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III.

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BOOK company of a woman, in a spiritual man, is a means to perfect religion, and that single life was an hinderance Anno 1553." to the same, and that they should despise all manner of "virginity and single life in them that had the gift of God; "and that they pronounced it wicked and abominable, and "termed it a doctrine of devils, and the invention of An"tichrist." All which Bishop Ponet, in the name of all the Protestants, in his book did utterly deny that ever they said, writ, or thought so.

Wherein Winchester had the

greatest hand.

This book was indeed made by the Bishop of Winchester, when he was in the Tower, (and he borrowed much of it from Albertus Pighius,) and published about that time. Martin being then a student at the university of Bourges in France, it once happened, in some conversation there, that Edward the King of England was commended, whether it were for his virtue, or learning, or abilities, beyond his years; whereat Martin began, as it seemed, to eclipse the King's honour, by mentioning the imprisonment of Winchester, saying, that there was a head Papist prisoner in England, meaning him. Upon which several asked him, 331 whether it was not the same Winchester that had set out an hodge-podge concerning marriage of priests? He, laughing, Declaration answered, "It was even he." But that no man ought to marvel; for that Winchester was more meet for warlike than for ecclesiastical disputations. Which passage I have from Bale; who was acquainted at that university with Franciscus Baldwin, the learned professor of law there. Out of this book Martin framed that which went under his name, with Winchester's privity: and this was well enough known to Bale and others in those times. Ponet said, that Martin was abused by others, who set him a-work to bear the name, and to desire the fame of so gay a book, rather than diner in his he was the author of it indeed. book lately

of Boner's

articles, 1554.

Thomas

Martin, or

Winchester under that

name. fol. 15. Mr. Martin, Winchester's own

voice. fol. 40. Gar

spread

under the

name of Thomas

The said Ponet, or Poinet, late Bishop of Winchester, but now an exile, very learnedly answered this book in two several treatises. The first was entitled, An Apology against Martin. fol. Thomas Martin's Blasphemies. In this treatise, upon occasion of the Papists' prohibition of marriage to priests, he Answered proved that the said Papists were hereticks, and had taken by Ponct. part in the most principal parts with all the hereticks that

77. Bale's

declar.

VIII.

had corrupted the true Church of Christ. The second CHAP. treatise, replenished with great learning, he lived not to finish; (though some doubt whether he were the author of Anno 1553. this book ;) but the copy falling into the hands of Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, he published it, in the beginning of Queen Elizabeth's reign, with very large and excellent additions of his own. Ponet had thoroughly studied this point, and I believe was put upon the study of it by Archbishop Cranmer, whose chaplain he was: for before this he put forth two books upon this argument, viz. Of the Marriage of Ministers; and a Defence of that Marriage.

fessions of

The last thing I have to say concerning these orders taken The conwith the married clergy, is, that there were two things the married thought very hard, which were put upon those that were priests. willing to comply, and put away their wives. The one was in relation to the public confessions they were to make: which were put into their mouths by others, and drawn up for them in that manner, as made them tell horrible lies. They must speak their own shame in bills of their penance : lying against themselves most vilely and most shamefully; disabling their credit and estimation for ever. And to give an instance: one such confession, which was much cried out against, was made by one Sir John Busby of Windsor, June 29, in the year 1555. Which Ponet calleth a goodly confession of his hearty and earnest repentance. "Which," saith he," was so finely penned, and so catholickly tracted, Def. of Pr. "that I warrant you it was none of the smallest fools that 269. "forged it."

Marr. P.

did their

dealt with.

The other thing was, that, after these poor men had thus Married done their penances, and spoke their confessions, the im- priests that posers of these penalties upon them were not so good as penance hardly they pretended they would be, and as the Queen's instructions required them to be, towards them: not restoring them to their ministration. Some, that had been two or three years parted from their wives, could not be admitted. again to ministration: yet they must do open penance, and go by the cross, without any redemption or entreaty, that could be made.

BOOK
III.

Anno 1554.

332

Y

CHAP. IX.

Evils in this Change. A Parliament.

A twofold By this time the face of the church was perfectly changed: evil upon and all the reformation that was made for twenty years of religion. before, namely, from Cranmer's first ascent to the archi

this turn

:

episcopal chair, to this time, was unravelled in less than a year, and abolished. But the favourers of the Gospel lamented it exceedingly and Bishop Ridley writ a treatise, wherein he shewed what a deplorable change in religion this was, by setting down at large what religion was in King Edward's days, and what it was at that present; laying the cause of this sore judgment upon the vile and naughty lives of the people, so unsuitable to the good religion professed. The professors lamented two great evils, lighting upon the people upon this turn of religion; not only that it brought the people into error and superstition, but involved them universally in the crime of perjury: the blame of which they laid upon the popish clergy. For they not only had connived at, but allowed and encouraged, the casting off the Pope's supremacy, and made both priests and laity swear to the King. And now they set up the Pope's authority again in England, and required all to swear to that. For they compelled not only such as were priests to perjure themselves, but all the laity, nobility, gentry, magistrates, merchants, and others; for hardly any were exempted the oath of supremacy in the former reigns. For in every law-day, the keepers of the same were sworn to call all the young men of their hundred, even as they came to years of discretion, to swear never to receive the Bishop of Rome, nor no other foreign potentate, to be head of the people of England, but only the King and his successors. Which oath, if it were unlawful, as the clergymen now said, then all the realm had reason of high displeasure against them, that so led them and knew it. The dissi- Such gross dissembling were the bishops guilty of to the inthe priests. Volving the people in guilt. And this dissembling quality the priests still retained in this Queen's days. For when

mulation of

IX.

Anno 1554.

any came to some of them, shewing them that his con- CHAP. science was not satisfied in the present way of religion, the priest would tell him, "that he said the truth; my con"science," would he say, "is as yours; but we must bear "for a time: and that he himself looked for another

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ment re

change." When another of a contrary opinion came to the priests, and talked about religion, they would say to him, "that they had been deceived; and thanks be to ·God," said they," that ye kept your conscience all this "while. And even so was mine; but I durst not do any "otherwise, but trusted that this time would come, as is "now; thanks be to God." Nay, and sometimes, in the same town, they would minister the service two ways to the people, to please both: insomuch that the bishops and priests grew, for this cause, as well as for their cruelty, into great dislike with the people. This more at large is shewed in a short manuscript treatise I have, made by a certain person nameless, imprisoned for religion, entitled thus; All sorts of people of England have just cause of displeasure against the Bishops and Priests of the same. 333 There was, this year, April 2, a new parliament; that A parliathe last year being dissolved. Great was the sadness that store the now possessed the hearts of the English nation, even of Pope. Papists themselves, the most considerate and wisest part of them, seeing the great slavery the kingdom was like to be ensnared in, by what the parliament was now in doing; that is to say, restoring the Pope's tyranny here in England, that had been so long and happily cast out, and allowing the Queen's matching with Prince Philip; whereby a Spaniard should become King of England. Which when P. Martyr had signified in a letter from Strasburgh to Calvin, May 8, he told him, Tanta est rerum perturbatio, ut nullo pacto explicari queat: "that it could not be told "what a disturbance there now was;" and that all good men, that could, fled away from their own country, from all parts of the land: mentioning three noble knights to be come lately to Strasburg, not less famous for piety than learning, Morisin, Cheke, and Cook. At this parliament, wherein the mass was set up, and confirmed by an act, all that were suspected to favour the truth were turned out of

III.

BOOK the House: which made Hoper out of prison in one of his letters write; "Doubtless there had not been seen before Anno 1554. "our time such a parliament as this, that as many as were "suspected to be favourers of God's word, should be "banished out of both Houses."

A design to revive the six Articles.

LXXVI.

:

In this parliament a strong and certain report went, that the bloody act of the six Articles should be revived and put in execution. This created abundance of terror in men's hearts. There was nothing but sighs and lamentations every where and a great many were already fled out of the realm; unto whom this rumour had reached. John Fox, a learned and pious man, who had an excellent pathetic style, was now set on work: who took his pen in his hand, and, in the name of the protestant exiles, wrote a most earnest expostulatory letter to the Parliament, to dissuade them from restoring this law again. He told them, “they "had a Queen, who, as she was most noble, so she was "ready to listen to sound and wholesome counsel. And "that they had a Lord Chancellor, that, as he was

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learned, so of his own nature he was not bad, were it "not for the counsels of some. But that, as among "animals, some there were that were born to create "trouble and destruction to the other: so there were 66 among mankind some by nature cruel and destructive ; "some to the church, and some to the state." The letter is worthy the reading: which I have therefore placed in Num. the Appendix, as I transcribed it out of a manuscript collection of Fox's letters. There was indeed such a design in the House of Commons of bringing again into force that act of the six Articles; but whether it were by the importunity of this and other petitions, or that the court thought it not convenient so much to countenance any of King Henry's acts, this business fell. And this parliament was shortlived, for in May it was dissolved; by reason of a bill for confirming abbey-lands to the present possessors, which it seems gave offence to the

court.

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