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with the catholic church, were so pleasant to him, that, if he had been half dead, they would have revived him he promised them all assistance, as they should come to need it.

From the emperor they went to the cardinal, who welcomed them with great joy, and with expressions full of duty and thankfulness to the queen. Here they enlarge on his praises: "they call him the man of God, full of godliness and virtue; and so eminently humble, that he was contented to come into England in such sort as the queen had commanded; not as a legate, but as a cardinal, and an ambassador sent to the queen and they assured the queen, that, touching the matter of possessions, all things should pass on the pope's behalf so, that every man there shall have cause to be contented. Pole took leave of the emperor on the 12th; he was to set out in slow journeys, his body being then too weak for great ones; in six days he was to be at Calais, where they had ordered every thing to be ready for his transportation.

It seems by this that the queen reckoned on it as sure, that she was with child: though in that, after the hopes of it were published with too much precipitation, she found herself so much mistaken, that it was believed the grief and shame of it, both together, had an ill effect on her health and life.

About this time there was a very abusive libel, printed in the form of a letter, as writ by Bradford to the queen, in which it was said, that it was believed the queen intended to give the crown to the king, hoping that then he would keep company with her more, and live more chaste, contrary to his nature; for peradventure after he was crowned he would be content with one whore; whereas he had then three or four in a night; and these not ladies but common prostitutes *." One John Capstoke, the printer, was discovered; he was condemned to be imprisoned, and to have his ears nailed to the pillory, and cut off; yet he was pardoned. The consideration is not mentioned; it may be easily imagined it was no small one, probably enough it was upon the discovery of some of those whom they were seeking out for the slaughter.

I have nothing to add to what I wrote formerly with relation to this parliament, and the reconciliation made in it: no doubt Pole, according to the powers in his breve, desired the queen would name such persons to whom the favour of confirming them in their possessions should be granted; but it seems they durst not venture on any discrimination, lest that should have made the excepted persons desperate. So

* Rymer, t. 15.

it is evident, that the confirming of all without exception was, if not beyond his powers, yet at least a matter of such importance, that he ought to have consulted the pope upon it; and to have stayed till he had new and special orders to pass it in so full a manner as he did. But still it is plain, by the message sent to Rome, that he made the council at least to apprehend that it was necessary to send thither for a confirmation of what he had done, without any limits, upon powers that were expressly limited, and reserved to a confirmation.

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On the 12th of December, Mason wrote from Brussels (Collect. No. xxxii); and, after he had given in his letter an account of what passed in the diet, upon a letter written to it by the French king, he also writes, "that one of the emperor's council had told him, that his master was displeased to hear that a preacher was beating the pulpit jollily (I use his own words), for the restitution of the abbey-lands: upon this he writes, that if it be so meant by the prince, and the thing be thought convenient, he did his duty but if it were not so, it was a strange thing, that, in a well-ordered commonwealth, a subject should be so hardy as to cry thus to the people, to raise storms next summer against what they were then doing in winter; and if the thing were to be talked of, it ought to be to the prince and council, and not to the people he reflects on the unbridled sermons in the former times, that they were much misliked; so he hoped, that in a good government that should have been amended. He thought the person that preached this might be well put to silence; for he, being a monk, and having vowed poverty, possessed a deanery and three or four benefices. He tells them he had heard by the report of other ambassaders, that England was now returned to the unity of the Christian church. He should have been glad that he might have been able to confirm this by some certain knowledge of it; but it was ordinary for the ambassadors of England to know the least of all others of the matters of their own kingdom." A custom of a long continuance, of which I have heard great complaints made of a later date. On the 25th of December he wrote *, that, according to his orders, he had let the emperor know the apprehensions the queen had of the progress of her big belly and that all was quiet, and every thing went on happily in England. Upon this the emperor fell into a free discourse with him of the difference between governing with rigour and severity, and the governing in such sort, that both prince and people might

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sentre entendre et sentre aimer, mutually understand and mutually love one another. This, as it is at all times a noble measure of government, so it was more necessary to offer such an advice at a time in which it was resolved to proceed with an unmerciful rigour against those whom they called heretics. The queen seemed to be so sure that she was quick with child, that the privy council wrote upon it a letter to Bonner, and ordered him to cause Te Deum to be sung upon it. With such a precipitation was this desired piece of news published.

Some small favour was, at King Philip's desire, showed to some. The archbishop of York was released, Jan. 18th, 1554-5, upon a bond of 20,000 marks for his good behaviour. How far he recanted or complied does not appear: one thing may be reasonably concluded; that since no more mention is made of the complaint put in against him, for keeping another man's wife from him, there is no reason to think there was any truth in it. For there being so particular a zeal then on foot to disgrace the marriage of the clergy, so flagrant an instance as this, in a man put in so eminent a post, would not have been passed over if there had been any colour of truth or proof for it. On the 27th of January, Hopkins, sheriff of the city of Coventry, was put in the Fleet for ill religion. On the 19th of February, some small regard was had to Miles Coverdale, as being a foreigner; for he was a Dane: he had a passport to go to Denmark, with two servants, without any unlawful let or search.

On the 29th of January, Cardinal Pole gave deputed powers to the bishops, to reconcile all persons to the church, pursuant to the first breve he had from the pope, by which the reconciliation was made very easy; every one being left at his liberty to choose his own confessor, who was to enjoin him his penance: upon which the clergy, both regulars and seculars, were to be entirely restored, confirmed in their benefices, and made capable of all further favours: but those who were accused or condemned for heresy, were only to be restored to the peace of the church, for the quiet of their consciences. All canonical irregularities were also taken off; all public abjurations or renunciations were, at discretion, to be either moderated or entirely forgiven; with a power to the bishop to depute such rectors and curates as he shall think fit, to absolve and reconcile all lay-persons to the church. That sent to the bishop of Norwich is still upon record, and was collated with the register, and sent me by Dr. Tanner. With this I have likewise put in the Collection (No. xxxiii, xxxiv), the method in which it was executed. First, the Articles of the Visitation are in it, in

English, then follow rules in Latin, given by the cardinal to all bishops and their officials. The most material of these is, that all who were empowered to reconcile persons to the church were required to enter into a register the names of all such as they should receive, that it might appear upon record who were and who were not reconciled; and to proceed against all such as were not reconciled in particular, they were to insert Thomas Becket's name, and also the pope's, in all their offices."

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Now came on the burning of heretics. Many had been kept above a year and a half in prison, when yet there was no law against them and now a law was made against them, which it could not be pretended that they had transgressed. But articles were objected to them to which they were, by the ecclesiastical law, obliged to make answer: and upon their answers they were condemned. Sampson, in a letter to Calvin, wrote on the 23d of Februrary, that Gardiner had ordered fourscore of the prisoners to be brought before him, and had tried to prevail on them, both by promises and threatenings, to return, as he called it, to the union of the church: but not one of them yielded, except Barlow, that had been bishop of Bath and Wells, and Cardmaker, an archdeacon there." So this proved ineffectual. How far these yielded does not appear.

It was resolved to begin with Hooper; against whom both Gardiner and Bonner had so peculiar an ill-will, that he was singled out of all the bishops to be the first sacrifice. A copy of his process and sentence was sent me by Dr. Tanner, which I have put in the Collection (No. xxxv). On the 28th of January (1555), he was brought before Gardiner in his court in Southwark, and is called only John Hooper, Clerk. Gardiner set forth, "that the day before he had been brought before him and others of the privy council, and exhorted to confess his errors and heresies, and to return to the unity of the church, a pardon being offered him for all that was past; but that his heart was so hardened, that he would not accept of it: so he was then brought to answer to certain articles; but he had again the offer made him, to be received into the bosom of the church, if he de sired it. He rejected that; and, as the acts of the court have it, he did impudently break out into some blasphemies." The articles that were objected to him were three:"1. That he, being a priest, and of a religious order, had married a wife, and lived with her; and did, both by preaching and writing, justify and defend that his marriage. To which he answered, acknowledging it was true; VOL. III, PART I.

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and that he was still ready to defend it. 2. That persons married might, for the cause of fornication or adultery, according to the word of God, be so divorced, that they might lawfully marry again. To this he likewise answered, confessing it, and saying, that he was ready to defend it against all who would oppose it. 3. That he had publicly taught and maintained, that, in the sacrament of the altar, the true and natural body and blood of Christ are not present under the accidents of bread and wine, so that there is no material bread and wine in it." To which his answer is set down in English words, "that the very natural body and blood of Christ is not really and substantially in the sacrament of the altar." Saying also, that the mass was of the devil, and was an idol.' Gardiner, upon this, ordered him to come again into court the next day; and then he did again try, by many persuasions, to prevail on him. But he continued still obstinate, and said further," that marriage was none of the seven sacraments; and if it was a sacrament, he could prove there were sevenscore sacraments." After all this, Gardiner gave sentence, and delivered him over to the secular arm. Upon which, the sheriffs of London took him into their hands, as their prisoner. But it was resolved to send him to Gloucester, there to receive his crown of martyrdom. And there was a particular order sent along with him to Gloucester *, in which he is designed, "John Hooper, that was called bishop of Worcester and Gloucester, who was judged to be a most obstinate, false, detestable heretic, and did still persist obstinate, and refused mercy, though it was offered to him he was sent to be burned at Gloucester, to the example and terror of those whom he had seduced. Order is also given, to call some of reputation in that shire to assist the mayor and the sheriffs of that city. And because this Hooper is, as all heretics are, a vain-glorious person, and if he have liberty to speak, he may persuade such as he has seduced, to persist in the miserable opinions that he hath taught them; therefore strict order is given, that neither at his execution, nor in going to the place of it, he be suffered to speak at large; but that he be led quietly, and in silence, for avoiding further infection." This will be found in the Collection (No. xxxvi). But though his words could not be suffered to be heard, yet the voice of his sufferings, which were extremely violent, had probably the best effects on those who saw both them, and his constancy in them. He had been above a year and a half in prison, under much hard usage. * Paper-office.

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