1554.]

ROMAN RELIGION RESTORED.

201

tieth year of Henry VIII., much false and erroneous doctrine hath been taught, preached, and written, partly by divers the natural-born subjects of this realm, and partly brought in hither from sundry or other foreign countries, and hath been sown and spread abroad with the same." Thereupon the parliament supplicate their majesties that, by their grace's intercession and mean with the cardinal (Cardinal Pole), the pope's legate, it be exhibited to the pope that they declare themselves very sorry and repentant of the schism and disobedience against the see apostolie, and that they are ready to repeal all the laws against the supremacy of the see apostolic, that they may, as children repentant, be nursed into the bosom and unity of Christ's church. The statute then repeals all the acts passed in the reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward VI., against the supremacy of the see apostolic, since the time of the schism. It was not possible, however, to restore the church property that had been granted away, and it was provided that lands and goods of bishoprics, monasteries, and chantries dispersed since the schism, should so continue; and the statutes by which they were granted to the crown were confirmed.1

sons.

In this reign a change was made in the management of the military power of the country. A standing army was ever contrary to the laws and constitution of the kingdom, and it was not until the reign of Henry VII. that the kings of England had so much even as a guard about their per But although there was no standing force, there was, in the Saxon institutions, a provision for calling out the peo ple, in time of need, as a national militia; and, after the Conquest, the king had it in his power to call out his military tenants to defend the kingdom. The reduction of the amount of military service by tenure, which resulted from the com mutation of personal service for a pecuniary compensation, in the reign of Henry II.,-seems at length to have become so considerable, as to render that force insufficient for the defence of the realm; and the frequency, if not the origin, of 1 1 1 & 2 Philip and Mary, cap. 8, A.D, 1554.

commissions of array, of all the freemen in every county, has been supposed to be the consequence of that decrease.' By these commissions, the sheriffs, or justices of the peace, or special commissioners of array, were empowered to muster the people in the several counties; and a statute of Edward I. obliged every man, between fifteen and sixty, to provide himself with arms, according to the quantity of his lands and goods. The constables were empowered to see that the arms were provided, to report defaults to the justices, who were to present such defaults to the king in parliament. Sheriffs, and bailiffs of franchises, were to take good heed to follow the cry with the country, and to keep horses and armour so to do.2 These weapons were changed for those of modern use, by a statute of Philip and Mary; and, by another statute, penalties were imposed on those commanded to muster by the sovereign, or by any lieutenant authorized for the same; and absenting themselves without lawful excuse, and not bringing with them their best furniture, array, or armour.3 The lieutenant here referred to became the lord-lieutenant,-the chief military officer of the crown in each county.4

1 Peers' Report, div. 3, p. 79. Blackstone's Comment., book i. cap. 13. 2 Statute of Winchester, 13 Edward I., stat. 2, cap. 6, A.d. 1285. 3 4 & 5 Philip and Mary, cap. 2. Idem, cap. 3.

4 Mr. Hallam describes the functions of the lord-lieutenant as follows:-"He was usually a peer, or at least a gentleman of large estate in the county, whose office gave him the command of the militia, and rendered him the chief vicegerent of his sovereign, responsible for the maintenance of public order. This institution may be considered as a revival of the ancient local earldom; and it certainly took away from the sheriff a great part of the dignity and importance which he had acquired since the discontinuance of that office. Yet the lord-lieutenant has so peculiarly military an authority, that it does not in any degree curtail the civil power of the sheriff as the executive member of the law. In certain cases, such as a tumultuous obstruction of legal authority, each might be said to possess an equal power, the sheriff being still undoubtedly competent to call out the posse comitatûs, in order to enforce obedience, Practically, however, in all serious circumstances, the lord-lieutenant has always been reckoned the efficient and responsible guardian of public tranquillity." (Constitutional Hist., vol. i. p. 544.)

CHAPTER XIII.

QUEEN ELIZABETH, LAST OF THE TUDOR MONARCHS.

1558-1603. Reigned 45 years.

Protestantism Declared.-First Parliament.-Her Policy.-Three Religious Parties.-The Church of England.-The Puritans.-The Romanists.-Act of Supremacy.-High Commission Court.-Oath of Supremacy.-Act of Uniformity.-Derogation of the Common Prayer.Attendance at Church.-Succession Confirmed.-First-fruits restored to the Crown.-Clergy tested by the Oath of Supremacy.-Effect of it.-Legislation concerning Religion.-Statutes against Popery.— Against Bulls from Rome.-To Regulate Admission into the Church of England.-Against Mass.-Against Jesuits.-Against Popish Recusants. Against Puritans.-Civil Government.-Star-chamber,— High Commission Court.-Ex-officio Oath.-Martial Law.-The Rack. The Queen's Power in Parliament.-Monopolies.-Elizabeth's Declaration concerning them.-Elizabeth's Popularity.-Peter Wentworth.-His Speech,-His Questions.-Originator of the Parlia mentary Puritan Party.-Act for the Relief of the Poor.

ELIZABETH ascended the throne on the 17th of November, 1558. The Pope put in his claim, through Mary's ambassador at Rome, to retain the spiritual power that Mary had restored to him, declaring that England was a fief of the papacy, and that it was high presumption in Elizabeth to take the crown without his consent, especially as she was illegitimate; but his holiness gave her reason to expect that if she would refer herself wholly to him, she would receive all the favour that could consist with the dignity of the apostolic see. Elizabeth answered this remonstrance by recalling the ambassador. She ordered all that were impri

soned on account of their religion to be put at liberty; and she set the example in her own person of religious worship according to Protestant principles, preparatory to the settlement of the national religion, to be made in parliament. She appointed ministers who were favourable to Protestantism: Sir William Cecil, her chief minister; Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper; and Doctor Parker (who had been chaplain to her mother, Anne Boleyn), Archbishop of Canterbury.1

Thus prepared, her first parliament assembled on the 25th of January, 1558-9, and continued in session until the May following, when it was dissolved. It was almost wholly occupied in passing statutes to confirm the queen's title to the crown, and restoring to it the ecclesiastical supremacy and jurisdiction by Mary vested in the pope. Thus she began her work of reconstruction; but in reviewing the statutes by which it was effected, we must remember that, unlike those of Mary, they were never overthrown by dynastical reaction; and that they established the national religion on the basis which still subsists.

The policy of Elizabeth opposed the advance of the liberal principles of the constitution. Although less cruel in her disposition than her father, she was not less imperious nor less jealous of opposition to her will. She, indeed, by the firmness of her character, and her constant attention to the interests of her kingdom and to the improvement of the social condition of her subjects, obtained great respect and submission from the people, with the popular name of "Good Queen Bess;" but she passed no laws giving them political rights; on the contrary, she restrained the privileges of parliament; and the rights of conscience were by her most signally disregarded. The legislation of her reign was chiefly directed to maintain without a rival the religion she had established; first, by the repression of the Roman Catholics,

1 Burnet's History of the Reformation, book iii. "One that used to talk pleasantly, told her the four Evangelists still continued prisoners, and that the people longed much to see them at liberty. She answered, she would talk with themselves and know their own minds." (Idem.)

1558-9.]

ACT OF SUPREMACY.

205

and next of the Puritans, as soon as they acquired strength in the nation.

In her reign we find three different classes of religionists:→→

1. The supporters of the Church of England as altered and established by Elizabeth on the foundation of her predecessors; the main principle being the acknowledgment of the sovereign as supreme head of the Church, and consequently the disavowal of any spiritual power in the pope.

2. Those who were desirous of carrying out the Reformation to the extent of overthrowing all spiritual and ecclesiastical authority, whether vested in the pope, in kings, or in a hierarchy of archbishops and bishops; taking as their model the foreign Protestant churches, especially that of Geneva. This party obtained the name of "Puritans." They were averse from all forms and ceremonies which could not be supported by the express word of Scripture; and this aversion was strong against the use of the symbol of the cross, of the surplice, of the ring in marriage, and against the ceremony of kneeling at the altar at the time of the sacrament, and even against the use of liturgical services.

3. The Roman Catholics, put down by law.

The first two statutes of Elizabeth's reign are those.commonly known as the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity. The former invests the sovereign with supreme authority over the Church, and in effect places the hierarchy in subordi nation to the monarchy; the latter settled the liturgy, sacraments, rites, and ceremonies of the Church by the autho rity of parliament, and in effect rendered them unalterable, unless by the same authority.

The Act of Supremacy1 repealed the statute of Philip and Mary, by which the jurisdiction of the see apostolic of Rome was restored, and by such repeal the "good laws and

11 Elizabeth, cap. 1, "An act to restore to the crown the ancient jurisdiction over the estate ecclesiastical and spiritual, and abolishing all foreign powers repugnant to the same."