THE MAKING OF THE 
 
 ENGLAND OF ELIZABETH 
 
 ALLEN B. HINDS, B.A. 
 
 SCHOLAR OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD. STANHOPE ESSAY 1892 
 
 RIVINGTON, PERCIVAL & CO. 
 
 KING STREET, COVENT GARDEN 
 
 LONDON 
 
 1895 
 

 
 
 REESE 
 
 /J^oof 
 
PREFACE 
 
 In offering this little book to the public, I will not venture 
 to apologize for its numerous shortcomings and faults, of 
 which I am but too painfully conscious. I dare to hope that 
 it may be found to throw some additional light upon an 
 important period of our national history. This work has 
 been compiled almost exclusively from original materials and 
 contemporary documents. Although most of these are printed 
 and readily accessible, yet surprisingly little use has been made 
 of them. As it has been thought unadvisable to overcharge 
 the text with notes, some account of these authorities may not 
 be out of place in this preface. 
 
 The material for Chapters II. and III. has been almost 
 entirely drawn from a book, published anonymously, entitled 
 "A Brieff Discourse of the Troubles begun at Frankfort." 
 This first appeared in 1564, having been published with a 
 controversial purpose. The author claims to be impartial, but 
 his bias towards the Puritans is absolutely unmistakable. 
 Although his name has never appeared on the title-page of his 
 book, it is fairly clear, from internal evidence, that he was none 
 other than William Whittingham himself. From this source 
 
iv Preface. 
 
 the Church historians, Fuller, HejUn, aud ColUer, have all 
 drawn their information. Naturally they look upon the 
 events from a different standpoint, and it is no small tribute 
 to Whittingham's veracity, that they are able to do so without 
 in the least adding to or taking away from his narrative. 
 
 The edition of which I have made use is one published at 
 London in 1827. The pagination of the original edition has 
 been preserved. In the modest but valuable preface are 
 quoted the arguments in favour of Whittingham's authorship, 
 together with an interesting passage from Calderwood's History 
 relating the history of Knox's departure from Frankfort in the 
 Reformer's own words. Of this passage I have made a free use 
 on pp. 27-29 . 
 
 To correct and supplement the "Troubles at Frankfort" 
 there remains, unfortunately, but very little. The four volumes 
 of Zurich letters (Parker Society) are sm^prisingly reticent on 
 the subject, though the self-exculpatory letters of Cox and White- 
 head to Calvin (p. 31) are of great interest and importance. 
 The two latter volumes contain letters relating to the life of 
 the exiles at Zurich (p. 44), and some few particulars of their 
 return home on hearing the news of Mary's death. Strype, in 
 his Memorials, has preserved an interestmg letter of Fox (p. 23). 
 The anonymous " Life of Whittingham " (Camden Society) 
 contains practically nothing about the exile, but it gives a few 
 particulars of the Dean's flight from England, as well as of the 
 translation of the Bible. McCrie's " Life of Knox," like the 
 rest of the later authorities, adds nothing to the information 
 given by the contemporary writers. 
 
 For the history of the Church at Geneva I am chiefly 
 
Preface. v 
 
 indebted to the article "Versions" in the late Dr. Smith's 
 " Dictionary of the Bible," to an edition of the " Breeches " 
 Bible in my possession, to Dr. Grote's "Dictionary of Music" 
 (Old Hundredth), and to Strype's " Life of Grindal." A rare 
 pamphlet, entitled " Livre des Anglois a Geneva," contains a 
 list of all the members of this Church, the dates of their 
 admission, the names of the office-bearers, and a register of 
 births, marriages, and deaths. It is enriched by some valuable 
 notes by Mr. J. S. Burn, dealing with the history of the 
 principal persons mentioned in it. The " Troubles at Frank- 
 fort " is again of the greatest value. 
 
 Diplomatic sources contribute to form almost the whole of 
 Chapter IV. They are contained in the Calendars of State 
 Papers published by the Master of the Rolls, in the " Ambassades 
 de Noailles," and in some letters of De Selva, published by 
 Ribier. Of the English Calendars by far the most important 
 is that entitled "Mary, 1553-8: Foreign." It contains the 
 whole of the correspondence between the English Ambassador 
 in France, Dr. "Wotton, and the English Court. Very little 
 seems to have escaped Wotton's observation, and his letters are 
 full of the doings of Carew, of the Killigrews, Staifords, and 
 Henry Dudley. He supplies us with a complete exposure of 
 the plots of the exiles and of King Henry II.'s secret dealings 
 with them. The " Ambassades de Noailles," as pubHshed by 
 the Abbe Vertot, show no trace of this. They, indeed, make 
 mention of Mary's anger at the harbouring of rebels in France ; 
 they contain Xoailles's bland assurances that this really was 
 not the case ; and nothing more. To judge by this plausible 
 correspondence, one might conclude that no persons were more 
 
 a 3 
 
vi Preface. 
 
 innocent than Henry and his ambassador, and that the reports 
 of Wotton and the anger of Mary merely proceeded from a 
 disordered imagination. Fortunately, I have come across a 
 supplement to this correspondence, that throws quite another 
 light on the subject. 
 
 At the Ministere des Aifaires Etrangeres at Paris are two 
 vohimes, labelled respectively " Angleterre 14 (1553-6)," and 
 " Memoires et Documents, Espagne, 229." The former volume 
 contains nothing but copies, for the original letters of Xoailles 
 perished, I believe, in the fires of the Commune. This 
 collection does not represent the material used by the Abbe 
 Yertot, and many passages are but excerpts. In the absence 
 of any indication as to their origin, it seems to me that they 
 may have been cut out from the manuscripts of Abbe Yertot 's 
 book as matter unfit for publication. This supposition is some- 
 what strengthened by the fact that each page is crossed out in 
 black pencil. 
 
 The extracts begin in February, 1553, and continue till 
 May, 1554. There is then a break until November, 1556, bub 
 the remaining notes are scattered, though they describe some 
 interesting episodes — the invasion of Stafford, his speech on the 
 scaffold (p. 100), and Mary's state of fear and unrest (p. 111). 
 The letters dealing with Carew are the most interesting, and 
 coffipletely justify all Wotton's reports. It is only too evident 
 that King Henry and his ambassador were conspiring to 
 hoodwink the English Government. 
 
 The Spanish documents are of a less striking nature. 
 They consist mainly of copies from the correspondence of 
 Charles Y. and Philip with Renard. As far as the English 
 
Preface. vii 
 
 exiles are concerned, the Spanish ambassador evidently owes 
 his information to Wotton. Many of those letters are printed 
 in the Granvelle Papers. Among these copies is one original that 
 calls for special notice. It relates the arrival of several 
 English refugees in France, and goes on to describe the reception 
 of Carew at the French Court (p. 73). I should be completely 
 at a loss were I called upon to classify this extraordinary 
 paper as a diplomatic document. 
 
 By far the most interesting of all the materials with which 
 I have had to deal are the Venetian State Papers. Less stiff 
 and formal than most of the diplomatic correspondence, they 
 seem instinct with life, and afford a most vivid picture of the 
 period with which they deal. For the years 1553-8, within 
 which my subject is included, there are two volumes, numbered 
 Y. and YL, the latter in three parts. They contain the 
 despatches of the Yenetian ambassadors in England during 
 this time— of Soranzo (till Aug., 1554), of Michiel (Aug., 1554- 
 May, 1557), and of Surian (April, 1557, to the end), as well as 
 Soranzo's letters from France, to which country he went as 
 ambassador on leaving England. There are several letters of 
 Cardinal Pole, and two interesting communications from 
 Annibale Litolfi. 
 
 These papers contain very little about Carew, but abound 
 with information on the raids of the pirates, on Dudley's plots, 
 and on the invasion of Stafford. They give the only account 
 we have of the defeat of Peter Killigrew in the Channel 
 (p. 82). 
 
 The other authorities were merely supplementary. De 
 Selva's correspondence (Ribier, Paris, 1666) serves to illustrate 
 
viii Preface. 
 
 the alarm felt by France at the proposed marriage of Philip 
 and Mary, and her intention to do her utmost to prevent it. 
 The Calendars of State Papers, Domestic, 1547-1603, Addenda, 
 for nearly the same period, and Acts of the Privy Council, 
 supply a few facts here and there. Machyn's Diary is exceed- 
 ingly disappointing, and gives little more than the names of 
 those executed for entering Scarborough. Vowel's " Life of 
 Carew," edited by Maclean, and the same work in vol. xxviii. 
 of the " Archseologia," both pass over the period of exile in a few 
 lines, and claim the complete innocence of their hero. The 
 other authorities for the period are even less satisfactory. I 
 have searched Lingard, Sharon Turner, Godwin, Tytler, in 
 vain. Griffet's " Nouveaux Eclaircissements sur I'Histoire de 
 Marie " (Amsterdam, 1766) are simply culled from the 
 " Ambassades de Xoailles." 
 
 For Chapter Y. I am again chiefly indebted to the Venetian 
 ambassadors. Supplementary authorities have been Strype's 
 " Memorials " for Plowden, the " Chronicle of Queen Jane and 
 Queen Mary " (Camden Society), and Cobbett's " Parliamentary 
 History." In every part of this work I have made use of the 
 " Dictionary of National Biography," and my only regret has 
 been that more volumes were not published. 
 
 In a subject of this kind, much labour has necessarily been 
 thrown away. Besides fruitless searchings in the royal 
 correspondence at the Bibliotheque Rationale, Paris, and in the 
 royal accounts at the Archives Nationales, of the same city, I 
 have waded through the voluminous works of Jewel, Grindal, 
 Fox, and Becon, in the vain hope of finding something bearing 
 on my subject. 
 
Preface. ix 
 
 In conclusion, I cannot but express my gratitude to all 
 librarians, both English and foreign, with whom it has been 
 my good fortune to come into contact. But in a very special 
 manner my thanks are due to Mr. Arthur Hassall, Student and 
 Tutor of Christ Church, not only for the encouragement he 
 has given me in the preparation of this book, but for the 
 cheerful way in which he accepted the arduous task of revising 
 dull and uninteresting proof-sheets. 
 
 ALLEX B. HINDS. 
 
 December, 1894. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 r'HAI'TER rAOE 
 
 I. Introduction 1 
 
 II. The TRorBLEs at Frankfout 6 
 
 III. The Troubles at Frankfort — (Continued) .... 47 
 
 IV. The Exiles in France 68 
 
 V. The New Spirit in P^ngland 105 
 
 VI. Conclusion 134 
 
 Index 147 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTIOX. 
 
 There is no period of our history to which Englishmen look 
 back with so much satisfaction as the reign of Elizabeth, 
 and no other of which we may be more justly proud. In 
 every branch of the national life to which we turn we meet 
 with the same characteristics which serve to distinguish the 
 epoch. The whole nation seems rejuvenated, the men of 
 the time seem to live in an atmosphere of joy and of unusual 
 exuberance. Liberty, contentment, an intense patriotism 
 and a loyalty amounting almost to a passion, reign every- 
 where. 
 
 What, however, is more striking than even this ex- 
 travagant joyfulness, this youthful delight in living and 
 breathing, is its sudden appearance at a time when, accord- 
 ing to all outward appearances, it might least have been 
 expected. A more unlikely prologue to the glories of Eliza- 
 beth could scarcely be found than the reigns of her sickly 
 brother and of her bigoted and infatuated sister. Henry 
 YIII. had indeed aspired to be the arbiter between the two 
 great sovereigns of the Continent, but in this ambition he 
 had undoubtedly failed. Under the nominal government of 
 Edward VI. the nation proved incapable of maintaining its 
 dignity abroad. Under Mary England was in very real 
 danger of sinking into a Spanish province, and towards the 
 end of her reign, Calais, the great outlet for our commerce, 
 
 B 
 
2 Inglorioiis reigns of Edzvard and Mary. 
 
 and the reputed key of the country, fell into the hands of the 
 French. At home the condition of affairs was hardly better. 
 Under Edward the country was ruled by a coterie of Pro- 
 testants, while under Mary it was the prey of a clique of 
 Catholics, neither party considering anything but their own 
 interests, and determined to ruin or to rule the state. Two 
 Venetian ambassadors, men renowned for acute and accurate 
 observation, have left us detailed descriptions of our country 
 and of the manners of Englishmen during the second quarter 
 of the sixteenth century. They agree in describing the mass 
 of the people as restless, impatient of control, and ready to 
 revolt. Less than fifty years before the exploits of Drake and 
 the appearance of the works of Spenser and Shakespeare, 
 Soranzo writes that the EngHsh have no taste for war or for 
 literature ! After such a declaration it is hardly necessary to 
 insist further on this very remarkable contrast. A more 
 profitable task will be to examine, as far as possible, the causes 
 which combined to produce a change so startling and so 
 complete. In the following pages it will be my object to show, 
 as far as I may, how the reign of Elizabeth was prepared under 
 the government of her predecessors, and to what extent the 
 glories of her age were due to the tribulations that had 
 preceded. 
 
 In the matter of religion, it has been freely admitted on 
 aU sides that EUzabeth profited by a reaction from the cruelties 
 of Mary, which enabled her to found a strong Protestant 
 Church with the consent of the large majority of Englishmen. 
 Incontestable as this may seem to be, it is not the whole truth. 
 The reaction extended into other things, and not only this, but 
 reaction itself explains but a small part of the difficulty. The 
 elements of opposition to Mary, forced to take refuge abroad, 
 had there become profoundly modified, while their fundamental 
 hatred for the principles of the government which had exiled 
 them became stronger and more bitter. It is therefore among 
 those who fled for their lives on the accession of Mary that we 
 
Introduction. 3 
 
 must look for the germs of those characteristics which serve 
 to distinguish the reign of Elizabeth. 
 
 If we ask what were those features which chiefly strike us 
 in the England of Elizabeth, and which we do not find under 
 her predecessors, it seems that they may be classified under 
 three heads. Of these perhaps the most important is the 
 settlement of the Church effected by the queen herself. Eliza- 
 beth was determined to enforce outward uniformity in religion, 
 and, whatever else she had in view, this was her chief aim. 
 But the mere fact of defining the limits of the Established 
 Church, shut many men, who had strong opinions of their own, 
 outside its pale. A large number of Roman Catholics refused 
 to acknowledge the queen as Supreme Head of the Chm'ch, 
 and continued to look to the Pope as their spiritual chief. On 
 the other hand, many Protestants did not think the reforma- 
 tion in England had been carried far enough, wished for more 
 simplicity in the forms of worship, and denounced the new 
 Church as an unholy compromise with the Papists. 
 
 Of hardly less consequence in the annals of the reign is the 
 sudden appearance of the peculiar but effective maritime 
 activity of those licensed rovers and freebooters — the sea-dogs 
 whose activity culminated gloriously in the irregular running 
 fight in the Channel known as the defeat of the Spanish 
 Armada. 
 
 Finally, to complete the period, as it were, to hand on 
 its life and colour to posterity, we have the great literary 
 movement, including among its worthies such giants as Spenser, 
 Bacon, and Shakespeare. 
 
 But in the midst of these various manifestations of national 
 energy were sentiments pervading them all which gave unity 
 to them and strength to the country. Although Roman 
 Catholics and Puritans might seem to be in opposition to the 
 laws, because they would not accept the Establishment ; 
 although the sea-dogs might appear to be no better than 
 lawless pirates, obnoxious to all governments ; and although 
 
4 Loyalty and Patriotism under Elizabeth. 
 
 great literary activity is generally a sign of great liberty, if 
 not licence, of thought, joined with an impatience of control ; 
 yet, in spite of the union of all these sentiments ordinarily so 
 hostile to sovereignty, we find no outburst of rebellion, and 
 no hatred of the government. On the contrary, the one 
 sentiment that animated all Englishmen in those days, irre- 
 spective of creed or calling, was an intense love for their 
 country, and a profound loyalty for their queen. A Puritan 
 bishop, enjoined to carry out customs distasteful to him, 
 grumbled but obeyed ; a pirate, scolded for his excesses, and 
 denounced to his enemies, found the means to force the hand 
 of the Queen and aid her in spite of herself ; and a zealous 
 pamphleteer, mutilated for writing too freely, could cry out 
 " God save the Queen " immediately after the execution of the 
 sentence. In the higher literature of the time the passionate 
 feeling of patriotism finds expression, joined with a proud 
 feeling of independence and power, of which many examples 
 might be quoted from Shakespeare — 
 
 " Come the three corners of the world in arms, 
 And we shall shock them : None shall make us rue, 
 If England to itself do rest but true." 
 
 Of the three features which I have ventured to indicate as 
 characteristic of the reign of Elizabeth, the literary movement 
 is so completely a child of the time, and at once its expression 
 and outcome, that it may be dismissed very summarily. 
 
 It would appear as if in England, contrary to that which 
 had happened elsewhere, the Reform preceded the Eenaissance. 
 The wonderful outburst of wit in the reign of Elizabeth was 
 due to a wise and prosperous government, which though not 
 unmolested by serious difficulties, won additional lustre from 
 having successfully encountered them. In other countries 
 the rulers had usually taken up letters with eagerness only to 
 be the more embittered against the reform which operated in 
 spite of them, and most frequently against their interests. In 
 England the Reform had been taken up by the sovereign, and 
 
Introduction. 5 
 
 carried through with a careful regard at least for legal forms 
 and observances. The Renaissance therefore proceeded like 
 the kindred and stronger movement, and, with such legal 
 and regular traditions, it was natural that it should be loyal 
 and patriotic. 
 
 For the other and more important features of the reign it 
 is necessary to seek an explanation in events which took 
 place during the reign of Mary. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT. 
 
 AVhex Edward YI. died the religious question was far from 
 being settled. Throughout his reign the Protestants had 
 shown great activity, they had endeavoured to fit the creed of 
 the nation to the bed of their own dogmas, and they had 
 provided their new Church with a definite belief and cere- 
 monial. But their position was a precarious one. They formed 
 but a small minority in a nation in the main hostile to innova- 
 tion, and they owed their power solely to the support of the 
 government. Their isolation must have served to keep them 
 outwardly united ; but even the pressure of opposition could 
 not altogether disguise the fact that the Reformers were 
 divided among themselves, and even before the accession of 
 Mary serious disputes had arisen on the question of ceremonial 
 observances. On the Continent the doctrines of Luther, 
 Calvin, and Zwingle all differed considerably, and by the com- 
 pilation of the Prayer-book yet another system, differing from 
 each of the others, was established. 
 
 From very early times the Universities had become the 
 centres of the reforming movement. It was there that the 
 chief reformers were stationed, and there they lodged and 
 entertained those foreigners who assisted them in establishing 
 the new doctrines in England. 
 
 At Oxford the chief of the English reformers was the 
 Dean of Christ Church, one Dr. Richard Cox, who for six 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. 7 
 
 years (1547-1552) had been Chancellor of the University. 
 During his term of office he had shown unbounded zeal in the 
 destruction of everything* that seemed to savour of popery. 
 So great, indeed, was his activity, that the wits of the time, 
 making a slight alteration in his title, dubbed him the " Can- 
 cellor." His work, however, had by no means been entirely 
 destructive. He had taken a more prominent part in the 
 work of reconstruction than many of the Reformers, and had 
 been a leading member of the Commissions which had drawn 
 up and revised the English Prayer-book in 1548 and 1552. 
 
 Round the Dean of Christ Church were gathered many 
 men of similar faith and opinions — Dr. La^vi'ence Humphrey 
 of Magdalen College, Thomas Bentham of Magdalen, Chiis- 
 topher Goodman of Brasenose, Jewel and Cole of Corpus, 
 together with many others of less importance and notoriety. 
 
 At the sister University of Cambridge the Reformation 
 movement had gone even further, and amongst the prominent 
 Protestants resident there we may notice Gilby, Lever, 
 Pilkington, and Percival Wiburne, who afterwards made a 
 reputation for themselves as sturdy Puritans. 
 
 It may well be imagined that the accession of Mary was 
 viewed with the greatest consternation by the little knot of 
 Reformers. The daughter of Catherine of Aragon was known 
 to be an ardent Catholic, and her antipathy to the new 
 doctrines had been increased by an unworthy persecution she 
 had suffered during the reign of her brother. The hopes of a 
 Protestant government under Queen Jane were finally dissipated 
 by July, 1553, and the Reformers, who could expect no favom- 
 from the triumphant queen, could only hope that they might 
 be allowed to rest unmolested. At first, indeed, it seemed as 
 if they would not be deceived. Mary, holding her rival and 
 principal supporters safely locked up in the Tower, thought 
 it none the less advisable to make some attempt to conciliate 
 and appease the agitated minds of her subjects. On the 18th 
 of August she issued a proclamation declaring that she would 
 
8 Marfs Seventy. 
 
 molest no one for religion " until such time as a farther order, 
 by common consent, might be taken therein." 
 
 More than this the Eeformers could not possibly expect ; 
 but the appearance was delusive, and the Queen did not keep 
 her promise. Only two days after the above-mentioned pro- 
 clamation Gardiner was directed to enforce the observance of 
 the statutes in the University of Cambridge, while Sir John 
 Mansone received a similar commission for Oxford. The 
 Bishop of Winchester, spurred by the memory of his wrongs, 
 was likely to execute this mandate in no sparing mamier, while 
 his colleague would undoubtedly follow his example in the sister 
 University. But Gardiner did not leave Oxford to the tender 
 mercies of Mansone, and before long he presented himself at 
 Magdalen College for the purpose of ejecting thence its heretical 
 head and fellows. Even worse was to foUow. In September 
 the hand of the queen was laid upon the bishops, who were 
 deprived, and many of them cast into prison. The same fate 
 awaited the sturdy Dean of Cln-ist Church. Already those who 
 could fled the country, and by November William Whittingham, 
 one of the Oxford Protestants, had safely crossed to France. 
 From this time onwards the stream of exiles continued to flow, 
 and as no particular precautions were taken to stop them, their 
 number must have been considerable, reaching, according to 
 Burnet's estimate, from eight hundred to a thousand souls. 
 This can hardly be an exaggeration, for the number of 
 chm'ches founded by them on the Continent was far from 
 inconsiderable. With the Englishmen thus banished from 
 their country were to be seen those foreigners who had rendered 
 such notable assistance towards the foundation of the reformed 
 Church in England, and they must have considered that a 
 happy chance which decided the government to expel them 
 from the kingdom rather than detain them in it for the purpose 
 of jDersecuting them. 
 
 In the choice of a place of refuge, the exiles must have 
 experienced much embarrassment. Most of them crossed to 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. g 
 
 France, as being the country nearest to our shores. But France 
 could offer them no home. Her king, Henry II., was a 
 CathoHc of the Catholics, noted above all for his zeal for 
 reUgion, and his detestation of the Protestants. Fortunately 
 the Empire was likely to prove more hospitable. By his 
 victory over the Schmalkalde League in 1547 it had indeed 
 seemed as if the Emperor Charles Y. had finally subdued Pro- 
 testantism. But the sudden volte face of Maurice of Saxony 
 not only completely destroyed the fruits of this success, but won 
 for the Protestants a position in the Empire which they had 
 not enjoyed up to that time. At the moment when the English 
 exiles were seeking a home, the temporary Peace of Passau had 
 already been concluded, Avhile negotiations for a more per- 
 manent settlement had already begun. The most important 
 result of tliis state of affairs was that the Protestant states of 
 Germany were left free in the exercise of their religion. Of 
 these states, the English exiles preferred those lying along i the 
 Ehine, such cities as Wesel, Frankfort, Strasburg, and Basle, 
 which had already offered their hospitality to those French Pro- 
 testants who had fled from the persecutions of their sovereigns. 
 
 Besides these homes of refuge, there were many places in 
 Switzerland which enjoyed a notable reputation in the history 
 of Protestantism. Of these the most important was undoubtedly 
 Geneva, a city completely transformed by the government of 
 Calvin, and which might weU be considered the metropolis of 
 the reformed religion. Hardly less than Geneva, Zurich had 
 played a prominent part in the development of Protestantism, 
 and under Zwingle its inhabitants had endeavoured to set up 
 a system of their own. Though this effort had ended in 
 failure, yet the city remained steadily faithful to the new 
 doctrines. In 1554 it offered peculiar attractions to the exiled 
 Englishmen, on account of the presence of BuUinger, who had 
 chosen Zurich as his home. 
 
 Such were the principal cities in which the exiles established 
 their settlements in the winter of 1553-1554. Their position 
 
10 Settlement of the Exiles. 
 
 cannot have been a very enviable one. Most of tbem were 
 ecclesiastics, whose chief source of revenue was the benefice 
 which they held. When this had been taken from them they 
 were left almost destitute. Even those who possessed private 
 means, were hardly more fortunate, especiaUy those whose 
 property was in land. The home government, which had not 
 made any very great efforts to prevent the emigration, showed 
 itself exceedingly hostile to the exiles, whom it suspected of 
 treason against itself, and it did its utmost to prevent any 
 supplies being sent to them by their friends and sympathizers 
 in England. Gardiner, who had suffered persecution at their 
 hands, showed himself inexorable towards them, and swore that 
 they should eat the tips off their fingers for very hunger. 
 
 Happily for the exiles none of them were reduced to such 
 straits. In the majority of the cities to which they went they 
 were well received by the authorities, although it is true that a 
 congregation established at Wesel under the care of Miles 
 Coverdale, was expelled by the Lutheran magistrates because 
 of their Calvinist sympathies. In spite of the vigilance of the 
 Queen's government supplies were regularly sent from England 
 to the wanderers, and the London merchants contrived to 
 convey money to them by making arrangements tlii'ough their 
 letters of exchange. Rich Englishmen among the exiles them- 
 selves readily shared their excess of wealth with their less 
 fortunate countrymen, and one Eichard Chambers, about whom 
 we shall have more to say later on, particularly distinguished 
 himself by his hberality, and to Jewel he is said to have made 
 a regular allowance. ^lany of the exiles eked out their means 
 by literary work, and several pamphlets were produced by them. 
 Others again increased their incomes by teaching, and at Zurich 
 Peter Martyr established a school, with Jewel for his assistant. 
 
 Evidently, therefore, the Enghsh exiles in the cities of the 
 Rhine and Switzerland had much for which they should have 
 been thankful, and they might well have lived in contentment 
 and happiness in the state in which they found themselves 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. ii 
 
 placed. Unfortunately they but imperfectly realized how good 
 and pleasant a thing it is for brethren to live together in unity. 
 Before long began those disgraceful and unnecessary quarrels 
 among them which, but for their important bearing on 
 subsequent events, we might wish to be forgotten and erased 
 from the pages of liistory. 
 
 Towards the end of June, 1554, William Whittingham, 
 having passed through France, arrived at the ancient and 
 renowned city of Frankfort on Main with a few friends. His 
 coming seems to have been immediately communicated to the 
 colony of French refugees established in the place, for the same 
 night the Pastor of the Huguenot Church, one Valeran Pullan, 
 called upon the Englishmen in their lodgings, and told them 
 that he had already made preparations for their reception, and 
 that all Englishmen who fled from England for the sake of 
 religion might enter the French Chm'ch. To these overtures 
 Whittingham responded somewhat ungraciously that, as hardly 
 any of their number understood French, this would be of but 
 little service to them. After some discussion, however, a 
 memorial was drawn up and sent to the magistrates, asking 
 them to grant an asylum to all the English who might come 
 to Frankfort, it being understood that they should have the 
 permission to found a Church of their own. 
 
 As one of the most important of the free cities of Germany 
 Frankfort appears to have enjoyed a hberal and enlightened 
 government in the sixteenth century. The magistrates, of 
 whom the chief was one John Glauberg, made no difficulty 
 in granting the request of the English exiles, and gave the 
 required permission after an interval of no more than three 
 days. They were to share the same Church as the French 
 exiles, and to have the use of it on alternate days, while on 
 Sundays special hours were set apart for the rites of each 
 community. One condition only was exacted, and that rather 
 from a desire to prevent confusion than to impose any religious 
 test— it was that the English should conform to the French 
 
12 The Church at Frankfort. 
 
 doctrines and ceremonies, except in such cases where the 
 French themselves might think fit to allow them some liberty 
 of choice. As a matter of fact this proviso did not exercise 
 the least restriction upon the intentions of the English. 
 Indeed the vague terms of the decision, the difference of 
 language, and the indifference of the French made this 
 inevitable. Throughout the history of the English Church 
 at Frankfort we hardly find any fui'ther mention of the 
 Huguenots, and when Yaleran Pullan again aj)pears upon the 
 scene, it is as a peacemaker between the contending Enghsh 
 factions that he acts, and not in any way as a dictator of forms 
 and ceremonies. 
 
 For the moment, however, the condition imposed by the 
 magistrates and the inclinations of Whittingham combined to 
 form the character of the new Church about to be established. 
 Practically ah the French Protestants were Calvinists, and of a 
 very orthodox type, and it was to this joure Continental 
 communion rather than to the English modification that 
 Whittingham leaned. At the same time, in formulating a 
 discipline for the New Church, it was decided to take the 
 Prayer-book of 1552 as a basis, though all agreed that some 
 modifications were necessary. When, however, the commission 
 appointed for the purpose set to work to di'aw up the new 
 order, and to make the proposed alterations in the English 
 Book, it speedily became apparent that the " modification " 
 would be so considerable that but little of the original dis- 
 positions would remain unaltered. The Anglican service was 
 completely changed, and an order of worship substituted very 
 closely resembhng that adopted in French Calvinistic Churches 
 to-day, and therefore in all probability imitated from the 
 usages of the existing Huguenot congregation at Frankfort. 
 But, in addition, other alterations and excisions were made. 
 The Litany and Responses were entirely cut out, vestments 
 altogether abolished, and the Confession was altered "to 
 suit the place and time." In plain Enghsh' the Edwardian 
 
The Trotibles at Frankfort. 13 
 
 Prayer-book and its dispositions had been put aside at Frank- 
 fort to make way for a system altogether Calvinistic both in 
 form and spirit. 
 
 We do not know whether the new order received the 
 complete assent of all the English Protestants assembled in 
 Frankfort at that moment ; but in the absence of any evidence 
 to the contrary we may assume that this was the case. Even 
 if there were some who disagreed with the changes that had 
 been made, they did not, apparently, think it worth while to 
 object openly, and on the 29th of July, or little more than a 
 month after the arrival of Whittingham, the exiles chose a 
 Minister and Deacons to govern them, and entered their new 
 Church with great rejoicings. 
 
 So far all had gone well. The generosity of the magistrates 
 of the town, and the friendUness and complaisance of the 
 French community, had made the way singularly easy for the 
 exiles, and removed all difficulties from their path. If they 
 had only been content to remain as they were, and let well 
 alone, they might have continued to live peacefully in the 
 enjoyment of a lot far happier than is the share of most 
 exiles. 
 
 Unfortunately for their own peace, they did not rest 
 contented. They conceived the project of inviting all the 
 English abroad to come and live together with them, and so 
 form a united community. The idea would have been an 
 excellent one if only all the exiles had been of the same way of 
 thinking. The possibility that many of their countrymen 
 might object to their very free treatment of the Edwardian 
 order never seems to have entered the heads of the rulers of the 
 Frankfort Church. The difficulty of amalgamation was still 
 further increased by a provision in the new order, which laid 
 down that every member of the Church should sign its dis- 
 cipline. To an observer of to-day this blindness of Whittingham 
 and his followers to the real difficulties of the situation is so 
 singular as to be incredible. It would almost seem as if the 
 
14 A Circular Letter sent. 
 
 letter sent from Frankfort to the other cities was intended as 
 a cartel of defiance. There is not, however, the smallest reason 
 for supposing that it was either sent or received in this spirit. 
 The actual truth which explains this peculiar situation is this, 
 that the English Reformers had not yet fully realized the very 
 considerable differences that separated them from one another. 
 So far as we can judge at such a distance of time they seem to 
 have but little suspected upon what a fierce and lengthy contest 
 they were about to enter. 
 
 That the alterations made at Frankfort in the English 
 Liturgy were not agreeable to a large section of their country- 
 men was speedily brought home to Whittingham and his 
 fellows. The circular letter they proposed to address to the 
 various English settlements on the Continent was duly drawn 
 up and sent. In it the English of the exile were informed of 
 the large privileges so generously offered to them by the 
 magistrates of Frankfort, and afterwards invited to speedily 
 come and enjoy them, and so form one united Church in the 
 land of their affliction. 
 
 Among the English settlements already formed at this 
 period, the most important were at Strasburg and Zurich. 
 Here were congregated men of a moderate cast of thought, 
 who while sincere Protestants still clung tenaciously to many 
 of the ancient prayers and usages of the Catholic Church, and 
 who accepted without reserve the compromise effected by the 
 Prayer-book of 1552. To such men the measures taken by 
 the Frankfort congregation appeared wild and revolutionary, 
 subversive of all that decency and order enjoined by the 
 Apostle. In this frame of mind, they were not likely to 
 receive with much cordiality the invitation sent to them, for 
 it was at the same time to ask them to approve of acts which 
 excited in them nothing but feelings of repulsion. The men 
 of Zurich, however, who were all very moderate by character, 
 did not openly express their disapproval ; they did not even 
 refuse flatly to accept the offer that had been made to them. 
 
The Tro7ibles at Frankfort. 15 
 
 For the moment they contented themselves by thanking the 
 Frankfort Church for remembering them, and added that they 
 did not wish to be distm.'bed in their studies ; if, however, theu' 
 presence was absohitely needful, they might come. The answer 
 sent from Strasburg was even less satisfactory and reassuring. 
 The invitation was ignored altogether, and without exactly 
 saying so much the congregation seemed to hint that the 
 Frankfort Church was under bad management, and that it 
 needed some person, whose orthodoxy was above suspicion, to 
 govern it, and check the excesses of such reckless enthusiasts 
 as Whittingham. By way of helping their brethren in their 
 choice they suggested the names of four divines, Cox, Ponet, 
 Bale, and Scory, whom they considered to be fit people to 
 discharge such an office. 
 
 The congregation at Frankfort cannot have been very 
 delighted at the way in which their fellow-countrymen had 
 received their advances. The message from Zurich, though 
 couched in polite terms, was actually nothing less than a 
 distinct refusal. From Strasburg they barely received ordinary 
 courtesy. The very gratuitous offer to supply them with a 
 head for their Church must have been peculiarly irritating, the 
 more so because of their own motion they had already elected 
 their chiefs. The three men upon whom they had decided to 
 confer this honour were Knox, Lever, and Haddon. It is 
 difficult to see why they should have chosen three men of such 
 widely different character and opinions to act in concert. 
 Knox was the most determined of Calvinists, Lever was a 
 quiet and moderate man, while Haddon had done his utmost 
 to temporize with the Catholics. The only possible explanation 
 of the difficulty seems to be that already given above with 
 regard to the motives that prompted the men of Frankfort to 
 send out their circular letter. Here again we have further 
 evidence of the unconsciousness of the Protestants of the 
 differences that divided them. 
 
 The association of these three divines at the head of the 
 
1 6 Opposition from Strashirg and Zitrich. 
 
 Frankfort Church was never carried out. Lever and Haddon 
 seem to have reaHzed that they were unfitted to cope with 
 Knox, who would be certain to make himself in fact the sole 
 head of a congregation which had already shown its"partiahty 
 for the ideas that he represented. Haddon altogether refused 
 to come to the city, and though Lever arrived shortly after he 
 exercised very little influence. In fact, Knox was left alone to 
 be sole leader of the Church. 
 
 The men of Strasburg, who watched with growing uneasiness 
 and hostility the progress of events at Frankfort, concerted 
 with their countrymen at Zurich the means whereby they 
 might restore the English Order in the recreant Church. 
 From the latter city the wealthy and Uberal Richard Chambers 
 was chosen as envoy, while from Strasburg came the learned 
 Grindal. 
 
 The two delegates did not attempt to conceal the real 
 objects of their mission. On behalf of the Church at Zurich, 
 Chambers declared that no Englishman would come from that 
 city to Frankfort unless the English Order was established 
 there ; Grindal announced that his fellow-countrymen at 
 Strasburg were quite ready to make the journey, and that they 
 intended to help their brethren to set their Church in order, 
 and estabhsh the regime of the Prayer-book. Both seem to 
 have directed their attacks chiefly against Knox, who had 
 recently arrived to take the charge which had been offered to 
 him. In him they saw the leader and representative of the 
 pure Calvinist party, the adversary from whom they had most 
 to fear. And they were right. Knox vigorously took up the 
 cudgels in favour of the order arranged for the Frankfort 
 Chm'ch, and boldly confronted Grindal and Chambers. The 
 discussion was now actively taken up by the two parties, and 
 the questions in dispute were brought clearly forward. In 
 a discussion held towards the end of November, Grindal 
 declared that his party would be perfectly willing to abandon 
 vestments and other ceremonials as being things of no 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. 17 
 
 importance in themselves, but he declared that the feeUng of 
 those he represented required that the substance of the Book 
 should be retained. So vague a statement did not satisfy 
 Knox and his party, and they required a more exact definition 
 of what was meant by the substance of the Book. To this 
 demand Grindal and Chambers would not give a direct answer, 
 and they preferred to answer one question by another. What 
 parts of the Book did Knox and his associates propose to 
 admit ? Would they be allowed a separate church .^ What 
 assurances had been given that they should live unmolested 
 in Frankfort ? These questions were answered categorically 
 by the other side. They rephed that the magistrates had 
 offered every assurance to the exiles that could possibly be 
 expected, and that Frankfort had thrown open its gates to all 
 Englishmen who might choose to come there. A separate 
 church could not be granted them until some definite settle- 
 ment of the religious questions of the Empire had been made 
 by the congress then sitting at Augsburg. As for the Prayer- 
 book, such parts should be retained as were in keeping with 
 the Scriptures, and that, in accordance with the condition 
 proposed, were in harmony with the order observed by the 
 French congregation. 
 
 It is in the last declaration that we have the first glimpses 
 of the really fundamental questions that divided the exiles into 
 two hostile camps. We have already seen that both sides 
 were ready to give up vestments and ceremonials as being 
 things unimportant in themselves. But while the one party 
 still clung to a great part of the old traditions of the Church, 
 the other contended that all traditions were vain, and threw 
 them over together with the authority of the Pope, relying 
 upon the Scriptures as the sole guide of life and the only 
 manual of reUgion. 
 
 By reason of these fundamental differences, it is clear that 
 the attitude taken up by Knox's party could not commend 
 itself to the Church at Strasburg. Grindal and Chambers 
 
 c 
 
1 8 Mission of Gvindal and Chambers. 
 
 returned thither with their answer at the beginning of 
 December. The English to whom they reported the state 
 of affairs expressed great discontent, and sent once more to 
 the wayward Church in order to say that if the English Book 
 was accepted they would think of coming to Frankfort, other- 
 wise they could not entertain a thought of it. Here the 
 correspondence dropped for the moment, and the men of 
 Strasburg abstained awhile from the attack in order to choose 
 a more favourable moment. 
 
 At Frankfort, the mission of Grindal and Chambers does 
 not seem to have been without effect. Their arguments had 
 either gained them some adherents, or roused to action a 
 hitherto silent minority. It is also possible that the arrival 
 from over the seas of fresh comers of more Anghcan tendencies 
 had modified the congregation in the interval. Whatever may 
 have happened there can be no doubt that after the departure 
 of the envoys of Zurich and Strasburg, no inconsiderable 
 portion of the Frankfort Church leaned towards the adoption 
 of the English Prayer-book. This section found a leader in 
 Lever, one of the three originally selected to govern the 
 Church, who arrived about this time. 
 
 The Calvinistic majority in the Church had just carried a 
 resolution establisliing the Book of Geneva. The new-comer 
 acted with great prudence and moderation. He did not 
 approve of the Order just established, but he would not begin 
 by openly attacking it. He accordingly asked for an interval 
 for deliberation, and this he obtained. Apparently his 
 moderation gained him many followers in the Church, for 
 evidently Knox and Wliittingham feared his influence. In 
 the " Troubles of Frankfort " Whittingham declares that Lever 
 intended to set up an order of his own, but from his action he 
 betrayed his anxiety lest the new-comer should declare himself 
 entirely for the Prayer-book. It is therefore almost certain 
 that, feeling their authority and influence to be tottering, 
 Knox and Whittingham resolved to obtain from Calvin a 
 
The Troubles at Frmikfort, ig 
 
 decisive opinion upon the merits and demerits of the English 
 Order. Accordingly they drew up a resume of the Book, sent 
 it to the veteran Reformer at Geneva, and asked for his 
 judgment upon it. 
 
 The answer, as they must have anticipated, proved almost 
 unreservedly favourable to their party. After a few preliminary 
 remarks, scolding both sides for their unseemly quarrel, Calvin 
 went on to say that the English liturgy lacked the inuity that 
 was desirable. This defect might be tolerated for a season, 
 but the time had now come to set forth something purer. The 
 liturgy contained many things'that were rather foolish (toIerahiJes 
 inepfias), and these it would be as well to abolish. At the 
 same time, he exhorted the more advanced party not to be 
 too fierce against those who would not rise higher ; while the 
 others were warned not to pride themselves too much in their 
 foolishness. 
 
 This remarkable letter marks an important epoch in the 
 history of sects in England. The Anglican Calvinists are here 
 first treated as being in opposition to their Continental model, 
 and the separation is enunciated by Calvin himself. The 
 recurrence of the words " pm-e " and " purity " in the letter 
 indicate the grounds of the difference, and we here have the 
 first whisper of that sound which was at no distant epoch to 
 take definite shape in the word " Puritan." 
 
 The judgment of Calvin exercised upon the minds of the 
 Frankfort congregation all the effects which had been desired 
 by those who had provoked it. " It so wrought in the hearts 
 of many," writes Whittingham, " that they were not before so 
 stout to maintain all the points of the Book of England, as 
 afterward they were bent against it." The victory of the 
 Puritan party was complete, and though the contest was hot, 
 hey carried the day all along the line. Knox himself, 
 Whittingham, Gilby, Cole, and Fox, all pronounced Calvinists, 
 were elected to draw up a new order for the Chm'ch. 
 
 From a body so constituted but one decision could possibly 
 
20 A New Order appointed. 
 
 be anticipated, and it can only be regarded as the natural 
 sequence to their election that they almost immediately decided 
 to conform in all questions to the Book of Greneva. 
 
 "Victory had rested with the Calvinists, but their success 
 was not so complete as it seemed, and it had been greatly com- 
 promised by the extreme measures they had thought fit to 
 adopt. The Anglican party, although a minority, still remained 
 strong and influential, for they had behind them the moral 
 support of the Churches of Strasburg and Zurich. It was 
 plain that this party would never consent to accept the pure 
 and undiluted Calvinism of Geneva. The quarrel, so far from 
 being settled, grew fiercer than ever. The sad spectacle of 
 Christian brethren engaging in so unseemly a struggle filled 
 all good men with shame and pain. k\> last Gilby, himself 
 one of the five who had voted for the Genevan Order, besought 
 his countrymen, with tears in his eyes, to reform their judgment 
 and seek some compromise which would satisfy both parties. 
 This counsel being forthwith adopted, the struggle suddenly 
 ceased, and four men being appointed, Knox and Whittingham 
 for the Calvinists, and Lever and Parry for the Anglicans, a 
 new and satisfactory order was speedily prepared for adoption 
 by the Church. 
 
 As in the former instance, the English Prayer-book formed 
 the basis of this new discij)line, but several alterations, 
 excisions, and additions were made. What its exact nature 
 may have been cannot be known, but it probably differed but 
 little from the arrangement described above. " The Troubles 
 of Frankfort " give us no direct information upon this point, 
 and all we know for certain is that vestments, the htany, and 
 audible responses were by common consent abandoned. 
 
 The new order was drawn up in writing by the 6th of 
 February, when all the members of the Church signed it. So 
 happy a reconciUation after so hot a debate could not fail to 
 gladden the hearts of all the members of the Frankfort con- 
 gregation, whatever their opinions might be. All felt that this 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. 21 
 
 was a special occasion for rejoicing. A public service was held 
 in the Church, and thanks were given to God for appeasing 
 these unhappy disputes, and at its close the members lovingly 
 joined to celebrate the Communion. 
 
 Alas that this concord was destined to be of so short 
 duration ! The rejoicing was unfortunately premature, and 
 those who then joined to celebrate the most solemn rite of 
 the Christian Church were destined at no distant date to 
 engage in a conflict even more embittered than the first. 
 
 At best the compromise made was only a temporary 
 arrangement to last until the end of the following April, or 
 rather less than three months; and if any disputes arose in 
 the mean time they were to be referred to the arbitration of 
 Calvin, Musculus, Martyr, Bullinger, and Vyret — a fairly 
 representative quintette of foreign divines. The necessity 
 for such a regulation shows at once the inquietude of its 
 authors and the slender foundation upon which the peace of 
 the Church rested. This time it was destined to be disturbed 
 from without. 
 
 The Anglican party at Strasburg had not accepted their 
 defeat and^the dismissal of their envoys as final, but still looked 
 forward to the time when the wayward congregation of Frank- 
 fort would accept unreservedly the Prayer-book of 1552, to 
 which they themselves clung so tenaciously. They had probably 
 hoped that something would be done by Lever, and must have 
 felt bitterly disappointed when they heard that he had con- 
 sented to treat with the dissidents, and had even come to an 
 aiTangement. At this moment of dismay and reverse there 
 appeared in then- midst the very man of whom they had need. 
 
 Dr. Richard Cox, after having suffered much persecution in 
 England, had at last escaped from the Marshalsea in which he 
 had been confined. He lost no time in flying from a country 
 where he must risk so many dangers, and where his life was 
 not safe. He arrived in Germany early in the year 1555, and 
 very opportunely for the Anglican party. 
 
22 Arrival of Cox at Frankfort. 
 
 As one of the commission which had drawn up the Prayer- 
 book, he naturally was a firm defender of the work which he 
 had done so much to compile. He must have known perfectly 
 well all the arguments for and against the Liturgy, and his 
 opinions had long before been formed and fixed. The doings 
 of the congregation at Frankfort, who seemed to have seized 
 the earliest opportunity of disowning what had been prepared 
 with so much pains, must have been in the mouth of every 
 exile when Cox arrived at the banks of the Rhine. The 
 zealous Dean sjDeedily resolved to go to Frankfort and rescue 
 the English Church from the dangers of a schism. At Strasburg 
 he found plenty of his countrymen who were ready to help 
 him to carry out this task. It was a man of his stamp for 
 whom they had been waiting, and they had already proposed 
 his name to the Church at Frankfort as being a person fit to 
 govern them. Under such leadership they might take up the 
 dispute with a light heart, and rely upon Cox's skill and energy 
 for the final victory. 
 
 Accordingly, when Cox arrived in Frankfort on the 13th of 
 March, 1555, he was accompanied by a large number of his 
 fellow-countrymen from Strasburg, and even from Zurich, 
 zealous Anghcans like himself, and determined to help him to 
 uproot Calvinism in the Church, and to establish the English 
 Order there in its stead. 
 
 However gladly the governors of the Church at Frankfort 
 may have welcomed the arrival of Cox and his companions, 
 they must have felt some anxiety as to the object of their visit, 
 and the presence of the Strasburg contingent must have added 
 to their disquiet. They were not left long in doubt, for Cox 
 was not the man to waste any time over an enterprise he had 
 taken in hand, and he began the attack without delay. 
 
 His method was rough, but effective, for it at once pre- 
 cipitated hostilities, while it made any attempt at a compromise 
 all but impossible. At the very first service he attended in 
 the city he created a disturbance by answering aloud after the 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. 23 
 
 minister, and when admonished by one of the seniors for his 
 conduct, he retorted that he would do as he had done in 
 England, and he intended that the Frankfort congregation 
 should have the face of an English Church. 
 
 The following Sunday he went even further. One of his 
 party surprised the pulpit, and from that point of vantage 
 read to the astonished congregation the abandoned Litany, 
 while Cox and his following answered aloud. Nothing but the 
 sacredness of the place and the occasion can have prevented a 
 broil on the spot. 
 
 Dazed and astounded as they were by the audacity and 
 suddenness of the attack, Knox and his fellows could not 
 submit without retaliating, and though on that eventful Sunday 
 morning they sat and Hstened in silence, they were none the 
 less determined to answer blow by blow. 
 
 The afternoon of the same day Knox occupied the pulpit, 
 and in his discourse declaimed against those who had come and 
 ruthlessly disturbed the peace of his Church. At the same 
 time he made a fierce attack upon the English Prayer-book, 
 which he stigmatized as superstitious, impure, and imperfect. 
 The struggle was now fairly begun. Each party had made its 
 attack upon the tenets of the other, and a series of recrimina- 
 tions was sure to follow. Under their respective leaders both 
 factions stood face to face ready for the contest, and called 
 themselves Coxans and Knoxans respectively after the names 
 of their chiefs. The whole Church was engaged on one side 
 or the other, and no one was too young or too old to take part 
 in the dispute. The situation is thus described by the martyr- 
 ologist Fox, who was present at the time, and did his utmost 
 to calm the fury of the combatants : " All the young men," he 
 writes, " even such as were but boys, joined in on one side or 
 the other. Nay, those that were old men and divines, that 
 should have promoted peace and concord, added more flame 
 to the fire than the rest." Such was the lamentable condition 
 of the Endish at Frankfort in the month of March, 1555. 
 
24 Coxans v. Knoxans, 
 
 The contest had not proceeded very far when Cox and his 
 party found they could not do very much unless they were 
 admitted as members of the Church. Accordingly the zealous 
 dean demanded this privilege for himself and his followers. 
 The question, however, was hotly contested. The Knoxans 
 feared that if the new-comers were admitted among their num- 
 ber, they would turn the minority in favour of the English Order 
 into a majority, and they protested against this step, which 
 would at once give the victory to their opponents. In support 
 of their opposition they had the clear text of the existing 
 order of their Church, which, as has already been stated, pro- 
 vided that all who joined the community at Frankfort should sign 
 its disciphne. As it was perfectly certain that Cox and the other 
 Anglicans would refuse to do so, the Calvinists believed their 
 position to be secure. They did not absolutely refuse to admit 
 their fellow-countrymen, but they said it would be better to 
 postpone that step until the dispute had been definitely settled. 
 
 Before this difficulty it seemed probable that all the efforts 
 of the Coxans would fail, and what they would have done I 
 cannot pretend to guess had they not received assistance from 
 a most unexpected quarter. With a moderation and breadth 
 of sympathy very rarely attributed to him, Knox gave out his 
 opinion that the Coxans should be admitted, and his verdict 
 at once decided the matter. What motives decided the fiery 
 Scotch reformer to take this step I cannot say, and it will soon 
 be seen that he was the first to suffer for it. He may have 
 been influenced by the thought that, after all, the men of 
 Frankfort had invited their countrymen to come and join them, 
 and in that case it would be hard indeed if they refused them 
 hospitality when they arrived. But in the absence of any 
 indication whatever to the contrary, we may justly credit Knox 
 with the highest and most conscientious intentions, and indeed 
 throughout the whole of this Frankfort episode he exhibited 
 a moderation in strange contrast with his conduct in other 
 places and at other times. 
 

 (• 
 
 The Trottbles at Frankfort, 25 
 
 No sooner had Cox become a member of the Frankfort 
 Church than with rare arrogance and ingratitude he turned 
 upon the man to whom, above all, he owed this benefit, and 
 roundly bade him to meddle no more in the affairs of the 
 congregation that he had been duly elected to govern. But 
 the active dean thought but httle of gratitude. The task he 
 had at heart was the establishment of the regime of the Prayer- 
 book at Frankfort, and Knox was the greatest obstacle in the 
 way of the accomplishment of this purpose. To get rid of 
 Knox was therefore his chief end and aim, and from this time 
 forward he sought by all the means in his power to drive the 
 Scotchman from the city. 
 
 The Knoxans, however, though they had received a grievous 
 check, were still far from being vanquished, and they had yet 
 other resources at their command. As the first to arrive in 
 the city and as the founder of the Church, Whittingham had 
 the ear of the magistrates, who might well regard him as one 
 of the chief men among the English colonists. When, there- 
 fore, he applied to them to interfere in the struggle and to 
 enjoin the Coxans to respect the original condition and imitate 
 the discipline of the French Church, they were ready to comply. 
 John Glauberg, who had already played the principal part in 
 granting the use of the Church to the English, accordingly 
 came down for the purpose of settling the matter. 
 
 Of the Enghsh Prayer-book and of the principal questions 
 in dispute it is not likely that he knew anything. The obser- 
 vance of the French Order was equally a matter of indifference 
 to him. But it was of vital importance to maintain decency 
 and order in the city. Both were endangered by the dispute 
 between the English factions, and to put an end to this as soon 
 as possible was his one aim. To this end, he did not dictate 
 to either party what com-se they were to pursue, or what dis- 
 cipline they ought to obey, he simply bade them arrange some 
 compromise subject only to the approval of Yaleran Pullan, the 
 French pastor. 
 
26 Attempt at Compromise. 
 
 The members of both parties were perfectly ready to fall 
 in with this arrangement, and Knox and Whittingham for 
 their side were appointed to confer with Cox and Lever, the 
 representatives of the Anglicans, No doubt all men hoped 
 that by this means some compromise would be effected similar 
 to that which had been brought about by Knox, Whittingham, 
 Lever, and Parry only a few weeks before, and this idea seems 
 to be indicated by the fact that the four chosen to settle the 
 matter were the same, except that on the later occasion Cox 
 replaced Parry. LTnfortunately, this change made all the 
 difference, and prevented any accommodation from being 
 arrived at. Too much ill-feehng had already been excited to 
 make an amicable settlement easy, and the conference broke 
 up without having effected anything, leaving- all the questions 
 in dispute just where they were before. 
 
 As three of the men vrho took part in it have left a more 
 or less complete description of the questions they debated at 
 this meeting, we may, by checking their ex 'parte statements, 
 arrive at a fairly coiTect idea of what actually took place. Cox 
 at once agreed to abandon private baptisms, the confirmation 
 of children, saints' days, kneeling at Holy Communion, surplices, 
 crosses, and in fact all such ceremonies as he judged to be 
 " not papistical, but by their nature indifferent." Further 
 than this he absolutely refused to go. But the Calvinists were 
 not contented with this, and wished to alter the Services as set 
 down in the Prayer-book. They objected to the Litany and 
 to the Eesponses, they wished to expunge the Te Deum, and 
 they even argued against the public reading of passages from 
 Scripture as an irksome and unprofitable form. But as a 
 general principle they rejected everything that was not found 
 in the Bible ; they accepted the Scriptures as their sole guide 
 in life, and rejected the traditions of the Church as the work 
 of Papal superstition. 
 
 On these points Cox refused to make any concession what- 
 ever, and when Knox proposed changes in the order of Matins, 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. 2 J 
 
 he simply replied, " I mean to have it " {Ego volo liahere), and 
 from that position he refused to move. From this deadlock 
 there was evidently no escape, and the conference was broken 
 off abruptly. It seemed as if matters must inevitably drift 
 back to their former state of chaos unless something decisive 
 was done, for neither party by itself appears to have been 
 strong enough to carry off a decisive victory. Fortunately for 
 his side AYhittingham still had the ear of the magistrates, and 
 by his representations he contrived to obtain from them an 
 order that the English were to conform to the original stipula- 
 tion of their settlement, and imitate the French Church both 
 in its doctrine and ceremonies. If this was not done the 
 magistrates threatened to expel the whole colony from their 
 city [March 22]. 
 
 80 decisive an edict seemed to settle the matter definitely. 
 The Order of Geneva had, by the device of Whittingham, 
 triumphed over the Order of England. The Calvinists were 
 victorious ; the Anglicans saw nothing but the hard reality of 
 a decisive defeat. Cox had been interrupted in the full tide 
 of his success, and it now seemed as if the whole expedition 
 had been thrown away, the entire campaign proved fruitless. 
 The energetic dean candidly acknowledged that he had been 
 beaten, and, to make the best of a bad matter, he expressed his 
 approval of the Genevan Order, and agreed to submit to it. 
 
 If the dispute had rested here, how different om' subsequent 
 history might have been ! But there were those among the 
 Coxans who did not accept defeat so readily as their chiefs. 
 Of these the moving spirit was one Isaacs. This man reaHzed 
 that the chief thing necessary was to get rid of Knox. Once 
 that had been successfully accomplished it would be far easier 
 to deal with his followers. He therefore called privately upon 
 Knox, and endeavoured to prevail upon him to relent in his 
 animosity towards the English Order. If he would do so, he 
 promised him favour, but if not he threatened him with a 
 mysterious vengeance. To caresses and menaces the undaunted 
 
28 Knox accused of Treason, 
 
 Reformer had but one reply, " May my name perish," he ex- 
 claimed, "so that God's glory and His Book may only be 
 sought among us." But Isaacs had prepared a master stroke 
 that was not only to rout Knox out of the Church, but to 
 assure the immediate success of the Prayer-book party. In a 
 pamphlet entitled " An Admonition to Christian Men," written 
 in Knox's usual and exaggerated style, he had found a series of 
 libels on Mary, Prince Philip, and the emperor. Of the English 
 Queen he had said that " if she had been sent to hell before 
 these days her cruelty would not have so manifestly appeared 
 to the world." She was " false, dissembling, inconstant, proud, 
 and a breaker of promises." " Jezebel never erected half so 
 many gallows in all Israel as mischievous Mary hath done 
 within London alone." As for the emperor, he was " no less 
 an enemy to Christ than was Nero," and his son Philip was 
 involved in his guilt. 
 
 Armed with these very damaging proofs against Knox, 
 Isaacs went to consult the chief men of his party upon the 
 steps they should take. Of these the most important were 
 Cox himself. Parry, Bale, and Jewel. They welcomed with 
 dehght this means of retahating upon their victorious adver- 
 saries. The Dean of Christ Chm'ch reflected that the French 
 Order was perhaps not so admirable, after all, and he eagerly 
 seized upon this opportunity of getting rid of his rival. It 
 was decided to accuse Knox of high treason before the magis- 
 trates, and nine articles of accusation were drawn up. 
 
 The worthy rulers of Frankfort could not afford to pass 
 this matter over. As members of one of the free cities of the 
 Empire, they enjoyed considerable liberty. But their loyalty 
 might well be suspected, for they had joined the Schmalkalde 
 League, and their city had been besieged and captured by 
 Charles Y. The clemency they experienced on that occasion 
 left them grateful and loyal, and remained anxious not to give 
 any further cause of offence. When, therefore, the accusation 
 against Knox was brought before them, they were bound to 
 
The Troubles at Frmikfort. 29 
 
 deal with the matter, and it was evident that the zealous 
 Reformer would have to suffer for his indiscretion. Fortu- 
 nately for him, Glauberg and his associates were only too 
 anxious to shield him from harm, and were the very last people 
 to proceed to extremities. But they were none the less desirous 
 to get rid of so dangerous a man as soon as possible, and they 
 informed him that he must at once leave the city. On the 25th 
 of March Knox preached to his adherents in his own lodgings, 
 and endeavoured to cheer their drooping spirits. The following 
 day he left for Geneva, and for three or four miles on his 
 journey he enjoyed the company of some of the most devoted 
 of his friends. The same day the Coxans obtained from the 
 alarmed magistrates the permission to establish the English 
 Order at Frankfort. 
 
 The Anglican party had got rid of their adversary, but at 
 what price to themselves ! They had iDrought an accusation 
 against Knox that might have cost that Reformer his head, and 
 at the very least would make it impossible for bim to reside in 
 any city of the Empire. This they had done, not from any 
 love towards Mary or Phihp, or Charles Y., Avhom they detested 
 as cordially as any one, but simply to gain their own ends. 
 They might well protest that the Book of Knox had embittered 
 the persecution in England, the very energy of their protesta- 
 tions proves the uneasiness of their consciences upon what they 
 had done, and accuses them of having done wrong, even if 
 their end had been a good one. They had done only too much 
 to merit the fiery and indignant recriminations of Knox. 
 " Seeking to their old shot anchor," wrote the Reformer, " they 
 cried out against me, ' He is not Cgesar's friend,' the which 
 dart the devil doth ever shoot by the craft of the priests against 
 the true preachers. But when neither doctrine nor life can be 
 reproved in Christ and his saints, yet this serves at all assays. 
 Though they love not the Emperor no more than did the old 
 Pharisees, for hatred of their brethren they can find such 
 cautels." 
 
30 TriumpJi of Cox. 
 
 But Cox had successfully rid himself of the most formidable 
 of his opponents, and he imagined that from this moment he 
 would have but little difficulty in inducing Wliittingham and 
 the rest of the party to accept the English Prayer-book. At 
 first all went Avell with him. The magistrates, in thorough 
 alarm, made further concessions to him than they might other- 
 wise have accorded, and they not only authorized the complete 
 establishment of the English Order at Frankfort, but, even 
 went so far as to enjoin Whittingham and his party to submit 
 to it. It was of no use for the unhappy Knoxans to appeal 
 to the authorities and remind them of their former order. 
 Irritated by the unseemly and unreasonable squabbles of the 
 English, which threatened to compromise their hosts, Glauberg 
 replied with some humour that he was informed that both 
 parties were fully agreed and contented, and so dismissed the 
 envoys to their lodgings. In an interview with Whittingham 
 Glauberg coaxed him to be contented, and promised that he 
 would protect his party from any intolerable oppression. 
 
 But the Knoxans, who now took the name of the 
 " Oppressed Congregation," were not inclined to accept the 
 English Book, and certainly Cox did not make submission easy 
 for them. 
 
 Thanks to the device of Isaacs, the Dean of Christ Church 
 found himself without a rival, the undoubted head of the 
 Church at Frankfort, and free to carry his ideas into practise. 
 Knox had already declared that the struggle was one of the 
 priests against the preachers, and Cox betrayed his sacerdotalism 
 by the measures he took for the reorganization of the Church 
 he ruled. In a meeting called for the purpose of electing a 
 new head, only those who had been priests and ministers in 
 England were allowed to vote ; and for the selection of the 
 elders and deacons, only those who had signed the articles 
 of religion lately set forth by Edward YI. had a voice. 
 Christopher Goodman alone objected on behalf of the opposi- 
 tion. They ought first, he contended, to agree upon some 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. 31 
 
 order for the Church, with the consent of the congregation ; 
 and they should not proceed to the election of officers without 
 the consent of the whole body of the Church. Both of 
 Goodman's points were defeated. The English Order, it was 
 asserted, had been ah-eady agreed upon, for the decree of the 
 magistrates had settled that question. As for permitting 
 everybody to vote in the elections, the idea could not be enter- 
 tained for one moment, '^ for what kind of election," they said, 
 " could be expected, if the voters were not previously a,o:reed 
 as to doctrine ? " 
 
 From their action at this time it appears as if the Prayer- 
 book party were not quite sure of their majority. They 
 therefore thought it necessary to exclude some of the lay 
 members from voting. This device gave them the majority 
 for the time being, but failed to assm*e the permanent joeace of 
 the Churcli they sought to settle, and left the way open for 
 the disputes and troubles that followed. But of this I shall 
 have occasion to speak fiu'ther on. 
 
 In the pursuit of their end the majority altogether ignored 
 the existence of the previous Church at Frankfort, and paid no 
 heed to the clause in the discipline of the Gth of February, that 
 referred to Calvin and four others to arbitrate in case of dispute. 
 The EngUsh Order was established without any aj^peal to the 
 congregation, and possibly against the Avishes of the majority 
 simply at the wish of those who had come latest to Frankfort, 
 and who intended to leave as soon as they had accomplished 
 the object of their mission. They might, however, claim to 
 be technically in the right, for they had the order of the 
 magistrates in favour of the Enghsh service. Those who had 
 come with Cox might object that they at least had had no part 
 in the compromise of the preceding February, and that in 
 entering the Church they had made no promise to submit to 
 the discipline then in force. But they were not altogether 
 easy in their minds, and they thought it necessary to 
 write to Calvin to justify their action, and to endeavour to 
 
32 Departure of the Oppressed Congregation. 
 
 enlist the sympathies of the great Eeformer on their side. 
 This they signally failed to do, however, for though the. reply 
 from Geneva is studiously moderate in its tone, it is not 
 difficult to perceive that Calvin disapproved of their doings 
 from beginning to end. At the same time it is only fair to 
 add that, at the moment the letter was written, Wliittingham 
 was in Geneva, and had certainly detailed to Calvin his version 
 of the story. But in any case the French Reformer's verdict 
 would probably have been the same, and it is curious that the 
 Anglican party thought it worth while to refer to him. The 
 action of the latter only shows that they continued to regard 
 themselves as Calvinists, and that they considered that the 
 English Church had been founded and formed on the Con- 
 tinental model. 
 
 Whittingham and his companions having failed to move 
 the magistrates in their favour, and clearly perceiving that 
 their efforts in opposition would be fruitless, resolved to depart 
 from Frankfort, for they were determined not to subscribe to 
 the Prayer-book. Cox, however, did not wish them to go ; 
 that was the very last thing he desired, and it formed no part 
 of his plans. What he wanted to do when he came to Frank- 
 fort, was to put an end to the threatened schism among the 
 English Protestants. If Whittingham and his followers were 
 allowed to go to some other city, and there found a new church 
 on their own plan, this end could not be attained, and the 
 situation would be rather worse, if anything, than it had been 
 before. Cox therefore did his utmost to detain the " oppressed 
 congregation " in the city. He appealed to the magistrate, 
 he tried force, and finally he had recourse to persuasion ; but 
 as he flatly refused to put the matter in the hands of the 
 arbitrators, all attempts at accommodation were manifestly 
 futile, and nothing remained but to let them go. A general 
 meeting was held on the last day of April in order to see if 
 an arbitration could be arranged. Cox, however, interfered, 
 and said that they should have none, and if they wanted a jf;^ 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. 33 
 
 remedy let them go and seek it where they liked. "Whitting- 
 ham, Fox, Cole, and others, were then summoned and asked 
 to give the reasons for their resolution to depart. This gave 
 the Calvinist leaders the opportunity for a recital of their 
 grievances. This they did at some length, beginning with 
 the disorderly manner in which Cox and the others had thrust 
 themselves into the Church, and going on to the displacement 
 of the former officers of the Church, without any cause being 
 shown, and the establishment of Popish superstition and 
 unprofitable ceremonies. It goes without saying that they did 
 not forget to mention the accusation of treason that had 
 driven Knox from their midst. This list of grievances led at 
 once to recrimination, and the dispute waxed hot ; the words 
 "papistical" and "schismatic" being freely thrown about. 
 
 In this spirit of anger, the oppressed congregation departed 
 from Frankfort, leaving Cox to make what use he wished of 
 his success. 
 
 An asylum was offered to the Calvinists at Basle, and thither 
 many of them repaired. But, having received the offer of 
 a church at Geneva, Whittingham, "Williams, Gilby, Goodman, 
 Sir Francis Knollys, and others, departed for that city, pre- 
 ferring to enjoy the pm'e atmosphere of Calvinism, and free 
 association with its illustrious founder. 
 
 At Frankfort, where Cox was left in undisputed possession, 
 the settlement of the Church was rapidly canied out, upon the 
 5ame principles that had been already announced. Whitehead 
 ivas appointed to be the pastor, and a new Book of Discipline 
 vas drawn up. This system seems to have been singularly 
 leficient in some important matters, and to have ill-defined 
 -he duties of pastor, elders, and deacons, and their relations 
 owards, and power over the congregation. So far as the 
 lefinition of the duties of the rulers of the Church went, they 
 vere as follows : the pastor was to preach, to administer the 
 acraments, and to superintend the morals of liis congregation. 
 ?he elders were to occupy the position of censors and overseers 
 
34 Cox's Reforms at Frankfort. 
 
 of manners, with the powers of punishing disorders. Finally 
 the duty of the deacons consisted in providing for the poor, 
 and in visiting the sick. The whole system resembles to a 
 singular degree the government of Geneva under Calvin, and 
 the latter probably formed the model from which the former 
 was drawn up. This persistent recourse of the Coxans to 
 Calvin and to Calvin's ideas shows that in spite of the recent \ 
 events the leaders of the Church at Frankfort had very strong 
 Calvinistic leanings, and further, that they considered them- 
 selves to be Calvinists. 
 
 In order that his congregation might not incur the reproach 
 of idleness or ignorance, while their countrymen in other cities 
 were actively at work, Cox established a University at Frankfort 
 to promote the study of theology. In this college Home 
 became lecturer in Hebrew, MuUings occupied the Greek chair, 
 and Treherrn was reader in Divinity. It may very reasonably 
 be doubted if any serious work was performed by this body. , 
 The great struggle that began only a few weeks later must in ; 
 any case have interrupted the students as well as their pro- 
 fessors, and in aU probabihty the lectures and work ceased 
 altogether. 
 
 Having completed these final arrangements, and consider- 
 ing that there remained nothing more for him to do, Cox 
 handed over the care of the Church to Whitehead, and departed 
 to Zmich. At the same time the great majority of those 
 who had accompanied him and helped him to carry out his: 
 plan retired respectively to Strasburg and Zurich, the places 
 from which they had started. It seems indeed strange, aftei 
 the pains they had been at to reform the Church at Frankfort 
 that they should not have thought it worth their while to hav( 
 remained there, particularly as they had on their arriva 
 especially insisted upon becoming members of the congregation 
 Upon these considerations they seem to have exposed them 
 selves to charges of lightness, and even of spitefulness toward 
 their brethren, and a few years later Whittingham said of thee 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. 35 
 
 that to some of these persecators the time of exile was a 
 pleasant progress or recreation. 
 
 Ifj success is a justification, however, Cox would obtain a 
 triumphant acquittal from the accusations of his enemies. 
 Although he had failed to stamp out the schism among his 
 countrymen, and though his efforts to induce them to conform 
 had been vain, at Frankfort his triumph had been complete, 
 and as far as that city was concerned he had in six months 
 accomplished all that he had come to perform. Knox, Whit- 
 tingham, the very magistrates of the town themselves, had been 
 alike obhged to bow before his conquering arm, and he left 
 behind him a Church established and administered after his 
 own heart. 
 
 Viewed from other standpoints, higher and more just, his 
 actions cannot possibly appear in so favourable a light. He 
 had shown himself high-handed, ungrateful, and uncompro- 
 mising. At a time when their conunon misfortune should 
 have made the exiles at one with each other. Cox stands forth 
 with unenviable distinction as the man above all others who 
 devoted his energies to setting his countrymen by the ears. 
 He had forced himself upon the unoffending congregation at 
 Frankfort, driven their pastor from the city, and their elders 
 froin their posts. Without consulting their opinion, he had 
 introduced a system of discipline that might or might not 
 agree with their inclinations ; and, when all was done, he had 
 departed with his troop to other places. 
 
 In estimating Cox's conduct, it would be manifestly unfair 
 to judge him after the standards of modern toleration. Much 
 must be allowed to his fiery zeal for the system of doctrine he 
 had hunseK helped to dravv^ up, as well as to his anxiety to 
 prevent a schism. It is in the face of such considerations that 
 
 I we may excuse the brutality with which he broke in upon the 
 quiet of a peaceful congregation ; the peremptory way in which 
 he put aside the existing officers and discipUne, and even the 
 
 i uncompromising harshness with which he refused to refer to 
 
36 Estimate of Coxs Action. 
 
 arbitration. But when all that can be advanced in his favour 
 on these subjects has been pleaded, what shall be said for his 
 treatment of Knox ? What age has not condemned ingratitude ? 
 From the Scotch Eeformer he had received more consideration 
 than he had any right to expect. To his decision he owed 
 the admission of liimself and his party into the Church at 
 Frankfort, by which alone he could hope to exert any influence 
 over that body. In return for this kindness and courtesy he 
 offered no thanks, but brought forward instead a malignant 
 accusation, which for aught he knew might have resulted in 
 the condemnation of Knox to a painful and ignominious death,' 
 and which, in any case, could not fail to make his sojourn on 
 the Continent exceedingly diificult. 
 
 If this action had been prompted by loyalty, it would still 
 be possible for us to entertain some respect for Cox, but this 
 excuse was never pleaded by his apologist, and indeed it cannot 
 for one moment stand the process of criticism. The one argu- 
 ment advanced in his favour is that Knox's book had aggra-': 
 vated persecution in England. But of this assertion there is 
 not the slightest proof, and, even if it were true, the pro- 
 scription of Knox on the Continent would not have made any 
 difference. ' 
 
 It is but too clear that, in taking this step, Cox was influenced|^: 
 by only one idea. To drive Knox from Frankfort was his sole 
 end and aim, and to accomplish this he was ready to go to any 
 lengths, utterly reckless of the evil consequences that might- 
 follow. 
 
 So far as actual results go, Cox had aggravated rather than 
 appeased the schism that he so much feared. The separation' 
 that he effected was destined to last many years. It was he who 
 struck the first blow, which, followed by many others, separated 
 from the body of the Church tliat great party which, under the 
 name of Puritan, rose into eminence during the reign of Eliza 
 beth, which revolted with terrible wrath against unprincipled 
 tyranny, which conquered at Marston Moor, Naseby, and 
 
\ 
 
 The Troubles at Frmikfort. 37 
 
 Worcester, ^hich, in the person of Cromwell, attained a com- 
 manding position among the powers of Enrope, and which, while 
 in England it fell defeated and discredited at the Restoration, 
 was at that very time laying the f onndations of a mighty nation 
 in the Xew World. It is, therefore, as an anticipation of the 
 Acts of Uniformity and Supremacy, of the Clarendon Code, 
 and of the nmnerons other devices designed to hedge round 
 I and define the boundaries of the English Church, that Cox's 
 action is of importance, and the part he played in the formation 
 ,of the body of the Puritans was no small one. Before the time 
 lof the exile, that party had hardly, if at all, realized that it 
 held views differing from those of the other English Protestants. 
 The initial difficulties at Frankfort and the opposition of the 
 i Churches at Frankfort had served to bring these differences to 
 light. It was not until the final quaiTcl with Cox, however, 
 that these difficulties were considered as insurmountable, and 
 that it became clear that no accommodation could be effected. 
 AVhen Whittingham and his companions set out with angry 
 protestations from Frankfort, the Puritan party had been 
 formed, its tenets and dogmas had been defined, disputed, and 
 defended, and it had even acquired the name it was so soon 
 make famous, and which would, in the succeeding century, 
 ^esound with the clang of arms throughout civilized Europe. 
 
 Retiring defeated from the preliminary skirmish at Frank- 
 ort, the Puritans recognized that the struggle had only just 
 Degun, and that it would be necessary to prepare for a conflict 
 ipon a much wider scale, and with far more formidable adver- 
 .aries. They realized that the time of their exile could not 
 )e for them a time of refreshment and repose, of pleasant 
 ourneys and quiet recreation. The battle was at hand, and 
 t behoved them to be ready for it, to prepare and sharpen their 
 veapons in order to meet the foe when occasion should arise. 
 
 It was in the Church at Geneva that this work was carried out. 
 )n the 13th of October, 1555, a party of the exiles from Frank- 
 ort ai'rived in that city, some forty-eight souls in all, and founded 
 
38 The Church at Geneva. 
 
 a Church there. In the absence of Knox, for whom they all 
 continued to have an affectionate regard, Goodman and Gilby 
 were elected to act as their ministers. This little Church, so 
 slender in numbers, came at once to be recognized as the centre 
 and home of the Puritan exiles. From the day of its founda- 
 tion its numbers were continually being increased by fresh 
 arrivals of Englishmen, seeking a congenial home for themselves 
 and their families during this unhappy time of exile. Thither 
 came, among others, Pilkington, Bishop of Durham, with Dr. 
 Sampson, his dean ; Scory, Bishop of Rochester ; Bentham, of 
 Magdalen College ; and Cole, of Corpus ; Kethe, the hymn- 
 writer ; Percival Wibm-ne, one of the most sturdy of the Non^ 
 conformists ; and Thomas Bodley,then a mere lad, but destined 
 to perpetuate his memory in the magnificent library at Oxford 
 that bears his name. 
 
 The Genevan Church was formed of men of a very great 
 strength of character, possessed by very strong opinions, which 
 they were prepared to zealously defend. Of all the churches 
 founded abroad by the English at this time, this was the one 
 in which the greatest amount of work was done, and where the 
 individual members laboured the most. It alone produced 
 w^orks of permanent importance destined long to survive th( 
 temporary and passing conditions which had called them intc 
 being. 
 
 In their controversy with the Anglican party at Frankf orl 
 the Puritans had always in the last resort taken their stand a1 
 the same point. For them there was but one touchstone ii 
 matters of religion, and that touchstone was the Bible. In the 
 endless discussions upon forms and ceremonies to be observed 
 they demanded but one thing : could they be justified out o 
 the Bible ? If so, well and good ; if not they must be rejectee 
 as Popish superstition, worthless tradition that had been intro 
 duced into a corrupted Chm'ch. This was the reason that le( 
 them to reject so much of the Prayer-book, in the compilatioi 
 of which its authors had retained many of the old prayers an 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. 39 
 
 hymns they had learned to love and revere so well. But the 
 Piu'itans would suffer none of this. The retention of saints' 
 days, the Te Deum, and other hymns, and many of the other 
 forms of prayer, were not to be found in the infallible Book, 
 and they put them coldly aside, not only as unchristian, but 
 as absolutely pernicious. 
 
 With this exaggerated opinion of the value of the Scrip- 
 tures it was not unnatural that they should wish to have a 
 version of their own, to be at once the guide of their conduct 
 and the expression of their religious opinions. The existing 
 versions all left much to be desired from their point of view. 
 The principal were those of Cranmer and Coverdale. The 
 former, however, was little more than a re-issue of the 
 latter. These early editions, moreover, were too unwieldy, and 
 exceedingly expensive. But a book of so much importance as 
 the Bible must be easily accessible to all, and it was therefore 
 imperative to provide an edition of a handy size, and cheap 
 enough to be bought by nearly everybody. 
 
 A more important defect in their eyes was the absence of 
 explanatory or dogmatic notes. The Puritan, quite as much 
 as the Catholic, held firmly to particular explanations of certain 
 passages of Scripture, and for the correct appreciation and 
 dissemination of his views it was necessary that these should 
 be fully explained. 
 
 The Church at Geneva set itself the gigantic task of pre- 
 paring a version of the Bible in which these defects should be 
 remedied. Although they had Coverdale's translation as a 
 I guide, as well as the personal assistance of the translator him- 
 j self, their enterprise was nevertheless colossal. With incredible 
 '■ energy, however, they dauntlessly set to work, and laboured 
 with extraordinary industry both night and day for over two 
 , years. At the end of this time they had successfully accom- 
 I plished their task. Their translation was immediately printed 
 I and given to the world, where it speedily secured a wide 
 : popularity under the name of the Geneva, or " Breeches " Bible, 
 
40 The Geneva Bible. 
 
 The new version was distinctly controversial in character, 
 and bore everywhere the marks of the peculiar tenets of its 
 authors. For the first time the Apocrypha was excluded from 
 the Bible, and only the canonical books appeared ; from the 
 Calendar that precedes the text, all names of saints and saints' 
 days were rigorously struck out. They were replaced by the 
 occasional mention of Scripture facts, or by references to the 
 deaths of the great reformers. But it was in the critical and 
 explanatory notes that the real leanings of the translators were 
 most manifest, though they were often very helpful in explain- 
 ing the difficulties of Scriptm-e. 
 
 A few minor alterations from the model of older transla- 
 tions helped to make the new edition more popular. The old 
 and cumbrous black letter type was definitely abandoned in 
 favour of ordinary Italian characters. The large unwieldy 
 folio was reduced to a more convenient quarto. Finally the 
 division into verses was for the first time adopted. 
 
 These nmnerous advantages gave to the Breeches Bible a 
 wide and lasting popularity. It became the strength and stay 
 of the Puritan party, the great means which enabled them to 
 come triumphantly thi'ough the difficult and trying times of 
 the Elizabethan persecution. 
 
 To the Pmitan family of those days the Bible was not only 
 the guide and controller of life, but it also played an important 
 part in the instruction of the mind. From its religious pre- 
 eminence it came to play a great educational role. It is 
 impossible to over-estimate its extraordinary influence on the 
 formation of the succeeding generation. From it the Puritans 
 drew all their religious inspiration ; in it they found analogies 
 to the great political and ecclesiastical events of their day ; after 
 its heroes and heroines they named their children ; its phrase- 
 ology became theirs ; it was for them a literary treasure, a 
 library from which they loved to make quotations. 
 
 From its activity in so many directions the mfluence of 
 the Geneva Bible has in all probability never been equalled by 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. 41 
 
 any other version of the Scriptures. Even the beautiful and 
 finished authorized translation of 1611 failed at first to do 
 more than hold its own, and did not win ultimate supremacy 
 until after the lapse of many years. The people felt loth to 
 abandon a treasure that had become so dear to them, and 
 which they had grown up to regard almost as having an 
 authority and an infallibility of its own. 
 
 This monumental work of translation was not the only 
 production of the Genevan Church. We have seen that the 
 Puritans rejected the Te Deum, and in fact all other hymns 
 not foimd in the Scriptures. But their severity in this respect 
 left them face to face with a difficulty, for some sort of singing 
 was necessary for their services. In the Scriptures they had 
 indeed the Psalms, but from a musical point of view they were 
 not easy to deal with, and at best could only be chanted. It 
 was with the intention, therefore, of meeting this difficulty that 
 some of the members of the Genevan Church, who had a turn 
 for poetry, imdertook to render the whole of these ancient 
 Hebrew poems into English verse. This work, when completed, 
 formed the well-known metrical version of the Psalms, which, 
 long after it had been abandoned by the English, remained in 
 use among the Scotch Covenanters to comfort and cheer them 
 in their days of persecution and adversity. The whole of this 
 task was not finished at the time when the exiles returned to 
 England, but much had been done even then. The principal 
 writers were Whittingham and Kethe, and it is from the pen 
 of the latter that we have the spirited version of the hundredth 
 Psalm which still remains in our hymn-books. It was also in 
 all probability at Geneva that it was first sung to the majestic 
 march of the Old Hundredth, then quite a new tune. How 
 can we fail to admire the courage and faith of these old 
 Puritans who, driven from their homes for their faith, and 
 persecuted by their brethren for their dogmas, could, in the 
 midst of their arduous labours, join in praising God in cheer- 
 fulness, hope, and courage — 
 
42 The " Book of Martyrsr 
 
 " Under the shadow of Thy throne 
 Thy saints have dwelt secure; 
 Sufficient is Thine arm alone, 
 And Thy defence is sure." 
 
 But one more work was needed to complete the equipment 
 of the Puritans. In their disputes with CathoHcs and Anghcans 
 they rejected the saints recognized by both. "We have seen 
 that the Calendar of the Geneva Bible omitted all mention of 
 saints' days, and though it replaced them by the death days 
 of the great reformers, only a small portion of the gap could 
 be filled by this device. But every Church, sect, and party, 
 has need of its heroes, to inspire the living with courage by 
 the example of their virtue. The cruel persecutions of Mary, 
 while giving ample opportunity for the display of heroism, 
 provided the Protestant Church with martyrs whom they could 
 set off against the heroes of the.CathoUcs. It only remained to 
 collect the acts of these victims of Mary's zeal and bigotry to 
 have a complete countei'part to the lives of the saints. 
 
 The Church at Geneva was already too much occupied with 
 its great undertakings to be able to think of approaching such 
 a project. It was not left unaccomphshed, however, and this 
 period of exile, so important to the Puritan cause, was not to 
 leave it unequipped in any particular. The individual who 
 undertook the task of writing the history of the Protestant 
 martyi's, was John Fox. Though he did not actually belong 
 to the Church at Geneva, he was entirely at one with its 
 members in spirit and in doctrine. At Frankfort, in spite of 
 his mild and conciliatory nature, he had thrown in his lot 
 unreservedly with the Calvinist party, and he was one of the 
 five who had voted for the adoption in its entirety of the 
 Genevan Order. During the quarrel between the Coxans and 
 Knoxans he had tried as far as was possible to mediate between 
 the disputants. But his sympathies leaned always to the 
 latter party, and when finally Whittingham and his party left 
 the city, Fox accompanied them. 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. 43 
 
 He took up his residence at Basle, on account of the 
 printing' press situated there, and he seems to have set to work 
 at once upon the great work which has made his name famous. 
 His fellow-countrymen rendered him every assistance, and one 
 of the most active of his collaborators was Grindal. The 
 future Primate deeply interested himself in the work, and was 
 most helpful in collecting materials. For the history of the 
 martyrdoms of Cranmer and Bradford, he was almost solely 
 responsible. Not only did Grindal perform these kindly 
 offices, but he also aided in correcting the style of the book. 
 Fox was a very indifferent scholar, and as he wished to write 
 his work in Latin, according to the prevailing custom, he 
 could not trust himself entirely without some such assistance. 
 
 The "Book of Martyrs" is the common property of all 
 Protestants, and it would be an absurd pretention to claim it 
 exclusively for the Puritans. At the same time it seems to 
 belong in an especial manner to that party, and they perhaps 
 valued it the most highly. By its authorship they certainly 
 had the prior claim, and during the persecutions of Elizabeth 
 they might compare their own sufferings with those of their 
 heroic predecessors, and this the more fortunate AngUcans, safe 
 within the pale of their Church, could hardly do. 
 
 If Geneva was the centre of Puritanism during the days 
 of the exile, Zurich claims the distinction of having been the 
 metropolis of the Anglicans. This Chm-ch enjoys the reputa- 
 tion of having been the most learned of all those founded by 
 the English abroad at this time. Among its members were 
 Peter Martyi', the most prominent of the foreigners who had 
 helped to direct the progress of the Reformation under 
 Edward VI. At the -head of the Chm'ch was the erudite 
 Bullinger, a man universally respected, and who exercised and 
 continued to exercise a vast influence over the English Pro- 
 testants of all opinions. Of the English residents perhaps the 
 best known is the diligent Jewel, one of the first exponents 
 
44 The Chtirck at Zurich. 
 
 of Anglicanism, and the master of the judicious Hooker. At 
 his side were Parkhurst and Pilkington, and a number of other 
 EngHsh churchmen who became more or less distinguished in 
 the following reign. 
 
 Owing to some misconception, the origin of which it would 
 be hard to explain, the idea subsequently got about that the 
 English at Zurich passed a very miserable time, and suffered 
 the greatest hardships. This story being exaggerated, it was 
 actually reported that they were reduced to such straits as to 
 eat mice. Nothing can be farther removed from the truth 
 than these statements. Of all the English abroad at this time, 
 those at Zurich certainly lived the easiest and most comfortable 
 life. It is true that some of them were obliged to teach or 
 write in order to earn a living, but they suffered from nothing 
 worse, and that in itself can hardly be considered a hardship. 
 The inhabitants of the town extended the heartiest welcome 
 to the homeless refugees, and offered them their hospitality. 
 In the house of the printer, Christopher Froscher, we read that 
 twelve of them lived together very merrily. But it is in 
 letters written subsequent to the reign of Mary that we have 
 the most decisive testimony to the gratitude of the exiles of 
 this town. In the heat of the conflicts engendered by disputes 
 about the Church settlement in England, those Elizabethan 
 bishops who had once been exiles lamented the peace and rest 
 they had enjoyed hi the little Swiss city. " Zurich," wrote 
 Jewel, " how much oftener do I now think of thee than ever 
 I thought of England when I was at Zurich." In a letter to 
 Bullinger, Lever also expresses his gratitude in the following 
 words, " I cannot but retain a grateful remembrance of that 
 exceeding hospitality and benevolence which Zurich exhibited 
 to us under your patronage with so much comfort, benevolence, 
 and friendly regard." Finally, in August, 1573, in the midst 
 of a fierce conflict about vestments and ceremonies, Sandys 
 wrote to Bullinger, "I wish for nothing more than that, 
 relieved from these cares and anxieties with which I am now 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. 45 
 
 overwhelmed, I might pass the remainder of my life at Zurich, 
 as a sojourner and active person." 
 
 Nothing can be more decisive than the testimony of these 
 letters, and examples of the kind might easily be multiplied. 
 
 The comfort and peace of the exiles at Zurich was perhaps 
 not altogether beneficial to them. Although, as I have already 
 said, they enjoyed the reputation of being the most learned 
 congi-egation abroad, and though their time was chiefly devoted 
 to literature, yet they only produced some pamphlets of a 
 dogmatic nature. Nothing of any permanent value issued 
 from their press, nothing that could for one moment be com- 
 pared with the gigantic hterary efforts of the Church at 
 Geneva. 
 
 In the discussion of the disputes that took place at Frank- 
 fort, and the various divisions which took place among the 
 English on that account, I have employed with perhaps too 
 little precision or explanation the terms Anglican, Puritan, and 
 Calvinist. As a matter of fact it was only dm-ing the exile 
 that these terms began to have different and chstinct meanings, 
 so far as they were used at all. All the English Eeformers 
 agreed in looking upon Calvin as one of the greatest expounders 
 of the new doctrines. The most conservative of the Enghsh 
 exiles considered that ceremonies and vestments were thino-s 
 
 o 
 
 needless in themselves, and which might readily be abandoned. 
 Bullinger had declared to Whittingham that on no account 
 could he approve of surplices, the chm'ching of women, the 
 ring in marriage, and private baptisms ; nay, Cox himself in 
 later years ran some danger by refusing to minister in Queen 
 Elizabeth's Chapel because of the crucifix and lights there. 
 
 It might therefore seem at first sight as if, after all, there 
 was Httle or no difference between the doctrines held by the 
 English at Geneva and Zurich. The struggle at Frankfort, 
 however, had served to bring these to light. The Coxan party 
 represented what may be called the Anglican feeling, which 
 retained a part of the tradition of the ancient Catholic Church, 
 
46 Elizabeth and the Church. 
 
 and held the sacerdotal idea of the superiority of the clergy. 
 These qualifications fitted the men of this party to become 
 members of the state Church as conceived by Ehzabeth. The 
 greater liberty of their ideas with regard to tradition, and 
 their sacerdotalism, made them more flexible in their opinions 
 than the sturdy and obstinate Puritans who would acknowledge 
 no authority but Scripture. It is not therefore surprising that 
 it was from among the Protestants of Zmich, rather than 
 from those of Geneva, that Elizabeth chose her future bishops 
 and church dignitaries, and with this material, Calvinistic and 
 Puritanical as it was to a large extent, she was enabled to form 
 a Church to her likino;. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE TROUBLES AT FRANKFORT (CONTINUED). 
 
 Having thus discussed the headquarters of both hostile camps, 
 at Geneva and at Zurich, and having examined their nature 
 and their various activities, let us now return to the field of 
 battle, to Frankfort. Cox's success had, after all, been but 
 superficial, and the congregation began its quaiTcls again 
 almost before he was out of sight. Much must be allowed for 
 the quarrelsome nature of the English at Frankfort. At the 
 same time it is certain that the measures he had taken to settle 
 the Church were not well conceived. The discipline he had 
 caused to be drawn up proved defective, and did not meet all 
 the needs of the case. It is also probable that by excluding 
 some of the members from voting in the election of the 
 governors of the Chm'ch, he had left many of its members 
 impressed w4th the idea that they had been unjustly treated, 
 and imposed upon. 
 
 The separatist and anti-sacerdotal opinions that he had 
 come to stamp out, were silenced only and not crushed, and 
 they were only waiting for Cox's departure in order to raise 
 their head again. 
 
 Cox had hardly turned his back when the Frankfort con- 
 gregation began to fall out with their pastor, Whitehead. 
 The latter had created some discontent in the matter of the 
 baptism of the child of one Kent, a member of the 
 
48 Resignation of Whitehead, 
 
 congregation. The father wished the ceremony to be performed 
 in the French way, but Whitehead absolutely refused to do 
 anything unless the child had god-parents given to it. Here 
 we have a clear case of revolt against the provisions of the 
 Anglican Church. Unfortunately the question is treated very 
 summarily in our only authority — the " Troubles of Frankfort " 
 — and even the result of the dispute is not given. Apparently, 
 however, Kent had many sympathizers in the congregation, 
 while the pastor seems to have lost all influence, at least if 
 we may judge from what followed immediately after. It 
 appears that Treherrn, the lecturer in Divinity, fell sick, and 
 was for a time unable to fulfil his duties. Whitehead con- 
 fidently expected to be appointed to supply the vacancy, and 
 he was consequently much chagrined when he was passed over. 
 In a pet, he resigned his pastorate, feeling, no doubt, perfectly 
 sure that every one would come and implore him to take it 
 again, and with it the lectureship in Divinity. It must, 
 therefore, have been a most disagreeable surprise to him when 
 he found the congregation would be quite contented without 
 him, that it did not even ask him to reconsider his decision, 
 but proceeded at once to the election of his successor. The 
 dismayed pastor was utterly taken aback by the coldness of the 
 congregation towards him. Upset by the absolute failure of 
 his cou}!^ he now endeavoured to recall a resignation which he 
 had never seriously intended. But it was too late. The 
 congregation may have been amused at the ridiculous position 
 Whitehead had put himself into by his precipitate action. 
 They had no mercy, and were evidently only too glad to take 
 him at his word. On the 1st of March, 1556, they elected Eobert 
 Home, one of those who had come with Cox to Frankfort, to 
 take his place. We do not know in what way the election of 
 Home was carried out, whether he was elected by the suffrage 
 of the ordained clergy only, or by the voice of the whole 
 congregation. In any case it does not seem to have been 
 entirely satisfactory. Whitehead, in his impotent rage, accused 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. 49 
 
 his successor of having intrigued againsb him, and Home 
 thought it necessary to clear his character of this and other 
 aspersions before he finally consented to take office. 
 
 Such are the few facts which are all we have to enlighten 
 us upon this obscure matter. They seem to have been culled 
 from a letter of Cole written to "Whittingham, and this was 
 probably the only information the latter had on the matter 
 when he wrote his " Troubles of Frankfort." It is regrettable 
 that this is so, for in all probability a fuller knowledge of the 
 incident would throw considerable light on subsequent events. 
 As it is, however, it would be useless to waste time upon what 
 could be no better than mere guesswork. 
 
 However Home may have obtained his election, it is certain 
 that he had not long been in office before the relations between 
 himself and the congregation had become strained. If he 
 had been the nominee of the Church he was far from beino- 
 its creature. He seems to have been a man of a domineerino* 
 character, fond of power and anxious to display it, traits that 
 illustrate and explain most of what follows. Even those 
 associated Avith him in the government of the Church, the 
 elders and deacons themselves shared the unpopularity of their 
 chief and colleague. The most prominent among these was 
 Eichard Chambers, who has been already mentioned for his 
 liberality. This, however, so far from gaining him a general 
 popularity rather increased the odium against him. In his 
 capacity of deacon he was accused of making an unfair dis- 
 tribution of the funds entrusted to him. It was said that he 
 particularly favoured some of his friends, while he left others, 
 not so devoted to himself, entirely unprovided, all without any 
 regard for the real needs of either the one or the other. Such 
 accusations received some colour from the fact that Chambers 
 p absolutely refused to give any account either of the money he 
 received or of the way in which he distributed it, so that there 
 were not wanting some who darkly hinted that he was guilty 
 of peculation. 
 
50 The Dispute betiveen Home and Ashley. 
 
 A very small matter sufficed in order to fan this smouldering 
 
 discontent into a flame. At supper-table one day, about tbe 
 
 middle of January, 1557, one Ashley, a layman of good position, 
 
 became engaged in a somewhat heated argument with Home. 
 
 The matter, however, was amicably settled immediately after 
 
 by the intervention of the friends of both parties, and nobody 
 
 thought any more about it. Here the question would have 
 
 rested in merited oblivion had it not been for the officious zeal 
 
 of the elders, who persisted, against all reason, in considering 
 
 the honour of their body to be called in question, and who 
 
 decided to take it up. Accordingly, a few days later, Ashley 
 
 received a summons to appear before this body to answer the 
 
 charge of having slandered the governors of the Church. On 
 
 the day following the receipt of this missive Ashley duly 
 
 appeared before Home and his colleagues as they had required 
 
 him to do. But it was in no spirit of submission that he t 
 
 complied with their demand. He did not come to be judged, 
 
 but in order to object to his self -constituted judges. The 
 
 pastors and elders he declared were moved solely by private 
 
 spite, and in any case they had no right to pass sentence in 
 
 a case in which they were all interested. Upon these grounds 
 
 he refused to acknowledge their jurisdiction, and appealed to 
 
 the congregation to decide the question. Alarmed at the \ 
 
 prospect thus threatened of a quarrel with the whole body of 
 
 the Church, Home endeavoured to dissuade Ashley from his 
 
 intention by threats. If he persisted in his appeal, the offended 
 
 pastor declared that he would have recourse to the aid of the 
 
 magistrates. Ashley, nothing daunted, persisted in denying 
 
 the jurisdiction of his accusers, and went at once to lay the 
 
 matter before the congregation, where he found plenty of 
 
 sympathetic listeners. \l 
 
 If Home had been on friendly relations with his Church, \ % 
 
 he would have had nothing to fear from the action of Ashley, : j^ 
 
 although he might have considered it irregular. As it was, i; 
 
 however, it is but too clear that the pastor felt his position toife; 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. 51 
 
 be insecure, and dreaded exceedingly the struggle which he 
 was bound to consider inevitable. 
 
 The eagerness with which the congregation took the matter 
 up, proves, as clearly as anything could be proved, how much 
 Home was disliked. The petty supper-table squabble alto- 
 gether dwindles in proportion, from this moment, before the 
 larger issues now raised. It was no longer Ashley and the 
 elders who found themselves face to face, but the congregation 
 and its governors, determined to fight out to the bitter end 
 important questions of principle. 
 
 It had been to small purpose that Cox had devoted so much 
 energy to the extirpation of anti-sacerdotal ideas at Frankfort. 
 In this winter of 1557 they reappeared there with even greater 
 force than ever. The whole of the coming struggle was to 
 rage about this point. If the priest was sacred, if he belonged 
 to a higher and a privileged class, then Home was in the right, 
 and was perfectly justified in his intention to punish Ashley 
 for having slandered him. If, on the other hand, the pastor 
 of the Church was spiritually on the same level as the members 
 of his congregation, and his office was simply conferred upon 
 him on account of some special fitness, and in the interests of 
 order, then the members of the Frankfort Church had no choice 
 ibut to protest against one of their number being judged by his 
 accusers as a proceeding contrary to the very fundamental 
 principles of jurisprudence. 
 
 Such were the questions actually at stake, and though it 
 is unlikely that they presented themselves to the contending 
 
 oarties in this light, yet they form the real basis of the succeed- 
 
 ne struggle. 
 
 The action of the congregation in taking up the case of 
 
 ishley not only changed the tribunal and the questions at 
 
 take, but also the relative position of the parties. In the new 
 sture of affairs it was Home who was the defendant, while 
 
 ishley became the ]3laintiff, while the former in his turn con- 
 ted the right of his judges to try his cause. The leadership 
 
52 Appeal to the Magistrates. 
 
 I 
 
 of the congregation party was nnclertaken by John Hales, a 
 member of an old and distinguished Kentish family. Imme- 
 diately after Ashley had appealed from the elders, this gentle- 
 man, also a layman, be it noted, summoned a meeting of the 
 Church to discuss the matter. On the 28th of January this 
 assembly met, and Home was present in order to sustain his 
 cause. Imitating the example of the weaker party in the 
 previous struggle, he endeavoured to support his threatened 
 authority on a decree of the magistrates. This he produced 
 and read, adding afterwards, as a commentary, that such 
 assemblies as Hales had summoned were very prejudicial to 
 their interests, because they were a cause of offence to the 
 magistrates, who might possibly drive them out of their church, 
 and even from the city. Then, taking a leaf out of Cox's book, 
 he turned round upon his opponents, declared that Hales had 
 shown himself a schismatic by his action, and that he should 
 be dealt witli as such. 
 
 If Home imagined that he would terrify the congregation, 
 he was grievously mistaken. If he really believed he could 
 carry out his threats of punishment, he had overrated his 
 powers. Outside the actual governing body itself he had 
 hardly any supporters, and the history of the previous struggk 
 should have taught him the futility of endeavouring to bolstei 
 up his authority by a decree of the magistrates. As it was, his 
 violent action only precipitated the struggle, and added to if 
 more fierceness and bitterness. 
 
 Contrary to Home's hopes and expectations the congrega- 
 tion was frightened neither by the decree of the magistrates 
 nor by the threats of their pastor. They felt sure they couk 
 obtain the alteration of the former, while they could afford t( 
 laugh at the impotence of the latter. The day following tb 
 first meeting the congregation assembled again, so httle di( 
 they regard the decree of the magistrates as serious. Haleg 
 who had been prevented by indisposition from appearing in th 
 church on the previous day, now came in order to clear himsel 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. 53 
 
 of the charge of schism. Like Ashley, he appealed to the 
 judgment of the congregation, and offered at once to leave the 
 city if they considered the action well founded. This speech 
 was received with acclaim, and they all protested that they 
 judged Hales' action not only not scliismatical, but most meet 
 and proper in a Christian man. Not content with this, they 
 proceeded to pass a general resolution designed to meet all 
 similar cases, in which they declared that similar assemblies in 
 the Church, when nothing else was going forward, should not 
 be esteemed schismatic. 
 
 War was now declared in real earnest. Not only had the 
 congregation decided to take up the cause of Ashley, but it 
 had already judged the case of Hales. It had even done more 
 than this ; for, not content with these two decisions in particular 
 cases, it had passed a general resolution not only without the 
 consent of the pastor, but without consulting him, and in his 
 despite. 
 
 Home had not expected so decided or so general an 
 opposition. If he had previously been conscious of his un- 
 popularity, he had never dreamed that the congregation would 
 go to such extremes. He began to realize that he had acted 
 rashly and unwisely, and would probably have given anything 
 for some means of withdrawing from the affair without loss of 
 dignity, and without seeming to give in. But to surrender 
 unconditionally was not in his natm-e, and to that he could not 
 bend his pride. On the following Sunday, after the morning 
 service, Home, in his own name and that of the elders, asked 
 pardon for all private offences. At the same time he was 
 careful to show that he had not abated one jot of his pre- 
 ftentions, but intimated that he and the rest of the governing 
 body reserved to themselves the right of judging such causes as 
 j concerned their ministry. 
 
 I After the lengths to which they had gone, the congregation 
 ! did not intend to let the matter be smoothed over thus. They 
 : could not accept the position that Home had laid down, and 
 
54 ^-^^^ Congregation persists. 
 
 they sturdily replied that the Church reserved to itself the 
 public causes belonging to itself and in the interest of its 
 liberty. They were, moreover, very dissatisfied with the state 
 in which Home had left the Ashley question. 
 
 If the elders still wished to judge him, that could not be 
 tolerated, for from the congregation's point of view, that would 
 be monstrously unjust. If the pastor wished to slur over the 
 matter, that seemed little better. The accusation would still 
 remain hanging over the head of Ashley to his prejudice and 
 the destruction of all comfortable relations. It was therefore 
 imperative that the case should be judged, and if Ashley could 
 not be convicted he should be triumphantly acquitted. The 
 congregation were determined that their governors should not 
 escape from the results of their action. 
 
 On the afternoon of the same Sunday, therefore, another 
 meeting was held in the church, with the permission of the 
 pastor and elders. Three times all those who accused Ashley 
 were desired to come forward and lay their complaints before 
 the congregation. As no one responded, it became at once 
 apparent that none but Home and his colleagues had any 
 complaint against him. From tliis the congregation judged 
 that the rulers were more than ever unfit to try the case, and 
 they at once proceeded to carry a resolution, designed to Hmit 
 the pretensions of the elders in this respect, expressed in general 
 terms, so that it could be appUed to all similar cases. 
 
 Home and his associates were not present at this meeting, 
 although they had authorized it. When, however, they heard 
 of what had been done, and of the steps taken to dispose of 
 their claims, they at once resigned their offices in a body, giving 
 as a reason that only the shadow of authority was left them. 
 Such has been the plea of tyrants in all ages, and it explains 
 only too well the discontent and disaffection of the congre- 
 gation. From this time forward no doubt can remain about 
 Home's autocratic behaviour, and it is clear that the present 
 struggle was a revolt against it. At the same time Home's 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort, 55 
 
 resignation was not given in good faith, as is clearly proved by 
 his subsequent conduct. By this means the pastor hoped to 
 reduce the congregation to such embarrassments that it would 
 abandon all its positions and come and implore his pardon. 
 With the example of Whitehead before his eyes, he must have 
 known the dangers of such a course, but he appears to have 
 been ready to risk a fiasco on the chance of bringing the con- 
 gregation on its knees. 
 
 At first all went well with him. His opponents had nob 
 anticipated such a step. They had no one ready to fill the 
 vacant places, and they probably did not regard the questions 
 in dispute in so serious a light as Home did. They therefore 
 requested their pastor very earnestly to reconsider his decision, 
 and hoped that both he and the elders would remain. This 
 was exactly what Home wanted, but he was too anxious to 
 press his advantage. He therefore refused to take up office 
 again, unless he were allowed to have entirely his own way. 
 Apparently, however, the congregation did not take Ms refusal 
 very seriously, and the following Sunday a very curious scene 
 occurred. The members of the Church assembled as usual for 
 divine service ; but when the time to begin the service had 
 arrived the pulpit remained vacant, and the congregation could 
 only sit still in astonishment. Home and the Elders had taken 
 their places among the ordinary members of the Church, and 
 they absolutely refused to take any official part in that day's 
 worship. 
 
 Obviously this state of affairs could not be allowed to last, 
 or the Church would become the laughing-stock of the place, 
 and a by-word everywhere. The congregation therefore deter- 
 mined to arrange some modus vivendi, or else to make an entire 
 re-settlement of the church. Accordingly, on February 3rd, a 
 meeting was held in order to make peace. But its result was 
 only fiercer and more bitter war. Hostilities began when 
 Home, in his usuil autocratic manner, bade one of the 
 speak 3rs to hold his peace. Finding that he was not obeyed, the 
 
56 Home inflexible. 
 
 ex-pastor, who so evidently still wanted to rule, made off towards 
 the door, with the intention of breaking up the meeting. 
 Finding, however, that no one followed him, and that his 
 attempt would prove abortive, he returned to occupy the 
 pastor's place in the church. Calling the elders about him, he 
 declared that he had only resigned personally, but if the con- 
 gregation would agree to obey the old discipline, they would 
 all remain in office. It was not likely that the congregation 
 would receive this advance very kindly, for it simply reduced 
 them to the status qiio ante^ and gave no guarantee against the 
 recurrence of such affairs as that of Ashley. The leaders of 
 the Chm'ch party therefore replied that they could not accept 
 such terms, because they made no provision for faults in the 
 pastor. In Home's eyes the office of pastor was sacred, and 
 its holder irresponsible and inviolable. He therefore was no 
 more ready to accept the advances of the congregation than 
 they, had been to accept his. Hard pressed as he was, and 
 hoping to dissolve the meeting, he made two more strategic 
 moves towards the door, only to return each time on finding 
 that he was not followed. Not knowing what course it would 
 be best for him to pursue, yet determined not to yield one iota 
 of his principles, he finally went to take his former place in the 
 pastor's chair. Here his opponents clearly demanded that he 
 should allow the congregation to judge AsMey's case. Home 
 flatly refused, but offered, together with the elders, to draw up a 
 new discipline for the Chm-ch. The congregation could not 
 possibly accept this, for it would have been an absolute renun- 
 ciation of all that they claimed, and considering that they were 
 in revolt against the excessive claims of their pastor and elders, 
 it seems exceedingly strange that Home should have proposed 
 that the latter should have the sole right of judging the 
 questions in dispute. It was simply the affair of Ashley 
 repeated on a larger scale. Home altogether refused to appre- 
 ciate the grounds of the opposition, while the latter could not 
 accept the sacerdotal ideas of their pastor. 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. 57 
 
 The cause of the elders was lost, and no one recognized this 
 so clearly as Home himself. Complaining of cold, he dissolved 
 the assembly, and departed, possibly with some faint hope that 
 the others would foHow. But nothing of the kind happened. 
 Home had lost the last remnants of his influence. The events 
 of the preceding hours had taught the congregation that all 
 accommodation with their late governors on a tolerable basis 
 had become impossible, and they now only thought of filHng 
 their places, and of re-settUng their too frequently disturbed 
 Church. Accordingly, immediately after the departure of 
 Home, they set to work upon these two objects, and appointed 
 two commissions of eight persons each, the one to draw up a 
 new discipline for the Chm'ch, the other to judge Ashley. In 
 the mean time they took steps to provide for the carrying on of 
 the ministerial and university functions of the colony that had 
 been threatened by the resignation of those who had originally 
 had the charge of them. 
 
 Although the pastor and ciders had retired defeated, it was 
 not their intention to abandon the struggle so easily. If he 
 could not rule the congregation. Home was at least determined 
 to embarrass it as much as possible in its difficult task of recon- 
 struction. By keeping the quarrel ahve, and by showing an 
 active hostility, he hoped that in the end the victory might 
 rest with him, after all. 
 
 In this unamiable task, Richard Chambers appears as his 
 chief assistant, and from this moment the two are associated 
 together. Alike the principal objects of the antipathy of the 
 congregation, they united to repel hatred by hatred. In every 
 possible way they exerted themselves to upset the plans of 
 their opponents. Their factious spirit appears at every turn. 
 They objected, as on principle, to everything that the congre- 
 gation did, even to the refilling of the offices that they had 
 voluntarily resigned. They absented themselves from the 
 English Church, and attended instead the services of the French 
 and Germans, and they succeeded in inducing a few of their 
 
58 A New Book of Discipline. 
 
 countrymen, and they must have been very few, to do the same 
 thing. But with these and other means they had but one 
 object in view, one they never lost sight of. They intended, if 
 it were possible, to recover their position and power, and for 
 this purpose they were doing their utmost to secure the favour 
 and assistance of the magistrates of the town. 
 
 In the mean time, in spite of the attacks of Home and 
 Chambers, the congregation had been proceeding successfully with 
 its work. On the 14th of February the Committee appointed 
 to revise the discipline had accomphshed their task, and came 
 to present the results of their labours before the congregation. 
 The new book, thus drawn up, may be called the Bill of 
 Rights of the Frankfort Church. It deals with every one of 
 the points that had been raised in the late dispute, and con- 
 demns the autocratic principles of Home, while it asserts the 
 liberties of the congregation. Accused persons were to be 
 tried, ordinarily by the pastor and elders. They had the right, 
 however, to object to any one of their judges. In such a contin- 
 gency the person or persons to whom exception was taken might 
 not sit. Their places were to be filled by election by the con- 
 gregation. In case the pastor and elders were objected to as a 
 body, the whole congregation was to judge. Unless these 
 arrangements should seem to give too much license to offenders, 
 the most severe punishments were denounced against aU who 
 should appeal factiously, while the governing body always 
 possessed the right of calling in the aid of the magistrates 
 against the congregation. Small assemblies for private contro- 
 versy with or without the consent of the pastor were perfectly 
 regular. 
 
 So much for the general dispositions more particularly 
 affecting the questions in dispute. Further measures were 
 inserted to regulate the responsibility and good behaviour of 
 the governing body. Two ministers were to be appointed to 
 make the office less onerous, and to act as a check upon one 
 another, so that neither could become too domineering. Of the 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. 59 
 
 deacons, it was ordained that they should be persons of good 
 position and estate, and every month they would be required 
 to submit their accounts to an audit by the ministers and 
 seniors. 
 
 Although the new discipline was practically a condemnation 
 of the courses pursued by Home, and Chambers, it cannot be 
 said that it was extreme in its tendencies. Indeed, we may 
 rather consider it as surprisingly moderate under the circum- 
 stances. Given a congregation and a pastor working perfectly 
 in harmony with each other, there is nothing to say against 
 it, and under contrary conditions it would not have been less 
 effective than any other arrangement. Of course in making 
 this judgment I have regarded the matter from a purely secular 
 point of view. From the standpoint of Home it had quite 
 another aspect, and appeared as nothing less than a revolt 
 against constituted authority. It is certainly remarkable, even 
 when we take into consideration the pecuHar circumstances of 
 the case, to find a congregation claiming for itself at this 
 early date such extensive powers, nay, the chief and ultimate 
 powers in the Church. The Independents, the Congregationalists 
 of to-day, have found in BroAvne and Barrow the originators of 
 their sect. But the claims of both have been disputed. Surely 
 in this second quarrel at Frankfort we have something extra- 
 ordinarily like the peculiar tenets of the Independents, and if 
 we may not say with certitude that this body of Noncon- 
 formists actually originated at Frankfort at this time, we may 
 notice it as a striking evidence of the floating ideas, opposed to 
 Anglicanism, that existed at this time, and of which we have 
 already recorded another notable example. 
 
 Another remark that arises likewise from this struggle is 
 derived from the fact that in their opposition to the congrega- 
 tion. Home and the elders practically foimd themselves alone. 
 Now we know that Home and Chambers, by far the most im- 
 portant of these, had both come with Cox to Frankfort, we 
 know wioh what purpose and result. Of the others we cannot 
 
6o TJie Magistrates again intervene. 
 
 say so much, because there remams no iuformation whatever 
 about them. They may or may not have come with Cox's 
 party. In any case, Home and Chambers were head and 
 shoulders above their colleagues, who seem simply to have 
 followed their lead. In consideration of these facts, is it too 
 much to say that the rise of the congregation was a revolt 
 against the whole system and reform of Cox, and an effort to 
 shake off the rulers whom he had forced upon it ? It is impos- 
 sible to say. In the absence of proof this theory, in spite of 
 the support of much plausibility, must remain in the domain of 
 interesting conjectures. 
 
 In the new disciphne. Home, Chambers, and their col- 
 leagues saw a long indictment of their recent action, and pro- 
 bably of the whole of their past government also. On the 
 fundamental question about the authority of the pastor, the 
 congregation had laid down its position very clearly, and as it 
 was the exact opposite of the opinion of Home, it was not 
 likely that the former pastor would acquiesce. He was the less 
 ready to do so, because from another quarter he had hopes of 
 even yet securing the victory. He had at last induced the 
 magistrates to interfere. The city functionaries, in this, as in 
 the preceding struggle, were not in especial sympathy with 
 either of the parties. The questions in dispute could have no 
 interest for them, even if they had understood them, but it is 
 probable that they did not. As before, they acted solely in 
 the interests of peace and order, desiring as far as possible to 
 re-establish quiet among these turbulent, noisy, and quarrelsome 
 Englishmen, of whom by this time they must have conceived an 
 opinion the reverse of favourable. It was therefore with this 
 purpose that they intervened at this time, and bade the congre- 
 gation take back its officers, at the same moment ordering all 
 those who considered themselves aggrieved to come and lay 
 their complaints before the city authorities. The congregation 
 obeyed these commands, though it must have been distasteful 
 to them. Difficulties, however, in carrying them out came from 
 
TJie Troubles at Frankfort. 6i 
 
 the other side, and most unexpectedly. Home, expecting per- 
 haps a more complete victory than he had obtained, agreed to 
 accept his office, but refused to preach ; or, in other words, he 
 was ready to take the direction of the Church, though he would 
 not fulfil the daties that were involved. Home gained nothing 
 by his perversity, and lost all the advantages the aid of the 
 magistrates might have brought him. The congregation mani- 
 festly could not accept him on the terms he demanded, and so 
 a second recourse to the Frankfort governors became necessary. 
 The obliging functionaries again complied, but this time they 
 had been approached by the party of the congregation, and 
 the decision was less favourable to the late governing body. 
 They forbad Home and Chambers to meddle in the offices until 
 the matters in dispute had been settled. They empowered 
 the congregation to elect new officers, but advised them to 
 draw up a new discipline agreeable to all parties, before pro- 
 ceeding to the elections. By their influence and persuasion, they 
 brought about a nominal reconciliation between the parties, and 
 they departed in the hope that the affairs of the Church had 
 been finally arranged. This, however, was far from being the 
 case. No sooner had the magistrates turned their backs than 
 the strife began again. The congregation seems to have 
 honestly desu'ed to arrange some modus vivendi, and a commis- 
 sion of fifteen was appointed to revise the discipHne, with 
 Home and Chambers among the number. But Home was 
 determined to treat upon no terms which did not allow him 
 the whole of the powers he had formerly enjoyed. He and his 
 party refused to take any part in the formation of the new 
 book, and sat sulkily apart from the others. Under such cir- 
 cumstances it is not surprising that the new Book of Discipline 
 did not sensibly differ from the one drawn up just previously. 
 No approach to a settlement had therefore been made, for while 
 the congregation persistently adhered to every article in their 
 book, Home objected to every one of the alterations that had 
 been made. The former disciphne, he declared, was quite good 
 
62 Election of Officers. 
 
 enough for all the purposes of the Church, and ought to have 
 been more carefully considered ere it was so lightly rejected. 
 He thought that one pastor was quite sufficient, for two would 
 interfere with each other, and this might lead to disputes. He 
 objected to the articles which bore more directly upon the case 
 of Ashley, saying as before, that if they remained in force, only 
 the shadow of authority would be left to him. Finally, with 
 regard to the publication of accounts, he alleged that such 
 publicity would expose their benefactors in England to the 
 wrath of the home government. 
 
 The congregation, which could rely upon the neutrality, if 
 not on the co-operation of the Frankfort authorities, made no 
 concessions whatever to Home, and on the 20th of March, after a 
 long and tedious discussion, they submitted their new Book of 
 Discipline to the magistrates, whose approval followed almost 
 as a matter of course. Nothing further remained to be done 
 but the election of new officers, and a meeting was held at once 
 for this purpose. The proceedings were not destined to be 
 altogether undistm-bed, for while they were going forward. 
 Home and his followers tumultuously entered the building, 
 threw a quantity of papers upon the communion table, and 
 then departed as suddenly as they had come. The papers, 
 when examined, proved to contain all the same matter, and 
 this was to the effect that since the minority objected to the 
 new Book of Discipline, they could not take part in the election. 
 This demonstration had no effect upon the members of the 
 Church. The proceedings were carried on as they had been 
 beo"un, and the appointment of the ministers and officers was 
 completed. Of the late governing body, only one was re-elected, 
 Willf ord by name, who is mentioned here for the first time, and 
 who probably had taken no active part in the late dissensions. 
 This result was probably due chiefly to a declaration previously 
 made by the late minister and elders, that they would not serve 
 even if they were reappointed. Quite apart from this, however, 
 the choice of the congregation was perfectly rational. It would 
 
The Troiibles at Frankfort. 63 
 
 have been manifestly absni'd to have appointed their former 
 leaders to administer a discipline of which they disapproved. 
 Besides, the congregation had by this time come to recognize 
 that all accommodation with Home had become impossible, 
 and it was therefore the right conrse to take, to clearly define 
 their position. 
 
 But still the strife dragged on. Home would not acknow- 
 ledge himself beaten, and continued to annoy and harass the 
 congregation to the best of his abihty, although ^ he could 
 hardly have entertained any further hopes of success. For the 
 third time in the history of this quaiTcl, the magistrates felt 
 compelled to interfere in the interests of peace and order. 
 With the hope of putting an end to this interminable contest, 
 they proposed an arbitration, and wrote to Cox, Sandy, and 
 Bartue, asking them to come and decide upon the merits of the 
 contending parties. Of these men, the congregation might 
 well have dreaded the influence of Cox ; but so anxious were 
 they for the settlement of the dispute that they willingly con- 
 sented to this means of tenninating it. Home, however, 
 objected. He started from the position that he was in the 
 right, and that reason had been on liis side all through. From 
 this standpoint he refused to move, and, of course, he con- 
 sidered all arbitration to be superfluous. The only conditions 
 upon which he would consent to treat with his adversaries were 
 of the most monstrous and exorbitant nature. He demanded 
 nothing less than that he and his colleagues should be reinstated 
 in those offices which they had not only voluntarily resigned, 
 but which they had definitely refused to accept again. As for 
 an arbitration, he could only consent to that if it was to afPect 
 all the points in dispute, and, pending the decision of the 
 arbitrators, the late elections and the new discipline were to be 
 suspended. It was as if a hostile general had refused to treat 
 anless his enemy previously delivered into his hand all their 
 fortresses. Such terms could only be accepted, or even thought 
 of, after a crushing defeat ; whereas, on the contrary, the 
 
64 Conduct of Home mid Chambers. 
 
 congregation had been triumphantly victorious all along the line. 
 They therefore refused to allow the whole action and energy of 
 their Church to be paralyzed in this manner, and so this final 
 attempt at an accommodation fell to the ground as the others 
 had done before it. 
 
 Since Home and his party refused to sign the new dis- 
 cipline, and as their number was too inconsiderable to allow 
 them to form a Church of their own, nothing further remained 
 for them to do than to depart from Frankfort. They accord- 
 ingly departed to Strasburg, to a more congenial atmosphere, 
 where they announced, with grievous tones, that the Church 
 they had abandoned was all but ruined. This, however^ cannot 
 have been the case ; and, for the first time since its foundation, 
 the Church at Frankfort enjoyed the opportunity of the peace 
 and quiet that had so long been denied to it. 
 
 In the whole of the struggle just described the conduct of 
 Home can only be justified upon the supposition that he held 
 highly sacerdotal ideas on the position of the pastor of the 
 Chm^ch. Judged from any other standpoint, his conduct appears 
 in anything but an admirable light. From the first he clung 
 tenaciously to every atom of his authority, of whose Hmits 
 he had extraordinarily enlarged ideas. He hoped to submit 
 the whole congregation, against its will, to the caprice of 
 himself and a few colleagues, who on the most critical occasions 
 could not muster more than twelve votes in the whole Church. 
 Defeated in this intention and disappointed of the assistance of 
 the magistrates, he still continued to annoy the congregation to 
 the best of his ability, from a spirit of mere factiousness. 
 Finally, he gratuitously threw away an excellent opportunity of 
 recovering his position and the greater part of his authority 
 by refusing to accept arbitration, except upon impossible 
 conditions. 
 
 The conduct of Chambers, as weU as that of Home, serves 
 to show in what manner the government of the Frankfort 
 Chm'ch had been carried on after the reforms of Cox. This 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. 65 
 
 man, as we have said, absolutely refused to render any account 
 of the money he received to be dispensed in charity, or of the 
 use he made of it. The only reason he gave for this very 
 indefensible proceeding was that the publicity of the accounts 
 would expose their benefactors in England to the vengeance of 
 the Government. Nothing could well be more trivial than this 
 excuse. All the Frankfort congregation demanded was a 
 monthly audit by the ministers and seniors only. Obviously 
 there was not the slightest reason to suppose that the secret 
 would leak out in this manner, particularly when all the 
 persons concerned were so interested in keeping it. The 
 action of Chambers in this manner only gave too much colour 
 to the charges of peculation whispered against him ; charges, 
 be it noted, which he did not much exert himself to refute. 
 For my own part, however, I prefer to believe in his innocence, 
 and to regard his conduct as part and parcel of the autocratic 
 system of Home, and to attribute his refusal to an arrogance 
 which haughtily repelled any attempt to limit or to control his 
 authority. 
 
 The Frankfort Church was not destined to enjoy for any 
 considerable time its long-deferred tranquillity. The fresh 
 cause of disturbance was of quite another character to those 
 which had previously troubled its peace. The death of Queen 
 Mary had been long and eagerly awaited by the EngHsh exiles. 
 Various false rumours of the event had already arrived, only to 
 be speedily contradicted. At last, late in November, 1558, 
 news came to Strasburg, upon whose accuracy there could no 
 longer be any doubt. The bigoted persecutor was dead, and 
 with her the reign of the Spaniards and Papists in England 
 ended. Elizabeth, who had long been the hope of the Pro- 
 testants — ^the offspring of Henry VIII. and of Anne Boleyn — 
 reigned in her stead. 
 
 We may judge with what joy these tidings were received, 
 and the men of Strasburg hastened to share with their country- 
 men in the other cities the long-hoped-for intelligence. As was 
 
 F 
 
66 KetJte's Mission, 
 
 natural, they sent first to the kindred Church at Zurich, whence 
 the news passed on to Geneva, and thus all the Churches were 
 informed in turn. In the first burst of joy and hope, none 
 thought of anything but as speedy a return as possible to that 
 beloved native land, which they had not been allowed to see 
 for so long. The most impatient set out at once, and, in spite 
 of the severities of an unusually hard winter, overcame all the 
 difficulties on the way to their goal. Others, however, more 
 cautious, and less confident in the Protestantism of Elizabeth, 
 delayed their departure until they had received further evidence 
 of the intentions of the new queen in matters of religion. 
 Others were still engaged in important works which they did 
 not wish to leave, or had contracted ties which did not permit 
 them to depart so suddenly. 
 
 Amongst those who thus remained behind an earnest desire 
 w^as expressed to take some steps to heal those dissensions that 
 had been only too frequent and bitter among them, in order 
 that when they returned to England they might not import 
 these unhappy quarrels to their native country to take root 
 there. By the progress of the quarrels that had taken place 
 the Churches of the English abroad had been divided roughly 
 into two groups, of which one included Zurich and Strasburg, 
 and held to the maintenance of the Edwardian Prayer- 
 book ; whilst to the other belonged Geneva, Basle, and Aran. 
 Frankfort had been the common battle-ground of both parties, 
 and it would be difficult to say with which of the two groups 
 it may be classed, although, to judge from the results of the 
 quarrel between Home and Ashley, we may rather place it with 
 the latter. 
 
 With the laudable purpose of uniting these groups by 
 brotherly love, William Kethe was charged to visit the various 
 churches, armed with a circular letter inviting them all to a 
 general sentiment of concord. Unfortunately this mission 
 was destined to prove abortive. Wherever Kethe went he 
 found when he arrived that the large majority of his country- 
 
The Troubles at Frankfort. 6j 
 
 men had already departed. The quarrels that had saddened 
 the days of exile were, after all, to be transplanted to England, 
 where they were destined to flourish and bring forth their 
 baneful fruit. In any case it is not likely that the mission of 
 Kethe would have been successful even under the most favour- 
 able circumstances, for, as we have already seen, the principles 
 upon which the contending parties differed were too funda- 
 mentally opposed to be easily reconciled. But, after all, both 
 Anglican and Puritan played a great part in the history of the 
 nation, and by their very strife added to its greatness. Schism 
 itself is not an immixed evil ; on the contrary, it is a symptom 
 of active pulsating life, and of the seven Churches of the 
 Apocalypse the only two that were not tainted with it were 
 Laodicea the lukewarm, and the dead Sardis. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE EXILES IN FRANCE. 
 
 As the year 1553 advanced, Eugiishmeii began to realize that 
 then' young king, upon whose good dispositions they had 
 founded such high hopes, was gradually dying, and in a short 
 time would have ceased to reign. His successor would in all 
 probability be his elder sister, and for the first time in its 
 history, if we may except the brief rule of Matilda, this 
 country would be under the nominal government of a woman. 
 It is a remarkable fact that it occurred to no one to dispute 
 the right of a woman as such to reign, and even Northumber- 
 land chose his pretender from the gentler sex. Xone the less, 
 however, was the situation regarded as a dangerous one. If a 
 queen succeeded the childless Edward, her subjects would be 
 anxious for her to marry in order to secure the succession of 
 the throne, and to avoid the dangers of civil war. But if the 
 queen married, her husband, as belonging to the ruling sex, 
 would undoubtedly exercise the royal power in her name, and 
 much, therefore, depended upon the man she might choose for 
 her spouse. 
 
 When Mary ascended the throne, this question was already 
 eagerly debated, and it was not long before she was pressed to 
 make a plain d eclaration on the subject, while the same matter 
 was brought prominently forward by her first Parliament. The 
 whole people united in the desire that the queen should marry 
 an Englishman, and they even designated the one to be selected. 
 
The Exiles in France. 69 
 
 The young Courtenay, Earl of Devon, seemed the only English 
 noble ^YO^thy by his origin and position of this great honour. 
 If the queen would not marry a subject she would do better 
 to remain unwed. Nothing could be more baneful for the 
 true interests of the country than an alliance with a foreign 
 prince. Hitherto England had derived her strength and security 
 from her independent position as arbiter between France and 
 Spain, but this advantage would at once cease with a maiTiage 
 alliance with either of these powers, who in wealth, resources, 
 and military force were far superior to the England of that 
 day, and who would undoubtedly exhaust the treasures of this 
 country in men and money upon their own quarrels. It was, 
 therefore, with the gravest dissatisfaction that Englishmen 
 learned that their new sovereign had repulsed the petition 
 of their Commons, haughtily bidding them to mind their own 
 business, and asserting that a prince had at least as much right 
 as a private individual to marry the person who pleased him 
 most. The disquiet and discontent of Englishmen was so 
 much the greater since it was known that the queen's inclina- 
 tion leaned towards Philip of Spain. The gravest fears were 
 entertained. With the example of the Low Countries before 
 their eyes, provinces whose liberty had been bartered away 
 simply by marriage alliances, patriotic Englishmen could 
 not but dread lest they, like the brave Xetherlanders, should 
 sink to be the slaves of despotic and all-grasping Spain. 
 
 Across the water the progress of events in England was 
 keenly watched. In their desperate struggle against the 
 Hapsburgs the balance of power was already too far turned 
 against the French to allow them to permit Spain to add 
 England to her dominions without an effort to prevent the 
 catastrophe. They thought that Charles Y. had designs upon 
 Calais, and that, once in possession of tliis all-important post, 
 he would quell the discontented English, and then begin the 
 invasion of France. Moved by these fears and doubts, they 
 were determined, as far as possible, to do their utmost to 
 
70 The Policy of France. 
 
 prevent the union of Philip and Mary. The existence of 
 discontent in England upon the subject was well known in 
 France, and the French diplomatists at once took steps to gain 
 some advantage from this feeling. In September, 1553, De 
 Selva, the French envoy at Yenice, wrote to the Constable of 
 France advising him to do his utmost to stir up and keep alive 
 the discontent in England, and to ' encourage the claims of 
 Com^tenay. If, however, as seemed most probable, the queen 
 refused to marry a subject, he considered it would be necessary 
 to resist her intention of marrying Pliilip by force. In another 
 letter to the king the same diplomat urged the importance of 
 giving a chief to the malcontents, for otherwise the proposed 
 revolt would probably be a mere fire of straw — a great blaze 
 all over in a minute, and then completely extinguished. The 
 chief suggested was of coursei none other than Courtenay, the 
 king already designated by the choice of the English them- 
 selves. By pressing the candidature of the Earl of Devon, 
 Henry 11. not only hoped to frustrate the ambition of the 
 emperor, but also to bind Courtenay to himself by a debt of 
 gratitude. 
 
 The efforts of French diplomacy, the obstinacy of the 
 queen, and the apprehension of the people combined to produce 
 the rebellion in England that had been feared and anticipated. 
 The men of Kent rallied in great numbers round Sir Thomas 
 "Wyatt. In the west also the standard of insurrection was 
 raised, from all parts indeed came additional insurgents. On 
 the other hand, Mary had hardly any one on whom she could 
 rely ; all alike feared the Spanish match, and those who had 
 not resolved to rise against it had at least refused to take up 
 arms in its defence. The Londoners themselves, in whose 
 midst the queen was then residing, were of very uncertain 
 temper, and quite as ready to join Wyatt as not. 
 
 The situation indeed seemed critical, if not desperate. A 
 less determined and courageous sovereign would have fled in 
 dismay, leaving the field to the conqueror. The true Tudor 
 
The Exiles in France. y\ 
 
 blood, however, flowed in Mary's veins, and this was one of 
 the rare occasions in her sad reign when she proved herself the 
 veritable daughter of Henry VIII. She began by clapping 
 into prison both Courtenay and Elizabeth, thus depriving the 
 rebels of the chief De Selva had judged so essential to them. 
 To the wavering Londoners the queen made a reassuring 
 declaration on the subject of her marriage. Summoning the 
 Corporation of the City, she assured them that she would 
 marry no * one but by the consent of Parliament, and that if 
 that body objected to the alliance with Philip II. she would 
 consent to remain single. This statement at once raUied the 
 Londoners to the queen's side. The old loyalty asserted 
 itself with even greater force than ever ; indeed, it had only 
 been obscured for the moment by a still stronger feeUng of 
 patriotism. "VYyatt's career of success suddenly terminated. 
 At the very moment when he seemed about to attain his 
 desires, he found himseK in the middle of the capital, deserted 
 by his followers, and in the hands of his enemies. 
 
 As the French ambassador had anticipated, the affair had 
 proved to be a mere fire of straw, a miserable fiasco, which for 
 the moment at least had left the queen more popular than she 
 had ever been before. 
 
 The queen had not, however, triumphed over her difficulties 
 so completely as it appeared. The rebeUion of Wyatt had 
 only failed because it was premature. No public steps having 
 been taken to carry out the marriage with Philip, the queen 
 was left perfectly free to soothe the Londoners with fair 
 promises, engagements which would serve the turn at such an 
 emergency, but which nothing but honour bound her to keep. 
 The antipathy to the Spanish match remained just as keen as 
 ever, and certainly nothing but Mary's assurances would have 
 induced the Londoners to frustrate Wyatt in his attempt to 
 break it off. 
 
 The chief of the rebels in the West, who rose at the same 
 time, and with the same pui-pose as Wyatt, was one Sir Peter 
 
72 Sir Peter Carew. 
 
 Carew, a Devonshire gentleman, who in the last reign had 
 distinguished himself for his miUtant Protestantism in a 
 Catholic county, and who had also taken an important part in 
 a naval action against the French fleet. 
 
 Both Carew hunself and his biographer have resolutely and 
 repeatedly denied his treason both on this and on subsequent 
 occasions. The balance of evidence, however, seems so strong 
 on the other side, that we are forced to doubt the genuineness 
 of such interested declarations. We are permitted to beheve 
 at the same time that his treason was of a very modified type. 
 He was and remained a loyal Englishman to the core. Mary 
 might command his most implicit devotion and obedience if she 
 would only marry Courtenay, or remain single. But the 
 Spanish match he regarded as a most dangerous and destructive 
 step towards the suppression of the liberties and individuality 
 of the nation, and it was against this that he revolted. 
 
 More fortunate than his fellow-conspirator Wyatt, Sir 
 Peter, discovering that the game was lost, made good his 
 escape from the country. Having written to a member of the 
 Council that he knew a king who would treat him better than 
 the queen, he crossed over to France, and landed on the coast 
 of Normandy. Thence he was conducted to the French court, 
 and the same night had a secret interview with the King of 
 France. In the first blush of his hate against the Spaniards, 
 and the proposed Spanish match, Carew's first plan seems to 
 have been to return to Devonshire, and with the aid of French 
 troops again to raise the standard of revolt there, and by that 
 means prevent the landing of the infant Philip. 
 
 Henry II. of France, in the midst of his embarrassments, 
 was glad to welcome offers of assistance from whatever quarter 
 they might come. In Carew he saw the representative of the 
 anti-Spanish feeling in England, a sentiment which, if not 
 directly friendly towards France, at least promised to relieve 
 that country from the menace of an additional enemy. The 
 king, therefore, forgetting Carew's former deeds of prowess 
 
The Exiles in France. 73 
 
 against the French arms, extended to the refugee the warmest 
 and most cordial welcome. Not only had he at once granted 
 Carew an interview upon his arrival, but he loaded him with 
 caresses and favom's. He exempted him from the aiiMine^ or tax 
 upon foreigners, and made him free of the whole kingdom of 
 France, provided he did no harm to French subjects. He 
 placed a gold chain about his neck, gave him money for his 
 necessities, offered him two ships of the royal navy, one of 
 which was of the first class, together with the assistance of f our 
 privateers. 
 
 But however anxious Henry might be to avail himself of 
 the assistance of the Enghsh exiles, the subject was one that 
 required careful and delicate handling. It was the rule of the 
 foreigner that the English objected to, and it was only the 
 accident of the queen having chosen a Spaniard as her husband 
 that directed the animosity of her subjects chiefly against that 
 nation. The English were not disposed to brook French inter- 
 ference in their affairs, and they would have resented such 
 interference with as much energy as they used to cry out 
 against the Spanish marriage. Moreover, France and England 
 at that moment were friendly powers, and the last thing Henry 
 wished to do was to offend Queen Mary. Open assistance to 
 the rebels would have given the queen the opportunity to rouse 
 the spirit of the country, so jealous was it of foreign interfer- 
 ence, and thus enable her to caiTy through the negotiations 
 for the Spanish marriage with facihty and quickness. This 
 was the last thing King Henry desired. Dr. Wotton, the 
 English ambassador at the French Court, had already had his 
 suspicions aroused. Acting on the information he sent home, 
 Mary loudly and indignantly demanded the extradition of the 
 rebels, and declared that this was due to her according to the 
 terms of a recent treaty, and was only to be expected from a 
 power that professed to be friendly. In reply, Henry protested 
 his friendliness ; as for the rebels, he had heard nothing about 
 them, his dominions were so large that he could not possibly 
 
74 The Exiles at Rotieft. 
 
 take account of all who entered or went out of them. "While 
 he thus endeavoured to allay the suspicions of the queen, he 
 judged it expedient to send Carew and the rest of the EngHsh 
 who had gathered round him to Rouen, where he hoped they 
 would escape the keen observation of the English envoy. 
 
 At Rouen Carew seems to have been looked upon as the 
 chief of the little knot of Englishmen who were therewith him. 
 The families and influence there represented were of no mean 
 order. Side by side with Carew was Sir William Pickering, 
 who had been until quite recently English ambassador at the 
 French court, and who had probably joined the malcontents 
 out of pique at his revocation. Among the other families 
 represented were the Staff ords, Tremaynes, Killigrews, and 
 Fitzwilliams. All alike breathed the deepest hatred to Spain, 
 and determination to do then- utmost to prevent the proposed 
 marriage. In the city that held the ashes of WilUam the 
 Conqueror, Carew, inspired by his surroundings, is reported to 
 have thus addressed his countrymen : " Are we not alhanced 
 with Xormandy ! ^Yliat ancient house is either there or in 
 France, but w^e claim by them and they by us ? Why, then, 
 should we not rather embrace their loves, than submit ourselves 
 to the servitude of Spain ? " 
 
 But although Carew was ready to take advantage of the 
 friendship of France, he did not wish that country actively to 
 interfere in English affairs. The plan of a descent upon 
 Devonshire was definitely abandoned, and another mode of 
 offence was adopted. The object the conspirators had set 
 before themselves was to prevent the landing of Philip in 
 England ; they now hoped to make the Channel unsafe for his 
 fleet by securing the command of it, and so make it impossible 
 for the Infant to cross from one country to the other. Their 
 means were slender, but with the assistance of the French king, 
 they might hope to succeed in their designs. Henry had fitted 
 out two hundred sail, and it was currently reported that he 
 meant to put them under the command and at the disposition 
 
TJie Exiles in France. ' 75 
 
 of the Englishmen. In the mean time the Killigrews put to 
 sea with three ships, giving out that they were in the service of 
 the French Crown. Perhaps they began at this moment those 
 freebooting raids on Spanish ships of which we shaU speak more 
 fully later on. 
 
 The threats and preparations of the exiles created the 
 greatest alarm at the English court. It was currently beheved 
 that the whole force of the French navy would be employed by 
 the rebels, in order to prevent Philip from making the voyage to 
 England. To protect the Spanish prince, it was thought neces- 
 sary to equip almost the whole navy to go to meet him, while 
 the Spaniards on their side made similar elaborate preparations. 
 
 The fear and alarm excited by the small band of refugees 
 could not fail to have other effects. The report of their plans 
 and their actions excited emulation as well as dread. They 
 were surrounded by the glamour of romance. They appeared 
 as the champions of right against wrong ; the friends and 
 upholders of religious and political hberty, as opposed to 
 Spanish despotism and bigotry. The fiery, impetuous, noble 
 youth of England longed to be where they were, fighting their 
 battle. If their queen would not gratify their wishes, and 
 exert the power of England against the threatening ascendency 
 of the Hapsburgs, they hoped as volunteers to serve on the 
 French side against the common enemy. They wished to do so 
 before the fatal marriage had been irrevocably concluded. So 
 far were they from having any disloyal idea in then- action, 
 that one actually asked permission of Paget to serve in this 
 way, while the son of Bedford, the Lord Privy Seal, was 
 among the number. 
 
 The Court, indeed, looked upon this movement as a revolt, 
 and would grant no such request. Nevertheless the emigration 
 of the young English nobility continued. On the 13th of 
 April, 1554, the Ambassador Noailles wrote to D'Oysel, " Every 
 day a large number of these nobles cross to France, and it seems 
 as if the half of her (Mary's) kingdom is tremulous to go there, 
 
"j^ Misery of the Exiles. 
 
 the only difficulty being to find a safe passage." Thanks to 
 this emigration, the French armies gained some valuable 
 recruits. Current reports in France stated that there were 
 twenty-five English gentlemen ready to serve as captains under 
 Carew, and great hopes were entertained from their assistance. 
 One, Captain Cray, moreover, commanding a company of one 
 hundred English horse, joined the French land forces in the 
 war against the emperor. 
 
 But the condition of the refugees was very different from 
 what had been imagined. They were spied upon, and betrayed. 
 They could not trust one another. They were harassed by 
 doubts as to whether their conduct was really patriotic, after 
 all. Their boasting and loud threats evaporated in next to 
 nothing, and hardly anything was done to forward the object 
 they had so much at heart. 
 
 The Ambassador Wotton never lost sight of them. He 
 had spies who shared all their secrets, and very little indeed 
 seems to have escaped his observation. Accordingly, he sent 
 home full reports of the doings of the rebels, and of their 
 reception in France. 
 
 The queen was filled with wrath to think that these dis- 
 obedient subjects should be enabled to defy her under the 
 shelter of a friendly power. Again and again she demanded 
 their extradition with growing impatience and choler. On 
 one occasion, during an interview with Noailles on this 
 subject, her face was so transformed by anger that it lost all 
 traces of feminine sweetness, as the French ambassador quaintly 
 puts it. But Noailles met the queen's remonstrances with the 
 utmost imperturbability. He continued his assurances that 
 his master knew nothing of the men, while by the next courier 
 he sent back advices that Carew and his fellows should be better 
 concealed. Pushed to an extreme of impatience, he once 
 declared that his master could not consent to be the queen's 
 hangman ; but beyond this he made no approach to a con- 
 fession of complicity. Mary, muttering vague threats of war, 
 
The Exiles in France. 77 
 
 felt obliged to accept these declarations, though she knew 
 perfectly well how false they were. 
 
 It was not only by threats that the queen approached the 
 exiles. Softer means were also tried, and cajolement and 
 promises nearly accomplished what menace had failed to 
 perform ; so much so, that the French king thought it neces- 
 sary to intercept despatches, fearing lest they should deprive 
 him of his new alhes. 
 
 AVotton, the ambassador, however, was steadily at work 
 all the time, and his efforts were speedily crowned with success. 
 The rebels had much to make them dissatisfied with their lot, 
 and they had good reason to be misteady in their original 
 purpose. In spite of the money they had received from the 
 French king, they suffered from extreme poverty, and it was 
 perfectly apparent that they could not prevent the landing 
 of Philip in England. Quarrels had broken out among them, 
 and the presence of traitors and spies in their midst was only 
 too certain. Added to all this, they must have been harassed 
 by cruel doubts as to their loyalty and patriotism, and have 
 asked themselves if, after all, it was much better to deliver 
 their country to France than to Spain. Xevertheless, it was a 
 great blow to them when they learned, about the beginning of 
 March, 1554, that Pickering had made his peace with the 
 queen, and that he would be received back into favour. The 
 ex-ambassador had been looked upon as one of the chief men 
 among the refugees. All their secrets were in his hands, and 
 thus, not only had they to bear his loss, but they were placed 
 in a most dangerous position. The impetuous Staffords, less 
 scrupulous than their fellows, were for following the deserter 
 and despatching him. But, restrained by then- wiser friends, 
 they finally let him go unmolested. 
 
 Wotton might well be proud of his success, so soon gained, 
 and at so small a cost. But he intended to push it farther, and 
 wished to retain Pickering in order to employ him to convert 
 Carew and the rest. But the ex-ambassador thouo'ht it would 
 
78 Submission of Cm^ew. 
 
 not be safe for him to remain in France, both on account of 
 the resentment of the king and the choler of his associates. 
 He therefore left Paris secretly, and, passing by Lyons, pro- 
 ceeded to Italy through the Empire. Before he left, he 
 informed "Wotton that Henry II. intended to land the rebels at 
 Lee, in Essex, and in the Isle of Wight, and either to fortify 
 them there, or march on to raise the country against the 
 Government. 
 
 But if Wotton could not retain Pickering in France for his 
 own purposes, fortune favoured liim with other converts who 
 would serve the same ends. The conversion of Pickering had 
 so disheartened the others, who began to see that the game 
 was up. Some were sure to follow his example ; and this very 
 soon happened. In the following May, two more of the 
 refugees, Randall and Staunton, demanded forgiveness, and 
 were pardoned, on condition of spying upon ■ the others. 
 Eandall seems to have devoted his energies to secure the 
 conversion of Carew, while Staunton did his utmost to sow 
 dissensions among those about him, bending his energies to 
 make them odious to the French king, and so prevent their 
 obtaining appointments or employment. Both met with re- 
 markable success. 
 
 The desertion of Pickering had much shaken Carew, and 
 it required but little to bring him on his knees. Before the 
 end of July Randall was enabled to report that his conversion 
 had been effected. Carew himself wrote a humble and 
 lamentable letter, asking pardon for his faults, and protesting 
 that he had never been anything but a loyal subject. Like an 
 honourable man he refused to leave the French court without 
 asking permission. For this purpose he sent the younger 
 Killigrew to Paris to declare his position and intentions. The 
 constable who received the envoy detained him four days, 
 grumbled a good deal about the inconstancy of the English, 
 but finished by letting him depart with the required permission. 
 In his present state of mind Carew could no longer be of any 
 
The Exiles in France. 79 
 
 service to the French Crown. He at once availed himself of 
 the permission Killigrew had obtained for him, and sadly- 
 departed for Venice, still under the shadow of the royal dis- 
 pleasure, and in the anticipation of a miserable life upon 
 straitened means. Even in the republic he did not feel quite 
 at his ease, and imagined that Peter Yannes wished to have 
 him assassinated. No harm, however, came to him, and he 
 remained in Venice till the end of the year. About that time, 
 hearing that his wife was in the Low Countries, he could not 
 resist the temptation of going thither to meet her. At 
 Antwerp he was unexpectedly arrested, together with Sir John 
 Cheke, conveyed to England, and put in the Tower. A 
 pardon, however, was speedily forthcoming, and Carew lived 
 to faithfully serve both Mary and her successor in 
 Ireland. 
 
 Although this remarkable episode in the life of Carew is 
 by no means so clear as it might be, it seems practically certain 
 that he never wished to be anything but loyal and patriotic. 
 His plans of invasion with French help rest only upon the 
 authority of Wotton, who in his turn had to rely upon an 
 informant of more or less credibility. Pickering himself may 
 have been deceived, or perhaps he invented the story as a 
 means of pardon. In any case no active preparations were 
 made to bring about an invasion. This fact, together with the 
 absence of further proofs, compels us to believe the assertions 
 of Carew himself as to his innocence. But it is equally certain 
 that he was determined to prevent the Spanish marriage if it 
 were possible. For that purpose he was prepared to use armed 
 resistance, to force the queen to compliance against her will. 
 It is not probable that he wished to depose Mary in favour of 
 Courtenay and Elizabeth, although he would have been pleased 
 to have seen tlie young couple married and declared the heirs 
 to the Crown. But when he had once realized that the Spanish 
 match was inevitable, and that it did not lie in his power to 
 prevent it, he desired nothing so much as to make his peace 
 
8o General sn,b mission of the Exiles. 
 
 with the queen, and return again to serve his sovereign and 
 the country he loved so dearly. 
 
 The submission of Carew and the machinations of Staunton 
 completely broke up the band of exiles that remained. The 
 leaders of the party were Bryan Fitzwilliam and Staunton 
 himself. As the latter was a spy and a traitor, it is not 
 surprising that the affairs of the refugees speedily went 
 from bad to worse. Neglected by the French king, who no 
 longer had any confidence in them, they were reduced to the 
 greatest straits. Destitute alike of arms, money, and even 
 food, they were reduced to steahng in order to gain wherewith 
 to keep body and soul together. From their quarters at 
 Neuchatel, in Normandy, they made forays upon the neigh- 
 bouring country, and, not satisfied with this, they quarrelled 
 among themselves, and robbed and plundered each other. The 
 author of this miserable state of affairs, Staunton, must have 
 rubbed his hands with glee, for by no other means could the 
 danger of the English government be so effectually removed, 
 at least from this quarter. Wotton wrote home advising the 
 queen and king to grant a free pardon to all the refugees, 
 feeling assured that by this means the government would turn 
 these rebels into faithful subjects. 
 
 No such pardon, however, was granted, nor indeed was it 
 necessary. Misery and suspicion effectually accompUshed the 
 same work. Early in July, Bryan FitzwiUiam was on his 
 knees imploring pardon, and assuring the queen that he had 
 not served the French king for the last eight months. Before 
 the end of the following October almost all the others had 
 likewise submitted, and the danger of a revolt in England with 
 French assistance seemed at an end. 
 
 In spite of the general submission, and notwithstanding 
 the successful accomplishment of the marriage of Philip and 
 Mary, there still remained a small band of Englishmen in 
 France determined to carry on the Avar against the Spaniards 
 on their own account. The chief of this party was one Peter 
 
The Exiles in France. 8i 
 
 Killigrew, a member of an illustrious family and destined to 
 make a notable reputation for himself. Fortunate in com- 
 manding ships given to him by the King of France, he speedily 
 turned them to account. "We have already seen that as early 
 as March, 1554, he had put to sea with three ships. He seems 
 to have speedily increased his fleet, probably by adding to it 
 the best of the vessels that he captured, for from this moment 
 he seems to have become a licensed freebooter. Spain was 
 the principal object of Killigrew's hatred, and he considered 
 his readiest way to injure that power would be to attack and 
 rob Spanish ships. The King of France was ready to give 
 him every assistance that he could possibly afford in secret, 
 for it still remained necessary for him to conciUate the English 
 government. The Killigrews made every use of their licence. 
 Darting from the ports of Normandy and the Channel Islands, 
 they swooped upon all the vessels bearing the Spanish flag 
 that they came across. Returning in triumph to such places 
 as Conquest, La Rochelle, or the Hague, they sold their prizes 
 and realized considerable sums of money. By this means they 
 escaped the privations from which their countrymen suffered 
 so severely, and indeed they lived in comparative opulence. 
 
 As before, the remonstrances of the English government 
 proved unavaihng. The king and the constable affected to 
 ignore the existence of these corsaii-s, and though the latter 
 promised to prevent their ships from entering a French port 
 again, he somehow forgot to keep his word. 
 
 But the time of the Killigrews' prosperity drew speedily 
 to a close. Not satisfied with Spanish vessels only, they fell 
 upon Enghsh, and even upon French merchantmen, and might 
 weh be considered as public enemies. In June, 1556, they 
 captured two English vessels and armed them to form part 
 of their own fleet. The English government at last realized 
 that it was necessary to take active and energetic measures to 
 put down this nuisance. Ships were fitted out and sent in 
 pursuit of the corsairs. In the following month the queen's 
 
 G 
 
82 Defeat of the Cor sans. 
 
 fleet of eight vessels came up with the pirates who had ten. 
 In the sharp engagement which followed, the rebels were com- 
 pletely worsted. Six of their ships fell into the hands of the 
 enemy, and the four which succeeded in escaping were hotly 
 pursued by the royal vessels. Peter Killigrew himself was on 
 one of these four vessels, and he made good his escape, but 
 his brother fell into the hands of the queen's captains, and 
 was carried off a prisoner to England. In spite of the efforts 
 of his father, who endeavoured to buy his pardon, he could 
 obtain no forgiveness, and in all probability soon suffered the 
 penalty for his rebellion. His companions and followers 
 suffered a like fate, for we may almost certainly identify them 
 with the numerous pirates about this time who were hanged at 
 low- water mark at "Wapping. 
 
 This naval action of July, 1556, effectually quelled the 
 excesses of the English pirates. It is true that they did not 
 entirely give up their marauding expeditions, but the old 
 spirit had been knocked out of them, and they could no longer 
 act with such reckless daring as before. This httle episode, 
 however, of maritime history is interesting as showing the 
 tendencies for adventure at sea which were rapidly spreading 
 among Englishmen even at this early period, and which gave 
 us, later on, such menras Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher, with 
 a crowd of others hardly less renowned. 
 
 The departure and submission of Pickering and Carew had, 
 as I have said, almost completely broken up the party of the 
 rebels in France, and put an end to their activity. With the 
 exception of the excursions of the Killigrews, no hostile demon- 
 strations were made against the Spaniards. This state of 
 affairs was largely due to the fact that English diplomatists 
 were doing their utmost to bring about peace between France 
 and Spain. 
 
 English statesmen, at the head of whom was Cardinal Pole, 
 seemed determined to neutralize the fatal tendencies of the 
 marriage of Philip and Mary, and to assert the mediating 
 
 I 
 
TJie Exiles in France. 83 
 
 position of England in spite of it. Henry II. of France 
 accepted this solution of his difficulties as the best he could 
 have hoped for, and therefore he was in no mind to give 
 that countenance to English rebels as he had done in the 
 past. 
 
 Unfortunately the ^negotiations did not end in a definite 
 peace, and only a flimsy truce resulted from the labours of the 
 plenipotentiaries. In spite of the undoubted sincerity of Pole, 
 it is doubtful if either Philip or Mary really wished for peace. 
 The Prince of Spain counted upon the alliance of England, 
 notwithstanding the restiveness of the people, and he thought 
 that Spain and England together would crush France. As 
 for Mary, she was only anxious to gratify her adored husband 
 in every possible way. Henry II. realized his danger as well 
 as he had done before, and he determined to meet it in the 
 same way. Once more he was ready to receive and encourage 
 English rebels, and he is reported to have said openly that he 
 would rather suffer in his own person than fail to receive and 
 entertain kindly any Englishman, of however low degree, who 
 might take refuge in his realm. 
 
 The opportunity was not wanting. Undeterred by con- 
 tinual failures, the malcontents in England were continually 
 active. The reHgious persecutions had embittered the enemies 
 of the government and cooled its friends, and in the spring of 
 1556 the air was once more filled with plots and conspiracies. 
 The spirit that had prompted the revolt of 1554 had not 
 perished with ^Yyatt, nor submitted with Carew. But it had 
 become more reckless and less patriotic. According to the 
 version of the government, the conspirators intended to set 
 fire to London, and to retire to the Isle of Wight. There 
 they were to raise the standard of revolt, with the help of 
 French arms and money, and proclaim Elizabeth and Courtenay 
 as king and queen of England. 
 
 It is exceedingly doubtful if any such plan was ever seriously 
 elaborated. But a report of a French invasion might serve 
 
84 Conspiracy of 1556. 
 
 the purpose of the government by raising the national jealousy 
 against the foreigners, while it would enable the queen to rid 
 herself of many persons objectionable to her. Mary may 
 indeed have believed the report, for she was painfully conscious 
 of the unpopularity of her government, and knew well that the 
 people desired nothing better than its overthi'ow. 
 
 Consequently, as soon as the government had learned of 
 the existence of a conspiracy (for a conspiracy there most 
 undoubtedly was), it proceeded to take prompt measures of 
 repression. Such ringleaders as could be seized were thrown 
 into prison and closely examined. Sir Thomas Uvedale, 
 the governor of the Isle of Wight, and John Throckmorton 
 both suffered the extreme penalty for their complicity. Sir 
 Antony Kingston, a prominent member of the opposition in 
 Parliament, died of stone on his way to prison, though many 
 asserted that he had been secretly made away with by the 
 government. Many others also suffered, but the measures of 
 the royal officials were not completely successful. Numbers of 
 the conspirators escaped across the sea, and, like Carew before 
 them, went to seek help and money from Henry of France. 
 Of these the principal were Henry Dudley, a member of the 
 family of the late Duke of Northumberland, and Christopher 
 Assheton, a gentleman of some condition and standing. With 
 them were two of the Horsey family, a Cornewall of Essex, and 
 others of meaner lineage. Apparently the king speedily gTanted 
 them an interview, for at the beginning of April they met him 
 secretly at night. The rebels held out to the French king 
 great hopes and dazzling promises if he would assist them. 
 They asserted that all England would rise to help them, and 
 that some of those about Queen Mary were in sympathy with 
 them — nay, even some members of the Privy Council. Finally, 
 as the price of the king's aid, they promised to betray Calais 
 to him, a town long desired by the French, for it was at 
 once the memorial of past defeats, and a menace to their 
 future security. 
 
 I 
 
The Exiles in France. 85 
 
 Henry received these advances very graciously, and pro- 
 bably hoped that this rebellion Avould prove more effective than 
 the last. To Dudley he gave a present of fifteen hundred 
 crowns ; to the others, sums varying from three to five hundred 
 crowns, while he encouraged the hope that he would assist 
 them by his co-operation. Caution, however, was necessary in 
 order to lull the suspicions of the Queen of England. Accord- 
 ingly Henry bade the refugees retire to the coast, saying that 
 when there they could have better intehigence with their 
 fellows in England. "VYe may suspect that the actual reason 
 was that he wished them far away in places where they would 
 be less likely to be observed by the Ambassador Wotton. The 
 arrival of the rebels and their night interview with the king 
 had not, however, escaped the notice of the lynx-eyed envoy. 
 As many of the English w^ho had been with Carew, and who 
 had submitted with him, still remained in France, he was 
 exceedingly well supplied with spies and informers. To the 
 home government he sent .home a full account of these 
 matters as a warning against the unfriendly dispositions of 
 King Henry. 
 
 Queen Mary and her counsellors at once took alarm at this 
 disagreeable state of affairs. The late plot had s^Dread its 
 influence in many directions, but though numerous arrests had 
 been made, the government could not tell how far the mischief 
 still existed. Evidently discontent was rife throughout the 
 country, and if the French king gave the malcontents his 
 assistance, who could; tell what might happen? The queen 
 considered the situation sufficiently grave as to demand the 
 services of a special envoy at the French court, and for this 
 mission she selected Lord Clinton. 
 
 As might have been anticipated, the new^ ambassador 
 extraordinary met with a most cordial reception, as far as out- 
 ward appearances went, but with no real success. At the French 
 court at Blois Henry received him with the utmost cordiality, 
 and loaded him with rich presents. When Clinton complained 
 
86 Mission of Lord Clinton. 
 
 of the welcome given to the English rebels, and proposed to 
 arrange some compact by which the enemies of both govern- 
 ments should be mutually given up, the king resorted to the 
 old excuse that his kingdom was so large that he could not 
 tell who entered it or who departed from it. He made Clinton 
 understand, however, that he would shortly deliver up all the 
 refugees into the queen's hands. Delighted at the graciousness 
 of the French monarch, and completely satisfied about the 
 success of his mission, the envoy returned to England to 
 report the results of his journey at the English court. 
 
 But he had been grievously deceived. The French king 
 had been throwing dust in his eyes all the time. At the very 
 moment when Clinton was at his court, many of the English 
 rebels were there also, waiting for the departure of the 
 ambassador in order to be able to concert with King Henry 
 their schemes against the government of Queen Mary. The 
 mission of Clinton had no effect upon their activity, unless it 
 served to stimulate their exertions. His back had hardly been 
 turned, ere the rebels pressed eagerly forward their plans of 
 invasion and revolution. 
 
 Although imprisoned at the time of Wyatt's rebellion on 
 the suspicion of complicity in that rising, Courtenay, Earl of 
 Devon, had been subsequently released by the government, 
 which could find absolutely notliing of a treasonable nature to 
 bring against him. But the presence of the young and 
 popular earl in England would have been too dangerous for 
 the Spanish party, who dreaded lest he should become the 
 centre of the opposition against them. The unfortunate young 
 man was therefore constrained to leave his native land, and to 
 seek a refuge in foreign parts. In fear of his life if he 
 remained in Hapsburg territory, yet anxious not to offend by 
 going to France, he chose the mistress of the Adriatic as his 
 asylum, and settled down in proud and independent Venice to 
 enjoy what peace and tranquillity he might. 
 
 But he had never ceased to be the hope of the anti-Spanish 
 
The Exiles in France. 87 
 
 party in England. They still looked forward to the time 
 when he should be their king, and if Mary would not have him 
 they hoped to unite him to Elizabeth, and cause the young 
 couple to be proclaimed, if not king and queen, at least heu'S- 
 presumptive to the throne. 
 
 Animated by such ideas as these, Dudley and his fellows 
 longed to draw Courtenay from his retirement and make him 
 their leader. Towards Whitsuntide, 1556, Henry KilUgrew 
 departed for Venice to sound the earl on this subject, and, if 
 possible, bring him to France. But Courtenay was not of the 
 stuff of which conspirators are made, and he had none of the 
 resolution and courage necessary for any one who wishes to 
 overthrow a government. His education had not been such as 
 to cultivate his mind or his mettle, and his spirit had been 
 broken by long imprisonment, and by the continual fear of 
 death. Instead of the young earl of noble bearing and intrepid 
 courage Killigrew had expected to see, he found only a 
 weakling, broken in mind and body, desiring only to conciliate 
 the English government and the Spaniards, and anxious to end 
 his days in peace. No help could be expected from such an 
 individual, and Henry Killigrew returned to France to report 
 the complete futiUty of his mission. 
 
 The Earl of Devon did not long survive this visit. Cruelly 
 and unjustly persecuted as he had been, watched at every turn 
 as he still was, life seemed to have lost all its charm for him, 
 and he grew careless of it. In the autumn of this same year, 
 whilst wandering about, he was overtaken by a heavy rain and 
 drenched to the skin. From a neglect of proper precautions, 
 he caught a chill, from the effects of which he died soon after, 
 on the 18th of September, and an hour later Peter Yannes, the 
 English envoy at Venice, hurried to inform the queen of the 
 happy event. Although Courtenay was not dangerous in himself 
 and never could have been so, he was a dangerous centre of 
 disaffection, and as such the queen had cause to rejoice at his 
 death. Many persons did not hesitate to say that she had done 
 
88 Death of Coiirtenay. 
 
 something to bring it about, and that the sudden decease of 
 the young eari in the flower of his age was due to a dose of 
 poison administered by Peter Yannes in conformity with the 
 orders of a jealous and alarmed government. But this is mere 
 suspicion. In the fifteenth century such accusations were only 
 too common, and every unexpected decease was explained in 
 this way. However anxious the government may have been 
 to be rid of Courtenay, there is no reason to suppose that it 
 would have stooped to a crime in order to gain its purpose. 
 The account of the causes of the earl's last illness, as sent home 
 by Peter Yannes himself, is sufficiently circumstantial and 
 probable to allow us to accept his version of the story. 
 
 Thus miserably, far from home and friends, perished a man 
 to whom Fortune had opened visions of greatness and glory 
 such as no English subject had ever before deemed attainable. 
 But the veiy vision of greatness, though unsought by himself, 
 blighted his prospects and ruined his life. The deceitful smile 
 of Fortune lured him to his destruction. 
 
 Meanwhile, Dudley and his companions in France, although 
 disappointed in their hopes of assistance from Courtenay, 
 continued to menace the peace of England. Yarious plans of 
 invasion were mooted. Assheton suggested a general descent 
 upon all the principal places of the south coast, including the 
 Isle of Wight, Southampton, Poole, Weymouth and Portland. 
 Others were for attacking Yarmouth and Harwich, while the 
 Staff ords wanted to go still further north and planned the 
 reduction of Scarborough. 
 
 But these plans and plots came to very little. Things were 
 not going at all well with the rebels. In spite of all Henry's 
 fervent protestations they were badly in want of money, and 
 with the exception of those who gained a livelihood by phacy, 
 they suffered severely from all sorts of privations. The 
 pusillanimity of Courtenay must have done much to discourage 
 them. But this was not all. Hearing that Sir Peter Carew 
 was at Antwerp, they hoped to gain the co-o]jeration of this 
 
The Exiles in France. 89 
 
 once so celebrated rebel. Accordingly they sent to him to 
 invite his assistance, at the same time imparting to him their 
 plans. But Sir Peter had greatly changed since the days when 
 he had cried ont against the Spanish marriage. The refugees 
 had grievously misplaced their confidence in telling him of 
 their designs, for he had no sooner heard them than he com- 
 municated the whole plot to the English government. Poverty 
 and misery had so shaken the resolution of many of the rebels 
 that they were ready and willing to make their peace with the 
 queen, and as early as July, Wotton was able to inform Petre 
 that one of the most prominent among them, a Captain Grayer, 
 would at once return to England if he could obtain an 
 appointment. 
 
 Such being the state of affairs, it is not surprising that the 
 threats and projects of invasion of 1556 proved just as empty 
 and abortive as those of 1554. But at the later date other 
 matter was in hand. At his very first coming to France, 
 Dudley had offered the French king the possession of Calais 
 as the price of his assistance. This was the part of the rebels' 
 scheme which most commended itself to Henry's mind. 
 Although the king would not break openly with the English 
 government, he was anxious to do all that could be done 
 secretly towards regaining this important French fortress, that 
 had so long been in the hands of the foreigner. Dudley 
 informed him that the whole system of forts in the Calais 
 district was negligently guarded, that the garrisons were 
 undermanned, and insufiiciently supplied with provisions and 
 munitions of war. A number of French spies were busy in 
 Calais, and the French troops were being massed in Xormandy 
 and Picardy, at Rouen and Abbeville. Dudley f mother suggested 
 that the French should occupy and fortify ISTewnham Bridge, 
 for if tliis was done he asserted that Guisnes could not hold 
 out a week. The question was further comphcated by the 
 claims of the French to Sandingfield, an abbey situated on 
 the frontier line between Calais and Boulo2:ne. 
 
90 Danger of Calais. 
 
 This accumulation of dangers at last awakened the govern- 
 ment to a full sense of its responsibihties. Calais was not 
 a place to be lightly parted with. The major portion of the 
 revenue of the kingdom was expended upon it. From both a 
 military and commercial point of view, it w^as regarded as of 
 vital importance to England. By the military authorities of 
 the time it was considered the military key of this country, 
 which in the hands of an enemy would be a standing menace 
 to the security of the realm. As a commercial city, it con- 
 tained the wool staple, and was the sole legitimate channel 
 thi'ough which English goods passed to the continental 
 markets. If this all important place should fall into the 
 hands of the French, it was freely thought and asserted that 
 nothing less than military and commercial ruin attended this 
 country. 
 
 The situation was indeed such an one as to cause great 
 anxiety. Not only was Calais full of spies, not only were 
 French troops massing on the frontiers, but the queen's very 
 representatives were not thoroughly to be depended upon. 
 Lord Gray, the governor of G-uisnes, was a Protestant, and 
 known to be disaffected on account of the changes in religion. 
 Lord Dudley, the governor of Hammes, was a brother of 
 Dudley the rebel, and reported to be ready to hand over the 
 castle to him ; nay, the very Lord Deputy of Calais himself 
 was suspected of carrying on treasonable relations with the 
 French government. 
 
 These pessimistical representations of the state of defence 
 of Calais were probably exaggerated. But in any case the 
 home government acted with criminal remissness. Some 
 activity was shown in the summer of 1556. The governor 
 endeavoured to get hold of the spies, but w^ithout any very 
 great success. A man named Tuckfield committed suicide to 
 escape arrest, while a Frenchman named Devisat let liimself 
 over the wall and got safely away. The dispute between Lord 
 Gray and the governor of Boulogne about Sandingfield had 
 
The Exiles in France. 91 
 
 given rise to a skirmish between the French and English troops, 
 in which blood had been shed. The matter began to look so 
 serious that the Deputy Pembroke judged it advisable to send 
 reinforcements of three or four hundred men to his coUeague. 
 Happily, this question was not destined to cause a war between 
 England and France. Both nations looked calmly on the 
 matter, and a conunission was appointed to define the frontier 
 on that side. 
 
 This fortunate termination of what promised to be a 
 serious affair seems to have exercised an extraordinarily sooth- 
 ing effect upon the English government. Too readily assuming 
 the friendly disposition of the French, and relying too implicitly 
 upon the strength of the virgin fortress, Calais again suffered 
 from the neglect of its rulers, and remained imder -garrisoned 
 and almost destitute of stores. 
 
 The King of France did not have to wait long before he 
 was able to snatch this coveted fortress from the hands which 
 held it so loosely. AYhen open war had been declared between 
 England and France, less than eight montlis later. Bang Henry 
 was able to profit by the information Dudley had given him. 
 When the Duke of Guise suddenly appeared before Calais in 
 the autumn of 1557, he had every reason to beheve that the place 
 would fall an easy prey to his arms. It was then too late for 
 the English government to send men and provisions. Small 
 in numbers and threatened with famine, the garrison offered 
 but a feeble resistance, and almost before the queen had 
 become aware that the place was besieged, she learned that 
 it had fallen. 
 
 To-day, after the lapse of so many years, we can hardly 
 realize the terrible shock this news caused in our country. 
 It seemed a final and crushing blow to the prosperity of 
 England. The saying of Mary that, after her death, Calais 
 would be found graven upon her heart seems to us an 
 extravagant absurdity, but it only too well represents the general 
 dismay felt at the time. Had it not been for the preceding 
 
92 The Staffords. 
 
 victory of St. Quentin, and the general assurance that the 
 town would speedily be regained, Englishmen would certainly 
 have despaired of their country. As it was, the loss of so 
 important a possession roused to a still higher pitch the 
 indignation and discontent of the people against a government 
 by whose negligence this great disgrace had befallen them. 
 
 To return again to the more direct work of the exiles, for 
 we have not yet done with them. The various projects of 
 invasion concocted by the malcontent Englishmen in France 
 did not entirely end in talk and bluster. Towards the end of 
 the reign of Mary an expedition of refugees actually crossed 
 the seas for tliis purpose, and though they were promptly 
 crushed, still then' action served finally to induce the Enghsh 
 nation to take part with Spain in the war against France. 
 
 Among the chief of those Englishmen present at the Court 
 of Henry 11. , at the beginning of the year 1554, were two 
 brothers, Sir Robert and Thomas Stafford. By blood they 
 were alhed to the royal family of England, for their father 
 Wilham, Lord Stafford, had married Ursula Pole, sister of the 
 celebrated Cardinal, and of this union they were the offspring. 
 In May, 1553, Thomas at least was in Venice, where we read 
 that by special favour he was permitted to view the jewels of 
 St. Mark, and obtained the privilege of wearing arms. Like 
 many young Englishmen of that period, he was probably 
 making a torn' of the Continent, and in particular of Italy, 
 which at that time exercised a great influence on fashionable 
 English society. On the news of the death of King Edward 
 he must have hurried back to England, where he took part in 
 the funeral of the late king, as one of the bearers of the royal 
 body. His doings about this time are somewhat obscure, 
 although a few facts stand out clear in the mist of uncertainty. 
 He appears to have sided with Queen Mary, and is reported to 
 have distinguished himself in fighting against the Duke of 
 Suffolk. But if he was opposed to the rebels at this time, he 
 was no friend of the Spanish marriage. However strong his 
 
The Exiles in France. 93 
 
 love of legitimacy in the succession may have been, he was as 
 fierce against the foreigner as any of the hot-blooded young 
 nobles and gentry about him. The queen's pertinacity in this 
 matter soon extinguished the flame of loyalty in his breast, and 
 before long he was a rebel and a refugee himself. At the end 
 of March he and his brother. Sir Robert, arrived at Fon- 
 tainbleau, only a day after their uncle. They seem to have 
 at once attacked the worthy cardinal in the hope of converting 
 him to their views, and of remonstrating with the queen. But 
 Pole, though emlDarrassed by the presence of his unruly nephews, 
 for he had come to treat of peace between France and Spain, 
 would have nothing to do with them. He wrote home to the 
 queen to express his regret at their rebellious doings, while at 
 Fontainbleau he turned them both out of his house, and refused 
 even to see their letters. 
 
 Cast off in this way by their powerful uncle, the two 
 brothers were left to their own resources, and seem to have 
 thrown in their lot with Carew and his party. The part they 
 played at this time must have been quite a secondary one, and 
 besides their outbm'st of wrath against Pickering when he made 
 his peace with the queen, we hear almost nothing of them. 
 In 1555, when Carew and so many others obtained their 
 pardon, the Staff ords refused to submit, and continued to stay 
 in France in and about the French com't. 
 
 This life of exile seems to have had a most prejudicial effect 
 upon Thomas Stafford. Always of a changeful and excitable 
 nature, he began to develop symptoms, if not of madness, at 
 least of extraordinary folly. Having nothing else to do, he 
 must needs fall out with his brother Eobert. The real cause 
 of this quarrel can only be surmised ; it may possibly have 
 been on account of Thomas's claim to the English throne, of 
 which, however, we hear nothing till a month later. Whatever 
 may have been the cause, in the fall of 1556 Sir Robert 
 Stafford complained that his brother was going about to assas- 
 sinate him. Upon this accusation, he caused the unfortunate 
 
94 Quarrel between the Staffords. 
 
 Thomas to be seized and cast into a vile prison at Rouen, among 
 thieves and felons, and the worst malefactors. Escaping soon 
 after, Thomas swore that he would be even with his brother, 
 and began at once to take measures to obtain redress. Sir 
 Eobert, who, if he had feared assassination before, now had double 
 cause to expect it, hied him in great haste to the king's court, 
 where he besieged Henry with supplications to put his brother 
 to death. It was certainly with much justice that Wotton 
 exclaimed, " If ever there was a tragico comedia played, surely 
 these men played it." But, after all, this was only the farce 
 that preceded the more elaborate drama. 
 
 Of tliis lever de rideau the denoiiement was less exciting 
 than the beginning had promised. Thomas Stafford, more 
 fortunate with the judges than his brother had been with the 
 king, obtained a decision in his favour by which Sir Robert 
 was cast in heavy damages. The latter, however, by his im- 
 portunity, got the case evoked by the royal com-t, and both 
 parties were summoned to Paris. Here neither brother would 
 stir out of his lodgings unless accompanied by a band of armed 
 men. "What eventually came of this matter history does not 
 record. The subsequent silence and insignificance of Sir 
 Robert may lead us to suppose that he lost. While the matter 
 was on, however, he endeavoured to keep up the excitement by 
 the addition of another dispute. Apparently he could not live 
 except in an atmosphere of quarrels. 
 
 In January, 1557, at the same time as Sir Robert, another 
 important Engiislmian happened to be sojom-ning at Paris. 
 This was Bryan Fitzwilliam, for a short time the leader of the 
 Eno-lish refugees after the departure of Carew. In July, 1555, 
 he had made his submission to the English government, but 
 his pardon had not been complete. He had not been allowed 
 to return to England to serve his queen, as he had desired, and 
 he was still lingering in exile at Paris. Sir Robert Stafford 
 had probably heard of Fitzwilliam's presence in the capital, but 
 that had previously interested him but Httle. Nearly eighteen 
 
The Exiles in France. 95 
 
 months had elapsed since FitzwilHam's desertion of the rebels' 
 cause, and if Sir Eobert had felt himself aggrieved, he must 
 have had plenty of opportunities of giving vent to his dissatisfac- 
 tion. Now, however, his relations with his brother and the 
 pending action before the royal court made him anxious to be 
 well with the king, and to prove his zeal for the French cause. 
 The fact that Fitzwilliam was one of his brother's greatest 
 companions only stimulated Sir Robert the more to quarrel 
 with him. For the dispute to break out into an open brawl it 
 was only necessary for the two men to meet. The opportunity 
 soon came. Coming across each other in the streets of Paris, 
 Sir Robert called out that Bryan FitzwiUiam was a traitor. 
 The other retorted by calling the excited knight a liar. 
 Nothing more was needed ; cartels of defiance were exchanged, 
 the seconds intervened, and a duel was arranged. 
 
 On the afternoon of Xew Year's day, 1557, the loungers of 
 Paris might have seen a curious sight. On the bridge of Notre 
 Dame, under the shadow of Maurice de Sully's venerable 
 masterpiece, on the highway between the right and left banks 
 of the city, between the streets of St. Jacques and St. Martin, 
 those who wished might have seen these two foreigners, both 
 rebels and exiles, fighting their grim battle. The struggle was 
 no fancy one. The insults exchanged were no light ones, and 
 the combatants were determined they should be washed out in 
 blood. The fight was sharp, but Sir Robert was no match for 
 his antagonist. Fitzwilliam sent his adversary's weapon flying 
 from his grasp, and then ran him through the left arm. 
 
 Sir Robert was no more fortunate in his lawsuit than in 
 his fencing. In spite of his anxiety to display his zeal for the 
 French king, his influence at court visibly declines, while that 
 of his brother rapidly increases. But now the farce is over, 
 and the curtain rises on the tragi-comedy indeed. 
 
 Towards the end of 1556 Thomas Stafl'ord became im- 
 pressed with the idea that he was a great lord, and the heir- 
 presumptive to the throne of England. Upon what grounds 
 
96 Thomas Stafford's Pretensions. 
 
 he founded his claim it would be difficult to say, for even in 
 his own family he appears to have been the younger brother. 
 That he was connected with the royal family is certain, but 
 this alHance was only on the distaff side. Indeed his claim 
 does not bear one moment's serious consideration. Sir Robert 
 dismissed it very summarily, and among the other items of the 
 dispute with his brother he called him a traitor, because his 
 claim was in prejudice of the right of the Queen of Scots. Of 
 Elizabeth no one said a word. 
 
 None the less Thomas Stafford was very careful to inform 
 all strangers who came to court of his high rank and future 
 destiny. They must have taken him for a curious person and 
 probably laughed freely at him behind his back. The 
 English refugees, at any rate, made very merry about him and 
 all his doings. Stafford's famihar and chief counsellor was 
 one Stowell, and this man they at once dubbed the " Lord 
 High Treasurer." 
 
 It seems, therefore, very strange that the King of France 
 humoured Stafford, and seemed to give some countenance to 
 his pretensions. He probably found the poor man amusing 
 enough, quite as entertaining as a court jester. He may also 
 have thought of making some use of the man. Strange things 
 had already happened in England, and why should not Thomas 
 Stafford succeed as well as Henry of Richmond ? Given a 
 discontented and a rebellious people, the way to the throne 
 seemed easy to any pretender who could excite popular favour. 
 Courtenay being dead and gone, this hot-headed young man 
 might constitute a useful substitute for the unhappy earl. 
 
 Whatever may have been his reasons, Henry smiled very 
 graciously upon this aspiring gentleman. To him and Dudley 
 he gave sumptuous lodgings at the Court at Saint Germain 
 en Laye, and supplied them liberally with money. 
 
 Basking in the sunshine of the royal favour, Stafford's 
 pretensions and arrogance no longer knew any bounds. He at 
 once assumed the royal arms of England as his device, and 
 be2;an to live in the most sumptuous fashion. 
 
The Exiles in France. 97 
 
 Having once formulated his claim, Stafford could not rest 
 until he had made it good. His brain being once fired with 
 the idea he must needs proceed at once to carry it into 
 execution. About the beginning of April, 1557, he left 
 Saint Germain for Paris, where he seems to have gone in order 
 to interview the French king. He declared to Henry his 
 intention of invading England, informed the king once more 
 of his strong claims to the Enghsh throne, and endeavoured to 
 induce him to render him assistance, for, he added, he was 
 certain to find an army of followers in England. Henry 
 endeavoured to dissuade him from the foolish project, showed 
 him how impossible it was, and declared he would infallibly be 
 beheaded if he persisted. The king finally declared that he 
 would give him neither men nor money, although, on the other 
 hand, Wotton asserts that Stafford received money to retain 
 soldiers for his expedition. 
 
 From this interview Stafford went away discouraged, but 
 desperate. He was determined at all hazards to carry his plan 
 into execution. While still at Paris he came across a merchant 
 who agreed to supply him with munitions of war and provisions 
 for two hundred men. Still pushing on his preparations, he 
 hired a boat to carry these stores to Rouen, and having 
 collected a small company of twenty-five followers, and having 
 loaded his vessel with as many halberds, he set sail down 
 the river. 
 
 Arrived at Rouen, Stafford caused the drum to be beaten 
 in the town in order to summon together those who were 
 willing to share his fortunes. Whether persuaded by the 
 eloquence of Stafford himself or by the arms of England which 
 he displayed, or by the statements of Rybawde, Stafford's chief 
 captain, who declared that the expedition was destined for 
 Scotland, some four or five hundred men joined themselves to 
 him. A motley crowd they must have been, of desperate and 
 reckless adventurers of the worst character. Their nationality 
 was also mixed, for Frenchmen and Scots were almost as 
 
9 8 Stafford's preparations, 
 
 numerous as the English. With this troop of men, assembled 
 anyhow, Stafford proceeded to Dieppe, where two ships awaited 
 him. The one was loaded with artillery and stores, the other 
 was destined for the larger portion of the troops Stafford was 
 to take with him. 
 
 Preparations were pushed forward with such rapidity, that 
 at night on Easter Sunday Stafford and his following put to 
 sea. The command of his ship, the Fhur tie Lys, and of the 
 expedition was entrusted to John Rybawde, a man of whom 
 Wotton said that " he feared him more than any of those who 
 had recently fled out of England." 
 
 Stafford had purposely kept the destination of his expedition 
 a secret. Probably no one but himself and Rybawde knew 
 where they were going, not even the other members of the 
 company. Wotton, who had information on almost all the 
 other details, remained completely in the dark on this point. 
 He was afraid that they meditated an attack upon Calais, but 
 thought it likely that they might make a descent upon such 
 places as Hull, Scarborough, or Dover. The situation seemed 
 to him to be disquieting, for he thought that if Stafford gained 
 a footing in England, all the English in France would probably 
 be sent to his aid, while malcontents at home would infallibly 
 join liim. At Dieppe, on the other hand, Rybawde's version of 
 the story obtained general credence, and it was universally 
 believed that the Fleur de Lys and her consort were on their 
 way to Scotland. 
 
 While these speculations were being made as to his where- 
 abouts, Stafford was running across the North Sea, and before 
 many hours had passed the news spread that he had taken 
 possession of Scarborough Castle. This place seems to have 
 been in his mind from the very beginning. During the first 
 days of this month of April, one of his servants had brought 
 a plan of the town to the French king, and had offered to 
 make His Majesty master of it. 
 
 Several reasons may have combined to induce Stafford to 
 
 i 
 
The Exiles in France. 99 
 
 select this point of attack. Scarborough was then a strong 
 castle, but negligently guarded by its captain, who was a 
 kinsman of the servant referred to above. The port was large 
 and capacious, affording anchorage for some fifty or sixty 
 vessels of less than one hundred and fifty tons burthen. 
 Moreover, since Stafford relied more on those who should rise 
 to follow him than on the handful of men he had brought 
 with him, a place so distant from the centre of government 
 offered obvious and indisputable advantages. But more than 
 all this, his mind probably reverted to the fourth Henry and 
 the fom'th Edward, who, landing in the same neighbourhood 
 with a following equally insignificant, had in a few weeks 
 rendered themselves masters of the whole -realm, and kings of 
 England. 
 
 Filled with such dreams as these, and already seeing him- 
 self seated upon the throne, Stafford put forth a proclamation, 
 which he felt sure would rally the EngUsh people round him in 
 a general revolt against the unpopular government of the 
 queen. In this document he declared that Mary had forfeited 
 her right to rule the country, because she had no sympathy 
 with its people. By her unpopular marriage she had made 
 herself altogether a Spaniard. He had therefore come to free 
 1 his countrymen from the yoke of the Spaniards, and save them 
 i from their threatened slavery. From papers seized at Dieppe 
 he now had in his possession proofs that twelve thousand 
 Spaniards were about to take possession of Scarborough, and 
 of twelve other places. He therefore called upon all English- 
 men to aid him in vindicating their common liberties. But, 
 alas for Thomas Stafford's dreams, for the awakening came 
 swiftly and suddenly. The same despatches that contained 
 the news of the fall of Scarborough Castle brought also the 
 tidings of its recapture. 
 
 Among the first who heard of the arrival and vainglorious 
 proclamation of Stafford was the Earl of "Westmorland, a 
 zealous friend of the government. This nobleman, hastily 
 
loo Stafford's Fate. 
 
 collecting the militia of the neighbourhood, came suddenly 
 upon the rebels and their self-styled king. The surprise was 
 complete, and almost every man of the party, including 
 Stafford himself, fell into the hands of the earl and his 
 followers. Thus, as Noailles wrote in his disgust, Stafford had 
 allowed himself to be taken in an impregnable castle by a band 
 of raw peasants, ungeneraled and without artillery. 
 
 The retribution for treason came swiftly, and without 
 mercy. The majority were executed on the spot, or close to 
 it ; Stafford only and four others were reserved for examina- 
 tion, and sent on to London. Rybawde apparently escaped, 
 for his name is not recorded in the list of those executed, 
 preserved for us by Machyn. On the 5th of May Stafford and 
 his four companions arrived at the Tower of London. Here 
 all courage forsook the unhappy man. In the vain hope of 
 saving his life he promised to disclose some remarkable facts 
 about the dealings of the French, and declared that he had 
 been prompted to attack Scarborough by King Henry, who 
 had been egging him on for the past three months. Later on, 
 however, seeing that nothing could save his head, and prompted 
 by nobler feelings, he spoke what must have been the truth : 
 that he had talked of his project to King Henry and his 
 Court, who would have nothing to do with it, so that in des- 
 peration he had undertaken the expedition alone. This resolute 
 attitude Stafford maintained to the end. He had at last realized 
 that no mercy could be expected from his judges. He obtained 
 none ; and on Friday, the 28th of March, he suffered the 
 extreme penalty on Tower Hill. On the scaffold he addressed 
 a few words to the assembled crowd. His unhappy position, 
 he declared, arose from his disobedience to his father and 
 mother. He died a good Englishman, and he had had no 
 other design than to restore to his country her former freedom. 
 As for the king and queen, he did not consider that he had ^ 
 wronged them, and therefore he refused to ask their pardon. 
 These last words, if we may believe Noailles, so angered Mary 
 
The Exiles hi France. loi 
 
 that she ordered Stafford's remains to be disinterred and 
 quartered, a dishonour that had not been proposed in the 
 original sentence. 
 
 When the news of Stafford's short success and tragic end 
 reached France no sui-prise was felt. Dudley and his com- 
 panions, who had never taken the matter seriously, cracked 
 jokes at the expense of the " King of Scarborough," as they 
 called him, and asked what else could be expected of a man 
 who acted upon the advice of such a counsellor as " Lord High 
 Treasurer " Stowell. 
 
 The King of France, however, reaUzed that the matter was 
 :a serious one, and dreaded lest the war he had so long been 
 seeking to escape should at last have become inevitable. He 
 could not succeed in concealing his uneasiness and chagrin. 
 ' Meeting Soranzo, the Venetian envoy, soon after the news had 
 \ been reported, he drew him aside and said, " You must have 
 heard what that fool Thomas Stafford has done in England. 
 Before his departure he came to me in this very chamber where 
 we now are, and, leaning against that balcony, he naiTated 
 to me these projects of his, praying and exhorting me to give 
 him aid and counsel. But I told him frankly that he must 
 expect neither the one nor the other from me, for I know very 
 well the nature and habits of the English. So I bade him 
 beware, and warned him that he would inevitably lose his 
 head, if he persisted in these opinions of his. But he appeared 
 |uite bent upon carrying them into effect, telling me that he 
 had a strong claim to the crown, and that he should find many 
 collowers in England. After he had left me, the first news 
 [ heard of him was that he had been captured and taken to 
 London." 
 
 In this way Henry expressed his discontent and apprehen- 
 ion, for, although he did not actually say so in set terms, it is 
 ^ery evident that he felt ill at ease, and feared the worst from 
 he English side. Nor was he deceived. 
 
 Beyond a doubt, the principal end Charles had in view 
 
102 Mary's Hostility to France. 
 
 in manying his son and heir to a woman so much older than 
 himself was to secure the alliance of England in the great 
 struggle against France. Although Philip was a man of peace 
 rather than a warrior, he fully entered into these projects of 
 his father, and hoped to draw England into the continental 
 war in the interests of his family. So devoted a wife as Mary 
 had no wish but to please her husband, in this respect as in 
 others. However much her duty towards her subjects may 
 have restrained the queen from plunging into a war in which 
 they were in no way interested, this feeling, if it ever existed, 
 rapidly disappeared. The hardly disguised assistance afforded 
 by Henry to English rebels and conspirators, their princely 
 reception and entertainment at com't, of which the queen was 
 perfectly aware, together with the suspected designs against 
 Calais, goaded the queen to such a pitch of anger, that, on 
 more than one occasion, she had forgotten the courteous 
 behaviour of diplomacy, and had failed to conceal the fact that 
 she knew all the French king was doing. As has been 
 recorded above, during an interview with Xoailles she once 
 so far lost control over herself that her face became quite dis- 
 torted with rage. At the time of the Dudley conspiracy the 
 French ambassador thought it prudent to retire from Court for 
 a time, in order to escape arrest as an aider and abettor of the 
 rebels. The queen's anger against France was so evident that 
 the Venetian envoy, Michiel, was of opinion that she was only 
 deterred from declaring war by the slenderness of her purse, 
 and because she knew that in this matter, as in many others, 
 she could not rely upon the fidelity and allegiance of her 
 subjects. The English people, indeed, guarded very jealously 
 the maintenance of the neutrahty of their country, and were 
 very suspicious of the intentions of their sovereigns in this 
 respect. They were determined to resist to the uttermost any 
 attempt to employ English forces and resources in a war from 
 which the country could gain no advantage, and one of the 
 principal articles in the marriage treaty with Ph ilip had been 
 
The Exiles in France. 103 
 
 designed in order to prevent the possibility of any such 
 event. 
 
 While the temper of the EngUsh people remained in this 
 state it would have been madness for the queen to have broken 
 with France, however much she might have desired it. In 
 this posture of affairs the invasion of Stafford came to her 
 assistance, and did more to further her plans than any cunningly 
 devised statecraft could have done. Although the invasion of • 
 Scarborough had tempted some few malcontents to revolt, they 
 discovered themselves only to suffer from the vengeance of the 
 government. But very different feehngs possessed the large 
 mass of the nation. For them the attempt of Stafford was 
 an insult to our shores, carried out with the help of a foreign 
 power. All the rabid hatred of the English against foreigners 
 was excited by this ridiculous little expedition. The govern- 
 ment suddenly found its hands enormously strengthened, and 
 became indeed almost popular. The much-desired moment 
 had at length come, and Mary hastened .to take advantage of 
 it. On the 1st of June, or little more than a month after 
 Stafford had landed in the north, she declared war against the 
 French king because he had harboured and assisted English 
 rebels, and provoked the recent invasion of the English shores. 
 Reasons so slight might induce a disinterested observer like 
 the Venetian Surian to infer that the war had been undertaken 
 solely in the interests of Philip. But the English, blinded by 
 their passionate hatred of foreign interference, could not see 
 this. After the affair of Scarborough, they were ready to 
 believe all their governors told them about the French king 
 and Dudley's plots, and if they did not take up the war with 
 enthusiasm, they nevertheless considered it just and necessary 
 for the defence of their country. 
 
 Reflection might bring them other counsels, but then it 
 would be too late. With the sagacity of a clever ruler, Mary 
 had seized upon the right moment in which to act, and had 
 committed the nation to a war in which she hoped the combined 
 
104 "^^'^^ ^f ^^^^ Exiles. 
 
 arms of Spain and England would win victories tliat would 
 cover her much-loved husband with glory. 
 
 But now that war was actually raging between the two 
 countries, what became of the English refugees in France ? 
 That is a question which cannot be answered from the evidence 
 in our possession. As the year 1557 advanced, they began to 
 feel that a war between England and France was approaching, 
 and the prospect filled them with alarm. Many of them 
 besought Wotton to intercede for them, if by any means 
 they might obtain their pardon. Apparently their efforts 
 proved unsuccessful, for no record of any such pardons exists. 
 The refugees themselves disappear from our view. In the 
 great whirl of a European war they are lost to sight, and 
 their petty squabbles fade aAvay in the presence of the far more 
 important issues they had helped to raise. 
 
 But we need not regret this gap in our annals. Dudley 
 and his companions are important only because of the tendencies 
 they represent, and of the war they helped to kindle. Their 
 personalities, apart from these points, are neither noble nor 
 interesting, and it is therefore without a pang that we may 
 leave their fate in the oblivion to which it has been consigned 
 by history. 
 
CHAPTER T. 
 
 THE NEW SPIRIT IX EXCxLAXD. 
 
 While so much Eugiish thought and activity were being spent 
 abroad, in so many various ways, it would be a mistake to 
 suppose that these sentiments in religion and politics which 
 we have followed among the exiles found no echo in England 
 herself. In spite of years of Tudor absolutism and passive 
 obedience, the ancient virtue was not yet dead, nor was the 
 flame of liberty extinguished. At the same time, it must be 
 admitted that the extreme men were those who went into exile, 
 while those who remained behind were quieter and more 
 submissive. Yet the diplomatists of the sixteenth century are 
 unanimous in condemning the incoustaucy of the English of 
 their time, and their impatience under government. French, 
 Venetian, and Spanish ambassadors all agree upon this point, 
 and it is impossible not to accept such united testimony from 
 such different sources. " The English are maUgnant, double- 
 faced, easy to stir up, and fit for conspiracies," writes Renard. 
 Noailles agrees with him in ahnost every particular, and adds 
 that (like dogs) they are most ill-humoured during the hot 
 weather. Michiel asserts that they could never support one 
 government for any length of time together, and liis fellow- 
 countrymen, Soranzo and Surian, follow suit with similar 
 observations. Such a consensus of opinion compels us to 
 beheve the accuracy of this evil picture of our ancestors even 
 ao'ainst our will. 
 
io6 Restlessness of the English. 
 
 But the restlessness of Englishmen in the sixteenth century 
 may readily be accounted for. The baneful results of the Wars 
 of the Roses still made themselves felt. The crown, having 
 once stooped to mix in a private quarrel, was destined to suffer 
 the penalty for many long years. Rebellion and civil war had 
 grown out of this fatal mistake, and these noxious weeds of 
 discord flourished exceedingly on our soil. Even the strong 
 government of the Tudors had failed to root them out entirely. 
 Henry YII. had had his Lambert Simnel and Perkin Warbeck, 
 Henry VIII. had his pilgrimage of grace, and the reign of 
 Edward YI., if not disturbed by such serious risings, had to 
 meet the disturbances of 1549 and many local riots. 
 
 The leading part in all these revolts had been taken by the 
 younger members of the lesser nobility and gentry. High- 
 spirited and impatient, they had led the way, while their in- 
 feriors were ever ready to follow. The part they played during 
 this period naturally exposed them to the vengeance of the 
 government, and there were few families of this class that had 
 not to deplore the death of one or more of their members on a 
 charge of high treason. This state of affairs, which had existed 
 in England for nearly one hundred years, is curiously and 
 graphically illustrated by an anecdote related by a Mantuan 
 gentleman named Annibale Litolfi. "Walking one day with a 
 couple of Englishmen, he asked one of them if any of his 
 relations had ever been hung, drawn, and quartered. Upon 
 the answer being given in the negative, the other whispered 
 in Litolfi's ear, " Do not be astonished ; he does not come of 
 a noble family " ! 
 
 In 1553, however, it must be acknowledged that the nation 
 appeared far more ready to submit to a regular hereditary 
 sovereign than it had been ever since the Yorkists began to 
 make a bid for the throne. Fifty years of strong government, 
 with an unintermitfcent succession of sovereigns of the same 
 line, whose claim remained uncontested, had not passed in vain. 
 After so many years of discord and rebellion, the people seemed 
 
The New Spirit in England. 107 
 
 disposed to accept gi'atefully and gladly the legitimate heir to 
 the throne. Mary's well-known Catholic proclivities were 
 naturally distasteful to zealous Protestants. Those who were 
 most compromised in the reign of her brother took an early 
 opportunity of leaving the country, but the majority remained 
 in England to welcome and obey their new sovereign, waving 
 their objections to her religion as of less importance than the 
 maintenance of the succession. Sir Nicholas Throckmorton 
 has left us some lines which undoubtedly express correctly, 
 though not elegantly, the sentiments of thousands of others. 
 His effusion runs as follows — 
 
 " And though I lik'd not the religion 
 "Which all her life Queen Mary had profest, 
 Yet in my mind that wicked motion, 
 Right heiress for to displace I did detest." 
 
 The consequence of the public state of mind gave a zest 
 to the acclamations at Queen Mary's accession, hitherto un- 
 paralleled in the history of the nation. " The affection of the 
 people evinced towards the queen at the beginning of her reign 
 was such and so extraordinary that never was greater shown 
 in that kingdom (England) towards any sovereign." Such is 
 the testimony of the Venetian Michiel, an eye-witness of what 
 he describes, than whom no one was more competent to make 
 correct observation of the state of the public mind. What 
 a different story he had to write a few years later, what a 
 change from the acclamations of 1553 to the hatred, " not loud 
 but deep," of 1557 ! Michiel spent almost all this time in 
 England, he had every opportunity of noting this revolution 
 of opinion, and of estimating its causes, and to his pregnant 
 comments we shall have frequent recourse in the following 
 
 How did it happen that Mary threw away so completely 
 and so irremediably the popularity that met her when she 
 mounted the throne ? What causes contributed to darken her 
 reign when the prospect had been so bright at its beginning ? 
 
io8 English Hostility to Foreigners, 
 
 She was not destitute of the talents of a ruler. She knew 
 when to be firm and when to yield, she was a Tudor to the 
 backbone, and possessed in a large degree the tact and address 
 of her family. But she made one fatal blunder, irremediable 
 in its nature, and tremendous in its consequences. On a 
 vital question she persisted in acting contrary to the wishes 
 of practically the whole of her subjects, and this one fatal act 
 of obstinacy rendered all subsequent concessions useless. The 
 unpopularity of the queen and the misfortunes of her reign all 
 date from her marriage with Don Philip of Spain. 
 
 To this day Englishmen are repeatedly accused of an 
 excessive insularity. In the sixteenth century this characteristic 
 must have been even more strongly marked. The same 
 witnesses who accuse om* ancestors of fickleness and readi- 
 ness to revolt, combine with equal unanimity to tax them with 
 an excessive abhorrence of foreigners. " The English are 
 naturally enemies of all aliens, but they hate the French and 
 Spaniards most of all," wrote Annibale Litolfi in 1557. " The 
 nobility are indeed courteous," said Soranzo, " but the people 
 treat foreigners with very great arrogance and hostility. They 
 think the profit gained by merchants is so much taken from 
 them, and imagine they can live without foreign intercourse." 
 Michiel declared that aliens could not possibly obtain justice 
 in the courts of law, so great was the prejudice against them. 
 Examples of a similar kind might easily be multiplied, but the 
 above will suSice to illustrate my point. 
 
 What was then the anger, indignation, and alarm of the 
 people when they heard that their queen intended to marry 
 the Prince of Spain ! How much they must have suffered to 
 think that England Avas in danger of being added as a province 
 to an all-grasping empire already grown too large ! 
 
 As usual the young nobles and gentlemen of the country 
 were the first to rise in opposition. We have seen how many 
 of them crossed the sea to fight the Spaniard under the banner 
 of the French king. Not a few of those who remained 
 
TJie New Spirit in Efigiand. 109 
 
 behind would gladly have done hkewise. The national hatred 
 of the Spaniards rose to fever heat, and amounted almost to 
 madness. It was in vain that Mary endeavoured to reconcile 
 her subjects to the match by rich presents. The tact and 
 sagacity of Philip in observing to the letter the marriage con- 
 tract, and in curbing the arrogance of his Spanish followers, 
 were likewise thrown away. He may have gained some friends 
 for himself by this means, but none for his fellow-countrymen. 
 Those who came with Egmont for the purpose of negotiating 
 Dhe marriage were so ill received that they resolved never to 
 set foot in this country again. "Wyatt revolted with no other 
 purpose than to prevent the dreaded union, and the rebellion 
 could only be crushed after the queen had promised to submit 
 the question to Parliament. But his cause remained so popular 
 that, when he was executed, numbers of people dipped their 
 handkerchiefs in his blood. 
 
 But the ill will of the EngUsh did not end here. In the 
 Low Countries, where men of both nations met together, there 
 were continual brawls and riots between the young EngUsh 
 nobles and their retainers, and the Spaniards. But in 1555, 
 while Philip and his queen were staying at Hampton Court, 
 even worse things happened. Affrays took place between the 
 retainers of both sovereigns with startling frequency. So 
 serious were they that several persons on either side received 
 serious hm'ts and some had been killed. "Worsted in almost 
 every encounter, the rage and madness of the Englishmen 
 knew no bounds. Exasperated beyond measure at some wounds 
 received by one of their companions, they resolved to be 
 avenged. On Corpus Christi day matters came to a head. 
 Assembling in great force, they marched towards the Church 
 where the Spaniards were all collected in order to celebrate the 
 festival. More than double the number of their adversaries, it 
 was feared that the English would massacre them on the spot. 
 Men feared a repetition of the Sicihan Yespere. What might 
 have happened it is impossible to guess. Fortunately some 
 
no Opposition to the Spanish Match. 
 
 intrepid but unnamed persons threw themselves in front of 
 the irate procession, and by their arguments succeeded, though 
 with the greatest difficulty, in persuading their angry country- 
 men to go quietly home. 
 
 The danger had been sufficiently imminent, for if the 
 English had carried their purpose into execution, the conse- 
 quences must have been serious and far reaching. Philip 
 recognized the peril of the situation. He at once hastened to 
 issue a proclamation declaring that any Spaniard who ventured 
 to use his weapon should lose his right hand, while any one 
 who should cry " Spain " was to be promptly hanged. 
 
 The danger in this instance had been avoided, but the evil 
 situation remained unremedied. Men's minds were in a 
 dangerous state of tension, and it seemed as if a very small 
 push would suffice to upset the balance of the government. 
 The air was full of treasons and conspiracies, and as the queen 
 could rely on no man, she suspected all. 
 
 The opposition to the Spanish marriage was no less general 
 than intense. Even some of the most devoted adherents of 
 the queen were against it. Gardiner resisted as long as he 
 could, and only at the last moment did he give an unwilhng 
 consent. Sir Edward Hastings, the Master of the Horse, and 
 the queen's most devoted partisan, vehemently advised her to 
 abandon the project. Even those who had supported the 
 alliance had misgivings. Paget proposed to neutralize the evil 
 consequences by uniting EHzabeth and Courtenay, and causing 
 them to be proclaimed heirs. Sir John Mansone, upon 
 receiving some slight from Philip, bitterly exclaimed, " If he 
 treats those who supported him thus, what will he do to those 
 who have resisted him ? " 
 
 Although Mary persisted in her intention to marry Don 
 Philip, it may easily be imagined that she did so at the expense 
 of her tranquillity and peace of mind. Her brain was haunted 
 by visions of her discontented and rebellious subjects. In June, 
 1554, while awaiting the arrival of Philip, she so dreaded a 
 
The Neiv Spirit in England. in 
 
 rising in the capital, which she had recently deceived by false 
 promises, that she placed a garrison of four thousand troops 
 there. The continual fear of conspirators, who were always 
 at work, made her life a burden to her. At Hampton Court, 
 if we may credit Noailles, besides her ordinary guard, she 
 caused twenty-five to thirty gentlemen to sleep in the presence- 
 chamber close to her own apartments. Twice every night this 
 guard extraordinary made the tour of the whole palace. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact, however, that none of the numerous 
 conspiracies formed during the reign attained to serious 
 dimensions. Although Wyatt had at one moment appeared 
 dangerous, he had been easily crushed in the end. The French- 
 man, De Selva, had indeed foreseen this from the beginning, 
 and declared that if the rebels could find no leader, their revolt 
 would be a fire of straw — of no duration. This is what literally 
 happened. One by one, as the insurrections of "Wyatt, Carew, 
 Dudley, and Stafi'ord crackled into a flame, they were promptly 
 and easily stamped out. It is a consolation to us as English- 
 men, however, to know that all resistance was not so easily 
 crushed, and the spirit of liberty still made her presence felt in 
 the country. As usual in England, the most effective and 
 durable opposition to the government was made in a perfectly 
 constitutional manner, and by perfectly constitutional means. 
 
 The system of trial by jury, though condemned as vicious 
 by the Venetian Soranzo, proved then, as it did subsequently, 
 a valuable protection for the liberty of the subject. In April, 
 1556, when the government, in its alarm at the formidable plot 
 of Dudley and Assheton, was making arrests far and wide, 
 convictions could only be obtained against two persons. Sir 
 John Throckmorton and Sir Thomas Uvedale, governor of the 
 Isle of Wight. Earlier in the reign an even more notable 
 example of the independence of the juries had occurred. This 
 was the case of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, whose verses we 
 have quoted above. He was arrested on a charge of treason, 
 and conspiracy to place Courtenay and Elizabeth on the throne. 
 
112 The Aivakening of Parliament. 
 
 After a long trial, in which the Crown did its utmost to procure 
 a conviction, the jury acquitted the prisoner. Mary was 
 furious. Thi'ockniorton, though pronounced innocent, was 
 thi'own into the Tower. The offending jurors were imprisoned 
 and heavily fined. But they had won a great victory. The 
 intended victim had been saved. Mary dared not go fm'ther ; 
 the people already mm-mured ominously at her violation of the 
 law, and shortly after Throckmorton was set free. 
 
 But more important even than the attitude of the juries 
 were the growing signs of the awakening of Parliament from 
 its long lethargy. The rapid growth of our free institutions 
 under the House of Lancaster is one of the commonplaces of 
 history. No less so is the eclipse under which they suffered 
 after the triumph of the Yorkists. With the Lancastrian 
 revival under Henry VII. Parliaments were again called, and 
 made to transact the business of the kingdom, but they were 
 kept in complete subjection to the will of the sovereign. Pre- 
 cisely the same system prevailed under Henry YIIL, who on one 
 remarkable occasion went out of Ms way to confirm an im- 
 portant privilege of the Lower House in person. Still Parlia- 
 ment remained under royal control through the employment of 
 a number of different devices. The sovereigns made use of 
 them, says Michiel, in a celebrated passage, " more to cloak by 
 this appearance their own desii'es, and to rid themselves of 
 fatigue and inconvenience in consultations on doubtful and 
 detrimental matters concerning perilous affairs, rather than to 
 resign any power they possess." This passage, written towards 
 the end of the reign, describes a state of affairs that had 
 already begun to pass away. Our modern historians, following 
 Michiel, have treated the Parliaments of this reign almost as a 
 blank. Believing that their annals contained nothing but a 
 record of passive obedience to the royal commands from 
 beginning to end, they have passed them over very summarily 
 as insipid and uninteresting. But this is to make a great 
 mistake. It is duiing the reign of Mary that the revival of the 
 
TJie New Spirit in England. 113 
 
 old parliamentary spirit begins, a spirit that in a few years was 
 destined to become active and aggressive. 
 
 Dm-ing the short reign of Mary no less than five Parlia- 
 ments were summoned to meet at Westminster : one in 1553, 
 two in 1554, one in 1555, and the last not till 1558. The long 
 interval between the summoning of the fourth and fifth 
 Parliaments, an interval of two years and three months, is 
 exceedingly significant. But this is to anticipate. A subject 
 of such importance and complexity demands orderly and 
 chronological treatment, and I propose to take the history of 
 each of the Marian Parliaments one by one in the order in 
 which they followed each other. 
 
 Almost as soon as Mary had mounted the throne she 
 seems to have determined to cany out the changes in reUgion 
 she had so much at heart by means of Parliament. Though 
 the emperor advised her to the contrary, the queen very wisely 
 persisted in her resolution, and one of the first acts of her 
 reign was to summon the two Houses to meet at "Westminster 
 on the 5th of October, 1553. The care taken to manage the 
 elections met with conspicuous success. The queen had a 
 ParUament upon whose obedience and tractability she could 
 thoroughly rely. It was packed with Crown nominees, 
 Soranzo declared, and therefore the proposed changes in 
 religion seemed likely to be passed without any difficulty. 
 Upon the first day of the session Gardiner, as Lord Chancellor, 
 delivered the queen's speech. He dwelt upon the necessity of 
 unity in religion, and submitted that this was only possible 
 by a return to Catholicism. The queen therefore asked her 
 faithful subjects to repeal the Protestant enactments of the 
 two previous reigns, and thus help to bring about the re- 
 estabhshment of the old religion. 
 
 The Commons, however, did not exhibit quite so much 
 complaisance as had been expected of them. When one 
 member proposed a review of the laws of Edward YI», the 
 motion was almost immediately put on one side. The reaction 
 
 1 
 
114 Parliament of 1553. 
 
 against the regime of the two previous reigns, however, made 
 itself felt in the Lower House, although not perhaps in the 
 way the queen intended. At one blow the Commons struck 
 out of the statute book all the additional treasons that had 
 been invented by the ingenuity of Henry YIII., expressing at 
 the same time much righteous indignation against their author, 
 and the definition of treason was confined within" the limits of 
 the Act 25, Edward III. 
 
 Meanwhile the religious question, thus neglected by the 
 Lower Chamber, was taken up by the Lords. Thanks un- 
 doubtedly to the presence of the spiritual peers, the queen's 
 wishes met here with a more favourable reception. No 
 difficulties were raised, the Protestant system was doomed, and 
 all the acts of Edward YL about religion were repealed 
 together. A bill to this effect was sent down to the Commons 
 to ol)tain their approval. But even then the Lower House 
 did not facilitate matters. There must have been an opposition 
 party of no mean force and influence, for the debate on this 
 question lasted six days. At the end of that time the govern- 
 ment party triumphed. The recommendations of the Lords 
 passed the House, which added that from the 20th of December 
 following no other form of Divine Service should be used but 
 that in force dming the last years of the reign of Henry YIIL 
 
 So far all had gone fairly well. Although the Commons 
 might have exhibited more alacrity in carrying out the wishes 
 of the queen, yet they had complied with her request in the 
 end, and the counter reformation might be considered as fairly 
 commenced. But at this moment appeared a question which 
 at once put an end to the harmony between the Court and 
 Parliament. 
 
 The Spanish marriage was being freely talked about, and 
 the prospect had created much alarm even in this assembly of 
 picked loyalists. "Whatever else they might be, they were all 
 Englishmen, and shared the hopes and fears and prejudices of 
 their countrymen. They felt that the proposed match would 
 
The New Spirit in England. 115 
 
 not do, that their liberty was menaced, as well as the independence 
 of their country, and they resolved to protest. They therefore 
 deputed the speaker and twenty members to wait upon the 
 queen, to humbly request her in the name of her faithful 
 Commons not to marry a foreigner. At the same time they 
 were anxious that she should take a husband, and hoped she 
 would choose an Englishman. But the queen flew into a 
 passion before the speaker had finished his discourse. It must 
 indeed have been hard to hear such language from the House 
 that had been packed with such care, and upon whose fidelity 
 so much reliance had been placed. Mary interrupted the 
 speaker's discourse with true Tudor spirit and haughtiness. 
 " For that you desire to see us married," she said, " we thank 
 you. Your desire to dictate to us the consort whom we shall 
 choose we consider somewhat superfluous. The English 
 Parliament has not been wont to use such language to its 
 sovereigns, and when i^rivate persons on such matters suit 
 their own tastes, sovereigns may reasonably be allowed to 
 choose whom they prefer." After a few more words in the 
 same strain, she dismissed the astonished deputies, and a few 
 days later (December 6) Parliament was dissolved after a 
 session of a little over two months. 
 
 In spite of the trouble taken to secure its submissiveness, 
 this Parliament had shown a spirit not unworthy of the 
 glorious ; traditions of its predecessors. The reduction of the 
 number of treasons is of itself sufficient to distinguish it 
 honourably, although most of the additions of Henry YIII. 
 certainly had to do with the changes in religion. In the 
 affair of the Spanish marriage, although they were undoubtedly 
 grieved at the construction the queen put upon their petition, 
 they had acted with independence and worthily. Even in 
 matters of religion they had not done nearly all that had been 
 expected of them. xAfter much delay and debate they had 
 only replaced the Prayer-book by the Mass. Mary could not 
 possibly rest satisfied with such a state of affairs. She still 
 
Ii6 Mary's Second Parliament. 
 
 retained the title of Supreme Head of the English Church, 
 while the claims of the Pope were um'ecognized. More 
 important than all, the financial side of the question, the 
 annates, and the disposition of Church property, all fruitful 
 subjects of controversy, had not been touched upon. 
 
 The relatively poor success of her first attempt did not 
 discourage Mary. Almost immediately after the dissolution 
 of her first Parliament she caused writs to be issued for 
 another. The new assembly met on the :^nd of April, 1554. 
 This time the efforts of the royal officers had proved more 
 successful. The Parliament was as obsequious as could have 
 been desired, and completely justifies the remarks of Michiel, 
 quoted above. As on the previous occasion, Gardiner made 
 a great speech at the opening of the session. He began by 
 saying that it was absolutely necessary to legislate for the 
 surety of the state of the queen, and for the maintenance of 
 order throughout the realm. The recent insurrection and the 
 widespread discontent made this imperative. The queen's title 
 to reign had been impugned and the claims of other persons 
 advanced. He therefore proposed that she should be declared 
 sovereign by right of heritage according to the old formula. 
 
 The next subject of importance was the proposed marriage 
 with Don Philip of Spain. Surely it was the irony of fate 
 that had chosen the chancellor to advocate this. He certainly 
 put forward the case in a sufficiently lame way. Two lines of 
 argument were followed, the first that of the queen herself, 
 that no subject, however poor and miserable, did not possess 
 the right of choosing a husband for herself. The other was 
 that, to secure the succession, and to put an end to dangerous 
 uncertainty, the queen ought to have children of her own to 
 succeed as her undoubted heirs. 
 
 Neither of these arguments rest upon a particularly sound 
 basis, and it is not worth while to go into the numerous 
 objections that might be raised against them. The Parliament 
 at any rate mildly and obediently listened to the chancellor's 
 
The Neiv Spirit in England, 117 
 
 oration, and then proceeded to do all that was required of it. 
 The speaker introduced a bill to declare that the royal pre- 
 rogative belonged as much to a queen as to a king. The 
 Spanish marriage was accepted without discussion. All that 
 remained to be done was to define the position of the new 
 consort. This task was undertaken by the Lords. How 
 thoroughly they performed their work is well known. Nothing 
 could be more strict than the terms of the treaty which limited 
 the powers and titles of Philip. He was to have no nominal 
 share in the government of the country, no foreigner could 
 occupy any pubUc office in England, for they were to be filled 
 by Englishmen alone. The country was to be dragged into no 
 foreign war in the interests of its new king or his dominions. 
 In fine, the only chance of any power being wielded in England 
 by the Spanish prince was the prospect of the regency if the 
 queen should die before her unborn heir came to years of 
 discretion. 
 
 All this, however, was the work of the Upper House. The 
 Commons took no initiative, and simply endorsed the proposi- 
 tions of the Lords. They accepted the arrangements as to the 
 Spanish marriage, almost without discussion. The bill came 
 to them on the 10th, and they returned it on the 12th. This, 
 and the passing of some Bills of Attainder, likewise sent down 
 by the Lords, finished the work of the session. On the 5th of 
 May the queen dissolved one of the most colourless and un- 
 interesting Parliaments that ever existed. The Lords alone, by 
 their action on the Spanish marriage, had redeemed it from 
 absolute and unrelieved inanity. 
 
 After this very poor exhibition on the part of the Commons, 
 it is surprising to notice the astonishing progress made in the 
 two succeeding Parliaments. The first of these was summoned 
 for the 11th of November, 1554. The queen adopted all the 
 usual measures in order to secure a loyal and obedient House 
 of Commons, directing the sheriffs to return members of " the 
 wise, grave, and Catholic sort." It was the more necessary that 
 
ii8 The Catholic Reaction. 
 
 this should be done, since the new Parliament was destined to 
 complete the work of the Catholic restoration, left unfinished by 
 the Parliament of 1553. The queen's orders were punctually 
 executed, and the large majority of the members held the 
 desired opinions, and were ready to do as they were told. At 
 the opening of the session Pole made a speech upon the 
 changes in rehgion. Thereupon the Houses of Parliament 
 announced their submission to the Holy See, and expressed 
 their contrition for past disobedience. But this was not all ; 
 the Acts against the authority of the Pope were repealed, and 
 the ancient statutes of Eichard II., Henry lY., and Henry Y. 
 for the burning of heretics were revived. Although there is 
 nothing in these measures of themselves to indicate any 
 approach to a spirit of independence, yet this Parliament of 
 1554 is remarkable from the fact that the Commons begin to 
 take the initiative. Hitherto nearly all the chief Acts passed 
 by ParKament had been first introduced in the Upper Chamber. 
 Thus the Lords had introduced the measure to repeal the Acts 
 of Edward VI. dealing with rehgion, as well as the various 
 Acts of Attainder required by the Crown. The all-important 
 marriage treaty with Philip was altogether their work, and the 
 Commons simply accepted their settlement of the question. 
 But at the end of 1554 an important change had already taken 
 place. Whether it was owing to the frequent summons of 
 Parliament, or to other causes at which we can only guess, the 
 Lower House had visibly grown in importance since the last 
 meeting of the two Chambers. The Lords retire to the back- 
 ground, and the Commons come forward in their place, and 
 introduce the measures for the revival of the ancient statutes 
 against heretics. Another feature of this Parliament is the 
 apparition of a regular opposition to the proposals of the 
 government. Thirty-seven members, disagreeing with the 
 attitude of their colleagues on the religious question, walked 
 out of the House in a body, and refused to take any further 
 part in the proceedings. x\lthough an action of this kind can 
 
TJie Nezv Spirit in England. 119 
 
 rarely prove successful, and is a sign of weakness rather than 
 strength, yet the government considered the matter of sufficient 
 importance to take it up. The Crown itself interfered, and 
 cast the seceding members into prison. Six burgesses, intimi- 
 dated by this action, agreed to go back to the House ; but 
 among the others there was a man of a very different spirit, 
 courageous and firm in the defence of what he considered to be 
 right. This was Plowden, a lawyer of no mean ability and 
 reputation. In a spirit that seems like an anticipation of 
 Coke, he contested the power of the Crown to deal with such 
 cases. If there had been any irregularity, any breach of the 
 law, he contended that the case belonged solely to the jurisdic- 
 tion of Parliament, and that in meddling therewith the Crown 
 had committed a breach of privilege. 
 
 Language so firm and bold naturally brought down upon its 
 author the vengeance of the queen. The unfortunate Plowden 
 was kept in close confinement, where, like Sir John Eliot after 
 him, he might have ended his days, had not the death of Mary 
 and the dawn of a better reign ultimately set him at hberty. 
 
 If the opposition on the question of burning heretics and 
 submitting to the Pope had only been formed of a handful of 
 between thirty and forty members, it speedily became a 
 powerful majority when it was proposed to restore to the 
 Church the property that had been taken from it by Henry 
 VIII. Mary had set her heart upon the accomplishment of 
 this object, and upon the destruction of the work of her father. 
 But Parliament was intractable. A strongly supported 
 petition, presented by Lords and Commons alike, many of 
 whom were materially interested, begged the king and queen to 
 leave this matter untouched. The queen saw it would be 
 unwise to press the matter, and, with praiseworthy wisdom, 
 agreed to allow those who held Church property to keep it. 
 The Papal Legate, though sorely against his will, felt obliged 
 to admit that the queen had done right. In the bill that 
 Parliament hastened to pass, confirming the rights of those 
 
I20 TJie CJitirch Property Question. 
 
 who held Church property, he refused to countenance an 
 amendment that proposed to insert a clause restricting the 
 possession to those who could retain such- property without any 
 scruple of conscience. After this notable victory, ParUament 
 was dissolved on the 16th of January, after having sat, hke the 
 first one of the reign, for rather more than two months. 
 
 Although the large mass of Church property that had been 
 alienated during the previous reigns was thus irretrievably lost, 
 devout CathoUcs did not yet despair of saving some precious 
 fragments from the general wreck. Almost before the dissolu- 
 tion of Parliament Pole had approached the king and queen, and 
 persuaded them that, although they had allowed their subjects 
 to keep what they held, yet the Crown itself ought conscien- 
 tiously to resign its own share. Mary herself was perfectly 
 ready to forfeit all that she held, but as the question was a 
 complicated one, and as it would be necessary to discover the 
 general opinion on the matter, she refeiTcd the whole matter 
 to a committee of the Privy Council. During the spring and 
 summer of 1555 this select body devoted much time to its 
 task. The work was no light one, and the prospect of danger 
 loomed large and ominous on the horizon. Public opinion 
 was in a state of dangerous excitement. In May appeared 
 a dialogue written against the Catholic Religion and the 
 queen's government, lampooning the sovereigns, their council, 
 and the Houses of Parliament alike. This publication be- 
 came so popular and sold so well, that, in London alone, the 
 Lord Mayor, who forbad its circulation, collected a thousand 
 copies. 
 
 The members of the council themselves, though undoubtedly 
 specially selected, could not agree, and many of them were 
 opposed to the intended renunciation. Evidently no very 
 sweeping measure could be introduced, for otherwise the 
 opposition would become general. 
 
 At last the special committee submitted its proposals to the 
 sovereign. They were in the main as follows : that firstfruits 
 
The Neiv Spirit in England. 121 
 
 and tenths should be restored to the clergy, but that the lay 
 part of what had been monastic property should continue to 
 belong to the Crown. It only remained to obtain the sanction 
 of Parliament for this arrangement. Accordingly writs were 
 issued to summon the two Houses to meet on the 21st of 
 October. 
 
 As usual, gi-eat pains were taken to manage the election. 
 Not only did the sheriffs receive the usual intimation, but, 
 during the course of her reign, Mary had enfranchised fourteen 
 pocket boroughs returning twenty-one members. But in spite 
 of all precautions, it soon became evident that the new House 
 of Commons was not one upon which the queen could rely for 
 implicit obedience. Whether the important business lately 
 entrusted to Parliament had increased its consideration, or 
 whether the opposition lately shown by Plowden and his 
 associates had reminded Englishmen that the House of 
 Commons had once been the recognized organ for the expres- 
 sion of the opinion of the nation ; whatever may have been 
 the cause, it is evident that a seat in the Lower House had 
 come to be a prize worth trying for, and the new Chamber 
 was filled with the younger members of noble and gentle 
 famihes. 
 
 But this was the very class which throughout the reign 
 had been foremost in opposition to the government. Not 
 content with fomenting rebellion at home and in weaving 
 conspiracies abroad, these active young nobles must needs 
 come to confront the queen in her counsels. Such a thing, 
 declares Michiel, had not been seen in Parhament for years. 
 
 Most of these gentlemen were known to be lukewarm 
 towards the Catholic religion, if they were not actually opposed 
 to it. They were certain to be more daring and independent 
 than the timid bourgeois who had predominated in the previous 
 assemblies, and altogether it seemed fairly certain that the 
 government measures would not pass without great difficulty, 
 "^lary herself felt anxious and uneasy, and wrote to Philip that 
 
122 DeatJi of Gardiner. 
 
 many violent opposition members had been returned to the 
 new Parliament. 
 
 At this moment of danger the queen lost a servant she 
 could ill afford to spare. As on former occasions, Gardiner 
 had opened the session with a speech, in which he sketched 
 the programme of work the Crown wished to have performed. 
 This time he had only done so from a sense of duty, and at a 
 great effort. For some time past he had been suffering from 
 a grievous illness, and a few days after his appearance at 
 Westminster he expired. 
 
 With all his faults Gardiner had been a devoted and 
 faithful servant to Queen Mary. In Parliament he was simply 
 invaluable, for his personal authority and his long and wide 
 experience had given him an influence that none of his con- 
 temporaries possessed. The queen felt she had lost the man 
 who was more than ever needful to her at this moment, 
 and she looked forward uneasily to the dark and uncertain 
 future. 
 
 Although Gardiner in his last speech had only spoken 
 about supply, the House of Commons knew perfectly well that 
 it would sooner or later be called upon to consider the question 
 of the cession of Church property. It was with this conscious- 
 ness that they approached the subject of supply. The amount 
 asked for consisted of a subsidy and two-fifteenths, or similar 
 to what had been gi-anted in the first year of the reign. The 
 opposition at once began the attack. The time was ill chosen, 
 they contended, to augment the taxes. The people were already 
 heavily enough burdened, and at the present moment were 
 suffering from a great scarcity. Wheat had risen to five times 
 its ordinary value. If the crown was actually in need of 
 suppUes, why — and here they showed the cloven hoof — did the 
 queen propose to give up such an important source of revenue 
 as the Church property ? 
 
 However, in spite of much opposition, and after an animated 
 debate, the subsidy and the two-fifteenths were voted by a 
 
The New Spirit in England. 123 
 
 large majority. The opposition had probably only raised their 
 voices in order to attack the more important measure. They 
 were destined very shortly to give the lie to the sneer of 
 Michiel, who wrote home that all these objections would end 
 in words, " for neither in this nor in any government measure 
 do they dare to contradict the queen." Mary, however, 
 understood their plan, and endeavoured to frustrate it. While 
 accepting the subsidy she graciously remitted the fifteenths 
 out of consideration for the prevailing scarcity and the conse- 
 quent distress. Evidently in making this concession she hoped 
 to affect the minds of the Commons more favourably towards 
 her larger project. While both government and opposition 
 regarded nothing but this central object, and put aside every- 
 thing else as secondary and subordinate, it was manifest that 
 a great struggle was approaching. 
 
 Before this became imminent, however, the government 
 party won a victory in the House. The last Parliament had 
 been made notorious by reason of the secession of Plowden 
 and his friends. As the question had given rise to much dis- 
 cussion, and since the law on the subject did not seem to be 
 so well established as was desirable, the old Acts requiring the 
 presence of the knights and burgesses at Westminster while 
 Parliament was in session were revived and carried through the 
 House. 
 
 The victory was one that did not cost much to the opposi- 
 tion. If they did not like to see Plowden and his associates 
 thus condemned, they might congratulate themselves that they 
 were too strong to need the adoption of the tactics he had 
 adopted, and they might hope to win on the all-important 
 question by tenaciously assisting at every session of the 
 House. 
 
 Upon occasion they knew well enough how to meet and 
 vanquish their adversaries. The Parliament was not very old 
 before a cunningly devised attack was made upon the opposition. 
 I have already pointed out that the new House contained 
 
124 Govei'fiment v. Opposition. 
 
 many members of the younger nobility and gentry, and these 
 consistently and vigorously opposed the government. No one 
 recognized this so well as the queen's party, and they therefore 
 introduced a measure that none should be elected to represent 
 a county or a borough except persons who were natives of, and 
 actually resident in, such county or borough. By this means 
 they hoped to prevent the election of their opponents in the 
 future. 
 
 The opposition, however, had their reply ready. In their 
 turn they also introduced a measure. This was designed to 
 prevent any office-holder, pensioner, or stipendiary from sitting 
 in the House. Apparently the parties were so equally balanced 
 that they feared that both these measures might become law. 
 Accordingly, as the only way out of this difficulty in a 
 situation that threatened the destruction of both sides of 
 the House, the one by the other, each side abandoned its 
 bill. 
 
 Although these proposals met with such an mitimely fate 
 they are interesting from more than one point of view. They 
 show us where the strength of each party lay ; they explain 
 how it came about that so many of the nobihty had been 
 returned to Parhament, and they suggest to us, to some 
 extent, the way in which the queen got together and controlled 
 her majority. Moreover, they were not so ephemeral as it 
 then appeared. Both measures were revived in after years, 
 each ultimately found its place on the Statute Book, only, 
 however, to disappear into oblivion as a dead letter, impossible 
 to carry into practice because contrary to the spirit of the 
 constitution. 
 
 Although these party squabbles undoubtedly occupied a 
 great deal of time, yet the government measures naturally 
 demanded the chief attention, and it was round these that 
 the dispute raged fiercest. They were only two, but they were 
 of very great importance. The first dealt with the disposition 
 of the Church property belonging to the crown, the other 
 
The New Spirit in England. 125 
 
 proposed the recall of the absentees on pain of forfeiture of 
 their goods. 
 
 Both bills were intimately bound up with the religious 
 question, and contained fruitful matter for controversy. The 
 more important of them was the long-expected one dealing 
 with Church property. Both Houses set to work on this 
 measure, but in a very hostile spirit. It soon became evident 
 that the bill would only pass after suffering several modifications, 
 if, indeed, it survived at all. 
 
 Mary resolved at once to take decisive action. In dii'ect 
 violation of the constitution and in contempt of precedent, she 
 summoned sixty members of both Houses, but principally 
 Lords, to meet her at her palace (St. James's .^) on the 2ord 
 of November. When they had come together the queen 
 addressed them in a short speech. She had been preserved by 
 God, she said, in order to restore the CathoHc faith in England. 
 This, by God's grace, she had successfully accomplished, but 
 the work yet remained incomplete. For its final accomplish- 
 ment two things were necessary, namely, that she should resign 
 (1) the first fruits and tenths as well as the ecclesiastical 
 supremacy ; and (2) the revenues of the abbeys and monasteries 
 appropriated by Henry VIII. She therefore desired them to 
 complete the work. 
 
 When she had finished, a fiery and impetuous member of 
 the House of Commons made as if he would answer her, being 
 anxious no doubt to refute the queen's statements. But his 
 colleagues, more alive to the solemnity of the occasion, and 
 anxious at least to keep up appearances, forced him to keep 
 silence, and would not allow him to interrupt the harmony 
 of the proceedings. 
 
 Freed from the danger of this interruption. Cardinal Pole 
 took up the queen's theme, and endeavoured at once to prove 
 that the country would suffer no loss by the proposed change, 
 and to tempt the gentry by the hope of gain for their families. 
 The restitution of the Church property, he asserted, would free 
 
126 Animated Debate. 
 
 the Crown from the obligation of paying some £25,000 as 
 pensions to persons who had been dispossessed of their goods. 
 The new distribution would establish eight hundred rectories, 
 in which the cadet members of distinguished families would 
 find employment, honour, and emolument. 
 
 The injunctions of the queen and the arguments of Pole 
 did all that was desired to further the passage of the bill 
 through Parliament. The Lords, who had at one time been 
 very bitter against it, carried it unanimously, and without 
 amendment. Only one or two of their number ventured to 
 dissent, and these did not think it worth while to challenge a 
 division. 
 
 In the Commons things did not pass quite so easily. The 
 opposition party remained as strong as ever, and the supporters 
 of the government feared a defeat even after the action taken 
 by the queen. The debate was long and animated, and yet 
 no conclusion could be arrived at. At last, on the 2nd of 
 December, both parties concurred in the appointment of a 
 committee of ten members to meet six of the Upper House 
 and discuss the bill together. Tliis committee apparently came 
 to an agreement on the same day, when they must have 
 reported results to the House. At daybreak on the following 
 morning the final debate on the question began in the House 
 of Commons. Of what actually took place we can only form 
 a very vague idea. The chief argument m-ged by the opposition 
 appears to have been this, that if the bill was passed they 
 would be creating a dangerous precedent, very prejudicial to 
 holders of property. The other side seems to have relied upon 
 craft rather than argument. The debate lasted from daybreak 
 until three o'clock in the afternoon. During the whole of this 
 time the doors of the House were closed, no one being allowed 
 to go out or to come in. Tliis proceeding, on the face of it, 
 looks very extraordinary. Judging by this, and by hints thrown 
 out afterwards, we may surmise that the government party 
 kept some of the members from voting, either by excluding 
 
The New Spirit in England. 127 
 
 them from the House altogether or by working upon their 
 fears. In the end they seem to have snatched a division, and, 
 the moment being favourable, the bill passed by a majority of 
 sixty-three, 183 voting for and 120 against. 
 
 Victory rested but a short time with the government. 
 The most important item on their programme had indeed 
 become law, but there remained another and hardly less 
 important bill for the consideration of Parliament. At the 
 opening of the session two measures had been submitted to the 
 Houses ; the one, dealing with the Church property, was at 
 length settled ; the other, demanding the recall of the absentees, 
 had not yet come up for serious consideration. 
 
 So much space has already been devoted to the refugees 
 and exiles, both in the empire and in France, that it is 
 unnecessary at this point to enter into details on that subject. 
 The Crown, driven to exasperation by their heresy and treason, 
 real or supposed, only demanded an opportunity for revenge. 
 
 The bill on this question was introduced in the House 
 immediately after the other had been disposed of. The 
 government gave as its reason that the English abroad did 
 nothing but stir up enemies to the country on the Continent, 
 while they fomented discontent at home. They therefore pro- 
 posed by this new measure to require all absentees from the 
 kingdom to return home within the space of four months on 
 pain of forfeiture of their goods. 
 
 As the bill originally stood it represented undoubtedly what 
 the queen really wanted. But the determined character of 
 the opposition, and the extreme diflBiculty in getting the other 
 bill through the House, induced the government to make con- 
 siderable modifications in the measure. In the new bill the 
 property of the absentees was only to be forfeited during the 
 time of their absence from the country, and their children or 
 other heirs were to suffer no detriment in any way. 
 
 Manifestly in its altered form the measure had lost nearly 
 all its severity. But the opposition did not receive it in any 
 
128 Sir Anthony Kingston. 
 
 better spirit on that account. They demanded why the queen 
 should wish to deprive her subjects of the Uberty of going to 
 and from the country, and considered the proposition as a 
 direct attack upon the personal freedom of all Englishmen. 
 
 The debate on the bill waxed very hot, and the war of 
 words was sharply waged on both sides. Sir Edward Hastings, 
 Master of the Horse and a staunch loyalist, engaged in such 
 a warm discussion with Sir George Howard, brother of the 
 Lord High Admiral, that they almost came to blows. The 
 principal part in the opposition, however, was played by one 
 Sir Anthony Kingston, member for Gloucestershire. He had 
 made a reputation for ardent Protestantism, but he enjoyed 
 anything but an enviable notoriety. In 1549 he had evinced 
 great activity in suppressing the rebellion, and after it was 
 over he made a judicial tour in the west that must have been 
 a soi-t of anticipation of the cruelties of Jeffries. It is related 
 that upon this occasion he dined with the Mayor of Bodmin, 
 and almost immediately after caused the unhappy magistrate 
 to be hung on a gallows he had himself prepared. The Mayors 
 of Clevedon and St. Ives fared no better at his hands, if report 
 be true. His private was no better than his public life. In 
 1552 he was brought before Bishop Hooper on a charge of 
 adultery, convicted, and fined £500. In the February of the 
 present year (1555), however, he had accompanied the worthy 
 prelate on his way to the stake, heard his last words, and 
 witnessed his end. From this moment Kingston seems to 
 have become a changed man, although his high and restless 
 spirit had not abandoned him. 
 
 On the last day of the debate on the Absentee Bill he 
 came forward as the chief of his party. The majority of the 
 House was manifestly opposed to the measure, but they lacked 
 organization, and many probably hesitated before they resolved 
 to vote against the known wishes of the queen. Speaker Pollard 
 and the government members reaUzing perfectly well the 
 posture of affairs. They felt anxious about the safety of the 
 
The Neiv Spirit in England. 129 
 
 bill, and were watching for an opportunity to snatch a division. 
 At this moment Kingston and a few of his friends went and 
 posted themselves at the door of the House, in order to prevent 
 any one going out. From his post of vantage Sir Anthony 
 called out that he did not intend to allow this bill to be dealt 
 with as the last had been. The government had carried the 
 Church Property Bill against the conscience of many of the 
 members, by means of continual delays. He therefore insisted 
 upon an immediate division. The opposition ralHed at his 
 voice, and at once became invincible. The government, no 
 longer able to resist, accepted the inevitable, and suffered an 
 expected defeat. The Absentee Bill was thrown out by the 
 House. 
 
 80 hot had men's minds become over the matter that 
 disputes continued even after the voting was finished. The 
 government members felt nettled at their defeat in proportion 
 as the opposition were elated. Shortly after, at the table of 
 the Earl of Pembroke, the matter was sharply debated between 
 the earl himself and one of his favourite gentlemen, named 
 Sir John Perrott, the latter being on Kingston's side. The 
 earl became so enraged that he dismissed Sir John from his 
 service on the spot, although he had been one of his closest 
 companions. Many of the earl's friends, however, considered 
 Sir John to be in the right, and deserted the earl together 
 with him. 
 
 Meanwhile Mary, dissembling her anger, had given the 
 royal consent in the usual form to the acts of the present 
 Parliament, which she proceeded to dissolve. Shortly after, 
 however, she caused Kingston and one or two others to be 
 arrested and thrown into the Tower for licentious language 
 used in the House. The imprisonment did not last long. 
 Sir Anthony made his submission, received a pardon, and was 
 released on the 28rd of December of the same year. But so far 
 from being more submissive his enmity to the government had 
 become far more intense and implacable. " They have put me 
 
 K 
 
130 Marys Last Parliament. 
 
 ill prison for their pleasure," he is said to liave exclaimed, '' but 
 so shall they never do more." The government continued to 
 watch his movements with suspicion. Early in the following 
 year Kingston was arrested for complicity in Dudley's plot to 
 rob the exchequer and to set Elizabeth on the throne. But he 
 died at Cirencester on his way to prison, on the 14th of April, 
 1556. According to Michiel his death was caused by the stone. 
 But various surmises were made then and have been made 
 since, some saying that he perished by his own hand, others 
 that he was poisoned by order of the queen. 
 
 Her late experiences made Mary unwilling to summon 
 another Parliament for some time. As disaffection increased 
 day by day such a step might have been dangerous in the 
 extreme if succeeding Houses of Commons should prove the 
 mirrors of opinion in the country, and become even more bold 
 and outspoken than the last. Thus, though during the first 
 two years of her reign she had summoned no less than four 
 Parliaments, the succeeding period of almost the same length 
 passed without any meeting of the national representatives. 
 At last, owing to the demands of the French War upon the 
 treasury, the Crown found itself in urgent need of money. A 
 new Parliament was summoned, and met on the 20th of 
 January, 1558. The session proved a very barren one. 
 Whether through opposition or slothfulness, no measure of 
 any importance was carried. The only bill that calls for 
 notice was one to regulate the licensing of books, and that had 
 not reached its third reading ere the death of the queen, on 
 the 17th of November, dissolved Parliament and put an end to 
 further proceedings. 
 
 Thus ends the parliamentary history of the reign. It is a 
 history full of interest, for it contains the germs of so much of 
 the life and vitality that were to flourish in the future. The 
 whole record is one of steady progress. We see that the 
 Commons have gained immensely in power and consideration. 
 Not onlv did the Lower House begin to take the initiative in 
 
The New Spirit in England. 131 
 
 matters of the first importance, but a seat in it had become a 
 coveted prize, an honour worthy of exciting the emulation of 
 young nobles and gentlemen. Although it still remained true, 
 as Michiel said, that no one could oppose the will of the 
 sovereign in Parliament except at great danger to himself, yet 
 in this reign and for the first time men were found ready to 
 run all risks and venture their personal libei-ty and even life 
 itself in the defence of the freedom of their country. Plowden 
 and Kingston may be considered as the first of a long line of 
 heroes who struggled for the triumph of parliamentary govern- 
 ment, and as the spiritual fathers of the Stricklands, Went- 
 worths, Eliots, Hampdens, and Pyms of a later date. As such 
 they have an immense claim to our eternal esteem and honour. 
 I Before Mary expired the members of her last Parliament 
 , took a step that redeems them from the reproach of idleness 
 and inactivity. Choosing a deputation from both Houses, 
 ; they sent them to the dying queen's bedside to ask her if she 
 consented to the will of her father being executed. Mary 
 feebly consented, and a record of her assent was at once taken. 
 Elizabeth had at length become officially recognized as the 
 rightful heiress of her sister. 
 
 The young princess had long been the cynosure of aU who 
 wished for a better government, and of the ultra-national 
 party. Ever since Mary had discarded Courtenay and elected 
 to marry Philip, men had hoped to marry her yomiger sister to 
 the rejected earl, and cause the young couple to be proclaimed 
 heirs to the throne, if indeed they did not wish them to assume 
 the reins of government immediately. In this way Elizabeth 
 had won an extraordinary popularity, which the annoyances 
 md persecutions she had to suffer only helped to increase. In 
 oarticular had she become the heroine of the young nobles and 
 gentry, who hoped that she would one day ]3ecome the English- 
 learted queen of a united and patriotic England. 
 
 But Mary watched her sister with jealous and wrathful eyes* 
 >]io had indeed many reasons for hating the daughter of the 
 
132 PJiilip and Elizabeth, 
 
 woman who had supplanted her mother. But now that the 
 queen saw her sister set up in opposition to her by the turbulent 
 and disaifected party among her subjects, her hatred deepened 
 more and more. With Renard at the queen's elbow, prompting 
 her to make away with her sister as a dangerous centre for 
 conspiracies, Elizabeth's position was indeed a perilous one. 
 She would probably have had but short shrive had not help 
 come from an unexpected quarter. 
 
 Philip had never cherished much affection for Mary, who 
 was much older than himself. Recognizing soon after his 
 marriage that the queen was suffering from an illness that 
 could not leave her many more years of life, he at once began 
 to think about the future. In order to retain his influence 
 over England it would be necessary for him to make another 
 marriage. Two candidates were in presence for the succession ; 
 the one was Mary Queen of Scots, who was entirely under 
 French influence, and therefore quite out of the question for 
 him ; the other was Elizabeth. 
 
 Towards the young princess Philip therefore turned his 
 attention, and over her he threw his protecting wing. He 
 did this the more willingly because he might reasonably hope 
 by this attitude to share some of Elizabeth's popularity. At 
 the same time it looked as if Philip was going about to under- 
 mine Elizabeth's influence. In turn he proposed to marry her 
 to the Duke of Piedmont, Don Carlos, the Duke of Savoy, or 
 one of his cousins, the Archdukes Frederick and Charles. 
 Fully conscious as he must have been of the unpopularity 
 incurred by his wife in marrying a foreigner, Philip surely 
 had some ulterior motive in these propositions. May we not 
 justly suppose that he hoped to deprive Elizabeth of her power 
 by taking away her chief title to the public esteem ? But 
 Elizabeth had learnt wisdom from observation and hard 
 experience. She refused, one after the other, the husbands 
 her too eager brother-in-law kept providing for her, and 
 repeatedly declared that she preferred to remain single. She 
 
The Neiv Spirit in England, 133 
 
 accepted, with a quick intelligence, the role her partisans had 
 selected for her. She determined to be such a sovereign as 
 the most patriotic Englishman could desire, thoroughly 
 national in every branch of her policy. Assured of a great 
 and wide-spread popularity, and perfectly conscious that the 
 great bulk of the nation was impatiently awaiting her accession 
 to the throne, Elizabeth could afford patiently to abide her 
 time. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 When Elizabeth ascended the throne she was greeted with 
 loud and almost universal acclamation. The consent of the 
 late queen to the dispositions of her father's will had only put 
 the official seal to the popular desires. The heart of the 
 nation went out towards its new sovereign. Yet, great as 
 was the enthusiasm, it was probably very little greater than 
 that which greeted Mary on her accession. In the darkness 
 of her subsequent unpopularity we run some danger of losing 
 sight of this fact. Yet the testimony of Michiel affords 
 undoubted evidence as to its accuracy. If I may repeat a 
 quotation already given above, "The affection," he wrote, 
 " shoTMi towards her universally at the beginning of her reign 
 was such, and so extraordinary, that never was greater shown 
 in that kingdom towards any sovereign." The parallel extends 
 to the causes as well as to the results. Both sisters ascended 
 the throne as successors to a government noted alike for 
 oppressive and unpopular religious measures at home, and 
 disastrous relations abroad. From both of them the nation 
 demanded and eagerly expected the same thing. Instead of 
 the bigoted and intolerant government of a small section of 
 the community, they asked for a broad national treatment 
 of the religious question. In the place of the feeble and 
 compromising relations with the continental powers which had 
 distinguished the government of the last few years, they 
 
Conclusion. 135 
 
 demanded a spirited aud independent administration of foreign 
 affairs. Snch were the reqnirements of the nation, snch were 
 at once the reasons and the price of its loyalty and attach- 
 ment. 
 
 To both queens the crisis presented itself in the most 
 difficult and delicate question a woman can have to deal with 
 — a question upon which she is tempted to consult the 
 promptings of her heart and the guidance of her inclination 
 rather than the dictates of state policy — in the choice of her 
 husband. To ^[ary this question presented itself in its most 
 disagreeable form. The peoj^le not only demanded that she 
 should marry an Enghshman, but actually pointed out the man 
 she ought to choose. The whole of the queen's haughty Tudor 
 blood rose in revolt against this dictation. 8he declared that 
 she would choose for herself, sarcastically thanked the Commons 
 for their care of her, and dismissed them, resolved more than 
 ever to follow her own will. The result of this proved 
 deplorable both for ^lary and for the nation. The marriage 
 with Philip rendered alike impossible a national settlement 
 of religion, and an independent policy abroad. The loyalty 
 and patriotism that had welcomed Mary to the throne found 
 themselves set at variance by this unlucky step. Throughout 
 the reign they engaged in a noiseless struggle that served no 
 good end, and only neutrahzed the forces of the country. 
 
 Elizabeth had the same problem to deal with as her sister. 
 She was besieged by foreign stiitors for her hand ; among them, 
 Philip was the chief. The nation, in its turn, begged the 
 young queen to marry an Englishman. But for Elizabeth 
 the situation was, in some respects, less trying than it had 
 been for her sister. Courtenay was long since dead, and no 
 peer remained of sufficient eminence to distinguish him much 
 from among his fellows. The people, therefore, did not suggest 
 a husband for the queen, but left her a free choice, provided 
 she should select an Englishman. 
 
 Elizabeth also profited by the example of her sister's reign. 
 
136 ElizabetJi decides not to marry. 
 
 The turning point of Mary's career had been the Spanish 
 marriage, and all her unpopularity and troubles had dated 
 from this epoch. Elizabeth fully recognized this fact, and 
 she had already shoAvn her wisdom in refusing the various 
 foreign suitors PhiUp proposed for her. But other powerful 
 reasons also influenced her. The French king, anxious above 
 all to draw England from the Spanish alliance, and fearing 
 lest Elizabeth should follow her sister's example, approached 
 her with the most favourable terms. If she would refuse 
 Philip, remain unwed, and renounce Calais, Henry promised 
 not only not to support the claims of Mary Queen of Scots, 
 but to aid EHzabeth to the extent of his power. 
 
 It was in this situation that Elizabeth, overcoming what 
 personal feelings she may have had, resolved upon that wise 
 and politic course of conduct that she adhered to through- 
 out her reign with admirable consistency. Refusing Philip, 
 she also declined to marry a subject. The alliance with a 
 foreign monarch would have rendered her unpopular with her 
 people ; to marry a subject would have been to render all the 
 rest of the nobility jealous. If now and again she negotiated 
 a marriage with this or that foreign prince, it was simply for 
 State reasons, and she always drew back at the critical moment. 
 If, on the other hand, she kept at her side a Leicester or an 
 Essex, it was to flatter the people with the hope that she would 
 marry an Englishman, though as a matter of fact no serious 
 steps in this direction were ever taken. 
 
 Elizabeth's conduct secured for her the enthusiastic and 
 passionate attachment of her people. Those who had been 
 most forward in opposition to her sister found that their hopes 
 of her conduct had not been deceived, and they became the 
 bravest and most ardent of her followers. If Mary had 
 caused a division between the feelings of loyalty and patriotism, 
 then so strong in the nation, Elizabeth united them in her 
 person, and enjoyed the outcome of both sentiments. In 
 time, indeed, the people began to appreciate the whole bent of 
 
Conchision. 137 
 
 Elizabeth's policy, and waxed proud as they talked of their 
 virgin queen, the glorious ruler of their precious little isle 
 " set in the silver sea." When christening his new colony in 
 America, and seeking a name by which to honour the queen, 
 Sir "Walter Raleigh could think of nothing better nor more 
 appropriate than Virginia. 
 
 In the great crisis of her life EUzabeth chose wisely and 
 well, just as her sister had chosen foolishly and ill. The 
 energy and spirit of the nation, which only needed guidance 
 and direction, had been thrown away under Mary when 
 weakness and discord reigned everywhere. Elizabeth gave 
 the national forces point and aim, and order and unity were the 
 result. A strong national life at once sprang into being as if 
 by magic. By solving the problem of her marriage the queen 
 had settled nearly all the other difficulties that threatened 
 her. Henceforward she could count upon the hearty and 
 unreserved support of the nation, and, strong in this aid, she 
 could resolutely and courageously face such embarrassments as 
 might arise in foreign affairs. 
 
 Without fear of contradiction it may be said that the history 
 of England in all its fulness begins with the reign of EUza- 
 beth. The institutions, the habits, the ideas that form our 
 life of to-day may in their principal outlines be found existing 
 together at that reign, and for the first time. After a conti- 
 nental policy of conquests on the main land, the nation begins 
 to perceive that its true career is on the seas, and makes the 
 world ring with the fame of its daring mariners. Instead of 
 winning continental lands, the English princes begin to think 
 of founding colonies in the new world. After long years of 
 sectarian strife, between Protestant and Catholic, the religious 
 question is settled upon a firm basis destined to endure for 
 generations. Finally, after a long eclipse, the House of 
 Commons takes precedence of the House of Lords in all public 
 questions, and comes forward to occupy that prominent position 
 from which it has never retired. Here it meets the sovereio-n 
 
138 Results of the loss of Calais. 
 
 face to face, and the great striiggie begins for the commanding 
 voice in the affairs of State that cannot long be denied to it. 
 
 The loss of Calais is one of the most important events in 
 English history. When the news first became generally known 
 foreigners as well as Englishmen thought that the importance 
 of England as a European power had ceased to exist. Having 
 allowed this great fortress and sea-port to slip out of their 
 hands, the English would henceforth be doomed to remain 
 shut up within the narrow limits of their little island. No 
 one suspected that the loss of Calais, while marking the close 
 of an important era in our foreign relations, prepared the 
 way for a brilliant and more congenial sphere of action in 
 another direction. The loss of the last of our possessions in 
 France forms the final scene of a period and a policy which 
 dates from William the Conqueror. At last, after many cen- 
 turies, England had emerged from the thick swirl of European 
 pohtics. The pohcy of frequent interference in foreign affairs 
 was henceforth to be abandoned. All thoughts of conquests in 
 France were given up, as well as all idea of the recovery of 
 Henry II. 's inheritance. Although it is true that Englishmen 
 turned away reluctantly from this ambition, yet the renuncia- 
 tion proved complete and thorough. 
 
 Shut out from a powerful influence on the Continent, 
 Eno-land might well have fallen into that impotence that most 
 men predicted for her. Fortunately she found new ways in 
 which to show her power and energy, means by which she 
 eventuallv made herself a thousand times more strong than 
 she ever could have become by adopting the old continental 
 
 policy. 
 
 Commerce had already made great strides in the country. 
 The Company of the Merchant Adventurers existed, and 
 carried on an active trade. In the reign of Edward YI. Sir 
 William Willoughby had braved the rigours of the northern 
 seas, and his little band of fohowers discovered the unknown 
 land of ^luscovy, A new company was at once started to 
 
Conclusion. 139 
 
 exploit this fresh country, and active commercial relations 
 were at once instituted. On every side the same spirit might 
 be seen, intensified by that agricultural distress which had 
 induced many to turn their lands into pasture, and to endeavour 
 to make the excellence of English wool better known. 
 
 The loss of Calais and all that was involved thereby 
 naturally diminished the importance of the land forces, while 
 it placed a greater responsibility on the fleet. It was upon her 
 navy that England now relied, not only for the safety of her 
 shores, but for the development of her growing commerce and 
 for the discovery of fresh markets. Once launched on this 
 career of maritime enterprise and colonization, England never 
 abandoned it. Xaturally, however, the beginnings were feeble 
 and tentative. The sea-dogs, with all their daring and 
 brilliance, accomplished -very little of permanent importance. 
 The only colony founded during Elizabeth's reign — Raleigh's 
 settlement at Virginia — broke up miserably. The expeditions 
 of Drake and his fellows were little better than buccaneering 
 forays. Yet their work -twas *iof the first importance. In the 
 great crisis of 1088 they showed themselves capable of bravely 
 and successfully defending their country before the eyes of an 
 astonished world. Even in other respects their efforts proved 
 far from fruitless. It was something to have asserted the 
 right of England to colonize. Tliis country had been brought 
 face to face with Spain on many and various occasions, and 
 had invariably proved the stronger on the sea. Finally, when 
 James proceeded to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, 
 the way had been prepared for him and the difficulties smoothed 
 away. "What had shortly before seemed impossible became an 
 accomplished fact. 
 
 As might have been expected, the strong national feeling, 
 as we have seen, in every department of the national life, 
 entered also into the domain of religion, and profoundly 
 influenced those changes which had become inevitable. The 
 joy of the nation at the accession of Elizabeth was largely 
 
140 W/iy England embraced Protestantism. 
 
 increased because the people believed that their new sove- 
 reign, as the daughter of a Protestant queen, whose history had 
 been so closely bound up with the changes in religion, would 
 herself prove a Protestant. In this feeUng sectarian and 
 dogmatic questions played but a small part. The severity of 
 the Catholic government, the fires of Smithfield, and the 
 fortitude of the victims undoubtedly caused a reaction in 
 favour of Protestantism. But the insular national feeling 
 operated far more strongly. The pope, in the eyes of most 
 Englishmen, was a foreigner, and suffered therefore from the 
 universal prejudice of the nation against strangers. This 
 state of affairs is easy to explain. During the thousand years 
 that England had been a Christian country only one English- 
 man had sat upon the papal throne and worn the tiara. 
 Frenchmen, Spaniards, and Italians had all had their share, 
 but England continued to be neglected by the sacred college, 
 and even so eminent a man as Cardinal Wolsey failed to secure 
 the coveted prize. As usual in our history, financial questions 
 exercised a strong influence in this matter as in all others of 
 importance. The people objected to paying continual subsidies 
 and offerings to a power from which they derived no benefit, 
 and with which their only relations were such payments in 
 money, or interference with their national liberty and inde- 
 pendence. It is not therefore surprising that the nation seized 
 the earliest opportunity of throwing off a yoke that had become 
 so u'ksome to them. Even the new colonial enterprises led 
 the nation in the same direction. The pope, Alexander YI., 
 had magnanimously divided the as yet unexplored new world 
 between the Spaniards and Portuguese, and it is obvious that 
 if the pretensions of the pontiff were admitted there was an 
 end of all colonial development for England in the lands 
 washed by the Pacific. 
 
 The Spanish marriage only tended to embitter feelings 
 already widespread. They gained new force because the union 
 of Philip and lilary constituted an attack upon the national 
 
Conclusion. . 141 
 
 side of the question. Henceforward Catholicism and Spanish 
 tyranny became all but synonymous. Phihp was the eldest 
 son of the Church, and in his person represented both bigotry 
 and despotism. The persecutions of Mary, with all the odium 
 they had excited, were attributed to his influence, and the 
 English considered themselves fortunate for having escaped the 
 Inquisition. 
 
 But although the Spaniard was the chief butt of this 
 hostile feeling, the French princes shared the odium only in a 
 less degree. This appeared particularly during the time that 
 Elizabeth was dallying with Alen^on, and the massacre of 
 Saint Bartholomew doubtless had a great deal to do with it. 
 
 In short, the English people had grown to regard Roman 
 Catholicism as the religion of foreigners ; of Spaniards, 
 Frenchmen, and Italians, the enemies of their country, a creed 
 the profession of which was incompatible with true patriotism 
 and loyalty. 
 
 The Church settlement of Elizabeth was excellently 
 designed to meet the situation, and as an opportunist measure 
 it answered every purpose. The provisions for ceremonies and 
 \'estments, the absolution, the Communion Service itself were 
 all drawn up on vague and indefinite lines. Where so much 
 was left uncertain, or rather ill defined, it was to the advantage 
 of every one to join the body of the State Church. Men of 
 Avidely different opinions thus found themselves partaking of 
 the same communion, while the mass of the people, having no 
 definite opinions, naturally followed what seemed easiest and 
 most simple. 
 
 But the great merit of the Church under Elizabeth was its 
 essentially national character. No foreigner, whoever he might 
 be, could have any part in its control or government. The 
 Protestants of all kinds supported it, as well as most of the 
 Catholics, while only a few Papists still wished to retain the 
 supremacy of the pope. 
 
 "Whatever may be said for or against national Churches, 
 
142 The English Church. 
 
 there can be little doubt but that some such settlement was 
 needful for the nation in 1558. The violent changes in 
 religion of the past few years had unsettled men's minds, and 
 some middle course had become absolutely necessary. The 
 government seemed the instrument best fitted to carry out 
 such a measure, and it stepped into the breach. So imperative 
 had such a settlement become, that the people tacitly demanded 
 it, as is proved by the zeal with which they upheld it when 
 accomphshed, even though it might not fit all their beliefs. 
 Puritan and Catholic alike recognized that a national ecclesi- 
 astical settlement was essential to the welfare of the country. 
 They knew full well how necessary it was that England should 
 present a united front in the midst of its danger, and that if it 
 wished to be independent, and unbound by any allies, it could 
 only be secure by the solidarity of its inhabitants. Thus, 
 although they could not accept all that the Church taught or 
 required, they were ready to submit to its supremacy, and even 
 to its persecutions. Many of them indeed, availing themselves 
 of the loose wording and early interpretation of its dogmas, 
 entered its pale, and became Anglicans themselves. 
 
 But though this system was admirably adapted for the 
 moment, it suffered the fate of all opportunist measures, and 
 underwent in the future important modifications.. The 
 moderate and indefinite character of the Anglican Church could 
 not long continue. Even under Elizabeth it had taken an 
 entirely Protestant tone, and the principal sees were filled with 
 eminent Protestants and even Puritans. On the other hand, 
 the tendency to shut out the Puritans grew sti'onger and 
 stronger. By degrees the dogmatic position of the Church 
 became clearer. Xumerous penal codes defined more exactly 
 its limits, and at the same time diminished the number of its 
 communicants. The Catholics did not consider that enough of 
 the old traditions had been retained. The Puritans would 
 admit none whatever. Thus grew up side by side with the 
 i^stablished Church large bodies of Protestant and Catholic 
 
Conclusion. 143 
 
 dissenters, a state of affairs that began to take definite shape in 
 the reign of EHzabeth. 
 
 It is needless after what has been said to dwell particularly 
 upon the history of the House of Commons. The commanding 
 position taken by the Lower Chamber during the reign of Mary 
 was never abandoned, and in spite of repeated efforts of the 
 Crown, the House of Commons continued to gTOW rapidly in 
 power and influence until it had practically become the sole 
 governing 1)ody of the country. 
 
 While it is interesting to note the ^^I'esence of all these 
 elements of our modern life taking shape in the England of 
 Elizabeth, it is even more striking to observe how large a part 
 was played by the Marian exiles, if not in their formation, at 
 least in their development. In every branch that I have 
 touched upon the same phenomenon may be observed. The 
 religious settlement was profoundly influenced by what took 
 place in the cities of the Empire. Of those who returned from 
 the exile, one became Archbishop of Canterbury, several were 
 made Bishops, whilst nearly all received some important 
 preferment in the Church. At Frankfort Cox had laid down 
 the lines that the Anghcan Churchmen should follow, and his 
 arrangement found acceptance afterwards. The Puritans who 
 found themselves outside the bounds he set, or who were 
 opposed to his deUmitationg, continued afterwards their non- 
 conformity and their opposition upon the same principles that 
 had moved them at Frankfort. It seemed as if the whole 
 Protestant religious system had come out of the fiery trial of 
 Mary's reign fully forged, and complete. 
 
 The exiles in France also had then- share in the work. In the 
 KiUigrews, in Carew, and in Stafford we may discern, though 
 perhaps faintly, the precursors of the sea-dogs of Elizabeth's 
 reign. It is, however, less problematical to trace the connection 
 between the spirited nobility and gentry who were continually 
 plotting against Mary, and the similar hot-headed young spirits 
 who adored EHzabeth. Those who had been the terror of the 
 
144 Importance of the Exiles, 
 
 one sister had become the champions of the other. Unwittingly, 
 and in spite of themselves, these same men had furnished in 
 another way assistance to the development of the English 
 nationality which they had so much at heart. The invasion of 
 Stafford had been the immediate cause of the war with France, 
 as the harbouring of Carew and Dudley had proved the chronic 
 source of irritation. Dudley suppUed the information as to 
 the ill condition of the garrison at Calais upon which Guise 
 undoubtedly acted. In this way the loss of Calais may in very 
 large measure be attributed to the refugees, and with it all that 
 it involved. 
 
 The influence of the exiles may be traced even to the 
 Parliamentary history. Although in their absence they could 
 naturally take no active part either in or out of the House of 
 Commons, it was a bill affecting them that the Parliament 
 ventured to throw out, against the express wishes of the queen. 
 Thus it was upon a measure dealing with the exiles that 
 Parliament made the first of a long series of acts of spirit and 
 independence against the power of the Crown. 
 
 Where so much is explained by other causes it may well 
 seem that the role of Elizabeth has been considerably modi- 
 fied. Yet it was she who had created the situation. Her 
 determination not to marry a foreigner, her hesitation to take 
 an Englishman and a subject rendered all the rest possible. 
 This supreme act of wisdom was worth a thousand smaller 
 ones. In other respects it was not the queen who took the 
 initiative. She indeed chose, with consummate skill, wise and 
 sao-acious counsellors, but beyond this she was rather led than 
 leader through the various events which mark her reign. The 
 elements of the nation seemed to fall into their places of them- 
 selves. Little as there may seem in common between Puritan 
 and Privateer, both of them found a place in the new England, 
 and lived together in harmony. Their common bond consisted 
 in their common patriotism. The trials of Mary's reign had 
 taught a salutary lesson to all, and the old internal discords and 
 
Conchision. 145 
 
 miseries were abandoned for the deep and pure pleasui'e of 
 national unity and independence. Although the physical con- 
 nection binding the heroes of Elizabeth's reign to the exiles of 
 Mary's may not be easy or even possible to discover, the 
 spiritual bond is unmistakable, nay striking. 
 
 Those tendencies that we have remarked in the exiles 
 manifested themselves under Mary, like disembodied spirits, 
 aimless and powerless. By the self-sacrifice of Elizabeth they 
 gained point and body. The exiles returned to England to use 
 all their influence for the establishment and furtherance of 
 the complete insularity and independence of their native land. 
 Upon what small pivots do great events turn ! ]\Iay we not 
 say that the chief reason for the profound difference between 
 the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth lies in the different way in 
 which they approached and treated the delicate (juestion of 
 matrimony ! 
 
INDEX 
 
 Absentee Bill, 127-129, 144 
 •'Admonition to Christian Men," 
 
 28, 3G 
 Alen9on, Due d', 141 
 Alexander VI., Pope, 140 
 Anglican service, 12 
 Anglicanism, ideas opposed to, 59 
 Anglicans, 18-21, 27, 29, 32, 38, 41, 
 
 42, 45, 143 
 Antwerp, Carew at, 79, 88 
 Apocalypse, churches of, G7 
 Apocrypha, 40 
 Arau, church at, 66 
 Arbitration by foreign divines, 21 ; 
 
 refused by Cox, 31, 32 
 Ashley, 50-54, 62, 66 
 Assheton, Christopher, 84, 111 
 
 B 
 
 Bale, Thomas, 15, 28 
 
 Barrow, 59 
 
 Bartue, 63 
 
 Basle, 9, 33, 43, 66 
 
 Bedford's, Earl of, son, 75 
 
 Bentham, Thomas, 7, 8 
 
 Bible, 17, 26, 28, 38, 39; Cover- 
 dale's, 39; Cranmer's, 39; Geneva 
 or Breeches, 39-41 ; Authorized 
 Version of, 41 
 
 Bishops, the Protestant, deprived, 8 
 
 Blois, French Court at, 85 
 
 Bodley, Thomas, 38 
 
 Bodmin, Mayor of, 128 
 
 "Book of Martyrs," 42,43 
 
 Boulogne, 89 ; governor of, 90 
 
 Bradford, 43 
 
 Browne, 59 
 
 BuUinger, 9, 21, 43, 44, 45 
 
 Burnet, 8 
 
 Calais, 1, 69, 90, 136; plot against, 
 84, 89-91 ; loss of, 91, 138, 139, 
 144 ; Lord Deputy of, 90, 91 
 
 Calvin, 6, 9, 18, 21, 31, 32, 34, 45 ; 
 opinions of Prayer-book, 19 
 
 Calvinist system established at 
 Frankfort, 13 
 
 Calvinists, 16, 19, 20, 24, 32, 33, 42, 
 45 
 
 Cambridge, Protestants at, 7 ; 
 visited by Gardiner, 8 
 
 Carew, Sir Peter, 72-79, 82, 83, 88, 
 89, 111, 143, 144 ; flees to France, 
 72 ; at Rouen, 74 ; submits, 78 
 
 Carlos, Don, 132 
 
 Catholics rule country under Mary, 
 2 ; refuse to acknowledge Eliza- 
 beth as head of Church, 3 
 
 Ceremonies abandoned, 26 
 
 Chambers, Richard, 10, 49, 57, 61 ; 
 envoy from Strasburg, 16, 17; 
 conduct as deacon, 64, 65 
 
 Channel Islands, 81 
 
 Charles V., the emperor, 9, 28, 29, 
 69, 76, 101 
 
 Charles, the Archduke, 132 
 
 Church settlement of Elizabeth, 
 3, 44, 46, 141, 142; the English, 
 37; property, question of, 119- 
 121, 124-127, 129 
 
148 
 
 Index. 
 
 Circular letters seut from Frank- 
 fort, 13, 14, ^^ 
 
 Cirencester, Kingston dies at, 130 
 
 Clarendon Code, 37 
 
 Clinton, Lord, 85, 86 
 
 Coke, Sir Edward, 119 
 
 Cole, Thomas, of Corpus Coll., 
 7, 19, 33, 38, 49 
 
 Colonization, 139 
 
 Commerce, English, 138 
 
 Commons, House of, 143; petition 
 queen about marriage, 69, 115 ; 
 writs to return fit members to, 
 117, 121; begins to take initia- 
 tive, 118, 137. See Parliament. 
 
 Congregation of Frankfort, 50-66 
 
 Congregationalists, 59 
 
 Conquest, port of, 81 
 
 Constable of France, 70. 81 
 
 Cornewalls of Essex, 84 
 
 Corporation of London, 71 
 
 Corsairs. See Pikate.s. 
 
 Courtenay, Edward, Earl of Devon, 
 70, 71, 79, 83, 86-88, 110, 135 
 
 Covenanters, Scotch, 41 
 
 Coverdale, Miles, 10, 39; transla- 
 tion of the Bible, 39 
 
 Cox, Dr. Kichard, 15, 33-37,47,51, 
 63, 143; chief of Oxford Ke- 
 formers, 6 ; Chancellor of Oxford, 
 7; activity in reform, 7; im- 
 prisoned, 8 ; escapes, 21 ; at 
 Frankfort, 21-34 ; returns to 
 Zurich, 34 ; estimate of conduct, 
 
 ' 35 ; Puritanism of, 45 ; revolt 
 against measures of, 59, 60 
 
 Coxans, 23, 29, 34 
 
 Cranmer, 43 ; translation of Bible, 
 39 
 
 Cray, Captain, 76 
 
 Crayer, Captain, 89 
 
 Cromwell, 37 
 
 Deacons of Frankfort Church, 13, 
 
 33, 34, 59 
 De Selva, French ambassador, 70, 
 
 71, 111 
 Devisat, a spy, 90 
 Devon, Earl of. See Courtenay. 
 Devonshire, plan to invade, 72, 74 
 Dieppe, Stafford at, 98, 99 
 
 Discipliue, Book of. 33, 47, hi^ 59, 
 
 61,62 
 Dover, 98 
 
 Drake, Sir Francis, 2, 82, 139 
 Dudley, Henry, 84, 85, 88, 89, 91, 
 
 96, 101, 111, 144; Lord, 90 
 Durham, Bishop of, 38 ; Dean of, 38 
 
 E 
 
 Edward YI., reign of, 1, 2, 92, 106 ; 
 succession of, 68 ; review of laws 
 of, proposed, 113 
 
 Egmont, Count of, 109 
 
 Elders of Frankfort Church, 33, 35, 
 50, 51, 53, '54. 55-59 
 
 Eliot, Sir John, 119 
 
 Elizabeth, 30, 65, Q^, 71, 79, 83, 86, 
 110, 111 ; attitude to matrimony, 
 131, 135-137, 144, 145; popu- 
 larity, 134; proposals to marry, 
 132 ; reign of, 1, 3, 4 ; English 
 history begins with, 137 
 
 Emperor. See Charles V. 
 
 England, immunity of, 69 
 I English serving in French armies, 
 i 76 ; hate foreigners, 108 ; rebel- 
 ; lious, 105 
 
 Essex, Earl of, 136 
 
 Exiles, number of, 8 ; settlements 
 of, 9; poverty of, 10, 77, 88; 
 supplied by London merchants, 
 10 ; return of, ^^ ; alarm at war, 
 104 ; importance of, 3, 143, 144 
 
 Fitzwilliam, Bryan, 74, 80, 94, 95 
 Fleur de Lys, the, 98 
 Fontainbleau, 93 
 Foreigners, Englisli hate, 108 
 Fox, John, 19, 23, 33, 42, 43 
 France, Protestants flee to, 8 ; war 
 
 declared against, 103 
 Frankfort, Caps. II. and IIL, 
 
 passim; "Troubles of," 18, 20, 
 
 48,49 
 Frederick, the Archduke, 132 
 French Protestants, 9, 11-13, 25, 
 
 59 : discipline of Church, 27, 28 ; 
 
 spies, 89 ; troops on frontier, 89 
 Fro'bisher, 82 
 Froscher entertains exiles, 44 
 
Index, 
 
 149 
 
 G 
 
 Gardiner, Stephen, 110; visits Ox- 
 ford, 8 ; inexorable to exiles, 10 ; 
 opens Parliament, 113, 116. 122 ; 
 death, 122 
 
 Geneva, 9, 33, 34, 37, 38, 42, 45, 
 6b; Knox goes to, 29; book of, 
 18, 20, 27, 42 
 
 Gentry, returned to Parliament, 
 1554, 121; activity under Eliza- 
 beth, 143 
 
 Germany, exiles go to, 9 
 
 Gilby, 7, 19, 20, 33, 38 
 
 Glauberg, John, 11, 25, 29, 3U 
 
 Goodman, 7, 30, 33, 38 
 
 Guise, Duke of, 9], 144 
 
 Guisnes, 89, 90 
 
 H 
 
 Haddon, 15, 16 
 
 Hague, the, 81 
 
 Hales, John, 52, 53 
 
 Hamnies, 90 
 
 Hampden, 131 
 
 Hampton Court, 109 
 
 Harwich, plan to invade, 88 
 
 Hastings, Sir Edward, 110, 111 
 128 
 awki 
 
 Henry IV., 99 
 
 Henry VII., 96, 106, 112 
 
 Henry VIII., 1, 106, 112 
 
 Henry II. of France, 70, 74, 78, 80. 
 81, 83, 84, 89, 91, 94-96, 100, 101 ; 
 a zealous Catholic, 9 ; welcomes 
 English rebels, 72, 73, 83, 85; 
 proposals to Elizabeth, 136 
 
 Heretics, statutes for burning, re- 
 vived, 118 
 
 Hooper, Bishop, 128 
 
 Home, 34, 48-66 
 
 Horseys, 84 
 
 Howard, Sir George, 128 
 
 Hull, 98 
 
 Humphrey, Dr. Lawrence, 7 
 
 Independents, origin of, 59 
 
 Isaacs, 27, 28, 30 
 
 Italy, Pickering goes to, 78 
 
 James I., 139 
 
 Jane, Queen, 7 
 
 Jewel, 7, 10,28,43,44 
 
 Jury, importance of trial by, 1 1 1 
 
 K 
 
 Kent, 47, 48 
 
 Kent (countv), rebellion in, 70 
 
 Killigrews, 74. 75, 78, 79, 82, 143 ; 
 
 Peter, 81 ; his fleet defeated, 82 ; 
 
 Henry, 87 
 Kingston, Sir Anthony, 84, 128- 
 
 131 
 KnoUys, Sir Francis, 33 
 Knox, John, 15-17, 20, 23-29, 33, 
 
 35, 36, 38 ; attacks Prayer-book, 
 
 23 
 Knoxans, 23, 33 
 
 La Rochelle, 81 
 
 Legate, papal, 119 
 
 Leicester, Earl of, 136 
 
 Lever, 15, 16, 18, 20, 26, 44 
 
 Libel against the Government, 120 
 
 Litany and responses, 12, 14, 20, 
 
 22,-^3 
 Literature, English have no taste 
 
 for, 2 ; Elizabethan, 3, 4 
 Litolfi, Annibale, 106, 108 
 London, plan to fire, 83 
 London merchants supply exiles, 10 
 Londoners, 70, 71 
 Lords, House of, 114, 117 
 Low Countries, 69, 109 
 Luther, 6 
 Lutheran magistrates of Wesel, 10 
 
 M 
 
 Machyn's Diary, 100 
 
 Magdalen College, head and fellows 
 
 ejected, 8 
 Magistrates of Frankfort, 11, 13, 
 
 25, 27-29, 32, 35, 60-62 
 Mansonc, Sir John, 8, 110 
 Marriage, the Spanish, 69, 79, 80, 
 
 82, 92, 108, 114, 117, 135, 140; 
 
 treaty with Don Philip, 117 
 
ISO 
 
 Index. 
 
 Marshalsea prison, Cox escapes 
 from, 21 
 
 Martyr, Peter, 10, 21, 43 
 
 Mary, welcome at accession, 107, 
 134; first female sovereign of 
 England, 68; distrusted by re- 
 formers, 7 ; proclamation of, 8 ; 
 anger against rebels, 76, 100, 
 102 ; unpopularity of, 84, 85 ; 
 a Jezebel, 28 ; lives in fear, 110 ; 
 answers Commons about mar- 
 riage, 115; remits subsidy, 123 ; 
 summons Parliament to her 
 palace, 125 ; declares war against 
 France, 103 ; persecution under, : 
 140, 141 ; nominates Elizabeth 
 as heir, 131 ; death of, 65 ; reign 
 of, 1,2, 29, 70-73, 99, 119-121 
 
 Mary Queen of Scots, 96, 132, 136 | 
 
 Maurice of Saxony, 9 
 
 Meeting of Frankfort Church, 32 ; 
 night, of rebels in Paris, 84 
 
 Merchant adventurers, 138 
 
 Michiel, Venetian ambassador, 102, 
 107, 108, 121, 130; opinion of 
 English, 105 ; opinion of Parlia- 
 ment, 112, 123 
 
 Ministers of Frankfort, 13, 58 
 
 Mullings, 34 
 
 Muscovy, discovery of, 138 
 
 Musculus, 21 
 
 N 
 
 Neuchatel, exiles at, 80 
 
 Xewnham Bridge, 89 
 
 Noailles, French ambassador, 75, 
 76, 100, 102, 111; opinion of 
 English, 105 
 
 Nobility, enthusiasm of, 75 ; emi- 
 gration of young, 75 
 
 Old Hundredth, 41 
 
 " Oppressed congregation," 30, 32, 
 
 33 
 Oxford, 6, 8 
 
 Paget, 75, 110 
 
 Pamphlets produced by exiles, 10 
 
 Paris, 94, 95, 97 
 
 Parkhurst, 44 
 
 Parliament, 68, 71, 109, 113, 144 ; 
 revival of, 112, 131 ; first, of Mary, 
 113-115 ; second, 116, 117 ; third, 
 117-120; fourth, 121-129 ; fifth, 
 130, 131 
 
 Parry, 20, 26, 28 
 
 Passau, peace of, 9 
 
 Pastor of Frankfort. See Knox, 
 Whitehead, Hokne. 
 
 Peace, negotiations for, 82, 83, 93 
 
 Pembroke, Lord, Deputy of Calais, 
 91, 129 
 
 Perrott, Sir John, 129 
 
 Fetre 89 
 
 Philip of Spain, 28, 29, 69, 70, 74, 
 75, 77, 83, 102, 109, 110, 116, 
 135 ; protects Elizabeth, 132 
 
 Pickering, Sir William, 74, 78, 82 ; 
 submission of, 77 
 
 Piedmont, Duke of, 132 
 
 Pilkington, 7, 38, 44 
 
 Pirates, 75, 81, 82 
 
 Placemen, bill to exclude, 124 
 
 Plots against the Government, 83, 
 84, 88 
 
 Plowden, 119, 121, 123, 131 
 
 Pole, Cardinal, 82, 83, 93, 118, 120, 
 125, 126; Ursula, 92 
 
 Pollard, Speaker, 128 
 
 Ponet, 15 
 
 Poole, plan to invade, 88 
 
 Pope, acts against authority of, 
 repealed, 118 
 
 Portland, plot to invade, 88 
 
 Prayer-book, the English, 6, 12-14, 
 16-18, 20-22, 25, 27, 30-32; 
 Calvin's opinion of, 19 ; attacked 
 by Knox, 23; established at 
 Frankfort, 29; why rejected by 
 Puritans, 38 ; replaced by Mass, 
 115 
 
 Privy Council, disafiectiou in, 84 ; 
 commission of, 120 
 
 Protestant Church of Elizabeth, 2 
 
 Protestants rule England under 
 Edward VI., 2 ; precarious posi- 
 tion at his death, 6; why the 
 English became, 140 
 
 Psalms, metrical version of the, 41 
 
 Pullan, Valeran, 11, 12, 25 
 
 Puritan, origin of word, 19; party, 
 37-45, 143 
 
 Pym, 131 
 
ludc. 
 
 i;i 
 
 R 
 
 Raleigh, 137, 139 
 
 Randal], 78 
 
 Reformation preceded Renaissance, 
 4 
 
 Reformers do not realize differences, 
 14 
 
 Religion, Elizabeth's settlement of, 
 2 ; Parliament alters, 113, 114 
 
 Renaissance, 4 
 
 Renard, Simon, 105, 132 
 
 Residential qualification of mem- 
 bers, bill for, 124 
 
 Restoration, the, 37 
 
 Rhine, the, 9, 10 
 
 Rochester, Bishop of, 38 
 
 Rouen, exiles at, 74 ; Stafford at, 
 97 
 
 Rybawde, 97, 98, 100 
 
 Sacerdotalism of Cox, 30 ; of Horne, 
 
 51,64 
 S. Germain en Laye, 96 
 S. Quentin, battle of, 92 
 Sampson, 38 
 
 Sandingfield Abbey, 89, 90 
 Sandys, 44, 63 
 Savov, Duke of, 132 
 Scarborough, 88, 98, 100, 103 
 Scarcity in 1554, 122 
 Schism, Cox tries to prevent, 21, 
 
 32 ; not an unmixed evil, 07 
 Schmalkalde League, 9, 28 
 Scory, 15, 38 
 Scriptures. See Bible. 
 Sea-dog.s, 3, 139 
 Siiakespeare, 2-4 
 Soranzo, Venetian ambassador, 101, 
 
 105, 108, 113; opinion of English, 
 
 105; condemns juries, 111 
 SoutljamptoD, plot against, 88 
 Spaniards, reign in England, 65 
 
 English hate. 
 
 "4, 108; riot 
 
 against, 109 
 
 Spanish Armada, 3 
 
 Spenser, Edmund, 2, 3 
 
 Stafford, Sir Robert, 92, 95; 
 Thomas, 92, 95. 101, 103, 111, 143, 
 144 ; claim to throne, 96 ; pro- 
 
 clamation of, 99 ; executed, 100: 
 
 William, Lord, 92 
 Staftbrds, 74, 77, 88, 92-94 
 Staunton, 78, 80 
 Stowell, 96, 101 
 
 Strasburg, 14-18, 20-22, 34, 64-66 
 Suffolk, Duke of, 92 
 Supremacy, act of, 37 
 Supreme head, Mary retains title, 
 
 115 
 Surian, Venetian ambassador, 103, 
 
 105 
 Switzerland, 9. 10 
 
 Te Deum, the, 39, 41 
 Throckmorton, Sir John, 84, 111; 
 
 Sir Nicholas, 107, 111, 112 
 Tower of London, 100 
 Tradition, rejected by Puritans, 26 
 Treason, charge of against Knox, 
 
 28; repeal of statutes, 114 
 Treherrn, 34, 48 
 Tremaynes, 74 
 Tuckfield, a spy, 90 
 
 U 
 
 Uniformity, act of, 37 
 Universities, centres of reform, 6 
 University at Frankfort, 34 
 Uvedale, Sir Thomas, 84, 111 
 
 Vannes, English envoy at Venice, 
 
 79, 87, 88 
 Venetian ambassailors, 2. See Mi- 
 
 CHIEL, SOKANZO, SrRTAX. 
 
 I Venice, 79, 87, 92 
 
 ! Verses, division of Bible into, 40 
 
 A'estments, abandoned by Angli- 
 I cans, 16; abandoned at Frank- 
 1 fort, 20 
 
 Virginia, 137, 139 
 
 Vvret, 21 
 
 Warbeck, Perkin, 106 
 Wesel, 9, 10 
 
 Westmorland, Earl of, 99 
 Weymouth, plot to invade, 88 
 
152 
 
 Index. 
 
 Whitehead, 33, 3i, 47, 48, 55 
 
 Whittingham, 8, 11, 13, 18-20, 25- 
 27, 30, 32-35, 37, 41, 42, 45, 49 
 
 Wiburne, Percival, 7, 38 
 
 Wight, Isle of, plots against, 78, 
 83, 88 ; governor of, see Uvedale. 
 
 Willford, 62 
 
 Williams, 33 
 
 WiUoughby, Sir William, 138 
 
 Winchester, Bishop of. 8ee Gar- 
 diner. 
 
 Wolsey, Cardinal, 140 
 
 Worcester, 37 
 
 Wotton, English ambassador, 73. 
 
 76-80, 85,^89, 94-98, 104 
 Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 70-72, 83, 109. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Yarmouth, plot to invade, 88 
 
 Zurich, 9, 10, 14-16, 18-20, 34, 42- 
 
 46,66 
 Zwingle, 6, 9 
 
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