"write books, they do wickedly instruct and inform people, and as much “as they may excite and stir them to SEDITION and INSURRECTION," &c. --And "Ordains that persons convicted of such offences, and who shall "refuse duly to abjure the same; or who, after abjuration shall be pro**nounced, do fall into relapse, so that according to the holy canons he "ought to be left to the secular court.-After due process the mayor, sheriff or sheriffs, &c. of the place where the offence shall be com"mitted, shall, after sentence, receive them before the people in an "high place do to be burnt; that such punishment may strike fear into "the minds of others, whereby no such heretical doctrine, nor their authors * and fauters in the said realm against the Catholic faith, Christian law, and determination of the holy church, which God prohibit, be sustain "ed or in any wise suffered."

From these extracts we find the same crimes of sedition and insurrection made the groundwork of the punishment, and the same cause named as producing these crimes, namely, hypocrisy in affecting piety, and perversity and malice in spreading their errors. The doctrines and opinions are denominated wicked, and the conventicles unlawful; now had not our ancestors, though they were Catholics, as much right to guard against wicked errors as our Protestant government? We have had several acts passed within the last twenty years to prevent the holding of unlawful and seditious assemblies; and why should not Catholic parliaments be allowed to protect the peace and safety of the realm at the close of the 14th and beginning of the 15th centuries, against similar disturbers of the common weal, as Protestant parliaments in the e 19th century? If the Protestant reader would divest himself of that preju of that dice imbibed by his education, and look to the two cases, religion substracted from the first, he would find that had not our Catholic ancestors taken the precautions which they did to resist and destroy the pernicious subtilties and seditious practices of the Wickliffites, more generally known by the name of Lollards, the Protestants would not now have had any privileges to be alarmed for, lest the Catholics should regain the ascendency and take away these rights from them. A circumstance which, if attempted in our time, we would oppose with all the energy of our mind. e cila

We have shewn, to demonstration, that the two statutes of Richard II. and Henry IV. were not directed to invade the right of conscience, but to repress the exercise of force to benight and hold the mind d in error and prevent those dire calamities which naturally follow a state of insubordination and licentiousness among the people. Although punishment was enacted in the case of obstinacy and depravity, yet it does not follow that mild means were not resorted to, for the prevention of crime and in fact no endeavour was left untried to bring the mistaken disciples of the new doctrines and wicked practices to a sense of their duty. That prevention and not punishment was the object of the rulers of those days is unanswerably proved by the few executions that occurred under these two acts, which have been so much reprobated by Protestant writers, during the reign of the Catholic sovereigns, till the rule of that merciless bloody tyrant, Henry VIII. who became the first Protestant Head of the Church of England.-Wickliffe himself died a natural death, the mischievous effects of his doc

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trines not appearing till after he e had passed into the grave; of his followers not more than twenty-two suffered under the laws above, which were found necessary to be enacted, during the long space of 113 years, even according to John Fox himself, who includes in this number sir John Oldcastle, a notorious traitor. Nor did Mary's advisers recommend the renewal of these laws, to glut their vengeance with the blood of the misguided and turbulent victims of delusion, but with a view to intimidate and restrain those tumultuous ebullitions which the seditious writings and preachings of the gospellers were fanning to a flame. We have before shewn that the queen received the greatest provocations to resort to harsh measures which she forbore with a lenity hitherto unparalleled, and never yet followed. To this period not one had been punished for an offence touching religion. Those who suffered were convicted traitors, and but one, namely, the lady Jane Grey, was an object of pity with the people. This merciful forbearance, however, instead of gaining on the affections of the infatuated disciples of the gospellers only tended to embolden them in their outrageous conduct, but what was evidently the feeling of charity, inspired by true religion, was mistaken for the effect of fear. Fresh provocations were given, and it was at length resolved to try what coercion would do to heal the disorders which now raged with so much excess. But this determination was not come to without opposition from some of the council. Cardinal Pole, who, as legate of the pope, represented the head of the Catholic church, was strenuous for mild measures. Dr. Heylin says, the cardinal was clearly of opinion, that they should rest themselves contented with the restitution of their own religion; that the said "statutes should be held forth as a terror only, but that no open perse"cution should be raised upon them; following therein, as he affirmed, the counsel sent unto the queen by Charles the emperor, at her first coming to to the crown, by whom she was advised to create no trouble unto any man for matter of conscience." Dr. Lingard also bears testimony to the clemency of the legate's disposition. "In a confidential "letter to the cardinal of Augsburgh," writes that historian, "he has " unfolded to us his own sentiments without reserve. He will not, he says, deny that there may be men, so addicted to the most pernicious errors themselves, and so apt to seduce others, that they may justly be "put to death, for the same purpose as we amputate a limb to preserve "the whole body. But this is an extreme case: and, even when it happens, every gentler remedy should be applied before such punishment is "inflicted. In general lenity is to be preferred to severity: and the bishops should remember that they are fathers as well as judges, and ought to shew the tenderness of parents, even when they are com "pelled to punish. This has always been his opinion: it was that of "his colleagues, who presided, with him at the council of Trent, and "also of the prelates who composed that assembly." The lord chancellor Gardiner, is said by Dr. Heylin to have differed from the legate, and to have contended for the enforcing of the statutes on the principal supporters of the heretics, whether they were of the ecclesiastical hierarchy or the lay nobility, and bishop Bonner is represented by the same authority as furious in favour of persecution, which he justified, the doctor says, by precedent from the evangelists or gospellers themselves.

"Have I not seen (saith he) that the heretics themselves have broke "the ice, in putting one of their own number (I think they called him "by name of Servetus) to a cruel death? Could it be thought no "crime in them, to take that more severe course against one of their "brethren, for holding any contrary doctrine from that which they had "publicly agreed amongst them? And can they be so silly, or so par "tial rather, as to reckon it for a crime in us, if we proceed against "them with the like severity, and punish them by the most extreme " rigour of their own example?"-Cranmer too, be it observed, and never forgotten, was an advocate for persecution even of Protestants, or such as are now called so, he having laboured with Ridley to instil into the youthful mind of Edward, "that as Moses ordered blasphemers "to be put to death, so it was the duty of a Christian prince, and more "go of one, who bore the title of defender of the faith, to eradicate the "cockle from the field of God's church, to cut out the gangrene that "it might not spread to the sounder parts." (Rym. xv. 182.)-Elizabeth, also, that darling she pope and foundress of the established church; she who is hailed with the title of "Virgin queen," and "glorious Bess," while her sister Mary is denominated the "bloody" queen-this sweet lady could issue out her commissions for burning heretics, in one of which, to sir Nicolas Bacon, she says, "they have been justly declared heretics, "and therefore as corrupt members to be cut off from the rest of the "Block of Christ, lest they should corrupt others professing the true "Christian faith.... We, therefore, according to regal function and "office, minding the execution of justice in this behalf, require you to "award and make out our writ of execution," &c. (Rym. xv. 740.)— From these facts it is clear that both parties seem to have been agreed in the right of the secular power to put heretics to death, and as we have proved that the legate, cardinal Pole, as well as others, were opposed to severe measures, it is not too much to expect of the Protestant reader, that he will acquit the Catholic church of holding persecuting doctrines, which she really does not admit, when persecution has been practised to a much greater degree and with less shew of justice by Protestants than by Catholics. Because the latter adhere to one only divine faith, whereas the former admit the right of every individual to chose his own individual opinion, and then punish him for so doing!!!

The council having decided on strong measures, on the 22d of January, 1555, the chancellor called before him the chief of the prisoners, put them in mind of the tendency of the statutes revived in the last parliament, and admonished them to avoid the punishment that would succeed a spirit of contumacy. A few days after the court was opened, at which Gardiner presided, and thirteen bishops were present, with number of lords and knights. The presence of the latter plainly shews that the court was not exclusively ecclesiastic. Six prisoners were called before them; of these, Hooper, the deprived bishop of Glouces ter; Rogers, a prebendary of St. Paul's; Saunders, rector of Allhallows, in London; and Taylor, rector of Hadley, in Suffolk, according to Dr. Lingard's testimony, but of Hertford, if we are to credit Heylin, re fused to subscribe to the Catholic doctrine. One of the others feigned a recantation; aud the sixth petitioned for time, which was granted. A delay of twenty-four hours was allowed the first four, and on their

second refusal they were excommunicated. The excommunication was followed by the delivery of the prisoners to the civil power, Here we will just observe, that the proceedings do not appear to have been conducted with haste and severity. Although we disapprove of the mixing up! religious questions with political crimes, still justice ought to be done to the persecutors as well as to the persecuted, and such was the nature of the doctrines taught by the gospellers that it was next to an impossibility to separate the two subjects in the case of these offenders. Rogers was the first of the four that was executed, and he e was burned in Smithfield on the 4th of February. Gardi-... ner from this time declined all further attendance, and his place was occupied by Bonner. This latter prelate, on the 9th of the same month, accompanied by the lord mayor and sheriffs and several mem--bers of the council, excommunicated six other prisoners, and turned them over to the civil power. On the day following, however, a cir-› cumstance occurred which should never be forgotten, in justice to the parties, but which is wilfully suppressed by those who are led by their.. prejudices to calumniate and vilify the Catholic church. A Spanish friar, named Alphonso di Castro, and confessor to king Philip, was or dered to preach before the court, and to the astonishment of his hearers, but to his own immortal honour, condemned the harsh proceedings just adopted in the most pointed and severe manner. He pronounced them"> to be in direct opposition not only to the text, but to the spirit of the gospel: it was not by severity, he said, but by mildness, that men were to be brought into the fold of Christ; and it was the duty of the bishops not to seek the death, but to instruct the ignorance of their misguided brethren. "Men were at a loss," says Dr. Lingard; to ac

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count for this discourse, whether it were the spontaneous effort of the "friar, or had been suggested to him by the policy of Philip, or by the humanity of the cardinal, or by the repugnance of the bishops. It "made, however, a deep impression: the execution of the prisoners was suspended: the question was again debated in the council; and "five weeks elapsed before the advocates of severity could obtain per "mission to rekindle the fires of Smithfield." Nor would they in all probability have been rekindled, had not the turbulent spirit of the gos pellers provoked the court to resume harsh measures.-That Mary had no desire to "domineer over the right of private judgment and trample, on the privileges of mankind," as the modern editors of Fox unjustly ac/cuse her, she about this time released Courteney, the earl of Devonshire, from confinement, andhe with Elizabeth repaired to Hampton-court, // to enjoy the festivities of Easter with the queen. The bishops too were very reluctant to take upon themselves the odious task of calling the.. prisoners before them, and it was not till Bonner had received a repri mand, through the instigation of the new marquis of Winchester, who, in the former reign, was a pious gospeller, but had now become the most furious persecutor, that the fires were again lighted. And they were made to blaze more freely from the riotous proceedings of the fanatical imbibers of evangelism.

In the month of March a new conspiracy was detected, which had been organized, in the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge On Easter Sunday, Stowe says, a priest, some time a monk of Ely and

also of Bicester, named William Branch, alias Flower, wounded another priest with a knife, as he was administering the sacrament to the peo ple in St. Margaret's church at Westminster: for which deed the said William Flower, on the 24th of April, had his right hand cut off, and for opinions in matters of religion was burned in St. Margaret's church yard. Dr. Heylin likewise says, "Though Wyatt's party was so far sup "pressed as not to shew itself visibly in open action, yet such as for "merly had declared for it, or wished well unto it, had many secret "writings against the queen, every day growing more and more in " dislike of her government, by reason of so many butcheries as were "continually committed under her authority. Upon which ground, "as they had formerly instructed. Elizabeth Crofts to act the spirit in "the wall, so afterwards they trained up one William Constable, alias "Featherstone, to take upon himself the name of king Edward, whom "he was said to resemble both in age and personage. And this they "did in imitation of the like practice used in the time of king Henry "VI. by Richard Plantagenet, duke of York, who when he had a mind "to claim his title to the crown, in regard of his descent by the house "of Mortimer, from Lionel of Antwerp, duke of Clarence, he caused "one Jack Cade (a fellow altogether as obscure as this) to take upon “himself the name of Mortimer, that he might see how well the peo "ple stood affected unto his pretensions, by the discovery which might "be made thereof on this false alarm. And though this Featherstone “had been taken and publicly whipped for it in May last past, and thereupon banished into the north, where he had been born, yet the "confederates resolved to try their fortune with him in a second adven"ture. The design was to raise the people under colour of king Ed“ward being alive, and at the same time to rob the exchequer, wherein they knew, by some intelligence or other, that 50,000l. in good Spa"nish money had been lodged." To these provocations may be added the licentious spirit of the preachers of the new opinions, who heaped upon the queen, the prelates, her council, and her religion, every opprobrious and indecent epithet that the fury of man, or the malice of hell, could device. Tracts filled with the most abominable and treasonable matter were industriously sent over by the exiles in Germany, and as sedulously circulated through the kingdom by the disaffected at home. During this period, the queen was led to believe, from appearances, that she was pregnant, and preparations were made for her ac couchement. Prayers were offered for her safe delivery, but it afterwards turned out that her situation was occasioned by bodily disease. This disappointment was the occasion of great rejoicings by her endmies, who indulged themselves in sarcasms, epigrams, and lampoons. Under such circumstances it cannot be a subject of wonder that the the fires of Smithfield and elsewhere were rekindled; our astonishment is only excited that so great a degree of forbearance was manifested, which we conceive must be taken by every unbiassed mind as a proof of the great clemency of Mary's disposition.oovib sove mok

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Exasperated and goaded by the seditious spirit of the new lights, Mary's council unfortunately resolved on an endeavour to strike terror into the deluded, and accordingly Ridley and Latimer were ordered to be burned. These leaders of the new opinions and instigators to fana