo before my Father which is in heaven, Matth. x.
And
4 E
578
Book VII.
THE LIFE OF
And I believe that no earthly creature ſhall be ſaved, whom the
Redeemer and Saviour of the world ſhall before his Father deny.
This the Lord grant that it may be ſo grafted, eſtabliſhed, and
fixed in my heart, that neither things preſent, nor to come, high
nor low, life nor death be able to remove me thence.
It is a godly wiſh that you wiſh me deeply to conſider things
pertaining unto God's glory : but if you had wiſhed alſo that
neither fear of death, nor hope of worldly proſperity ſhould
let me to maintain God's word and his truth, which is his glory
and true honor, it would have liked me well. You deſire me < for
• God's ſake to remember myſelf.' Indeed, Sir, now it is time ſo to
do, for ſo far as I can perceive, it ſtandeth me upon no leſs dan-
ger than of the loſs both of body and ſoul; and I trow then it is
time for a man to awake, if any thing will awaken him. He that
will not fear him who threateneth to caſt both body and ſoul into
everlaſting fire, whom will he fear? With this fear, O Lord,
faſten thou together our frail fleſh, that we never ſwerve from thy
laws.
You ſay you have made much ſuit for me. Sir, God
Sir, God grant that
you have not in ſueing for my worldly deliverance impaired and
hindered the furtherance of God's word and his truth. You have
known me long indeed, in the which time • it hath chanced me,
* as you ſay, to miſlike ſome things. It is true, I grant ; for ſud-
den changes without ſubſtantial and neceſſary cauſe, and the hea-
dy ſetting forth of extremities, I did never love. Confeſſion unto
the miniſter, who is able to inſtruct, correct, comfort ; and in-
form the weak, wounded, and ignorant conſcience, indeed I ever
thought might do much good in Chriſt's congregation : and ſo I
aſſure you I think even at this day.
My doctrine and my preaching you ſay you have heard often,
and after your judgment have thought it godly, ſaving only for the
facrament; which thing although it was of me reverently handled,
and
BOOK VII. DR. NICHOLAS RID L E Y.
579
and a great dical better than of the reſt (as you ſay) yet in the mar-
gin you write warily, and in this world wiſely, ' and yet methought
• all founded not well.'Sir, but that I ſee ſo many changes in
this world and ſo much alteration, elſe at this your faying I would
not a little marvel, I have taken you for my Friend, and a man
whom I fancied for planeneſs and faithfulneſs as much, I aſſure
you, as for your learning. And have you kept this ſo cloſe in your
heart from me unto this day ? Sir, I conſider more things than
one, and will not ſay all that I think.
But what need you to
care what I think, for any thing that I ſhall be able to do unto
you, either good or harm ? You give me good leſſons to ſtand in
nothing againſt my learning, and to beware of vain-glory.' Tru-
ly, Sir, I herein like your counſel very well, and by Gud's grace I.
intend to follow it unto my live's end.
To write unto thoſe whom you name, I cannot ſee what it will
avale me. For this I would have you to know, that I eſteem no-
thing avaleable for me, which alſo will not further the glory of
God. And now, becauſe I perceive you
becauſe I perceive you have an entire zeal and
deſire of
my deliverance out of this captivity and worldly miſery,
if I ſhould not bear you a good heart in God again, methink I
were to blame. Sir, how nigh the day of my diſſolution and de-
parture out of this world is at hand, I cannot tell : the Lord's
will be fulfilled how ſoon foever it ſhall come. I know the Lord's
words muſt be verified on me, that I ſhall appear before the incor-
rupt judge, and be accountable to him for all my former life. And,
although the hope of his mercy is my theet anchor of eternal falva-
tion, yet am I perſuaded, that whoſoever wittivgly neglecteth and
regardeth not to clear his conſcience, he cannot have peace
with God, nor a lively faith in his mercy.
Conſcience there-
fore moveth me, conſidering you were one of my family
and one of my houſehold, of whom then I think I had a
ſpecial cure; and of all them who were within my houſe, which
4 E 2
indeed
580
BOOK VII.
THE LIFE OF
This con-
indeed ought to be an example of godlineſs to all the reſt of my
cure, not only of good life, but alſo in promoting of God's word
to the utterinoſt of their power ; but alas ! now when the trial
doth ſeparate the chaff from the corn, how ſmall a deal it is, God
knoweth, which the wind doth not blow away. This conſcience,
I ſay, doth move me to fear leſt the lightneſs of my family ſhal}
be laid to my charge for lack of more earneſt and diligent inſtruc-
tion which ſhould have been done. But bleſſed be God which
hath given me grace to ſee this my default, and to lament it from
the bottom of my heart before my departing hence.
ſcience doth move me alſo now to require both you and my Friend
Dr. Harvey, to remember your promiſes made to me in times paſt,
of the
pure ſetting forth and preaching of God's word and his truth.
Theſe promiſes, although you ſhall not need to fear to be charged
with them of me hereafter before the world, yet look for none
other (I exhort you as my friends) but to be charged with them at
God's hand. This conſcience, and the love that I bear unto you,
biddeth me now ſay unto you both in God's name, fear God, and
love not the world; for God is able to caſt both body and ſoul in-
to hell fire, when his wrath ſhall ſuddenly be kindled, bleſſed are all
they that put their truſt in him, Pf. 11. And the ſaying of St.
John is true ; all that is in the world, as the luft of the fleſh, the
luft of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the father, but of the
world; and the world paljeth away, and the luſt thereof, but he that
doth the will of God abideth for ever, John 11. If this gift of grace;
which undoubtedly is neceſſarily required unto eternal falvation,
were truly and unfeignedly grafted and firmly eſtabliſhed in men's
hearts, they would not be ſo light, fo ſuddenly to ſhrink from the
maintenance and confeſſion of the truth, as is now alas ! ſeen fo
manifeſtly of ſo many in theſe days. But here peradventure you
would know of me, what is the truth ? Sir, God's word is the
truth, as St. John faith, and that even the ſame that was hereto-
fore
BOOK VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
581
fore. For albeit man doth vary and change as the moon, yet
God's word is ſtable, and abideth one for evermore : and of Chriſt
it is truly ſaid, Chriſt yeſterday and to day, and the ſame is alſo for
ever.
kalder mes Bulwarikidata w
Lada ,
When I was in office, all that were eſteemed learned in God's
word, agreed this to be a truth in God's word written that the
common Prayer of the Church ſhould be had in the common
tongue. You know I have conferred with many, and I enſure you,
I never found man (ſo far as I do remember) neither Old nor New,
Goſpeller nor Papiſt, of what judgment foever he was, in this
thing to be of a contrary opinion. If then it were a truth of God's
word, think you that the alteration of the world can make it an
untruth? If it cannot, why then do ſo many men ſhrink from
the confeflion and maintenance of this truth received once of us
all ? For what is it I pray you elſe to confeſs or deny Chriſt in this
world, but to maintain the truth taught in God's word, or for
any worldly reſpect to thrink from the ſame? This one thing have
I brought for an enſample : other things be in like caſe, which
now particularly I need not to rehearſe. For he that will forſake
wittingly, either for fear or gain of the world, any one open truth
of God's word, if he be conſtrained, he will aſſuredly forſake God
and all his truths, rather than he will endanger himſelf to
loſe, or to leave that he loveth better indeed than he doth God and
the truth of his word.
I like very well your plane ſpeaking, wherein you ſay I muſt
either agree or die ; and I think you mean of the bodily death,
which is common both to good and bad. Sir, I know I muſt
die, whether I agree or no. But what folly were it then to make
ſuch an agreement, by the which I could never eſcape this death
which is ſo common to all, and alſo incur the guilt of death and
eternal damnation ? Lord grant that I may utterly abhor and des
teſt this damnable agreement ſo long as I live!
And
$82
Book VII.
THE LIFE OF
And becauſe, I dare ſay, you wrote of friendſhip unto me this
fhort earneſt advertiſement, and I think verily wiſhing me to live
and not to die; therefore bearing you in my heart no leſs love in
God than you do me in the world, I ſay unto you in the word of
the Lord (and that I ſay to you, I ſay to all my friends and lovers
in God) that if you do not confeſs and maintain to your power
and knowledge, that which is grounded upon God's word, but
will either for fear or gain of the world, ſhrink and play the apoſ-
tate, indeed you ſhall die the death : you know what I mean.
And I beſeech you all my true friends and lovers in God, remem-
ber what I ſay ; for this may be the laſt time, peradventure, that
ever I ſhall write unto you. From Bocardo in Oxford, the 18th
day of April, 1555.
N. R.'
Unhappy Weſt ſhewed what force this letter had on his mind
by the event: he was convinced of his great wickedneſs, but
wanted courage to renounce his preferments and the world. His
burthened conſcience looked up with envy to the luftre in which
his Maſter ſhone in the midſt of all his ſufferings, and regretting
his own infamous ſecurity, pined away with grief and remorſe,
and preſently died : a uſeful leſſon to every baſe deſerter of the
truth once known! The good Biſhop's conſtancy gave him a
peace in his priſon, under the frowns of
power,
Weſt's preferments and the ſmiles of the Great could not procure
him : the one bravely ſcorning a temporal death to preſerve that
peace, outlived the other, who haſtened his temporal death, in
ſeeking to avoid it by daring an eternal One; yielding an unhappy
teſtimony to the truth of Ridley's ſtrong reaſoning. • Sir, I know
• I muſt die, whether I agree or no.
But what folly were it to
• make ſuch an agreement, by the which I could never eſcape
o this
which poor
Book VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
583
• this death which is ſo common to all, and alſo incur the guilt of
· death and eternal damnation ?' yet not with arrogant vaunt of his
own courage, but praying for the aſſiſtance of God's ſtrengthen-
ing grace,
· Lord grant that I may utterly abhor and deteft this
damnable agreement ſo long as I live.'
Another of his chaplains, Grindal, took a middle courſe, and
preſerved both his conſcience and life to be an inſtrument of future
good, by flight. He left his country, a voluntary exile, and
retired to Frankford in Germany, from whence in the
following month, he ſent this letter to the Biſhop.
• To Dr. Ridley, Priſoner in Oxford.
Gratiam & confolationem a Domino et Servatore noftra Jeſu Chriſto.
Grace and confolation from our Lord and Saviour Jeſus Chriſt. Sir,
I have often been deſirous to have written to you, and to have
heard from you : but the iniquity of the times hath hitherto al-
ways put me forth of all hope and comfort, now at preſent God
ſeemeth to offer ſome likelihood that theſe might come to your
hands, which I thought to uſe, referring the reſt to God's diſpo-
fition. Your preſent ſtate not I only (who of all other am moſt
bounden) but alſo all other our brethren here, do moſt heartily
lament, as joined with the moſt miſerable captivity that ever any
Church of Chriſt hath ſuffered. Notwithſtanding, we give God
moſt humble thanks, for that he hath ſo ſtrengthened you and others
your concaptives to profeſs a good profeſſion before ſo
many
wit-
nefles. And I doubt nothing, but he that hath called
you
andi
them not only to believe in him, but alſo to ſuffer for him, doth
not leave you deſtitute of that unſpeakable comfort which he uſeth
to miniſter abundantly to his in the School of the Croſs. He grant
that his name may be glorified in you, whether it be by life or by
death,
584
Book VII.
THE LIFE
OF
death, as may be moſt to his honor, and your everlaſting conſo-
lation !
Sir, I thought it good to advertiſe you partly of our flate in theſe
parts. We be here diſperſed in divers and ſeveral places. Cer-
tain be at Zurick, good ſtudents of either Univerſity a number,
very well entreated of Mr. Bullinger, of the other miniſters, and
of the whole city. Another number of us remain at Straſburgh,
and take the advantage of Mr. Martyr's leſſons, who is a very no-
table Father. Mr. Scory and certain other with him be in Friſland,
and have an Engliſh Church there, but not very full. The great-
eſt number is at Frankford, where I am at this preſent by occa-
ſion; a very fair city, the magiſtrates favorable to our people, with
fo
many
other accommodations as exiles can well look for. Here
is alſo a Church, and now (God be thanked) well quieted by the
prudence of Mr. Cox, and other which meet here for that pur-
poſe. So that now we truſt God hath provided for ſuch as will
fly forth of Babylon a reſting place, where they may truly ſerve
him and hear the voice of their true Paſtor. I ſuppoſe in one place
and other diſperſed, there be well nigh an hundred ſtudents and
miniſters on this ſide the ſeas. Such a Lord is God to work di-
verſly in His, according to his unſearchable wiſdom, who know-
eth beſt what is in man. Primus eft victoria titulus gentilium ma-
nibus apprehenfum dominum confiteri. Secundus ad gloriam gradus
eft, cautâ ſeceſione fubtra&tum, domino reſervari. Illa publica, hæc
privata confeffio eft. Ille judicem fæculi vincit, hic contentus Deo fuo
judice conſcientiam puram cordis integritate cuſtodit. Iſihic fortitudo
promptior, hic ſolicitudo ſecurior. Ille appropinquante hora fua jam
maturus inventus eſt, Hic fortaſe dilatus eft : qui patrimonio dere-
likto idcirco fecefit, quia non erat negaturus, confiteretur utique fi
fuiſſet & ipfe detentus. [Cyprian de Lapſis.] The moſt victorious
triumph is, that, being in bonds for the goſpel, we boldly confefs our
Lord. The next honor, that withdrawing ourſelves by a prudent rea
treat
"
BOOK VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
585
:
:
treat we reſerve ourſelves for our Maſter's ſervice. That is a pub-
lick, this a private confeſion. The firſt overcomes the temporal
Fudge, the other, content that God Mould judge his heart, preſerves
a conſcience unviolated. The former ſhews a readier courage and in-
trepidity, the latter purchaſes bis preſent ſecurity at the expence of
great anxiety. The firſt when called upon is found already mature
for glory, the latter perhaps ſtays for ripening. Though he who
leaving all retires becauſe he would not deny Chriſt, would alſo have
confeſſed him had his retreat been prevented.
We have alſo here certain copies of your anſwers in the diſputa-
tion. Alſo Antoniana objecta cum reſponſione. The treatiſe in
Engliſh againſt Tranſubſtantiation, which in time ſhall be tranfla-
ted into Latin. It hath been thought beſt not to print them till
we ſee what God will do with you, both for fear of incenſing their
malicious fury, and alſo of reſtraining you and others from writing
hereafter which ſhould be a greater loſs to the Church of Chriſt,
than forbearing of theſe for a time. If I ſhall know your will to
be otherwiſe in it, the ſame ſhall be followed. Thus much I
thought good to let you underſtand concerning thoſe matters, and
concerning the poor ſtate of men here: who moſt earneſtly and in-
ceſſantly do cry unto God for the delivery of his Church, to behold
the cauſe of the afflicted, and to hear the groans of his impriſoneds
knowing that you, who in this ſtate have more familiar acceſs un-
to God, do not forget us. God comfort
you,
aid
you, and allitt
you with his ſpirit and grace, to continue his unto the end, to the
glory of his name, the edification of his Church, and the ſubver-
fion of Antichriſt's kingdom. Amen. From Franckford, the 6th
;
of May 1555
E. G'
4 F
To
586
Book VII.
THE LIFE OP
To which Ridley returned this anſwer on the laſt day of the fame.
month.
Bleffed be God our heavenly Father who inclined your heart
to have ſuch a deſire to write unto me, and bleſſed be he again
who hath heard your requeſt, and hath brought your letters ſafe
unto my hands : and over all this I bleſs him through our Lord
Jeſus Chriſt, for the great comfort I have received by the fame, of
the knowledge of your ſtate and of other our dearly beloved bre-
thren and countrymen in thoſe parts beyond the ſea.
Dearly beloved Brother Grindal, I ſay to you and all the reſt of our
brethren in Chriſt with you, rejoice in the Lord; and as you love
me and the other my reverend Fathers and Concaptives (which un-
doubtedly arc gloria Chriſti) lament not our ſtate : but I beſeech
you and them all to give unto our heavenly Father for his endleſs
mercies and unſpeakable benefits even in the midſt of all our troubles
given unto us, moſt hearty thanks. For know ye that as the weight
of his Crofs hath encreaſed upon us, ſo he hath not, nor doth not
ceafe to multiply his mercies to ſtrengthen us, and I truſt, yea by
I doubt nothing, but he will fo do for Chriſt our Maſter's
ſake even to the end. To hear that you and our other brethren
do find in your exile favor and grace with the magiſtrates, miniſters
and citizens at Zurick, at Franckford and otherwhere, it doth
greatly comfort (I dare ſay) all here that do indeed love Chriſt and
his true word. I enſure you it warmed my heart to hear you by
chance to name fome, as Scory and Cox. Oh that it had come in
your mind to have faid ſomewhat alſo of Cheke, of Turner, of
Leaver, of Sampſon, of Chambers : but I truſt to God they be all
well. And, Sir, ſeeing you ſay that there be in thoſe parts with
you
of ſtudents and miniſters ſo good a number, now therefore care
you not for us, otherwiſe than to wiſh that God's glory may be ſet
forth by us. For whenſoever God ſhall call us home (as we look
his grace
daily
Book VII. DR. NICHOLAS
NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
587
ratur,
daily for none other, but when it ſhall pleaſe God to ſay, Come)
ye (bleſſed be God) are enough through his aid to light and ſet up
again the lanthern of his word in England. As concerning the
copies ye ſay ye have with you, I wonder how ever they did wan-
der and could find the way to come to you. My diſputation, ex-
cept you have that which I gathered myſelf after the diſputation
done, I cannot think ye have it truly. If ye have that, then ye have
there withal the whole manner after the which I was uſed in the
diſputation.
As for the treatiſe in Engliſh contra Tranſubftantiationem, vix
poljum adduci ut credam opera pretium fore ut in Latinum transfe-
Catrum quicquid fit, nullo moda velim ut quicquam quocun-
que modo meo nomine ederetur, donec quid de nobis Dominus conſtitue-
rit fieri, vobis prius certo conſtiterit ; againſt Tranſubſtantiation, I
can hardly be brought to think that it would be worth while to tranſ-
late it into Latin. But whatever it be, I would by no means that any
thing ſhould be publiſhed in my name in either language, till ye Mall
firſt be certain what God mall pleaſe to determine concerning us ; and
thus much unto your letters. Now although I ſuppoſe you know
a good part of our ſtate here (for we are forth coming, even as when
you departed) you ſhall underſtand that I was in the Tower about
the ſpace of two months cloſe Priſoner ; and after that had granted
to me, without my labor, the liberty of the Tower, and ſo continued
about half a year : and then becauſe I refuſed to allow the Maſs
with my preſence, I was ſhut up in cloſe priſon again.
The laſt Lent fave one it chanced by reaſon of the tumult ſtir-
red
up
in Kent, there were ſo many priſoners in the Tower, that
my
Lord of Canterbury, Maſter Latimer, Maſter Bradford and I
were put altogether in one priſon, where we reinained ſtill almoſt
to the next Eaſter, and then we three Canterbury, Latimer and I,
were ſuddenly ſent a little before Eaſter to Oxford, and were ſuf-
fered to have nothing with us, but what we carried upon us.
About
4 F2
:
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BOOK VII.
THE LIFE
LIFE OF
About the Whitſuntide following were our diſputations at Oxford,
after which was all taken from us, as pen and ink, &c. our own
ſervants were taken from us before, and every one had put to him
a ſtrange man, and we each one appointed to be kept in ſeveral
places, as we are unto this day.
Bleſſed be God we three at the writing hereof were in good
health, and (in God) of good chear. We have looked long ago
to have been diſpatched, for we were all three on one day, within
a day or two of our diſputation, of Dr. Weſton being the Head
Commiſſioner, condemned for Hereticks; and ſince that time we
remain as we were of him left. The Lord's will be fulfilled in
us, as I do not doubt but by his grace it ſhall be to his glory, and
our endleſs falvation through Jeſus Chriſt our Lord.
Likewiſe the Lord hitherto hath preſerved above all our expecta-
tion our dear Brother, and in Chriſt's cauſe a ſtrong Champion J.
Bradford. He is likewiſe condemned, and is already delivered un-
to the ſecular power, and writs, as we have heard ſay, given out
for his execution, and called in again. Thus the Lord ſo long as
his bleſſed pleaſure is, preſerveth whom he liſteth, notwithſtand-
ing the wonderful raging of the world. Many (as we hear fay)
have ſuffered valiantly, confeſſing Chriſt's truth, and nothing
yielding to the adverſary, yea not for the fear or pains of death.
The names of them whom I knew, and have now ſuffered are
theſe, Farrar the Biſhop of St. David's, Hoper the Biſhop of Wor-
ceſter, Rogers tuus olim Comprebendarius, formerly your Fellow
Prebendary, Dr. Taylor of Hadley, Maſter Saunders, and one
Tomkyns a Weaver ; and now this laſt day (May 30) Maſter
Cardmaker with another were burned in Smithfield at London,
and many other in Effex and Kent, whoſe names are written in
the book of life whom yet I do not know.
Weſt, your old Companion, and ſometime mine officer alas !
hach relented (as I have heard) but the Lord hath ſhortened his
days,
>
Giper
:
589
BOOK VII.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
days, for anon he died and is gone. Grimbold was caught by the
heel and caſt into the Marſhalſea, but now is at liberty again : but
I fear me he eſcaped not without ſome becking and bowing alas !
of his knee unto Baal. My dear Friend Thomas Ridley of the Bull-
head in cheap, who was to me the moſt faithful Friend that I had in
my trouble, is departed alſo unto God. My Brother Shipfide, who
hath married my Siſter, hath been almoſt half a year in priſon for
delivering (as he was accuſed) of certain things I ween, from me:
but now thanks be to God he is at liberty again ; but ſo that the
Biſhop hath taken from him his park.
Of all us three Concaptives at Oxford I am kept moſt ſtrait, and
with leaſt liberty ; vel quia viro, in cujus ædibus ego cuſtodior, uxor
dominatur (licet modo fit prefe&tus civitatis) mulier vetula, morofa et
ſuperftitiofiffima, qua etiam hoc fibi laudi ducit quod me dicatur aretif-
fimè et cautiſimè cuſtodire : Vir autem ipfe, Iriſchius nomine, mitis
fatis eft omnibus, uxori verò plufquam obfequentiffimus. Licet uxo-
rem ( ut noſti) nunquam habuerim, tamen ex hac quotidiana confuetu-
dine quam cum iftis conjugibus habeo, videor mihi nonnihil intelligere
quam grave malum & intollerabile jugum fit cum malâ muliere in con-
jugio colligari. Rectè ergo fapiens dixit, uxor bona donum Dei, Prov. .
XIX. et iterum, mulieris bonæ beatus vir, Prov. xxxi. Vel hæc,
inquam, caufa eft, vel quia a magnis magiftratibus (nefcio quas ob
caufas) illud eft ut ita fieret, ipfis mandatum : id quod illi fi quando
de mea nimia ſeveritate apud eos conqueror, ſedulò fæpe rurfus mihi
inculcant. [As there is no danger of Mrs. Iriſh ſeeing this
part of
the letter we may venture to give in Engliſh what the Biſhop ſo
carefully wrapped up in Latin. The reaſon he gives for his being
more cloſely confined than the reſt was] either becauſe in the houſe
where I am kept the wife rules the Huſband (although he is Mayor of
the city) a moroſe and moſt ſuperſtitious old woman, and who thinks
it for her credit to be ſaid of her that ſhe guards me with the utmoſt
caution and reſtraint : but the man himſelf, Mr. Iriſh, is obting
enough to every body, though to his wife ſomething too abfequious
ID
$90
BOOK VII.
THE LIFE OF
.
.
Though I never was married (as you know) yet from the converſa-
tion I have bad with this married couple I ſeem able pretty well
to gueſs what a great misfortune and inſufferable yoke it is to be link-
ed with a bad woman in matrimony. Rightly therefore did the wiſe
man ſay, that a Good Wife was the gift of God; again, a virtuous
woman will do her Huſband good. Either this, I ſay, is the reaſon,
or elſe becauſe the higher powers (for what cauſe I know not) bave
given command that it ſhould be fo : which indeed is the reaſon which
they conſtantly give me whenever I complain to them of their exceſſive
ſeverity to me.
In Cambridge (as I hear ſay) omnes fludiorum et ſtatutorum refor-
mationes nuper facta, nunc ſunt denuo deformatæ et deletæ, et omnia
Junt in priſtinum chaos et in antiquum papiſmum reducta : omnes ccl-
legiorum Prefetti qui fynceritati Evangelii favebant, vel qui conju-
gati erant, loco moti funt, et alii papifticæ factionis in eorum loca ſur-
rogati ; quod et de Sociis Collegizrum qui noluerunt flettere genu
Baal, factum effe audio. Nec mirum, nam et iſtud paffim faétum eft
in univerſo regno Angliæ, in omnibus Archiepiſcopis, Epifcopis, De-
canis, Prebendariis, Sacerdotibus ecclefiarum et in toto clero : All the
reformations in their ſtudies and their ſtatutes which were lately made
are now again cancelled and deſtroyed, and all things are brought back
to their former confuſion and old popery. All the Heads of Houſes
who favored the Goſpel
fimplicity, or who were married, are removed,
and other of the Popiſ faction are put into their places; and, I bear
are all the Fellows of Colleges ferved who refuſed to bend the knee to
Baal. Nor is it ſtrange it ſhould be ſo there, when the like is done
every where elſe throughout the whole kingdom, to all Archbiſhops,
Biſhops, Deans, Prebendaries, Pariſh Prieſts, and the whole Clergy,
And to tell you much naughty matter in a few words, Papiſmus
apud nos ubique in pleno ſuo antiquo robore regnat, Popery reigns eve-
ry where amongſt us in all its wonted fway.
The
..
Book VII.
591
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
us.
The Lord be merciful and for Chriſt's fake pardon us our old
unkindneſs and unthankfulneſs : for when he poured upon us the
gifts of his manifold graces and favor alas ! we did not ſerve him,
nor rendered unto him thanks according to the ſame. We paſtors
many of us were too cold and bare too much alas ! with the wick-
ed world, our magiſtrates did abuſe to their own worldly gain both
God's goſpel and the miniſters of the ſame, the people in many
places were wayward and unkind. Thus of every ſide and of
every ſort we have provoked God's anger and wrath to fall upon
But bleſſed be He that hath not ſuffered His to continue in
thoſe
ways, which ſo wholly have diſpleaſed his ſecret Majeſty,
but hath awaked them by the fatherly correction of his own Son's
croſs, unto his glory and our endleſs ſalvation through Jeſus Chriſt
our Lord. My daily prayer is, as God doth know, and by God's
grace ſhall be ſo long as I live in this world, for you my dear Bre-
thren that are fled out of your own country, becauſe ye will rather
forſake all worldly things than the truth of God's word. It is even
the ſame that I uſe to make to God for all thoſe churches abroad
through the world which have forſaken the kingdom of Antichriſt,
and profeſſed openly the purity of the goſpel of Jeſus Chrift; that
is, that God our eternal Father for our Saviour Chriſt's fake, will
daily encreaſe in you the gracious gift of his heavenly ſpirit to the
true ſetting forth of his glory, and of his goſpel; and make you to
agree brotherly in the truth of the fame, that there riſe no root of
bitterneſs among you, which may infect that good feed that God
hath ſown in your hearts already; and finally that
pure and ſo honeſt according to the rule of God's word, and according to
the vocation whereunto we are called by the goſpel of Chriſt our
Saviour, that the honeſty and purity of the ſame may provoke all
that ſhall ſee or know it to the love of your doctrine, and to love
you
for your honeſty and virtue's fake; and ſo both in the brothera
ly unity of your true doctrine, and alſo in the godly virtue of your
honeſt life, to glorify our Father which is in heaven.
your life
may be fo
Ex
592
Book VII.
THE LIFE O
Ex noftratibus magni aliquot Magiftratus Cancellarius Wintonienſis,
Comes Arundellus, & Dominus Pachetus jam legatione funguntur, unà
cum Cardinali Polo in partibus tranſmarinis ad componendam (ut aiunt)
pacem, inter Imperatorem, Regem noftrum, & Francorum Regem.
Poft illorum magiſtratuum noſtrorum reditum, et regina partum, quem
jam quotidiè expe&tamus, & jam aliquandiu expe&tavimus, quemq; Deus
pro ſui nominis gloria dignetur bene illi fortunare: nos tunc ftatim nihil
aliud quam noftræ confeffionis de boſte noftro antiquo triumphales in Do-
mino coronas expectamus.
Omnium veftrum precibus me humillimè & ex toto corde commendo.
In primis tuis o chariffime in Chriſto Frater, & dileEtiſime Grindalle et
chariſimorum fratrum et unicè mihi in Domino dile&torum Checi, Coxi,
Turneri, Leveri, Sampſonis, Chambers, et omnium fratrum noftrorun
et Conterraneorum qui apud vos degunt, et diligunt Dominum noſtrum
Feſum Chriſtum in veritate. Commendo etiam vobis reverendiſſimos
Patres & concaptivos meos in Domino, Thomam Cranmerum, jam verè
mugni Paſtoris et Archipreſulis nomine digniffimum, et veteranum illum
noftræ gentis Anglicanæ verum Apoftolum et Chriſti, H. Latimerum.
Condona mihi frater, harum prolixitatem, non enim poſthac credo, cha-
riffime Frater, meis literis jam amplius aliquando turbaberis.' Oxonii.
Some great officers of our country, my Lord Chancellor Wincheſter, the
Earl of Arundel, and Lord Paget are now on an embaſſy beyond fea,
together with Cardinal Pole to bring about (as the report goes) a peace
betwixt the Emperour, our King, and the French King. After
their return, and after the Queen's Majeſty is brought to bed, which
we now every day expect, and have already for ſome time expected, and
I pray God, for the glory of his name, vouchſafe to ſend ber a happy
bour! We then immediately expect nothing elſe than that our confeſion
from our old enemy ſmall procure us our triumphal crowns in the Lord.
I muſt humbly and heartily commend myſelf to the prayers of you All,
especially to yours, moſt dear Brother in Chriſt, and moſt beloved Grindal,
and
.
Book VII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
593
and thoſe of our dear brethren and beloved in the Lord, Cheke, Cox,
Turner, Lever Sampſon, Chambers, and of all our brethren and countrymen
who fojourn with you, and love our Lord Jeſus Chriſt in truth. I alſo re-
commend to your prayers my moſt Reverend Fathers, and fellow priſoners
in the Lord, Thomas Cranmer, now indeed moſt worthy the title of the
great Paſtor and Primate, and that veteran Apoſtle of our nation and
a true one of Chriſt's, H. Latimer. Excuſe, Brother, the length of
this letter ; for I believe that from benceforth, moſt dear Brotber,
you will be troubled with no more of my letters for ever. Oxford.
The bearer of this letter carried with it, I believe, the writer's
benefaction to the exiles; for one of thoſe exiles, Turner, tells
us, 'while He (Biſhop Ridley) was himſelf in priſon, what aid
• he ſent out of England to us in our exile in Germany, that learn-
ied man, his faithful Achates, Dr. Edmund Grindal, now Bi-
ſhop of London can teſtify; and many others who were affifted
by his liberality.
Although he deſpaired of having any future opportunity of wri-
ting again, yet it pleaſed God to let him live to receive another af-
flicting letter from Grindal, giving him an account of the troubles
at Frankford, raiſed by Knox againſt the Common Prayer Book
uſed in England, in the reign of King Edward. I have ſeen on-
ly a part of Ridley's anſwer to this letter in Strype's Life of Arch-
biſhop Grindal, which was, “ Alafs ! that our Brother Knox
• could not bear with our book of Common Prayer ; matters a-
gainſt which although I grant a man (as he is) of wit and learn-
ing may find to make apparent (meaning plauſible) reaſons; but
• I fuppoſe he cannot be able foundly to diſprove by God's word :
• the reaſon he maketh againſt the Litany, and the fault
per
fanguinem & fudorem he findeth in the fame, I do marvel how
• he can or dare avouch them before the Engliſhmen that be with
' you.
Ꮞ Ᏻ
1
48
594
Book VII.
THE LIFE OF
‘
<
you. As for Private Baptiſm, it is not preſcribed in the Book,
• but where folemn Baptiſm, for lack of time, and danger of death,
cannot be had. What would he in that caſe ſhould be done?
peradventure he will ſay, it is better then to let them die without.
· For this his better, what word hath he in the Scripture ? And
• if he hath none, why will he not rather follow that which the
• fentence of the antient writers does more allow. From whom
'to diffent without warrant of God's word, I cannot think it any
godly wiſdom. And as for Purification of Women, I ween the
* word Purification is changed, and it is called Thankſgiving-
Surely Maſter Knox is in niy mind a man of much good learning,
• and of an honeſt zeal. The Lord grant him to uſe them to his
glory.'
Thus this good Prelate employed his priſon hours, confeſſing
his Maſter, and endeavouring to promote his glory in all his trials,
converſation, advice, letters, and treatiſes ; he breathed nothing
but Chriſt and his truth againſt all the wiles and power of his ad-
verſaries. Superior to their learning, not intangled by their ſo-
phiſms, unterrified with their threats, nor deluded by their flatte-
ries and golden promiſes. He ſeemed the prime object againſt
which their whole artillery was levelled. Indulged in the Tower
beyond his companions ; inſidiouſly attacked with their praiſes and
commendations ; the Queen's favor offered to him if he would re-
turn, not only to the reftoring of his former honors, offices, and
preferments, but unlimited promiſes of her further regard were
made to him : when he was found proof againſt all theſe affaults,
then, changing their meaſures, he was treated more harſhly than
his fellow-priſoners ; not only ſtript of all, he had, but threatened
with loſs of life and fame by cruel tortures; his ſecret papers got
from him by the treachery of one of his own chaplains, and was
attempted to be ſeduced by the miſtaken affection of another. Ail.
theſe ſtratagems he oppoſed with the ſpirit of a found mind; till
baffled in every attempt, and enraged at his reputation and con-
ſtancy,
.
BOOK VII.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
595
i
ſtancy, his adverſaries determined to remove out of the world
this living reproach to themſelves. ' A man, ſays Fox, fo
• reverenced for his learning and knowledge in the Scriptures,
that even his enemies have reported him to have been an excel-
·lent Clerk : whoſe life if it might have been redemed with the
' ſum of ten thouſand marks, yea ten thouſand pounds, the Lord
• Dacres of the North, being his kinſman, would have given it to
Queen Mary, rather than he ſhould have been burned.' Vol. III.
p. 996.
#Y
:
:
.
;
:
1.
4 Ga
THE
4
596
BOOK VIII.
THE LIFE OF
+
THE
L I F E
OF
Dr. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
BOOK VIII. From May to
October 1555.
RIDLE Y Martyr.
Whoſoever ſhall loſe his life for my fake and the Goſpels, the fame
Shall find it. MARK VIII. 35.
A
FTER the month of May we find little or
$. 1. Publick af.
nothing of Dr. Ridley's correſpondence or
fairs.
employment, and are at leiſure to view the
blackening of the cloud, which at laſt. broke upon
him.
On the rith of June there was an hearſe at St. Paul's for the
Queen of Spain, grandmother to the King, and aunt to Queen
Mary; of whom I cannot help taking ſome notice. She was Jo-
anna, daughter of Ferdinand and Iſabella of Spain, and ſiſter to
Catherine,
Book VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
597
ter of
Catherine, Henry vilith's firſt Queen. Ferdinand was remarkable
for a reſervedneſs, and ſeverity: the firſt procured him the charac-
great wiſdom, and the latter of no leſs zeal. He is famous
for ſuch a reſtoration of the Inquiſition as to merit to be called the
Inſtitutor of it ; baniſhing the Jews out of Spain to the number of
eight hundred thouſand men, women and children ; the Moors in
his kingdom, whom he had engaged to protect, and not moleft on
account of religion, he harraſſed, and by great cruelties compelled
to be baptized : the inſtruction of theſe baptized Converts was left
in great meaſure to the Biſhop of Granada, who ordered the
Pſalms, Goſpels and Epiſtles to be tranſlated into Arabick ; this
greatly offended Ximenes the Archbiſhop of Toledo, who declared,
that 'whenioever the Bible ſhould come to be tranſlated into vul-
gar tongues, it would be of pernicious conſequence to Chriſtiani.
' ty. But as few or none of theſe Moors were real Converts, they
found great employment for the Inquiſition, which in forty years
time condemned no leſs than an hundred thouſand of them : of
which number four thouſand were burnt, thirty thouſand recon-
ciled, and the reſt eſcaped to Barbary.
Of this Father came Joanna and Catharine ; the latter, being
Queen to our Henry virth, by her reſervedneſs and prudery of
behaviour gave great diſguſt to the King. Her unſociableneſs did
doubtleſs help to revive thoſe fcruples, which Archbiſhop Warham
had firſt raiſed before the King's marriage : her Siſter Joanna was
married to Philip Duke of Burgundy, Father to the Emperour
Charles v. and in right of her Mother became Queen of Spain ;
her Huſband died ſoon after, deſtroyed by his great exceſſes ; his
death caſt his Queen, whoſe brain was before diſtempered, into fo
deep a melancholy, that thoſe who were about her found it diffi-
cult to keep her from familhing herfelf. The whole time of her
Huſband's ſickneſs, though great with child, ſhe had never ſtirred
from
a Geddes's Tracts, vol. i.
9
:
598
Book VIII. .
THE LIFE OF
*
from his bedlide, day or night. And after he was buried, having
been told by a Monk that he had read in ſome Legend of other of
a King, who came to life again after he had been dead fourteen
years, fie îmmediately commanded her Huſband's body to be
brought into her bed chamber, where, having taken it out of the
coffin, and laid it in a bed of ſtate with its face uncovered, the
kept it twenty years ; after which it was taken from her, and in-
terred in the Cathedral of Granada. Nay, her jealouſy of him was
all this while alive : for the would ſuffer no woman but herſelf to
go near his corps, nor any of that ſex, but her ſervants and confi-
dants, to come within the doors of the roon where it lay.
This gloomy family-complexion operated in the branches : it
drove the Emperour Charles v. from his Palace into a Monaſtery,
where a little before his death he ordered a celebration of his own
Obiit, in which he aſſiſted himſelf: the like humor in Philip 11.
drew bim under the ſuſpicion of getting his own Son murdered for
diſcovering too great a regard for the Proteſtant doctrines ; and in-
fluenced him to believe himſelf preſerved by the ſingular providence
of God to extirpate Lutheraniſm, which he vigorouſly ſet about to
effect in the year 1559' : for the intercourſe which the Spaniards
had with the Proteſtants in Germany and England occaſioned the
ſeed of the goſpel to be carried into Spain. The Emperour him-
felf was ſuppoſed to die a Lutheran in the point of Juſtification,
for he ſaid, • the oil of niercy can be put into no other veſſel but
• that of faith ; and that to truſt in one's own merits was not of
· faith, but perfidy. And as ſoon as the Emperour was dead,
his Confeffor Conſtantio was impriſoned for hereſy, but died there;
his body was nevertheleſs burnt, and concluded the horrid ſcene at
Sevil September the 24th, when about thirteen other were caſt in-
to the fire for being Proteſtants. And in October following eight
and
b)
. Continuation of Selden, page 35.
Ibid.
Book VIII.
599
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
and twenty of the Nobility were burnt to death at Vallidolid, Phi-
lip himſelf attending in perſon to enjoy the cruel execution.
No wonder therefore if Queen Mary, ſo defcended and ſo allied,
thirſted for Proteſtant blood. Philip ſaw it was unneceſſary to en-
courage her to this work, he found her ſufficiently diſpoſed to carry
it to exceſs, infomuch that he politickly appeared to check the for-
wardneſs of her zeal in it. What was there that England had not
to fear from the Offspring of ſuch a King and ſuch a Queen, where
the divided ſtreams of ſuperſtition and cruelty would have united,
and flowed together in one full and rapid current ? This was the
bleſſing which England was now wearying heaven with their
pray-
ers to grant; but God, who fees through futurity, and whoſe mer-
cy is greater than even human blindneſs, graciouſly denied their
requeſt, and refuſed to give life to this Embryo in chaos, ſo that
the long wiſhed for Iſſue was a lifeleſs maſs. By the third
of Auguſt all expectations from the Queen's great belly were at an
end, and the King, diſappointed, by this falſe Conception, in his
views of obtaining England for himſelf, grew weary of his Queen;
and, under a pretence of viſiting the Emperour his Father, took
leave of her on the 29th of the fame month, and in the beginning
of September ſet ſail for Calais.
No ſooner was the King's back turned than Commiſſions were
ordered out from the Legate, and from the King and Queen for a
new proceſs appointed for the conviction of the three Biſhops in
priſon at Oxford ; as the former fentence againſt them was void,
the Pope's authority at that time being not received in En-
gland, nor juſtified by any law then in force.
The firſt Commiſſion was to Brookes Biſhop of Gloceſter the
Pope's Subdelegate, and to Dr. Martin and Dr. Story Commiffioners
for the King and Queen to examine, abſolve, or degrade, and de-
liver to the fecular arm Thomas Archbiſhop of Canterbury on the
articles
:
600
:
Book VIII.
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articles of blaſphemy, incontinency, and herefy. They ſat at St.
Mary's in Oxford on the 12th of September.
As to the Pope's Supremacy and juriſdiction, the Archbiſhop
proteſted againſt it, urging his Oath to Henry vilth and Edward
vith, refuſing Brookes for his judge as delegated from the Pope;
and charged him with perjury in receiving a Commiſſion from the
Pope, whom he himſelf had abjured. Brookes charged Cranmer .
with compelling him to do it ; which Cranmer proved to Le falſe,
the Supremacy having been given to the King by Warham, and
Brookes as a Doctor had ſubſcribed to it before Cranmer came to
the See.
As to Tranſubſtantiation, he was charged with inconſiſtency,
in burning Lambert for denying it, and afterward in changing his
opinion, and denying it himſelf. Cranner granted that he had
believed otherwiſe than he now held, and that he did fo till
my
Lord of London Dr. Ridley conferred with him, and by many
perſuaſions and authorities of primitive writers drew him quite
from the Popith opinion. By his anſwers to fixteen Interrogato-
ries they preſently convicted him of what they called hereſy and in-
continency, and then remanded him back to priſon.
Fox,
P. 487
The next Commiſſion was granted from Car-
§. 2. The laf Ex- dinal Pole, Legate a latere, to John White Biſhop
amination of Rid-
of Lincoln, Dr. Brookes Biſhop of Gloceſter, and
ley.
Dr. Holiman Biſhop of Briſtol, to cite, examine
and judge Maſter Hugh Latimer, and Maſter Dr. Ridley, pre-
tenſed Biſhops of Worceſter and London, for divers erroneous opi-
nions held by them, and maintained in open diſputations had at
Oxford in 1554. The which opinions if the named perſons would
now recant, giving and yielding themſelves to the determination
of the Univerſal and Catholick Church, planted by Peter in the
bleffed See of Rome, that then they, the deputed Judges, by the
ſaid
BOOK VIII, DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
601
ſaid authority of their Commiſſion, ſhould have power to receive
the ſaid penitent perſons, and forthwith miniſter unto them the
reconciliation of the Holy Father the Pope : but if the ſaid Hugh
Latimer and Nicholas Ridley would ſtoutly and ſtubbornly defend
and maintain theſe their erroneous opinions and aſſertions, that
then the ſaid Lords by their Commiſſion ſhould procede in form
of judgment, according to the law of Hereticks, that is, degrading
them from their promotion and dignity of Biſhops, Prieſts and all
other Ecclefiaftical Orders, ſhould pronounce them Hereticks; and
therefore clean cut them off froin the Church, and fo yield them to
receive puniſhments due to all ſuch hereſy and ſchiſm.
On the thirtieth of September they were cited to appear before
the Lords Commiſſioners in the Divinity School at Oxford, at eight
of the clock. At which time Latimer and Ridley were ſent for :
but intending to examine them ſeverally, Latimer was kept back
till they had thoroughly examined Ridley. Whereupon the Com-
miſſion was read, Dr. Ridley ſtanding bare headed, humbly ex-
pecting the cauſe of his appearance; as ſoon as he had heard the
Cardinal named, and the Pope's Holineſs, he put on his cap.
After the Commiſſion was read, the Biſhop of Lincoln began ;
Maſter Ridley, although neither I, neither my Lords here, in reſpect
of our own perfons, do look for cap or knee, yet becaule we bear
and repreſent ſuch perſons as we do, that is, my Lord Cardinal's
Grace, Legate à latere to the Pope's Holineſs, as well in that he
is of a notable parentage (and therewith Dr. Ridley moved his
сар
with lowly obeiſance) deſcending from the regal blood, as in that
he is a man worthy to be reverenced with all humility, for his great
knowledge and learning, noble virtues, godly life, and eſpecially
in that he is here in England Deputy to the Pope's Holineſs, it
ſhould have became you at this name to have uncovered your head.
Wherefore, except you will of your own ſelf take the pains to put
your hand to your head, and at the nomination, as well of the ſaid
Cardinal,
.
.
4 H
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Book VIII.
THE LIFE OF
fer) you
Cardinal, as of the Pope's Holineſs, uncover the ſame, left that this
your contumely exhibited now before us, ſhould be prejudicial to
the ſaid moſt reverend perſons (which thing we may in no caſe Luf-
ſhall cauſe us to take the pain to cauſe ſome man to pluck
off your cap from
you.
Then Dr. Ridley, aſking licence to ſpeak, anſwered ; As touching
that you ſaid, my Lord, that you of your own perfons deſire no cap
nor knee, but only require the ſame, in conſideration that you re-
preſent the Cardinal's Grace and perſon, I do you to wit and there-
upon make my proteſtation, that I did put on my cap at the na-
ming of the Cardinal's Grace, neither for any contumacy that I
bear toward your own perſons, neither for any derogation of ho-
nor toward the Lord Cardinal's Grace. For I know him to be a
man worthy of all humility, reverence and honor, in that he came
of regal blood; and in that he is a man endued with manifold
graces
of learning and virtue ; and as touching theſe virtues and points,
I with all humility (and then he put off his cap, and bowed his
knee) and obeiſance that I may, will reverence and honor his Grace :
but in that he is Legate to the Biſhop of Rome (at which word he
put on hiscap) whoſe uſurped ſupremacy, and abuſed authority, I ut-
terly refuſe and renounce, I may in no wiſe give any obeiſance or ho-
nor unto him ; left that my ſo doing and behaviour might be prejudi-
cial to mine Oath, and derogate from the verity of God's word :
and therefore that I might not only by confeſſion profeſs the veri-
ty in not reverencing the renounced authority, contrary to God's
word, but alſo in geſture, in behaviour, and in all my doings ex-
preſs the ſame, I have put on my cap, and for this conſideration
only; and not for any contumacy to your Lordſhips, neither con-
tempt of this worſhipful audience, neither derogation of
por due to the Cardinal's Grace, both for his noble parentage,
and alſo for his excellent qualities, have I kept on my cap.
Lincoln.
.
any ho-
BOOK VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
603
Lincoln. Maſter Ridley, you excuſe yourſelf of that with which
we preſſed you not, in that you proteſt you keep on your cap,
neither for any contumacy toward us, who look for no ſuch ho-
nor of you ; neither for any contempt of this audience, which al-
though juſtly they may, yet (as I ſuppoſe) in this caſe do not re-
quire any ſuch obeiſance of you ; neither in derogation of any ho-
nor due to my Lord Cardinal's Grace for his regal deſcent (at which
word Dr. Ridley moved his cap) and excellent qualities ; for al-
though in all the premiſes honor be due, yet in theſe reſpects we
require none of you : bnt only in that my Lord Cardinal's Grace
is, here in England, Deputy of the Pope's Holineſs, (at which
word the Lords and other put off their caps, and Dr. Ridley put
on his) And therefore we ſay unto you the ſecond time, that except
you take the pains yourſelf to put your hand to your head, and put
off your cap, you ſhall put us to the pain to cauſe ſome man to take
it from you : except you allege fome infirmity and ſickneſs, or
other more reaſonable cauſe, upon the conſideration whereof we
may do as we think good.
Ridley. The premiſes I ſaid only for this end, that it might as
well
appear your Lordſhips, as to this worſhipful audience, why
and for what confideration I uſed ſuch kind of behaviour, in not
humbling myſelf to your Lordſhips with cap and knee. As for my
fickneſs, I thank my Lord God, that I am as well at eaſe, as I have
been this long ſeaſon ; and therefore I do not pretend that which
is not, but only this, that it might appear by this my behaviour,
that I acknowledge in no point that uſurped Supremacy at Rome,
and therefore contemn and utterly deſpiſe all authority coming from
him. In taking off my cap, do as it ſhall pleaſe your Lordſhips,
and I ſhall be content.
Then the Biſhop of Lincoln, after the third admonition, com-
manded one of the Beadles to pluck his cap from his head. Dr.
Ridley bowing his head to the officer, gently permitted him to
take
to
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BOOK VIII.
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LIFE OF
take away his cap. Then the Biſhop of Lincoln made this exhor-
tation;
Maſter Ridley, I am ſure you have ſufficiently pondered with
yourſelf the effect of this our Commiſſion, with good adviſement,
conſidering both points thereof; that authority is given to us, if
you
ſhall receive the true doctrine of the Church, which firſt was
founded by Peter at Rome immediately after the death of Chriſt,
and from him by lineal ſucceſſion hath been brought to this our
time, if you will be content to renounce your former errors, recant
your heretical and ſeditious opinions, content to yield yourſelf to
the undoubted faith and truth of the Goſpel, received and always
taught in the Catholick and Apoſtolick Church ; the which the
King and Queen, all the Nobles of this realm, and Commons of
the ſame, all Chriſtian people have and do confeſs, You only
ſtanding afone by yourſelf; you underſtand and perceive, I am
ſure, that authority is given us to receive you, to reconcile you,
and upon due penance to adjoin and aſſociate you again into the
number of the Catholicks and Chriſt's Church, from which
you
have ſo long ſtrayed, out of which no man can be ſaved. Which
thing I and my Lords here, yea and all, as well Nobles as Com-
mons of this realm moſt heartily deſire ; and I for my part (and
then he put off his cap) moſt earneſtly exhort you to do.
Remember, Maſter Ridley, it is not a ſtrange country whither I
exhort you to return. You were once one of us, you have taken de-
grees
in the ſchools. You were made a Prieſt, and became a Prea-
cher, ſetting forth the ſame doctrine which we do now. You
were made Biſhop according to our laws; and to be ſhort, it is
not ſo long agone, ſince you ſeparated yourſelf from us, and in
the time of herefy became a fetter forth of that divelliſh and fe-
ditious doctrine, which in theſe later days was preached amongſt
For at what time the new doctrine of faith only began to
{pring, the Council willing to win my Lord Chancellor, ſent you
to
us.
605
one, that
d and fai
BOOK VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
to him (I then being in my Lord's houſe, unknown as I ſuppoſe
to you) and after you had talked with my Lord ſecretly, and were
departed, immediately my Lord declared certain points of your
talk, and means of your perſuaſion ; and amongſt others this was
you Tould ſay, Tul, my Lord, this matter of juſtifi-
cation is but a trifle, let us not ſtick to condeſcend herein to them:
but for God's love, my Lord, ſtand ſtoutly in the verity of the ſa-
crament, for I ſee they will aſſault that alſo. If this be true, as
my Lord is a man credible enough in ſuch a matter, hereby it is
declared of what mind you were then, as touching the truth of
the bleſſed Sacrament.
Alſo in a Sermon of yours at Paul's croſs, you as effectually and
as catholickly ſpake of that bleſſed Sacrament as any man might
have done ; whereby it appeareth that it is no ſtrange thing nor
unknown place whereunto I exhort you. I wiſh you to return thi-
ther from whence you came ;. that is, together with us to acknow-
ledge the ſupremacy of our moſt reverend Father in God the Pope's
Holineſs, who (as I ſaid) lineally taketh his deſcent from Peter,
upon whom Chriſt promiſed before his death to build his church';
the which Supremacy or prerogative, the moſt antient Fathers in
all ages, in all times did acknowledge. (And here he brought a
place or two out of the Doctors, but eſpecially ſtayed upon this
ſaying of St. Auſtin, Totus orbis Chriſtianus in tranfmarinis. et lon-
gè remotis terris Romanæ Ecclefiæ fubje&tus eft. All the Chrif-
tian world beyond the ſea, and in countries far remote; is ſubje&t to
the Church of Rome.) Here, ſays he, you ſee, Maſter Ridley, that
all Chriſtendom is ſubject to the Church of Rome. What ſhould
ſtay you therefore to confeſs the ſame with St. Auſtin and the other
Fathers ?
Ridley. My Lord, I moſt heartily thank your Lordſhip, as well for
tvorable
;
606
BOOK VIIT.
THE LIFE OF
vorable zeal in this learned exhortation : in which I have marked ef-
pecially three points, which you uſed to perſuade me to leave my
doc-
trine and religion, which I perfectly know to be grounded not upon
man's imagination and decrees, but on the infallible truth of Chriſt's
goſpel ; and am thoroughly perſuaded not to look back, and to re-
turn to the Romiſh fee, contrary to mine oath, contrary to the
prerogative and crown of this realm, and eſpecially, which moveth
me moſt, contrary to the expreſſed word of God.
The firſt point is this, that the fee of Rome taking its begin-
ning from Peter, upon whom you fay Chriſt hath builded his
church, hath in all ages lineally, from Biſhop to Bilhop, been
brought to this time.
Secondly, that the Holy Fathers, from time to time, have
in their writings confeſſed the ſame.
Thirdly, that I was once of the ſame opinion, and together
with you did acknowledge the ſame.
Firſt, as touching the ſaying of Chriſt, from whence
your
Lordſhip gathered the foundation of the Church upon Peter; tru-
ly the place is not ſo to be underſtood as you take it, as the circum-
ſtances of the place will declare. For after that Chriſt had aſked
his diſciples whom men judged him to be, and they had anſwered,
that ſome had ſaid he was a Prophet, ſome Elias, ſome one thing,
ſome another, then he ſaid, Whom ſay ye that I am ? Then Peter
ſaid, I ſay that thou art Chriſt, the Son of God. To whom Chriſt
anſwered, I ſay, Tu es Petrus, & fuper hanc petram ædificabo ec-
cleßam meam. Thou art Peter, and upon this ſtone I will build ту
Church; that is to ſay, upon this ſtone, not meaning Peter him-
felf, (as though he would have conſtituted a mortal man, ſo
frail and brittle a foundation of his ſtable and infallible church ;)
but upon this rock-ftone, that is, this confeſſion of thine, that I
am the Son of God, I will build my Church. For this is the
foundation and beginning of all Chriſtianity, with word, heart,
and
Book VIII. . DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
607
you fee
and mind, to confeſs that Chriſt is the Son of God. Whofoever
believeth not this, Chriſt is not in him, and he cannot have the
mark of Chriſt printed in his forehead, who confeſſeth not that
Chriſt is the Son of God.
Therefore Chriſt ſaid unto Peter, that upon this rock, that is,
upon
this his confeffion that he was Chriſt the Son of God, he
would build his Church, to declare that without this faith no man
can come to Chriſt: fo that this belief, that Chriſt is the Son of
God, is the foundation of our Chriſtianity, and the foundation of
our Church. Here
upon
what foundation Chriſt's Church
is built, not upon the frailty of man, but upon the ſtable and in-
fallible word of God.
Now, as touching the lineal deſcent of the Biſhops in the ſee
of Rome, true it is that the Patriarchs of Rome in the apoſtles time,
and long after, were great maintainers and ſetters forth of Chriſt's
glory; in which eſpecially above all other countries and regions
was preached the true Goſpel, the Sacraments were moſt duly mi-
niftered ; and, as before Chriſt's coming it was a city, fo valiant in
proweſs and martial affairs, that all the world was in a manner ſub-
ject to it, and after Chriſt's paſſion divers of the Apoſtles there
ſuffered perſecution for the Goſpels fake : ſo after that the Empe-
rours, their hearts being illuminated, received the Goſpel, and be
came Chriſtians, the Goſpel there, as well for the great power and
dominion, as for the fame of the place, flouriſhed. moft:
whereby the Biſhops of that place were had in more reve-
rence and honor, moſt eſteemed in all councils and aſſemblies
not becauſe they acknowledged them to be their head, but becauſe
the place was more reverenced and ſpoken of, for the great power
and ſtrength of the ſame. As now here in England, the Biſhop of
Lincoln in ſeſſions and fittings hath the preeminence of the other
Biſhops, not that he is the Head and Ruler of them, but for the
dignity of the Biſhoprick. Wherefore the Doctors in their wrir
tings
;
*!
608
Book VIII.
THE LIFE OF
#
tings have ſpoken moſt reverently of this fee of Rome, and in
their writings preferred it; and this is the Prerogative which
your Lordihip did rehearfe the antient Doctors to give to the ſee
of Rome.
Seemly, I cannot, nor dare not but commend, reverence, and
honor the fee of Rome, as long as it continueth in the promotion,
and ſetting forth of God's glory, and in due preaching of the
Goſpel, as it did many years after Chriſt. But after that the Bi-
ſhops of that ſee, ſeeking their own pride, and not God's honor,
fet themſelves above Kings and Emperours, challenging to them-
ſelves the title of God's vicars, the dominion and ſupremacy over
all the world, I cannot but with St. Gregory, a Bilhop of Roine
alſo, confeſs, that the Biſhop of that place is the very true Anti-
chriſt, whereof St. John ſpeaketh by the name of the whore of
Babylon, and ſay with the ſaid St. Gregory, He that maketh him-
ſelf a Biſhop over all the world; is worſe than Antichrift.
Now whereas you ſay that St. Auſtin ſhould ſeem not only tɔ
give ſuch a Prerogative, but alſo Supremacy to the fee of Rome,
in that he faith all the Chriſtian world is ſubject to the Church of
Rome, and therefore ſhould give to that ſee a certain kind of
ſubjection; I am ſure that your Lordſhip. knoweth, that in St.
Auſtin's time there were four Patriarchs, of Alexandria, Conſtan-
tinople, Antioch, and Rome ; which Patriarchs had under them
certain countries; as in England the Archbiſhop of Canterbury
hath under him divers Biſhopricks in England and Wales, to
whom he may be ſaid to be their Patriarch. Alſo your Lordſhip
knoweth right well, that at what time St. Auſtin wrote this book,
he was then Biſhop in Africa. Further, you are not ignorant, that
between Europe and Africa lieth the ſea called the Mediterranean,
ſo that all the countries in Europe to him who is in Africa
may
be
called Tranſmarine, countries beyond the ſea. Hereof St. Auſtin
faith, Totus Orbis Chriſtianus in tranſmarinis et longè remotis ter-
ris,
:
.
Book VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
609
ris Eccleha Romana ſubjectus eſt, All the Chriſtian Countries beyond
the feas, and in remote regions, are ſubject to the fee of Rome. If
I ſhould ſay all countries beyond the ſea, I do except England,
which to me, now being in England, is not beyond the ſea. In
this ſenſe St. Auſtin faith, All the countries beyond the ſea are ſub-
ject to the fee of Rome; declaring thereby that Rome was one of
the fees of the Four Patriarchs, and under it Europe. By what
ſubjection I pray you? only for a pre-eminence, as we here in
England ſay, that all the Biſhopricks in England are ſubject to the
Archbiſhopricks of Canterbury and York.
For this pre-eminence alſo the other Doctors (as you recited)
ſay, that Rome is the mother of Churches ; as the Biſhoprick of
Lincoln is mother to the Biſhoprick of Oxford, becauſe the Bi-
ſhoprick of Oxford came from the Biſhoprick of Lincoln, and
they were both once One. And ſo is the Archbiſhoprick of Canter-
bury mother to the other Biſhopricks which are in her province.
In like fort the Archbiſhoprick of York is mother to North Bi-
ſhopricks : and yet no man will ſay, that Lincoln, Canterbury,
or York, is either of them ſupreme head to other Biſhopricks ;
neither then ought we to confeſs the fee of Rome to be ſu-
preme head, becauſe the Doctors in their writings confefs the ſee
of Rome to be mother of Churches.
Now where you ſay I was once of the ſame religion which you
áre of, the truth is, I cannot but confeſs the ſame : yet ſo was
St. Paul a perſecutor of Chriſt. But in that you ſay, I was one of
you not long ago, in that I doing my meſſage to my Lord of
Wincheſter ſhould deſire him to ſtand ſtout in that groſs opinion
of the ſupper of the Lord, in very deed I was ſent, (as your
Lordſhip faid) from the Council to my Lord of Wincheſter, to
exhort him to receive alſo the true confeſſion of juſtification"; and
becauſe he was very refractory, I ſaid to him, Why, my Lord,
why
41
:
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BOOK VIII.
THE LIFE Or
why make you fo great a matter herein ? you ſee many Anabap-
tiſts riſe againſt the Sacrament of the Altar ; I pray you, my
Lord, be diligent in confounding them : for at that time, my
Lord of Wincheſter and I had to do with two Anabaptiſts in Kent.
In this ſenſe I willed my Lord to be ſtiff in the defence of the Sa-,
crament againſt the deteſtable errors of the Anabaptiſts, and not
in the confirmation of that groſs and carnal opinion now main-
tained.
In like fork, as touching the Sermon which I made at Paul's
Croſs, you Thall underſtand that there were at Paul's, and divers
other places, fixed railing bills againſt the Sacrament, terming it
Jack of the box, the Sacrament of the halter, round Robin, with
like unſeemly terms ; for the which cauſes, I, to rebuke the un-
reverend behaviour of certain evil diſpoſed perſons, preached as
reverently of that matter as I might, declaring what eſtimation,
and reverence ought to be given to it, what danger enſued the mis-
handling thereof, affirming in that Sacrament to be truly and ve-
rily the body and blood of Chriſt, effectuouſly by grace and Spi-
rit; which words the unlearned underſtanding not, ſuppoſed that
I had meant of the groſs and carnal being, which the Romith de-
crees ſet forth, that a body having life and motion ſhould be in-
deed under the ſhapes of bread and wine.
Then the Biſhop of Lincoln interrupted him, and ſaid, Well,
Maſter Ridley, thus you wreſt places to your own pleaſure ; for
where St. Auſtin faith, that the whole Chriſtian world is ſubject to
the fee of Rome, without any limitation, and uſeth theſe
words in tranſmarinis et longè remotis terris, beyond the feas in ree
mote regions, only to expreſs the latitude of the dominion of the
fee of Rome, willing thereby to declare, that all the world, yea
countries far diſtant from Rome, yet nevertheleſs are ſubject to
that fee : yet you would wreſt it, and leave it only to Europe.
I am
ha
Book VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
611
you, but
I am ſure you will not deny but that totus mundus, the whole world,
is more than Europe.
Ridley. Indeed, my Lord, if St. Auſtin had ſaid abſolutely totus
mundus, the whole world, and not added in tranſmarinis, in parts
beyond the ſeas, it had been without limitation ; but in that he ſaid
totus mundus in partibus tranſmarinis, the whole world beyond the
ſeas, he himſelf doth limit the univerſal propoſition, declaring how
far he meant by totus mundus, the whole world.
Lincoln. Well, if I'would ſtay upon this place, I could bring
many more places of the Fathers for the confirmation thereof;
but we have certain inſtructions, according to which we muſt pro-
cede, and came not hither to diſpute the matter with
only to take your anſwers to certain articles, and uſed this in the
way of exhortation, in which you interrupted me; wherefore I
will return thither again.
You muſt conſider that the Church of Chriſt lieth nat hidden,
but is a city on the mountain, and a candle on the candleſtick.
Ponder with yourſelf, that the Church of Chriſt is Catholica, Ca-
tholick: fo that Chriſt's Church is univerſally ſpread throughout
the world, not contained in the alligation of places, not compre-
hended in the circuit of England, not contained in the compaſs of
Germany and Saxony, as your Church is.
Wherefore, Maſter Ridley, for God's love be you not fingular;
acknowledge with all the realm the truth, it ſhall not be (as you
allege) prejudicial to the Crown ; for the King and Queen's Ma-
jeſties have renounced that uſurped power taken of their Predecef-
fors, and juſtly have renounced it. For I am ſure you know that
there are two powers, the one declared by the Sword, the other by
the Keys. The Sword is given to Kings and Rulers of Countries;
the Keys were delivered by Chriſt to Peter, and of him left to all
the ſucceſſors. As touching our goods, poſſeſſions, and lives, we
with you acknowledge ourſelves ſubjects to the King and Queen,
who
4 I 2
.
612
BOOK VIII.
THE LIFE OF
who have the Temporal Sword; but as concerning matters of re-
ligion, as touching God's quarrel and his word, we acknowledge
another head : and as the King's and Queen's Highneſs do in all
worldly affairs juſtly challenge the Prerogative and primacy, ſo in
ſpiritual and eccleſiaſtical matters they acknowledge themſelves not
to be Heads and Rulers, but members of Chriſt's Body. Why
therefore ſhould you ſtick at that matter, the which their Majeſ-
ties have forſaken and yielded ?
Wherefore, Maſter Ridley, you ſhall not only not do injury to
the Crown, and be prejudicial to their Majeſties Honor, in ac-
knowledging with all Chriſtendom the Pope's Holineſs to be fu-
preme Head of Chriſt's church here militant in earth, but do a
thing moft delectable in their fight, and moſt deſired of their High-
neſs. Thus if you will do, revoking together all your errors, ac-
knowledging with the reſidue of the realm the common and the
publick fault, you ſhall do that which all men moſt heartily de-
fire ; you ſhall bring quietneſs to your conſcience, and health to
your ſoul; then ſhall we with great joy, by the authority commit-
ted to us from the Cardinal's Grace, receive you into the church
again, acknowledging you to be no longer a rotten, but a lively
member of the fame: but if you ſhall ſtill be ſingular, if you ſhall
ſtill obſtinately perſiſt in your errors, ſtubbornly maintaining your
former hereſies, then we muſt, againſt our will, according to our
Commiſſion, ſeparate you from us, and cut you off from the Church,
left the rotteneſs of one part in proceſs of time putrify and corrupt
the whole body; then muft we confeſs and publiſh you to be none
of Ours; then muſt we yield you up to the Temporal Judges, of
whom, except it otherwiſe pleaſe the King and Queen's Highneſs,
you muſt receive puniſhment by the laws of this realm due to He-
reticks.
Wherefore, Maſter Ridley, conſider your ſtate, remember
your
former degrees, fpare your body, eſpecially conſider your ſoul,
which
BOOK VIII.
613
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
to
you to
you.
which Chrift fo dearly bought with his precious blood; do not you
rafhly caſt away that which was precious in God's ſight; enforce
not us to do all that we may do, which is only to publiſh you
be none of us, to cut you off from the Church: for we do not, nor
cannot condemn you to die (as moſt untruly hath been reported of
us) but that is the temporal Judge's office; we only declare
be none of the Church, and then muſt you, according to the tenor
of them, and pleaſure of the Rulers, abide their determination ; fo
that We, after that we have given you up to the temporal Rulers,
have no further to do with
But I truſt, Maſter Ridley, we ſhall not have occafion to do what
we may : I truſt
you
will ſuffer us to reſt in that point of our Com-
miſſion which we moſt heartily deſire, that is, upon recantation
and repentance to receive you, to reconcile you, and again to ad-
join you to the unity of the Church.
Ridley. My Lord, I acknowledge an unſpotted church of Chriſt,
in the which no man can err, without the which no man can be
ſaved, which is ſpread throughout all the world, that is, the con-
gregation of the Faithful; neither do I alligate or bind the ſame
to any one place, as you ſaid, but confeſs the ſame to be ſpread
throughout all the world ; and where Chriſt's facraments are duly
miniſtered, his Goſpel truly preached and followed, there doth
Chriſt's church ſhine as a city upon an hill, and as a candle in the
candleſtick : but rather it is ſuch as you, that would have the
church of Chriſt bound to a place, who appoint the ſame to Rome,
that there, and no where elſe, is the foundation of Chriſt's church.
But I am fully perſuaded that Chriſt's church is every where found-
ed, in every place where his Goſpel is truly received, and effectual-
ly followed. And in that the church of God is in doubt, I uſe
herein the wiſe counſel of Vincentius Lyrinenfis, whom I am ſure
you will allow, who giving precepts how the catholick church
may be in all ſchiſms and herefies known, writeth in this manner;
« When
arrit
614
"THE LIFE
OF
Book VIII.
• When, faith he, one part is corrupted with herefies, then prefer
the whole world before that one part : but if the greateſt part
be
infected, then prefer antiquity.'
In like fort now, when I perceive the greateſt part of Chriſtiani-
ty to be infected with the poiſon of the See of Rome, I repair to
the uſage of the primitive church; which I find clean contrary to
the Pope's Decrees, as in that the Prieſt receiveth alone, that it is
made unlawful to the Laity to receive in both kinds, and ſuch
like; wherefore it requireth, that I prefer the antiquity of the
primitive church before the novelty of the Romiſh church.
Lincoln. Maſter Ridley, theſe faults which you charge the See
of Rome withal, are indeed no faults. For firſt, it was never for-
bid the Laity, but that they might, if they demanded it, receive
under both kinds. You know alſo, that Chriſt after his reſurrec-
tion, at whạt time he went with his Apoſtles to Galilee, opened
himſelf by breaking of bread. You know that St. Paul after his
long failing toward Rome, brake bread, and that the Apoſtles
came together in breaking of bread, which declareth that is
not unlawful to miniſter the facrament under the form of bread
only; and yet the church had juſt occaſion to decree, that the
Laity ſhould receive in one kind only, thereby to take away an
opinion of the unlearned, that Chriſt was not wholly both fleſh and
blood under the form of bread. Therefore to take away their
opinion, and to eſtabliſh better the people's faith, the Holy Ghoſt
in the church thought good to decree, that the Laity ſhould re-
receive only in one kind; and it is no news for the church, upon
juſt conſideration, to alter rites and ceremonies ». For
in
you read
* The Council of Clermont under Urban 11. A. D. 1095, ordered that Corpus Domini-
cum et Sanguis fingulatim accipiantur, which practice prevaled in England: but Archbiſhop
Peckham's Conftitutions at Lambeth, A.D. 1281, forbid the conſecrated Cup to the Lai.
ty, for the reaſon which the Bifhop of Lincoln here gives, faying, it is allowed in ſuch
Amall Churches.to none but them that celebrate to receive the Blood under the ſpecies of conſecrated
wine :
BOOK VIII. . DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
615
in the Acts of the Apoſtles, that St. Paul writing to ſome of the
Gentiles which had received the Goſpel, biddeth them to abſtain
• from things ſtrangled and from blood', ſo that this ſeemeth to
be an expreſs commandment: yet who will ſay but that it is law-
ful to eat bloodings ? how is it lawful but by the permiſſion of the
church ?
Ridley. My Lord, ſuch things as St. Paul enjoined the Gen-
tiles for a ſufferance, by little and little to win the Jews to Chriſt,
were only commandments of time, and reſpected not the ſuccef-
fors : but Chriſt's commandment, Do this, (that is, that which
he did in remembrance, which was not to miniſter in one kind only)
was not a cominandment for a time, but to perſevere to the world's
end.
The Biſhop of Lincoln not attending to Ridley's anſwer, pro-
ceded thus in his exhortation ;
So that the Church ſeemeth to have authority by the Holy
Ghoſt, whom Chriſt ſaid he would ſend after his aſcenſion, which
Tould teach the Apoſtles all truth, to have power and juriſdiction
to alter ſuch points of the ſeripture, ever reſerving the foundation :
but we came not, as I ſaid before, in this fort to reaſon the matter
with
you,
but have certain inſtructions miniſtered unto us, accord-
ing to the tenor of which we muſt procede, propoſing certain Ar-
ticles, to which we require your anſwer directly, either affirma-
tively, or negatively to every of them, either denying them or
granting them without further diſputations or reaſoning ; for we
have already ſtretched our inſtructions, in that we ſuffered
debate and reaſon the matter, in fuch fort as we have done : the
which
you to
/
wine : yet even then they aſed in fuchi fmaller Churches-unconfecrated wine for the more eafy
Swallowing the facrament which they had taken. From this Conſtitution Lyndwood infers that
in Cathedral and the Greater Churches the Laity might partake of the confecrated Cup in.
Peckham's days: but afterward it was cuſtomarily allowed only to the afting Prieſts,
if there was a ſufficient quantity in the Cup. This will in fome meaſure clear Bilhop
White's otherwiſe confuſed account: See Peckham's Conftitutions..
:
616
Book VIII
THE LIFE OF
.
which articles you ſhall hear now, and tomorrow at eight of the
clock in St. Mary's Church we will require and take your anſwers ;
and then according to the ſame procede: and if you require a copy
of them, you ſhall have it, with pen, ink and paper, alſo ſuch
books as you thall demand, if they be to be gotten in the Univer-
ſity.
The Articles,
We John Lincoln, James Gloceſter, and John Briſtol do object
to thee Nicholas Ridley, and to thee Hugh Latimer, jointly and
ſeverally, firſt that thou Nicholas Ridley in this High Univerſity
of Oxford, Anno 1554, in the months of April, May, June, July,
or in ſome one or more of them, haft affirmed, and openly defend-
ed and maintained, and in many other times and places beſide,
that the true and natural Body of Chriſt, after the Conſecration of
the Prieſt, is not really preſent in the facrament of the altar.
2. Item, That in the place and months aforeſaid thou haſt pub-
lickly affirmed and defended, that in the ſacrament of the altar re-
maineth ſtill the ſubſtance of bread and wine.
3. Item, That in the ſaid place and months thou haſt openly af-
firmed and obſtinately maintained, that in the Mafs is no propitia-
tory facrifice for the Quick and the Dead.
4. Item, That in the year, place and months aforeſaid, theſe
thy foreſaid aſſertions folemnly have been condemned, by the ſcho-
laftical cenſure of this School, as heretical and contrary to the Ca-
tholick faith, by the worſhipful Maſter Doctor Weſton, Prolocutor
then of the Convocation Houſe, as alſo by other learned men of
both the Univerſities.
5.
Item, That all and ſingular the premiſes be true, notorious,
famous and openly known by publick fame, as well to them near
hand, and alſo to them in diſtant places far off.
After the Biſhops had conferred together, the Biſhop of Lin-
coln faid, Theſe are the very fame Articles which you in open diſ-
putation
:
Book VIII.
Book v
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
bir
*
putation here in the Univerſity did maintain and defend. What
ſay you to the firſt ? I pray you anſwer affirmatively or negatively.
Ridley. Why, my Lord, I ſuppoſed your gentleneſs had been
ſuch, that you would have given me ſpace until tomorrow, that
upon good adviſement I might bring a determinate anſwer.
Lincoln. Yea, Maſter Ridley, I mean not that your anſwers
now ſhall be prejudicial to your anſwers tomorrow. I will take
your anſwers at this time ; and yet notwithſtanding it' ſhall be
lawful to you to add, diminiſh, alter, and change of theſe anſwers
to morrow what
you
will.
Ridley. Indeed in like manner at our laſt diſputation I had ma-
ny things promiſed, and few performed. It was ſaid, that after
diſputations I ſhould have a copy of them, and licence to change
mine anſwers, as I Thould think good. It was meet alſo that I
Thould have ſeen what was written by the Notaries at that time.
So
your Lordſhip pretended great gentleneſs in giving me a time;
but this gentleneſs is the ſame that Chriſt had of the High Prieſts.
For
you, as your Lordſhip faith, have no power to condemn me,
neither at any time to put a man to death ; ſo in like fort the High
Prieſts faid, that it was not lawful for them to put any man to
death, but committed Chriſt to Pilate, neither would ſuffer him
to abſolve Chriſt, although he fought all the means therefore that
he might.
Then ſaid Dr. Weſton, who was preſent, What do you make the
King Pilate ?
Ridley. No, Maſter Doctor, I do but compare your deeds with
Caiphas's deeds and the High Prieſt's, which would condemn no
man to death, as ye will not ; and yet would not ſuffer Pilate to
abſolve and deliver Chriſt.
Lincoln. Maſter Ridley, we mind not but that you ſhall enjoy
the benefit of anſwering tomorrow, and will take your anſwers
now as now, tomorrow you ſhall change, take out, add, and alter
what
4 K
618
Book VIII.
THE LIFE OF
Det er
what
you will. In the mean ſeaſon we require you to anſwer di-
rectly to every Article, either affirmatively or negatively.
Ridley. Seeing you appoint me a time to anſwer tomorrow, and
yet will take mine anſwers out of hand, firſt I require the Nota-
ries to take and write my proteſtation; that in no point I acknow-
ledge your authority, or admit you to be my Judges, in that point
you are authoriſed from the Pope : therefore whatſoever I ſhall
ſay or do, I proteſt, I neither ſay it, neither do.it willingly, thereby
to admit the authority of the Pope. And if your Lordſhip will give
me leave, I will ſhew the cauſes which move me thereunto.
Lincoln. No, Maſter Ridley, we have inſtructions to the con-
trafy, we may not ſuffer
you.
Ridley. I will be ſhort; I pray your Lordſhips ſuffer me to ſpeak
a few words.
Lincoln. No, Maſter Ridley, we may not abuſe the hearers
.
Ridley. Why, my Lord, ſuffer me to ſpeak three words.
Lincoln. Well, Maſter Ridley, tomorrow you ſhall ſpeak for-
ty. The time is far paſt; therefore we require your anſwer deter-
minately. What ſay you to the fiſt Article?
Ridley. My Proteſtation always ſaved, that by this mine anſwer
I do not condeſcend to your authority, in that you are Legate to
the Pope, I anſwer thus ; In a ſenſe the firſt Article is true, and
in a ſenſe it is falſe ; for if you take really for verè ( truely) for fpi-
ritually by grace and efficacy, then it is true that the natural body
and blood of Chriſt is in the facrament verè et realiter., indeed and
really : but if you take theſe terms ſo groſſly, that you would con-
clude thereby a natural body having motion, to be contained under
the forms of bread and wine verè et realiter, then really is not the
body and blood of Chriſt in the ſacrament, no more than the Holy
Ghoſt is in the element of water in our Baptiſm.
The
ears.
44
BOOK VIII.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
619
The Notaries not being able to reduce the anſwer to a fimple
affirmation or denial of the firſt article, the Biſhop of Lincoln
required him, either to grant the article, or to deny it.
Ridley. My Lord, you know that where any equivocation is,
(i. e. a word having two ſignifications) except diſtinction be given,
no direct anſwer can be made; for it is one of Ariſtotle's fallacies,
containing two queſtions under one, the which cannot be ſatisfied
with one anſwer : for both you and I agree herein, that in the Sa-
crament is the very true and natural body and blood of Chriſt,
even that which was born of the Virgin Mary, which afcended
into heaven, which fitteth at the right hand of God the Father,
which ſhall come from thence to judge the Quick and the Dead;
only we differ in modo, in the way and manner of being: We con-
feſs all one thing to be in the Sacrament, and diſſent in the man-
ner of being there. I, being fully by God's word thereunto per-
ſuaded, confeſs, Chriſt's natural body to be in the facrament in-
deed by Spirit and Grace ; becauſe that whoſoever receiveth wor-
thily that bread and wine, receiveth effectuouſly Chriſt's body,
and drinketh his blood, that is, he is made effectually partaker of
his paſſion : and
you
make a groſſer kind of being, encloſing a
natural, a lively, and a moving body, under the ſhape or form of
bread and wine.
Now, this difference conſidered, to the queſtion thus I anſwer ;
that in the Sacrament of the Altar is the natural body and blood
of Chriſt, verè & realiter, indeed and really, if you take theſe
terms indeed and really, for ſpiritually by grace and efficacy; for
ſo every worthy receiver receiveth the very true body of Chriſt :
but if you mean really and indeed, ſo that thereby you would ina
clude a lively and a moveable body under the forms of bread and
wine, then in that ſenſe is not Chriſt's body in the Sacrament real-
ly and indeed.
4 K 2
To
620
Book VIII.
THE LIFE
OF
To the Second Article,
i
3
*
Ridley anſwered. Always my Proteſtation reſerved, I anſwer
thus; that in the Sacrament is a certain change, whereby that
bread, which was before common bread, is now made a lively
repreſentation of Chriſt's Body; and is not only a figure, but ef-
fectuouſly repreſenteth his Body, that even as the mortal body was
nouriſhed by that viſible bread, fo is the internal ſoul fed with the
heavenly food of Chriſt's Body, which the eye of faith feeth, as
the bodily eye ſeeth only bread. Such a facramental mutation, I
grant to be in the bread and wine, which truly is no ſmall change :
but ſuch a change as no mortal man can make, but only that om-
nipotency of Chriſt's word. .
Then the Biſhop of Lincoln deſiring him to anſwer affirmative:
ly or negatively without further declaration of the matter, he
pro.
ceded.
Ridley. Notwithſtanding this facramental mutation, which all
the Doctors confefs, the true ſubſtance and nature of bread and
wine remaineth, with which the body is in like fort nouriſhed, as
the Soul is by Grace and Spirit with the Body of Chriſt. Even
ſo in Baptifm the Body is waſhed with the viſible water, and the
Soul is cleanſed from all filth by the inviſible Holy Ghoſt; and
yet the water ceaſeth not to be water, but keepeth the nature of
water ftill. In like fort in the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper,
the bread ceaſeth not to be bread.
The Bilhop of Lincoln declared a difference between the Sa-
crament of the Altar and Baptiſm; becauſe that Chriſt ſaid not
of the water, This is the Holy Ghoft, as he did by the bread, This
is my Body. Then Dr. Ridley recited St. Auſtin which conferred
both the Sacraments the one with the other: but the Biſhop of
Lincoln paſſed it over, and reciting
:
Thic
BOOK VIII.
621
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
The Third Article,
required a direct anſwer. To whom Ridley thus replied ;
Chriſt, as St. Paul writeth, made one perfect ſacrifice for the
ſins of the whole world, neither can any man reiterate that facri-
fice of His ; and yet is the Communion an acceptable facrifice to
God of praiſe and thankfgiving : but to ſay that thereby fins are
taken away (which wholly and perfectly was done by Chriſt's paf-
fion, of which the Communion is only a memorial) that is a great
derogation from the merits of Chriſt's paſſion ; for the Sacrament
was inſtituted, that we receiving it, and thereby recogniſing and
remembering his paſſion, ſhould be partakers of the merits of the
ſame. For otherwiſe doth this Sacrament take upon it the office
of Chriſt's paſſion, whereby it might follow that Chriſt died in
vain.
Lincoln. Indeed, as you allege out of St. Paul, Chriſt made
one perfect oblation for all the whole world, that is, that bloody
ſacrifice on the croſs : yet nevertheleſs he hath left this facrifice,
but not bloody, in the remembrance of that, by the which fins are
forgiven ; the which is no derogation from Chriſt's paſſion. Then
reciting
The Fourth Article,
Ridley anſwered ; That in ſome part the fourth was true, and in
fome part falſe ; true, in that thoſe his aſſertions were condemned
as hereſies, although unjuſtly; falſe, in that it was ſaid they were
condemned ſcientia ſcholaſticâ, by the ſcholaſtical cenfure of the ſchool;
in that the diſputation was in ſuch ſort ordered, that it was far from
any ſchool act.
To the Fifth Article
Ridley anſwered ; That the premiſes were in ſuch fort trųe, as
in theſe his anſwers he had declared. Whether that all men fpake
evil
:
622
BOOK VIII.
THE LIFE OF
".
10
evil of them, he knew not, in that he came not ſo much abroad to
hear what every man reported.
Lincoln. Tomorrow at eight of the clock you ſhall appear be-
fore us in St. Mary's church; and then, becauſe we cannot well
agree upon your anſwer to the firſt Article, if it will pleaſe you to
your anſwer, you ſhall have pen, ink, and paper, and books,
ſuch as you ſhall require : but if you write any thing ſaving your
anſwers to theſe articles we will not receive it.
Then charging
the Mayor with him, and ordering that he ſhould have
pen
and
ink, he diſmiſſed Dr. Ridley, and ſent for Dr. Latimer.
write your
kvered over to the
Secular Power.
The next day, October 1, Dr. Ridley was
9. 3; He is de brought before them in St. Mary's church, to
whom the Biſhop of Lincoln (after like diſpute
about the cap, in honor of the Pope, as had paſſed
the day before, and that the Beadle had rudely ſnatched it from
Dr. Ridley's head) thus addreſſed himſelf.
Lincoln. Maſter Ridley, yeſterday we took your anſwer to cer-
tain articles, which we then propoſed to you : but becauſe we
could not be thoroughly ſatisfied with your anſwer then to the firſt
article, neither could the Notaries take any determinate anſwer of
you, we (you requiring the ſame) granted you licence to bring your
anſwer in writing; and thereupon commanded the Mayor that you
ſhould have pen, paper and ink, yea any books alſo that
require, if they were to be gotten : we licenſed you then alſo to
alter your former anſwers this day at your pleaſure; therefore we
are come now hither to ſee whether you are in the ſame mind now
that you were in yeſterday (which we would not wilh) or contrary,
contented to revoke all your former affertions, and in all points con-
tent to ſubmit yourſelf to the determination of the Univerſal Church.
And I for my part moſt earneſtly exhort you, not becauſe my con-
ſcience
you would
BOOK VIII.
22-5
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
fcience pricketh me, as you ſaid yeſterday, but becauſe I ſee you
a rotten member, and in the
way
of perdition.
Yeſterday I brought forth amongſt other St. Auſtin, to prove that
authority hath always been given to the See of Rome, and you
wreſted the words far contrary to St. Auſtin's meaning, in that you:
would have totus mundus, all the world, to be applied only to Eu-
rope, which is but the third part of all the world, whereas indeed
the proceſs of St. Auſtin's words will not admit that your interpre-
tation. For he faith not totus mundus Chriſtianus in tranſmarinis,
all the Chriſtian world beyond the feas, but firſt totus mundus Chriſti-
anus Romanæ Eccleſia fubje&tus eft, all the Chriſtian world is fubje£t
to the Church of Rome, and afterward addeth in tranſmarinis parti-
bus, beyond the fea, only to augment the dominion of the See of
Rome.
Ridley. I am ſure, my Lord, you have ſome ſkill in Coſmogra-
phy, in which you ſhall underſtand that there is a ſea called the
Mediterranean caſt between Europe and Africa : in ſaying beyond
the ſea. St. Auſtin meant Europe, even as I ſhould ſay the whole
world beyond the ſea, meaning to except England, in which I
ſtand.
After this, much diſputation followed concerning the ſenſe of
t. Auſtin, which the Biſhop of Lincoln endeavoured to eſtabliſh
by the conſent of other antient Doctors, from whom he quoted
feveral paſſages : but Ridley required that the original authors:
ſhould be produced, and not mangled and altered paſſages, that:
the
very words and the Context might determine their meaning.
But the Biſhop, not able to quote the exact words, nor willing to
produce the books themſelves, pretended to preſs Ridley in the
point of the Sacrament with an authority from Cyril, which he ſaid,
as Melancthon himſelf had quoted it, was againſt him ; and to
prove it called for Melancthon: but his works had been burnt be:
fore. Then paſſing that over, he proceded thus
Lincoln.
S;
.
622
Book VIII.
THE LIFE OF
จ
Lincoln. Cyril in another place, proving to the Jews that Chriſt
was come, uſeth this reaſon, altars are erected in Chrift's name
• in Britain, and in far Countries, therefore Chriſt is come. But
we may uſe the contrary of that reaſon, altars are plucked down in
Britain, therefore Chriſt is not come. A good argument à con-
trariis ; I will ſtand to it in the ſchools by and by with any man. You
fee what a good argument this your doctrine maketh for the Jews,
to prove that Chriſt is not come.
Dr. Ridley ſmiling anſwered ; your Lordſhip is not ignorant that
this word, altare, in the ſcripture ſignifieth as well the altar where-
upon the Jews were wont to make their burnt facrifices, as the ta-
ble of the Lord's Supper. Cyril meaneth there by this word, al-
tare, not the Jewiſh altar, but the table of the Lord, and by that
ſaying • altars are erected in Chrift's name, therefore Chriſt is
. come,' he meaneth that the Communion is miniſtered in his re-
membrance, therefore Chriſt is come : for the ſtrength of his ar-
gument is becauſe the remembrance of a thing cannot be, except
itſelf be paſt; then could not all countries celebrate the Commu-
nion in remembrance of Chriſt's paſſion, except Chriſt had been
come and ſuffered. As for the taking down of the altars it was
done upon juſt conſiderations, for that they ſeemed to come too
nigh to the Jews uſage. Neither was the Supper of the Lord at
any time better miniſtered, more duly received, than in thoſe later
days when all things were bronght to the rites and uſages of the
primitive church.
Lincoln. A godly receiving I promiſe you to ſet an oyſter table
inſtead of an altar, and to come from puddings at Weſtminſter to
receive. And yet when your table was conſtituted, you could
never be content, in placing the ſame now Eaſt, now North, now
one way, now another, until it pleaſed God of his goodneſs to
place it clean out of the church.
Ridley,
BOOK VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
(25
Ridley. Your Lordſhip’s irreverent terms do not leſſen the value
of the thing. Perhaps ſome men came more devoutly from pud-
dings, than other men now do from other things.
Lincoln. As for that, Maſter Ridley, you ought to be judge of
no man: but by this your reaſoning you cauſed us to ſtretch and
inlarge our inſtructions. We came not to reaſon, but to take
your
determinate anſwers to our articles. Now, Maſter Ridley, what
ſay you to the firſt article ? If you have brought your anſwer in
writing we will receive it : but if you have written any other mat-
ter, we will not receive it.
Then Dr. Ridley took a ſheet of paper out of his boſom, and
began to read what he had written : but the Biſhop of Lincoln
commanded the Beadle to take it from him. And when he aſked
licence to read it, ſaying that it contained nothing but his anſwers,
the Biſhop would not by any means permit him.
Ridley. Why, my Lord, will you require my anſwer, and not
ſuffer me to publiſh it? I beſeech you, my Lord, let the audience
bear witneſs in this matter. Your Lordſhips may handle it at your
pleaſures ; therefore let the audience be witneſs to your doings.
Lincoln. Well, Maſter Ridley, we will firſt ſee what
written, and then if we ſhall think it good to be read, you ſhall
have it publiſhed: but except you deliver it firſt, we will take
none at all of you.
Then Dr. Ridley, ſeeing there was no remedy, delivered it to
an officer, who immediately gave it to the Biſhop of Lincoln. He,
having ſecretly, communicated it to the other two Commiſſioners,
declared the ſenſe, but would not read it as it was written, ſaying,
that it contained words of blaſphemy; therefore he would not fill
the ears of the audience therewith, and ſo abuſe their patience.
But Ridley deſired very inſtantly to have it publiſhed, ſaying, that
except a line or two, there was nothing contained but the ſayings
of the antient Doctors in confirmation of his aſſertions.
But
you have
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}
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Book VIII.
THE
LIFE OF
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But the Biſhop of Lincoln would not ſuffer it to be read, and
demanded Ridley's determinate anſwer to the ſeveral articles; he
referred to his anſwers then exhibited in writing, and alſo before
at the time of diſputation before Dr. Weſton. Then the Biſhop
of Glocefter began an exhortation to Dr. Ridley to perſuade him
to recant.
Gloc. If you would once empty your ſtomach, captivate your
ſenſes, ſubdue your reaſon, and together with us conſider what a.
feeble ground of your religion you have, I do not doubt but you
might eaſily be perſuaded to acknowledge one Church with us, to
confeſs one faith with us, and to believe one religion with us. For
what a weak and feeble ſtay in religion is this, I pray you ? • La-
. timer leaneth to Cranmer, Cranmer to Ridley, and Ridley to the
fingularity of his own wit.' So that if
So that if you overthrow the fingu-
larity of Ridley's wit, then muſt needs the religion of Cranmer
and Latimer fall alſo. You remember well, Maſter Ridley, that
the Prophet ſpeaketh moſt truly, ſaying, Wo, wo be to them who
are fingular and wife in their own conceits.
But
you will ſay here, it is true that the Prophet faith ; but how
know
you
that I am wiſe in mine own conceit? Yes, Maſter Rid-
ley, you refuſe the determination of the Catholick Church ; you
muſt needs be fingular, and wiſe in your own conceit, for you bring
ſcripture for the probation of your aſſertions, and we alſo bring
fcriptures ; you underſtand them in one ſenſe, and we in another.
How will you know the truth herein ? If you ſtand to your own
interpretation, then you are fingular in your conceit: but if
you.
will follow the minds of the Doctors and antient Fathers,
you underſtand them in one meaning, and we take them in ano-
ther : how will you know the truth herein "? If you ſtand to your
own judgment, then are you ſingular in your own conceit, then
cannot you avoid the wo of which the Prophet ſpeaketh.
Wherefore
ſay you
a From their own expreſs declarations elſewhere.
BOOK VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RÍDLE Y.
627
Wherefore, if you have no ſtay but the Catholick Church in
matters of controverſy, except you will reſt upon the fingularity
and wiſdom of your own brain, if the Prophet moſt truly faith,
wo, wo be to them who are wife in their own conceits; then for God's
love, Maſter Ridley, ſtand not fingular, be not you wiſe in your
own conceit, pleaſe not yourſelf over much. How were the Arians,
the Manichees, the Eutychians, with divers other hereticks which
have been in the Church, how I pray you were they ſuppreſſed and
convinced ? By reaſoning in diſputations ? No truly ; the Arians
had more places of ſcripture for the confirmation of their hereſy,
than the Catholicks for the defence of the truth. How then were
they convinced ? only by the determination of the Church. And
indeed, except we do conſtitute the Church our foundation, ſtay,
and judge, we can have no end of controverſies, no end of diſpu-
tations. For in that we all bring Scriptures and Doctors for the
probation of our aſſertions, who ſhould be judge of this our con-
troverſy? If we ourſelves, then be we ſingular and wiſe in our own
conceits, then cannot we avoid the wo of which the Prophet
ſpeaks.
It remains therefore that we ſubmit ourſelves to the determina-
tion and arbitrement of the Church, with whom God promiſed to
remain to the world's end, to whom he promiſed to ſend the Ho-
ly Ghoſt, which ſhould teach it the truth. Wherefore, Maſter
Ridley, if you will avoid the wo that the Prophet ſpeaketh of, be
not you wiſe in your judgment, captivate your own underſtanding,
fubdue your reaſon, and ſubmit yourſelf to the determination of
the Church.
To this verboſe oration Ridley replied in few words ; that he
faid moſt truly with the Prophet, wo be to him that is wiſe in his
own conceit : but that he acknowledged no ſuch fingularity in
himſelf, nor knew any cauſe why he ſhould attribute ſo much to
himſelf. And whereas he ſaid Maſter Cranmer leaned to him,
4 L 2
that
:
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BOOK VIII.
THE LIFE OF
that was moſt untrue, in that he was but a young Scholar in com-
pariſon with Maſter Cranmer; for at what time he was a young
Scholar Maſter Cranmer was a Doctor, fo that he confeffed Maf-
ter Cranmer might have been his Schoolmafter theſe many years.
He would have ſaid more, but the Biſhop of Gloceſter inter-
rupted him. And then the Biſhop of Lincoln with many words,
and gently holding his cap in his hand, deſired him to return. But
Ridley made an abſolute anſwer, that he was fully perſuaded that
the religion which he defended was grounded upon God's word,
and therefore without great offence toward God, great peril and
damage of his ſoul, he could not forſake his Maſter and Lord: but
deſired the Biſhop to perform his grant, in that his Lordſhip faid
the day before, that he ſhould have licence to thew his cauſe why
he could not with a ſafe confcience admit the authority of the
Pope. The Biſhop faid, that whereas then he had demanded li-
cence to ſpeak three words, he was contented that he ſhould this
day ſpeak forty, and that grant he would perform. Then ſtarted
up Dr. Weſton, and faid, why, my Lord, he hath ſpoken four
hundred already. Dr. Ridley confeſſed he had, but they were not
of his preſcribed number, neither concerning that matter. The
Biſhop of Lincoln bade him take his licence : but he ſhould ſpeak
but forty, and before he had ended half a ſentence, the Doctors
fitting by cried and ſaid, that his number was out'; and with that
he was enjoined filence. Then the Biſhop of Lincoln addreſſed
him thus :
Lincoln. Now I perceive, Maſter Ridley, you will not permit
us to ſtay in that point of our Commiſſion which we moſt deſired :
for I will aſſure you there is never a word in our Commiſſion more
true than, dolentes & gementes, grieving and bewailing. For indeed
I for my part, I take God to witneſs, am ſorry for
you.
Ridley. I believe it well, my Lord'; fora much as one day it will
be burthenſome to your ſoul,
Lincoln.
BOOK VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
629
Lincoln. Nay not fo; Maſter Ridley; but becauſe I ſee ſuch
ſtubborneſs in you, that by no means you may be perſuaded to ac-
knowledge your errors, and receive the truth : but ſeeing it is ſo,
becauſe
you
will not ſuffer us to perſiſt in the firſt, we muſt of ne-
cefſity procede to the other part of our Commiſſion. Therefore I
pray you hearken to what I ſhall ſay.
He then read the ſentence of condemnation, written in a long
proceſs, the tenor of which was, that, foraſmuch as the ſaid Ni-
cholas Ridley did affirm, maintain, and ſtubbornly defend certain
opinions, aſſertions and hereſies, contrary to the word of God, and
the received faith of the Church, as in denying the true and natural
body of Chriſt, and his natural blood to be in the Sacrament of the
altar : ſecondly, in affirming the ſubſtance of bread and wine to
remain after the words of the confecration : thirdly, in denying the
Maſs to be a lively ſacrifice of the Church for the quick and the
dead, and by no means would be led and brought from theſe his
hereſies; therefore the ſaid John of Lincoln, James of Gloceſter,
John of Briſtol did judge and condemn the ſaid Nicholas Ridley as
an heretick, and ſo adjudged him preſently both by word, and alſo
in deed to be degraded from the degree of a Biſhop, from Prieſt-
hood, and all Eccleſiaſtical Order ; declaring moreover the ſaid
Nicholas Ridley to be no member of the Church, and therefore
committed him to the fecular powers, of them to receive due
pu-
niſhment according to the tenor of the temporal laws : and further
excommunicated him by the great excommunication.
Then they delivered him as a priſoner to the Mayor, and ſent
for Maſter Latimer, whom, after like examination, they condemned
by the ſame ſentence, from which he appealed to the next General
Council which ſhould be truly called in God's name: but the
Biſhop of Lincoln told him with great truth, that it would be a
long ſeaſon before ſuch a Convocation would be called.
They
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Book VIII.
.
THE LIFE OF
2
They continued another fortnight in their priſons, where Cran-
mer alſo was confined, having been cited to appear at Rome with-
in fourſcore days. This farce was one of Gardiner's devices to
ſpin out the time for the ripening of his plot to obtain the Arch-
biſhoprick.
During the time that Ridley and Latimer lay in priſon after their
condemnation, every method was tried to win the former. They
feemed alhamed to ſacrifice a man of ſuch piety and learning, and
rather wiſhed to bring him over to add weight to their own party.
Brookes the Biſhop of Gloceſter in great ſimplicity pointed out to
him the only method of reclaming him to the Church of Rome,
' which was ' to captivate his ſenſes, and ſubdue his reaſon, and
then' he doubted not but he might be eaſily induced to acknow-
• ledge one Church with them. Now it was, I ſuppoſe, that the
Lord Dacres offered ten thouſand pounds to the Queen if ſhe would
preſerve ſo valuable a life : The would have triumphed in his ſafety
if he would ſubmit to the conditions. His retracting would have
influenced the greater number of the unreſolved, and ſilenced the
more confirmed. For this purpoſe fome leading man in the fami-
ly, perhaps the fame Lord Dacres, endeavoured, by worldly mo-
tives, and wreſted paſſages of ſcripture, to induce him to ſave him-
ſelf; and occaſioned the following letter to another relation, which
might be Mabyl the grand-daughter of that Lord, who had mar-
ried Nicholas Ridley of Wilmondſwick.
Fox.
« To a Couſin of his.
Martyr's
Letters,
fol. 79
God's holy ſpirit be with you now and ever, Amen. When I
call to remembrance, beloved Couſin, the ſtate of thoſe who for
fear of trouble, either for loſs of goods, will do in the light of the
world thoſe things that they know and be aſſured are contrary to
the will of God, I can do no leſs than lament their caſe, being
aſſured that the end thereof will be ſo pitiful, without ſpeedy re-
pentance,
Book VIII.
63.1
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
pentance, that I tremble and fear to have it in remembrance. I
would to God it lay upon fome earthly burthen, ſo that freedom of
conſcience might be given unto them. I write, as God knoweth,
not of preſumption, but only lamenting their ſtate, whom I thought
now in this dangerous time, ſhould have given both you and me
comfortable inſtructions. But alas, inſtead thereof, we have
per-
fuaſions to follow (I lament me to rehearſe it) ſuperſtitious idola-
try: yea, and what is worſt of all, they will ſeek to prove it by
the ſcriptures. The Lord for his mercy turn their hearts.
Yours
N. R.'
Farewell.
Having now in immediate proſpect his crown
. 4 Ridley's of martyrdom, he was deſirous that his life might
continue uſeful to the laſt, by diſcharging, as far as
his wiſhes, his prayers, and his advice might
have effect, the affection and duties which the ſeveral relations in
which he had ſtood might require : and therefore wrote his Fare-
well to them, not to be publiſhed till after his death, that it might
have all the weight of the laſt words of a dying Friend. The ſub-
ſtance of which follows.
His laſt Farewell to all his true and faithful Friends in God..
At the name of Jeſus let every knee bow, both of things in
heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and let
every tongue confeſs that Jeſus Chriſt is the Lord unto the glory
of God the Father. Amen.
• As a man minding to take a far journey, and to depart from
« his familiar friends, commonly and naturally hath a deſire to bid
* his friends farewell before his departure : fo likewiſe now I, looka.
& ing daily when I ſhould be called for to depart hence from you,
. (O all
:
632
BOOK VIII.
THE LIFE
LIFE OF
all;
(0"all ye my dearly beloved Brethren and Siſters in our Saviour
! Chriſt, that dwell here in this world) having a like mind towards
you
; and alſo, bleſſed be God for this ! ſuch time and leiſure,
. do bid you all, after ſuch manner as I can, farewell.
• Farewell, my dear Brother George Shipſide, whom I have
ever found faithful, truſty, and loving in all ſtates and conditions ;
6 and now in the time of my croſs, over all other to me moſt friend-
• dy and ſtedfaſt ; and that which liketh me beſt, over all other
things, in God's cauſe ever hearty.
• Farewell, my dear Siſter Alice his wife. I am glad to hear of
s thee that thou doſt take Chriſt's croſs, which is laid now (bleſſed
• be God !) both on thy back and mine, in good part. Thank
• thou God, who hath given thee a godly and a loving Huſband :
• ſee thou honor him, and obey him according to God's law. Ho-
nor thy Mother-in-law, his Mother; and love all thoſe that
• pertain unto him, being ready to do them good as it ſhall lie in
thy power. As for thy children, I doubt not of thy huſband but
• that He, who hath given him a heart to love and fear God, and
* in God them that pertain unto him, ſhall alſo make himn friend-
• ly and beneficial unto thy children, even as if they had been got-
• ten of his own body.
• Farewell, my well beloved Brother, John Ridley, of the Wall-
you my gentle and loving Siſter Eliſabeth ; whom,
• beſide my natural league of amity, your tender love, which you
were ſaid ever to bear toward me above the reſt of your brethren,
* doth bind me to love. My mind was to have acknowledged this
your loving affection, and to have acquitted it with deeds, and
not with words alone. Your daughter Eliſabeth I bid farewell ;
whom I love for the meek and gentle ſpirit that God hath given
* her, which is a precious thing in the fight of God.
• Farewell, my well beloved Siſțer of Unthanke, with all
your
• children my nephews and nieces. Since the departure of my Bro-
other
town, and
8
Book VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
633
F
you for all
<
you in
.
ther Hugh, my mind was to have been unto them in the ſtead of
• their Father : but the Lord God muſt and will be their Father, if
they will love him and fear him, and live in the trade of his
• law.
• Farewell, my well beloved and worſhipful Couſins Maſter Ni-
* cholas Ridley, of Willimontſwick, and your wife; and I thank
your kindneſs ihewn both to me, and alſo to all your
own kinsfolk and mine. Good Couſin, as God hath ſet
that our ſtock and kindred, not for any reſpect of your perſon,
. but of his abundant grace and goodneſs, to be as it were the Bel-
• weather to order and conduct the reſt, and hath alſo endued you
with his manifold gifts of grace, both heavenly and worldly,
* above others ; ſo I pray you, good Couſin (as my truſt and hope
* is in you) continue and increaſe in the maintenance of truth, ho-
neſty, righteouſneſs and all true godlineſs, and to the uttermoſt
* of your power to withſtand falfhood, untruth, unrighteouſneſs
and all ungodlineſs, which is forbid and condemned by the words
and laws of God.
Farewell, my young Couſin Ralph Whitfield--oh your time
was very ſhort with me; my mind was to have done you good,
* and yet you caught in that little time a loſs : but I truſt it ſhall be
recompenſed as it ſhall pleaſe Almighty God.
• Farewell, all my whole kindred and countrymen, farewell in
• Chriſt altogether. The Lord who is the ſearcher of ſecrets,
• knoweth that according to my heart's deſire my hope was of late
" that I ſhould have come among you, and to have brought with
me abundance of Chriſt's bleſſed Goſpel, according to the duty
• of that office and miniſtry, whereunto among you I was choſen,
• named and appointed by the mouth of that our late peerleſs
Prince, King Edward, and ſo alſo denounced openly in his Court
" by his Privy Council.
« I warn
4 M
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6:34
Book VIII.
THE LIFE OF
• I warn you all, my well beloved kinsfolk and countrymen, that
eye be not amazed or aſtoniſhed at the kind of my departure or
diſſolution ; for I enſure you I think it the moſt honor that ever
• I was called unto in all my life ; and therefore I thank my Lord
• God heartily for it, that it hath pleaſed him to call me, of his
great merey, unto this high honor to ſuffer death willingly for his
• fake, and in his cauſe. Unto the which honor he called the holy
• Prophets, and his dearly beloved Apoſtles, and his bleſſed cho-
• ſen Martyrs. For know yé, that I doubt no more, but that the
'cauſes wherefore I am put to death are God's cauſes, and the
. cauſes of the truth, than I doubt that the Goſpel which John
« wrote is the Goſpel of Chriſt, or that Paul's Epiſtles are the
very
word of God. And to have a heart willing to abide and ſtand in
'God's cauſe, and in Chriſt's quarrel. even unto death, I enſure
thee, O man; it is an ineſtimable and honorable gift of God given
. only to the true elect, and truly beloved children of God, and in-
heritors of the kingdom of heaven. For the holy Apoſtle, and
* alſo Martyr in Chriſt's cauſe, St. Peter faith, If
ye
ſuffer
"rebuke in the name of Chriſt, that is, in Chriſt's cauſe, and for
• his truth's fake, then are ye happy and bleſſed, for the glory of
“the Spirit of God reſteth upon you. If for rebuke's fake ſuffered
in Chriſt's name, a man is pronounced by the mouth of that holy
· Apoſtle, bleſſed and happy, how much more happy and bleſſed
• is he that hath the grace to ſuffer death alſo ? Wherefore all
ye,
6 that be my true Lovers and Friends rejoice, and rejoice with me
again, and render with me hearty thanks to God our heavenly
* Father, that for his Son's fake my Saviour and Redeemer Chrift,
• he hath vouchſafed to call me, being elſe without his gracious
goodneſs in myſelf but a ſinful and a vile wretch, to call me (I
ſay) unto this high dignity of his true Prophets, of his faithful
Apoſtles, and of his holy and elect Martyrs.; that is, to die and
6
sto
BOOK VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
635
. to ſpend this temporal life in the defence and maintenance of his
eternal and everlaſting truth.
• Ye know, who be my Countrymen dwelling upon the borders
· where (alas !) the true man ſuffereth oftentimes much wrong at
* the thief's hand, if it chance a man to be ſlain of a thief (as it
* often chanceth there) who went out with his neighbour to help
him to reſcue his goods again, that the more cruelly he be ſain,
and the more ſtedfaſtly he ſtuck by his neighbour in the fight
againſt the face of the thief, the more favor and friendſhip ſhall
. all his poſterity have for the ſlain man's ſake of all them that be
true, as long as the memory of his fact and his poſterity doth en-
dure : even ſo, ye who be my kinsfolk and countrymen, know ye,
(howſoever the blind, ignorant and wicked world hereafter ſhall
• rail upon my death ; which thing they cannot do worſe than
* their fathers did on the death of Chriſt our Saviour, of his holy
Prophets, Apoſtles and Martyrs :) know ye (I fay) that both before
• God and all them that be godly, and that truly know and follow
" the laws of God, ye have, and ſhall have by God's grace ever
* cauſe to rejoice, and to thank God highly, and to think good of
it, and in God to rejoice of me your fleſh and blood ; whom God
* of his gracious goodneſs hath vouchſafed to aſſociate unto the bleſ-
* ſed company of his holy Martyrs in heaven, and I doubt not in
• the infinite goodneſs of my Lord God, nor in the faithful fellow-
fhip of his elect and choſen people, but that at both their hands
my
cauſe
ye
ſhall the rather find more favor and grace ; for the
Lord faith, that he will be both to them and theirs who love him
the more loving again to a thouſand generations. The Lord is
• fo full of mercy to them (I ſay) and theirs which do love him in-
• deed. And Chriſt faith again, that no man can ſhew more love
than to give his life for his friend.
• Now alſo know ye all my true lovers in God,
true lovers in God, my kinsfolk and
countrymen that the cauſe wherefore I am put to death is even
after
<
cin
(
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BOOK VIII.
THE LIFE
OF
* after the ſame fort and condition, but touching more near God's
'cauſe and in more weighty matters, but in the general kind all
cone; for each is God's cauſe, each is in the maintenance of right,
* and each for the commonwealth, and each for the weal alfo of
the Chriſtian Brother : although yet there is in theſe two no
• ſmall difference, concerning the enemies, the goods ftolen, and
* the manner of the fight.'
Then he compares the reformed Church of England to his neigh-
bour, the Papiſts to the thief, and Himſelf to the man flain in
defence of his neighbour ; obſerving that the more cruel, the
more painful, the more vile and ſpiteful is the kind of death
' whereunto we be put, the more glorious in God, the more bleſ-
' ſed and happy we reckon, without all doubt, our martyrdom to
6
6 be.
• And thus much dear lovers and friends in God, my countrymen
' and kinsfolk, I have ſpoken for your comfort, left of my death
* (of whoſe life you looked peradventure ſome time to have had
« honeſty, pleaſures and commodities) ye might be abaſhed or
<think
any evil : whereas you have rather cauſe to rejoice (if ye
love me indeed) for that it hath pleaſed God to call me to a greate
.er honor and dignity, than ever I did enjoy before either in Rom
.cheſter, or in the See of London, or ever ſhould have had in the
* See of Durham, whereunto I was laſt of all elected and named :
yea I count it greater honor before God in deed to die in His
* cauſe (whereof I nothing doubt) than is any earthly or temporal
promotion or honor that can be given to a man in this world.'
After taking leave of his kinsfolk and countrymen he addreſſes
his Farewell to other places to which he had borne any relation..
• Now that I have taken my leave of my countrymen and kinſ-
folk, and the Lord doth lend me life and giveth me leiſure, I will
* bid my other good friends in God of other places alſo, farewell.
And, whom firſt or before other, than the Univerſity of Cam-
• bridge,
Book VIII.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
637
bridge, where I have dwelt longer, found more faithful and
• hearty friends, received more benefits (the benefits of my natural
parents only excepted) than ever I did, even in mine own native
country wherein I was born.
• Farewell therefore, Cambridge, my loving mother and tender
• nurſe! If I ſhould not acknowledge thy manifold benefits, yea, if
* I ſhould not for thy benefits at the leaſt love thee again truly, E
were to be counted ungrate and unkind. What benefits hadſt
* thou ever, that thou uſeft to give and beſtow upon thy beſt belo-
• ved children, that thou thoughteſt too good for me? Thou didſt
• beſtow on me all thy ſchool Degrees : of thy common Offices, the
Chaplainſhip of the Univerfity, the office of the Proctorſhip and
of a Common Reader : and of thy private commodities and emo-
· luments in Colleges, what was it that thou madeft me not partner
• of? firſt to be Scholar, then Fellow, and after my departure
from thee thou calledſt me again to a Maſterſhip of a right wor-
Thipful College. I thank thee, my loving mother, for all this thy
• kindneſs ; and I pray God that his laws and the ſincere Goſpel of.
• Chriſt may ever be truly taught and faithfully learned in thee!
Farewell, Pembroke Hall, of late mine own College, my cure,
• and my charge ! what caſe thou art in now God knoweth, I know
not well. Thou waſt ever named fince I knew thee (which is
• now a thirty years ago) to be ſtudious, well learned, and a great
* ſetter forth of Chriſt's Goſpel, and of God's true word : fo I found
• thee, and, bleſſed be God, fo I left thee in deed. Wo is me for
thee, mine own dear College, if ever thou ſuffer thyſelf by any
means to be brought from that trade. In thy Orchard (the walls,
" buts and trees, if they could ſpeak, would bear me witneſs) I learn-
ed without book almoſt all Paul's Epiſtles, yea and I ween all the
“Canonical Epiſtles, fave only the Apocalypſe. Of which ſtudy,
• although in time a great part did depart from me, yet the ſweet
ſmell thereof I truſt I ſhall carry with me into Heaven: for the
. profit
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BOOK VIII.
THE LIFE OF
* profit thereof I think I have felt in all my life time ever after
and I ween of late (whether they abide there now or no I cannot
tell) there were who did the like. The Lord grant that this zeal
• and love toward that part of God's word, which is a key and a
• true commentary to all holy ſcripture, may ever abide in that
college ſo long as the world ſhall endure.
· From Cambridge I was called into Kent by the Archbiſhop of
Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, that moſt reverend Father and
· Man of God, and of him by and by ſent to be Vicar of Herne in
• Eaſt Kent. Wherefore farewell, Herne, thou worfhipful and
s wealthy pariſh, t.se firſt cure whereunto I was called to miniſter
• God's word. Thou haſt heard of my mouth ofttimes the word
of God preached not after the Popiſh trade, but after Chriſt's
'goſpel : oh that the fruit had anſwered to the ſeed! And yet I
- muſt acknowledge me to be thy Debtor for the doctrine of the
• Lord's Supper, which at that time I acknowledge God had not
* reveled unto me: but I bleſs God in all that godly virtue and zeal
of God's word, which the Lord by preaching of his word did
. kindle manifeſtly both in the heart and in the life of that godly
woman there my Lady Fiennes : the Lord grant that his word
• took like effect there in many other more.
• Farewell thou Cathedral Church of Canterbury, the metropo-
• litick See, whereof once I was a member. To ſpeak things plea-
• ſant unto thee I dare not for danger of conſcience and diſpleaſure
of my Lord God : and to ſay what lieth in my heart were now
• too much, and I fear were able to do thee now but little good.
• Nevertheleſs for the friendſhip I have found in ſome there, and
• for charity fake I wiſh thee to be waſhed clean of all worldlineſs
and ungodlineſs, that thou mayeſt be found of God, after thy
name, Christ's CHURCH in deed and in truth.
• Farewell, Rocheſter, ſometime my Cathedral See, in whom (to
• fay the truth) I did find much gentleneſs and obedience; and I
• truft
BOOK VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
630
• truſt thou wilt not ſay the contrary, but I did uſe it to God's glory
* and thine own profit in God. Oh that thou hadſt and mighteſt
* have continued and gone forward in the trade of God's law where-
. in I did leave thee! Then thy charge and burthen ſhould not
• have been ſo terrible and dangerous, as I ſuppoſe verily it is like
"to be, alas ! on the latter day.
« To Weſtminſter other advertiſement in God I have not now to
ſay, than I have ſaid before to the Cathedral Church of Canter-
• bury : and ſo God give thee of his grace that thou mayeſt learn
• indeed and in his truth to pleaſe him after his own laws. And
"thus fare
you
well.
Oh London, London! to whom now may I ſpeak in thee, or
whom ſhall I bid farewell ? Shall I ſpeak to the Prebendaries of
• Paul's ? Alas!. all that loved God's word, and were true ſetters
• forth thereof, are now (as I'hear ſay) fome burnt and llain, ſome
* exiled and baniſhed, and ſome holden in hard priſon and appoint-
• ed daily to be put to moſt cruel death for Chriſt's Goſpel's ſake.
· As for the reſt of them, I know they could never broke me well,
. nor could I ever delight in them. Shall I ſpeak to the See there-
of, wherein of late I was placed almoſt, and not fully, by the
ſpace of three
years *? But what may I ſay to it, being (as I hear
ſay I am) depoſed and expulſed by judgment, as an unjuſt uſurper
• of that room? O judgment, judgment ! Can this be juſt judg-
"ment to condemn the chief Miniſter of God's word, the Paſtor
andBiſhop of the Dioceſe, and never bring him into judgment,
that he might have heard what crimes were laid to his charge, nor
ever ſuffer him to have any place or time to anſwer for himſelf ?
“Thinkeſt thou that hereafter, when true juſtice ſhall have place,
" that this juſtice can ever be allowed, either of God or of man?
Well,
- From the dates of his inthroning, and exchanges with the King, he appears to have
been Biſhop of London from about the third of April 1550, to the death of the King, the
fuxth of July 1553. A little more than three years.
640
BOOK VIII.
THE LIFE OF
pray for.
• Well, as for the cauſe and whole matter of my depoſition, and
the ſpoil of my goods which thou poſſeffeſt yet, I refer it unto
God, who is a moſt juſt Judge ; and I beſeech God, if it be
his pleaſure, that That, which is but my perſonal wrong, be not
. laid to thy charge in the latter day : this only can I '
But for the wrongs Boner had done to the Church of God in re-
ſtoring Popiſh Superſtition and Idolatry contrary to God's word, and
for his cruel treatment of the Reformers, and putting them to
death, he denounces God's vengeance, and tells him, that · his
· deaf and dumb God, whom he is not aſhamed to call his Maker,
• will not be able to deliver him from the revenging hand of the
High and Almighty God.
However, not doubting but that there were many privy mourn-
ers in the city, who conſented not to the late changes, but lament-
ed them, he purpoſes to take leave of them particularly in another
Letter hereafter, which he did.
Then gratefully remembering the humanity and gentleneſs which
he had experienced froin thoſe in office in the Corporation during
his miniſtry in that See, particularly for their Chriſtian kindneſs
Thewed in God's cauſe, he turns his addreſs eſpecially to Sir Ri-
chard Dobbes in this manner, · Thou in thy year didſt win my
• heart for evermore, for that honorable act, that moſt bleſſed
* work of God of the erection and ſetting up of Chriſt's holy Hof-
pitals and truly religious Houſes, which by thee and through
• thee were begun. For thou, like a man of God, when the mat-
‘ter was moved for the relief of Chriſt's poor members to be holpen
• from extreme miſery, hunger and famine, thy heart (I ſay) was
* moved with pity, and as Chriſt's high honorable officer in that
* cauſe thou calledſt together thy Brethren the Aldermen of the ci-
ty,
before whom thou brakeſt the matter for the Poor, thou didſt
. plead their cauſe ; yea and not only in thine own perſon thou
• didit ſet forth Chriſt's cauſe, but to further the matter, thou
broughteſt
6
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BOOK VIII.
641
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
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broughteſt me into the Council Chamber of the city before the
• Aldermen alone, whom thou hadſt aſſembled there together to
• hear me ſpeak what I could ſay, as an advocate by office and duty
in the poor men's cauſe. The Lord wrought with thee, and gave
thee the conſent of thy Brethren, whereby the matter was brought
to the Common Council, and ſo to the whole body of the City :
by whom with an uniform conſent it was committed to be drawn,
ordered, and deviſed by a certain number of the moſt witty citi-
zens and politick as could be choſen in the whole City, endued
alſo with godlineſs and with ready hearts to ſet forward ſuch a no-
• ble act: and they like true and faithful miniſters both to their Ci-
ty and to their Maſter Chriſt, fo ordered, deviſed, and brought
' forth the matter, that thouſands of poor members of Chriſt, which
elſe for extreme hunger and miſery ſhould have famiſhed and
pe-
riſhed, ſhall be relieved, holpen and brought up, and ſhall have
'cauſe to bleſs the Aldermen of that time, the Common Council,
and the whole Body of the City ; but ſpecially thee, O Dobbes,
' and thoſe choſen men, by whom this honorable work of God
was begun and wrought; and that ſo long throughout all
ages, as
* that godly work ſhall endure; which I pray Almighty God
may
be ever unto the world's end, Amen.
* And thou, Sir George Barnes, (the truth is to be confeſſed to
God's glory, and to the good example of other) thou waſt in
· thine year not only a furtherer and continuer of that which be-
fore thee by thy Predeceſſor was well begun; but alſo didſt labor
• fo to have perfected the work, that it ſhould have been an abſo.
* lute thing and a perfect ſpectacle of true charity and godlineſs un-
« to all Chriſtendom. Thine endeavour was to have ſet
' of occupations, both that all kind of poverty, being able to work,
• ſhould not have lacked whereupon profitably they might have
• been occupied to their own relief, and to the profit and commo-
dity of the commonwealth of the City; and alſo to have retired
thither
.
up an houſe
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6
• thither the poor babes brought up in the Hoſpitals, when they
• had come to a certain age and ſtrength, and alſo all thoſe which
* in the Hoſpitals aforeſaid have been cured of their diſeaſes. And
to have brought this to paſs, thou obtaineſt (not without great
diligence and labor both of thee and thy Brethren) of that godly
King Edward, that Chriſtian and peerleſs Prince's hand, his
princely Place of Bridewell, and what other things to the
per-
formance of the fame, and under what condition it is not un-
• known. That this thine endeavour hath not had like ſucceſs,
• the fault is not in thee, but in the condition and ſtate of the
time, which the Lord of his infinite mercy vouchfafe to amend,
when it ſhall be his gracious will and pleaſure.'
Then he bids farewell to all the Citizens there that be of God,
praying to God for them that they may never ſwerve, neither
for loſs of life nor worldly goods, from God's Holy Word, and
yield unto Antichriſt. And then procedes,
• Now that I have gone through the places where I have dweſt
any ſpace in the time of my pilgrimage here upon earth, remem-
bering, that for the ſpace of King Edward's reign, which was for
« the time of mine office in the fees of London and Rocheſter, I
was a Member of the Higher Houſe of the Parliament; therefore
(ſeeing my. God hath given me leiſure and the remembrance there-
of) I will bid my Lords of the Temporalty farewell. They ſhall
have no juſt cauſe (by God's grace) to take what I intend to ſay
in ill part. As for the ſpiritual Prelacy that now is, I have no-
thing to ſay to them, except I ſhould repete again a great part of
that I have ſaid before to the See of London. To you therefore,
Lords of the Temporalty, will I ſpeak; and this would I
* firſt have you to underſtand, that when I wrote this, I looked
daily when I Thould be called to the change of this life, and
thought that this my writing ſhould not come to your knowledge,
« before the time of the diffolution of my body and ſoul ſhould be
expired;
my
*
BOOK VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
643
you, which
<
i
expired ; and therefore know ye, that I had before mine eyes
only the fear of God, and Chriſtian charity toward
' moved me to write : for of you hereafter I look not in this world
* either for pleaſure or diſpleaſure. If my talk Mall do you never
• ſo much pleaſure or profit, you cannot promote me ; or if I diſ-
pleaſe you, you cannot hurt me or harm me, for I ſhall be out
of your reach. Now therefore if you fear God, and can be con-
tent to hear the talk of him who ſeeketh nothing at your hands,
• but to ſerve God, and to do you good : hearken to what I ſay.
. I ſay unto you, as St. Paul faith to the Galatians
I wonder, my
• Lords, what hath bewitched you, that ye ſo ſuddenly are fallen
• from Chriſt unto Antichriſt, from Chriſt's Goſpel unto men's
* traditions, from the Lord that bought you' unto the Biſhop now
of Rome. .
I warn you
of your peril, be not deceived, except
you would be found willingly conſenters unto your own death.
. For if you think thus, We are Laymen, this is a matter of re-
ligion, we follow as we are taught and led ; if our Teachers and
• Governours teach us and lead us amiſs, the fault is in them, they
• ſhall bear the blame : my Lords, this is true (I grant you) that
both the falſe Teacher, and the corrupt Governour ſhall be pu-
niſhed for their ſubject, whom they have falſely taught and cor-
* ruptly led, yea and his blood ſhall be required at their hands :
but yet nevertheleſs ſhall that ſubject die the death himſelf alſo,
that is, he ſhall alſo be damned for his own fin ; for if the blind
* lead the blind, Chriſt faith, not the leader only, but he faith
« Both ſhall fall into the ditch. Shall the Synagogue and Senate
of the Jews, (trow ye) which forſook Chriſt, and conſented to his
death, therefore be excuſed, becauſe Annas and Caiphas with the
* Scribes and Phariſees and their Clergy did teach them amiſs? Yea
and alſo Pilate their Governour and the Emperour's Lieutenant
by his tyranny did without caufe put him to death ? Forſooth no,
My Lords, no. For, notwithſtanding their corrupt doctrine, or Pi-
• late's
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Fox and
Cover-
' late's waſhing of his hands, neither of both ſhall excuſe that Sy-
nagogue and Seigniory, or Pilate : but at the Lord's hand, for
the effuſion of that Innocent's blood, on the latter day all ſhall
* Whip in drink of the deadly a cup : ye are witty and underſtand what I
mean.
Therefore I will paſs over this, and return to tell you
dale.
? how you are fallen from Chriſt to his adverſary the Biſhop of
· Rome.
And leſt, my Lords, you may peradventure think, thus barely
to call the Biſhop of Rome Chriſt's adverſary, or (to ſpeak it in
plane terms) to call him Antichriſt, that it is done in mine an-
guiſh, and that I do but rage, and as a deſperate man do not care
• what I ſay, or upon whom I do rail; therefore that
therefore that your Lord-
Thips may perceive my mind, and thereby underſtand that I ſpeak
the words of truth and ſoberneſs (as St. Paul faid unto Feſtus) be
.it known unto your Lordſhips all, that as concerning the Biſhop
of Rome, I neither hate the perſon, nor the place. For I aſſure
'your Lordſhips (the living Lord beareth me witneſs, before whom
* I ſpeak) I do think many a good holy man, many Martyrs and
· Saints of God, have fit and taught in that place Chriſt's Goſpel
6.
truly; who therefore juſtly may be called Apoftolici, that is, true
difciples of the Apoſtles, and alſo that Church and Congregation
of Chriſtians, to be a right Apoftolick Church : year and that
' certain hundred years after the ſame was firſt erected and builded
upon Chriſt, by the true apoſtolical doctrine taught by the mouths
* of the Apoſtles themſelves. If ye will know how long that was,
* and how many hundred years, to be curious in pointing the preo
'ciſe number of years, I will not be too bold.:. but thus I ſay, ſo
long and ſo many hundred years as that. See did truly teach and
preach that Goſpel, that religion, exerciſed that power, and.or-
'dered every thing by thoſe laws and rules,, which that. See re-
“ceived of the Apoſtles, and (as Tertullian faith) the Apoſtles of
«Chriſt, and Chriſt of God : fo long (I ſay) that. See might well
have
BOOK VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
645
1
2
have been called Peter and Paul's Chair and See, or rather Chriſt's
Chair, and the Biſhop thereof Apoftolicus, or a true diſciple and
* fucceffor of the Apoſtles, and a miniſter of Chriſt. But ſince the
* time that That See hath degenerated from the trade of truth and
true religion, the which it received of the Apoſtles at the begin-
ning, and hath preached another Goſpel, hath ſet up another
religion, hath exerciſed another power, and hath taken
upon
it to
* order and rule the Church of Chriſt by other ſtrange laws, canons
' and rales, than ever it received of the Apoſtles, or the Apoſtles
of Chriſt, which things it doth at this day, and hath continued
' fo doing, alas ! alas ! of too, too long a time : ſince the time (I
'ſay) that the ſtate and condition of that See hath thus been changed,
2 in truth it ought of duty and of right to have the names changed
• both of the See and of the Sitter therein. For underſtand, my
* Lords, it was neither for the privilege of the place or perſon there-
of, that the See and Biſhop thereof were called Apoſtolick : but
for the true trade of Chriſt's religion, which was taught and main-
tained in that See at the firſt, and of thoſe godly men. And:
therefore as truly and juſtly as that See then, for that true trade of
religion and confanguinity of doctrine with the religion and doc-
*trine of Chriſt's Apoſtles, was called Apoftolick : ſo as truly and
as juſtly, for the contrariety of religion and diverſity of doctrine
from Chriſt and his Apoſtles, that See and the Biſhop thereof at
this day both ought to be called, and are indeed Antichriſtian.
* The See is the ſeat of Satan, and the Biſhop of the ſame that main-
"taineth the abominations thereof is Antichrift himſelf indeed
And for the fame cauſes this See at this day is the fame which
* St. John calleth in his revelation, Babilon, or the whore of Babi-
lon, and ſpiritual Sodom and Ægypt, the mother of fornica-
tions, and of the abominations upon the earth. And with this
* whore do ſpiritually lie and commit moſt ſtinking and abomina-
* ble adultery before God, all thoſe Kings and Princes, yea and all!
nations
646
BOOK VIII.
THE LIFE OF
3
C
* nations of the earth, which do conſent to her abominations, and
• uſe or practiſe the ſame ; that is, (of the innumerable multitude
of them to rehearſe ſome for example fake) her diſpenſations, her
pardons and pilgrimages, her invocation of faints, her worſhip-
ping of images, her falſe counterfeit religion in her monkery and
frierage, and her traditions, whereby God's laws are defiled ; as
• her maſſing and falſe miniſtering of God's word and the facra-
'ments of Chriſt, clean contrary to Chriſt's word and the Apoſtles
doctrine, whereof particularly I have touched in other treatiſes
more at large : wherein (if it ſhall pleaſe God to bring the ſame
' to light) it ſhall appear, I truſt, by God's grace, planely to the
• man of God, and to him whoſe rule in judgment of religion is
• God's word, that That religion, that rule and order, that doc-
* trine and faith, which this whore of Babilon and the beaſt where-
upon ſhe doth ſit, maintaineth at this day with all violence of
' fire and ſword, with ſpoil and baniſhment (according to Daniel':
Prophecy) and finally with all fallhood, deceit, hypocriſy, and all
' kind of ungodlineſs, are as clean contrary to God's word, as da I--
• neſs is to light, or light to darkneſs, white to black, or black to
white, or as Belial unto Chriſt, or Chriſt unto Antichriſt him-
ſelf.
I know, my Lords, and forefaw when I wrote this, that ſo
many of you as ſhould ſee this my writing, not being before en-
• dued with the ſpirit of grace and the light of God's word, ſo ma-
I ſay, would at theſe my words Lordlike ſtamp and ſpurn and
ſpit thereat. But ſober yourſelves with patience and be ſtill, and
know
ye that in my writing of this my mind was none other but
in God (as the living God dọth bear me witneſs) both to do you
* profit and pleaſure. And otherwiſe, as for your diſpleaſure, by
that time this ſhall come to your knowledge, I truſt by God's
grace to be in the hands and protection of the Almighty, my hea-
yenly Father and the Living Lord; who is (as St. John ſạith) the
greateſt
C
ny,
+
Book VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
647
greateſt of all, and then I ſhall not need (I trow) to fear what
any Lord, no nor what King or Prince can do unto me.
• My Lords, if in times paſt ye have been contented to hear me
• ſometimes in matters of religion before the Prince in the Pulpit,
. and in the Parliament Houſe, and have not ſeemed to have deſpiſed
· what I have ſaid (when as elſe if ye had perceived juſt occaſion,
ye might then have ſufpected in my talk, though it had been rea-
• ſonable, either deſire of worldly gain or fear of diſpleaſure) how
' have then your Lordſhips more cauſe to hearken to my word, and
• hear me patiently, ſeeing now you cannot juſtly think of my
be-
ing in this caſe, appointed to die, and looking daily when I ſhall
• be called to come before the eternal Judge, otherwiſe but that I
* only ſtudy to ſerve my Lord God, and to ſay that thing which I
'am perſuaded aſſuredly by God's word fhall and doth pleaſe him,
and profit all them to whom God ſhall give grace to hear and be-
• lieve what I do fay? And I do fay even that I have ſaid heretofore
• both of the See of Rome and of the Biſhop thereof, I mean after
* this their preſent ſtate at this day. Wherein if you will not be
« lieve the Miniſters of God and true Preachers of his word, verily
• I denounce unto you in verbo Domini, except ye do repent in time,
• it ſhall turn to your confuſion and to your ſinart on the latter day.
Forget not what I ſay, my Lords, for God's fake forget it not,
• but remember it upon your beds. For I tell you moreover, as I
• know I muſt be countable of this my talk and of my ſpeaking
thus to the eternal Judge (who will judge nothing amiſs) fo ſhall
you be countable of your duty in hearing, and you ſhall be char-
ged (if you will hearken to God's word) for not obeying the
• truth. Alas ! my Lords, how chanceth this, that this matter
is now anew again to be perſuaded unto you? Who would have
thought of late but your Lordſhips had been perſuaded indeed fuf-
' ficiently, or elſe that you could ever have agreed to uniformly.
+ with one conſent to the aboliſhment of the uſurpation of the
• Biſhop
>
1
6.4.8
Book VIII.
THE LIFE OF
a
Biſhop of Rome ? If that matter were then but a matter of
po-
licy, wherein the Prince muſt be obeyed, how is it now made a
* matter wherein (as your Çlergy faith now, and ſo ſay the Pope's
laws indeed) ſtandeth the unity of the Catholick Church, and
* matter of neceſſity to our ſalvation ? Hath the time, being ſo
• Dort fince the death of the two laſt Kings, Henry the youth
( and Edward his Son, altered the nature of the matter ? If it have
not, but it was of the ſame nature and danger before God then
* as it is now, and be now (as it is ſaid by the Pope's laws, and the
• inſtructions ſet forth in Engliſh to the Curates of the Dioceſe of
“ York) indeed a matter of neceſſity to ſalvation : how then chanced
* it that ye were all, O my Lords, fo light and fo little paſſed upon
the Catholick Faith and the unity thereof (without which no man
* can be ſaved) as for your Princes' diſpleaſures, which were but
mortal men, to forſake the unity of your Catholick Faith, that
is, to forſake Chriſt and his Holy Goſpel ? And furthermore if it
were both then and now ſo neceſſary to ſalvation, how chanced it
alſo, that ye, all the whole body of the Parliament agreeing
' with you, did not only aboliſh and expel the Biſhop of kome,
* but alſo did abjure him in your own perſon, and did decree in
your acts great oaths to be taken of both the Spiritualty and Tem-
poralty, whoſoever ſhould enter into any weighty and chargea-
ble office in the Commonwealth ? But on the other ſide, if that
• law and decree, which maketh the ſupremacy of the See and
Biſhop of Rome over the Univerſal Church of Chriſt a thing of
neceſſity required unto ſalvation, be an antichriſtian law (as it is
indeed) and fuch inſtructions as are given to the Dioceſe of York
• be indeed a ſetting forth of the power of the beaſt of Babilon by
the craft and falfhood of his falſe prophets (as of truth compared
unto God's word, and truly judged by the fame it ſhall planely ap-
pear that they be) then, my Lords, never think other, but that the
day ſhall come, when ye dhall be charged with this your undoing
6
<
(of
BOOK VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
649
your Oath.
of that, that once ye had well done ; and with this your perjury
4 and breach of your oath, which oath was done in judgment,
juſtice and truth, agreeable to God's law. The whore of Babi-
• lon may well for a time dally with you,
and make
you
ſo drun-
• ken with the wine of her filthy ſtews and whoredom (as with her
diſpenſations and promiſes of pardon a pænâ et culpâ) that for
. drunkenneſs and blindneſs ye may think yourſelves ſafe. But be
ye aſſured, when the living Lord ſhall try the matter by the fire,
and judge it according to his word, when all her abominations
• ſhall appear what they be, then, my Lords (I give your Lord-
Thips warning in time, repent if ye would be happy and love your
own ſoul's health, repent I ſay, or elſe) without all doubt ye
* Thall never eſcape the hands of the living Lord for the guilt of
your perjury and the breach of oath. As
As ye have banqueted
and lain by the whore in the fornication of her whoriſh diſpenſa-
* tions, pardons, idolatry, and ſuch like abominations : fo Thall
ye
* drink with her (except ye repent betime) of the cup of the Lord's
indignation and everlaſting wrath, which is prepared for the
beaſt, his falſe prophets, and all their partakers. For he that is
partner with them in their whoredom and abominations muſt al-
* fo be partner with them in their plagues ; and on the latter day
• Ihall be thrown with them into the lake burning with brimſtone
• and unquenchable fire. Thus fare
Thus fare ye well, my Lords all ! I pray
• God give you underſtanding of his bleſſed will and pleaſure, and
' make you to believe and embrace the truth. Amen.'
He likewife wrote a Farewell to the Priſoners and Exiles in
Chriſt's cauſe, encouraging them to patience and perſeverance,
from the examples of Chriſt, the Prophets, Apoſtles, Evangeliſts, ,
Martyrs and Confeſſors in the Church ; the commands of God
and of Chriſt ; and the Joy that was ſet before them, to which
their momentary afflictions bore no proportion.
Alſo
40
650
Book VIII.
THE LIFE
OF
Allo a long Exhortation to thoſe, who profeſſed the pure re-
formed Religion, but were not yet either in bonds for it, or ſafe
abroad from the perſecution of it. This only remained for him to
do for the full diſcharge of his Paſtoral Office and Duty to all his
Countrymen.
To theſe he firſt ſtates the difference betwixt the Religion taught
in King Edward's time, and that of the Church of Rome ; which
he does by comparing their Principles and Diſcipline in ſeveral in-
ſtances : and then opens their reſpective foundations, affigning Ve-
nality for that of the Popiſh Syſtem, as all Pardons, Indulgences,
Graces, Functions and Sacraments were faleable by the Pope and
his officers, according to the prophecy of St. Peter, that there
should be falſe prophets, who through coveteouſneſs ſhould with feign-
ed words make merchandiſe of them, 2 Pet. II. And another of St.
John, who deſcribes this merchandiſe to be not only of gold and
filver, precious ſtones and pearls, fine linen, purple, ſilk, and ſcarlet,
but ſums up all with this, and fouls of men. Apoc. XVIII. The
foundation of the Reformed Religion he makes to be the Word of
God; by which, received in the heart, we are born again, and
made Sons of God; who, ſo long as that feed remaineth in them,
cannot ſin; begetting in us that Faith which juſtifies us here ; that
charity and obedience by which we ſhall be judged hereafter.
He then procedes to counſel thoſe, who profeſs this undefiled
Religion, how to behave in the preſent fiery trial; which is, by
the permiſſion and example of Chriſt and his Apoſtles, to fly.
To thoſe, who, ignorant of Satan's ſtrength, or their own frail-
ty, imagine it more adviſeable boldly to offer their lives in Chrift's
cauſe, than thus cowardly to avoid the combat, he ſays, he dares
not counſel any one to ſtart up rafhly on the ſtage, and caſt him-
ſelf into danger further than time and need ſhall require ; for that
undoubtedly when God ſeeth his time, and his pleaſure is that his
glory ſhall be ſet forth, and his Church edified by thy death and
confeſſion
A
Book VIII.
651
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
confeſſion, means ſhall be found by his fatherly univerſal provi-
dence, that thou, without thine own preſumptuous provocation,
ſhalt be lawſully called.
To thoſe who thought they might ſtay here, and yet eſcape the
danger, he obſerves, that ſince the reſtoration of the Pope's Laws,
it wouid be impoflible to continue in England without conforming
to the Roman Religion : ſo that they muſt either ſuffer, or deny
their Maiter, by a compliance with many things which he has ex-
preſſly forbidden.
Thoſe who replied, that they might conform outwardiy, but
that their hearts ſhould be God's, he intreats for God's fake to
beware of Satan's fubtleties ; for that God requires, not only the
belief of the heart, but alſo the confeſſion of the mouth : and that
he who gives God his heart, loves him, fears him, and truſts in
him. If we love him, we muſt keep his commandments ; if we
fear him, we muſt riſk all dangers rather than his diſpleaſure ; and
if we truſt in him, we inuſt value his promiſes more than all the
promiſes or threatnings of the world.
If they object the great inconvenience and difficulty of parting
with lands and poffeffions, and all the deareſt relations of life, he
admits the difficulty to be great, but not ſufficient to diſcharge the
obligation of doing it ; Chriſt declaring expreſſly, If any come to
ne, and do not hate his Father and Mother (he meaneth and will
not in his cauſe forſake them) bis wife, children, and brethren, yea
and his life too he cannot be my di,ciple : and whoſoever does not bear
my croſs, and come after me, he cannot be my diſciple, Matth. x.
But ſome through great age, or ſickneſs, or impotence, or
charge of an infirm family cannot fly : theſe he heartily laments
as their caſe is truly pitiable, neither able to depart, nor can abide
here without extreme peril; to whom he can give no other coun-
ſel but this, that always, as they look for everlaſting life, they
continue ſtill in the confeffion of the faith, whatever ſhall be-
,
4 0 2
fall,
652
BOOK VIII.
THE LIFE OF
fall, and for the reſt to put their truſt wholly in God, who is able
to fave them againſt all appearance. Theſe real impediments
againſt ſaving themſelves by a voluntary exile muſt be conſtrued as
God's call to fight in their Maſter's cauſe: and fuch may be affured,
either that he will deliver them unexpectedly, or ſtrengthen them
to bear the temptation; and that he will reward their trial with the
unſpeakable joy and fruition of his glorious Majeſty.
While theſe affectionate admonitions were pre-
$. 5. Ridley de- paring, the Queen and her Prelates finding that
graded.
this reſolute and able champion of the reformation
could not be prevaled on to renounce his reaſon
and his fenſes, nor yield up the honor of his Maſter Chriſt, they
determined to remove out of the way ſo judicious an animadverter
on their corruptions.
Therefore on the 15th of the ſame month, October, in the morn-
ing, came the Biſhop of Gloceſter, with Dr. Marſhal Vice-chan-
cellor of Oxford, ſeveral of the Heads of Houfes, Doctors, and
others to the Mayor's houſe, Mr. Iriſh's, and entering the cham-
ber where Dr. Ridley was confined, the Biſhop of Gloceſter told
him the purpoſe of their coming ; ſaying, that yet once again the
Queen's Majeſty did offer unto him, by them, her gracious mer-
cy, if that he would receive the ſame, and come home again to the
Caith into which he had been baptized, and revoke his erroneous
doctrine, that he of late had taught abroad to the deſtruction of
many : but that if he would not recant, and become one of the
Catholick Church with them, then they muſt needs (againſt their
wills) procede according to the Law, which they would be very
loth to do, if they might do otherwiſe. We have been, ſaid he,
oftentimes with you, and have requeſted that you would recant
this your fantaſtical and divilliſh opinion, which hitherto
not, although you might in ſo doing win many, and do much good.
Therefore, good Maſter Ridley, conſider with yourſelf the danger
that:
you have
Book VIII. . DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
653
;
my blood.
that ſhall enſue both of body and ſoul, if that you fhall ſo wilful-
ly caſt yourſelf away, in refuſing mercy offered unto you at this
time.
My Lord, ſaid Dr. Ridley, you know my mind fully herein
and as for the doctrine which I have taught, my conſcience afſures
me that it was found, and according to God's word (to his glory be
it ſpoken) the which doctrine, the Lord God being my helper, I
will maintain ſo long as my tongue ſhall wag, and breath is in my
body, and in confirmation thereof ſeal the ſame with
Brookes. Well, you were beſt, Maſter Ridley, not to do ſo, but
to become one of the Church with us. For you know this well
enough, that whoſoever is out of the Catholick Church cannot be
ſaved : therefore I ſay once again, that whilſt you have time and
mercy offered
you, receive it, and confeſs with us the Pope's Ho-
lineſs to be the chief head of the fame Church.
Ridley. I marvel that you will trouble me with ſuch vain and fool-
iſh talk. You know my mind concerning the uſurped authority of
that Romiſh Antichriſt. As I confeſſed openly in the ſchools, ſo
do I now, that both by my behaviour and talk I do no obedience
to the Biſhop of Rome, nor to his uſurped anthority; and that for
divers good and godly reaſons.
Which reaſons he would have produced, but the Biſhop of Glo-
ceſter would not ſuffer him. Yet he bore his teſtimony ſo far, that
the Biſhop told him, if he would not hold his peace, he ſhould be
compelled againſt his will. And ſeeing, ſaid he, that you will not
receive the Queen's mercy now offered unto you, but ſtubbornly
refuſe the ſame, we muſt, againſt our wills, procede according to
our Commiſſion to degrade you, taking from you the dignity of
Prieſthood. For we take you for no Biſhop; and therefore we
ſhall the ſooner. have done with you : ſo committing you to the fem
cular power, you know what doth follow.
Ridlaya
1
654
Book VIII.
THE LIFE
OF
I am
you muſt.
Ridley. Do with me as it ſhall pleaſe God to ſuffer
you.
well content to abide the ſame with all my heart.
Brookes. Put off your cap, Maſter Ridley, and put upon you
this ſurplice.
Ridley. Not I truly.
Brookes. But
Ridley. I will not.
Brookes. You muſt : therefore make no more ado, but put this
ſurplice upon you.
.
Ridley. Truly if it come upon me, it ſhall be againſt my will.
Brookes. Will you not do it upon you ?
Ridley. No, that I will not.
Brookes. It ſhall be put upon you by one or other.
Ridley. Do therein as it ſhall pleaſe you, I am well contented
with that, and more than that : the ſervant is not above his maſter.
If they dealt fo cruelly by our Saviour Chriſt, as the Scriptures
mention, and he ſuffered the ſame patiently, how much more doth
it become us his fervants ?
They then put the ſurplice upon him with all the trinkets be-
longing to the Maſs.
While they were ſo arraying him, he in-
veighed againſt the Pope, and their ſcenical habit, calling him Ari-
tichriſt, and their dreſs too ridiculous for a vice in a play. Brookes
was enraged, and bad him hold his peace ; but Ridley told him fo
long as his tongue would ſuffer him, he would (whatever might
happen to him for it) bear his publick teſtimony againſt their abo-
minable doings. The Biſhop of Gloceſter then threatened him that
his mouth ſhould be ſtopped. Upon which Edridge the Greek
Lecturer ſaid to Dr. Brookes, Sir, the law is that he ſhould be
gagged, therefore let him be gagged. Upon which Dr. Ridley
looking earneſtly at Edridge, 'nodded his head at him, and with a
ſigh fáid no more than, Oh, well, well, well.
They then pro-
ceded in his degrading ; in the courſe of which he ſhould have held
the
BOOK VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
655
yet you will
the chalice and wafer cake in his hand: but he abſolutely refuſed,
and ſaid if they ſhould come in his hands they ſhould fall to the
ground for him : then one was appointed to hold them in Ridley's
hands, while Brookes read a Latin Inſtrument for the degradation
of ſpiritual perſons, according to the Pope's Laws. Then they put
a book into his hands, ſaying, We take from thee the office of
preaching the Goſpel : at which he gave a great figh, looking up
towards heaven, and ſaid, O Lord God, forgive them this their
wickedneſs. Then diveſting him piecemeal, and ſtripping him of
his ſeveral functions, at laſt they pulled off the ſurplice, and with it
took from him the power of finging. Lord God, ſaid he, what
power be you of, that you can take from a man, that which he
never had ? I was never finger in all my life. And
take from me that which I never had.
When this folemn farce was played through, Ridley aſked the
Biſhop, Have you done ? If you have, then give me leave to talk
with you a little concerning theſe matters. But Brookes knew his
edge too well to venture upon a conference, and therefore ſaid,
Maſter Ridley, we may not talk with you, you are out of the
Church, and our law is, that we may not talk with any
out of the Church. Then ſaid Ridley, ſeeing that you
will not
fuffer me to talk, neither will vouchſafe to hear me, what remedy
but patience ? I refer my cauſe to my heavenly Father, who will
reform things that be amiſs, when it ſhall pleafe him. And fee-
ing the Biſhop then preparing to go away, he ſaid, My Lord; I
would wiſh that your Lordſhip would vouchſafe to read over
and peruſe a little book of Bertram’s, concerning the facrament.
I promiſe you, you ſhall find much good learning therein, if
you will read the ſame with an indifferent judgment. The Biſhop
turned a deaf ear, would give no anſwer, but was haſting away.
Oh, ſaid Ridley, I perceive that you cannot away with this man-
ner of talk. Well, it boots not, I will ſay no more, I will ſpeak:
of
who are
656
Воек УІН. .
THE LIFE OF
9
of worldly affairs : I pray you therefore, my Lord, hear me, and
and be a mean to the Queen's Majeſty in the behalf of a great ma-
ny poor men, and eſpecially for my poor Siſter and her Huſband,
which ſtanderh there. They had a poor living granted to them by
me, whilſt I was in the See of London, and the ſame is taken away
from them, by him who occupieth the ſame room, without law or
conſcience. Here I have a ſupplication to the Queen's Majeſty in
their behalfs. You ſhall hear it read, ſo ſhall you perceive the
matter the better. Then he read his Supplication.
is
• To the Queen's Majeſty.
It may pleaſe your Majeſty for Chriſt our Saviour's fake, in a
matter of conſcience (and now not for myſelf, but for other
poor
men) to vouchſafe to hear and underſtand this humble Supplica-
tion. It is ſo, Honorable Princeſs, that in the time whiles I was
in the miniſtery of the See of London divers poor men, tenants
thereof, have taken new leaſes of their tenantries and holdings,
and ſome have renewed and changed their old, and therefore have
paid fines, and ſums of money, both to me, and alſo to the Chap-
ter of Paul's, for the confirmation of the fame.
Now I hear ſay, that the Biſhop which occupieth the ſame
now will not allow the foreſaid leaſes, which muſt redound to ma-
ny poor men's utter ruin and decay. Wherefore this is mine hum-
ble fupplication unto your honorable Grace, that it may pleaſe the
ſame for Chriſt's ſake to be unto the foreſaid poor men their
gra-
cious patroneſs and defender, either that they may enjoy their fore-
ſaid leaſes and years renewed, as I ſuppoſe when their matter ſhall
be heard with conſcience, that juſtice, conſcience, and equity ſhall
ſo require ; for that their leaſes ſhall be found (I truſt) made with-
out fraud or covin, either on their part, or on mine, and alſo al-
ways the old rents reſerved to the See, without any kind of damage
thereof. Or if this will not be granted, then that it may pleaſe
your
Book VIII.
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
657
*
your gracious Highneſs to command that the poor men may be
reſtored to their former leaſes and years, and to have rendered to
them again ſuch ſums of money as they paid to me, and to the
Chapter-houſe for their leaſes and years, ſo now taken from them.
Which thing, concerning the fines paid to me, may be eaſily done,
if it ſhall pleaſe your Majeſty to command ſome portion of thoſe
goods which I left in my houſe when I fled in hope of pardon for
my treſpaſs toward your Grace; which goods (as I have heard) be
yet reſerved in the ſame houſe. I ſuppoſe that half of the value
of my plate which I left in mine offices, and eſpecially in an iron
cheſt in my bedchamber, will go nigh to rettore all ſuch fines re-
ceived : the true ſums and parcels whereof are not ſet in their lea-
ſes; and therefore if that way ihall pleaſe your Highneſs, they
muſt be known by ſuch ways and means as your Majeſty by the
advice of men of wiſdom and conſcience ſhall appoint : but yet
for Chriſt's ſake I crave, and moſt humbly beſeech your Majer-
ty of your moſt gracious pity and mercy, that the former way may
take place.
I have alſo a poor Siſter, who came to me out of the North,
with three fatherleſs children, for her relief, whom I married af-
ter to a ſervant of mine own houſe : ſhe is put out of that I did
provide for them. I beſeech your honorable Grace, that her caſe
may be mercifully conſidered—-
Here his tender affection brought tears into his eyes, ſo much,
that for a little ſpace he could not ſpeak for weeping. When he had
ſomething recovered himſelf he ſaid, “This is nature that moveth
ime: but I have now done.' And then proceded to read the
reft.
And that the rather, in contemplation that I never had of
him, who ſuffered indurance at my entrance to the See of London,
one penny of his moveable goods, for it was almoſt half a
year
af-
ter his depoſition afore I did enter into that place : yea, and alſo if
any
<
4 P
658
BOOK VIII.
THE LIFE OF
any were left, known to be his, he had a licence to carry it away,
or there for his uſe it did lye ſafe, as his officers do know. I paid
for the Lead which I found there, when I occupied any of it to
the behoof of the church or of the houſe. And moreover, I not
only had no part of his moveable goods, but alſo (as his old Re-
ceiver, and then mine, Mr. Stanton can teſtify) I paid for him to-
ward his Servants common liveries and wages, after his depoſition,
fifty three, or fifty five pounds, I cannot tell whether. In all theſe
matters I beſeech your honorable Grace to hear the advice of men
of conſcience, and eſpecially the Archbiſhop of York, who, for
that he was continually in my
and
more, before mine
impriſonment, I ſuppoſe is not altogether ignorant of ſome part
of theſe things; and alſo his Grace doth know my Siſter, for
whoſe ſuccour and ſome relief, now unto your Highneſs I make
moſt humble ſuit.
houſe a year
N. R.'
This
paper
he delivered to his Brother Shipſide to be preſented
to her Majeſty, and dated the day of his death, which was the
next day, October 16. Biſhop Brookes on hearing it read, ſaid,
Indeed, Maſter Ridley, your requeſt in this ſupplication is very
lawful and honeſt : therefore I muſt needs in conſcience ſpeak to
the Queen's Majeſty for them.
Ridley. I pray you for God's fake do. fo.
Brookes. I think your requeft will be granted, except one thing
lett it, and that is (I fear) becauſe you do not allow the Queen's
procedings, but obſtinately withſtand the ſame, that it will hardly
be granted.
Ridley. What remedy? I can do no more but ſpeak and write :
I truſt I have diſcharged my conſcience therein, and God's will be
donea
Brookes
ST
BOOK VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
659
Brookes. I will do what lieth in me. Then the Biſhop called
the Bailiffs, and delivered Dr. Ridley to them in charge, to
keep him fafely from any man ſpeaking with him, and that he
ſhould be brought to the place of execution when they were com-
manded. Then the good man, ſeeing the concluſion of his life fo
near, burſt out into this thankful and joyful commemoration of
God's Grace, which had conducted him ſo irreproachably through
it, · God, I thank thee, and to thy praiſe be it ſpoken, there is
none of
you
all able to lay to my charge any open or notorious
'crime ; for if you could, I ſee very well it thould ſurely be laid
‘in my lap.' Upon which the nettled Biſhop told him, that he
played the part of a proud Phariſee, exalting and praiſing himſelf.
No, no, no, (replied He) as I have ſaid before, to God's glory be it
ſpoken. I confeſs myſelf to be a miſerable wretched finner, and
have great need of God's help and mercy, and do daily call and
cry for the ſame : therefore I pray you have no ſuch opinion of
me. As the company were leaving him, a Warden of one of
the Colleges deſired him to repent, and forſake that erroneous opi-
nion. Sir, ſaid Ridley, repent you, for you are out of the truth :
and I
pray
God (if it be his bleſſed will) have mercy upon you,
and
grant you the underſtanding of his word. Which charitable
with the angry Doctor reſenting, ſaid, 'I truſt that I ſhall never
be of your erroneous and divilliſh opinion ; neither yet to be in
that place whither
you
ſhall
go.
He is the moſt obſtinate and
(wilful man that ever I heard talk ſince I was born.
The behaviour of Dr. Brookes on this occafion is unaccounta-
ble, in not allowing Ridley to have been a Biſhop, and therefore
degrading him only from Prieſt's Orders.
For He had been con-
ſecrated ſome years before the New Ordinal had been appointed,
and held his Biſhoprick, not as moſt others did after him, quam-
diu fe bene geſerint, but durante vita. Therefore the Legate him-
ſelf admits him to be a Biſhop in his Commiſſion to the Delegates,
P 2
and
C
660
Book VIII.
THE LIFE OF
A
Ecclef.
Hift. B.v.
p. 385.
(
and directs, in caſe he perſevered in his opinion, to degrade him
from that character ; and the firſt Delegate, Biſhop White, acknow-
ledges, that he was made Biſhop according to their laws. Indeed
Mr. Collier ſeems willing to excuſe Brookes, with whom Ridley
paſſed for no more than a Prieſt, becauſe this Prelate being con-
• fecrated to his firſt See of Rochefter ſeveral years after the Pope's
Supremacy was diſcarded, the kingdom was then ſuppofed to be
• in a ſtate of ſchiſm, and by conſequence the Biſhops had no au-
thority to confecrate and ordain. This was the ſenſe, ſays he,
of moſt of the governing Clergy in this reign.' This was not the
ſenſe of Cardinal Pole, or the Bishop of Lincoln, as we have alrea-
dy ſeen, neither could it be the ſenſe of Biſhop Brookes, for by
that rule he would have unbifhoped moſt of the Prelates at that
time in England. Nay the Popiſh Writer of the Church Hiſtory
of England is aſhamed of this Proteſtant's excuſe of Dr. Brookes,
and ſays, “if it be true what Fox reports that they [Ridley and
Latimer] were only degraded from Prieſt's Orders, Biſhop Brookes
only is anſwerable for that uncanonical proceding, and for going
againſt the opinion of others, who allowed them to be Biſhops;
and indeed if we conſider the circumſtance of the time of their
Ordination, there appears no grounds to queſtion the validity of
• it; for the new Ordinal was not made uſe of till 1550. Now
Latimer was conſecrated in 1535, and Ridley in 1547, at which
times we may ſuppoſe the old Ordinal was not laid aſide.' And
afterward he allows · Latimer's Confecration was indiſputable ;
• there being at that time no alteration in the Ordinal, that we
• know of, beſide the omiſſion of the canonical obedience to the
Pope, which was not an eſſential point.' Indeed with reſpect to
Ridley he immediately retracts what he had before granted, and
fays, 'Ridley's cafe was quite different, he and ſome others were
* conſecrated the firſt of Edward vith’s reign, when both the doc-
«trine and diſcipline of the former reign were entirely changed.
« And
6
1,
378.
P: 498,
499.
1
BOOK VIII.
661
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
* And though the new Ordinal had not a legal eſtabliſhment till
• after the date of the confecration ; yet very probably they made
' uſe of ſuch a ceremony, as was either the ſame, or conformable
to it.' Where is the difference in theſe two caſes ? Latimer's
confecration was according to the Roman Ordinal without any
al-
teration, that they know of, except in an uneſſential point : and
Ridley's conſecration was according to the ſame Ordinal without
any alteration in an eſſential point, that they know of, though this
Writer is willing to ſuppoſe one, without any proof, or fo much as a
conjecture of what it was. Perhaps Dr. Brookes was of opinion, with
ſome others earneſt to aggrandiſe the Pope, that the title of Biſhop was
a title of Juriſdiétion only, not of Order ; and that if a man had
no dioceſe, he could be no Biſhop ; as he who has loſt his wife cea-
fes to be a Huſband : therefore that Dr. Ridley, having reſigned
Rocheſter, and being deprived of London, was unbiſhoped to his
hands, as alſo was Latimer for the fame reafon. But we need not
trouble ourſelves to find out Brookes's reaſons for this proceding :
it was of very little concern either to Biſhop Ridley then, or to the
Readers now, whether the Papifts would allow Him to be a Biſhop,
whom they would not permit to live. Brookes's behaviour only
made a little addition to the general inconſiſtency of the whole
proceding. They caſt him into priſon, and confined him there
almoſt nine months for Treaſon, in obeying the orders of his then
Governours : after which they tried him for a different crine, for
hereſy; of which they convicted him, not by argument, but pre-
judged opinions and ſubſcriptions; then condemned him, not only
without law, but againſt law; and when they had procured a law,
his Judge proceded contrary to his Commiſſion; and then
put
him
to death for denying a doctrine to be fcriptural, which their own
Schoolmen acknowledge is not found exprelled in the Bible a.
After
.
2 Gabriel Biel upon the Canon of the Maſs.
1
"
ܚܝܘܗܝ.
662
THE LIFE OF
BOOK VIII.
Latimer.
After the company was gone he prepared him-
9.6. The Martyr, ſelf for his approaching death, which a ſound judg-
dom of Ridley and
ment and a good conſcience made him look upon
as a matter of joy and triumph. He called it his
marriage, and in the evening waſhed his beard and his legs, and
behaved with as much eaſe and chearfulneſs as ever ; at ſupper he
invited Mrs. Iriſh and the reſt of the company to his marriage the
next morning. And wiſhing his Siſter to be there, he aſked her
Huſband whether ſhe could find in her heart to be there or no ?
Mr. Shipſide anſwered, he believed ſhe would with all her heart.
At which the Biſhop expreſſed great fatisfaction. The diſcourſe
melted even the obdurate Mrs. Iriſh into tears, who had before
made a merit and boaſted of her ſeverity toward him. On ſeeing
her tears the good Biſhop comforted her, and ſaid, O Mrs. Iriſh,
you
love me not now, I ſee well enough. For in that you weep,
it doth appear you will not be at my marriage, neither be content
therewith. Indeed
you
be not ſo much my friend as I thought you
had been. But quiet yourſelf, though my breakfaſt ſhall be fome-
what ſharp and painful, yet I am ſure my ſupper 1hall be more
pleaſant and ſweet ·.
When
• The particulars of the ſupper which he had the night before he ſuffered, when this
converſation paſſed, I find in a MS. Book of expences for Cranmer, Ridley and Latimer
now in Bennet College Library in Cambridge. It ſhews at once their manner of living,
and the price of proviſions at that time.
1. S. d.
Bread and ale
3
Shoulder of mutton
1
o
09
A pig
O II
A plover
Wine
Cheeſe and pears
0 0 4
1
O 2
O
o 2 61
BOOK VIII.
663
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLE Y.
When they aroſe from the table his Brother offered to watch all
night with him. But he would not ſuffer him, ſaying, that he
minded (God willing) to go to bed, and to fleep as quietly that
night, as ever he did in his life.
Orders had been ſent by the Queen to Lord Williams and the
Houſeholders of Oxford to attend the next morning, ſufficiently
provided to prevent any tumult that might ariſe in favor of the
Priſoners and obſtruct their execution. Who came accordingly to
the place appointed; which, unfortunately for the memory of Biſhop
Brookes, was in a ditch over againſt Baliol College, of which he
was Maſter. An humane man, who felt for the miſeries of other,
had rather uſed his intereſt to have removed ſo ſhocking a ſpectacle
out of view. But he was indulged in his favage pleaſure, and eve-
ry thing being in readineſs, the Mayor and Bailiffs brought forth
their Priſoners.
Firſt came Biſhop Ridley, dreſſed in a handſome black
gown,
furred, faced with points, ſuch as he uſed to wear in his epiſcopal
character ; about his neck was a tippet of velvet; furred likewiſe,
his head covered with a velvet night cap, and his ſquare cap upon
that, walking to the ſtake in a pair of ſlippers between the Mayor
and one of the Aldermen. As he paſſed toward Bocardo, Mr.
Iriſh's houſe being near that priſon, he looked up to the chamber
where the Archbiſhop lay, in hope of ſeeing him at the window;
and to have ſpoken to him : but Cranmer was at that time buſily
engaged in diſputation with Frier Soto and others, ſo that he hap-
pened not to be at the window at that time. Ridley then looked
back to ſee if his Brother Latimer were coming; whom he ſpied
haſting after him in a Briſtol freeze frock, all worn, with his cap
buttoned, an handkerchief on his head, and a new long ſhroud
hanging down to his feet, all ready for the fire. O, be you there,
,
ſaid Ridley? Yes, returns Latimer, Have after as faſt as I can fol.
low. They preſerved their diſtance in walking, and Ridley arri-
ving
664
Book VIII.
THE LIFE or
4
ving firſt at the ſtake, there earneſtly lifted up his hands and eyes
to heaven, till he ſaw, ſhortly after, Latimer deſcending to the
ſpot; upon which with a moſt chearful countenance he ran to
him, embraced and kiſſed him, and comforted him, ſaying, Be
of good heart, Brother, for God will either aſſuage the fury of
the flame, or elſe ſtrengthen us to abide it. Then moving to the
ftake he kneeled down, and kiſſing it, prayed earneſtly, as did
Latimer likewiſe. Then riſing, they conferred together a little
while
Dr. Smith, who had recanted in King Edward's time, was ap-
pointed to preach before them, who choſe for his Text theſe words
of St. Paul, 1 Cor. XIII. 3. Though I give my body to be burned,
and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. In which ſhort Ser-
mon, which was ſcarce ſo long as a quarter of an hour, he gave
the holy Martyrs frequent occaſion to lift up their hands and eyes
to heaven, as proteſting againſt the falfhood of his aſſertions. For,
in ſtating the diverſity of opinions concerning the facrament of the
altar, he mentioned only three among thoſe whom he call-
ed Hereticks : 1. Luther's, and his followers, who held that the
natural body and blood of Chriſt was preſent together with the ele-
ments of bread and wine : 2. The opinion of Oecolampadius, and
his diſciples, who held, that the natural body of Chriſt was not
in the ſacrament, but in heaven, yet by grace effectually received
of the worthy Communicants. 3. That of Zuinglius and his fol-
lowers, who held, that Chriſt's body was not preſent either natu-
rally or ſpiritually in the facrament, which was only a mere figure
of his body. Of this laſt opinion, he ſaid, were the two men who
ſtood before them. In which repreſentation he was twice miſta-
ken; for neither were Ridley and Latimer, nor Zuinglius himſelf
of the opinion with which he charges them. Ridley always be-
lieved and maintained a real preſence by grace to faith, and not a
mere figure only : and although there were ſome Engliſh fanaticks,
ſuch
BOOK VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY,
665
ſuch as John Webb, George Roper, and Gregory Paſke, who
believed that the ſacrament was only a bare ſign of Chriſt's body,
and nothing more than a remembrance of it : yet this was not the
opinion of our Martyrs, who, induced by the ſame authority, the
word of God, held with Oecolampadius, and the Zuinglians too,
if we may believe their own confeffion ; for they ſay, • Although
we diſtinguiſh, as we ought, betwixt the ſigns and the things
thereby fignified, yet we divide not the reality from the figns, but
• confeſs that all who by faith embrace the promiſes there made,
do ſpiritually receive Chriſt with his fpiritual gifts, and that they,
' who were before made partakers of Chriſt, do continue and renew
that communication
The other frontleſs aſſertion was, " that the old Church of
« Chriſt and the Catholick faith believed far otherwiſe.' If he
meant otherwiſe than what he falſely charged on Zuinglius and
the Martyrs, it was nothing to the purpoſe : if, that the manner
of the preſence as defined by the Church of Rome was always held
in his primitive Church, that contradicts all hiſtory, and even their
own Tonſtal admits that before Innocent 111, the manner was not
defined.
When the Sermon was finiſhed, Ridley aſked Latimer whether
he would firſt anſwer it : but Latimer defiring Ridley to begin,
Then both of them kneeling down, Ridley addreſſing himſelf to
the Lord Williams, Dr. Marſhal the Vice-Chancellor and other
Commiſſioners appointed for that purpoſe, faid, I beſeech you,
my
Lord, even for Chriſt's fake that I may ſpeak but two or three
words. And while the Lord Williams was inclining his head to
aſk the Mayor and Vice-Chancellor whether he might permit him
to ſpeak, the Vice-Chancellor and Bailiffs ran up haſtily to him,
and
4 Q
a Vide Lavatheri Hiftor. de origine et progr. Controverſ. Sacrament. ad annum 1549,
abi repetitur conſenſus Calvini cum Tigurinis in re facrament. fol. 35. See alſo before,
b. II. S.5. p. 164.
666
Book VIIT.
THE LIFE OF
and with their hands ſtopping his mouth, ſaid, Maſter Ridley, if
you
will revoke your erroneous opinions, and recant the fame, you
fhall not only have liberty ſo to do, but alſo the benefit of a ſubject;
that is, have your life. Not otherwiſe, faid He ? No, returned Dr.
Marſhal; therefore if you will not ſo do, then there is no remedy
but
you muſt ſuffer for your deſerts. "Well, replied the noble Mar:
tyr, ſo long as the breath is in my body, I will never deny my
Lord Chriſt, and his known Truth. God's will be done in mę'.
And with that he roſe up, and ſaid with a loud voice, Well, then
I commit my cauſe to Almighty God, who will judge all indiffe-
rently. Latimer added his wonted ſaying, Well, there is nothing
hid but it ſhall be opened. And withal ſignified, that he could
anſwer Dr. Smith well enough, if he might be ſuffered.
Immediately they were commanded to make them ready, which
they with all meekneſs obeyed. Biſhop Ridley taking off his gown
and his tippet gave them to his Brother Shipſide. Some part of his
apparel that was little worth he gave elſewhere, and ſome the Bai-
liff's took
He likewiſe gave away. ſeveral other ſmall things to Gentlemen
ſtanding by, many of them greatly affected, and weeping ; as to Sir
Henry Lee he gave a new.groat, and to my Lord Williams's Gentle-
en he gave, to ſome napkins, to ſome nutmegs, and races of ginger,
his dial, and fuch other things as he had about him, to every one
that ſtood next him. Some plucked the points of his hofe. Hap-
py was he who might get any rag of him..
Latimer gave nothing, but very quietly ſuffered his keeper, to
pull of all his dreſs but his Throwd; in which he, who before in his
old freeze coat and buttoned cap ſeemed a withered and crooked
old man, negligent of himſelf, now rouſed to play the man, ſtood.
bolt upright, and appeared a venerable comely perſon.
Dr. Ridley being ſtript to his ſhirt and truſs, would have been
burnt in them : but his Brother Shipſide prevaled on him to pull
off
Book VIII
667
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
off the latter, as it would elſe encreaſe his pain, and might do a
poor man good. Then ſtanding at the ſtake upon a ſtone, lifting
up
his hands toward heaven he prayed, 'O heavenly Father, I give
unto thee moſt hearty thanks, for that thou haſt called me to be a
profeſſor of thee, even unto death. I beſeech thee, Lord God,
' take mercy upon the realm of England, and deliver the ſame from
• all her enemies'. It was not long before the realm happily expe-
rienced, as it continues to do to this day, how much the effectual
fervent prayer of this righteous man avaled.
Next the ſmith took an iron chain, and brought it round the
middles of both the Martyrs, and as he was driving in the ſtaple
Dr. Ridley ſhook the chain, and ſaid to the ſmith, Good fellow,
knock it in hard, for the fleſh will have its courſe. And now his
brother brought him ſome gunpowder in a bag, and would have
tied it about his neck. The Biſhop aſked what it was ; and being
informed, ſaid, I take it to be ſent of God, therefore I will receive
it as fent of him. And have you any for my Brother, meaning
Latimer? And being anſwered in the affirmative, he bad him give
it to him betime, left it ſhould be too late. Which was done ac-
cordingly.
Then Dr. Ridley ſaid to my Lord Williams, My Lord, I muſt
* be a ſuitor to your Lordſhip in the behalf of divers poor men, and
specially in the cauſe of my poor ſiſter : I have made a ſupplication
* to the Queen's Majeſty in their behalf. I beſeech your Lordſhip
• for Chriſt's ſake to be a mean to her grace for them. My Brother
• here hath the ſupplication, and will reſort to your Lordſhip to cer-
tify you hereof. There is nothing in all the world that troubleth
my conſcience (I praiſe God) this only excepted. Whilft I was in
the See of London divers poor men took leaſes of me, and agreed
with me for them. Now I hear ſay the Biſhop who now occupieth
the ſame room will not allow my grants unto them made, but, con-
! trary
unto all law and conſcience,hath taken from them their livings,
*
(
4 Q2
( and
668
BOOK VIII.
THE LIFE OF
G
· Into thy
and will not ſuffer them to enjoy the ſame. I
'Lord, be a mean for them : you ſhall do a good deed, and God
(will reward you'.
We ſhall ſeldom meet with an inſtance, except in the great Ex-
emplar, whoſe ſteps our bleſſed Martyr followed, of one who in the
very article of death, though ſenſible that his breakfaſt would be
ſharp, and the fleſh have its courſe, yet was ſo regardleſs of his
own ſufferings, and fo recollected and ſolicitous for the good and
happineſs of others. Let the delicate, the felfiſh, and the unchari-
table read and wonder!
Then they brought a fagot ready kindled, and laid it at Dr.
Ridley's feet: to whom Latimer faid, “Be of good comfort, Maſter
Ridley, and play the man. We thall this day light ſuch a candle
.by God's grace in England, as I truſt ſhall never be put out'.
The fire being given to them, when Ridley ſaw it flaming up to-
wards him, he cried with an exceeding loud voice,
' hands, O Lord, I commend my ſpirit. O Lord, receive my ſpirit'.
Latimer on the other ſide as earneſtly praying, O Father of hea-
ven, receive my ſoul; who received the flame as it were embracing
it. After that he had ſtroked his face with his hand, he ſoon died,
to all appearance with little or no pain.
But on the other ſide the fire was ſo ill managed by piling too
great a quantity of fagots over the furze, that the fire firſt burned
beneath, being kept down by the wood. Which when Dr. Ridley
felt, he deſired them for Chriſt's fake to let the fire come to him.
His Brother, hearing his earneſt requeſt, but not underſtanding
well the reafon of it, with an ill adviſed kindneſs to rid him out of
his pain, heaped more fagots upon him, quite covering him with
them ; which made the fire, fmouldering beneath, ſo intenſe, that
it burned all his nether parts before it once touched the upper :
this made him leap up and down under the fagots, and often
deſire them to let the fire come to him, ſaying, I cannot burn.
Which
Book VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
669
Which indeed appeared too true; for after his legs were conſu-
med, he ſhewed that ſide, toward the ſpectators, clean, ſhirt and
all untouched with flame. Yet in all this torment he forgat not to
cail
upon God, having ſtill in his mouth, Lord have mercy upon
me; intermingling between whiles, Let the fire come to me, I
cannot burn. Thus he continued crying out without relief, till
one of the ſtanders by with his bill pulled off the fagots above; and
where the tortured Martyr ſaw the fire flame up he wreſted himſelf
to that ſide. And when the flame touched the gunpowder, he
was feert to ſtir no more, but burned on the other ſide ; and, ei-
ther from the chain loſing, or by the overpoiſe of his body after
his legs were conſumed, fell over the chain down at Latimer's
feet.
Thus died this worthy Martyr of God, and the glory of the En-
gliſh Reformation ; nor did he die in vain. The fruit of his
pray-
ers for this realm we now enjoy ; and his conſtant ſufferings, as
they drew tears from moſt eyes, ſo doubtleſs by the grace of God
they wrought in the hearts of many a perſuaſion of the Truth to
which both theſe Prelates bore ſo noble a teſtimony.
One of theſe we know, Julius Palmer, an ingenious young man,
and fellow of Magdalen College, in Oxford. He had been all
through King Edward's reign a warm and zealous Papiſt, and for
his taunts againſt the Governours of his College, and his uncon-
formable behaviour was expelled the ſociety, and loſt his fellow-
thip. He was perſuaded that either vanity, or the baits of
pres.
ferment had influenced the Reformers; affirming, that ſhould the
times change, they would change too, and none of them all would
ſtand to death for their religion. He owned indeed, in confidence
to another like zealous fellow of his own College, that they did
not taſte ſuch an inward ſweetneſs in the profeſſion of their religion
as the Goſpellers made a ſhew of; and that they had not a clear
knowledge of their religion, only as the Church. had decreed : yet
with
4
670
Book VIII.
THE LIFE OF
with a true papiſtical ſpirit reſolved, that he would ſooner beg his
bread than yield to the Reformers. And though he was ſometimes
ſtaggered in the conferences he had with ſome into whoſe company
'he fell during his expulſion, yet all through King Edward's reign
he continued determinedly blind. In Queen Mary's reign, he was
reſtored to his Fellow/hip; and though ſurprized that the Refor-
mers ſubmitted ſo patiently to the loſs of their preferments, he
doubted not, as Gardiner alſo had declared, but that ſeverities would
reclame them. He therefore made their ſuffering death volunta-
rily the teſt of their faith. For this reaſon he ſent at his own ex-
pence ſome of his pupils to Gloceſter, to obſerve and report to him
the manner of Biſhop Hoper's death. He was ſtill willing to be-
lieve either that the report was aggravated, or that ſome enthuſiaſ-
tick heat had impelled him to bear his torments with ſuch con-
ſtancy. But here he was himſelf the ſpectator and jealous obſerver :
he had attended the Martyr's examination, and been a witneſs of
the fobriety of his anſwers, and with what greatneſs of mind he
had diſdained the offers of life, honors, preferments, and the favor
of the Queen, rather than ſacrifice the truth, and deny his faith.
He now ſaw him lay down his life in teſtimony that what he taught
he believed. Not borne up with a ſpirit of pride or madneſs, but
with meekneſs, charity and reſolution : not with an enthuſiaſtick
callouſneſs and inſenſibility of pain, but with a cool choice perſiſt-
ing to endure thoſe ſevere tortures which his fleſh knew not how
to bear, and from which he had the liberty of eſcaping, if he
would only ſign a recantation. Perhaps for the conviction of ſuch
unbelievers God permitted his death to be ſo lingering and acute.
Palmer roſe a Convert from this blood of the martyrs, and went
away publickly exclaming againſt the tyranny and cruelty of his
old allies. And having ſuffered loſs of fortune for his intemperate
zeal in Popery under King Edward, was now ſo convinced of his
error
Book VIII. DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
671
pag. 230.
error as boldly to ſuffer martyrdom for Proteſtantiſm under Queen
Mary.
Yet the ſeverity of Ridley's ſufferings, which wrought ſo power- Strype's
fully on the ingenuous mind of Palmer, were not judged ſufficient vol. 111.
to ſatisfy the malice of another of his ſpectators, who ſeems to
grudge him the benefit of his gunpowder. This was Dorman (or
Pierſon, who was Fellow of another College in Oxford, who ſpeak-
ing of the gunpowder applied to put them the fooner out of their
pain, ſays.. ' a practice amongſt Chriſt's martyrs never, I trow,
· heard of, the ſooner to diſpatch themſelves, as with my own eyes
• I ſaw Ridley and Latimer burned.' Obſerving in the margin,
• that it agreed not with the matyrdom of Polycarp.' O Dor-
man, could you recall that dreadful ſight to your memory, and
ſpeak of it with ſuch a. fpirit of inhumanity ? You ſaw his agonies,
your ears were pierced with his repeated cries, your eyes were
feaſted with looking on his limbs conſumed piecemeal before his
vital parts were touched, and all was not enough to ſatiate
your
thirſt for blood. Had the gunpowder, which was ſo long before
it had
any effect on Ridley, diſpatched him as ſoon as it did Latimer,
who but a Ruffian could have grudged him the relief? And Noel,
in a reply to Dorman, takes notice, that Ignatius ſaid he would
anger the beaſts, to whom he was caſt to be devour-
ed, that they might the more ſpeedily tear him in pieces. And
aſks why may, not the heat of fire be provoked as well as the fury
of beaſts? And Dorman might have remembered, that when Po.
lycarp was burned, his Perſecutors ſeeing that the fire came not
near enough to deſtroy him, with more compaſſion than this Popiſh
ſpectator had, put an end to his ſufferings by piercing him with a
ſword.
Others, wedded to the world, may perhaps think the ſufferings
of theſe martyrs were a prodigality of life ; and that whatever they
privately thought, the ſubſcription of their hands to doctrines con,
trary,
provoke and
672
..
BOOK VIII.
THE LIFE
OF
trary to that belief, and an outward profeſſion of them, had been
far more prudent : and that therefore Gardiner was the wiſer
man, who by returning to the Pope, whom he had abjured,
kept his preferments, preſerved his life, and eſcaped tortures.
Few of us have faith enough to take our Saviour's advice, Be not
afraid of them that kill the body, and after that, bave no more tbat
they can do: but I will forewarn you whom you mall fear ; fear him,
which after he hath killed, hath power to caſt into bell; yea I fay
unto you fear him. Luke xii. 4, 5. But an event immediately con-
nected with this execution may help our unbelief, and convince us
of the wiſdom of our Saviour's advice.
Dr. Gardiner, the Lord Chancellor, in the midſt of all his fplen-
dor, fecure in the favor of the Pope and of his Royal Miſtreſs, and
having in view a Cardinal's Hat and Legatine power from the one,
and the Throne of Canterbury from the other, triumphed over the
weakneſs of the two martyrs at Oxford, for whoſe deaths he was
impatient. His dignity and employment would not permit him to
be a ſpectator and enjoy the fight, but what he could, he did ; he
diſpatched meſſengers on purpoſe to Oxford to be preſent at their
execution, and to ſpeed back to give him the earlieſt intelligence
when the fire was ſet to them. And though the Duke of Norfolk
was his gueſt that day, he would not go to dinner till the return of
the meſſenger had given him the ſatisfaction he ſo hungered after.
At four o'clock the wretch was made happy, and went to dinner :
be was not diſappointed of his luft, but while the meat was yet in his
mouth, the heavy wrath of God came upon him. He was ſeized with
a ſuppreſſion of urine, and though he went five days after to the
Parliament, which met October 21ſt, and again on the 23d, he
could go out no more.
no more. A foul leproſy and dropſy encreaſed upon
him, contracted (as was reported) by drunkenneſs or whoredom,
both which vices he had indulged much in his life. So that his bo-
dy was greatly diftended, his eyes diſtorted, and his breath too of-
fenſive
Book VIII.
673
DR. NICHOLAS RIDLEY.
Memur.
fenſive to be endured. He felt all the bitter remorfe of conſcience
without being able to mingle with it that falutary ſorrow which
alone can make it ſupportable. · I have erred, ſays he, with Pe-
ter, but I have not wept like him.' The Biſhop of Chicheſter
viſiting him, would have comforted him with the aſſurance of Jur-
tification through the blood of Chriſt : Gardiner acknowledged
the Truth in private, and thereby aſſented to the Reformers, but
deſired him politically to ſuppreſs it, ſaying, “ He might ſpeak of
' that to him, or others in his condition ; but if he opened that
gap again, and preached that to the people, then farewell alto-
gether. He ſuffered this protracted execution for four weeks,
during which, as one wrote out of England at that time, he Strype's
ſpake little but blaſphemy and filthineſs, and gave up the ghoſt p. 2814
* with curſes in his mouth, in terrible and unexpreſſible torments.'
He was called to his account that very day month that Ridley and
Latimer ſuffered, at two o'clock in the morning, November 13.
Compare the lives of Ridley and of Gardiner together, and com-
pare their deaths. Whoſe character was moſt amiable, whoſe con-
duct moſt prudent, whoſe condition moſt eligible ? Let us culti-
vate thoſe Truths in our hearts and lives, which had ſuch ſuperna-
tural
power as to adminiſter comfort in the midſt of burning flames.
What afflictions are there in this world that a practical belief of
thoſe truths will not enable us to bear up under them? Let us not
think that thoſe errors can be even politically uſeful, or in this
preſent world prudent, which can give no eaſe upon beds of down,
amidſt the
pomp
of power, and affluence of wealth. What a blefa
ſing then did theſe martyrs recover to their Country, when they
reſtored to it the knowledge of theſe primitive truths ! What a glo-
rious legacy did they bequeath to it, when ai their deaths they lit
up ſuch a candle in England, as by God's grace ſhall never be put out !
F I N I S.
4 R
PRÆFATIO.
.
:
1
:
2
.
1
1
.
.
*
PRÆFATIO
ET
PROTESTATIO
NICOLAI RIDLEII,
HABITÆ xx APRILIS IN SCHOLIS PUBLICIS
OXONII, ANNO M.D.LV.
CCEPI à vobis, ornatiffimi viri, domine Proloquutor, & vos
viri venerabiles, domini Commiffarii celfitudinis Reginæ, &
aliorum, ſuperiori die treis propofitiones, quibus juſſiſtis me, ut in
hunc diem pararem quid illis reſpondendum cenferem. Ego verò
cùm mecum conſiderarem, quanta cura gregis Dominici mihi nu-
per commiffa eſſet, pro cujus adminiſtratione olim (idque quàm
citò Deus novit) rationem Domino meo ſum redditurus, quòdque
Petri Apoſtoli præcepto paratus femper effe debeam, ad reſponden-
dum cuilibet, ut loquar de ea quæ in nobis eſt ſpe, cum manfuetu-
dine & reverentia. Ad hæc quid debeam Ecclefiæ Chriſti, quid-
que vobis, qui eſtis Commiffarii cum authoritate publica, ſtatui
mandatis veſtris obtemperare, & palàm vobis patefacere, quid de
propofitis propofitionibus ſentiam. Et quamquam, ut ingenuè vobis
quod verum eſt fatear, aliter olim atque nunc de illis rebus, de quibus
me interrogaftis ſenſi : nibilominus Deum teſtem invoco in ani-
mam meam, non mentior : quòd, ut mutarem animum, inque
hanc in qua nunc ſum, devenirem ſententiam, nullus me coegit
aut legum humanarum, aut periculorum hujus mundi metus, aut
ulla fpes vel expectatio mundanæ commoditatis; ſed amor duntax-
at veritatis revelatæ mihi per Dei gratiam (uti mihi perſuaſum ha-
beo) in verbo Dei & in antiquorum patrum orthodoxorum lectione.
Hæc ego nunc propterea magis commemoro: quoniam quis ſcit,
fi quod mihi olim contigit, alicui veſtrûm in poſterum contingere
poterit ?
4 R 2
+
676
PREFATIO ET PROTESTATI O.
poterit ? hoc eſt, ut fiquid aliter atque ego nunc de rebus propo-
pofitis ſentitis, & hoc vobis Deus aliquando fit revelaturus. Sed
utcunque fuerit, quod vos omnes nunc me facere velle opinor, hoc
ego jam breviter ſum facturus, hoc eſt, ſententiam animi mei quàm
planiffimnè potero explicabo. In qua tamen ſententia dicenda, id
vobis teſtatum eſſe velim, me ex animo nihil eſſe dicturum fcien-
ter & prudenter, quod ulla in re crediderim poſſe vel tantillum re-
pugnare aut diſſentire a verbo Dei, aut a regulis fidei, & Chriſtianæ
religionis, quas illud facroſanctum Dei verbum Ecclefiæ Chriſti
præfcribit. Quibus me meaque omnia volo nunc & imperpetuum
effe & fore obnoxia.
Et quoniam gravis cauſa eſt quam agimus, & ad eam peragendam
quàm fimus nunc inexpediti, temporis nimirum anguſtia & libro-
tum inopia opprefli, vobis omnibus ignotum eſſe non poteſt. Prop-
terea proteſtor me hoc à vobis hodierno die publicè poſtulaturum,
nimirum ut in poſterum mihi liceat omnibus meis hodiernis re-
fponfionibus, explicationibus & confirmationibus, addere vel demere
quicquid pofthac ſaniore judicio, maturiore conſultatione, aut exac-
tiore ſingularum rerum expenſione magis commodum magiſque op-
portúnum eſſe videbitur. Hæc jam pauca præfatus ac proteſtatus,
conferam me ad propofitarum propofitionum reſponſiones, & re-.
fponfionum mearum explicationes et confirmationes breviffimas..
PRIMA PROPOSITIO A PAPISTIS PROPOSITA.
In facramento altaris virtute verbi divini à ſacerdote prolati, præ-
ſens eſt realiter ſub ſpeciebus panis & vini, naturale corpus Chriſti,
conceptum de virgine Maria. Item naturalis ejuſdem fanguis.
RESPONSIO RIRLEIT.
ek
In rebus Dei non eft humano aut fæculi fenſu loquendum. Pri-
ma igitur propofitio vel concluſio formata eſt phraſe à facra Scriptu-.
TAN
PRÆFATIO ET PROTESTATIO;
677
ra aliena, & multis ambiguis obſcuritatibus involuta & implicata.
In ſenſu autem quem docent ſcholaſtici & hodie Romanenfis defen-
dit ecclefia, falfa eft & erronea, atque doctrinæ, quæ fecundum
pietatem eſt, planè contraria.
EXPLICAT 10.
à ſacra
rum Ob
Diverſitas & novitas phraſeôs, & quàm fit a ſacra Scriptura alie- Phrafis
na, in tota hac prima propofitione in fingulis penè partibus ita ра-
Scriptura.
tet & evidens eſt, vel mediocriter verfato in facris literis, ut nihil aliena.
neceſſe fit, jam præfertim in hoc cætu doctorum virorum in ea re
demonſtranda aliquid' temporis (niſi id à me poftea fuerit poftula-
tum) collocare.
Ambiguitas eſt etiam in verbis, (virtute verbi Domini) ambi- Verbo-
guum eſt enim quodnam eſt iſtud Verbum Divinum : illud nè, fcuritas
quod legitur in Evangeliſtis, aut in Paulo, aut aliquid aliud? Si
quod in Evangeliis, aut Paulo, quodnam illud fit? fi non eſt ex illis,
quomodo cognoſci poteſt eſſe verbum Divinum, & tantæ virtutis,
ut hanc tantam rem efficere valeat?
Item, ambigitur de verbo (à facerdote) an nullus dicendus ſit ſa-
cerdos, niſi qui habet authoritatem facrificandi expiatoriè pro vivis.
et mortuis, & unde patet hanc aathoritatem eſſe à Deo commiſſam:
ulli mortalium, præterquam uni Chriſto?
Dubitatur etiam, fecundum quem ordinem futurus fit facrifícans
facerdos, fecundùmne ordinem Aaron, an ſecundum ordinem
Melchiſedec ? Nam plures ordines non probat (quòd fciam) facra)
Scriptura
Præterea in verbo (realiter) ambiguum eſt, an ſumatur tranfcen-
denter, & fic poteſt ſignificare quancumque rem, quæ ad corpus'
Chriſti quovis modo ſpectat: quomodo etiam concedimus corpus
Chrifti realiter effe in facramento Cænæ Dominicæ ficut inter
diſputandum, fi detur. accafio, à nobis declarabitur : -- vel rem ipſam
corpoream
!
.
1
678
PRÆFATIO ET PROTESTATIO.
Abſurdi-
corporsam, vivam & animatam, quæ affumpta eft in unitatem
perfonæ à verbo Dei : fecundum quam fignificationem corpus-
Chriftiy cùm fit in cælis realiter propter verum corporis modum,
hîc in terris effe dicendum non eft.
Porrò in verbis (ſub fpeciebus panis & vini) ambiguum eſt,
utrùm ſpecies ibi fignificare intelliguntur formas tantùm acciden-
tales & exteriores panis & vini, an naturas etiam eorundem ſub-
ftantiales fuis qualitatibus viſibiles, & externis ſenſibus perceptibiles.
Falfitas autem propofitionis in ſenſu Romanenſis eccleſiæ & ſcho-
laſticorum hinc patere poteſt. Illi enim ponunt panem tranſub-
ftantiari in carnem aſſumptam à verbo Dei, idque (ut aiunt) per
virtutem verbi, quod illi conceptis vocibus formaverunt, quod
quidem in nullo reperiri poflit Evangeliſtarum, nec in Paulo:
atque inde colligunt corpus Chriſti realiter contineri in facramento
altaris : quæ poſitio, nititur & fundatur ſuper fundamentum tranf-
fubftantiationis, quod eſt fundamentum monſtroſum, abſurdum &
analogiæ facramentorum interemptivum. Idcirco & hæc propofitio,
quæ ſuper hoc putre fundamentum ſuperſtruitur, falſa eſt & erro-
nea, ac infami facramentariorum errori meritò deputanda.
tas.
:
RESPONSIONIS JAM DATÆ CONFIRMATIO.
Non eſt ſtatuendum dogma aliquod in Eccleſia Chriſti, quod.
diſſentit à verbo Dei, & analogia fidei, quodque fecum neceffa-
riò trahit multas abſurditates : ſed dogma hoc primæ propoſitionis
tale eſt, ergo non eft ftatuendum in Eccleſia Dei. Major patet, &
minor probatur fic, Hoc dogma ponit realem, corporalem, & car-
nalem carnis Chriſti a verbo aſſumptæ in facramento Cænæ Do-
minicæ præſentiam, idque non per virtutem & gratiam tantùm :
ſęd. per integram effentiam & fubftantiam corporis & carnis Chrifti;
ſed talis præſentia difſentit à verbo Dei, ab analogia fidei, & mul-
tas abſurditates ſecum neceffariò trahit ; ergo major eft manifeſta.
Et
PRÆFATIO E-T PROTESTATIO.
679
Et minor adhuc probatur : primò, Talis præſentia contraria eſt
locis aliquot ſacræ Scripturæ. Secundò, diſſentit ab articulis fidei.
Tertiò, evacuat & tollit inſtitutionem Domini de Cæna. Quartò,
proſtituit pretioſa prophanis : projicit enim quod fanctum eſt cani-
bus, margaritas fcilicet porcis. Quintò, multa cogit monſtrofa
miracula præter neceflitatem, & authoritatem verbi Divini
ponere.
Sextò, Anſam præbet hæreticis, qua ſuos errores tueantur, qui de
duabus naturis in Chrifto non rectè ſentiebant. Septimò, Fidem
veritatis humanæ naturæ in Chrifto imminuit. Octavò, Falſificat
dicta patrum orthodoxorum, falſificat & fidem Ecclefiæ catholicam,
quam Apoſtoli tradiderunt, Martyres roboraverunt, & fideles (ut
quidam ex patribus inquit) uſque nunc cuſtodiunt : ergo minor eſt
vera.
PROBATIO ANTECEDENTIS HUJUS ARGUMENTI PER PARTES.
I. Contraria eſt verbo Dei, Joa. XVI. Veritatem dico vobis, expe-
dit vobis ut ego vadam : fi enim non abiero, Paracletus ad vos non
veniet. Act. iii. Quem oportet cælum accipere, uſque in tempo-
ra reſtitutionis omnium quæ loquutus eſt Deus. Mat. IX. Non
poſſunt filii Sponſi lugere, quandiu cum illis eſt Sponſus : ſed nunc
eſt tempus luctus, Joa. XVI. Sed iterum videbo vos, & gaudebit
cor veſtrum. Joan. XII. Iterum veniam, & affumam vos ad me
ipſum. Mat. xxiv. Si dixerint vobis, ecce hîc Chriſtus, aut illic,
nolite credere : ubicunque fuerit cadaver, ibi congregabuntur &
aquilæ.
II. Diffentit ab articlis fidei, Aſcendit ad cælos, ſeder
ad dexteram Dei Patris : unde, & non aliunde (inquit Aug.) ven-
turus eſt ad judicandum vivos & mortuos.
III. Evacuat & tollit inſtitutionem Cænæ Dominicæ, utpote quæ
tantùm juffa eft tantifper continuari, donec Dominus ipſe venerit ; fi
igitur nunc præſens eſt realiter in corpore carnis ſuæ, debet hæc Cena:
ceffare. Commemoratio fiquidem non eft rei preſentis, ſed præterite &
abſentis. Memoria autem & præſentia differunt. Atque fruſtra ibi
ponitur
680
PRÆFATIO ET PROTESTATIÖ.
ponitur figura (inquit ex patribus quidam) ubi res figurata præſens
eft.
IV. Proſtituit pretioſa prophanis, & multa cogit abfurda fateri :
afferit enim adulteros & homicidas : imò (ut eſt quorundam apud
illos opinio) impios & infideles, múres & canes poſſe recipere cor-
pus Domini verum, reale & corporale, in quo inhabitat plenitudo
Spiritus, lucis, gratiæ, contra manifeſta verba, Joan. vi. in ſex
ibidem locis & ſententiis. Statuit ávOpwropæyiar, & beſtialem quan-
dam crudelitatem : crudelius eſt enim devorare hominem vivum,
quànı interimere.
V. Cogit multa monſtroſa miracula præter neceſſitatem & autho-
ritatem verbi Dei ponere. Siquidem in adventu hujus præfentiæ
corporis carnis Chriſti, ſubſtantiam panis extrudunt : ponunt 24 -
tem accidentia fine ſubjecto, corpus Chrifti fubftituunt fine fuis
qualitatibus, & vero corporis modo. Si verò facramentum tandiu
ſeruetur ut muccefcat, & vermes inde generentur, quidam dicunt
ſubſtantiam panis miraculosè redire : alii negant. Nonnulli alle !
runt corpus Chriſti reale in ſtomachum recipientis defcendere, ibi-
que tandiu manere tantùm, quandiu ipfi permanent effe boni :
quidam verò tam citò corpus Chriſti in cælum rapi confirmant,
quàm ſpecies ipfæ dentibus teruntur. O mirabiliarios ! verè, verè,
in iſtis impletum eſſe video, quod prophetavit Paulus, pro eo quòd
dilectionem veritatis non receperunt, in hoc ut falvi fierent : mit-
tet illis Deus efficaciam illufionis, ut credant mendacio, & judi-
centur omnes qui non crediderint veritati, 2 Theff. 111. Hæc
præ-
ſentia commentum concomitantiæ peperit, quæ ſuſtulit hodie &
abrogavit præceptum Domini de communicando poculo Domini
laicis.
VI. Anſam præbet hæreticis errandi & ſuos errores defendendi,
ut Marcioni, qui dixit Chriftum habere' corpus phantaſticum ; &
Eutichi, qui confudit impiè duas in Chriſto naturas.
VII. Poftremò falſificat dicta patrum orthodoxorum, & fidem
catholicam, quam Vigilius Martyr & author gravis dicit eſſe tradi-
tam
PRÆFATIO ET PROTESTATIO.
681
tam ab Apoftolis, fanguine Martyrum roboratam, & à fidelibus
ad ſuam ufque ætatem cuſtoditam. Dica autem patrum intelligo,
Juſtini, Irenæi, Tertulliani, Origenis, Euſebii, Emiſſeni, Athanafii,
Cyrilli, Epiphanii, Hieronymi, Chryſoſtomi, Auguſtini, Vigilii,
Bertrami, atque aliorum vetuſtiſſimorum patrum, quorum omnia lo-
ca in hanc fententiam fcio me legiffe, & librorum meorum concef-
ſa copia poffe commonftrare, idque ſub periculo capitis mei, &
amiſfionis omnium quæ in hoc mundo amittere poflum.
Nolite putare fratres mei, quia nos hanc præſentiam corporis,
quam hæc prima propoſitio ponit, improbavimus, utpote quam
cenſemus eſſe commenticiam, phantaſticam & præter authoritatem
Verbi in eccleſiam à Romanenfibus perniciofè introductam, prop-
terea velle tollere veram illam præfentiam corporis Chriſti in Cæna
ſua ritè & legitimè adminiſtrata, quæ eſt fundata in verbo Dei, &
patrum orthodoxorum commentariis illuſtratur. Qui de me ita
fentiunt, Deus novit quàm multum illi hallucinentur : idque ut
vobis planum faciam declarabo pauciffimis, quam ego veram cum
verbo Dei & priſcis patribus ftatuo in ſacramento Cænæ Dominicæ
corporis Chriſti præſentiam. Cum Luca Evangeliſta & Apoſtolo
Paulo dico
quo gratiæ actæ ſunt, eſſe corpus Chriſti, ad
memoriam ipfius & mortis ejus, uſque ad adventum ejus perpetuò
à fidelibus celebrandam. Dico panem quem frangimus, effe com-
municationem corporis Chriſti.
Cum orthodoxis patribus ſic loquor & fentio, non folùm fignifica-
tionem corporis Dominici fieri per ſacramentum : fed unà cum illo
exhiberi fateor piis & fidelibus gratiam corporis Chriſti, vitæ ſcili-
cet atque immortalitatis alimoniam, idque cum Cypriano. Man-
ducamus vitam, bibimus vitam cum Auguſtino, ſentimus Domi-
num præſentem in gratia, cuin Emiſfeno. Recipimus cibum cæ-
leftem & ſupernè venientem cum Athanafio. Proprietatem natu-
ralis communionis cum Hilario. Naturam carnis, & benedictio-
nem vivificativam in pane & vino cum Cyrillo : & cum eodem vir-
4
S
A
panem in
+
tutem
682
PRÆFATIO ET PROTESTATIO.
tutem propriæ carnis Chriſti, vitam & gratiam corporis, unigeniti
proprietatem, id eſt, ut ipſe Cyrillus diſertiſſimis verbis exponit,
vitam. Fatemur nos recipere cum Baſilio myſticum Chriſti adven-
tum, gratiam, & veræ naturæ virtutem. Atque veræ carnis facra-
mentum cum Ambroſio.
Corpus per gratiam cum Epiphanio.
Carnem ſpiritualem, ſed aliam ab ea quæ crucifixa eſt, cum Hiero-
nymo. Gratiam influentem in ſacrificium, & Spiritus gratiam
cum Chryſoſtomo. Gratiam & veritatem inviſibilem : gratiam &
focietatem membrorum corporis Chriſti cum Auguſtino. Poſtre-
múm cum Bertramo, qui horum omnium fuit poftremus, fatemur
fecundum id haberi in facramento Cænæ Dominicæ
videlicet (ut ille ait) quòd ſit in eo Spiritus Chriſti, id eſt, Divini
potentia verbi, quæ non folùm animam paſcit, verumetiam purgat.
Ex his opinor omnibus dilucide patere poteſt, quàm fümus ab ea
ſententia alieni, qua nos falsò quidam orbi traducere conantur, di-
€entes nos nihil aliud docere, quàm figuram corporis Chriſti in
menſa Dominica a piis & fidelibus recipi debere.
corpus Chriſti,
SECUNDA PROPOSITIO.
Poſt conſecrationem non remanet ſubſtantia panis & vini, neque
ulla alia ſubſtantia, niſi ſubſtantia Dei & hominis.
RESPONSIO.
Secunda conclufio eft fimpliciter falſa : verbo Dei: naturæ fa-
cramentorum : & patrum orthodoxorum clariſſimis dictis ex dia-
metro contraria, eſtque putre fundamentum reliquarum duarum,
quæ à vobis propofitæ ſunt, videlicet primæ & tertiä concluſio-
num. Ad hanc igitur refponfionem non morabor vos nunc ulla
explicatione, contentus ſcilicet ea quæ jam appoſita eſt prius ad re-
ſpongionem primæ propoſitionis.
RESPONSIONIS
PRÆFATIO ET PROTESTA TI O.
683
RESPONSIONIS AD SECUNDAM PROPOSITIONEM CONFIR-
MATIO.
Conſtat ex verbo Dei, Chriſtum panem dediffe diſcipulis, illum-
que ftum corpus appellafie : fed ſubſtantia panis alia eft a ſubſtan-
tia Chriſti Dei & hominis : ergo conclufio falſa. Minor patet, &
Major probatur : hoc dedit diſcipulis, appellavitque corpus ſuum,
quod accepit, in quo gratias egit, et quod fregit : ſed accepit pa-
nem, fuper panem gratias egit: et fregit pancm, ergo major vera.
Et confirmatur authoritatibus patrum, Irenæi, Tertulliani, Orig.
Cyp. Epiph. Hierony. Aug. Theodoreti, Cyril. Rabani, Bedæ :
horum loca recipio me oftenfurum clariſſima, fi modò concedatur
(quod quidem peto) librorum copia.
II. Panis eſt corpus Chriſti, ergo eſt panis : a tertio adjacente
ad ſecundum adjacens, cum verbi ſubſtantivi pura copula.
III. Sicut panis menfæ Dominicæ eſt corpus Chriſti naturale, ita
eſt & corpus ejus myfticum: fed non eſt corpus Chriſti myſticum per
tranſſubſtantiationem : ergo neque fic eft corpus Chriſti naturale.
Minor patet, & Major probatur. Sicut Chriftus, qui eſt veritas,
dixit de pane, hoc eſt corpus meum, quod pro vobis tradetur, lo-
quens ibi de corpore naturali : ita Paulus ab eodem fpiritu verita-
tis impulſus, dixit, Unus panis, & unum corpus multi ſumus
omnes, qui de uno pane participamus.
IV. Non magis credendus eft panis tranſſubſtantiari in corpus
Chriſti, quam vinum in fanguinem, ſed vinum non tranſſubſtantia-
tur in fanguinem, ergo neque panis in corpus. Major eſt mani-
fefta. Probatur minor ex authoritate verbi Dei in Matth. et Mar.
Non bibam ex hoc fructu vitis, &c. Fructus autem vinum erat,
quod Chriſtus bibebat, & diſcipulis bibenduni dedit. Huic fen-
tentiæ clariffimè fuffragatur Chryſoſtomi locus in Mat. xxvi. ſuf-
fragatur
4 S 2
684
ESTA
PRÆFATIO ET PROTESTATIO.
.
Circun-
tantiæ
fragatur & Cyp. affirmans fanguinem deeffe, fi deſit vinum in ca-
lice.
V. Verba Chriſti dicta ſuper poculum apud Lucam & Paulum,
ſunt tam efficacia, quàm ea quæ dicuntur fuper panem : ſed dicta
ſuper poculum non habent vim tranſfubftantiandi, ergo, &c. minor
probatur : quia tunc tranſfubftantiarent calicem, vel quod eft in
calice in novum Teſtamentum : fed neutrum horum fieri poteft, &
abſurdum eft confiteri.
VI. Ille ſenſus facræ Scripturæ (de ſacramentis loquor) maximè
deligendus eſt, quem maximè circunſtantiæ Scripturæ, analogia
facramentorum, & teſtimonia patrum orthodoxorum probant : fed
in verbis Cænæ Dominicæ circunſtantiæ Scripturæ, analogia facra-
Script.
mentorum & patrum dicta maximè probant tropicam locutionem
in verbis Cænæ Dominicæ, ergo ſenſus tropicus in eiſdem maximè
eſt recipiendus. Circunſtantiæ Scripturæ, Hoc facite in mei com-
memorationem. Quotieſcunque comederitis hunc panem, & bi-
beritis de poculo hoc, mortem Domini annuntiabitis. Probet fe-
ipſum homo, & fic de pane illo edat, & de poculo bibat. Conve-
nerunt ad frangendum panem. Et perſeveraverunt in fractione pa-
nis. Panis quem frangimus. Quoniam unus panis & unum cor-
Analogia pus multi ſumus omnes. Analogia facramentorum neceffaria eſt :
nam fi facramenta aliquam fimilitudinem non haberent earum re-
rum quarum ſunt facramenta, omnino facramenta non effent. Si-
militudo autem hæc Cænæ Dominicæ triplex eft. Prima conſiſtit
in alitione, vide Rabanum, Cyp. Aug. Irenæum, & planiffimè.
Ifiodorum ex Bertramo. II. In compoſitione multorum in unum ex
Cyp. III. Eft diffimilis fimilitudo, ubi ficut panis tranfit in corpus
noftrum, ita nos per legitimum-ulum hujus facramenti, per fidem
tranfimus in corpus Chriſti. Dicta patrum, quòd fit tropica & fi
gurativa locutio, Origenes, Tertull. Chryfoft. in opere imperfec-
to, Aug. Ambr.. Bafil. Greg. Naz. Hilar.. & omnium clariffimè
Bertramus
facramen.
Diata
patrum.
}
PRÆFATIO ET PROTESTATIO:
Bertramus contra tranſfubftantiationem militant. Infuper omnium
patrum dicta & loca, quorum nomina fuprà recenfuimus, contra
aſſertionem primæ propofitionis : fed omnium clariſſimè & eviden-
tiſſimè Irenæus, Orig. Cyp. Chryfoft. ad Cæſarium monachum,
Aug. contra Adimantum, Gelaſius, Cyrill. Epiph. iterum Chry-
ſoft. in Matth. xx. Rabanus, Damafcenus, Bertramus ſcripſerunt.
Hîc vos viri venerabiles, domine Proloquutor, & vos reliqui
Commiſſarii, rogatos velim, uti cognoſcere dignemini, me non
folùm niti eis ſolis quæ hactenus fcripfi in meis ſuperioribus reſpon-
fionibus et confirmationibus : fed habere quoque per meam ſen-
tentiam confirmanda, quæcunque fcripfit Bertramus, vir doctus &
orthodoxus, quique in hanc uſque ætatem noftram jam ſeptingen-
tis annis ſemper eſt habitus catholicus, cujus tractatum quicunque
legerit ac perpenderit, conſiderans ætatem ſcriptoris, eruditionem,
fan&imoniam, veterum allegationes, & rationes illius multiplices
& ſolidas, nihil aliud profectò quàm mirari poſſum, fi quiſquam .
timentium Deum, pofſit ei in negotio Euchariſtiæ falva conſcien-
tia contradicere. Hic mihi primus aurem vulfit, et à pervulgato
eccleſiæ Romanenſis errore, ad diligentiorem Scripturæ et veterum
eccleſiaſticorum ſcriptorum hac in re inveſtigationem primus ire
coegit, et hæc loquor coram Deo, qui ſcit me in his quæ jam dico.
non mentiri.
TERTIA PROPOSITIO.
In miſſa eſt vivificum eccleſiæ facrificium pro peccatis tam vivo..
rum quàm mortuorum propitiabile.
RESPONSIO.
Ad 111. fimiliter, ut ad primam refpondeo, atque in ſuper dico...
eam in ſenſu quæ verba videntur præ ſe ferre, non folum eſſe erro-
neam, ſed adeò quoque eſſe mortis et paſſionis Chriſti derogati-
vam,
686)
PRÆFATIO ET PROTESTATIO,
vam, ut non immeritò (mea quidem fententia) in preciofiffimum
fanguinem Chriſti Servatoris blaſphema cenferi et poffit et debeat.
EXPLICATIO.
De Miffa Romanenfi, quæ hodie extat, aut ejus vivifico facrifi-
cio propitiabili pro peccatis vivorum et mortuorum, univerſa facra
Scriptura ne gry quidem habet. Ambigitur etiam de Miſſæ nomi-
ne, quid fignificet, et an hodie ulla, qualis fuit veterum verè ha-
beatur, cùm nulli aut catechumeni aut pænitentes emittantur.
Item, de illis verbis (vivifico eccleſiæ facrificio) ambigitur an intel-
ligantur tropicè et ſacramentaliter pro vivifici facrificii facramento,
quomodo in Cæna Dominica non negatur adeffe, an propriè et ci-
tra omnem tropum, quomodo unicum tantùm fuit, idque ſemel
oblatum, videlicet in ara crucis. Præterea in illis verbis (tam,
quàm) ambiguum effe poteſt, utrùm in ſenſu dicantur ludicro, quo
dici folet per jocum de prorſus inepto : qui fit aptus tam moribus.
quàm fcientia. Et in verbo propitiabili dubitatur, an idem fit hîc
quod propitiatorium & expiatorium, an quod poteſt reddi propi-
tium, hoc eſt, utrùm activè an paffivè capiatur. Falſitas autem
in ſenſu quem verba præ fe ferre videntur,
ſe ferre videntur, hæc eft, quoniam
illi ſuo innixi tranſſubſtantiationis fundamento ponunt vinum et
animatum corpus carnis Chriſti unitum divinitati deliteſcere ſub ac-
cidentibus panis & vini, quod eft falſum, uti ſuprà dictum eſt. Et
ſuperſtruentes ſuper hoc fundamentum, dicunt etiam illud corpus
offerri Deo à facerdoto in ſuis quotidianis Miffis, ad expiandum
peccata vivorum, & mortuorum. Cùm ex Epiſt. ad Hæbr. patet
unicam effe oblationem, & unicum verè vivificum ſacrificium Ec-
clefiæ oblatum in ara crucis, quod fuit, eft & erit imperpetuum
propitiatio pro peccatis totius mundi : & ubi eſt horum remiffio,
ibi non eſt amplius (inquit ille) pro peccatis oblatio.
Cap. 7.
RESPONSIONIS
PRÆFATIO ET PROTESTATI O.
687
RESPONSIONIS DATÆ CONFIRMATIO.
1. Ubi non eſt facerdos idoneus ad offerendum facrificium propi-
tiabile, ibi tale facrificium offerri non poteſt, ſed nullus eſt ido-
neus facerdos præter unicum Chriſtum, ergo tale facrificium in
quotidianis miſlis à facerdotibus offerri non poteſt : pbatur minor. Heb. 5.
Officium offerendi grandis eſt honos, ſed nemo debet ſumere ſibi
honorem, niſi qui vocatur à Deo : nemo autem huc vocatus eſt,
præter unum Chriſtum ſervatorem : ergo nemo illud præter
unum Chriſtum offerre poteſt, quod nemo præter unum Chriſtum
ad hunc honoris gradum vocatus fit, hinc patet : duplex eſt tan-
tùm ordo facerdotii probatus in verbo Dei, fecundum Aaron videli-
cet, & fecundum ordinem Melchifedec. Unicus eft tantùm facere
dos Chriſtus Dominus, facerdotium habens útepúbarev. 2. Cujus nulla Heb. , -
eft neceffitas ut fiat, fruftra fit : fed nulla eft neceffitas offerendi Heb. 9.
amplius ſacrificiun propitiatorium pro vivis & mortuis : nam id
Chriftus Servator noiter feinel abundè perfecit & explevit : ergo ſi
in Mifta id fiat, fruſtra fit. 3. Poſtquam inventa eſt æterna redemp-
tio, non opus eft amplius quotidiana oblatione : at Chriſtus accedens Hebr.
Pontifex, &c. æternam nobis invenit redemptionem, ergo non
opus eſt amplius quotidiana oblatione pro peccatis vivorum & mor- Heb. 9
tuorum expiandis. 4. Abſque fanguinis effuſione non fit remiſſio :
ſed in Miſſa non eſt fanguinis effuſio, ergo in Miffa non fit remiſ-
fio: & per conſequens neque facrificium propitiabile. 5. In Miffa non
eſt Chriſti paffio in veritate, fed in fignificante myſterio, etiam ubi
Cena Dominica legitimè peragitur : fed ubi Chriſtus non eſt paſſus,
ibi
neque
in veritate eſt oblatus. Ait enim Apoftolus : Non ut fæ-
pius ſemetipſum offerat, alioqui oportuiſſet ipfum ſæpius paffum
fuiffe a condito mundo. Ubi autem Chriftus non offertur, ibi non
eft facrificium propitiabile, ergo in Miffa non eſt facrificium prop:-
tiabile : nam Chriftus femel fub confummationem fæculorum ad
profligationem peccatorum per immolationem fuiipfius apparuit. Et
quatenus
.
*.
A
1
688 PREFATIO ET PROTESTATI O.
Heb. 9.
quatenus illud manet omnes homines, ut ſemel moriantur, poft hoc
autem indicium : ita & Chriftus femel oblatus eſt, ut multorum
peccata: rollerét, rurfufque abſque peccato conſpicietur iis, qui illum
expectant in falutem. 6. Ubi eft hoftia quæ poteft accedentes perfec-
tos reddere, ibi definere debent homines amplius offerre hoftias
expiatorias & topitiatorias : ſed ſub novo Teſtamento eſt unica
Heb. 10. hoftia jampridem oblata, quæ poteſt perfectos in-æternum reddere
accedentes, ergo in novo Teftamento definendum eft ab hoftiis ex-
piatoriis offerendis. In eundem ſenſum & ſententiam tendunt ma-
nifeftiffimè loca Scripturarum quæ fequuntur : unde & manifeſtir-
fima argumenta formari poſſunt, videlicet per quam voluntatem
(inquit Apoft.) fanctificati ſumus, per oblationem corporis Jeſu
Chriſti ſemel peractam. Et ibidem. Hæc verò una pro peccatis ob-
lata victima, perpetuò fedet ad dexteram Dei, &c. Unica enim
oblatione perfectos imperpetuum fecit eos qui fanctificantur, per
ſemetipſum facta purgatione peccatorum. Obſecro vos notate ver-
bum (ſemetipſum) quod bene notatum dirimit proculdubio univer-
fam controverſiam. Negat ille planè ei qui ſanguinem Teſtamenti,
per quem fuit ipſe ſanctificatus, conculcaverit, reliquam effe hof-
tiam. Non vult iterum Chriftus crucifigi, non vult mortem fuam
ludibrio exponi. Et ad Colo. I. Reconciliavit nos in corpore car-
nis füæ (obſervate obſecro) non dicit in myfterio corporis, fed in
corpore carnis fuæ.
Et i Joa. Ir. Siquis peccaverit, advocatum
habemus, &c. Scio hæc omnia Scripturarum loca deludi à quibuf-
dam duplici commento : alterum eſt per diſtinctionem de facrificio
cruento & incruento, quafi verò noftrum facrificium incruentum
Eccleſiæ aliud eſſet, quàm gratiarum actio, quàm illius unici cru-
.enti ſemel peracti commemoratio, annuntiatio, & ſacramentalis re-
præſentatio. Alterum commentum eſt, depravant orthodoxorum
patrum dicta ad intellectum alienum, quem ipfi patres nunquam
ſenſerunt. Quid autem patres ſenſerint, manifeftè patet ex Au-
guftino
1
- 4
PRÆFATIO ET PROTEST A TI O.
689
guſtino in epiftola ad Bonifacium, & cả. Lxxxv. lib. ix. contra
Fauſtum Manichæum, & in aliis locis quamplurimis. Ex Euſebio,
Emiſfeno, Cypriano, Chryſoſtomo, Fulgentio, Bertramo, & aliis,
quorum omnium proculdubio hæc eft unanimis concorſque in Do-
mino ſententia, videlicet quòd indefeffa currit pro falute hominis
redemptio perpetua, quæ femel facta eſt in veritate, quòd hoſtia ſea
mel oblata conſumi non poteſt, quòd tam potens eſt illa Chriſti paſ-
fio, tam recens virtus & vigor illius femel effuſi cruoris hodie ad
ablutionem peccatorum, quàm fuit illo eodem die, cùm ex benedic-
to Chriſti Servatoris latere effluxit : quòdque omnis facrificii noſtri
ratio, quæ in Cæna Dominica in Eccleſia frequentatur, conſiſtit in
orationibus, laude, & gratiarum actione, in recordatione & annun-
ciatione illius ſemel in ara crucis oblati facrificii, ut jugiter colere-
tur per myſterium, quod femel duntaxat & non amplius offerebatur
in pretium. Hæc ſunt viri venerabiles, domine Proloquutor, &
reliqui domini Commiſſarii, quæ ad veftras tres propoſitas propo-
fitiones reſpondere nunc potui in hac confiliorum inopia, & præſi-
dio librorum deftitutus, quamobrem provoco ad meam primam
proteſtationem, cujus auxilium quantum licet, poftulo mihi non
denegari. Et quoniam nuper à vobis fententia eft lata in me mul-
tis nominibus injuſta & iniqua : equidem (quatenus mihi licet) ab
eadem appello æquiorem, juſtioremque juſti alicujus judicis ſupe-
rioris competentis & legitimi cenſuram & judicium, idque juxta
ftatum approbatum Ecclefiæ Anglicanæ, licet quis jam is fit prop-
ter mutationem ſtatus reipublicæ, fateor me ignorare. Cujuſmodi
judicium fi mihi in terris non detur habere, tunc tanquam ad ſa-
cram ancoram & unicunı ſalutis meæ portum, confugio ad fenten-
tiam æterni judicis, hoc eſt, omnipotentis Dei, cujus in ſuos mi-
ſericordiffimæ juftitiæ & juftiffimæ miſericordiæ totaliter me meam-
que univerfam cauſam judicandam committo, nihil deſperans de
patrocinio advocati & unici Servatoris mei Jeſu Chriſti, cui cum
Patre fempiterno, & Spiritu ſancto omnium fanctificatore, fit nunc
& in æternum, omnis honor & gloria. Amen.
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Ridley
The life of Dr.
Nicholas Ridley..........
1763.
•
027248
ne Whitel
maith cu
Atin
the Olivia
B 474826