faiths and consciences; though as a princess of great wisdom and magnanimity, she suffered but the exercise of one religion; yet her proceeding towards the papists was with great lenity, expecting the good effects which time might work in them; and therefore her majesty revived not the laws made in the 28th and 35th of her father's reign, whereby the oath of supremacy might have been offered at the king's pleasure to any subject, so he kept his conscience never so modestly to himself, and the refusal to take the same oath without further circumstances was made treason. But contrarywise, her majesty not liking to make windows into men's hearts and secret thoughts, except the abundance of them did overflow into overt and express acts, or affirmations, tempered her law so, as it restraineth every manifest disobedience, in impugning and impeaching, advisedly and maliciously, her majesty's supreme power, maintaining and extolling a foreign jurisdiction: and as for the oath, it was altered by her majesty into a more grateful form; the hardness of the name and appellation of 'Supreme Head' was removed; and the penalty of the refusal thereof, turned only to disablement to take any promotion, or to exercise any charge, and yet of liberty to be reinvestod thoroin, if any man should accept thereof during his life. But aftor, whon Pius Quintus excommunicated her majesty, and the bulls of excommunication were published in London, whereby her majesty was in a sort proscribed, and that thereupon, as upon a principal motive or preparative, followed the rebellion in the north; yet because the ill humours of the realm were by that rebellion partly purged, and that she feared at that time no foreign invasion, and much less the attempt of any within the realm, not backed by some potent power and succour from without, she contented herself to make a law against that special case of bringing in and publishing of any bulls, or the like instruments; whereunto was added a prohibition upon pain, not of treason, but of an inferior degree of punishment, against the bringing of the Agnus Dei's' and such other merchandise of Rome, as are well known not to be any essential part of the Romish religion, but only to be used in practice, as love-tokens, to inchant and bewitch the people's affections from their allegiance to their natural sovereign. In all other points her majesty continued her former lenity: but when about the twentieth year of her reign, she had discovered in the king of Spain an intention to invade her dominions; and that a principal part of the plot was to prepare a party within the realm, that might adhere to the foreigner; and that the seminaries began to blossom, and to send forth daily, priests and professed men, who should by vow, taken at shrift, reconcile her subjects from their obedience; yea, and bind many of them to attempt against her majesty's sacred person; and that by the poison which they spread, the humours of inost papists were altered, and that they were no more papists in conscience, and of softness, but papists in faction: then were there new laws made for the punishment of such as should submit themselves to such reconcilements, or renunciation of obedience: and because it was a treason carried in the clouds, and in wonderful secrecy, and come seldom to light; and that there was no presuspicion thereof so great, as the recusancy to come to divine service, because it was set down by their decrees, that to come to church before reconciliation, was to live in schism; but to come to church after reconcilement, was absolute heretical, and damnable. Therefore there were added laws containing punishment pecuniary, videlicet, such as might not enforce consciences, but to enfeeble and impoverish the means of those about whom it resteth indifferent and ambiguous, whether they were reconciled or not: and when, notwithstanding all this provision, the poison was dispersed so secretly, as that there was no means to stay it but by restraining the merchants that brought it in. Then lastly, there was added a law, whereby such seditious priests of new erection were exiled; and those that were at that time in the land, shipped over, and so commanded to keep hence upon pain of treason. This hath been the proceeding, though intermingled, not only with sundry examples of her majesty's grace towards such as in her wisdom she knew to be papists in conscience, and not faction and singularity, but also with extraordinary mitigation towards the offenders in the highest degree, committed by law, if they would but protest, that if in case this realm should be invaded with a foreign army by the pope's authority for the catholic cause, as they term it, they would take part with her majesty, and not adhere to her enemies.

"For the other party, which have been offensive to the state, though in another degree,

which named themselves Reformers,' and we commonly call Puritans,' this hath been the proceeding towards them: a great while, when they inveighed against such abuses in the church as pluralities, non-residence, and the like, their zeal was not condemned, only their violence was sometimes censured. When they refused the use of some ceremonies and rites as superstitious, they were tolerated with much connivancy and gentleness; yea, when they called in question the superiority of bishops, and pretended to a democracy into the church; yet their propositions were here considered, and by contrary writings debated and discussed. Yet all this while it was perceived that their course was dangerous and very popular: as because papistry was odious, therefore it was ever in their mouths, that they sought to purge the church from the reliques of papistry; a thing acceptable to the people, who love ever to run from one extreme to another.

"Because multitude of rogues and poverty was an eyesore, and a dislike to every man ; therefore they put into the people's head, that if discipline were planted, there should be no vagabonds nor beggars, a thing very plausible: and in like manner they promised the people many of the impossible wonders of their discipline; besides, they opened to the people a way to government by their consistory and presbytery; a thing, though in consequence no less prejudicial to the liberties of private men than to the sovereignty of princes; yet in first show very popular. Nevertheless this, except it were in some few that entered into extreme contempt, was borne with, because they pretended in dutiful manner to make propositions, and to leave it to the providence of God and the authority of the magistrate. "But now of late years, when there issued from them that affirmed, the consent of the magistrate was not to be attended; when under pretence of a confession, to avoid slander and imputations, they combined themselves by classes and subscriptions, when they descended into that vile and base means of defacing the government of the church by ridiculous pasquils, when they begun to make many subjects in doubt to take oaths, which is one of the fundamental parts of justice in this land, and in all places; when they began both to vaunt of their strength and number of their partisans and followers, and to use comminations that their cause would prevail, though uproar and violence, then it appeared to be no more zeal, no more conscience, but mere faction and division: and therefore though the state were compelled to hold somewhat a harder hand to restrain them than before, yet was it with as great moderation as the peace of the state or church could permit. And therefore, sir, to conclude, consider uprightly of these matters, and you shall see her majesty is no more a temporiser in religion: it is not the success abroad, nor the change of servants here at home, can alter her; only as the things themselves alter, she applied her religious wisdom to methods correspondent unto them; still retaining the two rules before-mentioned, in dealing tenderly with consciences, and yet in discovering faction from conscience, and softness from singularity. Farewell. "Your loving friend, F. WALSINGHAM.'

Thus I have prosecuted what I at first undertook, the progress of the Reformation, from its first and small beginnings in England, till it came to a complete settlement in the time of this queen. Of whose reign, if I have adventured to give any account, it was not intended so much for a full character of her and her councils, as to set out the great and visible blessings of God that attended on her; the many preservations she had, and that by such signal discoveries, as both saved her life and secured her government; and the unusual happiness of her whole reign, which raised her to the esteem and envy of that age, and the wonder of all posterity. It was wonderful indeed, that a virgin queen could rule such a kingdom for above forty-four years with such constant success, in so great tranquillity at home, with a vast increase of wealth, and with such glory abroad. All which may justly be esteemed to have been the rewards of Heaven, crowning that reign with so much honour and triumph, that was begun with the reformation of religion.

THE END OF THE THIRD BOOK, AND OF THE SECOND PART.

THE HISTORY

OF THE

REFORMATION OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

PART III.

BEING A SUPPLEMENT TO THE TWO FORMER PARTS.

TO THE KING.

SIR,

Tuis work, which is designed to finish the history of our Reformation, seems reserved to bo laid at your Majesty's foot, who wo trust is designed by God to complete the Reformation itself.

To rectify what may be yet amiss, and to supply what is defective among us; to oblige us to live and to labour more suitably to our profession; to unite us more firmly among ourselves; to bury, and for ever to extinguish, the fears of our relapsing again into popery; and to establish a confidence and correspondence with the protestant and reformed churches abroad.

The eminent moderation of the most serene house from which your Majesty is descended gives us auspicious hopes that, as God has now raised your Majesty with signal characters of an amazing providence to be the head and the chief strength of the Reformation, so your Majesty will, by a wise and noble conduct, form all these churches into one body; so that though they cannot agree to the same opinions and rituals with us in all points, yet they may join in one happy confederacy for the support of the whole, and of every particular branch of that sacred union.

May this be the peculiar glory of your Majesty's reign; and may all the blessings of Heaven and earth rest upon your most august person, and upon all your royal posterity,

This is the daily prayer of him who is, with the profoundest respect,

Sir,

Your Majesty's most loyal, most obedient, and most devoted subject and servant,

GI. SARUM.

THE PREFACE.

I HAD in my Introduction to this Part, which I published a year ago, said all that then occurred to me in the way of preface; but some particulars coming to my knowledge since that time give me an occasion to add a little to what was then copiously deduced.

I begin with Mr. Le Grand, who I understand is now in a considerable post in the court of France. He being lately at Geneva explained himself to my friends in these terms: "That he was young when he wrote against me; and that the heat of youth had carried him to some expressions from which he would abstain if he were to write now. He was glad to hear that I was upon the reviewing the History of the Reformation ;" and named to them a Life that he had seen in Spain of Bartholomew Caranza, archbishop of Toledo, who was king Philip's confessor, and went with him to England, and was particularly employed in reforming (as they called it) the universities; and, as he said, he died when he was to be delivered out of the prison of the inquisition. He added, that he had also seen a Collection of cardinal Pole's letters, with an account of what passed in England after the death of king Edward, which he believed I had not seen, and that could inform me of many particulars; but that he himself had other employments than to think of the affairs of England. If I had received this civil message from Mr. Le Grand before I had published my Introduction, I would have said nothing at all with relation to him: but what is passed cannot be recalled, so I hope he will accept of this for all the reparation I can now make him.

As for Anthony Harmer, some have doubted if he could be capable of making three capital errors in one line: and since Mr. Strype has suggested to me that, in which I was under some reserve before, as having it from another hand, I am now free to set it down. For "Capitulum Ecclesiæ Cathedralis," he has printed "Epistolam Conventus Ecclesiæ Catholicæ." If the abbreviations may seem to excuse the reading Epistolam for Capitulum, and Catholicæ for Cathedralis, nothing can excuse the adding the word Conventus, which he thought wanting to make a complete title, having read the others as he did: so I hope I have reason to have ho regard to anything that comes from him upon his bare authority. The weak and ill-natured attempts that some among ourselves have of late made upon me give me no sort of concern, unless it is to pray for those who have despitefully used me.

There was also a great poem lately prepared, and I suppose designed to be published when that which our enemies hoped was near accomplished should have been effected. It was written in imitation of Hudibras, and so was a mock-poem on the Reformation, composed by one Thomas Ward, of whom I can give no other account but that it is said he is a priest. In it Sanders's work was made the plot of the fable. It was full of impious abuse, put in a strain apt enough to take with those who were disposed to divert themselves with a show of wit and humour, dressed up to make the Reformation appear both odious and ridiculous, not doubting of equal success with Butler's admired performance. It was no wonder if, upon such a design, my History was treated with all the characters of scorn and contempt. This was what I might justly expect from those of that side; but I was sorry to find so much censure from those from whom I had no reason to expect it, and which seemed to be the effect only of envy and ill-nature: God forgive them for it.

I must say a little more with relation to a learned and copious writer of our ecclesiastical history, who finds my History often in his way. IIe treats me decently as to his expres